Chapter 253 World Ten (Twenty-four)
As Yinhua, carrying her bundle, was brought to Zhilan Palace, the confusion still lingered in her eyes. She had assumed she would remain at Empress Dowager Zhong's side, serving her for a year or two, until she could find a way to escape and return to Baoshan's side. Unexpectedly, less than a month after being transferred to Empress Dowager Zhong's inner palace, Yinhua had transformed herself into Lan Zhaoyuan's only concubine, serving as a maid-in-waiting.
When Baoshan mentioned this, Yinhua couldn't hide her joy. Naturally, she wouldn't refuse the position of head maid. Although Yinhua had some plans, she was still quite young. She was so overwhelmed with joy at the prospect of being with Baoshan day and night that she forgot about any formalities or etiquette.
After the excitement wore off, Yinhua calmed down and put the many affairs of Zhilan Palace into order. Baoshan's moist eyes showed a look of amazement: "Yinhua, when did you become so powerful?"
Yinhua smiled softly, her back straight, "Since I want to be a maid, I must not make a mess, or I will be criticized."
Chu Boyu has been very busy recently. He has promoted several ministers from humble backgrounds, causing dissatisfaction among many noble families.
These nobles were all interconnected and involved with each other. As if they had agreed beforehand, they took leave one after another, trying to use the empty seats in the court to express their dissatisfaction.
Empress Dowager Zhong also did not support Chu Boyu's decision, saying that he was acting in a contradictory manner.
Although Chu Boyu did not argue with Empress Dowager Zhong as usual, he did not withdraw his order to promote the young man from a poor family.
Because of this incident, Chu Boyu drank several cups of Coptis chinensis water all day long, but still couldn't suppress the heat in his abdomen.
After Chu Boyu arrived at Zhilan Palace, he had no time to do the sentimental things he did in the past.
He just hugged Baoshan's soft body, smelled the elegant fragrance in the hall, and fell into a deep sleep.
Baoshan felt sorry for Chu Boyu's sleepless nights, so she thought of picking some fresh flower petals and fruits to make flower tea and fruit tea, which could clear away heat without being as bitter and difficult to drink as coptis water.
Bao Shan was walking in the Imperial Garden when she encountered several beautiful ladies gathered in a pavilion. They bowed and saluted, "Lan Zhaoyuan is well."
Baoshan nodded slightly without lingering for too long.
The concubines looked at Baoshan's graceful figure leaving and couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion.
"Your Majesty's favor truly nourishes. In the past, Lan Zhaoyuan looked frail and pitiful, as if she would break if her arms were bent even slightly. Now—Lan Zhaoyuan's cheeks are rosy, and although she still looks fragile and delicate, her every frown and smile is captivating, and her beauty has even intensified."
Another concubine chuckled softly and said, "I heard that Your Majesty lingered in Zhilan Palace. I'm afraid it's not Your Majesty's favor that nourishes people, but... the grace of rain and dew."
Everyone laughed, but they felt very complicated in their hearts.
Originally, at a night banquet in the palace, Baoshan performed a dance on a high platform. She was a dancer who tried her best to please the superior.
Nowadays, when these noble ladies see the precious fan, they have to bow obediently.
It is really like a matter of time.
In the soft hands of the precious fan, there was a light bamboo basket.
She lingered among the flowers, looking at which ones were in full bloom, and then pinched off a few of the most delicate petals.
Baoshan was busy picking flowers when she suddenly felt a soft object fiddling with her hair.
Baoshan looked up and saw that the branches were covered with clusters of flowers, which weighed down the slender branches.
Not far from it, clusters of flowers on the branches are in full bloom.
The flower branches hung above Baoshan's head. Baoshan could pick a bunch of flowers by stretching out his arms.
Baoshan tiptoed and gathered a bunch of flowers in her palm.
She slightly curved her eyebrows and hurriedly put the petals into the bamboo basket, but she didn't notice the round pebbles under her feet.
Baoshan's body swayed slightly, and then he fell backwards slowly.
"Be careful."
A soft cry was heard from behind, and the precious fan fell into a warm embrace. The flower petals in the bamboo basket fluttered down.
Some fell to the ground, and some floated on Baoshan's hair and shoulders.
The person under him said helplessly, "But nothing happened?"
Bao Shan stood up gently, and then she noticed that the person who had caught her was Prince Gong Chu Shi.
