Chapter 24: Unwilling to Let Her Cause a Scene
Several pear trees had been planted before the hall. Clusters of blossoms, as delicate as fresh snow, were on the verge of blooming.
The chirping of birds perched among the branches was especially clear in the quiet spring night of the Forbidden Court.
Yunzhu bent down to pick up the jasper sachet. Seeing the utterly awful expression on her mistress’s face, she dared not speak.
After a long hesitation, she finally whispered, “Your Highness, why don’t we try going to Zichen Palace again tomorrow? His Majesty can’t possibly refuse to see you forever.”
“We’ll see,” Zhao Yiyi did not agree immediately. She took a few shallow, rapid breaths and asked calmly, “When did she leave?”
Yunzhu paused, then realized she was talking about He Xunling. “Miss He left at half-past seven,” she said quickly. “She was empty-handed when she came out, but from her expression, she didn’t seem to be in a good mood.”
Empty-handed when she came out… that means the food container was delivered.
It felt as though a large hand was gripping her heart, squeezing so tightly she could hardly breathe. She furrowed her brow in pain.
He was unwilling to see her. The food she had made with her own hands could only be passed on by a palace attendant. Yet in the next moment, that He Xunling had entered Zichen Palace and stayed inside for so long.
Whatever the reason, her dignity as the Empress had been trampled into the dust.
Yunzhu quickly put an arm around her delicate shoulders and gently rubbed her back. “Your Highness, it’s getting late. Please try to sleep. We can deal with everything else in the morning.”
The mid-spring night still held a slight chill. Lying on her side under a thin quilt, she found it impossible to fall asleep.
Zhao Yiyi’s eyes snapped open. The faint candlelight from the bedchamber filtered through the silk gauze curtains, casting a dim, yellow glow.
In the deep of the night, she finally understood why he had sent her all that jewelry the other day. An entire box, filled with treasures.
Was it because he felt he had wronged her and wanted to compensate her?
So he knew… he knew she would feel wronged by this.
And even so, he had still made his choice without a shred of hesitation.
The more she thought about it, the more unbearable the tightness in her chest became. A sour bitterness crept into her nose and the corners of her eyes. Tears welled up, and within a few breaths, they had pooled into a vast ocean in her eyes.
When her eyes could no longer hold them back, the tears streamed down from the corners, soaking the cloud-patterned soft pillow.
She had barely eaten anything for supper. As she cried, her strength gave out, and her mind grew foggy. She didn’t know how long she had been crying before she finally drifted into a heavy, troubled sleep.
Suddenly, her surroundings became unnaturally dark. A thick fog blurred her vision. In a trance, she faintly recalled the past.
“The Crown Prince has reached the age for marriage. Some time ago, I recommended you to His Majesty to be the Crown Princess. Today, His Majesty has given me his reply.” Amidst the gentle breeze wafting from the pond, the Grand Princess lifted her teacup for a light sip. “In a few days, an imperial edict should be issued.”
This was the first time Zhao Yiyi had learned that she was to become the Crown Princess.
Outwardly, she only said, “Thank you, Aunt, for looking out for Yiyi.” But in her heart, she couldn’t hide a secret joy.
From now on, she would be bound to this person, sharing honor and disgrace, life and death.
Seeing her stunned into silence, her aunt thought she was unwilling. “The status of Crown Princess is noble, a marriage that all the women in the world would envy. You should think it over carefully.”
At that time, she was young and stubborn, and her conflict with Lady Xu was at its peak. She showed no emotion on her face, merely agreeing with a soft “yes,” while in her heart, she wished for nothing more than to escape the marquis’s estate immediately.
After they were married, Zhao Yiyi gradually learned that her aunt had recommended her not out of affection, but to oppose the Empress. Furthermore, her own cousin was too young, and searching for a suitable candidate from a more distant branch of the family was less ideal than her, a direct maternal niece.
Even so, she had been willing.
She remembered when they had just been married. No matter how late it was or what was going on, she would always wait for him to have supper together—that was how it had been when her grandparents were alive. She had assumed all married couples in the world were supposed to be like that.
Until one day, after a meal, her husband told her there was no need to wait. “Gu’s schedule for handling state affairs is never fixed. The Crown Princess need not wait for Gu. You may have your meals first.”
At first, she hadn’t paid his words much mind. She continued to have the meals prepared as usual and waited for him to come for supper. A few days later, the Crown Prince didn’t come to her Lizheng Palace at all. He merely sent a message saying he had already eaten and that she shouldn’t wait.
Zhao Yiyi had thought it was just for one day, but it soon became a daily occurrence. Thinking the Crown Prince was being considerate of her, she stopped waiting, and from then on, they ate their meals separately.
So it turned out, he wasn’t being considerate. He simply hadn’t wanted to eat with her for a long time.
He acted that way in the past, Zhao Yiyi thought hazily, only out of good breeding, choosing to grant his wife a thin veneer of respect. And I was so foolish, I couldn’t see any of it.
