The Empress Dowager's Three Seals Settled the Realm; the Yandere Imperial Sister Slipped Out of the Capital
The heavy palace doors were wide open.
Surrounded by a group of elderly eunuchs and heavily armored Imperial Guard, the Empress Dowager, with her head full of silver hair, wore a black robe embroidered with gold phoenixes and slowly stepped into the main hall.
His face was as calm as an ancient pool, and he held a cane with a coiled dragon in his hand. With each step he took, the ground echoed with a dull thud.
All the officials knelt down and shouted "Long live the Emperor!"
The Empress Dowager ignored the court officials on either side and walked straight up to the steps, her gaze lingering for a moment on the letter requesting war on the imperial desk.
"His Majesty is unwell and bedridden."
The Empress Dowager's voice was calm, yet it carried an overwhelming authority that overwhelmed the entire room.
"But the land of Great Yan has not yet reached the point where it can be bullied by foreign villains."
She turned around, and the chief eunuch Gao Fu immediately held up a warm jade seal carved with a nine-tailed phoenix.
"Stamp."
The Empress Dowager coldly uttered two words.
The crimson phoenix seal slammed heavily onto the center of the official document.
Without saying a word, Elder Chancellor Su grabbed the large wolf-hair brush on the table and began to write on the bright yellow Xuan paper. His characters were as sharp as iron hooks and silver strokes, and he instantly drafted the Central Secretariat Department Tang Tie (a type of calligraphy scroll).
The Grand Commandant strode forward, took out the military command tally from his robes, and pressed it heavily to the end!
Phoenix Seal, Seal of the Central Secretariat Department, Tiger Tally of the Ministry of War!
Three seals in one!
The "Pingwo Beibian Tang Tie," representing the highest will of the entire Great Yan, was finalized amidst the trembling gazes of the court officials.
"Send this by express courier, over 800 li, to Yi Prefecture."
The Empress Dowager flicked her long sleeves, her phoenix eyes filled with majesty.
"By imperial decree, Prince Yi Gu Moran, is granted temporary control over all military and political affairs in Anyang and Qi and Lu."
Anyone who dares to outwardly comply but inwardly defy, or to collude with the enemy, shall be executed first and reported later!
"Your Majesty, we obey!"
The Elder Chancellor Su and the Grand Commandant bowed in unison, their voices echoing throughout the hall.
In the shadow of the corner tower of the Hall of Supreme Ultimate.
A slender and delicate figure leaned against a vermilion pillar, toying with an old jade pendant whose edges were worn smooth.
Gu Moli wore a simple light blue palace dress, with only a white jade hairpin in her hair.
When they saw the messenger riding a fast horse, carrying a golden invitation card stamped with three seals, galloping out of the palace gates...
A strange light flickered in her eyes, which usually held a sickly coldness.
"My brother... is going to war."
Gu Moli pressed the jade pendant to her lips and gently breathed on it.
The personal maid, Qingwu, walked up in small steps, looking somewhat flustered.
"Princess, the Imperial Concubine requests your return to the Hanzhang Hall..."
Gu Moli traced the old scar on the web of her hand with her fingertips, a sickly yet sweet smile curving her lips.
What's so interesting about copying scriptures?
"The winds and waves are fierce in Dengzhou. If no one is there to shield my imperial brother from hidden arrows, how can things proceed?"
She turned around, her voice as soft as a breeze, yet it sent chills down Qingwu's spine:
"Prepare two fast horses and choose two sets of light, practical clothing."
"Let's... go to Dengzhou to see the sea."
"That stand-in I've been raising for a month can finally be put to use; I'll have her fake being sick..."
Anyang.
The iron ring struck the stone pillar, producing a series of dull, rough sounds. The thick cowhide rope, as thick as a child's arm, was already soaked in blackened blood, curling up where it had cut into the flesh, clinging tightly to the fabric.
Gu Mochen was hanging in the middle of the pillar.
He endured seven days and seven nights of being tormented and clawed by those evil forces from overseas.
