In the spring of March, peach blossoms hang on the branches. The sky above Kyoto is dyed deep and shallow red, like fire, and it is too gorgeous to look at. The wind slowly gathers from the fire-like sky and keeps passing through the window lattice.

, to the people in the room.

Xie Shuning leaned weakly by the window, looking at the sky from a distance, and shivered because of the early spring wind. She suddenly coughed heavily. The brocade handkerchief covered her mouth, but it could not hide her heartbreak at all.

A lung-splitting cough. Every sound almost exhausted her energy.

"Mother—Mother—"

Suddenly, the closed door opened wide. A child wearing a sapphire blue tapestry jacket staggered in, with round and bright eyes open, and he tried to throw himself into her arms with all his hands and feet.

It's Brother Zhen!

While Xie Shuning was coughing, someone hurriedly stopped her son.

She was very ill, and she was afraid that she might get in trouble with Brother Zhen, so she didn't let him get close to her on weekdays. So the eldest maids Yue Bai and Lu Nong quickly stepped forward and stopped him one by one.

"Mother, don't you like Zhen'er? Why don't you hug Zhen'er anymore?" The little child struggled to shout with his mouth puckered and tears in his eyes.

Xie Shuning's heart was about to break when she heard that, but the itching in her throat did not go away with the coughs one after another. Instead, it became more and more unbearable. She bent over from coughing, and her eyes twitched.

Tears, difficulty in speaking.

She heard Yuebai cry to Brother Zhen: "Master, my wife is still ill. Please be more obedient."

But Brother Zhen hasn't seen her for a long time, so how can he listen to Yue Bai's advice now?

"Zhen'er..." She had no choice but to struggle to straighten up, trying hard to stop the itching in her throat, and advised in a hoarse voice, "Be good... wait, wait until mother's illness... is cured, then

…”

At this point, her voice stopped, and she suddenly couldn't speak any more.

The four-year-old child had a grimace on his face and finally held back the tears in his eyes, and said loudly: "Okay, Zhen'er, be a good boy. Mom, please get better soon! Mom, please take the medicine and wait."

After I recover from my illness, I will take Zhen'er to fly a kite."

Xie Shuning looked away, tears streaming down her face and she couldn't stop them.

"Your Majesty, can my servant take you back?" Lu Nong bent down and asked softly.

Brother Zhen agreed, and he turned around three times and was led out of the door by Lu Nong.

When the little figure disappeared from the front, Xie Shuning relaxed her clenched teeth and burst into tears.

Apart from her poor son, who else in this house doesn't know that she is dying soon?

She hated herself for being useless, and hated herself for being poisonous. If she hadn't been useless, how could a small cold turn into what it is now?

At that time, Duke Yan Huai was in power, and his power was overwhelming.

Because the Xie family had offended him before, they could only live in peace now, and in the eyes of everyone they were already struggling to death. Lin Yuanzhi was afraid of being implicated by her, so he personally fed her "medicine" - a bowl of medicine that could kill her!

But she understands that at this time of year, who is not afraid of Yanhuai?

After the death of the first emperor, Duke Yan Huai of Cheng State ascended the throne to the fifteenth prince who was only seven years old. He changed his name to Emperor Jiaming in Chengxing. The emperor was young and helpless, so he was appointed as regent.

Yanhuai is only twenty-five now, but his methods are vicious and ruthless. He is also moody, and everyone who sees him avoids him.

When he was only thirteen years old, his predecessor Chengguo Gong Yan Jing was seriously ill, and as the heir apparent, he returned to the capital. Three days later, his father died, and he placed his stepmother under house arrest and sent his half-brother to Mobei until he was ten years old.

When he was six years old, his stepmother Wan secretly searched for his younger brother to return to the capital, but was discovered by Yanhuai. She dropped three feet of white silk and ordered her brother to hang Wan. At the age of seventeen, she killed her younger brother and was promoted to commander of the Jinyi Guard. The following year, he was promoted to the Chinese Army.

