The queen was not found, only a tomb was found. / I am looking for you now, with no fear at all, only joy.
Let's give up the speech to paralyze Lou Chen for the time being. As a decision, it was made very quickly, but its implementation was far from simple.
When the ridiculous pile of letters was presented to him, he knew Chao Ci was looking at him.
Chao Ci is a stubborn person, but that doesn't mean he is stupid. He also knows that the so-called evidence is ridiculous, but he also knows that no matter how ridiculous the evidence is, it is not his decision.
So Chao Ci looked at him with hope and trust.
But he shattered his trust and hope bit by bit with his own hands.
In the past, he knew that Chaohua was stupid and narrow-minded, but there had never been a moment when he felt that she was so disgusting.
He listened to Chao Ci's voice becoming colder and colder, and his eyes looking at him became darker and darker.
Finally, he knelt in front of him and said, "I deny it."
It was very calm, without any sadness or fear of impending disaster.
It was so calm that it was scary.
Lou Yue's fingers hidden in his sleeves bent twitchingly.
It was as if something very important had slipped from his hands.
...
A few days later, the entire Chao family was imprisoned.
Chao Ci broke into Qinzheng Hall and knelt in front of the hall all night.
In fact, even if Chao Ci fails to come, he will secretly replace Chao family members. But he couldn't tell Chao Ci about this, and he couldn't let Chao Ci go back just like that.
When doing a show, you have to do it all.
Reason told him so.
But the collision of heads and the ground outside the hall struck Lou Yue's heart every time, like a dull knife cutting his heart again and again.
He cannot be soft-hearted, otherwise he will fail in his efforts.
The langhao pen in his hand was broken into pieces.
He wished Chao Ci could give up earlier, not to mention knelt outside all night, even if he just knelt all night, his body couldn't bear it.
But Chao Ci could persevere far better than he thought. Even in the middle of the night, when Lin Cheng told him that Chao Ci couldn't straighten up and was almost unconscious, Chao Ci insisted on kneeling down again.
That was the longest night Lou Yue had ever experienced.
The time between each sound seemed to be torn apart by life, and it seemed extremely long.
Another half hour passed.
The sound outside the hall stopped.
Lou Yue was also pushed to the limit by this torture. He looked at Lin Cheng with almost red eyes.
"Let him go back, and the entire Chao family will be exiled."
The imperial family raised private soldiers with the intention of treason. Such a crime would not be an exaggeration to punish the Nine Clan. It is completely unreasonable to just sentence them to exile.
Lou Yue's original plan was to exile the Yi tribe and the rest of his family members, and then secretly replace Chao Mingzhi and others.
But he couldn't tell Chao Ci about this, and if Chao Ci didn't know, Chao Ci would never go back.
Anyway, although the exile of the Nine Clans is too lenient, it is not unjustifiable.
Lou Yue stayed up all night. The next morning, when he walked out of Qinzheng Hall, he saw an extremely obvious dark bloodstain in the middle of the steps.
He forced himself to look straight ahead, without looking or thinking.
...
Chao Ci had a hard time in Qionghua Palace. There was nothing in the cold palace, and there was only one person to serve him. He was such a pampered person, and he didn't know if he could bear it.
Since the Chao family was sentenced to exile, Chao Ci's life in Qionghua Palace became even more difficult. Not to mention that he had been bedridden for several days since he knelt all night in front of the Qinzheng Hall. Even if he could get up after that, his body was not as good as before.
Those cheap slaves were used to looking down on others and making things difficult even for them to provide basic food, clothing and medicine. Lou Yue wished he could kill all these dog slaves, but at this moment he could only endure it and could not act rashly.
We're all here, we can't fall short.
he kept telling himself.
But he didn't expect that Chao Cihui would disappear.
The day when the Qionghua Palace caught fire was the most panicked time in his life.
Even if it means losing the battle. He fell in a pool of blood and almost wanted to die, but he had never been so scared.
If Chao Ci really... died inside, what should he do?
This question just stuck in his mind, but he couldn't think of an answer at all.
Fortunately, Chao Ci is not inside.
He escaped.
Escape...it would be better to escape.
At least alive.
In this way, there is no need to suffer such a waste in the palace. After he has finished cleaning up Lou Chen and all his gang members, he can take his queen back.
...
One day one month after Chao Ci left.
Lou Yue had a dream.
He dreamed that after he had dealt with all Lou Chen's matters, he began to search for Chao Ci's whereabouts.
It didn't take him long to find it.
After the emperor's list was posted across the country and countless manpower and material resources were invested in the search, news of the imperial resignation soon came out.
He is in Yucheng.
After learning the news, Lou Yue was almost ecstatic. He immediately sent people to continue searching to find the specific location of Chao Ci, and went to Yucheng himself.
After seven months of separation, he missed and worried almost every day.
But before he could reach Yucheng, the people sent out had already sent back the news.
The queen was not found, only a tomb was found.
Lou Yue froze.
died......?
How, how could...
impossible!
His mind went blank and he didn't believe the news, so he rushed towards Yucheng like crazy.
