Chapter 29 - Daily Life in Xuanwei Palace
Li Siyan didn't say goodbye to me. On the one hand, it was because he was impolite, and on the other hand, it might be because he really didn't want to see me again.
After making sure he was far away, I ran to the edge of Taiye Lake, splashed cold water on my face, tilted my head back, and blinked hard at the moon.
...blink...blink again...finally, there is only a moon left in front of me.
"It's a good habit to carry hangover pills with you..." I muttered, "Hehe, you never thought of that, Dog Emperor."
Li Siyan was stimulated today and did not have time to be suspicious. If he were in a normal state, he would definitely find that there was something wrong with me, a drunkard. Not only were my eyes clear, but my thinking was also organized to a weird degree.
──The reason was simple. I took advantage of him not noticing and secretly took three hangover pills sponsored by Xia Fugui.
Xia Fugui had a terrible alcohol tolerance, but he was very concerned about his reputation and did not want to let other managers know his little secret that he could not drink. So he specially asked the imperial physician if there was any secret recipe that would allow one to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk.
The imperial physician first suggested that he just make a wine jug with a mechanism, but later, unable to bear Xia Fugui's pestering, he gave him the secret recipe for hangover pills.
Thanks to Fuguier, I secretly thought: Otherwise, I would have forgotten how humble Li Siyan was. How regrettable it would be.
I hummed a song, holding a dozen beautiful spring flowers, and skipped towards Xuanwei Palace.
I didn't meet anyone along the way, which I found strange, but then I thought about it and it made sense: Li Siyan was so concerned about his reputation, how could he allow anyone to find out that he came to see me secretly.
When I returned to Xuanwei Palace, I saw Wei Wan'er standing in front of the palace door, gesturing anxiously with her hands, her brows furrowed like small peaks.
"...She's been out for a long time. She said she was going to pick flowers...but she hasn't come back yet."
Qingfu stopped her at the door and shook his head, saying, "No, His Majesty is in a rare mood tonight, enjoying a leisurely boat trip. He has ordered that no one be disturbed. Since Chen Ying is drunk, she must have been stopped by the guards. As for Ruiyin, I don't know where she went. It won't be too late to go to the Shanggong Bureau to pick them up after daybreak."
"But..." Wei Wan'er became anxious and her face turned red.
"Sister Yingzi is back! Cairen, look, she's there!" Xiaodie suddenly shouted, pointing at me with one hand.
Qingfu turned around quickly, and a gleam of light flashed in Lao Zhuo's eyes.
My hair stood on end when he stared at me. It was as if he wanted to throw me into the Taiye Lake to silence me.
To save my life, I immediately relaxed, pretending to be drunk and mentally retarded. I raised my hand unsteadily and pointed at Qingfu, saying, "Hey, isn't this Grandpa Qingfu? When did you have two brothers?"
Qingfu didn't fall for it. He scanned me from head to toe again, clutching his whisk, without saying a word.
I gritted my teeth and hardened my heart, pushed hard with my feet, and threw myself heavily to the ground. I screamed and the flowers in my hand fell all over the floor.
Wei Wan'er gasped and quickly pulled Xiaodie and said, "Go and help her in!"
Xiaodie was also terrified. She ran over and asked anxiously, "Sister Yingzi, what's wrong with you? Can you still stand up?"
I glanced at Qingfu out of the corner of my eye, groaned, and lay down on the ground, lying in a big letter shape.
It was so heavy that Xiaodie couldn't lift it: "Sister Yingzi is drunk and very heavy. I'll find two more people to help lift her."
"No need, I'll help you." A haggard female voice came from behind.
"Ruiyin? Where have you been?" Wei Wan'er asked in surprise.
I couldn't see Ruiyin's face, I only heard her tired reply: "In reply to the talented lady, I went to Penglai Palace and delivered some food to my fellow countrymen. I just happened to come back."
She and Xiaodie pulled me into the hall together. I saw that Qingfu's expression had relaxed a lot, and I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"It looks like Chen Ying is very drunk. Let's not mess with the flowers and plants tonight." Qingfu said calmly, "I've been in the palace for many years, but I've never seen anyone as restless as her. We'll have to work harder to keep her under control and prevent her from running wild."
After being scolded by the chief steward for no reason, Wei Wan'er lowered her head in dismay and said, "I'm sorry for causing trouble for Chief Steward Yang. It's my fault."
