Li De's eyes snapped wide open and his hands trembled.
Li Xuanzhen's face was expressionless.
Li De took a step forward and clutched Li Xuanzhen's collar tightly. His pale face was violently distorted, no longer carrying his usual air of calmness.
"You are crazy, to besmirch your mother like this!"
Li Xuanzhen returned his gaze, "You will never know how much pain Aniang and I have suffered."
Li De's face was sickly, somewhat resembling a demon. His teeth hit each other as his hand released his clothes and stumbled backward.
Li Xuanzhen looked straight at him, "Aniang went through so much. She thought it would be fine as long as she found you. And then, we found you... You were marrying the Xie family's daughter. In my Aniang's face, you told the Xie family's daughter 'to be one, never to part.'"
'To be one, never to part' was the oath that Li De personally made to Tang Ying on the night they got married.
Li De could not stand steady. With a thump, he fell to the ground in front of the imperial case, knocking over the mythical beast incense burner. His features twisting, "Why didn't she tell me? Why?!"
"Tell you?" Li Xuanzhen's gaze was icy cold, "Tell you when you were welcoming your wife to then be abandoned by you?"
Tang Ying no longer trusted Li De. She stayed by his side only because she recognized her reality.
Therefore, when she argued with the Li clansmen and the Xie family's maidservant and heard the Li clansmen insinuate that she was unworthy of being a wife, she was alarmed and angry, suspecting that the Xie family knew what had happened to her on her escape.
Li Xuanzhen said slowly, "Aniang was just an ordinary woman with little insight. She was too scared and ended up moving her fetus and miscarrying. The child did not take a single breath after birth."
Li De's face was pale, his lips trembling, unable to say a word.
Ying niang had a miscarriage?
"Aniang had already made plans at the time and had people bury the child. Later, my wet nurse told me that if everyone knew that Aniang had a miscarriage, they would only think that she took her life because she was sad and depressed. In that case, how could you miss her for the rest of your life? So she asked the wet nurse to hide it for her and set fire to her courtyard on the day you returned home. Only so could she make you remember her in your heart and bones, guilty for the rest of your life."
She died, preserving her reputation and securing the shizi position for Li Xuanzhen.
Li De could not forget her for the rest of his life.
Li Xuanzhen picked up the sword on the ground, "Aniang got what she wanted... But Aniang never asked me if I wanted to be the shizi?"
In the midst of the chaotic world, he had nothing else to ask for. He only wanted to live well with Aniang and persuaded Tang Ying not to fight with Xie shi. His sole wish was to be able to end the chaos in the world as soon as possible, so everyone could experience peaceful and stable days.
When he learned that Aniang was pregnant again, he was ecstatic.
He was the elder brother. He would love and care for his younger siblings, hold up the sky for them, and let them grow up carefree.
His sister died just as soon as she came into the world, no time to grow up.
Aniang also died, and when she died, she was crazy and wanted him to avenge her.
Li Xuanzhen knelt in front of his mother and made that oath with tears in his eyes.
He hated Li De, hated this chaotic world, hated everyone. He wanted everyone to be buried with his mother.
The guilt for his mother made him lose all reason and made him erratic.
He knew that Li Yaoying was innocent. Time and time again, his heart softened, and time and time again, he hardened his heart because he remembered his mother.
"I've already investigated thoroughly. The person who instructed the servants to lock the courtyard door that night has already died under my sword. When you married the Xie family's daughter, the person who blocked me and Aniang from going to the ceremony was not a member of the Xie family, but a member of the Li clan."
"I have killed them."
"I couldn't fulfill all of Aniang's final wishes. I'm sorry, Aniang. When I get to the nine springs, I'll make amends to Aniang."
Li Xuanzhen turned around, walked in front of the imperial desk, and swung the sword down.
"Crown Prince, stop!"
An air-breaking sound whistled, and a feathered arrow pierced through the air, ruthlessly nailing Li Xuanzhen in the shoulder.
Li Xuanzhen didn't even flinch. The longsword in his hand cut at Li De.
The Jin Wu Wei's eyes grew wide. One leaped forward, blocking the blow that was as strong as several thousand catties, and protected Li De in his arms as they rolled a few times.
