Chapter 1036 Xiao Yuan Zhi! Our Xiao Yuan Zhi!
As he said this, Zhang Yuan’s declaration was shouted very clearly, but how was he supposed to stop Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu from harming the Emperor? This was still very difficult. However, Zhang Yuan had his own ideas. At least he knew that once Winter Moon Palace and Imperial Concubine Yun were mentioned, the Emperor would get a headache. This signified that Imperial Concubine Yun still had an important place in his heart, but someone did something to make him forget Imperial Concubine Yun.
Zhang Yuan thought, if he could return to the Emperor’s side, he must mention Imperial Concubine Yun a few times every day. One day, the Emperor would be able to remember. As long as the Emperor remembered Imperial Concubine Yun, everything would be easy to handle.
Zhang Yuan was brought to Zhao He Hall by Fang Yi. At this moment, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu had already been asked by the Emperor to return to Cun Shan Palace. It was inconvenient for the Eight Prince to stay in the palace, so he returned to Sheng Palace. Zhang Yuan was supported by Fang Yi into the inner hall and they just happened to hear the Empress tell the Emperor: “If you really want to favour a concubine, there is no need to only ask Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu to come over. Aren’t there a lot of people in the imperial harem? You are the Emperor and have to learn equal treatment.”
Today, the Emperor was able to say a few sentences, he told the Empress: “We also do not know why we are suddenly so interested in Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu, even feeling that she’s the only good one, and good in every way, really. Telling you all of this now, Our heart feels very awkward, that is Our beloved concubine! We are talking to another woman about her behind her back, that is not good.”
“Another woman?” The Empress shrugged, “This wife is your Empress, the Empress is the first wife, but from Your Majesty’s mouth, I have become another woman? This wife will still tell you this. Your Majesty should think about it more, that beloved concubine who you think is so good now, why did you not ask about her for the past 20 years, not even taking one look at her.”
Once she mentioned this, the Emperor had a slight headache. When the Empress tilted her head, Fang Yi, who ran in, waved: “Hurry up, support Zhang Yuan over, the Emperor wants to see him!”
Once he heard the two words Zhang Yuan, the Emperor’s headache immediately eased, quickly turning his head in the direction of where they were walking over. But when he looked over, he was stunned, pointing his finger towards Zhang Yuan and asking the Empress: “Who is this? We were talking about Xiao Yuan Zhi, Zhang Yuan, that damn Eunuch who was at my side in the past, what thing did all of you bring over?”
The Empress told him: “This is Zhang Yuan, as to why he became like this, Your Majesty should ask Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu, ask her about what she did to meddle with the Department of Guilty Servants to the point that a healthy person ended up like this.”
The Emperor was stunned, and now took a careful look, and until Zhang Yuan knelt in front of his bed, he suddenly cried, reaching out to touch Zhang Yuan’s face: “It’s Xiao Yuan Zhi! It’s really our Xiao Yuan Zhi! Ah, Xiao Yuan Zhi! Why have you become like this? Why are you as skinny as a ghost?”
Zhang Yuan did not hold it in either, he slumped at the edge of the Emperor’s bed and wailed, as he cried, he shouted: “Does Your Majesty not want this servant anymore? If you do not want this servant, say it directly, why did you throw this servant to that kind of place? They hit me every day, have me do heavy chores every day. Look at Xiao Yuan Zhi’s hands, they are almost useless.”
The Empress’ mouth twitched slightly and after watching the two for a while, she shook her head helplessly and left with Fang Yi. Only when the two left the hall did Fang Yi ask: “Why did Your Highness leave just like that? Why not stay for a while? The Emperor summoned you to be his caretaker.”
“Since when did I come to be the caretaker.” The Empress sighed: “He only wanted to borrow this one’s hand to get that Eunuch out. He had been together with that Eunuch for so many years, his feelings for that Eunuch are deeper than for anyone else. It’s good too, let him go over and re-iterate everything again. It’s likely that something will be remembered. I see that Zhang Yuan is harboring a lot of anger. It is best that under his influence, he would be able to push Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu away from the Emperor’s side, saving the Emperor from being unable to recognise his close family once again.”
The Emperor was truly unable to recognise his close family, not mentioning being unable to recognise Zhang Yuan, even the Ninth Prince whom he favoured the most in the past was not recognised. Zhang Yuan slumped over at the side of the bed, showing the Emperor his hands which were even slightly uglier than a chicken’s foot, speaking while crying: “This servant was greatly bullied in the Department of Guilty Servants, they all said that the Emperor did not want This servant anymore and wanted to beat This servant to death.”
Looking at Zhang Yuan’s hands, the Emperor’s heart ached! He shouted angrily: “Which damn son of a bitch dared to bully Our Xiao Yuan Zhi? Ah, Xiao Yuan Zhi! When you were at Our side, We did not even bear to order you around like this, sometimes when We see that you are tired, We always poured Our own tea, just so you can sneakily close your eyes for a while. Why do the people at the Department of Guilty Servants dare to treat you this way? And! Xiao Yuan Zhi, tell Us, who banished you to the Department of Guilty Servants? All of them said that it was Our idea, and even the Empress said so, but why don’t We remember at all? What kind of huge mistake did you make for Us to be that cruel? Could it be that you caused an uprising? If not, We would not have been that angry! Last year, We remember that in order to stop Us from drinking too much, you secretly broken a dozen vats of good quality alcohol, after We found out later, We did not do much to you, why did We get so angry this time?”
Zhang Yuan wiped away his tears, and spoke in an aggrieved tone: “Your Majesty really does not remember? It was that Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu who slandered this servant and said This servant chased her away. She tried to hang herself in Cun Shan Palace, and as she obtained Your Majesty’s pity, this also stoked Your Majesty’s anger. Because of Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu, Your Majesty sent This servant to the Department of Guilty Servants in anger.”
