As he quickly used the Clear Heart Technique to control the gu, Qi Mingyue showed a bitter smile and spoke in a low, feeble voice with difficulty, "Father Emperor, Tan Wu's words still came true... Although I had no intention of killing her, I still did..." The sharp pain in his chest hadn't been relieved, he barely managed to use the Clear Heart Technique to ensure his life wasn't in immediate danger.
Qi Xutian cradled him in his arms and with a face full of worry, he instructed Liu Yi, "Deal with Han Ziqi. MingEr wouldn't be able to hold on for long, I will go back first."
Hearing Qi Xutian's words, Qi Mingyue tugged at his lapels and said, "Father... wait."
Seeing that he was in such pain and still had something to say, Qi Xutian had to stop in place, "MingEr, what's the matter? It's better to go back first and then talk about it, that way, you'll also be able to have a good rest."
Qi Mingyue, however, gently shook his head, "A life for a life; Consort Mother is dead, let Han Ziqi go." Since she had forgotten everything and wanted to save Han Ziqi's life, he might as well fulfil it. It could be considered as returning her grace of giving birth to him.
Qi Xutian hesitated because of Qi Mingyue's words. Seeing Han Ziqi's appearance at this time, he concluded that he (HZ) wouldn't be able to cause disruptions anymore, hence, he instructed Liu Yi, "Take him out later and let him go."
He turned around to see dumbfounded, fearful ministers standing in front of the door, and narrowed his eyes while revealing a small smile, "Turns out all my beloved ministers are here. Did you all see it?"
All the ministers stared at His Majesty blankly, they were stunned by the cruel smirk on his lips and froze in place. They could only watch him approach unhurriedly as the smirk of his lips became more and more obvious until it turned into an excessively soft and light smile.
His Majesty’s smile and the regret in his eyes made them puzzled. When they came back to their senses, they suddenly realized that they had been sent flying high. His Majesty’s figure stood tall above them and their line of sight was now actually on his feet, His Majesty's eyes then looked down but reflected in them was their own body, still standing in place...
The fallen, decapitated corpses became the last image in their eyes.
"It's a pity that all these ministers were so eager to show their merits that they ended up seeing something they shouldn't have. However, since you all came here to safeguard me, I will not treat you badly. I will certainly issue an imperial edict to promote you all to a higher rank, that should be enough to satisfy you all." Qi Xutian looked at the heads that had fallen all over the floor and with an indifferent expression, handed Yi Hu over to Liu Yi.
This incident of murdering his mother must not be publicized in court, otherwise, MingEr would be condemned. Even if he could keep MingEr, he wouldn't able to gouge out the horrified eyes of the masses and wouldn't be able to block their loose mouths[1]. It was better to get rid of a few ministers rather than hundreds of people. Although these few ministers were lost, there was no shortage of talented people in the world. Cang He could handle their loss for a while; however, no mistakes were allowed when it came to MingEr.
[1] Stop them from speaking whatever they want and from spreading rumours.
When he lowered his head, he saw Qi Mingyue sleeping peacefully in his arms without any oddities and he seemed to be alright; seeing this, Qi Xutian felt relieved.
"Order someone to tidy up this place." He glanced at Han Ziqi as he said this and left without hesitation while hugging Qi Mingyue.
Han Ziqi was holding An Ruolan's corpse, it wasn't known whether his sullen expression carried sorrow or pain, regret or resentment. Having forgotten the prosperity of the palace, An Ruolan was just a little girl who adored her Ziqi ge and he...
First, he recommended himself to the palace, endured the favour under Qi Xutian's body, and felt contempt towards An Ruolan who was greedy and desired splendour and glory. Day after day, he watched the concubines in the harem fight for favour, despised everything while being reluctant, however, he gradually grew used to Qi Xutian's embrace, got used to watching him look imperious in the court, but he was Han Ziqi, not some lowly plaything. He had always been so clean but allowed himself to fall into such a dirty situation, so he hated; hated Han Ji, hated Qi Xutian. If it weren’t for them, how could he have fallen to such an extent?
He always ignored how the strange emotions in his heart came to be, he never let himself think about the attachment in his heart that had materialized towards Qi Xutian, he told himself that it wasn't care, it wasn't love...
Did he love him? No, it was hate!
Wrong feelings were poured onto the wrong person. If you can’t love, then you can only hate - and if you can’t even hate, can’t erase that person’s existence and pretend that nothing ever happened, then it would be better to just die.
Now, since everything was settled, he could die but why did Ruolan protect him with her life? It is really… not worth it.
Stroking her hair soaked in blood, Han Ziqi's eyes were empty.
Looking at the large amount of blood and human heads on the ground, then at Han Ziqi who seemed to have lost his soul, Liu Yi naturally understood what his Majesty meant.
Firstly, he stepped forward to seal the flow of blood from Han Ziqi’s meridians and then ordered someone to throw him into a remote place outside the palace, leaving medicine and food. Seeing that he was still sitting there motionless, he could not help but drop a few words, "His Royal Highness said that you are a man of proud nature, but I don't see it. How can someone who escaped death be proud?”
Han Ziqi's eyes moved slightly, but Liu Yi didn't seem to have noticed anything. After speaking, he didn't look at him again and left.
Outside the palace, the big tent had been burnt horribly and people kept moving about trying to clean up the mess. Suddenly, they saw His Majesty show up with the Second Prince in his arms; he even knelt and began to cry.
Qi Mingyue was in his Father's embrace and vaguely heard the raucous from his surroundings, it seemed that someone had died, but suppressing the heart gu with the power of Tianyin had consumed all his energy, he was barely able to keep it suppressed and had no spare energy to focus on the happenings around him.
