Le charme d'une femme puissante se répand à travers le monde

Chapitre 123

“Brother, Father needs to meditate now. If you have anything to report, please have Yue’er convey it to him as well.” The Crown Prince looked at the old man Yun with a warm and loving smile.

"Very well, since Your Majesty has waited so long without seeing Father, I'm afraid Father won't summon anyone today." Although Old Man Yun tried his best to put on a smile, as I've said before, it's better for Old Man Yun not to smile at all, because his smile is strange and doesn't give people the feeling of "Oh, he finally smiled."

But what is he saying? No one will be summoned today? That old man summoned me, didn't he? Are you implying I'm not human, Elder Yun? Never mind, putting aside the question of whether I'm human or god, something about the conversation between Uncle Crown Prince and Elder Yun feels strange. It's not as harmonious and loving as it usually is. Something's definitely fishy!

Just as I was muttering to myself, they actually smiled and nodded in acknowledgment, then turned and left like sycophants. Didn't they have something to say? Why did they just leave without saying a word? They really don't respect me. I was immediately annoyed, turned around angrily, and strode inside.

"What do you mean?" The old man looked at me striding back, quite surprised.

“He didn’t say much,” I said, still somewhat angry. I took a sip of tea and added, “No, he didn’t say anything at all.”

"Girl." His voice carried a hint of earnestness.

"Yes, Grandfather, Yue'er knows she was wrong." I sat back down at the low table beside the dragon bed, head bowed, obediently admitting my mistake. Sigh, I need to restrain myself. This isn't the Dragon Yao Kingdom; this old man is my elder, not like a fox. After dealing with some more memorials, I excused myself when the Empress brought in the medicine. Actually, I was hungry; it was almost noon, and I hadn't eaten much breakfast.

After a few days, I noticed something was increasingly wrong. Not only was I reading and approving memorials daily, but I was also constantly dealing with everyone who came to see the old man. After returning to Zuiyue Palace at noon, before I had even finished my meal, I was constantly visited by "princess" daughters—the Crown Princess, several princesses, and so on—who would affectionately hold my hand, completely ignoring the goosebumps running down my spine. They would chatter for ages, always circling back to the old man's health. I told them with utmost sincerity and frankness that the old man was perfectly fine, just a minor ailment that wouldn't last long, but although they all thanked heaven and earth, their expressions betrayed a hint of disbelief. I couldn't get any answers from them, so they could only reluctantly take their leave.

Well, you can't blame them. Apart from the old Empress Chen Shou and her personal imperial physician, I was the only idle person who had ever seen the old man. Not only did I report to his palace every day, but I also reviewed memorials on his behalf. Several times, when officials had urgent matters to report, I would rush out of the palace and then rush back to the old man to relay what I had heard to him. As was customary, it would be a very long time, long enough for me to wake up from a nap, before the old man would order me to pass on his verbal edict to the people waiting outside the palace gates who were almost collapsing from exhaustion.

After court that day, he returned to Zuiyue Palace. Before eating, he suddenly remembered something and asked Wang An, who was serving him, "Wang An, before you returned to Xiuruo, was there any news from Longzhou?"

"Your Highness, I heard that the Second Prince, who has been missing for nearly three years, has suddenly returned to the palace." The table was full of dishes, and only Wang An was left to serve me in the room. He brought a large plate of bones that Yao Yao had been eating to my right and then bowed to reply.

"Anything else?" I know about Xiaobai's return to the palace, for his mother, Consort Yu, who had been a palace maid for nearly three years to survive.

He seemed to furrow his brow slightly in thought for a moment, then replied, "This servant does not know."

I nodded to him, handed a large bone to Yao Yao beside me, then stroked its long golden fur and said calmly, "Wang An, I need to rest for a while. Give the order that no one should disturb me. Also, you should personally go and ask my brother to come to the palace."

He accepted the order and withdrew. After I finished eating, I went back to the inner room to take a nap. Halfway through my nap, I heard someone nagging incessantly, "Princess, wake up! Princess, wake up!" I hate it when people disturb my peaceful sleep, so I initially planned to ignore it. But I couldn't stand it anymore and forced myself to open my eyes. Sure enough, I saw Yan'er standing outside the inner room door, looking timid but with an unusually loud voice, still chanting, "Princess, wake up! Princess, wake up!" She clearly hadn't noticed that I had opened my eyes. It wasn't until I suddenly sat up in bed that she gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, then hurriedly let go and knelt down, saying, "Princess, Her Majesty the Empress has sent someone to invite you."

The Empress? She wants something from me at this hour? My temper vanished instantly. I waved her off, stood up, and said, "I know."

Watching her leave, and then straightening my appearance, I patted Yao Yao's head, then turned and went out the door. It was Jinxiang, the old empress's personal maid. I followed her towards the central palace, wondering what the old empress wanted to see me about, and also thinking that my brother and Wang An should be arriving at the palace by now.

Upon entering the central palace, I bowed and paid my respects. I was slightly surprised that the old empress was not in the old man's palace with him at this time. After all, for the past few days, I had been reading and reviewing memorials for the old man in the mornings, while the old empress usually stayed by his side to take care of him after he started taking his medicine around noon.

"Girl, your father came to see me yesterday. Do you know why?" Actually, the old empress was over sixty years old. She was the old man's first wife, so she seemed to have aged several years in a short time.

Honestly, I'm not a mind reader, how would I know what you were talking about yesterday? Besides, since we're going to discuss this now, can't we just be straightforward and clear about it? Thinking this to herself, she automatically and respectfully replied, "Moon doesn't know."

"He hopes that I can persuade Princess Hao."

