Chapter 178
Using Empress Sun's invitation as a temporary pretext, Emperor Min of the Ming Dynasty kept Yingning in the Lingyun Palace within the imperial palace.
This was not a convincing excuse, but the emperor was too anxious to care about that now because of his eagerness to find Yan Qizhen.
Because of the taboo surrounding Princess Zhaoning's martial prowess, the emperor stationed a large number of imperial guards outside the palace where Yingning "resides".
In the past, apart from Empress Sun coming to comfort her, there were only a few quiet palace maids who took care of Yingning's daily life and secretly monitored the situation in Lingyun Palace.
But today, an uninvited guest has arrived.
As Yan Jingxu stepped into Lingyun Palace, he was greeted by a vividly painted portrait of a beautiful woman. She was dressed in a crimson sable coat and reclined slightly on a chaise longue. He wondered what her skill was, but a rare kingfisher had somehow landed beside her.
She gently raised her white jade fan to shield herself from a ray of warm winter sunlight that wasn't too bright.
The fan reveals half of the beauty's face, but only a faint shadow can be seen beneath her phoenix eyes.
Perhaps she was fast asleep.
The jade feather, quite obediently perched on one side of the chaise longue, peeked out slightly, seemingly wanting to see what this immortal in the painting looked like.
It's so beautiful that one can't bear to disturb it.
Yan Jingxu slowed his pace, but the sound beside him still startled the person in the painting.
"Your Highness, may you be well." A palace servant standing nearby bowed slightly upon seeing Yan Jingxu.
Yan Jingxu moved closer and quietly entered a section of the painting.
Upon hearing the sound, Yingning got up from the chaise longue.
"Sixth Prince." She said softly, and Cui Ling followed her to Yan Jingxu's side.
"Princess Zhaoning, are you doing well in the palace?" Yan Jingxu naturally knew why his father had left Yingning in the palace at this time, and today he took the opportunity to come to Lingyun Palace.
At this time, the emperor's elder brother regained favor, while the emperor's father seemed to still be desperately searching for the whereabouts of the fourth emperor.
Upon hearing that she had been kept in the palace, he immediately went to the palace to see his father, the emperor, intending to point out the inappropriateness of the matter.
Princess Zhaoning is from the Western Regions, and even if she came for the purpose of marriage, she should be treated as a distinguished guest.
How could he be treated like a prisoner in the palace?
"Your Highness need not worry, Zhao Ning is doing well in the palace."
"His Majesty and the Empress have allowed Zhao Ning to stay in the palace, giving her a chance to appreciate the beautiful scenery."
As soon as she finished speaking, Yan Jingxu's expression turned cold.
He knew she was lying.
Trapped in this Lingyun Palace, what beautiful scenery is there to admire?
Yan Jingxu couldn't help but feel some regret, but there was really nothing he could do.
After being refused an audience, he decided to go to the Qiankun Palace to see his father, the emperor, that very day.
He had just entered the palace when, by some unknown leak, he was intercepted by his elder brother, the Crown Prince Yan Dingjun, who advised him not to interfere in Princess Zhaoning's affairs.
"Your Majesty, you be the judge."
"Princess Zhaoning, is she really going to have to endure this treatment because of Yan Qizhen?"
"What is the logic behind this?"
"Our dynasty is a land of propriety and etiquette. How is this any different from the actions of those uncivilized barbarians?!"
"I will definitely demand an explanation from my father."
"I must go and pay my respects to the Emperor now!" Yan Jingxu bypassed the Crown Prince and tried to go directly to the Emperor's palace.
"Jingxu!"
"Yan Jingxu! You stop right there!" Crown Prince Yan Dingjun immediately grabbed him.
Compared to Yan Jingxu, the Crown Prince's strength was hardly an obstacle, and he easily broke free.
"Yan Jingxu!"
"You brat, stop right there!" Upon seeing this, the Crown Prince, instead of maintaining his usual gentle demeanor, hurriedly followed after him.
"Yan Jingxu, don't think that just because your father dotes on you, you can be so disrespectful today!"
"Great disrespect?"
"I only wanted to ask Father about Princess Zhaoning. What is the great disrespect involved?"
When Yan Jingxu spoke, the arrogance in his eyes was already impossible to suppress.
"Yan Jingxu, you've gone mad!"
"Yan Jingxu!"
"Yan Jingxu, if you continue to be so stubborn, don't blame me for disregarding our brotherly bond." Crown Prince Yan Dingjun was getting anxious and had no choice but to beckon the waiting guards to stop him.
Yan Jingxu looked at the guards blocking his way but did not turn around:
"Brother, do you also think Father did the right thing?"
His words were strange; it was unclear whether he was referring to Bai Yingning or something else.
The usually gentle and refined Crown Prince was taken aback, and after a moment he sighed helplessly: "Jingxu, we are both subjects."
"The relationship between ruler and subject is one of ruler first and subject second. So what fault has the ruler committed?"
Yan Jingxu sneered.
