Chapter 39 Chapter 39 [VIP]

The fire in Qingning Palace was the most severe fire since the establishment of the imperial palace.

The entire inner hall was burned down, and not even the extra jade mirror was left.

Because the fire started at night, water was not readily available, and it took a full two hours just to completely extinguish the fire.

The only thing to be thankful for is that Qingning Palace is remote and there are no other palaces nearby.

The weather is dry in spring. If such a big fire burns more fiercely and affects other palaces, the consequences will be unimaginable.

But the lady living here happened to be the most respected and favored imperial concubine.

The new emperor has been on the throne for more than three years. Among the countless beauties in the harem, he has only favored this one. The current crown prince is her own son.

As soon as she had a son, Yuan Mu was directly promoted to the position of noble concubine. It should be noted that she had just been promoted from a concubine to a concubine a few days ago, and her etiquette and treatment were the same as those of the queen.

Such status and position is even greater than that of the deposed empress when she was at the peak of her favor.

Two major events occurred that night.

One was a fire in Qingning Palace, and the other was the death of the deposed Empress Yuan Ying.

The latter should have been a sensational event, but because of the existence of the former, few people paid attention to it.

Even the Yuan family only sent someone in to hastily collect the body.

Yuan Ying had been deposed long ago and removed from the royal genealogy. In future historical records, perhaps even her existence would be erased.

The second day after the flood in Qingning Palace.

Defei Gao was deposed and sentenced to death, causing a sensation in the court and the country.

The Gao family had sent out all their troops and generals, and they had just won a victory in Shuofang and were on their way back in triumph.

However, the emperor did not punish the Gao family. Instead, he arranged for the marriage of his half-sister, the eldest princess of Qin, to the Gao family in order to establish a friendly relationship between the two families.

The Gao family did not say a word about Concubine De being sentenced to death.

This is even smaller than the incident when the emperor deposed the empress and ordered the death of Concubine Liang.

But people at that time were completely unable to separate the two events, and people in the teahouse were discussing whether Concubine De was involved in the fire in Qingning Palace.

The emperor was diligent in his government affairs and worked day and night.

He was not unusually indifferent to matters of love, but he praised Yuan Mu, a girl of obscure origin, to the sky.

If it weren't for this accident, she would have been crowned queen immediately.

After the incident, the emperor adjourned court for the first time.

Many people speculated that Concubine Yuan might have passed away, but the emperor blocked all the news and no extra news was heard from the outside court.

The official answer given by the royal family was that Yuan Mu was seriously ill and was recuperating.

But she hadn't appeared in public for many days, so it was inevitable that some news would spread.

But after the emperor silenced all the noise and severely punished those who made irresponsible remarks, no one dared to discuss the secrets of the royal family openly anymore.

Only those closest to her knew that Concubine Yuan had already died in the fire that night.

She even started the fire with her own hands.

The fire was so big that even a few of her favorite things could not be rescued.

When Yuan Mu entered the palace, she didn't even bring one or two boxes, and when she left, she didn't take anything with her.

Come with a clean conscience and leave with a clean conscience.

Those who served her closely knew the suffering she endured under such great favor. Some of them secretly offered sacrifices, praying for the empress's peace in the afterlife. However, the emperor could not tolerate even such a simple commemoration.

After Yuan Mu's death, he seemed to have gone crazy.

The emperor forbade anyone to mention her death, insisting she was merely seriously ill.

Poor Yuan Mu’s body was kept for many days and he was unable to rest in peace until his death.

After her aunt and sister entered the palace, they cried a few times and were then completely silenced.

The emperor took the little prince to his side and raised him personally. This was the last connection between them and the last bloodline she left for him.

I don’t know if it was because he was injured when he ran into the fire that night or what, but he has been coughing up blood since that night.

The insomnia that had troubled Yuan Mu for a long time also fell on the emperor.

After her death, he went on several killing sprees. The palace was as silent as a dust, and no one dared to talk nonsense anymore.

This was the best spring since the emperor ascended the throne.

But this is also the most desolate spring.

Many people thought that after Yuan Mu's death, the emperor would forgive the Yuan family and give them more honors and favors, but the fact is that the once glorious royal family may never be able to rise again.

