Chapter 20 Unexpected Changes I won't make things difficult for them, I'll make things difficult for you.
The villa was just a private residence of the Yan family in the capital, and not many people usually came and went there.
There was only an old steward guarding the gate and a few maids and servants who did the cleaning and cooking, totaling less than ten people. It was very quiet, which is why Yan Ning favored it and often stayed here when he went to the capital, instead of returning to the main residence of the Yan family.
She and Yan Ning had been staying here for a long time, which is why she didn't suspect anything when the letter was delivered, but she never expected that it would lead her into a trap.
On the fifth day that Li Yunru was trapped in the Yan family's private residence, there was still no sign of Yan Ning. The servants in the mansion had been taken care of by Cui Shi and had not revealed any information about the outside world. She could be said to be isolated from the world and knew nothing about anything.
This state of complete ignorance made her extremely uneasy. For five consecutive days, she slept restlessly, almost always keeping her eyes open until dawn before dozing off for even a short while. She also had nightmares, in which she saw her father's pale face, the entire city draped in mourning, and blood everywhere in front of the golden nanmu coffin. Upon closer inspection, she saw her mother, Empress Zhenyuan, lying in front of the coffin, dressed in white...
And her older sister… her older brother, and her two little nephews, they clung to her legs, crying and asking her what she was doing, why she didn’t save their father and mother… The wailing was like a blood-stained blade, slowly cutting into her heart.
We can't wait any longer!
She has to get out!
Li Yunru woke up with a start. Ignoring her lingering shock and the sweat-drenched mess on her forehead, she got out of bed, grabbed a piece of clothing and hurried out. As soon as she reached the outer courtyard, she was stopped by two servants at the gate.
"Get out of my way!"
She angrily rebuked them, but they remained unmoved, as if rooted to the spot.
How ridiculous!
Now that she's in the capital, she can't even get a servant or maid to do anything.
They were not unaware of their own identities, yet they still acted this way, which shows just how dire the situation outside had become.
"Princess!"
Shu Yun, wearing a lotus-pink cloak, walked briskly over. Li Yunru had just woken up and was running outside. Shu Yun didn't even have time to react before she finally came to her senses and hurriedly caught up with her.
Li Yunru stared in the direction Shu Yun had come from.
She wasn't interested in the cloak, but rather in a pearl hairpin in the woman's hair. She had rushed out without combing her hair or wearing any ornaments, except for a simple bun with her black hair cascading down to her waist.
Shu Yun had a long walk. When she got close, Li Yunru swiftly snatched the red swallow hairpin from her hair and pressed it against the neck of the nearest servant, threatening, "Get out of the way, or I'll kill him!"
The servants of the Yan family were all specially trained and followed the orders of their masters, disregarding their own lives. Li Yunru's actions still failed to move the other party in the slightest, not even causing them to frown.
The commotion at the entrance startled the old housekeeper of the villa.
The man staggered over from the inner courtyard. His calm eyes surveyed the tense atmosphere before him, and then he spoke in a deep voice: "Princess, why make things difficult for them? They are just following orders."
"I won't make things difficult for them, I'll make things difficult for you!"
Li Yunru put away the hairpin and placed it around her neck. She looked at him with bloodshot eyes, her gaze filled with sorrow and determination.
"If something happens to me here, what do you think your young master will do?"
Cui said that Yan Ning knew about it, and that the letter was written by his own hand. Li Yunru couldn't tell if it was true or not, but she knew that her life still had some value.
Yan Ning didn't want her to die!
Even if Madam Cui dislikes her, she would never allow such a thing to happen and ruin the mother-son relationship between her and Yan Ning.
The butler's gray beard twitched, but he remained silent. Li Yunru stabbed deeper, breaking the skin and leaving a red mark on his snow-white neck. Thin streams of blood slid down his slender neck, down to his collarbone, and disappeared into his clothes...
The man narrowed his eyes slightly, stared at the bloodstain for a moment, and said, "That's enough."
The old butler waved his hand, signaling them to move aside.
Suddenly the gates opened wide, revealing a broad road ahead. Li Yunru didn't have time to think about how even a steward's words were more effective than hers. She lifted her skirts and ran out, heading straight for the palace gates.
A voice inside her told her that she must enter the palace today!
...
Inside the Qianyuan Palace.
Led by the Yang family of Hongnong, all the officials of the fourth rank and above from various prominent families followed them into the palace and waited outside the hall.
The two young men from the Yan family were among them.
Xiao Yuanshan, the Prime Minister, stood tall and elegant in front of the hall, dressed in a crimson crane-patterned court robe and wearing a lacquered gauze crown.
Putting aside his current act of forcing the emperor to abdicate.
Xiao Yuanshan was a gentleman of impeccable taste and elegance. Although he was getting old, his hair had turned gray and his beard had grown out, but he still maintained a very good appearance.
No wonder she caught the eye of the eldest daughter of the Yang family of Hongnong, who rejected so many suitors from prominent families and insisted on marrying him.
They were waiting outside.
Inside the hall.
Empress Zhenyuan helped Emperor Qi Xuan sit up, letting him lean against her, and took the medicinal soup that a maid had prepared beforehand, feeding him spoonful by spoonful.
Even knowing that no amount of medicine could save her, she still did it with such seriousness and meticulousness.
