Chapter 138 Moonlight
The moonlight poured down like a galaxy, and the 38 main streets of Chang'an were shrouded in a silent, frosty glow, like a palace in heaven. Suddenly, a cloud drifted in from the sky, splitting the moonlight, and the earth was like a lonely boat before the waves, sometimes tossed high up, sometimes sinking into darkness.
It was already late when Princess Taiping's banquet ended, and when Su Xingzhi and Su Yuji returned to the courtyard, it was already late at night. Su Yuji was very quiet along the way, but Su Xingzhi seemed to be worried and did not notice her abnormality.
Su Yuji took out the key and opened the gate. The creaking sound of the door was particularly obvious in the quiet night. Su Xingzhi woke up from a dream and walked to the kitchen skillfully: "I see you didn't eat much today. It's too late to eat greasy food. I'll make you a bowl of steamed buns."
Su Yuji slowly walked to the kitchen door, stopped, and watched him roll up his sleeves, exposing his arms, kneading dough and cutting vegetables on the stove.
The two had just returned from a luxurious banquet, and the sweet scent of the princesses seemed to still linger on their noses. However, the scene in front of them clearly reminded Su Yuji that that world did not belong to her.
Even if she put on the most expensive skirt, she would look no different from those noble ladies. However, they would not think about how to clean the kitchen while hungry, how to deal with the dirt on the hem of their skirt when they come back, and how much of their savings they spent to buy this outfit.
If she had not seen the clouds, she could have lived peacefully on the earth. However, they insisted on telling her that she was born in the clouds but accidentally fell down. From now on, she must accept her fate and be an honest citizen.
After Su's father and mother passed away, they did most of the housework themselves. Su Xingzhi and Su Yuji learned to cook early on. But Su Xingzhi rarely let her do it. Before she was ten years old, it was because she was young, and after that, it was because Su Xingzhi was used to it.
Su Yuji used to not care about such details. Su Xingzhi cooked and she cleaned the house. These things at home were either done by him or her. But now Su Yuji began to examine why he always protected her and took over the rough and tiring work?
Because of responsibility, compassion, or guilt?
Su Xingzhi worked quickly, and soon the steamed buns were ready. He sprinkled chopped green onions on them and doused them with hot oil. The air was immediately filled with fragrance. While he was clearing the flour and vegetable leaves on the stove, he said to Su Yuji, "Take the bowl inside and eat first. I'll come after I'm done."
Su Yuji glanced at the pot and asked, "Why is there only one bowl?"
"I've eaten at the banquet, so I'm not hungry. Go in and eat quickly, it'll get cold soon."
Su Yuji silently took away the hot steamed buns. When Su Xingzhi cleaned up the kitchen and went into the house, he was surprised to see two sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table. He sighed and said, "I'm really not hungry, you can eat it yourself."
Su Yuji poured him half a bowl and said coldly, "I can't eat that much, the rest is for you."
Su Xingzhi had no choice but to sit down, pick up his chopsticks, and put the egg into Su Yuji's bowl. He said he wasn't hungry, but he ate much faster than Su Yuji. On the contrary, Su Yuji drank the soup sporadically, looking like he really had no appetite.
Su Yuji looked at Su Xingzhi across from him. He hadn't put down his sleeves yet, exposing his forearms to the cold air without hesitation. He looked thin in Su Shitai's clothes, but when he rolled up his sleeves, you could see that his forearms were thick and strong, with rough hair on his hands, and it was obvious that he had done farm work.
Young men who grew up in Chang'an and Luoyang would not have hands like this. Even if they practiced martial arts for many years, such as Ming Huazhang, the rope on their hands would be at the base of the thumb. It was a thin rope left by holding a sword and drawing a bow, which was completely different from the hands of people in the countryside.
But those hands don't know how to knead the dough, how much water and flour to add to make the steamed buns thin but not rotten. Su Yuji swallowed the dough, and the heat flowed down the esophagus into the empty stomach, like a fire, quickly burning all over the body.
After having something in his stomach, his mood seemed to be much calmer. Su Yuji wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and asked, "What poem did you write today that would make all the ladies in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion give you flowers?"
