In the end, Xiao Hua was a decisive person and thought things through very quickly.
Actually, what Lin Qing Wan said was very reasonable. She could choose not to think about it and not feel guilty. From a selfish perspective, she could make any eyesores disappear.
Of course, there were many ways to make people disappear. It was up to her to decide how to do it.
Speaking about it was easy but carrying it out was hard.
The Jing Emperor was a man and the emperor after all. How could he release his own women? If the women in the palace wanted to leave, death was probably the only option....
Xiao Hua kept this in her heart for a long, long time, and never brought it up.
As someone who slept beside her, the Jing Emperor naturally realized Xiao Hua'er's abnormality. But since she didn't say anything, he also didn't know how to start asking.
Before long, the Jing Emperor stopped trying to guess.
He first called Chun Cao and Ding Lan away to ask them about it, but didn't get any results. Then, he set his sights on Lin Qing Wan, who was the senior concubine's best friend.
Of course, the Jing Emperor wouldn't summon a commoner for questioning. This was left to the hardworking and diligent Eunuch Fu.
Eunuch Fu brought back the answer.
Lin Qing Wan naturally wouldn't say things too clearly, but still gave a few hints. Who was Eunuch Fu? He was a talented person! Although he didn't completely understand what she meant, he understood one thing. The senior concubine couldn't get used to seeing those three people.
According to Eunuch Fu's thoughts, it made sense. If those people weren't easy on the eyes, they shouldn't be wandering about being eyesores. The concubine was pregnant, and couldn't afford to be angered.
The same words had a different meaning to the Jing Emperor.
He glanced at Eunuch Fu who was standing submissively, "You don't need to worry about this."
Eunuch Fu didn't understand, but responded, "Yes."
That night, the Jing Emperor stroked Xiao Hua's stomach, adjusted his emotions and gave a speech.
This was the first time the Jing Emperor said such sappy and corny words. Regardless, Xiao Hua felt goosebumps popping up from cringing. It couldn't be helped. When a man said such sappy things with a rigid face, anyone would feel uncomfortable.
The gist of his speech has that now he had her, he wouldn't look at anyone else. Therefore, he felt a little sorry for the other people. He lamented and felt guilty, and somewhat blamed himself for not being a better person.....
In the end, he gave Xiao Hua an extremely distressed glance, almost making her tear up.
"Majesty, don't ever say that. It's all because of me. Majesty is like this all because of me." Xiao Hua hugged the Jing Emperor's head and comforted.
The Jing Emperor lay in her soft bosom and let out a sigh.
How comfortable!
"We plan to wait another two years, and once people are no longer paying attention to Our harem, We will release them."
Xiao Hua was in disbelief and rubbed her ears.
Where did this thought come from? Was she too in tune with her man, or was he just too good at reading people?
"Is, is that ok?" She was actually very pleased inside.
"What's not ok about it? Wasting their time would only bring bad karma." The Jing Emperor spoke righteously.
Fine, then Xiao Hua wouldn't have reservations anymore. Since her man had said so, everything was great.
"Then majesty better not regret it afterwards."
"Naturally won't regret."
***
The empress finally couldn't endure any longer.
She had lasted so many years. Despite suffering from her illness, she had endured it gladly.
Whenever she felt uncomfortable, she would imagine how she was making the two of them hopping mad, and would immediately feel better.
Some people were born to make trouble for others. The empress reflected back on her interactions with the Jing Emperor, and felt this was all she had been good for.
But she was now completely at ease. If she was a bother then she'd be a bother. Since she couldn't obtain his love, it was also good to obtain his hatred. Regardless, he would forget about her in the end. He would forget that in his life, there had once been such a horrible woman.
The empress wanted to see his majesty......
This message was swiftly relayed to the Jing Emperor. Xiao Hua also received the news.
"Majesty, don't go." Xiao Hua grabbed the Jing Emperor's arm and said urgently: "This servant concubine isn't being selfish. Regarding that sick person, these years many of the Fengqi Palace's people have ended up getting infected. You are the emperor, the ruler under the heavens. You naturally have to watch your health."
