The Pearl in Her Palm Rushed to the Front, and Dark Currents Surged Again in the Inner Palace
Inukami Jusaburo raised his eyes.
"Won't Great Yan pursue them?"
"To wage war across the sea, we must first ascertain the sea routes. They don't even know which camp we've landed in, so how can they expect to arrive so easily?"
Park Roejang gestured with his chin towards the outside.
"Those people on the shore will return tonight."
Inukami Jusaburo looked at him, and after a while, bent down and rewrapped the charred piece of wood.
"Your Park Family's grain, you'd give it away for free?"
"We've worked together, why say such things?"
A thousand miles away, in the capital city of Great Yan.
The vermilion walls divide the palaces into deep, dark squares, and the cold air presses heavily on the roofs covered with yellow glazed tiles. Even the sound of birds flying by seems dry and heavy.
The curtains of the warm Hanzhang Hall, the underfloor heating was burning so hard that it filled one's nose with the bitter smell of benzoin and rehmannia root.
Noble Consort Chen held a small white jade lotus-shaped porcelain bowl in her hands; the freshly brewed lily and pear soup was still hot to the touch.
Today she wore a slightly worn, light purple pleated skirt, and a simple silver hairpin held down her hair in a bun.
After passing the twelve-panel sandalwood screen inlaid with precious stones that stood in the center of the warm pavilion, I slowly walked to the large sandalwood couch by the window.
The soft couch was covered with a double-layered blue gauze curtain, and the quilt was bulging out in a narrow strip. He was curled up with his back to the outside, and every two breaths he would let out two muffled coughs.
" Li'er, drink this pear soup while it's hot. This ingredient is essential in the Qi-regulating prescription given by Elder Shen. Drink a few more sips to suppress the internal heat in your chest."
Noble Consort Chen placed the tray on the high table, lifted the thin curtain outside with her fingertips, and leaned forward slightly.
The person inside seemed startled, shrinking half an inch towards the wall, and slowly extending a hand from the corner of the quilt, loosely resting it on the carved pillow.
Noble Consort Chen's fingers, which had just reached halfway to tuck the blanket in, remained suspended there, not moving any further.
His gaze was fixed on the back of the hand that was sticking out from under the blanket.
Her wrists were slender and white, her fingers were smooth, and the skin between her thumb and forefinger was flat and even, without even a fine line.
The carrot charcoal in the basin popped and sparked.
The gentle expression on Noble Consort Chen's face gradually faded, her lips pressed into a straight line, and her eyes turned as cold as frozen well water.
This is not her daughter.
A loud crack!
Noble Consort Chen waved her hand, and the white jade bowl on the high table, along with the boiling pear soup, overturned.
The broken porcelain splattered on the blanket, and the scalding soup spilled all over the quilt. She grabbed the corner of the quilt and yanked it off against the edge of the bed!
The girl in bed screamed halfway through, a cold wind swirling around her, making her tremble like a leaf.
Her eyebrows and eyes were nine-tenths similar to Gu Moli's, and she was also wearing that light apricot-colored nightgown, but her pupils were full of the fear and evasion of a servant when seeing her master, without the slightest bit of the cold and sinister aura that seeped into Gu Moli's bones.
"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!"
The stand-in tumbled and crawled to the ground, her knees hitting the porcelain shards. Scalding water soaked through her trousers, but she didn't dare utter a sound. She slammed her forehead against the hard brick floor, drawing blood after a few blows.
"Princess... the princess changed her Imperial Guard rotation badge three days ago and rode out of the capital at full speed with Sister Qingwu..."
My entire family's indentures are in the princess's hands; I dare not disobey!
Noble Consort Chen looked down at the body curled up on the ground, her chin tucked in tightly, her voice completely flat, sending chills down one's spine.
"Where did you go after leaving Beijing?"
"This servant doesn't know... this servant truly doesn't know!"
The stand-in gasped for breath, her fingers digging into the wool blanket, tearing off a few strands of broken thread.
"I only overheard Sister Qingwu mention something while packing her things before she left... that she was going to Dengzhou to see the sea, to shield the Prince from... a hidden arrow..."
