Chapter 50 Chapter 50 [VIP]
The emperor had actually experienced the pain of excessive blood loss many times.
My vision kept going black, everything around me was shaking wildly, and I couldn't muster any strength to move my body.
Even though the puncture wound is extremely painful, there is nothing you can do about it.
The closest the emperor came to death was when he was ambushed and shot in the shoulder by an arrow.
He cares a lot about his image, especially in front of Yuan Mu.
The emperor almost never showed Yuan Mu those old injuries because they were really ugly and he was reluctant to let her see them.
She is actually very timid.
Yuan Mu is a very kind child.
But the emperor also believed that if the military doctor who was accompanying her at the time had not promised to give her a generous reward, she might not have had the courage to remove the blood-soaked cloth and face the hideous wound on his abdomen.
Before she met him, she was just like any other girl thrown into a Taoist temple.
Living an ordinary, monotonous and boring life.
It was he who led her onto a chaotic, turbulent and dangerous path.
Yuan Mu was forced to become brave.
Even when she was nearly hurt by Gao Chi not long ago, she still held the dagger with tears on her face and stabbed his heart.
But Yuan Mu's expression was so calm now, she didn't even hesitate too much.
The emperor always knew that Yuan Mu hated him, whether he forced her into the palace, forced her to get pregnant, or forcibly brought her back from Shuofang.
But he still didn't expect that she would go to such lengths for the King of Chu.
The King of Chu was just an outsider.
The emperor did not take the initiative to kill the King of Chu, but he always thought that even if he really killed the King of Chu, what would happen?
Didn't he still have the power to kill someone who had taken her from him?
In this whole world, there is no one that the emperor cannot kill.
But the hatred in Yuan Mu's eyes was too deep. At that moment, the emperor's chest was surging with a pain that was sharper than the wound on his shoulder pierced by a sharp blade.
He once thought she would love him forever.
He was so cruel and morbid when he lost his memory, but because of her love for him, she never gave up on him for a moment.
Yuan Mu lived for him.
Yuan Mu's death was also for him.
In order to avoid having to take off the crude jade bracelet, Yuan Mu went on a hunger strike, hanged himself, and did everything he could.
But at this moment the emperor was so clearly aware.
Yuan Mu really doesn't love him anymore.
The look she gave him was devoid of any affection; instead, it was as if she were looking at a stranger, or perhaps an enemy.
The emperor was used to being high and mighty. He was conceited, cold-hearted, paranoid and vicious. Yuan Mu misunderstood him, but he never thought of explaining.
It wasn't because he was willing to bear the stigma, but because he was still arrogantly waiting for her to know the truth and feel that she owed him something.
The most stupid and conceited person the emperor had ever met was Yuan Mu's sister Yuan Ying.
She was waiting for an emperor to turn back to her and give his true heart to her.
But now the emperor suddenly realized that the path he was taking was no different from Yuan Ying's.
"Your Majesty, your body is precious," Yuan Mu said softly, "Guardians will arrive in a moment."
There was too much blood flowing.
The emperor's vision became increasingly blurred. He tried his best to see Yuan Mu's face clearly, but even her voice became increasingly blurred in his ears.
He wanted to hold her hand, his pale, bloodless lips trembling slightly: "Don't go, A'Luo..."
But Yuan Mu just held his hand, then got up and left.
Her figure gradually disappeared and became blurred in the darkness.
About a quarter of an hour later, guards came over, accompanied by the imperial physician, who was horrified and began to treat the emperor's wounds in a hurry.
The emperor was injured and the imperial concubine was missing.
Fortunately, Li Tao was traveling with us today, and he quickly blocked the news and made arrangements.
The little prince was still waiting for his mother to come back in the main hall. He waited for a long time, until it turned dark, but Yuan Mu still didn't come back.
The maid leaned over and led him away from the terrace, her voice hoarse, "Your Highness, the Queen has to go back to the palace for something. Before she left, she told us to take you to bed first."
This is a blatant lie.
Ordinary children can definitely be fooled.
