"Giddy up, giddy up..."
In the pitch-black night, a horse-drawn carriage sped along a country road.
Amidst the swaying and rocking, Xuan Yuanhan, who had already been lying comfortably in the carriage, finally slowly opened his eyes and regained consciousness. He seemed to still feel some discomfort, so as soon as he opened his eyes, he frowned tightly, and his expression still seemed to show some pain.
He then suppressed his anger and glanced at Cheng Liang, the familiar deputy general beside him, and Lu Tianlin, the young master of Xiqin Academy, who was lying in ambush outside the city ready to provide support during this operation.
After confirming that everyone was safe and sound, I noticed that I was in a bumpy environment, and asked weakly, "Where are we?"
Cheng Liang looked into his eyes but did not answer him, as if he had some unspeakable secret and was not yet ready to speak.
At this moment, Lu Tianlin spoke first, indignantly saying, "Fortunately, Your Highness foresaw this, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable. We cannot swallow this insult so easily!"
Xuanyuan Han's eyes suddenly became unfathomably deep, as if there was no bottom to them. He said in a deep voice, "Of course we can't just swallow this!"
Lu Tianlin sighed deeply and asked again, "Your Highness, since that's the case, let's rush back to Western Qin tonight to settle accounts with Emperor Jing!"
At this moment, Xuanyuan Han thought he was just being taken away from the palace, so he said with a fixed gaze, "No, there is something that belongs to me, and I must take it with me!"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang suddenly turned his gaze toward him, as if he had thought of something, but he did not speak.
After regaining his senses, Xuanyuan Han asked again, "Where are we now?"
"Your Highness...we...have already left the city." Recalling everything that had happened in recent days, Cheng Liang seemed to still be in a daze, and stammered as he helped her up, still feeling extremely frightened.
"What? We've already left the city?" Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanhan sat up in surprise and hurriedly lifted the carriage curtain to peer out at the vast, now obviously deserted landscape.
Then, after a moment's thought, she suddenly turned around and stared into Cheng Liang's eyes, asking him with a questioning look, "What... what's going on? How did we get out of the city?"
Clearly feeling guilty, Cheng Liang's eyes were darting around. After a moment's thought, he finally answered honestly, "I tried every possible method in the prison, but I couldn't contact Young Master Lu. So, Princess Yongning used His Highness's token to send someone to contact him, asking Young Master Lu to wait at the city gate tonight to meet His Highness. After that, it was all... all Princess Yongning. Fearing things might get complicated, she arranged for someone to take us out of prison, and we left the city overnight without any problems."
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanhan erupted in fury, exclaiming, "Outrageous! How could you allow her to do such a dangerous thing?"
Thinking back to the night of the Lantern Festival, he remained silent the entire time, all to make Yi Shangyun believe that the gunpowder was planted by his men. She should hate him, but why is she saving him now, and giving him the best things in a woman's life?
Then, she suddenly realized that someone must have told her the truth, and she stared at Cheng Liang's face with unwavering conviction, demanding, "You...did you tell her those things...?"
Seeing that he could no longer hide it from his master, Cheng Liang seemed extremely annoyed and said nervously and apologetically, "Your Highness, I was just worried about you and didn't want the princess to misunderstand you, so I told her the truth about the whole thing. But I didn't expect that Princess Yongning would do such a thing."
Cheng Liang's voice trailed off, and after a moment's thought, a sliver of hope lingered in his heart. Wanting to reassure Xuan Yuanhan, he said, "Actually, Your Highness needn't worry too much. Miss Yi is now the most beloved princess of the King of Dongning. Presumably, even for the sake of her late Empress, the King of Dongning won't make things difficult for the princess or do anything to her!"
Xuanyuan Han was filled with regret at this moment. Ever since he couldn't help himself in the prison and truly possessed each other, he had wanted to say something to her.
But after she personally served him a cup of tea, he fell into a drowsy state.
Now that I think about it carefully, that cup of tea must have been prepared by her long ago.
At that moment, Xuan Yuanhan seemed to finally understand everything, but his mind was also in complete chaos, and he felt a splitting headache. He slapped his head hard, trying to clear his head, and angrily scolded Cheng Liang: "What kind of work is this? Who told you to tell her those things? Do you know how dangerous her situation is now, all alone in the deep palace?"
Cheng Liang was a rough man and was still unaware that Yi Shangyun had become his master's true woman. So he looked at Xuan Yuanhan's face with a blank expression, as if he knew nothing at all.
