Although such a big event happened at the end of the Four Kingdoms' Tribute, the Xie family did not panic at all. The newly appointed Fu Yanran was also extremely calm. He quickly dealt with the Xue and Lin families, and according to the law, put the prince and others in the Sky Prison permanently. By the way, he also warned the Western Regions who were preparing to cause trouble together, and then appointed Xie Lin as the regent according to the plan.
Everything went very smoothly. However, there was no movement from Xie Ke's side.
Everyone knows that Xie Lin is old, and he is also injured, so he can't work for a few more years. In the future, all the foundations of the Xie family will be handed over to Xie Ke.
Everyone inside knew very well that all of this was planned by Xie Ke. Even Shen Yang, who replaced Prime Minister Xue, had an unclear cooperative relationship with him. But after all this was successful, this person disappeared.
He disappeared in the truest sense of the word. He did not even appear at Fu Yanran's coronation ceremony, as if he had vanished.
But no one dared to ask.
The envoys from the four countries were allowed to leave only after the entire capital was stabilized. Before that, they were brought back from the hunting grounds and then locked up in the embassy. Although on the surface they were "strictly protected to prevent accidents", everyone knew that this was house arrest.
It was not until one month after the coronation ceremony that the countries were allowed to leave one after another.
The ancient countries in the Western Regions ran away the fastest, followed by Jing Kingdom. The King of Chen Kingdom was kept by Xie Lin, and it was unknown when he would leave. As for King Xidan, who did not play by the rules, he did not leave. After staying in the capital for a few days, he was unfriendlyly asked to leave by Xie's army.
Before leaving, he even met with Fu Yanran in a friendly manner, and said to the new emperor: "I underestimated you."
Fu Yanran didn't look at him much and waved his hand, meaning to get out.
"Do you know what happened when the Xie family signed the agreement with me during the Qianyuan War?" King Xidan said, "Even Emperor Qingyuan didn't know. I signed my first letter of surrender to Xie Ke, and only to him. I really admired him and was willing to do it."
"It's no use trying to sow discord between us," Fu Yanran glanced at him, "I know where I am, and I don't need King Xidan to remind me."
King Xidan's smile became more and more obvious. He stopped talking, saluted to Fu Yanran, turned around and prepared to leave, but as if he remembered something, he turned around and asked, "Is Xie Ke dead?"
Fu Yanran glanced at him as if he were a fool.
"I thought too much," King Xidan sighed regretfully, and then asked, "Is Prince Zhao Fu Zhiyu dead too?"
Fu Yanran frowned and said, "It's none of your business."
King Xidan did not get any answer from him and eventually left, being "sent" away by Lu Linhai all the way to the border between the two countries.
Jingguo then left. Princess Miaotang's injury had just healed, and it was a good thing that she had not officially been engaged to King Zhao. If she had been engaged, she would have become a widow before getting married.
Du Yin was in charge of the escort. He rode beside the princess' carriage. As soon as they left the capital, he saw Lin Miaotang secretly rolling up her curtains, looking around, staring at Du Yin for a long time, and whispered to him, "General Du?"
"Princess, what's wrong?"
"Where is King Zhao?" she asked. "I... can't believe he died just like that."
"If you don't believe me, I can't help you," Du Yin said, "Everyone has his own destiny."
Lin Miaotang reached out and wiped his eyes, then whispered, "I know... He was the one who saved me at that time. I heard his voice."
Du Yinka glanced at her and didn't answer.
"In fact, I woke up a long time ago, but my father changed my medicine. He said that it would be safer if I fell asleep," Lin Miaotang said, "I don't know what happened. When I woke up, the whole world changed."
Du Yin still didn't say anything. He was a taciturn person to begin with, so naturally he wouldn't say a word about this matter.
"The only thing I remember clearly is when His Royal Highness Prince Zhao found me," Lin Miaotang said, "I knew he was there, and there was another person who came with him. He was General Xie."
Lin Miaotang placed his hands on the windowsill, tightly gripping the piece of wood beside the window.
"After I came back, everyone said that it was General Xie who saved me," she said, "No, he, he did it on purpose."
Lin Miaotang is not stupid, and she has heard so much.
After the ban was lifted, it was said that His Royal Highness Prince Zhao was burned to death, and Xie Ke disappeared with him.
"He also likes Prince Zhao. I heard it all," Lin Miaotang said. Her antennae for love rivals seemed particularly sharp. "No wonder, at that time, the Thirteenth Prince... no, the Emperor, said that... Prince Zhao and I couldn't be together."
"Princess, be careful with your words."
Lin Miaotang had been holding these words in for the entire journey, and only dared to speak them out after leaving the capital. As for why she chose Du Yin, she knew that Du Yin was someone close to Xie Ke, and this was no secret.
"Will he be good to His Royal Highness Prince Zhao?" Lin Miaotang asked, "He is, he is such a terrible person."
Du Yin did not answer.
"But Prince Zhao is so good," Lin Miaotang murmured again, "He is handsome and gentle. Even if I can't marry him, I hope he lives a good life."
Du Yin glanced at her and suddenly said, "Princess, you have talked with King Zhao many times. Do you know...his past? Has King Zhao ever mentioned it to you?"
