Let Me Pursue You

Chapter 113 – Ending · On

Yuan Cixian couldn’t recover from it all at once, and when the words echoed in her head three times, she suddenly turned over, put on her clothes and got off the couch, moved the door and said, “What’s the matter?”

Picking a solemn expression: “The empress and the thirteen princes were robbed out of the palace one after another.”

She tightened her hand on the door frame, and she was so angry that she couldn’t choose what to say: “Are those people in the palace dead? Tell me more clearly.”

“It’s Xue Cairen. Xue Cairen moved his hands and feet, causing the queen to be taken into captivity. Immediately afterwards, the thirteen princes also disappeared.”

Yuan Cixian’s whole body froze, and her heart sank to the bottom of the valley in an instant.

She knew the real reason why Hosoi started the rumors.

Since Xiju was able to learn the secret of Xu Zhai from Shaohe, he must also know who was finally enthroned in his previous life. Emperor Huining is dead, and what he wants now is the life of the future heir of Da Zhou. As for the heir, there are two possibilities, one is Zheng Zhuo who judged according to the situation, and the other is Zheng Hong who learned about it from Shaohe.

Zheng Zhuo is not easy to get close to, so Xiju should start with Zheng Hong, but Lu Shiqing has also arranged the Daming Palace to protect Zheng Hong. It is logically very difficult for him to succeed, at least he can’t do it by force.

So he made a trick and pinpointed the only loophole in the Daming Palace, a loophole that neither Lu Shiqing nor Zheng Zhuo had guarded against, and that was the latter’s biological mother, Xue Cairen. They might protect Xue Cairen’s safety, but they never thought about guarding against her actions.

Xiju released the rumors to achieve two purposes: first, to cause the old emperor to send the empress who is the master of the harem to put Xue Cairen under house arrest, and to provoke the first level of conflict between the two women; The old emperor is gone, the country has no new emperor, and the palace is in chaos. The empress will take the initiative to preside over the courtiers to discuss who will inherit the throne. This will provoke a second level of conflict between them.

Xue Cairen has not been favored for so many years. He watched Zheng Zhuo being suppressed and bullied since he was a child, and he couldn’t do anything for him. Now that the situation is critical and his son has not yet returned to court, he must be very anxious. At this time, if someone persuaded her and told her to get rid of the empress, it would be possible to suppress the controversy in the court, she would really give it a try.

And after the queen was taken into captivity, why did the thirteen princes suffer?

Because Shaohe is also a key part of it.

At this moment, Yuan Cixian thought, Shaohe probably did not betray Da Zhou out of his own heart. Maybe it was torture, maybe it was medicine, and Xii forced some information from her, but it didn’t make her cooperate willingly. Therefore, he kidnapped her mother and threatened her to exchange the thirteen princes.

On Nanzhao’s side, the only person who can quietly take away the thirteen princes is Shaohe. As far as she is concerned, she only needs to get into the Daming Palace, and then she doesn’t even need to be violent, just a few coaxing words, and Zheng Hong, who is still young and has little knowledge, and who trusts her sister wholeheartedly, can be persuaded to go with her.

Then, the defense of the palace is likely to be useless.

As for why Shaohe sacrificed his younger brother to save his mother, Yuan Cixian thinks that there may be two reasons. First of all, this younger brother is a half-brother after all, and is different from his biological mother. Secondly, she knew that Xiju would not kill her younger brother directly, but would use him to lure Zheng Zhuo out. With Zheng Zhuo on the way, the younger brother is likely to turn the danger out of danger in the end, and continue the fate of the previous life to ascend the throne smoothly.

But Yuan Cixian was afraid of this fate. Because if Zheng Zhuo is well, it doesn’t make sense for Zheng Hong to ascend the throne.

She figured this out, and suddenly asked, “Did His Highness the Sixth Highness return to Beijing?”

Picking a branch and shaking his head.

She paced back and forth twice, calmed down, and said, “Whether I’m in time or not, I can’t sit still and ask someone to come back to Dazhou with me.”

