NFBE Chapter 892: Xie is dying, Bai Lu goes to "see" her
Chapter 892: Xie is dying, Bai Lu goes to "see" her
The emperor saw that the empress seemed to want to say something, so he smiled at her with a warm face and said, "Now that you have recovered from your serious illness, you are almost well again. You can make decisions about the affairs of the palace."
"I heard that you gave so much of your jewelry to the seven little moons that you don't have much left yourself. Are you doting on them too much?"
When the emperor mentioned this, the empress laughed and said, "Your Majesty, you are wrong. What do you mean by spoiling or not spoiling?"
"According to my wishes, I am willing to give them some good things! Otherwise, what's the point of wearing these when I am old and ugly?"
"Since this serious illness, I've realized that in this world, everything else is secondary. The most important thing is family and affection."
"If affection is gone, everything will be gone. These gold, silver, and other material possessions are of no use..."
Hearing her words, the emperor was stunned for a moment, then nodded and looked at the queen with complicated eyes: "As long as you are happy, any gift is fine."
"I'll have someone make some jewelry for you later."
"That is not necessary, Your Majesty."
The queen glanced at the emperor, then suddenly knelt on the ground and said with a smile, "...How about this, I ask for mercy on behalf of your nieces and granddaughters?"
"What grace do you ask for?"
Seeing the queen suddenly kneel down, the emperor was really shocked. He twitched his mouth and said, "Why are you so polite? If you have something to say, just say it directly. Why do you have to be so solemn? I was shocked."
The Queen smiled and said, "Why not make some of the children princesses?"
The emperor was stunned by this, then smiled and pondered for a moment. "Conferring the title of princess on a few of the children...that's fine. I'm still thinking about what to bestow upon the children."
"After all, Bai Lu is powerful and influential, and has no shortage of gold, silver, and jewelry. It seems that any gift given to her would not be precious. Now, it would be great if we could confer the title of princess on a few children!"
"Originally, they were all county princesses, and only July was a princess. Now let's confer the title of princess on a few of the children to avoid favoritism."
The emperor smiled and nodded. "The title remains unchanged, so let's keep it that way. Add this chastity archway as well. This is enough for my military achievements this time."
Normally speaking, a war could at most allow one person to be conferred the title of Duke or something like that, but there were too many children in the Bailu family, so they were all conferred the title of Princess. In a sense, it was more cost-effective for them.
The emperor was still joking: "I was thinking of granting General Murong's family a marquisate, which was already a great favor. Now that I think about it, the Bai Lu family is the one that got the best deal!"
The Queen smiled and then asked him, "But Your Majesty, if you don't intend to grant Bai Lu the chastity arch, then who do you intend to marry?"
The emperor pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "It's not up to us to decide who Bai Lu marries. It's up to those gentlemen to decide."
"Whoever can win Bailu's heart will marry her."
The emperor waved his hand, nonchalantly, "You should know that I didn't give Bai Lu the chastity plaque. It's not because I don't want her to remain chaste, nor am I forcing her to marry someone. I'm letting her know that this decision can't be made lightly."
"If she ever decides to marry someone and regrets it, we can just annul the imperial decree. It's that simple."
"...I see. Bai Lu should be able to understand your majesty's painstaking efforts."
The Queen's words made the Emperor feel relieved. She nodded with a smile and said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty does care about Bai Lu after all."
"Of course. If I don't love Bai Lu, who else can I love?"
The emperor sighed, still a little sad, a bit overthinking. He looked toward the horizon, "Madam Zhao passed away early. If I hadn't protected her, I'm afraid she would have been eaten alive by others!"
As the emperor was speaking, he heard a pig-slaughtering howl from outside: "Your Majesty!"
"His Majesty!"
This is Bai Yansong's voice.
The Queen and the Emperor were startled. They looked at each other and saw Li Zongguan blocking them from the outside: "Hey, Master Bai, please don't come in..."
Bai Yansong rushed in and knelt down in front of the emperor and empress in anger, saying to them, "I've been gone for such a long time, and Xie is almost dying..."
"She had an incurable disease and requested the palace to send a physician, but the physician refused to treat her!!"
