Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

Chapter 126 Blood-based alliance

The moon had risen to the zenith, and the thin moonlight penetrated through the half-open door, casting a layer of light on the ground. Outside the house, the sound of palace maids clearing away tables, chairs and dishes could be heard faintly, but the house seemed unusually quiet at the moment.

Ji Anni's mind was in a mess with the disparate shadows of the Tianning, Huarong, Baoan and Xikang families.

On the surface, they seem to be clear-cut and at peace with each other, but behind the scenes their relationship is complicated and full of love and hate.

"Yun Zhen, do you think Tian Ning's temper can be changed?" Ji Anni was actually very worried about what kind of uproar would happen if Princess Tian Ning suddenly broke up with her boyfriend. At the hunting competition, Ji Anni had tried to test Kang Xiaorong's attitude. It seemed that the other party only had feelings for Tian Ning like a sister.

At that time, Kang Xiaorong said, "Maybe in the future there will be a better man to tolerate her and love her... but that man will never be me." From his words, one can vaguely feel a hint of his gratitude, blessing, and even guilt for Tianning.

It was not until today, after listening to Yun Zhen talk about the engagement between the Xi and Kang families, that Ji Anni had a deeper understanding of this sentence.

Yun Zhen said, "Unless Princess Tianning is no longer a princess, her temper will probably not change. In fact, it's good for her to be like this. She has a clear distinction between love and hate, and is much more straightforward than many people who wear masks. But it is precisely because she has the support of the Queen Mother behind her that she dares to act so straightforwardly. She likes what she likes and dislikes what she dislikes."

"But why does she always make things difficult for Baoguifei?" This question has always puzzled Ji Anni. If Tianning's hostility towards her was due to her own outspokenness, then Baoguifei should be considered a reserved and quiet person who never talks too much in front of others. When did she offend Tianning?

"It's a long story." Yun Zhen sighed softly and explained in detail, "Ten years ago, thirteen-year-old Bao'er entered the palace, and Tianning was only three years old at that time. There was obviously a ten-year age difference between them, but the Queen Mother always used Bao'er to judge Tianning and could not tolerate Tianning losing to Bao'er. I still remember that when Tianning just learned to write, she was compared with Bao'er's handwriting. If she wrote worse than Bao'er, she would be punished. But after all, the two were ten years apart, and Bao'er was famous for her talent. How could Tianning possibly win? When she couldn't win, she became particularly resentful of Bao'er. Later, it was Bao'er's father who personally went to the palace to advise the Queen Mother, and only then did the Queen Mother end this strange comparison. Unfortunately, Tianning had left a deep shadow in her heart, so she has not been very harmonious with Bao'er for many years since then."

"Why are there so many weird people in the palace... The Queen Mother is the weirdest." Ji Anni frowned, "Why did she let Concubine Baogui enter the palace? Why did she use Concubine Baogui to ask Tianning? After the death of the previous emperor, why didn't she allow Concubine Baogui to become a nun? Maybe she and Concubine Baogui have some deep hatred, but she promoted Concubine Baogui to be a noble concubine. But she treats Concubine Baogui well, but it doesn't seem like she is doing anything - what does she want to do?"

Yun Zhen shook his head and sighed, "Bao'er has been pondering the Queen Mother's thoughts for ten years but has not come up with any result. Your Majesty, you should stop wasting your time on this."

"Yun Zhen..." Ji Anni called out softly, her eyes suddenly becoming serious, and she asked under the influence of alcohol, "Do you like Bao Niangniang?"

Yun Zhen was slightly startled by the question and said, "My Lady, you are asking a question that will get me beheaded."

"Chop off your head if you want. If you don't even have the courage to risk your life to say you love her, then you have no right to love her." Ji Anni slapped the table lightly with a serious and interrogative expression.

Yun Zhen smiled after hearing this, with a hint of relief and relief in her smile, and whispered: "Since Bao'er entered the palace, no one has asked me this question for ten years. Bao'er and I have been childhood sweethearts. She has been in poor health since she was a child, and I was afraid that she would be entangled by the evil spirit in the palace, so I followed her into the palace."

Yun Zhen's answer was still very cryptic, but Ji Anni's questions became more and more direct. "If Concubine Baogui had not entered the palace and married into the imperial family ten years ago...who would she be married to?"

