CH 50

The alchemist Li Ying was looking for was called Master Qi, and he was not an honorable Master. Of course, an honorable Master would only persuade Li Ying to let go of his obsession.

Liu Ziru had always disliked him very much.

He was the one who took care of Li Ying. He had seen many things Li Ying had done over the years. In his opinion, this alchemist just made up a beautiful lie for Li Ying, and used this lie to turn him from a human being into a ghost and finally sent him to death.

And Li Ying was even willing.

Where did such a stupid child come from, believing such an obvious lie? Obviously, Master Qi had said that the ending of this world would not change. He went to death with hope, but there was no material change there at all.

That so-called fantasy world only lived in his heart.

If your heart is sincere, you will believe it, and if it isn’t, you won’t. Such ambiguous words could really fool him.

Liu Ziru had always thought so, until he heard the voice calling for Li Ying from the underground palace.

Yun Qingci’s voice was very distinctive, a cry of a crane and a phoenix above the nine heavens, even the best imitator couldn’t reproduce it. Even if he was dead for twelve years, Liu Ziru still could hear it in his mind.

He was pulled out by Master Qi and staggered to stand straight. His face turned pale as he said, “Just now, that was…”

“It was Lord Empress Yun.” Master Qi glanced at the stars in the sky and said, “No wonder my observation of the stars today was wrong. Red Phoenix and Seven Killings moved together. I think His Majesty’s obsession was too deep and attracted the soul of the Lord Empress.”

“What?!”

Master Qi walked to the house of the mausoleum guard and said, “His Majesty always believed that he could come back. Even though I told him that the ending of this life would not change, he still believed it. To you, sincerity was a lie, but to him, it was the only straw he could grasp.”

“The light turned red, so he went back… is this true or false?”

“If you believe it, it’s true, and if you don’t believe it, it’s false.”

Liu Ziru was dumbfounded for a moment: “What about the Lord Empress?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know when he followed His Majesty. Maybe he has witnessed what His Majesty has done for him, and now he is determined to chase him, but these Seven Killings…” He glanced at the sky again, his eyebrows slightly raised: “It’s truly ill-fated.”

Liu Ziru also vaguely knew something about the fate charts. If the Red Phoenix encountered such a changing star like the Seven Killings, they would be inseparable, loving and hating endlessly. He had read some cases before that said that if the charts of a couple had the Goat or the Seven Killings stars, they would either live peacefully or eventually separate peacefully.

But if in the couple’s charts there was the Red Phoenix that met Seven Killers or the Goat, the marriage was bound to change and the couple would have a lifetime of quarrels and disputes.

“Then today’s Lord Empress, will he meet His Majesty who left when the lights were red, or will he be with the one who was left behind?”

“Seven Killings… hard to say.” The alchemist also looked a little confused. Seeing the old official look so sad, he comforted: “But with Red Phoenix present, the ending should not be too bad.”

With the coffin lid tightly closed, the sarcophagus was lit only by the light emitted by the body that was set on fire.

Yun Qingci’s eyes were red.

He watched the corpses of himself and Li Ying swallowed by the flames. His fingers felt warm, and he realized that he also caught fire.

Looking at his burning palm, he didn’t feel the heat. It was warm but not scorching, as if Li Ying was hugging him silently.

He thought of the snakes that were afraid of him and scattered when they saw him.

It was Li Ying.

Because it was poisonous insects raised by Li Ying’s flesh and blood, in order to avoid hurting him, they would instinctively slither away from him, and this blood-based wax lamp was also created by Li Ying’s obsession.

Therefore, it would not burn Yun Qingci.

The red flame finally completely swallowed Yun Qingci lying in the coffin and took him away completely.

It was no wonder that he would be reborn. It was because he held the lamp where Li Ying’s obsession focused and ignited himself who had committed suicide that year.

His rebirth was not an accident, he followed willingly, but it was a pity that after committing suicide, he had no memory of following Li Ying at all.

So Li Ying didn’t even expect initially that he would be reborn.

Perhaps Li Ying felt that the reborn Yun Qingci was his retribution.

Yun Qingci crouched in the sarcophagus and waited until the flames gradually died out, leaving only a little wick of fire.

He sat in the darkness, dazed, seemingly recalling his past life, but when he returned to his senses, he found that his mind was blank.