More than a hundred people from the Yuan family were detained in the Ye Ting for interrogation.

This also revealed a shocking past.

The most important person was tried by the emperor himself.

During the interrogation, Yuan Wei's private collusion and conspiracy were all exposed.

That list of assassins eventually became the important evidence that pushed the Yuan family into the abyss.

Hundreds of years of accumulation and great achievements have finally become a fantasy.

Countless people committed suicide out of fear of punishment. Even Yuan Wei's wife, Cui, chose to end her life with a white silk scarf after failing to cut ties with the Yuan family.

The glory of the Yuan family was once based on the bravery and integrity of their ancestors.

Yuan Wei's father was posthumously named Zhongzheng. He was a decent and upright person and had a very good reputation in the court. Many years after his death, some former officials still built a temple to commemorate him.

Yuan Wei was bent on gaining personal advantage and used all kinds of tricks to get what he wanted.

He made the Yuan family more prosperous, but also

When all kinds of sins were dug out in detail, countless people were filled with courage and tried every possible way to commit suicide in prison.

The final ruling has not yet been made.

This is a hundred times more cruel than a house raid, but it's all my own fault, so I can't blame others.

At the same time, all the court officials who had been involved with the Yuan family were eliminated in this large-scale interrogation.

Even Zhang Qin, who had been dead for a long time, dragged the family into deep water.

If Yuan Wei was not Yuan Mu's biological father, he would have been doomed to death. He was severely punished, with two fingers on his right hand cut off, and then imprisoned for a long time.

In the end, only Yuan Zhen, whom Yuan Wei had always disliked, was left alive in the entire Yuan family.

But from then on, whenever others mentioned him, they would never think of the eldest son of the Yuan family.

Yuan Zhen is Yuan Zhen, the emperor's only minister.

By early summer, this massive cleanup was finally over.

The fourth day of the fourth month is the emperor's birthday and also the annual Tianshou Festival. At this time last year, the festival was very grand.

As a result, basically nothing was done this year.

The emperor was undoubtedly diligent in his government affairs, but he now seemed to have devoted all his energy to them.

It seems that as long as I fill my time, I will not remember that tragic night.

After the Yuan family lost power, there were great changes in the government and the country. Too many things happened in the past six months. The Gao family and the Zhang family, which were once very powerful, also began to protect themselves more and more.

The people around the emperor also changed once or twice.

Even the power of the Xi family is much weaker than before.

When the emperor was at his craziest, he didn't close his eyes for two whole days and nights. He only took a short rest when he saw the little prince.

The little prince looked very much like him, except for the color of his eyes, which was very similar to Yuan Mu's.

It was a rare, extremely clear and clean light blue, like flowing water, shimmering faintly in the sunlight.

Then there is the kitten in Ziwei Palace.

That was Yuan Mu's beloved pet during her lifetime, and the emperor once thought of having it buried with her.

But in the end, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Even though he knew that Yuan Mu was dead, the emperor still had an illusion that Yuan Mu was not dead, she just hated him too much and wanted to leave him.

He had a bibliography of all the travelogues she had read during her lifetime.

Especially in Luoyang and Jiangnan, the emperor issued a death order to search them the day after the incident.

The result was nothing.

Yuan Mu once desperately wanted to tell him the truth, but he didn't believe a word he said and refused to listen carefully.

Now the emperor thinks Yuan Mu is not dead yet, and even the sorcerer thinks he is crazy.

He had only left her a thin bracelet, and now she also only left her a thin bracelet.

The emperor was deeply traumatized by what happened that night. Whenever he thought of what happened that night, a smell of rust would surge in his chest.

He was a person who did not really believe in supernatural things. He had rarely burned incense, visited Taoist temples, or even fasted piously during sacrifices.

Only when Yuan Mu was pregnant did she practice sincerity and meditation, and fast for three days every time.

But after Yuan Mu left, the emperor seemed to have gone crazy.

He even cut his wrists and used his blood to provide Yuan Mu with a soul lamp.

The emperor did not believe in fate. So many sorcerers said that Yuan Mu would die young, but she lived to be eighteen years old. She had endured so much suffering, so how could she be willing to die in the light?

