Chapter 23 Chapter 23 [VIP]
"I have been in the palace for two years, yet I have not been able to bear you a child," Yuan Mu said, lowering her eyes. "It has been almost three years since you ascended the throne, and you have yet to hold a selection."
She said slowly, "How about this spring..."
The emperor's harem today is basically composed of the descendants of meritorious officials, and then the nephews and nieces of close ministers who have made great achievements.
There weren't many people here, and compared to the previous emperor, this huge palace was even more empty and lonely.
But perhaps this is exactly what the emperor wants.
If there were too many concubines, his exclusive favor for the queen would be particularly conspicuous, and various voices would become chaotic.
But before Yuan Mu could finish his words, the emperor's expression turned cold.
His eyes were dark, and the tenderness in them faded quickly.
The emperor's voice was also cold: "What did your father say to you, or did Yuan Ying say to you?"
They had indeed told him so.
Yuan Wei was determined to achieve his goal. He would do anything to achieve his goal.
In order to protect the deposed prince, he was willing to sacrifice his life.
No matter how reluctant Yuan Mu was, Yuan Wei would always find a way to make her speak.
She lowered her eyes and said softly, "No one told me anything."
"But I don't think this is a good idea," Yuan Mu stroked the hand warmer. "I originally entered the palace to find the crown prince, but I haven't been able to get pregnant in the past two years..."
Her face was cold and even when it was covered with crimson, it often revealed a sense of alienation and rejection.
It's like a bright moon across the clouds.
Not worldly, not contaminated by the mundane world.
Yuan Mu often leaned on the railing alone, looking into the distance.
She lived in Qingning Palace for two years, and every item there was carefully selected by the emperor and sent to her.
Even the servants there were carefully arranged by the emperor.
It’s all to make Yuan Mu live comfortably.
She doesn't talk much and rarely expresses her thoughts.
If he pushes a little harder, Yuan Mu won't be able to bear it.
So the emperor could only guess on his own and focus on other things. He had to ensure that no one in the palace dared to disrespect her or disobey her.
But after two years, Yuan Mu no longer had any sense of belonging to Qingning Palace or Ziwei Palace.
Not to mention him.
Whenever the emperor felt that their relationship was moving forward and getting better, Yuan Mu would always slap him hard.
His face had never looked so ugly.
"Do you think I'm in a hurry to have a child?" the emperor said in a cold voice, "Or do you think the women in this palace are just for show?"
He stood up and looked down at Yuan Mu condescendingly.
The emperor pinched Yuan Mu's jaw and forced her to look up: "If I was so anxious to have a child, why would I have favored you so much in the past two years?"
He pinched her hard, and red marks immediately appeared on her delicate white skin.
The emperor's words were frighteningly direct, his tone sharp: "I could have favored everyone equally, but did I do so?"
Yuan Mu's jaw ached and his shoulders trembled slightly.
The emperor's secret anger was like thunder, which was not something she could bear.
Yuan Mu had thought that the emperor might be angry, but he didn't expect him to be so angry.
When he picked her up, she couldn't help crying.
The snow-white back pressed against the cold stone table, crushing the fresh and blooming plum blossoms into floral mud. The branches trembled, and countless broken fragrances fell.
The emperor's voice was cold and cruel: "You must push me away, don't you?"
"When you first entered the palace, you were reluctant and wanted to remain chaste for your lover," he pinched Yuan Mu's chin, "and you even colluded with the imperial physician and drank contraceptive soup several times."
The emperor forced Yuan Mu to meet his gaze.
Their faces were almost touching, and she could clearly feel how cold his breath was, but even colder was his voice: "Do you think I've forgotten everything?"
Yuan Mu's wrist was also tightly pinched by the emperor.
The thin bracelet made of crude material was filled with an emerald glow in the night.
It is obviously so old, but because of the owner's careful care and maintenance, it has become more beautiful and shiny over the years.
The ring on the emperor's finger was ice-cold, pressing against Yuan Mu's lower back. She instinctively felt a strong fear, and her tears fell even harder.
She cried out, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please don't..."
Yuan Mu has a very serious trauma after seeing things like finger rings and silver rings.
Most women in the palace wore earrings, but she didn't even pierce her ears. At most, she would wear hanging earrings with clips.
The emperor saw Yuan Mu crying, but he felt no sympathy in his heart.
There was only a kind of pleasure that was almost cruel.
She should be afraid of him like this. He has been too indulgent towards her recently, which has made her lose her sense of the world.
The emperor's expression was extremely cold, but the hidden anger in his heart did not subside.
