Chapter 544 The Past
Yun Qingqing picked up Liufang without changing her expression, stood up and walked to the center of the field.
She sat cross-legged, placed the zither on her knees, and smiled a pure and beautiful smile.
"I'm sorry for making a fool of myself."
As everyone was concentrating and holding their breath, Yun slowly raised her hand, and her slender white fingers gently plucked the strings. A melodious and ethereal sound of the piano rang out, like the wind in the pines in the mountains, or like a flowing clear spring.
The atmosphere of the entire hall suddenly changed. Everyone suddenly found themselves in an empty mountain with the sound of birds singing. They even seemed to smell the fragrance of flowers, grass and spring mud, and truly felt the breeze on their faces.
Everyone was unconsciously immersed in the piano music, their eyes gradually became empty, and everything in the past slowly flowed through their hearts. How many secret thoughts were aroused, and how many dusty memories were called back...
Xiao Changheng looked deeply at the woman playing the piano gracefully in the center of the field. A trace of struggle flashed in his dark pupils. The fingers under his sleeves pressed and clenched and loosened, and finally he exhaled imperceptibly, supported his forehead and closed his eyes, allowing himself to sink into the torrent of memories brought by the piano sound.
The sound of the piano continued, and no one noticed that Yun Qingqing's fingers had left the piano. The ancient strings were plucked on their own, and rays of light that ordinary people could not see were spreading out from the piano.
Everyone in the room, from the emperor to his attendants, was intoxicated and completely oblivious to the world outside. A tiny ball of light slowly condensed above everyone's head, with faint light and shadows constantly flowing inside.
Yun Qingqing's eyes glowed green as she glanced around. Finally, her gaze came to rest on the emperor. With a serious expression, she made a hand gesture and raised her finger, pointing at the ball of light above the emperor.
A wisp of her consciousness flew into the ball of light, and the light and shadow in her eyes changed. When her consciousness revealed the girl's figure, she was already in a garden in the night.
Yun Qingqing looked around and found the scene both familiar and somewhat different. It was the imperial garden of the palace. Perhaps the difference was due to the passage of time.
In front of me was a dark lake with shimmering scales.
Yun Qingqing was waiting quietly by the lake when she suddenly heard a noisy sound and footsteps approaching quickly. Then she turned around and a small figure rushed towards her, with a group of people chasing after him.
The one running in the front was a skinny child of no more than five or six years old. The tight clothes he wore were made of good material, but they had turned white from washing and did not fit him well.
Although the face was childish and thin, the facial features were delicate and perfect, especially the pair of dark eyes as dark and deep as a deep pool. One could vaguely see the perfect face carved by God when he grew up.
Yun Qingqing recognized at first sight that this was the childhood Xiao Changheng.
Behind him, shouting and yelling, were several princes of different ages, followed by many servants.
The princes were of different heights, weights, and appearances, but all of them had rosy and plump complexions and were dressed in bright and shiny clothes. One could tell at a glance that they had been raised in luxury.
Among all these people, Xiao Changheng was the youngest. Although he ran quite fast, he was still at a disadvantage due to his age. He ran along the path by the lake but was caught up not far away.
A group of princes pushed and shoved him to the ground. Yun Qingqing quickly realized that these princes were deliberately looking for trouble. They found an excuse to make him kowtow and apologize. It was obvious from their proficiency that they were used to doing this kind of thing.
Yun Qingqing knew in her heart that these were all illusions of things that had happened in the past, but her hands clenched subconsciously. Her cold eyes suppressed some anger, and her chest felt inexplicably stuffy.
In front of him was Xiao Changheng, who was only six years old. He was completely unable to resist the deliberate bullying of so many people. There was no expression on his face. He just stared at the leading prince with his dark eyes and did not say a word even though the other party beat, scolded and threatened him.
The leading prince became furious and kicked him hard. The little child was kicked back more than ten feet and landed on the slippery shore. Before he could react, he fell into the water.
It was late autumn and the lake water was icy cold. The kick just now almost broke six-year-old Xiao Changheng's bones. His eyes turned black from the pain and he didn't even have the strength to struggle.
The princes on the shore were startled for a moment, then looked at each other in bewilderment as they watched the small, motionless figure in the water slowly sink.
After a moment, the leading prince suddenly sneered, crossed his arms and said proudly:
"What a loser! He can't even swim! He deserves to die!"
He turned to look at the others, raised his chin and said:
"This kid fell into the water because he was having fun, right?"
Everyone immediately understood and nodded in agreement:
"That's right! The little bastard falling into the water has nothing to do with us!"
"Fifth brother had specifically advised him not to run around, but he didn't listen! You can't blame anyone else!"
