Chapter 96: Domineering White Moonlight 15 Even when the hair is gray and hanging...
The copper lock on the gate of Kunning Palace had rusted and fallen off. Ali took the lock off with familiarity and took Xie Jingchuan around to the back of the hall.
This was originally a small lotus pond dug by the late queen, with fresh water drawn from the imperial garden. Reeds and calamus were planted by the pond, and a small curved bridge led to the water pavilion in the center of the pond.
However, after the death of the late queen, all the palace maids in Kunning Palace were dismissed and the place was neglected. The reeds by the pond grew wildly, blocking the view of the entire pond.
The two of them stepped forward together, pushed aside the layers of reeds, and discovered a hidden world inside.
It was June, and the lotus leaves in the pond gradually spread out, densely covering the water surface.
The tightly wrapped lotus buds stand proudly from layers of green leaves, with the tips dyed with a touch of bright red, pink or white, like the tip of a goat's hair brush dipped in rouge, pointing straight to the night sky.
This lotus pond did not dry up and wither after the death of its owner. Instead, it became even more wild because no one was managing it.
Xie Jingchuan couldn't help but sigh, "I never thought there would be such a quiet and beautiful place in the palace. Is this the birthday gift that A-li wanted to give me?"
He lowered his eyes to look at her, and said tenderly: "I like it very much."
Ali, however, placed a finger on his lips, uncharacteristically, and said mysteriously, "Shh! Don't say that so early. Come with me."
As she spoke, she pulled Xie Jingchuan up again, stepped onto the curved bridge, and came to the center of the lotus pond.
Without waiting for Xie Jingchuan to speak, Ali anxiously pushed him to sit down, took out whale gauze from his arms and covered his eyes with it.
The scene before his eyes was plunged into complete darkness. Xie Jingchuan panicked for a moment, but he remained motionless and let her do what she wanted. Only his hands on his knees revealed his nervousness at the moment.
Ali smiled, put his hand on his tense hand, and slowly squatted down.
In an instant, Xie Jingchuan's originally anxious heart gradually calmed down.
He held Ali's warm and soft hand, just like a lost traveler who finally found his way.
Neither of them spoke, but they could understand each other's intentions.
The lotus leaves in the pond were rippling in the night wind. The warmth in his hand was released, and Xie Jingchuan subconsciously wanted to follow, but was pushed back onto the stone bench by Ali.
"You are not allowed to take the handkerchief off to peek. You can only take it off when I say you can. Do you understand?"
Xie Jingchuan was stunned, and his thin lips moved: "Okay."
Ali clapped his hands and left the water pavilion with satisfaction.
Xie Jingchuan soon could no longer hear her voice or feel her presence, as if he was the only one left in the world.
Xie Jingchuan pursed his lips. Except when he was with his mother, he rarely felt what it meant to be powerless.
But he had also promised her not to take off the handkerchief without permission.
It felt like hundreds of years had passed before he finally heard Ali's voice again.
"Xie Jingchuan, you can take off your handkerchief now."
Hearing this, he raised his hand and pulled off the handkerchief.
Xie Jingchuan quickly scanned the area around the lotus pond. It was no different from before, except that he couldn't find Ali.
He stood up and was about to step out of the pavilion, but the next moment he stopped abruptly.
There were no lights or candles around Kunning Palace. All the lights in the entire palace were gathered in the direction of Taihe Hall. Even the stars hanging low in the night sky were dim at this moment, as if they were all sucked away.
But that was why, when one or two faint green dots of light timidly floated out from the reeds on the shore, Xie Jingchuan saw them immediately.
Those points of light were like stars that had accidentally fallen into the mortal world, lightly shuttling between the graceful lotus stems. There were more and more of them, drawing fleeting golden lines on the calm water surface.
Thousands of fireflies emerge from under every lotus leaf and every reed, dancing, interweaving, and spinning between the water and the lotus leaves, sometimes converging into a dazzling river of light, and sometimes turning into flying fragments of glass.
Xie Jingchuan gazed at the fireflies flying above the water pavilion. The whole world seemed to be enclosed in a gentle and huge glass cover woven from light and shadow.
Countless points of light cast swaying reflections on the water, and the sky and the earth looked like a crisscross of stars, making it difficult to distinguish what was real and what was an illusion.
Xie Jingchuan stood frozen in place as if he had been cast under a spell.
The flowing light flickered on his handsome face, illuminating the shock and surprise he had never seen in his eyes before.
All words seemed pale and powerless at this moment. Spots of light danced around him, and Xie Jingchuan could only stare blankly, unable to make any sound.
Ah Li came out from nowhere, stepped onto the stone bridge again, came to his side, and asked him: "Do you like it?"