Chu Shi was in a particularly miserable state at this moment. The wheelchair he was leaning on fell to the side, and he fell to the ground, with flower petals floating all over his body.
Chu Shi frowned, patted his legs, and finally said hesitantly to Bao Shan, "Lan Zhaoyuan, can you help me get back to the wheelchair?"
There are some similarities between Chu Shi's eyebrows and eyes and Chu Boyu's.
But Chu Shi's face looked more like a beautiful jade, while Chu Boyu's appearance resembled Empress Dowager Zhong.
Even because of his gentle nature, his eyes and eyebrows look much gentler.
But if he had a tense face, it was enough to intimidate others.
But Chu Shi was different. From head to toe, from his eyes to his nose, there was not a single part of him that revealed a sense of coldness. Coupled with his gentle demeanor, he gave people a natural liking for him.
What's more, at this moment, Chu Shi's eyelashes trembled slightly. Because his legs were crippled, there was a rare hint of fragility in his eyes.
Bao Shan said softly, "Of course you can."
She straightened the overturned wheelchair and walked over to support Chu Shi.
But Baoshan is just a weak woman after all, and can only give Chu Shiding a little help.
Fortunately, Chu Shi had encountered this situation many times and was already very familiar with it. He relied on his upper body strength to sit back in the wheelchair.
Chu Shi smoothed out the wrinkles on his robe and picked up the petals that had fallen on him, one by one.
In a flash, the disheveled Chu Shi disappeared, and he returned to his usual gentle self.
Chu Shi looked embarrassed, raised his red palm, and said, "Lan Zhaoyuan, could you please take the trouble to send me to the palace gate again? My guards are waiting there."
Bao Shan's beautiful eyes trembled slightly. She could hardly refuse. Chu Shi had a leg disease and was now injured. Moreover, this injury was probably caused by Bao Shan pressing Chu Shi under her body as a cushion when she fell.
Bao Shan naturally did not refuse. She slowly walked behind Chu Shi, touched the armrest on the back of the wheelchair, and said softly, "Prince Gong has a request, so I dare not refuse."
Most of the paths in the Imperial Garden are paved with pebbles.
The wheelchair made a dull sound as it moved along the stone road. Chu Shi spoke in a gentle voice, "The last time we met, Lan Zhaoyuan was still a poor woman who had been wrongly accused.
I never thought that it wouldn't be long before Lan Zhaoyuan won His Majesty's favor and became the most important person in the harem. This prince has not yet congratulated Lan Zhaoyuan.
Bao Shan lowered her eyelids and whispered, "I was saved by the false accusation against Tang Xiu-nu by His Majesty. But I was so busy that day that I didn't have time to thank His Majesty before I heard the news that He had left the palace."
Chu Shi didn't seem to take it to heart, and simply said, "It's just a small favor. Even if I wasn't there that day, there were others. You are innocent after all. Even if someone wants to slander you, they can't call a horse a zebra."
Chu Shi's words seemed too innocent, not something a prince who had his legs broken by his mother and was begging for his life in front of his enemies would say. How could there be only innocence in the palace? There were many who were slandered and framed.
But Baoshan did not refute. Her reaction was exactly what a woman with a pure nature and a delicate figure should have.
"But those who know my innocence have not come forward to testify. Only the prince is kind-hearted..."
Chu Shi chuckled and stopped talking about it. Instead, he asked, "How does His Majesty treat you?"
Bao Shan's cheeks were flushed and her lips were pursed shyly, which made Chu Shi slightly stunned.
Thinking of Chu Boyu, Baoshan's eyebrows became more gentle: "Your Majesty... he is naturally good everywhere."
Chu Shi's eyes darkened slightly, and he said, "It seems that His Majesty treats you very well."
Although Baoshan didn't say anything, her shy look already showed that she acknowledged Chu Shi's words.
Chu Shi said with an ambiguous tone, "Your Majesty is not like my father. He is fair and considerate. It is truly rare and precious."
When Empress Dowager Zhong heard that Bao Shan and Chu Shi had a close relationship, and even personally escorted Chu Shi to the palace gate, she couldn't help but frown.
Empress Dowager Zhong had always been resentful towards Concubine Shu. Even though Concubine Shu was willing to die to eliminate Empress Dowager Zhong's anger, she was unable to make Empress Dowager Zhong completely forget the suffering she had suffered at the hands of Concubine Shu.