Yucheng is not far from the capital, and it only takes four days by horseback.
But it only took Lou Yueshengsheng two days to arrive, without eating or drinking, and traveling all night.
As soon as he arrived in Yucheng, the people originally arranged in Yucheng were already waiting for him. He listened to those people and went to the suburbs of the city.
There were many people standing there.
Most of them were Lou Yue's subordinates. They gathered around and stood upright, waiting for Lou Yue.
There was another one, a young man dressed in white and looking like a knight.
His back was to Lou Yue, and in front of him was a raised mound with a stone tablet standing in front of him.
The boy was squatting half-squatting, burning paper in a brazier. Even though he was surrounded by armored soldiers, there was nothing strange about him.
Lou Yue's five senses were very good and he could read the words on the stone tablet clearly even from a distance.
The tomb of friends paying homage.
At that moment, there seemed to be some extremely harsh scream exploding in Lou Yue's ears.
There was a roar in my head, and my whole body felt terribly cold.
Lou Yue walked over there, but his steps stumbled several times.
It seemed that he heard Lou Yue's footsteps.
The young man turned his head and looked at him.
He recognized Lou Yue, lowered his head slightly, and said lightly: "The common people respectfully welcome Your Majesty."
He didn't even kneel down, and there was no hint of respect in his voice.
But Lou Yue was obviously not in any mood to care about this at this time.
He walked to the grave and stretched out his hand, trembling to touch the monument.
His hands have cut off countless heads. Once on the battlefield, he was hit by an arrow and his weapon was broken. He could also break the enemy's neck with his hands and the palm of his fingers.
But this monument is countless times scarier than the blood and the evil ghosts.
After the young man saluted casually, he looked straight at Lou Yue without any hesitation.
"He died three days ago." The young man suddenly said.
And he could clearly see that the tall man froze as he spoke.
"He was pregnant, but had a difficult delivery."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lou Yue turned around suddenly and looked at him, his voice hoarse and unpleasant: "Is he, pregnant?"
"Of course you don't know." The young man grinned, "When he escaped from the palace, he was two months pregnant."
This young man with an elegant appearance continued as calmly and cruelly as a devil: "Four days ago, he suddenly went into labor, but it was difficult to give birth for a day and a night. Later... the doctor said that he had a hemorrhage and there was blood everywhere. , he begged the doctor, begged me, to save the child for him."
"But in the end, he died, and the child he gave birth to after all his efforts was stillborn."
"He has no friends, and all his relatives have been exiled. Only I can take care of his funeral affairs."
Listening to him talking about this little by little, Lou Yue's eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of blood mist.
He fell as if he had lost all his strength, and his knees hit the ground hard.
How could it be, how could it suddenly become like this?
He had obviously thought about it, and when he got Chao Ci back, he would make it up to him. He knew that Chao Ci had suffered and been wronged, and he would definitely compensate him thousands of times. He knew that Chao Ci didn't like him having other people, and now no one in the court dared to point fingers at him. He could send away all the women in the harem and be with Chao Ci for the rest of his life.
Chao Ci is talented and ambitious. He knows that Chao Ci is unwilling to be trapped in a deep palace all his life. He can let Chao Ci go to the court. He will step by step clear the obstacles for Chao Ci and watch him become the prime minister.
He wanted Chao Ci to give birth to the eldest son of the emperor for him, and to have many children for him, preferably all like Chao Ci. He would definitely hurt the children to the core.
When they grow old, he will hand over the great Chu to their children, and then he will travel around with Chao Ci.
He obviously...has thought about it all.
Chapter 83
The next few decades between him and Chao Ci have been thought about in Lou Yue's mind countless times in these seven months.
He carved many details and thought about many things, which he wanted to do together with Chao Ci.
He endured it for seven months and kept telling himself that if he endured it longer and found Chao Ci back, he would have decades to make up for it and they would have a long remaining life to spend together.
However, he never imagined that after he finally finished those things, he would get such a result.
Chao Ci... is dead?
He touched the tablet and kept groping at the place where the word "Chaoci" was engraved.
It was obviously newly carved and smelled of ink.
It was so pungent that Lou Yue's head was buzzing.
His eyes suddenly turned red, and he crawled to the raised mound like crazy and started digging with his hands.
The soldiers and Lou Yue's confidants standing nearby were obviously startled, and several people quickly stepped forward to stop Lou Yue.
"Your Majesty, let me come..."
However, before they could finish their words, they were pushed aside by Lou Yue.
"roll!"
When the man staggered to his feet, what he saw was the emperor's eyes that were as scarlet as if they were dripping blood.
He was suddenly shocked and did not dare to make any further move.
After Lou Yue pushed him away, he continued to dig the grave with both hands without looking back.
The young man still stood in front of the monument, looking at Lou Yue from a distance. There was no extra emotion on his calm face.
Although Chao Ci's funeral was organized by the boy alone, and there were no relatives or friends of Chao Ci nearby except the boy, the funeral did not require the attendance of any relatives or friends or a banquet, so it seemed particularly hasty.
But this does not mean that Chao Ci's funeral was simple.
