Chang'an is good

Chapter 617 The Dead and the Mad

Li Yin stepped over the totem on the bluestone floor outside the pagoda courtyard that was half covered by fallen leaves and said, "The capital has been recovered. It's time to welcome the emperor back to the capital."

"Sir, this is a step that cannot be avoided." Li Yin walked slowly and said to Luo Guanlin, who had not responded, "Besides, she is Ah Xiao's biological mother. For this reason alone, I should give her a decent treatment."

Hearing this, Luo Guanlin stopped objecting and just sneered, "Although this evil queen is just a puppet in Taiyuan, she has chosen to support Chang Suining as the princess, which shows that she is determined to be the enemy of the prince. Even if the prince sends someone to welcome her decently, I am afraid she may not be willing to return to the capital."

"I just need to do what I should do. As for what she chooses, it is up to her own fate." Li Yin: "She should know that Taiyuan City will not be able to protect her for much longer."

Luo Guanlin: "Your Highness, what you are saying is..."

"Sir, you probably don't know that Chang Suining is no longer on the battlefield in the northern border." Li Yin said, "She went to Beidi."

Luo Guanlin's eyes trembled slightly.

Li Yin: "According to the spies, there has been no news since he set out... The northern desert is about to usher in a cold winter. Even if we just lead the army to wander around, our lives will be uncertain."

There was no gloating in his tone, but rather some worry.

Luo Guanlin slowly frowned: "If you lead an army alone into Beidi, there is a high probability that you will never return. This woman is so arrogant and impulsive..."

Li Yin shook his head and sighed imperceptibly: "She has such courage and responsibility, and it is hard for me not to admire her..."

"Her departure is enough to offset her mistake of confusing my Li family's bloodline in my heart."

The appreciation in Li Yin's eyes was not fake.

He really admired such people.

God should let such a person fulfill his wish. If someone wants to be a hero, he should fulfill her wish and let her become a hero who will be remembered for a hundred years... By then, he will also remember it in his heart.

But heroic deeds cannot be announced to the world only after the hero dies.

Li Yin said: "Such a heroic and benevolent act should be made known to the world."

The autumn wind swept the fallen leaves under his feet. Luo Guanlin's eyes followed the fallen leaves up, then fell down again in an instant. When he spoke again, his voice was as cold as usual: "But in this way, she has enjoyed this good reputation."

Li Yin's tone was as gentle as the wind: "Sir, this is what she deserves."

A good reputation is only useful to the living.

When it comes to reputation, who can surpass Axiao, but what is the result?

Now let the people of the world know that the Crown Princess will never come back. How can those who cannot come back pledge their loyalty?

He had long said that for a ruler, the most important duty is to live a stable life.

Unfortunately, there are always people who are not willing to be just human masters, but also want to be savior gods.

However, this world does need such people to save it. Perhaps everything is constant, and right and wrong, good and evil, life and death have their own order. It is also good for all living beings to just do their own duties.

She can be the heroic god who saves the world, and he can be a mediocre mortal who governs the world.

Gods do not belong to the human world. The world can only accommodate mortals. This has been the case since ancient times.

After leaving Dayun Temple, Li Yin mounted his horse and said, "Sir, please follow me to the Imperial College."

"I heard that on the day when Bian Chunliang broke into the city, Qiao Jijiu chose to stay in the capital and stood together with the other students. He protected countless students. His teacher's morality and righteousness are really admirable..." Li Yin drove his horse slowly, his eyes full of admiration: "I was thinking about this before entering the city. After entering the capital, I will definitely go to visit him in person."

He would certainly select talents later, and after this incident, all the students in the Imperial College admired and obeyed Qiao Yang, the chief academic officer.

"Qiao Jijiu's character and conduct are impeccable..." Luo Guanlin said, "But he has close ties with the Chang family and once took Chang Suining as his student. For this reason, he held a grand banquet in Dengtai Tower, and everyone knew about it."

"That happened a long time ago. Chang Suining was just an ordinary girl at that time. How could Qiao Jijiu have predicted what would happen later?" Li Yin said with a smile, "Besides, the reason why Jijiu was in contact with the Chang family was ultimately because of their friendship when they both worked under Ah Xiao."

He was wearing a royal blue robe with wide sleeves, sitting on his horse, and said in a broad and open tone: "And I am also Ah Xiao's uncle, not an outsider."

"The prince is open-minded, but we also need to be more cautious..." Luo Guanlin said: "Why not wait and test his attitude after meeting him, and then make a conclusion."

Li Yin smiled and nodded good-temperedly: "Sir, you have always been thoughtful. I will listen to you."

Of course, he couldn't trust Qiao Yang completely. No matter what Qiao Yang's attitude was, there was no point in testing him.

It’s just that he had just arrived in the capital, so he had to appease and win over the hearts of the people first. As for what happens after that... a new emperor chooses new ministers, so there is still a long time to go.

