De Shun froze for a moment before bowing respectfully and replying, "This servant obeys His Majesty's command. I shall carry it out at once."
Liu Ruyan stood rigid as an ice sculpture, her beautiful eyes brimming with glistening tears, as if she had suffered an unbearable injustice. She cast a deep, lingering glance at Li Yuanjing and said stubbornly, "A sovereign's favor flows like water. Ruyan remains the same as she was years ago, but Your Majesty is no longer the same emperor."
Li Yuanjing felt a headache coming on and snapped impatiently, "Take her away."
Palace maids entered and, with measured politeness, escorted Liu Ruyan out of the tent. Her eyes still shimmered with unshed tears as she threw one last disappointed look at Li Yuanjing.
Love severed, sorrow dissolved.
Li Yuanjing's actions today had wounded Liu Ruyan's heart deeply. Closing her eyes, she silently vowed that for the rest of her life, she would never forgive him. Even if he sought her out in the future, she would not acknowledge him. Let all the love and tenderness of these years melt away like winter frost.
Liu Ruyan stumbled away from the training grounds in a daze.
Behind the tent, Li Chengtai peeked out with his small head. His dark, beady eyes narrowed as he muttered under his breath, "Mother Consort never mistreated her, yet she dares to complain... Women in the harem are so petty."
Thinking of the dozen or so beautiful imperial concubines in the rear palace, his little brow furrowed into a knot. He worried for his mother and felt she deserved better.
...
...
News of Liu Ruyan provoking the emperor and being demoted to an imperial concubine quickly spread throughout the harem.
Naturally, it reached Noble Consort Chen's Changxin Palace.
At noon, Lu Yun served her elder sister a bowl of medicine, her face alight with schadenfreude. "That Liu Ruyan got exactly what she deserved. Pretty face, but no brains. Sister, you wouldn’t believe it—despite the bitter cold outside, she was admiring the plum blossoms. I think she wasn’t admiring the flowers but herself."
After finishing the medicine, Lu Xuan felt drowsiness overtake her. She lay back on the bed, clutching Lu Yun’s hand. "Liu Ruyan has always been cold-hearted. This time, offending the emperor must have Noble Consort Chen’s hand behind it."
A shadow of unease crossed Lu Xuan’s heart.
If Noble Consort Mei could be cast down, would she be next?
Lu Xuan urged her sister, "You’ve been in the palace for five or six days now. My illness is likely incurable. Too many eyes are watching Changxin Palace. You should return to Yunzhou."
Lu Yun’s delicate face darkened.
Her sister was trying to send her away again.
Lu Yun refused to give up. She had been in the palace for days without even catching a glimpse of the emperor. With a worried expression, she insisted, "Sister, you’re bedridden with illness—how can I stand by and do nothing? Let me stay a few more days. Rest now."
Since falling ill, Lu Xuan’s waking hours grew fewer each day. Too tired to keep her eyes open, she held her sister’s warm hand and murmured, "I worry for you... There’s no way back for me, but you’re still young. I want you safe and sound."
Her words trailed off as she slowly drifted into sleep.
The smile on Lu Yun’s face vanished instantly. She glanced at her sister’s gaunt, sickly form on the bed—no trace of her former beauty remained.
Curling her lips, Lu Yun returned to her temporary quarters in the side hall. After meticulously applying makeup before the mirror, she draped a cloak over her shoulders and left Changxin Palace, heading once more to the imperial gardens to lie in wait.
She was convinced the scene from her dreams would come true.
The harem hadn’t welcomed a new face in a long time. No matter how much the emperor doted on Noble Consort Chen, he was still a man.
And men were fickle by nature.
The imperial gardens lay blanketed in snow, yet the red plum blossoms bloomed defiantly. Lu Yun wandered alone among them, cradling a warm hand warmer, her gaze lifting to admire the clusters of crimson flowers.
"I must practice first—I can’t afford to be improper before the emperor," she thought, envisioning her chance encounter with him.