A heavy, choked breath rolled from deep in his throat, each exhale carrying the stench of rotting internal organs. His eye sockets sank in, and his once-thin jawline protruded horribly.
Zhou Huaili knelt on the damp, cold brick floor, a copper basin filled with warm water in his hands. The wet cloth he used had just touched Gu Mochen's purplish lower lip when it was scalded by the hot, cracked skin, causing him to tremble slightly.
"Your Highness, please have a sip of warm water to soothe your nerves. I dissolved half a coin's worth of ginseng in the water."
Gu Mochen didn't open his mouth, but struggled to open his eyelids a crack. His cloudy, dark pupils turned to Zhou Huaili, and it took a long time for them to gather a faint light.
He struggled to grab Zhou Huaili's wide sleeve with his right hand, the force not great, but the grip deep.
" Old Zhou... In the end, after all this time, I've lost because of my impatience."
The sound was so soft it seemed to hover close to the ground, like air finally leaking out of a broken bellows.
"If I hadn't been so eager to prove myself to my father, and hadn't believed the Daoist's nonsense and offered him the elixir, I wouldn't have been banished from the capital by imperial decree and exiled to Anyang to suffer these hard times."
Zhou Huaili felt a lump in his throat as he listened, and with both hands holding the bowl of water, he lowered his head, his eyes red-rimmed.
"Later, I heard that the third prince had completed the irrigation canal in Jiannan Circuit and set up a workshop. I was burning with anxiety and eager to take Yang Tie's Pure Yang Elixir, which completely exhausted my body."
Gu Mochen twitched the corner of his mouth, and the dried scab broke open, revealing two drops of black blood.
"If I hadn't been so desperate to suppress the third brother, why would I have resorted to desperate measures, swallowing those two island barbarians' ' Bliss Pills' and turning myself into this wretched, inhuman mess?"
Zhou Huaili took a breath, raised his hand to wipe the corner of his eye with his sleeve, and couldn't help but speak with a hint of resentment through gritted teeth.
"Your Highness, why take it all upon yourself? If it weren't for that scheming and opportunistic Chen Qing constantly stirring things up, you wouldn't have ended up in this predicament."
"That fellow was nothing but a sycophant who was good for nothing and good for nothing. He relied on our past relationship to act arrogantly and domineeringly in the Prince's mansion."
He was the quickest to run away after something went wrong; he practically pushed His Highness to the edge of a cliff.
The oil lamp flickered gently, casting a dim, yellowish light on Gu Mochen's blood-stained profile.
He stared intently at the cluster of flames, then suddenly a wide smile spread across his face, his chest heaving with laughter.
" Old Zhou, you've been with me for over a decade. There are some things you don't understand, and I've never told you."
Gu Mochen gasped for breath, a cough rising in his throat, spitting out half a mouthful of thick, black blood, which splattered onto the leather rope soaked in tung oil on his chest.
"All the officials in the court laugh at me for having a lowly, unremarkable person by my side, but who among them remembers my time at the Hall of Literary Learning when I was young?"
Zhou Huaili stopped what he was doing and looked up at the emaciated Second Prince on the stone pillar.
"My birth mother was just a female official without any official title. She died of illness in a remote alley less than two years after giving birth to me. There wasn't even anyone in the palace to light incense for her."
"Back then, the eldest brother Gu Moyuan, had the powerful empress backing him."
Although the third son Gu Moran, was carefree, the Noble Consort Chen was currently in the Emperor's favor, and his father also protected him.
Of all the people in the palace, they were the most precious.
Gu Mochen's voice lowered, as if he had been pulled back to that deep palace courtyard surrounded by green bricks and red walls.
"The aristocratic families who served as companions to students at Hall of Literary Learning included the Wang Clan of Taiyuan, the Lu Clan of Fanyang, and the Zheng Clan of Xingyang..."
Which rich kid doesn't look down on others?
They swarmed around Gu Moyuan and Gu Moran, wagging their tails and begging for their favor.
Turning his head, all the vicious punches and kicks landed on me, the second prince who had no mother to care for him.