Chapter 62 Chapter 62 [VIP]
Shen Youyi felt a little embarrassed. As an unmarried man, her brother didn't know much about women's affairs. She glanced at him angrily and said, "No, there's no such thing. How could I be pregnant?"
Doesn’t she know whether she has had her period or not?
Bai had originally suspected the same thing, but if Yi Niang was pregnant, His Majesty would not allow the heir to wander around. Seeing her daughter's resoluteness, she said softly, "Wei Xing, please don't mess with your sister. She needs some time to recuperate."
Yi Niang does not like His Majesty, and it is definitely not a good thing for her to be pregnant with the emperor's child at this moment.
Shen Huaian nodded thoughtfully. He had dined with his parents and talked about his experiences in prison. However, unlike his parents, he did not return to his own residence. Instead, he stayed to play a game of chess with his sister.
According to the rules, his father and he should live away from the inner palace. However, the queen was a casual person and allocated a palace that could accommodate several concubines to the Shen family for temporary residence. If they wanted to visit Yi Niang, they could come at any time, but they would not feel embarrassed about it.
Without the boundaries between concubines and ministers, their relationship is not as close as before. Shen Huaian keenly noticed that Yi Niang's eyes were evasive today, and she didn't seem to care much about winning or losing on the chessboard.
He said softly, "Does Yi Niang not recognize me? Why don't you have anything to say to my brother?"
Shen Youyi tapped the chess pieces idly, looking at the game that was about to be decided, and whispered, "Brother, you should be named Wei, is that right?"
There are many children in the world who do not look like their parents. She had never paid attention to this confusing matter before, but once she began to speculate, she felt that her brother's appearance was somewhat similar to that of the reclusive Lady of the Duke of Yan.
Shen Huaian's expression was unclear, and he said slowly: "Yi Niang, this is not important. I am still your brother."
He was buried as a dead baby at birth, and had a shallow relationship with Wei Jingzhong's father. Although he accidentally found out about his biological parents, he had no intention of recognizing them.
If Yi Niang hadn't asked for anything, he would have had no intention of having anything to do with the wealthy Wei family.
But he didn't expect that Aye A Niang would tell Yi Niang about these things.
The chess piece in Shen Youyi's hand made a crisp sound. How could this not be important?
Her voice trembled slightly: "But brother, I respect you and love you, but in fact, you already know that I am not your biological sister, and even you want to take me for yourself!"
Aye and her mother only thought that they had a good relationship as siblings and that she was a very well-behaved and obedient daughter, and they had no idea of the stubborn and rebellious thoughts in her heart.
Even the love of her parents was divided much thinner among her children. She was a very stingy person and didn't like to get only half, even though the person who shared her parents' love was her favorite brother.
But my brother gave her everything. He had no intention of staying in the official career. Although he tried various ways to obstruct her marriage when he was at home, when she arrived at the palace, he allowed her to act almost as she pleased and did not teach her how to make a choice.
They have the same blood. He will love her as indulgently as possible and prevent others from getting close to her. She also regards her brother as a mirror to whom she can confide all her secrets and joys and sorrows.
He had to be spotless, without even a single flaw, to be worthy of her intimacy and trust.
She is a monster with many inappropriate ideas, but she is born beautiful. People are very tolerant of the arrogance and willfulness of beautiful women. As for why she thinks this way, no one cares.
"yes."
Shen Huaian looked at her calmly, his beautiful face changing colors many times, but when he said this answer, he was much more relaxed than before. That lingering tenderness had been hidden in his heart for many years, but when it was expressed, it could only turn into silent and puzzling stubbornness.
"I want to hug you and kiss you, not out of a brother's responsibility, but out of admiration as a young man. I want to hold you in my arms and watch the clouds and moon in front of the window with you. How could I not hate myself?"
She heard the smooth and warm chess pieces squeaking between his fingers, and the handsome man's face turned ashen.
He said slowly: "Ke Yi Niang, I don't regret it."
