Consort Shu finds fault
On the second day after Consort Shu was confined to her quarters, new turmoil arose in the palace. Early in the morning, as I went to the imperial kitchen to fetch some snacks, I bumped into several guards rushing past, muttering, "The people in Consort Shu's palace have rebelled," and "They're going to the Cold Palace to arrest them." My heart tightened; my spy instincts made me immediately hide behind a pillar, my fingertips instinctively reaching for my waist—where there should have been a dagger, but now only empty fabric reminded me that I was in this illusory dream.
When they ran back to the Cold Palace, several guards wielding long knives were already gathered at the gate. The head eunuch shouted in a shrill voice, "By order of Consort Shu, there are traitors and accomplices hiding in the Cold Palace. Search immediately!" Ya Huan was so frightened that she hid behind Consort Rong. Consort Rong gripped her hand tightly, her face pale, but she still stood in front of her. Consort Su took out a pair of scissors from her medicine basket and secretly hid them in her sleeve, her eyes warily watching the guards. Consort Xian stood under the corridor, her back ramrod straight, and shouted sternly, "Insolence! Consort Shu has been confined to her quarters. How dare you falsely convey imperial orders? Aren't you afraid of the Emperor's punishment?"
The guards hesitated for a moment, but the leader sneered, "His Majesty is still handling official business in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, how could he care about these trivial matters in the Cold Palace? Today we are acting on the 'order' of Consort Shu, and we must search!" He then tried to force his way in. I stepped forward abruptly, blocking their path—my training as a special agent allowed me to instantly spot the guards' flaws: their scabbards lacked the insignia of royal guards, and their steps were hurried; they were clearly a hastily assembled rabble.
“You are not palace guards,” I stared at the leader, my voice surprisingly calm even to myself. “Real guards wear bright yellow belts and have dragon patterns engraved on their scabbards, but your belts are dark blue and your scabbards are smooth and unpatterned. You are clearly outlaws recruited by Consort Shu.” My words made the guards’ faces change drastically. The leader tried to argue, but I quickly stepped forward, grabbed his wrist as he swung his sword, and twisted it with the force of the movement—the movement was as fast as instinct, a grappling technique I had practiced hundreds of times in the training ground.
"Ah!" The lead guard cried out in pain, his long sword falling to the ground. Seeing this, the other guards retreated hastily. Taking advantage of the situation, Consort Xian shouted, "Guards! Consort Shu is harboring desperados and plotting a rebellion!" Footsteps approached from afar; it was the Imperial Guards sent by the Empress—presumably, the Empress had been prepared and knew Consort Shu wouldn't let the matter rest.
The Imperial Guards quickly brought the situation under control. As the leading guard was being led away, he was still shouting, "Consort Shu will not let you get away with this!" Ya Huan rushed over and hugged my arm, her voice trembling with tears, "Sister A Zhao, you're so amazing... You scared me to death just now." Consort Rong also came over and handed me a handkerchief, "You... Your movements just now were so fast, like... like a chivalrous knight-errant."
I took the handkerchief and wiped the sweat from my palms, but a bitter feeling welled up inside me. They didn't know that my composure and skill just now came from countless training sessions on the brink of death; they didn't know how afraid I was of returning to that reality where I had to be constantly on edge and could lose my life at any moment.
That night, after everyone had fallen asleep, I sat under the small peach tree in the corner of the courtyard, clutching the jade pendant the Empress had given me. The moonlight shone on the pendant, giving it a cold glow, reminding me of the scene during my last mission—it was a similar moonlit night, amidst the ruins, my sleeves stained with the blood of my teammates, the sounds of enemy gunfire and their screams filling my ears. The beeping of the electrocardiogram monitor was etched into my mind then, becoming a haunting nightmare.
Here, in this dream, I don't have to be constantly on guard. I can have the gentleness of Consort Xian, the meticulousness of Consort Su, the shyness of Consort Rong, the liveliness of Ya Huan, the steadfastness of Consort Li, and even the awkward protection of the Empress. I can make pastries, embroider handkerchiefs, and play the pipa with them, without worrying about bullets coming at me the next second, or facing the despair of my teammates falling down.
"Sister Zhao, why are you sitting here?" Rongfei's voice came from behind me. She was holding a light coat and gently draped it over my shoulders. "It's chilly at night, don't catch a cold." I turned to look at her. Her eyes were full of worry, just like the look in my teammates' eyes when they handed me a first-aid kit on the training field—but my teammates ended up collapsing in my arms, while Rongfei was standing right in front of me, so real that I wanted to hold on to her.
“Consort Rong,” I asked softly, “you said… if one day everything here disappears, where will you go?” Consort Rong paused, sat down beside me, and whispered, “I don’t know… but I hope to stay with you all forever, in the Cold Palace, never to be separated.” Her words were like a warm current flowing through my heart, making me even more determined not to wake up.
I'm afraid that when I wake up, there will be no more such warm companionship; I'm afraid that when I wake up, I will be faced with cold medical equipment and endless pain; I'm afraid that when I wake up, those people who were so vivid in my dream will become blurry shadows in my memory. Even if this is a dream, even if it's all an illusion, I want to stay here forever, to be a "deserter" who doesn't have to face reality.
The "beep beep" sound in my ears suddenly became clear, and the small peach tree in front of me began to blur, even overlapping with the barbed wire on the training ground. I closed my eyes tightly, and when I opened them again, the peach tree was back to normal, and Consort Rong was still sitting beside me, smiling as she told me about her childhood.
I clutched the jade pendant tightly, as if grasping at the last straw. Here, I wasn't Lin Zhao, the secret agent always ready to die; I was just "A Zhao," someone who could live a simple life with the person I loved. That was enough.
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