Yu Shu walked into Dingbo Mansion with the imperial edict in hand. Uncle Gui kindly welcomed her into the hall and looked outside. He saw two rows of black-robed cold-faced guards patrolling outside and then guarding the front and back doors, leaving two guards behind to protect Yu Shu. Even their Prince did not have such an imposing manner. Speaking of which, if it was someone else, they would not dare to be so arrogant in King Ping's territory.
Yu Shu and Uncle Gui were old acquaintances, but they pretended not to know each other in front of others. Uncle Gui had just sent the few beauties rewarded by the palace back to the backyard. When he turned to see Yu Shu, he felt guilty. He put on a flattering smile, but in his heart, he felt bitter. He was afraid that she had heard about the Empress Dowager gifting beauties and specially came to ask for an explanation.
"Thank you, Lady Yu, for coming personally. I have already sent someone to invite His Highness back to the residence. I estimate that he will only be back in an hour. Do you want to sit here and rest or take a stroll by the lake? Dingbo Mansion's scenery is excellent."
Yu Shu raised the imperial edict in her hand and said, "There's no need to trouble yourself. I will wait here for King Ping to return."
Uncle Gui had to stay behind to accompany the guest nervously. He wanted to find out what the Emperor's imperial edict was.
.....
Xue Rui had been staying in Wenhua Hall to preside over the revision of the new laws for the past few days. He was busy leaving early and returning late every day. Seeing that he had time today, he showed up at the library in the morning. Without changing his clothes, he brought a group of guards and prepared to go to North City Street. He wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to reveal the reward notice for a son-in-law on the Wangji Tower's Tianji List to avoid trouble.
Who would have thought that when he left Donghua Gate, he would be intercepted by people from Dingbo Mansion. In detail — among the few beauties rewarded by the palace yesterday, one of them was a concubine from the previous dynasty!
Xue Rui's expression changed when he heard this. He was not scared, but angry — the person was rewarded by the Empress Dowager. He did not believe that the Empress Dowager did not know about it. When the Yan Emperor entered the Imperial Palace, he had ordered all the concubines of Emperor Chongzhen to be locked up in the Cold Palace. If this one was not released, could she have escaped by herself? But the Empress Dowager purposely sent the concubines of the previous dynasty to his door as palace maids. What was her motive? Was he trying to sow discord between him and the Yan Emperor, or was he trying to frame him?
"Let's go back and take a look." Thereupon he had no choice but to turn around and return to the Dingbo Hall. He had to first settle the trouble the Empress Dowager threw at him, so that in the future he would not stir up a fishy smell, which would spread to his sweetheart's ears and cause her to misunderstand.
Because he had taken the main road back, Xue Rui had missed the messenger that Uncle Gui had sent. It was not until he saw the black-robed guards standing guard outside the Dingbo Hall and Yu Shu's carriage that he knew that she had come.
Xue Rui could not help thinking too much. Ever since she was reinstated, in order to avoid arousing suspicion, she did not take the initiative to visit him. Yesterday the Empress Dowager had just sent several women over, and today she came. Thinking was thinking too much, but he did not feel guilty. He dismounted from the horse, tidied up his clothes, and strode inside.
A clever manservant at the door jogged forward to lead the way. He reported in a small voice: "Yu Da has been here for almost an hour. She is sitting in the Tingsong House in the front courtyard."
Xue Rui did not ask any more questions. His footsteps quickened, and in the blink of an eye, he had arrived at the guest hall. The black-robed guards outside the door bowed their heads in greeting. He swept his gaze over them and couldn't help muttering to himself. In the blink of an eye, he saw Yu Shu sitting quietly inside the room. His eyes lit up and he couldn't help raising the corner of his mouth. His cloudy expression turned sunny.
"Why did you come without saying a word?" There was a saying that a day apart was like three autumns. At this moment, Xue Rui only had her beautiful figure in his eyes. How could he see Uncle Gui secretly winking at him?
Yu Shu used her sleeve to conceal the golden imperial edict. There was a faint smile on the corner of her mouth. She examined him and said: "I came to congratulate Wang Ye."
Xue Rui's eyelids twitched. He hesitantly asked: "Why did you congratulate me?"
Yu Shu asked him in reply: "What does Wang Ye think is a happy event?"
"This …" Xue Rui glanced at Uncle Gui and saw that Uncle Gui was frowning and lightly shaking his head at him. Unfortunately, he did not understand what she meant, so he could only follow her words and guess: "Could it be that you are referring to the Empress Dowager sending a few people to me yesterday?"
Yu Shu's face instantly turned cold: "So you think that is a happy event."