"Ah?" Lin Miaotang raised her head, looking confused, "What... what happened in the past?"
Du Yin said it more clearly: "Didn't King Zhao tell you about his previous feelings?"
"Are you referring to the concubines in the courtyard? I know that." After Lin Miaotang mentioned this, she felt a little uncomfortable, but she also grew up in the palace and was not so naive about such things. "The royal family can never avoid it."
"No," Du Yin shook his head, "I'm talking about the relationship between Prince Zhao and Xie Ke... They might have been together before."
Du Yin actually regretted it a little as soon as he said it, but since he had already asked, he might as well go ahead and say it. He wanted to know whether Lin Miaotang had heard anything from Fu Zhiyu so that she would have some impression of this matter.
Others don’t know Xie Ke’s situation, but he knows.
He was not dead, he just lay in bed for a long time with his eyes closed. If it were not for his weak breathing, he would be no different from a dead person. Shadow told them everything that happened at that time. In addition, Xie Ke confessed a lot of things before he fell into a coma, all related to Fu Zhiyu. He also repeatedly warned them not to disturb Fu Zhiyu for any reason.
... How much did Xie Ke have to love him, to be so desperate to protect him after Fu Zhiyu shot him with an arrow and almost killed him
Du Yin really couldn't understand it. He and Xie Ke had known each other since childhood. Before Ice Lake, Xie Ke and Fu Zhiyu had never met each other. But things suddenly became like this after Ice Lake. This couldn't be explained by love at first sight, right
He also asked Nong Yu, who thought for a long time and said hesitantly: "I think... they should have known each other for a long time."
Du Yin: "??? I have no impression."
Xie Ke practiced martial arts outside for a long time and returned to Prince Zhao's Mansion at the age of twelve. Du Yin thought it happened before he came back, but Nong Yu had no impression of it. Prince Zhao had never left the capital when he was a child, so the two had no chance to meet, making it even more impossible.
Du Yin was seldom curious about things, but he really wanted to know the reason for this matter. Prince Zhao was very handsome, but he was just a piece of cake, and there was really no need to let Xie Ke do this.
It was impossible for Xie Ke to explain to them why he liked Fu Zhiyu so much. Perhaps he could find out the reason by starting with Fu Zhiyu.
That was why he couldn't help but ask Lin Miaotang, but Lin Miaotang was just as confused as he was.
"Have they ever been together... before?"
Because he had guessed it before, he was not particularly shocked when he learned all this, but he felt a little uncomfortable.
The princess leaned against the window sill for a long time, then said softly, "Your Highness Prince Zhao... is really a very gentle person."
"I know he doesn't like me and doesn't plan to marry me, but he's really good to me and saved me," she murmured, "If he likes someone, how good he should be to him. The person he likes... even if he only had her once, she would be lucky."
Du Yin was stunned, and he didn't say anything else for the rest of the journey.
Du Yin's heart was biased. After all, he had followed Xie Ke for so long, and he would follow Xie Ke in whatever he wanted to do. The only person who was unexpected was Fu Zhiyu.
He really didn't feel how good Fu Zhiyu was. That man was lazy and heartless, and apart from his face, there seemed to be nothing special about him.
He had listened to Shadow's description of the arrow over and over again. From its strength, speed to accuracy, it was impeccable. Even with so many people following Shadow, they were unable to stop the arrow. Needless to say, how powerful it was.
He began to sincerely admit that he had underestimated Fu Zhiyu. He wondered how many secrets this man had hidden under his harmless face, and what kind of experience he had with Xie Ke that made Xie Ke willing to become like this.
It was precisely because of these doubts that Du Yin quickly received a new imperial edict after returning to the capital after escorting Jingguo's entourage.
"I... I have never had any objection to making Jiangnan my ninth brother's fiefdom," Fu Yanran had just become emperor and his mind had not yet quickly changed. He coughed and continued, "General Xie mentioned it to me a long time ago, and the decree has been drafted. He wanted to tell my ninth brother the news in person at that time, but he is unconscious now. I thought it would be delayed, but I didn't expect that he still missed it. Don't delay it, just go now."
There has never been such a thing as fiefdom in the Fu Dynasty. Generally, when a king is conferred a fief, he is given food and land, but never a fiefdom. This is to prevent the princes from splitting up and isolating the imperial power.
The Jiangnan area is a treasure land. Although it is far from the capital, it is home to many wealthy people and is even more prosperous than the capital. Demarcating this area is like digging out a treasure from Ji Lin's heart.
But Fu Yanran really accepted it well, not just lip service. He had been prepared for it, this was just one of the items in his deal with Xie Ke. He knew in his heart that whether he took the path of Emperor Qing Yuan or Xie Ke, it was because Fu Zhiyu did not fight for it that the entire Jilin Kingdom was his.
It was also because of Fu Zhiyu's help in the Imperial Garden that Fu Yanran is where he is today. There are many people who can be puppet emperors. If it weren't for his ninth brother, he wouldn't even be qualified to talk to Xie Ke.
It can be considered a gift. Although it is a bit expensive, it is worth it for Brother Jiu.
Xie Ke was unconscious, and Du Yin took the initiative to come out and take on the task of delivering the imperial edict.