The Perilous Palace Dream - Chapter 119
Chapter 119
Hearing his words, Nie Qinglin could not help but be stunned, looking back at the Grand Tutor in confusion.
Wei Lenghou spoke up, “It is merely the death throes of a trapped beast; the Princess need not listen to his nonsense.”
Having said that, he pulled her by the hand toward the stairs below the city tower.
However, this Ge Qingyuan was indeed a master at manipulating people’s hearts.
Because Princess Shaoyang’s body could not be found after searching, that single phrase of “life or death” would indeed throw anyone who cared into great inner turmoil.
At the very least, the footsteps of Princess Yong’an behind him grew hesitant.
Princess Shaoyang’s death had made his Guo’er somewhat downcast in spirits.
The Grand Tutor was unwilling to go against her wishes too much in this matter, so he said in a low voice, “This Marquis will personally interrogate him before sending him on his way.”
Nie Qinglin nodded, yet her expression gave no clue as to what was passing through her mind.
Had it not been for Ge Qingyuan’s desperate death struggle, Wei Lenghou would never have gone to see this defeated opponent.
Too many matters were waiting for his attention; a rogue like him only needed to be beheaded, accompanied by a jug of fine wine while watching his head roll down and his warm blood surge forth, taking a deep gulp of fine wine against the metallic smell of blood.
Thus, when he stepped into the gloomy and damp dungeon, his heart was somewhat displeased.
Did the man in the cage hear the sound of the dungeon opening? He raised his head with a slight trace of eagerness, yet upon seeing that it was Wei Lenghou, the light in his eyes could not help but dim slightly.
“Lord Ge has been keeping well, I presume?”
Seated comfortably in the chair outside the cage, the Grand Tutor finally spoke.
Through the iron bars, one could clearly see that the once handsome gentleman of a prominent family had grown terribly emaciated and gaunt, as if something were attached to his body, rapidly consuming his vital energy.
Ge Qingyuan raised his head slightly, splitting his cracked lips into a smile, “Did the Grand Tutor come here wanting to ask about Princess Shaoyang’s whereabouts? However, if I do not see Princess Yong’an, I will not open my mouth.”
The Grand Tutor nodded with a lack of interest, “If you truly knew Princess Shaoyang’s whereabouts, you could have used it to threaten Xiu Tuhong and further plump your own wings. How could you have delayed until now to release a trump card? I am not the Princess, whose care leads to confusion. What tricks can a stray dog like you, at the end of his rope, possibly have left?”
The Grand Tutor finished speaking lazily, feeling that this trip to the dungeon was enough to give an accounting to the beauty.
Yet in his heart, he sneered with disdain; to harbor such wishful thinking on the verge of death, did he take him for a dead man? Even if Princess Shaoyang were truly still alive, how could he possibly let little Guo’er go see this dog of a former husband? Since he had come, he could account to Guo’er, so he stood up intending to leave the dungeon.
Ge Qingyuan, however, called out to him in a loud voice, “Does the Grand Tutor not wish to know how Princess Yong’an squirmed in pleasure beneath me in the Xiongnu tents during those few days? The Grand Tutor is so heroic on the battlefield, yet why failed to feed the delicate beauty on the bed? Her skin was truly tender and smooth, the softest among the women I have slept with. Those two long legs wrapped around my waist and would not let go, so tight that a man could die inside. Every time, she required me to do her to the full before she would loosen up…”
Before his malicious words could be finished, the Grand Tutor suddenly drew the precious sword at his side.
With a sharp clack, he sliced through the chains, kicked open the iron gate, and came to Ge Qingyuan’s side.
Delivering a vicious kick directly into his stomach, Ge Qingyuan instantly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood that stained the front of the Grand Tutor’s robes.
The Grand Tutor turned his head slightly, reaching out to wipe the blood splattered on his handsome face, smearing it entirely onto Ge Qingyuan’s lapel.
He said with contempt, “Did you think such stupid provocations could fool this Marquis? How pure and flawless is the Princess; how could a vulgar thing like you defile her? Look at the state you are in now, yet you still harbor desires you shouldn’t have. Reduced to such a miserable shape and still not committing suicide, but wanting to see this Marquis’s woman instead, are you trying to lose all the face of men in this world? Do you know the punishment that awaits you next? I will have the executioner on the execution stage use a knife thin as a cicada’s wing to slice you to death by slow process. By then, you will feel pieces of blood and flesh flying off your body one by one. Those few fingers that once touched her will also be crushed one by one by a heavy hammer. By then, I fear you will wish you had never come into this world!”
