Yan He left, the sky gradually darkened, and Lin Shuanghe was about to leave. Before leaving, he told Xiao Jue: "Remember to feed the medicine to Sister He. After taking the medicine, she should wake up soon. I will come again tomorrow, Huai Jin, don't worry too much."

After seeing Lin Shuanghe off, He Sui and He Yunsheng were still worried about He Yan, but since Xiao Jue was guarding He Yan's bed, they couldn't come in. He Sui dragged He Yunsheng away.

The medicine in the bowl gradually cooled down. Xiao Jue helped He Yan up, picked up the medicine, carefully scooped a spoonful and fed it into her mouth. The medicine flowed out from the corners of He Yan's mouth. He quickly put down the medicine bowl, wiped the medicine marks on He Yan's lips with a handkerchief, and frowned slightly.

He Yan's face was still pale. She had always been open-minded and always smiling. She was the kind of cheerful person who could joke and tell people around her not to worry even if she was seriously injured. This was the first time that she looked miserable even in her dreams.

He reached out and gently stroked He Yan's head, then turned his head to look at the bowl of medicine that was almost cold on the table. He paused for a moment, then finally made up his mind, picked up the bowl of medicine again, lowered his head and took a sip.

The girl on the bed closed her eyes and her eyelashes drooped softly, showing a bit of fragility that she had never seen before. The young man stared at the girl on the bed, his body a little stiff, and after struggling for a moment, he finally leaned over slowly and lowered his head to cover her lips.

The medicine was no longer hot, but just the right temperature. After a bowl of medicine, his ears were already red. He breathed a sigh of relief, sat up straight, and covered He Yan with the quilt.

Whether a man is a gentleman or not has never been a consideration for Xiao Jue. In the past, he acted according to his heart, but when it came to the woman in front of him, he would be very considerate. He was always afraid that she would feel resistance.

Xiao Jue took the empty medicine bowl out, and as soon as he went out, he saw a young man squatting under the eaves across the yard, drawing on the snow with a branch.

It’s He Yunsheng.

When He Yunsheng saw Xiao Jue coming out, his eyes lit up. Xiao Jue put the empty bowl in the kitchen. When he came back, He Yunsheng had already arrived at He Yan's door. He looked at Xiao Jue, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Xiao Jue closed He Yan's door to prevent the wind from blowing in, then looked at He Yunsheng: "Do you have something to tell me?"

He Yunsheng swallowed his saliva.

He used to admire Xiao Jue. I'm afraid all the young men in Shuojing City are like him. When did he change? Probably from that day when He Yan took the blame for killing Fan Cheng on Chunlai River and led away the pursuers alone. He Yunsheng suddenly realized that it was useless to just envy and admire others. Only when he became stronger could he protect He Yan, He Sui, and the people he wanted to protect. Instead of focusing on people far away, it is better to spend more time improving himself.

Later, He Yan returned, became Marquis of Wu'an, and brought back a fiancé.

This fiancé happened to be Xiao Jue.

He Yunsheng actually had no hostility towards Xiao Jue. The so-called resistance he showed was just due to He Yan's nervousness. He Yan had almost lost his life for Fan Cheng, so how could he know if Xiao Jue was another Fan Cheng? No one could tell for sure.

But today he also saw that when He Yan fainted, Xiao Jue stayed by He Yan's bed, wiping her hands and drying medicine for her, without leaving her side. He thought that Xiao Jue must like his sister, and this love was deeper than he and He Sui had imagined.

"Commander Xiao," the young man said nervously but with some determination, "Will you always be this nice to He Yan?"

Xiao Jue looked at him with some surprise, and after a moment of silence, he replied, "Yes."

"My sister... is very different from other women." He Yunsheng thought for a moment before slowly speaking: "No one can stop her from doing what she wants to do, and no one can force her to do what she doesn't want to do."

