Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace: Fawning

Inside the Yikun Palace, the scent of sandalwood curled in the air, yet it couldn't mask the stagnation and oppression that permeated the air. Ruyi, dressed in a bright yellow formal attire, sat at the table, her slender fingers gently caressing the teacup, her gaze unfocused, like an exquisite jade sculpture, beautiful yet cold.

Quietly waiting for Hongli to arrive.

"This servant has greeted His Majesty—"

The clear voice of Nanny Jingqi outside the door broke the silence in the hall. Ruyi's heart trembled suddenly, and a glimmer of hope flashed in her clear eyes, but she quickly controlled her emotions, slowly stood up, and still maintained her elegance and dignity.

Hongli strode into the room with big strides. The gold thread on his dragon robe shone coldly in the candlelight. His handsome face was shrouded in a layer of haze, and he looked Ruyi up and down with sharp eyes.

The two hadn't seen each other for many days. Although Ruyi missed Hongli very much, she still refused to bow her head in front of her beloved. Ruyi forced a faint smile and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, may you be well."

Hongli said calmly, "Get up."

Hongli sat down naturally. Ruyi raised her hand feeling a little embarrassed. If it were in the past, Hongli would definitely lend her a hand, but now... did he really believe those rumors and no longer trust her?

Li Yu lowered his head and presented the red sandalwood brocade box in his hand to Hongli, "Your Majesty?"

"Yes." Hongli took the brocade box, but did not hand it to Ruyi. Instead, he placed it on the table. He looked at Ruyi, his deep eyes locked on her tightly. "You all should leave. The Imperial Noble Consort must have something to say to me."

After everyone left, Hongli looked at Ruyi carefully. After not seeing her for many days, she had lost weight and seemed to have become more haggard.

Ruyi comes from an aristocratic family. Hongli felt sorry for her previous experience in the cold palace, and to appease her, he gave her the most magnificent Yikun Palace in the harem. However, Ruyi was proud of her noble character and never bowed to him. There were few women with such blood in the palace, so he looked up to Ruyi with special respect.

Hongli was not unaware of Ruyi's grievances. He said coldly, "Royal Concubine, you have worked hard these days."

Ruyi's heart sank suddenly. Could it be that in Hongli's eyes, she was the only one who suffered?

She was wronged and had many grievances in her heart that she wanted to tell Hongli, but his casual words made Ruyi feel that Hongli still doubted her in his heart and suspected that she had an affair with Master Anji.

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she still held on, refusing to show weakness. "Your Majesty, it's nothing for me to be wronged. Since you are willing to come to Yikun Palace to see me, you must have some concerns about this matter."

Hongli raised his eyebrows and placed the word "Shou" on the table. "The Imperial Noble Consort took advantage of the Wanshou Festival and imitated my handwriting to send this to me. Isn't it because she wanted to see me? Now I am in front of you, please tell me what you want to say."

Ruyi knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I have done all this just to tell you that since I can imitate your handwriting, then others can certainly imitate mine. What does a letter or a bracelet mean? Furthermore, Master Anji and I have never met before, so how can there be any talk of an affair? Someone must be trying to frame me, Your Majesty."

Ruyi looked directly into Hongli's eyes, her tone calm and firm, without a trace of panic.

Hongli sat quietly, as if thinking. After a long pause, he slowly spoke, "Royal Consort, I and you have been childhood sweethearts and have known each other for decades. It is not difficult for you to imitate my handwriting. You protest your innocence, but besides the Keliyete family, who else knows you best? Could it be that Hai Ying ran away from the Yanxi Palace to frame you?"

Ruyi bit her lip. How could she not know? However, she had been confined to the Yiku Palace and had no way of finding out the truth. In addition, there was no one around her who could be used. She really didn't know how to clear her name.

Suddenly, her mind turned, and she said firmly, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten that Imperial Noble Consort Huixian framed me for the murder of the heir and that Imperial Noble Consort Chun wanted to compete for the throne? Now that I am an Imperial Noble Consort, my status is similar to that of the Vice Empress. It is inevitable that someone in the harem will attack me. I beg Your Majesty to examine everything and clear my name. If Your Majesty still does not believe me, then I will execute Master Anji and myself to prove my innocence."

Hongli pondered for a moment. Ruyi's words made sense. She was now Imperial Noble Consort, only one step away from becoming Empress. There was really no reason for her to be unfaithful at this time. However, they had made the rumors so convincing, with witnesses and physical evidence. In the face of such evidence, Ruyi's explanation seemed pale and powerless.

Hongli narrowed his eyes, a fierce look flashing across them, and said, "Are you threatening me? Do you really think I dare not kill you?"

