The woman had a slender figure, and even though she was wearing a white fox fur coat, one could still see her slender shoulders and waist. Her aqua-colored shirt was embroidered with silver bamboo leaves, and she wore a pleated peacock silk skirt, which was as fresh as a pool of autumn water.
But her face couldn't be seen clearly because she was wearing a veil on her head.
On sunny days, the breeze gently lifted the veil, sometimes revealing a small jade-like jaw and half of red lips, but it was never clear.
Even with just a glimpse, one can tell that there must be a stunning face under the veil. It is precisely because one cannot see clearly that one becomes more and more itchy.
The people on the opposite side also spotted the King of Qi's carriage and hurriedly moved to the left side of the road.
The woman lowered her head, and her body, which was as slender as a spring willow, trembled slightly.
Huan Xuan's gaze seemed to be pulled by a string and could not be moved away.
Gao Mai looked at his master's face and his heart skipped a beat. His master was a heart of stone and it was impossible for him to be stunned when seeing a beautiful woman on the street.
There is only one person in the world who can make him look like this—Ruan Weiyue.
On the first day back in Beijing, I met this person right after entering the palace. What a sin! He lamented in his heart.
Sure enough, after a while, Huan Xuan said in a deep voice: "Stop the chariot."
He ordered the sedan chair to stop, but had no intention of dismounting it. He just stared at the woman.
The breeze brought the familiar and elegant fragrance of the woman.
He held his breath involuntarily.
The woman's body trembled slightly, like a willow branch in the wind, making her look more graceful and charming.
She bowed gracefully and said, "I, a commoner named Ruan, pay my respects to His Royal Highness the King of Qi. May Your Highness be blessed."
Her voice was as delicate and gentle as her posture, with a slight Wu accent, like a yellow oriole singing out of a valley.
Three years ago, under the willow tree by the Ba Bridge, she used the most gentle and soft voice in the world to speak the cruelest words.
Huan Xuan's eyes fell on her spring-scallion-like fingers.
She was tightly gripping the handle of the ivory fan in her hand, and his heart seemed to be gripped by that hand as well.
"Sister-in-law, how are you?" His voice was cold but a little hoarse. Although it came from his own throat, it seemed so unfamiliar.
Ruan Yuewei and the prince had not yet married, so he shouldn't have addressed her like that, but he blurted it out.
He didn't blame her and had no intention of hurting her, but he couldn't let it go.
Ruan Weiyue's body trembled and she almost fell, but fortunately the maid beside her was quick to support her.
After a long while, she said in a trembling voice: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I am fine."
Huan Xuan nodded slightly: "That's good."
There are people coming and going on the palace road, and the two of them are uncle and sister-in-law, so they should avoid suspicion.
He said "take care" to Ruan Yuewei, and then told Huangmen, "Let's go."
…
Ruan Yuewei kept her head down until the sound of the jade bells from the sedan chair faded away and gradually disappeared in the sound of cicadas and the rustling of leaves. Only then did she raise her head.
Cold sweat broke out on her forehead, but she didn't dare to wipe it off, for fear that the palace servants beside her would notice something.
Fortunately, her aunt Concubine De knew that she was weak, so she made an exception and arranged for Douzi to wait at the entrance of the alley.
After riding in the cart out of the palace and changing to the marquis's mansion's calf cart, Ruan Yuewei leaned against the fox-skin-covered wall of the cart in a daze, as if all her strength had been drained away in an instant.
The maid took off her veil and was shocked to find that her face was as white as paper and her eyes, which were filled with tears, were filled with sorrow and mist.
"My lady, why are you doing this..."
The maidservant felt very distressed and hurriedly wiped her tears with a silk handkerchief, but the more she wiped, the more tears there were.
A beauty shedding tears is also beautiful, especially a stunning beauty like Ruan Yuewei. Her every move is graceful and she never frowns like ordinary people when she cries.
She just frowned slightly, sobbed softly with a slightly sad look on her face: "Shuzhu, he is still blaming me..."
"How could that be?" the maid named Shuzhu said softly, "Your Highness the Prince of Qi has always treated my wife the best."
"You don't have to comfort me. I know he still blames me," Ruan Yue smiled bitterly and choked up, "It's all my fault... I was too close to him at the beginning, which made him..."
She bit her lower lip, her cheeks flushed: "I have thoughts that I shouldn't have..."
Shu Zhu said: "You can't blame the lady for this. The lady and His Highness grew up together and are as close as siblings. It's natural that they are closer than others."
Ruan Yue lowered her eyes slightly and smiled sadly: "I'm afraid he will never forgive me in this life."
Shu Zhu held her hand and said, "My lady, don't think too much. If it weren't for this, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi wouldn't have become famous in one battle. In fact, it's all thanks to you, my lady."
