Chapter 128 If you choose, I will kill you and I won’t kill her.
A woman with simple clothes and gentle temperament squeezed her way out of the encirclement of the imperial guards and broke into the palace.
She ran straight to King Jin, snatched the sword from his hand and threw it to the ground, looking at him with a sad and painful expression.
The King of Jin closed his eyes and sighed, "Didn't Madam agree to return to Chen Commandery?"
Behind her, another graceful woman, her belly protruding, slowly entered the hall, supported by a strong woman. The guards stepped aside and saluted as they saw her. "Greetings, Her Royal Highness the Princess."
Princess Xuande said in a clear voice: "Since she is willing to ask me for help, I have shown my mercy and brought her here."
Prince Jin frowned. "Why are you joining in the fun? Doctor Zhang is dead, isn't he?"
The princess smiled silently, thinking to herself, she had to witness this excitement. If she could see Xie Huanzhi, desperate, and Cheng Danyin weeping, she would crawl into the palace even if she was about to give birth.
Madam Xie Cheng Danyin stood between Prince Jin and Prime Minister Xie and refused to give in.
After a moment's silence, she suddenly turned and knelt before Emperor Fengqi, pleading, "Your Majesty, please, for the sake of our past friendship, allow me to speak to him for the last few words."
Emperor Feng Qi smiled and said, "You could clearly use our past friendship to gain my leniency, but you're wasting it on someone like this?"
Cheng Danyin kowtowed and said, "Yes."
Emperor Fengqi sighed.
Thinking back to thirty-five or six years ago, when Emperor Fengqi first formed an alliance with Xie Huanzhi, he was still an unfavored prince. That year, plague ravaged the capital, and medicine was as expensive as gold. It was Cheng Danyin who shared many of the precious herbs from her dowry with him, keeping him and his wife safe. No matter how his relationship with Xie Huanzhi fluctuated, he remained forever grateful for Cheng Danyin's kindness.
Thinking about the past, Emperor Fengqi waved his hand sadly: "I agree, you can go."
Cheng Danyin took Xie Xiang to the side hall to talk. She took a pot of wine from the eldest princess's attendant. The pot was made of colored glass and sparkled even in the dim side hall, making people curious about what kind of wine was inside.
But there was only one wine cup, so Cheng Danyin picked up the pot, filled it up, and placed it in front of the two of them.
Xie Huanzhi held her hand, leaning on her shoulder as if he were a little tired, but suddenly he smiled: "Did you hear just now? That bastard said he is not my flesh and blood. Our blood is simply not compatible."
"Dan Niang, if that were true, I would feel less guilty towards you."
Cheng Danyin said: "But you shouldn't curse him so viciously. You don't know what he has suffered. He is... he is..."
After wanting to say something several times but stopping herself, she finally couldn't bear to tell the cruel truth.
Besides, what good would it do to tell her? Her husband was so indifferent to kinship, having sacrificed Erlang before, so would he have any more sympathy for Sanlang?
Xie Huanzhi said to her softly, "My heart is also suffering."
Cheng Danyin said, "It won't be bitter any more soon."
She held up the glass wine cup and said, "This wine is called Zui Changsheng. It is a very mild poison. It won't hurt after drinking it. My husband, you... drink it."
Xie Huanzhi looked surprised and stared at her hand. "Madam, what on earth have you come for? Zi Wang's army is just outside Yunjing. I'm not at the end of my rope yet. If you can delay me for just one hour, just one hour..."
Cheng Danyin's tears rolled down: "Please... let him go..."
Xie Huanzhi remained silent.
Cheng Danyin's hand trembled slightly as she held the wine cup. "A son killing his father is against natural ethics," she said. "Whether it's Sanlang or the Prince of Jin, I simply can't bear to see them go down this path. If you insist on dragging them down with you to hell, I'm willing to drink this cup of wine for you and then reunite with you in hell."
