7.3 - 7.4(1/2)
7.3
The court officials submitted a letter to the execution of Qi Xiujie for more than half a month. Li Jintian was unmoved from beginning to end, but instead restored Qi Xiujie's position as the noble king.
Every night, he would dream back to the lonely and deep palace. He saw Qi Xiujie kneeling in front of his tablet and crying. The extremely depressed grief could not be soaked in the silence of smiles, and repeatedly tormented his nerves. He thought that Qi Xiujie would live happily after his death, but found that he also became a walking corpse. The only thought that inspired him to live was to avenge himself.
In this way, it seems that taking one step first is a kind of luck, while those who stay are trapped in endless pain and despair and cannot be relieved.
The Qi family devoted all their efforts to restore the country. Most of the tribe members died and injured in the battle, and the remaining were the elderly, weak, women and children. Qi Xiujie also buried his husband's corpse and committed suicide by throwing himself, unable to enjoy any glory. Every time Li Jintian woke up from this dream, his chest was filled with pain.
He wanted to see how Qi Xiujie was doing, but he felt timid and guilty, so he could only live in entanglement every day. Before he knew it, he had already believed in the two dreams, but he would rather dismiss the entire harem for Gao Min. This relationship could not be faked, so he would not move until the Gao family made an act of usurpation.
On this day, the court officials finally calmed down and no longer submitted a letter to the emperor to ask him to execute the remnants of the Qi family. Instead, they expressed concern for the frequent invasion of the Western barbarians. King Li first stood up and begged the emperor to send troops to the Western barbarians, followed by Gao Lang, and then the civil and military officials in the court.
Li Jintian had intended to conquer Western barbarians, so he said in court that he would form an army as soon as possible.
"Dare you dare to ask if the emperor has a suitable general?" King Li bowed and asked.
"No, I can recommend a few for me."
"I recommend General Gao Min and Gao. The emperor thinks it is appropriate?"
When King Li said this, the court officials were shocked. Everyone knew who Gao Min was, and they all knew that he was a powerful general guarding the border before entering the palace. However, he is now the emperor and has given birth to a prince. How could he be with the soldiers again? What kind of discipline is this!
Some people wanted to stand up and oppose it, but they saw Gao Lang take a step forward and vigorously recommend his younger brother, and even called him "Selecting the wise and not avoiding relatives". Li Jintian's favor and tolerance for his younger brother was unlimited. It was because Gao Lang knew this that he joined forces with King Li to make such a bold proposal.
Li Jintian can tolerate Gao Min without any bottom line. This is true, but that was the case in the past. Now Li Jintian is like a person walking blindfolded and suddenly got gauze removed, seeing the situation in the prefecture and the harem clearly.
Those court officials who wanted to oppose silently retreated back to their original position when Gao Lang spoke. It can be seen that the current court has become the one-man show of Gao Lang and King Li. He is just a decoration. When the two of them make their opinions, they just nodded. The beauties in the harem have been dismissed by him, and a few are left because they have children. They have no favors and all rely on Gao Min's breath to survive.
The harem of the previous dynasty has completely become the world of the Gao family. Where does he place him as an emperor? And why did King Li recommend Gao Min? What is the relationship between them in private?
Li Jintian felt burning inside, but his face was not obvious at all. He said warmly that he needed to consider a few days before making a decision. Gao Lang and King Li no longer pressed each other. Anyway, they knew that when Li Jintian returned to the harem, Gao Min naturally had a way to make him agree.
Gao Min was trapped in this high palace wall and had been tired of it. As soon as Li Jintian came to Yangxin Palace, he begged to take charge of the Western Barbarians.
Li Jintian refused on the grounds of taking care of the children. He didn't give up. He knelt down and spoke coldly, "The Emperor once said that I want to walk side by side with you. The so-called walking side by side is to trap me in this golden cage and be your pet? I can die for the Emperor, but the Emperor can't even satisfy my wish?"
He raised his eyes and looked at the saint, his pupils full of resentment and resentment. The resentment continued from the previous life to this life, and it was getting thicker and thicker and harder to be eliminated. He had already planned to open his heart to accept Li Jintian, but he did not expect that the other party had forgiven Qi Xiujie for no reason, which made his resentment burn again.
At the same time, he hated such a self, feeling that he could not fall into the whirlpool of favor like a woman and live without dignity. He wanted to put on his armor and pick up his sword and halberd, and step onto the free and vast land of the border.
