The Scheming of the Imperial Court 008 The Princess Plays the Zither

  Two days later, Mr. Wei really sent a zither himself. Yuan Wuyou took a look at the Fengshi-style zither in front of her and smiled: "Mr. Wei has gone to great trouble."

  "I dare not, I must thank the princess for her gift." Wei Zhong's fawning and flattering was impeccable. Since the emperor wiped out the Liu family five years ago, the position of empress has been vacant, and everyone in the imperial court and harem has been itching to take action, but so far no one dares to make a move under the emperor's nose. After all, the emperor's methods are still fresh in their minds, making them shudder at the mere thought!

  Although he didn't understand why the emperor still hadn't appointed a new empress, the fact that the emperor hadn't meant that the only legitimate heir to the throne was the one in front of him.

  And he has been in the palace for forty years, not daring to say that he has already seen through it all, but still having some intuition! This carefree princess is probably the only exception since he took charge of the Cold Palace, and will leave sooner or later!

  Yu Worry stroked the body of the zither and suddenly said: "Does Duke Wei want to hear this princess play a piece?"

  Wei Zhong looked at Yuan Wuyou in surprise, his mind turning around and around, and smiled awkwardly: "I don't dare to be." For some reason, facing this young and seemingly innocent princess, he always had a strange feeling in his heart. If it wasn't necessary, he really didn't want to get close to Princess Wuyou.

  Yu Zhu and Yu Cui then stared at each other in silence, before both falling silent again, their eyes fixed on each other's faces.

  Originally carefree and absent-minded, she glanced at Duke Wei with a sweep of her eyes.

  This glance was very ordinary, but there was a strange chill that crept up his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, Wei Zhong's awkward smile froze for a few seconds before continuing to pile on awkward smiles. The only difference was that his originally straight back slowly arched down inch by inch. At this moment, his intuition told him that Princess Wuyou was very dangerous, very dangerous.

  "The princess thinks so highly of me, I should listen carefully, but I was born poor and entered the palace at a young age, as for elegant sounds..."

  The sound of the guqin suddenly rose, and Wei Zhong was taken aback, his awkward smile frozen on his face. Then, slowly, slowly, he could no longer maintain it, layer by layer falling down, until his face kept changing color.

  This sound of the zither... when it enters one's ears, it makes one wish that their parents had never given birth to these ears.

  The piercing sound was like someone scratching the eardrum back and forth with long fingernails, making Wei Zhong's whole body tremble violently, because he needed a lot of self-control to prevent himself from shouting stop.

  He lived for fifty-three years and had never seen anyone produce a sound like killing pigs from the piano, what a great talent! No wonder he thought that Princess Worryfree was dangerous, this is indeed extremely dangerous!

  Yu Wuyou played very seriously, her white fingers moving on the strings, making the ear-piercing sound of the guqin continue because of her movements.

  Yu Zhu and Yu Cui, who were standing by, felt a mix of emotions as they listened to the long-familiar sound of the guqin. How long had it been? They hadn't heard this familiar sound in so long!

  The princess was fond of playing when she was young and didn't want to practice the piano every day, so she came up with this trick. As long as the musician asked her to practice, she would play this tune. The musicians who listened to it hated to cover their ears but didn't dare to cover them, just like Lord Wei's current expression.

  Later, the empress saw that the princess was determined not to practice the piano and followed her, no longer sending musicians!

  The princess never played the piano again, but unexpectedly, they would hear this melody reappear under the princess's hands. However, Yu Zhu and Yu Cui couldn't understand why the princess wanted to play it for Duke Wei, weren't they afraid that Duke Wei would be annoyed and their days would become difficult?

  The piercing sound was still scratching his eardrum, and Wei Zhong's face turned pale as he knelt down on the ground with a thud: "Please spare my life, Your Highness!" He was already old, and really couldn't withstand this...this ordeal!

  The sound of the guqin suddenly stopped, and Yuan Wuyou frowned: "Yu Zhu Yu Cui didn't react at all, why did you, Duke Wei, have such a big reaction? Is it that the music I played is really so unbearable to listen to?"

  Wei Zhong stiffly looked at Yu Zhu and Yu Cui, who were standing aside with their eyes fixed on him, and his lips trembled for half a day before stuttering: "P... possibly this slave is getting old, e... ears... this slave's ears have a problem."

  Although he is already fifty-three, he swore that his ears had no problems at all. On the contrary, it was possible that Yu Zhu and Yu Cui had listened to this piano sound for a long time, and their ears really had problems.

