Chapter 049 The Ambitious Regent 11
All things can be mutually reinforcing and restraining, and the only thing that can restrain the Hundred Ghosts Pill is the rumored to be highly poisonous Dust-Cleansing Powder.
So, this is why, even though he had drunk Dichen Powder several times, there was no reaction at all, and even the best doctors could not find any toxicity from Dichen Powder in his body.
It turns out that the Dust-Cleansing Powder was not meant to harm him, but to... save him?
Pei Mingjue didn't know how to face this truth for a moment.
He knew that Jian Ziyan hated his father and now he probably hated him as well. He also accepted and understood his hatred. If he were in his shoes and was treated like this, he would probably do something a thousand times more radical than Jian Ziyan.
He was already prepared. When Jian Ziyan woke up, if he still wanted to kill him, he would use any method, even if it meant using all the methods his father had used on him back then, as long as it could make him happy and relieve his hatred, he would be happy with it.
However, telling him at this moment that Jian Ziyan may never have hated him, and has even been trying to... save him.
Pei Mingjue could not accept this result. It was a greater shock than when his father's hypocritical mask was unveiled before his eyes overnight. His face was pale, even his lips were bloodless, and he stepped back step by step with a dull look in his eyes, staggering and almost tripping over the hem of his clothes.
"Your Majesty." Consultant Shan hesitated to speak, his eyes complicated, and he obviously didn't know how to persuade him.
He had never expected this result. He thought that Jian Ziyan's failure to directly usurp the throne was the greatest kindness a human being could give. After all, if it were him, he would have killed the father and son with his own hands and ruled the world himself.
Even now, he was still filled with shock, grief and confusion.
Jian Ziyan...why on earth did he do this?
He has endured the greatest harm and suffered the deepest insult, so why should he still protect the kingdom for the Pei family instead of simply taking over the throne himself?
While he was still thinking, the young emperor had already fallen into collapse.
"Wenshan, tell me, this is all fake."
Pei Mingjue finally stepped on his own hem and fell to the ground. He didn't have the strength to get up. He sat on the ground, hugged his head and scratched it hard.
When he said this, his hair was disheveled and his eyes were red and swollen. He no longer had the demeanor of a young monarch. Even the beggars on the street might be more respectable than him.
"You told me that I am still the teacher's favorite student, and that the things that happened in the past six years did not happen. When the teacher wakes up, he will scold me for not doing my homework well yesterday, but he will still bring Mimi to play with me... You tell me!"
Consultant Shan remained silent.
Pei Mingjue raised his eyes and saw his mature and heroic face. He no longer looked like the unrestrained and loyal general's son. The sense of reality hit him hard again. He felt as if his heart was being torn in two and someone was cutting it piece by piece with the sharpest dagger.
“Ah…ah!”
He hugged his head and let out a hoarse and broken howl from his throat. Because he was afraid of disturbing Jian Ziyan, the howl was suppressed in his throat. The sound that leaked out was like porcelain scraping across the rough ground, sharp and pitiful.
The most noble emperor in the world had his hair disheveled and was crying loudly, like a madman.
He seemed to have lost the ability to organize his words and could only vent his emotions through howling to prevent himself from being suffocated by regret and guilt. However, howling did not make him feel better. Instead, it made him more deeply aware of the reality of the moment.
Through tearful eyes, Pei Mingjue saw the pale and weak silhouette of Jian Ziyan. He was sleeping soundly, oblivious to everything around him, just as he once had the ability to find out the truth, but he firmly believed in what he knew, to the point of hating what he hated and resenting what he resented, venting all his malice on the most innocent person.
He personally broke his pride, crushed his self-esteem, and made his dignity as a human being shaky, yet he self-righteously "forgave" him, saying that it didn't matter even if he hated him so much that he wanted to kill him...
What did he do?
At this time, Consultant Shan's voice seemed to come from a very far distance, and when it reached his ears, it seemed as if there was a layer of something between them.