But the little prince was very precocious, and he almost subconsciously realized that something was wrong.
"Then I want to go back to the palace too," he said noisily, "I want to go back with mother."
The little prince was a very well-behaved child. He never cried or made a fuss about anything, and the servants didn't know what to do.
Finally, it was the emperor himself who came and helped the little prince to be born peacefully.
He was dressed in a black crane cloak, his face was pale, and his fingertips were as white as snow.
"Go to bed first," the emperor whispered. "We can talk about it tomorrow."
He was extremely imposing, and when he looked down at the little prince, there was a hint of anger between his brows.
When the little prince saw the emperor coming, he burst into tears and said, "Mother, mother, do you not want us anymore?"
The emperor stood at the intersection of light and shadow, half his face hidden in the darkness. He was silent for a moment, then said softly, "No."
He said slowly: "Mother will never abandon you."
But apart from comforting her with words, the emperor could do nothing. He said, "Mother will be back tomorrow."
The little prince was eventually forcibly taken back to the inner room to sleep.
He was tired of crying and slowly fell asleep.
But for the emperor,.
There is a curfew at night, and now it is wartime, order.
The emperor was used to controlling everything in his life. He could easily set up a net to trap Yuan Mu, or even use chains to imprison her in the Ziwei Palace forever.
, it would do nothing but make her hate him more.
Yuan Mu is a free bird.
He is the dying setting sun, symbolizing the decadent and decadent imperial power.
Even if the world is peaceful and prosperous in his hands, it will be meaningless because he will always be a dictatorial and autocratic emperor.
Over the years, it would be more accurate to say that he was swallowed up by imperial power rather than controlling it.
The emperor recalled the night he was deposed many years ago.
What he thought at that time was that he did not want to become a person like the previous emperor at all. He wanted to be a wise and benevolent monarch, whose achievements would be passed down through the ages and whose reputation would be passed down through the generations.
But now the emperor suddenly realized that he was becoming more and more like his father.
The young man named Helan Zhen was not entirely his disguise.
Before he ascended the throne, he was indeed gentle and kind, with a graceful and elegant side. He cared about the character of those around him and was understanding of the difficulties others faced.
But later on, he became less and less like himself.
When he was the crown prince, would he force an innocent girl who was about to get married to enter the palace to be a surrogate mother?
Would he control and force her in such a pathological way?
Actually, he doesn't.
He wasn't a very good person at that time.
But no matter what, he was still a hundred times better than he was later.
At this point, the emperor no longer hoped to bring Yuan Mu back by force. He clearly understood that it was all his own fault that they, who were once in love with each other, had ended up in this situation.
He just wanted to know what kind of changes he had to make.
The emperor stayed in the main hall for a long time. There were still traces of Yuan Mu's life here, and her fragrance was still lingering in the curtains.
He lost a lot of blood and passed out soon after, but his injuries were not serious.
The emperor couldn't deceive himself into thinking that Yuan Mu still had feelings for him.
She was like this simply because she understood how important his identity was and how profound his influence on the world was.
The emperor stood in front of the curtain that shone like moonlight, but his heart ached more and more in his chest.
Today marks the sixth year that Yuan Mu has entered the palace.
Yuan Mu may not know, or he may not care at all.
The gift he brought her this time was a personally drafted edict to establish her as queen.
The Imperial Astronomical Observatory has already calculated an auspicious date, and by next spring, they can officially prepare for the ceremony of crowning the empress.
However, Yuan Mu may never become his queen again.
He owed her a phoenix coronet and a bridal gown, and a grand wedding banquet, but perhaps he would never be able to repay them until his death.
At this point, the emperor was only thankful for one thing, which was that this time Yuan Mu chose to hurt him instead of hurting himself.
His life is not of much value. If she were more ruthless, she could kill him and directly take the throne of Queen Mother.
The prince is still young now, and only when he rules the country from behind the scenes can he have true freedom.
But Yuan Mu still had pity for the world. She had experienced war and chaos, so she could not bear to see the world fall into chaos again.
