Chapter 162 Settled (2)
"I know!" Murong Qi Qi nodded. As long as the gu could be removed and the child could live well, what did it matter that she, the mother, would suffer a bit?!
Although Murong Qi Qi decided to give birth to the child, but Feng Cang still refused to agree. Now that he’d heard Murong Qi Qi would have a hard time during the pregnancy, Feng Cang felt a lot of heartache.
"Qing Qing, we will have a lot of children. This child doesn't have the fate to be with us. We…give up, alright?!" Feng Cang had experienced the pain of the gu. He didn't wish for Murong Qi Qi and the child to also experience it.
Murong Qi Qi understood Feng Cang's concern, but she's a mother. Besides, Ming Yue Cheng said that the child gu wouldn't hurt the child and the gu could be removed in the future. This made her more determined to have the child.
"Cang, you've always been very tolerant towards me. You obeyed me on everything. Can you also accommodate me this time? Take it as if I was headstrong and got into a huff, but I really, really want to have this child! Cang…this is our child, ah!"
Murong Qi Qi's voice trembled slightly. She looked at Feng Cang's beautiful eyes. Her eyes also got tears. No one wanted the child gu to go to the child, but after all, this was a life. This was their first child. Murong Qi Qi didn't want to give up like this. No matter what, she wanted to fight. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, she would not give up!
"Qing Qing!" Hearing Murong Qi Qi’s words, Feng Cang pulled her into his arms. All sort of feelings tumbled in his heart, making him unable to say the words that were on his lips.
How could he not understand Murong Qi Qi's thoughts?! This was his child. He was also not willing to part with him/her, ah! However, he didn't have the heart to see Murong Qi Qi suffer. He didn't have the heart to see the child be separated from them since birth. Too many feelings of 'didn't have the heart to' flooded in Feng Cang's heart…
However, after being faced with Murong Qi Qi's beautiful 'pleading' eyes, Feng Cang's feelings of 'didn't have the heart to' expanded to the limit. Among the so many ‘didn't have the heart to’, the most prominent was to see her in tears. His heart felt like a dagger was piercing it.
"Good! As long as you're willing, as long as you like, I will agree on everything!"
Feng Cang's head buried in Murong Qi Qi's hair. A teardrop fell into her dark hair.
This was his wife, but he was powerless when she’d encountered a problem. This made Feng Cang want to give himself two slaps in the face! Ming Yue Cheng was right in hitting him. He indeed deserved to be hit! He’d actually placed his wife and child in such positions, making him unable not to hate his incompetence! "No matter what, I will stay with you! I will forever stay with you!"
Murong Qi Qi held Feng Cang. She closed her eyes in order to not let her tears fall. She could hear the great regret in his voice. He wasn't to blame for this matter, but he had so much remorse. This man put everything on him, how could her heart not ache for him?
"Of course, you should stay with me! You're my husband. You are the father of my child. If you don't stay with me, then who will take care of me and our child?!"
"Wait, wait, what are you talking about? Why can't aijia1 understand?"
At this moment, Dongfang Lan came stumbling towards Murong Qi Qi and Feng Cang. What had happened just now, made this empress dowager dizzy, "What child? Whose child? Why can't ajia understand? Also, what's the matter with you? You…"
Dongfang Lan pointed at Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi, who were in an embrace. Her expression showed that she was very shocked, "You are siblings. How can you do that?!"
"Grandmother, Cang isn't my biological big brother. He was a child that father and mother had adopted. He doesn't have any blood relation with me!"
Seeing that Dongfang Lan misunderstood, Murong Qi Qi quickly explained the reason. It was just, she’d said it so suddenly. Dongfang Lan was surprised for a moment, "Qi Qi, is not that you want to be with Cang er2 that you lied to aijia, right? You're siblings. Siblings can't be together!"
"Grandmother!" Murong Qi Qi went forward and held Dongfang Lan's hand, "Grandmother, look at our appearance. There's no place where we look alike, ah! Cang also doesn't look like father or mother. He's not my biological big brother! If you don't believe, then father and mother can testify!"
Murong Qi Qi putting Wanyan Ming Yue and Feng Xue out, made Dongfang Lan finally believe a bit. The fact that the grandchild she’d loved for so many years was actually not her daughter's, made Dongfang Lan surprised.
