It was as if a cold air suddenly invaded from under the skirt.
The skin feels tight and the spine feels cold.
At this moment, for some reason, Mu Fulan's thoughts drifted back to a night long ago that she had long forgotten.
Autumn rain in Bashan, red candle in the west window. That night, the ideal man who had been waiting for many years finally came home.
He seemed to be very fond of her beautiful body and graceful posture. Afterwards, he did not fall asleep immediately, but held her in his arms and continued to love her.
She was shy but also happy to be loved by her husband.
She knew he didn't recognize her. She hoped he could remember their first meeting. She huddled in his arms and mustered up the courage to tell him that three years ago in the spring, he had passed by the old cypress tree on Junshan Mountain and helped her rescue a bird that had fallen off a cliff.
He had apparently completely forgotten about that incident, and after a moment of confusion, he finally remembered it.
He smiled and told her that he was going to visit Yao Weng that day. But he didn't expect that the little girl he met when he went down the mountain was the princess of the King of Changsha.
It turned out that he had already seen her at that time.
Her husband's response was not as enthusiastic as she had imagined, which made her feel a little disappointed, but when she buried her head in her husband's arms and listened to his strong heartbeat, she was overwhelmed by a sense of satisfaction and happiness.
Meeting by chance is what I wish for. Meeting by chance, I wish for you to be together forever. Is there anything better than this
She expected and firmly believed that from now on, she and her lover Xie would live together in harmony and grow old together.
But soon, she found out that the man she married, Xie Lang, was not the man in her dreams of longing for him, whose smile made the world seem to lose its color.
Qi Jia Lingfeng, under her personal supervision, quickly entered the door.
In the following years, Xie Changgeng was rarely at home. He was always so busy, either stationing troops in Hexi or suppressing rebellions in various places.
She was his wife, and had to serve her mother-in-law and take care of the household chores. How could she possibly be by his side
She and he were rarely together and rarely saw each other, only a few times a year.
The only consolation was that she gave birth to Xier the following year.
Xier is smart and lively, the apple of her eye, accompanying her through one long night after another.
She thought her life would go on like this, but she didn't expect that when Xier was four years old, her fate suddenly changed drastically due to an action of her husband.
At that time, the rebellion of the vassal kings in the country had lasted for nearly ten years. The country was exhausted and the people were tired, so her husband finally took action.
Someone secretly reported to the court that Xie Changgeng, the governor of Hexi, was raising troops in the northwest and plotting something bad. The court had been wary of his power for the past two years and wanted to seize his military power. So he raised troops in the northwest, openly rebelled, and headed for the capital.
The imperial court was shaken. The Zhao princes, who had been plotting to gain power and fighting each other for more than a decade, seemed to have sensed the impending disaster. They stopped fighting and, under the persuasion of the King of Qi, reached a temporary compromise with Empress Liu, who controlled the puppet emperor, and launched a joint counterattack to preserve the Zhao dynasty that had been passed down for hundreds of years.
My brother died a few years ago, and my sister-in-law fell ill from missing him and passed away. Mu Fulan took Xi'er to Yuecheng to attend the funeral, but she had not returned yet. Xie Changgeng sent someone to pick her up and take her and her son back to Kuizhou, which was safer. Unexpectedly, an accident happened on the way.
Their whereabouts were exposed, and the imperial court sent troops to raid and intercept them. Mu Fulan and Xier were captured and imprisoned in Pucheng.
The imperial court demanded that Xie Changgeng surrender the city and withdraw his troops immediately on the condition that she and her son's lives be spared.
At that time, Xie Changgeng had just captured the city.
Taking the city of ~ meant that he had opened up the road to his rear base. With this city, he could attack and defend freely, and he could take Shangjing to the south and Luoyang to the east.
Xie Changgeng did not agree to the conditions.
At lightning speed, he sent people to launch a surprise attack on Puyang City, where the Prince of Qi's palace was located, and captured Zhao Xitai, the prince of Qi who was recuperating there, in order to use Zhao Xitai to counter the Prince of Qi.
Zhao Xitai was frail and sickly. He was the only son raised by the King of Qi, so he loved him very much and did not dare to act rashly. The two sides were in a stalemate.
Mu Fulan and Xier became hostages and lived a hard life in Pucheng.
This prisoner lasted for nearly a year.
Finally one day, someone came to save her.
Yuan Handing is here.
