17 Confused
◎Nowadays, I have nothing.◎
"Princess, my brother was forced into perjury and killed the Prince of Nan'an and his wife, as well as 50,000 Southern Border soldiers. It wasn't General Xie who was responsible."
Meng Chen and Lin Xiao grew up in the southern border. Although they have different fathers and the same mother, they have always been very close. Meng Chen joined the army at a young age and was most worried about his mother and sister at home.
Later, his mother passed away, and the only person Meng Chen missed was his younger sister who was less than ten years old.
Six years ago, in the last battle of the Southern Territory, the King of Nan'an and his wife led 50,000 Southern Territory troops to fight, but due to incorrect intelligence, they were surrounded and suppressed by the enemy. In the end, all the soldiers were killed and no one survived.
Although the Southern Border Army defeated the enemy under the temporary leadership of Xie Huaiyuan, it still suffered serious losses. Moreover, Prince Nannan had been guarding the Southern Border for a long time, and his innocent death attracted the attention of many people in the country. Emperor Yongshun ordered a thorough investigation of the truth.
The matter was thoroughly investigated for a year and finally ended with Xie Huaiyuan's deputy general Meng Chen voluntarily confessing that Xie Huaiyuan was collaborating with the enemy.
So the entire Xie family was executed. Meng Chen, while guilty, was rewarded for his meritorious service by catching the main culprit and was temporarily detained to be executed in the autumn. However, a month later, he suddenly committed suicide in prison out of fear of punishment, leaving behind a letter of confession before his death.
"Back then, someone used me to threaten my brother, forcing him to forge a letter of treason and falsely accuse General Xie. My brother felt guilty, and he knew the mastermind would not let him go. So, he left a letter of confession and asked someone to deliver it to the Ministry of Justice, asking an upright person to re-examine the case, restore the truth to Prince Nan'an, the Princess, and the fifty thousand Southern Border Army soldiers, and clear General Xie's family's name."
The night was dark, and there were no candles in the inner chamber of the palace. Only a few palace lanterns were lit under the eaves, and the cold moonlight outside the room added a hazy light to the inner chamber.
Xu Qinghe had always known that the Xie family was wronged and that someone else was the accomplice to the enemy, but when he heard others explain the matter with his own ears, he couldn't help but feel disappointed and stunned.
Her father, mother, and countless other fathers, sons, and brothers had all died unjustly in that battle in the southern border, yet no one knew the mastermind behind it.
Xu Qinghe clenched his fingers, frowning as he looked at Lin Xiao, who was kneeling below him. He said, "Meng Chen left a confession for the Ministry of Justice, but there has been no news of it since. How do you know that the confession was actually delivered to the Ministry of Justice, and not intercepted by someone with ulterior motives?"
Lin Xiao replied, "I personally saw someone hand that thing over to the then Minister of Justice. It's absolutely correct. To save my life, I had to leave the capital and return to the southern border. I spent three years in peace, and then I began to be hunted again.
"I knew my life would be in jeopardy if I didn't resolve this matter, so I risked my life to go to the capital to seek the princess's protection. I also wanted to fulfill my brother's last wish and uncover the truth about the war in the southern border."
After Lin Xiao finished speaking, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed again.
Xu Qinghe lowered his eyes and looked at her quietly.
This woman stopped her on the street and after testing, she found out that she was indeed a surviving relative of the former Southern Border Army. The Southern Border case was already concluded in the eyes of everyone. Apart from fulfilling her brother's last wish, she couldn't think of any other reason why anyone would go to such great lengths to find her and tell her all this.
"Don't you believe me, Princess?"
Lin Xiao looked over with tears in her eyes.
Xu Qinghe didn't say whether she believed it or not, but simply said, "Since you have entered the palace, you should stay here first. Apart from Nanzhi and I, you must not tell anyone else about this. Otherwise, no one will be able to protect you."
She lived in Empress Dowager Wei's Kangning Palace. Except for Nanzhi, the rest of the people around her were Empress Dowager Wei's spies. It could be said that her every move was under surveillance.
Sometimes, compared to her own bedroom, Jing'an felt more comfortable staying with her biological mother, Concubine Chen, as at least she could be sure that no one was watching her.
Lin Xiao smiled, his face full of sarcasm: "My princess is used to the life of luxury and wealth in the palace. If you don't want to give it up, just say it directly. Why bother to find excuses to silence me?"
