Chapter 94
Liang Xingyan remembered the inexplicable expression on Lady Liang's face when she died that day, her face still pale, with only a hint of ironic smile at the corner of her lips.
"I settled down in the capital, and Wang Zhao originally planned to wait for the opportunity to support me back to power. But unexpectedly, your grandfather and father managed to secure their position in this kingdom," Liang Xingyan muttered. "We all thought that after the butcher, the kingdom would be unstable and just waiting for an opportunity to take advantage. But we never got that chance. After you took the throne, your power soared. Wang Zhao told me that we couldn't wait any longer."
"So you colluded with the barbarians to kill Wei Zhan," Li Wenjian's hand gripped the cup tightly, causing the veins on the back of his hand to bulge, as he asked each word deliberately.
When Liang Xingyan heard the name "Wei Zhan," he hesitated, and the flickering sunlight around him cast a shadow on his face, making him look extremely desolate in the changing light.
"Yes?" Li Wenjian's gaze, across the tea table, fell on Liang Xingyan.
Liang Xingyan's body trembled, raising his hand to try to press against his temples forcefully, trying to sit straight and dignified in front of Li Wenjian. But it was futile, his body involuntarily curled up, and the veins on his temples and the back of his hand bulged, uncontrollably contorting himself in a twisted posture.
"Yes. Wang Zhao conspired with the barbarians, who were cunning and unwilling to trust us easily. They demanded Wei Zhan's life as a pledge," Liang Xingyan confessed.
Li Wenjian stared at him in silence, only breathing heavily, exhaling the deep resentment in his heart with a heavy tremor, trying to push it out of his chest with a forceful breath.
With a sudden force, his palm crushed the cup into countless pieces, which fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
"Then you know that Wei Wanyu arranged a meeting with me, and you poisoned the wine with Yusheng, killing two birds with one stone, destroying the alliance between Dongli and Yue tribe, and making me despised by everyone," he continued.
Liang Xingyan looked up to see Li Wenjian sipping his tea, his gentle and clear eyes now glinting like sharp blades.
"Yes," Liang Xingyan's cold sweat had soaked his clothes, as he continued to press against his temples, a few strands of hair falling wet with sweat on his pale face, the contrast between his black hair and white face, startlingly haunting. "They said you should have been killed, but I thought it more profitable to take you down and support the Sixth Prince, who had no foundation, to become the Crown Prince."
"I should thank you for sparing my life," Li Wenjian spoke up.
Liang Xingyan smirked but remained silent. He seemed like a lost soul, his eyes looking hollow and devoid of any warmth in the bright spring light.
"I have always wondered, if that time I had listened to General Wang and poisoned the wine with Crane Top Red instead of Yusheng, what would today look like?"
"Perhaps you would be dead, or perhaps the world would be in chaos as General Wang wished," Liang Xingyan croaked. "But I was cowardly, and I switched Crane Top Red for Yusheng."
He thought Li Wenjian would drink the Yusheng, commit adultery with Wei Wanyu, disrupt the alliance between Yue tribe and Dongli, tarnish his reputation, and be expelled from the royal family.
But Li Wenjian escaped, barely holding onto his last bit of clarity, fleeing the Cool Palace.
After that, he was surrounded by many guards, and despite Wang Zhao's attempts, they could not kill him.
Some opportunities are only given once, and once missed, they will never come again.
Afterwards, he learned about Zhao Heng and leaked the information to the deeply cunning Concubine An.
Concubine An had been helped by Wang Zhao back then and managed to stay in the palace, believing his words without a doubt. She schemed to kill Zhao Heng's grandmother, making her a tool in his hands upon entering the Eastern Palace.
"You have such cunning, yet you are so naive in this matter," Li Wenjian's eyes reddened as he stared at Liang Xingyan.
Bathed in the spring sunlight, Liang Xingyan's hair shimmered with light. A faint smile appeared on his extremely pale face as he softly spoke, "After Wei Zhan's death, I couldn't sleep for three months at night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him being chopped into pieces, with blood flowing all over the place. So, although I couldn't kill you, I have no regrets. At least this past year, I have not lost any sleep over it."
