Chapter 53 Chapter 53 Night Run
The night was as dark as ink, and the cold wind blew fine snow into the room. The official was wrapped in a black fox fur coat. Huaizhong bent over and carefully helped him over the vermilion lacquered threshold.
No one had expected that the emperor would suddenly arrive here at this time. The eldest princess and Duke Xu were both shocked and didn't even have time to come back to their senses and salute.
The emperor slowly sat down in his armchair and raised his hand, motioning for the two of them to leave. "I have something to say to this evil creature alone."
The eldest princess looked at her son kneeling on the ground, her expression hesitant and reluctant. Seeing this, Duke Xu patted her hands silently, helped her up and left.
The room fell silent again, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Suddenly, the candlelight trembled and a spark of light popped out.
Xie Yunzhou knelt straight on the ground.
The official stared at the young man a few steps away, a sneer on his lips: "You knew it all along, huh?"
Xie Yunzhou lowered his eyes, staring at the pattern of the tiles on the floor, his eyelids not moving at all. "Yes."
"Then why don't you recognize me?"
"Because...I don't want to."
The emperor was so angry that he laughed for a moment, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Very good... If Feng Qi hadn't discovered the past, I wouldn't have known that in your eyes, my bloodline is so shameful, so unbearable that you would even fake your own death and escape to sever the father-son bond."
Xie Yunzhou gritted his teeth, and a cold line appeared on his jaw.
The official's gaze pierced him, his voice turning cold. "Do you know what the crime of deceiving the emperor is? And what is the crime of those who helped you escape?"
Xie Yunzhou straightened his back. "I know I am guilty. No matter how the emperor punishes me, I will not hesitate. But I faked my own death, I deceived the emperor, and I forced the personal guards to follow me. From beginning to end, everything was done by me alone. As for..."
He paused for a moment, his Adam's apple moving up and down, and he swallowed the words "Dad and Mom" that were on the tip of his tongue. He called out the names, "As for Duke Xu and the Princess, they are completely unaware of this, and have never concealed a single thing from me. I hope Your Majesty will not vent your anger on others."
"Without a second thought..." The emperor laughed in anger, pausing over the words, "Without a second thought... You are indeed my good son, you have guts."
Xie Yunzhou lowered his head and said nothing.
"Have I treated you badly?" He coldly observed his resistance and slowly tightened his grip on the table, his knuckles turning white from the effort. "Ask yourself, how have I treated you over the past twenty years?"
"My uncle's kindness to me is as great as a mountain."
Xie Yunzhou still lowered his eyes, his Adam's apple rolling slightly as he spoke slowly, "My uncle taught me to read and write, to ride and shoot, and to write essays. When I was little, I went to the training grounds to practice martial arts. My first wooden sword and horn bow were both made by my uncle himself. That year, I had a rash, and even though my uncle was busy with government affairs, he made an exception and kept me in Funing Palace, with the imperial physician watching over me day and night. I've lived a smooth and carefree life for the past half of my life, all thanks to my uncle's protection."
Hearing him recount these details of the past, the official felt a growing pain in his chest. He stared at him intently, his lips trembling. "Since you know all this, why did you still do such disloyal and unfilial things?!"
After a moment of silence, Xie Yunzhou's expression remained calm, his handsome eyes as cold as a deep pool. "...I heard a story."
The official was slightly startled.
"There was a young lady from a minor official's family. By chance, she met the young prince of the royal family. They fell in love, but unexpectedly, they were married. Years later, the prince, unable to control his feelings, forcibly took the minister's wife and secretly raised her in his outer residence... Such a shameful status was destined to hide her from the public, but the woman was infatuated and believed her lover's promise, waiting for him to overcome all difficulties and marry her."
"She didn't want to wait until the end to find out that her beloved lover had already welcomed new people into his harem one after another for the sake of the so-called power and political situation.
