At night, under the dim moonlight with a gentle breeze blowing, a graceful figure of a woman walked towards the low hanging cotton yarn curtain. She stopped outside the curtain, quietly looking at the person on the bed with a look of sorrow and helplessness that instantly woke ZiLi up.
“Baby, what is wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” The lightly sleeping Hong Xu noticed ZiLi’s movement and quickly opened his eyes to ask.
ZiLi took a few breaths, then spoke, “Hong Xu, I forgot something very important!”
“Hmm? Baby, what did you forget?” Hong Xu wiped the fine sweat off his forehead and gently asked, holding him.
“Hong Xu, do you remember your mother?”
“My mother
Hong Xu uses 母后 – mǔhòu, when talking about his mother. It a form of address used by an emperor or imperial children for their mother.
1 ?” Hong Xu frowned, “Of course, I remember, why bring this up suddenly?”
“So, can you tell me how your mother, you know… passed away? Ah, I am not asking out of curiosity, but to help your mother!”
“Baby, what exactly are you talking about? I cannot make any sense of what you are saying,” Hong Xu spoke, looking at him puzzled.
“All right, let me start from the beginning!” ZiLi sat up cross-legged, touched his forehead, and began to speak, “You know I have been a wandering soul!”
“Hnn!”
“During the time I was poisoned, for some reason, my soul suddenly separated from this body. When I woke up, I found myself in a place called Jia Ning Palace
This happened around chapter 70.
2 .”
“I heard from my mother that when she first entered the palace, my Imperial father was worried she would not get accustomed living there. So, he specially built a temporary Imperial residence to match the environment of her family’s home. Later, one of the Imperial concubines became crazed with jealousy and, when no one was paying attention, slipped into my mother’s palace and set it on fire. Fortunately, the palace attendants discovered it early, so no tragedy occurred, though part of the palace was still destroyed. My Imperial father feared that something similar might happen again, so he had my mother move into another palace closest to his Imperial bedchamber. However, that palace was not called Jia Ning Palace. It was called Kun He Palace. From this, it seems that Jia Ning Palace must have been where my mother lived when she first entered the palace.”
Hong Xu pondered for a while and then motioned with his eyes for ZiLi to continue.
“Then I met your mother there! She was very beautiful and young, uh, like she looked about eighteen or nineteen years old!”
Hong Xu’s frown deepened, and he suddenly ordered the person outside the door, “Someone, bring the picture scroll from the first drawer in my study!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” The palace attendant on night duty responded quickly and soon brought the painting scroll.
Hong Xu waved off the palace attendant to withdraw, then carefully unrolled the scroll and pointed to the beautiful woman on it, asking, “Baby, is this the person you saw?”
“Yes, exactly like this!” ZiLi confirmed.
“Then what did she say to you?” Originally skeptical of such supernatural matters, Hong Xu had become cautious after ZiLi’s incident.
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 93 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“She said she has been trapped there and can’t leave!”“...All right, baby, I will handle this matter, let’s sleep first!” Hong Xu gently pushed the still eager to discuss ZiLi back onto the bed, pulling the quilt up to his chest.
“Hong Xu, I....”
“Baby, let’s put this matter aside for now. I will handle it, be good and sleep!”
Seeing Hong Xu’s firm attitude, ZiLi could not insist, so he had no other choice but to obediently close his eyes, and therefore missing the complex look that flashed in Hong Xu’s eyes!
The next day, ZiLi woke up to find the place beside him empty. Having woken up in a warm embrace almost every day during their travels, ZiLi felt a sense of loss at the cold, empty space next to him.
“Your Highness is awake? The servants have prepared the washing tools! Asking Your Highness to please get up,” Ming Yue said with a gentle smile.
Listlessly climbing out of bed, ZiLi asked, “When is Hong Xu coming back?”
It was the first time Ming Yue heard ZiLi directly call the Emperor by his name
In Ancient China it was forbidden to speak or write the Emperor’s given name.
3 , so she was momentarily stunned before saying, “Your Highness, His Majesty’s given name must not be spoken lightly elsewhere. If the wrong person were to hear it, who knows what trouble it might cause!”
Yawning lazily, ZiLi said, “Aren’t names meant to be called?”
Ming Yue was about to reply when she heard Hong Xu’s voice full of affection from outside the door, “My baby is right, names are meant to be called!”
Dressed in bright yellow, Hong Xu walked into the room to the bedside, and pulled ZiLi in an embrace, asking, “Since my baby is awake so early, why don’t you have breakfast with me?”
Once he touched the familiar chest, ZiLi felt drowsy again.
Hong Xu smiled indulgently, took the cloth from Chun Lan’s hand, and gently wiped ZiLi’s face.
“Baby, open your mouth, to rinse it!”
ZiLi closed his eyes and did as instructed.
“Your Majesty, breakfast is ready!” Lin De, who had carefully inspected the food, bowed and spoke.
Seeing ZiLi still reluctant to move, Hong Xu simply picked him up and sat down at the table.
