Chapter 15 Lip balm: My lips look like they were chewed by a dog......
When Shen Xingwan and Yan Jinghuan arrived at the emperor's tent, the tent was surrounded by people.
The emperor was lying weakly on the brocade couch in the center of the tent. When he heard the announcement that the regent had arrived, he opened his eyes with difficulty.
"Everyone step back. Ahem... ahem... Yan Jinghuan... come closer."
The Imperial Concubine, who was holding the medicine bowl and tending to the sick, frowned and advised: "Your Majesty, you just had an acupuncture, and the imperial physician told you to rest more. Even if there is something urgent, please take care of your health first and talk about it later."
"Stand back."
Although the emperor's voice was weak, his pressure was still unquestionable.
The Imperial Concubine's face was frozen, her fingers holding the edge of the bowl turned pale, she looked at the Emperor for a long time, finally put down the medicine bowl, stood up, walked past everyone and left the tent.
Everyone in the tent immediately filed out.
Shen Xingwan did not dare to stay and turned to walk out. Before he took a step, someone grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the emperor.
Shen Xingwan looked up in horror, but Yan Jinghuan showed no expression. He just moved his palm down and held her hand tightly, not allowing her to retreat at all.
The emperor gasped for breath, his chest whistling like a broken bellows with every breath.
He looked at the two men approaching him, frowned, and his gray face became even uglier.
"Husband and wife are one." Yan Jinghuan looked at him and said, "I think the matter entrusted by the emperor requires our joint efforts."
Seeing Yan Jinghuan's determination, the emperor didn't say anything.
He probably doesn't have much time left and doesn't have the time to dwell on these details.
The emperor reached out his hand, and grabbed Yan Jinghuan's sleeve with his fingertips like dead branches, "Zihui... I am worried about you."
Yan Jinghuan held his hand and said solemnly: "With me, I will keep him safe."
"I want him to be the emperor! Cough... cough... you... you agree..." The emperor stood up and grabbed Yan Jinghuan's hand tightly, staring into his eyes with his empty eyes.
"I promise."
After receiving the promise, the emperor fell back onto the brocade couch covered with brocade, like a deflated ball, all his strength exhausted.
He closed his eyes, his eyelids trembling slightly uncontrollably. He was silent for a while, then reached into his clothes and fumbled out something, then held it up and handed it to Yan Jinghuan.
"I will not... ahem... wait for you. Whatever you want, the State of Wei will help you."
Shen Xingwan looked at the thing. It was black with a dim luster. It was the tiger talisman used by the Wei Dynasty to command the three armies.
She looked at Yan Jinghuan in horror, but saw that he remained calm, his narrow eyes narrowed slightly, pursed his lips and reached out to take the tiger talisman.
"I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the Emperor Wei. I will certainly live up to your trust."
The emperor seemed extremely tired and weak. He did not open his eyes again, but just raised his hand slightly, signaling the two to leave.
Yan Jinghuan put away the tiger talisman and pulled Shen Xingwan, who had not yet recovered from her shock, out of the tent.
As soon as the two of them left the tent, the imperial doctors rushed into the tent to treat the emperor.
The Imperial Concubine walked out of the side tent with a gloomy face, looked at Yan Jinghuan and sneered, "The Emperor has entrusted the country's destiny to the Regent."
Yan Jinghuan's lips curled slightly.
"The emperor is still alive, but he is in poor health. How can he be entrusted with the fate of the country?"
He raised his eyes to look at the Imperial Concubine, "Could it be that the Imperial Concubine knows something and is sure that the Emperor will not recover?"
"you!"
The Imperial Concubine's eyes turned cold and the smile on her lips disappeared. She narrowed her eyes slightly and took a while before she smiled again.
The smile did not reach deep into his eyes, but when the sinister look swept across Shen Xingwan, she could not help but shiver.
"You are very good."
Shen Xingwan lowered her head. She didn't know who the imperial concubine was talking to. She only heard her turn away and go to the emperor's tent.
