The queen is sober in the world, and she is winning every step of the palace fight.

"Your Majesty, this makeup is simply a reflection of my current state of mind and has no name. If you must give it a name, it might as well be called 'Ice Skin and Jade Bone Makeup'."

Si Fei lowered her eyes again, her expression and voice were indifferent and cold.

She had neither the dignity and grace of when she was the queen, nor the paranoia and tact of when she was the concubine Si. Instead, she was only indifferent and cold.

He seemed unconcerned about being summoned today.

Don't care about your appearance.

He didn't care whether his answer would please the emperor.

The emperor raised his eyebrows. "Skin as icy as jade?"

A faint smile played on the corner of his mouth. "A woman is thin and fair, but when these four words are used, you are not a thin person, Si Fei."

"These four words refer to the heart, not the outer skin. If the heart is pure and untainted by the mundane world, then one can have skin and bones as white as ice and jade. If the heart is troubled, even if one becomes as thin as a skeleton, one will only have bones of resentment, and there will be no beauty like ice and jade." Si Fei answered calmly.

The jade hairpin in her hair shone coolly in the candlelight, looking otherworldly and ethereal, as if confirming her words.

"So, you think your mind is pure and untainted now? Why are you still sending notes and writing love poems to me to seek my favor?"

The emperor's question was somewhat sharp.

I had originally planned to summon Concubine Ying today, but Concubine Bai Risi passed a piece of flowery paper to me through the imperial eunuch. The background was light green and the handwriting was elegant. It read:

A few bamboos and a few banana leaves will be my daily routine for the rest of my life.

The Qingliang Palace where Concubine Si lives is planted with bamboos, and there is also a banana tree in front of her window. This sentence can be considered a realistic description of the scenery.

The emperor recognized it at once as a paraphrase of a poem about longing. The original text read, "Melancholy clouds hang thin, rain falls softly, dusk returns morning. Since we parted, the green of my eyebrows has faded, the fragrance of my jade wrists has faded. I sit alone in my small pavilion, yearning for you, feeling so bored. A clump of daylilies, a few slender bamboos, a few banana leaves."

It describes the loneliness of a woman who is in love.

He then summoned Concubine Si to see him and told someone to inform Concubine Ying that she didn't need to come tonight.

Unexpectedly, when Concubine Si entered the palace, she was aloof and cold, without any sign of longing for his lover, which was a bit surprising.

In response to the emperor's pointed questioning, Concubine Si replied, "I had no intention of seeking favor. It was simply my state of mind at the time. Seeing the banana tree reminded me of Your Majesty, so I wrote it down truthfully. I wanted Your Majesty to know, so I sent someone to deliver it to the emperor. After that, everything has nothing to do with me anymore."

"I summoned you here, and it has nothing to do with you." The emperor said in a cold voice, "Then will seeing me ease your longing for you?"

"As soon as I've written this flowery note and sent it off, my longing for you has been alleviated. I have no further requests. Your Majesty has summoned me tonight. If it is to alleviate my longing for you, then I bow my head in gratitude."

As Concubine Si spoke, she knelt on the ground and kowtowed, then stood up without waiting for the emperor to tell her to.

"Now that I have seen you, I will take my leave. From now on, I will continue to pray for Your Majesty every day and wish you continued good health."

She had a calm expression on her face. She bowed slightly, took a few steps back respectfully, and then turned and left.

Be calm and don't be greedy.

"Stand."

The emperor tried to stop him, his voice filled with anger.

Concubine Si looked back calmly: "Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions?"

The emperor sat up straight from the dragon couch, crossed his knees, and looked at her. His eyes were as deep as a cold pond, as if they could penetrate people's hearts.

Sifei's eyes met his.

After a moment, Jingjing lowered her eyes.

There was a long silence inside the room.

I don’t know how long it took, but Si Fei curled the corners of her mouth slightly, looking self-deprecating.

