Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 127: Don’t Be Tempted

The crime is obvious and the evidence is there.

Pingle felt his eyes go dark, his legs soften, and he fell to his knees uncontrollably.

"Father, please forgive your daughter this time."

Concubine Xiao glanced at the emperor's gloomy face, lifted her skirt, and knelt down beside her daughter.

"His Majesty……"

Emperor Chongzhao glanced at him.

It was very cold, as if freezing everything.

Concubine Xiao couldn't help but shiver and lowered her head.

"Pass on my order." Emperor Chongzhao suddenly spoke, his voice so tired that he seemed to have aged ten years. "Princess Pingle has frequent hysteria and is confused. She has completely lost the dignity of the royal family! I order her to reflect on her mistakes and recuperate in seclusion in the Princess's Mansion from now on. She is not allowed to go out without the emperor's order. West Hill Villa..."

He paused, and looked at the refugees and common people who were either kneeling on the ground to petition, or climbing up the wall to watch, or hanging on the trees like monkeys.

"Reconstruct the dwellings on the spot and build houses for the affected people to live in. The occupied fields, mountains and swamps in the surrounding areas will be counted by the officials of the Ministry of Revenue and returned to the people to ensure the people's livelihood. Those who assisted the princess in seizing the people's property will be thoroughly investigated and confiscated, and severely punished according to the law..."

The surroundings were filled with the voices of people expressing their gratitude.

Intertwined with the whistling sound of the mountain wind, it sounds particularly ironic.

In the end, for the sake of royal dignity, the emperor gave Princess Pingle the best way out.

Lu Youan raised the corner of his lips slightly, stepped out of the line and bowed, "Your Majesty is wise. The princess's behavior is erratic, and I am afraid it will harm our children. For the sake of our children's future, I beg you to divorce the princess. From now on, I will do my best to teach her by words and deeds, so that she can be kind and not be affected by bad practices. When she becomes a talent in the future, she can serve the country and live up to your majesty's grace."

Emperor Chongzhao looked at him deeply.

The people asked for his approval, openly defying his wishes.

What a great Lu Youan! Everything he wrote suggests that he doesn't know how to teach his daughter.

He said, "Yes."

“Father—” Ping Le finally broke down and screamed, “Father, you are confused. How can you arbitrarily decide your daughter’s marriage? I don’t want to…”

"Shut up!" Emperor Chongzhao shouted angrily.

Pingle was stunned and tears rolled down her cheeks.

Her father had never reprimanded her in such a cold tone. She could not bear such grievance, and went forward desperately to cry to Emperor Chongzhao, but was stopped by the imperial guards with crossed iron halberds.

Emperor Chongzhao's gaze swept across her messy makeup, as if frozen, and stayed there for a long time. A trace of helplessness and heartache flashed in his cloudy eyes.

"Wang Chengxi, you send the princess back personally."

Concubine Xiao dug her nails deep into her palms. She wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't dare to beg for mercy and kowtowed weakly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"

Emperor Chongzhao brushed his dragon robe heavily, turned around and left with his personal guards.

What was left behind was a cold voice, echoing in the yard.

"If this fire cannot be put out, then it will not be put out. When everything that should be burned is burned out, it will naturally go out."

Ping Le listened to his father's cold voice, which was like a blade. He knew that the situation was hopeless and any excuses he made would only add fuel to the fire. He could only kneel on the ground helplessly, his head tilted and he fainted...
-
Opposite the West Mountain is a verdant ridgeline.

At this moment, Xue Sui was leaning against a pine tree, drinking from his cup.

The mottled cracks on the tree trunk rubbed her back, and the mountain breeze lifted her wide sleeves, revealing a long old scar on her wrist.

She raised her glass from afar, the wine reflecting the flames rising into the sky, making the smile on the corner of her lips look extremely enchanting.

"This cup is to celebrate the hard-earned victory."

She drank it all in one gulp.

Then he picked up the gilded wine jug on the ground and stared at the Eastern Palace emblem on it.

"Do you like my plum wine?"

Li Zhao sat lazily under the pine tree next to her, his python-patterned sleeves sweeping away a few fallen leaves.

"Not bad." Xue Sui shook the gilded wine jug and poured the remaining wine onto the ground.

The amber wine was poured into the soil, giving off a warm aroma that was a tangled blend of fruit and earth.

She said, "This cup is for the souls of those who died innocently."

The ashes were carried by the mountain wind, fluttering over like black butterflies and landing on the ends of her hair.

Li Zhao didn't say anything, just looked at the wine, feeling distressed.

"This plum wine..." he suddenly spoke softly, "It has been hidden in the cellar of the East Palace for fifteen years. It was buried at the beginning of spring when my royal grandfather passed away."

That spring, he was canonized as the Crown Prince.

The emperor's grandfather said that he would wait until his wedding day before holding a grand banquet for the guests.

Soon, he lost the person who loved him the most.

The mountain wind suddenly blew up, and countless ashes swirled into the night sky like a black snow.

As the ashes flew around, Xue Sui reached out and caught a piece.

Li Zhao breathed in the sweet scent of plums and watched her sleeves slip down.

"Did you use the scar cream I gave you on time?"

Xue Sui did not answer, but stuffed the wine jug into his arms with his bright eyes.