Yan Jinghuan held Shen Xingwan's hand tightly and whispered, "Let's go."
Just as he was about to lift his leg and move forward, the soft, boneless hand in his palm was pulled away.
His palms felt empty, he clenched them into fists, and looked up at Shen Xingwan.
The little girl lowered her head, and it was impossible to see the expression on her face. She put her hands in her sleeves and walked forward on her own.
Yan Jinghuan pursed his lips, took a long step, walked over her in two steps, and reached out to pull her.
His fingertips were just about to touch the hem of her sleeve when Shen Xingwan suddenly raised her arm to avoid his touch, slightly turned sideways, quickened her pace, jogged past his shoulder and ran out.
Yan Jinghuan frowned, turned around and chased after her. He deliberately slowed down his pace and followed her at a distance.
When passing through a forest path, Yan Jinghuan raised his hand, waved away his followers, chased after Shen Xingwan, grabbed her arm, turned his arm around, held her in his arms, and carried her back into the deserted woods nearby.
Just as Shen Xingwan was about to scream, he covered her lips with his broad, big hand and pushed her against the tree trunk.
Although he looked thin, his body was as hard as iron and his strength was outrageous. No matter how Shen Xingwan struggled, he could not be shaken at all, and his eyes gradually became misty.
Seeing the crystal tears falling from her eyes, Yan Jinghuan's tightly furrowed brows moved slightly. He moved the hand that was covering her lips up, and wiped away the tears with his cool fingertips.
"For no reason..." There was confusion in his eyes, but more of pity, "What's the sudden commotion?"
He had smudged Shen Xingwan's lip balm, and the bright red lip balm spread from her plump lips to her fair cheeks. Yan Jinghuan couldn't help but wipe it with his hands, but the more he wiped, the more smudged it became.
The little girl was rubbed by him like a cat, and became even more embarrassed. Even a calm man like him showed a bit of helplessness.
Shen Xingwan pushed him away, and in a blink of an eye, big tears began to fall uncontrollably.
Yan Jinghuan stroked his forehead and looked at her, "What on earth did I do to irritate you?"
"Are you marrying me to get the support of the Shen family and help the little prince seize the throne?"
With tears in her eyes, Shen Xingwan looked up at Yan Jinghuan.
The pain in her eyes was surging, almost devouring her, and also burning Yan Jinghuan's eyes. He looked at her for a long time, and finally spoke, "You think so?"
“Isn’t it?!”
Shen Xingwan was a little excited, and asked with a choked voice, "You want to help the little prince seize the throne. The little prince is young. If he takes the throne, you can control him and take everything you want!"
"What do you want? Wei?" Shen Xingwan stared into his eyes. Seeing that he was unmoved, she moved closer. "Or, Dayan?"
Yes, the emperor even entrusted him with the tiger talisman, asking him to help him take what he wanted. Is there anything that requires the use of Wei’s military power to seize?
Apart from the throne of Dayan, Shen Xingwan really couldn't think of anything else that the prince of Dayan in front of him would want.
She smiled sadly and suddenly felt a little sad. Is this her fate?
Just out of the tiger's blood, she fell into the wolf's den. In her previous life, Shen worked for the Third Prince and ended up with the whole family being executed. In this life, will she be trapped in the bloodthirsty road of the Fourteenth Prince's fight for the throne because of her?
She must never let this happen again!
She grabbed Yan Jinghuan's collar and pulled him towards her.
"So that's why you agreed to marry me right away, right? So you also want to use the power of the Shen family to fight for the party, right? I tell you, it's impossible! I will never let the Shen family get involved in any party disputes! Never!"
Yan Jinghuan looked at her coldly, "So, you want to cancel the engagement?"
"......"
Shen Xingwan was stunned on the spot.
Break off the engagement? How should she break off the engagement?
In this situation, if she really canceled the marriage and completely offended the two largest forces in the Wei State, she might be beheaded at any time.
She stared in amazement at the calm and terrifying Yan Jinghuan in front of her.
