Chapter 314 The Grand Finale
Spring has come again.
A carriage with a blue silk canopy slowly drove by, its eaves jingling with silver bells, and its red wheels making a rhythmic rumbling sound as they pressed against the stone slabs.
"Look! It's the carriage of the Marquis of Zhuhai!"
Someone called out softly from a roadside teahouse.
The crowd gradually stopped.
The flower seller carried her bamboo basket to her side, the embroidery shop lady put down her needlework and walked to the front of the shop, the schoolboy who had just finished school was gently stopped by the teacher pressing his shoulder, and everyone bowed towards the direction of the carriage.
"Greetings, Lord Marquis and Lady Marquis."
The greetings spread like ripples, and the eyes were full of respect.
It was this Lord Xiao who personally led the navy to quell the pirates, bringing peace to the seas today. Lady Lu, the Marquis's wife, not only donated a million strings of cash to the army, but also set up a workshop in Yunshang Pavilion to take in the orphans of fallen soldiers and teach them weaving and dyeing skills, saving countless lives.
The carriage curtain swayed slightly, and Xiao Yeming gently touched the window frame, nodding to the people outside.
Lu Zhaoruo, wearing a pearl crown, was adjusting the jade pendant with two fish at her daughter's waist. The eleven-year-old girl took the opportunity to peek out, her eyebrows and eyes already showing signs of beauty, her clear eyes sparkling with lively light, winking and smiling at the familiar candy shop assistant.
The carriage passed over the state bridge.
I heard beggars outside begging for money.
Lu Zhaoruo lifted the curtain and looked out the window.
A beggar huddled beside the bridge pier was coughing violently, his disheveled hair being blown about by the wind from the carriage, revealing half of his festering face.
It was Shen Rongzhi.
The moment their eyes met, Lu Zhaoruo's gaze was calm, without surprise or anger. She simply picked up a copper coin from the brocade pouch by the window and flicked her wrist.
With a clatter, the copper coin fell into the broken bowl at his feet.
Shen Rongzhi stared at the copper coin spinning in the dust, and memories of the past flooded his mind.
regret.
I am filled with deep regret.
Because Xiao Yeming quelled the pirates, the emperor issued an edict granting amnesty to the entire country, and only then was he, a criminal, able to see the light of day again.
But this freedom is heavier than shackles.
When the carriage reached the willow-lined section of the Imperial Street, the curtain was suddenly lifted.
Ah Bao nimbly jumped off the car, lifting her skirt, the blue silk skirt rippling in the spring breeze.
"Watch out!"
A young man in white, about eighteen or nineteen years old, emerged from under the willow tree. His features were clear and cold, like an ink painting, and his black hair was tied up high. It was Xiao Wuyun.
He strode forward and gently supported the girl's elbow, while holding a bag of sugar peas in his other hand, the scent of pine resin mixed with caramel wafting in the wind.
Ah Bao steadied herself with his hand, and when she looked up, her almond-shaped eyes gleamed with a mischievous light: "Brother Wu Yun, you didn't make these sugar peas yourself, did you?"
Xiao Wuyun's ears turned red as she handed over the oil paper package: "The heat wasn't controlled well... please don't mind."
Spring sunlight filtered through the willow branches, casting dappled patterns of light on the boy's slightly hunched shoulders and the girl's upturned smile.
Another blue silk carriage approached, and the curtain was lifted.
Lu Bohong nimbly jumped off the carriage shaft, turned around and carefully helped the pregnant Zhanfujun.
Since being selected as the top military scholar in the imperial examination that year, he has repeatedly made military achievements and has now risen to the rank of fourth-grade general.
Seeing Liu Xia's situation, he deliberately put on a stern face: "A Bao, are you teasing Prince Shou again?"
Xiao Wuyun quickly bowed and greeted, "General Lu."
Abao tugged at Xiao Wuyun's sleeve and peeked out, winking playfully at Lu Bohong and his wife: "Uncle, Aunt, is it a little brother or a little sister this time?"
A breeze brushed against Zhanfujun's slightly protruding belly, and she smiled, "I do want a clever and witty girl like you."
Lu Zhaoruo and Xiao Yeming rode their horses to Qiyun Ridge in the west of the city.
A mound of tombs stands on the green hills, with two lines of names inscribed on the tombstone—
Gu Xian.
Yongfu.
That winter.
On the day of Princess Yongfu's wedding to the Crown Prince of Qing, she suddenly tore off her veil in front of the palace gate and rode out on horseback to greet the wedding procession.
Gu Xian was leaning against the door, looking towards the imperial city, his gray robes covered in frost and snow.
Hearing the approaching sound of hooves, he looked up and saw Yongfu, dressed in a fiery wedding gown, reining in her horse in the snow.
"Brother Gu Xian!"
She laughed and called out, her golden crown reflecting the snow, "I've come to marry you."
A smile appeared on his pale face. He reached out and took her outstretched hand, using it to prop himself up on his horse.
Yongfu cracked his whip, his wedding dress fluttering in the wind. He wrapped his arms around her waist and gently pressed his face against her back.
The two rode to Qiyun Ridge in the west of the city.
