Chapter 154 The Emperor Passes Away
Living conditions in the border area are difficult. Compared to the prosperity of the capital, there is only endless loess and howling winds.
Here, no one cares about your background or whether you are beautiful.
Tents stand tall in the loess. Here, the interests of the country are above everything else. They will do anything for the honor of the country.
As night fell, a bonfire was lit in the camp. The soldiers sat around the campfire, eating simple meals, drinking diluted white wine, and chatting.
Here, there is no conspiracy or intrigue, only the purest trust and loyalty.
They are each other's strongest support and most trustworthy partners.
Sometimes, when a gust of wind blew, the soldiers would prick up their ears alertly, touch the weapons beside them, and be ready to meet the enemy's attack at any time.
However, it was just a false alarm. The wind stopped and calm returned to the camp. The soldiers sat down again and continued to enjoy the rare tranquility.
In this land, they are lonely guardians, guarding the security of the country and the happiness of the people.
Although their lives were difficult, they never gave up. They are heroes of the country and the pride of their families.
Ever since Da He and Da Qi made peace and the Da He Wolf King returned to Da He, there has been no more war in He Yun Mansion. Although the soldiers have been leisurely in previous years, they dare not take it lightly.
Spring goes and autumn comes, and in the blink of an eye it is the end of autumn again.
The cool wind of late autumn blew over the city walls of Heyun Mansion, turning the leaves in the city yellow and bringing with it the sorrow of parting.
Ling Chan stood in front of the window, looking at the scenery outside, and a sense of emotion arose in her heart.
Autumn is a season of parting, just like her and Xiao Jin. Over the past year, he always wrote to her, and she would occasionally reply, but she didn't know what to say. Some time ago, she wrote him the last letter, asking him not to write to her again.
She thought that Xiao Jin was a smart man. Now that the emperor was poisoned, he had no choice but to hand over state affairs to Xiao Jin. He now had supreme power.
In this case, he should find a woman of equal status, but she only wants to stay here at the border.
When he marries the woman he should marry, she will be forgotten in the corner.
Thinking of this, Ling Chan felt some strange emotions in her heart, but... she suppressed them.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door, breaking Ling Chan's thoughts.
It was Liu Huaiyu, "Ling Chan, there's a letter from the capital."
Ling Chan's heart sank inexplicably. Calculating the time...
She immediately followed Liu Huaiyu to Liu Hong.
Liu Hong was in the room, looking at the letter on the table with a serious expression.
There were several deputy generals sitting around him, and the atmosphere was very depressing.
"Marquis Zhenbei, you are here." Liu Hong said.
Ling Chan said calmly, "What's the matter with the letter from the capital?"
"The emperor is critically ill and summons you back to the capital." Liu Hong said directly.
It really is this matter.
The young general beside Liu Hong handed the letter to Ling Chan.
Ling Chan took the letter and looked at it, and immediately frowned.
It’s good that it’s the emperor’s handwritten letter, and it’s also good to let her return to Beijing.
But she couldn't understand why he insisted that she return to Beijing when he was about to die?
Ling Chan saw the palace servant who brought the letter, "Fu Lu?!"
She never expected that the person who delivered the letter was Fu Lu.
He was the emperor's servant. "Why are you the one delivering the letter?"
Fu Lu looked at Ling Chan with a complicated expression, "My Lord, the Emperor summoned you back to the capital because he has something to ask of you."
Ling Chan walked past him, her back facing him, "What's going on?"
She poisoned Xiao Heng, and Xiao Heng entrusted her with something before his death? She didn't believe it.
Ling Chan stayed at the border for a year, but instead of looking older, she looked even better.
She was dressed simply and had a pretty face, and in fact she was even more noble. Fu Lu secretly sighed... No wonder King Rui was obsessed with her.
Ling Chan looked into the distance, thinking...
In the end, Ling Chan decided to return to Beijing with Fu Lu. As for the reason, she couldn't explain it clearly.
The carriage bumped along the road, the axles creaking, crossing the vast border, the bustling city, and the silent wilderness...
It stopped in front of a luxurious mansion.
Ling Chan got out of the car, and the doorman at the mansion gate ran over, "Miss?"
"This..." is Ling Mansion?
When she left, Ling Mansion was not like this...
"Miss, this is the Ling Mansion." The doorman nodded affirmatively, "Prince Rui sent people to repair it."
"But..." It wasn't like this when I repaired it before.
"Prince Rui later sent people to repair it."
Ling Chan twitched her lips. Would he use this to relieve his longing for her?
She stepped into the Ling Mansion and saw pavilions, towers, winding paths, and a luxurious and noble look.
"Greetings, Miss." A row of maids bowed respectfully.
Ling Chan nodded slightly and walked into the front hall.
