Wen Qingci paused and somehow stopped outside Baiqiao Tower without pushing the door open.
He held his breath and looked inside.
The emperor stretched out his hand and grasped in the air, then staggered forward two steps, and suddenly shook his head in fear: "No, I have done nothing wrong!"
After he finished speaking, he slumped down on the ground in a completely ungraceful manner.
After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and said again: "It's me, I am sorry for you..."
Xie Zhaolin actually used the word "I"
Wen Qingci then noticed that the emperor's golden hair crown had fallen to the ground at some point, and his long grey and black hair was scattered messily on his shoulders. This emperor, who always cared about his face, had completely lost his image for the first time.
The huge Baiqiao Tower fell silent once again.
Xie Zhaolin, dressed in bright yellow, slowly looked around.
The emperor must not know that he saw this...
Wen Qingci stepped back immediately.
But he was still a step too slow.
The next moment, their eyes met.
He saw himself.
Wen Qingci's heart trembled, but he finally took a deep breath, opened the door and walked in, slowly bowing to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you—"
The cold air once again spread up through my knees.
What Ling Wen Qingci didn't expect was that after their eyes met, the emperor seemed not to have seen him and slowly looked away.
He once again cast his gaze towards the caisson and began to mutter crazily.
Although the incense pills were broken, the radix activatoriae was still the emperor's life-saving elixir.
Under the amplifying and catalytic effects of the pills, his mental problems continued to worsen.
It is said that the fact that Wen Qingci can live peacefully to this day is also due to the Fuxuanhua Pill.
The amount of medicine the emperor used had unknowingly increased. Every three or four days, he would send people to the outskirts of Yongdu to look for the morning glory, and then rush them to the palace while it was still effective, and hand it to Wen Qingci, who would make it into pills.
If the emperor wanted to live comfortably, or if he needed to take the Fuxuanhua Pill one day, he could not do anything to Wen Qingci, nor could he completely break off with him.
Unless he encounters a problem more difficult than a headache one day...
Wen Qingci observed the other party quietly. It seemed that the emperor was having hallucinations and was out of his mind.
A bold idea popped up in Wen Qingci's mind like a flame.
He looked back, made sure there was no one behind him, then slowly stood up, walked into Baiqiao Building, then turned around and closed the door.
Since entering the book, Wen Qingci has had countless doubts in his mind.
Some have been solved, some have not.
Most of the unsolved problems are related to the person in front of him.
The "search" has almost reached its end and no useful information can be found.
In that case... why not try to get some information out of the emperor while he's unconscious
The moment this thought came to mind, a strong hatred suddenly arose in Wen Qingci's heart.
His heart even ached violently.
Wen Qingci gently placed his hand on his heart... This should be the emotion left by the original owner.
The loose moon-white gown swayed with his movements, as gentle as the ripples on a creek at night.
Wen Qingci adjusted his breathing and slowly walked to the emperor's side.
At this time, Xie Zhaolin was kneeling on the ground, muttering something with his head down. Apart from the three words "Ning Yuzhao", nothing else could be heard clearly.
It seems that the emperor is indeed afraid of that old friend from the previous dynasty.
A dozen or twenty years ago, a lot of "wonderful" things definitely happened.
Thinking of this, what Concubine Lan said a few months ago suddenly popped up in Wen Qingci's mind again—Emperor Ai of the previous dynasty died in Guangcheng Temple on the outskirts of Yongdu.
“…I wonder if Your Majesty still remembers Guangcheng Temple?”
"Guang, Guangcheng Temple?"
Sure enough, the emperor slowly raised his head and looked at Wen Qingci with great horror.
At the end, his already unstable emotions became even more agitated: "I don't know! I really didn't know that you didn't have a weapon in your hand—"
This sentence was like a sharp blade, piercing the emperor's psychological defenses in an instant.
He sat in Baiqiao Tower, slowly sinking into his memories.
The descendants of the previous dynasty were in decline, and Ning Yuzhao's father did not give birth to his first prince until he was in his forties.