"May I ask, Your Majesty, when the Regent had just passed the imperial examination, you and I were young, how much do you remember about that time?"
Pei Mingjue said in a daze: "I remember everything about the teacher, no matter how big or small it is."
If it wasn't for this kind of love that he couldn't forget even if he wanted to, how could he have developed such hatred that he wanted to skin her alive.
"Since the emperor still remembers," Advisor Shan said, "Does the emperor know what changes have taken place since the regent entered the court?"
"Change?" Pei Mingjue repeated it in a daze, as if he couldn't understand its meaning.
Advisor Shan did not wait for his answer and continued, "I was born a military officer and am not very sensitive to the affairs of the court, but I have heard my father mention it. Although the late emperor promoted a young boy to be the Jingzhao Yin, allowing him to enter and leave the palace as if he were no one, Lord Jian did work hard on government affairs. During the years he was in charge, Yongyang City was politically clear and everyone lived and worked in peace. In the fifteenth year of Pingde, the second year of the regent's tenure as Jingzhao Yin, Yongyang City suddenly suffered from a plague. He personally rushed to comfort the people and commanded the military and civilians to fight the epidemic together. Therefore, at that time, the regent had a very good reputation among the people."
Pei Mingjue raised his lifeless eyes and looked at him, not understanding why he suddenly said this.
"It's just that I don't know when it started, but rumors began to spread in the court and among the people that the regent was using his beauty to serve others and seek power. It was also from then on that the man who was once as clear as the breeze and bright as the moon disappeared, as if he had never appeared again. At the same time, a wave of killing swept the court, and anyone who spread such rumors was demoted and imprisoned, until the regent became the regent. After the death of the previous emperor, the regent controlled the government, and no one dared to speak out anymore." Advisor Shan said, "Everyone was afraid of the power in the hands of the regent, afraid of his ruthlessness and decisiveness, so much so that everyone overlooked that during the regent's ten years in power, the Great Jing Dynasty was the most peaceful and prosperous. Even the emperor... couldn't refute this."↑This↑work↑by↑↑
Pei Mingjue slowly closed his eyes, ignoring the sharp pain as his eyelids scraped across his eyeballs, and spoke the dirtiest secret in the most humble tone.
"That wave of killing back then...was caused by my father."
Consultant Shan's eyes suddenly widened: "...What?"
"It was Father. I investigated his past actions and found that they matched the teacher's reaction. At that time, the teacher must have begged him for... me... and promised to be obedient. Father stopped attacking me and purged the court at the same time. Maybe he did it to "please" the teacher, or maybe he just didn't want to hear different voices from his own... I can't tell the difference anymore, Wenshan, I don't dare to trust any of my own judgments now. All my judgments in the past 19 years have been wrong."
"So..." Consultant Shan's face darkened a little bit, but he immediately revealed great anger, and his tone became fierce, "So he obviously did nothing wrong, but was forced to go through all these hardships, just because his surname is not Pei, so all the political achievements he made became evidence of his wolfish ambitions, and became the reason for the world to speculate about him, doubt him, and hurt him? Even the people who once loved him hated and doubted him because of the obscure rumors in the court, and even because of his handsome appearance, he had to be killed by you two..."
Pei Mingjue didn't dare to listen to Consultant Shan's words, but these words pierced his heart like sharp arrows. He couldn't help but shrink his body and his whole body began to tremble violently.
However, Consultant Shan did not continue speaking. He suddenly froze, a look of regret and self-loathing emerging on his face.
"You and I are not innocent." He whispered, "The Regent has become what he is now. You, I, and everyone in this world are murderers."
The two of them stopped talking. One of them stood, and the other sat, staring silently at Jian Ziyan who was sleeping on the bed until the time for the morning court session arrived.
There was a eunuch outside calling the emperor carefully, and Pei Mingjue moved stiffly.
"I have to go to court." He murmured as he took out the needle from Jian Ziyan, "Teacher has spent countless efforts to preserve this dynasty. I can't let his efforts go to waste."
