Chapter 123 It’s unlike him to dare to lie to her!
Xie Xuanlan could clearly feel that Cong Ying's attitude towards him was different from that towards King Jin.
Perhaps because she felt sorry for Prince Jin's frail and sickly condition, or perhaps because she pitied the difficulty of his coming to this world, after mistaking him for Prince Jin, Cong Ying became more gentle and cautious, always caring about his injuries, and even chatting and joking with him about things from her past life that she dreamed of.
Xie Xuanlan responded to her, but he felt inexplicably irritated.
It was an emotion called jealousy, like a swarm of mosquitoes, flies and ants that kept coming back, gnawing at his internal organs.
He never feared the pain of swords and spears; it was such a hearty pleasure, able to see the wounds and wait for them to heal. But the jealousy and hatred that love breeds is dark and lingering, elusive and inexhaustible. As long as he lives, he will be tortured in this quagmire of despair.
This torture was silent, and he dared not tell her, because he knew in his heart that he had nothing that could compare to Prince Jin.
Prince Jin had a past life that made her pity him, and a present life that understood and cared for her better. But what about Xie Xuanlan? If something hadn't gone wrong with Taoist Taixiao, he shouldn't have existed in this world. He should have been erased and replaced long ago.
He stole her pity, but felt it was not enough, which made her sad and embarrassed.
All three of them were unhappy, so what should he do?
Her heart was pounding with rage, and at night she inevitably lost her composure. Several times she fell asleep in tears, only to wake up gasping for breath, the floating petals and waves turning into gurgling spring water, swaying endlessly in the tent.
The firefly gave me a feeling of being at the end of my rope and clinging to my love.
"But your injury..." Her voice was stagnant, and she asked him carefully, "Your Highness, is there anything on your mind?"
She had heard King Jin mention that the two of them occasionally exchanged souls and bodies, but that was because they were seriously injured or seriously ill, and both of them were mentally and spiritually unstable.
"This reversal lasted so long, Your Highness, what happened to you in Yunjing? Sanlang—"
A heavy thud cut off the conversation.
Xie Xuanlan came over and asked her, "How is Xie San?"
After a moment's pause, Cong Ying said, "I'm worried about him being in Yunjing. If Prime Minister Xie or the princess comes to see Your Highness, I don't know what might go wrong."
Xie Xuanlan chuckled softly, "Are you afraid he'll take the opportunity to betray you and ruin your plans? You don't actually trust him, do you?"
Cong Ying remained noncommittal and sighed, "In the current situation, everyone is pushing him towards rebellion. I'm not sure what he's thinking. If he really wants to... it's understandable."
Xie Xuanlan asked her, "What about you? Do you want him to surrender, or do you want him to rebel?"
Cong Ying's brows furrowed in a deep frown, revealing a look of great embarrassment. After a moment, she said, "If I agree with him, it would be illogical, and if I don't agree, I would feel even more guilty."
Even in front of the Prince of Jin, whom she trusted the most, she could not make a choice calmly.
Xie Xuanlan saw her dilemma.
He knew that if she hadn't cared about his unnecessary life, this shouldn't have been a difficult choice for her. She was the Princess of Jin and the Imperial Military Supervisor. She had come to Xizhou to restore military power to the Imperial Court. If the Prince of Jin ascended the throne, she would be Empress. If the Lord ascended the throne, she would be an Assistant Minister. Both had promising futures. But for him, a man at the end of his rope, she forged an imperial decree, plotting his future, and risking the wrath of the world.
In this way, she had never treated him badly.
The clouds cleared and the rain stopped, but Xie Xuanlan still lingered and kissed her neck. He felt her breathing gradually become steady. She seemed extremely tired and was about to fall asleep in a moment.
Xie Xuanlan refused to let her go to sleep and shook her face: "So, you remember everything from your past life?"
"Well... that's about right." Cong Yingyu moaned and brushed his hand away sleepily.
"Do you remember how you died in your previous life?"
Congying didn't say anything, but her breathing was stagnant.
Xie Xuanlan's palm stopped at her chest. In her previous life, she deceived the noble master in order to save him and was killed by a sword piercing her chest.
"They say every failure makes one wiser. A smart girl like you, in this life, has to fake the emperor's will for a jinx like him..."
"Don't say that about him." Cong Ying frowned, impatient to listen to his lecture, turned around and went to sleep.
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Xie Xuanlan was very good at pretending to be the King of Jin and did not arouse Cong Ying's suspicion. However, there is no wall that is impenetrable. In early March, Cong Ying received a letter from the King of Jin sent from Yunjing.
The letter was delivered by Guard He, and this line had not been touched by Xie Xuanlan, so it was not intercepted by him.
In his letter, the Prince of Jin stated that he had ascertained that when Emperor Fengqi summoned the Imperial Court Secretary to draft the imperial edict to be issued to Xizhou, Princess Chun'an and other high-ranking officials were present. The edict, drafted by the Secretary, appointed Xie Xuanlan as Grand Marshal of the Pacification of Western Province, providing him with sufficient provisions and money to suppress the Western Tartars; it did not require Xie Xuanlan to resign and return to the capital to face charges.
