Chapter 334
**Chapter 332: Lu Yun Faces Punishment**
De Shun was taken aback, then quickly replied respectfully, “This servant obeys your command, I will take care of it right away.”
Liu Ru Yan stood frozen like a statue of ice, her beautiful eyes glistening with tears, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
She cast a deep glance at Li Yuan Jing and stubbornly said, “Your Majesty’s grace flows like water. I am still the Liu Ru Yan of old, but you are no longer the emperor you once were.”
Li Yuan Jing felt overwhelmed, irritation bubbling up as he snapped, “Take her away.”
A palace maid entered the tent and, though still polite, escorted Liu Ru Yan out. With tears in her beautiful eyes, she cast one last disappointed look at Li Yuan Jing.
The bond was severed, and her worries dissipated.
Li Yuan Jing’s actions today had deeply wounded Liu Ru Yan’s heart. She closed her eyes and silently vowed that she would never forgive him for the rest of her life. Even if he sought her out in the future, she would ignore him. It was as if the love and affection of these past years had melted away in the winter frost.
Liu Ru Yan left the training ground in a daze.
Behind the tent, Li Cheng Tai peeked out, his dark eyes narrowed as he muttered, “Mother didn’t treat her harshly, yet she still complains... Women in the harem are so petty.”
He thought of the dozen or so beautiful concubines in the harem, his brows knitting together in concern for his mother, feeling it was unfair.
...
The news of Liu Ru Yan angering the emperor and being demoted to a concubine quickly spread throughout the harem, reaching Shu Fei’s Changxin Palace.
In the afternoon, Lu Yun served her sister a medicinal soup, holding the bowl with a face full of schadenfreude. “That Liu Ru Yan really had it coming. She’s pretty enough, but her head’s not quite right. You wouldn’t believe it, it’s freezing outside, and she’s out there admiring the plum blossoms. I think she’s not appreciating the flowers; she’s admiring herself.”
Lu Xuan finished her soup, feeling drowsy. She lay back on the bed and pulled Lu Yun closer. “Liu Ru Yan is inherently cold-hearted. Having offended the emperor this time, it must be the work of Consort Chen behind the scenes.”
A sense of worry began to rise in Lu Xuan’s heart. Would she be the next to be punished after Mei Fei?
Lu Xuan instructed Lu Yun, “You’ve been in the palace for five or six days now. My illness may not be curable. There are too many eyes on Changxin Palace; you should return to Yunzhou.”
Lu Yun’s pretty face fell.
Her sister was trying to send her away again.
Lu Yun felt reluctant; she had been in the palace for several days and hadn’t even seen the emperor’s face. She refused to give up, her expression filled with concern. “Sister, you’re seriously ill in bed. How can I just stand by? I’ll stay with you a few more days; you need to rest.”
Since falling ill, Lu Xuan had been awake for fewer and fewer hours each day. She was too tired to keep her eyes open, holding her sister’s warm hand and murmuring, “Sister worries about you... I have no way out, and you’re still young. I just want you to be safe.”
As she spoke, Lu Xuan slowly drifted off to sleep.
The smile on Lu Yun’s face vanished in an instant as she glanced at her sister, who lay pale and frail on the bed, devoid of any beauty.
Lu Yun curled her lips into a smirk, returning to her temporary quarters. She carefully groomed herself in front of the mirror, draping a cloak over her shoulders before leaving Changxin Palace, determined to wait in the Imperial Garden for an opportunity.
She firmly believed that the scene foretold in her dreams would come to pass.
It had been a long time since any newcomers had entered the harem. No matter how much the emperor favored Consort Chen, he was still a man.
Men are always drawn to novelty.
The Imperial Garden was blanketed in snow, yet the red plums continued to bloom. Lu Xuan walked alone among the red plum trees, holding a warm hot water bottle, gazing up at the clusters of blossoms.
“I need to practice a bit first; I can’t embarrass myself in front of the emperor.” Lu Yun envisioned the moment she would encounter the emperor.