If the two of them could sit down and talk, they would definitely be able to untie their hearts. But at the moment, Li Jintian was stabbed by the resentment in his eyes. He thought that even a stone could warm up after covering it for three years, but he did not expect Gao Min's heart to be harder than a stone. He actually had resentment for all the things in his previous life, and was not willing to accompany him to death. This resentment may drive him to do things that hurt him, and he had no resistance to his harm.
Li Jintian was frightened and suddenly felt that the idea of returning to life with Gao Min was really stupid. He looked at Gao Min for a long time and finally left.
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Li Jintian wandered aimlessly in the palace, and unknowingly came to Zichen Palace. He hesitated for a long time before stepping in.
Qi Xiujie was standing behind the desk practicing calligraphy, lowering his head, unable to see clearly what expression was on his face. He was very surprised when he heard the rumor of the palace servants, and his eyes were full of disbelief and flattered.
"The sinners are in charge of the emperor." He knelt down respectfully.
Li Jintian did not shout, but looked at him with a deep and unfathomable gaze. After a while, he asked slowly, "Are you doing well recently?"
"Your Majesty, the criminals are doing well."
Li Jintian was slightly stunned when he heard this. This was a good life? Living in an empty palace, with neither luxurious ornaments nor personal servants, is it also considered a good thing? Yes, compared with the gloomy and terrifying Heavenly Prison before, isn't it good?
The guilty feeling hit Li Jintian again, making his chest feel stuffy. He picked up a chair and sat down, waved his hand, "Get up."
Zhou Yunsheng didn't move, hesitated for a moment and replied in a hoarse voice, "There is something in the guilty minister's heart that he can't settle and dare not get up."
Li Jintian seemed to know what he was going to ask, but his face became gloomy, but he still rubbed his eyebrows and spoke tiredly, "If you have any doubts, just ask."
Zhou Yunsheng kowtowed carefully, and his tone was sad, "Dare you ask why the emperor wanted to destroy my family? What did we do wrong?"
"Your father and King Xuan secretly colluded with him to rebel, don't you know?" When he said this, Li Jintian felt a sense of silence in his heart. When he was cleaning up the Qi family, he actually did not find any evidence of evil. He is now unable to determine whether his decision to confiscate the Qi family was right. He really wants to find the answer, but he is afraid of touching the answer.
The light in Zhou Yunsheng's eyes disappeared for a moment, and then his face seemed to be withered. He was ashamed and silenced, and kowtowed several times in succession, choking, "So that's it, the criminal minister is not aware of this matter. The criminal minister has no face to face the emperor, please give the criminal minister a death!" After words, several loud noises broke the forehead.
Li Jintian quickly reached out and looked into his eyes. His pupils were so dark and pure, except for shame, silence, despair, and guilt, there was no resentment at all. He had destroyed his family, but he had no resentment and was willing to die. He was afraid that his friendship with himself was no less than Gao Min.
No, this is wrong. He has much more friendship with himself than Gao Min. In his previous life, although he had a reputation for being arrogant and domineering, he was the most respectful in front of him and never disobeyed at all. It is rare for Gao Min to accompany him to die, but he can live humiliatedly and try every means to avenge himself. The torment he endured in his heart may be more uncomfortable than death.
So in the end he couldn't hold on, and couldn't enjoy the glory he should have enjoyed, and was hung alone on the beam of Zichen Palace.
Looking at the person who was so humble in front of him that he had completely destroyed his desire to live, Li Jintian felt like a knife. In his previous life, he thought he loved the wrong person, but he was not the case; in this life, he thought he loved the right person, but he was not the case. Qi Xiujie did everything for him, but he didn't say anything, but Gao Min always kept the kindness of the previous life, for fear that he would forget it.
He had made mistakes for two consecutive lives, and now he could no longer take back his deep affection from Gao Min. He felt that he was extremely sad. But Qi Xiujie, who was in a state of desolation, was even more sad than him.
Both of them were tricked by fate.
Compared with Gao Min's cold and resentment, Li Jintian felt even more guilty about Qi Xiujie, who had no complaints. He pulled the person up toughly, pressed him on the chair, and warned him carefully, "I don't blame you, you must live well," he paused for a moment and added, "I will take good care of you. I can compensate you whatever you want."
Zhou Yunsheng's silent eyes burst out with a ray of light, and hesitated, "Can the Sin Chen want a child, okay?"