The Jing Emperor patted Xiao Hua's hand and ordered for everyone in the imperial hospital to be brought over.
The reason he called them over was to ask about the probability of getting infected if he were to meet the empress once. These imperial physicians all hesitated, and finally a young imperial physician surnamed Hu stood out and said that with sufficient preparations and minimizing the period of exposure, there shouldn't be a problem.
This imperial physician was the Little Doctor Hu from back then. He was now an imperial physician at the imperial hospital.
The Jing Emperor nodded and had them make the preparations.
Seeing this, Xiao Hua no longer stopped him, and merely watched as the physicians prepared. In the end, she still didn't feel at ease and ordered them to place a screen in front of the empress's bed.
......
Seeing the slender and tall silhouette behind the screen, the empress held in a bitter smile.
As expected, he still loathed her.
The hall was silent enough to hear a needle drop.
The empress coughed lightly a few times, and had the palace maids beside her support her up before waving her hand and having them leave.
Only two people remained in the hall. The empress in her bed and the Jing Emperor behind the screen. The two should have been the most intimate people in the world, but they were worlds apart.
The empress let out a deep breath and laughed nastily, "Did you feel this seat was extremely irksome these years?"
Silence.
"I can imagine it. You have everything you wanted, and have accumulated enough to confer her as empress. No one would dare object. Unfortunately....unfortunately this seat just refuses to die!" The empress panted rapidly, her voice becoming shrill, "Haha. You have the urge to choke this seat to death, right? You probably hate this seat from the bottom of your heart, right?"
The silence continued.
"Do you regret speaking too grandly back then? Luo Jing, this seat may not be good at anything else, but I'm still good at making you feel vexed....."
She was a little out of breath from laughing, her withered body trembled over and over before finally recovering somewhat. However, she realized that the silhouette behind the screen had left at some point.
.......
Her dull eyes were blank.
After being frozen for a long while, she lay back down on her soft pillow, and said faintly: "....now, this seat is tired....I don't want to play with you guys anymore....in the next life, I hope to never meet you again......"
Behind the screen, a trembling silhouette appeared, and unfolded something in its hands.
"In compliance with the heavens, receive the emperor's edict....."
In the next life, I never want to meet you again——-
......
At the same time, the Jing Emperor returned to the Chenxi Palace with a sunken expression.
He chose not to enter the main hall right away, and instead went to the side hall where a bath had already been prepared. He used wormwood infused water to cleanse himself and had someone burn the clothes he was wearing. Only after changing into a new outfit did he enter the main hall.
Only now did the worried Xiao Hua feel relieved. She walked over and grabbed his hand, "Majesty....."
The Jing Emperor patter her hand comfortingly, and led Xiao Hua, who was heavily pregnant, to sit down.
"Everything's fine, right?"
"Fine."
The Jing Emperor naturally wouldn't say that the empress only wanted to see him to mock him.
Having ignored the woman who was his wife for so long, he truly felt nothing for her anymore. The slight regard between the married couple over two lifetimes had long since vanished. Even when hearing her say such words, the Jing Emperor truly couldn't be bothered to listen.
There were too many strange people in the world, and there were all sorts of weird ways of thinking. The Jing Emperor didn't want to understand it, and couldn't be bothered to do so.
"We have already passed the edict stripping the empress's position. Tomorrow, We will pass the edict conferring you empress. Really sorry for making you wait so long...."
Xiao Hua squeezed forwards and covered the Jing Emperor's lips, "Majesty, never say that. Perhaps I had thought about it early on, but after so many years, I feel we've long since become undoubtedly a married couple. That official status isn't as important to have."
"We only feel at ease this way."
A eunuch came in and reported with a bow, "Majesty, Xiao-Shi is no more...."
After a while—–
The Jing Emperor waved his hand and had him take his leave.
Xiao Hua was also dazed. After some time, she slowly let out a breath, "How strange. While it shouldn't be the case, I still feel a little uncomfortable in my heart. She, she's gone just like that?"
