Jinwei joins hands in rebirth: villains can also eat at the table

Chapter 317 Enlightenment

Yongshou Palace and Yiku Palace are adjacent to each other, separated by only a palace wall. It seems like an unintentional arrangement of fate, but it also hides a web of entanglements from the past that cannot be severed.

Hai Lan was in a trance, her steps were unsteady, as if she was being pulled by an invisible force. Before she knew it, she was walking in front of Yiku Palace.

This palace carries my sister's decades of joys and sorrows. Every time I stepped into it in the past, I was always surrounded by familiar laughter and warm fragrance.

At this moment, she was full of longing, trying to find those precious memories that had been buried by the years among every brick and tile, and to find traces of her sister's existence.

But for more than a year, no one was interested in it. It seemed as if the Yiku Palace had lost its soul and its former popularity.

The vermilion-painted palace gate is covered with a light gray haze, and the copper lock is corroded, no longer showing its former majesty; the glazed tiles are dull and lifeless, like a pearl covered in dust, and it is difficult to see the glory of the past.

As you step into the courtyard, all you see is desolation, with weeds growing everywhere and wantonly occupying every inch of land. The autumn wind blows by, and the grass leaves rustle, making the place even more lonely and desolate.

With the last glimmer of hope, Hailan stepped into the main hall.

In an instant, her body froze, and the blood in her body seemed to freeze - the hall was empty, the dazzling furnishings of the past were gone, all the small items had been moved away, leaving only a few tables and chairs scattered alone, looking even more thin and desolate in this empty hall.

Hailan's eyes were red as she looked around, her heart and eyes filled with confusion. She murmured, "How could this be? Why is this place so empty..."

The voice echoed faintly in the deadly silent hall, but no one responded, leaving only endless loneliness.

The emptiness of the Yiku Palace was like a hideous wound, cutting straight into Hailan's heart. The cold wind whistled in, and the inside was instantly hollowed out.

The trivial daily life and intimate laughter of the past have disappeared without a trace like the foam on the spring day. In this world, it is difficult to find any trace of my sister's existence, as if she had never been in this world.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me! I was so blind that I failed to welcome your arrival. I deserve death!"

A sudden cry of panic broke the dead silence. It turned out to be the old nanny who was guarding the Yiku Palace. She was quite old and hunched. When she saw Hailan, her face turned pale, her knees went weak, and she knelt on the ground, kowtowed and apologized, cold sweat rolling down her forehead, and her voice trembled.

Hailan pretended not to hear anything, her eyes were dull and she paced forward like a wandering soul, her lips trembling slightly as she muttered questions in a daze.

"Why is this place like this? Where did the late queen's belongings go?"

When she mentioned the three words "late queen", her voice choked and her eyes reddened. She was talking about Ruyi - the sister who had once walked hand in hand with her in this palace, leaned on each other, and shared the ups and downs with her.

During her lifetime, Ruyi was included in the royal jade book, had three sons, and was once the empress and the mother of the country.

Even though she had passed away, the empress dowager, considering her dignity and weighing the pros and cons, came forward to persuade the emperor, who then restored the empress to her position, so as to avoid giving people a chance to criticize her for "treating her deceased wife harshly and having no magnanimity."

The old lady knelt on the ground, curled up into a ball, and answered tremblingly.

"In reply to your Majesty, after the late Empress passed away, the Emperor issued an edict that all items related to the late Empress be destroyed, and the remaining fragments were also taken away and sealed away."

After saying that, he stole a glance at Hailan's face, his heart pounding and he secretly groaned.

Normally, the Yiku Palace was deserted and very cold, and no one dared to set foot in. But today, Concubine Yu came, and she was afraid that if she was not careful, she would be accused of "incompetence" and could not afford to suffer the consequences.

"Is that so..."

Hailan's lips trembled slightly as she muttered to herself. Her voice was as light as a fallen leaf that could be blown away by the wind at any moment, revealing endless loneliness and confusion.

In the previous life, it was my sister who burned those old things with her own hands, severing the ties of the past with such decisiveness that it was heartbreaking.

After being reborn, Hailan was full of expectations. She only hoped that this time, even if her sister died in the cold and desolate place of the cold palace, she could at least leave her with a little memory - perhaps a portrait, a handkerchief, or even just a plain hairpin, which she could hold in her palm and comfort her for the rest of her life.

Unexpectedly, the emperor issued a cold decree to wipe out all traces of his sister's existence.

That pot of green plums, once regarded as a treasure by my sister, emitting a faint fragrance in the cold winter, has now not been spared and has been uprooted and destroyed.

Hailan's fingertips felt cold, she clutched the corner of her clothes tightly, and her heart full of sorrow turned into a silent sigh.

It was truly cruel. How could the person who had slept on the same bed with my sister and made vows to her, be so cruel?

Recalling the time when Empress Xiaoxian passed away, the emperor had completely changed his appearance, as if he had fallen into madness. His mourning was too overwhelming, and the court was deeply implicated. Hundreds of officials, both big and small, were demoted just to vent his overwhelming grief.

At that time, every blade of grass and every tree in Changchun Palace was carefully preserved, as if it were sealed by time; mourning poems written by the emperor himself were written one after another, full of deep affection.

Comparing the two, Ruyi's sadness is even more glaring.

During her lifetime, she suffered from cold stares, false accusations and humiliation; after her death, the little dignity she had left was ruthlessly trampled upon by that man and crushed into powder, leaving her with not a trace.

"You guys go down."

Hailan's voice was flat and calm, yet it sounded like a pardon.

The old nanny's tense heartstrings relaxed instantly, as if she had been pardoned. After thanking repeatedly, she bent her waist and hurried out of the hall.

Seeing this, several accompanying maids hurriedly gathered up their skirts and filed out. For a moment, Hailan was the only one left in the hall.

She seemed to be nailed to the spot, her body frozen, her empty eyes wandering in the empty hall, her heart filled with surging sorrow, but she seemed trapped in a thick quagmire, unable to recover for a long time.

After a long time, the sorrow in his eyes was like a lit fuse, slowly turning into burning anger, and his dead hands gradually regained strength.

Hailan gritted her teeth and clenched her fists suddenly, her knuckles turning white from the force. Then she suddenly turned around with a flick of her sleeves, her skirt fluttering, and she strode towards Yongshou Palace with a stubborn and angry heart.

Before the maidservants of Yongshou Palace could stop her or inform her, Hailan had already rushed into the inner hall like a gust of wind.

This sudden intrusion startled everyone and the atmosphere in the room instantly became tense.

Yan Wan, who was sitting beside the couch and watching Yongyan practicing calligraphy attentively, paused slightly with her hand on Yongyan's shoulder, and then slowly raised her head without panic.

His eyes swept across Hailan's angry face, his eyebrows raised slightly, a hint of surprise flashed across his expression, but he quickly regained his composure.

"My dear Yongyan, I have something to tell your mother, Empress Yu. Please go out with your aunt first."

Yan Wan spoke softly, raised her hand and gently touched Yong Yan's head, with a smile in her eyes, signaling him not to panic.

Yongyan nodded obediently, stood up and followed the palace maid out.

The room was silent for a moment, with only Hailan's heavy breathing and Yanwan's thoughtful gaze confronting each other.