Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Desperate Missing
The moment the beautiful figure of Bai Qingqing in a pink gown was captured by Zhao Yuchen, fleeting astonishment and speculation in his eyes was clearly witnessed by the crowd .
The young Emperor looked nervous while Liu Xiangyi’s face was full of calculations .
Bai Qingqing couldn’t help but sneer in secret . It turned out that Liu Xiangyi had approached her with the purpose of framing her just like she expected .
Bai Qingqing glanced up and happened to meet Zhao Yuchen’s gaze .
His handsome face looked sullen and his intense gaze was fixed on her .
“Sacred Emperor . . . ”
Liu Xiangyi broke the embarrassment in the room at the right time, saying in an apologetic tone, “I have been worried about the Emperor’s health since I got the news . I cooked by myself chicken soup for him as nutrition supplement, but my clumsy flunkey overturned the bowl accidently and got Miss Bai’s clothes smeared . I’m just going to apologize to her and you come back…”
As she made the speech, she stole a glance at Zhao Yuchen who, as she had expected, hit the ceiling .
The reason was very simple . The gown worn by Bai Qingqing was one of the gowns that Su Ruoqing often wore when she was still alive .
It was fair to say that pink was Su Ruoqing’s favorite color .
Back then, all the tribute of pink silk sent to the Imperial Palace was channeled to Su Ruoqing to please her by Zhao Yuchen’s order .
Over time, an unwritten rule prevailed in the imperial harem that the only person qualified to wear pink was Su Ruoqing—Empress Xiaolie .
Liu Xiangyi could never forget Chen Yuerong, also a selected concubine of the then Crown Prince, who, after entitled as one of the highest-ranking Imperial Concubines, repeatedly challenged the authority of the empress due to her dissatisfaction about how the emperor loved Su Ruoqing wholeheartedly .
What still remained fresh in her memory was that once at an imperial feast, Chen Yuerong deliberately wore a pink robe that was similar to Su Ruoqing’s phoenix robe both in terms of style and color, which instantly threw all the guests, high ranking officers and officials, into uproar .
It wasn’t hard to imagine how furious Zhao Yuchen, the then emperor was . After the feast, Chen Yuerong was convicted as disrespectful towards imperial authority and granted 20 clubs of beating as punishment .
Since then, Zhao Yuchen had officially announced that except for the empress, all women in the imperial harem were forbidden from dressing in any pink .
Pink, the favorite color of his most beloved empress .
A color made Su Ruoqing look like a beautiful fairy . And also a color deemed as profaning his empress if worn by other women .
Regardless of many people’s dissatisfaction about this sacred decree, ever since then, no one in the huge imperial harem dared to dress in the beautiful color of pink .
Now Liu Xiangyi was confident that Zhao Yuchen couldn’t remain calm at this moment .
Zhao Yuchen indeed didn’t remain calm . His whole heart was in a mess the moment he saw Bai Qingqing appear in front of him wearing Su Ruoqing’s clothes .
Although he had long before figured out that Bai Qingqing was the reincarnation of Su Ruoqing, the sight of her wearing this pink robe momentarily triggered his desperate missing for his deceased wife .
Su Ruoqing wasn’t the prettiest woman in the world, but she had taken possession of his entire heart .
After how he missed her for six years, how he waited for her for six years, how he punished himself for six years, how he tortured himself for two thousand days-and-nights’, he couldn’t digest the fact that the person in his dream stood right in front of him, just within an arm’s reach .
He slowly lifted up his hand and touched Bai Qingqing’s delicate cheek with his cold fingers . The clear touch drove his heart frantic at once . What he wished at present was to force her into his arms to feel the softness of her body .
Bai Qingqing felt restless by Zhao Yuchen’s passionate gaze . She subconsciously escaped from his fingers and said gently, “My robe is dirty, so I temporarily changed this one…”
“The color is beautiful; it looks perfect on you!”
Such a simple sentence scared not only the young Emperor, but also Liu Xiangyi, who was waiting for an interesting drama .
Did she hear it wrong? The sacred emperor should praise Bai Qingqing with so many people in presence?
Shouldn’t he be pissed off, blaming her for acting against rules, and expelling her from the imperial palace forever?
Why was this happening?
