Chapter 27 Requiem.
After the death of the Crown Prince in the capital, a three-way struggle for the throne ensued, protracted and uncertain.
After the Seventh Prince annexed two prefectures each in Danzhou, Hengzhou, and Xuzhou, he became like a vulture that had seen blood, eyeing the surrounding prefectures and counties with predatory intent.
Many governors were envious and dreamed of becoming feudal lords. Soon, two more governors of major states submitted to the seventh prince and were granted the title of kings of different surnames. They then began a new round of expansion without stopping.
With such a precedent, within just two months, seven governors followed suit.
In a rare year of favorable weather and abundant harvests, their greedy expansion led to the trampling of thousands of acres of fertile land by horses, and the displacement of tens of thousands of people once again.
Meanwhile, in the court, Cui Fan rebelled and left the capital, making Xie Yu's power base unstable. Cui, the Grand Secretary, held almost absolute power in the court. When he secretly met with his cronies late at night, intending to have all the officials petition for the twelfth prince to ascend the throne, Geng Qing led troops to surround Cui's residence and wiped them all out.
When Grand Secretary Cui was imprisoned, Xie Yu refused to leave his house.
Geng Qing supported the eldest son of the former crown prince to ascend the throne and changed the era name to Qingde Year 1.
As soon as Emperor Qingde ascended the throne, he issued an edict ordering all prefectures and counties to come and offer their congratulations.
Few responded to the imperial summons; only a few governors of small prefectures, preoccupied with their own troubles and hoping for the court's protection, came to the capital.
The other prefectures and counties either watched from the sidelines or scoffed at it. The governor of Jingzhou even angrily said, "Geng Qing, a mere country bumpkin, dares to use the emperor to command the feudal lords and issue orders to me. He's like a monkey wearing a crown, utterly ridiculous!"
Clearly, the governors did not respect the still-young emperor, but rather Geng Qing, who supported him.
If Xie Yu or Grand Secretary Cui were behind the emperor at this time, the situation would be different.
Unexpectedly, the Dingbei Prince's Mansion in Jizhou, which had remained silent and dormant despite the Crown Prince and the Seventh Prince's previous attempts to win them over, sent a congratulatory letter this time, even though they did not come to pay their respects in person.
Geng Qing was overjoyed and ordered the cabinet to draft an edict praising the Prince of Dingbei for his talent and virtue, loyalty and bravery, and for being a model for all officials. He also ordered the Prince to punish the rebels led by the Seventh Prince in order to uphold the law and secure the country.
With the imperial edict in hand, Qin Lie led his troops and within half a month, he successively recovered Huang and Qing provinces. From then on, Ji province was connected to Chen province without any further obstacles.
The two prefectures of Dan and Xu were on high alert, fearing that Qin Lie would continue to lead his troops forward. However, after recovering these two prefectures, he left his troops behind and returned to Ji Province. Despite repeated imperial edicts from the capital urging him to return, he used the excuse of prioritizing the border to avoid sending troops again.
Enraged, Geng Qing cursed Qin Lie in the palace, calling him a cowardly and incompetent fool, not worth discussing anything with!
Qin Lie smiled as he burned the secret report in his hand, showing no anger, and turned to step into the gentle embrace of the woman.
Candlelight illuminated the red tent, where shadows intertwined in a passionate embrace. Qin Lie had not been to the battlefield for a long time, and this battle was far from exhilarating. The violence and restlessness surging in his blood needed to be soothed and calmed by immersing himself in the warmth and softness of a woman.
He moved slowly forward behind her.
He was used to large, sweeping movements, but because he was thinking of the child, he could only endure and move slowly at this moment.
I gradually realized that going slow has its advantages.
She now felt with exquisite detail every time she frowned, gasped, or trembled in those places that she had previously neglected and which were easily swept away.
In the final moments, she couldn't help but arch her back and offer her fair neck to his mouth, where he bit down hard and wouldn't let go.
The silk satin beneath them was soaked with sweat. He quickly cleaned the two of them, ripped off the sheets, and had them put them down.
The princess was already asleep, but her whole body was flushed pink, her eyelashes were wet with tears, her cherry lips were swollen, and there was a ring of teeth marks around her neck, exuding a charming and alluring aura.
