Painting Doctor Jinhua

Chapter 204 Lu Lingxuan's dying words, bewitching

Three days later, Prince Lanling, Xiao Jinyu and some nobles from Jinyang returned to Yecheng with the emperor's carriage.

At that time, the Grand Court Festival was approaching. According to custom, princes and kings of royal families who held heavy military forces in various places would send their princes or come to Yecheng in person to pay homage to His Majesty, report on their local governance in the past year, and also present precious gifts.

This is not only a kind of etiquette, but also a constraint on the princes and kings.

There were already many people who were granted the title of king in the Great Qi Dynasty. In addition to the royal family, even nobles of different surnames like Duan Shao were granted the title of King of Pingyuan.

Therefore, after returning to Yecheng, what he saw was the scene of streets covered with precious cherry blossoms and carriages and horses like dragons.

Seeing the emperor's procession passing through the streets of Yenan City, the crowds of people all stepped aside and the people knelt on the ground and shouted "Long live the emperor!"

The bustling streets showed the prosperity of the Great Qi. Some young ladies couldn't help cheering when they saw Prince Lanling's carriage.

"I heard that during the siege of Luoyang this time, it was Lanling Wang who was not afraid of the Zhou army's 100,000 troops and broke through the layers of Zhou army's encirclement and saved Luoyang. Lanling Wang is truly a true man, a great hero of the world, and the god of war of my Qi country!"

"Yes! How wonderful it would be if I could see him every day in this life. Even if I could be his concubine, it would be wonderful!"

"Oh, I'm afraid there's no chance. Even Zheng Ayue can't get close to him anymore, let alone us!"

"That's not necessarily true. There is no man in this world who is not lustful. Even if there is an unparalleled beauty around him, there will always be a day when he gets tired of it. At that time..."

"Your Majesty has three thousand beauties in the harem, isn't that a new beauty?"

The chattering of a group of sisters-in-law more or less reached Gao Zhan's ears. Feng Lingyi snuggled in his arms and clearly felt a hint of displeasure between his slightly frowned brows.

"Your Majesty is unhappy about something, Lingyi can help you share your worries."

"This time, we defeated the 200,000-man army of the Zhou Kingdom, which greatly damaged the vitality of the Western Qiang. They dare not invade the heartland of our Great Qi again. Logically, I should not be unhappy, but the voices of these young ladies are really a bit loud."

Gao Zhan's tone revealed impatience and even a hint of resentment.

Feng Lingyi laughed and said, "No matter how brave Prince Lanling is, he is only your Majesty's subject. How can he compare to your Majesty, the supreme ruler and the model of heaven and man?"

These words made Gao Zhan very happy!

"My beauty, you are good at talking. After you return to the palace, I will appoint you as Consort Shu."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The woman laughed softly and charmingly, and leaned into Gao Zhan's arms again, soft as a bone.

Looking at the emperor's procession leaving, in a corner of the street, a man with braided hair was watching all this viciously.

"My dear, stop looking. Let's take this opportunity to leave quickly. Otherwise, by the time His Majesty reacts, we won't be able to escape from Yecheng!"

"But mother..."

"The Lord of the County said, as long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood. As long as you are still alive, you still have a chance to make a comeback!"

The man gritted his teeth in hatred, finally put on his hood, and left among the chaotic crowd.

……

In the Dali Temple, Lu Lingxuan stood at the bottom of the hall, while Bi Yiyun and Sima Maozong sat in the hall, looking down at her.

On Sima Maozong's desk, there was a letter. After comparison, it was confirmed that the handwriting on it was Lu Lingxuan's. The content of the letter was to ask the Turkic Mu Gan Khan to take advantage of the coming of winter snow to threaten Zhou Jin Gong Yuwen Hu to attack Qi in the east. The reason was already thought out, that is, to attack Qi on the grounds that the king of Qi refused to hand over Xie Zhen.

"I never thought that Lord Lu was also friends with the Turkic Khan Mugan? So, are you from Qi? Or, it is possible that you are a top-level spy from another country hiding in Qi?"

Before Sima Maozong finished his sentence, Li Mi and Cui Heng brought in another person. This person was the shopkeeper of Fengxianju in Pengcheng, who was secretly entrusted to them by Xiao Jinyu and Gao Changgong.

"Tell me, what did you do at Fenglaiju Inn in Pengcheng, Xuzhou? Confess the truth, and we can save your family!"

The shopkeeper took one look at Lu Lingxuan, then immediately lowered his head, his face as pale as death.

"Pengcheng's Fenglaiju is a secret base that Lord Lu asked us to run. In addition to making some money from Pengcheng's Cizhou Kiln, we also contacted the secret lines buried in Chen, Zhou, Turkic, Goguryeo and other countries. The purpose is also to steal intelligence from various countries and exchange it in the form of buying and selling to make some profits."

Li Mi asked, "You mean that the information you stole is not only given to the emperor of Qi, but can be sold to anyone who can afford the price, even to the Zhou people, the Chen people, and the Turks?"