"Liang Xingyan..." Li Wenjian began, but he was interrupted.
"Don't call me Liang Xingyan, that name was stolen. My real name is Hao An, given by my father," he turned around to look at the clear spring light outside the window, trying to grab onto the light in his hand, only to find emptiness. "My father named me Hao An, that is my name."
He slowly turned back, his eyes covered in a thin mist, staring at him intensely.
His pale face resembled piled snow and ice, with ink-black eyes and pale lips, like a figure in a black-and-white ink painting, perfect in its flawless contours but lacking any color.
His eyes stared deeply at him.
The birds they once caught were all dead, the flowers they once admired had bloomed and withered several times, and the winds of change they once chased had passed them by.
Time had changed them.
The twists and turns of fate had brought them together and forced them to stand on opposite sides, becoming sworn enemies.
Meanwhile, in the secret passage, Wei Shan arrived in front of Wang Zhao holding a torch, reporting loudly, "General, the gunpowder here has been soaked with water."
Wang Zhao was momentarily stunned. He took the torch from Wei Shan's hand and reluctantly walked to the dark warehouse, crouching down to feel around, indeed finding a watery patch.
He scooped up a handful of wet gunpowder and clenched it in his scarred hand.
He did not want the young prince to be indecisive like the crown prince. That's why he taught him to have a heart of steel.
But his veins flowed with the same blood as the crown prince, burdened by softness.
This was the best opportunity to eliminate Li Wenjian and restore the greatness of Da Wei.
To his surprise, the young prince had soaked all the gunpowder in water.
He burst into laughter, but scalding tears welled up in his eyes. For eighteen years, he had planned meticulously for the greatness of Da Wei, yet he was not appreciated, willing to hand everything over to the Li family.
At this point, as long as he followed the agreement to lure Li Wenjian into the study and then find a way to escape into the secret passage, they could blow up He Jiang Mansion into oblivion, and Li Wenjian would undoubtedly die!
Undoubtedly die!
"Bring the oil!" Wang Zhao ordered in a deep voice.
The guards behind him hesitated.
Wei Shan hesitated for a moment, "The young prince is still upstairs."
"He won't come," Wang Zhao forced a pained and dazed voice from his throat, "He will never come."
The young prince had turned his back on him, preferring to die rather than help in reclaiming the throne together.
Inside the study.
"Shu Lang," Liang Xingyan softly called out Li Wenjian's name, reaching out his hand to him.
But Li Wenjian stood before him, motionless, not reaching out to grasp his extended hand as usual.
A dull pain throbbed in Li Wenjian's chest, and he suddenly saw a streak of black blood flowing from the corner of Liang Xingyan's lips. His pupils dilated abruptly, seeing Liang Xingyan's lips slightly curl up, revealing a faint smile.
"If there is another life, I don't want to be the crown prince's son again. I want to be a teacher in the countryside," black blood continued to flow from his lips, pooling at his throat, making his voice muffled, "Then, I won't have to kill people, steal identities, kill Wei Zhan, and fight you to the death."
His tears slid down his cheeks, mingling with the blood at the corner of his lips.
In the end, Li Wenjian reached out his hand, tightly gripping his arm, his palm trembling violently. Countless blades stabbed and slashed in his abdomen, his internal organs in turmoil, the pain unbearable, rendering his fingers immobile and his voice stuck in his throat, unable to speak.
Suddenly, a tremor rumbled underground, Liang Xingyan's pupils widened, trying to say something with his lips moving but no sound coming out.
Li Wenjian could only press his ear against his lips to listen to what he was saying.
"Go!" Liang Xingyan shouted with all his might, squeezing out all the air from his chest.
At the same time, he turned around and shielded Li Wenjian.
With a bang, another loud noise erupted. The entire house collapsed in an instant, debris flying everywhere, obscuring vision with dust.
