Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace: Fawning

The night was deep, and the moonlight, like water, gently sprinkled into the Yiku Palace, casting a hazy glow on the carved beams and painted buildings.

The palace maids and eunuchs of Yiku Palace filed out and knelt down to welcome the emperor.

Ruyi had already dressed up and was standing in the Yiku Palace waiting for Hongli's arrival.

Seeing Hongli enter, Ruyi hurriedly bowed, with an unconcealable joy on her face, "May the emperor be blessed with good health."

Hongli walked straight up to her, held out his hand to help Ruyi up, and said gently, "Get up."

He took Ruyi's hand and walked into the palace together. He looked at her tenderly and said softly, "Do you miss me?"

Ruyi smiled shyly, leaned lightly on Hongli's shoulder, and said shyly, "Your Majesty, I miss you all the time."

Hongli put his arm around Ruyi's slender waist, bent down and kissed her forehead, and said calmly and naturally: "Ruyi, the affairs of the court are very busy now, and I can't always be by your side. I'm sorry for letting you down."

Ruyi shook her head and smiled, "Your Majesty, you can take time out of your busy schedule to come and see me. I won't be wronged."

After the two of them were together for a while, Ruyi helped Hongli change his clothes. When Ruyi took off her hair accessories and clothes and was about to serve him in bed, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the palace.

Immediately afterwards, Li Yu rushed in in a panic, fell to his knees with a thud, and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, this is bad, the Seventh Prince..."

Li Yu's face was pale, his forehead was covered with sweat, and his voice was intermittent when he spoke. It was obvious that he was extremely frightened.

Hongli's heart trembled, and an ominous premonition came over him. He stood up suddenly and asked in a stern voice, "What happened to Yongcong?"

Li Yu was so frightened that his whole body trembled. He kowtowed quickly and said, "Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince...he has smallpox."

"What?" Hongli was struck by lightning, his face turned pale in an instant, his body swayed, and he almost fell.

Seeing this, Ruyi hurried forward to support Hongli and comforted him, "Your Majesty, it is important that you take care of your health."

Hongli didn't care about anything else. He pushed Ruyi aside and strode out of the palace. As he walked, he ordered, "Go to Changchun Palace, quickly."

Seeing this, Li Yu immediately stood up and followed.

"You bastards, how can you take care of the Seventh Prince? Li Yu has issued an order that all those servants who fail to serve him properly be dragged away and beaten to death."

Ruyi watched Hongli's anxiously departing figure. She slowly withdrew her gaze, called惢心 over, and said lightly, "惢心, please help me dress up."

惢心 glanced at Ruyi worriedly and asked softly, "My lady, are you going to Changchun Palace too?"

Ruyi smiled faintly, picked up the eyebrow pencil, and drew her eyebrows in front of the mirror. She said, "Of course I have to go. I haven't settled the score with the Empress for framing me and sending me to the cold palace."

惢心 said no more and hurried forward to help Ruyi dress up.

There was chaos in Changchun Palace.

When Hongli arrived, he saw Su Lian and Lian Xin supporting Langya. Langya had already cried so hard that her makeup was smudged, and she looked particularly embarrassed.

Yongcong was his only legitimate son. When he heard that Yongcong had contracted smallpox, he felt heartbroken and asked anxiously, "How is Yongcong?"

When Langya saw Hongli, she immediately threw herself into his arms, crying breathlessly, and said intermittently: "Your Majesty, save Yongcong..."

Hongli held Langya in his arms and looked at Qi Ru and Jiang Yubin with a frown, "What happened to Yongcong?"

Qi Ru and Jiang Yubin both knelt down, and Qi Ru said, "Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince has contracted smallpox. In order to prevent the smallpox from spreading to others, the Seventh Prince needs to be isolated and treated."

Upon hearing this, Hongli felt his vision go dark and he almost fainted. "Why would Yongcong get smallpox out of nowhere? Aren't those who got smallpox already cremated?"

Langya sobbed, "I have been very careful, but Yongcong, why did he still get smallpox?"

Hongli was furious. He turned around and roared at the eunuchs and palace maids kneeling on the ground, "You bunch of useless people! How did you serve me? Why did the Seventh Prince get smallpox? Tell me, what's going on?"

The eunuchs and palace maids were so frightened that they trembled and kowtowed to apologize.

Lian Xin wept and knelt on the ground, saying, "Your Majesty, the wet nurse who took care of the Seventh Prince got the smallpox, and the Seventh Prince drank her milk, so..."

