Chapter 28 Section VII

Princess Yong'an strode towards the threshold proudly, but once she entered the room, her arrogance collapsed. Pei Xuanjing let her sit on the couch: "Please sit down, Your Highness the Princess." "No, I'll just stand here." Yong'an stood by the door with a pale face, refusing to take another step inside. She asked Pei Xuanjing in a trembling voice, "You...do you know everything?" Recently, they avoid each other, under the same roof of Yuchen Temple, but they don't communicate with each other until death.Early this morning, when Pei Xuanjing passed Yong'an on the corridor, she stuffed a small ball of paper into her hand.On the ball of paper was written: "The truth about Yongzhen, visit at noon."

After the note was sent out, Pei Xuanjing spent several hours waiting.She remembered that when she first arrived in Chang'an a few years ago, she was chosen by Wu Yuanheng as the riddle solver by accident. , to be Changji's bride.On the day of departure, my uncle prepared a simple dowry for himself and told her: Do what you want to do and leave the result to God. Turning around to the present, Pei Xuanjing finally understood a truth: God is neither as fair nor as kind as imagined.God plays tricks on everyone. From now on, she will no longer trust anyone, and will no longer submit to God's arrangement.

Even if the ending is already doomed. Relying on "Xin Ping Shangxian" and the changed character "Tui Bei Tu" thirty-third image, Pei Xuanjing came to the conclusion that the emperor killed his father.But this conclusion is too appalling after all.After thinking over and over again, Pei Xuanjing still felt that the emperor could not be convicted by reasoning alone.She also needs real evidence. The evidence was already in her hands - pure hook.But now Chungou has belonged to Nie Yinniang.After the first battle in Caizhou, Pei Xuanjing never heard any news from Nie Yinniang again.She probably really has withdrawn from the arena.If Chungou disappeared with Nie Yinniang from then on, Pei Xuanjing would not feel regretful.

Pure hook is a murder weapon, but for Pei Xuanjing, it is a token of love, the first and most true witness of an emotion in life.She still can't figure out what caused Chungou to come to her in such a strange way, but since it has left, forgetting each other in the world may be the best way for her to say goodbye to it. In other words, Pei Xuanjing would rather not have Chungou as evidence. She still has witnesses, at least one. From Princess Yong'an's words and deeds, Pei Xuanjing was sensitive to the fact that she knew the inside story of the late emperor's death.Princess Yong'an's fear and hatred of the emperor was not simply caused by being forced to make a marriage.Pei Xuanjing also thought that Princess Yong'an must also know about Chungou, maybe she also knew that Chungou had been transferred to Changji's hands, that's why she was so surprised when she heard about Pei Xuanjing's engagement with Changji.

Pei Xuanjing decided to invite Princess Yong'an directly. She wrote a vague note, as long as Princess Yong'an had a ghost in her heart, she would be able to understand it. Princess Yong'an really came, with a terrified expression, standing at the door as if ready to run away at any time. "You know everything?" she asked again. Pei Xuanjing nodded slowly. "What do you know?" The princess's words were already crying, making her description even more sad. After all, it was the tragic death of his biological father! Pei Xuanjing asked straightforwardly: "Didn't the late emperor die of illness?"

Princess Yong'an took half a step back and hit the door heavily with her back.She just leaned against the door upright, tears trickling down from her wide-open eyes. Pei Xuanjing said: "His Royal Highness—" "No! Don't come here!" Princess Yong'an shouted, "Tell me, how did you know?" Pei Xuanjing spoke after deliberation: "It's the princess..." "You nonsense! I didn't say anything! I didn't say it!" Yong'an was already shouting. "Your Highness, please keep your voice low!" Pei Xuanjing had to stop her, "You will be heard by others!"

"I didn't say that! I didn't tell you! No!" Suddenly, Princess Yong'an turned around and ran out. The maidservants in Yuchen Temple watched helplessly as Her Royal Highness the princess ran away like a crazy woman without manners. Less than half an hour after Princess Yong'an left, Pei Xuanjing was summoned to Qingsi Palace.Standing on the high imperial steps, she looked back at Taiye Pond.There are several long cracks on the crystal plate-like ice surface. When looking down from the top, it is a bit shocking. The wind blowing head-on is no longer as cold as it was a few days ago.Pei Xuanjing took a deep breath, feeling a subtle warmth in her heart.Another spring is coming, repeating itself, unstoppable.She smiled to herself.

