The old items that Xie Bufeng brought back from the border were all stored in the Palace.
He searched for a while and finally found those few black cotton-padded jackets.
Xie Bufeng tightly hugged the cotton-padded jacket in his arms, trying to warm his body.
However, the faint bitter fragrance that had once been on the clothes had long since dissipated with time.
The top-quality cotton also formed small lumps after being washed over and over again.
The only thing left on the cotton-padded jacket was the bloody smell that could not be washed away, silently stating the cruelty of the battlefield…
Just when he wanted to leave, Xie Bufeng suddenly saw – at the bottom of the wardrobe, a piece of dark blue clothing corner was revealed.
“This is…”
Xie Bufeng carefully took it out.
——A dark blue cloak appeared in front of the young man, with magnolia embroidered in dark thread on the cloak.
The residual bitter fragrance between the clothes awakened Xie Bufeng’s memory in an instant.
That night in the Jingshu Palace, Wen Qingci entrusted a little eunuch to send this cloak to his hands.
Xie Bufeng held the cloak and slowly closed his eyes, Wen Qingci’s clear and gentle voice, finally passed to his ears through two years of time and hundreds of days and nights”… I will go back to the Imperial Medical Bureau to decoct medicine first, I can’t send you back, you must remember to be careful when you go back to Yuguang Palace later.”
At that time, Xie Bufeng only felt disdain.
Now he finally understood what Wen Qingci meant.
But the person who spoke had already left him and went far away.
Xie Bufeng clenched the cloak, and when he saw the wrinkles on the fabric in a daze, he hurriedly carefully loosened it and gently hugged it in his arms.
For a while, he didn’t know what to do.
*
“…You have a special physique, and all kinds of spiritual medicines hardly work, but fortunately, external injuries don’t rely on these things,” Song Junran said after checking Wen Qingci’s arm, “Father left a method back then. It might be useful, but the process may not be…comfortable, if you are willing, we can try it today.”
The successive valley masters of the Valley of Divine Physicians will record the diseases they have seen.
Then it is organized by the next valley master into notes or medical books.
The method Song Junran said was something he had sorted out from the medical notes left by the old valley master a while ago.
Wen Qingci did not expect that his arm might be able to recover.
He naturally would not let go of this opportunity: “Of course I am willing.”
“Good!” Song Junran suddenly laughed, don’t know why… Wen Qingci read a sense of conspiracy from his face.
The next second, Song Junran, who was prepared, conjured a bamboo basket from behind.
Before Wen Qingci asked what it was, he saw a white snake sticking out its head from the bamboo basket.
Then it slowly wrapped around his cold and numb left wrist.
Before Wen Qingci could react, the snake bit his wrist fiercely.
The unbearable pain spread from the wrist.
There was a moment when it covered the numbness.
The Valley of Divine Physicians is isolated from the world, and it is spring all year round. If you stay here for a long time, it is even difficult to have a clear concept of the rotation and change of time.
Wen Qingci spends half a day treating patients and half a day serving flowers and plants for Song Junran.
The body with a serious injury has slowly recovered a bit.
But he still thinks from time to time about the medical books and notes that he had to leave in Yongdu and could not bring back to the valley, and the young man who has now become the emperor…
There are only a few dozen people in the Valley.
Most of them stay in seclusion for years, and all the news comes from a few medicine attendants who occasionally go out.
Ever since the medicine attendant who gossiped about Wen Qingci and Xie Bufeng in front of him returned to the valley, no one had entered or left the Valley of Divine Physicians for a long time.
Until Bai Zhiyuan, the medicine attendant who often stays in Yongdu, returned to the valley.
——Song Junran withdrew from the medical hall in Yongdu, and now there is no one there.
Wen Qingci learned from his mouth that the enthronement ceremony had been held.
Now Xie Bufeng has rightfully become the new emperor of the Wei Dynasty.
After dealing with the group of people in Yongdu, he stabilized the four areas with the military power in his hands, and no longer completely inherited the old system of the previous dynasty as before.
Instead, he took advantage of the opportunity of the great change to quickly handle the reform and drastically change the military service, labor, land system, and tax system.
