134 Chapter 134
"I have thought about forgiving him and living a good life with him."
There were bursts of thunder outside the hall.
Suddenly, several white lights appeared in the sky, tearing the already gloomy and airtight sky into several holes, finally allowing a few rays of light to pour down.
Then there were several more loud thunders.
The louder the noise outside, the quieter it became inside the hall. It was so quiet that everyone could clearly hear Zhao Wan's helpless sobs.
Tap, tap, tap.
Amid the sobs, there was suddenly the sound of a buzzing wooden fish coming from nowhere.
Soon, a doorman came to report: "Your Majesty, there is a monk outside the palace who wants to see you."
To celebrate Emperor Yongshun's birthday, the palace invited many monks to pray. Da Ling was very respectful to Buddhism when he founded the country, so he did not stop the monk on the way. Now he just blocked him outside the palace and waited for Emperor Yongshun's order.
Emperor Yongshun said, "Let him in."
A monk in a robe and holding a wooden fish walked in from outside the gloomy hall.
After seeing the monk's appearance clearly, everyone in the hall was shocked.
This monk actually looks 80% similar to that Prince Wei, no, it should be that Young General Xie!
In almost an instant, everyone understood the monk's true identity.
When Zhao Wan raised his eyes, he saw the monk looking at him.
She immediately burst into tears.
It’s Che’er.
It was the son she had conceived after ten months of pregnancy.
Without caring about the etiquette between the emperor and his subjects, Zhao Wan immediately stood up and rushed over, hugging the monk.
"Che'er, you are mother's Che'er, right? You are the real Che'er, right?"
However, she did not get a response from the monk. After a moment, the monk said "Amitabha" and raised his hand to gently push her away.
"Donor, my name is Jingchen, and I have long since entered the Buddhist monastery."
Looking at her tearful eyes, Jingchen said slowly, "I came here today just to bear witness."
Under Zhao Wan's stunned gaze, Jingchen walked to the center of the hall.
He bowed to Emperor Yongshun on the stage, clasped his hands together, and made a deep bow. He said respectfully, "Your Majesty, please allow me to report. I am Jingchen. Before I converted to Buddhism, I was Wei Che, the son of Wei Yiqun. Six years ago, I was killed in a fire. Thanks to the rescue of General Xie, I was saved. Since then, I have practiced Buddhism in a Buddhist temple in Zhangzhou. I have come here today to prove that I have not been harmed, so that Your Majesty will not believe slander and misunderstand a loyal minister..."
Jingchen lowered his eyes and muttered "Amitabha" softly, then continued, "Secondly, I beg Your Majesty for a favor. I implore Your Majesty to allow me to return to secular life, confiscate my ordination certificate, and sentence me and the Wei family together."
Emperor Yongshun had seen Wei Che when he was young. As the only legitimate son in the family, the young boy was spoiled and became lawless. He had tried to compete with the prince several times. If Wei Yiqun had not scolded him, he would have caused a lot of trouble.
Therefore, today, he really cannot connect the arrogant prince from the past with the humble and reasonable monk today.
Da Ling has a strict law of collective responsibility. Given Wei Yiqun's crimes, no one in the Wei family could escape punishment, let alone his own son. If Jingchen hadn't appeared today, he might have escaped death. However, he showed up to prove he wasn't murdered, and he wanted to return to secular life to die with his parents.
Emperor Yongshun pondered for a moment. This matter was of no importance to him, so he was happy to oblige.
"allow."
Jingchen bowed again, clasped his hands together, and made a deep bow: "This humble monk thanks your Majesty."
**
On the day of his birthday, Emperor Yongshun issued three imperial edicts in front of the royal family, officials of the second rank and above, and envoys from various countries.
One is to expose the truth about the treasonous relationship between the Southern Border Army and Xie Huaiyuan, to clear the Xie family of the wrongs they suffered, and to build a Xie family tomb in the Southern Border to appease the innocent souls of the Xie family.
The second was to expose Wei Yiqun's crimes over the past nine years to the world. He would be stripped of his title and reduced to a commoner, and all his property would be confiscated. Five days later, he would be executed by slicing for treason, slandering loyal officials, and embezzling military funds. His family and accomplices would also be executed according to the law.
The third is to reward the two loyal ministers who helped to reveal the truth. Xie Huaiyuan's son Xie Qi was restored to his status and was given the title of Marquis of Dingnan, in charge of the southern border military. Princess Xu Qinghe was given the title of Princess Zhaoning, and was granted the right to live in the former Nan'an Prince's Palace in the southern border. She was also given the right to supervise the construction of the Nan'an Prince's Tomb and the tomb of the heroes of the southern border army.
The emperor stamped the imperial seal on three imperial edicts one by one. Everyone in the hall fell silent and held their breath, but outside the hall there were still bursts of thunder but not a drop of rain.
Just as he finally left his vermilion seal on the last imperial edict, a light drizzle finally began to fall from the gloomy sky.
The rain became heavier and heavier, eventually turning into a downpour.
The eunuchs who were to deliver the imperial edicts, however, paid no mind to other matters, but sprinted through the pouring rain to promptly convey the emperor's three decrees, one by one, outside the palace. They ordered the Imperial Court to transcribe the full text of the imperial edicts and send them to the various post stations, which then delivered them by express horses to the various prefectures in Daling for officials to copy and circulate. They also copied the imperial edicts onto yellow paper and posted them at the six ministries, the Imperial College, the Bell and Drum Tower, and Caishikou, among other places, for the public to see and circulate.
So on this day when Daying finally welcomed the late spring rain, the people in the streets and alleys soon learned that the rumors in recent days were all based on facts.
