Chapter 680 The Truth Behind Twelve Maidens' Rebirth!
"Luo'er, are you hiding something from me?"
Li Qingluo looked up and gazed at Duan Rongshi with a deep, melancholy look.
"It's not that I intentionally wanted to hide it from you."
"But some things can only remain secrets..."
To everyone's surprise, Duan Rongshi said, "That Miss Pan, is that Pei Twelve?"
Li Qingluo was shocked by what Duan Rongshi suddenly said.
"How...how did you know? Ah Shi, are you just guessing, or do you know something?"
Duan Rongshi turned and walked to the window, looking at the distant green mountains outside, no longer hiding the matter.
"Luo'er, do you still remember when your soul was lost and returned to your previous life?"
“I also went with you to your past life, and even possessed my own past life.”
"Although I quickly prevented many things from happening, I still couldn't stop the Twelfth Sister from dying in the Pei family in another way."
"Then, in his grief and madness, Qingyangzi noticed my abnormality and interrogated me, asking if there really was a soul in this world."
“I gave him an ambiguous answer: there are indeed many things in this world that would baffle people.”
"He didn't even have time to find out who I was before he used Taoist methods to forcibly reverse Pei Shierniang's fate."
"He said that if souls truly exist in the world, he would be willing to exchange for forty years of his lifespan to allow the Pei family girl to be reborn."
Li Qingluo pressed on anxiously, "And then? Was anything different in the previous life? Did Twelve Lady also possess Pan Li's body?"
Duan Rongshi shook his head.
"Nothing ever happened."
“The Pan family girl in the previous life did not die at the palace banquet, and her temperament is very different from that of the Pan family girl in this life.”
Li Qingluo: "So it's because the two young ladies died at almost the same time, and Pan Li's temperament is different now than in her previous life, that you guessed the truth?"
Duan Rongshi pinched Li Qingluo's soft face: "I clearly remember that the Pan family girl used to not get along with you and Nanping, but ever since what happened in the Pei family dungeon, you and she have become very close."
“You are not the kind of person who can open up to just anyone, so I began to suspect the identity of this Miss Pan.”
"After experiencing those bizarre and fantastical events, you too were reborn. Perhaps... the twelfth daughter of the Pei family was also reborn?"
Mentioning the past, Li Qingluo felt a sharp pang in her heart.
She held Duan Rongshi's hand tightly.
She also realized that Qingyangzi's obsession with Twelve Maidens might not be as simple as she had thought.
"Ah Shi, do you think it's possible that Qingyangzi from the previous life allowed Twelve Sister to be reborn in this life?"
However, the answer to this question is now impossible to find.
However, although Li Qingluo could not tell Qingyangzi the truth, Duan Rongshi could give him a few pointers.
At least they still cared about Qingyangzi and wanted him to live a good life.
Although it is unknown what Duan Rongshi said to Qingyangzi, he seemed much clearer than before after that.
Li Qingluo had no choice but to bid farewell to her grandmother again, repeatedly urging her to take care of her health, before reluctantly returning to the palace with Duan Rongshi.
Several years later, Qingyangzi passed away suddenly in a dream.
At that time, he was only thirty years old.
Upon hearing the tragic news, Immortal Yunhe rushed back to Qingsong Temple to oversee the matter. After seeing Qingyangzi's remains, he sighed with deep sorrow, "When I was summoned back to Jinling by His Majesty, you begged me to help you the moment you saw me."
"You don't ask to go back to any place, nor do you want to find anyone to come back to. You just want to use your own Taoist magic and lifespan to exchange for the Pei family's twelfth daughter to have a good next life."
"May I find a husband in my next life who will be devoted to me and never betray me again."
“I made all sorts of excuses and refused to agree.”
"You kneel in the rain and beg me a thousand times over. Beg me until your forehead is raw!"
“But I foresaw back then that the Twelfth Lady already possessed other merits, and that someone from past and present lives had already prayed for good fortune for her.”
"You still don't care, saying that only if you do your best for her again can you have no regrets."
"Your heart is broken."
"I must mend it for you."
"So, back then, I really couldn't bear it... and ended up helping you anyway."
"So you really didn't even live past thirty!"
"Qingyangzi, did I help you or harm you back then?"
For some reason, the news eventually reached the ears of Madam Pan, the wife of the Minister.
I heard she was seriously ill.
After that, I made a trip to Qingsong Temple, a place I hadn't visited in over a decade.
She stayed at Qingsong Temple for forty days.
Forty days have passed since I left the mortal world.
Recite Taoist scriptures for forty days.
It wasn't until Minister Shen, truly concerned for her, came to fetch her with his two children that she was pulled back into the mortal world...
Later, Li Qingluo was worried about Pan Li, so she went to the Shen family to visit her.
Pan Li said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured."
"I will live a very long time."
"On his behalf, and also on my own."
Pan Li did indeed live a very long time, longer than anyone else.
He passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of ninety-seven.
In the third year of the Longshi era, Empress Li gave birth to a son.
The First Emperor granted a general amnesty.
Taxes and levies will be reduced or exempted for the people once again.
They also vigorously constructed water conservancy projects and promoted agriculture and sericulture.
The Empress herself took charge of reforming the finances and tax system.
At the same time, Emperor Qin Shi Huang established numerous official schools, vigorously promoted the imperial examination system, appointed people based on merit, and encouraged children from poor families to study or learn martial arts and join the army, actively striving to become pillars of the country.
The empress then implemented a policy of appeasement, including trade with foreign countries and proposals for investiture, which led to close and friendly exchanges between many countries in the Western Regions and the Central Plains.
As for border defense, in addition to establishing important border towns, Emperor Qin Shi Huang also reformed the military system.
Because of the constant meddling by the emperor and empress, the national treasury, which was barely filled every year, would become empty before the middle of the year.
Although the empress would bring in mountains of gold and silver to replenish the national treasury, the country's finances were in deficit for the first few years.
Furthermore, because both the emperor and empress were too busy, whenever court officials brought up the matter of filling the harem, Emperor Long Shi would simply reply, "The Great Yue is not yet prosperous; how can I have the leisure or energy to think about taking concubines and selecting consorts?"
"You all have too much free time, which is why you come up with such things that harm the country and waste the people's resources!"
Emperor Qin Shi Huang immediately assigned a mountain of official duties to the ministers who had offered their advice.
If anyone displeased him, the First Emperor would find an opportunity to banish them far away, never to return to the capital.
Later, many ministers jointly submitted a memorial requesting that Emperor Qin Shi Huang select women from the families of officials of the third rank and above who were of his liking to enter the palace as concubines.
In this way, the emperor could share the burden of the empress's worries about the inner palace, and also continue the emperor's lineage and the imperial bloodline, thus ensuring that the bloodline of the First Emperor of the Dragon Dynasty would continue uninterrupted.
The First Emperor was naturally furious.
"My love for the Empress is deep and unwavering. She has borne me children, lived frugally, assisted the inner court, and managed the nation's finances. She has already given everything for me, for the nation, and for the entire Great Yue."
"And you incompetent officials have actually betrayed the Empress to this extent!"
"Throughout history, many emperors have ruined their countries through bloodless battles within the harem, caused by infighting among relatives of the empress and the struggle for succession."
"The Great Chu and the Great Liang are both cautionary tales."
"In my opinion, having many offspring is not necessarily a good thing!"
"I will never repeat the same mistakes because of your coercion. Anyone who tries to use my harem to disrupt the country will be executed!"
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