The shopkeeper lowered his head even more dejectedly.

"So, Lu Lingxuan is actually colluding with the powerful people in various countries, right?"

Li Mi asked with a stronger tone.

The shopkeeper almost started to cry and nodded his head in answer.

Cui Heng brought in another woman.

This woman was none other than Anu, who had once assassinated King Lanling in Yubi City.

"Who are you?" Bi Yiyun asked, "What do you want to say?"

Anu cried and replied, "I was originally an embroiderer in Luanxuan Pavilion, making a living by embroidering and supporting my sister and mother at home. Later, in order to make more profits, Lord Lu forced the women in the pavilion to sell themselves or hide in major families or other countries.

Anu was a spy sent to the State of Zhou. She was originally stealing information from Yuwen Ya, the daughter of Yuwen Hu, Duke of Jin. But three months ago, Muti Bo, the son of Lord Lu, wrote to her, asking her to go to Yubi City to assassinate Xie Zhen or King Lanling.

If I disobey his orders, my sister and mother will surely lose their lives, so I..."

"How dare you assassinate the envoy sent by Qi to Yubi City?" Sima Maozong was very angry and looked at Lu Lingxuan, "Do you want to ruin the peace talks between the two countries?"

Lu Lingxuan laughed: "Even if it's not destroyed, so what? Didn't the Qi-Zhou War still happen? As soon as Duke Yuwen Hu of Jin got his mother, he went east to attack, so in the end, Qi lost the peace talks! Isn't it?"

"No matter what the outcome of the peace talks was, or what happened afterwards, you intentionally sabotaged the peace talks between the two countries. Your heart is not right, and you deserve to be killed!"

"Lu Lingxuan, you have committed the crime of assassinating the envoy, colluding with foreign enemies, and even ignoring the imperial power to deceive the emperor, privately raising spies, and colluding with many dignitaries from other countries. These crimes are so heinous that they are enough to sentence you and your entire family to death!"

After hearing this, Lu Lingxuan burst into laughter.

"My Bu Liugu clan has been extinct for a long time, and my husband Luo Chao also died a long time ago. How could there be anyone left for you to execute the whole clan?"

"I have been a swordsman beside your majesty for three years. When your majesty needs me, I am a good sword. When your majesty doesn't need me, I am a treacherous and evil person. When the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked. In fact, we are all the same!

The end in the future...will be the same!"

Sima Maozong was so angry that he slammed the table and shouted, "Lu Lingxuan!"

Lu Lingxuan asked slowly:

"Your Majesty has returned to Yecheng, right?"

Sima Maozong's arrogance was suppressed.

Bi Yiyun continued: "Yes, but I'm afraid His Majesty will never see you again. You are not qualified to see His Majesty as a commoner now!"

Lu Lingxuan paused for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said:

"Then let Prince Lanling, his princess, and Xie Zhen come to see me! I don't think they will refuse!"

……

Li Mi brought Lu Lingxuan's words to Lanling Prince's Mansion, and Xiao Jinyu and Lanling Prince, who had just returned to Lanling Prince's Mansion, were not surprised.

"She once said that when I really defeated her, she would tell me the cause of my mother's death. Now is really the time to meet her!"

Xiao Jinyu did not change back into women's clothes, but asked Xie Yuxuan to dress up as her again, and then went to the Dali Temple Prison with Gao Changgong.

At this time, Lu Lingxuan had already lost her former noble and elegant demeanor. She was dressed in plain clothes, and her hair was even a little messy. However, although she was trapped in prison, she was still able to maintain her unyielding composure.

When she saw Lanling Wang, "Xie Zhen" and a woman wearing a veiled hat walk in, a smile appeared on Lu Lingxuan's lips.

"You guys finally came!"

After her eyes swept over Lanling Prince, they fell on the woman wearing a veiled hat behind him.

"Are you Princess Xiao Jinyu of Lanling?"

"Yes!" Xie Yuxuan answered in a low voice, trying her best to imitate Xiao Jinyu's usual voice.

"It seems like we haven't seen each other for a long time. Why do you wear a veil and hide your true face?"

"My appearance is too great, and I'm afraid it will cause trouble, so I'm covering it up!"

Lu Lingxuan stopped asking, withdrew her gaze, and turned her gaze to "Xie Zhen" again.

"In fact, I admire you very much. I once wanted to be someone like you, Xie Zhen!"

After saying something inexplicable, she slowly stood up and walked around the cell. With every step, she seemed to recall something from the past.

"I once had a very noble mother, she was also the legitimate daughter of a prominent family, but when the family fell into decline, my father began to neglect her and also disliked me. Although I was the legitimate daughter of the family, my life was worse than those concubines' daughters. My mother was often beaten and scolded by my father. Because she was not favored, even the servants in the mansion dared to bully her!

When I was very young, I swore that those who had bullied my daughter and me would pay with blood!

My father was a lazy man who always wanted to use the weak women in the family to help him find a future. So like my sisters in the family, I was taught music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, as well as how to seduce men, since I was a child.

