Chapter 10: Meeting the Emperor and Empress Dowager
"Zhao Liangxu, you and that idiot from before are the complete opposite."
His hand remained on Zhao Liangxu's neck, the icy touch lingering there before his slender fingers lifted a strand of her hair.
But his gaze remained fixed on Zhao Liangxu.
"Your Excellency is too kind."
Zhao Liangxu tilted her head to the side, letting the strand of hair in An He's hand slip gently down.
"Anyway, I can't disobey whatever you say, so I'll go to the palace."
Anhe twirled her fingers and glared at Zhao Liangxu.
The study was eerily quiet.
The candlelight flickered across Anhe's face, obscuring his expression.
He suddenly let out a sneer.
He carefully washed his hands with the handkerchief on the table, almost excessively so.
He wiped his hands, and without looking up, gave the order:
"Then you should hurry back and pack your things, so that our Princess Zhao won't miss her time to enter the palace tomorrow."
Zhao Liangxu watched An He wiping his hands and couldn't help but think to herself:
Pack.
Hearing that sarcastic, conciliatory concern, it was just two words again:
ill.
After Zhao Liangxu left, Anhe called Zhang Sheng in and threw the handkerchief to him.
"Take it out and burn it."
Zhang Sheng held the handkerchief, puzzled, but still bowed in response.
"Also, go and urge Zhao Liangxu to get up at 3 AM tomorrow and tell her to wear something presentable."
"What does Godfather want?"
Anhe sat behind the table, his fingers, which had just brushed through his hair, lightly tapping the surface. He closed his eyes and said, "Go to the palace to meet the Emperor."
"yes."
The next morning, before dawn, Zhao Liangxu was woken up by Zhu Mu.
"Princess, get up quickly. Eunuch Sheng has been waiting outside the courtyard for quite some time."
Zhu Mu kept shaking Zhao Liangxu, who would briefly regain consciousness only to fall back into a coma, and was extremely anxious.
Her clothes and other belongings were neatly placed by the bedside, waiting for Zhao Liangxu to get up, wash, put on her clothes, and leave.
But now Zhao Liangxu looks like she's determined to stay in bed no matter what.
Zhang Sheng had been waiting outside the courtyard for a quarter of an hour, but his princess hadn't even left her bed.
"Princess, princess."
Bamboo and wood kept calling to Zhao Liangxu's ear.
Zhao Liangxu secretly cursed An He countless times with the few remaining clear-headed brain cells she had left.
That crazy eunuch, he must have done it on purpose by calling her so early!
He told her to go back and rest early, but not long after she lay down on the bed, he sent Zhang Sheng over to urge her to leave.
Not being able to sleep well is like a death sentence.
Zhao Liangxu sat up, stretched, closed her eyes, and fumbled for her clothes. Once she found them, she started to put them on haphazardly, yawning as she got out of bed.
She stood there, squinting, fighting off sleepiness. After all, she had stayed in Anhe Study until midnight last night, and had only slept for less than three hours.
After bowing her head in silence for a while, Zhao Liangxu finally overcame her desire to sleep.
She tidied up Zhu Mu's hair, which was a little messy from rushing around, and reassured her not to worry before going out to see Zhang Sheng.
I must get my revenge if I get the chance.
Anhe, you wait.
While cursing An He in her heart, Zhao Liangxu appeared in front of Zhang Sheng.
Zhang Sheng was not angry at Zhao Liangxu's procrastination. After all, as An He's closest confidant, he knew that the so-called Yin Shi (3-5 AM) was just a way to torment Zhao Liangxu.
At this time, the Ninth Prince and His Majesty were still in court, so there was still time.
So he stood at the door and waited for this "princess".
However, Zhao Liangxu in front of him looked like she hadn't woken up yet.
Because she got up in a hurry, Zhao Liangxu didn't bother to tidy herself up much; she just wiped her face before coming out.
She was still recovering from her illness; her face was pale, and she appeared extremely weak.
As a descendant of the Northern Zhou royal family, Zhao Liangxu naturally inherited the physique of the Northern Zhou people, making her stand out among the women of Southern Zhou, with a height of over 1.7 meters, or even a little over 2 inches.
However, the long period of fleeing deprived her body of sufficient nutrition, and she became as thin and frail as a piece of paper, making people worry that even a slightly strong gust of wind could blow her several meters away.
These past few days, she has rarely used rouge to cover her complexion while staying at home. Zhang Sheng originally thought that entering the palace would be a big deal for her, but he did not expect her to act as usual.
"Princess Zhao, please get into the carriage; the journey is quite long."
Zhang Sheng, with the impeccable and proper manners typical of those in the palace, was always impeccably polite, regardless of his inner thoughts.
Zhao Liangxu did not refuse and stepped into the carriage, which was more comfortable than the sedan chair from a few days ago.
She was the only one in the carriage, and although it was comfortable, it was just a bit spacious.
The car was clearly not used often; the seats were so hard they were uncomfortable, but she still fell asleep almost immediately.
She didn't know how long she had been walking until Zhang Sheng called her from outside the carriage, at which point she slowly woke up.
"Princess Zhao, carriages are not allowed inside the palace. You will have to get off and walk for a while."
Zhang Sheng naturally wore official robes when he entered the palace today. As one of An He's men, he was considered a high-ranking eunuch in the palace. Wearing a blue-gray python robe, he walked along the palace road. Ordinary eunuchs and palace maids would bow their heads and greet him with "Greetings, Eunuch Zhang."
When the people in the palace saw Zhao Liangxu following behind Zhang Sheng, they were all startled and exchanged glances with the people next to them.