Xue Rui knew that he had said the wrong thing and immediately denied: "How can this be considered a happy event? Yesterday, I already said to have Uncle Gui send the people away. If you don't believe me, you can ask him." It was a pity that he was the awe-inspiring King Ping in court, but in front of her, he did not have the slightest bit of grandeur.
Uncle Gui was also afraid that Yu Shu would turn against him and quickly testified: "It is true, it is true. Wang Ye ordered this old servant to send the people away yesterday."
"Did you send the people away?"
“.....”
Unexpectedly, the master and servant duo could not answer. Yu Shu raised her eyebrows. From the beginning, she did not take those palace maids seriously. If she did not have the slightest confidence in Xue Rui, why did she wait for him for five years? With her understanding of Xue Rui, he would not fall for the Empress Dowager's trick. Then why did he not send the people away? It was worth thinking about.
"So you are saying that the people are still here?" She put the imperial edict into her sleeve as she stood up and walked towards the door. "Lead the way. I want to see what kind of beauty the Empress Dowager sent that made Wang Ye reluctant to send her away."
Xue Rui listened to her mockery and shook his head with a bitter smile. He followed her, not caring about the black-robed guards behind him. He gently held a corner of her sleeve and lowered his head to her ear to say: "There is a problem with the people the Empress Dowager sent. It is not good to cause more trouble. Come, I will tell you clearly."
Yu Shu was not angry. She glanced at him and waved her hand to signal the black-robed guards behind her to wait. He held her sleeve and walked forward. The two walked side by side down the long corridor. After turning a corner, Xue Rui opened his mouth to tell her the whole story —
"Yesterday, the Empress Dowager sent four people. She said that they were maids in the palace. This morning, when uncle Gui sent them away, he found that one of them was the concubine of the previous dynasty's Emperor Chong Zhen."
"Hiss," Yu Shu frowned and said: "What does the Empress Dowager want to do?" She was the same as Xue Rui, the first thing she thought of was a conspiracy.
Xue Rui shook his head and said: "I just came back and did not have time to ask in detail. Why don't you come with me to take a look? "
"That's fine." The matter had its priorities, so Yu Shu did not argue with him anymore.
Uncle Gui followed from behind at a distance and watched them reconcile. Xue Rui waved at him and he hurriedly rushed forward to lead the way. The four palace maids were placed in a small building in the southwest corner of the Ding Bo Hall. There were guards at all four corners of the building.
When Yu Shu and Xue Rui walked to the outside of the small building, they could faintly hear the sound of crying coming from inside. They looked at each other and quietly walked in.
On the bed in the room, a pale but extremely beautiful woman was lying flat on the bed, her eyes staring listlessly at the top of the bed. Another palace maid was kneeling next to her bed, crying and trying to persuade her, "Your Ladyship, you must hold on. Life is tough now, but compared to the future, what's the point of suffering now? Think on the bright side, when you see Xue — no, King Ping, when you see him, you can beg him. For the sake of our friendship in the past, he won't leave you in the lurch, right?"
Based on our friendship in the past, he won't leave you in the lurch. "Hearing this, the woman lying on the bed finally had some reaction. She murmured:" So what if I see him? I am the Emperor's concubine, he has become the enemy general who destroyed the country. Even if he is willing to pity me and take me in, how am I going to live in the future? Don't tell me I really have to give myself to him and become a lowly concubine? But with his current status, he can have any woman he wants. How long can he take pity on me? "
Outside the door, Yu Shu heard their conversation and turned to look at Xue Rui with a strange expression. She could tell who the 'Ladyship' was, but she was not sure if he knew. It was not easy to hide from these rotten peach blossoms. Even after so many years, they still came to her.
But Xue Rui could not bear to listen any longer. He was a pure man, and there was no need for the two women in the room to smear his reputation and turn the shadowy things into the truth. So, he raised his hand and pushed the door open, interrupting the self-pity of the women in the room.
When the two women in the room heard the sound of the door opening, they immediately shut their mouths and looked at the screen blocking the door with a startled expression. They saw a muscular man with honey-colored skin and a handsome face. He was clad in a luxurious purple robe, which made him look noble and dignified. He was none other than Prince Ping of the Great Yan Kingdom whom they were discussing just now.
The 'concubine' quickly sat up. Recalling what she had just said, her cheeks flushed red. She was too ashamed to show her face. She lowered her head and trembled nervously. A woman in her early twenties was the most beautiful time for a flower to bloom. She looked like a begonia after the rain, delicate and pitiful.
Xue Rui looked at her carefully and finally recognized who she was. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a cold snort behind him. Yu Shu also came in from the door.
"I didn't expect to meet Honored Consort Shu here. I'm really surprised."
