EBE Chapter 512 Joy of Life 68
Chapter 512 Joy of Life 68
Fan Ruoruo made up her mind to elope. She immediately turned around and went back to her boudoir. She quickly packed up all her usual clothes, jewelry, and all her savings into a bundle.
After thinking for a moment, he pulled out a dagger and hid it on his person for self-defense.
But just as she finished packing everything and was about to leave home, Fan Xian's image appeared in her mind again.
"I must see my brother one last time before I run away from the wedding."
Anyway, there are still three months until the wedding, and my brother should be back around then.
Thinking of this, Fan Ruoruo put down her bag and sat on the edge of the bed, somewhat absent-minded, her mind in turmoil.
On the one hand, she was worried that running away from the wedding would implicate her family and brother; on the other hand, she was afraid that Fan Xian would oppose her running away from the wedding after returning.
As she thought about it, her eyes reddened, and tears welled up in them, but she managed to hold them back.
……
Leaving aside the fact that Fan Ruoruo temporarily shelved her plan to elope while waiting for Fan Xian, Fan Jian breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the news.
He grew up with Emperor Qing and knew the emperor's personality very well.
After the imperial edict stripping him of his title and dismissing him from his post was issued, he quickly figured out the reasons behind it.
Emperor Qing dismissed Si Gu Jian from his post because he believed that Si Gu Jian had betrayed him and was no longer trustworthy, since he wanted to tell him about Fan Xian's true parentage.
While relieved that Fan Xian was safe and sound, Fan Jian couldn't help but curse Emperor Qing in his heart for being cold-hearted.
Fan Jian, who had served diligently and responsibly in the court for decades, was loyal to Emperor Qing and never slackened in his duties, has now met such a tragic end.
Not only is his only son about to be beheaded, but he himself has also been stripped of his title and dismissed from his post. Moreover, given Emperor Qing's temperament, he probably won't live much longer.
In these difficult circumstances, his only worry is his daughter, Fan Ruoruo.
If Ruo Ruo could marry Li Hongcheng now, even as a concubine, given her relationship with Prince Jing, her future life wouldn't be too difficult, which would be a decent outcome.
Then she thought of Fan Sizhe and was filled with remorse.
He suppressed his grief and began to carefully inventory his family's possessions, dividing them into five parts.
One portion is a retirement fund prepared for Grandma Fan, ensuring she has no worries in her later years;
One part is Fan Ruoruo's dowry, hoping that she will have a grand wedding in the future;
One copy was left for Aunt Liu, so that she would have someone to rely on and be secure for the future;
There was also a portion left for Fan Xian, so that the boy's calling him father wouldn't be in vain.
As for the last portion, it was for funeral expenses set aside for himself and Fan Sizhe.
Indeed, at this moment, Fan Jian was ready to calmly face death.
He had only two sons in his entire life.
He pushed his eldest son to his death with his own hands, and his youngest son, neglected by him, went astray and is about to die.
He felt utterly ashamed to be a father; even if Emperor Qing didn't take his life, he felt he had no face to live on in this world any longer.
Then Fan Jian made arrangements for the servants in the mansion, and at the same time, he also took care of many other trivial matters.
At this moment, Fan Jian exuded an indescribable air of dejection.
His once meticulously groomed beard is now a mess, his hair is streaked with many glaring white hairs, and the wrinkles on his face are as deep as ravines, filled with sorrow and helplessness.
It's lamentable that just a few days ago he was a high-ranking official, enjoying immense prestige and the emperor's favor, but in such a short time, he has fallen to such a state. It's truly heartbreaking.
……
"Snapped--"
A loud bang suddenly rang out in Guangxin Palace.
Li Yunrui slammed his fist on the table in anger, as if he wanted to unleash all the shock and resentment in his heart.
"Fan Xian is not dead! He won't die this time!"
Li Yunrui's eyes were wide open in anger, as if they were about to spit fire. Every word he uttered seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, filled with intense hatred.
She stared intently at Li Chengqian opposite her, her anger erupting like a volcano, impossible to contain.
Because she was so emotionally agitated, the veins on her neck bulged out like angry vines, twisting and coiling, making her look exceptionally ferocious.
At this moment, she was no longer the noble, elegant, and beautiful princess, but a madwoman who was completely consumed by anger and resentment, becoming deranged and twisted with a hideous face.
