She raised her head. The sunshine that day was very good, and it cast a warm golden halo on his body. She was a little dazzled, and at that moment, her heart skipped a beat.

She raised her head. The weather was gloomy and rainy that day, and the warmth of that day could no longer be seen on his cold face. Those big palms were once the most familiar, but now they are the most unfamiliar.

She put her hand on his palm. The temperature in his palm was obviously hot, but it only made her feel cold to the bone, and she couldn't wait to escape.

These hands gave her the sky and the earth, but they also overturned her sky and her earth.

After using the strength of these hands to stand up, she immediately withdrew her hands and stood there submissively.

He walked over and was very close. There was a faint scent of dragon's birth on his body. It was his unique scent, but now it has become unfamiliar.

"Keep your head up."

he ordered.

She slowly raised her head, but did not dare to look directly at that face.

In my mind, this face is already so vague that I can't remember it.

Even though this face was right in front of her, she doubted whether it had ever played such an important role in her life.

"Look at me."

This is also a command.

She slowly raised her eyes and met his dark eyes, but her heart was surprisingly calm. There was no joy, no sadness, no anger, no hatred. All emotions were washed away. She stood there quietly, quietly.

Watch him as ordered.

Outside under the eaves, the rain could be heard pattering.

The wind blew by, making the flowers and trees in the courtyard rustle.

The room was so quiet that you could even hear the breathing of the two of them. No one spoke or looked away first.

After a long time, it really took a long time, so long that her neck was sore when she looked up, and he finally sighed deeply: "Now that he is out, what was before will be what it is now. I will not pursue the prince's affairs anymore.

Now, what do you want? Just tell the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and don’t eat the cold rice from the day before. Your nanny said that your stomach is not very good. If the food in the imperial kitchen is slightly greasy, you will have a stomachache. In this case

, next time I will ask the imperial kitchen to send some porridge and side dishes to recuperate my stomach, and then ask the imperial doctor to prescribe some prescriptions..."

She couldn't hear what he was saying. He was as tender and affectionate as he was many years ago.

He also cares about her diet, daily life and everything in detail. He knows her favorite colors, her favorite food, and her favorite operas.

, all acted according to her preferences.

Because he was too familiar, she couldn't afford such care, so she chose not to hear him. Her eyes were wandering, and her heart and ears were not on him at all.

As he was talking, he suddenly stopped speaking and said coldly: "I treat you very well, so you want to open a dyeing workshop?"

She slowly lowered her head and said, "Please, Your Majesty, please don't be nice to me."

She doesn't need it anymore.

He was startled, looking at the thin and cold figure. He didn't know what possessed him. Maybe it was wrong to let her out. That midnight, he shouldn't have missed her on a whim like that. He shouldn't have missed her because of it.

And it seemed that letting her out after issuing that imperial edict would only cause trouble for him.

However, he is not looking for trouble.

If he puts her in Tangli Palace and ignores her, where will he get all these troubles?

His footsteps should not wander here involuntarily.

His mouth should not involuntarily lead Eunuch Mo to inquire about her.

He shouldn't have felt a slight pain in his heart when he knew that she had a bad stomach, didn't ask for anything from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, wore old clothes, and ate cold food.

"Ha!" He sneered. He didn't know whether he was laughing at her overestimation or at his own pretentiousness.

In the end, he threw up his sleeves and left without stopping.

*

Summer, July, is Zixia’s favorite season.

Naturally, it was after entering the cold palace.

Because summer no longer has to endure the pain of cold vertebrae, and some unknown little flowers will grow in the abandoned courtyard of Leng Palace in summer, adding a bit of vitality to the gloomy Leng Palace.

There are two fruit trees in the cold palace. They grow among the deep grass. Their nutrients are absorbed by the weeds, and the wilted ones bear no fruit.

When she first entered, she was afraid that the grass would be crawling with snakes, insects, rats, and ants.

In the first year, she didn't even dare to go near the deserted yard.

She waited wholeheartedly for him to pick her up.

