Chapter 126: Emperor Collapse

"Okay. You say." Si Li's voice was very steady. She looked at the wooden box in the soft and beautiful angle with her eyes lowered by the candlelight. She knelt on the couch with her back straight as a sword, making Jiang Hengyun unable to tell whether she was happy or angry for a moment.

His heartbeat became chaotic. Jiang Hengyun just opened his mouth when he heard Si Li say, "You promised not to lie to me."

This sentence blocked all of Jiang Hengyun's excuses. He took two steps forward, bent down beside the couch, and held Si Li's hand. "I... I don't know what to say."

"Then let me ask, did the Queen Mother leave the system to you?" Si Li was very sure and did not give him the option of not knowing. The Queen's manuscript had been kept in the palace for so long, the two children must have read it, and they had the system or system-related media in their hands, so it was impossible for them not to know the existence of the system.

"...Yes." Jiang Hengyun answered with difficulty.

So for Jiang Hengyun, the system is a concrete thing? Si Li raised her eyebrows, "Can you give it to me?"

"No!" Jiang Hengyun suddenly raised his voice. He held Si Li's hand, as if holding the only driftwood. Si Li let him hold it without moving. Jiang Hengyun took a breath, "No, I won't give it to you. If I give it to you, I will leave."

Jiang Hengyun raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, and spoke word by word, "I will not allow you to leave." A dangerous murderous aura emanated from him, and Si Li's scalp felt numb as if a knife was approaching her eyes. The throat within Jiang Hengyun's sight felt as if it was locked by a beast, and it was icy cold.

This was the first time he acted like a prince in front of Si Li after revealing his vest. Si Li's hand was so painful from being held, and he frowned, a little puzzled, "What does giving it to me have to do with me going back?"

God knows, she didn't even know when she would be able to pass the full level! Moreover, if she could really just wave her sleeves and leave without taking a cloud of color, would she have known that she would be entangled for so long after returning home!

Jiang Hengyun stared at her without blinking, trying to tell the truth from the girl's expression. This box shouldn't have been here, let alone found by her. The fear of losing it gripped Jiang Hengyun's heart. He lowered his head, covering his red eyes, and pressed his forehead against the back of Si Li's hand, drawing calming strength from her soft skin.

He could remain calm in the face of a vast army on the battlefield, but he was completely defeated in front of her.

"Can you stay with me and don't leave?" Jiang Hengyun suppressed the sob in his throat, leaned against Si Li's hand, restrained the anger that had just erupted, and spoke softly.

Feeling the young man trembling on his hand, Si Li hesitantly put her hand on the back of his head and stroked his hair like coaxing a child. When she touched the back of his neck, Jiang Hengyun's breathing stopped for a moment, but he did not dodge. Si Li's lips curled up.

If he was a beast just now, now he turned out his soft belly, leaving the most vulnerable part to her. Si Li ignored the feeling of being a keeper and rubbed Jiang Hengyun's hair a few times. It was like satin, so nice to touch.

'If I go back, can I bring someone with me from Daning?'

Si Li's question in her heart did not receive an answer for a long time. The system did not even answer yes or no, as if this question was beyond its processing range.

Forget it, there will always be a way out. Si Li exhaled and pinched the back of Jiang Hengyun's neck, "So you came to find me to go to Qiyun Tower in the beginning because you knew that I was the latecomer that the Queen Mother mentioned?"

Jiang Hengyun didn't say anything, his breathing was steady and long. Si Li was stunned for a moment, then turned to the side and saw through the gap between her palms that his eyes were closed, and it turned out that he had fallen asleep after being emotionally excited.

Looking at the dark circles under his eyes and the slightly wet corners of his eyes, no matter how much she said, it would not keep him awake. Si Li rubbed Jiang Hengyun's long hair, which was tied up neatly without a strand of disorder, and wanted to get up and ask someone to move him to the bedroom, but she realized that she couldn't get up.

When she looked down, she saw that the young man had one hand tightly grasping the corner of her clothes, and his head was resting on his legs precisely, completely unable to exert any strength, as if he was afraid that she would run away and was guarding her closely.

Si Li's heart suddenly softened.

Until she finds a solution, let's not talk about this issue.

When Jiang Hengyun woke up the next day, he seemed as if nothing had happened the night before. His eyes were cold and he was stern to his subordinates. Only Si Li patted his legs and ordered him to come back early to give her a massage.

After tacitly skipping the system's questions, the month of June arrived quickly. Friends around him went to different places, Si Li received letters from two people, one in the south and one in the north, and with a handful of roasted chestnuts that the students from the artisan school had just given him, he reviewed the flow of people who had been thriving under the leadership of Wang Ting and Ah Quan over the past year, and fulfilled his duty as a tool man's boss to give out reward red envelopes.

The garden party that just ended this year fell on Guan Ji's head. Guan Zhiyu, who dominated the Beijing market with two new products, cheesecake and cream cake, was still the same. Si Li chatted with him for a few words. When he saw Guan Zhizhen's new wife come in, he smiled at the girl with curious eyes.

"Old Guan, aren't you going to get married? There's no such thing as a good girl falling from the sky." Si Li put down the teacup, couldn't help laughing at Guan Zhizhen, who was always waiting for his wife so much that he was afraid that she would get hurt, and turned to look at Guan Zhiyu.

Guan Zhiyu lowered his head and drank the tea that his apprentice had poured for him. "I have the teaching materials to pass on to the world, and my descendants will have precious children."

"Tsk." Si Li shook her head, left a description of the sandwich and sushi she recalled, and said goodbye.

