Lord Liyang
When did this desire to die begin?
This was around the time she decided to resign from her position as Grand Commandant of the Great Yan Court.
Pei Yuanli merely extended her life by about ten years.
A person who doesn't want to live does so because they see no hope in the world, and there is nothing in the world that motivates them to live positively.
At one time, Pei Yuanli gave her a reason and an excuse to live, but now, even that reason is gone.
Ultimately, Mu Huaying and the others were among those who grew up alongside the entire dynasty. However, among the Four Flying Phoenix Guards, Mu Huaying bore the brunt of the dark side behind power. And those who have witnessed too many shadows find it difficult to hold onto hope for the world.
With his white hair flowing, Gu Yi's gray eyes swept around the room with a cold look. Seeing that Mu Huaying had been subdued, he snorted and, holding A Qiu, was about to leap out.
He ignored everyone.
Li Chongyu cried out urgently, "My benefactor, please wait for me!"
Gu Yi turned around, his expression unfriendly, and said, "I've already saved you, do I owe you anything?"
Li Chongyu hesitated for a moment, then said, "I dare not. I do not know where my benefactor is going next, and I would like to travel with you. Please allow me to pay my respects to my father here first, and I will depart after three bows."
Gu Yi said proudly, "No need!"
Li Chongyu added, “My benefactor doesn’t need anyone’s help, but A Qiu is seriously injured. If she travels with my Shuofang Army, it will be easier for her to get treatment.”
Gu Yi's gray pupils gleamed as he glanced at A Qiu in his arms, then stood still, tacitly agreeing.
Only then did everyone who had come with Xie Lang realize that this place was called the Temple of the Martial Saint, but it was built to worship Li Mingyuan.
A gentle night breeze swept past the memorial tablet before the gods. When everyone looked closely, they saw the words "The position of Li Mingyuan, Marquis of Dahuan Pass, respectfully erected by Shangguan, the Grand Secretary" clearly inscribed on it. Although the characters were faded and worn from the passage of time, they were still clearly legible.
In fact, most of those present, even those who had not personally experienced this story from the previous dynasty, had heard of it.
The shrine was dilapidated and empty of incense and paper money, and none of the people who had rushed over with Xie Lang had prepared any. Li Chongyu knelt before the statue, kowtowed three times, and said in a deep voice, "Father, I have come here to avenge you. Those who wronged my father and me are no longer alive. Your spirit in heaven can now rest in peace."
But there was no joy in his words.
The emperor who made the decisions in the Golden Palace back then, Emperor Sima Yan, had already died in the massacre by the rebel army at the end of the Huan Dynasty. Shangguan Jin, the Grand Secretary, also committed suicide here after erecting a shrine and inscribing a message for Li Mingyuan. Two famous ministers, one civil and one military, from the prosperous Huan Dynasty, had to perish here one after another. The reason for this was ultimately inseparable from the incompetent and tyrannical emperor who ruled in chaos.
Pei Yuanli, who carried out the order not to provide aid, also died at his hands tonight.
Although the past has been turned over, the sorrow it leaves for future generations will not be diminished in the slightest.
Xie Lang waved away the others who tried to stop him, stood up, bowed to the statue of Li Mingyuan, and solemnly said, "I will never forget the peace that our ancestors bought with their lives. I hope that the general will not hold grudges and will protect the people of my Southern Dynasty, so that the Han Dynasty can rule the world forever."
Li Chongyu stood up and noticed a roughly patterned square brick on the altar, with figures and cloud patterns faintly visible on it. Its edges and corners, as if rubbed by people over the years, had become quite smooth.
The aura emanating from this item is completely different from the dilapidated, deserted atmosphere of the Martial Saint Shrine. It must have been recently taken out.
Gu Yi glanced at it only once and said calmly, "This is the last of the three Han Dynasty bricks that were lost back then."
Li Chongyu took it in his hand, remained silent for a moment, and then handed it to Xie Lang.
