Chapter 10
Zhao Heng knew that with the protection of Li Wenjian, her life would undergo a dramatic change.
But she didn't know if it would change for the better or for the worse.
When she was young, she sold flowers in front of the teahouse, where the musicians played the qin with delicate hands and sang songs about the prince falling in love with a fisherman's daughter, sacrificing everything for love, country, and power...
The romantic stories told by the musicians sparked young Zhao Heng's imagination, just like when she entered the palace, she also harbored dreams of soaring to great heights.
She was placed under the care of Aunt Chen after entering the palace.
Aunt Chen treated her well, taking care of her every need.
Those years were among the few happy and smooth times in her life.
It wasn't until later, when Aunt Chen brought her in front of Jiang Jin and gave her to him, that she realized there are no free lunches in this world, and behind every gain was an unknown risk.
Everything fate gave you was already marked with a price.
She served the tiger by giving her flesh and danced with the cruel and cunning eunuch. At that time, Jiang Jin's power was overwhelming, and she was powerless against him, enduring her days in misery.
She thought she would die in that house filled with secrets and corruption.
But unexpectedly, one day Jiang Jin suddenly fell from power.
Later she learned that it was Prince Li Wenjian who eradicated Jiang Jin's faction, allowing her to see the light of day once again.
For this reason, she held a favorable opinion of the crown prince, who was as bright as the sun and moon although they had never met.
She returned to the palace.
With the power play in the palace rearranged after Jiang Jin's downfall, even those whom Aunt Chen struggled to gain favor with fell from grace, leaving no way for her to leave the palace. Coincidentally, that year, the crown prince moved to the Eastern Palace and needed more servants, so Aunt Chen brought her to the Eastern Palace.
Her movements in the palace were controlled by her body contract, and Aunt Chen held the reigns of her fate tightly; afraid of the exposure of their past association with Jiang Jin, Aunt Chen dared not make things too difficult for her.
From then on, Zhao Heng completely let go of any unrealistic delusions, focused on her duties, and patiently waited for the day she could leave the palace peacefully.
The lowly palace maids couldn't stand up straight in front of their masters, and the fisherman's boat couldn't even enter the door of the noble family's residence.
In the end, the drama was just a drama.
The brutal examples of Xioaying lay right in front of them.
Xioa Ying was still favored by Prince Guang'an, taken into the royal residence, bore children for the royal family, and even appeared in the imperial records, yet she met a tragic end in the icy lake; her relationship with the prince was even more fleeting, just a night of favor when he was drunk.
She dared not gamble that this night of favor would lead to her soaring to new heights.
She had endured countless hardships just to survive and treasured her life dearly.
She glanced at the brocade handkerchief on the table that belonged to Li Wenjian. She had washed and dried it overnight after returning yesterday, then neatly folded it on the desk. Li Wenjian wouldn't care about a piece of cloth, but she still planned to return it to him.
At the very least, she needed to see him to secure a chance to leave the palace.
Today, Liang Xingyan had visited the Duke's mansion and had just left. Since his departure, Li Wenjian's expression had been particularly grim. He already exuded an air of noble authority, and when his face darkened, he seemed even more imposing.
Fei Yu ground ink for him at the table, with eyes on his nose and nose on his heart, speaking little and diligently grinding the ink stick in silence.
Mu Gui led Liu Yi along the lake towards Yan Mountain Residence.
Fei Yu glanced out the window and softly reminded, "Your Highness, Lord Liu has arrived."
Li Wenjian's pen paused slightly, then he dipped it in ink and focused on his writing, saying, "It's been three months with no trace of the assassin. He has the nerve to come here. Let them leave, and no one is to be seen."
Fei Yu's temples throbbed twice. It seemed that Mr. Liang had come today because of the poisoning incident during the prince's birthday celebration. Being secretly drugged at his own home, it was no wonder the usually gentle and loving prince was now so fired up.
Fei Yu set down the ink stick, immediately turned and went out to intercept Mu Gui and Liu Yi, afraid they might arrive a moment too late.
He blocked Liu Yi outside the study, making gestures for him to leave first. Seeing the prince's displeasure, Liu Yi quickly thanked him and turned to leave.
As Feiyu breathed a sigh of relief, he caught a glimpse of Zhao Heng walking towards them from a distance.
He watched her walk delicately, with a furrowed brow, hoping she wasn't coming to cause trouble.
But unfortunately, when they reached the crossroads, she headed straight for Yan Shan Ju Residence.
As Fei Yu moved forward, without even considering letting her into the courtyard, he heard Li Wenjian's voice from inside.
"Let her in."
"Oh." Fei Yu hesitated for a moment, his raised leg coming down heavily.
As Zhao Heng passed by the wooden pathway, Li Wenjian caught sight of her. A gust of wind blew by, lifting her delicate skirt like a fluttering butterfly, causing the beaded tassels on her temple to gently tremble in harmony with her soft, lowered eyes.
That morning, he had instructed Mu Gui to tell her that after returning to the Eastern Palace, she would be moved to Changqiu Hall of Eastern Palace.
He had contemplated it for a long time before making this decision.
Since childhood, he had been known for his integrity, his character praised as pure and noble, never indulging in any rash or inappropriate behavior.
That night he was poisoned by the jade-tongue poison, a situation he hadn't desired, but the bond with Zhao Heng had already been formed. Out of a sense of duty, he would protect her well.
