Empress
Yuan Ming leaned on the couch, her long eyelashes covering her eyes, hiding her thoughts.
She said calmly, "General, why are you not mentioning when you'll let us go?"
Ever since Yuan Ming regained consciousness, she'd observed that every exit from the house was heavily guarded: doorways, windows, rooftops... at least six men were lying in wait. Initially, Yuan Ming thought it was Yuan Zi's men coming for another attack, but when Zhong Yingqi appeared at the door, they all quietly retreated. Yuan Ming legitimately suspected Zhong Yingqi was behind all this, and Rulan's words only confirmed her conviction.
Is Zhong Yingqi guarding against her or protecting her?
Yuan Ming was more inclined to the former. Zhong Yingqi deliberately brought up the past, portraying himself as a naive young man with a clear distinction between love and hate. But even though he was still young at the time, Yuan Ming didn't believe he was so innocent and without any tricks or schemes.
Yuan Ming suffered enough from being stabbed in the back just once for trusting others too easily.
Zhong Yingqi seemed to be surprised that Yuan Ming would bring this up, and he looked a little distressed. "Your Highness, have you discovered that some of the guards aren't very skilled? Since I entered the room, your eyes have glanced at their hiding places, and it seems their skills are still quite limited."
The fact that he admitted it so quickly piqued Yuan Ming's interest. After all, he was the enemy who had killed her in her previous life. She was also very curious about what this young general, who had a deep connection with her, was up to.
Yuan Ming: "General Zhong, won't you explain?"
Zhong Yingqi laughed and said, "What's there to explain? They're both protecting you and wary of you. Everyone knows that a month ago, Her Highness Yuan Ming, with the support of Jiangnan Governor Li Quanyu, launched a rebellion, which was narrowly averted by the Empress and the new Princess. To put it bluntly, Her Highness Yuan Ming has been a Princess for so many years, is there really no chance of a comeback? If you try to do something, it'll be like a huge rock dropped into the water, stirring up waves enough to drown anyone who approaches the shore."
What did Zhong Yingqi mean by this? Was he trying to stop her from rebelling? Yuan Ming's eyes darkened. The blood she had shed, the suffering she had endured, the hatred she had harbored, didn't mean she could become a saint and forgive everything. If anyone dared to stand in her way of revenge, she would stain her blade with their blood.
Perhaps it was the murderous intent in Yuan Ming's eyes that made Zhong Yingqi tighten his grip on the sword at his waist. The atmosphere suddenly became tense, but Zhong Yingqi remained calm as he spoke slowly, "Life in the Northern Frontier is difficult, and the emperor is far away. The imperial funds flow through layers of officials, and by the time they reach the soldiers, I'm not sure how much less there is. We still have to rely on the people for support."
Zhong Yingqi's eyes grew sharp. "Your Highness, please, for the sake of our Northern Frontier soldiers who have sworn to defend our homeland against foreign enemies, do not involve the already difficult lives of our people in the struggle for imperial power."
Zhong Yingqi's concerns were not without reason. In the long run, the founding emperor of the Qi Kingdom had laid the foundation for his country amidst the scramble for supremacy. How much of that land hadn't been shed with the blood of ordinary people? More recently, Yuan Ming was the mastermind of the rebellion, yet she was still alive. But were the soldiers who followed Li Quanyu's orders still alive?
Sometimes, the lives of small people really don’t even qualify to be mentioned, but there are always some people who reserve a place for these “worthless” lives in their hearts.
Zhong Yingqi seemed unchanged. In the past, he would resolutely join the army because he failed to protect the people of Yucheng, giving up the safe and sound life of a young master. In a previous life, he would take on the responsibility when the powerful abandoned themselves, even if he was betrayed by his closest relatives, to fight his way into the imperial city and shoulder the responsibility of the people's country. Now, because of the appearance of the deposed princess, he would preemptively avoid risks for the poor people who defend their country.
Yuan Ming's impending madness was suppressed by Zhong Yingqi's few words. A sense of sadness welled up in her heart, as if she had returned to her past life. She stood under the blazing sun, feeling the biting cold wind. She had thought Zhong Yingqi would follow in her footsteps, but in reality, it was all her own presumption.
Standing next to such a Zhong Yingqi, Yuan Ming's struggle, self-loathing and hysteria seemed like a childish way of gaining sympathy.
Yuan Ming covered her eyes with her hands, tears streaming down through her fingers, dripping down like crystals. She hated herself more and more.
Zhong Yingqi was stunned, as if he didn't expect Yuan Ming to be so emotional, and he was at a loss for a moment.
In the quiet room, you can hear the sound of rain outside. Yuan Ming's silent crying mixed with the sound of rain, giving people an inexplicable chill.
…
"Why do you think I'll stir up a bloody storm in the Northern Frontier? Even if many people think I'm a centipede that's still alive, wouldn't the Empress and Yuan Zi have thought of that? Can't I be an eagle with its wings plucked out, a tiger with its eyes gouged out? A drowned dog that everyone can trample on."
Yuan Ming, who had suffered a serious illness and cried a lot, looked haggard and pale, with a slight redness in the corners of his eyes, and the whole person seemed hazy and unclear.
Faced with Yuan Ming like this, Zhong Yingqi lowered his voice, which was unusual for him, and said softly, "According to the Empress' decree, His Highness Yuan Ming should have been exiled to the wealthy lands of the south, but now he has come to the northern border. I can't help but suspect that His Highness came here specifically for some purpose, and that's why he took advantage of His Highness's coma to detain him and Miss Rulan."
Yuan Ming murmured, "I should have been exiled to the south..."
