Chapter 54 : Enthronement

The sky of the Imperial Capital was gloomy and grey, the sun was hidden behind layers of dark clouds, bright lightning like a dragon weaving between the clouds, accompanied by rumbling thunder. It was clearly past noon, but the sky was still as bright as in the morning.

In the middle of the night, the imperial capital was changed, chaotic torches illuminated the market, a large number of guards and soldiers ran through the streets hurriedly, causing a huge noise, the curious people were draped up and poked out half of their heads from behind the door to check the situation, but they were dragged to the street by the soldiers and braves unceremoniously, and were tied up with chains.

The people had no idea what was going on, and struggled and cried, begging the lords to let them go.

No one paid any attention to them, the number of detained people increased, and the clamour resounded throughout the entire imperial capital.

Before dawn, the news that "the emperor and the princes were assassinated, and the second prince hanged himself in fear of the crime" spread to every corner of the imperial capital, and everyone's face showed a look of shock and fear, not understanding why such a drastic change had happened overnight.

Officials in a hurry to get dressed and flocked to the hall, when they learned that the emperor was in shock and did not see anyone, all anxious and at a loss, in addition to His Royal Highness, the fourth prince and the eleventh prince escaped, the rest of the emperor is dead, but the king of the Hui is still on the way back, the fourth prince and the eleventh prince whereabouts are not known, no one can preside over the overall situation, the court fell into the state of the group of dragons without a leader, the only thing to do is to guard in the hall above the emperor to wait for a decree! The only thing you can do is to wait for the Emperor's decree on top of the hall.

Pei Si Yan silently mixed into the officials, listening to their discussion, face pretending to be surprised, as if only a conspiracy of bystanders.

The fact that most people chose to believe that the assassins were sent out by the second prince made Pei Si Yan satisfied, relieved and somewhat bored, she looked out of the hall, just waiting for His Highness King Hui to return.

After a sleepless night, she now felt sleepy, wanting to return to Shide Xuan's soft big **, leaving all the intrigues and bloodshed behind, and having a beautiful sleep.

Time passed very slowly, Pei Si Yan looked outside the temple again and again, and again and again disappointed lowered her head. She played with the jade bracelet on her wrist, counting how many times she turned the bracelet.

When she counted to the two thousand four hundred and fiftyth turn, the sound of the chamberlain's announcement finally came from outside the hall, "His Highness King Hui has arrived!"

The gazes of the crowd immediately converged towards the entrance of the hall, looking towards the prince who was the first to come back alive, that demonic, charming and magnificent His Highness King Hui.

"I greet Your Highness King Hui!" As Lan Xuan stepped through the threshold, all the officials knelt down in unison.

The crowd understood that His Highness King Hui would potentially inherit the throne.

Lan Xuan walked past the kneeling crowd, glanced at Pei Si Yan in the corner, and kept walking until he reached the steps leading up to the throne before stopping his steps, "All of you adults, please rise."

After Wu Ruyi rose, he immediately said to Lan Xuan in a respectful voice, "Your Highness, fortunately you returned safely! Now that the Emperor is bedridden, please support the general situation, Your Highness!"

"Last night's assassination, fortunately the guards around me were brave, this king was lucky to escape," Lanxuan said in a loud voice, the corner of his eye once again looking at Pei Siyan, "The occurrence of such a tragedy is a great misfortune for my Blue Clan's royal family, now that my father is gravely ill, I would like to ask all of you to pray to the heavens along with my king in the hope that my father can recover soon and regain control of the dynasty. recover early and regain control of the dynasty."

"Your Majesty's piece of filial piety will surely move heaven and earth!" Wuli hurriedly stepped forward to flatter him.

Lanxuan smiled at him gently and politely, "This is my king's job."

"I will follow His Highness King Hui around and pray to heaven together to bless His Majesty's early recovery and regain control of the dynasty!" The officials saluted again.