It is not right for the Ming queen to rush into bloodbaths and suppress everywhere, which is not suitable for him as a member of the Li family.

Seeing Li Yin coming in person, Qiao Yang hurriedly asked someone to serve tea to entertain him.

The three of them sat and drank tea. Luo Guanlin said little. Li Yin admired Qiao Jijiu's efforts and the difficulties he had faced during these days. Qiao Jijiu said he was not worthy of the honor and stood up to salute Li Yin: "It is you who would like to thank the prince on behalf of all the students in the Imperial College for taking control of the overall situation in the capital!"

Li Yin then stood up and lifted up Qiao Jijiu's arm.

No one on either side discussed their positions, and no one mentioned Chang Suining or Li Suining. They only talked about the situation in the capital and the many chaos and problems caused by the Bian Chunliang Rebellion.

As the golden sun was about to set, Li Yin said goodbye and left, and Qiao Yang personally escorted him out of the Imperial College.

Seeing Li Yin and his group walking away, Qiao Yang, who had become much thinner, turned around and walked back with his servant.

During the conversation, Prince Rong mentioned that he came from Dayun Temple...

Qiao Yang breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

As early as several months ago, Meng Lie sent a message to him through a secret agent, asking him to find a way to destroy the white jade statue in the Tiannu Pagoda before Prince Rong came to the capital.

Meng Lie did not elaborate, but Qiao Yang could guess that it must be related to the resurrection of his own prince...

So he spread the word through the mouths of students of his father's generation who worked in the Imperial Observatory that the Tiannv Tower contained the country's fortune and feng shui. He thought that letting Bian Chunliang take action was the best choice, which was reasonable and would not arouse Prince Rong's suspicion.

From Prince Rong's attitude, it can be seen that the other party does not know that Sui Ning is His Highness... It is best not to know. If he knew, he would probably go crazy on the spot. How could he maintain the decent appearance of a gentleman at this moment?

But then again, who could have imagined such a bizarre thing?
Qiao Yang looked towards the north, with sighs and worries in his eyes. Even at this moment, he often still felt it was unrealistic, as if all this was just an imaginary dream, a dream woven for the suffering people.

Sensing that his master was concerned about the country and the people, the servant boy consoled him, "Master, you have some free time now, why don't we go fishing? You haven't fished for a long time!"

Qiao Yang turned and glared at him.

The book boy thought he had said something wrong and shrank his neck. The next moment, Qiao Yang smiled and his pretended anger disappeared: "Good suggestion, let's go, go quickly!"

The servant heaved a sigh of relief, smiled and followed Qiao Yang who was walking away quickly.

The autumn wind blows, the fish are fat, and the fragrance of chrysanthemums fills the nose.

In the Rong Wang Mansion in the capital, the colorful autumn chrysanthemums planted there are blooming in the wind, welcoming their long-lost master.

Even though some officials tactfully suggested that Li Yin could stay in the palace to handle various affairs, Li Yin did not agree and still lived back in his former mansion.

Li Lu naturally returned to the palace, and he had Ma Wan placed alone in a remote courtyard.

At this moment, the shrill screams of a woman could be heard from the small courtyard from time to time.

When the woman's screaming stopped, it was replaced by the midwife's scream.

Soon, the midwife came out crawling, without even wiping the blood off her hands. With a trembling voice, she knelt down and apologized to the handsome young man standing in the yard wearing a cloak.

Ma Wan gave birth, but the baby was silent.

It was an extremely emaciated dead baby.

Li Lu still went to look at it, and gently stroked it with his pale fingers. A hint of irony appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said in a low and slow voice: "Sure enough...it really looks like me."

Being as lifeless as he is is not enough to survive in this world.

Li Lu's cold gaze lingered on the child. The maid beside him was so scared that her face turned pale as paper and she was shaking like a sieve.

"No need to tell my father." Li Lu finally spoke to her: "My father is celebrating his birthday, how can he hear such an unlucky thing?"

As Li Lu spoke, he looked outside the house, as if he saw the bustling scene of powerful officials coming and going in the front yard. It was so close, but he was in a cold hell.

The maid took the child away, and Ma Wan, covered in blood, suddenly jumped off the bed.

She was so thin that only bones were left, her eye sockets were sunken, and the eyes embedded in them showed a look of madness, and her voice became gradually shrill and abnormal.

During the days of imprisonment, Ma Wan had shown signs of mental confusion.

Giving birth to a stillborn baby at this moment would be like the last string of sanity being broken.

She cried and made a fuss, then suddenly seemed to calm down, fell to the ground, and said in a daze: "You don't want to come into this world, right... It's okay if you don't come..."

"No." The next moment, he looked confused again, sat up suddenly, and staggered into the yard to look for his child: "My child, where is my child!"

