The royal northern gardens are mostly built in places with excellent feng shui and unparalleled scenery. Shen Mingzhuang never studied these things. She felt that she was just an ordinary person who only knew about good food, fun, and interesting things. Enjoying the moment was the most important thing.
But now that she's Jiang Wang's woman, she has many concerns in the harem and rarely gets to go out. She immediately becomes like a wild horse that has broken free of its reins, uncontrollable.
The scenery of Beiyuan at the foot of Lushan Mountain is beautiful. Standing on the viewing pavilion in Beiyuan, you can see the distant undulating mountain range, like the flowing skirt of a celestial maiden. Clouds and mist wrap around her graceful waistline. The green mountains in winter have a more hazy and charming appearance, lying quietly between heaven and earth, and there is a kind of leisurely beauty of watching the clouds drift and roll.
Shen Mingzhuang loved the scenery and couldn't help but open his arms to embrace the mountain breeze.
Jiang Wang pulled the person into his arms, his brows furrowing slightly, and said in a cold voice, "Knowing that you are not in good health, you still left your cloak open to the wind. If you get sick, don't even think about letting me take you out again."
Knowing that he cared about her, Shen Mingzhuang felt a warmth in her heart. She reached out and warmed his waist, saying gently, "I know, I just forgot because I was happy. I won't do it again next time."
She chuckled and buried her head in his dark collar, feeling warm all over.
Watching her nestled against his chest like a cat, Jiang Wang felt an unprecedented tenderness in his heart. At the same time, a sense of loss he had never experienced before filled his heart, making him feel suffocated.
The image of his mother's pained face seemed to reappear in his mind. She was the only person he was close to in this world, the only person who truly loved him, and her expression of pain and despair at the moment she left him...
Shen Mingzhuang gradually realized that the arms wrapped around him were tightening, and he also noticed that Jiang Wang's emotions seemed a little strange.
The arm tightened its grip, making it harder and harder for her to breathe, but Jiang Wang didn't seem to have any intention of letting go.
"His Majesty!"
She spoke urgently, her voice hoarse and weak from her rapid breathing. Jiang Wang, however, seemed to be caught in a huge vortex, completely isolated in his own world, as if everything outside was irrelevant to him.
Shen Mingzhuang's heart sank, and he quickly supported Jiang Wang's chest with his hands, calling out Jiang Wang's name repeatedly.
Hearing someone calling him, the voice was just as gentle as in his dream. Jiang Wang suddenly came back to his senses and realized that the little darling in his arms had turned purple from shortness of breath.
He was immediately flustered and quickly let go of her, standing there somewhat at a loss. Shen Mingzhuang regained her ability to breathe freely and took two deep breaths, only then did she feel the tightness in her chest dissipate a bit.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Shen Mingzhuang had never seen Jiang Wang like this before, and she was worried. She knew that the book said Jiang Wang's personality was very strange, and his affection for Shen Mingzhuang was physical, superficial, and intense.
But what she truly felt was his pure affection, whether physical or otherwise; his affection bordered on obsession.
"It's too windy, let's go back."
Jiang Wang glanced at her, then stepped off the viewing pavilion first.
As Shen Mingzhuang watched his retreating figure, it felt as if his heart had been twisted violently, causing him to gasp in pain.
Jiang Wang went back and locked himself in his study. Shen Mingzhuang went to see him, but was unusually refused entry.
Seeing Consort Ming's dejected expression, Tan Yonglin felt a pang of sympathy and stepped forward to offer a soft word of comfort: "His Majesty is not in a good mood right now. Your Highness should go back first. The scenery in the North Garden is quite beautiful. His Majesty has to attend to state affairs, so Your Highness is welcome to go and enjoy it yourself."
Shen Mingzhuang smiled, thanked Tan Yonglin, gave him a few pieces of silver, and then turned to leave.
In the following days, Jiang Wang did not show up. Shen Mingzhuang went to see him a few times, but Tan Yonglin only said that there were too many memorials and His Majesty was busy dealing with matters and was troubled by court affairs.
Now that Tianzhong's most troublesome matter has been resolved, the disaster victims in Huainan have been settled, and the national treasury has plenty of silver for him to use, what else could possibly trouble him?
Jiang Wang suddenly seemed like a different person, a change that made her feel very uncertain. A few days of being alone with him gradually calmed her down.
She had analyzed it carefully and realized that Jiang Wang had suddenly become strange when he was with her. She figured she must have done something to upset him, but he wouldn't even see her, which was tantamount to a cold war. She didn't like this kind of relationship.
But she also has her bottom line. A marriage is about balance, and no one has to always give in to the other. She has already given in a few times, and she won't take the initiative to reconcile again.
In the study, Jiang Wang, dressed in a black brocade robe trimmed with gold cloud patterns, sat on a rosewood dragon-head armchair, staring at the memorial in front of him without moving for two quarters of an hour.
Tan Yonglin had been serving the Emperor for some time and was quite familiar with his habits. Knowing what troubled him, he boldly said, "Your Majesty, the Empress has come several times these past few days. Would Your Majesty like to..."
Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Wang slammed the memorial to the ground.
"Are you all ignoring what I say?"
That eerie voice was chilling to the bone.
Tan Yonglin knelt down with a thud. Jiang Wang took a deep breath, suppressed the inexplicable anger in his heart, stood up, walked quickly to the window, and pushed it open.
A biting wind swept over him, and he realized that it was snowing outside.
Outside the window, the plum blossoms, as clear and translucent as topaz, bloomed in the wind. Jiang Wang couldn't help but close his eyes, but as soon as he closed them, Ming Zhuang's dewy, doe-like eyes and her hair, which exuded the fragrance of plum blossoms, appeared in his mind...
He slammed the window shut and turned back to his desk.
He felt a strange fear in his heart, a fear that made him feel both ashamed and ridiculous. The people he cared about would eventually leave him one by one, just like his mother. The thought of this possibility made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and his whole body was frozen numb.
These past few days, Shen Mingzhuang has simply been eating and drinking as usual, and busying himself with his own affairs.
Leading the maids to fetch snow water from the plum grove, they brewed tea with the snow water and some dried fruit, which was quite a pleasure.
When you have something on your mind, you can't feel happy no matter what.
She stayed outside the palace for three days, and on the fourth day, Jiang Wang ordered the emperor to return to the palace.
Shen Mingzhuang, however, was unwilling to return. "Go and report to Your Majesty. The palace is boring. I would like to stay outside for a few more days. I hope Your Majesty will grant my request."
After hearing this, Jiang Wang remained silent for a moment, then finally nodded, leaving most of the guards behind and returning to the palace himself.
Shen Mingzhuang sat quietly in the room for a long time until he heard that His Majesty's entourage had returned to the palace. Only then did he come back to his senses and suddenly felt a little empty. He sat there with the window open and looked at the plum blossoms for a long time.
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