◇ Chapter 84 (84) Why does he love you? (Part 2)
Lianzhi raised her eyes and looked at Bai Kang.
Bai Kang was obviously about to answer him, but this little eunuch suddenly came out to butt in. But since the imperial concubine had invited him, he had to go. Lianzhi looked at Bai Kang quietly and mouthed, "Wait until I get back."
The young eunuch took him to the sedan chair and followed him outside, flattering him intermittently, saying that the imperial concubine heard about what happened in the Golden Throne Hall today and admired Prince Zhulan's wisdom very much. She was very curious about the affairs of the Helan tribe and wanted to invite him to talk for a while.
Lianzhi leaned against the window frame, occasionally humming in response. He knew the roads to the palace like the back of his hand. For some reason, the sedan chair took a long time to travel, but it still hadn't reached the harem. Even if outsiders were not allowed into the harem, taking him to the Imperial Garden would still be too long.
He lifted the curtain and looked out, only to see the young eunuch bowing in confusion. The sedan chair was indeed parked on a small path in the palace, next to the Ciming Hall. There was nothing unusual around. The palace maids and eunuchs passing by did not know who was on the sedan chair, so they hurried over to bow and leave immediately.
Perhaps he was being overly suspicious? Lianzhi lowered the curtain and felt strangely sleepy, unable to even open his eyelids. As he drifted off, he heard someone caressing his face.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dark place. The mattress beneath him was soft and warm. He had actually fallen asleep and had been moved to the palace. Lianzhi sat up suddenly and took in the surroundings.
No, even if he was sleepy and easily fell asleep, it was impossible for him to fall asleep in the palace at such a dangerous time and not realize anything!
He pulled aside the golden-red curtains before him. The palace was dark, and the windows were covered with dark paper. A figure in bright red palace attire sat beside him, with their back to him. The palace maid noticed him standing up and whispered, "Your Majesty, he's awake."
Concubine Lian turned around and ordered, "Help Prince Zhulan change his clothes. I will go and draft the imperial edict first."
The voice was soft and hoarse, and it was hard to tell whether it was male or female, but if you listened carefully, you could still hear that it was a sound that was produced through great suppression. His original voice should have been very rich, which didn't quite match the vague, beautiful face in my memory.
The bed curtains were completely drawn aside, and Lianzhi could finally see clearly that six palace maids were standing nearby, holding brocade boxes and trays filled with gorgeous clothes. They all surrounded him and tried to drag him to the dressing table. Lianzhi pushed them away and said coldly, "What are you going to do?"
"Prince Zhulan... His Majesty will be here soon, please get ready quickly." The senior palace maid's voice sounded a little panicked.
Your Majesty? This was clearly Concubine Lian's bedroom. What did it have to do with him? Seeing the maids trying to put the fiery red palace dress on him, even though Lianzhi didn't want to attack the women, she couldn't bear it anymore and flipped the brocade box in their hands to the ground.
The senior palace maid cried out in surprise. Lianzhi ran to the palace gate, quickly pulled out a dagger from her sleeve, and attacked the copper lock on the door. Before he could swing his knife, another hand reached out. Concubine Lian, standing behind him, knocked the knife out of Lianzhi's hand with a palm.
There was a dull pain in her wrist, and this time Lianzhi saw Concubine Lian's hand clearly.
Those were a pair of hands belonging to a martial artist.
"Continue to change Prince Zhulan's clothes." Concubine Lian said lightly.
Since she had discovered that Concubine Lian was hiding her true identity, and there were many palace maids and eunuchs in the palace, Lianzhi did not act rashly and asked calmly, "What are you going to do?"
"Prince Zhulan, do you still remember why you came to Daning?" Concubine Lian answered him. "As the head of the harem, I remind you on behalf of Your Majesty that you must not forget your responsibility to forge friendly relations between the two countries."
During the past three days, Lianzhi was busy secretly investigating the poisoning of the Queen Mother with Da Xi Mi. After a moment of recollection, she remembered her excuse of entering the Daning Kingdom for a "marriage alliance".
Lianzhi looked surprised and looked at Concubine Lian with a strange look: "Are you talking about a marriage alliance?"
"His Majesty wishes to confer you a title." Concubine Lian's gentle voice inexplicably became sharper. "You have been appointed Concubine since you entered the palace. His Majesty values you so highly and is willing to give you such a high position. Prince Zhulan should also convey to the Queen of the Helan tribe not to forget the alliance between the two nations."
Although Concubine Lian tried her best to hide it, Lianzhi could still hear a hint of jealousy in her tone. He couldn't help but laugh, his eyes drifting. "If that's the case, why didn't Emperor Daning tell me personally? Since he hasn't announced it to the world, and my Helan tribesmen are not here, it shows that you are not sincere enough."
Concubine Lian frowned: "I already said that His Majesty will be here soon. You..."
Before he finished speaking, Lianzhi leaped up, and the dagger in his hand drew a silver arc from bottom to top. A cold light flashed, and the cold dagger was pressed against Concubine Lian's throat, almost drawing a bloody mark.
The surrounding palace servants were about to rush over, and Lianzhi growled, "Everyone, retreat!"
The surrounding palace servants were merely ordinary people without martial arts skills, so they didn't dare to rush forward. Surprisingly, the calmest person present was Imperial Concubine Lian. She wasn't surprised at being held hostage, and even seemed to understand, as if she had expected this. He murmured, "It really does look like her."
