Her guards

Chapter 237 Frankness
The scene of parting at the city gate instantly spread throughout the capital.

The controversy surrounding Li Xuan's death this spring had not yet subsided when a new uproar arose.

Some say that Chai Du escaped from prison but was caught and brought back.

Some say it wasn't a prison break, but rather the real murderer who killed Li Xuan.

However, some argue that Li Xuan deserved to die, and that killing him was not a crime.

This has sparked another debate on the streets.

Whether Chai Du, or rather the Chai family, overstepped their bounds or deserved punishment, it was up to His Majesty to determine the crime and the Dali Temple to sentence them. It was up to General Gao Yang to make the final decision.
This discussion was immediately suppressed, and it was said that this was not the reason. It was because the Ministry of War of the imperial court had previously inspected the Gaoyang Army, and there were some things that needed to be asked of Chaidu.

But then new discussions began to circulate.

"The investigation into Gao Yangjun a while back, oh you wouldn't believe how many problems he had..."

Amidst the various rumors circulating in the streets, the Yichun Marquis's residence remained quiet.

It could be because Chai Yuan was arrested and imprisoned in Dali Temple, or it could be because the Marquis of Yichun went home in person and then went to Dali Temple himself.

Subsequently, the Marquis of Yichun's residence closed its doors to visitors.

At the same time, people on the street noticed that the guards at the four city gates had suddenly been increased by many soldiers transferred from the Beijing garrison.

This added a touch of eeriness to the lively atmosphere.

Many prominent families also began to close their doors to visitors.

Not only were the doors closed in the Duke of Ding'an's mansion, but the Buddhist hall of the Duke of Ding'an's wife was filled with smoke and fire.

"May the Bodhisattva protect us, may the Buddha protect us, may the Taoist Ancestor be above us."

Lady Ding'an prayed to every god and Buddha in the heavens, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that Duke Ding'an was still in a daze.

“I remember it was like this back then,” he murmured, then shook his head. “It was much more powerful than this. We didn’t just close our doors ourselves; the Marquis of Yichun surrounded the gates with soldiers.”

The difference was that they weren't in the capital at that time, and they hadn't yet been granted titles.

At that time, His Majesty was bringing them from their hometown. Because his sister was pregnant, she was very careful and walked very slowly, stopping to rest in many places along the way.

Every house we stayed in was excellent.

Deng Shan said that all of these had been given to them, and they were all theirs.

He was overjoyed, imagining how he would live in so many houses, when suddenly his houses were surrounded by soldiers.

Although Deng Shan's troops were also present at that time.

He was terrified, thinking that Deng Shan's reign was not yet secure and that he was about to be killed.

Their entire family will be buried with them.

At that time, my sister was carrying a chair and said that if we were to die, we would die together.

Thank goodness, thank goodness, the other party only wanted my sister dead.

"What are you daydreaming about! Hurry up and pay your respects!" Lady Ding'an punched him and urged him urgently, "Your niece has gone mad! She actually instigated the emperor to arrest Marquis Yichun! She's trying to kill our whole family!"

Looking at the statues of gods and Buddhas shrouded in smoke, Duke Ding'an thought, "Is that so? Perhaps this time, it's time for the Chai family to die?"
……

……

In reality, the public only saw that the mansions of the Marquis of Yichun and other prominent families were closed. In the unseen imperial city, the Empress's Palace was also closed.

Apart from the guards standing solemnly outside the palace, no eunuchs or palace maids could be seen coming or going.

When the eunuchs appeared, they were from the inner palace. They dragged a half-dead palace maid into the hall and threw her on the ground.

“Your Majesty, your palace maids have confessed that you have been keeping assassins and death squads,” a eunuch said with a grim expression.

As always, the Empress sat on the round stool pruning the flowers in front of her, without even glancing at the palace maid who had been beaten unconscious on the ground.

"I have been in charge of the Imperial Household Department for so many years," she smiled, "and you have always found out whatever I ask you to find out."

As he said this, he looked at the eunuch with a mocking disdain.

