Chapter 60 Chapter 60 His love and desire.
The first ray of sunlight in the early morning pierced the silence of the Changsheng Palace.
However, after a few days of no one taking care of it, the entire palace was filled with a gray and decayed atmosphere, with countless dust particles flying in the light column, and it had completely lost its former majesty and solemnity.
The emperor was still wearing the same undergarment he had worn before leaving the palace. The five-clawed dragon pattern embroidered on the lapel was so dirty that it was indistinguishable.
He sat on a long couch in the dark. In just a few days, his face looked much older, which finally harmonized with his gray hair.
The palace maids who were sweeping the floor came and went, but he ignored them, as if he was lost in thought.
"Your Majesty, the person has been brought here." A young eunuch entered the hall and replied.
The hall was silent for a long time before the emperor realized that Wang Teng was gone. He slowly raised his eyelids and said, "Bring him in."
A thin figure wrapped in a smoky green brocade robe sat in a wheelchair and was slowly pushed in by a eunuch.
A smile slowly curved across the emperor's cracked lips. "I hear you took the trouble to save me, risking your life. Tell me, what reward do you desire? I will do my utmost to satisfy you."
Qi Yushi remained silent, staring intently at the emperor. After a long moment, he slowly spoke, "Your Majesty, when you saw my appearance, didn't you think of someone you once knew?"
"Old friend..." The emperor paused for a moment, "You are...?"
Qi Yushi did not answer, but continued to look at the emperor with a faint smile.
"You—" The emperor's face was filled with astonishment, his hands trembling, his words almost choking: "You are Shi'er! You are still alive... You are still alive!"
The emperor stood up tremblingly and walked to Qi Yushi's wheelchair. He held his hand, his eyes reddened. "My child, I have wronged you! I only recently realized that I was deceived by treacherous officials and wrongly sentenced your father, causing your family to suffer injustice! Don't worry, I have imprisoned the traitor," he patted Qi Yushi's slender hand, "I will definitely clear your father's name!"
The wrinkled eyes were filled with tears, and the face that had experienced vicissitudes of life made people even more moved.
Qi Yushi quietly withdrew his hand, his eyes as calm as a lake. He took a deep breath and sighed with a smile: "Your Majesty has really not changed over the years."
"You have already guessed that I am the military advisor to General Huo."
The curve of the emperor's mouth slowly lowered. He was not surprised that his eloquent speech failed to impress Qi Yu.
If Qi Yushi could be persuaded by me as easily as his father, how could he have lived in hiding for these years?
Among the underwear of Lin Zhen that Wang Teng presented to him, in addition to Lin Yunfeng's suicide note, there was also a jade pendant that even Lin Zhen herself had forgotten to take off. It was the jade pendant that Qi Yushi had given her, and it was also the jade pendant that the emperor had awarded to Prince Chen.
He had suspected that Prince Chen might still be alive, but he had not had time to send anyone to investigate, and he had never thought that Qi Yushi would be able to get Huo Dan's support.
The emperor slowly stood up and nodded approvingly at Qi Yushi. "My dear nephew, you are indeed very perceptive and intelligent. However, I always like to talk to intelligent people. When you came in, I told you that you could tell me whatever you wanted."
It's just a fiefdom, and he can give him a larger fiefdom than his father.
He knew that Qi Yushi was able to survive until today and even enter the palace alive, so the people who supported him behind the scenes were not just Huo Dan.
Overturning the verdict and conferring a title are trivial matters to him. What he wants is to shut these people up.
"In this case, please grant your permission, Your Majesty." Qi Yu slowly pulled out a bright yellow imperial edict from his sleeve and presented it with both hands.
A knowing smile played across the emperor's lips, as if he had anticipated the other party's request. He calmly took the scroll and slowly unfolded it nonchalantly.
The smile on his face gradually disappeared as the scroll unfolded, and finally turned into a raging rage.
He suddenly threw the scroll fiercely at Qi Yushi's legs and shouted, "How dare you!"
The bright yellow scroll contained an imperial edict without a jade seal—an abdication edict.
"They will help you only for Qi Huan's sake. Do you think they will bear the crime of treason for you? I was able to kill Qi Huan back then, and I can kill you now!"
"Then may I ask, Your Majesty, since you returned to the palace until now, have you ever met the commander of the Shenshu Camp? The commander of the Imperial Guards? How come even General Huo, who came thousands of miles to rescue you, has never come to you?" Qi Yushi looked up at the emperor, his gaze and aura almost overwhelming the emperor in a high position.
The emperor pointed at Qi Yu with a trembling finger, "It's you, you control them! Do you really want to rebel? Do you know that this is the peace your father paid for with his life! And now, you want to destroy it all with your own hands?!"
"Father was a virtuous but foolish man. The peace he exchanged for his life was only for Your Majesty alone."
"Your Majesty is still the same Majesty as before, but I am no longer the Prince of Chen."
After Qi Yushi finished speaking, he picked up the scroll and threw it coldly on the ground. The scroll rolled on the ground and spread out at the emperor's feet.
"If Your Majesty understands the situation and affixes the Imperial Seal as ordered, you can live a safe and secure life as the Supreme Emperor. If Your Majesty refuses, another imperial edict will be issued to announce to the world: the traitor Ji Bai is holding Your Majesty hostage in rebellion, and the Mobei Army has come a thousand miles to rescue you. If Ji Bai fails to seize the throne, he will kill Your Majesty and massacre the palace."
"Your Majesty has half a day to think about it."
The beam of light shining on the hall had spread out. Qi Yushi turned his wheelchair and slowly drove into the dazzling sunlight. He suddenly turned around and said, "By the way, that little eunuch just now will be the only one in the palace who will obey Your Majesty's orders in the future. If you have made up your mind, please let him report back."
