Chapter 80 The Grand Finale (Part 2) "Green spring waves beneath the Bridge of Sorrow..."
In early spring, the sound of rain still pattered outside the window, and the long steps were clear and bright after being washed by the rain.
In the candlelight, the knife tip was pulled from the bare chest, and a deep red blood meandered down from the wound. The man gripping the hilt couldn't help but groan, and fine beads of sweat quickly seeped from his forehead.
The bottom of the bowl was quickly submerged in hot blood. Once enough medicine had been extracted, Lan Rong bandaged Ning Xian's wound again.
Ning Xian asked the maid beside her, "How is she? After feeding her so much heart's blood for so many days, do you think... the Empress's complexion has improved?"
Dieyi said, "Your Majesty, the Empress woke up once this morning, but she only glanced at the little prince before falling back asleep."
"Your Majesty, rest assured, the Empress has taken the antidote sent from Lingnan, and the poison is gradually subsiding. It's only a matter of time before she recovers."
The wet nurse stood outside the screen, coaxing the baby. The baby in the swaddling clothes stared with round eyes and babbled. The sound of the wave drum was a little noisy in the quiet bedroom.
Ning Xian turned his head and looked at the dark little head in the wet nurse's arms. His heart softened again. He forgot the pain that had been piling up on his body and couldn't help but walk over and hold the child in his arms.
The baby suddenly grabbed Ning Xian's finger, and his gaze lingered reluctantly on the child's face.
Although he was born prematurely, he was very resilient and worked hard to drink milk and sleep. After half a month, he has finally grown from a wrinkled little old man into a beautiful baby.
Ning Xian loved him very much, but her only regret was that the child looked just like him, practically identical.
People usually love everything associated with someone they love, but conversely, if Ruan Yang has a baby who looks just like him, will he hate everything associated with him?
He pulled his fingers away from the baby's grasp, then lowered his head to kiss the baby's cheek, and said to Dieyi and the others, "Take good care of the Empress and the young prince."
Rain occasionally drifted in from under the corridor, and Lan Rong opened her umbrella and chased after them, shielding them from the wind and rain.
With a hint of accusation in her voice, she frowned and asked, "What did you give in exchange for the antidote?"
Ning Xian glanced at Lan Rong: "Fate and the empire."
"What do you mean? Are you crazy?!"
Lan Rong hurriedly chased after him: "You knew that the danger on the Lantern Festival was caused by Ruan Shi and the Third Prince working together from the inside, so why did you still jump into the fire pit?"
“The young prince has been born safely. That woman died from poisoning, which she deserved and brought upon herself. Why should you suffer for her?”
Ning Xian didn't speak, and walked into the rain on her own, her face expressionless.
Lan Rong: "How can you not understand? Ruan Shi has no feelings for you, and she never will. Even if you die in front of her, she will not feel a single bit of remorse!"
Ning Xian stopped and straightened the umbrella that was tilting over his head: "I'd be perfectly happy to fall into her hands."
"Lan Rong, love doesn't ask for anything in return. Now that things have come to this, consider it my retribution."
He has always been the one who lied to her, betrayed her, and hurt her; he owes her far too much.
His love was utterly insignificant in the face of all this hurt.
"I will not regret giving my life to make amends to Ruan Yang, but Lan Rong, you know that I am not someone who compromises easily."
Ning Xian raised his sleeve to wipe away Lan Rong's tears, and said through gritted teeth, "Ruan Yang can have everything I have, but Ning San can never be someone who reaps the benefits without sowing."
Ruan Yang slept for a long time, and when she woke up and saw the hazy figures in front of her, she felt as if she had been in another world.
She closed her eyes and pondered for a long time before recalling what had happened before she fainted. She asked in a daze, "Where is the child?"
"He's in the side hall, I'll bring him over right away!" Dieyi was overjoyed to see that the person was safe and sound. She ran to the warm pavilion and carried the little prince to Ruan Yang's pillow.
