Ancient Secret Realm (VIII)
After Wuyangbo and Chang Ronglin followed Lin Zhuo to the side hall, Xie Zhitiao no longer had the heart to review memorials. He pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled on the table.
Fang Yuan and Qiu Ji grew up together, so he undoubtedly knew a great deal about him. There was no doubt that Qiu Ji secretly desired his parents' approval. But why would he take advantage of the late emperor's death, poison the crown prince, anger the empress dowager to death, and then ascend the throne himself?
The ink marks on the paper were getting more and more, but Xie Zhitiao still had no clue. Du Fuan walked in and bowed: "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Wuyang and Master Chang are here."
Xie Zhitiao was a little annoyed. He pulled the memorial over to cover the paper and said, "Tell him to go back. In five days, I want to see the canal supplies shipped to the south."
Du Fuan responded, and Xie Zhitiao asked again: "Where is the Imperial Noble Consort?"
"The Empress is still sitting in the side hall. Your Majesty, would you like to go and see her?"
Xie Zhitiao waved his hand and told him to go out. He lay there and wrote for a while, then got up and went to the side hall.
Lin Zhuo was sitting in the main seat, lost in thought. Seeing him approach, she looked up. Chun He tactfully withdrew quietly. Xie Zhitiao, sitting beside her, noticed the slight furrow between her brows and was a little surprised. "What's wrong, Senior Sister? So angry?" He had rarely seen Lin Zhuo angry before. What had Wu Yangbo said?
Lin Zhuo's brows relaxed a little, and he smiled at him: "I'm not angry, I'm just a little confused."
Xie Zhitiao poured her a cup of hot tea and, like a magician, pulled out an orange from his sleeve. As he peeled it, he asked her, "Did the old man say something unpleasant?"
"Well, not only him, Chang Ronglin also speaks rudely."
Xie Zhitiao handed her an orange slice and said, "Because of what they said, you're angry, aren't you?"
“…” Lin Zhuo remained silent. She was used to hiding her emotions from others. Her master and senior brothers were busy, and her senior sister was impatient. She didn’t want to trouble them with her emotions.
He continued, "Senior Sister, you grew up in the sect. Master and the others don't have the prejudices of ordinary people. You haven't seen that. It's normal to feel uncomfortable now. There's no need to hide it. Master and the others, as well as me and my senior brothers and sisters, we all care about whether you are happy or not."
Lin Zhuo ate the orange in silence, and suddenly felt that the orange was a bit sour, so sour to the heart.
Xie Zhitiao pulled out another flower from the vase he'd just taken. "Sister, this is just an illusion. They don't exist anymore. It's not worth getting angry over them," he teased her. "How about I sneak out tonight and beat them up, so I can vent my anger."
Lin Zhuo couldn't hold it back and laughed out loud. She took the flowers from his hand, and her frown completely relaxed. "Okay, let's get down to business."
Seeing her smile, Xie Zhitiao also smiled. In their previous lives, they had never realized that no matter how gentle and sensible Lin Zhuo was, she could feel wronged and was also a person with negative emotions. She was so sensible that everyone subconsciously ignored the unhappiness hidden beneath that understanding.
Fortunately, he is back.
Xie Zhitiao took out the paper from the imperial study and pointed at the name on it. "Fang Yuan must know something, but meeting him is unrealistic. I've been trying to find a way to send him a message and get some information from him these days."
"The Chang family is obsessed with power and uses their daughter as a tool for marriage. Chang Junning is the victim."
"Qiu Ji longed for the approval of the late emperor and the empress dowager, so what was his motive for killing his parents?"
Lin Zhuo looked at the lines on the paper and suddenly said, "If someone has been ignored for a long time, maybe they would do this to get revenge?"
Because we are not valued, we desire to be valued; because we do not get attention, we simply destroy it.
The two men looked at each other, this was very much what a tyrant would do.
"Because it's impossible to get his parents' approval," Lin Zhuo continued, "After falling in love with Chang Junning, his desire shifted to Chang Junning. He hoped someone would recognize him, and that person was Chang Junning."
Another obsession was also found. Qiu Ji hoped that Chang Junning could love him like he did.
"But Chang Junning hates him, Senior Sister, this approach won't work." Xie Zhitiao added.
Lin Zhuo sighed, and the two sat opposite each other in silence again.
"No." Lin Zhuo suddenly looked at him, "We overlooked one thing."
Xie Zhitiao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood. "You mean to say that perhaps His focus isn't on Qiu Ji and Chang Junning?"
Because after they entered the illusion, they had been pretending to be Qiu Ji and Chang Junning, and they had a preconceived notion that the illusion was created for them. But the problem was this: what if they were going in the wrong direction from the beginning?
Lin Zhuo glanced outside the palace gate and said, "Anyone could be a breakthrough point." Including Chun He. The person she cares about most is Chang Junning, so what is her obsession?
Xie Zhitiao put away the papers and decided to put the important matters aside for the time being. He was a little hungry, and eating was more important.
After lunch, Lin Zhuo returned to Guanju Palace. Chun He helped her finish her medicine. Suddenly, Lin Zhuo asked her, "Chun He, you are twenty-six years old this year, right?"
"Yes, I have been with the Empress for sixteen years." Chunhe also felt a little emotional.
"I've noticed that the Imperial Household Department has recently released a number of palace maids. You're old enough now. If you find someone you love, please tell me and I'll prepare a dowry for you."
Chun He was stunned for a moment: "...I will not marry. I will just stay with you, Your Majesty. Your happiness and health are my greatest wish."
Lin Zhuo looked at her with amusement: "If you stay with me, you'll become an old maid."
