Part 2
Thinking of the palace banquet that day, where the Seventh Prince had run around blindly and injured many people, the Empress Dowager also felt that it was a bit inappropriate, so her face was also very embarrassed.
After a light cough, she said, “Ai, he is a bit mischievous, but young boys are always like this when they are young. You two are biological brothers after all, so your relationship is naturally deeper. The Seventh Prince will be like the Fourth Prince in the future, helping you to share your worries and solve your difficulties.”
“Share my worries and solve my difficulties?” Gu Zhen seemed to have heard something extremely funny. A sarcastic arc appeared on his lips, interrupting what the Empress Dowager was about to say, “We have never expected him to be able to share Our worries and solve Our difficulties.”
The Empress Dowager’s expression darkened a little, “If the Fourth Prince can do it, why can’t the Seventh Prince? The Seventh Prince is also your aunt’s son.”
“So the Seventh Prince is Consort Dowager He’s son. If Mother hadn’t said so, We would have thought that the Seventh Prince was Mother’s biological son, and We were picked up from the streets.” Gu Zhen rarely joked with the Empress Dowager, but this joke was mixed with a bit of a warning.
The Empress Dowager naturally didn’t hear it. She was about to say something else when she heard the Emperor say again, “A’Qi saved Our life when he was young, and he is also outstanding in political affairs. Otherwise, does Mother think that with so many members of the imperial family and so many of Imperial Father’s children, why would We use him?”
The two of them ended up on very bad terms. After the Emperor left, the Empress Dowager sat there alone, sighing several times.
“I was just trying to persuade him a little, and he gave me a long face.” The Empress Dowager endured it for a while, but she couldn’t help but complain, “Isn’t it for his own good? If he wasn’t my biological son, I wouldn’t even bother to care.”
Since the matter involved the Emperor, and with the fate of the Seventh Prince’s attendants from yesterday as a precedent, no one dared to discuss matters in front of the Empress Dowager. When the Empress Dowager spoke for a long time without a response, she became even angrier.
While the Empress Dowager was sulking, Linchuan pushed open the door and entered in a hurry, asking her, “Mother, did Imperial Brother just leave? Did you tell Imperial Brother that those palace attendants have no sense of propriety? The Seventh Prince was beaten so badly.”
The Empress Dowager was not in the mood to answer her and just gave a perfunctory reply. But Linchuan said again, “Did Mother tell Imperial Brother about my choosing a study companion just now?”
“No.” The Empress Dowager glanced at her, her expression indifferent.
Linchuan suddenly became anxious and grabbed the Empress Dowager’s arm, asking, “It’s so rare for Imperial Brother to come. How could Mother have forgotten to say it! When will the next time be?”
The Empress Dowager came back to her senses at this time, her voice a little cold, “Choose what? If you are obedient and well-behaved, it’s better than any study companion.”
It wasn’t that she hadn’t mentioned the matter of a study companion to the Emperor. She also really wanted to choose a few talented and virtuous people to guide her daughter. But the Emperor had made it clear that he would not allow it, saying that Linchuan didn’t even like to go to school on weekdays and would delay others.
As for finding those who were playful, the Emperor would certainly not care, but the Empress Dowager knew that Linchuan was already mischievous and that she was not asking for a study companion to study, but to have someone to play with openly. Knowing her nature, the Empress Dowager was not at all happy.
Therefore, the Empress Dowager gritted her teeth and refused to budge, “Your Imperial Brother forbids it. Don’t mention it again in the future.”
Linchuan was rarely treated so sternly by the Empress Dowager, so she pouted, looking very unhappy, and couldn’t help but mutter in a low voice, “Mother promised me before.”
Hearing the wind outside, the Empress Dowager’s expression softened a little. She gently held her and coaxed her for a few words, then said warmly, “Since you have nothing to do, go to Jiaofang Palace for Mother and give the Empress something.”
“Give what?” Linchuan asked curiously.
Looking at the branch of apricot blossoms that slanted into the window, the Empress Dowager sighed lightly, her voice heavy, “Just some trinkets. Your Imperial Brother has just dismissed the Marquis of Huai’an from his post, and the heir’s official position has also been removed. It’s quite pitiful.”
The sun was still bright at this time, and Jiaofang Palace was far from Wanchun Palace. Linchuan was a little reluctant, but she finally agreed reluctantly, “I know.”