The front hall was also redecorated, with valuable calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls and gorgeous carpets covering the floor.
The maids brought tea and cakes, "Miss, you have worked hard on the journey."
Ling Chan sat down and just picked up the tea when the doorman came to report that Prince Rui had arrived.
"Please ask him to come in." Ling Chan put down the tea and looked outside the hall.
After not seeing her for a year...she was actually a little nervous now.
One is the emperor's most trusted brother, and the other is the Marquis of Zhenbei who guards the border.
Xiao Jin's gaze fell on Ling Chan, and his eyes revealed joy.
Ling Chan subconsciously lowered her eyes, trying to avoid Xiao Jin's gaze, but in her heart she recalled the scenes of the two of them together before.
It seems like the window paper between them has never been broken, but...
From his eyes, she could tell that Xiao Jin had a thousand words to say but couldn't say them at the moment.
"Ling Chan." Xiao Jin walked closer, "You're back."
"I'm back." There were many people gathered in his throat, but only this one sentence came out.
The two stood quietly, looking at each other's familiar yet unfamiliar face.
Xiao Jin sighed that Ling Chan was more delicate and charming than last year, while Ling Chan sighed that Xiao Jin had become more mature and steady.
There was complexity in the eyes of both of them.
"How have you been lately?" Ling Chan broke the silence.
Xiao Jin nodded slightly, "I'm fine, how about you?"
Ling Chan spread her hands, "It couldn't be better."
The two smiled at each other, and the atmosphere eased a lot.
"Why did the emperor suddenly summon me back to the capital?" Ling Chan asked softly.
Xiao Jin sighed, "The Emperor has been increasingly frail lately. Imperial Physician Ge has declared that he doesn't have much time left."
Imperial Physician Ge? Doctor Ge actually re-entered the palace as an imperial physician?
"The Emperor summoned him to the palace to help him detoxify, but after all this time, Imperial Physician Ge still hasn't found an antidote..."
"That day, the emperor suddenly wrote a letter, asking to summon you to the palace. No matter how much I asked, he didn't answer."
Ling Chan thought for a moment and said, "I'll go to the palace now."
Let’s see what Xiao Heng wants to entrust to me.
Xiao Jin took off his cloak and carefully put it on Ling Chan, "It's winter now, wear more clothes."
Ling Chan gathered her cloak and said, "Yeah."
The two entered the palace, and Xiao Jin was blocked outside by Xiao Heng, allowing only Ling Chan to enter.
The magnificent palace was filled with a strange smell.
Ling Chan walked in and saw several quilts piled on the luxurious dragon bed. There was a slight movement under the quilts. It was Xiao Heng.
He looked at Ling Chan with a helpless look in his eyes, "Ling Chan..."
Ling Chan looked at him, "The Emperor summoned me to the palace, what's the matter?"
Xiao Heng stretched out his hand from under the quilt, his voice trembling, "Ling Chan, I...I am going to die."
I know, Ling Chan thought, she was the one who poisoned him, how could she not know?
Xiao Heng's face turned pale. "Ling Chan, I have something to entrust to you."
At this moment, a man swung in from outside the door, "Your Majesty!"
Ling Chan turned around and saw Concubine Rou.
She was furious. "The Emperor is not feeling well. How can we allow anyone to disturb him?"
"Marquis Zhenbei!" she scolded, "What do you want to do to the emperor?!"
Ling Chan slowly turned around and looked at Concubine Rou.
After not seeing each other for a long time, she felt that Concubine Rou's aura had changed and she became very arrogant.
Thinking about it carefully, her change was normal. After the emperor died, her son Xiao Ze succeeded to the throne, and she became the empress dowager, the most honorable woman in the harem.
"Come here, take the Marquis of Zhenbei away."
The imperial guards outside the palace rushed in, but were stunned when they saw Ling Chan.
"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and drag the Marquis of Zhenbei away." Concubine Rou shouted coldly, "The Marquis of Zhenbei is hindering the emperor's recovery. This is tantamount to regicide."
Considered as regicide?! Ling Chan laughed. She didn’t consider it as regicide at all; she was actually regicide.
"Get out!" Ling Chan said coldly.
Her voice was not loud, but it was enough to intimidate the imperial guards.
The imperial guards still remember what Ling Chan and her men did that night when the Great Wolf King threatened the emperor in the winter of a year ago.
The imperial guards withdrew one after another, and Concubine Rou stamped her feet in anger. "You, you bastards, this is the imperial palace, the emperor's place, why do you listen to her?"
Ling Chan approached Concubine Rou coldly, "Get out."
"You!" Concubine Rou pointed at Ling Chan, "Ling Chan, I'm Concubine Rou, how dare you be so rude to me?!"
"Get out." Before Ling Chan could say anything, Xiao Heng rushed to scold Concubine Rou.