He only regretted that he found out too late.
When she just had a vague understanding of love between men and women, she would throw herself at him to seek comfort for her failures and setbacks in fighting Baicao, but he would also sternly reject her closeness.
No man could resist Yi Niang's coquettishness, but he would have to be many times more heartless than those people to allow himself to cast a quick glance in the corner.
He thought he couldn't love her.
But by the time he knew it, Yi Niang had already stubbornly taken another path. She loved supreme power more than a pure man.
She loved the prince and tried to please the emperor. A woman who treated love as a plaything could not see the darkness under the lamp.
She didn't understand at all that their friendship had already gone beyond the love between siblings!
The color on Shen Youyi's face faded little by little, and she said in a trembling voice: "Brother, how can you say such a thing!"
A girl with stunning beauty, favored by the most powerful people in the world, when she was young and didn't know what the future held, she bore countless powers, but could be abandoned by these noble people at any time. She wandered among these people, trying to stay out of it, enjoying or hating...
But the person she loved did not love her as much as she thought. Instead, the man she never wanted to be moved by finally let her go.
Chen Huai'an stood up suddenly, lowering his voice, "Why, Yi Niang, no matter what you want to do, I will help you according to your wishes. If you are willing to share a little of the care you give to them with me, we will become the best of both worlds."
"shut up!"
Shen Youyi's blood was almost cold, but her heart was beating stronger and stronger, so that her cold blood was still flowing in her body, maintaining her breathing.
The man who values blood ties far more than love and cannot tolerate even the slightest concealment or flaw from the one he loves was never the emperor she thought he was.
She gave the man as a gift, but was finally played cruelly by fate!
Something was shaking, it was the corner of the chessboard she was holding, so the meaning of closing the game was lost.
She felt like a resentful woman, but subconsciously she didn't want her face to become distorted.
"Brother." Shen Youyi calmed down. She swallowed the non-existent bitterness and said peacefully, "You know, I'm not someone who is willing to be lonely."
As long as she took her last breath, she would still yearn for a passionate and enviable life, and would never become the lover he expected and spend the days planting beans with him at the foot of the southern mountain.
Shen Huaian realized his loss of composure. He had not originally thought of bringing up the matter at this time, but Aye A Niang came to Yi Niang's side before him. He slowly said, "Yi Niang, my brother has no intention of obstructing you. You don't need to worry about this."
He learned that although a duck's legs are short, it worries when they are extended; although a crane's legs are long, it feels sad when they are broken. Yi Niang did not treat him as a romantic partner, so he could not ask her to disguise her nature for him.
But he loved her, so he had to make some sacrifices.
Although he could vaguely guess what she was thinking, he was still shocked.
Even if the high-ranking man abandoned her after weighing the pros and cons, she would still return to the palace as long as she smelled a possibility.
Shen Youyi was slightly surprised. She felt a little uneasy and could no longer express her thoughts. She said slowly, "Brother, my body has improved. Father and you are both men. Staying in the palace for a long time will inevitably cause inconvenience to the Queen... You can recuperate for a few more days, and then we can leave."
Although the queen was kind to her, Cuiwei Palace was not a place to stay for long. She would not stay here for long, as if waiting for the emperor to change his mind.
Shen Huaian was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses. His expression turned cold, but his tone was as gentle as ever: “Are you going back to His Majesty again?”
Shen Youyi laughed softly, but it was not a denial. She said slowly: "Brother, I don't want to do anything that I am not sure of."
Although the emperor cared about her serving his father and son, he would not abandon her. What she was not sure about was whether Emperor Yuan Shuo could still calmly accept that a woman who resented and hated him would smell the opportunity of being deposed and return to him.
I also want to see God's will.
Shen Huaian didn't really like Xiao Che, his brother-in-law, but at this moment, he had to mention this man who had once won Yi Niang's heart: "Yi Niang, don't you resent His Majesty for being unfair because of the matter of Marquis Xiao?"
