In the dim light of the sky, she seemed to see the shadow of that person again.
Spring was deep like the sea, and pear blossoms were like snow. A young man stood under a pear tree, wearing a royal blue robe and a purple jade belt. He looked at her from afar, laughed heartily, and asked loudly, "Hey! Which palace are you from?"
Suddenly, the light in front of her eyes shattered, and in the dim light, she saw Wen Yuan's anxious face. Wen Yuan's mouth opened and closed, but she couldn't hear what she was saying.
She knew she might be sick again. There were people surrounding her, some of them were pulling her arms and shaking them anxiously, which caused her some pain. She frowned, a little angry, and wanted to scold these servants who didn't know the seriousness of the matter, but her voice seemed to be out of control. She tried hard to open her mouth, but it was like a fish at the bottom of the sea, opening and closing silently, without a breath.
Wen Yuan was anxious and scolded the eunuch beside her: "Why hasn't the emperor come yet? Have you informed him?"
The young eunuch's face was pale, and his voice was filled with tears. He knelt on the ground and replied, "My legs are broken from running. The news has already been passed in, but Concubine Cheng said that the emperor is taking a nap. If there is anything, we can talk to him after he wakes up."
"How ridiculous!" Wen Yuan said angrily, "Princess Cheng is so bold, is she capable of such a thing?"
When the servants saw her getting angry, they all knelt on the ground and dared not say a word.
Nalan Hongye thought that Wen Yuan was becoming more and more daring and even dared to say such words. If this were to reach Concubine Cheng's ears, there would probably be another disturbance.
Since she couldn't speak for the time being, she continued to close her eyes and rest, leaving the servants to work anxiously like ants on a hot pan.
Concubine Cheng was indeed being a little outrageous. Relying on her natal family and the two princes, she acted more and more recklessly. She didn't know that fortune always goes hand in hand with disaster. Her reliance today would be disaster for the Ming Dynasty. She is so reckless and has no sense of the seriousness of the matter. It seems that she needs to give herself a good beating when she recovers, otherwise this huge harem will be in chaos because of her.
Nalan sighed tiredly and fell into a dark dream again.
Concubine Cheng's real name was Cheng Rongrong. She was the cousin of General Cheng Yuan. After Dayan established its capital in Zhenhuang, in order to enrich the harem and get close to powerful officials, Concubine Cheng entered the palace together with the daughters of several other important officials in the court. Because of her brother's influence in the court and her own beauty and intelligence, she was promoted several times. She was also very hardworking and soon gave birth to a pair of sons for Yan Xun. She became the first of the three concubines, second only to the queen.
She was originally a smart woman who knew when to advance and when to retreat, but unfortunately, the honors she had received in recent years had made her act more without restraint.
It was not until the sunset in the evening that Yan Xun slowly woke up.
There was an urgent call at the border last night, and Yan Xun stayed up all night. He still felt a little dizzy when he woke up.
Concubine Cheng half-knelt on the footstool, draped in a goose yellow soft gauze, and charmingly offered Yan Xun a cup of scented tea, and casually picked up some interesting stories from the various palaces to talk about.
Yan Xun listened absentmindedly, responding with a few words from time to time. Suddenly, a whisper floated into his ears. He was slightly stunned and lowered his head to ask, "What did you say?"
Concubine Cheng was startled, but she tried to remain calm and said with a smile, "At noon, Xiao Shunzi from the Southeast Palace said that the Empress was not feeling well. I saw that the Emperor was sleeping soundly, so I did not dare to wake him up. I think it must be that the servant was ignorant. The Empress is virtuous and has not been in good health. If she knew, I don't know how to punish the servant. She would definitely not let him disturb the Emperor."
Yan Xun sat on the couch, not saying a word for a while, his eyes were deep, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Concubine Cheng was delighted and busied herself helping Yan Xun wash and change his clothes. Who would have thought that Yan Xun would leave after putting on his clothes. Concubine Cheng was anxious and asked quickly, "Your Majesty, won't you stay for dinner?"
