Chapter 290
**Chapter 288: The Fire in Meilin**
By the time Li Yuanjing arrived at Yuxiu Palace, the flames had already been completely extinguished.
Zhang Miaoyu was present, her voice ringing out as she directed the eunuchs to move the water barrels. The palace where Zhang Miaoyu resided was adjacent to the Yuxiu Palace of Liu Ruyan.
When the fire broke out, Zhang Miaoyu quickly noticed it from her quarters. With a sigh, she set down the half-eaten pastry in her hand and sent a maid to find someone to put out the fire.
Thanks to the timely response, the fire was soon under control. The eaves and walls of the main hall of Yuxiu Palace were blackened by smoke, and the courtyard was littered with dry leaves and broken branches. The withered twigs and leaves were highly flammable; once the flames ignited, they spread rapidly, consuming all the flowers and plants in the courtyard.
Seeing Li Yuanjing arrive late, Zhang Miaoyu hurried over to pay her respects.
Li Yuanjing asked, “What caused the fire?”
Zhang Miaoyu replied honestly, “Your Majesty, the fire started in the courtyard. The weather is dry, and there were many dry leaves and branches in Mei Fei’s courtyard. Once it caught fire, it spread quickly.”
Li Yuanjing was puzzled. “How could there be dry branches and leaves in the courtyard? Didn’t the palace staff clean up?”
Zhang Miaoyu shrugged, her tone tinged with helplessness. “Mei Fei doesn’t allow anyone to sweep away the fallen leaves and branches, saying it ruins the autumn scenery.”
In the crisp autumn air, the leaves turned yellow and fell, and the palace staff diligently cleaned up the fallen leaves and trimmed the dead branches every day. However, Liu Ruyan, with her melancholic disposition, cherished the autumn scene of withered leaves and forbade anyone from tidying up.
After a long silence, Li Yuanjing finally managed to ask, “Is Mei Fei hurt?”
Zhang Miaoyu scratched her head, her round face showing a mix of emotions. “She shouldn’t be hurt... It’s just that she’s been crying in the courtyard, and no matter how I try to comfort her, it doesn’t help. Perhaps, Your Majesty, you could go and talk to her?”
Li Yuanjing frowned slightly and stepped through the grand entrance of Yuxiu Palace.
In the courtyard, the lingering scent of charred wood filled the air, and the beams were stained a ghastly black from smoke. The ground was a mess of charred earth, with dozens of plum trees reduced to blackened stumps. Water had been splashed on the ground, mixing with the blackened mud, creating a filthy sight.
Liu Ruyan stood amidst the scorched earth, her silhouette frail and thin.
Li Nanzhi stood beside her, tugging at Liu Ruyan’s sleeve, her eyes filled with worry. Hearing the commotion behind her, Li Nanzhi turned around and saw Li Yuanjing in his dark robes. Her voice trembled, “Father…”
She ran toward Li Yuanjing, feeling wronged.
Li Yuanjing noticed his daughter’s face, smeared with soot.
Li Nanzhi’s hair was singed, and her once fair face was dirty, as if she had crawled out of a chimney. Li Yuanjing asked with concern, “Are you hurt?”
Li Nanzhi shook her head, her voice hoarse. “I’m not hurt, but Mother is very upset and won’t talk to me.”
Li Yuanjing gently touched his daughter’s sooty face and instructed De Shun, who stood nearby, “Have Yu Fei look after Nanzhi and find a physician to check her pulse.”
De Shun complied.
Li Nanzhi longed to say more to her father, but she felt timid and filled with reverence for him. After being sent to the Crown Prince’s residence shortly after her birth, her relationship with her father had never been close.
Even with a thousand words to say, she didn’t dare speak more to him, keeping everything bottled up inside. Li Nanzhi glanced back at her mother in the distance, feeling dejected as she left the palace gates.
At the entrance, Zhang Miaoyu smiled as she pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the dirt from Li Nanzhi’s face. “You were scared, weren’t you? Don’t worry, I’ll take you to eat some cloud cakes and have a bowl of soothing sweet soup. You’ll sleep like a baby.”
Li Nanzhi gave a slight smile.
Noticing the girl’s unusual demeanor, Zhang Miaoyu asked, “Did the smoke get in your eyes?”