Qingfu exchanged a few polite words with her, pretended to stand guard at the door for a while, and after an incense stick of time, he led his people away swiftly.
I confirmed that Qingfu was really gone, then did a standard sit-up on the ground, wiping the sweat off my face and saying, "Oh my god, I was scared to death. Grandpa Qingfu's eyes are really scary."
Xiaodie brought the wine soup and said, "There's still some left for the talented person. It's a bargain for you."
How could I dare drink the hangover soup? If Qingfu Li Siyan knew about it, he would definitely kill me on the spot. I quickly refused, "I don't want it. Just let me have a hangover."
Xiaodie scolded me for being ungrateful while carrying the hangover soup back to the tea room.
Ruiyin hasn't spoken to me since she came in. She leaned to one side with her eyebrows lowered, and her eyelashes cast a blue-black shadow under her eyes.
There was a noise at the door. It turned out that Wei Wan'er had sent Qingfu away and was rubbing her temples as she returned to the hall.
She took off her coat and elegantly sat cross-legged on a cushion beside me, mumbling to me, "You walked so fast I couldn't stop you. I thought you'd be back soon, but I waited for half an hour and still hadn't seen you. I was about to go out to look for you, but Chief Steward Yang stopped me, saying that His Majesty was going boating on the lake tonight. I found it so strange. Why would His Majesty go boating on such a cold day?"
She paused, and suddenly became sad: "He probably just doesn't want to see me. He's afraid that I'll disturb his and others' fun..."
I smiled guiltily. Women's intuition is still very accurate. She guessed it almost right.
She asked me, "Why were you out for so long? Could it be that, as Chief Steward Yang said, you were stopped by His Majesty's guards?"
"Oh, don't mention it." I slapped my thigh and subconsciously wanted to tell her the story of Li Siyan's late-night mental outburst as a joke, but when the words came to my lips, I found it difficult to say them.
She said that on Li Siyan's birthday, he called out another girl's name while drunk. At that time, I didn't know how Li Siyan felt about me. I just felt that it was a bit strange that she called me, whom she had only known for a few days, to have a long talk and asked me a lot of irrelevant questions. Now that I think about it, she should have known Li Siyan's secret that day.
I scratched my hair in annoyance. Li Siyan can choose anyone he likes, so why did he pick on me? He is making me embarrassed, okay?
Wei Wan'er asked suspiciously, "You didn't bump into His Majesty, did you?"
I was silent for a moment, then burst into laughter. "How could that be? I got lost and couldn't find the peach blossom forest. I wandered around the corridor for a long time before I could get out. It took me quite some time."
She nodded and said, "It's easy to get dizzy after drinking. Don't do that next time. It makes me worry."
I said to her, "I wanted to teach you flower arrangement, but I'm really drunk today and I'm afraid I'll let the beautiful flowers down."
Wei Wan'er said, "What's the point of talking about flower arranging? Go and rest first. You don't have to get up early to serve me tomorrow. Getting enough sleep is the most important thing."
I hugged her gratefully. Actually, I have always been lucky in the inner courtyard. I can meet people who are nice to me wherever I go, such as Xia Fugui, Qingfu, Wei Wan'er... If I can really leave the palace, I must always remember them.
I went back and had a long and beautiful sleep. The next day I woke up, looked at the top of the tent, and asked myself: Do you still remember?
"Of course." I excitedly punched myself in the small bronze mirror: "You are free!"
After quickly finishing my breakfast, I went to work at Wei Wan'er's place, found some scissors and bottles, and played with her in flower arranging. Wei Wan'er was not interested at first due to the influence of a broken heart, but later she gradually became interested. She was very talented in flower arranging. After making her first beautiful flower ball, she soon became addicted to it. She asked Xiaodie and Ruiyin to go out and get her some more flowers. She wanted to make a great one and send it to the Zichen Palace.
Ruiyin was not in a good mood today. She only worked for half a day and then asked for leave to go back. It was rare that her competitors were not there, so Xiaodie was very excited and tried her best to show off in front of Wei Wan'er. She found a large bunch of flowers of various colors. I was stunned to see such a large quantity and high quality of flowers in front of me. I almost suspected that she was going to pluck out all the flowering trees in the inner garden.
Out of concern for the ecosystem, I taught her to practice sustainable development, but Xiaodie herself felt no guilt at all: "Well, they have to be pruned in the fall anyway, so what's wrong with breaking off a few branches in advance?"
