What Did You Say? Say It Again!
Fen Dai tried to speak a few times. When she finally managed to get her voice out, what she said was: “Getting married is good. With you getting married, we can finally be considered as having severed all ties. Second sister, this contest has just begun. I will not let you down.”
Dong Ying did not know how exactly her young miss’ heart had formed but could only lament the fact that she had followed the wrong master, but her servant contract was in her hands. There was also the fifth prince behind her, providing support. She did not dare make any moves. She could only quietly hope that this young miss would succeed to allow herself to also advance in life! Otherwise, once Fen Dai failed, perhaps her ending would not be much better.
Speaking of, because of Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng’s wedding, these were not the only people that could not stay at ease because of the liveliness. The frustration on the eighth prince’s side need not be mentioned, as the matter with the jade mine forced him to report to the Board of Punishments every day. As a result of this, he missed out on a number of things. Fortunately, with the numerous families of the concubines in the imperial harem protecting him, he was not completely isolated. All of these years spent under the shadow of Imperial Concubine Yun left some of those concubines on the verge of a breakdown. Their families had also given up on them, but there was still some frustration lingering. Nobody was able to let it go, thus they were all taken in under Xuan Tian Mo’s banner.
Speaking of Imperial Concubine Yun, for the first time ever, Imperial Concubine Yun had done something. When Zhang Yuan told the Emperor of this matter, the Emperor knocked over the cup of tea that he had been drinking while reading reports. The report and his imperial robes both became wet from this, but he did not care about such things. He just stared at Zhang Yuan and asked: “What did you say? Say it again?”
Zhang Yuan was also very moved, saying with a trembling voice: “Word has come from Winter Moon Palace saying that Imperial Concubine Yun has invited to you Winter Moon Palace.”
The Emperor suddenly began crying, tears streaming down his face without any reservation. While wiping away tears, he cursed himself: “How could I be so lacking in maturity?” But the feelings of joy were hard to suppress. Standing up from the imperial throne, he stumbled out, scaring Zhang Yuan into quickly stopping him and saying: “Your Majesty, if you are to go, you need to get changed! You can’t go like this!”
“What? Are these not suitable?” The Emperor was very nervous. Looking down, he finally realized that he was still in his imperial robes. It was quite shocking! “Then what should We wear?”
Zhang Yuan pointed at the area covered in spilled tea and said: “The lower hem of your clothes are wet. Also, Your Majesty, what is your relationship with Imperial Concubine Yun?! How can you go visit her while wearing the imperial robes? How distant would that seem! If you will listen to this servant’s advice, we will return to Zhao He Hall first to get changed. First, you will appear younger. Second, it will make them feel like you are not putting on airs!”
The Emperor slapped his head. This eunuch was right! What sort of person was Yun Pian Pian? That was someone that hated imperial power the most. It was originally because he was the Emperor and that he had already taken so many imperial concubines that he ended up struggling with her for 20 years. Today, he finally managed to get an invitation into her Winter Moon Palace. If he dared to go in wearing these imperial robes, would that woman not kick him out? “Go, go!” He hurried Zhang Yuan, “Quickly, let’s go and get changed.”
In the end, the Emperor changed into some normal clothes. Looking at him, it was as Zhang Yuan had said, and he looked quite a bit younger. But thinking of Imperial Concubine Yun’s appearance, which had not changed much over the past 20 years, the Emperor still felt like an old man visiting a young girl. But thinking about it, it provided quite a bit of stimulation, and his mood improved a bit. He asked Zhang Yuan: “Say, why did Yun Pian Pian let me into Winter Moon Palace today? Last time We went in, it was because Winter Moon Palace had caught fire, but I have not heard of any fire starting today!”
Zhang Yuan happily said: “It might be that Imperial Concubine is in a good mood today. Your Majesty, have you forgotten? Today is the day that His Highness the ninth prince and Imperial Daughter Ji An are getting married. Imperial Concubine Yun is his birth mother. Her own son is getting married. How could she not be happy?”
The Emperor nodded, “That’s right! We have not forgotten. Those two children have not had it easy these past few years. Old ninth can be considered as having a conscience. Making good on the promise to marry A-Heng on the day that she became of age, We really feel comforted.” The Emperor spoke until this point then suddenly felt a wave of fear. He really was afraid that the battle in the South would delay their wedding. That girl, A-Heng, clearly had that sort of temper, and she was someone with a massive temper. In the past, he had gotten a clear understanding of it. If things did not work well, her temper would be the exact same as Imperial Concubine Yun. Getting married on the day that she became of age, that was something that old ninth had said first. If it could not be done because of various reasons, it was possible that the girl would learn from Imperial Concubine Yun, refusing to see him for a few years, or she might simply refuse to marry!
The Emperor wiped away some cold sweat from his brow. Patting his chest, he said: “That must not happen! A-Heng is a treasure. If old ninth loses her, it would be hard to find another in this world!”
Zhang Yuan had been with the Emperor for a long time, and he was very good at following the aging emperor’s mental leaps. He did not even need time to think it over before he could figure out the cause and effect, thus he said: “Your Majesty, don’t worry. His Highness the ninth prince has always kept his word.”
Was this the case? The Emperor shrugged. When that brat wanted to, he could insist on white being black. Keeping his word? That sort of thing did not even come close to describing him. But this also depended on who it was to. The Emperor pondered, no matter what, old ninth was a bit dominated by A-Heng. It was just like him. He was a dignified ruler of a country, yet he was completely at a loss when dealing with Yun Pian Pian! Hah! These were ill-fated relationships!