The governor of the left army of the Dudu Mansion was in charge of the garrison in the capital. At the age of twenty-two, he annexed the east and west factories with thunderous force.

In just a few years after that, everyone in the court heard the name of Yanhuai and started fighting between the two groups.

Therefore, even though the world still has the surname Ji, it has long been the possession of the Yan family. Even within the palace, he is still in a no-man's land, without any hesitation.

The Xie family can't afford to offend such a person, and the Lin family is just a run-down young marquis, so they can't hide. What's more, the Lin family now has Aunt Wen...

Xie Shuning closed her eyes and couldn't bear to think about it anymore.

She knew that Lin Yuanzhi was just making the right choice. Even if it were her place, she would not hesitate to attack him. But if she died, what would happen to her brother Zhen? A pain in her throat

It was fishy and sweet, and the snow-white veil was stained with red marks. She weakly threw away the veil, closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. After an unknown period of time, she suddenly woke up from her sleep, dripping with cold sweat, and grabbed the towel covering her body.

Jin was yelling: "Lu Nong, where is the prince?"

Lu Nong was adding powder to the gilt filigree enamel incense burner. Hearing the sound, he was slightly startled and said hesitantly: "The prince didn't want to go back to his room, so he took the people to the garden."

Garden?

Xie Shuning's body was trembling, but she could barely hold on, and said sternly: "Go find him! Send the prince back to the house properly!"

Lu Nong's hand holding the silver spoon shook.

"Madam - no, madam -" Suddenly, the voice of Brother Zhen's wet nurse Zhou came from outside.

Xie Shuning was startled. Thinking of her dream just now, she was immediately confused. She hurriedly called someone in and asked, "What happened?"

With a look of horror on her face, Mrs. Zhou knelt down in front of her with a plop, kowtowed heavily and said, "The prince is drowning..."

The frightened words were like thunder falling on her ears. Xie Shuning suddenly opened the brocade quilt, stood up with difficulty, and started to walk out. Yuebai was also heartbroken when he heard the words, and knew that he was determined not to stop her at this moment.

, simply took a thick cloak and put it on her. Lu Nong was eager to stop her, but Xie Shuning glanced at her coldly, and let go with a guilty conscience.

Mrs. Zhou got up from the ground, followed her and cried, "This slave deserves death, madam..."

"Shut up!" Xie Shuning's body felt weak, her legs and feet were weak, and she still had the strength to fight with Zhou. She gritted her teeth and scolded her until she shut up before she could live in peace.

On the way, she leaned most of her body on Yuebai, and was supported by Yuebai as she trudged forward, silently thinking that nothing would happen to Brother Zhen. But when she got close to Brother Zhen's house, she heard a burst of sound.

Howling.

With a thump in her heart, Xie Shuning turned pale, pushed Yuebai away and staggered inside, but unexpectedly fell into a cold embrace.

"Zhen'er, I'm gone."

The voice above his head was extremely cold, and the hands holding his shoulders were also extremely cold.

Xie Shuning cried "Wow" and wanted to push Lin Yuanzhi away, but was restrained by him. She could only listen to him say in a distressed tone: "Do you know, Xue Luo fell into the trap to save him?"

Lost the water, lost the child!"

Will Wen Xueruo save Zhen'er?

What a big joke!

In the final analysis, it was her fault. She should not have thought that Lin Yuanzhi was sincere to her, and she should not have regarded Wen Xueruo as a close friend...

Xie Shuning stared up and looked up at Lin Yuanzhi's clear face, crying but laughing out loud, "Tiger poison cannot eat its seeds, Lord Marquis, you really have a good concubine!" After saying this, she

His eyes grew colder, and his bloodless lips opened and closed slightly, "You are afraid that the Xie family's affairs will implicate you, but how come you are not afraid that Wen Xueruo will be implicated?"

When the Wen family was in its glory, Lin Yuanzhi's aunt Wen was only two years old, so she got engaged to Yan Huai, the equally young heir apparent of Duke Cheng. With Yan Huai's current temperament, that was something he didn't want anymore.

