Scharlachroter Regen überflutet die Stadt

Kapitel 66

Fourth Master stared at me, his temples throbbing. After a long while, he said, slowly and deliberately, "You... still insist on continuing?"

I looked away. "The royal family is your heaven, your responsibility... just like the Rong family means to me."

I took the Hetian thumb ring from my waist, tilted my head, and handed it to him. He took it expressionlessly without the slightest hesitation.

I thought to myself, I shouldn't have accepted it back then.

With a crisp sound, before I could even look at the shards on the ground, I saw Fourth Master flick his sleeve and walk past my shoulder, heading straight towards the main hall. My feet felt light, and for some reason I followed him. One of his feet had already stepped out, and I reached out my hand, wanting to stop him one last time.

He didn't turn around, but coldly said, "From now on, she's dead, in my heart..."

My hand had just touched his sleeve when I hesitated because of his words. His sleeve slipped through my fingers. I leaned against the doorframe, watching him walk away step by step, my body collapsing to the ground as if my bones had been removed. Those who were meant to leave have all left, and I couldn't keep them. Fourth Master, you will eventually leave me too... Perhaps this is for the best for you, so that you will no longer have to think of me.

Turning back to look at the shattered crystal on the ground, it felt all too familiar. But that time, at least it could be pieced back together. This time... it would never be possible...

A sudden, sharp pain gripped her chest. In a panic, she pulled out a handkerchief to cover her mouth. The pent-up sorrow finally welled up with the hot tears that streamed down her face. Holding the handkerchief high, she looked at the faint light in the darkness, a strange, blood-red glint. She forced a smile; thankfully… she could still laugh…

Back in the main hall, the atmosphere was filled with singing and dancing. I quietly walked behind the Emperor and watched as His Highness Jingqing pulled Siliang to sit beside him. Siliang blushed and declined. Seeing this, I smiled... The Emperor glanced at me, then at His Highness Jingqing and Siliang, and with a smile, pulled me closer to stand beside him. "You like children that much?!"

I continued to smile, without answering.

The Emperor smiled with a smile different from usual, perhaps a hint of doting affection, "Yan's child will surely be exceptionally intelligent and gentle."

I continued to smile, not understanding why.

But the next sentence made me freeze.

The Emperor, holding a wine cup, instructed Eunuch Chang behind him, "Tonight I will return to my palace and summon Yan to serve me in bed."

As soon as he finished speaking, the prince fell silent, and several concubines secretly glanced at me.

I stood there dumbfounded, and then I heard the Emperor tell Consort Ding to take me down first.

After that, I forgot how I walked out of the main hall with Consort Ding in front of everyone, forgot how I maintained a calm and composed smile, and forgot how I suppressed the shock and hatred surging in my heart in that last smile...

Chapter Twenty-Two: Misunderstanding

After my bath, Consort Ding sat beside me and reminded me of some taboos the Emperor should observe in his room. I could only hear her mouth opening and closing, but I couldn't hear anything until Consort Ding finally stopped, picked up her teacup, and took a small sip.

I spoke slowly, "Your Majesty, save me..."

Consort Ding's hand trembled as she held the teacup. Still shaken, she glanced at me, dismissed the palace servants around her, and then lowered her voice to look at me, "You don't want to?"

"Yes, this servant is unwilling." I slid off the bed and knelt at her feet.

A sigh came from above, “This is what every woman in the harem dreams of, so how can you be unwilling? Get up quickly. After tonight, the Emperor will surely give you a title, and you and I will be sisters.”

It's ridiculous that the mother-in-law calls her daughter-in-law "sister."

He looked up at her steadily and said softly, "Your Majesty, this servant does not want the Emperor to become like Emperor Tang Minghuang, nor does she want to ruin the Emperor's lifelong reputation."

"You—" Consort Ding frowned, "What are you saying?"

I steeled myself and said firmly, "Mother, please protect Father's reputation."

