Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 71

Chapter 71: “Not today.”

The procession went all the way to the Yangxin Hall. Lu Yuan was guarding the gate in front of the hall. When he saw Yun Si, he hurried up to greet her. Instinctively, he was about to call her “Girl,” but when he caught a glimpse of Song Fu following behind Yun Si, he suddenly realized.

“This servant greets Yun Jieyu.”

Yun Si covered her lips and let out a soft laugh, allowing him to rise. “Not used to it?”

Lu Yuan awkwardly rubbed his nose.

Back when she was in the Yangxin Hall, the people Yun Ni interacted with the most were Lu Yuan and Qiu Yuan. Later, after she received her rank, Qiu Yuan left with her, while Lu Yuan remained in the Yangxin Hall.
She had only left the Yangxin Hall for a few days and was more familiar with it than with the Panju Hall. As she walked in with Lu Yuan, the white palace robe set off her delicate features. She spoke softly:

“Calling me ‘Girl’ is fine too.”

Lu Yuan quickly shook his head. “That wouldn’t be proper.”

He could see clearly that the path Yun Si had walked wasn’t an easy one. Now that she was finally a mistress, there was no need to still call her “Girl” like before.

Yun Si didn’t insist. She lifted her eyes and looked into the Yangxin Hall. The doors were tightly shut, and Xu Shunfu wasn’t outside either. She asked curiously, “Is His Majesty in?”

Lu Yuan gave a small cough and lowered his voice. “After returning from Panju Hall yesterday, His Majesty hasn’t come out. You’ve come at just the right time, it’s nearly noon. May I trouble Jieyu to persuade His Majesty to eat something?”

If His Majesty’s health went wrong, and Cining Palace started placing blame, no one would be able to bear it.

Yun Si stopped in front of the hall. Lu Yuan looked at her in confusion, and Qiu Yuan couldn’t help but say, “Jieyu is no longer a person of the Yangxin Hall. You should go in and announce her arrival.”

Lu Yuan was a beat late in realizing. He gave an awkward smile,

“This servant forgot again.”

Inside the hall, it was very quiet. Lu Yuan pushed the door open and entered. Xu Shunfu glanced at His Majesty, who was bent over his desk handling state affairs, and tiptoed over, lowering his voice, “What’s going on?”

Lu Yuan also lowered his voice like him, “Eunuch, Yun Jieyu is here.”

Xu Shunfu’s eyes lit up, and he went out directly. The moment he saw Yun Si, it was as if he’d seen a savior. Yun Si instinctively took a step back, but Xu Shunfu pretended not to notice.

“Yun Jieyu, you’ve finally come. Please, come in.”

But Yun Si didn’t move. She cautiously looked at Xu Shunfu. “How is His Majesty’s mood?”

Xu Shunfu’s expression didn’t change, not the slightest bit guilty.

“Jieyu, what kind of question is that? Now that you’re here, how could His Majesty be in a bad mood?”

He didn’t answer directly, but he still gave the answer.

Yun Si cast Xu Shunfu a mildly annoyed glance, as if complaining, “We’ve known each other for so long, and yet when you set me up, you didn’t show the slightest hesitation.”

Xu Shunfu gave a couple of awkward chuckles, acting as though he hadn’t heard that at all. He respectfully pushed open the hall door, allowing Yun Si to enter, while he himself stayed outside, showing no intention of going in.

Seeing this, Qiu Yuan also stopped in her tracks and remained outside the hall.

Song Fu took in the way his mistress interacted with the inner attendants of the imperial hall, and a thoughtful look flashed in his eyes.

With a soft sound, the door to the hall was gently closed, and the entire hall suddenly fell into a quiet stillness.

Tan Yuanchu heard someone stepping onto the platform, slowly approaching. He assumed it was Xu Shunfu bringing tea. After a while, when the tea didn’t arrive, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, a pair of hands resting on the inkstone table, wide snow-white sleeves trailing over the imperial desk.

