When the King of Huainan died, a heavy stone was thrown into the already turbid pond water.
Ye An was the emperor. When a king who was not very favored in his fiefdom passed away, he did not need to express condolences in person. There were ministers specifically responsible for this matter, and all he had to do was give the order.
The family members of the Huainan Palace have been dwindling ever since the Princess of Huainan was executed and the King of Huainan was rejected by the late emperor. In the past two years, the King of Huainan has had no close concubines, and his two previous sons also died one after another. The huge palace has no successor, and the branch of the King of Huainan has completely disappeared from people's sight along with the death of the King of Huainan.
Perhaps he should be relieved that the person who hated him was dead, but Ye An couldn't muster up the spirit. The Queen Mother insisted that the Prince of Huainan had framed him. As a dead person, he naturally didn't have to be manipulated by the royal family, nor did he have to stay in his fiefdom all the time and accept the supervision of the chief historian. Which one is more terrifying, a king who lives in the public eye but can do nothing, or a poisonous snake that is completely in darkness, not knowing where it is or what it wants to do?
The Queen Mother's taboo against the King of Huainan is deeply rooted in her bones. Although Ye An thinks that the Queen Mother is too extreme, it is still necessary to be on guard. Xuande Hall and Changle Palace are already the top priorities, and Ye An has added Zhaoyang Palace and Ruixuexuan.
The tasks he ordered the secret guards to do also gradually produced results at this time.
The secret guards were responsible for capturing Cui family's helpers and spies in the palace. They had already arrested several people. The person who passed on the news that the emperor was leaving the palace was a fellow villager of Xiao Fang, a trusted eunuch of Concubine Wen. This man worked as a guard near Ruixuexuan and often talked to Xiao Fang. Xiao Fang was a cautious person and had never revealed the secret between Wen Ziran and Ye An, but the guard saw a clue from the snack boxes that were sent to Ruixuexuan from the imperial kitchen.
The emperor has developed a special liking for dim sum since he lost his memory. However, when he turned over Concubine Wen's sign, he only ate dim sum on a small half of the days. Why is that?
These people were shrewd people. They kept a close eye on Ruixuexuan several times, especially on the Mid-Autumn Night. Concubine Qiao and others broke into Ruixuexuan to pay a visit to the emperor, but the emperor delayed for several hours before coming out to meet them. The emperor did not have any snacks that day, and after entering Ruixuexuan, he never appeared again. They suspected that the emperor was not in the palace at all. The people who were staring at the back door of Ruixuexuan discovered that the emperor had changed his clothes and was escorted over the high palace wall by secret guards.
The news that the emperor had left the palace spread. When the secret guards caught the imperial guards, several of the people involved in the case simultaneously bit the poison packets hidden in their teeth. These people were determined to die, and the clues that were hard to find were suddenly cut off.
Another piece of news was that the secret guards were responsible for tracking down the whereabouts of the group that kidnapped Ye An. Now that it was clear that they were descendants of the Cui family, the secret guards found it much easier to investigate. Not only did they find out where these people had stayed (although the places had long been deserted and were of no use to them), they also checked all the surviving members of the Cui family, and recorded them all, regardless of gender or age.
After reading it, Ye An made a surprising discovery.
“It’s him…”
Ye An fell into the chair. He had never thought that among the people who were so close to him, there was also a descendant of the Cui family.
If the other party had ulterior motives, he would have lost his life long ago. How could he still sit on the dragon throne and read secret reports?
He could order all the secret guards and imperial guards to capture this person, but after weighing the pros and cons, he decided to meet with the other party first.
Ye An returned to Huanhua Hall, where he first met this person. After careful consideration, he blew the jade whistle.
A dark figure appeared and knelt down, and Ye An put away the smile that was always on his lips.
"An Yi, can you tell me who you are?"
An Yi raised his dark eyes and said, "My Lord, since I came back, I have been waiting for you to ask this question."
"My original surname was Cui, my given name was Jing, and I am the son of Empress Gongsu's younger brother. When the late emperor ordered the Cui family to be executed, it was the master who sent someone to save my life and ordered me to change my name and join the secret guards."
