Chapter 51: The Truth: Your care and love, I no longer want them...
The incense burners were smoking, and the palace was warm as spring.
After Jiang Yueying fell into the water, she caught a cold and had a high fever. She lay unconscious on the couch. Dozens of palace maids took turns serving her, fearing that anything might go wrong.
After the morning court session, Emperor Jiang heard about this and rushed to visit in court robes.
The emperor was furious and scolded the palace maids for taking good care of the princess. Princess Anle's personal maid did not dare to hide anything and told Emperor Jiang about the dispute that happened at Feiyu Lake that day. She did not add any exaggeration and recounted everything that happened that day exactly.
As she was telling the story, Jiang Di's eyebrows were twisted into a knot, and his murderous aura reached the sky.
"How can this be? You actually hurt my daughter for a cat! Just because you're the Crown Princess of Liang, you can't look down on your elder sister!"
Under the thundering sound, no one in the palace dared to breathe, and no one dared to refute him. They could only whisper in their hearts, wasn't it Princess Anle who stole the cat first?
Although Princess Anyi was domineering and naughty, this incident couldn't be considered her fault, especially since the person arguing with Princess Anle was the Crown Prince of Liang...
The palace was completely silent, so quiet that it was suffocating.
Emperor Jiang sat beside Jiang Yueying's bed and ordered the eunuch beside him: "Call that rebellious girl."
All the palace maids were shocked. His Majesty actually wanted to punish Princess Anyi for Princess Anle?
The old eunuch took the order and went out, but he ran into Xie Yuting outside the palace, and he was so scared that his eyes widened.
"Oh, you came at the right time. Is my father-in-law looking for my daughter Ah Ying?" Xie Yuting looked nonchalant.
"This servant greets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I wonder if Princess Anyi is in Chaoyang Palace?"
"No, you don't have to go," Xie Yuting smiled, "She is on her way to the late queen's bedroom. She should be here soon."
The old eunuch was horrified and all the blood drained from his face.
No one except Your Majesty could approach the late Queen's bedroom. Once, a little palace maid went in to catch crickets, but was accidentally discovered by Emperor Jiang and was immediately sentenced to death.
That is a forbidden area in the palace.
Is Jiang Yueying crazy? How dare she trespass into the Queen's palace!
Even if she was also His Majesty's daughter, she shouldn't be so presumptuous. Even the real Princess Anyi wouldn't easily set foot in Fengluan Palace. How dare she, a daughter disdained by the emperor...
The old eunuch looked dazed and saw stars. He almost fell to the ground, his body shaking like a sieve, and he didn't know how to report to His Majesty.
"Your Highness, this is inappropriate... Hurry and get Princess Anyi back..."
If His Majesty gets angry, the servants who serve him closely will be implicated.
"Father-in-law, I have a few people here who I want you to meet." Xie Yuting smiled.
When the old eunuch came back to his senses, he noticed that the guards behind Xie Yuting were escorting several burly men. One of the men had a full beard and looked extremely fierce. Most importantly, this man looked somewhat familiar.
He had been serving Emperor Jiang since he was a child and had met countless people with his master. For a moment, he couldn't remember who this person was. He just felt that he looked very familiar and must have seen him before.
"May I ask Your Highness, who are these people..." The old eunuch was terrified.
Xie Yuting gently waved his folding fan and glanced at him. "Don't worry about who it is for now. Just go in and ask if your father-in-law is curious about the truth behind his wife's death."
What? !
The old eunuch's pupils constricted, his throat seemed to be locked, and he stared at him silently with his mouth wide open, with a roar in his ears.
"This is no joke..."
Xie Yuting folded his folding fan and said calmly, "I'm not joking with you."
"Why don't you go now?"
The old eunuch was stiff all over, without time to think, he hunched his body and walked into the hall step by step.
Xie Yuting turned around, glanced at the bearded man, and said in a cold tone: "Killing someone is just a blink of an eye, but destroying the heart can make people suffer unbearable pain."
The assassins lowered their heads, as if they understood the other party's intention.
…
In Fengluan Palace, the grass and trees are withered and yellow, and the courtyard is full of fallen leaves. No one has trimmed the grass for many years.
Jiang Yueying lifted her skirt, waded through the sparse grass, and stared at the quiet courtyard in a daze.
The palace is very large. The courtyard alone is like a small imperial garden, with rockery and strange rocks, pavilions and rain pavilions, and endless, winding corridors.
Standing under the corridor, she seemed to see the plum blossoms in full bloom in the past, and Queen Liu Qiufeng, wearing a phoenix crown, walking through the courtyard, leaning over to smell the fragrance of the plum blossoms.
