"Your Majesty, His Majesty is fine now. He just needs to rest."
The empress dowager cried and cursed: "How on earth do you servants serve the emperor? If anything happens to the emperor, you will all be buried with him!" After that, she walked towards the Yixin Palace.
The servants were so frightened that they all knelt on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.
No one dared to stop the Queen Mother, so Chu Qiao followed behind and entered the Yixin Palace. Li Ce was still sleeping at this time. When the Queen Mother saw him, tears fell from her eyes. She moved forward tremblingly, as if she wanted to touch his face.
A maidservant beside the Queen Mother walked up to Chu Qiao and frowned, saying, "Who are you? Why are you here? The Queen Mother is here to see the Emperor, and all other people should leave immediately."
Meixiang frowned and was about to speak, but Chu Qiao reached out and pulled her sleeve, nodded and said, "I understand." After that, she took Meixiang and the others out of Yixin Palace.
"Miss? The Emperor asked you to accompany him."
Chu Qiao sighed and said, "Their mother is back, why should we stay in there any longer?"
Qiu Sui said at the side: "I didn't expect that the Queen Mother loves the Emperor so much."
At this time, Lord Sun Di came from the front and was slightly startled when he saw Chu Qiao. He asked, "Why isn't the young lady in Yixin Palace?"
Meixiang rushed to say, "The Queen Mother is back and has kicked our young lady out!"
"Empress Dowager?" Sun Di was stunned when he heard this. He turned around and strode towards the Yixin Palace. He said in a deep voice, "Who brought the Empress Dowager back? The outside world didn't know that His Majesty had been assassinated. Why did the Empress Dowager come back?"
At this moment, a violent scream suddenly came from Yixin Palace. Sun Di and Chu Qiao were stunned at the same time, suddenly pushed open the door of Yixin Palace and rushed in together!
The Queen Mother was seen holding a dagger, her pale face covered in blood, and a grim expression. She was no longer the gentle and kind woman she used to be. She stood in front of the window like a devil, screaming: "I will kill you! I will kill you! I want to avenge Luo'er!"
Chu Qiao's mind suddenly turned pale, like the wind from the far north, whistling and sweeping across the country. The afternoon sun shone in through the wide-open door, so bright that it made people's eyes go white. The surroundings were so chaotic. Some people were exclaiming, some were screaming, and some were running out in a panic to call the imperial physician. The guards rushed forward, their sharp knives flashing silver light, casting bright white shadows on the ground.
She stood there, her eyes seemed unable to bear such bright light and shadow, and felt hot and itchy. The sun seemed to be made of solid ice, and it felt so cold when it shone on her body, as if she was immersed in cold water. The chill rose from her fingertips, and attacked her hands, feet, and waist bit by bit, gradually covering her chest. Her heart was pounding so hard that it seemed like it was going to jump out of her chest. Her throat felt sour and astringent, and even her breathing became difficult to breathe.
The Queen Mother's clothes were stained with blood, and her pale face was filled with morbid madness. Her eyes were bright and ferocious. After being restrained, she did not struggle, but said coldly in a hateful voice: "You are all beasts, you all deserve to die. I killed him, and now I will kill you. I want to avenge my husband and son."
At that moment, Chu Qiao saw his eyes.
For the first time in her life, she felt that she saw his heart through his eyes. It was not as frivolous as before, not as profound as before, and not as calm and unpredictable as before. At that moment, she clearly saw through those deep pools the joys, sorrows, anger and happiness in them, saw the suppressed and low undercurrents, and saw the vast and desolate snowfields outside the Great Wall.
He just lay there, the blood from his wounds gushing out like a spring, staining his light blue clothes red. He looked at his mother quietly. There was no shock or hatred in his eyes, only deep fatigue that swept over him like a tidal wave, completely drowning his handsome face.
There was a whistling wind outside the window, shaking the thin window paper. Blood was flowing on the ground. Crowds of people rushed forward to stop the bleeding and treat him. The panicked voices of the palace servants were heard again outside the hall. Everything was like a silent pantomime. Chu Qiao could see nothing and hear nothing. She just stared blankly into his eyes. The cold touch crawled over her skin inch by inch, until it reached the bottom of her heart.
She suddenly remembered a hunting trip on the Yanbei Plateau many years ago. There was heavy snow on the mountain. A hungry mother wolf finally caught an elk and was feasting on it. Her cub huddled aside. The cub quietly walked over and took a bite of the elk meat. The mother wolf suddenly became angry and raised her claws to grab the little wolf. The little wolf was scratched and huddled far away under the roots of a tree, looking at his mother timidly and whimpering, but not daring to move forward. Its eyes are so sad, like an abandoned child.
Someone came to pull her, but she stubbornly refused to move. It was as if her feet had taken root and she refused to budge even a step.
She was suddenly so scared that her blood ran cold and her fingers couldn't help shaking. She didn't want to go out. The blood stung her eyes and she was afraid that if she went out she would never be able to come back in.
More and more people gathered around, and someone said something loudly in her ear. The thin silk could not withstand such strong pulling and made a crisp hissing sound. She suddenly shouted very loudly, waved away everyone, and ran towards the inner hall.
"Catch her!" a guard shouted. More and more palace servants ran towards her. She stepped back nervously, and every inch of her skin was cold to the bone.
"Let her go!" A low voice suddenly sounded, so hoarse, like turbid wind blowing through a broken bellows. Li Ce half-propped himself up, his chest covered in blood, and his pale fingers pointed at her from a distance.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please don't move!"
