amaotonovel Chapter 219 Cherishing Youth
Chapter 219 Cherishing Youth
Their breaths overlapped, and the atmosphere instantly became romantic.
Chu Qingyin raised her face, her cheeks slightly flushed, "Your Majesty, what reward do you desire?"
Pei Yuanling gazed at her with affection, "My beloved consort, how about a kiss?"
The two had been sulking and hadn't been intimate for a long time.
Gazing at the woman he loved before him, Pei Yuanling felt an overwhelming urge to linger.
Seeing the emperor and empress being so intimate, Xianglan quickly dismissed them from the hall and quietly withdrew.
Once the palace servants left, only the two of them remained in the hall.
Pei Yuanling's eyes were filled with Chu Qingyin's image, and the corners of his mouth turned up, his tone tinged with smugness.
"I saved your brother, so this request isn't unreasonable, is it?"
He waited for a long time, but the person in front of him never came closer.
He thought she was still angry with him, or that he was disgusted that he had been with another woman. Just as he was about to explain, he saw her slowly leaning closer.
Her warm lips covered his mouth, and her unique, elegant fragrance lingered around his nose.
A fleeting kiss, like a dragonfly skimming the water.
His sudden departure also took away the tenderness in his heart.
Pei Yuanling was still somewhat unsatisfied, so he subconsciously reached out and pulled her back into his arms, then lifted her chin with one hand.
Their lips met again, their tongues entwined, and he deepened the kiss.
"Well……"
He only ended the kiss when the woman in his arms pushed against him several times with her soft, boneless hands, and when her usually clear eyes became watery and red, as if she couldn't get through to him.
"I'll let you off this time."
If it weren't for the fact that it was broad daylight and he had important matters to attend to, Pei Yuanling would have loved to take the person in his arms to bed and indulge in unrestrained pleasure.
"Your Majesty, it's almost time for lunch..."
Chu Qingyin gently pushed the person in front of her away and wiped the water stains from the corner of her mouth.
"You look terrible in your current state. It would be better to put on some more rouge to cover it up."
"What does it look like?"
Chu Qingyin was somewhat confused, watching as he took the bronze mirror from the table.
The sight that met her gaze instantly made her cheeks flush red.
"you you……"
The person in the mirror had a blushing face and alluring eyes. Her once form-fitting palace dress was now somewhat disheveled from the kiss.
"Alright, let Xianglan come in and help you wash up."
Pei Yuanling chuckled as he spoke, then got up and went to the side hall first.
He was in a very good mood, and even when he saw Xianglan and the others outside the door, his tone was very pleasant.
"Go fetch some water for your mistress, and dress her up nicely before letting her come for a meal."
"Yes."
As soon as Xianglan entered the hall, she saw her master sitting in a chair, looking somewhat exasperated.
"Your Majesty, what's wrong?"
Chu Qingyin raised her head and looked at Xianglan with some shame and indignation, "You're so biased! You watched your master being bullied, but you only cared about yourself and even took everyone else away with you."
"Your Majesty is not mistreating the Empress at all; he cherishes her dearly."
Xianglan covered her mouth and laughed, "If we servants were to remain in the palace and get in the way, it would be our fault."
Chu Qingyin gave Xianglan a reproachful look, then thought about seeing her brother as soon as possible.
"Fine, I won't argue with you today. Quickly help me change my clothes."
Chu Qingyin instructed, "Choose that newly tailored light purple Liuxian dress. My brother likes me wearing purple the most."
"Yes."
Xianglan quickly stepped forward, changed her makeup, and restyled her hair.
After lunch, Pei Yuanling returned to Zichen Palace to handle government affairs.
Chu Qingyin waited for the carriage to leave the palace in Feixue Palace.
As the carriage drew near, Chu Qingyin felt a little nervous.
"Xianglan, do you think my brother will recognize me? If he doesn't... I..."
I feel timid as I get closer to my hometown, and even more timid as I get closer to people.
"Your Majesty, didn't you say that General Chu always doted on his younger sister? If he knew you were still alive, he would be overjoyed. I suspect he would only feel heartache at his inability to protect his sister, leaving you to wander alone in this world for so many days."