At the end of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the imperial power declined. The civil and military officials in the court only knew of King Gao, but not the emperor. After Gao Huan died of illness after the battle of Yubi, his eldest son Gao Cheng quickly took control of the government and wanted to add the title of king and seize the throne.

My father wanted to offer me to Gao Cheng, who was the prime minister of the Eastern Wei at that time. Unfortunately, the Southern Liang was experiencing the Hou Jing Rebellion, and Gao Cheng was busy fighting with the Western Wei for the fragmented land of the Southern Dynasty. He had no time to take care of other things, and my father couldn't even see him.

However, I later learned that during the time when my father could not see him, he actually went to Southern Liang and tricked Princess Liyang, who was known as the most beautiful woman in Southern Liang, into his hands.

A year later, Chen Xu...the current Emperor of Southern Chen gave Princess Liyang to Gao Cheng as a gift. For a long time, Gao Cheng favored Princess Liyang alone and even ignored me.

My father felt that his hopes would be dashed and was very disappointed with me. At a banquet, he put drugs in the tea I drank and took me to Gao Cheng's place.

But what he didn't expect was that the extremely lustful Gao Cheng was not interested in me at all. He just gave me to Luo Chao, a surrendered general of the Western Wei Dynasty.

I was only fifteen years old at that time, and Luo Chao was almost forty years old. Fortunately, although Luo Chao was old, he had not yet married, so I married him as his legal wife.

Luo Chao was a man of very impatient temper. Although he surrendered to the Eastern Wei, he was not valued by King Gao. He was already very dissatisfied, and when King Gao died, the resentment in his heart became even deeper.

So I simply encouraged him to rebel!"

Having said this, Lu Lingxuan smiled with disdain again.

"Perhaps you will think that I encouraged him to rebel for my own future glory and wealth, but my real intention was to let him die!"

The last sentence made her face look extremely hideous.

She turned around and looked at "Xie Zhen" whose expression was full of surprise, and smiled with great resentment.

"At that time, everyone knew that Luo Chao doted on me and obeyed my orders. But when he got drunk, he would whip me severely to vent his dissatisfaction. He didn't dare to do anything to those powerful people in high positions, but he bullied me, a weak woman who had no power to fight back. I didn't want to, but he raped me..."

"So, after encouraging him to rebel, I went to expose him to Gao Cheng, hoping to win his favor, or even a little appreciation, so that I could be his slave!

My demands at that time were really not high at all. I just wanted a place to stay, to lick my wounds quietly, and then to take revenge on those who hurt me! "

"But I was disappointed again. Luo Chao's rebellion failed, and he was defeated and executed. But I was confiscated as his family member!"

"Gao Cheng is not trustworthy. He is deceiving me and playing tricks on me! Or he is simply ignoring me!"

Having said that, Lu Lingxuan looked at Xiao Jinyu and smiled again, a very bitter smile with a hint of madness.

"During my time in the palace, I kept thinking, what did I do wrong, or is it the world that is wrong? Why do I have to live this kind of life? Why do I keep being bullied?

Later I figured it out, because I am a woman, my fate is controlled by these men and I have no control over it. The first one is my father, the second one is my husband, and the third one is the man I want to get close to but who ignores my existence!

So, I swear that I will no longer have any hope in any man, and I will make all those who have wronged me pay the price. "

"Gao Cheng's chef Lan Jing sympathized with me and often went to the palace to tell me about his worries. He was the son of Lan Qin, a general of the Southern Liang Dynasty. He was captured during the war with the Eastern Wei Dynasty and wanted to redeem himself and return to the Southern Dynasty with a large sum of money many times, but Gao Cheng refused and did not value him. He only treated him as a cook, which was a great humiliation for him.

Later, Lan Jing accidentally heard Gao Cheng planning to abdicate to the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Gao Cheng found out and wanted to silence him.

I asked him to contact several subordinates left by my husband, and gave him a colorless and tasteless poison, so that he could get close to Gao Cheng again under the pretext of delivering food, and kill him when the opportunity arose! "

Hearing this, Gao Changgong's face changed and he clenched his fists.

"So it was you who conspired with that gang of assassins to murder my father!"

Lu Lingxuan laughed: "Yes! No one could have imagined that a powerful official, a man that even the emperor dared not look at, would die at the hands of a cook. If he hadn't been so arrogant and underestimated the enemy, this clumsy assassination trick would have been useless."

"I didn't expect that Lan Jing would actually succeed, although he died after the success!"

"Of course, his success was probably due to the tacit approval of Emperor Wenxuan Gao Yang. After all, Gao Yang was in charge of all government affairs in Yecheng at that time."

At this time, Xiao Jinyu, who had been silent for a long time, asked: "Why do you want to tell us this?"

"After listening to my story, do you know why I told it?"

Lu Lingxuan continued, "It was also in the Palace that I met the first noble person in my life who lent me a helping hand. To me, she is also the most important person to me!"

"It's your mother, Xiao Luan, Xiao Jinyu!"