Chapter 142 Chapter 142 “The Regent loves the Queen so much…
"I have something to ask you."
It was midsummer. Cicadas chirped clamorously, the heat was surging, and the leaves were a vibrant green. Sunlight filtered through the overlapping shadows of the trees into the carved windows, casting a few round, pale golden specks.
Li Xuanbai folded the memorial and put it aside. The sunlight danced between his knees. He played with his earrings, tapped his knuckles on the desk, and looked up at the person opposite him.
Nan Qiongshuang had just gathered her skirt and sat down, adjusting the hem of her skirt with her eyelashes drooping.
"What's up?"
He looked at her with interest and meaning:
"What happened between you and that guy named Gu on Wuliang Mountain?"
She frowned almost imperceptibly for a moment.
"You called me here just to ask this?"
Li Xuanbai did not answer. His pair of wildly gorgeous fox eyes were tilted upwards nonchalantly. He still had a playful smile on his face, but there was a dark and gloomy look in his eyes.
He stuffed a piece of snowflake crisp into his mouth: "You should make peace with him. I can see it all."
Nan Qiong Shuang paused her movements for a moment, then raised her eyes and smiled at him, "What are you talking about?"
"You must have reconciled with him. That day at Laughter Paradise, you two sat across from me, and I saw it all clearly." Li Xuanbai took a sip of tea and counted on his fingers, "Laughing at the same time, shaking your heads at the same time, looking up at the same time, sighing at the same time. When you're bored, you'll tap your index fingers on the table. And after sitting for a long time, even when you change positions, you'll always adopt the same posture."
"Despite this, the two ignored each other, appearing to be close but inwardly distant, as if they had never met before."
"We understand each other on everything, but we're like strangers." He spread his hands and smiled, "How could there be no mystery in this?"
Nan Qiongshuang felt a chill in her heart when she heard this.
The two of them only exchanged one sentence during the card game at Laughter Park that day.
"Tell me, what did you do on his Wuliang Mountain, and how far did you go?" Li Xuanbai smiled easily, glancing at her with his eyes. "Kiss?"
There was not a trace of fluctuation on Nan Qiong's frosty face as she slowly waved her round fan.
Kissed?
More than that.
She thought of those days at an inopportune moment.
Trapped between his arms, with the ceiling blocked from view, his muffled breathing echoed in her ears. She felt helpless, like duckweed floating on the water, hugging his back as if he were holding a life-saving piece of driftwood.
Days without even a shred of distance.
Li Xuanbai on the opposite side hugged his knees and stared at her with a half-smile.
She suddenly shuddered.
What is she thinking?
"No." She put down her fan without blushing or beating her heart, and peeled melon seeds. "He hated me so much that he held a knife to my neck and wanted to kill me. I told him that the imperial concubine died on the mountain and he couldn't explain it, and Wuliang Mountain would inevitably be implicated, so he gave up. However, he still gritted his teeth and told me that sooner or later, he would skin me alive and then cut me into pieces."
The more she talked, the more amusing it became, and she couldn't help but laugh, "How can we reconcile when we hate each other so much?"
Li Xuanbai crossed his fingers into a small tower, rubbed his chin with his thumb, and thought deeply, with a half-hearted smile.
Nan Qiong Shuang looked straight into his eyes, neither dodging nor avoiding.
"Forget it." After a long moment, Li Xuanbai took a deep breath and scratched his head. "Even if he hates the nobles in the Forbidden City, he won't be able to do anything about it for a moment. However, from now on, you need to be more careful."
"Deyin, you're so careless, are you safe?" Her eyes curved into crescents, half flattering, half teasing, and she tapped her round fan on the edge of the table. "It all depends on my cousin. If my cousin takes care of me, I'm safe. If he doesn't, I'll die."
Li Xuanbai couldn't help laughing.
He liked flattery, but not sycophancy. Compliments in a sarcastic tone were quite amusing to him.
