After persuading Duan Qinxue to leave, Duan Changchuan continued to read the memorials.
The day went on as planned: eating, taking a walk, reading memorial documents, taking a bath, and going to bed.
But there was one thing that was different: Bai Su heard that his period was approaching, so she specially took a set of close-fitting clothes, fumigated them with mugwort, and sent them to his palace.
Although the clothes had been left for a few days and were still covered with the smell of mugwort, and the pheromone smell left behind was almost gone, it was still better than nothing.
So, after nightfall, the Omega, after taking a bath, crawled into the bed curtain with a sweet smell on his body.
Holding Alpha's clothes in his arms, he fell into a deep sleep.
-
Duan Changchuan woke up in the middle of the night, not sure if it was because he was holding Bai Su's clothes or because his period was coming, but his dreams were all about him holding his sister.
When I woke up, I was sweating and my body was a little damp.
The glands are itchy and dry.
I sat at the head of the bed for a while, holding my clothes, my mind still a little confused.
I got up reluctantly and prepared to go out for a bath.
Changle, who was guarding the outer hall, heard the noise and woke up immediately. He asked worriedly, "Your Majesty, why did you get up at midnight? Are you feeling unwell?"
The boy rubbed the glands on the back of his neck and yawned a little: "I feel a little hot. Prepare some hot water. I'm going to take a bath."
"Yes, I will go right away. If Your Majesty feels hot, I will ask someone to bring some ice. It may help cool you down."
The young man waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. I'll go for a walk outside. Come find me when the water is ready."
"Hey, Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. The village is not like the palace. The roads are hard to walk on at night. Please watch your step."
"Yeah, got it. Go ahead."
"yes."
…
After Changle left, Duan Changchuan went outside the palace alone. The night in the manor was very quiet, and the patrolling guards were still there, but it just felt quieter than the palace.
In particular, there are vast forests outside the palace walls, and you can hear the high and low chirping of insects outside the walls.
The young man walked along the path alone without realizing it, and before he knew it, he arrived at an artificial lake outside the temple.
The fragrance of lotus, accompanied by the fishy smell, wafts in the wind.
It feels cool and relieves the restlessness at the back of my neck.
As I walked towards the pavilion, I could vaguely hear voices.
"Why did I get slapped again... Does it hurt? I asked Master for some medicinal oil, saying that I hurt myself. Master felt sorry for me and gave me a big bottle."
"What did you tell your master? Did he believe it?"
"Hehe, I fell down on purpose and told Master that I hit my knee and was limping. Master looked at my knee and gave me some medicine. Don't move, I'll apply it on you. With this bottle of medicine, you'll heal faster if you get beaten next time."
"How can you be so stupid..."
It sounds like they are a pair of mandarin ducks in the palace.
Yi Man, who was following beside him, also heard it and immediately came forward to ask him: "Your Majesty, do you want to deal with it?"
Duan Changchuan shook his head and waved his hand: "No need, please leave first. I will go and take a look."
The young eunuch immediately took a step back, whispered "yes", then bowed his body and said nothing more.
Duan Changchuan approached silently and found that it was a palace maid who looked familiar... She seemed to be from the Queen Mother's palace, but not her personal maid. The other one was a groom who fed the horses, and Duan Changchuan knew him. His pony, Xiuxiu, was fed by this groom. He was a serious and lively young boy, and Duan Changchuan had personally selected him because Xiuxiu liked him very much.
Now, the young boy was holding a bottle of medicine in his hand and applying it on the girl's face carefully.
The girl sat obediently opposite him, closing her eyes and letting him do what he wanted.
"Okay, it should be ready tomorrow. Are you on duty tomorrow? If not, would you like to come and watch me feed the horses? Xiuxiu is very cute, but Your Majesty hasn't visited her for a long time recently, so she's a little sad, and she's been eating less grass lately."
"I don't dare to go there... I just went there a few days ago, and I'm afraid if I go there too often, it will arouse suspicion..."
