Chapter 83
Chapter 83: The Moon and the Morning Wind Tell My Feelings (Part 1)
“Qing, Qing…Qing!”
When he suddenly opened his eyes, Cheng TianBi felt his whole body tense and his breathing became rapid.
There was darkness in his eyes, and he was stunned for a moment. He was a little slow before he suddenly
remembered what happened before he fainted. He tried to sit up quickly, but a hand held him down firmly and
he could not move.
He turned his head blankly and saw that Si Cang Qing had woken up. His body was slightly tilted, staring at
him quietly.
"Qing?" Cheng TianBi was a little confused, but felt a familiar warmth in his body. His face changed suddenly,
"Qing, you are seriously injured, don't waste your internal energy on me..."
"It's okay." Si Cang Qing looked indifferent, as if he was not the one who was seriously injured and unconscious
before, but his face was still very bad.
When he woke up, Si Cang Qing found Cheng TianBi sleeping on the ground, his body curled up, moaning
unconsciously, his face distorted, as if he was in great pain. In an instant, Si Cang Qing reacted and was afraid
that this man had collapsed and passed out. He was afraid of cold to begin with, and sleeping on the cold and
damp ground would only make his physical condition worse.
Si Cang Qing then got up with difficulty and carried the other person to the bed. Although he was seriously
injured, he was no longer in danger.
"Don't do this..." Cheng TianBi murmured softly, leaning wearily against Si Cang Qing's shoulder, "I have
already borne too many sins."
I can't let you get hurt because of me anymore.
Si Cang Qing did not retract his hand and casually said, "Those things have nothing to do with you." His
originally cold voice sounded much weaker since he was severely injured.
Cheng TianBi tugged at the corner of his mouth, not arguing, but simply closing his eyes for a moment, then
looking at Si Cang Qing again, "I... I'm fine, let me get up and see your wound."
Si Cang Qing silently looked at the other person, then slowly withdrew his hand that was pressing on
Cheng TianBi's abdomen.
Once free, Cheng TianBi quickly got up, brightened the oil lamp's flame a bit, made sure Si Cang Qing was
lying down properly, and carefully unwrapped the bandage that was soaked with blood.
The wound has improved a lot since last night, but it still looks terrifyingly gruesome.
Cheng TianBi's fingers trembled violently, hovering above the wound, and after a long moment, he finally
managed to gently caress it with trembling hands. In truth, Si Cang Qing's recovery ability was astonishingly
strong, but the pain in his heart surged in an instant, making it almost impossible to breathe.
Fingertips, cold. The edge of the wound was scratched little by little, Cheng TianBi felt a sharp pain in his
eyes, and he spoke with difficulty after a long time, "I'm sorry..."
Si Cang Qing frowned, then relaxed his brows and said calmly, "It has nothing to do with you."
He underestimated Cheng TianYi's preparations and thought he could escape unscathed, so he did not use
the secret agents here. However, he was afraid that if he wanted to successfully leave Hongdu this time,
the secret agents in the palace would be exposed and would not be able to stay here any longer.
Cheng TianYi is too suspicious. Those dozen or so imperial guards are the product of several years of hard
work.
But...without a trace of regret, Si Cang Qing turned back with some difficulty, looked at the man with red eyes,
and added: "I will recover soon, you take care of yourself, we have to leave here in a few days."
After the fierce battle last night, Si Cang Qing was not very sure about Cheng TianYi's next move.
I'm afraid a hunt is inevitable.
With a light sigh, Cheng TianBi said nothing more. Only the self-loathing in his heart gradually piled up.
Steadying his hands, he quietly began to change the medicine for Si Cang Qing.
Just after changing the medicine, Cheng TianBi heard a noise coming from the dark door, and his nerves
immediately tensed up.
A tall man walked in, the dimly lit room made it hard to see his face as he was backlit. He knelt on one knee
and said in a deep voice, "Royal Guard Seventeen, reporting to the master."
Si Cang Qing maintained his prone position, not even glancing at him, and casually hummed, "Hmm."
Upon closer inspection, this person turned out to be the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard.
Cheng TianBi immediately relaxed; this person was indeed a subordinate of Si Cang Qing, so it seemed he
was safe for the time being.
"Following your orders, I just went to investigate Liu Nian's matter..."
"Liu Nian?" Cheng TianBi murmured, and the scene of Liu Nian's death emerged in his mind again.
Glancing at the man whose eyes were gradually becoming blurry, Si Cang Qing said lightly, "He left some last
words."
"What last words?" Cheng TianBi asked anxiously.
