The seed of hatred that Lu Tianjiao planted at the Qin Prince's mansion before he left has quietly sprouted. Moreover, this seed, which has already cracked open, has begun to grow wildly.
The Lunar New Year is fast approaching, and today is another day of heavy snowfall in the depths of winter.
The world was covered in a blanket of silver, and the entire land of Western Qin seemed to have become much quieter, with only the soft sound of snowflakes falling.
It was already night, shortly after dinner in the Western Qin Imperial Palace. In Xuan Yuan Yue's Feng Hua Palace, the flickering candlelight illuminated the entire palace as if it were daytime.
Suddenly, a loud, collective shout of kneeling servants came from outside the door: "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress!"
"It's Father and Mother!" Xuan Yuan Yue said happily as she hurriedly came out from her desk to greet them.
As she bowed, she said, "Your subject respectfully welcomes Your Majesty and Your Majesty. May Your Majesty and Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings and peace."
"Get up, get up quickly," the Empress said with a smile as she reached out and helped Xuan Yuan Yue to her feet.
Then she took Xuan Yuan Yue's slender hands and held them tightly in her own, saying with concern, "My son, it's already the dead of winter, freezing cold, with snow falling heavily. You suffer from a cough, so please take care of yourself."
"Don't worry, Mother. With Yun'er here, my cough has long been cured," Xuan Yuan Yue said with great interest, glancing at the cloud on her clothes behind her.
"That's good. You all must serve Her Highness the Princess carefully, do you understand?" The Empress then said to the servants present with a serious expression.
The crowd responded in unison, "This servant obeys the decree."
Xuanyuan Yue, holding the Empress's arm, pouted her lips and said coquettishly, "Oh... Mother, your son is really good, so please don't worry. May I ask what brings you to my palace today?"
Just as the Empress was about to speak, Emperor Jing, unusually, spoke first, saying, "Yue'er's calligraphy skills are getting better and better." It turned out that after entering, Emperor Jing did not sit down immediately, but went to the desk to examine the calligraphy that Xuan Yuan Yue had just written.
Xuanyuan Yue suddenly realized something was wrong, and immediately ran over to try and take the sheet of Xuan paper that Emperor Jing was looking at from the table, but Emperor Jing stopped her with a smile and said, "Empress, come and take a look too."
Upon hearing Emperor Jing's summons, the Empress slowly walked over. However, what the Empress looked at was not Xuan Yuan Yue's handwriting, but the poem she had written on the Xuan paper.
The Empress softly recited, "Green are your robes, deep is my longing. Though I do not go to you, will you not send me a message? Green are your jade pendants, deep is my yearning. Though I do not go to you, will you not come to me? I look for you, I gaze at you, at the city gate. A day without seeing you is like three months."
Xuan Yuan Yue stood beside the desk, her brows furrowed in anxiety, like an ant on a hot pan. She couldn't help but glance at Yi Shang Yun beside her, who also had a furrowed brow but shook her head at her, signaling her to calm down.
After the Empress finished reading, she smiled and looked up at Xuan Yuan Yue, saying to Emperor Jing, "Your Majesty, it seems our Yue'er has grown up."
"Hahaha..." At this moment, Emperor Jing suddenly laughed and left his desk, walking over and sitting down.
The Empress asked earnestly, "My son, you have now reached the age of marriage. Among the nobles and ministers of the Western Qin Kingdom, is there anyone you fancy?"
"What are you saying, Mother? Yue'er is still young and has never had such thoughts. This poem was just something Yue'er wrote on a whim. Father and Mother, please don't make wild guesses," Xuan Yuan Yue hurriedly explained in a flustered manner.
“So it means that none of the people in the Western Qin Kingdom have the Emperor’s approval. That’s good,” Emperor Jing continued, picking up where Xuan Yuan Yue left off.
"Why do you say that, Father?" Xuan Yuan Yue asked, puzzled.
"Empress, you should speak to the prince." Upon hearing this, the Empress was stunned. She stared at Emperor Jing for a moment, then turned back to Xuan Yuan Yue.
