The news of safety was delivered by the post at an express speed of 800 miles on the road, and after six days and nights, it reached the border of Changsha State.
On this day, more than a month had passed since Xier went north. Zhao Xitai had already returned to Jianghuai, leaving an envoy to wait for Mu Fulan's decision.
Another sleepless night passed. The next day, Mu Fulan summoned the envoy to the meeting hall of the royal palace, gave him a letter, and asked him to go back and give it to Zhao Xitai.
After the envoy left, she summoned Qi Lulin and other officials of Changsha State and rejected their previous suggestion that she should choose the crown prince from the Mu clan.
She said: "Among the clan members, I don't see anyone who can take on this important task. I have never heard of anyone in Changsha who is so anxious about the issue of the crown prince that he cannot live his life."
"Before my brother died, he personally said that he entrusted the people of Changsha to me. You all heard it with your own ears. I have been regent for several years. I dare not say that I have made any achievements, but I have not made any major mistakes. You are all old ministers of Changsha, and your contributions are indispensable. But I don't care what your considerations are for this matter. I hope you will stop here and don't mention it again in the future! Now is an extraordinary period, I will continue to be the regent. I know what to do in the future."
Her words were straightforward and her attitude left no room for leeway.
In the past few years, her authority has grown day by day. In the folks, people have actually regarded her as the heroine. How could Lu Lin and others not know this? Seeing her reply, they walked out without saying a word.
Mu Fulan left Yuan Handing behind and said to him, "Prime Minister Lu suspected that I was going to establish myself as king. My sister-in-law has passed away. They may be afraid that they will be excluded in the future, so they tried to test the waters and wanted to establish a member of the Mu clan who is closer to them. I have no intention of becoming the queen of Changsha. We did not establish a new Mu clan king because we don't want to involve another person in the current situation. Xi'er must not be involved."
"Brother Yuan, Prime Minister Lu and his men hope to form an alliance with the Eastern Court. They are imagining that as long as the alliance is formed, the two sides can work together to resist Xie Changgeng and ensure the long-term survival of Changsha. You also advised me to form an alliance. What do you think?"
Yuan Handing hesitated and remained silent.
Mu Fulan said, "I can actually guess what you are thinking, Brother Yuan. No one knows the three forces in the world better than you. The East Court has little hope of defeating Xie Changgeng. The princes and vassal kings that the King of Qi brought together were originally gathered for profit. If there is no hope of bringing benefits, people's hearts will not be united. Even if Zhao Xitai is capable, he is powerless to change the East Court's congenital deficiency and fatal disease. The King of Zhao's previous departure from the East Court is an example. A court built on quicksand will not go far."
"Our army is united, but we also have a congenital disease. Changsha's territory and population are limited, and the combat power it can support is also limited. If we want to expand the army indefinitely, we must attack, occupy more places, and seize more people and wealth."
She smiled, "The previous kings of the Mu family won a good reputation for their benevolence and righteousness, but when it came to me, I was trapped in my own trap. Since we can't plunder and annex others, our national strength is destined to be limited. To have the current situation, you, brother Yuan, have done your best, and I have also done my best. We must admit that Xie Changgeng's strength is far superior to ours. Brother, you know that even if the two forces work together, it will be difficult to reverse the situation, but you still persuaded me to form an alliance. You know that once Xie Changgeng becomes the emperor in the future, no matter how much Changsha Kingdom gives in, he will never tolerate this country in his belly. You are afraid that my country will be destroyed and humiliated, so you want to try your best to fight again, right?"
Yuan Handing was moved: "It is my incompetence that has failed the princess's expectations."
Mu Fulan shook her head.
"Brother, I've said it before. You and I have done our best. There is no need to blame yourself. Even though we are unable to fight for hegemony, we have not fallen so far. We have an army that can still fight with others. In my opinion, this is already very good. As for the future, I have also considered it..."
She was silent for a moment.
"The world has never had a fixed ruler since ancient times, and the same is true for Changsha. When it comes to the final step, all we can do is to follow the trend. We will seek peace through war and negotiate with him to help him unify the world. He will not refuse. The millions of people in Changsha have supported my Mu family for two hundred years. By saving them from the endless flames of war, this is also a small reward from my Mu family to them."
Yuan Handing stared at her and slowly knelt down towards her.
"Sanmiao has been a barbaric land since ancient times. If the imperial court attacks forcefully, the gains will outweigh the losses. We must weigh the pros and cons. Yuan Handing is willing to protect the princess and let her retreat to Sanmiao and live in peace for the rest of her life!"
Mu Fulan smiled and helped him up from the ground.
"Brother, at least for now, we don't need to worry too much. Xie Changgeng won't make trouble for us. You should also know how I responded to Zhao Xitai in the letter. I am a little worried about them. They have high hopes for the alliance. I didn't respond to him before, and Zhao Xitai is smart, so it's not difficult for him to guess my decision. Xi'er hasn't come back yet, just in case, I would like to trouble you to go out again in person and bring him back."
Yuan Handing agreed immediately and got ready to go out that day.
…
Outside the Huguo Temple, Liang Tuan and others waited outside the mountain gate until the next day. They saw people go in, but a night passed and they still didn't come out. They felt a little worried and were about to go up to ask when they suddenly saw a fast horse coming from the direction of Shangjing, bringing a message.
Liang Tuan asked the others to wait while he went up immediately and reported his purpose. He was led by the monks to the pagoda forest on the back mountain and to the Sifang Zen temple.
Liang Tuan walked in. There was nothing around him, no one in sight, and not even a sound.
The sun was shining overhead, but he felt a bleak silence.
Shangjing was completely under control, Empress Liu and her followers were executed, the somewhat demented emperor was placed under house arrest, and the remaining officials also began to write letters today, vying to pledge allegiance to the new master.