After the death of the prince, Changsha State was abolished, but Yuecheng still existed. In the past few years, Yuan Handing has been guarding the last members of the Mu family.
He bribed the King of Qi's men, sneaked into the city, and managed to meet Mu Fulan. He told her that the imprisoned Prince of Qi had died of illness, but the news had not yet spread. Xie Changgeng decided to capture Pucheng as soon as possible and bring her and her son out before the enemy arrived at the city.
Yuan Handing brought her and her son out of the prison late at night, and waited for the city gate to open at dawn, and then he would work together inside and outside to send them out immediately.
Perhaps it was fate that the rescue was discovered before they left the city. The city gates were closed, and facing the fierce pursuit, Mu Fulan asked Yuan Handing to take Xi'er away and try to hide to ensure Xi'er's safety.
She hardened her heart and pushed away her son who was crying and holding on to her clothes with his little hands. She didn't even have time to give him a final kiss and say goodbye. Thus, mother and son were separated, forever parting ways.
She was taken back.
Soon, Xie Changgeng's troops arrived at the city.
The King of Qi also learned the news of his son's death at that time. He was furious and directed all his anger towards Mu Fulan.
During the days and nights of imprisonment, Mu Fulan had long understood that her husband would not stop moving forward because of her.
If she were alive, she would not only be a burden to him, but endless humiliation and torture would also be waiting for her.
The only thing to be thankful for is that Xier was finally protected.
She believed that Yuan Handing would protect Xier and bring him back to his father safely.
When the final moment came, she had no choice but to commit suicide.
Her body was hung upside down on the top of the city wall, swaying in the wind and sun.
Three days later, Xie Changgeng captured Pucheng, massacred the people in the city, and buried Mu Fulan with great honor.
The next year, he occupied Shangjing and killed Empress Liu and the royal family. That day, the blood that flowed from the city gate almost dyed half of the moat red.
The new dynasty was established on the bones and blood of the old dynasty.
The founding emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty was wise and decisive. After he ascended the throne, he abolished the vassal states, reformed the old abuses, and was a man of great talent and strategy, with great achievements in both civil and military affairs. He was admired by people from all over the world.
Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.
That winter, the snow was white. In the capital city, every household had their doors wrapped in mourning to mourn for the empress dowager who had passed away just a few days ago.
The emperor was a filial son. He lost his father at an early age. It was said that when he was young, he had caused the empress dowager to worry and fear. Now he ruled the country and took good care of the empress dowager. Many years ago, the empress dowager had a stroke and had been bedridden for years. Whenever the emperor was in the palace, no matter how busy he was, he would visit her and give her medicine in person every morning and evening. He never stopped. His filial piety won the praise of his subjects. Now that the empress dowager was gone, the funeral was naturally very grand.
Inside the coffin hall, Empress Dowager Qi, dressed in heavy mourning, and with the concubines in the harem, knelt before the empress dowager's coffin and cried until late at night. She was exhausted and almost fainted, then she listened to advice and was supported by palace servants to return to her bedroom to rest.
She had just entered the bedroom and had not had time to sit down when the emperor's trusted eunuch Cao came in with several strong eunuchs.
Eunuch Cao smiled and said that he was here to convey the emperor's instructions.
Qi Lingfeng hurried to greet him.
Eunuch Cao said in a shrill voice, "Your Majesty has decreed that Empress Qi is virtuous and has served the Empress Dowager for many years, and she is deeply loved by the Empress Dowager. Now that the Empress Dowager has passed away, the Empress will be buried with her. When she arrives there, she will serve the Empress Dowager well on my behalf to show her filial piety."
Qi Lingfeng's face turned pale and she could not even kneel steadily. She collapsed to the ground on the spot. It was not until she saw the eunuch take out the rope he had brought that she woke up as if from a dream. She got up from the ground and shouted that she wanted to see the emperor and get everything clear.
Eunuch Cao, who usually treated her with great respect, now had a sinister look on his face. He ordered the eunuch to catch her and said, "Your Majesty is going to see the eldest prince, and will not see you. Queen, what I am saying below is all your Majesty's words. You must listen carefully, or you will end up being a ghost who thinks he was wrongly killed."
