End
The midsummer afternoon becomes increasingly hot, and the chirping of cicadas blends into my sleep.
Qi Qinghe didn't sleep well, tossing and turning, and woke up slowly when he heard the quarrel outside the house.
She sat up, stunned for a moment, her eyes dazed and sleepy.
The agonizing quarrel outside the house suddenly stopped, and the servants and palace maids saluted in unison, "Your servant greets the Queen."
Qi Qinghe was startled and quickly got up, put on his clothes, and walked out in a hurry.
As soon as he opened the door, he bumped into the queen who was pushing the door towards him.
The queen raised her brows, took a few steps back, and stood firm. Her pretty face instantly turned cold as she scolded, "You really are from a humble family. After a year, you still don't know the rules."
Qi Qinghe's expression was not much better than the Queen's. She touched her nose, raised the corner of her mouth, and her eyes were as cold as snow and frost. "If we talk about etiquette, how can I compare to the Queen? You have been giving me trouble time and time again."
He is just a bully who bullies the weak and fears the strong. He dares not to make things difficult for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so he makes things difficult for him everywhere. How could he know that even a clay man has a temper?
The servants and palace maids around him knelt on the ground with their heads buried, wishing they could plug their ears and pretend not to hear.
The Queen didn't want to argue with her. She looked at her carefully with cold eyes, turned around and said, "You don't look pregnant from this perspective. Are you trying to deceive the emperor?"
Pregnant? Qi Qinghe thought to herself that this was not good. She had been busy managing the family business and taking care of the Imperial Guards these days, and had forgotten about this matter.
Thinking of this, she didn't show any emotion on her face and sneered, "Why, do you want me to dig it out and show it to you, Madam?"
The Queen choked and snorted coldly, "I just asked a question, why are you so angry?"
"Since you're pregnant and can't move, why not ask a doctor to take a look?" The Queen said, "It just so happens that His Majesty and the Crown Prince are together right now. Why don't you come with me, the Crown Princess?"
"Your Majesty misses me very much too."
He seemed to be afraid that the Crown Princess would resist and make the argument even more out of control. Also, those around him were all important officials from the previous dynasty, and if anyone heard it, he softened his voice a lot and his eyes were like melting ice and snow.
Qi Qinghe narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at the sun above his head, raised his hand to block it, and turned his head to ask the palace maid what time it was.
"One quarter after 3 p.m." the palace maid replied respectfully.
Qi Qinghe still remembered that she had arrived at just one quarter past noon, and now two hours had passed and the prince had not returned yet.
She pondered for a moment and responded in a submissive manner.
The queen breathed a sigh of relief. The doctors and others had already made all the arrangements and were just waiting for them to arrive to make sure she had no chance of recovery.
After walking across the stone path, you will see a simple meeting hall.
The man Xiao Junhui captured, Xia Yue, and two of his assassins who were still alive, clung to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and refused to change their minds despite repeated questioning by His Majesty and several senior ministers.
What Xiao Junbai handed over was a corner of the account book that Xiao Junhui left behind when he rushed to Tongzhou. There was only one word "Xiao" written on it. Following the clues, he found the deep mountains that Xia Yue mentioned.
Here, the prince met the third prince Xiao Junqi. The third prince, his imperial concubine, and his entire family were carefully investigated by the prince. After returning to Beijing, he found half a letter between him and the fourth prince Xiao Junhui in the secret compartment of the Ning family's study.
The entire Ning family is secretly controlled by the prince, and the third prince Xiao Junqi is still wanted, far beyond his reach.
The two brothers each insisted on their own opinion and refused to give in to each other.
The emperor and several old ministers looked over the physical evidence several times, looked at each other, and spoke very cautiously and impartially, not favoring anyone. They just asked Your Majesty what he thought.
The emperor looked at the prince, then glanced at Xiao Junhui. Suddenly, the words of the queen this morning complaining about his partiality emerged in his mind. He sighed and was about to ask the prince if he had any other evidence.
But then the palace maid reported tremblingly that the Empress and the Crown Princess had arrived.
Several people in the hall were quite surprised and looked at each other.
The emperor frowned, looking worried, and called someone in.