Listening to the Grand Tutor’s threat-filled words, Ge Qingyuan’s face did not change.
The corners of his mouth, still stained with blood, slowly curled up with malice, and he burst into a triumphant, wild laugh, “Wei Lenghou is actually so deeply in love to this extent; it is truly touching to heaven and earth! But… do you think you are truly the winner? Hahaha… The truth since ancient times that one cannot possess both the realm and the beauty, have you truly grown so arrogant as to not understand it? I may not have obtained her, but do you think you have truly obtained her? You must know, you are her father’s killer! Can a mere seat in the rear palace make a woman of such noble and proud temperament kneel submissively at your feet? Even if she is temporarily fooled by your sweet words… hehe, you will soon taste the flavor of keeping guard over a ten-thousand-li realm all alone… Hahaha…”
Wei Lenghou did not wish to waste any more time on him.
Turning around, he heard Ge Qingyuan say maliciously, “Does Marquis Wei not find it strange why I allowed myself to be captured without resistance?”
…
That evening, when the lamps were lit, Nie Qinglin had not retired to sleep.
She was waiting for the Grand Tutor to come and tell her whether there was any news of Imperial Sister from Ge Qingyuan, but after waiting and waiting, he still did not arrive.
Nanny Shan, seeing that the Princess was not sleeping, went to invite the Grand Tutor.
Yet returning a short while later, the Nanny reported that the Grand Tutor had already returned to his manor to rest, only saying that the rogue Ge was full of deceitful words and asking the Princess not to take them to heart, but to rest in peace.
Nie Qinglin nodded and went to sleep first, thinking in her heart that it would not be too late to ask in detail the next day.
However, several more days passed, and still there was no sign of the Grand Tutor.
Even Nie Qinglin felt that something was amiss.
In the past, no matter how busy the Grand Tutor was, he would occasionally find time during the day to come over and share a meal with her… Furthermore, in the past, the Palace Inner Bureau continually delivered supplies for the grand wedding day for the Princess to select her preferred items, yet over the past few days, that flowing supply had ceased.
For a time, Fengchu Palace became so quiet that it made one feel somewhat unaccustomed.
On this day, a minor chief steward from the Palace Inner Bureau led some people to replace the smoke-conducting pipes for Fengchu Palace.
The Palace Servants Bureau had recently purchased a batch of Dian stone pipes, which were exceptionally good at filtering foul air, so they prioritized replacing them for the Princess’s bedchamber first.
The Princess watched quietly and suddenly asked, “Have they been replaced at the Consort’s Manor?”
Hearing this, the minor chief steward hurriedly bowed and said, “This servant is not very clear either. I heard Eunuch Ruan say to replace them for Fengchu Palace first. Because the Princess’s grand wedding has been postponed, no one will be living in the Consort’s Manor for now, so they won’t be replaced yet.”
Nie Qinglin was stunned upon hearing this.
She had not expected that the news of her grand wedding being postponed would come from the mouth of a minor eunuch.
Nanny Shan at her side was also unprepared for the Princess to ask such a question suddenly, immediately glaring fiercely at the minor eunuch before hurriedly saying, “It is all this servant’s fault. That day, the Grand Tutor mentioned that the dates for this year’s winter were not auspicious, and arranging the wedding would be somewhat rushed, so he thought to delay it for a period of time. In addition, that little County Princess of Gefan’s wedding is also urgently needing to be held. Having the two clash together would not be good, and the Palace Inner Bureau was temporarily flustered into losing their train of thought. It would be better to handle the little County Princess’s first, lest it take away from the Princess’s radiance… This servant saw that the Princess was gloomy and unhappy recently, and feared the Princess would displease upon hearing it, so I was thinking of pacing the time and mentioning it to the Princess slowly…”
When Nanny Shan finished speaking, she raised her head to look at the Princess, only to see the Princess’s face turn as white as un-inked rice paper, just as it had on the day she heard the tragic news of Princess Shaoyang.
Only after a long moment did a trace of a smile slowly bloom across her pale little face.
She said softly, “Understood. All of you may go down and attend to your duties.”
The weather today was not good.
Entering winter, a drizzle of mixed rain and snow began to fall.
The newly pasted window paper was soaked in a patch, while the roof tiles above were struck with pitter-patter sounds.
Nie Qinglin sat in the inner room for a long time before reaching out to touch her own cheek.
Where her fingers touched was icy cold and wet.
She slowly lowered her hand once more, and amidst the rumbling thunder, she gradually let out tiny, broken sounds of sobbing.
Yet in her heart, she silently admonished herself: let it end here, from now on, she, Nie Qinglin, would never shed another tear for that man!
