Chapter 777 Xiao Haitang, look at me more
The Yongqin Marquis and his wife used Madam Xu and her two children as tools to compete with each other.
No one cared about the life and death of the orphan and widow of the Xu family. Their lives were like ants to the two men. They kept them for fun when they found them interesting, and discarded them at will when they found them boring.
Miss Xu, who was only fourteen years old at the time, almost collapsed after learning the truth.
She killed that man, poisoned the marquis' wife, drowned the marquis's legitimate son, and finally burned down the marquis's mansion, almost causing the entire mansion to be buried with her parents and relatives.
Afterwards, Miss Xu took advantage of the chaos to escape. When the people in the Marquis' Mansion put out the fire and found the dead Marquis Yongqin, they discovered that he had died in a very tragic way.
Not only was the thing under his body chopped off, but his heart was also cut open alive. His blood was all over the ground, and a long trail of blood was left behind him due to his struggle.
Perhaps because his death was so tragic, he did not even close his eyes until he died. Later, after the coroner performed an autopsy, it was discovered that Marquis Yongqin had bled to death.
When the incident happened, the whole city was in an uproar.
The survivors in the Yongqin Marquis's Mansion were clamoring to catch the culprit and cut him into pieces. There were also rumors that Miss Xu had "killed her father and relatives" and they wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible.
When the daughter of the Xu family was being hunted by the government, she had already made up her mind to die. Not wanting to fall into the hands of the Marquis's Mansion, she wanted to end her life. However, before she could do so, she ran into He Zhao, the son of the eldest wife of the He family, and Xie Chen'an, the eldest grandson of the emperor.
He Zhao took pity on Miss Xu's misery and rescued her. At that time, the emperor's eldest grandson Xie Chen'an, who was only seven years old, was also full of justice and passion, and ran around to stand up for the injured girl.
The two searched for evidence to clear her name, and changed the sentence of beheading for murdering the lord to exile, and sent someone to escort her all the way to the place of exile.
Three years after this incident, accidents happened to the He family and the Eastern Palace one after another. When Xie Chen'an fled for several years and changed his name to Xiao Yan and returned to the palace, the girl from the Xu family, who he had met a few times before, also returned to the capital and became Concubine Zhao, who was quite favored by Emperor An.
When the two met for the first time, Xiao Yan recognized her at a glance as the girl from the Xu family who was covered in blood and full of hatred many years ago.
He observed for a long time and realized that Concubine Zhao was secretly contacting the prince's old relatives. He privately investigated the past and made sure that she was harmless before contacting her as an old relative of the He family.
She helped him gain a foothold in the palace, allowing Xiao Yan to gain power by appearing before the deposed emperor.
Xiao Yan helped her surpass other concubines in the palace and step by step ascend to the position of noble concubine, becoming the queen in the palace and the most favored person by the deposed emperor after the four concubines.
The two of them never had any contact in public, but in fact, Concubine Zhao was the most hidden spy buried by Xiao Yan in the palace. It was for this reason that when the deposed emperor and the deposed empress dowager set up a trap that day, she repeatedly came to protect Tang Ning and did not hesitate to put herself in danger.
As for the Min Heng that Xiao Yan mentioned, she was the person that Concubine Zhao had fallen in love with when she was still in the boudoir and had not yet been involved in a murder.
The two admired each other and later got engaged, but when they learned that her biological mother was having a mistress, the Min family immediately canceled the marriage.
Concubine Zhao's life was already difficult, and the broken engagement made it even worse. What made her even more miserable was that from the time her mother got into trouble, to the time she later murdered someone and fled, and finally to her exile, Min Heng never showed up.
These things became the thorns in her heart that could not be removed.
Xiao Yan took off all the ornaments on Tang Ning's head, and whispered as her black hair fell down:
"Your Majesty always thought that Min Heng was heartless and disloyal, and that the Min family took advantage of her misfortune. Little did she know that the only reason my cousin and I were able to meet her was because Min Heng risked her life to stop a car and beg for mercy."