He even didn't want to believe that the fire that night was set by her own hands.

Even though the servants had already clearly placed the specific inspection results on his desk.

The emperor's obsession reached such an extent that Xi Rongjing couldn't help but advise him, "You should also pay more attention to your health. The Empress would definitely not want to see you like this..."

He was tall and slender, and his handsome face had become a little thinner.

The emperor will be twenty-six years old in four months.

Compared to his youthful charisma, there was now a hint of sinister paranoia between his features.

The emperor had always been very powerful, and now when he looked at them coldly, it was even more terrifying.

His voice was very soft: "So why have you refused to get married for so many years, Rong Jing?"

The emperor's answer had nothing to do with what Xi Rongjing asked, but at this moment, when his gaze came over, Xi Rongjing immediately knelt on one knee on the ground.

"Your Majesty, please understand," Xi Rongjing said in a low voice, "My sister is young, and I have remained unmarried in order to take care of A-Yan."

The emperor was not a particularly suspicious person.

But after the incident with Yuan Mu and after dealing with the Yuan family, he became even more strict with his subordinates.

Today, the world is at peace, with clear seas and calm rivers.

The border was stable, the people were prosperous, and the system flourished. Newly promoted and appointed famous officials emerged in large numbers.

But those who served close to the emperor had an increasingly difficult life.

The emperor looked at Xi Rongjing calmly. After a moment, he smiled softly: "Why are you so nervous?"

His smile did not reach his eyes, and his almond-shaped eyes were even more indifferent than before.

The emperor gave all his emotions to the deceased.

He no longer had any extra emotions to share with others.

Every morning the dawn will illuminate the earth, but the emperor's world will never be bright again.

He coughed twice, and dark red blood flowed from his lips.

The emperor was confident and resolute, and he would never hesitate or repent about what he had decided on.

Only one person made him feel the bitterness of regret.

On the fifth day of the fifth month, the emperor went to Xuandu Temple, where there was a Taoist priest who had helped him when the disaster occurred.

The old Taoist priest with a white beard and a gaunt face had said to him long ago, "Your Highness has had a smooth life, but your temper is the only thing that has ruined him. If you could leave room for maneuver in everything, perhaps things would be better."

The emperor was young and energetic at that time. Even after being deposed as the crown prince and going through many hardships, he was unable to change his arrogance.

He said calmly, "Sir, what you said is absolutely right, but as a crown prince or a monarch, it is better to be decisive."

The emperor entered Xuandu Temple and met the old Taoist priest again.

His voice was hoarse: "Sir, I regret one thing."

-

The Dragon Boat Festival was in the middle of summer, the season was perfect, and Yuan Mu also left Jingzhao on that day.

It has been a long time since the fire in Qingning Palace, and her condition is still not good.

Yuan Mu leaned against the carriage, holding the soft blanket in his arms with a sickly look.

Even in the hot summer, she was still wearing thick clothes, wrapped in three layers inside and three layers outside. Under the hood was an extremely pale face.

Jinzhi poured the hot tea from the kettle into the cup and fed it to Yuan Mu.

She was very weak. If it weren't for the careful care of the court physician of Prince Chu's Mansion these days, she might have really died accidentally.

Yuan Mu drank only a little and pushed the cup away.

There is something wrong with her spleen and stomach, and she feels uncomfortable even drinking tea.

Jinzhi caressed Yuan Mu's face lovingly, and holding back tears, she said, "There are many great Hu doctors in Shuofang. You will definitely get better."

Yuan Mu didn't have high expectations for this.

She simply felt uncomfortable.

Yuan Mu is a person who doesn't care about life and death, and it has been like this since she was a little girl.

She has no expectations for the future and has almost never fantasized about her future.

Yuan Mu just went with the flow, but when she was young, she probably never imagined that she would be able to live such a rough and turbulent half of her life.

She raised her eyes to look at Jinzhi and said in a low voice: "I'm fine."

It has been almost three months since that night.

Yuan Mu also stayed in the Prince of Chu's Mansion for three months. She did not live a very free life and was watched by the palace doctor every day while taking medicine.

