Chapter 53
My head feels so heavy, so heavy, and my body feels light and heavy the next moment, as if it is about to sink to the bottom of the water...
Zhao Fanghua struggled to open her heavy eyelids, and dimly saw the light reflected from the crystal bead curtain, shining in through the gauze curtain.
She seemed to have had a long and confusing dream. The bumpy carriage, the screams of the maids and servants, the bitter liquid that went down her throat... and finally stopped at the cup of poisoned wine that Zhao Qinglan personally handed her.
Ah...is she dead, or is she alive again?
She opened her mouth, but her throat was so dry that only a hoarse sound came out.
Soon, a little girl heard the sound and lifted the gauze curtain. Seeing her open her eyes, her face instantly blossomed with surprise: "Seventh Miss is awake! Seventh Miss is awake!"
She repeated it excitedly, then turned and rushed out to report the news.
Miss Seven? Are you calling her?
Zhao Fanghua struggled to sit up, but her limbs felt sore and weak, as if her bones and muscles had been pulled out. Another maid who had been guarding the bed hurried forward and carefully helped her sit down on the soft pillow.
She looked around. The room was elegantly furnished with a rosewood carved dressing table and an exquisitely embroidered screen. Although it was not as luxurious as the Princess's Mansion, it exuded the atmosphere of a carefully maintained boudoir and was warm and comfortable.
Zhao Fanghua rubbed her swollen and painful temples and asked the girl who helped her up with a puzzled look in her eyes, "Seventh Miss? What Seventh Miss?"
The girl was about twelve or thirteen years old, with a childish look on her round face. When she saw the question, she answered seriously and seriously, "Miss, you are the seventh, so of course you are Miss Seven!"
"That's not what I meant!" Zhao Fanghua waved his hand and asked a more direct question, "Who am I? Who is my father?"
The little girl blinked and answered fluently, "The young lady's maiden name is Dong Ling. She is the second daughter of the Third Master Zhang Yiru and the seventh child in the family."
Zhang Dongling? Zhang Yiru? Zhao Fanghua was completely stunned.
Could it be that... I didn't die, but instead traveled through time again and became another person?
She looked around the unfamiliar room in disbelief, then carefully looked at the innocent little girl in front of her. After hesitating for a moment, she tentatively said with a last glimmer of hope, "You... go and give me a mirror."
The little girl replied "yes", walked quickly to the dressing table, took out a small and exquisite diamond-shaped mirror from the makeup box, and held it in front of her with both hands.
Zhao Fanghua took the mirror, took a deep breath, and slowly raised it in front of him——
The face reflected in the mirror was clearly Zhao Fanghua's! Her eyebrows and eyes were still the same, even the slightly faded scar on her forehead was still there!
A surge of inexplicable anger suddenly came up!
Zhao Qinglan! That bastard! He actually made a fool of her!
All this big fuss, and the result is just to change her identity?!
"You bastard!" She almost squeezed out these three words from between her teeth.
The little girl was startled by her sudden anger and asked timidly, "Seventh Miss, do you have any other instructions?"
Zhao Fanghua was so angry that she almost laughed. Even at this time, he still kept calling her Miss Seventh.
She pointed at her nose and asked with a forced smile, "You keep calling me Miss Seven. Why? Are you familiar with me? Have you served me before?"
The little girl had never seen such a scene before and was frightened. Her eyes turned red and she sobbed, "I...I don't know. I only know that you, Miss Seventh Miss, have been recuperating in your old home in Jiangnan since you were a child, and were only recently brought back to Beijing to prepare for your wedding. I was assigned to serve you after you returned home. I really don't know what happened before."
Marriage?! Zhao Fanghua instantly grasped this key word. Marriage? Who was she going to marry?
Just as she was about to ask, she heard steady footsteps outside the door. She looked up, her lips twitching. It was Zhang Huaiyuan, the elder Zhang! She had met him several times a year ago when she went to pay her respects to Zhao Qinglan.
