Chapter 367: Life and Death in the Same Grave (2)

Zhuo Qing let go of the hand she was holding with Lou Xiyan and followed Qingfeng to the side. The two stood face to face. Qingfeng looked at Zhuo Qing for a long time, as if looking at her sister, or as if looking through this body at the person inside. After a long time, she said in a low voice, "Xi'er, I will trouble you from now on." "What do you want to do?" Zhuo Qing had already guessed that she wouldn't go with them after saying such things at this time.

"I... want to return to the palace."

Just as she expected, Qingfeng still wanted to go back. Zhuo Qing's brows were tightly knitted, wanting to persuade her. Qingfeng suddenly smiled brilliantly at her. The emotions in the smile were too complicated, and Zhuo Qing couldn't say what it felt like, but the words to persuade her were stuck in her throat and she couldn't say them. She could only listen to her light voice saying in a low voice, "He and I are both too stubborn. I am strong, he is overbearing, and both are doing what we think is right. The two of us are like hedgehogs. Once we get close, even if we don't want to in our hearts, we have to hurt each other. But... every time, I can't help but want to get close."

"Do you love him?" Zhuo Qing questioned. Is this helpless and sour tone love?

Love or not, it seems there is no need to think about it carefully. She just wants to go back and see him now. Does that count as love? Qingfeng shook her head, "I don't know. In this world, to be able to hold hands with someone you fall in love with at first sight for a lifetime and grow old together, that should be the happiest thing. Unfortunately, how many people have such luck? Meeting him in this life is a tribulation."

Tribulation? For Zhuo Qing, a modern person, this word was very subtle, but she didn't know how to refute it.

Qingfeng bypassed her directly and walked towards Lou Xiyan, her expression much calmer than just now, "Lou Xiyan, I want to ask you for one thing."

Lou Xiyan seemed to have guessed that she would say this, and replied, "What is it?"

"I want to return to the palace."

"Now?"

"Yes."

"Is the Lady worried about the Princess?" Lou Xiyan's voice was as gentle as ever, with the power to soothe people's hearts, "The Princess should be by the Empress Dowager's side now. The Xin family did so many things just to force the Emperor to abdicate, and temporarily didn't want to bear the crime of treason, so they wouldn't do anything unfavorable to the Empress Dowager in a big way. The Princess is not a Prince, so her life is safe. You don't need to worry."

Qingfeng shook her head gently, "I want to go back and see him."

Lou Xiyan was silent for a while before replying, "Do you know that going back now is a life of nine deaths and one life."

Qingfeng said firmly, "I want to go back."

Lou Xiyan hesitated. Qingfeng didn't wait for him to think too much, and said in a low voice, "If you are unwilling to help, I will always find other ways to go back. Just take good care of Xi'er for me."

"Alright." Lou Xiyan seemed unable to twist her, and finally said, "You wait a moment, I will arrange it for you."

"Thank you." Qingfeng breathed a sigh of relief secretly. Lou Xiyan was willing to help her, so she had more hope of seeing him.

Lou Xiyan called Jing Sa, whispered a few words in his ear, Jing Sa nodded, led another horse, hitched it to the position where Gu Yun had unhitched the horse just now, and drove the small carriage in front of Qingfeng. Qingfeng didn't think much, and immediately mounted the carriage.

Watching the small carriage gallop in the direction they came from, Zhuo Qing sighed, "Perhaps we shouldn't have let her return to the palace." In such a dangerous moment, what was the use of Qingfeng going back? It was just one more person falling into danger.

"Don't worry, it doesn't matter."

The clear voice even carried a faint smile. Zhuo Qing frowned slightly. Having been a couple for a long time, she more or less figured out Lou Xiyan's temper. Although the more critical the situation, the more calm and composed he would appear, but at this moment he clearly looked in a good mood, which was inconsistent with the crisis he mentioned. Thinking of the meaningful look Gu Yun gave before leaving, Zhuo Qing faintly felt something. Staring at Lou Xiyan's eyes, Zhuo Qing hummed lightly and said, "You should have something to explain to me clearly, hmm?"

It seems that a lot of things did happen in this day and night, and he also had a lot to explain.

Jing Sa drove the carriage to a place sixty or seventy miles from the west side gate and handed her over to an old eunuch in his sixties. Qingfeng hadn't seen him before. He glanced at Qingfeng, and there was no special look in his somewhat chaotic eyes. The old eunuch gave her a wink, and Qingfeng hurriedly followed.

The Chen hour had passed, and the Imperial Palace today seemed exceptionally quiet. The Imperial Guards, usually common, were nowhere to be seen at this moment. Qingfeng kept her head down, not daring to look around, and walked all the way to the Imperial Kitchen. At this time, a little eunuch stepped forward and said to her, "Follow this servant." The old eunuch gave her a wink, and Qingfeng hurriedly followed.

The little eunuch led her to the entrance of Zhengyang Palace and whispered to her, "Go in yourself." After saying this, he didn't wait for her reaction and walked quickly towards the side path.