She's been sleeping a lot lately, at least six or seven hours a day. Qin Lie pressed himself against her from behind, habitually reaching out to grasp her increasingly plump and soft breasts. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he suddenly sensed something...
A small bump appeared on her snow-white, protruding belly, as if she had been hit from the inside by a foot or a hand.
He couldn't help but reach out and cover it. The little figure inside seemed to sense something and moved a few more times.
The vibration reached his palm, and Qin Lie gently shook the princess's shoulder.
Lingyi was already fast asleep and showed no reaction.
I've been eagerly anticipating fetal movement for over a month now, but I missed the first one. I wonder how frustrated I'll be when I wake up tomorrow.
Qin Lie immediately decided to keep this a secret to avoid making her cry again.
—Since becoming pregnant, her emotions have been more unpredictable than a battlefield. She can burst into tears if she can't eat something she craves. There are now four chefs in the princess's residence who cook royal dishes to ensure that her cravings are satisfied whenever they arise.
He held the peach in one hand and touched her belly with the other, pulling her completely into his arms.
Although it was late summer, the weather was still hot, and he was also very hot. Before long, both of them were sweating, especially where they were touching.
She was neither too hot nor too cold, and Qin Lie didn't want to wake her up because of the heat, but he also couldn't bear to part with the smooth, slippery touch of his hand. He just wanted to wait until she started whimpering impatiently before leaving, but she remained oblivious and slept soundly.
Pearl will be keeping watch tonight, and since the princess will have her husband to look after her, she won't need to worry about anything.
Therefore, she had gone to sleep on the small couch outside early in the morning. Suddenly, she heard the door creak open from the inside. She opened her eyes groggily and saw Qin Lie walking out with his outer robe tied in one hand and his face ashen. He shouted, "Summon everyone from the inner courtyard to the main hall for questioning!"
The medicine was administered very cleverly: one ingredient for the doctor, one for the tea, and one for the kitchen staff.
Separately, each part is fine, but when combined, it becomes "soul-soothing." Just take it continuously for more than a month, and the person will be guaranteed to sleep soundly and never wake up, their soul departing. Others will only think that the deceased was weak and frail. The doctor has even already prepared his explanation: "The lady had just recovered from a serious illness when she became pregnant. Her body was too weak to replenish itself, which led to her untimely death. She was truly precious but her life was short."
No matter how clever the method of poisoning, it is no match for a gleaming knife held to one's neck.
The men confessed without hesitation, tears streaming down their faces, and cried out for help.
Qin Lie considered many possible culprits behind this—even with his utmost caution, it was impossible for word to leak out. If the prince found out, he would only reprimand him a few times, but if his grandmother and the princess found out… the child was only three months away from being born, and he couldn't predict how they would treat him. But the princess, they would definitely not tolerate it.
But he never expected that the person behind it all was his only sister, Qin Ying.
When her eldest sister passed away, Qin Ying was still young. From then on, her mother spoiled her, which fostered her fearless nature.
She married Qin Lie's former deputy general. How could the soldiers in the outer courtyard be wary of their former subordinate and now brother-in-law?
Qin Lie understood everything, but he couldn't understand why Qin Ying acted this way.
My grandmother and mother raised my eldest brother from childhood, and they had high hopes for him, so it's understandable that they hated him so much.
Qin Ying was ten years younger than her eldest brother, who had gone to the military for training at a young age. Although they had a brother-sister relationship, they only saw each other a few times a year. This was far from enough to make her take such a risk as to harm her third brother's child.
Filled with anger and confusion, Qin Lie ordered his men to summon Qin Ying and her husband.
Qin Ying and his wife were woken up in the middle of the night, and upon hearing that it was Qin Lie who had summoned them, they immediately understood what was going on.
Qin Ying was not afraid at all. Instead, she sneered and slowly dressed herself before arriving at the princess's residence.
Seeing Qin Lie leaning back in his armchair with a sinister look in his eyes, Qin Ying spoke before he could question her: "Third Brother, do you still remember Third Sister-in-law?"
She only had one third sister-in-law, and the Prince's Mansion only had one third young mistress, Cheng Jia Hui Niang.
Qin Lie coldly said, "I know she was closest to you when she was alive. What? Do you think that by bringing up Hui Niang, I will let you off?"