Ye An was stunned. It was actually his original self. It was his original self who saved Cui Jing who was about to be beheaded.
Why did the original body do this? Taking in people from the Cui family was an extremely dangerous thing for the original body at that time. If he was discovered, he would probably lose the emperor's favor like the King of Huainan.
Ye An said: "I... have forgotten what my relationship with you was in the past."
An Yi said, "When the master was a prince, I met this subordinate a few times. After being rescued by the master, there is no Cui Jing in the world anymore. There is only An Yi who is loyal to the master. If the master wants me to live, I will live. If the master wants me to die, I will immediately cut off my own meridians."
As An Yi spoke, he had already placed his palm on his chest to show his determination. As long as Ye An nodded, he would die.
"An Yi!" Ye An was anxious: "I don't want to kill you! Put your hand down!"
An Yi obeyed and lowered his hands respectfully.
Ye An asked again: "When you were seriously injured, you were rescued by a family. Which family was it?"
"this……"
An Yi hesitated, which was rare, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Ye An said: "An Yi, the Cui family attacked me before, please forgive me for having to be cautious."
An Yi lowered his eyes and said, "I understand. The one who saved me was... Young Master Yong Chang from Prime Minister Yuan's residence."
Ye An: “…”
Ye An immediately understood An Yi's difficulties. The Cui family and the Yuan family had a deep blood feud. As a member of the Cui family, An Yi was hunted by the Cui family, but was saved by Yong Chang.
I think An Yi has already defected to him and is not tolerated by the Cui family. With Yong Chang in the middle, what he said is probably true.
Ye An said: "An Yi, I will send someone to verify what you said."
An nodded and took the initiative to ask: "Do you want me to leave my master?"
Ye An said: "That's not necessary. I still want to believe you."
Moreover, why did the original body keep Cui Jing by his side as a secret guard? Ye An always felt that it was not as simple as just protecting Cui Jing. The original body could have sent Cui Jing away far away, but that was not the case.
Could it be that in the fight for the throne back then, the original body also had his own plans, and it was not completely unrelated as the Queen Mother said?
Ye An thought about it for a while and his temples began to ache slightly. He didn't know what was wrong with him recently. He felt a little sleepy and easily tired.
After sending An Yi away, Ye An felt a little sleepy again. Mu Ci was afraid that the Cui family would take action against Ye An, so he stayed with him closely except when he went to court these days. When he learned that he was in Huanhua Hall, he rushed over immediately.
"Brother Aci!"
Ye An happily called people over. The moment Mu Ci stepped into Huanhua Hall, all the curtains covered with poems suddenly fluttered violently. An unexpected pain crept into his heart. Ye An's lips turned pale, he covered his chest tightly, his eyes went dark, and he fell down.
"Xiao An!!"
Mu Ci and the nearby eunuchs ran over. Mu Ci didn't care about anything and picked up Ye An and ran to Xuande Hall. At the same time, he ordered the eunuchs to summon the imperial physician to Xuande Hall.
Xuande Hall is much closer to the Imperial Medical Bureau, while Huanhua Hall is the opposite. Mu Ci wants Ye An to receive treatment as soon as possible. As soon as he left Huanhua Hall, Ye An woke up. The pain in his chest was gone, but his whole body felt lazy. Because he was in Mu Ci's arms, he closed his eyes with peace of mind again.
In the dim light, he returned to Huanhua Hall. This time, there seemed to be someone already in the hall. One of them looked like him from a distance, but the other one was hard to see. The two of them were laughing and having a great time, and they were even writing on the curtain together.
The curtain was still plain, but soon it was covered with poems, looking like what Ye An had seen before.
The wind blew, the curtains fluttered, and the books rustled.
Ye An heard a voice exactly the same as his own and said with a smile: When thinking of a gentleman, he is as gentle as jade. Qing Huai, this poem really suits you...
He realized that he was dreaming. He actually dreamed of the days when Su Qinghuai and his original self were together in Huanhua Hall. Huanhua Hall seemed to be their study room. It’s a pity that he could never see clearly what Su Qinghuai looked like.
