Chapter 40
Ambergris, a tribute from the South China Sea, burned in a gilded copper censer. Wisps of smoke wrapped around the gold-painted and colorful beams and pillars like gossamer threads. The walls of the warm room in the hall were covered with moon-white soft silk, and shadows were hazy.
Princess Ming'an was wearing a pomegranate red satin nightgown with scattered flowers. Her jet-black hair was loosely tied in a bun, with a few strands of hair hanging on her sweaty forehead.
She folded her hands and pressed them on her lower abdomen. When she exerted force on her waist and abdomen, her pajamas outlined her body lines. Every time she stood up, she bit her lower lip, and her long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
"How many?" Her voice was a little breathless.
Zhao Yan'er sat upright at a pearwood table, holding a purple-hair brush in her bare hands. The tip of the brush hovered above the yellowed rice paper. After a while, it slowly fell, and the ink spread out as a faint dot on the paper.
After hearing what Princess Ming'an said, Zhao Yan'er came back to her senses, looked down, and said lightly: "Twenty-five."
Zhao Yan'er placed her pen on the pen holder, took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and handed it to Ming'an. Suddenly, she raised her eyes and smiled, the pearl flowers on her temples trembling slightly with her movements: "Speaking of which, I passed by the Eastern Palace the other day and saw seven or eight eunuchs standing outside the palace, and two teams of imperial guards in the corridor.
I'm curious, does His Royal Highness always have so many palace servants around him?"
Ming An took the handkerchief she handed over, roughly wiped the sweat off his face, and then replied: "Of course."
Zhao Yan'er paused, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. She parted her lips slightly, and with a hint of playfulness and inquiry, she inquired, "Your Highness the Crown Prince must also want to be alone sometimes!"
Princess Ming'an didn't find it strange at all and said casually, "He would go for a walk in the Imperial Garden occasionally."
Zhao Yaner murmured, "Imperial Garden?"
Princess Ming'an's gaze fell on Zhao Yan'er. Her wrists were so thin that they seemed to break if bent, making the plain silver bracelet even more dazzling.
When the maid was loosening her belt just now, her fingertips accidentally rubbed the soft flesh on the side of her waist. Now that she was lying on her back, the brocade around her waist felt slightly tighter.
"Go on," she said, throwing the handkerchief to the side of the couch.
The maid Yuexi resigned herself to hugging Mingan's legs and performing fixed movements for her. In fact, she was recalling what happened last night.
Last night, that person asked her to meet in a side hall next to the Eunuchs' Palace. Usually no one went to that side hall, and Yue Xi thought that it was time to break off this shameful relationship, so she went there last night.
The night was as dark as ink, and the moonlight was dim, leaking through the gaps in the clouds, barely illuminating the bluestone road beneath my feet.
Yuexi carried the palace maid's clothes and walked towards the side hall. When the tip of her shoes stepped on the dusty stone steps, a few dormant moths were startled.
The side hall was indeed as deserted as the rumors said.
The red paint on the peeling pillars was covered with dark green moss. The half-open door of the hall creaked in the night wind. The plaque with the words "Jingsi Hall" hanging on the lintel was already covered with dust, and even the words were blurred.
That person had arrived a long time ago.
She saw the man waving at her, with nervousness on his face, but more of happiness.
"It's time to end." Yue Xi whispered to herself into the cold air, her voice blown into pieces by the wind.
The strands of hair on her temples were wet by the night dew and stuck to her pale cheeks. She raised her hand to tuck the hair behind her ears, revealing a slender neck. Her jawline was taut, as if she was trying hard to restrain something.
"Come in first!"
Hearing his words, Yue Xi walked in and said to him: "Do you know that the palace maid Xi'er who was pregnant before has already..."
Before Yue Xi finished speaking, he couldn't wait to interrupt her, his voice filled with a bit of uncontrollable anxiety, "I've heard about it. I'll pay more attention these days and make sure nothing goes wrong."
Yue Xi looked at him like this, and the words on the tip of her tongue were stuck for a moment. After a pause, she continued, "But I don't want to meet you secretly like this anymore."
After hearing her words, the man was silent for a while, then said helplessly: "What else can the palace maids and eunuchs do?"