But he hadn't decided on what position to give her.
Giving her a high position would be undeserving of her virtues and might bring disaster upon her;
Giving her a low position would only subject her to the scorn of the palace maids, making her even more incapable of maneuvering.
In the end, he decided not to give her too high a position for now, but rather let her reside in Changqiu Hall.
Changqiu Hall was close to his daily residence in Chengming Hall.
Coming face to face with Fei Yu, Zhao Heng spoke gently, "When I left yesterday, I took something of His Highness's with me. Please help me inform him."
Fei Yu's expression wasn't quite right, his brow furrowed, and he spoke rapidly, "Please come in, miss."
As he spoke, he led her into the study.
Before entering, Zhao Heng took a deep breath, stifled her uneasiness, and slowly followed suit.
With a click, Fei Yu quickly closed the door.
At the sound, Zhao Heng glanced to the side, only catching a glimpse of his disappearing silhouette.
This person seemed to appear and disappear like a monkey.
As she watched the eaves where Fei Yu had vanished, then looked down at her embroidered shoes, Zhao Heng finally lifted her head to see Li Wenjian sitting in the circle chair.
Unlike the tension and fear of yesterday, her uncertainty then was due to a natural fear of life and death.
But what she needed to say today was even more difficult to utter.
Li Wenjian glanced at Zhao Heng, "Do you know how to grind ink?"
Suddenly pulled back to reality, Zhaoxing was a little dazed, stuttering in response, "Uh? I... I think I do... maybe..."
She didn't really know.
Growing up in poverty, no one taught her how to read or write, and writing materials were a luxury for her. However, what she needed to say to Li Wenjian would be even harder with others present â luckily, grinding ink wasn't a difficult task.
Li Wenjian nodded, indicating for her to come to the desk. Zhao Heng quickly moved to his side, picked up the ink stick, and lightly ground it. After asking that question, Li Wenjian began reviewing documents at the desk while she grinded the ink.
She had always heard about the crown prince's diligence and thought it was just flattery for a scholar. Now that she saw it for herself, she realized the rumors were true. As he flipped through the documents, his brush would sometimes dance on the paper, sometimes he would ponder deeply, his focused demeanor making Zhao Heng hesitant to even breathe loudly, for fear of disrupting his rhythm.
Not daring to look further, Zhao Heng remembered that Li Wenjian had called her over to help grind ink. Lowering her head, she focused on the tip of the brush in his hand.
After finishing the documents, Li Wenjian stood up, the sound of him moving his chair bringing Zhao Heng back to attention.
Setting down the ink stick in her hand, she saw Li Wenjian stand up and walk to the window, gazing into the distance while rubbing his shoulders.
"When grinding ink, don't exert too much force, or the ink will be too coarse and not delicate enough," Li Wenjian suddenly spoke.
Nodding obediently, Zhao Heng replied softly, "Yes."
Li Wenjian turned to her and saw her submissive figure standing meekly there.
After a moment of hesitation, Zhao Heng knew that some words, no matter how difficult to say, had to be spoken.
She gritted her teeth, took out a clean and neatly folded silk handkerchief from her sleeve, and handed it back to Li Wenjian, saying, "Your Highness, this is the handkerchief you used to dress my wound yesterday. I have washed it clean."
Li Wenjian took the handkerchief, smelled the faint scent of soap, nothing fancy, just a simple scent, surprisingly pleasant.
He casually placed the handkerchief aside, walked to the desk, picked up a cup of water, took a sip, then turned to look at Zhao Heng, his eyes clear, "What brings you here?"
He then noticed her sharp, black-and-white eyes dropping down, her slender neck, her slightly restrained posture. If she were wearing fairy clothes, she might resemble a celestial maiden from the Moon Palace.
But in the next moment, Li Wenjian knew it was an illusion. Because a celestial maiden would be aloof and cold, while she was not, lacking in grace and elegance, beautiful but missing the charm of a beautiful woman.
Li Wenjian had always admired women like her mother.
Empress An, outwardly the majestic queen of a great nation, could gracefully handle envoys, ministers, and noblewomen from various countries; internally, she was a decisive and meticulous mistress of the house, managing the harem efficiently and methodically.
The empress had always been the female role model in Li Wenjian's heart, and he hoped for someone by his side who resembled her. As he expanded the borders and built a new prosperous era for the great dynasty, she supported him significantly, weathering storms together, side by side, creating a flourishing empire.
He detested weak-willed women, those who only played with makeup and hesitated in critical matters without any courage or decisiveness.
Marriage couldn't be forced, and all encounters were ordinary. He would rather remain single.
Zhao Heng was not the ideal partner he had in mind, her bowed waist and lowered head didn't match his preferences.
He understood the hardships she faced and knew that bowing and bending was her way of survival.
Since she was now his, regardless of her true intentions, he should be responsible for her and protect her.
Providing her with a place to stay, giving her a status, that was his debt to her, and she didn't need to come and thank him.
That's what Li Wenjian thought.
"I would like to ask Your Highness to revoke the order and not make me go to Changqiu Hall," Zhao Heng's eyes trembled as she courageously raised her face.
In that moment, she met Li Wenjian's scrutinizing gaze.
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The author has something to say:
Oh, women, what trendy things are you playing with?