The old doctor with white beard rushed to Xuande Hall and took the pulse of the emperor who was lying on the dragon bed with his eyes closed. He concluded that the emperor had fallen asleep.
Mu Ci: “…”
Mu Ci said: "He has been sleepy these days, and just now he complained of pain in his chest."
Sleepiness? The old doctor's eyes lit up, and he took Mu Ci's pulse for a long time. He asked him some very private questions, and Mu Ci answered them one by one.
The old doctor said, "Looking at the symptoms, maybe she is pregnant, but it's still early. We can be more confident if we check again in ten days. As for the pain in the chest, I really can't figure out the reason."
Mu Ci was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Thank you very much. If there is anything I need to pay attention to, please let the imperial physician know as well."
The emperor seemed to be pregnant, which was a great thing. The old doctor smiled and twirled his beard, and said a lot of things in one breath. Mu Ci was afraid of missing something, so he ordered someone to bring paper and pen to write it down, and then checked it with the doctor one by one.
Ye An was still very young, and most families would wait until the pregnancy was stable for three months before announcing the good news. Therefore, Mu Ci did not send anyone to inform the empress dowager directly. On the other hand, the hidden danger of the Cui family was still there. If they discovered that the emperor was pregnant at this time, it would be bad for the emperor and the child when he was weak. Mu Ci also wanted to see what Ye An meant.
He sat beside Ye An, quietly waiting for Ye An to wake up, his gentle eyes occasionally falling on the young man who had unconsciously come up to hug his arms again.
Ye An slept until dusk, then he slowly woke up. When he opened his eyes, he saw the person who had been guarding him for several hours.
"Brother Aci..."
Ye An rubbed his eyes, feeling a little embarrassed. Not only did his face have wrinkles from sleeping, but he also held on to Mu Ci's arm tightly.
"Xiao An, does your heart still hurt?"
Mu Ci helped him up, and because he was afraid that he had no strength left after sleeping for too long, he stuffed some cushions for him.
"…It doesn't hurt anymore, don't worry, Brother Aci."
Ye An had always thought that the sudden heartache was related to his original body, and the dream just now further confirmed this.
It was not because he mentioned or thought about Su Qinghuai, but when he came into contact with the feelings between his original body and Su Qinghuai, his heart felt uncomfortable.
It turns out that Huanhua Hall was where the original body and Su Qinghuai often stayed. The words on the curtain were written by Su Qinghuai, and the poem on the last page of the travel notes was mentioned by the original body. When the heartache began, Mu Ci happened to come to Huanhua Hall to pick him up, but it would be fine as soon as he and Mu Ci left. The original body seemed to be protesting in this way against Ye An and Mu Ci "occupying" Huanhua Hall that belonged to the original body and Su Qinghuai.
Ye An already understood a little. But he couldn't say it directly to Mu Ci, so he could only hint at it: "Brother Aci, I feel like my heart hurts whenever I think about the past."
Mu Ci helped him sit down and asked with concern: "But did you remember anything?"
"No."
Ye An smiled and buried his head in Mu Ci's arms, smelling Mu Ci's scent. As long as he stayed by Mu Ci's side, he was satisfied.
Ye An said: "I only thought of my brother Aci."
He really liked Mu Ci's care and wanted to rely on Mu Ci every time. Whenever he did this, Mu Ci would always laugh at him for being too clingy.
This time Mu Ci stopped smiling. He touched the top of his head and said gently, "Xiao An, can you feel anything? The imperial physician said that you are very likely pregnant and it will be confirmed in ten days."
Although the imperial physician's words were very strict, the fact that he was willing to reveal this showed that he was quite confident.
Ye An seemed to be surrounded by surprise for a moment, and looked at his flat belly in surprise.
If she is pregnant, it means she is pregnant. He is looking forward to it so much. Is there already a little life in it?
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Thank you to the little angels who cast their votes for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angel who cast [mine]: When you smile, you look like a younger brother;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:
5 bottles of Red Spider Lily and Slurp Slurp;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
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