Chapter 91 The death knell really came early...
The sky was dark, and the sunset glow had faded into the twilight.
The green tiles of the Regent's Palace were as quiet as ink in the night, with only the warm yellow lanterns swaying under the eaves, and the candlelight gently reflected on the wall under the eaves, casting a soft halo.
When Shen Xingwan stepped into the mansion, the night breeze was still carrying a faint floral scent; the crabapple trees in the courtyard were quietly blooming.
There was still some scent of makeup from the Lixiang Garden on her body, and her face was full of energy.
She returned to the room and lifted the curtain, just in time to see Yan Jinghuan having taken off his outer robe and leaning against the window reading a letter.
He heard footsteps and looked up slightly. The coldness in his eyes suddenly melted away, replaced by a tenderness like the first melting spring snow.
He casually put down the letter in his hand and called, "Serve the meal."
As soon as he finished speaking, the maids came in one after another, each carrying exquisite lacquer boxes, and carefully placed a table full of food.
Braised shad, lotus seed and tremella soup, crispy duck feet, steamed chicken, lychee meat, bamboo fungus and black chicken soup were all her favorite dishes. Even the small dish of fried clams in ginger juice was something she happened to say was delicious, and the kitchen had noted it down.
Shen Xingwan was stunned and looked at him, a smile slowly appearing at the corner of his lips, but he didn't say anything.
Yan Jinghuan filled a bowl of soup and handed it to her, smiling, but his tone was full of joking: "Lady, you've been out today punishing evil and promoting good, it's very hard. Come, have a bowl of chicken soup to replenish yourself."
His tone was gentle, with a hint of amusing teasing, but his eyes were full of doting.
Shen Xingwan glared at him, her ears slightly red, she lowered her eyes, took the soup bowl, and drank from it in small sips. The soup was fresh, fragrant and rich, and it flowed smoothly into her throat.
She said softly, "If it weren't for the powerful secret guards you assigned to me earlier, I would not be able to defeat that scoundrel by myself."
She paused, took a sip of the soup, and suddenly sighed somewhat depressedly.
"It's just that...Minister Chen holds a high position and has deep roots. I don't know how the Dali Temple will sentence him."
"Will the officials protect each other, hastily expose the crime and let the tiger go back to the mountains?"
Yan Jinghuan said nothing when he heard this, but turned his head to look at her, with a chill in his gentle eyes.
He put down the silver chopsticks in his hand and said, "I have collected all his deeds over the years. The evidence is irrefutable. I have ordered someone to send it to the Dali Temple. The signature is my seal."
His tone was calm, without any disturbance: "This man shall be executed immediately."
Shen Xingwan was startled, and the soup bowl in his hand trembled slightly.
She thought that today's battle at Lixiang Garden was a result of her personally bringing down this powerful and corrupt official.
But only now did she realize that she had only cleared away the most superficial clouds, and the one who truly called the wind and rain and swept away the reefs was always him.
An indescribable feeling of emotion suddenly surged up in my heart.
She lowered her head and remained silent for a long time before finally uttering two words softly: "Thank you."
Yan Jinghuan's eyebrows twitched, obviously he didn't like this distant word.
She immediately realized this, looked up and saw him frowning slightly, quickly put down the soup bowl, and smiled: "No need to say thank you, I know you don't like to hear this, then how about this..."
As she spoke, she scooped a bowl of soup for him and carefully held it in front of him, "I'm offering this soup to you as a thank you!"
Yan Jinghuan looked at her watery eyes and became serious, half-seriously.
He took the soup bowl and placed it on the table, but his fingertips did not loosen. He looked up at her deeply, with a smile on his lips, saying meaningfully: "If you really want to thank me..."
He paused, raised his eyelids slightly, and said in a low voice: "You can try another way."
Shen Xingwan was stunned, obviously not reacting: "What method?"
Yan Jinghuan did not answer immediately. He just glanced at the bed curtain with drapery hanging lightly in the middle. The light cast a warm and hazy shadow between the gauze.
The smile on his lips deepened, and he slowly lowered his head. His voice seemed to be stained with the alcohol in the night, low and smiling, with a little malicious temptation:
"I have my own way of teaching you how to thank me."
Shen Xingwan was stunned for a moment, a blush suddenly appeared on her face, and heat burned from her ears to the back of her neck.
She stood up hurriedly, stretched out her hand and gently pushed him: "You...you are not ashamed!"
Yan Jinghuan was pushed back slightly by her, but he still sat steadily, supporting his chin with one hand, watching her blushing face leisurely, smiling slowly, and whispered to her: "So, are you going to thank me tonight, or... not thank me?"
Shen Xingwan was so embarrassed that she almost covered her face and ran away, but she couldn't bear to really run away. She could only bite her lip and glare at him, gritting her teeth and cursing in a low voice: "Scoundrel!"
He smiled as bright as the wind and responded softly.
"I, your husband, have always been a scoundrel to you."
As the night deepens, the curtains hang low, the candlelight flickers at an angle, and it seems that even the wind is tinged with the intoxicating scent of lingering love.
The hibiscus tent is warm, the gauze curtains are lightly hanging, and the night is quietly silent.
Shen Xingwan leaned in Yan Jinghuan's arms, her eyes still blushing, her breathing shallow, her body as soft as wet silk.
She was already fast asleep, but just after she closed her eyes, she heard a burst of hurried and chaotic footsteps outside.
Accompanied by a few hurried and suppressed exclamations, it came from far away and approached like a violent storm.
Shen Xingwan woke up suddenly, her eyelashes trembling slightly, and she moved her body and wanted to get off the bed.
Yan Jinghuan noticed her movements almost instantly, and with his long arms, he held her in his arms, his body tense, and he said in a deep voice: "What's the noise?"
