“No, Zhen has not changed.” Hongli held her, her body was hot, his body was cold, even his words were cold, “It is you who have changed.”
“No!” Noble Consort Hui suddenly cried out, staring at him with red eyes, lips trembling, “Ningxin'er has become Noble Consort, the Noble Consort of the Great Qing Dynasty, if she sang and danced all day as before, she would be laughed at for being unseemly! So, Ningxin'er no longer dares to sing, or dance! That's why the Emperor doesn't like me anymore, is it?”
She suddenly burst into tears like a child who has been wronged, her hands clung to the man in front of her, begging him for mercy, begging him for forgiveness, begging him to look at her again and say: “I don't want rules, I don't want decency, if Your Majesty doesn't have mercy anymore, then what's the use of having all this! Your Majesty, Your Majesty, don't leave me, don't leave me, this big the Forbidden City, you are the only one I can rely on!”
“What a silly thing to say.” Hongli had to pat her on the back, reassuringly, “You have a family...”
“I don't!” Noble Consort Hui's voice suddenly went cold, “Your Majesty, do you know how my mother died?”
The Yellow River was flooded, bandits swarmed, Noble Consort Hui's father, Gao Bin, fought the bandits to control the river, the people on both sides benefited, the court benefited, only one person suffered, Noble Consort Hui's mother.
“The bandits came to retaliate, my father escaped, my uncle escaped, only my mother and I did not escape.” Noble Consort Hui murmured, “The year, I was five years old...”
The boat was cut through, shouting and shouting from all sides, the bandits who had been lying in ambush like locusts, came on board in sheets.
With his guards at his side, Gao Bin and his brother escape but leave his wife and daughter behind on the boat.
At the age of five, Noble Consort Hui only knows how to cry.
“Don't cry, don't be afraid.” Lady Chen hid her daughter in a barrel and pushed her hard, into the Yellow River.
“Mother!” Noble Consort Hui laid on the edge of the barrel, watching as a man's hand reached out from behind her mother, grabbing her arm and covering her mouth...
By the time Lady Chen reappeared in front of her, she was a dishevelled corpse.
“What happens to a woman, in the hands of water bandits? That's what everyone knows, so, the Gao family won't let Mother into the family graveyard and she won't go into the Chen family for this shame! My mother, who bore and raised my father's children and obeyed her parents, has ended up with her head in the ground and nowhere to turn to.” Noble Consort Hui said, without expression, “In less than a year, my father has renewed his marriage, do you know what he said to me when he came to me the other day?”
Noble Consort Hui laughed miserably, imitating Gao Bin's tone and repeated what he had said that day: “He said to me: “Ningxin’er, you may be capricious and degenerate but you must not forget, I have four daughters! Apart from the two daughters who are married to E-Rong and E-Shi, you have third sister and fourth sister, all of them young and beautiful!”
As she spoke, she choked up.
It is always easy to sympathise with someone who has had a poor life, let alone a poor, beautiful one.
Even someone as cold as Hongli, who was as cold as a glacier, could not help but sigh at this moment and took her tender body into his arms, saying: “Xin'er has suffered.”
Noble Consort Hui buried her head in his arms, her eyes filled with hatred at the memory but her voice was very gentle: “Your Majesty, Ningxin'er did not hurt Fifth Prince, I really did not... Your Majesty, I can swear to God...”
Hongli patted her back gently and said: “Alright, Zhen believes you.”
“Really?” Noble Consort Hui looked at him cautiously, as if she was afraid he would turn his back on her, “Your Majesty is not lying to me!”
Hongli laughed out loud and said: “Zhen is not lying to you, you have drunk too much, be careful of your health, get some rest.”
He rose to leave, Noble Consort Hui lifted her hand and clutched his sleeve, looking at him with a look of attachment, in a gesture of rare tenderness and supplication that was different from his usual forcefulness: “Then stay with me, Your Majesty... shall I?”
Outside the Changchun Palace, the night wind is bitterly cold.
The court lady carrying the lantern yawns, raising her hand to rub the tears that have formed in the corners of her eyes.
“Ahem.” The Empress coughed.
“Niangniang.” A cloak fell on her shoulders, Wei Yingluo tied the straps of the cloak for her, while whispering, “It is cold outside, you should wait inside the palace.”
The Empress shook her head gently, “No, the Emperor will be here soon, this Palace Mistress will wait for him here.”
Wei Yingluo was hesitant to say anything, it was almost dawn, how could the Emperor come?
“Look!” The Empress said with a sudden flash of light, “He's coming!”
A light faintly emerges from the mist, it is a wavering lantern fire, as the lantern approaches, the smile fades a little from the Empress' face, she asked: “Eunuch Li, where is the Emperor?”
Liyu, carrying the lantern, smiled at her and said: “The Empress Niangniang, the Emperor cannot come tonight, you should rest early!”
“Is his Majesty still busy?” The Empress said with a glint of worry in her eyes, “It's already the time... This Palace Mistress is to deliver it personally to the Yanxin Palace.”
“The Emperor is not at the Yanxin Palace.” Liyu had no choice but to stammer out the truth, “His Majesty... The Chuxiu Palace.”
Wei Yingluo immediately turned her head to look at the Empress.
The paleness of the night mist and the white of the Empress's face at the moment were almost the same.
