Reborn as a Sickly Child: The Emperor's Beloved

"Yes, but mother is different. Although she is a woman, she grew up in the martial arts world and has good martial arts. After she met my father, she followed him in battles. If she had not entered the palace, she would have been a female general. Many people in the court, especially those military generals, respect mother very much. She quarreled with my father, and my father told her to get out in a rage. She brought me here. Concubine Wu wished that mother would never appear in her sight again, and was happy to see her leave the palace. No one in the court dared to say anything, so we lived here for a long time."

"Later, one year and two years, two years and three years passed. As time went by, she was injured in the war a few years ago, and she had lived here for many years without her father coming to see her. She was depressed. Her health deteriorated, and she died in the sixth year after she came here."

"Before she died, she told me not to be buried in the imperial mausoleum after she died. She did not love that place when she was alive, and she did not want to be buried in the royal mausoleum after her death. Although she left the palace, she was still a concubine, and concubines had to be buried in the imperial mausoleum after their death. I begged my father for a long time before he agreed to let me take my mother away. Later, I brought her back to her hometown, Qingzhou. Tomorrow is her death anniversary." Xiao Jingzhan's cold tone was tinged with sadness.

Shen Yanyan didn't say anything. She knew he was missing his mother. The road to Qingzhou was long and he couldn't leave the capital.

"When things are settled, I will accompany you to Qingzhou to see my mother." Shen Yanyan looked at him seriously and said.

"Yeah, okay." Their eyes met and time seemed to stand still.

She didn't give him much comfort. He didn't need comfort, either. The promise she made to him represented everything.

Zhuangzi is located on a mountain outside the capital. There are people guarding and cleaning it all year round. It seems that Xiao Jingzhan cares about this place very much.

"Then are we going back today? What about your morning court tomorrow?" He said it was tomorrow, so why are you here today?

"No need, you can take a day off tomorrow." He was busy with his work, but he would come here to stay for a while on this day every year, and the court officials knew it.

"How many people did you bring here? Wouldn't Prime Minister Gao take the opportunity to assassinate you? And what about those who are doing this in secret?" He had exposed his whereabouts, and there didn't seem to be anyone around. This was too dangerous.

"Don't worry, Yanyan. As soon as we got here, the whole mountain was surrounded by three layers of enemy troops." He certainly wouldn't give those people the chance to assassinate him.

That's good. She thought he only brought An Yi and some secret guards.

Gao Xiangfu.

"Prime Minister, His Majesty has left the city!" Guo Liang handed the note in his hand to Prime Minister Gao.

“This is a good opportunity.”

Gao Xiang pondered for a moment, looked at the note in his hand and nodded, "How are the group of death warriors that we trained before?"

"They can all be used now." Those death warriors have been trained for many years and can now be put to use.

"Well, go and make arrangements. Speed ​​up the work of the Shen family. Don't think that they can sit back and relax just because they have the emperor as their backer." As soon as Shen Yanyan was named Imperial Noble Consort, the Shen family turned against the emperor. There would always be some price to pay for going against him.

"Yes, Prime Minister." Guo Liang bowed and left.

outside the city.

In Nanzhushan Villa, after dinner, the two walked hand in hand towards the nearby bamboo forest.

The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled on the earth, covering everything around with a layer of golden gauze. The breeze blew gently, and the bamboo leaves rustled, as if playing a beautiful piece of music.

Shen Yanyan was wearing a simple and elegant long dress, the hem of which fluttered in the wind, like a fairy descending to earth. With a happy smile on her face, she walked side by side with Xiao Jingzhan.

Xiao Jingzhan was wearing a black robe, with an upright posture, calm and stern. His eyes fell gently on Shen Yanyan, and he talked to her from time to time, making her giggle.

"You were so cute when you were a child!" Shen Yanyan looked at Xiao Jingzhan.

The two of them strolled along the path in the bamboo forest, enjoying this rare quiet time. The air was filled with the fragrance of bamboo, which made people feel relaxed and happy. Xiao Jingzhan kept talking about his childhood, causing Shen Yanyan's laughter to echo in the bamboo forest.

As they walked, they came to a stream.

The stream water was crystal clear, and the fish swam freely in the water. Shen Yanyan squatted down, reached out to touch the stream water, and felt its coolness. Xiao Jingzhan looked at her quietly, his eyes full of love.

"You must have been very happy when you were here!" Shen Yanyan looked up at Xiao Jingzhan and said.

"Yeah, it was really fun. These were the happiest years of my youth." Xiao Jingzhan recalled every little detail here and felt much more relaxed.

In that magnificent imperial palace, the desire for power is like a blazing flame, devouring everyone's soul. There, intrigue and conspiracy are the norm of life, and flattering the powerful and looking down on the weak is the basis of survival.

Everyone is fighting for higher status and more power by any means necessary.

