Chapter 72 From then on, the king no longer held court early
Over the years since then, Xie Fei and Chu Ran have been recognized as a model couple in the circle. They are not putting on a show, nor do they pretend to be affectionate. Every smile and every move between the two of them is full of love, not to mention the pair of incredibly beautiful brother and sister, who are simply loved by everyone.
People often see traces of their family of four in various places around the world. In addition to work promotions, Xie Fei and Chu Ran’s Weibo posts also contain sweet family photos taken when they traveled around the world.
Under the bright sunshine, Xie Fei put his arm around Chu Ran's waist, tilted his head slightly, and looked at her with gentle features. His eyes were full of affection and doting.
Although Chu Ran is already a mother of two children, her previous temper is long gone because of her lover's love and pampering. Instead, she likes to act like a child more and more. In the photos, she is always wearing the same princess dress as her daughter, and she pouts and acts cute even more than her daughter.
As for the Xie siblings, the older brother always stood in front with a sullen face that was 70% similar to his father, holding the little girl's hand awkwardly but gently as she held the rainbow candy and licked it non-stop.
People often say that Chu Ran did not marry into a wealthy family, but married for love.
She did not feel inferior because her family background was not as good as Xie Fei's, nor did she give up on herself because of the gossip of netizens. She was positive, optimistic and hardworking, and through her own sweat she became a woman who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Xie Fei.
Fans envy her and admire her at the same time.
The two of them stayed together all their lives, and walked hand in hand to the end of their lives. When they were dying, Chu Ran held Xie Fei's hand, her eyes slightly bent, and her cloudy eyes were full of sweetness and happiness. She looked at the ceiling, and her voice was a little distant, as if she was recalling something: "Old man, I saw... my whole life."
Scenes from the past quickly emerged before my eyes. On that summer morning, on the seashore with rippling blue waves and on the soft sand, a man slowly turned his head.
"I'm yours all day today." His voice sounded softly in my ear.
If you don't want, this day will be your whole life.
Chu Ran smiled twice, turned his head and looked at Xie Fei who was squatting beside the bed. After a while, he suddenly murmured, "I don't know why. This is obviously my first time experiencing life and death, but I feel that this scene in front of me seems to be particularly familiar..."
Xie Fei was stunned. He held Chu Ran's hand tightly in disbelief and said with trembling lips: "What did you say?"
"Very... very funny, ahem, I, I might be confused." Chu Ran coughed twice, his breath getting weaker and weaker, "Maybe it's from the past life or this life... If there really is an afterlife, I hope, ahem, I hope to marry you again, okay..."
"Okay." Xie Fei nodded solemnly, holding her hand and covering his cheek, "You can only marry me for the rest of your life."
Chu Ran smiled contentedly upon hearing that. The soul in her body floated out, and it circled around Xie Fei for a while as if it was still reluctant to leave before dissipating. This time, Xie Fei had no intention of catching it at all, even though it dissipated so slowly.
Everything is destined, and he believes that they will meet each other in the near future.
In the underworld, Xie Fei had just listened to the work reports of everyone sitting below him. After handling some matters, he was about to walk back to the Soul Pawn Shop with his hands behind his back.
Who would have thought that as soon as he pushed open the door, he would see a man sitting in the room wearing a dragon robe with golden edges. There was no color on his fair face, his thin lips were a little black, his slender phoenix eyes were wide open, and there were red dots in his eyes.
When he saw the person coming, he immediately stood up, cupped his hands as if he was not used to it, and said in a hoarse voice: "I guess you are the owner of this cave. I apologize for disturbing you without permission."
"No problem, sit down." Xie Fei waved his sleeves, walked to the beauty couch and sat down, pouring tea while asking calmly, "Are you here to do business too?"
The man nodded imperceptibly, coughed twice, and said with some shame: "I am ashamed to say that I indulged in beauty, causing the country that my ancestors worked so hard to build to be seized by others..."
At this point, he paused, then punched his thigh with his clenched fist. "If it were just this, I would never blame anyone, but... but before I died, I heard a very strange voice in a trance. After I died, I recalled my life, as if it was a nightmare. I, I always felt like someone was controlling my brain, and I did many incredible things... I don't know how to say it, my mind is still very confused..."
The man became more and more excited as he spoke, his pale face trying to turn a little red. When he got to the point of confusion, he couldn't help mumbling, and he didn't even notice that his name had changed.
Xie Fei waved his hand and pushed a cup of tea over, and said in a light voice: "Don't get excited, drink some tea and talk slowly."
The man took the teacup and took a sip. The cool tea soaked into his internal organs, sweeping away the raging anger and rage in his heart. He exhaled deeply and began to speak slowly.
It turned out that this man was the emperor of the Great Qi Kingdom, named Qi Xuan.
He was the youngest prince of Qi State. He was neither the eldest nor the legitimate son, and had no right to inherit the throne. However, he did not expect that his older brothers had died or been disabled in the fight for the throne.
The late emperor knew that his time was limited, so he had no choice but to pass the throne to his youngest son, allowing him to get such a great bargain.
