Part 2
Curtains had already been set up by the roadside, cordoning off an area for the Empress to rest. Gu Zhen thought she was asleep or didn’t want to come down. But when he opened the carriage door and looked inside, he saw Zhao Yiyi clutching her chest, leaning against the carriage wall, her appearance looking somewhat disheveled and wretched.
His expression changed drastically, and he asked with a bit of panic, “What happened?”
“Her Ladyship has been in the carriage for too long and feels a bit uncomfortable,” Yunzhu replied respectfully.
Gu Zhen reached out to touch her forehead. Seeing no sign of fever, he gradually relaxed.
Zhao Yiyi didn’t want to be touched by him. Realizing it, she turned her head to dodge, but he held her shoulders down, making her unable to move.
Gu Zhen suddenly extended his arms and scooped her entire body out. Seeing the paleness on her lotus-like face, he couldn’t help but scold in a low voice, “If you were unwell, why didn’t you tell Zhen?”
“This consort is fine, just slightly uncomfortable, that is all.” She pursed her lips, turning her head to avoid his gaze, and whispered a sentence.
A few strands of hair had escaped from her bun, scattered messily across her face. Even with her face turned away, one could see she had lost her color.
Like this, and she calls it fine?
“Simply nonsense!” Gu Zhen was annoyed, his face turning livid with anger. He lowered his voice coldly, “Even if you didn’t tell Zhen, why didn’t you call the imperial physician? Do you treat your own body so lightly?”
Zhao Yiyi felt vexed. Barely maintaining her patience, she said gently, “Many thanks for Your Majesty’s concern. This consort is truly fine. It was just the long carriage ride that made me feel slightly awful. I am much better now.”
With a cold face, Gu Zhen carried her straight into the curtained enclosure, and then ordered someone to summon the accompanying imperial physician.
The accompanying physician was dragged over by the guards, thinking something major had happened. Trembling, he took the Empress’s pulse, daring not to speak for a long time.
“Does the Empress have any serious issues?” Seeing him silent for a long while, Gu Zhen frowned and spoke with some displeasure.
The physician’s heart trembled under his gaze, and his body shook along with it. He immediately bowed and said, “Subject observes that Her Ladyship’s pulse is slightly weak.”
Just recovered from an illness, how could it not be weak?
Gu Zhen gave a few indifferent instructions. The physician then added, “Presumably, Her Ladyship is just feeling a bit unwell. Your Majesty rest assured, Her Ladyship just needs to rest for a while.”
“Will she really be fine after resting a while?” Gu Zhen looked at her pale face, still worried.
The physician said yes. Gu Zhen stared at him for a long while before finally waving his hand, signaling him to withdraw.
“Why didn’t you tell Zhen?” he asked.
Zhao Yiyi was eating dried apricots, trying to suppress the residual nausea. Hearing this, she was stunned, then whispered, “This consort was merely unaccustomed to the long ride. Why make such a big fuss and even report it to Your Majesty?”
A look of helplessness flashed across Gu Zhen’s face. He said softly, “This Sericulture Rite is hosted by you. These ceremonial guards are here to escort and protect you. If you are uncomfortable, you don’t need to be so hesitant and apprehensive.”
Noticing the look of alienation in her eyes, he retracted the hand he had just raised, a trace of bitterness crossing his heart.
After a long time, he only whispered, “Yiyi, you and I are husband and wife. If you feel any discomfort, do not keep it in your heart. You can tell Zhen.”
Tell him? Tell him for what?
Zhao Yiyi felt annoyed, but still suppressed it, bowing her head in response: “This consort understands.”
She was so obedient; he should have been happy.
But anger rose in Gu Zhen’s heart, and for no reason, he felt upset and irritable.
They were a married couple, supposed to be the closest people in the world, yet by his own doing, they had reached this stage today.
His chest suddenly felt terribly uncomfortable. Suppressing that bitterness, Gu Zhen said softly, “Mother has already sent that person back today. If you don’t like her, she won’t be called into the palace again in the future.”
Zhao Yiyi’s eyelashes trembled.
Sent back? When Miss He knelt outside Jiao Fang Palace, her reputation fell along with her knees. Some things were just too easy to destroy.
Moreover… She didn’t like Miss He. If she was sent back, what about the future Miss Wang, Miss Li, Miss Chen? What if she didn’t like them either?
She couldn’t possibly like them.
Even if her heart no longer beat for him, as the Empress, she couldn’t possibly like the concubines in the harem. She never could.
Even if I don’t like them, so what?
Thoughts swirled in her mind a thousand times, but when she opened her mouth, she only pulled the corners of her lips into a smile and said, “Many thanks, Your Majesty.”
Gu Zhen reached out his hand, but clenched it into a fist the moment he was about to touch her. His Adam’s apple rolled up and down. He deepened his voice and said, “In the past, Zhen never cared about the affairs of the inner palace, and never knew you suffered so many grievances in the palace. This matter is Zhen’s fault.”
That day he asked her why she didn’t speak up, and she replied that even if she did, he wouldn’t back her up.
For the past three years, he had never backed her up.
Nor had he ever taken her matters to heart.
He had ordered people to investigate past events. Those matters hadn’t been deliberately hidden by anyone and were easily found out. Only today did he know that in this huge palace, no one took her seriously, and no one truly treated her as the Empress.
It was as if everyone could bully her and make her suffer grievances.
But she was the Empress, a person equal in status to him. Yet because of his negligence and indifference, everyone looked down on her.
“In the future, it won’t be like this anymore,” he said.
Gu Zhen had thought that giving her the dignity of the Empress and the power to manage palace affairs was enough. Moreover… moreover, she was the Empress he had always disliked.
But he forgot to give her face.
In the matter of Zhao Weimin, he directly used the Empress’s clan as a warning to others, stripping her eldest brother and the entire branch clean.
The Empress’s face was trampled under his feet. After that, no one took the Empress seriously.
In this matter, he truly had wronged her.
“From now on, Zhen will back you up.”
Word by word, the promise, mixed with that steady and powerful voice, inexplicably made one feel at ease.
—If it were before, she certainly would have smiled.
Zhao Yiyi knew she should feel relieved, but she didn’t want to listen anymore, nor did she want to think about his deeper meaning.
Let the past be past.
After loving for many years, she had finally learned to let go.
Since that was the case, now that she had learned to let go, he shouldn’t come to provoke her anymore.
“This consort feels a bit stuffy and wants to go for a walk,” she suddenly stood up and said.
Gu Zhen stood up naturally along with her: “Then Zhen will go with you.”
Zhao Yiyi gave a faint response.
It was this single sound that made Gu Zhen feel like there was a fishbone stuck in his throat. He turned his head and grabbed her hand, saying helplessly, “Must you be so distant with Zhen?”
“This consort dares not,” she said.
She dares not?
Gu Zhen scoffed. The way he saw it, she dared very much.
His eyes held a helpless look, and he softened his voice: “In the future, if you suffer grievances, remember to tell Zhen.”
As soon as the words fell, he remembered that day when she sorrowfully begged him, saying her brother was not at fault, asking him not to implicate them.
What had he said?
Gu Zhen couldn’t remember clearly anymore. The only thing he remembered was her desperate face.
Suddenly, he didn’t dare to speak anymore. His body gradually turned cold. He began to realize that everything he had done in the past seemed to be pushing her further and further away.
“This consort understands,” she pinched her palm and answered softly.
Why bother?
We’ve reached this point today. What is the necessity of saying these words now?
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