Accidental entry
Xie Lingxi fell straight down from the stone bench, her newly changed dress rolling on the ground with several wrinkles. She didn't care who came, she first protected her head, and her exposed wrist scraped a bloody mark on the ground.
The hand around her neck tightened, making it hard for her to breathe. She struggled and slapped at the person above her, coughing violently. Her tongue had barely revealed a hint of red when her mouth was cruelly covered.
Another strangulation?!
Perhaps seeing that she remained silent, the person who was lying on top of her stood up at some point, grabbed her by the collar, and was about to throw her into the pond.
Xie Lingxi's mind was already clouded, and she finally found a chance to take a deep breath. Through her teary eyes, she saw dirty mosquitoes gathering on the stagnant pond. She said hoarsely, "Wait!"
The man paused, hesitated for a moment, and then put her down.
Her clothes were in a terrible state, covered in dust and grass. The embroidery on her shoulders had been torn apart during the movement, revealing her snow-white skin. Xie Lingxi touched her neck, which was red from being pinched, and stood up, supporting herself on her elbows.
"I got lost here, and I meant no harm."
Before them stood a beautiful young woman, whose beauty could not be concealed by her coarse cloth clothes. She was dressed in simple, plain clothes, without any jewels or ornaments. Her black hair was casually tied up, and her eyebrows and eyes were like wild grass growing again, containing an inextinguishable spark of fire.
She assumed a defensive stance and scoffed, "Lost? You're kidding me."
He glanced at Xie Lingxi a few times and said, "So young and beautiful, are you that old man's new concubine?"
Old man?
Could it be referring to—
Xie Lingxi swallowed the words "Your Majesty" carefully. Since she was in the palace, judging from her age, the person in front of her should be a princess. How could she remember that there was such a princess living in the cold palace in her previous life?
Right, Xie Lingxi suddenly remembered that in the bitter battle against the northern tribes that Xie Heng was falsely accused, a princess also perished in the battle.
At that time, the emperor wanted to send a princess to marry a foreign ruler. All the princesses in the palace had the protection of their mothers and clans. Later, an unnamed princess was brought out from the cold palace. Even the emperor did not know when she was born in that small courtyard. So he hastily gave her a title and sent her over in a sedan chair carried by eight men.
The next news of the princess came along with news of her brother's death—the princess had assassinated the Khan at night, knocked over a candlestick, and perished in the fire.
However, by then, Xie Lingxi had no time to care about others. The Xie clan was about to perish, and after she had avenged herself, she should go with her parents and brothers.
As her memories returned, Xie Lingxi took a step closer, her tone softening: "I'm not."
"My name is Xie Lingxi."
Yan Yun slowly retreated, pondering, "The Xie family's wife?"
Xie Lingxi nodded.
"I got my clothes wet during the banquet, so I came here to change and changed, but I got lost and ended up here."
She was probably telling the truth.
When Yan Yun was a child, she saw Xie's father from afar. At that time, she had not yet lost hope in her father. Once, she secretly slipped into the Imperial Garden and saw her father talking with a handsome man. She accidentally fell from a tree. She thought she would be punished, but she heard the man laugh and say, "Children are active and quick-witted. Your Majesty does not need to be so harsh."
That day, her father actually smiled at her and gently instructed the nanny to carry her back to the palace.
Later, she found out that the man was the Xie family patriarch, the renowned "Beautiful Beard".
She could no longer remember what the kind adult looked like, but now, looking at Xie Lingxi, she felt that her unhurried demeanor was similar to that person's. "You must have been deceived. This is the Cold Palace, not a place for you noble ladies to drink tea and dress."
Xie Lingxi guessed as much and asked, "Then how do we get out?"
Above them, amidst the sounds of singing and dancing, Yan Yun hesitated for a long while, "...I can't go out, but..."
As they were talking, a voice came from the dark hall. It sounded old, but very kind, "Ayun, who has come?"
Yan Yun hurriedly replied loudly, "Mother, please don't get up—"
Seeing her dart inside like a squirrel, Xie Lingxi pondered for a moment, wrapped himself in his clothes, and followed her into the hall.
Ah Yun... Is this prince named Yan Yun?
The empress's son and daughter were both named with meanings of prosperity and fulfillment, but she herself was named Cloud, which means floating in the air and drifting for half her life.
The scene inside the hall made Xie Lingxi gasp. There was hardly any furniture or decorations, let alone desks or wardrobes. There wasn't even a carved bed. Instead, there was only a small couch that could barely accommodate two people, leaning against the window.
The round window was covered with spider webs, teeming with tiny mosquitoes that were then introduced into the dark water of the pond.
Yan Yun's mother must have been a renowned beauty in her youth. Even now, though she is plagued by illness and confined to her bed, traces of her former beauty can still be seen.
Yan Yun was busy taking care of her mother, fetching clean water and carefully wiping her.
Seeing Xie Lingxi follow him in, he said in a stiff tone, "I don't have a place for you to stay here."
She received a light scolding from her mother, "Ayun, how dare you speak to people like that?"
Xie Lingxi didn't seem to care, and just stood there forlornly to the side, asking, "Is Your Highness ill?"
Consort Shu laughed and said, "I am no longer the Empress... This illness has lasted for more than ten years and it is incurable."
"What brings you here, my lady?"