When he was thirteen, he accompanied his father to the court and saw the shape of those three Han bricks, but he was too young and ignorant at the time, and his impression of them was already vague.
If he had any recollection of the figures depicted on the bricks, it was the drum dance performed tonight by A Qiu and his dancers, which recreated the majestic and soaring spirit of the Han bricks, making them seem familiar at first glance.
He had naturally heard the anecdotes surrounding these three Han Dynasty bricks in the capital. Li Mingyuan had presented them to the Empress, only to have them dismissed and discarded. A Qiu had also told him the details, mentioning that their recreation of the Han Dynasty dance movements in the *Yanshi Ning* was based on rubbings from the Andao Mausoleum. This was because of the original three bricks; the inscriptions "Shanyu Heqin, Qianqiu Wansui" (meaning "The Chanyu's Marriage Alliance, Long Live the Emperor") had been found, but the inscription "Yu Tian Chang Shi" (meaning "Serving the Emperor Forever") remained missing.
Its presence here at this moment, however, is a significance that only Li Chongyu knows.
Before he, A Qiu, and Wan Qiqing entered this place, only Su Rouhua lingered here.
She must have been the one who stole those two bricks and the "Tethering Powder" from Empress Shangguan's Qiwu Palace. And she was also the one who later used this to sabotage Li Chongyu's relationship with the Southern Dynasty. Perhaps even she herself didn't understand that her actions, besides aiming to control the national situation, also stemmed from a deep jealousy towards a certain woman from the Southern Dynasty.
Ultimately, she left the brick south of the Yangtze River, the place where Li Mingyuan died.
It was either Li Chongyu's decision to rather die than seek help from his mother, or it was her realization that she herself would also abandon her son Li Chongyu when it came to matters of interest.
Perhaps there was no love from the beginning, so there's no need to cling to it anymore.
The brick that remains is Su Rouhua's last moment of clarity.
Xie Lang would not take it by hand; instead, Zhao Lingying, the Imperial Secretary beside him, would take it with both hands.
She glanced at the immortals descending from the sky above, their cloud chariots welcoming her, and her expression faltered slightly, as if for a moment she was lost in a dreamlike state of mind.
But she quickly realized her mistake and said, "Thank you, Marquis of Xieguan, for finding this brick. I will send it to the Music Bureau so that the three bricks can be restored to their original state, to demonstrate the friendship between the two generations of marquises of Shuofang Army and the Southern Dynasty."
Seeing that Li Chongyu had finished paying his respects, Gu Yi immediately carried A Qiu outside, seemingly oblivious to everyone else.
At this moment, most people did not recognize him as Gu Yi, because his strange temperament and eerie appearance were completely different from the usually cold and dignified Young Master. People usually make their first impression on someone based on their temperament, but at this moment, he seemed to be surrounded by silver light, making it impossible to see his face clearly, and no one dared to stare at his face closely.
Only Xie Lang spoke up, shouting, "Where are you going?"
It would have been better if Xie Lang hadn't drunk it, but his drinking caused those around him to exchange bewildered glances, all feeling a strange sense of unease.
How come Your Majesty knows this enchanting figure?
Gu Yi paused slightly, then said in a deep voice without turning his head, "Where I go is none of your business. Do I owe you anything?"
He had just replied to Li Chongyu with the same sentence. Only Xie Lang and Li Chongyu understood the meaning behind it.
Gu Yi has devoted himself to the country and the Southern Dynasty, and although this was his own choice, he owes no one anything. If he no longer wishes to concern himself with these matters, Xie Lang cannot demand repayment from him.
However, Gu Yi's temperament and appearance have changed drastically at this moment. If it were the normal Gu Yi, he would never have answered in this way.
Xie Lang disregarded everything else, his hand flashing out like lightning as he placed his hand on Gu Yi's shoulder, and said in a deep voice, "If you encounter difficulties, you should seek my help, not leave alone!"
Gu Yi glanced at him, the indifference in his gray eyes finally fading somewhat. He shrugged slightly and slipped out of his grasp without making a sound.
