Chapter 33: Night Changes "You have indeed misled me a lot."
Qingzan was indeed a little anxious. After he left, she fed Songzan, but she had not yet had lunch. Now her stomach was empty and she had no strength left. How could she withstand his beating?
The reason I was looking for Dong'er just now was that my appetite had improved a little, and I wanted to invite someone to dine with me. It was almost noon, and if I didn't invite anyone, I would miss another meal today.
But at this moment, his head was facing the ground, and the blood was rushing to his brain. He felt dizzy and bloated. Apart from twisting his body in vain, he could not think of any way to deal with the situation.
She only pleaded palely: "Your Majesty, please let me down..."
Xiao Fang found it funny.
He threatened, "This is the first time I've done this, so I can't say for sure if my hands are steady."
Qingzan was afraid of falling, so she stopped moving. She saw that he was really carrying her to the backyard, and her vision went dark. "I have read a couple of history books, after all. Your Majesty, what you are doing... is truly unwise."
Such words had no effect on Xiao Fang's vigilance. He jokingly said, "Which history book even includes the emperor's sexual intercourse?"
Qingzan said nothing more, pursed her lips, and let him carry her into the stone chamber like carrying cargo.
The stone walls on all sides were indeed sufficient to block out the sound. That morning, if Xu Delu had not come to knock on the door, she would still be crying out to heaven and earth but to no avail.
She felt as if she was thrown high up, then held in mid-air, and fireworks seemed to be exploding inside her body. She was also forced by him to say all kinds of difficult words.
...All the things are still in front of my eyes, and I am afraid I have to review them again.
The palace maids had already come in and cleaned up the stone chamber. They replaced the mattress with a new one, and the previous pillow could no longer be used because it had been used as a cushion under the body.
The emperor put the person down, but unlike Qingzan's expectation, he was not in a hurry to peel off her outer clothes like peeling lotus seeds.
She sat steadily on the edge of the bed, her feet finally touching the ground, and the blood in her body finally flowing back smoothly.
She looked at the emperor with a bit of confusion, but he simply intertwined his hands with hers, fingers interlocked, and leaned down: "If you don't want me to leave, why don't you call me? You are my noble lady Ying."
Qingzan didn't expect that he would suddenly say this to her.
Call him?
Not to mention that the emperor was going to accompany Concubine Zhen, who was so favored by the emperor that she could not compare to him. Even if she was any ordinary concubine, wouldn't she have to behave magnanimously and sensibly?
Didn't he think she had appeared there on purpose for him to see her? If she hadn't run into him unexpectedly, why would she have hidden behind the pillar?
Qing Zan lowered her eyes somewhat sadly: "I am your Majesty's noble lady Ying, but your Majesty is not just my Majesty."
"Um."
Xiao Fang didn't know whether he agreed with her or just murmured in agreement without any real meaning.
He actually agreed?
Qingzan raised her head in disbelief, and reluctantly withdrew the hand that was clasped with his.
However, one was weak and the other was as solid as iron, and the two became even tighter after the stalemate.
Xiao Fang interpreted her emotions from her little movements, and a smile unconsciously appeared at the corners of his lips.
Only after someone mentioned this did Qingzan have time to think about the emperor's sudden return.
Originally, she heard from the people in the imperial court that he would most likely stay in Fangxin Palace today and come back after the morning court tomorrow.
"Your Majesty, why did you suddenly return? Did you come back to discuss important matters with Lord Chen? Did I delay you?"
The emperor didn't intend to answer seriously. In fact, if she really dared to stop him from leaving, he would probably think she was ignorant of her own limitations.
So Xiao Fang couldn't even understand why he couldn't forget those eyes that were full of desire.
It was like she had tricked me.
He tried to let it go and stop questioning himself about this slight loss of control.
Smiling, he said, "You have indeed misled me a lot."
Qingzan looked up innocently. However, at this moment, the man whose breath was suppressed suddenly snatched it away.
She pushed the person away, but like a trapped beast, she kept fighting, and her dress was constantly pulled during the fight.
The lips were like grape skins this morning, easily conquered and broken.
Let everyone taste the delicious flavor of the flesh.
Qingzan whimpered twice.
She heard that Xiao Fang's breathing became increasingly disordered.
Then, with a fierce rage, he swallowed up all her sobs and struggles. She could only cling to her last breath of water and life like a dying fish.
Xiao Fang was very satisfied with her response.
The first time he pushed her onto the couch, he kissed her delicate eyelids.
He kissed the beautiful soft pink, as if he wanted to kiss and taste it thoroughly, including the look she gave him this morning.
