Novelas PaiPai - Capítulo 124
The princess remained silent and did not refute, but Zhao Xu made another request: "Since Aunt and Li Wei are husband and wife in name, it is inconvenient for her to stay in the palace for a long time. If outsiders find out, they will also criticize. It would be better for her to return to the princess's residence, where they can live in harmony and harmony, which would be more suitable for both of them."
After much persuasion, the princess finally agreed and returned to her residence as he had instructed. Zhao Xu then announced the abolition of the rule that "marrying a princess would result in a one-rank demotion in the family hierarchy," and officially issued an edict requiring that from now on, princesses who were married off would have to perform the rites of respect for their parents-in-law, serving them like ordinary brides.
It is said that when the princess was about to board the carriage to return to her residence, Zhao Xu bowed to her and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, Aunt. But all members of the royal family are the same; they cannot indulge their desires, nor can they shirk their responsibilities."
Some busybodies told me the whole story, all the while peering at my expression. I listened silently, my face expressionless, and my heart devoid of the emotional turmoil they expected. For I knew that for the princess, the ending was already predetermined. Her blossoming had ended at twenty-five; where the fallen petals rested was no longer important.
It's easy to imagine that she and Li Wei lived a life of absolute "respectful distance" in the princess's residence. They were both too deeply hurt, and their broken relationship was beyond repair; maintaining their own quiet existence was enough. Once, I overheard a painter talking about seeing the young master of the Bei Li family in Li Wei's garden. Upon further inquiry, I learned that he was the son of Yun Guo'er, while the princess had no children of her own, and naturally, she probably never would.
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During festivals, I would go to the palace wall of Jiying Hall to see the flower ornaments that the princess would cut for me. She never broke her promise; at dawn that day, she would hang the flower ornaments on the peach tree branches. By the time I entered the courtyard after the gate of Jiying Hall opened, the colorful ribbons and petals that had climbed over the wall were already dancing in the breeze on the branches, like a group of butterflies seeking fragrance.
Year after year, it was the same. Even after she returned to the princess's residence to live permanently, she did not give up this habit. She would always enter the palace the day before the festival and hang up the flower ornaments at dawn.
One year on Qixi Festival, she arrived late for some reason. I waited until almost noon before I saw that there were peach blossoms hanging on the peach branches. They were peaches hanging on a bamboo branch that stretched out to the peach tree.
Did the princess hang it herself? I quickly approached the palace wall and faintly heard the sound of jade pendants coming from inside.
I stood there, watching the bamboo branches rise and fall, causing flowers cut from colorful silk to bloom on the tips of the peach trees, whose flowering season had already passed. I was reluctant to move for a long time.
"Mr. Liang!" Suddenly someone ran over from the secret pavilion across the street and called out to me.
His voice was loud, and before I could look away, I noticed the bamboo branches above the flowering tree tremble, and then, along with the blossoms on the branches, they fell down.
The person had already run up to me. I hurriedly turned around to face him and found that it was Bai Maoxian, whom I hadn't seen for a long time.
He was also punished after the princess knocked on the palace gate at night and was demoted to a minor eunuch at the Qian Sheng Academy. Later, when Emperor Yingzong ascended the throne, several young princesses moved into the palace and lacked eunuchs to serve them, so Xiao Bai was transferred to the Hou Sheng to work.
Xiao Bai has now grown into a handsome young man, dressed in the high-ranking official robes of a palace eunuch, holding some scrolls in his hands, looking radiant.
"Not bad, you've advanced." I said to him with a smile.
He bowed respectfully to me and smiled, saying, "It's all thanks to your guidance, sir."
I exchanged a few pleasantries with him, glanced at the scroll in his hand, and casually asked, "What is this?"
"The princess is learning the 'flying white' style of calligraphy and wants me to come to Baowen Pavilion to get Emperor Renzong's calligraphy for her to copy," Xiaobai replied.
