slave like jade

Chapter 104
On the other hand, Chen Yiqing, who caused troubles to Yu Ruyan, rushed home non-stop. He wanted to tell Mu Lingzhi what was going on in his stomach, or he would suffer internal injuries if it was too late!
However, before Chen Yiqing rushed back to report to Mu Lingzhi, his own father, Chen Xiang, who entered the palace with him, was so angry that he caught up with him halfway after hearing the news about the imperial study. The stick broke Chen Yiqing's leg.

Chen Xiang, who was furious, wanted to carry his broken leg back to the palace to plead guilty to the emperor and Concubine Lian, and take back the nonsense Chen Yiqing said just now, but when he saw him sweating profusely in pain, he felt overwhelmed. Feeling distressed, and considering that the emperor and Concubine Lian must be angry at this time, I had to give up my old face, first write a memorial to apologize to the emperor, Concubine Lian and the eldest princess, and then express that I will let my son The determination to marry the eldest princess, in this way, let Chen Yiqing come to the door to propose marriage in person after the anger in Concubine Lian's heart is extinguished.

Chen Yiqing limped on one leg and wailed aside: "Daddy, you can't cheat on me, my son. I think back then when you had the cheek to marry my mother, you were tricked by a pretty man, a hero saved the beauty, pretended to be pitiful, faked your death, and stalked you, but everything was wrong." You’ve tried it before, isn’t it just to find your true love, why did you drive a duck into the sedan chair and let me be the groom’s official when you came to my place! Ah, there’s no reason in heaven! Murder your own son!”

Chen Yiqing howled all the way, but in less than half a day, everyone in the capital knew that the old-fashioned and serious Chen Xiangnian married Mrs. Xiangfu because of his shamelessness, and they couldn't help but follow behind the carriage of the Xiangfu and cover their hands. Mouth to watch the fun.

Chen Xiang's beard turned white with anger, he couldn't bear it anymore, he took off his socks, stuffed his mouth, threw him into the yard and locked the gate, and sent more than a dozen family guards to guard the yard firmly to prevent Chen Yiqing from escaping.

Mrs. Chen found a doctor to help him fix his broken leg with distress, but he still howled with all his might. After howling for a long time, he didn't see any movement from Mu Lingzhi in the next yard. I went out of the house early in the morning, and I haven't come back yet.

Chen Yiqing hopped her feet anxiously, thinking to herself, no matter what time you are still in the mood to go out, your little lady will soon become the wife of the old widower, and then it will be your turn to become the widower! !

When Mu Lingzhi came back from the outside, he heard the servants of the Prime Minister's mansion talking a lot as soon as he entered the mansion. Along the way, he heard the news that Chen Yiqing was going to marry the fifth princess. His heart sank.

Tong Qian followed behind him and murmured dissatisfiedly: "Master, why do I think this General Chen is too dishonest? He was obviously going to the palace to find out news about the fifth princess. Why did he marry him as soon as he turned around? Hmph, really... ...!"

Mu Lingzhi's eyes darkened, and he said coldly: "Yiqing is not such a person. Although he is joking and not serious at ordinary times, he is actually a very measured person. No matter whether the fifth princess is the Xiaoqing we are looking for, just relying on I had an engagement with the fifth princess before, and it is impossible for him to marry her again. In addition, he is not a person with casual feelings, and he didn't know the fifth princess before, why did he suddenly propose marriage after entering the palace. So I Guess, this matter is probably related to me!"

In fact, half of what he had said in his heart remained unspoken, and he had vaguely guessed that perhaps the mysterious fifth princess in the palace was Xiao Qing, whom he had been longing to find!
What exactly happened when Yiqing entered the palace today?Did he really see the person in the portrait?Why did you suddenly think of marrying the fifth princess?
With more and more doubts in his heart, Mu Lingzhi walked towards Chen Yiqing's yard quickly, and when he reached the door, he found that there were many guards guarding the yard around the yard, but everyone knew that this man with extraordinary demeanor was in front of him. He is a close friend of his son, so he dare not stop him.