"Alright, alright. When asking for help, I'm always full of nice things to say." He swallowed his tea. "That day in Laughter Paradise..."
A distant fragrance suddenly came from outside the window: "My Lady."
The two of them paused.
Nan Qiong Shuang turned around and looked out from the carved window lattice where branches and leaves swayed. "What's going on?"
Yuanxiang walked in quickly from outside the palace, her footsteps as light as a gust of wind, and whispered in her ear: "The emperor summons you to the Purple Palace."
There was a hint of coolness inside the Zichen Hall.
Because Emperor Jiaqing was insane, the palace servants dared not neglect him. They sent the largest and best ice cubes into the palace in cylinders, so that even if one sat under the window, one could still feel the coolness.
As soon as Nan Qiong Shuang entered, she saw a tall figure in black standing in front of Emperor Jiaqing's dragon bed. The Emperor Jiaqing had probably just stood up. The figure spoke to him with his hands behind his back, and his mellow voice echoed in the bedroom:
"...It's good that the Emperor has such a brilliant plan. But next time, please at least let me know. If it weren't for that day..."
She stepped over the threshold. The Purple Palace was startlingly quiet. She spoke softly, but even a small echo echoed, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."
The man turned around upon hearing that, his face expressionless, distant and indifferent, as if he was keeping people at a distance.
She said, "Meet Mr. Gu."
Gu Huaijin nodded and turned back. "If you hadn't mentioned this to me before, I would have already sent people to guard the Purple Palace as a precaution. I really don't know how to end what happened that day."
"I have no intention of forcing the Regent to abdicate. I just miss my mother so much..." Emperor Jiaqing murmured in defense.
Nan Qiongshuang sat by herself under the window, listening with her ears perked up.
"The Prince Regent is not someone who can be coerced by accusations of filial piety. This is not empty boasting." Gu Huaijin spoke slowly, turning around and extending his hand to her, his wide sleeves sweeping across the floor tiles. "Empress Zhen is the Prince Regent's cousin. If the Emperor doesn't believe me, he can ask Empress Zhen."
Nan Qiongshuang raised her head when her name was suddenly called.
Was she summoned to the Purple Palace specifically to admonish Emperor Jiaqing?
If so, was it Gu Huaijin who asked Emperor Jiaqing to summon her?
She put down the green grapes in her hand and walked all the way to Gu Huaijin's side and stood shoulder to shoulder with him:
"Your Majesty, my cousin's temperament...is truly beyond the reach of filial piety and the righteous path. The Four Books and Five Classics are nothing but empty talk to him. He is a man of unruly and untamable character, difficult to restrain, and he hates being forced into anything. The more you resist him, the less he'll give you the benefits. If you truly wish to receive something from him, you must not force him."
"That's right." Gu Huaijin tilted his head slightly and nodded, "Your Majesty truly understands the Regent."
Nan Qiong Shuang vaguely sensed a strange taste in these words, thought for a moment, and stopped talking.
"May I ask where your Highness has come from?" Gu Huaijin asked calmly, "The Emperor got up late this morning, and I didn't dare disturb him. I wanted to ask your Highness to wait for him to get up, but unexpectedly, someone was sent to your palace, and they said you were not there either."
Nan Qiongshuang sighed slightly, pondered for a while, and finally said carefully, "I came from the Daming Palace. My cousin wants to talk to Deyin."
"That's right. Ever since Her Majesty and the Prince Regent became cousins, their bond has grown stronger and stronger, and everyone in the palace knows about it." Gu Huaijin shook his wide sleeves, and the gold-embroidered honeysuckle pattern shimmered. "They were chatting together early this morning. Her Majesty has such a wonderful cousin. I, Gu, am truly envious."
Nan Qiong Shuang blinked her eyelashes and had nothing to say.
"Your Majesty," he turned back and said earnestly to Emperor Jiaqing, "The Prince Regent cherishes his mother, Mrs. Xie, and is also very protective of his young and ill-fated cousin. You have Concubine Zhen by your side, so why bring General Chang and Concubine Sheng with you to pressure the Prince Regent? Who knows, with just one word from your Majesty, the Prince Regent will grant your request."
