Chapter 52 Chapter 52 [VIP]
In the six months since Yuan Mu returned to the palace, the emperor mentioned the past to her countless times.
He used to be very reluctant to mention what happened that year.
Because he always felt that she was using him as a substitute for Helan Zhen.
The emperor's emotions were very complicated.
He was tired of Helan Zhen and insisted that Helan Zhen did not exist, but he was also afraid that Helan Zhen really existed.
He had read the Helan family genealogy and the roster of military households stationed in Jingzhao countless times.
For Yuan Mu in the past, nothing could bring her more pain than these three words.
But when she heard the emperor talk about his experience of flipping through the genealogy late at night, she couldn't help laughing out loud.
The emperor's obsession was deep. He wished he could cut open his heart so that Yuan Mu could know all the details and understand his experiences and thoughts.
"There was a traitor among my personal troops who forged your blood letter," he said in a lower voice. "We were just hastily advancing westward and were ambushed by the rebels."
The emperor still clearly remembered every word written in the blood letter.
He is a very cold-hearted and arrogant person, and has been like this since he was the crown prince.
Only when facing Yuan Mu, the emperor always had a paranoid and morbid love in his heart.
He hurt her deeply, but she had to admit that his obsession with her was too deep and too heavy, and his unstoppable plundering drove her crazy.
After losing his memory, the emperor forgot everything.
When he first ascended the throne, the country was in turmoil and faced numerous external threats. Those were the most cruel and brutal years of his life.
The emperor only felt guilty towards one group of people.
Those were his personal soldiers who died in vain.
One hundred and thirty-two soldiers had been by his side since he was young, willing to risk their lives for him and showing their loyalty.
However, when they were about to succeed, they all died in vain in the ambush, and only one traitor escaped.
These are all distant memories.
But after so many years, Yuan Mu still remembered the gentle appearance of the military doctor beside the emperor when they first met.
That night, she, who had always been timid and cowardly, felt for the first time the value and meaning of her existence.
A Luo is not useless, nor is he a disaster that will destroy a family or a clan.
She would save the royal army who was fighting for the country and the people, and would also help the injured and distressed soldiers.
Yuan Mu always felt that she had a bad fate, which was why she encountered such a desperate situation that her lover lost his memory and even all the people who knew about it died.
If she could produce even a tiny bit of evidence other than the jade bracelet, things between her and the emperor might not have turned out like that.
She wouldn't have suffered so much.
Yuan Mu stared at Xi Rongjing in a daze, his chest filled with an extremely cold chill.
But Xi Rongjing just chuckled and said gently, "So there are 132. You remember it very clearly."
He seemed to be talking about insignificant things, rather than countless living lives.
Xi Rongjing still looks like that gentle young man.
Yuan Mu felt that he looked like a monster in human skin, with empty dark pupils, not like a living person at all.
She stood up, her voice trembling: "...How dare you?"
Xi Rongjing raised his chin slightly, holding the cup between his fingers, and looked at her calmly, his expression not changing at all.
Yuan Mu looked down at Xi Rongjing condescendingly.
The blood in her forehead was throbbing with pain, and her chest felt like it was blocked by a huge rock.
Yuan Mu's mind was filled with intense emotions.
She didn't even bother to be afraid.
But after the initial shock and anger passed, Yuan Mu couldn't help feeling a little confused.
What Xi Lanyan said kept echoing in her ears.
"But why would you do such a thing?" Yuan Mu's throat choked slightly. "You are already a royal relative, and the emperor still trusts you so much. Is there anything you can't get?"
The light and shadow in the flower hall are very good.
The fragrance of flowers in the courtyard drifted in silently through the window lattice.
Yuan Mu's pale face seemed so full of vitality because of the reflection of the bright sunlight.
She was born with great beauty. Her cold and pure face, no matter how dirty it was, could always capture the attention of others.
This is a truly stunning beauty. If it happened in troubled times, it could easily lead to the destruction of a country.
But what is even more irresistible is her as a person.
Concubine De is also very beautiful, Concubine Shu is also very beautiful, and even Yuan Ying is actually quite pretty.
However, there were countless beauties in the harem, but the emperor didn't like any of them. Even after losing his memory, he still doted on Yuan Mu for three years.
Not many people can match those innocent eyes.