He lifted Yuan Mu's hair that was soaked with cold sweat, parted her pale face, and forced her to look at him.
"Do you think I'll let you go once the newcomer enters the palace?" the emperor said cruelly. "When will you finally understand?"
"From the night I entered the palace," his almond-shaped eyes were cold, "you will be mine for the rest of your life."
The emperor pursed his lips and sarcastically agreed, "You can't even leave the palace."
.
Yuan Mu was not a single person, she was a tool for giving birth to offspring and a plaything for the emperor in bed.
, it doesn't matter how you treat it, so it's especially to his liking.
Yuan Mu's shoulder bones trembled and her eyes gradually turned red.
As the tears fell like flowers splashing into water, the amazing fragrance of her body gradually burst out.
Yuan Mu raised his neck and cried, "So you want to trap me here to death?"
So sleepy.
These two words are really ugly.
Yuan Mu had a hard life at home. He was thrown into a farm when he was young and raised by an unfavored concubine.
After she came of age, her father used her as a tool for marriage and married her to a disfigured man whom he had never met before.
The emperor never claimed to be a savior.
But he always believed that even forcing Yuan Mu to enter the palace was to save her from the abyss of hardship.
She now has no worries about food and clothing, and her status is respected. Even he indulges her and loves her.
Even if it is a heart made of stone, it will eventually melt.
But Yuan Mu didn't.
Under the cold moon, the emotions revealed on that snow-white face were only pain, despair and collapse.
What is she breaking down about?
The pain of not being able to marry sooner? The despair of not being able to elope with that man? The devastation of being tied to him for the rest of my life?
The more the emperor thought about it, the more he couldn't suppress the cruel thoughts.
He interlocked Yuan Mu's wrists, lifted them above her head, and then gripped her slender waist.
"Yes," the emperor smiled softly, "even if I die, you must be buried with me and accompany me into the imperial mausoleum."
Too many morbid thoughts made his dark almond-shaped eyes seem to be flowing with evil desires.
Yuan Mu's eyes trembled, and her voice trembled as well: "You bastard, Li Congliu——"
There was deep fear in her eyes, she was so scared that tears rolled down her face.
The emperor felt a long-lost sense of satisfaction in his heart.
Maybe he really shouldn't be too nice to Yuan Mu.
She originally belonged to him. The more he loved her, the more she lost track of herself and began to fantasize about outrageous things.
On the 16th day of the first lunar month, the full moon is bright.
But Yuan Mu fell into darkness again from which he could not escape.
Tomorrow's day will dawn, but her dawn may never come.
-
After being sent back to Qingning Palace, Yuan Mu began to have a fever.
Cold. Really cold. Too cold.
Her body was burning hot, yet she curled up into a ball due to the cold.
Dark and complicated images kept flashing before his eyes, and Yuan Mu seemed to be trapped in a deep nightmare.
Fear, tension, nausea, and all kinds of negative emotions were about to swallow her up.
When Yuan Mu came back, she was in extremely bad condition. She wrapped her body tightly with her cloak, not allowing anyone to get close to her, and fell asleep without taking a shower.
The maid tried to wipe her face, but she cried and opened her hands.
Yuan Mu lowered all the curtains and extinguished all the palace lanterns in the inner hall.
She hid in the dark alone and did not allow anyone to touch her.
The maidservants were extremely anxious, and even the nanny and eunuch in charge were at a loss. They passed the message to the emperor, but all they got was "Don't worry about her."
He came back late and suddenly, and he still looked the same.
If it is your own girl, no one can feel at ease.
But Yuan Mu's rejection was too strong. She refused to accept anything and was unwilling to express anything.
The maids could only stay outside and carefully observe her situation.
Gradually, Yuan Mu seemed to fall asleep.
"Let your Majesty sleep peacefully tonight," the matron in charge finally decided. "Whatever happens, we'll discuss it tomorrow."
There can never be peace between the emperor and Yuan Mu.
One of them is strong and conceited, the other is patient and stubborn, and there is a big difference in their status and age.
The emperor looked at the gentle breeze and bright moon and accepted them warmly, but in fact he was paranoid, morbid and extremely gloomy.
Yuan Mu seems to be patient, gentle and kind-hearted, but in fact he is rebellious, stubborn and does what he wants.
Sometimes when the two of them clash, they are like a domineering father and a willful daughter.
This is something outsiders cannot interfere with.
But how can there be any overnight hatred between husband and wife? They quarrel at the beginning of the bed and make up at the end of the bed.
In fact, most of the time, it was the emperor who took the initiative to bow to Yuan Mu.