Lanxuan was about to bring the officials forward to pray for blessings when Tai Fu Zeng and Eunuch Qian came in one after the other. The sudden death of the ninth prince was a great blow to the aged Lord Crown Prince, hunched over, constantly coughing and gasping for air, his face grey and dishevelled, every step he took seemed to cost him a lot of strength, and the attendants around him carefully assisted him.

People's eyes didn't stay long on the body of Zeng Taifu, all of them were attracted by the bright yellow booklet held in Eunuch Qian's hand, and they couldn't help but be stunned.

The edict of succession!

The emperor has been on the throne for many years and has not yet installed a crown prince, although there has been discussion about the second prince who is most likely to become the crown prince, but now in this situation, it is already the time when the royal decree of succession has to be announced, and the only choice of the emperor is this for the perennial unpopularity of His Highness, the King of Huizhou!

It was not easy for Crown Prince Zeng to walk to Lanxuan's side, and Lanxuan hastily dispensed with his courtesy.

Zeng Taifu thanked the grace, cleared his throat, and announced to all present: "Just now, the old minister paid a visit to the emperor ..."

Pei Siyan was a little surprised to look at Lanxuan, she thought that in order to ensure that the plan does not have a branch, Lanxuan let the emperor to go to the west, and then she blocked the news, so that things do not happen so "coincidental".

Minister Shan Hao anxiously asks, "Lord Taifu, did you see the Emperor with your own eyes?"

"No," Tai Fu Zeng shook his head, "According to the doctor, the Emperor's body is too weak, it's best not to gather too many people at the Hall of Nourishing Hearts, so the Emperor's wills were conveyed by Eunuch Qian on his behalf."

Pei Si Yan understood, the Emperor must have passed away, but it was Eunuch Qian who was acting according to Lan Xuan's instructions.

Eunuch Qian had served by the side of the Emperor for many years, even Taishi Feng had not been able to bribe him, and the ministers all believed that the decrees he conveyed were true.

Zeng Taifu took the edict of succession from Eunuch Qian's hand, and spelled out his whole body strength to say in a loud voice: "The Emperor is worried that he cannot hold it for too long, and wants the old minister to read the edict of succession in court!"

The crowd knelt down and low all listened to the decree.

"Hui Wangxuan, my eldest son, qi yi yinghui, ke cheng zongzhi pick, benevolence and filial piety day plant, wise long-established, noble character, deep Xiao me bow. It is appropriate to comply with the ancestral training, under the herd, passed on to the emperor's eldest son blue pleasant.

Funeral rites remain the same system, day for month, twenty-seven days to release clothes, sacrifices with vegetarian delicacies, do not prohibit folk music marriage. Clan relatives, county king, the clan screen is important, can not be unauthorised to leave the fiefdom. The Governor of each town patrol three Secretary of the local Department of the officer can not go AWOL, heard the day of mourning, each stop in their own place of the night and day crying, three days into the incense on behalf of the poor officer. Guards and counties and soil officials are exempt from incense. Suburb society and other rituals and I worship and enjoy, all the old ancestor, discretionary corrections.

Still body to Huai, with Chin not order, edict to the world, salty make heard."

Even though they had already guessed that the successor to the throne would inevitably be His Royal Highness the King of Hui, after hearing the imperial edict, most of the people still froze, suddenly feeling that the world is so ridiculous -

The child born by the woman the emperor loathed, the eldest son of the emperor who was deliberately ignored by the emperor with indifference, His Royal Highness King Hui who had the least hope of ascending to the throne, and in the end, his name was actually written by the emperor's own hand on top of the edict of succession.

Seeing that the crowd did not react, Pei Si Yan was the first to kowtow and shout, "I obey the decree!"

Lord Wu Pan's words woke up the officials, who followed suit and kowtowed to the future emperor in succession. Wu Luo and Wu Li coincidentally glanced at Pei Si Yan, one pondering, the other frowning.