By the spring of the next year, she finally knew that the things she loved would pass away, and the things she feared had to be accepted.

Weeding, burning dead grass to fertilize, and raising fruit trees as her servants had done before.

In the third year, when she ate the first fruit she grew, she felt very calm.

The fourth year, the fifth year...

In the sixth year, she stood outside the cold palace, looking through the dilapidated palace gate at the garden that was once again overgrown with grass, looking at the two fruit trees she had cultivated, with a faint smile on her lips.

"Mother, stop looking, let's go."

Aunt Wu urged.

She turned around and smiled slightly: "Let's go."

It was a long journey back to Tangli Palace from Leng Palace.

Her feet were sore as she walked. There was light at one end and darkness at the other end of the long corridor. She fell from the light into the darkness. She struggled in pain, hesitated, and had no way out. She smoothed all the edges and corners along the way.

All the vigour, all the pride that once existed were hidden, and now only humility and cowardice remain.

Now, when I came out of the darkness and looked back, I realized that her footsteps were so heavy no matter when she left or when she came back.

The palace was heavily locked, and day after day, year after year, she circled around the palace like a working mule.

She wants to go home.

She hadn't seen her father in seven years, and her father, who was half-paralyzed in bed, was doing well now.

When she was little, her father would always put her high on his shoulders and ask her: "Zixia, what do you want to do when you grow up?"

"What does daddy want Zixia to do?"

"Daddy, daddy only wants Zixia to be happy, happy, and healthy all her life."

"Then Zixia will be happy, happy and healthy all her life."

In the courtyard full of roses, the innocent laughter lingered in her ears, but the person who carried her back then was now extremely difficult to even meet.

But the people who promised to be happy, healthy and happy are now here, waiting for the flowers to wither year after year.

*

When Brother Liu asked someone to come in with the news, Zixia was taking a nap. A palace maid carefully avoided people and secretly said a few words in Aunt Wu's ear.

It was very soft, but she still heard it.

"The former Minister of Rites is dying. With his last breath hanging in his throat, he said that he wanted to seek the emperor's grace and allow him to see Concubine Li before his death."

She lay on the bed, facing inward, tears falling down the bridge of her nose and soaking into the brocade pillow.

When Nanny Wu came in, she hesitated for a long time by the screen, as if she was considering whether to tell her the bad news.

After hesitating like this for a long time, the person on the bed turned over and opened his eyes slightly.

She stood up slowly and smiled Yingying at Nanny Wu who was standing by the screen: "Why are you standing here? I woke up after a restless sleep. Nanny Wu, go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and receive two sets of red clothes.

, I want another set of jewelry, a tube of Daiqing, and some Bailizui fragrant powder and Qianrihong koudan."

"Empress!"

Aunt Wu looked at her puzzled.

She never bothered the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Even if the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent regular money, she would only keep the salary of the palace maids and eunuchs, and return the rest.

Why did I think of these today?

"I haven't dressed up for a long time. If you want to dress up today, go ahead."

No matter what, she cheered up and lived her life. Aunt Wu was still happy, but she was even more confused about whether she should tell her the news just now.

She was undoubtedly beautiful, but five years of poverty had brightened her originally plump figure. Now she was so thin that she couldn't hold up the red dress that Nanny Wu brought. It was so loose on her that she could only be held up by a belt.

The original oval face has now become an oval face. She no longer looks like she was young back then, and there is a faint wrinkle at the corner of her eyes.

But that couldn't stop her magnificence. After applying makeup, the exquisite beauty in the mirror, even Grandma Wu sighed with emotion: "Your Majesty is becoming more and more beautiful."

She just smiled: "Mother Wu's craftsmanship is as good as before. Mother Wu, please send a message to Eunuch Mo, saying that I would like to invite the emperor to come and sit down with me tonight."

Aunt Wu was startled for a moment, as if she understood something, but in the end she didn't say anything. She just nodded: "Yes, your Majesty!"

——Digression——
Chapter completed!