"I've had enough," Nan Yi said softly, unable to bear it any longer. Lan Zhi and Lan Ye had served her for quite some time, and she remembered their kindness.
Unable to bear their worry, Nan Yi pulled them close and gently comforted them, "Don't worry about me. You know what the Emperor is thinking. It's all just a passing breeze. It'll be fine in a couple of days. The Cold Palace? Who am I? I've even been to the Forbidden Garden, and I still got out. Just relax. Show me the way in a bit. You two stay in Chengqian Palace and wait for me to come back."
Nan Yi patted her chest confidently and said that she hadn't told them the truth, and it would have been useless anyway; it would only have made them more worried and wouldn't have brought them any further benefit.
"Is that so?" Lanzhi expressed her doubt. The Emperor was so angry when he left, angrier than ever before.
But the Empress didn't seem worried at all, so it must be true.
Lan Ye was a bit naive. She and her sister had seen the Emperor's favor towards the Empress for ten years without wavering, and she believed what the Empress said: that the Emperor was just temporarily annoyed with the Empress.
"I think so. When has His Majesty ever been angry with the Empress for a long time? I'm afraid that after a few days, he will miss the Empress and bring her back. Besides, His Majesty can't bear to see the Empress suffer in the Cold Palace."
“You’re right, Lan Ye understands the Emperor’s temper best.” Nan Yi patted Lan Ye’s shoulder. “By the way, I put a sandalwood box under the dressing table with some things inside. You two can open it and take a look in three days.”
Lan Zhi and Lan Ye both believed Nan Yi's lies, thinking that their master wouldn't stay in the cold palace for more than a few days, so they casually packed some everyday items.
The two maids even came up with a bad idea, hoping to make the Emperor pity his mistress more. They deliberately didn't let her bring all her belongings: a few clothes, a thin quilt, and not a single item of rouge, powder, hairpins, or jewelry.
He summoned a young eunuch from Chengqian Palace, and Nan Yi ended up living in the Cold Palace.
The room was dilapidated and drafty, with tables and chairs overturned on the floor and thick dust all around. Cobwebs covered the room everywhere. If someone were to enter suddenly, the sound would startle the cockroaches and rats in the corner.
She didn't bother to tidy up; she just put the bedding on the ground, opened the blanket, and casually lay down on it.
Nan Yi rested her hand behind her head, thinking that Zheng Yong should have received the news of her being sent to the Cold Palace. He was the only one left. After saying goodbye to her last friend here, she had no regrets.
Nan Yi was unaware that Zheng Yong was not in Beijing at the time, and she was destined never to say goodbye to him.
Inside a carriage on a road outside Beijing, Yiren and Xiaoshunzi slowly woke up. They noticed that the sun was out of place and the carriage was dimly lit.
Xiao Shunzi rubbed his head, looking bewildered, and asked, "Haven't we arrived in Tongzhou yet? Why is it already dark?"
Yiren was also completely bewildered. Always alert, she reached out and lifted the curtain, then exclaimed in surprise, "Where is this place?"
When Li Yi, who was driving the carriage outside, saw that the two of them had woken up, he pushed open the carriage door with one hand without stopping the carriage and said, "The official road to Jiangnan, as ordered by the Empress."
Yiren immediately raised her eyebrows and said, "Nonsense, why would we go to Jiangnan? Our master would not give such an order."
“That’s the truth. Her Majesty ordered me to escort you two to Jiangnan. She gave me a letter saying that she would show it to you when we arrived in Jiangnan,” Li Yi said.
Yiren and Xiaoshun have always been loyal to Consort Zhen. Even when the consort was demoted to the Forbidden Garden, they followed her without complaint.
Fearing unforeseen circumstances along the way, and that the two would refuse to leave, he decided to trick them into going to Jiangnan and then show them Consort Zhen's handwritten letter.
"Impossible, Li Yi, what exactly are you trying to do? Are you doing something bad behind the Empress's back? Don't forget, you are the Emperor's man, and the Emperor will never allow you to harm the Empress." Xiao Shunzi sternly rebuked Li Yi.
Li Yi smiled wryly and explained, "Of course I know, Xiao Shunzi. We've served the Empress together for many years. Don't you know what kind of person I am? It was indeed the Empress who instructed me in private. Even the Emperor doesn't know about this. I'm risking my life to do this for the Empress. If there's any falsehood, you can go to the Emperor and report me."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Shunzi and Yiren exchanged bewildered glances. They had actually kept it a secret from the Emperor. What was the Emperor planning to do? Going to Jiangnan, a place completely unrelated to them, was highly suspicious.
The two were puzzled. Yiren frowned and asked, "Did the master reveal anything else? It's so unclear. Why would he suddenly send you to Jiangnan? There must be a reason. It's too strange."
Li Yi whipped his horse and said calmly, "I don't know either. She very carefully handed me a box and told us to get to Jiangnan as quickly as possible and then give the box to you. When you see what's inside, you'll know for sure."
Yiren felt there was something wrong with the situation. She grabbed Li Yi's arm and said urgently, "Li Yi, stop! I'm not going. I want to go back. Xiao Shunzi and I have both left. The master is all alone in the palace without anyone useful by his side. I can't do that. I'm not at ease."
Xiao Shunzi nodded repeatedly, "Yes, I won't leave either. How can Her Majesty be without us? Li Yi, for the sake of our years of friendship, please send us back to the palace."
"No way." Li Yi refused outright, and immediately reprimanded, "You don't even listen to Her Majesty's words anymore. Do you know how we left the palace? I stole that token. It's a serious crime for eunuchs and palace maids to leave the palace without permission. Perhaps the Emperor has already ordered people to arrest us. Do you want Her Majesty's arrangements to be ruined?"
Yiren and Xiaoshunzi were speechless. They were worried about their master in the palace, and they didn't understand why their master had suddenly sent them to Jiangnan.
They were unsure of themselves, but they were afraid that if they didn't listen to their master, they would ruin his important plans.
The two felt a sense of unease, but at least they were less resistant.
Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief. Xiao Shunzi was alright, but he was worried about not being able to persuade Yiren. That girl was cunning and shrewd, and he was really afraid that she would cause a scene and go back to the palace.
The three traveled day and night, eager to reach Jiangnan as soon as possible, finish their business for their master, and return to the palace.
However, unbeknownst to Yiren and Xiaoshunzi, they could never go back.
The death of the Imperial Noble Consort caused a scene of grief both inside and outside the palace, at least on the surface. The master of the Forbidden City was so heartbroken that he suspended court for three days.
For three days, Yinzhen neither ate nor drank, and sat listlessly in the main hall of Yikun Palace, where Consort Nian's coffin was placed.
The Fourth Prince, his eyes bloodshot, stared unblinkingly at the coffin. Empress, Consort Qi, Consort Xi, Consort Yu, and others came forward to comfort him, but he ignored them all.
The Eighth Prince knelt before Consort Nian's memorial tablet, his small body trembling with sobs, his eyes red and swollen, tears streaming down his face.
The eldest sister-in-law of the Nian family hugged the Eighth Prince, wiping away tears with her handkerchief. She cried and complained, "Her Majesty has always been kind-hearted, such a good person. Yet some people have to make things difficult for her. Heaven is unfair. A good person is gone just like that."
The Eighth Prince also cried out, "I want my mother, I want my mother, mother, don't die!"
The eldest sister-in-law of the Nian family held the Eighth Prince in her arms and sobbed, "My poor prince, your mother is not coming back. She has been murdered and will never return."
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