Chapter 081 Chapter 81
[Chapter 81]
Linxuan Palace
Wei Maoyuan personally escorted Ruan Yun back to the palace, and said with a smile on his face, "Even before we returned to the palace, the Emperor had already instructed the Ministry of Eunuchs to move the Empress to the main hall. Your Majesty, please take a look. Is there anything you don't like?"
Ruan Jun, supported by Yingning, stepped into the main hall. The thin, transparent gauze crabapple embroidery curtain moved in the wind, adorned with pearls and filled with subtle fragrance. Behind the jade screen, the incense burner with a golden foot cup on the sandalwood table slowly emitted a faint fragrance.
A hint of surprise flashed across her almond-shaped eyes. When she was working in the palace of Concubine Du in the past, the main hall where Concubine Du lived was not even 20% as good as the one before her. With a glance, Ying Ning knew that the Empress must be satisfied. She stepped forward and said:
"Thank you for your concern, Eunuch Wei. Please take this silver and have some tea."
After he finished speaking, the people waiting in the Ministry of Eunuchs nearby also received a large bag full of silver.
The two of them took the silver and thanked Ying Chongrong. Ruan Yun waved and let them go.
She felt a lot of discomfort after returning from the palace. Ruan Jun had been sitting on the emperor's carriage for the past few days, and she always felt that even her hair had a bit of the scent of ambergris.
When I told this to Tingxu, Tingxu couldn't help but laugh, "Your Majesty is still unwilling, little does she know how many other concubines envy you!"
Ruan Yun pretended to ask Tingxu, but Tingxu dodged her, "Madam, do you want to take a bath?"
If you look closely, you can still see that Ruan Yun's face is still a bit pale. Although the next day is much better than the previous one, it is not so easy to recover.
Ruan Yun nodded and said with a bitter face: "I have been with the emperor these days, and the emperor always controls me. It's really..."
As she spoke, she glanced outside, fearing that the emperor would come in directly without letting anyone pass.
Although he knew that the emperor had not come, he was still nervous and patted his chest and said, "Forget it, let's take a bath first."
Unable to rest well at night in the manor, Ruan Yun was helped to the bed in her purple pajamas and fell asleep in a short while.
After lowering the light-blocking silk curtain for the queen, Ting Xu said happily, "The emperor is so kind to the queen. There is no other concubine in the harem that the emperor cares so much about."
Ying Ning did not answer Xu's words, but there was some worry in her eyes. She glanced through the curtains and saw that the Queen was sleeping soundly. The Emperor was very fond of the Queen now, but she didn't know if it would remain the same in the future.
Wusheng sighed in his heart. Now he could only take one step and wait and see.
…
Xi Se Court
Wen Baolin stared at the palace servants standing below him, and said with a sneer on his face, "What did you just say? Say it again?"
The palace maids all lowered their heads and looked at each other without saying anything else.
Wen Baolin picked up a wooden stick and hit them. The palace maids who were hit kept sobbing. Wen Baolin was furious and threw the wooden stick at them.
The hand with light pink nail polish pointed at them, "Speak! Tell me what you said when I was not here!"
The maids kowtowed and begged for mercy, crying, "Please forgive me, my lady. We are just confused, and we don't have any other intentions."
Wen Baolin sneered and looked at them crying with their arms folded. Sitting at the top, his fingertips unconsciously dug into his palms.
Tao Chu came in hurriedly. Wen Baolin looked at Tao Chu, and her unhappy expression confirmed Wen Baolin's guess.
"My lord...it is indeed..."
Tao Chu didn't finish her words. Seeing Wen Baolin's increasingly worse complexion, she didn't dare to continue.
Tao Chu knelt down suddenly and spoke up for the young lady, "No matter what, the young lady entered the palace by imperial decree. They are really bullying her. After all, the young lady's father..."
Wen Baolin slammed the table and said, "Shut up!"
The palace servants who were being beaten were shocked. Several of them shrank towards each other, not daring to look at Wen Baolin's expression.
Wen Baolin asked them, "Have you been working in Xise Pavilion before?"