Mu Lingzhi was about to step in, but he was stopped by Chen Xiang who followed closely. Chen Xiang said helplessly: "Young master is my friend, and from his appearance, he respects you very much. I hope you can go in and take care of yourself." Persuade him a few words, let him change his mind and marry the eldest princess. In fact, the eldest princess is the best match for him. The fifth princess is really... Sigh!"

Chen Xiang's long sigh made Mu Lingzhi frowned, his heart sank slightly, and he asked with a curious look on his face: "Listening to Chen Xiang's tone, he is also a princess, why does it seem that the fifth princess is not treated very well?" See you in general."

Chen Xiang felt distressed, so he couldn't help saying a few more words, and sighed: "The fifth princess' biological mother is just a lowly court lady, so she was not treated well since she was born, plus, plus...she was born without tears, and was regarded as a child. An ominous person for Daqi... In fact, the truth is not that she looks down on her. The main reason is that she was married a year ago and was abandoned. She just came back from Daliang not long ago and was supposed to be married to Lu Jia Xuxian, I didn't expect this brat to rush up like crazy and want to marry the fifth princess... Hey, son, where are you going? Aren't you going in to persuade Yiqing?"

Before Chen Xiang finished speaking, Mu Lingzhi's expression suddenly changed in front of him. In the next second, he turned around and disappeared in a blink of an eye!
When Chen Yiqing heard Yuan Bao say that Mu Lingzhi had arrived at the gate of the courtyard, he immediately put on a pitiful look on the bed, and the wails shook the entire Prime Minister's residence.

But his voice was so loud that he was about to howl, but no one came in. When Yuan Bao went to look again, he came back and told him that Mu Lingzhi, who had clearly arrived at the gate of the courtyard, disappeared in an instant.

And the copper coins just turned around in the yard, and when they came to the next yard to look for Mu Ling, there was no one there...

It was getting dark, Brother An came back from the outside, and after entering the house, he stood in front of Yu Ruyan for a long time without daring to say a word, lowered his head, but tears couldn't stop rolling in his eyes.

Seeing her sad appearance, Yu Ruyan felt a chill in her heart, but she understood clearly——

It seems that everything Yu Mingzhu said just now is true, and the father really intends to send himself to Lu Rong as a sequel.

Heh, she had just escaped from Daliang, and she didn't expect that when she turned around, her father would marry an old widower who was over forty years old!

Brother An's tears finally slipped from the corners of his eyes, and he cried sadly: "Princess, it turns out that it was that shameless Lu Rong who smashed your pebbles in the garden today. He wanted to see your face clearly." You look like that, so I deliberately used stones to lure you to turn your face... You are so old that you don't know what is important, and you still want to marry the princess to continue the house..."

After An Ge finished speaking sadly, he looked up at Yu Ruyan who was looking hopeless, his heart ached so much that he couldn't help crying again.

"Princess, then Lu Rong is Concubine Li's elder brother, and Concubine Li hates you for the death of the Seventh Princess. If the princess really marries into the Lu family, I'm afraid she will be tortured to death. Princess, you should go I beg the emperor to choose to marry that General Chen, although he looks crazy, it is better than marrying that old Lu Rong..."

"Do you really think I can choose this matter?"

Yu Ruyan's heart was dead silent, and her flowing eyes were like a pool of stagnant water without any sparkle, and she said powerlessly: "Concubine Lian and Concubine Li deliberately did what happened to Lu Rong, how could they give up so easily! And that General Chen, although I don't know why he wanted to marry me all of a sudden, but Concubine Lian and Yu Mingzhu would definitely not agree. General Chen is Yu Mingzhu's concubine, how could he let him marry me and hit her in the face? So, The final outcome must be to force me to marry that Lu Rong!"

"But princess, General Chen asked for a kiss in front of the emperor and everyone. How could he let the people of Chunlan Palace influence him? I heard that General Chen is a powerful man even though he is young. If you respect the military power in his hands, maybe you agree!"

