Chapter 158 Chapter 158 The Regent Eats a Dying...
Nan Qiong Shuang stood there, saying nothing and hearing nothing.
I could only hear my own gentle breathing.
One breath in, one breath out. One breath in, one breath out.
After a long time, the light in the silk cover flickered for a moment.
Her melancholy face was reflected, half clear, half confused.
She blinked, only to find that while there was light, it wasn't bright enough. Everything was shrouded in the darkness, and everything was equally lost.
She remained calm, and asked quietly and confidently:
"Someone went to the Gu Mansion?"
Emperor Jiaqing: "The imperial doctors are all at Gu's residence. Prime Minister Wang has also gone. I have issued an oral order to rescue the master, no matter the cost! The master is my loyal minister..." Suddenly, he held his head with his teeth bared, "It hurts... I have a headache... I have a headache..."
"Save it."
The person is not dead yet.
She shivered and gasped, then suppressed all the tremors.
Mao Linyan hurriedly pushed her away and went down to caress Emperor Jiaqing's face: "Your Majesty, please take a rest. Don't think about other things for now. Just take a rest. There will be a way..."
Nan Qiong Shuang sniffed, and the person who had been crying just now suddenly stopped shedding tears and just opened her mouth to breathe slightly.
Before she knew it, there was a tinnitus in her ears, and all the blood in her body rushed into her brain, making her eyes go dark. She stumbled to a chair, sat down hastily, and struggled to breathe.
Even my hands were numb and I felt dizzy.
It's like this again.
She didn't kill him, so he committed suicide. This man——
He had this idea a long time ago.
It was her negligence.
Why didn’t you think of it sooner?
She suddenly found herself in the Emperor's bedroom, crying in front of the Emperor for the man she had an affair with. Her heart suddenly shuddered, and she jumped up. She took two steps and was about to collapse beside the Emperor Jiaqing's bed - since she was a concubine, she had to collapse beside the Emperor's bed - but suddenly she heard a familiar voice at the palace door:
"What are you doing here?"
Li Xuanbai was still wearing his comfortable silk pajamas, and he walked out slowly from behind the hazy golden gauze curtain.
Looking at her, his pair of wild fox eyes, fiercely pressed under his sword-like brows, were intimidating, cruel and unkind.
He had never looked at her like that before.
He was really angry today.
She knew she should give in, but she still supported herself on her knees bit by bit and forced herself to stand up with the help of the bed. Her eyes were sad and angry, with two stubborn tears in them as she spoke word by word:
"That's why you don't allow me to come to Zichen Palace."
The candle flame flickered silently.
Li Xuanbai raised his eyebrows and sneered.
His laugh was so light that she felt that all her feelings were nothing but as light as a feather in his eyes, and her heart was immediately filled with ice and snow.
Even if this man loves her, he may not care about her.
How could she expect him to care about her feelings? He was different from Gu Huaijin, but very similar to her - even if she loved Gu Huaijin, had she ever cared about his feelings?
Li Xuanbai may love her, but he doesn't care about her feelings.
They really look like.
Now, when she suffered a loss at the hands of Li Xuanbai again, she could only laugh at herself, thinking that evil will be rewarded with evil. She turned her eyes away and just smiled.
"I forbad you to come to the Purple Palace because I knew the Emperor was in a terrible rage today. You are too shallow to bear it."
He looked down at me with a slow and lazy voice.
Nan Qiong Shuang collapsed on the ground, unable to support herself, and raised her face to look at him.
His eyes were calm and indifferent, looking at her with sadness, without any emotion at all.
But she understood the meaning of his words in a flash.
——That was a sentence that was said in front of Emperor Jiaqing and Mao Linyan to save her situation.
She was stunned for a moment and quickly turned her head to look inside the bed curtains, only to see Mao Linyan's eyes looking at her calmly.
The two looked at each other for a moment, and Mao Linyan turned away as if nothing had happened.
She was frightened.
She lost her composure and her legs went weak and tears welled up in her eyes because of Gu Huaijin in the Zichen Palace.
He was angry, but subconsciously helped cover up for her.
But.
Why did he want to take out the palace token and not allow her to come to the Zichen Palace?
Are you intentionally hiding the news and not letting her know?
Nan Qiongshuang was grateful to him for saving the situation for her, but she gritted her teeth and refused to look at him. She closed her eyes, held onto the edge of the bed, stood up again, and walked towards the person behind the bed curtains with tears in her eyes.
