Chapter 93: The End of the Line
At the end of the year, snow fell for several days in a row.
Ziwei Palace was covered by a thick layer of accumulated snow. The eaves and tile roofs were draped in crystals, reflecting points of fragmented light. After the weather cleared, looking out from the window, one could see the bright sun.
Zhao Yiyi specially asked people to keep the snow in Yande Palace. Red plums reflecting against white snow were extremely beautiful.
She had ordered a reclining chair moved under the flower trellis, and pastries and tea were all prepared, intending to enjoy the snow for half a day. However, an attendant reported that the Grand Princess of Runan had arrived.
“It is rare for Aunt to visit.” Zhao Yiyi set down her teacup, gently excused her from bowing, and ordered a seat placed beside her. She smiled at the visitor, “I heard Aunt caught a cold a few days ago and even summoned an imperial physician from the palace. are you feeling better?”
Runan sat on the carved nanmu folding chair at the side and replied softly, “After taking a few doses of medicine, I am fully recovered. That is why I dared to come to the palace.” She looked around and asked with a smile, “Why don’t I see Duan-Duan?”
Zhao Yiyi said, “The snow has piled up thick these past few days. Her heart was itching for it, and after begging for a long time, she went out to play wildly.”
Unless summoned, titled ladies had to submit a visiting card before entering the palace. She hadn’t received Runan’s card, nor had she summoned her, so Runan must have gone to see someone else first.
Thinking this, Zhao Yiyi asked, “How did Aunt have free time to enter the palace today?”
Runan replied, “The Empress Dowager summoned me to ask which families in the capital have outstanding sons.”
Zhao Yiyi’s expression paused, and she remained silent.
The Grand Princess of Runan had been favored by two generations of emperors. Even though her status had plummeted, her connections and prestige were beyond the reach of other titled ladies. When discussing whose daughter was outstanding or which young gentleman was handsome, she was the most familiar.
Marriages of imperial children relied on recommendations from relatives like this; for instance, her marriage to Gu Zhen had been the same. There were also palace servants sent to inquire, but comparatively, palace servants were too easily bought with money.
Even so, she couldn’t figure out for a moment why the Empress Dowager would ask her aunt. The two had been incompatible like fire and water for decades; now the tune had changed.
Even back when she was the Crown Princess, the Empress Dowager never gave her aunt a pleasant face. But Duan-Duan… happened to have a stubborn temperament.
After pondering for a while, she asked, “Then, does Aunt have any candidates?”
“I proposed a few, but the Empress Dowager was dissatisfied with all of them.” Runan didn’t show it on her face, but she sneered inwardly. What ‘dissatisfied’? She was just scared from the bottom of her heart that Runan would harm someone.
If that was the case, why look for her?
Must have eaten too much and had nothing better to do.
Zhao Yiyi held the teacup in her hand. Glancing at Runan, she realized that in just this short time, she had aged a lot; grey hairs had sprouted at her temples.
“Coming here today, I actually have a happy event to tell Your Highness.” Runan suddenly smiled. The corners of her lips curved up, and fine lines naturally appeared at the corners of her eyes as she leaned closer.
Seeing her so happy, Zhao Yiyi couldn’t help but ask, “What happy event?”
Runan said, “I heard someone mention yesterday that your stepmother, Madam Xu, committed suicide in prison.”
The low, soft words exploded like thunder beside her ear.
Zhao Yiyi turned her head abruptly to look at her, asking in astonishment, “What?”
“I was also very surprised when I first heard it. I specially sent someone to inquire and found out that the Xu family went to the prison to see her the day before yesterday. She was fine originally, but not long after the Xu family left, she smashed her head against the prison wall.” Runan frowned and said, “The jailers panicked and tried to stop her, but couldn’t. Blood covered the wall, and she breathed her last not long after.”
Seeing Zhao Yiyi in a daze, seemingly completely unaware, she couldn’t help asking, “Did Your Highness not know?”
Just hearing the description of that scene was frightening, let alone imagining it.
This time, it must have been the Xu family finding the case’s reputation unpleasant, worrying it would affect the marriage of the younger generation, and going to the prison to pressure Madam Xu.
After steadying her mind, Zhao Yiyi shook her head. “I never heard anyone mention it.”
Runan had an active mind. After a moment of stunned silence, a sense of unease rose in her heart. She felt that something about today wasn’t quite right.
Seeing her hesitant expression, Zhao Yiyi gently rubbed the rim of the cup with her index finger, her eyelids half-lowered.