But then I heard Seventeen quietly recounting, "A few days ago, Liu Nian secretly handed a wooden box to
his old friend, the owner of the Miaoshou Pharmacy in the South City District. These past few days,
Cheng TianYi has ordered a city lockdown, searching every household. Additionally, he secretly sent people
to raid the Miaoshou Pharmacy, all to find that wooden box."
"Did you find it?" Cheng TianBi asked nervously, sensing that there must be some earth-shattering secret
hidden in that wooden box.
Upon hearing this, Seventeen bent down, used a curved knife to cut open the long boot, and took out a thick
envelope from inside. He respectfully presented it to Si Cang Qing and said, "Inside the wooden box's
compartment, there is a letter," pausing for a moment, "addressed to the young master."
At Si Cang Qing's gesture, Seventeen handed the letter directly to Cheng TianBi and added, "I have already
sent someone to swap the letter. The wooden box will be delivered to Cheng TianYi tonight."
Cheng TianBi hurriedly took the letter, feeling its weight in his hand. An incredible premonition rose in
his heart, and his hands trembled slightly as he opened the letter.
A few thin sheets of paper accidentally fluttered down.
Picking up the paper, Cheng TianBi stared at the silk in his hand, his premonition becoming stronger. After
hesitating for a moment, he carefully opened it and saw a few words, familiar and frightening:
"The eldest prince, Tianbi, has noble character and is very similar to me. He will surely succeed to the throne.
I hereby pass the throne to the eldest prince, Cheng TianBi."
——The Imperial Edict of Succession.
◇Cang◇Huan◇Seven◇Palace◇
The seal of the imperial court on the edict of succession was scarlet and ferocious, as if mocking the fickleness
of the world. His already pale face turned even paler. Cheng TianBi took a moment to calm down, put down
the cloth, and looked at the pieces of letter paper again. They were written to him by Liu Nian.
"Your Highness, may you be well. On March 25, the 37th year of Hongcheng Ruiwen, this old servant
Liu Nian respectfully pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince..."
Four or five pieces of light, thin paper felt as heavy as a thousand pounds in my hand.
In the letter, Liu Nian explained the whole story clearly - from Mu Lian Xiang's adultery case, to
Cheng TianBi being framed and imprisoned, to Shang Gu's ambush, and this trap.
Given how favored Mu Lian Xiang was back then, there were countless people who wanted to frame her.
Cheng Ce was aware of this, so he protected her very closely. This was also the main reason why
Mu Lian Xiang was able to live safely in the palace for more than ten years.
If you want to scheme against her, you can only target someone whom Cheng Ce and Mu Lianxiang both trust.
As for the Mu Lian Yu faction, they chose Liu Nian, the emperor's most trusted personal eunuch. Due to
threats against his family, Liu Nian went from initially resisting firmly to ultimately compromising.
Actually, he didn't directly participate in framing Mu Lian Xiang. He just happened to be at the right place
and time to divert Cheng Ce's attention, creating some ambiguous illusions involving the guard implicated
in the adultery case and Mu Lian Xiang, making Cheng Ce feel dissatisfied.
After that, one scheme after another fell into place. Cheng Ce and Mu Lian Xiang, under the calculated
conspiracy of others, gradually fell into the trap step by step according to the premeditated plan.
For this reason, when the affair was exposed, Cheng Ce found a reasonable excuse for all his previous
suspicions, which is why he was so cold and ruthless, even ignoring right and wrong.
Although Cheng Ce was dissatisfied with Cheng TianBi for pleading for his mother, Cheng Ce did not really
want to take action against Cheng TianBi. However, under the instigation of Mu Lian Yu's faction, Liu Nian,
the eunuch most trusted by Cheng TianBi, secretly won over Cheng TianBi's staff in the name of Cheng TianBi,
stirring up their dissatisfaction with the emperor, and then fabricated false evidence to point all the blame at
Cheng TianBi and his mother.
At the same time, many coincidences were arranged to "confirm" Mu Lian Xiang's ulterior motives leading
to the strong possibility that the Twelfth Prince, Cheng TianYang, is not the Emperor's biological son.
Blinded by jealousy and anger, Cheng Ce threw Cheng TianBi into the Heavenly Prison in a rage, and sent
Mu Lian Xiang to the cold palace and handed her over to Mu Lian Yu for trial. Although the twelfth prince
was spared from death, he was thrown into the harem by Cheng Ce and ignored. Even a few years later, when
he learned that Cheng TianYang was given to a powerful official as a gift by Cheng TianYi, Cheng Ce was
extremely indifferent.
As the most important participant in the wrongful case, and one that Cheng TianBi and the others never
anticipated, Liu Nian was extremely anxious after all the events unfolded. Therefore, whenever Cheng TianBi
was tortured to the brink of death, he would secretly go to visit him.
