Hibiscus as a Painting

Chapter 99

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! You mustn't! The young master is so frail. The meditation room is dark and damp, and the young master is so small. How can he withstand it?" Eunuch Fulai knelt and moved closer to the Empress, tears streaming down his face.

"Hurry up and take the young master away!" Empress Yanzai turned around, her voice even more furious.

Dugu Xihui stared blankly at Empress Yanzai in the snow: "My...wife..."

Empress Yanzai turned her head away, no longer looking at Dugu Xihui, and walked to the side of the young prince of the Ministry of Justice, straightening his disheveled clothes and wiping the wounds on his face.

"My lady..." Dugu Xihui's voice was filled with sobs. No matter how much Fulai Gonggong pulled him, he remained standing in the same spot, refusing to move, letting the snowflakes hit his face and body.

Sikou Xunle's lips curled up as he looked at Dugu Xihui provocatively, his eyes full of smugness.

With tears in his eyes, Eunuch Fu picked up Dugu Xihui and carried her toward the dark room.

"Mother... son..."

The snow fell silently, covering the ground, but... whose heart was wounded, whose soul was broken?

"hiss……"

Empress Yanzai's hand trembled suddenly, hurting Sikou Xunle. She then gently touched her: "Does it hurt, Le'er..."

Does it hurt, Hui'er...

Sikou Xunle didn't look at Empress Yanzai; her eyes darted around, and a suspicious blush crept up her ears: "Idiot..."

Empress Yanzai stiffened for a moment, then lowered her eyes, gently patted the snow off Sikou Xunle, carefully avoiding the wound on his hand, and carefully wrapped him in her cloak before stepping onto the imperial carriage.

On the imperial carriage, Empress Yanzai held Sikou Xunle tightly in her arms. Her body trembled slightly, her face was extremely pale, and her lips, which should have been rosy, were bluish-purple and trembling slightly.

Beneath his cloak, Sikou Xunle suddenly grabbed Empress Yanzai's hand: "Idiot! Your hands are so cold, are you trying to freeze me to death?!"

Empress Yanzai quickly withdrew her hand, but Sikou Xunle held it tightly and refused to let go: "Father said that as long as you are obedient, my Sikou family will continue to protect you. Otherwise... there are plenty of people who would like to receive the protection of my Sikou family. So! From now on, I will not allow you to see Dugu Xihui again!" His tone was full of condescension and smugness.

Empress Yanzai stared at Sikou Xunle, then turned her face away, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. She was unwilling to say anything more, but her body trembled even more violently.

"Don't be afraid. As long as you treat your brother well, your brother and I will protect you." Sikou Xunle placed Empress Yanzai's cold hand on his chest and said softly, his voice conveying a slight sense of comfort.

Empress Yanzai escorted Sikou Xunle to the outside of Weiyang Palace, picked him up from the imperial carriage, and tugged at his slightly disheveled clothes: "Le'er, go back. I won't go in. If your brother finds out that you went to see Dugu Xihui, he will definitely blame you."

Si Kou Xunle turned his head and pondered for a moment: "Hmm, that's fine... then tonight..."

"I still have some memorials to read, so I won't come over tonight. I'll come to Weiyang Palace to see you and your brother tomorrow, okay?" Yanzai, the woman, stroked Sikou Xunle's head and coaxed him softly.

"What's so interesting about your memorial? Didn't Father review it before... Never mind, never mind, you'd better come early tomorrow." Seeing that Empress Yanzai's face was getting paler, Sikou Xun changed his words.

"Hmm." Empress Yeonjae nodded, then stood up. "Jung-hee, escort the young prince inside. The weather is freezing and the roads are slippery. Don't let the young prince get hurt again."

Sikou Xunle glanced at Empress Yanzai, then turned and left.

Empress Yanzai looked at Sikou Xunle's swaying little figure, a cold glint flashing in her eyes, along with a hint of resentment.

Empress Yanzai stormed into the palace like a madwoman, her furious shouts scaring away all the palace servants. She swept everything off the table, kicked over the purple jade screen, and stomped on it furiously: "You old scoundrel, Sikou! Sikou Xunxiang! How dare even a mere Sikou brat openly challenge my authority! ... You dare threaten me! You dare threaten me! ... Sikou Xunxiang... Sikou Xunxiang... I was almost fooled by your innocent appearance, almost believed you were sincere towards me! Sikou Xunxiang... Sikou Xunxiang... You truly deserve to be called the greatest talent in the world... Since you want to compete with me, since you want to fight me, I will accompany you to the end! If I conquer this world, I will make sure your Sikou family tastes a fate worse than death!"