Wei Wan'er agreed: "Yes, whether I pick them or not, they will die after this season. I might as well take action first, which can be considered as giving them a home."
Me: …Okay, you’re pretty and you’re right.
Xiaodie also said casually, "It wasn't easy for me to find these. I don't know what happened, but many of the peach trees in the woods beside Taiye Lake were cut down by His Majesty's order. When I went there, the ground was covered with chopped branches. It's really a waste of natural resources..."
I sighed, the dog emperor needs to change his bad habit of smashing things.
The master and servant waved their scissors and worked enthusiastically. They were so happy. After all, she was a young girl. Although she was heartbroken and sad, once she found a new interest or hobby, she would quickly put her troubles behind her.
Xiaodie took over my job as an assistant, and I had nothing to do, so I leaned against the small desk and wrote and drew something for fun.
My heart has not been at peace since last night. It has grown little wings and is flying towards home. I miss my aunt and cousin whom I haven't seen for two years like crazy, I miss my friends, Shangguan Lan, my little girl Shushu, my brother Meng, and even the fat white dog raised by Aunt Wang at the end of the lane.
I don't know if Li Siyan will allow me to return to the History Museum and continue to work as an editor. If he doesn't allow it, then I have to find other ways to make money. Writing legends is a good idea...
While I was imagining the wonderful life in the future, I happily painted a small portrait of Wei Wan'er. In the painting, she was holding peach blossoms, with a happy face. Xiaodie was beside her and offering her scissors. Out of friendship, I beautified Xiaodie's face. I felt that I had great potential in court art. If I couldn't make it in the future, it would be nice to open a stall to paint portraits for people.
After finishing the painting, he put it aside, and it happened to overlap with the image of Li Siyan's back that he had demonstrated to Wei Wan'er before.
We spent a pleasant day arranging flowers and painting. Later that evening, we gathered for dinner and were chatting about the new Queen, Wen Baibi, when a little palace maid suddenly ran out from the doorway and reported in a fussy voice, "Talented Lady, Madam Shen, the Emperor has arrived and is at the first courtyard gate."
My chopsticks clattered onto the small table, and I didn't even bother to finish my meal. I stood up and ran, saying to Wei Wan'er as I ran, "Your Majesty is here, so I have to leave. I'm sorry, talented lady, but I'll take my leave now!"
Before Wei Wan'er could react, I had already slipped out the back door nimbly and headed straight for my little dark room.
As soon as the door was closed, there was a sound of light footsteps outside, and Li Siyan entered the inner hall.
Wei Wan'er greeted him hurriedly. The food seemed to have not been cleared away yet, and the air was filled with the pleasant aroma of fish.
The footsteps outside gradually faded away, and Li Siyan's indifferent voice came over intermittently: "I have been busy with government affairs these days and have not had time to visit you. How have you been?"
Wei Wan'er fell silent and did not answer for a long time.
There was another rustling sound, and the aroma approached from afar. I peeked out through the crack in the door and saw Xiaodie nimbly carry the dishes away and close the door to the inner hall. The moment the door closed, I saw Li Siyan gently pick up a few pieces of drawing paper on the desk and asked, "...Did you draw this?"
With Xiaodie's deft pull, the door of the inner hall closed gently. I couldn't hear Wei Wan'er's answer, I only saw a tear rolling down her cheek.
──Like a small, shining stone, it can be seen clearly even from such a long distance.
Even if Li Siyan is blind, he should be able to see that it was drawn by me.
He could clearly see that it was my work, but he insisted on finding Wei Wan'er to confirm an answer. Why did he do that?
I would rather Wei Wan'er tie Li Siyan and me together and beat us up than see her cry silently and aggrieved. I can never bear to see a good girl cry, but I have no choice. I have the ability to make her happy, but I don't have the ability to solve her troubles fundamentally... Thinking of this, I also feel a little aggrieved - why did Li Siyan cheat on her for no reason, but I am the one who feels guilty?
After sitting on pins and needles in the room for nearly an hour, I sighed and went back to the small table. I spread out a new piece of paper, intending to write something to relieve the depression in my heart. I used to despise those clichés about talented men and beautiful women, but now I just want to write the most vulgar story: a talented man met a lady from a clan who came to burn incense in a Buddhist temple. The two of them were healthy and got married smoothly, and grew old together.
