Chapter 2: Her Heart is High as the Sky, Her Day of Relief
The room was silent for a moment.
The lattice door was not soundproof. Through the corridor, Zhao Changning could hear the palace maids and eunuchs guarding the outer room kneeling down. Apart from the sound of wind and snow outside, the room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
It was just a slap, no big deal at all.
Based on her past experience, she couldn't just kneel there. After kowtowed three times, she bravely took two steps on her knees, picked up the warm tea on the small cabinet, and crawled back to the bed on her knees.
The weather was too cold. The icy floor penetrated her thick clothes like needles, piercing her legs and spreading to her limbs and bones, making her feel cold all over.
"Your Majesty, we servants are all blunt objects. In our past lives, we must have been stones in the toilet, tiles on the roof, and piers on the bridge. We have never been civilized. Please don't get angry and hurt yourself..."
Zhao Changning remained kneeling, his eyes fixed on his nose and his nose on his heart. He only heard the rustling of the quilt and a cough.
Moreover, as the fire in the stove grew stronger, the smell in the house became stronger. She could only comfort herself that it was not the time to burn floor heating in the cold winter.
"That's enough." The old emperor's old and hoarse voice sounded, and it was obvious that he was an octogenarian.
"Over the years, only you and your Yun Qiao are brave enough to take action even when something is wrong. Unlike those stupid people, they will pee when they are scared by a cough. They are useless."
The emperor spoke while panting and his tone was not good.
Zhao Changning breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the emperor's words. It seemed that Yun Pei's trouble was not serious, otherwise a group of people would have died by now.
She quickly stood up, carefully handed the tea in her hand over, held her breath, walked forward, put her arms around the emperor's shoulders, and brought the edge of the bowl to the emperor's mouth.
"Your Majesty, your majesty is too great. How can those vulgar people resist it? I often feel the majesty of heaven, but in order to serve Your Majesty well, I can only dare to..."
In fact, the emperor was wrong in what he said. She was not brave, she was just desperate and not afraid of death.
To serve in front of the emperor, one must have the courage not to want to die and not be afraid of death.
Serving an old man is an extremely exhausting task, especially when this old man is an emperor who is above millions of people, and is also an old, sick, sensitive, suspicious, and increasingly violent emperor.
There is probably no such example recorded in history books. After all, Emperor Yong'an lived too long and outlived three empresses and several children.
Taking advantage of the time when the emperor was drinking tea and rinsing his mouth, Zhao Changning had a little more time to lower his eyes and look at the old emperor for a few times.
He was getting older. Besides the rotting smell on his body, there were also growing spots on the back of his neck, pale, sparse hair that had fallen out, and loose, wrinkled skin...
All of this shows that the emperor's life span is unlikely to last forever.
Zhao Changning didn't have any feelings, she just felt tired and bored. After the emperor's death, it was probably the day of her liberation.
After rinsing two sips of tea, the emperor leaned in her arms, smelling the familiar fragrance of the woman, and his old and turbid eyes gradually narrowed.
He panted twice and said slowly, "Today is your twentieth birthday. Didn't you get permission to leave the palace for two days?"
Zhao Changning beckoned the young palace maid in, handed her the tea bowl, winked, and said with a smile, "I grew up in the palace, and this is my home. I go out just to wander around and see what's going on. I want to see the prosperity of the emperor's rule. It's really eye-opening. Your Majesty, you are truly amazing."
The little palace maid received her signal and lit the incense in the Boshan burner again, and the smell of ambergris filled the entire room.
This made the emperor very happy. He coughed and said, "I told you not to call me a slave in front of me."
Zhao Changning was quick to accept advice. The old emperor had a strange temper and everything he said and did was a bit eccentric, just like a child.
As she spoke, she massaged the emperor's shoulders. The skin her palms touched was dry and soft, like rough linen that had been wrung out of water.
"I only regret not wanting to celebrate my twentieth birthday. Your Majesty, please take good care of yourself. Those fools haven't served you well enough. And I'm still here. As long as Your Majesty is healthy, I'd be happy to die."
She waved to the little palace maids and eunuchs who came in to serve her tremblingly, and asked them to go out.
The emperor's expression relaxed a little after listening to this, but he began to breathe heavily again.
Zhao Changning quickly held his breath. This was probably what happened when people got old. The breath they exhaled smelled bad. I heard that when people got old, their internal organs slowly rotted, and the stench they exhaled could not be cured by any medicine.
The emperor lay down again, his face full of fatigue. He patted the empty seat beside him and said, "I can't get up. Just lie down with me for a while."
Zhao Changning immediately undid his buttons as usual.
The emperor's cloudy eyes were fixed on her. The delicate and fresh flower slowly opened its petals, revealing its milky white skin like a peeled egg. Without getting close, one could seem to smell its delicate sweet scent. If it were watered by rain and dew at this moment, it would surely be like the tender buds on the branches of a rose in full bloom.
He slowly moved his old eyes away, and his voice became much clearer, "Did you gain anything from leaving the palace?"
Zhao Changning nodded and said without hiding anything, "I listened to your advice and bought a house. It's not big, but it's definitely big enough for me to live in."
"You're still timid." The emperor saw her lying down and took her hand, feeling it was smooth and boneless. He said with satisfaction, "That Hu dog dared to buy a house and land. I heard he even keeps several young and beautiful women in his house. That dog is living a more comfortable life than I am."
The emperor sneered, as if he found it ridiculous, but it also showed that he was not angry.
Hu Gou'er was the eunuch who held the seal beside the emperor. Of course, few people dared to call him that.
As the emperor grew older, his energy was not as good as before, and many things had to be passed on and implemented by people around him. Therefore, the power of the seal holder became more and more powerful. However, Hu Gou'er came to the imperial court later than Zhao Changning. After she came to power, he even called her aunt in order to curry favor with her.