So no one thought too much about it, nor did they notice that Yuan Mu had a fever at night.
She was dizzy from the fever, and all that flashed through her mind were dark fragments.
Blood, corpses, bones, and body parts.
The obscure memories of the past ten years came back in an instant, pushing Yuan Mu into the abyss of despair.
She couldn't struggle anymore, so she gave up.
Yuan Mu just silently held the thin bracelet on her wrist, but she felt so uncomfortable that she couldn't hold it steadily. Her body seemed to be sinking into cold water and then being pulled out.
I was sweating profusely, soaking my inner clothes.
In the long and deep darkness, there is only one memory that is warm and beautiful.
He Lanzhen held Yuan Mu's face and held her on his lap. He coaxed her gently, "A Luo is already a big kid, why are you still crying?"
His eyes curved in smile, and his handsome face looked like a delicate orchid and a jade tree.
It shines brightly under the reflection of light and shadow.
But what makes people unable to look away is the deep affection in Helan Zhen's eyes that seems to drown people.
For a moment, Yuan Mu was completely unable to distinguish between dreams and reality.
She climbed onto Helan Zhen's neck and cried loudly: "Take me away, take me away..."
He held her in his arms, but there was unspeakable sadness in his eyes.
Yuan Mu cried so hard that she couldn't stop crying and she completely lost her mind.
"Can you take me away?" she cried, "Please, take me away, I eat very little and won't cause you any trouble..."
This is not a real scenario.
These were the words Yuan Mu had suppressed countless times and hadn't been able to say.
But she never had the chance to speak again.
When Yuan Mu was forcibly awakened from his dream, he almost collapsed.
She finally got through the painful nightmare and waited for Helan Zhen, but was forcibly awakened at such a critical moment.
The emperor looked flustered. He picked up Yuan Mu from the quilt and kept saying, "Wake up, A'Luo."
His knuckles were cold, and his court robes were also cool.
But Yuan Mu was full of resistance to the emperor's touch. She didn't want to wake up from her dream and was full of disgust towards the person who forced her to wake up from her beautiful fantasy.
When the emperor raised his hand to touch her forehead, she pushed his hand away harshly.
The emperor had slender finger bones and pale backs of his hands, but his jade-like hands were covered with red marks that could not be concealed.
Yuan Mu's nails were slightly long, and they even left a bloody mark on the back of his white hand where the veins were slightly raised.
But the emperor didn't care about this at all. He forcibly carried Yuan Mu out of the tent and said in a low voice, "Pass my oral order and send the imperial physician here immediately."
She struggled violently, as if she was confused by the fever.
Yuan Mu even kicked the emperor in the chest.
The slender and delicate ankles kept kicking, and it wanted to hide back angrily.
He had to hold Yuan Mu's ankle forcefully.
From last night until now, Yuan Mu didn’t know how long she had been having a fever. When the emperor touched her hot forehead, his heart turned cold.
Something as cold as ice rushed into my heart.
As calm and composed as he was, he also looked confused at that moment.
This person, like military and government affairs, cannot be neglected for even a moment.
Yuan Mu slept with her clothes on last night. She was in a daze and tossed and turned countless times during the night. Her clothes were half covered and half uncovered, and were in a mess.
He held her wrists tightly, forcibly took off her wet underwear, then wrapped her in a thick blanket and carried her sideways to the bathtub.
Yuan Mu was struggling constantly, she was crying and making a fuss: "Let me go, let me go!"
She would never act like this when she was sober.
The burning was so intense that my rationality had long been burned away.
The emperor didn't dare to imagine how Yuan Mu survived the night. Most of his robes were soaked by the water in the bathtub.
Her hands were so fierce that bloody marks were left on his back even through his court robes.
But the emperor seemed to be unable to feel the pain. He coaxed Yuan Mu in a low voice while helping her give her a simple bath.
When they took her out of the bathtub, they both looked quite disheveled.
Yuan Mu's body was very tired and heavy. She had been making a fuss for half a minute and was out of strength. When the emperor held her soft buttocks and carried her back, she didn't even have the strength to grab his face.
She was very weak and her face was unnaturally flushed.
The blush spread down her face.
The earlobes, neck, shoulders, and even the snow-white skin were all tinged with crimson.
The emperor carried Yuan Mu back to the tent. He first changed her into a gauze robe, and then changed his own clothes.
When he came back, the imperial physician had also arrived on horseback.
Judge Zhang was on leave today, and the person who came was his founding disciple.
The young imperial physician bowed and then quickly walked into the inner hall.
