Chapter 39: Love and Hate
"The Queen has entered the Deer Park."
When the guards saw that Qingzan was also a palace concubine, they immediately pointed the way, but they were afraid of the snow lion behind her.
A senior officer who had seen the lion last year knew it was the emperor's favorite, so he signaled to his colleagues not to stop him.
These enclosures in Shanyang are mostly grassy slopes and light forests.
Qingzan entered the deer garden, but did not see a single deer. Perhaps Songzan's breath made the other little creatures sense the danger, and they had already retreated.
"Think about who fed you delicious food and drinks these past few days. You have to listen to me." Because he was afraid that Songzan would become wild after arriving here, he taught it a lesson in advance.
Although Songzan couldn't understand her words, he could distinguish her movements and tone, and rubbed her gently in response.
Not long after the man and the lion walked, Qingzan met the person they were looking for by the stream.
"Your Majesty!" Fu Cui shook the Queen's arm urgently.
The queen turned her head and was so frightened by Songtsen that her pupils dilated.
She stepped back repeatedly, questioning Qingzan: "Where did you get this beast from?"
Qingzan patted the snow lion beside her and said, as if deliberately speaking to the queen, "Songzan, she's scolding you."
Songzan cooperated by opening his mouth wide and roaring, revealing his sharp white teeth, and taking a posture that seemed to be about to attack.
The Queen suppressed the urge to scream and run away. In fact, she couldn't even move her legs at this moment. Her knees trembled constantly. Her voice became sharp: "Have you lost your mind? If you really hurt me, do you have the life to pay for it?"
The queen also knew that she was just keeping up appearances. The only thing that could help her regain some sanity was the maidservant beside her and the rope tied to the lion.
Just as she was about to pull Fu Cui in front of her, she dodged before her: "I'll go call someone."
Qingzan had discussed this with her long before coming to the palace.
Seeing Fu Cui leave safely under the lion's nose, the queen immediately had the urge to turn around and leave, but she soon realized that the reason Fu Cui could leave was only because the beast's target had been her from the beginning to the end.
Qingzan's lips curled slightly: "Your Majesty, it's best not to act rashly, otherwise it will really regard you as its prey, and I will not be able to control it."
The queen could only watch as the man led the lion closer and closer, her clothes soaked with cold sweat, and her mind was full of images of the lion pouncing on her and biting her.
She didn't dare look directly at the snow lion, so she stared at Qing Zan intently, trying to intimidate him: "Do you really intend to let this beast hurt people? If I die, do you think you can survive?"
Yes, she just needed to find a way to say more words like this to delay her until Fu Cui got help.
The Queen softened her tone, "If you hadn't been pushing me so hard, I wouldn't have been so hard on you. Didn't I already forgive you when you went to Chengluan Palace that day? Calm down. At worst, I'll promote you when we return from this autumn hunt!"
Qingzan continued to move closer to the person, step by step, and she walked particularly slowly.
Autumn had arrived early in the mountains, and the wind blew through the forest, a chilling chill. The Queen shivered as she watched the hem of someone's skirt drag across the grass, a sound as eerie as a venomous snake's venom.
When he saw the golden flowers and flowing clouds on the hem of her skirt, he couldn't help but recall that he had asked someone to strip off her new clothes in the Marquis' Mansion.
Yes, there is no woman in the world who doesn’t love beauty.
The lion's mouth was getting closer and closer. The queen said in panic, "Didn't you secretly wear beautiful clothes when you were in the Marquis' Mansion? When you go back, I will give you all the fabrics in the storehouse. You can choose whatever you want. I will also give you head ornaments, such as gold, silver, agate, peony and phoenix. It's up to you if you like!"
Qingzan's reaction made the queen feel even more desperate.
She shook her head slowly, as if indifferent: "It's a pity that I don't like it anymore."
"What do you want to do!" The queen was completely helpless. She let the man walk closer to her. She glanced at the lion that roared from time to time, and her whole body felt like it had been bled and she couldn't move.
Qingzan walked around the queen.
She suddenly let go of Songtsen, and without warning, reached out and grabbed the queen's hair, and dragged her to the stream fiercely.
The Queen hadn't expected her to be so direct and rude!
Just as she feared, the woman holding her was vicious and asked her, "Should I also push you into the water and let you experience the feeling of drowning?"
She really wanted to drown her!
The queen was forced to kneel on the ground, her head almost falling into the water.
She desperately raised her head, trying to resist, filled with resentment, fear, and hatred, tears streaming down her face like a dam breaking: "So you remember, you remember everything!"
That’s right, she even remembered that her mother’s surname was Cheng, how could she not remember that she almost drowned herself!