Even more ironic was that a concubine was already nine months pregnant and about to give birth, yet her unborn child was only a month old. Heartbroken and heartbroken, she wanted to leave this heartbreaking place, but the man was so tyrannical that he forcibly locked her up in the backyard, preventing her from leaving.
"She deeply hated her lover's unfaithfulness and coercion, so how could she bear his child? In order to induce an abortion, she even resorted to using toxic drugs..."
Outside the house, the wind and snow were rustling. Xie Yunzhou knelt on the ground motionless, speaking intermittently. His voice was low and ethereal, and seemed to echo with sobs in the whistling night wind.
After a long pause, he raised his head slightly and smiled silently, "But the evil child was lucky. Even a strong dose of medicine only reduced her birth defects. However, she became weaker because of it. Not long after giving birth to the evil child, she passed away from the accumulated depression."
The iron horses on the eaves fluttered and swayed in the north wind, making rapid clanging sounds.
The official's breathing was short, his bony fingers digging deeply into the grain of the sandalwood table, oblivious to the sharp thorns piercing his fingertips, as if only this pain could suppress the blood boiling in his throat. For a long moment, his throat trembled, and the faintest trace of tears welled up in his eyes.
In a trance, I seemed to see again the late spring of that year, on the polo field outside Beijing, the young lady as bright as the sun in a fluttering red dress passed by with a whip in hand, her clear laughter spread in the spring breeze, and the camellia petals on her temples fell with the wind.
Rong Niang...she has been gone for so long...Now, even their child has grown up so much.
Probably because she resented him, she never entered his dreams. Many times, he couldn't even remember her appearance clearly. No matter how hard he tried to recall her, only a vague image remained in his mind.
The only consolation was that their child looked very much like her.
His features and temperament are like hers, he is strong-willed, passionate, sincere and frank, especially when he looks at people with grievance and stubbornness, his clear and bright eyes are exactly the same as hers.
The official looked at the young man kneeling on the ground. For a moment, his chest ached unbearably. He called out softly, "Mingqi..."
Xie Yunzhou's voice suddenly turned cold. His handsome eyes looked straight at the official and he said word by word, "All this is because you betrayed her."
The official's whole body trembled, and the fingertips in his jade-colored sleeves began to spasm and ache uncontrollably.
After a while, Xie Yunzhou lowered his head, curled the corners of his lips slightly, and laughed self-deprecatingly, "I thought..."
After a pause, his Adam's apple rolled a few times with difficulty, and he choked out the name with a faint sob: "I thought my mother hated me and didn't want me anymore, but later I learned that she had also been looking forward to seeing me day and night... She made small clothes for me, embroidered tiger-head shoes, and even made a safety lock for me..."
"Those things were locked in a small box under her bed. There was no time to burn them completely."
That year, he was in the palace outside the capital and was recognized by the nanny beside her, who vaguely caught a glimpse of the secret of his life.
At first, he couldn't believe it, couldn't accept it. But later, when he was older, he would sneak back to the palace on hunting trips out of town. He also once climbed over the wall and sneaked into the Feng family's old house to see the house where she lived, the burned account books, the small old things locked in boxes... Over time, it wasn't difficult for him to gradually sketch out the appearance of his birth mother in his mind.
Her name is just one character, "Rong", which is taken from the noble and tenacious nature of the hibiscus, which "resists frost and remains unfaded".
She was born into a noble family. Although her family background was not prominent, she was well-read and had talent since she was young. She had beautiful calligraphy and painting skills, was proficient in polo and pitching pots, was good at business, loved fine wine and fireworks, and in her spare time she kept cats and played with birds, and gambled on books to kill time and enjoy the fragrance of tea.
Of course, she was not a jack of all trades. She was not good at music or needlework. The stitches on her tiger-head shoes were not smooth, and even looked a bit clumsy. However, they were sewn very closely, revealing a stubborn seriousness.
