On a whim
Zhao Lingying looked at the distant palace and said with a touch of loneliness, "When I made it, I wanted the person who got it to use it for protection one day. But in the end, I was unable to give it away. So many years have passed, and it has become an old object and a souvenir. Of course, I don't want you to use it."
A Qiu wanted to ask why, since she valued it so much and always carried it with her, she had so casually tossed it to a strange girl at the Zhengyang Gate.
Zhao Lingying seemed to sense her doubt and said with a wry smile, "That was purely a spur-of-the-moment decision. Judging from your appearance at the time, you were about to embark on a long journey, and I suddenly thought that you should take this hairpin out of the palace, so that... it could fulfill its original purpose. You should know that in all my years in the palace, you are probably the first woman who can come and go freely."
She then whispered mysteriously, "Let me tell you, this hairpin is considered stolen goods."
A Qiu exclaimed in horror, "What?" She immediately and frantically pulled the hairpin off her head, examining it carefully, fearing that it might be stamped with words like "Supervised by the Imperial Household Department." She didn't want to be framed and caught like a thief. That would be too embarrassing for Gu Yi.
Zhao Lingying couldn't help but chuckle again, and calmly said, "Don't worry, the one who embezzled was me, not you. I was in the Imperial Household Department's weaving workshop at the time. The weaving workshop is not the workshop for making jewelry. I secretly skimmed off the gold thread and gold pieces used to decorate my clothes, and saved up for four or five years. Later, I had someone send it to the workshop and had this hairpin made. It wasn't originally from the palace, so of course it wouldn't have any official markings."
A-Qiu held the gold hairpin in her hand, speechless, as if she were a statue.
Zhao Lingying, the most talented woman in Dayan today and the Lantai Ling who dared to speak out and impeach, was actually so greedy for money back then.
She pondered for a long time before cautiously asking, "Were you short of money back then?"
Without hesitation, Zhao Lingying replied, "I'm short of money! Anyone who lived through the time of the last emperor of the Southern Tang dynasty was short of money. Ask your Master Sun if he was a dancer in the dance troupe back then, and if he also had his monthly wages deducted. But the reason I'm short of money is because I lack the money to buy an official position."
She gazed intently at A-Qiu and said, “Back then, I was just the head of the weaving workshop. If I wanted to get promoted, I had to bribe the people above me, but at that time, I could only rely on myself. That’s how I accumulated this gold. I didn’t want to pay a lot of labor fees, so I only chose the simplest design.”
A Qiu said, "But aren't you a daughter of a prominent family from Wu County?" She asked tactfully, implying that a woman entering the palace as a female official was the same as a man entering officialdom. If a family were commoners and had no money to bribe officials, that would be one thing, but if they were aristocratic landowners, they would certainly contribute money and effort.
Zhao Lingying shook her head and laughed, "I can tell from your voice that you have never lived in a grand mansion and have been very well protected since childhood. Even in families with many children, the treatment they receive varies greatly. My birth mother died early, and it was already quite good that my family was willing to pay for my travel expenses to go to the capital to be selected as an official. They didn't want to concern themselves with anything else."
She added, "Besides, at that time, I was acting on my own initiative and went against my family's arrangements."
At this moment, Zhao Lingying was leading her through a deep and quiet bamboo forest. All was silent except for the slight rustling of the wind. Zhao Lingying walked leisurely ahead, with A Qiu following closely behind, unsure of where she was being taken.
As they walked and chatted with Zhao Lingying, A Qiu felt a sense of absurdity.
The Great Phoenix lives up to its name; even as an enemy, it's hard not to feel respect for it.
She couldn't help but ask curiously, "What family arrangement did you go against back then?"
Zhao Lingying led the way with her hands behind her back, her eyes fixed straight ahead, saying, "The last emperor of the late Huan Dynasty was licentious and lustful, favoring beautiful women and singing girls. My family originally hoped that I would be selected as a concubine, so that I could rise to prominence overnight, and my family would also prosper. This is far better than being a lowly female official in charge of clothing and needlework, doing the work of serving others, with a meager salary and little chance of advancement."
A Qiu never imagined that Zhao Lingying, the most powerful minister and a favorite of the emperor, would have such an experience, leaving him speechless with astonishment.
But she could also imagine that Zhao Lingying must have decisively rejected her family's request, thus losing the financial support that her family might provide—after all, Xie Lang had earnestly invited her to be empress, and she had refused so resolutely, let alone becoming a concubine or beauty for that incompetent last emperor.
Zhao Lingying turned around, glanced at her, and said dismissively, "Don't think that being a daughter of a noble family is so easy. You still have to earn face and find a way out for your family's future. If you don't believe me, go ask your good friend Shangguan Yuqi. Sigh." As she said this, her tone became noticeably lower, probably thinking of Shangguan Yuqi's current situation.
A Qiu didn't know why Zhao Lingying would call Shangguan Yuqi her "good friend." She wondered why, although she had always admired Shangguan Yuqi, she hadn't had many opportunities to get close to her.
She then heard Zhao Lingying say, "I know you haven't known her much, but when Sister Huaying imprisoned you, she protected you. When I issued the order for the prefectures and counties to find ways to prevent you from returning to the capital, she disagreed. Perhaps this is what they mean by instant affinity." At this point, she suddenly sighed, as if recalling some distant past event.
Ah Qiu carefully replied, "Miss is a proud daughter of a prestigious family, while Ah Qiu comes from a humble background and dares not presume to be worthy of her."
