Chapter 6 Jin Ling 6
Jin Ling waited there until the footsteps faded away and a small light came on again in Prince Guang's room.
Footsteps were heard coming from far away in the room, and soon the window above her head was opened from the inside.
"Oh..." Li Yi looked up. The sky was full of stars and the moonlight was sparkling tonight. Tomorrow would probably be a sunny day.
"Why are you sighing, Your Highness?"
Suddenly, a round head popped out from the window bars, scaring Li Yi so much that she stepped back repeatedly. Only in the moonlight could she see clearly that it was the little palace maid named Jin Ling.
At this moment, she was leaning on the window with both hands, as if floating in the air with only half of her body exposed, smiling at him like a flower.
"Jinling... uh, why are you here?" The boy realized it belatedly and pretended to be stunned, asking her why she appeared here so late at night.
Jin Ling extended her hand and smiled sweetly, "Your Highness, please give me a hand. I can't hold on any longer."
"Oh, I'm here." Li Yi hurriedly held the girl's hand and pulled her in, then closed the window.
Without waiting for him to ask any more questions, Jin Ling took out the things she had prepared earlier:
A plain porcelain bottle and a small and exquisite hollow gold bell.
"This bottle contains incense pills that can calm the mind and soothe sleep. You can burn one in the stove before bed to help you fall asleep, or you can put it in this hollow bell and use it as incense."
She raised her head after she finished speaking, and Li Yi's figure was reflected in her clear eyes: "The prince is injured in the head. Although he has measured it, it is hard to say whether it will leave hidden injuries. I hope this incense can help the prince recuperate better."
"In the future, when the prince is alone in Zhongnan Mountain and Jin Ling cannot leave the palace, let this bell accompany the prince on my behalf."
Li Yi obviously didn't expect that this palace maid was committing a capital crime just to give him these parting gifts.
"You...why..."
"The prince and the concubine are both good people. Although Jin Ling is of low status, she is unwilling to belittle herself and become an ungrateful villain who flatters the powerful and bullies the weak."
"A drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring. Unfortunately, I am of low status and can only do so much. I hope Your Highness will not despise my crude craftsmanship." Jin Ling said righteously, her eyes full of gratitude when she looked at Li Yi.
The boy, still young, was deeply moved by her sincere confession and almost considered Jin Ling his confidant. The two of them sat by the window and talked about everything. Li Yi had never experienced such a hearty and joyful experience.
He was naturally intelligent and had been loved by the late emperor since childhood, but was feared by his brothers. Later, Empress Dowager Guo supported her son to ascend the throne and hated both mother and son, resulting in him having no friends of his own age.
Li Yi originally thought that Jin Ling was just a palace maid with a peculiar personality, but when chatting with her, she felt a sense of freedom and pleasure.
The two of them seemed to have a telepathic connection. Whether they were talking about the new emperor's policies, the unrest on the border, the Four Books and Five Classics, or the words of sages, Jin Ling could always take over the topic, making Li Yi more and more entertained, and even feeling less depressed about leaving the palace.
"Jin Ling, I didn't expect you to know so much."
"Actually, I'm not as gifted as the prince, who has a photographic memory. What I just said was just some crude ideas Jin Ling came up with after experiencing famine and war, combined with the knowledge she later learned from books."
Jin Ling looked up at the stars in the sky and murmured to herself, "In the end, people have to rely on themselves. Besides, I'm just a lowly palace maid..."
Li Yi looked at the girl who had always been full of energy and vitality and showed a sad expression for the first time. For some reason, she also felt a sense of sadness in her heart.
He grabbed Jin Ling's hand and interrupted her sad words: "Don't say that, you're already very capable. Being so self-pitying is unlike the Yao Jinling I know. Didn't you say before that you would never belittle yourself? Cheer up!"
Jin Ling looked at the hands that were tightly grasped by Prince Guang, silently shook his hands back, and nodded firmly: "Yes! I will work harder and strive to become the Yao Shang Gong in the future. Your Highness must also persevere, we must not give up!"
After saying that, she raised her finger and hooked it with the boy's pinky: "Let's make a promise that the next time we see each other, we will be better people."
"Okay, we'll make a promise and stick together for a hundred years!"