When she heard this voice that wasn't unfamiliar to her at all, Rui Zizhu instantly felt as if she'd fallen from the warmth of autumn into the coldness of winter. She hurriedly raised her head in shock, and when she clearly saw Yu Shu who'd walked over to stand by Xue Rui's side, she was completely unwell.
"Yu, Yu — why are you here?"
Before this, although Rui Zizhu was the head of the four concubines, she had never been favored by Emperor Chongzhen. When the army of the Yan Kingdom pressed on the border, Emperor Chongzhen sent the two Empress Dowager and Empress Xia Jiang to Luoyang to take refuge, but he did not allow the concubines to leave the capital. So she was trapped in the palace and witnessed the change of imperial power and the change of the ruler of the world.
She still remembered that the Yan army broke through the capital gate and broke into the palace. Corpses were everywhere. She thought she was going to die, but she reunited with the person she thought she would never see again in this life. Although he refused to admit it, she was sure that she did not mistake him. He was Xue Rui, the person who almost … almost became her husband.
Although he did not recognize her, he did not kill her. Instead, he sent her to the Cold Palace with the palace concubines and maids, giving her a way out. She guessed that he probably remembered their old relationship.
The days in the Cold Palace were very difficult. She gritted her teeth and endured for a whole month. It was not that she did not have a trace of hope in her heart that he would think of her and rescue her from this cage. But she did not wait for him to appear. Instead, she waited for Chief Shang who came to the Cold Palace to select people. Her identity was not a secret and could not be concealed. But for some reason, she was selected and left the Cold Palace that day.
As no one mentioned her identity, she had been following a few palace maids who were selected along with her and learning the etiquette of serving the nobles. Until yesterday, when they were summoned by the Empress Dowager of Great Yan. In the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful, she saw Yu Shu, the woman she hated to the core.
What Rui Zizhu could not forget was the Gentleman's Hibiscus Banquet that year. Thousands of lotus lanterns bloomed on the lake of Dingbo Hall. A talented scholar and a beautiful woman gathered together. It should have been a song that would be sung by future generations, but it was ruined by this vicious woman. Her fate seemed to change that night. First, her reputation was ruined. Then, her marriage with the brother of the Xue family became a bubble. Her dreams came to nothing. In the end, he disappeared and she entered the palace.
Fortunately, Yu Shu did not recognize her at that time. Under the order of the Empress Dowager, she was sent to Dingbo Hall. Her heart was both nervous and a trace of unspeakable joy. But she never dreamed that she would see Yu Shu here.
As for Yu Shu, when she saw Rui Zizhu looking as if she had seen a ghost, she said with a smile, "I was ordered to pass the imperial edict, but I encountered something rare. A concubine of the previous dynasty ran into the backyard of the current dynasty's prince. In order to prove his innocence, Prince Ping invited me to come and find out the truth."
When Emperor Chongzhen was on the throne, Concubine Rui Shu took advantage of the power of the Empress Dowager to make trouble for her from time to time. Later, she was taught a lesson by Rui Shu and became obedient. Yu Shu had never been a soft-hearted person. Seeing Rui Zizhu in such a situation, she did not feel sorry for her at all.
Rui Zizhu's hands were trembling. She hated and was afraid of Yu Shu. She could only pretend to be calm and said, "It was the Empress Dowager who allowed me to leave the palace and sent me here. If you have any questions, why don't you go to the palace and ask the Empress Dowager?"
"So you mean that the Empress Dowager knew your identity and background, but deliberately sent you to Prince Ping as a palace maid?" Yu Shu caught her words in a few words and dragged the Empress Dowager into the trouble.
Rui Zizhu had stayed in the palace for a few years after all, so she wasn't stupid to the point of being hopeless. When she heard Yu Shu's question, she didn't dare to answer. She bit her lips as she looked at Xue Rui, and her glistening eyes were filled with panic and pleading.
"Now that things have come to this, I just want a place to stay. Brother Xue, I know it's you. It's fine if you don't admit it, but you and I have known each other for a long time. Are you going to watch me be forced to death by others?"
Xue Rui felt wronged when Yu Shu snatched his words as soon as he entered the door. It was true that the Xue family and the Rui family almost became in-laws, but in all honesty, he had never had any improper thoughts about the young lady of the Rui family. How could she still want to rely on him with such a small relationship?
"Consort Shu, right? I'm Great Yan's Liu Shining, and I'll never change my name. Don't be in a hurry to seek death. Let me ask you, you claimed that the Empress Dowager allowed you to leave the palace. Does she already know that you are a concubine of the previous dynasty? "
Rui Zizhu could not avoid this question. She stammered, "The Empress Dowager is high and mighty. How would I know what she is thinking?"