"My son obeys the decree!" Lan Xuan received the imperial decree that he had personally tampered with last night with both hands, and an imperceptible smile surfaced at the corner of his mouth. Then, he said to the officials still kneeling on the ground, "All of you, please rise."

"Thank you, Your Highness King Hui!"

"Lord Wu Pan." Lanxuan shouted politely.

As soon as Pei Si Yan heard that Lan Xuan was calling out to her, she then stood out of the crowd, "What are your majesty's orders?"

"Women have always had delicate minds, please take charge of investigating the assassination, make sure to find out the cause and hunt down all the people and assassins involved."

"Yes, I will follow your orders." Pei Si Yan led the order and quickly exited the grand hall. As soon as she walked down the steps, Pei Si Yan's face crumpled into a ball, sighing - it turned out that what she had to do was not all over yet, she still had to put on an act, and it seemed that she had to wait until Lan Xuan successfully ascended to the throne before she would give up.

At that time, if one didn't find a reason to take a big holiday for oneself, it would simply be self-abuse and owe it to oneself!

Pei Si Yan secretly decided so, her mood got better again, and immediately called for men to track down the assassin.

Two days later, the emperor died. The entire imperial capital was onyx, both sides of the street and the city walls were hung up white silk cloth and lanterns, mourning and grief filled the streets and alleys, crying like the chanting of ghosts in the air.

Lanxuan sat alone in the Jingning Palace where his mother consort lived before her death, the miserable sunlight sprinkled through the windowpaper on his white clothes, his stunningly beautiful features still glowing, not affected in the slightest by his father's death. Between his white and slender fingers, he toyed with a small hairpin, an ornament once used by his mother consort.

Under his repeated pleas, Jingning Palace was able to remain as it was for many years, the windows were bright and clean, the dresser was neatly arranged with flashy jewellery, there was not a trace of dust on the bronze mirror,** the bedding was neatly folded, as if the bright and enchanting woman who had originally resided here had never left.

"Mother consort, are you satisfied happy with what I have done?" Lanxuan laughed at the empty house with no one else in it, "He treated us mother and son like this, I let him get his comeuppance, do you meet in the nine springs now? I wonder what you will say to him?"

"I'm afraid that Concubine Wen is worried about you, the future Emperor's Majesty."

Coldly, a sweet and elegant woman's voice came from behind the mantle, the aftermath echoing within the vast palace as if some resentful soul was pouring out the bitter sorrow in its heart in a low voice.

Lanxuan frowned, put down his hairpin, walked towards the direction where the voice came from, lifted the red mantle embroidered with a large mass of peony flowers with one hand, and when he saw the person standing behind that, his complexion was uncontrollably stunned.

"You are ..."

That person let out a light laugh, pouting, "Brother Xuan, but a few years have not seen, you so quickly forget me?"

Three months later, with the onset of summer, a grand enthronement ceremony was held in the imperial capital, where Lan Xuan finally put on the coveted metaphysical-coloured dragon robe and sat on the golden throne that tens of thousands of people watched, accepting the kowtow of all the subjects in the world.

After the ceremony, he took Pei Siyan's hand and came to the palace gate above the city tower, pointing at the ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains, his tone was unwavering: "This world is all mine now, and I am willing to guard the Tantai family well for Lord Wuban!"

"Thank you Your Majesty for your great grace." Pei Si Yan curtsied, in these three months large and small matters were uninterrupted, not being able to rest properly once her face was not very good, under her eyes was a greenish colour, even her speaking voice was lower than usual.

Lanxuan gazed at her, the corner of his lips hooked.

If you can't live, what's the harm in dying?

--Tantai Yan

The road to the Yellow Springs unfolded before my eyes, and there was a person in front of the road beckoning to me.

I couldn't see the person's appearance, but only felt a familiarity deep into my heart.

I turned my eyes to the woman in front of me who had the same appearance as myself, and before I died, I spread the only lie in this life.

I, was born in the first line of the Wu Pan family's long house.

Before I was born, there were only three people in the long house - father, mother and aunt.

