In the thirteenth year of Zhaode, September 14th, the autumn is strong, and the long night is still in the middle of the night.
Chu Ning quietly stood in front of the couch, staring down at the young man with his eyes closed on the couch, dazed.
The man was pale in appearance, handsome in features, and gentle in his eyes, especially when he was tired and closed his eyes, which made him seem more sincere and quiet, and seemed to have a soft power that subconsciously relaxed his vigilance.
However, Chu Ning knew very well in his heart that under his handsome and genial appearance, there was an inside that was almost paranoid and ruthless.
This is the prince Xiao Yu, the husband who has been with her for two whole years.
Everyone said that she could marry into the East Palace and sit firmly in the position of Crown Princess, all because of the Prince's generosity and kindness and his special love for her.
But is this really the case
Her heart seemed to be covered with a layer of fog, which made her dazed, and even her eyes became wandering.
She asked herself, in the past two years, Xiao Yu had indeed treated her well, but the more she did, the more she felt conflicted in her heart.
"His Royal Highness is awake!"
The maid who was waiting suddenly called out, interrupting Chu Ning's thoughts.
On the couch, Xiao Yu's head moved, and he slowly opened his eyelids, revealing a pair of cold eyes, probably because the candlelight in the room was too bright, he subconsciously frowned, and reached out to cover his eyes.
The maid hurriedly fetched the lampshade and put it on the candlestick.
The bright candlelight was sieved by the spun yarn and softened at once.
Xiao Yu put down his hands and looked sideways at the figures gathered in twos and threes in the night outside the hall. Those were all servants of the East Palace, and they were feeling nervous about everything in the East Palace at the moment.
"Is there any news from Tai Chi Palace?"
He slept for a full four hours, his voice full of hoarseness that had not been drunk for a long time.
Chu Ning helped him up and sat on the soft pillow, holding the warm tea handed by the maid and delivering it to him, shaking his head and said, "Since His Highness came back, the Taiji Palace has been under martial law, and Xu Shi will go to the government office with Wei Shangshu. The people who went to transfer Jinwuwei came, but they were a step too late, Jinwuwei had been restrained by the Qianniuwei of the forbidden army, and two hours ago, the East Palace was also besieged, Your Highness, we can't go anywhere."
In this battle for the throne, the East Palace is about to lose.
Xiao Yu lowered his eyes and sipped the warm tea in the cup one by one. After listening to these words, his face was still expressionless, as if he was not affected at all.
Chu Ning did not make a sound of relief, only slightly turned his body to make room, and quietly waited for him to vent. The maid waiting in the room also lowered her head as much as she could, and retracted herself into the corner, daring not to make the slightest sound.
In the dead silence, the warm tea has been drank. Xiao Yu's fingertips gently rubbed the lotus pattern on the wall of the cup, as if he was admiring the beauty of the utensils.
However, the next moment, he suddenly raised his hand and slammed the teacup to the ground.
The porcelain touched the ground and suddenly shattered, making a crisp sound, and one of the sharp fragments flew up, just rubbing the index finger of Chu Ning's left hand.
A short trace was drawn on the green fingertips, and a few drops of blood ooze out.
"I've been planning for so long, and it looks like it's going to happen. I can't think of it, I really can't think of it-" Xiao Yu sat on the side of the couch with his eyes closed, his chest heaving up and down in anger, his originally pale face was stained with a strange red, "The Queen Mother In order to deal with me, he is willing to bring back King Qin!"
Chu Ning didn't speak, the blood from the fingertips just fell on the skirt, slowly infiltrating along the texture of the fabric, and just happened to dye the embroidered white orchid bright red.
She knew that it was useless to say anything else now. Trapped in the East Palace and without military power, she became a fish that others could slaughter on the chopping block. All the prince needed was an opportunity to vent.
After all, no one would have imagined such a thing would happen before today.
…
Great Liang has passed through the two emperors Taizong and Gaozong since Taizu established the dynasty, before it was passed on to the current Zhaode emperor Xiao Lian.
Xiao Lian was not the parent and son of the current Empress Dowager Qi, and because the Empress Qi had nothing to do, he was chosen as the heir before Emperor Gaozong was critically ill.
He is weak and indecisive, does not have much thought in the political affairs, and is afraid of the Empress Dowager Qi. Therefore, for the twelve years since he succeeded to the throne, the political power has always been firmly controlled by the Queen Dowager's party.
More than a month ago, the emperor suddenly became seriously ill and was bedridden. Seeing that his death was getting worse, every day was like a day. In Chang'an City, from the princes and nobles, the important officials of the court, down to the commoners, refugees and beggars, all of them were more or less. It is speculated that a new round of change of the throne is imminent.
For Prince Xiao Yu, this was a great opportunity.
The emperor has few heirs. Apart from the two married princesses, Wu Wanghuan, the only younger brother who could threaten his heir, was killed in the treason case of Concubine Xue three years ago.
The throne seems destined to be his.
However, just when he guarded the Taiji Palace for ten days, thinking that the throne was within his grasp, the Taiji Palace suddenly underwent a palace change.
The almost forgotten King of Qin, Xiao Kezhi, who had been in Ganzhou for fourteen years, suddenly led troops into Chang'an. Yesterday, he surrounded the Taiji Palace, and forced him, the prince, to return to the East Palace from the Emperor's sleeping quarters in the Ganlu Palace.
