Chapter 74: Pushing open the cage wasn't a prison, it was clearly his love...

Mingying left quickly. She felt utterly disgusted and desperate to escape from the room with him, wanting to stay even a moment longer.

At the same time, she was afraid that Pei Xiaoyun was playing a trick on her, so she did not completely let her guard down.

She knew exactly what kind of person he was.

The carriage bumped along the way, and she sat eight feet away from him, hoping to see her brother.

But he didn't try anything funny. Half an hour later, the carriage indeed stopped in front of Langzhou Prison.

Even though Shen Mingshu was brave, he was no match for Pei Xiaoyun's generals who were sent to capture him. He was worried about Mingying and had no intention of fighting with all his might. In a moment of carelessness, he was captured by these people.

He didn't know why Pei Xiaoyun, this madwoman, would suddenly turn on him with swords. If it was just suspicion and fear, that would be fine, but he was afraid that she had discovered the secret of Aying's faked death and was beginning to take her anger out on the people around her.

Ah Ying's situation is not good either.

He was afraid that Pei Xiaoyun would use him to threaten her.

"Let me out!" His eyes were bloodshot as he smashed the rusty iron doors and windows with his bare hands.

The prison guards, respecting his status, pleaded, "General Shen, please stop shouting. We are only here to guard you. Whether you stay or leave, His Majesty will decide tomorrow morning."

Shen Mingshu sneered: "You think I'm afraid of Pei Xiaoyun, that scoundrel and shameless scoundrel?"

The jailer was so frightened that sweat beaded on his back. He was afraid that if he paid any attention to such treasonous words, he would lose his own head. He retreated in fear.

The prison gates opened, and a man and a woman entered. The woman was dressed in clean clothes, her eyes and brows cold as ice. The man wore a crimson wide-sleeved round-necked robe, his whole demeanor domineering, yet he followed closely behind her.

"Open the door and get out."

Before the jailer's expression changed drastically and he was about to kneel in obeisance, Pei Xiaoyun coldly waved his hand.

The door to Shen Mingshu's cell was opened, and Mingying immediately ran up to him, "Brother, are you alright?"

She had been worried the whole way, wondering if Pei Xiaoyun had tortured her brother in an attempt to force her to submit. Her gaze lingered on her brother, and seeing that he was unharmed, she finally felt relieved.

"I'm fine." Shen Mingshu forced a smile because she was there.

Pei Xiaoyun indeed exposed her secret of faking her death, and those two peaceful years came to a complete end with his arrival.

Fortunately, she remained calm, so it seemed he hadn't done anything to her.

He met Pei Xiaoyun's gaze, and the surrounding air suddenly turned cold.

Pei Xiaoyun looked away and said calmly, "I misunderstood you. I didn't know you left the city to save her."

If he had known this would happen, how could he have clashed with Shen Mingshu and damaged his relationship with her again?

He had just heard Shen Mingshu's disrespectful words. As an emperor, he was willing to admit his mistakes, humble himself to come to prison to seek peace, and tolerate his subject's insubordination. This was already a great act of leniency and tolerance.

Shen Mingshu walked step by step to his side, his eyes clearly filled with fire, his fists clenched, yet he could not bring himself to have a strong confrontation with him.

Pei Xiaoyun is now the ruler of the land. If he wants to take revenge on them, he has a thousand ways. Even though he is not worried about his own safety, he is worried about Aying's safety.

He was about to say something when Pei Xiaoyun interrupted him first: "I was overjoyed to learn that Aying was still alive, so I kept her here to talk and did not harm her."

By now, how could he not understand that threats and coercion would only make her hate him more?

He only hoped that it wasn't too late to make it up to her and get back together with her.

Mingying didn't speak. She just wanted to go home with her brother and pretend that she had never seen Pei Xiaoyun today, hoping that he would not come looking for her again.