Jun Ying stood silently behind Empress Yanzai, quietly gazing at her anger and grievances.

Empress Yanzai turned around and saw Jun Ying standing behind her, her eyes immediately reddening.

Jun Ying hurriedly took two steps forward, but stood still and asked softly, "Who has wronged His Majesty?"

"The Sikou family... took advantage of my youth and forced me to take Sikou Xunxiang as my empress... They suppressed my uncle and humiliated Hui'er... When Hui'er was seriously ill, Sikou Xiang detained all the imperial physicians in his residence, and I didn't hold it against him... Now that Hui'er has been relegated to the cold palace by me... they still won't let her go!... They don't even respect me, a mere child like Sikou... They even threatened me... They acted as if the Lan Nan family's legacy was a gift from the Sikou family... How can I swallow this insult!" The Empress was in tears, her voice choked with sobs, her face full of grievance and resentment.

Jun Ying took a step closer, intending to embrace the Empress, but ultimately held back, standing there in a daze: "Your Majesty, please don't be sad. Don't let such a trivial matter cause conflict with the Empress. You've already endured for two years, what's one more time?"

Empress Yanzai's tears, like icy thorns, pierced Jun Ying's heart, causing it to bleed uncontrollably and ache unbearably: Your Majesty... why... why did those people treat you like this? Why do those people always make you cry? Your Majesty, you must believe in Jun Ying... one day... Jun Ying will make them pay double.

Empress Yeonjae lowered her eyes, muttering to herself, "Is it really just a little bit more? Is it really just a little bit more?... Is it really just a little bit more..."

Empress Yanzai wiped away her tears with her hand: "Prepare Hui'er's favorite dinner and snacks. Tonight, I will dine with my concubine... Also, bring the white fox fur jacket that I sewed myself."

"Your Majesty, wasn't that... padded jacket made for the Emperor and Empress? We must not act rashly at this time. Your Majesty knows how important the position of Commander of the Imperial Guard is to you..."

"Have Sister Su'er sew a similar one. I... don't want to give it to him anymore."

At dusk, the Weiyang Palace was covered with a blanket of white snow, and the entire Weiyang Lake was covered with snowflakes, with a few snowflakes drifting in the sky.

Inside the Weiyang Palace, it was as warm as spring.

Since the beginning of winter, Empress Yanzai has specifically instructed the palace servants of Weiyang Palace that since the Empress and Empress are sensitive to cold, they must have several more braziers.

The palace servants followed orders and, seeing that other palaces had two braziers, lit four. Unexpectedly, the emperor and empress caught a cold.

Upon learning of this, Empress Yanzai immediately adjourned the morning court session and rushed to Weiyang Palace, where she unleashed her furious rage, berating the palace servants for disobeying the imperial decree and demanding that they be beaten to death for lighting only four braziers.

After the emperor and empress comforted her for a long time, the empress finally gave up. From that day on, the six braziers in Weiyang Palace burned day and night.

Six braziers were burning at the same time, making the small palace a bit stuffy. Even so, the emperor and empress did not order any of the braziers to be removed.

The Emperor and Empress, dressed in a single white robe, their almost translucent skin flushed slightly from the dry, high temperature. Their long, smooth, jet-black hair cascaded down to their ankles. His pink lips were tightly pressed together, and a hint of anger flickered in his warm, dark eyes: "How could Le'er be so rude? That Dugu Xihui is not only Your Majesty's future concubine, but also the only son of the Imperial Uncle Dugu, whose policies are at odds with Father's..."

“Brother, he started it. That Dugu Xihui looks weak, but he didn’t hold back at all when he hit me. Look… look at my face, it’s all scratched by him…” Sikou Xunle said as she walked up to the Emperor and Empress, pointing to her face with aggrieved expression.

The Empress's slender fingers gently traced the wound on his face, a hint of heartache flashing in her eyes: "Who told you to go and provoke them? You've ended up like this. I suppose... I've heard that Dugu Xihui has always been frail. Never mind... Come with me to see him later." Her voice softened instantly.

"Hey... I knew you cared about me the most, brother. I'll go with you to see him. He was punished by that person and sent to the Repentance Room. I've never seen what the Repentance Room looks like before. Brother, you don't know, when that person saw the injury on my face, he was so heartbroken. His body was trembling, and his hands were ice cold. I even warmed them up for him. Brother... what's wrong?"

"You mean... Jin'er is gone?" The Emperor and Empress's faint smile froze on their lips, their hands hovering in mid-air.

"Yes, I slapped Dugu Xihui across the face right in front of her, but she still locked Dugu Xihui in the meditation room." Sikou Xunle's eyes were full of smugness.