The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 32

The dark evil ghosts entered the inner palace. After losing the guidance of the bell sound, they quickly found something that attracted them. The palace where the Emperor and Empress lived was still brightly lit. The evil ghosts were not afraid of the brightness and rushed towards the palace ferociously. However, they were soon blocked by something in mid-air and could not move forward. The evil ghosts roared angrily in the sky for a while, but finally retreated unwillingly and looked for other targets again.

On the right side of this palace, after two courtyard lanes, there was a smaller courtyard, which also had an atmosphere that made evil spirits salivate. At that time, the lights in the palace were extinguished, and there was no invisible barrier—the evil spirits easily touched the palace door and were about to invade the palace, but suddenly the wind blew, and the two-meter-high camellia tree in front of the palace rustled.

A white figure condensed from the camellia tree like smoke. He raised his hand and a gust of wind blew away the evil spirits, preventing them from approaching the palace.

How could the evil ghosts give up after being stopped time and time again? Seeing the man in white appear in front of the gate and blocking their way, the evil ghosts widened their eyes in anger and all rushed towards him.

Facing the countless claws and sharp teeth of the evil ghosts, the man in white refused to retreat or give in, and stood firmly in front of the gate. Even though he was injured, he refused to let the evil ghosts move forward. Seeing that the man in white was difficult to deal with, the evil ghosts split into two groups: one group fought with the man, and the other group tried to get into the gap of the temple door.

Upon seeing this, the man waved his long sleeves, and the sound of the wind suddenly became louder, pouring in through the gaps between doors and windows, making a whimpering sound, and also squeezing out those inky evil ghosts.

The evil ghosts were so angry that they didn’t even think about going in. They just focused on attacking the man in white.

After a night passed, roosters crowed, and the first bell rang out in Chang’an City. The evil spirits that had been fighting with the man in white all night seemed much weaker. At the sound of the bell, they looked even more listless. They hurriedly retreated from the palace and disappeared into the sky that was about to turn white.

Mei Si’s room was completely quiet. The evil spirits, like defeated roosters, came in through the cracks in the window. They were no longer as majestic as they were when they went out last night. They returned to the paintings one by one in dejection. Mei Si, who was lying on the bed, said a few words in his sleep, laughed a few times, turned over, and fell into a deep sleep again. He was unaware that the evil spirits in his paintings were wandering around at night.

The man in white in front of the Princess Mansion in the palace became ethereal after the evil spirits retreated. He glanced at the tightly closed door but did not stay long before he dissipated into a wisp of green smoke and floated back to the camellia tree.

The camellia tree that was lush and green a day before had fallen branches and leaves, and the unopened flower buds were scattered all over the ground.

The palace servant who got up early opened the palace door and prepared to serve her master. However, she saw the miserable appearance of the white camellia tree in front of the palace and cried out in horror, “No, it’s bad! The white camellia tree that the princess loved the most seems to be dying for some reason!”

When a maidservant serving the Princess Mansion heard the shouting outside, she quickly got up and went out to check. She was horrified to see that the white camellia tree had withered like this.

“How could this happen?! Who on earth did this? Quickly, call the guards who were on night watch last night and the eunuchs who were patrolling nearby to ask what happened! Otherwise, when the Princess wakes up and sees the state of the camellia tree, something bad will happen!”

“Yes, yes!” The little palace maid hurriedly ran away holding up her skirt.

The current Emperor had few children, and there was only one Princess in the palace, born to Empress Wu, named Li Yuanzhen. This Princess was of noble status and somewhat innocent. What was rare was that she had not developed any spoiled and unruly temper despite being spoiled. She never cared about the minor mistakes made by the palace maids who served her. But that time, even the palace maids who had taken care of her since she was a child dared not imagine how angry the Princess would be if she saw the camellia tree like that.

Glancing at the camellia tree with worry, the maid sighed and went into the mansion, thinking about how to talk to the Princess about it when she wakes up. If something goes wrong, she might be punished.

Wu Zhen went to the palace to see the Empress in the afternoon. As soon as she entered the palace, she heard someone crying. Then the Empress’s voice rang out, “What’s the point of you crying? Do you think I can cure the camellia tree for you if you cry here?”

Then, Imperial Concubine Mei’s gentle voice coaxed her, “Alright, Yuanzhen, you’ve been crying for so long, your eyes are so swollen. I feel distressed seeing you like this. Don’t cry, dear child, don’t cry.”

Wu Zhen saw that her usually cheerful niece buried her head in Concubine Mei’s arms and sobbed for some reason, while her own sister, the Empress, had a helpless look on her face and sat aside, writing something with a brush in her hand.

Wu Zhen bowed, glanced at her niece, and asked, “Your Highness, what’s wrong with my niece? Why is she crying like this?”

Hearing her voice, the crying girl immediately raised her head, revealing a pair of eyes swollen like walnuts. She rushed towards her, crying and shouting aggrievedly, “Auntie!”

Wu Zhen let her hug her arms and rubbed her red cheeks. “Oh, you cry so pitifully. What’s wrong? Tell your aunt what happened. I will help you solve it.”

Her Royal Highness the Empress curled her lips and said, “Don’t be so confident. If you can’t do it, be careful that she will drown you with her tears.”

Li Yuanzhen’s eyes were red. “Aunt, my white camellia is dying… I… I asked all the palace maids who take care of the flowers and trees to check, but no one has a solution. What should I do…”

Wu Zhen was surprised and asked, “Is it the white camellia tree that you insisted on moving from Mang Mountain to plant in the palace when you were six years old?”

Li Yuanzhen nodded, choking up, “Yes, it was fine yesterday, but overnight, somehow, most of it withered and died.”

Almost everyone in the palace knew about the white camellia tree. It was the little princess’ favorite and she would not allow anyone else to break off a branch or pick a leaf from it. She treasured it so much.