He rolled his bloodshot eyes and looked at the consultant Shan: "I can leave the teacher to you, right? Don't let anyone in, no matter who it is."
Consultant Shan nodded silently.
He was still on leave recuperating from his illness, and although he was no longer seriously ill, he was impatient to return to the court to see the hypocritical faces of those ministers. They changed their attitudes according to the situation, and would submit petitions countless times every day to find and execute Jian Ziyan. Normally, he could still tolerate it, but now he was worried that he would draw his sword in front of the emperor and kill everyone.
…
[While everyone outside was in a miserable state, Jian Ziyan, who was almost driven crazy by the torture, was happily watching his TV series as he wished.
Sensing 419's growing anger, he said, "It's not that I don't want to work. I can't move my body at all. I can only watch them perform. Don't blame me."
419 paused as he was about to say something, and suddenly an idea occurred to him: "Before I told you not to enter the consciousness space, I said your health was not bad enough, you remembered it, didn't you?"
Jian Ziyan smiled and said, "How could that be possible? I am such a dedicated young man."
419 is speechless.
Jian Ziyan didn't get completely depressed after all, and checked the forgiveness values of several people.
"Pei Mingjue's score suddenly soared to 85, which is more than I expected." He was quite surprised. "Advisor Shan's forgiveness value is 90, not bad."
419 couldn't stand it: "What are you laughing at? Your body will be ruined in a week at most. It's fine if these two people are dissatisfied, but Shangguan Lin's forgiveness value hasn't moved for a long time!"
Jian Ziyan covered his ears and said, "Isn't there still a week left...Okay, I know! Just wait and see. Today's morning court will be held.
There is some fun to be had.”]
Pei Mingjue went to court on time. Even though he had hardly slept all night and had experienced great shock and sorrow, he deliberately applied powder on his face before coming. When he sat on the dragon throne, he was still the imposing young monarch, the king of Dajing.
No matter how much he wanted to end the morning court quickly so that he could go back to see Jian Ziyan, he still calmed himself and took state affairs seriously.
I can't let the teacher down even in this aspect.
After all, Pei Mingjue's mind had just suffered a shock and was a little distracted, so he did not immediately notice that the atmosphere at the morning court was wrong.
After several ministers had spoken, Pei Mingjue realized from the unusual silence that these ministers seemed to be hesitating about something.
Pei Mingjue remained calm. He was no longer the prince who had fled the palace out of fear three years ago. These tricks seemed extremely annoying to him now, but he was not afraid of them at all.
They were silent, hoping that he would ask them first, so that they could follow the trend. But he insisted, "Since all the ministers have nothing to do today, let's leave the court."
As he said this, he actually stood up and acted as if he was going to leave the throne room.
This unexpected move shocked all the ministers, and some of them had to step out of the crowd and shout, "Your Majesty, wait a minute! I have something to report!"
Pei Mingjue stopped and cast a calm gaze on Lord Wu's face, which made the corners of his eyes twitch and he couldn't help but lower his head deeply.
"Since Lord Wu has something to say, I will listen." Pei Mingjue sat back in his seat, "But my patience is limited, I'm afraid I can't play dumb with you for a long time."
Hearing the sharp threat in his tone, Lord Wu broke out in a bead of cold sweat on his forehead.
Although the emperor is young, his momentum and strategy are indeed far superior to those of the previous emperor.
He did not dare to delay any longer and said bluntly: "Your Majesty, I heard that you already know the whereabouts of the Regent. I wonder if this is true?"
Pei Mingjue's eyes suddenly became sharp.
He glanced at the ministers below, saw something in them, and asked coldly, "Where did you hear this rumor, Lord Wu?"
"From what I have seen...I am afraid this is not a rumor."
Lord Wu is a loyal minister. On that day in the Golden Palace, he was the one who stood up and angrily denounced the Regent for his unforgivable crime. At this time, he was not afraid of Pei Mingjue's indifference. Even though he was shocked by his momentum, he still stubbornly spoke out the content.