“No, Zhen has not changed.” Hongli held her, her body was hot, his body was cold, even his words were cold, “It is you who have changed.”
“No!” Noble Consort Hui suddenly cried out, staring at him with red eyes, lips trembling, “Ningxin'er has become Noble Consort, the Noble Consort of the Great Qing Dynasty, if she sang and danced all day as before, she would be laughed at for being unseemly! So, Ningxin'er no longer dares to sing, or dance! That's why the Emperor doesn't like me anymore, is it?”
She suddenly burst into tears like a child who has been wronged, her hands clung to the man in front of her, begging him for mercy, begging him for forgiveness, begging him to look at her again and say: “I don't want rules, I don't want decency, if Your Majesty doesn't have mercy anymore, then what's the use of having all this! Your Majesty, Your Majesty, don't leave me, don't leave me, this big the Forbidden City, you are the only one I can rely on!”
“What a silly thing to say.” Hongli had to pat her on the back, reassuringly, “You have a family...”
“I don't!” Noble Consort Hui's voice suddenly went cold, “Your Majesty, do you know how my mother died?”
The Yellow River was flooded, bandits swarmed, Noble Consort Hui's father, Gao Bin, fought the bandits to control the river, the people on both sides benefited, the court benefited, only one person suffered, Noble Consort Hui's mother.
“The bandits came to retaliate, my father escaped, my uncle escaped, only my mother and I did not escape.” Noble Consort Hui murmured, “The year, I was five years old...”
The boat was cut through, shouting and shouting from all sides, the bandits who had been lying in ambush like locusts, came on board in sheets.
With his guards at his side, Gao Bin and his brother escape but leave his wife and daughter behind on the boat.
At the age of five, Noble Consort Hui only knows how to cry.
“Don't cry, don't be afraid.” Lady Chen hid her daughter in a barrel and pushed her hard, into the Yellow River.
“Mother!” Noble Consort Hui laid on the edge of the barrel, watching as a man's hand reached out from behind her mother, grabbing her arm and covering her mouth...
By the time Lady Chen reappeared in front of her, she was a dishevelled corpse.
“What happens to a woman, in the hands of water bandits? That's what everyone knows, so, the Gao family won't let Mother into the family graveyard and she won't go into the Chen family for this shame! My mother, who bore and raised my father's children and obeyed her parents, has ended up with her head in the ground and nowhere to turn to.” Noble Consort Hui said, without expression, “In less than a year, my father has renewed his marriage, do you know what he said to me when he came to me the other day?”
Noble Consort Hui laughed miserably, imitating Gao Bin's tone and repeated what he had said that day: “He said to me: “Ningxin’er, you may be capricious and degenerate but you must not forget, I have four daughters! Apart from the two daughters who are married to E-Rong and E-Shi, you have third sister and fourth sister, all of them young and beautiful!”
As she spoke, she choked up.
It is always easy to sympathise with someone who has had a poor life, let alone a poor, beautiful one.
Even someone as cold as Hongli, who was as cold as a glacier, could not help but sigh at this moment and took her tender body into his arms, saying: “Xin'er has suffered.”
Noble Consort Hui buried her head in his arms, her eyes filled with hatred at the memory but her voice was very gentle: “Your Majesty, Ningxin'er did not hurt Fifth Prince, I really did not... Your Majesty, I can swear to God...”
Hongli patted her back gently and said: “Alright, Zhen believes you.”
“Really?” Noble Consort Hui looked at him cautiously, as if she was afraid he would turn his back on her, “Your Majesty is not lying to me!”
Hongli laughed out loud and said: “Zhen is not lying to you, you have drunk too much, be careful of your health, get some rest.”
He rose to leave, Noble Consort Hui lifted her hand and clutched his sleeve, looking at him with a look of attachment, in a gesture of rare tenderness and supplication that was different from his usual forcefulness: “Then stay with me, Your Majesty... shall I?”
Outside the Changchun Palace, the night wind is bitterly cold.
The court lady carrying the lantern yawns, raising her hand to rub the tears that have formed in the corners of her eyes.
“Ahem.” The Empress coughed.
“Niangniang.” A cloak fell on her shoulders, Wei Yingluo tied the straps of the cloak for her, while whispering, “It is cold outside, you should wait inside the palace.”
The Empress shook her head gently, “No, the Emperor will be here soon, this Palace Mistress will wait for him here.”
Wei Yingluo was hesitant to say anything, it was almost dawn, how could the Emperor come?
“Look!” The Empress said with a sudden flash of light, “He's coming!”
A light faintly emerges from the mist, it is a wavering lantern fire, as the lantern approaches, the smile fades a little from the Empress' face, she asked: “Eunuch Li, where is the Emperor?”
Liyu, carrying the lantern, smiled at her and said: “The Empress Niangniang, the Emperor cannot come tonight, you should rest early!”
“Is his Majesty still busy?” The Empress said with a glint of worry in her eyes, “It's already the time... This Palace Mistress is to deliver it personally to the Yanxin Palace.”
“The Emperor is not at the Yanxin Palace.” Liyu had no choice but to stammer out the truth, “His Majesty... The Chuxiu Palace.”
Wei Yingluo immediately turned her head to look at the Empress.
The paleness of the night mist and the white of the Empress's face at the moment were almost the same.
