“It seems that you are also hungry, Father.” Licking his lips, Qi Mingyue asked with a soft smile, “The medicinal porridge tastes good, would you like to eat together?”
Qi Xutian lightly pinched his small face, “You just woke up, I’m really worried you’ll faint again. You should eat well first.”
Who was it that was unwilling to let go of him before? And now, he is preaching like this. Qi Mingyue frowned in dissatisfaction but saw that Father brought the medicated porridge to his (QX) own lips and drank. Qi Mingyue showed a cunning smile and kissed his lips.
Upon feeling Father Emperor open his mouth to deliver the medicinal porridge to his mouth, Qi Mingyue obediently accepted it with his tongue, this inevitably led to them kissing even more deeply before he finally swallowed the porridge.
Seeing him panting slightly, Qi Xutian hurriedly caressed his chest soothingly, “You’re still weak, don’t stimulate me now. Be obedient and drink the porridge, then take a good rest.”
Qi Mingyue shook his head; when he woke up, he indeed felt weak, but it was just because he slept for too long without eating anything. If he was made to sleep again, he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, it would be better to directly knock him out. In short, he was unable to sleep anymore.
So, he sipped the porridge that was brought to his mouth and looked up at Qi Xutian, “MingEr wants Father to feed me.”
Whenever he wants to tempt him (QX), he always calls himself this way. Qi Xutian rarely saw him show such a coquettish look, and suddenly, he felt his heart soften, after all, he couldn’t resist this temptation that was equal to an invitation. Qi Xutian’s gaze revealed his helplessness but there was also indulgence in them as he brought the medicinal porridge to his mouth, sipped it, and raised his eyebrows with a devious smile on his lips. He gestured with his eyes and waited for MingEr to take the initiative.
Naturally, Qi Mingyue would not show any weakness. He promptly approached and unceremoniously began plundering his mouth. Qi Xutian allowed him to wantonly plunder his mouth, but the hand supporting his (QM) body remained in place and he did not let go the slightest bit as he waited for MingEr to be satisfied. Only when MingEr let go of his lips did he smirk and speak, “Although you are awake, you are still weak. Look at you, you’re flushed after doing just this much.”
Qi Xutian caressed his blushing face and let out a low laugh but did not give Qi Mingyue a chance to refute. He took another sip of the porridge and passed it to him, but this time, it was very gentle. The two of them went – one mouthful for me, one mouthful for you – and finally finished it before it went cold.
Ying Ran, who was waiting outside for instructions, noticed that there was no movement inside. She wondered why it was taking such a long time for a small bowl of medicated porridge to be consumed. Could it be that His Highness was too weak to swallow and even found it painful to drink the porridge? She couldn't help feeling nervous; Lianxin gu hadn't been removed yet, after all, it was a scourge. If one day it couldn’t be suppressed, how bad would that be? Unconsciously, she sank into her thoughts only to snap out of it when she heard a call from inside and hurriedly went in to clean up.
When she got inside, she saw the blush on His Highness’ face and His Majesty was hugging him with a smile. It wasn’t known what Ying Ran thought of, unexpectedly, her face flushed red, still, however, her feet didn't stop. As if nothing had happened, she went on to clean up and then sensibly retreated.
Leaving the matter about the Lianxin gu aside, His Highness just woke up and His Majesty hadn’t rested well for the past several days. The scene of the two of them getting along just now made her heart warm up and she really didn't want to bother them.
She beckoned Hong Qi, who was standing close by, shook her head and pulled her out of the palace.
Hong Qi, however, glanced behind with a worried look on her face.
Recently, the rumours about the abnormal star have been rampant in the palace. After the field hunt, the palace has been highly chaotic as some people died and some were injured. The people in the palace knew that Consort An also died in prison, although it wasn’t known whether it was done by His Highness, but who could stop people from speculating? If His Highness really got accused of being the abnormal star, what would His Majesty do then?
The two of them had the same concerns; they shared a look and sighed, both felt worried for their master.
In the bedchamber, after Qi Mingyue was done eating, he gently fell into Qi Xutian's arms. The two lay on the dragon bed and upon smelling the familiar sandalwood fragrance, he felt calm in his heart. After this disaster, Tianyin’s Clear Heart Technique has made some progress, and even the dormant power of Zuizhu in his body had been partially absorbed by the meridians.