Xue Rui looked at Yu Shu. Whether it was the truth or a lie, she would know when she heard it. Yu Shu's Great Insight Art had been cultivated to the last level. She could see through the fabrications as she wished. As expected, Yu Shu only glanced at Rui Zizhu before turning to tell Xue Rui: "It seems that Honored Concubine Shu doesn't know." The meaning behind the words was: If he wanted to know what Empress Dowager Wei was selling, he wouldn't be able to get it out of Rui Zizhu's mouth.
Xue Rui nodded. In a flash, he had an idea. He called for someone to come and Uncle Gui walked in from the door. "What orders does wang ye have?"
"Prepare a carriage. Ben wang will personally send this Honored Concubine Shu back to the Imperial Palace and report to the Holy One." Didn't the Empress Dowager want to test him? Then he would do as she wished and have her give up on those thoughts as soon as possible.
"No!" Rui Zizhu's face paled. She looked at Xue Rui and shook her head, "I don't want to go back to the palace. I beg you, don't send me back."
Xue Rui didn't seem to hear her and turned to leave, not caring about their past relationship. Seeing this, Rui Zizhu didn't care that Yu Shu was present. She threw off the blanket and jumped off the bed. Barefooted, she leapt behind him. Before she fell, she grabbed a corner of his clothes. Raising her head, tears fell from the corner of her eyes. Her beautiful face was so fragile it made people's hearts wrench.
"If I go back to the palace, I will only die. How can the Cold Palace hold a living person? Are you really so cruel? Big Brother Xue, I would rather stay by your side and be a yahuan that brings you tea and water, serve you for the rest of my life. I beg you, save me, alright? "
Xue Rui slightly furrowed his brows. It wasn't good to kick her away. He never acted against women. But how would he fall for this trick of hers? If he would be softhearted and take in any girl who cries and begs in front of him, then from the northeast all the way to An Ling, who knows how many girls he has kept by his side, who knows how many times he has let Ah Shu down.
"What a good servant girl. Honored Consort Shu has really opened this seat's eyes." Yu Shu sneered and crossed her arms as she looked down at the beauty who was kneeling on the ground and begging. Seducing her man in front of her, the master, was simply courting death.
Rui Zizhu saw her disdainful gaze, and the old and new hatred was ignited. She glared at her with tears in her eyes and said, "Yu Lianfang, you shameless villain with a venomous heart. How can you have the face to stand in front of Big Brother Xue? He has been extremely benevolent to you, but you slandered the Xue family for colluding with the Yan traitors, causing his entire family to bear injustice. If it weren't for your treachery, Grandpa Xue wouldn't have died unjustly, and Auntie Xue and Younger Sister Xue wouldn't have suffered such humiliation. How can you have the face to see him!?"
As she spoke, she turned around with an agitated expression, and her teeth chattered as she roared at Xue Rui in a low voice. "You actually don't know that she's your enemy? Why, why would you rather save her than save me?"
During the period when she was trained in the Bureau of the Imperial Palace, she would occasionally hear some gossip. For example, Prince Ping had pleaded for the previous dynasty's Celestial Commissioner at the palace banquet. Thus, she knew that not only was Yu Shu not convicted, but she was also reinstated with the help of Xue Rui and could continue to enjoy her wealth and glory. She only thought that Yu Shu had thought of a way to confuse him, and wanted nothing more than to expose her true colors in front of him.
"Enemy? Haha. "Yu Shu suddenly felt that she was pitiful. It was fine if she thought too much of herself, but how did she become delusional? She looked at Xue Rui and saw that he was also looking at her. The two of them looked at each other and smiled. There was no need for words.
That day, she came forward to accuse the Xue family of colluding with the enemy. One reason was to protect herself, and the other was to prevent Xue Lingnan from rebelling with Prince Xiang. That was a crime that deserved the death penalty of having his entire family executed. Later, Xue Lingnan died of illness in prison. That was his own fault. As for Madam Xue and Jin Xun's younger sister, after she had gained power, she had secretly taken them out of the nunnery and sent them to a safe place to hide from the chaos.
Even if the world scolded her for being treacherous and harboring malicious intentions, she did not care. She did what she had to do. Even if there were millions of people in the world who misunderstood her, he would not. That was enough.
"How could you understand?" She looked at Rui Zizhu sympathetically and reached out to hold Xue Rui's hand, pulling him away from the place.
Rui Zizhu did not manage to hold on to the corner of his clothes. Her eyes were filled with their tightly interlocked fingers. She felt as if all the bones in her body had been pulled out, and she fell limply to the ground.
"So, so that's why …"
Yu Shu and Xue Rui left the small building and walked along the path to the garden. Only then did he remember to ask her, "What is the happy event you were talking about?"
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