Cefei's Rise to Prominence Record - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The sun’s rays were slightly dim, the tree shadows were swaying, Zhou Yun wearing embroidered shoes, her face was deathly pale as she hid behind a palace maid, anxiously urging, “Quick! Quick, chase this dog away!”

Zhou Yun felt that today was perhaps a day of bad luck, and nothing good had happened.

The blue stone path that usually looked nice seemed a bit slippery, Zhou Yun didn’t have time to think much, staring at the ferocious wolf dog not far away, her face lost all its color from fear, she stumbled backward, wishing she could hide back in the Jujiao Palace.

She secretly lamented her bad luck and misfortune in her heart.

There were many noble masters in the palace, and she didn’t know which one was so bold as to raise such a ferocious pet in the palace courtyard.

The palace maid standing in front of her trembled slightly, saying in a quivering voice, “Little master Zhou, this is the eleventh Prince’s beloved pet, this servant dare not…”

Not to mention that she couldn’t stop the dog, even if she could, if it harmed the pet in the slightest, her own life wouldn’t be as valuable as the prince’s beloved pet.

As soon as the voice fell, Zhou Yun’s expression changed.

She wanted to retreat back to the Jujiao Palace, but she didn’t dare to make any big movements, the wolf dog was staring intently in front, Zhou Yun was afraid of attracting its attention, and it would ultimately have the opposite effect.

Just as Zhou Yun was hesitating, the palace maid in front of her suddenly cried out in fear, “Little master Zhou! Be careful——”

In an instant, Zhou Yun could only see the wolf dog pouncing towards her, her mind went blank, she only remembered covering her face with her hands and quickly retreating backward, she didn’t know who tripped her, her ankle hurt, and her body suddenly became unsteady and fell to the ground.

Suddenly, her heart sank, fear spread to her pupils, she tightly covered her face, until there was a commotion around her.

After an unknown amount of time.

Zhou Yun heard a cold rebuke, “Silence!”

She tremblingly put down her hands, her lips lost all color, staring blankly at a pool of blood on the ground not far away, before she could see clearly, a dark shadow suddenly appeared in front of her.

She looked up.

It was Fu Yun blocking her line of sight, his brow furrowed coldly.

After a narrow escape, Zhou Yun’s mind was still blank, it took her a while to come back to her senses, suddenly covering her lips, tears fell in large drops from the corners of her eyes, she was still frightened.

“Are you hurt?”

Fu Yun looked down, the woman fell to the ground, her clothes were a bit disheveled, and her swollen ankle was visible, against the white and delicate skin beside it, it was like a flaw in a beautiful jade, making people frown involuntarily.

He seemed a bit displeased, casting a cold glance at the palace maid kneeling on the ground beside him, who didn’t dare to get up.
Zhou Yun was startled awake, supporting herself on the ground to get up, turning her head to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, trying to stabilize her voice, but still with a hint of sobbing, “Thank you Your Royal Highness Prince Xian, for your help, Subject daughter is extremely grateful.”

She fell hard and felt pain all over her body, and she was so frightened that fine sweat broke out on her forehead, making her whole appearance look disheveled and embarrassed.

The beauty’s eyes were moist, like they contained countless fragments of light, Fu Yun’s eyes darkened slightly, and then he slightly turned his head, casually shifting his gaze away.

“Go call the imperial physician.”

This was said to the palace maid kneeling on the ground beside him, after saying this, he turned to Zhou Yun again, his tone calm as usual, “Can you walk?”

Zhou Yun was already using all her strength just to stand, how could she possibly walk? She forced herself to move her ankle, and a piercing pain came, her face turned deathly pale, she shook her head at Fu Yun, “I’m afraid it’s a bit difficult, may I trouble Your Highness to instruct the palace maid to inform my aunt…”

Her voice got smaller and smaller, the palace maids who were originally supposed to escort her back to the Chuxiu Palace were all kneeling beside her, Zhou Yun knew that this was all because of Prince Xian’s cold rebuke.

She was not the master of these palace maids, and they didn’t even take good care of her, otherwise, even if they didn’t dare to chase away the eleventh Prince’s beloved pet, they wouldn’t have let her get hurt like this.

Zhou Yun bit her lip lightly, wanting to say something, but suddenly realized that her disheveled appearance was seen by the man, and her face instantly turned red with embarrassment.

Fu Yun interrupted her words, “No need, This Prince will escort you.”

Zhou Yun looked up at him in surprise, as if she was seeing him for the first time, she thought that she and Prince Xian had no intersection, but today’s Prince Xian seemed a bit too gentle to her.

The once dashing young man who rode horses with a bow and arrow, after going to the border for three years, had been tempered by the cold wind of the border, and now radiated a cold and intimidating aura that made people afraid to approach.

She didn’t respond for a long time, and the person in front of her seemed impatient, looking down at her with disdain, “Why aren’t you moving?”

Zhou Yun suddenly came back to her senses, hurriedly lowering her head, “Thank you, Your Highness Prince Xian.”

It was said that he would escort her, but he just had the kneeling palace maid get up and support her, keeping a distance of one step between them, neither too close nor too far.

Zhou Yun breathed a sigh of relief.

Before they even reached the Jujiao Palace, Noble Consort Zhen had already rushed out, seeing that Zhou Yun was being supported, her body almost lost its balance, and her face changed color.

“Where are you hurt?”