The countless books that Xie Bufeng studied in Suzhou, and the scenes he saw on the border when he was a young man guarding the mausoleum, and what he saw, heard, and heard in his military career, all came in handy at this time.
He completely dismantled and restructured the system of the previous dynasty that was built based on the noble families.
If it is said that the Wei Dynasty in the hands of the deposed emperor is just a simple continuation of the previous dynasty, and the royal family has just changed its surname.
Then the current Wei Dynasty is a thorough change of dynasty.
Although Wen Qingci knew that Xie Bufeng would definitely become a completely different emperor from Xie Zhaolin, what he heard today was still beyond his expectation.
What Wen Qingci did not expect was… Under the endless emptiness and numbness, what supported Xie Bufeng was actually the few words he left behind.
He told Xie Bufeng to “Cherish the people in front of you”, so Xie Bufeng forced himself to see Consort Lan and Xie Fuyin every day.
Xie Fuyin told Xie Bufeng that Wen Qingci said he was the “hero of the Wei Dynasty”, so the young man really became that kind of person as Wen Qingci said.
“…But although Xie Bufeng is powerful, the people have mixed opinions about him.” Bai Zhiyuan said to Wen Qingci.
“Why is this?”
“His achievements are obvious to all, but the behavior of throwing all the laws of filial piety behind his head is also obvious to all,” Bai Zhiyuan couldn’t help but say, “For example, he likes torture. And also tortured the deposed emperor. No matter what the deposed emperor did before, it cannot change the fact that he is Xie Bufeng’s biological father. If I were Xie Bufeng, even if I did it, I would have to hid it and do it secretly. This is not difficult for the emperor, right? But he prefers to be upright. Now everyone in the Wei Dynasty knows that their emperor is an unfilial son who disregards human relations.”
Bai Zhiyuan’s tone is very exaggerated, like a storyteller, obviously he has heard many exciting “stories” in Yongdu.
After speaking, he paused for a while and sighed: “But the emperor seems to be quite happy to do what he did.”
Wen Qingci smiled, he nodded gently, and continued to water the flowers and plants beside him.
What Bai Zhiyuan said is the view of most people in the Wei Dynasty.
No one can erase Xie Bufeng’s achievements.
But some of his actions are indeed extremely rebellious.
People condemn him on the one hand, saying that he and the deposed emperor are worthy of being father and son, and they are all the same madness.
But on the other hand… They can’t help but secretly envy such a person in their heart.
And after Xie Zhaolin was overthrown, the people of Songxiu Prefecture, who were originally afraid of the current emperor and dared not speak wildly, gradually talked openly about what happened that year.
Song Junran does not allow people to discuss Yongdu’s affairs in the valley.
So Bai Zhiyuan was talking while secretly observing the surroundings.
Hearing footsteps coming from not far away, he hurriedly cleared his throat, changed the topic and pretended to discuss medical principles with Wen Qingci.
But at the last second, Bai Zhiyuan still couldn’t help but whisper: “…It is said that the deposed emperor has now been completely forced into madness, and Xie Bufeng’s methods are indeed cruel.”
…
There is a special person in charge of guarding Xie Zhaolin in the prison of the Ministry of Justice.
At this time, his state is indeed the same as what Bai Zhiyuan said, and he has completely fallen into madness.
Xie Zhaolin spends most of the day talking nonsense, constantly praying in horror for the “wronged souls under the Yinchuan Grand Canal” to stay away from him.
The words in his mouth come and go, but they are those two sentences.
After listening for a long time, the soldiers in charge of guarding him also had a layer of cocoons in their ears.
Although he was tough in his words, the people in charge of watching over Xie Zhaolin could see that this deposed emperor had reached his limit.
Xie Zhaolin was moved from the round prison to the water prison.
On this day, he, who was detained here, suddenly became much more sober.
He no longer shouted madly as before, but stared with wide eyes and muttered to himself: “…I, know, I know.”
“Hahaha Wen Qingci, that day, the words that day were what you said, not my hallucination! Right?”
He remembered the day in Baiqiao Tower when Wen Qingci provoked him and tried to drive him mad.
After sobering up, Xie Zhaolin thought that was a scene he had imagined.
Until now, he finally realized that Wen Qingci did it on purpose!