The New Year was coming soon after the beginning of the Ramson month, but the palace banquet on New Year's Eve of the 21st year of Jingwen was not held. While the Imperial Medical Bureau in the deep palace was busy, the shadow of the emperor's serious illness weighed deeply on the capital and the hearts of everyone who was paying attention to the changes in power.

The emperor was seriously ill, and even the atmosphere of celebrating the New Year in the capital was somewhat diminished. The opera troupes and brothels lived a restrained life. The father and son of the Dongyang Mansion, who had received the news of the personnel changes in the Imperial Medical Bureau early on, initially had uncontrollable joy on their faces, but as they were completely unable to contact the palace day by day, they became filled with deep anger and panic.

The same goes for Concubine Yuan.

The days of being imprisoned in the deep palace with the emperor were only happy days during the two palace banquets every year. The noble ladies who didn't know the inside story would flatter her, and no matter what she said, someone would agree with her, as if it was still the time when she was in power. When the emperor fell down with blood, she thought her chance had come, and she wanted to get out through the dog hole to find her son immediately, but the imperial guards broke her expectations.

The imperial guards quickly turned Qianqiu Palace into an iron barrel, and she was taken away from the emperor and locked up in another side hall. Every day she could only see the imperial doctors coming and going from the window. Sighs and shaking of the head were the only things she could see from them. Concubine Yuan's heart sank bit by bit.

Since the incident in the inner palace, Jiang Hengyun has been busier than ever. Knowing the changing situation in the palace, various factions have taken turns to take action. It has become normal for him to stay up late at night like in the past. Sometimes he would be awakened from his dreams by the news. As the days passed, the dark circles under his eyes became more and more serious. Even Jiang Rufei, who had been forced to go to bed early and get up early on the grounds that she was still growing, was disrupted in her schedule.

Si Li accompanied him to the inner palace once more, but did not enter the Qianqiu Palace, which smelled of strong medicine, but just watched from afar. The heavy smell of decay was everywhere in the Qianqiu Palace, where the paint was withering. Jiang Hengyun had people use the best medicine to save the old emperor's life. The struggle in his heart was only revealed in the nightmare that Si Li heard in his sleep, "Dad".

Another late night.

Emperor Jingwen, who had not woken up for a long time, opened his eyes in the curtain. Every bone in his body was aching, and the memories of his past madness came back to his mind, but he felt that he had never been more sober than now.

"Xiao Xizi..."

Emperor Jingwen opened his mouth with great effort, and his old voice was rough and unpleasant. Even with all his strength, the sound was only slightly louder than the footsteps of people walking outside.

"Your Majesty!" Lu Xi was startled and pushed open the door.

Concubine Yuan Gui, who was leaning against the window in the side hall and watching the movements in the courtyard, was suddenly awakened by this voice and trembled with excitement. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty is awake? Someone come, I want to see Your Majesty!"

The woman's scream reached the ears of Emperor Jingwen, who was lying on the bed unable to move. His eyebrows twitched, but his expression remained unchanged. He looked at Lu Xi who came in and knelt in front of the bed, and said slowly, "Where is Ah Yun... why... isn't she here..."

Lu Xi was startled, but she did not dare to remind the emperor who had just woken up. It was he who had ordered the prince to stay in the cold palace. She just smiled and said, "The imperial physician will be here soon. I am so happy to see that your majesty is in good health. Your Highness the prince is married and is now living in the East Palace. I have sent a message and he will be here soon. Don't worry!"

Emperor Jingwen's eyes twitched and he sighed, "Ah... it's my fault." He spoke more fluently, his eyes sparkled, and he vaguely had the handsomeness of his youth. However, Lu Xi's heart sank even more. Seeing Emperor Jingwen trying to get up, he hurried forward to support him.

"Bring...paper and pen." Emperor Jingwen ordered. Lu Xi's heart skipped a beat. "I'll get it right away!"

Emperor Jingwen, leaning against the head of the bed, made the first stroke on the small table brought by Lu Xi. His wrist, which had been ill for a long time, was weak and frail, and he wrote a line of words crookedly.

"Forget it, I say, you write." Emperor Jingwen threw down the pen in resignation, "I have been on the throne for twenty-one years, and the people of the world have been at peace. After I am gone, I will be buried with Sheng'er, and Concubine Yuan will be buried with me. The throne will be passed to..." He paused and smiled strangely, "Princess Yu Fei will succeed to the throne after me."

There was a crisp sound of porcelain breaking outside the window. Lu Xi shuddered and waited for a while but received no further instructions. He looked up and saw that Emperor Jingwen had a smile on his face, but his chest had stopped moving. The brief last burst of energy was over.

Lu Xi turned around tremblingly, holding the written instructions in his hand. The door opened and the moonlight stretched Jiang Hengyun's shadow very long. The medicine bowl under his feet broke into two pieces, and the medicine juice spilled all over the floor. The smell of life-saving ginseng was strong.

"Your Highness." Lu Xi was extremely afraid. The oral order in his hand was not witnessed by any ministers and did not have the imperial seal, so it was completely worthless. However, the rift and rift caused by it could not be smoothed over.

Si Li, who came with Jiang Hengyun, had never expected that the old emperor would be hateful to someone again before his death. She tugged at Jiang Hengyun's sleeve, and feeling that the young man's fist loosened a little, she put her palm in, telling him with silent support that she was still by his side.

Jiang Hengyun squeezed her hand, and when he let go, the tenderness on his face faded away, his expression became cold, and he raised his hands flat, "Your Majesty, I obey your order."

???

Si Li was completely stunned.

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The author has something to say:

The old emperor was the worst entertainer in the whole audience, and the prince was so angry that he smashed his bowl.