Chapter 13 There had never been any sexual relations.
Li Shun brushed the frost off his clothes.
He had the court musicians replace the strings of the "Seeking the Phoenix" zither, and by the time he rushed it to the Moon Chamber, the sun had already risen.
Before even entering the Xuan Room, I heard His Majesty tell the Prime Minister that he must set off immediately to personally visit the State of Huaiyang.
His legs almost gave way.
Prime Minister Su shared the same concern: "Your Majesty, tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Why don't we wait until after New Year's Day before setting off?"
Xiao Xun stared at Yingchuan on the map of the territory: "This matter... cannot be delayed."
Su Dan further advised, "The situation in the snow-stricken areas is still unknown. Your Majesty is of the highest rank and your health is of utmost importance. It would be better to send a Grand Master of Ceremonies to the area first, and then inspect it once everything has calmed down..."
“If it were him,” Xiao Xun turned his head, looked at Su Dan, and smiled almost imperceptibly, “he would do the same.”
Before setting off, he visited Qu Yang at the imperial prison.
After spending many days in the dark and oppressive imperial prison, Qu Yang began to show signs of madness: "Your Majesty, if you want to kill me, then kill me quickly! This old minister will have no complaints."
His body was hunched over, and when he stood in front of Xiao Xun, he was only shoulder-high.
He lowered himself further, burying his head in the dust, pounding the filthy ground with his fists.
"I only beg Your Majesty, my daughter, Qingru, is of pure and kind nature, she is innocent, I beg Your Majesty to show mercy."
This was the second time Qu Yang had asked Xiao Xun for help.
Xiao Xun felt somewhat helpless and touched his swollen forehead, which was throbbing from not having slept all night.
The first time was half a month ago. At that time, Qu Yang still held his head high with arrogance. When he went down to the Imperial Prison, he felt as if he had entered the main hall of the White Tiger Palace.
When Xiao Xun heard his "pleading," he casually agreed, "Fine. I grant your request."
When he saw the incredulous look on Qu Yang's face, he laughed.
In the ghostly flickering light of the prison, Xiao Xun's smile looked eerie and unsettling.
"Qu Qingru, I will bestow favors upon her." The voice was sinister. "She can choose for herself: poison or a white silk noose."
He watched as Qu Yang pounced on him like an enraged tiger.
He stood there, motionless, watching the iron chains attached to the walls of the prison tear Qu Yang's hands, neck, and face until they were gradually twisted and contorted. He then said slowly, "Or perhaps, medicine is the best option. She likes to drink medicine, and her mother likes to force-feed medicine to others. Therefore, medicine is probably the most suitable."
In the fourth year of Jinghe, the spring was still chilly.
At some point, rumors began to circulate in the palace that the emperor and empress were at odds and that they had never even had sex.
Xiao Xun understood that any rumors were merely the deliberate fabrication of someone with ulterior motives.
He naturally suspected that it was the palace servants of Jiaofang Palace, the head maid, the female historian, the chief historian, and his own confidant, Wang Fu.
But he didn't care.
Even if Qu Yang finds out, what can he do? Can he still tie him to Qu Qingru's bed?
However, we should give Qu Qingru some more beauty-enhancing medicine, qi-tonifying medicine, and fertility-enhancing medicine.
A twenty-year-old woman is in the prime of her life, but if she is given too much medicine, even the most beautiful flower will wither and die.
Qu Qingru probably thought so too.
The bonsai placed on the main hall of Jiaofang Palace withered in less than two days.
The palace maids were changed frequently, but the next day they were charred black again.
Amidst the rampant rumors, Qu Qingru knelt before Xiao Xun once again, on the road leading to the side hall.
"Your Majesty, I beg you."
"Your Majesty, please get up and we can talk about it later."
"Your Majesty, the rumors outside..."
There are too many rumors circulating outside, so there's no need to pay them any mind.
Previously, there were many rumors that the Empress was infertile or that His Majesty was impotent, but he didn't take them seriously and just let them pass.
For ordinary people, matters of the bedroom and palace secrets are the most eye-catching.
The rest were covered up by it, disregarded and not worth mentioning.
