When the Emperor’s group entered, imperial concubine Yun was seated on the ground of the cold storage. There was a plate of grapes, and… the ground was covered in grape peels. Her already pale face appeared even paler inside this cold storage. They just watched imperial concubine Yun place a peeled grape in her mouth. After spitting out the seeds, she finally looked up at the Emperor.
With the two looking at each other, Feng Yu Heng felt as though there was an electrical current in the air. In an instant, it caused the dimly-lit storage room to become a bit brighter.
Seeing each other for the first time after being separated for over 20 years, the first to recover was imperial concubine Yun. She did her best to conceal the emotions in her eyes and had already begun acting as if nothing had happened, waving her hand and saying: “See, this One is not so easy to burn to death.” But those tender and sentimental feelings were all seen by Feng Yu Heng.
She knew that imperial concubine Yun loved the Emperor, but this sort of love was too domineering. It was such that she could not handle sharing the Emperor’s love with so many concubines. No matter if it was the heart or the person, neither was fine. Imperial concubine Yun’s pride would not allow her to be a mere concubine. Even if that person was the Emperor, it was still no good.
Imperial concubine Yun removed the grape peels that were stuck to her hand. Sitting with her legs crossed on the ground, she looked up at the Emperor and said: “What’s the situation? Have your eldest and youngest wives rebelled? This One has not left Winter Moon Palace for over 20 years. How has your prestige as a ruler dropped to such a degree? You’re not even able to stop someone from coming to Winter Moon Palace to set a fire?”
Her words were cunning, and her tone was not too nice, but her eyes continued to stare fixedly at the Emperor. They were not filled with hate. Instead, they were unwilling to leave him.
“So old.” After a long time, she said this then said in a low tone: “Men really do not age gracefully. So ugly.” After saying this, she averted her gaze, forcing herself to look away from the Emperor; however, she could not stop tears from forming at the corners of her eyes.
The Emperor did not hear what imperial concubine Yun had said under her breath. At this moment, he was thinking entirely about this woman that was in front of him. He looked at her extremely greedily, as though every moment that he did not look at her was a waste. No matter what was said, he was unwilling to avert his eyes. He took a few steps forward to try and help imperial concubine Yun up while saying: “Pian Pian, quickly get up. How cold must the ground be.”
Imperial concubine Yun, however, extended her arms and stopped him, “Don’t come over here! I did not call you in here to save me. This One just wanted to ask you personally: Is it you that still has the final say in the imperial palace?”
The Emperor was startled. Hearing this question, he subconsciously said: “Of course, We have the final say.”
“Then why are there still people that dare to come to my Winter Moon Palace to start a fire?” Imperial concubine Yun became furious, “This One hid away from them and did not compete with them. I hid for over 20 years, but is that not enough? They still won’t let me go? They insist on sending me to my grave? Xuan Zhan, you might not know this, but if I did not hide away quickly, I would have been burned to death in my bedchamber!”
The more she spoke, the angrier she became. She simply got up from the ground and held the Emperor’s sleeve, dragging him out. The guards to the side smirked upon seeing this. This was imperial concubine Yun! In the palace, only imperial concubine Yun and Zhang Yuan would dare to act like this!
Imperial concubine Yun directly walked out of the cold storage then pointed at the burned Winter Moon Palace, saying in a loud voice: “Take a look. The place that I had finally managed to develop some feelings for over the years has been ruined by this fire. Whoever wanted to burn down Winter Moon Palace wanted to burn me to death!”
At this moment, the Emperor finally sobered up. Someone deliberately starting the fire was something that Xuan Tian Ming had mentioned earlier. Now that imperial concubine Yun brought it up once more, he was already certain that there was a conspiracy behind this fire. He wanted to have people immediately begin investigating, but imperial concubine Yun would occasionally bump into his arm while holding onto his sleeve. This left the Emperor’s heart itching. He had been yearning for this person for over 20 years, and he had finally reached her. Although the scene was not too heartwarming, he was finally able to see her!
He looked at imperial concubine Yun, and a smile appeared on his face. It was no wonder that she found him to be old. Compared to Pian Pian, it was clear that he was old. For Pian Pian, it was as though those 20 years had been nothing. She still looked so young and so beautiful. There were no wrinkles to be found at the corners of her eyes. How did she preserve herself?
He just looked at imperial concubine Yun in a daze and finally managed to incite imperial concubine Yun’s discomfort. Without any concern for the time or place, nor what sort of people were nearby, she raised her hand and slapped the top of the Emperor’s head. This slap caused Zhang Yuan to smirk and say to himself: dear venerable ancestor, don’t beat his Majesty silly.
While this side was praying that the Emperor would not be beaten silly, the Emperor had begun laughing foolishly, “Pian Pian is doing a good job.”
Imperial concubine Yun angrily kicked him: “Xuan Zhan! What are you looking at me so much for? Will looking at me bring out the arsonist? You are the Emperor. Can you do something proper for once? There’s someone that dares to start a fire in the imperial palace, yet why are you still acting like everything is fine? Don’t tell me that the fire started for no reason. This One will not believe it!”
After she finished speaking, she fiercely glared at the Emperor. The hand that was holding his sleeve let go, and she turned around. Returning to Xuan Tian Ming’s side, she wrapped her arms around Xuan Tian Ming’s arm and said: “Let’s go. Imperial concubine mother will be leaving the palace.”
The Emperor was stunned and shouted: “What did you say? Leave the palace? Where will you go?”
Imperial concubine Yun angrily said: “What can I do if I don’t leave the palace? Winter Moon Palace has already been burned to this degree. Could it be that you want me to continue living here?”