After he finished taking the medicine, she wiped the residue from the corner of his mouth and said, "I asked the imperial kitchen to make some snowflake pastries. Would Your Majesty like some to sweeten your mouth?"
Emperor Qi Xuan's lips curled into a smile as he said, "A Yuan still treats me like a child."
Empress Zhenyuan smiled and said, "Isn't His Majesty just a child?"
Both of them, without prior arrangement, thought of the past.
At that time, Li Zhao was neither an emperor nor a leader of an uprising. He was just a poor scholar who had studied hard for more than ten years but failed the imperial examinations every time. He was destitute and couldn't even afford a white steamed bun.
He collapsed from hunger in his own field, so she picked him up and gave him a piece of bread.
He survived, but his illness was severe. The doctor said it was due to a chronic condition that had damaged his internal organs and required proper care.
But he was always disobedient. Every time he took his medicine, he would whine and act like a little child. So Empress Zhenyuan used the tricks of coaxing a child and said to him, "If you take this medicine, I will take you to the street and we will buy some sweet cakes to eat."
That's what he said back then.
"The girl is treating me like a child."
Empress Zhenyuan said, "How about this, then you should just take the medicine yourself."
Emperor Xuan of Qi said, "I'm a cripple, what's the point of taking medicine? I might as well go sooner rather than later."
The Li family was not a powerful clan.
Li Zhao's father was just an ordinary farmer. His greatest hope in life was that his son would pass the imperial examination and bring glory to the family. However, the repeated failures were too much for him to bear, and he eventually lost his life.
His mother died early, and he lived with his father. His father supported him through school by making paper lanterns, but he disappointed him time and time again...
Father has passed away.
It took away his hopes as well.
He sold his meager farmland, held a lavish funeral for someone, and from then on lived a muddled life, oblivious to the passage of time.
He only thought that wherever he died was his fate.
If he hadn't met Empress Zhenyuan, his life would likely have ended much earlier.
But that's how fate works; just when you're feeling utterly hopeless, it gives you a new direction.
This illiterate peasant girl, with her rough and calloused hands, provided him with shelter when he was at his lowest point.
But he... ultimately couldn't keep her safe and sound, ensuring she had no worries.
Emperor Qi Xuan held Empress Zhenyuan's hand and said with emotion, "A-Yuan, you have suffered so much with me throughout your life."
Empress Zhenyuan, however, thought differently. With a gentle expression and a faint smile, she replied, "The life I have lived with Your Majesty has been the happiest of my life."
If she hadn't met Li Zhao, her life would likely have been like that of many other women around her: when she reached a certain age, her family would arrange for her to marry, she would have children, and that would have been the end of her life.
She was illiterate and illiterate, and she could not leave her high-walled courtyard. She was a wife and mother, and her whole life revolved around the stove and farm work, unaware of the vastness of the world.
Emperor Qi Xuan said, "If there is an afterlife, I want to be even more greedy and grow up with A Yuan, and then... grow old together."
Everyone knows that everything is irreversible today, and people are making their final farewells, saying, "I will wait for you, A-Yuan, come find me slowly."
He tried to reach out and touch his lover's face, but he couldn't. In the end, he only managed to tug at a strand of Empress Zhenyuan's hair.
"A-Yuan must take good care of herself, stay with Ruilin and the others, and be surrounded by her children and grandchildren..."
Empress Zhenyuan was a resilient and courageous person who never shed tears easily, but she still cried at this moment. She tried hard to hold back her tears, but she still couldn't hold them back. The tears slid down her cheeks and dripped onto Emperor Qi Xuan's face.
She didn't answer him, but just listened quietly to him, and when he couldn't take it anymore and vomited blood, she wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Princess Huayang and the Crown Prince knelt to one side, both weeping bitterly.
The two talked for a long time, and finally Emperor Qi Xuan said, "Alright, since they are so impatient, let's call them in."
...
Li Yunru's heart sank further and further. She felt as if something was being lost little by little. She was afraid, terrified, and didn't know what to do.
She had no choice but to run desperately towards the palace; she wanted to find Empress Zhenyuan, her sister, her brother…
With them around, it's as if we have a pillar of support.
The autumn wind lashed against her face, icy and biting, and it should have hurt, but she couldn't feel it anymore. It was as if she had lost all five senses and was only moving forward by instinct.
It's getting closer.
Closer still.
She saw the vermilion palace gates and the high palace walls with their green tiles and blue bricks...
Separated from this palace gate, in the completely opposite direction, is a path through green mountains.
In the desolate and quiet mountain forest, two fast horses galloped past, stirring up a gust of wind and raising clouds of dust.
The two walked for an unknown amount of time before finally entering the territory of Shangjing.
Exhausted, we stopped in front of a teahouse. After taking a sip of tea, we heard a sigh from the side, "Alas, it's rare to have a monarch who can see the plight of us common folk who toil in the fields. He's gone just like that. Who knows what will happen next? I'm afraid we'll be sad again!"
"Who did you say left?"
"Emperor Xuan of Qi has passed away, brother. You look quite respectable, yet your news is even less reliable than mine. Two days ago, Emperor Xuan succumbed to his serious illness and passed away in Qian Yuan Palace."
The sky seemed to darken in that instant.
A note from the author:
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