В погоне за радугами

Глава 103

So, he witnessed my departure with the princess in my arms. I silently gazed at the bamboo groves outside the window, inexplicably recalling the scroll of ink bamboo painting that he had torn to shreds years ago.

I remained silent, and so did Jiaqingzi. The prolonged silence became somewhat awkward, so I changed the subject: "The Empress Dowager..."

I wanted to ask Madam Yang about her reaction to this matter, but before Jiaqingzi could speak, Yunguoer rushed in from outside, bringing news of Madam Yang.

"Just now, the Empress Dowager suddenly ran up to the Princess's dressing room, entered a burning room, and refused to come down!" Yun Guo'er said in a panic.

I was also startled, and immediately went outside, turning back to the still-burning building. I walked quickly and asked Yun Guo'er, who had followed me, "Why did the Imperial Uncle's wife go up there? Didn't the Prince Consort stop her?"

Yun Guo'er said, "She was originally watching from downstairs. When she saw the master come in, her expression changed. Later, when the master took the princess away, she became even more unhappy. At first, she just wiped away her tears angrily, but the more she thought about it, the angrier she got, so she simply ran upstairs and pretended to set herself on fire. The prince consort rushed over to stop her, pull her, and beg her, but the princess's wife was determined and refused to come down..."

When I returned to the building, it was already teetering on the brink of collapse, seemingly about to crumble at any moment. Many people, seeing me arrive, tried to stop me: "It's dangerous upstairs, sir. Don't go up. Just wait here; we already have people up there..."

I looked up and saw figures moving around inside, but only a few servants were going in and out. The prince consort and Madam Yang were still inside and had not yet shown themselves.

I didn't wait any longer. I pushed the person in front of me aside and rushed upstairs to the room where Li Wei and her son were.

The room was a mess, littered with scattered debris. A large vase was smashed to pieces, and Madam Yang held a sharp shard of porcelain, just as the princess had done moments before, not allowing anyone to approach.

Several servants at the scene had bloodstains on their hands from being cut by porcelain shards, presumably from their struggle with Madam Yang. Therefore, they no longer approached her and instead waited by the door.

Li Wei, at his wit's end, knelt before his mother, kowtowing repeatedly with a thud, tears streaming down his face, pleading, "Mom, please go out, please go out..."

Madam Yang paid no heed to his advice. Clutching the screen pillar with one hand and a shard of vase in the other, she pointed it at her son, coughing through the increasingly thick smoke, yet still raising her voice in furious curses: "You worthless wretch! What did I do in my past life to give birth to such a vengeful ghost like you… I've worried about you for most of my life, and you're still utterly hopeless, unable even to be a proper husband, behaving like a grandson in front of your new wife… What's the point of me going out? To watch your new wife cause trouble? To watch you suffer like a green-haired turtle?… I might as well die here today, out of sight, out of mind, let her make a scene… After I drink the Meng Po soup, forgetting I had a son like you and a wife like her, that would be truly blissful…"

As she uttered those last words, tears streamed down her face, and she began to sob. But when she glanced at me, her anger flared instantly, and she yelled at me, "You neither-male-nor-female thing! You've been cut open and you still won't be at peace! Like a bald monk in a temple, you're always thinking about stealing other men's wives! You can't be beaten to death or driven away, and now you've come back. Are you trying to show off to me, or do you want to see me make a fool of myself?... Fine, I'll grant your wish today. I'll die here, and your vengeful spirit will haunt you. Let's see how long you can stay free!"

Having said that, she raised her hand, intending to use a shard of porcelain to cut her wrist. Li Wei seemed stunned, not reacting for a moment. I suddenly snatched it away, pulling her hand away just as the porcelain shard touched Madam Yang's wrist.

Yang grew increasingly enraged, broke free from my grasp, and swung the porcelain shards at me, aiming them at my head and face. I didn't retreat; I simply shifted my body to the side, causing her weapon to land on my left arm and back.

The sharp edge of the porcelain shard suddenly tore through several layers of my clothing, and the skin beneath cracked open, blood gushing out and staining my plain sleeves with a glaring bright red.

Madam Yang stared blankly for a moment, and her frenzied attack temporarily ceased.

I took the opportunity to turn around, steadyed her shoulder with one hand, and bent my elbow with the other, striking her temple with lightning speed, causing her to faint before she could regain her senses.

Li Wei called out "Mom!" and came forward to catch his mother. Then, with a hint of anger in his eyes, he frowned at me and said, "You, you..."

"Captain, now you can take the Empress Dowager out." I said to him, pressing the bleeding wound on my left arm.

The Lonely City Closes (The Princess Who Fell in Love with the Eunuch) A Pearl Amidst Rubble: A New Life Unearthed

Chapter word count: 3029 Update time: 09-07-05 10:40

Breaking out of the cocoon

(2782 words)

An hour later, I saw Madam Yang again. She was lying on the couch in her room, staring blankly at the roof beams. When she heard me come in, she turned her head and stared straight at me, her dry, tearful eyes red as if they were about to bleed.

I noticed that her disheveled hair was much whiter than a year ago, resembling gray and withered grass, without any luster. Her eye bags were prominent, and her wrinkles were deep. Although she was not yet sixty, she already looked very old.

Li Wei, standing beside her, slumped over the couch, like a plant battered by frost and snow, utterly devoid of life. When I entered, she merely turned her head and glanced at me indifferently before silently returning her gaze to the ground beneath her feet.

