There was always a smile on Xie Bufeng's lips.
He clutched the medicinal jade, jumped onto his horse with one hand, and threw all tactics and formations aside. Driven only by murderous intent, he charged into the Northern Di soldiers with fear and screams.
The long wind made her black hair dance wildly, and blood splattered from the wound.
Screaming and roaring.
Everything, everything, has become a foil for Xie Bufeng.
A heavy sword is unstoppable.
At this moment, the only thing left in the young man's eyes was killing, and the string of medicinal jade tightly clenched in his hand.
The smell of blood on the battlefield is too strong.
In a trance, the faint bitter fragrance from the medicinal jade was concealed. In addition to anger, Xie Bufeng felt sad and lost for no reason.
The first battle of the year was extremely difficult. Both sides returned to camp only when their swords were broken and their arrows were exhausted.
The Northern Di suffered heavy casualties, and the Wei Dynasty also suffered heavy casualties.
The snow on the Gobi Desert was melted by the boiling blood.
The brook that snaked past also changed color.
Looking at the piles of corpses.
The Wei Dynasty soldiers, who had narrowly won the battle, had no intention of celebrating.
The armor on his shoulders suddenly became heavy, making it difficult for him to move.
I don’t know if it’s because the battlefield is too quiet or for some other reason.
A feeling called "uneasiness" spread across the Gobi Desert like wildfire.
The smoke hasn't cleared yet.
Suddenly, a panicked voice came from not far away: "General—"
Blood soaked most of Xie Bufeng's body without him noticing, but the boy was unaware of it.
It was not until the end of the war that he finally slowly lost consciousness.
Until the moment he fell off his horse, he was still holding the medicine jade tightly.
The broken pieces of azure blue jade pierced through the young man's palm and embedded themselves deeply inside.
*
Xie Bufeng was sent to the nearest town of Changyuan.
It was early in the morning, and the soldiers were making a lot of noise. Within half a morning, the news spread throughout this small border town.
In the clinic on the outskirts of the city, a doctor in blue clothes came with a bunch of things and volunteered to give medicine to the general.
As soon as he reached the door, he was stopped back.
Not long after returning to the clinic with a look of disappointment on his face, the man changed into light clothes, secretly left the city and rode a fast horse southward.
The destination of his trip was Yongdu.
Unlike the frontier that was frozen in winter, Yongdu was drizzled around the Qingming Festival.
Raindrops like silver needles hit the umbrella, making a series of light sounds.
Wen Qingci's left hand, which was holding the umbrella, suddenly shook violently.
The next second, the light umbrella supported by hollow bamboo joints fell from his hands without any warning.
Misty raindrops fell on Wen Qingci's body.
“…Mr. Wen, what’s wrong with you?” The young eunuch walking beside him immediately held out his umbrella.
Wen Qingci slowly leaned over, picked up the umbrella from the ground, smiled and shook his head at the people around him: "It's okay."
"Oh, oh... OK," the young eunuch quickly looked away, pretending he hadn't seen anything as he led Wen Qingci up the mountain, "We'll be there in just a few more steps, Concubine Lan is waiting for you in the temple."
"good."
The young eunuch did not dare to look back any longer, so he did not see Wen Qingci's furrowed brows, the umbrella that was moved to his right hand, and his left hand that was hanging by his side and shaking gently.
—Just now, Wen Qingci’s arm suddenly started to ache, and his heart skipped a beat.
This symptom has occurred more than once in the past two days.
As they were talking, the two finally arrived at the gate of the imperial temple.
The three big words "Guangcheng Temple" then appeared above his head.
Unlike modern times, in this era Qingming Festival may be more important than the Spring Festival.
Not only did officials have a seven-day holiday, but even concubines like Concubine Lan could leave the palace and go to the imperial temple to worship.
Although he had a seven-day rest, as an imperial physician who might be summoned to the emperor's presence at any time, Wen Qingci originally had no plans or intentions. At most, he would leave the palace and stay in Wangtan Garden for a few days.
But unexpectedly, at this time, Wen Qingci actually received an invitation from Concubine Lan, asking him to go to the Imperial Temple to burn incense together.