Judging from the clues testified by the spies in the palace, it was speculated that Emperor Fengqi personally drafted the second imperial edict to switch the two. In order to prevent the news from leaking out, he did not tell Princess Chun'an and Xuan Zhiyuan about this.
Seeing this, Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief after feeling anxious for many days.
First, she was grateful that Princess Chun'an hadn't been involved in this matter. As the princess's advisor, she had sworn allegiance to her and didn't want to repeat the mistakes of her previous life and betray her. The princess's ignorance of the emperor's change of decree indicated that she had no intention of killing Xie Xuanlan for the time being, which saved Cong Ying from being caught in the middle and feeling entangled.
Secondly, she felt lucky. Since only Emperor Fengqi knew the true content of the imperial edict, there was no one to testify that she had forged the imperial edict. Emperor Fengqi could only swallow this loss in silence.
But she still had concerns. The emperor was still the emperor after all. He had waited decades for the opportunity to overthrow the Xie family. How could he just let it go after such a setback? He might have other tricks up his sleeve.
She put down the letter and pondered for a moment, when suddenly a light bulb went off in her head and she thought of something more important.
She calculated that it was only ten days since the letter was sent from Yunjing. Ten days ago, Prince Jin was clearly by her side in Xizhou... Wait, is this Sanlang in front of her really Prince Jin?
Thinking of a possibility that was extremely terrifying, Zong Ying suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
Then she laughed out loud in anger, and paced back and forth in the tent anxiously, clutching the letter. She pondered over his words and actions over the past few days, repeatedly trying to get information from her, fearing that he had misunderstood something, and wanted to have a long talk with him tonight.
That night, Xie Xuanlan did not come to look for her. The next day, when she asked Ying about it, she learned that he had taken his troops out again and didn't know when he would be back.
Zhao Mingchuan came to answer, but Cong Ying sneered, "I, the military supervisor, seem like a mere figurehead. Shouldn't I be informed of any military action first?"
Zhao Mingchuan said embarrassedly, "Don't even mention the Imperial Envoy. I only found out about him before he left. He's used to being arbitrary and dictatorial. He'd be in the way if anyone asked him questions."
From Yingxin's perspective, this only means that he doesn't trust you either.
On closer inspection, although Xie Xuanlan commanded the support of hundreds of people in the Xizhou military camp, others believed in him and followed him, but he showed no sign of trusting anyone, nor cultivating his own confidants. This was not a sign of rebellion. What exactly did he want to do?
Taking advantage of Xie Xuanlan's absence, Cong Ying, using her position as military supervisor, made some adjustments within the Xizhou military camp. She promoted Xuan Zhiyuan's direct subordinates, demoted them, and moved them away from positions of command, such as the Thousand Captains and the Thousand Cavalry Captains. She assigned them to manage military discipline or recruit troops, thus dividing them and preventing them from cohesively working together.
Then he selected several small leaders with clean backgrounds, young and promising talents, and who had been supported or saved by Xie Xuanlan, and promoted them to major generals who would actually command the troops.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that she was cultivating confidants for Xie Xuanlan.
Some of Xuan Zhiyuan's men were dissatisfied and gathered to complain about the military supervisor's partiality: "I think Xie used a beauty trap on her. I heard that even the princess in charge of Western Tartar wants to recruit him as a consort. He relies so much on his looks, does he really need to go to the battlefield himself?"
"You can't say that carelessly. After all, she is the Princess of Jin, and this concerns the reputation of the royal family."
"It's not because of her relationship with the King of Jin. I heard that it was your Majesty who recommended her to be the imperial envoy."
"That's even more bizarre. Our Commander Xuan is, after all, the cousin of Prince Consort Xuan. Your Lordship has a grudge against the Xie family. Since the military supervisor was recommended by your Lordship, why would he help the Xie family? Isn't she betraying her Lord?"
"I have already submitted a memorial to the Ministry of War, requesting the court to send a consort—"
Cong Ying was hiding behind the tent, listening intently, when he suddenly heard a "crash" sound. Someone opened the tent and walked in, kicking over the wine table in front of everyone. Then there were several loud whip sounds, and everyone inside exclaimed.
Then he heard Ah He's voice rise: "Before the Marshal left, he issued an order: if anyone bullies my sister, I can whip them! If I hear you say bad things about my sister again, I will whip your mouth to pieces!"
When someone saw that she was a little girl, they naturally refused to accept it and called her a "little bitch". Immediately, she was whipped in the face and covered her face with her hands while screaming.
Ah He took the initiative and whipped them several times. When those people picked up their weapons, Cong Ying showed up and shouted, "Stop making trouble!"
As the military supervisor, she held authority comparable to that of the commander-in-chief. She had detained these men on the pretext of drinking in broad daylight and speaking disrespectfully. About half an hour later, Xuan Zhiyuan heard about this and personally approached her, seeking reconciliation and hoping she would release them.
Cong Ying smiled gently and said, "The Xuan army is indeed worthy of its reputation. Over the past ten years, the commanders have changed twice, but those who are still surnamed Xuan are still surnamed Xuan."