This past year has felt like winter to everyone. I lowered my head sadly and stepped forward to greet Madam Yang.

After her wound was bandaged, I went to ask her maid about her condition. Later, she regained consciousness and, for some reason, had someone summon me to see her.

"What are you doing here?" she stared at me fiercely, asking aggressively, "Did you come to see when I'm going to breathe my last?"

I offered no explanation. After a long silence, Li Wei spoke, whispering to his mother, "Mom, if he wanted you to be in any trouble, he wouldn't have come upstairs just now..."

Madam Yang glared at me and retorted, "Could it be that he saved me out of kindness?" Then she turned to look at me and said sternly, "Are you afraid that if I die, the Emperor and his ministers will not let you off the hook? If not, you hate me so much that you probably wish I were burned to ashes so that you and the princess could live happily ever after!"

I shook my head and said, "No, I don't hate Madam, nor do I hate anyone... I can't really explain why I went upstairs just now, but I think that no matter who was upstairs and didn't come down, I would have gone up there, regardless of whether that person was the Empress Dowager's wife or not."

Madam Yang was taken aback, then revealed a mocking smile: "Mr. Liang, you have done all the good things in the world. You are kind-hearted and compassionate, while I am ruthless and vicious. Not only did I not help you, but I also pushed you step by step and played the villain. How can you not hate me?"

I shook my head again and replied, "I am indeed guilty beyond redemption. If I were fortunate enough to have a son or daughter and encounter such a thing, I would also hate that arrogant and ignorant courtier... Madam has reasons to hate me, but I have no right to hate Madam, besides..." I paused, looked at the teacup on the table beside me, and continued, "I still remember the taste of the tea that Madam invited me to drink when I first delivered gifts to the residence of the Imperial Uncle."

Madam Yang remained silent, scrutinizing me for a long time before suddenly choking up again. The sharp edge she had displayed when facing me gradually softened, and her intermittent sobs lost their anger, leaving only endless sorrow and resentment: "Who would willingly put on a stern face and harden their heart to be a villain?... Now you all say I have a bad temper and treat people cruelly, but if I hadn't been a little fierce and ruthless, the Imperial Brother-in-law would have been trampled underfoot and bullied to death by those paper money vendors and street thugs in Tokyo long ago... During the New Year, the boss didn't pay him his wages, so I ran to his door in the middle of the night, pointed at his nose, and cursed him to get his wages back. Later, he started his own business and finally saved up some money, intending to send it to my house as a betrothal gift, but it was stolen by scoundrels. Again, I grabbed a kitchen knife and fought them to the death to get the money back..."

Pointing at Li Wei, she sobbed, "This child is as honest and submissive as his father. He never complains, even when he suffers a loss. He just swallows his pride and endures it all. It really worries me... I know he's not good with words, like a wooden puppet. The princess doesn't like him, fine, I'll tolerate it. I'll just treat the princess like a fairy. But the princess has entered my family after all. Everyone in the world knows she's my daughter-in-law. Now that she's involved in this with you, where does the prince consort put his face? You can hide in the house all day and never go out, but the prince consort has to go out and meet people often! He never argues with anyone, lives a proper life, and has been a good man for half his life. Why should he suffer such humiliation and torment..."

She became increasingly agitated as she spoke, finally bursting into tears and covering her face. I listened with my eyes down the whole time, without saying a word. After crying for a while, she suddenly sat up and said to me, "Mr. Liang, I know you're not a bad person. When I first met you, I genuinely liked you. You're good-looking, sensible, and well-mannered. The matter with the princess wasn't entirely your fault; perhaps it was just a moment of confusion... Could you please talk to the princess and ask her to distance herself from you in the future, to stop causing trouble, so that our family can live in peace?"

Faced with her expectant gaze, I didn't know how to answer. I frowned, feeling as if the situation was a tangled knot, with no way out.

Madam Yang interpreted my silence as a rejection, and immediately burst into tears again. She abruptly turned to face me, knelt down on the couch, tossed her gray hair, and desperately kowtowed to me, crying, "Please, Mr. Liang, promise me you won't provoke the princess again. Otherwise, how will my son live..."

Li Wei, the maids around us, and I were all shocked and rushed forward to stop her. Madam Yang struggled and insisted on kowtowing. Her cries and pleas were intertwined, making people feel sad and that she was filled with despair.

Long after leaving her chambers, her hoarse cries still lingered in my ears, refusing to fade. I stood guard over the sleeping princess, lost in thought for a while. Later, Jiaqingzi came from outside and told me about Madam Yang's new order: "The Empress Dowager just summoned all the servants and maids in the house and said that no one is allowed to reveal that the Master came to the house today. Anyone who dares to gossip about it to outsiders will have their tongue cut out."

After much deliberation, I stood up, prepared myself, and hurried out, intending to return to the palace before the princess woke up. However, at the gate of the residence, I encountered Li Wei, dressed in official robes, leading his horse out to enter the palace to meet the emperor.

"Sir, you should stay at home," he said, seeing my intention. "If the princess doesn't see you when she wakes up, she will probably be sad again."

His words surprised me somewhat, but he didn't show much emotion; he simply turned his head slowly under my gaze.

“I will explain what happened at home to the authorities,” he said.

I returned to the princess's side and stayed by her side until she opened her eyes.

She looked me over for a long time, and then carefully touched my eyebrows and eyes before she dared to confirm my existence.

“Huaiji, it really is you.” She sighed joyfully. “I thought it was just a dream.”