Sure enough; the greater the crisis, the more potential of the body is brought out, which helped him overcome the difficulties. He smiled with satisfaction and plunged into Qi Xutian's arms again.
He looked up to see Father Emperor gazing into his eyes and remembered what he vaguely seemed to have heard before he fainted, so he pondered and asked, “Did something happen on that day when there was a fire in the tent?”
Qi Xutian nodded slightly, “Some ministers died, there were also some concubines, princes and princesses who lost their lives. Other than this, there were no other major events.” He spoke while stroking Qi Mingyue's hair, the look in his eyes was faint and appeared rather unconcerned. He didn't mention that the ministers were killed by him, let alone which princes and princesses died.
Qi Mingyue saw that he did not care, it was evident that the people who died were not valued by Father, “I wonder who died in the fire?”
“Concubine Xiao.” Qi Xutian just answered this one and the look of satisfaction in his eyes made Qi Mingyue understand that father must have ordered someone to make a move, otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence that just when Father wanted her out of the picture, she perished in the fire? It was necessary to know that as a person of An Yang, Concubine Xiao would not fail to understand the way to save her life in another country, and in the event of danger, she would be the fastest to slip away.
“It's a fact that all the civil and military officials in court have seen that Concubine Xiao died in the fire, you don’t believe it?” Qi Xutian nudged his little head jokingly.
“Even if she died in the fire, it was arranged by you. Otherwise, how can there be such a coincidence?” As long as she was stunned and made immobile during the fire, there was no escape. During the chaos, who would notice her? She was doomed to die in the sea of flames long ago.
“Since you already know everything, why are you asking? I don’t want you to bother about others. You don’t need to worry about those things, just take care of your body right now.”
Qi Mingyue ultimately had to lean on Qi Xutian's chest to pretend to sleep soundly. Although he wasn’t tired but upon listening to his steady heartbeat, Qi Mingyue still closed his eyes. Because he did not wake up for the past several days, Father must not have rested well. No matter how strong Father’s skills were, he would not be able to support it, but now that he (QM) was fine, Father should have a good night’s sleep.
On the dragon bed, the two people lay quietly while embracing each other and soon fell asleep peacefully, however, many people within the palace couldn't sleep at night.
Later, only after listening to what Ying Ran and Hong Qi said did Qi Mingyue realize that the field hunt had become a nightmare for many people; the strong smoke, the blazing fire, the screaming and wailing, the chaos were all traumatic. Moreover, not only Concubine Xiao died in the fire, but also the Ninth Prince and his Consort Mother burned together, the Eighth Princess Xi Yu as well as the youngest princess Lian Wu also lost their lives. Besides the minsters that were injured, several other ministers that went into the dungeon as escorts all died by the hands of the Han family’s father and son.
The inside of the palace could be said to be shrouded in a cloud of grief and gloom, and even people outside the palace knew about this. All the spearheads were pointed towards the Han family’s father and son. Han Ziqi, who was released by Father because of his plea, was said to have died at the hands of the guards, so, Han Ji became the culprit and target of public’s accusations.
An Ruolan’s poisoning incident, the fire in the tent during field hunt, the loss of lives of the concubines, prince and princesses, were all counted on his head, and a string of old accounts were added on top of that, plus secretly forming coalitions and conspiring to cause chaos. After all these sins were put together, Han Ji dying hundreds of times did not seem enough.
But Qi Mingyue knew clearly that all these crimes were committed by Han Ziqi, and just because of his words, Father let him go. Although Han Ji was behind the scenes, he did not have the wisdom and ability and that’s why he became the best scapegoat.
But rumours said that the ministers who died in the dungeon did not die under Han Ziqi’s hands but were covertly eliminated by Father. On that day, he clearly saw that the ministers were fine, but he didn’t know what Father did after he fainted. Most probably, feeling afraid that the matter about him committing matricide may leak outside made Father unhesitantly remove those people.
Everything started with him.
In the end, the death of Consort Mother, the death of all those ministers as well as those implicated concubines, princes and princesses all died because of his existence. But since he was already here, it was impossible to reverse the fact that his father removed those ministers for him and he (QM) naturally understood his intentions; compared to those people, he was the most important to Father and he (QX) did not care about others.
