Chapter 137 Chapter 137
[Chapter 137]
The Wen Baolin when he first entered the palace and the one kneeling in front of Ruan Yun now were two completely different people.
Ruan Jun gently picked up the teacup and put it down. She didn't ask anyone to take the box of Wandering Powder from Wen Baolin's hand. "You can get up."
Wen Baolin looked up in disbelief, "Your Highness, don't you believe me?"
Ruan Yun closed her eyes and calmly expressed her concerns, "You are so brave that you even want to give the emperor such medicine. Moreover, you said that the medicine was placed in the palace of Concubine De. This was all said by you yourself. There is no basis or evidence. Why should I believe it?"
If it were in the past, Wen Baolin would have turned around and left without hesitation after hearing Ruan Yun say this.
But now she has been forced into this situation, and Concubine De has obviously seen through her intention. If she doesn't do as Concubine De says, she will never be able to present her green card to the emperor again in her lifetime; if she obeys Concubine De, the fate of Concubine Li will be hers.
Wen Baolin didn't dare to gamble, let alone risk his own life.
She was still kneeling on the ground. Ruan Jun didn't tell her to leave, but her eyes were cold and still fixed on Wen Baolin.
Wen Baolin suppressed the sadness in his eyes and said, "I and Concubine Wen are cousins from the same family. We have been compared to each other since we were young because of our similar age. That year, when the emperor was selecting concubines, Concubine Wen said on the surface that she had no interest in entering the palace, but secretly, she borrowed my uncle's hand to make me lose the selection, and she entered the palace and became the emperor's concubine."
"I couldn't swallow this humiliation. I tried my best to show off in the hunting grounds so that the emperor could see me. But I only received a reward, but I still didn't enter the palace. When the emperor returns and the news of me being in the temporary palace spreads, I will become the laughing stock of the entire Shangjing."
Wen Baolin was not a person who cried easily, but now she knelt in front of Ruan Yun, tears welling up in her eyes, and her pitiful and depressed look was revealed in front of everyone. Wen Baolin said with a choking voice:
"I had no other choice but to use the most despicable means to enter the palace and become the emperor's concubine. I have always been very proud. When I learned that my cousin had ended up like this because of the noble concubine, I had indescribable feelings for you, Your Majesty."
"I am not doing this for anything else, just so that my father can be proud in front of my uncle. A woman's life is not up to her own control, but I just don't want to accept my fate. I can't bear to see that my father and uncle are brothers from the same clan, but my uncle can sit on the position of head of the family because he has a good daughter. So I want to fight for it and want to give it a try. I understand that your majesty may not believe what I said now, but I really didn't lie. As a daughter of the Wen family, for myself, for my father and brothers, and for the prosperity of the family, I am willing to pay any price."
Ruan Yun looked at Wen Baolin with complicated eyes, and when she looked at the square box in Tao Chu's hand again, she said, "If you can stay in the palace of Concubine De until you are distracted, you can naturally stay in my palace. Why did you choose to rely on me instead of Concubine De?"
Wen Baolin felt that the following words were a little hard to understand, but facing Ruan Yun, she wanted to gain Ruan Yun's trust, so she told the truth without missing a word:
"De Fei is very scheming. She takes advantage of the people around her. As long as that person is useless, there will only be one end in the end. But Gui Fei is different. Ji Zhaoyi is on good terms with you, and you will protect her. I can see that if you hadn't intervened, the emperor might not have allowed Ji Zhaoyi to become the mother of the little princess. I don't want to live in pain for the rest of my life."
Ruan Yun slowly rubbed her earrings, which were still wearing the pair of pearl earrings. Her earlobes were a little itchy. When she spoke again, her voice was not as cold as before. "Ji Zhaoyi can become the mother of the little princess only because of Ji Zhaoyi's feelings for the little princess. It has nothing to do with me. You are very smart, but in this palace, people who are too smart are not popular."
Before Ji Zhaoyi could speak, Ruan Yun ordered him to leave. "It's getting late. Wen Baolin should return to the palace as soon as possible."
In the end, Wen Baolin took the 箅心散 out as it was. After leaving the Linxuan Palace, Wen Baolin put on a black cloak and disappeared into the night of the palace.
Ying Ning hurriedly helped Ruan Yun up, but when she glanced at the empress, she saw that her earlobe was already red, and she exclaimed in surprise, "What happened to the empress?"
Ruan Yun hurried to the bronze mirror to look at her earrings. She had just complained about how uncomfortable they were. Now they were red and swollen, and it was itchy and painful, making her feel very uncomfortable.
Yingning and Tingxu carefully helped Ruan Yun remove the earrings and hurriedly went to find the imperial physician.