Although he ascended the throne at a young age, Qi Xuan was extremely intelligent. With the help of the three ministers left by the previous emperor, he quickly managed the state affairs in order.
Time flies and Qi Xuan is sixteen years old. Under the bombardment of the former dynasty and the harem, Qi Xuan finally nodded and agreed to the draft. The first draft banquet in his life was the beginning of his nightmare.
After a long selection process, Jiang Zhen, the niece of the Empress Dowager and the daughter of Zhong Zuo Xiang, one of the three ministers of state, became the empress. The daughters of two other ministers of state were also selected. Gao Baoxi, the daughter of the general of the state, was named noble concubine, and Wei Linzhu, the eldest daughter of the Shangshu, was named Huifei, the first of the four concubines.
As for the others, some were also selected, but Qi Xuan left in the middle of the selection due to his busy official duties. The rest were selected by the Queen Mother, the Concubine Dowager and others.
The queen was virtuous, gentle and generous, and beautiful. At the beginning, Qi Xuan liked chatting and getting along with her very much. He spent more than half of the month in the queen's palace, and the rest of the time was mostly spent on handling official business. For a time, the queen was the most popular in the harem.
As the daughter of the general who assisted the country, Gao Baoxi was brought up in pampered care. As she was born in old age, she had been weak since childhood. General Gao and his mother treated her even more preciously. They were afraid that she would melt if they held her in their mouths, and afraid that she would fall if they held her in their hands. Even her brother did not dare to mess with her.
Gao Baoxi was born into a noble family, and the Gao family had plans for her future. However, she didn't know that she had already fallen in love with Qi Xuan a few years ago. That year, she followed her mother into the palace to attend a banquet. She fell in love with the emperor at first sight, and from then on she vowed not to marry anyone else. When she learned that the emperor was going to select a concubine, she knelt on the ground and begged bitterly. General Gao and his mother felt distressed and finally agreed to send her into the palace.
With her heart secretly in love, how could she bear the affection between her lover and the queen? Gao Baoxi had always acted arrogantly and willfully. In addition, before she entered the palace, her father and mother had briefly analyzed the situation in the court for her. She knew that it was a time of foreign invasion, and her father's position was of course very important. Even the emperor had to respect him. So she confronted the queen directly.
The Queen took the overall situation into consideration and had a calm temperament. In addition, Qi Xuan really needed to appease General Gao, who loved his daughter dearly, so the wind direction in the harem changed instantly. Everyone knew that Concubine Gao was extremely arrogant and domineering, but even the Queen could not do anything about her. Who made her have a general as her father?
Not long after, the foreign country was defeated and surrendered, and Gao Baoxi became more prominent. Although the Queen avoided her attention on the surface, she often complained to Qi Xuan in secret. The two of them schemed against each other, with designs and counter-designs, frame-ups and counter-frame-ups. Qi Xuan was extremely annoyed being caught between the two. In addition, he was afraid of General Gao's achievements that surpassed his own, and was dissatisfied with the left prime minister's faction. Gradually, Qi Xuan became suspicious of Concubine Gao and the Queen.
Finally one day, Qi Xuan was feeling depressed and strolling in the Imperial Garden. He accidentally ran into Princess Xi Helan who was sent from a foreign country to ask for peace. He was shocked at the sight of her beauty. All his worries and sorrows disappeared. He was so happy that he couldn't help but go up to her and talk to her.
As time went by, Qi Xuan liked Xi Helan more and more. At the beginning, he just liked to make love with her. Every time she was nourished by the rain and dew, she became more charming, her appearance became more and more beautiful, and her facial features became more and more delicate, making people unable to take their eyes off her. Her delicate skin was as white as snow, and her body was tender and soft. Qi Xuan couldn't let go of her on the bed, and even her cute cry like an oriole made him fall in love with her.
Gradually, as they spent more and more time together, Qi Xuan discovered that she was not only considerate, but also full of wisdom. She could often solve state affairs that gave him a headache with just a few words. Many of her insights were very unique and advanced, and even many men in the court were not as good as her. She also often made many delicious and fun new things.
Qi Xuan became more and more obsessed with Xi Helan, and it became a pain for him to rest with the Queen, the Imperial Concubine and other concubines. He wanted to be inseparable from Xi Helan, but he couldn't, because he knew that the power in his hands was not enough. As long as he dared to favor Xi Helan blatantly, the only thing waiting for Xi Helan was death.
So he changed his mind and doted on the queen even more, making Concubine Gao jealous, and then the two of them fought to the death.
Although the harem is not allowed to interfere in politics, the court and the harem are closely related. The Queen and the Imperial Concubine are not on good terms, and the Left Prime Minister and General Gao are also at odds with each other.
There has always been a conflict between the civil and military officials. As the head of the civil officials, the Left Prime Minister looked down on General Gao, a rough man. General Gao, relying on his military achievements, also did not take the Left Prime Minister seriously and even had a hidden ambition to suppress him.
The two men fought each other like a snipe and a clam, and in the end both were defeated. Although the two families were still the left prime minister and the auxiliary general of the Great Qi, most of the power in their hands was taken away by Qi Xuan, the fisherman, in the fight.
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