She originally thought that even if the emperor had not come to her place, he would still feel differently about her. However, she did not expect that the group of dogs and slaves in the Ministry of Internal Affairs would dare to let her live in her cousin's former palace. Her cousin committed a serious mistake, and her uncle and aunt did not dare to plead for mercy, so they could only submit a petition to explain their own sins.
But now, the Ministry of Internal Affairs actually let her live in Xise Pavilion, which clearly showed that they didn't care about her affairs, which made her feel extremely disgusted!
She and her cousin would probably not look in a good mood even in the underworld, let alone now.
"Get out!"
With a scolding, everyone in Xise Pavilion did not dare to stay for long and left quickly.
Tao Chu was just interrupted by the young lady, and then she realized that she had said the wrong thing, so she could only say: "Young lady, I didn't mean it."
Wen Baolin said coldly, "You have been serving me since you were young, so you know best what I hate."
Tao Chu cried and said, "My lady, I didn't mean it. I just felt wronged for you."
Wen Baolin's eyes suddenly turned red and swollen, and he murmured, "Even you think that I am wronged, but why does the emperor never think so?"
She looked very sad, and now she couldn't understand why the emperor treated her like this.
Is she not beautiful? Or is she not gentle enough?
Could it be that the emperor didn't see Ying Chongrong's arrogant look when they were at the rockery in the palace? At that time, she was gentle and sensible, and didn't like to make trouble.
Other men are so obsessed with her, but why doesn't the emperor even look at her?
Wen Baolin couldn't figure it out. He looked at Tao Chu who was still kneeling on the ground and bent down to help her up. "I didn't mean to blame you. You came into the palace with me. I hope you understand that you and I are of one mind. Now we are not outside the palace anymore. You must watch your mouth."
Tao Chu wiped away her tears, nodded and said, "Don't worry, my lady, I know I was wrong. I was not careful to make you angry. I will never do that again."
Wen Baolin then smiled, patted Tao Chu's hand and said, "I know you are doing this for my own good."
"Have you prepared the things I asked you to prepare last time?"
Tao Chu heard this and shook her head in embarrassment, saying, "My lady, on my way back to the palace these few days, it was not easy for me to see the master and the young master. I only saw the lady once, but we were separated by the guards. I have not yet passed on the news."
Wen Baolin was originally nervous, but after hearing Tao Chu say this, he unconsciously relaxed a lot, "No... no rush, just hurry up and find the things before the Queen Mother returns to the palace."
Tao Chu accepted the order, and seeing that Wen Baolin was not in a good mood, she asked her softly, "Young lady, please take a rest for a while. You must be very tired after the long journey."
Whenever Wen Baolin thought of Ying Chongrong domineeringly taking the emperor away on the way back to the palace, he would say with a lewd look in his eyes: "Put on makeup for me again, and let's go to Zichen Palace."
Now that Ying Chongrong is not here and she has been sick along the way, the emperor is willing to see her after all.
…
The emperor had just returned to the palace, and there were many things to do in front of him. After Wei Maoyuan sent Ying Chongrong back to Linxuan Palace, he returned to his post without stopping.
Seeing waves of nobles entering the Purple Palace, most of whom walked out with tears on their faces, Wei Maoyuan felt that the emperor's mood today was probably not as good as it was on the road.
While looking at the clepsydra and worrying about what to do with the emperor's dinner today, little Muzi quietly approached Wei Maoyuan and said, "Master, Wen Baolin is here again."
Wei Maoyuan was already very worried, and when he heard this, he became even more worried. He tapped Xiao Muzi on the head and said, "Why didn't you persuade Wen Baolin to go back?"
Little Muzi covered his head and said in a particularly depressed tone: "I said it, but Wen Baolin didn't listen and insisted that I pass it on."
Wen Baolin had fainted outside the palace since he was in the temporary palace, but there had been no other troubles since then. Why was he so depressed now and came to the Purple Palace again? Did he think that without Ying Chongrong, the emperor would look at her more? How could Wen Baolin be so confused and still not understand the emperor's thoughts?
