Princess In The Palace

25. The Roll of Cloth

Chapter 25.

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Recap: in the previous chapter, Empress said that she wanted to take Yì Rán into the palace. When Pī Yáng knew about it from Rù Yáo, she told how Empress could have known the real identity of Yì Rán. Pī Yáng went to find Emperor Míng through Eunuch Wǎn for help.

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The peacefulness of her palace was torn into pieces when the shrieking sound of a eunuch broke its silence. All the servants in her palace scrambled to their own positions, all kneeling as the man dressed in black robes lined with golden embroideries entered. It had been some time since he last visited her, not that he had alienated her though. However, it was still surprising whenever he visited her.

When he entered the premises of the quarters of her palace, she was seen hurriedly rushing out of the inner chambers, dipping into a curtsy in front of him while he went ahead into the inner chambers, right into her bedchamber. She stood up and gave a side eye towards her servants, who understood and remained in their position while she followed the Emperor. She closed the doors behind her and found him sitting on the cushion placed before a low table in her chamber.

"Your Majesty, what brings you so suddenly here?" Empress lifted her arms and poured warm tea into a cup and pushed it to his front. He did not take it but just stared at it.

"How is your health recently, Empress?"

"I have been drinking herbal soup made with the ginsengs Your Majesty sent. I have never been healthier, Your Majesty."

"That is good." He finally looked away from the cup of tea and onto the calligraphy hanged on the wall, while picking up the tea and drinking all its content at one go.

"Have you been busy, Empress?"

"No, Your Majesty." Her answer intrigued him and he finally turned around, looking at her in the eyes.

"Even if you are not busy..." he put down the tea cup back onto the table. "Empress should not be bothering yourself with issues that do not concern you." His words carried deeper meaning below the surface and she found it weird, but she was still an intelligent woman. She could guess what he was referring to, so much so that she was secretly trembling behind her sleeves.

"What does...Your Majesty mean?" she put on a fake smile to cover up her nervousness.

"Empress." He firmly called her. "If a phoenix try to fly too high, its wings will break...because the dragon will strike it back to where it should belong." When he tried to be clear, Empress' emotions faltered as her lips were visibly trembling to him. She bit back the insides of her cheeks, trying to stop herself from trembling but the slight tearing of her eyes could not hide her anxiety. He found out.

"Your Majesty..." The power she had, the endless list of inhumane acts she had committed rampantly behind the scenes were nothing but the mercy of him, the Emperor. He was Emperor Míng, the powerful Emperor born by the powerful Empress Dowager Xīn. Despite undeniably having favouritism towards the Xīn clan, he still needed to balance the existing power his people had in the court and thus Empress Yáng was instated to bring up the power of the Yáng family. What was she but his mere chess piece? He took a good look at the Empress' face, who now had beads of sweat forming on her forehead. It amused him to see her being so apprehensive. In fact, toying around and instilling fear in his dishonest subjects was one of his favourite activities.

"Lies, that is something an Emperor never tell," he added. On the surface, it sounded as if the Emperor was extremely upright and a person of justice.