The Beauties of the Song Dynasty - Chapter 67
Although she had thought from the beginning that the child should not exist, otherwise there would be endless troubles, when she truly learned that the child was gone, she really hated that executioner!
Zhao Guangyi! How could you do such a thing?
If you knew this child was yours, would you feel even a little regret?
It was already dinnertime when they returned to the Prince's Mansion, but Zehua had not yet returned. It seemed that with the new emperor's ascension to the throne, there were many affairs in the court. After dinner, Wanlan was in the Ziyun Pavilion, leading Xiao Weixu, who refused to go to sleep, to practice walking. The child was over eight months old. Xuan'er said that during the two months she was asleep, the child was too lazy to move at all. Unexpectedly, he was now extremely active, almost exhausting the adults' energy.
As the hour of Xu (7-9 PM) approached, Zehua finally returned, looking exhausted.
Wanlan didn't say anything, but simply told Xuan'er to take the child away, and instructed a few maids to fetch some warm water. Then she returned to the room, pulled the person resting in the chair up, took off his cold cloak, and stuffed the thermos into his arms. She then turned around and hung the cloak on the rack behind the door.
"Wanlan".
Zhao Defang held the thermos in both hands and called out to her softly.
Just then, the maid who brought the water came in. Wanlan hurried over to take it and then asked them to bring the hot food into the room. She turned around, placed the basin on the washstand, wrung out the towel in the basin, and then greeted Zhao Defang, who looked like she wanted to say something but hesitated.
"What is it?" she asked, unfolding a hot towel to wipe his face.
Zhao Defang closed her eyes and let the towel move over her face, not answering for a moment. It wasn't until Wanlan moved the towel away and turned to heat it up that she hesitated and said, "My royal uncle... wants to see you."
Wanlan wrung out the towel, hung it on the face rack, and returned to his side, casually brushing the dust off his hair. "If you want to see me, then see me. I'll go to the palace with you tomorrow," she said nonchalantly.
Zhao Defang pulled down her busy hand, looked up slightly to meet her calm eyes, her brows furrowed, "I don't want you to go."
The warmth pressed against his brow, smoothing away his furrowed brows. Wanlan smiled slightly, "Why won't you let me go? My royal uncle must have something to say to me. Besides, he is now the emperor, and his words are imperial edicts. Do you want to disobey an imperial decree?"
The brows that she had just smoothed furrowed furrowed again as her hand withdrew. "You have no idea why your royal uncle wanted to see you. I feel... he seems to have suddenly become interested in your identity. He kept asking me today if you had told me about your world, and... how much do you know about the Song Dynasty?"
Wanlan smiled and was about to speak when she saw Xiaren standing at the door with food in his hands. So she patted Zhao Defang on the shoulder, turned around and called out, "Come in."
After the servants had all left and closed the door for them, Wanlan pulled Zhao Defang to the table and pressed him to sit down. "You eat first, we can talk about these things later." As she spoke, she earnestly served him food.
Zhao Defang firmly grasped her busy hand, stared at her with his dark eyes, and slowly shook his head at her, "Wanlan, I will not allow you to see the Imperial Uncle. I don't care how much you know about the Song Dynasty, I will absolutely not allow you to interfere in anything in this world again. You are not allowed to do anything, just be my wife."
Wanlan looked down at the large hand that was gripping her tightly. His excessive force had made her hand turn white, but the large hand seemed even paler than hers.
With a sigh, she put down her chopsticks and placed her right hand on top of him. "Zehua, don't be afraid..." He probably didn't know that his hand was trembling slightly.
With a slight tremor of his lips, Zhao Defang suddenly pulled Wanlan, who was standing beside him, onto his lap and held her tightly. "Wanlan, you're not allowed to do anything! Do you hear me? You're not allowed to do anything! You're not allowed to say anything!"
Yes! He was terrified. He had been thinking all day whether Wanlan had been asleep for two months and her soul had returned to her original world because she had wanted to do something to change history.
If that were the case, he would absolutely forbid her from making any further rash moves! If she were to try to change something again and leave him, if she couldn't return to his side, then he... he...
He absolutely will not allow that to happen again! Absolutely not!