After another thought, Feng Cang really doesn't look like Feng Xie or Wanyan Ming Yue. When Feng Cang was little, Dongfang Lan had already seen this. It was just, Feng Xie and Wanyan Ming Yue always insisted that Feng Cang was their 'son'. So, Dongfang Lan also believed that Feng Cang was her biological grandchild. Thinking about it now, it was definitely Wanyan Ming Yue and Feng Xie who’d lied to her.
Murong Qi Qi said 'father and mother'. Wanyan Lie who was at a side, was completely shocked. What did she mean? What was father and mother? Could it be…could it be Feng Xie didn't die?! Could it be that the person who took Wanyan Ming Yue away was Feng Xie?! How could this be?! How could it be like this?!
Wanyan Lie was eager to ask what was going on. The person in black who appeared in his dreams was actually Feng Xie. How could this be?! A 'this couldn't be' hit Wanyan Lie's heart, making him ignore Feng Cang's past history that Murong Qi Qi talked about.
"Ha!" Wanyan Lie forced the release of the acupuncture point, but he didn't have the time to think, when Murong Qi Qi's, Jin Mo’s and Su Yue's sword had been framed at his neck.
"Be more well-behaved!" Su Yue tied Wanyan Lie tightly, making him unable to move. It was all this person's fault! Without any reason, he caused guye3 harm. Now, he caused miss to be like this. Even little master was in danger. All was this bastard's fault!
"Feng Xie…is still alive?" Because his tongue was bitten by the mother gu, Wanyan Lie became lisp. The words were divided and unclear, but the two words 'Feng Xie', Murong Qi Qi could heard them clearly.
"My father is still alive. Now, he wandered the horizon with my mother."
Hearing Murong Qi Qi, Wanyan Lie painfully shook his head, "No…Yue er von't treat ne like this…no!" Wanyan Lie didn't want to believe the fact that Feng Xie was still alive. Wasn't he burned to death at Yandang mountain? Why was Feng Xie still alive? How did he find Wanyan Ming Yue? Did Ming Yue really go with him?!
The moment he recalled how in his dreams, Wanyan Ming Yue left without looking back, Wanyan Lie shook his head. His old face was full of tears.
Wanyan Kang had never saw such Wanyan Lie. In his memories, his emperor father had always been a formidable and firm person. Was this person full of tears who kept calling 'Yue er' still the emperor father he worshipped?
Wanyan Lie was heartbroken, but the fan in Su Mei's hand hadn't stopped fanning.
The mother gu in the jade pot probably guessed that it had been fooled. It struggled in the jade pot.
As the temperature rises, the hot oil mixed with the Chinese medicine, making the mother gu in great pain. Its chubby body hit the jade pot and made 'dong, dong' sounds, but the fan in Su Mei's hand hadn't stopped. The hot oil in the jade pot began to crackle. The mother gu still gave the final struggle. After a while, the voice gradually stopped.
"Continue! Don't stop!" Ming Yue Cheng guided Su Mei. "Gu’s are intelligent. They will fake death. Must burn everything in the jade pot!"
"Yes!" Su Mei vented all her anger on the poor mother gu. Miss and little master was like this made Su Mei very unhappy! She hated herself for not being able to solve Murong Qi Qi's worries and that she couldn't help her master. So, Su Mei's mood was very bad! The fan in her hand fanned harder!
Wanyan Lie sat on the ground dispirited. Wanyan Kang approached and wanted to help him up, but he was depressed and didn't want to get up. He just sat against a wall and kept calling. "Yue er doesn't want me anymore, doesn't want me anymore…"
Wanyan Lie's eyes seemed to have lost luster. The eyes looked emptily in front of him. He kept repeating that sentence. He was like a child abandoned by his parents; poor and helpless, making people unable to continue to hate him.
Although, unexpected things happened during the process of getting rid of the gu, but overall, everything went well. Jin Mo stopped the bleeding for Wanyan Lie and fed Wanyan Lie a pill.
"Jin Mo…," When Jin Mo fed the pill, Wanyan Kang grabbed Jin Mo's hand, "Perhaps, it's a bit shameless if I say it, but I want to beg you to spare his life! After all, he's my emperor father. After all, he did meritorious deeds for Bei Zhou!"
After looking at Wanyan Kang for a long while, Jin Mo said, "Originally, I advocated to kill him, but princess said, a hateful man certainly has something to be pathetic about…So, don't worry. This pill is only for him to forget everything. It won't take his life."