When I met Chen Yiqing in the garden before, seeing him dressed in crimson and purple flowers, coupled with a joking and unserious appearance, Brother An didn't have much affection for him, but now compared with the 40-year-old Lu Rong, she is more I hope Yu Ruyan can marry him.

However, at this moment, the voices of the two girls in the yard came from outside the window, the voices were not too loud, but they just happened to be heard by them in the house.

The two little girls talked about each other, and they said that Chen Xiang broke his leg because of General Chen's unauthorized marriage proposal, and personally wrote a letter to Princess Lian to apologize, and said that he would definitely be a good general. The matter of the princess getting married.

Hearing this, Brother An could no longer speak, and the last glimmer of hope in his heart was shattered...

"Look, this is inevitable. Concubine Lian and the emperor have agreed that General Chen is the son-in-law of the eldest princess before, so how dare Chen Xiang offend the emperor and concubine Lian again and disobey their wishes? Besides, Yu Mingzhu and I In comparison, anyone would choose her and not me..."

Thinking that Yu Ruyan was going to marry Lu Rong, the old widower after all, and thinking about the perverted things she found out about Lu Rong outside, Brother An couldn't help crying out with a 'wow', and said sadly: " Princess, they are too bullying, how can they do this? They gave you away like a cat or a dog. A year ago, regardless of your begging, they sent you to be married, and now they just came back and gave you to the widower as a continuation house. Princess, now we What should I do?"

"Whether it's General Chen or General Lu, I will never remarry either, so don't worry!"

Yu Ruyan stared blankly at the flickering candlelight, her heart was cold, confused and numb, her whole body was like falling into an ice cave, but her words were extremely decisive.

Brother An suddenly remembered that when the Queen Mother's birthday passed, they would leave the palace and never come back. Then, naturally, they would not have to remarry.

Thinking of this, An Ge, who was still desperate and heartbroken just now, suddenly became happy, and was about to shout happily, but Yu Ruyan stopped him with a look.

Yu Ruyan gestured lightly to the outside twice, An Ge immediately covered his mouth in surprise, and then said cautiously after a while: "Master, what do you mean, the two little girls outside are unreliable?"

Yu Ruyan smiled coldly, shook her head and said, "Of course it's unreliable."

An Ge still didn't quite understand, so he couldn't help asking: "What did the master find?"

Yu Ruyan smiled slowly, a cold light flashed in her eyes, and said coldly: "Back then, the Internal Affairs Department sent so many maids in to serve, but I only kept two. I can't figure anything out, so the other palace people chose to leave, but these two girls are obviously clever and good-looking, but they are willing to take the initiative to stay in my little Jinying Palace. To put it bluntly, they are Lian The imperial concubine arranged for them to come in and monitor me."

"You put everyone in Yuhuaizhu into the palace without my consent this afternoon, and you didn't come to tell me. You just wanted to see me caught off guard. Just now, you deliberately said such words to make me give up. Just think about it, like this You and I don’t know about the news, isn’t it strange that the two little sweeping maids know?”

Hearing this, Brother An's heart trembled for a while, thinking that those two girls always chatted with him intentionally or unintentionally, if he didn't remember Yu Ruyan's words, he wouldn't talk to them casually, let alone let them enter the palace, I'm afraid, he'd be hit The trick of the two dead girls.

Even without dinner, Yu Ruyan climbed to bed exhausted both physically and mentally. Brother An lit the soothing incense that Yue Yu had given them before, hoping to make Yu Ruyan fall asleep early.

Even with An Shenxiang to stabilize her mood, Yu Ruyan still couldn't help but see him again...

She couldn't help thinking, if he was there, would Father dare to give her away casually?Do Concubine Lian and the others dare to frame her so blatantly?
If he was here, he would definitely guard her behind him like when Concubine Xie Guifei wanted to kill him, and would not let these people hurt her at all...