He was dressed in blue and walked very quickly. As he walked, he asked familiarly, "How long has the high fever lasted? Did it start last night?"
They knew Yuan Mu's situation very well, much better than she did herself.
The palace maid hurriedly answered all the questions she could.
After the imperial physician came in, the emperor helped Yuan Mu up.
He covered her eyes with his sleeves, his expression cold and anxious, and whispered, "The fever that started last night, no matter what method you use, must first reduce the high fever."
The emperor was indifferent and gentle most of the time.
Foreign officials rarely saw him look like this.
The imperial physician nodded in agreement, then took out the pulse record and began to take Yuan Mu's pulse.
She was dizzy with fever and her consciousness was very blurred. She leaned in the emperor's arms and instinctively put her face in his cold palm.
Yuan Mu's mind was in a mess and he couldn't react when he was held down and his clothes were stripped off.
Only when the sharp silver needle touched the acupuncture point did she burst into tears.
The broken crying voice is so pitiful that it can break the heart of the listener.
The emperor held Yuan Mu's shoulders. He leaned over and gently kissed Yuan Mu's forehead with a humble gesture. His voice was low and hoarse, "It will be fine soon. The pain will go away soon."
She was so easy to coax. I kissed her forehead and cheeks and she stopped crying.
But this makes people even more pitiful.
After the acupuncture, the medicine is taken.
Yuan Mu was coaxed by the emperor, and opened his lips in a daze, and the bitter medicine was forced into his mouth.
She struggled with her legs and feet, but was still force-fed the medicine.
Yuan Mu was so miserable that tears came to his eyes.
The emperor fed her some scented tea and then kissed her gently until the bitterness faded and the sweetness returned to her lips and teeth.
After the acupuncture, Yuan Mu felt pain and had no strength. She was unable to struggle and could only let the emperor kiss her lips and tongue.
She was dizzy from the kiss and gasped softly after it ended.
Yuan Mu's thoughts seemed to be a little clearer, but overall they were still too confused.
The emperor was afraid that she would vomit, so he didn't dare let her eat now. He simply fed her two desserts, and she began to refuse.
Yuan Mu's eyes were filled with tears. She kept shaking her head: "I don't like it. I don't want to eat it..."
This dessert is lightly sweet with a hint of tea aroma, and is a typical palace snack.
Ziwei Palace often provides it, but Yuan Mu has never said he hates it when he is sober.
In fact, she never expressed anything.
The emperor's expression suddenly froze. He put the snack down and whispered, "Sorry...A'Luo, I didn't know you didn't like it."
After sending Yuan Mu back to Qingning Palace last night, he stayed alone in the Plum Garden for a long time.
The carefully prepared dinner became leftovers.
No one even touched their chopsticks.
Those bunches of flowers also turned into mud and scattered in the soil, with no one caring about them.
The morbid and dark mood did not dissipate for a long time.
Sometimes the emperor really didn’t know how he differed from Yuan Mu’s previous men.
She also had a pleasant time getting along with the King of Chu and Xi Rongjing.
Only when facing him, she was always full of rejection, as if she would never accept him.
The emperor certainly knew how cruel his methods were in the past. He forced her into the palace when she was about to get married, and he did some shady things in the beginning.
But over the years, he has never treated her badly in terms of material things.
The tributes from the vassal states were always sent to her first, even the Ziwei Palace was sent to the back.
Yuan Mu lost her virginity before marriage, but the emperor did not blame her too much.
You have to know that it was his first time that night. In the past two years, he had not even looked at the concubines in the harem except her, let alone others.
The emperor remained chaste for her.
Sometimes the emperor really didn’t understand why Yuan Mu’s heart wouldn’t relax?
Is there really someone named Helan Zhen in this world?
The emperor's brows and eyes were gloomy. He stayed in the Plum Garden for a long time. When he was about to leave, a eunuch suddenly rushed in and knelt down.
His body was shaking like a sieve, and he kowtowed and said that the meal arrangement was wrong.
The emperor had no preference for food. This was the way he was taught since childhood, not to reveal any preference.
In other words, these are the rules of the aristocratic families.
Over time, the emperor really lost his preferences. He had no preference for riding and shooting, calligraphy and painting, or food.
This is how he educated Yuan Mu.
Throughout history, there have been too many people who have been careful about what they eat, and countless people have died from arsenic. This is the most important thing to guard against.
Yuan Mu is obedient most of the time.
In addition to banquets, she also strictly followed this rule when dining in the palace.