After a moment of silence, she put on a slightly helpless and stiff smile and said, "Yue'er, as a member of the royal family, you should bear the responsibilities that come with it, and you should care about the safety of the people of Western Qin. Although you are a woman and cannot fight on the battlefield to defend the country like a man, as a noble princess of Western Qin, you should also do your part for the country."
Xuanyuan Yue felt increasingly uneasy as she listened to the Empress's words. She didn't know what her father and mother wanted to say, but she had a bad feeling. She quickly said, "Father, Mother, what is it? Please speak plainly. Yue'er is all ears."
The Empress was quite embarrassed and didn't know how to start the conversation, but she finally said, "Your father plans to keep you through the New Year, and then, in the spring, he will bestow upon you a marriage to Tuoba Ze, the eldest prince of the Northern Lie Kingdom."
"What?!" Xuan Yuan Yue suddenly felt a wave of dizziness as if struck by lightning, and hurriedly took two steps back. Yi Shang Yun was also extremely surprised and immediately stepped forward to support Xuan Yuan Yue.
"My son..." The Empress, her expression flustered, reached out to help Xuan Yuan Yue, but Xuan Yuan Yue avoided her. The Empress looked on with heartache; this was a piece of her own flesh and blood, the result of ten months of her pregnancy. How could she not pity her? But being in the imperial family, she could not always do as she pleased.
Emperor Jing's mind was made up. He resolutely declared, "The conflict between the four kingdoms has brought immense suffering to the people. The Northern Lie Kingdom, with its strong and powerful army, has repeatedly invaded the borders of Western Qin, leaving the people of the border regions in dire straits..."
Enraged, Xuanyuan Yue hurriedly interrupted Emperor Jing, saying, "Doesn't Western Qin have the God of War, Uncle Qin?"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jing revealed a disdainful expression and snorted, "Although the King of Qin has repeatedly achieved great feats and forced them to retreat, every campaign has been a drain on the people and resources, leaving us heavily indebted. Western Qin's treasury is already empty, and it urgently needs time to recuperate."
Xuanyuan Yue listened helplessly and said, "So Father Emperor thinks the best solution now is to sacrifice Yue'er for a marriage alliance to appease Bei Lie, right?"
The room fell silent after she said this. After a long pause, she suddenly burst into tears and asked sadly, "Father, Mother, is Yue'er still your most beloved son?"
"My son, you will always be my most beloved son," the Empress cried, tears streaming down her face as she embraced Xuan Yuan Yue. But the pride and joy that once filled Xuan Yuan Yue's eyes vanished instantly; now, only boundless despair remained for her incredibly noble parents, the Emperor and Empress.
Unexpectedly, she suddenly said to the Emperor and Empress with a firm and resolute expression, "Father and Mother, please forgive your son for not being able to obey."
Upon hearing her direct, bold, and resolute protest, the Empress looked at Xuan Yuan Yue in her arms with extreme horror.
Emperor Jing was also furious and said, "What did you say? How dare you disobey my decree? Who gave you such audacity?"
Seeing this, Yi Shangyun immediately stepped forward, bowed, and knelt, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. The princess is still young, and the Northern Lie Kingdom is a nomadic people with extremely harsh conditions. The princess has been pampered since childhood and will certainly not be able to adapt to their lifestyle. I hope Your Majesty will reconsider."
"And who are you to dare plead for her?" Under these circumstances, even the Empress, the mother of Xuan Yuan Yue, the mother of the Queen of Western Qin, dared not offer any advice.
However, Yi Shangyun rushed forward with a calm and composed expression, even making Xuan Yuan Yue, who was standing to the side, sweat with worry and exclaim in surprise, "Yun'er..."
Yi Shangyun glanced back at Xuan Yuan Yue, who was now utterly despondent and in tears, which only strengthened her resolve.
"Your Majesty, as the saying goes, even a tiger won't eat its cubs. Among the four kingdoms of the Lingkong Continent, Beilie is the worst off, while the princess is the most precious princess of Xiqin. Sending her to Beilie for a marriage alliance is just like throwing a sheep into the tiger's den. Is Your Majesty really willing to do that?"