Yun Qingci faintly heard someone calling his name, but he ignored it.

Until someone said, “Your Majesty, Your Majesty?”

Li Ying?!

The wick of fire in the closed sarcophagus shook, and there was nothing but two bones.

The fire seemed to have completed its final mission and suddenly was extinguished.

Yun Qingci woke up from his dream. When he turned his face, he found a man lying at the head of the bed. His fingers were gently held in the hand of this man and even though Yun Qingci couldn’t see his face, he still recognized this hand at a glance.

Liu Ziru originally wanted Li Ying to go to rest elsewhere, but he didn’t expect that Yun Qingci would wake up. He was taken aback and exclaimed in joy: “Lord Empress! Lord Empress is awake, Your Majesty, wake up, Lord Empress…”

“Don’t touch him.” As soon as Yun Qingci wanted to say ‘let him rest’, he suddenly felt the hand that held his fingers tighten.

Li Ying slowly raised his face.

His face was almost bluish pale, and the dark shadows under his eyes made his eyes seem huge. At that moment, Yun Qingci almost thought he was seeing the ghost-like man in his previous life.

“You are awake.” Li Ying’s eyes widened strenuously as he said, “Go prepare some food for Lord Empress.”

He looked haggard and almost aged. In order to shake himself awake, he let go of Yun Qingci’s hand. Yun Qingci seemed to be able to drive away the worms that were gnawing on him. As long as he touched Yun Qingci, the pain would instantly recede. Once he moved away, the pain would approach immediately.

Yun Qingci originally wanted to say a lot to Li Ying, but when he saw him at this moment, thinking of the relationship between the two of them before, he suddenly didn’t know what to say.

He shrank his hand back sullenly.

Soon someone brought a bowl of thin porridge. Li Ying accepted it and put it on the small table at the head of the bed. He took a spoon and scooped some porridge, saying, “Go inform the Prime Minister’s Mansion. Just say that the Lord Empress woke up.”

Yinxi said happily: “Someone has been sent.”

Yun Qingci realized that something was wrong: “You, why are you here?”

He just slept for a while, how come everyone seemed to have lost weight when he woke up?

“You slept for half a month.” Li Ying stirred the porridge with a spoon, then scooped it up and delivered it to his lips, saying, “Eat something first.”

Yun Qingci glanced at his face, stretched out his hand uncomfortably and said, “I’ll do it myself.”

The first time, he didn’t receive it and Li Ying’s hand clenched tightly.

Yun Qingci raised his eyes and only then did Li Ying release the bowl slightly and put it in his hand.

Yun Qingci took a mouthful of the porridge by himself and glanced at Li Ying secretly.

The Li Ying in front of him was real. He was Li Ying, and Yun Qingci knew it. But he was able to chatter in front of Li Ying before because the other party couldn’t hear or see him. Now that Li Ying could hear and see him, he suddenly seemed to have nothing to say.

What could he say?

Before he fell asleep, he was still aggressive and wanted to drive him away.

What could he say now that would not be too abrupt?

Li Ying was sitting next to him and looking at him; his dark eyes were unfathomable, his thoughts unknown.

Yun Qingci took another mouthful of porridge, looked for a topic and said, “Have you not slept well these days? If so, you can go to sleep for a while.”

Li Ying’s eyelashes trembled slightly; he looked at Yun Qingci for some time and then said, “Okay.”

He got up and walked out. Yun Qingci’s eyes followed him, his expression becoming sullen.

How did this guy become so obedient?

When Li Ying walked to the door, the dazzling sunlight outside shone on his face and he suddenly felt dizzy.

Jin Huan supported him quickly, “Your Majesty!”

Yun Qingci put down the bowl, threw off the quilt and got out of bed. Perhaps what Li Ying said was true: he had been sleeping for most of the month. When he got out of bed, his legs went soft and he fell on the ground at once.

Yun Qingci’s chin hit the floor, making his eyes tear in pain.

Li Ying held the door frame and looked back at him, while Yinxi ran over to help Yun Qingci up.

Yun Qingci rubbed his chin, blushing, and irritation appeared on his face: “What are you looking at?!”

Li Ying: “…be careful.”

He pulled his cuffs out of Jin Huan’s hand and walked out.

Yun Qingci didn’t chase him anymore.

