Inside the Diligent Administration Hall.
The emperor gazed quietly at a portrait, also lost in thought.
He had been sitting and staring at the portrait for a long time, but the palace staff beside him did not dare to disturb him.
Wan Gonggong took a glance at the emperor, then looked again at the woman in the painting. He sighed inwardly, thinking to himself, how could there be such similar women in this world? She almost looks exactly like Yuan Hou, except that the woman in the painting looks even younger.
Until night had fallen, Eunuch Wang spoke in a low voice and asked: "Your Majesty, will you be returning to the Rear Palace today?"
The emperor seemed to have come back to his senses at this time, originally wanting to say "no", but thinking of something, he paused for a moment before saying: "Let's go to Changkun Palace."
Lin Xiao thought that the Emperor would not return to the palace today, if he saw the portrait, his heart would be shocked, and he might not have the mood to come to the palace.
But Lin Xiao didn't expect him to come, and he came to Changkung Palace.
Lin Xiao welcomed him in and had the palace maidens attend to him, helping him change into comfortable casual clothes. She then personally poured tea for him and had someone bring up some pastries.
The emperor pulled her down to sit on the couch with him and said softly, "Don't be busy anymore."
Lin Xiao smiled and said yes, then sat down beside him.
Lin Daiyu observed his complexion and saw that it was unusual, as if he was in a trance, so she knew that he must have seen the portrait.
The emperor came to the Changkun Palace, but his heart was left in the Qinyi Hall. During dinner, when accompanying Lin Daiyu, and even at night when he went to bed, he seemed somewhat absent-minded.
Men always have a desire for novelty, Lin Daiyu and the Emperor had not been together for long, when the Emperor came to Changkun Palace at night, he would always want to spend some time with her, even if it was just to avoid exhausting her young body, occasionally taking a day off from their amorous activities, he would still affectionately kiss her, hug her and tease her.
But tonight, the emperor seemed to have no interest at all.
Lin Di reached under the quilt and hooked her fingers around the Emperor's, tracing a gentle pattern on his palm.
This was already a very obvious hint, and it usually seemed like a small flirtation between them, but this time the emperor caught her hand to stop her, hugged her, patted her back gently, and said: "I'll accompany you in a few days."
That's already a very clear response, which is that he has no interest in this kind of thing today.
Lin Xiao sighed inwardly, it seemed that Jiang Xi's influence on the emperor was even greater than she had imagined.
What should she do then, go further to probe or pretend to be unaware?
Lin Xiang placed her hand on his chest, playing with the strands of hair hanging down from his chest, and looked up at the Emperor with bright eyes, saying: "Your Majesty, today the Ministry of Rites sent in the portrait of the Shu girl, have you taken a look?"
The emperor paused for a moment before speaking: "None."
Lin Yan pouted and turned her back on him, saying discontentedly: "The Emperor is deceiving people."
The emperor hugged her again, directly from behind, and said in a calm tone: "When have I ever deceived you."
Lin Daiyu said: "Then Your Majesty tell me, which of the beauties have you taken a liking to? I'll make sure to keep them for you."
The Emperor said: "No, I've said it, you choose, I trust you."
Lin Xuan showed a disbelieving expression and said, "If Your Majesty doesn't tell me, when the time comes and I let the beauty you have your eyes on lose out, don't blame me then."
The emperor nodded after a while and said "uh-huh".
After that, they didn't have much to say to each other.
Lin Xiao saw that probing didn't yield anything, so she also stopped talking. She closed her eyes, found a comfortable position, and prepared to sleep, leaving tomorrow's matters for tomorrow.
It wasn't until much, much later, when Lin Yu was already half asleep in his arms, that the Emperor tightened his hold on her and suddenly let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Aunt," he said.
Lin Daiyan opened her eyes and turned her head to look at the emperor.
The emperor feared that she would hurt her neck by twisting it like this, so he turned her head back and continued: "Your aunt's early death was not entirely due to overwork. That year, Prince Qi and Empress Chen conspired against me, and Empress Chen tricked your aunt, Wu Shi, Cui Shi, and other women into the palace, where they were imprisoned with my mother. Later, Chen sent poisoned wine, forcing my mother to drink it, but your aunt snatched the wine and drank it herself. Although she managed to spit out some of the poison, her body was still damaged."
Lin Di's eyes gradually dimmed, it was the first time she had heard such a thing. She had always thought that her aunt would die early, because of helping the emperor to run around and seek help, she would be overworked to death, but she didn't know that she had also been poisoned before.
So the emperor always remembered his aunt, not only because of their deep husband-and-wife relationship, but also because he had a sense of guilt towards her. That's why he was extremely partial and reliant on the Lin family, all for this reason.
The Emperor said: "I apologize to your aunt!" His voice was low and hoarse, as if he were telling a sad story.
Lin Xiao didn't know what to say and couldn't even utter a word of comfort.
By the second day, Lin Xiao woke up and found that there was no sign of the emperor on the bed.
The imperial concubines serve the emperor in the morning, they have to get up earlier than the emperor to attend to him.
This was the first time Lin Xiao got up later than the Emperor, and she didn't even know when the Emperor had left.
Lin Di called Mu Zhi and asked her: "When did the emperor leave?"
Mu Zhi attended to her as she got out of bed, and replied: "At the hour of Yin (3 am), His Majesty ordered us not to disturb you, so we didn't call you."
Lin Dai nodded.
After washing and having breakfast, Lin Xiang called Mu Qing and asked the palace maids to leave. Only then did she ask her: "Last night, the Emperor told me that my aunt was poisoned back then. What's going on?"
Mu Qing looked somewhat surprised, as if she had not expected the emperor to tell her even such a thing.
But she soon calmed down, took a deep breath and said: "That was before the Emperor ascended to the throne. That year, Prince Qi colluded with Empress Chen to rebel, and the Emperor was leading troops outside the capital and not in Beijing. Empress Chen forged an imperial edict, deceiving Concubine Yuan, Wu, and Cui into entering the palace. Concubine Yuan knew something was amiss, but since the imperial edict bore the jade seal, she had no choice but to comply. So Concubine Yuan only managed to hide the Crown Prince and you in the Wang Mansion, and arranged for the Second and Third Princes before taking Wu and Cui into the palace with her. However, as soon as they entered the palace, they were captured by Empress Chen's people. It was then that Concubine Yuan and the others learned that the previous Emperor had long been bedridden and unconscious, and Empress Chen had concealed this news, using the jade seal to act on her own authority. After being captured, Concubine Yuan and the others were sent to the Xianfei Palace, where they were imprisoned with Consort Xian.
At that time, the emperor was already the crown prince, holding military power, and with the help of the Lin and Wu families. Although King Qi and Empress Chen controlled the palace and the capital, as long as the emperor led his troops back, these rebellious officials were not worth mentioning. Empress Chen may have also understood this, so she lured Xianfei and others into the palace. However, Empress Chen was eager to take Xianfei's life, so she sent a cup of poisoned wine over to force Xianfei to drink it, but in the end, Yuanniang replaced Xianfei and drank the cup of poisoned wine instead.
