Chapter 27
After the palace banquet, Yue Mingming and several other women were arranged to live in Yuhua Palace, while Zhao Congyun stayed in the imperial study to play chess with Emperor Zhaoming.
Zhao Congyun felt inexplicably uneasy. He stood in the cold wind for a long time, until the figures of Yue Mingming and the palace maids disappeared into the night, then he slowly withdrew his gaze.
"Uncle Dong, please go back home and get something for me." Zhao Congyun suddenly spoke.
Uncle Dong leaned over and listened for a few words. His pupils suddenly dilated: "Your Highness... why did you come to this..."
"Just in case." Zhao Congyun stared at the dark night sky covered with dark clouds and sighed softly: "I hope I don't have to use it."
*
Yue Mingming was not as nervous as Zhao Congyun. She chatted with everyone along the way and had already figured out the identities of the other people before she even reached Yuhua Palace.
She took careful note of it in her mind, and when she returned to the room, she started gossiping using the system.
Not daring to use pen and paper to record, Yue Mingming had to sit at the desk and mutter to herself. Seeing her like this, the palace servants did not dare to disturb her and tactfully withdrew.
Contrary to expectations, although servants and guards were everywhere in the palace, it was exceptionally quiet at night.
After sitting there stiffly for a long time, when Yue Mingming came to his senses, the third watch had already sounded outside.
She stretched lazily, not feeling sleepy at all, so she simply opened the window and took a deep breath of the damp and cold night air. Her thoughts froze temporarily, and a figure that defied the frost and snow gradually emerged in her mind.
I wonder what he is doing now? Is he asleep?
The wound on his palm should be treated with medicine, but I forgot to remind him before leaving...
Yue Mingming leaned against the window and sighed softly.
She had no confidence in tomorrow's competition. The gossip she'd gathered from her late nights yielded no useful information. Unlike Su Dingrou, these people's resumes were clean, bordering on boring. There was no point using them to threaten them into withdrawing from the selection process.
Looks like I'm going to make a fool of myself tomorrow...
As a modern person, she is not ashamed of knowing nothing about music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but Yue Mingming does not want to see Emperor Zhaoming blame Zhao Congyun for this, and she does not want Zhao Congyun to become a laughing stock in the court because of her.
She raised her eyes to look at the palace wall. There were no stars or moon tonight, and the places where the lights could not reach were pitch black. It was a perfect day for climbing walls and running on rooftops. Yue Mingming began to seriously consider whether she could "make a fool of herself" in the palace with her newly learned light skills and escape before she was embarrassed.
As he was lost in thought, he heard the rustling of footsteps outside the palace. A team of palace guards were passing by on night patrol. Not wanting to be seen, Yue Mingming quickly closed the window, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a figure breaking away from the group and heading straight towards him.
Pull, pull, pull... As expected, the man stopped in front of her door and knocked gently.
Yue Mingming was a little panicked.
She didn't know anyone in the palace except Zhao Congyun. Someone knocked on the door in the middle of the night, and the level of horror was comparable to that of a horror movie.
"Is Madam Yue asleep?" a calm female voice asked outside the door.
"Who are you... Is there something wrong?" Yue Mingming tiptoed to the door, silently reciting the tricks of the Xingyun Palm.
"The prince asked me to bring some midnight snacks to my wife," the man whispered.
“…” Yue Mingming was stunned and felt complicated.
She didn't know whether she should believe what he said, but if it was true... could it be that in Zhao Congyun's mind, she was actually a foodie who didn't forget to have a midnight snack even when she entered the palace?!
"The prince said that although the osmanthus soup in the palace is not as good as the one made in your hometown, it has a unique flavor. He asked me to bring it to you to try." The man explained in a gentle voice.
Before entering the palace, Yue Mingming specially sent osmanthus soup to Zhao Congyun, and only they knew about this.
We are one of us.
When Yue Mingming opened the door, she saw an elderly palace maid standing in front of it, carrying a food box. "My surname is Sun. If you don't mind, you can call me Nanny Sun."
