Chapter 231 News of Death
It snowed for three days in Qingzhou. Jiang Li was in a strange house, and people followed her wherever she went. Even when she went to the toilet, there was a maid who knew martial arts watching her.

She couldn't escape. It was just a small courtyard, but it was also guarded by layers of soldiers. She became the most important bargaining chip, and there was no room for error. Jiang Li hadn't seen Yin Zhiqing since she last saw her. Jiang Li counted the days, not knowing what was happening outside, not knowing if the people of the Ye family and Situ Jiuyue were safe, and not knowing where Ji Heng was and if she had encountered any problems. She could only sit there hopelessly. These days, she even changed her usual quiet and calm self, protesting with hunger strikes, quarrels, or threats, but it didn't work. Apart from these silent guards, she couldn't see anyone.

The same thing happened tonight.

It was late at night, and the only sound outside was the sound of the wind and snow. Jiang Li sat at the table, unable to sleep, thinking only of how to escape. The oil lamp dimmed the room and also reflected the shadows on the ground. It was winter, and the leaves had all fallen, leaving only the bare tree trunks outside, so the swaying figure was particularly eye-catching.

The figure fell to the ground and did not move for a long time, as if it was just Jiang Li's illusion. Jiang Li stared at the shadow on the ground for a long time before saying, "Since Master Yin is here, why don't you come in?"

The figure outside moved slightly, and then a sigh was heard. With a creaky sound, the door was pushed open and someone walked in from outside.

It is the Li of Yin.

Jiang Li hadn't seen Yin Zhili for a while. Under the light, his face was extremely haggard, as if he had become a different person. His eyes were no longer as clear and gentle as when they first met. Instead, they were replaced by countless complex and unwilling expressions. He stood in front of Jiang Li and said, "Miss Jiang."

The gentle and handsome young man in the past was gone, and the Yin Zhili in front of him was extremely unfamiliar. Jiang Li stared at him and said, "Please sit down, Mr. Yin."

Yin Zhili sat down.

Jiang Li asked, "Would you like a cup of tea?" She picked up the teapot on the table, poured a cup for Yin Zhili, and handed it to Yin Zhili. Yin Zhili looked at the teacup in front of him, but did not reach out to take it, nor did he mean to drink it.

Jiang Li smiled sweetly and said with some regret: "Don't be fooled."

All the tea here is mixed with drugs, which makes people unable to use much strength and unable to do other things. Perhaps the people who imprisoned her knew that she was very cunning and were afraid that she would escape, so they came up with this method. It seems that Yin Zhili knew it a long time ago, but he refused to accept it.

Sure enough, he looked at Jiang Li and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Yin Zhili showed a bit of guilt on his face. This made him look like someone Jiang Li knew. Jiang Li sighed and said, "I just want to ask you, where is the girl who came out with me that day now? And those people from the Ye family, Mr. Xue, how did you deal with them? Haitang's little finger..."

"Don't worry," Yin Zhili replied, "They are all fine. Since you are here, there is no point in keeping them, so send them all back. As for Haitang's finger... I'm sorry..."

"It was your father who did it." Jiang Li stared into his eyes.

Yin Zhili's silence meant that he agreed. Jiang Li had guessed this long ago. Yin Zhili was not a bad person by nature. Such cruel means could only be done by Yin Zhan. I'm afraid that all this was to pave the way for Yin Zhan and Yin Zhili. No matter what the result of the fight between Yin Zhan and Ji Heng was, Yin Zhili could use himself to get out of it.

"Where is your father now?" Jiang Li asked.

"I don't know." Yin Zhan replied, "He didn't tell me."

Yin Zhili locked himself in here. The more guilty he felt, the more Jiang Li knew that he would never let her go. In other words, Yin Zhili had no way of letting her go. This was Yin Zhan's arrangement, and Yin Zhan's arrangement was impossible to change. Yin Zhili himself was also a chess piece of Yin Zhan, and he was the one who controlled this game.