"Not only did the Emperor's Yanfu Palace drive out all the palace servants, but there were also imperial physicians on duty day and night, and all kinds of precious tonic medicines were flowing in and out like water... Your Majesty! Could it be that you also believed the Regent's slander and were deceived by him like the late Emperor?"
If Pei Mingjue could still listen calmly to other words, this sentence "like the late emperor" completely hurt his heart.
He looked at the ministers below who were silent but showing disapproval, and let out a miserable laugh.
"That's right." He said, "I am indeed the same as the late emperor."
There was a huge uproar in the court.
Amidst the uproar, Pei Mingjue spoke every word clearly.
"Like the late emperor, I misunderstood loyal ministers, persecuted loyal officials, and ignored the regent's sincere love for the country. I misunderstood and hurt him. Both I and the late emperor are sinners who should atone for our sins."
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room fell silent.
Everyone raised their eyes in astonishment, unable to believe what the little emperor had just said.
Among the crowd, only Shangguan Lin looked at him intently with clear eyes filled with worry and respect.
At first sight, Pei Mingjue almost looked away in embarrassment, but he couldn't help but feel an extremely familiar breath from this look.
These eyes reminded him of his former teacher.
"You heard me correctly. I was not deceived, nor did I believe in slander. I will personally issue an edict to announce the Regent's contributions and reputation to the world, and you will know it then."
Pei Mingjue was like a walking corpse, mechanically speaking out what he had already planned. Without waiting for everyone to recover from their shock, he flicked his sleeves, stood up and left.
Leaving behind a huge uproar and discussion.
Pei Mingjue only wanted to rush back to Yanfu Palace. Just as he was about to step onto the dragon chariot, he heard someone rushing towards him.
"Your Majesty! Shangguan Lin pays respect to His Majesty."
Hearing the voice, Pei Mingjue, who was originally not going to pay attention, stopped. He stood on the steps of the dragon chariot and turned to look at the young Shangshu.
Shangguan Lin knelt on the ground, looking up anxiously at Pei Mingjue: "Your Majesty, I have an unwelcome request... If the Regent is in Your Majesty's Yanfu Palace, can you allow me to see him?"
Even the way they address themselves is the same.
Pei Mingjue carefully looked at the Minister of Revenue's eyes.
It is indeed very similar, but also somewhat different.
Jian Ziyan's eyes used to be clear and clean like a stream just melted from a glacier, which was a time of sincerity and purity. Although Shangguan Lin has not yet been contaminated by the darkness of officialdom, he no longer has the purity and agility he had in the past.
No matter how much like him, it is not him after all.
Pei Mingjue's voice was emotionless: "You want to see him?"
"That's right." Shangguan Lin said sincerely, "According to what Eunuch Chen said, the Regent helped me a lot when I didn't know. I really want to express my gratitude to the Regent in person, otherwise my conscience will be uneasy."
The face of the Minister of Revenue showed only worry for the Regent and an eagerness to repay his kindness. There was no suspicion at all that he was disdainful and gloomy about deceiving the Emperor. Pei Mingjue's expression lightened up a little.
"Right now, the Regent...is not in good health. He needs to rest and recuperate, so it's not suitable for him to see anyone." Pei Mingjue looked at the young man's gloomy expression, "After some time, when the Regent is better, I will ask him if he wants to see you."
Shangguan Lin was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Pei Mingjue nodded, turned around and got on the dragon chariot.
The hazy yellow gauze curtain fell down, hiding the figure of Shangguan Linmo who was standing on the side and watching the dragon chariot. Pei Mingjue never looked at him again.
Everyone resembles you, but still is not as good as before.
…
After the three people's forgiveness values rose a few points, Jian Ziyan finally "woke up" at the right time.
At that time, Pei Mingjue was helping him to put on clothes after he had just given him an acupuncture injection. It was late at night and there was a dim candlelight in the tent, with only the two of them.