Lianzhi glanced at him.
"You hate me, don't you? I guess you don't want me to enter the palace." Lianzhi leaned close to Concubine Lian's ear and whispered a deal with him, "In that case, how about we make a deal? You let me go, and I swear to be my witness. I won't let anyone suspect you. How about that? If you are worried about the alliance between Daning and the Helan tribe, this matter has nothing to do with you, a concubine in the deep palace. I promise not to implicate you."
Lianzhi finished speaking and waited for his answer. But Concubine Lian just sneered and repeated the words: "It really looks like it."
Her tone was filled with deep resentment and relief. Lianzhi gripped his neck, the dagger blade almost piercing the cloth around his neck, and two pairs of somewhat similar eyes stared at each other.
Lianzhi suddenly felt familiar.
Sure enough, who was Concubine Lian saying he looked like? It was impossible to say they looked alike. Lianzhi was very sure that his personality was different from Concubine Lian's. If it were him, he would definitely agree to let her go. Thinking back to Concubine Lian's attitude towards him in the past...
He was talking about "Chen Fenglian"?
Those four words still lingered in his ears, and the feminine voice seemed a little familiar. Lianzhi suddenly ripped the veil from the other person's face. Sadly, it was a completely unfamiliar face. Aside from the eyes, which looked incredibly similar to his, the lower half of his face was also as if they were cast from the same mold as his former self. If the lotus seeds and lotus leaves were seven points like him, then Jiang Yong, disguised as him, was nine points like him.
After all, Jiang Yong in the past and Ge Ri Er in the present both had completely different faces. Lian Zhi didn't believe there could be two people in the world who looked exactly the same, unless...
His dagger moved down a few inches, about to move to the collarbone, when Concubine Lian suddenly raised her hand and hit him hard on the waist with her elbow. Lianzhi was not prepared for his sudden attack and let go of his hand, but Concubine Lian took advantage of the situation and hit him hard on the waist several times.
Imperial Concubine Lian turned around, seized the opportunity to grab Lianzhi's hands, and shoved her hard to the ground. Just as she was about to call the palace maids over to hold Lianzhi down and continue dressing her, the sound of bones cracking was heard, and Imperial Concubine Lian's smug smile froze on her face.
Lianzhi actually broke free from his hands and slammed her forehead against Concubine Lian's head. She endured the pain and held her back again, raised the dagger, and the cold light penetrated into her flesh.
The other person groaned in pain. Lianzhi pulled out the blade, slowly raised it, and gently poked it at the collarbone.
Concubine Lian's expression changed drastically.
A thin layer of flesh-colored skin was lifted from her neck, clearly indicating that Concubine Lian had undergone a disguise. He leaned close to Concubine Lian's ear and whispered, "Let everyone leave. I have something to tell you—don't worry, I won't kill you."
Concubine Lian gritted her teeth and dismissed the palace maids. Only after the last maid had reached the side hall did Lianzhi make her move, lifting the patch of skin. The mask fell off, revealing Concubine Lian's true face.
The eyes still resembled his, but the lower half of her face was ordinary, not even slightly similar to his. If thrown into a crowd, it would be difficult to find. In the dim light, the outlines of the two faces were blurred, but it was clear that there was no similarity at all. Lianzhi raised an eyebrow and smiled as if suddenly enlightened: "No wonder you hate me. I look so ordinary, so it's understandable that you are jealous of me."
Concubine Lian was furious but dared not speak. Lianzhi patted Concubine Lian's face with the back of her knife, and the cold touch made her shiver. Lianzhi smiled and said, "If I were you, I would agree to that request. What's the point of having another competitor? Since you sent people to kill me twice before, and now I'm in your hands, instead of killing me, you want to facilitate my marriage with Emperor Daning. You shouldn't make such a mistake."
Seeing the truth revealed, Concubine Lian was surprised, but she quickly calmed down and said in a tone somewhat similar to Lianzhi's, "What do you know? His Majesty likes you. As his confidant and the one who loves him the most, of course I have to help him. So I don't hate you, on the contrary, I need you. What reason do I have to kill you? Prince Zhulan is afraid that he has been a villain in vain."
She was quite articulate, apparently having imitated him for years and finally learned some of his true skills. He had thought they were all wooden men who only knew how to kill and were loyal, but he had never imagined they could harbor such selfish motives. Lianzhi rubbed the blade against Concubine Lian's face again, questioning her word by word, "You love him? Then do you know why he doesn't love you? Because you're too stupid, An Shiyi. You're only fit to be a mindless secret guard."
As the words fell and the name was called out, Concubine Lian, or An Shiyi, finally showed fear and deep surprise on her face.
An Shiyi. Three years had passed since no one had called him that. Even Emperor Jianguang always addressed him as Lian'er. Three years had passed, and An Shiyi had long forgotten his former codename.
The other party, why did the other party know about his past, why did he know his code name! An Shiyi was not stupid, he quickly figured it out, with such a similar face, such a similar personality, it was self-evident who the person in front of him was.
"You, Your Majesty, no, that's not right..." An Shiyi pulled his hair and muttered, "You're back? It's really you..."
Lianzhi coldly observed the man's frantic behavior, holding the dagger to her chest. That face overlapped with that of the late emperor, and just as An Shiyi was about to shout, the palace door suddenly flew open.
Then, a slap landed on An Eleven's face.
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