Now that the Taiji Palace is full of people from the Queen Mother and the King of Qin, it is not difficult to guess what will happen next.
He and the Queen Mother Qi have been fighting openly and secretly for many years. Seeing that they have the upper hand, they can't imagine that they will be defeated by King Qin in the end!
…
"When-when-when-"
The voice of the cloud board came from the direction of the Taiji Palace, like the thunder in the silent autumn night.
The maid, who was quietly bowing to clean up the broken porcelain on the ground, was so frightened that her hand shook, and most of the porcelain pieces that she had collected with great difficulty suddenly scattered again.
"Get out!" Xiao Yu suddenly sat up straight from the couch and yelled at the maid.
After a long while, the silence in the Guangtian Hall was restored after the sound of cloud boards passed.
"Twenty-seven." Chu Ning looked at the dried blood on his fingertips and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, the saint has died."
As soon as the words fell, the ministers outside Guangtian Hall seemed to react at the same time. They knelt down and cried to Xiao Yu in the room, "Your Highness, the saint has collapsed!"
For a time, the cries of everyone lingered in the sky over the entire East Palace, and it did not disappear for a long time.
Chu Ning raised her eyes to look at the blurry figure hidden in the darkness outside the hall, her heart was cold.
None of these people were truly saddened by the death of the saint, and what they thought in their hearts was probably their own end.
The same goes for her princess.
She doesn't care about the saint, the queen mother, or even the prince, all she cares about is herself.
This life, a life she managed to survive, she didn't want to lose at all.
"His Royal Highness, there is news from Tai Chi Palace!"
Outside the hall, some eunuchs rushed in from Jiafu Gate and threw themselves at the door, with cold sweat on their flustered faces.
"The Queen Mother - said to the King of Qin, the sage, the sage's widow, and ordered the King of Qin to Kezhi - to inherit the lineage, please, invite the prince to enter the Taiji Palace tomorrow, take care of the sage's funeral, and prepare for the emperor's enthronement ceremony..."
The voice fell, and there was a dead silence.
Since King Qin entered the capital, everyone had expected today's result, but when they really faced it, they still felt unbearable.
Xiao Yu's face was pale, leaning on the couch without saying a word, but the ups and downs of his chest became more and more violent, and finally he couldn't help it, and he spurted out a mouthful of blood.
"Your Highness!"
The vassals gathered outside the door of the dormitory, exclaiming almost simultaneously.
Chu Ning was standing beside the couch, and there were a few traces on the skirt that had already been dyed with a few drops of blood.
She ignored the dirt on her body, reached out and took out the pill from the wooden box by the bedside, skillfully put it into Xiao Yu's mouth, and took out the handkerchief to wipe the blood on his lips.
Xiao Yu swallowed the pill and calmed down for a moment, only then did the breath in his chest ease a bit.
He slowly raised his head, reached out and caressed Chu Ning's cheek, his eyes flashed a little trance: "A-Ning, go back to the house first, I'll talk to them."
"Here."
She gently turned her head away from his touch, put down the silk handkerchief in her hand, and led the maids out, along the corridor to her bedroom.
"Ma'am," the maid Cui He sent the others away, while she walked beside her in the light of the lamp and spoke softly, "The prince really—isn't there anything I can do?"
She asked obscurely, but the two of them were very clear about the meaning of it - the change of the Taiji Palace, as long as the new emperor was not the prince, the entire Eastern Palace would have only a dead end.
Chu Ning stopped, turned around, and looked back at the direction of the Prince's bedroom.
The gate of the palace has been closed again from the inside, making it difficult to see what is inside. She glanced at the few people who were still waiting outside the hall, and roughly guessed who was going in to discuss with Xiao Yu.
"Is there a way, they are still racking their brains." Her tone was unexpectedly calm, as if she was not a princess and didn't have to live and die with the East Palace.
Cui He breathed a sigh of relief and comforted herself in her heart, as long as there was still a chance, she couldn't give up, just like they came here three years ago.
"Cui He, do you remember three years ago, why did we survive so desperately, and why did I marry into the East Palace?"
Chu Ning raised the forefinger that was cut by the porcelain piece, looked at it for a moment under the dim light, and then pressed his thumb under the wound to exert force.
The wound opened again, and fresh blood broke through the coagulated blood stains, dripping little by little.
"When did the lady hurt her hand?" Cui He was startled, and hurriedly freed up a hand to take care of her.
"It's ready." Chu Ning released his thumb and put his index finger into his mouth to gently hold it until he felt a faint smell of rust fill his mouth before he pulled it out.
For some reason, when Cui He looked at her, she immediately remembered what happened three years ago.
At that time, she had just reached her hair and stood in the dilapidated and leaking house, enduring the bitter cold of winter, trembling all over, while gritting her teeth and swearing that as long as she survives, she will wash away the grievances for her father.
"Miss..."
Cui He's nose suddenly burst into sourness.
Chu Ning turned around and smiled at her, her beautiful and moving face looming in the darkness and the shadows of the lights, it was impossible to see it, only a pair of bright eyes shone in the dark.
"I survived at that time to clear my father's name and give him a clean name. If I haven't done it now, I can't just fall down so easily, at least, not because of him."
Cui He stared blankly into her eyes, only to feel that the fear in her heart seemed to have eased.
For some reason, she faintly felt that the "he" should be referring to the prince Xiao Yu.