Chapter 368: Life and Death in the Same Grave (3)

"Emperor..." The people who came were stunned by such a scene, not knowing whether to report it or not.

Hearing the familiar voice, Qingfeng's heart was startled, and she looked up in doubt, only to see Ming Jian standing there tall and straight in official uniform, with thirty or forty Imperial Guards standing behind him. Qingfeng was stunned, "Ming Jian, you, you aren't..." Imprisoned?

Qingfeng was still in a daze when Yan Hongtian's low voice asked indifferently, "How is it?"

Seeing that the person dressed as a eunuch was Qingfeng, Ming Jian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then replied sternly, "Reporting to the Emperor, at the Zi hour last night, General Su had already captured all the rebel troops fifty miles outside the Imperial City. The Xin Mansion and officials involved with the Xin Clan were also all imprisoned at the Mao hour today. The Empress and Prince Jing are currently imprisoned in Yilan Palace waiting for the Emperor's disposal."

Last night? Su Ling had already returned last night? Hearing this, if Qingfeng still couldn't hear the clues, she would be too stupid. "What exactly is going on?" Qingfeng wanted to sit up straight to see the man holding her clearly.

Qingfeng was about to move when the hand around her waist tightened. Yan Hongtian smiled, "If you want to die with me, you have to wait for several decades."

Glaring at the man who was laughing wantonly, Qingfeng said coldly, "Weren't you under house arrest? Wasn't Ming Jian also locked in prison?"

Yan Hongtian faintly guessed something, looked at her cold face with tear stains, and asked with a half-smile, "Who told you I was under house arrest?"

"It's... Lou Xiyan... Lou Xiyan!" At this moment, Qingfeng realized completely that she had been played; that damned man who spoke nothing but nonsense! Infuriating! Bringing the three of them out last night wasn't because of any crisis in the situation at all, but because a large number of officials were about to be thrown into prison, and they needed to clear out cells for them! It had been designed by them from the very beginning. She had actually been spun around in circles by these men. The more Qingfeng thought about it, the angrier she became. She reached out to wipe the tear stains from her face, stood up, and wanted to run outside.

"You threw yourself into the net today, where do you want to run?" How could Yan Hongtian let her run away? Qingfeng only felt a tightness in her wrist, and before she could stand up, she fell into the embrace behind her again. The voice in her ear made her want to go crazy. Qingfeng was even more annoyed, "Yan Hongtian, let go of me."

Yan Hongtian not only didn't let go, but grabbed tighter, whispering in her ear, "You said yourself that you want to be entangled with me to death in this life, how can I let go?"

"You..." The warm breath sprayed on her ear was very itchy, and thinking of the words she said just now, Qingfeng's face was burning hot. If she hadn't thought he was poisoned and under house arrest, and her heart was anxious and chaotic, how could she have said those words! In a fit of anger, Qingfeng slapped Yan Hongtian's shoulder hard.

This slap was not light at all. Yan Hongtian glared at Qingfeng, "You dare to hit me?"

"Hit you... I... I will bite you too!" She, who had a bad temper, was angry at the moment, and being provoked by Yan Hongtian, Qingfeng bit Yan Hongtian's neck directly.

"Hiss—"

She really bit him?!

Ming Jian led the Imperial Guards to retreat quietly. I'm afraid the Emperor had no time to deal with the rebels for the time being...

"Xin Yuening, for debauchery in the inner palace and harming the imperial heirs, her crimes deserve death. The Xin clan, for forming cliques for personal gain, stealing military provisions, and bringing disaster to the country and the people, are guilty of crimes punishable by the execution of the nine degrees of kinship. However, the Emperor, in his benevolence, considers the Xin family's years of service to the imperial court, and their merits are acknowledged. Now, the imperial house grants grace; the crimes shall not extend to the nine degrees of kinship. The entire Xin household shall be executed, while the remaining collateral relatives of the Xin clan shall be demoted to commoners, their assets confiscated, and they shall be banished from the capital. This is the imperial decree!"

An imperial decree shocked the court and the public, and the once prominent Xin family also headed towards decline from then on.

The Empress was abolished as Empress because of her promiscuity in the harem, and Yan Jing was also stripped of his title as Prince and sent to prison together to be executed with other members of the Xin Clan. It's just that later Ming Jian searched the entire palace and even the entire Imperial City, but couldn't find a trace of Shui Xin. She just disappeared like this.

The Xin Clan had been prosperous for a hundred years, and their influence in the court was intertwined. Today, the tree fell and the monkeys scattered. They once again deeply realized that prosperity and humiliation are just a game of the superior. He can make you admired by thousands of people and rich and noble, and at the same time, he can make you doomed and your life like grass. The ministers in the court were all in danger, and Yan Hongtian also took this opportunity to readjust the officials of various ministries. Although this change was dangerous, it allowed Yan Hongtian to truly control Qiongyue without being controlled by a certain big family.

Since the Empress Dowager learned that the children who died prematurely might have been poisoned by the Empress, she had been ill. The Empress was abolished, and the only one in the palace qualified to sit in that position was Consort Qing. Other concubines naturally didn't dare to act presumptuously, and obediently hid in their own palaces and went out less. Therefore, although the court changed greatly, the harem was rarely peaceful.

Spring is really a beautiful season, everything recovers, sweeping away the cold of winter and bringing warmth to the world. Unfortunately, Qingfeng didn't like it very much. Standing in the warm spring light, Qingfeng was in high spirits painting cold plums.