The crown prince walked to his side and gently patted his shoulder.
"My father has been unwell these past few days, and I have been busy organizing state affairs, so there are some things I haven't had time to tell you."
"You don't need to worry about Princess Zhaoning."
"I will protect her in the palace," Crown Prince Yan Dingjun said softly, looking at his younger brother who had been with him for many years.
He wasn't trying to appease Yan Jingxu; he had met Princess Zhaoning once at his mother's birthday banquet, and her heroic act of standing up for him was still vivid in his mind.
She could be considered to have done the Min Dynasty a favor.
However, the Emperor is indeed somewhat mentally unstable right now, so just in case, he has already placed spies in Lingyun Palace.
Even if a princess is not favored, she must not be allowed to cause any trouble in the Min Dynasty.
Upon hearing Crown Prince Yan Dingjun's words, Yan Jingxu seemed to have lost much of his menacing aura.
"Brother, can you tell me?"
"What exactly happened?"
"Has Father's poison not been cured yet?"
Upon hearing this, Crown Prince Yan Dingjun's expression instantly turned strange.
......
*
After the matter of Yan Jingxu's usurpation was settled and Crown Prince Yan Dingjun regained favor, he left the capital and went to the military camp a few days later.
Perhaps he had seen through the darkness within the palace, or perhaps he simply didn't want to hear the news of Yan Qizhen's capture.
He fled.
Crown Prince Yan Dingjun took over all the affairs of the court due to the emperor's "ill health," so he naturally knew something about the emperor's physical condition.
Yan Jingxu only learned some of the inside information from the Crown Prince.
*
Looking into those unfathomable phoenix eyes, Yan Jingxu couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.
"Feel sorry."
Yingning knew what he meant and shook her head directly:
"Sixth Prince, you have not done anything wrong."
Seeing that she was at ease, Yan Jingxu assumed that she had not suffered any grievances in the palace. Then he waved his hand, wanting the palace servants who were watching to leave.
"Sixth Prince, this..." The palace servants, following His Majesty's orders, dared not let Princess Zhaoning out of their sight.
"You don't even listen to what I say?"
Yan Jingxu shouted sharply. He had been training in the military camp for so long that he had lost much of his naivety, and the way he was at Empress Sun's birthday banquet was long gone.
The palace servants, however, still dared not move.
"Heh, if my words are useless, then are my elder brother's words also useless?" Yan Jingxu invoked the Crown Prince's name, causing the palace servants on the side to hesitate.
His Majesty is old and frail, while His Highness the Crown Prince has already taken over the affairs of the court and may well be the future ruler of the palace.
Several palace servants looked left and right, and then, remembering that there were imperial guards watching outside the palace, they began to waver.
"Get out of here at once!" Yan Jingxu ordered, and the palace servants all bowed.
"yes."
Although the palace servants left, they still stood at a distance, watching the two of them.
Fortunately, at this distance, their conversation could not be heard.
Yan Jingxu seemed somewhat dissatisfied and was about to walk over when he heard a woman's voice:
"Your Highness, that's enough."
"They're just following orders, don't make things too difficult for them," Yingning said.
Yan Jingxu dismissed the idea, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I'm sorry."
"Your Highness, I said there is no need for an apology."
Yan Jingxu shook his head: "You saved the Emperor at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, but today the Emperor treats you like this. I... should apologize."
His words were sincere, and his slightly raised eyebrows at that moment bore a striking resemblance to the Regent.
The two found a small pavilion in the palace.
After a few words, Yan Jingxu finally voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind:
"I've come here today because there's something I want to ask you."
She was seen holding her hand on the sandalwood table in the pavilion. It was midday in winter, and there was no wind. A ray of sunshine fell on the back of her hand, making her appear even more elegant and graceful.
"Are you... the one who sent me the message?"
Yan Jingxu pondered the mystery that had been shrouded in mystery for some time. First, he bumped into an old man on the street around the military camp, and then found a note on his body.
The address was listed above, so he went there.
He sent me a letter almost every month, which contained more or less some information about the future developments in the court, and then I matched it with the actual events.
The actions of the Fourth Prince, Yan Qizhen, were particularly accurate.
At first, Yan Jingxu had his doubts, but everything turned out to be true.
He later thought these were anonymous letters from his mother and elder brother, but when he returned to the capital and questioned them, they denied it.
Who could it be?
For some reason, Yan Jingxu's face appeared in his mind.
He didn't know why.
Suddenly I thought of her.
"Was that you?" Yan Jingxu asked, but his words already carried a hint of certainty.
Yingning raised the corners of her mouth slightly, but did not immediately agree: "Your Highness, is this the matter you came to inquire about today?"
"yes."
She looked at herself, a dazzling smile in her phoenix eyes.
Yan Jingxu immediately understood.
Why...why are you helping me?
"It's not that I'm helping you; I just have a bit of a grudge against Yan Qizhen."
"A festival?" Yan Jingxu frowned. He had heard that his fourth brother had asked their father for her hand in marriage.
