Chapter 64
The Dragon Boat Festival arrived quietly, and the midday sun was indeed stronger than in previous days, shining brightly on the vermilion palace walls.
Perhaps it was due to the season, but even the air seemed to be filled with the faint fragrance of zongzi leaves, and the once quiet palace gardens were unusually lively after the hustle and bustle. Even in remote places like Changmen Palace, people were setting foot there.
"Sister, the scene in the Imperial Garden today really frightened me." Two young women dressed in palace attire walked to the front of Changmen Palace and suddenly stopped. Their voices were deliberately raised a few decibels, with an undisguised affectation.
"Oh? How so?" Another woman in a peach-colored dress immediately understood and feigned surprise, while glancing at the half-open, mottled palace door out of the corner of her eye.
Upon seeing this, the woman who had spoken first took two steps closer, almost facing the direction of the hall, and said loudly, "Sister Shen, who came in with us during the selection process, is now Consort Shen! His Majesty treats her like a precious gem! Today in the Imperial Garden, His Majesty personally picked a flower and tucked it into her hair. His tenderness and consideration were unprecedented! It seems that a great joyous occasion will soon be happening in the palace!" Although her words seemed to express her joy for others, her sour jealousy was almost overflowing.
The woman in peach-colored robes covered her lips with her sleeve, her voice neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough to carry into the hall: "Didn't they say... His Majesty used to favor that one in Zhaoyang Palace, and even the selection of concubines was only reluctantly agreed to by court officials threatening to kill themselves? Now that Sister Shen has won His Majesty's heart, it seems those rumors from before may not be true." After saying this, she covered her face and chuckled softly, a laugh that concealed an indescribable schadenfreude and a deeper meaning.
Upon hearing this, the person opposite him smiled more genuinely than before, tinged with contempt, and said loudly, "What Empress? Now that she's trapped in Changmen Palace, she's probably not even as good as us ordinary palace maids!"
After they finished speaking, the two exchanged a knowing smile, their eyes conveying unspoken smugness. They swayed their hips and swaggered away from the palace gate, leaving behind deliberately amplified giggles.
The minor disturbance outside the hall went unnoticed by those inside. Xi Xiao sat leaning against the shadows by the window, her eyes slightly closed, her lips moving silently as if reciting some difficult incantation.
Suddenly, her body trembled, and she bent over violently, vomiting a mouthful of dark red blood, which splattered onto the old floor, a shocking sight.
She stared blankly at the pool of blood for a moment, her eyes vacant, before slowly taking out a translucent white pill from her inner purse. She twirled the pill between her fingertips and brought it to her lips, but stopped just before it entered her mouth. After a moment's hesitation, she finally lowered her hand, letting the remaining blood trickle down her lips.
As the last rays of the setting sun faded completely, twilight descended, and the palace was plunged into complete darkness. Only the pool of congealed, blackened blood at her feet gleamed dimly in the faint light filtering through the cracks in the door.
She raised her hand to wipe the fine beads of cold sweat from her forehead. Her breath was weak. She leaned against the wall and slowly made her way to the cold bed. She lay down fully clothed and soon fell into a deep sleep, exhausted and weak.
However, this brief tranquility did not last long. A series of chaotic and hurried footsteps approached from afar, abruptly breaking the deathly silence of Nagato Palace.
It turned out to be fragrant ink.
Her hair was disheveled, her face ashen white. Before she even reached the bedside, her sobbing, incoherent voice echoed throughout the empty hall: "Miss, something terrible has happened! His Majesty... His Majesty... at the Dragon Boat Festival banquet, he... publicly ordered the execution of Consort Shen!"
The nobleman who had been favored by the emperor during the day was now a corpse in an instant.
Consort Shen, the third daughter of the Shen family, whose elder sister was the wife of the heir of the Marquis of Wenyuan's mansion. Now that she has died so tragically and mysteriously in the palace, how could the Shen family let it go? Even the Marquis of Wenyuan's mansion, which is closely related to her by marriage, could not remain uninvolved!
Startled awake, Xi Xiao slowly sat up. In the thick darkness, she quietly looked at the panicked Xiang Mo for a long while before speaking. Her voice was calm and even a little weary: "What use is it for you to come to me?"
Xiangmo's eyes were red, tears welling up, but she stubbornly held them back. She stood there, watching Xi Xiao's profile, which seemed to blend into the surrounding darkness, her last glimmer of hope extinguished. Her lips trembled a few times, but she couldn't utter another word. She just silently shed tears, turned around, and slowly and heavily moved out of the suffocating palace.
Since Xiangmo's hasty departure that day, she has never set foot in Changmen Palace again. The place has returned to deathly silence, as if forgotten by time.
Xi Xiao sat listlessly all day, either flipping through a few well-worn storybooks or leaning against the window, gazing absently at the sky divided into four squares by high walls. She didn't ask about Pei Yun's recent situation, and no one mentioned it to her; her days were like a stagnant pool without any ripples.
That night, darkness fell, and only the palace lanterns cast blurry halos in the distance. Xi Xiao felt a chill that seeped into her bones, and she grabbed a worn outer garment and draped it over her shoulders. Her face was frighteningly pale, appearing even more desolate than the faint moonlight outside the window.