She gently patted the child and said with a smile, "Is this the first time Your Highness has seen the little prince? Now that he's awake, you should take a good look at him."
Looking at the baby sleeping soundly, Ruan Yang reached out and touched his soft little eyebrows, then said to Dieyi, "Now that you've seen him, take him away. I want to see Xue'er."
Dieyi was a little stunned before realizing that she had misunderstood: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, the little princess is fine and has fallen asleep. We will ask her to come and pay her respects tomorrow."
Ruan Yang nodded, but didn't look at the child again.
Dieyi, holding the child, felt a little lost. She smiled and sighed, "The little prince is adorable too. Her Majesty hasn't even held him yet..."
"Is that so?"
Upon hearing this, Ruan Yang turned to the side, took the baby in her arms, and saw the face that was extremely similar to Ning Xian's. She then said, "Where is Ning Xian? Why don't you mention him?"
Dieyi paused for a long time, then stammered, "There are many matters to attend to in the palace, and His Majesty is temporarily unable to come and accompany the Empress."
"So many complicated matters?" Ruan Yang sneered: "Tell me everything you know, down to the smallest detail."
Dieyi said sadly, "These are all matters of the court, and we women in the harem dare not ask too much. I heard that the Third Prince, who was deposed and reduced to a commoner, colluded with the remnants of the previous dynasty and led three thousand elite troops to attack Weicheng. When His Majesty heard this, he personally led the expedition."
Ruan Yang frowned, looking at the child in her arms: "How long have I been asleep?"
"It's been almost three months."
Three months... She was in a coma for so long!
"How is the battle going?"
"They are stuck on both sides of the Wei River."
Ruan Yang clutched the swaddling clothes tightly. She didn't want to remain in this stalemate; she wanted to hear the news of Ning Xian's defeat.
Success or failure hinges on this moment. If she loses this time, all her years of enduring humiliation and hardship in Ningxian will be in vain.
She wouldn't allow that to happen.
......
The spring chill lingered. On the banks of the Wei River, camps were set up, and the city gates of Weicheng were heavily guarded. Dark clouds loomed over the city, suggesting that a major battle was about to begin.
Ruan Yang arrived here yesterday, weary from his journey, and upon inquiring about Ning Xian's whereabouts, immediately went to find him.
On the city wall, Ning Xian stood amidst the smoke of battle, his back to her. His black battle robe was covered in dust from days of fighting, but his posture remained upright.
".....His Majesty."
Ruan Yang called out softly.
Ning Xian was startled and turned around abruptly. After seeing who it was, he first lowered his eyebrows. When he confirmed that the woman in front of him, dressed as a man, was Ruan Yang, his wariness was instantly replaced by a mixture of emotions.
What are you doing here?
His voice was hoarse as he rushed forward and embraced her. Ning Xian rubbed the dusty face with his fingertips and said, "You've only just recovered from your illness, why aren't you taking good care of yourself? When I get back, I'll definitely punish Dieyi and the others severely."
With tears welling up in her eyes, Ruan Yang shook her head and said, "I know everything. Although I hate you, I don't want my child to be born without a father, and I don't want the kingdom of Daye to fall into the hands of a villain like Ning San."
"Let me stay, let's stand together through thick and thin, okay? I will never be a burden to you."
The black battle flag fluttered loudly in the wind along the Wei River. Ruan Yang touched his cheek, stood on tiptoe, and took the initiative to kiss his lips.
Ning Xian broke free from her domineering and forceful writing and said meaningfully, "Have you thought it through?"
Ruan Yang nodded.
Ning Xian scoffed after hearing this: "But I said that if I die, I will take you with me to hell, so that you can keep me company every day in the underworld."
Ruan Yang laughed and said, "The matter has not yet happened, so why belittle yourself? If what you say is true, I will not live on in disgrace."
After speaking, she took out a fully drawn map from her sleeve: "I have come here not to talk about love, but to atone for my sins with what I know."
