Chapter 110 Chapter 110 ...Huai Jin, be more normal...
Although she admitted that what Li Xuanbai said made sense, she still had a vague feeling - he knew who she was, he just knew.
This intuition of hers would be overruled by her the moment she changed her mind.
Unable to make up her mind, she asked everyone around her who knew about their relationship.
At night, she sat in front of the dressing mirror with a sullen look on her face. Qinglian and Yuanxiang helped her take off her hair and removed her hairpins one by one.
She asked, "Do you think Mr. Imperial Master recognized me?"
Qinglian and Yuanxiang were silent for a moment.
The candlelight flickered in the peony candlestick, and the hairpins placed on the mahogany dressing table made a slight sound.
Qinglian and Yuanxiang looked at each other:
"No. Regarding the things that happened between the Empress and Mr. Gu...if she really recognized him, how could she be so calm?"
Li Xuanbai had just said these words to her. She was tired of hearing them and held her forehead.
"If you put that aside, do you think there are any subtle things about him that are highly suspicious? For example, his sedan chair was clearly parked at the entrance to Jinshen Hall, but suddenly appeared by the lotus pond, blocking me right in the middle of the road? It was clearly tied with a silk ribbon, but he held me steady. How could he possibly have poor eyesight?"
"What the Queen said is not wrong, but..." Yuan Xiang held a strand of her hair in her palm and combed it carefully with a scented wood comb, "If he recognized you, he would definitely react to you."
She was speechless. After a while, she continued, "What if I say that he suddenly vomited blood because he recognized me?"
The two of them didn't answer.
She didn't say anything, but she understood the meaning very well.
They both felt that she was just imagining things and bringing them up, and was being overly sentimental.
She sighed, her head starting to hurt again.
Yes, at that time, although she felt that he was looking at her, but as she was covered with black silk, there was nothing wrong with saying that he was looking at Emperor Jiaqing.
Who dares to say that he vomited blood because he recognized her, and not because he was furious after hearing that Emperor Jiaqing had staked his official position, causing Chang Da to become jealous and come to ask for a title?
What's more, to him, perhaps she has become the most shameful stain in his life. Perhaps he has already gotten over this hurdle, stopped thinking about her, and put her behind him.
As for those dreams—
Maybe the dream is just a dream.
Is she really overthinking it?
She sighed again, lazily got on the bed and covered herself with the quilt.
I closed my eyes, but couldn't fall asleep.
At three o'clock in the morning, when the moon was high in the sky, the sound of cicadas finally disturbed her to the point where she could no longer bear it. Even Qinglian and Yuanxiang could not be awake at this time. She sat up and called out:
"Mist Blade."
He was still awake: "What?"
"What do you think?"
Wu Dao snorted coldly: "Aren't you thinking too much? I see you've asked a lot of questions. If he really knew it was you, how could he not react?"
She had heard the same thing so many times that she was tired of it:
"You really didn't find some of the details wrong? You were in the Purple Palace, right? When I handed him the handkerchief, he pretended to be blind and touched my hand. Did you see it?"
"Even Li Xuanbai said that his eyesight was poor, but when it comes to you, he's pretending to be blind." Wu Dao laughed, "Besides, I was staring at him, but I didn't feel him touching you."
She stopped talking, pulled up the quilt, and turned over in bed angrily.
After a while, she said, "I can't do this mission. The Forbidden City is full of old acquaintances, and the two targets have even run into each other. Who arranged this? Are all the people inside the sect useless? They can even make such a mistake? Send a message to the sect saying that I can't handle it and ask for a different mission."
"This time, it's true that the sect didn't investigate thoroughly. However, we're halfway through the mission, so how can we just change it? Just bear with it."
"I can't stand it!" She threw the brocade pillow to the ground with a plop. "You know how deeply he loved me when he was young. Now, I've betrayed him. If he doesn't find out today or tomorrow, he will find out in half a year. The people inside have ordered me to stand by Emperor Jiaqing and monitor his actions. I can't kill him right away. Who knows if I'll be the first to reveal myself, or if the order will come first?!"
Wu Dao scratched his head and sighed.
"Let me tell you, we're all in this together." She understood Wu Dao and knew how to threaten him. "In all these years, you've only ever led me. I can also say this: if I die, even if you lead someone new, you won't be as capable as me! Our performance is tied together. Without me, who will help you earn monthly silver and advance to higher levels?"
Wu Dao was silent.
Every time he was silent, it meant that her words had entered his mind. But his brain was only a small one, and a few words would cause him to have indigestion.
She waited for a while with extraordinary patience.
After a long while, Wu Dao said, "...Okay. I'll report back to the gate and see if I can adjust it."
She breathed a sigh of relief, turned over to the couch, and was so upset that she didn't even bother to get up to pick up the pillow. She closed her eyelashes.
At night, I don’t know how long it took before I fell into a drowsy sleep, but I had another dream.
Her whole body was trapped in a spider web, which collapsed softly, sticking to her waist and hanging her arms.
The person is like a peeled lotus seed, hanging in the air, involuntarily tilting his head back, fresh, smooth and white.
She struggled to open her eyes a little and saw that her legs were stuck to the web and her body was covered with red marks.
Chaotic and scattered, like the wildly falling flowers on the Tianshan Mountains.
I'm so tired. I don't know why, but I'm so tired.
She was alone in the web. If she wanted to escape, now was the time.
Otherwise, wait until he comes back...