My uncle told me that my mother was an extremely kind and gentle person. She always sat quietly, occasionally tending to flowers and plants. She was as elegant as a light painting with a blend of water and ink.
Unfortunately, Jiang Yueying will never know what the other person looks like. She can only rely on other people's descriptions to imagine the contours of her eyebrows and eyes in her mind.
The sky gradually darkened. Jiang Yueying walked into the palace and after groping for a while, she found the tablet of her mother.
The tablet reads: The tablet of Empress Jiayuan Zhaoren of Nanjiang.
Jiang Yueying's eyes were slightly moist.
She leaned over to light the incense and candles, then knelt for a long time, as if she wanted to make up for the absence of more than ten years.
After an unknown amount of time, she took a few steps forward.
Whispering softly: "Mother, I am Ying."
"The person who killed you has been found."
This matter has always been a knot in her heart. When she was young and ignorant, she also doubted herself, wondering if she really killed her biological mother and was a jinx who brought disaster.
Later, the wet nurse told her again and again that it was not her fault.
Gradually, she began to deliberately forget about this matter.
Now that the truth was out, Jiang Yueying didn't feel relieved, but only felt infinite sadness. Her mother, such a kind person, was deliberately murdered...
The emperor, who was deeply in love with her, would rather believe that his own daughter was a disaster and vent his anger on the baby in the cradle than to thoroughly investigate the truth, thus causing the bloody truth to remain buried for many years.
She felt unworthy of her mother.
Touching his heart, two lines of tears flowed silently, along his smooth chin, dripping onto the ground, making it wet.
After a moment, she wiped away her tears and raised the corners of her lips: "I'm sorry to make you laugh, mother. I can't stop crying once I start..."
"Tell my mother something happy. I have a husband now.
His name was Xie Yuting, and he was the crown prince of Liang.
Although we were always noisy when we first met, and I would secretly call him a bastard, he was just a bad-mouthed person and was actually very nice to me...
My uncle thinks I am stupid, and that I would run after others just for a little favor. But actually, my uncle is wrong. I am not stupid. I can tell the difference between true feelings and false ones.
It would probably take three days and three nights to describe how good he is to me.
But he doesn't know my true identity, nor does he know that my current temper and personality are all modeled after my sister..."
The tablet stood there silently, like a deceased queen, quiet and peaceful, watching and listening to everything.
Jiang Yueying suddenly sighed and swallowed the words she was about to say.
boom.
At this moment, the heavy palace door behind him opened wide, and a dazzling white light invaded, illuminating the entire palace.
Jiang Yueying turned her head suddenly and saw the person she expected.
The already elderly emperor seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. Emperor Jiang, wearing a bright yellow dragon robe, walked towards her with a staggering gait against the light. As he approached, the expression on his face was clearly visible. He looked like a mountain ravaged by a strong wind, disheveled and fragile.
It seems he has learned the truth.
Jiang Yueying said coldly: "Your son greets the emperor."
Emperor Jiang staggered two steps, his cloudy eyes staring straight at her, as if he wanted to carve every detail of her face into her bones.
This was the first time that her father looked at her carefully, but Jiang Yueying did not show any joy. She just turned her eyes away casually, unwilling to look at him again.
"Ying'er..." He squeezed out these words from his throat, wanting her to turn her gaze back.
Jiang Kui never regretted anything, whether it was the unscrupulous means he used to seize the throne or the murder of his own brothers and sisters. To get what he wanted, he could be ruthless to the extreme, even if he was cursed by the world, he was not afraid.
When he wakes up from a dream in the middle of the night, he never believes the nonsense told by wronged spirits seeking revenge, because he has no fear or regrets, and is not afraid of karma. Even if he has done something wrong, he will never look back!
He thought that he would be an emperor without regrets in his life.
Who would have thought that he would learn the truth about his wife's death today. She did not die from childbirth, but someone deliberately tampered with the delivery, causing her to pass away.
He killed his brother Prince Li, and Prince Li's subordinates carefully planned and killed his beloved first wife.
The emperor who never regretted anything felt regret for the first time. He regretted killing all his brothers and sisters, regretted not investigating the truth of the year, and even more regretted throwing his and Qiu Feng's biological daughter into the cold palace and suffering for many years.
Qiu Feng must have hated him so much for treating her daughter so harshly that she refused to dream of him for many years.
This is retribution.
Emperor Jiang's fingers trembled as he held Jiang Yueying's hand, choking with sobs: "Ying'er, I'm sorry for you..."
Guilt is like a surging tide, almost drowning and suffocating people.