Mao Linyan was listening to the noise here with her ears perked up. When she heard it, she stood up and pretended to stroke Emperor Jiaqing's cheek, comforting him while crying.
"Where are you going?" Li Xuanbai said, "Come here!"
She stopped, turned her back to the enraged man behind her, and breathed slowly, exhausted.
—Now is not the time to argue about these matters with the Regent.
Li Xuanbai continued, "When the Emperor was insane, he used the thigh bone of a favorite concubine to make a pipa. You're not unaware of this! Since someone is already attending to him, I didn't want you to take any risks. I told you to return to the palace and rest peacefully. But you didn't appreciate my efforts!"
This was also said to Mao Linyan and Emperor Jiaqing.
She pondered for a moment, turned around, held her breath, stood in front of Li Xuanbai, lowered her head and said obediently:
"I am short-sighted and have failed my cousin. I beg for his punishment."
The palace lanterns in the hall were dimly lit, standing right between the two of them.
One is tall, one is short, one lowers his head, and one stands with his hands behind his back. They are so close yet so far away.
"Punishment." Li Xuanbai snorted coldly, "It's due punishment."
He stared at her, spoke very softly, and raised his eyebrows suddenly:
"Go back to your Handan Palace."
Late at night, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse.
She left Handan Palace late at night to attend to the sick, but unexpectedly she went to Daming Palace for a walk, and then spent half a day in Zichen Hall. Finally, after a long journey, she returned to her own Handan Palace.
The Handan Palace was unseasonably quiet at night.
Despite such a big event happening outside the palace, the elegant courtyard remained as elegant as ever, and everything was quiet and peaceful.
Flowers, plants and trees are truly heartless creatures.
She floated into the Handan Palace in a daze, like a ghost. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she was like a puppet with its strings cut. She not only fell down, but also shattered into pieces on the ground.
Yuanxiang and Qinglian hurriedly helped her up.
She didn't want to cry in front of others, let alone break down in front of them. Losing her composure in front of the maidservants of the Wangsheng Gate was already embarrassing for her. She pushed the two of them away, waved her hand, and told them to get down, then stood up unsteadily.
He went straight to the chaise longue, rested his head on the jade pillow, closed his eyes and rested for a moment.
The dizzying, surging blood tide finally subsided a little.
She finally had time to think about what stupid things she had just done.
She cried for that man in front of Emperor Jiaqing; Li Xuanbai saw her panic-stricken appearance with his own eyes; her legs were weak and she couldn't even stand up, and she couldn't control her tears, and that man saw it too - saw it coldly. It would be difficult for her to make excuses and say that there was nothing between them.
If he knew what kind of relationship she had with Gu Huaijin, would he still protect her?
She slowly covered her face.
But why at this moment, the first thing that came to her mind were still her errands?
He is dying.
Why.
Because of the Tianshan disaster, he finally couldn't get over it?
But she had already let go. Now that she had let go, he could slowly figure out who to hate and who to love. As long as he was willing to hate her and put the blame on her, he could always let himself go.
She is already willing to fulfill his wish, what else can he do? What else does he want from her?
She is willing to give up the only light in her life!
She buried her head in her arms, tears streaming down from the corners of her eyes, gathering in the hollow of her nose, forming a small pool.
——What on earth does this stubborn guy want from her?!
She curled up on the chaise longue with her knees together and hugged herself. A bone protruded from her thin shoulder, which hurt her.
If you want to go to the Gu Mansion, now is probably not a good time.
At the moment, all the imperial physicians were probably at his residence, and who knew whether there were spies from the Prince Regent or Prince Ding. If she went there rashly, she was afraid that his bedside would be surrounded by three layers of people, and not only would she not be able to see him, but she might also expose her whereabouts.
Going to Gu Mansion now is definitely not a smart move.
only.
She suddenly got up and went to look for her nightgown.
She only now understood that she couldn't rely on cleverness for everything.
A choice made with heart.
If he really died without letting her see him for the last time, even if she escaped from the afterlife, she would not be able to escape from the three words "Gu Huaijin".
How could a dying person wait for her?
She was like a desperate person who was in a panic. She groped in the drawer where her nightgown was kept with tears in her eyes. She didn't dare to disturb the two palace maids. She bit her lips and held her breath, but no matter how hard she tried to suppress it, there was still a sound in her nose.
But what can we do?
She never liked to cry, and her tears were all just an act. Only today did she know what it meant to cry like a fountain.