Zhang Huaiyuan waved his hand, and the little girl, as if pardoned, quickly bowed and retreated, gently closing the door.
There were only two people left in the room. Zhao Fanghua was silent for a moment, too lazy to beat around the bush, and went straight to the point: "Where's Zhao Qinglan?"
Zhang Huaiyuan frowned slightly when he heard her address the emperor by his given name, but he did not rebuke her. He simply stated calmly, "The young lady is now the granddaughter of this old minister, the daughter of my third son Yiru, Zhang Dongling."
Zhao Fanghua sneered and looked at him sharply: "Zhang Huaiyuan, you really don't know me? Don't you know who I am?"
This time, it was Zhang Huaiyuan who fell silent.
The study was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
After a long moment, the old minister sighed, his voice filled with helplessness and solemnity: "The Emperor...has his own deep thoughts and plans."
Zhao Fanghua's absurd guess was almost confirmed. She asked with certainty, "So, who am I marrying?"
Zhang Huaiyuan lowered his head slightly, his hands tucked into his sleeves, his expression complicated. "The Zhang family has been blessed by Heaven, having served the court for a hundred years, and finally has a queen. Our eldest daughter, Zhang Dongling, has been appointed to marry Your Majesty on the first day of September."
Zhao Fanghua closed his eyes, and a feeling of powerlessness swept over his body.
Zhao Qinglan... He had put so much effort into setting up such a big scheme, even willing to let her "die" once. So this was his ultimate goal?
"Tell him to come see me." She threw down these words and lay back down.
Zhang Huaiyuan looked at her like this, and finally just sighed again, and whispered: "My Lord, rest well, young lady."
Then, there was the sound of footsteps fading away and the door closing gently.
Zhao Fanghua lay alone on the soft bed, looking at the exquisite embroidery on the ceiling, feeling mixed emotions.
After dodging and hiding for a long time, I finally... came to this point.
Zhao Fanghua never saw Zhao Qinglan again. Zhang Huaiyuan sent a message saying that the wedding was approaching and according to etiquette, the newlyweds should not see each other before the wedding.
But she has never been one to accept her fate.
If she accepted her fate, she should be a good wife and mother to Shen Xiujin in the Princess's Mansion at this moment instead of sneaking to the base of the wall in the backyard of Zhang's Mansion in the middle of the night with her skirt lifted up, eager to take action against the high wall.
As the first day of October was getting closer, red silk was hung up throughout the Zhang family's residence, creating an atmosphere of joy.
Zhao Fanghua was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. If he didn't run away, it would be too late!
That night, she figured the two maids were fast asleep, so she snuck out of the boudoir. Fortunately, the Zhang family prided themselves on being a noble and affluent family, shunning luxury. The young ladies were only attended to by two maids and a wet nurse. Since she, the "Seventh Young Lady," had just returned home, the lack of a wet nurse made her movements much easier.
She swept all the jewelry that she liked on the dressing table into her sleeve pocket, filling it up.
After many twists and turns, Zhao Fanghua finally found the secluded wall base that he had chosen in advance.
She was looking up to figure out how to climb up when she suddenly heard a very slight sound coming from above her head.
When I looked up, I saw a figure nimbly climbing over the wall. In the moonlight, the man was wearing a moon-white robe, his black hair was tied up with a white jade crown decorated with emerald, and he wore a silver mask on his face, which emitted a cold light.
Zhao Fanghua was startled at first, but when he saw the figure and mask clearly, his eyes lit up instantly!
"Little mute!"
It really is like someone handed her a pillow just when she was sleepy! She was just worried about not being able to climb up, and now there was a ready-made "ladder".
Zhao Fanghua smiled and stretched out her hands without hesitation, like a child asking for a hug. She stood on tiptoe and excitedly lowered her voice, "Quick! Pull me up!"