But he didn't expect that his son not only inherited his physique, but became even more frail and sickly.
Since he was born, the only thing Ning Yuzhao had to consider was how to live for a long time.
Against this background, some people are worried about the country's destiny.
There are also people who are ambitious - the current emperor is one of them.
Xie Zhaolin was a few years older than Emperor Ai of the previous dynasty, and had been instilled with the idea of seizing supreme power since childhood.
At that time, he looked down on yet envied this prince who was born with everything, never worried about court affairs, and spent all day resting.
But he still pretended to get along well with the other party, so that Ning Yuzhao regarded him as a confidant.
The two of them spent time together like this day after day.
Until the day of hunting outside Beijing.
Ning Yuzhao almost fell off the horse, but fortunately he was rescued by Xie Zhaolin.
In a hurry, he did not follow Ning Yuzhao's instructions as usual, but asked him if he was injured.
Instead, he got angry subconsciously and warned the prince, who was in poor health, not to participate in such activities.
"... Hahaha, why is he so stupid, so stupid?" The unconscious emperor sitting on the ground laughed and mocked, "I was really impatient at the time and felt that he had caused me trouble... I didn't expect that he, he thought I was really kind to him."
Wen Qingci looked at the emperor coldly.
Xie Zhaolin's ability to govern the country might be average, but before he became mentally ill, he was a top-notch actor.
He is so good at pretending.
He pretended to be virtuous and a wise ruler, and deceived countless people.
The one who was deceived the most was probably Ning Yuzhao.
Relying on his status as the crown prince, he kept Xie Zhaolin, the son of Prince Su, who was supposed to return to his fiefdom, in Yongdu and kept him by his side.
He trusted Xie Zhaolin so much that he even delegated power to him.
After he succeeded to the throne, his dependence on him was beyond ordinary.
It wasn't until that heavy snow that Xie Zhaolin's disguise was torn off.
From the people to the imperial court, there were voices everywhere asking Ning Yuzhao to abdicate. He finally came to his senses a little, and angrily and disappointedly questioned Xie Zhaolin about what was going on.
Xie Zhaolin did not explain as usual, he remained silent
No matter how dumb a person is, by this moment he should realize what is going on.
In the same year, Ning Yuzhao abdicated and became King of Ning.
Xie Zhaolin changed the reign title to "Tianchu" and officially ascended the throne.
The two people who were originally close friends began a cold war.
Prince Ning was imprisoned in Guangcheng Temple, under the pretext of "recuperation".
Ning Yuzhao had clearly completely lost his power, but Xie Zhaolin, who had ascended to the throne through strategy, was still worried.
He was afraid that others would do the same thing as him.
In the third year of Tianchu, Guangcheng Temple was built.
In early spring, it was drizzling.
The long path of the mountain temple also became a little slippery. From a distance, the buildings blended into the mist and rain, like the legendary holy land of heaven.
Xie Zhaolin, dressed in bright yellow, walked into the room late at night, surrounded by a crowd of people.
"Prince Ning, what important matter do you want to discuss with me?" He frowned and asked the person next to him.
"Your Highness didn't say much," the eunuch in charge of guarding Prince Ning hesitated for a moment, "Prince Ning only said that he wanted to talk to your Majesty about the past..."
The eunuch's voice became smaller and smaller, until it was as weak as a mosquito's buzz.
He felt extremely guilty even when he said this reason. When Prince Ning asked someone to pass the message, no one thought that the emperor would come here to keep the appointment.
But no one expected that in just over an hour, the emperor actually rushed over from Taishu Palace.
But he didn't look like he was here to reminisce.
Thinking of this, the eunuch couldn't help but glance at Xie Zhaolin cautiously.
—The young emperor frowned and looked worried.
Their guess was correct.
Xie Zhaolin was indeed not the kind of person who was interested in reminiscing about the past. The only reason he came here was because he felt guilty.