Xie Jingchuan suddenly stepped forward and hugged her tightly in his arms. His eyes were no longer as gentle and steady as usual, but were shining with a hot and scorching light.
Since he was a child, his birthday has always been a major event in the palace, a gorgeous and grand ceremony.
Every time that day came, the banquet was always filled with delicious food, singing and dancing, and countless treasures and antiques were delivered to the East Palace like a stream, but none of them were prepared for him.
Xie Jingchuan, who was held in his father's arms, didn't understand the value of these things. He just kept looking at his mother with a cold face, hoping that she could hug him.
Even if it's only on my birthday.
The adults said that on your birthday, you can ask for a birthday gift from people around you, and no one will refuse, so Xie Jingchuan’s wish has not changed every year.
He wanted his mother's embrace.
But his father would always stop his mischief with a stern voice: "Your mother is weak, don't bother her."
Xie Jingchuan was so scared that he lowered his head, tears of loss and grievance welling up in his eyes, but he bit his lips tightly to prevent them from falling.
He thought, maybe his mother didn't like him very much, and neither did his father, and the person he liked most was his mother.
Who in this world likes him the most?
Not the Empress Dowager, her favorite was Aunt Rongqing who married far away.
It’s not Mo Wen either. His favorite people are his parents and sister outside the palace.
Not to mention those strangers who came to celebrate his birthday with smiles on their faces.
Young Xie Jingchuan often thought about these things in his dreams. When he woke up from crying, he would hug the quilt and curl up in the corner of the bed. Finally, after thinking about it day after day, he realized a fact:
In this world, no one likes him the most, and they don't even have a preference for him.
After that, he never asked for anyone else's birthday gift or made a wish again.
There was only one thing he wanted from the beginning to the end. If it wasn't that one thing, the others would be of no difference to him.
But the girl in his arms took so much time to prepare a birthday gift for him, cherishing him and his feelings.
Xie Jingchuan thought that even when he was old and gray and about to die, he would always remember this moment.
Xie Jingchuan's eyes were red and his Adam's apple rolled violently: "I like it, I like it the most."
Ah Li also hugged him, leaned on his shoulder with peace of mind, and laughed a few times: "That's good."
Xie Jingchuan didn't miss the tiny scratches on her body caused by the reeds. With tears in his eyes, he gently stroked her long hair: "How did you do that?"
Ali made up a story casually, but what he remembered was the day when Madam Tan came to Yinyue Pavilion.
Before Madam Tan said goodbye, Ali took the initiative to learn a spell from her.
This magic can be performed without any demonic power, and is used by big demons to coax children.
It's such a simple technique, but Ali's stupid brain can never use it successfully.
It was as if she was still that useless little monster who had accomplished nothing.
But when he thought of Xie Jingchuan's gloomy face on his birthday over the years, although he didn't say it, Ali had always seen it, so he gritted his teeth and dragged his tired body out of bed.
Every night when it was quiet, she would sneak into Kunning Palace and practice repeatedly in front of the lotus pond.
Because she had to walk through the reeds, Ali's skirt was scratched in several places, but fortunately Lan Xin and Ming Shuang did not suspect anything.
But she practiced so hard for too long, so long that she almost gave up.
After all, Ali never learned any magic when he was a demon.
At that time, she certainly could not have imagined that one day she would be able to learn magic.
What she didn't expect was that the first magic she learned was to make someone happy.
And this person seems to love what she does, as if she has really done something great.
There was a gleam of light in Ali's eyes, and she felt her heart was filled with joy, leaning on him wholeheartedly.
Xie Jingchuan hugged Ali even tighter, and the dreamy scene in front of him became blurred.
His voice was muffled, with an uncontrollable heavy nasal tone and choked sobs: "This is the happiest day in my 19 years of life."
A joy I have never felt before.
I have never felt such heartache.
His mother had her parents killed.
When she knows the truth, will she still hug him so warmly?
Will she take it all back then?
The tighter Xie Jingchuan hugged her, the more sharply the fear of losing her and the huge sense of guilt stung him.
Ali felt the fabric on her shoulders getting wet. She asked softly, uncertainly, "Xie Jingchuan, are you crying?"
Her waist loosened, and under the fluorescent light, she could see Xie Jingchuan's face clearly.
His eyes were red, and his eyes, which were usually gentle or majestic, were now unusually clear after being washed by the water, allowing Ali to see the surging love, unspeakable pain and despair in them at a glance.
Their eyes met in the air, as if there were thousands of words to say, but they were all stuck in their throats.
The next moment, Xie Jingchuan lowered his head and kissed her slightly open lips accurately and almost fiercely.
