Die Landschaft ist wie ein Gemälde

Kapitel 53

That day, I stood on the familiar road but did not see her familiar figure, and spent the day feeling lost and anxious. When I returned to Chaoyang Palace, I was extremely depressed, but I dared not send out spies to investigate, for fear that my father would find out about this.

Before even entering Chaoyang Palace, Xiao Wu's outburst of joy struck me like a thunderbolt, filling me with shock, anger, and resentment: How could this be? Every time I favored that beauty, I would give her medicine. How could she be pregnant?

I secretly planned to get rid of the child before my father found out. But when I heard that the concubine had actually passed out drunk in the flower garden, I became even angrier. How could this be so improper! A concubine was drinking herself into a stupor like a country bumpkin!

But the second half of her sentence turned my anger into panic. Ignoring Xiao Wu's hint, I turned and quickened my pace toward the West Yuan Flower Garden, wondering why she hadn't gone to the study today, why she was in the West Yuan Flower Garden, why she was so drunk... Was all of this for me?

As soon as I entered the flower garden, I saw the concubine leaning against her. Both of them were gazing intently at the bright moon in the sky, but her swollen, red eyes made my heart ache.

After the concubine left, she chuckled twice, waved her hand, picked up the wine pot in her hand, and staggered away, but bumped into me.

She looked up and met my gaze, her clear eyes instantly filled with sorrow. I dared not startle her, and could only gently support her. She stepped forward and touched my face, the pain in her eyes deepening, tears falling like pearls, crashing into my heart with such heart-wrenching pain.

I gently embraced her, wiping away her tears helplessly, and for a moment I was incoherent.

She seemed to hear my promise, lifting her eyes to give me a soft smile before falling into a deep sleep in my arms. I held her as we sat in the flowerbed, her hands gripping my clothes tightly, her brow furrowed, her sleep extremely restless. I patted her gently, but she only clung to me, curling up into a ball. My heart ached again and again, and I gently kissed her eyes and brows.

Remembering the way she looked with that concubine, my heart grew cold. I can ignore all your nonsense, but she's my bottom line. You shouldn't...you shouldn't have gossiped about her...making her so uneasy and heartbroken...

The next day, I excitedly reported to my father that my beloved concubine was pregnant. My father was overjoyed and showered me with gifts. Looking at the room full of gifts, I sneered repeatedly.

Sure enough, the Crown Princess could no longer remain calm and summoned the concubines and beauties to admire the flowers. I stood in the shadows and quietly watched their farce unfold.

The beautiful woman, relying on her son, was arrogant and disregarded the Crown Princess and the concubines. The Crown Princess, who had been showered with love and affection since childhood, could hardly tolerate this.

I saw with my own eyes that the Crown Princess pushed the concubine, who fell onto the beauty who couldn't dodge in time. The beauty protected her stomach, and the concubine quickly got up. Seeing this, the Crown Princess also pretended to fall, crashing hard into the beauty's stomach.

The beauty's face turned deathly pale, and she cried out in pain repeatedly. The concubine and the crown princess also stared at each other, their faces pale as well. It wasn't until the beauty started bleeding from her breasts that the concubine cried out for the imperial physician and ran out.

The Crown Princess revealed a strange smile, her eyes narrowed as she triumphantly watched the beautiful woman screaming in agony—those were such ugly eyes.

Xiao Wu turned pale upon seeing this, but I instructed him to delay the arrival of the imperial physician.

The beauty has been banished to the cold palace, but this concubine, I cannot keep her no matter what. I will never forget her heartbroken eyes that night.

If this concubine hadn't been so restless, why would she have shown such an expression? Therefore, she must die.

However, the concubine's father, the Minister of Revenue, was a high-ranking official for two generations. For the sake of me, whose power was unstable, the emperor could not let the concubine die, so he spared her life but also allowed her to escape punishment.

How can I accept this?

I implied to the Crown Princess that the country has its laws and the family has its rules, and the murderer who killed my child should not be let off the hook.

The Crown Princess smiled brightly, accepted the decree, and left. The concubine went mad the next day.

I was secretly pleased with myself, but little did I know that this would lead to a lifetime of regret...

I was overjoyed to hear that she had woken up, and I secretly planned to see her in a couple of days.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Wu rushed in, saying that she had forced her way into Chaoyang Palace and had already reached the West Yuanhua Garden.

I rushed over in alarm. She was only wearing a thin shirt, her hair was disheveled, her face was pale, her breathing was unsteady, and her bare feet were on the cold ground. My heart ached for her.

She gazed at the concubine's deranged state, slowly reaching out her hand before fearfully withdrawing it. Her mouth opened and closed, and the sorrow in her eyes deepened.

The rabbit mourns the fox's death.

Her movements startled the concubine, who frantically grabbed her hand and shook it violently, her long nails digging into her flesh. I quickly ordered someone to pull the concubine away.

Her tears fell without warning, leaving me bewildered and panicked.

I tried to go up to her and coax her gently, but I was stunned by her eyes, which were full of hatred and determination.

I spoke harshly to her, but I was so frightened by her eyes, which were red with despair, that I backed away.

She turned and left, her departure so resolute and decisive.

I watched her walk away with worry, and found an unfamiliar eunuch to inform the people of Taiping Pavilion to have Xiao Wu follow her closely.

After that, I was filled with anxiety and worried every day. Everything happened so suddenly, catching me completely off guard.

When I learned that west Le had taken her to break into the Forbidden City at night, I immediately mobilized a large number of Imperial Guards, not for any other reason than to keep her there in case of emergency.

Seeing that she was determined to leave despite everyone's pleas, I had no choice but to threaten her.

For the first time in my life, I heard her tender yet clear voice. Her words were fluent and firm, though perhaps due to her long silence, her tone was somewhat strange and slightly hoarse. Most of my fear was replaced by overwhelming joy, and for a moment I stood there, not knowing what to do.

As I watched her vehemently denounce the betrayal and deception of everyone, I wanted to offer gentle comfort, but the words that came out were heavy with sarcasm. I didn't mean to be like this; why have I repeatedly hurt her?

west Le pulled her back, and she smiled slightly, a smile that contained resignation, freedom, and letting go.

I was furious and panicked, and without thinking, I called out to her. I no longer cared about my father's disappointment and punishment; the words of love I had longed for slipped out. The moment I spoke them, I felt a huge weight lifted from my shoulders; I thought that this would prevent her from leaving me again.

But... I was wrong... I was terribly wrong from the very beginning...

She stood there stunned, her shock undisguised, and stammered out that she was a man.

At that moment, I felt inexplicably happy, watching her and Xile's back-and-forth banter with doting affection. I could see that Xile was also inexplicably excited about confirming her female identity, but... at the time, I didn't have time to think about it further...

Unexpectedly, after learning of my feelings, she did not waver in her determination to leave. I had no choice but to use force to keep her here, but the Imperial Guard misunderstood my meaning.

When I saw the Imperial Guards raising their swords to strike her, I was utterly terrified, forgetting to breathe, but I heard my father's furious roar.

In my memory, my father was always gentle and refined, and could destroy enemy ships with a few words. Why was he so panicked this time? When I looked up at her again, her face was filled with unwavering determination. At that moment, my heart sank to the bottom.

When I collapsed to the ground, feeling utterly powerless, I hurriedly tied my hair into a bun with a ribbon, leaving the Cold Valley Jade Hairpin aside.

How could I have forgotten such an important thing as her being a master of poison? I forgot this important thing many times afterward. Perhaps subconsciously I never thought that her poison would be used on me time and time again.