Hongli held the grief-stricken Langya in his arms, feeling even more distressed. He took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and said in a deep voice, "Come here, pass on my order to send the Seventh Prince to Xiefang Palace for isolation. Without my order, no one except the imperial physician who is treating him is allowed to approach him."

Langya grabbed Hongli's hand and cried, "Your Majesty, Yongcong is still so young. He has never left me since he was born. Please let me go to Xiefang Palace to take care of Yongcong."

Hongli stopped her and said in a tired tone, "Empress, Yongcong's illness is under the care of the imperial physician. You can rest assured and stay in Changchun Palace."

He looked at Su Lian and Lian Xin and said, "Take good care of the Queen."

Upon hearing this, Langya could only lean in his arms and watch Yongcong being carried away. Tears flowed like pearls from a broken string, and she couldn't stop them.

By the time Ruyi finished dressing up and arrived at Changchun Palace in a sedan chair, Yongcong had already been taken to Xiefang Palace. With delicate makeup on, she walked up to the Emperor and Empress with a smile on her face, bowing. Although her face was expressionless, her eyes were raised. She said, "Your Majesty, is the Seventh Prince alright?"

Hongli said nothing, just staring at the clothes on Ruyi.

In the past, Ruyi always liked to wear dark clothes, which always looked out of place with the age of the concubines in the harem, like the old empress dowager in Shoukang Palace. Now that Yongcong is sick, she has started to wear brightly colored clothes. The more Hongli looked at her, the more dazzling he felt that her clothes were.

But at this time, Ruyi lost her tact and kept trying to move forward and hold Hongli's arm, completely ignoring Langya who was still crying.

Ruyi pouted and said coquettishly, "Your Majesty, since the Seventh Prince is fine, I will escort you back to Yikun Palace."

Looking at Ruyi's face, Hongli felt a little annoyed. He pulled his hand away and said with a droopy face, "Ruyi, please go back to the palace first. I have something else to do. I will go back to the Yangxin Palace first. I will visit you later in the Yikun Palace."

After saying this, he turned to Su Lian and Lian Xin and said, "Su Lian and Lian Xin, please take good care of the Queen."

Su Lian Lianxin responded.

Ruyi looked at Hongli's departing back and stomped her feet unwillingly.

Because Langya was worried about Yongcong, she was completely focused on him and naturally wouldn't bother with Ruyi.

Because she was worried about Yongcong, Langya knelt outside Xiefang Palace every day, without sleep, just to be closer to her son.

Seeing this, Lan Qi and Yan Wan would visit Langya every day, try to comfort her and bring her food. However, none of this could alleviate the anxiety and worry in Langya's heart.

Lan Qi knelt behind Lang Ya, holding up the lotus seed soup that Lian Xin had just brought from the imperial kitchen, and advised: "Empress, please eat a little. If you continue like this, you will collapse before the Seventh Prince recovers."

Yan Wan also advised from behind: "Yes, Queen, please eat a little."

Langya shook her head, holding onto the Xiefang Palace door with both hands. Her eyes were empty as she muttered to herself, "Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Will Yongcong be okay?"

Lan Qi put down her hands, which were aching so much. In her previous life, Yongcong died on the day before New Year's Eve, and this life would naturally be no exception.

Naturally, she would not tell Langya the truth, so she could only comfort her: "Yes, tomorrow is New Year's Eve, the beginning of a new year, which means all the pain will pass. Don't worry, Madam."

As soon as Lan Qi finished speaking, the eunuch's shouting was heard from Xiefang Palace.

Unfortunately, the news that came was still that of Yongcong's death.

"Seventh Prince passed away——"

Hear the news of Yongcong's passing.

All the eunuchs and palace maids knelt on the ground and cried.

Langya clutched the floor tiles tightly, her fingertips turning white, but she felt no pain at all. Only an endless chill spread from the bottom of her heart, quickly devouring her consciousness.

"Empress..." Su Lian and Lian Xin cried and tried to help Lang Ya up, but she pushed them away.

Langya's tears had long since dried up, leaving only empty eyes staring straight in the direction of Xiefang Palace.

She shook her head desperately, tears kept falling from her eyes. Langya collapsed on the ground, and suddenly her eyes went black and she fainted completely.

Her hopes were completely shattered with the news of his death, and the honor of her legitimate son, Fucha, was completely lost at this moment.