"But she is a good person, please don't hurt her." He Yunsheng said, "If you hurt her, I..." The young man said in a deep voice, "I will seek justice for her even if it costs me everything."

Xiao Jue looked at him for a while, then smiled, "Okay." After a pause, he added, "But you probably won't have this opportunity."

He Yunsheng also laughed, "This is a conversation between two men. When He Yan wakes up, don't tell her."

Xiao Jue lowered his eyes to look at the snow piled on the ground. The snow in the yard had not been swept clean in time, so it was only a thin layer. He asked He Yunsheng: "Are you concerned about He Yan?"

The boy instinctively wanted to retort, but when the words came to his lips, he sighed, "She is my sister."

She is his elder sister. Although she has always bullied him, scolded him, snatched away his favorite cakes, and always complained to He Sui, she would also stand in front of him and protect him silently.

In this world, apart from He Sui, they are the closest people to him. How could he not care?

"That's good," the young man said calmly, "You should continue to care about her in this way in the future."

"Of course I will always care about her." He Yunsheng said, and couldn't help but look at the young man standing beside him again. For some reason, his previous worries suddenly dissipated a lot.

Xiao Jue...is a different person from Fan Cheng.

…

He Yan had a long dream.

In the dream, she was still a child, wearing a mask. At that time, she had not yet gone to Xianchang Hall to study. She was still a poor insect who could only stay in the mansion except for sneaking out through the dog hole every day. One morning, she came in from Donghuang Mountain to help the monks carry water. When she went back through the dog hole, she accidentally ran into the servants in the mansion who got up early to turn down the night incense. She was so scared that she turned around and ran, and accidentally bumped into someone.

This person's skirt smells very good, like flowers in spring, so fragrant that it makes people linger. Her voice is also soft, with a hint of smile.

A pair of hands pulled her up from the ground.

The lady's features were somewhat similar to hers, and she looked at her with a very gentle gaze. She pulled her slightly to the side, hiding her figure. After the servants left, she patted He Yan's hand gently and said softly, "It's okay, be careful."

He Yan was wearing a mask, so the other person couldn't see her face, but she thought that at that time, her face under the mask must have been dull and filled with a desire to get closer.

The woman turned and walked away. He Yan followed behind her, wanting to call her "mother", but for some reason, even though she was so close to him, she just couldn't catch up. She watched the woman walk farther and farther away until she disappeared from her sight. She fell to the ground in a panic, feeling sad and wronged. She couldn't help but burst into tears.

"He Yan?" Someone seemed to be calling her name.

He Yan opened her eyes and met Xiao Jue's concerned gaze. She felt her face was cold, and she subconsciously reached out to touch it, and it was full of tears.

In an instant, she understood everything.

The events on the Star Tower replayed in her mind one by one. She closed her eyes, and the pain was inevitable, overwhelming her.

"My mother, she..." As soon as she said one word, tears rolled down her cheeks.

He Yan originally thought that although she and Madam He Er were mother and daughter in name, they had no mother-daughter relationship. In the years when she longed for her mother's care, Madam He Er was always missing. She couldn't say she hated him, but she did have some complaints. Even after her rebirth, she still didn't know how to face Madam He Er again. Now, she no longer had this opportunity.

"Your Majesty has allowed me to bury Madam He Er," Xiao Jue said softly, "He Yan..." He couldn't think of any words to comfort the girl in front of him, "You don't have to hold it in. Cry if you want to."

Cuiluo came here and told the truth. Madam He Er had been preparing for today since early morning. He Rufei did not feed her poison, but she hid the poison herself. Madam He Er had already made up her mind to die. With her body, she would not live for long. She asked Cuiluo for a token that could lead her to Tianxingtai, and when the He family was not paying attention, she crawled out of the dog hole that He Yan had dug, and rushed all the way to Tianxingtai, just to use her life to accumulate the last piece of evidence for He Yan.