Liang Xingyan was pinned under a foundation block, and in an instant, he lost all consciousness. Death descended upon him, enveloping him like warm spring water. He blankly looked up, seeing a surreal scene before him.
Peach blossoms filled the mountain, unrestrained and dazzling.
Petals fluttered down softly in the wind, falling on his small shoulders and on his parents under the tree.
They stood in a bright spot, smiling and reaching out to him.
Over the years, he often dreamed of his father and mother. But every time they frowned deeply, except for this time, under the peach blossom tree, drinking peach blossom wine and waving to him.
Since the age of eight when he left the palace, it had been eighteen years until now. He finally made the second correct decision.
Surely, they were very happy too.
He curled up in the ruins, looking up amidst the flying debris and rocks, only to see Li Wenjian swept away by the underground stream caused by the explosion. He desperately raised his hand to try to grab him, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach his hand, so he had to give up.
Li Wenjian had good fortune on his side, he would surely turn calamities into blessings. He had done so many good deeds, with great merits, and the heavens would protect him.
He thought to himself.
The sunlight was bright and grand, warming everyone's bodies. Peach blossom petals fell on the family of three, but he didn't look back, following his father and mother without any sentimentality.
*
Zhao Heng and Li Nanxi prayed for blessings at the Daxiangguo Temple, and the venerable Reverend Huijue unlocked the golden lock, allowing her to wear it daily to ensure the little child's good fortune.
Zhao Heng didn't believe in ghosts and spirits, but she still placed the golden lock in her close pocket.
Since Li Wenjian asked her to wait for him here, she didn't rush back to the palace after having the meal. The maid prepared a bed for her in the meditation room, where the scent of incense from the Buddhist family was particularly calming. When she woke up, it was already afternoon.
The afternoon sunlight angled in from the west, shining on her, a gentle breeze blowing, the surroundings clear and bright, dazzling. She got up and walked to the window, pushing it open to look outside.
A peach blossom tree in the corner of the courtyard was blooming brilliantly, exuding extreme beauty.
The setting sun shone on the treetops, making the whole tree gentle. The fragrant flower scent wafted in on the distant wind, light and sweet.
"My Lady, you're awake." Lin Nanny heard the noise and walked in.
Zhao Heng nodded, pointing at the flowers on the tree, "Pick a few branches to take back, to make peach blossom pastries for the prince."
Lin Mama agreed, taking her clothes and helping her get up, "It's not early, how long do we have to stay here?"
Zhao Heng lowered her eyelids, concealing the disappointment in her eyes, and whispered, "Let's prepare to go back, the crown prince probably won't come."
"Okay, I'll go now."
As she walked out, Jian Ning hurriedly arrived with someone. Hearing the footsteps outside, Zhao Heng walked to the door to see Jian Ning and called out to him, smiling, "Has the crown prince come?"
Seeing Zhao Heng, Jian Ning suddenly didn't know how to speak, and knelt down, saying, "Lady Liangyuan, the traitor Wang Zhao buried a large amount of explosives in the underground warehouse at He Jiang Mansion. The crown prince was attacked, and he hasn't been found yet."
Zhao Heng felt a rush of blood to her head, her knees weak, almost falling to the ground. Lian Zhou quickly supported her, while Zhao Heng anxiously covered her stomach, feeling like she couldn't catch her breath.
"Take me to the Mansion." After a long time, Zhao Heng finally heard her own faint voice, distant as if in a dream.
The Mansion was originally used as a grain store, with much of the ground dug out underground. The massive explosion of so much gunpowder practically leveled the entire He Jiang Mansion. The terrain here was complicated, and it was close to He River. After the explosion, the river was blown open too.
So when Zhao Heng arrived at He Jiang Mansion, she only saw the ruins mostly submerged in water.
Zhao Heng fell ill shortly after returning to the Eastern Palace from He Jiang Mansion.
She had a high fever, and the royal physician Zheng, practically lived at the Eastern Palace, staying outside her chamber every moment, fearing for her and the child in her belly.