Zhao Lingying deliberately slowed her pace, waiting for A Qiu to stand beside her before saying with a half-smile, "So, when you were imprisoned as a dancer, she did her best to save you; but now that she is imprisoned, are you planning to sit idly by?"
Upon understanding Zhao Lingying's words, A Qiu immediately stopped in shock and exclaimed in disbelief, "What? The young lady has also fallen into the imperial prison?"
Zhao Lingying calmly replied, "She's not in the Imperial Prison but in the Yeting Palace, though it's not that different. The Imperial Prison is for officials, while the Yeting Palace is for palace women."
A Qiu stared at Zhao Lingying in shock, speechless.
Who in the world would dare to capture Shangguan Yuqi, the current head of the Flying Phoenix Sect and the most beautiful woman from the Southern Dynasty's most prestigious family, and imprison her in the Yeting Palace like a criminal?
Zhao Lingying spoke clearly and distinctly into her ears: "Shangguan Yuqi recently broke into the former dynasty's forbidden Qiwu Palace during a night patrol and got into a fight with Chu Yuan, who was guarding the palace, which alarmed the palace. Originally, Sister Lanxiu arrived immediately to try to suppress the matter, but unfortunately, His Majesty was also there that night."
It took A Qiu a long time to recover from Zhao Lingying's words.
Shangguan Yuqi's nighttime intrusion into Qiwu Palace, which resulted in a fight with Chu Yuanyi, didn't seem to be such an unexpected event for her.
Because she remembered that when she went to Qiwu Palace to look for Han Dynasty bricks, she had personally run into Shangguan Yuqi. Shangguan Yuqi even tried to kill her on the spot because she was Shi Changqing's daughter.
Then, after Consort Chen, Gu Yi, and Chu Yuanyi shouted in unison, "She is not Shi Changqing's daughter!" Shangguan Yuqi regretted her actions and stopped, feeling guilty for accidentally injuring A Qiu.
Looking back now, it was purely accidental that Shangguan Yuqi hurt her, because at the time Shangguan Yuqi would never have imagined that she would sneak into the abandoned Qiwu Palace at night, which was originally a forbidden area of the palace.
Shangguan Yuqi went to the abandoned Qiwu Palace alone, seemingly looking for something or investigating something. Chu Yuanyi already seemed extremely hostile towards Shangguan Yuqi, so it wasn't surprising that the two of them started fighting.
It was not surprising that Consort Chen, Li Lanxiu, arrived in time, because based on A Qiu's understanding of Consort Chen, she was almost always paying attention to and monitoring the situation in the palace.
The only thing that surprised A Qiu was Zhao Lingying's last sentence.
"Unfortunately, His Majesty was there that night as well."
Qiwu Palace was the residence of the former Empress Huan. After the establishment of Dayan, all the palaces in Jianzhang Palace were renovated and refurbished, but Qiwu Palace was an exception. It was completely preserved in its original state, with the furniture, ancient books and cultural artifacts remaining untouched.
But all of this is based on one major premise: there is no empress in this dynasty.
If there is an empress in this dynasty, according to the established rites and regulations, the palace where the empress resides will inevitably be this Qiwu Palace. This is because the location and scale of palace buildings cannot be easily altered. The empress's palace has its own specifications and form, and cannot be changed arbitrarily. Nor can any palace in the inner palace be randomly chosen as the empress's palace.
A-Qiu vaguely sensed something, but couldn't quite put it into words.
On her first night in the palace, she mistakenly entered Qiwu Palace and clashed with Chu Yuanyi, who always hid there. At that moment, Consort Chen arrived in time to stop her and informed her that Qiwu Palace had been designated a forbidden area, and unauthorized personnel were prohibited from entering. As the head of the six palaces, she naturally had the authority to decide whether the palaces in the harem were open, under renovation, or closed, but she did not explain why Qiwu was a forbidden area.
If it was a forbidden area, why did Xie Lang go there?
A Qiu vaguely felt that Xie Lang's sudden headache, as well as Shangguan Yuqi's return of the jade ruyi and her open refusal to become the Crown Princess, were all related to this nighttime intrusion into Qiwu.
However, what she thought was one thing, but what came out of her mouth was: "Is His Majesty's decision not to establish an empress for so many years really just to ensure the position of His Highness the Crown Prince?"
Isn't it because they don't want to touch or damage a single plant or tree in Qiwu Palace?
Zhao Lingying looked at her with a complicated expression and sighed, "It's not just His Majesty. In fact, I don't think anyone in this palace wants to be Empress."
Her words implied not only about herself, but also about Consort Chen, Li Lanxiu.
A Qiu was greatly surprised and exclaimed, "Why? I've heard before that every woman in the palace wants to be the empress."
A lonely smile appeared on Zhao Lingying's lips as she said, "If you had ever witnessed how an unparalleled empress wasted away and perished in the palace, you would probably lose all interest in this position and deeply understand that a person's happiness has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not they are an empress."
She continued, "All I want is power, and I have no intention of putting myself into it."
A Qiu hadn't expected Zhao Lingying to be so frank, but now that they were at this point, she couldn't help but ask, "My master strives for power for the sake of the world, so what is Zhao Rong striving for power for?"
Even now, she still finds it hard to believe that among the previous generation of the Flying Phoenix Guards, there would be someone so eager for power and status. And Zhao Lingying, no matter how she looks at her, doesn't seem like that kind of person.
For true heroes, power is merely a means, not an end, because it inherently has no value as an ultimate goal.
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