Ruan Jun's hand couldn't help but touch her earlobe, but was held down by Tingxu, causing Ruan Jun to scold her.
No matter what the queen does today, Tingxu is determined not to let go.
The imperial physician quickly examined Ruan Yun's earrings by candlelight and said, "Don't worry, your majesty. It may be a mosquito bite. It will heal after applying some medicine."
After sending the imperial physician away, Ruan Yun used the bronze mirror to watch Ying Ning apply medicine to her. She was interrupted just now and forgot what she was going to say for a moment.
Tingxu was holding a copper basin beside him and asked in a low voice, "Could it be, in the rockery?"
Today, apart from being in Qingxuan Palace, the only place she went was the rockery, or when she was talking to Wen Baolin in her own palace.
However, Wen Baolin had been kneeling in front of her and could not do any other movements. After thinking about it, it was indeed only the rockery.
"It should be." Ruan Jun's eyes were filled with annoyance, "Why is it still in this position?"
The lobe of her ear was so red that it seemed like blood was dripping out. The emperor loved this part of her ear the most. He would rub it until it turned completely red.
Now the emperor hasn't done anything yet, and she has become like this.
If the emperor saw it, he would definitely ask about it.
Angrily throwing the pearl earrings she was wearing today into the bottom of her makeup box, Ruan Yun gritted her teeth and said, "If the emperor asks, just say that I was accidentally bitten when I went out to sober up. There's no need to say anything else."
Yingning had already applied medicine to Ruan Yun. Her earlobes were still red and swollen, and against her hibiscus face, she looked like a fairy who had fallen into the mortal world.
After bathing, Ruan Yun lay on the bed. However, she was in no hurry to let Ying Ning and Ting Xu leave. She leaned against the pillow with a cashmere blanket covering her body. She even felt that the cakes at hand were tasteless:
"How credible do you think what Wen Baolin said today is?"
Tingxu looked at Yingning first, and seeing that she didn't say anything, she didn't know what she was thinking, so she spoke first: "I think that Wen Baolin is telling the truth."
Ruan Jun smiled and encouraged Ting Xu to continue talking with her eyes.
Tingxu then said with confidence, "Other servants can't say it, but if Wen Baolin can say so many words at once, and pretend to be so aggrieved, and actually tell lies, then Wen Baolin is really a good seedling for singing opera."
The tense atmosphere in the inner hall was resolved by Tingxu's few words. Ruan Jun and Ying Ning looked at each other and couldn't help laughing.
Ying Ning smiled, "I think so. Wen Baolin is very proud and arrogant. She was pursued by countless men in Beijing before she entered the palace. After she entered the palace, the emperor was cold to her. Later, he went to Wen Baolin's palace for a few days, but soon he became cold again. With Wen Baolin's character, she would definitely not be content with this."
"He originally thought he could seek refuge with Consort De, but he didn't expect the incident with Consort Li to happen. Wen Baolin was afraid that he would become like Consort Li, so he looked for another way."
Everything Ying Ning said could explain why Wen Baolin was like this. Ruan Yun played with her black hair and said, "I thought she was tough, but I didn't expect her to be so vulnerable."
However, it was only Defei who used a little trick to remove her green card and said that she was ill and not suitable for serving the emperor, which made her very confused.
But since she had been able to gain the emperor's favor once, she had no need to worry about not being able to see the emperor in the future. She couldn't understand why he was so anxious to find her.
I met too many people tonight and had too many things to think about. The matter with Ji Juebai, which was originally the most important, has become less important now.
Ruan Yun fell into a deep sleep, and inevitably dreamed of what happened five years ago.
…
The next morning
Ruan Yun shook the golden bell beside the bed, and the purpleness under her eyes became more serious. When Ting Xu was putting makeup on her, she couldn't help asking, "What did the queen dream about last night?"
Ruan Yun didn't intend to lie and eavesdrop, so she nodded and said, "Yes."
She paused for a moment before continuing, "I used to have this dream all the time. I used to feel angry and sad, but now I don't feel anything else."
Tingxu's eyes were filled with sadness. Ruan Jun touched her head and coaxed her, saying, "It's okay. I'll tell you later."
After getting up, he was still eating breakfast slowly when the sound coming from the outer hall fell into Ruan Yun's ears.
He looked at the clepsydra in surprise. Wasn't the emperor still attending the morning court? Why did he come here at this time?
She was helped to stand up by the palace maid, but before she could get around the screen, Yan Shiyu strode in.
The cold wind of early autumn wrapped around her body. When the dew and coldness came, Ruan Yun just thought about giving the ceremony, but Yan Shiyu's fingertips touched her ear first.