The next day, Zhao Yiyi slept until nine in the morning, a rare occurrence.
Since becoming Empress, her days had been filled with palace duties, and she sometimes had to attend to Gu Zhen before his morning court session. It had been a long time since she had woken up so late.
“The kitchen made pine-flower cakes today. Your Highness should have a few more.” Mancao whispered as she combed her hair. “Your Highness barely ate a few bites last night. You must make up for it today.”
Zhao Yiyi pressed her lips into a small smile. With that faint smile, the dimples at the corners of her mouth appeared and disappeared.
She had someone open the windows of the side hall wide. One glance outside revealed trees laden with blossoms like heavy snow. Just as Zhao Yiyi lowered her head to eat her morning meal alone, a figure, backlit by the morning sun, walked in slowly from outside.
“The Empress is having her morning meal?”
The man had clearly just come from the morning court session. He hadn’t yet changed out of his crisp court robes, which made him appear even taller and more imposing. His handsome face was hidden in the shadows, but the shifting light did nothing to diminish his beauty.
Why is my husband here? Didn’t he refuse to see me?
Zhao Yiyi was stunned for a moment. Then she put down her chopsticks and stood up to greet him.
As she stood there, she felt completely at a loss.
Gu Zhen raised a hand. “Coincidentally,” he said calmly, “Zhen has not had the morning meal either.”
The Emperor’s meaning was clear: he would be having his morning meal in Jiaofang Palace.
This had never happened before. The palace attendants also froze for a second before turning to go prepare another serving of food.
Aside from that initial exchange, the two of them were silent, each eating their own meal. Zhao Yiyi’s eating pace was much slower than before.
Gu Zhen looked up, his eyes sweeping over her slightly trembling hand as she held her spoon. He saw how she kept her lips tightly sealed, saying nothing, and his brow suddenly furrowed.
“Zhen heard that the Empress came looking for Zhen yesterday?” Gu Zhen asked, his brow knitted.
Zhao Yiyi’s long eyelashes fluttered. “Yes,” she replied. “This consort prepared some food and wanted to bring it to Your Majesty, but at that time, Your Majesty was already resting. This consort did not dare to disturb you and so returned.”
Gu Zhen’s dark, sharp brows furrowed slightly, and the chiseled features of his face seemed to soften. “Zhen went to the Left Wuwei military camp in the northern suburbs yesterday and only returned to the palace this morning. The palace staff likely said that because they did not dare to reveal Zhen’s whereabouts.”
His calm and casual words reignited a flicker of hope in her eyes.
So, it wasn’t that he was unwilling to see me, but that he wasn’t in the palace.
Her heart pounded, as if new sprouts were beginning to grow. Therefore, when he asked why she had sought him out yesterday, Zhao Yiyi lifted her face, her heart filled with trepidation. “Your Majesty, this consort heard that my father was dismissed from his post a few days ago for repeated offenses…”
She was unclear about the situation with her aunt and cousin and dared not speak rashly. But her brother… her brother had truly been unfairly implicated by Zhao Weimin.
There were faint dark circles under the man’s eyes. He stared at her for a long time with his dark, deep eyes.
When he returned to the palace this morning, he had heard that she had come by last evening and had been turned away. Fearing she would overthink it and throw another tantrum, he had come straight to Jiaofang Palace right after the morning court session, without even eating.
He had thought that after learning the truth, she would ask him about it.
Instead, all he heard was her concern for Zhao Weimin.
The Empress was truly different now, just as he had previously thought. She was placing him less and less in her regard.
His expression suddenly turned cold. “The Empress went looking for Zhen last night, just to say this?”
Zhao Yiyi leaned forward and gently tugged on his sleeve.
Gu Zhen turned his head slightly. His gaze fell upon the sleeve, embroidered with clouds supporting the sun and moon, where a fair, jade-like hand was carefully pulling at it.
“Your Majesty!” Zhao Yiyi’s hand suddenly tightened, and tears fell without warning. “This consort knows that Father’s transgressions are difficult to forgive, but my elder brother was not involved in Father’s affairs. I hope Your Majesty will not redirect your anger toward my brother because of my father…”
A cold sneer touched Gu Zhen’s lips. He should have known she would say this, shouldn’t he?
He hadn’t wanted to tell her precisely because he had guessed she would cause a scene over this, and with his recent busy schedule of state affairs, he simply didn’t have the spare energy to coax her.
That he could spare some time today to come and see her for a moment was already his limit.
“This is not your concern. You need only fulfill your duties as Empress.” To prevent her from continuing to make a scene, Gu Zhen brushed her hand away and stood up abruptly.
The Emperor’s sudden anger made every servant in the room lower their heads, their bodies trembling, not daring to provoke his wrath at such a moment.
He shot a cold glance at Zhao Yiyi. “If it is for matters such as this,” he said icily, “the Empress need not come to Zichen Palace to find Zhen in the future.”
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