"Your Majesty's words are truly too much for me." Shen Mingshu continued what he had been about to say, forcing a softer tone, but his words still carried a resolute edge. "I am guilty. I led troops without authorization, disobeyed imperial orders, and committed insubordination. I beg Your Majesty to strip me of my title and remove me from my official post. From now on, I wish to live as a commoner, return to the countryside with my sister, and not concern myself with court affairs."

He was begging him to let them go.

When Ah Ying was poisoned, he traded ten years of his lifespan to restore her clarity of mind. He could disregard the blood feud of those ten years, only hoping that the person in front of him would stop haunting him.

Pei Xiaoyun's jaw trembled, her eyes narrowed, and she felt a sour taste churning in her mouth.

Why do they all say such things to him?

What did it matter that he sat on that cold dragon throne? No one knew that for those two years, he was constantly yearning for that tender feeling in his dreams, missing her to the point of madness.

He only wanted to get back together with her; how could he lose her again?

"I will not dismiss you, nor will I punish you." He turned to look at Mingying, answering Shen Mingshu's question, "I have come here not only to retake Langzhou City, but also to wipe out the Wuhuan Kingdom in one fell swoop, so that there will be no more war in the Northwest. I need your help in this battle."

"I will stay in the Northwest for a while longer," he said, drawing out the last part of his sentence as he looked at her.

I hope that these days will win her back.

He wanted to bring her back to Beijing in a grand ceremony.

"Your Majesty, please do as you please." Mingying replied coldly. She only hoped that he would return to the capital as soon as possible. As long as he was in the Northwest, she would be worried sick every day.

He definitely doesn't want to let her go; he must have some ulterior motive.

"Aying, let's go." Shen Mingshu patted her shoulder.

Mingying came to her senses. She and her brother depended on each other for survival and always managed to escape danger. As long as her family was by her side, she was not afraid.

She felt warmth in her palms, nodded, and brushed past Pei Xiaoyun.

Pei Xiaoyun indeed let them go. The two figures walked out of the prison gate and disappeared into the night.

He knew she wasn't dead, and that she had once again left him without looking back. His sense of loneliness didn't lessen; instead, it intensified.

He began to count in detail whether she had spoken to him calmly since he first met her that day.

But no matter how much I thought about it, those few sparse words couldn't even form a sentence.

Upon returning to his residence, he learned that Shen Mingshu had been injured and sent someone to deliver a lot of medicine to him.

Every half hour, he would ask the servants if they had received it over there.

"Your Majesty, General Shen refused to accept it, and his sister personally threw it out."

Pei Xiaoyun seemed to have anticipated this, and fell silent, his dark eyes gradually deepening: "If she doesn't accept it, keep sending it until she does."

Why are you unwilling to accept his kindness?

She thinks he will harm them? She thinks everything he does is for a purpose?

Yes, he did have an ulterior motive. He wanted to treat her better and make up for the past as much as possible, but she wouldn't even give him a chance.

The night breeze stirred the window curtains, and a shimmering light shone on the table where Mingying had been sitting. He stared at it, mesmerized, his head throbbing, as if he had taken an elixir, a vision both real and unreal.

Upon seeing this, the attendant stepped forward to serve: "Your Majesty, this is the pill prepared by Physician He."

Pei Xiaoyun stared at the medicine bottle, then suddenly remembered something, and anger surged in her chest.

"Bring He Lianqing to me."

When He Lianqing heard that he had discovered the truth about the faked death back then, he knew that with his personality, he would definitely go crazy and pester Mingying again, and settle scores with him, the one who knew the truth.

Therefore, I was prepared to be questioned from the very beginning.

He was fearless, knowing that Pei Xiaoyun would not take his life. He walked into the courtyard with normal steps, as if nothing had happened. Just as he was about to step over the threshold, a deep female voice rang out.

"His Majesty is very angry."

Xing Wei, who was standing at the door, sensed Pei Xiaoyun's anger. Seeing that He Lianqing seemed unaware of the situation, she couldn't help but speak up to inform him.

Even though he hasn't spoken to her in the past two years.

