While he was daydreaming, Ling Xicheng was brought back to Jingxin Palace by his biological father Xue Wu.
The Jingxin Hall is located at the southernmost point of the Weiyang Palace. In the previous dynasty, this area was originally the territory of the Cold Palace. After the establishment of the Red Killing Empire, although the Jingxin Hall was incorporated into the Weiyang Palace, one of the six palaces, it remained dilapidated and looked like a cold palace due to being uninhabited for a long time.
In front of the house stood a tall, ancient tree. It was clearly spring, but the leaves on its branches had already withered and yellowed. A cold breeze rustled the branches, and the yellowed leaves fluttered off the branches like butterflies, tumbling and scattering along with the dust on the ground.
Xue Wu looked at the bleak and desolate scene in the courtyard and sneered, "I don't know how many years this old tree has been dead. It seems to match us quite well, both of us are equally lifeless."
Ling Xicheng looked around but didn't see a single palace servant. She asked in confusion, "Father, why is there no one here? Where are the attendants who used to serve you?"
Xue Wu did not answer Ling Xicheng's question. As if he could not hear Ling Xicheng's words, he pushed open the dilapidated door and walked straight in.
In the past, he was confined to the Yuehua Palace in the Eastern Palace. Later, His Majesty ascended the throne and conferred titles on the six palaces. Every old man in the Eastern Palace received a new position, but he remained a constant attendant, arbitrarily assigned to the most remote palace in the harem, as if he had been completely forgotten.
Originally, Xue Wu had his attendants around him. While he was in favor, he never mistreat any of them, but how did they treat him? After realizing there was no hope of regaining his favor, they began to taunt him. Finally, one by one, they left him, completely disregarding any bond between master and servant. Xue Wu's eyes grew cold as he thought of this, and his already haggard face became even more sinister and contorted.
Ling Xicheng trotted over to catch up with her father. As soon as she looked up, she saw Xue Wu's face, filled with resentment. She took a few steps back, frightened by his terrifying expression. Then, forcing herself to calm herself, she put on a submissive smile. "Father, why don't we go ask Father Mei again? He's a good man, he'll definitely help us. As long as he asks, the Imperial Household Department will definitely send servants to Jingxin Palace."
Xue Wu couldn't help but roll his eyes, staring at Ling Xicheng with a mocking expression, as if this wasn't his daughter, but an enemy. "Mei Guiyi does have a kind heart, but he's just a human being, not a real Bodhisattva. How could he possibly care about so many trivial matters? There are so many unfair things happening in the harem. Let me tell you, every day, many servants kneel in front of the Anxiang Palace, begging the kind-hearted Mei Guiyi to make decisions for them. Even if Mei Guiyi didn't sleep at night and worked day and night, he couldn't handle all the lawsuits. If you want to ask him for help, you have to meet him first. Do you think the Anxiang Palace is so easy to enter?"
Ling Xicheng seemed to be frightened by Xue Wu's weird tone. Her eyes turned red and tears began to well up in them. She said timidly, "I'm sorry, second father, I didn't know this. It's all because of my ignorance. I shouldn't say such fantastical things. Please don't be angry with me, okay?"
Xue Wu's life these past few years had been truly hard. Once a good master, now disdained by the emperor, he was forced to work in the fields daily to support himself. Under the dual torture of material and mental suffering, he began to become somewhat insane, and his temper worsened. He had originally wanted to vent all his anger on his newly adopted daughter, but the moment he saw Ling Xicheng's tears, all his gloomy and irritable nature vanished.
The fatherly love buried deep in Xue Wu's heart was activated by Ling Xicheng's tears. He squatted down and took his little daughter into his arms. Big tears fell from the corners of his eyes and he cried sadly, "My poor daughter, my poor daughter. It's all your fault. Your mother sent you to a farm outside to be raised since you were a child. You must have suffered a lot outside all these years. It's all my fault. You have suffered so much, and it's all my fault. If I hadn't taken those harmful drugs back then, how could you and I, father and daughter, end up in this situation now? It's your father who has let you down, Cheng'er."
Xue Wu held Ling Xicheng in his arms. His arms were very strong, and Ling Xicheng, who was held in his arms, was almost strangled to the point of suffocation.
Due to lack of oxygen, Ling Xicheng's face turned red, and she shouted loudly, "Let go! Second father, you are strangling me to death, please let go first, I can't breathe."
Ling Xicheng pushed Xue Wu, trying to break free from her father's embrace. But Xue Wu seemed to be completely deaf to her words, and the arm around her back tightened even more.
Tears flowed from Xue Wu's eyes like they were free. His originally low and hoarse voice gradually became sharp, "It's all Fu Yijing's fault. It's all that Fu Yijing's fault. If he hadn't given me those harmful drugs, my precious daughter wouldn't have grown up to be a deformed baby. I wouldn't have been disliked by Her Highness the Princess and ordered to be under house arrest forever. My wonderful life is completely ruined, all ruined by that bitch! I will never let him go in this life. If I die one day, I will definitely drag him to hell. Hahahahahaha!"
Just when Ling Xicheng thought she was going to be strangled to death, Xue Wu suddenly let her go.
Xue Wu's eyes were clearly filled with tears, but the corners of his mouth curved upwards. He was crying and laughing at the same time, his expression extremely terrifying. "I am the most beautiful woman in Zhongdu. That's the most beautiful woman. Do you know the value of these four words? When Her Highness the Princess saw me for the first time, she simply couldn't take her eyes off me. On the way back from Zhongdu to the Imperial Capital, we were together day and night in the carriage. She loves me, she likes me the most."
Xue Wu pointed behind him and laughed heartily, saying, "Her Highness the Princess appointed me as a noble attendant and personally wrote the plaque for the Moonlight Palace, naming the palace where I live. Cheng'er, look, look! This palace we live in is so beautiful! Do you see the desk and drawing table over there? All the furniture here is made of agarwood. Every inch of it is worth its weight in gold and priceless!"
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