Shen Youyi stopped looking at him, feeling a rare sense of guilt: "The Crown Prince is about to be deposed, and if the throne falls into the hands of his descendants in the future, what difference will it make to him being the emperor? I... will always feel a little unwilling."
Emperor Yuan Shuo would never kill his own son for Xiao Che, so she was naturally resentful and angry, and wished that they would become alienated and kill each other, so that she could taste the pain of losing her husband.
But when she really caused a disaster, she didn't feel relieved.
"His Highness is a very interesting person who knows how to have fun."
She said to herself, "I'm confident that as long as my brother is willing to ask, he will definitely take us in."
…
The Jiade Hall where the Queen Mother resides has been shrouded in dark clouds recently. Only the dusty Prince Zhao brings a hint of the lively atmosphere of the Yanzhao land.
The prince was imprisoned and his military power was taken away almost overnight. Because the emperor and the prince were both in the palace, this silent handover was very peaceful. The empress dowager almost thought her son was crazy and wanted to go and ask him in person, but even she was stopped.
Even the imperial concubine who often served the emperor was arranged to go to the temporary palace with the empress to recuperate. Just because the palace maids in the Jiade Hall talked about a few rumors that the imperial concubine might have been executed, a new group of people served her on the first day.
This emperor's son not only wanted to block her mouth, but also sealed her ears. The morning sun rose in the Jiade Hall as usual, but she knew clearly in her heart that the number of people who died in the witchcraft disasters throughout the ages could be piled up into a mountain.
There must be someone outside the palace who wants to come to her, but there is no way.
At this moment, her little son, who had given her so much trouble, became a source of comfort to her.
Even though this ghost-like son followed the envoy all the way to the capital without fear of the fatigue of the journey, it was not for his biological mother.
When Emperor Yuan Shuo entered, he saw his long-lost brother, looking worried and complaining to the Empress Dowager, "Mother, how could there be such a tyrannical saint as my brother? He's willing to be an ascetic himself, but he can't bear to see people like us who have no ambitions happy..."
Chen Rongshou felt something was amiss and coughed lightly. The King of Zhao immediately stopped talking, but there was not much fear on his face. He stood up calmly and saluted, saying with a smile, "My brother, I wish you all the best."
Emperor Yuan Shuo glanced at him. He was over thirty years old and had done shameless things without any shame or self-reflection. He even had the nerve to run to Chang'an to make a scene, begging for his mother's favor and helping his son to snatch the woman for his grandson. He had not acted like this in front of the empress dowager since he was very young.
Perhaps the late emperor and the empress dowager would be less sympathetic to him because of this, but he would own the entire world in the future and should not get involved in this childish fight for favor.
Just like being Yi Niang's husband, he can also restrain himself well and not know every detail of her relationship with other men.
His heart ached. He could never be as heartless as his fourth brother, who was so shameless for a woman who didn't love him.
King Zhao didn't smile much.
Before entering the capital, he knew a little about the Imperial Concubine's deeds... The truth cannot be hidden, and although not many people have seen Shen's daughter and the Imperial Concubine, there are some.
The elder brother was obviously in the same situation as him, yet he still scolded him in a condescending manner. He was not a younger brother like the King of Yue who dared to rebel. Although he was very unhappy, he had to swallow his anger and prepare a generous gift to present to the imperial concubine, asking this favored beauty beside his elder brother to say a few good words for him.
But as soon as he set foot in Chang'an City, the imperial concubine was sent out of the palace silently. Some people privately rumored that they had seen the imperial concubine's body.
How could he dare to mention the word "Imperial Concubine" again? Now, inside and outside the palace, only his mother didn't know about it.
The Empress Dowager was given a headache by his nagging, and her eyes hurt when she saw the Emperor. She was an old woman who was powerless, but Emperor Yuan Shuo could do whatever he wanted, even abandoning his beloved eldest son at any time. She said gloomily, "She's just a woman. I have no shortage of people to serve me. The Emperor should just make the decision and grant our Silang his wish, so that he won't have to keep nagging here endlessly."