But this kind of life is much better than staying in the palace.

That gorgeous cage had once been like a leech, casting a constant shadow, but in the blink of an eye, that time seemed as distant as a dream.

When Yuan Mu closed his eyes, he couldn't even clearly imagine what the emperor looked like.

She had spent too much time with the King of Chu, and they looked too much alike.

The same phoenix eyes and the same hanging nose.

When Yuan Mu first met the King of Chu, he was only seventeen or eighteen years old, full of youthfulness, making it difficult to tell whether he was a young man or a young man.

But since Shuofang came back and grew older, he became more and more like the man in her memory.

This is how Yuan Mu looked when he liked Helan Zhen the most.

By now, her feelings for him had faded, but whenever she saw the smiling face of the King of Chu, she couldn't help but feel touched.

The palace is a cage so big that it has no boundaries.

The emperor was so powerful and arbitrary that Yuan Mu never dared to dream that she would be able to see the light of day again one day.

The best outcome she had thought of before was that he would finally get tired of her one day and drive her out of the palace and send her to a Taoist temple to be a nun.

But the King of Chu pulled her out of the abyss.

When they met again at the Lishan Palace, Yuan Mu's desire to live had faded significantly.

When her younger sister Yuan Yin suddenly threw herself into her arms and cried bitterly, she felt a strong sense of confusion. Yuan Yin was an introverted and reserved girl, and she even spoke very little.

Yuan Yin cried very hard, her voice trembling: "Sister, sister, you have to be well..."

She has now been granted the title of Princess, and her mother, Concubine Yu, has also been granted an imperial decree.

The future life will be bright and it will be a smooth journey.

But not long after, Aunt Yu, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, suddenly had tears in her eyes. She held Yuan Mu's hand tightly and choked with sobs, "Aunt Yu is sorry for you, A'Luo!"

The two men hugged Yuan Mu, both with tears streaming down their faces.

This was a scene Yuan Mu had never seen since they met again.

It was also on this day that she finally found out.

Aunt Yu and Yuan Yin have always been firmly controlled by Yuan Wei and the emperor. Every time they come to see her, they have a fixed statement to make, and every word they say after meeting her must be written down.

They originally thought that things would be better after being taken out of the Yuan family by the emperor, but they did not expect that the emperor would exploit them to the extreme.

In the emperor's eyes, they are not Yuan Mu's relatives.

It's just a tool to restrict her and control her.

Aunt Yu twisted the lilac handkerchief in her hand, her face wet with tears: "What a shabby palace! It's not a place for people to stay at all. Aunt, Aunt will take you back to my hometown in Longxi..."

They have depended on each other for many years, and even though they are not related by blood, they are more like a family.

Aunt Yu regretted even in her dreams that she had not been able to save Yuan Mu.

But she was not allowed to reveal the truth.

Yuan Mu has suffered too many hardships and too much cold treatment in her life. She is not afraid that others do not love her or cherish her.

What she feared most was disappointing others' sincerity and getting them into trouble.

Yuan Mu originally thought that Aunt Yu and Yuan Yin were living a good life, but he didn't expect that their lives became even more difficult and miserable because of her existence.

She really thought about dying at that time.

If she died, they would be free and no one would be able to restrain them anymore.

But the King of Chu stopped her.

"What I said before still stands, my lady," he said softly, "If you need any help, you can come to me."

Yuan Mu had been in the palace for many years. Others might not know this, but those who served her closely knew her pain. When she first entered the palace, the imperial physician took pity on her situation and provided her with contraceptive soup.

The King of Chu quickly helped her contact people.

Even Zhang Yuanpan, who has always been aloof, provided help to Yuan Mu.

But on that night when the fire was raging wildly, the thought of death once again seized her.

Yuan Mu could certainly take advantage of the situation to escape from the palace, but if the matter was exposed, all those who helped her would die.

Just like the imperial physician and eunuchs who helped her back then.

So Yuan Mu did not leave the burning palace immediately. She clenched her knuckles tightly and once thought about dying in the fire.

But the maid Jinzhi forcibly took her out.

Yuan Mu was already unconscious at that time. She had inhaled a large amount of smoke and her life was hanging by a thread that night.