The Jing Emperor let out a sigh and pulled her into his arms. "You're currently pregnant, don't overthink things."
Xiao Hua didn't say anything. Only after a while did she say: "Majesty.....look how large my stomach is. It's also not too convenient. How about waiting a little later to confer me empress. This servant concubine wants to be a beautiful empress, not a pregnant empress."
How could the Jing Emperor not know what she was thinking? He nodded his head in agreement. "Alright."
***
The Fengqi Palace was currently extremely lively.
Today was the empress's grand conferral ceremony. The current Fengqi Palace was naturally not the same Fengqi Palace from before. After the former empress passed away from her illness, his majesty had ordered the Fengqi Palace to be torn down, and a new one was constructed in its place.
It was larger than before, and even more luxurious.
The internal affairs department had sent over the empress's imperial outfit for tomorrow early on. It was extremely dazzling, and the entire bed was covered in its various accompaniments and complementary pieces.
The most eye-catching was the empress's phoenix headdress. The round piece was made of jadeite, adorned with nine dragons and four phoenixes. The central dragon held a large jewel in its mouth. It was topped off by a jade cover and a string of pearls. The remaining dragons all held a jewel in their mouths as well. There were forty pieces of jade clouds, twelve large and small pearl flowers, twelve inlaid jade flowers, three strands of trailing ornamental hair adorned with golden dragons and jade clouds, each with a hanging pearl. There was a pair of jade loops with twelve jeweled flowers, twelve jade flowers, some golden support hoops and five types of jade pearl flowers. The base was also surrounded by pearls.....
Xiao Hua weighed it in her hands and truly wondered if her neck could support it.
She then looked at the phoenix robes. These were long traditional dark cyan robes, woven with twelve pairs of pheasants within flower wheel patterns. It had red cuffs, collar and bottom with small golden dragon patterns. The dark cyan robes covered the knees, and there were four flowers for every three pairs of pheasants. The jade leather belt was held in place with green silk, outlined in golden dragons with ten jade ornaments and four golden ornaments. The green and red mixed large band hung down and was also embroidered with golden dragon motifs.
There was also a green secondary belt, a rainbow major tassel, three minor tassels, two sets of jade ornaments, cyan golden stockings, and shoes with five ornamental pearls each....
Seeing the large amount of things she had to wear tomorrow, Xiao Hua's head swelled up. To say she wasn't excited and pleased would be a lie.
She could finally become his wife, become the person who could justifiably stand at his side. There would no longer be anything that came between them.....
Before dawn the next morning, Xiao Hua got up.
The entire Fengqi Palace was lit up. With the help of palace maids, Xiao Hua took a hot bath and washed her hair. Afterwards, a steamer was used to dry her long hair.
Ding Lan brushed Xiao Hua's hair for her from the roots to the tips. On the other side, Chun Mei and the others were led by Chun Cao in helping her put on a facemask. After everything was done, Chun Cao helped Xiao Hua apply face cream and started putting on makeup.
After putting on makeup, around ten palace maids came in carrying the empress's imperial outfit. Ding Lan and Chun Cao helped her put it on piece by piece. Once everything was in place, Xiao Hua sat in front of the makeup counter while Ding Lan brushed her hair.
Once she was done, Chun Cao carefully put on the phoenix headdress for Xiao Hua.
Xiao Hua stood up after they were all done, and tried taking a couple of steps.
Luckily, it was still stable. She finally experienced Zhuo'ers emotions when he first put on his imperial outfit. It was truly heavy on top and light on the bottom.
Before she knew it, the sky had brightened.
Suddenly, the beating of drums sounded in the distance.
It was still quite far away, but was clearly audible.
Dong, dong, dong.....
It was dignified and solemn.
Chun Cao let out a low sigh, "His majesty has already started."
For the sake of today's conferral ceremony, Xiao Hua wasn't the only one with a lot to do. Chun Cao and Ding Lan also had a lot of homework. They had to know all the proceedings and what to do during each step. Therefore, even if they weren't by the front court, Xiao Hua could understand the situation based on the beating of the drums.