Nan Qiongshuang suddenly raised her eyes and looked at him.
This person remained unmoved and looked calm and at ease.
"Mr. Gu, please don't flatter me." She forced a smile. "Who dares to say they can really control my cousin's unruly temper?"
"Your Majesty." He responded with a smile.
Her heart was pounding and she didn't respond.
"Your Majesty just said that he's upset the Prince Regent because of something that happened in Xiaole Garden, and he's feeling uneasy. He wants me to come to the palace and accompany him at all times over the next few days." He bowed his head politely. "Actually, with Concubine Zhen here, I'm afraid the Prince Regent has long forgotten the disagreement. Your Majesty, there's really no need to worry so much."
"Mr. Gu." She couldn't bear to listen any longer.
"Even if the Regent truly refuses to let you go, there's no need to panic. Simply ask the Empress to return to Daming Palace for a chat." Gu Huaijin smiled steadily. "The situation is extremely precarious. According to palace rules, I cannot always accompany the Saint in the palace. In my opinion, you might as well ask the Empress to move around the Daming Palace more often. Walk around during the day and at night, just in case."
"Mr. Gu." She couldn't stand it anymore and asked again.
"Sir, you make sense." On the other side, Emperor Jiaqing had dark circles under his eyes, clearly having not slept well since that day. "However, even siblings have to maintain gender separation, let alone cousins. I understand what you mean, and I'll think about it." He said to her, "Deyin."
She stood respectfully and obeyed.
"I heard Yan'er got so scared after the incident in Xiaole Garden that she fell ill. She's lonely in the palace. Go see her when you have time."
She was annoyed in her heart, but she smiled patiently and said, "Yes."
"And, sir," Emperor Jiaqing said to Gu Huaijin, "Linyan is ill. Linyan is my mother's adopted sister, a precious young lady. I'm worried about leaving her in the care of others." He spoke word by word, "Linyan's health is in my care, sir."
Nan Qiongshuang paused for a moment while twisting the handkerchief, then raised her eyes to look at the beautiful woman.
He was neither disgusted nor annoyed, and just said calmly, "Yes."
*
Inside Handan Palace.
Yuanxiang handed over another note. Unfolding it, it was written in the same neat regular script:
"Let's talk at home tomorrow."
She suddenly remembered that during the day, he accepted the task of Jingren Palace calmly as usual, as if it didn't matter to him to see Mao Linyan every day, to diagnose her pulse, and to care about her health every day. It seemed that he didn't hate Mao Linyan at all.
Maybe, there was no reason for him to hate Mao Linyan.
But she didn't like her. Mao Linyan once replaced the silver needles she used for acupuncture with poison needles.
Although Gu Huaijin was on his Wuliang Mountain when the poison needle incident happened, he might not have known about it.
However, she was still unhappy.
She has always prided herself on being open-minded and magnanimous, not a narrow-minded person, but when it comes to...when it comes to him, sometimes, even though she knows she shouldn't care, she still cares.
It was late at night and the candlelight had faded.
She closed the note without even looking at it again, and placed it on the candle flame, where it soaked.
Meet? No.
Anyway, they hadn't done anything, yet Li Xuanbai had noticed something was wrong. They shouldn't have bothered with it any further. Not at all.
She sat listlessly before the dressing mirror, her long eyelashes casting a few delicate shadows in the dim light, her eyes draped in her jet-black satin hair as she let Yuanxiang and Qinglian brush her hair, bored.
In the shadows, a foot suddenly stepped into the yellow candlelight, leading out a dark shadow, with hot air spitting out of its mouth, like a savage and vicious dog:
"Nan Qiong Shuang."
Nan Qiong Shuang raised her eyes lazily, inch by inch.
When he saw the newcomer, he immediately sneered:
"Hey, you're back?"
"Mist Blade."
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