Tan Yuanchu looked up suddenly. When he saw clearly who it was, he wasn’t surprised at all. In the entire palace, who else but her could come and go so naturally in the Yangxin Hall?

The lattice windows in the hall were wide open. Warm sunlight streamed through and fell upon a magnolia plant inside the hall—and also upon the woman herself. She lifted her eyes, and under the light, her features became all the more distinct: arched brows like willow leaves, almond-shaped eyes, red lips, peach-like cheeks, fair and tender skin.

Her jaw was slender but her face was full and dewy. A faint layer of rouge tinged her cheeks. Her makeup was light, yet even the brightly colored magnolias behind her paled in comparison.

The warm sunlight dispelled the coldness and gloom of the hall. The woman added a splash of brightness to the room. She tilted her head slightly and said in a soft, light voice, “This concubine was still wondering when His Majesty would finally notice me.”

She didn’t bow, simply stood there, graceful and charming.

Tan Yuanchu reached out a hand to her, his tone indifferent, “Why did you come?”

Yun Si obediently placed her hand in his, and with his strength, she settled into his arms. She opened her almond-shaped eyes and looked at him carefully. Tan Yuanchu raised his eyebrows, she was looking too intently, making it hard to read her emotions. After a long while, she finally spoke softly, bit by bit, 
“I thought you might be feeling sad, so this concubine wanted to come and keep you company.”

When she was obedient, she always seemed to cling closely to one’s heart. Tan Yuanchu raised a hand and gently brushed through her black hair. The woman was still very light, but she had a bit of weight now, and in this moment, that bit of weight brought comfort and desire. He gradually tightened his hold around her waist.

Tan Yuanchu felt a strong urge to kiss her, but he didn’t do anything.

Yun Si lifted her head. There were parts of the hall the sunlight couldn’t reach, and for a moment, Tan Yuanchu’s expression seemed hidden in shadow, unclear, and slightly unreadable.

Yun Si thought of the inkstone she had seen when she entered just now, the ink inside was a little dry. It was obvious that even though he sat here, he hadn’t truly been focused on handling state affairs.

Yun Si wasn’t particularly good at comforting people.

Especially in Tan Yuanchu’s situation, after all, with Su Jieyu’s miscarriage, she didn’t feel sorrow, nor did she really care. She couldn’t empathize with Tan Yuanchu, so naturally, it was hard to come up with comforting words.

Incense was burning in the hall, the scent of cedar, carrying a faint chill yet refreshing. Wisps of white smoke curled throughout the room. Tan Yuanchu didn’t expect her to comfort him anyway. He simply held her waist tightly, his voice low and husky,

“Stay with me for a while.”

Yun Si had come to the Yangxin Hall to be with him. She raised her hand and gently brushed the dark circles beneath Tan Yuanchu’s eyes. Pouting, she said, “This concubine’s back hurt from standing so long yesterday, I don’t want to stay here. Would Your Majesty accompany this concubine into the inner hall to lie down for a while?”

A faint warmth rose quietly in Tan Yuanchu’s eyes. He spoke in a low voice,

“Why are you so obedient today?”

Yun Si didn’t feel guilty at all. “When have I ever not gone along with Your Majesty’s wishes?”

Hearing this, Tan Yuanchu couldn’t help raising an eyebrow.
Was there ever a time she didn’t get under his skin?

But Tan Yuanchu didn’t say anything. He carried her into the inner hall. A thick rug was laid out on the soft couch. Though it was July and very hot, ice basins were set out in the hall to cool the room, so it didn’t feel warm. Yun Si was nestled in his arms, she felt sticky and tried to shift a little, but was immediately scolded,

“Don’t move.”

Yun Si muffled her voice, “This concubine feels uncomfortable.”

He naturally responded, “Not today.”

Yun Si’s mind went blank for a moment before she realized what Tan Yuanchu meant by those words. Her face suddenly flushed red, and she bit her lip as she muttered under her breath,

“This concubine once heard a saying, ‘The benevolent see benevolence, the wise see wisdom.’ Then, could it be that the lecherous see lechery?”