"Okay." Xie Zhaolin didn't say anything else. He nodded slowly and went deeper into the temple.
In the most secluded courtyard of Guangcheng Temple, Prince Ning was sitting under a tree drinking alone.
After seeing Xie Zhaolin, he only raised his eyelids slightly and said lightly: "Your Majesty, you are here."
Perhaps he was completely heartbroken, or perhaps he realized that he didn't have much time left, but now he was no longer hysterical like he was during the breakup, but instead was unusually calm.
As soon as he finished speaking, he picked up the wine jug and filled the wine cup opposite him.
Then he slowly raised it up.
Xie Zhaolin walked over and sat opposite him.
The man lowered his eyes and glanced at the thing in the other person's hand, but did not take it.
Prince Ning laughed dryly and put the cup down: "Your Majesty doesn't drink, are you worried that I'll poison it?"
"I... I didn't mean that."
He had clearly long been accustomed to being an emperor, and was extremely majestic in the court, as if he was appointed by heaven and no one could question him.
But when facing the person in front of him, Xie Zhaolin found it difficult to utter the word "I".
“… That’s not what I meant.” Ning Yuzhao laughed coldly and repeated his words.
The temperature in early spring is still very low, which is not a good time to drink alone outside, not to mention it is drizzling tonight.
Not long after the emperor sat down, his clothes were wet by the misty rain.
He couldn't help but frown and look at the person opposite. Ning Yuzhao was in poor health and always paid great attention to health preservation. Why did he suddenly come here to get wet in the rain
The emperor suddenly felt something strange in his heart.
After a long silence, he finally said, "The rain seems to be getting heavier, let's go into the house first." After saying that, he stood up first.
After a long pause, Ning Yuzhao also stood up with him.
The emperor couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and suppressed the strangeness in his heart.
But the real accident happened at such a moment.
After standing up, Ning Yuzhao suddenly sneered.
Then he walked over the small case and went towards the emperor.
"—What are you doing!!!" A feeling of fear suddenly struck the emperor's heart, and his voice changed.
At the same time, I had a feeling that “it’s as I expected”.
As expected, Ning Yuzhao was indignant and wanted to kill himself!
Without waiting for Ning Yuzhao to get close, the emperor suddenly turned sideways and drew a soft sword from his waist.
He then raised his sword and stabbed Ning Yuzhao.
He had the idea of seizing the throne since he was a child and studied very diligently.
Not only did he learn the ways of an emperor, he also did not give up martial arts.
Although he is not an expert, he is more than capable of dealing with Ning Yuzhao.
The soft sword pierced Ning Yuzhao's heart in an instant. The feeling of the sword blade cutting through the flesh and penetrating the bones was clearly transmitted to the emperor's hand along the hilt.
Blood gushed out from the body of the person opposite, and in a moment it gathered into a pool at the soles of his feet.
He was stunned.
Xie Zhaolin widened his eyes and looked at the other person.
Finally, he looked at Ning Yuzhao's hand with a look of horror.
Prince Ning, who was dressed in a Buddhist monk's robe, smiled at him and slowly fell to the ground as if relieved of a heavy burden.
At that moment, his eyes were extremely complicated.
"No, how could there be no?"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha-"
The shrill laughter penetrated the entire Baiqiao Building and fell into Wen Qingci's ears.
"Ning Yuzhao... Ning Yuzhao has nothing in his hand, he is lying to me!" Xie Zhaolin shouted like crazy, "How dare he lie to me?!"
Although Xie Zhaolin was an emperor, he had lost before in his life, and he was not someone who could not afford to lose.
But when facing Ning Yuzhao, he always wins.
Xie Zhaolin seemed unable to believe that such a person had successfully deceived him.
The other party might be intent on death and not have any weapons on him.
Even if he brought... Ning Yuzhao, who didn't know any martial arts, there was no way he could beat him.
At this moment, the emperor was like a dog that had lost its home.
Wen Qingci looked at him coldly.
