Chapter 99 Chapter 99 Mr. National Master?
“…Bright.”
"If you're alive, come find me."
"If you were dead..."
"...If you're dead, then haunt me. Follow me, possess me, enter my dreams, anything goes."
"I advise you to be sensible and come to me as soon as possible. Don't wait until I get down there and find you, and then you'll wail and beg for mercy until your soul is shattered."
"Come find me."
"Come find me."
"Come find me."
"Alive or dead, human or ghost, I don't care. Just come to me."
The face of the person in front of me has no eyebrows, no nose, only lips opening and closing:
"—You will never be able to escape from me, Jiaojiao, in this life or the next."
Nan Qiong Shuang suddenly opened her eyes wide, cold sweat dripping into her eyelashes, stinging her eyes and causing a stinging pain.
What caught my eye was the bed curtains in Handan Palace, decorated with purple Tengluo flowers and precious patterns.
The bedroom was dim, and the soothing incense was burning, with a straight column of smoke stretching out from the incense burner.
Qinglian, fearing she might fall asleep, closed the windows and lit only two colored glass lanterns depicting flowers and birds inside the hall. The lights cast shadows of the flowers and birds on the wall, the glass crystal clear, as if birds were playing in the water.
She clutched her chest and calmed herself down. Seeing the dim light coming through the window, she called out, "Qinglian, Yuanxiang."
Two maids pushed aside the bead curtain, and the beads made a crackling sound.
"Is your Majesty awake? Are you feeling better?"
She sat with her brocade quilt wrapped around her, her long hair flowing behind her. She replied unhappily, "Better now. Let me get dressed first."
Following the instructions of the Wangsheng Sect, she sneaked into the palace and served the current emperor for more than two months.
These days, the Wangsheng Sect had made connections for her, created a false identity, and forced her into a prestigious family like the Qinghe Xie family. No one knew what method they used to make such a big family recognize her as their daughter.
She entered the palace as a daughter of the Xie family and was selected for selection. With the help of the layers of mediation of the Wangsheng Gate, she entered the palace and became the side of Emperor Jiaqing.
Staying by Emperor Jiaqing's side was to kill him when the time came.
At present, this is her fifth mission.
As for the Tianshan Mountains with their vast clouds and blooming mountain flowers, they were already blurry even in my dreams.
That was five years ago.
Nan Qiongshuang sat in front of the dressing mirror, still in a bad mood. Yuanxiang walked over and opened the windows one by one. The dim sunlight shone in through the carved window lattices, making the round bronze mirror misty. She opened her eyes.
The person in the mirror is also different from before.
She remembered that, back in the Tianshan Mountains, despite her poor health, she often managed to look cheerful. Now, five years later, she had braved the elements to complete her fourth mission, and although she had finally succeeded, she seemed no longer as strong as before.
She was thinner and more depressed than before. Her thin skin clung tightly to her bones. Although her bones were well-proportioned and her thinness didn't make her look pale, she was still too thin.
Her skin is so white that she looks like a piece of crystal porcelain. When her eyes are red, even the blood vessels on her eyelids can be seen, purple and delicate, like cracks in broken porcelain.
People at the gate of rebirth said she looked pretty this way. However, she always felt that her face was too white and scary now. Even she herself looked like a ghost.
Emperor Jiaqing liked her appearance. Wangshengmen heard this and sent her here on purpose.
Qinglian combed her hair carefully, tied it into a bun, and inserted a pair of gilded kingfisher pearl flowers on both sides.
Suddenly, someone came hurriedly from outside to report. When the curtain was drawn aside, it turned out to be Wang Rang, the chief eunuch beside Emperor Jiaqing.
She had just turned around to look while adjusting her earrings when Wang Rang fell to his knees and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! The Emperor has a headache and is calling you urgently. He wants you to come over!"
"Your Majesty?" she asked, "Has the imperial physician arrived?"
"The Imperial Physician has arrived. He said that you had an argument with Imperial Concubine Sheng a few days ago. Imperial Concubine Sheng was upset about this and secretly harmed you. The Emperor was furious and his anger caused a headache."
Since she entered the palace, she has been favored all the way. In just two months, she was promoted to concubine, which inevitably aroused the jealousy of the old people in the palace.
The person who envied her the most was Mao Linyan, whose nickname was Sheng.
The Jiaqing Emperor's empress position was vacant. Previously, Concubine Sheng was the only one in power, and no one could challenge her. Now that she has arrived in the palace, Concubine Sheng's limelight has faded a lot, and she is not willing to accept it.
A few days ago, Concubine Sheng had a face-to-face fight with her beside the lotus pond, and then she went back and secretly replaced the acupuncture needles used by the imperial physician with poison needles, causing her to be severely poisoned and suffer from nightmares day and night.
