The east is about to dawn and the sun is rising.
The strong wind that blew all night disappeared with the night.
Although the snow has not stopped, it has become much milder.
The sunlight illuminated the long street and the palace road. Soldiers wearing heavy armor came from the north and brought back all the palace maids and eunuchs who had escaped from Taishu Palace with gold and silver during the chaos.
Having been tempered by many wars, it only took them two hours to firmly control the entire Yongdu.
At dawn, the Wei Dynasty had completely changed its master. The news spread throughout Yongdu along with the first rays of sunlight that day.
Inside Taishu Palace, palace servants held huge iron shovels and shoveled away the ice and snow mixed with blood on the ground.
After sweeping and sprinkling with warm water three or four times, the bloody smell that originally filled the sky became so faint that it was hardly noticeable.
If the magnolia tree that was broken in half was not still lying on the ground, everything that happened last night would have seemed as if nothing had happened and was hidden behind the heavy wind and snow.
Also temporarily hidden was the new emperor's mad-like appearance in front of Yi Guang Palace that night.
Xie Zhaolin who was imprisoned in the prison, the rebellious Heng Xinwei, and... the screams that lingered for a long time.
Everyone is keeping quiet about what happened that night.
Taishu Palace, Huixin Hall.
Although the enthronement ceremony has not yet been held, everyone has already tacitly accepted that Concubine Lan is the empress dowager of the Wei Dynasty.
The new emperor... currently has no intention of paying attention to other matters.
Therefore, countless people took advantage of this time to gather in Huixin Palace.
It has been a long time since Lan Fei's side was so lively.
But at this moment, she also had no energy to deal with miscellaneous matters.
Xie Fuyin curled himself up into a small ball and nestled in Concubine Lan's arms.
She didn't close her eyes the whole night, and her beautiful peach blossom eyes were red and swollen like two small walnuts.
Not to mention her, even Lan Fei and Ming Liu who was standing on the side had red eyes.
"Fu Yin, it's getting late now, can we get some sleep?" Concubine Lan coaxed Xie Fu Yin in her arms, "Or are you hungry? Mother will ask someone to make you something to eat."
The little girl rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. She shook her head stubbornly and said, "I don't want to sleep..." Her words were filled with a strong nasal tone.
Ming Liu took the towel out of the warm water, wrung it dry and handed it over.
Lan Fei carefully wiped Xie Fuyin's tear-stained face and said, "Fuyin doesn't want to sleep, then let's—"
Before she finished her words, the little girl suddenly turned around, looked into her mother's eyes and said, "I want to go see Mr. Wen."
"Ah!" Ming Liu, who was pouring hot water, was accidentally scalded by the water and cried out in a low voice.
She quickly lowered her head and walked out with the basin in her hand, not letting Xie Fuyin see her expression which suddenly turned extremely bad.
Lan Fei's hand, which was wiping the little girl's face, suddenly stopped: "... Wait a little longer. Mr. Wen also needs to rest after not sleeping all night."
She smiled gently at Xie Fuyin and spoke calmly.
But unexpectedly, Xie Fuyin didn't fall for her trick today.
The little girl stared into her eyes without blinking, and asked very seriously: "But they said... they said Mr. Wen died. What does 'dead' mean, mother?"
"Mother, is Mr. Wen really dead?"
Xie Fuyin's light amber eyes were too clear, and Concubine Lan had no way of telling a lie.
She clenched her palms: "... Yes, Mr. Wen, he passed away. Passing away means that we will never see him again."
Death is too profound and difficult to understand for children of this age.
But after hearing that “I will never see Wen Qingci again”, Xie Fuyin finally burst into tears.
She felt very aggrieved: "But, but I clearly saw my brother holding him last night... Mother, can't I go see Mr. Wen again?"
At this time, the gate of Huixin Palace was open, and the courtyard was full of palace maids busy sweeping snow.
Xie Fuyin had no intention of controlling the volume of his voice, and everything he said just now was clearly heard by everyone.
The palace maids couldn't help but pause in sweeping the snow.
Everyone couldn't help but look at each other silently, and they saw a little bit of fear in each other's eyes.
After staying in Taishu Palace for so long, they know what to say and what not to say.
I know better what I can watch, what I shouldn’t watch, and what I should pretend I don’t know even if I know it.
Last night, the scene of the new emperor Xie Bufeng abandoning countless personal guards, holding a corpse, walking through the entire Taishu Palace in front of countless people and coming to the small courtyard of the Imperial Medical Bureau was engraved in the eyes of countless people.
Not only that…
Some people also saw that Xie Bufeng would place a kiss on the imperial physician's cheek from time to time.
I heard that he locked himself and the imperial physician's body in a room in the courtyard. A whole night has passed, and the door has not been opened until now.