After she finished speaking, she saw Father came hurriedly behind Caizhi, probably got the news, and said to her: “Father takes someone there.”

Yuan Cixian shook his head and reasoned: “You should stay in the Uighurs to deter the Turks. The battle with the Turks is head-to-head, and I can’t do anything here, but over the years, I have understood Xiju, and I am somewhat sure of him. Not to mention the death of the sage, the court is in chaos, no one has the energy to pay attention to our Yuan family right now, and there will be a lot of resistance when I go back, don’t worry.”

Yuan Yi knew that what his daughter said was right, the country comes first, the family comes after, there is no reason to be selfish at this time, he gritted his teeth bitterly and said: “Father sent troops to **** you, and then called your elder brother to go with you , you brother and sister take care of each other, so be careful.”

Yuan Cixian nodded, packed up quickly, and led people out of the Uighur border overnight.

She said it, but one day, there will be a place for her to use in the four regions.

Yuan Cixian went all the way to the south in different clothes, and took the shortest shortcut smoothly.

At first, she wondered why the tactic of evading border searches that she had prepared hadn’t been used at all. After entering the country, she learned that the country cannot live without a king. Going on, Zheng Zhuo’s officials have successfully placed him on the throne and stabilized the situation in the capital, waiting for him to ascend the throne after his return. At the same time, these courtiers who had worked with Lu Shiqing for many years and knew the inside story also faked the death of the Yuan and Lu families, and withdrew the arrest warrants from Da Zhou.

Zheng Zhuo was only one step away from being the righteous emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but Yuan Cixian didn’t feel at ease at all, especially after confirming with the capital that he had not returned to Chang’an, and had not heard from him for a whole day and night, his heart was even more serious. perturbed. According to the itinerary, he was supposed to have already entered Beijing, but now there is only one possibility, Xiju used Zheng Hong to lure him back.

The officials under him didn’t dare to let the news spread, lest Da Zhou really messed up and his surname was usurped by some officials with ulterior motives in the court, and they only said that he was dealing with some matters halfway and would return to Beijing soon.

But Yuan Cixian knew that this matter could not be hidden for too long, and the people in the court would soon realize that something was wrong, and she had to find Zheng Zhuo and Zheng Hong as soon as possible to stabilize the situation in Da Zhou.

And the people who are looking for them are obviously not the only ones like her and elder brother.

Three days later, she entered Jiannan Road after searching everywhere, and met Chen Zhan, a close friend of Zheng Zhuo.

This is not a good sign. When Zheng Zhuo went south to pretend to pursue Lu Shiqing, Chen Zhan was supposed to be by his side.

Sure enough, when the young man saw her and Yuan Yu, he didn’t have time to surprise and ask, and was in a hurry. Chen Zhan said that as early as when Zheng Zhuo was ordered to return to Beijing by the sage, his military power was taken back, and an army that originally accompanied him out of Beijing was on standby because of the holy order, and all operations were suspended. So there was only a group of cronies left around him.

On the night that His Highness the Thirteenth Prince was robbed, Zheng Zhuo got the news, and because he found that the other party’s kidnapping route happened to pass him by, he quickly turned around and chased after him. At first, the entourage followed him in pursuit, but after encountering several waves of assassins in succession, they suffered heavy casualties, and most of the survivors were scattered. In the end, there were fewer and fewer people, and even Chen Zhan had to fight against the enemy once. , in order to help him escape, parted ways with him, and lost contact with him.

Zheng Zhuo is not going to chase people down, he should find a way to deliver the news to the capital, but I am afraid that they will be intercepted by the other party. So now, Chen Zhan and the people from the capital can only look for him all over the world based on the marks he left in the wild.

Yuan Cixian figured out the situation, confirmed the mark to him, and then asked him to send all the soldiers to divide into several routes. After making overall arrangements, he personally went to the south to pursue the attack

There are reasons for choosing the south side.