Huh? Advise Princess Hao? Why would I advise Princess Hao? Thinking of Princess Hao, who's been "sick" ever since Yun Feng moved into the Hao Prince's residence, is advising her... could it be that Old Man Yun has had a change of heart and is going to "officially" recognize my brother, so he can live a life of luxury in the Hao Prince's residence and no one will ever give him the cold shoulder again? OH MY GOD, could this really be true? Whether it's true or not, I'm starting to get a little excited. I try my best to remain calm and silent.

"I had someone invite your brother here, and he should be here by now." She didn't press me to speak, but looked at me with a smile, and after a long while, she smiled and said.

Huh? The Empress Dowager also went to invite Yunfeng? Oh dear, I hope I don't run into Wang An! But even if I do, it doesn't matter. I just want to see my brother; it's not like it's some heinous crime. So I happily smiled and said, "Really? Grandmother, what a coincidence! Yue'er also really wants to see her brother today."

Without mentioning sending Wang An to find someone, it's best to be half-truthful and half-lies. Whether or not they bumped into Wang An, this way of speaking wouldn't be wrong. Before long, Jinxiang led people in. The first person they saw was Old Man Yun, followed by Yun Feng.

"Brother!" I disregarded the rules and the annoying old man Yun, and ran to Yun Feng. He glanced at me with a smile, then turned away, lifted his robe, knelt down, bowed his head, and said respectfully, "Your humble servant Yun Feng greets Her Majesty the Empress."

I stood there, stunned, a pang of sadness in my heart. While I was enjoying the favor and laughter of the imperial palace, my brother could only enter the palace by summons, holding the rank of a fourth-grade court official. "Your humble servant?" My brother had abandoned everything in the Longyao Kingdom to come to the place he disliked most, without hesitation or reservation, wading into this unknown and turbulent water.

"They look so alike! Just look at their features, they're exactly the same as the girl." Old Man Yun followed suit and bowed in greeting. The old empress looked at her youngest son with a loving expression, gesturing for him to sit down to the side. Then she turned to look at Yun Feng, before turning back to me, sighing in admiration, but did not ask her brother to get up.

With a smile on my face, I walked towards Yunfeng and said, "Grandma, siblings are not just about looking alike, but also about feeling each other's hearts. My brother can feel when I'm happy, and he can feel when I'm sad."

As I finished speaking, I happened to stand next to Yunfeng. I knelt down, reached out and took Yunfeng's hand, turning my head to look at him: "Brother, don't you think so?"

"What are you doing kneeling? Get up quickly." The old empress seemed to only then notice that we were kneeling, and hurriedly gestured for us to get up.

I tried to help Yunfeng to his feet, but he refused. Instead, he knelt before me and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant Yunfeng greets Princess Zuiyue."

I hurriedly jumped back a large step, then went back to his side and pulled him hard, saying, "Brother, what are you doing? Get up, get up!"

He then stood up, but his hand instinctively tried to pull away. I knew there was nothing wrong with what he was doing, but I still couldn't accept it. I turned around and threw myself into his arms, crying out, "Brother, I missed you so much!"

“Princess Moon…” He blurted out instinctively, but immediately corrected himself after only saying “Moon”.

“Brother will always be brother, and Yue’er will always be Yue’er.” I immediately stated my position, then bowed to the Empress Dowager and pleaded, “Grandmother, please allow brother and I to continue to address each other as brother and sister. This has been the case since Yue’er was able to speak, and it has not changed for nearly twenty years. If, because Yue’er has been granted the title of princess, our brother-sister relationship has become distant, how is that any different from those who, after achieving success, disown their poor relatives? Family ties are the most precious thing, and I think Grandmother would not want Yue’er to be a cold-hearted person.”

"Yue'er, how can you speak to your royal grandmother like that!" Before the old empress could speak, the old man Yun rebuked her sternly.

"Alright, alright, why are you getting angry?" The old empress glanced at the three of them before beckoning to me. I went over as instructed, and she took my hand before saying to Old Man Yun, "This girl is different from you all. Over the years, not to mention her deceased mother, you, as her father, have rarely seen her. Only her brother has always been by her side. Naturally, the two siblings are close, and it's not something against nature or reason. Just let them be. Just be mindful of their behavior in public."

"I knew Grandmother would love me the most!" I quickly snuggled into the old empress's arms. She smiled and patted my back, then looked at Old Man Yun and asked, "Is the Princess Consort feeling any better?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am much better now." When facing the old empress, Old Man Yun's attitude was absolutely respectful, and his voice was absolutely gentle.

"Since she's much better, let her come to the palace. Let her throw a tantrum and not come to pay her respects to me for months." The old empress's voice held a rare hint of anger.

"Yes, Mother." The old empress was slightly angry, and the old man Yun looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Grandmother, may I invite my brother to visit my Drunken Moon Palace?" I really disliked Old Man Yun, and I understood what was going on in my mind. I'd better be sensible and leave, letting the mother and son chat. Besides, since Yun Feng has come to the palace, how can he not visit my palace? He should at least know the way so he can come directly to my place if he needs anything in the future.

The old empress smiled at me, then looked up at Yunfeng standing to the side and nodded. I immediately bowed and took my leave, took Yunfeng's hand, and ran straight towards Zuiyue Palace.

Clouds Drunk and the Moon Slightly Asleep (Revised Edition) Volume Four: A Hidden Sorrow and Resentment Arise from the Imperial Censor

Chapter word count: 8551 Update time: 08-12-24 13:02

Imperial Censor

"Moon, slow down, slow down." Yunfeng gripped my hand tightly, indicating that I should walk slower.