Jiang Yubai originally wanted to wait with Qi Changyi, but something urgent happened in the Imperial Hospital, so someone called him away.
Qi Changyi stood alone in front of the bedroom door, walked to the steps next to him and sat down, hugged his knees, rested his little head on his knees, and kept looking at the darkness in front of him.
It was already late and Qi Changyi hadn't eaten yet. In fact, he was a little hungry.
But where did Brother Pei go? Didn’t he say he would wait for me outside? Why did he disappear
The eunuch chief steward beside the emperor saw the little figure sitting on the steps and came over to persuade him, "Your Highness, why don't you go into the side hall and wait. It's windy at night, don't catch a cold."
Qi Changyi shook his head. "What if Brother Pei comes and can't find me? I'm going to wait for him here."
The eunuch said, "Master Pei went out just now because of something, and asked me to take Your Highness inside to wait. If Your Highness continues to sit here and enjoy the breeze, I will not be able to explain to Master Pei when he comes back."
"Oh well."
Qi Changyi patted his butt, stood up, and planned to go into the side hall to wait.
At this time, the sound of footsteps was heard in the darkness.
Qi Changyi looked up with some joy and saw a figure in the dark walking towards the light. It was not Pei Zheng, but the second princess Qi Bingzhi.
Qi Bingzhi looked in very bad condition. He looked haggard and lonely. He no longer had the bright and handsome look he used to have. He was so thin that he looked like nothing but bones.
As the second princess, it was more than enough for her to marry the son of an official. However, due to Qi Bingzhi's physical condition, she could not have children. Every time she got pregnant, she would miscarry within a few months. Therefore, she was gradually ignored by her husband's family. This was even more so in the palace. Since the queen had an accident, everyone in the palace avoided her and she had no confidants around her.
When Qi Bingzhi saw Qi Changyi, she was stunned for a moment. Although she knew that Qi Changyi had returned, she did not expect to see Qi Changyi here.
When the chief eunuch saw Qi Bingzhi, his eyes looked somewhat contemptuous. Without even a greeting, he walked down the stairs in two or three steps and came in front of Qi Bingzhi.
"Princess, why are you here again? The emperor just went to bed. You've come at a really bad time. Besides, it's getting late now. Why don't you go back first? If you want to see the emperor, please come earlier next time."
Qi Bingzhi's eyes slightly moved away from Qi Changyi, "Eunuch, but I came a little early last time, and you also said that the emperor was dealing with government affairs and asked me to come later. So when should I come to see the emperor?"
The eunuch looked embarrassed. It was not that the emperor did not have time, he was just looking for an excuse to avoid seeing Qi Bingzhi.
"I don't know about this. My opinion does not count in the emperor's arrangements. I am just following his orders. I hope the Second Princess will not embarrass me."
The eunuch bowed to Qi Bingzhi, completely blocking her way.
Qi Bingzhi looked at the bedroom with a somewhat desolate look, and finally put away his emotions and said, "I know, thank you for the message, eunuch. I will come to visit my father another day."
After saying this, Qi Bingzhi turned and left.
Qi Changyi looked at her desolate and lonely back, a little absent-minded.
"Your Highness, Your Highness?" the old eunuch shouted, "The Second Princess has left. Let's go in."
Qi Changyi asked, "Father-in-law, is my second sister having a bad life?"
The old eunuch said, "Hey, the second princess has come to see the emperor more than once or twice. The princess's husband's family was exiled a few days ago, and now the whole family is having a hard time. I'm afraid they are all starting to rely on the second princess for their survival. The emperor knows why the princess comes, so he always finds excuses to avoid her. Look, it looks like the princess will come again tomorrow."
Qi Changyi didn't say anything. Qi Bingzhi had done a lot of bad things to him, which he remembered and would never forget. But now seeing Qi Bingzhi in such a lonely state, he didn't feel any joy of revenge.
The dark figure was about to disappear when Qi Changyi suddenly ran out of the palace in a hurry.
Seeing this, the old eunuch lowered his voice and shouted anxiously from behind, "Your Highness! Little Prince! Come back quickly, don't run around! Otherwise, Master Pei will blame this old slave!"
Unfortunately, Qi Changyi had already run into the darkness.
Qi Bingzhi's figure was getting closer and closer, but she suddenly turned towards a somewhat remote small courtyard, and Qi Changyi followed her in without thinking.
After running into the small courtyard, Qi Bingzhi's figure disappeared. It was pitch black all around, with only the dim white moonlight shining down, illuminating the surrounding scenery with a layer of white.
Qi Changyi was a little scared. He grabbed his sleeves and called out to the darkness, "Second sister."
No one answered.
Qi Changyi raised her voice again and called out, "Second sister! Second princess! Second princess!"