At that time, everyone treated her like a piece of trash, accusing her of being cruel and vicious for killing her father and relatives. The second son of the Yongqin Marquisate even joined forces with the clan to put pressure on her for the sake of title and reputation, and wanted to execute her by slicing her to death.
The Yongqin Marquis' Mansion was powerful and had connections with aristocratic families. The Min family avoided it and were unwilling to take risks for her, so they forcibly canceled the engagement and locked Min Heng up, not allowing him to step out of the room.
But Min Heng went against the Min family's wishes, forced his way into the East Palace, and stopped him and his cousin. He was beaten with a stick but begged them to save the girl from the Xu family. He was even willing to guarantee the girl's life with his own life, saying that the Xu family was being persecuted.
After the He family and the Eastern Palace intervened, they saved the girl of the Xu family, but the culprit of the Yongqin Marquis' Mansion was already dead, and the rest were demoted and implicated. The Min family therefore offended the Marquis' Mansion and the aristocratic families.
Min Heng was beaten with a stick by his father until his flesh was covered in blood. He was locked up in the mansion for a whole month and could not get out of bed. He even did not see Concubine Zhao off when she was exiled from the capital.
Xiao Yan said, "Because Noble Concubine Min Heng owed a favor to the He family and was grateful for the favor of the Eastern Palace, she wanted to clear her father and the He family's name when they were in trouble. However, she offended Xie Tianyong and was severely demoted. The entire Min family was exiled from the capital. It wasn't until the Min family returned to the capital a while ago after being cleared that Noble Concubine Min Heng learned the truth of what had happened."
Tang Ning asked, "Did the noble concubine become ill because she knew the truth?"
Xiao Yan hummed, "She'd resented Min Heng for years, but now she realizes she hated the wrong person. Then, by some strange combination of circumstances, she managed to avoid the people Min Heng sent to look for her, and ended up in the palace."
"Min Heng has been single and alone all these years, and she ultimately feels like she owes Min Heng something."
Tang Ning hesitated: "Does the noble concubine still have feelings for Min Heng?"
Xiao Yan shook his head: "I don't know."
Min Heng must have feelings for her, otherwise he would not have remained unmarried for so many years. However, even Xiao Yan couldn't tell whether Concubine Gui still had feelings for Min Heng.
Speaking of love, he promised to let her fake her death and leave the palace to start a new life with Min Heng, or to live the life she wanted, but was rejected by the noble concubine. She would rather stay in Xilin Garden and die of old age than leave.
But if you say that she was ruthless to Min Heng, she fell seriously ill because she knew what happened that year and the depression in her heart made her look even more sad.
Tang Ning frowned slightly when he heard this.
Seeing this, Xiao Yan chuckled and reached out to rub the red mark on her forehead left by the phoenix crown.
"Alright, the noble concubine has her own ideas. No matter what happens between her and Min Heng, it is up to her to decide. No one else can do it for them."
He moved closer as he spoke, his expression focused.
"Xiao Haitang, tonight is our wedding night, so stop thinking about other people."
Tang Ning felt his breath on her face, and when she came to her senses, she saw his eyes were focused and scorching.
She didn't bother to think about Concubine Zhaogui anymore. The drowsiness she had just felt in the middle of her sleep faded away, and her somewhat confused mind instantly became clear.
"Brother..."
The girl's face was slightly flushed and her skin was pink. Tang Ning reached out and pinched the corner of the quilt helplessly.
Xiao Yan chuckled, stood up and sat beside her, then shouted, "Someone come here."
"His Majesty."
The palace maids who had left earlier came in one after another, along with Nanny Xi and Quanfu.
When everyone came in and saw the emperor and empress sitting side by side in the bright red bridal chamber, they seemed not to notice the wedding fan and phoenix crown thrown aside, and just walked to the bed one after another carrying things.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