Thinking of Mu Lingzhi, Yu Ruyan's heart suddenly became empty, empty and sore, her eyes were so sore and uncomfortable, she grabbed her chest tightly, closed her eyes and abandoned the thoughts about Mu Ling in her mind. All the shadows in it, a voice in her heart told her loudly——

Give up, there is no possibility for you in this life!
But the more I want to forget him, the more his figure emerges in my heart, and every bit of being with him reappears in my mind over and over again.She suddenly opened her eyes, her face was pale, looking at Brother An who was guarding the bed, she suddenly asked helplessly: "Brother An, when people are sad, would it be more comfortable to shed tears, sad and distressed... ...will it be less?"

Seeing her distressed look, Brother An couldn't help feeling sour, just wanted to cry but was afraid of bringing up Yu Ruyan's sadness, so he squeezed out a bitter smile and comforted: "Princess, it's not good to cry, It will only make people more vulnerable, like a princess, isn't she stronger than a servant? So, don't be sad, princess, and don't be sad, the servant will definitely pay by the princess' side."

Hearing Brother An's words, Yu Ruyan felt even more uncomfortable, thinking that she was doomed to be alone in her life, and only Brother An and Xiaodao were by her side forever.

She couldn't help thinking of what Mu Lingzhi had said to her with a face full of pain.

"I have paid so much for you, but in the end I can't get a single tear from you!"

A throbbing pain in my heart...

It was another sleepless night, and it was not until Dongfang Lubaiyuruyan that she fell asleep from exhaustion...

A figure floated in from the window, standing beside her bed in a daze, staring at Yu Ruyan who was still frowning in her sleep, with an expression of incomparable surprise and confusion...

Mu Lingzhi's heart trembled suddenly when he heard Chen Xiang's words 'born without tears', and Yu Ruyan's stubborn and red eyes suddenly appeared in his mind, and it became clear in his heart that she was really the fifth princess of Qi, Yu Ruyan. Like Yan!
Countless times, she was obviously in pain, but her eyes were red and she didn't shed a single tear...

From the first time he was sent to his camp by his subordinates as a military prostitute, he found that she was different from ordinary women, with an unyielding tenacity in her body, and he had never seen her shed a single tear.

Before, he once hated her for being cold-blooded. It turns out that it's not that she doesn't cry, but she can't cry even if she wants to...

Mu Lingzhi's heart was filled with heavy stones, and he felt uncomfortable, remembering his misunderstanding of her, and the guilt in his heart was overwhelming...

He once inadvertently asked her why she didn't cry. At that time, she smiled wryly and said that because she cried too much when she was a child, her tears were all shed, but she stopped crying when she grew up.

He believed it like a fool at the time, but now that he thinks about it, heh, there will be a day where the tears will dry up...

My heart throbbed with pain...

After entering the palace, because he couldn't find the palace where Yu Ruyan was, Mu Lingzhi grabbed a court lady to ask for directions. Thinking of the many questions in his mind, for example, why she endured the humiliation of a military prostitute even more because she was a princess? The maid who saved the dowry sacrificed herself to save everyone by sacrificing herself; she was born noble, but she was willing to live in a small bungalow in the palace, cleaning the garden every day without complaint, and a small sweet potato made her extremely satisfied; People who should be pampered have calluses and scars on their hands...

It was also those hands that were inferior to the maidservants that completely confused him, making him no longer doubt her unwillingness and tenacity hidden under her submission, and only regarded her as an ordinary maidservant.

But since her real identity is the fifth princess of Qi, what happened to her and Chen Zhi?What about the masked assassin?

Although the mystery of Yu Ruyan's identity has been solved, there are more and more doubts in her mind.

He stopped the little maid who was about to leave with his long sword, and asked her to tell him all the past news about Yu Ruyan——

Everything about Yu Ruyan was short but extremely heart-wrenching. After listening to the little palace maid trembling for an hour, Mu Lingzhi put away his long sword and found the Jinying Hall.

