The Gilded Cage

The Gilded Cage Chapter 58

Go—Bring her to the Ganlu Palace (1)

Xiao Yu was really drunk.

After some tossing, he laid on his back, gasping for breath.
Although he still had the heart, he did not have the strength.

Chu Ning didn't want to entangle with him too much.
Seeing this, she got up to clean up and said softly, “His Royal Highness has to get up tomorrow.
Let's rest early tonight.”

Xiao Yu responded in a low voice and held her when she got up to go back to her rooms, “Don't go back, just stay tonight.”

She naturally wanted to go back to her room to drink the medicine, but after seeing this, she hesitated for a moment and called, “Cui He.”

Cui He responded, and in a moment, she brought in the medicine and put it in Chu Ning’s hands.

Chu Ning was accustomed to drinking this medicine, so she finished it off in a few sips, rinsed her mouth, and turned back to the bed, only to meet Xiao Yu's inscrutable gaze.

She didn't know how long he had watched her like this behind her back.

“Your Highness?” She sat carefully beside the bed, fearing that she might annoy him accidentally, “What's wrong?”

Xiao Yu glanced at her, slowly looked away, laid back down, patted the empty seat beside him, closed his eyes, and said, “It's nothing, let’s just sleep.”

Chu Ning lowered her eyes demurely, blew out the candle, and tried her best to lie down beside him.

The room fell into darkness.

Xiao Yu opened his eyes again and stared silently at the emptiness above his head.

He always knew that she was drinking contraceptive soup, which he had agreed to himself, and he had agreed again when she mentioned it last time.

But for some reason, when he just watched her drink it without hesitation, an inexplicable resistance and strangeness suddenly surged in his heart, as if he didn't know his wife.

He’d probably imbibed in too much alcohol.

…

In the early morning of the second day, Xiao Yu got up and had breakfast according to the original arrangement.
After getting up and having breakfast, he boarded the carriage that had been prepared and brought his attendants on the road to Huazhou.

The huge East Palace’s master was gone, and the atmosphere that had been slightly depressed was relieved a lot.

Last night was very exhausting.
At this moment, Chu Ning had unloaded a heavy burden on her heart and returned to the house.
Her limbs felt heavy.
After resisting the urge to sleep for a while, she couldn't hold back anymore.
She went to sleep in the inner room, and even Cui He was sent back to her room to rest.

This nap was more than two hours long, and when she woke up again, it was already noon.

After she ate some snacks, she brought a few maids to sit by the window and talk, watching them sew and embroider, while she held a storybook and told them stories.

The people were talking and laughing, and it was rare that they were all comfortable.

The book got to the part where the young man and woman had a rendezvous at night, and when the little maids heard it, they lowered their heads and giggled.
One of them suddenly remembered something, raised her head, and said, “Just now, this servant brought some snacks to  His Highness.
I heard from the sisters from the West side that the door next to Wude Hall was open today.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Ning slowly put down the book in her hand.

The Wude Hall was adjacent to the East Palace, and the gate was the link between the East Palace and the Taiji Palace.
In the past, when the late emperor was still there, Xiao Yu used to go to and from the Taiji Palace on a daily basis.

Leaving from there saved a lot of effort compared to leaving from the main entrance.
It was only later that the late emperor became seriously ill and the Taiji Palace was under martial law, so that door was closed and never opened again.

Another maid held the silk thread in her hand and said, “When His Highness was here, it was still closed, but when he left today, it was suddenly opened.
I don't know what it means…”

After hearing this, the girls quieted down.

All they thought of was the awkward and delicate relationship between the prince and the new emperor, for fear that this move would indicate a certain attitude of the one in the Taiji Palace, which would soon cause trouble to the East Palace.

Chu Ning was thinking of something else.

She stroked a pattern on her cuff and asked, “Did you see when it was opened?”

Several people thought about it and said, “It should have been after His Highness left.
Your Highness, should we send someone to find out?”

Chu Ning lowered her head, and a faint smile flashed across her lips.
She shook his head and said, “No, there is no need to ask more about things that have nothing to do with us.
We can just stay in the East Palace with our peace of mind.”

After a while, an internal attendant said, “Your Highness, Zhao Sizhi is here.”

“Let him come over.” She stood up and asked the maids to retreat down the porch, while she sat on the couch by the door and waited.

Zhao Yanzhou followed the rules and didn’t even step half a step into her rooms.
This time, he only walked two steps outside the threshold and stopped, formally bowing to her.

Looking at his thin figure, Chu Ning couldn't help but sigh, “Brother, if you have anything to say, you don't need to be so polite.
He's gone.”

Zhao Yanzhou didn't move, and his sleeves kept swaying with the cold winds of early winter, looking a bit cold and lonely.

“Your Highness, the ceremony cannot be abandoned.”

There were still no fluctuations in her tone, but Chu Ning’s heart soured.

“Brother, you were not like this before…”

In her memory, Zhao Yanzhou was supposed to be a gentle and graceful gentleman.
He was full of talent, had great ambitions, and had a bright future.

It was the incident two years ago that completely destroyed him.

At that time, she only married into the East Palace.
She didn't know Xiao Yu's temperament.
Because he was sincere to her, she recommended her cousin Zhao Yanzhou to him and wanted to find a chance for him to transfer to another place, so as not to stay in Changan and become a thorn in the eyes of others.

Xiao Yu agreed to her with a smile, and she thanked him wholeheartedly.