The more a person is immersed in fame and fortune, the more he cannot resist her innocence and ignorance.
The word kindness is looked down upon by many people.
Today's generation is no longer the generation of gulls and herons that the saints talked about.
Men yearn for high positions and generous salaries, while women yearn for wealth and splendor.
, she has been in the palace for so many years and has not been polluted at all.
If I could win the heart of such a person, I would have no regrets even if I died for her.
This is different from dying under the peony flowers, being a ghost is also romantic.
But class
"Of course there are things I can't have," Xi Rongjing murmured, "and he snatched them away from me. I almost lost them forever."
His eyelids were drooping, and the moment he opened his eyelids, a dark light seemed to flash.
Xi Rongjing and the emperor are related by blood.
But even so, their expressions at that moment were still too similar.
Yuan Mu's heart was beating like a drum.
Before Xi Rongjing finished speaking, she saw the answer in his eyes.
He stood up with her, and when his tall shadow fell, it blocked out the warm sunlight.
Yuan Mu suddenly felt an indescribable chill, and her tightly clenched knuckles trembled constantly.
"I was the one who knew you first, and I was the one who told him about Qingyun Temple," Xi Rongjing said in a low and cold voice, "but his appearance ruined everything."
His knuckles came up and gripped her jaw.
Xi Rongjing's voice was like a snake, cold and greasy: "A Luo, if it were you, what would you do?"
His finger bones were frighteningly cold.
Yuan Mu was caught off guard and forced to the side of the antique display cabinet by Xi Rongjing, and was forced to raise his jaw to look at him.
She knew more than anything the danger of a man's gaze.
We must not drive Xi Rongjing crazy at this time, otherwise he will do anything.
"Then why didn't you just kill him then?" Yuan Mu's voice trembled. "Why did you have to watch him force and torture me?"
She raised her watery eyes, and her long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
Yuan Mu was like a swan waiting to be slaughtered, with his jaw raised in an arc of despair.
"If you want me," she said, tears on the verge of falling, "why don't you just get me?"
Xi Rongjing raised his hand and wiped away the tears from the corners of Yuan Mu's eyes.
He embraced her very lightly, his gesture still seeming restrained and polite.
But there was an extremely morbid obscurity in Xi Rongjing's eyes.
"You think I didn't want to?" His voice was hoarse. "Things were so chaotic back then. I couldn't lose him. I couldn't lose him in this world."
Xi Rongjing lowered his eyes.
He whispered, "I thought about killing him, but he was seriously injured and happened to have lost his memory and forgot everything."
"This is a golden opportunity given by Heaven, do you understand?" Xi Rongjing stared at Yuan Mu, "I can't miss it, but I didn't expect that he would force you to enter the palace later."
His words were elegant, implicit and tactful, as if he really had countless difficulties.
But Yuan Mu heard it clearly.
The emperor's status as the deposed crown prince naturally gave him a powerful influence.
Countless troops were willing to serve him to the death just because he was the crown prince who was unjustly deposed.
At that time, the whole world was in chaos, and anyone who wanted to fight for the throne was suspected of plotting a usurpation.
Only the emperor.
The original master of this world, the most noble man in the world.
There will be no resistance when he wants to ascend the throne.
Xi Rongjing follows the emperor and has no effort to gain power.
This would be a hundred times easier than finding a new master or trying to seize power.
After all, many people around the emperor were willing to go through fire and water for him not for his fame or power, but simply for his talent.
If Xi Rongjing really killed the emperor, not only would he not be able to inherit the emperor's power, but he would also be easily killed by the emperor's old ministers.
When planning the ambush on the emperor, Xi Rongjing may have indeed thought about killing the emperor.
But a rare opportunity came from nowhere: the emperor himself lost his memory and forgot everything.
But even so, there are still risks.
Because the people around the emperor still remembered everything, his personal soldiers rescued him at the risk of their lives and still knew the whole story.
This is where Xi Rongjing's cruelty lies.
He killed all those who escaped death, destroyed all evidence, and reshaped the emperor's memory.
The emperor was seriously injured at that time, and it was at this opportunity that Xi Rongjing successfully completed the plan.
Perhaps Yuan Wei had vaguely seen something, so he forced Yuan Mu into the palace.
But compared to Xi Rongjing, his existence in this past was too insignificant.
