Chapter 355: Can’t Call People
He is a member of the Yang family, a descendant of loyal martyrs, and what he wants to be loyal to is the vast territory of Zhaoling Kingdom!
Now that the crown prince's ascension to the throne is a foregone conclusion, no matter how much he disagrees with the crown prince or how dissatisfied he is with him, he must put aside his personal emotions and be loyal to the new emperor!
He would never allow anyone to stir up civil strife in Zhaoling and disrupt the court, even if that person was Dugu Yu!
Dugu Yu has always been clear about Yang Tingxiao's position. It was rare for him to be willing to participate in the investigation of the prince before.
It was a pity that the world was full of twists and turns. Even with solid evidence in their hands, their efforts were in vain. God had truly been extremely kind to Ling Jingyu.
Although his stance was different from that of the Yang family, Dugu Yu still appreciated Yang Tingxiao's attitude today. He knew that as long as no one asked, Yang Tingxiao would not take the initiative to report to Ling Jingyu about his position in the Yanling Army.
He would not let anyone know that Qin Qingyao was injured, and would not disturb Qin Qingyao's recuperation. Although Dugu Yu did not say anything about all this, he kept it in mind.
After Yang Tingxiao left, Dugu Yu took a shower and changed his clothes. He also meticulously shaved off the stubble on his chin. After tidying himself up, he went to find Qin Qingyao and went to sleep.
Qin Qingyao was lying in bed unable to move, and there were no women in the military camp, so Dugu Yu had been taking care of her alone. Before Qin Qingyao woke up, he didn't even close his eyes for a nap.
At this time, he was lying beside his wife, paying attention to keeping a certain distance from her body for fear of touching her, but his forehead was resting on Qin Qingyao's right shoulder, looking particularly well-behaved.
Qin Qingyao raised her right hand and gently stroked his face. Dugu Yu adjusted his position so that her palm could just touch his cheek and leaned on her shoulder.
Qin Qingyao felt relieved and said gently, "Go to sleep quickly. Sleep until you wake up naturally."
"good."
"Close your eyes."
Dugu Yu obediently closed his eyes, but turned his head and rubbed her arm with his nose.
After a long while, although Qin Qingyao couldn't see Dugu Yu's face, she felt that this person was not sleeping at all.
"Husband~"
"Um?"
"Are you having trouble sleeping?"
"Um."
"Then get up and kiss me..."
Qin Qingyao was gagged just as she finished speaking. Dugu Yu's kiss was very light and restrained, and every movement and every breath seemed so cautious.
He supported himself with his elbows on both sides of the pillow, not daring to put even a little weight on Qin Qingyao.
After a while, Dugu Yu lay back down, resting his chin on Qin Qingyao's shoulder, looking at her rosy cheeks with a warm and happy smile.
Apart from Qin Qingyao, no one else had ever seen such an expression on Dugu Yu's face.
Dugu Yu slept very soundly, and so did Qin Qingyao. When the military doctor came to feed Qin Qingyao medicine, she woke up once, drank the medicine, and fell asleep again. The two of them slept until almost noon the next day.
Although Dugu Yu did not specifically explain the emperor's death, the Qin family's imprisonment, and other such events, everyone in the Yanling Army tacitly kept silent about Qin Qingyao and no one mentioned a single word about it.
So, now she just needs to sleep and recuperate, and her life can be said to be leisurely.
…
In the imperial study, Ling Jingyu temporarily spared Chen Xi's life and kept him by his side to serve. After all, Chen Xi was an old man who had served the emperor for more than 20 years. Chen Xi knew many things about the late emperor better than Ling Jingyu, his own son.
For example, there is actually a dark room in the imperial study.
The entrance to this secret room was not behind the wall, but under the desk where the emperor sat every day to handle government affairs.
In order to find the jade seal, Ling Jingyu almost turned the entire imperial study upside down. He didn't know how many secret compartments he found, nor how many treasures collected by the late emperor he found.
But he didn't find the secret room or the jade seal.
Because the entrance mechanism of the secret room is under the table, someone has to crawl under it to touch it, and the space under the table is empty and can be seen through at a glance, so it is naturally impossible for anyone to crawl under it and touch or press it randomly.
Ling Jingyu handed the task of forging the imperial seal to Chen Xi and no longer asked about it. Now the entire palace was under his control. He was not afraid that Chen Xi would be disobedient, nor was he afraid that he would run away.
Unless he commits suicide, he cannot fly away even if he really has wings.
Forging the imperial seal and the edict of succession would be a lifelong stain on Ling Jingyu, so he least wanted a third person to know about it, and it was impossible for him to send anyone to watch over Chen Xi.
While Ling Jingyu was keeping vigil in front and acting as a filial son, Chen Xi was alone in the imperial study, sweating profusely.
He really didn't dare to forge the imperial seal!
Moreover, he knew very well that if he didn't build it, he would die; if he built it, he would also die, it would just be a few days later.
