Consort Li’s face changed slightly, and she immediately turned to instruct a palace maid to take Gu Jianli upstairs. She composed herself and said to Gu Jianli, “Go upstairs for now. Don’t come down unless I call for you.”
Gu Jianli nodded, her mind heavy with thoughts, and hurriedly followed the little palace maid upstairs.
This floor housed Consort Li’s luxurious clothes and jewelry, dazzlingly extravagant. When Gu Jianli was a child, she always particularly liked this floor of Yongli Palace. There isn’t a girl who doesn’t like splendid clothes and gold, silver, and jade.
Gu Jianli sat on a rosewood chair, quietly listening to the movements downstairs. She heard the sounds of Consort Li and the palace maids welcoming the emperor. After a period of silence, the sound of silk and bamboo instruments began.
Is Aunt dancing for the emperor?
Gu Jianli’s mind was somewhat chaotic. She furrowed her brows, listening to the music downstairs, as if the scene of her aunt dancing was right before her eyes.
The sound of porcelain breaking and the shocked cries of palace maids rang out simultaneously, abruptly halting the melody.
Immediately following, Gu Jianli heard the emperor’s angry voice, seemingly scolding someone. She walked to the window, pushed it open slightly, and carefully listened to the sounds below.
Consort Li slowly got up, casually glancing at her palm cut by the broken porcelain. She had been dancing for Emperor Chang when he suddenly yanked her long sleeve, causing her to crash into the table. The porcelain shattered everywhere, and she fell along with it.
It wasn’t the first time; Consort Li was long accustomed to it.
She looked at the blood on her palm and smiled self-deprecatingly. Everyone envied her for receiving the emperor’s favor, but Yongli Palace hid all the truths.
Consort Li? Yongli Palace?
Ha, her title bore her surname, and so did the palace. How nice, no one would ever realize this Li was not that Li.
No one would know that all of Emperor Chang’s favors were not for her, Li Yunwan, but for her sister, Li Yunyan.
Emperor Chang glared at her coldly and asked, “Did you clean yourself up?”
Consort Li obediently knelt before him, her face calm, not uttering a word.
“I am asking you a question!” Emperor Chang roared, grabbing Consort Li by the throat and pulling her close.
Consort Li remained silent, her face gradually paling. Along with the suffocation came fatigue, and Li Yunwan thought that being choked to death would be a relief.
But she knew Emperor Chang wouldn’t truly let her die. She could even predict what he would say next.
“You should be grateful you have such a face,” Emperor Chang said, releasing her as expected. He couldn’t bring himself to harm that face.
Li Yunwan pressed her hand to her chest, unable to suppress a fit of coughing.
“Filthy thing!” Emperor Chang suddenly cursed, kicking Li Yunwan in the shoulder.
Li Yunwan fell to the ground, her hair in disarray. She suddenly laughed and said, “As Your Majesty wishes.”
“What did you say? Why are you laughing?”
Li Yunwan raised her eyes and looked at Emperor Chang with sarcasm. “To win over powerful ministers, you gave my sister to him. Then, out of fear of his military power, you used me to frame him. Dirty? Ha, no one in this world has a dirtier heart than Your Majesty. Of course, I laugh, laughing at how the mighty ruler of a nation hands over his beloved woman and then sends his consort to his bed!”
Emperor Chang stood up, grabbed Li Yunwan, and dragged her to the window. He choked her neck, pressing her back against the wall beside the window, and spoke through gritted teeth, “Say a few nice things right now, or I’ll throw you out of this window!”
“Say what? Pretend to be my sister and say I adore you?” Li Yunwan sneered.
Li Yunyan, that woman, was a thorn in Emperor Chang’s heart.
“Your Li clan submitted to my Great Ji, and your Li clan women are for me to choose!” Emperor Chang’s fury surged.
He could never forget the first time he saw Li Yunyan. The carriage curtain lifted, revealing her profile, a glimpse that stayed with him for a lifetime.
The Li clan and the Yao clan fought, and the Li clan lost. Li Yunyan, the most beautiful woman of the Li clan, was offered to the Yao clan as a surrender gift. It happened that Gu Jingyuan was expanding his territories and brought the Li and Yao clans under his command. Amid the chaos of war, he saved Li Yunyan. The Li and Yao clans bowed to Great Ji, and Li Yunyan went to the capital with her people to pay homage. She was supposed to be a tribute to the emperor of Great Ji. But Emperor Chang learned from his spies in Gu Jingyuan’s army that Gu Jingyuan had intentions toward Li Yunyan.
With the country unsettled and many vying for the throne, talented people were indispensable.
Emperor Chang made a hard decision and bestowed Li Yunyan in marriage to Gu Jingyuan.
Despite having three thousand beauties in the harem, Emperor Chang had only been moved once, yet he gave her away without a change of expression.
No one knew how much he wanted Li Yunyan; he hid it well. Even Li Yunyan and Gu Jingyuan didn’t know. Except for this fake Li Yunyan before him.
He was the supreme ruler, prioritizing the country and its stability over a woman. What was wrong with that?
He was the supreme ruler, prioritizing the country and its stability, and using schemes to eliminate powerful ministers. What was wrong with that?
Emperor Chang grew increasingly angry as he looked at Li Yunwan’s face before him. This face seemed to mock his incompetence and compromise. Yet he was madly in love with this face.
