Chapter 33 Breaking the Deadlock He slowly moved his hand to his lower abdomen, and the corners of his mouth curled up...
The sun rises, and the warm winter sun shines through the window, casting sporadic yellow light into the house. Wen Zheliu sits on the couch, basking in the sunlight, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, like a water lily swaying in the wind, shyly lowering its head when the wind blows.
When an ordinary woman sees him, she will inevitably feel pity for him and want to protect him from the wind and rain.
But Emperor Jingming couldn't laugh.
"How dare you! I gave you three days to think it over, and you're so arrogant! Do you really think I'm negotiating with you?
"Don't think I won't dare touch you just because Dongfang Lan is my surety. She can protect you temporarily, but not forever. She's far away from the palace right now. Even if I kill you right now, she won't be able to get to you!"
Wen Zheliu's smile did not reach his eyes.
Before this, Emperor Jingming had used his elder brother Wen Liuqing to force him to get pregnant with Wuhuan's child and then give the child to her as a hostage.
At first glance, it seemed logical, but when he thought about it carefully, he found it strange.
Emperor Jingming showed no leniency towards the case of Wen's collaborating with the enemy. Thanks to He Jiuyue's personal intervention, he was able to escape from the Heavenly Prison. According to Chen Jin, He Jiuyue went to the Yangxin Palace to plead for mercy before Emperor Jingming agreed to let it go.
Although my eldest brother was able to escape the beheading, there must be someone helping him behind the scenes, but this person does not look like Emperor Jingming.
If she had selfish motives to keep his elder brother, she could just find a reason and have Guangming pull Wen Liuqing out of the prison and punish him by making him work in the palace.
His elder brother was covered in blood that day. It didn't look like he was rescued by Emperor Jingming, but rather like he had escaped from Emperor Jingming's hands.
Wen Zheliu looked at Emperor Jingming, whose face had turned purple from leisurely to extremely angry, and calmly uttered tentative words.
"Your Majesty, will you not use my family to threaten me?"
Emperor Jingming was stunned for a moment, and then burst into an even more intense roar.
"I misjudged you! When I heard Chen Sanxi say that you begged He Jiuyue to take your mother and father away from the prison, I thought you cared about your family very much, ha!
"I didn't expect that you knew exactly how to rescue your brother, yet you refused to do it. You and He Jiuyue are a perfect match, both of you are so heartless and ruthless, you don't care about other people's lives!"
"Your Majesty, please be patient."
The more Emperor Jingming got angry, the more Wen Zheliu felt that she had something to hide.
If she really had his elder brother in her hands, given her habit of threatening people, why didn't she just tie Wen Liuqing up in chains, drag him in front of him, and whip him hard to win his sympathy and then take advantage of his weakness?
As the emperor, couldn't He Feng bring a criminal into the harem?
Unless, his elder brother is not in her hands.
"Everything requires evidence. You said that my elder brother is in your hands, but you must provide concrete evidence. I dare not believe you just on your words."
Emperor Jingming suddenly stood up and shouted outside like a frightened bird: "Come here, lock up Changle Palace!"
Looking back at Wen Zheliu, who still had no expression on his face, she gritted her teeth and ordered to cut off water and food.
Hearing the willow being cut, he lowered his head and remained silent.
Emperor Jingming's move was to turn the originally quiet and peaceful Changle Palace into a despised cold palace, using the survival crisis to force him to make concessions.
This was disadvantageous to him, but it also happened to confirm one thing: his elder brother was indeed not in her hands.
So where is his elder brother?
Wu Yang was still waiting outside. She didn't know what Wen Zheliu and Emperor Jingming talked about inside. She only knew that when Emperor Jingming came out, he was full of anger and issued such a ruthless order at the top of his voice.
Feeling sorry for Wen Zheliu who had just seen the object clearly and suffered such a disaster, Wu Yang howled loudly: "Your Majesty, Wen Zheliu is weak, this will kill him!"