Even though he was unconscious, the emperor still felt a chill in his heart when he saw him like that.
He suddenly fell silent and looked up at the caisson in Baiqiao Tower again.
Xie Zhaolin is definitely not a talkative person on weekdays. He can even be described as taciturn.
But maybe these things have been buried in his heart for too many years, and the time has come when he has to express them out, or maybe his mental state is indeed not very stable, and what he says is no longer controlled by his brain.
After a moment of silence, the emperor spoke again in a hoarse voice: "... He said he got up not to kill me, but just to hug me again."
"He must be lying to me, he must be lying to me..."
Over the past ten or twenty years, the emperor has told himself again and again that the man had said that on purpose just to provoke him.
However, Prince Ning's last words were like a spell, completely imprinted in his mind.
Countless times in the middle of the night, he only remembered that broken sentence: "I, I came... not to kill you, but... and, want to be like we did back then... ahem, hug you again..."
Baiqiaolou fell silent again.
Wen Qingci ignored the emperor's sincere expression of emotion and just stared at him and asked, "What else did Prince Ning say?"
Even if it was him, there was no guarantee that when the emperor regained consciousness, he would remember that he had heard him say these words.
At this time, there were countless people surrounding Baiqiao Tower, and Wen Qingci had no way to kill the emperor at this time.
It seemed that the only thing he could do was to continue to provoke the emperor while he was in the most confused mental state.
Xie Zhaolin: “…”
"He also said... that he wanted to go south along the canal to visit Songxiu Mansion, and that he wanted to build a cenotaph there."
At last he murmured softly, "Why don't I repair the canal quickly? Then I can take him... to see it."
The Yinchuan Grand Canal was planned several decades ago, but due to the decline of the royal power of the previous dynasty, it was never successfully built.
Unlike other emperors, Emperor Ai of the previous dynasty once lived in Songxiu Mansion for a short period of time when he was young, so he particularly understood the importance of the canal connecting the north and the south and connecting Yongdu with the south of the Yangtze River.
After he ascended the throne, he was determined to build the Yinchuan Grand Canal, which had only existed in the plan. He also told this matter to Xie Zhaolin, who had not yet revealed his ambitions at that time.
But in the end, it was Xie Zhaolin who seized the throne and accomplished the task.
The construction of the canal had already begun in the third year of Tianchu.
Therefore, going south to build a cenotaph became one of Ning Yuzhao's last wishes.
Xie Zhaolin insisted on going south last year, not only to investigate the people's sentiments on both sides of the canal along the way, to suppress the innocent souls under the Yinchuan Grand Canal, but also because he had dreamed more and more about those years in recent years, and his heart was filled with thoughts and could not calm down.
Recalling this, Xie Zhaolin suddenly laughed out loud.
“In the end, he also said,” the emperor widened his eyes and said in a tone full of anger and fear, “He cursed me, he cursed me and said… saying that I robbed him of his world, made him a deposed emperor, and made him die today without a good end, and that I was destined to follow in his footsteps in the future—”
The emperor was so suspicious and sensitive because he had done too many bad things and also because of the curse.
"Hahaha how is that possible?!"
"How could I possibly end up like him?"
Finally, he added cautiously, “… He really hated me and wouldn’t even kill me with his own hands.”
"These days, I met the river workers of the Yinchuan Grand Canal, met those people from the Ministry of Works... I met countless people. But I didn't see him."
It turned out that under the control of hallucinations, the emperor had nightmares day and night, dreaming about those who died directly or indirectly at his hands.
Having said this, the emperor's emotions gradually calmed down.
But Wen Qingci would not let him calm down like that.
The emperor's embarrassed and ridiculous appearance brought out all the anger and hatred that were deeply buried in Wen Qingci's heart.
—So many people in this world died just for this thing in front of them
I really can't accept it.
Wen Qingci suddenly took a step forward and said very seriously: "You killed so many people, you deserve not to have a good end."
"There have been countless founding emperors in thousands of years of history, but who is as despicable as you?"