Thinking of her brother, who, even after years of military campaigns, would always bring her a treasured gift whenever he returned home, Chu Qingyin felt a warm glow in her heart.
"Indeed, my brother would be happy to know that I am alive."
When Kang Luhai entered the hall to report that the carriage had arrived, Chu Qingyin quickly straightened her clothes and went out with Xianglan.
When the two women, mistress and servant, arrived at the palace gate one after the other, they saw the carriage parked at the entrance.
Standing to the side was Fuxi, a young eunuch from Zichen Palace and Chen Zhongliang's godson.
"Greetings, Consort Liang. His Majesty specifically instructed this servant to accompany you on this journey."
"Good work."
Although it was Pei Yuanling who arranged it, Chu Qingyin still had Xianglan take some reward money and give it to Fuxi.
After some polite exchanges, Chu Qingyin got into the car with Xianglan's help.
***
An hour later, outside the gate of the Duke of Chu's mansion.
Chu Qingyin got off the carriage and saw such a familiar scene before her, yet she felt somewhat unable to lift her feet.
The once magnificent and bustling Duke's mansion is now a dilapidated and deserted place.
In earlier years, a gilded plaque with the emperor's own calligraphy hung there, but it has now disappeared without a trace.
Even though the servants of the Imperial Household Department had cleaned it, all they did was cut down the surrounding weeds and barely remove the dust from the corners of the courtyard.
But these were not things that the Duke of Chu's mansion should have in the first place.
My heart ached as if it were being gripped, and tears that I had held back for so long unknowingly slid down my cheeks.
"Your Majesty, it's a good thing that you've been reunited with General Chu, so why are you crying?"
Xianglan carefully handed over a handkerchief, saying, "If the general sees this, he'll be heartbroken."
Chu Qingyin took the handkerchief, but instead of wiping her tears, she placed a finger on her brow and felt for the red mole.
She didn't originally have a red mole between her eyebrows.
The idea of someone being resurrected through another's body is too shocking. What if my brother can't accept it?
"I wonder if my brother will recognize me in this state..."
"Your Highness, why don't you go in and find out?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Qingyin glanced at Xianglan, and finally mustered her courage to walk into the courtyard.
A few servants were still cleaning the courtyard.
After a moment's hesitation, Chu Qingyin asked, "Where is General Chu? I have something I'd like to discuss with him. Could you please show me the way?"
The servant was not from the former Duke's mansion and had never seen Chu Qingyin before. Seeing her beauty and youth, he assumed she was General Chu's former lover. Now that he heard the general had been exonerated, he came to rekindle their past romance.
"After the general was brought back, he stubbornly went to the young lady's room. It is still there. If you don't know the way, I'm willing to show you the way."
"No need."
Chu Qingyin refused the young man's offer and said slowly, "I am a friend of Miss Chu, so I know her private quarters. I have come today to hand over the things that Miss Chu left me before her death to General Chu."
"Then you may go find it yourself, I'll get to work now."
In the huge courtyard, all these tasks fell to the few of them, so they were naturally too busy to even chat.
"it is good."
Along the way, the flowers that Chu Qingyin once carefully nurtured have all died and lost their former color.
Even the pear tree that was specially moved to the hall is now withered and bare, no longer in its prime.
The palaces and pavilions were all connected by corridors, but dust could be seen everywhere.
It seemed as if we had returned to the day when the king's words sealed the guilt and everyone in the Duke's mansion scattered and fled for their lives.
The shouts, the pleas for mercy, the beatings and curses—scene after scene, sound after sound, are vividly before my eyes…
Passing through the archway, one enters the backyard of the Duke of Chu's mansion.
The scenery in the backyard was originally lush and luxurious, but now it is even more desolate and quiet.
Perhaps because the servants hadn't cleaned it yet, the backyard was even more messy.
"Please slow down, Master."
Xianglan reached out to support Chu Qingyin, afraid that she might trip over something.
Chu Qingyin gave a faint "hmm." The further she walked in, the more familiar it became, and the more wistful she felt.
The familiar doorway came into view, and behind this door was the boudoir where she had lived for more than ten years—
Cherish your youthful beauty.