Keep going without looking back
“He was a soldier that the Marquis took with him; he escaped from the southern border.”
"Me... Marquis of Jianbei?" Tang Qi stammered. "Yes, the group that went on the southern expedition was wrongly executed because someone within their ranks colluded with the Southern Continent Army. Originally, Brother Qi's eastern expedition almost sealed his fate, but fortunately, this person escaped from the Southern Frontier and brought back the truth about the wrongful deaths. General Deng Ning of the Shenghui Army, together with the Marquis's mansion, petitioned His Majesty to thoroughly investigate the spy incident, which prevented Brother Qi and the others from dying unjustly."
After finishing his sentence, Haozi angrily cursed Li Wuyuan several more times.
Something's not right. Tang Qi frowned and immediately asked him, "The message that person brought back was that there were spies in the southern expedition, so how could it be related to the eastern expedition? Requesting a thorough investigation without any evidence is a major taboo."
The mouse stopped, its expression shifting, a change that Tang Qi keenly noticed. He continued in a deep voice, "How did His Majesty agree to this?"
The mouse didn't speak, but Tang Qi's heart sank. Sure enough, a few seconds later, he heard the mouse speak in a muffled voice:
"It was the Dengwen Drum. Lady Hou went to Jingzhou and struck the Dengwen Drum."
mother……
When the drums of petition sounded, he was sentenced to fifteen strokes of the cane in court. How could his mother bear it?
"Where is she!" Tang Qi exclaimed almost urgently, startling Haozi, who then replied, "She's... in Jingzhou. Madam hasn't returned since she went to Jingzhou. I suppose she was taken back to the Tang family by Old Madam Tang. After the Dengwen Drum sounded, General Deng Ning began investigating in Luocheng. In less than a month, the traitor Li Wuyuan was captured. However, he seems to be involved in some other case, which I'm not entirely sure about. Anyway, in the end, it was a great relief to everyone."
"Where is Tang Yan? Madam is in Jingzhou, has she gone there? Is she in Luocheng now?"
Tang Qi bombarded Haozi with a series of questions, leaving him a little confused. Who exactly was this person asking about? Nevertheless, Haozi scratched his head and answered Tang Qi's questions one by one.
"How come you don't know anything? Sister Tang Yan has entered the palace. Of course she's in Jingzhou. Moreover, Sister Tang Yan entered the palace before Madam went to Jingzhou to beat the Dengwen Drum. His Majesty sent an imperial decree the day after Brother Qi's coffin was taken out."
Tang Qi was stunned. His sister... had entered the palace?
This matter is so significant that Ye Qian must have known about it during his trip to Jingzhou, but he did not tell me.
Tang Qi understood immediately and was stunned for a moment. This guy was really meticulous, even more afraid of his death than he was of him.
"Although Lord Hou and Brother Qi are both—but Sister Tang Yan has been personally bestowed the title of Princess by His Majesty, which is a good thing, right? If Lord Hou and the others knew, they could rest assured."
Mouse still smiled and said that he had never been in contact with the royal family. He only knew that becoming a princess meant a promotion, and with a higher position, life would naturally be better than before.
But he had no idea what would happen to a princess without any powerful backing, who would be surrounded by princes and princesses in the palace.
Tang Qi couldn't imagine what Tang Yan was facing.
In fact, there's no need to even think about it.
Tang Yan knew from the very first day she entered the palace that His Majesty did not like her.
Her bedchamber had woven nets, and the servants His Majesty assigned to her did not work; they merely glanced at Tang Yanlai sideways.
The servants in the palace looked up to Tang Yan more than the commoners outside the city; they didn't like him.
If it were just a matter of dislike, it might be easier to bear, but Tang Yan quickly understood why they dared to be so bold.
Because the princesses and princes disliked her, many people in the imperial city also disliked her.
The knife wound on Tang Yan's arm was the beginning of her understanding of the truth. The person who showed her some kindness in the morning could turn into a vengeful ghost at night, wielding a dagger and viciously stabbing her in the heart.
They all wanted her to die accidentally.
In this way, they wouldn't have to follow a "princess" with no future.
"Tang Yan...she is stronger than anyone thought."
Tang Qi remained silent for a few seconds before finally speaking.
Yes, she is stronger than anyone thought.
So Tang Yan dodged the knife that was thrust at her and slammed into the person, knocking them to the ground. She rolled off the bed, grabbed the knife from the side, and then sat across the person, pinning them down so they couldn't move.
Tang Yan just quietly watched the maid who had given her a piece of sweet cake that morning.
"You want to kill me."
The maid remained silent.
"But you're so stupid."
Tang Yan pressed the knife down: "They don't like me, so you want to kill me to please them, but you're not that important."
Her eyes dimmed as she said, "Even if this imperial city no longer tolerates me, I am still a princess, and I still bear the surname Tang. To murder a princess, you wouldn't have enough lives to die."
Blood beads gushed out, and Tang Yan continued, looking at the maid's increasingly terrified eyes: "And if I were to kill you, at most I would be tortured and lose half my life, which I can afford to gamble on."
“If you want to continue, then go ahead.” Her eyes turned fierce: “Go back and tell those like you that they better have a few extra lives, otherwise, I guarantee you will never leave this door next time.”
Tang Yan's knife grazed the man's eyelid and plunged into the ground. She then got up and sat back down on the bed. The maid glanced at her briefly before fleeing as if her life depended on it.