In the past few days, she has also been paying attention to the news of Shi Cui and Cao An, and learned that with the help of Da Zhou, they have successfully misled Xi Ju, luring him to go north in person, leading people to chase after them in their direction past.

Now, she only needs to use Shi Cui and Cao An’s route to lure the enemy, and then she can find the location of Xi’s residence. And once he was found, there would be no news about Zheng Zhuo and Zheng Hong. This is the insurance method of working on both sides.

Two days later, in the middle of the night, Yuan Cixian settled down near the Shiyu River in the east of Shuzhou, intending to tell everyone to rest in the middle of the night before going back on the road. Unexpectedly, after half an hour’s sleep, he was awakened by the news brought by Chen Zhan.

In the past two days, whenever there was a break, Yuan Cixian ordered everyone to take turns to rest, and assigned a team to search nearby, in order not to miss any news. And it was Chen Zhan who brought back the whereabouts of Zheng Zhuo: he found the mark in the woods on the other side of the river.

Yuan Cixian finally gave birth to a glimmer of hope when he got the news. At least so far, Zheng Zhuo is safe, and because he is safe, Zheng Hong should also be fine.

She immediately formed a team and ordered everyone to search the woods, and then found a few more marks, crossed Shuzhou overnight and entered Qiongzhou, and lost the message again near Detongguan Mountain.

The sun broke through the clouds, the sky was bright, and everyone was sweating profusely, half because of the heat, half because of impatience, for fear that they would miss Zheng Zhuo again after running all the way. At the foot of the mountain, Chen Zhan asked Yuan Cixian where to chase next.

Yuan Cixian frowned, picked a branch and scribbled on the muddy ground, thought for a while, and was about to point to the east when he suddenly paused.

Chen Zhan wanted to ask what’s the matter, but just opened his mouth, but he understood what was going on – the sound of horseshoes came from the east, and it belonged to a person.

If it is a person, it is unlikely to be an enemy. He was ecstatic in his heart, and followed Yuan Cixian who was stiff because of nervousness, and looked intently. Everyone also held the handle of the knife in their hands, clenched it nervously and then loosened it, and then clenched it tightly again.

In the past five days, after tracking and missing again and again, everyone has reached the end of their battle, not physically, but their hearts have cooled down a little bit.

What they were looking for was not only Zheng Zhuo, but also Da Zhou’s hope.

But now, this voice brought everyone back to life, but they were also afraid that it would be nothing like all the marks along the way.

The sound of horseshoes was getting closer and closer, and everyone held their breath until at the end of the wilderness, a figure in black armor appeared on the horizon. Facing the rising sun, he leaped straight up, galloping all the way, under the grass and dust, the black crown in his hair was straightened by the wind, like a hunting banner.

The string in Yuan Cixian’s head that had been broken for several days suddenly slackened, and at the same time, his legs softened, and all the strength in his body seemed to be sucked out. Fortunately, he supported himself with a tree branch to stabilize himself.

After seeing clearly that the person on the horse was indeed Zheng Zhuo, and he was still holding the young Zheng Hong in his arms, everyone was so excited that they even forgot to gallop to greet him, just staring blankly like a group of fools, waiting for him gallop close.

It was Yuan Cixian who came to his senses first, let out a long breath, and said with a smile: “What are you doing in a daze, don’t hurry to pick it up…”

Before she finished speaking, a horse neighed from a distance, followed by a loud “bang”.

The smiles on everyone’s faces were stagnant, and when they saw that Zheng Zhuo lost his strength and accidentally fell off the horse, he rushed up in a hurry.

But Yuan Cixian was as motionless as a carved stone. She seemed to see the man who fell from the horse with a heavy arrow stuck in his back.

She suddenly seemed to be unable to hear anything for a moment, and then, the next moment, the exclamation and noise of countless people poured into her ears.

She could clearly distinguish Zheng Hong’s voice, he was crying and calling “Brother Six”.

Yuan Cixian trembled and ran away.