He Lianqing was slightly surprised, paused for a moment, and replied, "Thank you for the reminder."

Pei Xiaoyun propped his forehead up and dozed off for a moment. In his dream, there were misty clouds, all of which were her shadow. He even thought that he was sitting alone in Cheng'an Palace, missing her who had died.

He only realized what year it was and where he was when he heard footsteps, opened his eyes, and saw He Lianqing standing in front of him.

He sneered, his eyes gleaming with a sinister light: "I really want to kill you."

It was all them, they all conspired to fool him and caused him to lose her for two years.

If she hadn't left during those two years, he would have definitely won her back. They would probably be a loving and harmonious couple by now, instead of like this.

He Lianqing, having nothing better to do, raised an eyebrow: "General Shen knows about this, and the princess knows about it too. You don't dare to take your anger out on them for fear of hurting your relationship with Mingying, so you can only vent your anger on me?"

“The princess was young back then, and I will not forgive her mistakes, but you and Shen Mingshu deserve to die for deceiving the emperor!” Pei Xiaoyun gripped the teacup with a fierce determination that threatened to crush the rim.

He said she didn't die back then, but he never believed it; he thought they staged a good show to fool him.

He Lianqing guessed that he was still unwilling to let go, and sighed: "You believe she's dead, what's wrong with that? Without your interference, I heard that she can now ride a horse, wield a knife, and runs an incense shop in the Northwest, making a lot of money and living a very comfortable life. When you kept her by your side, was she ever this happy? Did she cry more or laugh more?"

Pei Xiaoyun stared coldly, remaining silent for a long time before finally looking at He Lianqing.

Thinking of Mingying's distant attitude towards him, he felt a pang in his heart, and his voice became firm and heavy: "It's because she won't give me a chance. If she were, I would definitely give her the best."

"She already has the best; what you're giving her is a cage."

Pei Xiaoyun's pupils darkened, and two dim lights flickered.

He didn't believe it.

If that child were still alive, they might already be married; she was almost ready to agree back then.

Everything changed because the child was gone.

What he gave her was not a cage, but clearly his love.

He wanted her to accept his feelings.

He wouldn't listen to He Lianqing's words. Instead, when no one was around, he asked him, "I want to go back to the way things were before with her. Do you have any ideas?"

"Two years ago, there was no cure; the chronic diarrhea was difficult to treat."

He Lianqing joked that he had been practicing medicine for many years and had treated all kinds of difficult and complicated diseases. Over time, he could even see people's mental illnesses at a glance.

Pei Xiaoyun is crazy, she's sick, and she'll never be cured.

Upon hearing his words, Pei Xiaoyun, unusually, did not get angry. Instead, she slowly closed her eyes, her thoughts returning to the afternoon in Xuzhou when He Lianqing rushed in and questioned her about why she had been sent to Ningxue Tower.

He said at the time that he would not regret it.

The word "regret" had been faintly imprinted on his heart since he learned of her death that year. Now, seeing her again was as if someone had taken up a pen and ink and traced the shape of that word once more.

Over the years, he has been cautious and meticulous, rising from a disgraced official to a loyal minister, and then from a loyal minister to an emperor. He has almost never made a mistake, has no way out, no dead end, and has never been soft-hearted towards anyone or anything.

He believed that everything he did was right and that he would never regret it.

"Was I wrong?" He pointed to himself, only able to ask He Lianqing in a secluded place.

He just wanted her; granting her freedom would cause him pain.

Is the freedom she yearns for truly better than a life of luxury?

He Lianqing felt that this person was beyond help: "You are selfish, cold-hearted, and greedy. You wouldn't understand."

After he finished speaking, he walked out of the room in a blaze of light.

Pei Xiaoyun stared at his back, too weak to even utter a word of punishment.

He laughed in the darkness until his chest ached.

He's not a good person, he never hides it, but can't someone who has done all sorts of bad things love her?

He won't let go.

—

This was the fifth time Mingying had thrown away the things Pei Xiaoyun had sent.