Jiang Yueying's eyes were devoid of any emotion as she simply said, "Father, I have already ascertained the truth behind Mother's death. The deceased is gone, and I offer my condolences."
"I have ordered their execution, let them pay for their blood debt with blood! I will accompany you to watch the execution on the day. It's all their fault... They have made you suffer for so many years. I will avenge you, okay?" Emperor Jiang's voice was hoarse, and he held her hand tightly.
Jiang Yueying suddenly felt tired.
The fatherly love she had prayed for for years seemed to be nothing more than this.
Her eyes were calm and unperturbed, and she asked softly, "Father, are they really the ones who wronged me?"
As soon as the words fell, there was only dead silence in the hall.
Emperor Jiang heard the sound of something breaking while he was in deep sorrow. He gritted his teeth and said, "I will kill them for you, okay..."
Jiang Yueying felt sad. He said nice things, but was it for her?
Wasn't it for his own sake, to find an outlet for his guilt, to try to get her to forgive him, and then wipe the slate clean and continue to be a harmonious father and daughter?
She is not a dog that can be summoned and dismissed at will.
"Don't blame me. I was also deceived by the villains back then..."
"Father, I no longer resent you," Jiang Yueying said calmly, "I don't want your care and love anymore."
"Leave these to my sister."
Her tone was tinged with sharpness. "Also, Father, you should understand that if you hadn't killed Prince Li for no reason, Mother wouldn't have died."
This sentence was like a sharp sword, piercing Emperor Jiang's heart.
The overwhelming pain was like being skinned and torn off my bones, and falling into an endless abyss.
Jiang Kui's eyes were empty. Yes, he was the one who killed his first wife, but all these years he had been blaming his own daughter for the crime...
He felt sorry for Qiu Feng and even more sorry for Yue Ying.
"Ying'er, listen to what father says..."
Not wanting to listen anymore, Jiang Yueying pulled her hand back, turned around and left, leaving him with a resolute back.
Emperor Jiang was almost mad, screaming loudly: "Why won't you give me a chance to make amends! Why, why, are you so cruel!"
"Everything your sister has, I can give you! And as for this marriage, you don't want an alliance, right? I can also find a way to bring you back to Jiang State..."
Emperor Jiang, with wrinkles all over his face, screamed at the top of his lungs, his muscles twitching constantly, his two dark eyes sunken in his eye sockets, showing a distorted expression, and his voice was terrifying and sad.
Jiang Yueying suddenly stopped, turned her back to Emperor Jiang, and smiled: "Father, the thing I'm most grateful to you for is letting me marry Xie Yuting in my sister's place."
"You couldn't give me the home, he gave me."
"We'll never meet again, Father."
After she finished speaking, she strode out of the palace.
The candlesticks in the hall fell to the ground with a clang, making a sharp sound.
The breeze comes naturally, crushing the dead branches and leaves.
She left the deserted palace behind, and her body suddenly felt light, as if she had taken off the old shackles. She walked forward towards the sunlight, never looking back.
In the dark palace, the old emperor sat on the ground, his bright yellow dragon robe stained with dust from incense and candles. He stared at the front, his receding figure gradually blurred, and as the palace door closed, the last ray of light disappeared.
He opened his mouth wide, wanting to scream, but no words came out. His arms hung in the air, unable to grasp anything. He was like a candle that had gone out, completely buried in darkness.
…
The wind blows on my face and the grass and trees smell fragrant.
As soon as Jiang Yueying walked out of Fengluan Palace, she saw a certain prince leaning under a tree, yawning lazily, looking extremely lazy.
After seeing her, Xie Yuting raised his eyebrows and smiled brightly.
In an instant, the clouds, depression, and confusion all disappeared.
Xie Yuting's smile was like a good medicine, healing the scars on her heart.
"Little princess, why are you staring at me?" Xie Yuting hugged her and said jokingly, "Are you fascinated by me?"
Jiang Yueying lay in his arms, took a deep breath, and felt his large and warm palm gently caressing her hair.
He squinted his eyes, like a little bird that had found a nest to roost in.
"I can watch whatever I want, it's none of your business." She raised her voice.
Xie Yuting pinched her white and tender earlobe, leaving red finger marks: "So domineering, I like it."
like.
What do you like?
Jiang Yueying couldn't help but want to ask him, was it just a casual remark or was it true...
"Is there any other place you want to go?" Xie Yuting asked.
Jiang Yueying shook her head, unwilling to stay in the Jiang Kingdom Palace any longer.
While Emperor Jiang is sinking into depression, they should leave quickly. There is also his sister who fell into the water. If she wakes up, she will cause chaos again.
"Let's go home." She raised her beautiful face, her round eyes sparkling with stars.