The so-called deal with Xiao Jue was the last life-saving talisman she had hidden for He Xinying, and it was also the escape route she had arranged for He Yan.

Xiao Jue never paid any attention to the women's tricks in the backyard, but the tricks of He Er Madam were not very clever. She wanted to create the illusion that she was partial to He Xinying, but she couldn't help but care about He Yan. In the end, she was willing to sacrifice her own life to clear up the injustice of He Yan's past life. A mother would never do such a thing if she didn't love her daughter.

But...if this was her last wish, he was willing to cooperate with him and give her the small satisfaction of having her plan succeed.

Mrs. He Er lived a life without her control and rarely had the opportunity to decide her own fate. She could not decide her own birth, but she could decide her own death, and she used death to pave a future for her two daughters, even though she could not see it at all.

He Yan choked up and said, "Xiao Jue, I don't have a mother anymore... I will not have a mother anymore in the future."

Even though the word "mother" did not appear many times in her life, as long as it existed, there might still be a glimmer of hope. But Madam He Er had left, and she would never have another chance in the future. The so-called fantasy between mother and daughter would always remain a fantasy, with no chance of realization.

God was so cruel that he didn't even give her this opportunity, which made her extremely regretful that she didn't say more to Madam He Er when she was at Yuhua Temple last time.

Xiao Jue stared at her with his eyes downcast, feeling uncomfortable. He certainly knew how He Yan felt at that moment, because he had felt the same way before.

If it was physical pain, he could bear it on behalf of He Yan, but no one could bear the grief of losing a loved one for her.

"What did she say to you in the end?" He Yan asked.

At that time, Xiao Jue was the only one beside Madam He Er, and no one heard their conversation. She didn't know what Madam He Er said before she died, but was there a word for her?

"She said," Xiao Jue paused and spoke slowly, "She was covered with lotus leaves, but it was too wet to be carried away..."

"She loves you and wants you to live well."

He Yan's suppressed sobs were immediately heard in the room.

After an unknown amount of time, the room fell silent. He Yan wiped the tears from his face and managed to calm his voice: "Xiao Jue, the emperor is confiscating the homes of He and Xu. Where is my sister He Xinying?"

"She had nothing to do with it, if..."

"I will explain this to the emperor, don't worry." Xiao Jue was silent for a moment, then he held her in his arms and whispered, "He Yan, I will always be with you."

…

In the palace.

In Concubine Lan's palace, the Fourth Prince was staring at the burning candles in a daze.

"Did you come here just to daydream?" Concubine Lan Guifei's words brought Guangxio back to his senses.

Guang Shuo came back to his senses and said, "Mother, I was just thinking about what happened on the Tianxing Terrace today."

Today's incident has shaken the whole Wei Dynasty.

"Who would have thought that General Feihong was actually a woman?" Guangxiao still had some disbelief when he talked about this matter. "It turns out that women can also fight in wars and become generals."

"You, please don't look down on women." Concubine Lan smiled and picked up the teacup in front of her, her voice light, "You men are fighting on the battlefield, and the women are fighting in the backyard, and no one is more miserable than the other. Women in the world can do what men can do. It's just that there are too few people willing to be the first to do it. Guangshuo, you have to remember that if you look down on women, you will definitely suffer a great loss in the future."

Guang Shuo said respectfully, "Your son has remembered it." He paused, then sighed, "But the second daughter of General Feihong, He, was eventually murdered by her family. The He family is so cruel that they can even kill their own daughter."

Concubine Lan smiled noncommittally: "It's not that it's not coming, it's that the time has not come yet. The He family has sown the seeds, and now it's time to reap the fruits of their own actions."

"That's right," Guang Shuo nodded and said, "Now that the emperor is confiscating the He and Xu families, the evidence is solid. It's impossible for the He family to turn things around. This can be considered a little comfort to the real General He who is in the netherworld."

Concubine Lan looked at him and smiled without saying anything.

"Mother, what do you think this minister is doing?"

