A gentleman climbs over the wall
As she said, the Four Stars of Tianji were merely guards, not court officials. Even if they eliminated the Jianzhang Group led by Zhao Lingying, they still wouldn't be able to help the Crown Prince govern the country.
Rong Yu gave A Qiu one last, deep look and said, "Now you can understand why I've been longing for your return."
A Qiu understood. If Gu Yi were here, Rong Yu only needed to obtain evidence of Zhao Lingying's intention to control Xie Lang and hand it over to Gu Yi to eliminate Zhao Lingying. But at this moment, even if she obtained the evidence, it would be useless, because it would only cause chaos in the palace. Besides, there was no evidence at all; all of Zhao Lingying's actions were opportunistic and perfectly seamless.
Rong Yu sighed, "And there's another reason. Our Four Heavenly Stars protecting the Emperor is a promise made forty years ago by the righteous martial arts world against the former Huan Sima family. In the end, whether this promise will continue to the current Emperor Xie family is still a question. Even if we are willing to pledge our loyalty, His Majesty may not accept it, and Zhao Lingying at this moment will certainly not accept it. We suddenly appear out of nowhere to investigate His Majesty's illness, and Zhao Lingying will definitely try to suppress us."
Only when Xie Tiao arrived at this moment did he realize that Rong Yu was the former emperor's hidden guard, the "Four Constellations of Heavenly Secrets." He was shocked and was about to pay his respects when he realized the problem Rong Yu had mentioned.
It is true that the Four Constellations of Tianji are the hidden guards of the Sima family, but whether they can be considered the hidden guards of the Xie family is a question that neither side has ever agreed upon.
Rong Yu looked at him with a gentle expression and said deeply, "Even if I am not a member of the Xie family's hidden guards, I am still the Grand Palace Eunuch who serves your father, and I will continue to serve Your Highness in the future. Your Highness does not need to be so polite."
Xie Tiao then recalled that since he entered the Eastern Palace, all the guards and palace staff had been personally appointed by this Grand Eunuch. He himself was not a shrewd or capable master who constantly disciplined others, yet the Eastern Palace was always flawless and orderly. Now that he thought about it, it must have been that Eunuch Rong had given special instructions to everyone, and the people he was chosen for were all talents who had already been screened.
Therefore, the Four Mansions of Tianji brought the protection of the emperor and the crown prince to this dynasty.
Xie Tiao was suddenly speechless.
He grew up in the deep palace, lost his mother, and had no one to rely on. The palace servants treated him with utmost respect, and he had always felt a deep loneliness. But now he realized that even behind this loneliness, there had been many people who cared deeply for him and protected him. However, this protection was not necessarily in the form of flowery words and honeyed gestures.
Gu Yi was indifferent and distant towards him. But in the end, Gu Yi sent A Qiu to his side, supporting him at this moment.
Rong Yu suddenly stopped and said, "I can't interfere in the affairs of the royal family now. However, you can go and ask her."
A Qiu looked up and saw three large characters written on the vermilion walls and green tiles peeking out from the grove of trees in front of her: "Vermilion Bird Palace". She suddenly realized that she had been here before.
On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival palace banquet and the performance of "White Silk", Xie Lang broke into the side hall of Jixian Palace and went berserk. She was later subdued by Consort Chen with the help of her. The fighting alarmed the palace. Consort Chen ordered her and Gu Yi to send Xie Lang back to the main hall, while she stayed behind to deal with the questions from others.
The Vermilion Bird Palace was the sleeping quarters of Consort Chen, the head of the six palaces.
A Qiu suddenly realized Rong Yu's purpose in bringing them here. In the end, whether in the palace or in the Dayan Dynasty, Rong Yu was always an outsider and could not make any decisions on behalf of the emperor. However, Consort Chen, as Xie Lang's partner and comrade-in-arms in pacifying the world, was the most qualified person to make decisions on behalf of Xie Lang and the person who could command the respect of the court and the harem.
It was late at night, and the Vermilion Bird Palace was completely silent, yet one or two lights seemed to faintly illuminate the depths of the rear garden.
Rong Yu glanced inside and sighed, "She must not be in a good mood these days. I hope you can cheer her up." Without waiting for A Qiu to react, he left.
Consort Chen was in a bad mood? When A Qiu heard this, it was almost unbelievable.
In her few impressions, Consort Chen was always the kind of person detached from personal emotions. She was gentle and serene, noble and elegant, as if there was nothing in the world that could frustrate her. She always remained calm and composed, subtly defusing any crisis and saving face for others.
It's hard for A-Qiu to imagine what could have happened to make such a magnanimous and tolerant person lose their temper.
Xie Tiao clearly knew more than she did. Only when she stood before the Vermilion Bird Palace did Xie Tiao seem to remember Consort Chen, and sighed, "Your Majesty must be in a bad mood. But I'm afraid that no one in the court or the harem has time to think of her right now."
Suddenly realizing that A Qiu was staring at him with a hint of reproach, he immediately said awkwardly, "I rarely interact with Her Majesty. With Father Emperor seriously ill and Her Majesty being punished, it's even less likely that I would suddenly try to get close to her at this time. Others might think I have some ulterior motives."
A-Qiu exclaimed, "The Empress has been punished?"
Xie Tiao immediately looked around in alarm, and seeing that no one was around, he whispered, "It is said that it is related to Miss Shangguan. It is said that when Miss Shangguan talked back to the Emperor, the Empress was also present. The Empress must have spoken up for Miss Shangguan, which angered the Emperor and resulted in her being confined to the Vermilion Bird Palace and not allowed to come out unless necessary. Logically speaking... we should not be able to visit her either."