The steward outside the house had already rushed over and knelt down in front of the door. His voice was low but could not hide his anxiety: "Your Highness, the emperor...I'm afraid he is not going to make it."
After he finished speaking, there was a sudden silence.
Shen Xingwan's mind exploded with a bang. She grabbed Yan Jinghuan's collar and asked in a lost voice, "What day is today?"
Yan Jinghuan frowned, "May 3rd."
Shen Xingwan's fingers stiffened, and her lips suddenly lost their color. She murmured, "No, it shouldn't be today..."
"In the previous life... In the previous life, it was clearly the end of July when the emperor passed away. How could it be..."
Her eyes became more and more serious, as if some terrible thoughts were rising from the bottom of her heart.
The uncontrollable anxiety made her breathing tighten and her fingertips felt colder.
Yan Jinghuan also fell into deep thought. After a while, he pursed his lips and said, "This life is different from the previous life. I married you, and many things have gone off the track."
"Since things have changed, it's unknown if some things will happen earlier than expected."
After that, he stood up and put on his clothes. As he put on his clothes, he said to Shen Xingwan, "I will go into the palace to find out the situation. You stay here and don't act rashly. I will send someone to protect you."
Shen Xingwan grabbed the corner of his sleeve and said, "No, you can't just go like this!"
"I remember the night when the emperor passed away in my previous life. The dragon bed in the palace was still warm, and outside, nine dragons were fighting for the throne. There was a bloody storm, and even the imperial guards were divided into several factions. The imperial city almost became a battlefield."
"If you enter the palace rashly, you may be in danger!"
Yan Jinghuan looked at her steadily, his eyes as deep as the sea, and said slowly: "It is precisely because of the danger that we cannot sit and wait for death."
"Those ambitious people have been eyeing the throne for many years. If something happens tonight and we don't intervene early, it will be too late to stabilize the situation."
He spoke calmly and decisively, but Shen Xingwan felt extremely heavy in his heart.
It’s not that she doesn’t understand, but she is afraid.
Her voice trembled: "Then you must promise me that you will come back alive. Definitely!"
Yan Jinghuan lowered his eyes and looked at her. At that moment, tenderness in his eyes surged like a tide, but in the end he just gently tucked the corner of the quilt for her and said softly, "Don't worry."
He turned around and disappeared into the endless night.
The curtain swayed slightly, bringing with it a lingering scent.
Shen Xingwan sat on the bed, watching his departing back, her fingertips clenched around the embroidered quilt, her heart beating like thunder.
This night is destined to be sleepless.
As the night deepens, the dew becomes heavier, and the chill seeps through the window lattices and into the curtains.
A long-burning lamp in the room swayed unsteadily, casting a shadow on the wall, mottled and messy, just like the waves in Shen Xingwan's heart, rising and falling constantly.
She tossed and turned on the couch, and the quilt had been kicked into pieces by her.
Her ears were too quiet except for the sound of her heart beating as heavy as a drum, one after another, making her head buzz.
She stared at the flying clouds and dragons embroidered on the ceiling of the tent and couldn't calm down.
Feiyun lay beside her wrapped in a coat, knowing that she had trouble sleeping, and stayed up all night with her.
She whispered, "Don't worry, Miss. The son-in-law is so powerful, and he has a group of secret guards around him. No matter how powerful those people in the palace are, they can't do anything to him."
"What's more, the power of the regent has grown over the years. Even if something really happens, he will be able to control it."
Shen Xingwan closed her eyes, but her brows were still furrowed, her lips were tightly pursed, her face looked calm, but her heart was already turbulent.
She whispered: "I understand the truth..."
"But the incident in the palace tonight happened too suddenly. It's not like a normal serious illness."
"Your Majesty has been ill for a long time, and he is under the care of many imperial doctors. Even if something was going to happen, it shouldn't be at this time... I always feel like something is wrong."
Feiyun was frightened after hearing this and fell silent.
After a moment, Shen Xingwan suddenly sat up and said, "Feiyun, go and settle the Fourteenth Prince down, assign more people, and strictly guard his courtyard. No matter who comes to look for him tonight, don't let them go. Move them immediately if necessary."
Feiyun was stunned for a moment, then immediately responded, "I'll go right away!"
Shen Xingwan added, "Also, have Xing Zhou send another secret guard to immediately report to the Shen Mansion and inform my father that there may be a major change in the palace tonight. The Shen Mansion must be on high alert. All the guards at the gates and the secret sentries in the inner house must be replaced with elite men. There must be no slackness."
Feiyun nodded seriously and was about to get up and leave.
suddenly!
“——Dong——”
A heavy and slow bell sound came from the direction of the palace, like a huge hammer in the night, smashing into the earth.
Then, the second and third sounds came.
“Boom—boom—boom—”
The nine bell sounds were deep and distant, like thunder shaking the sky, so heavy that it almost made people breathless.
Shen Xingwan suddenly raised his head, and his whole body seemed to be frozen, and the blood rushed to his head in an instant.
She clenched her fingers so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and her voice was hoarse: "Nine rings... the funeral bell, it means... the emperor has passed away."
When she said this, Feiyun's pupils suddenly shrank and he almost fell to the ground.
Shen Xingwan murmured: "It's really early..."
Scenes from her past life flashed through her mind quickly. It was also a late night, with the same bell ringing. The palace gates were closed, but the sound of killing was deafening in the palace.
As soon as the emperor died, the fate of the entire Wei State began to change drastically, like a huge rock falling into the center of a lake, stirring up huge waves.
She didn't have time to think about it, and suddenly stood up and put on her clothes, "Quick! Ask Xing Zhou to immediately gather all the secret guards in the palace and put them on full alert. No one is allowed to enter without permission!"
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