*
On summer nights in Liang Palace, fireflies and mosquitoes flew around.
The queen was admiring flowers in the garden.
Concubine Wu was suddenly called out and was flattered to accompany the queen to walk among the various flower gardens and trees.
The queen touched the bushes here and sniffed twice there, and it was obvious that she was in a very happy mood.
In summer, the most popular flowers on dry land are jasmine, roses and crape myrtles, but they are actually far less colorful than those in spring. Concubine Wu didn't know where the queen got the good mood from.
"Why did your Majesty think of appreciating flowers today?"
The Queen said, "I haven't been sleeping well these past two days, so I thought I'd go out for a walk."
"It's hard to sleep well in hot weather."
Concubine Wu remembered that she had just met and confronted Concubine Zhen today. In the afternoon, she heard that someone had come to the palace in person to seek favor but failed to keep His Majesty in Fangxin Palace. She felt much better.
Then he smiled and started the conversation: "Have you heard, Your Majesty, that Concubine Zhen has lost a lot of face today?"
The Queen knew about this, of course. She was about to sniff a rose, not even looking at Concubine Wu: "What's there to be ashamed of? At least she can invite His Majesty. What about you?"
When Concubine Wu was scolded, she shut her mouth awkwardly.
She didn't feel discouraged for long, but then she remembered that Her Majesty had mentioned her visiting Chengluan Palace. She followed him and said, "At least I'm healthy and can accompany Her Majesty to enjoy the flowers and plants. Unlike some people, who are destined to be enthroned but never to enjoy happiness, they are simply sickly and their lifespan is no better than a fleeting flower. I went to Chengluan Palace today and was filled with a foul smell. I'm afraid Your Majesty won't want to go there again."
Concubine Wu thought the Queen would like to hear this.
The Queen's face did indeed smile a little more, but she still didn't pay much attention to anyone. She couldn't even handle the smallest thing, and she didn't seem to have found anything.
Concubine Wu couldn't help but feel discouraged, and her face became even more embarrassed. Since the Empress didn't like to talk to her, why did she ask her to come out and keep her company?
After pondering for a while, she could only continue to make small talk: "I don't know what disease this noble lady Ying has. I heard that it was a damaged heart meridian, but she has been taking medicine for so long, and why hasn't the imperial physician come to check on her? If she is not pretending to be sick, then she must have a shameful internal disease, which is why she is hiding behind closed doors!"
After hearing this, Concubine Wu felt that she might have glimpsed some extraordinary truth.
I should have gone in and investigated the Chengluan Palace. If she had truly contracted a serious illness, such as tuberculosis, that made her unfit for public display, Concubine Ying would have been expelled from the palace. What good was youth and beauty, and what was the point of being in the spotlight a while ago?
Suddenly, an unknown small insect bit her sleeve, and Concubine Wu slapped it with her fan, making quite a noise.
The queen was a little distracted when she was suddenly startled.
She glanced at Wu Pin and walked forward again. Her voice was strangely creepy: "No matter what her illness is, real or fake, she has to come out to see people. Unless -"
Unless your body and soul are destroyed.
Because of this, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep for the past two days.
*
Guanju Palace.
Ming Zhaoyi used the grapes as an excuse to give Concubine Xue a lot of things, such as shark silk pearls, rouge and powder, and asked her to pack them up and take them away when she returned.
Concubine Xue is a concubine after all, and now she often visits Zhaoyi. The Qun Yu Palace will not be short of basic supplies, but it will not be too luxurious either.
No one would try to curry favor with a concubine who had been out of favor for a long time.
The curtains of the palace were drawn low. Zhaoyi sat casually on a Hu bed, looking at Concubine Xue who was helping her tune her zither. "Do you have enough ice? Why don't you stay in Guanju Palace for the next few days? It would save me, a palace servant, the trouble of walking all the way there."
Concubine Xue plucked a note, listened to the pitch, and shifted the zither pegs slightly, her expression intense. When she plucked the string again, the resonant sound was perfectly in tune. Only then did she look up and say softly, "Autumn is just around the corner, so how could it be too late?"
This statement sounded like a rejection of someone's kindness, so Concubine Xue explained, "I don't know how long Lady Ying's illness will last. I was wondering if I should go see her."
Zhaoyi was too lazy to expose her: "You and Concubine Ying have no friendship, so why did you think of visiting her? Perhaps you are worried about that maid named Suoying?"
When Concubine Xue asked the maid to gather information in Fengzao Palace, she was always worried that the person would be exposed.
