The Gilded Cage

Proceedings – Who Wants To See Me? (2)

“Okay, you can see both him and Second Lady Zhao.” He nodded and instructed, “However, you don’t have to go to the prison yourself, just ask the staff to bring them to you.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Chu Ning calmed down, thanked him with a smile, changed clothes and had dinner with him, and took a few more strolls outside while the night was cool.

She had traveled all the roads near the Ganlu Hall many times, and she even remembered clearly how many lights and flowers there were beside the road.

The moonlight was bright and the breeze was cool. Looking at the familiar scenery, Chu Ning suddenly glanced towards the west where Baifu Hall was located and said with a smile, “In the past few days, I have asked the female officials of the Sixth Bureau to repair and decorate the Qianqiu Hall. I think it will be possible to move there soon.”

She had lived in Ganlu Palace for a long time. Xiao Kezhi has not mentioned for a long time how to let her choose another palace to live in, and he still ate and lived with her every day as usual. After thinking about it, she felt something was wrong, so she asked someone to go to Qianqiu Hall to clean it up.

However, when Xiao Kezhi heard the words, he suddenly stopped and asked in surprise, “Why do you want to move to Qianqiu Palace? Wouldn’t it be good to live in Ganlu Palace?”

Chu Ning didn’t expect him to react like this, so she stopped, nodded first, then shook her head, “Of course the Ganlu Palace is good. But this is His Majesty’s sleeping palace, and even the empress has no reason to live there forever. The latter bedroom is the residence of the concubines.”

Xiao Kezhi didn’t speak, just glanced at her, and continued to walk forward slowly.

She was right, the Ganlu Hall was always the place where the emperor lived alone, and the rest of the women, whether they were the empress or ordinary concubines, had other places to live.

He never told her, though, that he had no intention of letting her move elsewhere.

“When I was young, what I wished most was that my family could be together every day, that the husband and wife would live in harmony, and that the children would be around their knees, like ordinary people.” He looked up at the full moon in the sky, and said what was in his heart, “Now I am married, Ganlu Palace is my home, there is a wife at home. How can there be any reason for my wife to live elsewhere? Besides, the palace is empty. If you live in Qianqiu Palace alone, you still have to come to Ganlu Palace every day. Why bother?”

Chu Ning couldn’t help but look sideways, observed his expression carefully, and said softly, “It’s empty right now, but there will always be people in the future.”

“A’Ning, I haven’t told you yet.” He stopped again, turned sideways, put his hands on her shoulders, bent slightly, and said seriously, “There will be no one else in the Taiji Palace.”

“Your Majesty?” Chu Ning was stunned, looking at him in surprise. She couldn’t believe that what he meant was what she thought in her heart, “How can there be such a reason…”

“This is my reasoning.” Xiao Kezhi laughed, with a contemptuous aura in his tone that looked a bit like that on the battlefield and in court, “One wife is enough for my Taiji Palace. I said that I want to become a man like your father, and I don’t want to let my wife down.”

Chu Ning stared at him blankly and suddenly burst out laughing, “Your Majesty is always so unusual. If you had let the courtiers know before this, they would talk about it. Fortunately, everything has stabilized now…”

Probably because of his consistent reliability, he had unknowingly melted the shell of her past hesitation. When she heard such shocking words, she didn’t have the slightest suspicion, but her eyes were hot, and she subconsciously believed it.

Who didn’t want their husband to be single-minded and unwavering? In particular, her parents were one of the rare loving couples, so she naturally yearned for such a marriage in her heart.

“Don’t worry, they won’t take care of the affairs of the palace anymore—as long as we work hard and have a few lively and healthy children.” He changed the subject, and before she could react, he hugged her, leaned close to her ear, and said ambiguously.

Chu Ning’s cheeks were burning hot, but he did not avoid the topic. Instead, he took a deep breath and said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, we have to pay attention to the method and find the right date…”

Xiao Ke was taken aback, and after seeing that she was not joking, he hurriedly hugged her and asked seriously, “Tell me, how to be particular, how to find a date?”

“This matter has something to do with my monthly cycles…” Chu Ning thought of what Feng Yu had said before and told him one by one.

Xiao Kezhi listened very carefully, kept the few days firmly in his heart, thought about it, and said slowly, “In this way, I should work harder on weekdays, and even harder on those few days…”

…

In the prison, it was dark and humid, and the atmosphere was tense.

Xiao Yu sat silently and shriveled on the shabby futon, his thin body was made thinner by the wrinkled prison clothes, and the glaring sun shone through the window, illuminating his withered face bleakly.

The jailers never treated him harshly. Although the daily food and water were not as good as those in the palace, they were provided on time and in accordance with the amount. He was still meticulously wearing a hair crown, and his appearance was neat, but the whole person seemed to have been sucked out of most of his anger.

“Open the door and bring the person out.” The guard outside stepped in quickly, opened the door of the cell, and gestured to him, “It’s time to go out.”

Xiao Yu’s eyes moved, and he slowly got up from the futon. Without asking any questions, he pursed his lips and stepped out of the cell.

These days, he has been interrogated almost every day. At first, he had some reactions, but now, he was almost numb, and there was no fluctuation at all.

Compared with happily ending with death, being isolated in a narrow world could wear down one’s will more.

“Go this way.” The jailer stopped him from walking towards the place where he was usually interrogated. “Today we are going to Taiji Palace.”

When he heard the words “Taiji Palace”, he suddenly had a reaction.

“In Taiji Palace, who wants to see me?”

“It’s Her Majesty the Empress.”