Chapter 55 Where is Your Majesty injured?
Inside the Cining Palace.
Empress Dowager Wen had completely "recovered" from her illness" after the birthday banquet and no longer had to lie in bed all day to recuperate. At this moment, she was furious in the palace and smashed a bunch of cups, vases and other porcelain items. When Pei Yan came in, he was a little at a loss as to where to start.
Under the glare of Empress Dowager Wen, he knelt down at the door and said calmly, "Greetings to the Queen Mother."
Queen Mother Wen subconsciously wanted to help him, but she held back and stood there with a straight face, saying, "You don't have to pay your respects to me. You might as well just take a rope and strangle me to death!"
Pei Yan chuckled, reached out to pick up the broken porcelain pieces on the ground, and said, "Why do you say that, mother? I feel uneasy."
Queen Mother Wen got angry when she mentioned this: "Yao'er is my youngest niece, my brother's sweetheart! What did she do wrong that you want to confine her? Even I ordered her to be released. Do you want to piss me off to death?"
Pei Yan was still the same as usual, lowering his eyelashes meekly and whispering, "I don't like her."
"Even if I don't like you, I can't ground her!"
After Empress Dowager Wen finished yelling, she realized something was wrong and frowned, "Didn't you even summon her to sleep with you not long ago? Why don't you like her anymore? Are you guys having a quarrel?"
Pei Yan took the broken porcelain pieces in his left hand and continued to pick them up with his right hand: "I have never liked them. I pretended to like them just to make my mother happy."
Queen Mother Wen widened her eyes in surprise.
Pei Yan continued, "She always offends me. My mother knows that I had a hard time when I was young, and I hate being bossed around the most."
Empress Dowager Wen's momentum suddenly weakened.
Every time her son mentioned things from his childhood, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
Queen Mother Wen swallowed hard, softened her attitude, and tried to reason with him: "Yan'er, Yao'er did something wrong. Tell me, and I will persuade her. You are confining her, which will hurt her reputation."
Pei Yan was silent for a moment, and then asked in a puzzled tone: "Why does mother have to take care of her all the time? You never raised her, so what does her life or death have to do with you?"
Queen Mother Wen was angered again by this nonsense: "She is my niece!"
Pei Yan chuckled: "Am I not also the biological son of the Queen Mother?"
"You are not!"
After the roar, Pei Yan hissed and put the porcelain piece in his hand on the ground. A shallow scratch appeared on the palm with thin calluses.
He spread it out for Empress Dowager Wen to see: "Mother, I am waving my hands."
Empress Dowager Wen felt a little distressed and wanted to go over to show concern, but when she saw this, she changed her mind.
Her son has been tough since childhood and would not say a word even if he was seriously injured. Now it's just a scratch and there's not even blood. It's no big deal. He just wants to be good and not let her mention Yao'er's matter again.
But how could that be possible! Her brother had asked her to take care of Yao'er before he left. How could she explain to her brother that Yao'er had been wronged?
Queen Mother Wen was still furious: "Yan'er, if you still recognize me as your mother, then quickly release Yao'er from her house arrest, otherwise I will no longer recognize you as my son!"
Pei Yan slowly withdrew his hand.
"I can't explain it. If the Queen Mother doesn't recognize it, then she doesn't have to."
How could Empress Dowager Wen be contradicted by him like this before! She pointed at him with a trembling hand: "You, do you want to piss me off to death? As expected... Brother is right, other people's children are hard to raise. If my Chen'er were still alive, how could he be so disobedient to me? I have a miserable life..."
Pei Yan's face softened. He stood up by pressing his injured hand to the ground. He bent down to stroke the slightly wrinkled fabric on his knees, then stood up and looked at the crying Queen Mother Wen. He smiled and said, "The more you worry, the shorter your life will be. I hope that you will take good care of yourself, worry less, and live a peaceful life."
Queen Mother Wen didn't know why he suddenly laughed again. She didn't know whether she should continue crying. After carefully considering his words, she suddenly became suspicious: "What do you mean? Are you cursing me? Or are you threatening me?"
Pei Yan bowed and turned to leave.
Empress Dowager Wen wanted to chase after him, but there were broken porcelain pieces all ahead of her, and she was afraid of hurting her feet, so she could only shout Pei Yan's name in frustration.
*
Palace of Heavenly Purity.
When Jiang Shuyi was almost coaxed by Fang Chu, Pei Yan came back.
Less than a quarter of an hour after he left, Jiang Shuyi saw that he did not look very well, so she moved forward and looked up at him.
Pei Yan also lowered his eyes and looked at her quietly.
Jiang Shuyi knew that he was indeed a little unhappy.
She hugged Pei Yan, rubbed his chest, and asked softly, "Is the Queen Mother angry because of your Majesty's reprimand for Concubine Qing?"
Jiang Shuyi didn't know that Wen Yao was under house arrest. She couldn't help feeling a little nervous at the moment, fearing that Pei Yan would summon Wen Yao again to please the empress dowager.
Pei Yan wanted to hug her, but after squeezing her hand hanging by her side, he changed his mind: "You are pressing on my injured hand."
Jiang Shuyi was so scared that she quickly moved away: "Injured? How did your hand get hurt?"
She pulled up Pei Yan's left hand, but didn't see any injuries. When she was about to look for his right hand, Pei Yan put his right hand behind his back and frowned, "It's the left hand."
"Hmm?" Jiang Shuyi could only raise her right hand and look at it again. This time, she moved it to the side for fear of blocking the light. She got closer and observed carefully, and then she saw an almost invisible light white scratch.
She was a little speechless, and gently poked the white mark: "Is this what your majesty is talking about?"
Pei Yan also saw his hand at this moment, and his eyelashes trembled slightly: "......Hmm."
Jiang Shuyi could hear his embarrassment, so she suppressed her laughter and blew on his wound cooperatively: "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt. This wound probably doesn't need to be bandaged. Be careful not to touch it again. It will be healed by tomorrow morning."
Pei Yan didn't need her to coax him like a child.
He calmly withdrew his hand and talked about other things as if nothing had happened: "Do you want to go back to the palace? I can lift your house arrest."
Jiang Shuyi was stunned for a moment.
If it was in the morning, she would be happy too, but letting her go right after returning from the Cining Palace made people think too much.
Is this to ask her to make room for others?
Pei Yan did not hear her response, but instead watched the look in her eyes as she looked at him becoming more and more resentful, more and more aggrieved, and even desolate, like a little animal abandoned by its master.
He paused and explained, "If you don't want to leave, you can stay for two more days, but you can't stay here privately forever. You haven't done anything wrong. It's not good for your reputation if Zhaoyang Palace is closed to the public for too long."
Jiang Shuyi couldn't help but be distracted for a moment, because Pei Yan's words were too similar to what he said before he went on an expedition in his previous life.
He also told her at that time that she could not remain confined to the Zhaoyang Palace forever, otherwise the subjects and the people would increasingly believe that she was a witch and that she was guilty of a serious crime and must be imprisoned for life. They even made up stories such as that the Zhaoyang Palace was covered with talismans and that the emperor would throw a few concubines and palace maids in from time to time for her to eat.
Jiang Shuyi knew that Pei Yan cherished his own reputation, so he loved her reputation as well.
Unfortunately, in her previous life, she never got to wait for Pei Yan’s triumphant return and the lifting of her house arrest, and she died tragically that winter.
When Jiang Shuyi thought of this, she really wanted to cry. She tightly grasped Pei Yan's sleeve, looked up at him and said stubbornly: "I will not go out. You can be confined to your house. As long as I can accompany Your Majesty for the rest of my life, I don't care about my reputation at all."
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