Chapter 130: Forgetting Someone…
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That night, the moon shone bright and the stars were sparse...
A streak of radiance flew from Eternal Tranquility Palace into the heavens, bursting across the sky like fireworks. Flecks of luminous light drifted down along the moon’s pure glow, enveloping the entire capital.
It was breathtakingly beautiful...
Early the next morning, Zhu Hong, having regained his confidence, once again went to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility to pay his respects to his mother.
He did not bother asking the palace matron to announce him. Instead, he knocked on the bedchamber door himself and called out, “Your son has come to pay his respects to Her Majesty.”
“...”
Inside the bedchamber, the two people embracing one another as they slept on the phoenix couch slowly awoke at the sound. They exchanged a glance, and both jolted fully awake.
Xu Boqing stretched lazily and raised an eyebrow. “Our son has developed a habit of paying his respects?”
“It only started recently...”
“It is not a good habit. We will have to change it later.”
“...”
Empress Zhang frowned slightly as she dressed. Seeing him still lounging on the phoenix couch, she said anxiously, “Stop teasing me. Get dressed quickly. We must not let anyone see us like this...”
She then resumed her usual cool tone and called toward the door, “Hong’er, wait outside for a moment.”
Outside the bedchamber, Zhu Hong assumed that his mother had slept in and replied, “Your son understands...”
“I know Her Majesty is in a hurry, but there is no need to panic~”
Xu Boqing teased her once, then quickly dressed himself. He also helped the anxious beauty put on her clothes before pecking her lightly on the cheek.
By then, Empress Zhang was completely flustered. She glanced around her bedchamber, hurriedly seized him by the arm, and pulled him toward the wardrobe.
“Hide inside.”
“...”
Xu Boqing’s cheek twitched as he looked at the wardrobe. He wondered whether he would soon acquire yet another nickname—Xu the Wardrobe. He then pointed toward the window.
“I can leave through there.”
“What if someone sees you?”
“It will be fine...”
He had almost instinctively said, “I am very familiar with leaving through windows,” but then he suddenly remembered that he had never left through a window at the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility. Why, then, did he feel so familiar with it?
Why did it feel...
As though he had forgotten something?
He was briefly lost in thought, but soon smiled unconcernedly.
“As long as I do not wish to be discovered, there should be no one in the imperial palace capable of finding me.”
With that, he pecked her on the lips. Then, moving like the wind, he vaulted through the window and vanished in an instant.
“...”
Empress Zhang hurried to the window and looked outside. When she saw his figure disappear in the blink of an eye, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She tidied the traces left inside the bedchamber, then brought the censer to the bedside and blew gently over it. Only after confirming that no suspicious evidence remained did she sit before the dressing table and restore her usual icy composure.
“Come in.”
“Yes...”
After entering the bedchamber and seeing his mother seated before the dressing table, Zhu Hong bowed respectfully.
“Your son pays his respects to Her Majesty.”
“Mm.”
Empress Zhang repeatedly inspected herself in the mirror. Only after confirming that nothing was amiss did she turn around. Then, as though she had thought of something, she drew her brows together slightly.
“Unless it is necessary, you need not come here to pay your respects every day in the future.”
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“Ah...”
Zhu Hong was slightly taken aback. Unsure what he had done to displease his mother, he asked hesitantly, “Mother, have I done something wrong?”
“You have done nothing wrong.”
Empress Zhang glanced at him, as though recalling something.
“It is merely that I am somewhat tired today.”
“Your son understands.”
Remembering what his mother had said the previous day, Zhu Hong asked tentatively, “Mother, what did Chief Eunuch Xu say?”
“Have I ever deceived you?”
“Chief Eunuch Xu agreed?”
“Mm.”
Empress Zhang nodded faintly. Seeing that her child had regained his confidence, she hesitated for a moment before recounting, in broad outline, what Xu Boqing had told her the previous day.
The more Zhu Hong listened, the more alarmed he became. When he heard that Deng Jian was in the hands of his third brother, Zhu Wenjing, and that Jie Honghua was very likely in the hands of his second brother, Zhu Wenyu, his face paled.
His lips trembled as he said bitterly, “Mother, then... does that mean I will never have a chance to rise again?”
“Never have a chance to rise again?”
Empress Zhang gave a cold laugh. Remembering the promise that thief had made after attaining complete satisfaction in both body and spirit the night before, she said, “You are underestimating me—and you are underestimating Xu Boqing even more.”
“...”
Zhu Hong was slightly bewildered, unable to understand the deeper meaning behind her words.
Empress Zhang merely gave him a general account of what Xu Boqing intended to do and left the rest unexplained.
