The day before Yan Ning entered the palace, she went to pay her respects to the old lady. Both of them were filled with apprehension about this trip to the palace. However, with each new ruler comes a new court, and being a subject is often a helpless situation.
On the low table of the heated couch sat a cloisonné porcelain vase, holding a few sprigs of red plum blossoms, emitting a faint fragrance. The sandalwood scent in the old lady's room was so strong that it was barely noticeable without careful observation.
Cloisonné is made by shaping soft, flat copper wires into various patterns and soldering them on, then filling the patterns with enamel glaze and firing it. The gold, silver, and jade pieces appear magnificent and luxurious.
No matter how Yan Ning looked at it, she felt that the plum blossoms "inserted" in the cloisonné vase made the plum blossoms look vulgar and ruined their elegant and refined appearance.
She tentatively suggested, "Mother, these plum blossoms would be more suitable to be placed in a jade porcelain vase!"
The old lady wore a light blue cheongsam with white crane motifs, and a gold-inlaid, openwork ruyi-shaped hairpin was tucked into her hair. She still held the string of jade prayer beads in her hand. Her eyes were calm and serene as she looked at Yan Ning. "If the heart is free of dust, one cannot appreciate this cloisonné inlaid with gold and jade. What you appreciate is the plum blossom, not the empty shell!"
Even after leaving the Peony Hall, Yan Ning was still trying to decipher the meaning behind the old lady's words. It seemed to be a reference, but she couldn't figure out what the plum blossoms and cloisonné enamelware referred to.
After taking only a few steps, Yunxia, Concubine Li's personal maid, rushed up to her in a panic, "Madam, Concubine Li is unwell. Please allow me to go to the front courtyard to fetch the imperial physician!"
Yan Ning hurriedly sent Ju Xiang to the front yard to send someone to fetch a doctor, while she and Zhu Xiang and the other servants headed toward Jinghe Hall, where Aunt Li lived.
On the way, Zhu Xiang quietly reminded Yan Ning, "Madam, if the General and the Old Madam find out about this, it will be terrible!"
Yan Ning stopped in her tracks, frowning in thought.
Fu Chang'an lived in the outer residence and rarely returned to the mansion, only occasionally returning to pay his respects to his mother. Consort Li was quiet by nature and never stepped out of her courtyard unless absolutely necessary. Yan Ning had only seen her twice: once when De Lin disappeared, and once on the day of the Hehuan family banquet.
The occasional glimpse of that lonely courtyard floated into Yan Ning's eyes, and she vaguely felt that something was hidden there. If it was really as Zhu Xiang had said, that Aunt Li had once poisoned Fukang'an; that General Fu Heng had passed away, so why would Fukang'an and the old lady allow her to live out her days in the mansion; and why didn't Fu Chang'an bring his mother to his own residence? Although the residence was not as luxurious and prestigious as the Fucha family's, it would still be better for her to be with her son than to experience the coldness of the world in the mansion.
After pondering for a long time, Yan Ning ignored Zhu Xiang's advice and walked towards Jinghe Hall.
Jinghetang was a road further away than Shikuaiju, but they were still considered neighbors. At that moment, people from various courtyards came to pick up their lunch, and Shikuaiju was bustling with laughter.
Compared to the lively atmosphere of Shi Kuai Ju, Jing He Tang was eerily quiet. Only one crabapple tree stood in the courtyard, relatively close to the main building. A platform made of bluestone was surrounded by withered yellow vines. Scattered on the tree's bare branches were sparse, dusty snowflakes, an indelible stain.
Yan Ning stepped onto the dark blue stone slabs of Jinghe Hall, her footsteps echoing like a sharp awl chiseling into the ice of a lake in the wilderness, the sound somewhat jarring compared to the silence of Jinghe Hall.
There were no servants walking around in the courtyard. Having grown accustomed to the bustling activity of servants in Jian Gong Zhai and Mu Dan Tang, Yan Ning was somewhat surprised and asked Yun Xia, who was accompanying her, "Why are you the only one serving Concubine Li?"
Yunxia lowered her head, "And Yunshi, she's inside serving Aunt Tai!"
As they approached the main room, Yunxia's delicate pink figure hurried a few steps, lifted the curtain of the main room, and Yan Ning left the other servants outside, only taking Zhuxiang into the main room.
In the main hall, a Bodhisattva statue was enshrined in a Buddhist shrine. On the table sat a bronze tripod-shaped incense burner, the incense inside having burned out. Sandalwood-colored curtains hung around the room, separating it from the inner chamber. The air was filled with the strong scent of sandalwood mixed with the aroma of ghee lamps.
Yan Ning patted her chest gently, suppressing the urge to vomit rising in her stomach.
Yunxia led Yan Ning to the inner room, which was no different from the main hall, with sandalwood-colored curtains. Inside, a plain-looking bronze incense burner held sandalwood incense, but without the butter lamp, the scent was fainter than in the main hall.
The tables, chairs, and ornaments were all old, some with patches of paint that looked like they were about to peel off. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Yan Ning wouldn't have believed that the residence of the Empress Dowager Fucha was so dilapidated; it was as if she had walked into a temple in the mountains.
Looking at everything in the courtyard and inside the house, Yan Ning couldn't understand why Aunt Li lived here.
Yun Shi, who was helping Aunt Li drink water, saw Yan Ning and was embarrassed, not knowing how to greet her. Aunt Li drank slowly; what an ordinary person would drink in one gulp would take several sips to finish.
Yan Ning patted her chest and sat down at a table not far from the bed, saying to Yun Shi, "Just do your best to serve Aunt Tai!"
Aunt Li slightly raised her head to look at Yan Ning, then shook her head at Yun Shi. Yun Shi placed the covered bowl on a round wooden chair beside her, helped Aunt Li lie down, picked up the covered bowl, curtsied to Yan Ning, and then left.
Then Yun Shi brought out another covered bowl of tea, Pu'er. The refreshing aroma wafted out when Yan Ning opened the bowl, diluting the sandalwood scent lingering in her nostrils. Jian Gong Zhai hadn't served tea for some time; even Fu Kang An always enjoyed nourishing tea soup whenever he visited.
She smelled the aroma of the tea, then placed it back on the table, looking gently at Aunt Li on the bed.
Aunt Li always held a string of sandalwood prayer beads in her hand. Because she had been handling them for a long time, the beads were somewhat uneven.
She wore a pure white cheongsam without any embellishment, and her hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin. Her face was smooth and without oil, perhaps due to years of vegetarianism; even the wrinkles on her face seemed untouched by worldly constraints, unable to conceal the beauty of her youthful days.
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