"How dare you, you audacious servant! I'll teach you a lesson today!" Emperor Jing roared in fury.
Xuan Yuan Yue panicked and wanted to step forward to plead for Yun'er, but the Empress held her tightly, saying, "Yue'er, your father is angry right now. Don't add fuel to the fire, or Yun'er will only suffer more severe punishment."
"But, Mother, Yun'er did all this for me..." The Empress shook her head at her with a wink. Xuan Yuan Yue thought for a moment and then had to shut up. She looked at Yi Shang Yun with a worried expression, and then at the high and mighty Emperor Jing, wondering how he would punish her.
Emperor Jing looked at the snow falling heavily in the dim candlelight outside the palace and said, "I think today's snow is auspicious. I will punish you by making you kneel in the snow for twelve hours to pray for the people of Western Qin."
"Father, you mustn't! Twelve hours in freezing weather, Yun'er will surely die!" Xuan Yuan Yue could no longer hold back and cried as she begged Emperor Jing.
"Princess, rest assured, Yun'er can do it," Yi Shangyun said with a smile to Xuan Yuan Yue. After that, she kowtowed to Emperor Jing and willingly walked out of the hall to receive her punishment.
Xuan Yuan Yue hurriedly shook off the Empress's hand and chased after her, but Yi Shang Yun had already disappeared. Xuan Yuan Yue's face showed worry...
So, in the dead of winter, amidst ice and snow, and with the biting wind, a stubborn yet resolute figure knelt alone at the entrance of Fenghua Palace.
At this moment, Yi Shangyun knelt on the icy, bone-chilling snow, covered in snow. Emperor Jing had ordered her to kneel for twelve hours without sleep, food, or water before she would be pardoned, and only four hours had passed, just past dawn.
"What should I do? It's all my fault. I shouldn't have impulsively said those things and angered Father. In the end, it is Yun'er who suffers." Xuan Yuan Yue was also restless and unable to sleep at night. She paced around the palace in a panic and helpless manner, complaining.
As dawn approached, a palace maid advised, "Princess, why don't you rest? You've been walking all night, your legs must be sore."
"Get out of the way, all of you! Do you all know that if you keep kneeling like this, Yun'er's legs will be ruined. How can I, the princess, rest in peace?" Xuan Yuan Yue scolded the little palace maid who was speaking.
“But Princess, pacing back and forth like this won’t do any good. You are now confined to Fenghua Palace by the Emperor and are not allowed to step out of the palace gates. It was the Emperor who ordered the punishment of Yiyao Nu. Who dares to disobey the Emperor’s orders?” the little palace maid said cautiously.
Xuanyuan Yue pretended not to hear and only asked, "What time is it now?"
The palace maid replied, "It's already dawn."
“Mao Shi…” Xuan Yuan Yue repeated as she continued pacing. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, widening in surprise, as if she had discovered some rare treasure.
"I've got it! Hurry! Quickly find someone for me. This person can definitely save Yun'er, and only this person can save her," Xuan Yuan Yue said urgently to the little palace maid beside her.
"Who is the person the princess is talking about?" the little palace maid asked curiously, but she was also skeptical. Could there really be someone who could save someone from His Majesty the Emperor's clutches?
Xuan Yuan Yue stepped forward and whispered something in the ear of the little palace maid. The little palace maid exclaimed in surprise, "Yi Shang Yun is just a lowly medicine girl. Is Your Highness sure that person will come?"
"Just tell her exactly what I said, no need to ask anything else." The little palace maid picked up her cloak with a suspicious look and hurriedly left Fenghua Palace as instructed by Xuanyuan Yue.
Xuanyuan Yue stood at the entrance of her bedchamber, gazing at the gates of Fenghua Palace. Yi Shangyun was kneeling by the gate, but she could not go to accompany her, for she knew that if she did, Yi Shangyun would face even harsher punishment.
Having not slept a wink all night, she finally let out a deep breath and muttered to herself, "Yun'er, just hold on a little longer, your savior is coming soon."
Who is this savior that Xuanyuan Yue is talking about?
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