The Gilded Cage

Ribbon (2)

Chu Ning looked up into his shining eyes, her heart softened, and under the amazement and gaze of everyone, she reached out and put her hand into his palm in front of her eyes, “Okay, let’s go home.” The two boarded their carriage together and traveled towards Taiji Palace together.

The Qiannu Guard cleared the road, and Chengtian Gate was wide open. The carriages of the Emperor and the Empress drove in front, and the horses of the officials followed. They entered through Chengtian Gate together and did not stop until the Liangyi Hall where the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was held. The palace attendants welcomed everyone into the palace, the emperor and the empress sat down on their seats, and the officials in the underground stood at the bottom of the steps, lined up one by one, knelt down, and then made a grand ceremony, not only celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, but also congratulating them.

The Empress’s coronation was recorded. Chu Ning and Xiao Kezhi looked at each other and then raised their hands to signal everyone to stand up and sit down, then took up the wine glasses on the table, and drank with all the officials, and the ceremony was completed.

After a while, music and dancing sounded on the stage, transitioning from solemn and grand to cheerful and lively, gradually relaxing the atmosphere in the hall. During the banquet, countless officials and envoys came forward to congratulate the Emperor and Empress.

Chu Ning was also not very good at drinking. She usually goes to banquets and just tasted the wine, but today was different. She would not refuse anyone who toasted.

She became hazy from alcohol,  so Xiao Kezhi held the hand she was about to toast, took her . glass of wine, rushed over, and said with a smile, “The Empress is too weak to drink. Let me drink this glass for her. Thank you for your kindness.” After finishing speaking, he raised his head and drank it in one gulp. When the visitor saw that the Son of Heaven drank it himself, he didn’t dare to say more, so he hurriedly followed the watch to drink the wine in the glass, bowed in reverence and fear, and then turned and retreated.

“A’Ning, you are probably a little drunk.” Xiao Kezhi put down his wine glass, turned his head to look at Chu Ning’s rosy cheek, and couldn’t help stretching out his hand to touch it. It was really hot.

“Go down to rest for a while, and change your clothes, okay?” “Chu Ning’s cheeks were hot, and she couldn’t help rubbing against his palms.

It was rare for Xiao Kezhi to see her like this, so he couldn’t help laughing softly while beckoning Liu Kang to send someone to bring a bowl of hangover soup.

Leaving the main hall, the sound of singing, dancing, and laughter also became far away. There were people passing by in the corridor from time to time, but it seemed empty every day. With the cool autumn wind blowing through the hall, Chu Ning stood by the porch, closed her eyes, and quieted for a while, and finally felt quite clear in his mind.

“Can Your Highness still go?” Seeing that she was not moving, Cuihe thought she was too drunk to walk, so she was about to turn around and call for someone.

Chu Ning saw a familiar figure below. She took two quick steps and called out, “Brother!”

The figure with his back turned to look at her suddenly stopped, stood frozen under the light for a moment, then slowly turned around to face her.

It was indeed Zhao Yanzhou, whom she had not seen for many days. He lowered his eyelids, bowed slowly under the flickering light, and saluted her respectfully, “Today is Your Highness’s coronation ceremony, and I would like to express my congratulations to Your Highness.” Chu Ning approached him step-by-step without saying a word, stopped in front of him, looked at him for a moment, and then whispered, “Thank you, Brother.”

For some reason, since she entered Taiji Palace, she rarely saw him. Later, Xiao Yu was detained and imprisoned. When the truth came out, she also wanted to see him and sent someone to ask, but he refused. He said that he should not be close to the Empress.

After she heard the news, she went to pay homage to her uncle. She thought that her uncle’s spirit in the sky would be able to see her. She always felt that he was avoiding her intentionally, so he refused to see her.

“His Majesty told me that you were leaving for Jinzhou?”

“Thank you, Your Highness, for your concern.” Zhao Yanzhou lowered his eyes, facing her gentle and familiar greeting, his eyes trembled, but his tone was as calm and restrained as usual.

“When will you leave? ”

“Jinzhou is located on Hedong Road. Although it is not thousands of miles away from Changan, it took several days to travel back and forth. I will go to work and I will return after several years.”

He looked at her seriously and said solemnly, “Excuse me for being rude, A’Ning, don’t worry about me. It is a great opportunity for me to serve as a Sima* in Jinzhou. In the future, I will also be an upright and honest person who is dedicated to the people. Although Jinzhou is far away from Changan, the official position I want to take is closely related to the daily life of the people. As long as I work hard, I will be able to make some real achievements.

Chu Ning naturally understood that she had seen all the hard work and failure in the past two or three years. Now, when he mentioned his future career, his eyes were shining and full of childishness, and she was very happy for him.

At the same time, there were also faintly a few pangs of sadness.

He endured the tenderness in her eyes. Concerned, he gathered up a smile, “Brother is leaving tomorrow, I’m afraid it’s too late to see him off, so I can only wish you to remember to come back often.”

Zhao Yanzhou’s forbearing eyes trembled again, countless turbulent emotions flashed through, and it finally turned into a relaxed and relieved smile

“Well, His Majesty is here now, and I don’t have to worry about A’Ning anymore, but as an elder brother, of course, I will come back to see.” He was an elder brother, and he was only an elder brother. He was satisfied to see her have a good home in this life.

“It’s getting late, Your Highness. Go and rest.” Looking at her like this, she probably wanted to go to the side hall to rest for a while, so he didn’t linger long, resumed the distance between the monarch and his subjects, and bowed by the side of the road. Her delicately embroidered shoes turned around and drifted away. When the autumn wind blew again, he slowly stood up straight and watched her getting smaller and smaller until she completely disappeared at the end of the corridor.

After disappearing at the end of the long corridor, he suddenly came back to his senses, turned around and walked towards the main hall. After just a few steps, he suddenly met Xiao Kezhi, who appeared behind me at some point.