“Baby, open your eyes, and eat!” Seeing ZiLi still unresponsive, he added, “Didn’t you say you wanted to help my mother? I have already instructed the State Preceptor
国师 – Guóshī - A high-ranking advisor, who serves the emperor or the state.
4 to come later....”
Before he could finish, ZiLi had already sat up, his eyes wide open, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? Quick, let’s have breakfast!”
***
The sun was shining brightly, the heat was unbearable. Even with someone fanning behind, the waves of heat were unstoppable.ZiLi tugged at his collar, finding ancient clothes troublesome with their layers like wrapping a rice dumpling, making him feel extremely hot! Looking back, he found Hong Xu beside him unexpectedly still looking fresh and cool!
Noticing his gaze, Hong Xu turned his head to look at ZiLi, whose cheeks were flushed from the heat, and softly said, “Baby, give me your hand.”
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 93 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
ZiLi was about to protest the public display when Hong Xu already wrapped his sweaty hand around his. Suddenly, a wave of cool energy flowed from Hong Xu’s palm through ZiLi’s whole body, gathering in his dantian
丹田 – DānTián – A point two inches below the navel where one’s qi resides.
5 . The gentle chill instantly suppressed the heat burning through his body and mind. ZiLi felt completely refreshed, and his spirit lifted. Internal force can actually be used as an air conditioner! Amazing!
Quickly sticking close, ZiLi clung to this living cooling device, sighing contentedly, So comfortable. Absolutely amazing!
“Your Majesty, it is indeed rather strange here,” the State Preceptor finally reported to Hong Xu, having spent quite some time circling and examining this abandoned temporary Imperial residence with his compass.
It turned out that the place they were in was not just anywhere, it was right next to Ming Yang Palace, where ZiLi had previous had lived. In other words, it was the palace ZiLi had always found eerie and frightening, the one with the stagnant pond!
“What kind of strange phenomena?” Hong Xu asked in a deep voice.
“Answering Your Majesty, simply put, ‘Qi is dispersed by wind and halted by water. The ancients gathered it to prevent dispersion and guided it to ensure it stopped’
气乘风则散．界水则止，古人聚之使不散，行之使有止
Qì chéng fēng zé sàn, jiè shuǐ zé zhǐ, gǔ rén jù zhī shǐ bù sàn, xíng zhī shǐ yǒu zhǐ.
This sentence comes from the Book of Burial (葬书 - Zàng Shū) by Guō Pú (郭璞), and describes classical feng shui principles.
6 . This place was originally a harmonious, prosperous site, but for some reason we cannot detect the direction of its qi. It seems as if an artificial qi field is interfering!”
Qì chéng fēng zé sàn, jiè shuǐ zé zhǐ, gǔ rén jù zhī shǐ bù sàn, xíng zhī shǐ yǒu zhǐ.
This sentence comes from the Book of Burial (葬书 - Zàng Shū) by Guō Pú (郭璞), and describes classical feng shui principles.
“Go on,” Hong Xu said, showing no emotion.
“Burial is the act of harnessing the life force. The yin and yang energies, when rising form wind, when ascending form clouds, and when descending form rain. When these energies flow through the earth, they become the life force, which moves through the land and nourishes all living things. Humans inherit their bodies from their parents, the bones receive qi, and the remaining body benefits from it. For the living, qi gathers and condenses, forming bones and after death, only the bones remain. Therefore, burial returns the qi into the bones, following the principle of nourishing life .
This paragraph also comes from the Book of Burial.
7 If someone sets up a formation, tying a deceased person’s hair with their birth date and burying it in the formation’s center, the spirit of that person will be trapped forever, suffering endless loneliness and torment, unable to reincarnate!”
“Is there a way to break this?”
“This formation is actually easy to break but difficult to set up. Just find the formation’s center and remove the buried items!”
ZiLi was stunned, it was that easy?
“Then let’s do it!” Hong Xu ordered.
“As you command!” The State Preceptor replied, accepting the order.
“All right, baby, it is too hot here, you should go back to Xia He Palace!”
“But…”
“No buts, be good, and go back first!”
“But……”
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 93 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“Ming Yue, take your master back! Baby, we will have lunch together later!”***
The night without the moon was very heavy, the dark sky sparsely dotted with a few weak stars. It was that dreamlike atmosphere again.Half awake, ZiLi opened his eyes and sat up, looking at the figure outside the cotton yarn curtain and asked, “Is it you?”
“Yes!” She nodded and then said, “Thank you!”
“Hey, why be so polite between us?” ZiLi said, feeling embarrassed, and not used to her being so distant!
“I came to say goodbye! I am leaving!”
“Uh, oh! Well, have a pleasant journey!”
She let out an almost inaudible sigh.
“Do you have any unfinished business?” ZiLi asked curiously.
“Whether in life or after death, what I cared about most were my Xu’er and Qing’er! Now I only have one request for you, please tell Qing’er that his older brother is a good brother!"
“Huh? What do you mean?” ZiLi muttered in confusion. When he looked up again, he found no one in front of him, only the cotton yarn curtain gently swaying……
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