She paused, thinking of the rumors in the capital, then recalling the Shengjing float parade that day along the long streets. She couldn't help but laugh again, "The princess is now so doted on by the royal family that she's long forgotten the soldiers who died in the southern border. I've dodged pursuit all the way to the capital, but now it seems like it was all just wishful thinking!"
Her words were so impudent that Nanzhi, standing by, was already furious. She restrained herself from fighting her and just said angrily, "If the princess really meant what you said, she wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to ask someone to bring you into the palace!"
Xu Qinghe didn't say a word at first, but when he saw Lin Xiao's indignant look, he felt sad.
Didn't she want to quickly find out the whole story as she said, to reveal the truth to her father, mother and fallen soldiers, and to clear Xie Qi's family's name?
"My parents died when I was twelve, and I entered the palace at thirteen. Five years have passed now. Do you know how many times I have left the palace and how many times I have been abroad during these five years?"
Lin Xiao remained silent, his back still straight, his eyes lowered as he looked at the ground.
Xu Qinghe smiled, with a hint of self-mockery, and continued:
"The Nan'an Palace is now only an empty title, and the Southern Border Army is under the control of the Duke of Fuguo. The title of Princess is merely a glamorous facade for me. Aside from that robbery, I've never left the capital, and even within a year, I can't leave the palace without the Empress Dowager's permission. You said I'd long since forgotten about the Southern Border. So what do you want me to do? Run into the Ministry of Justice with a sword in hand and present your confession to His Majesty?"
Lin Xiao: "But everyone in Beijing says..."
Xu Qinghe interrupted her, "Do you believe everything they say? Even when I see you alone, I have to kneel and watch all night. I'm so restricted in my actions. How can you really say I'm loved by the royal family?"
"......" Lin Xiao lowered his head, not knowing how to answer.
She only knew that compared to herself, a commoner, Princess Qinghe in the capital was the person she could trust the most, could give her the most protection, and was most likely to help her fulfill her brother's last wish.
Little did I know...it turned out that this princess was also having a hard time in the palace.
"Lin Xiao knows she is wrong. Everything is subject to the princess's orders." She knelt down and bowed her head, not knowing whether these words were true or false.
In fact, she had no other choice but to rely on this princess.
Xu Qinghe waved his hand and told her to go down and rest, and kept the matter secret.
Lin Xiao left as he was told, and only Xu Qinghe and Yu Nanzhi were left in the bedroom.
"My Lady, do you think this man is trustworthy?"
Xu Qinghe thought of Lin Xiao's appearance. Although she was not as skinny as her, she was indeed extremely thin. When she first saw her, she thought she was a child of thirteen or fourteen years old. After asking her, she found out that she was only two years younger than her and was already sixteen years old.
In other words, she lost her mother when she was young, and was kidnapped when she was ten years old. She was used as a hostage to threaten her brother. Later, her brother saved her life with his conscience and she was able to return to her home in the southern border. At that time, her home was empty.
But she only lived a peaceful life for two years, and then she was hunted again. She had to disguise herself all the way to Beijing before someone finally came to her.
She sighed and said, "She knows a lot about the Southern Border Army, some things she would never know if she didn't have relatives in the capital. She also speaks with a Southern Border accent. She came all the way here to find me, Nanzhi. I can't imagine what other reason she could have other than wanting to find out the truth of that year."
"After all, I have nothing now, so what can she want?"
She raised her head, and there was a hint of mist in her clear eyes, which seemed even more confused to Nanzhi.
This was the first time Nanzhi had seen such a look in her eyes in all these years.
Back when she was still in the Southern Territory, the princess was loved and cherished, the apple of the eye of the entire Southern Territory. After entering the palace, she walked on thin ice, not daring to make a single wrong move, but she always had a plan in mind, and it was always her backbone.
But now, her backbone was in a state of confusion.
Nanzhi couldn't help but sit down with her on the bed and hold her hand.
"Princess, it's okay. No matter what happens, whether it's true or not, Nanzhi will always be by your side."
There wasn't much she could do but accompany him.
Xu Qinghe remained motionless, making a secret decision in his heart.
As she just said, she had nothing left and was half a desperado.
She would know whether what Lin Xiao said was true or not once she tried it.
After that night, the master and servant never communicated with Lin Xiao alone again, and just thought she was a new maid in the palace like the other two.
Lin Xiaoxu took Xu Qinghe's words to heart and has been working steadily in the palace these days without being reckless.
That morning, Xu Qinghe paid her respects to Queen Mother Wei as usual. At that time, there were also several unmarried princesses and Princess Yongyan.