He was always vengeful, and those who offended him, the former notorious troublemaker of Ji Province, never fared well.
Since joining the army and achieving numerous military exploits, he seemed to have become much more restrained, but due to his life-and-death experiences, he became even faster, more ruthless, and more terrifying than before.
Although Qin Ying was pampered, she was still a daughter of a military family. She looked at him with a stern gaze, showing no fear whatsoever.
"So you still remember your third sister-in-law! I thought you were so infatuated with the princess's beauty that you had long forgotten your surname was Qin, and you had even forgotten who forced your third sister-in-law to her death!"
Qin Lie frowned, puzzled: "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Qin Ying gritted her teeth and finally revealed the secret that had been buried in her heart and tormented her for so long, "Third Brother, I lied to you. It was my willfulness back then that led to Third Sister-in-law's death at the hands of the Seventh Prince!"
That year, after her engagement, she went to a temple to pray for blessings.
At that time, all the prefectures obeyed the imperial court, and no major disasters had yet struck. Huangzhou was a vast plain, quite prosperous.
They said they were going to pray for blessings, but actually they wanted to go out and have fun. They specifically chose a temple in Huangzhou that was said to be quite efficacious.
Although the princess was reluctant for her to go so far, she couldn't resist her persistent pleading. Thinking that she would have guards to protect her and Cheng Hui to accompany her, she finally agreed.
Qin Ying rarely travels far from home, and with no elders to restrain her, she will soon be getting married, so she will rarely have such carefree moments again.
Ignoring all advice, she rode a horse dressed in women's clothing, catching the eye of the Seventh Prince, who happened to be on official business in Huangzhou at the time.
If she had listened to Cheng Hui's advice and returned to Jizhou immediately, none of this would have happened.
After all, although the Seventh Prince was arrogant and lecherous, he was determined to win the position of Crown Prince and dared not openly seize power.
Qin Ying, however, felt that he was wary of her Qin family, so instead of avoiding him, she became angry and provoked the Seventh Prince.
This further piqued the Seventh Prince's interest, and he ordered his men to impersonate bandits and snatch the women directly from their lodgings.
Those guards were no match for the royal guards. Before being captured, Cheng Hui had Qin Ying exchange clothes with her, and they fled separately.
To avoid attracting attention, the seventh prince left Huangzhou ahead of everyone else and returned to the capital.
The Seventh Prince's men mistook Cheng Hui for Qin Ying and took her back. When they passed through Qingzhou, Cheng Hui, in order to protect her innocence and the reputation of the Qin family, took advantage of the guards' inattention and jumped off a cliff to her death.
Qin Lie sat there like a statue, and after a long while he finally spoke, his voice desolate: "Why did you hide this from me?"
He asked about "you all," not "you," because he knew that Qin Ying couldn't possibly have kept this from him.
Qin Ying stammered, "Father and Mother were afraid that you would blame me, and even more afraid that you would be angered and go to the capital to seek revenge on the Seventh Prince, which would bring about a great disaster. That's why they kept it from you. They also transferred those guards to other places and told them to keep their mouths shut and not to mention this matter to anyone."
Yes, when Hui Niang had her accident, he was still in the military camp. When he returned, there was only a desolate mourning hall. His father and mother gave the same story, his sister was so frightened that she couldn't say a word except cry, and even the bandits had been wiped out by his father's men. So he had no choice but to believe it.
—Because he simply couldn't think of any reason why they would conspire to deceive him.
It turned out to be royalty.
It's the Liu family again.
Qin Lie's face was gloomy, his teeth were chattering, and he said "good" three times, each time more painful than the last.
After saying that, he quickly turned around and walked into the inner courtyard, kicked open the door, and came to Lingyi's bedside.
Even with such a commotion, she didn't wake up. She lay on her side on the bed, her black hair piled up like clouds on the pillow, his teeth marks imprinted on her fair neck, and the curves of his flesh and bones visible under the blanket.
She sleeps peacefully here with his child in her womb, but Hui Niang was buried on a cliff because of her brother.
Pearl waited outside in a state of trepidation. The grand spectacle tonight, coupled with the news of the princess's poisoning, was already frightening. Then, when the prince consort summoned people to the mansion, he kicked open the princess's bedroom door in a fit of rage, clearly indicating that his intentions were not good.
