Chapter 22 Who is it?
That day, Li Xiaoci dragged Liu Ruiyun into the house and slapped her in the face.
Unexpectedly, Liu Ruiyun not only did not know she was wrong, but also started fighting with him. Later, for some reason, she hit her head on the corner of the table and died.
The emperor had just died, and the time was turbulent. Although Liu Ruiyun was not killed by him, he was afraid that the news would get out and arouse suspicion. It would be troublesome if he was targeted by the enemy.
Therefore, he deliberately said that he would put Liu Ruiyun under house arrest and drove out all the servants who served her in the yard. He then found someone to secretly dispose of her body and also gave her family a large sum of hush money.
I originally thought that if the people didn't report it and the officials didn't investigate, then there would be no problem.
But for some reason, after that day, he had nightmares every night. In the dream, Liu Ruiyun was bleeding and wanted to take his life. She kept asking him why he didn't save Li Jiying.
Li Xiaoci was extremely annoyed until the emperor returned to the capital. He wanted to give Queen Chi a warning, but he was caught off guard when he saw the body of his eldest son.
He felt like he was struck by lightning at that time, and his whole body was severely injured. It is no exaggeration to say that he was heartbroken.
What was even more bizarre was that he dreamed of Liu Ruiyun again that night. In the dream, her face was covered in blood and she said grimly that she wanted to kill all the members of their Li family.
He woke up in shock. It was the hottest time of the year, but he felt cold all over. Thinking of Li Xianyou's tragic death, he began to suspect that Liu Ruiyun had really come to seek revenge.
Li Xiaoci immediately sent someone to find a wizard to exorcise the ghost. However, the wizard told him that the reason why the evil ghost had been haunting him was because she was not worshipped by her children when she was buried. In order to resolve the problem, her descendants must go to her grave and offer three incense sticks to ask her to leave.
Li Xiaoci was suddenly in trouble. Liu Ruiyun had only one daughter, Li Jiying, who was now imprisoned.
He did have a way to get her out to pay her respects at Liu Ruiyun's grave, but the problem was that Li Jiying was very resentful towards him now. If she knew that her mother was dead, she would probably make a big fuss. If he wanted to persuade her, he would have to come up with an excuse.
So tonight, Li Xiaoci left the yamen early, asked his servants to prepare food, and went to the prison to find Li Jiying.
Who knew that Li Jiying's temper was even worse than Liu Ruiyun's? Even though he spoke in a nice tone, she insisted on retorting him, making him so angry that his hands were shaking.
Just thinking about the purpose of this trip, Li Xiaoci put down his hand that was raised in the air, wiped his face hard instead, and calmed down his anger.
"Well, since we finally get to meet each other, can't we just sit down and have a good chat?"
Li Jiying snorted coldly. It was really strange. Li Xiaoci could tolerate this. What was he up to?
Seeing her suspicious face, Li Xiaoci couldn't help but sigh softly, and his voice became gentler, "Ji Ying, I see that you have lost weight. You must not have eaten well in prison. I specially brought you some wine and food, all of which are your favorites."
He intended to play the role of a kind father, so he took the food box from the servant, opened the lid, took out the wine and food and placed it on the table.
Li Jiying glanced at the food and was even more surprised. More than half of them were her favorites. Smelling the aroma of the food, she couldn't help swallowing.
But, this person clearly wanted her to die before, why did he suddenly change his attitude?
I'm afraid he's here with bad intentions.
Li Jiying wasn't stupid, and wouldn't bow down for a bite of food. He crossed his arms over his chest, forcing himself to look away from the sumptuous food. He said coldly, "I don't dare eat it. Who knows if you've poisoned the food?"
Li Xiaoci was so angry at her words that he had a heart attack. He had done so much, but this unfilial daughter didn't even appreciate it. She was such an ungrateful person!
He wanted to scold this rebellious girl, but he was afraid that she would not agree to let him go to the grave to pay homage. So he could only suppress his anger, walked to the table and sat down, picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of food, and took a big bite with the rice.
He raised his head and looked at Li Jiying, his words still tinged with anger. "Now you should finally be relieved! Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. Don't think too badly of me."
Li Jiying was still full of suspicion and had no patience to deal with him. But thinking of her mother's situation, she had to be patient and walked to the table to sit down.
She raised her hand to pour herself a glass of wine and said with disgust, "I don't like any of these dishes. I want to eat the sea bass soup made by my mother."
He looked up at Li Xiaoci and asked, "Why doesn't my mother come to see me?"
Li Xiaoci's hand holding the chopsticks trembled, and he almost dropped the food on the table. He coughed twice and spoke hesitantly, "Your aunt...ah, I'm really worried that you'll be sad if you find out. She accidentally fell and hit her head a few days ago, and she...passed away..."
"What?" Li Jiying was stunned. Is this a lie?
She looked at Li Xiaoci, but didn't see any trace of joking on his face, but she still didn't want to believe it.
He slammed the table and stood up, angrily saying, "You're talking nonsense!"
Li Xiaoci: "Ji Ying, calm down. I know this news is hard for you to accept."
"This is impossible, how could this be possible..." Li Jiying murmured, her heart tightening.
He covered his chest with his hands and bent forward uncomfortably. A sour taste rose in his throat and with a "wow" sound, he vomited out all the wine he had just drunk.
Li Xiaoci felt unhappy when he saw her strong reaction. She was so sad, which made him seem like a heinous criminal who had killed Liu Ruiyun.
Reluctantly suppressing the unhappiness in her heart, she pretended to comfort him, "Ji Ying, don't be too sad. This is also your aunt's bad fate. I didn't expect her to pass away like this. If you want, I can take you to her grave to pay homage. It can also be regarded as the fulfillment of your mother-daughter relationship."
