morning thoughts

Chapter 58

Holding the saber in his hand, Ling Chao didn't dare to hesitate for a moment and picked it up on Ling Yu's wrist. The moment Ling Xi let go of his hand, he rescued the emperor and put him behind him.

Ling Yu looked at the sword stabbed in from behind in disbelief. He wanted to cover the bleeding wound, but he didn't know how to do it. His blood-stained hands tremblingly stretched out towards the emperor, but what? I didn't even touch it, and the staring eyes fell down unwillingly...

The emperor turned around and saw Ling Chu's tragic death, and fainted without taking a breath.

With a stiff face, Ling Chao supported the emperor to lie down and rest in the inner hall, and sent someone to invite the imperial physician.There was a lot of mess in the palace, Wei Chengji had to be entrusted with cleaning up the palace, Ling Jun and Concubine Shu were too scared, so Ji Yu had no choice but to send them back in person.

Ling Chao stayed by the emperor's side every step of the way, and stayed up all night until the emperor woke up the next day.

"Father," Ling Chao got up and helped the emperor drink some ginseng soup to moisten his mouth, twisted a towel and wiped his face, and after everything was done, he sat aside and said, "Most of the things in the palace have been done. It's properly handled, but the imperial father has to make up his mind on how to deal with Concubine De's funeral and Lingxi's funeral."

Speaking of Emperor Lingyu, he didn't know what it was like in his heart. When Lingxu raised the knife to threaten him, he clearly felt that Ling Chu pushed him behind his back, and he didn't really want to kill him.

Thinking of this, the emperor was very tired, and after thinking for a long time, he said: "I am sorry for the concubine De, and she died for the sake of Jin. I decided to make her a queen to express my grief for her. Ling Xuan..."

The emperor slowed down and sighed: "Let's demote him as a commoner and bury him together with a criminal woman."

Ling Chao lowered his head and said, "My son, let's do it now."

"No hurry," the emperor lay on the bed with his eyes closed and called Ling Chao to stop again, "Ji Yu... If I read correctly yesterday, did the Lichuan army enter the capital?"

Ling Chao raised his eyebrows slightly, anticipating that the emperor would ask about this matter, he said: "It was the minister who made the decision in private, and let the son of the Ji bring the Lichuan soldiers and horses to rescue him, but after the rebellion was put down yesterday, the son ordered the Lichuan army to return. Lichuan is gone."

The emperor opened his eyes, his cloudy eyes were covered with bloodshot eyes, he stared at Ling Chao angrily and said, "Is that true?"

Ling Chao said seriously: "This is a big matter, and I dare not lie to my father."

The emperor glanced at him, thinking that Ling Chao didn't care about his life and protected him behind him yesterday, so he no longer had any doubts, and only asked: "Is the matter in Lichuan settled? Is King Annan still safe?"

Ling Chao understood the meaning of the emperor's words, raised his eyes, and replied: "King Annan's body is not as good as before, but Ji Shizi thought of the emperor's favor and dared not stay in Lichuan for a while, only heard that Lichuan's affairs are big and small. Take care, son."

After hearing this, the emperor finally calmed down, and asked about the situation of Concubine Shu and Ling Jun. After Ling Chao answered them one by one, the emperor let them go.

In the past few days, Ji Yu didn't enter the palace, so he sent Ji Li back to Lichuan and asked Fuhai to go back with him. When he arrived in Lichuan, he didn't have to come back and just serve Ji Li.

Five days later, at the beginning of autumn, the emperor's body still hadn't improved, and the imperial physicians couldn't help shaking their heads after every consultation, and even the prescriptions were only warming and tonic.He collapsed, and he couldn't exert any energy in the affairs of the government. His tongue started to go numb after relying on these bitter medicines every day. The emperor knew that time was running out, and it was time to make plans early.

"I have met Your Majesty." Ji Yu knelt in front of the bed and kowtowed respectfully.

The emperor raised his head and waved at him, and Ji Yu stepped forward to help the emperor get up himself.The emperor gasped for another breath, and only after his breath stabilized did he say, "Ji Yu, you are guilty!"

Ji Yu took a few steps back, knelt down straight, bowed his head and said, "I don't know."

The emperor's eyebrows were full of anger, and he asked in a deep voice: "You deliberately seduced the prince and encouraged him to collude with the courtiers, do you dare to say that you didn't do it on purpose?"

Ji Yu knelt down, his mind was full of thoughts.

It turned out that the emperor actually found out about his relationship with the Third Highness...

Seeing that he didn't speak, the emperor thought he had nothing to say. Now that he is sick and the hearts of the people in the court are fluctuating, there is no reason why King Annan would not take advantage of this time to get involved. Even if he doesn't have the energy, there is still Ji Yu!Isn't it because of Ji Yu that Ling Chao went to Lichuan to ask for orders?

"Your Majesty!" Ji Yu said loudly: "I do love the Third Highness, but I never encouraged him to collude with the courtiers, and I don't know where I heard His Majesty's words. The Third Highness is the most powerless among the princes. Your Majesty Wasn't it precisely because of this that you supported the Third Highness at the beginning?"

