"Forgive me, then, I will get going, you can visit Her Majesty the Empress and go back," The eunuch spoke and hurriedly left since it was time for his lunch break.
"And they say people in the imperial palace are like dragons and tigers," Huan chuckled as soon as the sight of his back disappeared.
"Do not underestimate him, we have seen so many servants on our way here, and none of them are without secrets and guilt," Xuan Cheng frowned. Her eyes fell upon the gate; it was as clean as it should be, as the empress resided there.
However, it was unusual, Xuan Cheng had heard from her grandmother that a consort fallen from grace is like a living corpse waiting to die. When servants leave and no proper meal is given, her palace becomes a cold palace.
"Strange…I guess the empress has a strong footing," Xuan Cheng murmured, moving her feet to enter. As she walked towards the courtyard, her pupils trembled. The aura of the palace was nothing more, nothing less, it was demonic.
Her heart skipped a beat, as she knew the empress was poisoned with a peculiar poison from the Evil Lord's palace. However, the existence of a demonic aura meant that there must be an unseen power more vicious than the evil cultivators. Her doubt began to twist her heart, but she dared not express her fears as she knew Huan would panic too.
"Who are you?" a sharp and unfriendly voice asked the two women walking straight to the main hall. Xuan Cheng and Huan stopped and took a deep breath. Before they could turn and see the face of the maid, she walked up to them and asked, "I have never seen you before."
"Her Highness is an imperial princess from Yuchang, she is here to pay respect to the empress," Huan, as expected, spoke in a highly polite and graceful manner.
Xuan Cheng was already inside the palace, and she had met the Grand Empress Dowager, even if she doesn't remember, those who had seen her enter the palace would surely not forget.
In short, there was nothing Xuan Cheng was afraid of, and Huan also sensed it. It was one of the reasons that, despite being young, she was a silver maid, the highest rank among Xuan Cheng's servants.
"Oh, I see, you can go, but hurry up, it's the devil's hour," the maid responded. she knew there was nothing to be suspicious of since the princess passed the security check at the palace gate.
"What do you mean devil's hour?" Huan questioned her as she exchanged fleeting glances with Xuan Cheng. "It's a term between us, the top maids of the Palace of Benevolence, nobody else knows about this, and I am afraid, you don't need to know this, just hurry up," another maid, handling a water pot to spray the plants, said as she passed by them.
Xuan Cheng saw her back and instantly knew she was one of the smartest ones in the whole palace. Her eyes narrowed as she kept staring at her for a while, and no matter what, the maid had no negative aura. Extremely pure and innocent, the maid was like a newly born child. A faint smile appeared on her face as if she had found a gem in the mud. And indeed, the maid was truly carefree and full of life.
"Let's go, Your Highness," Huan interrupted her. She nodded, refocusing on her goal. Meeting the empress and checking her condition were her top priorities.
Two maids stood before the main hall, guarding it as their only duty, and it appeared they were happy to do so. Xuan Cheng inwardly laughed at the complexity of the world as she realized that the happiness wasn't from serving the empress. If only her Jade Eyes had not been veiled, she would have been able to know exactly what made them happy.
They lifted the drape handing above the threshold, and Xuan Cheng entered the hall, full of rare artifacts and decorated with precious possessions, she instantly knew that the empress may have been aggrieved because of her illness, but she had not fallen from favor.
If not the emperor, her children must have kept the liveliness in the lifeless pieces of furniture and decorations. They walked from one chamber to another and reached the end, the innermost chamber, where the empress actually stayed.
"Let me report your presence," the maid who had led them said. Xuan Cheng nodded and kneeled down, as the wooden door slid open. She caught a glimpse of the evil aura that engulfed the empress, and her lips fluttered as she waited for the maid to speak.
"Your Majesty, an imperial princess from Yuchang is here to visit you," the maid reported. The expression on the gravely ill empress changed, she was confused and didn't object to the identity of the person who came to visit her. Simply because she wasn't in a state to do so.
She knew that no matter how smart and cunning the servants of the palace become under the influence of their surroundings, they will always lack when it comes to life outside the palace. A person passing the strict check at the palace gate, led in by several servants, can be no less than a noble person or an assassin in disguise.
"Let her in," she commanded, curiously waiting to see who the person was, claiming to be an 'imperial princess' from Yuchang. Unless an imperial princess is married to a minister serving another state, there is no way she would live in a place other than the Capital City.
