Chapter 31 An Alternative New Year's Eve
Hongzhao was extremely anxious and his feet moved as fast as the wind, but his physical limitations were too great; his small body could only take one step, which was less than three. Even so, Xiao Dezi couldn't catch up with him even when he was jogging behind.
The passing guards and eunuchs all made way for him; this was the most favored young prince of the Qing Dynasty, who would dare to stop him?
Even so, when he rushed to Yimei Garden, Hongzhao still heard a voice say, "Don't come any closer... my shoes and socks are wet, I'm changing them."
Hongzhao took two deep breaths to suppress the biting cold air he had inhaled while running, straightened his hat, turned back and gave Xiaodezi a look signaling him to stay where he was, and walked forward alone.
His small figure appeared in Yinzhen's sight, but he did not stop. His innocent and curious eyes, unique to children, were fixed on the large rock where someone was hiding, and he slowly approached through the snow.
Yinzhen watched with deep eyes as his son tilted his head and walked into the shadows, without uttering a word to stop him.
His shoes and socks were wet, and as a man, he naturally couldn't go to look without being polite, but it didn't matter to the innocent three-year-old child.
Hongzhao was betting on his father's intense curiosity about the person reciting poetry. Hearing no attempt to stop him from behind, he knew he had made the right bet. So, he went all out and strode to the stone to peer inside.
Zhen Huan's heart nearly leaped out of her throat. Her hands gripped the lantern tightly, her palms sweating profusely in the cold winter sun. She listened intently to the sounds outside.
Seeing that the man had not spoken again after she finished speaking, she thought to herself that he was a gentleman. Without further ado, she lifted her skirt, bent over, and turned to run towards Suiyu Pavilion.
Turning around, however, I didn't see the way I came, but rather a small, red face from the cold, and big, bright eyes staring at me.
"ah!"
She jerked violently and fell backward into the snow, her heart pounding like a drum. She involuntarily cried out, then belatedly covered her mouth.
Seeing that he had really frightened the person, Hongzhao felt a little embarrassed. He took half a step back, straightened his sleeves, and respectfully bowed, saying, "Your subject greets Your Highness Wan."
How did he know! Zhen Huan was at a loss for words to describe her current situation. "Your Highness... is this child in front of you a prince?"
Those people outside...
Zhen Huan didn't want to think about it anymore, hoping it wasn't what she thought. She closed her eyes, her mind racing as she considered a solution.
"What?" Yinzhen frowned, and involuntarily took a step closer, asking as he walked, "Hongzhao, what did you say?"
If Hongzhao could bow to her, this person must not be some palace maid from Yimei Garden. Yinzhen realized that he had been deceived.
But is it Lady Wan?
Aside from Consort Wan, who had been ill for a long time and had not left the palace, Yinzhen did not think of anyone else. But Consort Wan had been ill for many days after entering the palace and could not even get up for the New Year's Eve banquet. Why was she in Yimei Garden?
Hongzhao pretended not to see what the two were thinking and said to the emperor in a childlike manner, "Father, I am not mistaken, it is indeed Consort Wan. Mother sent charcoal and cloth to Suiyuxuan in the winter, and I secretly followed her to see it."
Zhen Huan closed her eyes in despair, for he was the only person in the world who could be called "Father Emperor".
At this point, nothing she said mattered. Taking advantage of her legs, which were already sore and numb from the cold in the snow, she slowly got up, changed her posture, and quickly knelt down. She reached out and lifted the wide hood, and respectfully spoke to the tall figure who was approaching.
"Your Majesty, I, Zhen Shi of Suiyu Pavilion, greet you. May the Fifth Prince be well."
"Zhen Shi..." The Emperor repeated the words to her with an ambiguous meaning before falling silent. He stood with his hands in his pockets, gazing down at the woman kneeling in the snow. His eyes were dark and unreadable, revealing neither joy nor anger. These two short words were a stark contrast to the atmosphere just moments before.
Hongzhao knew his father, the Emperor, was suspicious, so he remained silent and withdrew from the conflict.
Zhen Huan, supporting her slightly trembling body, bit her tongue to clear her mind, and stammered, "I have always been weak... but today, on New Year's Eve, I am also looking forward to the festivities. I am afraid that I will not dare to go to the banquet after my illness has passed. I can only pray for blessings alone in Yimei Garden."
After pausing for a moment, and still receiving no response, she could only grit her teeth and continue, "Just now... in the dead of night, I went out while I was ill. I felt that men and women should not be so close, so I lied and said that I was a palace maid in the Plum Garden. I did not mean to please Your Majesty."
Yinzhen looked down and saw that her shoes and socks were still on her feet, with some snow water on the edges, but there was no sign that they had been changed.