Once the maid had completely left, Tang Yan began to sob softly, as if she couldn't hold back her tears. She dared not cry out loud, because she knew that in this imperial city, crying would only attract those who wanted her dead.
“One year…two years, three years at most,” Tang Qi said, his eyes lowered. The mouse in front of him was still looking at him. Tang Qi paused for a moment and then looked up again, as if speaking to the mouse, or perhaps to himself: “After three years, she will be an adult and will no longer need to continue to be raised in the palace. The Tang family will have enough reason to take her back.”
The mouse didn't say anything, but its eyes darted around before it asked, "Isn't going to the palace good? Sister Tang Yan became a princess, isn't that a wonderful thing?"
Tang Qi thought for a moment and then said in a way that even a mouse could understand: "If I give you a lot of money, but you have to come with me to a place you've never been before, where you can't play around as you please, can't laugh as you please, and can't go out to see your friends and sister as you please, would you be willing to do that?"
Mouse scratched his head and asked, "Can't see my sister? Does that mean I can't eat candied hawthorns just because I want to?" Tang Qi nodded, and then heard Mouse say, "Then Sister Tang Yan is really pitiful."
"But what if... Sister Tang Yan still can't get out in three years?"
"I will not let the palace confine her for the rest of her life."
Tang Yan stood beneath the palace walls. In the springtime when the city was full of blooming flowers, all that was thrown at her were hard stones that hit her.
Tang Yan neither dodged nor made a sound, simply letting the people on the wall smash her.
Her arms, legs, and forehead were covered in bruises. When they got tired of hitting her, they would lie on the wall and watch her with a smile.
"Haha, she's so silly, she doesn't move at all."
"Who is this? What are they doing here? This isn't—"
"Shh! They've all been put up here, who could they be? Princess, hahaha, probably with that idiot next door—ouch, that hurts! Who hit me!"
Tang Yan, who was standing under the wall, had picked up the stones they had thrown at some point. She stared at them with a smirk on her face, and blood was still flowing from the scar on her forehead.
The people on the wall were stunned for a moment, then they all screamed wildly, but Tang Yan just chuckled and his eyes were like a leopard hunting on the grassland.
Their aim was off, but hers was.
"Ahhh! Help! Granny, save me!"
"Ouch, it hurts so much! I'm going to tell Mother!"
"You're crazy! You're really crazy, stop throwing them away!"
Tang Yan threw them so they ran away screaming and howling until they could no longer hear a sound.
She gripped the last stone tightly, blood streaming down her forehead, but she still smiled.
If you can't kill me, none of you can. One year, two years, three years, no matter how long it takes, I won't let the imperial city confine me for a lifetime.
Tang Yan stood there for a long time before finally turning around and walking away. She had only taken a few steps when she heard a rustling sound coming from the wall behind her. She immediately turned around and launched a fierce attack.
A boy let out a loud "Aww!" and covered his head, leaning against the wall and howling in pain.
"Who's there! Come out!"
Seeing Tang Yan's wary gaze, the boy reluctantly pushed out the newly picked flower in his hand to show her.
"My name is Sheng Xingxing. Please look at the flowers."
The mouse didn't say much, it just stared at Tang Qi. This person is so strange.
"you…"
Before Haozi could finish speaking, Tang Qi interrupted him, not giving Haozi a chance to continue asking questions. He simply smiled at him and habitually patted Haozi's head twice.
"The information is very useful, thanks."
After saying that, he turned and left. Haozi didn't move, but just stood there staring at Tang Qi's receding figure.
Based on his build, tone of voice, and eyes, it was really hard for Haozi not to associate him with someone else. Haozi stared for a long time before his gaze finally settled on the person's legs.
He walked with a limp, finding it difficult to move. But he didn't stop or look back; he just kept walking forward until he emerged from the alley, from the darkness, and into the sunlight.
That's how he pulled himself out of the abyss, step by step.
"Sister? How did he know I have a sister?"
The mouse tilted its head in thought, but Tang Qi had already been gone for a long time.
The Marquis of Jianbei's mansion was quieter than he had imagined. There were only a few flowers in the courtyard, which were well taken care of by the servants. His mother loved flowers and plants, so the mansion was never lacking in vitality.
As he peered over the courtyard wall, several familiar servants were sweeping the yard. He had chosen a spot where he wouldn't be seen. Climbing over the wall and sneaking away was something he had done many times before, and now he was even more adept at it.
He easily scaled the wall and slipped into the other courtyard, Tang Qi crouching down like a petty thief.
Oh, if stealing one's own things counts as theft, then he should have the honor of having a few cups of tea at the Criminal Division.
Tang Qi tossed the money bag he had just dug out of the ground, snorted and chuckled, "Luckily, I left myself a way out."
In the past, Tang Qi would never have worried about money, but now, reality has forced him to worry.
Stripped of his status as a young marquis, it seems he has nothing left. No wonder Wang Shili constantly berates him for only having a good father and being born into a good family.
Upon closer examination, it seems that Wang Shili wasn't entirely wrong.
He was just lucky; he got a great deal, and this good fortune blessed him with smooth sailing for twenty years.
But no one can be lucky forever.
Tang Qi pocketed the money bag, cleaned up all traces of his presence, and jumped back onto the wall. Before leaving, he still looked back one last time.
Next time... never mind, there aren't that many next times.
"They're gone."
He spoke softly, as if to the wind.
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