Part 3
She didn’t want to deal with it.
She didn’t want to review them.
I clearly have so many other things I can do, so many things I can learn. I’ve already decided not to like that person anymore. Why, why must I still deal with these utterly boring palace affairs?
He thinks I’m boring, thinks I’m not obedient enough. Am I not obedient enough?
Working diligently and conscientiously on these things—has it ever earned even half a reaction from him?
Oh, it has. It earned his remark: “Can’t you even do something this simple?”
Her chest ached with a heavy weight, and Zhao Yiyi suddenly felt it hard to breathe. She stood up and paced two steps in front of the window. Looking back at the palace documents, she felt even more agitated.
After thinking for a moment, she said, “Go and sort out some hairpins and jewelry.”
The female officials bowed and withdrew. Zhao Yiyi continued to pace around the room a few times, but she gradually calmed down.
She had already lost her natal family’s support, and lost her husband’s favor. If she lost everything else, what would she do? What would her younger siblings who relied on her do?
She had been acting absurd and despondent for these past days; it was time to think clearly.
She was the rightful Empress of Great Chu. Handling these palace affairs was originally her responsibility. If she cast them aside herself—whether they were taken over by the Empress Dowager, snatched by a newcomer, or gathered back into the Emperor’s own hands—
It would be of no benefit to her at all.
Thinking of this, Zhao Yiyi’s heart beat faster.
Suddenly, she seemed to understand many things and see many things clearly.
Since she didn’t have her husband’s love, and since she was already struggling in the palace because she had no children, she absolutely could not abandon these palace duties and hand a handle to others just like that.
“It’s already 4 PM (Shen Zheng),” Zhao Yiyi murmured, looking at the sun slanting to the west.
4 PM. Not too late. I still have time to review them.
Holding the edge of the desk, Zhao Yiyi slowly sat down. She took the musk ink block and ground the ink herself, staring blankly at the pear blossoms filling the tree outside the window.
That clear and handsome young man under the pear blossoms has disappeared after all. Just like that, vanished into the long years. I finally understand what Mother said: people who seem beautiful in youth… it is best not to see them again in the future.
Seeing them again will only leave you covered in bruises.
The gentle as jade, humble and soft demeanor I thought he had was nothing but a facade draped over his cold, hard interior. It was just a layer of skin.
Inside that skin, he is exactly the same as the late Emperor with his ruthless, iron-fisted methods.
I should have known. Growing up alone in the Eastern Palace from the age of five, and raised by the late Emperor’s side… how could he truly be gentle?
The rich ink slowly dissolved in the inkstone, even emitting a faint fragrance. Zhao Yiyi’s expression gradually became resolute.
Since he doesn’t like me, then I won’t like him either. Not only that, I must learn… learn to be like him, to have a cold, hard heart. Only then will I not hurt myself.
A clap of spring thunder startled her. The dark, heavy clouds were sliced open by a bolt of light. In no time at all, the spring rain began to patter down, striking the pear branches.
The wind carried a chill. Zhao Yiyi didn’t rise to close the window. She continued to stare blankly at the pear blossoms, grinding the ink heavily, her face as still as water.
When Yunzhu entered, she saw the window half-open, the fierce wind carrying rain silk into the room, dampening the Empress’s sleeves.
She hurriedly closed the window and said respectfully, “Your Highness, the jewelry has been sorted out. Do you have any instructions?”
“Later.” Zhao Yiyi smiled and replied softly, “Wait until I finish dealing with these palace affairs.”
Yunzhu was stunned, a look of disbelief flashing across her face.
Hasn’t Her Highness disliked these duties recently? Usually, she wouldn’t touch a pen until nightfall.
Today… what on earth happened?
Her heart thumped a few times. Yunzhu responded with a “Yes,” then took the musk ink block, added some water, and slowly began to grind it.
“From now on, tell the Shanggong Bureau to send the documents earlier.” Zhao Yiyi’s voice turned cold, her expression distant. “For those that are not very important, tell them to review them first before bringing them over! As for which ones are unimportant, let them figure it out themselves. Don’t make me say it again.”
Yunzhu listened with trepidation, yet also—a sliver of happiness.
After all these days, has Her Highness finally come around and decided to let it go?
This way, she can be a little happier.
She stopped for a dinner break in between, and it wasn’t until the lamps were lit that the palace affairs were finally finished.
Zhao Yiyi rubbed her sore wrist and frowned. “Bring those things from earlier.”
Yunzhu complied and brought the jewelry that everyone had just sorted out.
Two full boxes, all things the Empress didn’t use much on ordinary days.
Brushing over the various hairpins, armlets, and rings one by one, Zhao Yiyi laughed twice. “Put them all away. Don’t put them back in storage; just put them in my dressing case for now. We’ll talk about it later.”
These hairpins were what she intended to add to Duanduan’s dowry.
Before her grandparents passed away, they had prepared things for all the siblings, but with her father in charge, it was impossible for them to take it all. The Marquis’s manor was in such a state now, and with Lady Xu casting aspersions from the side, Duanduan’s dowry would only be less, not more.
“Go check tomorrow how much money is left in my storeroom.” Zhao Yiyi gave a gentle instruction, but then thought about how the family wasn’t doing well right now. By the end of the year, she somewhat wanted to bring Duanduan into the palace so she could marry from there. It would be more dignified.
While pondering, Zhao Yiyi remembered that her brother was also supposed to marry in the next year or two; he would probably be delayed.
But Zhao Yuan was the heir of the Marquisate, unlike the others. Zhao Weimin would naturally care about his marriage, so she didn’t need to worry about it.
“It’s getting late.” Zhao Yiyi signaled the female official to remove her jewelry, rubbed her fingertips, and said softly, “Go to the bathhouse to wash up, then it’s time to sleep.”
Jewelry removed, heavy outer robes shed. Hot water had long been prepared in the bathhouse, currently emitting curling steam.
Zhao Yiyi had been tired all day. As the heat swept over her body in the pool, her eyelids felt heavy, and her head was a bit dizzy. After a hasty wash, she didn’t pause for a moment, lying straight on the couch and falling asleep.
When the female official called out several times from outside the bed curtains the next morning with no movement from inside, she hesitated for a moment before boldly lifting a slit in the shark-silk curtain.
The dawn light spilled through the gap onto the bed, illuminating the Empress’s picturesque face. The official clearly saw two flushes of red on the Empress’s cheeks, and the brocade quilt had been kicked off.
Reaching out to check, her fingertips felt a scorching heat that made her heart tighten.
Yunzhu entered and saw her poking her head into the curtain, which happened to violate the Empress’s taboo. She frowned and asked, “What’s wrong?”
The female official looked back at her, her voice trembling. “Quick, go summon the imperial physician. Her Highness has caught a chill and is burning up.”
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