The teacup in Consort Ding's hand fell to the ground. She stood up abruptly, staring at me, shaking her head incredulously. "What did you say? Say it again! What did you just shout—"

I calmly looked at her panicked face, "I am..."

"Shut up," Consort Ding interrupted me, glancing warily towards the outside of the hall. She pulled me along, one hand on her arm. "Come with me..."

Inside the room, the dim candlelight illuminated Consort Ding's worried face, her features blurred and indistinct.

Why are you telling me this?

I bit my lip. "Back then, only you could save me."

She gasped. After a long pause, she slowly nodded. "That's right. This is the last thing I promised Sister Yue Ran."

My chest tightened. I remembered the anxiety and unease my aunt felt when she left.

Consort Ding looked at me and sighed, "You are just as stubborn as your aunt, why did you come back?!"

I did not answer, and Consort Ding did not ask any further questions. She simply said, "If you want to live, you must not reveal a single word about this matter."

I nodded. "My wife knows."

She trembled slightly, a hint of pity flashing in her eyes, "You still acknowledge me as your mother-in-law, but I thought you would hate us for the rest of your life."

A familiar voice came from outside the door. Consort Ding told the palace maid to come in. I was slightly stunned. I saw Liu Shang leading a little palace maid in. Consort Ding looked her over, nodded, and told Liu Shang to take her away.

I watched Liu Shang's retreating figure and smiled slightly at Consort Ding, "So it was you who took in this girl. I thought she would be executed along with you."

Consort Ding smiled slightly, "I am a vegetarian and a Buddhist, and I cannot bear to do this."

"Who was that girl just now?"

Consort Ding's eyes gleamed, "It's Yan, the girl who served the emperor today."

I was taken aback. Consort Ding smiled and said, "Her name is Yan Yu. The Emperor only said in the palace that he wanted Tong to serve him in bed. He didn't say whether it was you, Yan Zheng, or her, Yan Yu."

I looked at Consort Ding gratefully and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Consort Ding sighed, "I went through a lot of trouble to add something else to the poisoned wine. I secretly switched your body the night before the burial. Hong'er told you about what happened after that. He took you out of the capital."

"Then who will replace my body?"

A flicker of sadness crossed Consort Ding's eyes. "It's for summer..."

I sighed inwardly for Xiaoxia, when Consort Ding pulled my hand away. "Child, the only one who knows about this is me. I have never revealed a word to Lu Li all these years. You are a dead man now."

I nodded.

She continued, "I will have Lu Li take you as a concubine, which will be considered a reconciliation between you and your husband. However, this matter is too far-reaching, so he cannot know yet—"

I quickly pulled my hand away. "Mother, if I re-enter the palace in this way, it means I am certain that I will not return to his side."

Consort Ding was startled. "You hate him?"

Seeing that I remained silent, Consort Ding took my hand again. "If you don't return to Lu Li's side now, you will be the Emperor's woman. Do you understand?"

When Lu Li arrived, Consort Ding simply pointed at me and said calmly, "I've chosen this girl for you to be your concubine. Take her back to the palace tonight. And for the next few days, feign illness and don't come to the palace."

Lu Li didn't look at me or Consort Ding from beginning to end. He just kept playing with the jade pendant in his hand. I knew that when he pretended to be indifferent, he was usually thinking.

What are you thinking about now? Are you trying to figure out what I'm doing? Or are you wondering about the consequences of him taking me away?

"Seventh Prince—" Consort Ding finally couldn't help but call out to him, "I'm begging you for a favor as your mother."

This sound did indeed bring Lu Li back to his senses.

Lu Li nodded hurriedly, "Since it is Mother Consort who is asking me, I naturally cannot say anything."

After saying that, he glanced at me indifferently.

Consort Ding nodded and smiled.

Lu Li then added, "But if Mother Consort truly cared for her, she shouldn't have let her son take her away."

“You—” Consort Ding was taken aback, but didn’t know what to say.

