Chapter 99 - Finale
The moment he was dug out of the tunnel, Zhong Yansheng fell into a deep sleep while holding Xiao Nong.
When I woke up, I had been sent back to the palace.
Zhong Yansheng opened his eyes hazily, and the first thing he did was to look for Xiao Nong.
Then he felt his hand being grabbed. When he turned around, he saw Xiao Nong lying beside him.
There was a bandage wrapped around Xiao Nong's forehead, and his familiar handsome face was pale and bloodless, looking weak and pale, which had reduced his sharpness. His chest rose and fell slightly, and he seemed to be silent.
In the tunnel, Xiao Nong held him tightly under his body, and he felt that Xiao Nong was bleeding a lot.
He risked his life to save Xiao Nong, and Xiao Nong also risked his life to save him.
Zhong Yansheng's hands and feet were cold, and his head was buzzing. Like a dainty little bird, he didn't dare to press down the wounded man beneath him. He carefully lay on his chest, moved close to him, held his breath and listened carefully.
Fortunately, the heartbeat that I could hear was not as strong as before, but it was very stable.
Zhong Yansheng let out a long sigh of relief, his eyes red as he gave Xiao Nong a soft kiss on the corner of his lips.
My brother is the best brother in the world.
There were faint voices outside the room, and then there were deliberately light footsteps coming in. Zhong Yansheng looked up when he heard the voices, and saw Feng Ji and Yun Cheng standing outside the veil in a daze. He was pleasantly surprised: "Young Prince! It's been three days, and you finally woke up!"
"Your servant, your servant will go and call the imperial physician right away!"
"The Marquis and his wife have been here several times!"
Zhong Yansheng felt that these words were strangely familiar, very similar to the time when he fell into the water a long time ago and had a big dream in which he woke up from the tragic ending described in the book.
Although there were twists and turns in the process, he successfully prevented those bad things from happening.
Zhong Yansheng coughed twice and smiled at the two people who were surprised: "Pour me a cup of tea first."
The imperial physician arrived soon.
Several imperial doctors carefully examined Zhong Yansheng's pulse. As he had been well taken care of by Xiao Nong, Zhong Yansheng was not seriously injured. He was just too tired and had a cold in his body. He had been unconscious for three days and was almost recovered now.
The more serious one is Xiao Nong.
In the narrow tunnel at that time, Prince An's assassins were clamoring like crazy, determined to get more people to be buried with him. Xiao Nong suffered several wounds, one of which was quite deep on the shoulder. Later, when the tunnel collapsed, Xiao Nong protected Zhong Yansheng tightly. Even though there was a wall supporting the corner, the rubble rolled down and injured him seriously.
When Zhong Yansheng heard this, he almost couldn't breathe. With tears in his eyes, he grabbed Xiao Nong's hand. He looked so uncomfortable. Several old doctors quickly spoke faster and explained Xiao Nong's condition clearly.
I don’t know if Xiao Nong is lucky enough, or if there is really someone protecting him in the dark.
Although His Royal Highness Prince Ding was covered in wounds and even had a cut on his head, he had avoided all fatal injuries.
It’s just that Xiao Nong lost too much blood, so he is in a coma. As for when he will wake up...even the imperial physician can’t say for sure.
After the imperial physician wrote a new prescription and left, Wei Ling, who had disappeared for many days with the jade seal, came to see Zhong Yansheng and returned the intact jade seal.
It also brings a lot of things.
The situation inside and outside the palace was in chaos.
Three days ago, Prince An was shot dead by Xiao Wenlan. A small part of the rebels surrendered, while most of the others were wiped out by Zhan Rong and his men.
After digging the two people out, Zhong Yansheng's people wanted to take Zhong Yansheng back to the palace, and Xiao Nong's people wanted to take Xiao Nong back to Prince Ding's Mansion. However, they found that after Xiao Nong fell unconscious, he also held Zhong Yansheng's hand tightly and could not be separated at all.