This time, the emperor did not order anyone to take away the Khotan jade plate.As a result, not only was it colder in Qingsi Hall than outside, it was even colder than any other day in this winter.When Pei Xuanjing walked into the solemn and silent hall, she seemed to hear the screens and curtains all over the hall trembling in the severe cold.She knelt down straight in front of the imperial couch, and the ambergris immediately surrounded her. "Yong'an told me, you already know." "Princess Yong'an?" Pei Xuanjing was taken aback for a moment, then relieved.In order to absolve herself of responsibility, Princess Yong'an simply reported Pei Xuanjing to the emperor.Pei Xuanjing was not surprised that fear would make people do any extreme things.With Princess Yong'an's selfishness and cowardice, she would not hesitate to betray anyone.

She replied calmly, "Yes, Your Majesty." Looking up to see the emperor's face, Pei Xuanjing was startled.He was much more haggard than when we met a few days ago.In Pei Xuanjing's impression, only seriously ill people would decline so rapidly.She saw the icy mist emanating from the jade plate again, and her heart still couldn't help trembling.In the glorious Daming Palace, what was happening around the emperor was far more sinister than she had imagined. Perhaps this is retribution.Thinking of this, her inner peace was restored. "What do you know?" "What Her Royal Highness says is what it is."

"She said you knew about Yongzhen's past." The emperor's tone was strange, not particularly angry, but rather sad. Pei Xuanjing bowed her head and remained silent. "How did you know?" "Your Majesty let the concubine know." "I?" "It's the Veritable Records and Inner Biography of Yongzhen that His Majesty showed to my concubine, and the other is...God's will." Until now, the various performances from Princess Yong'an to the emperor have completely corroborated Pei Xuanjing's judgment, and she is absolutely sure of her reasoning.After Yong'an left, Pei Xuanjing thought about it from beginning to end.Sooner or later, the emperor will summon himself and ask for an explanation of the meaning of the thirty-third image variable.If the emperor's crime of killing his father was directly exposed, Pei Xuanjing would have no way out.