When Xie Lingxi explained the situation to her, Consort Shu understood and, without missing the fleeting look of heartache in her eyes, calmly recounted the story of the mother and daughter. Sure enough, Xie Lingxi said, "His Majesty is unkind. Why don't you find a way to escape?"
According to her, no one has visited the Cold Palace for a long time, and how many people would care about losing a deposed empress?
Consort Shu took it as a joke: "How could it be as simple as you say?"
"Besides, if I leave, what will happen to Ayun... then no one will protect her anymore."
The woman who stumbled in by chance must be a kind-hearted one. She doesn't have long to live, but A-Yun still has a long way to go.
Xie Lingxi seemed to be deep in thought.
Based on the prince's skills just now, even ten of her wouldn't be able to defeat Yan Yun alone.
She asked indirectly, "Then what should we do about your illness? Could we please invite a royal physician to take a look?"
Consort Shu shook her head in disappointment.
Seeing her mother's ashen face, Yan Yun panicked and was about to ask Xie Lingxi to go out when she heard a series of playful noises coming from ahead. More than ten sets of footsteps, uneven and aggressive, seemed to be looking for someone.
At this moment, Xie Lingxi suddenly leaned against her. Yan Yun gently supported her, and inadvertently sniffed, frowning: "What's that smell on you?"
Xie Lingxi also sniffed her sleeve and indeed smelled a faint fragrance. "It's probably the incense from the side hall."
"This is not incense!"
Yan Yun took a light breath, and her body involuntarily felt a surge of heat. She slowly circulated her qi to dispel the burning sensation, and when she saw Xie Lingxi still standing calmly, she was shocked: "You wife, you've been drugged with aphrodisiacs and you don't even know it! If you want to die, go to the west! Don't let me get tainted by your bad luck!"
Although he said that, he started to pull off Xie Lingxi's clothes and pulled out a still clean dress from the wooden box at his feet. "You can wear this."
The dress was pure white with apricot yellow tinges. It looked like it was made many years ago and had been washed several times, but the fabric was exquisite and elegant, and the graceful figure was still timeless.
Xie Lingxi took the clothes, but hesitated for a moment: "This is not appropriate."
As they spoke, Yan Yun casually tossed aside her tattered clothes, which had been rolling on the ground and were stained with aphrodisiac fragrance, and forcefully put them on her, saying, "No one has ever worn these clothes before, what are you afraid of?"
"Luckily you came out early, otherwise this would have been very difficult."
Xie Lingxi was pulled up by her, her hands and feet stretched out. She smiled and said, "This medicine isn't very potent, it'll be fine."
Yan Yun thought to himself that it almost made you taste bad, but seeing that the woman didn't react at all, he noticed the horrifying bruises on her hands as she dressed, still covered in dark blood, and was startled: "What happened to you?"
Xie Lingxi fastened her belt: "It's nothing, it's just a common occurrence when you're on the edge of a knife."
Seeing the innocent princess's blank expression, she said calmly, "This aphrodisiac incense is the same; it doesn't work on me."
At this moment, the main hall was filled with a great commotion. Men and women talked and laughed, and the footsteps from all sides were so noisy that it was hard to count. Xie Lingxi had just taken a step when she realized something and said to Yan Yun, "Your Highness, may you lead the way for me?"
Her noble bearing, scattered throughout the cold palace, was like morning dew and the bright moon.
Yan Yun was stunned. Just as she had said, she stepped out of the door and heard Consort Shu suddenly say behind her, "Ayun, Mother is so cold. Help Mother find a stove."
This is the hottest period of summer.
Yan Yun didn't think much of it. She only knew that her mother was probably suffering from a long illness and was cold. She found a simple iron box in the clutter in the next room, roughly started a fire with weeds, and went into the room. She saw Xie Lingxi and her mother talking about something.
Consort Shu lay on the couch, gave Xie Lingxi something, and when she saw Yan Yun return, she looked up and said softly, "A-Yun, be careful of mosquitoes."
...
Half an hour ago, a palace maid rushed into the banquet in a panic, disturbing everyone's joy. Empress Lu was in a bad mood and was about to take the maid away when she heard the maid crying and saying something.
He then poured a bowl of cold water on her, and once she calmed down, she revealed something shocking—
"This servant...this servant was ordered by the princess to find Lady Xie. When I passed by Fanghua Palace, I heard sounds of men and women making merry inside. I couldn't help but look, and what I saw...what I saw..."
The maid was frightened and remained silent. Empress Lu said sternly, "Speak! Who did you see?"
"Yes, yes... Madam Xie, she's having an affair with a young man—"
Before she could finish speaking, she was slapped across the face. The one who did it was Xu Yuan, the one who had argued with Xie Lingxi in the academy. Although she despised Xie Lingxi's actions, she at least acknowledged her impeccable character. "How dare a lowly maid like me discuss my mistress's affairs!"
The palace maid immediately knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly, tears streaming down her face: "Your Majesty, spare my life! I have only spoken the truth!"
She tried to grab the Empress's precious feet, but was forcefully pressed down by the palace maids beside Empress Lu. Her back slumped, and she still uttered words that seemed to weep blood.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, believe me! This servant really saw it! That lady was wearing a jade hairpin with a double-lobed design, crafted by the master craftsman of the Treasure Pavilion in the west of the city. There is only one of its kind in the entire capital. This servant would never be mistaken!"
Xie Lingxi is wearing a jade hairpin with a rhombus shape today!
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