"Okay then. It doesn't matter. I will report Xiuxiu's recent situation to His Majesty tomorrow. Perhaps His Majesty will come over."
"Um... Fu Liang."
"What's the matter?"
"I'm a little sad... We're in this palace, and I don't know when it will end... I have no control over my life day by day."
"Then why don't you wait for me to beg Master to see if I can find a way to transfer you to the stable? You don't have to do the dirty work, you just need to feed the horses, and I'll do the rest for you."
"No need... It will cost a lot of money to do favors. Let's save some money. Anyway, I'm not close to the Queen Mother, so it's not that hard for me. When we have enough money, we can do some favors and see if we can leave the palace together."
"… good."
A young couple in love sat by the lake and whispered to each other.
As they were talking, they kissed each other.
Duan Changchuan had no intention of listening any further, nor did he want to disturb them, so he turned around silently.
Walking back under the moonlight, I felt that the scene was familiar. It was like I had experienced it somewhere before... but I couldn't remember anything.
Is this an illusion? But it doesn't seem like it.
When did you see that
It must be an illusion... I can't forget what I experienced.
As soon as these words rang in his mind, Duan Changchuan stopped in his tracks: No, of course he could remember what he had experienced, but he had lost his memory before.
He had been busy fighting the Regent these days, with a troublesome little baby in his belly, poor sleep, and morning sickness. He almost forgot that he had a memory that he had not yet remembered.
Thinking of this, the young man changed his mind and turned to the ear room where Changle and Yiman usually lived.
Yiman didn't know what he was going to do, but he followed him obediently.
"Do you still remember that I once told you that there was something wrong with your master, so I specifically asked you to keep an eye on him? Take out the things your master has hidden. I want to see them today."
Yi Man didn't know that Duan Changchuan had already told Changle about the matter. He thought that Duan Changchuan was going to hold him and Changle accountable for the deception, and he immediately knelt on the ground in fear.
He asked tremblingly, "What...what? Your Majesty, I don't know. You said Master was not right those days, and asked me to look at these. Master said that he was too worried about Your Majesty, and then Master got better after I counseled him... You said Master hid something, but I don't know..."
The little eunuch who almost never lied in front of the emperor, told a lie so false that it was almost as if "I'm lying" was written on his forehead.
Duan Changchuan sighed helplessly.
Previously, because of the lost package of arsenic, Changle searched everywhere and found a letter he had left behind, or rather... a suicide note.
Changle was afraid that after he saw the suicide note, he would remember what had happened and become obsessed with it again, so she kept the note secret.
It was after that day that Duan Changchuan discovered that something was not right with Changle, so he asked Yiman to keep an eye on him.
As a result, Yiman replied to him a few days later and said: Master is worried about many things today, and I have already enlightened him, Your Majesty, don't worry.
By then Duan Changchuan already knew that they were all lying to him.
Now, looking at the little eunuch kneeling on the ground and trembling slightly, Duan Changchuan was speechless: "You go... Forget it, I will find it myself."
As she spoke, she started searching the room with her pregnant belly.
He couldn't reach the cabinet above, so he simply moved a chair over and stepped on it to flip it over.
Yiman:!!!
She was so scared that she put her hands on his waist. She didn't dare to kneel, but it was against the rules not to kneel. Finally, she cried and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, please come down... I beg you! What if something happens... I know where it is. I will get it for you. Please come down quickly, I beg you..."
The boy then patted his hands that were dirty and got down from the chair.
After a while, Yiman took out a small box from one of the cabinets.
When I opened it, I saw an envelope inside, and on the envelope it was written: From Changle himself.
Duan Changchuan recognized it at a glance: it was written by him.
When I opened the letter, the first line was: Changle, it’s nice to see you in person.
[If you see this letter, I am no longer here.
I have been in this world for eighteen years, and I am lucky to have you accompany me for more than ten years. Now I am leaving this world, please do not grieve or miss me.]