Her beauty and elegance seemed to be completely stripped away at this moment, leaving only endless hatred and madness spreading rampantly.
Li Chengqian was startled by this scene.
In his memory, Li Yunrui always appeared as a noble, elegant, charming, and beautiful woman, like a fairy who stepped out of a painting, inspiring longing in people.
The faint, indescribable madness emanating from her was like a magnet, drawing him in and making him unable to extricate himself.
Today was the first time she had shown such real and intense emotions in front of him—anger, resentment, and hatred, surging like a flood bursting its banks.
This suddenly opened a gap in the emotions that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time, and those deep-seated feelings began to quietly surge, looking for an outlet for release.
His gaze grew increasingly greedy without him realizing it, and began to linger unabashedly on the woman before him.
In her anger, Li Yunrui keenly caught that burning gaze, and an unknown emotion surged within her furious eyes.
Realizing his lapse in composure, Li Chengqian quickly and awkwardly averted his gaze, gently covering his lips with his hand and coughing twice to conceal his inner turmoil.
With a slightly hoarse and low voice, he said, "Aunt, Ye Liuyun is a Grandmaster. How could Fan Xian possibly be his opponent? Besides, there is still no definite news from Ye Liuyun's side. How can you be so sure that Fan Xian is not dead?"
Li Yunrui laughed in anger, a hint of mockery in his eyes as he looked at Li Chengqian: "Are you truly stupid or just pretending? His Majesty has made it so obvious that he is secretly protecting Fan Xian, yet you are still deceiving yourself!"
"His Majesty first ordered a thorough investigation and surveillance of the Censorate, and then swiftly dealt with Fan Jian. Both of them are his confidants! Who else could make His Majesty treat them so cruelly besides Fan Xian?"
Li Yunrui's tone became increasingly sharp, as if she wanted to stuff all the truth into Li Chengqian's head at once.
"His Majesty used to be wary of Ye Qingmei, and now he is just as wary of Ye Qingmei's son, Fan Xian."
"He wanted to use Fan Xian, but he was also afraid that Fan Xian would become a threat to him. Therefore, he had to first eliminate all of Fan Xian's supporters and make Fan Xian a lone minister who could only rely on him. Only in this way could he feel at ease using Fan Xian."
Do you even understand?!
Li Chengqian felt a little uneasy after hearing her rapid and harsh words, but then he thought about it again.
'If His Majesty truly intends to cultivate Fan Xian into a loyal but isolated minister, wouldn't he then pose no direct threat to me, the Crown Prince?'
"Moreover, without those powerful backers and supporters, no matter how capable Fan Xian is, he's nothing more than a pawn in His Majesty's hands, to be manipulated at will."
'What can he do to himself, the crown prince and future ruler?'
'Furthermore, if I could manage to reconcile with Fan Xian, wouldn't I have an extra force to rely on in the future struggle for the throne?'
Thinking of this, Li Chengqian's eyes lit up, and he began to carefully consider the feasibility and potential benefits of this plan.
At the same time, he secretly regretted not thinking of this before, and actually fooling around with the princess and the empress.
Otherwise, why would we need to rack our brains to find a way to reconcile with Fan Xian? We could just snap our fingers and he would eagerly come to our aid.
Thinking about it this way, Li Chengqian was filled with regret.
He never expected Fan Xian to refuse him, and he completely forgot that the Empress's family had killed Ye Qingmei.
He might have thought of it, but he wouldn't have paid much attention to it.
After all, in his view, if the current crown prince were to humbly recruit him, which official in the court could refuse?
His status and position are enough to make anyone bow down.
As for Ye Qingmei's death, that was a grudge from the previous generation and had nothing to do with him.
If Fan Xian really can't get over this, he can simply go and ask his mother for an apology.
As the Empress Dowager, the mother of the nation, bowing down and admitting his mistakes, should Fan Xian be satisfied?
As Li Chengqian pondered this in his heart, he seemed to already see the wonderful scene of successfully reconciling with Fan Xian and jointly planning for the future. A trace of excitement unconsciously appeared on his face.
However, Li Yunrui's expression gradually turned cold.
She stared coldly at the face that bore a striking resemblance to Emperor Qing, her resentment barely contained.
'Indeed, father and son are of the same blood, ruthless and heartless lineage.'