Xuan Yuanhan said in a deep voice, "Now that our identities have been exposed, our relationship with Dongning Kingdom has been completely escalated. The Crown Prince of Nan'an has taken the opportunity to ally with Mei Zhixuan and is forcing Yun'er to marry him every day while he is in the Dongning Palace. Moreover, Yun'er has already... she is already mine."
"She is already mine!" Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang looked at him in astonishment and exclaimed, "What? Miss Yi, she is already His Highness's..."
Even Lu Tianlin, who was riding in the same carriage at the moment, suddenly widened his eyes and stared at his face.
Upon realizing this, Xuan Yuanhan suddenly fell silent, as if he had suddenly understood what Yi Shangyun had said to him in prison, and it echoed in his ears once again: "Since Your Highness is determined not to take Yun'er away, then whatever Yun'er does next is none of Your Highness's business."
He thought to himself, "Yun'er is deeply devoted to me, and now she has given herself to me. This means she would never agree to this marriage alliance with Nan'an. But now, everyone in Dongning knows about her marriage to the Crown Prince of Nan'an. In this way..."
Seemingly unable to bear even thinking about her upcoming situation, Xuan Yuanhan suddenly became terrified, his eyes widening as he said, "In the palace, besides Mei Zhixuan, there's also the Empress of Dongning, who has always been eyeing her covetously. Yun'er, she definitely won't let this marriage become a reality, so, could it be that she intends to..."
At this thought, Xuan Yuanhan grew increasingly frightened. Tomorrow was the day he was supposed to be beheaded and displayed to the public. As the night grew darker outside, Xuan Yuanhan suddenly cried out in alarm, "Oh no! Yun'er is in danger! Turn back immediately! Quickly!"
Upon hearing the sound, everyone hurriedly turned back and spurred their horses onward, galloping back the way they had come.
It was the dead of night.
In the tranquil Qingxin Hall, where everything was quiet, wisps of incense smoke rose and drifted freely...
Suddenly, a soft voice, as if in a dream, came from the bed: "You are...you are the Empress, the legitimate Empress, you are my legitimate Empress!"
In his dream, he was surrounded by a magical scene of hundreds of birds paying homage to the phoenix and colorful auspicious clouds, as if it were a palace in the heavens.
Amidst the swirling smoke and accompanied by a voice, a woman in a purple gauze dress, with a graceful figure, slowly appeared. She approached him with a smile, curtsied, and softly inquired, "Your Majesty, it's been a long time. How have you been?"
The King of Dongning stepped forward, reached out and helped her up. He then carefully examined the woman and was overjoyed. He exclaimed excitedly, "It really is you! You really are my Empress! You've finally returned! Do you know how much I've missed you all these years?"
The woman said apologetically, "I'm sorry! As your wife, I have failed to live up to Your Majesty's deep affection!"
Upon hearing this, perhaps because he heard those words, the lingering resentment that had been buried deep in his heart for many years finally found some relief. The eyes of the King of Dongning suddenly became moist, and he picked up his sleeve and gently wiped them away.
Suddenly, a smile appeared on his face again, and he said, "By the way, Empress, I have good news for you. I have finally found our lost treasure. Our princess looks exactly like you now, as if she were carved from the same mold. Are you happy?"
The woman did not rush to answer his question, but instead asked him with a slight smile, "Is His Majesty happy?"
Without a second thought, the King of Dongning blurted out, "Happy, of course I'm happy! Your Majesty, you don't know how happy I've ever been! In all these years, I never even dreamed that Your Majesty would leave me with such a wonderful gift!"
As he spoke, as if remembering something, the smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a hesitant, sorrowful expression as he said, "But...but..."
He then looked at the woman's face again. The woman maintained a slight smile throughout. At this moment, she seemed to have guessed his thoughts and continued, "But Your Majesty is currently facing an intractable problem, isn't that right?"
The King of Dongning nodded, then sighed deeply and continued slowly, “Empress, our princess has grown up. During her time in Western Qin, she met and fell in love with someone she shouldn’t have. In truth, if that person hadn’t been a general of an enemy state, but merely an ordinary citizen of Dongning, I would have certainly granted their wish. But that person…”
Seeing his dejected and troubled expression, the woman reached out and took the arm of the King of Dongning, walking slowly forward with him while comforting him, saying, "There is nothing inherently wrong in the world; it is all the foolish who trouble themselves. Since you are in such a difficult situation, Your Majesty, why don't you follow your heart?"
Upon hearing this, the King of Dongning suddenly slowed his pace and said, "Follow your heart? The Queen means..."
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