Suddenly, outside the palace, there was a sound of heavy armor, uniform and hurriedly trotting over from a distance.
Judging from the sound, they divided into several rows and columns after entering the courtyard, stretching from the moon gate to the corner of the courtyard, with one person every few steps, surrounding and guarding the entire Handan Palace.
She suddenly raised her head from the dark closet.
What happened? Who broke into her Handan Palace?
She wiped her face with a handkerchief and gently closed the cabinet door with a creak.
She tiptoed to the wall, used the wall to hide her figure, and quietly peeked out from the carved window.
One by one, they were all guards carrying swords, tall and strong, with broad shoulders and narrow waists. They stood proudly with their hands behind their backs and legs crossed under her window. In the night, it seemed as if two circles of dark fences were built in the courtyard.
In the middle of the courtyard, a guard who looked like a leader was walking around with his head held high and his chest puffed out.
There was a token of some unknown kind hanging around his waist, but it was too far away for her to see clearly.
She pushed open the window and shouted at the leader, "Who is trespassing into my Handan Palace?"
The leader in the middle heard the voice and clasped his fists as he stepped forward to her window. "I, General Zhang Du, follow the order of the Regent and bring my arrogance and weapons with me to protect the Empress."
"Golden Spear Guards?" Why did Li Xuanbai transfer the Golden Spear Guards to the gate of her palace?
She pressed against the window frame: "If I'm not well prepared, why do you need to protect me?"
Zhang Du bowed his head. "The situation in the capital has been turbulent recently. The Prince Regent is worried that the Empress is in danger, so he has ordered the Golden Armor Guards to guard the Handan Palace."
guard?
When she heard this, her mind became clear as a mirror.
It's clearly house arrest. Why? Just because she's not allowed to leave the palace?
She sneered, "'Guarding'? You barged into my courtyard for no apparent reason, completely blocking my palace, without even asking me a question, and completely shutting down all the doors. And you call that 'guarding'?"
Zhang Du remained silent.
She said, "Get out! No matter if it's the order of the Regent or anyone else, get out!"
Zhang Du: "Your Majesty, please forgive me." He said forgiveness, but he did not feel guilty at all. He withdrew his legs and went back to inspect on his own.
"Stop!" She tried her best to suppress the trembling in her throat and pretended to be stern. "I haven't finished asking questions yet. Who gave you the courage to give me such a cold shoulder?"
"I dare not." Zhang Du turned around and nodded. "The Golden Guards have received orders from the Regent to defend Handan Palace to the death. No one in the palace is allowed to leave, and no one outside is allowed to enter. I am following orders and dare not disobey. If I have offended Your Majesty in any way, I hope you will forgive me."
Hold on to the end.
Her hand pressing on the window frame accidentally clicked, causing her palm to hurt.
She bit the tender flesh inside her lip and sneered, "Did the Regent say how long he would keep me under house arrest?"
"The Regent has no intention of confining the Empress. He is only doing this to protect her."
She laughed even louder:
"Complete. Okay, complete. How long will he protect me like this? One day? Three days?"
Zhang Du clasped his fists:
"The Regent didn't give a specific date. He only said that once the situation in the capital stabilizes, everything will return to normal."
She listened and laughed through her back teeth:
"That is to say, we don't know when it will be released."
Zhang Du didn't answer.
Only then did she understand that at this critical moment, Li Xuanbai had forced her into a cage where no light could enter, determined to lock her up, and assigned people to guard her at every level, fearing that she would go looking for the person who would pass away at any time.
He knew that something might have happened between them, and that she must be heartbroken if she knew that something had happened to Gu Huaijin.
It was because I knew this that I did this and issued a death order to lock her up.
She had never felt the force of his temper so directly.
She also had a temperament that was difficult to control. The more she was forced, the angrier and more unwilling she became. She felt uncomfortable in every way and became increasingly cold.
She forced herself to steady her voice and said, "Call the Regent over."
Zhang Du had never imagined that a mere imperial concubine would dare to issue such an order to the Prince Regent. He immediately said with disdain, "The Prince Regent is busy with government affairs and will come to the palace to accompany the Empress when he has time."
He was blatantly perfunctory and refused to even verbally promise to pass on a message.
Her bones were creaking all over, the chill of the summer night seeping into her bones, her face was pale, and she didn't say a word.
Seeing that she had no further instructions, Zhang Du turned around and left, still patrolling around.
The Golden Spear Guards were all Li Xuanbai's personal guards, personally selected from his own army. Each of these individuals was capable and favored by the Regent, serving directly under him. They paid no heed to anyone but Li Xuanbai's orders.