He was deliberately stimulating himself—
“I should have known, I should have killed you directly at that time!” Xie Zhaolin gritted his teeth and said.
After saying this, Xie Zhaolin laughed madly as before.
The laughter echoed over and over again in the empty cell, sounding extremely creepy.
The soldiers guarding outside the water prison looked at each other and quickly retreated.
The emperor had ordered that if Xie Zhaolin mentioned Wen Qingci, he would be told about it as soon as possible.
After a stick of incense, the new emperor, dressed in black and wearing a golden crown, actually appeared.
“…Hahaha, I should have, I should have killed you, on the 27th year of Tianchu Qingming…I should have killed you at that time.”
The moment Xie Bufeng walked into the prison of the Ministry of Justice, he heard this sentence.
Qingming Festival in the twenty-seventh year of Tianchu, why is it this day?
The soldiers following behind Xie Bufeng looked at each other.
Before they could figure out what the deposed emperor was going crazy today, they saw Xie Bufeng suddenly gritted his teeth and pulled out a long sword from a soldier next to him.
With a sound of breaking through the air, the next second the cold light flashed, and the cold sword blade was already against Xie Zhaolin’s throat.
“What did you say? What happened on the 27th year of Tianchu Qingming?” Xie Bufeng squinted his eyes, his words full of murderous intent.
At some point Xie Bufeng has completely lost the childishness and greenness of the young man.
His voice was low and hoarse, and he was majestic without anger.
Xie Zhaolin slowly turned around and looked at the person in front of him with cloudy eyes.
Then he stood there motionless.
Seeing that the other party did not cooperate, Xie Bufeng smiled lightly, slowly rotated the hilt of the sword, pressed his shoulder with the blade of the sword, and pressed him little by little into this pool of dead water.
Water and coldness came from all directions.
In a daze, Xie Zhaolin saw countless river workers’ wronged souls again, crawling out from the bottom of the water, grabbing his ankles, and pulling him into hell.
“Ah ah ah…” Xie Zhao Lin screamed loudly, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the water rushed into his mouth and nose, “I said, I said I said–”
Xie Zhaolin struggled desperately, and the heavy iron chain hanging on his body made a series of heavy noises.
But Xie Bufeng seemed to have not heard his plea for mercy, and continued to press him into the water carelessly.
The soldiers in the prison of the Ministry of Justice were all shocked by the aura on Xie Bufeng.
They stood still and couldn’t move.
Until Xie Zhaolin, who was sinking in the water, could no longer move or struggle, Xie Bufeng used the tip of the sword to pick up Xie Zhaolin’s collar and picked him out of the water.
“Spare me, please…spare me, spare me…” Xie Zhao Lin took a deep breath and begged Xie Bufeng.
“What happened on the 27th year of Tianchu Qingming?” The young man asked in a low voice.
Xie Zhaolin knew that Xie Bufeng had no patience, he trembled and quickly said: “He, he was not there when he was on vacation on Qingming that year, I had a headache and couldn’t call him into the palace–at that time, Xian Gonggong said he was poisoned, he must be lying to me, yes…he must be lying to me.”
“I should have, at that time, kill, kill him–”
“How dare, dare to lie to me with Xian Gonggong, the crime of deceiving the emperor, should be cut…should be cut!”
Xie Zhao Lin said a few words, and then shouted madly at the “river workers” in his imagination, asking them not to approach.
“Come here!” Xie Bufeng turned around abruptly, almost gritted his teeth and ordered the people behind him, “Bring Xian Gonggong to me!”
“Yes, Your Majesty–”
A soldier took the order and left, and the rest held their breath and stood still.
Tianchu 27th year Qingming–at this moment, in Xie Bufeng’s mind, only this time point is constantly wandering.
…Xie Zhaolin said, Wen Qingci disappeared for a few days?
In the twenty-seventh year of Tianchu, the battle in which he was seriously injured broke out before Qingming.
Xie Bufeng’s heart was in a mess for a moment.
He clenched the hilt of the sword and didn’t want to let go for a long time.
After a while, the old steward was brought into the prison by two soldiers.
At this time, he was no longer on duty day and night in Taishu Palace, but returned to Yong’s mansion to retire.