Ning Xian stared at the slowly unfolding scroll, her gaze sharpening. This was the enemy's garrison.
...
Ruan Yang stayed at the camp for three days and one night. The swaying curtains stopped, and she, panting, crawled out of bed and lay on Ning Xian's chest to breathe.
Ning Xian closed his eyes and gently stroked Ruan Yang's shoulder blades with his large hand, signaling her to stop: "The way you are makes me suspect that the poison of the Two Hearts Cotton has not been cured at all."
"I'm a little tired and want to take a nap."
After speaking, Ruan Yang released him, turned over and went to sleep on the bed. Ning Xian looked at her charming back and chuckled. Just as he closed his robe, a member of the gentry came to report.
"Your Majesty, military intelligence from the front has arrived!"
Ruan Yang's heart skipped a beat; after waiting for so many days, they had finally made a move.
Ning Xian tucked the corner of the blanket around Ruan Yang, then lifted the curtain and stepped out.
Ruan Yang waited for a while before following them.
An hour had passed, and the discussions inside the tent gradually subsided. A chilly evening breeze blew, and Ruan Yang, arms crossed, went alone to the lower reaches of the Wei River, using the current to transmit the intelligence...
The next morning, Ruan Yang tied her hair up in front of the dressing table and put on the heavy and hard armor.
Seeing the sounds of fighting and commotion outside the camp, Ruan Yang looked out and saw the soldiers packing up their tents and the leader counting the number of soldiers.
She pondered for a moment and said, "Are we about to set off? Where to?"
"Your Majesty, the plan has changed, but as for where we will go, I cannot tell you."
After hearing this, Ruan Yang stopped asking questions, turned around and went back to her dressing table, hiding the gold hairpin she always carried with her at her waist.
By noon, the troops had secretly withdrawn from Weicheng, and news of the city's fall quickly spread throughout the Weizhou area.
Unfortunately, the Third Prince's men, after overcoming numerous difficulties to break through the city gates, found neither the Ye army nor the emperor who intended to capture them.
The spring sunshine was bright, filtering through the leaves overhead and falling on Ruan Yang's face. She gripped the reins tightly and followed behind Ning Xian.
Their plan was to feign surrender and retreat, luring the Third Prince's troops into the canyon, and then encircle and wipe them out from all sides.
Their current location is almost at the foot of a mountain stream. If the advance goes smoothly and they can then join forces with troops from various prefectures and counties, their chances of capturing Ning San will be much greater.
As dusk fell, the campfire died down, swords were drawn, and the rapid, fierce sound of hooves broke the silence of the night. Ruan Yang awoke with a start, and upon opening her eyes, she saw Ning Xian walking towards her. Before she could react, Ning Xian picked her up and carried her to the horses.
"What happened?" Ruan Yang asked.
"Fuling, you clean up the mess!"
Ning Xian ignored Ruan Yang, lifted her onto the horse, and then led the remaining soldiers on a gallop.
The wind howled in her ears, and Ruan Yang remained silent. All signs indicated that Ning Xian's plan was about to succeed.
Now that the intelligence had been successfully sent out, she couldn't quite figure out what the Third Prince was planning to do.
After they left, the mountain stream became a river of blood, and corpses littered the ground...
They galloped for three days and three nights, with their pursuers in hot pursuit. Finally, after crossing a quiet, deep forest and a mudflat, they arrived at the meeting point.
The people on the city wall all looked tense until the leader took out the token at his waist and unfurled the black banner, at which point the city gate opened.
The Third Prince had already fallen completely into the trap.
Ning Xian stood on the city wall, looking down at the heavily wounded Third Prince and the troop of soldiers outside the city, whose numbers were almost equal. Without any mercy, he ordered the archers on the battlements: "What are you all standing there for? Fire!"
"Wait a minute!"