The handwriting in the letter was familiar. After reading just a few sentences, Duan Changchuan felt as if someone had suddenly injected a scene into his mind...
He saw himself sitting in the Mingsheng Temple writing this letter on the eve of his wedding.
It was very cold that day.
The plum blossoms in Shengjing have just bloomed, and a new snow has fallen...
The Queen Mother invited many people to go to appreciate the plum blossoms and asked him if he wanted to go... He refused, sent away Changle and the secret guards, and wrote this letter alone in the study.
But why write this letter
The boy held the letter's hand and curled up tightly...
Because, that afternoon, he couldn't resist his curiosity and secretly left the palace to see the "eldest daughter of the prime minister."
[I heard that the girl named Bai Su was bullied by the main wife in the prime minister's mansion since she was a child. She is also a pitiful person... Well, if... if she has a pure heart, I will treat her better in the future. I am the true dragon emperor. Even if she is a puppet of the uncle king for the rest of her life, with my protection, she will definitely live a better life than in the prime minister's mansion.]
This is what he thought in his heart that day.
But when he arrived near the prime minister's residence, he was still thinking about how to see her quietly when he heard the woman crying.
Following the sound, I turned into an alley and saw a handsome young man talking to a young girl.
The girl covered her face and cried, gasping for breath.
"Susu... If you are willing, Lin can take you away today. There is no place for you in Shengjing, so you and I can go to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If Jiangsu and Zhejiang don't work, we can go to the northwest. If that doesn't work, we can go to Datong. So what if he is the prime minister? Can he reach out to other countries to arrest you? As long as you are willing, as long as you want, Susu..."
"Stop talking... Muzhi, stop talking... My father is the prime minister, so maybe it's not enough evidence, but the one in the palace is the current emperor. If I end it today, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the entire royal family... Muzhi, we can't escape, that's His Majesty..."
"So what, Your Majesty? Everyone knows who is in charge of the world in Datong now. He can't even deal with a small regent, how can he control the world? Susu, do you believe me? If I say we can escape, we can escape. I will definitely help you do what I said, Susu! Don't you believe me?"
The girl cried and pushed him away.
"But I don't want to escape! Lin Muzhi, I don't want to escape... Why do you think I want to live a life of hiding with you, and don't want to enter the palace to be a queen with wealth and glory for the rest of my life? Lin Muzhi, who do you think you are... Can't you see it? The Bai Su who was bullied by others is dead. When I enter the palace and marry His Majesty, I will be the queen who rules the country. Why do you think I will still like you?"
The girl cried out, and the moment she pushed the young man away, her wrists were wrapped in white cloth.
Blood oozed from the cloth and dripped onto the ground...
The red is blinding.
But the young man who was pushed away seemed to have been seriously injured. He looked like he had lost his soul and stared blankly at her face.
It was that day, before the wedding.
The two of them struggled for a long time in the deserted alley.
The woman clenched her sleeves tightly, not letting even a drop of blood flow down, and cursed her beloved lover away...
Flakes of white snow fell, covering the blood drops on the ground.
…
That day, the ragged girl knelt on the ground and cried her heart out...
The servants from the prime minister's residence hurriedly carried the man away...
The sounds of abuse and scolding gradually faded away with the girl.
Everything was silent again.
Only Duan Changchuan came out with heavy steps, his fingertips gently brushing the newly covered snow on the ground... looking at the dazzling crimson below, he was distraught.
The author has something to say:
Let me explain a little bit. The reason why Susu scolded Lin Qing like this is because...
If they ran away, Lin Qing's career would be ruined.
In Susu's eyes, Lin Qing was destined to be the top scorer, but he failed to enter the palace examination last time for some reason, and she had been waiting for four years for this. Susu was reluctant to see him ruined like this.
-
I was born in the mud, so let me sink in the mud.
And you are the mountain breeze, the white snow, the clean bamboo and pine that should stand in the mountains and valleys.
—SuSu’s biography.