While they spoke, the two had already reached Winter Moon Palace’s gate. Because Zhang Yuan had said that he must not put on airs while over here, the Emperor specifically made sure to not bring many people. Either way, the people had already become accustomed to him visiting Winter Moon Palace. When he said that they were not to follow, nobody would dare follow.
In front of Winter Moon Palace’s gates, there were two palace maids standing there. Seeing the Emperor arrive, they quickly stepped forward to salute before one of them said: “Imperial Concubine has put on a banquet today in the palace and is waiting for Your Majesty’s arrival!”
“A banquet?” The Emperor laughed upon hearing this, “It turned out that there really is a banquet to celebrate. Quickly! Bring Us over.”
The palace maids politely led the Emperor toward the moon-viewing platform. After the previous fire, the newly-renovated moon-viewing platform was a bit taller than before and looked very magnificent. When the Emperor reached the moon-viewing platform, he looked up at the top of the platform. There, a table of food and drinks was placed. The fragrance of fruit wafted over with the smell of cooked food. As for the lady wearing a light-yellow dress to the side of the banquet, she was happily peeling grapes and eating them.
Ever since the previous fire in Winter Moon Palace, the Emperor had seen Imperial Concubine Yun a few times. After the palace was repaired, this woman moved back in, and he did not see her again. Looking again today, very well, why was it that she looked even younger than the previous time? The Emperor felt his own face and thought to himself: In terms of looks, he really was about to be a generation older!
At this time, the woman at the top also looked down. Looking, who knew what she was thinking, as she picked up a grape and threw it toward the Emperor. The Emperor was caught off-guard, and the grape struck him on the forehead, causing him to let out a shout in surprise.
Normally speaking, this would be considered an assassination attempt. Hitting the Emperor was not something to mess around with, but the one that had done it was Imperial Concubine Yun. Who dared to do anything about it? Not to mention the fact that it was just a small grape that had been thrown, but even if she had thrown a knife, whether it was Zhang Yuan or the hidden guards, aside from using their own bodies to block it, they did not dare take the slightest action against the culprit. Who told her to be Yun Pian Pian! The Emperor had given the order long ago, if there is a day when We die, and it was Yun Pian Pian that committed the killing, nobody is permitted to do anything to Yun Pian Pian. She needs to be protected. She must not be hurt because my sons wish to get revenge.
This was a special privilege provided by the Emperor to Imperial Concubine Yun. This privilege even provided for her life. As the Emperor saw it, Imperial Concubine Yun was his life. As long as she was willing, he would visit Winter Moon Palace every day to get hit. It was just a pity that this sort of opportunity would rarely come by every few decades.
Without any concern for the patch of purple left behind by the grape on his brow, he broke free from Zhang Yuan and began to climb the moon-viewing platform. He walked straight up to the banquet and stood across from Imperial Concubine Yun. Looking at her face carefully, he could not stop himself from saying in shock: “How do you look so young?”
Imperial Concubine Yun rolled her eyes and did not explain. She just pointed at another chair and said: “Sit! It’s Ming’er’s wedding. I thought long and hard but could not think of anyone to share this celebration with. With no other choice, I could only trouble Your Majesty with coming to my Winter Moon Palace. Who told you to be his father.”
The Emperor rubbed his hands and sat down, saying with great emotion: “For my son’s wedding, it’s natural that I would need to celebrate. Pian Pian, for you to call Us… me, for you to be able to call me over, I am very happy.”
“But I’m not particularly happy!” Imperial Concubine Yun rolled her eyes, “Eat! After you finish eating, just leave. It’s just a meal. Don’t talk about what is and isn’t there.”
The Emperor laughed and did not mind her attitude. He very happily picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.
He was the Emperor and had eaten all sorts of delicacies from all over the world; however, at this very moment, he felt that none of the delicacies could compare with the food eaten here with Imperial Concubine Yun. Especially when he watched Imperial Concubine Yun put down the fruit and pick up her own chopsticks, he suddenly felt even more satisfied. This sort of appearance, how similar was it to that of a normal family eating a meal together?! He went out to work, and after returning home, his wife had already set the table and was just waiting for him to return to begin eating. Over the decades, heavens knew that this sort of time was what he had hoped for the most. Unfortunately, being born into the imperial family, those normal days could not possibly occur for him.
The Emperor sniffled and felt a bit choked up. Imperial Concubine Yun, however, inattentively said: “What is it? Does it not taste good? Does it taste so bad that you’re crying?”
“That’s not it.” The Emperor shook his head. His mouth was still stuffed with meat, and he had no time to speak, stuffing more food into his mouth. “It’s delicious, especially delicious.” Tears trickled out, and he raised his hand to wipe them. He did not have any appearance of an emperor. Instead, he looked like a man of the mountains.
Imperial Concubine Yun had also been shaken for a moment, thinking of the time that they had spent in that mountain home. When he ate, he was accustomed to using his sleeve to wipe his mouth, causing the sleeve to become covered in oil. She would always laugh at him, saying that she could tell that he had not come from a large family, as he did not pay any attention to the rules. As for her, she just wanted to find a man that was not from a large family, did not pay too much heed to the rules, did not have a complicated family, and could keep her company in a simple and happy life.
However, who knew that the person that she would marry was the venerated emperor.
She shook her head and felt that the years had passed quickly. There were many experiences that remained etched in her heart. No matter how she tried to get rid of them, she could not erase all traces. Her son had gotten married. It turned out that so many years had already passed…
“I made the food on this table myself. If you like it, then… just come home and eat!”