From the time Xie Bufeng went to the battlefield until now, Wen Qingci has not met Lan Feiyu in private again.
He couldn't help but think of what happened a few months ago when he met Su Yuzheng in front of the clinic.
Since she "believed" in herself, she would definitely tell Lan Fei everything she heard, saw, and even thought about that day.
However, even though she was a female member of the royal family, Su Yuzheng could not enter the palace at will.
So it was not until the Qingming Festival when Concubine Lan left the palace that she finally found the right opportunity to convey the message to her aunt.
The reason Concubine Lan asked me to come to Guangcheng Temple was definitely related to this matter.
Besides, the one-year shelf life of the incense pills has expired.
It’s time to “refill the fragrance”…
The guards standing outside the temple bowed to Wen Qing and made way for him.
Before entering the door, Wen Qingci couldn't help but think... If he remembered correctly, Xie Guanzhi should be imprisoned here.
Wen Qingci was led by the temple's novice monks through layers of curtains woven by drizzling rain and came to a dining hall.
Although it is called a "room", this is an imperial temple after all, and even the vegetarian rooms have several entrances, which looks particularly grand.
Wen Qingci saw from afar that Concubine Lan was sitting in the tea room by the window, playing chess with herself.
He suddenly remembered... The Emperor seemed to like playing chess with Concubine Lan.
Hearing the footsteps, Concubine Lan smiled at Wen Qingci, then stood up and nodded to him: "Mr. Wen, please come in."
"Yes, Lady Lan."
After entering the tea room, Wen Qingci saw that the little princess Xie Fuyin was also there.
The little guy was almost one year old. When he saw Wen Qingci, he giggled and then staggered towards him to ask for a hug.
Even though they hadn't seen each other for several months, Xie Fuyin seemed to be naturally close to his savior.
Although Su Yuzheng had conveyed her meaning implicitly, in Concubine Lan's eyes, she was still the "emperor's confidant" who tricked Xie Bufeng into going to the battlefield.
Thinking of this, Wen Qingci did not hug Xie Fuyin, but just gently touched her head.
The little princess pouted a little unhappily.
Seeing that she seemed about to cry, Concubine Lan hurriedly called the wet nurse to come and carry Xie Fuyin away.
Until this time, the tea room finally became quiet.
Concubine Lan was not in a hurry to speak, but poured a cup of tea for Wen Qingci personally.
Finally, he looked out the window and said to Wen Qingci in a casual voice, "The Emperor Ai of the previous dynasty died here. I came to Guangcheng Temple this time to pay my respects to him."
Wen Qingci nodded slowly, not looking surprised.
Concubine Lan took good care of herself, and it was hard to tell that she had a son as old as Xie Bufeng.
But now, Wen Qingci actually heard a sense of vicissitudes in her voice for the first time.
Ever since he learned that the Ning Yuzhao the emperor was talking about was the Emperor Ai of the previous dynasty, Wen Qingci returned to Yongdu and began to catch up on this history.
Although the current emperor ascended the throne peacefully, this piece of history involves him and is bound to be a bit sensitive.
Wen Qingci searched everywhere but couldn't find any detailed records.
Fortunately, he thought of someone—the imperial physician Yu Guanlin.
This old doctor has been in the palace since the previous dynasty and has witnessed up close all the major events that have taken place in Yongdu over the past few decades. He is simply a living history book.
Most importantly, he is a chatterbox.
Wen Qingci only asked a few questions before he pieced together a relatively complete story through Yu Guanlin's answers and what he had heard and learned before.
As the only descendant of the royal family of the previous dynasty, Ning Yuzhao, who was born weak, had the biggest task in the first ten years of his life to save his life.
He even left Yongdu and lived in the Divine Doctor Valley.
Under this premise, Ning Yuzhao had never learned anything about state governance. He spent all day in his study, reading poems and songs.
The previous and subsequent emperors all died young. Ning Yuzhao succeeded to the throne when he was in his teens and became increasingly ill.
There was no other way. As he was running out of energy, he had to choose people he trusted to help him handle government affairs.
The person chosen by Ning Yuzhao was Xie Zhaolin, who was a prince at that time.