The Empress Dowager bowing her head actively this time was for Duan-Duan’s sake. Aunt willing to give the Empress Dowager face and cooperate naturally had her own motives.
Years ago, the eldest son of the Xiahou family, Xiahou Song, was overflowing with talent. At a young age, he became famous in Luoyang for his calligraphy and could even annotate scriptures independently. Combined with his noble birth, he was easily selected as the Prince Consort.
However, shortly after marriage, Runan discovered that her husband was only obsessed with academics and had no desire for officialdom. She had always been ambitious, so naturally, she wasn’t reconciled to her husband being like this. After her eldest son was born, she turned her gaze to Xiahou Jin.
Xiahou Jin carried all of Runan’s expectations. Her requirements for Xiahou Jin were a hundred times stricter than how the Emperor treated the Crown Prince.
Who would have expected that once implicated in the Henei case, under the Emperor’s wrath, keeping his life was already a stroke of luck; reinstatement would likely be difficult.
” The Prince Consort painted a new painting and asked me to bring it to Your Highness. I was so focused on talking just now that I forgot to take it out.” After a long while, Runan broke the silence.
Zhao Yiyi said softly, “Then I must trouble Aunt to thank Eldest Uncle for me.”
Xiahou Song’s painting skills were superb. Not to mention Luoyang, his paintings were extremely famous throughout the entire Great Chu. However, most of his paintings were given as gifts, and few circulated outside, making the rumors about them even more mysterious.
Zhao Yiyi had received one as part of her dowry when she married.
After sitting for a while longer, just as Runan was about to rise and take her leave, someone walked in from outside.
The man wore a crimson robe covered by a black fox fur cloak. His tall and handsome figure made it impossible to look away.
Runan stood up and paid her respects. For a moment, she felt that this nephew, having been Emperor for over a year, had matured a lot.
He had always been a steady person, but looking at him now, he was increasingly unfathomable.
For her eldest son’s matter, she had used almost all her bargaining chips, even returning the salt pool her brother had specially granted her, yet she hadn’t received a definitive word.
He even just glanced at it indifferently, as if he didn’t take it to heart at all.
The Emperor wasn’t anxious, but she was.
“Look, I’ve only been here a moment, and Your Majesty is afraid I’ll abduct the Empress.” She covered her lips, smiling at the two of them.
Gu Zhen glanced sideways and said indifferently, “Aunt has free time today.”
Runan replied, “The Empress Dowager summoned me today. Thinking I hadn’t seen the Empress for a long time, I came over specially after leaving Wanchun Palace.”
Seeing this situation, Runan knew it wasn’t convenient to stay long. After exchanging a couple of sentences, she took her leave.
As the sun’s shadow shifted west, it gradually grew cold in front of the courtyard. The tea in her hand cooled down as well. Zhao Yiyi simply stood up and walked inside.
Gu Zhen followed behind and asked softly, “Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”
Zhao Yiyi shook her head. “No.”
She paused her steps in front of the carved flower partition. Immediately after, her back collided with a solid, powerful chest.
Her body tensed up instantly. She wanted to escape a little, but was held by the shoulders and turned around. “Look at yourself in the mirror; do you look like nothing is wrong?” Seeing the dazed look on her face, he couldn’t help but soften his tone again and chuckled lightly. “For this matter, Aunt went around begging many people, and now she even bowed her head to Mother. Zhen thought you would plead for Xiahou Jin.”
Zhao Yiyi blinked her soft almond eyes and asked him, “If this concubine pleaded, what would happen?”
The surrounding air stagnated for a moment. Gu Zhen pressed his hands on her shoulders. After a long while, he said, “As long as you ask, Zhen will agree.”
Zhao Yiyi looked up at him for a long time, but shook her head. “If you had that intention, you would have reinstated him long ago. Since you haven’t, there must be a reason.”
At this moment, she had to admit that she understood him.
The bits and pieces of the last three years weren’t fake. Having deliberately pursued him, how could she not understand?
Staring at her for a long time, Gu Zhen suddenly laughed aloud. He reached out to rub her hair, lowering his head. “Yiyi understands Zhen very well.”
Zhao Yiyi looked away and didn’t respond.
However, in the next instant, he pulled her closer. The man’s handsome face was close at hand; it seemed that if she just looked up, her red lips would touch his chin.
As his clear breath lingered around her, Zhao Yiyi heard him say by her ear, “But has Yiyi ever thought that what Zhen said just now also came from the heart?”
Her earlobe felt a patch of warmth and suddenly turned red. Zhao Yiyi turned her head and said, “Stop saying these words to bluff me.”
