After imperial concubine Yun said this, she grabbed Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng before casually strolling out of the imperial palace.
The Emperor stood back and did not give chase. He was dumbfounded. Zhang Yuan was able to let out a sigh of relief; however, he truly could not understand how it was that imperial concubine Yun had suddenly appeared in Winter Moon Palace? Even if his Highness the ninth prince had brought her back and sent her in, when did he do it? And to have done it without anyone knowing.
Who could have known that when the fire had broken out in Winter Moon Palace, imperial concubine Yun was still outside the palace. Xuan Tian Ming had to ride a fast horse to meet up with Xuan Tian Hua and managed to bring her back ahead of time. To get imperial concubine Yun into the imperial palace and Winter Moon Palace without anyone noticing was something that Xuan Tian Ming could not do. This could only be done by relying on Feng Yu Heng. The two coaxed and cheated imperial concubine Yun into being blindfolded. Only then did they manage to use her space to bring her back inside.
Zhang Yuan and the Emperor stood in place while smiling stupidly. Ahead, imperial concubine Yun and the ninth prince had already disappeared. Only then did he remind him: “Your Majesty, don’t keep on laughing. The matter handed down by imperial concubine Yun needs to be done.”
These words reminded the Emperor. The smile on his face disappeared, as he turned around and walked back to the crowd of people. Moving to the Empress’ side, he said with a dark expression: “All of the imperial guards, palace servants and palace maids working tonight will all be sent to court. Zhang Yuan, hand down Our instructions. Order the court to find out the cause of the fire at Winter Moon Palace within three days and find the culprit. Also,” He turned to look at the Empress: “Your inner palace needs to give Us an explanation. We will also give you three days. Punish the one responsible severely.” After thinking a bit more, he turned his gaze on imperial concubine Yuan Shu, and this caused imperial concubine Yuan Shu to tremble. She quickly kneeled once more.
The Empress took a step forward and said: “Your Majesty, laws must not punish the majority. After the earlier matter is investigated by this wife, the punishment will be handed down.”
The Emperor nodded and did not say anything further. In the end, he took a glance at Winter Moon Palace then gave the order: “Repair it as quickly as possible.” He then turned around and left for Zhao He Hall in large strides.
All of the imperial concubines let out a sigh of relief. They just could not understand. Imperial concubine Yun was clearly in the palace, so why had the conversation earlier been steered in the direction of imperial concubine Yun had fled the palace? Their emotions had just been stirred, but what exactly had happened?
Unlike the unsettled atmosphere being experienced by the imperial concubines, once the Emperor returned to Zhao He Hall, his mood was incomparably great.
It had been over 20 years! He finally saw Yun Pian Pian. It was no wonder that people said that life was just a series of winding events. Earlier, he had clearly been feeling despair, and he had already felt that Yun Pian Pian had fled the palace. He even began to think about whether he wanted this country or that beautiful woman. He already began planning to quickly hand the country over to old ninth.
Who knew, oh who knew that that woman would actually flee into the cold storage to avoid the fire. How was Pian Pian that smart? The cold storage was filled with ice, and the fire definitely could not get inside. She really was too smart.
The Emperor happily thought about it. Imperial concubine Yun going to live at old seventh’s place was also fine. It was her son’s palace! She could live there if she wanted. Wherever she went, the people in the palace could not really say much of anything. Old seventh had always been steady. He also trusted that old seventh would definitely be able to take good care of imperial concubine Yun. It was just that… he felt his own face. His skin was no longer as good as it had been 20 years before. There were more and more wrinkles. Even the roughness could be compared to the roughness of his hands. This was no good.
“Zhang Yuan!” He said to the eunuch at his side: “Go and talk to A-Heng tomorrow. Have her prepare some medicine that can make Us younger.”
Zhang Yuan was helpless, “Is there one?”
“How could there not be one? Did you not see Pian Pian and how young she is. There is definitely something prepared by that girl.”
Zhang Yuan rolled his eyes and told the Emperor a truth that was hard to accept: “Imperial concubine Yun has a good foundation. It’s unrelated to medicine.”
“Do you mean to say that Our foundation is not good?”
“What do you think?” Zhang Yuan told him very seriously: “The imperial concubines of the palace all have methods for preserving themselves. What do they eat every day compared to what you eat every day? The chefs prepared bird nest for you, yet you said that is something that women eat, so you would not eat it. The chefs prepared some ginseng, and you said that you became inflamed and got a nosebleed from it. The imperial concubines of the palace send you supplements from time to time for no reason, yet what do you say? Ah, We are not a woman. Take all of these damn things away! You know to feel regret now? It’s too late!”
The Emperor’s eyes were bulging with anger, “Then nothing will work? We are stuck with this appearance? No wonder Pian Pian does not want to see Us. She’s so beautiful, and We look like this. This is too much of a grievance to her.”
Zhang Yuan laughed, “Oh! Your Majesty, if you have this awareness, you may as well just leave imperial concubine Yun outside the palace to live freely. As I see it, she does not seem to want to return.”
“That’s no good!” The Emperor glared once more, “If she remains outside, then We will also go outside. Hah, don’t talk about these pointless things. Help Us think of how to improve the look of Our face.”
Zhang Yuan shrugged: “Alright, this servant will go and ask her Highness the Empress tomorrow to see if she has any secrets for maintaining her appearance, but you need to not reject it this time.”
“We won’t reject it. We really won’t.” As he spoke, an unconcealable smile appeared on his face once more. He had finally seen Pian Pian. This fire was really worth it! It was too worth it!
