Ruyi felt a little uneasy: "Master, why don't we leave? I heard that the women in the cold palace are mentally unstable. What if they hurt you?"
Ning Yuxi smiled and said, "No matter how abnormal she is, she is still more normal than the women in the harem!"
She signaled the young eunuch to open the door and took a few people into the cold palace. What she saw was a desolate courtyard full of devastation.
Four or five ragged, crazy women were chasing and fighting in the yard. They were immersed in their own world and didn't care at all about the arrival of Ning Yuxi and the others.
There were even two women who looked to be in their thirties or forties hugging each other and shouting, "Your Majesty, don't you want me anymore? I miss you so much..."
Ning Yuxi saw a familiar face among the people. It was Concubine Qin, the murderer who killed the original owner.
At this moment, she was holding a broken bronze mirror to look at her face, and she was giggling foolishly.
Ruyi looked at the group of mentally ill women who were holding Ning Yuxi's arms with their hands tighter, knowing that she was afraid. Ning Yuxi patted the back of her hand soothingly and signaled a young eunuch to go find where Chen was.
This cold palace is not big. Apart from the small courtyard in the front, there is only a row of houses in the back. Since Chen is not in the courtyard, the other party should be in a house.
Soon the young eunuch found the person and led Ning Yuxi away.
After entering the room and before I could see who was there, I heard a tired voice: "You're here."
Following the sound, I saw a woman in simple clothes sitting on the only intact chair in the room. It was Chen.
After not seeing each other for more than a month, she looked much more haggard, only slightly better than those women outside.
"What do you want from me?" Ning Yuxi went straight to the point.
Chen smiled but didn't answer her question: "You must hate me very much."
"Yeah, if it were me, I'd hate you too. I'm sorry for you..."
Ning Yuxi interrupted her with a sullen face: "If that's what you came to me to say, then you don't have to speak."
Chen gave a bitter laugh, and after a while, she seemed to recall something: "My mother died early, and my father soon remarried a stepmother. They say that if there is a stepmother, there will be a stepfather. After that, I became a superfluous person in the family."
"In order to survive, I had to be extremely cautious and watch people's expressions. If it weren't for my childhood cousin, I wouldn't have been able to make it through those years.
We were clearly a match made in heaven, but fate played a trick on me and I ended up in the Emperor's harem, then still a prince, and became his concubine."
By this point, she was already in tears. After calming herself down, she continued, "My cousin and I are not destined to be together, so I only hope that he will live a peaceful and happy life. But Concubine Liu, Concubine Liu threatened me with my cousin's life and framed you..."
"I have no ties in this life except to my cousin. I am sorry for you, but I can only be sorry for you. I can't watch my cousin die. I would rather exchange my life for his..."
Chen closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she smiled with a hint of relief: "I owe you this life. In the next life, I am willing to work like a slave for you, just to vent your hatred."
Ning Yuxi sneered, "The damage has been done. No amount of compensation will make it go away. I won't forgive you, but I won't hate you either. After all, hatred also requires emotional investment."
She is unwilling to show any emotion to irrelevant people, even hatred.
Ning Yuxi didn't stop and turned to leave. When she reached the door, she heard Chen's hesitant voice behind her: "I did it alone. It has nothing to do with Jingyun. After I leave, no one will be able to protect her. I hope, I hope..."
In the end, she didn't have the face to ask Ning Yuxi for anything, so she didn't say anything else.
The Jingyun she mentioned was Li Changzai, who had always been on good terms with her and lived with her in Yaohe Palace.
Ning Yuxi didn't stop and walked out.
She had just stepped out of Chen's house and taken a few steps when she heard a sharp and hoarse female voice coming from not far away: "Ning Yuxi, it's you!"
She looked up and saw that it was Liu, whom she had not seen for a long time, the former Concubine Liu.
Liu was dressed in plain clothes, her face was pale and haggard, and her eyes were full of hatred as she looked at Ning Yuxi.
When Ruyi saw who was coming, she immediately stepped forward and stood in front of Ning Yuxi, her protective attitude obvious.
Seeing this, Liu snorted disdainfully: "Bitch, it's all because of you. You've destroyed my family and imprisoned me in this hellish place. I'm going to kill you!"
As she spoke, Liu rushed forward like a madman, fangs bared and claws bared. But before she could get within ten feet of Ning Yuxi, the two young eunuchs who followed her stepped forward and subdued her, forcing her to kneel on the ground.
She was no longer the Concubine Liu who came from a prosperous family and was the most favored concubine in the harem. Now she was just the daughter of a traitor and had been demoted to a commoner. Naturally, the two young eunuchs looked down on her.
Ning Yuxi looked at Concubine Liu with only disgust and a hint of pity in her eyes. She was disgusted by her unscrupulousness in achieving her goals, and she felt pity for the fact that she was still blaming everything on her.
All of this was just the Liu family's own fault. They could only blame the emperor for having murderous intentions towards them, and they could only blame themselves for their own reckless behavior.
Ning Yuxi didn't want to get entangled with her, so she walked around her and headed towards the door.
As she passed by her, Liu suddenly laughed sarcastically and said, "Do you think you've won? Haha, the emperor is a selfish and cold-hearted man. I want to see how long you can be so proud. I'm waiting for the day when you fall!"
Ning Yuxi paused and said, "You just found out? What a pity, it's too late!"
After saying that, she turned and left without hesitation.
Liu was left alone, slightly stunned.
Ning Yuxi had long been aware of the emperor's selfishness and coldness, but Liu had to spend half her life to understand this truth, which was pitiful and sad.
On the way back from the cold palace, Ning Yuxi felt mixed emotions. She had thought of many possibilities regarding Chen's betrayal, but she had never imagined that she was actually a love-brained person.
Yes, for someone with such an unfortunate family background, the warmth of any person can make her give her true heart, let alone her childhood sweetheart who grew up with her.
It’s just that Ning Yuxi is unable to accept the relationship between these cousins, but she should respect and bless them.
I was thinking about all sorts of things all the way to the Imperial Garden, and saw from afar that there seemed to be a group of people blocking the road ahead.
Ning Yuxi decided to wait a while as she was too lazy to deal with the women in the harem.
The two groups of people were Concubine Jing and Wei Da Ying. They should have met by chance. At this moment, Wei Da Ying was bowing to Concubine Jing. Concubine Jing had an indifferent expression on her face, as if she didn't want to deal with the other party.
It is understandable. After all, Wei Da Ying was once a maid in Concubine Jing's palace. She became a concubine in the harem after she was favored by the emperor.
After a closer look, Ning Yuxi suddenly discovered a surprising phenomenon.
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