An Xuzhi came to visit several times, hearing from Physician Zheng that her fever was caused by excessive internal heat. Being pregnant, she couldn't easily take medication and had to wait for her body to recover naturally.
An Xuzhi's face showed no expression, then personally led a team to search for Li Wenjian in the ruins day and night.
It wasn't until the third day that Zhao Heng finally regained consciousness. Lian Zhou and the maid were overjoyed, helping her sit up and wiping the sweat from her forehead carefully, asking, "My Lady, how are you feeling?"
Zhao Heng stared at the empty canopy for a long time before seeming to come to her senses and asked Lian Zhou, "Has the crown prince been found?"
Her voice was hoarse, then she shook her head, "No, if he had returned, he would be by my bedside now."
In fact, Lian Zhou didn't know the current situation either. She had no right to inquire about such matters. Moreover, there had been very few people visiting the Eastern Palace lately.
"My Lady, just focus on resting. Master An Xujia has taken people to search for the crown prince by the river and will surely find him."
"How many days have I been sick?" Zhao Heng asked.
"Three days."
It felt like too long, all this time had passed.
Zhao Heng held Lian Zhou's hand and sat up, "Go and bring Xiao Silang back."
Lian Zhou wiped her reddened eyes and got up to leave.
An Xuzhi hadn't slept in three days. He knew that if Li Wenjian wasn't found, Zhao Heng's illness would be hard to cure. He couldn't bear to see her suffer while he waited at the Eastern Palace.
If Zhao Heng hadn't sent him back, he might have continued searching.
"You are just a mortal, how will it end if you keep searching like this?" Zhao Heng watched as Lian Zhou carried out the empty porridge bowl, then her gaze fell on An Xuzhi.
She had just woken up, still weak, her throat hoarse. It was very painful, difficult to swallow, but just now, she had forced herself to finish a large bowl of porridge. "If you tire yourself out, what will happen?"
"I'm not tired." An Xuzhi's hand clenched into a fist.
Zhao Heng pursed her lips, forcing a strained smile, "After searching the ruins inside out, even after finding Liang Xingyan's body, and still no sign of the prince, he most likely isn't in the ruins."
An Xuzhi looked up in surprise.
"I went to the Mansion that day. There were underground rivers everywhere, so I guess he might have been carried into the He River by the water." Her face was very pale, with slightly swollen eyelids from days in bed.
With great effort, she held back tears, forcing the threatening moisture back into her eyes.
"I'm going to search along the banks of the He River right now!" An Xuzhi stood up abruptly.
"Xiao Silang." Zhao Heng called out to him, "Don't search so openly and conspicuously."
An Xuzhi didn't quite understand, "What do you mean?"
"Dongli has just experienced three major battles, and the situation in the court is already unstable. The news of the crown prince's disappearance will cause chaos among the court officials and the people," Zhao Heng lowered her eyelids. "He should have been found."
"Tonight, whether the person is found or not, you must have the Imperial Guards carry the 'crown prince' back to the Eastern Palace," Zhao Heng sniffed. "If he is not found, you must come up with another reason to search for his whereabouts along the riverbank."
An Xuzhi was shocked, his eyes widening slightly. "Are you suggesting finding someone to impersonate the crown prince?"
"Wang Zhao is still alive, and he will definitely take advantage of the chaos. If the whole world knows he is missing, the hard-earned trust of the people will be lost again, and the stable situation will be disrupted," Zhao Heng lowered her eyelashes, her gaze falling on the bamboo bracelet he had given her, as if the blade pierced through the junction and into her heart.
The vague pain of flesh and blood made her emotions even more intense, and she remained incredibly calm. "I cannot allow his loyal heart to be in vain. I must protect the world he cherishes."
"But it's not that simple," An Xuzhi said. "If he doesn't show up for a long time, the courtiers will still be suspicious."
"He is fine, just his face was injured by flying stones and needs time to heal," Zhao Heng blinked, looking at him seriously. "I will write his handwriting, and when the officials of the Eastern Palace are called, they will carry on with their duties. I can handle approvals on his behalf."
