Chapter 86: Divorce tonight, sleep with the emperor tonight
Under the tearful gaze of the concubines, Xie Junlin spoke slowly.
"Mother, please don't worry about this matter--"
The concubines immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
They said that the emperor would never want a married woman, and would never mess around with such a dilapidated body...
But the next moment, they heard Xie Junlin say.
"Since this is to bring me good luck, I will do this kind of thing that will ruin people's marriages and be punished by heaven. Mother, please don't interfere. I will talk to Ling Zhao and Madam Xiao."
“…”
The concubines who had just breathed a sigh of relief suddenly gasped.
They looked at Xie Junlin in disbelief, and then looked at Shen Yuanwei!
My God, is the emperor crazy?
He himself had said that destroying a marriage would bring punishment from heaven, so why did he insist on getting this woman? Wasn't he afraid of being punished by heaven?
As an emperor, if he wanted to get married, there were a thousand or ten thousand clean and innocent women for him to choose from. Why did he have to compete with the General of Cavalry for one?
The concubines stared at Shen Yuanwei, whose face was still stained with blood, and doubt and hostility gradually appeared in their eyes.
Is the emperor doing this for the sake of getting married, or has he already been attracted to this woman?
This woman is not simple.
It was already impressive that she hooked up with Xiao Lingzhao, but she could even make the emperor so crazy for her...
Xie Junlin glanced at the concubines with cold eyes.
"go out."
The concubines shuddered, kowtowed obediently, stood up and left.
Queen Wei did not leave with him.
She took a step forward hesitantly and bowed.
"Your Majesty, Madam Xiao is the wife of General Xiao. If you forcibly seize my wife, it will damage your reputation. I think it is safer to choose a girl from the people to celebrate the occasion for Your Majesty..."
As soon as they heard the queen speak, all the concubines stopped and nodded vigorously to Xie Junlin.
"Yes, Your Majesty, please think twice. Right now, you should take more medicine to recuperate. You can put aside the idea of getting married..."
"Even if you want to get married, there are many women with good family backgrounds, good looks and good fortunes for you to choose from. Why do you have to compete with the general of the cavalry for a woman?"
"Your Majesty, you have a great reputation throughout your life. You must not ruin yourself because of such a small matter..."
Xie Junlin glanced at them coldly.
"Since you know that it is important for me to take care of my health, why don't you step down?"
The concubines were silent.
They did not retreat either. They secretly looked at Queen Wei and decided to leave only when the Queen did.
Queen Wei straightened her back and looked at Xie Junlin.
"Your Majesty, I am your first wife. I have to advise you that you can have as many unmarried women as you want, but you cannot take a woman who is already taken. If you force Madam Xiao to take her away, once the news gets out, it will surely cause a stir in the court and the country, and will cause criticism from the people of the world—"
Xie Junlin looked at Queen Wei.
"I know."
"The imperial physician said that I don't have much time left. If I die in a few days, no matter how much they curse me, I will not care at all."
"But if Madam Xiao's wedding can make me live a hundred years longer, then do you think it's worth being scolded a few times?"
Queen Wei pursed her lips.
She glanced at Shen Yuanwei, and then asked Xie Junlin, "Does it have to be Madam Xiao? Can't we have other wives who can help us get married?"
Xie Junlin glanced at the concubines, then looked at the queen, "Yes, it has to be her. You all tried just now, but she is the only one who can wake me up, isn't it?"
Queen Wei was speechless.
She finally asked, "Have you ever considered General Xiao's feelings? He is a man of eight feet tall, but his wife was taken away by someone else. How can he hold his head up high when you let him face the ridicule of the world in the future?"
Xie Junlin said, "I will consider it for him."
Queen Wei opened her mouth, but suddenly didn't know what to say.
She turned around and looked at Shen Yuanwei.
Her eyes were complicated. "Mrs. Xiao, are you willing to leave General Xiao Lingzhao?"
Shen Yuanwei raised her head slowly.
She knew in her heart that the outcome of her divorce from Xiao Lingzhao today could not be changed.
But she still wanted to tell these concubines that she didn't want to compete with anyone for the emperor, and that she liked Xiao Lingzhao.
She looked back into Queen Wei's eyes and bowed.
"Empress, I only have Ling Zhao in my heart. Even if the Empress Dowager and the Emperor force me to do so, I will not leave."
She looked eagerly at the queen and the concubines, and asked expectantly, "Queen, can you and the ladies of the other palaces make the decision for me?"
“…”
Queen Wei was silent for a moment.
The concubines in various palaces also looked around silently.
cough……
Asking them to make the decision, wouldn't that be going against Tian Gang? The Empress Dowager and the Emperor are forcing Madam Xiao to divorce, how can they make the decision for Madam Xiao?
The concubines were originally hostile to Shen Yuanwei and wanted to persuade the emperor not to marry this married woman, but now that Shen Yuanwei was looking at them with a look of pleading for help, they suddenly felt so sorry and ashamed as they could not help at all.
"Mrs. Xiao, there's nothing we can do..."
"Let's go out first..."
The concubines ran away one after another, and the room was empty in an instant.
Queen Wei also looked at Shen Yuanwei helplessly, "Madam Xiao, you saw that I have advised the emperor, but I cannot change the emperor's mind..."
She gave Shen Yuanwei a look that told her to take care of herself, then turned and left.
Queen Mother Jiang took a deep look at the girl who was unwilling to divorce, and slowly brushed her hair, "Since the emperor doesn't allow me to intervene, I will go out and call Xiao Lingzhao in, and you three can talk it out."
