C216 The Emperor's Kneel

The courtyard was eerily quiet.

In Prime Minister Jiang's murky and gloomy eyes, there was longing, sadness, grief, and heartache.

A faint trace of undetectable hatred was hidden within.

In the midst of this silence, Xiao Jingyue's heart gradually sank.

Prime Minister Jiang let out a deep sigh, and said with a trembling voice: "Looks like, you still won't be able to do this' three times don't want '."

Xiao Jingyue lowered his eyes, and said apologetically: "If I'm willing, I can lie to her for the rest of my life, but I'm not willing."

Prime Minister Jiang nodded with a faint smile, "I can tell that you treat her very well."

He paused for a moment, and then said in a low voice, "A'Qiu's lost his life for you."

Xiao Jingyue's pupils constricted and his entire body froze. His heart felt as if it had fallen into a valley of ice.

Although he had already guessed it, hearing the Prime Minister Jiang admit it himself, all sorts of emotions such as shock, fear and so on, still surged into his mind without the slightest decrease.

Prime Minister Jiang took a sip of tea and said lightly: "Since things have already come to this, there's no harm in telling you what happened all those years ago."

Xiao Jingyue's face was pale, and he nodded lightly.

"This matter …"

Prime Minister Jiang looked into the distance, his gaze gradually emptied as he thought back to many years ago.

"This matter will have to start from Qu Ling's grandmother's death."

Old madam Jiang's illness came suddenly, falling on her in the span of a night.

At first, Old Madam Jiang thought it was just a small illness or small pain, but she didn't really care. That was why she didn't ask Prime Minister Jiang to call her son and daughter-in-law who were far away in Miao Boundary back.

Unexpectedly, the illness came and went.

When Jiang Shimu and Qu Qiu rushed back from the Miao Boundary, all they saw was her body that had sunk into a deep slumber for a long period of time.

The entire Prime Minister Mansion was in a momentary state of gloom.

The young emperor came to offer his condolences to his good friend who had been separated for so many years. His first words were, "The time has come, Xiao Meng betrayed me."

From the moment their younger sister accidentally gave birth to the dead girl, Jiang Shimu had completely wiped away their previous friendship.

Jiang Shimu merely glanced at him coldly, and did not reply.

He raised his eyes to the top of the wall, as if the cold wall was even more attractive than the Nine-Five.

The emperor, however, didn't seem to notice his coldness. He continued to speak, "I want Xiao Xun to return to the capital. Do you have a way?"

Jiang Shimu finally opened his mouth, but he said: "Southern Guarding Prince is the vassal lord, this humble one is only a commoner, please forgive this humble one for not being able to help."

Since the time he had followed Qu Qiu to Miao Boundary, he was no longer an official of the Qi Kingdom.

The emperor, the imperial court, and power all had nothing to do with him.

The emperor looked at Jiang Shimu with a bland smile. "We will return your military talisman and continue to be our mighty general. How about it?"

Jiang Shimu kneeled down, "This commoner humbly requests that Your Majesty retract your order."

Life and death in the past do not distinguish between our good friends. At this moment, one person stood at the peak of power, while the other knelt on the ground like a speck of dust.

The Emperor finally left.

Just like his arrival, it did not make a sound.

Qu Qiu walked to Jiang Shimu's side, held his hand and asked softly, "Lan, do you still hate him?"

"Hate?" Jiang Shimu chuckled, "How could someone like him be worthy of my hatred."

Qu Qiu laughed, then said warmly, "Let's return to the Miao Boundary after one hundred days of waiting."

"Alright." Jiang Shimu nodded, and gently embraced his wife.

Silence returned to the courtyard once more. Only the two of them remained, standing in the courtyard and absorbing the warmth from each other's bodies that belonged solely to them.

Prime Minister Jiang stood at the corner of the long corridor, sighed unnoticeably, and turned to leave.

However, it seemed that everyone had underestimated the Emperor.

Even without Jiang Shimu's help, the Southern Guarding Prince was forced back to Zhijing by the emperor.

It was the empress dowager's birthday.

The Southern Guarding Prince brought his wife and children to the capital to congratulate the empress dowager. The emperor ordered someone to renovate the nation's General Mansion so that the Southern Guarding Prince's family could live there.

