Volume One, Chapter 13: After Kissing Me, You Cast Me into the Cold Palace?
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A heavy weight settled in Xie Chanyan’s heart.
He recalled the secret report from the night, which stated that in her next life, her ties with Ye had been severed.
It said she was no longer favored, living as if treading on thin ice.
Her circumstances were strikingly similar to his own...
“Boom—”
At the instant the spring thunder roared outside the window, Ye Yuntang’s body trembled violently. She immediately covered her ears and shrank toward the bed’s inner side.
Her petite frame shook intensely, her face gradually draining of color...
Xie Chanyan glanced at the trembling little one, then stretched out a long arm to pull her into his embrace.
“What are you afraid of?”
“I... I’m scared... of thunder...”
Her voice trembled uncontrollably, laced with frightened sobs.
In her young heart, lightning and thunder were long intertwined with death.
It was on stormy nights like this that she could never forget the flickering lightning that illuminated her mother’s hanging body—a nightmare she could never shake from her life.
Every flash of lightning tore open the still unhealed wound, flooding her with a tide of terror.
“Troublesome.”
Xie Chanyan was no good at comforting others.
No one had ever comforted him; he had always relied on himself to heal.
Seeing her lips quivering so badly, he simply pressed his lips against hers, his large hand cradling her head.
The masculine scent enveloped her, causing Ye Yuntang’s heart to beat wildly.
A blush spread across her face like mountain flowers in spring; instinctively, she held her breath, frozen in place.
She forgot to be afraid, forgot the shadows that haunted her mind...
Lost in his tender yet passionate kiss, her heart sank deep.
At first, Xie Chanyan had only found her incessant crying irritating, viewing her as timid and useless.
He had merely intended to silence her lips to calm her down, but the little girl’s lips turned out to be soft and sweet.
Addictive to the point that he couldn’t help but want to draw from them fiercely and deeply.
His kiss grew more forceful, leaving Ye Yuntang gasping for air.
At the height of passion, a strange metallic taste rose in his throat, and he abruptly pushed her away!
Ye Yuntang, still in a daze, heard him harshly say, “The Empress has acted improperly; from this day forward, she is to be punished to the cold palace to reflect behind closed doors!”
Ye Yuntang: “...”
What on earth?!
He just kissed her, and now he’s turning his face away like he doesn’t know her?
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Before Ye Yuntang could utter a word, Xie Chanyan’s cold and ruthless figure hurriedly disappeared into the Jiao Fang Hall.
Ye Yuntang was utterly exasperated!
So hard to seduce!
She had thought it was the awakening of love, but it turned out to be a disaster!
At dawn, she was escorted by the eunuchs, carrying a mulberry branch, and sent to the cold palace.
Upon reaching the cold palace gates, several palace maids approached with arrogant expressions, crushing her last thread of hope.
Everyone in the palace was a master of climbing the social ladder, especially toward someone like her who had just soared to the top only to fall into the mud—it was inevitable she would be subjected to ridicule and disparagement.
One of the maids, dressed somewhat more extravagantly, walked forward with a proud look, supporting another maid’s hand.
The eunuch escorting Ye Yuntang quickly stepped forward with a smile.
“It’s Aunt Jin Yu. We won’t proceed any further; the two of them will be left under your care, Aunt.”
“Hmm,” Jin Yu nodded arrogantly, then turned to scrutinize Ye Yuntang from head to toe.
“So, you’re the new Empress?”
Ye Yuntang straightened her back, showing no trace of despair on her face. “And?”
Seeing that she neither fawned nor lowered herself, Jin Yu’s face instantly darkened. She glared at Mulberry Branch and said, “That maid must be from outside the palace, no wonder she knows nothing of the palace rules. Bring someone to teach her the rules!”
Ye Yuntang immediately shielded Mulberry Branch behind her. “She is my maid; it’s none of your business to teach her!”
Jin Yu sneered, mocking, “Oh! You truly think you’re the Empress? Look at you, you’ll be short-lived. Do you deserve the title?”
Mulberry Branch retorted angrily, “Who are you calling short-lived? You look like a bitter, ill-fated woman. Our Empress is noble and precious; how dare you be so insolent!”