It wasn't a gentle, tentative kiss.
It is full of the meaning of plunder, confirmation and struggle.
His kiss was filled with a desperate madness that held her tightly in his arms, not allowing her to retreat even a little.
Ali opened his eyes slightly, his heart filled with shock, but when he felt the salty tears between his lips, he softened involuntarily.
She closed her eyes and responded to him awkwardly and gently, trying to comfort him in her own way.
Xie Jingchuan's tears fell even harder, the hot tears kept flowing out from his tightly closed eyelashes, wetting the two of them who were tightly pressed together.
That night, in the deserted palace, under the sky full of fireflies, endless pain and love melted into this trembling kiss.
*
Shou'an Palace.
Aunt Wenying sent the women of the Fu family away and returned to the Empress Dowager's Palace.
"Have they all been sent out?" The Queen Mother rubbed her brows, looking extremely tired.
Aunt Wenying walked behind her and gave her a soothing massage: "Everything has been sent out well, don't worry, Your Majesty."
The Queen Mother closed her eyes and sighed deeply.
Aunt Wenying waited on her quietly. Seeing that she looked better, she asked, "Didn't Her Majesty previously promise the Princess the position of Crown Princess..."
The Queen Mother didn't even blink: "When did I ever promise her?"
"She has no family background, and no manners or appearance. How can she be a match for Jingchuan? I just saw that Jingchuan really liked her, so I agreed to let her be a concubine, so that Jingchuan wouldn't nag me all the time."
Aunt Wenying smiled and said, "So that's how it is. Your Majesty is so kind-hearted and is only thinking about the Crown Prince."
The Queen Mother's frown remained unrelieved. "As long as Jingchuan is willing to accept my kindness, it will be fine. Don't be like his father, doting on those unruly women and making me angry."
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the most sensible person. He certainly wouldn't do that," Wen Ying said, her hands moving gently as she continued, "Then does the Queen Mother have a particular choice for the Crown Princess?"
The Queen Mother did not answer immediately. After Wen Ying helped her onto the bed, she spoke softly, "It would be best if the future Queen's position were occupied by a girl from the Fu family."
Wen Ying nodded in agreement, then paused: "But will the emperor agree?"
The Queen Mother chuckled and spoke lightly about the past.
Back then, the Fu family mobilized the entire clan to ensure that the emperor ascended the throne. However, after the emperor sat firmly on the throne, the Fu family was no longer the same Fu family as before. It looked like a prosperous family, but in fact it was just an empty shell.
When facing his maternal grandparents, the emperor could have taken action without hesitation, but he and the empress dowager were mother and son after all, so he took a step back.
The Queen Mother raised her eyes, reflecting the flickering candlelight at the head of the bed: "The Emperor will agree."
She turned around and suddenly asked about today's birthday party.
Although Wen Ying had not gone in person, she had inquired about it early in the morning and recounted a few key points. After thinking for a moment, she added, "The Emperor went to the Imperial Concubine's Qixia Palace tonight."
"It's like this every day, what's so surprising?" the Queen Mother said calmly.
Seeing Wen Ying seemed to be hesitant to speak, she said, "Go on."
Wen Ying bowed her head respectfully. "I heard from the people over there that when the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine left, the Emperor had a furious look on his face, and the Imperial Concubine looked... like she'd been crying."
The Queen Mother raised an eyebrow: "That's strange."
The emperor and the imperial concubine have never had a quarrel in all these years, and they look like a loving couple.
I wonder what happened tonight that caused such a disrespectful quarrel at the prince's birthday banquet?
*
The night wind gradually became colder, and Ali and Xie Jingchuan returned to the main hall of Kunning Palace together.
Xie Jingchuan pushed open the door, and a stale wind mixed with dust and decay blew in his face. The hall was pitch black and eerily silent.
Ali followed behind him, but accidentally stepped on empty air, lost his balance in an instant, and fell down suddenly.
"A Li!" Xie Jingchuan reacted extremely quickly and grabbed her. The huge force of falling made him stagger, and he hit one knee heavily on the ground before he could barely stabilize his body.
"It was so dangerous!" Ali looked down at his feet with lingering fear, but he could not see anything clearly.
Xie Jingchuan helped her stand firmly: "Wait for me."
After a while, he came over holding a candle and illuminated the ground under the two people's feet.
I saw that the place where Ali had stepped on was actually a bluestone floor tile. Due to years of erosion, many cracks had appeared on the tile. It had just been stepped on and had already broken and collapsed.
Ali pulled Xie Jingchuan a little further away and saw that this floor tile and the three or four tiles around it looked a little different.
She shifted her gaze and discovered a huge carpet with one corner rolled up. She guessed that this carpet was covering these floor tiles.