"Wu Yang." Emperor Jingming's voice was cold. "Are you my man, or his man?"
Wu Yang's heart trembled, and he carefully defended himself: "Your Majesty, I am not deliberately opposing you, but Wen Zheliu has a special status. If he passed away like this, I am afraid it would be difficult to explain to the princess. At least leave him some medicine..."
"Enough," Emperor Jingming interrupted coldly, "I tolerate you entering and leaving the harem at will because I consider that you have worked in the Imperial Hospital for many years. You are so stubborn, do you want me to punish you too?" Wu Yang subconsciously looked at Wen Zheliu in the room, but his view was blocked by the curtain blown by the wind.
I could only vaguely see a red spot between his eyebrows.
It was like blood splashed on the snow, shocking.
Wu Yang's entire body trembled. Thinking of his elderly mother and young son at home, he didn't dare to resist anymore and lowered his head: "Your Highness dare not."
The gates of Changle Palace were locked, and Wu Yang followed Emperor Jingming away. Xiaobai, who had been standing outside, watching closely, ran into the inner room. Without understanding the situation, he immediately asked Wen Zheliu, "Master, what happened?"
The noise from Emperor Jingming and his entourage was too loud. Even though Wen Zheliu was prepared, he was still frightened by the loud noise made by her orders, and his heart started pounding. He was pounding his chest with his hands, trying to calm down.
When Xiaobai asked, he coughed and answered.
"It's not a big deal, but I just got angry because I couldn't force him."
Xiaobai only understood half of what he heard and only advised Wen Zheliu to bow his head and please Emperor Jingming.
"Your Majesty has the final say in the harem. Previously, no one dared to bully you because of your Majesty's pressure. Your Majesty is a soft-hearted person who doesn't tolerate harshness. If you bow your head and act coquettishly, she will probably calm down... Young Master!"
The silent depression and grievance grew wildly like vines, and Wenzheliu's cough became more and more urgent.
The smell of blood rose up and he wanted to spit it out.
After looking at Xiaobai with tears in his eyes, he finally swallowed the blood.
The hot blood mixed with stomach acid corroded his throat. Wen Zheliu tried hard to swallow it. When he opened his mouth, his usually clear voice sounded unusually hoarse.
"No... cough cough cough!" He started coughing again halfway through his words.
"Master!" Xiaobai cried even harder.
Wen Zheliu was still sick, so he patted Xiaobai's hand gently to comfort him.
"It's just house arrest, cough cough, no problem."
His voice was hoarse and thunder rumbled in the mountains in the southeast.
"Shan Zhi, I'll count to three. If you're willing to confess the mastermind behind this, I can consider sparing your life. If you don't care about your life, I'll also grant your wish."
Raindrops as big as beans fell down with a crackling sound. He Jiuyue ignored the water flowing down her eyelids and stared at the restless person under her.
“One, two…”
"I say!" Shan Zhi was very cunning. She said words of compromise, but she suddenly exerted force, trying to break free from He Jiuyue's seamless encirclement. Unfortunately, the power disparity was too great, and the knife on the back of her hand was inserted deeper. She was like a flying insect caught in a spider web, with nowhere to escape. "Let me go first!"
He Jiuyue kicked Shan Zhi on the leg, with the sole of her boot stepping directly on her face.
"You are not qualified to negotiate terms now."
The light was dim on the rainy night, but Shan Zhi was frightened by the coldness in He Jiuyue's eyes and trembled all over.
"Princess, please spare me! Princess, please spare me! I am just a local citizen. I was instigated by someone to do this evil business. I will never do it again. Please forgive me!"
"Who instigated you?" He Jiuyue said coldly.
"He's an official from Beijing," Shan Zhi wailed loudly, "but he's very good at hiding himself. He only sends his subordinates to contact me every time. I don't even know his name or his position!"
He Jiuyue lowered his eyes.