Xiao Junbai turned his head and watched Qi Qinghe approaching from afar. Her beautiful face was covered with a faint smile, which was very eye-catching.
He couldn't help but take another look, then he stood up straight, slightly sideways to block the people, passed by the queen, pursed his lips and said nothing.
The queen's smile grew wider as she approached. Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught sight of Xiao Junhui, whose brows were furrowed and whose face was gloomy, completely different from the confident look he had just had.
She was stunned for a moment, and the smile on her lips almost disappeared. She wondered secretly whether she had forgotten something.
In comparison, Qi Qinghe stood beside the prince. She was tall and thin, wearing a moon-white dress, looking quite weak.
"Your Majesty, I would like to check whether the Crown Princess is pregnant." After a moment's thought, Xiao Junhui understood what his mother was thinking and immediately took the initiative.
"My royal brother's actions are truly unpredictable. The Crown Princess is with him every day, so I'm afraid she's not innocent either."
“…That’s true. I’ve seen it myself, and the Crown Princess doesn’t look like she’s pregnant.” The Queen listened to Xiao Junhui’s words, cleared her throat a few times, and regained her voice.
Several old ministers didn't quite understand why the topic suddenly shifted from the Crown Prince to the Crown Princess. They looked at His Majesty's expression and pretended to be silent.
The emperor's gaze swept over the people in the hall one by one. His chaotic eyes became slightly sharper. He sat up slightly straighter and spoke calmly, "I was assassinated today and my life was almost in danger. How could you ignore it and keep harping on the Crown Princess's pregnancy?"
The rare feeling of guilt she had just felt vanished completely, leaving only disgust. "If you find it too much work, Queen, why don't you just have some quiet time?"
The queen tilted her head to look at the emperor, her mouth still open, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes slightly widened, as if she didn't believe what she heard.
The emperor actually wants to depose the queen?
As soon as this thought came to her mind, the queen trembled with her lips and pointed at the emperor, unable to speak for a long time. In the twenty years of their companionship, this had never happened before. Today, in order to protect the prince, he was so harsh and partial.
The queen was trembling all over, as if she was in an ice cellar, freezing cold and shivering.
Qi Qinghe watched silently, finding this scene particularly amusing. After bowing and paying her respects, she interrupted at the right moment, "Your Majesty, why don't you think about how to resolve this matter for His Highness the Fourth Prince?"
"After all, today, His Majesty the Third Prince and the Fourth Imperial Concubine are together." At this point, she sounded slightly puzzled, as if puzzled as to why these two were together. "These two, leading a group of assassins, attempted to kidnap the Imperial Concubine and Princess Shaoyao. The Crown Prince predicted this and had them all killed in the palace."
"Most of the palace servants in the Imperial City can testify to this."
The emperor raised his eyebrows, looked directly at the prince, and asked him in a serious voice if this was true.
Xiao Junbai nodded, a hint of a smile glimmering in his cold eyes, "Although I anticipated this, this was done personally by the Crown Princess and my personal soldiers."
Upon hearing this, the queen stared at her in a daze. In a flash, she realized that she had done something stupid. A flash of vicious resentment flashed across her almond-shaped eyes.
Several old ministers were shocked by the sudden news and their expressions changed suddenly. Their hair and beards trembled and they kept asking what exactly happened.
Qi Qinghe answered them one by one, with a neither humble nor arrogant attitude, and he did not feel guilty at all.
Xiao Junhui lowered his eyes, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and Xia Yue and several assassins who were kneeling on the ground suddenly jumped up, a silver light flashed, and the sharp weapons pointed directly at the emperor.
The emperor was relieved to hear that everyone in the palace was safe and sound. However, the person kneeling in front of him suddenly jumped up. He leaned back on the chair and only saw the corner of his clothes fluttering past out of the corner of his eye.
The sound of sharp weapons colliding stimulated everyone.
No one could have imagined that such a thing would happen in the emperor's villa.
Several old ministers were dazzled and took trembling steps, imitating how they protected His Majesty this morning.
However, it was a step too late.
A long sword was placed across the emperor's neck, flashing a dazzling silver light.
The emperor still sat upright, motionless, but his eyes were numb and desolate, as if dead ashes, floating in the air in nothingness.
Xiao Junhui stood to the right of the emperor, holding the sword steady. "Father, please pass the throne to me."
