Returning after a three-year escape from death, the tyrant has turned evil.

Chapter 307 The Strange Attic

Zhu Qing was taken aback and fell silent.

Consort Ning was like someone driven to the brink of despair; she no longer cared about anything else and simply gave up entirely.

After a long silence, Consort Ning suddenly spoke again:
"Does Your Majesty really intend to make her Empress? Even though there are still four days left, it still feels unreal, like a dream."

Before entering the palace, she had so confidently believed that the position of empress was hers.

Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Things have changed.

Zhu Qing hesitated for a while, then whispered, "Yesterday, when I went to the Imperial Wardrobe to get some new clothes, I saw the phoenix robe in the inner chamber."

Consort Ning's breath hitched.

She couldn't explain her feelings, but she stood up as if she were being tortured, and murmured, "Zhuqing, I want to go and see."

Sooner or later, we'll see it. It's like tearing a hole in her heart, leaving it bleeding profusely.

"Your Majesty, perhaps it would be better not to go. You've been really tired these past few days."

Consort Ning simply shook her head.

After an incense stick had burned, the two appeared inside the Imperial Wardrobe.

The head palace maid immediately came forward: "Why has Consort Ning come in person? Is there perhaps a problem with the new clothes being made?"

"I've come to see the Imperial Concubine's phoenix robe."

The head palace maid was taken aback: "Oh, Your Highness, you're making things difficult for me! His Majesty has already decreed that no one else can wear this phoenix robe."

"Is it not even allowed for me to take a look?"

She interrupted the palace maid directly.

The palace maid paused for a moment, then said, "Please follow me, Your Highness."

Consort Ning followed and watched as the palace maid opened the window outside. The exceptionally gorgeous phoenix robe was deeply imprinted in Consort Ning's eyes.

Her fingertips dug into her palms, and she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her heart.

"Your Majesty?" the palace maid called out cautiously.

Consort Ning suddenly came to her senses and realized that she had bitten her lip.

She raised her hand and wiped the blood from the corner of her lips with her fingertips, revealing a smile that was more like a grimace: "I'm fine. I was just curious about what the phoenix robe looked like. Now that I've seen it, let's go."

Day two.

Jiang Lanye still entered the palace very late.

Song Yi had woken up the moment he pushed open the door, but deliberately didn't open her eyes. She heard the rustling of his dragon robe, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw his back.

His dragon robe was halfway down, hanging in the crook of his arm, revealing a snow-white undergarment underneath. His shoulders and back were broad, and the lines of the undergarment were sharp and taut.

Song Yi watched quietly for a while, then quietly stood up, tiptoed behind Jiang Lanye, suddenly reached out and wrapped her arms around his lean waist, pressing her cheek against his back: "Are you unhappy again?"

Jiang Lanye paused, turned around, and reached out to stroke Song Yi's slightly disheveled hair: "No."

You can't fool me no matter who you try to fool.

She was a little proud.

Jiang Lanye chuckled: "So, you've become smarter."

"First of all, I am naturally very smart, and secondly, I clearly know you too well."

Jiang Lanye simply picked her up and carried her back: "There are still three days left. It's no use what they say. I always have a headache from arguing with him every day. Sometimes I want to do what I used to do and just make an example of him so that these people will shut up."

Song Yi smiled and poked his chest: "But someone wants to be a wise ruler and also wants to change the so-called cruelty of the past." She couldn't help but say: "It is the duty of officials to offer advice. They can't just take a salary and do nothing. Even if they know that what they say is unpleasant to hear, they still have to do the right thing."

After saying that, she looked past Jiang Lanye's shoulder and out the window.

"The weather is gloomy again today. I heard it's going to rain for the next two days. Will that affect the coronation ceremony?"

"No, it didn't rain on the day of the coronation ceremony."

She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "That's good."

Jiang Lanye looked at her with eyes full of tenderness: "The pavilion is half-built, and its general shape is already taking shape. Would you like to go see it today?"

"It mainly depends on how busy you are."

He chuckled softly, "Whether I'm busy or not depends on you."

Song Yi touched his face with a touch of tenderness: "You've been angry these past few days. Today you finally have some free time, so let's take a walk to clear your head."

"it is good."

A slight breeze picked up outside, and Jiang Lanye forcibly put a cloak on Song Yi in case it rained. Jiang Lanye also took an oil-paper umbrella.

"Let's go."

It looks like it's really going to rain today; the clouds in the distance are dark and heavy, and they're about to drift over.

Song Yi thought there would be no one else in the pavilion, but when he went over, he found that everyone was still busy building. The pavilion was indeed taking shape. The stairs on the first floor had been repaired and could lead to the second floor, but the roof on the second floor had not yet been completed.

She wanted to go up and take a look, but was a little worried. She gently tugged at Jiang Lanye's sleeve: "Can we go up? Is this attic sturdy enough?"

"Don't worry, the foundation is solid, this building won't collapse no matter what."

The moment she finished speaking, Song Yi pulled Jiang Lanye inside.

The first floor was exceptionally spacious. Although it wasn't paved with bricks and stones yet and was just an open space, it didn't stop Song Yi from imagining how beautiful it would look in the future.

Just as she was about to lift her skirt and step onto the stairs, Jiang Lanye reminded her again, "Be careful."

"understood."

The pavilion was to be built on three floors, but standing on the second floor already felt high enough, with a wide view that allowed one to see the bamboo forest in the distance and the palace even further away.

The wind whistled through the air, and Song Yi couldn't help but stretch in the wind, which also ruffled the hair that Jiang Lanye had carefully styled.

Before she could enjoy it for even a moment, the wind that came with it suddenly carried some moisture. She reached up and touched her cheek: "Jiang Lanye, it looks like it's going to rain."

She suddenly recalled that when she left Qingliang Palace yesterday, two palace maids passed by and excitedly said that they had passed by here before. The area near the pavilion was flat and open, and it was particularly cool.

That's when she decided to come over.

Jiang Lanye responded and took her hand, saying, "Let's go downstairs."

"it is good."

She carefully descended the stairs, exited another level, stood outside with her hands on her hips, and looked up: "If there are three levels, when I go up, I'll feel like the stars and the moon are within reach."

Jiang Lanye put his arm around her waist: "Hmm, whichever one you fancy, I'll pick it for you."

No sooner had they finished speaking than a muffled clap of thunder sounded in the sky. The two had just turned and walked inside when the rain began to fall.

"There's been so much rain this summer."

She couldn't resist reaching out to catch two drops of rain, but Jiang Lanye forcibly pulled her back.

People outside hurriedly began covering up various materials and quickly moved things around.

The rain came down exceptionally hard. In the short time that Song Yi was lost in thought, rainwater had already gathered on the ground and was flowing in all directions.

(End of this chapter)