Chapter 36 Secret Letter
"So... what exactly was written in that letter from Kucha that my mother wanted to give me, but you killed her for it?"
Unexpectedly, after hearing everything, Qian Deng did not cry or break down. Instead, his expression became even more stern and his questions were even colder.
Perhaps it was because she had already repeatedly deduced and confirmed this moment in her mind, so that when she finally reached the other side after a long journey, what surged in her heart was not burning pain, but cold rationality.
She seemed to have been pulled out of her body, like the flying musicians in the caves, staring at those who suffered painful retribution but still did not understand their sins, with indifference and alienation, even with a hint of pleasure in revenge, as she stood by and watched.
The prince strangled himself, as if he couldn't believe that there was a terrifying little red fish hatching in his body, slowly releasing toxins that would eventually make him lose his mind and go crazy.
He looked at the thousands of lights in front of him, and through the curling smoke in front of the Buddha, he could see a vague expression on her face, but no matter how hard he looked, he could not find any pity, sympathy or concern for him.
At that moment, it was as if ice-cold water poured down from the top of his head, chilling his spine all the way to his bones. He woke up as if from a dream.
Even if he tried his best and used every possible means; even if his hands were stained with blood and the evil spirit in his heart was free, she still didn't have him in her heart, and he would never get her.
His hands, which had subconsciously reached out to her in an attempt to grab her, fell down weakly.
She simply looked at him with a calm, slightly cold gaze and asked again, "What's in the letter?"
Wei Fengyang noticed that the prince was in a strange state, and that the Princess of Lingling dared to approach the prince, so he subconsciously placed his hand on the Ruihu sword.
"Wei Zuoshu, please withdraw first." At this moment, the prince had given up struggling and making excuses. He waved Wei Fengyang away and said, "No matter what happens, you... just need to stay outside and don't come in again."
Wei Fengyang had no choice but to lower his head, replied "yes", and left the cave.
They were the only two left in the cave, sunlight streaming in through a small, high window. Incense burning before the Buddha, shrouded in tiny particles of dust, floated and danced in the golden sunlight, making everything seem illusory and hazy.
"That letter was written to you by the Kucha army. It's in Chinese. They say that although your father and grandfather have passed away, the army still remembers the legacy of the King of Changhua. The situation in Kucha is unstable right now. They heard that Princess Lingling, the only descendant of the King of Changhua, is being ridiculed in Chang'an for her appearance. They intend to invite her back to her homeland. If she can acclimate to the northwestern climate, they're willing to honor her as their leader and let her stay in Kucha forever, just like her father and grandfather did."
The prince's voice was hoarse, but the letter was deeply engraved in his memory and he had not forgotten even a word of it.
Qian Deng listened quietly and whispered, "This proposal can indeed change my situation in Chang'an, and it will not harm the interests of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, my mother hopes that I will consider this matter, and she dares to entrust this to the prince."
"But at the end of the letter, it says 'May you be blessed with the best of luck,' with four Tocharian characters next to it. An ordinary person would mistake it for a Kucha closing. But I learned Western writing since I was young, and I can read Tocharian. It says 'Open the seal and approach the fire.'"
After all, the other party was probably unsure whether the descendants of King Changhua still missed their homeland, so they left instructions in the language of their homeland to keep it confidential.
The prince said sadly, "I smelled a faint smell of milk inside the envelope. I remembered hearing from soldiers that when the Kucha army transmitted messages, they would write on paper with milk. Once the milk dried, it would become an ordinary white paper, making it difficult for others to know the secrets. So I opened the envelope and held it close to the candlelight to examine it. The milk changed color before the paper due to the heat, and sure enough... the inside of the envelope revealed burnt yellow Tocharian.
"In the letter, they revealed their true intention to invite you. Quite a few within the Kucha army are dissatisfied with their current allegiance to the Tang Dynasty. This is especially true since the An-Shi Rebellion, when Tang's control over the Western Regions gradually weakened. Kucha, situated at the strategic juncture of the Western Regions, believes that the years of war are due to Kucha bearing the brunt of the conflict, and that they must defend the Tang Dynasty against other nations. Especially now that the Western Regions are rising, the two countries are geographically closer, and both are areas where Buddhism flourishes. If Kucha abandons the Tang Dynasty and allies with the Western Regions, it will surely have a better future.
"But the current King of Kucha presents the greatest obstacle to cooperation with the Western Regions. His father, the King of Changhua, once drove away his younger brother, intending to cooperate with the Western Regions and the An Lushan Rebellion, thereby breaking away from Tang control. However, he was tragically betrayed and met a tragic end. Witnessing his father's fate, the current King of Kucha has remained cautious and he dared not break away from his reliance on the Tang. They hope that you will be the solution to Kucha's predicament."
The letter did not state it explicitly, but the prince and Qian Deng were both people who had seen the ups and downs of the court, so how could they not know their intentions?