Yun Zhen finally stopped being shy and opened her heart, "She said she would marry me if the peach blossoms outside the city could bloom red for ten miles - she said so ten years ago. So I planted ten miles of peach trees outside the city, and said I would marry her when the peach blossoms bloomed red next spring. Unfortunately, she entered the palace before the next spring. She said that after entering the palace, she would never have the chance to see the scenery of peach blossoms blooming red for ten miles, so I gave her a peach-colored jade hairpin."

Hearing this, Ji Anni suddenly remembered that on her first day in the palace, Concubine Baogui had given her a pink jade hairpin. The head of the hairpin was in the shape of five or six peach blossoms, and the tail of the hairpin was a peach branch. The petals and branches were integrated, just like a real peach blossom.

Could that hairpin be the one that Yun Zhen gave to Concubine Baogui back then?

From Ji Anni's astonished eyes, Yun Zhen had completely guessed what she was thinking. He nodded slightly and gave a positive answer:

"When I gave her the hairpin, I actually wanted to take her away, but unfortunately she didn't understand."

"If she really didn't understand, she wouldn't have kept the jade hairpin with her for ten whole years."

"But she gave it to you in the end."

"Perhaps she thinks...she will never be able to leave this palace again."

Baoguifei, who entered the palace with the jade hairpin, may have had a glimmer of hope that she could leave the palace one day. She thought that as long as the late emperor died, she could leave the palace. But later, even if the late emperor really died, she was still imprisoned in this luxurious palace and would never get true freedom. So she gave the hairpin to Ji Anni in front of Yun Zhen, perhaps hinting to Yun Zhen: Don't wait any longer, because there will be no result.

Yun Zhen lowered his head and fell silent.

As the night deepened, Ji Anni asked casually, "It's so late, Yun Zhen, why aren't you going home yet?"

Normally, the harem was not a place where men could enter and leave at will, and it was so late. But Yun Zhen seemed to be exempt from this restriction, because Ji Anni still remembered the time when she was punished to kneel in Renhe Hall. It was already very late when she returned to Concubine Hall, but Yun Zhen was still waiting for her in the room.

Yun Zhen replied, "When the late emperor went on a secret visit, my father once blocked a knife for him, so he was granted the privilege of carrying a knife into the court for three generations, to show the royal family's absolute trust in the Yang family. Therefore, the palace has a relatively loose management of the Yang family's entry and exit of the harem."

"Yang?" Ji Anni was stunned, and suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "Yun Zhen, is your last name Yang? I remember that there seemed to be eight major families participating in the hunting competition, and one of the teams was the Yang family."

Yun Zhen nodded.

"The Yang family has a black logo, right?" Ji Annie asked suddenly.

"Your Majesty remembers it very clearly." Yun Zhen smiled.

"Of course I remember it clearly." Ji Anni said without any smile, "Because Hua Rong once suggested that I dye the original Bao family logo black - dye it into the color of your Yang family."

Although she was not sure whether it was a coincidence or a premeditated plot, Ji Anni could always feel the chill of the swords and sabers. Fortunately, she did not listen to Hua Rong, otherwise, Yun Zhen would be implicated in the last poison arrow incident.

"Yun Zhen, I really want to go home..." Ji Anni felt cold. She didn't know if it was the cold wind or her heart.

Yun Zhen whispered to comfort her, "My Lady, you can't go back. At least, you can't go back until the red moon appears in the sky again. You can think of this place as your new home, and me as your family."

"Will you always be by my side?" Loneliness can make a person timid.

Yun Zhen nodded and promised: "I will always be by your side."

"Well, let's swear an oath of blood, and you won't deny it." Ji Anni said seriously.

Before Yun Zhen could dissuade her, Ji Anni had already bitten her finger and squeezed a drop of blood into the wine. She was a little drunk, so she didn't feel too much pain. She even pulled Yun Zhen's hand and said, "Yun Zhen, do you want to bite it yourself, or do you want me to do it for you?"

Yun Zhen had no choice but to bite his fingertips and squeeze out the blood.

Ji Anni poured two cups of blood wine, one for Yun Zhen and one for herself. But as soon as the wine went down her throat, she could no longer hold on and fell unconscious on the small square table. She vaguely seemed to hear Yun Zhen calling the palace maids, but the palace maids could not help the drunk Ji Anni. In the end, Yun Zhen personally carried Ji Anni back to the room before leaving.

Later, it seemed that another palace maid helped her undress, but she was too drunk at that time and could not remember anything.

She only felt some pain where her finger was bitten, but she didn't hate that kind of pain.

Because the pain made her clearly know that Yun Zhen was feeling the same pain as her at this moment.

The feeling was subtle, as if an indissoluble bond had been formed between the two.