Su Xingzhi paused as he was cleaning up the dishes, thinking that she had seen it. He didn't want to lie to her, but he had just promised Ming Huashang not to tell Su Yuji about the replacement. For Su Yuji's safety, he could only keep it a secret from her for a while.
Su Xingzhi said casually, "Are you referring to Lady Ming Er? She just didn't know who to give it to, so she just gave it to me when she saw me nearby. There's nothing special about it."
Su Yuji looked at him intently and asked, "Really? Her brother Ming Huazhang is not far away. At worst, Xie Jichuan and Jiang Ling, who are her good friends, are also here. Why did she not give it to them but to you?"
Su Xingzhi avoided looking at her and said, "It's just a coincidence. She's still young and doesn't have much to worry about. Don't think too much."
Su Yuji's emotions, which had almost calmed down, surged up again after she heard Su Xingzhi's words. Before, she just felt the injustice of being teased by fate, but now, she was filled with anger at being deceived by people close to her.
Su Yuji curled her lips, wanting to laugh, but couldn't. Her eyes were as sharp as ice and as fierce as fire, and she questioned, "Am I just imagining things? She gave you flowers and you protected her in every possible way. You are all upright and kind people, and I am the only one who is vicious and jealous, right?"
Su Xingzhi was stunned, and finally realized that Su Yuji was not in a good mood. He stepped forward and tried to pull Su Yuji: "Yuji, what's wrong with you?"
"Don't touch me!" Su Yuji raised her voice suddenly and shook off Su Xingzhi's hand. She stared at him with burning eyes and asked, "After writing the poem, you left for a long time. Did you go to see her?"
At the banquet, when Princess Taiping proposed to give flowers to the "most talented person in Chang'an" in her mind, her first reaction was him. No matter what happened, he was the best in her heart. She was going to give him the velvet flower immediately, but when she got closer, she found that he was talking to Ming Huashang, who quietly left a flower on his desk.
Su Xingzhi picked it up, took a look at it, and then quietly put it into his sleeve.
When Su Yuji saw this scene, she felt annoyed, angry, and jealous. Su Xingzhi should have stood by her side without hesitation. How dare he favor another woman?
Su Yuji looked at Su Xingzhi coldly, not wanting to listen to him, and turned back. She didn't know anyone at the banquet, so she could only sit there and sulk. In the end, she didn't know what to do with the flowers in her hand, so she walked to the men's living room again, intending to throw them to Su Xingzhi.
However, to her surprise, Su Xingzhi was not there. She saw his poems, which were written with a cold, sharp and serious style, just like him. She waited in front of the poems for a long time, but he did not come back.
Su Yuji became more and more angry as she waited, and she didn't want to care about any rules at all, so she threw the flowers outside the hall. She didn't know when Ming Huashang left, but she noticed that not long after Ming Huashang came in, Su Xingzhi also came back.
Su Yuji has always been unwilling to believe the maid's words. She firmly believes that Su Xingzhi is sincere to her, and that the maid instigated her to deliberately hide her for the sake of her biological sister. But at this moment, Su Yuji was shaken.
The woman's intuition told her that something was wrong, but she was still unwilling to believe that the adoptive brother who had raised her since she was a child would deceive her to this extent.
After Su Yuji asked this question, he kept observing Su Xingzhi's reaction. Su Xingzhi subconsciously looked away, lowered his head to clean up the table, and said, "Yes. Jingzhao Prefecture and Yu Shitai have official exchanges, and she asked me to discuss the file."
Su Yuji saw his reaction and felt even colder. Su Xingzhi would never lie. If he had a clear conscience, he would definitely sigh helplessly and then let Su Yuji question him without changing the subject. But today, he avoided her sight.
Su Yuji stared at Su Xingzhi and pressed him, "You've never been able to please everyone and go on dates privately before. Why did you go out when she asked you out? Do you really have no selfish motives towards her?"
Su Xingzhi was not a man who would consider others' face. During the time he was in Chang'an, many people offered him a large sum of money to have a banquet, but he always declined. But when Ming Huashang asked him about the file, he left without saying a word.
This is not his style. Did he also know that Ming Huashang was his sister, so he was particularly tolerant of her?
