Chapter 1077

　　Yearning for Love

　　Fan Tianli pointed to the plate of fruits on the table, telling Xuan Tiange: “The fruits in Da Mo are much more delicious than the ones here, more than one hundred times sweeter, do you know why? Because the weather in Da Mo is hot and dry, the fruits are very sweet when grown. Once you take one bite of Da Mo’s fruits, you will definitely not want the ones in Da Shun anymore.”

　　He started talking about the produce of his homeland, looking rather proud. But Xuan Tiange frowned and glanced at him, then asked: “Just because Gu Shu’s fruits are delicious, I will no longer like my homeland? Then our Da Shun also has a lot of things which are one hundred times better than Gu Shu, will you look down on your country because of those?”

　　“Of course not.” Fan Tianli spread his arms, “You have misunderstood, This Monarch does not mean it this way, there is no motive to make you dislike your homeland. This Monarch only wants to tell you, Gu Shu is not as barren as what the rest of the world thinks. Marrying over there, you will not suffer any hardship or fatigue. In fact, excluding the climate, geographical location and the uniqueness of the scenery, the lives of the people in Gu Shu and Da Shun are not that different. In addition, Gu Shu had always been the subordinate nation to Da Shun. Even though we have our own writing system and language, the people started to place importance in the Han language one hundred years ago, and currently, people use Da Shun as a foundation when speaking and writing, you will be able to understand the words and speech, so you will not face any obstacles in daily life.”

　　“I understand, you are convincing me.” Xuan Tiange could not help but laugh, “Why are you making such an effort, you dispelled Uncle Emperor’s Gu, I will naturally marry you, this is what we agreed on in the beginning. Do not worry, what I decided, my Father King and Consort Mother will not doubt it, this will be done.”

　　“This Monarch knows it will be done.” Fan Tianli told her seriously: “But This Monarch hopes that you will be willing and not do it because it was an exchange condition. The matter of marriage between us should be built on the foundation of our feelings for each other, then it will last a long time and not simply be a political marriage.”

　　“But I don’t have much feelings towards you.” Xuan Tiange stared at him, speaking honestly. Even though the two are considered acquainted, it was not to the point that they will develop for feelings for each other that quickly. Even though she did not dislike Fan Tianli, but talking about liking him, talking about falling for him, that was still a little exaggerated. She told Fan Tianli: “In the past, I have thought that I will have to walk on the path of political marriage in the end and thought of which nation I will get married to, including Gu Shu. But that was basically a political move and I do not have to get my feelings involved into this. If you can accept it, that would be the best. But if you must force me to fall for you as I marry you, I’m afraid that…… at least in this short span of time, I cannot do it.”

　　“Then we will slowly cultivate those feelings.” Fan Tianli was not in a rush, he said: “This Monarch will stay in Da Shun for some time. Seeing that Your Highness the Princess is in low spirits, if you do not mind, This Monarch can accompany you for walks. Until the day you nod and say that it can be done, then we will talk about marriage, how about that?”

　　He spoke sincerely, and that sincerely was transmitted from those sinister looking eyes, Xuan Tiange felt strangely moved. This person was still the ruler of a nation! Even if he was newly crowned, he was a prince in the past and probably had never spoken so humbly to any woman before, right? His arrogance seeped out from his bones, she could tell, but this arrogance could be put down just like that in front of her, to a ruler, this trait was rare.

　　She felt some trepidation and wanted to say ‘You don’t have to treat me that well, I did not do much when I saved you in the past.’ But she swallowed those words when they reached the tip of her tongue, suddenly feeling that the man in front of her resembled her Ninth Brother a lot. He had the same sinister aura and was a person who looked evil even when smiling, but when faced with the woman he loved, his arrogance would turn into tenderness and sweetness, which had caused her to feel envious in the past.

　　“Alright.” Without any restraint, Xuan Tiange agreed to Fan Tianli’s suggestion. She did not know, but when she said the word “Alright”, her gaze contained signs of yearning.

　　That night, all the members of the Eighth Prince’s faction in the capital lost sleep, spending the most suspenseful night. There were even people who reached breaking point under this mental torture and tried to commit suicide but were saved by the other members of their family. There were some people who wanted to run away, but the gates of the capital were closed tightly. Wang Zhuo received orders from the Regent Prince Xuan Tianfeng and brought those 30,000 Northeast troops to surround the capital such that not even a fly could leave. The people in the Eighth Prince’s faction all understood, they had to be prepared to pay the price, they had acted so arrogantly together with the Eighth Prince for a few months, it was time to pay that back. They thought that the Eighth Prince could hold on until the end and could reach the peak of his life together with them, but unexpectedly, the light was just in front of them, but they could not win the Ninth King Yama in the end.

　　With people losing sleep, there would also be people sleeping deeply, compared to the Eighth Prince faction who spent the night with nightmares plaguing their souls, the people of the Ninth Prince’s faction had the best sleep they could in these few months. The Emperor had returned to normal, the Eighth Prince and Imperial Concubine Yuan Gui were sent to death row prison and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

　　The next day, Feng Yuheng and Yao Xian entered the imperial palace together to treat the Emperor’s injury.

　　With regards to him injuring that place, the Emperor stubbornly did not want Feng Yuheng to interfere, he felt too embarrassed. The good thing was that Yao Xian was around and Feng Yuheng did not insist, passing the injections and medicines to Yao Xian, then asked Zhang Yuan to get a chair, sitting in a shady spot outside Zhao He Hall to chat with that Eunuch. She asked Zhang Yuan: “Did Father Emperor sleep well last night?”

　　Zhang Yuan said: “Not well, he did not really sleep at all, and kept thinking about things.”