My father has been in love with my mother all my life, and even though he has been married for many years and has produced nothing, he still refuses to take a concubine for fear of letting my mother feel aggrieved. Father's only sister, Tantai Mingzhang, is said to have been too discerning and never met anyone who could make her fall in love, so she preferred not to marry and grew old in solitude.

My birth, on the other hand, undoubtedly gave them renewed hope for the future for this thinly populated first family.

Since the moment I was born, my fate has been decided by others -

I would succeed my father as Wuban, and I would be the most honoured woman in the Blue Country besides the Empress; I would also marry a man whom the family had chosen for me out of ten thousand, and even if we had never met, I would still have to marry him.

No one had ever asked me if I wanted to.

From the time I was old enough to know, all I could see were groups of maids and servants, white-bearded, learned gentlemen, and piles of books.

I had no friends.

I had no joy.

I have no ...

I had nothing but the status and future power I held in my hands.

Though my family pampered me, I could not feel a bit of warmth.

Deep loneliness and isolation, no one to listen to me.

The short years seemed to become a winding river of millions of miles, quietly running, clear to the bottom, but long enough to never see the end, as endless as the pain that befalls me, I can never find the end of getting rid of them.

However, my heart is not willing to chase the river, keep running, the burden on my body is getting heavier and heavier, but I still want to pierce through the heavy fog, over the mountains, find the end of the river, so that the pain is all over.

When I was too exhausted to run any further, I stopped and saw that there was still a long way to go.

It was all in vain.

The mansion was most lively during the New Year's festivals. The elders brought firecrackers, the children received them joyfully and ran to the open space in front of the mansion to play, my younger sister Xiao Si also followed, the sound of laughter and firecrackers resounded through the whole street.

I walked to the courtyard where the sunlight was scattered all over the place and watched them from afar.

The elders asked me: why don't you go over there together?

I said: just take a look.

The elders asked again: Yeon-er, why don't you ever smile.

I gazed at them for a long time and asked, Laughing? What is that?

What is laughing?

The gentlemen complimented me on my knowledge of astronomy and geography, my proficiency in poetry, qin and chess, not losing out to men in the slightest, and my talent is enough to become one of the most talented women in the Blue Nation, and in the future, I will definitely be a pillar of the country.

But I never felt that what they said was true, because there was one thing I didn't know, and that was "laughter".

I didn't realise it until I was on my deathbed.

The slow passage of time seemed to me to be a never-ending ordeal. I often looked at the blue sky or the clear green lake, and watched me grow up little by little, and little by little I became a stranger even to myself.

When I was ten years old, my father brought in a boy a little older than me, and told me that his name was Li Qingzheng, and that he would be by my side in the future, and would not let me be harmed in the slightest.

My father was very secretive about Li Qingzheng's life, I didn't know where he came from, what kind of identity he had, and how he was able to win my father's trust at such a young age and come to my side.

Li Qingdian is a very indifferent person, he seldom speaks, not to mention will not smile, eyes deep like a thousand years of ancient well. He guarded me, and I could sense his dedication, but to my dying day, I couldn't guess his mind, even though we had been together for ten whole years.

Perhaps his past called for sorrow, perhaps his father was kind to him, perhaps ...

What the truth is, I can never know.

When I was eighteen years old, my father fixed a marriage for me, and the other party was the grandson of old General Shen - Shuzhe. He would be my husband when I set foot on the peak of power.

The Shen family has been an official in the imperial court for several generations, and the Tantai family is a family friend with a long history of friendship, and there have been several marriages, but they were all between young ladies and sons of the commoners of both families.

Shen Shuzhe, when I was a child I saw him once, is a face elegant, gentle temperament of the young man, his eyes as clear as the plateau above the flow of water, do not stain a trace of dust dirt, he raised his hands and feet natural and elegant, as if a fluttering white cranes, he smiled, the sunlight seems to be even brighter, there is as watery light in his light-coloured robes flow, exuded can not be ignored by people's radiance.