What a boring story, but why is it always this kind of story that is most popular? Isn’t it because most of the things in reality are not satisfactory, so people can only find a little pitiful happiness in the fictional world.
Li Siyan stayed in the inner room for most of the night. I was so absorbed in writing that I drifted off to sleep. Suddenly, I heard a flurry of footsteps outside the door. Seeing that it was already late at night and only a dim light was on in Wei Wan'er's inner room, I figured they must have gone to bed. So I cautiously left the room and looked around. At the inner hall door, I saw Xiaodie, her back to her, standing with her back to her. I walked over, patted her shoulder, and asked, "What are you all busy with?"
Xiaodie made a hoarse sound from her throat. She turned her head and covered her mouth tightly with her hands, looking excited, as if trying to prevent herself from screaming.
I was startled and asked, "What's wrong with you? Are you possessed by evil spirits?"
Xiaodie shook her head and said in a voice as if she was crying with great excitement, "No, it's a great joyous event. His Majesty just said that he would give us the title of Consort. The title of Consort!"
So, on a dark and windy night, our Concubine Wei's title jumped up three levels like a convulsed rabbit and became Concubine Wei.
I summarize this phenomenon as: unsuccessful in love, successful in career.
The entire Xuanwei Hall was decorated with lights and was filled with joy and excitement, as lively as a festival. The few remaining concubines in the harem all came and offered congratulations one after another. Wang Funiang also came, said a few perfunctory words with a forced smile, put down the gift and turned away.
She was unhappy, but His Highness Xuanwei was extremely happy. In Xiaodie's words: When I pass by Qingsi Palace, I can't wait to perform the Colorful Feather Dance.
What I admire most about the people in the palace is that they can always implement the four words "a dog relying on the power of others" to the fullest extent.
Wei Wan'er was much calmer about the matter of appointing a concubine than the other palace maids. Although she had little girl-like fantasies about the emperor, she was not naive enough to think that Li Siyan gave her the title of concubine because he liked her. They were all girls from noble families, and even the most dull-witted would understand that the emperor was probably trying to balance the power in the harem. He mentioned her first, and then mentioned others after the queen entered the palace. In short, he must not let one person dominate the harem.
The mind of an emperor is all about balance, everyone understands that.
So for the next month, the palace was calm and nothing happened.
The date for the Queen's coronation ceremony was set for May 20th, and it was quietly approaching us in the calm.
One day later, Wei Wan'er took the initiative to mention to me that Li Siyan had asked about my painting. She said that she honestly answered that it was done by Madam Shen. Then Li Siyan nodded, kept the paintings of Xiaodie and Wei Wan'er that I had drawn, and tore up the painting of his back into pieces and threw it into the charcoal fire.
"You also left behind a book, a pen, and two pages of poetry, which he also threw into the charcoal fire. He stared at the fire, staring at it, until your things were burned to ashes."
"His expression at that time was quite terrifying," Wei Wan'er said softly, "very calm, but even scarier than when he was angry."
I think this is normal. This is what Li Siyan would do. He has done so many perverted things, such as cutting off the ears of ministers, chopping off the heads of civil servants in court, and forcibly kissing the unlucky attendant...
I consoled Wei Wan'er, saying, "He's just like that, but now that he's the emperor, he's learned to save face. With such a large group of censors following him, he won't do anything particularly shocking."
After I finished speaking, I felt a little guilty: Having said that, Li Siyan has never paid any attention to his censors. If he really wants to do something outrageous... even if his own mother comes back to life to persuade him to stop, it will probably be of no use.
Thinking of this, I shuddered and felt an inexplicable sense of crisis. I just wanted to escape from the inner courtyard as soon as possible and avoid the dog emperor, but I must not accidentally fall into his hands.
Wei Wan'er, who was comforted by me, sighed: "Your Majesty has a tragic life experience and a somewhat extreme temperament, which is not difficult to understand."
I shrugged, shaking my head, saying, "There are many people in this world who have suffered far more than he has, yet they still maintain a pure heart and live upright lives. His suffering was not caused by us, but taking out your anger on unarmed civil servants and women is cowardice."
Wei Wan'er could only sigh and say, "That being said, how easy is it to actually do it?"
"Let's not talk about this anymore," Wei Wan'er smiled and unfolded her new court dress. "Do you think this looks good?"
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