In the end, Xiao Wenlan stepped forward timidly and said, "Don't waste time, let's move back to the palace together!"
Everyone was speechless for a while and had to compromise.
As a result, on the way back to the palace, the people who went to the palace to eliminate the threat brought news - the old emperor passed away.
The news of the old emperor's death had been concealed for many days, and as the weather in the capital gradually warmed up, the body was almost stinking.
When the Black Armored Army went to clean up, they discovered that Tian Xi, who had been missing in the chaos, was also lying beside the bed. Perhaps it was because he had betrayed his former master and saw the old emperor's end, he could not bear the guilt and committed suicide by taking poison.
The news of the old emperor's death spread like wildfire, and the palace was in chaos.
Previously, Zhong Yansheng was imprisoned on the grounds of illness. The prince's old ministers clamored to see Zhong Yansheng, so he was imprisoned in the prison by Prince An. Later, more and more people were imprisoned and the cells were almost full. Seeing this, many ministers defected to Prince An and Prince Jing.
Under the current circumstances, the court was in chaos.
Everyone wanted to see Zhong Yansheng. His desk was piled with documents and countless things needed to be dealt with.
Zhong Yansheng had just woken up and taken two mouthfuls of hot porridge when he had to bite the bullet and deal with this mess of affairs.
Under the current circumstances, Zhong Yansheng had very sufficient reasons to keep the old emperor's funeral simple and hurriedly went through it. Except for the imperial concubine who was tortured to death by Prince An in revenge, the other concubines were also properly arranged and were not required to be buried alive with him.
The mausoleum that the old emperor prepared for himself during his lifetime was very large, almost exceeding the specifications of Taizu.
After taking a quick look, Zhong Yansheng indifferently buried the old man in the narrowest tomb in the imperial mausoleum.
This old guy cared so much about absolute power and status when he was alive, and now he will stay in this narrow tomb after his death.
Prince An was plotting a rebellion, Prince Jing was not of royal blood, and the old emperor had passed away. When the news of the situation in the capital spread, the princes could not help but get ready to make a move.
Fortunately, within two days, the Black Armored Army that Xiao Nong had ordered in advance rushed back from Mobei and stationed outside the capital. The dark crowd made him put away some of his thoughts.
Zhong Yansheng was in a daze. Every day he was either meeting with court officials or dealing with the remnants of King An and King Jing, as well as those ministers who had defected. After more than ten days of hard work, the prison was finally empty, and the capital city, which had been in chaos, finally gradually returned to order.
But Xiao Nong still didn't wake up.
Zhong Yansheng was actually in a state of confusion and helplessness. He barely held on every day. After dealing with his affairs, he escaped to the temporary bedroom, then snuggled into Xiao Nong's arms, took Xiao Nong's hand to hug himself, and whispered to him what had happened recently.
Xiao Nong's heartbeat and breathing were steady, and he cooperated quite well when Zhong Yansheng fed him medicine, but he never responded.
Sometimes Zhong Yansheng was afraid that Xiao Nong would never wake up again, and sometimes he seriously believed that Xiao Nong would definitely wake up.
After all, his brother couldn't bear to leave him.
And Zhong Yansheng was very clear about this one thing.
He had to hold on until Xiao Nong woke up, because except for him and Xiao Nong's men, everyone wanted Xiao Nong to die.
Now he is the only one who can protect Xiao Nong.
Amid the chaos, Lou Qingtang returned to Beijing with good news from Mobei. Pei Yue completely annexed the two major clans, established the Khan, and then asked for peace with Dayong.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Lou Qingtang acted as an envoy between the two tribes and brought the barbarian tribe's peace agreement.
After reading the peace agreement, Zhong Yansheng asked Zhan Rong to capture Lou Qingtang and bring him to the bedroom, begging him to take a look at Xiao Nong.
