Chapter 108 Chapter 108
[Chapter 108]
"Your Majesty?" Ruan Jun turned around, looking surprised.
She walked quickly to the front of the emperor and looked in the direction he came from. Behind it was the small door that the palace servants usually entered and exited.
Ying Ning watched the Empress's increasingly quick steps, and became extremely worried. Yan Shiyu grabbed Ruan Yun's waist and tightened his grip:
“I’m not afraid of falling.”
Ruan Yun's bright almond-shaped eyes were illuminated by the palace lights under the corridor. Bright yellow stars fell into her eyes, and the reflection was only of Yan Shiyu.
"Why is the Emperor here now?"
Judging from the time, the banquet in Qingxuan Palace should have ended. Shouldn't the emperor... rest in Fengyi Palace?
"I'm afraid that if I can't come, someone will be disappointed and cry." Yan Shiyu grabbed Ruan Jun's hand and pulled her closer to his arms.
With his eyes lowered, he saw Ruan Yun opening her lips to speak, and his voice became cold, "I don't want to hear anything else tonight."
Ruan Jun bit her lower lip and swallowed all the words. The Emperor had already come today, and who knows, he might have come from the Empress's Fengyi Palace. If the Emperor was really allowed to leave at this time, he might be angry.
Sighing deeply in her heart, Ruan Jun was still wondering whether she should go to Fengyi Palace tomorrow, when she was already led by the emperor on the imperial carriage.
Still wearing the rabbit fur fringe cloak, Ruan Yun lay in the emperor's arms and whispered, "Where are you taking me, Your Majesty?"
As he spoke, one could still smell the faint aroma of wine coming from the emperor, which was intoxicating.
Yan Shiyu placed his big hand on her shoulder and said calmly, "You'll know when you get there."
In this case, Ruan Jun couldn't ask anything.
She was sleepy during pregnancy, so she curled up in the emperor's arms and yawned. Yan Shiyu patted her shoulder gently, as if to comfort her.
When the imperial procession fell, the curtains opened and Ruan Jun came out from inside. However, she could not tell where she was. Instead, Ying Ning on her body took a breath of cool air.
Being led by the emperor, I walked inside. The trees around me gradually became fewer, the moon became brighter and the stars became sparse. A bright moon hung in the sky, casting a soft light that contrasted with the candlelight.
A palace maid holding a lantern led the way, and the snow on the road had already been cleared away.
As the wind blew, the hem of Ruan Yun's lilac-colored clothes intertwined with the emperor's dark black cloak, and the fragrance of flowers and ambergris met in the air.
Ruan Yun turned her head to the side and could only see the emperor's angular jaw and the occasional movement of his larynx.
The further we walked, the clearer the things in front of us became. Ruan Yun couldn't help but speak out:
"Your Majesty, is it Yunling Pavilion that you brought me to?"
Yan Shiyu nodded, agreeing to Ruan Yun's words.
Ruan Jun's grip tightened a little, which Yan Shiyu could clearly feel. He rubbed his fingertips on the back of her hand. The silent movements of the two were different from the severe cold outside.
When they arrived at the gate of the Yunling Pavilion palace, Wei Maoyuan stood on one side first, and the palace servants who followed behind him all understood what he meant.
The candles in the hall had already been lit in advance, and Ruan Jun looked towards the palace in front of her.
This was the place where the emperor personally governed before he ascended the throne. To the emperor, it has a different meaning. Even Meng, the emperor's favorite concubine, seemed to have never set foot here.
There are many books on the antique cabinet in front of me, the wood texture is delicate, and the soft smoky gauze curtains cannot block the moonlight coming in from outside, which shines on the gold, stone and jade floor tiles in the inner hall.
Warm smoke flows from the gilded beast-head incense burner. Wisps of pale white smoke are intertwined with the white moonlight, and the snow falls silently and peacefully.
Yan Shiyu had let go of Ruan Yun's hand, leaving Ruan Yun a little dazed and not knowing what to say.