Yue Mingming didn't dare to neglect him and quickly invited him in. Nanny Sun arranged the food in the food box one by one. In addition to the osmanthus soup, there were also two plates of snacks and two plates of candied fruits, all of which were styles Yue Mingming had never seen before.
Nanny Sun said, "The prince said that my wife didn't eat much at the dinner and she might not sleep well in the palace. He was worried that you would wake up hungry at night, so he asked me to come and check on you."
Yue Mingming blushed, feeling a little embarrassed: "Thank you, Ma'am... sorry for bothering you!"
Nanny Sun smiled, silently observing her for a long moment before she spoke, "I was the prince's wet nurse. Later, when he left the palace and established his own household, he always remembered the small amount of care I showed him and would visit me from time to time. I have no way to repay him, so I can only light a blessing lantern for him at Changfu Temple every year, hoping that he will one day receive his wish."
Yue Mingming was slightly stunned. She thought that the person in front of her was just a palace maid trusted by Zhao Congyun, but she didn't expect that the two of them had such a deep connection.
"What he wished for..." Yue Mingming asked curiously, "What did he wish for?"
Nanny Sun didn't answer, but pushed the soup in front of her: "This is a thoughtful gift from the prince, please try it while it's hot."
Yue Mingming was actually quite hungry, so he took a sip without hesitation. His eyes lit up immediately, "What a unique taste!"
Nanny Sun nodded. "This soup is based on osmanthus soup, but with hawthorn honey added, which gives it this sweet and sour taste... Back when the Imperial Concubine was ill and had a poor appetite, the late Emperor came up with this method, and it always coaxed her into eating an extra bowl."
"You mean... this is the recipe that the late emperor came up with?" Yue Mingming thought to himself: "My Lady Imperial Concubine... could it be..."
Nanny Sun continued, "Yes, it is the prince's biological mother, the late Concubine Li."
Yue Mingming knew very well that with Zhao Congyun's temper, he would never talk about the past with anyone, but she didn't know why his wet nurse told her this.
Nanny Sun seemed to see through her doubts and suddenly asked, "Madam, do you know how the prince grew up?"
Zhao Congyun when he was a cub?
Yue Mingming shook her head. She only guessed from the few words that Uncle Dong and Li Si said when they made a big fuss in Yuhu that Zhao Congyun's personality today was probably due to some childhood trauma.
Nanny Sun said calmly, "The late emperor's youngest son, and Concubine Li was his favorite concubine, so when the prince was just born, he was extremely favored, even the current emperor was inferior to him.
"But things are unpredictable... In just two years, the imperial concubine and the late emperor fell out, and she requested to be relegated to the cold palace. She was a stubborn person, and once her mind was made up, no one could change it. On the day of her departure, the prince followed her crying and calling her mother all the way, but she didn't even turn her head once."
Nanny Sun sighed, "After Concubine Li left, the late emperor also refused to see the prince, and the prince has fallen out of favor since then."
She lowered her voice and said, "My lady, you know that in this deep palace, it is tragic for a concubine to fall out of favor, but it is terrible for a prince to fall out of favor."
Yue Mingming was puzzled: "Why? At the very least, he's still a prince."
Nanny Sun said, "Precisely because of this prince's status...some people fear that Concubine Li will one day regain her favor, that the late emperor will suddenly remember this neglected son, and even more so that this child will threaten the throne when he grows up."
Although Yue Mingming knew that Zhao Congyun was safe and sound until today, his heart still tightened: "So... someone attacked him?"
"Twice, once by falling into the water, and once by poisoning. These are common tricks used in the palace. Fortunately, the prince was lucky enough to grow up like this until he was five years old... until the Third Prince, the current emperor, returned from training in the frontier and took this unloved younger brother in to raise him."
"It turns out that the emperor really did raise him."
Yue Mingming finally understood the real reason why Zhao Congyun had endured humiliation and obeyed Emperor Zhaoming for so many years.
Nanny Sun said tactfully, "To the prince, the emperor is both a father and a brother, as well as a teacher. The emperor's original intentions were certainly good. He had just turned twenty back then, so his views on imperial power and family affection were naturally different from what they would become later."