Wanyan Kang didn't dare to expect that Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi would let Wanyan Lie off. After all, he went too overboard with the things he did. Even Wanyan Kang felt ashamed as a son. It was just, he (WL) gave him (WK) life after all. They have the same blood. Wanyan Kang didn't have the heart to see him die.
After feeding Wanyan Lie the pill, Jin Mo unlocked the acupuncture point for Jing De. Jing De's face turned purple after his blood vessels was obstructed for a long time. But after his point was unlocked, the first thing he did wasn't to relieve his bones. Instead, he began to kowtow towards Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi, "Thanking wangye!4 Thanking princess! Thank you for letting emperor off! Thank you!"
A long time ago, Jing De knew that there would be such a day. The things Wanyan Lie did would be discovered. Feng Cang would take revenge. However, Jing De didn't expect that Feng Xie was still alive and that Wanyan Ming Yue actually had woken up.
It seemed that everything was destined. It's time for the emperor to let go!
Until he kowtowed till his head got red did Jing De stand up and walked to Wanyan Lie. At this time, medicine already had taken effect. Wanyan Lie laughed sillily at Jing De as if he didn't remember anymore who Jing De was. This made Jing De very sad.
"Emperor, this slave will always serve you! Don't worry!" Jing De wiped the blood of Wanyan Lie's mouth with his sleeve. He turned and knelt once again towards Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi.
"Wangye, in fact, this slave knew that this matter would come to light one day. Sooner or later, the things emperor did would be known. This slave also helped emperor do many things. This slave is also sinful…now, this slave doesn't ask for anything else. This slave only asks to always serve emperor. No matter where the emperor goes, this slave is emperor's slave. Asking wangye to please support!"
"Good," Feng Cang nodded.
Although, Wanyan Lie did many wrongful things towards Feng Xie and Wanyan Ming Yue, but towards this country, Wanyan Lie had merit. His sin was not enough to die for. Even if a gu was put on Feng Cang by Wanyan Lie, but he didn't wish for Wanyan Lie to die. Now, probably this was the best result.
On this day, all the imperial physicians from the imperial hospital had been called to Long Autumn palace. Not a while later, the matter of Wanyan Lie getting a stroke was spread out.
Although the officials were puzzled, but no one would raise objections. After all, the military was in Nan Lin wang Feng Cang's hand. The whole capital was under his control. Even if Wanyan Lie didn't get a stroke, this throne would've eventually been passed onto Feng Cang. There was no need to doubt this. No one would question the fact that Feng Cang was the heir of Bei Zhou.
Now, no matter what Wanyan Lie had done, Feng Cang would be the next emperor. Those who’d waited and were only spectators were already preparing ways to curry favour from this new emperor.
Surprisingly, the next morning, when Jing De announced the imperial edict, the throne was passed onto the six-year-old imperial grandson, that is, Wanyan Hong and Yu Shi Shi's son, Wanyan Lie's only grandson…Wanyan Jie.
The imperial edict specifically replaced the current identity of Feng Cang with a new one that reflects its true nature. Feng Cang appeared for the first time with the identity of Feng Xie’s and Wanyan Ming Yue's adopted son Long Ao Tian. Nan Lin wang was changed to Regent. Feng Qi Qi became grand princess Zhen Guo. The two would assist the new emperor till the new emperor turned sixteen and took over. As for fifth prince Wanyan Kang, he was bestowed the title Xiaoyao (free and unfettered) wang.
This imperial edict shocked the officials. Feng Cang's surname was Long? Long was the previous dynasty's surname, ah! Although everyone had questions, but no one mentioned them.
Among Wanyan Lie's five princes, only Wanyan Hong, Wanyan Yi and Wanyan Kang had survived. Wanyan Hong was imprisoned at Nanyuan. Wanyan Yi had died at Xia Yun Xi's hand. Now, only fifth prince Wanyan Kang was left. It was just, was Wanyan Kang really willing to only be Xiaoyao wang?
Wanyan Kang's attitude let the officials find some clues. After another thought, this highness always had a good relationship with Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi. Perhaps, these three jointly did this thing. Thinking till here, the officials willing knelt down and kowtowed.
To them, this throne was a matter of the imperial family. Since the imperial reached an agreement on this issue, then they should only serve as courtiers. Not to mention, Feng Cang wasn't someone easy to deal with. He was merely a regent. The country's surname was still Wanyan. This country was still the imperial family's.