She didn't kill him, not out of love for him at all.
She just simply loves the world.
The night was dead silent, and the emperor stood in the empty palace. At this moment, he finally understood what true hopelessness was.
But can he just let it go?
That is naturally impossible.
The emperor no longer dared to force Yuan Mu back to the palace, but he still sent people to track her whereabouts immediately after the incident.
He should at least provide her with secret protection to prevent her from being hurt.
If he couldn't get any idea of her situation, he would really go crazy.
-
In the second half of the night, snow began to fall from the sky.
A great victory took place on the border not long ago, but once a war breaks out, it cannot be resolved smoothly in a day or two.
Xi Rongjing received the order to go, and he had already set off a few days ago.
Before leaving, he specifically reminded Yuan Mu: "If you really want to leave, you must leave that night and not delay for even a day."
Xi Rongjing left some people for Yuan Mu, all of whom were very trustworthy aides.
The dense forest had been selected in advance.
Yuan Mu rode his horse at full speed and soon met the person who was supposed to pick him up. After changing his appearance and clothes, he started to rush out of the pass without stopping for a moment.
But in the second half of the night, it suddenly started snowing.
This time the snow was very heavy, with goose-feather-like snow falling down in large quantities. Soon the ground was covered with a layer of white snow.
Yuan Mu sat in the carriage, his face flushed by the cold wind.
But she still looked outside every once in a while, alert for pursuers.
There was a curfew at night, so they did not take the main road, but the extremely dangerous path in the mountains and forests.
There is no way around it.
Fortunately, the public security near Jingzhao is very good and there are no bandits causing trouble.
But Yuan Mu still didn't dare to be careless at all.
The world is much more stable now than it was a few years ago, but when noble families travel, they still have their retainers and servants lead the way.
For those who travel alone like them, if they encounter well-trained thieves, they will be dead.
Just as the express carriage was about to arrive at Jingyang, heavy snow suddenly fell.
The tracks of vehicles on the snow are extremely obvious. Soldiers who are familiar with this can analyze the general situation clearly just by looking at the tracks of vehicles and horses.
Xi Rongjing's staff could only take Yuan Mu and stop temporarily.
They initially camped in the dense forest, trying to wait out the snowstorm.
But the snow kept getting heavier, and when it reached above the calves, it became even more troublesome and impossible to move forward.
So everyone had to set off again.
This was the first time Yuan Mu had encountered such a thing. She was wrapped in a thick blanket, but still felt extremely cold.
Why is her luck always so bad?
The man who agreed to marry her was her brother-in-law, who had lost his memory during the war. After settling down for two years, her peace was broken by a coveted person. Even on the way to escape, she encountered heavy snow.
Yuan Mu's lips were bitten by her until they were almost bleeding.
Fortunately, they came across a dilapidated temple on the way.
I don’t know how many years it has been abandoned. It was probably abandoned during the last war.
The night watchman lowered his voice and said, "Go to sleep for a while, young lady. We have to travel tomorrow."
But Yuan Mu couldn't sleep at all. Her heart was tense and her thoughts were chaotic and noisy. It was not until dawn that she fell into a light sleep.
It is already the coldest time of the year and it is impossible to change the water route midway.
Xi Rongjing prepared a pass for Yuan Mu, but if that didn't work, he could only go through the regular channels to enter and exit the city.
But before long, the servants brought new bad news.
The emperor did not choose to seal off the city this time, but all nearby cities were inspected intensively, and part of the Jingzhao Imperial Guards were also sent out.
There is still fighting on the border today, and no one finds it strange.
Only Yuan Mu knew clearly what he was doing this for.
Thinking of the shadow falling in the dark, she felt her ankles go cold, as if a python was wrapped around her ankles and pulling her down continuously.
The news from Xi Rongjing also spread quickly.
He is now almost reaching Fangzhou and heading towards Yanzhou.
"My dear, we must set off now," the staff said solemnly, "lest we have any more troubles at night."