"Where is this place?" Jiang Li asked.

"It's still a hundred miles to Qingzhou."

"How long do you plan to keep me locked up?" Jiang Li asked.

Yin Zhili looked up. Jiang Li's eyes were very calm, without a trace of resentment or blame towards him. The more this was the case, the more he didn't know how to deal with it, and he could only avoid Jiang Li's gaze.

Everything was arranged by Yin Zhan, and he was Yin Zhan's son, so he had to obey. He still had the blood of the queen mother flowing in his body. Even if he didn't want to, he had already boarded the ship and couldn't turn back. The people who stayed behind with Yin Zhan told him that if Yin Zhan could come back alive, everything would be discussed after Yin Zhan came back. If Yin Zhan couldn't come back alive, he would take Jiang Li to raise an army from Qingzhou and use the Changhe River as the boundary. There were 100,000 Yin family soldiers in Yunzhong, and another 100,000 were hidden in Qingzhou. If not only Yin Zhan couldn't come back, but Ji Heng was still alive, he would use Jiang Li as bait to lure Ji Heng to death, so as to eliminate future troubles.

Yin Zhili had no right to refuse these things. Because when he found out, Yin Zhan had already disappeared. The lives of all the people in the Yin family depended on Yin Zhili alone. If Yin Zhili didn't do this, the people in the Yin family, Yin Zhiqing, Madam Yin, all the servants in the Yin family, the uncles and aunts he knew, the master who taught him martial arts, and the soldiers who had accompanied Yin Zhan on the battlefield would all be wiped out. With so many lives on his shoulders, Yin Zhili couldn't afford it. He had no choice.

After a long time, Yin Zhili looked at Jiang Li and asked softly, "Miss Jiang... likes Duke Su very much?"

Jiang Li's heart sank. Just from these words, she could see Yin Zhili's inner thoughts. She paused and said, "Yes."

Hearing Jiang Li's answer, Yin Zhili felt a pain in his heart. A dark and obscure emotion rose from his heart, but he suppressed it. He asked, "How does Duke Su treat Miss Jiang?"

"If you want to use me as bait to lure and threaten Ji Heng, you'd better give up this idea." Jiang Li said coldly: "Yin Zhili, don't let me look down on you."

Yin Zhili smiled bitterly when he heard this. He said, "It's fine if Miss Jiang looks down on me, but even I look down on myself, so why would I care about others?"

He looked dejected, like a scoundrel who had given up everything. If others saw him, they would be shocked. It was hard to imagine that this handsome man would look like this.

"However, I also hope that this day will not come. If I kill the person you love with my own hands, you will definitely hate me for the rest of your life. I don't want you to harbor resentment towards me," he said.

Jiang Li was silent. If this day really didn't have to happen, even if Ji Heng had died before that, these words would not make Jiang Li happy, but would only make her more distressed.

"What do you want, Master Yin?" Jiang Li asked, "You tied me up and threatened Ji Heng, but those soldiers outside don't look simple. Do you also want to rebel like King Cheng and aim for the throne?"

Yin Zhili suddenly became excited, and he flicked the teacups on the table, spilling the boiling hot tea onto the ground, with white steam coming out and fragments flying everywhere. The soldiers outside heard the noise and rushed into the room to see what was going on. Yin Zhili told them to get out, so they left.

Yin Zhili sneered: "Who wants this throne!"

"Your father loves it." Jiang Li replied.

It seems that Yin Zhili does not want to rebel, but Yin Zhan's attitude is so firm. This makes Jiang Li even more confused, but looking at Yin Zhili's appearance, he is not going to say anything. Jiang Li said: "I remember when I was playing chess with Master Yin before, you said that war will make the people suffer. But you know that once your Yin family soldiers start an uprising, countless people will be displaced and countless families will be separated. Is this what you want to see?"