Looking through the half-open window, although I knew 100% in my heart that the woman inside was my wife, the one who shot a cold arrow at her impulsively, and the woman I fell in love with unknowingly. As a man of bone marrow, the remorse, heartache, guilt, and joy in his heart are intertwined. It is really mixed. Staying there, even seeing her with his own eyes, Mu Lingzhi still feels like he is dreaming——

She turned out to be the princess of the Qi country, and she married her own princess from a long distance, but because of the accident of fate, she became the current embarrassing situation.

Yu Ruyan rolled on the bed for a long time without falling asleep, her sighs tugged at his heart outside the window, Mu Lingzhi couldn't control himself countless times and wanted to rush into the room and hug her thin body tightly into his arms, Tell her that I was wrong, really wrong, that arrow was wrong from the very beginning...

Thinking of the arrow he shot at her luan sedan, the legs that had just been stretched out couldn't help but retract.

He finally understood why she had been by his side for so long, even when her feelings were the strongest, why she was unwilling to tell him all the truth, and why she was not telling him that she was King Qi's concubine princess, and would rather serve as a humble maidservant. By his side, in the final analysis, in her heart, that cold arrow has always been lying in her heart, and it has become an eternal pain in her heart...

Mu Lingzhi stood by the window all night. His hair was wet with frost and dew, and he couldn't feel his legs. He thought over and over in his heart, what should he do in exchange for her forgiveness and make up for the harm he caused to her? , Let her accept herself again and return to her side?
The sky was bright, and Yu Ruyan, who was on the bed, fell into a deep sleep. Footsteps could be heard outside. It was the morning palace servants starting to work. He should have left immediately to avoid being discovered, but in the end, he endured a long time. At night, he couldn't help but go in after all.

Standing beside the bed greedily looking at her who finally fell asleep, Mu Lingzhi's eyes filled with endless guilt and reluctance. Looking at her thin face, his heart ached. He bent down and gently smoothed her tightness. Frowning, his eyes were full of tenderness, and he said reluctantly: "Now that I have found you, I will never let you go again. For the rest of my life, I will never make you sad again, let alone let you be silent in my heart." Tears, I will use the rest of my life to repay you for the damage caused by that arrow!"

……

When Chen Yiqing was sitting on a rattan chair with his injured leg hanging high, and was being carried all over the street to find Mu Ling, he suddenly heard a report from his subordinates that General Lu Rong had been beaten in his mansion, his nose was blue and his face was swollen. Not to mention the broken blood, it was a coincidence that the legs were also broken, and it was both legs!

Chen Yiqing was about to gloat and laugh a few times, when she suddenly thought of something, her face turned pale, and she hurriedly ordered to go back home.

Sure enough, as soon as he limped into the room, Mu Lingzhi was already sitting in the middle of his room with a cold expression on his face. When he saw them coming back, he glanced sharply at his face, but didn't say a word.

Chen Yiqing's left leg trembled unknowingly. Seeing the copper coins jumping towards Mu Lingzhi cheerfully, he also salivated happily and said, "Brother Mu, you are back. You didn't come back last night. Those who are sad and sad can't fall asleep, and they are looking for you all over the capital with a limping leg, thinking that you were seduced by some goblin..."

"You really want me to be seduced by the goblin so you can marry your sister-in-law, don't you?" Mu Lingzhi's voice was a little hoarse, and the copper coins poured him tea in pain.

"Hey, hey, what a wolf-hearted thing!" Chen Yiqing blushed, and hid herself while cursing.

"In order to save my sister-in-law, I risked the crime of deceiving the emperor to save her. If I hadn't disturbed her by stretching my legs, I'm afraid my sister-in-law would marry again."

When it came to stirring, Chen Yiqing couldn't help but want to stretch out his injured leg and stir it on the ground a few times, but when he moved, his injured leg hurt again, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Look, look, for you, even My father broke my legs. It was just a tactic to delay the attack, to stop the old emperor from issuing an imperial edict. After all, I sacrificed so much for you, how can you thank me?"

"I'll give you twelve hard-earned BMWs, and let you change one every month!"