Xie Zhaolin might not be good at other things, but he is always good at pretending to be virtuous.
From that time on, there was a rumor in Yongdu that "Ziwei will fall and Emperor Chen will take over."
Until the end, he finally took advantage of a heavy snowfall to force Ning Yuzhao to abdicate.
As the emperor of the previous dynasty, Ning Yuzhao could no longer live in Taishu Palace.
The emperor said that he was sending him out of the palace for recuperation, but in fact he was imprisoned here.
Guangcheng Temple was the place where the princes of the previous dynasty were imprisoned.
The location here is secluded and the environment is quiet, and most importantly, it is impossible to escape even if you have wings.
This matter was considered a secret. If Yu Guanlin had not been brought here to treat Emperor Ai several times when he was critically ill, he would probably have been kept in the dark like most people.
Concubine Lan took a sip of tea, sighed softly and said: "He is an emperor after all. Now I am the only one who remembers him on a day like this..."
After a pause, he added a little stiffly: "Your Majesty... maybe."
Wen Qingci always felt that there was something else behind her words.
The rain outside stopped. Concubine Lan chatted with Wen Qingci about old events in the previous dynasty while leading him into the temple.
She often talked about these things with the emperor and mentioned Emperor Ai, so Wen Qing knew before he left that place that Concubine Lan was quite familiar with that old friend.
But in the blink of an eye, the two of them arrived in front of a hall.
"Wangjitang..." Wen Qingci couldn't help but recite it.
"This is the place where the tablet of Emperor Ai is enshrined." said Concubine Lan.
Concubine Lan, who came to stay at the Huang Temple for a short time, was dressed very simply, no different from ordinary lay Buddhists.
She changed into plain clothes, with a calm expression, looking steady and elegant.
Wen Qingci slowed down his pace and walked in with Lan Fei.
Wangji Hall was built extremely tall, and the gate of the hall seemed small in comparison. From the outside, all you could see was a pitch-black mass.
Wen Qingci didn't think much about it and naturally thought that Wangji Hall was no different from ordinary Buddhist temples.
But the moment he stepped into the hall, Wen Qingci's whole body seemed to be frozen and he was unable to move.
This scene reminded him of the Zhongxian Temple in an instant.
These two places should have been built at the same time!
There were few people in Guangcheng Temple to begin with, and at this moment there were only Wen Qingci and Lan Fei.
Concubine Lan looked up at the caisson, paused for a few seconds, looked into Wen Qingci's eyes, and said in an extremely gentle voice: "This place is similar to the purpose of the Zhongxian Temple."
Her tone was extremely cold.
In an instant, the feeling of numbness spread along his left arm to half of Wen Qingci's body.
He heard himself ask quietly, "What's the purpose?"
Concubine Lan sighed softly and whispered, "Calm down your resentment."
These four simple words echoed over and over again in Wangji Hall.
In just a few seconds, countless thoughts flooded into Wen Qingci's mind.
resentment.
It was normal for Emperor Ai to feel resentful after the emperor took away his throne.
The river workers in the Zhongxian Temple also died on the Yinchuan Grand Canal because of the emperor's selfishness, so it is normal for them to have resentment.
But what about Concubine Lan’s father and brother who are also in the Zhongxian Temple
The strange expression of Concubine Lan that he accidentally saw in the Zhongxian Temple once again appeared in Wen Qingci's mind.
The answer was placed in front of Wen Qingci at this moment... Their death must not be as simple as it seemed.
Wen Qingci lowered his eyes and smiled slowly.
In the past few months, he carefully sorted out what happened around him after he came here.
Wen Qingci remembered that when he had just come here, Concubine Lan was banished to the cold palace, and it was Eunuch Zhao who passed the news of her pregnancy to the emperor.
Although Eunuch Zhao is greedy for money, the people who serve the emperor are not easy to find.
Since Concubine Lan was able to easily get in touch with him when she was in the cold palace, it meant that their relationship was closer than he imagined.
I have a good relationship with Eunuch Zhao, and I know that the clinic in the corner of Yongdu belongs to the Divine Doctor Valley...
That fragrant pill is definitely related to Concubine Lan.