She is not afraid of death, and even looks forward to it.Starting from the midsummer in the tenth year of Yuanhe, in less than five years, she lost first Changji, then Cui Miao, and finally even Chungou.When she encouraged Princess Yong'an to smash the fake jade dragon son two years ago, Pei Xuanjing was already ready to die.However, the whereabouts of He Niang and Li Mi were unknown, and the mystery of her life experience that Cui Miao finally entrusted to her made Pei Xuanjing persist in the Daming Palace for another two years.Living like a prisoner, with no dignity, no future and no freedom, such a life is not attractive to Pei Xuanjing.She has had enough. To her comfort, Han Xiang took Li Mi away.It's ridiculous to think about it, and now she only owes the emperor alone. Why not take this opportunity to end everything? He didn't expect Yong'an to betray himself so quickly.But she could still take her chances and finally do something— Pei Xuanjing wanted to help Duan Chengshi get rid of his bad luck, and also wanted to force out the mystery of Cui Miao's life experience.Regarding Cui Miao's life experience, the emperor once sent old doctor Zeng to give her an answer, but Pei Xuanjing didn't believe it at all.The time is too short, maybe we can't achieve both, but what about one of them?You can also tell yourself something.Fortunately, in the conversation between her and Princess Yong'an, no one directly said those two words: patricide!So there is still room to maneuver. Pei Xuanjing made up her mind, and there seemed to be a smooth road ahead.This road leads to the truth, to the other side, to the eternal faith. Pei Xuanjing raised her head and said loudly: "Your Majesty, God's will shows that the late emperor did not die due to illness." "Oh, why is that?" The emperor's voice was also quite steady. "I don't know." "You don't know?" "A concubine only has the interpretation of God's will." "Say." "The thirty-third image of "Tui Bei Tu" was revealed in Lingyan Pavilion, and two words were changed in the poem. After my concubine's push and research, the poem after the word change explained: the first imperial edict called collapse in the first year of Yuanhe On Yimao Day, in order to cover up the real cause of his death, there was such a thing as moving the funeral that violated the ancestral system. Just like..." She gritted her teeth and continued firmly, "Just like when Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty killed his father and usurped the throne, the same The crimes committed in this dynasty have happened again." For a long time, there was silence in Qingsi Palace.Pei Xuanjing seemed to hear the sound of ice melting in the Khotan jade plate, or the sound of blood congealing.Finally, she heard clearly that it was the fairy copper leak that kept ticking—time was passing. "Are you saying that I am Emperor Sui Yang?" "No!" Pei Xuanjing kowtowed, "This is just God's will interpreted by my concubine." There was another suffocating silence, endless. Suddenly, the emperor said: "The late emperor did not die due to illness, you are right." Pei Xuanjing couldn't help raising her head to look at the emperor, just in time to see a sinister smile on his lips. "It's a sign from the heavens—the heavens are always right." He looked down at her, "Now I will tell you why the late emperor died." A piece of paper fluttered down in front of Pei Xuanjing. "Look," he ordered. Pei Xuanjing picked up the paper, and just glanced at it before feeling dizzy. It was Cui Miao's handwriting, unrestrained and unrestrained, romantic and confident.It should still be a prescription, but it is different from the prescriptions that the emperor has given her.Those prescriptions were all written on powdered paper specially used in the palace, but this prescription was written on an ordinary piece of yellow paper. The emperor asked, "Did you recognize it?" "...Is this also the prescription Cui Lang wrote for the Empress Dowager?" "No, this prescription was left by thief Cui in a pharmacy in the West Market before he escaped from Chang'an." "Songqing Pharmacy!" Pei Xuanjing exclaimed. "That's right, it's the Song and Qing medicine shop. After the thief Cui was killed, the shopkeeper Song Qing was afraid of the national law, so he handed over this prescription to Dali Temple, and then Dali Temple presented it to me." After a pause, the emperor asked, " Don't you want to know what kind of prescription this is?" "Please make it clear, Your Majesty." "It's poison." "poison?" The emperor said word by word: "This is a rare poison that is colorless, odorless, and imperceptible. The former emperor was killed by this poison!" Pei Xuanjing's mind went blank for a moment, but then she came to her senses again: "At the time of Yongzhen, Cui Lang was just a ten-year-old folk boy, how could he poison the late emperor! This is absolutely unbelievable!" The emperor said coldly: "Cui Thief's mother used to be a female doctor in the palace, and she has several hereditary prescriptions. One of them is this kind of poison. After she poisoned the late emperor, she managed to escape from the palace because she was afraid that her crime would be exposed. She gave birth to evil seeds outside, and passed the prescription to him. And he tried to use these prescriptions to sneak into the palace and harm the empress dowager. After being found out by the empress dowager, she ran away in a hurry. In the end, she was killed by Pei Aiqing's arrow, and could only It is said that the law of heaven is clear, and there will be more than one death!" Pei Xuanjing's eyes were pitch-black. Having experienced the deaths of Changji and Cui Miao, she thought she could bear any heart-wrenching pains, but unexpectedly, this would happen again... Swallowing the salty smell from her throat, Pei Xuanjing calmed down and did not Limp and fainted, but straightened up even more. She raised her head and repeated, "I don't believe it." The emperor sneered: "Hmph, as long as it's my words, you don't believe anything, right?" "No, it's your Majesty's words that don't make sense!" Pei Xuanjing said loudly, "First of all, since Cui Miao's mother is a female doctor in the palace, why did she use the secret recipe handed down from her ancestors to kill the late emperor? Isn't she afraid of things being exposed? Second, Daming Palace The security is so high, how can a female doctor escape? Thirdly, she gave birth to Cui Miao and gave him a prescription, so Cui Miao should stay away from the capital to hide her identity in order