Chapter 663 The Past

Spring goes, winter comes, and midsummer arrives again, the four seasons change.

…

The summer lotus is beginning to bloom, and it is the time of the year when cicadas begin to sing.

"Your Highness, the little prince will be leaving!"

The palace maid knelt outside the palace, her voice filled with excitement.

The red pen paused slightly on the memorial, and the ink spread out a little.

"I understand. Go ahead." Xiao Tianhong spoke calmly without even looking up.

He put down the wolf hair brush only after the footsteps faded away. The dusk shone through the carved window lattices, casting mottled light and shadows on his black python robe.

After waiting for a moment, he suddenly stood up and strode out the door.

The servant at the door followed, but was sent back.

Passing through the triple palace gates, the crabapple trees outside the side hall are in full bloom.

It was a sunny day and the delicate baby in the yard was stumbling and learning to walk. He did not cry or make a fuss when he fell, but climbed up by himself by grabbing the grass. His arms, which were like lotus roots, were covered with mud.

Xiao Tianhong hid behind the pillar and watched quietly for a long time, until the wet nurse picked up the baby and returned to the hall, then he brushed off the fallen petals on his shoulders and left quietly.

…

"Your Highness, the little prince has spoken today!"

"Well, leave." Xiao Tianhong had a calm expression and waved the palace servants away.

There were piles of documents on the desk, but he stared at the ink in the inkstone that was gradually solidifying.

After a while, Xiao Tianhong threw the pen aside and rubbed his eyebrows.

"Someone come."

"exist."

"Go and find out what his first words were."

…

When the thunder roared in the middle of the night, the old woman knelt in the water and trembled:

"Your Highness, Your Highness, please forgive me. It was my fault that I failed to take good care of the little prince, causing him to catch a cold. The Imperial Hospital said...they said..."

"What did they say!" Xiao Tianhong's eyes were as cold as a knife.

"They... said that the Imperial Concubine was unwell and they were all busy nursing her and had no time to examine the little prince..."

Before he finished speaking, Xiao Tianhong had already strode into the rain.

"I'll go ask in person!"

…

"Your Highness, the little prince's fever has subsided! You haven't slept all night, please take a rest."

"It's okay, everyone, leave."

The candlelight crackled, illuminating the flushed face of the child on the bed.

Xiao Tianhong stretched out his hand to touch the little hand that was clutching the corner of the quilt, but froze in mid-air. In the end, he just rubbed the swollen and painful temple.

…

"Your Highness, are you leaving now? The little prince has woken up, won't you go and talk to him for a while?"

"No need..." Xiao Tianhong glanced at him coldly, "Don't tell him about my visit."

"Ah? Your Highness, what are you doing..."

"Hmm? Are my words no longer effective?"

"Yes, yes!"

…

The night-shining pearl cast a pale light in the secret room. Qing Fengzi swept his whisk across the table fiercely.

"Xiao Tianhong! What on earth are you doing? Five years have passed, why hasn't the evil seed been planted yet? You must give an explanation for this!"

Xiao Tianhong glanced at him indifferently, stroking the wriggling runes on the bronze bottle, and the black mist lingered and dissipated around his fingertips.

"Why are you in such a hurry? The vessel is fragile. Once the seed of doom is planted, it cannot be reversed. If anything goes wrong before the Lord God awakens, will you be held responsible?"

"You'd better not be making excuses!" Qing Fengzi said coldly, "Daliang's luck is gathering on your cheap brother. We can't wait too long! I'll give you another year. If you still don't make a move, I'll take over!"

"You don't need to interfere in this matter!" A hint of murderous intent flashed in Xiao Tianhong's eyes, and then disappeared quietly.

"Hmph, remember, you only have one year left!"

Qingfengzi flicked his sleeves and left.

Xiao Tianhong looked at his back with a gloomy expression, then moved his gaze to the small bottle engraved with runes in his hand, with a complicated look in his eyes.

…

Yun Qingqing's consciousness floated in the fragments of memory. She already understood why she entered this Liufang illusion.

At the New Year's Eve palace banquet, the piano piece "Like a Dream" was just a cover. The real magic of the Liufang Mirror was to steal the deepest memories of the person being spied on.

She took the opportunity of performing to use Liufang to spy on Xiao Tianhong's memory, but because of the obstruction of heaven's secrets, she only saw a very small part, which was the most profound scene in his memory.

But Liufang is an ancient magic weapon.

Even if the other party blocks the secret, they can only cover it up but not make it disappear.

Although Yun Qingqing was unable to see more at that time, those memories had been picked up by Liufang and poured into his own consciousness.

However, the shield of the secrets had not been broken at that time, so these memories would remain dormant.

Now that Xiao Tianhong is dead and his soul has scattered, Tianji has reappeared, so Liufang's magic power takes effect again, pulling his consciousness into this illusion.

The scene in front of me suddenly changed again.

It was getting late and the dew was heavy. Only a dim palace lantern was swaying in the side hall.

Xiao Tianhong stroked the bronze bottle with his fingertips, and the runes on the bottle emitted a strange black and purple mist in the moonlight.

He stood three feet in front of the bed. The six-year-old child under the brocade quilt was breathing evenly, and his tender cheeks were still pale from illness.

The evil spirit was colliding wildly in the bottle, and frost had already formed on the bottle wall.

This is the deadline - if the seeds of disaster are not sown tonight, Qingfengzi will do it himself tomorrow.

Xiao Tianhong stared at his sleeping younger brother and slowly closed his eyes.

"Don't hate me, brother. Blame it on your fate..."

"Never mind...what the future holds will depend solely on your own luck."

He pinched his fingers and slashed his palm. Blood beads floated in the air, transforming into nine red chains that pierced Xiao Changheng's acupuncture points.

The child frowned slightly, but fell into a deeper dream due to the sleeping spell.

…

Although the evil spirit on Xiao Changheng had been lifted long ago, Yun Qingqing still subconsciously clenched her fists when she saw this situation.

The scene suddenly became blurry again, and when it became clear again, it was a scene that Yun Qingqing had seen before.

In the Imperial Garden, Xiao Changheng was bullied by a group of princes and fell into the water. Xiao Tianhong hurried to rescue him and severely punished all the princes and servants present.

But there is something more in this memory.

Xiao Tianhong tore off his python robe and wrapped his younger brother, then hurried back to the bedroom. While waiting for the imperial physician, he personally checked his injuries.

When he pressed his palm on the thin chest, he suddenly froze - on the child's chest, a black line invisible to ordinary people was spreading like a spider web.

Xiao Tianhong slowly withdrew his hand, looked at the child's pale face, and fell silent.

At midnight that night, the third candle in the secret room burned down.

Xiao Tianhong bit his index finger, and the blood that dripped onto the mutton-fat jade pendant did not slide off, but was slowly absorbed by the jade.

The blood-colored array pattern hidden in the jade pendant was clearly visible under the spiritual pupil.

The soul is divided and sent to a device, with telekinesis as the core, to eliminate evil and suppress disasters.

At dawn, Xiao Tianhong released his hand from the gesture, held the jade pendant in his palm, and stood up and left.

A strand of white hair quietly fell among the black hair.

…

The scene changed, and it was the scene that Yun Qingqing had seen before.

Xiao Tianhong personally put the jade pendant he had carved overnight on his younger brother with a complicated expression.

"Brother... don't you hate me anymore..."

"They all said that I was the one who killed my mother..."

"Don't listen to their nonsense!"

"I've never thought of it this way! I avoided you before because the situation was complicated and I couldn't protect myself, so I was afraid of implicating you... You are my only biological brother..."

"I also...my only relative is my royal brother."

…