Chapter 333: Suicide]
After hearing this, Qin Guihong couldn't accept this fact for a while.
"Qu Wenmin! You're talking nonsense! It was you who clearly killed my grandfather and my father and my eldest brother, and now you're still pretending to be a good person! You're probably trying to excuse yourself because you're about to die!"
Qin Mengyue's face turned pale. She was so shocked by the cruel truth that her hands and feet turned cold and she almost collapsed to the ground!
Qu Wenmin uttered a "hmm" and vomited blood again.
The injury to his heart made him unable to support his body any longer, and he slowly sat on the ground holding Qin Mengyue.
He raised his hand and gently stroked Qin Mengyue's hair. Suddenly, he whispered with infinite tenderness and tenderness: "Miss... Yue'er, I have always wanted to... I want to call you like this in my dreams... I know you definitely don't love me, but... cough cough... All this I did was really for you. I killed the Qin family to protect you. This time I intended to go south to 'clear the court' to vent your anger and kill that dog emperor who betrayed and deceived you! Whether it's the queen or the queen mother that the dog emperor gave you, as long as I lead my troops to capture the capital, you can restore your position as queen, and even... I can accept that man's child and treat it as my own flesh and blood... I am willing to be loyal to them and make them emperor... Even if it's just once, Yue'er, just once, can you tell me once that you have... been attracted to me?"
Qin Mengyue stared at him blankly, her lips trembling, but she didn't say a word for a long time.
Her feelings towards Qu Wenmin were too complicated at this moment. Perhaps the truth was indeed as he said, that the culprit was her husband, the current emperor, and that everything Qu Wenmin did was for her. But... it was also impossible to erase the fact that his father and brother had died at his hands...
For a moment, she was unable to fulfill Qu Wenmin's request no matter what she did.
The hope in Qu Wenmin's eyes eventually turned into despair.
He suddenly pushed Qin Mengyue away and dragged his injured body to climb a few steps towards the cliff.
Qin Mengyue's throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, nearly suffocating her. Frightened and filled with guilt, she crawled towards Qu Wenmin...
Only then did Qu Wenmin turn around, looking up to the sky and laughing loudly, "Hahahaha! How could I, Qu Wenmin, a lifelong hero, suffer humiliation and die under your swords! You must know that today, I, Qu Wenmin, will end my own life..."
As he spoke, he glanced at Qin Mengyue gently, then jumped into the cliff!
Qin Mengyue finally couldn't bear it anymore and fainted...
When she woke up again, Qin Mengyue found herself back in a room, which was one of the rooms in Qu Wenmin's previous base in the valley. Although it was simple, it was fully equipped with all the necessary items.
"Mother! You're finally awake! You scared me to death!" Xiao Yunhao shouted with tears on his face when he saw her wake up.
Chen Fenghe also hurried to the bedside and whispered, "Mom, are you awake? You fainted because you were frightened and overstimulated. I've made some calming soup. You can drink a bowl to calm your mind. There's a lot of game left in the kitchen. I made some pheasant and ginseng soup. After drinking the medicinal soup, you can have some chicken soup to fill your stomach."
The sadness on Qin Mengyue's face did not fade. She touched Xiao Yunhao's head lovingly and asked softly, "Where's Shuo'er?"
"Your Highness is discussing matters outside with my second brother, Luo Yan, Yuan Xu, General Chen, General Li, and others."
Qin Mengyue nodded after hearing this, and after a moment's hesitation, she asked with a look of regret, "What about... Qu Wenmin? Is he... really dead?"
Chen Fenghe nodded, then shook her head and said, "There's a deadly miasma at the bottom of the cliff where he jumped, so we can't send anyone down to look for his body. However... I'm afraid he's in great danger."
Qin Mengyue was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then she asked softly, "Feng He, tell me, what Qu Wenmin said... is it all true? Does the emperor really want to kill the Qin family? Am I... the one who harmed the Qin family? If I had discovered Qu Wenmin's feelings for me earlier, I could have warned my father and brother..."
Chen Fenghe didn't know how to answer for a moment. After thinking for a while, he said honestly:
"Mother, don't overthink it. While it's said that dying men often speak kindly, it's also human nature to embellish their actions and ambitions. His sincerity towards you, mother, is certainly genuine. He said he killed the Qin men to uphold the Qin family's reputation for loyalty and filial piety, and to protect you in the palace. He said he was now plotting a rebellion so that you could become empress again. There's certainly some truth to that. But hasn't he also benefited greatly from it? When he lured the Qin family into his encirclement, didn't he even consider the possibility of using it to rapidly advance his career? When he was plotting a rebellion, did he truly never imagine what it would be like if he ascended the throne?"
It wasn't that Chen Fenghe had to be mean and belittle a dead person.
But that's human nature.
Faced with huge interests and supreme power, who can really be immune to the world and regard everything as dirt?
There are some romantics who claim that they are rebelling for the sake of the person they love, but they are rare.
Qu Wenmin will never be one of them.
Otherwise, when he received the secret order from Emperor Yucheng, he would not have colluded with the Northern Rong and put the Qin family who had helped him to death, but would have tried to save them.