This was a truth that Yuan Ming had never known. Life in the south was not as hard as in the north. Exiling a deposed princess to a wealthy place seemed to be the result of the empress's careful consideration.
In her past life, now, until Zhong Yingqi uttered these words, Yuan Ming had harbored resentment towards the empress. She hated her for disregarding the previous bond of motherly love and filial piety, for listening to slanderous words, for her mad obsession with imperial power, for standing by and watching, leaving two sisters to fight each other...
But if the direction of the previous life was not what the empress intended, then Yuan Ming's hatred for so many years would become a joke.
Today’s blows... were one after another, not giving Yuan Ming’s fragile spirit any chance to breathe.
Zhong Yingqi felt sorry for Yuan Ming when he saw him in such low spirits. This once high-spirited and promising young man in Yucheng always had a confident light in his eyes, like the bright moon in the sky, but now he was wilted like a frosted eggplant, which made people sigh that the world is impermanent.
Just as Zhong Yingqi was about to say something, Yuan Ming interrupted him, "General, do you have any candy? I haven't tasted anything sweet in so long I almost forgot what it tastes like."
Yuan Ming seemed exhausted, her voice weak as she begged for candy from Zhong Yingqi. Zhong Yingqi's heart tightened. Who could have imagined that the doctor had just said she was dying? She had just escaped death, and now she was being suspected again. From her tone, it seemed she had no idea her exile was in the south.
Zhong Yingqi now has the urge to slap himself.
"It's late at night, and all the shops are closed. Your Highness, why don't you wait overnight? As soon as it gets light, I'll send someone to buy some candy."
After saying this, Zhong Yingqi looked up and saw that Yuan Ming had closed her eyes. Startled, Zhong Yingqi hurriedly used his fingers to check Yuan Ming's breath. Fortunately, she wasn't dead. Still worried, Zhong Yingqi strode out the door, ready to call a doctor. As soon as he stepped out of the room, Rulan, who was playing with her fingers in the corner, cast her eyes over.
Zhong Yingqi was startled: "Why are you here?"
Rulan stiffened her neck and said, "It's too dark outside. I'm afraid of snakes, so I'm staying here."
Zhong Yingqi had no time to care about Rulan. When he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered Rulan's background.
Zhong Yingqi walked back to Rulan and said, "I heard someone investigate that you are the little girl adopted by the great doctor of Mucheng. How is your medical skill?"
Rulan replied weakly: "Not bad."
"Come in with me."
After Rulan's careful examination, Yuan Ming was found to be asleep.
Zhong Yingqi and Rulan both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your Highness...how is her health?" Zhong Yingqi asked.
Ru Lan was speechless and said, "I know she is Her Royal Highness the Princess. There is no need to hide anything from me."
Rulan stroked Yuan Ming's forehead with great concern: "Your brows are furrowed, and you can't sleep peacefully. A heavy weight is weighing on your heart. I'm afraid you'll have nightmares."
As Rulan said, Yuan Ming really had a nightmare, but he didn't dream about ghosts and monsters, but about memories that really happened.
Inside the prison, rats and insects were rampant, and sunlight could only penetrate the dark cells through tiny holes. In the dark and damp place, the graceful and elegant empress was hysterically shouting and cursing.
"Don't I treat you well? Why did you betray me!" The empress gritted her teeth, and even blood seeped from her lips.
Tears welled up in Yuan Ming's eyes, and she quickly shook her head. "Mother, I'm not plotting a rebellion. Li Quanyu received the news in advance and gathered all the refugees in the flood zone. I couldn't bear to see so many lives lost. He must have accomplices in the Imperial City. All the letters I sent fell on deaf ears. Mother, please be discerning."
"Useless! Nothing!" Poisonous words burst out from the empress's teeth. "For the crime of treason, you deserve to be cut into pieces; for being coerced and slandered, you are useless! What's the point of me keeping you around? You useless piece of shit!"
The dragon robe embroidered with gold thread fluttered in the dark cell, looking extremely strange. The empress's eyes were bloodshot, as if she was in a state of madness. Yuan Ming had never seen an empress like this before. She was like a mad lioness.
The dragon's body, which had been sitting for so long, could not support her mad screaming. She collapsed on the ground, the black mud stained her dragon robe, and her bun was shaken violently, with a few strands of black and white hair scattered.
In her weakened state after going mad, the empress's tone became unusually calm. "The road to imperial power is inherently bumpy. I am a woman, but to sit on a throne reserved for men, I have given everything I could. I even killed your own brother with my own hands so that the throne could be passed on to a woman. Haha, I still see that child in my dreams. He asks me why I killed him. He comes to me every night."
The empress's eyes were filled with tears. She put her hands along the prison door and slowly grasped Yuan Ming's neck. Her voice was choked with sobs: "A Ming, people like us cannot fail. The world cannot bear to see us fail, and neither can I. Otherwise, the ghosts who died because of me will come to laugh at me, laughing at me for raising a waste!"
The moment she finished speaking, the empress clenched her hands. Yuan Ming, whose throat was held, instinctively used her hands to pry the empress's pale, withered hands apart. The mother and daughter fought a desperate battle in the sky prison. Yuan Ming's hands dug into the empress's hands, and the empress's hands pinched Yuan Ming's neck. Life and death were just a matter of a moment.
The prison was quiet, as if all eyes were watching the two most noble women of Qi State, wondering who would win.
That was Yuan Ming's first close encounter with death, and the pain was unforgettable. Experiencing the pain of death brought on by a loved one in a dream again was undoubtedly the most unbearable nightmare.
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