On this day, the Emperor put in a great deal of thought toward his old face. On the other side, imperial concubine Yun’s group had already arrived at the entrance of the palace.
The soldiers guarding the gate had received the report earlier saying that imperial concubine Yun would be leaving the palace to live in Chun Palace, and nobody was permitted to stop her. At this moment, the palace’s gates had already been opened wide. Everyone kneeled while waiting for imperial concubine Yun to arrive. Some of the braver ones raised their head and snuck a look at the legendary looks of imperial concubine Yun.
Imperial concubine Yun said to Xuan Tian Ming with a smile: “Your dad is so old.”
The corners of Xuan Tian Ming’s lips twitched: “Who can be like you?”
“That’s also true.” Imperial concubine Yun had a proud expression, tugging Feng Yu Heng’s hand: “It must be said that this face wasn’t very spectacular before. Later on, A-Heng gave this One a great number of products to maintain my appearance. Ming’er, feel it and see. This One’s face, isn’t it very soft?”
Xuan Tian Ming had a gloomy expression and moved a little faster. Finally leaving the palace and entering the imperial carriage, imperial concubine Yun laughed loudly once more: “Say, say, quite a bit of effort was expended to bring this One back. After just spending a short period of time in the palace, haven’t I come back out! That old man is really quite funny. This One just casually strolled out of the palace, and he didn’t even stop me. Hah, say, could it be that he’s no longer as interested in this One? Otherwise, if this was the same as before, he could have hugged this One’s thighs to keep this One here.”
Xuan Tian Ming looked at her sideways, “Father Emperor not having any feelings for you, shouldn’t you feel happy? Why does it look to me as though you’re a bit disappointed?”
Imperial concubine Yun glared: “What disappointment? He can pay attention if he wants. It’s better if he doesn’t pay attention. That way, this One can continue living in Hua’er’s palace. That sort of life can truly be considered free and unconstrained. Hah, you don’t know this, but Hua’er is quite afraid of me. Hahaha!”
Feng Yu Heng facepalmed. What sort of personality was this?
Xuan Tian Ming angrily gritted his teeth: “There shall only be this once. If it happens again, I won’t care about you! I’ll see how you handle the matter once the matter of you fleeing the palace is exposed!”
Imperial concubine Yun objected to this: “With me not in the palace, your dad’s wives would be so happy. They’re all too eager for me to not be there.”
Feng Yu Heng helplessly said: “Most importantly, they will make use of this to cause trouble. If they force father Emperor to punish you, how could that be good?”
Imperial concubine Yun told Feng Yu Heng; “That would be a time to test his feelings!”
Xuan Tian Ming asked her: “How about coming with me back to the Yu Palace? How about going to live in A-Heng’s imperial daughter’s manor? Seventh brother has been troubled by you for many months. He’s finally got a chance to return to the capital and can have some peace and quiet. Don’t go and cause more trouble, alright?”
Imperial concubine Yun’s head shook like a pellet drum, “No good, no good. I won’t go to your place. Hua’er treats me best.”
“I also treat you well.”
“But Hua’er looks better than you.” Imperial concubine Yun told a kind truth, and Xuan Tian Ming nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood, yet his wife, Feng Yu Heng, also nodded along, adding: “Indeed.” He was driven mad.
Imperial concubine Yun said: “Although you removed your mask, your face still does not look as nice as Hua’er. Also, Hua’er listens to me. You aren’t as obedient.”
Xuan Tian Ming seemed to understand, “It turns out you’re just looking for someone that’s easy to handle? You can’t just bully seventh brother because you think he’s easy to bully.”
“He’s not easy to bully at all.” Imperial concubine Yun could not help but tremble upon recalling her time in Fu Zhou, “I never thought that after raising that son that is like a deity would be so frightening when angered.” She did not want to continue with this topic, thus she said to Feng Yu Heng: “It seems that Zi Rui promised Hua’er, saying that he would continue studying in Xiao Zhou.”
Feng Yu Heng was very grateful upon hearing this and repeatedly nodded, “Imperial concubine mother, choosing to live in the Chun Palace was the correct decision. Seventh brother is able to make a clear distinction between right and wrong. If it was his Highness the ninth prince, he would have urged Zi Rui into believing that he did not need to continue studying.”
The two quickly stood on the same side of the battle against the other. There was nothing else that Xuan Tian Ming could do. The two women that caused the most headaches were both here, yet there he was with nothing that could be done. Aside from accepting his fate and listening to the lecture, what else could he do?
Fortunately, they arrived at the Chun Palace very quickly. A hidden guard had gone over ahead of time to greet them, and there was a group of people standing at the entrance to welcome them. Xuan Tian Ming informed the housekeeper of the Chun Palace: “Don’t publicize this and ensure imperial concubine’s safety.”
Imperial concubine Yun moved into the Chun Palace with a renewed feeling of joy. Since the last time she had visited the Chun Palace, many years had already passed. To return once more on this night, the housekeeper of the Chun Palace thought that it would not be long before rumors of his Highness the seventh prince hiding a woman in the palace would begin circulating once more. Hah, this was truly a helpless situation!
Sending off imperial concubine Yun, Xuan Tian Ming grabbed Feng Yu Heng and dragged her into the carriage. While Feng Yu Heng let out a scream, the carriage had already begun moving toward the Yu Palace.
Feng Yu Heng felt that this atmosphere was a little off, thus she struggled and said: “I want to return to the imperial daughter’s manor. I don’t want to go to the Yu Palace!”
A certain person refused: “No!”
“Why not?”
“Because this prince wants to restore my standing as a man!”