A huge piece of drawing paper was spread on the stone table, almost dragging to the ground. The dark, thick ink outlined the sturdy texture of the plum tree. Where the deep and shallow ink marks passed, branches of cold plums jumped onto the paper. Perhaps it was because Qingfeng's state of mind was different at this time, the cold plums under her pen, besides being rebellious and arrogant, also had a bit of spontaneity.

"Painting something early in the morning?"

The familiar male voice behind her carried a bit of teasing and a bit of probing. Qingfeng pretended not to hear. Although Lou Xiyan came to apologize to her later, when they came out, the situation was indeed stable, but the danger of that day was definitely no less than what he said at that time. If Yan Hongtian hadn't been prepared and decisive, this country might have changed hands. It's just that they cheated her so miserably. For the sake of Zhuo Qing and Xi'er, she didn't care about Lou Xiyan, but Yan Hongtian... hehe, she still didn't want to pay attention to him.

Qingfeng kept her face stiff as usual. Yan Hongtian sat down at the stone table comfortably. After waiting for a long time, the plums were almost finished, but she didn't even glance at him. Yan Hongtian felt unhappy in his heart, reached out to wrap his arms around her waist, but suddenly thought of something, withdrew his hand, supported the stone table, and lowered his head to cough.

Qingfeng's hand holding the pen paused slightly, looked up, and saw Yan Hongtian leaning over and coughing violently. Thinking of the Imperial Physician saying he was really poisoned and the residual poison was not cleared, Qingfeng finally didn't fight with him anymore and said in a low voice, "Why come over if your body is not good? Go back to the palace and recuperate."

"I feel much better after coming over to entangle with you." The person speaking didn't look like he was sick at all, and his hands took the opportunity to wrap around her waist.

"You!" Qingfeng really wanted to throw a paintbrush over to see if she could smash the annoying smile on his face. Taking a deep breath, she was reluctant to part with her pen. Qingfeng raised her foot and stepped hard on the instep of the person behind her. Her thin figure's kick didn't hurt at all. Yan Hongtian hummed in a pretentious manner, saying, "Your temper is really not small."

"Try being cheated like this by someone!" Every time she thought about how she ran back anxiously that day and said so many words that made him laugh, Qingfeng was very annoyed.

Qingfeng began to struggle again. Yan Hongtian's lips were against her ear, whispering, "Haven't you cheated me?"

"I..." She naturally cheated, especially about Xi'er. She acted on her own, feeling guilty towards him, "I'm sorry..."

Yan Hongtian took the opportunity to hug her tighter. The beauty was finally obedient. Having achieved his goal, Yan Hongtian changed the subject: "Do you especially like painting plums?"

Qingfeng was moved by his rare consideration, let him hug her, and smeared the last few drops of cinnabar on the vigorous branches before laughing, "I paint other flowers too, but I especially like plums recently."

"When do you want to paint peonies?"

Qingfeng's back was slightly stiff, and she replied coldly, "Never thought about it."

In order to appear dignified and virtuous, most concubines in the palace tied their hair. Qingfeng always preferred to let her hair down. Unless it was an important occasion, she only used a hairpin to lightly tie her hair, letting a head of long hair down to her calves hang behind her. Yan Hongtian hugged Qingfeng from behind, and the naughty hair would brush across his arms from time to time. Curious about the touch of that black satin-like hair, he let go of the hand around Qingfeng's waist, swept a strand of green silk in his hand to play with, and asked as if nonchalantly, "Don't like it?"

The long hair was caught in his hand, stirring from time to time. Qingfeng felt a bit unnatural, rolled her eyes at him, and replied, "Why bother? If you make a woman of a foreign race the Empress, your loyal ministers will definitely come to remonstrate to death, and then I will look like a demon who bewitches the monarch and harms the country." Mentioning peonies for no reason, and in such a strange tone, Qingfeng could naturally guess his meaning. It wasn't that she didn't like it, but she disdained to want it.

Yan Hongtian laughed loudly in a good mood. Who would dare to remonstrate to death now? He wanted to see! But... "Bewitching the monarch?" Yan Hongtian laughed low, "Aren't you?"

After finishing the last red plum, Qingfeng put down the paintbrush with satisfaction and cleverly didn't answer Yan Hongtian's words, saying, "The position of Empress is empty, and it's not a long-term thing. I think... Zhen Zhen is the most suitable for this Queen of Flowers."

A smile flashed in Yan Hongtian's black eyes. The feeling of cool hair circling his fingertips was not bad. Seeing him not speaking, Qingfeng turned around, reached out to pull back the hair circling Yan Hongtian's fingertips, and said seriously, "Zhen Zhen is virtuous and talented, and she also gave birth to Han'er for you. Plus, the Zhen family has no influence in the court, which can avoid the worry of another Xin family appearing in the future. Am I right?"

It was very right. The two sisters of the Qing family were now the Prime Minister's wife and the General's wife. The Lou family and the Su family were naturally tied to Qingfeng. Now making her Empress would push the Lou and Su families to the forefront. Qingfeng was extremely smart and thought thoroughly. Yan Hongtian wrapped his arms around her waist again and smiled, "You don't want to be Empress, then what do you want?"

Her eyes fell on the finished cold plum painting, and Qingfeng sighed, "I miss that plum forest and bamboo sea."

The winter before last, he promised to take her to see the plums last year, but it didn't happen. This time he must satisfy her. Yan Hongtian replied readily, "It's spring, the plum blossoms have long withered. I will accompany you to see the spring bamboo in a few days."

"There is one thing I have always wanted to ask you." After enduring for a long time, Qingfeng still asked the question that had been lingering in her heart for a long time: "Why did you... agree to let me swap Xi'er out of the palace?"

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 369 =====