If it weren't for the poison, she wouldn't have dreamed of people she had long forgotten.
She turned back and faced the makeup mirror. "I see. I'll go right away. You go and accompany the emperor first."
The king asked Nono to leave. She looked at herself in the mirror and said, "I've changed my pearls. Today I'm wearing the pink tourmaline hairpin."
Qinglian was stunned for a moment, "Your Majesty wants to wear peach blossoms?"
She didn't even bother to lift her eyelids.
That day, Concubine Sheng provoked her in the pavilion by the lotus pond, using this hairpin as an excuse.
Emperor Jiaqing liked to see her wearing pink, and since her clothes were pink, she paired this jeweled peach blossom hairpin on her head.
Unexpectedly, she was seen by Concubine Sheng, who accused her of being a lewd woman and seducing her master. She was said to be wearing a peach-colored dress and a peach blossom hairpin on her head, and she didn't know who she was trying to seduce in the harem.
She lowered her eyelashes and smiled for a moment, "Bring me that peach-colored embroidered palace skirt."
Yuanxiang knew her temper, so she didn't dare say anything and obediently took the clothes.
After she finished dressing up, she stepped out of the Handan Palace and found that it was raining outside.
It was July, a rainy day, the air thick with moisture and a pleasant, moist fragrance. Yet it was too hot and muggy, with dark clouds hanging overhead. It was afternoon, and the air was still gloomy.
She walked along the corridor, Qinglian holding an umbrella for her to prevent the rain from splashing on her.
As they walked, they saw that the colorful palace lanterns that Emperor Jiaqing had loved so much a few days ago were being taken down one by one. The eunuchs were busy going up and down the long ladders in the rain. The luxurious and brightly colored utensils were taken away if they could be taken away, and those that could not be taken away were hidden behind those with simpler colors.
The luxurious and gorgeous back garden gradually became dim.
Nan Qiong Shuang fiddled with the jade beads on her wrist. "The Emperor has always loved luxurious items and never tires of colorful things. How come these palace lanterns have only been hung up for a short time? Why are they being taken down?"
Qinglian lowered her head. "I'm not quite sure, but I heard that a certain person is coming back early."
"who?"
"Mr. Imperial Master."
"Oh, the one with the surname Gu?"
"Exactly."
She smiled. "Who exactly is this Mr. Gu? I've been in the palace for over two months, and everyone has mentioned him to me, but I've never met him. Isn't it said that he's so favored by the Emperor that he can even enter and leave the palace as he pleases?"
Qinglian was silent for a moment: "I don't know either."
She laughed, "What a great honor. Why, this gentleman doesn't like fancy things and thinks they're dazzling?"
Qinglian: "It seems he has an exceptionally peculiar temperament. He is extremely fond of quietness and simplicity, his moods are unpredictable, and he is difficult to get along with. Even the Emperor would not dare to put anything he dislikes in front of him."
She did some research on the affairs of the previous dynasty before entering the palace, but all the information came from the Intelligence Department of the Rebirth Gate. She didn't know how many times it had passed through the hands, and sometimes it was no different from hearsay.
She had heard of Mr. Gu, whose reputation in Qi and Song was at its peak. However, what kind of person he was was irrelevant to her mission, so she didn't bother to care.
Looking up, the Purple Palace was shrouded in gray clouds, and streams of water were dripping down from its golden yellow tiles.
Concubine Sheng was wearing a plain white dress, the hem of which was soaked in mud and water. She was kneeling at the door of the Zichen Palace, with Aunt Fangruo holding an umbrella for her.
She smiled for a moment.
That day, the incident of Concubine Sheng replacing the silver needles was discovered. Emperor Jiaqing was furious and punished her to kneel in front of the Purple Palace for three hours every day as a punishment.
Nan Qiong Shuang walked to the eaves. Wang Rang helped her push aside the brocade curtain. She turned around and glanced at Concubine Sheng, who was kneeling in the muddy water. She smiled and asked, "How many hours has she been kneeling today?"
Wang Rang sighed, "The Emperor ordered her to kneel for three hours, but the Imperial Concubine is very stubborn. She's already been kneeling for almost five hours today, and she won't stop until she impresses the Emperor."
"Oh, it's okay on normal days, but it's raining now..." She turned around with a smile and glanced at the woman kneeling on the ground. Concubine Sheng stared at her fiercely with her eyes as if spitting poison, and her hair was stuck to her cheeks and forehead in a mess.
She nodded respectfully and smiled, "I'll go in and plead for my sister."
