Hibiscus as a Painting - Chapter 138
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Dugu Xihui noticed Zi Jin's discomfort, and his fox-like eyes were instantly filled with anxiety and worry.
Zi Jin squinted at Dugu Xihui's every move, her heart turning icy cold. She shoved Dugu Xihui away, saying, "You've made your choice before, and it seems you haven't decided how to choose this time... Although you haven't decided... since you've chosen to stay in Shanzhong Town, you must have your own plans. You don't need to put on this act. It would be best if you stayed as far away from me as possible these next few days. I don't want to spend every day with you only to have you make a choice you regret!"
Dugu Xihui shuddered and awkwardly turned her face away: "You...you knew all about it?..."
Zi Jin sneered and turned her face away: "I knew when you didn't. This time I'm watching with my eyes wide open, waiting for you... You don't need to confine me, I won't run away. From the moment you refused to take me with you in the carriage, I gave up the idea of leaving. I want to see with my own eyes, I will watch with my eyes wide open... how you will treat me!"
Dugu Xihui dared not look into Zi Jin's bloodshot eyes. He suddenly stood up and walked quickly toward the door as if fleeing.
"Now that we've made our plans, you'd better not get too close to me these next few days. For... I can't guarantee I won't lie to you!" Zi Jin's icy voice rang out again.
Dugu Xihui staggered slightly, then slowly straightened up: "Understood." He strode out of the room and locked the door behind him.
Zi Jin's fingers, which had been gripping the quilt tightly, gradually loosened. She pulled the quilt up to wrap herself tightly, closed her eyes, and tried to banish the fragmented, disconnected images from her mind.
A faint fragrance of lotus blossoms and a touch of calming incense filled the room. After a while, Zi Jin, whose nerves had been on edge for days, slowly relaxed and fell into a deep sleep.
Unresolved emotions and inescapable demonic obstacles; karmic retribution—when will our return be? A fleeting dream recalls the past. (Part Two)
A Dreamlike Recollection of the Past (Part Two) Midsummer of the Sixteenth Year of Yanzai in the 532nd Year of Yaochen
This summer, the hibiscus flowers are blooming exceptionally well. In Yaochen Royal Garden, patches of light blue-purple, pink, or white hibiscus flowers are as translucent as jade under the moonlight.
Beneath the flowers, at a stone table, stood Zi Jin, dressed in a bright yellow robe. In one hand she held a gold and jade wine cup, and in the other she toyed with a plate of crimson cinnabar. A faint smile graced her face, but a hint of sorrow lingered in her phoenix eyes.
"Jun Xiaosan, why don't I have this on me?" Zi Jin, her eyes glazed with drunkenness, played with the cinnabar in her hand and turned to look at Jun Ying beside her.
“His Majesty has been the supreme ruler since childhood, so no one dares to touch His Majesty without permission.” Jun Ying stood behind Zi Jin, his eyes flashing with heartache and reluctance.
"Because I am the emperor, I do not possess the virginity mark that ordinary women should have. Because I am the emperor, I cannot compare to an ordinary woman in his heart. Because I am the emperor, I will never win his favor... Is that so?" Zi Jin raised her wine cup and drank it down in one gulp, a self-deprecating smile on her face, her eyes filled with self-loathing.
"Your Majesty is overthinking it. Consort Linde is not yet used to life in the palace, which is why she has become somewhat distant from Your Majesty..."
"Nonsense!" Zi Jin's face was full of anger. She suddenly stood up and swayed a couple of times. "Jun Xiaosan, you've started lying to me too!"
Jun Ying looked at Zi Jin's swaying body with heartache, wanting to step forward, but was forced back by Zi Jin's sharp gaze. Jun Ying knelt down at Zi Jin's feet with a thud, lowering his eyes little by little: "Jun Ying dares not."
"You've all lied to me! You've all lied to me! He wanted power, glory, and military authority. I gave him everything, so why won't he even glance at me? Why won't he even glance at me? I gave him my whole heart, so why won't he even glance at me?!" Zi Jin crushed the white jade wine cup in her hand, and blood trickled down between her fingers, dripping into the cinnabar.
"Your Majesty!" Jun Ying raised his eyes and looked at Zi Jin's ambiguous expression, which was neither smiling nor crying. His heart felt as if it had been doused with scalding oil, and his resentment towards Zi Yingfeng increased even more.
"If there is an afterlife, I will definitely be an ordinary woman, an ordinary woman who is loved and cared for... Look how beautiful the hibiscus flowers are this summer... The palace servants said... The hibiscus flowers were also extremely abundant in the year I was born... When things reach their peak, they wither... Am I going to die?..." Zi Jin took two steps in a daze, leaned against the hibiscus tree beside her, and gently smelled the translucent flowers.
"Your Majesty is in the prime of your life, and the world is at peace..." For a moment, Jun Ying's heart was filled with panic, and he did not know what to say.