Emperor Yuan Shuo almost reluctantly sat down at the head of the table. His expression was cold, but the corners of his lips curled up in a slight smile: "Mother, this is against human ethics. I cannot agree to it."
The Queen Mother knew it was inappropriate, but her son had never suffered so much, so she said insincerely, "He hasn't given birth to any children, so what's wrong with a son being filial to his father? If his father likes it, he should give it up."
She gave birth to many children. Except for the emperor who lost his innocent and willful childhood prematurely, the other children often fought over things. When they were young, they fought over cats, dogs, and birds that were tributed. When they grew up, they fought over fiefs and salaries. How important could that beauty be? In the eyes of children, she was far less important than a cat.
Emperor Yuan Shuo lowered his head. He was almost persuaded by the empress dowager.
He loved Yi Niang so much that he wanted to keep her by his side all the time, and even wanted to be buried with her classmates after his death.
What does it matter if father and son are having an affair? Why didn't those people who knew the truth but pretended to be deaf and dumb, including the prince, jump out the moment she entered the palace? Now that it has come to this, he will never be magnanimous enough to give her back to the prince!
But Yi Niang had no love for him at all. She was very proud to watch him lose control of himself and indulge in her in bed, express his love in an almost obscure way, want to cure her illness, and indulge all her temper.
He had even decided to forgive her... He was just playing dumb and resigned to his fate.
But she didn't even leave him a leeway, like a moth, rushing towards death impatiently, yet he still couldn't bear to kill her!
Even today, when he thinks of her, that sharp dagger still cuts out a piece of flesh from his heart.
She did not assassinate him in the middle of the night and stab him in the heart, but when he woke up in the middle of the night, he was tortured to the point of being unable to breathe. Even though there were swords at his side and heavy guards outside the palace, he could not even close his eyes in peace.
He couldn't help but feel a little sad for himself. All his love was tied to her, waiting for her to make the decision and show the slightest sign of goodwill.
"Mother, do you really think so?"
Emperor Yuan Shuo's expression calmed down: "Even if I slept with Zihui's wives and concubines and wanted to take them into the harem, would you still comfort the prince like this for me?"
He didn't want to let his mother know about such an embarrassing thing, but watching her spread her wings and fly away, and wondering if one day she would completely leave Chang'an and never come back, he hated her so much that his heart almost bled.
He resented and even despised himself. He could have kept her by his side forever with just one hand, but he chose to let her go free.
Is he trying to compete with the prince for supremacy in her heart? Will she be moved when she wakes up?
This heartless girl didn't take him seriously at all. Even the handwriting on the memorial wasn't hers!
There was a moment when he wanted to kill more than just the Crown Princess...
The empress dowager was shocked. Although the emperor had been in a bad mood these days and wanted to depose the prince, she had never expected her son to say such outrageous words. She almost fainted from anger.
Seeing this, the King of Zhao rushed to his mother to vent his anger and complained, "Brother, if you don't like me, I can just go live in the inn. Why are you saying this in front of me?"
Emperor Yuan Shuo did not have much sympathy for his brother who seemed to have the same illness as him, and even wanted to beat him up.
Naturally, he could be a good person. Many people cursed him, but there were also people who pleaded for him. As the son of the late emperor, he loved a woman and could take her away by force regardless of her resistance. He lost face and dignity, and his mother was reluctant to let him suffer. However, no one dared to persuade the king to do this... to beg for mercy from a woman who had no love for him at all!
Emperor Yuan Shuo paused, then softened his tone a bit: "It was my son who made a slip of the tongue."
The reason why King Zhao was favored was partly because he had been able to read people's expressions since he was a child. He came to fulfill his wish, not to instigate a feud between his brother and mother, so he immediately made jokes to smooth things over.