The emperor stared at Ji Yu, his expression changed slightly, and he said: "Since the matter between you and His Highness the Third Highness is true, it can be seen that what I have heard is not nothing in vain."

"Your Majesty the Third Highness is His Majesty's child, and His Majesty understands his disposition best." Ji Yu said, "Why should Your Majesty come to question my minister? It's just that His Majesty is worried that His Majesty's affection for my minister will be too deep in the future, and I am afraid that I will overstep. If Your Majesty Wouldn't it save me worrying about giving my minister a glass of poisoned wine?"

The emperor was dumbfounded. Executing Ji Yu was naturally effortless, but doing so would inevitably create a gap between Ling Chao and himself. If the emperor was healthy and found out about this matter, he would definitely find an excuse to dispose of Ji Yu, but he couldn't do that right now. He couldn't make Ling Chao remember to hate himself.

The emperor thought about it, and said to Ji Yu after a while: "Do you think your deep affection is worth it to Ling Chao? Jiangshan or you, which one he wants more?"

Ji Yu's eyes flickered, and the emperor looked at him with a half-smile, as if he had spoken of his worries.

"I don't care about these things. Human nature cannot be tested. Your majesty should understand the truth of this better than me. If it weren't for your majesty's repeated temptations and disappointments to Ling Yu, and finding that he is not as controllable as before, how could there be such a thing?" This is the situation today. So I think that as long as your Highness is sincere when you are with me, that is enough, everything in the world is changing rapidly, so why not be afraid of changing people's hearts."

The emperor was furious and coughed violently again. He raised his finger and pointed at Ji Yu with deep eyes, "Okay, okay, I'll let you see if you can still face the truth with your generous words." So calm."

Ji Yu was led behind the screen by the eunuch beside the emperor, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty tells you not to make any noise no matter what you hear later."

Ji Yu nodded, and sat down safely after agreeing.

Within half a stick of incense, Ling Chao was summoned by the emperor, and the emperor waved everyone else down, leaving Ling Chao alone.

"I ask you, is the matter between you and Ji Shizi serious?"

Ling Chao's face turned cold, and he replied seriously: "There is indeed such a thing."

The emperor saw Ling Chao's reaction in his eyes. He reacted quickly but the astonishment on his face was real. Presumably, he must have never wanted to show it in front of others to be so panicked.

"My health is getting worse and worse, it's time to make a decision."

"Father, why do you think so?" Ling Chao comforted, "Father is at the peak of spring and autumn, and his poor health is just caused by recent troubles and fatigue, and he will recover after a while."

The emperor shook his head, covered his lips and coughed a few more times, "I have only two sons left under my knees, you and Ling Jun. Ling Jun is too young to bear the responsibility. I intend to make you the crown prince, but there are some things that need you to make a decision early."

Ling Chao didn't respond to the emperor's words, but responded indifferently: "What does the father need the son to do?"

"Li Chuan has always been my confidant's serious trouble. Although King Annan has always abided by his duties, I know that these are just appearances. If the border is unstable and the people's hearts are uneasy, the people's unrest will make the court uneasy. It was an expedient measure to put it in the hands of Annan King. Right now, I don’t want to let these troubles leave a source of disaster.”

"King Annan is afraid that his life will not be long, and now is a good time to do something."

"Father," Ling Chao paused, and said, "Li Chuan will not rebel, besides, Da Jin can't stand the toss now, King Annan has been guarding the border for many years, and if there is any change, he is afraid that it will cause a catastrophe."

The emperor braced himself up, stared at Ling Chao with displeasure and asked, "Are you afraid of causing a catastrophe or are you reluctant to part with Ji Yu?"

"Ji Yu can't stay. This man has deep plans, and you are too pure. King Annan is no longer afraid of the remaining Ji Xun, who is just a no-brainer. As long as Ji Yu dies, Lichuan will be recovered sooner or later." The emperor's tone softened, and he leaned against the bedside and looked at Ling Chao lovingly: "Ling Chao, as long as you do this well, I will immediately remember to decree to abdicate and become the Supreme Emperor, and I will give you the throne."

Ling Chao looked directly at the emperor, with a questioning look in his eyes, and said with a light smile, "What choice does the emperor think the son will make?"

"Those who do big things don't care about small things!" The emperor signaled clearly, looking at Ling Chao fixedly.

Ling Chao shook his head, and asked in a warm voice: "Father, do you still remember that there used to be a Concubine Li in this palace?"

"Who?" The emperor narrowed his eyes, trying to recall who this Li Wei was.

Ling Chao sighed and said, "Look, my father doesn't even remember her. She has passed away, but the living don't remember her any more. However, my father may have some impression of Concubine Li's death. Concubine Li accidentally ate poisonous food." The core is dead."

Without waiting for the emperor to ask questions, Ling Chao continued: "In the past, Concubine Li made things difficult for my mother. My mother is not a high-ranking woman, but she is just a beauty, so I can only bear with it. The reason my mother gave birth to me was because she was manipulated by Concubine Li. After recovering her life, she still did not escape Concubine Li's poisonous hand, she poisoned her mother's food, it was not obvious, but she was eating the food every day, the inside was empty, and finally my mother ran out of oil and died."

