Chapter 15: The Imperial Palace's Grievance
He hugged, kissed, and tore at me until I dropped a single tear, then he stopped all his movements. Copy this address to browse: http://77.77.77.2e.62.69.71.69.2e.6d.65
He hastily pulled up my clothes and then retreated two steps before disappearing suddenly.
This is the first time I've shed real tears, I didn't even believe that I could still cry. I thought that from childhood to adulthood, I had long since worn out my ability to produce tears, but it turns out I can still bring forth tears.
I hid, hiding in the stone coffin of Xuanyuan dusk. If I die, no matter what reason, I have no complaints. I will quietly lie here, close my eyes, wait for time to turn me into white bones, and wait for heaven to take away my soul...
For the past three days, I have been studying court etiquette in Xuan Yuan Qi's palace during the day, learning how to be a princess consort, and returning to the small building in Hei Zhu Lin with Xuan Yuan Mu at night.
Ever since the last incident happened, he seems to be avoiding me, which makes me laugh, I should be the one avoiding him instead.
On the day of the grand ceremony, the entire city was under martial law. Xuan Yuan Qi led a team of guards, and Xuan Yuan Mu followed me as we charged into the imperial palace.
So many ministers and royal family members saw Xuan Yuan's dusk with a shocked face.
"Your Majesty, I'm back." Xuan Yuan Mu knelt on the ground, and I followed closely behind, also kneeling on the grand ceremony.
Xuanyuan Tian sat high on the grand throne, and after a long while, he finally said: "You're back, that's good enough! No need for formalities!"
After a burst of congratulatory cheers in the grand hall, National Master Yang Xi loudly declared, "The time has come, the grand ceremony begins!" The hundred officials filed out of the imperial palace in an orderly manner. I was escorted down by the palace maidens and followed Xuan Yuan Mu as we left the palace for the Southern Mountain altar.
Xuanyuan gave the Emperor too many hints, making me, this princess, appear in various occasions to tell the Emperor that he is coming back. It's precisely because of this that today's intrusion into the palace was so smooth, and the Emperor had no choice but to acknowledge him as his son.
The grand ceremony was a men's affair, I was carefully led by the palace maid to the Golden Phoenix Hall of the Empress Dowager, after paying respects, the Empress granted me a seat.
The current queen is the birth mother of the sixth prince, Xuan Yuan Zi. The former Li Fei, although elegant and noble, was thin and frail, with two red-rimmed eyes that seemed to have just cried, forcing a smile when she saw me approaching.
"The King of Dusk has been missing for ten years and now he returns safely, it's truly a joyous occasion!" She said the official words.
"Thank you, Mother!" I stood up and bowed again.
"Don't be constrained!" The queen let out a faint sigh, although it was soft, I still heard it.
"Let the other queens and princesses come to meet Queen Mu!" The empress ordered the palace maid beside her, and soon several queens entered the Golden Phoenix Palace.
There was a proper queen of the eldest prince, two side queens, a crown princess, and a virtuous concubine of the crown prince. In addition, there were three princesses: Princess Ruohua, Princess Ruoxi, and Princess Ruoqing.
Everyone is polite and courteous, and when speaking, it's as if they've thought about it several times before saying it out loud. Although some of it may be insincere, it can't be avoided. After all, we've just met, and who can untangle the complex relationships between us? It's only natural to say less whenever possible.
For example, the legitimate queen of this great crown prince is the eldest daughter of the right prime minister's third miss, while the crown prince Liang's concubine is actually the fourth daughter born out of wedlock in the right prime minister's mansion. Although they are biological sisters, due to the struggle for the throne, they became mortal enemies. Of course, these were all told to me by the old auntie of the Xuan Yuan Qi family.
On the surface, we women are still gentle and kind, making every effort to maintain our dignity.
As the grand ceremony will only end at noon, Her Majesty the Empress asked us consorts to stay in the palace for lunch.
"The location of the Marquis's residence has already been chosen, it's on Hua Xi Street, all are divided according to the royal hierarchy, guards, maids, and old ladies-in-waiting were all transferred from the palace first. You've returned in a hurry, just make do for a few days, wait until things settle down, then you can choose your own people for the residence." The Empress said while wiping her hands with a handkerchief.
"Yes!" I nodded hastily.
At this time, an old woman walked in quickly and whispered something into the empress's ear. The empress threw the handkerchief on the table, her eyes red as she rushed out.
Not having walked two steps, he suddenly thought of something and turned back to the crowd saying: "I have some business, you all eat first." After speaking, he hastily rushed out.
The princess slightly shook her head, raised her hand and picked up the wine cup, drinking it all in one gulp.
The princess beside Ruo Xue's eyes turned red and quickly wiped them with a handkerchief.
Princess Yoqing immediately put down her chopsticks and lost all interest in eating.
"Three princesses, where has the empress gone?" I knew it was impolite to ask this way, but since I had just arrived, even if I did something slightly unreasonable, they couldn't blame me.
"It's probably because Queen Zi is unwell!" Princess Ruohua replied, then added: "The three queens are going to live outside the palace, they're much happier than us."
"Eldest sister!" The fourth princess, Ruoyin, tugged on the sleeve of the second princess, signaling her to stop talking nonsense.
The princess shook her head again and then drank up all the wine in the cup at once.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Her Majesty the Queen returned to the Golden Phoenix Palace, her face full of indignation. After seeing me, she made an effort to calm down and then lost interest in receiving me, having a palace maid take me to the front hall to find Prince Mu.
The outer hall was extremely quiet, with no guards and no palace maids. I was just wondering when I heard a crash of porcelain cups hitting the ground coming from inside.
"What are you back for?" was the voice of Emperor Xuan Yuan.
"Why can't I come back? Please enlighten me, Your Majesty."
"You...... you......"
Half a day passed, and there was no movement inside at all.
"Is it because of the red thread that separates the corpse or is it because of the nine bowls of blood offering?" Xuan Yuan Mu spoke again.
"Get out, get out..."
Xuanyuan Mu came out of the grand hall and saw me standing outside the door, then reached out to pull me along as he walked away. I could sense that he was extremely angry, but he was suppressing it.
It wasn't until he got on the horse carriage that he said: "My death is absolutely related to my father."
My heart tightened as I looked at Xuan Yuan and his son before me. They were father and son, born in the imperial palace - was it a blessing or a curse? Suddenly, I remembered Princess Ruohua's words: The three princesses are going to live outside the palace, they're much happier than us.
The scale of the Marquis's mansion was similar to that of the King of Qi, but with some differences in layout. The people sent by the palace were very efficient and had everything in order within a day.
"Tomorrow, the palace will recruit a new batch of people. Not everyone in the palace can stay. Who knows what will happen in the future? Just keep a few that you think are reliable." Xuan Yuan Mu said to me.
I nodded slightly and saw that there was no one around, so I whispered to Xuan Yuan Mu: "The Empress's body is not very good, it seems to be because of the problem with Sixth Prince Xuan Yuan Zi."