Clearly it was his mind that was unclean, twisting everything into something indecent—and yet he dared to pin it on her!

A hand pinched her waist, and from above her head came a cold and indifferent voice,

“Pity for Yun Jieyu, I’m not well-read, I’ve never heard of that.”

Yun Si was silenced by his “Yun Jieyu,” and when she heard him deny it, she couldn’t help tugging the corners of her lips.

He always left her at a loss for words.

Before she could say anything, suddenly, he held her tighter and lowered his head slightly. His gaze landed on her face. The atmosphere turned heavy, yet neither of them moved, creating a tension that made one want to pull away. After a long while, he composed his expression and spoke, his tone laced with a weariness difficult to describe.

“No more joking, just stay quietly with me for a while.”

This was the second time today he’d said he wanted her to stay with him. Yun Si, belatedly, realized he really was exhausted, and her arrival had indeed come at just the right moment.

She lifted her gaze to his face, his eyes were half-closed, and the fatigue between his brows was unmistakable. Yun Si’s almond eyes trembled lightly.

When she returned to Panju Hall yesterday, it was already evening. She didn’t know what time he had come back to the Yangxin Hall, but it certainly couldn’t have been earlier than she did. Yun Si had seen the stack of memorials piled on the imperial desk, it was likely he hadn’t slept all night.

Suddenly, he raised the hand that wasn’t holding her and gently stroked the side of her face. His voice was low and slightly hoarse,

“Yun Si, don’t look at me like that.”

He was indeed somewhat upset about Su Jieyu’s miscarriage. The method to forget grief was actually simple, especially with Yun Si right here in the hall.

A spring night, indulgence in beauty and pleasure.

But Tan Yuanchu didn’t want to.

Yun Si was suddenly stunned. She felt the atmosphere in the hall take on an indescribable, ambiguous intimacy that made her heart feel a little hollow. A hard-to-describe emotion stirred in her, and she slowly withdrew her gaze, obediently nestling into his embrace.

In the end, she quieted down.

She stayed like that for a full hour.

No one spoke inside the hall. The entire palace was quiet. Warm breaths brushed against Yun Si’s neck. She turned over, but the one holding her didn’t move at all.
Yun Si finally sat up.

Tan Yuanchu was still lying on the soft couch.

Yun Si gently adjusted the blanket for him. She straightened her robe and, before leaving, turned back to look at Tan Yuanchu one more time.

Today was the fifteenth. Tan Yuanchu would be going to Kunning Palace in the evening. Yun Si wasn’t so tactless as to overstay in the Yangxin Hall.

When she came out, Xu Shunfu and Lu Yuan were already craning their necks, waiting for her. Yun Si gave them a look, then, after stepping a bit farther away, she said in a low voice:

“His Majesty has fallen asleep. Before evening, Eunuch Xu, do remember to wake him.”

Xu Shunfu was puzzled. “His Majesty didn’t sleep at all last night. Why not wait until he wakes on his own to talk about anything?”

Yun Si was somewhat speechless.

“Today is the fifteenth. It’s one thing for His Majesty to forget, but has Eunuch also forgotten?”

So many things had happened recently, and Xu Shunfu’s mind was entirely focused on His Majesty. He had truly forgotten about this matter. He awkwardly rubbed his nose.
“Many thanks for the reminder, Yun Jieyu. This servant will remember!”

Yun Si couldn’t be bothered with him. In any case, she had already reminded them. It wasn’t her turn at Panju Hall to attend to His Majesty tonight, so whether they remembered or not was their concern.

Yun Si turned and left.

Her visit to the Yangxin Hall hadn’t been concealed at all, but no one paid her much attention today. The consorts who were on the list for summer retreat were all focused on packing, and those not on the list didn’t dare gossip about her recklessly.

At Kunning Palace, upon hearing the news, Bai Zhi muttered softly,

“At least she knows her place.”

If today was the fifteenth and Yun Si had clung to His Majesty tonight, no matter how much Her Highness appreciated her, Bai Zhi would have disliked her inwardly.

The Empress glanced at her, but said nothing.