The fifth prince, who was in the lead, said loudly again:
"That's right, isn't it? We were also worried about this little loser. Seeing that he didn't come back, we came here specifically to look for him! What a pity..."
He stretched out his words and rolled his eyes, and someone immediately laughed and echoed:
"It's a pity that we are a step too late. The Thirteenth Prince has already... hehe..."
A group of people by the lake took advantage of the cover of night and the silence around them, and planned to watch the six-year-old child sink to the bottom of the water.
Yun Qingqing's face was cold and there was almost fire in her eyes.
The princes laughed and joked for a while, and were about to disperse with their people, when suddenly a loud shout came from not far away:
"You beasts!"
When the princes heard this voice and saw the young man in fancy clothes running over with a livid face, their faces changed:
"T-Prince..."
The young man rushed to the water's edge and said sternly:
"Keep an eye on them! Don't let any of them leave!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he jumped into the lake without saying a word. The guards behind him were all shocked, but they did not dare to neglect the order. They immediately left two people at the water's edge to respond, and the rest surrounded the prince and his attendants who were present.
The princes trembled and became as quiet as chickens, and they immediately lost their previous momentum.
Yun Qingqing could see clearly in the moonlight that the young man who was running towards her had regular features, a straight face, and a healthy look. He was full of vigor and had no sign of illness at all.
But there is no doubt that it is the former crown prince, the current emperor, Xiao Changheng's most respected brother, Xiao Tianhong.
Xiao Tianhong groped desperately in the water and finally caught the small figure. He lifted him up and sent him to the shore with all his strength, not even caring about the fact that he choked on water in a hurry.
The guards on the shore hurriedly took the child over. Xiao Tianhong then suddenly grabbed the shore and started coughing. The guards hurriedly dragged the child back to the shore.
"Your Highness, are you okay?" The guard quickly patted his back to calm him down.
Xiao Tianhong coughed violently a few times, and as soon as he calmed down a little, he pushed the guards away, shouted to find the imperial physician, and rushed over to check on Xiao Changheng's condition.
However, Xiao Changheng was not unconscious. He curled up and gasped for breath.
Except for Yun Qingqing, who was just a bystander, no one noticed that when the six-year-old child suddenly fell into the water and had hidden injuries, he held his breath at the first moment and managed to hold on until he was rescued.
With every breath he took, his face turned paler, and there was someone on his forehead who knew whether it was water or cold sweat. His lips were white and he looked extremely painful.
But he didn't say a word, his dark eyes fixed on the group of princes who were bullying him.
Xiao Tianhong hugged him in his arms distressedly and said anxiously:
"How are you? Are you hurt anywhere? Are you in pain? Tell me now!...Hold on, the doctor will be here soon!"
Xiao Changheng clenched his teeth tightly and uttered a few words with his childish voice:
"They... scolded me for not having a mother!"
Xiao Tianhonghong's face suddenly turned cold.
The princes turned pale and started talking at once, trying to explain themselves.
Xiao Tianhong's blood boiled, and he could not hear anything. Only the childish voice in his arms continued to ring in his ears:
"They said... that my mother deserved to die young..."
"Royal brother... punish them!"
It seemed that he had held on until now just to finish saying these few words. Xiao Changheng uttered the last word with great effort, but finally he could no longer hold on and fainted.
Xiao Tianhong slowly stood up holding the child. The expression on his face completely disappeared, but the coldness in his eyes made everyone terrified.
Led by the Fifth Prince, everyone knelt on the ground and began to loudly protest their injustice.
"Your Highness, perhaps the Thirteenth Prince heard it wrongly! We really didn't say anything like that!"
"My royal brother, you must be displeased with us, so you made up this story to deceive you!"
"Your Highness, you must be careful! If you don't believe me, you can ask the servants around us. They can all testify for us!"
"My brother fell into the water because he was playing too much. We were too scared to save him in time. Brother Crown Prince, please don't misunderstand me!"
Xiao Tianhong walked towards the East Palace with Xiao Changheng in his arms expressionlessly, his voice as cold as ice:
"Everyone should be slapped with thirty sticks. Execute immediately. Beat them hard!"
The Fifth Prince's gang were terrified. They always thought that the Crown Prince always convinced people with reason, and they never expected that he would directly order punishment without even giving them a chance to explain.
The prince's guards received the order and without saying a word, they pinned several princes to the ground and started beating them. Immediately, a cry of agony was heard.
At this moment, a clear voice suddenly sounded:
"Hey, what are you doing, Your Highness? How can you be so harsh on your brothers? I mean, there is nothing that cannot be discussed between brothers. Why don't you ask your men to stop talking for now?"
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