Chapter 55 Chapter 55 I can’t lose her a second time.

"General!"

Shi Zhu suddenly burst into the room without warning. Ji Sui, who had been sitting at the desk with his forehead in his hand, suddenly stood up and strode over to him. He grabbed his shoulders and stared at him with sparkling black eyes: "Any news?!"

The man in front of him had bloodshot eyes, dark circles under his eyes, and a pale face. Shizhu couldn't bear it but could only shake her head.

Ji Sui dejectedly let go of his hand, pushed Shizhu away, and sat back down on the chair dejectedly, staring at the ground with empty eyes.

"General, it's Meng Liangyu. I just received a message from someone in the Meng residence saying he ran away!"

After Lin Zhen was abducted, Ji Sui sent people to search the city for two days without success. He then angrily led a group of people straight to the Prime Minister Meng's mansion, dragged Meng Liangyu to the front yard, and openly lynched him in front of all the servants in the mansion, torturing him severely until he was barely breathing his last.

After that, the Meng Mansion was under the control of the Shenwu Camp. Servants were allowed to enter and leave the mansion as usual every day to maintain superficial peace. At the same time, the letter of leave written "personally" by Meng Liangyu was presented to the palace.

Everything was going well, but unexpectedly today news came that he had escaped.

Ji Sui's voice was cold: "The city gates are heavily guarded, is it possible that he could still fly out?"

"I'm not afraid that he will escape from the city, I'm just afraid that he will enter the palace!" Shizhu said worriedly.

In order to find Lin Zhen, the general has secretly imprisoned all his political enemies in the Lin Mansion these past few days and tortured them privately. The truth was about to be revealed. Ever since the incident with the third prince, the general has been secretly planning to mobilize the troops from Yizhou to enter the city, and they are about to arrive. If the palace is alarmed at this time, I am afraid that the general's great cause will be ruined!

"Enter... the palace?" Ji Sui seemed to be lost in thought. He suddenly raised his head and said, "Go and bring Bai Ce here!"

Shi Zhu was stunned for a moment, thinking that the general was unwell, and hurriedly turned around and went out to find Bai Ce.

The man was led in, but the general did not let him take his pulse. Instead, he questioned him again: "Tell me in detail all the sounds you heard on the day Lin Zhen was abducted."

*

That night, Ji Rui reorganized his personal soldiers and the troops of the Shenwu Camp in the Lin Mansion, and distributed the defense map of the imperial palace to several generals, intending to attack the palace at night two days later.

Shi Zhu knew he couldn't stop Ji Sui, but after everyone had left, he stepped forward and pleaded, "Yizhou—" He tried his best to lower his voice, "Yizhou's troops will arrive in ten days. General, why don't you evacuate the city before alerting the enemy and wait to reunite with the main army. Then, we can capture the imperial city in one fell swoop. Wouldn't that be more foolproof?"

If Meng Liangyu had really entered the palace, the snake would have been frightened long ago.

The sound Bai Ce heard was the sound of a token that only the emperor's personal guards could make.

Although he didn't know why the emperor wanted to abduct Lin Zhen, if the emperor already knew their relationship, then if he tacitly acknowledged the treason and evacuated the city at this time, Lin Zhen would surely die.

He can't gamble.

"You're right," Ji Sui suddenly said. Shi Zhu was overjoyed when she heard the general continue, "Since we've already alerted the enemy, we can't just pretend nothing happened. Go write a letter of apology for this general and present it to the palace."

"Letter of apology?" Shizhu was really confused.

Ji Sui frowned, his eyes deep as he spoke word by word, "I, Ji Sui, know my crime. I secretly harbored my daughter, Lin Zhen, and after she was kidnapped, I impulsively implicated others. I have failed Your Majesty's high hopes. It is too late to regret. I now leave it to Your Majesty to decide."

"Send it to the palace, the sooner the better," he added coldly.

Shi Zhu naturally knew that this was a temporary excuse made by his master to stabilize the emperor, and the emperor would not believe it. He might even take advantage of his master's letter of apology to severely punish him. But this fully demonstrated his master's determination to fight to the death.

After he clearly realized that no matter what he said, it would be of no use, Shizhu finally nodded in agreement.

Ji Sui returned to Lin Zhen's bedroom, stood in front of the desk, and stared at the unfinished words on the desk in a daze.

The night was hot and humid, and it seemed that even the memories wrapped in it had become sticky and thick.

He seemed to still be able to smell the fragrance of her hair and feel the cool touch of her fingertips in his palms.

He lay back on the couch and covered his head with the thin blanket.

For several days, he repeatedly used this method to bring himself back to the night that made his heart beat fast and he almost lost control.

He found that he had become vulnerable without knowing when. He could not bear her disappearance or her being hurt more than before.