She pressed her fingers to her brows. “Has Su Jieyu woken up yet?”

The topic shifted to Su Jieyu, and Bai Zhi was momentarily stunned before catching up.

“She has already woken up. This servant heard that the Imperial Medical Bureau also went to see her.”

The Empress lowered her eyes and flipped through the case records, her tone calm, “What did the imperial physicians say?”

Bai Zhi paused for a moment before speaking in a low voice,

“Your Highness didn’t intend to hide it from her, so Su Jieyu naturally knows that she won’t be able to conceive again in the future.”

Bai Zhi was somewhat worried. “Why did Your Highness have the physicians tell Su Jieyu such a thing? What if Su Jieyu begins to resent Your Highness?”

Although Her Highness had once tried to stop Su Jieyu when she sought out the folk remedy, no matter how one put it, that remedy had still come from Her Highness.

Who knew, after so much trauma, whether Su Jieyu’s mind could still turn around?

The bronze mirror reflected the Empress’s expressionless face.

“She’s not as stupid as you think.”

Now that Su Jieyu had lost the imperial heir and would never be able to conceive again, in such a position, as long as she had even a shred of sense, she would understand not to offend the Empress.

After all, in this entire imperial palace, aside from her, who else could help Su Jieyu find the person responsible for harming the imperial heir in her womb?

And just as the Empress had predicted, after waking up, Su Jieyu fell into a daze.

Unable to conceive again?

Those few words echoed in Su Jieyu’s mind endlessly. After a long while, a smile that looked both like laughing and crying twisted across her face, so chilling that it sent a coldness into one’s bones.

Bai Shao knelt down in tears. “Mistress, don’t be like this, this servant is scared!”

“Scared?”

Su Jieyu repeated the word, pulling her lips into a self-mocking smile. “Now that I’ve become a cripple, even my face frightens people, doesn’t it?”

Bai Shao shook her head frantically:

“Mistress, that’s not what this servant meant!”

She threw herself forward, clutching her mistress, her voice earnest and pleading. “The imperial physician said that as long as Mistress nourishes your health well, there may still be a chance to have a child in the future.”

Su Jieyu tugged at the corners of her lips, but couldn’t manage a smile. When the physician said those words, Su Jieyu had clearly seen the sympathy in his eyes.

A concubine who is destined to never bear an imperial heir, what use is favor, then?

In the end, it still amounts to nothing!

Su Jieyu suddenly went mad and began beating herself. Bai Shao was so frightened that her tears streamed down as she desperately tried to stop her. “Mistress, what are you doing?!”

“If you cannot bear an imperial heir, do you not even want to live anymore?!”

Tears fell from the corners of Su Jieyu’s eyes without warning, and she broke down crying.

“He never cherished me in the first place. Now that he knows I cannot bear him a child, would he still even spare me a glance?!”

Bai Shao’s nose turned sour from her sobbing: “Mistress! You only think of His Majesty, have you not thought of Master and Madam?! Master and Madam love you so dearly. If they knew you were treating yourself like this, wouldn’t it break their hearts?”

“Even if Mistress no longer wishes to live, do you not wish to avenge the little prince? The culprit who harmed the little prince still hasn’t been found! Are you going to just stand by and watch the one who harmed the little prince go unpunished?!”

Su Jieyu’s actions were halted by her relentless questioning. She collapsed in Bai Shao’s arms and cried,

“What should I do… What should I do!”

She didn’t even know who had harmed her, how was she supposed to take revenge?!

Bai Shao wiped her face and said, “Mistress, we can go beg Her Highness the Empress. No matter who harmed you, we will surely find the culprit!”

Moreover, no matter who the culprit was, it could not have been Her Highness the Empress. If the Empress didn’t want Her Mistress to become pregnant, she could have simply withheld the remedy from the start.

As for Her Mistress’s current situation, even if Bai Shao had to lie to herself, she knew she couldn’t blame the Empress.

Back then, the Empress had done her utmost to dissuade Her Mistress, it was Her Mistress who wouldn’t listen and insisted on taking that remedy to gamble everything on one chance.

