The Beauties of the Song Dynasty - Chapter 103
On that night when the snow fell heavily, he could never have imagined that such a shocking change would happen after he left Qinlan Palace—his father suddenly passed away, and the one who inherited the throne was neither him nor Defang, but their imperial uncle Zhao Guangyi!
He couldn't help but recall the horrifying scene of Zhao Guangyi carrying the bloodied Lan'er into Qinlan Palace that night. He hated himself for guessing that his uncle intended to harm his father, yet he was still distracted by Lan'er's injury, which led him to leave the palace directly instead of going to Wansui Palace to find out what was going on.
He was filled with rage and hatred, wanting to confront Zhao Guangyi, who had inexplicably ascended the throne, at all costs. But Zhao Guangyi sent him a letter—a letter that confirmed his suspicions and broke his heart in despair.
The Princess Consort of Qin is no longer the former Princess Deqing, nor is she his "Lan'er". Furthermore, even as her injuries from the night of the palace coup healed, she showed no signs of waking up. This is because the soul that did not belong to Princess Deqing returned to its original world, while his "Lan'er" did not return for the same reason. This means that the former Princess Deqing has completely left and can never come back.
He was utterly desperate.
He spent the two months of Princess Qin's slumber in a daze. When he learned that she had woken up and was back to normal—she was still herself, but not his Lan'er—he couldn't help but feel a sense of resentment. This woman who appeared out of nowhere and did not belong to this world had just as he had said when he first met her, stealing everything that belonged to Lan'er. He would never let her have happiness so easily!
So when he learned that Defang intended to withdraw from politics and travel far away with his wife, he risked his life to tell the emperor the secret that the empress had been pregnant with the current emperor's child, and successfully used the emperor to keep Defang and the others there.
He underestimated the woman's resolve. Although he didn't know why she insisted on urging Defang to retire, his father's expectations for Defang had transformed into his own expectations after his father's sudden death.
He would not allow Zhao Guangyi, who had inexplicably ascended the throne, to sit comfortably on it!
After two months of silence, he began to let himself become decadent and successfully dispelled the emperor's fear of him. In his opinion, if the emperor were to be more ruthless and eliminate his nephew, it would be more beneficial to his future imperial career, but he did not do so.
He secretly discovered that Defang was planning to leave the capital with his wife, and coincidentally, they would be passing through Rongyang. Taking advantage of his three months of despondency and Defang's soft heart, he successfully kept the woman who had taken Lan'er's body with him. He simply wanted to understand this woman's true intentions better and to test her and Defang's determination to retire. Therefore, he once again reported to the Emperor that Defang's purpose in leaving the capital was never to return. The Emperor did not disappoint him and immediately ordered Defang to be summoned back to the capital.
Everything went smoothly.
He thought that if the woman remained as determined as before within a month, and Defang insisted on maintaining the original plan after returning from the capital, then he would give up.
However, he never expected that after discovering the hidden guard's feelings for the woman, his attempt to lure her out by isolating her would lead to an unexpected disaster.
The bamboo house was in imminent danger of collapsing in the raging river. He rushed to the riverbank, only to hear that she would rather brave the heavy rain to return to Rongyang than see him again. He was furious and extremely angry at her disregard for her own health. Did this woman ever think about how worried Zehua would be if he knew how willful she was?
In a fit of anger, he tried to take her back to the courtyard house, but unexpectedly, during the fight with Lan Wu, she slipped and fell into the river. He was shocked and was about to jump into the river to save her when Lan Wu jumped in first. He then quickly found Xiao Luzi and Su Li, instructing one of them to go with him to rescue her, and the other to ride to the capital to tell De Fang about the incident.
Five days passed, and they listened to the local officials' reports on how many people had died and how many were missing, but there was still no news of the woman who had been swept away by the flood.
On the banks of the Bian River, hearing Defang's resolute words, he could no longer remain silent. He stepped forward to persuade him, "Defang, this matter—"
"Brother, please don't say anything... Don't say anything, I'm afraid I'll regret it, I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself and want to hate you..."
Looking at the pale face before him, which concealed deep pain, Zhao Dezhao felt a sudden chill fill the room, and he couldn't help but shiver.
“Brother, you already know she’s not a princess. Although I don’t know when you realized it, you believed it, which is why you made that request of me. The reason I agreed to let her stay was because I guessed you might have found out.”
The large hand in his sleeve slowly clenched, Zhao Dezhao's face stiffened and his teeth clenched to prevent him from losing control of his trembling body. He listened quietly to the clear and gentle voice of the person in front of him, which carried an unconcealable pain and regret.
“I regret it because I promised to let her stay. I hate you because you not only failed to protect her, but also put her in danger… Do you know? She was more than a month pregnant when such a dangerous flood struck. She could barely protect herself, let alone the baby?”
The last words of the person before him shattered him to the ground. He looked up in disbelief, and all his pent-up emotions erupted at that moment. He grabbed the woman behind him and roared:
"Why have you never mentioned something so important to me! How did you serve her! You damned servant!"
"Master...this servant...did not know...about this matter..."
"You don't know! She's your mistress! How could you so blatantly ignore her—"
"Brother, there's no point in dwelling on this now. What I want to tell you is that since you know she's not a princess and has nothing to do with you anymore, let's put an end to all the troubles between you."
Zhao Dezhao trembled slightly.
In fact, he had known for months that the troubles between Lan'er and him had ended the day he got married. For so long, all he had been doing was trying to grasp at something he had given up in an illusion.
"Uncle, this time, regardless of whether we can find Wanlan or not, I don't want to turn back. If you truly care about me, please grant me this last request."
Upon hearing the words of the person in front of him and the other person, Zhao Dezhao was suddenly stunned. However, in the blink of an eye, he slowly lowered his eyes and did not speak again.
"Defang, you don't need—"
"No! Imperial Uncle, my leaving is the best choice. Some old ministers in the court who still care about the past will no longer make things difficult for you. Just consider it... giving me a break."
relief……
Has Defang really been driven to such a state by him and his father?
Watching his younger brother continue downstream alone without looking back, Zhao Dezhao pursed his lips, turned abruptly, and strode away.
Defang may be so indifferent as to be almost without desires, yet he is more stubborn than anyone else. He is determined to get what he wants and do what he wants, and no one can shake his resolve.
it's all over.
But before he left, there was one thing he needed to figure out.
Volume 5, Chapter 94, A Desolate Scene: How Much Sorrow (1)
"stop!"
The cold shout from behind only made Wanlan purse her lips, but her feet, which were moving forward quickly, did not stop for a moment.
She returned to Rongyang, not to see this man.
"Didn't you come to see Defang? Where do you want to go now?"
Wanlan suddenly stopped, squeezed her eyes shut, turned around, and gave a half-hearted smile. "Your Highness, will you provide me with any clues?"
Zhao Dezhao stood with his hands behind his back, coldly staring at her. "I have some questions that I need you to answer. If you cooperate, I will tell you Defang's whereabouts directly, saving you the trouble. Otherwise—" He chuckled, "You probably don't know that the Emperor is here too, do you?"
Gritting her teeth, Wanlan tightened her grip on her hand hidden in her sleeve, but her smile remained unchanged. "What's the problem?"
Zhao Dezhao stepped aside to the door and gestured for her to come inside, saying, "Let's talk inside."
After a month's absence, the courtyard house, desolate and dilapidated from being ravaged by torrential rain, greeted them. Before leaving, Wanlan led the people behind her directly into the main hall, calmly took the main seat, and called over Lan Wu, saying, "Go out and inquire about the Prince's whereabouts, and bring back some food."