"You shouldn't have come back." Jiang Shimu said.

Xiao Ru smiled bitterly, "She doesn't want to see the Southern Guarding Prince Palace and the imperial court at loggerheads. She doesn't want to make things difficult for me."

A look of disgust flashed past Jiang Shimu's eyes, and he berated in a low voice: "Back then, you should not have married that woman!"

Xiao Xun shook his head, "If I don't bring her away, she and Jing Yue will both die."

Jiang Shimu was enraged, "What does her life and death have to do with you?!"

Xiao Xun's gentle face revealed a smile, and he said in a soft voice: "Twilight, I like her. When I was still in Jiangnan, I fell in love with her. "

Jiang Shimu opened his eyes wide in disbelief. When he regained his senses, he flew into a rage, "The empress dowager is right, she is a scourge!"

"Don't you dare say that about her." The normally good-natured Xiao Xun frowned in displeasure.

Jiang Shimu pointed in the direction of the manor's entrance with a sinister look and shouted: "From today onwards, I, Jiang Lan, will not have a friend like you!"

Xiao Xun looked at him deeply and said in a low voice: "Take care."

Not far away, Qu Qiu, who was dressed in pickaxes, was standing under the pear blossom tree, murmuring, "The last thing I want to see is this scene."

Prime Minister Jiang shook his head and sighed, "A beauty's calamity, a beauty's calamity."

Who knew that Yun Zhong Jin wasn't a bane of beauties?

If it were not for her, the Emperor would not have had a falling out with the Empress Dowager, would not have hurt Jiang Fu's heart, would not have had a falling out with his old friends.

If it wasn't for her, Xiao Ru wouldn't have married a woman who carried another person's child, hid within the Southern Guarding Prince Palace for many years without daring to leave, or broken off all ties with Jiang Shimu.

If not for her …

At that time, the Prime Minister Jiang was still lamenting that his son was not bewitched by that witch and did not allow her to bring disaster upon him.

Who knew that the calamity that would come would never be able to escape.

Due to the old mistress' passing away, no one from the Jiang family entered the palace.

At fifteen minutes past midnight, just as Prime Minister Mansion was about to rest, they heard a report from the gatekeeper that someone had come from the palace.

Prime Minister Jiang hurriedly got up, only to see her daughter kneeling in front of the palace gate.

Prime Minister Jiang immediately became anxious, and hurriedly helped the person up, "Yi'er, it's already so late, why are you here?"

"Father!" The empress sobbed until she was out of breath. "Quick, quick, let big brother and sister-in-law leave. The emperor …" "Your Majesty, he …"

Prime Minister Jiang's heart skipped a beat. "What happened to His Majesty?"

"The empress dowager wanted to grant her death to the Southern Guarding Prince's concubine, but the little crown prince accidentally drank the poisoned wine. "In order for the Southern Guarding Prince's imperial concubine to let the emperor save my son, she said that my son is my son's flesh and blood …"

The empress was unable to speak any longer, tears streaming down her face. After some time, she spoke, choked with sobs, "When His Majesty regains his wits, he will definitely send someone out of the palace to invite his sister-in-law. Father, please let brother take his sister-in-law away!"

Although the empress had arrived quickly, it was still too late.

When Jiang Shimu and Qu Qiu heard the commotion and rushed over, the palace gates were already surrounded by imperial guards with torches in hand.

After that, Jiang Shimu, the emperor, Xiao Meng, and their close friends from years ago finally gathered together once again in the empress dowager's palace after so many years.

At that time, the main hall of the empress dowager's palace could be said to be in complete chaos.

The empress dowager's hair was disheveled as she sat on the ground, choking up silently. The Southern Guarding Prince Concubine, whom everyone had called a troublemaker, lay motionlessly next to the young crown prince. The Southern Guarding Prince knelt beside her and cried out in pain while the emperor stood beside the young crown prince's side with his eyes as red as a statue.

When he saw Jiang Shimu and Qu Qiu appear, the young emperor bent his knees and knelt before his subjects.

And it was the emperor who gave up his dignity and kneeled down, allowing the young Qu Ling to lose both his father and mother just like that.