All this that she had carefully plotted seemed to not proceed as she had expected .
The most terrible thing was that the moment the sacred emperor saw Bai Qingqing, it wasn’t rage but dense affection that flowing out of his eyes .
When Liu Xiangyi’s brain was blank, Zhao Yuchen, who had already recovered from the shock, gave her a cold look, said with a faint smile, “Xiangyi, how thoughtful you are!”
Liu Xiangyi’s heart plunged upon hearing the words .
The sacred emperor meant more than what he said, which was anything but appraising . It invisibly posed overwhelming pressure on her .
He . . . He must have figured it out!
This discovery sent a shiver of coldness down Liu Xiang’s spine, and her face turned pale at once out of fear .
She didn’t know how she left the Palace of Harmony . Only after tumbling her way to the Palace of Inlaid Harp did she found herself in sweat-soaked clothes from inside and out .
This robe-change incident didn’t bring about much consequence on the Palace of Harmony . But afterwards, the pink robe reminded Bai Qingqing of how much she had missed her last life .
But for Liu Xiangyi’s framing, she had almost forgotten that many years ago, when she was still Su Ruoqing, she was the only person eligible to wear pink .
His love for her was too stubborn, too autocratic and too overbearing .
At the same time, she couldn’t deny that she had indeed felt that she was the happiest woman in the world for a long time .
Her husband was the Emperor of the Great Yan Kingdom . She, as his wife, was naturally regarded as the most distinguished woman across the kingdom .
When she enjoyed the supreme power and status, her husband also gave her the glory of unparalleled love .
It was fair to say that but for Zhao Rui’s blood origin constituted an obstacle between them, chances were she was still loved by her husband, respected by the world and envied by all women .
There was a pour of winter rain when night came, misting the palace with a layer of chill .
After dinner, Bai Qingqing stayed in the Palace of Harmony to accompany the young emperor under the pretext of his health .
The real reason was her inability to face her feeling for the moment . She didn’t know how she should feel when talking with Zhao Yuchen, so she hide herself in the young emperor’s palace like an ostrich, in order to avoid direct contact with Zhao Yuchen .
Somewhere deep down her heart was slowly unlocked as she settled in the palace this time .
She was well aware that she could no longer hold back her feelings, which had been sealed for an entire of six years, as Zhao Yuchen kept pressing hard on her .
His infatuation, his regret, including all the guilt he had been suffering for her, gave her more and more difficulty to make a choice . Should she move on or resume the relationship?
It was not until she saw the young emperor was lying in his warm quilt did she find that it was already late at night .
By the dim candlelight in the room, Bai Qingqing leaned over and gave a gentle kiss on the young emperor’s peaceful pretty little face .
No matter what position she occupied in Rui’s heart, for her, Rui was her son, her blood and the solicitude that she could never cut off for her whole life .
Quietly getting up, she came outside the Palace of Harmony, only to see the Grand Eunuch Li hurriedly breaking in . At the sight of Bai Qingqing, he said, “Miss Bai, I finally find you…”
“Hush!”
Bai Qingqing made a gesture to Li, whispering, “The emperor just fell asleep, let’s keep quiet . ”
Li Dafa immediately covered his mouth with his hand and nodded hard, reporting in a low voice, “Bad news, Bai Guniang, the sacred emperor falls ill . ”
“What?”
Bai Qingqing was shocked by the news . He was well in the afternoon . How came he suddenly fell ill in a few hours?
“What happened?”
Bai Qingqing followed Li to leave the Palace of Harmony and head straight for the Palace of Sunrise . On the way, she asked about the reason .
Li Dafa did not dare to neglect, and quickly replied, “In the evening, the sacred emperor suddenly decided to visit the Palace of Phoenix where the late empress lived and mentioned that he and her majesty planted in the yard a few Begonia trees .
But when we arrived there, we found that many of the trees have withered and died . Damn the servants who were assigned to take care of them .
The sacred emperor was pissed off and punished the servants in charge of the Palace of Phoenix . Then, he himself took up a shovel, determined to transfer the survived trees to the yard of the Palace of Sunrise .
Unexpectedly, it rained tonight . Regardless of my begging, he moved the Begonia tree in the pouring rain .