"Look down, countless souls are waiting for you in the water of Yinchuan Grand Canal. That is your destination—"
Every time Wen Qingci spoke, the emperor's body trembled.
In the end, even his teeth began to chatter with fear.
“No, no, no!”
The emperor stepped back abruptly: "Shut up! I am the emperor, and I was appointed by heaven. I should live forever... Even if I die, I have the protection of Chenling's aura, and there are countless people guarding me. Those wandering ghosts can't just approach me casually!"
No wonder he cared so much about his own tomb, it turned out to be because of this.
Wen Qingci smiled slowly.
Those dark eyes were filled with compassion and tenderness, but the words that came out of them were like a sword piercing the emperor's heart.
"Your Majesty, do you think that you, who are unlikely to die of old age, can really be buried in the Mausoleum?"
Wen Qingci's voice was clear, but the words he spoke sounded like a curse.
"… For Your Majesty, it seems inappropriate to be buried in the Mausoleum of the Emperor. Your mausoleum should be at the bottom of the Yinchuan Grand Canal. This will make it easier for those river workers to seek revenge on you. After all, they have been waiting for too long."
He said this with a smile.
The emperor's reason was shattered in an instant. He suddenly screamed loudly, stumbled to his feet and ran towards Baiqiao Tower.
He avoided Wen Qingci as if he were avoiding a ghost.
Unlike that man's embarrassment, Wen Qingci slowly stood up, his moon-white gown spotless.
His expression was as calm and gentle as ever.
Deep inside Baiqiao Tower, the emperor had completely fallen into madness.
He was smashing things hard and muttering something that Wen Qingci couldn't understand.
Perhaps because the noise here was too loud, the Hengxin guards who were guarding outside also rushed up.
After entering the room, they saw the imperial physician turned around with a pale face. Wen Qingci frowned and took a deep breath. After struggling for a long time, he finally whispered, "Your Majesty must be suffering from hysteria... He can't get close to me."
As he spoke, the emperor not far away suddenly turned around.
Heng Xinwei's figure came into his sight.
In an instant, the black shadows overlapped with the image of the Yinchuan Grand Canal workers in the hallucination.
The emperor raised his right hand tremblingly, pointed at them with his index finger and said: "Come here! Come here, kill them for me—"
Heng Xinwei looked at each other, and after a long while they were still standing there motionless, with no intention of following the emperor's orders.
This was the first time they disobeyed the will of God.
The emperor's behavior just now completely confirmed Wen Qingci's words:
The emperor was suffering from hysteria and was seriously ill.
The door of Baiqiao Tower was opened wide, and the emperor's out-of-control screams spread to every corner of Taishu Palace.
From then on everyone knew that he was ill.
—
In the north, after three days of hard fighting, the Wei Dynasty army appeared at the gate of the royal court.
The endless empty Gobi Desert was filled with soldiers.
The army of the Wei Dynasty was no longer the same as before.
Everyone in the team looked straight ahead, without a trace of fear in their eyes.
They knew that in this battle, they could only win and not lose.
It seemed as if it was aware that a big war was about to break out here.
Before the bugle could be blown, vultures were already hovering in the sky, waiting for a good meal.
Xie Bufeng slowly rubbed the wool bracelet wrapped around his wrist with his fingertips, and carefully hid it under the metal wristband. His movements were gentle and affectionate.
Finally, he looked back to the south, looking for the direction of Yongdu.
Then he looked up at the sky and slowly smiled.
The blood in his body was boiling hot at this moment, and the murderous intent in his heart had long since overflowed uncontrollably.
The vulture let out a long cry.
The young man slowly raised his right hand holding the heavy sword.
After a pause, he pointed it fiercely towards the sky: "Leave no one alive, kill—"
"yes!"
The black warhorse raised its front legs high and rushed forward with its master like a sharp blade.
Smoke and dust rose up and rolled away.
In an instant, the sound of killing shook the sky.
(End of this chapter)