Allowing herself to greedily absorb the breath that belonged to her in the narrow space.

After a while, his eyes became clear again, and he had to keep enough sanity to save Lin Zhen.

He couldn't lose her a second time.

*

early morning.

There is no morning court today. The emperor is reviewing memorials in the Changsheng Palace.

The emperor had been recuperating for several months and was weak and frail. In the hot summer, even though there was plenty of ice in the palace ice cellar, the Changsheng Palace was not cool.

Lin Zhen had only been standing for less than two quarters of an hour when he began to sweat. Unlike the sweat he had felt the same way the previous day while riding a horse, the sweat was wet and sticky to his body. After it dried in the wind, he felt cold again.

"Those are calligraphy and paintings and four treasures of the study presented by the inspector who returned to Beijing two days ago. Pick them out and see if there is anything that suits your taste." The emperor's eyes moved away from the memorial for a moment and glanced at Lin Zhen.

"Young lady," Wang Teng's smile deepened compared to the previous two days. He led Lin Zhen to the table and respectfully showed her the items on it one by one. He added in a low voice, "In the past, these things were first sent to Wenhua Palace for the princes to choose from."

"Really?" Lin Zhen said lightly.

Wang Teng leaned even lower, "Of course, His Majesty's love for the young lady is extraordinary."

Lin Zhen glanced at the inkstone in his hand but didn't reach out to take it. His cold eyes looked at him quietly: "If you think so, how dare you suppress my letter?"

Wang Teng's body paused slightly, but there was no panic or fear in his eyes, only a flash of regret.

But Lin Zhen didn't catch it.

She almost didn't sleep the whole night last night. She had waited too long for this moment, and they had waited too long too.

She seemed to be standing in front of a door that had been sealed for five years. It was waiting for her to push it open, and she had to push it open. That door contained the light that everyone had been praying for for a long time.

Lin Zhen clenched his hands, walked firmly to the emperor's desk, straightened his back, and knelt on his knees.

Before he could vent his heartfelt sincerity and indignation, the emperor interrupted him. "Do you have something to report? I've been reading memorials for a while and I'm a little tired. If it's important, please report it another day." The emperor stood up, walked around the desk, passed by Lin Zhen, and asked with a smile, "Why? There's nothing you like?"

The emperor casually flipped through the calligraphy on the table.

At this time, Wang Teng stood back beside the emperor. They stood in the shade behind the window, while Lin Zhen knelt far away in the hall.

She only has that letter as evidence. Will His Majesty believe that she is better than Wang Teng?

Lin Zhen didn't have any chance of winning at all.

The grievances that had been accumulating for five years surged in her chest, and she knew she couldn't wait any longer.

Lin Zhen's inner anxiety was unconsciously reflected on his face, while Wang Teng, who was standing beside the emperor, still had his eyebrows lowered and his eyes downcast, with no expression on his face.

Facing the emperor, Lin Zhen kowtowed again and said, "I want to expose the Prime Minister Meng Liangyu's frame-up of Prince Chen for treason. I have my father's handwritten letter as evidence, but I am currently being held captive by the chief eunuch, Wang Teng."

Wang Teng respectfully raised his eyelids, looked at the emperor briefly, and then lowered his eyes.

The light coming in through the window lattice fell on Lin Zhen, casting a soft glow over her entire body.

The emperor looked at her in silence for a long moment, then put down the calligraphy and painting in his hand with a lack of interest. "What you've reported is of great importance and has far-reaching implications. It's not something that can be investigated thoroughly just based on your opinion alone."

The emperor was neither angry, sad, nor surprised, and his expression was calm.

Lin Zhen glanced at Wang Teng, who was also calm. She seemed to understand something. "Your Majesty... has already read my father's letter, but Your Majesty is not prepared to clear their grievances?"

Meng Liangyu, dragging his frail body through several twists and turns, was finally escorted into the palace by guards. Before he even arrived, a voice had already reached him: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! General Ji Bai committed adultery with the daughter of the treacherous minister Lin Yunfeng, and then used the excuse that I had abducted that woman to openly assault important officials of the court. This is clearly treason, Your Majesty!"

Meng Liangyu entered the hall crying and fell to his knees on the ground. When he looked up, he found Lin Zhen kneeling not far away.

Lin Zhen glared at him angrily and continued to tell the emperor, "Prince Chen and Marshal Ji have never betrayed Your Majesty. The reason my father accused the prince of treason was because Meng Liangyu interfered and forced my father into a desperate situation!"

Meng Liangyu was very surprised at Lin Zhen's appearance, but he believed that he was the person who knew His Majesty best besides Wang Teng.

Otherwise, it would not have taken him only a few years to go from being a small retainer in the Lin Mansion to becoming the current Prime Minister.