Su Xingzhi clenched his chopsticks tightly, and the words of explanation were almost on his lips, but thinking of the strange attitude of the Duke of Zhenguo and the third child of unknown origin, he forced himself to hold back and said, "No. I am just a poor scholar, and she is the daughter of the Duke's family. She has been living a life of luxury since she was a child and has been spoiled. Why would she need my selfishness?"
Su Xingzhi originally intended to comfort Su Yuji by telling her that he had no romantic feelings for Ming Huashang. However, after he said this, Su Yuji fell silent.
Su Yuji stared at him motionlessly. Su Xingzhi was gradually frightened by her stare, so he quickly put down his things and walked forward: "Yuji, what's wrong with you?"
Su Xingzhi's words hit her sore spot. Su Yuji had been patient all this time, but now she finally exploded. She pushed Su Xingzhi away, nodded in self-mockery, and said, "Okay. She has been living a life of luxury since she was a child, and can't stand being wronged, but I can. Su Xingzhi, you disappoint me so much."
Su Xingzhi was stunned, not understanding how this sentence offended Su Yuji. While he was stunned, Su Yuji had already opened the door and walked out. Su Xingzhi finally realized the seriousness of the situation and hurriedly chased after him: "Yuji, it's curfew outside, where are you going?"
However, when he ran out of the door, the alley was empty, and there was no sign of Su Yuji. Su Xingzhi hurriedly locked the door and searched from house to house nearby. Su Yuji was hiding in the dark, gave him a cold look, and turned to walk in the opposite direction.
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At the same time, the magnificent Princess Taiping's mansion was in a mess after the feast, and it looked even more desolate and cold. A woman in gorgeous clothes stood in front of the window, gazing at the bright moon for a long time.
Over the years, Princess Taiping has never missed Xue Shao, her second brother, and the days when her father was still alive as much as she does now. If her father or her second brother had not died, at this moment, she should be with him under the flowers and moon, or reciting poems, or teaching children, or being swept by the waves.
When they were in high spirits, she would probably tease him, saying that her nephew looked very much like him when he was young, but was even more handsome and elegant than he was when he was young. He probably had grown a beard, and pretended to be frustrated and said, "Youth is gone, princess, try to live a good life, don't be too picky because you are old."
Princess Taiping burst out laughing, but after the laugh, she felt endless pain.
He died, and her second brother also died, and her husband changed. When outsiders talked about it, they would envy her good fortune. The first husband was a famous nobleman in Chang'an. Even though he was involved in a conspiracy and died, the second husband was also outstanding in talent and appearance. Just because she fell in love with him at first sight in the crowd, the other party divorced his childhood sweetheart and willingly became his husband.
However, if Xue Shao had not died, she would not have needed to find another prince consort, let alone endure the hypocrisy of Prince Ding. No matter how close they were over the years, he was always thinking about another woman in his heart. Li Lingyue was such a proud person, why should she endure being inferior to another woman?
Even if that person is dead.
Princess Taiping stretched out her hand, scooped up a handful of moonlight that she could not keep, and thought of Ming Huazhang unexpectedly.
The child was well-bred in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. He was upright, upright, and smart. His appearance resembled Xue Shao, who was recognized as the most outstanding, but his character was very much like his second brother.
But he was much more cruel than Li Xian. When he said to her "fight till death", the light in his eyes was so resolute that Princess Taiping almost saw her mother who knelt on the steps crying but still insisted on killing Xue Shao.
Princess Taiping smiled self-deprecatingly, what a president! He always picked the good parts of the elders.
Princess Taiping sighed, and her thoughts followed the eternal moonlight and slowly returned to the autumn of the thirty-second year of Yonghui.
The situation became tense in June. At first, Wu Zetian wrote "Shaoyang Zhengfan" and "Xiaozi Zhuan" to Li Xian, accusing the prince of being unfilial. Later, Wu Zetian's confidant Ming Chongyan was murdered by robbers. Wu Zetian suspected that Li Xian was the culprit, thus uncovering the shocking Donggong rebellion case.
When Li Xian was caught up in the rebellion, everyone from Emperor Gaozong to the court officials and common people believed that he was innocent. Only their mother, as if she had forgotten that this was her son, pressed him step by step. Li Xian had no choice but to write "Huangtai Gua Ci", which said, "Planting melons under Huangtai, the melons are ripe and the seeds are separated. Picking once makes the melons good, picking again makes the melons rare, picking three times is still fine, picking all but one will take the vines home."