It really completely threw aside etiquette, moral principles, and even human relations.
They understood each other tacitly.
For a time, the affair between the new emperor and the imperial physician became a palace secret that no one dared to mention.
In their opinion, the imperial physician Wen Qingci is now dead.
As long as everyone tacitly agrees not to mention it, in a few years, the name "Wen Qingci" will be buried in history along with this incident, and will become a secret belonging to the emperor.
But no one expected that the morning was not over yet.
Xie Fuyin, who knew nothing, brought it up.
Seeing that no one was talking, Xie Fuyin finally couldn't help but act coquettishly towards her silent mother: "Please, please, please, mother? I really just want to go there one more time... just once!"
Concubine Lan opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.
At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the yard.
She looked up at the door as if she had found a life-saving straw.
Then, a eunuch in purple brocade robe appeared before her.
The other party walked in a hurry and just stood there panting.
"Eunuch Xian, why are you here so suddenly?" Concubine Lan gently put Xie Fuyin down from her arms, stood up and asked him, "But what's the matter with His Majesty?"
"… There is indeed something." There were many things to do today, and they were all very important. The old eunuch did not keep it a secret any longer, "There is someone outside the palace who wants to see you."
"Outside the palace?" Concubine Lan couldn't help but frowned, "Who does he want to see?"
Eunuch Xian took a deep breath and lowered his voice and said, "He wants to see His Majesty."
"It's the Valley Master of the Divine Doctor Valley, Mr. Wen's senior brother, who has come. He wants to see His Majesty."
"Does Eunuch Xian know him?" Concubine Lan was surprised and asked subconsciously.
The old eunuch did not answer her question directly, but instead began to talk about what had just happened outside the palace gate.
In fact, Eunuch Xian had not expected that Song Junran, the legendary master of the Divine Doctor Valley who never appeared in the world, would actually appear at the gate of Taishu Palace this morning.
At that time, all the soldiers responsible for guarding Taishu Palace had been replaced by Xie Bufeng's men.
Coming down from the battlefield, they were alert and serious.
Song Junran, who came to ask for a meeting, had a distinguished temperament and was already eye-catching.
Not to mention he was holding something in his hand...
Thinking of this, Eunuch Xian finally slowly opened his palm—a token made of pure gold appeared in his hand.
The token was carved with a coiled dragon and engraved with the four large characters "Emperor's Order".
"My lady, look."
The soldiers guarding outside the palace had never seen a token that looked like this, not to mention that the emperor of this dynasty had just been replaced a few hours ago...
But what he had in his hand was obviously not something that ordinary people could have.
Those soldiers reported the matter to Eunuch Xian as soon as possible.
After seeing clearly what was in Eunuch Xian's hand, Concubine Lan was silent for a moment, then slowly said: "Let him in..."
She knew why Eunuch Xian was so sure that the person outside was Song Junran.
The token in front of him naturally does not belong to the current emperor, and it has never even belonged to Xie Zhaolin.
It is an old object from the previous dynasty.
The Valley of Divine Doctors does not care about the secular world. Even for the royal family of the previous dynasty, it took a lot of effort to send the prince to the Valley of Divine Doctors.
—This token was the “medical fee” of that year.
Xie Fuyin, who didn't understand what his mother was talking to Eunuch Xian, remained silent.
After the old eunuch left, she gently tugged at Concubine Lan's sleeve again and asked in a low voice, "Mother, can I really not go see him again?"
This time, Concubine Lan did not refuse directly. She paused for a while, rubbed the little girl's head, nodded slowly and said, "Okay, wait a little longer, and I will take you there."
—
The small courtyard of the Imperial Medical Bureau was surrounded by soldiers in three layers, numbering at least a thousand.
But the courtyard was as quiet as ever.
The tall magnolia tree is still standing there.
After a night of strong winds, many petals were blown off.
But some still stubbornly hang on the branches, waiting for the arrival of real spring.
The yard is filled with fragrance.
Xie Bufeng gently put Wen Qingci on the bed and carefully tucked the quilt for him.
The boy who grew up alone in Suzhou knew everything.
At this time, he was taking care of people properly.
Wen Qingci's blood-stained cloak had been replaced by the young man.
Xie Bufeng poured hot water into a wooden basin and carefully wiped the blood off Wen Qingci's face with a towel.
As the new emperor, he seemed to have forgotten his identity.
He knelt under the bed and combed Wen Qingci's long hair with a wooden comb.
The floor heating in the room was still burning, and the boy had lowered the curtains at some point.
There was only an oil lamp in the room, dim and warm. Here and outside seemed like two completely different worlds.
After everything was ready, Xie Bufeng also lay down gently on the bed. He did not cover himself with a quilt, but just hugged Wen Qingci's body tightly from the side and slowly closed his eyes.