He deliberately avoided her wound, but the burning heat in his palm was very close to her. Yan Shiyu said calmly, "You have invited the imperial physician, but why didn't you tell me?"
Ruan Jun bit her lower lip, feeling a little shy to show such a close side with the emperor in front of the palace maids. Although the palace maids already knew many things, she could pretend that nothing happened since she couldn't see them.
She reached out and grasped the emperor's sleeve, trying to pull Yan Shiyu's hand down. On normal days, Yan Shiyu would have tolerated her little action, but today, he just stared at her ear.
After a night, the wound on the earring not only did not heal, but became even worse than before. She probably didn't sleep well, which led to this situation.
Ruan Jun couldn't take the emperor's hand, so she lowered her head. Her long black hair half-covered and half-hidden her earlobes, which were as red as ripe ears.
Her charming face was also tinged with shyness. When Ruan Jun raised her eyes, her almond-shaped eyes were both aggrieved and sensible. She had done this expression too many times, and now it would appear directly without any delay:
"I thought that it was already late last night, and the Empress must have gone to bed because she was not feeling well. Moreover, the Emperor had to attend court today, and I was reluctant to come to Xuan Palace in the deep dew just to check on this insignificant injury."
Yan Shiyu stared at her ruby-colored earlobes and asked in a deep voice, "What's going on?"
Ying Ning and Ting Xu knelt down one after another and said, "It's our fault for not serving the Majesty well."
After they finished speaking, Ruan Yun grabbed Yan Shiyu's hand and shook it gently, "It was a mosquito bite. I didn't even notice it myself. Your Majesty, please don't blame them."
Yan Shiyu tapped her forehead with his fingers. Ruan Yun immediately raised her hand to cover her forehead, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling with water as she said shyly, "It hurts."
How much effort she had put in? How could Yan Shiyu not know it in his heart? Looking at her pretending to be like this, he sat on the couch with an expressionless face.
Ruan Jun looked at the emperor with a slightly unhappy expression on her face, and she squeezed her body into the emperor's arms without caring about anything.
Fortunately, the palace maids were already accustomed to their queen's behavior, and Yingning and Tingxu also understood the situation and quickly took the palace maids away.
Ruan Jun and Yan Shiyu were facing each other, with Ruan Jun half sitting on Yan Shiyu's body.
The look of her about to fall made Yan Shiyu's eyes darken. He could only put his big hand on her lower back to prevent her from falling.
Ruan Yun kissed the corner of Yan Shiyu's lips and rubbed her body boldly, "Why did the emperor leave court so early today?"
Yan Shiyu used one hand to push aside the loose hair behind her and saw her earlobes that were bitten by mosquitoes: "Today is a day off."
"Why is it so serious?"
After saying this, the emperor's fiery fingertips touched Ruan Yun's earlobe, which was already extremely itchy, and now felt even more uncomfortable.
She looked up at the emperor cautiously, touched the dragon claw on his sleeve, and muttered, "Maybe I am too popular, even to mosquitoes."
Yan Shiyu rubbed his forehead. His eyebrows were throbbing violently when he heard Ruan Jun's words just now.
"Don't go there again next time."
Yan Shiyu clasped Ruan Yun's waist tightly with his big hand, stopping her from twisting her body desperately, and his tone was serious and warning.
Ruan Yun's eyelashes were blinking violently, but at this moment, her crow-feather-like eyelashes covered the nervous emotion revealed in her almond-shaped eyes.
The fingertips that had been gradually tightening suddenly loosened at some point, and Ruan Jun quickly returned to normal without letting the emperor notice anything unusual.
"I understand." Ruan Yun raised her head tenderly, her eyes filled with brightness and joy, making it difficult to say anything more.
He had heard that the imperial physician was invited to Linxuan Palace last night and rushed over from Fengyi Palace early in the morning. Seeing that she was fine, Yan Shiyu accompanied Ruan Yun for breakfast.
With a beautiful woman in my arms, her red sleeves add fragrance.
He instantly understood why the previous emperor was so dissolute and immoral and only loved beautiful women.
He pinched Ruan Yun's little face and kissed her, biting her lips lightly with his teeth. His remaining eyes inadvertently slid across her earrings that seemed to be dripping with blood. It looked awkward no matter how he looked at it.
Just as his hand was about to touch her, he saw the dazed and stunned face of the woman in his arms, and remembered that she had just said "it hurts" in a coquettish voice. He moved his palm to the back of her head, wanting to rub Ruan Yun thoroughly into his bones and blood.
The light outside was very bright, and her rouge-colored dress fell on the woven carpet, with a piece of the tie still hanging from her neck, dangling as if about to fall off.