"Stop yelling," a somewhat cold voice came from behind Qi Changyi. Qi Bingzhi stood behind Qi Changyi without knowing when. "What do you want from me? Do you want to laugh at me, or do you want to show off to me how well you are doing now?"
"No, second sister, I just want to see what you want to talk to the emperor about. I will also come to see the emperor tomorrow, and I can also help you pass on the message."
“No need.”
Qi Bingzhi turned his body to the side, not wanting to look at the little man whose body was covered in a layer of dazzling moonlight.
"You won, you won completely. You only need to fake your death once, and then you can get everything that I can't get, whether it's love, family, friendship, you have it all, but I have nothing, nothing at all, everything is empty."
Qi Changyi shook his head. "No, I didn't mean to laugh at you, nor did I mean to show off. I didn't fake my death. I really fell off a cliff and almost died. If it wasn't for Master saving me,
Qi Bingzhi suddenly revealed a bleak smile, "Yes, you still have a master, a master who can cure all diseases. Look, you should thank me, if I hadn't forced you to jump off the cliff, how could you have gained these things that didn't originally belong to you, right?"
Is it something that doesn't originally belong to you
Qi Changyi frowned after hearing this and bit his lower lip.
It seems to be really like this. If I had not died once, would my father not care about me again? Would I never meet a master in my life? Would Brother Pei not be so kind, gentle and loving to me
Qi Bingzhi saw that Qi Changyi's little face had revealed sadness, and continued, "See, you've also discovered it, if it weren't for me, you would probably still be living a timid and tasteless life like before. Now they all say they love you, but if it was true, why would they let you have the chance to fall off the cliff? It seems that the love they say is just talk, and it doesn't count. Only a fool like you would take it seriously and treat it as a treasure."
“That’s not the case!”
The little man opposite who had been keeping his head down and keeping silent suddenly raised his head, his eyes sparkling with a determined light, as if he was not affected by Qi Bingzhi's words.
"You are wrong. Their love for me is real. I can feel it. Second sister said that love is fake because the love she received was fake. That's why she doesn't believe in love."
Qi Bingzhi's eyes widened, "You, what nonsense are you talking about! What I got is what I deserve, how can it be fake!"
"Yier doesn't know whether it's fake or not, but second sister must know it in her heart." Qi Changyi's little face was serious. He didn't look like a little fool at all. Instead, he looked very smart.
"Second sister, let me ask you, has anyone ever blocked a sword for you? Has anyone ever fed you medicine? Has anyone ever carried you on their back in the snow? Does anyone care whether you have eaten well and slept well?"
Qi Bingzhi was obviously stunned by the question. She opened her mouth but didn't say a word. Instead, her eyes became red.
Qi Changyi clenched his fists and said, "But I have them! So what Second Sister said just now is wrong. These are originally mine, not because of others!"
Qi Bingzhi's pain point was touched, and he seemed a little emotional. "Enough! Stop talking! You said you were not here to show off, but I think you just wanted to take advantage of me when I was down and out, and you did it! Are you satisfied now?"
Her eyes were red, full of hatred, "I hate you, I hate you! I have always hated you! I hate that you took away the person I liked from the very beginning! I hate that you can easily get the attention and love I want! I hate that you have disappeared, but you still want to come back and take away everything that belongs to me! So I hate you! I hate you so much!"
"Look at you now, you look so innocent and kind. If you were pretending, I might not hate you so much. But why are you not pretending? It's as if you were born so noble and pure, while I can only fall into the mud and lie in the darkness. Why? You should hate me. You should hate me to death!"
Qi Changyi took a step forward and said, "But second sister, if you are willing, we can reconcile. I don't want to hate you."
"Reconciliation?" Qi Bingzhi suddenly smiled. "Is it possible for us to reconcile? I don't care whether you hate me or not, as long as I hate you, I can tell you now."
Qi Bingzhi walked towards Qi Changyi as he spoke. When he was in front of him, he stretched out his hand and poked his shoulder, poking harder with every word he spoke.
"I don't want to."
Qi Changyi's shoulder was poked by her sharp nails and it hurt a lot. He kept backing away. Behind him was the cold and hard palace wall with many protruding small stones on it. It would definitely hurt if he bumped into them.
Qi Bingzhi's last poke was so powerful that the little guy was caught off guard and stumbled backwards, about to hit the wall.
Unexpectedly, the expected pain and coldness did not come. Instead, he was held tightly in a warm embrace. With a strong arm holding his waist, the little guy turned his whole body around and fell into the arms of the person in front of him.
Qi Changyi placed his hands on the chest of the person in front of him, raised his little head, and saw the familiar firm chin. His eyes met the gentle gaze that was looking down at him. A great feeling of grievance instantly surged up in his heart. The strength and cleverness just now disappeared, leaving only a delicate and soft little darling.
"Brother Pei"