As the eldest princess, she should have lived a life of luxury and leisure.
However, in order to help Emperor Qing manage the Imperial Treasury, she has remained unmarried to this day, dedicating her entire life to the royal family. She has endured countless rumors and gossip, yet even so, she still cannot win Emperor Qing's favor.
As for Li Chengqian, that good-for-nothing, not only did he fail to inherit Emperor Qing's abilities, but he also mastered hypocrisy and ruthlessness perfectly.
Li Yunrui will not admit that he is wrong.
She romanticized her obsession with power as a noble act of selfless devotion to love.
In her heart, the reason she clung to power was not out of personal desire or ambition, but to better help Emperor Qing and ensure the stability of his empire.
At the same time, it can also prove that he is better than Ye Qingmei.
She constantly finds seemingly noble reasons for her behavior, attempting to rationalize her deep-seated desire and obsession with power.
Perhaps even she herself can no longer distinguish whether her current madness and pain stem from her unfulfilled desire for Emperor Qing, or from the power she cannot relinquish.
In short, at this moment, Li Yunrui deeply felt the pain of her sincerity being betrayed and trampled upon, and the burning hatred made her unable to resist the idea of taking revenge on Emperor Qing.
“Aunt, since His Majesty is now protecting Fan Xian, and we have no hope of killing him, why can’t we make peace with him?”
Just as Li Chengqian finished speaking, Li Yunrui suddenly stood up, startling him as he thought she disagreed with him.
Realizing that the Imperial Treasury was still in her hands, she quickly tried to smooth things over: "Aunt, I was just worried that if we continued to target Fan Xian, His Majesty... um... what are you going to do?"
Before he could finish speaking, Li Chengqian was pushed to the ground by Li Yunrui.
In this era, people sat on the ground, so even though he was pushed over, Li Chengqian didn't feel much pain.
Instead, Li Yunrui's rude treatment aroused some excitement, rekindling the evil thoughts he had just suppressed.
Looking at the man in front of her, whose eyes were filled with desire, Li Yunrui suddenly had a thought that shocked even herself.
Li Chengqian is the Crown Prince, the next emperor whom His Majesty has carefully groomed for the Great Qing Dynasty.
His Majesty harbors the ambition to unify the world. In order to ensure that the empire he conquers will last forever, he stubbornly wants to cultivate Li Chengqian into a benevolent and powerful emperor. For this reason, he is willing to use the life of another son as a whetstone.
If she wants to take revenge on His Majesty, besides killing him, the other way is to ruin Li Chengqian!
Standing on the ground, Li Yunrui looked down at Li Chengqian lying on the ground. The anger in his heart instantly dissipated, and his entire demeanor changed.
The distorted face regained its composure, and an indescribable elegance naturally emanated from between the brows, making one involuntarily feel pity.
She turned slightly to the side, raised her hand to smooth the strands of hair hanging in front of her chest, and glanced at Li Chengqian.
That look was full of charm, and Li Chengqian was stunned, his breathing involuntarily becoming heavier.
In a daze, I felt as if I were in a dream, my whole body was light and airy, and my blood was boiling inside me, constantly flowing down to my lower body.
The beauty before me had an exquisitely beautiful face and a graceful, delicate figure.
With a gentle glance from eyes as clear as autumn water, endless charm was revealed in that instant.
Li Yunrui's beauty is unparalleled.
This beauty had already captivated Li Chengqian, and now that she was deliberately seducing him, how could Li Chengqian resist?
"Huhuhu..."
Li Chengqian was panting heavily, his eyes seemed to burn with flames, which gradually turned red.
He pushed himself up and stood up, eagerly approaching Li Yunrui, wanting to take her hand, but she gently squeezed it with her jade-like fingers.
The delicate and smooth touch spread through his body like an electric current, instantly igniting the most primal desires deep within him.
Before he could fully savor this wonderful moment, Li Yunrui had already deftly broken free from his grasp and gracefully turned and left.
Before Li Chengqian could show any disappointment, the beauty had already run to the edge of the curtain and stopped, gently stroking the curtain with her slender hands, and turned back to give him a sweet smile.
At that moment, it felt as if a huge firework had exploded in Li Chengqian's heart. He strode eagerly into the tent, calling out, "Aunt..."
The candlelight flickered, the curtains swayed, and the whole room was filled with a hazy and alluring atmosphere.