Yuan Mu suddenly understood why Yuan Wei always felt that her honor and favor all came from his support.
Isn’t this the case from Yuan Wei’s perspective?
If someone else had been sent to the palace at that time, Yuan Mu might never have had any contact with the emperor again.
But she suddenly realized that all the pain was man-made, and her heart and lungs still felt unbearable pain.
It was as if a pair of hands were clutching her heart, trying to hollow out her lungs.
"Don't blame me, A'Luo. I didn't want this to happen either," Xi Rongjing whispered. "When you wanted to commit suicide, didn't I also say I could help you?"
He lowered his voice and asked, "Why did you insist on going to see the King of Chu?"
Xi Rongjing can help Yuan Mu.
But at the beginning, he only told her that things would get better in the future. It was not until she completely collapsed that he reached out his hand like a savior.
If Yuan Mu was still that innocent girl, she might really believe Xi Rongjing.
However, now she understood his true meaning almost at that moment.
Because Xi Rongjing really wants to be a savior.
Yuan Mu has already fallen in love with the emperor, and even if he rescues her, she will not fall in love with him immediately.
So Xi Rongjing chose to wait.
He lurked in the darkness, waiting for Yuan Mu to fall into final despair, and then descended like a god to capture her heart.
But the appearance of the King of Chu destroyed his years of forbearance and concealment.
Yuan Mu couldn't help but wonder what Xi Rongjing was thinking when she mentioned going to Fengzhou?
He lay dormant for many years just to win Yuan Mu back, but the King of Chu took Yuan Mu away directly and really won her heart.
Xi Rongjing harbored such deep hatred for the emperor, so he must have felt even more jealous of the King of Chu, who had truly taken everything from him...
Perhaps it was not the emperor who caused the King of Chu's accident.
But could he, a prince and the emperor's younger brother, really disappear in such an unclear manner?
"Is he still alive?" Yuan Mu couldn't control his emotions. "What did you do to him?"
She grabbed Xi Rongjing's clothes, her voice trembling.
Yuan Mu felt extremely weak all over.
If she hadn't been leaning against the antique shelf, she would probably have collapsed from exhaustion.
"Do you care about him that much?" Xi Rongjing said casually, "What on earth is there about a good-for-nothing playboy like him that you would cherish so much?"
He tore off his gentle mask, revealing his hideous and terrifying true face.
Xi Rongjing lifted Yuan Mu's black hair and whispered in her ear: "Go find his heart after you die, A'luo."
"He fell from a cliff thousands of feet high," he said slowly. "What do you think his chances of survival are?"
Xi Rongjing's voice was cold, even his breath was cold.
He was like a snake lurking in the dark, cold-blooded, gloomy and depressed, with evil desires between his eyebrows that were a hundred times more morbid and paranoid than the emperor's.
At that moment, Yuan Muru fell into an ice cave.
She knew that there was a great possibility that the King of Chu would pass away, but when she heard Xi Rongjing say this, she still couldn't help but collapse.
The blood flowing in his veins was no longer boiling hot blood.
But it is the frost that condenses into ice.
It was so cold that it seemed to pierce through the blood vessels, and the chill penetrated into the bones, causing sharp pain.
Yuan Mu felt that there was no part of his body that didn't hurt.
She knew that she must not anger Xi Rongjing at this time, but she really couldn't bear it anymore.
Yuan Mu grabbed Xi Rongjing's wrist and, using all his strength, slapped him hard in the face.
Xi Rongjing's slightly pale face turned to the side, with red marks on his cheekbones.
Yuan Mu slapped him so hard that his face was even scratched a little.
The bloodstains and crimson color looked so strange on that always gentle face.
But Xi Rongjing's expression did not change at all.
He wiped away the bloodstains, turned his head calmly, and said softly, "Send my wife back to the courtyard to rest for a while. I will visit her later."
Xi Rongjing gave instructions to his attendants nonchalantly.
When he said this, it didn't sound like he was talking about a person, but rather an object for him to dispose of at will.
After Xi Rongjing finished speaking, the attendant with a sword came to Yuan Mu.
Her emotions were so strong that she could hardly control them, but she couldn't do more at this moment.
After being forcibly taken back to the courtyard, Yuan Mu's tears, which had been suppressed for a long time, finally fell.