After saying this, Queen Mother Jiang also went out.
There were only two people left in the room.
Xie Junlin looked at Shen Yuanwei with complicated eyes.
"Do you love Xiao Lingzhao so much? You've gone to all means to save him, and you actually went to ask the Queen and the others for help. Do you think they're like you, and dare to scold me and disobey me? Who is as lawless as you?"
Shen Yuanwei did not answer the emperor.
She looked at the door, waiting for Xiao Lingzhao to push it open.
A moment later, Xiao Lingzhao came in.
The hair on his temples was wet and his face was steaming. It was obvious that he was in a bad mood. He was hiding somewhere and washing his face vigorously with cold water for a while.
Shen Yuanwei walked towards him, grabbed his arm, and said distressedly, "Aren't you cold? It's so cold at night, what if you get sick?"
Xiao Lingzhao closed the door.
He slowly turned his eyes to look at Shen Yuanwei, his eyes slightly red.
He raised his hand to wipe the blood off Shen Yuanwei's face. He wanted to tell Shen Yuanwei that the coldness on the face was not as torturous as the coldness in the heart, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.
He wiped the blood off Shen Yuanwei's face, took Shen Yuanwei's hand, and walked step by step to the bed.
He saluted to Xie Junlin and said in a hoarse voice, "Just now, I met Doctor Ge..."
Xie Junlin didn't dare look directly into Xiao Lingzhao's red eyes. He turned his head and looked away, whispering, "He must have told you that I don't have much time left."
Xiao Lingzhao felt uncomfortable because of the blockage in his throat.
He hummed.
He pinched his fingers hard and said with difficulty, "I know that the emperor sent them out because he wanted to say something to me and Yuan Wei..."
He looked at Shen Yuanwei with red eyes.
Shen Yuanwei looked into his eyes.
After staring at each other for three breaths, he opened his mouth and forced out a smile that was uglier than crying. He said, "Yuan Wei, let's fulfill the contract with the emperor and get a divorce."
Shen Yuanwei felt particularly sad when she saw him smiling like that.
She nodded slowly, "Okay."
Xiao Lingzhao turned his head away, closed his eyes, and hid the tears.
He said, "I would like to borrow your Majesty's pen and ink."
Xie Junlin agreed.
Xiao Lingzhao held Shen Yuanwei's hand and walked to the desk step by step.
Earlier, when Imperial Doctor Ge was about to write a prescription, the ink prepared by Chen Haimo had not yet dried.
Xiao Lingzhao picked up a brush and slowly dipped it in ink. Although the brush was already full of ink, he was reluctant to lift it up and put it on the paper.
Shen Yuanwei watched him dip his ink and asked him in a low voice, "If I leave the palace and regain my freedom in the future, will you... still want me?"
Xiao Lingzhao clenched the pen tightly.
He raised his eyes to look at Shen Yuanwei, his voice hoarse, "How could I not want to? You are the wife I never want to give up, you know very well that divorce is not what I want..."
Shen Yuanwei gently grasped one of his sleeves and looked into his dark eyes, "Will you not dislike me?"
Xiao Lingzhao kissed her eyebrows gently, "No, never, because I know that leaving me is not your real intention, and you don't want to."
Shen Yuanwei leaned on his shoulder and whispered, "I want you to wait for me, but I'm also afraid that the emperor has really survived this catastrophe. If he lives a hundred years and doesn't let me leave the palace, I'm afraid I'll delay you..."
Xiao Lingzhao shook his head, "You won't delay me. I'm only twenty-one, and a man in his thirties or forties isn't considered old. I can still wait for you for many, many years. I will keep waiting."
After hearing this, Shen Yuanwei's eyes suddenly swelled up and tears rolled down.
She choked up and said, "Xiao Lingzhao, why are you so good... How can I let you go..."
Xiao Lingzhao said, "Then don't forget me and keep me secretly in your heart forever."
Shen Yuanwei nodded vigorously.
Xiao Lingzhao took a deep breath, finally picked up the pen and put ink on the paper.
He wrote the divorce letter word by word.
He said, "We won't write. Let's resolve our grievances and not hate each other. Let's part ways and be happy. I don't wish you to marry a better wife, and you don't want me to have many wives and concubines. Our peaceful divorce is different from theirs..."
He said, "Let's just write - they were connected in three previous lives, and they are now a couple. They love each other and wish to grow old together. However, fate plays tricks on us. Even though we are reluctant, we have to separate today. I hope you take good care of yourself after we part today. I hope you will not be sad or grief-stricken. I hope you will live a long life."
Shen Yuanwei burst into tears when she heard this.
She knew that Xiao Lingzhao was afraid that she would feel defiled after serving Xie Junlin and would hurt herself. Xiao Lingzhao hoped that she would take good care of herself, not be sad, not dwell on trivial matters, and live a good life...
She nodded vigorously, "Okay, I will listen to my husband."
Xiao Lingzhao quickly wrote the two divorce letters.
He signed his name and handed the pen to Shen Yuanwei.
Shen Yuanwei wrote down her name tremblingly. Just as she was about to put the pen down, Xiao Lingzhao took it over and whispered in her ear:
"I hope you will keep me in your heart forever, but if one day the emperor gets jealous and forbids you to think about me anymore, then you must forget me. You must never compete with the emperor and bring yourself trouble. The emperor feels guilty about you and me now, but he won't feel guilty forever. One day, he..."
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