If Wen Baolin could live peacefully in the palace, according to the achievements of Wen Baolin's father in the court, as long as Wen Baolin did not make too big a mistake, he would definitely have a share in the New Year's honors.
But if he completely offended the emperor, wouldn't he not even have such an opportunity? How could Wen Baolin be so foolish?
Seeing that it was almost time for dinner, Wei Maoyuan had no choice but to put on his hat and go outside.
Although Wen Baolin looked unhappy, he was more polite to Wei Maoyuan when he remembered what happened last time. "Eunuch Wei, I am here to bring some food to the emperor."
Wei Maoyuan smiled and said, "My lady, you came at an unfortunate time. The emperor just returned to the palace and has a lot of things to do. He is discussing state affairs with the other adults. I'm afraid that even if my lady's food is delivered, the emperor doesn't know when he can eat it."
Wen Baolin's expression froze for a moment. He glanced into the inner hall imperceptibly and then asked, "Is there anyone else inside?"
Wei Maoyuan said respectfully, "My lord, you are overthinking."
Wen Baolin put his heart back in his stomach. "Since there is none, I will go to the side hall to wait for the emperor. The emperor will have dinner anyway. Even if the emperor doesn't want to have dinner with me, I will put down the food box and leave."
Wei Maoyuan was in a dilemma, "My lady, you cannot enter or leave the side hall without the emperor's order."
Wen Baolin gritted her teeth. Even though things had come to this point, she couldn't even see the emperor.
The emotions that had just been suppressed suddenly increased at this moment. He stepped forward and asked, "When we were in the temporary palace, Ying Chongrong and I went to see the emperor together. Didn't the eunuch not pass on Ying Chongrong's message? Ying Chongrong was able to enter the side hall, but I couldn't."
Wei Maoyuan's expression changed for a moment, and he lowered his head helplessly and said, "My lady, it's not that I won't let you in. The emperor personally issued an edict, allowing Ying Chongrong to wait in the side hall as long as she arrives in front of the emperor without being summoned. My lady, it seems that the emperor didn't give you such an order."
Wen Baolin was so angry that his eyes turned red. "Since that's what the eunuch said, I can only wait here for the emperor to summon me, right?"
Wei Maoyuan said nothing, but he had already made his attitude clear.
Tears welled up in Wen Baolin's eyes. He lifted his skirt and knelt outside the Purple Palace. "In that case, I will kneel here and wait for the emperor to summon me."
Wei Maoyuan sighed, but there was nothing he could do. After looking at Wen Baolin, he had to go back into the inner hall.
The ministers standing below had already been scolded by the emperor and did not dare to raise their heads.
When Wei Maoyuan walked in, Yan Shiyu glanced at him lightly, his black eyes flashing with surprise, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone go out!"
The ministers did not dare to delay, and Wei Maoyuan stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Wen Baolin is kneeling outside the palace and begging to see Your Majesty."
Yan Shiyu's black eyes were suddenly cold as he kept looking at the memorial in his hand. The words on it were clear and distinct.
First he asked, "Has anyone else from the palace been here?"
Wei Maoyuan speculated on the emperor's words and said, "Linxuan Palace...hasn't sent anyone over yet."
Yan Shiyu looked over coldly, and Wei Maoyuan quickly knelt down to apologize, "I am too talkative, I shouldn't talk too much without permission, please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Yan Shiyu's face turned cold. He closed the letter and threw it aside. "Let her in."
Wei Maoyuan was really surprised by the emperor's words, but he could not disobey the emperor's words, so he had to get up quickly and go to the outer hall.
Wen Baolin was seen kneeling outside by all the ministers. She was so embarrassed that she had no choice but to continue kneeling.
"Your Majesty, please let the young lady in."
Wen Baolin seemed a little bit unable to believe what he heard. He stood up happily and walked into the inner hall.
He walked quickly, not caring about the pain in his legs.
Seeing the emperor, Wen Baolin had already calmed himself down and said coquettishly:
"I, your majesty, come to see you."
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