"What do you think about Prime Minister Xu?" asked Concubine Lan.

Guangshuo was startled.

"Now, Xiao Huaijin and Xu Xiang have completely torn their faces apart. Since Xiao Huaijin sent Xu Xiang back to prison, he will not let go of this opportunity. I think he should have other evidence in his hands."

"I think so too," Guangshuo replied, "but..."

"Just what?"

"I'm afraid that Father will not be ruthless to Prime Minister Xu."

"Your father is a nostalgic man." Concubine Lan looked into the distance, "When the emperor first ascended the throne, it was Prime Minister Xu who helped him to secure his position. Naturally, he had a kind of gratitude towards Prime Minister Xu that no one else had. However, your father is already old."

Guangshuo looked at the woman in front of him.

"An old emperor will make plans for the future. No matter how outrageous your father is, he would not want the Wei Dynasty to be destroyed in his hands. Whether for the sake of the crown prince or the future heir, the emperor will definitely punish Prime Minister Xu. Guangshuo, if you want to fight, you must fight for Xiao Huaijin,"

"The art of persuading people is like the art of using troops, and the best way is to attack their hearts. Xiao Huaijin is seeking redress for his father's injustice. If you can help him at this time, it would be like sending charcoal in the snow."

Guangshuo was silent for a while, then said, "Mother, I understand."

"You are as kind as your father," Concubine Lan looked at him gently, "I know you don't like power politics, but Guangshuo, if you want to be an emperor, you must learn to govern your ministers. This is not a bad thing. Since you were born in the palace and want to choose your own destiny, you must do this. There is no such thing as the best of both worlds. Look at your father, he has been free and easy all his life, but now, isn't he also bound by constraints?"

Guangshuo said nothing.

The candle wax dripped all over the table like red tears. The hall was silent except for the fragrance of the woman's sleeves, which gave off an empty and cold air.

…

Xiao Jue entered the palace in the middle of the night.

When the eunuch summoned him into the study, Emperor Wenxuan had not yet gone to bed. The table was filled with memorials and case files scattered around, and he had no interest in reading them.

He was not a diligent monarch. Maybe he tried to be diligent in his work in the first two years after he ascended the throne, but he gave up later. There are emperors who are diligent in governing the country, and there are also mediocre and ineffective emperors. Emperor Wenxuan thought that being a mediocre emperor was not a bad thing. All he wanted to do was to live a plain life like this, and when the time came, he would pass the throne to his son. That would be enough.

He did live like this for most of his life, and sometimes Emperor Wenxuan himself thought it was pretty good. He was not like his father, who was always worried and busy, nor was he like the retired emperors, who led the army to conquer everywhere. He lived a more relaxed life than them and lived longer than them.

Isn't the Wei Dynasty doing well? As long as people are used well, military generals defend the country, and civil officials govern the government, it is also a peaceful and prosperous era. Until today, the truth he thought was completely overturned. Emperor Wenxuan sat here and suddenly realized that he really didn't act as a good emperor all these years.

He was not a talent for being an emperor. If he had not been born in the royal family, he would have preferred to be a leisurely prince, an ordinary official son, or even the son of a wealthy businessman, without any great ambitions or talents, just writing poems, painting, and enjoying the pleasures of life. Instead of being like now, sitting in this position, every move of his is related to the life and death of tens of millions of people. If he does not do well, someone will scold him behind his back, and if he does well, others will think that this is what he deserves.

An emperor who longs for freedom is a taboo for the royal family. He hides his thoughts deep inside, but it turns out that everyone can see through them.

Xiao Jue came in.

Emperor Wenxuan looked at the young man in front of him.

He still remembered that when Xiao Zhongwu first brought Xiao Jue to him, Xiao Jue was just a teenager, very handsome, even more handsome than the other children of the royal family, with a proud and careless look, totally different from his gentle and polite elder brother. Emperor Wenxuan thought to himself that Xiao Zhongwu, a warrior, actually had two handsome sons, which was really enviable.