Because there was no one around, the fatigue on Pei Mingjue's face was revealed. His eyes were dark, but his movements were very gentle. Because he didn't notice that Jian Ziyan had woken up at the first time, he was still coaxing him in a low voice.
"Today's work is over. Teacher, bear with it for a while. It won't hurt anymore."
Jian Ziyan stared at his thin jaw and suddenly said, "I told you not to call me teacher anymore."
Pei Mingjue's hand, which was putting on the sleeve of Jian Ziyan's underwear, suddenly stopped. He looked down at Jian Ziyan in his arms in disbelief, and met his extremely clear, yet bored gaze.
He was so surprised that he didn't even have time to think too much. His voice was trembling with excitement: "Teacher... are you awake?"
Hearing that he again didn't listen to him and insisted on calling him teacher, Jian Ziyan felt unspeakable boredom and exhaustion in his heart.
He didn't want to say anything anymore, nor did he pay attention to what Pei Mingjue was doing to him. He just turned his head away with a blank look in his eyes.
Seeing him like this, Pei Mingjue's mind finally came back to normal. His happy smile froze on his lips, and he became cautious and fearful.
"Is the teacher... unhappy? I really didn't do anything. I was just giving the teacher acupuncture and wanted to help her put her clothes back on."
Jian Ziyan had no expression on his face, he just said calmly: "Your Majesty, why bother explaining this to me? Anyway, no matter what Your Majesty wants to do, I cannot resist."
Pei Mingjue lowered his eyes to hide the deep pain in his heart.
Even if he whipped his heart a thousand times, it would not be as painful as hearing Jian Ziyan say these words calmly.
It was not until he faced the sober Jian Ziyan that he realized the regret and pain in his heart. It was a pain that made it difficult for him to even speak. He said intermittently: "Teacher, I know I was wrong. You can beat me, scold me, or even kill me. I really know I was wrong..."
Sadness surged in his heart. No matter how many times he had imagined apologizing to Jian Ziyan, thinking of begging for his mercy even in the most humble manner, when he actually said it out loud, he was still as childish as the little prince back then, not knowing how to keep this person.
"Your Majesty, you are joking. Even a mere title cannot change your Majesty, let alone other things." Jian Ziyan's tone remained unchanged. There is nothing more sad than a dead heart. He no longer has any expectations for Pei Mingjue. "I am a humble and humble official. I dare not ask Your Majesty to admit his mistake. Please take it back."
Pei Mingjue was trembling from his heart to his whole body. Jian Ziyan's indifference and rejection made him almost unable to cope with himself.
At this time, Jian Ziyan turned back and looked into Pei Mingjue's eyes calmly. When a faint hope ignited in his eyes, he said, "But Your Majesty has also seen that my body is too broken to support me for a few days. It is difficult for me to continue to accept Your Majesty's care. Of course, if Your Majesty insists, I cannot refuse..."
"teacher!"
Pei Mingjue finally couldn't bear it anymore. He let out a cry and big tears fell from his eyes onto Jian Ziyan's face. His whole body convulsed in pain, but he was reluctant to say a harsh word to Jian Ziyan. He could only suppress his trembling voice, and the sound seemed to be squeezed out of his throat.
"I really don't want to do anything..."
Jian Ziyan looked away again, as if he was extremely tired. He looked withered and lifeless.
"Whatever the emperor says, that's it."
Pei Mingjue's chest was filled with frustration and powerlessness.
He looked at Jian Ziyan, who was still handsome even though he was so weak, but his face looked a little more fragile and broken. His heart twitched, as if the deepest part of his heart was dug out forcefully.
"Teacher...I'll let you go."
Jian Ziyan's eyes were shocked and he turned to look at Pei Mingjue.
Pei Mingjue's eyes were crying, but his lips were curled up as hard as he could, and his tone was gentle.
"If you want, I will let Consultant Shan take you away from here. From now on, you will never see my face that you hate again."
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