Yongfu took out a kite, and the golden thread flew higher and higher against the gloomy sky.
Gu Xian sat down leaning against the tree, smiling as he watched her fly her kite, feeling that there was no color in the world that could surpass her.
He smiled and slowly closed his eyes.
"Look how high it flies..."
Yongfu received no response and turned around.
The kite string broke, and the golden kite disappeared into the clouds.
She walked up to him, gently lay down on his still warm chest, took out the pill given to her by Qing Lexian from her sleeve and swallowed it, softly smiling as she said, "The road to the underworld is cold, I will accompany you."
The snow fell silently, covering the two of them.
A kingfisher lingered, its mournful cry piercing the sky.
It is a glance.
As dusk settled, only the sound of the wind could be heard on Qiyun Ridge.
Lu Zhaoruo and Xiao Yeming rode side by side at a leisurely pace. Just as they were about to descend the mountain, Xiao Yeming suddenly pulled on the reins: "Sister Lu..."
His voice was deep, “The general in your dream who knelt with every step… was he really my father?”
Lu Zhaoruo spurred her horse forward and galloped more than ten feet, then turned back with a smile: "If I said it was you, would you believe me?"
A sudden light flashed in Xiao Yeming's eyes, and he spurred his horse to catch up with her, saying, "We've braved mountains of knives and seas of fire, how can you not believe me?"
She gazed at the fading sunset and asked softly, "When did Lord Xiao develop this obsession?"
"In the winter of the eleventh year of Shaoxing, in Jizhou City."
"I was ambushed while investigating salt smugglers on a secret mission, and wounded, I hid behind your courtyard wall. You were sitting under the old plum tree, reading a book, your white dress trailing on the ground..."
His voice gradually blended into the twilight: "When you were engrossed in reading, the corners of your lips slightly turned up, and tiny snowflakes fell on your hair and the pages of the book, but you were completely unaware... It was that one glance that made your heart belong to her from then on..."
Lu Zhaoruo was stunned.
It turns out his obsession started so early.
Xiao Yeming suddenly looked at him apologetically: "Madam, there is something else I have been keeping from you."
Lu Zhaoruo: "You're hiding something from me? What is it?"
Xiao Yeming: "Three years later, I was ordered to go to Yong'an County again to lay a net and vow to eradicate the salt smugglers' power. Besides the cold official documents in my arms, I also had a thought in mind... After this matter is settled, I will formally visit your home to ask for your hand in marriage."
He smiled bitterly: "But I never expected that the salt smuggler's real goal was to massacre the entire Shen family, because Shen Rongzhi killed the salt smuggler's only son. His so-called 'going to sea to do business' was actually an escape. I already knew the truth, but I was constrained by my identity and official duties and could not tell you anything... I hope my wife will forgive me."
He gazed at the setting sun in the distance, as if he could see the bloodshed of that night again: "That night, you stood in your phoenix coronet and wedding robes in the deep mansion, while I fought a bloody battle outside. Amidst the flashing swords, I always thought, if only I had told the truth back then, regardless of everything..."
Lu Zhaoruo listened quietly.
If he had been honest back then, how could he have experienced thirty years of loneliness in his previous life?
But in his past life, he had already spent the rest of his life repenting.
"Shen Rongzhi killed someone because of Geng Qionghua, and the documents for going to sea were also given to her by her. Even the conspiracy that defiled me back then was orchestrated by Geng Qionghua."
She continued calmly, "These are all things she confessed to herself when she drank the poisoned wine I personally handed her before she died."
A mountain wind suddenly rose, scattering the passing clouds and mist.
Xiao Yeming suddenly looked at Lu Zhaoruo with deep affection: "At that time, I always thought that upon my return, I would be a dog under the eaves, not barking at the sun and moon... but only smelling the fragrance of clothes."
Lu Zhaoruo glanced at him and suddenly burst out laughing, her eyes sparkling with a hint of teasing: "Then, Marquis, can you smell it clearly now? The fragrance I used today is the pear-scented bed curtains that you dislike the most."
At that very moment.
Suddenly, A Bao spurred her horse and galloped over, her voice sweet and innocent: "I suddenly remembered something! Back in Jizhou City, people would always throw things down from the eaves. Sometimes it was dead rats, sometimes it was live fish thrashing about, and sometimes it was bloody entrails, fluttering moths, and even cockroaches!"
She reined in her horse and stopped in front of Xiao Yeming, her almond-shaped eyes wide open. "Father, could it be that you did this?"
Xiao Yeming's ears burned, and he coughed lightly, turning his face away: "Don't talk nonsense."
At this moment, Xiao Wuyun also rode up to him, his brows furrowed slightly beneath his jade crown: "Abao, when did you go to Jizhou?"
"fool!"
Ah Bao turned around and glared at him reproachfully, but couldn't hide the smile on her lips.
The four rode side by side at a slow pace, their horses' hooves shattering the setting sun on the ground.
Looking at the crimson sunset on the horizon, Lu Zhaoruo suddenly smiled and said, "I want to go back to Jizhou City to see him. I miss Niqiu San, Shimozi, Shitou, Yunniang, Yang Niangzi, Manager Chen... Sun Fu..."
[The End]
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