Now she was going to lose so utterly and completely.

Su Jieyu looked at Bai Shao, crying and laughing at the same time, her self-mocking laughter echoing through the hall.

“Bai Shao, how could the two of us, master and servant, be so utterly stupid!”

By now, how could she not understand? That so-called folk remedy had been a trap set by the Empress all along. The Empress had never forced her; she merely waited in silence, for her to lose control and jump in on her own.

No matter what schemes the Empress had devised, she had indeed fulfilled Su Jieyu’s wish of conceiving an imperial heir. She had never directly harmed her, and had even sent a matron to help her preserve the pregnancy.

Now, the only one she could rely on to find the real culprit who harmed the imperial heir… was the Empress!

How laughable!

She clearly knew what the Empress had done, yet she couldn’t say a single word, because now that she would never be pregnant again, if she still wanted to survive in the palace, there was no way she could fall out with the Empress.

Su Jieyu wiped her tears. All of a sudden, she propped herself up.

Bai Shao cried out in shock, “Mistress, what are you doing?!”

Su Jieyu gave a bitter laugh. “This body of mine is already ruined like this, naturally, I have to make the most of it.”

Bai Shao didn’t understand.

Su Jieyu didn’t need her to. She staggered to her feet, step by step, and rushed out. She wore only her underclothes, with a hastily thrown-on outer robe, so disheveled it was unbearable to look at. Her garments even seemed to still carry traces of blood.

Yun Si had just finished her dinner when she heard that Su Jieyu had blocked the imperial carriage in front of Kunning Palace.

She couldn’t help her shock, “Didn’t she just have a miscarriage yesterday?”

And not just a miscarriage.

Su Jieyu had been crushed under the ceremonial carriage, sustaining multiple fractures all over her body. She had clearly thrown her life away—how could she still dare to run outside in such a condition?

Su Jieyu truly had thrown her life away.

She knelt before the imperial carriage. The cold wind whistled sharply, making her whole body tremble, but she paid it no mind. Kneeling on the cobblestones, her usually serene face was now covered in tears, utterly disheveled.

“Your Majesty!”

The imperial carriage was forced to stop. Tan Yuanchu stepped down. He merely cast a glance at Su Jieyu, not even bothering to listen to what she was saying.
A thin anger tinged his brows and eyes:

“Help Su Jieyu up.”

Xu Shunfu didn’t dare delay. He quickly stepped forward to support Su Jieyu, advising earnestly, “Mistress, what are you doing! You’ve just had a miscarriage, this is the time you must carefully nurse your health. How can you be out here in the cold wind?”

Su Jieyu pushed Xu Shunfu away. Still kneeling, she crawled forward a few steps and clutched the hem of Tan Yuanchu’s robe. Her tears hit the ground fiercely and urgently.

“How can I… how can I rest and recuperate in peace!”

“Whenever I close my eyes, all I can hear is the cries of my poor child! Crying so painfully that it feels like my heart is being carved up, like a thousand silver needles piercing me! I don’t dare close my eyes!”

“He’s blaming me! Blaming me for not protecting him!”

“Your Majesty, I beg you… I beg you! Please find out who murdered him!”

Su Jieyu sobbed so hard she could hardly breathe. The cold wind blew past her, whether it was the cold or the pain, her body kept trembling. She truly didn’t care about her health at all. She only kept kowtowing toward Tan Yuanchu, her forehead knocking against the cobblestones until they were stained with blood, as if she didn’t feel the pain at all:

“He’s crying… I can hear him crying! He didn’t even get a chance to take a look at this world! Didn’t even get a chance to call you ‘Imperial Father’! Your Majesty, I beg you… for the sake of our imperial son, I beg you! You must avenge him!”

Tan Yuanchu looked at Su Jieyu with a murky gaze.

In his memory, Su Jieyu was nothing more than an ordinary member of the harem, perhaps her looks were a bit more outstanding, or perhaps her family background was a bit better, but that was all.