Like master, like servant.
They wouldn't give her any face.
Nan Qiong Shuang angrily closed the window, and with a bang, the leaves in the yard shook.
She walked to the chaise longue with unsteady steps. As soon as she moved, the blood rushed to her head again. She was so angry that her eyes turned black. She groped forward with her hands in a daze.
Qinglian and Yuanxiang had already entered the hall and were serving her. Seeing her like this, they hurriedly helped her up, supported her on the chaise longue, and helped her calm down.
She leaned on the jade pillow, feeling dizzy and trying to calm herself down for a while. Then she realized that her current appearance in Qinglian Yuanxiang's eyes made her wonder what it meant. She propped herself up with a splitting headache.
There were people everywhere, and she was under surveillance. She was either being spied on by Mao Linyan or tested by Li Xuanbai, or tested by Li Xuanbai or speculated about by the two maids. She couldn't even get a moment of solitude.
She said, "Go make me some tea."
Yuanxiang left, and Qinglian remained by her side.
She no longer had the energy to care whether there was anyone watching her or not. She lay on the couch, dying, waiting.
Seeing her horrific expression, Qinglian whispered, "Your Majesty, don't let your anger get to you. Even if Mr. Gu committed suicide, you've already completed half of your mission. Emperor Jiaqing still loves you, so even if you're imprisoned for a while, what's the big deal?"
What can I do?
She slowly clenched her fists, her knuckles so tense they became transparent.
He died in an invisible place, and she was locked up in this hellish place, her every word and action under heavy surveillance.
She closed her eyes, exhausted and without any strength.
Soon, the tea arrived. She slowly leaned over the fence, lowered her eyes, and blew on the hot steam. Just as she took a sip, she suddenly heard a voice from the shadowy corner.
Mist Blade: "Nan Qiong Shuang."
She was no longer sad or happy. There were already so many people monitoring her, so what if there was one more? She just looked tired and didn't answer.
Wu Dao stepped out from the shadows and squatted at her feet:
"Auntie, I have something to tell you. One of your errands is about to fail. That man named Gu is dying."
She was stunned by these words, and she lifted the lid of her tea cup without saying a word.
Wu Dao saw that she was silent and thought she was indifferent. "Don't be like that, auntie. Even if the Pipa Association makes up for your half of the task, you still get money for this half of the job. Money that is delivered to your mouth for free! You and I will share it together! Auntie, you——"
She spoke like a ghost, her eyes open but looking blankly nowhere:
"…Tell me everything you heard."
Wu Dao suddenly noticed something strange in her expression. He was stunned for a moment, then his eyes swung around, as if he was a beast that had picked up its prey for nothing. It was already a sinister surprise:
"Auntie, it's so late... why haven't you rested yet?"
She knew what he was thinking.
But she was powerless to do anything about it.
She said, "Emperor Jiaqing has had a headache. He should have gone to the Purple Palace to attend to him... but he ended up being placed under house arrest by the Regent. When I provoked him, I ended up shooting myself in the foot."
Wu Dao looked at her with a look of joy, like a hungry dog that found a dying person and was overjoyed, circling around her and sniffing.
She had to concentrate a little: "...What happened to the surname Gu?"
"Oh, that Gu guy is dying," Wu Dao said, his eyebrows dancing with joy. "I don't know what came over him, but he cut his wrists tonight. When we found him, the blood was all over the bed. His house is full of imperial doctors right now, and there's a lot of people around, but I see that he's bled out and his face has turned green. I'm afraid he's not going to make it."
Her eyelashes trembled twice: "What can I do then?"
Wu Dao clapped his hands. "If you have any hemostatic medicine, I'll send it to him! The people inside want you to kill him, but the order hasn't come down yet. If he dies now, my silver!... No, our silver! Will be gone!"
"...I don't have any. The imperial doctors are all there. If there were any secret medicines in the palace, they would have been sent to him. Speaking of miraculous medicines, can the medicine I have be better than those in the palace? Idiot."
"So what do you say? Just let him die and the money go?"
"You've been thinking about your little silver all day long." She held the teacup and snorted weakly, "Go back to the Gu Mansion to get the news. Such a big thing has happened... Prince Ding and the Regent will definitely send people to inquire. The Gu Mansion..." Suddenly, she paused, her dull eyes moved, and her eyes suddenly focused on a bright light:
"Wu Dao, go get Yun Man Yue for me."