A group of young girls talked about the Shangsi Festival in a few days. On this day, the girls of marriageable age in the Daying Dynasty would have their coming-of-age ceremony presided over by their relatives, and the same would be done for the princesses in the palace. After the ceremony, they would go to the suburbs of Beijing for an outing together, and princesses could also go as an exception.
Now the only unmarried princesses in the palace are the Seventh Princess and the Ninth Princess, as well as the Eldest Princess Yongyan who has divorced her husband.
Three years ago, Princess Yongyan was married to the nephew of her mother, Concubine Zhao, by Emperor Yongshun. At first, she and her husband were very close, but later they had many quarrels. Finally, they broke up completely because of the miscarriage of the eldest princess last year, and they simply divorced.
Yongyan was proud and arrogant, and he rarely appeared in public after the divorce. Naturally, he would not go to the outskirts of the capital with everyone else. It was even unknown whether he would attend the coming-of-age ceremony of his sisters in the palace that day.
When the greetings were over, Xu Qinghe clearly noticed that the other party glanced at him, but quickly looked away.
Nanzhi, who was supporting her, had naturally noticed what was happening, so she whispered in her ear, "I always felt something was strange about the way Princess Yongyan looked at the princess just now. She already holds a grudge against the princess. Is she planning to make another move against her?"
This was not the first or second time that Xu Qinghe had been looked at like this by her. She was always targeted when she first entered the palace, but after Yongyan got married, she was well-behaved for a while.
When she and Li returned to the palace, Xu Qinghe wondered if she would deliberately pick a fight to vent her anger, but she didn't expect that she would remain silent, as if she had changed her temperament.
"I'm afraid only she knows what she wants to do. We should just wait and see," she said.
When they returned to the bedroom, Xu Qinghe dismissed everyone on the pretext of needing to rest, leaving only Nanzhi to serve him.
"From what the Empress Dowager said just now, I'm afraid the princess will not be allowed to go out on the Shangsi Festival." Nanzhi took off the heavy hairpins on the princess's head, spread out her ink-black hair, and combed her hair with an ox horn comb.
Xu Qinghe had another nightmare yesterday and didn't sleep well. But when he was having sex, he felt relaxed all over and even his fatigue was relieved a little.
She closed her eyes and thought of Queen Mother Wei's attitude today.
The Queen Mother said on the surface that she had been frightened by a robbery on her birthday some time ago, and it would be better for her not to leave the capital recently. But in fact, it was because it was the time for an outing outside the capital, and most of the unmarried young men and women in the capital would go, and the eldest son of the Wei family, Wei Ming, was naturally no exception.
This year's spring examination is only ten days away from the Shangsi Festival. Empress Dowager Wei only wants Wei Ming to concentrate on preparing for the exam. He can go out of the capital for an outing and relax, but he cannot turn his attention from studying to women.
But Xu Qinghe must leave the palace.
"The Seventh Princess's mother is on good terms with Empress Chen, and the Seventh Princess and Jing'an are also on good terms. When she reaches the age of marriage, Jing'an will definitely come to the palace to watch the ceremony. I will go find her then and ask her to pass on a message to Wei Ming."
Queen Mother Wei was unwilling to let Wei Ming meet her, but she never refused the request of her nephew. As long as he could speak up, Queen Mother Wei would most likely let him go.
"Oh, Princess." Nanzhi put down the ox-horn comb, knelt down beside Xu Qinghe, and whispered in her ear, "Just now when I came back, Lin Xiao secretly stopped me and asked me to plead with the Princess, asking her to take her out of the palace with her on the Shangsi Festival."
Xu Qinghe was surprised: "What is she going to do?"
Nanzhi shook his head and said, "I don't know. Perhaps he felt that we hadn't taken any action to find the confession letter, so he couldn't help but want to take action himself?"
Xu Qinghe took the comb back and combed his hair himself.
Lin Xiao was a girl with a very impatient and bold temper. She was so bold that she dared to risk being discovered by her enemies and blocked their way in the street. It was possible that she wanted to act on her own.
If she is detained in the palace, she might cause trouble. It is better to take her out. If she wants to cause trouble, we can deal with it early. It is better than letting her lose her life in the palace in the future.
While he was thinking, a palace maid suddenly called out from outside, "Greetings, Princess Yongyan. The princess has gone to bed. Please wait a moment, princess. I will go and fetch her."
Xu Qinghe's heart trembled, and he suddenly remembered the deliberate look Yongyan gave him just now. Could it be that he really came to cause trouble for him?
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