Ancient Secret Realm (V)
Lin Zhuo opened her eyes and saw the golden bed curtains embroidered with cloud patterns. Her head ached, so she rubbed her forehead and sat up.
Wearing soft pajamas, Lin Zhuo lifted the bed curtain and looked around. It looked like a palace on earth. He might have entered an illusion.
Lin Zhuo closed her eyes as she thought of something. There was no spiritual energy fluctuation in her body. In other words, she was now no different from an ordinary person. Thinking of Xie Zhitiao, Lin Zhuo couldn't help but sigh.
When they entered the secret realm, the silly boy was in a daze for some reason, and she had dragged him in. I don't know how he is doing now.
"My lady, would you like to get up?"
Suddenly, a female voice came from not far away. Lin Zhuo calmed down and thought, well, it seems she is still the emperor's concubine.
She lifted the bed curtain, looked at the maid, opened her mouth, but found that she didn't know her name.
"Well, get up. What time is it?" Lin Zhuo looked out the window.
"It's Si time." The maid came forward to help her.
Lin Zhuo was not used to being served by others, so his body was stiff. Fortunately, the maid didn't notice anything unusual.
After washing up, Lin Zhuo leaned on the chaise longue, pressing his head in a pretentious manner: "I... I have a headache, let's call a doctor to take a look." From what my senior sister had said, the doctors in the harem would often flatter the powerful and look down on the weak. If I asked a doctor to take a look, he might be able to figure out my status.
The maid was startled when she heard this, then asked her in a low, worried voice, "My Lady, was it... that you caught a cold last night in the bathroom with His Majesty?"
Lin Bo:?
She was a little dazed. How were these three things connected? A cold, His Majesty, and the bathroom? Seeing the maid's expression, she had a hunch that it was not a good thing, so she just waved her hand and told her to call the imperial physician.
"Natsuko-chan."
A young eunuch appeared from the palace gate: "Sister Chunhe, is there anything I can do for you?"
Chun He told him to go to the Imperial Hospital, then she returned to the inner hall and poured Lin Zhuo a cup of hot tea. "Your Majesty, drink some water to moisten yourself. You may have caught a cold last night."
Chun He stepped forward, held her head, and whispered, "Your Majesty, please listen to my advice. Don't risk your body to anger His Majesty anymore."
Lin Zhuo took a sip of tea, his thoughts turning. It seems that the relationship between this concubine and the emperor is a bit subtle. Could this be the breakthrough point?
"When did Your Majesty leave last night?" she asked.
Chun He didn't stop pressing her head, and whispered to her, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten? Last night, His Majesty dragged you along and you had a big argument with him. Around midnight, His Majesty returned to the Yangxin Palace."
“…”
Lin Zhuo understood that this concubine was fearless. Chun He's unrestrained gossip about the emperor showed that this was how the concubine and she interacted with each other on a daily basis. The concubine must have felt confident to be so unafraid. But she didn't understand what this had to do with the gods.
Before she could think about it, Xiao Xiazi came back with people.
"Your humble servant greets Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine."
Lin Zhuo raised his hand: "Stand up." Imperial Noble Consort, a position that only the woman deeply loved by the emperor can sit on. No wonder she is fearless.
Here, Lin Zhuo was extracting information from the imperial physician and palace servants, while Xie Zhitiao stared blankly at the memorials on the table in the imperial study. He was already the emperor, so why would he still need to review memorials?
Du Fuan walked in with his head lowered and his eyes pleasing to the eye. "Your Majesty, the Imperial Noble Consort has called the imperial physician. Would you like to go and see him?"
He was the chief eunuch beside the emperor. When Xie Zhitiao was woken up by him at dawn to attend court, he used his spiritual power to invade his memory.
According to Du Fuan's memory, this was a great country with strong civilian power. He was now a tyrant, and the Imperial Noble Consort was his evil concubine. Xie Zhitiao stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked out.
He secretly took You Jingjia's storybook to read. He had never seen the real demon concubine, so he went to take a look.
——
In Guanju Palace, Chunhe sent Xiaoxiazi and the imperial physician to fetch medicine. Just as they turned back to the palace, a eunuch's shrill voice came from outside: "The Emperor has arrived!"
Xie Zhitiao resisted the urge to cover his ears and walked quickly into the hall. After seeing the person opposite him clearly, he froze in place.
The girl was wearing a silk dress in the color of an imperial concubine, leaning lazily on the chaise longue, her head supported by her hands, revealing a piece of her fair arm, her lips were red without any makeup, her almond-shaped eyes were slightly widened in shock, and there was a thin flower ornament between her eyebrows.