Yan Xun slowly turned around, the setting sun shining on his face with a faint golden light. He just looked at Concubine Cheng quietly, without showing any anger, but it made people feel cold in their spine and their bodies.
Concubine Cheng immediately knelt down. The fate of Yuan Shilan, the emperor's former favorite concubine, appeared before her eyes, and she was so scared that she almost cried out.
After an unknown amount of time, a maid whispered in her ear, "My lady, the emperor is gone."
She slowly raised her head and felt cold sweat on her forehead. She stood up weakly and almost fell down. The maid exclaimed and supported her, helping her sit on the couch.
She covered her chest with her hands, her face was pale, and she didn't speak for a long time.
She knew that even though the emperor didn't say anything, at that moment she was very close to death.
The sky was getting darker and darker. She pondered silently, and finally took a deep breath and said to the servants, "Give Xiao Dengzi, who is guarding the gate today, thirty strokes of the cane. Then prepare a generous gift and go to the gate of the Queen's palace tomorrow to apologize. You can say that the gatekeeper was lazy and missed the message."
The maid agreed, and although she was afraid, she did not dare to question it. After a while, little Dengzi's screams, louder and louder, were heard outside.
After all, the woman who has climbed to her current position is definitely not a naive and ignorant one. She knows when to advance and when to retreat, and knows her limits. Even if she occasionally loses herself, she will quickly come to her senses once there is any sign of trouble.
And today's wake-up call was enough for her to realize it.
"Liu Xu, prepare incense, candles and scriptures. Starting tomorrow, I will go to the Buddhist temple every day to copy scriptures and pray for Dayan."
"yes."
This one test is enough.
Cheng Rongrong sighed, and when her fingers touched the quilt that Yan Xun had just lain on, she felt it was icy cold.
When Yan Xun arrived at the Southeast Palace, it was already completely dark.
The lights in the southeast hall were dim and the imperial doctors had already left. When the eunuch saw him, he knelt down hurriedly and was about to pass on the message, but was stopped by him. As he walked in, all the palace maids and eunuchs knelt on the ground, and a line of black heads stretched all the way to the cold and deserted palace gate.
She had already fallen asleep, lying among the layers of brocade, her face pale, her hair disheveled, and she looked extremely thin.
Wen Yuan's face was full of joy. She spread a cushion on the couch for him, but he pulled a chair over and sat opposite Nalan Hongye.
All the maids and servants left, leaving only him and her. He sat quietly while she fell into a deep sleep.
It seemed as if he had never seen her like this before. In his memory, Nalan Hongye was always dignified, elegant, dressed in noble clothes, with elegant makeup, her words and actions were always correct, and there was always a distant smile on her face, full of the royal aura accumulated over the years.
Never like this before, disheveled, haggard, and skinny.
She had really lost weight, and looking at her now, he could hardly associate her with the smart eldest princess before.
Time makes people grow old. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed.
He said nothing, just sat for a while and then left, but this moment was enough to make the servants of the Southeast Palace overjoyed. Wen Yuan happily ran back and forth outside the palace, arranging many matters for welcoming the emperor, because the emperor said before he left that he would come to visit again tomorrow.
As soon as the gate of the Southeast Palace was locked, Nalan Hongye opened her eyes. She had become thinner, and her eye sockets were sunken, but her gaze was still sharp and calm, and she possessed the wisdom and bearing that came from years of experience.
The chair was still placed next to her bed, empty, with an auspicious pattern of two dragons playing with a pearl carved on the nanmu wood, with circles of clouds swirling around.
After so many years, Nalan Hongye, do you have any regrets at all?
In the dim light, she asked herself quietly.
Finally, he smiled faintly and closed his eyes.
Everything in the palace went on as usual, and the days passed one by one. The weather was getting colder, and a brazier was lit in the house. However, Nalan's health showed no improvement. Half of the imperial hospital almost moved away and lived at the southeast palace gate, with people coming in and out all day long.