So many years have passed, and she has long accepted the fact that fate has never been kind to her.
But it was not until today that Yuan Mu realized that the hardships and sufferings in her life were all deliberately manipulated by others.
This person was like a brother whom she once trusted immensely.
Xi Rongjing had hurt her to this extent, how could he still have the nerve to say he loved her?
He just wanted to get her, to plunder her.
Compared to him, the emperor when Yuan Muchu first entered the palace seemed much more humane.
She clutched the quilt tightly and fell into a deep sleep.
There was a faint red tint at the corners of Yuan Mu's eyes, and traces of tears were faintly visible.
She was really too tired. She had never felt so painful and exhausted since the day she was forced into the palace by the emperor.
But before the moonlight shone into Yuan Mu's room, she was awakened by the maid.
This was not the maid who usually served in her courtyard, but someone close to Xi Rongjing. She was well-trained and had great strength.
Regardless of Yuan Mu's wishes, the maid forced her to change her clothes and then do her hair and put on makeup.
The gauze skirt was light and thin, like a cicada's wing, and was too thin to wear on the bright spring day at the end of February.
The golden bells tied around the wrists and ankles have an even more dirty connotation.
Yuan Mu felt so disgusted that she kicked over the beautiful dressing table, and the bottles and jars broke with a loud noise.
She has always been gentle and submissive, like a dodder that lives by the needs of men.
Yuan Mu's composure is also based on Xi Rongjing's favor towards her.
After all, without Xi Rongjing, she doesn’t know where she is suffering now.
This is the consensus of everyone in the mansion.
Therefore, no one expected Yuan Mu to make such a drastic move. Her eyebrows were cold and her voice was chilling: "Is Xi Rongjing dead?"
Her wrists were forcibly twisted by the two men. Her makeup was done, but her face was still frighteningly cold.
The maid was startled and quickly dodged, thus avoiding being hit by the falling dressing table.
The expressions of the few people who had been acting so arrogantly just now suddenly changed into fear.
The maid lowered her head and stammered, "My lord, my lord, I just want to take you to see a guest..."
This is the very bad thing about the inner courtyard.
There are three exits and six entrances, and countless guards guarding the door, making it extremely difficult and troublesome to get out.
Yuan Mu has gradually become familiar with this courtyard over the past few days, but he doesn't dare to go out rashly without complete certainty.
You must know that Xi Rongjing is now in charge of the power of Shuofang.
Yuan Mu wanted to curse the emperor again when he thought of this. A cold-blooded and heartless person like him always adhered to the principle of rather killing someone innocently than letting them go.
Why is he so tolerant towards Xi Rongjing, who is already suspicious of him?
Then she thought that Xi Rongjing was from the emperor's mother's side.
"You can meet guests," Yuan Mu said, trying to remain calm. "Tell Xi Rongjing that I won't wear this outfit."
She turned around and kicked over the porcelain vase next to the dressing table as she walked into the inner room.
The porcelain vase was very tall, and contained a bouquet of flowers as tall as a person. When it was kicked and broken, the water all overflowed, scaring the maid beside the dressing table so much that her face turned pale.
It is well known that Yuan Mu is easy to talk to.
No one expected that she would resist so fiercely.
A moment later, Xi Rongjing came over in person.
He lifted the beaded curtain and walked towards Yuan Mu, his voice helpless: "Why are you angry?"
"If you don't want to wear it, just change it," Xi Rongjing smiled, "I'll help you choose whichever one you want to wear."
Yuan Mu avoided his hand, his eyes full of annoyance.
"I'll choose for myself," her eyes were cold, "it's none of your business."
Yuan Mu is very attractive when he is gentle, and also very heart-wrenching when he is angry.
Xi Rongjing has been abstinent for many years and has no women around him. Now that he is about to get Yuan Mu, he is not in any rush at all.
He raised the corners of his lips slightly and said softly, "Okay, I'll do as you say."
Yuan Mu chose a very conservative long dress, which completely covered the skin on her snow-white neck.
Xi Rongjing intended to bring Yuan Mu to meet guests, but he was not stupid enough to let her show her face.
Her makeup was delicate, concealing the peculiar color of her eyes, and she wore a veil on her face, making her look a bit like a beauty from the Western Regions.