Emperor Chang forcefully tore at Li Yunwan’s dress. Li Yunwan’s expression finally changed, her eyes filled with suppressed disgust, and she said, “I am dirty, Your Majesty…”
Emperor Chang covered her mouth, undressing himself.
Wave after wave of pain, as if her body was being torn apart, hit Li Yunwan, but she remained expressionless. She had no tears left; the first two years of being trapped here had drained them all.
Li Yunwan slowly curled her lips into a bitter smile. She envied her sister so much.
A long time passed before Li Yunwan finally had a palace maid call Gu Jianli downstairs.
When Gu Jianli came down, she saw her aunt in a changed outfit, slowly combing her long hair in front of the vanity mirror.
“How much did you hear?” Li Yunwan asked.
Gu Jianli walked over, stood behind her aunt, and took the wooden comb from her hand, slowly combing her hair. With her eyes lowered, she spoke softly, “I fell asleep upstairs just now and didn’t hear anything.”
Li Yunwan smiled and asked, “Do you still remember what I told you earlier?”
Gu Jianli nodded, “Never enter the palace again and avoid meeting His Majesty.”
“Let the palace maid take you out. His Majesty will attend the evening banquet; avoid him if you can,” Li Yunwan gently patted the back of Gu Jianli’s hand.
Gu Jianli nodded once more. She turned around with a smile on her face, but as soon as she turned, tears began to fall. Suddenly, she understood all those things she couldn’t figure out before.
She hadn’t understood why her father hadn’t taken action to clear her name, but now it was clear that he knew all along who was behind his troubles.
The palace maid led Gu Jianli down an indirect path that was nearly deserted. As they neared the banquet hall, the maid said, “This is as far as I go. Her Ladyship instructed me to be cautious and not to go in.”
Gu Jianli understood her aunt’s caution and nodded, turning alone towards the banquet hall. The moisture in her eyes had vanished, and as she entered the noisy crowd, she put on a gracious and composed smile.
“Who is that woman?”
Such questions arose from several places.
Though Gu Jianli wore makeup today, her outfit was modest, a combination of apricot and dark blue that didn’t stand out. Yet, as she passed by, she still caught people’s attention. Even if they didn’t notice her at first glance, they would turn their heads to look again, her silhouette leaving a striking impression.
Those who knew her revealed looks of pity upon recognizing her, and those who didn’t learned her identity from others, showing the same expression.
Among the women attending the Lantern Festival banquet, Gu Jianli knew many. However, times had changed, and their statuses were now different, making their encounters unlike before. Gu Jianli did not greet anyone proactively and walked straight towards where Wujing was seated.
Wujing propped his chin up and looked at her, complaining, “That took forever.”
Gu Jianli sat down next to him, offering an apologetic smile, “I won’t leave again.”
Wujing gave Gu Jianli’s eyes a second look, surprised.
“Jianli?” A hesitant voice called out.
Gu Jianli turned and saw Long Yujun standing nearby, accompanied by two maidservants. Long Yujun, the granddaughter of the Left Prime Minister, was also Gu Jianli’s close friend, though they hadn’t seen each other in recent months.
“It really is you. I wasn’t mistaken,” Long Yujun’s eyes sparkled with joy but then dimmed slightly upon seeing Wujing beside Gu Jianli.
“Yujun.” Gu Jianli stood to greet her.
Long Yujun took Gu Jianli’s hand, smiling, “It’s been quite a while.”
Gu Jianli looked at Long Yujun’s hand and felt a bit dazed. Only a few months had passed, but it felt like she had severed ties with her past self. Seeing so many familiar faces today made her feel a bit more connected to her former life.
“Yes, it has been quite a while,” she said.
Long Yujun lowered her voice, “With everything that happened in your family recently, please don’t think badly of me for not visiting you. I wanted to, but…”
Gu Jianli shook her head, “I understand, I don’t blame you.”
“That’s good!” Long Yujun said with a bright smile.
“I can’t stay long. My grandmother will be looking for me. I must go now,” Long Yujun said.
Gu Jianli knew this was just an excuse; Long Yujun was still wary of getting too close. However, the fact that she had taken the initiative to greet her was already a pleasant surprise for Gu Jianli.
After Long Yujun left, Gu Jianli sat back down. She held a tea bowl in her hands, her eyes fixed on a floating tea leaf, lost in thought.
She told herself not to lose composure in front of others, not to let her mind wander, and to deal with everything later. But the words she had heard in Yongli Palace kept echoing in her ears. She gripped the tea bowl tightly, her knuckles turning white.
“Jianli?”
Gu Jianli was still flustered when someone else greeted her. She gathered herself and responded with a smile, calling out the person’s name, “Xiangning.”
“I didn’t expect that in just a few months, we would both be married. Seeing you today, you don’t look as the rumors say. In fact, you seem to be doing quite well. It makes me happy,” Lin Xiangning said with a smile, deliberately raising her hand to touch the jade hairpin slanted in her bun.
Gu Jianli’s gaze followed Lin Xiangning’s hand to the jade hairpin. That hairpin had once been hers, pawned for money during her difficult times. She hadn’t expected it to end up with Lin Xiangning. Gu Jianli had worn that hairpin in front of Lin Xiangning before, and Lin Xiangning knew it was hers.
Lin Xiangning’s words were congratulatory, but her arrogance was evident. Lin Xiangning had just married, despite coming from a modest background as an illegitimate daughter, she had married a top scholar with a prominent family.
Once vastly different, their statuses had changed with the men they married.
People around them turned to watch, eager for drama.