  "Wei Gonggong, recently our princess has been wanting to practice the guqin well, but Yu Zhu and Yu Cui heard my guqin sound and didn't feel anything, yet I also want someone to listen to me play the guqin..."

  Wei Zhong shivered with fear, he suddenly felt that taking the pearl was equivalent to taking a hot potato, which couldn't be held or thrown away, and if this Princess Wuyou was an evil spirit, then he would be the unlucky one haunted by the evil spirit.

  "What... what does the princess mean?" If she really dares to let him come and listen to her play the piano every day, he will make her understand that this Cold Palace is his territory. He respects her three points because of the three possibilities on her body. In the Cold Palace, he really has a way to deal with someone.

  Yu Wuyou thought for a moment before her eyes lit up: "There are quite a few people living in the Cold Palace, so here's what we'll do, Lord Wei. Arrange for them to come and listen to me play the zither every day."

  Wei Zhong stared at this carefree princess with a look of utter disbelief, he was certain she wasn't crazy, but...

  Just as he was about to speak up, he heard her muttering: "This won't do, this is inconvenient, we can't have all these people coming to the princess's courtyard."

  Wei Zhongti's throat slowly relaxed...

  "This is good, our princess goes to the front hall every day, doesn't that place have many people living there?"

  Wei Zhong took a sharp breath of cold air, and the chill almost made his teeth chatter. He was stunned for a long time before cautiously asking: "The front hall that the princess mentioned is...?"

  "Of course it's Shi Xing Dian. Isn't that where many people live?" Yuan Wu You smiled slightly, saying it as if it was a matter of course.

  ……

  At night, the oil lamp in the room emitted a dim light. Yuan Wuyou went to bed early, while Yu Cui sat beside the bed, keeping watch and sewing new shoes for the princess.

  It has only snowed once since winter began this year, but today's winter seems no longer unbearable for them.

  It's been five years since they got used to it, and they no longer fear the cold.

  The second is that when the first snow falls, Empress Liang gives birth to the seventh imperial son, and the emperor rewards the entire palace. The Nei Wu Palace specially sent over clothes for the princess.

  From that day on, the princess's treatment seemed to have improved overnight. She no longer had to wear the same low-grade and ordinary cloth as the others. The cold palace sent over a batch of high-quality fabrics and thick quilts, and the food also changed suddenly. After eating mixed rice for five years, it suddenly became one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and one soup, most importantly, they were not mixed together but served separately.

  Yu Zhu laid out the wooden bed, lit another oil lamp, and continued to sew her half-finished cloak under the lamplight. Wei Gonggong had sent over a batch of fine fabrics, and the princess began going for walks, so she made two more cloaks for the princess.

  The room was still simple, but because two lamps were lit, the two people leaning in the lamplight were doing needlework and it felt a bit warm.

  Yu Cui lowered her head and worked on the task in her hands, until her fingers were numb with cold. She put down the work in her hands, gently rubbed them together, glanced at the princess's familiar face, hesitated for a long time, then looked at Yu Zhu on the wooden bed and softly called out: "Yu Zhu..."

  Yu Zhu stopped what she was doing and looked up at her, asking with her eyes what's wrong?

  Yu Cui's voice was low and almost murmuring: "Why does the princess want to go to Shi Xin Hall to play the piano?" There are all madwomen who have lost their minds inside, what if they rush out and hurt the princess?

  Yu Zhu didn't make a sound, she just started embroidering flowers again!

  The room was very quiet, a gust of cold wind blew open the window, revealing a thin crack, and the cold wind outside was pouring in.

  Yu Cui closed the window tightly, until she no longer felt the cold air coming in. She then muttered to herself: "It's snowing again, I wonder how many more days this snow will last." Every winter, it has to snow at least five or six times before winter can pass.

  "Rubbing her numb fingers, Yu Zhu said: 'It's late at night, go to sleep.'"

  Yu Cui nodded and blew out both lanterns. Over the past five years, the princess and they had all adapted to life without lighting at night.

  Until the two of them lay down on the wooden bed, the room fell silent again. It wasn't until Yu Cui was drowsy that she heard Yu Zhu say softly: "Yu Cui, no matter what the princess does, we must not suspect her, nor speak of it, nor ask about it."

  Yu Cu slowly opened her eyes which were originally closed for sleep, without doubt, without question, without a word...

  In the darkness, Yuan Wuyou, who was sleeping soundly on the bed, had a satisfied arc at the corner of her mouth. For their loyalty, she would not use them as pawns. When she walked out of the cold palace gate that confined her, if they were willing, she would give them a life of luxury and prosperity. In her eyes, their lives in their twenties had only just begun!