Former Crown Prince
Xie Sili met Jun Qichen in the fifth year after she came into this world.
At that time, with the resources provided by Xiaoyaozi, she had already developed the black market to a certain scale.
She found Jun Qichen, who was seriously injured, in the river when she was preparing to go to Jinling with Xiaoyaozi.
"Old man, haven't you ever heard the saying 'Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda'?" Ten-year-old Xie Sili kicked the white-bearded old man next to her.
"Go away, go away, if you're so capable, try to save her yourself. I can't save her anyway." Xiaoyaozi waved his hand at her, "Don't waste so many of my precious medicinal herbs."
After three days and three nights of tireless work, Xie Sili finally managed to rescue Jun Qichen.
His life was saved, but he was left with serious aftereffects, namely, a fear of cold and a shortened lifespan.
Jun Qichen, whose health had improved, told Xie Sili a story. The story sounded very long, but it felt very short to Jun Qichen.
His life was so short that he was taken away by his own father after only twenty years, simply because he was made crown prince, and simply because he was too outstanding.
Therefore, even if it is one's own son, one must still kill him.
Xie Sili grew up in the apocalypse, dealing with zombies every day from the moment she opened her eyes, and never experienced any family affection.
But after she came into this world, Xie Ling and his wife treated her very well, her master treated her very well, and the people she found and adopted also regarded her as their salvation.
Even Jun Qichen treated her very well, and at Xie Sili's suggestion, they became sworn siblings.
Jun Qichen has a gentle personality and easily wins the favor of others, but he has never shown his face in public for fear of implicating them.
Later, Jun Qichen married and had children in an orderly manner. The couple lived in harmony and were deeply in love. She even felt inexplicably at ease whenever she saw Jun Qichen's face.
Jun Qichen would always affectionately call her "Ali".
But her life was frozen at the age of twenty-five. He never had the chance to see his unborn child or name him.
Jun Qichen's death was not an accident, but a lingering effect of that incident. However, in order not to worry them, he had been enduring the pain.
Three months after Jun Qichen's death, his wife also passed away during childbirth. Her greatest wish before her death was that they could grow up safely and peacefully.
I don't want them to go back to that place, and I don't want them to get involved in intrigue and backstabbing.
“After my sister-in-law passed away, I raised A-Che and Yan-Yan under my own care, and told everyone that they were my children.” Xie Sili said as she made herself some tea. “My grandparents also liked them very much, and they raised them as their great-grandchildren. I am very grateful to them for raising A-Che and Yan-Yan over the years.”
Xie Sili toyed with the sharp blade in her hand. "Later, when I was sorting through my brother's belongings, I found a list that he left for me." She picked up the fruit in front of her and began to peel it, finally sticking the blade into the fruit.
"When my brother died, he kept telling me not to return to Chang'an and not to avenge him. He said his biggest regret was not being able to protect the Empress. He told me to protect the Feng family well."
Xie Sili leaned back in his chair and put his hand on his forehead. "Then I followed the method my brother gave me and protected the Feng family. At least I made sure that my brother's mother could sit firmly in the position of Empress and that no one could shake her foundation."
"As for what the Empress will do after she knows the truth, that's entirely up to her." Xie Sili, having composed herself, turned her gaze to Jun Qiyu.
“Jun Qiyu, I am willing to support you to ascend the throne because Ache and Yan Yan do not have such thoughts. They only want a free and unrestrained life, and you are the best choice. I believe you will become the most outstanding emperor.”
Jun Qiyu turned his gaze to her and finally laughed. "I will certainly not let you down. So what do you want to do? How do you want to tell the Empress the truth? And will the Empress really believe you?"
"Of course the Empress would, because I later had someone deliver my brother's belongings to her, but I never told her how my brother died." Xie Sili said, picking up the cup in front of him and taking a small sip.
"Ah Li, what do you want to do?"