So when the emperor wanted to please Yuan Mu, he was surprised to find that he didn't know any of Yuan Mu's hobbies.
Apart from the kitten, she didn't seem to have shown any strong enthusiasm for anything in the past two years.
He had a lot of things to do and couldn't be with her all the time, so he knew even less about her affairs.
Fortunately, there are enough people serving Yuan Mu, and they can always figure out her preferences.
So the emperor directly asked his servants to arrange it.
But what he didn't expect was that they could make such a big mistake in such an important matter.
He suddenly understood why Yuan Mu's face suddenly turned ugly when he saw the plum blossoms and the meal.
The emperor rarely felt regret over anything, but as he stood in the cold wind of the Plum Garden and listened to the eunuch's words, a strong emotion surged in his heart that had not been felt for a long time.
If only he knew her preferences, he wouldn't make the mistake.
Rather than blaming the servants, it would be better to say that he was too careless.
The emperor didn't care about many things. He didn't even remember Empress Yuan's birthday. Things like the gift list and birthday banquet were all arranged by the palace people.
He had no preferences, so he thought everyone in the world was like him.
But how could a young girl like Yuan Mu be as free from desires as someone like him who had lived in the palace for a long time?
The emperor wanted to go to Qingning Palace immediately, but he gave up thinking that Yuan Mu would not want to see him at the moment.
After returning to Ziwei Palace, he couldn't sleep peacefully.
The scent of Yuan Mu still lingered in the tent, but she was not by his side.
The emperor did not close his eyes until dawn the next day.
There was a court meeting early in the morning. After it ended, he didn't even have lunch and went straight to Qingning Palace.
It was still too late.
The emperor put the snack down, then kissed Yuan Mu's forehead very lightly, and carried her into the tent. He said in a hoarse voice, "Sleep for a while, A'luo. You won't feel uncomfortable when you wake up."
Her eyelids were swollen from crying, and her long eyelashes were still trembling even after she closed her eyes.
The emperor held Yuan Mu's hand and did not take his eyes off her face for a long time.
He seemed to be doing the wrong thing all the time. The more he tried to get closer to her, the further he pushed her away.
I clearly wanted her to be happy, but instead I made her even more sad.
-
Yuan Mu woke up at night. His high fever had mostly subsided, but his body was still very sore.
She seemed to have had a big dream. When she opened her eyes, a lot of confusing memories flooded into her mind.
Yuan Mu rubbed his eyebrows and waited for a moment before sitting up from the tent.
The maid quickly noticed her movements, walked over quickly, and said in surprise: "My lady, you are awake."
Yuan Mu glanced at the clepsydra and realized that it was already evening.
Her voice was a little hoarse: "Did I have a fever for a whole day?"
"You've had a fever since last night, Your Majesty," the maid stroked Yuan Mu's forehead, "The imperial physician came to see you at noon and gave you acupuncture and medicine, and you're gradually getting better."
Yuan Mu felt sore and tired that she didn't even want to lift her arms. She just wanted to lie in the tent.
But I hadn't eaten for a long time and my stomach was empty.
The maid was very perceptive and noticed it, and said happily: "Madam, are you hungry? The meal is ready."
As she spoke, she hurriedly asked someone to bring in the food.
The exquisite meals were placed on a low table so that Yuan Mu could enjoy them inside the tent.
She was actually not used to this, so she pushed aside the curtains and was about to get out of bed.
But before Yuan Mu's toes touched the ground, a familiar figure walked in.
The emperor seemed to have just returned from the outer room, and the cold wind was still wrapping around him. When he stepped into the inner hall, the originally warm hall became much colder.
His voice was very soft: "Is your queen awake?"
It seems that they always don't coincide when they should, and are extremely coincidental when they shouldn't.
Yuan Mu really wanted to fall on the bed immediately and pretend that she was still asleep.
But the Emperor had already entered.
He was dressed in a black suit, a golden crown and a jade belt, and his aura was so strong that it seemed as if he was holding a meeting in the Xuanzheng Hall.
Seeing that Yuan Mu seemed to want to get off the bed, the emperor walked over quickly and said softly: "Why are you in such a hurry to get down? Use it on the bed."
She learned all the court etiquette from him.
No matter how chaotic the situation is, we must not forget the rules.
How can you do whatever you want today?
Yuan Mu couldn't understand it, but when the emperor's hand touched her arm, her body instinctively moved away from him.
She whispered, "Don't touch me."
This was not because Yuan Mu intentionally disobeyed the emperor in front of everyone, but because his body reacted completely subconsciously.
She didn't want to get close to him, and even resisted the familiar scent.
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