"An old maid is an old maid. I will stay by your side and be your old maid in the future." Chun He curled her lips, "Your Majesty is so boring that she has started to tease me."
Lin Zhuo leaned forward and said, "It's a bit boring." She suddenly remembered the storybook. "Where's the storybook? Give it to me and let me read it."
Chunhe brought the storybook as instructed.
Lin Zhuo originally planned to read a book to kill time, but when he came to his senses, Chunhe had already come in and lit the lamp.
She reluctantly put down the book in her hand, closed her eyes and calmed down. No wonder Senior Sister likes reading storybooks, they are really interesting.
Outside the palace, there was the sound of palace servants kneeling and bowing. Lin Zhuo opened her eyes and happened to meet Xie Zhitiao's gaze. Xie Zhitiao had been expressionless at first, but the moment they met, he suddenly smiled.
Lin Zhuo suddenly thought of the characters in the storybook just now. They were all like this when they saw their loved ones. Well, their brows were filled with joy.
She shook off the thought in her head. Xie Zhitiao only treated her as his senior sister. He was really obsessed with reading. Inexplicably, when she met his eyes, she suddenly remembered what You Jingjia had said.
"You're the only one who treats him as a younger brother."
She pursed her lips, feeling a little unnatural, and avoided Xie Zhitiao's gaze. Seeing her strange expression, Xie Zhitiao asked: "What's wrong?"
Lin Zhuo shook her head: "Nothing." At this moment, she finally realized that the person opposite her was not just her junior brother.
Seeing that she didn't want to talk and didn't seem to be in a bad mood, Xie Zhitiao didn't ask any more questions.
Before entering the illusion, he thought being an emperor was pretty cool, with countless people courting him; but when he really became the emperor, he felt that it was not as easy as practicing sword under the watchful eyes of his senior brothers every day.
Life is not easy, Xiao Xie sighed.
The flow of time in the illusion was different from reality, so the two of them were not too anxious. A few days later, Fang Yuan's letter came back.
Xie Zhitiao took the letter back to Guanju Palace, intending to go and see it with Lin Zhuo. Lin Zhuo had been in the palace for a few days and felt lazy, so he was stretching himself in his bedroom.
Fang Yuan was extremely loyal to Qiu Ji. When Xie Zhitiao merely mentioned that he had dreamed of his childhood at night, Fang Yuan immediately spilled the beans.
Qiu Ji was the second son of the late Emperor and Empress Dowager. The eldest son, five years his senior, was appointed Crown Prince upon coming of age. Compared to the Crown Prince, Qiu Ji was born after his parents' relationship broke down, and with an older brother who was exceptionally talented in every aspect, Qiu Ji lacked parental attention from a young age.
Because his parents only cared about his eldest brother, Qiu Ji had tried to attract their attention, but in the end, he only received a halfhearted compliment from his mother. And what about his father? He never even glanced at him.
How could a child who had been deprived of parental love for so long, in this cannibalistic palace, not have a dark heart? He was probably jealous of his elder brother, so he took advantage of the late emperor's death to seize the throne. The empress dowager was also furious with his actions and died. From beginning to end, he never received the recognition of his parents and brothers.
After Qiu Ji met Chang Junning, he found a place to express his inner anguish at not being recognized, which led to the current tyrant and enchanting concubine. Lin Zhuo and Xie Zhitiao's deduction was correct.
Lin Zhuo put away the letter, thought for a moment, and said, "In a few days, you will issue an order for me to return home to visit my relatives. I will go and see what the Wuyang Marquis's family is up to."
Xie Zhitiao disagreed somewhat: "What if the old man attacks you? No, I will go too."
"How are you going?" Lin Zhuo advised him slowly, "You are the emperor, you can't just go to the minister's house. I'll go by myself. Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. No matter how bad the Marquis of Wuyang is, can he kill me?" She was half joking.
Xie Zhitiao was still a little worried, but he couldn't persuade her, so he had to agree.
On that day, the Wuyang Marquis' Mansion received the imperial edict.
"The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims: Imperial Noble Consort Chang is permitted to return home on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of summer. She must be escorted by the Imperial Guards, provided with adequate provisions, and not disturb the people. She must return to the palace before sunset and adhere to palace rules. This is my thoughtful gesture, and I wish to inform everyone."
July 10, summer of the sixth year of Mingchang
"Imperial seal"
Five days later, Lin Zhuo led a group of palace servants back to the Wuyang Marquis's residence. Many people knelt at the door of the Marquis's residence, but Lin Zhuo didn't make things difficult for them. He stepped forward to help the Marquis's wife up and then entered the residence with everyone else.
It was already 9:00 PM when they returned home. Lin Zhuo didn't want to see Wuyang Bo and Chang Ronglin, so he took the Bo's wife back to Chang Junning's boudoir.
Faced with her daughter's closeness, Zhang seemed much more reserved. Although she should be the person closest to Chang Junning in the world, Zhang sat in the chair and couldn't say a word for a long time.
Lin Zhuo asked Zhang about her life at home, and Zhang answered him one by one, then fell silent again. Lin Zhuo pressed his eyebrows and forced a smile. "I'm afraid you've been preparing for your return home today, and you must be a little tired. Why don't you go back and rest first? I'll come to see you later."
Zhang said yes dully and stood up to leave. Lin Zhuo dismissed the servants and began to search Chang Junning's boudoir.
Although Chang Junning had been in the palace for five years, the furnishings in her boudoir hadn't changed much. Lin Zhuo stood in front of the bookshelf, flipping through them, trying to find some clues.
Soon, she pulled out a notebook and opened it. It was densely packed with notes about Chang Junning's thoughts before she entered the palace.
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