On a cold night at midnight, snow was still falling outside the hall.
Inside the Han Ning Palace, the fire had dimmed, and the entire room was a bit cold. In the quiet deep palace, Pei Qing coaxed the child on the bed to sleep and then looked at the maid Zhi Lan who had just entered.
The girl's hands and face were red from the cold, and snow was still on her hair.
"My lady," Zhi Lan called softly.
"It's cold outside. Warm yourself by the fire first."
Zhi Lan felt a warmth in her heart, "Yes."
Pei Qing tucked the child in, looking at the sleeping Xiao Ji'an, sighed lightly, and then stood up.
Zhi Lan warmed her hands by the fire, carefully added coal to the hand warmer, and handed it to Pei Qing, "My lady, you're afraid of the cold. Don't let yourself get chilled."
No matter how cold the hands, the heart was colder.
Pei Qing asked, "Has the letter been sent?"
Zhi Lan nodded, "I found a trustworthy eunuch who has ridden swiftly to the south. But... my lady, will this letter be of any use?"
Pei Qing shook her head, "I don't know."
She really didn't know, but this was the only thing she could do. Zhi Lan draped a thick cloak over Pei Qing and then quietly retreated. She knew the lady would sit up all night again.
After Zhi Lan left, the hall became even quieter. Pei Qing sat by the not-so-warm fire, listening to the howling cold wind outside, wondering if the letter for help could successfully reach that person.
She never thought there would be such a day.
Marrying into the palace, taking her sister's place, raising her sister's child, and continuing the glory of the Pei family. The Emperor, Xiao Jing, was her late sister's husband, and now her own. Yet, in Pei Qing's heart, she preferred to call him brother-in-law for the rest of her life.
He truly was a good brother-in-law. After her sister died, the empress position remained vacant for three years. Even though his health was deteriorating, and his only legitimate son, Xiao Ji'an, was still young, the court officials argued endlessly about the succession, writing petition after petition, yet he remained unmoved.
Until her father, Pei Zhiheng, suggested that the second daughter of the Pei family enter the palace as the secondary wife, so that the young prince would not grow up without a mother's care. Pei Qing was the younger sister of the late Empress Pei Wan, the least likely person to harm Xiao Ji'an.
The courtiers scolded Pei Zhiheng for seeking the Pei family's status and glory, and for his unworthy son, Pei Cheng, who was imprisoned for usury and murder.
But Xiao Jing agreed immediately. When Pei Wan was alive, she loved her younger sister the most. Having her sister's child raised by Pei Qing was most reassuring. With an imperial decree, Pei Qing entered the palace.
No one asked if she was willing. After all, the position of Empress was something many women dreamed of, and she obtained it effortlessly, along with a son deeply loved by the Emperor. When he ascended the throne, Pei Qing would become the Empress Dowager of the country.
After entering the palace, the Emperor indeed treated her well, even respectfully. In private, he listened to Pei Qing calling him brother-in-law and telling him about her sister's childhood stories, and Xiao Jing's usually expressionless face showed a faint smile.
Thus, Pei Qing was favored in the six palaces, and the Pei family was also put to good use. The imprisoned Pei Cheng naturally returned to the Pei family as a young master.
The world envied her good fortune and envied her beauty.
But no one knew that the face reflected in the mirror rarely smiled since she entered the palace.
She was indeed fortunate. Less than a year after entering the palace, Xiao Jing fell seriously ill and was bedridden. The court and harem were eager to pounce, with numerous royal relatives of the Xiao clan, none of whom would accept a toddler inheriting the throne, especially with a powerless Empress as his aunt.
Outside the palace, they were ready for war, without any concealment.
Pei Qing kept Xiao Ji'an by her side, never daring to be distracted for a moment. But she knew that once those people outside broke in, she wouldn't be able to protect this child.
Her own life didn't matter, but Xiao Ji'an called her "mother" so often that she couldn't bear to let go, nor could she take this child to the underworld to see her sister.
No court official was willing to speak a word with her, and no concubine was willing to stand by her. Even the Pei family, which once saw her as their supreme glory, shrank back, fearing to become the target of everyone's arrows.
What good fortune indeed.
When Pei Qing wrote that letter asking for help, she could almost imagine the scornful and disdainful expression of the person reading it.
If he even received the letter, or if he received it and was willing to open it and take a look.
Pei Qing closed her eyes, refusing to think about that unruly face. She had already prepared for the worst. She had done her duty to herself and to her sister.
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