He really didn't understand why the King of Qin would come here late at night to visit an old monk on such an important moment worthy of celebration.
It would be fine if he came, but why hasn’t he come out after a whole night
He walked to the door, stopped, called out, and heard no answer for a long while. He hesitated and said, "King Qin, there is news just now. The leader of the guards who was ordered to escort the young master south sent someone to deliver a message saying that the young master was worried about an ambush on the road, so he stopped halfway and is still in the posthouse in Pucheng."
After he finished speaking, a moment later, he heard a slow and heavy sound of footsteps coming from inside.
The door slowly opened, and he saw a figure appear behind the door.
Xie Changgeng stood there, holding the door with one hand, his eyes dark.
At first glance, the man in front of him even gave Liang Tuan an illusion, as if he had lost all his strength. Even the simplest action of standing was so difficult for him.
In just one night, he seemed to have aged more than ten years.
Liang Tuan was so surprised that he rushed over and stretched out his hand to help him, but he dodged.
"What did you say just now?" he asked in a hoarse voice.
Liang Tuan hurriedly repeated, "Don't worry, King Qin! The young master is fine! The leader sent a message just to inform King Qin of the progress on the road. He said that he would protect the young master and send him back to Changsha safely. If King Qin is worried, I can bring some more people to escort him together!"
Xie Changgeng stood there, motionless.
"Where is he?" he asked.
"Pucheng."
"Pucheng..."
He muttered the place name again, his face distorted and his eyes revealing an extremely strange look.
"I go by my own."
He paused for a moment and suddenly murmured.
Under Liang Tuan's astonished gaze, he let go of the hand that was holding the door, slowly straightened his slightly hunched body, straightened his shoulders, then stepped out of the threshold and strode away.
…
It was another evening, and a ray of setting sun fell on the top of the city wall of Pucheng.
This city, which was besieged by the rebels of Prince Pingyang a few years ago, has now returned to peace. Only when the setting sun, like blood, shrouds the top of the city, can people vaguely recall the tragic scene of that day.
Xie Changgeng arrived here on horseback.
He stopped for a moment outside the city gate, raised his head and looked at the neat row of battlements on the top of the city wall for a long time, then closed his eyes and continued to ride his horse inside.
When he was taken to the post station by the Pucheng magistrate who had rushed over after hearing the news, the young boy was alone in the stable behind the post station. He had just fed his little dragon horse and was combing its mane with a comb himself.
The postmaster brought Xie Changgeng to the stable, stopped outside the door, and looked at the people and horses in front.
The child looked at the little dragon horse with eyes full of love and care. He seemed so focused that he didn't even notice someone entering the stable behind him.
"The young master has been here for a few days. He treats the horse very well and feeds and takes care of it himself every day."
The postmaster smiled and whispered to Xie Changgeng.
It was destined that he and her son, their Xier, would stop in this city that was too painful to look back on.
Xie Changgeng looked at the figure in front of him, and the corners of his eyes gradually turned red.
The man whose life was controlled by power and desire, if he had not suffered backlash while alive, would he have truly felt a trace of remorse towards his wife when he was about to die
He ordered the postmaster to step back, and was about to walk towards the young boy. When he raised his foot, it seemed as if the soles of his feet were weighed down with a thousand pounds, and he was unable to take a step.
The young boy seemed to have sensed something. He turned around and saw him standing at the door of the stable. He called out "Thank you, sir", turned around and ran towards him.
Xie Changgeng finally walked towards him, walking faster and faster, and stopped in front of the young boy.
"Sir, why are you here?" he asked, looking up.
Xie Changgeng lowered his head and stared at the young boy in front of him without blinking. Suddenly, he opened his arms, pulled the boy into his arms and hugged him.
He held her so tightly. The young boy seemed to be unable to react at first and struggled a few times, but soon he stopped and stood still, letting him hold him.
"Thank you, sir. What's wrong with you?"
After a while, Xie Changgeng heard a soft voice asking questions in his ear.
He looked over, unable to look away from the child's beautiful eyes that resembled his mother's.
Before his eyes, the scene of the young man in white slashing his throat with a sword in front of him, vowing not to be his father and son anymore, seemed to reappear.
He thought back to that day when the young boy in front of him was exhausted, had traveled a long distance, and came to Changping Pass alone without telling her, just to tell her that he believed what she said to him and had never had any doubts.
What virtue and ability did Xie Changgeng have, and what had he done to deserve such wholehearted trust in his life
His eyes were red and he slowly loosened his arms and let go of the young boy.
"I'm fine. I just heard you stopped here, so I came over. I'll take you back." He whispered.
The young boy smiled and said, "Sir, you are so kind. I thought that my mother would receive my letter. If she believed you and did not form an alliance with the Eastern Court, the people over there might want to harm me and use me to threaten her, so I simply stopped here to avoid any trouble. My mother will definitely send someone to pick me up. No need to trouble you, sir."
"I really hope I can grow up quickly so I can protect my mother."
"Sir, have you been to the Huguo Temple and seen the elder master?" He seemed to suddenly remember it and asked again.
Xie Changgeng stared at the young boy in front of him.
"Xier, you want to protect your mother, but do you know how to best protect her?" he suddenly asked.
The young boy said, "Sir, I actually know that she can only protect herself by becoming a king, the most powerful king in the world. But my mother is too kind, she doesn't want to be a king. Her first thought is always to protect the people of Changsha."
"What do you want to do? Be the most powerful king and protect her?" Xie Changgeng paused and asked.
The young boy was silent for a moment, raised his eyes, looked at Xie Changgeng and said, "I want to do it."
"Very good. From today on, Master Xie will help you become the most powerful and only king in this world."
Xie Changgeng said word by word.
The author has something to say: Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
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