This is the disadvantage of the emperor living too long. The royal family has no family affairs, and many rules passed down from generation to generation will be changed for no reason because of him, and the court officials have no way to criticize him.
"What he does is his business." Zhao Changning flinched and said softly, "I only do what Your Majesty permits."
The emperor's breathing became noticeably easier.
His hands fumbled with her black hair and pulled out a silver hairpin. "Newly bought outside the palace? What? Is the reward not enough?"
Zhao Changning deliberately tilted his face to the side and softly embellished the clichéd story.
"That girl used to serve me all the time. I didn't expect that I couldn't catch her even if I gave her face. It's my fault that I didn't train her well. But after all, she served me, and there is some friendship between us. Your Majesty..."
The emperor seemed to have just remembered something, and when he turned his head, he saw the obvious fingerprints on her fair face again. He said indifferently, "It's quite interesting. Send someone to check it out. If she's not dead, I'll spare her life for your birthday today."
The hand like a dead tree accidentally fell on the waist, but Zhao Changning pretended not to notice.
She didn't expect the emperor to be so easy to talk to today. She bravely twisted her body. She felt that such an action was suitable for her age.
"Your Majesty is merciful. You are like the Buddha in heaven, very compassionate. That girl must be grateful to you."
She took the opportunity to stand up and give orders, but she was also always alert to the emperor's emotions, fearing that she would accidentally offend him again.
Zhao Changning was actually very confused as to why the emperor didn't accept her.
During these eight years, although the emperor was old and not very capable, he never stopped taking in women, both tall and short, fat and thin. Sometimes Zhao Changning wondered, if the emperor took her in, would she not have to work so hard, serving an old man in fear all day long?
But the emperor never asked her to lie on the bed with him occasionally, and they would just touch her hand and talk.
The room became quiet for a moment, and Zhao Changning continued to massage the emperor's body as usual.
When the emperor closed his eyes and was in a daze, a familiar figure came from outside the lattice door and spoke in a shrill voice.
"Your Majesty, it's almost dawn." It was Hu Gouer.
People in the palace called him Eunuch Hu, and many eunuchs called him godfather.
Zhao Changning put on his clothes and knelt respectfully before the emperor. When he nodded, he stood up and opened the lattice door.
Hu Gou'er's flattering face came into view. He had a fair face and no beard, but fine lines could be seen at the corners of his eyes. He looked quite handsome and had a naturally pleasing appearance.
"Changning, you are here?" He breathed a sigh of relief. If he hadn't known that Zhao Changning was here, he really wouldn't have dared to come over.
Over the years, it was Zhao Changning who calmed the sensitive and suspicious emperor. Otherwise, countless people in front of the emperor would have died, and he, the eunuch in charge of the seal, would have died countless times.
The emperor was old and didn't like too many people talking, so there were only a few people who really served him personally.
Zhao Changning narrowed his eyes when he heard him call his name, but he didn't show anything. He just smiled and said politely, "Eunuch Hu is here."
Even though they have worked together for several years and have helped each other, she still has no good feelings towards this person. However, this person seems to be becoming more and more arrogant. If it weren't for the emperor's daily favor towards her, he would have already taken advantage of her.
Eunuch Hu walked around her and came in front of the emperor, smiling.
"Your Majesty, today is Aunt's birthday. We, the unworthy ones, have gathered a table for Aunt. Your Majesty has always loved Aunt. Today, I, an unworthy old servant, will serve you."
The emperor looked at Hu Gou'er with cloudy eyes, then glanced at Zhao Changning. A smile appeared on his wrinkled face, and he said meaningfully, "You are really in the prime of your life, still young and innocent. Go, have some fun, and relax."
Zhao Changning had just returned and didn't know what had happened, but he knew that Hu Gou'er definitely had no good intentions. The struggles in the palace were always invisible.
She glanced at the expectant and excited Hu Gou'er, thought for a moment, and then stepped back.
Seeing no one around, the young palace maid quickly took two steps before leaning over to her ear and whispering, "It was hard to explain just now, aunt, but don't you know? After you left the palace, Yun Qiao and Hu Gou'er became a couple and drank the wedding wine."
Zhao Changning was stunned. "What did you say? Yun Qiao?"
The little palace maid nodded, filled with righteous indignation. "That Yun Qiao is too much. Aunt was so good to her, and she actually dared to betray her. They are an adulterous couple. Didn't she tell those who came to find you? What's going on?..."
Zhao Changning raised his hand to stop her, he already understood what she meant.
It wasn't surprising. Yun Qiao was extremely ambitious. Besides her, she was the only one who was effective in front of the emperor. She had personally trained and mentored her. Hu Gou'er was becoming increasingly powerful and had even asked her to marry him before...
It seems that I am blocking the way and "forcing" the two of them to get together.
It's really ridiculous. He's already a eunuch, but how can he still be so ambitious?
Did he think that just by reading memorials to the emperor for a few days and getting a few red stamps on his name, he would truly feel that he had power? She didn't try to snatch his hand away, but he boldly reached out.
Sure enough, the person coming over was Yun Qiao, whose eyes and eyebrows were somewhat similar to Zhao Changning.
Yun Qiao was dressed in bright clothes today, which made her look charming and gentle, completely different from her usual cautious appearance. She seemed to be in a state of newlywed joy. When she saw Zhao Changning, she performed a perfunctory greeting and then walked away.
He should have gone in to accompany Hu Gou'er in serving the old emperor.
Okay, okay, the situation changed drastically in just one day. I'm afraid they've been planning this for a long time.
Zhao Changning smiled coldly, "Let's go, it's time to get ready. We still have to eat the feast that was put together for me."
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