Where he was, there was always laughter.

I resentfully resisted this designated arranged marriage, I don't want to have my family help me pick out even the husband and son-in-law who will be with me for the rest of my life.

At least, please let me be free in matters of affection for once.

I treated Shen Shuzhe, who was visiting my door, with cold words, hoping that he would complain to his family first in order to cancel the marriage. But this guy ...

Not only did he still smile in a gentle manner, he even came to my house gradually more often.

Every time he came, he always brought me many new and strange things, and he said: I hope I can be happy and smile.

I was silent, in the sunshine, listening to him talk carelessly. His words, sometimes into the ears, sometimes did not hear anything, sometimes heard, but afterward can not remember.

He came more often, I was a little tired of it, but the Tantai family and the Shen family are close, how can I turn against him.

When I heard someone praise the two of us "good relationship, in the future must be a loving couple", I really quite speechless, I really do not know which eyes he saw this situation.

The days passed quietly, and one day, I suddenly realised that I was no longer tired of him coming to Tantai Mansion.

I thought that I must have got used to it, and it didn't matter whether he came or not.

Originally, I thought that since the beginning, I never fell in love with him, not even a little bit, but ...

Shen Shuzhe was ordered to go on a mission to another country, on the way back encountered a storm, the sea set off the wind and waves of the sky and the terrible whirlpool, the boat overturned.

All the people were buried at the bottom of the sea.

When I heard the news, I found my eyes aching, and then tears slowly flowed out. I touched my wet cheeks, and my heart stung for no reason, as if someone had taken something sharp and was poking me hard in the heart.

I remember, before he left, he had smiled and said to me: I will bring gifts back to you, to wait for me.

This is the last words he said with me, I did not expect to become the last words that can never be realised ...

I suddenly remembered many things with Shuzhe together, memories like a dike flood surging, those things I thought I never put on the heart, since I once remembered also with the river of the years drifted away.

However, I remember it clearly, as clear as if it had just happened yesterday.

Spring drizzle, I went out, did not wait to take me back to the carriage, first waited for him with a bamboo umbrella, hurriedly ran to him. He held up the umbrella for me to send me home, not caring about the clothes full of sludge, I remember he is a man who likes to be clean, never let his clothes touch the dirty things ....

Summer mosquitoes, he picked to repel insects of herbs slowly boiled into juice sprinkled in the write autumn Xuan, busy sweating still smile full of happy ...

The mid-autumn full moon in the sky, he stupidly climbed up the tree in the courtyard, make a look of picking the moon, said it must be the most beautiful and round moon to me. I know he wants to make me happy, but at that time I showed the same indifference as always, and even felt that he was stupid ...

Winter snow flying, he held my hand walking through the slippery road, a careless I almost want to fall into the mud, he opened his arm to protect me, his embrace ... really really warm, very comfortable ...

But now, that man who has always been considerate and gentle to take care of me sleeps in that turquoise blue, never to appear again, I found that my world has become even darker, boundless black, the light is as far away from me as the stars.

The day Shen's family erected a grave for him, I didn't go, I was locked up in the house alone, holding an ink-stained brush in my hand, lost in thought as I drew around on the rice paper.

In the evening, Yun Qi knocked on the door to come in, I only slowed down, and then shocked to find that on the rice paper was Shen Shuzhe's smiling face.

I don't know when, he came into my heart.

Everything is late, he is dead, I am still alive ...

I went to the riverside where we used to swim together, and I don't know why, but I dug a pit under the willow tree that was the same as a grave, and then stared at the distant sky until dusk fell.

After that, I tried hard to forget him, I didn't want to fill my world with despair, and when his smile and figure faded in my mind, I thought I had done it.

As always, I studied, ate, and slept every day, living a life of constant repetition, still no friends and no joy, still I had nothing but power.