Li Lu watched quietly and did not let anyone stop her.

Ma Wan looked around in panic, feeling dizzy and unable to support herself. She fell to the ground and then crawled towards a potted plant.

There are chrysanthemums planted in the pots, blooming quietly and whiter than snow.

"Go back to my mother's belly..." She used both hands to pluck the flowers and began to frantically stuff the white chrysanthemum into her mouth, chewing it in a panic: "My mother will swallow you back and give birth to you again! Just give birth to you once and it will be fine!"

She sat there with her hair loose, helplessly swallowing the chewed petals, one by one, repeating crazy words over and over again.

At some point, Li Lu walked up to her side, slowly squatted down, stared at her, and gently wiped the flower juice debris from the corners of her mouth with his fingers, saying with a gentle smile: "Wan'er, you seem crazy."

"Since you're crazy, I won't kill you." His voice was very low, his movements were extremely gentle, and his smiling eyes were wandering when you looked closely. He said in a wandering tone: "A dead man and a madman, it's not bad to have such company."

The blood-stained petal fragments were blown up by the wind.

There are many sounds hidden in this year's autumn wind, flying everywhere in a bustling manner.

After Li Yin announced to the world that the capital had been decided, he immediately set out for Taiyuan to welcome the emperor back to the capital.

In addition, Luo Guanlin wrote a letter to send to the turbulent areas to call for peace.

He also invited officials, scholars and talented people from all over to come to the capital to discuss plans for national security. Even officials from Jiangdu, Luoyang and Taiyuan received the letter. Even towards those officials who had supported Li Suining as the crown princess, Li Yin showed that he did not hold them accountable, treated them politely and invited them to return to the capital.

From beginning to end, Li Yin never mentioned the word "Crown Princess". He did not belittle her nor was he hostile. He neither acknowledged nor denied her identity, as if he just treated her as if she did not exist.

But at the same time, news spread everywhere that Li Suining had gone deep into Beidi alone.

Some people said that her life or death was unknown, and some even asserted that she had been buried in Beidi. For a time, people were in turmoil.

On one side is a brave young girl whose life or death is unknown, and on the other side is a tolerant, calm, experienced and benevolent man who has already taken control of the capital. There seems to be no suspense about what choice the world will make.

Regardless of the people's hearts elsewhere, let's just talk about the Wuer Academy in Huainan Road. Some students wanted to leave Jiangdu and go to the capital, but unsurprisingly they were stopped and accused by their classmates.

Facing his classmates' disdain, the student gradually became more vocal: "We study to serve the great country. Now that the capital has been established and King Rong is benevolent, it is the time to recruit talents. Why can't I go to the capital? If I enter this Wuer Academy, will I be locked up here and be loyal to only one person? I am studying books on governing the world, not indentures!"

"...Pang Zhouyan! Don't forget, in this chaotic world, who gave us books to read, and who gave us a safe place to study!" A young man retorted with red eyes: "Studying has no political distinction, but we scholars do! A drop of water should be repaid with a spring. If you go to the capital now, it is equivalent to making an enemy of Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess. You are really repaying kindness with enmity!"

"Yes, I am a villain!" the man said in a shocking voice: "If I have a choice, I am also willing to serve Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess. Her Royal Highness came to Beidi alone, and I admire her very much! But admiration alone cannot help you find a future!"

"It is hard to predict whether Her Highness will live or die. Countless people have already gone to the capital. If we defend this place to the death, we will be hated and ostracized by the people above us... It will be in vain to read more books!"

An indignant young man stepped forward and said, "You only care about your future and fame, but where do you put benevolence, righteousness, propriety and trustworthiness?"

In the midst of the chaos, Zheng Chao appeared, stopped the chaos, and said, "Let him go."

“…Master!”

"The envoy once said that Wueryuan was built for the people of the world, regardless of where they come from or where they go." Zheng Chao looked at the young man: "As long as the original intention of governing the country and bringing peace to the people is not lost, it will not be a waste of the envoy's heart."

Tears welled up in the eyes of the young man named Pang Zhouyan. He bowed deeply and saluted for a long time before turning away with tears in his eyes.

Zheng Chao looked at the students and said, "Anyone who wants to go with me may leave."

The expressions of the people around were moved, but they became more determined: "As long as the envoy does not send back a letter, we will not leave!"

They couldn't defend this place till death, but at least they had to accompany the envoy to the end... If the envoy returned, they would swear allegiance to him until death. And if the envoy was really gone, it wouldn't be too late for them to find another way to make a living.

This little bit of persistence, even if it means sacrificing the so-called future opportunities and shortcuts... is one of the few things they can use to repay the envoy!

Good night~
Don't worry, Ningning will be written in the next chapter. There are not many chapters left. It is likely that this book will not exceed 700 chapters. Book friends who are impatient can also save some chapters.