After leaving the study, Xie Xun walked in the corridor of the palace and felt more and more that the entire palace was full of traces left by Qin Rushuang.
The old housekeeper's back became more and more stooped, and he followed Xie Xun silently.
Since Qin Rushuang left, apart from black and white, there is no third color in the palace.
Xie Xun was dressed in black, while the old housekeeper was wearing white mourning clothes like the servants in the mansion.
"No need to follow me, I am leaving the palace for a walk."
The old housekeeper looked at Xie Xun's lonely back. He opened his mouth, but in the end he said nothing and just sighed heavily.
Ying Er appeared and patted the old butler: "Don't worry, I will keep an eye on the prince."
Xie Xun, on the other hand, left the palace alone.
He walked all the way out along the streets of the palace. It was almost evening.
He walked silently alone and unknowingly came to the vicinity of Du's Rouge Shop.
He had been in a trance all the way, and when he came back to his senses, as soon as he raised his head, his eyes were stung by a red dress in front of him.
At the door of Du's Rouge Shop, there was a pretty figure standing. She was dressed in red, with her long black hair tied behind her head, and she was standing with a little maid in cyan clothes.
I don’t know what happened at the front, but several people were arguing around one place.
Xie Xun stared blankly at the red figure and heard a girl kneeling on the ground sobbing.
A fat man with big ears next to him reached out to pull the girl's clothes.
"Bah! You prodigal! What do you want to do to me in broad daylight?"
The red figure turned his back to Xie Xun, casually drew out a long whip, and hit the fat man's hand with a quick and easy movement.
Xie Xun's heart pounded.
He could barely control his body shape and walked quickly behind the red person. The next moment, before he realized it, he had already reached out and grabbed the other person's hand holding the whip.
"Rushuang..."
The red figure turned around suddenly, broke away from Xie Xun's hand, and immediately whipped Xie Xun, "Who are you?!"
She turned around suddenly, and Xie Xun was caught off guard and saw the bright and tender face of the other party.
A feeling of disappointment surged into Xie Xun's heart. It wasn't her...
This is just a girl wearing the same red dress.
"Sorry, I recognized the wrong person." Xie Xun took back his hand in disappointment, turned around and wanted to leave.
The young girl followed up reluctantly, "I'll be done with an apology. Are you always so rude? Pulling girls around at will?"
"You...you look a bit like my late wife."
The girl was stunned and withdrew the whip: "Oh... then... then you go."
Xie Xun turned and left without saying a word.
He was really stunned.
Qin Rushuang is dead, how could she appear here...
It's just his wishful thinking.
The girl watched Xie Xun's leaving figure and never left.
Ying Er, who had been secretly protecting her, appeared and handed some money to the girl: "I'm sorry, my master is rude. Let this be considered as compensation."
After saying that, he put the silver into the girl's hand.
The girl looked at Xie Xun's leaving figure, and the more she looked at it, the more familiar she felt.
…
After leaving Du's Rouge Shop, Xie Xun still had no intention of returning home, but turned onto another road.
Ying Er has been following him silently to protect him. Seeing his master's devastated look, he finally couldn't help but comfort him: "Your Majesty, you will leave Kyoto for the border tomorrow. You'd better reply early and rest."
Xie Xun seemed not to hear his words and kept walking forward.
Not getting an answer from Xie Xun, Ying Er gritted his teeth and said to Xie Xun's back, "If the princess is still here, she definitely doesn't want to see the prince fighting such an unprepared battle. The prince should recharge his batteries and rush to the border.
I am worthy of the border people whom the princess saved back then!"
Xie Xun paused thoughtfully.
He is confused.
"Rushuang tried every possible means to make plans and defend the border. I will never let the border fall into crisis again."
Ying Er breathed a sigh of relief silently. With the prince looking so lost, who can trust him to go to the battlefield?
Just as Xie Xun said this, he had no intention of returning to the palace, but kept walking along this road.
"My lord, where are you going?"
"I want to... go to the General's Mansion to get some... old things."
General's Mansion.
The boy guarding the gate of the General's Mansion recognized Xie Xun. When he saw Xie Xun coming, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute. However, when he heard that Xie Xun wanted to visit the manor, he stood there in embarrassment.
"Your Majesty, after Madam left, she ordered us not to... No, no, no, what I mean is that Madam Qin does not want Your Majesty to visit the General's Mansion again."
The young man had been favored by Mrs. Qin before. Although he knew that he could not offend King Huai, he still said bravely, "Your Majesty, Madam and Mr. Shen went to Jiangnan with the lady's ashes. They have not come back yet. Please don't, Your Majesty."
The embarrassment is small."
Xie Xun could no longer count how many times he had been rejected at the door of the General's Mansion.
He knew that Mrs. Qin hated him, hated him for failing Qin Rushuang and causing Qin Rushuang's tragic death. She should hate him.
But the yearning and pain day after day almost drove Xie Xun crazy. He just wanted to...
I just want something back between them...
Xie Xun's voice was dry and he said to the boy: "Excuse me, please tell General Qin that I have something important to ask of you."
Xiaosi didn't know about the grudge between Xie Xun and Qin Rushuang, but he was also married, and his wife was working as a maid beside Mrs. Qin.
As soon as he saw Xie Xun's expression, he knew that the prince must also be sad when his young lady passed away.
This thing is really...
The boy struggled for a long time, and finally relaxed: "General Qin is in the mansion, I will go and send a message."
"Thank you."
After a while, the young man came back and said to Xie Xun: "Please, Your Majesty, my master is waiting for you in the living room."
Xie Xun followed the boy to the living room and almost didn't recognize General Qin when he saw him.
In just over a month, General Qin seemed to have aged ten years all of a sudden and already had the feeling of aging.
General Qin is indeed old.
At the time of the incident, he was instigated by Aunt Liu and went into the palace without permission to plead guilty to the emperor. He also blamed Qin Rushuang for all the mistakes. Later, when the incident came to light, General Qin was so shocked when he learned the truth that he almost lost his breath.
He never thought that the concubine he had loved for many years was not his biological child at all!
And Aunt Liu, whom he loved over and over again, even set a trap for him, making him a knife in Qin Fanghao's hand.
With the trial of the case, he finally knew how much grievances his first wife and legitimate daughter had suffered over the years!
General Qin regretted his mistake, but his biological daughter was dead and his wife could not forgive him. For the first time, General Qin felt that his life was such a failure.
He was disheartened and resigned with Emperor Qi. After returning to the palace, he secretly executed Aunt Liu and closed the palace behind closed doors, never leaving the house again.
Like Mrs. Qin, he also hated Xie Xun, so when he saw Xie Xun coming, he just sat on his seat and refused to get up to say hello to Xie Xun.