Noble Consort Chen's fingers, hidden beneath her sleeves, clenched tightly in her palms. She closed her eyes and forcefully suppressed the urge to vomit blood that surged up in her chest.
Dengzhou is currently a quagmire where people are devoured. Overseas Japanese pirates have set up their swords at the port, Gu Moran risking his life despite bearing three invitations to the emperor.
She, a princess raised in seclusion, was going to lead her personal maid across mountains and rivers, braving seas of fire and mountains of knives?
Noble Consort Chen turned her head to the shadows behind the screen and gave the following instructions:
"Gag her mouth shut with coarse linen, stuff her into the back cabinet and tie her up tightly, giving her only a small bowl of rice porridge a day."
"All three wooden doors of the inner and outer Warm Pavilion were locked with brass locks. If anyone outside asks, just say that I am staying here to personally attend to my illness."
Anyone who dares to take even half a step closer to this window, regardless of which palace they belong to, will be dragged to the back alley, beaten to death with a stick, and thrown into a mass grave under cover of night.
"Yes, ma'am."
The old woman in the shadows bowed in response, quickly untied the hemp rope from her waist, and pounced on the person on the ground, covering their mouth with her hand.
Noble Consort Chen didn't even glance at the broken porcelain at her feet, and strode out, lifting the curtain.
She changed into a plain, unembroidered gray robe in the side hall, and tucked her dark hair into a worn gray cloth Daoist hat.
They quickly passed through the shadowy narrow wall, taking advantage of the change of guards to bypass the armored guards patrolling ahead, their feet moving silently towards the back gate of Palace of Compassion and Tranquility.
Deep within a side hall of the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility.
The two thick doors, covered with cast iron sheets, were tightly shut.
The wind lashed against the copper nails, making a clattering sound.
There were no lights in the room; the only light came from the benzoin incense burning in the bronze cauldron by the windowsill.
The Empress Dowager sat cross-legged on an old prayer mat made of worn-out hemp thread.
The wide sleeves of the robe revealed a withered, wiry frame beneath.
Her full head of white hair was casually tied up, with an old peach wood hairpin with worn-out edges inserted horizontally.
The sandalwood prayer beads in his hand were worn black from handling.
He held the bead with his thumb, rubbing it against one at a time, and after a while, he heard a muffled "click".
Noble Consort Chen knelt on the blue brick floor for a long time, her knees already soaked with the cold air from the cracks in the ground.
She didn't dare to hide it, and told the whole story of how Gu Moli changed into ordinary clothes and secretly fled the capital, heading straight for Dengzhou Guard in Qilu.
When the Empress Dowager mentioned that the girl had declared she would shield the third prince from a hidden attack, her thumb paused, and the Buddhist prayer beads were firmly stuck between her two fingers.
The room was so quiet that only the faint sound of the lamp oil burning out could be heard.
After a long while, the prayer beads finally fell onto the next bead with a "thud".
Let her be.
The old lady's voice was like sandpaper grinding bricks, without a trace of the panic one would expect from a grandmother.
"That girl's inherent wickedness is just like mine back then."
"She's incredibly stubborn. Even if you chain her to a pillar at Ganye Temple, she'd still tear her own flesh apart and break free."
"Those seasoned soldiers from Dengzhou Guard might not be able to be controlled by the Third Brother's appeasement methods alone."
"Let Moli secretly keep an eye on the third brother's back; it won't cause any trouble."
Noble Consort Chen raised her head, her fingers tightly twisting her sleeve.
"Your Majesty, it's not just Dengzhou that I fear."
"Although the Empress has been deposed, her personal eunuch has been passing things out, and I'm afraid the one in the temple won't be able to sit still."
[Thanks to: 1349's Character Summoning, Chen Qing, zzz, haha, Shaohuang's Update Urging Charm, Zonggu, Pipi, Lazy Flower, Adult's Love Letter, Mantou, Big Tree, Xunchuan's Inspiration Capsule, Dehe's Pearl Milk Tea, and everyone else for their love and support. (๑•́₃•̀๑)]