Li Nanzhi looked up, her eyes red-rimmed, and asked in confusion, “Yue Niang... it seems like Mother doesn’t like me.”
Zhang Miaoyu was puzzled. “Why would you think that?”
Li Nanzhi sniffled, and the tears she had been holding back finally spilled over, as she choked out her feelings of distress. It turned out that tonight, instead of going to bed early, Li Nanzhi had stayed in the study to paint with Liu Ruyan.
When the fire broke out in the courtyard, the thick smoke filled the study.
Li Nanzhi coughed violently, her eyes stinging from the smoke. Realizing there was a fire, she rushed to the desk, trying to save her mother.
But she couldn’t reach Liu Ruyan.
When Liu Ruyan noticed the fire in the courtyard, she immediately ran outside to check on her beloved plum trees, calling the palace staff to extinguish the flames and save the trees.
She had forgotten about Li Nanzhi, who was left helpless in the smoke-filled study.
At just eleven years old, surrounded by thick smoke, Li Nanzhi couldn’t see anything clearly. She thought her mother was trapped in the study and frantically searched around, calling out for her.
In the end, it was Xue Mei who rushed into the study and carried the helpless Li Nanzhi out. Li Nanzhi’s face was blackened by smoke, her eyes stinging. As she struggled to open her eyes, she saw her mother, worried about the plum trees in the courtyard.
In that moment, Li Nanzhi couldn’t hold back her tears any longer, and they fell freely.
She felt a mix of sadness and confusion.
It dawned on her that, in her mother’s heart, her own daughter was less important than dozens of plum trees.
After hearing the child’s story, Zhang Miaoyu felt a surge of anger. She quickly hugged Li Nanzhi, soothing her gently, “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Your mother just has that temperament. If Mei Fei doesn’t care for you, Yu Niang does. Be a good child, and I’ll take you back to wash your face.”
Li Nanzhi clung to Zhang Miaoyu’s neck, sobbing.
Zhang Miaoyu sighed inwardly, taking the poor girl back to the palace to care for her.
...
...
In Yuxiu Palace.
In the charred courtyard, Liu Ruyan slowly turned around. Her long black hair cascaded over her shoulders, and she wore a pale silver gown, her face as white as snow, with a hint of red at the corners of her eyes.
Like a white plum blossom blooming in the scorched earth.
Liu Ruyan spoke softly, “Your Majesty, you’ve come.”
The moonlight flowed like water, and the autumn wind was chilly, causing Liu Ruyan’s white sleeves to flutter. Her voice was filled with sorrow, and the scene felt surreal, making Li Yuanjing’s eyelids twitch.
Thinking of Liu Ruyan’s fright, Li Yuanjing tried to keep his tone gentle. “The physician will be here soon. You should go inside and have a cup of tea while you wait. Tonight, I’ll stay with you.”
Liu Ruyan gave a self-deprecating smile. “If it weren’t for this fire, I fear Your Majesty would have forgotten about me.”
Li Yuanjing rubbed his forehead.
Tears slipped down Liu Ruyan’s cheeks as she softly said, “Three years ago, when you ascended the throne, you conferred upon me the title of Mei Fei. You ordered the relocation of thirty-three plum trees from the Wang residence to Yuxiu Palace... Over these three years, they have bloomed and withered, and tonight, they have been reduced to ashes.”
The plum blossoms were a symbol of her love.
Yet, they had been completely consumed by a wildfire.
Liu Ruyan pressed her hand to her heart, feeling a sharp pain.
Li Yuanjing, feeling increasingly agitated, rubbed his temples. He had spent the entire day reviewing memorials, dealing with grain issues in the south, discussing funding for water dams with officials, and checking the grain yields across various provinces, all while drafting edicts for maritime trade. He was already exhausted.
Seeing the fire at Yuxiu Palace tonight, he rushed over, only to find Mei Fei there, lamenting and shedding tears.
Li Yuanjing felt overwhelmed.
After a day of worrying about the country and its people, he was physically and mentally drained, just wanting to get a good night’s sleep after dark. Meanwhile, Liu Ruyan spent her days in Yuxiu Palace, writing poetry and painting, seemingly unfazed. When he asked her a couple of questions, she would turn red-eyed with grievance.
The little sympathy and compassion Li Yuanjing had for Liu Ruyan were nearly worn thin.
Couldn’t these concubines in the palace give him a break?
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