He glanced at Yuexi's expression and continued, "Isn't this how everyone meets secretly?"
Yuexi clenched her fingertips even tighter, her nails almost digging into her palms. She took a deep breath and uttered the words that had been lingering in her heart for a long time, trembling: "You... Can you say you like me in front of other people?"
The man was startled, then he hugged her in his arms, and although his voice was scolding, it was also full of concern, "Are you crazy?"
“What if something goes wrong for you?”
Yuexi's eyes suddenly turned red. She could no longer hold back the tears that she had just been holding back. They slid down her cheeks and dripped onto the back of her hand, warming it. She whispered, "That means there's no good outcome for us being together."
Suddenly, a sound came from outside the side hall. He quickly pulled her to hide behind a broken table. When the footsteps gradually faded away, their hanging hearts finally relaxed. Yue Xi had had enough of this kind of hiding life and cursed inwardly: "What a coward!"
At this time, Yue Xi accidentally looked around the palace and suddenly met a pair of eyes. She almost screamed out, but the person quickly covered his mouth and stopped him from making a sound.
The owner of those eyes was Luo Sanrong. Luo Sanrong originally wanted to find a remote place to burn some paper for his father, but he didn't expect to discover such a thing.
Yue Xi signaled him to solve the problem with her eyes, and left first. Before leaving, she rolled her eyes fiercely at the person standing next to her, as if to say, "Look at what good place you found?"
After Yue Xi's figure could no longer be seen, the man turned around, his back straight as a piece of ice-hardened iron, and his eyes fell heavily on Luo Sanying.
Luo Sanrong felt that he was staring at her like this, and a thin layer of sweat oozed out of his back. Hesitantly explained, "I...I...Eunuch Sun, I didn't mean to peek at you, I came here first!"
The man who had a secret meeting with Yuexi was none other than Eunuch Sun. Luo Sanrong had never expected that Eunuch Sun, who always appeared serious on the outside, would be like this in private with his beloved.
Luo Sanrong was about to say something else, but Nei Guan Sun suddenly raised his hand and interrupted him. His face was gloomy and his voice was cold: "Luo Sanrong, you'd better shut up immediately, otherwise..." Then he made a gesture of wiping his neck with his hand. Although the movement was slow, it was full of threat.
Luo Sanrong's eyes indicated that he understood.
Seeing that Luo Sanrong had no intention of being sneaky, Neiguan Sun snorted coldly and left.
"How many are there?" Ming An asked in a muffled voice, but before he finished speaking, his eyes had already swept in the usual direction.
The rosewood armchair should have been placed at an angle, with a plate of candied fruit and a pot of cold tea on the low table beside the chair. Zhao Yan'er always liked to curl up in it, twisting a book in her hand, and from time to time she would look up and count the number of people lying on their backs, her tone drawn out.
But at this moment, there was nothing there.
The chair cushions glowed with a light golden luster from the sunlight. The celadon teapot on the low table had a crooked spout and the lid had rolled away somewhere. Only half a plate of melted plum preserves remained, stuck to the white porcelain plate.
"I don't know where he went again?" Ming An cursed softly, but he was not angry.
Ming'an looked at Yuexi, and Yuexi didn't know what she was thinking.
"Ahem." Ming An deliberately cleared her throat loudly. Seeing Yue Xi still looking distracted, she struggled away from her, straightened her back, and raised her voice a little: "You've been so absent-minded lately!"
Yue Xi finally raised her eyes, as if waking from a dream. The confusion in her eyes had not yet dissipated. She met Ming An's pretended stern gaze and shrank her shoulders. She hurriedly stood up and bowed, her voice as soft as a mosquito: "Princess, please forgive me, this humble... "
"What sin do you want to forgive?" Ming An interrupted the conversation but quietly slowed down his tone.
Yue Xi just said, "I've been feeling a little tired and out of spirits lately." She didn't say anything else. She didn't tell the princess about her relationship with the eunuch. She just thought that maybe if she broke up, everything would return to normal.
Princess Ming'an glanced at her, waved her hand and told Yuexi to go back and rest. After Yuexi left, Ming'an looked at Zhao Yan'er's position with a thoughtful expression.
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