Ruan Yuewei sighed softly: "This is a blessing for the country of Dayong."
"Who said it wasn't?" Shu Zhu heaved a sigh of relief when she saw her tears stop. "Your Highness Prince Qi is much calmer and more handsome than he was three years ago. I almost didn't recognize him just now."
She sighed, "I heard that His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi was also very clean at the border. Such men are rare in the world."
Ruan Yue leaned on the cushion, staring blankly ahead, not knowing what she was thinking.
Shu Zhu leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Just now I was watching from the side and it seemed that His Highness was still treating my wife..."
Before she finished speaking, Ruan Yuewei suddenly sat up straight, her cheeks flushed instantly: "Is this something shameless?"
She sneered: "Now, even a servant girl is trying to make fun of me..."
Before she finished speaking, her breathing suddenly became rapid. Shu Zhu was so frightened that his face turned pale. He quickly took out the medicine bag from behind his elbow and put it to her nose: "Madam, don't be angry. I was wrong. I deserve to die. Madam, just beat and scold me to vent your anger. Don't get yourself hurt by getting angry."
Ruan Yuewei tightly grasped the medicine bag and sniffed it. Her breathing gradually stabilized. She glanced at the helpless maid and sighed softly: "I shouldn't blame you. It was my fault in the first place. Why should I be afraid of what others say?"
As he spoke, two more strings of tears fell. Shu Zhu had no choice but to continue coaxing him. He coaxed him all the way, almost wearing out his lips, and finally he managed to make his master smile.
…
Huan Xuan continued to move north on his sedan chair. The golden bells and broken jade hanging on the four corners of the brocade curtains made gurgling sounds, and his heart sank a little with every sound.
The chariot finally stopped at the gate of a remote palace.
It was noon, the palace gates were closed, the palace walls were high, and a towering ancient locust tree protruded from the wall, its yellow leaves rustling, and the sound of the Buddhist bells inside the wall gave people a feeling of desolation and loneliness.
This palace is located in the northwest corner of the harem, adjacent to Changlin Garden. It is the most secluded place in the entire harem, and its quietness and loneliness are comparable to an ancient temple in the mountains.
No one would have thought that this was the residence of the current queen.
Since the death of the late crown prince, the empress has devoted herself to worshipping Buddha and has ignored worldly affairs. The emperor tried to persuade her in vain, so he had no choice but to build this royal nunnery for his wife in the palace.
Although she was practicing Buddhism with her hair uncut, she no longer asked about the mundane affairs of the harem, and all matters were left to Concubine De to handle.
Huan Xuan got off the chariot and ordered the eunuch to knock on the door.
After a while, the palace gate slowly opened, and a nun in a gray silk robe walked out of the door. She clasped her hands together and bowed to Huanxuan: "Greetings from the donor."
Huan Xuan frowned slightly and said, "I am here to pay my respects to Her Majesty the Queen. Please report to her."
The monk said, "The master is giving the noon service. Please wait for a moment."
After saying that, he welcomed him into the house.
As soon as you enter the door, you will see a nine-story pagoda in front of you. The Buddhist temple is built around the pagoda. Just north of the pagoda is the main hall with five rooms and seven frames. To the east of the main hall is the Buddhist hall where the queen worshipped Buddha and lived her daily life.
The courtyard is surrounded by winding corridors and densely populated by pine and cypress trees. The autumn sun shines through the gaps between the branches and leaves, seeming to be cooled.
Huan Xuan's heart was also cold.
The nun said, "Please go to the Zen temple and have a cup of coarse tea."
"No need, I'll wait here." Huan Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the intricately carved flames and lotus patterns on the pagoda.
The nun had no choice but to let him go. She bowed and walked towards the Buddhist hall.
Huan Xuan stood in front of the stone pagoda for half an hour. The tightly closed door of the Buddhist hall opened, and curling sandalwood smoke floated out from the door. A group of nuns came out one after another.
Huan Xuan looked up unconsciously, his back slightly tense.
A nun in grey came towards him. She was the same nun who had been in charge of reception.
She glanced at Huan Xuan in embarrassment and bowed eleven times: "Master asked me to bring a message to the donors."
Huan Xuan's heart sank, and his expression darkened as well.
"Master said that she has severed her worldly ties. Meeting her would only cause more trouble. Please don't worry about her."
Huan Xuan looked towards the green-latticed window of the nunnery and could vaguely see the silhouette of a person through the lush vegetation.
He moved his lips, remained silent for a long time, and lowered his eyes: "In this case, please tell the respected teacher that I hope the respected teacher will take care of himself."
“Yes, I will definitely tell the master.” said the nun.
Huan Xuan said nothing more, turned around and walked out of the hall, as if this quiet temple had suddenly turned into purgatory and he could not stay there for a moment.
