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That year, jade flying snow cold
墨書 Inktalez
North dry Jingwu Sixth Year Luo Capital
On the day she entered the palace, it was not a clear and bright day, but rather shrouded in heavy haze. As the palace gates creaked open, she lifted the brocade curtain and gazed at the towering palace walls, lost in thought. These towering walls seemed like a huge cage, and she, nothing more than a beautiful canary in a cage.
Her name was An ling-Yao, the sixth princess of Southern Departure, with the title of Princess Changle. Due to the consecutive defeats suffered by Southern Departure on the Yan Yun battlefield in the third year of the Jingwu era, it was necessary to send a member of the royal family to North dry for a marriage alliance, ostensibly to deepen friendly relations between the two sides, but in reality, she was a hostage in a foreign land. As the least favored princess of Southern Departure, she naturally became the lucky one sent to North dry.
Kunning Palace outside, a figure in a red robe stood in the vast snow. Before long, the gates of Kunning Palace slowly opened. The palace maidens inside the gate hurried forward to greet the figure, respectfully asking, "What brings the princess here today?" The figure nodded at the maidens and softly replied, "Please inform Princess Yue, it is Southern Departure Changle seeking an audience." Yue quickly waved her hand, "I will do as you ask." She then retreated and closed the gate, reporting to the empress dowager.
Yue entered the inner hall and reported the situation outside to the empress dowager. After listening, the empress dowager's expression remained unchanged. After a moment of silence, she gestured for Yue to give a response, "Let her wait outside for a while. After all, they are from the southern barbarians, and they need to be taught some manners."
Then, as if having second thoughts, she furrowed her brow and said in a deep voice, "Forget it, tell her that I am unwell and it is not suitable to receive guests today. Ask her to leave. I don't want to be bothered by these southern barbarians."
Hearing this, the palace attendants around did not dare to say much and could only withdraw to attend to their tasks. Yue'er also did not say much, just sighed and slowly retreated, leaving the room.
After a while, the heavy door of the Kunning Palace slowly opened. Yue'er leaned out, bowed to An ling-Yao, and whispered, "Reporting to the princess, the Empress Dowager is unwell today and it is not suitable to receive visitors. Please return."
Upon hearing this, An ling-Yao's face instantly turned unpleasant. She immediately grabbed Yue'er's sleeve and pleaded, "I really have an urgent matter to discuss with the Empress Dowager. Please ask Yue'er to pass on a message. I won't take up too much of the Empress Dowager's time. Please help me, Yue'er."
Upon hearing this, Yue let out a sigh and said helplessly, "Princess, please go back. There's no point in wasting your efforts here. The Empress Dowager has made up her mind, and you don't need to waste your time here." With that, she closed the palace gate and walked away.
Seeing this, the palace maid serving An ling-Yao, Qingwu, advised, "Princess, it seems that the Empress Dowager won't see us today. It's cold here. Maybe we should go back for now."
But An ling-Yao shook her head and said seriously, "Perhaps this is the Empress Dowager testing me. Besides, if we delay this, it will be prolonged indefinitely. Although I am just a hostage, I still want to fight for my own destiny."
Upon hearing this, Miss Cui appeared hesitant to speak. However, upon seeing An ling-Yao's determined expression, she didn't say anything more, just quietly held the umbrella.
After about two hours, there was still no sign of the crimson palace doors opening. Seeing this, Miss Cui couldn't sit still. Just as she was about to persuade An ling-Yao to leave, she turned her head and saw An ling-Yao swaying as if she might collapse at any moment. Everyone rushed to support their mistress. At the critical moment, a strong arm steadied the almost falling An ling-Yao.
As everyone looked towards the direction of the outstretched arm, they were met with the handsome face of the crown prince. They quickly knelt down to pay their respects. The prince nodded to indicate that there was no need for excessive courtesy, then he lifted the fainting An ling-Yao and headed straight to his own chambers.
The palace maids who served the princess were full of confusion, looking at each other. Wasn't it rumored that the crown prince looked down on the princess? Why would the crown prince be so concerned about the princess? After pondering for a moment and finding no answer, they could only hurry to keep up with the crown prince's steps.
At the Eastern Palace, Xuanyuan Yi instructed the maids to heat the water and cook ginger soup. He carefully helped An ling-Yao onto the bed and tucked her in with care. Then he placed the towel brought by the maids on An ling-Yao's head.
He looked at An ling-Yao's beautiful face and murmured, "You really are something. Knowing that you are just a hostage, you should just accept the reality. Why bother with useless struggles?"
At that moment, a palace maid's call interrupted Xuanyuan Yi's thoughts, "Your Highness, the ginger soup is ready."
"Okay, you can just leave it there. If there's nothing else, you can go," Xuanyuan Yi waved his hand nonchalantly.
Seeing that the Crown Prince did not get angry, the palace maid gained some courage and asked, "Your Highness, haven't you always disliked Princess Changle? Why are you so concerned about her this time?"
Xuanyuan Yi Upon hearing this, his expression changed instantly, and he angrily said, "Outrageous! How dare you, a servant, criticize your master? Or do you think I need your permission for everything I do?"
Upon hearing the prince's words, the palace maid quickly knelt down, repeatedly kowtowing and trembling as she said, "Please forgive me, Your Highness. I won't dare to do it again, I won't dare to do it again..."
Xuanyuan Yi glanced at the palace maid and said calmly, "Alright, get up. While the penalty for death can be pardoned, the penalty for life is hard to escape. Go and accept your punishment." Then he shouted outside the door, "Guards, take this audacious servant away and execute him."
Upon hearing this, the palace maid originally wanted to plead for mercy, but Xuanyuan Yi had no intention of listening to her. He waved his hand, signaling to have her quickly taken away. The maid, seeing Xuanyuan Yi's unchanged expression, sat lifelessly on the ground.
Before the words had even finished, several armed guards pushed open the door and rudely pulled the maid up from the ground, then dragged her outside like a dead pig.
At that moment, An ling-Yao unexpectedly woke up and struggled to sit up. Xuanyuan Yi, seeing An ling-Yao awake, went forward to help her up and asked with concern, "You're awake, how do you feel?"
An ling-Yao sat down and bowed to Xuanyuan Yi, saying, "I appreciate the concern, Your Highness, but I am not seriously injured."
Xuanyuan Yi waved his hand, indicating that it was nothing.
At this moment, An ling-Yao noticed a palace maid kneeling on the ground and asked, "Why is this sister kneeling here?"
Xuanyuan Yi glanced indifferently at the servant, and gently said to An ling-Yao, "It's nothing, just an ignorant servant." He then ordered the guards to take the palace maid away.
Xuanyuan Yi tucked in the blanket for An ling-Yao and softly said, "It's okay, you don't need to worry about such trivial matters. Just take care of your health. Are you sure you're not seriously hurt?" An ling-Yao reassured him, "I'm fine now, please rest assured, Your Highness."
Upon hearing An ling-Yao's words, Xuanyuan Yi finally relaxed, "Alright, after you finish the ginger soup on the table, you can go back if there's nothing else." After saying that, he left and gently closed the door behind him.
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