Chapter 54: The Story Has Gone Astray

“So happy, are you?”
The sudden voice pierced straight through Huarong’s eardrums.
A moment ago, her heart had brimmed with joy, but now her face stiffened, and the sickle in her hand froze mid-air. That voice… it sounded strangely familiar!
“How… why is there a man’s voice here?” Huarong spun around abruptly, only to meet Jun Yeli’s intense gaze directly.
His handsome face appeared before her, so close it set her heart racing and left her flustered, unsure how to respond.
“Your… Your Majesty!” Huarong felt her heart jolt violently. She dropped to the ground in fright, swallowing hard as her mind buzzed, “Why are you here?”
“Why not? You’re my consort. I heard you were ill, so I came to see you. Who would have thought you’d be so lively and spirited? Quite impressive, really!”
Jun Yeli’s mind replayed the tune he’d just heard—“A good day, truly a good day indeed!”
The more he thought about it, the more it irked him. How incompetent must he be for his own wife to despise him so?
Hearing these words, Huarong realized instantly that things had taken a bad turn. Hastily, she feigned a cough, clenching her fist to her lips. “Cough, cough… Your Majesty, please allow me to explain. I’m suffering from internal injuries, so I only appear well on the surface. Happiness is the best medicine!”
Heaven knew what nonsense she was spouting, but if she could bluff her way through, so be it.
“Do you take me for a fool?” Jun Yeli’s expression turned icy in a flash, his cold voice sharp enough to pierce the soul, striking fear that bordered on despair.
“No, Your Majesty, please let me explain, I really didn’t mean—”
Huarong wrung her hands, her mind racing with frantic calculations. “I’m doomed, doomed… is this a crime of deceiving the emperor?”
Yet, to her surprise, Jun Yeli didn’t seem intent on making a scene over this. In fact, he seemed relieved she wasn’t truly ill.
He withdrew something from his sleeve—a pair of jade scepters—and placed them before Huarong. “Tell me, what are these?”
At a glance, Huarong recognized the two red agate stones inlaid upon them—rare treasures indeed, and the very wedding gift she had sent!

She stared in stunned silence, examining them closely. “Were they counterfeit? Did he come here just to confront me?”
Otherwise, why would he return such fine items?
After a careful inspection, Huarong hurried to explain, “Your Majesty, these were a wedding gift from my father, symbolizing a hundred years of harmony. I had no idea they were forgeries. Please forgive me!”
Whatever the truth, pleading guilty first was always the safest route.
But the mention of a forgery made Jun Yeli’s anger boil up, nearly choking him, threatening to burst forth like a dragon’s flame.
Clenching his fists, he ground out, “Huarong, are you growing more brazen because I favor you? Is it the authenticity that concerns me? Of all days, why would you send such a thing? Which other consort would behave as you do?”
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. If only Huarong had the slightest interest in vying for favor like the others, he wouldn’t be so incensed.
“What do you mean? Not offering blessings on our wedding day—should I have sent a curse instead?” Huarong muttered to herself, feeling the emperor’s heart was truly unfathomable. Whatever she did seemed to be wrong.
A wave of grievance washed over her. “It was, after all, my father’s gift—meaningful in every sense. Now I’ve only given it to Your Majesty.”
“Wait!” Huarong suddenly looked up, a thought striking her with alarm. “Is it because Your Majesty minds that it’s secondhand?”
It had come from her family, and though it was indeed a secondhand item, the sentiment behind it was genuine. In her home, after all, the most valuable things were the organic vegetables.
Jun Yeli crouched before Huarong, observing her with a mix of curiosity and impatience, as if she were plotting something else even now. “Are you truly so eager for me to be with someone else?”
Whether he meant it or not, his voice trembled with a hint of fear, as if dreading she might say yes.
The abruptness of the question left Huarong speechless, rooted to the spot, unsure how to reply. “I…”
When she looked up, Jun Yeli’s dark eyes were filled with hope and sincerity, stirring something indescribable within her.
She had meant to push him away, yet when the question was posed so earnestly, she felt an irresistible urge well up inside.

Almost against her will, she blurted out, “I… never had such an intention…”
Upon hearing this, Jun Yeli’s mood soared, and he nodded in satisfaction. “At least you know what you’d be missing. Since you feel that way, don’t send such absurd gifts again.”
With that, he pressed the pair of jade scepters firmly back into her hands, his voice softening as he smiled. “These aren’t fakes. And since your father sent them as a blessing, you should keep them safe. Don’t give them away so carelessly—or I’ll be angry.”
The smooth, exquisite jade scepters lay in her palms as Huarong stood there, dumbfounded, stealing a glance at Jun Yeli. “Your Majesty, you…”
“Remember this: in this palace, you are the most special to me. I do not wish for you to be the one most deeply hurt.”
As he spoke, Jun Yeli reached out and gently ran his fingers through her hair, the motion impossibly tender.
For a fleeting moment, a tremor ran through her heart, beating so wildly it threatened to burst free from her chest.
“What’s happening? This isn’t at all how I planned it! It shouldn’t be like this!”
By rights, they should have quarreled fiercely, parted ways, and never crossed paths again.
She’d escape the emperor’s clutches, no longer a thorn in the palace’s side, and live a peaceful, pastoral life…
She had planned it all so perfectly—so why did the story always veer so wildly from her intentions?
“Um, Your Majesty, let me explain…” Huarong’s lips moved. Hadn’t she given those scepters precisely to provoke him? Why couldn’t she say anything now?
“What is it you want to say?” Jun Yeli gazed at her, his handsome face serene, but his deep eyes radiated a compelling force.
“I… nothing.” Huarong shook her head. If you want to live, best keep quiet.