*
The emperor was more incredulous than angry.
No, absolutely not!
Even if everyone in the world rebels, Huo Dan won't.
He had tried to test Huo Dan again and again, but even in the most difficult times, Huo Dan never rebelled.
He knew that Huo Danren was a kind-hearted man who valued friendship and loyalty, and that because he had received favors from the Prince of Chen, he dared to help Qi Yu at the risk of being charged with deceiving the emperor. This did not surprise him.
But to say that he was plotting rebellion when he helped Qi Yu is absolutely impossible!
The emperor ordered the palace servants to convey the order for Huo Dan to come to the emperor for an audience, but no one dared to respond.
Qi Yushi wanted to rebel, but he was not killed directly. Instead, he was given room to choose.
He did not think that this was Qi Yushi's kindness. Instead, he felt that he must be afraid and did not dare to attack him easily.
So the emperor began to vent his anger unscrupulously in the hall and smashed everything in the hall to pieces.
Finally, when he had nothing left to smash and was sitting exhausted on the stone steps, Huo Dan entered the hall wearing armor.
Huo Dan walked up to him step by step, took off the Suanni helmet on his head, kowtowed and said: "Huo Dan deserves death, I come to apologize..."
The emperor stumbled forward, grabbed him by the collar, his eyes bloodshot, "Is this true?! How dare you rebel against me!"
"How dare you rebel against me!!"
Seeing Huo Dan hanging his head and remaining silent, the emperor became even more furious. "I should have let you be trampled to death by a horse! How can you be worthy of my years of cultivation and trust in you!" As he said that, he raised his foot and kicked Huo Dan hard in the heart.
Huo Dan knelt steadily, received the kick respectfully, and said slowly, "I entered the Eastern Palace at the age of fourteen, but was a mere horse slave. It was only because of Your Majesty's favor that I was able to fight on the battlefield and obtain a high position and generous salary.
Mobei is in danger, and His Majesty has bestowed upon me the seal of the General Guarding the North. As I was about to depart, a palace maid brought the infant Qing'er from the palace, explaining that His Majesty had decreed that the cold borderland was harsh, and that it would be better for her to be raised in the palace.
The emperor's grace is so great that I dare not fail to remember it...
When Qing'er reached marriage age, she was married off to Ronglu. I personally carried her to the phoenix carriage. But just three years later, I, with those same hands, ended her life and the life of our child.
It is only because Rong Lu invaded the border that Your Majesty suspected me of collaborating with the enemy and treason, and forced me to lead the troops to attack him.
The news that General Zhenbei had sacrificed his own relatives for the sake of justice quickly spread throughout the capital. His Majesty was grateful for his loyalty and rewarded him endlessly.
At this point, I believe there is no more rift between Your Majesty and me.
However, when Prince Chen was wrongly accused of treason and I led the troops to suppress the rebellion, Your Majesty brought my wife and young daughter to the capital.
His wife died of illness in his home in Beijing, and Ling'er still doesn't know that both his mother and sister are dead."
"Your Majesty...!" Huo Dan suddenly slammed his head to the ground. "I'm sorry, I can no longer accept your grace and trust."
When he stood up again, the emotion on Huo Dan's face had faded. He stared blankly at the ground, "When the new emperor ascends the throne, I will take Ling'er back to Mobei. When she marries, I will return to the capital and continue to be your horse slave, serving the late emperor until the end of his life."
After saying this, he picked up the Suanni helmet from the ground and put it back on his head. Amid the clanging of his armor, he turned and walked out of the palace, leaving only the gloomy atmosphere in the hall.
*
The Yizhou vanguard team had been marching for over a month, and Lin Zhen felt more and more that something was wrong. Finally, today, she confirmed that this was indeed not the route to Yizhou.
Qi Yushi's accomplice in the army also contacted her today. She thought that she should find out the truth as soon as possible and pass on the news.
The messenger printed the message on a piece of coarse cloth using pollen, which would disappear when it came into contact with water.
When Ji Sui entered the tent, Lin Zhen had just finished reading the message and had not yet had time to wash the pollen off the cloth.
"What are you thinking about?" Ji Wei suddenly bit her earlobe, causing her to tremble slightly and she couldn't help but grab the cloth under her body.
Since leaving Beijing, Ji Sui has been acting extraordinarily absurdly. As long as she doesn't refuse on the grounds of being unwell, he will indulge in her demands.
Although it was autumn and the weather was much cooler, the felt tent was thick and covered tightly. The two of them were sweating all over, and the marks on the coarse cloth under Lin Zhen's body were naturally unrecognizable.
At this moment, she was somewhat glad for his absurdity.
Lin Zhen said nothing, but she felt guilty. She turned her face away and didn't look at him.
Ji Sui insisted on grabbing her chin and asking her to look at him seriously. He didn't allow her to be distracted at this moment.
A pair of charming peach blossom eyes were filled with love and desire for her, so hot that they almost burned through her.
Lin Zhen had to admit that he was like a drowning man, deeply trapped in it.
She stopped dodging, looked back at him, and kissed him deeply.
Lin Zhen's response surprised and delighted him, as if he was back in his dream that night. He pulled her closer to him, until Lin Zhen almost sat on the edge of the table. She had no choice but to reach out and hug him back tightly.
Ji Rui was satisfied and let himself indulge in it, his actions becoming more and more wanton.
The brushes hanging on the pen holder on the desk shook violently, making a crisp tinkling sound, which intertwined with the ambiguous breathing sounds in the room, filling the quiet autumn night.
It was not until late at night and the dew was heavy that Ji Sui fell into a deep sleep holding the person in his arms.
Before dawn the next day, Ji Sui was awakened by a burst of rapid breathing. He opened his eyes and saw Lin Zhen retching over the bed.
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