Although Xian Gonggong had been in the palace for most of his life and had seen countless storms, he had never been to such a place.
The soldiers who brought him here did not explain their intentions, so the bloody smell and coldness in the prison came through, and Xian Gonggong’s legs couldn’t help shaking.
Whenever a new emperor succeeds to the throne, he will deal with the old people of the previous dynasty.
Although Xian Gonggong helped Xie Bufeng seize the throne, it still cannot erase the fact that he was Xie Zhaolin’s biggest confidant.
Since Xie Bufeng succeeded to the throne, Xian Gonggong knew there would be such a day…
“Long live my emperor–”
Xian Gonggong’s ceremony was not finished yet, and he was interrupted by Xie Bufeng: “What happened on the 27th year of Tianchu Qingming?”
The low and hoarse voice, mixed with Xie Zhaolin’s mad shouts, echoed over and over again in the prison.
Xian Gonggong, who was kneeling on the ground, paused, and then kowtowed heavily.
As an emperor, Xie Bufeng is not particular about small details–this can be known from the fact that he doesn’t mind that he was Xie Zhaolin’s confidant and let himself stay in Yongdu to retire.
But Xian Gonggong also knew that if he didn’t answer this question well, he might have to stay here forever and be with Xie Zhaolin.
Fortunately, fortunately, he chose the right person to follow and left a trump card.
Xian Gonggong’s voice suddenly choked up, and he said from the beginning while kowtowing: “Your Majesty, I don’t want to hide it. At the beginning, Master Wen was worried about your safety and wanted to send cotton clothes and wound medicine to the north. Due to the lack of acquaintances in the army, he had to ask the minister for help, send things to your hands, and to find out the military news in the north…”
Although he already knew the origin of those cotton clothes and wound medicine, when he heard this, Xie Bufeng’s heart still ached faintly.
Eager to survive, Xian Gonggong continued to say: “The minister also became good friends with Master Wen because of this.”
When he said this, there was a bit of sadness in his voice, as if he really had a good relationship with Wen Qingci.
“In the twenty-seventh year of Qingming…the deposed emperor was unwell, and several times asked the minister to go outside the palace to find Master Wen. But the minister found that Master Wen, he was not in the mansion at all, not even in Yongdu…”
“Then, the deposed emperor ordered this minister to forcibly bring Master Wen into the palace, and I went back and forth for several days. It was because I was too partial to him in this matter that the deposed emperor became wary of me.”
“…Yes. Although I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I heard people say that after Qingming in the twenty-seventh year of Tianchu, Master Wen returned to Taishu Palace with a body full of injuries and illnesses. He was severely injured, as if he had lost half his life. From then on, the deposed emperor kept him under house arrest in Taishu Palace.”
Until death, he was never able to leave the palace.
Hearing this, Xie Bufeng’s mind went blank.
He stood there without saying a word.
Xian Gonggong also couldn’t tell what Xie Bufeng’s mood was at this time.
He suddenly shook his hand deep into his sleeve, pulled hard, and pulled out the thing he had kept for his life: “Your Majesty, please see. I have always been in contact with Master Wen…”
The soldiers took the thing in his hand and handed it to Xie Bufeng.
This is a yellowed note, carefully filled with the effects and usage of various wound medicines.
…Xie Bufeng had seen the same content on the medicine bottle sent to the north.
However, the version he saw was written in unfamiliar handwriting.
But every word on this paper in front of him is from Wen Qingci’s hand.
A few hints of warmth finally appeared in the young man’s cold eyes.
Xian Gonggong couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief…
Every time, Wen Qingci would write the instructions well, and after someone else copied them, they would be posted on the medicine bottle and sent to the north.
The first time, he found someone himself.
Later, Xian Gonggong left his cautiousness, let Wen Qingci directly bring the instructions, and he found someone to copy.
At the same time, he took this opportunity to keep the original.
The one in Xie Bufeng’s hand now is one of the originals that Xian Gonggong kept back then.
…The young man saw that under the dense introduction of the effects of the medicine, there were a few words he had never seen before.
“Your Highness, I wish you the best”
Wen Qingci personally wrote these words, and then gently crossed them out.
In an instant, the note in Xie Bufeng’s hand seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, making him unable to hold it.