The young man still built a monument for him overnight, bought the best coffin, and buried him with his own hands.
Lou Yue also dug for a long time.
There was blood on the fingertips, and the nails were a little cracked, before finally seeing a corner of the black coffin.
Lou Yue was still digging nervously.
No one around him dared to move, and the young man just stood aside and watched quietly.
Let the sky get darker a little bit.
Finally, with the last trace of light, the coffin was completely dug out of the soil by Lou Yue.
The coffin was fastened with many long nails.
Lou Yue broke them open with his hands. His strength and crazy appearance made all his subordinates feel shocked.
The coffin was opened.
Chao Ci had only been away for three days, and there was no rot on his body, but some corpse spots appeared on his body.
His face was blue, his lips were as pale as paper, and his whole body was stiff and as cold as ice.
Lou Yue completely ignored the fact that it was a corpse and held him tightly in his arms.
After seeing Chao Ci's body, the last trace of delusion in his heart was completely shattered.
Whether he accepts it or not, Chao Ci is dead.
Lou Yue knelt in the grave for an unknown amount of time, then slowly walked out holding the corpse.
This scene is really weird and terrifying to the extreme. Even though the people around me have died on their hands, they all feel a little horrified at this moment.
But the young man was as calm as ever.
Lou Yue held the body and walked to the young man.
He spoke, his voice hoarse and harsh: "Where is the child?"
The young man turned his attention to the left side of the grave dug by Lou Yue.
About a foot away, there is another small grave.
No monument was erected, because according to the custom of Da Chu, children who died at birth could not erect monuments.
"Find someone to move the grave." Lou Yue said to his confidant.
............
Later, Lou Yue saw himself in his dream bringing Chao Ci back to the imperial city.
He held a very grand funeral, the funeral of the queen and the funeral of the emperor's eldest son.
Logically speaking, the child who died at birth could neither enter the imperial mausoleum nor have a funeral. But Lou Yue still insisted on his own way. At that time, the court was bloodbathed by Lou Yue twice in a row, and all that were left were toothless tigers, so naturally there was no way to stop him.
After that, the memorial tablet and the coffin in the imperial mausoleum became the most lasting images in Lou Yue's memory.
He dealt with government affairs during the day and slept in the imperial mausoleum at night. During his reign, he created the greatest prosperity of Chu and became the most absurd emperor in the history of Chu.
But what future generations think has nothing to do with him.
After a few months, he selected a few children from the clan to raise.
Those children were all outstanding. As they grew up, Lou Yue seemed to see his former self and those brothers.
Lou Yue had no patience to wait for them to fight to the end.
He chose the best person to succeed him and abdicated himself.
After he abdicated, he returned to the imperial mausoleum as he had done every night for more than ten years.
When he was in the imperial mausoleum, he refused to let anyone in, so even if he stayed there for three days after abdicating the throne, no one dared to come in.
It wasn't until the person who was responsible for delivering food every day found that there was no shortage of food at all, and became increasingly panicked and told the new emperor about this, the new emperor broke into the imperial mausoleum with his people.
However, it was discovered that the Supreme Emperor who had just abdicated died without any illness on the night of his abdication.
There was even a smile on his lips.
I am looking for you now, with no fear at all, only joy.
............
Lou Yue never believed in ghosts and gods, but for the remaining ten years of his life, he prayed over and over again that there really were ghosts and gods in the world.
Will his speech be waiting for him on Naihe Bridge?
Probably not, Chao Ci must hate him.
But it doesn't matter. If Chao Ci was reincarnated, he would go find him.
If possible, he would like to ask the so-called Ten Palaces of Yama to stop him from turning around and becoming a human being. If it were a human, would it hurt him?
It is best to have a tree growing in front of Chao Ci's door, so Chao Ci can walk by it every day. Maybe he was naughty when he was young and liked to climb on it.
But when he thought that Chao Ci would fall in love with someone else and stay together for a lifetime under his witness, his shameful selfishness felt painful again.
Even if he harmed Chao Ci like this, he still couldn't bear to give him up to others.
This question often appeared in Lou Yue's mind, and he thought about it all night long. Even if he was so entangled, it could temporarily make him forget the heart-wrenching pain.
Sometimes he would suddenly think, what if there really are no ghosts and gods?
does not matter. If a person really just returns to dust after death, then he will be buried with Chao Ci.
From now on, there is no awareness, no thoughts and no thoughts.
But when Lou Yue actually died, the situation was different from anything Lou Yue imagined.
He became a ghost, but no ghosts came to find him. He wandered as a ghost for year after year without seeing any other ghosts, and no one could see him.
This feeling is extremely terrifying. If it were anyone else, they would go crazy in just one day.
Year after year, the hidden dangers Lou Yue had buried finally broke out.
He couldn't wait for the outcome of the fight between those wolf cubs, so even if he allowed one of them to succeed, the rest were secretly gearing up.
In the fourth year after his death, civil strife broke out throughout Chu.
The civil unrest exceeded anyone's expectations, including those who initiated it.
The war raged for decades.