The Empress refused to rise, her eyes reddening: "My mother brought a female physician today to examine me..."
Xiao Xun lowered his eyes and looked at the shame and indignation on Qu Qingru's face, which gradually spread into a sky full of red clouds.
Her hands trembled as she reached for the belt around her waist.
With a soft rustling sound from the jade pendants, her silk robe fell to the ground.
Xiao Xun slowly squatted down: "Your Majesty, spring has arrived."
He picked up the clothes from the ground and draped them over Qu Qingru's shoulders, saying, "But it's still too cold today."
Then he got up and went around it.
Behind me, I could only hear faint, continuous sobs.
When Qu Yan had someone force-feed Lin Yuan the medicine, Xiao Xun was in Shanglin Garden.
He summoned the Changshui Colonel, who commanded the Changshui Xuanqu Hu troops, under the pretext of being assassinated at the end of last year.
Prior to this, he had redeployed the military defenses in Chang'an, replaced the commander of the Imperial Guards and some of the Imperial Guards cavalry, and at the same time, selected good people from the Three Auxiliary Regions, Longxi, Beidi, Shangjun and other places to supplement the Imperial Guards cavalry.
Even the Southern Army stationed at Weiyang Palace and Changle Palace underwent reorganization.
He was ultimately a helpless person, having lost his parents at a young age, with no relatives, and having grown up in a sheltered environment, never even having seen blood.
Having survived the assassination attempt, he was filled with anxiety and fear, like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow.
At that time, under Qu Yang's encouragement, Qu Qingchuan was promoted from a vice minister to Guanglu Qing, one of the Nine Ministers, in charge of guarding the palace gates and serving the emperor. However, due to his poor performance in protecting the emperor in the Shanglin Garden, he was demoted by Xiao Xun to Shuofang and made a commandant.
Shuofang Commandery is far from Chang'an and does not belong to the Guanzhong region. However, it borders the northern desert and connects to the Western Regions. It is a fortified place and a place for stationing troops.
The Commandant-in-Chief, who was also in charge of border defense, actually wielded considerable power.
Although Qu Yang was reluctant to let his only son go too far away from him, he knew his son's character well. Xiao Xun's arrangement was already a light punishment, considering the face of the Grand Marshal and General.
Qu Yang's father and brothers had both fought against the Xiongnu and made great contributions. Among the border troops, there were also many former members of the Qu family who were able to take care of the young and impetuous Qu Qingchuan.
At the same time, Xiao Xun proposed that Qu Yang's nephew, Qu Qingshan, was a loyal and upright man, and that he should be promoted to the position of Fengche Duwei and put in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel.
Although the position of Fengche Duwei was not as high as that of Guanglu Qing, and he only had carriages and horses under his command and no army, he was a close minister of the emperor, with a rank equivalent to two thousand shi and a position second only to the Nine Ministers.
A slap followed by a sweet date—the slap doesn't reach the flesh, but the date is incredibly sweet and tempting. Qu Yang originally only wanted to send his young nephew to the Southern Army for training, first to serve as the Assistant Commandant of the Guards with a salary of 1,000 shi.
Meanwhile, Qu Qingchuan had long suffered from Qu Yang's strict control. As one of the Nine Ministers, he was frequently whipped and slapped at home, causing his mother to weep and the servants to laugh at him. This time, being able to take his cronies from the Imperial Guard to the remote Shuofang County was exactly what he wanted.
Before Qu Yang could speak, he had already packed his bags, arranged for a hundred servants and a hundred guards to accompany him, and set off.
I heard that there were also more than ten top courtesans and dancers from brothels disguised as men, mixed in with them.
This time, apart from shedding a few tears when bidding farewell to his mother, he was all singing and dancing joyfully on his way out of his exile.
In his drunken ramblings, he even embraced a beautiful woman and sincerely thanked Xiao Xun, as well as the assassin from Shanglin Garden and the orphan of the deposed crown prince's rebellion.
Since Xiao Xun left Lin Yuan in the Zichen Pavilion, a side hall of the Jiaofang Palace, to serve her, the Empress still affectionately calls her "sister," and the medicine and food she receives keep coming.