If Lin Yuanzhi dared to pick it up, he would have already touched the reverse scale!

For the first time, like a street shrew, she bit Lin Yuanzhi's hand hard and rushed into the house while he was moaning in pain and letting go.

In the quiet room, her Zhen'er was curled up in a brocade quilt, a thin and small ball, like a flower embroidered on the brocade quilt, pale and without a trace of color...

"Zhen'er, mother is here... Can you talk to mother, Zhen'er?" She looked at Zhen'er's pale and blue face, and saw that his long eyelashes were like lifeless butterflies, motionless.

Then, he suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood.

Lin Yuanzhi rushed into the house and reached out to pull her.

She stared at him with dull eyes and asked expressionlessly: "You can kill me if you want, but why don't you let Zhen'er go?"

"Are you crazy? Zhen'er is my son too! Am I not heartbroken?" Hearing this, Lin Yuanzhi tightened his grip on her arm, with a look of pain on his face.

Xie Shuning hung her head feebly. Is he heartbroken? If he was heartbroken before Zhen'er went there, why was he only thinking about Wen Xueruo's unborn child? How cruel could he be to ask her at this time if she knew that Wen Xueruo was missing?

Got a child?

"Aunt Wen, you can't go in!" Suddenly there was a noise outside the door.

As soon as she finished speaking, Wen Xueruo was already supported by someone and walked in with a pale face. She knelt down in front of Xie Shuning and cried: "Madam, it's all my fault. I couldn't hold the prince..."

"How can I blame you? Get up quickly." Lin Yuanzhi felt sorry for her for losing her child and hurriedly went to help her.

However, Wen Xueruo just knelt there stubbornly, crying so hard that it made people feel bad. A dark red gradually swam out of the eggplant-colored skirt under her body, which made Lin Yuanzhi feel distressed and turned to glare at Xie Shuning.

, "How long do you want her to kneel before she gives up?"

Xie Shuning didn't pretend to hear, she just whispered his name against Zhen'er's bone-chilling forehead.

"Xie Shuning, don't bully others too much!" Lin Yuanzhi raised a cold eyebrow and shouted sternly, "I know you feel uncomfortable after Zhen'er's accident, but Xue Luo has just given birth, why do you need to bully others like this?"

Wen Xueruo burst into tears and walked to her feet on her knees, holding the hem of her skirt with her delicate hands, "Madam, please kill me... It's all my fault... It's my fault..." Her voice was weak and her expression was pitiful.

, but she grabbed Xie Shuning's hand and quietly tightened it in the corner where no one saw her, and her long nails like green onions dug hard into Xie Shuning's flesh, "Madam..."

"Come here, come quickly and send Aunt Wen out!" Lin Yuanzhi frowned tightly, turned around and shouted at the door.

At the moment of lightning, Wen Xueruo suddenly raised her pretty face full of tears, her eyes were like poisonous snakes and locked her tightly, her lips parted slightly, and she said in a very low voice: "I should have known that I was carrying a child.

It’s hard to guarantee, but now it’s worth trading for your son’s life!”

As if being struck by lightning, Xie Shuning vomited out another mouthful of blood, which vomited directly on Wen Xueruo's clothes.

"Really?" Xie Shuning smiled sadly with blood on the corner of her mouth, and then her eyes sternly said, "In that case, how about using your life to pay for my son's life?"

Her frail body suddenly burst out with astonishing strength. She pulled out the hairpin from her hair and plunged it into Wen Xueruo's throat. With a "plop" sound, hot blood splashed all over her face.

Lin Yuanzhi, who turned around after hearing the sound, his eyes wide open, strode forward and pushed her to the ground, hugged Wen Xueruo and shouted urgently.

Xie Shuning fell on the cold ground, laughing silently. Her body curled up tightly into a ball, and she sobbed: "Zhen'er, wait a minute, mother Zhen'er..."

…

Spring, the second year of Emperor Jiaming of Western Vietnam.

Lin Zhen, the son of Changping Marquis, and his wife Xie died.
Chapter completed!