The Emperor and Empress listened to his words with a sullen expression. Then Bai Yansong angrily declared, "These imperial doctors are all snobs. They must be refusing to treat me because I have no official position! They are taking advantage of others' power. Your Majesty and the Empress, please punish them!"
"After all, Xie and I were once husband and wife. How could she be treated so badly? Isn't this a slap in the face of this humble official?!"
Listening to what he said, the emperor and the queen nodded. Then the queen slowly said: "Brother, I haven't had time to see you since you came back from the border. I haven't been in good health..."
"How about this, let's go to my palace and talk, and then talk about Xie's affairs."
The emperor waved his hand, not wanting to say too much to him, and sent Bai Yansong out.
Bai Yansong was out for just three seconds, and he was extremely angry. On the way, he said to the Queen, "You don't know how those imperial doctors can take advantage of others' power. After listening to what Mrs. Xie said... I was so angry that I almost died."
The queen walked with him in the imperial garden. Listening to Bai Yansong's muttering, she smiled and said to Bai Yansong: "Brother, there are only the two of us here now. There is no need to talk about these things."
"Just tell me what you want to say, that's all."
Bai Yansong was stunned, then his eyes turned away.
Bai Yansong was a confused man. He didn't like his daughter Bai Lu very much, but he knew some things. For example, he understood that Xie's death was the emperor's request.
And now, he made a fuss in the palace, not because he really wanted someone to save Xie, nor did he really want justice, but because he wanted the emperor to know that the emperor had poisoned one of his daily companions, so that the emperor would feel guilty and could ask for some benefits later.
Bai Yansong coughed twice and said to the queen: "Haha, only sisters understand me."
He said quickly: "No matter what, my position in the court must be restored."
Ever since the previous incident, he had felt that Xie Shi wasn't such a good person... The two of them were just superficial at best, and their relationship wasn't that deep. Perhaps Bai Yansong would show more sympathy after she died, so let her die.
After hearing this, the Queen nodded and said to Bai Yansong, "Okay, I will tell His Majesty about this matter later."
The Queen agreed? Bai Yansong was delighted.
At this moment, they heard a voice coming from not far behind them. It was Bai Chuyao's voice. "Aunt."
"Father."
When they turned around, they saw Bai Chuyao appear without anyone noticing, and they were really shocked.
"Xie is going to die?" Bai Chuyao showed a strange smile.
The queen nodded, inexplicably feeling that such a strange smile was somewhat creepy.
Bai Yansong also took a step back and looked at Bai Chuyao warily, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Seeing her son and father like this... the queen sighed inwardly and said with a smile: "Since Xie is about to die, Chu Yao, do you want to go back to the Bai family to take a look?"
Bai Chuyao nodded: "That's natural. After all, even if there is no gratitude for giving birth, there is still gratitude for raising me."
"At least... I want to go see her and send her off..." He murmured, and then said to Bai Yansong, "Not only will I go to see her, but I will also let my brothers and sisters go with me."
These words gave Bai Yansong a bad feeling.
The queen raised her eyebrows. They were enemies before, and seeing her when he was about to die was nothing more than settling scores.
He said he was sending her off for the last time, and he really was sending her off for the last time! There was no such thing as a loving mother and a filial son. It was good enough that he didn't stab Xie to death.
Bai Yansong jumped up and immediately said, "This...this...this won't do!"
"If there is anything to see, you'd better not see each other." What if Bai Chuyao is at home and turns the house upside down?
Then I heard Bai Chuyao say to Bai Yansong: "Okay, if my father says not to see me, then I won't see him."
In fact, Bai Chuyao did not go. He simply asked his younger brothers and sisters - Bai Lu, Bai Qingze, and Bai Liezhao - to go.
Bai Chuyao did not go to the Bai family.
As soon as Bai Yansong arrived home, he saw the door open and the servant lying on the ground after being beaten.
Guarding here are a team of people that Bai Chuyao had sent long ago, and secret guards that he trained himself.
Weifeng, Feiyu and others, holding weapons, surrounded Xie's yard tightly.
Bai Qi, Mu Guiying and others stopped Bai Yansong outside and said to him calmly, "The master has ordered that no outsiders be allowed in."