"Your Majesty, why won't you let me go, yet you remain silent? Does my presence bother you? With a new queen about to be appointed, I, the deposed queen, still in the palace, must be an eyesore."

She straightened herself and turned around to face the emperor again.

"Then I will ask to leave the palace. Your Majesty..." She took a deep breath and stared at the emperor. "If Your Majesty still remembers our past friendship, please allow me to become a nun in the nunnery attached to the Daxiangguo Temple in the capital. If Your Majesty really cannot tolerate me, then, even if it's a distant land or a remote seaside cliff, you can send me to practice anywhere. I will have no complaints!"

She spread her arms, her wide sleeves fluttering, and bowed her head to the ground again.

The back is bent, but there is a proud posture.

"When I left, the willows swayed. Now I come back, and the rain and snow fall. From now on, we are no longer in touch. The spring mountains are like indigo and the grass is like smoke. The orchids are about to bear fruit, but whose karma is deeper now? The brocade water flows, and I bid you farewell forever!"

"Good, a good farewell to you."

Suddenly, there was praise from outside the door.

Concubine Qing and Fei Wan walked in, one on each side, supporting Concubine Hui, who was walking unsteadily.

The one who spoke was Concubine Qing.

She still had the Buddhist beads wrapped around her wrist, but her expression was not as gentle as usual. After entering the room, she glanced at Si Fei coldly, full of contempt.

Concubine Hui was even more furious. If she hadn't been covered in injuries and hadn't recovered her strength yet, she would have rushed up and beaten Concubine Si.

Only Fei Wan remained calm, but her expression was also very serious.

The three of them came before the emperor and paid their respects.

Concubine Si was still kneeling on the ground and had not yet stood up. When she saw the three people come in and the emperor did not seem to ask why, a look of confusion appeared on her face.

"Your Majesty, do you have an appointment with your three sisters? In that case, I will not disturb you any longer and will take my leave now."

She got up to leave.

Concubine Hui picked up an ornament from the table next to her and threw it at her, hitting her on the shoulder.

"ah!"

Si Fei fell to the ground, covering her shoulders and frowning in pain.

"Concubine Hui, what are you doing? I've just asked to leave the palace. We won't see each other again. Can't we just write off the past grudges? Why dwell on resentment while we're alive?"

Concubine Hui was held back by Concubine Qing and Fei Wan. She was exhausted and couldn't bring herself to leave anything behind. Instead, she pointed at Concubine Si and cursed, "There's no grudge between you and me! Stop confusing things! Don't you know why you were beaten? Why are you pretending to be confused? You still want to run away from the palace? Don't dream on!"

She wanted to curse again, but she had not recovered from her serious injury and her face turned pale after a few angry words. Fei Wan held her hand, turned his back to the emperor, and stopped her with a stern look.

Concubine Hui stopped talking, panting.

The emperor gave seats to the three of them. Fei Wan settled Concubine Hui and Concubine Qing, but she herself did not sit down out of courtesy. She stood beside the emperor and handed him tea.

Concubine Si looked at them suspiciously.

Frowning in thought for a moment, she examined Fei Wan and said, "Noble Consort Qing and Consort Hui were indeed kind to me in the past, but they are acting like this today... Consort Zhao, could it be that you can't let go of your grudge against me and are instigating things again?"

"Zheng, if you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself."

Fei Wan waited for the emperor to drink two sips of tea before placing the teacup back on the tea table, more smoothly than the most useful palace maid in front of the emperor. However, facing Concubine Si, she did not show any servility or weakness, and her eyes were cold and icy.

She said, "You secretly colluded with the King of Nanyu of Qu State, leading 50,000 enemy troops south to invade the capital, causing great disaster, countless innocent souls and casualties, and even nearly harming His Majesty. Now you are here pretending to be pure and innocent, and even asking to leave the palace on your own, intending to escape. Zheng, how can you be so cruel, treacherous, terrifying, and shameless!"