This morning, it was the day when the little princes had lectures. Yushu brought Yong'er to visit Nalan Hongye, bringing some bird's nest and ginseng. They sat in the warm bedroom and talked with Nalan Hongye.
After talking about this and that for a while, seeing that Nalan Hongye was a little tired, Yu Shu was about to say goodbye when he heard her ask, "Tomorrow is the anniversary of King Xuan's death, right?"
Yu Shu was slightly stunned. For some reason, a string in his heart suddenly became extremely tight. He replied in a low voice, "Yes."
Nalan Hongye nodded, and Wen Yuan beside her smiled and presented a brocade box. She said calmly: "The prince has made great contributions to the country. I am not in good health and it is not convenient for me to go to worship. Princess, please take a little gift from me."
The warm bedroom suddenly felt a little cold, starting from Yushu's fingers and moving up along his arms. She took the brocade box in a stiff posture, bit her lower lip lightly, bowed her head respectfully and thanked: "I thank the Queen for the reward on behalf of my late husband."
Nalan Hongye shook her head and was about to speak when suddenly a maid ran in from outside and whispered something in Wen Yuan's ear. Wen Yuan's expression suddenly froze and she turned to look at Nalan Hongye.
Yushu immediately stood up and said goodbye. Seeing this, Nalan Hongye did not try to keep him.
The sun was shining outside the hall, and Yushu's palms were covered in cold sweat. She clutched a corner of her clothes tightly, as if she could strangle some thoughts to death by doing so.
Suddenly, a group of eunuchs were seen running westward in panic. Yu Shu diverted his attention and casually asked his personal maid: "What happened? What are those people doing?"
The little maid had been in and out of the palace for a long time, so she was quite clever. She went over to ask a few questions and came back in a panic, saying, "Princess, it was Concubine Yuan from Xiling Palace who hanged herself."
"Miss Yuan?" Yu Shu was stunned and asked in surprise.
The little maid licked her lips and said, "It's the former Concubine Chu."
"Yuan Shilan?" Now it was Yushu's turn to be shocked.
Concubine Chu, whose original name was Yuan Shilan, was the most legendary concubine in the harem since the founding of Dayan.
She was originally a small laundry girl in the harem. Once she made a mistake, she was thrown into the torture chamber to be punished. However, who would have thought that this little maid actually knew some rudimentary martial arts. In the middle of the night, she injured the guarding nanny and escaped from the torture chamber. In his panic, he ran away and bumped into the emperor's carriage which had just returned to the palace from the upper study. She was hit by an arrow and had no where to go, so she banged her head against the gate of Chulan Palace, refusing to surrender even if she would rather die.
Fortunately, she was rescued later. The emperor liked her integrity and promoted her from a small slave to a fifth-rank noble lady, and doted on her utmost. Within half a year, Yuan Shilan monopolized the emperor's favor and rose rapidly all the way to the top, and was eventually named Concubine Chu Shu. Even though this caused dissatisfaction and criticism in the court, the emperor never wavered.
However, on a rainy night three months ago, there was a disturbance in Chu Lan Palace, and the most favored Concubine Chu in the harem was suddenly demoted. Within three days, she was demoted four times from the position of a second-rank concubine to a small seventh-rank beauty, living alone in Xiling Palace.
No one knew what happened that night. People only said that Concubine Chu had an argument with the Emperor and in a rage she disfigured herself, making her look like neither human nor ghost. Naturally, the Emperor was furious and she was demoted.
When the palace people talked about this, they were naturally sarcastic. Firstly, when Yuan Shilan was in favor, she was extremely arrogant and ignored other concubines in the palace. Secondly, since ancient times, women have served their kings with their beauty. She was foolish enough to destroy her own appearance, so naturally she did not get any sympathy from others.
"Princess? Princess?" The little maid was a little scared and called out several times.
Yushu came back to his senses and said quickly, "Leave the palace immediately."
After going out of the second gate, the carriage started to move forward. A crow flew by in the distance, stirring up a cold wind. A few black feathers fell, fluttering and swaying, and gradually fell into this lonely palace.