When Zheng Zhuo approached, she saw his injury clearly at a glance. The heavy arrow shot in from the back of the heart, hitting the vital point, and the flesh around the wound seemed to have turned black and necrotic. Judging from the color, it had lasted at least three hours.

In such a deadly position, he should have died when he was hit by the arrow, but he miraculously survived for three hours and survived until he saw her and Yuan Yu just now and knew that Zheng Hong was safe, so he slacked off and fell off the horse.

This arrow, coupled with three hours of strong support, has no effect.

Yuan Cixian froze in place, making no movements.

Zheng Zhuo struggled to prop up one arm, but without looking at her, he turned to Zheng Hong first, panting, “…a man, why are you crying?”

Zheng Hong wiped his tears desperately, but wiped more and more. The six-year-old child could see the situation clearly, and he paused and said in a choked voice: “Sixth brother, don’t die, don’t die… I, I haven’t After learning martial arts from you, you said last time that we want to make an appointment to fight together…”

Zheng Zhuo’s complexion turned ashen quickly after falling off the horse, and he smiled and said, “Sixth brother is not dead, but he may not be able to fight with you for the time being, and he may not be able to return to Beijing. You promise Sixth brother, help Sixth brother take care of it first.” A few years in the imperial court, wait…” He coughed and vomited out a mouthful of bright red blood.

“Zheng Zhuo…!” Yuan Cixian squatted down, grabbed his hand, and went to check the temperature of his palm.

After she yelled at him, he was speechless again, but Zheng Zhuo turned his head and glanced at her, knowing that he couldn’t hold on any longer, and he couldn’t talk to the child in a roundabout way, so he told Zheng Hong, “Listen carefully to Lu Shilang and the county lord in the future.”

Then looking at Yuan Cixian, he smiled wryly and said, “Da Zhou…I can only leave it to you.”

Da Zhou, I can only leave it to you.

This sentence is almost exactly the same as in the dream.

Yuan Cixian’s eyes became hot, tears welled up, as if because she failed to save Zheng Zhuo’s fate, or because she failed Lu Shiqing, she nodded desperately: “Don’t worry, don’t worry… No one can bully Hong’er, nor People can invade Dazhou, ten years, twenty years, I will guard it, we will guard it…”

Zheng Zhuo struggled to make a smile: “Don’t cry, he knows, he should be jealous again…”

Yuan Cixian choked, she burst into tears, she kept shaking her head, but she didn’t know what else to say.

Zheng Zhuo looked at her, his eyes gradually became lax, and before he lost his mind, he suddenly saw a strange scene.

He saw himself sitting at the stone table in the back garden of the Prince’s Mansion, while Yuan Cixian was in front of him, throwing a pair of Wumu, after throwing a look, he said triumphantly: “I said this one will definitely win, you still don’t believe it!”

When he heard the phrase “you”, he was surprised for a while, and then looked aside, it was Lu Shiqing who was wearing the mask of “Xu Shan”.

He wondered in surprise, how could Yuan Cixian have played Wumu with him, but Lu Shiqing was as stable as Mount Tai, and didn’t overturn the vinegar jar? Sure enough, people are about to die, giving birth to illusions.

He smiled helplessly, and the hand bent by his side dropped down as if out of strength.

Yuan Cixian looked at Zheng Zhuo’s tightly closed eyes, and seemed to hear a distant voice slowly approaching, until it reached her ears, and then spread far away, and finally rang out to stop Xingyun.

That voice said—Daddy likes to be in power, but power can cure Dad’s heart disease, but it can’t cure Dad’s world. I want to rejuvenate the rotten trees all over the world, regenerate withered grass, make talents with lofty ideals have talents, and common people enjoy blessings and enjoyment. All countries in all directions congratulate me on the prosperity of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and dare not go one step further.

She stood up stiffly amidst the cries of the people around her, slowly clenched her fists, looked in the direction of Chang’an, and read word by word: “Dehua the people, treat the scholars with righteousness, respect Anbang, rule the country by law, Wuzhen four Domain, benevolence cultivates the world.”