At this point, the Queen no longer cared about anything and would no longer let anyone manipulate her. She shook her head and tried to pull away people's hands, crying out, "What have I done wrong? Do you think I don't remember? It's because of your mother that my father comes home later and later and no longer cares about his career. He eats my mother's money and uses my mother's money. He originally said that he would win a title of Consort for my mother and make me a lady of high status, but in the end, everything is gone... My mother always wondered if she had done something wrong, but it turns out that someone stole her husband... You and your mother deserve to die!"
Perhaps it was the sheer strength of a person in a life-or-death situation, or perhaps it was Qingzan's grip loosening. The queen's scalp numbed with pain, her face wet with tears and the icy cold of the stream, but she finally broke free, crawled a little away from the stream, and then collapsed on the grass.
In fact, Qingzan didn't use much strength at all, otherwise how could a spoiled young lady resist a female slave who was used to doing chores.
It was only at this moment that the queen realized that no matter when she first knew that she was infertile, or when she was forced by the emperor to give up her grandfather, neither was as tragic and terrifying as the shadow of death.
Her heart and courage seemed to have vanished, and she cried and trembled, accusing: "Because of your mother, my family is ruined... There is no longer a father who would rub his stubble against my face, pick me up and throw me high, and catch me... The sisters from my grandparents all laugh at me and my mother."
"Later, your mother ran away, but Dad kept trying to find her, unable to forget her. I think this was just your mother's seductive tricks."
"You deserved to die..."
The queen cried until she had no strength left. She could not outrun the lion even if she wanted to. She was at her wit's end, her hair was wet and disheveled, and she could not sit up.
Qingzan didn't want to laugh at others, because when she was pushed into the water tank at the age of three, she must have cried bitterly, and she might have been even more embarrassed than the queen at this moment.
Qingzan regained control of the restless Songzan and reached out to stroke him, trying to soothe him. She then said to the Queen, "How many palace maids have died at your hands? Every one of them cried and begged, and Your Majesty didn't spare them. So you must remember, tit for tat. I won't kill you today, not because I dare not, nor because you don't deserve to die, but simply because you're not the most hateful."
"I don't know how perfect and beautiful that family you're talking about was, but have you ever considered that my mother might be completely unaware of the situation and was also deceived? Otherwise, why would she run away? When my mother lived with me alone, I didn't even know I had a biological father."
Qingzan only knew a little about what happened back then through the fragmentary information in the case file the emperor had shown her. But she was convinced that her mother would never develop feelings for a married man. If even her own daughter couldn't trust her, who else in the world would be on her side?
The Queen's eyes turned red with hatred: "Then she deserves to die too."
There was a noise in the forest, and I thought Fu Cui had called the guards over.
In fact, it was much slower than Qingzan had expected.
As she was about to leave, holding Songtsen's hand, she nodded as she passed the empress, saying, "Your Majesty, it would be best if you remember this day and change your ways, doing good deeds and accumulating virtue, in order to seek the Buddha's mercy and blessing. Otherwise, if you forget, I wouldn't mind helping you remember."
The Queen also heard the voices coming from afar, and felt a little more confident. She looked at Qingzan angrily and said, "Who do you think you are? Do you think His Majesty dotes on you? I tell you, there is no man in the world who is not unfaithful. If my father had treated my mother badly, how could my mother have liked him? But I am different. I will always be the Queen."
Qing Zan didn't want to stay and argue, so she just said, "Your Majesty, you should be thankful that I have no interest in your father who is so good at playing both sides. Otherwise, which daughter would he prefer, the empress who has lost her power and is practically useless, or the concubine who is in the limelight?"
The Queen was completely speechless.
She couldn't answer, and didn't even dare to imagine.
*
Qingzan didn't know whether the Queen would order someone to capture her, but no matter whether the Queen was scared or still rational, she probably wouldn't want to meet her again.
She let Songzan hunt in the forest for a while. Songzan did not return to the forest for a long time. He only caught a fat gray rabbit, which he devoured in two bites. He killed but did not harm other animals. He was a good lion.
By the time she swaggered out of the enclosure with Songtsen, a bonfire had been lit in the distance, flickering in the dark mountains.
Qingzan then remembered what the emperor said to her before he left.
In the Qingyan Hall, the emperor threw his hunting bow to his attendant and strode into the hall. He saw only a large bucket of unsliced raw meat, still placed in the same place as before he left.
He didn't have anyone send Songtsen's dinner to the Mixue Pavilion. If she didn't come up, how could he feed Songtsen?
Did you let it go hunting?
However, two guards came up the mountain to worship the temple first.
When the emperor was hunting, he galloped back and forth like a dragon, and they couldn't find him at all. That's why they had to come and report this now:
"The Queen seems to have been frightened in the woods."
