Chapter 56
When Nan Rongjing heard Lu Ling's words, he hurried over and grabbed Lu Ling. Because he used too much force, Nan Rongjing's arm started bleeding again, soaking his already dry clothes again.
But he had no time to care about these things. He didn't want Lu Ling to leave and didn't want to suffer the pain of separation again.
"No, I won't leave. Even if you drive me out of the imperial city, I will come back in again."
You can't escape, and neither can I.
Lu Ling turned around and looked into Nan Rongjing's deep eyes, then looked away and saw his arm. Her heart tightened for a moment, but she quickly returned to normal.
She ruthlessly took Nan Rongjing's hand away and said, "Don't be childish. You are the King of Baipu now, and your people are still waiting for you."
Lu Ling couldn't understand why Nan Rongjing, the dignified King of Baipu, would come to the capital, not for anything else, but just to ask for his forgiveness and reconciliation. What was the point?
It doesn't make sense.
They were born to be enemies, so the time they spent together before was just a beautiful mistake.
Since it is a mistake, it must be corrected.
Nan Rongjing didn't reply, so Lu Ling continued, "Go back. You shouldn't have come here in the first place."
Without waiting for Nan Rongjing to speak, Lu Ling escaped from the cage.
Too many things have happened in this prison, and Lu Ling thought he would never come here again in his lifetime.
When I walked out of the cell, the sun had already set. I looked up at the sky and saw only colorful clouds floating in the air, which was very beautiful.
Lu Ling enjoyed this moment and did not ask anyone to prepare a car to chase him away. Instead, he walked back slowly by himself.
After returning to the bedroom, Lu Ling sat down and drank some tea. Although he had not walked fast just now, he was still a little tired. Moreover, he had been thinking about things on the way, and Lu Ling felt exhausted both physically and mentally.
She asked all the servants in the hall to leave so that she could have some quiet time.
The next day, Lu Ling just woke up and asked the eunuch beside him: "Has the person left?"
The tone was calm, even a little cold.
The eunuch bowed and said, "Your Majesty, as soon as you left yesterday, you sent someone to send him away. He should have left the capital by now."
This eunuch was called Yuan Qing. He was a smart man. On the day when the army entered the imperial city, everyone was running, but he was the only one standing outside the Zichen Palace, not panicking at all.
Afterwards, Lu Ling asked him why he didn't run away that day. He said that he would not do anything if he went out. If the army wanted to kill him, he would die. If they didn't kill him, he would continue to do his job well in the palace.
So Lu Ling kept him by his side.
Lu Ling nodded and said to himself, "It's good that he's gone, it's good that he's gone."
Lu Ling went to court today to discuss with the ministers the elimination of corrupt officials, especially the Dali Temple, which needed to be strictly investigated from top to bottom.
However, this time the scope was too wide and many officials were involved. The ministers were arguing with each other, giving Lu Ling a headache.
Lu Ling had been handling government affairs in the Qinzheng Hall all morning when Yuan Qing suddenly came over with a parrot in his hand.
"This was sent by King An of Shu. He said the king of Baipu sent a parrot as a token of respect to the Great Chu."
Lu Ling looked up at the parrot. Its feathers were smooth and beautiful, and it looked like a good breed. He was a little tired, so Lu Ling walked over and touched the parrot's feathers, thinking of giving it to Zhao Zhenzhen to play with.
"Aling, forgive me, Aling, I miss you."
Caught off guard, the parrot spoke like this.
Lu Ling was startled and retracted his hand, wanting to ask Yuan Qing to kill the parrot. But then he thought, the parrot had done nothing wrong, so he decided to let it stay in the hall.
But every time the parrot said it after that, Lu Ling felt goosebumps all over his body.
The news of Baipu Kingdom sending parrots spread quickly, and all civil and military officials were wondering what Baipu was going to do next.
The ministers were puzzled. Hadn't Baipu just signed a ceasefire agreement with Daliang? Even though Daliang had been renamed Da Chu, the relationship between the two sides didn't seem to be that good.
The armistice agreement has been in place for less than a year. The Baipu people should be hating the people of Da Chu now. Why would they send a parrot?
Every day after that, Lu Ling would receive various small gifts, all of which were Lu Ling's favorites.
Every time Lu Ling wanted to throw something away, he gave up in the end.
As the king of a country, he has everything he wants, but it is better to have more than less. Lu Ling thinks it would be a waste if he doesn't want it, and it can also fill the national treasury.
Although Lu Ling accepted all these things, he never thought about forgiving Nan Rongjing. Even if he forgave him, Lu Ling felt that it was impossible for the two of them to be together again.
Lu Ling gave most of the things that Nan Rongjing gave her to Zhao Zhenzhen. Today, when she had some free time, she went to see Zhao Zhenzhen.
Zhao Zhenzhen had already adapted to life in the palace. She was a little shy when she first arrived, but she was adaptable and quickly relaxed. With Gu Huai's company, Zhao Zhenzhen was happy every day.
As soon as Lu Ling walked into the garden, he heard two little guys chatting.
"Is Her Majesty your mother? Where is your father?" Gu Huai asked Zhao Zhenzhen.
Zhao Zhenzhen shook her head and said with her head down: "No, my mother passed away, and my father... also died." As Zhao Zhenzhen spoke, her eyes turned red and tears as big as beans fell on her hands.