The Emperor stomped his foot: “Hah! Without Winter Moon Palace, aren’t there still plenty of places? This imperial palace is so large. Any place that you like, We can open it up for you.”
Imperial concubine Yun let out a “tsk” sound and deliberately tried to cause trouble: “Then what if I took an interest in the Empress’ palace?”
“Alright!” The Emperor did not oppose it in the slightest, nodding immediately: “If you like that palace, you can live in it. We will just get the Empress out. Isn’t that enough. Not to mention her palace, even if you wanted Heavenly Hall, We will give it to you.”
“Enough.” Imperial concubine Yun waved her hand in irritation, “I’m not a sly imperial concubine, and you aren’t some wastrel of a ruler. What’s the point of going through all of that?”
While she spoke, she pulled Xuan Tian Ming out. The Emperor quickly followed along behind while trying to convince her: “Pian Pian, don’t be angry. You absolutely must not get angry. If you don’t like your current palace, We… I, I will just give you a new one. As long as you bring up your requests, I will personally have things changed. I just beg that you stop being angry. Is that alright?”
Imperial concubine Yun still had a pouty look while walking out. Feng Yu Heng quietly advised her from the side: “Imperial concubine mother, father Emperor is also quite pitiful.”
Imperial concubine Yun snorted coldly: “He’s pitiful? He knows to be pitiful now? Back then in that residence, he lied to me. He said that he had no family and wanted to happily live with me for the rest of my life. Why did he not think about how he would also have such a pitiful day? He has a great swindling ability. Why is it that he doesn’t want to accept the end result?”
Feng Yu Heng lowered her head and fell silent. Father Emperor, daughter-in-law has done her duty. I’ve said everything that I should say. It’s truly just a problem of you not being capable when you were younger!
“Otherwise why else would I say that there are no good men!” Imperial concubine Yun’s face was filled with anger; however, once these words were spoken, she realized that her own expression was a bit ugly with a cold aura coming from her. She quickly added: “My sons are the exception.”
Xuan Tian Ming nodded, “It’s still reasonable.”
Everyone exited the entrance of Winter Moon Palace in this ruckus. The people outside looked straight over. Upon seeing imperial concubine Yun appear, imperial concubine Yuan Shu was the first to be affected. She immediately appeared to be extremely shocked.
The Empress looked at her coldly then let out an angry snort without any attempt to hide it. The other imperial concubines also managed to reach. It turned out that imperial concubine Yun was in the palace and did not leave. Then what sort of person was it that had been feeding them stories like “imperial concubine Yun has fled the palace” and stuff similar to that?
Subconsciously, they turned their gaze toward imperial concubine Yuan Shu, and imperial concubine Yuan Shu also knew that it would be very difficult for her to escape this responsibility. She did not say anything and kneeled in front of the Empress, saying: “Your Highness, this concubine was just speculating and had no intention of framing imperial concubine Yun. My words earlier were indeed anxious, but the person to come up with this speculation was not this concubine. Instead, it was the complaints of the sisters that caused it. Your Highness, this concubine knows her mistakes and hopes that your Highness will forgive this concubine for the sake of the eighth prince. This concubine will repay your Highness kindness.”
The Empress looked at imperial concubine Yuan Shu and furrowed her brow. It was not that she did not want to help imperial concubine Yuan Shu. It was just that imperial concubine Yuan Shu was correct. She was not the only concubine causing a stir. If she only blamed imperial concubine Yuan Shu, nobody would dare to say anything, but once the eighth prince returned, this matter would need to be explained to him.
She sighed to herself and said: “Forget it, get up. This One will go and speak to his Majesty, but whether or not things work out will depend on your luck.”
Imperial concubine Yuan Shu quickly kowtowed to the Empress, “This concubine thanks your Highness and definitely will not forget your Highness’ grace.”
At this time, imperial concubine Yun’s voice was raised once more, saying to the Emperor: “Just go and be a proper Emperor! Remember to investigate this case. Once you’ve gotten some information, inform this One. To dare to ruin my Winter Moon Palace, this One must talk with them properly.” After saying this, she swept a cold gaze through the group of imperial concubines and caused them to lower their heads.
Everyone sighed to themselves. It had been over 20 years, yet imperial concubine Yun’s appearance was the same as it had been before. It was as though her appearance had been frozen in time, and age had left no mark on it.
“Ming’er.” Imperial concubine Yun said to Xuan Tian Ming: “Let’s go. Send imperial concubine mother out of the palace.”
Xuan Tian Ming did not say much. Anything that his mother wanted, he would do. Dragging him out, he simply followed along. But the Emperor was unwilling! He angrily glared at Xuan Tian Ming and loudly said: “Your imperial concubine mother is being unreasonable, and you’re also going to be unreasonable? Why are you acting up together? Hah, Pian Pian! Come to my Zhao He Hall first to make do for a while, alright? Ming’er, I will immediately have someone come to fix up Winter Moon Palace. I guarantee that it will be exactly the same as before. Is that alright? Hah, wait a moment. Don’t be in a rush to leave! I say, where are you going?”
This last shout finally caused imperial concubine Yun to stop. She turned around and happily said to the Emperor: “Tsk! Don’t you have plenty of wives? What are you getting smug for? It’s not like this One doesn’t have some support!”
The Emperor was stunned, “What support do you have?”
“This One has sons!” Imperial concubine Yun loudly said: “Xuan Zhan, listen up. This One wants to leave the palace. This one wants to move into the Chun Palace! If this case is not solved, and if this Winter Moon Palace is not made to look exactly as it did before, I will not come back!”