Li Jintian was stopped by him again. He knew that Gao Min poisoned Qi Xiujie as soon as he came back from rebirth because he suspected that the death of the emperor in his previous life was Qi Xiujie's work. Li Jintian pretended to be unaware of the compensation mentality, and even cooperated secretly. Qi Xiujie's body was completely destroyed and there would be no children at all.
In the last life, in the harem of King Xuan, Qi Xiujie also destroyed his body in order to avoid giving birth to King Xuan's evil seeds.
This was simply a bad debt. Li Jintian was in a headache and was even more afraid to face Qi Xiujie.
Qi Xiujie seemed to notice his hesitation and added, "The criminal's meaning is not to want a biological child. The criminal's family committed such heinous crimes, and the criminal's minister dare not expect the emperor's favor anymore. Now there are many children in the palace who have lost their mother or prince or father, and the criminal only wants to adopt one. The criminal's minister is already alone..."
His humble words were like a dull knife, cutting Li Jintian's heart one by one. He understood what he meant, and he was already alone, lonely and helpless. If there was no comfort, he would probably never want to live like he did in his previous life. How much he hated Qi Xiujie before, but how guilty he felt now, he threw down the sentence "You can choose" and hurriedly escaped, his face turned red, as if he had been slapped dozens of times.
7.4
Zhou Yunsheng returned to his expressionless face as soon as he left, raised his hand and wiped away the blood from the forehead at will, and laughed coldly. His personal palace servants had been hypnotized and were loyal to him. At this time, they all lowered their heads and thought they had seen nothing.
Li Jintian fled back to Yangxin Palace in a panic and stared at a table of memorials. The memorial on the top was presented by the Imperial Heaven Supervision Supervisory Commission, with several titles listed, and they were carefully selected for Gao Lang, who was the first Duke of Jin.
Among them, the three words "Duke Yu" were deliberately circled with a pen and a red copy of the imperial pen, which was obviously Gao Min's meaning. Duke Yu, in the dream about the second life, wasn't Gao Lang named Duke Yu? Does this mean that those dreams are real?
Li Jintian's hands trembled when he held the memorial and threw it out. But it was too late to repent. All the civil and military officials in the court knew about Gao Lang's upcoming promotion to Duke. In order to please Gao Min, he also gave him a mansion regulated by Duke early, so that the Gao family could move in.
At the moment, Li Jintian felt like he had swallowed hundreds of flies, and he was not sucked or vomited, and he felt very uncomfortable. He poured several pots of herbal tea in succession, and then he suppressed his churn mood. Someone outside the hall reported that it was Gao Guijun's personal maid requesting a meeting.
"Come in." Li Jintian felt more and more anxious, but he still didn't drive anyone away. He was really ruthless towards Gao Min.
"I have seen the emperor, and my master asked me to come and pass the message, saying that Qi Guijun went to the imperial study without authorization and wanted to take a prince back. I asked you what to do?" The maid looked indignant. Obviously, she felt that Qi Xiujie was not qualified to raise the prince.
"What should I do if I don't do it? I mean to let Qi Guijun adopt the prince. Who dares to object?" Gao Min can't be cured, or a small maid can't be cured? Li Jintian's tone was very cold.
The maid had a big accident and saw that the emperor's eyes had already smelled evil spirits, so she quickly claimed the crime and left.
At the entrance of the Imperial Study Room, Zhou Yunsheng and Gao Min were both in a stern manner.
Even after suffering all kinds of torture in the prison, the man's backbone was still so straight, and his eyes always had a sense of being arrogant when he looked at people. But what's so arrogant about him? The Qi family had long disappeared, and only he was left to live with his broken body.
Thinking of this, Gao Min smiled contemptuously, but before the smile could be completely bloomed, the palace maid who was whispering in his ear made him pale.
Zhou Yunsheng pulled his lips, bowed his hand, and said carelessly, "Go ahead." Then Shi Shiran stepped into the imperial study room.
"I don't know what magic you used to let the emperor go, but I will never let you have a good life!" Gao Min spoke coldly, as if he felt that his ruthless behavior was no different from those women who were competing for favor, and his face became even more ugly.
Zhou Yunsheng sneered, and gradually moved away. Of course, he would not trespass into the imperial study while his teacher was teaching. It was lunch break at this time, and the princes were eating in the side hall, so there was no need to avoid it.
He said he was just adopting one, but in fact he already had a goal, and he was the most capable and loyal arm to help the sixth prince, the future new emperor Li Xuyan.