A series of screams followed, and he fell forward on the bed, with large mouthfuls of blood spurting out of his mouth, like a dazzling brocade being torn apart.
She felt as if she had fallen into an icy abyss. The deep chill crept up her back. The sunlight filtered through the window paper, becoming mottled shadows. She stood outside the crowd and couldn't see his features. She only saw a pale hand hanging from the quilt, pale and without a trace of blood.
The sun gradually rose to the middle of the sky, and then gradually set in the west. A cold crescent moon climbed up the treetops, casting a bright white light outside the Yixin Palace. The sand in the clepsydra flowed out bit by bit, as if the life in that body was slowly being drawn out.
A trace of sob suddenly escaped from the mouth of an old doctor with gray hair. Behind the misty curtains, the woman's figure suddenly fell down like a wisp of green smoke. Through the layers of curtains, her eyes were cloudy and she could only see the faintly swaying red candle.
When she woke up, everything was dead silent. She thought for a moment that she was dreaming. However, when she saw Meixiang's surprised face, her heart suddenly ached. She threw back the quilt and jumped out of bed without even putting on her shoes.
"Where's Miss Chu?"
A man's hurried voice was heard outside, and she ran out barefoot, her face as pale as a ghost.
Sun Di looked at her, his expression suddenly became so sad, he lowered his head quietly and said softly: "His Majesty wants to see you."
There was silence in the Yixin Palace. She walked in, through the layers of curtains and drapes, all the way to his dragon bed. She vaguely felt that he seemed to be merging into one with this empty palace.
She knelt down beside the couch, slowly stretched out her cold fingers, and when her fingertips touched his arm, she shrank back slightly, feeling that his body was even colder than hers, just like the snow that never melts and the glaciers that remain unchanged for thousands of years on the Yanbei Plateau.
Her breathing was so light, and her voice was like the wings of a butterfly that would fly away in an instant, quietly echoing in the hall:
"Li Ce, I'm here to see you."
His eyelashes moved slightly, then he opened his eyes, his gaze focused quietly and looked at her, his eyes were so peaceful, as if they contained so many words and thoughts. He stretched out his hand with difficulty, waved to her, smiled faintly, and said softly: "Qiao Qiao..."
Chu Qiao's tears instantly burst out and she slowly grasped his hand. In just a few days, he had become so thin and bony. There was a strong sense of bitterness in her throat, she was choked with sobs and unable to make a sound, tears rolling down her cheeks.
His brows knitted slightly, he stretched out his fingers, gently wiped her cold cheek, and said with a smile: "Don't cry..."
"It's all my fault." Her tears fell one by one, her fingertips were cold and desolate, "I promised to stay with you forever, I shouldn't have gone out."
Li Ce suddenly smiled and lay flat on the bed, looking at the intricate patterns on the ceiling. On it were embroidered words "Long Live My Mother" in small golden characters, which densely covered the entire dragon bed. His voice was calm and peaceful, without a trace of resentment, "How can I blame you? She is my mother, who..."
He suddenly began to breathe violently, his voice weak and feeble. Chu Qiao was so frightened that she wanted to find the imperial physician, but he held her tightly. The force on her wrist was so strong that it was almost unimaginable that this was a seriously injured person.
"Who... who could have thought of that?"
Yeah, who would have thought?
The night wind passed through the eaves and blew through the pierced ears of the beast-suppressing ornaments on the eaves, making a humming sound. In the distance, the suppressed sobs of the women in the palace floated over very faintly.
"I originally wanted to personally send you off to get married, but now... I'm afraid that's not possible."
"No." Chu Qiao suddenly said stubbornly, her voice so loud that it echoed in the empty hall like a circle of fluttering leaves. She held his hand tightly, as if she was competing with someone, "You will be fine!"
Li Ce looked at her and suddenly smiled weakly. That smile was like a needle piercing Chu Qiao's heart. She was so frightened that tears spread across her cheeks and flowed into her mouth, which was bitter and unbearable.
"Li Ce, please don't go, please don't go." She shook his arm gently, like a lonely child. "What should I do if you are gone? If something happens to me, who will help me? I have no place to live, who will let me eat and drink for free?"
A strange smile flashed in Li Ce's eyes, and he pretended to be angry and muttered: "It turns out that I am a sucker."
How many years have passed? The past years were like a clear spring, rolling through the lonely and cold air. She looked at him helplessly, her heart aching as if it was being cut by a knife. His voice was as calm as lake water, and he said calmly, "I have sent someone to inform Zhuge Yue. Someone will... someone will take you to see him. Just go with him."
Chu Qiao bit her lower lip. He continued to speak incoherently, "From now on, don't be so stubborn and don't act like a child again."
The night is as cold as the water of Taiqing Pool. His brows were tightly furrowed, like a flame startled by the wind, and his eyes were fixed on her. Suddenly, he said, "Qiao Qiao, help me up."
Chu Qiao was startled and quickly shook her head, but before she could say anything, she saw his stubborn eyes, which were surprisingly firm.
Her heart ached, and she carefully helped him up and sat him on the rattan chair in front of the window. He put on a bright red coat embroidered with dragon patterns, horizontal warp and vertical weft, and it was flamboyant yet decadent and sad, just like the first time they met.
"Qiao Qiao, my hair is messy."
Chu Qiao hummed, picked up the white jade comb, and ruffled his hair. The teeth of the comb lightly ran through his hair, and her pale hands brushed his temples, one strand after another, as if they had known each other for so many years. Her hands began to tremble gradually, but he seemed unaware and never turned back.