Qi Mingyue opened his eyes a little with great effort and saw Father’s concerned eyes, he opened his mouth to speak but before even a word could escape his lips, he fainted again.
Seeing that he lost consciousness again, Qi Xutian ignored the mess around him and ordered Liu Yi, who came later, to handle all the affairs, and returned to the Imperial palace while carrying him.
That’s why, when Qi Mingyue woke up, he suddenly found that the surrounding environment was very familiar, but it was not the bedroom of the palace[2], upon looking carefully, it was clearly the bedroom of the Xuantian Palace.
[2] The palace he is talking about here means the one they stayed in during the field-hunting trip.
"You finally woke up." A familiar, hoarse voice spoke from beside him and he turned to find Father’s somewhat haggard face looking at him, but he couldn’t speak and felt weak like a cat.
What happened?
Seeing his puzzled eyes, Qi Xutian shook his head, "You don’t know how long you’ve been sleeping, but I was anxious every day. I was afraid that something might go wrong. For seven days, you relied on decoctions to continue living, I was really afraid that you would never wake up.”
His body was hugged tightly by Father Emperor. Although he could not see the emotion in his eyes, but from his words, he could already detect his (QX) tension. He didn’t expect that he would fall unconscious for seven days. However, the heart gu was very powerful, unfortunately, it seemed to just be temporarily suppressed. If he wanted to eradicate it, sadly, he would have to find another way.
Qi Xutian’s worries were the same as him, but right then, the two of them didn’t mention this matter again. Qi Xutian helped him sit up and saw that his face had thinned down and couldn’t help frowning in distress. He picked Qi Mingyue up, dressed him, ordered their meals to be arranged, and waited for Ying Ran to bring the medicated, light meal. He received it personally and fed the medicated porridge to Qi Mingyue bit by bit.
While drinking the medicinal porridge, Qi Mingyue recalled the things that happened before he fainted and thought of An Ruolan, who ultimately died by his own hands, and couldn't help but look glum. Although he wasn’t kind, he wasn’t a cold-blooded person; An Roulan, after all, was his mother in this life. If possible, he did not want to kill her.
He still hadn’t forgotten the feeling of the blade penetrating through her flesh as he held it. He also clearly remembered how she rushed towards the blade.
He couldn’t tell how he felt when he killed his blood relative personally, he just remembered that Father Emperor had done the same thing. Cang He’s previous generation’s Emperor and his siblings all died by his hands, what was Father feeling at that time? Everyone respects him, fears him, and regards him as an emperor who scorns the world, but did anyone feel sorry for him? If not for being helpless, who would be willing to kill their own parent?
Seeing a thoughtful, gloomy look on his little face, Qi Xutian knew that he was thinking about An Ruolan, so he sighed helplessly, "You tried your best to save her life but who knew she would die for Han Ziqi? No one could have expected it, so you don’t have to blame yourself. Everything that happened to her, she brought it upon herself and others can’t be blamed for it.”
Did Father also comfort himself the same way back then? He was now very clear about the feelings in his Father's heart back then. A powerful man is not ruthless, but the others were so cruel that he had no other choice but to be ruthless. If he wanted to protect himself, he had to become strong; if he wanted to survive, he must remove the threat. Kill or be killed, it was as simple as that.
Reaching out his hand to caress his father’s face, Qi Mingyue’s eyes overflowed with a hint of pain and pity, but he did not speak. He knew that Father Emperor never needed late comfort from others but from the look in his (QM) eyes, Qi Xutian already understood his thoughts, so he patted his cheek in comfort and said lightly, “The porridge is going to get cold.”
Qi Mingyue drank the porridge upon hearing his father's words that had no ups and downs in tone and looked up to find that Father still looked calm, but his eyes held warmth that no one had ever seen.
All of these existed for him; all the thoughtfulness and tenderness were only for him. Since Father was like this, he felt that he couldn’t disregard his own life. Even if his Consort Mother died because of him, he would have to leave it behind because Father was more important to him.
He was a selfish person, so what if he just kept on being selfish?
The emotion in his eyes calmed down as he drank the porridge.
Seeing that he had calmed down, Qi Xutian felt relieved and continued to feed him.
Sitting in Father’s arms while enjoying his thoughtfulness and care, Qi Mingyue thought of what he had just decided, looked up at Father Emperor’s tender eyes and felt his heart skip a beat. A man like Father showed such an expression for him, how could he not love?
"What are you looking at me for? Don’t stop eating.” Qi Xutian saw that Qi Mingyue stopped drinking again and just stared at him obsessively and couldn't help but scolded him in amusement. It was rare for the child to show such an expression, it was really tempting, however, it was a pity as it wasn’t appropriate to do anything at the moment. Qi Xutian pecked his little face with regret, took another spoonful of medicated porridge and brought it to Qi Mingyue’s mouth, “This is a body tonic; it’s refreshing, delicious, and easy to digest. You haven’t eaten anything for several days, so you can only have this first.”
"Are you ready to dine, Father?" He looked up at the sky, it was getting late. Qi Mingyue opened his mouth to drink a mouthful of medicated porridge but didn’t swallow, instead, he caught Qi Xutian’s lips and transferred half of the porridge in his mouth to Qi Xutian's. He was about to retreat, but an arm pressed him from behind, so he wrapped his arm around Father's neck and kissed him intimately. It wasn’t until his body went soft that the entanglement of their lips and tongues ended and the two separated.
Indus: I know, I know, I disappeared for two months, my bad. A lot of things happened and I am still trying to manage everything, but I’ll try my best to stick to schedule now.
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