belated regret

Just as Li Yunyu was about to explode in anger, Zhou Ziliang entered. Lin Siwen, surprised by Zhou Ziliang's arrival, went to greet him, "Brother Zhou? What brings you here? Has something happened with the Grand Tutor?" Zhou Ziliang turned and closed the door, shaking his head, "Things went smoothly there, but here... Xiaofeng was worried about you and insisted I come to check." Li Yunyu looked at Li Yunheng, "Things went smoothly here... but... are those two going to be sent to Father Emperor?" Zhou Ziliang's gaze towards Li Yunheng turned colder as he stepped forward and bent down to examine the five-colored... Bound tightly, Li Yunheng said, "My little Feng, when he was seriously ill, I troubled Your Highness to take care of him..." Li Yunheng smiled disdainfully, "Zhou Ziliang, you're not going to threaten me like those two brats, are you? Oh right, I forgot to tell you, I had Tang Feng's body dragged to the mass grave. Shouldn't you thank me...? Otherwise, no one would have been able to retrieve him; he would have been a skeleton long ago." Zhou Ziliang drew his long sword and stabbed it into Li Yunheng's shoulder. Li Yunheng cried out in pain, fell to the ground, clutching his wound and glaring at Zhou Ziliang.

“Of course… my methods will naturally not be the same as the Ninth Prince’s. I will repay you for all the grievances Xiao Feng suffered.” Zhou Ziliang took out a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped the blood off his sword, and threw it in front of Li Yunheng. “I remember the late Crown Prince valued military power very much. Why? Because an emperor and princes without soldiers are nothing more than puppets. My Zhou family has been loyal to Yan Yun for so many years, guarding the border without ever complaining. But… you can’t keep crossing my bottom line… Actually… there is no real hatred between you and me. It’s just that Xiao Feng wanted to kill you.” Zhou Ziliang sheathed his sword and looked at Lin Siwen. “Take him and Consort Rong to the Hall of Longevity.”

At this moment, Li Yunheng glared angrily at Zhou Ziliang, "What can you do to me! Zhou Ziliang! I am a prince!"

Zhou Ziliang grabbed Li Yunheng by the neck and pinned him against the wall. "So what? A prince? If it weren't for Xiaofeng considering the bigger picture... I would have already planned to assassinate the emperor! Everything you did to Xiaofeng, I will repay you for..." Li Yunheng and Rong Ji were dragged to the Hall of Longevity by Lin Siwen and Li Yunyu. Along the way, Rong Ji seemed frightened, his hair disheveled, and he kept muttering to himself. Li Yunheng felt disgusted. "Stop talking nonsense! It's just death!"

Rong Ji looked at Li Yunheng, grabbed his hand, and pleaded in a tearful voice, "Heng'er... hurry... hurry, think of something... hurry!" Li Yunheng pulled his hand back. "Think of what? How can I think of anything? Li Linglan is about to be forced to abdicate, what am I supposed to think of!" Li Yunheng disgustedly shook off Rong Ji. "Don't even think about me saving you anymore... it's useless!" Rong Ji lunged forward but was grabbed by Lin Siwen, and could only cry out, "You are my son! If I don't place my hopes on you... who else can I place them on..." After saying that, he squatted down. "I... I still want to go back to Puyuan..." "Back to His Majesty..." Li Yunheng's anger flared in that instant. He broke free from Li Yunyu's restraint and kicked Rong Ji to the ground. "Pu Yuan! Pu Yuan! Go back to your Pu Yuan! Why did you give birth to me?! Why?! For so many years I've been like a puppet... Climbing all the way to where I am now for your defeated emperor, and what have you done for me? Besides using me, what else do you have left?! You don't have Consort Yan's skillful upbringing of her son, nor the heart of Li Yunye's mother in paving the way for her son's future, you're not even as caring as Ninth Prince's mother! And now you want me to save you?!"

Lin Siwen separated the two and looked at Zhou Ziliang, wanting him to separate them to calm them down. But Zhou Ziliang said, "It's alright. As long as we can get to the Hall of Longevity, we don't need to worry about them. They'll shut up when they're tired of causing trouble." Zhou Ziliang followed behind Lin Siwen and Li Yunyu, watching Li Yunheng and Rong Ji's every move, afraid that something might go wrong again.

Eunuch Feng spotted Zhou Ziliang and his group from afar and hurried down the steps to greet them. "Young Marquis... what brings you here..." Zhou Ziliang didn't answer Eunuch Feng's question, but instead asked, "Is Xiao Feng still inside?" Eunuch Feng nodded. "The Grand Tutor has been gone for quite some time, but there hasn't been any arguing inside... so he seems to be alright..." Zhou Ziliang breathed a sigh of relief. He was most afraid that Tang Feng would argue with Emperor Yun, but now it seemed he had worried unnecessarily. Zhou Ziliang looked at the pale-faced Li Yunheng and the listless Rong Ji behind him. "Eunuch Feng, please make an exception and let us in..." Eunuch Feng looked at the two men, pondered for a moment, and said with some difficulty, "Grand Tutor Tang..." "Go... This old servant has already been put in a difficult position... Young Marquis... Please let this humble servant go..." Zhou Ziliang clearly didn't want to prolong the argument, gesturing for Lin Siwen and Li Yunyu to take their men inside first, while he himself began to negotiate with Eunuch Feng. "Eunuch Feng, you're an old hand in the palace, having served His Majesty for so many years. You must know which way the wind is blowing. You should think carefully about which way it's blowing, lest you be harmed by a draft. What do you say?" Eunuch Feng couldn't make a decision for the moment and could only remain silent. Seeing that his persuasion was fruitless, Zhou Ziliang didn't waste any more time and turned to leave, but Eunuch Feng called out to him, "Young Marquis... This old servant... will listen to you... Please... go in!"

