Taoist Zhang shook his head and said, "No need. Please write a letter for me and give it to the shadow man along with this painting. Ask him to give it to the master as soon as possible. Got it?"
"Hurry up! I'm feeling a little uneasy. I have a feeling something's going to happen."
The young Taoist nodded and said, "Okay, Master, I understand. Let's help you go down and rest. You need to ask the imperial physician to come and see you about your eyes."
"No, there's no need to make this public."
The two figures quickly disappeared into the distance.
*
The next morning
After Concubine Li woke up slowly, she had a little more strength in her body. She leaned on the pillow and looked to the side. Her voice was filled with love: "Aunt, I want to go see the child, is that okay?"
Aunt Peilan lowered her eyes and said calmly, "Your Majesty is still in confinement after childbirth and is so weak. It is best not to see the little prince."
"Wait until I recover..."
Before she could finish her words, she saw the person on the bed with an angry face. He raised his hand and spilled the porridge, weakly shouting, "I must see the prince today, and no one can stop me."
Concubine Li was stubborn. She threw off the quilt and got out of bed, but she was too weak and fell to the ground before she could take two steps.
He raised his fist and pounded the ground in anger, tears streaming down his face.
"Why, why can't I even see the prince I gave birth to with all my efforts? And why doesn't His Majesty come to see me anymore?"
Aunt Peilan's eyes dimmed. She squatted down to help the man up and changed the subject: "Your Majesty is weak. You should rest for a few more days. There is no need to rush to see the little prince."
Concubine Li grabbed her clothes and said anxiously: "Aunt, why doesn't His Majesty come to see me anymore? Maybe he is tired of me."
Her expression was a little crazy: "No, it's impossible. I gave birth to a little prince. How could His Majesty not like me?"
"...Your Majesty, please don't overthink it. The army has recently returned to the capital, and His Majesty has been busy with state affairs, so naturally he has no time to visit you."
Aunt Peilan helped her onto the bed, covered her with the quilt, and coaxed her softly, "Go to sleep, Your Majesty. Once you've recovered, you can go see the little prince."
Concubine Li felt aggrieved, but she also knew that she was so weak now that there was no way she could do anything. She gritted her teeth, finished the porridge, turned over and went to sleep.
She was very restless in her sleep. A baby covered in blood was crawling towards her little by little, shouting, "Mother, save me, save me!!!"
The next moment, he was grabbed by a big hand, his heart was dug open, blood dripped into the bowl, and his little hands fell down weakly.
He stared at her with resentful eyes, as if blaming her for not saving him, and why she watched him get killed...
“Ahhhh!”
Concubine Li screamed, sat up suddenly, and looked around with fear in her eyes. The room was empty and eerily silent.
The door creaked open and Aunt Peilan ran over, saying worriedly, "My Lady, you must have had a nightmare. Dreams are fake, it's okay."
"No, that's not the case. Huang'er was begging me for help. Auntie, you know, I saw Huang'er's heart being dug out, and he was bleeding profusely."
As he spoke, he choked up and said, "Aunt, he was blaming me for not saving him. That look in his eyes was real. I wasn't dreaming."
Aunt Peilan's face turned pale, she lowered her eyes to hide the guilty conscience in her eyes, and said softly: "My lady, it's dark, you just slept and had a nightmare, those are not real."
"Some things may be happier if you live in an illusion. If you insist on finding out the truth, the cruelty behind it may be something that the Queen cannot bear."
"Even the governor behind you can't bear it."
Concubine Li was stunned and looked up at her, tears still hanging on her eyelashes, looking pitiful.
"Aunt, do you know anything? What happened to my prince? Is someone trying to harm him?"
"...Don't ask anymore. You'll die if you know too much!"
Pei Lan held her in his arms, patted her back gently, and soothed her, "Your Majesty, since you have given birth to the little prince, you can enjoy your retirement in the harem with peace of mind. Don't try to know too much."
Concubine Li pushed her away, her eyes full of stubbornness: "No, aunt, tell me, what happened to the emperor?"
His face was full of hesitation, and he said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, you really must know. If the price of knowing is the annihilation of your entire clan, then you must know it."
"...all nine clans annihilated?"
"You mean that person is...is His Majesty!"
"Why, why would he do this? Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. Why would he do this?"
Peilan held her in his arms and whispered in her ear, "My Lady, how old do you think His Majesty looks now?"
Concubine Li was stunned for a moment, and it took her a long time to react. She whispered, "Your Majesty looks very young, even though he's over thirty."
"No, she's almost fifty. My queen, have you ever thought about why she's so young?"
The body in her arms trembled continuously. Aunt Peilan sighed, "The truth is just as the Queen guessed. So we can't know it, and we can't tell it. If we tell it, we will die."
"Your Majesty, please be patient. Soon you will receive... news of the little prince's death. Only then will this matter be considered over."
Concubine Li's lips trembled and the color drained from her face.
"Aunt, those women in the cold palace also went crazy after knowing the truth after the death of the royal heir."
Aunt Peilan hummed, "Yes, I have been in the palace for twenty years and have seen too much. Your Majesty is a kind-hearted person, and there are some things that you should not interfere with."
"You shouldn't know, you can't know, understand."
"Auntie, I'm scared. Can you sleep with me?"
"Well, I will accompany you."
Two days later, Concubine Li was able to get out of bed and walk around. While Aunt Peilan was not paying attention, she wrapped herself in a cloak and went to the cold palace.
He waited for half an hour, and when he came out again, he was staggering, his face was as pale as paper, and his eyes were empty, sad and crazy...
His body was trembling as he forced himself to suppress the fear and anger in his heart.
Aunt Peilan looked around before finding the person in the corner. She felt relieved and helped the person into the hall with a reproachful tone.
"Your Highness is still in confinement, how can you go out? If His Majesty knows about your behavior, you know what will happen."
Concubine Li walked towards the bed and lay down without saying a word. Her body was shaking as if she had suffered a blow, and she felt like she was falling into an icy cave.
Aunt Peilan tucked in the quilt, sighed and walked out.
He waved his hand, looked at the two young palace maids, and warned them, "Watch the Empress carefully and don't let her go out again, otherwise we will all die."
"Yes, Aunt Perrin."
Midnight
The moon in the sky was covered by dark clouds, and the surroundings became darker and darker. A figure slowly moved out, dodging the patrolmen.
The black shadow raised his head and looked at the Hall of Eternal Life on the plaque above. His nose moved and he could faintly smell the scent of herbs. Needless to say, what was going on inside was beyond words.
After quickly running in, the surroundings were completely silent. Only an alchemy furnace, more than a meter tall, stood there, with herbs placed on the table next to it...
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