"Heh...look how scared you are..." Zi Jin sniffed the petals and turned her head halfway, laughing, "Jun Xiaosan...if there really is an afterlife, I will only be an ordinary woman, and you will be my support, continuing to be my shadow guard...how about that?...At that time...no matter what I do, you will always protect me...no matter what I do, you will always protect me...always protect me...at that time...I will not have to live in fear day and night...I will not have to live in fear day and night for this country and this world...I want to live happily and carefree like...ordinary women..."
“Okay.” Jun Ying gazed at the person in front of the flower petals under the moonlight, who looked like a fairy in the moon, and nodded gently, her voice so tender it could melt water.
"You...go and fetch my brother...tell him I miss him terribly..." Zi Jin turned her head and looked at the bright moon in the sky, and said in a low voice.
"Your Majesty, please reconsider. If the Linde Noble Family were to retain military power again... the consequences... I believe Her Majesty the Emperor and Empress would certainly not agree."
"Hehe... Brother will agree... No matter what I want to do, as long as I'm willing to bow down to Brother... Brother will agree... Ever since I married Zi Xiaofeng... Brother has been waiting for me... waiting for me to bow down to him... You don't know, do you... Actually, Brother is very easy to coax. As long as I say a few nice words... No matter what I do, Brother will agree... No matter what... Brother will agree... Go and ask Brother... Tell him I miss him so much... I miss him so much... My heart aches so much... It hurts so much..." Zi Jin's eyes were full of bitterness. After she finished speaking, she slowly sat back on the stone bench, leaned on the table, and stopped talking.
Jun Ying glanced silently at the person on the stone table, then bowed and left.
After Jun Ying had gone some distance, a small figure darted out from under a clump of flowering trees. He nervously brushed the dust off his clothes, carefully wiped his face with his sleeve, and stood there blankly, not daring to go forward.
Zi Jin, her eyes blurry with drunkenness, watched as a figure in green climbed out from under the tree. When she recognized the person, a smile crept onto her lips.
The little figure looked completely at a loss, standing awkwardly and timidly looking up at Zi Jin.
Zi Jin's eyes were full of smiles. She gently beckoned to the small figure and softly called out, "Hui'er, come here."
Dugu Xihui's delicate face instantly lit up with a smile, and she ran happily to Zi Jin's side, but then abruptly stopped in her tracks.
Zi Jin chuckled softly, her heart softening at the sight of Dugu Xihui's uneasy yet endearing expression. She pulled Dugu Xihui into her arms and asked gently, "It's so late, why aren't you asleep, Hui'er?"
Dugu Xihui raised her eyes uneasily, and her eyes suddenly reddened: "Hui'er misses my wife... They said my wife is here, so..."
"So Hui'er has been hiding here for several hours?" Zi Jin pinched Dugu Xi Hui's trembling legs repeatedly, her face full of displeasure.
Dugu Xihui nodded with a hint of grievance. Seeing that Zi Jin remained silent with a sullen face, she suddenly reached out and hugged Zi Jin's neck tightly: "Hui'er dares not... Hui'er will never dare to do it again. My wife, please don't let Hui'er go."
Zi Jin sighed softly, her phoenix eyes gradually softening. She gently stroked Dugu Xi Hui's back, comforting him with each stroke: "Hui'er is not wrong, it is I who am wrong... it is I who have neglected Hui'er these days."
Dugu Xihui poked his head out from Zi Jin's arms, his tear-washed eyes unusually bright, looking at the Empress with great joy: "My lady... it's not my lady's fault... Father said my lady is very busy, my lady is very busy, so Hui'er came to see my lady."
Zi Jin affectionately pinched his cheek, her heart filled with warmth from his gentle words: "Hui'er's eyes are like those of a newborn fox, so clear and beautiful... I can never get enough of looking at them..."
Dugu Xihui's cheeks flushed instantly. She twisted her robes nervously, her eyes darting around. When she saw the cinnabar in front of her, she showed interest: "What is this?"
Zi Jin picked up the gift with feigned mystery and tapped Dugu Xi Hui's nose: "How about I give Hui'er a gift?"
Dugu Xihui blushed and nodded excitedly.
Zi Jin's eyes flickered, she reached out and pulled out the gold hairpin from her hair, chuckled mischievously, and gently untied Dugu Xihui's robe.
Dugu Xihui lay stiffly in Zi Jin's arms, her hands gripping Zi Jin's clothes tightly, her whole body trembling uncontrollably. Her fair face was as red as if burned, all the way to her ears, looking completely helpless and at her mercy.
Zi Jin smiled slightly and whispered in Dugu Xi Hui's ear, "Hui'er, don't be afraid, I won't do anything to you."
Dugu Xihui's face, already flushed, burned even hotter, and he tightly closed his eyes. A sudden, sharp pain jolted him awake. He silently gazed at Zi Jin's earnest profile in the moonlight, a strange, indescribable feeling welling up within him, a feeling that filled his empty heart completely. The pain of the gold hairpin piercing his flesh seemed not to have been his own.
After a peach blossom took shape, Zi Jin gently licked off the bloodstains on the flower with the tip of her tongue.