Wanlan gently rested her head on his shoulder, patted his back, and said in a warm voice, "Zehua, don't worry, I understand what you mean, but you can't keep me from seeing my uncle forever. Putting aside the fact that he is the emperor, even if we occasionally go to the palace to see the empress, we will inevitably run into him. Don't talk nonsense, I will go to the palace with you tomorrow."
"Wanlan..."
"Stop talking." Wanlan stepped back and smiled at his worried face, saying softly, "Silly boy, although I know about your dynasty, no one knows what I know or how much I know. Even if he wants me to tell him something, what good will it do if I just say something casually? My uncle has no way to verify it, so... don't worry about this pointless thing anymore. I know what's important."
"Wanlan..."
"Alright, let's eat!" Wanlan interrupted him, taking the chopsticks and handing them to him.
Whatever Zhao Guangyi wanted to see her about, everything would have to wait until tomorrow. She thought that he probably wouldn't want her to tell him what was going to happen in this era, right? As an emperor, if he knew the outcome but failed because he cared too much about it, wouldn't he be even more afraid of the changes in history?
So why dwell on things that haven't happened? (To be continued... For more exciting content, follow Liancheng Reading. Reading helps you pursue your dreams, writing helps you create your future!)
Chapter 72 of The Beauty of the Song Dynasty
The next day, Wanlan accompanied Zhao Defang into the palace.
North of the Daqing Hall is the Zichen Hall, where the emperor held court. The monthly court assemblies on the first and fifteenth of each month, the reception of congratulatory messages after the suburban and temple ceremonies, and the audience with envoys all took place here. To the west of the Daqing Hall is the Chuigong Hall, where the emperor usually held court. Between the Zichen and Chuigong Halls is the Wende Hall, where the emperor would rest before and after court. Upon entering the palace, Zhao Defang and Wanlan parted ways to go to the Chuigong Hall, while she, accompanied by a eunuch, returned to the Qinlan Hall to wait for the emperor to leave court before moving to the Wende Hall for their meeting.
Zehua originally told her to wait at home until the court session was about to end before going to the palace, but she thought that since she was going to wait at home anyway, and he had said last night that the emperor didn't seem to have much to deal with today, and the court session shouldn't end too late, she might as well go to the palace with Zehua and then go home with him later, wouldn't that be better?
Wanlan took a nap in Qinlan Palace. When she got up, she asked the maid beside her and learned that it was almost noon. When the maid suggested bringing her lunch, she nodded without objection and got out of bed to get dressed.
Upon entering the side hall, she was startled by the dozen or so small dishes on the round table. She then called over a palace maid and asked:
"Didn't I say I was eating alone and didn't need to go to all this trouble? Why prepare so much?"
The palace maid lowered her head and said softly, "Your Highness, this is what the Emperor ordered. We are just following orders."
The Emperor? Isn't the Emperor holding court in the morning? When did he get to concern himself with her meals?
"Has the court adjourned?" she asked instinctively.
The palace maid hurriedly replied, "Yes, the court session ended half an hour ago. His Majesty even came personally to instruct us to prepare lunch for the Princess, saying that he and His Highness the Prince of Thailand will come to dine with her in a little while."
Um?
"The Emperor is coming?" She thought the Emperor would simply send someone to summon her.
"Judging from Deqing's tone, he doesn't seem to welcome me very much?"
Zhao Guangyi laughed heartily, and together with Zhao Defang, stepped into the side hall. He waved for the palace maids to leave, and then walked to the table and sat down first.
Wanlan was slightly taken aback. She exchanged a glance with Zhao Defang, smiled, and sat down. "Your Majesty must not wrong Wanlan. Wanlan originally thought Your Majesty would summon Wanlan directly, but I did not expect you to come in person."
"I didn't expect you to come to the palace with Defang. Otherwise, I should have summoned you after the morning court session. But since you're here, and the palace maids said that the Princess Consort of Thailand had just returned to Qinlan Palace and gone to sleep, I came here in person." Zhao Guangyi said loudly, then looked at Zhao Defang who was still standing and beckoned, "Defang, come and sit down too. What are you standing there for?"
Zhao Defang silently walked to Zhao Guangyi's right and sat down, facing Wanlan. He glanced at his smiling wife, his worries only growing stronger. Whatever his uncle wanted to know, since he was present, he would never allow Wanlan to utter a single "prophecy."
"Uncle--" Could he take Wanlan back with him?