EBE Chapter 266 Head-to-Head
Chapter 266 Head-to-Head
Inside the bedroom of Zichen Palace, Chu Qingyin had already finished dressing up.
Aunt Fang came in carrying the meal and said softly, "Your Majesty, this is a meal prepared by the Imperial Kitchen. It contains all your favorite dishes. Please have some."
Chu Qingyin glanced at the food on the table, but had no appetite whatsoever.
"Aunt Fang, could you please go to Feixue Palace and bring me the cat I'm raising?"
Chu Qingyin lowered her eyes and said, "I am now imprisoned in this palace and can't go anywhere. It's really boring."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Fang was startled; she hadn't expected Chu Qingyin to bring this up.
"Your Majesty, this..."
A hint of panic flashed in Aunt Fang's eyes, and she stammered as she spoke.
Chu Qingyin frowned as she looked at Aunt Fang's expression: "Is it not allowed to bring a cat to keep me company?"
Aunt Fang: "..."
Having lived in the palace for many years, she naturally knew that the lion cat named Little Snowball was originally the beloved pet of the late Consort. Later, she somehow became acquainted with Consort Liang and took it to Feixue Palace to raise.
But now that cat...
Chu Qingyin also noticed something amiss from Aunt Fang's hesitant expression, and a sense of foreboding suddenly rose in her heart.
"Aunt Fang, what's wrong with Little Snowball?"
Her gaze sharpened as she stared intently at Aunt Fang.
Having held a high position for many years, his stern face naturally exudes a stern and authoritative aura.
Aunt Fang hurriedly knelt down: "Your Majesty, please calm down, your cat... it... it's gone."
Chu Qingyin's heart skipped a beat, and her voice trembled slightly: "What do you mean by 'gone'? Explain yourself clearly!"
"Not long ago, you were stranded outside, and His Majesty determined that you had not perished based on that cat. But the Empress Dowager... The Empress Dowager said that the cat was an evil spirit that caused His Majesty to lose his ambition, so she ordered the palace servants to catch it, put it in a sack, and beat it to death."
Aunt Fang answered cautiously, secretly lamenting the cruelty of the Empress Dowager.
When Chu Qingyin heard about Xiaoxueqiu's fate, she felt her vision go black and her heart shatter.
Xianglan was already feeling guilty enough for the trouble she had caused, but she never expected that even her beloved kitten would not be spared.
That fluffy little creature that always nestled in her arms was so cruelly murdered by the Queen Mother.
"Little Snowball..."
Chu Qingyin closed her eyes, as if she could hear the little snowball's soft chirping again and feel its warm little paws pressing against her palm.
Seeing her pale face, Aunt Fang couldn't help but advise, "Please, Your Highness, take care of yourself and try to alleviate your grief..."
Chu Qingyin remained silent for a long time before opening her eyes, her tone indifferent and ethereal: "You may leave now. I want to be alone."
Aunt Fang: "..."
After a moment's hesitation, she nodded. "Yes."
Hearing the bedroom door close again, Chu Qingyin quietly gazed out the window.
It was springtime, a time of renewal and renewal, yet her heart was filled with the desolation and loneliness of autumn.
Elder brother, Lu Zhiheng…
Please take good care of yourselves.
**
That night, Pei Yuanling finished his work, rubbed his sore shoulders and neck, and slowly got up.
"Your Majesty, are you going to Consort Liang's place?" Chen Zhongliang asked from behind.
"Yes, I'll go see her."
Pei Yuanling said, quickening his pace involuntarily.
When he entered the bedroom, Chu Qingyin was sitting by the window, lost in thought.
Even though it had only been a day since we last met, her slender figure seemed to have become much thinner.
Hearing footsteps, she turned her head somewhat blankly.
Upon seeing Pei Yuanling in his dark blue brocade robe, an undisguised look of disgust flashed in his eyes.
Upon seeing this, Pei Yuanling felt a pang of pain in his heart, but he showed no sign on his face and simply walked towards her.
"Yinyin, are you feeling better today?"
Chu Qingyin did not answer; she turned her head and continued to look out the window.
Pei Yuanling stepped forward and frowned when he saw the untouched food on the table. "Why aren't you eating? Is it not to your liking? I'll have the imperial kitchen prepare it again."
"No need. I'm not hungry," Chu Qingyin replied coldly.
Upon hearing this, Pei Yuanling pursed his thin lips.
A moment later, he sat down beside her and tried to take her hand, but she dodged away.
"Yinyin, I know I was wrong."
Pei Yuanling frowned, his gaze lingering on the hickeys on her snow-white neck. His tone softened slightly: "Last night... it was a moment of impulse on my part. Will you forgive me?"
Forgive him?
Chu Qingyin turned her head and looked at Pei Yuanling, "Do you really want me to forgive you?"
Pei Yuanling's eyes lit up when he saw her agree: "Of course."
Chu Qingyin said, "Fine, as long as you let me out of the palace, I will forgive you, and our past grievances will be wiped clean."
Pei Yuanling: "..."
His gentle expression vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling tone: "You are my concubine, and you will never leave me in this lifetime."
Upon hearing this, Chu Qingyin curled her lips into a sneer.
"Yinyin, what do I have to do for you to let go of your hatred for me?"
"I told you, let me go."
“That’s impossible.” Pei Yuanling was equally unyielding.
"In that case, there's nothing more to say."
Chu Qingyin looked at the young emperor before her, her tone cold and resolute, "Pei Yuanling, I stopped loving you long ago when I was murdered in the Cold Palace. The reason I entered the palace later was only to clear the name of my Chu State Duke's Mansion and rescue my brother. All the tenderness and affection I showed you were just an act."
"Nothing you've done can make up for the harm you've done to me and my family. I will never forgive you."
She enunciated each word slowly and deliberately, emphasizing it again through gritted teeth: "Forever!"
In an instant, a long silence fell over the vast and magnificent bedchamber, the atmosphere so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
Pei Yuanling's face turned from green to black, and the veins on his forehead seemed to bulge slightly, making him look like a raging lion.
Chu Qingyin, however, was not afraid at all. She boldly met his gaze and confronted him.
Anyway, at this point, she had nothing to be afraid of anymore.
It's unclear how long this stalemate lasted, but suddenly Chen Zhongliang's urgent report came from outside the hall: "Your Majesty, an urgent report has arrived from the front lines—"
Pei Yuanling frowned.
He took a deep breath and stood up, supporting himself on the edge of the table. "You should rest well. I will come to see you another day."
After saying that, he turned and left.
As dusk filtered through the window, the man's tall, slender figure appeared somewhat forlorn.
Chu Qingyin watched his departing figure, her body, which had been holding on, seemed to collapse, and her eyes welled up with tears.
But she also knew in her heart that tears and sorrow were the most useless thing at this moment.
She could only grit her teeth and persevere until the day her brother and Lu Zhiheng came looking for her.