Chen Xi was in the imperial study, struggling with his conscience and his desires in his mind. What he had experienced in the past few days had exhausted him both physically and mentally.
Although as a slave, thinking like this was really treasonous, but to be honest, he had never known as clearly as he did now that he really did not want the prince to ascend the throne.
But what could he do even if he didn't want to? Prince Duan had been killed, and every prince in the harem was in danger. He barely dared to breathe in front of the Crown Prince, so who would dare to compete with him?
"Why……"
Chen Xi sighed deeply, "Life is always so helpless! I'm just a slave, what do I think doesn't matter!"
He knelt on the ground and crawled under the dragon table, groping for the switch of the dark room.
This is actually a private collection room of the late emperor. The emperor's hobbies cannot be expressed publicly, let alone expressed casually so as to be speculated by others.
But he is also a human being after all, and as a human being he has joys, sorrows, anger and happiness. When he is alone, he also needs a space in this world that truly belongs to him, to his most honest heart.
Inside are the emperor's truly beloved things, some of which are valuable, some of which seem worthless to ordinary people, and even his childhood toys.
As the king of a country, he had to go through great pains to hide those inconspicuous little things from everyone's eyes and ears.
Chen Xi didn’t know whether the jade seal was here, but the entire palace had been searched by the prince, so it couldn’t just run away!
So, Chen Xi just wanted to try his luck and see if it was here.
The mechanism opened, and Chen Xi slowly walked down the stairs holding the oil lamp.
There were neatly arranged storage shelves below, on which were placed the treasures of the late emperor. He did not see the jade seal, but saw a living person in the corner of the wall, who almost scared his heart out.
"who!"
The dark room is not big. There is only one room at the end of the passage. In a corner of the room, a woman is huddled there shivering. No one knows how long she has been there.
Chen Xi had always been by the emperor's side and had seen a lot of the world. After confirming that it was really a person, he had nothing to be afraid of. He calmed himself down and slowly approached with the oil lamp.
"Who are you? How did you get in here? If you tell the truth, we'll let you go. Otherwise, I'll call for help!"
"No...don't shout, don't shout!"
The woman suddenly raised her head, her face full of panic. Chen Xi leaned in closer and took a deep breath, "Princess Duan! Why are you here?"
Chen Xi put down the oil lamp and hurried over to support Qi Luoyuan, but Qi Luoyuan had been alone down there for three days, without food or water, and with deep fear, she was in a daze.
She was very scared and refused to let Chen Xi get close to her.
"Please wait a moment. I'll get you something to eat."
Chen Xi brought the food over, and Qi Luoyuan gobbled it up in a hurry. "Princess, please eat slowly. Don't choke. Drink some water."
When Qi Luoyuan reached out to take the cup, a square brocade box fell out of her arms. Chen Xi was shocked, "This... the jade seal is with you!"
"No!" Qi Luoyuan didn't care about eating or drinking, and pounced directly on the jade seal, picked it up, put it on his abdomen and hugged it tightly.
Chen Xi sighed upon seeing this. Princess Duan must have taken advantage of the incident in Yu Lan Palace, when the entire palace was in chaos and Commander Lu had transferred all the guards away, to run to the imperial study.
Chen Xi understood that she came to steal the jade seal. She probably didn't have time to leave after stealing it, and the guards had already returned, so she crawled under the table in a panic and accidentally touched the mechanism and fell down.
That would explain the injury on her head.
This Princess Duan always gave people the impression of being weak and modest, but after she knew that the emperor had passed away, her first reaction was to run and steal the imperial seal. No one would believe it if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes!
But did she know that His Royal Highness Prince Duan had already...
Chen Xi sighed deeply, but couldn't bear to say it out loud.
"You know the Crown Prince will ascend the throne in a few days, right? It doesn't matter whether he has the Imperial Seal or not. Now that the situation is settled, I'm afraid no one can suppress the Crown Prince."
Qi Luoyuan immediately and firmly retorted, "Yes! His Royal Highness Prince Duan will not sit idly by. The Crown Prince is absurd and unjust. If he successfully ascends the throne, it will be a disaster for all the people in the world!"
"But His Royal Highness Prince Duan is now... unable to protect himself!"
"No, Eunuch Chen, you didn't report me and even sent me food. You are a good person. You also saw that the prince is absolutely mad. When he ascends the throne, he will not respect you at all!"
"Please help me, don't let anyone know I'm here, okay? I know it's impossible for me to leave the palace. I'm going to wait here until Prince Duan comes to find me!"
In Chen Xi's opinion, Qi Luoyuan's words were simply wishful thinking. She might have been frightened out of her wits, or she simply didn't know what the situation was like outside.
"How did you know that His Royal Highness Prince Duan would come?"
"He will, he will!"
Chen Xi closed his eyes, his mind filled with the blood-stained palace and the terrified faces of the past two days. "Okay, I promise you, I won't tell anyone you're here."
"If I can avoid others, I will try my best to bring you some food and drink, but if I can't, please don't blame me."
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