"This result was probably obtained at someone else's request, wasn't it?"

The eunuch said helplessly, "Your Majesty, it was indeed your palace maid who confessed."

Another eunuch pushed him aside: "Don't answer, just ask questions. Have you forgotten what Her Majesty the Empress taught you?"

After saying this, he looked at the Empress with a half-smile.

"Your Majesty, did you order your assassins to kill Yang Luo of the Duke of Ding'an's mansion?"

The Empress gave a mocking smile: "If I say no, will you listen to me?"

The eunuch looked embarrassed and was about to say something when the emperor's voice came from outside the hall.

"Who asked you to come!"

The palace eunuchs hurriedly knelt down to pay their respects, and with the sound of footsteps, the emperor entered.

"I only gave you permission to interrogate the palace maids and eunuchs, who gave you permission to interrogate the Empress!"

The eunuchs repeatedly kowtowed, saying, "We are guilty."

The emperor glanced at the unconscious palace maid lying to the side with a stern face and shouted, "Get out of here!"

The eunuchs quickly responded and carried the palace maid out.

Silence returned to the palace, and the emperor looked at the empress.

The Queen continued pruning the flowers, seemingly oblivious to what had happened earlier.

"For so many years, I thought you only vented your anger on the flowers and plants," the emperor said.

The Empress paused, then looked up at him: "So all these years Your Majesty knew that I didn't love growing flowers and plants, but rather that I was using them to vent my anger."

As she spoke, she cut off a lush flower and leaves, which fell to the ground.

The Emperor said with a sorrowful expression, "Ah Feng, we've been husband and wife for so many years, of course I know your sorrows, but you should also know me. I've said it before, the past is the past, and I've never thought of going back..."

The Empress interrupted him: "You never thought of turning back because that person wouldn't turn back. Now that person's daughter has come, you're overjoyed, thinking you finally have a chance. Look at what you've done!"

"What have I done?" the Emperor asked helplessly. "Is it just because I investigated her death? To the outside world, I could say I was investigating for the sake of the people, and internally, it was also for the sake of your Chai family. I don't acknowledge my daughter, I don't acknowledge my ex-wife, so what else are you dissatisfied with!" The Empress raised her hand and overturned the flowerpot in front of her, shouting, "You don't acknowledge your ex-wife, you don't acknowledge your daughter, is it because I don't? You're doing it for yourself, for your own face! You only deny it verbally, but in your heart you've already accepted it! Do you think I can't see where your heart is?"

The emperor looked at her, then left helplessly. Suddenly, he said, "If you are dissatisfied with me, then come and kill me."

The Empress seemed to laugh in anger: "How could I kill you? You are..."

"Am I your husband?" the emperor interrupted her, his expression indifferent. "No, Chai Feng, you don't even consider me your husband. If you truly considered me your husband, you should have broken off all ties with me like Yang Tong did."

The Empress's face turned deathly pale: "You, you..."

This was an expression she had never seen from an emperor before, nor words she had ever heard.

Perhaps this is the real emperor, and the one before was just her husband.

"You wouldn't dare." The emperor looked down at her indifferently. "Because it's not that you're unwilling to part with me, it's that you're unwilling to part with the life you're living, unwilling to part with your position as empress."

The Empress seemed incredulous: "So, Deng Shan, you keep calling me Ah Feng and saying we're husband and wife, but in your heart, all I want is this Empress position! Is that how you see me?"

A hint of melancholy flashed in the emperor's eyes, but he quickly concealed it, staring blankly at the empress before him.

“Chai Feng, from the very first time we met, it wasn’t out of mutual affection, but rather to forge a bond between our families. I married you to gain the Chai family’s support, and the Chai family married you to me to seize the credit for supporting the emperor and ensure the family’s prosperity.” He said slowly, “We are husband and wife, but we are not husband and wife.”

"No, husband and wife," the Empress said, her lips trembling as she looked at him. "After all these years, you've finally spoken your true feelings. Then let's not be husband and wife anymore..."

The emperor shook his head again: "Chai Feng, this is not up to you."

He smiled as he said this.