The people in the rain saw that she had specially worn a peach-pink dress and a peach blossom hairpin, and was summoned by Emperor Jiaqing when he was ill. They were so angry that their eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
Yes, I will wear the color you hate the most, the jewelry you just scolded, and go to see the emperor who can't live without me.
As for you, you were blocked outside by the eunuchs and had to kneel in the rain to reflect on your mistakes.
Nan Qiong Shuang's mood inevitably improved. She walked through the layers of screens and beaded curtains and came to the dragon bed.
Inside the bedroom, layers of gilded curtains shaded the room, and a few brilliant palace lanterns were lit in the corners. The windows were all closed, not letting in a single breath of cold wind. The lanterns burned dully in the stagnant air, and the room was momentarily dim.
There was not even the sound of branches shaking, only the intermittent wailing of one man.
The young emperor rolled over in his silken quilt, holding his head. "It hurts—my head hurts so much! Go call the Empress! Where is the Empress? You dogs and slaves, have you gone to call the Empress for me?!"
Wang Maoxing knelt beside the dragon bed. A large circle of imperial physicians had already knelt around him. "Your Majesty, the Empress is here. I have already passed the order down..."
Nan Qiong Shuang said anxiously, "Your Majesty, I am here."
The maids lifted the golden gauze curtains, and the prime minister and the imperial physician tactfully made way for her. Before she could get close, the emperor actually sat up in pain, tears in his eyes, and stretched out his hand to her, "Deyin——"
Xie Deyin, this is her current pseudonym.
"Deyin—I'm in so much pain, why did you come just now…"
As soon as Emperor Jiaqing saw her, he took her hand and folded it into her arms. She was forced to sit down against the headboard. Emperor Jiaqing put his arm around her waist and rubbed his head against her abdomen: "Get down, get down! I want to be alone with the Empress!"
Everyone retreated silently like shadows. Emperor Jiaqing raised his eyes, which were red with pain: "Deyin - I am really in pain. Tell me, what should I do about this headache -"
She coaxed him with concern, "Don't be afraid. No matter what, I will be here with Your Majesty. Whether it's windy or rainy..."
Emperor Jiaqing buried his head in her waist and took a deep breath. "Will you always be by my side?"
She patted Emperor Jiaqing again and again, "Naturally."
Emperor Jiaqing said in a muffled voice, "Deyin, I don't know why, but every time I have a headache, I always feel like I get better faster when you're here."
"Really?" She coaxed a child, "If I could heal the emperor, it would be a great honor for me."
He stopped talking, buried his head in her wide sleeves, and breathed lovingly.
In fact, among all these men, only these two were particularly attached to her. Besides the emperor, there was also...
There was also an old friend from long, long ago. But that was too long ago. In her memory, the shadow of that person in snow-white clothes had become as small as a hole in a paper lantern, insignificant and inconsequential.
"Deyin, I have good news for you."
She lowered her head and saw that Emperor Jiaqing's face was hidden under her sleeve, with only his jawline visible.
"how?"
"Besides you, I have finally found another miracle doctor for my headache."
"Really? That's a great joy." She pretended to be interested. "Who is it?"
"You've only been in the palace a short time, so you haven't met this person yet. But he's truly a remarkable person! Back then, when the situation was dire and precarious, the prime minister somehow managed to find a giant Buddha and come out to help me. With just one suggestion, he helped me decide the outcome. And there was more to it than that!"
Emperor Jiaqing suddenly became excited and looked up at her. "This gentleman has practiced martial arts that can help regulate breathing and heal injuries. He is also proficient in acupuncture. Last time, when he was here, my headache was much relieved."
Before he could say a few words, he became excited and then in great pain, with his facial features clenched.
She hurriedly wiped his sweat, "So where is that gentleman now? Why isn't he here?"
"The master has gone back to the mountain to take care of things." He gasped in pain, but this time the pain seemed to stop. He went from whimpering to roaring, and then to madness. He sat up straight from her side, grabbing his hair and yelling: "It hurts - it hurts -"
"Your Majesty—" she said anxiously, "Call the imperial physician! Imperial physician!"
"A bunch of quack doctors, what's the use of them!" Emperor Jiaqing suddenly grabbed the jade ruyi under his pillow and swung it like crazy. The jade ruyi instantly smashed onto the palace lantern, smashing glass all over the floor.
The imperial doctors who rushed into the hall had just stepped over the threshold when the glass lamp exploded at their feet. They were so frightened that they all knelt down.
"Tell Mr. Gu to come back! Tell Mr. Gu—" The person on the dragon bed was in so much pain that tears streamed down his face and he gasped for breath. "Tell Mr. Gu... to come back quickly! Come back to Beijing quickly!"
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