Zhen Huan also noticed his gaze, and carefully pulled her feet back, covering them with her cloak.
Seeing her anxious and cautious demeanor, Yinzhen's expression momentarily shifted to one of realization. It was as if he were not in the Plum Blossom Garden of the Imperial Palace, but in the plum grove of a Prince's residence. It was a snowy night like this, and the plum blossoms were just like these.
Chun Yuan danced gracefully under the moonlight, her movements as lithe and elegant as a dragon in flight.
After being seen by him, she also knelt down and bowed to him, her face showing the same unease.
Chun Yuan's face slowly overlapped with Zhen Huan's face in front of him, as if Chun Yuan had crossed life and death and returned to his side. At this moment, Yinzhen was no longer willing to endure it.
Without saying a word, he leaned forward, tossed his braid behind him, bent down and picked up Zhen Huan, who was kneeling in the snow. He stood up, paused for a moment, and weighed the person in his arms, causing her to gasp softly and hug his neck tightly.
He smiled as if he had gotten away with something wicked, and strode towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Hongzhao was craning his neck to watch the play intently when his view was suddenly blocked.
A pair of cold, bony hands covered his eyes.
He grabbed the slightly thin wrists and turned around to look behind him. He saw Xiao Dezi standing behind him with his head down, his eyes full of disapproval as he craned his neck to watch his father hug the concubine.
He pursed his lips in boredom, about to speak, when his gaze suddenly caught sight of a blue-green robe with gold trim peeking out from behind him in the plum grove.
"Blue? How could I forget about that!"
Hongzhao slapped his forehead, pushed aside Xiao Dezi, and rushed to the back. Just as he was about to reach his seventeenth uncle, who had his back turned, he was ruthlessly interrupted by a voice.
"Oh! Fifth Prince, what brings you out here? In this freezing winter... Seventeenth Prince is here too." Su Peisheng led a group of people to find the figure.
Yunli was startled by the voice and quickly hid his right hand behind his back. A flash of bright red caught Hongzhao's eye.
He naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity to gossip, and asked innocently, "Uncle Seventeen, what did you take from the flower branch just now? It looked red, but it didn't look like a flower."
Yunli didn't know why he instinctively put his hands behind his back the moment he saw someone. It would be fine if only Hongzhao was there, but Su Peisheng, who was by his elder brother's side, was also present. If word of the secret hiding of the baby elephant reached his brother's ears...
Given my elder brother's suspicious and thoughtful nature...
He smiled nonchalantly and waved his hand lightly—"It's just a window decoration, probably left behind by a palace servant. If Hongzhao likes it, your Seventeenth Uncle will make one for you another day."
Not wanting to linger there, he turned to Su Peisheng and said, "Your Majesty has just won the heart of your beauty and must have already returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. In that case, I will not be returning to this banquet."
"Huh?" Su Peisheng looked at the Seventeenth Prince with a puzzled expression, then looked around at the empty courtyard—"Where...where did this beauty come from?"
Yunli chuckled softly and left without answering, swaying unsteadily towards the other side.
"Respectfully seeing off Your Highness." "Seeing off Uncle Seventeen."
Watching his retreating figure, Hongzhao tugged at Su Peisheng, who was muttering to himself, and said, "Did you see what Seventeenth Uncle was holding? It doesn't look like a paper-cut window decoration to me."
Su Peisheng lowered himself in response, looking at the young master with a smile, and asked, "Then what does the prince say it resembles?"
Hongzhao thought for a moment, then spoke with certainty, “Like a woman’s silhouette.”
——
The Emperor did not return after the New Year's Eve banquet. Consort Hua wanted to curse Consort Qi from head to toe. With the main character of the banquet gone, the others lost their will to continue and the banquet ended hastily.
Today is Lunar New Year's Eve, and in principle, it should be the Empress who serves the Emperor in bed. Of course, there are exceptions. Consort Hua's brother won a great victory today, and the Emperor may go to Yikun Palace in his joy.
But none of them were there.
Rumors spread from who-knows-where that the Emperor carried a woman from the Plum Blossom Garden back to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and that she had never come out again.
The veracity of the news can be determined simply by looking at the shards of porcelain scattered all over the Yikun Palace.
Rumors are never lacking in the Forbidden City, and the identity of the woman that night had already been speculated on many times, with many different opinions and no certainty.
It wasn't until the imperial edict announcing her promotion came down the next day that everyone suddenly remembered that there was a concubine named Wan, who had been ill and out of the palace for a long time, and who had quietly accomplished something significant.
She quietly won the favor of Consort Hua and the Empress at the New Year's Eve banquet, and the apricot grove and the personally bestowed hot spring were gone.
Some only had the opportunity to be presented to the Empress for the first time on the second day, when everyone was eager to try their luck.
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