"Don't you know that too?"

The Empress seemed puzzled: "I...know?"

The emperor's eyes were deep and unfathomable: "You know that your father needs you as empress for the sake of the Chai family, and you know that I also need you as empress for the sake of my children. That's why you raised assassins and were not afraid of angering me, even though you wanted to kill Yang Luo. Because even if you kill Yang Luo, your father will protect you, and I will protect you too."

The empress looked at him, then suddenly burst into laughter. Her pale face turned red, and the anger and sorrow in her eyes vanished.

She flicked her sleeves and sat down on the round stool she had been sitting on.

"Sigh, I can't help it." She sighed softly. "I was raised in seclusion by my father since I was a child, and after I got married, you held me in the highest position in the world. I was born to live this kind of life, so of course I can't be like Yang Tong."

She picked up a flower branch from the table and turned it around to examine it.

“Back then I couldn’t just walk away like Yang Tong did, and now I can’t just close my eyes and let my daughter live like a stray dog ​​like Yang Tong did.”

“I have a father like the Marquis of Yichun, and a husband like you, so why can’t I do this?”

After saying this, he looked at the emperor and gave a mocking smile.

"Blame yourself!"

"If anyone's to blame, it's Yang Tong for not having a good father."

"I wonder if Yang Luo has a good father."

At this point, he threw the scissors on the table at the emperor's feet.

"You good father, avenge your daughter, kill me."

The emperor looked at the scissors lying at his feet and shook his head: "I am not a good father, but I will be a good emperor."

After saying that, he turned and walked away, but after a few steps he turned back.

"Chai Feng, I will not force you to be a good empress if you do not want to be one, but I hope that you will be a good mother for the sake of your children."

His gaze swept over the scissors on the ground.

"Don't commit suicide, or you'll bring shame to the Heisei era and the East Sea King."

After saying that, he strode out.

The empress sat indoors, watching the familiar figure walk further and further away, and watching the palace gates slowly close. She remained motionless, as if she had become one with the flowers and bonsai in the room.

"I should be like Yang Tong..."

"In your eyes, I am indeed inferior to Yang Tong."

"Aren't you even as good as her? You don't even dare to drive me away."

Yang Tong left without ever looking back, leaving the two of them stuck in the same place, tormenting each other.

She murmured softly, then threw her head back and laughed.

……

.......
The prison cells of Dali Temple were filled overnight as a group of embroidered-clothes men entered, but there were few cries of agony, only occasional groans.

Marquis Yichun came out from inside and was momentarily blinded by the sunlight.

He raised his hand to shield his forehead, and it took him a while to adjust before he saw a beautiful figure.

The girl sat under the stone statue of Bi'an outside the prison cell, leisurely swinging her legs, her spring dress swaying in the wind.

She also saw the Marquis of Yichun and smiled slightly: "My lord, has the matter been investigated thoroughly?"

Marquis Yichun stared intently at the young woman: "What? Is His Majesty no longer going to see me in person, but instead sending a maid like you to take his place?"

Yang Luo jumped down and curtsied to Marquis Yichun: "Your Excellency is overthinking it. I came here simply because I thought Your Excellency might want to see me."

Indeed, it would be better to ask Miss Yang, whom he had previously looked down upon and considered unqualified and unnecessary to speak in person, some questions. For example, Marquis Yichun looked at the maid and asked, "Was it your young lady who plotted against me?"

“What you’re saying, Lord Marquis, doesn’t make any sense,” Yang Luo said with a smile. “It was Lady Li who framed you, while my young lady told His Majesty directly that you are innocent.”

Marquis Yichun smiled and said, "That's because you know my Chai family hasn't done anything wrong, so you can't find any evidence against us..."

His face darkened slightly.

"You and your young lady are extremely arrogant, provoking the princess and the empress, luring the empress to take action, gaining leverage, and blackmailing my Chai family."

Yang Luo's expression remained indifferent.

“My lord,” she said, “it was the Empress who first tried to kill Miss Yang, which led to today’s seduction.”

(End of this chapter)