Yinxi helped him onto the bed and listened to Yun Qingci say in displeasure, “Is he laughing at me?”

Yinxi shook his head hurriedly: “No, His Majesty has been by your side these days without a break, he won’t laugh at you.”

“Really?”

“True.” Yinxi glanced at his face, hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, “And His Majesty promised you.”

“Promised, promised me what?”

“In the days when you were asleep, Master Yun often talked alone with His Majesty. His Majesty finally agreed. As long as you woke up… he promised to separate with you.”

Yun Qingci: “…”

Li Ying walked out of the courtyard slowly. When he arrived at the door, he met Prime Minister Yun who got out of the carriage in a hurry. Meeting the emperor, he hastily saluted: ”Your Majesty…”

“He woke up.” Li Ying stared ahead, his heart turning into ashes. “I will fulfill my promise and go to the ancestral hall to remove him from the Li family’s book.”

“In the future, we will treat it as the promise being kept….” he passed by Prime Minister Yun and his voice was low, “I won’t harass him again.” 

Prime Minister Yun turned his back to him and said cautiously: “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Li Ying came to his carriage, stretched out his hand to support himself, slowly lowered his head and stood still for a long time before stepping on the steps and getting inside.

Liu Ziru sighed and said, “Go back to the palace.”

The carriage moved and the guards accompanied it.

Prime Minister Yun hurried all the way into Yun Qingci’s room but saw him walking back and forth holding onto the bed and hurriedly said, “You child, why don’t you lie down for a while.”

“What’s the point of lying down, my legs are useless.” 

Yun Qingci frowned, looking very irritated.

Prime Minister Yun sighed, thought of something again and said with a smile: “I’ve just met His Majesty. He promised to go to the ancestral hall to remove you from the family book, and he won’t bother you again in the future. This is also a blessing in disguise. You can feel rest assured.”

“…When did he say he would go to the ancestral hall?”

“It should be within two days.” Prime Minister Yun sighed, “But probably not today. He… should go back and have a good rest.”

Yun Qingci lowered his eyelashes, continued to kick his feet back and forth on the bed and said sullenly: “Has he not slept well these days? I think he has lost a lot of weight?”

Not only did he not sleep, he almost didn’t even eat. Prime Minister Yun didn’t say anything. He was worried that Yun Qingci would be shaken again when the time came. Of course, the sooner the matter of peaceful separation was over, the better it was.

Yun Qingci began to get anxious as he let go of the bed and wandered back and forth through the house.

Prime Minister Yun said, “You have scared people to death this time. His Majesty invited all those venerable celestial officials here, and they all said that if you don’t wake up by tomorrow, they will have to invoke your soul.”

Yun Qingci thought it would have been better to invoke his soul earlier.

But after thinking about it, he felt that if his soul was invoked earlier, maybe he would not be able to see Li Ying’s final sacrifice, and he would not be able to kill the snakes in revenge, so he let go of this idea.

“Hey, don’t walk.” Prime Minister Yun stretched out his hand and grabbed him: “You’ve just woken up, who knows what’s going on with your body. we have to find a doctor to take a look…”

Yun Qingci stopped and looked at his feet that finally moved.

“I live so far away, and I have to trouble the doctor to run back and forth.” Yun Qingci said, “I will go to the Imperial Hospital by myself.”

After saying that, he felt that this idea was very good, so he immediately walked to the bronze mirror and called Yinxi: “Come and comb my hair.”

Prime Minister Yun was astonished, looked at him and asked, “Do you want to go to the Imperial Hospital by yourself?”

“Ah, that’s right.” Yun Qingci said neatly: “It’s too much trouble to find someone to bring the doctor. I feel very uncomfortable right now, and it’s better to go in person and save a trip to the palace for my servants.”

Prime Minister Yun said, “Why don’t you go to a doctor in the city and have a look first.”

“Oh, no, I’ll just…” Yun Qingci said with a bitter face: “I’m cold.”

“Wear more?”

“…I’m hot again.” Before Prime Minister Yun could speak, he said, “I’m a little itchy. I can’t tell where I’m not feeling well, but I’m just very uncomfortable. I’d better go by myself, in case the doctor I find can’t cure me, I can choose another.” 

Prime Minister Yun: “…en.”

It seemed to make sense, right?