“What you must do now is nothing. It would be better to do absolutely nothing than to make a mistake.”
“...”
Zhu Hong knew that others held evidence against him, and he also understood the hidden meaning in his mother’s words.
He immediately nodded solemnly.
“Your son understands what he must do. Until Chief Eunuch Xu has dealt with those few vulnerabilities, the only thing your son can do is wait!”
“Mm. Just wait.”
After hesitating for a moment, Empress Zhang continued, “Chief Eunuch Xu has plans of his own and will not have much contact with you for the time being. But if you encounter him in the future, you must respect him as you would a teacher or a father. Do you understand?”
“Your son understands.”
Zhu Hong spoke with solemn respect. “Chief Eunuch Xu is farsighted and resourceful. Helping your son lift the prohibition was already an enormous kindness; now he has even taken responsibility for resolving your son’s hidden troubles. Your son naturally ought to treat him with respect.”
“Mm. Do not mention this to anyone else.”
Empress Zhang nodded faintly. She had slept poorly the previous night and was now feeling drowsy again, so she waved her hand.
“You may leave. I am tired.”
“Your son takes his leave.”
...............
After leaving the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, Xu Boqing rubbed his lower back and thought to himself that he had been rushing things rather desperately. Over the past two days, he had either been satisfying the Empress Dowager or the Empress. Although his body did not feel tired, the psychological burden still made him feel somewhat drained.
He needed restraint. He truly needed restraint.
Suddenly, he seemed to remember something. He stopped in his tracks, furrowing his brows as he counted through the events he had experienced since returning to the capital.
First, upon returning to the capital, he had seen that the Great Liang dynasty’s fortune had vanished.
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Then he had wandered around the capital, but found nothing.
After that, he had gone to the Prince of Jing’s residence in search of Deng Jian’s whereabouts. He had failed to find Deng Jian, but had instead been forced by the Prince of Jing’s young sister-in-law to drink two cups of milk tea.
On his way back to the palace, he had encountered Zhu Wenjing, who had invited him to a banquet. After returning to the palace, he had satisfied Empress Dowager Chen. The next day, Empress Zhang and Noble Consort Zhou had visited him one after the other.
Then he had accepted Noble Consort Zhou’s invitation, and Empress Zhang had left in anger... Then... then...
Then he had gone to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility that night?
Xu Boqing was slightly lost in thought.
He always felt as though he had forgotten something.
Could it be because the past two days had consumed too much of his energy?
He shook his head and did not dwell on it. Yet as he passed the Palace of Eternal Tranquility, he stopped once more, staring blankly at a noble consort seated on a swing in the garden.
Her face was as charming as a peach blossom in the third month of spring, and her pair of exquisite, almond-shaped eyes were strikingly beautiful.
When the noble consort seemed to notice him as well, she smiled at him. For some reason, his heart suddenly panicked, and he hurried away without looking back.
The noble consort seated on the swing merely watched his retreating figure with a radiant smile. Deep in her eyes lay what seemed to be endless reluctance and helplessness.
That noble consort looked familiar...
Had he seen her somewhere before?
But he had no acquaintances in the Palace of Eternal Tranquility. As for Noble Consort Zhou, he had only formally met her for the first time yesterday.
Yet if this truly was their first meeting...
Why did she seem so familiar?
Xu Boqing returned to the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility with his brows tightly knit. All along the way, he could not determine the source of that strange sense of familiarity.
Even after returning to the palace, he continued thinking about it while lying in a chair.
Seeing him so troubled, Empress Dowager Chen asked in confusion, “What has kept you frowning for so long?”
“...”
Xu Boqing hesitated. Then he remembered that the Empress Dowager had lived in the palace for many years and knew all the women of the imperial harem. He therefore described the appearance of the noble consort he had encountered on the way.
“The Palace of Eternal Tranquility... a noble consort... almond-shaped eyes?”
Empress Dowager Chen furrowed her brows and thought for a while.
“I recall that there is a Noble Consort Liu in the Palace of Eternal Tranquility. She has a pair of delicate, alluring eyes. She should be the woman you saw.”
“Noble Consort Liu... Noble Consort Liu...”
Xu Boqing muttered the name with his brows drawn together. The more he repeated it, the more familiar it sounded, yet he truly could not remember ever knowing such a noble consort.
It was as though...
As though he had forgotten something important. The sensation was deeply strange.
“Your Majesty, do you know Noble Consort Liu?”
“What?”
Empress Dowager Chen blinked, looking somewhat bewildered. Then she knitted her brows and considered the question for a moment.
“I know all the women in the imperial harem, but I am not personally acquainted with many of them... As for Noble Consort Liu, I truly do not know her well...”