However, logically speaking, the most respected person in the palace, Rong Jian, who had served two emperors and was the foremost official in the imperial court, personally led them here. Xie Lang was also ill, and no one else could take care of the princes and concubines in the harem. So, this matter can be disregarded.
A-Qiu said, "Didn't you say before that Her Majesty was only not seeing outsiders because she fell ill while attending to His Majesty?"
Xie Tiao said heavily, "It's not a good thing that Her Majesty was punished. When Father issued the decree, he only said to the outside world that Her Majesty had fallen ill and was recuperating for the time being. I didn't originally intend to tell you, but who knew that Rong Jian meant for us to come and find Her Majesty."
Upon learning that Consort Chen, the most powerful woman in the six palaces, had been confined to her quarters, A Qiu's heart became exceptionally heavy.
In the days since she and Gu Yi left, the situation in the palace has changed so drastically.
Standing before the Vermilion Bird Palace, he knew he would have to go in, but for some reason, he couldn't move his feet. He didn't know what he could say to Consort Chen if he saw her.
A soft, pleasant voice rang close to my ear, saying, "Now that you're here, what are you standing there doing, lost in thought?"
A-Qiu was startled and immediately whispered, "We're sorry to bother you, Your Highness. We'll come in right away."
In terms of martial arts, Consort Chen, Li Lanxiu, is undoubtedly the most skilled in the entire Vermilion Bird Palace. Her keen hearing and sharp senses are unmatched by ordinary fighters. Even if Rong Yu could deceive the guards and palace servants by coming to the Vermilion Bird Palace late at night with A Qiu and Xie Tiao, he certainly couldn't escape her keen hearing.
But this is because it was so late at night, and she hadn't gone to sleep yet, which is why she was like this.
Xie Tiao didn't know martial arts, so he didn't hear Consort Chen's voice until A Qiu tugged at his clothes. He then seemed to realize something and asked in confusion, "Are we going in now? No, where are you going?"
It turned out that instead of entering through the main gate of the Vermilion Bird Palace, A Qiu pulled him around to the outside of the back palace wall, seemingly intending to climb over the wall and enter.
This greatly frightened Xie Tiao. As the Crown Prince, visiting his father's confined concubines in the middle of the night was already a serious violation of the law. Instead of using the main gate, he climbed over the wall. If he were caught, he would be in deep trouble, even if he jumped into the Imperial River.
Ah Qiu didn't care about all that and whispered, "Senior brother, even though you haven't practiced as many martial arts as us, you should still be able to climb over a wall, right?"
Xie Tiao's expression was uncertain, clearly indicating that she was going through a great internal struggle. A Qiu didn't understand why, because on her first night in the palace, she had been scaling walls and courtyards, and didn't think it was a big deal. She listened to the direction Consort Chen was transmitting and determined that she was in the backyard at the moment, so she decided that there was no need to make a big fuss about going around the main gate, and she couldn't think of anything else.
Xie Tiao hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and saying, "I'll flip it."
Consort Chen's voice, tinged with laughter, rang out, and Xie Tiao heard it too: "No need to climb over the wall, the side door isn't locked, it opens with a push."
Xie Tiao and A Qiu looked at each other, both extremely embarrassed. A Qiu immediately said awkwardly, "We'll come in right away."
Actually, it wouldn't be difficult to climb over the wall, because the wall in the backyard was a low wall made of bluestone, not very high. With Xie Tiao's height, she could almost see what was happening in the courtyard by standing on tiptoe, but knowing that Consort Chen was inside, she naturally dared not peek.
On the moss-covered wall was a small, black-lacquered door. Though called a small door, it was indeed cramped, allowing only one person to pass sideways. It must have been used by servants to fetch water and chop firewood.
A Qiu pushed the door open, and just as Consort Chen had said, the small door wasn't locked. It creaked open easily. A Qiu slipped inside, reminding Xie Tiao to close the door behind her.
Upon entering the courtyard, the scene before him left A-Qiu momentarily stunned.
This is a small, square courtyard. Apart from a simple wooden table and a few wooden chairs, there is a stone well with a smooth stone rim, suggesting that people often draw water from it. There is also a bundle of chopped firewood on one side of the ground.
Meanwhile, Consort Chen, the most powerful woman in the six palaces, sat quietly beside a wooden table, her black hair flowing freely down her back. She wore a simple, unadorned dress and was threading a needle in front of an oil lamp. On her lap lay an old and worn-out woman's garment.
Her gentle and beautiful profile seemed to be a gift from nature, blending seamlessly into the deep night, filling this ordinary courtyard with a warm and inviting atmosphere.
Among the previous generation of the Four Flying Phoenix Guards, Sikong Zhao was dashing and heroic, Zhao Lingying was clever and adaptable, Mu Huaying was arrogant and aloof, but Consort Chen was the most approachable and the one who made it impossible for anyone to be wary of her.
Her kindness and gentleness permeated her every word and action. And after removing the intimidating hairpins and phoenix robes that symbolized power and status, she simply sat there, giving people a warm feeling like a mother or sister.
A Qiu originally had a lot to say, but after seeing Consort Chen, she forgot it all. Her heart was filled with feelings that she didn't know whether it was excitement, admiration, or gratitude.
Consort Chen was probably one of the first people in the palace to know that she possessed martial arts skills, yet she never used this to warn or intimidate her. On the contrary, she helped her and the dance troupe both openly and secretly on many occasions. This alone was enough to make her deeply grateful.
A thousand words were stuck in her throat, unable to be uttered. Finally, she stammered, "Your Majesty... can mend clothes?"
Just now, A Qiu saw that Consort Chen was threading a needle to repair the ripped edge of the old clothes. She used a meander stitch to tighten the edge and prevent it from getting bigger and bigger, so that the clothes would be unwearable in the future.
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