Chapter 76: Eternal Doom
Xie Junyao choked: "What?"
Wen Wanyu said indignantly, "Why does the Empress Dowager hate whoever the Emperor treats well? Concubine Zheng, Concubine Wan, and now the concubines, the Empress Dowager...why does she always deny the Emperor?"
After not hearing Xie Junyao speak for a long time, Wen Wanyu looked up and accidentally met Xie Junyao's dark eyes.
Her heart trembled, and she quickly lowered her head, becoming respectful: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I shouldn't have said anything about the Empress Dowager. I won't dare to do that again."
Although the relationship between her and the emperor has become much closer now, the emperor's thoughts are the most difficult to guess. Just now, the emperor's eyes were cold, deep, and unfathomable.
Those words really made her feel sorry for the Emperor. Whether the Emperor was angry or not, she didn't know. She only knew that she had most likely touched the Emperor's sore spot.
Xie Junyao smiled lazily: "I don't blame you."
He said noncommittally, "There are some things you can only say in front of me, understand?"
Wen Wanyu nodded cautiously, "I understand. I'll remember it."
She still didn't dare to look up, Xie Junyao stretched out his hand and embraced her: "Afraid of me."
Wen Wanyu replied respectfully, without her usual relaxed demeanor: "I dare not."
Xie Junyao sighed. It seemed like he was really scared.
Just now, her words, "Why does the Queen Mother always deny you?" entered his mind, and Xie Junyao was like waking from a dream. Yes, the Queen Mother had always denied him.
Even a concubine who had just been in the palace for half a year could see it.
Over the past few years, his mother had been constantly denying him. Everything he liked to do, everything he liked, everyone he liked, anything he liked, was rejected one by one.
However, as long as it was someone that Fifth Brother liked, even if they were those brothel girls who were not presentable, the Queen Mother would just scold him a few words and let him go.
What is denied is not the things he likes, but him.
Holding her in his arms, Xie Junyao said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "I'm not angry. I'm just thinking about what you said. I know you're thinking about me, but there are some things that can't be said in public. Wanwan, do you understand?"
Wen Wanyu curled her fingers.
"I understand."
Xie Junyao laughed to hide the pain in his eyes.
After sending her back to Chang Lixuan, Xie Junyao personally supervised her to finish drinking the medicine and coaxed her to sleep, and then left.
Walking along the palace wall, he dismissed the servants who were carrying the imperial sedan chair. His steps were heavy.
He was thinking about something else.
"I'm afraid the emperor will be embarrassed." "Why do you always deny the emperor?"
Maybe she loves herself more than she thinks.
Maybe he liked her more than he thought.
At that time, seeing her frightened look and respectful tone, his first reaction was that he was not used to it and did not want to see her like this. He wanted to see her smile, wanted to see her relax when talking to him.
The Queen Mother said: The daughter of a fifth-rank official is very scheming. Emperor, are you really planning to promote her?
His first thought at that time was: What's wrong with praising her?
The late emperor once said: "It is a great taboo for an emperor to be tempted. Once tempted, there is no recovery."
The late emperor admitted that he was in love with Concubine Chen, who then committed suicide with a sword. Since then, the late emperor has been depressed, ignoring state affairs and spending all day drinking to forget his sorrows.
There is no return.
Xie Junyao laughed at himself: "There is no return."
Li Dexian didn't hear clearly, so he stepped forward and asked, "Your Majesty, what did you say about not betraying me?"
"nothing…"
——
The moonlight was hazy, and the night breeze blew gently, bringing the fragrance of flowers in the distance and the mysterious shimmering water of the lake.
A palace maid knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "My lady, please let my family go."
A woman said condescendingly, "Let your family go? You can't even handle such a trivial matter, and you actually exposed me."
The maid kowtowed and cried, "I was very careful in my actions, but I didn't expect her to discover my identity. I, I...I was wrong. Please, my lady, please let my family go."
The woman kicked the maid, but not feeling satisfied, she kicked her a few more times. "Then do you know what her plan is?"
"I don't know. Ever since I was discovered, she has been avoiding me when she speaks."
The woman hid in the darkness, a fierce look gradually appearing on her face: "Bring her here at this time three days from now."
A breeze blew by, and the skirt fluttered, hitting the maid's face. The maid was stunned and didn't understand for a moment: "What do you mean, young lady?"
"Just tell me I want to see her. I have something to tell her."
Then, the woman slowly spoke, "To outsiders, it would appear that Concubine Ling was walking by the lake at night. Her fever made her head foggy, and she accidentally fell into the water. By the time anyone arrived, it was dim and dark, and she had already lost her pulse from being in the water for so long. Then, no one would be able to blame you. No one would even know it was related to us."
The palace maid was stunned, her expression blank.
The woman gave her a look of disdain, and stroked the jade hairpin on her head with her bare hands. "Why, are you scared already? Think about it, the lives of three of your family members are in your hands."
The maid's heart seemed to be in her throat. "My lady, this is too risky. If someone sees..."
"Oh--"
The woman squatted down and looked at her, "If someone saw you, don't you know what to do?"
The palace maid's face turned pale immediately.
If she were discovered, she would be pushed out to take the blame.
The woman took off the jade bracelet from her wrist and put it into the maid's hand. Then she stood up and said, "If you are caught, you can say that Concubine Ling is cruel and ruthless to her servants. I don't need to explain the rest of the story."
"If you succeed in this and you are not discovered, I can send you out of the palace and give you and your family a courtyard to live in during your retirement."
The maid tightly grasped the jade bracelet and kowtowed: "I will definitely see this through."
The woman curled her lips, and wore a light blue dress that dragged on the ground, embroidered with fluttering butterflies.
"Go back quickly. Otherwise, no one will get suspicious."
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