The Long Night (12)
Chapter 12
Yongshou Palace.
As Li Qi pushed the door open, she was tripped by something hard. She looked down and saw the floor littered with broken porcelain pieces, memorials, and flower branches that had fallen out of pots. The room was in a mess.
Emperor Liang sat on the footstool, his back against the edge of the dragon bed, his head drooping, looking as wilted as a cabbage hit by frost.
"Your Majesty, what happened to you?" Li Qi quickly put on a mask specially designed for facing Emperor Liang and hurried forward in surprise. "Why did you fall all over the floor? Who made you unhappy?"
She then sat down beside Emperor Liang and took his hand. "Look at how cold your hands are! The earth dragons don't burn them. What will you do if your precious body is frozen?"
The hall was very cold. Whenever she spoke, circles of white mist came out and dispersed.
As he spoke, Li Qi beckoned Li Ke to come in and light the ground dragon.
Li Ke pushed the door open with two young palace maids. He ordered the two maids to clean up the messy and dirty floor, while he went to light the floor heating.
After a while, the hall became warmer and Li Qi felt that Emperor Liang's hands were gradually getting warmer.
But Emperor Liang still didn't look at her, his head was still hanging, and he didn't say anything.
Li Qi didn't show it on her face, but deep down she was annoyed by his behavior, which was like a child throwing a tantrum. She caught a cold, her body felt weak, her limbs felt limp, her head was buzzing, and even her throat was aching, yet she had to patiently coax this big kid.
She forced herself to smile, half-hugging Emperor Liang with her other hand, and spoke in a soft and measured voice: "Your Majesty, you can tell me anything that's on your mind. Have you forgotten? I am your little red flower."
Emperor Liang moved when he heard the voice, and took Li Qi's hand in his palm and rubbed it, looking at Li Qi lovingly, but he seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Seeing him like this, Li Qi's disgust grew deeper and deeper. She was very familiar with this look of his; whenever he wanted to "borrow" money from her, he would always be in such a difficult position.
If he had known the difficulty, why would he have done it in the first place? As early as when he ascended the throne, the national treasury was not rich, but it was more than enough to support the entire Daliang.
But he was stubborn in wanting to fight, and the battle between Yunzhou and Southern Yan was so devastating that not only did the national treasury be emptied, but Yunzhou was also lost.
Eight years later, he still did not repent, did not participate in state affairs, and allowed the court corrupt officials to eat up the national treasury. He was reduced to the point of having to borrow money from Li Qi.
Li Qi blinked her beautiful peach blossom eyes, pretending not to know, and asked innocently, "What happened? Your Majesty won't tell me, and I'm very worried."
She knew that it was not easy to ask for a loan. The awkwardness, embarrassment and awkwardness were like the hot air in the hall, penetrating every pore, invading people with its heat and making them sweat profusely.
Seeing Emperor Liang looking away in embarrassment, not daring to meet her eyes, he waited until all the maids cleaning the floor had been pushed out before he stammered, "I thought you were going to enter the palace, and wanted to build a private chamber just for you. But Zhang Zhouzhu wouldn't allow it, and neither did the other ministers. I couldn't mobilize the treasury."
Li Qi nodded seriously: "And then?"
"And then? Zhang Zhouzhu wants me to open the national treasury and take out half to distribute to the people, saying that we need to be considerate of the people because of the heavy snow and ice disaster this year." Emperor Liang suddenly turned around and looked at Li Qi angrily, complaining, "You know, I only have so much. If I give away half, what will I have left?"
Li Qi pondered for a moment, intentionally encouraging him to feel that his idea was correct.
She put her hands on her hips, frowned and pouted, pretending to be angry: "How could Lord Zhang treat His Majesty like this? The national treasury is none of Your Majesty's business. Why should you take it out of the national treasury? Everything in the treasury belongs to Your Majesty alone!"
"That's right! I knew you would understand me! Now in the whole of Kyoto, you are the only one who understands me!"
Emperor Liang hugged Li Qi excitedly and looked at her eagerly. "So, I want to borrow some silver from you to give Zhang Zhouzhu some money to distribute to the people. I'll find a chance to secretly open the treasury and take the money to build a palace for you."
Li Qi smiled beautifully, "Very good, Your Majesty is wise. I will return to the palace to fetch the silver for you."
As she spoke, she suppressed her nausea and helped Emperor Liang lie back on the dragon bed to rest. She covered him with a blanket and said, "Your Majesty, please do not get angry, or you will be hurt. If these things you dropped hurt you, I am worried about what I will do. The dragon bed is already burning, so you should rest first. Tomorrow morning, I will bring the silver to the palace."
Emperor Liang lay in the bright yellow bed curtains, his face radiant. The embarrassment he had just felt about borrowing money was completely gone. He smiled and said that he would let Li Ke send her off.
Li Qi nodded in thanks, lowered the bed curtain for him, and left Yongshou Hall.
As soon as she walked out of Yongshou Hall, the smile on her face disappeared completely.
She clenched her fists and walked down the stairs. The snow beneath her feet was dented and made a rustling sound.
The familiar footsteps of Li Ke were heard behind her, and then the wind and snow above her head were blocked. Li Ke held an umbrella for her as usual.
She kicked the thick snow vigorously to vent her anger. The snow powder flew high, splashed on her red skirt, and quickly melted away. She muttered, "Daliang is in ruins, and he still wants to build a palace for a woman."