To realize their plan, Kucha must change its regime. They need someone who is easy to control and can win the support of the people to take over the position - and, preferably, someone with royal blood.
And she, Bai Qiandeng, Princess of Lingling County, was the subject of widespread criticism and ridicule in Chang'an. Escaping her current situation and returning to her homeland seemed like a good option. Raised in the royal palace, she was a delicate teenager, easily controlled. She was the sole descendant of the legendary Changhua King, revered by the people of Kucha, a source of considerable influence. Her grandfather, persecuted by the King of Kucha and driven into exile, lost his mother. This vengeance was enough to justify her actions...
It is conceivable that if she had returned to Kucha with this letter, during the period when the Tang Dynasty was severely weakened and the northwest was in turmoil, the Kucha royal family would have suffered heavy losses, just like today, and she would have been supported as the supreme ruler, just like her great-grandmother, becoming the queen of Kucha.
Although it is only in name, how many people can resist such temptation?
From being ridiculed and criticized for her unlucky life of "no relatives and bad luck to her husband", to controlling the most prosperous kingdom in the northwest and being worshipped by the people of the northwest, she became a legend in history like her great-grandmother and grandfather.
At least, putting himself in her shoes, the prince would not dare to let her make the decision.
If he had found this letter at any other time, he would have conducted a detailed investigation, thoroughly examined all the ins and outs, and made a decision after clarifying Qiandeng's decision and intention.
But that night, the Fengtian disaster broke out, and he, as the crown prince, was abandoned by the emperor, empress and court officials in the chaos. He, like the Tang Dynasty, was in panic and fear of losing his life at any moment.
The prince, who relied on Baijiazhuangzi for shelter, found that the only person he could rely on might cooperate with the rebel army at any time, abandon or even sell him out, and rush towards her bright future without looking back.
The emperor, empress, and court officials who fled to the northwest were already in chaos and displacement, and it was impossible for them to endure the turmoil in Anxi and the northwestern border.
Thinking that she might abandon the Tang Dynasty and return to Kucha for power, and that the turbulent Tang Dynasty would lose the Anxi Protectorate, the most important northwestern city, he was facing the most helpless moment of his life and could not bear such betrayal in any way.
His only subconscious choice was to destroy the letter, forever and completely, burying her future and fate in the flames.
But one wrong step leads to another. In order to keep this secret, more and more blood accumulates on his hands, and he is eventually devoured by the sea of blood and suffers the inevitable disaster of drowning.
"But I, I really can't let you abandon the Tang Dynasty and split the northwest..." The prince murmured, curled up in despair, closed his eyes tightly, and did not dare and felt ashamed to look her in the face.
"Why do you keep pursuing this? If you don't know the truth, you can always be the Princess of Lingling County in the Tang Dynasty. I promise you a life of wealth and glory that no one can match... As long as the Li family of the Tang Dynasty exists, we will never treat you unfairly."
"Yes, as long as I don't know the truth..." Qian Deng gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words with difficulty.
She could close her eyes and pretend nothing had happened. She could even marry into the Eastern Palace and become the most prominent woman in the entire Tang Dynasty, still leaving her name in history and becoming the glory of the Bai family.
"But I can't close my eyes and pretend that my mother died accidentally at the hands of Su Yunzhong, and pretend that you are still the gentle and kind young man, so that I can live the future you promised me peacefully. Li Yan, you will stop at nothing to maintain your power and status. To compete with the Huihe people for profit, you didn't negotiate with them in an upright manner. Instead, you sent people to the mountains to assassinate Ming Jiu and falsely blamed it on Xiao Fuyu. To prevent me from abandoning you in a crisis, you killed my mother. To cover up your crimes, you slaughtered Shi Jingning. To prevent me from finding out the truth, you repeatedly fabricated traces and blamed Ji Linyou... Even today, to cover up your sinister intentions, you sent people to kill Ji Linyou on the battlefield! I never thought that the person my Bai family risked their lives to save, the person my father and grandfather were loyal to until death, would turn out to be such a wolfish and ambitious person!"
"Because you haven't been abandoned by your parents, you haven't been forsaken by the ministers in the court, and you haven't experienced the despair of having nowhere else to turn!" All his sins were exposed. He didn't have any excuses, and he couldn't. He just hugged his head, sobbing hoarsely. "You haven't experienced the powerless moments I faced, unable to hold on to everything, defenseless and facing fate. So you won't understand! You will never understand the obsession I swore again and again in my nightmares to hold on to everything that was important to me, never letting go!"
Qiandeng took a deep breath and looked at the prince who was in a state of collapse in front of her, thinking that she had also tossed and turned every night and could not sleep.
Her mother's injustice and the darkness ahead, in every dead and painful night, she could only hold tightly the cloth tiger her mother sewed for her, chewing over the happy past with her family over and over again, holding on, getting through, and surviving by obsession.
But why should she share all this pain and grief with the murderer?
She had exposed and declared his fate, and he would receive the punishment he deserved without her having to do anything.
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