The third prince gritted his teeth and smiled, then dismounted confidently and clapped his hands at his subordinates.
Before long, the soldier appeared before everyone, leading Dieyi and the child in her arms.
Dieyi was covered in dirt and disheveled clothes. Her once meticulously combed hair was now a mess, indicating that she had suffered a lot along the way.
The baby in her arms was probably frightened, crying loudly in its swaddling clothes; any mother would be heartbroken to hear it.
Ruan Yang's fingernails were deeply embedded in her palm: "Jin'er?"
So that's the method!
Ruan Yang suppressed the bitterness in her heart. Since things had come to this point, she would play this charade to the very end.
She covered her lips, her voice trembling as she said to Ning Xian, "How could our Jin'er have fallen into his hands?"
Ning Xian stood frozen in place, his heart sinking the moment he saw Jin'er.
"Please don't shoot arrows! Save our children..."
"Ning Xian, surrender now! If you don't hand over the Imperial Seal and Tiger Tally, your son will die by my sword today!"
After speaking, he pointed his sword at the child's throat, risking that if the child moved even slightly, it would pierce his delicate throat.
Ning Xian clenched her fists, looked at Ruan Yang with an inscrutable expression, and then sneered.
He stopped, and the soldiers below the battlements all threw down their weapons.
Ning Xian said loudly, "It is not impossible for me to hand over the throne, but this is a matter for the Lin family, and I do not wish for any outsiders to interfere."
"Enough nonsense!" The Third Prince, amidst the defeat, brought his sword even closer to the infant.
"Alright, have everyone around you step back. After all, this is a transaction that belongs to the Ning family."
"What reason do you have to make demands of me now? Don't try to play games with me!"
Ning Xian looked at his continuously flowing blood with disdain, glanced at Ruan Yang, but chose to obediently cooperate with him.
"In your current state, do you think I can last longer, or you?"
Having fallen to this point, the Third Prince knew he had lost. To catch the thief, one must first catch the leader. His subordinates behind him gradually wavered, and before the Third Prince could give any orders, they actually knelt down before Ning Xian.
Ning Xian approached and saw Jin'er's red face from crying. He hated the Third Prince even more in his heart. He gritted his teeth and, in a flash, grabbed the Third Prince by the throat.
The other person's face instantly turned purple, and the finger he was pointing at the child's shoulder fell to the ground. He suddenly realized, "You..."
Ning Xian kicked the person away and sneered, "Now you realize I was just playing along with you and that woman?"
"However, I'm tired of playing with her and don't want to play anymore. Let's end it completely today, okay?"
"Now that things have come to this, what right do you think you have to make demands of me? You think you can blackmail me with just a child?"
The Third Prince was severely injured, and the kick had punctured his heart meridian, causing him to cough up large amounts of blood.
Ning Xian carefully hugged Jin'er and said fiercely, "Crawl over here, and this tiger tally is yours."
The person lying on the ground was on the verge of death. Ning Xian fearlessly stepped on his face and drew the sword from the waist of the person behind him.
In the blink of an eye, just as the knife was about to fall, the Third Prince closed his eyes. At the moment when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck, he suddenly heard a muffled groan. He froze and looked towards the woman on the city wall.
Exhausted, Ning Xian knelt on the ground, facing the blood-stained arrow for a long time. He slowly turned around, lay on the thin snow, and looked at Ruan Yang in the distance.
Ruan Yang stood there, stunned. She didn't know how she had fired that crossbow, nor did she know that she had shot it so accurately this time.
It completely pierced through Ning Xian's back.
Eunuch Liang was shocked. Confirming that the arrow had pierced his heart, tears streamed down his face. He cried out urgently, "Guards! Seize this wicked empress who murdered the emperor!"
Ruan Yang's knees were kicked hard by the man, and she suddenly knelt on the hard ground. Even though it hurt, she lost all feeling.
Along the way, she didn't know how she was brought before Ning Xian.