The emperor's mouth curled up, "Dream on."
Throughout his life, he fought in military campaigns, served the people diligently, and never expected to encounter failure in the royal family.
Even so, he never wavered.
Putting aside the Crown Princess, Crown Prince Xiao Junbai is very upright and is the best choice for the Crown Prince.
Unless this assassination was really done by the prince, which is obviously not the case now.
Xiao Junbai blocked Qi Qinghe behind him, looked at the scene coldly, and suddenly smiled.
He just raised his hand slightly and placed it across his chest. The next moment, something seemed to come out of the wind, passing through the window pane and piercing Xiao Junhui.
Xiao Junhui staggered, his body unstable, and the sharp arrow pierced his waist and abdomen. Blood gushed out in an instant, his face turned pale, and his eyes were full of unwillingness.
Xiao Junbai said calmly, "My father is offering sacrifices to his ancestors, and the Imperial Guards are accompanying him."
The queen was stiff all over, and was stunned for a moment before she stumbled and covered Xiao Junhui's wound. The corners of her eyes were red, and the tears in her eyes disappeared in an instant. She tore off the hem of her skirt and wrapped it around the wound.
She slowly turned around and kowtowed to the emperor, her voice tinged with pleading, "I know my crimes are unforgivable, and I dare not ask for anything else. I am willing to sacrifice my life in exchange for his."
"I beg Your Majesty, for the sake of our past relationship and blood connection, please spare his life." The Queen knocked to the ground with a thud, her forehead blood red. Without waiting for the Emperor to react, she quickly stood up and slammed her head against the wall.
The smell of blood was even stronger in the meeting room.
Corpses were scattered all over the ground, bloody weapons were everywhere, and the ground was in a mess.
Qi Qinghe poked her head out from behind the prince and suddenly saw this scene. Her eyelashes trembled and drooped.
The pleasure of revenge disappeared in an instant. The Queen fought for a chance of survival for the Fourth Prince in such a heroic way.
It's hard not to be moved by it.
She withdrew her gaze and leaned lightly against the prince's back, her nostrils flaring, unable to bear to look any longer.
The emperor raised his eyes and stared at the prince, his chest heaving violently, his mouth opening and closing, but in the end he said nothing.
Xiao Junhui's breath was weak, his eyes were half closed, and it was obvious that he only had one breath left.
Several old ministers witnessed all this and shook their heads.
The assassination in the imperial mausoleum has been concluded. The queen had evil intentions and intended to rebel. She colluded with the fourth prince Xiao Junhui and the third prince Xiao Junqi to assassinate the emperor. After being exposed, she was killed in front of the emperor.
Xiao Junqi had already died, and the emperor, considering that Xiao Junhui was still young, imprisoned him in the imperial mausoleum and did not allow him to leave for the rest of his life.
Three days later, the emperor passed the throne to the prince on the grounds of old age and frailty, retired to his bedroom, and stopped caring about worldly affairs.
At that time, Qi Qinghe was listening to storytelling in Zuixue Tower with the eldest princess Xiao Junmei.
Upon hearing this news, she was so shocked that the teacup in her hand fell, and the jade shattered and rolled. She asked in a daze, "Then I am..."
Queen?
Xiao Junmei took in her reaction and couldn't help but laugh.
When others knew about this, they were either surprised or happy. Few people would be as stupid and silly as Qi Qinghe, who looked so easy to bully.
But she was extremely courageous and all the things in the imperial city were done by her personally.
"Yes." Xiao Junmei scratched her cheek and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Your Majesty. When you become successful in the future, don't forget me."
The joke amused the two of them, and they looked at each other and laughed non-stop.
After a while, Xiao Junmei calmed down and asked curiously, "What do you want to do in the future?"
Based on their past acquaintance, in her eyes, the Crown Princess, the future Empress, was not someone who was content to enjoy herself in the harem.
Qi Qinghe was stunned by her question. He had never thought about this question before, but it should be the same as in the past few days.
Managing business, taking care of the affairs of the Imperial Guard, and drinking tea and chatting with friends in my spare time is not boring at all.
She took a sip of tea and felt that having her loved one always by her side and power in her hands, wasn't life wonderful?
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