Yuan Mu didn't recognize the guests at the banquet.
But when everyone gathered together, it was very lively.
When Xi Rongjing brought Yuan Mu over, almost everyone looked over.
Her color is so good that even with layers of coverage, it is hard to hide her stunning beauty.
Just those eyes and eyebrows are enough to touch everyone's hearts.
The guest sitting in the high seat smiled and toasted Xi Rongjing: "Sir, what should I call this lady?"
Xi Rongjing smiled and said, "She's just someone from the mansion, just call her Madam."
He has been suppressed for too many years, and now he is like a villain who has gained power and wants to show off his possessions to everyone.
This is also the reason why Yuan Mu was annoyed by the emperor's promotion of her.
He might really want to pamper her, but it was more to satisfy his morbid possessiveness.
Yuan Mu's expression was cold, she ignored the fawning guest. The veil made it inconvenient for her to eat, so she just focused on eating the snacks slowly.
Xi Rongjing smiled helplessly and whispered, "Why are you so spoiled and willful?"
This look of favoritism is full of endless disgust.
Xi Lanyan was right, Xi Rongjing was a complete lunatic.
However, Yuan Mu didn’t think that he went crazy after the fire in Qingning Palace. He had been completely crazy long before.
Xi Rongjing seems to have everything, but in fact he has lived under the emperor's shadow all his life.
Even the best opportunity for war had to rely on the emperor's power.
Xi Rongjing was born into a noble family, while Li Conglu was born as a prince; Xi Rongjing was extremely talented, while Li Conglu was proficient in civil and military affairs, riding and shooting; Xi Rongjing entered the officialdom at a young age, while Li Conglu was the future emperor.
Having been trapped in such a contrast for a long time, Xi Rongjing would probably have gone crazy long ago.
Beneath that gentle and jade-like face of the young man, there is always a dirty inner world that cannot be shown to others.
In the silent competition with the emperor, Xi Rongjing never won once, but the emperor didn't even know that Xi Rongjing regarded him as an imaginary enemy.
When Yuan Mu thought of this, he suddenly found him ridiculous.
After the dinner, Xi Rongjing took Yuan Mu to the backyard.
He looked at her intently and asked softly, "What are you laughing at?"
Yuan Mu told Xi Rongjing everything she was thinking, and then she saw from close up that his expression became uglier and uglier.
She used to be very inconsiderate and always got things wrong.
Yuan Mu didn't expect that she could guess so accurately now.
The night wind was heavy in the corridor. It was almost late spring, and the fragrance of peach blossoms was filled with a decadent aroma.
Xi Rongjing pinched Yuan Mu's neck, and veins bulged on his forehead.
Her eyes were filled with tears, and a faint cry escaped from between her breaths: "Master...Master..."
This was the name Yuan Mu often called him when they were in Qingyun Temple.
At that moment, Xi Rongjing immediately let go of his hand. He hugged Yuan Mu, who was about to collapse, with an expression of obvious struggle.
Yuan Mu's tears fell continuously, almost wetting his shoulders.
What Xi Rongjing hated most was seeing Yuan Mu cry.
He pursed his lips, stroked her back, and said in a suppressed voice: "Don't cry, did I hurt you?"
Xi Rongjing was willing to take Yuan Mu out to meet guests, but he didn't want the guards to see how intimate they were.
He picked up Yuan Mu and carried him horizontally to a nearby library.
Yuan Mu cried non-stop, as if she had suffered a great injustice. She was very spoiled by the Emperor and the King of Chu.
Anyone who hears such crying will soften their heart.
After entering the library, Xi Rongjing gently placed Yuan Mu on the couch and wiped her tears.
Her tears gradually stopped, but her cold and pure face was stained with crimson, and the corners of her eyes were also slightly red, which made her even more bewitching.
Xi Rongjing leaned over and was about to kiss Yuan Mu's red lips, but unexpectedly, he was slapped by her again.
The jealousy in his heart suddenly reached its peak, and his voice was cold: "Do you still want to count on the emperor or the king of Chu to save you! I tell you, Yuan Mu, from now on, you will only belong to the Xi family!"
But the next moment Xi Rongjing's voice stopped.
He touched his chest and felt a hand full of blood and stickiness.
Yuan Mu's voice was very low: "Are you done?"
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