"Am I an outsider?" Bai Yansong couldn't help but point at himself, his nose crooked with anger. "I'm Xie's husband! Am I still an outsider?! Get it straight, this is my home!!"
"She's probably dying. Shouldn't I go in and take a good look at her?!"
"And...your master has caused such a big fuss in the Bai family. What is he trying to do?!"
"Are they going to turn the Bai family upside down? Do they still see me as their father?"
"..."
Bai Yansong was so angry outside that he was jumping up and down. No matter how he cursed, Mu Guiying and the others refused to let him in.
Feiyu refused to say a word and stood there like a statue of god.
They have been waiting for this day for a long time.
Their young master had waited for this day... for a long time. They would personally settle the matter with Xie.
The emperor probably knew what the Bai family meant, so he poisoned her to keep her alive and not let her die so soon.
His life was on the line several times, but he was rescued every time.
But...if you want to go to the palace and ask the imperial physician to cure her, it is absolutely impossible.
It was Bai Lu's first time entering Xie's courtyard. It was simply dazzling and the furnishings were luxurious and extravagant.
The white marble floor beneath my feet was inlaid with gold threads, and the table was carved from century-old rosewood, with the edges carved with lotus patterns. The veins of the petals were thinner than a needle tip, and there was not a single burr to the touch.
Turning around the carved screen, the bed in the inner room is even more amazing.
The bed frame is made of huanghuali wood, and you can see strands of golden stars when facing the light. The headboard is embossed with a "Hundred Children Picture", and even the ruyi patterns on the children's lapels are clearly visible.
The most amazing thing is the bed curtain. It is not ordinary silk, but woven with peacock feather thread mixed with oriental pearl thread. When it hangs down, it emits a soft peacock blue light. When the wind blows, the pearl thread jingles, which is more elegant than ordinary silver bells.
The more Bai Lu looked, the gloomier her expression became. Xie's courtyard was decorated so exquisitely, but in reality, they were eating her mother's flesh and blood!
Bai Qingze said sarcastically to Bai Lu, "Look at this courtyard. It's decorated... It's as luxurious, elegant, and beautiful as an unmarried young lady!"
"You're already so old, yet you're still pretending to be young!"
Bai Liezhao also curled his lips and said to Bai Lu with gritted teeth, "You know... even your courtyard has never been so extravagant!"
Bai Lu pondered for a while and found that it was true. Neither her own yard nor the yards of the seven little moons had ever been so luxurious.
The main reason is that they have not enjoyed a life of luxury since childhood and have not experienced it.
Bai Lu still has a modern mindset and likes the simplicity of modern beds. In fact, she thinks the ancient carved beds are complicated enough.
But I didn't expect that carvings are divided into several levels, and the patterns are also divided into specifications... Even a thousand-work-intensive Babu bed may take ten years to carve, which is very particular.
Bai Lu just felt a pain in her head.
She raised her eyebrows and said to Bai Qingze and Bai Liezhao, "Even if this yard is good, it's useless."
Anyway, she is dying now, and her daughter is dead too.
As they were talking, they heard the weak voice of the half-dead man lying there.
“Who…who are you?”
Xie felt so sick that she was almost out of her mind and had lost all consciousness. She felt drowsy every day, and her body felt like it was being eaten by ants, causing pain and itching.
She scratched her body until it was covered in ulcers, and no amount of ointment worked.
She sent someone to the palace with a letter to invite the imperial physician, but the physician declined to come, saying that she was not the principal wife and that the principal wife had to come. The principal wife of the Bai family had died long ago!
Bai Yansong was not in Kyoto. If they sent for the imperial physician, Bai Yansong would have to go. But he was not there... Then Xie was in trouble. She was sick at home and almost dying!
When Bai Yansong came back, he found out what had happened. He felt it was strange and asked for the imperial physician, but the physician did not show up.
Xie felt something was amiss, thinking it might be Bailu and the others seeking revenge... But Bailu and the others weren't around. They were fighting at the border, and they were already in dire straits. How could they care about Xie?!
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became, and her head was burning hot, so she simply stopped thinking about it. These past few days, she kept dreaming about the pregnant woman she had killed - Bai Lu's mother Zhao Bingyu.
I've been having nightmares for days now, feeling incredibly guilty, and now I'm barely breathing...