Soon after, there came an old man who travelled around the five lakes in the imperial capital, and his arrival caused quite a **, it was said that he peered into the heavens and knew people's fate, quite accurate. So I went to visit him. His face wrinkles like criss-crossed spider webs, hair as white as snow, eyes are still as bright as youth, walking at all do not see that he has been over the age of old.

I asked him when he would be free of pain.

He looked at me, his eyes suddenly filled with helplessness and sadness, mysterious and long-winded said: double ten years of age, you will meet a woman who looks like you, she can help you.

I also want to ask him where he can meet, what is the name of that woman.

The old man shook his head, unwilling to say more.

Will meeting that person be a relief?

I looked up at the sky, the corners of my lips tugged a few times, but in the end I couldn't smile.

My heart dyed with hope, I was eagerly looking forward to finding the woman whose appearance resembled mine as soon as possible, I sent people to look for her in the entire Blue Country, but I found nothing.

I sometimes wondered if the old man was lying to me.

After the doubt, I still firmly believe that fate will let us meet, now it is just a matter of time.

My father's health has always been strong, I thought it would be many more years before I would inherit that damned seat, no, not even by me, until then, that fated woman will surely take my place, instead of me to become the most honourable woman in this country, instead of me to guard this home that I love and hate.

Even though the relationship between my family seemed close since I was a child was actually quite distant, but I share the same surname Tantai as they do, they have nurtured me since I was a child, my body flows with the same blood as theirs, and the relationship of my bloodline lets me know - to at least guard my family, the only ones who can be close to me, are them.

However, when my father was out on patrol, he met with an accident and passed away.

When my mother heard the sad news, she immediately fainted and turned white overnight. Two days later, she went after her father.

The Tantai family was onyx, and the whiteness shook my heart with fear.

I hid in Write Autumn Xuan, did not dare to go out, accompanied by my only tears. I cried until my eyes were dry and my voice was hoarse, but I still wanted to cry, and I kept crying.

Not only for my parents, but also for the road ahead, how am I going to go on?

My expression was a bit dazed, listening to the lingering cries in the large mansion, I hastily avoided Lei Qingdian, who was busy with the funeral, and walked out of the home that was depressing me.

As I crossed the threshold, I suddenly felt hope.

My feet couldn't help but lead me out of the city gates to a lush forest, the sunlight was mostly blocked by the dense branches and leaves, leaving dappled spots of light on the ground covered with dead leaves, the surroundings were dim, scary and eerie.

I didn't feel scared at all, and continued to walk towards the deep out of the woods.

The sharp sound of something cutting through the air and stabbing sharply woke me from my trance, and I looked up to see a sharp arrow whistling.

There was nothing I could do to avoid it as it pierced my chest, blood spurting like mad, my long black dress covering the colour of the blood.

I heard someone seemingly coming this way, and hurriedly endured the pain to avoid it, and it was then that I saw the person - the old man's words realised!

Her appearance seemed to be carved out of the same mould as mine, without any difference, and she was wearing strange clothes ...

Without thinking too much, I dragged her into hiding in a nearby dilapidated thatched hut, took out the pills and gave them to myself and her, and then wove a lie in my head to cope with what was going to happen when she woke up.

I didn t get seriously injured to save her, I just wanted her to go back in my place and guard the Tantai family ... in my place.

This was the first lie I told in the twenty years I've been alive, and it was also the last.

She agreed in order to repay the favour.

I was so relieved, blood kept pouring out of my wounds, I didn't need her to save me, I just wanted to be relieved, I just wanted ...

Everything in front of my eyes began to blur and distant, but only the road of the Yellow Springs and the figure of the man is becoming clearer and clearer, he smiled like a painting intoxicating, like the winter sunshine makes people's hearts warm.

Before I died, I suddenly understood--

I was in love with Shen Shuzhe, deeply in love with him.

The corners of my mouth rose, and I finally smiled, finally knowing what a smile is.

There's no way to live, so what's the harm in dying?

Shuzhe, I can finally come to see you...

.