From this day on, the truth was finally revealed. Xu Qinghe no longer had to hide his identity, and Xie Qi would only be Xie Qi.
The people of Daling and foreign envoys also increasingly praised the wise rulership of Emperor Yongshun and the loyal and brave Princess Zhaoning and Marquis Dingnan.
Everything is finally about to be settled.
The third day after the heavy rain was an extremely sunny day, and the air was filled with the fragrance of grass and trees left by the rain.
Because it rained heavily on the day the truth was revealed, Xu Qinghe stayed in the palace of Empress Chen with Princess Jing'an, and did not plan to leave until the rain stopped today.
Empress Chenfei was an extremely meticulous person. She had arranged everything very well during the past three days, from food, clothing, daily life to daily necessities, all of which were meticulously crafted.
"It hasn't been easy for either you or the Xie family's child to get to this point. Now that you're pregnant, you have to be even more careful. You're both still young, so it's natural to be rash. You need to be more careful."
Xu Qinghe blinked and looked at Princess Jing'an, who shook her head at her to indicate that she was not the one who leaked the news.
She then asked, "How did the Queen know?"
Concubine Chen smiled at Princess Jing'an, then looked at Xu Qinghe with a hint of resentment in her tone, "Do you think I wouldn't know if you didn't let Jing'an tell me? I've been through this before, and I can tell if a woman is pregnant by the way she walks. Although you have a slender waist and your figure is hidden by your dress, there are always some subtle clues that can always be spotted by those with experience."
Xu Qinghe couldn't help but wonder, could Xie Qi see it?
I guess not.
If you ask him to catch the scoundrels in the army, he might be able to catch them all, but if you ask him to find out which lady is pregnant, he won't understand.
"You've always been opinionated. When you insisted on marrying into the Fuguo Mansion and marrying Wei Che, I didn't understand. I even thought you were seduced by the beauty of the Wei prince. Now I know that you agreed to marry because you knew it was Xie Qi..."
"Mother."
Seeing that she was about to talk about Qinghe's sad story, Princess Jing'an hurriedly handed the tea on the table to Concubine Chen: "The tea is getting cold, please drink it first."
Concubine Chen first looked at her daughter who was shaking her head at her, then looked at Xu Qinghe who lowered her head and remained silent, and was astonished: "...How come you didn't know that at the beginning?"
Xu Qinghe pursed his lips and shook his head, "He didn't want to tell me at first. It was only after I discovered it myself that he had to admit it."
"this……"
Concubine Chen sighed. "Then he must not want you to be involved in this matter. I said that something seemed amiss between you two in the palace that day. It turns out you had an argument. So, he didn't know you were pregnant?"
Xu Qinghe said, "He can hide his identity from me, and I can also hide the fact that I'm pregnant from him. This way, no one suffers."
"That's just childish talk."
Concubine Chen sighed, "You said you wanted to keep it a secret, but how long are you going to keep it a secret? When you're fully pregnant, how can he not see it? Then he can just push the time a little bit and know it's his child."
"Your Majesty..."
Xu Qinghe lowered her eyes and subconsciously touched her wrist. The bracelet was no longer there, but it still seemed to be burning hot.
She didn't say anything for a long time, and the Concubine Chen was not in a hurry. She just smiled and waited there, looking very kind.
But the more Empress Chen loved her, the more aggrieved Xu Qinghe felt.
The more she looked at herself lovingly and tolerated herself, the more she missed her parents. If they were still there, would they let her do this? No, if her father and mother were still there, she wouldn't be in this predicament today.
"Mother, didn't you order someone to make several sets of summer clothes for Qinghe some time ago? Let me go look for them."
Princess Jing'an stood up and took all the servants in the palace away.
For a moment, only Concubine Chen and Xu Qinghe were left in the hall.
"You and Jing'an are both little girls that I watched grow up. No matter whether you are married or have children, you are still just children in my eyes."
As long as you are a child, there will be times of confusion and helplessness.
At this time, she cannot be seen by her sister Jing'an, but she can show it to her elder without restraint.
Xu Qinghe's eyes gradually misted over, and she almost choked up. "My Lady, he hid it from me and lied to me, but I never really thought about getting back at him. I did think about forgiving him and living a good life with him."
Empress Chen Fei leaned over, took the girl who was about to burst into tears into her arms, patted her back gently, and said softly: "I know, I know. Our Qinghe has been wronged."
Tears finally welled up in her eyes. Xu Qinghe leaned on Chen Fei's shoulder and choked up, "He knew that I would be soft-hearted, that I would let bygones be bygones, that I would forgive him and be willing to live with him, but he still pushed me away and forced me to leave..."
She shed tears in a low voice and said angrily: "He treated me like this, I will never forgive him in the future, and I never want to see him again..."
Concubine Chen didn't try to persuade her, but simply went along with her emotions to comfort her: "Well, it's all his fault, it's all Xie Qi's fault. In that case, we won't forgive him. You are a princess now, so it's not a bad idea to find a consort and a stepfather for your child. No one would dare to say a word to you. As for that brat Xie Qi, let him live out his life with his warhorse and spear."
It was a long time later that Xu Qinghe finally cried out all the grievances she had suffered in the past few days, and even wet the clothes on Concubine Chen's shoulders with her tears.
The Concubine wet a handkerchief with hot water and wiped away the tears on the little girl's face bit by bit. When the girl in front of her had regained her composure, she asked softly, "What's the matter? Do you really want to not forgive him and break up with him?"
Xu Qinghe lowered his eyes and did not answer for a while.
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