Just then, a cry came from outside: "Your Majesty, Xiuhua's mother has caught a cold and is bedridden. We beg Your Majesty to grant Xiuhua permission to leave the palace to visit her mother..."
The Emperor breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Prince Xiang, saying, "Father, you and your godfather should go ahead first..."
The emperor stopped abruptly before he could finish speaking.
He inherited the throne from the previous emperor, and the court officials all asked him to address the previous emperor as "Father Emperor," while he could only address his biological father and adoptive father as "Emperor and Subject."
He lowered his head and changed his words, saying, "Aunt Liao is a relative of the Prince of Xiang's family. Please let the Prince of Xiang go first. Prime Minister Kong, please step down as well. I will send someone to escort Xiuhua out of the palace to visit her mother."
------
West Alley Garden.
After seeing Prince Xiang off, Yang Hua had just returned to her room when Aunt Liao grabbed her sleeve and asked, "When will Xiu Hua return? Will the Emperor forbid her from leaving the palace?"
Yang Hua lost patience with the explanation, pulled Aunt Liao toward the bed, and gave her a hint:
"Aunt, don't forget that you're bedridden because you caught a cold. If the people in the palace see that you're healthy and well, they'll accuse you of deceiving the emperor, and you'll be beheaded."
Aunt Liao quickly lay down on the bed, covered her forehead with a wet cloth, and groaned softly.
It turns out that Aunt Liao had not caught a cold. She was just worried about Xiuhua, so she pretended to be sick and asked Xiuhua to come back and check on her.
Xiuhua rushed into the bedroom, went straight to the bed, grabbed Aunt Liao's hand and burst into tears, "Mother, Hua'er has finally seen Mother..."
When Aunt Liao opened her eyes, she saw Xiuhua lying by the bed, crying her eyes out. Looking around the room, she saw Yanghua and Baihe, who were not strangers.
Aunt Liao ripped off her handkerchief, sat up, and grabbed Xiuhua's sleeve, asking, "Don't cry! Your mother is asking you, has the Emperor favored you? Have you had your period on time? Also, has the Empress been targeting you?"
Shy Flower felt a chill in her heart and stopped crying.
She understood that her mother had conspired with Yang Hua to send her and Biyue into the palace in order to win the emperor's favor and punish the Gu family in the future.
However, she was alone and helpless in the palace, and her mother never offered her a word of comfort, her mind only preoccupied with vying for power.
She pushed away Aunt Liao's hand and stood up.
Aunt Liao flew into a rage and grabbed the hairpin from beside her pillow, stabbing it repeatedly into her thigh.
"You shameless hussy, you dare to disobey your elders as soon as you enter the palace? Don't forget, if it weren't for me protecting you and Biyue, those people from the Gu family would have beaten you to death long ago and seized the property left by your father."
Xiuhua suddenly knelt on the ground. She knew how hard her mother had worked, but from childhood to adulthood, her mother had only fought and struggled with the Gu family for property, and had never truly cared about her and Biyue.
The mother sent them to the palace to avenge the ancient family.
She was inherently simple-minded, and the scheming and power struggles she encountered were like a raging flood to her. Since Biyue left, she had been filled with anxiety and unable to sleep at night, so the smile had vanished from her face.
She didn't want the emperor's favor; she only wanted to leave the palace. This was also the reason why she didn't agree to form an alliance with Hongyu.
“Mother, the inner palace is cold and desolate. I don’t want to stay there anymore. I’m so cold there that I can’t even smile anymore.”
With a series of sharp slaps, Aunt Liao rushed barefoot to Xiuhua and slapped her hard across the face.
Snap!
"I'll teach you to be so useless."
Snap!
"I'll make you forget your enemies."
Snap!
"I'll teach you to back down..."
"stop!"
Hongyu strode in, glancing sideways at Aunt Liao.
Aunt Liao had never met Hongyu, so she could only look to Yanghua for answers.
Yang Hua hurriedly greeted her with a smile, took Hong Yu's arm and sat her down by the brazier, and began to chat casually: "In this freezing weather, isn't Your Majesty worried that the Emperor will be concerned if you leave the palace?"
"I heard that General Mu just returned from the southeast coast and set off for the western frontier for inspection a few days ago. I came here to visit my sister. Judging by the days, she should be giving birth in three months, right?"
Yang Hua nodded and pointed to Aunt Liao, saying, "This is my aunt, Gu Liao, the mother of Biyue and Xiuhua."
Hongyu sized up Aunt Liao.
Aunt Liao's hair was already white, but her figure was still curvaceous and slender, retaining her charm. Although there were wrinkles on her cheeks, they were still fair and rosy, and her youthful spirit remained. Her deep and sharp phoenix eyes could not hide her deep scheming and burning ambition.
Hongyu was overjoyed. She thought to herself, "Excellent! Aunt Liao is ambitious; she can definitely be used by her."
Hongyu reached out and helped Xiuhua up, holding Xiuhua's hand and sighing, "Alas! Xiuhua left the palace early this morning to buy quilts for the Emperor. She had just returned to the palace when she heard that her mother was ill, so she rushed to Xixiang Garden."
Her hands are still ice cold, she hasn't warmed up yet. Jade, Lily, you two take Consort Hua to the next room to warm up.
Hongyu dismissed Xiuhua and waved for Aunt Liao to sit down.
Aunt Liao sat down, head bowed, her eyes secretly glancing at Hongyu, and asked softly, "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to take good care of my Xiuhua."
"Sigh!" Hongyu sighed again, resting her arms on the round table and rubbing her forehead as she said:
"I treat everyone equally and have never shown favoritism to anyone, so I advised the Emperor to extend his favor to all.
However, the Emperor was busy with official duties and often stayed up late. Consort Na was perceptive and would prepare nourishing soups for the Emperor and massage his back and shoulders. Therefore, she received the Emperor's favor every night without exception.
As for Xiuhua? She had no interest in serving the Emperor and spent her days hiding in Qingyan Palace, thus missing many opportunities.
"Alas!" Aunt Liao couldn't help but sigh. "Shy Flower wants to leave the palace, but there's no turning back now. I hope Her Majesty the Empress can give her some guidance."
Hongyu shook her head, indicating that she was powerless to help. Then she looked at Yanghua beside her and asked, "Sister, do you still remember Qiu Xue'er? She was originally the daughter of General Qiu, but she was bullied by the legitimate daughter and made into a maidservant. In the end, she was even sold off."
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