But he still had to put on a show, so Meng Liangyu's face was filled with fear and innocence: "Your Majesty, I... your Majesty, I am innocent! The Prince of Chen has secretly embezzled the national treasury, stationed troops and horses, and is planning a rebellion. Everyone in the world knows this!"

"If you hadn't sent people to intercept the Qizhou battle report and the border war was imminent, how could father have resorted to such a desperate measure against Prince Chen? If you had nothing to hide, why did you monitor father day and night and force him to death?"

After reading the letter, Lin Zhen realized that his father committed suicide by taking poison in the room because he wanted Meng Liangyu to completely give up the idea and let down his guard so that he could hand over the evidence he had collected over the years.

Even though Meng Liangyu already knew that Lin Zhen must have obtained some evidence from the Lin family, the fact that he could still stand here and argue with Lin Zhen was enough to illustrate His Majesty's attitude.

This gave him more confidence, and he smiled wryly, "Where do you get that from? Could it be that you and Ji Sui are conspiring to frame me, this old minister?"

Lin Zhen didn't want to argue with him and simply said, "Your Majesty, my father once went to Qizhou with the Mobei Army to suppress the rebellion. He once intended to spare Prince Chen's life and bring him back to the capital to confess to Your Majesty in person, but he chose to commit suicide to prove his innocence. And Marshal Ji didn't die of illness in prison, but went to Qizhou first. If he hadn't led the troops into battle himself, Prince Chen would have no generals to rely on, and how could the Mobei Army have easily resolved the chaos on the Qizhou border while suppressing the rebellion?"

"Your Highness, the Princess, will not burn herself to death in despair..."

Lin Zhen's last words fell lightly, and the hall fell into dead silence.

Meng Liangyu glanced at the emperor secretly. As people get older, it is inevitable that they will reminisce about the old times. He was a little unsure. Is His Majesty still the same His Majesty as before?

After a long period of silence, a loud noise suddenly occurred above the hall.

The pens, ink, paper and inkstone on the desk under the window were swept all over the floor, making a sharp clanging sound in the hall.

"I have loved her since she was a child and made the best arrangements for her. If she had obediently gone to Dian to marry, I would have guaranteed her the title of Mother of the Nation! Despite all the glory, she still chose to betray me! And then there's Lin Yunfeng, whom I treat like a brother, yet he's steadily moving towards Qi Huan, secretly contacting princes and nobles on the border, and secretly imprisoning criminals. Which of these isn't a serious crime?! Ji Yuanju is even more of an idiot!"

"How kindly I treated them, and how they repaid me!"

The emperor swung his wide sleeves and walked a few steps to Lin Zhen, completely blocking the light shining on her, leaving her in darkness.

Wang Teng sighed silently, while Meng Liangyu knelt upright with a sarcastic smile on his face.

At this time, a eunuch hurried in from outside the hall and said that there was an urgent report from General Ji Rui.

Upon hearing this, the emperor waved his sleeves and walked back to his seat. Wang Teng stepped forward, took the memorial, and read it out slowly in a clear and bright voice.

After hearing this, the emperor did not react and just put it aside.

Meng Liangyu panicked, kneeling before the desk and admonishing, "Your Majesty, please do not believe his one-sided words. This man is scheming and treacherous. He may appear humble and submissive, but he actually harbors rebellious intentions!"

Lin Zhen sneered, "Prime Minister Meng knew he had been harboring rebellious intentions for a long time, so why did he only report it today?"

"He... he is full of schemes! I, I just realized it today!" Meng Liangyu was afraid that the emperor would become suspicious of his relationship with Ji Bai because of Lin Zhen's words. Although he has always been cautious and has been communicating with Ji Bai in secret, he did not dare to guarantee that their relationship was airtight.

If Your Majesty really becomes suspicious, then even if you don't punish him with the same crime, you will certainly not entrust him with any important tasks. Therefore, I felt a little guilty and fearful when I replied.

"The 100,000 light cavalry from Mobei will arrive in the capital in five days. I am afraid he will not rebel."

Mobei is a thousand miles away from the capital, and the army had set out at least two months ago. It is obvious that His Majesty has been planning to kill Ji Sui for a long time.

Meng Liangyu glanced at Lin Zhen again, and only then did he understand why Lin Zhen appeared in the palace.

Seeing His Majesty's resolute attitude and the fact that he hadn't held him responsible, Meng Liangyu finally put his worries to rest. Ji Sui had become too powerful to be eliminated, long out of his control. Eliminating him now would truly alleviate a major worry for him.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Meng Liangyu kowtowed loudly.

It was only at this time that Lin Zhen realized that the emperor had abducted her into the palace in order to disrupt and restrain Ji Sui.