His overtures, like his threats, made her uncomfortable and disgusted.

She and her brother were temporarily staying at the residence of an official in Langzhou, and it would be incredibly easy for Pei Xiaoyun to send people in.

Looking at the group of servants carrying things, she felt utterly exhausted: "Go back, and don't come again."

The servants wanted to return to report, but she confiscated their belongings, so they dared not leave easily.

“Young lady, this is His Majesty’s gift, an immense favor.”

“Go back and tell him I don’t care about his stuff.” Mingying picked up several bottles of high-quality wound medicine from the steps and threw them far away. The bottles shattered on the ground.

He said he wouldn't pressure her, and that's how he keeps his promise?

Hearing the commotion outside, Shen Mingshu finished applying the medicine, put on his clothes, and went out. He saw a large group of people standing in the courtyard.

He guessed what was going on, and looking at the things all over the yard, he said to the people, "Put these things down, we'll take them."

"General Shen is truly wise and understanding. We will take our leave now, so as not to disturb General Shen's recovery."

Mingying looked up at him and heard his voice fall: "He won't let you go. You can't stay in Langzhou. Leave tomorrow."

Mingying could easily understand what he meant; once Pei Xiaoyun found her, he would definitely not let him go.

His appearance made her two years of peaceful life seem like a fleeting dream, gone in an instant.

Before he resorts to force, her only option is to leave, to go somewhere he can't find her, and steal a few years if she can.

Life is short, and there are only a few two-year periods in a lifetime. In a daze, it may just pass by like that.

But she couldn't stop worrying about her brother.

"Don't worry about me, he won't do anything to me. If you're safe, I'm safe." Shen Mingshu seemed to have seen through her thoughts and gave her a reassuring smile. "He wants to wipe out the Wuhuan, and I have the same intention. I'm staying here for the people of the Northwest."

It's common for the siblings to be separated most of the time, but it doesn't matter if they don't see each other, as long as they are both safe and sound.

Therefore, Mingying planned to leave Langzhou disguised as an ordinary citizen before dawn the next day.

—

The imperial army quickly sealed off the entrance to the border between the northwest and the Wuhuan Kingdom. The remnants of the enemy army were still unable to leave Langzhou City and could only hide in the mountains to survive.

Pei Xiaoyun's plan was to trap them until they were at their wits' end, and then wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

He would not let a single one of the Wuhuan people who killed the people of Langzhou go.

He and Shen Mingshu each led several generals to search for the Wuhuan people hiding in various mountains on the outskirts of the city.

Scouts reported that hundreds of enemy remnants were hiding in a cave on a mountain called Qingfeng Mountain outside the city, and more than a dozen families of civilians also lived on the mountain.

Fearing that these desperate criminals would harm the people, Pei Xiaoyun immediately led his men into the mountains, intending to capture them in one fell swoop.

Upon reaching the entrance to the cave, his subordinate pointed out, "Your Majesty, those people are hiding in the cave ahead. We did not alert them."

The mountain road is rugged, littered with rocks and puddles, and narrow, making it inconvenient to cycle.

Pei Xiaoyun dismounted, his sword never leaving his side. "Take some men and search this cave for any other exits. Once you find one, make sure to seal it off completely. Don't let a single person escape."

"yes."

This cave is a masterpiece of nature, a hidden paradise. He led his people deeper inside, where the stone caves were strange and the atmosphere was eerie.

Suddenly, several sleeve needles flew over. Pei Xiaoyun's brow twitched, and he drew his sword to block them. "Clang—" The sleeve needles were deflected and embedded themselves straight into the cracks in the stone.

He sensed a faint gust of wind to his right, and following the direction from which the sleeve needle had come, he raised his sword and slashed at a cave on his right.

He knocked away several hollow stones, revealing a dozen people hiding in the cave. The group, now exposed, rushed out and were easily killed by him.

"Everyone was on guard, and they used poisoned needles to carefully search for places with caves."

