Tan Yixi nodded, indicating that he would remember the humiliation today.
Mu Lin brought him to the reception room and let him watch with his own eyes as she and Emperor Wu signed a pledge to each other's country's destiny.
For the first time, Emperor Xuan realized that he was so incompetent and weak that he could not protect what he wanted.
Before leaving, Emperor Wu said that he hoped Jingsheng would cooperate with Daqin and release the news of the marriage between the two countries as soon as possible. The Daqin envoy who was still in Jingsheng would propose marriage again, and the wedding would be officially held one month later.
"I only have one sister, and I want to give her the best of everything. The Qin Dynasty's move was too hasty and we didn't have time to prepare properly."
The marriage was a done deal. Emperor Xuan's words were sincere, and Emperor Wu didn't want to go against his brother-in-law's wishes, so they finally agreed to pick up the bride on an auspicious day two months later.
Mu Lin just watched them talking indifferently the whole time, his thoughts had already drifted thousands miles away.
She sold herself, she thought.
When she came to her senses, Emperor Wu had already left. Emperor Xuan personally poured her a cup of tea, placed it in front of her, and whispered, "Sister, will you regret it?"
"Regret is meaningless." Mu Lin took a sip of tea, his expression showing a bit of vagueness.
She reincarnated as a mortal not to disrupt the world. If she could only choose one between the people of the world and Xiao Muyun, she would choose the people.
She couldn't change her master's fate in this life, but she would bear all the pain with him.
Birth, aging, sickness and death, separation from loved ones, resentment and hatred, and failure to obtain what one desires... Who can escape from this as long as one is a mortal
No one can escape.
She couldn't escape either.
Emperor Xuan looked at her and had the illusion that she was not of this world.
His sister was sometimes like a fairy, and her emotions were too bland. She was forced to marry someone she didn't like and was separated from her beloved, but she didn't feel sad at all.
He could feel that she was not pretending to be indifferent, but was really calm and not feeling very painful about it.
That's good too.
People are born unhappy and will probably remain unhappy until they die. The indifferent nature of the imperial sister is a blessing.
Mu Lin didn't know what he was thinking, and she wouldn't care even if she knew. After drinking half a cup of tea, Kou Ying came over to report that the carriage was ready.
It was time for them to leave. Along the way, Mu Lin refused to ride in the same carriage with Emperor Xuan, and instead fell behind Emperor Xuan's carriage, wanting to be alone and quiet.
Emperor Xuan understood that her mood was not good no matter what, and he expressed his understanding considerately.
Mu Lin sat alone in the large and comfortable carriage, with a blanket covering his legs, and fell asleep unknowingly.
In the dream, Xiao Muyun looked at her with disappointment, holding her shoulders tightly with both hands, and painfully questioned her why she broke the agreement. She couldn't say a word, but just stared at him blankly.
The person in front of her eyes gradually became blurry, and more and more blurry, and she couldn't even make out the outline of his face... Suddenly, something fell from her eye sockets, and a warm line slid across her cheek, gathering wetly at her jaw, and splashing onto the ground, drop by drop.
It turned out that she was crying in her dream.
After realizing this, Mu Lin suddenly woke up. She opened her eyes and looked at the gorgeous car ceiling, unable to speak for a long time.
This is probably what sadness is.
No, there was one thing she forgot to do. She should write a letter to Xiao Muyun. She hoped that her letter would arrive before the news of the marriage reached Tianlan... In fact, Mu Lin didn't know what the meaning of doing this was. Because she really betrayed the oath between them. Maybe after reading the letter, Xiao Muyun would feel even worse.
But she had to find something to do. When she woke up from the dream, countless bad negative emotions fermented and almost tore her to pieces.
Mu Lin reluctantly wrote a long letter in the carriage. After finishing it, he read it over and felt a little better, but then he crumpled it up and threw it away.
I picked up the pen again and wrote a very simple letter this time.
Things are unpredictable, I want to marry someone else.
She started with just these eight words, then briefly explained the situation and mentioned that she would be going to Tianlan in a while.
Mu Lin folded the letter and sent it by carrier pigeon.
Her mood seemed to become a little more open as the white doves flew into the blue sky.
That's it for now, she thought.
A few days later, they returned to Jingsheng Imperial Capital.
Mu Lin asked Emperor Xuan: "Has the princess's mansion been renovated?" Emperor Xuan nodded, so Mu Lin moved out of the palace and lived in the newly renovated princess's mansion.
"During the last period of time, sister, are you unwilling to spend more time with me in the palace?"
Mu Lin's answer was ruthless: "Your Majesty will have to get used to it sooner or later. Your most loyal partner is only the imperial power."
Emperor Xuan's smile was gentle and brilliant. "The imperial power may betray me, but my sister will not."
Mu Lin believed that what he said came completely from the heart. The more so, the more ironic it felt to her.
Mu Lin said suddenly: "But from the very beginning, Your Majesty has been thinking about pushing the imperial sister away." She would not betray Emperor Xuan, but Emperor Xuan would betray her.
With Mu Lin's intelligence, even if she couldn't react for a moment, she would eventually figure it out - the role Emperor Xuan played in this matter.