"His Majesty can still be saved! Quickly, go and summon the imperial physician!"
The people downstairs were frantic, like ants on a hot plate. Ruan Yang, her eyes still blurry from hearing this, was suddenly overwhelmed by past hatred. She snapped back to reality and crawled pitifully towards Ning Xian: "Ning Xian, are you alright? I didn't mean to. The person I wanted to kill wasn't you. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
"Let her go, all of you. Let her come here."
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely forbidden!"
Ning Xian lay in Eunuch Liang's arms, breathing heavily: "Don't hurt her! Do you hear me!"
Freed from her restraints, Ruan Yang stumbled into Ning Xian's arms. Seeing that the blood was still flowing, she tried in vain to cover it with her hands.
She choked up slightly: "How could you be so foolish..."
The pain in her heart made it impossible for her to utter a complete sentence; tears streamed down her face, and she herself couldn't tell if they were real or not.
Ning Xian gushed blood, using his last bit of strength to wipe away her tears. He smiled and said hoarsely, "Be a little silly, then you'll... be willing to talk to me."
"But I still didn't expect..."
I never expected Ruan Yang to be so eager to shoot that arrow, to so desperately want him to die.
He looked at Ruan Yang: "But congratulations, this time... you're truly free. After I die, you don't need to be buried with me. Go find a man you love and live a good life. As for Jin'er..."
Ning Xian gave a self-deprecating laugh, not daring to mention the child who, like him, was not loved by his mother.
Ruan Yang closed her eyes tightly, as if that would prevent her from hearing the child's cries.
"Yangyang, hug me. You haven't hugged me properly since we parted ways at the little bamboo house so many years ago..."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Yang looked at the imperial physician rushing towards them and then embraced the man who was still breathing.
The warm, sweet embrace finally made me feel warm all over.
Ruan Yang patted him, just like many years ago in the little bamboo house, when he was drunk, she would sing off-key songs to coax him.
"The moon is bright, the wind is still, the leaves are fluttering..."
She hummed a song that was no longer recognizable, quietly took out a gold hairpin hidden in her sleeve, took a deep breath, and suddenly plunged it into Ning Xian's heart.
Then, the hand that was around her waist slowly fell down.
She was stunned for a long time before realizing that she had avenged her brother Wenjin.
Ruan Yang pushed the silent man away in disgust and burst into unrestrained laughter amidst the swirling snow.
She stood up and began to spin in circles on the slippery snow. With her frenzied dance steps, the strands of hair that had been held up by a hairpin came loose, and her blood-stained skirt bloomed in the snow like a flower reborn from the ashes.
Everyone said that the wicked queen had gone mad, and Eunuch Liang seized the opportunity to shout, "Quickly fire the arrows! Quickly kill the wicked queen!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a rain of arrows was aimed mercilessly at the madwoman. Fuling reacted swiftly, leaping off the city wall, scooping up the frail figure, and breaking through the encirclement...
......
In the fifth year of the Xining era, a few years after the war subsided, the country was peaceful and prosperous.
After years of traveling around with Xue'er, Ruan Yang finally settled down in a neighboring small country last year.
They weren't exactly rich or powerful, but they lived a peaceful and quiet life. They even used the spare change they saved from weaving and embroidery to open a teahouse and sell tea.
She raised Xue'er very well on her own.
As evening fell, Ruan Yang gathered the tea leaves from the winnowing basket as usual. The older woman she had hired, seeing that she was still busy all day long even though she was the boss's wife, smiled and said, "Madam Ruan, you should rest. Xue'er just came back from the schoolteacher's. Go and keep her company. I'll take care of these chores of drying tea."
Ruan Yang wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled, saying, "Then I'll have to trouble you here, elder sister."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xue'er skipped and hopped to Ruan Yang's side.
"mother!"
Seeing Xue'er, Ruan Yang's heart melted again. She kissed and hugged her. Seeing Xue'er pouting, Ruan Yang asked, "What's wrong? Is Xue'er unhappy?"