“Because of Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu? The Emperor tried to best to remember, his head throbbing, then he mumbled to himself: “We don’t know what is wrong recently, We always forget things, such as what We did yesterday, We have already forgotten it today……” He thought a little and said again: “It’s not like We forget everything, everything with regards to beloved concubine Yuan and Mo-er, We remember those very well. That’s right, it is the first day of the New Year tomorrow, We don’t know if We can recover, We definitely cannot delay the banquet on the first day of New Year, We still have to announce Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu being promoted to Imperial Concubine Gui at the banquet!”
The Emperor continued to talk to himself in a self-absorbed manner, saying one thing then hopping to the next. At the beginning, he was asking about Zhang Yuan, but later on, as he spoke, he would circle back to Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. He held Zhang Yuan’s hand, saying: “Xiao Yuan Zhi, you do not know this, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu is a considerate person. During these days, she had thankfully been keeping Us company. Our body is getting worse and worse, and Our memory is not good. Do you know those old sayings, a person, when there comes a day when he starts to become unable to remember things, his life is close to coming to an end. They said bad memory, but that just refers to having a muddled mind. Our mind is all muddled, so tell me, how many more days can We live?”
Zhang Yuan hated that Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu so much that he gritted his teeth. He did not know martial arts and did not have the ability, else he would definitely rush to Cun Shan Palace and kill Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. At most, he would just lose his life as a consequence, he was not afraid as long as the old Emperor was alright. But now, after not having seen each other for a few days, what state was the old Emperor in? Zhang Yuan felt aggrieved, he told the Emperor: “Your Majesty should not say such things, what do you mean by how many more days can you live? The Emperor is ‘10,000 years’! 10,000 years, you understand? Do not fear having a bad memory, think about it slowly and the happenings of the past can all be remembered. Do not fear being sick, if the imperial physicians in the imperial palace are no good, let’s ask from outside the place, isn’t there Princess Yu? Whatever illness in her hands can all be cured! What are you afraid of?”
The Emperor was stunned, “Princess Yu? Who is Princess Yu? Saying this, he thought of himself for a while, then came back to his senses, saying: “Oh, Old Ninth is Prince Yu, Princess Yu is his wife. We remember, his wife’s medical skills are rather good, but beloved Concubine Shu seems to dislike her, We better not make beloved Concubine Shu unhappy. You don’t know this, Xiao Yuan Zhi, We are only living for the sake of Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. Only when We see her, Our mood would be good, you don’t understand this feeling.”
“This servant does not understand.” Zhang Yuan truly hated Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu to the core, “This servant only remembers that the person Your Majesty keeps thinking about in the past was Her Highness Imperial Concubine Yun. You loved Imperial Concubine Yun for more than 20 years, why did you change your mind so suddenly? This change is too fast. Your Majesty, can you still remember Her Highness Imperial Concubine Yun in the Winter Moon Palace?”
Zhang Yuan finally mentioned Imperial Concubine Yun, then widened his eyes to watch the Emperor’s reaction, expectant yet worried. Expecting that he could remember something after mentioning Imperial Concubine Yun while worrying that the Emperor’s reaction would be too strong, resulting in a headache.
But this time, he was disappointed, when the Emperor heard Imperial Concubine Yun, a flash of being in a trance appeared on his face, and he asked in return: “Imperial Concubine Yun? In Winter Moon Palace?” Then he shook his head, “This is bad, We can’t really remember. There are too many people in the palace, in Our heart, there is only Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu, We are not willing to think about other people, can you understand?” He even pointed as his own head as he spoke, “Sometimes when We think too much, there will be a pain just like a bug inside biting Us. We do not like it, so We just stop thinking about it.”
Zhang Yuan was disappointed, he knew, it was not that the Emperor really forgotten Imperial Concubine Yun, and it was not that the Emperor had no reaction when Imperial Concubine Yun was mentioned. It was because this old Emperor chose not to think about it. He knew that his head would hurt, so he did not even want to think about it, automatically filtering it out.
Zhang Yuan could not think about any solution for now, so he could only lean next to the mattress to keep the Emperor company. He listened to the Emperor mumble about one thing and the next. Most of it had to do with Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu and the Eight Prince, he did not like listening to it, so he would interrupt occasionally, and the two of them ended up recovering a little bit of the atmosphere they had in the past.
There were not many secrets in the Imperial Palace, especially under the strict lock-down of the Eight Prince, the news of Zhang Yuan returning to Zhao He Hall quickly reached Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu’s Cun Shan Palace. At this moment, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu had already changed into her sleeping clothes and was sitting on the mattress. Yue Xiu was currently handing her a bowl of cooked blood-red bird nest to drink. When Eunuch Rong Zhen, who had a limp, sent this news over, she was so angry that the bowl of blood-red bird nest fell on the floor.
Zhang Yuan’s return caused Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu to feel a strong sense of danger, she even felt that this matter was going to collapse and that the old Emperor could no longer be controlled. But Rong Zhen immediately said: “Though that Zhang Yuan returned, but the Emperor still spoke of good things about Your Highness. Even when that Zhang Yuan mentioned Imperial Concubine Yun, the Emperor did not show any particularly strong emotion.”
“Oh?” Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu perked up after hearing this and quickly asked: “He did not get a headache when Imperial Concubine Yun was mentioned?”
Rong Zhen shook his head, “No, Your Highness does not have to worry.”
“Can this one really not worry?” Imperial Concubine sighed again, and waved her hand, dismissing Rong Zhen and letting him leave. Then she curled up in her mattress and spoke: “I’m worried!” and raised her head again, suddenly telling Yue Xiu: “You can go out first! This one wishes to soak in the bath and does not need anyone to wait on me.”