"Yun Man Yue?"
"...That Gu has a special physique, and his cultivation method is also special. But he hasn't told anyone else except me. Cutting his wrists and losing blood, others are helpless, but I have a way." These were all lies. She was afraid Wu Dao would discover her feelings for Gu Huaijin, so she lied to him. "But I can't leave. The Regent also loves me, and won't let me leave the palace to visit him. He sent his own guards to keep me under house arrest. So, if you want that Gu to die when he deserves, you must call Yun Man Yue to me."
Wu Dao thought hard for a while, but still couldn't figure it out, so he thought her plan was very good.
He chuckled and said, "Okay, I'll go right away."
Wu Dao accepted the order and left.
Nan Qiong Shuang could no longer hold on and fell back on the chaise longue, gasping for breath.
Wave after wave of people, wave after wave of eyes. She had to deal with one after another, and she was already at the end of her strength.
I'm so tired.
Seeing her like this, Qinglian and Yuanxiang were both surprised and puzzled. They looked at each other and came up to fan her.
"Your Majesty..."
She hated being surrounded by these people the most. No one knew why she had so many tears, but she had to distract herself from her grief and act.
"... Tell me, with the Prince Regent placing me under house arrest, will the Emperor begin to suspect our relationship? Will this further favor Concubine Sheng? Will there be no hope for me to rise to prominence?"
The two hurriedly said, "My Lady, please don't think like that..."
She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her temples. "I've already won the heart of Emperor Jiaqing, but lost it again. Men's hearts are the most unreliable. This time I've fallen out of favor, and I've offended the Regent..."
She stopped talking.
She had to explain all her tears and gaffes with high-sounding words before she could finally let go of her heartbreak.
For a moment, she was the only one who could be heard sobbing softly in Handan Palace.
Qinglian and Yuanxiang hung their heads and stood silently by the side.
"I'm asking you." She suddenly raised her head from the chaise longue, her eyes red. She was wary of the guards outside the door and cursed angrily, "Since you are Gu Huaijin's people, and he has such plans, you two didn't tell me a word?!"
The two of them glanced at each other quickly, then knelt down in shock, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you are wronging us!"
"Unfair." She sneered, "You two, including him, really take me for a fool."
"For someone outside the palace to reach inside and pass a note—this kind of thing wouldn't be possible without the help of someone close to me. Furthermore, that day at Feixian Tower, I had just stepped out of Feixian Tower and arrived at Zichen Palace when he already knew that the Regent and I had attended the opera together, and that it was Peach Blossom Fan. He also knew the next day that I had enjoyed eating melon seeds the night before. He also knew that I had coughed a few times during the night."
"Such meticulous and thorough investigation, how would he have known if you two hadn't tipped him off?! To put it in detail, it seems that on the way to Wuliang Mountain, our ship was hijacked by bandits, and he rescued us. And you two just listened to him and did his bidding. I saw it all a long time ago, but I turned a blind eye. But you two!"
She suddenly grabbed the teacup and threw it to the ground, shards flying everywhere. Suddenly she regretted making such a fuss and lowered her voice:
"He only knew to tell me about my affairs, but he didn't even bother telling me about his! Such a serious matter, the Emperor had a severe headache! The Regent got jealous of a dying man, and I was put under house arrest overnight!"
"Your servant... Your servant didn't know that the Regent was also against you... and would put you under house arrest..."
"If you don't know, you can reveal it?"
The two cried, "Even if Mr. Gu is determined to die, we are just messengers. How could he say this to us servants?"
Suddenly, there were two knocks on the palace door. Zhang Du heard the noise from inside and shouted through the door:
"My lady, what happened?"
She said angrily: "It has nothing to do with you!"
Zhang Du: "My Lady, don't panic, just be patient!"
She didn't know what the man was talking about, so she cursed, "Get lost!"
The palace door was suddenly kicked open from the outside. The pale blue moonlight immediately formed a trapezoidal shape at the entrance. A man stood with his legs crossed between the two doors, cupping his fists towards the inside.
"I apologize for any offense. I have been ordered to protect the Empress!"
Nan Qiongshuang turned around in shock and surprise, squinting her eyes.
What on earth does this person want to do?!
But Zhang Du turned around and closed the palace door with a creaky sound, then strode forward through the carved moonlight shadows, and the arrogant look on his face had changed.
He saluted and clasped his fists, lowering his voice:
"Your Majesty, before Mr. Gu passed away, he had a few things for me to give you."
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