Gao Mai was waiting outside the hall. When he saw his master's face, he knew what he was talking about. He did not dare to breathe and carefully helped his master get on the sedan chair.
Everyone in the palace knew that the queen loved her eldest son the most. After the death of the crown prince, she fell seriously ill. After she recovered, she insisted on becoming a nun. The emperor could not persuade her, so he had to compromise and let her practice in the palace with her hair uncut.
Although once one enters Buddhism, worldly affairs become a thing of the past, but once one becomes an empress, it is impossible to completely sever worldly ties, and the empress does not refuse to see anyone.
When the emperor was not in the hot spring palace to recuperate, he would come to the nunnery to visit his wife every now and then and have a vegetarian meal with her. The second prince would also come to the palace from time to time to pay his respects to his mother.
Even ladies from the royal family, court ladies and noble families were occasionally allowed by the empress to enter the palace for an audience with the emperor.
The only ones she refused to see were her third sons.
The reason is not difficult to guess. As we all know, the King of Qi and the former Crown Prince are very similar. At first glance, they seem to be carved from the same mold.
However, the Queen had the weakest affection for the third son, because she was unwell when giving birth to the third son and was unable to raise him personally, so the Prince of Qi grew up in the Queen Mother's palace.
The Queen avoided meeting the King of Qi simply because she was afraid of seeing his face and couldn't help but think of her beloved son who had passed away young.
Gao Mai felt aggrieved for his own prince, but there was no way to comfort him in this situation, so he could only serve him more carefully and diligently.
…
When I left Penglai Palace, the sunlight was already setting in the west, taking on a warm orange-red hue, no longer the bright white of midday.
The road surface of the Imperial Road is flat and hard, so carriages and horses passing by will not raise annoying dust. The high walls on both sides isolate the bustling crowds of carriages and people, making it quiet and somewhat lonely.
The wheels rumbled as they rolled over the imperial road, and the monotonous and heavy sound of the bells reached the blue sky.
Huan Xuan closed his eyes and leaned against the wall of the car.
Ever since my eldest brother passed away and my mother became a nun, entering the palace became a tiring thing.
Meeting Ruan Yuewei today made things even worse.
As soon as he was born, he was taken to the Empress Dowager's Anfu Palace. The Empress Dowager was not the Emperor's biological mother, and she was not on good terms with the Empress. Naturally, she had no feelings for her grandson, who was not related to her by blood, and did not like him to disturb her.
Apart from visiting his grandmother in the morning and evening, he hardly ever saw her. Now when he thinks back on it, he can hardly even remember what she looked like.
Anfu Palace was far away from the Queen's bedroom, so he could not visit his two brothers often. In addition, the Queen Mother did not like him to go out. The only people around him were palace maids and eunuchs, and he did not even have a playmate until Ruan Yuewei arrived.
Ruan Yuewei is the great-grandniece of the Empress Dowager. According to a certain Taoist master, she was born with the fate of a phoenix, but she was doomed to disaster. She can only be raised by someone with a very noble fate.
Now Huan Xuan naturally knew that this was just an excuse. The Ruan family sent their daughter to the Queen Mother to be raised with the intention of making her the Crown Prince's wife. Sima Zhao's intention was known to everyone.
But Huan Xuan was just an ignorant child who had just begun to understand things at that time. He didn't know the twists and turns of these adults. He was just happy that he finally had a playmate.
No matter why Ruan Yuewei entered the palace, the most carefree time of his life was spent with her.
He pinched his brows, sat up straight, and asked outside the car: "Where are we?"
The eunuch stepped forward and said through the carriage curtain: "Your Highness, we are almost past Changlefang. Go about twenty steps forward and turn east, and you will reach the palace."
Huan Xuan leaned back into the carriage and closed his eyes.
As soon as he closed his eyes, the scene just now appeared in front of him. The white veil fluttered in the breeze, and the delicate face under the veil was looming.
There is a pair of gentle black pupils under the veil, and the eyes are softer than the spring waves in March.
Suddenly, another pair of eyes appeared in his mind.
Her pupils were slightly lighter in color, almost amber, and she stared at him in the candlelight. The fire in her eyes was hotter than the candlelight.
His Adam's apple moved slightly.
The autumn wind suddenly blew, causing the brocade curtain to flutter and make crackling sounds as it hit the oil wall.
Huan Xuan felt an indescribable irritation in his heart.
He rubbed his forehead, as if that could drive those eyes out of his mind.
The carriage drove to the red gate with spears lined up and stopped.
Gao Mai bowed outside the car and said, "Your Highness, we have arrived at the palace."
Huan Xuan still sat in the car without moving.
"Your Highness?" Gao Mai called out again cautiously.
Huan Xuan pinched his brows and said in a deep voice, "Go to Chang'anfang."