Li Ke said, "If Your Majesty were a wise ruler, I'm afraid the county lady's efforts wouldn't be so successful."
He was right. If Emperor Liang's court had not been a waste of resources, she wouldn't be where she is today.
"Li Qi." A cool and low voice came from above his head.
Li Qi came to her senses and looked up. Feng Siji was standing in front of her holding an oil-paper umbrella. The edge of the umbrella covered the upper half of his face, and the ribs of the umbrella cast a shadow on his straight nose, making his face hidden in the darkness look mysterious.
He said without any emotion: "Wait for me to come back together, I have something to tell you."
He walked around her, and when they passed each other, their umbrellas accidentally touched each other, and instantly countless snow powder fell off.
Li Qi followed him with her eyes, watching his resolute figure like a cold pine tree gradually disappear into the distance, wondering why he came to the palace to see Emperor Liang so late at night.
She quickly remembered something. He had said before that he would present the truth of the case to His Majesty today.
And she is the murderer of the case. Li Qi clenched her sleeves, so she was waiting for him to ask her to go back together. Was it to give him a chance to catch her?
"Let's go!" She gave the order in a firm voice and quickly left the palace with Li Ke.
-
As soon as Li Qi returned to the county lady's mansion, he took Ye Lan straight to the gold and silver house.
Her room contained all the money she had accumulated over the years, which was several times more than the national treasury.
Some of it was collected from the governor of Qianzhou, and some from Zhang Zhouzhu and Emperor Liang. Her original intention in collecting the silver was to use it as military funds for the future recovery of Yunzhou.
I didn't expect that it could be used to support the imperial court.
Li Qi ordered the servants to bring five mahogany boxes, and together with Ye Lan, they filled them with gold and silver. Then, he took out the red flower seal from his waist and handed it to Ye Lan. "Take my seal and go find Li Ke. Tell him to get someone from Ping'an Village to deliver these to the palace tomorrow morning."
"Yes." Ye Lan took it and put it away, lowering his voice and saying, "Last night, when the county lady was away, Concubine Li sent a letter. But Feng's men suddenly showed up and said they wanted to take Shengxiang and me to the Feng Mansion. I was afraid of being discovered, so I hid the letter on my body and left. But when I wanted to find it and give it to you later, the letter was lost..."
If someone found the letter, all their efforts over the past few years would be in vain. Li Qi's heart was alarmed. She controlled her temper and didn't blame her. She grabbed her elbow and asked anxiously, "Do you know where you lost it?"
"At the Feng Mansion. I remember it very clearly. When Shengxiang and I arrived there, the county lady had already gone to the palace with Li Ke. Feng, the case officer, told us to come back after dinner. While we were having dinner, I secretly confirmed that the letter was still there, but it disappeared as soon as I left. I made an excuse to go back and look for it, but I couldn't find it."
Fortunately, it was lost at Feng Siji's residence. Feng Siji's place is so small, and since Ye Lan couldn't find it, it must have been picked up by someone else. Besides Ye Shu, there was no one else at his residence, so the letter most likely fell into his hands.
As long as it was in his hands, she would have plenty of ways to get it back.
Wouldn't he and He Mu disappear forever tomorrow? Li Qi's rising worry receded, and she let out a deep breath, "It's okay. You take the red flower seal and go first. Li Ke should be on duty right now. The two of you should leave early. Ping'an Village is a long way away, so be careful."
This silver would never be distributed to the people as she wished, once it was handed over to Emperor Liang. Li Qi had more important things to do. She wanted to make full use of the silver and help the people survive this cold winter snow disaster.
-
The next day, the sky was unusually clear and the snowstorm that had been raging for a long time finally stopped. The white road was covered with dense footprints.
Li Qi, wearing a nightgown and a black veil that revealed only her eyes, crouched on the high wall of Qingqi Temple, sheltered by a towering tree. Beside her lay Shengxiang, who was dressed in the same attire as her.
The New Year is approaching, and more people in Kyoto are willing to spend more money to buy incense. At this time of year every year, the incense at Qingqi Temple will be more prosperous than before.
It was only early in the morning, but Qingqi Temple was already bustling with people. The sounds of cursing, burning incense to pray to the King of Hell, and children playing and fighting among the crowd mixed together in a chaotic mess, making her ears ache slightly.
After hiding on the wall for a long time, Li Qi's arms and waist were sore and painful, but she did not dare to slack off. She was fully focused and her sharp eyes shuttled back and forth in the crowd, trying to find He Mu.
Although He Mu claimed to be ill and stayed at home, she would come here every morning to burn incense and pray for Li Qi to die.
"County Lady, I saw her." Shengxiang, holding a dagger, suddenly said.
Li Qi looked in the direction Shengxiang pointed, and sure enough, he saw He Mu in plain clothes standing under the statue of the King of Hell, holding incense in his hand and worshiping devoutly.
Perhaps because she had built Qingqi Temple and she came every day, she seemed not only familiar with the others but had even developed a tacit understanding. When she worshipped there, others kept just the right distance, neither too close nor too far, leaving her completely empty so they could clearly see her every move.
Suddenly, a snow-blue figure walked out from the crowd that was originally maintaining a tacit understanding.
Feng Siji stood beside He Mu. He was wearing the clothes made by Li Qi, and on his chest was a red plum blossom that she had dyed with her blood.
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