A touch of whiteness adorns the deep and understanding eyes, which is slowly pushed in from the hem, revealing a touch of fair skin that makes people love it so much.
Ruan Jun was speechless, her red lips parted silently, like a drowning person, fighting for the last chance to stay alive.
Her soft palm pushed Yan Shiyu's arm, but her action failed to hold the emperor down. Instead, it aroused Yan Shiyu's unreasonable desire to conquer him.
He swiftly pulled her hands to the top of her head, and the bright yellow dragon robe that displayed the royal majesty fell on Ruan Yun's rouge-colored skirt, covering it tightly without revealing even the slightest gap.
"Relax." Yan Shiyu frowned, lowered his head and pressed his lips together, prying open Ruan Yun's teeth.
But the more he did this, the clearer Ruan Jun's mind became. It was still daytime, and even though the curtains were drawn, how could she ignore her embarrassment?
Her ears were filled with the emperor's whispers, rising and falling on her ears. Her eardrops sounded like drops of blood, and she couldn't tell why. She wanted to put her hand on the emperor's lips, but she had no strength to do so. Her body felt soft and numb.
Yan Shiyu lifted Ruan Yun's waist with his big hand, but the back of his hand felt hot.
Ruan Yun's face turned red and she hid in Yan Shiyu's arms and refused to come out.
Yan Shiyu's eyes were wet by her sweaty eyelashes, and a smile emanated from his chest, dull and numb, intoxicating. He whispered into Ruan Yun's ear, and every word he said was heard clearly by Ruan Yun:
"You are really a water girl. You are going to flood my palace."
For the first time, Ruan Jun forced herself to raise her head and kissed the emperor's thin lips, hoping that the emperor would not say anything else. If she heard a few more words, she would probably die of shame on the bed today.
"I'm not feeling well and want to take a bath." Her almond-shaped eyes blinked violently, as if she would shed tears for Yan Shiyu to see at any moment once she closed her eyes.
Although Yan Shiyu had a smile in his eyes, he couldn't bear to torture her any further, so he carried Ruan Yun into the bathing room.
In the room, Yan Shiyu did not bother Ruan Yun anymore, and even served her personally.
The handkerchief fell on her shoulder. Ruan Yun couldn't help but hum, "A little lower, and a little to the right."
Yan Shiyu's dark eyes gradually raised, and he slowly put the handkerchief back. Before Ruan Jun could react, he hugged her and let her sit on his lap.
At this moment, the two of them had nothing on them. Ruan Yun listened to the footsteps of the palace servants outside and suppressed the cry of surprise. Her eyes showed innocence and pity, as well as pleading.
Yan Shiyu lifted the black hair that had escaped from her shoulders and said with a half-smile, "Are you serving me, or am I serving you?"
Ruan Yun lay in the emperor's arms like a boneless person, and couldn't help but hug the emperor's neck and complain: "The emperor said before that there is no difference between you and me, the emperor and his concubine."
Yan Shiyu raised his eyelids, and a smile appeared on his lips. He had not expected her to say this, so he put his black hair down and said, "In this case, I should serve my noble concubine well."
Just when Ruan Jun had no time to react, her lower abdomen instantly tensed up, and her feet stepped on the emperor's shoulders. The sound of palace maids making the bed came from the inner hall. Ruan Jun bit her lower lip tightly. A sudden wind swept the spring water, blowing the petals in the water away, but she never dared to reveal the slightest sound.
It arrived very quickly, in less than a quarter of an hour. Ruan Yun sat limply in the bathtub. She saw the shiny water stains on the corners of the emperor's lips. She buried her face in his shoulders, waiting for the strange feeling in her body to go away.
Yan Shiyu didn't care at all and put his hands on the side of the tub. Seeing Ruan Jun's expression, he could still ask, "It seems that Xiaoxiao doesn't like it. I have to try another way next time."
Ruan Yun rushed over and covered the emperor's lips with her hands. She knelt down beside the emperor with weak legs, "Your Majesty, please stop talking."
He pecked her palm lightly, making her already wet palm even wetter.
Ruan Jun withdrew her hand as if she was burned and buried her whole body in the water.
This was not the first time that the emperor treated her like this, but the first few times, she felt dizzy, uncomfortable and relaxed, unlike just now, when she was very sober!
You can clearly feel the lips and teeth falling and then moving somewhere else.
Once you start thinking about it, you can't stop.
Even when Ruan Yun was carried out of the bathtub by the emperor, she still felt the force had not subsided.
When Yingning helped Ruan Yun to put on her clothes, she saw the mottled red and purple marks on her queen's body. She lowered her head uncomfortably, but her eyes were full of smiles.