After Mu Lian Xiang's tragic death, when Liu Nian saw Cheng TianBi on the verge of death, he could no
longer bear the inner condemnation and wanted to secretly rescue him. Just then, the Divine Doctor
Mu Lian Hua came to save Cheng TianBi. Liu Nian secretly facilitated their escape, and after they left,
he placed a fake body in the dungeon, followed by setting the imperial palace's torture chamber ablaze.
Liu Nian was after all the emperor's most trusted and closest eunuch. After the dust settled, Mu Lian Yu's
faction released his family members as promised. However, from that day on, Liu Nian was plagued
by nightmares every night, and he aged rapidly.
Until a few years later, Cheng TianYang had an incident.
At that time, Cheng Ce had long since lost interest in court affairs. The major power brokers had taken
control of the court, and he didn't care. In order to win over the most powerful minister of the time,
Cheng Tian Yi offered Cheng Tian Yang as a gift to the one who favored young boys. Just thirteen
years old, Cheng Tian Yang was sent back six months later, his body completely broken and his life hanging
by a thread.
Liu Nian begged him to treat Cheng TianYang, but he only saw Cheng Ce's cold and even disgusted
expression, and the words "It's better for such a dirty bastard to die."
Immediately, Liu Nian burst into tears and told all the secrets buried in his heart.
After Cheng Ce knew the truth, surprisingly, he did not have any special reaction, as if he had expected it.
He just coldly sent someone to cure Cheng TianYang.
Liu Nian was also sent to the cold palace to serve as a guard. Cheng Ce didn't embarrass him too much and
seemed completely unaware of the frequent actions of Mu Lian Yu and Cheng TianYi.
But a few months later, Liu Nian heard the news that Cheng Tian Bi had met his end in the Valley of Mourning.
It turned out that Cheng Ce had secretly sent people to find him, but Cheng Tian Yi, who already controlled
half the court, found out. This led to that bloody incident. Cheng Tian Bi resolutely refused to return and
jumped off a cliff in the Valley of Mourning, leaving no trace behind.
Everything seemed to have finally come to an end at this point.
It was not until a few days ago when Cheng Ce was bedridden that he called Liu Nian back. It was then that
Liu Nian learned that Cheng TianBi was rescued in time during the Valley of Mourning incident with the help
of Cheng Ce's Fengying. Cheng Ce knew that Cheng TianBi was disheartened, and because he felt guilty he
did not dare to force him, so he just let him stay away.
In the past few years, Cheng Ce has been secretly arranging a lot of forces in order to weaken Cheng TianYi's
power. However, the tide had turned against him. Cheng Ce then made a desperate move and left behind
an imperial edict, intending to pass the throne to Cheng TianBi.
Cheng Ce's plan actually had other purposes - because he could foresee that Cheng TianYang intended to
destroy Hong Cheng, and there was Si Cang Qing behind Cheng TianYang. He thought that as long as
Cheng TianBi became the Emperor of Hongcheng, he would not only have the support of Si Cang Qing
and the help of Cheng TianYang, but he could also ensure that there would be no more war between the
two countries of Cang and Hong.
This is indeed a decision with no disadvantages.
However, Cheng Ce made a mistake in the end. He underestimated Cheng TianYi's strength and did not
understand Cheng TianBi's thoughts.
Cheng TianYi's influence had long spread throughout the palace and outside. When he learned about
the imperial edict and that Cheng TianBi was still alive, he broke into the emperor's bedroom and forced
Cheng Ce, who was sick on the bed, to reveal Cheng TianBi's whereabouts.
Cheng Ce scolded sharply, firmly unwilling to say it.
In a moment of desperation, Cheng TianYi, in a fit of audacity, grabbed Cheng Ce and threw him aside.
Cheng Ce, upon being thrown, had a sudden onset of his illness and died on the spot, spitting blood.
Later, Cheng TianYi calculated that once the news of Cheng Ce's death spread, Cheng TianBi would definitely
return quietly to pay respects. So, he set up an elaborate trap throughout the entire palace, holding Liu Nian
hostage and waiting in the sacrificial hall...
After reading Liu Nian's letter, Cheng TianBi sat there like a puppet, stiff and unmoving, without any
sadness or joy.
He always knew that the wrongful case of his mother, the Empress, was closely related to Cheng TianYi
and his mother. He was disappointed in his father and heartbroken for Cheng TianYi and his mother, but
he never expected that Liu Nian, who always smiled kindly and watched him grow up, was the one who had
a hand in causing this tragedy.
In just a few days, it felt like reliving that nightmare, struggling and wavering between life and death, hate
and pain... How can one bear it!
Not sure whether it's a sigh, a cry, or a laugh...
Actually, there's nothing, right? Numbness and emptiness, that's all there is.
Comments
Post a Comment