Li Jiying seemed to react when she heard this. She suddenly raised her head and glared at him, "Did you really not expect this? My mother was fine, how could she suddenly fall to her death? I think you killed her!"
Li Xiaoci was shocked when she heard what she said, and she subconsciously retorted: "I didn't hurt her, she fell to her death. I just pushed her lightly, and she fell to her death!"
After saying that, he understood and pursed his lips with some regret.
Li Jiying didn't expect that a casual lie would make Li Xiaoci tell the truth.
She stood there in a daze, unable to believe for a moment that her mother was really killed by Li Xiaoci?
Li Xiaoci came to the rescue: "Ji Ying, things are not what you think."
"You murderer, you killed my mother!" Li Jiying's eyes, which had just been filled with tears, were now bloodshot. He shouted, clenched his fists, and swung them towards Li Xiaoci.
With a bang, a punch hit his chin. Li Xiaoci felt pain and the anger that he had been suppressing suddenly broke out. He raised his palm like a palm fan and slapped Li Jiying's head hard with his backhand.
The slap was so powerful that it knocked Li Jiying to the ground.
Li Xiaoci cursed angrily: "You are just like your mother, an unreasonable lunatic!"
After Li Jiying's miscarriage, her body never recovered, and she had been in prison for such a long time that she was very weak.
She felt her ears buzzing, her cheekbones hitting the hard ground, and her cheek muscles twisted in pain.
A warm liquid flowed out of her ears and nostrils, mixing with the wine she had just vomited out, forming a red and white patch.
The sour smell of vomit and the rusty smell of blood suddenly rushed into her nostrils, making her tremble all over. Finally, she couldn't hold back and let out a heart-wrenching howl.
"mother--!"
————
It was late at night, but the Xihua Palace was still brightly lit.
Wu Wenxiu bent over the desk and wrote furiously.
Empress Chi asked her to draft an imperial edict for the national mourning regulations. She looked through past memorials and documents, compared them, and wrote several versions, but was not satisfied with any of them.
At this moment, a pair of almost inaudible footsteps came in and stopped beside the table, "Master Secretary, Madam Wu is here."
When Wu Wenxiu heard the voice, she immediately frowned. She hated being interrupted while she was writing.
Without even raising her head, she said, "Wait, I'm busy now!" Only after she had said that did she realize that Mrs. Wu was talking about her mother.
He hurriedly put the pen on the table, stood up, and walked out quickly.
Under the eaves, where the red lanterns illuminated, there stood a thin figure. It was her mother, Wu Yihan.
Wu Wenxiu's heart started beating fast. She glanced at the guards in front of the palace, walked over quickly, pulled her to a corner, and whispered, "Mom, why are you here?"
Wu Yixian raised the food box in her hand and said, "I saw that you hadn't returned yet so late, so I came to bring you some food."
Wu Wenxiu didn't take it and pressed her hand down. "Mom, I've had dinner and I'm not hungry. But you, the palace is not like a temporary palace. You can't walk around freely. What if you offend the noble?"
Wu Yixian's eyes flickered, and after a moment's hesitation, she said, "I did run into someone when I came here just now. She was dressed quite normally, but she had several people following her. She seemed to be someone of high status."
"What? So nothing happened to you?" Wu Wenxiu immediately held her hand and asked nervously.
"Not really, it's just... do you remember your cousin Wen Qi? I think that person looks a lot like her."
Wu Wenxiu was stunned. "Cousin Wenqi? Didn't you say that when the family was confiscated, Auntie had Sister Wenqi sent south? How could she be seen in the palace?"
Wu Yixian's tone became less resolute after hearing her say this. "I saw two red moles on that person's chin. She looked like Sister Qi, but it was dark, so I couldn't see her face clearly. Oh, I must have seen it wrong. Sister Qi was only ten years old at that time. After so many years, she must have changed a lot now. Since you've eaten, I'll go back first."
Wu Wenxiu sighed. She knew that her mother had returned to the capital city where she grew up. The sight of her mother made her miss her old relatives and friends.
Because her father angered the emperor, the entire family was confiscated and imprisoned. The men were exiled and the women were enslaved. When disaster struck, those relatives also fled and sought their own ways to survive.
She and her mother have been dependent on each other for these years, and she even changed her surname because she didn't want to have anything to do with her father's side of the family.
Seeing Wu Yixian's dejected expression, she couldn't help but comfort her, "Mother, I've asked my eldest sister to find a house outside the palace for us to live in. Once we're settled in, we'll move out. I'll hire two maids to take care of you and chat with you. As for my aunt and the others, I'll ask someone to find out their whereabouts."
Speaking of this, Wu Wenxiu couldn't help but feel fortunate in her heart. Thanks to the several thousand taels of silver she got from Sun Ren last time, she was able to have a house to live in the capital city where every inch of land is worth a lot of money!
Wu Yixian was delighted after hearing this and nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you then."
Wu Wenxiu was afraid that she couldn't see the road clearly at night, so she asked the guard to take her back. Fortunately, the guard was Yuzhao's man and did not refuse.
After watching Wu Yihan leave, she returned to the hall and looked at the half-written memorial on the desk. She couldn't help but rubbed her brows tiredly.
This imperial edict must follow a strict format and take into account literary talent. It is really not easy to draft. It is much more difficult than writing poems or articles!
Feeling emotional, Wu Wenxiu turned around and was about to sit down when he suddenly felt something was wrong.
Why does it seem like there's something extra in the hall?
I turned my head suddenly and saw a big man squatting on the chair above. He was dressed in black and his hand was stroking the dragon pattern carved on the armrest.
Wu Wenxiu was startled, "Who are you?"
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