"We'll make a promise and stick to it for a hundred years!"
The two made a joking agreement under the moonlight, pressing their thumbs down hard as if they were really signing an unwritten contract.
I don't know how long it took, but I could still hear a faint conversation on the wind:
"...By the way, how did you know I was pretending to be stupid?"
"I'm so smart, I guessed it right away. And I suddenly appeared just now, catching you off guard, so you were exposed."
"Ha, I was wondering why you suddenly stuck your head out there. It's scary, you know? If I scream and attract others, you'll be in trouble."
"No way, even if someone is called by the prince, he will definitely protect me, right?"
"Of course I will. How could I possibly watch you get punished? But don't do that next time. Scaring people can kill them."
"I know. I'm sorry."
“…I forgive you.”
There was another silent silence.
"Jin Ling, thank you..."
The wind blew past, scattering his whispered thanks. In the gentle moonlight, only two small figures could be seen leaning against each other, like two homeless little animals who had finally found their other selves and were now snuggling together...
The next day, Sanhao learned from Eunuch Bu that Prince Guang was leaving the palace today. She ran all the way as planned and handed the candied lotus seeds that Jinling gave her to Prince Guang.
"There's a little sweetness in the bitterness. Your Highness, if you feel bitterness in the future, just eat a candied lotus seed."
Prince Guang took the handkerchief wrapped with candied lotus seeds, with an unconscious hope in his eyes, but he showed disappointment when he found that the person he was expecting was not there.
He reluctantly thanked her and sat back in the sedan chair in a depressed mood.
Li Yi originally thought that Jin Ling would come to see him off today. After all, he didn't know when they would see each other again.
He quietly opened the handkerchief, which contained two or three candied lotus seeds. He was about to pick one up when he saw something embroidered on the handkerchief.
Li Yi stuffed all the candy into his mouth with an inexplicable premonition, shook off the icing on his handkerchief, and looked carefully:
There were two auspicious clouds embroidered on this plain white handkerchief, and between the clouds was a sun with a smiling face, with four words embroidered next to it - "The clouds have cleared and the sun is visible."
He looked carefully again and found a small bell embroidered on the lower right corner of the handkerchief.
"The clouds are cleared away to reveal the sun, the clouds are cleared away... to reveal the sun..." Li Yi held the handkerchief and took out the hollow bell from her sleeve. There was a small incense pill inside.
The boy wrapped the bell with a handkerchief and sniffed the fresh and elegant fragrance. His aching head felt relieved and his bitter mood became a hundred times sweeter than eating candied lotus seeds.
Jin Ling, who was making hairpins in the Shanggong Bureau, checked the time and chatted with the system: [Tong, Prince Guang should be leaving the palace by now.]
The system estimated the time and nodded affirmatively: [It's time to leave the capital. Host, you used half of that bottle of strengthening potion to make incense pills for the hero, King Guang. Isn't that too much of a loss?]
[You don't understand this, right? Although the show mostly revolves around the heroine, the social issues it occasionally reveals are still very serious.]
[Since I want to be the empress, the emperor who governs the country must not be a tyrant who dies young.]
Jin Ling was free at the moment and didn't mind explaining her plan to tank in detail to this mentally retarded system.
The protagonist is definitely not a tyrant, but the injury he sustained on his forehead in childhood definitely left a lasting impression. Historically, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang reigned for only thirteen years, and in the show, he still exhibits headaches from time to time even as an adult.
[After completing the mission, we'll retire here, enjoying life to the fullest and dying naturally before embarking on the next mission. If the hero really only lived thirteen years, there would be riots everywhere.]
She touched the extremely luxurious hairpin in her hand, which was inlaid with jewels, but it was just a practice piece for a female historian.
[Don't forget that just because the heroine lives in a peaceful harem, this is the turbulent late Tang Dynasty.]
If a young emperor ascends the throne, and my mother's family is still powerless, she will only become a puppet of the powerful nobles, or manipulate the eunuchs to serve the emperor's power. If this is true, I am afraid that if things go wrong, I will end up as the empress dowager with my son.
The system suddenly realized: [So the male protagonist can't die after thirteen years on the throne like in history.]
[Ruzi is teachable. With the male protagonist supporting me from the front, I can happily be my queen from behind.]
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