Zhang Sheng initially didn't want to pay attention to the petty actions of these palace maids and eunuchs, but they were too unrestrained, so Zhang Sheng stopped and reminded them: "Have you forgotten the rules of the palace? If the Ninth Prince were here, you bunch of whispering servants would be out of a job."
Upon hearing this, the palace maids and eunuchs quickly averted their gaze and stood up shakily.
Ha, Eunuch An really is a treacherous eunuch.
The group walked until they reached a magnificent and luxurious palace. However, there were not many servants around, and various trees and plants were planted, making it seem rather quiet.
Zhao Liangxu looked up and saw the plaque that read "Yu Yue Palace".
A young girl with an elaborate hairstyle and wearing a light blue silk dress emerged from inside the hall.
She is beautiful and young.
"Greetings, Eunuch Zhang. The Empress Dowager has heard the news of Princess Zhao's arrival at the palace. His Majesty and the Ninth Prince will soon be leaving court. Please wait here for a moment, Princess Zhao."
It turns out she was the Empress Dowager's palace maid; she's so young.
Fang Shi bowed to Zhang Sheng while explaining, and the last sentence was addressed to Zhao Liangxu.
Zhang Sheng waved his hand and bowed towards the direction of the palace: "Aunt Fangshi is too polite. This servant will not go in to disturb the Empress Dowager. Your Majesty is waiting for this servant to report back."
Zhang Sheng left Zhao Liangxu with the Empress Dowager, while Fang Shi led Zhao Liangxu into the palace.
The Yu Yue Palace looked extremely luxurious from the outside, but the interior was surprisingly simple. There were no jade or porcelain pieces that would make people name them. The room was clean and tidy, and the owner of the room was dressed simply, unlike an empress dowager.
Zhou Mingxi leaned against the couch with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep.
Her palace maids were just like her; they were all very young. She was also too young to be an empress dowager, just as Aunt Fangshi was not like an old nanny who should serve the empress dowager.
The Empress Dowager looked like a modern woman in her twenties. Women who could enter the harem must have been good-looking. Zhou Mingxi's appearance was not the most beautiful, but she had a more refined and elegant temperament. She had a small mole on the corner of her mouth, which added a touch of maturity to her face.
Zhao Liangxu bowed to the Empress Dowager following the etiquette she remembered, but Zhou Mingxi did not speak and remained leaning there with her eyes closed.
So Zhao Liangxu glanced at Fang Shi and found a seat to sit down.
No one scolded her, and no one paid any attention to her.
Zhao Liangxu stared straight at Zhou Mingxi without any attempt to hide her gaze, and Fang Shi, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but look at her as well.
Although she didn't quite understand why the Empress Dowager was acting so solemnly, her intuition and the atmosphere in the palace reminded her that the Empress Dowager didn't like her very much.
In those fragmented memories, there seems to be no scene of Zhao Liangxu having a direct conflict with the Empress Dowager, or rather, Zhao Liangxu never even saw this overly young concubine back then.
The old emperor lived to be over eighty years old before passing away, and he didn't hesitate to fill his harem with women, sending in dozens of young and beautiful women.
Many of the concubines even had children.
It's impossible for Zhao Liangxu to have met everyone.
Zhao Liangxu's spirits lifted; she could finally break the current uncomfortable situation.
However, the voice that made the announcement was not Anhe's. For some reason, Anhe's voice was usually low and hoarse.
It's still better to hear than a shrill sound.
"Mother, I'm leaving court."
Zhou Mingxi opened his eyes.
A childish voice, still going through puberty, came first from outside the door, followed by somewhat hurried footsteps.
Zhao Liangxu looked towards the door and saw a child wearing a golden dragon robe walk in. Zhao Liangxu estimated that this little emperor was only slightly taller than her waist.
Following closely behind was Anhe, who was noticeably different from usual, which caught her eye.
He had applied the powder and cream that was fashionable on eunuchs at the time, making him appear even whiter than usual. His lips also seemed to be coated with lip rouge, making his whole face look like a bright and damp ghost in broad daylight. Fortunately, his relatively handsome appearance slightly neutralized that gloomy aura.
An He also donned official robes, but unlike Zhang Sheng's blue-gray robes, An He's python robe was a more flamboyant dark red, with black backgrounds and gold threads for the patterns. The more refined and intricate craftsmanship of the robes proved his status as the Ninth Prince.
He held a whisk in his hands, his fingers tapping the wooden handle of the whisk idly. The whisk's white bristles and the light-colored jade belt around his waist trembled with his movements against the backdrop of his black and red python robe.
An He gave the Empress Dowager a perfunctory bow. Seeing that Zhao Liangxu's eyes showed no surprise or disgust, but rather a strange expectation, he felt a surge of irritation and glared at Zhao Liangxu.
Hurry up and pay your respects to His Majesty.
Zhao Liangxu's eyes, however, showed excitement at Anhe's appearance.
The presence of the three most distinguished people in the country in this palace makes any topic of discussion seem far more interesting than the previous silence.
Furthermore, An He's current demeanor is sharper and more flamboyant, making no attempt to conceal his image as a treacherous eunuch.
To be honest, Zhao Liangxu thought An He looked strangely attractive.
Out of the corner of her eye, Zhao Liangxu glanced at An He a few more times, drawing a murderous glare from him. Finally, she rolled up her sleeves and knelt down before the person who was nominally the most honored in the world.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
The young emperor, who had been clutching the Empress Dowager's sleeve, finally noticed Zhao Liangxu. He clapped his hands as if suddenly realizing something: "Zhao Liangxu!"
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