It was just that the death of his Consort Mother... He still felt regretful. Father did not mention it, as if he wanted him to forget about it, but after all, An Ruolan was the woman who gave birth to him and died by his hands. Ultimately, he felt indebted.
Now that Tan Wu’s words had been fulfilled, I’m afraid that the matter regarding the alien star could no longer be covered up. Soon, there would be a lot of disturbance and it would stir up a storm, however, he didn't have the slightest worry. Father and him would not be knocked down by a few words; what would happen to fate depends on the choice of the person who controls his own destiny.
As for An Yang, since there was no mention of Han Ji’s collusion with the enemy, Concubine Xiao’s identity was never revealed. The world did not know that the recent chaos was related to An Yang, Qi Xutian didn’t mention anything. An Yang probably panicked and although it did not know the depth of the inside story, it sent a large number of treasures to express its regret and concern about this matter. This time An Yang didn't get any benefits; not only did it lose its mole, namely Concubine Xiao, but it also lost a lot of money, which could be said to be a waste of both time and effort.
A few days later, Han Ji and one of his associates gave their heads[1] amidst a lot of denunciation, which quelled the people’s anger. The palace seemed to have calmed down. The great fire caused many positions in the palace to be vacant and Qi Xutian inserted many people working for him which made the situation in court more stable. Cang He, which was already a flourishing nation, became even more proud due to the injection of new blood. It became the head of all countries and no one dared to test its edge.
[1] Beheaded.
After recuperating for a while, Qi Mingyue was allowed to step outside and shortly after strolling in the Imperial Garden, he remembered he hadn’t visited that master of his for a long time. On a whim, he planned to go and pester her, and also intended to ask her for advice regarding the gu.
He brought Ying Ran and Hong Qi to Ranxin Pavilion and whilst looking at the closed door, Qi Mingyue smiled, “You see, my master is inside.”
Both Hong Qi and Ying Ran had long been curious, although they knew that the Empress’ identity was not simple and that she was secretly the eyes and ears of His Majesty's forces in Jianghu, they didn't expect that she would know the art of Tianyin and taught it to His Highness.
Ying Ran revealed her excitement, “Your Highness, the servant would like to discuss this with the Empress and maybe I can come up with a way to help you out.”
When Hong Qi heard this, she hurriedly went up and knocked on the door. A maid revealed half of her face and saw a face she had never seen before, so she said in a low voice, “In compliance with His Majesty's will, the Empress is quietly reflecting behind closed doors and no one is allowed to disturb her. No matter where you came from, please go back soon.” She finished speaking and began closing the door.
Hong Qi smiled at her and stepped aside. The maid saw that standing behind her was the Second Prince and quickly opened the door, “I did not know it was Your Second Highness who came, this servant was too audacious. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”
Qi Mingyue shook his head with a smile and as he walked into Ranxin Pavilion, he asked, “Where is Yao? Is she upstairs again?”
The outer hall was still in a familiar mess, but it appeared very welcoming. Upon seeing Little Black standing on the scaffold and staring at him, he walked up to it and kept eye contact with it while smiling.
Little Black was indeed very intelligent, the warning in his eyes faded and he suddenly spread his wings, circled the room, and landed on his shoulder.
The robe he wore in autumn wasn’t too thick, but the strength of the eagle's claws was huge, so his shoulder was immediately in pain, but Qi Mingyue didn’t care about it and looked at Little Black on his shoulder. He was quite fond of it.
“Mingyue, you are here!” Hearing a cry of joy, Qi Mingyue turned around and saw Jiang Yao standing behind him with a smile, so he said jokingly, “Master, I came to see you.”
Jiang Yao made a gesture as if she was about to fight, but her face was full of smiles, “I said it earlier, don't call me Master. If you do it again, I won't spare you next time.”
“I remember, Yao.” Qi Mingyue nodded and then naturally lay down on the couch, called Ying Ran and Hong Qi to open the window and curtain for him to let the pleasant wind blowing outside come in, “You really went behind closed doors, how can you not even open a window? It blocks the airflow. It’s so stuffy inside, aren’t you afraid of getting sick?”
Jiang Yao's face darkened after hearing this. Although she could not leave and had to stay behind closed doors, she knew all about the affairs of the palace. It was an eventful period recently. She did not want to trouble him with her affairs but could only count on him. Today, he happened to be here, so she took advantage of this opportunity to inquire.
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