The Gilded Cage - Chapter 124
Not Scrupulous – He Was Now More and More Reckless. (1)
Since that day Xu Rong came, Chu Ning had not heard any other movement. They seemed to plan to wait for some more time.
Xiao Yu’s attitude towards her was much gentler than before because of the shame in his heart.
This was a good thing for Chu Ning. Several times he tried to get close to her, but she refused with a pale face. If in the past, he would have directly pushed her down on the bed, but now, he couldn’t really do anything about it.
It was a lot easier.
As the first month drew to a close, the spring air grew stronger and stronger, and Xiao Kezhi finally issued a decree to move from the Tangquan Palace on Lishan back to the Taiji Palace in Changan.
Before leaving, Xiao Yu packed his bag again, left Lishan, and went to Suizhou to check the situation after the ditch was dredged. This was only 20 days at most, Chu Ning thought. When this matter is completed, when he returns again, he will take the opportunity to discuss the political performance, and he will bring up the matter of another marriage.
The East Palace was empty. Xiao Kezhi naturally will not let go of this opportunity.
The first day they were back in Changan, the door next to the Wude Hall that was connected to the East Palace opened silently again.
Only this time, only the lock behind the door was removed, if not pushed. The East Palace people simply can not notice.
It was before Xiao Yu’s departure from Lishan, the Imperial guards went to the Crown Prince’s Tang to secretly pass a letter to Cuihe.
In the evening, seeing that the sky is getting dark, she ate the evening meal, then sent around the maids to go back to rest. Afterwards, she changed into a simple robe and quietly went to the Taiji Palace.
The door opened with a gentle push, and she entered quietly. The chamberlain waiting over there was quick to close the door and handed her a suit of clothes without saying a word.
This time, she was no longer surprised and simply went into a side room and changed her clothes.
The jacket was the most common jacket worn by the ladies of the royal families. The color was bright, the fabric was expensive, the workmanship was fine, and even the accessories around her waist were all well prepared.
On the way to the Ganlu Hall in a palanquin, the servants of the palace were not as surprised when they saw her as before, probably they have gradually gotten used to it, and it was not strange to think of the Emperor as a mortal young man.
But in the end, there were still curious eyes and careful speculation.
Chu Ning could almost imagine their guesses, nothing more than thinking that the Emperor was becoming more and more daring now. Even married women were not spared, and they wanted to have a look.
The palanquin landed outside the Ganlu Hall, and she covered her hot cheeks before going down when a gray shadow suddenly flashed in front of her eyes.
Weimo, who had just run back from the backyard, jumped to the side of her palanquin, and was staring at her with his yellow-brown eyes.
She froze for a moment, not daring to move.
“Don’t be afraid.” A familiar deep voice sounded from behind, and immediately after, she was carried into a wide and warm embrace and got off the palanquin. Her hand was also gently held, and it stretched out towards Weimo.
“With me, it won’t hurt you.” Xiao Kezhi whispered comfortingly in her ear, “They are very spiritual. Just come here more and wait until it recognizes you.”
Chu Ning held back the nervousness in her heart and carefully followed him to extend her hand to Weimo’s head.
Weimo moved alertly, but only gently sniffed at her palm and stretched out his tongue to lick it a little. He let her hand stroke the top of his head.
The soft fur brushed the palm of her hand, bringing out a warm and pleasant feeling.
She couldn’t help but boldly bend down and rub the back of the wolf more closely.
The originally fierce gray wolf let out two happy whimpers as if it were just a large-sized dog.
After it was petted enough, it tilted its head and trotted two steps, spinning around her, and finally stuck to her side and rubbed up against her leg.
Chu Ning was no longer as scared as before and only looked down at it with a slight smile.
“It likes you.” Xiao Kezhi’s face was gentle as he looked at her and Weimo, as if he had seen her cross paths with his own past.
A short while later, the guards brought Weimo down, and Chu Ning was about to lift her steps up the steps when she was suddenly picked up by him from behind and brought inside.
As garment after garment fell on the ground, the chamberlains had the brains to stay outside the hall and quickly close the door.
Chu Ning tightly hooked her arms around Xiao Kezhi’s neck and looked down at her clothes, laughing, “His Majesty really has interesting preferences: palace maids, dancing girls, married women…”
Xiao Kezhi did not bring her inside from the hallway but directly twisted and pressed her against the door, tearing off the jacket that had only been put on for a short time.
The soft fabric was thrown to the ground.
“Yes, I like you as a married woman. I like to snatch you from others, and in the future, you can have whatever identity you want.”
……