At this time, his majesty should have arrived at the Hall of Origin.
As expected, the drums stopped and instruments began playing the "score of silenced drums".
By the time the music reached the Fengqi Palace, the sound had become quite faint. But it was the empress conferral ceremony today, and everyone was watching. Outside of the relevant ceremonial sounds, the entire palace was naturally silent. Therefore, Xiao Hua could still steadily hear the music within the Fengqi Palace.
Once the "score of silenced drums" was over, the next piece was the "score of celebrated peace" and "score of prominent peace".
Xiao Hua's heart beat extremely fast. This was a sort of indescribable excitement. It made one's blood boil yet also made one's eyes burn at the same time.....
"Concubine, it's time to rise. The conferral procession should be arriving soon." Ding Lan suddenly spoke at some point.
Xiao Hua had the people support her to the Fengqi Palace's gates. Within the courtyard, all sorts of festive tables, incense tables and treasure tables had all been set up already.
The festive tables were in the dead center of the hall. The incense tables were towards the south and the treasure tables were set up in the east and west. The empress's worship position was in front of the incense table, and there were six female officials already waiting.
The distant music came closer and closer.
Xiao Hua got off the steps, and right as she steadied herself, she saw the Jing Emperor in his black imperial outfit. Behind him, a large group of people carried the scrolls and treasure box containing the imperial rites.
It was currently sunrise, when the Golden Crow had just risen. The golden yellow sun shone brightly onto the approaching people, giving them a gilded appearance. That person, dressed in his black imperial robes, looked especially handsome and dignified, as though an immortal had come down from the heavens.
Xiao Hua completely forget what happened next. She merely followed the female officials mechanically and performed the ceremonial actions. However, her eyes couldn't bear to move away from him.
She only looked at him, looked at him the whole time....
The Jing Emperor was the same way. His gaze was apathetic but extremely focused. Just like throughout all these years, he only noticed her alone, and never looked away. His restrained eyes burned with a smoldering gaze....
Following the cry of "Ceremony complete——"
A jade-white slender palm appeared in front of her. Xiao Hua placed her hand upon it and gently used his support to stand up.
"Majesty....."
"Our empress. You look extremely beautiful in this outfit."
"Really?"
"En."
Author's notes:
Just to clarify: the details on the empress's clothing were taken from the internet.
Please allow this author to laugh foolishly for a while.....
It's been three months, and this book has finally reached its epilogue. Actually there's still a lot I want to write about, but also feel perhaps writing about things unrelated to the male and female leads would be dragging it out? Therefore, the main story will end here. What comes next is the epilogue. The epilogue actually just continues where we left off, and tells a few stories about what happens after being conferred empress. For example, Eunuch Fu, Yi Yi, the fourth young master and so on. Of course, there won't be a lack of Xiao Hua Hua and Repressed Jing.....
It won't be too long, but —– I can finally write without restraint!
I always felt that being conferred empress was the conclusion, so let this be a small ending.
Hahaha, this author will put her hands at her waist and laugh loudly towards the heavens. I can only release the carefree emotions in my heart this way.
I've updated chapters for half a year. From my very first novel to this one, I've never missed an update. Actually it was quite a lot of pressure. After all, this author isn't a professional, and this is only a hobby and I enjoy doing it.
Every time this author ended up crying while updating in the middle of the night, I would feel I have some issues. Luckily, there were always readers who could sympathize, whether it was one or two or a few. I'd always feel kind of gratified.....
Every woman has a dream, a beautiful dream. Actually this author is also dreaming, and wanted to share my dream with everyone else.....
As for the empress, this author ended up shedding quite a few tears for this woman. When I wrote the part where she was venting and Repressed Jing had left, I felt especially uncomfortable in my heart. Actually Repressed Jing isn't heartless, he just didn't know what to say, or perhaps after being estranged for so long he really became distant.....
The first chapter in the epilogue is about Eunuch Fu. I'm quite affectionate towards this damn eunuch, and must make his old face bloom in a smile.