northernbook Chapter 29: The Promise is Like a Passing Cloud
Chapter 29: The Promise is Like a Passing Cloud
Yao Jia looked at him in surprise, thinking that he must have taken the wrong medicine today.
The carriage stopped at the palace gate.
"Young Master, Young Pavilion Master, we're here." Lin Jiang's voice came from outside.
As soon as Yao Jia stood up, Nangong Xiu Lan held her shoulders and she sat back in his arms.
Yao Jia was confused, "What's wrong?"
Nangong Xiulan took a deep breath and said in a serious tone, "Remember, from now on, don't leave me even a step."
After saying that, he got out of the car first, then reached out and helped Yao Jia down.
She regained her calm and composed demeanor, and was indifferent to Yao Jia, as if what had just happened was just her illusion.
Yaojia felt even more that he was sick.
The program at the palace banquet was very boring, with nothing but playing musical instruments, singing and dancing.
Yao Jia looked around from time to time and did not touch the food in front of her with her chopsticks.
Nangong Xiulan was puzzled: "Why don't you move your chopsticks? Is the food not to your liking?"
Yao Jia came to investigate the enemy's situation. His eyes were constantly fixed on the figure of Chen Ying from the Bureau of Astronomy, fearing that he would miss the opportunity to tell the emperor about his misfortunes. He had no time to eat.
Without even looking at Nangong Xiulan, he replied directly: "I'm not hungry!"
Seeing Chen Ying following a handsome young eunuch out of the palace gate, Yao Jia quickly stood up and prepared to follow him out.
Nangong Xiulan called her: "Where are you going?"
"Toilet!"
"You are not familiar with the palace. I will take you there."
Seeing that the two had gone far away, Yao Jia said anxiously, "No need, the palace servants can take care of them."
What a joke! In her previous life, after she inherited the position of Pavilion Master, she often went to the palace. Except for the harem, she could point out every location in the front palace with her eyes closed.
After Yao Jia came out, she saw the two men heading towards Hanxiang Palace from afar.
Hanxiang Hall was a palace specially used for rituals for the emperor and his concubines. There were several Taoist statues in the hall. The emperor would pray in it when he ascended the throne, got married, conferred titles on the empress, bestowed titles on his concubines, offered sacrifices, and ordered his soldiers to go to war.
However, it is not open to the public on weekdays, and there are basically no palace servants on duty around. I wonder why Chen Ying wants to go there?
They must be plotting something!
Yao Jia became suspicious and followed the two quietly, hiding behind a dwarf pine tree. From afar, she saw the two sneakily entering the Hanxiang Palace.
Yao Jia waited for an incense stick of time, but the two still didn't come out. Unable to bear it any longer, she quietly approached the Hanxiang Palace.
As she approached the palace gate, she saw a team of patrolling guards approaching this side, and she immediately slipped in.
The hall was pitch black, Yao Jia walked forward in the dark. Suddenly her foot slipped, and she fell forward unsteadily, and a pair of hands supported her.
Yao Jia turned around to look at the person who came, and when she smelled the familiar sandalwood scent, she realized it was Nangong Xiu Lan.
But how did he get in?
Yao Jia patted his chest to calm down.
At this time, not far away, behind the statue, two voices were heard. They were the little eunuch and Chen Ying.
The two of them quickly hid aside.
"Master Chen, please don't be impatient! Do you agree with what I just said?"
"Oh, Xiao Mengzi, don't worry. You are my man, and I will ensure that you get promoted and make a fortune. Not to mention being the chief eunuch beside Concubine Shu, I can even let you be the chief eunuch beside His Majesty."
"Master Chen is truly capable. I will serve you well in the future. However, as for Tianxing Pavilion..."
"Don't be afraid. Tianxing Pavilion is trying to use a little girl to suppress me? You're dreaming! I know what His Majesty wants to do much better than they do. You don't have to worry about me... Darling, you've worked hard just now. Let me comfort you now."
"Hmph~ Master... slave... ah... well..."
The man's heavy breathing and obscene words spread from behind the statue into the empty hall.
Yao Jia: “…………”
Nangong Xiulan: “……?……!”
