Emperor Mingde walked to the entrance of his bedchamber, but the Empress did not come out to greet him. The palace was brightly lit, but there were no maids or eunuchs serving him. He raised his hand to restrain Liang Yunsi and made him lead his men to wait in the courtyard.
He walked alone into the Empress's bedroom. The marble floor made little noise when he stepped on it. It was summer, and the floor felt cool to the touch. The spotless floor was so clean that you could see your reflection in it.
Turning past the enormous golden phoenix perched on a branch screen, he saw the no-longer-young emperor combing his hair, his long black hair truly beautiful. Among all the women in the harem, none could match his hair, which was as smooth and thick as a willow branch.
"His Majesty has arrived." The Empress glanced back at him, then continued combing her hair. "There's a rumor circulating that one shouldn't comb their hair at night, or ghostly things will happen. Does His Majesty believe it?"
Her tone was calm and indifferent, like a crescent moon hanging quietly in the sky. No matter how tumultuous the earth was, it remained unhurried and its light was rather cold.
Emperor Mingde felt a moment of peace upon hearing this. He walked behind the Empress, snatched the comb from her hand, and clumsily began to comb her hair. Despite his clumsiness, he was able to smooth a finger's worth of hair because of the Empress's exceptionally soft and smooth hair.
"What troubles Your Majesty?" the Empress asked, gazing at Emperor Mingde's reflection in the bronze mirror.
Emperor Mingde paused in his hand and looked at the Empress in the bronze mirror. The Empress had long lost the stunning beauty of her youth. Her face, without makeup, looked somewhat haggard, yet she remained extremely calm.
"Having washed away the makeup, she reveals her natural beauty." Emperor Mingde thought of these words, gazed at his reflection in the mirror, and calculated the days. He couldn't even figure out how long it would be before he saw the Empress again. "We're both getting old," he said with a sigh.
He was actually older than the Empress, but when a woman reaches a certain age, if she doesn't wear makeup or dress up, she looks much older than a man.
The Empress smiled, reached out and opened the brocade box on the dressing table, and took out a sachet. Emperor Mingde frowned when he saw the sachet, and then reached out and took the sachet to examine it closely.
The sachet was nothing special. Although the embroidery was exquisite, it was not unique in the world, and the pattern was just a common lotus flower. He held the sachet to his nose and smelled it. "Hydrangea?" he asked in surprise.
"Your Majesty is mistaken." The Empress shook her head, then opened another brocade box, took out the sachet inside, and handed it to Emperor Mingde. "Your Majesty, smell it again."
Emperor Mingde smelled it as instructed, then frowned and said, "The smells are similar, but this fragrance is strange, while this one is mild."
“Hydrangeas have no fragrance, a strange smell, and are poisonous, but this flower is not poisonous,” she said, pointing to the sachet in Emperor Mingde’s hand.
"How did this sachet end up in your hands?" Emperor Mingde, however, was focused on something else. He gently stroked the embroidered characters on the sachet, a delicate character that read "倾" (qīng).
“Someone gave it to me.” The Empress was not afraid to meet Emperor Mingde’s gaze. She looked into his eyes and smiled, “Why doesn’t Your Majesty open it and take a look?”
Emperor Mingde stared into the Empress's eyes and saw that she remained as calm and composed as before, as natural as a clear spring flowing through a riverbed.
He withdrew his gaze, opened the sachet, and found a piece of paper inside. He took out the paper, unfolded it, and Emperor Mingde's hand trembled. The handwriting was someone else's, but the words were those he had said.
She had just said this to Zhao Shu, without much feeling at the time, only that she herself was an emperor with ideals and ambitions.
However, looking at it now, it felt as if my heart had been pushed, and it ached as I fell. It was as if time had returned to those youthful years when he was still very naive, often indignant and cynical, and naturally did some youthful frivolities that he could no longer do now.
Similar to, "If I were the Green Emperor in the future, I would make the peach blossoms bloom together."
"Your Majesty, are you dissatisfied with my excessive indulgence of Consort Hao?" It took him a long time to compose himself. He put the sachet into his bosom, stood up, and prepared to leave.
"Even after I die, I will be entitled to a posthumous title. What harm is there in preserving my integrity in my later years?" Now she would never say things like "You shouldn't have married me." Perhaps she had given up, or perhaps she had come to a sudden realization. Who but herself could know?
After hearing this, Emperor Mingde said nothing more and strode away. But as he left Fengqi Palace, he said to Liang Yunsi, "Strip Consort Hao of her power to manage the six palaces."
Liang Yunsi was stunned, finding it somewhat unbelievable. How did the Empress manage to do that?
However, Emperor Mingde would not explain it to him. The entire palace was astonished. This matter was too unbelievable. The Empress seemed to have done nothing. Why did she suddenly make a comeback?
There is always a hand manipulating things behind the scenes. When Zhao Shu received the news, she suddenly realized that the winner was the Empress.
As Zhao Shu's right-hand woman, Green Luo was extremely puzzled. She thought about it for a long time but still couldn't figure out what the Empress had the right to do.
Because of her lack of understanding, she was ridiculed. Sheng Xia was combing Zhao Shu's hair, carefully tucking the newly grown short hair into her long hair, trying to be meticulous.
Green Ivy racked her brains trying to think of a solution, but dared not ask, feeling that if she did, she would appear stupid, and the princess disliked foolish maids.
Chu Chun, who had just brought over the water, couldn't help but spit it out. When she left, Green Ivy's brows were tightly furrowed, and when she returned, her brows were still tightly furrowed, her delicate eyebrows almost forming a line.
"Sister Chuchun, you're not allowed to laugh!" She stomped her foot, her mouth pouting angrily, and her face turned red.
"Since you can't figure it out, let me give you a hint." Chu Chun put down the wooden basin and looked at Zhao Shu. Zhao Shu smiled as if watching a show, and did not stop them from playing around. She said, "Consort Ning has miscarried, and the Fourth Prince's wife is seriously injured. Naturally, the Fourth Prince cannot go to control the flood."
She stopped there, wet and washed her face towel before giving it to Zhao Shujing, but Green Ivy looked completely bewildered. She nodded, "I know this. What does it have to do with Her Majesty the Empress regaining control of the six palaces?"
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