Princess? I was a little surprised, but then I understood. He was referring to a princess he was currently serving. Because he had served that princess during the reign of Emperor Yingzong, he still retained the old habit of calling her "princess"—just like me, the princess he was referring to was the only princess in his heart and eyes.
"The princess has already mastered the flying white technique very well. The Empress Dowager often teaches her, saying that she is very talented..." Xiao Bai continued to describe his princess's situation, his eyes sparkling with joy rising from the bottom of his heart.
I looked at him blankly, feeling somewhat uneasy.
He was completely oblivious and talked to me for a long time on his own, still forgetting to explain to me who the princess was, as if he thought it was something that everyone in the world would know.
Finally, he realized the time was running out: "Oh, the princess is still waiting for me, I must go. Take care, sir!"
Before I could answer, he cheerfully grabbed Emperor Renzong's imperial edict and ran off. I took a few steps forward, intending to call him back and offer some gentle reminders about his relationship with the princess, but he had already vanished outside the courtyard gate. I stopped silently, realizing that my advice might be futile. Hadn't the Empress and Mr. Zhang warned me before? Yet, it all happened the same way; I couldn't escape the abyss of fate.
Looking back at the peach blossoms, I could no longer see the bamboo shoots peeking out. I thought the princess had left, but as I stood there, I heard a faint sigh carried by the breeze over the wall.
I slowly stepped forward, placed my hands on the vermilion wall, and faced the direction where she might be.
Perhaps she's right behind this wall:
Perhaps she is also touching the wall, trying to find my direction:
Perhaps at this very moment, our palms meet, yet our gazes pass between us on either side of this red wall... The wind is rising, will she be cold? I extend my hand, will she still feel any warmth?
I looked up sadly at the vast sky.
The autumn sky is vast and shrouded in wispy rosy clouds; tonight, a faint moon should be visible in the misty clouds, and the Milky Way should shine brightly. But what is lacking is the gentle breeze and the jade dew; what is abundant is the vast expanse of the Milky Way. And who can be by her side, sharing the autumn light of the silver candle, and passing the cool breeze on the heavenly steps together?
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Since that day, the time when the flowers were hung up was getting later and later. I had a bad feeling. I made some inquiries and learned that the princess had a chronic illness. She often had chest pain, was weak and tired, and occasionally fainted.
During festivals, she still insisted on returning to the palace to hang flower ornaments, and I would still go early to wait. Although I might have to wait until very late, I would always be able to wait for her.
However, on the Flower Festival of the third year of Xining, I waited from dawn until almost dusk but still did not see the flowers appear on the treetops. Only the peach blossoms on the trees were blooming noisily in the spring breeze.
She must have returned to the palace. I also heard that her carriage was the last to enter the palace yesterday.
Why is Hua Sheng still nowhere to be seen?
My eyes were fixed on the peach blossom branches, and every sway of the flowers made my heart race. But as it turned out, it was just one joke after another played by the spring breeze.
As night fell, I finally got the result I had been waiting for. Instead of colorful flowers, what rose from the wall were dazzling white banners, layer upon layer, like a giant white wave about to crash down on us.
A mournful cry came from the inner palace. Soon after, the palace gates opened, and many eunuchs rushed to spread the news: The Grand Princess of Chu has passed away... She died in the spring of the third year of Xining, eight years after our separation.
Emperor Zhao Xu ordered her coffin to be sent back to the princess's residence, and then personally visited her residence to pay his respects, weeping bitterly.
He posthumously conferred upon the princess the title of Grand Princess of Qin and ordered his ministers to discuss her posthumous title. In the end, he personally chose the two characters "Zhuangxiao" because "Zhuangxiao means benevolent and filial to ancestors."
In addition, he demoted Li Wei to Chenzhou, publicly accusing him of "disobeying the Lord".
The Lonely City (The Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) Epilogue: Double Happiness
Chapter word count: 3906 Update time: 09-07-05 10:49
Double Happiness at the End
(3509 words)
In the third year of the Xining era, Cui Bai once again stepped into the Hanlin Painting Academy, which he had been away from for a long time. This time, his identity was that of an art student in the painting academy.