Lou Qingtang felt that the once innocent and kind little prince was gone forever. He sighed and checked Xiao Nong's pulse, then changed the prescription: "I am familiar with Prince Ding's condition. The prescriptions prescribed by your Imperial Hospital are too mild and have no effect on him. Use my prescription, and I guarantee that Prince Ding will wake up within a month."
Zhong Yansheng hesitated: "There's still a month left?"
Lou Qingtang was still very kind to Zhong Yansheng: "Your Highness, you have to believe me, His Highness Prince Ding is lucky to be alive."
After changing the prescription for Xiao Nong, Zhong Yansheng received another message from his subordinates.
When the tunnel collapsed that day, Zhong Yansheng and Xiao Nong were buried in the shallower part. Zhan Rong led his men to continue digging deeper into the tunnel. After several days of digging, they dug out many bodies, including Xiao Nong's men, King Jing's men, and King An's assassins.
But after searching several times, Pei Hong's body was still not found.
After receiving the news, Zhong Yansheng was stunned for a moment, and immediately sent someone to the temple where Pei Hong's mother was practicing.
Because Pei Hong never mentioned his mother and never visited her, people always forgot that Prince Jing's mother was still alive. Even if they remembered, they thought Prince Jing had no feelings for her and didn't care.
Therefore, even Prince An did not think of sending people to the temple to use Pei Hong's mother as a handle.
There have been too many things happening in the capital during this period of time, and Zhong Yansheng had forgotten about this.
After Huo Shuang went to the temple to investigate, he brought back some news for Zhong Yansheng.
King Jing's mother is missing.
At some unknown time, Pei Hong quietly sent someone to pick up his mother.
Wei Ling frowned: "...Is he still alive?"
The routes in the tunnel were complicated, like a maze. The routes and exits that Zhong Yansheng knew were what Zhong Sidu secretly saw from Pei Hong with the help of the secret guards.
Zhong Sidu summarized the fastest secret passage out of the palace and hastily drew it for Zhong Yansheng to see. As for where the other secret passages led to, it was unknown.
At the fork in the road, when the tunnel collapsed, Pei Hong might have escaped in another direction and left the capital through another exit.
In the eyes of outsiders, Prince Jing was already dead. Without his royal status and his mother being taken away, Pei Hong might have lived a carefree and happy life.
But it's only a tiny possibility.
That section of the tunnel was completely collapsed by the explosives, and the section at the back was buried quite deep. There were still many bodies that had not been dug out and were difficult to dig out.
Pei Hong might have been buried deep in the dark and cold ground along with the others.
Wei Ling asked cautiously, "Your Highness, do you want to send someone to track down Lipin's whereabouts?"
Thinking of Pei Hong's final push in the tunnel, Zhong Yansheng was silent for a moment, shook his head, and said softly, "Forget it."
Regardless of whether Pei Hong is dead or not, he will never be able to cause any trouble again.
Why bother making things difficult for his mother, who had been locked up in the temple for more than twenty years?
As February approached, the ice and snow in the capital gradually melted, and with his own efforts and the assistance of the cabinet, Zhong Yansheng finally restored order to the court.
Immediately, the subordinates submitted memorials one after another, saying that the country could not be without a ruler for a day, and begging the little grandson of the emperor to succeed to the throne.
Now the person who is most qualified and confident to inherit the throne is Zhong Yansheng.
Except Zhong Yansheng, no one would let the unconscious Xiao Nong go.
Before, because of the old emperor, Zhong Yansheng's identity had always been unclear. After that, things happened one after another, and he was too lazy to take care of some trivial matters. Now that he is about to ascend the throne, before the coronation ceremony, he still has to clarify his identity and return to his original surname.
Zhong Yansheng arrived at the ancestral temple, where several clan elders, as well as Mr. Zhou and several respected elders, presided over a ceremony in which he formally acknowledged his ancestors, restored his original surname and took a name.