–On Qingming in the twenty-seventh year of Tianchu, when he was seriously injured, Wen Qingci left Yongdu and returned with a body full of injuries and illnesses after several days.
The dream that should have been forgotten became clear in an instant.
The color bed curtain full of glazed shards.
And the trembling cold lips…
The enchanting dream in memory is not false.
The answer is already in sight.
The person in the dream that day was indeed Wen Qingci.
The pale neck, the ambiguous bite, touch, the wanton touch…and the suppressed panting.
He actually touched the person who he dared not kiss when he was sober in his sleep.
Even taking advantage of everything being unreal, and presumptuous to the extreme.
…Wen Qingci knew that he was injured for the first time, braved the risk, and went to the north regardless of everything.
How did he do it?
Xie Bufeng didn’t even dare to think about it.
The young man stumbled back a step.
Xie Bufeng suddenly remembered that after he woke up, there was still a pain in an acupoint on his neck.
At that time, he was sick, and if Wen Qingci wanted to, he could kill him directly.
However, he not only did not do so, but even let himself…dirty him.
Xie Bufeng held his breath and thought carefully…So would Wen Qingci also have a little bit of irrational love for him?
The sword fell to the ground with a bang.
Xie Bufeng’s heart ached with every breath.
In the prison, only Xie Zhaolin’s curses were still echoing over and over again.
…
The deposed emperor was imprisoned, and the past that he had suppressed before also surfaced one by one.
The death of the Emperor Ai, the thousands of wronged souls at the bottom of the Yinchuan Grand Canal, became a topic of discussion among the people of the Wei Dynasty.
But this is not enough, Xie Bufeng ordered a thorough investigation of the matter of the year.
Especially to find out what happened in the village where Wen Qingci lived when he was a child.
No one in the court disagreed.
When he was about to leave the court, a young man in black clothes lightly ordered: “…Wait for this matter to be thoroughly investigated, and then start the dragon boat, and the civil and military officials will go down to Songxiu Prefecture with me to comfort the spirits.”
“Your Majesty is wise–” Upon hearing this, the court officials all knelt and worshiped.
At the end, a minister in red clothes hesitated and walked out. He saluted Xie Bufeng, and then asked very carefully: “Your Majesty’s birthday is coming this year, This humble minister doesn’t know how to celebrate?”
His voice echoed in the silent hall, looking particularly lonely.
“Wanshou Festival” is the emperor’s birthday, generally speaking, it will be a big deal for three days, it is the most important festival of the year.
But now the day of the birthday is getting closer and closer, but there is no movement on Xie Bufeng’s side, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites who are responsible for this matter can make their own decisions, and they don’t know what to do for a while.
There is no way, they can only ask at this time.
Xie Bufeng paused, then glanced at the other person slowly and said, “No.”
“Uh…” The man was stunned on the spot, “Yes, Your Majesty!” Then he hurriedly got up and retreated.
The court officials couldn’t help but look at each other—since ancient times to the present, there has never been an emperor who did not hold a birthday celebration!
…What is the emperor thinking?
Although there is no celebration for this year’s birthday. But the court officials still followed the old system and took a three-day break.
Three days later, late at night.
Xie Bufeng sat alone under the magnolia tree of the Imperial Medical Bureau, pouring himself a glass of wine.
The strong wine went down, and the chest and lungs burned like fire.
–It wasn’t until now that he knew that after having pain, while drinking, there were a few more flavors.
Soon…
Wait for him to find out what happened in the past, and then take the civil and military officials to Songxiu Prefecture, and tell him everything in front of Wen Qingci’s grave.
Xie Bufeng slowly closed his eyes, and the cheers of the crowd outside Taishu Palace passed through the palace wall and fell on his ears, which was a bit too noisy.
The young man just gently rubbed the blood-stained wristband on his wrist.
He slowly pressed the wristband to his heart, and muttered in the tone of Wen Qingci: “Happy birthday, Your Highness.”
May you live forever and last for generations.
What he wanted was just this simple “Happy Birthday”.
Dewy on BLPSG Chapter 86: The Emperor’s old illness: “I want QingCi to give this little wolf a big slap after healing him -__-” Oct 23, 13:18
