C214

"Then, why?"

"Why?" The Emperor approached me and whispered in my ear in a voice that could only be heard by one another, "Bai Lian, you are a powerful general. I admire you for that. However, do you know of a word in this world that is called 'outstanding and powerful'? "

A great merit that shook the master? So it was like that!

I was stunned.

My premonition isn't wrong. It isn't that we, the White Clan, have done anything wrong, but that we have always done too well! The Goddess of the Bai Clan was too dazzling, and the military merits of the Bai Clan were too outstanding. Even the Emperor felt threatened. The assassin that night was nothing more than a play directed by the Emperor. I was the crucial chess piece who foolishly fell into the trap. This was also the reason why the entire Bai Clan was captured as soon as I went to jail … The Emperor had already planned to arrange troops at the manors of the Bai Clan long ago. He was waiting for the culprit, me, to fall into his trap before the other troops took the initiative.

I thought of that long ago... Extreme prosperity and decline, this seemed to be the fate of every famous family.

The Emperor wanted to sentence me to death, but he did not immediately do so. This time, his actions had met with an unprecedented resistance.

Although all the members of the Bai clan had been captured and imprisoned, the reputation of the Bai clan was not so easy to erase. From the first day of the White Clan's imprisonment, many of those who had once benefited from the Bai Clan ran off to rescue us. For example, there was a joint letter from my father's disciples in the imperial court requesting a thorough investigation of the Bai clan's conspiracy to restore their innocence. There were also many commoners who voluntarily went to the local officials to ask the imperial court to release the members of the Bai clan, especially the renowned General Bai Lian. There were even those in the imperial harem who pleaded with the emperor about a certain princess, the younger sister of the Emperor Yueze, crying and bawling about how they would protect General Bai's life no matter what …

The emperor could not bear to be disturbed. He killed a few officials who were causing a huge ruckus, and then ordered the local officials to pacify the people. However, as these things happened over and over again, he finally got annoyed and stopped talking about cutting off my head and pursuing the Bai family's conspiracy.

It seemed like he wanted to deal with this matter coldly.

I was locked up in the Celestial Prison, eating and drinking all day long, making occasional inquiries, but most of the time I had nothing to do. Because I am a special person and a felon, I have a separate cell. There was no entertainment here and no one came to visit. When did I ever have such a boring life? Besides, I was always thinking about the tribulation. Days passed day by day. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed since he had come to the mortal world. Before the legs of the great god could even reach him, he had been chopped off by the great god! I was too unlucky. I was really burning with anxiety.

Finally, one day, an imperial edict came from the palace saying that the Emperor had summoned me to meet him in the Imperial Gardens. This is good news, because the Emperor usually comes to see me and asks me directly in the heavenly prison. This time, we have changed the imperial garden, and this is a wonderful place.

Looking at the radiant expression of the eunuch who proclaimed the decree, I knew that the Emperor should be in a good mood today. Furthermore, the attitude of this eunuch is much better than the arrogance I showed a few days ago.

I quickly washed up and followed him to see the Emperor.

Emperor Yueze's mood was exceptionally good today. Not only did he remove my shackles, he even granted me a seat.

He set a table by the lotus pond in the royal garden and asked me to accompany him in his drinking.

I have always been a broad-minded person. Since he told me to drink, how could I refuse? I don't care if the wine is poisonous or not. If he wanted my life, he could have done it.

I've always been a bit greedy for wine, not to mention that I've been imprisoned for more than half a year. Although Yueze has never treated me poorly in terms of food, I still rarely had a drink of this kind of fine wine in the palace.

After I unceremoniously drank a large cup of wine, Yueze looked at me in surprise and said, "Bai Lian, your alcohol capacity is even higher than before!"

I laughed and said nothing. Indeed, the previous General Bai Lian was said to be very good at drinking, but I, the Celestial Fox Immortal, would definitely be even better at drinking! The three hundred years old crescent moon hairpin wine in the Moon Perching Palace, was it brewed in white? But was it for nothing?

"Your majesty, you drink too!" I lifted my hand to pour him a glass of wine, and Yueze looked at me with a strange expression in his eyes.

"What, you're afraid I'll poison the wine?" I shook my hand at him. "I've just come out of prison, and my clothes have been changed under the supervision of a female official. Does Her Majesty not believe in the female officer she has chosen?"

Yueze gave a wry smile, drained his cup in one gulp, and looked at me with a sigh. "Bai Lian, you're as eloquent as ever!"

Before? Oh, right, I heard that Bai Lian was good friends with this emperor when he was young. At that time, Yue Ze was just an ordinary prince. However, when he was twelve years old, Bai Lian went to study in the army. Since he was fourteen, he had officially fought under the Bai Clan and rarely returned to the Imperial City.

These two were once childhood friends! It was a pity that reality had turned into such a miserable state.

I thought of the knowledge that Bai Lin had helped me with, and I couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

I replied, "The Emperor summoned me here today. It can't be that he wants to buy me drinks to reminisce about the past, right?"

The emperor chuckled. "Why not?"

I didn't dare to say anything more when he said that. After all, my knowledge of the affairs of the young Bai Lian was limited, and I was afraid of exposing myself.

Seeing my silence, Yue Ze's smile seemed a little bitter. He poured himself a drink, and in a moment he was drinking from a jug of wine.

Then, his gaze became a little dazed and he started to talk a little more. "This wine is called the White Lotus of the Swamp. Do you still remember?"

I looked at him in confusion. What White Lotus of the Swamp? How could I remember that?

Yueze met my gaze, but abruptly turned his head away. He held his wine cup in his hand, staring blankly at the lotus flowers in the lotus pond.

It was already the height of summer. The lotus flowers were in full bloom in the lotus pond. Peach red and pinkish white, the jade leaves were slender and elegant; it was a sight to behold.

"Since young, your alcohol capacity has always been better than mine, and your obsession with brewing wine is even greater. When you were twelve years old, you made this white lotus from the lotus pond. At that time, in order to brew a new wine, you even skipped the Tutor class and ran over excitedly, asking me to give this wine a graceful name … Bai Lian of the Swamp. This is the combination of our names. My name is Yue Ze, and your name is Bai Lian. You gave me this wine as a souvenir when we parted … "

Yueze's eyes were hazy, and there were flashes of light in them, as if he had been lost in memories of the past, "Since you were six years old, you have accompanied me to the palace to read until I was twelve. In those six years, we stayed together day and night. You read with me, I stole wine with you. At that time, I was really stupid, but I didn't realize that you were a girl! "

I nodded slightly, knowing that... If he sneaked into the palace to accompany them, he would not be easily discovered. Moreover, the Bai Clan had always been loyal to the Imperial Family, so no one would suspect the gender of Bai Lian at that time, right? The reason why Bai Lian was sent to the frontier to gain experience at the age of twelve was probably because her parents were afraid that she would grow older and spend a long time with the royal family.

But from Yue Ze's tone, he seemed to be very nostalgic about his childhood? Moreover, he seemed to have a very good relationship with Bai Lian, this childhood companion of his? If so, why kill the Bai Clan? Was it just because Bai Lian's military exploits were too grand that he felt threatened?