At the time of Xu, Zhou Guifei had already rushed to the Xihua Gate and was proven by her palace staff to have returned before Hai Shi, thus clearing herself of suspicion in the murder of Qi Fei.
The emperor glanced at the empress dowager and said slowly, "Mother, no matter what wrongs Concubine Zhou has committed, this murder case has nothing to do with her!"
The empress dowager's eyes flickered, and she sighed: "It seems that she has provoked someone, and intentionally set her up." The queen chimed in beside her: "Zhou Guifei has always been strong-willed, and many people in the palace have complaints about her!"
Chen 'Lu' coldly glanced at them, knowing they had something to say, and so got up and left.
Outside, the rain poured down in sheets, and in the darkening twilight, she declined the paper umbrella offered by the maid under the eaves, and walked alone in the rain.
A long and profound corridor, as if endless, she glanced at the northwest corner, that one broken eave, thinking of the 'daughter' who was imprisoned in the cold palace, her heart filled with confusion.
She cleared herself of the unjust charge of murder, but the crime of losing virtue was enough to make her irredeemable.
Did she ever regret it?
The sound of the rain grew louder and louder, the heavy glazed palace walls, in the midst of twists and turns, dimmed their luster, almost to be engulfed by the darkness of night.
A bamboo umbrella hovered above her head, she turned back leisurely and saw Ju Yun holding the handle of the umbrella, standing beside her. "You finally condescend to see me?!"
She pursed her lips and forced a smile that wasn't a smile, nearly turning her head away in annoyance.
"You're being too ridiculous..."
Yu Yun gazed at her for a long time before finally letting out a helpless sigh.
"You said that thirty years ago, it's nothing new!"
Although that was the case, Chen still took the umbrella from his hand and they walked side by side, listening to the growing noise of the rain around them, their previous misunderstandings were all cleared up.
"It's really refreshing... At this moment, I'm actually a little envious of Empress Zhou..."
Morning dew lifts the hem of her skirt, the fragrance of jasmine flowers wafts faintly from the flowerbeds by the roadside, bewildering and enchanting.
"I envy her. No matter how miserable she is, there's always someone who cares about her and waits for her... It's easy to find priceless treasures, but hard to find a loving husband. These words are indeed true."
Her voice, cold and indifferent, yet in this dark night, it was a desolate sound that could not be hidden. The imperial edict was issued, and Qi Fei was posthumously honored as "Yi Zhao Guifei" and buried with the utmost grandeur, giving her a lavish funeral as a favored imperial concubine.
Empress Zhou was sent back to her own palace, but she still could not come and go freely.
Zi Rong was very resentful about this, and the Emperor personally invited him to a private dinner at night, where he explained everything in detail. Only then did Zi Rong's expression clear up and return.
Before leaving the palace, he looked south at the capital city, revealing an extremely angry expression.
The south side is where the imperial clan resides, and the mansion of Jing Wang is also located here.
Gu Yun looked at the inner courtyard with no movement, and couldn't help but feel suspicious. He turned to Chen Lu and asked: "How does the Emperor plan to deal with Imperial Consort Zhou?"
"Ordinary kings, upon learning that their consorts were secretly intimate with others, would inevitably be enraged and put the entire clan to death, without a second thought..."
Gu Yun frowned and said: "General Zhou is stationed on the front line. If he handles it too severely, I'm afraid it will lead to great chaos..."
He thought for a moment and conjectured: "Could it be that he secretly ordered her to take her own life?"
Chen 'Lu' gazed out of the window, saying meaningfully: "You're wrong this time..."
She said softly: "The emperor ordered Concubine Zhou to go to the Moon Heart Nunnery in the suburbs of Beijing to cultivate her hair and practice Buddhism, and she cannot return to the palace unless summoned."
"Such a light punishment?!"
Gu Yun exclaimed in surprise: "Is he considering Zhou Jun?" Chen 'Lu' shook her head and said: "I also thought so, but Yuan Qi only said one sentence ----"
She met Qu Yun's inquiring gaze and said word by word: "He says a day as husband and wife is a lifetime of kindness."
What?!
Yu Yun stiffened on the spot, after a long while, he finally spat out a sentence from his teeth:
"He and Yuan Xu were really different..."
The day Empress Zhou left the palace, there was no one to see her off. She didn't lament the heartlessness of the world, but simply looked back at the majestic palace behind her and got on the carriage without any hesitation.
The carriage arrived at a long pavilion on the outskirts of Beijing, where a group of people were waiting inside.
There were men in green clothes who came forward and blocked the carriage driver.
"Morning, girls come to see you off."
The Empress Dowager jumped down from the carriage, and under the scorching gaze, in the high and majestic pavilion with flying eaves, there was a woman in white clothes waiting by the table.
"What's wrong?" She walked up to the table and asked directly, not thinking that the other party was simply coming to bid farewell.