Back then, the Empress had suggested that she come to Yunling Pavilion to work. At that time, she didn't know why the Empress wanted to do that. But now she understood. For someone like Yingning, even if she was just a small palace maid in Yunling Pavilion, her status would be quite different when she left.
The emperor loves Yunling Pavilion so much that after he ascended the throne, he was occasionally heard to stay in Yunling Pavilion. This place must have a different feeling for the emperor.
Ruan Jun's eyelashes trembled unconsciously. When she closed her eyes and opened them again, the inexplicable surge in her eyes had already dissipated:
"Your Majesty is proficient in both civil and military tactics. Now I finally understand why."
Yan Shiyu followed Ruan Yun's line of sight and saw the wall full of books. He let out a dull laugh from his chest:
"Xiaoxiao, now you dare to tease me."
Ruan Yun quickly stood beside Yan Shiyu. Perhaps she was too hasty, Yan Shiyu frowned and held her arm.
"I am not just talking."
Ruan Yun's eyelashes flickered, and she spoke naturally: "The emperor pacified the north and went to war in person. Who would not praise the emperor after hearing this, let alone those barbaric slaves? When I was a child, I heard the elders in my family talk about the emperor's mighty power."
"The Emperor is now implementing a new policy that emphasizes the performance assessment of officials and supports people from poor families. Those children from aristocratic families who want to rely on their ancestors' legacy to gain status and prestige will not be able to do so. Whether they are civil or military, they will have to rely on their own true abilities. The Emperor is a wise ruler!"
It's not like Yan Shiyu had never heard compliments before, but when all the words came from Ruan Yun's mouth, they had a different meaning.
The love is deep and the feelings are attached.
He suddenly burst into a hearty laugh, which made Ruan Jun feel less sleepy.
She looked at the emperor with innocent almond eyes, little did she know how much her current appearance attracted Yan Shiyu's heart.
The place the emperor said a few days ago that he wanted to take her to was Yunling Pavilion. Setting foot in a place that the emperor never allowed outsiders to enter, Ruan Jun bit her lips and suddenly had a different feeling in her heart.
"It's really my Xiaoxiao."
The nickname came out from the emperor's low voice, and the numbness gradually entered Ruan Yun's ears, bringing an unbearable itching. In the night, she couldn't help but blush her ears. She lowered her head, and her white neck fell into Yan Shiyu's eyes. This whiteness and the deep black eyes merged into one, silently entangled, and could never be separated.
This was her first time visiting Yunling Pavilion. If the emperor hadn’t held her hand, Ruan Yun wouldn’t have known that Yunling Pavilion had such a clever location.
When they reached the back hall and walked up the long stairs, Ruan Jun didn't know how long he had been there. He only knew that when he saw the scenery in front of him, he seemed to be dazzled for a moment.
Yan Shiyu held the white jade ring in his hand, with the whole view of the imperial palace and Shangjing. At that time, he was ordered to supervise the country, but the court was surrounded by tigers and wolves, and the late emperor had also issued an imperial decree. Although only people in the imperial city knew about the child in Concubine Tao's belly, the news eventually leaked out, causing some court officials to be ready to make a move.
Faced with internal and external troubles, he had climbed up the Yunling Pavilion countless times and looked into the distance. What he had in his mind was to recover the north, pacify the southwest, and clean up the court.
He also wanted to be a wise ruler like his ancestors, leaving love and even the love between mother and son behind. However, when he met Ruan Yun, the spring beauty fell into his eyes. He wanted to let go even though he wanted to.
Ruan Yun had a simple expression on her face, she just looked down calmly, her eyes fell on a palace for a moment. If she remembered correctly, this should be Shoukang Palace where the Queen Mother lived.
She didn't expect that she could see so clearly while standing on the high platform in the back hall of Yunling Pavilion.