Yin Zhili groaned in pain, and his appearance made Jiang Li feel a little bit sorry for him. He seemed like someone was roasting him on the fire, unable to please either side, but he had to take a fateful path that went against his original intention and whose ending was foreseeable at a glance.

He said, "I don't want to... I don't want to... but I have no choice."

"You have a way." Jiang Li said softly, "You are the son of Prince Xia. It's not too late to stop it now. Don't wait until things are at a point of no return before trying to find a solution. It's not too late now, isn't it?"

She tried to persuade Yin Zhili, who was stunned for a moment, but suddenly stood up. His eyes became determined, and the look he gave Jiang Li was no longer as warm as before. Instead, he looked at her with a hint of indifference and resignation. He said, "No need to say more, Miss Jiang. You are not me. You don't understand that I have no other way to go. This day has been destined since I was born in the Yin family. This is my fate, and I don't intend to resist it, so you, just accept it." After saying this, he no longer looked at Jiang Li, turned around and left.

The door was closed again, and the room returned to silence. Only the remnants of the teacup on the ground indicated what had just happened. Jiang Li looked outside the door and sighed deeply.

Yin Zhili's path was not feasible either. Fortunately, the Ye family and Jiuyue were both fine. Yin Zhili would not attack them. For Yin Zhan, he probably thought that he was the only one who could threaten Ji Heng, and the others were just a burden and did not need to worry about them. But...what about Ji Heng?

In Yin Zhili's words, he still hasn't seen Yin Zhan, and he doesn't know what the situation is outside. Jiang Li can only pray silently in her heart, hoping that Ji Heng is safe.

……

Qingzhou and Yanjing are too far apart. In Qingzhou, there is still wind and snow, but the streets of Yanjing are almost empty at night.

The palace still stood firmly in the snow, as if it would never waver. But it was no longer as magnificent as it used to be. It looked like an ordinary house. It even looked like a gloomy and magnificent underground palace, which made people who entered it never return.

In the Cining Palace, the lights flickered and the floor heating was burning vigorously, so it was not as cold as outside. The scriptures were casually placed on the desk, and no one had copied them for a long time. Only the incense in the incense burner was burning in this quiet night, like the two red eyes of the legendary palm-sized beast, cruel and gentle hidden under the gentleness.

The Queen Mother was leaning on the couch, taking a nap. Lately, she always liked to be in a daze. Sitting in the palace, she wanted to copy a few verses of scriptures calmly, but she couldn't concentrate, so she simply gave up. When she wasn't copying scriptures, she had nothing to do. When Concubine Liu was here, she could still hear Concubine Liu making trouble. After Concubine Liu left, the harem became more and more deserted, and there was a sense of grief. The concubines of Emperor Hong Xiao didn't like to come to her. As the Queen Mother, she had long since stopped caring about worldly affairs. In the harem, people were always trying to flatter the powerful and put down the weak. The concubines were busy uniting, competing for favors, and had no time to deal with an old woman like her.

The Queen Mother especially missed the past. It seemed that the time when she was young in the harem, and she was jealous of Concubine Liu Shufei and Concubine Xia, also became lovely. Of course, the most memorable time was the time related to Yin Zhan. She dreamed of the scene when she first met Yin Zhan more than once. Yin Zhan was riding a horse, and the young man was tall and handsome, with a hearty smile on his face. After saving her from the hands of the villain, she bandaged him, and Yin Zhan sat on the stone and looked at her with a smile. She blushed when she was looked at, but still plucked up the courage to ask Yin Zhan's name. She was addicted to this dream and didn't want to wake up. Every time she opened her eyes, she felt that everything was just a big dream. She was still the lady of the Lin family and there was still a chance to change. But after all, there was no. Today, she dreamed of Yin Zhan again, but this time Yin Zhan was not the Yin Zhan she first met. She was in Hongshan Temple. That day, hundreds of archers surrounded Ji Minghan and Ji Minghan disappeared. She returned to the house and found that Yin Zhan was also injured. She knew that Yin Zhan had killed many people and Ji Minghan was his good brother. Yin Zhan remained silent, so she asked, "Do you hate me?"

