Chapter 73 Save your tears, go cry on the bed.
After visiting Xiao Chuanzi, Shui Xian and Emperor Zhao Heng returned to the main hall of Yongle Palace.
Under the bright candlelight, Narcissus did not speak, but sat quietly by the soft couch, tears rolling down her cheeks like broken pearls.
Emperor Zhaoheng looked at the person silently weeping before him, and waved his hand, signaling Yinzhu and the others who were standing in the hall to step down.
Only the two of them remained in the vast main hall.
Emperor Zhaoheng walked to the soft couch and sat down. He stretched out his arm and gently pulled the narcissus into his arms.
He lowered his head and gently kissed away the tears on her cheek.
"Why are you crying again?"
His voice was deep and gentle, tinged with helpless indulgence, as his fingertips lightly caressed the corners of her slightly reddened eyes.
"I just said I wasn't jealous of Xiao Chuanzi, but if Xian'er sheds tears for him again, I'll be consumed by jealousy again."
Narcissus was amused by his joking words of comfort and stopped crying.
She turned her head slightly, avoiding his probing gaze, and mumbled softly with a heavy nasal tone:
"Your Majesty... I don't know what's wrong with me. Now that I'm pregnant, these tears just come out of nowhere, and I can't control them."
She lowered her eyes, tiny teardrops still clinging to the tips of her eyelashes.
"But... just looking at Xiao Chuanzi reminds me of when he first came to my side, so thin he looked like a daylily that would fall over in the wind, so pitiful... He finally managed to regain some strength, but now..."
She choked back tears, unable to continue, her sobs falling even more fiercely, "He suffered so much because of me..."
Emperor Zhaoheng stretched out his slender fingers, with an irresistible force, and gently pinched her delicate chin, forcing her to lift her tear-filled face.
"Haven't I already arranged the best place for him?"
He said gently, wiping her wet cheek with his fingertips, "I broke ancestral rules for Xian'er by arranging for him to enter the Imperial Hospital, and Xian'er is still not happy?"
A cunning man.
He was clearly doing it for the sake of his reputation as a wise ruler, but now he's making it sound like he was just trying to please her.
Narcissus sniffed and said softly, "I'm so happy for Xiao Chuanzi that he has such good fortune..."
However, the complexities of pregnancy cannot be explained in just a few words.
After the initial joy, even more tears streamed down my face.
Emperor Zhaoheng's gaze fell on her beautiful face, which was streaked with tears, and then slowly moved to her slightly bitten, reddened lips. His Adam's apple bobbed uncontrollably.
He steadily supported her waist and back with one hand, holding her on his lap.
Emperor Zhaoheng's deep, magnetic voice carried a reassuring strength: "Alright, don't cry. I'm here. I'll hold you and stay with you, okay?"
His embrace was broad and warm, and under his patient comforting, Narcissus's tense nerves gradually relaxed.
Her tears gradually stopped, leaving only soft sobs, which, in the quiet hall, only added to the tender intimacy.
Emperor Zhaoheng gently brushed his chin against the top of her head, feeling the way the person in his arms relied on him, and the darkness in his eyes grew even deeper.
Gradually, the narcissus seemed to sense something.
She lifted herself from the man's neck, her water-soaked eyes giving Emperor Zhaoheng's profile a reproachful look.
Narcissus got off his lap and walked away in a huff.
"Your Majesty, please leave quickly."
Before Emperor Zhaoheng could speak, she gave a suggestive glance at the area covered by his robe.
"Your Majesty hasn't touched me during this time, so I dare not cause you any discomfort. If Your Majesty leaves early, you can still find someone else while there's still time..."
Before Shui Xian could finish speaking, Emperor Zhaoheng grabbed her wrist and pulled her in front of him.
By the bright candlelight in the hall, he gazed intently at her, watching her cheeks gradually regain their plumpness, which now looked puffed up, making her exceptionally... adorable.
"Xian'er, do you know how long I've endured this?"
Emperor Zhaoheng gently squeezed her soft palm and pulled her close with some force.
The man's hands, burning hot, almost forcefully pried apart her fingers and clasped them together.
Skin to skin, the heat passed through their intertwined fingertips, and Narcissus felt a slight warmth in her body, her ears turning a rosy red.
She spoke boldly, "The first two times, His Majesty passed away at the crucial moment. I thought His Majesty had reached a certain age and was now..."
Before Shui Xian could finish speaking, Emperor Zhaoheng grabbed her hand and led her into the inner room.
He said, "Save your tears, go cry on the couch."
......
As dawn broke, a warm fragrance wafted through the inner chamber, and the brocade curtains hung low. Emperor Zhaoheng and Shui Xian were still fast asleep.
Having not been favored for a long time, we stayed up quite late last night.
Emperor Zhaoheng demonstrated the depth of his patience through his actions; he could coax Shui Xian and easily make her cry.
Narcissus rested her head on the emperor's strong arm, her breathing even, her eyes showing a hint of languor and weariness from being favored.
Emperor Zhaoheng's sleeping profile had lost its usual coldness and appeared peaceful and serene.
