Chu Heng shuddered, looked up, and struggled to open his heavy eyelids. "You Ran, what... do you mean? You mean..."
His warm, peach-blossom eyes suddenly lit up. "You mean, if I weren't the emperor, you would be willing to marry me?"
He straightened up, took a step outside, and said excitedly, "I will return to the palace now and write the abdication edict!"
You Ran stumbled slightly as he pulled her, both amused and exasperated. "Nan Zhuo, the Emperor has had too much to drink. Aren't you going to help him back to rest?!"
She naturally wouldn't take his drunken ramblings seriously.
Nan Zhuo was also speechless after hearing what the emperor had just said. He quickly came over to help Chu Heng up.
Chu Heng's legs suddenly gave way, and he and Nan Zhuo fell heavily to the ground together.
Nan Zhuo quickly got up to help him.
He pushed the person away, covered his face with his hands, and curled up.
You Ran found it strange and went to help him up.
He pushed her hand away again and closed his eyes tightly.
Then she saw him suddenly tremble all over, and a slight whimper came from his throat.
It seemed to be murmuring something.
You Ran was startled.
She glanced at Nan Zhuo, who was equally shocked, and leaned down to listen to him say, "Little...little crybaby...I'm sorry...I'm late..."
She wondered if she had misheard, so she moved closer and heard him say more clearly, in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry... you little crybaby..."
Instantly, her whole body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground beside him.
How could it be him?
Why him?!
Immediately afterwards, tears streamed down her face.
Nan Zhuo was shocked. His master suddenly collapsed and cried for no reason. Why was the Empress crying too?
He was at a loss for words, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty the Empress!"
They called out to each other several times, and both of them wept silently.
After a long while, You Ran wiped away her tears, stood up, looked at Chu Heng who was still curled up on the ground, and then quietly walked out of the temple.
Nan Zhuo called out again, "Your Majesty the Empress?!"
Without turning her head, You Ran said in a heavy nasal voice, "Send him back to the palace."
...
You Ran did not return to the Yun residence, but went directly to the Princess's residence.
The Imperial Preceptor, whom she hadn't seen since her return, was sitting under a jujube tree in the main courtyard, drinking alone.
When You Ran arrived, his master poured him a cup and pushed it onto the empty seat opposite him, saying, "Good disciple, you've come at the perfect time!"
With a leisurely sneer, he took two quick steps, grabbed a teacup, and gulped down the still-scalding tea.
Wu Wang looked up, a hint of heartache flashing in his eyes. "Disciple, this good tea must be savored slowly. Be careful not to burn your tongue by gulping it down like this."
You Ran slammed her teacup on the table, staring intently at her master. "Master, you knew who that beggar was all along, didn't you? He's Chu Heng! Why is he Chu Heng?! Why is Chu Heng that beggar?!"
No wonder she didn't see a single person in the dilapidated temple for three nights in a row!
Wu Wang tapped the table lightly with his finger. "Sit down, and I will tell you."
I sat down leisurely, finding it hard to describe the feelings I had after rushing all the way here.
She was shocked and terrified when she heard Chu Heng call her "little crybaby".
She never expected that the beggar she had been longing to find in her previous life was actually Chu Heng!
In their previous life, when they depended on each other for survival, did he dare ask her name?
But her tongue had been cut out, and she could no longer speak.
All that could be written on his palm was the character "然".
But he refused to call her by her real name, saying that calling her by her real name would inevitably remind him of their past life and make him even more desperate about their current situation.
He held her in his arms countless times when she cried, and jokingly said, "Since you cry so much, I'll call you Little Crybaby!"
A dilapidated temple.
Little crybaby.
And his hoarse voice, which she would never mistake.
But why him?!
In his previous life, Chu Heng was clearly the deposed crown prince. Even though he later lived in the Duke's mansion for a period of time with the appearance of Wen Yuanbai, he moved out after more than half a year.
Moreover, she heard about his death six months after he moved away.
Why did he later become a beggar and be thrown into the cellar?
Chu Heng is drunk, so you definitely won't get anything out of him.
But she knew that if there was anyone in this world who could give her the answer, it would be her master!
Wu Wang took a sip of tea before speaking softly, “You Ran, you’re right. The beggar you’re looking for from your previous life is none other than the current emperor, the crown prince from your previous life, Chu Heng.”
You Ran stared intently at Wu Wang, "Master, you knew that was my past life, you really knew, how did you know?!"
She remembered that when she mentioned it to her master, she always used the excuse that she had a nightmare.
Unexpectedly, Wu Wang's gaze was calm, "Because your teacher, like you, was also reborn in a previous life."
"What?" You Ran was shocked again.
Wu Wang sighed, "In my previous life, I was unable to cultivate in Guigu Mountain and was delayed in completing my studies and leaving the mountain. By the time I finally left the mountain, it was already the thirty-first year of Shunqing, which was two years ago."
"But it's too late. The people I care about are either dead or missing. Even Chu Heng has become a crippled, deposed crown prince, hiding in a corner and living a depressed life."
"The Prince Rong faction is very powerful, and the Emperor has long been sidelined and is in danger of being replaced at any time."
"One day, the whereabouts of the deposed crown prince were discovered by Prince Rong's men, and he was kidnapped. After receiving the news, I searched everywhere for him."
"Unexpectedly, it was seven months later when we found him. At that time, Chu Heng's tendons in his hands and feet had been severed. Although the wounds had healed, he was no different from a cripple."
A sudden pang of pain welled up in You Ran's heart.
I realized I was wrong from the start.
In her previous life, she mistook him for a beggar because he smelled strongly of blood.
It turned out that he had been murdered and left to fend for himself. It's unknown whether he climbed to the dilapidated temple to survive, but Zhou Qingqian unexpectedly intercepted him.
"That day, the shadow guard who discovered him received the signal outside a manor. When he arrived, he was knocked unconscious by an old woman. The shadow guard then knocked the old woman unconscious and took Chu Heng away."
"After Chu Heng woke up, he immediately sent people to the manor to look for you, but unfortunately, you had already been moved."
"But at that time, the capital was in chaos. Prince Rong forced the emperor to abdicate, and the traitor he planted in the palace colluded with him to kill Emperor Shunqing. Of course, in this life, we finally know that this traitor was actually Empress Jiang."
"At that time, Chu Heng sent people everywhere to search for your whereabouts, while also gathering his old subordinates and righteous forces in the capital to jointly resist Prince Rong."
"Finally, three months later, he suppressed the power of Prince Rong, completely wiped out the rebels, and supported the unharmed Third Prince to ascend the throne. In the previous life, no one knew that Empress Jiang was the mastermind behind the emperor's murder, and instead, her son benefited greatly."
"It was at this time that his men finally found you, but unfortunately you had already died in childbirth."
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