He held A-Qiu in his arms, his voice softening slightly: "I will come back."
Before Xie Lang could react, Gu Yi had already leaped away with A Qiu in his arms.
Li Chongyu also bowed to Xie Lang and the others, saying without any politeness, "Your Majesty, everyone, farewell." He then sheathed the Rift Void and followed Gu Yi's figure away.
Zhao Lingying stood there, watching Gu Yi and the others walk away, and suddenly said, "Does Your Majesty recognize this person? Just a moment ago, I also felt that he was somewhat familiar."
Xie Lang finally came to his senses and said in a deep voice, "This is none of your business."
Zhao Lingying said with a half-smile, "This gentleman has an eerie feeling, unlike a living person, which makes Lingying curious. His white hair and gray eyes remind Lingying of an anecdote that circulated in the palace in the previous generation."
Xie Lang, unwilling to say more, asked Gongyi Xiu from among the crowd, "May I ask, Consort Zhao, what anecdote is this?" It was understandable that he asked out of curiosity, as he was a new official who had entered service after the founding of the Dayan Dynasty and was therefore unaware of these old palace legends. Zhao, Li, and Xie Lang, on the other hand, were all former officials who had served in the palace since the previous dynasty.
Zhao Lingying patiently said, "Jianzhang Palace is divided into the outer court and the inner palace, as the Left Prime Minister surely knows."
Gongyi Xiu replied, "Of course. Behind Xuanfeng Gate is the inner palace, and no official may enter without an imperial edict. Only Zhaorong, who is in charge of the affairs of the Palace Treasury and the Ministry of Personnel, as well as the Flying Phoenix Guard, is allowed to enter and exit freely."
Zhao Ling replied, “That’s right, the palace where the concubines and consorts live is the inner palace. To the northwest of the inner palace, there is a long-abandoned and desolate palace called Liyang Palace. Legend has it that a deity lives there, and that deity, according to the palace maids’ legends, has silver hair and gray eyes, and is as indifferent as ice and snow.”
Xie Lang looked very uncomfortable and said, "These are all legends from the past. In the last one or two decades, with the new dynasty and the new atmosphere, the palace maids have never talked about these stories, even in private."
Zhao Lingying bowed and said, "I merely saw this strange person and couldn't help but recall this old story. Seeing that Your Majesty seemed to know this person, I wondered if this person might be from the palace?"
Xie Lang merely snorted coldly, refusing to answer Zhao Lingying's question any further, and turned to leave.
Consort Chen, Li Lanxiu, gave Zhao Lingying a dissuading look, then led the remaining people and escorted Mu Huaying away with Xie Lang.
Only Zhao Lingying stared at the statue in the ancestral hall and sighed softly, "It seems that our Emperor has quite a few secrets."
Gongyi Xiu wasn't sure if she was talking to herself or to him. He knew he only had one head and would never want to pry into Xie Lang's secrets. He urged, "Consort Zhao, things are temporarily settled here. Let's go back with His Majesty!"
Zhao Lingying nodded and followed Gongyi Xiu. After a moment, she suddenly asked, "The girl A Qiu that strange man took away today is the only disciple of the Young Master. How should we explain this to him?"
Gongyi Xiu was also troubled by this matter, but even his master, Wanqi Qing, had failed to keep A Qiu in his presence, let alone him. He could only say, "It seems that the person doesn't seem to have any hostility towards the girl, so he shouldn't make things difficult for her."
Xie Lang casually replied, "The young master should be too busy taking care of himself to concern himself with this matter."
Upon hearing this, Consort Li frowned and sighed, "She may not survive today."
Gongyi Xiu immediately recalled that A Qiu had been struck by Mu Huaying's palm at the banquet, and then had taken an arrow from Pei Yu at the city gate. Just now, he had been struck by his master's two palms. Suddenly, he felt a chill in his heart, as if a ladle of ice water had been poured down his spine.
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