Upon seeing the emperor, she would feign surprise, then blush shyly before curtsying gracefully, her voice as gentle as possible.
The more she imagined it, the more excited she grew. Unconsciously, she dipped into a slight curtsy, rehearsing her lines to a plum tree: "This humble maiden, Lu Yun, greets Your Majesty. May the emperor be at peace."
"This humble maiden, Lu Yun, greets Your Majesty. May the emperor be at peace."
Lost in her fantasy, she forgot herself entirely.
After repeating the lines several times, her delivery grew smoother. Satisfied, Lu Yun pursed her red lips and prepared to venture deeper into the plum grove.
But as she turned—
Her hand warmer slipped and thudded into the snow.
She had been so absorbed in her rehearsal that she failed to notice the crowd of palace maids and eunuchs approaching behind her.
"Audacious! How dare you fail to greet Her Majesty the Empress Dowager!" Nanny Qian barked sharply.
Lu Yun’s knees buckled, her face draining of color. Stumbling to kneel in the snow, she stammered, "This maiden—Lu Yun—pays respects to... to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager."
Surrounded by attendants, the dignified noblewoman in resplendent robes, her temples lightly streaked with silver, was none other than the Empress Dowager of the Great Qing Kingdom.
The weather had cleared today, and though the Empress Dowager had only recently recovered from illness, she had intended to rest in the warm chambers of Cining Palace. But Shen Wei, concerned that prolonged bedrest would weaken her health, had sent Cai Ping to persuade her to take a stroll.
Walking for half an hour each day, breathing in the fresh air and admiring the winter flora, was beneficial for one's health. The Empress Dowager, who spent her days drowsing in the warm pavilion, found it dreadfully dull—her bones practically ached from idleness. Thus, heeding Shen Wei’s suggestion, she decided to stroll through the imperial gardens with her retinue.
Yet, in the Red Plum Garden, she encountered that presumptuous Lu Yun.
A woman of her stature, the Empress Dowager saw through Lu Yun’s schemes at a glance.
Her gaze, sharp as a winter blade, lingered on Lu Yun kneeling in the snow. After a long pause, she let out a cold laugh. "Too busy practicing your curtsy for the Emperor to remember how to greet this Dowager?"
Lu Yun shivered, a chill creeping from her knees to her very core. Her body trembled with nerves.
"Y-Your servant... Your servant..." she stammered.
But no matter how she struggled, not a single coherent excuse escaped her lips. Lu Yun, who had spent her days secluded in her chambers, brimming with ambition and grand plans, had believed she could effortlessly shape her own destiny.
Yet now, face-to-face with the formidable Empress Dowager, she felt nothing but bone-deep terror.
Her abilities fell far short of her ambitions.
Before true power, she was nothing but a helpless coward.
"The daughters of Duke Lu all harbor sky-high aspirations," the Empress Dowager remarked icily. "But the Great Qing Kingdom’s inner court has no place for such delusions. By my decree, this girl is to be expelled from the palace—henceforth, she is forbidden to set foot within the imperial city."
Lu Yun felt as if she had been drenched in ice water, frozen to her very soul.
...
Changxin Palace.
Lu Xuan had just settled into a brief afternoon rest when the commotion in the courtyard startled her awake. A light sleeper by nature, she sat up at once and summoned her maid. "Qi, what’s happening?"
Qi’s face was fraught with urgency. "My lady, Nanny Qian from the Empress Dowager’s household has arrived. She’s overseeing the packing of Second Miss’s belongings—she’s to be expelled from the palace."
Lu Xuan’s mind reeled.
Ignoring her own frail health, she struggled out of bed and hurried to the inner hall.
"Nanny Qian, my younger sister is young and foolish. If she has offended the Empress Dowager—" Lu Xuan broke into a fit of coughing, her cheeks pallid, a hand pressed to her chest. "If she has offended Her Majesty, I will personally go to Cining Palace to beg forgiveness."