Did Emperor Xuan really know nothing about the 300,000-man army sneaking into Jiaxiu Pass? Was the 800-li urgent report that arrived a day late his most basic means of intelligence
Stop it.
In her game with Emperor Wu, Emperor Xuan, as her most important ally, remained silent. He allowed her to be pushed to the bottom and had to marry Daqin.
On the surface, he did nothing, but secretly fanned the flames and easily got everything he wanted.
The three forces competed, and they all achieved their basic goals one by one, and she was the only loser.
"It's not surprising that he has reached a tacit understanding with Emperor Wu of Qin. Perhaps in the eyes of the emperor's brother, the role of the emperor's sister has been fully played. Once she marries far away, there will be no more trouble forever."
How could a princess who shared power with him be as harmless as a princess who married far away? This was the maximization of benefits. This was the emperor she had raised.
Emperor Xuan looked at her in shock and extreme disappointment.
"Royal sister, you can't think of me like this! I said that as long as you give up Prince Hengyang, I, I will even build a princess's mansion for you. How could I expect you to marry far away?"
Mu Lin looked at him quietly. She had brought him up, so how could she not notice his abnormality
I felt more and more disappointed.
She taught him the mind of an emperor, but she didn't teach him to sacrifice everything by any means necessary. He is still too young to understand it now, but when he wins the world and loses the hearts of everyone around him, he may understand it.
This is the emperor.
"I finally know..." Mu Lin's voice stopped abruptly. He waved his hand tiredly and said softly, "Forget it. The emperor sister is gone."
"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."
Emperor Xuan sighed, gave up his excuses, and said disheartenedly: "Imperial sister, will you come back?"
"Do you hope that the royal sister will come back?" Mu Lin asked back.
"Of course." Emperor Xuan's answer caught up with her last words, as fast as a knife.
Mu Lin smiled and said, "Of course, the Queen Mother is still here."
Emperor Xuan looked at her receding back and thought to himself, apart from your mother, what else is there worthy of your attachment
The princess's mansion was decorated elegantly and luxuriously, and many rare treasures were taken from Emperor Xuan's private treasury, reflecting the prosperity of the current era everywhere, which was amazing. However, Mu Lin felt that it was a bit empty, so after thinking about it, he sent a female official to the palace to ask for the lily of the valley.
Faced with the little request of the imperial sister, Emperor Xuan naturally agreed readily. He did not deliberately place people in the princess's mansion to avoid provoking the overly sensitive nerves of the imperial sister. As for the lily of the valley, it was the imperial sister who asked for it herself.
If she wants to marry into the Qin Dynasty, she does need to be taught some rules, a dark look flashed across Emperor Xuan's eyes.
Zhuo continued, "Her Royal Highness the Princess said that Linglan was personally chosen by the late Emperor. She will be hers from now on. Your Majesty, don't worry about it."
Emperor Xuan's pupils shrank slightly and he remained silent for a long while.
This was the emperor's sister's warning to him. She was telling him that she was not completely ignorant of the late emperor's arrangement for Linglan, or his use of Linglan to monitor her movements.
The thin scar that he thought was invisible had been torn into a bottomless abyss while he was trying to cover up the truth.
Tan Yixi suddenly thought of the broken porcelain in his childhood and the imperial sister who was half-kneeling to treat his wounds. He had never realized so deeply that his relationship with the imperial sister was like broken porcelain, which could never be restored to its original state.
The first thing Mu Lin said when he saw Ling Lan was: "Go and apply medicine. The princess's mansion doesn't want to keep useless people."
The sweat on Linglan's forehead was about to fall. How could the princess know that she was injured? She behaved like a normal person.
She didn't dare to ask, and Mu Lin naturally wouldn't explain. He lowered his eyes and continued to practice calligraphy, holding the pen in his bare hands, writing smoothly and gracefully like the moon reflected in the water.
The medicine in the princess's mansion was top-notch. After five or six days, Linglan was no longer in danger and followed Mu Lin like a shadow.
"From now on, you are my servant. His Majesty does not need you to report to him anymore."
The princess knew that she was sent by Emperor Xuan to monitor her.
Linglan's pupils shrank, cold sweat instantly seeped down her back, and she quickly knelt down to apologize.
Mu Lin looked at her thoughtfully, and typed word by word: "Your Majesty, or the order of the late emperor, it doesn't matter. You are my..."
"I understand." Linglan knelt on the ground respectfully.
"You are mine." Mu Lin emphasized softly, with a barely visible trace of sadness in his eyes.
"Yes." Lily of the Valley raised her head and answered her master firmly.
She didn't understand the princess's feelings, and she would never be able to experience that kind of sorrow.
Mu Lin sneered. In the end, her father was on guard against her, her brother was on guard against her, and with a slight push she was sent into another golden cage.
In the end, she stubbornly wanted to prove that the little girl who was chosen at first sight when she stood beside Emperor Ming was hers, not Emperor Xuan's.
As if in this way, the broken heart can be comforted a little.
Before Mu Lin set off for Tianlan, she went to the imperial mausoleum again. She stood in front of Emperor Ming's tomb for a long time, but in the end she didn't say anything.
He left the lily of the valley to Emperor Xuan. Did he know that there would be a day when his interests would conflict with hers and he would use it to trick her
However, Mu Lin no longer knew the answer.