Yao Jia pulled Nangong Xiu Lan, who had a gloomy face, and escaped from here quietly.
I thought I would hear some confidential information, but I ended up hearing such disgusting and bloody stories. I really wanted to jump into Taihu Lake to cleanse my ears.
I didn't expect that Chen Ying, who looked righteous on the surface, was actually a homosexual! And he was a eunuch!
Looking at Nangong Xiu Lan again, he had not yet recovered from the shock of the voice just now. He lowered his head and no one knew what he was thinking.
Yao Jia didn't know how to comfort him. She didn't feel anything. Looking at Nangong Xiu Lan's dazed look, she was quite shocked by the things between two men.
Suddenly, a white light like a meteor streaked across the sky.
A moment later, a huge firework bloomed in the dark sky, dispersing the clouds, and golden sparks flew everywhere, making the entire night sky almost as bright as day.
Yao Jia looked up and suddenly remembered that before Yongle Marquis Mansion was convicted, it seemed that it was because of fireworks set off in the palace, which caused a palace in the southwest to catch fire. Although there were no casualties, the emperor believed that the matter was unclear.
She had not entered the palace at that time, and Nangong Xiu Lan was still ill.
The Imperial Astronomy Bureau used this as an excuse, saying that some officials in the south were plotting rebellion.
Everyone started discussing that there was Marquis Yongle in the south. The Jiang family exaggerated the matter and the emperor began to suspect the Le family.
Yao Jia looked back at Nangong Xiu Lan and found that he was not looking at the fireworks in the sky, but was staring at her deeply.
So he asked, "What's wrong? Don't you like watching fireworks?"
Nangong Xiulan answered the question irrelevantly, "Yaoyao, what exactly did you experience in Jiangnan? Why is your temper different after you came back? And... why did you follow Master Chen tonight?"
Yaojia's return this time was so abnormal that he couldn't help but wonder what Yaojia had experienced in those three months.
Yao Jia's expression froze for a moment, and he said after a moment's silence: "I just had a dream."
“I dreamed of many bad things”
"In the dream, I became very bad, very bad, so bad that you didn't want me anymore, and other men cheated on me and even killed me."
"I don't want my real self to have the same tragic ending as in my dream, so I want to change!"
Yao Jia’s words dealt a heavy blow to Nangong Xiu Lan, which almost made him lose his balance. He reached out to hold the railing beside him and barely managed to support his body.
He remembered the dream he had. Yao Jia was dressed in red, spitting blood and falling into the arms of a strange man.
It was clearly a dream, but he felt it was very real. The pain of losing his loved one, the suffocating feeling that made him breathless, were all vivid and real.
My heart suddenly tightened.
Nangong Xiulan stepped forward, hugged Yaojia tightly, and said with a strong sense of uneasiness in his voice, "No, Yaoyao, I won't leave you. We are husband and wife, how could I leave you? Even if you don't want me, I won't..."
"Impossible!" Yao Jia pushed him away from her, raised her eyes to look at Nangong Xiu Lan, with a stubborn look on her face, and a bit of mist in her eyes, "The oath is like the fireworks in the sky, all passing clouds! It doesn't count at all!"
The more Yao Jia spoke, the heavier the sobbing tone in her voice became, "Brother Lan, do you know? In the dream, you are the most heartless one..." As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.
She raised her hand to wipe away her tears, but the tears were like beads that had broken off the string, and the more she wiped, the more they came.
She once looked forward to the future with him and said that she wanted to have a child for him, but he chose to leave her quietly. Now that she has a chance to start over, she should not be tempted!
Nangong Xiu Lan's heart was broken. Seeing Yao Jia crying, he was completely helpless and just wanted to hug her and comfort her.
But Yao Jia avoided his outstretched hand, "Don't touch me!"
She raised her hand to wipe her tears again, "We've been out for too long, it's time to go back!"
After he finished speaking, he turned and left without waiting for Nangong Xiu Lan to react.
Nangong Xiu Lan stood there, looking at Yao Jia's receding back. An indescribable sadness rolled up from the bottom of his heart and surged to his throat.