Still kneeling with her eyes lowered, Xuan Cheng introduced herself in a soft and appealing voice, "Granddaughter of the Heavenly Jade Princess Shu and Grand Consort Xuan, I, the imperial princess of the second rank, pay my respect, Your Majesty."
The empress heard her voice echoing in her chambers, and to her surprise, the unbearable pain began to dissipate, it became less tormenting even though it didn't completely disappear. She had been ill for so long that she had no hope of recovering which made it useless for her to keep herself updated, hence, she was puzzled when she heard the princess claiming to be 'Heavenly Jade Princess' granddaughter.
"Come inside," the empress smiled genuinely after a long time. She hinted at the maids to grant a seat to the princess and leave them alone.
Xuan Cheng bowed her head. She scanned the empress, covered with a silk blanket, barely sitting against the support of four fluffy pillows piled up on top of each other. Her brushed yet disheveled hair and her pale, yellowish lips clearly revealed the chronic effect of the poison.
Her body appeared to be a wax statue melting from within, her body as thin as her creamy cotton robe. One could count her bones; weakness had hallowed a home inside her. Wrinkles and marks on her face made her look worse than a corpse buried for a week.
On the dreadful nights, Xuan Cheng had seen many people with various kinds of diseases and illnesses, some of them were saved, some of them died before her eyes, and many struggled as they lived, hoping that they would be dead in the next hour.
And for the first time in her life, she had seen someone like the empress, not only because of her illness caused by the poison but also because there was a strange feeling in her eyes. There was a wish in her heart to die, and then there was a hope that she'd live. It tortured her to stay alive, but she still wanted to embrace the pain and exist.
Xuan Cheng's heart ached; the auras didn't tell her that, her own eyes studied these feelings themselves; any good person who would take a careful look at her would know this as well. Why did she want to live despite her unbearable chronic pain? It was good to hope, but then, it was unusual as well.
"Why are you crying?" The empress smiled and asked, she had seen the children whom she taught and raised weeping except her own flesh, Zhao Ming. She had seen other consorts crying, and she had watched her servants weep silently. But it was her first time seeing a complete stranger shed tears for her.
"Nothing…" Xuan Cheng wiped her tears, and responded, her eyes numb. She settled down on the chair and straightened her back, preparing herself for what she was about to say and do.
"Do not pity me, I must have done something wrong unintentionally, it is my karma that is punishing me, it is my fate," she attempted to comfort me, trying to stay strong even though the pain of splitting veins made it difficult to remain silent and not wail.
"Fate is unfair, but karma isn't." Xuan Cheng gaped at her lips and replied with teary eyes. "So, you are Prime Minister Xuan's daughter, the one he sent to his mother." The empress spoke after a short moment of silence.
"I didn't introduce myself as his daughter," Xuan Cheng responded. It was obvious that people would identify her as the prime minister's daughter, and she had to accept that, but she had to put in every effort to distance herself from him.
"Isn't it the same?" The empress softly chuckled. "No, I am the late Heavenly Jade Princess's granddaughter, Xuan Cheng." she firmly said.
"I see that you are new to the Capital City; when did you come back?" The Empress asked, and the more she smiled, the more tears accumulated in Xuan Cheng's eyes.
"Yesterday," Xuan Cheng answered, her eyes locked on the empress.
"We have no connection, I wonder what made you come and visit me," The empress grunted in pain in a low voice as she tried to shift her body, which perhaps became uncomfortable staying in the same position.
'I cannot tell her the truth since the palace walls have eyes and ears and they can speak too.' Xuan Cheng reasoned and spoke, "If I would say that you are the mother of the nation and it is my duty to come and see you, then I would be lying to you and to myself. However, you might feign it and believe me."
"I cannot tell you the entire truth, but I will tell you a part of it." Xuan Cheng dragged her stool a little closer to the bed. "I assume it must have been until you were fine, you would send us little gifts privately, for my grandmother. You were considerate enough to know that an old lady would need some or other medicine."
"It was my duty; nothing to mention," the empress replied, coughing severely. "I am ashamed to have tossed my duties and responsibility to others; I am a useless empress. I wonder what history would paint me as. A lazy and sickly empress, the burden of the empire."
"A fighter and an inspiration for the younger generation to come. A virtuous and gentle empress." Xuan Cheng tried to lift her spirit. She became more determined to cure the woman before her.
"Do not try to comfort me, I know the reality well. I have just one dream, and that is to sing a lullaby for my grandchildren. It may sound ridiculous, but I yearn for this happiness." She replied, her face appearing to be red from shame for having a cliche wish.