Hearing Jun Qiyu's voice, Xie Sili toasted Jun Qiyu with tea instead of wine, saying, "I have my own methods. Just follow my instructions."
As she put down her wine glass, she glanced at Jun Qiyu again. "Even without the people left behind by my brother, I can still support you to ascend the throne and become emperor."
After Xie Sili finished speaking, he turned and left.
Watching Xie Sili's departing figure, Jun Qiyu stood up and wanted to call out his name, but the words Si Ze had said before involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
He clenched his hands, which were hanging by his sides, and his eyes flickered with a mixture of emotions.
On his way back to his room, Xie Sili encountered Madam Huang and Xie Siyao. Xie Siyao was to marry the Third Prince after the New Year.
Just as Xie Sili was about to turn and leave after seeing the appearance of the mother and son, he heard Huang's voice.
“Third girl, His Highness the Prince of Yan is a good choice. Since you are already sickly, maybe a marriage to bring good luck can solve the problem.”
Xie Sili stopped and turned to look at her. "This matter is none of your concern, Madam. Your grandparents will take care of it."
She raised an eyebrow at Madam Huang, "Madam, Xie Siyao is about to get married. Are you planning to pray for a good match at Xiangguo Temple? It is said that the marriage divination at Xiangguo Temple is the most effective."
Huang's mind conjured up Xie Sinan's face, and she smiled as she said, "Yes, Yao Yao is going to marry the Third Prince. You'll have to call her Princess Consort when you see her in the future." Her tone was filled with undisguised pride.
Xie Sili smiled instead of getting angry, and simply nodded to Madam Huang, "That is truly Xie Zhun's good fortune, don't you think, Madam?"
Huang was so angry that she couldn't say a word, and could only flick her sleeves and turn to leave.
Huang hadn't gone far when Yingyi appeared in front of her. "Miss, Princess Anning has settled in Xiangguo Temple. I heard she wants to come and retrieve the Buddha statue that was offered to Her Majesty the Empress last year."
Hearing Yingyi's voice, Xie Sili nodded, waved to him, and then disappeared in front of her.
Xie Sili went to the abbot's meditation room to see Abbot Faming. As expected, there was a chessboard in front of him, and his voice could be heard, "Young friend, how about another game?"
Xie Sili smiled and turned his gaze to Jun Qiyu, who was sitting to the side. "Fa Ming, you should come with Prince Yan. I have no interest in dealing with my defeated opponents every day."
At this point, she turned her gaze to Jun Qiyu, "Your Highness, why don't you play a game of chess with Abbot Faming? Didn't you see how much the abbot was looking forward to playing with you?"
"Xie San, I am no match for the abbot. I always lose miserably."
Upon hearing Jun Qiyu's words, Xie Sili raised an eyebrow and looked at Faming, only to see him nod. "His Highness Prince Yan is indeed no match for this humble monk. Apart from suffering repeated defeats at Miss Xie's hands, this humble monk has never been defeated."
Xie Sili glanced at Jun Qiyu, then turned his gaze to Fa Ming. "Jun Qiyu, let's play another round. I'll teach you how to beat Fa Ming."
Xie Sili is used to playing white, so this time she directly let Jun Qiyu choose white.
Xie Sili discovered that Jun Qiyu's chess skills were indeed not very good. Even with his steady and methodical style, he was no match for Abbot Faming.
"Abbot, Princess Anning has arrived. She says she's here to retrieve the Buddha statue that was offered to Her Majesty the Empress last year."
Xie Sili leaned against the tea table beside him. "Princess Anning has arrived. Abbot, aren't you going to greet her?"
Faming put down the black piece in his hand. "The princess has arrived, so why should we go to greet her? Even if His Majesty were to visit in person, the abbot would be there to receive her. Why bother me, the abbot?"
Seeing Jun Qiyu's hesitation, Xie Sili took his hand and placed it on the next step. "Jun Qiyu, has anyone ever told you that your chess skills are bad?"