She pushed the wine glass towards her, and just when it was about to touch her lips, Xie Huanzhi grabbed her wrist tightly.
He stared into her tearful eyes and said in a cold voice, "Do you really have to do this?"
Cheng Danyin nodded: "It has to be this way."
The couple remained silent for a long time.
Cheng Danyin is a gentle and easy-going person. They have been married for decades, and Xie Huanzhi rarely sees her so stubborn.
The last time was when she insisted on marrying him despite her father and brother's dissuasion.
"Never mind. It's done."
Finally, Xie Huanzhi smiled bitterly and snatched the wine glass from her hand.
He said, "It's rare that you ask something of me, and it's rare that I have the opportunity to fulfill your wish."
As soon as he finished speaking, he covered his face with his sleeves and drank the wine in the cup. Then he overturned the glass wine cup and the wine pot to the ground, watching the orange-gold wine seep into the gaps between the gorgeous floor tiles.
His shoulders suddenly dropped, as if he was deflated, but also as if he was relieved. He leaned into Cheng Danyin's arms again and hugged her tightly.
"Danniang?"
"I'm here."
Sleepiness surged over him like a tide. He wanted to look at her again, but his eyelids felt too heavy to lift, and his eyes were twitching like rolling balls.
"I'm so tired," he said.
Cheng Danyin stroked his face and said softly, "Then take a good rest."
His breathing gradually became shallower, but his grip on her hand grew tighter, his joints locking her wrist tightly like shackles.
Finally, he asked vaguely: "If there is an afterlife, would you be willing to..."
Are you willing to marry me again?
But he didn't ask this question in the end. A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face: "Forget it, I won't hurt you anymore."
The tightly clenched hands slowly loosened, and at the moment they slid down, a drop of clear tear fell on his closed eyelashes and rolled down along the crimson corners of his eyes.
Back then, he was also riding a horse and leaning against the sloping bridge, with red sleeves waving all over the building. In the rain of apricot blossoms, he happened to run into the wife of the Cheng family who was walking out of the herbal medicine shop.
The past came flooding back, and tears came like a torrential rain. Cheng Danyin leaned on him and finally burst into tears.
The crying sound penetrated the side hall and reached the ears of the people waiting in the main hall. Along with the wailing, there were intermittent replies that sounded like whispers on the wind.
"I... am willing... to give this body again..."
…
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At the same time, outside Xuanwu Gate of Yunjing City.
Xie Xuanlan was standing on his horse, wearing a red robe and black armor. In front of him was the closed city gate, and behind him was the aggressive cavalry.
Between him and the cavalry was a young and beautiful girl who was tied up with ropes and had a seal on her mouth. She couldn't stop crying as she watched the enemy.
After waiting for nearly an hour, there was finally movement on the silent and tense Yunjing city wall. Several soldiers who looked like officers surrounded a female general in military uniform and appeared between the battlements on the city wall.
Xie Xuanlan looked up at the female general and said, "Your Highness has told me to wait. Whether to fight or surrender, haven't you reached a conclusion yet?"
Princess Chun'an scolded him harshly, "Xie Xuanlan! You are so ambitious and wicked that you dare abandon our border defenses to steal our kingdom! I have unjustly recommended you to our father as commander, and the officials at court have unjustly pledged their honors to guarantee you. You are so disloyal, unrighteous, and shameless. Don't you feel guilty or ashamed?"
"Guilty? Ashamed?"
Xie Xuanlan rode his horse twice, pointed the whip at Cong Ying, and said loudly:
"Your Highness publicly recommended me, demonstrating your open-mindedness in recommending people without fear of enemies, yet secretly requested an imperial decree to kill me, and even sent this villain to Xizhou to incite rebellion against me. Is this what your Highness calls benevolence and righteousness?"