He was just a small, insignificant pawn. If he couldn't even care about the life and death of a pawn like this, how could he achieve anything with such soft-heartedness?
Concubine Xue had nothing to be ashamed of admitting: "I don't know how serious Suoying's injury is."
Zhaoyi looked at her, chin in her hand. Sometimes she would regret it. For someone so frail and tender-hearted, it would be better to let her grow old in the palace. Perhaps that would be better than dragging her into the vortex of power.
But if she hadn't asked people to do something, she might not have forgotten the emperor until now, and she might not be able to get out of the emperor's favor which was like an empty dream.
Thinking about it this way, Concubine Xue is actually braver than herself. It takes a lot of courage to dare to fall in love with the coldest man in the world.
"Yan Tai." Zhaoyi's voice softened slightly. "Don't go back today. Huaixuan keeps asking about you."
"He'll probably start learning next year. I think it would be fine if he just studied the Five Classics and the Analects in Chaoyun Hall. But if we invite a proper scholar, he won't be able to do anything about it."
Concubine Xue hurriedly said, "I can teach Huaixuan some basic literacy skills."
Even today, whenever she thinks of the eldest prince, she still feels guilty, always feeling that her impulsiveness almost caused the eldest prince to not be born, so she always wants to do her best for others.
Seeing that Concubine Xue had tuned the zither, Zhaoyi lazily got up from the hu bed and went forward to try to play it for a while.
However, Zhaoyi did not sit in front of the zither properly, but just stood with her waist bent, and her fingering was also very casual, intermittent.
Suddenly he said, "He has plenty of people to teach him. But you, do you want to continue learning horsemanship from me? You are not allowed to run away again during this autumn hunting season."
Concubine Xue met Ming Zhaoyi's gaze in panic.
She hasn't touched any of the horse riding, Cuju, and archery in all these years.
Since you are not a noble lady born with jade and gold in your hands, why do you have to reach for things that you don’t deserve, hurting others and yourself?
Hadn't she been keeping silent and avoiding things these past few years? She had almost resigned herself to living a mediocre life.
Just when she was wondering whether she should refuse directly, Zhaoyi yawned and said she was going to sleep and told her to stay or go as she pleased.
After thinking about it, Concubine Xue asked the palace maid for a side room, intending to talk to Zhaoyi about it tomorrow.
While I was sleeping soundly, I heard the sound of chaotic footsteps breaking out in the long night.
Someone was shouting, "Oh no! Oh no! There's a fire in Chengluan Palace!"
The red gauze palace lanterns in the corridor were so frightened that they started spinning rapidly.
Concubine Hui was the first to receive the news. After simply dressing and combing her hair, she hurried to Chengluan Palace.
The gate of Chengluan Palace opened again, and no one expected it to be in this way.
The fire had been put out, leaving only billowing smoke. Even from a few feet away, the air was already very choking.
Before Concubine Hui even left her sedan chair, a palace attendant reported the situation to her: "It's said that a clever young eunuch woke everyone up with a scream the moment the fire started. However, the fire spread rapidly. Fortunately, it was connected to the lotus pond, and buckets of water were readily available. This put out the fire in time, preventing any casualties."
Upon hearing that there were no casualties, Concubine Hui couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Then she wondered, "If they discovered the fire so early, how could they not control it?"
The palace maid also said, "It is a bit strange."
It was already three o'clock in the morning, the palace gates were locked, and everyone had already gone to bed.
Most of the palace concubines were alarmed by this incident, but many did not dare to violate the curfew to watch the excitement. There were some brave ones, and lights were sparsely appearing on the palace roads on all sides.
The Queen and Concubine Hui are in charge of palace affairs, so they must be present at this time.
Concubine Hui arrived outside Chengluan Palace, but before she could even enter, she looked around and saw no other ceremonial procession besides hers. "Where's the Empress? Where's His Majesty?"
Someone replied, "We've already informed Fengzao Palace, and the Empress was on her way. I don't know why she hasn't arrived yet, and we've also asked His Majesty."
"Forget it, I'll go take a look first." Concubine Hui felt a headache, shook her head, and went inside first.
The palace maid took a clean handkerchief and covered her mouth and nose.
In Chengluan Palace, only the Baoyuyou Pavilion and the lower quarters where the cooks lived were occupied. These people were now gathered in the square in front of the lotus pond, some hunched over with their knees hugged, others having rescued a large bundle of valuables. All of them were still terrified, supporting and comforting each other.
Concubine Hui looked around, her expression changed: "Where's Concubine Ying? Why hasn't she come out?"
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