webnovelfull Chapter 184 Ex-lover
Chapter 184 Ex-lover
Xia Li stepped forward to investigate.
Fortunately, although the emperor's breathing was weak, he still had a chance of survival.
Xia Li channeled the power of light into him, stabilizing his heart meridian.
The emperor's breathing gradually calmed down, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
But at this moment she said, "This won't work either. The emperor's life force is constantly fading. We must find a way to awaken the emperor's will to live, at least until Xing Beiluo returns. Perhaps she has a way."
"But this..."
With a mournful face, Eunuch Guo said, "His Majesty cares most about the affairs of the nation and its people, and now things are stable..."
Therefore, His Majesty was naturally at ease.
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
"Wait! I'm going to find someone."
Xia Li arrived at the Cold Palace and found Zuo Xiange.
This person is quite pitiful.
He and the emperor were childhood playmates who went to school together.
Neither of them revealed their real names.
Later, when she grew up, the Empress Dowager summoned her to the palace to be made a concubine, so that she could become the Empress Dowager's spy for the Emperor.
The emperor was unwilling to be controlled by the empress dowager and also disliked this concubine, so he never went to her palace.
And the person she longed for most was the one from her childhood.
By chance, she wrote her thoughts on a maple leaf and placed it in Huaqing Pool. To avoid revealing her identity, she did not sign it.
She later received a reply, which was also unsigned.
The two knew each other's thoughts, suggesting that they were both people who had no control over their own lives in the palace.
The two, sharing a similar plight, became pen pals.
A year later, the emperor passed by and was so frightened that she immediately fled back.
In the rush, a sachet was left behind. The personal maid saw it, but did not remind her for the sake of her mistress's future.
Fearing exposure, Zuo Xiange never contacted her pen pal again.
She simply cherishes those maple leaves, longing for her childhood brother.
The emperor, too, held a sachet, reminiscing about his pen pal.
At the time, he did not know who the woman was, nor did he dare to investigate, for fear of offending his confidante and being exposed and harmed by the Empress Dowager's people.
Thinking of their ending, Xia Li sighed. Two people in love always have to go through a lot of hardships.
If this matter had ended there, it would have been fine, but one day, when she took out the maple leaves and carefully arranged them, Su Jieyu saw her doing so.
Consort Su: "Well done! As a palace concubine, you dare to have an affair with a man outside the palace. I will make sure you never have a chance to rise again."
So Consort Su reported it to the Emperor.
The emperor was shocked when he saw the maple leaves.
But he was the supreme ruler, and his expression remained impassive. He asked without batting an eye, "Who gave you these maple leaves?"
Because the other party was the Empress Dowager's person, the Emperor despised her from the bottom of his heart, thinking that she was a vicious person and could never be his kind and knowledgeable confidante.
The emperor not only did not connect her with his pen pal, but also did not carefully verify that she was the childhood girl he had been longing for!
In order to avoid implicating her pen pal, she vehemently denied it.
The emperor was furious.
They assumed she was afraid that the man would gain her favor and would never speak of it.
He then ordered the person to be banished to the cold palace.
Although she had the Empress Dowager's protection before, now that she has lost power, the Empress Dowager naturally seeks other pawns and has turned to the Lu family.
She stubbornly lived on simply because she longed to see her brother one last time.
The emperor became increasingly uneasy from then on, and was almost deposed by the empress dowager, who then installed a new puppet ruler.
But neither of them knew that the other was the person they had known since childhood.
It's truly heartbreaking.
Fortunately, her personal maid, Xian'er, who later became Consort Xian, changed the fate of the two.
She quietly stopped the emperor while he was alone by the pond, lost in thought, and said, "I know where the person you've been looking for is. I'll take you to see her."
emperor:!!!
Xian'er added, "But you'll be too conspicuous going out like this. Change into a guard's uniform."
She led the emperor to the Cold Palace and pointed at that woman.
The emperor immediately remembered that the other person was someone he had banished to the cold palace because of the maple leaf incident.
The Emperor began to suspect that this was a conspiracy, or a new trick devised by the Empress Dowager.
Just then, Xian'er pulled the woman forward and said, "Miss, this is your brother Ji. He managed to sneak in with great difficulty. Speak quickly and don't hide anything. I have already told him everything about you."
After saying that, he left the inner courtyard to let them get some fresh air.
The emperor hesitated to act due to lingering suspicions, and the girl initially did indeed have reservations, fearing she might implicate him.
But upon hearing that the girl had told him everything, she felt no more reservations and rushed forward to hug him. "Brother Ji, I really missed you so much. I thought I would never see you again in this life. Waaah, do you know? My family is gone, I was framed and my entire family was executed. Fortunately, the Empress Dowager protected us, and my father and I survived. The Empress Dowager made a deal with me, asking me to go to the Emperor's side to monitor him, in exchange for clearing my family's name. I couldn't refuse. Although I was forced to become the Empress Dowager's pawn, I never did anything to betray the Emperor. He doesn't want to see me, and I'm happy about that, but I still can't find out any news about you. And a few days ago, because of the maple leaf incident, I was banished to the Cold Palace and had no choice in my own life. I... Brother Ji, please don't be angry. I have nothing with that person, we're just pen pals, and I don't even know who that person is. That day, I suffered some grievances at the Empress Dowager's place, and I was under too much pressure. At Huaqing Pool, I casually picked up a maple leaf and wrote a poem. I never expected that someone would actually reply to me..."
Then she explained the whole story clearly.
Since she opened her mouth, the emperor's mouth, agape in surprise, has remained agape.
The two finally confirmed each other's identities and embraced tightly.
First love + childhood sweetheart + close friend + mutual attraction.
The buff is fully stacked.
Consort Xian was moved to tears, but she didn't forget to take the emperor's hand and say, "Come out with me for a moment."
This action stunned everyone present.
Zuo Xiange: "...Although Xian'er is a maid, she is also a benefactor. If she likes it too, then I will give half of Brother Ji to her."
The emperor's personal guard said, "Doesn't she know that her behavior is extremely rebellious and easily misunderstood?"
The Emperor: "What...what does she mean? Is this the reward she wants?"
Xian'er, however, did not notice the strange behavior of the others and pulled the emperor to the outer courtyard.
She then stared intently at the emperor and asked, "I know you two love each other very much, but you are the emperor. Do you know what this means?"
The emperor looked completely bewildered: ...What's going on?