Part 2
Zhao Yiyi responded warmly with a yes, but watched helplessly as he reopened the palace affairs document he had intended to put back and spread it on the desk.
“Your Majesty?” She was a bit confused, thinking something was wrong, so she craned her neck to look.
Gu Zhen picked up a brush, licked the ink, and added something to the document.
The green jade Boshan censer on the table burned green cassia incense. Blown by the wind entering from the window, it instantly dissipated, turning into smoke rising away.
The smoke curled between the two, making the foot of distance separating them appear somewhat hazy.
Zhao Yiyi’s eyes were like that soft incense. She took the opportunity to take out another palace affairs document, opened it, and said softly: “When handling this today, this consort found it somewhat troubling. Since Your Majesty is here, I wanted to ask Your Majesty.”
After a rough look, Gu Zhen frowned slightly.
“Why was this sent to you?” he asked.
Zhao Yiyi was stunned for a few moments and asked in confusion: “Is there something inappropriate?”
Gu Zhen looked down again and said in a deep voice: “There’s nothing inappropriate, but these things are old palace precedents. If there are no changes, there is no need to send them to you every day. Sending them together after a period of time is sufficient.”
So that was it.
Zhao Yiyi nodded and replied softly: “Many thanks for Your Majesty’s guidance.”
Actually, she also felt these things were trivial and indistinct, and wanted to tell the Bureau of Palace Affairs not to send them daily. But she wasn’t sure if it was as she thought, so she just kept them.
Turning his head to look at her picturesque face, Gu Zhen’s brows gradually furrowed.
In the past, when Mother took Linchuan to live in the temporary palace for recuperation, Father did not order any imperial concubines to temporarily take charge of palace affairs, but instead had him lead them himself. However, there were many political affairs in the front court, and after managing for a period, Father found it annoying and threw it all to him.
Therefore, when he was Crown Prince, he had managed palace affairs for a period.
He vaguely remembered that these things had long formed precedents. How could they be sent to the Empress at this time?
Rubbing the page, Gu Zhen’s eyes gradually darkened.
Next, Zhao Yiyi asked him a few more things, carefully soliciting his opinion, seemingly relying on him heavily, her eyes gentle and winding like a pool of spring water.
The atmosphere between the two softened unprecedentedly, even more gentle and lingering than before, but it seemed something separated them. So oppressive, so heavy.
Like a chasm lying in the middle, forcefully separating the two.
No matter how he tried to cross it, he could never cross it.
Until it became quiet again, he finally couldn’t bear it and called her softly: “Yiyi.”
Gu Zhen wanted to hold her hand, but Zhao Yiyi seemed frightened, suddenly shrinking back, her body also trembling, then slowly relaxing, forcing a smile: “Why did Your Majesty suddenly call this consort? It startled this consort.”
He subconsciously remembered that yesterday she had said, could he not call her that.
She didn’t like him calling her childhood name.
Thinking of this, Gu Zhen’s expression suddenly sank, and he spoke with uncontrollable palpitations: “Today, Zhen has already issued a decree to confine Consort Dowager He. As for the second Miss He, Mother will send her back in a few days.”
Zhao Yiyi had already heard about this. Hearing him say it again, she lowered her head slightly and said softly: “This consort knows. Yesterday… many thanks to Your Majesty.”
Gu Zhen observed her face closely and was somewhat disappointed to find that her thanks were indeed very sincere. But to his ears, it didn’t sound like thanks, but rather like she wanted to clear her relationship with him.
“You and Zhen are husband and wife; there is no need for thanks.” Gu Zhen smiled. “Moreover, Zhen is responsible for this matter, giving others the opportunity to bully and humiliate you.”
It was he who hadn’t done well enough.
He was born intelligent early. His father marveled at it, and because he was the legitimate son, he kept him by his side to raise. From the age of five, when his father discussed matters with the ministers, he would listen from behind a screen.
Every time after the discussion, his father would ask for his opinion.
He still remembered waking up in the middle of a nap one day. His father thought he was still asleep and joked with the attendant: “Tell me, who does the Crown Prince take after? The Empress doesn’t have this intelligence.”
Involving the Empress, the attendant naturally dared not answer.
After a while, his father said to himself: “They say a nephew takes after his uncle. Maybe he’s like that dog He Mingshou. No, that’s not right… The Crown Prince is much better looking than him, and steadier too.”
At that time, he knew that his father looked down on his mother. Not only did he look down on her, but there was even a bit of contempt in his words.
But his father favoring concubines was one thing; palace affairs were completely delegated to his mother, including the management of concubines and imperial children.
No matter who he favored, he wouldn’t let that person’s seat surpass his mother’s.
Unless his mother annoyed him, he rarely said a word.
Later, he had vaguely inquired of his father. His father was silent for a long time before replying indifferently: “Your mother is Zhen’s Empress. Zhen naturally has to give her some dignity and save her face in front of others. Otherwise, how can she stand in this palace?”
Seeing him seemingly understanding but not fully, his father added: “If your mother can’t stand, Zhen would have to handle these palace affairs personally, or promote other concubines. Zhen has no leisure. If a concubine is promoted, it will undoubtedly make the palace restless. In that case, Zhen might as well depose the Empress and establish a new one.”
His father knew he was intelligent early, so he didn’t hide even such family matters between elders from him. He even dared to say words like deposing the Empress to him.
At that time, he understood, and told his father he understood.
But when it was his turn to do it, he failed to do it well.
He had secretly resolved to be more outstanding than his father, to be a ruler of resurgence. He had also secretly resolved to live longer than his father, to be more sober than him, and never to be obsessed with those vain ways of immortality.
He learned many ways of being a monarch, went to Mobei, went down to Nanyue, went west to Hexi, saw everything in this world, and determined to expand the territory and make the seas calm and the rivers clear.
He held a lot in his heart: the world, the people, the hegemony. But in the end, he failed to understand even such a simple truth.
Staring at the posts on the desk, Gu Zhen’s fingertips trembled slightly, and his eyes felt vaguely astringent.
Married for nearly three years, he had never cared about her, nor had he ever thought for her in front of others, giving her enough face. Making her, the Empress, have a very difficult time, struggling in the palace, with nothing going smoothly.
In this matter, he was at fault.
“In the future, Zhen will not be like this.” He lowered his voice, his eyes gradually softening.
She crossed her hands, leaning slightly: “Many thanks for Your Majesty’s consideration.”
Gu Zhen’s expression stiffened slightly for a moment, and an indescribable panic rose in his heart. He tried desperately to grasp something, but found it seemed to be getting farther and farther away from him.
No matter how he reached, he couldn’t reach it.
She said many thanks for Your Majesty’s consideration, but had no further words. If it were before… before?
What was Zhao Yiyi like before? If it were her before, what should she be like?
Gu Zhen fell into confusion for a moment.
He didn’t believe it. Husband and wife for more than two years, she said she had liked him for many years, so she must have liked him since that Winter Solstice banquet. He didn’t believe it; he didn’t believe she could be so heartless.
But when he looked up and met those clear, dustless eyes, he frustratingly realized that she seemed, really, not to want him anymore.
In the Marquis of Huai’an’s residence, Zhao Duanduan was leading people to tidy up Zhao Chen’s utensils for going to the Imperial Academy.
The masters at the Imperial Academy were all great scholars, and many held important positions in the court. If one was favored by one of them and taken as a disciple, the future would surely be smooth.
However, she had some hidden worries in her heart.
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the same part has been updated twice thank you
Hi, thank you for letting me know.