It was long after Helian Qi had left that Dongfang Yi slowly got up from the ground. Her hands were already frozen stiff, and her head and body were covered with a lot of snow. It was really cold this winter. She sneered at herself.
Just as she got up and tried to stand still, her body suddenly swayed. It turned out that her knees were also frozen and she couldn't stand upright.
This was the scene Situ Qing saw when he came back in a hurry. The extremely thin woman was getting up from the snow and could hardly stand steadily.
His heart tightened suddenly, and he immediately rushed over to hold her.
Dongfang Yi's whole face was pale from the cold, but her nose was red. Even her eyelashes were covered with ice, and her eyes were empty and dull.
What had happened? How had she suddenly become like this? It had only been a little over a month, yet she had turned into this state.
"Situ Qing..." Dongfang Yi called out softly and forced a smile.
"Enough. If you don't want to smile, don't!" he roared heart - wrenchingly.
If you don't want to smile, don't... Why did this sentence sound so familiar? It seemed that someone had said the same thing to her somewhere...
Before Dongfang Yi could finish her thought, Situ Qing picked her up and carried her back into the palace.
As soon as they entered the palace, Situ Qing wrapped her tightly in a quilt. He quickly added some charcoal to the brazier beside the bed to make the fire burn more vigorously. Soon, the palace was filled with warmth.
It took about a quarter of an hour for Dongfang Yi to fully come to her senses. Then she asked the person beside her, "Why are you back?"
"Didn't I say I'd come back to take you away..." Situ Qing still wore his usual smiling face and joked with her.
Unexpectedly, after hearing his words, Dongfang Yi simply said, "Okay."
At first, Situ Qing was a bit incredulous. Then he stared blankly and asked again, "What did you say?"
On the opposite bed, Dongfang Yi, wrapped tightly in the quilt, stared seriously with no hesitation in her tone and said, "I said okay. I'll go with you."
She had already decided to leave the palace. But she also knew that she couldn't escape on her own. All the people around her were given by Helian Qi, so they were naturally his people. Only Situ Qing could enter and leave the palace freely. So he must be able to take her out.
She was fed up with the days in the palace.
"What on earth happened to you?" Situ Qing asked.
"I just want to leave. I want freedom, and I want to find back what I've lost..." Dongfang Yi still stared blankly. She had lost her heart in this palace, and she wanted to go out and find it back.
Dongfang Yi was originally very beautiful, with big, bright and twinkling eyes. But now she was like a doll, with no excessive expressions or emotions.
Looking at her like this, Situ Qing felt as if a hole had suddenly been dug in his heart, and all his heartache rushed out like a flood.
"Okay, I'll take you away," Situ Qing said.
...
Early the next morning, Dongfang Yi woke up. She busily ran to the yard and swept the snow with the maids. After that, she called the maids to build snowmen together.
Soon, two big snowmen were built in front of the main palace gate.
She also took a stroll in the imperial garden, thinking that she would never see the beautiful sight of the flowers competing in beauty again.
Finally, she stopped outside Chengqian Palace. She thought that Helian Qi should be reviewing official documents now, but all this would have nothing to do with her from now on.
After thinking this, she gave a bitter smile and turned away.
In Chengqian Palace, Helian Qi was not reviewing official documents. He was looking at a painting. There were some messy cartoon characters on the painting, but he was looking at it very carefully.
He still remembered the way Dongfang Yi had painted in front of him. She had said that she was painting a cartoon character called Mickey Mouse. Of course, he didn't know what Mickey Mouse was, but he just thought the way she painted was very cute, and even the painting became cute.
That day, he had slapped Dongfang Yi. He could still remember the look of despair in her eyes. But he had to do it. He thought that Concubine Chu would not trouble her again, but unexpectedly... Concubine Chu had come to find her again.
At this time, Helian Qi didn't know that Dongfang Yi was far from being as weak as he thought. His morbid way of protecting her would only push her further away. It was not until many years later that he fully understood this simple truth.
Back in the palace, Dongfang Yi began to busy herself packing up things. She had visited all the places she wanted to visit today. She wanted to leave this place happily.
She didn't want to be filled with hatred when she thought of this place in the future. Even though she never wanted to come back, she didn't want to live with hatred in the future.
While she was packing, Situ Qing climbed in through the window.
He stared seriously at Dongfang Yi and said, "Tomorrow, Concubine Luo will go out of the palace to worship Buddha. You should dress up as a maid and mix into the entourage. But you must pretend to be ill early tomorrow morning and say that you can't get up so that no one will enter your bedroom to disturb you. This way, we can buy more time for our escape."
Dongfang Yi nodded slowly and replied with an "Um".
After seeing Situ Qing off, Dongfang Yi continued to pack. She also took a lot of valuable things, such as jade pendants, pearl necklaces, and jewelry.
The queen's things were mostly precious. They were either given by noble lords or rewarded by Helian Qi before. Anyway, since she was leaving, these things couldn't be wasted. She had to take them as travel expenses!
Thinking of this, she packed more excitedly. Her money - loving nature would never change.
Soon, she heard some noise outside the bedroom. Dongfang Yi put the things she had packed under the mattress warily and tiptoed out of the palace gate.
Unexpectedly, the person she saw was Helian Qi. Dongfang Yi's eyes flashed for a moment, and her lips couldn't help trembling.
"Greetings to Your Majesty," Dongfang Yi said, bowing slightly.
She saw the man opposite walking up to her step by step. He raised his hand to touch her face, but Dongfang Yi dodged.
"Your Majesty, please leave if you have nothing to do. This place of mine... is dirty," Dongfang Yi said coldly, with a tone of expulsion.
Helian Qi looked at the woman in front of him and helplessly dropped his hand. The entangled look in his eyes was hard to read. Then he turned around and left.
Only after he had completely disappeared into the night did Dongfang Yi let out a long breath.
She whispered to the air, "Farewell, Helian Qi. May we never meet again in this lifetime."