An Xuzhi trembled, looking at her incredulously, startled by her bold plan.
"Send orders to the Northern Palace, summon the Second Prince back to the capital immediately," Zhao Heng's face remained calm, her tone indifferent. "As long as you persist until his return, everything will be fine."
An Xuzhi took a deep breath.
He had to admit that it was a good plan. As he looked at Zhao Heng's calm face, his heart gradually settled.
"Okay, I will go and arrange it immediately." An Xuzhi made up his mind, turned with a sword in hand to leave.
"You should go back and rest first," Zhao Heng raised her eyes to look at him, her voice soft and calm in his ears. "Take a bath, get a good night's sleep, eat well, and take care of yourself."
"I can't eat." An Xuzhi felt a indescribable bitterness filling his chest, a wave of anger and confusion swirling within him.
Why did fate treat Ah Heng like this, causing her to suffer heartbreak time and time again?
He looked down at her, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to tell her that the chances of finding the person in this situation were slim.
Zhao Heng frowned slightly at his words, saying, "Even if you don't feel like eating, you should still eat. Even if you can't sleep, you should try. My throat hurts so much that breathing is difficult, but I forced myself to finish a bowl of porridge just now. Xiao Silang, I have grown up knowing the uncertainty of life. If I didn't eat, drink, or sleep every time, I wouldn't have made it to today."
She slowly raised her eyes, looking through the cracks in the window at the birds flying in the sky, feeling her eyes heat up. "You and I have so much left to do, how can we neglect our health? Right now, the only person I can rely on is you. If you let me down, I don't know what I would do."
Zhao Heng glanced at Lian Zhou, who immediately understood and brought a small box from the desk, opening it in front of An Xuzhi.
In the box was a confidential letter.
"I wrote this letter when I called you here, asking the Second Prince to return to the capital immediately. Now that the Emperor's health is failing, if anything were to happen to the crown prince..." at this point, Zhao Heng paused slightly, swallowing the lump in her throat before continuing, "With the Second Prince in the capital, even if Wang Zhao and his cohorts have ulterior motives, they will have to think twice..."
Lian Zhou, Lin Mama, and others stood by, unable to hold back the tears as they wiped their eyes with their sleeves.
After conveying these words, Zhao Heng seemed utterly exhausted. She didn't allow An Xuzhi to say anything else, pulling the blanket over herself, closing her eyes peacefully. "I want to rest now, you may go."
An Xuzhi picked up the letter, suppressing the bitterness in his nose and eyes, turned around, and walked briskly towards the courtyard filled with the beauty of spring.
As she heard his footsteps fade away, Zhao Heng raised her eyes, tears that she had held back for so long finally cascading down. She turned to the side, extending her slender white fingers to stroke the pillow that belonged to Li Wenjian.
The pillow and the blanket were filled with his scent.
She wrapped herself tighter in the blanket, burying herself in the pillow, breathing heavily as if she were still in his embrace.
Since Li Wenjian's disappearance, she hadn't even had the chance to cry for him.
He had taught her to remain calm, not to panic when facing difficulties, to handle things slowly, one by one, and they would all be resolved.
So she used his teachings to endure the heartache and solve the current troubles.
Only when everything was sorted out did she allow herself to be vulnerable.
She wanted to stay by his side, to be the one who matched him, so she forced herself to be strong and mature, striving to keep pace with him.
Why couldn't she be a little wilful, why did she let him leave her behind?
She should have been stubborn, cried and made a fuss, demanding him to accompany her to the temple to worship, not allowing him to leave her side, not allowing him to break his promises.
Zhao Heng's fingers tightened around his pillow, holding it close to her chest.
Overwhelming sorrow swept over her like a landslide and a tsunami, almost suffocating her with a sense of impending death.
Tears streaming down her face, her long eyelashes covered with droplets, pale cheeks sticking to disheveled hair, her face extremely pale, curled up in the blanket, finally letting out a sob.