LF Chapter 61
by VolareThe season was February, spring was in the air, and the east wind blew gently. The warm sunlightscattered all over the forest, and green shoots were already sprouting in the damp soil.
The weather was getting better day by day, but Jiang Yinghua’s mood was not. The Emperor’s ruthlessness, Ying Feng’s forbearance, and Yan Wanzhi’s silence made her feel that she was fighting a lone battle.
Hidden in the dense mountain forest, Jiang Yinghua slid off her horse and leaned against an old tree that had not yet sprouted, her expression lost. How many days could she hide by escaping like this? She couldn’t take the main roads, and she would be discovered sooner or later. Even if she was lucky enough to avoid the wedding in March, she was afraid that another auspicious day would be waiting for her.
For a moment, she even wished she could kill Ying Feng with one knife, completely cutting off the Emperor’s thoughts of marriage. But after thinking about it, if she really did that, Yan Wanzhi would definitely be the one to be buried with him.
The Imperial Guards spread out in an encirclement. Qiao Yuanli was sure that Jiang Yinghua had not broken through. But this person staying in the mountains was really too dangerous.
Helpless, Qiao Yuanli had to ask for instructions, hoping that the Emperor could mobilize local manpower to search the mountains and bring the person out.
When the Emperor heard the report, she immediately slammed the table and stood up. In a fit of rage, she crumpled the report into a ball and shouted, “Order the Right Guard General of the Imperial Guards to come and see me immediately!”
“Hold on!” Before the Emperor could finish speaking, and before the eunuch delivering the decree could leave, the Empress Dowager’s voice came.
The Emperor suppressed her anger, paused for a moment, and then asked, “Mother, why have you come?”
The Empress Dowager dismissed all the attendants in the hall before sitting down and speaking, “Emperor, do not be angry again, your body cannot take it. Regarding Hua’er’s matter, would you listen to a few words from your mother?”
“Mother, it’s not that I’m angry, but she caused a scene at the Yun’an Prince’s procession and then hid in the deep mountains. I’m afraid that she will be known by villains and be in a dangerous situation with no one to save her.” Jiang Jingche sighed and sat down powerlessly on the opposite side.
“So you want the Right Guard to arrest her?” The Empress Dowager immediately retorted, “A month ago, she dared to draw her sword against you. Can the Imperial Guards really do anything to her? You might as well issue an edict to kill her.”
“Mother, that’s not what I meant.” Hearing these words, Jiang Jingche knew that the Empress Dowager was angry, so she stood up again and responded with a bow.
“I know that’s not what you meant. It’s just that I misjudged Ninth. No wonder the late Emperor doted on her. In recent years, she hasn’t been by my side, and I only realized later that she has the same temper as your elder brother, looking gentle but actually unyielding. This temper is all like the late Emperor’s.
Over the years, she hasn’t written a single letter home to me. Now, if she breaks ties with you as well, her heart will be completely separated from this family. What’s the use of keeping an empty shell?” The Empress Dowager was lost in thought, slowly speaking.
The Emperor did not reply. She had always thought that Jiang Yinghua was still the little sister who followed behind her, would listen, would rely on her, and at the very least, would fear her. The disobedience that night in January caught her completely off guard. Even to this day, she still couldn’t understand why this sister, who was always timid and wary of others, was the first to openly defy her.
“Among the children, I do owe Hua’er. She is like this today because I didn’t teach her well. I don’t expect her to be filial to me as her mother, but I only hope that she doesn’t abandon her responsibilities.
Spread the word that I am seriously ill, and she will come back. Even if she resents me after returning, I will accept it.” The Empress Dowager slowly supported herself up, raised her hand and patted the Emperor’s shoulder, “Go do it. No one knows a daughter like her mother. She values relationships and cannot let them go.”
Jiang Jingche understood that the Empress Dowager was willing to abandon their mother-daughter relationship in exchange for Jiang Yinghua’s safe return to the capital. By using this method, in the future, no matter what happened, the Empress Dowager would have no position to manipulate Jiang Yinghua in the slightest.
But right now, there was no better option to choose. The Emperor followed her words and ordered people to carry them out.
Three days later, Jiang Yinghua, who was hiding in a small Buddhist temple in the mountains, heard people coming and going discussing that the Emperor was fasting and personally going to the Da Xiangguo Temple to pray for the Empress Dowager, hoping that the Empress Dowager would turn the corner and that the Emperor’s filial piety would move the heavens and the earth, praying for Buddha’s mercy.
When Jiang Yinghua heard this, she felt inexplicably flustered, but she suppressed this emotion and didn’t think too much about it.
The next day, she left the temple and headed towards the depths of the mountains. There were few people on the winding mountain road, and she was upset, so she didn’t walk fast.