"But what about the father?" Ling Chao lowered his eyes, his eyelashes cast a large shadow, and asked in a low voice: "The father has never investigated the cause of my mother's death, so I sent Li Concubine on the road in the same way. gone."

When the emperor heard this, he remembered who Concubine Li was. He glanced at Ling Chao's calm look, and found it strange.

Ling Chao went on to say: "You said that this son-in-law is pure and good-natured, but you know that son-in-law was only nine years old when Concubine Li died. Does the emperor still think that son-in-law is pure and good?"

He leaned over and kowtowed to the emperor, and said seriously: "Ji Yu, my son will not hurt him, and will not allow anyone to hurt him!"

The emperor didn't make a sound, but leaned his body and asked in an unbelievable tone: "Could it be that you even gave up the throne for Ji Yu?"

"Father," Ling Chao smiled, and said to the emperor, "Does Father want the fifth younger brother to inherit the throne? And let Concubine Shu be the empress dowager to assist the new emperor? Or are you going to find some assistant ministers in the court?" ? Or that the father and the emperor also came to recruit the fifth younger brother to get rid of the fire, killing the mother and keeping the son!"

The emperor suddenly coughed again, he fell back and covered his mouth with a handkerchief to wipe off the blood, and then cursed angrily: "I have no eyes, but I didn't see that you are so calculating. How could your mother be so sweet and docile that she gave birth to such a beast like you?" come out."

Cute and docile?Ling Chao laughed.

I don't know how long it took, the emperor let out a long breath, looked at Ling Chao with a little sign of giving in, and said, "I won't make things difficult for you if you don't go down. You need peace of mind, if you are the emperor's harem, the eldest daughter of Wei Chengji's family is just the right age for you, dignified and dignified is a suitable candidate."

"I don't want to hide it from my father, General Wei knew about the matter between my son and Ji Shizi early on. Even if my son agreed, General Wei would never marry his daughter to my son."

"You..." The emperor stared at Ling Chao intently, unable to speak.

Ling Chao stood up and covered the emperor with a quilt, and said with concern: "Father, you should rest in peace of mind to recuperate from your illness. Forgive me for these things, I can't obey my orders. If the emperor wants to exchange these things, I can only hope that my father can find a suitable one." candidate."

After Ling Chao finished speaking, he took two steps back, turned around and exited the hall.

After he left, the emperor struggled to get up and let the eunuch help him to walk behind the screen.

The emperor stared at Ji Yu with a pale face, and said bitterly: "You should be satisfied with this, I lost."

Ji Yu looked at the emperor with cold eyes, shook his head and said, "Your Majesty didn't lose to the minister, but he lost because he shouldn't have tempted His Highness like this."

When Ji Yu came out from the emperor's place, the palace lanterns had already been lit, he looked up at the sky, and couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief.

Ling Chao was waiting for him in the dark, seeing that he couldn't help but chuckled, under the night, Ling Chao's figure became taller and taller.

"Why are you here?" Ji Yu glanced back at the main hall, immediately understood, and said with a smile, "You knew I was there early in the morning?"

Ling Chao came out of the shadows, stood side by side with him under the palace lantern, and replied in a warm voice: "Father will not summon me to say these things for no reason. Suspicion and temptation have always been like this, but I can't bear the temptation."

Ling Chao jokingly chatted with Ji Yu, and Ji Yu remembered what Ling Chao had said in front of the emperor.

It is not easy for a nine-year-old child to find out about the murder of his mother. Presumably, his uncle and Yun An deliberately arranged for Ling Chao to discover the clues. This is probably why Ling Chao was not close to Yun An later on. How can a person who has seen himself do evil with his own eyes get close without any grievances.

He has seen and done the evil in this world, and when he hated it to the extreme, he wanted to escape from it and shrink himself, but when he discovered that the evil he hated came from the bottom of his heart, he began to panic, It's like drowning.

Until he met the person who stretched out his hand to pull him out of the cold and greasy water, he also welcomed a beam of light, which made him want to approach involuntarily.

Ling Chao wanted to pull Ji Yu's hand, but he retreated again. He belittled himself, worried that Ji Yu would also hate himself after knowing that his was not that good.

He lowered his head, covered his eyes with light and shadow, and said: "Father is right, I am a beast, extremely vicious and good at dormant, Ling Yu probably hated me so much because he broke through my bad deeds when he was young Yes."

"Ling Chao!"

Ling Chao paused, but did not raise his head: "En."

Ji Yu clasped his hands and clasped his palms together. He is not good at doing such things, so he couldn't help feeling a little hot on his face, and said with a smile: "Anyway, Your Majesty already knows it, and there is no need to deliberately avoid it from now on. Although I He is just a son, but he never wronged himself in Lichuan, and from now on in Huajing City, there will only be one person to rely on, His Royal Highness."

Ling Chao nodded heavily and clenched his palms.

His heart was beating wildly, and his sweetheart pulled himself out of the darkness again.

The author has something to say:

It's almost over, probably in two days.