That is, to ask for marriage.
How could the two of them have such a deep-seated grudge that they would want to kill each other?
Yan Jingxu suddenly felt a little confused.
"Your Highness, what do you think of the Crown Prince?" Yingning suddenly asked.
"Royal brother?" Yan Jingxu hadn't even reacted before he spoke.
"It should be good."
He had grown up with his elder brother since childhood, and Yan Jingxu knew that even though his elder brother was the crown prince, he never had any airs.
When he was young, he would climb trees and play around with the other princes. If his elder brother found out, he would be severely punished along with the prince.
He never showed any favoritism towards him just because he was his brother.
After punishing them, the elder brother would take the initiative to apologize to the father and mother, believing that he had not taken good care of his younger brothers.
He was a good prince, and even more so, a good elder brother.
“Brother, he is naturally good.” Yan Jingxu pondered for a moment and immediately understood why he wanted to stay away from the capital.
Because his thoughts were still lingering on childhood friendships...
But the dangers within the imperial city no longer allowed him any room.
“The Crown Prince is kind-hearted. If he were to inherit the throne, he would surely be able to govern the dynasty well,” Ying Ning said softly.
Yan Jingxu's eyes and brows were filled with surprise.
"I never expected you to say that."
He now knew she was the mysterious woman, and a feeling of closeness arose in his heart.
"Is it because I'm from the Western Regions that I can't think like that?" she teased.
"no."
"It seems I was judging a gentleman by my own petty standards." Yan Jingxu's aura relaxed considerably, as if he had transformed back into the young man who had once wielded his sword to repel the enemy.
There were no formal titles between them; instead, they chatted like friends.
“I do not have such ambitions, but as we both know from our royal birth, it is no easy task to raise a crown prince like His Highness who is capable of shouldering great responsibilities.”
"This is a blessing for the royal family."
"It is a blessing for the people." She said softly, offering her heartfelt blessings.
"Zhao Ning, what a pity." After a moment, Yan Jingxu suddenly said something inexplicably.
"pity?"
“If you had been born into the Min Dynasty’s royal family, I would surely have had one more friend in my childhood.” Yan Jingxu raised his head and smiled, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at her.
"However, I'm sure we'll have another chance to have a sword duel in the future."
As Yan Jingxu thought this, a surge of joy welled up in his heart, dispelling much of his earlier regret.
Thinking of this, Yan Jingxu suddenly felt...
After this incident, he should be able to stay in the capital.
But as soon as he snapped out of his thoughts, he looked up and saw the woman opposite him smiling lightly, ignoring his words.
At that moment, a snowflake began to fall from the sky.
Snow falling on a sunny day can actually be quite elegant.
"It's snowing."
Yan Jingxu looked in the direction of her voice and noticed the first snowflake.
It had barely arrived in this world, and before it could even take in all the beauty of the world, it was instantly blown by several gusts of wind and landed in a mud puddle outside the pavilion.
Unable to struggle, their life was shattered.
Yan Jingxu watched as the first snowflake fell and finally melted into the earth, when suddenly he felt a strange, sharp pain in his chest.
*
In the original storyline, Yan Qizhen received the prime minister's private support when he was at the height of his power. After the final competition, he forced the crown prince to leave the capital, and Yan Jingxu lost his right arm in order to protect the crown prince.
When Yan Qizhen ascended the throne, he made the prime minister's daughter his empress.
After being publicly humiliated by the Regent, the original owner of the body lived in the Western Regions government for a long time and was unwilling to discuss marriage with the people of the Min Dynasty.
After Yan Qizhen ascended the throne, he worried that his throne was unstable, so he wanted to use the power of the Western Regions to consolidate his imperial power. He even used Bai Chuning's antidote to blackmail the original owner and force Bai Yingning to enter the palace as a concubine.
At that time, Bai Chuning's body was getting weaker and weaker, and the pain he was in was tormenting him.
But the original owner couldn't just stand by and watch him suffer like this...
I had no choice but to agree...
However, after ascending the throne, Yan Qizhen gradually revealed his tyrannical side following the marriage alliance. Everyone in the capital lived in fear, and the palace was stained with blood...
The original owner, who had lived deep within the palace for a long time, was punished by being forced to kneel in front of the Qiankun Hall for two days and two nights for accidentally bumping into Yan Qizhen's dragon palanquin.
That night, a heavy rain fell, and the original owner knelt in front of the Qiankun Palace, getting soaked in the rain.
Although she was a concubine, in the palace at that time, there was no difference between concubines and servants.
Afterwards, the original owner fell seriously ill.
The disease struck fiercely, and Bai Yingning passed away from it not long after.
Yan Qizhen hastily concluded her funeral arrangements.
Even the court records written by historians did not leave much of a mention of her.
Afterwards, the Min Dynasty was ruled by a tyrannical ruler for more than ten years. Even after Yan Qizhen passed away, he did not leave behind a single heir.
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