Concubine Rou looked at Xiao Heng, gritting her teeth in indignation, but thinking that once he died, the throne would belong to her son, she decided to give it up for the time being.
She turned around and walked out while cursing.
Ling Chan turned to look at Xiao Heng. It seemed that Xiao Heng had been under the supervision of Concubine Rou during this period.
Xiao Heng spoke only after Concubine Rou's voice could no longer be heard.
"Marquis Zhenbei, I have something to entrust to you."
Ling Chan waited.
She didn't expect that Xiao Heng would actually take something out of the quilt and stretch it out to motion for her to take it.
Ling Chan walked over reluctantly, took it and found that it was an imperial edict.
She opened it and immediately threw it away like a hot potato.
"Your Majesty, do you want the tragedy to happen again?" she asked.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Heng said self-deprecatingly, "My son is only nine years old. If I die, I don't know what will happen to those people..."
"I give you this decree in order to stabilize the Daqi Empire."
He laughed, "I have my own deep thoughts. I killed innocent people for the throne, but I think... I am also conscientious. I don't want to..."
"I don't want the Great Qi Kingdom to be destroyed in my hands."
"If, if in the future...Zhenbei Hou takes out this imperial edict..."
"I believe in the Marquis of Zhenbei!"
Xiao Heng's eyes were fixed on Ling Chan. For some reason, Ling Chan looked at those eyes and couldn't bear to refuse.
She stepped forward and picked up the imperial edict. "Okay, I promise you."
"I won't tell anyone about this, so rest assured."
Ling Chan looked at him quietly, "Your Majesty, have a safe journey. I won't see you off."
She turned around and walked out of Xiao Heng's bedroom.
That night, Xiao Heng died in bed.
It is said that the body is ice-cold when the person dies, and half an hour after death, water drops appear around the body and the skin shrivels...
Ling Chan stayed in the capital to attend the emperor's funeral, and had to wait until the new emperor ascended the throne next year before she could return to the border.
She is the only owner of the Ling Mansion now, but they still have to celebrate the New Year.
So she simply went out for a stroll on the street... bought some snacks, jewelry, fabrics, etc., and asked the shopkeeper to deliver them to Ling's house.
When she was tired of shopping, she would find a teahouse to relax and have a cup of tea.
"Have you heard? The newcomer to the Ling Mansion is said to be pregnant."
"Zhenbei Hou is back, does she know?"
A newcomer to the Ling Mansion? Ling Rui's new wife?
"Zhenbei Hou and Ling Rui separated their residences long ago. So what if they knew about it?"
Ling Chan curled her lips. Indeed, whether Ling Rui married or not was none of her business.
She continued to drink her tea, casually glancing down at the lobby...
Suddenly, she saw a young man, and the young man also saw her.
The boy stared at her, then came up the stairs...
"Ling Chan!"
Ling Chan looked at the boy and said, "Long time no see, Ling Yu."
"Ling Chan." Ling Yu came in front of Ling Chan, "You..."
When he saw Ling Chan, it was like he had found a life-saving straw, but when he was in front of her, he was speechless.
"What's wrong?" Ling Chan asked calmly.
She felt that Ling Yu was different. When Ruan Yiyu was around, he was spoiled and arrogant.
But now... him?
"Dad's new wife..." Ling Yu said.
Ling Chan shrank her eyes, she wasn't interested...
Putting down the teacup, he asked, "What does it have to do with me?"
After saying that, he stood up and wanted to leave...
"Don't go." Ling Yu held Ling Chan, "You, you promised my mother that you would keep me safe for the rest of my life."
"Wrong!" Ling Chan corrected him, "I only promised your mother that I wouldn't hurt you."
Ling Yu held her back, "Dad's new wife...she framed me everywhere and even made my grandmother sick..."
Ling Chan just thought it was ridiculous. She pulled her arm back and said, "Ling Yu, don't you think this is a cycle of cause and effect?"
Ling Yu was stunned...
Yes, back then, his mother had framed Ling Chan in various ways, causing his father to hate her to the core.
Am I not the Ling Chan of the past?
Ling Yu watched Ling Chan leave. Only today did he truly feel the same way.
No, what he endured was not even one tenth of what Ling Chan had endured.
How did she survive?
At least now his father still believed in him and valued him, but he felt that he could no longer hold on...
And my grandmother, who was in such good health, was made sick by the new daughter-in-law.
Ling Chan was walking on the street when suddenly someone ran past her.
She looked closely and saw that it was Jiu Zhen beside Xiao Jin.
"Jiuzhen." she called.
Jiu Zhen heard a familiar voice, stopped abruptly, and looked back, "Princess."
"What happened?" Ling Chan asked.
"Yes, the Concubine Dowager is seriously ill, and the Prince sent me to call the Imperial Physician..."
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