Ruyi shook her head, the tassels on her hair swaying. "I dare not, Your Majesty. The soldiers in Jinchuan are in dire straits. You invited the Master to the palace to pray for the soldiers on the front lines. You appointed me Imperial Noble Consort, assisting in the management of the six palaces. I have never had any affair with the Master. Besides, the Master is also an accomplished monk, respected by you. How could he be obsessed with such a matter?"

Hongli sneered, "A high-ranking monk? Don't forget Xue Huaiyi."

Ruyi leaned back and barely managed to steady herself by supporting herself with her hands. She looked at the man in front of her who had once made a vow of eternal love to her, who had once cried in front of her, who had held her in his arms, who had made her her queen, and who had planned to share her life and death coffin with her. But now he was so cold and heartless to her, and an indescribable sadness and despair welled up in her heart.

He actually compared her to Wu Zetian, who was also a woman who kept male favorites.

"Your Majesty, I don't care what others think of me, but I care about you. Why don't you believe me? You even compare me with Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty, but you and I are not like Wu Zetian and Xue Huaiyi." Ruyi's voice trembled slightly, and a layer of mist welled up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let the tears fall.

Hongli looked at Ruyi's forbearance and felt a little softened. His tone softened a bit. "Ruyi, it's not that I don't trust you, but this matter is of great importance. I must get to the bottom of it."

As a monk, Anji Sangpo should have been free from desires and alone, but he touched the imperial concubine's hand in front of Hongli. If this were to get out, where would his face be?

"Investigate thoroughly?" Ruyi smiled bitterly. "Your Majesty, you and I have been friends since childhood, yet you refuse to give me even this little trust. You even had惢心 arrested and taken to the Ministry of Punishment for questioning. Is this really because of me? Or is it simply for your own sake, hoping to silence the gossips with an innocent life?"

Hongli was stung by Ruyi's words. He turned his face away, unwilling to meet her gaze. "So what? I am the Son of Heaven, the Emperor, and I should be admired by all. If you really did something shameful, where would my face be? If I didn't send惢心 to the Ministry of Punishment, how could the rumors in the palace disappear? Imperial Concubine, I am still keeping Master Anji, which is already a great favor from the court. Don't push your luck."

Ruyi stood up and glared at Hongli angrily. She didn't understand why the young man who loved her in the past had disappeared. The current Hongli made her feel so strange.

In fact, Hongli and Ruyi have never changed. There have always been women around Hongli since he moved to the Qiandi Palace. Although there is only one principal wife and one concubine in the mansion, there have always been concubines and princesses. She disdains to be jealous and compete for favor with those women because she knows that the supporter behind her is the Ulanara family. The help of her aunt and the favor of Hongli always make her feel fearless.

Her aunt was deposed, the previous emperor died suddenly, Hongli ascended the throne, and Ruyi was punished by Zeng Huan to stay in the Qiandi Palace to observe mourning for three years. She was falsely accused of murdering the royal heir and imprisoned in the cold palace for three years. Until now, she had a secret meeting. She was afraid. There were always so many calculations in the harem, but she forgot that Hongli was the emperor, and there were more than one woman around him. Ruyi and they could never be a couple for life like ordinary couples.

Hongli looked up and met Ruyi's resentful eyes. He felt extremely uncomfortable. His brows were furrowed, and his tone was filled with a hint of disgust. "Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?"

Ruyi turned her head away and sneered, "I dare not. Since the emperor does not believe me, I have nothing to say."

Ruyi covered her aching heart.

She once thought that after Langya's death, there would be no more barriers between them. She was Hongli's only one. No matter how many women there were in the harem, they were not even one ten-thousandth as important to Hongli as she was. But it seems she was wrong. Langya died, but Hongli was like a demon. He wrote poems and paintings for Langya, preserved the Changchun Palace, ordered people to clean it every day, and called himself the Changchun Hermit. It seemed that Ruyi had won, but Langya became the white moonlight in Hongli's heart. Ruyi recalled carefully that Langya and Hongli used to respect each other and never had any conflicts. Even when Hongli suspected Langya from the beginning that she was the mastermind behind the murder of the heir, he never punished her. But why did Hongli want to put her under house arrest when she was just caught up in the rumors in the palace? She had thought about this question countless times in her mind, and only now did she understand that Hongli did not believe her at all.

His love for her was just like a dewdrop on a lotus leaf in the lake. Once it accidentally fell into the water, it disappeared without a trace. It was like an illusory dream. When he woke up, he could not catch anything except the tears on his pillow.

Ruyi suddenly laughed.