“You and Fa Ming.” Jun Qiyu looked up at her with a helpless smile. “After all, I’m really not good at this. Compared to playing chess or playing the zither, my hands are more suited to killing people.”
Xie Sili sighed, "You play chess with Faming using my method."
The two players fought fiercely on the chessboard, with neither gaining the upper hand. In the end, Jun Qiyu won by half a point.
Jun Qiyu stared at the chessboard in disbelief. "I won? I really beat Fa Ming?"
His gaze then fell on Xie Sili. "I actually beat Fa Ming?"
Xie Sili reached out and tapped his head. "Jun Qiyu, is beating Fa Ming something to be proud of? I'm practically a disciple of the Chess Saint, after all."
Jun Qiyu rubbed his forehead, looked at Xie Sili, and quickly shook his head. "No, it didn't mean anything at all. I just never thought that one day I would be able to defeat Abbot Faming."
Just as Xie Sili was about to speak, he heard a familiar voice outside the door, "Uncle Faming, Princess Anning has come to visit and says she wants to see you in person."
Fa Ming turned his gaze to Xie Sili and Jun Qiyu, and was about to refuse when he heard Xie Sili's voice.
"Go and see Princess Anning. His Highness Prince Yan and I will wait for you here," Xie Sili said to Faming without hesitation. "Anyway, we don't have anything else to do."
“Let’s go together,” Jun Qiyu said first. “Didn’t I say before that I wanted to introduce Princess Anning to you?”
Hearing Jun Qiyu's words, Xie Sili's mind conjured up Feng Wanqing's face. Even if she appeared in front of Feng Wanqing with that face, Feng Wanqing probably wouldn't guess that it was her.
After much deliberation, Xie Sili still felt it necessary to appear before Feng Wanqing in women's clothing, at least to test what Feng Wanqing really thought of "him," or whether she had truly fallen for "him."
Thinking of this, Xie Sili went back to her room to change into women's clothing and then followed Jun Qiyu to see Princess Anning.
"you……"
Before Jun Qiyu could finish speaking, Xie Sili glared at him and said, "If you can't speak properly, then shut up. Nobody thinks you're mute."
Jun Qiyu obediently shut his mouth.
Xie Sili met Feng Wanqing in the side room. She was wearing a light green jacket and had a smile on her face. When she saw Xie Sili, her expression froze, as if she wanted to look through her to an old friend she had never seen again.
Just as Xie Sili was about to speak, Jun Qiyu's voice rang out, "Anning, this is Xie San, Xie Sili, who just returned from Yuzhou City not long ago."
"Thank you, Third Miss." Feng Wanqing withdrew her gaze and smiled at her.
"Xie San, this is Princess Anning, Feng Wanqing, the niece of the current Empress," Jun Qiyu introduced her again.
"Greetings, Princess Anning. My name is Xie Sili." Xie Sili bowed to Feng Wanqing.
"Miss Xie, do you have an elder brother?" Feng Wanqing stepped forward and asked, "Although I only met him once, I fell deeply in love with him. It's just a pity that I never had the chance to see him again."
Seeing Jun Qiyu about to speak, Xie Sili quickly said, "I do have an elder brother, but he lives in Chang'an City all year round. I'm sure the princess has heard of his nickname. His name is Xie Sinan."
Feng Wanqing quickly shook her head, "It's not Xie Sinan. Do you have any other brothers? His eyes look very similar to yours, but he's much taller than you. He only said his name is Si Ling."
Xie Sili turned her gaze to Feng Wanqing. "You mean Si Ling? He passed away a few years ago. His health had never been very good, and medicine was ineffective." She could only make up an excuse for the death of the former "Si Ling".
Feng Wanqing staggered instinctively, and Xie Sili reached out to support her. "You've only met once, why bother taking him to heart?"
"I love him, but unfortunately he can no longer hear me."
Xie Sili turned his gaze to Feng Wanqing, and could only mutter a sentence to himself.
She heard it, Anning.
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