The emperor said calmly, "What frightened you?"
"It seems to be... a lion."
When they found the queen, she looked as disheveled as if she had been fished out of the water, with her hair disheveled, and she didn't say much to them.
"Go away." A cold smile appeared on the emperor's lips, as if he understood the cause and effect.
Soon, someone else came outside the hall.
This time it was the palace maid beside the queen.
It is said that the Queen suffered from acclimatization problems after arriving at the palace today, and begged to return to the palace to rest. Now she cannot even get out of bed, so she cannot come in person to explain the situation.
The person in charge of this trip just gave up, but the emperor didn't seem to mind: "Alright."
As groups of people came and went, the lights on the mountain road became brighter and brighter. In fact, the lights did not change, it was just that the sky became darker and darker.
Seeing that the meal would be late if it was not served soon, Xu Delu carefully observed the situation and brought the meal over: "Your Majesty, the chef has carefully prepared the wild game from the mountains. It is freshly hunted and fried. It cannot be fresher."
"I understand." But the emperor still held the memorial in his hand and had no intention of standing up. He did not blame Xu Delu for acting on his own initiative.
Although court was suspended during the autumn hunting season, the emperor did not completely ignore state affairs. He would still find time to review some less urgent memorials that had accumulated over the past few days, as well as some extremely urgent matters that best not be delayed any longer.
Xu Delu didn't dare to persuade him any further. He just watched the palace servants put wild game and home-cooked dishes on the table, then he clasped his hands together and waited quietly on the side.
When the lion's roar sounded, he asked as if he had been pardoned, "Slave, shall I go and take a look?"
When I went out, I only saw a snow lion running towards me alone.
I couldn't help feeling anxious, hoping it didn't come up by itself.
His Majesty is obviously waiting for Master Ying.
The mountain road was long and difficult to walk on, and the Qingyan Palace was at the top of the mountain. Qingzan was panting, and Songzan had four hooves, so he easily ran ahead of her.
In the Qingyan Hall, the emperor saw the man who had left come back and brought Songtsan in without even batting an eyelid.
He just asked, "Where are the people?"
Xu Delu naturally couldn't answer, he only felt that the emperor's eyes became colder and darker.
When Songzan saw the bucket of fresh meat, his mouth was watering and he howled several times.
However, the emperor never gave any instructions until it finally made a different roar. Then he allowed it, saying, "Eat."
That's the sound a lion makes when it smells a familiar scent approaching.
As expected, the palace maids outside saluted in unison: "Noble Lady Ying."
Qingzan nodded to them: "Is His Majesty in there?"
The palace ladies agreed.
When I went in, Xu Delu had already retreated again.
The only sound in the huge hall was the lion's eating mouthfuls.
Qingzan saw the long and wide dining table in the hall, which was full of delicacies, all intact, but the emperor had not touched a single bite.
He was waiting for her.
She walked around the screen and quietly came before the emperor.
Xiao Fang finally finished writing the last word, put down his red brush in tacit agreement, and raised his head to ask, "Are you going to starve my baby like this?"
Qingzan couldn't help but explain: "Songzan had already eaten in the forest."
She was waiting for the emperor to ask her about the queen, but the emperor refused to mention it.
As if he knew that climbing the mountain had taken a lot of effort for her, he didn't blame her too much and just gestured for her to go ahead.
"Are you tired? I told you to change the place."
Qingzan sat in the emperor's arms and said very obediently, "No matter how tired I am, I am here, right? What did your majesty hunt today?"
Concubine Hui said that many ministers would accompany the emperor on this autumn hunt, including Chen Xiuzhuan, and she would find an opportunity to arrange a meeting between them.
Now she lives far away from home, so it would be inconvenient for us to meet. Naturally, she cannot change her place.
Thinking that if that person knew her mother, he might not only be able to tell her some stories about her and her mother's past, but he might also be a help to her in the future, she wanted to meet that person as soon as possible.
When he lowered his eyes, he heard the emperor laugh: "I hunted a heartless fox."
He held her loosely with one hand, while reaching into the pen wash beside him with the other.
The water in the brush washer had never been used and was crystal clear. One could clearly see the emperor's bony fingers stirring the water a few times, his movements slow and patient.
When he withdrew his hand, he mischievously rubbed the water onto her skirt, leaving spots on it.
Qing Zan felt that the hand was extremely dangerous: "Your Majesty is deceiving me. There is no fox without a heart in this world... Your Majesty, won't you ask me about the Queen's affairs? I can explain."
The emperor just smiled and said nothing, but his hand had already wandered into another area.
Mysterious and stagnant.
He finally spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, and said seriously, "I am more curious, does this place miss me?"
If you can’t think with your mind, then think with your body.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