Since Yu Shi Shi had died and Wanyan Hong was deposed, Wanyan Jie became a child without a father or mother. Although Wanyan Lie took this imperial grandson to the palace, but which one of the palace servants weren't flexible and took advantage of the situation?! No one bothered about this declined imperial grandson and also no one cared for him. This made Wanyan Jie's originally cheerful and lively character become timid and introvert.
At this time, Wanyan Jie wore a small dragon robe and sat on the dragon chair. He was bit cautious. He was also very nervous. He didn't know what an emperor should do. Yesterday, he had been taken here by a beautiful sister. Now, this beautiful sister held his hand, making him not be so scared even though he was sitting on the dragon chair.
"Don't be afraid. Act according to how aunty taught you!" Seeing Wanyan Jie be ill at ease, Murong Qi Qi smiled gently. She gently kneaded his small hand, "Aunty will stay with you! Don't be afraid!"
"Yes!" The one Wanyan Jie was afraid of was Feng Cang, because Feng Cang always had a cold face and his body exuded coldness. So, in comparison, Wanyan Jie preferred Murong Qi Qi because she was very beautiful. She was more beautiful than his mother. Besides, her smile was very warm. He liked this beautiful sister.
Jing De read a long 'tell the world’ edict of the new emperor in Wanyan Jie's stead. Wanyan Jie's immature voice sounded in Taiji hall, "Beloved officials, if there's something, enlighten, if there's nothing, then retreat from the morning court!"
With Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi here, how would the officials have something to say? Besides, Wanyan Kang showed his stance very clearly just now. It's better if they don't intervene in the matter of the imperial family.
The smooth ascension of the new emperor made everyone surprised. With Feng Cang's eagle troop, even the people who wanted to cause trouble also had to weigh their own ability.
Ten days later, Wanyan Kang told Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi in the regent's residence that he wanted to leave the capital to go play in the water and tour the mountains. This made the two people very surprised.
"Ah Kang, you really want to leave?" The person who asked was Feng Cang. Wanyan Jie had just successfully ascended the throne, and Wanyan Kang had already proposed to go wander everywhere to be a true Xiaoyao (free and unfettered) wang. This made Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi, who’d always seen him as a friend, very sad.
"Ah Kang, stay!" Murong Qi Qi urged Wanyan Kang to stay.
Seeing Feng Cang's and Murong Qi Qi's sincere eyes, Wanyan Kang laughed naughtily, "Cousin brother, cousin-in-law, don't be so sensational! It wasn't easy to have no one to discipline me. Let me be free for some time! I promise that I will only go for a stroll and won't stir up trouble. Don't worry!"
Wanyan Kang was smiling, but in his heart, he was very sad.
Wanyan Lie's matter affected him deeply, making him feel guilt every time he faced Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi. It turned out that all their misfortunes were brought by Wanyan Lie. He, as Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi's good friend, actually didn't know anything and couldn't help. Now, Murong Qi Qi's child got the gu. How could he not feel guilty?
After getting to know Wanyan Lie's true colors, Wanyan Kang decided to leave.
Previously, Jing De brought the edict that Wanyan Lie had already prepared. The edict specified to pass the throne to Feng Cang, but Feng Cang had no interest in the throne. He wanted to give the throne to Wanyan Kang, but was rejected by Wanyan Kang.
He didn't want to sit on the cold dragon chair and in the end, become like Wanyan Lie. He didn't want to lose Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi's friendship. He didn't want to become another person because of that superior position.
Wanyan Kang was unwilling to be the emperor. As a last resort, Feng Cang brought out imperial grandson Wanyan Jie and also revised the edict. After that, the problem was finally solved. Unexpectedly, they’d just stabilised the situation when Wanyan Kang proposed to leave…
"Ah Kang, what will happen to Su Mei when you leave? Could it be that if you go away for three or five years, you want Su Mei to wait for you?!" Seeing that she couldn't persuade Wanyan Kang, Murong Qi Qi pulled Su Mei out. She could sense that Wanyan Kang had received a blow because of Wanyan Lie's matter. That was why he’d chosen to leave. Although he was smiling, but the sadness and guilt in his eyes couldn't fool people.
Murong Qi Qi mentioning Su Mie made Wanyan Kang's heart feel another twitch of pain. His gaze fell behind Murong Qi Qi, where Su Mei had red eyes from almost crying.
"Little Mei er, I'm sorry…"
Aijia: I, used by an empress dowager ↩ Er: term of endearment ↩ Guye: son-in-law, used by the servants of the female family ↩ Wang/wangye: prince of first rank ↩