Heaven is the shore of mortal dust - Chapter 114
"Your Majesty, is it related to the Wind King?" Upon hearing this, Li Tianqi was momentarily dazed, but actually nodded.
"Is that so! I will immediately arrest him and bring him to Your Majesty for punishment." Wu Qiaoshi said viciously: Wei Feng, you've finally met your match.
"No, you mustn't hurt him. I fainted on my own."
"Your Majesty, why are you still protecting him? If treacherous ministers are not eliminated, they will surely cause future troubles."
Upon hearing that someone had slandered Wei Zijun, Li Tianqi flew into a rage.
He didn't want to see him; he feared that seeing him would only make his mind more chaotic. He needed to calm down and clear his jumbled thoughts. He was afraid that seeing that bewildered yet innocent face now would cause him to lose control again.
How did all this happen? It happened imperceptibly, gradually and subtly.
That heart-pounding feeling, I only experience it when I'm with him. It's novel, exciting, bittersweet, fiery and intense…
Perhaps he had never met someone he could entrust his feelings to, and no one had ever entered his heart before. Yet he was the only one who had barged in like that.
Now, the one who makes him think, who causes him pain, who makes him yearn day and night, who makes him lose his heart, who makes him dream of and lose his soul—Zijun is the first one to do so. But why! He has to be a man!
Volume 3, Dayu Chapter 102: Caning
The morning court session ended late that day. Li Tian hurriedly headed to Chongde Hall after leaving Taiji Hall, his mind filled with the image of Wei Zijun. In just a few hours, the longing had already seeped into his heart.
When they returned to Chongde Hall, Wei Zijun was not there. Ji Sheng replied that since His Majesty was not present, the Prince of Feng had gone to Ganlu Hall to visit the Imperial Concubine.
After another hurried journey, before even reaching the Ganlu Palace, they encountered a rushing eunuch who knelt before Li Tianqi, crying, "Your Majesty—Princess Shangluo…she…she coughed up blood and fainted…"
"What? Go and see quickly." Li Tianqi was shocked and hurried to Ziyun Pavilion with the eunuch.
Upon entering, he saw the imperial physician standing guard there and immediately asked, "How is the princess?"
"Your Majesty, the princess's ailment stems from heartache caused by prolonged grief and emotional distress. However, we do not know what the princess is thinking about, and she refuses to reveal it," the imperial physician replied cautiously.
"Okay, you can go down now."
After the imperial physicians left, Li Tianqi approached Li Siyi, who was attending to him by the bedside. "Siyi, what is troubling you? Why are you so preoccupied?"
"Third Brother—" Li Siyi burst into tears.
"Sweetheart, Seventh Sister, don't cry. Tell your Second Brother, and he'll stand up for you." Li Tianqi gently stroked her head and comforted her softly.
"Your Majesty—" The personal maidservant beside her knelt down with a thud, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty, but does this servant know who Her Highness the Princess is thinking of?"
"explain!"
“Ever since the princess and I were rescued by the Wind King in the suburbs, the princess has fallen in love with him, becoming infatuated and unable to extricate herself, and even coughing up blood from missing him day and night. I beg Your Majesty to grant the Wind King and the princess a marriage, and to grant the princess’s wish.”
Li Tianqi's hand trembled, and he sighed inwardly. Was this really the case? Were both siblings in his Li family caught up in the same trap?
"Seventh Sister, is that so?"
Li Siyi nodded. "Third Brother, Siyi will marry no one but the Wind King. Siyi's body and soul belong to the Wind King."
"Body and soul?" Li Tianqi exclaimed in surprise. "Third Sister, has the Wind King ever... done anything to you?"
Li Siyi never expected him to have such thoughts, but if it could really bring about this, what did it matter if her reputation was ruined? So, she nodded shyly, "I beg Your Majesty to grant my request."
A thunderous roar filled Li Tianqi's head, and his palms were sweating. "Siyi, this is no joke. Is it really true?"
Li Siyi nodded shyly again.
Wei Zijun—the world spun around her, her chest ached as if it were splitting open, tearing out an unprecedented pain, her throat felt bitter, as if gall bladder had burst in her mouth, her fists clenched tightly, her knuckles cracking, "Seventh Sister, just wait for the wedding."
I don't know how I got out of Ziyun Pavilion, or how I ended up in Chongde Hall. He should be waiting inside.
Upon entering the hall, the figure I had been longing for was nowhere to be seen.
The feigned indifference of the past few days crumbled, and the dependence and love surged forth like a dam breaking, overwhelming his heart and lungs. The longing and yearning he had suppressed had never been so intense. Even knowing that he was nearby, even standing on the other side, the longing remained. At this very moment, he was about to become someone else's, even if that person was his sister.
Filled with melancholy, her image lingered in his mind as he searched for her. He found her beside the Wude Gate; she was with Zhang Shi.
That day, he said he wanted Zhang Shi to immediately manage the Yellow River, but it was just an angry outburst. How could he not distinguish between what is important and what is urgent? Even if he were to go, everything would be prepared.
At that moment, the two men were smiling at each other. Those smiles seemed utterly jarring to him.
"Khan, do you remember your promise?" Zhang Shi smiled faintly, his bright eyes fixed on the person in front of him.
"A promise?" Wei Zijun asked, puzzled.
"The Khan doesn't remember? The Khan promised to take Xiaoyue's place." Zhang Shi smiled faintly, a hint of suppressed emotion on his face.
"Xiaoyue?" The bewildered person raised an eyebrow, looking even more alluring.
“Alas—” Zhang Shi lamented, “How fickle the Khan is, forgetting everything in the blink of an eye. It truly breaks Zhang Shi’s heart.”
"This...did I bully you, sir?" Wei Zijun began to worry, wondering if she had done something shameful while drunk. After all, she had a prior record in this matter.
Zhang Shi chuckled, "Does the Khan remember our nuptial wine? Did the Khan promise to be Zhang Shi's wife?"
"Wife—" Wei Zijun exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, the Khan volunteered to take Xiaoyue's place as Zhang Shi's wife. Does the Khan want to go back on his word?"
"Huh?" Wei Zijun opened her mouth wide.
Zhang Shi sighed helplessly, took Wei Zijun's right hand, and gently lifted her sleeve. "It's all scabbed over, it won't leave a scar. It's a very good wound medicine." He gently stroked the wound. "It won't hurt, will it?"
Wei Zijun looked down at her arm. "No."
Zhang Shi looked up at her downcast cheeks, his gaze as gentle as a pool of spring water. He gently raised his hand, as if to stroke the hair on her forehead.
Enough! Li Tianqi couldn't take it anymore. He rushed forward, pulled Wei Zijun away, and grabbed her arm tightly. "Tomorrow, I'll have Miaozhou pick you up for the morning court session."
Before dawn, Daxing City was still shrouded in darkness, with its buildings casting clusters of shadows against the night sky. In this darkness, however, the Taiji Hall within the Daxing Palace was brightly lit, its lanterns swaying gently.