It was the court doctor of Prince Chu's mansion who tried his best to pull her back from the brink of death.

But after that, Yuan Mu's body became much weaker. She had to drink bitter medicine all day long. She drank so much that her tongue could hardly sense the bitterness.

Even a slightly cool breeze would give her a headache.

Countless major events happened in Jingzhao these days, but Yuan Mu stayed in the Prince of Chu's Mansion and spent many days in peace.

She didn't want to listen or understand anymore, so the King of Chu didn't let anyone tell her.

There was only one turbulence in the middle.

It was Xi Rongjing who had forced his way into the Prince of Chu's mansion. He didn't know if he had discovered anything, but he showed his token and said in a cold voice, "Your Majesty has ordered a search of the entire mansion."

Yuan Mu hid in the library, a dark light flickering in his watery eyes, and fear in his eyes.

The King of Chu held Yuan Mu's shoulder and whispered, "Pull open the bookshelf at the back and hide inside. If I haven't returned in half an hour, go straight through the secret passage."

This mansion was built by the emperor himself.

He carefully inspected and reviewed all the drawings to show his favor to his brother.

Yuan Mu never knew that this library held hidden secrets. She hid inside with tears in her eyes.

But before two quarters of an hour had passed, the King of Chu returned.

He brought Yuan Mu out of the dark room and coaxed her softly, "It's okay, it's okay."

Yuan Mu tried her best to hold back her tears, but she couldn't help crying out "Wow". She was terrified of the emperor and would always be terrified whenever she thought of him.

But after that incident, the Chu Palace became completely peaceful.

During this period, the King of Chu also went to Fufeng once. During the days when he was away, the palace was peaceful.

Three months passed in a flash, and the King of Chu once again took on the duties of the pacification envoy and was sent to Shuofang by the emperor. He also took the opportunity to take Yuan Mu out of Jingzhao.

It sounds ridiculous, even Yuan Mu himself doesn't understand it.

She has been dead for so many days, why is the emperor still obsessed with her?

The day after the flood broke out in Qingning Palace, the city gates of Jingzhao were strictly guarded.

The emperor even secretly sent people to Luoyang and Jiangnan to investigate her whereabouts.

Those places are definitely not to be visited.

All under heaven belongs to the king; all within the four seas are the king's subjects.

Putting aside other things, just looking at Yuan Mu's faintly blue eyes, it is clear that he definitely cannot go to Zhongzhou.

Nowadays, the only truly safe place is the border. The emperor will personally inspect this place and has set up a special military town. This is the most dangerous place, but it is also the safest place.

The news outside is getting louder.

In the height of summer in May, the sun shines brightly and almost blindingly.

Yuan Mu put on a veil, she opened the carriage curtain, and looked at the imperial city where she had lived for many years for the last time through the veil.

The carriage happened to pass by Xuandu Temple, where peach blossoms were in full bloom in spring, a rare spectacle in the entire Jingzhao.

But unfortunately, Yuan Mu never came to see him once.

She watched the scenery outside quickly pass by, and her expression paused slightly only when she saw a man in a black robe with his head lowered.

Noticing her gaze, he raised his eyes inadvertently.

But the carriage was moving too fast, and Yuan Mu was unable to see the man's face clearly before the carriage drove into another lane.

She was finally leaving here. If she had to say what she still missed, it would be her newborn son.

Can he talk? Can he stand on his own?

Yuan Mu will never have answers to these questions. She just hopes that the little prince can be happy. She clasped her hands together and made a wish for him for the last time.

She missed him, but she had to live her own life from now on.

Yuan Mu spent half his life in the mansion.

In Zhuangzi, in Taoist temple, in the imperial palace.

She had never truly tasted freedom, and her gaze was always fixed on the four corners of the sky.

Now that I am dead, I can finally see the light of day.

On the way out of Jingzhao, Yuan Mu thought about a lot of things, but the only thing she didn't think about was the emperor.

The moment she took the jade bracelet from her hand, her feelings for him completely faded.

If there is any hope for him, it is that he can be a wise ruler.

His grace covers the whole world, and his kindness shines upon the mountains and rivers.

Then there was no further involvement with her.