The only question that had troubled Wen Qingci before was what exactly was Concubine Lan trying to achieve by doing this
Until today, he finally had the answer in his heart: the death of Concubine Lan's father and brother was also related to the emperor.
“So…” Wen Qingci nodded slowly.
Lan Fei said this to implicitly show her sincerity and attitude to herself... Her behavior also had an element of gambling in it.
The other party had already said this, so Wen Qingci certainly had to express his opinion.
The two of them walked out of Wangji Hall slowly.
The rain started falling again, even heavier than before.
Taking advantage of the sound of rain, Wen Qingci turned slightly and spoke to Concubine Lan slowly in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "To be honest, I entered the palace to kill someone."
Wen Qingci said this with a smile, but Concubine Lan sensed a piercing chill from his words.
Perhaps because Wen Qingci was born in Songxiu Mansion, Concubine Lan, who had already guessed the answer, was not surprised.
She just didn't expect Wen Qingci to say it so directly.
The woman paused and nodded slowly.
Having said that, neither of them wanted to keep the secret any longer.
Concubine Lan took a deep breath, turned around and said to Wen Qingci, "Mr. Wen, there is one thing I can't figure out."
"Your Majesty, are you asking me why you want His Highness to go to the battlefield?"
Lan Fei: “…”
She nodded gently: "Yes."
As he was about to escape death, Wen Qingci no longer had any need to maintain a good relationship with Concubine Lan.
He came here today and talked to Lan Fei, not only because he wanted to learn from her about things related to the original owner, but also... because of Xie Bufeng.
Wen Qingci and Lan Fei walked along the corridor and slowly towards the back of Guangcheng Temple.
The imperial physician brushed his moon-white sleeves, lowered his eyes, smiled and said calmly: "I have no choice."
"I am only speaking for your majesty, expressing what he wants to say."
With the sound of rain, Wen Qingci expressed his thoughts and the emperor's considerations without reservation.
Lan Fei didn't know when she stopped and her eyes gradually widened.
As the heroine of "Fu Ming Tang", her IQ is definitely online.
Therefore, without Wen Qingci saying a few words, she understood all the interests involved.
Yes, as long as this is understood as the emperor’s own intention, everything will be clear.
He had already formed murderous intentions towards Xie Bufeng, and was intentionally trying to alienate Wen Qingci and Xie Bufeng.
Under this circumstance, if Wen Qingci, who always agreed with him, pleaded for Xie Bufeng, it would definitely cause greater suspicion - Xie Guanzhi was a lesson learned from the past.
At that time, the emperor would only use a more direct and straightforward method to take Xie Bufeng's life.
"But swords and guns are blind. How do you know he can survive on the battlefield?" Lan Fei couldn't help but ask.
Wen Qingci smiled, turned around and looked into Concubine Lan's eyes.
His eyes were firm: "I believe that Your Highness will not only survive, but will also be a good general and a good emperor."
Wen Qingci was not joking, but was so convinced from the bottom of his heart.
Good emperor
At this moment, even Concubine Lan was frightened by Wen Qingci's words, and she looked away unconsciously.
After making sure that there was no one else nearby, Lan Fei finally let go of her worries.
Before Wen Qingci said this, perhaps even Concubine Lan did not dare to believe that her son, who was called a "monster", would inherit the throne...
After he finished speaking, Wen Qingci slowly turned his gaze back.
In fact, Wen Qingci, who was planning to escape death, didn't need to say all this to Concubine Lan.
But thinking of Xie Bufeng's eyes when he left, and the hand warmer he threw into the Yinchuan Grand Canal, Wen Qingci couldn't bear to be so cruel...
He didn't know whether Xie Bufeng's words and the kiss that day were just a momentary passion of a young man.
But it doesn't matter, time can dilute all emotions.
After Xie Bufeng returned to the capital from the north, inherited the throne and gained the submission of all the people, the slight excitement he had at the beginning would naturally be overwhelmed by stronger emotions.
Wen Qingci only knew that he must be a very important person to Xie Bufeng at that time...
Being betrayed by someone you trust or even like is not a comfortable experience.
Disappointment, hatred
Wen Qingci was not afraid that Xie Bufeng would hate him.