"No." Yin Zhan replied, "I have never blamed you. I only regret not meeting you earlier."

The next moment, Yin Zhan's figure was suddenly engulfed by a raging fire. He looked painful and called his name: "Rou Jia..."

The Queen Mother suddenly opened her eyes and woke up from her dream, sweating profusely. Meixiang stepped forward and asked with concern: "Queen Mother, are you okay?"

"It's okay." The Queen Mother wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief and said, "It turned out to be a nightmare."

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a man's voice coming from outside, "What kind of nightmare did mother have that scared her like this?"

The Queen Mother looked forward and saw Emperor Hong Xiao appear at the entrance of the palace. Behind him, the eunuchs and palace servants were kneeling on the ground. Perhaps he had asked someone not to announce his coming in, so the Queen Mother did not hear anything. Emperor Hong Xiao walked in with a smile. The Queen Mother straightened up and said with a smile, "Why did the Emperor think of coming here today?"

Her heart was beating fast. She didn't know if she hadn't recovered from the dream just now. She also felt that the dream was very ominous. Even her smile was very forced. Emperor Hong Xiao seldom came to the Cining Palace on weekdays. When he talked to her, it was mostly in the Imperial Garden.

"It's snowing hard outside today, so I came here specially to see my mother." Emperor Hong Xiao waved to Eunuch Su, who asked the palace servants around him to retreat.

The Queen Mother vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but couldn't tell what it was. She asked Meixiang to serve tea to Emperor Hong Xiao, and she walked to the tea table and asked Emperor Hong Xiao to sit down.

Emperor Hong Xiao looked at the incense on the empress dowager's incense table and asked with a smile, "Who are you praying for, mother?"

The Queen Mother replied, "Of course it is for the benefit of the people of the world. Snowstorms have hit many places, and many people have frozen to death. I am deeply saddened to hear this, but there is nothing I can do. I can only copy scriptures in the palace to pray for them."

"My queen mother really cares about the world." Emperor Hong Xiao exclaimed.

The Queen Mother raised her eyes to look at the Emperor. She didn't know since when, this prince who once annoyed her had grown up to look like this. She still remembered that not long after the Crown Prince died, in order to consolidate her position, she had to pretend to be a loving mother and a filial son to this prince. She still remembered that when Emperor Hong Xiao was a teenager, he was well-behaved and cowardly, and he would obey her every word. She was relieved and proud on the one hand, but also disgusted and contemptuous on the other. But she underestimated this prince. Every prince has the blood of the previous emperor in his body. Plunder and disguise are their instincts since birth. From the affairs of King Cheng, it can be seen that Emperor Hong Xiao is the same. He even awakened earlier. When he was a teenager, he knew how to use himself to get what he wanted.

Come to think of it, the palace is like a jungle. How can a beast that grew up in the jungle not eat people? The Queen Mother thought of Yin Zhili, the young man she saw at the palace banquet. It was the first time she saw her son after more than 20 years. Yin Zhili was as gentle as jade, which she loved and was proud of the most. But now, she was worried about her son's chances of winning when facing the terrible emperor.

She couldn't let Yin Zhili fail, couldn't let that happen, so she had to clear all obstacles for Yin Zhili. Including the emperor in front of her. She couldn't do it alone, so she had Yin Zhan. No matter what kind of difficulties she encountered, only this man would not abandon her, and would always stand behind her to help her solve all problems.

"Actually, I came here today because I have something else I want to tell my mother." Emperor Hong Xiao picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and then said slowly, "Prince Xia is dead."