Somehow, she always felt that beneath his dark and calm eyes, there was an undercurrent of madness.
If she dared to say yes. ' word, will immediately be scared to death.
She glanced around. The dense forest was silent, with only the cold moonlight.
She trembled and lost the strength in her hands, and the gold-woven fabric wrinkled and fell loose from her hands.
"What?" He gritted his teeth, "Are you scared?"
Shen Xingwan shrank her shoulders and dared not look at him, and could not help but step back.
Yan Jinghuan took a step forward, and Shen Xingwan had nowhere to retreat, so he was forced to lean against the tree trunk.
He reached out and grabbed her chin, tilting it up and forcing her to look at him.
"Do you really think that you, or the entire Shen Group, are important?"
Shen Xingwan was silent.
Yan Jinghuan looked at her and smiled self-deprecatingly, "I have never thought about, or rather, I don't need to, rely on a woman's connections to get anything."
"The reason I brought you to see the Emperor today is that I don't intend to hide anything from you. Since I marry you, I will be honest with you."
Shen Xingwan's pupils trembled slightly and she looked at him in disbelief.
Yan Jinghuan sighed and tucked the loose hair on her face behind her ears.
"I promise you, no matter what I want to fight for, I will not use your Shen family for anything."
His fingertips caressed her cheek from behind her ear, gently caressing the skin that was dyed red by lip balm, "Besides, it was you who wanted to marry me."
"You can't regret it anymore..." His eyes were deep, "You can't regret it anymore."
He stood against the cold moonlight, his tall figure looming over her. Shen Xingwan didn't dare to say a word, she only felt that his whole body exuded a sense of calm madness.
She really didn't dare to provoke him anymore. After enduring for a long time, Shen Xingwan timidly stammered, "I, I want to go home."
Yan Jinghuan looked at her for a long time, so long that her legs were numb from standing, and she couldn't help but stamp her feet quietly.
Yan Jinghuan's eyes fell on the hem of her skirt. He finally stood up straight, held her hand again, closed his fingertips, and held her hand, leading her out of the dense forest.
Before sending Shen Xingwan to the carriage of the Shen Mansion, Yan Jinghuan whispered: "Be at ease and wait for your marriage. The situation in the palace is unstable right now. Don't run around. Protect yourself. If you are in danger, just send someone to find me."
"Um."
Shen Xingwan agreed, lowered his head, turned around and got on the carriage.
Feiyun helped Shen Xingwan sit down, and suddenly asked curiously: "Miss, what's wrong with your mouth? Why is your lip balm all smudged? It looks like it was chewed by a dog..."
As Feiyun was speaking, he realized that he had said something wrong and quickly covered his mouth, his eyes unable to help but glance out the car window.
But the regent who watched the carriage leave was clearly very clean and tidy, standing there quietly like the breeze and bright moon, and he didn't look so enthusiastic at all.
Feiyun blushed, lowered her head, covered her hands with a handkerchief and giggled.
Seeing her behavior, Shen Xingwan was shocked to realize that the girl had misunderstood and was imagining things. Her face immediately turned red and she pushed her away in embarrassment.
The two of them went back to the house awkwardly to wash and rest. Just as they were about to go to sleep, Prime Minister Shen was suddenly summoned to the palace overnight.
Being summoned so late at night must mean something big has happened in the palace. Madam Shen was so worried that she couldn't sit still and sleep. Shen Xingwan quickly put on her clothes and went to Madam Shen's room to accompany her.
This wait lasted the entire night until the dawn, when Prime Minister Shen sent a servant back to report safety.
The servant knelt down and reported: "Madam, the emperor is critically ill. The master and his close ministers will not be able to return for a few days. They are all waiting in the palace. Madam, don't worry, just send someone to pack clothes and send them over."
"Yes." Madam Shen nodded, asked someone to pack clothes, and asked the servant: "Is there any other news?"
The servant stood up, took a few steps closer, and said in a low voice: "The Yan Kingdom has sent an envoy. The palace is saying that they want to make the third prince the crown prince."
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