"Okay, we'll set off back to Liang tomorrow."
Xie Yuting held her hand, walked slowly forward, and asked what happened in Fengluan Palace.
Jiang Yueying naturally would not tell the truth, after all, Xie Yuting didn't know her true identity.
"After learning the truth, my father was devastated and planned to execute Prince Li's former subordinates to avenge my mother."
"Killing someone means paying with your life, that's what should happen."
"When he learned that his actions had harmed his mother, he felt very regretful."
"Karma, there's no escaping it."
Seeing that the topic was becoming more serious, Jiang Yueying changed the subject and said, "I talked a lot with my mother, and mentioned you."
Xie Yuting's eyes lit up, and he came up to her like a blackmailing cat. He hugged her and asked, "Are you praising me for being handsome, considerate, and a perfect husband?"
"You're so shameless."
"Hurry up and tell me."
"Take your time to guess." Jiang Yueying raised the corners of her lips and showed a relaxed smile.
"You've learned bad habits, little princess." Xie Yuting stretched out his hand to her neck and tickled her. "Tell me quickly, or I won't be polite."
Jiang Yueying's ears flushed red as she quickly glanced around to see if there were any palace servants. She angrily yelled, "Don't act like a hooligan in broad daylight!"
"I just scratched you a few times, I didn't take off your clothes."
"No quibbling!"
"Then confess obediently."
"I won't tell you!"
The girl raised her legs and ran forward, and Xie Yuting took steps to catch up with her. It was obvious that he had extraordinary martial arts skills, but he was always one step behind her. He stared at the blush behind her ear, and the corners of his lips unconsciously raised.
The harsh winter is over, and the days to come will become warmer and warmer.
The next day, the morning light was dim.
The carriage returning to Liang State drove out of the city gate in a majestic and powerful manner, with only officials from Jiang State seeing it off.
Given how much Emperor Jiang doted on Princess Anyi, he shouldn't have ignored it. However, yesterday, Emperor Jiang entered the Fengluan Palace and refused to allow anyone to enter. He stayed inside for the entire night without coming out, which caused a lot of discussion among the officials.
"Your Majesty, why did you go into the Fengluan Palace and not come out?"
"There's nothing to ask. He must be missing the late queen again. Be careful when attending court these days. Don't anger His Majesty, or you might say something wrong and lose your head."
"Alas, your Majesty's temper..."
Regardless of Emperor Jiang's decision, the Liang army's carriages had already set off, braving the north wind and clear snow, breaking through the thin ice on the ground, and gradually turning into a wisp of smoke that drifted away.
At the same time, it was so dark inside the Fengluan Palace that no sunlight could be seen.
Emperor Jiang lay motionless, his head resting beside Liu Qiufeng's tablet. His golden crown had fallen off, his hair was gray and rough, his eyes were dull and unfocused, as gray as the dust in an incense burner.
Creak——
The palace door opened wide, and a girl in a crimson dress walked into the palace with an arrogant look on her face.
The indifferent Emperor Jiang raised his hand to block the glaring light and saw the person in front of him clearly.
His voice was dry: "Ying'er..."
Jiang Yueying was sick for a day and a night. When she woke up again, she learned that the team from Liang State to visit her relatives had already set off.
Her plans were ruined.
Jiang Yueying looked at the decadent emperor and frowned: "Father, are you missing mother again?"
Emperor Jiang smiled bitterly and said nothing.
Missing? How could he be worthy of missing his lover?
"Father, what's wrong with you?" Jiang Yueying sensed something was wrong.
Emperor Jiang was silent for a long time, his voice hoarse: "You...your sister doesn't want me anymore."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yueying's face instantly fell and a gloomy mood filled her heart.
It's ridiculous. Even her father, who loves her the most, has been drugged. Everyone in this world cares so much about Jiang Yueying. Does she deserve it?
"I just wanted to compensate her, but she doesn't want it... Haha, she doesn't want it anymore..."
His emotions were teetering on the brink of collapse. At this moment, a gleam of light flashed in Jiang Yueying's eyes, and she suddenly spoke, interrupting Jiang Di's mumbling.
"Father, do you want your sister to come back?"
The moment the words fell, Emperor Jiang suddenly looked up, staring at her with two eyes like ghostly fire.
"Your son has a way to let your sister return to Jiang State." Jiang Yueying said slowly.
At that moment, Emperor Jiang seemed to grasp a glimmer of hope, and his thick lips opened and closed: "What method?"
Jiang Yueying curled her red lips slightly, revealing an intriguing smile: "Please allow me to go on a diplomatic mission to Liang State."
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