Although the door was open, she dared not look inside. She knelt there trembling, only straining her ears to listen to the sounds coming from inside the room.
If the princess cried for help, she would go to stop her even if it meant her death.
Thinking this, she knelt for an unknown amount of time until Qin Lie finally left. She got up and stumbled inside, ignoring the numbness in her legs. She saw the princess still sleeping peacefully and serenely, as if nothing had happened.
.
The old lady was old and slept very little. She woke up at the beginning of the morning every day without fail, and had her meal at that time.
Therefore, she exempted the younger generation from their daily greetings—they were too busy to accommodate this old woman.
As soon as she got up that day, she heard from Granny Shen that Qin Lie had been waiting outside for a long time and had come from the ancestral hall. Her heart immediately tightened. When she saw Qin Lie, who was still covered in dew, and heard him briefly explain what had happened, even though she was mentally prepared, the old lady was still very angry.
The old lady pounded her cane on the ground, her voice filled with anguish: "Ever since you were a child, I've thought you were a bit hot-tempered, but actually quite shrewd. Later, as you repeatedly distinguished yourself in battle, I became even more certain that I hadn't misjudged you. How could you do such a foolish thing?!"
"Your grandson is unfilial!" Qin Lie knelt straight on the ground. "Things have come to this point, and it is no longer possible to hide them. Mother will certainly not tolerate that child. I hope that grandmother will have pity on that child who is my own flesh and blood, and bring Liu to live in the mansion so that she can give birth to the child safely."
Although he had the ability to protect the child, that would inevitably disobey the princess, and if the princess threatened to kill herself, how could he, as her son, refuse? Only with the old lady's help and protection would the princess have no choice but to accept.
The old lady understood what he was thinking. "Have you thought about what will happen after the child is born? This child... even if your mother accepts it, how will you face your sister-in-law and second brother?"
Qin Lie was speechless. When her elder brother died, her sister-in-law was six months pregnant. Upon hearing the news, she also lost her child. Now she was all alone and her heart was withered. No matter how well the Qin family treated her, it could not make up for the pain in her heart of losing her elder brother and child.
The second brother, who was once a spirited young general, became plagued by illness and spent his days with medicine.
After a moment of silence, he said, "I have already decided that if it is a daughter, I will secretly raise her in the princess's mansion and find her a scholarly family to marry into so that she will not be mistreated. If it is a son, I will send him to the countryside of Jizhou and ensure that he lives a carefree life as a farmer. He will never be allowed to join the army or politics, and no one will know his true identity."
The old lady sneered, "You've thought things through quite thoroughly, but what about the child's mother? If she can get pregnant with the first one, she can get pregnant with the second and the third! For over a year, you refused to discuss marriage or even enter the inner quarters. I thought you had lofty ambitions, but it turns out you've been mingling with the daughter of my enemy. Qin Lie, I am truly utterly disappointed in you!"
Qin Lie touched his forehead to the ground, "Your grandson is unfilial and has failed his grandmother's expectations!"
The old lady couldn't get a straight answer from him, and she became increasingly disappointed. But seeing her usually arrogant grandson so flustered, she sighed again. Among her grandchildren, the eldest and second eldest were both very proper and had been taken away by their father at a young age. Only Qin Lie spent the most time with her. Although he was naughty outside and often got scolded by his father, he was always obedient in front of her and usually knew how to make her happy.
He was someone who grew up in such a privileged environment, yet was not expected to achieve anything, and in the end, he took up the banner of the Jizhou Army. How much hard work and suffering did he endure? But every time I saw him, he only reported good news and never mentioned the bad. He never spoke of the hardships and difficulties.
How could she not feel heartbroken?
That child... he's his own flesh and blood, already over six months old. Could it be that the reckless Qin Ying really murdered him? Or did his muddle-headed daughter-in-law kill him openly?
It's never fair to treat everyone equally, and this also involves the next generation, so the old lady quickly made a decision.
She said, "If you send her over, all I can do is ensure that she gives birth safely. I can't promise you anything else."
Qin Lie kowtowed: "Grandmother, I am already deeply grateful for your kindness, and I dare not ask for anything more."
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