Her expression was a bit unnatural. Gu Zhen asked again, “What happened just now? You tried to hide inside the moment you saw Zhen.”
A look of confusion crossed Zhao Yiyi’s face. She stared blankly to the side. For a moment, she couldn’t say exactly what was wrong with her.
Perhaps the scene Aunt described just now was too terrifying, causing her heart to tremble subconsciously.
She didn’t speak, and Gu Zhen didn’t rush her. He just waited patiently, stroking her hair occasionally to comfort her.
“What is it? Tell Zhen about it?” Gu Zhen asked in a low voice.
Stared at by him like this, Zhao Yiyi couldn’t help retreating backward, but he held her shoulders, forbidding her escape.
After a long time, she whispered, “I heard Aunt say just now that my stepmother, Madam Xu, committed suicide. Is there such a thing?”
The moment the words left her mouth, she saw Gu Zhen’s face darken slightly.
Then he nodded slightly. “Yes.”
He found it somewhat amusing. “You feel bad just for this?”
Zhao Yiyi said no. “I have never gotten along with her; how could I be sad for her? It’s just that what Aunt said just now was a bit bloody, and my stomach feels uncomfortable.”
Actually, she also thought of her mother somewhat.
She didn’t even know if, in all those years, her mother had ever detected the affair between Zhao Weimin and Madam Xu.
Gu Zhen just placed his arm around her shoulders in a half-embrace, silent for a long time.
His original intention was not to let Yiyi know so soon, but unexpectedly, Runan spilled it first.
Madam Xu had been well taken care of in the Zuo family because of her widowhood. Although she was stripped of a layer of wealth when leaving the Zuo family, she had been a Marchioness for so many years and naturally accumulated a lot of money.
After being imprisoned alongside Zhao Weimin, she couldn’t stand the hardships in prison, nor could she imagine enduring two years of such days. Therefore, she promised heavy gold to her nephew, Cheng Anhua, asking him to impeach the Empress, hoping to use public opinion to force the Empress to save Zhao Weimin.
At a time like this, having a father in prison was undoubtedly a burden.
And if she saved one, she wouldn’t just save one.
“Aunt talks too much,” Gu Zhen said indifferently, gently patting her in his arms. “It’s alright. It’s all over. She deserved to die.”
After Cheng Anhua was punished, stripped of office, and kicked home, Madam Xu’s sister—the elder Madam Xu—and her parents became anxious, worried that her affairs would implicate the family.
Gu Zhen first had someone lecture her pair of children. Then the group went to the prison for a good scolding. Madam Xu acted on impulse; as soon as the people left, she hit the wall.
In reality, she didn’t die immediately then. According to the returning servant’s description, she crawled on the ground for quite a while, shouting “save me.”
Gu Zhen thought that if Madam Xu had been willing to behave in prison, perhaps he would have spared her life and just exiled her.
But she insisted on causing trouble, delusionally attempting to use this to pressure Yiyi.
The setting sun climbed into the room along the window, dragging a long beam of light.
Zhao Yiyi’s face was also covered with a layer.
The hand Gu Zhen held around her shoulders tightened slightly. Suddenly, he moved to the side, pressing her against the carved flower partition.
The two were too close, close enough to count eyelashes.
Gu Zhen’s mind moved slightly. Footsteps came from outside, followed by the sound of the door being pushed open.
Just as he was about to shout sternly asking who it was, Gu Zhen turned his head abruptly and froze.
The newcomer also froze. An exquisite face was full of dull shock. Immediately after, she stepped back and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Veins throbbed on Gu Zhen’s forehead. His chest felt as if it were blocked by something, and he said in a deep voice, “It is time to prepare a palace hall and have her move there.”
Although he said this, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t prepared one before.
That girl was unwilling to leave, and Yiyi spoiled her, actually letting her stay until now.
A breath was stuck there, neither up nor down. Gu Zhen only felt stifled.
Snow fluttered for a while on the morning of New Year’s Day. While the titled ladies waited outside Yande Palace, preparing to enter, it stopped again.
Zhao Yiyi always woke up late in winter. It was rare for her to get up early on New Year’s Day, and she felt sleepy while applying makeup.
Mancao entered and reported, “Your Highness, the titled ladies have arrived.”
Zhao Yiyi pressed her hairpin and nodded slightly, only to hear her say, “Your Majesty sent someone to say that Qinglu Palace has just been tidied up today. The Eldest Princess can take advantage of New Year’s Day to move in, to get a good omen.”
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