I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, Xiao Jue has grown up so much. The youthfulness of the boy has completely faded away, and the eyes looking at him are calm, respectful, and a little cold.

He suddenly thought of Xiao Zhongwu.

"Actually, now it seems that you and your father are somewhat similar," Emperor Wenxuan said.

He always thought that Xiao Jue looked like Madam Xiao, with bright eyes and eyebrows, but in fact, his sharpness and calmness all came from his father.

"Your Majesty, do you still remember my father?" Xiao Jue spoke calmly.

Emperor Wenxuan was stunned.

He thought that after so long, his memory would be a little fuzzy, but when he recalled it, Xiao Zhongwu's appearance was surprisingly clear. The tall man who always wore golden armor and carried a sword was different from the court officials. He was like the northwest wind, cold, unrestrained, and frank, making all those who yearned for freedom envious.

Emperor Wenxuan was also jealous.

But in the end, Xiao Zhongwu died, and the Xiao family almost collapsed. If it weren't for the young man in front of him who led three thousand soldiers to Guocheng, perhaps there would be no Xiao family in the Wei Dynasty today.

He looked at Xiao Jue: "Did you hate me at first?"

"I dare not."

Emperor Wenxuan laughed softly. If he didn't dare, then he had done it before. In the whole world, only the person in front of him had the courage to say this to his face. However, he didn't feel angry. Perhaps it was because no one had dared to tell the truth to him for many years.

"Your Majesty," Xiao Jue said, "I beg Your Majesty to spare the wife of Hanlin scholar Xu Zhiheng, He Xinying."

"He Xinying?"

"The real General Feihong and Miss He Er were biological sisters from the same mother." Xiao Jue said, "After Miss He Er was conspired to drown in a pond, the He family married Miss He Er's sister He Xinying to Xu Zhiheng as his successor." He looked at Emperor Wenxuan, "Madam He Er is dead. Grandma Xu is the only relative of General Feihong left in the world. Moreover, I have already inquired about it. Grandma Xu had no idea that General Feihong and He Rufei had exchanged identities."

"Your Majesty is kind and gracious. Please spare He Xinying's life for the sake of General Feihong's death."

"General Feihong..." Emperor Wenxuan murmured.

Everything that happened in Tianxingtai today was caused by General Feihong. However, he did not expect that the Feihong he personally appointed was actually a woman.

When He Rufei took off his mask and revealed a handsome face, Emperor Wenxuan was still wondering if the rumors about him having a birthmark on his face and being ugly were false. Now it seems that the He family had started a scam to deceive the world since then.

If Miss He Er was still alive, Emperor Wenxuan might punish her, after all, she also participated in deceiving the emperor. But Miss He Er died, and died so tragically. When a person dies, it is like a lamp going out, and no one remembers all the bad things that happened in his life. When looking at a dead person, people are always more tolerant and think that she has done nothing wrong.

"Forget it, let's spare her life." Emperor Wenxuan sighed, "After all, General Feihong once fought for the Wei army and put down the rebellion of the Western Qiang."

"I, on behalf of General Feihong, thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Emperor Wenxuan looked at Xiao Jue and smiled. "I heard that you and General Feihong were classmates. You are running around for her like this. It seems that you are also a nostalgic person. If General Feihong knew about this, he would be relieved."

Xiao Jue said nothing, and Emperor Wenxuan waved his hand, "You can go down."

When the young man bowed and was about to leave, Emperor Wenxuan called him back.

The emperor's voice was filled with deep fatigue. "For so many years, I have treated Prime Minister Xu well. Why would Prime Minister Xu still have rebellious intentions?"

The eunuch lowered his head and dared not speak.

After a while, the young man spoke calmly, "Excessive favor leads to arrogance, and too much kindness leads to resentment. Perhaps, Your Majesty has been too kind to him."