Zhao Qinglan, who was standing on the wall, lowered his eyes and looked at the girl below with shining eyes and bulging sleeves. He instantly guessed that she wanted to run away. A nameless anger mixed with indescribable bitterness surged in his heart, making him purse his lips.
Seeing him motionless, Zhao Fanghua became anxious and stamped her feet, urging him: "Why are you daydreaming? Hurry up! If the patrolling servants come over later, neither of us will be able to escape!"
Zhao Qinglan remained silent, but his eyes behind the mask were fixed on her with a complicated expression.
Zhao Fanghua's eyes rolled, and as if she suddenly realized something, she quickly showed him her two sleeves that were stuffed to the brim, and said in a somewhat boastful and generous tone: "Look! These are all good things! When I get out, I'll give you half!"
Zhao Qinglan was silent for a moment. He really wanted to knock this heartless little thing unconscious with a single blow, take her back home and lock her in her room, waiting to release her until their wedding day. But seeing her anxious yet hopeful eyes, he couldn't help but soften his heart.
He swiftly leaped down from the wall, his arm around her waist. With a tap of his toes, they both landed steadily on the wall.
Sitting on the high wall, with the night breeze blowing on his face, Zhao Fanghua was in a good mood. He turned his head and waved towards the Zhang Mansion in the night, and smiled and mouthed: "Bye!"
Zhao Qinglan watched her little gesture silently, his arm around her waist unconsciously tightening. He suddenly changed his mind and decided to bring her back to the palace and keep her under his watch to avoid unnecessary complications.
Zhao Fanghua, who knew nothing about this, was still swinging her legs happily.
She remembered her previous promise and began to rummage in her sleeve pocket, muttering to herself, "I agreed to give you half, so I'll give it to you now. It's troublesome to carry so many things around... Well, this one is too plain and worthless, I'll keep it... This one looks good, I'll give it to you!"
She picked and chose, and gave the exquisite velvet and pearl flowers to Zhao Qinglan, while keeping the more valuable gold jewelry for herself.
"Alright!" After dividing the spoils, she clapped her hands, looking relieved. "I've done what I promised you! Let me go!"
She raised her head and looked at the person next to her. They were very close to each other. One of his hands was still firmly on her waist, and the palm of his hand was burning hot.
Zhao Fanghua suddenly felt that the aura of this person was inexplicably familiar. She couldn't help but move closer, carefully examining the jaw and thin lips exposed under the silver mask, and murmured, "Strange... I always feel like you look familiar. Have we met somewhere before?"
As she spoke, her fingers were about to move, and when they were about to touch the mask, she suddenly retracted them and shook her head to herself: "Forget it, forget it, everyone has some secrets? You have helped me so many times, how can I force you to do something against your will..." Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she grabbed his arm: "Right! Take me away! I remember saying that I would pledge myself to you! Since we are so destined..."
Before she could finish her words, the hand on her waist suddenly tightened, making her stop short.
While she was stunned, Zhao Qinglan's fingers slowly wrote on her open palm, stroke by stroke: "Why. Leave."
Zhao Fanghua curled her lips and said, "They want to marry me to a shameful place, so I have to run away quickly."
Zhao Qinglan paused for a moment before continuing to write: "You. Don't. Want. To. Marry. Him?"
Zhao Fanghua held her chin in her hand. Although she didn't understand his question, she thought about it seriously and said with a conflicted tone, "It's not that I don't want to... He's actually very good to me, and I..." She secretly glanced at the little mute and swallowed the "I kind of like him" that was on the tip of her tongue. "But marrying him will cause a lot of trouble. He likes me very much and dotes on me now, but what about in the future? He will definitely marry many concubines in the future. Whether it's to compete for favor or for power, it's inevitable that they will fight to the death. I'm so stupid, how can I be their opponent? I'm afraid I won't even know how I die. In the first few years, he might still protect me out of our old feelings, but who knows what will happen in the future? I don't want to trap myself there and live in fear all day long!"
"Is this the real reason why you don't want to return to Beijing?" Zhao Qinglan said word by word.
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