The court officials were double-faced, formed cliques for personal gain, and oppressed each other.

The concubines fought openly and secretly, competed with each other, and used all means to suppress their opponents.

In order to fight for the throne, the princes were willing to kill each other. There was no family affection in the palace, and only power was the most important thing.

During the years he was alone in the palace, he saw all these things and realized how good his years outside the palace were.

"Don't you want to be the emperor?" Shen Yanyan's words were a bit disrespectful, but she still asked.

She could sense the difference between him here and when he was in the palace.

Xiao Jingzhan thought for a while and nodded slightly, "It doesn't matter whether I like it or not. As the blood of the Xiao family, I have the responsibility to take good care of this country and its people." He has seen too much suffering and knows that he is in this position and is supported by the people. He must be responsible for them. It doesn't matter whether he likes it or not.

"It doesn't matter. I don't like the palace either, but I'll be there for as long as you're there. No matter what you do, I'll be with you." He didn't like being an emperor, and he didn't like the palace either, but both of them were trapped in this deep palace for various reasons, so they felt a sense of sympathy.

"Yeah, okay." Xiao Jingzhan held her hand and continued walking forward.

Xiao Jingzhan told Shen Yanyan a lot of interesting stories from his childhood, which made Shen Yanyan laugh repeatedly.

Xiao Jingzhan talked about his childhood life in the mountains, how he was naughty and played with the animals in the mountains. He also talked about some of his adventures when he was a child, such as skipping classes to go down the mountain to play without his mother on his back, or putting insects in the teacher's tea. Shen Yanyan listened with great interest and laughed from time to time.

Xiao Jingzhan looked at Shen Yanyan's smile, and his heart felt warm, as if it was filled with something.

He found that he liked being with her more and more, and liked making her happy more and more. If he could continue like this, share every bit of life with her, and spend the rest of his life together, it would definitely be a very happy thing.

However, Xiao Jingzhan later realized that things in the world are unpredictable and not everything can go as planned.

If he had known the outcome would be like this, he would never have brought her into the palace in the first place.

"You were really naughty when you were a child!" Shen Yanyan said with a smile.

"Yes, my mother said that she was really worried about finding a teacher for me." Xiao Jingzhan replied with a smile.

Although he was outside the palace, he was the emperor's bloodline after all, so he had to take all the courses he was supposed to take. The teachers his mother found were all famous people in the capital.

The afterglow of the setting sun fell on the two of them, the warm glow made this world even more cozy, the green bamboo leaves exuded a faint bamboo fragrance, everything was beautiful and harmonious.

The sun gradually set and the sky gradually darkened. The two held hands and walked back towards Zhuangzi. Their figures gradually faded away in the afterglow of the sunset, leaving behind a beautiful memory.

An Yi, who was following the two from a distance, silently watched the figures in front of him.

His Majesty and Her Majesty walked side by side, their figures looking particularly harmonious in the afterglow of the sunset.

An Yi looked at their backs and felt a little envious. They, the secret guards, had no future. At this moment, in this scene, in this atmosphere, he felt so lonely, in sharp contrast to the happy couple in front of him.

At night, everything was silent. Xiao Jingzhan and Shen Yanyan slept in each other's arms on the bed. Perhaps because they were a little tired during the day, Shen Yanyan slept soundly, but Xiao Jingzhan was not sleepy. He looked at her sleeping face quietly. His current life was so beautiful that he had an illusion that he wanted to stay in this mountain with her forever.

Suddenly, there was a slight noise outside, and An Yi immediately became alert. He stood up quietly and signaled the other secret guards to stay alert. In the darkness, several shadows quietly approached Zhuangzi.

An Yi's eyes turned cold, his figure flashed, and he started a fierce battle with the black shadow.

Amid the flashing of swords and sabers, it was not known whether the opponent was too weak or An Yi was very powerful, but An Yi solved the attacking enemy in just a few moves.

An Yi looked at the black-clad assassins in front of him. They were obviously not very skilled in martial arts, but how did they get in? Nanzhu Mountain was full of their people, so where did they come from?

"Guard the villa well, I'll be out for a while." An Yi said to the air and disappeared.

Xiao Jingzhan listened to the noise outside but did not stand up. His already stern features became even darker. He was very anxious.

After An Yi went there, he hurried back to the villa and went to the back mountain with Shen Tingjiang who was waiting outside.

The defenses at the foot of the mountain are tight, so these people should have sneaked in from the back mountain. The back mountain is vast, the terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are few people sent. Maybe there is a small path they don't know about. The two of them have to go and see. Otherwise, if the safety of His Majesty and the Queen is in danger, the two of them will be blamed.

We must investigate it carefully.

The back mountain is steep, like a natural barrier. Between the peaks, the canyon is deep and misty, giving people a mysterious and steep feeling.