But she was puzzled, "If Your Majesty wants him to die, why wait until today?"

Wait until he becomes the most powerful, wait until heavy troops are needed, and rivers of blood flow.

The emperor sighed softly, "There are too many restless people in this palace."

A surprising thought occurred to Lin Zhen, and she asked hesitantly, "Your Majesty, are you referring to the eldest prince or the third prince?"

The emperor remained silent, except for Meng Liangyu, who shuddered uncontrollably for a moment when Lin Zhen mentioned the third prince.

In the stuffy hall, Lin Zhen felt cold sweat on his back.

The emperor was afraid that the eldest prince had been guarding the border for many years and had a large number of troops under his command, so he lured him to the capital to test him, and in the process he had Ji Sui get rid of him.

But the Third Prince...

Lin Zhen suddenly remembered the guess she had used to scare her aunt. She slowly said, "...Your Majesty already knew the Third Prince's background?"

Lin Zhen thought about it carefully. Ji Sui's plan to make the Third Prince and Meng Liangyu turn against each other was too smooth. The meditation room where Concubine Jiang was located was very remote. Why did the monk who led the way lead them to such a remote place by mistake?

She could only think of one possibility.

After Lin Zhen said this, Meng Liangyu felt like he was in hell, and even his breathing became cautious, but he quickly told himself that this was impossible, absolutely impossible.

If Your Majesty had known the truth earlier, he would not still be here, and Concubine Jiang would not have been spared the death penalty.

Meng Liangyu swallowed and knelt upright.

The emperor remained silent, so Lin Zhen continued, "Your Majesty, why don't you just sentence him to death?"

"Wouldn't that arouse suspicion among the people?" the emperor roared, waving his sleeves in anger. After a moment, he regained his composure, his tone becoming gentle, almost suppressed and restrained as he spoke, "You didn't see the way he died, crying out for help, calling me father over and over again, his eyes slowly extinguished in fear... and longing."

"I watched them like katydids trapped in a small bamboo basket, constantly killing each other—"

"I finally feel a sense of relief."

The emperor's expression changed as he spoke. Lin Zhen then realized that his hair was just gray, but his face did not look old. Instead, his face looked tight and youthful due to the weight loss caused by illness. This extreme contrast made him look even more twisted and crazy, and he no longer looked kind and charitable.

When the emperor said these cold words, he didn't even look at Meng Liangyu.

The latter had long forgotten all etiquette and slumped down in the hall. His incontinence soaked his robe and spilled over the gold bricks at his feet.

Wang Teng frowned and half covered his mouth and nose, and ordered: "This filth is desecrating the temple, why don't you take it away quickly."

Only after walking a long way did Meng Liangyu's roar reach his ears: "Your Majesty, spare my life!"

After a long time, peace returned to the hall.

Lin Zhen stared at the ground in a daze. "So, everyone is just a chess piece in your hands."

The emperor's complexion had returned to normal, a kind and peaceful face once again. He smiled faintly and said, "Lin Zhen, you do resemble them. You look like Lin Yunfeng, the eldest princess, and even a bit like Prince Chen. But there is one thing that sets you apart from them. You have never betrayed me. I can remove your status as the daughter of a guilty minister and make you a county princess, or even a princess!"

"Princess? Will she be trapped in the palace as a hostage like Princess Zhaoning, or will she be reduced to a tool for the Great Zhou to expand its territory like her elder sister?" Lin Zhen asked.

Hearing Lin Zhen's question, the emperor was not angry. Instead, he said calmly, "That girl disappeared for a few days. It turns out she hid in your palace. She is young and ignorant. Don't listen to her nonsense."

"She's talking nonsense. What about my father? Your Majesty, why did you ignore my father's report? You only think about how they made mistakes and betrayed Your Majesty."

"They were indeed wrong. They were wrong to be loyal to such a king!" Lin Zhen said, standing up angrily. "You are the one who is selfish and betrays everyone for the sake of supreme power!"

Lin Zhen then understood how Meng Liangyu could have so easily put the local princes to death without the emperor's tacit approval.

She also understood why the emperor favored her.

"They refused to bow to Your Majesty until their death. Your Majesty has taken all the benefits, and now you are remembering their past kindness and want to show me your hypocritical mercy."

There was a loud bang, and Lin Zhen suddenly felt a sharp pain on his forehead.

Soldiers in silver armor rushed in from outside the hall and surrounded her.

Lin Zhen knew that she would not walk out of the Hall of Eternal Life alive.

She had a close brush with death during the Jiaofangsi fire, and she was afraid of death.

But at this moment, she still stood upright in the hall, like a strong pine or green bamboo.

Lin Zhen did not wait for the announcement of his death, the emperor just waved his hand.

"Take her away."