Chapter 4: The Dragon Bed Startled by a Dream, the Old Shadow is Hard to Find
The moonlight south of the Yangtze River was as gentle as water, quietly casting a shadow over the lotus pond at the Fang Mansion, casting the lotus leaves like jasper, and also drawing the figure of the young woman carefully painting the lotus shadows within the window into a slender and tranquil figure. Thousands of miles away, the night sky of the Forbidden City, with its heavy majesty, enveloped this magnificent palace.
The candles in the Hall of Mental Cultivation burned brightly throughout the night, and the bright yellow curtains hung low, shutting out all sounds from the outside world. Lying on the dragon couch, Emperor Qianlong suddenly opened his eyes, his chest heaving violently, his forehead covered in cold sweat, and his breathing was as heavy as if he had just emerged from a long, suffocating nightmare.
"Cough... cough cough..." He subconsciously raised his hand to touch his chest, but his fingertips touched not old, sagging skin, but elastic, warm texture. His movements froze, and a flash of confusion flashed in his cloudy eyes, which was then replaced by a huge shock.
This is not his hand!
He struggled to sit up, his bright yellow dragon robe slipping off his shoulders, revealing a neck that, while no longer as toned as it had been in his youth, was definitely not as raked as that of an octogenarian. He looked around—the familiar rosewood dragon bed, the Southern Tour Map hanging on the wall, the pile of memorials on the desk, the faint scent of ambergris in the air...it was all incredibly familiar, yet with an unreal clarity.
"Your Majesty? Are you awake?" Eunuch Su, who was guarding outside the palace, heard the noise and tiptoed in. Seeing Qianlong sitting on the bed, his face pale, he hurried forward to support him. "Is Your Majesty in a nightmare? I'll call the imperial physician right away."
Qianlong raised his hand to stop him. His voice was hoarse from waking up, but much louder than he remembered. "No need... Su Peisheng," he habitually called out Eunuch Su's name, looking at him sharply. "What year and month is it today?"
Eunuch Su was stunned for a moment. Although he felt that the emperor was a little unusual tonight, he still replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, today is the third day of the seventh month of the sixteenth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign."
In the 16th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign...
His pupils constricted, and his heart felt as if gripped by an invisible hand, nearly stopping. He remembered clearly that he abdicated in the sixtieth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign and died in the fourth year of the Jiaqing Emperor's reign, at the age of eighty-nine. As he lay dying, the sound of rain outside the window echoed vividly with the weather when Xiaoyanzi left. He lay on the dragon couch, his consciousness hazy, and all he could see was the girl with her hair in twinkling buns and eyes as bright as stars. She smiled and called him "Emperor Father," and as she did so, tears began to fall...
"My Princess Huanzhu..." He remembered mumbling to himself with his last bit of strength, "I miss you so much... If there is an afterlife... I will definitely... I will definitely protect you..."
I never thought... there really is an afterlife? He actually went back to over fifty years ago?!
Qianlong flung aside the quilt, stepped barefoot on the cold golden bricks, and stumbled to the bronze mirror. The man in the mirror, though past forty and with a hint of gray at the temples, had a piercing gaze and a resolute countenance, a man in his prime! The wrinkles on his face, the hunched back, the cloudy old eyes... all vanished!
"Your Majesty! Be careful not to catch a cold!" Eunuch Su hurriedly took out a bright yellow casual suit and wanted to put it on him, but Qianlong waved it away.
Qianlong stared at himself in the mirror, his fingers trembling as he touched his cheek. He felt real flesh, the warmth of a living being. This wasn't a dream! He was really back! Back to... when Xiaoyanzi was still around?
No, that's not right. He remembered it clearly. Xiaoyanzi passed away when he was middle-aged, a sudden illness that had prevented her from being saved. Furious, he had executed the imperial physician who misdiagnosed him, but ultimately, he couldn't bring back that boisterous figure. In the years that followed, whenever he saw the empty courtyard of Shufangzhai and the Fifth Prince's desolate expression, he felt as if a piece of his heart had been ripped out.
"Little Swallow..." He whispered the name into the bronze mirror, his voice trembling with disbelief and the ecstasy of regaining what he had lost. His eyes reddened uncontrollably. "My daughter... are you still here?"
The regrets of his past life flooded back to him like a tide. He regretted being too harsh on her, regretted not being able to protect her, regretted doubting her when she needed his trust the most... If he could do it all over again, he would never let those misunderstandings happen again. He would make sure she lived a carefree life in the palace, pampered like a real princess.
"Your Majesty, what's wrong with you today?" Eunuch Su stood aside, not daring to breathe. The emperor had been on the throne for many years and held great authority, but he had never seen him lose his composure like this. The excitement and vulnerability in his eyes were unlike anything he had ever seen.
Qianlong took a deep breath, trying to calm his turbulent emotions. He was the emperor, he couldn't lose his composure. He turned around and sat back on the dragon couch, accepting the teacup offered by Eunuch Su. The warm tea slid down his throat, calming his troubled mind a little.
"Nothing," he said in a deep voice, his tone having returned to its usual dignity, though a trace of emotion still lingered in the depths of his eyes. "Just a nightmare."
Eunuch Su didn't dare ask any more questions, and stood aside with his head bowed. "Then, Your Majesty, would you like to rest a little longer? You have an early court session at 11:00 AM."
"No need." Qianlong put down his teacup, his eyes fixed on the memorial on the table, but his thoughts had already drifted away. He had returned, back to a time when everything was still possible. Xiaoyanzi... In this life, I must find you. No matter where you are, I will bring you back to the palace and make amends for all the debts I owed you in my past life.
He remembered that Xiaoyanzi was from Jiangnan, her parents had died young, and she had lived on the streets. Now it was the sixteenth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, so she should... still be in Jiangnan? Or even a half-grown child?
"Su Peisheng," Qianlong suddenly spoke, his voice filled with unquestionable determination, "pass on my decree. From today on, officials in various provinces south of the Yangtze River are ordered to keep an eye out for orphans with talent and character among the people. If there are any outstanding ones, they can be reported to the court, which will provide them with pensions or education as appropriate." He couldn't say directly that he wanted to find Xiaoyanzi, so he could only use this method to cast a net first.
Eunuch Su was stunned for a moment. Although he felt that this decree was a bit sudden, he immediately bowed and responded, "Your servant obeys your order!"
Qianlong waved his hand, signaling him to withdraw. Silence returned to the hall, broken only by the occasional crackling of the candlelight. He walked to the window and opened it. The cool night breeze blew in, carrying the unique fragrance of sandalwood within the palace walls, but it couldn't dispel the anxiety in his heart.
Jiangnan... Little Swallow...
He gazed at the bright moon in the sky, which he shared with Jiangnan, his eyes becoming incredibly determined. "In this life, I will never let you wander around and suffer the slightest injustice again. My Princess Huanzhu, I must find you."
But he didn't know that at this moment, under the moonlight in the south of the Yangtze River, thousands of miles away, the girl he had been thinking about was wearing a light pink skirt, lying in front of the window, carefully writing an inscription on the lotus painting she had just finished, with a satisfied smile on her lips. She had no idea that on the dragon throne in the Forbidden City, the "Emperor" who she once respected and feared had already begun his journey to find her with the memories of his previous life and full of obsession.
The lotus fragrance remains in the Jiangnan nights; the dragon's heart stirs in the Forbidden City nights. Unbeknownst to anyone, the thread of fate quietly begins a new entanglement.
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