That night, she casually chose an open space and rested against a large tree. In the middle of the night, she faintly heard a noisy sound and stood up vigilantly.
“Ninth Master… Ninth Master… where are you… there’s an emergency at home…”
The voices in the distance rose and fell, and she could vaguely see the light of torches. Jiang Yinghua could easily tell that these people were calling for her. If they were trying to arrest her, there was no need to go to such lengths to change their title and shout while patrolling the mountains in the middle of the night. They should have surrounded her silently without saying a word.
There was an emergency at home. Recalling the discussions she heard in the Buddhist temple, Jiang Yinghua felt uneasy. Could it be that the Empress Dowager really…? If so, could it be that she was angered by her leaving home?
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Yinghua couldn’t calm down. Finally, she couldn’t get over the hurdle in her heart, so she grabbed her horse and headed towards the light. After meeting the people patrolling the mountains, Jiang Yinghua named Qiao Yuanli, and this person was indeed nearby.
Qiao Yuanli was going crazy. He didn’t know the inside story and was afraid that Jiang Yinghua would regret it in the future, so he searched the mountains overnight. Therefore, when Jiang Yinghua saw him, he was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to hand over the letter from the capital to Jiang Yinghua, kneeling down and begging, “Your Highness, return to the capital.”
Jiang Yinghua quickly scanned the contents of the letter, and her hand holding the paper trembled uncontrollably. She stared blankly at the vast night sky and ordered Qiao Yuanli in a flustered tone, “Cousin, pick out a fast horse for me, quickly, quickly…”
Seeing that she was really flustered, Qiao Yuanli quickly led his horse over. Before he could speak, Jiang Yinghua snatched it away, flew onto it, and galloped away, heading straight for the capital. The Imperial Guards chased wildly behind, watching Jiang Yinghua’s horse speed ahead, wishing they could run the horse to pieces.
Over hundreds of miles, the frantic Jiang Yinghua changed horses three times and managed to rush back to the Tai Zhang Palace at dawn on the second day after receiving the news. She had run for two nights and one day without eating or drinking. When she entered the palace, she was already exhausted. After getting off the horse, she staggered and almost fell to the ground. Even so, she was still muttering, “Take me to see the Empress Dowager…”
When Jiang Yinghua entered the capital, informants had already sent the news to the palace. The Emperor, having already received the news, had dispatched a clever inner attendant to wait for Jiang Yinghua for a long time.
She was exhausted, her voice was hoarse, and her face did not hide her worry and guilt. The little inner attendant played his part, supporting her steadily and comforting her, “Your Highness, please wait a moment. The Empress Dowager is still doing well and has fallen asleep after taking medicine. This servant will send for a sedan chair so you can go later.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yinghua’s worried expression really eased a little, and at this time, she was indeed weak and exhausted, too lazy to move a step. So she nodded weakly, waiting for someone to carry her.
The palace was peaceful, and the Imperial Guards and palace guards did not draw their swords at her. In fact, they could be said to have treated her as air, neither questioning nor stopping her, allowing her to ride her horse through the three palace gates.
If it were any other time, these abnormalities would not have escaped Jiang Yinghua’s cunning thoughts. But at this time, she had no mind to think about these things. Her mind was full of worry about the Empress Dowager’s illness.
After a moment, the sedan chair arrived. The inner attendant helped Jiang Yinghua sit on it and carried her towards the Empress Dowager’s bedroom. Jiang Yinghua, seeing that the direction was correct, drowsily closed her eyes for a nap.
The sedan chair swayed slowly for a while. Calculating the time, they should definitely not have arrived at the Empress Dowager’s palace yet, but at this time, these people really stopped.
Jiang Yinghua sensed something was wrong and was about to open her eyes to see when several people suddenly pounced on her from behind, holding her down tightly and using silk ropes to tie the struggling person to the sedan chair.
When she reacted, she realized that this narrow palace road was filled with Imperial Guards in plain clothes who were not wearing armor, and at the end of the palace road, the Emperor, wearing a bright yellow court dress, stood in front, watching all of this coldly.
Only at this moment did Jiang Yinghua realize that she had once again been used by the mother and daughter in this forbidden palace in the name of family affection, falling for this trick of luring the enemy into a trap, exhausting herself, and voluntarily delivering herself to be manipulated.
She didn’t even have the strength to resist or be unwilling. Just now, she had been holding on, but now her heart was full of worries, thinking of the Empress Dowager. Now that she had been tricked to this point, Jiang Yinghua couldn’t say a word and resigned herself to being carried away by the inner attendant. When passing by the Emperor, she simply closed her eyes.
The Emperor was in a hurry to go to court. Seeing her reaction, she didn’t say much, but waved her hand to have her carried to the Guangyuan Hall, which had been prepared earlier.