to save her life. He is the empress dowager who has no injustice or hatred? This kind of behavior cannot be explained by madness. Well, the empress dowager should hate Cui Miao to the core. But she let Cui Miao go, why is that!" The emperor stared at Pei Xuanjing: "You amaze me more and more. I could have completely ignored your questions, but seeing your quick wit and calmness, I am interested in answering one or two." Until now, his demeanor has been very calm, so calm that it can't match the topic he is talking about.They talked of patricide, regicide, hatred, and persecution, but there was only boundless weariness in the emperor's expression and tone.He seemed so weary that he couldn't even get angry. The hotness brought by the elixir was temporarily suppressed by the cold air emanating from the white jade plate in Khotan.The emperor himself could clearly feel that the heat on his body was disappearing, and the blood flow was getting slower and slower.Recently, he often thinks that when the heat fades away and the blood freezes, life will abandon him.That is the time to get rid of all the troubles in the world and ascend to bliss. The emperor knew in his heart that no one could stop this process, including himself. He looked at Pei Xuanjing, what a beautiful face, it was eroded by pain to the point of disfigurement.But she still refused to give up.The Emperor felt that the last of his patience with her was about to run out.It's not that he can't accept doubts or even contradict.In the past ten years since he came to the throne, the emperor's reputation for accepting advice with humility has even surpassed that of Emperor Taizong, but Pei Xuanjing's offense to him is completely different. For many years, the pain in the emperor's heart was unspeakable, and no one could share it with him.Only Pei Xuanjing broke into his painful realm by accident, and was so close to the core wound.She was clearly challenging his weakest part, but she still had to put on a stubborn and unyielding look, as if she was defending justice in the world. Pei Xuanjing must have a taste of the pain he has experienced, so that she will understand the price of justice in the world! "Then let me answer one by one." The emperor said very patiently, "First of all, the female doctor was ordered by someone to poison the late emperor. Since there is a mastermind behind it, of course that person used all means of coercion and lure to force the female doctor to submit; Secondly, it was also under the arrangement of the mastermind behind the scenes that the female doctor was able to abscond from the palace; thirdly, Cui Miao probably knew very little about her mother's crimes, and she might want to use the ancestral prescriptions in her hand to make a fortune. After the empress dowager found out, she became murderous. Fourth, the empress dowager thought of benevolence. Although she recognized Cui thief, she didn't want to implicate her son because of the mother's crime, so she hinted him to leave. But what about Cui thief? You have a plan, even though you escaped from the capital, you still left the murderous poison prescription in the Song and Qing medicine shop. Then you ran to the Huaixi front line, used your identity to gain trust, and tried to let Wu Yuanji go. If it weren't for Pei Aiqing and General Li Yan It is expected that the war I have fought in Huaixi for so many years has almost come to naught!" At this point in the long speech, the emperor finally showed a sullen expression, but still controlled his tone, and said unhurriedly, "It is the law of heaven not to punish the thief Cui. Unbearable." He watched Pei Xuanjing carefully, expecting to see her collapse, cry bitterly or beg for mercy, then his suffering might be relieved. But he was still disappointed. In Pei Xuanjing's wide-open eyes, there was not even a trace of moisture.She looked directly at the emperor, and only said one word: "No." "No?" The emperor felt incredible, "What do you mean?" "Everything His Majesty said is a lie, I don't believe it." "Why do you make such a judgment?" "Based on what His Majesty said, it is completely different from what Cui Lang said. Your Majesty is the emperor, and Cui Lang is a grassroots——I would rather believe the grassroots!" "You!" The hotness in the belly twitched violently, and even the coldness of the ice couldn't be restrained.The emperor had to stand up from the imperial couch.Why, the most unrepentant villain he had ever seen in his life was not as good as this woman kneeling at the front steps.In order to protect a quack, she dared to make an enemy of the emperor.For this kind of person, the emperor can't feel at ease just by killing him. The emperor took two steps forward and stood directly in front of Pei Xuanjing: "Tell me, what do you think is the truth?" Until this moment, he was still doubting, would she really dare to say it? Pei Xuanjing raised her paper-white face, and said clearly: "I believe that the late emperor did not die of illness, nor was he killed by poisoning. The so-called mastermind behind the scenes does not exist at all. The late emperor was killed by His Majesty himself!" A cold light flashed in front of her eyes. It turned out that the emperor drew out his sword and pointed it at her throat. Pei Xuanjing closed her eyes. For a long time, only the "tick, tick" of the copper leak echoed in the hall.Suddenly there was a loud bang, and a corner of the imperial case was cut off abruptly by the emperor.He called out: "Chen Hongzhi!" "Slave is here." The servant in yellow came out from behind the curtain like a ghost. "Cutting out her tongue." Chen Hongzhi didn't understand: "Everyone?" "I order you to amputate Pei Xuanjing's tongue." "Tongue cut?!" This time, Chen Hongzhi understood, and was frightened out of his wits. His knees softened and he knelt down, crawling on the ground without even daring to lift his head. The emperor didn't get angry, and said it a third time: "Pei Xuanjing blasphemed the king, I ordered you to cut off her tongue." "Your Majesty!" Pei Xuanjing said loudly, "Please kill my concubine, Your Majesty!" The emperor stared at her.Finally can't stand it anymore? "You want to die?" "As long as Your Majesty keeps my concubine alive, even if I can't speak, I can still write. Even if I can't write, I can still think!" The emperor turned his eyes and said to Chen Hongzhi, "How many times do you want me to say it?" "Yes...everyone." The emperor waved his hand weakly: "Let's do it in the side hall, be quick, and don't get blood everywhere."