But as lunch approached, he felt sorry for his brother and insisted on trying the imperial meal.
He was not a greedy young child like Yi Niang. Emperor Yuan Shuo could not bear to see a man being so sticky, like a dog-skin plaster on his hands that could not be shaken off. He ordered the Shangshi Bureau to send a similar imperial meal to the Empress Dowager's palace, but Prince Zhao sighed.
——He hasn't been close to his brother for a long time.
Emperor Yuan Shuo laughed in anger and simply took him back with him.
King Zhao had nothing to do with witchcraft, and even with his brother's murderous gaze, he could still eat and drink.
But no one offered even a piece of cake in the Liangyi Hall. There were only piles of memorials and files, and a mute white parrot.
——It’s not that it can’t speak at all. The bird will occasionally say “It’s so cold”.
The king has a strange temper, and the pet he keeps is also extraordinary.
He held a book in his hand and, with a plaintive look, handed a few gold leaves to the chief eunuch standing beside Emperor Yuan Shuo, saying sorrowfully, "Your Majesty, don't you usually eat?"
During the time when he assisted the Crown Prince in governing the country, he was so tired that he wished he could eat five meals a day. Does the Emperor survive on a breath of immortal energy?
Being an emperor is indeed a life-threatening job, and he is not up to the task.
Chen Rongshou looked at the golden leaves in front of him, his eyes suddenly brightening, and he said with a look of worry, "Your Majesty, you may not know that His Majesty only eats one meal a day and has not eaten after noon recently. But perhaps you can persuade him to do something."
Prince Zhao's heart moved, and he added a few more gold leaves. He whispered, "Has the Imperial Concubine truly passed away?"
Chen Rongshou's smile was a little hateful. He said calmly, "I don't know, maybe."
Prince Zhao had a vague idea in his mind. This old sly fellow wouldn't take any responsibility for him. He snorted softly, but still showed some restraint as he slipped into the inner hall. He said pitifully, "Brother..."
There were still many memorials on the table, but Emperor Yuan Shuo still raised his head with great patience and said calmly, "If you have any more foolish thoughts, I will immediately order the inner guards to come in and break one of your legs."
As soon as he said this, he was stunned.
When he was coaxing Yi Niang at night, he promised her that he would give this disrespectful old man a beating.
The King of Zhao was a little dissatisfied and almost shouted: "Big brother, if you don't talk about feelings, you should at least be reasonable. Why don't you ask Liu who she is willing to be with between us?"
Emperor Yuan Shuo's heart seemed to be pierced by a needle, and he was furious: "Asshole, do you know what you are talking about?"
Where did he get the confidence from? He was old enough to be Liu's father, but he was still so complacent. I don't know what the woman said to coax him when she gave in, but he thought he had won. In fact, the woman couldn't wait to leave him as soon as possible!
Even at such an old age, he still doesn't know how to respect himself and is extremely frivolous and reckless!
The King of Zhao was not angry: "Brother, a virtuous woman is afraid of a clinging man. Even if I am stupid, at my age, I can still distinguish true love from false. You have taken her away from me. If she refuses, how can I resist Your Majesty?"
Emperor Yuan Shuo's expression darkened. "Chastity is a matter of great importance. She was forced to obey."
The King of Zhao looked a little embarrassed, but after a while he regained his carefree demeanor. "Brother, you're not willing to delve into the ways of men and women like a vulgar person like me. In fact, as long as there's physical compatibility, and a man is willing to put aside his pride and be submissive, what girl wouldn't be attracted to it?"
This was a bit too much. Although Emperor Yuan Shuo had carefully studied how to make the two of them get great joy from the way of yin and yang and nourish their bodies, it did not mean that these things in the bedroom could be taken out of the bedroom and told to others, even to brothers. It would be inappropriate.
But once the King of Zhao spoke of this, he began to ramble on. "There are so many men in the world who are easily persuaded by soft words, not to mention the women in the boudoir. After that unfilial son beat me... I stayed in bed for several days. She was so distressed that she cried so hard. So I stayed in bed for two more days. I exchanged countless words and swore countless oaths with her. What could possibly go wrong?"