Zhou Yun’s eyes were slightly red, but she shook her head, “Aunt, don’t worry, Yun’er just fell down, it’s nothing.”

A quarter of an hour later, Zhou Yun was sitting on a soft couch, the female doctor was lifting up her skirt, checking her injuries, besides her ankle, her palm was also scraped and bleeding.

There was a commotion outside, it was Consort Xuan leading the eleventh Prince crying and making a scene in the outer room.

Not only that, even the Emperor had arrived.

Zhou Yun thought of the wolf dog that had been beheaded, feeling both annoyed and headache.

If Prince Xian hadn’t arrived in time, she would have had a bad day, and getting injured was still the lighter part, thinking of this, she felt quite dissatisfied with the eleventh Prince who didn’t take good care of the wolf dog.

After all, if she had really gotten hurt, she would have had to swallow her anger.

The eleventh Prince was born to the Emperor in his middle age and was usually quite favored, otherwise, he wouldn’t be so arrogant as to raise such a ferocious pet in the palace.

Zhou Yun pursed her lips tightly, and couldn’t help but worry about the situation outside.

The dog was personally killed by Prince Xian, and his departure from the palace was delayed because of this, but she, the person involved, was a bit idle due to her injury.

As her thoughts were in disarray, the female physician had already bandaged her wound and reminded her softly, “Little master Zhou, don’t let the wound get wet in the coming days, and apply this ointment once a day.”

Zhou Yun came back to her senses: “I know, thank you, Mister.”

The female doctor had a proper rank, and Zhou Yun’s address of “Mister” wasn’t wrong, but the female doctor still looked at her unexpectedly.

——

In the outer palace hall, the eleventh Prince was crying with a red face, and Consort Xuan was so worried that she didn’t know what to do.

But she didn’t dare to say anything, she arrived at the Jujiao Palace before the Emperor, and her purpose was to ask Noble Consort Zhen for an explanation, since Feng’an was personally awarded to Yue by the Emperor, and now that it had died outside the Jujiao Palace, there must be some explanation.

Who knew that not only did she want an explanation, but Noble Consort Zhen hadn’t intended to let it go, directly instructing someone to invite the Emperor over.

The Emperor sat in his position, his tall stature radiating an aura of dignity and calmness, beside him, Noble Consort Zhen leaned softly on a palace maid’s body, her eyes slightly red, tears sliding down her beautiful cheeks, crying in a way that would break one’s heart.

“Your Majesty, This Concubine’s Brother only has this one daughter, and today she almost had an accident in front of this concubine, if Prince Xian hadn’t arrived in time, how would I explain it to my brother?”

After losing her son, her health had been poor, and the Emperor had always pampered her, she seemed extremely sad, her body swaying, the Emperor immediately stood up to support her, not allowing her to cry anymore, “Why are you crying like this? That girl is fine, isn’t she?”

At this time, Consort Xuan was afraid that if she didn’t speak up, things wouldn’t go well for her today, so she interjected, “The Noble Consort has spoken, Miss Zhou was only almost in an accident, but Feng’an has already been beheaded, Feng’an was personally awarded to Yue’er by Your Majesty, Yue’er usually treasures it very much, now I don’t know how sad she will be!”

After speaking, she turned to look at the Emperor, urgently saying, “Your Majesty! Seeing Yue’er cry like this, it feels like this concubine’s heart is being ripped apart!”

She couldn’t stand the Noble Consort’s pretentious and delicate appearance, and spoke recklessly, “Elder Sister hasn’t given birth, naturally she doesn’t know what this feeling is like.”

The hall suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

Noble Consort Zhen’s crying stopped, and the Emperor’s face darkened.

Consort Xuan entered the palace late, it was after the Noble Consort lost her child that she entered the palace, naturally she didn’t know that this sentence had stirred up a hornet’s nest.

After a while, Noble Consort Zhen sneered lightly, making a gesture to push away the Emperor’s hand, “Yes, This concubine’s fate with children is shallow, so I treat Yun’er like my own, now that she’s almost had an accident, this concubine still can’t cry?”

“After all, This concubine doesn’t understand that kind of pain.”

Her tone was self-mocking, but it made the Emperor’s eyebrows twitch, a cup and saucer were directly thrown in front of Consort Xuan, frightening her, “You reckless thing, one animal is worth so much crying and making a scene, I think Yue’er has been spoiled by you into this kind of unambitious person!”

The eleventh Prince didn’t dare cry anymore, his face was red with restraint.

“Consort Xuan doesn’t know her place, strip her title, and confine her to her quarters for three months, get out of my sight!”

As soon as the Emperor said this, Consort Xuan’s face turned deathly pale, why did she receive such a severe punishment?

However, Fu Yun, who had been standing aside, didn’t seem surprised at all, he cast a cold glance at Consort Xuan and the eleventh Prince, if he hadn’t known about Noble Consort’s influence on the Emperor, how could the Zhou family daughter have become the favored one in this Imperial Selection?

According to what he knew, the Crown Prince’s concubine, Zhuo Cefei, had made a mistake after the imperial edict for the draft was issued, and was demoted to a Liangdi, and the position of Cefei was still vacant.

The intention was clear.

If the Zhou family daughter entered the Crown Prince’s mansion, she would at least be a Cefei, otherwise, how could they explain it to Noble Consort and the Zhou family?

Fu Yun suddenly remembered the question Noble Consort Zhen had asked him before.

He lowered his eyes.

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