Xue'er shook her head sensibly: "I'm not unhappy."
"Lying isn't something a good child does."
Xiao Xue'er then said, "Mother, I haven't seen Father and Brother for a long time. Where did they go?"
"I miss Daddy so much. Yesterday was Xue'er's birthday, and Daddy promised to celebrate Xue'er's birthday with him every year."
Ruan Yang was taken aback.
Ning Xian is dead, along with her child...
Ruan Yang felt a pang of sadness as she thought of the baby she had only met a few times.
She was a weak and incompetent mother. After carrying the child for ten months, the bones disappeared without a trace, and she never inquired about the child's whereabouts again.
That tiny little person may have already perished in that war.
Ruan Yang hurriedly wiped away her tears: "They went to a very far place."
"Will he come back? I left a lot of fun things for my little brother."
After she finished speaking, the clever child saw sadness in Ruan Yang's eyes. Realizing something, she forced a smile, rubbed her eyes, turned away, took a few steps, and then stood in the tea garden and burst into tears.
"Daddy is a big liar and a big bad guy, he doesn't want Xue'er anymore, he doesn't want Xue'er anymore..."
The old woman picking tea was startled. She put down her work and quickly picked up Xue'er to comfort her.
"What's going on...?!"
The old woman watched Ruan Yang's departing figure, hesitant to speak. She didn't want to pry into the landlady's family affairs, only knowing that this was a widow and her orphan.
As Ruan Yang walked through the long corridor, the servants all respectfully addressed her as Lady Ruan.
I wandered aimlessly until I heard several tea-picking girls playing and laughing in the distance.
"You little brat, what kind of shady stuff are you looking at?"
The maidservant chuckled coquettishly and said, "This is a storybook from Da Ye, priceless, so don't even think about buying it!"
"What are you talking about? You seem so engrossed."
"I've only read half of it. It's the story of the Emperor and Empress of the Great Ye Kingdom, a tyrannical ruler and a wicked empress, I think. The tyrannical ruler's name is Ning Xian..."
Ruan Yang bought back the storybook that told about her and Ning Xian. When she slowly returned to the courtyard, Xue'er had probably cried herself to sleep.
She gently opened the storybook, and on the title page was a cut-out portrait, the artist's handiwork unknown, yet remarkably lifelike.
He still looks like Ning Xian when he was young.
Back then, they were just young people experiencing their first love. The boy would present her with a large bouquet of flowers and tell her that he wanted to give her a home.
In the blink of an eye, decades have passed.
Ruan Yang couldn't help but smile. Memories flooded her mind like salty seawater. She gently touched the eyebrows and eyes of the portrait with her fingertips.
All the love and hate at this moment condensed into a single teardrop, which fell and slowly evaporated with the spring breeze.
Beneath the Bridge of Sorrow, spring waves ripple green, where once a fleeting beauty's reflection lingered.
The spring waters by the river still rippled, but Wen Jin was gone, and Ning Xian would never return. In the vast world, it seemed as if she was the only one left.
She carefully hid the fictional book, went back to her room, and slept soundly, holding Xue'er. The pillow was unknowingly soaked with sweat...
(End of article)
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Author's Note: The story is finally finished! [Sprinkling flowers] I'm so happy! It's finally over! I'm so excited and overjoyed!!! [Go for it!][Go for it!]... Waaaaaaah! [Burning down in tears] I wrote this sad story for myself in the middle of the night, sob sob, but unfortunately, I didn't quite express myself well enough. (rambling on and on)
But I still want to thank the little angels who stayed with me until the end, love you all!
P.S.: Leave a comment if you'd like a bonus chapter! [Sprinkling flowers]
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My next book, "After the Failed Assassination Attempt on the Paranoid Minister," is a story about forceful acquisition and ruthless exploitation. Please support it if you enjoy stories with tragic twists and turns! [shy]
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