At this moment, Tang Feng heard the commotion outside. He turned around and saw Lin Siwen kick open the door and Li Yunyu escorting Consort Rong and Li Yunheng in. Overjoyed, he looked up at Emperor Yun, who was standing above him. "Your Majesty, didn't you want to ask if I fabricated the story about Pu Yuan as a spy? Isn't this it? The spy has been brought before you..." Emperor Yun coldly looked at the blood-soaked Li Yunheng and the disheveled Rong Ji below. "Pu Yuan's matter... what happened?" Rong Ji, knowing he had no other way out, could only place his hopes on Li Yunyu and knelt down. She grabbed Li Yunyu, saying, "Little Jiu... your eldest brother... Yunrui was killed by your father on the pretext of forcing your eldest sister to her death... and your fourth brother too..." Rong Ji lowered her head, her eyes darting around in fear, "He colluded with the Pu Yuan envoy... instigating the envoy to trick your eldest brother into bringing a million troops to the city gates, and then he threatened your eldest sister... she was forced to her death by your third and fourth brothers..." Li Yunyu was clearly terrified by Rong Ji's appearance. Lin Siwen quickly stepped forward to protect Li Yunyu, "Your Highness... don't listen to this madwoman..."

Tang Feng looked at the ashen-faced Emperor Yun. "You don't care about the death of the late Crown Prince, but don't you care about the death of the Eldest Princess either? I heard from Su Zili that... the Eldest Princess looks exactly like the late Empress..." Li Linglan's body trembled upon hearing Su Zili's name. She looked at Tang Feng and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you talking about?"

Tang Feng couldn't help but smile. "Naturally, His Majesty himself appointed him as Prime Minister. What? More than twenty years have passed, and you don't recognize him anymore? No wonder he said you were heartless and ungrateful." Li Linglan's expression was tense, as if he was suppressing something. After a moment of silence, he asked, "So many years... without any news. I thought he was gone..."

"His Majesty has remained silent for so many years, so naturally he doesn't know. However, Su Zili did say that Pu Yuan's matter was indeed his fault. He promised you back then that he would handle this matter..."

"And what about him!" Emperor Yun looked at Tang Feng, a hint of panic in his eyes. Tang Feng then took out the letter. "Him? He naturally doesn't want to see you. I've heard that you killed his elder brother, trying to deceive him, and I've also heard that the Empress Dowager bestowed a marriage upon you, which you didn't refuse much. From beginning to end, he was the only one with deep affection. And Your Majesty... probably only regretted it in the endless nights after he left. But Your Majesty shouldn't regret what you did, right? Your Majesty should regret... that you actually let him go back then. Am I right?"

"Insolence!" Li Linglan's eyes were bloodshot as she glared at Tang Feng, seemingly trying to see right through him. But Tang Feng didn't care about the Emperor's gaze. "Insolence? Your Majesty, in this situation, it's really not certain who is superior and who is inferior..."

"Ha!" Li Linglan sneered, looking down at the pale-faced Li Yunheng and the youthful-looking Li Yunyu. "Tang Feng, if you were in this position, who would you choose?"

"If I were in this position... I would naturally not let the late Crown Prince die in vain, so I cannot answer Your Majesty's question."

Li Linglan laughed loudly a few times, then suddenly looked at Tang Feng, "You think helping Li Yunyu will bring peace to Yan Yun?" Tang Feng looked at Li Linglan and said seriously, "I never thought... His Highness the Ninth Prince is mediocre; he's just become a bit sensitive after being neglected by his father. As for Pu Yuan, I naturally understand that it's a problem for Yan Yun. But I also want to say that unless His Highness the Ninth Prince is a foolish ruler, both you and he will have to face this matter. As for whether my choice today is right, history will judge. My current coup is only out of necessity. I will protect Yan Yun." "As for Your Majesty, whether you regret or feel guilty about what you did back then is naturally none of our business. We are unwilling to bear the grudges of the previous generation. Tomorrow, the Ninth Prince will announce to the world that he has replaced you as the new emperor of Yan Yun. As for you, we will honor you as the Retired Emperor. You will naturally continue to enjoy your wealth and honor, but the imperial power you crave is something we truly cannot give you." Seeing Li Linglan's long-suppressed emotions gradually spiraling out of control, Tang Feng took out a letter from his robes. "This was given to me by Su Zili, Your Majesty... No, the Retired Emperor can read it himself."

Li Linglan unfolded the letter, and familiar handwriting came into view: "Your Majesty, greetings. No matter how estranged we become in the end, I admit that the kindness I showed you was genuine. Even if we eventually part ways, let's not let our meeting be in vain. I hope you don't regret knowing me. Everything we shared was truly joyful. But if I could go back to the past, I would choose not to know you. It's not that I regret it, but that I can't face the current ending. Therefore, in this letter, as a passerby, I wish you peace and happiness year after year. From now on, let's part ways peacefully and find our own joy." Li Linglan's hand holding the letter trembled slightly. "Did he... say anything else?"

He said he had nothing left to say to you...