Lu Li got up and started to leave; his choice was no longer surprising.

"Seventh Prince—" Consort Ding stood up and said involuntarily, "Just this once, is that not enough?"

Lu Li stopped walking, but did not turn around.

"Your Highness, please let it go." I also stood up, though I spoke to Consort Ding, my body already turned towards the direction where Lu Li had stopped. "The Prince was merely protecting himself."

The atmosphere instantly became strange. Consort Ding frowned and remained silent, while I sneered and looked on. The people at the door stood frozen like stone pillars.

“The young lady is someone the Emperor has chosen,” he finally spoke. “I cannot take her away.”

That sentence sent a chill down my spine. What a line, "The person the Emperor has chosen." You really... don't recognize me? Or are you afraid to?

Yes, you are destined for great things, how can you let personal feelings hold you back? You must curry favor with the Emperor, you cannot wade into these muddy waters, and you certainly cannot lose sight of the bigger picture for the sake of petty gains. You must be wise and protect yourself; you have your grand ambitions and great achievements to pursue.

Lu Li, oh Lu Li, I never knew before that imperial ambitions and the throne held such weight in your eyes.

"Your Highness, the sedan chair to fetch the young lady is already waiting outside the hall." Eunuch Chang's announcement timely broke the silence in the hall.

Without further hesitation, the body took a few steps and disappeared into the night.

The distance from Yonghe Palace to Chengen Hall was not far. The sedan chair went out of the second gate and headed straight north.

Sitting upright in the sedan chair, he was so anxious that he broke out in a sweat.

I took the begonia hairpin from my hair. It was Lu Xiu who personally inserted it into my hair when I returned to the palace. He once said that nothing in the world is more beautiful than a hairpin, its beauty lying in the fact that it embodies both good and evil. Worn by a virtuous person, it is an adornment; in the hands of an evil person, it becomes a weapon.

He cannot die yet, at least not in this way.

He's dead. Who will see all my carefully planned scheme now?

If he doesn't die, will this hairpin pierce my throat?

I have never been so flustered before; the hand holding the hairpin trembled involuntarily.

The sedan chair was suddenly lowered, and half of the curtain was lifted, revealing that the sedan chair bearers and the eunuch leading the way had knelt down.

Chang Gonggong, who was standing to the side, also bowed and said, "Fourth Master, it's so late and you're already going back."

I was also taken aback when I saw the dark figure in the night. It was too dark for me to see his expression, but I could see the jade pendant at his waist flashing.

I knew he didn't want to see me, so I lowered the curtain.

The sedan chair rose again, and that one sound, even through the curtain, was so clear, as if it were right next to my ear.

"I never imagined you were this kind of woman."

I never knew how cold-faced the Fourth Prince could be before, but today I feel the bone-chilling coldness.

Those words pierced my chest like a cold thorn, almost drawing blood.

The hand gripping the hairpin tightened again and again, and with a "snap," the silver begonia shattered in its hand.

I shook my head, laughing to myself, "What's wrong with me today? I broke my ring and my hairpin."

The canopy bed in the sleeping quarters was indeed exquisitely beautiful, with three sections that occupied half of the room. It had a painted canopy ceiling and lacquered, gilded steps made of southern wood. The carved bed was inlaid with marble and enamel, and the bed curtains were embroidered with a hundred immortals. All three layers of curtains were drawn at the moment; if they were lowered, it would be like a small world.

I don't know if it was the cold quilt or the chill emanating from my body, but I was shivering all over as I wrapped myself in the quilt.

The water clock began to drip, its sound particularly grating, making my already unbearable mood even more irritable.

The door creaked open, and the sound of footsteps and a long robe being removed grew closer and clearer. The person entered, bringing with them the chill of the outside air.

He gripped the handle of the hairpin tightly in his hand.

I instinctively closed my eyes, and the person who came was already sitting on the edge of the bed.