　　“What was he thinking of? Did he tell you?”

　　“He did.” Zhang Yuan nodded, continuing: “Actually, it’s nothing much, he was absorbed in thinking up more than a hundred ways to have Liu Shi die, and was very conflicted, not knowing which one to use.”

　　“Oh?” Feng Yuheng became interested, “Why does he not know which one to choose? Just choose the cruellest one!”

　　“But that would be too disgusting!” Zhang Yuan looked troubled, “The cruellest one would be to pull out the muscles, tear off the skin, cook the meat and pour it over the blood and intestines, This Servant feels like throwing up thinking about that scene. Princess, do you not think that is a little too disgusting?”

　　Feng Yuheng also felt it was a little too much, but Zhang Yuan added on: “But His Majesty felt that was not enough, it still did not satisfy his anger, so he rejected those more than one hundred methods and started to think of new ones!”

　　Feng Yuheng was speechless, thinking about it again, the old Emperor did not have much to do, lying in bed all day and was very bored. If he was able to entertain himself, that was a good thing, it was better than holding it in until he got depression. She could heal injuries, but a condition like depression would be a little more difficult.

　　The two people chatted idly outside Zhao He Hall. Inside the house, Yao Xian efficiently changed the Emperor’s medicine, injected fluids, and examined the stitching of the injury carefully, telling him: “It is recovering well, continue on like this.”

　　The Emperor face was red, staring at this old man who looked at his body like he was looking at an insect, he hmph-ed in a troubled manner and said unhappily: “Our face has been thoroughly lost in front of all of you, you have even seen Our body. Old Yao, you have taken advantage of an elder.”

　　Yao Xian was unhappy, “You and I are both men, what kind of advantage can I take from you over so many years? I did use so much medicine and injections on you. You’re the one who has taken advantage of me and my granddaughter, you did not even pay!”

　　“Money is a small issue!” The Emperor shouted angrily, “Go to the national treasury and take however much you want, We can even pass the key to the national treasury to Ah-Heng, it’s no problem.” After speaking without caring for others for a while, he turned his head and looked out of the hall, seeing that no one had entered, he lowered his volume and asked Yao Xian softly: “Old Yao, We need to ask you something, during these few months, did you hear any information about Yun Pianpian? We were harmed by that Liu Shi until we became muddled-headed, did she react in any special way?”

　　Yao Xian asked in return, feeling confused: “What kind of reaction do you want her to have? Jealousy? That I don’t know, I only know that she was taken out of the palace by your ninth son and is staying at Chun Palace now.”

　　“What?” The Emperor was angry, “She left the imperial palace again? She is Our concubine, how can she leave the imperial palace so easily?”

　　Yao Xian looked at this old Emperor as if he was looking at a joke, “You favoured Liu Shi and the Eighth Prince to the skies and conferred the position of Imperial Concubine Gui to her, and even said during the New Year imperial banquet and as long as Imperial Concubine Yuan Gui gives birth to another imperial child, you will appoint the Eighth Prince as the crown prince. With the palace becoming like this, if Imperial Concubine Yun does not leave, you wish for her to be harmed to death by the Liu Shi mother and son?”

　　The Emperor gave a start, finally thinking about the crux of the issue. “That’s right! How can We forget, Liu Shi and the others are so diabolical and even dared to harm Us, it would be really bad if they were allowed to harm Pianpian due to some careless action? Old Ninth was correct, and in addition, she did not go to any other place after leaving and was at Old Seventh’s palace, We are relieved. Sigh.” Saying this, he sighed deeply and his expression dimmed, “It’s good that she left, We did say that We will free her. What kind of life she led in the palace during these years, We know it very well, she does not like this place, but was unable to leave, locking herself in Winter Moon Palace all day and might have been close to going crazy. We do not have any face to see her now, if she wants to leave, she should! We will not stop her.”

　　After saying this, he turned his head towards the wall, no longer looking at Yao Xian.

　　From the side, Yao Xian could see that there were tears in the old Emperor’s eyes, but he did not know how to console him, so he only shook his head, sitting next to the bed to infuse the fluids and when one bag of the medicine was injected in, he pulled out the needle and took his leave. When Yao Xian left, the Emperor did not say anything else but his body shuddered occasionally, even an idiot could tell he was crying.

　　Yao Xian and Feng Yuheng left the imperial palace, Zhang Yuan entered the inner hall, and seeing from a distance that the Emperor on the bed wiping away his tears in an aggrieved manner, he also felt sad. He approached and advised the old Emperor: “Think of happier things! The good thing is that the Gu poison has been removed and everything is developing in a good direction. This Servant heard that for the morning court today, the Sixth Prince hosted it rather well, the court was orderly, this is Da Shun’s fortune. As for Imperial Concubine Yun, the past twenty years were spent like this, you can just work hard again. This Servant knows that you might say there will not be another twenty years, but there should be at least two years, right? With the Sixth Prince as regent, the burden on your shoulders would have lessened greatly. Take this chance to court Her Highness Imperial Concubine Yun once again, treat it as trying to find the same feeling as when you were younger. Whether it will work out or not, at least you have worked hard for it and there will be no regrets.”

　　These words caused the Emperor to feel pained and could not stop his sounds of crying, failing to hold them back at all, he even spoke as he cried: “You damn Eunuch, fanning the flames at this time, you just want to see Us embarrass Ourselves, right? You feel happy if We cry, right?”

　　Zhang Yuan shook his hands, “I feel like crying if you cry, how can I feel happy? Alright, alright, let’s not talk about this, change the topic. Your Majesty already knows that for the Gu removal this time, the Gu Shu ruler stepped forward to help, right? There is one thing This Servant must say.”