Yue Mingming heard the hidden meaning in her words and asked tentatively, "What happened next?"
"It's nothing new," Nanny Sun smiled faintly, "It's just that the person who was once the closest to me and whom I respected the most suddenly withdrew his love one day and began to be suspicious, wary, and cautious.
"Then the prince discovered that his every word and action suddenly became an ulterior motive. He was very confused and tried various ways to redeem himself, but later they became evidence for people to accuse him."
Yue Mingming felt a pang of sadness in his heart: "How old was he then?"
Nanny Sun looked at her and paused, "About fifteen or sixteen, a prime age full of vigor and ambition. Whether it was studying, riding and shooting, or playing the piano, chess, calligraphy, or painting, she was an outstanding child in every way... but then all of that was wasted."
Yue Mingming asked, "Did the emperor deliberately suppress him?"
"No, it was the prince himself. He destroyed his own future... He stopped going to school, stopped studying, and constantly ran away to prostitutes. Everyone thought he had gone astray, but who understood that he was just using his own methods to reassure the emperor?"
"Will the emperor be relieved now?" Yue Mingming's brows were filled with anger.
Nanny Sun was silent for a moment, then whispered, "I'm not telling you this for any other reason. It's simply because you're in the palace and should have some understanding of the past so you can make better judgments when encountering things. I'm sure the prince won't tell you these things."
Yue Mingming nodded: "Thank you for the reminder, Madam. I understand!"
She suddenly said, "There's something I'd like to ask you, Madam... Madam, do you think the prince has become that kind of person now?"
Her eyes dimmed slightly. "He has also been suspicious, wary, and cautious of me... Is his rebellion against the Emperor's arrangements this time because he has also gained a new understanding of imperial power and family ties?"
Nanny Sun thought for a moment and said slowly, "I dare not make any rash judgments, nor will I deny that the prince has changed a lot compared to his childhood..."
"But you still believe in him." Yue Mingming saw what Nanny Sun was thinking and continued on her behalf.
Nanny Sun shook her head: "I dare to say something extremely treasonous... In my eyes, the prince is like my own child. Whether he does the right thing or the wrong thing, my feelings for him have never changed.
"I don't believe him, I feel sorry for him and love him... This is different."
Yue Mingming tried hard to think about the difference between the two, but she heard Nanny Sun continue, "I believe this is the requirement for being a princess."
"Does Madam Yue understand?"
Yue Mingming was stunned for a moment. She seemed to understand, but she vaguely hoped that she didn't understand.
Nanny Sun said solemnly, "My lady asked me before what the prince's wish was. Now I can tell you that he just hopes that someone in this life can love him unconditionally and never abandon him."
Is it that simple?
Yue Mingming subconsciously wanted to complain, and curled the corners of his mouth, but found that his heart was full of bitterness and he couldn't say a word.
For someone who has been loved and then abandoned by his mother, father, and brother since childhood, is such a wish simple or a luxury?
Nanny Sun asked, "Can you do this, Madam?"
"I..." Yue Mingming hesitated when he thought about the game exit deadline in half a year.
"Then, madam, are you willing to give it a try?" Nanny Sun insisted.
Yue Mingming remained silent.
She can be an ally or friend with Zhao Congyun, or even do some ambiguous things with him or have a short relationship with him. It doesn't matter.
She admitted that she had some inappropriate thoughts about Zhao Congyun, not only because he was treating her better and better, but also because she found his sarcastic temper and temper tantrums quite cute.
But give up real life for him and stay in the game world forever?
Yue Mingming knew in her heart that she couldn't do it and didn't want to do it.
No need to say more, silence is the most powerful answer.
Nanny Sun sighed with regret, "If that's the case, my lady, are you still going to fight for the position of princess? Are you going to give him a glimmer of hope and then abandon him again?"
If you can't do it, don't hurt anymore.
Facing Nanny Sun's almost stern gaze, Yue Mingming's eyes were misty. She said softly, "I'm sorry... I will withdraw from this selection tomorrow morning."
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