They fought their way to the end, and when they reached a stream at the end of the cave, they encountered another group of about twenty people.

During the fight, a poisoned needle flew out of nowhere and pierced Pei Xiaoyun's chest. He quickly noticed it and turned around to block, but the needle still tore his clothes and grazed the skin on his arm.

He immediately frowned deeply. The poisoned needle was indeed potent; it had only grazed him, yet he felt a burning pain in his arm. Looking up, he caught sight of an enemy suspended on a stalactite above him—the very person who had stabbed him with the poisoned needle.

Using the uneven stone wall beside him, he leaped into the air and plunged his sword into the man's chest.

Meanwhile, black blood continued to seep from the wound on his arm.

The enemy has been wiped out. A subordinate approached and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty has been poisoned."

"I'm fine." Pei Xiaoyun's lips were pale. He had wanted to force himself to go down the mountain to find He Lianqing, but his whole body was weak and sore. He sensed something was wrong and said, "Summon the accompanying military doctor to come and take a look."

He sat on his horse to rest, his eyes growing increasingly unfocused.

The ordinary military doctor was mediocre and had no idea how to cure the Wuhuan people's poison. He could only use medicinal wine to clean the wounds and then pick some Five Elements Herbs at the entrance of the cave, crush them, and apply them to the wounds to stop the bleeding.

The crushed Five Elements Herb juice was greenish-blue. As it was a herbal medicine, it didn't have a strong smell, but when Pei Xiaoyun applied it to her hands, she could keenly detect a familiar yet strange scent.

"I ask you, what kind of grass is this?"

He leaned closer to sniff, shook his head slightly to clear his mind, and a memory slowly crept into his head.

This smell...

He had tasted this flavor when he drank from the cup she had used.

Fearing reprimand, the military doctor kowtowed twice and said, "Your Majesty, this is Five Elements Herb, which can be used to stop bleeding and reduce swelling."

"Does it have any other effects?" he asked, his eyes as dark as ink, his heart pounding.

The military doctor replied, "It eliminates stagnation, invigorates qi, dispels dampness, and reduces internal heat."

Pei Xiaoyun subconsciously shook his head. This did not seem to be the answer he wanted. Gradually, a terrible thought rose in his mind.

She once said that she disliked the monotonous colors of spring flowers, so she went to the flower shop and asked for a lot of flower and grass seeds.

Are there any seeds of the Five Elements Herb among them?

The more he thought about it, the colder his hands became. The pain from the poison coursed through his internal organs, and his voice was terrifyingly deep: "What would happen if a pregnant woman ate this herb?"

The military doctor, unsure why he asked this, and knowing that no one could fathom the emperor's unpredictable moods, truthfully replied: "Your Majesty, the Five Elements Herb is a cold and slippery substance. Excessive consumption can cause diarrhea. If a pregnant woman consumes it once or twice occasionally, the impact will be minimal. However, excessive consumption can easily lead to miscarriage."

Miscarriage.

Pei Xiaoyun was struck dumb, her vision blurred for a moment, and she broke out in a cold sweat, but a sinister smile remained on her lips, a smile that sent chills down the spines of those around her.

He recalled the nervous look on her face when he drank that glass of water.

Why was she nervous? Because she had drunk it and was afraid he would notice something was amiss.

Okay, okay, so what else is she hiding from him?

He suddenly became agitated, and the wound that had just stopped bleeding started bleeding again. He threw down the Five Elements Herb he had applied to his hand and stared at the bluish-green thing as if he wanted to burn the lifeless object.

"Guards!" he shouted, turning his head. But his voice trailed off as he added, "Go...go bring Mingying to my residence!"

He wanted to ask her properly what had happened.

Ask her if she felt even a trace of reluctance or shame at the time.

As the others rode away, his chest heaved, and he hurriedly called out to them, "Wait!"

Unaware that his eyes were burning, he endured the pain and spurred his horse: "I want to see her in person."

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Author's Note: The next chapter will reveal the truth and trigger emotional reactions [doge emoji]