Obviously, there should have been a better solution, such as devising a plan to conceal the truth and have the Qin family fake their deaths and hide away...
As long as he did so, and tried to secretly tell Qin Mengyue about Emperor Yu Cheng's hypocritical face, there would still be some possibility between him and Qin Mengyue.
But his choice was to take revenge on the Qin family and kill all the Qin family members...
After all the men of the Qin family died in the battle, his father-in-law was promoted to the position of right prime minister, and he was also made a king and a marquis along the way, and was highly respected, and all the glory and power were in his pocket.
The benefits he got were not small.
However, his love for Qin Mengyue must be true love.
Even though Qin Mengyue stabbed his heart with a dagger, he was still reluctant to blame her, reluctant to let her blame herself, and even willingly committed suicide to alleviate Qin Mengyue's guilt.
Therefore, Chen Fenghe didn't say anything more, but just tried to comfort Qin Mengyue, saying: "Mom, don't dwell on the past. Things... are all in the past."
Qin Mengyue shook her head and smiled bitterly, "And the Emperor... How could he have the heart to see my father and brother fight so hard on the battlefield, achieving such great success, all for the Xiao family's kingdom? Moreover, after my father and brother died, he still protected me like that. That's why the concubines in the harem don't dare to act so arrogantly anymore."
It was also because of this that when the tragic news came that the Crown Prince was falsely accused of treason and was killed by the Fifth Prince, she foolishly dragged Qin Fenghe to beg Emperor Yu Cheng to clear the Crown Prince's name.
It turned out that he was the one who hated the prince the most and wanted to kill him the most.
"If he dislikes me and the Crown Prince so much, why has he treated me with such respect for so many years..."
Chen Fenghe asked softly, "How long after the Qin family's men died on the battlefield did the prince start leading his troops into battle?"
Qin Mengyue was stunned for a moment, and after reminiscing for a moment, she said, "Shuo'er was fourteen years old at that time. It was in the winter after the tragic news came that my father was conferred the title of Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, that he was ordered to go to war..."
That winter was extremely cold, and the Beirong people did not have enough food reserves to survive the winter, so they went south to plunder.
It was a battle of life and death, so the Beirong people were unprecedentedly brutal and fierce in that battle.
It was during that expedition that Xiao Yunshuo became famous in one battle and his extraordinary talent became known throughout the world.
He used unusual troops and unusual formations, not only did he not give up an inch of land to the Northern Rong soldiers, he even defeated the larger force with a smaller one, marched northward, and recovered a lot of lost territory, forcing the Northern Rong people to retreat back to the north in embarrassment.
Qin Mengyue suddenly understood and looked at Chen Fenghe in astonishment.
At that time, Xiao Yunshuo was only fourteen years old. Emperor Yucheng insisted on ordering him to go to war. Wasn't it because he wanted to use the same method he used on her father and brother to take the life of the crown prince, whom he had always disliked?
She remembered that although the Qin family was conferred the title of Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, they were also badly weakened. It was during the winter when the Crown Prince went on a military expedition that the Concubine Mei and the Concubine Jing in the palace began to disrespect her, jumping around and trying to replace her.
When Emperor Yucheng personally ordered the death of Concubine Mei and banished Concubine Jing to the cold palace to protect her as the empress, it was also the time when Xiao Yunshuo defeated the Northern Rong and returned to the court.
Chen Fenghe's mind flashed with the scene of Xiao Yunshuo, who was only fourteen or fifteen years old at that time, returning from the battlefield, riding on a warhorse and parading through the city with a bleak and cold expression.
This is the original owner's memory.
At that time, the original owner was still in the capital. He secretly ran to the street, stood in the crowd, and watched from afar. He felt that the young general was very handsome and brave.
At this moment, she only felt how lonely and tragic the young prince on the horse six years ago must have been!
Once he lost the support and protection of his grandparents and uncles, he and Qin Mengyue were in a precarious situation.
Qin Mengyue is simple and weak in character. She relied on the Qin family's family background to secure her position as queen in the first half of her life.
Now, the Qin family has fallen, and being provoked by Concubine Mei and Concubine Jing is just the beginning.
Qin Mengyue was not clearly aware of the crisis, but Xiao Yunshuo must have thought of it all.
I'm afraid he had already seen through the fact that Emperor Yucheng was jealous of him and ordered him to go to war in an attempt to have him die on the battlefield.
It’s a pity that Emperor Yu Cheng would never have imagined that Xiao Yunshuo, at such a young age, had such a high military talent.
Otherwise, he would have killed him with poisoned wine instead of sending him to fight.
Unfortunately, by the time he realized he had made a fatal mistake, it was already too late.
Xiao Yunshuo's fame is known to the whole world, and it is no longer possible to kill him at will!
Emperor Yucheng cared most about his reputation as a "wise and benevolent ruler" in his life, and he wanted to be a good emperor who would be remembered forever in history books.
When Xiao Yunshuo returned victorious and the capital was full of dignitaries, he had no choice but to play along and personally deal with Concubine Mei and Concubine Jing to show his respect for the Queen.
Only at this moment did Qin Mengyue finally understand.
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