Inside and outside Guangyuan Hall were all attendants personally selected by the Emperor. Layers upon layers of palace servants and guards surrounded the hall tightly, making it airtight. Not to mention a living person, even a fly could not escape.
These palace servants had received strict orders, fearing that Jiang Yinghua would cause trouble. More than twenty serving maids and inner attendants guarded her almost every step of the way. If she was lying down, they would stand in front of her bed in a swarm. If she stood up, there would be a thick wall of people around her every step she took, never more than three steps away from her.
There were not many decorations in the hall, and Jiang Yinghua couldn’t find any handy objects to vent her anger. Scanning the room full of attendants with angry eyes, she only felt that her heart was filled with a huge boulder, pressing her to the edge of despair.
Sitting dejectedly on the chair, her thoughts wandered for a long time before Jiang Yinghua finally regained her hoarse voice and weakly ordered, “Prepare water for a bath.”
The palace servants busily went out to prepare, but as soon as a few palace servants left, an equal number of people were immediately added from outside. Jiang Yinghua watched coldly, muttering to herself, “Heh, it’s really considerate.”
When all the items for bathing were prepared in detail, all the people in the room were replaced with little maids, who surrounded her tremblingly, unwilling to move even a little.
She understood in her heart that it was wishful thinking to hope to find an excuse to transfer these people out. The Emperor had made up her mind to confine her in a courtyard and make her a golden bird to be manipulated.
Finally tired of the dirt on her body, Jiang Yinghua gave in to her obsession with cleanliness. She ignored all the unfamiliar attendants in the room and took a bath in the tub by herself. Several little girls tentatively stepped forward to serve her, but were frightened by her resentful expression and retreated several steps, no longer daring to step forward.
Perhaps it was because she hadn’t eaten for too long and her body was too weak, or perhaps it was because this person was trying to escape reality. Immersed in the warm water, Jiang Yinghua’s eyes soon became blurred. After sparkling stars flashed before her eyes, she suddenly fell into darkness and lost consciousness.
The little girls outside hung their heads, holding their breath, and no one dared to look up at her. Therefore, even though Jiang Yinghua’s unconscious head was drooping heavily on the edge of the bathtub, these people who were no more than three steps away did not notice anything unusual.
Estimating the time, the bath water should have been cold for a long time, and they couldn’t hear Jiang Yinghua’s movement. Among these people, someone had the courage to carefully place their gaze on Jiang Yinghua’s body. If they hadn’t looked, it wouldn’t have mattered, but this look made them realize that the person had already closed her eyes tightly, her head drooping limply to one side, and even her breathing seemed particularly weak.
The maid screamed in fright, attracting the attention of everyone around her. The panicked crowd carried her out in a fluster, wrapped her in clothes casually, put her on the bed, and stumbled out to inform the guards, ordering people to invite the imperial physician.
When she woke up again, Jiang Yinghua had a splitting headache. After sleeping for a long time, her swollen eyelids lifted, and what came into view was a group of attendants who were irritating.
In a coma, she saw Yan Wanzhi, whose amber-like clear eyes were filled with sadness, and her expression was even more uneasy. She stretched out her hand, as if expecting something. Jiang Yinghua wanted to reach out to the person, but she couldn’t see clearly, only a phantom swayed back and forth, and getting closer was just empty.
Seeing that the person had woken up, a maid soon came forward with a bowl of bitter medicine and softly asked, “Your Highness, you have been in a coma for three days. This is a tonic that has been brewed for a long time. May this servant serve you to drink it?”
A strong bitterness filled her nostrils. Jiang Yinghua turned her head slightly and glanced at the maid. She used almost all her strength, lowered her voice, and gritted her teeth, “Get out!”
The dignified Supreme of the Ninety-Five actually made up lies to deceive her. If she hadn’t known that the Empress Dowager was seriously ill, how could she have made herself so embarrassed and could only collapse on the bed with no power to resist? She thought that there was someone else in the palace who was drinking bitter medicine, but now the joke had become her own.
Jiang Yinghua’s heart was cold. She was willing to endure the bitterness of the border for many years because she was thinking about her family in the capital. She never complained about the fatigue of secretly planning, because she wanted to build a haven for herself and Yan Wanzhi. Now, it was all just a waste of effort.
Love and affection really disturbed people’s minds. So-called close relatives, especially those who hurt the deepest. The tragedy of the royal family’s children, Prince Yong, was an example, and perhaps the next one to follow in his footsteps would be her.
Thinking of this, a clear tear fell from the corner of Jiang Yinghua’s eye and slid into her mouth, salty.
She raised her hand and brushed it away, the frost in her eyes solidified, and the hazy water mist faded away, leaving no trace of tears. Crying was the most useless thing, and valuing relationships was the laughing stock of the royal family.