Emperor Yuan Shuo frowned. Physically, he naturally liked it. Yi Niang was not only keen on it, but also liked to stick close to him, as if she had no bones, as if she could get what she needed in this way.
Like a child, she sniffed his scent and asked him to guess what perfume she used today.
But he thought to himself that he could neither flatter others with his smooth words like the King of Zhao, nor could he tolerate his son offending his father to such an extent.
A weak woman like Yi Niang couldn't feel at ease even when living under his protection. It was absolutely impossible for her to show mercy to the king.
Emperor Yuan Shuo was a little confused. He liked quietness, and even his own brother talking so noisily in his ear was enough to make him annoyed.
He raised his younger siblings on behalf of the late emperor. As an elder brother is like a father, he could not stand the frivolous and ambiguous look, as if they were accomplices of the same kind.
...even though the difference is not that big.
"Go out and receive a hundred strokes of the cane." Emperor Yuan Shuo accepted a cup of hot tea, coughed lightly twice, and reprimanded, "It's just down the hall. I don't have that many taboos. Don't think you can fool me by giving me some silver!"
He is not a good person anyway, so it is not unfair to beat him up.
The internal security guards knew the limits of their strength and would not actually break his leg.
When King Zhao was asked to leave by the eunuch, his face was full of disbelief. He had been generous for a long time, and my brother never said anything about it before!
Chen Rongshou listened to the heavy voice and the man's shouting from outside and offered the gold leaves, feeling a little apprehensive. "Your Majesty, you didn't eat today, yet you asked me a few more questions. I was bewildered for a moment, and I truly deserve to die!"
He felt quite uneasy. What the imperial concubine asked for was really unbelievable. Although it was not excessive, he had to find a suitable time to do so, otherwise it would seem deliberate.
Emperor Yuan Shuo didn't care much about this. Just as he was about to tell him to go down, the white parrot on the stand made an unusual noise. Because it was well-behaved and quiet, the emperor was used to its presence, but he didn't like to tease it. The eunuchs didn't hang a chain on it to avoid making too much noise.
It fluttered and jumped a few times, then landed right next to Chen Rongshou's hand. It pecked at the few grains of gold and cried out calmly and contentedly, "Yi Niang loves His Majesty! Yi Niang loves His Majesty!"
That almost taboo name suddenly popped out from the mouth of a silent beast. Not to mention the other eunuchs, even Chen Rongshou himself was horrified. He hurriedly tried to take the gold leaves back from the parrot, but the beast instead grabbed a few and flew hurriedly to the bookshelf.
This parrot, who was favored by the imperial concubine, seemed a little confused about the sudden chaos. After it had said this twice before, its beautiful owner would give it shiny things, which someone would put away and show it to it from time to time.
Perhaps its efforts today were not worthy of such a large reward. It tilted its head and thought for a while, then shouted, "Your Majesty, please don't abandon Yi Niang, okay?"
The eunuchs held their breath and bowed their heads deeply.
On that quiet night with the aroma of wine, the gentle wind was mixed with light rain, and a small lamp illuminated the half-awake mandarin ducks in the tent.
She said in person that Yi Niang was not a liar.
Yi Niang loves His Majesty...she loves His Majesty very much.
She was still so young, and she was always feeling uneasy. Even when she was drunk she was afraid that her beauty would fade and his love would wane, and that one day she would be abandoned by him.
But when that day came, she treated herself even more cruelly than he had.
After the parrot had said what it thought was enough times, it became lazy again, leaving the room in silence.
After a long time, even the beating of the stick outside the window stopped.
Emperor Yuan Shuo looked at the parrot that had calmly flown into the cage. It was busy combing its feathers, completely unaware that this was a punishment.
He slowly closed his eyes: "Prepare the horse."
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