Quick Wear: Under the Skirt, All Beings Are Equal

Chapter 163 Young General: It's getting late, and the mountains and rivers are already winter

It’s really a pity!

Chang Qing lowered her eyes slightly. It was indeed a pity for Xu Jinhuan. He was so high-spirited and talented. Even though she had traveled through so many worlds, there were not many people who could match him.

That cannot be said. What is more accurate is Xu Jinhuan's temperament. The young general, who was about sixteen or seventeen years old, riding a tall horse and holding a long sword, died tragically in a political conspiracy and was covered in filth and dirt, which made him truly disappointed with the world.

Those people felt sorry for him, but they also plotted against him. Princess Qingyang liked him, but she gave up on him under the pressure of power. The most powerful people in the imperial city admired him, but they also did not hesitate to harm him.

Everyone knew that he shouldn't die, but everyone wanted him to die.

Those people were right, this person should not belong to the capital, but he was trapped and died in the capital, and no one was willing to let him fly away.

He was in a very miserable state when he was dying, but his back was so straight, and he looked indifferently at everything he had been protecting. After all, no one knew whether he regretted it during those ten seconds.

Chang Qing found an excuse to get off the boat. There were large and small pleasure boats standing side by side on the river. The lights hanging around were ambiguous, and the sounds were decadent, as were the soft jade and warm fragrance.

After a while, the hazy drizzle began to fall, and the lights on the river became dimmer.

Looking at it this time, I feel that the cruise ships and art studios around me are becoming more and more decadent. The swaying lights seem to have fallen into my heart, confusing my thoughts, making me abandon everything and want to sink into it.

Chang Qing stood on the rouge-colored water and reached out her hand to catch it. The drizzle and thick fog swept over the river and enveloped her in it. It was as if she had been walking alone in the fog for a long time, isolated from the world. Looking at it, it was a little shocking. The inappropriate coldness swept over her, and she suddenly felt sad.

A drop of rain from the roof of the boat fell on Chang Qing's eyebrows. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she woke up in shock. She turned around and raised her eyebrows to look at the people who were still drinking inside.

Chun Heming seemed to have noticed something, so he pulled himself away, walked over to her with a glass of wine in his hand, looked at the thick fog in the river and the lanterns on the river, the corners of his lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to recite some poem.

"Ugh!"

"Stop. As soon as you stick your butt out, I know what you are going to say. If you dare to affect my good mood, I will kick you down." Chang Qing saw a trace of sadness between his brows and immediately interrupted his melancholy mood.

Chun Heming paused holding the wine glass, raised his head and looked at Chang Qing for a long while, then twitched the corners of his lips slightly: "Xu Jinhuan, you really deserve to die."

Chang Qing suddenly laughed, and then she began to investigate the matter of Longhu Mountain.

In fact, she didn't want to get involved in such matters, but she could figure it out with her toes that once civil strife broke out due to power struggles in the court, the common people would be the ones who suffered.

Xu Jinhuan, what he couldn't let go of the most were the people of Liguo.

The results of the investigation were similar to what she had expected. The people who had been entrenched in Longhu Mountain more than ten years ago were indeed from the Shen family. In the end, with no other options, Li Chengzai had no choice but to intervene under the pretext of suppressing bandits.

Today's Longhu Mountain is the descendant of those people.

The capital also quickly received the news from Wancheng. Princess Qingyang smiled softly as she listened to what the young man had done.

"Very good. Did they say when they will be back?"

"No, General Xu will probably have to stay for a while. Princess, do you miss the general?"

Princess Qingyang was silent for a while before slowly raising her eyes. Even if she missed him, so what? The person that person was thinking about was not her.

The one that person always liked was the frail fifth sister.

Princess Qingyang suddenly felt a little regretful. If she had not rejected the marriage proposal, she would have been the one standing beside him openly.

"Tell me, was I wrong at the beginning?"

Princess Qingyang asked this question, and before the maid beside her could answer, a smile slowly appeared on her lips: "But it doesn't matter if I'm wrong. I'm a princess, the most noble princess in Li Country. I can find any man I want."

But Qingyang knew that only that boy was different. At that palace banquet, she caught a glimpse of the boy's brows that were somewhat different from the expressions of other people raised in the capital. She felt lost at that time. In the following time, as they came into contact, the girl's thoughts sprouted in her heart.