Yan Shiyu looked at Ruan Yun again, and Ruan Yun quickly said, "I'm very tired."
Yan Shiyu could hear the grievance in her words. He stroked Ruan Yun's hair and said with a smile, "Go to sleep. I'm reviewing memorials in the outer hall."
Ruan Jun rolled inside without thinking twice, and she was so scared that she felt that if she moved any slower, she would have to make love with the emperor in broad daylight again.
Hearing footsteps behind her, Ruan Jun reached out and touched her earlobe.
It was just because her earlobe was bitten that the emperor looked like he wanted to vent all his anger on the bed.
Ruan Jun didn't quite understand why the emperor was like this, but her earlobe under the stitches was becoming more and more uncomfortable, so she had to let go of her hand and suppress the temptation in her heart.
She had to keep the matter of Ji Juebai a secret.
This world is so unfair to women. After such a thing happened, how could she explain it clearly when she was still the emperor's concubine?
…
Outer Hall
Yan Shiyu looked at the memorial in his hand with a frown. Mao Yuan placed the teacup in front of the emperor with trepidation and said softly, "Your Majesty, you have been reading for an hour. It is time to take a break. Don't hurt your body."
The Yellow River was suffering from severe flooding. Even though the emperor had evaluated new officials, he could not stop greedy people from extorting money and embezzling taxes. Because of this, the emperor had not slept well for several nights. Sometimes he was still reviewing memorials in the middle of the night and had to go to court again an hour later.
Yan Shiyu looked towards the inner hall, and there was no movement inside.
He pinched his brows, which were so tightly knitted that he could hardly relax them. He picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then put it down again. He knocked on the table and said, "Let the Ministers of Works and Revenue come to the palace, and let the young Prince Xuanyu come to the palace as well."
Wei Maoyuan did not dare to delay and turned around to go over. Yan Shiyu suddenly thought of something and said in a low voice, "I remember that this year there was a new Jinshi who wrote an article on flood control on the examination paper, which received a lot of praise?"
Wei Maoyuan knew this very well, and he bowed and said, "Yes, this gentleman's name is Ji Juebai, and he is currently working in the Ministry of Rites. Your Majesty, what do you think?"
Yan Shiyu closed his dark eyes again, "Let him enter the palace as well."
Wei Maoyuan was very busy to handle it. If this gentleman could be appreciated by the emperor and come up with a good idea, his future would be limitless.
Yan Shiyu's eyes darkened as he fell into the inner hall. He stood up and opened the curtains. Seeing Ruan Yun sleeping soundly, he turned the white jade ring in his hand and said, "If the Third Prince wakes up and makes a fuss, send him directly to the Purple Palace. Don't disturb the Imperial Concubine. If the Imperial Concubine asks, tell her that I have something to do and will return to the Purple Palace first."
The palace maid who was waiting on the side responded to the emperor's words. After the emperor strode away, she tidied up the curtains and sent someone to tell Sister Yingning.
…
Purple Palace
All the adults had arrived, except Ji Lubai, who was late.
Young Master Yu stood quietly aside, while Yan Shiyu, who was sitting at the top of the table, had a frown on his face.
When Ji Juebai hurried over, although his clothes and hair crown were still neat, he reeked of alcohol, and even the emperor who was sitting above him could smell it.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me." Ji Jue's forehead was covered with cold sweat. "I didn't mean to do that."
Young Master Yu looked at Ji Juebai coldly and said, "Master Ji was drunk all day long and didn't care at all when he was urgently summoned by the palace. This has angered the emperor. Does Master Ji not want to wear this official robe anymore?"
This made Ji Juebai even more panicked for no reason, but when he thought that Young Master Yu was just a prince and the emperor was still sitting above, Ji Juebai just apologized to the emperor and said, "I know that today is a day off, so I lost my composure for a moment. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Yan Shiyu's eyes became colder and colder. He drank heavily during the day. Ji Lubai had just arrived in the capital, but he had a lot of bad habits.
"Forget it, you get up first."
Retracting his gaze, Yan Shiyu raised his hand and asked Wei Maoyuan to take the memorial down and show it to the officials in turn.
"The Yellow River flood is not going away, and the money the court has allocated is being wasted. I want to hear if you have any good ideas."
Several adults were thinking about what to do. Ji Lubai was still drunk at the moment, so naturally he couldn't say a word.
Unexpectedly, Yan Shiyu singled out Ji Juebai and said, "Master Ji, you go ahead and speak."
Ji Juebai opened his robe and knelt down, saying incoherently: "I am stupid and can't think of a good solution."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
