These words were too serious; Yu Ying's heart trembled, and she immediately stood up, bowed, and said:
"Your Majesty, I swear to Heaven that I have never spoken ill of the Empress Dowager. I beg Your Majesty to see the truth."
Hongli glanced at her, took a sip of tea, and said casually, "If you're upright, you have nothing to fear. Why are you so nervous?"
Yes! What is she afraid of? Yu Ying scoffed at herself for panicking, as if she had really done something wrong, until Hongli waved his hand and she slowly sat down.
The palace servants prepared hot water for the emperor to wash and undress. As he prepared to go to bed, Yu Ying felt somewhat uneasy.
Since she became pregnant with Yonglian seven years ago, Hongli has never touched her again. At first, he would come twice a month, but they slept under separate blankets. Later, when they had a dispute, he refused to go to Lanzhao Courtyard anymore.
Although the long night was lonely, she had gotten used to it. Tonight, Hongli suddenly came over, and she was at a loss for what to do, because she was not sure what the Empress Dowager had told him, and how he planned to sleep tonight.
She couldn't bring herself to ask him these questions; she could only observe his attitude.
There was clearly a brocade quilt in the tent, but he unfolded another one, as if he intended to continue dividing the quilts as before.
Yu Ying silently entered the tent. Hongli lay down beside her, but did not touch her. He turned his back to her without saying a word.
In this situation, Yu Ying was filled with emotion. Although they were physically close, their hearts were worlds apart. There was no place for her in his heart, and he couldn't even see her.
Ordinary people would chat with her for a while, but he treated her worse than an ordinary person, as if she were his enemy.
They've been married for generations! How did things come to this?
Yu Ying longed to have a heart-to-heart talk with him, but before she could even address him as "Your Majesty," he interrupted her.
"I'm tired. I have to get up early tomorrow morning. We can talk about it another day."
That one cold, hard sentence shut her down completely!
Yu Ying sighed deeply and could only swallow her words.
It's rare for him to come over, and if she says anything more and displeases him, the Empress Dowager might blame him again.
Since he was just putting on an act, she would play along with him!
At this moment, Hongli was in Changchun Palace, but his mind was in Jingren Palace. He wondered if Su Yushan had gone to bed or if she was asleep.
Without his company, could she sleep? Knowing he had come to Changchun Palace, she didn't say anything, but she must have been very sad inside.
In fact, Su Yushan was quite calm at this moment, and it would be a lie to say that she was not upset at all. However, she was not angry, jealous, or envious.
After all, the Empress was his legal wife, and if you really think about it, she really had no right to be jealous.
Furthermore, this situation had occurred before, so Yu Shan's inner turmoil was just a series of ripples that quickly subsided and returned to calm.
The next morning, Hongli got up and went to the Qianqing Palace for court. Dongling entered the inner room and found two quilts in the tent, from which she could guess what had happened the night before.
Seeing this, Dong Ling couldn't help but feel indignant on behalf of her master, "The Emperor has finally come all this way, but this is how he behaves. He's clearly just going through the motions for the Empress Dowager!"
Yu Ying was already used to this, and said with a wry smile, "Even if it's just a perfunctory response, I can't complain to the Empress Dowager, otherwise he'll have another excuse not to come."
The master's temper was always so good; he never lost his temper with the Emperor. Dongling saw this and felt extremely sorry for him.
"Your Majesty, you have been wronged. The Emperor is so cold-hearted, yet you are still considering his feelings. When will he ever see your goodness?"
His heart belongs only to Su Yushan, so how could he possibly see the good in other women?
"It doesn't matter if I suffer some grievances. As long as he is willing to come in the future, Yonglian can see his father, and the two of them will have more opportunities to spend time together. That will be enough."
Yu Ying dared not hope for anything else. Right now, what she cared about most was Yong Lian. Hongli might not like her, but he had to value Yong Lian, after all, he was his only legitimate son!
However, only the Empress Dowager cared about whether the child was legitimate or illegitimate; Hongli himself never cared about such things.
In Jingren Palace, Changyue was watering the flowers and trees in the courtyard with the Third Prince.
The Third Prince, who had just turned two, was very hardworking and always liked to help with chores. His nanny was worried that he would get tired, but Su Yushan thought that boys didn't need to be pampered like that and that it was good to let him do what he could.
Looking at the Third Prince's smiling face, Yunfang smiled and then sighed softly, her eyes becoming somewhat unfocused.
Seeing this, Su Yushan, who was standing in the corridor, pulled her down to sit and asked in a low voice, "Do you miss Fang Nan?"
Fang Nan was Li Yu's adopted son. Originally, he was supposed to be switched with the Third Prince, but after seeing that the Third Prince was not seriously injured, Li Yu raised the child at home and named him Li Fang Nan.
At first, Yunfang had no feelings for the child, but as time went on, she grew to like Fang Nan more and more and treated him like her own flesh and blood.
But after only a year of raising her, Prince Bao ascended the throne, and Yu Shan was also required to enter the palace.
The palace rules were strict; eunuchs had opportunities to leave the palace, but palace maids had virtually no chance to go out. If Yunfang were to enter the palace, it would mean she would no longer be able to see her son as often as before.
Su Yushan understood Yunfang's feelings and had tried to persuade her to stay at home, but Li Yu was also in the palace and Yushan was here, so she felt a little uncomfortable being left alone at home.
Aunt Liu's idea was to let her daughter go to the palace with Li Yu so that the couple could look after each other. As for Fang Nan, she could raise him herself.
Since Li Yu couldn't possibly have children, and Fang Nan had been adopted as a baby, Aunt Liu raised the child as her own grandson.
Since entering the palace last September, Yunfang has only left the palace once before the Lunar New Year, and that was only because Yushan begged the Emperor for the opportunity.
She only stayed at home with her child for three days before returning to the palace and has not been back since.
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