mtlumby2d Chapter 441: Legend of Zhen Huan - Nian Shilan 45
Chapter 441: Legend of Zhen Huan - Nian Shilan 45
"Alas, why is Shilan so cold today? Is it because I favor a newcomer today?"
The emperor stepped forward and took hold of Nian Shilan's hand, holding it tightly. He looked at her with both expectation and tentativeness in his eyes. He heard Nian Shilan's reply in the same tone: "As a concubine in the harem, I cannot be jealous. I hope Your Majesty will not misunderstand me." After that, all the expectations in his eyes were extinguished in an instant.
He confirmed with some reluctance: "I have been married to Shilan for ten years. As husband and wife for ten years, could it be that Shilan really has no feelings for me?"
"Is there really not even a trace of affection at all?"
Sensing the emperor's expectations and disappointment, Nian Shilan suddenly realized that this was a good opportunity to gain the emperor's trust, so she did not answer directly, but just looked away to cover up, and replied in a strong and cold voice: "I am just a concubine, I dare not discuss marriage with the emperor."
"The late emperor granted me the marriage by imperial decree. I am destined to be yours for life. Why should your Majesty force me to have any affection?"
Nian Shilan spoke toughly, but the tears she held back, the slightly trembling voice and the concealing attitude made the emperor immediately realize that Nian Shilan was a coward.
He walked forward and hugged Nian Shilan, holding her cheeks firmly and looking into her eyes. This was the first time that the emperor looked into Nian Shilan's eyes so directly. This time, he no longer saw indifference and rejection in Nian Shilan's eyes, but her true self.
"Shilan, Shilan, you have me in your heart, right?"
"You have feelings for me!"
Perhaps what one feels is the truest, or perhaps what one asks for is the best. When the emperor discovered by himself the feelings that Nian Shilan had been hiding, the joy in his heart erupted like a volcano.
Nian Shilan lowered her head, and her eyes were instantly filled with indifference. However, this seemingly shy and stubborn action of refusing to admit it made the emperor feel completely soft-hearted.
"Shilan, you really are."
"What should I do with your temper..."
The two of them hugged each other in silence for a long time, one was moved and the other was silent. When they were about to separate, Nian Shilan said softly: "There is an evil fate between Silang and me. We are separated by our social status, age gap and the hatred of killing my son..."
"I can't forget, and I can't completely let go of Silang, so let's just leave it at that. Silang, you've found a new lover, so don't come here again."
After finally waiting for Nian Shilan to open up her heart, the emperor didn't feel happy for long before he heard that she had decided to give up this relationship. He was totally unwilling to accept it and began to desperately explain that he didn't have anyone new and that the only person he loved was Nian Shilan.
The emperor was just ashamed and heartbroken about what Nian Shilan said about the revenge for her son's murder. He had always known that Nian Shilan was a smart and sober woman, and they had talked frankly about it right after the incident.
It took him several years of hard work to reconcile with Nian Shilan. He originally thought that Shilan had forgiven what happened in the past, but he didn't expect that it was Shilan's love for him that forced her to choose to forget the hatred temporarily. It was he who took in a new woman after he ascended the throne and hurt Shilan's heart. It was not easy for him to fall in love with Shilan. The emperor would never allow Nian Shilan to give up on him.
"No, Se-ran, I won't allow it. Se-ran and Si-lang must be together forever, and we will grow old together."
As expected, "sadomasochism" can easily make people obsessed. While Nian Shilan was disgusted by the emperor's domineering declaration, she felt the intensity of emotions coming from the emperor. After confirming that the emperor, who was about to sober up, was getting obsessed again, she smiled with satisfaction.
The Queen Mother would pass away in about two years, and before that there would be a rebellion by Prince Dun. All he had to do was find a way to make the Queen die with the Queen Mother, and then use this friendship to ascend to the throne before the Emperor passed away, and his plan would be mostly accomplished.
Logically speaking, as a concubine of the Han army banner, the highest title she could have been given was Imperial Noble Consort, but she could not become Empress, unless she gave birth to a prince and was named Empress Dowager after the emperor's death, or died before the emperor and was posthumously named Empress.
But fortunately, the emperor in "The Legend of Zhen Huan" can be considered a love-brained, sober kind to some extent. So as long as she can ask the emperor to maintain this sincerity, after the queen dies and the emperor is about to die, he will want to make plans for herself.
Of course, there is an element of gambling involved. If she wins, the emperor will crown her as queen before his death so that she will not be looked down upon by the new emperor. If she loses, she will be buried with the emperor and be posthumously crowned queen before his death.
For Nian Shilan, both results can achieve her goal, but whether or not to accompany the second result is not something the emperor can decide.
After this incident, Nian Shilan seemed to have returned to her previous cold and indifferent self, but the emperor only felt distressed when seeing this. He believed that Nian Shilan loved him terribly, and was only using indifference to cover it up for the sake of her self-esteem and stubbornness.
As the weather grew hotter, the emperor took everyone in the harem to the Old Summer Palace to escape the heat. Among them, Noble Concubine Fucha was persuaded by the empress to stay in the palace to take care of her baby because she was less than three months pregnant. Interestingly, the empress also specially left Jiang Fuhai in the palace to look after her.
The Old Summer Palace is not like the Imperial Palace, so the Emperor couldn't help but feel much more relaxed. Ever since he talked it out with Concubine Hua, he couldn't wait to stick with her every day, completely forgetting about Zhen Huan, Shen Meiyu, and the other women who were released from house arrest.
In this life, An Bihuai became a member of the Nian family, so naturally the situation in the previous life where the food and grass were lost and An Lingrong was forced to ask people for help for her father would not happen again. When the emperor returned to the palace, not long after, Nian Gengyao returned to the capital with a victory. The emperor was extremely happy and directly issued an edict to promote Concubine Hua to Concubine Huang.
The Empress Dowager and the Queen were so frightened that they hurried to the Emperor to persuade him to withdraw the imperial edict. The Empress Dowager even used the military power in Nian Gengyao's hands to remind the Emperor. After hearing what the Empress Dowager said, the Emperor did regret his impulsiveness. However, he did not expect that the first thing Nian Gengyao did after returning to Beijing was to resign and hand over the military power.
The emperor was naturally very satisfied that he could take back the military power without having to bear the reputation of being a traitor. He discussed the matter seriously with Nian Gengyao, and after confirming that Nian Gengyao was completely sincere, he readily conferred titles on Nian Gengyao, and also conferred titles on Nian Gengyao's two sons.
Nian Xing was Nian Gengyao's eldest son, but he was weak and was good at literature rather than military affairs, so the emperor trusted him. Nian Fu was Nian Gengyao's second son. Although he followed Nian Gengyao into the army, he was only a young general. The emperor directly promoted Nian Fu to take over part of Nian Gengyao's military power, which completed the relationship between him and Nian Gengyao as a monarch and a minister, and they parted ways in peace.
As for other military powers, they were distributed one after another to other generals secretly cultivated by the emperor. Among them, Yue Zhongqi, a descendant of Yue Fei, and Zhou Ninghai, a grassroots newcomer, got the most. What the emperor didn't know was that these two people he recognized as successors to Nian Gengyao were actually Nian Shilan's men.
The military power that Nian Gengyao handed over was returned to Nian Shilan in a different form. As a result, the Nian family was also given the position of imperial concubine and three titles.