Chapter 169: A Tree of Pear Blossoms Overwhelming the Crabapple

The moonlight is cold and sharp, illuminating the desolate courtyard of Cuivei Palace.

Chu Yunzheng sits alone before the steps, clutching the moon‑shimmering shark‑silk dance skirt to his chest, his knuckles whitening from the strain.

He tilts his head, gulping wine, silent as a rock, a loneliness and sorrow that repels everyone for a thousand li spreading around him.

Wan Tang slips forward, sits not far from him, like a silent shadow.

He does not look at her, nor does he drive her away, simply immersed in his own world, drinking the heavy wine sip after sip.

An invisible wall separates them, and only the cold moonlight and the sound of wine sliding down the throat are especially clear in the dead‑silent night.

【Dog Emperor is recalling his Bai Yueguang.】

【Yeah, youthful affection—speaking of it, his Bai Yueguang must be almost thirty now!】

【Since Bai Li left, the pear blossoms in Cuivei Palace have never bloomed again.】

【Is Dog Emperor recalling that the first time he saw Bai Li was under this pear‑flower tree, amidst a full canopy of pear blossoms? Dog Emperor was only thirteen, being bullied, and hid inside. He happened to see the newly arrived Bai Li in the palace, standing on tiptoe, inhaling the scent of pear blossoms; that scene literally healed Dog Emperor's scar‑filled heart.】

【The point is, Bai Li was with Dog Emperor at his most destitute, giving him warmth.】

Bai Li?

Is she the person the Emperor has always kept carefully in his heart?

I originally thought that once this person appeared, Wan Tang's heart would ache sharply.

But it's strange.

It doesn't hurt.

It even hurts less than the moment the Emperor ordered the main pillar to be taken down.

Not only is there no sadness, but there's a hint of excitement and thrill.

That feeling is as if another chip has been added.

It becomes a Calming Pill that makes her and her daughter safer and more stable within the palace.

Wan Tang neither persuades nor alerts Li Defu outside the gate.

She silently fetches a piece of white candle and lights it with the palace lamp.

Candle tears fall; she endures the heat, quickly pinching the molten soft wax with her fingertips.

Skillfully she adheres it to the withered pear‑tree branches—one blossom, two blossoms…

Her fingertips swiftly shape the petals.

In no time, the lifeless pear tree is suddenly "filled" with crystal‑clear, lifelike white wax pear blossoms.

Only then does she walk to Chu Yunzheng's side and whisper, "Emperor, look over there."

Chu Yunzheng, still immersed in wine and memory, impatiently brushes away the hand she extends to help.

Wan Tang is not annoyed; she gently chants, "Emperor, look, it truly is a tree of pear blossoms pressing the crabapple."

"Nonsense, where did these pear blossoms come from…"

He mumbles, drunk, his tone full of disbelief and irritation.

Yet, ultimately his words are drawn by her, and he subconsciously turns his head.

Under the moonlight, the once‑dead pear tree seems to be reborn.

Its branches are studded with pear blossoms, luminous and translucent, casting a soft glow in the cold moonlight—stunningly beautiful, both real and illusory.

Chu Yunzheng freezes, a flash of shock and bewilderment passing through his drunken, hazy eyes.

He murmurs, "How… could this… happen…?"

Since the year she left, the pear trees of Cuivei Palace have been dead.

For ten years, not a single blossom has opened.

"Subject does not know why the Emperor alone favors this place," Wan Tang whispers, "but considering the Emperor cherishes these pear trees, surely he also hopes to see them in full bloom."

"Just as if it were real." He involuntarily rises, stumbling toward the tree.

He reaches out to touch, yet fears shattering this miracle that feels like an illusion.

After all, it is only like the real thing.

The flowers are so, and so are the people!

"Why… do they bloom?" Chu Yunzheng asks, his breath tinged with wine.

Wan Tang quietly turns her scorching‑red fingertip inward, a faint smile at the corner of her lips.

Yet Chu Yunzheng suddenly grabs her wrist, pulling her hands forcefully before his eyes.

He sees that the once‑delicate white fingers are now swollen and red—clearly burned.

His pupils constrict, the drunkenness largely gone: "What's happening? How did you get injured?!"

"Wax must be molded while hot to form the flowers; it's no problem." Wan Tang tries to withdraw her hand, but he grips it tighter.

Chu Yunzheng lowers his head, looking at the hands that have "created" the tree‑full of pear blossoms for him, yet are riddled with scars.

He lifts his gaze again to the calm, gentle eyes before him; the string in his heart, tightened for years by some void illusion, suddenly loosens.

A surge of unfamiliar warmth breaks through the frozen dam, and he gazes at Wan Tang for a long while.

The ocean of pain and obsession in his eyes gradually recedes, for the first time reflecting the real figure before him so clearly.

He seems to truly "see" her for the first time, no longer searching for someone's shadow through her, but seeing Wan Tang herself.

Chu Yunzheng's hand slowly lifts from Wan Tang's reddened fingertips, bearing an unprecedented pity.

He gently brushes her hair, the motion awkward yet tender.

The drunken haze in his eyes has not fully faded, but merges into genuine concern: "Does it hurt?"

"Don't ever do something that harms yourself again."

His thumb rubs her temple, his voice low, "Tangtang, you are now my personally appointed Virtuous Consort, the person I keep in my heart."

"I will, in the future, cherish you properly, never letting you suffer such grievance again."

He paused, as if savoring that title: "The character 'De', gentle and virtuous, fragrant and refined, matches you well."

Looking at the obedient demeanor of the person before him, the stir in his heart that began with "pear blossom" grew ever more turbulent.

His tone softened further: "Since you are already a Consort, you should have your own palace garden."