The early summer night breeze carried a chill, and it was at this moment that He Ying rushed in, emanating a cold aura, followed by Xiang Mo, whose face was anxious and who seemed hesitant to speak. The two of them swept in with the night wind, instantly dispelling the last bit of warmth in the hall. Xi Xiao felt the chill penetrate to her very core, yet she didn't even have the strength to shiver, letting the cold follow her like a shadow.
She instinctively clutched her clothes, sat expressionlessly on the edge of the couch, and coldly watched the two of them.
"Miss Xi!" He Ying spoke first, her voice sharp with urgency. "His Majesty is suffering from a strange poison, his headaches are recurring, and he's acting completely differently than before! Rumors are flying everywhere in the court and among the people, and the ministers are pressing him relentlessly! Ge Quan and his son from Beijiang have even attacked Jiaozhou under the banner of 'purging the court of corrupt officials,' inciting the people and advancing with unstoppable momentum! Now, because of Consort Shen's death, he has turned against the Shen family, and the court officials are taking their daughters home to watch from the sidelines! His Majesty is now besieged on all sides, all alone. Is this the situation you've been painstakingly planning to see?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiangmo hurriedly tugged at his sleeve, stepped forward, and pleaded with tearful eyes, "Miss, please save His Majesty! His Majesty's safety is a matter of national importance. If this really causes war, countless people will be displaced, their families destroyed, and their lives ruined! Even if... even if you don't think about His Majesty, please think about those innocent people!"
Listening to their contrasting words—one forceful, the other gentle; one rebuking, the other pleading—Xi Xiao's lips curled into a faint, mocking smile. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but before she could utter a word, everything went black, and she slumped backward, losing consciousness.
"Miss!" Xiangmo cried out in alarm, rushing forward. She saw blood slowly seeping from Xi Xiao's eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Her face was ashen, and her breath was weak, as if she were on her last legs! Xiangmo was terrified, her face pale, and she turned and stumbled away.
He Ying was also stunned by this sudden change and stood there. When she saw the bloodstains on Xi Xiao's face, her expression changed drastically, and she immediately followed Xiang Mo away.
Before long, the imperial physicians from the entire Imperial Medical Academy, carrying their medicine chests, rushed into the dilapidated and gloomy Changmen Palace with anxious expressions. Pei Yun was helped to walk ahead. He released the servant's hand, slowly sat down by the couch, took a clean silk handkerchief, and gently wiped the glaring bloodstains from her face, his fingertips trembling almost imperceptibly.
Xiangmo stood behind, her heart filled with anxiety, and couldn't help but plead in a low voice, "Your Majesty, please let the imperial physicians treat the young lady first..."
A suffocating silence fell over the hall.
After a long silence, Pei Yun finally spoke, his voice hoarse and hollow: "No need... No one can save her." He paused, his gaze still fixed on Xi Xiao's lifeless face, a bitter smile curving his lips, "And no one... can save me either."
"We are incompetent!" Cries of apology, varying in volume, echoed in the hall, and the imperial physicians knelt on the ground in fear.
Pei Yun waved his hand weakly, as if shooing away mosquitoes. Everyone felt as if they had been granted a pardon, but also filled with fear, and quietly withdrew, leaving only him and the dying Xi Xiao on the bed in the hall.
The candlelight flickered, illuminating his pale, haggard profile. He reached out and gently stroked her cold cheek, murmuring as if asking her, or perhaps himself, "Is this... all your scheming? A plot so far, ending in utter destruction..." His voice carried a profound weariness and realization, "But look, you are about to die, while I am still alive... Is this the ending you chose for yourself, and for me?"
His fingertips traced her brow bone, nose bridge, and lips, as if trying to etch her features into his soul. He sat there quietly for a long time, and finally, leaned down to her ear and, in an almost obsessive tone, delivered his final verdict: "You're right, I just can't bear to part with you... Through heaven and earth, through birth, old age, sickness, and death, you must share everything with me."
The last candle in the hall suddenly went out, and thick darkness quickly permeated every inch of the space. In this deathly darkness, a figure appeared before the bed like a ghost, silent and still, as if it were part of the shadow itself.
"Go and bring Yin Huaisi here." Pei Yun's voice rang out in the darkness, deep and steady, without a trace of emotion.
As soon as he finished speaking, the figure nodded almost imperceptibly, then vanished like smoke, leaving no trace of dust, as if it had never existed.
The vast main hall of Changmen Palace returned to a suffocating silence and darkness. Pei Yun sat alone by the couch for a long time before finally lying down fully clothed. He gently turned to his side and carefully pulled the unconscious Xi Xiao into his arms.
Her body was cold and fragile, leaning against his chest as if it would shatter at the slightest pressure. Yet, holding her, Pei Yun felt a strange peace rise in his heart, as if a huge boulder that had been hanging over his heart for so long had finally been lifted, and a twisted sense of peace settled over him.
“Only in this way…” he sighed almost inaudibly, “can you be quieter and more obedient.”
He tightened his arms around her, bringing her closer to his chest, and gently rested his chin on the top of her head. In a deep, almost hypnotic voice, he whispered in her ear, "Sleep, I... am tired too."
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