A few chirps of birds came from the dense branches and leaves. It was just after noon, and these few chirps sounded very weak when listened to carefully.
When Linchuan arrived, Zhao Yiyi was in the courtyard setting the shape of the two fir wood boards. She was holding a long wooden tablet and was bent over, drawing the shape of the zither body on the wooden board.
She was wearing a green gauze袒领shirt today, revealing a piece of skin as white as new snow. Clusters of small flowers were dotted on the shirt, and her crimson long skirt trailed on the ground.
Linchuan rarely saw the Empress dressed like this. Most of the time, she was dressed in a dignified and luxurious attire that matched her status and demeanor as the mother of the nation.
Undoubtedly, the Empress was an extremely beautiful person. Her raven-black hair was soft and smooth, half-held up by a jade hairpin. Her apricot eyes contained a hint of mist, and her lips were as red as if they had been rouged. There was no part of her that was not beautiful, no part that was not exquisite.
Today’s attire made her look even more radiant and moving, like a thousand rays of rosy light.
“Imperial Sister-in-law.” Linchuan curtsied and called out to her softly.
Zhao Yiyi stopped what she was doing and slowly raised her head.
Although there were sunshades in the courtyard, the afternoon sun still shone down, causing beads of sweat to form on the tip of her nose. A few strands of her bangs were scattered from her movements, and her gaze was as gentle as water.
“The sun is so strong. Why did Linchuan come over?” Zhao Yiyi threw down the wooden tablet, wiped her hands with a handkerchief, and pointed to the seat beside her, saying warmly, “Please sit.”
Perhaps it was a continuation of the old story between the Empress Dowager and the Grand Princess, but she and Linchuan had also always been at odds. Except for the two occasions on the winter solstice and New Year’s Day when the noblewomen had an audience with the Empress, Linchuan rarely came to Jiaofang Palace.
If it were when she had just married into the Eastern Palace, she might have been happy, but ever since she learned about the old story between her aunt and the Empress Dowager, she felt that the relationship between the aunts and sisters-in-law of the Gu imperial family was probably inherently at odds.
Linchuan pursed her lips and asked after sitting down on the reed mat, “What is Imperial Sister-in-law doing?”
Zhao Yiyi glanced at the two fir wood boards in the courtyard and said softly, “I’ve had some leisure time recently, so I plan to make a zither to practice my skills.”
Hearing this, Linchuan immediately lost interest. She had always been annoyed by these things, so she gestured behind her and said with her face raised, “Mother asked me to bring some trinkets for Imperial Sister-in-law.”
Looking behind Linchuan, Zhao Yiyi nodded and said, “Thank you for your trouble in making this trip. I haven’t been to see Mother these past few days either. I’m sorry that she is still thinking of me. Please thank Mother for me.”
Linchuan opened her mouth, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes.
Why did she feel that the Empress was a little different today?
It was as if… she was exceptionally cold and indifferent.
She subconsciously looked around and suddenly felt that it was too quiet inside, so quiet that she could clearly hear the low chirping of the spring birds, the sound of the wind, and the sound of the branches and leaves hitting each other.
The quiet and deep atmosphere didn’t even seem like Jiaofang Palace, where the Empress of Great Chu lived.
After Linchuan left, Zhao Yiyi sat under the bamboo curtain for a while. It was not until the shadow of the sun moved and gradually shone on her face that she slowly got up.
Her gaze swept over the brocade box that the Empress Dowager had sent. She then picked up the wooden tablet from before and continued to sketch the unfinished zither body.
She planned to make a zither in the style of a cascading waterfall with continuous pearls. She carefully drew the outline according to the dimensions. When the last stroke was finished, Zhao Yiyi belatedly ordered, “See what it is and put it all in the storeroom.”
A zither should be made of two pieces of wood. She had only drawn one of them and planned to rest for a while before finishing the other half in one go.
Yunzhu replied in a low voice, but her gaze pierced through the bamboo curtain above her head, through the lush plane trees in the courtyard, and looked towards the spring sunshine in the distance.
Although Her Majesty had not closed the gates of Jiaofang Palace and had not forbidden them to go out for a walk, Her Majesty herself was unwilling to go out, as if she was going to fulfill what she had said that day, that she would not go anywhere.
Yunzhu trembled and glanced at Zhao Yiyi, who was taking a nap on the rattan chair. A thought suddenly popped into her head.
Her Majesty might not be in a pique. This time, she might be serious.
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