Xie Jingchuan had already noticed something was wrong here. He squatted down, picked up a few pieces of debris, looked at them, and then knocked on the floor tiles twice with his fingers.
Ali squatted beside him and asked in a low voice: "How is it?"
Xie Jingchuan thought for a moment and looked at her: "It's empty down there."
Ali looked extremely surprised. She lifted up the remaining tiles that were half-covered, and gradually, she could see a bottomless, dark hole.
Xie Jingchuan protected Ali behind him and looked down cautiously. He saw that it was a narrow and steep staircase that was carved out of rough stones. It extended into the depths of darkness with no end in sight.
"Is this... a secret passage? Why is there such a secret passage in the Queen's palace?" Ali's voice was filled with disbelief and shock.
Xie Jingchuan's expression was somewhat solemn. He stood up and said, "I'll take you back first."
"No! How about..." Ali refused to stand up, holding Xie Jingchuan's hand, his eyes sparkling, "Let's go down and take a look together?"
…
The faint and flickering firelight barely dispelled the thick darkness in front of the eyes, reflecting the slippery stone steps under the feet. The air was filled with a strong smell of mold and earth.
Xie Jingchuan went down to the secret passage first, then turned back to pick up Ali and told her, "Follow me closely and be careful."
Ali nodded obediently.
Xie Jingchuan held the candle in one hand and held Ali's hand tightly with the other, and the two walked slowly forward.
The secret passage was suffocatingly long, as if it had no end. Occasionally, one could hear the sound of dripping water coming from afar.
The two walked cautiously, and their nervous breathing and footsteps were infinitely amplified in the enclosed space.
I don’t know how long I walked, but the passage in front of me seemed to become wider, and there were some traces of artificial excavation on the stone wall.
Xie Jingchuan's heartbeat was getting faster and faster. This secret passage was definitely not built in a day. Who could build such a secret passage in the Queen's palace?
Suddenly, Xie Jingchuan, who was walking in front, stopped.
Ali looked over and asked nervously, "What's wrong?"
"It seems... there is no way out." Xie Jingchuan frowned and shone the candle in his hand forward.
A hint of doubt flashed across Ali's eyes. He pushed the stone wall in front of him desperately, but it didn't move at all.
Just as the two were hesitating, the sound of two people talking came from the secret passage which was originally silent.
Xie Jingchuan listened attentively for a while, then looked up above his head.
"Where's the imperial concubine?"
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine has gone to the side hall."
The man who spoke first laughed at himself, "This Qixia Palace belongs to her, but she hid away and left me here."
It was my father and the palace ladies around him.
Hearing these two familiar voices, Xie Jingchuan was stunned. Could it be that this secret passage led to his mother's Qixia Palace?
The sound from above was intermittent and not very clear. Ali took a few steps back and listened attentively.
"...This has been the Imperial Concubine's long-cherished wish for so many years. It's only natural that she finds it hard to let go. Your Majesty, there's no need to be so angry with the Imperial Concubine." Palace People Kang said.
The emperor snorted coldly: "You old thing, why are you still speaking in her favor?"
Palace attendant Kang said with a smile, "The Imperial Concubine is the apple of His Majesty's eye. If the Imperial Concubine is happy, His Majesty will naturally be happy too."
The two men seemed to be walking above the secret passage, and the palace servants in the hall retreated.
The emperor's voice drifted in, carrying with it some memories of the past: "When the imperial concubine was pregnant, the imperial physician diagnosed that she would not be able to carry the baby. If she tried to force the pregnancy, she would probably die, both mother and child."
Xie Jingchuan's breath was held in his throat. He had never known that there was such a story before he was born.
"It is because the Imperial Concubine loves children, and my mother and the ministers have all complained about my exclusive favor towards her. If she can give birth to a prince this time, many problems will be solved. Therefore, I have allowed the Imperial Hospital to do its utmost to help the Imperial Concubine preserve this baby..."
"But now Jingchuan is not close to her. I know she is sad and wants to have another child, but her body is no longer suitable for pregnancy. After all, I am sorry for her..."
Upon hearing this, Ali immediately looked at Xie Jingchuan beside him. His face turned pale, and when he saw her looking at him, a soothing arc appeared at the corner of his lips.
Seeing the emperor he had served since childhood so dejected, Kang Gongren's words sounded a little excited, but he still remembered to lower his voice: "Your Majesty, allow me to dare to say a fair word."
"Back then, the Imperial Concubine's child died the moment it was born. If you hadn't arranged to swap the two babies after birth, I'm afraid the Imperial Concubine wouldn't have survived."
"How could all this be your fault?"
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