But now, she knelt here, as if she no longer wanted anything, dignity, face, body, all thrown aside. She only begged him to avenge herself and their deceased son.

Tonight’s wind was bitterly cold, carrying a sense of bleakness, making the woman kneeling on the ground seem all the more wretched.

Only today did Tan Yuanchu truly take notice of Su Jieyu.

Tan Yuanchu stepped forward. Xu Shunfu suppressed his surprise and took a step back. Tan Yuanchu bent down and personally helped Su Jieyu up. His voice was cold and low:

“I will give you an explanation.”

When Yun Si hurried over from the palace, what she saw was this very scene, she stood by the ceremonial carriage, watching Su Jieyu collapse into Tan Yuanchu’s arms in a breakdown. He did nothing, simply letting Su Jieyu cry bitterly in his arms, venting the anguish in her heart.

Yun Si did not step forward. The wind was strong, making it hard for her to see Tan Yuanchu’s expression clearly.

But it was most likely just pity.

Yun Si didn’t try to look closely either. Qiu Yuan silently looked toward her, but Yun Si said nothing. She turned and got into the ceremonial carriage. “Let’s go back.”

Many people had come after hearing the commotion, and Yun Si’s carriage did not stand out among them.

But she was the only one going in the opposite direction.

When Xu Shunfu heard the movement and turned around, he couldn’t help but glance at her group. He didn’t see clearly who was sitting inside the carriage, but he did recognize Qiu Yuan. He couldn’t help exclaiming in surprise:

“Girl…”

In this palace, Xu Shunfu would only ever call one person “Girl.”

Tan Yuanchu turned to look, but he only saw the back of the departing carriage.

He didn’t see the woman, nor did he know when she had arrived, or how much she had seen.

Even though he knew clearly that the woman had never liked him, Tan Yuanchu still furrowed his brow subtly at that moment. He actually felt that she might be upset.

Today, she had even specially instructed Xu Shunfu to remind him that it was the fifteenth and that he would come to Kunning Palace.

How could someone like her be upset over someone like Su Jieyu?

Su Jieyu’s sobs hadn’t ceased, but she clearly sensed that after Xu Shunfu spoke, the Emperor’s body stiffened ever so slightly, it wasn’t obvious, yet it undeniably happened.

Then, Tan Yuanchu let go of her. A chill suddenly swept through Su Jieyu’s heart.

Did he care that much about Yun Si’s feelings?

What she longed for day and night was something Yun Si could obtain effortlessly.

Su Jieyu’s tear ducts burned uncontrollably again, but she bit the tip of her tongue and forcibly suppressed the emotions surging in her heart.

Tan Yuanchu glanced at Bai Shao and said, “Take your mistress back to the palace. If today’s incident happens again, none of you need to stay in the palace anymore.”

The words were cold and indifferent, almost devoid of emotion, yet they sent a chill down the spines of Baishao and the other palace attendants.

Perhaps it was that one sentence from Tan Yuanchu that managed to calm Su Jieyu’s emotions, though she was still crying, she followed his words and left with the palace attendants. Her figure was thin and frail, as if the wind could blow her away at any moment.

Such a pitiful scene, yet Tan Yuanchu didn’t even see it. A vague, inexplicable frustration stirred in his heart and unconsciously showed between his brows and eyes.

The Empress had appeared at some point by the entrance of the hall. After Su Jieyu left, she walked softly toward Tan Yuanchu and spoke in a gentle voice,

“Your Majesty, I’ve prepared supper for you in the palace. Would you like to come in?”

She seemed to sense Tan Yuanchu’s irritation and lightly handed the choice over to him.

There were still consorts who hadn’t dispersed nearby.
Tan Yuanchu cast a glance at them and said coldly,

“Are you all staying in Kunning Palace for supper as well?”

As soon as the consorts heard this, they immediately caught the displeasure in his tone. Their hearts tightened, and they dared not linger any longer.

Tan Yuanchu cast a discreet glance in a certain direction. He said nothing and turned to enter Kunning Palace with the Empress.