He handed the letter to Yuan Mu and whispered, "Then we'll make arrangements when we get to Lingzhou."
Lingzhou is a place Yuan Mu is very familiar with.
Xi Rongjing went to Lingzhou this time. As a civil official, he would not go to the front line easily. His main responsibility was to stay in the rear.
This is a very dangerous road, but Yuan Mu has to go on it.
If she was discovered while walking on the main road, the emperor would not let her go at all.
But Yuan Mu really had no other choice.
There was a hint of cruelty in her eyes, and she lowered her head and said, "Okay."
The identity and travel pass Xi Rongjing prepared for Yuan Mu was that of a man, and since he was with his staff, he was not too conspicuous.
The subordinates who were good at disguise painted her eyes and darkened her eyelashes to cover up the unusual color of her eyes, and then made her look like a rough man.
And so they began their march again.
Because they had to pass through countless cities, they always entered and exited the city after dark to prevent Yuan Mu from being noticed.
As New Year's Day approached, we finally arrived in Lingzhou safely.
Yuan Mu had lived in this place for more than two years and was familiar with the plants and trees here. She had never walked on the street openly, but she had also followed the King of Chu to enjoy the scenery at night.
Now she has finally returned, but the King of Chu is still missing.
At the beginning, the call to find the King of Chu was extremely high.
But a month or two passed in a flash, the war had already begun, and many people accepted the fact that he had been killed.
Whenever Yuan Mu thought about this, he felt pain in his chest.
She arrived in Lingzhou early one morning.
As the New Year draws to a close, lights and bright red lanterns are hung everywhere. Some shops even hang red ribbons for good luck.
The people here are relatively tough, and they are used to a life of frequent wars.
Even though the border was caught in the flames of war, Lingzhou was still bustling.
Xi Rongjing came to pick up Yuan Mu in person. He had been here for some time, but he had been having trouble adapting to the climate there and his face had become much thinner.
Yuan Mu was very tired after the journey. She had a fever several times but she managed to get through it.
Fortunately, they were not discovered by the government troops.
Xi Rongjing has a mansion here, which is some distance away from the former residence of the King of Chu, but when the carriage passed by, Yuan Mu recognized the old house at a glance.
This place is now deserted and has lost all its former vitality.
Xi Rongjing looked at Yuan Mu, lowered his eyebrows, and said softly, "My condolences."
When she heard him say this, she felt an indescribable emotion.
Yuan Mu didn't cry much after hearing the news. She understood this truth when she was very young: tears are only useful if they are shed for the people you cherish.
But in the winter mist of Lingzhou, she couldn't stop shedding tears.
Xi Rongjing looked at her and politely handed her a handkerchief.
"It's not your fault," he said softly. "It's going to be okay."
Yuan Mu pursed her lips, wiped away her tears, and whispered, "Thank you, Mr. Xi."
They were sitting in the same carriage, not too far from each other.
Xi Rongjing did not deliberately shorten the distance, and his expression was indifferent when he got off the car.
When Yuan Mu got off the carriage with him and stepped into his mansion, the first thing he felt was the solemnity and frosty weather.
It snowed again two days ago.
The snow has not yet subsided, so Xi Rongjing did not ask anyone to clear the snow, leaving only a path for walking.
The courtyard was covered in white snow, and the cold air was so clear even through the corridor.
"Ayan has no one to look after her in Jingzhao, so she's here too," Xi Rongjing said softly, "but you don't have to worry. She rarely leaves the compound."
Yuan Mu raised her eyes and finally remembered the question.
What happened to Xi Lanyan during the two years she was away?
Xi Lanyan was once the most outstanding lady among the noble ladies, but now she is extremely silent. She often takes sick leave when she goes to the Lishan Palace.
A hint of sarcasm flashed across Xi Rongjing's eyes.
But he didn't let Yuan Mu see his change of mood. He just said calmly: "She made some mistakes. I will tell you about this later."
Xi Rongjing continued to talk to Yuan Mu about the follow-up matters.