Empress Dowager Zhong didn't care much about Chu Shi. After all, he was a disabled man without any confidants to help him, so he couldn't cause any trouble.
But when Empress Dowager Zhong learned that Bao Shan and Chu Shi had a close relationship, she couldn't help but start to have wild thoughts.
After all, Baoshan is weak in nature and looks pitiful all day long, even more pitiful than the Shufei of the past.
Although Concubine Shu was favored, Emperor Shuncheng never neglected his other concubines because of her. However, Chu Boyu was particularly fond of the precious fan. Empress Dowager Zhong was deeply troubled, thinking that if the precious fan had been sent to the palace by Chu Shi, he had deliberately deceived Chu Boyu and wanted him to repeat the mistakes of Emperor Shuncheng. This would show Empress Dowager Zhong that if Concubine Shu had won the heart of Emperor Shuncheng in the past, now the precious fan could also win the heart of Chu Boyu.
The only two men that are important to Empress Dowager Zhong in this world.
A husband and a son, both at the mercy of their enemies.
Empress Dowager Zhong felt a headache coming on. She stroked her forehead and said, "Call my brother to the palace."
The palace maids took the order and left.
Empress Dowager Zhong then instructed, "Call Boyu as well."
Chu Boyu arrived at Empress Dowager Zhong's palace and greeted her respectfully, "Mother."
Empress Dowager Zhong raised her hand lightly and asked the palace servants to describe in vivid detail how Baoshan and Prince Gong Chu Shi got along.
Chu Boyu's face remained calm, but his hands were clenched tightly, almost crushing his bones. He turned to look at Empress Dowager Zhong and asked, "What do you mean, mother?"
Empress Dowager Zhong said in a deep voice, "Don't be fooled by appearances. A woman with a delicate figure may not be who she appears to be. The relationship between Lan Zhaoyuan and Prince Gong..."
Chu Boyu interrupted Empress Dowager Zhong coldly, a smile playing on his lips: "You are joking, mother. The treasured fan belongs to my Lan Zhaoyuan, who accompanies me day and night. How has she ever been involved with Prince Gong?"
Empress Dowager Zhong raised her eyes and looked at the tall Chu Boyu, whose eyebrows and eyes were similar to her own portrait, with surprise in her eyes.
It seemed as if at this moment, Empress Dowager Zhong suddenly realized that Chu Boyu was no longer the skinny and small child who was afraid of her that General Zhong brought back from Shu.
Chu Boyu strode away.
Back in the main hall, Chu Boyu looked at the memorial but couldn't concentrate at all.
Feeling uneasy, he turned and left the main hall, heading towards the place where Empress Dowager Zhong said Bao Shan and Chu Shi had "encountered".
A gentle breeze blew, and petals fell all over the ground. Two young eunuchs were sweeping the petals from the ground. Chu Boyu walked over and heard one of the eunuchs say.
"Although Prince Gong is ill, he is handsome. Standing next to the exceptionally beautiful and delicate Lan Zhaoyuan, they look like a perfect match."
Another young eunuch hurriedly said, "Don't talk nonsense. Lan Zhaoyuan is your majesty's beloved concubine, and your majesty regards her as a treasure. How dare you implicate Lan Zhaoyuan and Prince Gong together?"
The young eunuch disagreed: "But Your Majesty and Lan Zhaoyuan are not a good match. Lan Zhaoyuan looks so fragile, if she can't match with a man of swift action, then she should match with someone as gentle as jade. But Your Majesty is like this... If Lan Zhaoyuan married Prince Gong, the couple would be in perfect harmony, not as good as they are now..."
Before the young eunuch could finish his words, Chu Boyu's palm had already wrapped around his neck.
The young eunuch's legs were hanging in the air as he struggled mightily. His face was bruised and purple as he begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, please spare me..."
The other young eunuch had already knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.
Chu Boyu was not merciful. When he loosened his hand again, the little eunuch's body slid to the ground like a soft loach.
Chu Boyu casually said, "Take him to the mass grave."
The warmth of the young eunuch's body still remained in Chu Boyu's palm.
Faced with such a fragile life, the old Chu Boyu would be afraid and his heart would beat fast.
But at this time, Chu Boyu's mind was full of the little eunuch's nonsense.
Baoshan and Chu Shi...
Absolutely impossible.
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