Although the name was carefully selected by Mr. Zhou, Zhong Yansheng still didn't like it very much and felt that his original name sounded better.
Anyway, no matter what his name is now, he is Tiao Tiao.
The coronation ceremony was also simplified, but still very cumbersome. When he returned to the bedroom at night, Zhong Yansheng was so tired that he could not open his eyes. He curled up into a small ball and shrank into Xiao Nong's arms, rubbing and sniffing in his arms, smelling the cold scent mixed with the bitter smell of medicine on his body.
In a daze, he felt Xiao Nong's hand seemed to rest on his waist.
But Zhong Yansheng was too sleepy. Over the past month, he had dreamed many times that Xiao Nong woke up, but when he opened his eyes, Xiao Nong was still unconscious. After being disappointed so many times, he didn't take it seriously. He moved closer to him and fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, when Feng Ji woke him up, Zhong Yansheng's hair was messy. He remembered that Xiao Nong seemed to hug him back last night, so he raised his head and looked at Xiao Nong nervously and expectantly: "Brother?"
Unfortunately, Xiao Nong still didn't respond.
Xiao Nong was indeed extremely bad and always out of tune, but he loved him the most. If he woke up, he would definitely respond.
Zhong Yansheng lowered his head in disappointment, and habitually leaned over to kiss Xiao Nong twice on the lips, threatening him vaguely: "Brother, if you don't wake up, I will make you my queen."
Xiao Nong still didn't move.
Zhong Yansheng sighed, pulled open Xiao Nong's clothes, checked the healing of his wounds, and couldn't help but touch his well-defined chest twice. Then, at Feng Ji's urging from outside, he put Xiao Nong's clothes on, responded, jumped off the bed and ran out.
Today is the first grand court meeting since he ascended the throne, and all the ministers are waiting to see the new emperor.
After the court meeting ended, Zhong Yansheng was in a hurry to return to his dormitory.
He recently moved his desk to his bedroom. When he was lazy and didn't want to read memorials, he would touch the furry Taxue lying next to him, then look up to admire the handsome face of His Royal Highness Prince Ding, cheer himself up, and then continue reading with a bitter face.
After listening to the nagging early in the morning, he now really wants to go back and see Xiao Nong.
At least his Highness Prince Ding was good-looking, and when he lay there without saying a word, he was still very pleasing to the eye.
By February, the snow in the capital had melted. When Zhong Yansheng was about to return to his temporary residence, he found that the peach blossoms had bloomed, dazzling and dazzling. He couldn't help but pick a few of the best ones and prepared to take them back to decorate His Royal Highness Prince Ding's thick black hair.
As he walked briskly into the bedroom holding the flower branch, the sound of a xun suddenly fell into his ears.
Zhong Yansheng paused, and his eyes gradually brightened.
The distant and elegant sound of the xun was endless, deep and mellow, yet not heavy, like the wind blowing across the desert, grassland and lake, which, after the four seasons had passed, brought with it the spirit of spring, melted the thick ice and snow of winter, and came to him.
He was attracted by the sound of the xun, his heartbeat gradually quickened, holding a heart full of peach blossoms and surprise, like a small fish on a hook, he unconsciously walked towards the direction where the sound of the xun came from. When he looked up, he saw the person sitting under the corridor.
The spring scenery is dazzling, the petals are falling, and the breeze is blowing the sleeves.
Xiao Nong stood up at some point, with the big cat lazily lying beside him. He was also in a relaxed posture, wearing a familiar and bright royal blue robe. He was dazzling in the sunlight, and his eyebrows and eyes were made to look even more bold and handsome. When he saw Zhong Yansheng, he put down the clay flute on his lips, smiled at him, and opened his arms.
"Tiaotiao, come here."
Zhong Yansheng's eyes welled up and he ran over without hesitation and threw himself into his arms.
Just like Xiao Nong will always open his arms to him.
No matter how many times, he would always throw himself into his arms unwaveringly.