"Recently, all major checkpoints have been strictly checked, and we are on alert during wartime," he said slowly. "When spring comes, I will have someone arrange for a trip south, and then you can go to Jiangnan."
"It's much more stable over there, and the climate is more suitable," Xi Rongjing said gently, "The Xi family's ancestral home is over there, and they can help you if you need anything."
Yuan Mu never thought that he would be so thoughtful.
Xi Rongjing seemed to have turned back into the gentle gentleman she was familiar with.
But Yuan Mu didn't know what was going on, and his tense heartstrings couldn't relax.
"Thank you, Mr. Xi," she said with a hoarse voice, "Mr. Xi, for helping me so much. I will never forget you."
"But I dare not trouble you any more about future matters," Yuan Mu raised his eyes, "I still want to go to Fengzhou again."
Fengzhou was where the King of Chu had an accident. It was temporarily recaptured, but the internal affairs were still in a mess.
Xi Rongjing's brows immediately frowned.
"Where in Fengzhou is the place you should go?" he asked in a deep voice, "Do you know how dangerous it is over there?"
Of course Yuan Mu knew.
But her life was saved by the King of Chu. If it weren't for him, she would have died in the fire in Qingning Palace long ago.
Even if everyone said he was dead, Yuan Mu would still go and see.
This is what she thought and what she said to Xi Rongjing.
Xi Rongjing was silent for a moment, then he said softly, "Let's wait and see. If things settle down after spring, it won't be too late for you to go there."
He is the host and she is the guest.
In addition, if the King of Chu is the person who has done the greatest favor to Yuan Mu, Xi Rongjing should be ranked first now.
She nodded and said, "Okay, my dear."
Xi Rongjing's expression gradually softened, and he said in a gentle voice, "You've been exhausted from the journey. I asked the people in the mansion to prepare some food. Come and have some first."
Yuan Mu followed him into the mansion with a solemn and austere scenery.
Xi Rongjing arranged the dining place in the flower hall.
This is a very suitable place, neither too intimate nor too distant, just right for men and women.
The maid helped remove the makeup on Yuan Mu's face and then changed her into a new dress.
When she stepped into the flower hall, Yuan Mu had an illusion that she was back in the King of Chu's mansion.
Xi Rongjing briefly told Yuan Mu about the situation here, and then told her the important news that happened while she was on the road.
The two also talked about some old things.
"It's incredible," Xi Rongjing sighed softly, "No one believed you at the time. No one would have thought that His Majesty was actually Helan Zhen."
His tone was gentle, and he was wearing a light green coat, as timeless as a green bamboo.
"Didn't Mr. Xi follow him at that time?" Yuan Mu took a sip of tea. "I thought you would know."
"I happened to not be with His Majesty at the time," Xi Rongjing smiled, "He never mentioned it to me."
Xi Rongjing is right.
If he really knew, the emperor would definitely ask him after he remembered it.
It's really fate.
Yuan Mu pursed his lips. Xi Rongjing had always been by the emperor's side before, but at that time he was contacting the emperor for reinforcements and was not with him.
But now it is meaningless to delve into the past.
After finishing the meal, Yuan Mu said goodbye to Xi Rongjing and followed the maid to the living courtyard.
She took a good bath and then went to rest.
Yuan Mu slept until dark. When the moon rose above the branches, she rubbed her eyes and sat up. When she was about to get up, she heard a noisy sound outside.
"Who is that person?" a cute yet irritable voice rang out, "I just want to go and see!"
The maid hurriedly stopped her: "Miss, this won't do! My husband has specifically instructed..."
But the girl still insisted on going in. She said loudly, "I'm his biological sister. Can't you even tell me that he keeps a mistress in the mansion?"
Yuan Mu sounded familiar with what she heard. She lifted the curtain and walked out.
When she met Xi Lanyan's gaze, she was stunned for a moment.
Xi Lanyan's face had changed so much that Yuan Mu almost didn't recognize her.
But when Xi Lanyan saw Yuan Mu, she felt like she had seen a ghost. She screamed, "Why are you here? Run away!"
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