It was not until this time that he realized that Wen Qingci was much thinner than he had imagined.
The boy, who had grown taller and stronger, could even easily hold him tightly in his arms.
The boy couldn't help but rub Wen Qingci's forehead like a little animal.
Now Xie Bufeng is the new emperor of Wei Dynasty.
He only needs to walk out of this little house to receive the congratulations of all the people and possess the highest power in the world.
But at this moment, the boy just felt that... it would be nice if he could sleep here forever.
Xie Bufeng put his lips to his ear and chattered on and on about what he had seen and heard in the north during this period.
"… The snow in the north is even heavier than last night. Sometimes it can even blow away cattle and sheep," Xie Bufeng's voice was as light as a dream. "In that season, we can't fight. We can only station the troops in a sheltered location and check the tents carefully to make sure they can survive the cold winter."
After saying that, he placed soft kisses on Wen Qingci's temples.
Perhaps because the room was too warm, Wen Qingci's body did not seem as cold as before.
After not sleeping for a whole night, Xie Bufeng felt a little sleepy.
He allowed himself to indulge in the calm and gentleness of the moment, and spoke in a much lower voice: "Do you know? In the early spring of last year, I fought a battle and almost died on the battlefield..."
The boy's voice sounded aggrieved.
He paused and said, "That night, I seemed to... dream about you."
The people around me still didn't answer.
But the young man didn't care. He just thought that Wen Qingci was asleep.
The light in the room was unusually dim.
I don't know when the bed curtain fell.
The originally vague dream hidden in Xie Bufeng's heart actually became a little clearer at this moment.
He suddenly opened his eyes gently.
Those amber eyes were no longer as calm as usual.
Instead, it was like being drunk, confused and misty.
Xie Bufeng slowly moved his gaze towards Wen Qingci's cold lips.
The oil lamp in the room was still burning, making crackling sounds from time to time, but the light was so dim that it could hardly illuminate the inside of the tent.
A corner of the cotton bed curtain fluttered gently.
A bitter fragrance emanated from the tent.
At some point in the room, there were bursts of ambiguous noises...
After a long time, until the oil lamp went out, the sound finally stopped.
The young man in black robe got down from the bed and lit the oil lamp again.
His eyes were not sad, but gentle and empty.
This small courtyard of the Imperial Medical Bureau is already old.
When Wen Qingci was favored by the emperor, eunuchs would occasionally come here to help him renovate it.
But recently, no one cares about this place anymore.
Under the wind and rain, the wooden doors and windows were cracked.
Xie Bufeng had just walked to the light when a breeze blew towards him through the gap in the wooden window.
As a result, Xie Bufeng noticed that it was already bright outside, and he didn't know whether it was early morning or noon.
He paused, then suddenly laughed, and turned back to the person lying on the bed and gently said, "It's getting late, I'll go to the ear room to see if there's anything to eat."
The boy's voice was very gentle: "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
From beginning to end, no one in the room responded to him.
But Xie Bufeng didn't care.
Xie Bufeng gently pushed open the wooden door. He subconsciously looked up at the huge magnolia tree in the center of the courtyard, turned around, slowed down his pace, and walked towards the side room that had been converted into a kitchen.
A breeze blew, bringing with it the cool air and the fragrance of magnolia flowers.
Before the young man could cross the courtyard, a petal of magnolia covered with fine snow fluttered down from the tree and landed on his neck.
Along with it came a slight chill and the familiar scent of magnolia.
The smell is inexplicably irritating.
Xie Bufeng's heart actually felt a slight pain.
The sudden chill was like a hand that almost pulled him out of his sleep.
The young man paused, he forced himself to suppress the uneasiness in his heart, and waved his hand to brush the petals off his shoulders.
Xie Bufeng pushed open the wooden door of the ear room and walked in slowly.
He was caught off guard by the light warmth and the bone-penetrating fragrance of magnolia, which wrapped him up like a cocoon in an instant.
It seemed gentle, but in an instant it deprived Xie Bufeng of the ability to move and even breathe.
He stood there, moving his eyes stiffly and fixing his gaze on the small stove not far away.
The fire was still burning, and a small purple clay pot sat quietly on the stove.
Inside was the magnolia flower porridge that was still bubbling. It had been kept warm all night and was at its sweetest at this moment.
This pot of magnolia porridge seemed to have stayed in the ear room last night, still quietly waiting for its owner's return.
That was made for me by Wen Qingci...
This realization crushed the young man in an instant.
"… "
There was no floor heating in the ear room, and the cold air seeped up from under his body, waking Xie Bufeng up from his sweet dream in just a moment.
Xie Bufeng sobbed silently.
The next second, he finally couldn't bear the burden and fell heavily to the ground.
Death to him.
It is a long and clear aftermath.
(End of this chapter)