His biological mother, originally such a bright and lively young lady, had been gradually worn down by love and turned into a resentful woman. She was forced to be trapped in the small space of the backyard, becoming a concubine who could not see the light of day, and had to watch helplessly as her lover married a concubine and had children...
It turned out that the father whom he had admired and respected for half his life was the culprit who forced his biological mother to death. The two of them, one was unfaithful and the other was a bastard who wanted her to die. They caused her to die at the age of only twenty, and she died with regret in the afterlife.
How should he deal with such an unbearable past right in front of him?
Outside the house, the wind and snow were getting stronger and stronger, whistling. The cold north wind blew up the snow foam and kept hitting the window frames.
The official seemed to have aged ten years in an instant, his voice thick with weariness. "You are my most beloved son... I was the one who wronged your mother in the past. I am old now, and will soon go to see her. The debt between her and me should not be counted on you... Now, Daddy only wants you to come back and be father and son with me for a few more years."
Xie Yunzhou remained unmoved, raising his eyebrows and sneering, "Rather than wanting to recognize me, it's more because you have few children and no one to carry on your legacy."
"Mingqi!"
"Your Majesty, I should die in the Huai River, fed to the fish and shrimp, with no remains left. That would be the best!"
"How dare you!" the emperor suddenly roared, raising his hand to his face, his pale fingertips trembling. "I... I actually raised you, an unfilial son who has no respect for the king or father! You are so arrogant and rebellious, relying only on my love for you!"
"Love me?" Xie Yunzhou suddenly smiled, as if mocking himself, but there was a hint of coldness in his eyes.
"Back then, you valued my elder brother so much, entrusted him with important tasks, and gave him the power to cultivate him. However, a few rumors spread by the Censorate just happened to coincide with your intention of implementing new policies, and you watched coldly as he was forced into a dead end.
In order to maintain control over the imperial court, you took my third brother's biological mother, Yao, as your Imperial Concubine. This has alienated you from my mother, and so, you took your anger out on Imperial Concubine Yao, and then on my third brother..."
He had seen the coldness of the royal family over the years, and it was hard for him not to wonder how much of the favoritism and care the officials showed him was out of father-son affection, and how much was out of guilt towards his mother?
Therefore, the better his biological father treated him, the deeper his guilt towards his biological mother became.
Hearing him mention his two brothers, the emperor actually smiled. "So you also understand. This magnificent country and supreme power are sought after by so many but cannot be obtained. Yet, I... only want to leave them to you."
"But I don't want it!"
Xie Yunzhou suddenly raised his head, the veins on his neck bulging, and every word he spoke was as cold and hard as iron: "In life, there are things you should do and things you shouldn't do!"
"Although I have never seen my biological mother, since I am her blood, I cannot cling to power or go against her wishes."
"What the hell is this about recognizing my ancestors? I don't recognize them." He slowly stood up, gritting his teeth and sneering, "I don't recognize them!"
After saying that, Xie Yunzhou didn't stay any longer, turned around and walked out the door.
"Rebellious son!" Seeing him about to leave, the official slammed the table and stood up, shouting angrily, "Just try and see if you dare to take a single step out of this mansion!"
Xie Yunzhou's footsteps paused slightly for a moment, but his expression remained unchanged as he continued to stride out.
Watching him plunge into the blizzard without looking back, the emperor was so angry that his whole body trembled, his eyes red, and his voice suddenly rose: "Where is Feng Qi? Come! Stop him for me!"
Suddenly, the sound of armor rubbing against each other was heard in the night. The personal soldiers of the Imperial City Division filed out from both sides of the corridor and surrounded Xie Yunzhou, blocking his way like an iron barrel.
Feng Qi bowed and said in a deep voice, "My dear prince, please forgive me for the offense."
Xie Yunzhou slowly looked around, licked his back teeth with the tip of his tongue, and sneered: "Okay, then let's try it - I want to see who can stop me today!"
Before he finished speaking, dozens of his personal soldiers rushed forward.