He used the melon picker to represent his biological mother, Empress Wu, and the four melons to represent the four brothers' precarious lives. He hoped that his mother would stop and not let the melons be cut off and the brothers be killed. However, their mother was not only a woman, but also a politician. Empress Wu still calmly sent her confidants to investigate the prince's rebellion and found hundreds of armors in the stables of the East Palace.
Emperor Gaozong wanted to make light of the incident and pardon it, but Empress Wu insisted that "Li Xian was a traitor and killed his own relatives for the sake of justice. He cannot be pardoned."
Gaozong had no choice but to degrade Yi Hyun to a commoner for treason. After hearing about this in the palace, Yi Hyun sighed and said, "The crown prince is treasonous. He is disloyal as a minister, unfilial as a son, and unjust as a monarch. How can such a disloyal, unfilial, and unjust person live in the world? If I don't die, the king will not be at peace. I hope my death can calm my mother and spare the lives of Yi Hyun's wife, children, and the ministers of the Eastern Palace."
After saying this, Li Xian drew his sword and committed suicide, and he was so happy that he didn't even say a soft word to the palace messenger. When the news of his death spread, the court and the country were all in grief, and Gaozong even cried on the spot. After Wu Zetian eliminated her biggest political enemy, her motherly heart finally returned to her. She did not continue to pursue the charges against Li Xian's crown princess and eldest son, but exiled them to Puzhou. The literati, military generals, and staff who followed Li Xian were only dismissed from their posts, and no one was implicated.
At that time, Li Xian's reputation was well-known throughout the court and the country, and he was the legitimate heir. Although Empress Wu had been in power for more than ten years, she was only an empress after all. Li Xian might have been able to fight back if he tried his best. However, Li Xian was unwilling to wield a knife against his mother, nor did he want to kill people around him because of his lack of resistance, so he chose to commit suicide to fulfill both loyalty and filial piety.
Until his death, Prince Zhang Huai died honorably and with a kind heart. However, he lost because of his kindness. When he just died, his family members in the Eastern Palace were indeed saved, but only four years later, he was forced to death by Empress Wu.
Seventeen years have passed, many buildings have been built and collapsed, and many prosperous times have returned to the ground, but the ministers still miss Prince Zhang Huai. Even their brothers and sisters can never let go of their grief. The second brother who was the smartest, most studious, and most forgiving since childhood died just like that.
Fortunately, he still had a son. The child was too young to know the evilness of human hearts, so he was reluctant to shed blood. When he grew up, he knew that a person who dared not kill could not become an excellent politician.
Princess Taiping was very sure that he would be grateful to her when he became knowledgeable.
Princess Taiping leaned against the railing and looked at the moon, lost in thought, so she didn't notice that Prince Ding was standing behind the corridor, looking at her for a long time. The maid lowered her hands and asked carefully, "Prince consort, do you want to call the princess?"
Prince Ding passed through the window and saw the inkstone portrait behind her. As someone who had lived in this mansion for twelve years, he could certainly recognize it, as it was a relic of the former consort Xue Shao.
It is needless to say who that person was who made His Majesty Taiping think for so long without even noticing someone approaching.
Prince Ding waved his sleeves silently, turned around and walked out without any reluctance, saying lightly: "No need. No need to tell the princess that I have been here."
The moon finally broke free from the clouds, and its silver light shone evenly on the world. The Imperial Guards were patrolling the streets, and some people took advantage of the Imperial Guards' inattention to quietly climb over the wall and run to Pingkangfang for fun, some people held lanterns and anxiously looked for people, some people leaned on the railings to look at the moon, and some people curled up in their quilts and cried secretly for a long time.
But finally, all the noises died down. The moonlight set in the west, gradually dimming and becoming transparent, and a stronger light was gathering in the east.
Dawn is coming, just as the bright moon never stops for anyone, no matter how sad you are, the sun will always rise as usual and life will go on.
It was February 12, the second year of the Holy Calendar. There were still three days until the Flower Festival and sixteen hours until the Empress' deadline to solve the case.