The sixth prince is named Li Xudong. His mother is a dancer sent by a small border country. He has a very low status and died just after giving birth. Li Jintian came back from reborn. He could only see the fifth prince born by Gao Min and Gao Min. He had no feelings for other children at all, and would not care about their lives or death.
The sixth prince was born in a humble family and had no one to take care of him. It is conceivable what kind of life he lived in the palace. Now he is still a pitiful little person who can be bullied. In the future, he will be unable to stand the abuse and kill three palace ladies around him, which will attract Gao Min's attention and sympathy, and then adopt him and teach him carefully.
Li Xudong was cruel, but he was also grateful for his kindness. From then on, he was loyal to Gao Min and his son. When he was fourteen years old, he followed Gao Min to fight everywhere and made great military achievements, which shows that he was a very talented person.
Since you want to raise it, you naturally have to choose the strongest one among a group of kids. Although the other party is thirteen years old and has independent thinking ability, Gao Min can raise him well. Zhou Yunsheng doesn't believe that he will not be able to do it. What's more, even if he can't raise it well, it's nothing. He has the ability to destroy the other party.
While thinking, the side hall had arrived, and the open windows were filled with fragrance of rice. Li Xuyan was surrounded by a group of princes and flattered him, and felt like stars were lying on the moon. Another thin prince hid in the corner holding the lunch box and swallowed with big mouthfuls, as if he was hungry.
"Eat slowly, be careful to choke. I'll give you this braised pork ribs." Li Xuyan is a precocious person and is good at communicating. No one will offend or neglect him. He is praised by both inside and outside.
The thin prince, Li Xudong, quickly covered the food box, showed an awkward expression, and then lowered his head and thanked Li Xuyan repeatedly, saying that he was full.
In the corner where no one saw him, he pulled his lips and showed a very ironic smile. How could he not see his embarrassment when Li Xuyan was really mean? With his unique status, there was no need to add food to him every day. Just explaining one or two words to the servants can greatly improve his situation. But Li Xuyan did not, but chose to watch coldly.
This false intention made Li Xudong disgusted.
Zhou Yunsheng, who was standing outside the window observing secretly, couldn't help laughing. He thought Gao Min and his son had already won over Li Xudong, but now it seems that this is not the case. Yes, Li Xudong is now worthless, how can he attract Gao Min's attention? I have to admit that Gao Min still has some vision of people. Li Xudong is a wolf cub and can bite people, but if he is raised, he will also loyally protect his master.
He walked in, and the princes accompanied him saluted him, except for Li Xuyan. He didn't care, so he walked straight to Li Xudong and scrupulously opened his tightly covered food box.
"Aged brown rice, boiled cabbage in water, do you use this for lunch?" The lunch box was eaten clean, but Zhou Yunsheng could tell what was served in it with a slight smell.
Li Xudong looked at him blankly, not knowing how to reply. He had no idea why this Qi Guijun was paying attention to him.
"Where is your servant? Let him come in." Seeing that the Sixth Prince had not answered for a long time, Zhou Yunsheng pulled his ears.
Li Xudong then came to his senses, his ears slowly turned red, and he stuttered, "The attendant is eating in the bamboo forest outside, and will come to clean up later."
Zhou Yunsheng waved his hand, and the close-fitting palace servant immediately walked out of the side hall, found the sixth prince's servant, and brought his unfinished food box together.
Zhou Yunsheng glanced at him and sneered, "You have eaten a lot of rice, stewed chicken, and four-season seafood soup. I ask you, are you a prince or he is a prince?"
The attendant was so scared that his legs trembled, and he knelt down and kowtowed to beg for mercy. Zhou Yunsheng ignored it and took Li Xudong and left directly. In the eyes of outsiders, he was still guilty now. He could not help but attract all kinds of gossip when dealing with a slave. He still left the person to Li Jintian to deal with it, and also asked him to help him establish his authority.
"Qi Guijun, I, I'll have to go to class later. You'll get angry when you leave the teacher." Li Xudong said while rubbing his hot ears. This kind of intimate behavior has never experienced it since the day he was born.
"What class should I move with me to Zichen Palace. From now on, you will be my son." Zhou Yunsheng touched the head of the sixth prince.
Due to malnutrition, the sixth prince is much thinner and shorter than the fifth prince, and looks only in his early 10 years old. But in fact, both of them are thirteen-year-old boys, with their birthdays only one or two months apart.
"Be your son?" Li Xudong was extremely surprised and unconsciously held the hand placed on his head.
To be continued...