"And what about my broken leg?"

"Didn't I break the old widower's legs to pay you?"

"Pfft..." Chen Yiqing couldn't help laughing out loud. Seeing that the misunderstanding was cleared up, she happily jumped to sit next to Mu Lingzhi and said happily, "When I heard my subordinates report that Lu Rong was beaten, I guessed it." It must be you, otherwise no one in this capital would dare to touch him except this young master! Although it is not to break your own legs to compensate me, but--I am also willing to be Lu Rong's two dog legs."

As soon as he finished speaking, he realized that something was wrong, and suddenly remembered something doubtful: "I didn't tell you that Lu Rong was going to marry the fifth princess, nor did I say that the fifth princess was the sweetheart you were looking for. You already knew."

"Listen to your father."

"Then...you haven't seen you all night, have you entered the palace?"

"I went to... Hibiscus Sakura Palace."

"Can you see my sister-in-law?" Chen Yiqing's peach blossom eyes lit up, and she said excitedly: "Tell me, you haven't seen each other for so long, is your sister-in-law so touched that you hugged and wept when she saw you traveling all the way to find her, weeping with gratitude? "

"..."

"Could it be that the fire is burning directly. Oh, it's so direct!" Seeing Mu Lingzhi's silence, Chen Yiqing couldn't be more excited.

"If... if you once killed the person you love, do you think she will forgive you?" Mu Lingzhi was immersed in deep helplessness and guilt. When he thought of the pain in Yu Ruyan's heart, he There was a panic in his heart, and there was always a feeling that Yu Ruyan would not forgive him, which made him fall into deep panic.

Chen Yiqing looked at his pained look, and rarely put away his laughing description, and sighed: "Well, it is indeed a difficult problem, I guess my sister-in-law is still very sad when she thinks that you shot her indiscriminately back then. If it were me, even if I didn’t shoot you back, I would hide you far away, make you worry, think about it day and night, but you can’t see or get it, and make you lovesick and feel guilty for a lifetime. of."

Hearing his words, Mu Lingzhi's pale face darkened even more, and he said in a hoarse voice: "So, I would rather let her shoot me one arrow. No, I would also shoot ten arrows and a hundred arrows, as long as she let go Jiedi is willing to come back to me!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, if I knew today, why did I have to!" Chen Yiqing said angrily, "If you had been more calm and sympathetic back then, it wouldn't have led to the situation like today."

"So, I have asked my hidden guards to find out what happened to the rumors back then! Who is manipulating them behind the scenes." Thinking of the anger I felt when I heard all kinds of false rumors about Yu Ruyan that day, If not, he, who has always been calm, would not have done the things he regrets now.

"Well, those who spread rumors are indeed hateful, and their motives are too vicious. They want to make Qi Liang's marriage fail, and let you kill the princess to provoke a war between the two countries. Tsk tsk, they really have vicious intentions. However, what is even more terrifying is that this This kind of false news has deceived your subordinates and spread it to your ears, or to put it another way, there are secret operations among your people."

Chen Yiqing is worthy of being a young and promising general. Looking at the laughing people, he is actually very thoughtful, otherwise, he would not have become the youngest and most promising general in Qi.

What he thought of was Mu Lingzhi, who had already thought that he had quietly investigated the matter with his hidden guards, and he had even guessed that nine out of ten of these people were Prince Yi's people.

Thinking of this, he suddenly thought of the people he met on the streets of Kyoto today, and he couldn't help but shudder!
The person who met him unexpectedly was Koshiha!

Mu Lingzhi knew that his purpose in coming to Qi State was the same as his own, to find Yu Ruyan. He couldn't help wondering, did Yue Yu know Yu Ruyan's true identity?

While thinking hard, suddenly Yuan Bao came in from the outside, rushed to Chen Yiqing and gasped, "Young master is not well, the eldest princess heard that your leg was injured, so she came to visit you in the mansion, the sedan chair passed the long street, We will be entering the palace soon."

(End of this chapter)