The Queen Mother was originally smiling as she reached for the teacup, but when she heard the words, her movements trembled and some of the tea spilled out. Meixiang quickly took a handkerchief to wipe the stains on the table. Then the Queen Mother held the teacup tightly, as if trying to hold it properly. Her smile was a little stiff, and she said, "Your Majesty, what nonsense are you talking about? How could Prince Xia die?"

"It's true." Emperor Hong Xiao's answer was also natural. "In the Red Tower in Qingzhou, General Ji of the Duke's Mansion killed Prince Xia, and Prince Xia also killed General Ji. What a pity."

It's a pity that the word "light and fluttering" was spoken without any tone, making it impossible to guess the emperor's thoughts or what he meant. Meixiang stood behind the empress dowager, her face slightly changed, and she couldn't help but look behind Emperor Hong Xiao, where two imperial guards with swords stood, as steady as a rock. It seemed as if they knew all her thoughts.

"How could it be?" The Queen Mother laughed. She did not look at Emperor Hong Xiao, but just looked at the armor on her hands, as if she wanted to carefully see the gems on the armor clearly. She said: "How could General Ji kill Prince Xia, and how could Prince Xia kill General Ji? I am old. Your Majesty, please don't joke about these things. I won't take them seriously." It was as if a child had lied and the adults had forgiven him tolerantly.

"I don't have the heart to play such a joke on others." Emperor Hong Xiao smiled, "It's fine if your mother doesn't believe it. Soon, the bodies of General Ji and Prince Xia will also be sent back to the capital for burial."

The Queen Mother's expression finally changed. She raised her head and looked at Emperor Hong Xiao. The emperor who grew up under her nose finally showed a beast-like, vicious look. With just one look, the Queen Mother knew that he couldn't be ignorant of everything. He knew everything.

But she still struggled, as if she could get away with it that way. The Queen Mother laughed and said, "I don't understand. The Emperor is so relaxed, does that mean he doesn't intend to punish me?"

"Ask for a crime? Your Majesty, you don't know. This happened a long time ago. To be honest, I only found out about it recently." The emperor smiled. "Many years ago, Duke Su's father, General Jinwu, disappeared. He was actually framed and killed by Prince Xia. The hatred of killing one's father is irreconcilable. It is understandable that Ji Heng killed Prince Xia. However, the old general loved his grandson and helped Ji Heng complete this matter. Your Majesty, killing someone is a matter of course. Even I can't say anything. Do you want me to favor someone?"

The Queen Mother looked at Emperor Hong Xiao for a long time without saying anything.

Emperor Hong Xiao laughed again and said, "I almost forgot that when we ambushed and killed General Jinwu, my mother was also present. Naturally, she would favor Prince Xia."

At this point, the Queen Mother calmed down. She looked at Emperor Hong Xiao, smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I have treated you well over the years. If you want to kill me, you don't have to use such a method. Do you have any evidence to prove your slander against me?"

"Evidence?" Emperor Hong Xiao smiled, and said word by word: "Yin Zhili is the evidence."

Meixiang's hands tightly grasped the hem of her skirt. The empress dowager's face changed drastically. This was her biggest weakness. If Emperor Hong Xiao used this to threaten her, she would have no chance of winning!
"You forgot so quickly, mother. Didn't Prince Xia come to see you not long ago before he left Yanjing for Qingzhou?"

He already knew it! The Queen Mother's heart couldn't help but tremble. She looked at Emperor Hong Xiao as if he was a monster. She had thought many times that one day the truth would be discovered, but not like this. She didn't have any bargaining chips in her hand, and Yin Zhan was not around. She was like a piece of fish that could be slaughtered at will.

It’s not that she is weak and omnipotent, but that both she and Yin Zhan underestimated this emperor.

"My mother is holding me back in the palace, Prince Xia is holding Duke Su back in Qingzhou, and Yin Zhili is leading the Yin family soldiers to raise an army south of the Changhe River. I have to admire Prince Xia's patience. He has been lying dormant for so many years to set up a trap." Emperor Hong Xiao smiled and said, "You really put all your energy into Yin Zhili."

