Chapter 522: Chapter 522
"You’re crying? Are you crying for me?"
When he saw her tears, he knew he couldn’t hold a grudge against her. She was sitting far from him, but with a slight move, he drew near, even grabbing her hand immediately. With his somewhat rough fingertips, he touched her smooth delicate cheek, wiping away the incessant tears that just wouldn’t stop.
"Stop crying, I don’t blame you, what are you crying for? I want to cry too!"
Tangyuan didn’t know why she was crying either; she just couldn’t stop or control her emotions upon seeing him.
Even though the night was pitch black, she could still clearly see his handsome features. While he wiped her tears, she instinctively grabbed his thumb and then looked up at him, her voice containing an unintentional naivety that even she couldn’t detect.
"How did you recognize me? It’s so dark, can you really see?"
His smile was a mix of helplessness and tolerance for her, "Why did you leave?"
Tangyuan hung her head, unsure of how to answer, but he gripped her hand tightly, his eyes filled with pleading.
"Now that I’m here, you can’t leave. It’s been two years, Yuanyuan, have you thought it over? Come back with me, will you? Don’t worry, I will give you the greatest freedom. If you want to leave the palace, I will accompany you. If you want to grow medicinal materials or farm, I’ll find a place for you in the palace. If there are banquets you don’t want to attend, then don’t. I’m keeping the queen’s seat for you. Whatever you want to do, no one can stop you. You are my Queen, you are the boss of the harem, no one dares to provoke you. The only regret is that I can’t leave the vast harem empty; every woman who enters is tied to their family’s relationship with the political court. Still, would you be willing to come back with me?"
For an ancient woman, to hear such rousingly emotional words from a man would be an extraordinary honor and thrill, wouldn’t it?
Unfortunately, she wasn’t an ancient woman. She detested the Imperial Palace, it was true, and she could not bring herself to sacrifice her freedom for a man.
Yet, she couldn’t let go of him. Original content can be found at Nove1Fire.net
If they had not met, it might have been alright, but having seen him again, she couldn’t let go. Could she indulge just once more in the days spent with him?
Tangyuan indulgently rolled over, pinning him beneath her, and this time, she initiated the kiss which glued them together, inseparable...
In the following half month, she quietly stayed in his camp, doing laundry and cooking for him, serving him tea and water. He was convinced she would follow him. As he prepared to head to the battlefield to retaliate against Ning Xu, unbeknownst to him, she had already silently made a decision.
Both Dongru Country and Nanling Country were personally led by their monarchs, making this battle intensely observed by Xigu Country and Beirong Country. They needed to concentrate on the ever-changing battlefield while also guarding against the other two countries, which made the fight far from easy.
However, Ning Xu’s defeat seemed predetermined by fate because of his overconfidence and the illegitimacy of his claim to the throne, having not been of true royal blood. Additionally, his having executed the National Guardian General meant that at least half of the court opposed him. Over the years, he had focused all his efforts on suppressing internal strife and guarding against external threats, little realizing that Rong Heng had already, even before ascending the throne, colluded with the King Yan of Dongru Country to discuss overthrowing Ning Xu. This personal campaign was an opportunity Ning Xu himself had delivered to their doorstep, one he could not miss.
Ning Xu did not survive the battlefield. He was captured by Rong Heng and brought before Tangyuan, forced to kneel in front of her and confess his sins in the presence of all the generals.
When the once spirited young Emperor now knelt before her in utter disarray, Tangyuan felt a tranquil calm within her.
Seeing the sharp-featured young man before him, Ning Xu’s gaze was one of confusion until she crouched before him and softly uttered her former name, causing him to suddenly widen his eyes in shock, "No, that’s impossible, how could this be?"
"How could it not be possible? I was fat in the past because your parents poisoned me, but I had already neutralized the poison in my body back in Yikun Palace. I have been away from Dongru Country for many years, don’t you think I could have lost weight? Ning Xu, you really shouldn’t have gone to such lengths. Whether it was the Empress Dowager or I, neither of us ever harbored any ill intentions against you, yet for your own desires, you repaid kindness with enmity, and this outcome is what you deserve!"
Rong Heng did not kill Ning Xu; instead, he used him to negotiate for ten cities in Dongru Country, allowing King Yan to take him away. Before he left, Tangyuan revealed a significant secret to King Yan.
When King Yan learned that the young man before him was the former substantially overweight former Empress, he was so shocked his jaw dropped.
After hearing the secret Tangyuan shared with him, he was even more astonished, for he had never imagined that Tangyuan was, in fact, his half-sister from the same father.
"No matter what the Empress Dowager once did wrong, the Cao Family no longer exists and thus has been punished. Now that we have restored the true lineage of Dongru Country, I hope you, my brother, will strengthen its future and give the Empress Dowager the respect she deserves. As for the Cao Family, please treat them well. As for the Yuan Family, treat them as they once treated the Cao Family. I am not being unfair, am I?"
King Yan looked at her, torn about what to say, "And you?"
Tangyuan glanced back briefly at Rong Heng not far away and smiled slightly at him.
"You don’t need to worry about me, brother. The former Empress is gone, and the reborn Tangyuan will probably spend her life here in the lands of Nanling Country."
King Yan, overwhelmed with emotions, patted her shoulder, "Take care of yourself and be well."
Two months later, King Yan had purged Ning Xu’s followers and prosecuted him and the Yuan Family for treason and conspiracy. He then naturally ascended the throne and formed an alliance with Nanling Country, promising that neither would engage in warfare or cross borders during their reigns, returning the favor of the great gift Tangyuan and Rong Heng had given him.
The men of the Yuan Family were sent to the army and the women to brothels, their fate worse than that of the Cao Family because Ning Xu had not left any survivors from the Cao Family. Tangyuan was probably the sole surviving member of the former Empress Dowager Cao. As for the Cao Family, they were utterly wiped out, so naturally, King Yan did not give them any chance for retaliation after becoming the Emperor.
Once peace returned to the border, the army also prepared to return to the capital. That night, she was particularly passionate, taking him again and again, until he fell into a profoundly deep sleep. When he woke, he found the spot beside him chillingly empty; the woman he had planned to crown as his Queen had once again escaped him. Devastated, Rong Heng, in a fit of rage, spared no effort and used his Imperial Army to search the ends of the earth for her whereabouts.