That face was the one that made his heart flutter even in his dreams at midnight.
Hearing Chunhe saluting him, Lin Zhuo finally came to his senses and stood up and bowed to him: "...Your Majesty, your concubine greets you."
Xie Zhitiao couldn't hide the smile between his eyebrows. It was so cute to see his senior sister pretending to greet him like this.
He coughed softly: "Ahem...My beloved, there's no need to be so polite." He went over and helped her up, "Everyone, go down." The palace maids filed out, and they were the only ones left in the hall.
"Senior sister, you look pretty good dressed like this." Xie Zhitiao looked at her with a smile.
Lin Zhuo's face was a little hot: "Stop talking nonsense, why are you here too?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's because we came in together."
The two sat at the table, and Xie Zhitiao told her the news he knew.
"...How do you know so much?" After listening to him, Lin Zhuo glanced at him in surprise.
Xie Zhitiao slightly shifted his gaze: "...I invaded Du Fuan's memory." He suddenly felt a little guilty. Although it was just an illusion, would Lin Zhuo blame him for using his spiritual power on mortals?
"Can you use spiritual power?" Lin Zhuo was surprised. She didn't think Xie Zhitiao's approach was wrong; she would have done the same. After all, in an unfamiliar environment, the more you know, the better.
Xie Zhitiao was stunned: "...You can't use it?" Lin Zhuo shook his head.
Xie Zhitiao frowned, but did not continue the topic. Instead, he asked her, "Why did you call the imperial physician? Where do you feel uncomfortable?"
Lin Zhuo pressed his solar plexus, a little puzzled. "I have a headache, but Chun He said it was the tyrant and the imperial concubine who had a fight in the bathroom last night. What could they have been fighting about? A water fight?"
"Ahem!" Xie Zhitiao choked on a mouthful of tea. He leaned over and coughed for a long time before saying, "...Senior Sister, do you think an emperor and a concubine from a prominent family could have a water fight in the middle of the night?"
Lin Zhuo felt a little embarrassed, but also amused by his own thoughts: "Then what can they do?"
Xie Zhitiao's face was burning, he didn't know if it was from coughing or embarrassment. He glared at Lin Zhuo with a little annoyance: "They are husband and wife, what are they doing in the middle of the night?"
Now, it was Lin Numa who was coughing. Her face flushed crimson, but she was still curious. The bathroom... was it really okay? She glanced at the young man across from her, who still had a somewhat embarrassed expression on his face. She thought it would be best to ask her senior sister after she got out. If she continued asking, Xie Zhitiao would just walk away.
Both sides were silent for a while. Seeing that Xie Zhitiao had calmed down, Lin Zhuo expressed his thoughts: "I think our relationship is probably more than just a tyrant and a demon concubine."
Xie Zhitiao was slightly surprised: "What do you mean?"
"Chun He said, 'I had a huge argument with you last night, and you were so angry that you left at midnight. But today the imperial physician and the palace maids were still extremely respectful to me. This is not the attitude they would show to a concubine who is about to fall from favor.'"
She held her head and continued, "Chun He even scolded you with me for your nonsense, without any fear. Either we, the master and the servant, are not afraid of death, or this kind of thing is very common between you and me, so I have nothing to fear."
Xie Zhitiao looked at her serious face with a smile: "Senior sister, how come you look so good even when you're doing serious things?"
"...Be serious." Lin Numa glared at him, then couldn't help asking, "Is it really that beautiful? This is my first time putting on makeup."
"She is so beautiful that fishes sink to the bottom of their chests and geese fall to the ground, the moon hides in shame the flowers, a lotus emerging from the water, a beauty that is as beautiful as the nation, peerless, graceful, elegant, graceful, stunning..." Seeing that he was about to talk endlessly, Lin Zhuo hurriedly stopped him: "Stop! Let's get down to business."
Xie Zhitiao raised an eyebrow. "Okay, let's get down to business. This palace is called Guanju Palace, and it was built especially for you. You are the Imperial Noble Consort. Du Fuan knew that we parted on bad terms that day, but he still reminded me today that you were unwell."
Xie Zhitiao smiled, his eyes slightly raised, and concluded: "Senior Sister, I like you so much."
Lin Zhuo was stunned. She knew that the "I" Xie Zhitiao was referring to was the tyrant, and the "you" was the Imperial Consort. But after what she had experienced with You Jingjia that day, she simply couldn't think of him as her brother anymore. She had a vague feeling that Xie Zhitiao treated her differently.
After a pause, she said calmly: "...Let's just call them by their names."
Xie Zhitiao lowered his eyes to hide his sadness, then smiled and changed the subject: "Qiu Ji really likes Chang Junning."