The others continued to fire arrows.
Li Xuanzhen's expression was numb as he raised his sword again.
He had nightmares night after night, not resembling a man, not resembling a ghost. Only in those days in Chibi did he have momentary peace, no longer haunted by nightmares.
Ah Yue, who gave him temporary peace, was sent to her doom by his own hands.
He reaped what he had sown.
A light smile surfaced on Li Xuanzhen's face.
Sharp arrows like spider webs descended upon him.
With a smile on his lips, he collapsed.
"No!"
Li De pushed away the Jin Wu Wei and climbed to his feet, "Zhen orders you all to stop!"
The Jin Wu Wei hurriedly put away their bows and arrows.
Li De stepped over the messy arrows that littered the ground and rushed to Li Xuanzhen, helping him up.
Li Xuanzhen was covered from head to toe in blood. Struggling to pull out an arrow, he stabbed at Li De.
Li De slapped his hand away, "Zhang Nu, you're crazy!"
Did he have to force himself to order the Jin Wu Wei to go and kill him? Li Xuanzhen was the Crown Prince, the future Emperor. He left the entire world to Li Xuanzhen. Why did he not care?
Li Xuanzhen grinned, his teeth all stained red with blood, "Li De, either you die or I die..."
Only then could he be freed.
He wanted to be Aniang's Changsheng Nu; he didn't want the shizi position Aniang exchanged her life for!
Li De was enraged.
...
Half a shichen later, a message came from the Taiji Palace that Crown Prince Li Xuanzhen had gone crazy under the influence of alcohol and mistakenly killed Han wang and the others. Li De was furious and ordered him to be under arrest in the dungeon.
The world was shocked.
The Li clan was very dissatisfied. Several wangfei wearing mourning clothes kneeled in front of the palace gate crying. The court ministers' impeachments were suppressed by Li De by thunderous means. A few days later, the Imperial Court of Judicial Review found out that the Han wang had committed dozens of crimes: disregard for human life, plundering innocent people, accepting bribes, occupying fertile land, etc. Han wang shizi was also implicated in these crimes and was sent to prison for his crimes.
Li De beheaded a group of noble relatives but did not seem to be satisfied. He continued to investigate the imperial clan. For a time, everyone protected themselves. He took the opportunity to exile a few qinwang, ruthless in his means, showing no mercy. The court ministers were silenced.
During this period, Li De constantly sent people to persuade Li Xuanzhen, but Li Xuanzhen did not say a word.
Two days later, Crown Princess Zheng Biyu entered the prison and met her husband in the dungeon.
"Dalang..." She handed over a wax-sealed sheepskin scroll, "This was sent back from Yizhou."
Li Xuanzhen didn't move a muscle.
Zheng Biyu said softly, "Princess Wenzhao is still alive."
Li Xuanzhen's body stiffened and his eyes snapped open.
"What did you say?"
He asked with a rasp.
Zheng Biyu said, "You sent people to bring Zhu Luyun to Yizhou. Those people overheard the news that Princess Wenzhao is still alive but was taken captive by Haidu Aling."
Zhu Luyun disappeared without a trace, but Li Xuanzhen showed no concern. Zheng Biyu, hard as she tried, could not imagine why. Until Du Sinan sent this parchment scroll.
It turned out that Li Xuanzhen had sent her off. Zhu Luyun wanted to reunite with her aunt so he fulfilled her, and by the way, sent his soldiers to lurk around her, to find out the ears and eyes of the Northern Rong planted in Great Wei. Before, he pretended that he didn't know Zhu Luyun's whereabouts just to confuse the Northern Rong.
This man had made arrangements for everyone.
He was preparing to die.
Zheng Biyu looked into Li Xuanzhen's eyes and said in a whisper: "Dalang, the current you cannot kill His Majesty... You still have attachments in your heart. Princess Wenzhao is the knot in your heart, and she is still alive. You go to find her. In the beginning, it was you who sent her away, and it should be you who will take her back now.
"This is what you owe her."
Li Xuanzhen lowered his head and clutched the parchment scroll tightly, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.