The Queen Mother asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to kill me?"

"How could that be?" Emperor Hong Xiao smiled and said, "Isn't Yin Zhili still alive?"

"Your Majesty wants to use me to threaten Yin Zhili?" The Queen Mother sneered.

"No." Emperor Hong Xiao said gently: "My queen mother knows that I don't like to do such things. Just as King Cheng would not risk his life for Concubine Liu, Yin Zhili may not take the chance of taking a risk for my queen mother."

His words were extremely harsh. The Queen Mother stared at Emperor Hong Xiao for a long time, then suddenly laughed. She shook her head as she laughed, almost laughing to tears. She said, "Third Brother, it turns out that I have always underestimated you. I was wondering how Xia Liulan's son could be such a person. It turns out that it's not you who is bad, it's me who made a mistake!"

Xia Liulan was the name of Concubine Xia. When Emperor Hong Xiao heard this name, his expression paused, and he put away his smile and said, "The death of my mother back then must have something to do with you, right?"

Concubine Xia died not long after giving birth to Emperor Hong Xiao, and everyone said she died of illness. After many years of investigation, Emperor Hong Xiao finally found the old man in the palace who said that Concubine Xia was in good health before that.

"Hmph, in a place like the palace, there are countless people who want Xia Liulan dead. It's not something I would do!" said the Queen Mother disdainfully.

Emperor Hong Xiao's face turned pale, and he seemed not to believe this answer. Sure enough, the Queen Mother's next words immediately made him furious. She said, "But when Xia Liulan gave birth to you, I was really unwilling. In the palace, sometimes you don't need to do anything to kill someone. I only need to say that His Majesty intends to make you the crown prince, and countless people will do this for me."

"You!" Emperor Hong Xiao was furious. The Queen Mother's fabricated words made Concubine Xia a glaring target in the palace. It was a pity that Concubine Xia had just had a child at that time, and her heart was all on her child, so how could she pay attention to other things?

"I just hate that those people didn't kill you together with me, leaving you as a root of trouble." The Queen Mother's eyes were full of resentment. "If I had known this day would come, I would have personally eliminated you from this world even if I had to do it myself!"

"It's a pity that you don't have this opportunity." Emperor Hong Xiao calmed down again. He said, "Although my mother was not killed by you, she died because of you. I will remember this debt for you first. I have said long ago that debts must be paid and murder must be paid with life. The evil you and Yin Zhan have done will naturally be punished by God. Now Yin Zhan is dead, and the next one should be Yin Zhili's turn. When Yin Zhili dies, I will personally send you off. No, I have changed my mind. I will not let you die. I will let you live and imprison you in the palace. You will be worse than the concubines in the cold palace. You will watch the people around you die one by one and live in hopelessness forever. This is the best punishment for you. I will make the ugly things you and Yin Zhan have done known to the world, and let Yin Zhili be beaten like a rat crossing the street. Even if he rebels, those who follow him will be ashamed of him. When he dies, he will not be able to get rid of this stigma, and he will be stabbed in the back until his death!"

"No——" The Queen Mother burst into a scream, and she pretended to grab Emperor Hong Xiao's face. The guard beside Emperor Hong Xiao drew his sword, protected Emperor Hong Xiao and pushed her away. The Queen Mother fell to the ground, and her hair was all loose.

"No..." she murmured.

Emperor Hong Xiao glanced at her coldly, turned around and walked out, saying, "Come here, lock her up! No one is allowed to see the Queen Mother without my permission. Also," he smiled coldly, "watch her carefully, don't let her die."

The Queen Mother fell to the ground. Meixiang came to help her up, but she stretched out her hand in vain. She looked at Meixiang and said, "He is lying to me, isn't he? Yin Zhan is not dead, right?"

Her tears flowed.

　The little emperor is actually quite handsome. If anyone likes the little emperor, please raise your hand~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)