Xuan Zhiyuan knew he had offended her, so he apologized, "These people are foolish. Please forgive their words for their dedication to the country."
"I'm doing this for the good of Commander Xuantong," Cong Ying said. "Does Commander Xuantong also doubt my position?"
Xuan Zhiyuan pretended to be puzzled: "I don't understand what the imperial envoy means."
Cong Ying said, "Your Majesty has given Prince Consort Xuan a secret order, asking him to come to Xizhou secretly to help you and take back the military power from Xie Xuanlan. I already knew this."
Xuan Zhiyuan showed a look of surprise, but quickly restrained himself.
"Since it's a secret decree, before the Prince Consort arrives, the fewer people who know about it, the better. Otherwise, alerting the enemy would cause a huge disaster. These people are making a fuss about this matter in the army. I detained them to prevent the news from leaking out."
Xuan Zhiyuan's expression brightened slightly, and he added, "But the Imperial Envoy's recent actions are bound to cause misunderstanding."
It talks about how she attacked the direct line of the Xuan family and cultivated wings for Xie Xuanlan.
Cong Ying explained, "If Heaven wishes to take something, it first gives it. If Heaven wishes to destroy something, it first drives it mad. If I don't stir up Xie San's rebellious heart, how can I take back the military power when Prince Consort Xuan arrives with the decree from Heaven?"
Xuan Zhiyuan was speechless.
Cong Ying's eloquence was enough to sway even the most seasoned court officials, let alone a warrior like Xuan Zhiyuan. He considered that as the Princess of Jin and the envoy recommended by the noble lord, there was no reason for her to favor Xie Xuanlan. He finally dispelled his suspicions and admitted that the emperor had secretly sent Prince Consort Xuan to Xizhou.
After Xuan Zhiyuan left, the expression on Cong Ying's face turned cold.
She did not receive the exact news that Prince Consort Xuan was coming to Xizhou, and she was deceiving Xuan Zhiyuan.
It turns out that this is true, and this is the emperor's back-up plan.
The next night, just as Cong Ying had fallen asleep, she heard a commotion outside: the clatter of horses' hooves and the sounds of armor, and the light of torches approaching from afar. Her heart instinctively tightened, and she grabbed the dagger from under her pillow. Just as she was about to call Ah He, she heard someone outside shout, "It's General Xie who's back! General Xie has actually captured the Western Tartar princess!"
Cong Ying was stunned for a moment, breathed a sigh of relief, and then slowly put on her clothes and tied her hair.
Although it was the middle of the night, when I walked out of the tent, I saw that the soldiers all had excited expressions on their faces. They were busy taking prisoners, cooking cattle and slaughtering sheep, and were about to hold a celebration banquet.
Cong Ying saw the Western Tatar princess in the center of the camp at a glance.
She was tied up and thrown to the ground. Her heroic and deep eyes were filled with resentment as she stared at the Xizhou soldiers who were chatting and laughing around her.
Someone reached out to touch her face, but quickly retracted their hand when they saw Cong Ying approaching. A few people looked unhappy and stood aside with their hands clasped. "Greetings, Lord Military Supervisor."
Cong Ying took off his cloak and handed it to Ah He, who was following behind him, and said, "You will guard her. If anyone breaks military discipline again, I will strip him naked, lash him with thirty lashes, and then throw him into the snow."
Ah He replied proudly: "Yes!"
Then he asked those people: "Where is Xie Shuai?"
"The Marshal was slightly injured and went to see the military doctor."
Injured again.
Cong Ying went to the military doctor's office to find him. As soon as she lifted the felt curtain, she smelled blood. She saw Xie Xuanlan with his back to her, and his back was wrapped with several bandages.
Seeing Congying's unfriendly expression, he tried to excuse himself, "I've been pampered as the King of Jin for too long, so I'm inevitably unfamiliar with wielding a sword. If I had called General Xie this time, he wouldn't have ended up in such a mess."
"Yeah."
Cong Ying walked up to him, wrung out a handkerchief from the hot water and handed it to him, asking him to wipe the dust off his face.
She looked at Xie Xuanlan and said word by word, "You're wrong. You're not pretending to be like him. He wouldn't risk his life without a word, leaving me worried and anxious. He wouldn't belittle himself and make me feel distressed and worried. He always considers my feelings, Xie Ziwang. In this respect, you're not pretending to be like him at all."
After hearing this, the light in Xie Xuanlan's eyes that appeared when he saw her gradually faded, and the smile on his lips also disappeared.
"So you already knew... You mean, I'm not as good as him?"
He casually put the used handkerchief aside, grabbed Cong Ying's arm and pulled her closer. His voice was dangerous and cold, almost with a gnashing of teeth: "I don't like what you said just now. Take it back and say it to me again."
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The author has something to say: I have an important interview to prepare for recently, and I have to attend a few weddings during the National Day holiday. I will be updating slowly for a while. There are only a few chapters left. I need time to sort out and think carefully about the last part. Including the extra chapters, I hope to finish it in October. So, starting from the time I created the outline, this book has actually taken me a whole year to write. My efficiency is so low... I hate working! [Breaking down crying]
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