Seeing Ye Yuntang and her party remain so arrogant even in such a dire situation, Jin Yu raised her hand and struck toward Mulberry Branch’s face.
Ye Yuntang’s eyes were sharp; she stepped forward swiftly and caught Jin Yu’s palm.
Her voice was cold and icy as she said, “His Majesty only ordered me to the cold palace to reflect behind closed doors. Has there been any word about depriving me of my position? Since not, I am still the Empress. How dare you act wantonly toward those by my side?”
Unexpectedly, instead of intimidating Jin Yu, these words added fuel to the fire, making her even angrier.
In a fit of rage, Jin Yu raised her other hand and swung hard.
Mulberry Branch, seeing no time to dodge, pushed her fiercely, sending her sprawling far to the ground!
Jin Yu hit hard, snarling, “Standing there waiting to die? Hurry and seize them! Today, I’ll let them know who truly rules the cold palace!”
As she finished speaking, the other palace maids immediately surrounded them.
But at this critical moment, a hoarse, aged voice commanded, “All of you, stop!”
Ye Yuntang looked up and saw an elderly nanny, nearly fifty, slowly approaching amid a group of palace maids and eunuchs.
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Jin Yu was firmly restrained, her hands bound tightly by a close eunuch beside the elderly nanny.
“Who dares stop me?!” Jin Yu shouted furiously.
The elderly nanny’s voice was stern as she ordered, “Release her!”
Upon hearing the voice, Jin Yu turned her head, and upon recognizing the visitor, her face turned pale.
Her legs gave way, and she knelt straight down, begging repeatedly, “Nanny Zhou, have mercy!”
Nanny Zhou casually glanced at the blossoming branch extending beyond the wall and spoke slowly,
“This spring, the blossoms on this branch are exceptionally splendid.
Aunt Jin Yu, rather than pruning the branch properly here in the cold palace, you’re behaving so arrogantly—what’s your reasoning?”
Jin Yu, feeling guilty, said, “Nanny Zhou, I only wanted to discipline the newcomer well, fearing she wouldn’t understand the rules of the cold palace.”
Nanny Zhou didn’t even glance at her but smiled and said, “By that logic, the cold palace has become your exclusive domain, and you regard this old woman as nothing, as an insignificant ornament, haven’t you?”
“No, Nanny Zhou, you know I didn’t mean that.”
She looked at the trembling Jin Yu on the ground, then said, “Well then, since you have so much free time, I’ll find a suitable place for you!”
Her voice was not gentle, yet in this moment, every word struck the heart like a dagger.
Nanny Zhou looked up at the dazzling branch, “A branch won’t become a good tree unless pruned; a leaf won’t become a fine product without care. Jin Yu, you shall be confined to the urn chamber henceforth.”
Jin Yu’s face drained of color, and she collapsed, fainting immediately...
Mulberry Branch, seeing her faint, whispered, “What is the urn chamber?”
The eunuch beside Nanny Zhou explained, “As the name suggests, the urn chamber is a place where a living person is confined in a jar after having their limbs removed, half their body trapped inside, and daily poisoned to slowly erode them—neither dead nor alive, perpetually living in torment.”
Frightening!
Mulberry Branch jumped back in terror, immediately hiding behind Ye Yuntang.
Nanny Zhou said, “Bring her! Drag Jin Yu to her punishment!”
Silence fell all around; the shadow of death loomed over everyone.
Jin Yu, unconscious, was dragged away like a dead dog by several eunuchs.
Ye Yuntang’s mind was in chaos at this moment; the people of the palace were indeed ruthless, and the fear within her heart grew wildly like untamed weeds.
After all the troublemakers were escorted away, Nanny Zhou spoke again, “Just now, that vile maid Jin Yu committed a grave offense by disrespecting Your Highness, causing you great distress. This is a serious crime.”
Ye Yuntang nodded gently in response.
Nanny Zhou respectfully bowed to her, then said, “Although you have not been stripped of your title, your punishment to the cold palace is His Majesty’s intention for you to purify your mind and reflect. This punishment is necessary; please follow me inside, Your Highness.”