When she saw him, she would feign surprise, then show a shy demeanor, respectfully kneeling to greet him, her voice as gentle as possible.
The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. Unable to help herself, she slightly bent her knees in front of a red plum tree, rehearsing her dialogue with the emperor: “This humble girl, Lu Yun, greets Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be well.”
“This humble girl, Lu Yun, greets Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be well.”
Lost in her thoughts, she forgot everything around her.
After several rounds of practice, her words flowed more smoothly. Satisfied, Lu Yun smiled brightly, holding the hot water bottle as she prepared to venture deeper into the plum garden.
Just as she turned around, she caught sight of a dark mass of palace maids and eunuchs not far away.
With a thud—
The hot water bottle slipped from Lu Yun’s hands, crashing into the snow.
She had been so engrossed in practicing her dialogue with the emperor that she hadn’t noticed the group approaching.
“Bold girl! You don’t even greet the Empress Dowager!” Qian Mama scolded sharply.
Lu Yun’s knees buckled, her face turning pale as she stumbled and knelt in the snow, stammering, “This humble girl, this humble girl Lu Yun... greets... greets the Empress Dowager.”
The elegantly dressed woman surrounded by palace maids and eunuchs, regal and dignified, with a few strands of gray in her hair, was none other than the Empress Dowager of Da Qing.
Today, the weather was clear, and the Empress Dowager had just recovered from a serious illness. She had intended to continue resting in the warm chamber of Ci Ning Palace. However, Shen Wei, worried that the Empress Dowager had been bedridden for too long and needed exercise, sent Cai Ping to persuade her to take a walk.
A daily half-hour stroll, breathing fresh air and enjoying the winter flowers and plants, would be beneficial for her health.
Having spent so many days sleeping in the warm chamber, the Empress Dowager was indeed bored, feeling as if her bones were turning soft from inactivity. So she heeded Shen Wei’s advice and took some palace attendants to stroll through the Imperial Garden.
Little did she expect to encounter the audacious Lu Yun in the red plum garden.
The Empress Dowager, a person of great stature, could see through Lu Yun’s schemes at a glance.
Her gaze, sharp as a cold blade, lingered on the kneeling Lu Yun for a long moment before she let out a cold laugh. “So busy practicing how to greet the emperor that you forgot to practice how to greet me?”
Lu Yun felt a chill run through her body, a wave of cold washing over her from her knees to the rest of her being, trembling with anxiety.
Lu Yun stammered, “This humble girl, this humble girl...”
She opened her mouth to explain but couldn’t get a single coherent word out. Having lived in the secluded inner chambers for so long, her mind was filled with ambition and aspirations, believing she could easily grasp her future.
But now, standing so close to the imposing Empress Dowager, she felt a bone-deep chill and fear.
Her abilities did not match her ambitions.
In the presence of someone so powerful, she was nothing but a useless shrimp.
The Empress Dowager said, “The daughters raised by Duke Lu all have lofty ambitions. My Da Qing harem cannot accommodate such a Buddha. Issue an edict to expel this girl from the palace; she is never to set foot in the imperial city again.”
Lu Yun felt as if she had been doused in cold water, freezing her to the core.
...
In Changxin Palace.
Lu Xuan had just taken a brief nap when she was startled awake by a commotion in the courtyard. She was a light sleeper, instantly opening her eyes and calling for a palace maid, “Xiao Qi, what’s going on?”
Xiao Qi looked anxious. “Replying to the mistress, Qian Mama from the Empress Dowager’s side has come. She’s personally overseeing the packing of the second miss’s belongings to expel her from the palace.”
Lu Xuan’s head buzzed.
Forgetting her ailing body, she struggled to get out of bed and rushed to the inner hall to investigate.
“Qian Mama, my younger sister is young and inexperienced. If she has offended the Empress Dowager... cough, cough, cough...” Lu Xuan’s face turned pale as she covered her chest, coughing violently. “If she has offended the Empress Dowager, I will personally go to Ci Ning Palace to apologize.”
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