"If the princess is reluctant, you can talk to His Majesty and find a reason to recall General Xu back to the capital. Anyway, according to the news sent by the completion, the plague has been resolved and the bandits have been pacified."

As the head maidservant beside Princess Qingyang, Le Ying knew better than anyone else how reluctant Princess Qingyang was to let her go. She looked at the woman who closed her eyes and said, "Princess, aren't you afraid of regretting it in the future?"

Princess Qingyang did not open her eyes, but her beautiful brows were slightly frowned.

"So what?" She seemed to be telling Le Ying, or herself, and murmured to herself, "So what? He doesn't like me anyway. Even if I intervene to save him, he may not appreciate it. It's good to die like this. It's better than watching him take good care of other people."

As she spoke, she fell silent.

The room also became quiet, with only the slowly rising scent of ivy spreading. Just when Le Ying thought Princess Qingyang had fallen asleep, she heard her barely audible sigh.

"In fact, I didn't want to save him, but..."

Just what?

Le Ying didn't know that this was the first time she saw the princess in such a dilemma. The crown prince had been pressing her step by step these days, and even the Second Prince's mother's involvement in An Fei's death was implicated, causing the Second Prince's faction to have a hard time.

Le Ying has been with Princess Qingyang since she was a child. She knew from childhood that her princess was very proud and never willing to be inferior to others. The reason why she helped the Second Prince was that when she was young, she fell into danger while hunting. The Second Prince injured his arm in order to save her. The two stayed in the trap for a day and a night before they were rescued.

The second prince also has some brotherly love for the princess, but as the princes and princesses grew up, something hidden in the royal blood gradually awakened.

Le Ying could only watch Qingyang becoming more and more haggard during this period. She often stayed in the study with her staff until late at night. Even when she was sick, she still applied thick rouge to make her look more rosy, and when she appeared in front of people, she was the proud and noble Princess Qingyang.

Princess Qingyang smiled at Le Ying and said, "You go down first. I want to be alone for a while. I will send someone to invite my second brother to come over later."

Qingyang reached out her hand and gently pressed her aching head. This was a problem she had since childhood. Whenever she thought too much, her head would always hurt badly. The doctors in the Imperial Hospital were helpless.

Being alone, Princess Qingyang's mind began to wander. She couldn't afford to lose, and the throne could only belong to Nangong Zhe.

If it were any other prince, he would definitely not leave her a chance to live. The concubines in the harem already had deep resentment towards her mother, but her mother died early, so there was no such thing as the love between the two being young and beautiful.

Or perhaps, the emperor's father did have feelings for her mother, but that little bit of affection was not enough in the face of imperial power. Using her mother's death to bring down the Shen family at that time was really a brilliant move.

He knew that something would happen to his mother, but he just watched and let it go. Most of the concubines in the harem entered the palace for family interests. Even if they didn't want to fight, there were various reasons pushing them to do so.

Some people want power, some people want to live with dignity.

Qingyang originally didn't know about her mother's affairs. However, one afternoon, she ran into the palace where the old emperor was reviewing memorials out of play. The old emperor happened to be asleep on the table. She walked over mischievously and wanted to pick up the brush to draw on the old emperor's face, but she never expected to hear the old emperor mumbling in his sleep.

He said that he missed his mother very much and that he regretted why he didn't send more people to protect his mother when he noticed the problem.

Princess Qingyang just stood there in a daze, with confusion and fear in her eyes. Children in the royal family are all precocious, and even she, who is favored, is no exception.

Her mother's death seemed like a conspiracy.

Qingyang didn't know, but from then on, she became more and more greedy for power, always thinking that power was a good thing, otherwise there wouldn't be so many people rushing to fight for it.

Princess Qingyang fell asleep in a daze, and kept thinking of many people.

The elegant and gentle Concubine An, who always stood quietly by the side, was finally framed and died for having an affair with a guard. The flamboyant and charming Concubine Cheng, who entered the palace, became crazy after being banished to the cold palace. She ran out of the old emperor's birthday banquet and killed the concubine who killed his child, and her blood splattered on the spot. And the Concubine Qing, whose eyebrows were like the drizzling rain in the south of the Yangtze River, was said to have accidentally fallen into a pond and drowned at night...