Princess Chun'an said, "You are lying! When the imperial edict was drafted, all the most trusted officials in the court were present, including your father, Xie Huanzhi. We all watched as the edict was written, sealed, and inscribed with gold, silk, and red ink, appointing you as the commander of Xizhou. How could it be false? How could I have ever asked for an imperial edict to execute you?"
Xie Xuanlan sneered, took out the imperial edict and threw it to his attendant: "Read it to your lord."
The personal attendant read out the imperial edict aloud, and the content of it was indeed to replace Xie Xuanlan with Xuan Zhiyuan, and immediately send him to Yunjing for punishment.
Princess Chun'an was stunned. She was completely unaware of this!
"If your Lord is innocent," Xie Xuanlan said, "then this envoy had ill intentions and tampered with the imperial edict, right?"
Princess Chun'an's gaze fell on Congying. From a distance of an arrow, she could only see her lonely figure but not the expression on her face.
Jiang Congying tampered with the imperial edict...how is that possible?
Princess Chun'an leaned forward slightly and said, "Are you crazy? Others may harm you, but she will never let you down!"
Xie Xuanlan said, "Don't think I'm ignorant. As the Princess of Jin, and serving your lord, Envoy Jiang Qin has only your lord and the court in her heart, and has never had any feelings for me."
His voice was loud and clear, so that everyone standing on the tower could hear it clearly:
"Ever since Jiang Qin entered the Xizhou military camp, she has been forcing me to fight aggressively and exploit my military merits, while at the same time being wary of me like a thief, attacking my close followers while I'm away fighting and promoting her so-called loyal officials."
"She writes to the King of Jin every two or three days, reporting every detail of the military affairs in the camp. Even the spies sent to the enemy camp are not as suspicious as she is!"
"This imperial envoy has ruined our army's morale and upset our hearts, and has even accused me of treason. I'm left with no other options but to arrest her and come to Yunjing to personally interrogate her. Was she acting on orders, or out of personal vendetta?"
Princess Chun'an was very confused.
She had heard Prince Consort Xuan mention that Xuan Zhiyuan had sent a letter from Xizhou, suggesting that the imperial military inspector she recommended was in collusion with Xie Xuanlan, and seemed to be helping Xie Xuanlan to gain power and influence.
How come Xie Xuanlan's words today sounded completely different? Judging from the anger in his voice, it didn't seem fake.
After a moment's thought, Princess Chun'an shouted at him, "Since you've already laid siege to the city, you're bound to rebel. Why bother with these trivial matters and embarrass a weak scholar like her? Release her immediately. If you want to fight, I'll fight you to the death!"
Xie Xuanlan said, "You two always misunderstand me like this. I never intended to rebel."
Everyone on the city wall was amused when they heard this. If he brought tens of thousands of elite cavalry to lock up Yunjing, if it wasn't for rebellion, could he be here to attend the temple fair?
Princess Chun'an: "What a light-hearted remark! Do you know that your father, Xie Huanzhi, has already gathered the rebellious ministers to support you? I'm afraid he has already stormed the palace and demanded the imperial edict of succession."
Xie Xuanlan said, "That depends on whether I agree or not."
"From what you said, there is still room for refusal?"
"That's right," Xie Xuanlan said, "I'm not here to rebel. I'm not interested in being the emperor or the crown prince. I just can't swallow this humiliation and am coming to the capital in person to seek justice for myself."
He paused and asked again, "Please give me a clear answer, Your Majesty. Was Envoy Jiang Qin's actions in Xizhou due to her personal grudge or was it at Your Majesty's behest?"
"If she has a personal grudge, I will behead her on the spot, immediately withdraw my troops back to Xizhou, focus on the enemy, and wait for the court to send a new and impartial military supervisor."
Princess Chun'an asked, "What if she doesn't have a personal grudge?"
Xie Xuanlan said, "Then every wrong has its perpetrator. Please come out and exchange her for me. If I kill you, I won't kill her."
"Whose fault is it? Who should live? How about this, Your Highness? Have you thought it through?"
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