Qingfeng froze in place. If there were heavy troops guarding inside, wouldn't she be walking into a trap by walking in like this? If she didn't go in... she had already arrived here, if she didn't go in, where would she go? Secretly calming her mind, Qingfeng pulled the brim of her hat lower, walked into Zhengyang Palace with her head down, and walked to the front of the hall while holding her breath, but no one called her. Qingfeng felt strange, raised her head slightly to look, and there was no one in the huge Zhengyang Palace. She didn't see Xiao Yu, nor did she see Gao Jin. Were the people he trusted removed? Even if there were no heavy troops guarding, and there were no available people around him, and he was poisoned, what could he do?

Her heart was anxious, but she didn't dare to call anyone. Qingfeng went to the Imperial Study to take a look, but didn't see Yan Hongtian. She walked to the sleeping quarters again. The door of the sleeping quarters was open, and there was no one on the bed. Qingfeng was disappointed, but her eyes swept across the window, and she saw Yan Hongtian in a black robe half-leaning on the daybed. His face didn't look good, his eyes were lightly closed, his brows were slightly furrowed. Even lying half-way like this, there was no one around him. Looking from afar, he was still full of dominance. However, if one looked carefully, that eternally cold face showed deep exhaustion.

Qingfeng stood at the door for a long time, and her feet walked towards the person as if they had their own consciousness.

Yan Hongtian felt someone walk in and gave a low, impatient shout, "Retire."

Yan Hongtian didn't expect that the person not only didn't leave, but walked to his side. Who was so bold! Yan Hongtian opened his eyes, his cold and sharp gaze shot towards the person. When he saw Qingfeng dressed as a eunuch, a flash of surprise crossed Yan Hongtian's face, but soon, his expression returned to normal, and his deep black eyes looked at her quietly.

The two stared at each other coldly like this, and the cold and lonely atmosphere seemed to freeze the surrounding air. Qingfeng finally moved, half-squatted down, looked at him expressionlessly, and said coldly, "Yan Hongtian, I hate you."

If voice was a weapon, this sentence should be a sharp dagger. Did she come just to say this? Yan Hongtian seemed a bit exhausted, continued to lean on the daybed and stopped looking at her, and said in a deep voice, "Then why did you come back? Do you want to do it yourself?"

"Do you know that your one 'want' caused my parents to die and me to be displaced. I finally let go of the hatred and had Zhi'er. You said you would protect us, but you broke your promise to me again. Although I kept saying I hated you, for so many days and nights, I didn't think I had really harmed you, but you didn't believe me, and threw me into prison when I couldn't explain myself. Yan Hongtian, you are so cruel." Her gaze was cold, like a pool of stagnant water, saying hate in her mouth, but her face was full of sorrow. Tears fell along her fair cheeks and hit the wooden armrest of the daybed. The sound was very small, but to Yan Hongtian's ears, it was another feeling.

Yan Hongtian frowned, sat up somewhat helplessly, raised his hand, and helped her wipe her tears with his fingertips. The gesture was not necessarily gentle. While wiping, he said, "You hate me and want to kill me, so do it now. Why are you crying?"

Hearing him say this, Qingfeng, who was still calm, suddenly got angry, grabbed his hand, and roared, "I hate, I hate that you knew I was going to send our flesh and blood out of the palace, and let me be so willful. I hate that you sensed the danger coming, but never thought about telling me. Do you know how desperate I was in prison? I resent you for not believing me, I... I am even more afraid that you don't believe me! You make my heart go from ice to fire, what exactly do you want?! Why can others love someone and be childhood sweethearts? Can be affectionate and grow feelings over time? But I have to be entangled with you to death and not be at peace?!"

Qingfeng was almost crying, and by the end, she didn't know what she wanted to say. She had always refused to admit that in those days of entanglement, this man had really walked into her heart. The moment she heard Lou Xiyan say he was really poisoned, her heart ached unbearably, and she was suddenly very afraid that she would never see him again.

The various complex emotions in her heart for the past few days were like a big stone, always pressing on her heart. At this moment, it seemed to be for the sake of venting. Qingfeng cried uncontrollably, but she was unwilling to let Yan Hongtian see her useless appearance. She squatted beside the daybed, her hands gripping the armrest tightly, her forehead against her knees, letting the tears soak her clothes, but she refused to raise her head.

The woman who cried in front of him, every word was saying she hated him, but at this time, she returned to his side. Yan Hongtian hugged her into his arms and sighed in a low voice, "You really shouldn't have come back."

Confused footsteps came from afar, as if a group of people had rushed in. At this moment, this sigh of Yan Hongtian had another meaning in Qingfeng's ears. Feeling the warm spring sunshine on her body, Qingfeng suddenly smiled slightly, nestled more tightly into Yan Hongtian's arms, and said indifferently, "I'm tired. Love or hate. I don't want to go anywhere, dying with you is clean." This is good, perhaps only at this moment did she feel that she was truly close to this man.

Yan Hongtian listened to the woman in his arms muttering to herself. The faint smile on her face was even more dazzling than the early spring sunshine outside the window. Yan Hongtian couldn't help but be dumbfounded. She... was she really back to die with him? Yan Hongtian couldn't say what he felt in his heart, just hugged the woman in his arms tighter, and at the same time, he had deep doubts in his heart, what exactly did Lou Xiyan tell her...

The footsteps came from near to far. A team of people stood at the door of the sleeping quarters, watching the Emperor holding a person dressed as a eunuch, his usually cold eyes full of affection, which shocked everyone present and didn't know whether to report it or not.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 368 =====