Xie Yunzhou caught the scabbard that was falling in front of him, and threw the handle with his backhand, hitting the other man hard in the chest. After fighting for a while, both sides gradually became red-eyed and bloodthirsty. A long stick in the hand of an unknown soldier hit him hard on the back, and it broke into two pieces immediately, and the upper part flew into the air.
The stick hit Xie Yunzhou hard. He felt a dull pain suddenly bursting from his spine, and a surge of blood in his chest. He staggered and took two steps back, almost falling to the ground.
There were many figures around him, and their moves were mixed. He only hesitated for a moment, and was hit several times in succession. A fishy and sweet taste rose in his throat, and he gritted his teeth and swallowed it, but a line of blood still seeped out of the corner of his lips.
The official was startled and roared in a trembling voice: "Don't hurt him!"
At this command, the Imperial City Division's men froze. Xie Yunzhou's eyes flashed, and he seized the opportunity to tear down the lantern under the corridor, igniting it with a flame. He then threw it at the pursuers in the courtyard. Taking advantage of the chaos, he rushed through the corridor, leaped over the wall of the Duke's Mansion, and stumbled into the back alley, instinctively fleeing along the path he knew best.
Listening to the rubbing sounds of armor chasing behind him, he didn't know how long he had been running. The dull pain on his back spread to his limbs, and there was a faint smell of blood in his throat. The cold wind of the snowy night filled his lungs, as if he had swallowed countless ice needles, and it hurt every time he breathed. Xie Yunzhou couldn't hold on for a moment, staggered two steps, and suddenly fell to his knees.
In a trance, that gentle and soft smile suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.
Jiu Niang——
She was still in the inn, waiting for him to come back.
He had promised to send her back to Taozhou and burn incense at her parents' grave.
Now that I have decided to break with the past, I must make it a final break today.
He wanted to leave here cleanly, cut off the blood ties, and from then on, live in the vastness of the world, be an ordinary commoner, no longer have to carry the shackles of a noble family, just be the most ordinary man in the world, going to the most ordinary appointment in the world.
But how could the Imperial City Division dare to disobey the Emperor's orders? In the blink of an eye, they were already in pursuit, with pursuers everywhere. Torches lit the streets and alleys, and the sound of countless footsteps approached.
Xie Yunzhou gritted his teeth and was about to stand up when a pair of black brocade boots covered with snow and mud suddenly appeared in front of him.
Slightly startled, he raised his head and looked up along the hem of his boots——
It turned out to be Duke Xu.
“…Daddy?”
Duke Xu had a cold face and pulled him up.
Xie Yunzhou barely managed to stand steady, and wiped the corner of his lips with his fingertips, leaving a glaring blood mark.
He took a few quick breaths and took a defensive step back. "You came here in person... but are you going to take me back?"
Duke Xu's eyes were like knives. He glared at him coldly and said in a low voice, "You little bastard, you just ran away like that? Do you have any money on you?"
Xie Yunzhou was suddenly stunned.
Duke Xu glanced at him, pulled out a sheepskin pouch from his bosom, and stuffed it into his hand. He then untied the fish charm from his belt and neatly tied it around his waist. He frowned and said, "Be careful when you go out. Take care of yourself." After a pause, he added, "If you encounter any difficulties, please send a message at any time."
The long fingers unconsciously closed, Xie Yunzhou's eyes suddenly became hot, he knelt heavily on the ground, his throat choked with sobs: "Daddy..."
Duke Xu was silent for a moment, then raised his hand, gently brushing away the snow on his hair with his warm, broad palm. He then slowly lowered his hand and patted his shoulder firmly, "Go."
Xie Yunzhou leaned forward and kowtowed, bidding farewell to his adoptive father. With the blood still in his throat, he turned around and ran into the wind and snow.
She was waiting for him outside the city.
This thought was like a ball of fire, burning his whole body hot. He just wanted to see her now without any delay.
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