But before, I had never heard anyone mention that there was such a high platform in Yunling Pavilion. In the palace, even when passing by Yunling Pavilion, I had never seen it.
A hint of complexity flashed across Ruan Yun's face.
She always felt that the relationship between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager was not like that of an ordinary mother and son. That day in the Chaoxi Palace, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager were arguing with each other, seemingly because of her, but in fact, it was due to deep-rooted problems between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, which she had no idea of before.
But after tonight, Ruan Yun could guess that the Emperor's attitude towards the Queen Mother was definitely not what he seemed.
Yunling Pavilion has a different meaning to the emperor.
Before the Emperor became an emperor, he was here, thinking about the achievements of Taizu and the prosperous times he created. However, when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, the melancholy he felt when he was alone must have been related to the Empress Dowager.
Ruan Yun calculated the days silently in her mind. It had only been half a year since the emperor took power in Yunling Pavilion, when the empress dowager went to Mount Putuo and only returned to the palace last year. Thinking about it this way, the emperor climbed to the high platform, wanting to see not only a peaceful and prosperous era, but also Shoukang Palace, which had belonged to the empress dowager long ago.
Looking at the emperor's big hand behind his back, Ruan Yun reached out to touch it, but suddenly changed her mind. She tilted her head, shook the emperor's arm, and said in a coquettish voice:
"Your Majesty, please close your eyes, please?"
Yan Shiyu's face sank, but when he saw Ruan Yun's expectant eyes, he couldn't say no no matter what.
She was the first person who dared to make him close his eyes.
His eyes fell on Ruan Yun's lower abdomen, and his dark eyes slowly closed.
Ruan Yun took the emperor's hand and placed it on her belly. She was five months pregnant and even though she couldn't feel anything yet, this was the only connection between her and the emperor.
However, she didn't expect that the moment the emperor's palm touched her lower abdomen, the baby in her belly, which had been motionless, actually moved.
Ruan Yun felt the emperor's hands stiffen slightly. Even she herself did not expect that the child would move at this time.
Yan Shiyu opened his dark eyes, his larynx moved unconsciously, staring at Ruan Jun's lower abdomen without moving his eyes away.
Ruan Yun bit her lower lip in disbelief and whispered, "He never moved once in my belly. Just now, this was the first time."
I was so excited that I could feel my chest beating particularly violently.
"Your Majesty, can you feel it?"
Before Yan Shiyu could say anything, Ruan Jun put her hand in Yan Shiyu's big palm and threw it into his arms. The two colors mixed together, and Yan Shiyu's eyes suddenly softened. With this action, Ruan Jun's lower abdomen was pressed against his body, which could not be said to be uncherished.
"I have been looking forward to this child for a long time. What about the emperor? Is it the same for him?"
She raised her head and stood on tiptoe to get closer to the emperor's lips.
However, Yan Shiyu held her waist and lowered his head, forcing her to step back to her original position. Their lips and teeth intertwined, their affectionate feelings lingering.
"Your Majesty, this is not the first time you are a father, but this is the first time I am a mother. I just hope that the child in your belly can grow up well. Your Majesty, are you willing to be with me and protect him as he grows up?"
It was rare for Ruan Jun to say such words, which contained deep metaphors. Yan Shiyu looked at Ruan Jun steadily, and he understood.
"Never leave me again."
The hot kiss fell again, and the moment he closed his eyes, large fireworks exploded in the sky.
The afterglow was filled with the colors of the fireworks, brilliant and interwoven, stunning and eye-catching.
Ruan Jun forgot to respond to the emperor for a moment, and felt a slight pain on her lips. She couldn't help but look at the emperor:
"Didn't the Emperor say that the Queen Mother dislikes extravagance, so there will be no fireworks this year?"
Yan Shiyu's dark eyes caught Ruan Jun's attention, and he said with a half-smile:
"I didn't have any, but when I thought of a certain crybaby, pregnant, and unhappy, I felt really depressed."
"I really can't bear it. I think about it day and night."
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