Hearing footsteps outside the carriage, Yan Ning, supported by Ju Xiang, stepped down. He Shen, dressed in magnificent robes, stood to the side of the carriage. He reached out to help Yan Ning, but stopped halfway, his crescent-shaped eyes filled with a deep smile. "Lady Fucha, how have you been?"
After alighting from the carriage, Yan Ning gave him a slight curtsy. Since Heshen's current rank was equal to Fukang'an's, it was only natural for her, as a woman, to bow in respect. "Lord Heshen is now a Hanlin Academician in charge of the future of all scholars. Delin and Dexuan will both rely on your patronage in the future!"
She smiled faintly, but her heart was filled with worry. Heshen's good days wouldn't last long either. He had thought of telling him about the confiscation of his property, but now that she held a high position and enjoyed the emperor's exclusive favor, would he still believe her? Even if he did believe her, he probably couldn't change his fate and would only live every day in a struggle against destiny.
Heshen's expression did not soften despite Yan Ning's flattery. He coldly replied, "Do you really think I'm going against Fukang'an? I'm doing this for you and Dexuan!"
These words sparked many thoughts among those around her. Yan Ning quickened her pace, walking along the palace wall. After the patrolling guards passed, He Shen, who was following behind her, sighed softly, "If De Lin is expelled from the Xian'an Palace Academy, then the title of General Fucha will undoubtedly belong to De Xuan in the future!"
She turned around and said sternly to Heshen, "Dexuan has her own father and mother to worry about, no need for Lord Heshen to trouble himself!"
Heshen's expression changed, and he was somewhat annoyed. Over the years, he had done a lot, both openly and secretly, to make up for Jiwen's decision to send her back to the Fucha Mansion despite her and her child's lives that day. But Yan Ning had never given him a second glance, and had never even given him a chance to have a proper conversation.
Yan Ning saw Heshen's dark blue official robes hidden beneath the vermilion city walls, blending seamlessly with the palace's noble aura. The patrolling guards all bowed to him. Even his back straightened considerably, and his face, once somewhat feminine, now held a touch of fierceness.
Their first meeting felt like yesterday. Back then, Heshen was always respectful to everyone, afraid of being impolite in the slightest. Now, he looked down on everyone except the Emperor. A few words from him to the Emperor could incite a literary inquisition implicating hundreds; civil officials feared him, and military officials dreaded him. The two military generals who disregarded him were often away on campaigns. In the court, Heshen's faction completely overshadowed Yongyan and Yongxing's factions.
The difference is that Heshen's cronies were greedy for money; for them, power was nothing more than a means to accumulate wealth.
As the sun rose high, the area around the palace walls was deserted except for patrolling guards; the emptiness was imbued with a solemnity baked by the blazing sun. Standing beneath the palace walls, Yan Ning could see the towering glazed tiles of the Fucha mansion's roof. The closer a mansion was to the palace, the more prestigious the official's status. Now, standing beneath these palace and mansion walls, she had a unique understanding of power. She had considered De Xuan's future, but she didn't want her son to end up like Fukang'an, spending his days either fighting on the battlefield or navigating the treacherous waters of court.
Heshen's intention was clearly for her and Dexuan's benefit, but Delin was just a twelve or thirteen-year-old child, whom she had raised herself. How could she exchange his future for Dexuan's?
Yan Ning stopped in her tracks, glancing back at the carriage already hidden in the blazing sunlight. She turned to Heshen, who was walking beside her, and said, "Lord Heshen, there's no need to waste your efforts on us, mother and son! Delin is also my child, and his future is something I worry about!"
Heshen's lips curled into a smirk. "Do you really think you can take his place as his birth mother? Do you think your life will be any better after he inherits the title? Isn't Fu Chang'an and his mother the precedent? Brotherly affection is one thing, but with Dexuan's personality, how could he possibly be subordinate to Delin! You are no longer alone, so you can continue to be passive and accommodating. If you don't fight for yourself, do you expect Dexuan and Yunwan to be inferior to others?"
The last vestiges of summer's heat emanated from the vermilion palace walls, perhaps unable to penetrate their coldness, thus dissipating onto their surface. Yan Ning walked along the inner side, the oppressive heat enveloping her, making it impossible for her to ponder Heshen's words.
She leaned against the wall, trying to walk back, but Heshen stopped her in her tracks with a single sentence. "I have investigated Miss Yue's matter thoroughly!"
Between Yinmoge, the largest restaurant in the capital, and Wanxiangge, the most extravagant brothel, lies a street. It is midday, and the street is bustling with people, with various hawking cries filling the air.
Heshen and Yan Ning sat by the window, where the flowing ribbons of the Wanxiang Pavilion occasionally released a whiff of perfume and warmth that wafted into Yan Ning's nostrils. Seeing her gazing absently at the Wanxiang Pavilion, Heshen teased, "If you were a man, we could be sitting inside drinking right now!"
Yan Ning, however, was not pleased by Heshen's lighthearted tone. She looked at Heshen with worry, unsure whether she should reveal that Yongxing was the master behind Wanxiang Pavilion. Fukang'an kept this matter hidden for the sake of his elder sister, wanting Yongxing to have time to transfer Wanxiang Pavilion to someone else.
Heshen assumed she was eager to know about Miss Yue, so he spoke up before she could ask.
After the passing of the Holy Ancestor, Lady Yue, being neither a concubine nor having a son, was dismissed from the palace. Later, she was brought back to the palace by the late Emperor and given the title of Noble Lady. The late Emperor, pitying her childlessness and fearing she would be left alone after his death, wanted to adopt the current Emperor into her family. However, the Empress Dowager would not allow her son to address another woman as "Mother." Perhaps by chance, at a palace banquet on the eve of the imperial decree, the Noble Lady emitted an unusual light. The Empress Dowager used this as a pretext to dissuade the late Emperor, and the Noble Lady disappeared without a trace. On that day, the Noble Lady sat next to the Empress Dowager, and a nearby palace servant said the unusual light emanating from her body was from the Empress Dowager. Because of the precedent of the Noble Lady's unusual light, the servant accepted it. The late Emperor had personally witnessed the Noble Lady emitting an unusual light, so he did not believe the light was from the Empress Dowager.
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