However, Changyu remained indifferent to this matter. Even after the Empress turned and left, he did not show any kindness or treat Lin Yuan any less harshly because of the Empress's favor towards her.
Lin Yuan was always obedient, never overstepped the bounds, and never took advantage of being favored.
The people in the Jiaofang Palace are all shrewd and clever.
Keen-eyed people gradually realized that there was probably no "favor" involved. Without favor, how could one be arrogant?
Lin Yuan remained a palace maid in the Zichen Palace, and His Majesty never mentioned giving her a formal title.
If he didn't mention it, the Empress naturally wouldn't either.
According to Qu Yang and his wife Qu Yan, and based on the lessons learned from past dynasties, it was most appropriate for a palace maid who had no official status and was not favored to leave her mother and keep her child.
However, even after the Empress condescended to call her "sister" for over a year, Lin Yuan's belly showed no signs of pregnancy.
As a result, the term "sister" gradually became perfunctory and rare.
By the third year of Jinghe, it had been diluted to nothing.
Wang Fu is just a guy who knows how to warm someone's bed.
Xiao Xun doesn't like her, at least Qu Qingru couldn't see even a hint of it in Xiao Xun's eyes.
Even though Xiao Xun was introverted and rarely showed his emotions.
But when you like someone, you can't hide it in your eyes.
Therefore, Qu Qingru knew that the person he liked was Su Chan after only seeing her twice in Chengming Hall when he was young.
Even if that palace maid looks somewhat like Su Chan, so what?
That is, until the palace maid took the knife for Xiao Xun.
Qu Qingru watched as Xiao Xun went mad, staying by the bedside of Chengguang Hall in Shanglin Garden, which was originally the emperor and empress's private quarters, without sleep or rest, without taking off his clothes, for three whole nights.
She saw it, and many others saw it too.
Qu Yang, and Qu Yan.
She guessed wrong, they all guessed wrong.
Soon after, the Grand Marshal's wife fed Lin Yuan the medicine.
Lin Yuan...
Xiao Xun could hardly imagine how, in her weakened state during her illness, she mustered all her strength to break free from the maid who was holding her hands and feet down and force-feeding medicine into her mouth.
She said she bit down hard on the rim of the cup and wouldn't let go.
Perhaps just like that day, she refused to let go of the black iron knife in her hand.
Half of the medicine delivered by the Grand Marshal's wife was spilled on the table, and the other half was spilled on the maid who delivered it.
When Xiao Xun returned, he saw a mess on the ground, and Lin Yuan, whose face was ashen and whose lips were dripping blood.
The remaining medicine on the table and the medicine stains on the maid's clothes became evidence of Qu Yan's crimes.
When Qu Yan learned that the Empress's many years of childlessness were not due to physical ailments but rather to a lack of sexual relations, it was like a bolt from the blue.
She was kept in the dark and even willingly persuaded the Empress to send women to the Emperor's bed. Thinking about it now, she was filled with even more hatred.
She slammed her fist down in anger, and suddenly realized why the emperor had dismissed his servants and walked alone in the garden on the day he was assassinated—it wasn't because it was the day his mother had been given death by the late emperor.
Beside him was Lin Yuan, a lowly, lowly palace maid, a wicked concubine, occupying the position where the empress should have been standing or lying down.
Inside and outside the palace, throughout the court and the common people, a ballad of unknown origin began to circulate:
A wicked bird takes flight, its wings faltering.
Jiao Fang wandered and began to peck at the prince.
A wicked bird.
Bird of prey.
Her hatred burned like a fire, growing ever stronger.
Taking advantage of His Majesty's absence from the palace, she intended to end Lin Yuan's life.
Xiao Xun granted her wish.
It wouldn't be difficult for the imperial physician to declare that Lin Yuan was pregnant with the imperial heir and had miscarried.
In the past two years, he used the Empress's infertility as an excuse to replace most of the Imperial Medical Bureau with his own people—this was also Qu Yang's teaching by example.