"Tell me, do you have a palace you favor? Wherever it is, I will follow your wish."

Several splendid chambers flashed through his mind; Jingren Palace, second only in scale to the residences of the Empress and the Empress Dowager, was the most magnificent.

But that was where Lin Wanyi had once lived; that woman eventually died in the Cold Palace, an ill omen.

He looked at Wan Tang, waiting for her decision.

Wan Tang merely lowered her head slightly, answering meekly: "I dare not choose rashly; I leave it entirely to the Emperor's arrangement."

This obedience undoubtedly pleased him.

Chu Yunzheng thought briefly, then shouted loudly: "Very well!"

"Then I grant you Changle Palace!"

"It is close to my Qianqing Palace, the halls are spacious, the scenery splendid, even more grand than Jingren Palace."

"Tomorrow I will issue an edict to have it fully renovated and arranged, worthy of my Virtuous Consort."

His gaze returned once more to the tree laden with glistening "pear blossoms," then shifted back to Wan Tang's moon‑softened face, and his heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of fullness.

He blurted out, "Tangtang, so virtuous and gentle, understanding, you are, in my heart, just like my wife."

He took Wan Tang's hand, solemnly promising: "I will, from now on, compensate you doubly."

From beginning to end, the Emperor never mentioned the banquet of that night again.

He only kept Wan Tang by his side and said many things.

【Dog Emperor, what does it mean? Ouyang Qing reported the banquet to him at once, yet he showed no reaction.】

【Can it just be dismissed? If Wan Tang hadn't let Lin Wanyi take the spotlight, the one who would have died would have been Wan Tang!】

【Given the upstairs cleverness, can Wan Tang not understand these matters? Whether she understands or not, does it matter?】

【Indeed, the Emperor is so unfeeling; do you still seek the Emperor's heart instead of becoming Empress Dowager?】

Wan Tang listened to the clamor, her eyes cold.

What use is a ruler's heart?

At this moment, she promised to avenge Lady of Grace Qi, and Li Defu was living just fine.

Love and affection, what does it have to do with her?

Wan Tang only watched the tenderness in Chu Yunzheng's eyes, while her mind calculated step by step what to do next.

Chu Yunzheng, deeply drunk, leaned onto Wan Tang's knee, murmuring incomprehensibly.

Wan Tang's fingers had gently brushed his chiseled brow and lofty nose, feeling the rare, unguarded imperial visage beneath her fingertips.

Yet his next fragmented utterance suddenly froze her fingers mid‑air.

"Bai Li…" his scorching breath sprayed onto the hem of her skirt.

The voice was muddled, yet carried a never‑before felt, heart‑rending remorse and fragility: "It was my fault back then…"

"I should not have abandoned you."

"Yes… I am sorry to you… Bai Li…"

Bai Li?

The person hidden deep in Chu Yunzheng's heart?

When he mentioned that name, he referred to himself as "I," not the "I" that represents supreme imperial authority!

What a bone‑deep old affection, what a deeply engraved debt.

To make an emperor, after drinking, shed all honors and armor, becoming merely a repentant ordinary man?

An indescribable chill surged up his spine, instantly sweeping through his limbs and bones.

The faint warmth she felt earlier from his "just like my wife" and his countless pity now left only a cold void.

His current gentle affection is so laughable.

Yet, Wan Tang cannot detach from these, even knowing she is merely a substitute.

She still must fulfill the role of a stand‑in, obtaining everything she desires.

Wan Tang softly coaxed the drunken Chu Yunzheng: "Emperor, night is deep and the dew heavy, let me help you back to the palace to rest."

She laboriously supported the towering emperor, step by step walking toward the palace gates.

Upon reaching the palace gate, Li Defu hurried up like a specter.

A pair of eyes, like poisoned hooks, fixed intently on Wan Tang.

His tone, with unabashed scrutiny and caution, said: "Virtuous Consort, stay a moment. Do you know what the Lady and the Emperor said inside the palace just now?"

"What did you do?"

According to Li Defu's understanding, when the Emperor longs for Bai Li so intensely, he could never leave with anyone else.

He would only stay in Cuivei Palace.

Lin Wanyi is already dead, and Wan Tang was not implicated.

Now what they hope for is that Wan Tang, when she was enfeoffed as Consort, was neglected by the Emperor, to quell her aura in the palace.

If tonight the Emperor stays at Xi Tang Courtyard, and Wan Tang had previously overseen the Six Palaces.

The Virtuous Consort's position remains at the head of the Four Consorts.

Isn't she just another highly favored Xu Luoyan?

Li Defu was eager to know the conversation between Wan Tang and the Emperor inside.

Wan Tang did not get angry, nor even look at him; she merely tilted her head slightly, addressing the emperor leaning on her shoulder.

Her voice carried a faint, barely perceptible grievance and a slight tremor.

Softly said: "Emperor, is Lord Li interrogating me? Must I still have to report everything to Lord Li?"

Chu Yunzheng, though heavily drunk, still heard the words "aggrieved" and Wan Tang's pleading tone clearly pierce his ears.

He didn't even ask a single reason, and immediately, impatiently waved his sleeve, his voice muffled yet laced with undeniable fury: "Slap!"

Li Defu was terrified, his soul fled, and with a thud he knelt on the ground: "Emperor, calm your anger! Nubi only followed protocol…"

"Hit!" Chu Yunzheng ignored it entirely, only spitting out a word in annoyance.

Wan Tang said no more, not even glancing at the kneeling, pleading Li Defu.

She gently said to Chu Yunzheng: "Emperor, let's go."

She steadily supported the emperor, step by step, as they left.

Behind them, crisp yet chaotic slap sounds rang out repeatedly, sounding especially harsh in the quiet spring night.