There are many more people, but Princess Qingyang can't remember their names.

As for her mother and Queen Shen, she was too young when they died and had long forgotten what they looked like. She only knew that her mother was a very dignified and gentle person, and that Queen Shen was a tough and stubborn woman.

She had investigated past events and knew that Empress Shen probably did not like her father, but at that time the Shen family had to have a woman enter the palace. The tenacious and stubborn fourth daughter of the Shen family asked to enter the palace on her own initiative, replacing her younger sister, allowing her younger sister to stay with the person she loved.

Queen Shen was unwilling to fight for the throne at first, but the concubines under her did not think so. Many people were eyeing the position of queen, including Princess Qingyang's mother.

Princess Qingyang's mother had been childhood sweethearts with the old emperor. She had rejected countless young men and waited for the old emperor in her boudoir for three years. Naturally, she was unwilling to be inferior to others.

Queen Shen was not someone to be trifled with, or rather, most women who entered the palace were gradually forced to do things they were initially unwilling to do. If she wanted to preserve the Shen family's wealth and glory, she had to fight and scheme, and she had secretly fanned the flames and caused several concubines to have abortions.

(Note: This is not a female competition. These people have never fought for the old emperor, but for power and the glory of their families. Of course, there are also people who really like the old emperor, such as Princess Qingyang's mother, but she likes him, but when she knows that she will not live, she uses her death to pave the way for her daughter. That's why Princess Qingyang can stand out among so many smart princesses, and is placed in the palm of the old emperor's hand to become the proudest princess of Liguo. Princess Qingyang also has the characteristics of her mother and the old emperor. She likes Xu Jinhuan, but she also gave up this person under power. Behind her is not only her, but also the lives of those who follow her, all depend on her, and she is responsible for these people)

It was just an old event from more than ten years ago, so it was very difficult to investigate. Even after so many years, Princess Qingyang could only find some clues from the poems written by the old people who had been in the palace when they left the palace.

The weather in the capital in September is not as changeable as that in Wancheng. At this time, there are thousands of floating clouds and the sun is strong. On the roadside on the bluestone slabs, there are decadent Phalaenopsis orchids with bright flowers that bend the branches.

Nangong Yunran followed behind the old emperor with her eyes slightly lowered, her gaze fixed on the flowers beside her, listening to the old emperor and the prince's mumbling sighs.

In fact, she didn't listen much. Her eyes fell on the Phalaenopsis orchid beside her. The flowers were blooming gorgeously, and in the autumn breeze, they seemed to be dancing with the wind, just like the ending of Liang Zhu in the picture book.

As a princess, Nangong Yunran naturally did not read that kind of storybooks. However, she was recuperating in the palace at the time and accidentally told the young general that it was too boring. The next day, the young general bought a lot of storybooks to kill time.

With Nangong Yunran's personality, she would naturally not be distracted in such an occasion. She just felt bored listening to the emperor and the prince testing each other and their hypocritical appearance. In her mind, she could always recall the young general who had a warm smile on his face and was riding a horse in fine clothes.

"Yun Ran, how are you these days?"

The old emperor spoke unexpectedly, bringing Nangong Yunran back to his senses.

Nangong Yunran's eyebrows were as light as the misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River in March. They were slightly curved, and she spoke softly, "Thanks to my father's care. My father is the true dragon emperor. He has been visiting my daughter frequently during this period of time. Those diseases naturally cannot get close to my daughter. The imperial physician said that there is nothing serious now."

The old emperor was pleased with these words. Looking at Nangong Yunran, who looked so frail that she could be blown away by a gust of wind, his face showed a bit of guilt and love. In fact, he had only visited her a few times and left all matters to the queen.

Unlike Qingyang, who was brought up by him, he did not have a very deep impression of his other daughters, especially the fifth one. He only remembered that she had always been in poor health and had to rely on medicine to stay alive.

"I just remembered that your birthday is coming up soon, so I asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to hold a grand celebration."

Nangong Yunran nodded obediently and did not refute. This was the first time that the palace celebrated her birthday. In the past, she was envious of Princess Qingyang's grand birthday, but now she just felt it was not important.

Besides, a few days after her birthday was her mother’s death anniversary.