But he still didn't want Xie Bufeng to continue to hate the world and be disappointed with everything in this world because of him.
It seems to be a good choice to let Concubine Lan tell Xie Bufeng the truth after he leaves.
Concubine Lan was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "Mr. Wen and the rumors I heard before are different."
Hearing her relaxed tone, Wen Qingci also smiled slightly.
—
As he walked, Wen Qingci arrived at the "forbidden area" on the southernmost side of the temple.
—This is where the second prince Xie Guanzhi was imprisoned.
Although there were many guards at Guangcheng Temple, most of them were stationed outside the temple.
There are not many people guarding the gate of the forbidden area.
Seeing Wen Qingci suddenly pause, Concubine Lan also understood what he meant.
After she invited Wen Qingci to have lunch with her for a while, she left first.
After Concubine Lan left, Wen Qingci went around to the back of the forbidden area, used his lightness skills to jump in, and it didn't take him long to enter the palace.
Wen Qingci received the invitation from Concubine Lan last night. Although he didn't know what the structure of the temple was like at that time, Wen Qingci still prepared some "gifts" for Xie Guanzhi with the idea that "maybe I should meet him."
—A bag of pastries bought from Yongdu.
He heard that Xie Guanzhi could only eat vegetarian meals three times a day here, so he guessed that the young man might be craving for these messy foods.
As expected, after seeing Wen Qingci who suddenly appeared here and the gifts he prepared, Xie Guanzhi, who had been locked up here for several months, had his eyes slightly red as if he had seen a relative, and he even felt a little moved while eating the cakes.
At the same time, he vaguely knew some news about Bei, and couldn't help but envy Xie Bufeng.
He couldn't help but regret, saying that he should have made a bigger fuss that day and asked the emperor to send him and Xie Bufeng to the battlefield to kill the enemy instead of being locked up here to die.
Perhaps because he was imprisoned too harshly, Xie Guanzhi talked a lot more. Wen Qingci stayed in the forbidden area for more than an hour before leaving.
Lunch time was approaching, and he wanted to go find Concubine Lan for a vegetarian meal. However, not long after he came out of the forbidden area, he saw a eunuch running towards him in a hurry and standing beside him, panting.
"Mr. Wen, just now someone... a man claiming to be from the Divine Doctor Valley came to the gate of Guangcheng Temple and said he wanted to see you!"
"Divine Doctor Valley..."
Wen Qingci’s brows immediately frowned. Could the person the eunuch was talking about be the medicine servant of the Divine Doctor Valley
"Take me there." He said immediately without thinking.
"yes!"
Wen Qingci had previously prepared tokens for the owner of the clinic and the medicine servant to make it convenient for them to visit him at his house at any time.
Everyone in the palace knew that he had come to the Imperial Temple.
As long as Yao Pu wanted, he could certainly find this place easily.
The question is... why did he come to see me
Thinking of this, Wen Qingci couldn't help but quicken his pace, and his mood became nervous.
As soon as he walked out of the gate of Guangcheng Temple, a man in blue clothes walked quickly towards him.
He seemed to have just dismounted, and his breath was still disordered: "Mr. Wen, something bad is happening in Changyuan!"
"What's wrong?" Wen Qingci lowered his voice and asked, "But your Highness?"
"Yes!" The medicine servant adjusted his breathing with difficulty. "The prince was seriously injured and was stabbed several times by the knife. If... cough cough, if the rumors I heard are correct, the knife seems to be poisoned..."
Knife wound, poisoned
These two words made Wen Qingci's heart sink heavily, and even his ears buzzed.
"Okay, I understand." He nodded slowly.
After a year in the book, Wen Qingci's skills in pretending to be calm have improved a lot.
At this moment, his heartbeat was about to burst out of his chest, but his face was still calm.
"...Ah?" Yao Pu was stunned for a moment, not understanding what he meant. "Then what are you going to do?" He asked subconsciously.
In fact, just a second before the medicine servant spoke, Wen Qingci's mind was still in a mess.
But the moment this question was asked, Wen Qingci had the answer.
—Go to Changyuan.
He wants to go to Changyuan to see Xie Bufeng.
(End of this chapter)