The days that followed were calm as usual, just like the sixteen springs and autumns she had spent in this deep palace.
The Grand Tutor, perhaps busy with the tender warmth of his new bride, never set foot in Fengchu Palace again.
As time dragged on, even Nanny Shan felt uneasy in her heart, yet the little Princess acted as if no one else were around, laughing and talking every day while taking care of little Jiarou.
Recently, she had taken up studying embroidery, often staying before the embroidery frame for a whole day.
Her delicate fingers had been pricked who knew how many times, yet no matter how anyone advised her, she could not be persuaded, leaving her to continue embroidering.
On this day, Nanny Shan saw the Princess lowering her head to embroider again, so she said in a low voice, “The Princess has been stifled terribly these past few days. How about this servant requests permission from the Grand Tutor to allow the Princess to go to the imperial villa to stay for a period of time?”
Nie Qinglin thought for a moment and actually raised her head, “The imperial villa is not very interesting either. In those years, Imperial Father built a temporary residence in Jiangnan. If the Grand Tutor grants permission, this Princess would like to take a walk to my birth mother’s hometown.”
Although she had stated it according to her own wishes, Nie Qinglin did not dare to hope that the Grand Tutor would grant it.
Yet unexpectedly, after such a request that was almost a pipe dream was submitted, it was not long before someone brought word, saying that the Grand Tutor had granted permission: “These past few days the weather is turning warm and the canal is thawing, making it perfect to travel down to Jiangnan by water. If the Princess finds it fun there, staying in the south through the New Year before returning is also fine.”
When the errand eunuch finished saying these words, Princess Yong’an happened to embroider the final stitch, tying off the thread and examining it left and right.
She actually felt her skills had advanced by leaps and bounds, placing embroidery securely at the head of her seven self-preservation arts.
The tedious task of packing luggage was settled in a single day.
However, when Nanny Shan heard that Lu Yuda would also be traveling south all the way, her expression turned dark as un-dissolvable black ink.
When the Princess boarded the ship with the wet nurse holding little Jiarou, she turned and summoned a minor eunuch, having the attending maid hand over the embroidery on the tray to the Grand Tutor.
“The Grand Tutor’s joyful occasion is approaching. This Princess cannot use going to Jiangnan as an excuse to dispense with a celebratory gift. My skills are unrefined, so I have only embroidered a piece of cloth to present to the Grand Tutor, hoping the Grand Tutor will kindly accept it.”
Having said that, she lightly lifted her skirt and boarded the ship.
When the eunuch presented the embroidery to the Grand Tutor, Qiu Mingyan was standing outside the door of the study in the Grand Tutor’s Manor.
Hearing the minor eunuch’s words, the Grand Tutor said lazily inside the room, “Look for this Marquis, what is embroidered on it?”
Qiu Mingyan unfolded it to look, studying it carefully for a long moment, his expression growing more perplexed the more he looked.
“What? Is it embroidered so hideously that it cannot be recognized?”
“No…” Qiu Mingyan said hesitantly, “This official’s eyes are clumsy and my knowledge shallow; I do not know if I have mistaken it…”
“Speak freely.”
“At first glance it looks like a horse, yet also a donkey… possessing scales on its body while its neck resembles a snake, looking quite like the… Jiaodog recorded in the Commentary on the Water Classic…”
As soon as these words were spoken, silence fell inside and outside the room.
Both Wei Lenghou and Qiu Mingyan were men who had read widely, naturally knowing of this ancient mythical beast recorded in tales of anomalies.
The Jiaodog, a lewd beast, by nature fond of female beauty, also swims freely in rivers and streams. Its tail can transform into a male organ, lurking in the water to launch surprise attacks on beautiful women bathing in the stream, often riding several women in a day without fatigue. Later it was slain by the Yellow Emperor at the bottom of a canal; at its death its tail remained hard, softening only after its essence was exhausted…
After Qiu Mingyan finished speaking, he realized he had misspoken, looking somewhat dazed at the mythical beast on the soft handkerchief.
He truly could not believe that such a licentious object could come from the hands of such a dignified and elegant Princess…
No! Since the Princess embroidered it with her own hands, there must be a deep meaning! Was it a prayer for blessings? Praying for a man whose bedchamber matters were unpromising to recover his heroic stature at an early date? Thinking of this, Qiu Mingyan raised his head in utter shock and terror, gazing at the tightly shut door… to think that the Grand Tutor was actually… like that…
After a long while, a loud slam of a hand on the table echoed from inside the room,”Nie Qinglin, just you wait!”