...Who's coming back?
She didn't understand and instinctively struggled, only to find that she couldn't break free from those gentle, sweet spider webs. If she moved, the webs would stick to her even tighter, binding her tighter and clinging to her even more.
But, no.
She had to run. If she stayed here any longer...
She gritted her teeth, pulled her arm out of the spider web, and forced herself to turn over, with her knees trapped in the web, as she crawled out inch by inch.
If she stayed here, after he came back, she would...
Her whole body was so sore that she could hardly stand. She supported herself with her hands in front of her and realized that even her wrists and forearms were covered with dense kiss marks.
When I breathe, my throat is dry and sore, and my voice is hoarse.
How could it be possible... He looks like a decent person...
Her body was too sore and the spider web was too soft, so she couldn't even crawl. She lowered her head and gasped.
Suddenly, the spider web trembled slightly.
She felt as if a centipede was crawling across her smooth back. She shuddered unbearably all over, feeling horrified, numb and itchy, and dared not look back.
Behind her, someone followed the spider web and approached easily and confidently, and came behind her.
She didn't need to look to know who it was, what he was going to do, and what would happen next.
She resigned herself to her fate and closed her eyes.
A hot hand cuffed her slender ankle.
Inch by inch, dragging her back to the center of the spider web.
She covered her eyes with her hands and let him turn her over and spread her knees.
His voice was still as clear as the sound of broken ice:
“…Mother.”
"…Madam, where are you going again?"
She really couldn't stand it and pushed his chest away:
"...Huai Jin. Can you please be more normal?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Huaijin seemed to have seriously considered it and lowered his eyes to think for a long time.
Then he laughed: "Not good."
He lowered his head and moved the jade ring from his thumb to his middle finger, wearing it at the base of his finger.
The middle finger and ring finger are together.
She was horrified to find that his jade-like fingers were already crystal clear and slippery.
He smiled gently: "Be good. Will you answer my question or not?"
She couldn't answer.
So she had no room for bargaining.
She couldn't help herself, closed her eyes and cried softly.
The hibiscus flower, being forced to open, trembled and shed tears.
*
When she woke up again, she was terrified.
Qinglian and Yuanxiang saw that she had just gotten out of bed, clutching her chest and gasping for breath. They were very panicked and pulled the curtains aside. "Madam, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
She couldn't bear the heat on her body, as if she was melting, so she leaned on the soft pillow to breathe.
"Bring me a cup of tea to moisten your throat."
"Your Majesty." Qinglian waited beside her, bringing her tea, looking worried. "This morning, the Emperor said he wanted to discuss General Chang's request for a title with Mr. Gu and the Regent."
It had only been half a year since Emperor Jiaqing had ushered in the tiger, and the situation at court was still unclear. Although Li Xuanbai held the title of Prince Regent, the officials were not entirely convinced. Wang Maoxing, the head of the officials and a man of integrity, had never shown any devotion to Li Xuanbai since his appointment, and instead consulted Gu Huaijin on everything.
Therefore, even Li Xuanbai had to consult with Emperor Jiaqing and Gu Huaijin on such a major matter. Otherwise, his memorial would only be rejected by Wang Maoxing.
She responded, took the tea and took a sip.
"The Emperor said that he wants the Empress to accompany him, and urged the Empress to hurry to the Laughter Garden."
She choked and covered her mouth, coughing violently.
"My Queen! Be careful of getting burned!" Yuanxiang hurried over and wiped it with a handkerchief.
The steaming tea rolled into her pajamas, burning a large area of her chest red.
Qinglian also came over and wiped it for her, "Your Majesty, why are you so careless..."
She looked down and saw that her body was red. Her heart skipped a beat and she turned away.
"Your Majesty, why don't you get dressed and go to Xiaole Garden early? The Emperor is waiting. With the Regent here, Your Majesty doesn't have to be afraid of Mr. Gu."
"No," she said firmly, "Just say I'm sick."
"Your Majesty, aren't you going?" Yuanxiang hesitated.
She knew what Yuanxiang was worried about. Being invited to accompany the emperor on political matters was a tremendous honor for a mere concubine. Moreover, being so close to the center of power, even cats and dogs could play a significant role. Who wouldn't want this opportunity that came right to them?
But she - didn't want to go.
She came here originally for the mission of the Gate of Rebirth and had no interest in being a queen or empress dowager.
Don't be too greedy, or you may end up losing your life.
What's more——
What's more, Gu Huaijin is there.
Last night, that dream really reminded her.
What if, when he faced her, he had no reaction at all, not because he didn't recognize her, but because he was secretly plotting and scheming to lure her into a trap?
Just like that spider web.
Only then did she realize that in the past, in order to win Gu Huaijin's heart, she had taken great pains to weave a net for him and lure him into the game.
Now, perhaps, the person he coveted and schemed against was her.
She would never join in.
She said, "If you don't want to go, tell the emperor that I am sick and cannot go."
*
Several people talked from the morning till the afternoon.
She had been eating walnuts in the palace. Wu Dao was bored of staring at her, and knowing that Qing Lian Yuan Xiang was with her, he ran to Xiao Le Yuan to eavesdrop.
At the end of the afternoon, Wu Dao came back happily after watching the excitement and whispered in her ear excitedly:
"The talks broke down, the talks broke down. That unruly boy was so angry that he went mad and returned to Daming Palace. In a rage, he kicked a treasure vase from the previous dynasty in the hall and smashed it."
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