Gu Huai couldn't help but get nervous when he heard this. He patted his mouth with his hands and quickly coaxed, "Don't cry, don't cry, I'll protect you from now on."
As he spoke, Gu Huai walked over to Zhao Zhenzhen and patted her on the back.
Zhao Zhenzhen gradually stopped crying, and then she heard Gu Huai ask, "Then why are you staying with His Majesty?"
Gu Huai was very curious and wanted to ask about everything.
Zhao Zhenzhen, tears still on her eyelashes, looked at Gu Huai and said, "The other day I heard my mother and aunt say they would take good care of me..."
"Oh, I see."
Lu Ling was stunned for a moment when he heard the conversation between the two.
This means that Zhao Zhenzhen had known that Ning Hua was dead for a long time, but just kept it a secret, and she didn't notice it at all, which made her feel a bit derelict in her duty.
She still remembered what Ning Hua said before he died, asking her to take good care of Zhao Zhenzhen. In fact, at that time, Lu Ling originally wanted to refuse.
So when she went to Ningzhou, she did not bring Zhao Zhenzhen with her. Zhao Zhenzhen was being raised by Dong Shen and his wife at the time, so it should have been fine. However, Lu Ling thought of herself again.
The pain of losing both parents is too unbearable. If she were in Leping Village, Zhao Zhenzhen would see Ning Hua's grave sooner or later and know that her mother is gone.
So Lu Ling wanted to keep it a secret from her and take her out to live a better life. Later, for some reason, he took her with him all the way.
Only after hearing this did Lu Ling realize that Zhao Zhenzhen had known everything for a long time, but had just not told him.
Lu Ling suddenly realized something. She didn't approach Zhao Zhenzhen and turned back.
Lu Ling was holding a pen, writing something. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she asked Yuan Qing, "Did someone torture him?"
Yuan Qing was confused and didn't know who Lu Ling was asking about, but he quickly realized, "From what I saw that day, I think he was being tortured."
The pen was slapped on the paper with a "snap" sound, and a long line of ink was drawn. Yuan Qing was so scared that he knelt down quickly, not knowing how he had angered the emperor.
Lu Ling was still thinking about Yuan Qing's answer just now. He had clearly ordered that torture should not be used, so how could someone disobey and even dare to use torture!
No wonder Nan Rongjing's fingers were all red when I went to see him that day.
Yuan Qing seemed to understand why Lu Ling was angry at this time, and hurriedly said that it was his subordinates who were not doing their job well, and he would go to check it out immediately, and then he took his leave.
Lu Ling let him go, and he also wanted to know who was so bold as to disobey the emperor's order.
After a while, someone else came into the hall. Lu Ling was reading the memorial and thought it was Yuan Qing who had returned. When he saw him pouring himself a cup of tea, Lu Ling asked, "What happened?"
Yuan Qing said nothing.
Lu Ling didn't get angry. He picked up the teacup, took a sip, and continued to ask, "Did you find out?"
The man spoke, his tone teasing: "What did you find out?"
When Lu Ling heard the voice, the tea in his mouth almost spit out. Fortunately, Lu Ling closed his mouth at the last moment, choked, and swallowed the tea.
Still feeling a little uncomfortable, Lu Ling patted his chest. Nan Rongjing came over and patted Lu Ling's back, but Lu Ling dodged.
After a while, Lu Ling finally recovered and looked at Nan Rongjing: "How did you get in?"
Since such a big living person could be allowed in, Lu Ling felt that he had to investigate it thoroughly.
Nan Rongjing tilted his head, looked at Lu Ling, and said with a smile in the corner of his eyes: "I said, I will come again."
"So what if you come? Every time you come, I throw you away." Lu Ling stood up. Nan Rongjing had been standing there, and he felt a little tired looking up at him.
And she doesn't like looking up to others.
Nan Rongjing leaned over and approached Lu Ling: "Since Ah Ling still cares about me, why can't you forgive me this time? I didn't want any of this to happen."
As he spoke, Lu Ling felt an itch on his waist. He looked down and found that Nan Rongjing had actually taken off the safety buckle tied to his belt.
Lu Ling feigned composure and said, "Don't dream! Go back to Baipu. I'll be in Daliang. From now on, we'll keep our distance. And... what I hate most in my life is people who deceive me. You've repeatedly crossed my line. What bargaining chips do you have left to make me forgive you?"
"Doesn't this count?" Nan Rongjing raised the peace locket in his hand high and placed it in front of Lu Ling.
"Isn't it possible with this?"
Nan Rongjing spoke again.
Lu Ling was stunned again. She had just seen Nan Rongjing take out the jade pendant. She thought he wanted to take another look at it, but she didn't expect that he was using it as a bargaining chip.
What a fool! How could he think that I would choose to forgive him just because of a peace locket?
Seeing that Lu Ling didn't say anything, Nan Rongjing said, "Isn't this our token of love?"
"It's just a token of love. Can it cost me my life? Why do you think I will forgive you for this?" Lu Ling said.
"Are you telling the truth?"
Lu Ling saw Nan Rongjing's eyes change from confidence to confusion and then to dimness.
"Why isn't it true?" Lu Ling asked back.
Then Lu Ling saw Nan Rongjing's eyes, as red as a beast's, rushing towards him.
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