The remaining few, medical workers arranged by the Qu family in the Imperial Medical Bureau, were tied up afterwards. Unable to withstand severe torture and the threat of their family members' deaths, they confessed that if Lin Yuan had died along with the imperial heir, it would have been considered that "the seasons were out of order, the weather was cold instead of warm, the yin and yang were reversed, and thus, old injuries recurred, yang was deficient and yin was depleted, qi and blood were exhausted, and death occurred."
The newly appointed commander of the Imperial Guards, Ling Feng, the Minister of Ceremonies, has strengthened patrols within the palace.
He saw a strange maidservant hurrying by at the foot of the Xuan Shi Hall. He asked her a question as usual, but noticed something was off about her expression, so he detained her.
Later, they found clothes stained with medicine in the box she was carrying.
The wife of the Grand Marshal, Qu Yan, was imprisoned for "plotting to harm the imperial heir."
Qu Qingru was sent to the cold palace of Zhaotai Palace in Shanglin Garden, ostensibly to recuperate and relax because of her mother's grief, but in reality, she was confined to her quarters.
Qu Yang had been in control of the court for so many years. He was too busy and too proud. He held his head high in the White Tiger Hall, wielding power and influence. Only now, when he lowered his head, did he realize that the pitiful fledgling entrusted to him by the late emperor had already grown sharp claws and full wings under his shadow, and had eyes as sinister as an eagle.
Those eyes were filled with sharp thorns, like blades.
Staring at Qu Yang.
He wants to fly.
He wanted to kill.
After years of lying low, Qu Yang had almost forgotten that he was a descendant of Emperor Taizu and the biological son of Emperor Wu.
Xiao Xun approached step by step, watching the lamps lit by the guards in the imperial prison, which dimly illuminated Qu Yang's face.
"Throughout the court and even among the young children, that song is being sung. My wife, as a mother, how could she not hate it? She has faults, but no faults! A palace maid, bewitching the emperor's heart, rendering the empress a mere figurehead. Shouldn't such a vile bird be eliminated?"
"A monstrous bird?" Xiao Xun coldly interrupted him. "Shouldn't that poem be, 'Swallows fly, their wings fluttering'?"
He stared at Qu Yang and said slowly, "If I remember correctly, the Grand Marshal's wife's given name is just 'Yan'?"
Qu Yang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. After a while, the laughter turned sinister and vicious: "Did you design this?"
"What did you design?" Xiao Xun asked, raising an eyebrow.
Qu Yang's fingernails dug into the wooden bars of the imperial prison: "You deliberately spread those words, those rumors, that song, saying that the emperor and empress were at odds and that the empress was being neglected, while you favored a palace maid, causing my wife to go mad with hatred and have the idea of harming people."
"If there were no evil intentions in his heart, how could he have committed such a heinous act simply because I favor a palace maid?"
Xiao Xun dusted off his hands, which were covered in dust from the prison along the way.
Bloodstains were visible on the wooden fence: "You know my wife is capable of murder, yet she allowed that drug to enter Weiyang Palace and be forced into that palace maid's mouth, didn't she?"
"Madam Grand Marshal, haven't you always treated Weiyang Palace the same as your own Grand Marshal's residence?" Xiao Xun said leisurely, his hands behind his back.
"You hate me, yet you scheme against my wife and daughters at every turn, forcing my son to rebel." Qu Yang's face, hidden in the shadows, grew even more ferocious, his voice shrill, "What a scheme, what a cunning method!"
Xiao Xun raised the corner of his lips and took a step closer to him: "The troops that Qu Qingchuan is accused of treason, were they given to him by me?"
Qu Yang's eyes, like a dying candle, suddenly flickered and lit up: "Shanglin Garden! The assassin in Shanglin Garden, was it you...?"
His hands, gripping the wooden fence, were covered in blood.
The tiny lamp, like a will-o'-the-wisp, reflected Xiao Xun's eyes, flickering uncertainly. A cold wind swept past the two of them: "Speaking of which, I still have to thank Grand Marshal Qu. I should have learned such a brilliant scheme during my three years in Tian Shou."
A note from the author:
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Next update Monday morning at 9 AM
The male lead is cunning and ruthless; he's really not a good person. Ugh, go ahead and criticize him. [Let me see]
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