Chapter 477: Broken Golden Cage
The main hall of Xianshou Palace is much larger than that of Fengluan Palace.
In fact, the two palaces were originally the same size, but after Zhao Hua moved in, the several Buddha statues and niches enshrined in the main hall were moved to the Ten Buddha Hall on the Yuntai, so now this area looks much more spacious.
At this moment, the women sitting in the hall all had different expressions on their faces.
Some are smiling, some are gloomy.
There are many newcomers who have just entered the palace and have never served in the emperor's bed, but they have to be widows for the rest of their lives.
However, most of them volunteered to enter the palace for the sake of wealth and glory.
Just like a moth flying into a flame, who can I blame for the ending I have now?
After everyone had paid their respects to Zhao Hua, Zhao Hua raised his hand and asked them to sit down.
"I will give you the rank of concubines from the palace, the maids, and the noble ladies, so that you can spend your old age in the palace as the imperial concubines with a monthly allowance."
She paused for a moment, then asked unnecessarily:
"If there are anyone who loves the late emperor and is willing to go to the emperor's tomb to guard his body, I will also grant you the opportunity."
As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell into complete silence.
All those faces that usually fawned on Xiao Jingheng were wiped out with his passing.
Zhao Hua smiled with emotion and said:
"When you become a concubine, you won't have to follow the rules of coming to my place every morning and evening as you did when you were a concubine. In the future, do things you like in the palace, and I will allow your mother's family to have a chance to come to the palace to reunite with you once a year."
Everyone said respectfully, "Thank you, Queen Mother, for your kindness."
Zhao Hua smiled and nodded, "The late emperor's funeral ceremony has just ended, and everyone is tired. Let's go home today."
Everyone bowed to Zhao Huafu and left.
But a few people remained in their seats and did not stand up.
When most of the people had left, Qimuge sighed and said:
"I have finally waited for this day. I always thought that I would be relieved if he died. But I don't know why I dreamed of him last night...Among us women, which one of us has not been sincere to the late emperor? But it is too late to talk about this now."
Runaren said, "Speaking of pity, I really feel sorry for Sister Ning! My sisters, why did she do this? The late emperor was already in a dead end, but she couldn't wait to poison him... Now, at the last minute, she has even lost her life."
Hearing this,
Zhao Hua smiled sadly and said calmly: "She was also liberated."
Runaren was puzzled. "There is always hope when one is alive. If one dies like this, won't everything be gone? Sister Ning is not even afraid of death, so why is she afraid of living?"
Yes, there is always hope in life.
But for someone who has experienced all the despair,
Is it really better to be alive?
If Ning Wanshuang were still alive, she would probably spend the rest of her life blaming herself for her family, feeling grief towards her lover, and feeling guilt towards her children.
For her, perhaps death is the best ending.
The past ended with the moment she died. If she could not hope for a happy ending after all the suffering in this life, she only hoped that everything would go well for her in the next life, that she would be blessed by God and no longer have to suffer from the trivialities of this world.
Now when talking about Ning Wanshuang with others, Zhaohua still feels distressed, with tears in his eyes.
She didn't want to cry in public, so she looked at Qimuge and Runaren, pretending to be relaxed and changed the subject:
"I have promised that after the matter is accomplished, I will allow the two sisters to return to their respective hometowns. Just tell others that you are commemorating the late emperor, and let him go. When a person dies, no one will pursue anything."
"It's time to go." Qimugege smiled with hope in his eyes again. "I haven't ridden a horse for many years. Now I feel my bones are a little soft just thinking about it~"
Runaren also responded with a smile: "Yes, yes, when you are free, you must come to Mongolia. I will treat you to the most tender beef and mutton, take you to the Gegentala grassland to watch the sunrise, and ride horses and drink wine among the grass waves!"
Qimuge nodded vigorously and clapped his hands with her in tacit understanding.
"It's a deal!"
They both grew up on the grassland, and without Xiao Jingheng standing in the way, they became very good friends.
While the two of them were laughing and joking, Zhaohua looked at Ruge who was sitting beside them and cast an envious glance at them.
So he whispered to her, "Where is Sister Nalan? What are your plans? Do you want to go home?"
Ru Ge's eyes were full of surprise. After staring at Zhao Hua for a long while, she timidly said:
"Can I...?"
"Of course." Zhao Hua smiled gently, "But you can no longer call yourself a member of the Nalan family. You can only live your life in anonymity. You are a very good girl. Maybe in the near future, you will meet a man of your dreams who is truly in love with you."
These seemingly simple words are filled with the power to warm people's hearts.
Ru Ge was originally a reserved and sensitive person. At this moment, she nodded vigorously with tears in her eyes. She was choked up and couldn't speak. After a long while, she said with difficulty,
"Thank you, Sister Zhao!"
It is truly rare that these women, who have lived their entire lives under the constraints of etiquette, laws and dogma, could finally stand up bravely to resist the injustice of imperial oppression of women.
And Zhaohua also promised them a happy ending.
These gorgeous flowers should have bloomed in the mountains and beside the clear springs.
Instead of being planted in this golden cage for people to admire.
Later that day, Zhao Hua sent everyone away and only kept Rong Yue.
At that time, the sisters looked at each other, and everything was said without words.
Zhaohua and Rongyue joked:
"Sister Rong...hiss, that's not right. Now I should call you sister-in-law."
"Zhao'er!" Rong Yue blushed and scolded her, "What nonsense are you talking about..."
"Where is the nonsense?"
Zhao Hua raised his eyebrows slightly behind her and said softly:
"Sister, look back and see who is coming?"
Rong Yue was stunned for a moment.
As she turned her head slowly, her eyes met with someone's, and her pupils trembled and tears welled up in her eyes.
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