"Do you think that His Majesty is heartbroken for his beloved daughter, or is he angry at her for being so self-indulgent and embezzling so much wealth?"

Li Zhao frowned, put down the wine pot, slowly bent down, and cleaned her skirt that was tangled by branches and ashes. He was very patient and meticulous. "Your Majesty may not punish Pingle severely for this. I have seen too much over the years."

"No hurry." Xue Sui looked towards the West Hill Villa with a slightly dazed look in his eyes. "Take your time. We still have a lot of time."

us……

Li Zhao suddenly raised his eyes.

The embers of the wildfire shattered into thousands of stars in his eyes, gradually becoming hot. Perhaps it was the love thread Gu that was causing him to feel distracted, with an inexplicable emotion surging in his chest that he couldn't hold back.

"Xue Ping'an."

"Ok?"

Li Zhao said nothing, staring at her getting closer and closer, his nose hanging three inches above her eyelashes, his breath seemed to be stained with the scent of plums and burned by ashes.

A shadow loomed over him, and Xue Sui's heart skipped a beat.

"do what……"

"Don't move!" The night wind swept across Li Zhao's rolling Adam's apple, and his light voice crushed his emotions in the hot breath, as if it was the day of the Hundred Flowers Banquet, when he was about to drink the tea with her blood beads, and the slight tremor that he himself did not even notice.

The embers passed between them, like stardust falling on a magpie rope...

Time stands still at this moment.

Li Zhao's lips brushed against her hair, bringing a tingling sensation. Then, he slowly raised his hand and gently removed the black ash behind her ear.

Xue Sui: "Thank you!"

"Are you drunk?" Li Zhao's eyelashes trembled slightly, and his words seemed to be wrapped in lingering tenderness.

Xue Sui shook his head, his hair flying wildly in the wind.

"No, I'm happy tonight."

Xue Sui couldn't predict whether the emperor would continue to support Pingle...

But she firmly believed that people's hearts would get tired, and no emotion could withstand repeated torment, and the emperor was no exception to this...

Li Zhao brushed away her falling black hair.

"Maybe he's drunk."

Xue Sui glanced at him coldly, clapped his hands without knowing how to be romantic, and stood up. "Let's go back. If we are late, it will be very bad if we are discovered."

"Go ahead." Li Zhao said softly.

Xue Sui lowered his head, and with the help of the alcohol, he raised his fingertips and poked Li Zhao's frowning brows hard, and suddenly laughed, very relaxed, very happy, and even a little playful.

"My Lord, you are pulling my skirt, how can I walk? How can I get there?"

This is something Li Zhao has never heard of...

A joy that comes from within.

It turns out that defeating Pingle would make her so happy.

Li Zhao raised the corners of his lips, loosened his hand, his eyes full of doting.

"I am sorry for the inconvenience."

Xue Sui leaned forward and counted the blood vessels in his throat in the moonlight, how many were beating and hot——

"Don't worry about it. You and I are allies, fighting side by side, and sharing weal and woe."

While Li Zhao was stunned, she had already turned and left.

The mountain wind blew the ashes past, and the light figure suddenly turned back.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for showing me the secret passage to the palace. It will be easier for me to enter and exit from now on."

When Prince Duan's Mansion built Yingyue Lake, it introduced fresh water and connected it with a winding underground canal.

Under the clever cover of lush grass and rugged rocks, the East Palace had dug a secret path three years ago.

Tanqiuyuan is the place closest to the secret path by the lake.

The two guards were just doing their routine patrol perfunctorily. It was not easy for Xue Sui to bypass them...

Li Zhao chuckled.

"It's all because of the love thread Gu. You're welcome."

Xue Sui coughed lightly and pretended to be concerned.

"Your Highness, have you been feeling unwell recently?"

Li Zhao raised his eyebrows: "It seems that he has grown up a little bit..."

Xue Sui choked up.

She looked at him and suddenly winked slyly.

"Your Highness, do you know that the love thread Gu is most afraid of being tempted?"

The old pine tree on the ridge suddenly shook, and the pine needles fell on his neck, stirring his complicated emotions, which were messy but uncontrollable.

Li Zhao had a dry mouth.

Xue Liu was very different from usual after drinking.

Naughty, smart, and with undisguised liveliness.

Li Zhao narrowed his eyes, looked at the crystal wine stains on her lips, and suddenly smiled.

"So what? You said that the love thread Gu brings two lives. If I fall in love, you will also pay the price of inheriting the same bloodline."

The mountain wind blew suddenly, blowing away the unfinished words.

Before Xue Sui could say anything, Li Zhao came over and seriously adjusted her jade hairpin. His slender knuckles inadvertently brushed the jade on the hairpin, as if smiling.

"Tomorrow at 3:30 pm, I will be waiting for you at Tianshui Inn to test the Gu."

After saying this, he stepped back, his Adam's apple slid suddenly, his dark eyes fixed on her, as if he wanted to swallow the bitter aftertaste brought by the pine waves.

"When the Xizi caravan arrives in Beijing, I will play chess and drink tea with you, and we can enjoy the show together. How do you think?"

It’s been a long time since I wrote such a romantic scene. Do you like it?

Li Zhao: That’s what I told you, she is attracted to me.

Xue Sui: ???