He coughed, imitated the emperor's tone, and said coldly: "Qi, do you think I don't know what your brother and sister did to the Empress Yuan? I knew it a long time ago! It's just that the Empress Dowager can't live without you, so I let you live for a while. I let you be the empress for so many years, and I kept your body intact, which can be regarded as repaying your Qi family for saving the Empress Dowager. Now that the Empress Dowager is gone, you are still alive, what's the point of living? Just accompany her in the underworld!"
Qi Lingfeng was shocked as if struck by lightning. At first, she cried out for justice and beat the eunuchs indiscriminately like a madman. But when she heard that her brother had been dismissed from office and was to be beheaded, and that all the hundreds of sons and daughters of the Qi family were implicated, she burst into tears and collapsed to the ground. She kowtowed and said that it was all her fault. She begged Eunuch Cao to allow her to go to the emperor to plead for mercy.
Eunuch Cao had a cold look on his face and ordered the young eunuch to take action.
Two eunuchs pressed Empress Qi to the ground, and the other two took a white silk and wrapped it around her neck.
Empress Qi struggled desperately, kicking her feet so hard that her palace shoes flew out.
The world was prosperous and rich, she led the harem, was extremely noble, and was praised by everyone as a virtuous queen. She lived a proper life and never dreamed that the emperor, who had just paid tribute to the empress dowager with her in front of all the ministers, would suddenly turn against her and be so ruthless.
She never thought of herself as a bad person. Over the years, she was truly filial to Mother Xie and devoted to her brother-in-law, Xie Changgeng. After she entered the Xie family as a concubine, she was also courteous to Mu's daughter and did not take advantage of Mother Xie's favor to disrespect her.
The reason why she did that thing and secretly leaked the news of her and her son's return to the King of Qi was just out of momentary confusion.
She had regretted it a long time ago. Not only had she confessed before the gods, but she had also done many good deeds over the years to make up for her mistakes. When people mentioned Empress Qi, who wouldn't be full of respect and praise her
Now, when she had forgotten about that incident, she had not expected that she would be buried with the Queen Mother as soon as she passed away.
She really didn't know when the emperor knew about it. Thinking that he had remained silent all these years, waiting for the day when the empress dowager would leave, she shuddered and felt like she was falling into the abyss.
Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Has he never killed anyone and stained his blood
She didn't deserve this horrible treatment.
How could she die like this
But how could she defeat these ferocious eunuchs and the death-threatening rope around her neck
Her face slowly turned from blood red to purple, her eyes rolled back, bulged out, and were dotted with blood scars, and her tongue stuck out of her mouth.
After half a cup of tea, her neck was almost strangled and she finally died. She stopped her futile and painful struggle and was strangled to death in this palace that belonged to her just a moment ago.
Outside the palace, the night sky was gloomy, the north wind was howling, and the snowflakes were dancing wildly, as if there were souls weeping and trembling.
That night was so cold.
That bone-chilling coldness seemed to still be invading Mu Fulan at this moment, seeping into her skin inch by inch.
She shuddered, opened her eyes suddenly, and met the gaze of the man beside the beauty bed.
One of his hands had already reached between her legs.
Although he hadn't touched her yet, the sensitive and tender skin on the inside of her thigh could already clearly feel the pressure from the man's hand.
She stared into his dark eyes and slowly opened her legs which were tightly closed to protect herself.
The hem of her pomegranate skirt was also lifted up by her.
A pair of flawless snow-white legs that were usually hidden by heavy skirts were suddenly exposed and exposed to the public eye.
Not only that, she was not wearing a single piece of clothing under her skirt!
The candlelight flickered, her skin was as white as jade, her legs were translucent, her infinite beauty was fully visible, so beautiful that it almost hurt the eyes.
Xie Changgeng's hand suddenly stopped as she spread her legs and lifted her skirt.
His gaze froze for a moment, and finally he slowly raised his eyes and looked at her face.
She just leaned on the beauty couch, holding the hem of her opened pomegranate skirt with both hands, raising her beautiful pointed chin, and looking down at herself who was reaching out to her.
Xie Changgeng stared at her for a moment, and a hint of embarrassment flashed across the depths of his eyes.
He slowly withdrew his hand, stood up straight, stared at her, gritted his teeth, and whispered, "Whore!"
Mu Fulan closed her legs, slowly lowered her skirt, adjusted it, and covered even her feet. She said, "Xie Lang, even if you knew I was like this, would you change your mind and stop asking for marriage in Changsha?"
Xie Changgeng's face twisted slightly, he turned around, strode away, and never looked at her again.