However, this tranquility was shattered by the sudden wailing outside the palace!
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, you must do justice for me! Narcissus is a vixen! A wicked fox spirit who brings ruin to the country! Your Majesty!!!"
The sound was like the wailing of ghosts and wolves, piercing through the heavy palace doors.
It sounded particularly loud and jarring in the otherwise quiet morning.
Emperor Zhaoheng slowly opened his eyes. Upon hearing that familiar voice, his profile tensed slightly.
Narcissus was also awakened. Her eyes were not fully open, still hazy from the previous night, but she had already sat up slightly.
"presumptuous!"
A suppressed rage came from outside the door, emanating from Feng Shunxiang's voice, "Consort Yi! The Emperor and Consort Jin have not yet risen. What kind of decorum is this, making such a scene! What grievances do you have? Wait until the Emperor rises before..."
"Get out of here! You eunuch!" Yi Guichun's voice was filled with madness, carrying a hysterical and aggressive force.
"You must have been bewitched by that vixen too! Blocking my way to see the Emperor! I want to see the Emperor! Get out of my way!"
Immediately following was a chaotic tearing sound and a suppressed groan of pain!
"Eunuch Feng!"
The exclamations of the guards outside the palace came from outside.
Upon hearing this, both Emperor Zhaoheng and Shui Xian were completely awake.
Emperor Zhaoheng's face was ashen. He threw off the brocade quilt and stood up nimbly.
Shui Xian quickly sat up and put on her coat, but because of her pregnant belly, her movements were inevitably a little slow.
Emperor Zhaoheng pulled open the palace door.
The blinding morning light poured in, illuminating the chaotic scene in the courtyard of Yongle Palace.
Yi Guichun was disheveled, with a few strands of hair clinging to his face, which was covered in tears and displayed a crazed expression.
She had just forced her way into Yongle Palace, and now she was being held back by two imperial guards, but she was still struggling and kicking wildly, as if she had gone mad.
Her gaze was fixed on Emperor Zhaoheng and Shuixian, who had just opened the door, her eyes burning with barely suppressed resentment.
"Your Majesty! I'm innocent!"
Feng Shunxiang stood to the side, one hand covering his cheek, with a few streaks of bright red blood seeping through his fingers!
A long scratch had appeared on his face from Yi Guichun's earlier attack.
The old eunuch's face was ashen as he stared intently at Yi Guichun, who was still struggling.
He's already so old; if he were to walk before the emperor with such a mark on his face, who knows what kind of rumors would be spread about him.
Emperor Zhaoheng's gaze lingered for a moment on the bloodstains on Feng Shunxiang's face, and his eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.
Feng Shunxiang lowered his head in shame, awkwardly covering the wound on his face with his sleeve, his body trembling slightly.
"Bring him in." Emperor Zhaoheng's voice was icy, his emotions unreadable.
The imperial guards immediately dragged the still screaming and struggling Yi Guichun into the main hall of Yongle Palace and slammed him heavily to the ground.
As soon as Yi Guichun entered the hall, his gaze was fixed on Shui Xian as if it were poisoned.
Her eyes were bloodshot as she pointed at the daffodils, her voice cracking with excitement and screaming, uttering incoherent roars:
"It's her! Your Majesty! It's her! That vixen, Narcissus! She's a vixen! She's a wicked fox spirit who has brought disaster to the Emperor!"
"She used sorcery! She bewitched you! She bewitched everyone!"
She turned her head sharply and pointed at Emperor Zhaoheng, her eyes filled with madness: "Your Majesty! You've been deceived by her! Xuemei! That lowly servant Xuemei was also bewitched by her! Two nights ago, the night before you ordered Xuemei to be thrown into the Shenxing Division, she secretly came to Yongle Palace to see Shuixian!"
"It must have been at that time! That vixen Narcissus cast a curse on her! She used a spell on her! That's why Xue Mei is attacking me like a mad dog! And falsely accusing me of feigning madness!"
"Your Majesty! You must investigate! She is a demon! The child in her womb is not the imperial heir at all! It is an evil creature conjured by her fox spirit magic! It is here to bring chaos to the Great Qi Empire!!"
She became more and more excited as she spoke, spitting as she spoke and gesturing wildly.
The hysterical accusations, filled with absurd fantasies, echoed in the solemn and majestic main hall of Yongle Palace, appearing particularly ridiculous and bizarre.
Emperor Zhaoheng's face was terribly gloomy. He sat in the main seat, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest, making a dull "tap-tap" sound, as if he was suppressing a raging fire.
He did not immediately rebuke Yi Guichun's nonsense, but the icy pressure emanating from his body caused the temperature in the hall to drop sharply.
Shui Xian stood quietly beside Emperor Zhaoheng, listening to Yi Guichun's vicious insults of "vixen," but her face showed no sign of panic.
She merely furrowed her delicate eyebrows slightly, slowly turned to face Emperor Zhaoheng.
Narcissus's voice was soft and calm, tinged with just the right amount of concern:
"emperor......"
She raised her clear, watery eyes, her voice filled with innocence and pity for Yi Guichun:
"Consort Yi... seems to have really gone mad."
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