"But Chang Junning doesn't like Qiu Ji, she even hates him. Even though she hates him, she becomes his imperial concubine. Does Du Fuan's memory explain why?" She knocked on the table and asked him.
Xie Zhitiao thought briefly and said, "He abducted Chang Junning here by force. That's all Du Fuan knows."
Lin Zhuo pondered, "Chun He was Chang Junning's personal maid, accompanying her from the boudoir to the palace. She might know. It's almost noon. I'll call her in and you can read her memories."
"good."
"Chunhe." Lin Zhuo called her loudly.
Chunhe had been waiting at the palace gate, worried that her queen would have another conflict with the tyrant. When she heard the queen calling her, she immediately walked in quickly: "What does the queen want?" She raised her eyes quietly and saw that Lin Zhuo's expression was normal, so she felt relieved.
Lin Zhuo glanced at Xie Zhitiao and saw him nod slightly, then continued, "Serve the meal, something light."
"Yes." Chunhe bowed and walked out.
"How is it?" Lin Zhuo asked him.
Xie Zhitiao's expression was somewhat complicated. He almost wanted to speak, but then kept his mouth shut. Finally, he shook his head and pointed his finger at the flower ornament between her eyebrows: "Take a look for yourself."
——
Chang Junning was a typical lady, disciplined by her parents from a young age, growing up to be a gentle and well-mannered daughter of a wealthy family. The Marquis of Wuyang and his wife had only one daughter, Chang Junning. All the sons born to the Marquis' concubines were raised by his wife, and harmony prevailed within the mansion.
In the eighteenth year of the Qingyan reign, the emperor passed away. Qiu Ji, who was not the crown prince at the time, poisoned him, imprisoned his brothers, and, after forcing his mother to death due to her anger, ascended the throne. His brutal methods caused panic among the court.
At the first palace banquet after Qiu Ji ascended the throne, Chang Junning accompanied his mother to the banquet, and was detained in the palace by Qiu Ji that night.
The next day, Chang Junning returned to the mansion in tears, bearing the imperial decree appointing her as Imperial Noble Consort. She locked herself in her boudoir, refusing to respond to anyone's calls. Qiu Ji, upon hearing the news, arrived at the mansion, and the two exchanged some words in the room. Chang Junning began to leave her boudoir, but she was no longer as cheerful as before.
She often sat by the window with lifeless eyes, sitting there all day. Chun He felt sorry for her and tried all kinds of tricks to coax her, but she only managed a few forced smiles. In Chun He's memory, the Earl of Wuyang and his wife had come to look for Chang Junning several times, but they never saw him.
Three months later, the Guanju Palace was completed, and Qiu Ji married Chang Junning as if he were the empress, earning her the nickname "Witch Concubine." Qiu Ji treated Chang Junning well, and she and Chang Junning lived in peace for a while. However, about six months after entering the palace, they had their first quarrel.
It would be more accurate to say that it was Qiu Ji's unilateral anger rather than a quarrel. It was the first time he did not spend the night in Guanju Palace. When he left, his face was so gloomy that it scared Chunhe.
Chang Junning sat blankly at the small table. Seeing Chunhe coming over, he asked her absentmindedly, "I can't like him, but I don't like anyone else either. Am I wrong?"
Chun He did not answer, as she did not dare to talk about the emperor. A few days later, Qiu Ji came to Guan Ju Palace again, more attentive than before, or even more humble. He begged Chang Jun Ning to love him, but Chang Jun Ning could not respond to his feelings.
He grew more irritable by the day, and Chang Junning's dislike for him grew with each passing day. In her five years in the palace, she had only seen her parents from a distance at palace banquets—Qiu Ji restricted her interactions with those outside the palace.
Chang Junning grew thinner and thinner day by day. She began to lose her appetite and became sickly all day long. Qiu Ji blamed the Imperial Hospital. To avoid causing trouble for the palace servants, Chang Junning began to force herself to eat.
When Qiu Ji was not around, Chang Junning still had some life in her. She would play with the palace maids and talk to Chun He with sweet words. But when Qiu Ji came, she was like a puppet, not even as lively as when she was arguing with him.
Chunhe felt like a dying flower. She was trying to survive, but her roots were already rotten.
——
Lin Zhuo hadn't yet recovered from the immense pressure of her memories. She lay on the table, her forehead resting on the back of her hand, her voice muffled, "Why? Why was her life so rarely perfect?"
Sensing her low mood, Xie Zhitiao reached out and rubbed her head. Seeing her looking at him, he whispered, "Senior Sister, your life will not be..."
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