"You were just meeting before? Did he leave anything else with you?"
Shan Zhi tells everything he knows, leaving nothing unsaid.
"Yes, yes, yes! There are several letters from him!"
He Jiyue kicked her up and said, "Where is it? Take me to see it."
Shan Zhi led her to the secret room inside the house, muttering to her, "Princess, this was really all his idea. I was just forced to do it because of life. You are so wise and powerful, can you spare my life?"
Dozens of letters were retrieved from the secret cabinet. He Jiuyue flipped through them and felt that the handwriting looked vaguely familiar.
"Did he come up with this plan all by himself?"
"That's right!" Shan Zhi nodded hurriedly. "I'm just a commoner. How could I know the vicious methods used to recruit innocent people into banditry?"
"Bring a candle."
When his fingertips touched a bumpy spot on the letter, He Jiuyue roasted it with fire, and a lifelike white crane mark appeared.
It turned out to be the private seal of An Rui, the Minister of Revenue.
He Jiuyue frowned.
She had previously found it strange that bandits were rampant in the southeast, but it took half a month to report it to the court. Even after the report was made, the court did not take countermeasures immediately.
Although Emperor Jingming was not paying attention to it, more than half of the ministers did not speak out, as if they had not noticed the matter at all. It can be seen that someone was interfering and suppressing the news.
Furthermore, she asked Chen Jin to do a background check on Shan Zhi. She was clearly just a commoner who had barely learned to read. How could she come up with such a sophisticated plan?
When she saw An Rui's private seal, she finally understood.
It turned out that this gang of bandits had the help of officials from the capital.
She had met the Minister of Revenue, An Rui. It was he who sent Xiaoqing to her Princess's Mansion. At that time, she was puzzled as to why he smiled so flatteringly and vaguely mentioned a few things in the southeast. It turned out that he was trying to bribe her to keep her mouth shut.
Thinking of Xiaoqing, He Jiuyue accidentally thought of the beautiful figure who refused to speak, but only shed tears silently, but visited her dreams every night.
He Jiuyue didn't feel uncomfortable being drenched in the rain just now, but when she recalled Wen Zheliu, her head suddenly started aching. The humidity in the south was like a poisonous snake, wrapping around her body and strangling her to the point of gasping for breath.
I wonder what it's like to hear the willow-breaking sound now.
"Princess, you have to make the decision for me!" Shan Zhi's wailing brought her back to reality.
He Jiuyue said nothing and reached out to touch her mute xue.
She rubbed her temples which felt like they were being pricked by needles, picked up Shan Zhi's belt, and silently dragged her out.
This matter is full of doubts and is closely related to officials in the capital. It should be handled by the Dali Temple, and she, He Jiuyue, should also return to the capital to submit a performance report.
"Okay, Xiaobai, stop crying."
After using all his strength, he finally coaxed the crying Xiaobai into silence. Wen Zheliu felt dry in the mouth, so he picked up the cold tea on the table and drank it in one gulp. The dryness in his throat was relieved, but his abdomen was aching slightly from the cold.
"Help me, go back to the couch and rest for a while." He panted.
"Okay." Noticing his pale cheeks, Xiaobai moved carefully, as if he was escorting a piece of jade that would shatter to the ground with just a bump.
But even so, after just a few steps, Wen Zheliu's lips turned white, and his whole body looked like a leaf swaying in the autumn wind, exuding vitality that was about to burn out.
His head was dizzy and he couldn't open his eyelids when he touched the wooden pillow.
"You, get out."
Knowing that he was about to lose consciousness, Wen Zheliu didn't want to lose his composure in front of Xiaobai. He mustered up his last bit of strength and drove him out in a muffled voice.
"Sir, why are you disobeying His Majesty?"
Xiaobai turned and left, but the last words he left were still lingering in Wenzheliu's ears.
He slowly moved his hand to his lower abdomen, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
To save the children, it's worth it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
