ABBLEIP Chapter108

This threat really frightened the emperor, and Shen Qingzhuo left Jingdu unimpeded, even taking away some gold and silver.

 

He and Xiao Dezi traveled along the way and finally came to a small village with beautiful mountains and rivers. They spent money to buy three dilapidated huts, renovated them, and settled down there.

 

The small village is isolated from the world, and the villagers have lived here for generations. When a stranger comes, the villagers are inevitably wary and curious at first.

 

But this young gentleman Shen is good-looking, more beautiful than a woman, speaks in a gentle voice, and smiles like spring flowers, which makes it hard for people to have a bad impression of him.

 

After a while, the villagers couldn’t help but let down their guard and even enthusiastically helped him integrate into rural life, giving him some of their own food and vegetables.

 

And young gentleman Shen would either pay according to the price or give them rare things bought from the market.

 

“Young Master, this cabbage seems to have died from my planting.” Xiao Dezi squatted in the yard, looking at the drooping seedlings in the nursery, his tone was very depressed.

 

“It’s fine, take your time.” Shen Qingzhuo was lying on a rattan chair basking in the sun. “We haven’t finished eating the cabbage sent by Aunt Wang next door yet.”

 

“No, I have to study it more carefully!” Xiao Dezi stood up with his hands on his waist. “I also need to learn how to raise chickens and ducks and then kill them for Young Master to eat!”

 

Shen Qingzhuo smiled and replied, “Not bad, you even dare to kill chickens.”

 

Under the bright sunlight, Xiao Dezi was stunned by his young master’s smile.

 

The village drinks the natural spring water flowing down from the mountain. Everywhere you look, you can see the beautiful scenery. Without those troubles, his young master finally gained some weight, his skin became more white and soft, and he was so beautiful that he seemed to be radiating light all over.

 

After a few days, Shen Qingzhuo went to the only private school in the village and began to teach the children.

 

He had never been so free in his two lives. At the beginning, he was extremely happy and enjoyed the breeze in the mountains.

 

But after doing nothing for a long time, he inevitably felt a little bored. After thinking about it, he decided to return to his old job.

 

Time flies, in the cold winter, the emperor in the palace fell ill.

 

Since his master left, Xiao Shen has been like a walking corpse. He hugs the things used by his master tightly during the day and deeply smells the clothes left by his master at night but still can’t avoid insomnia all night.

 

Occasionally, he fell asleep and dreamed that his master jumped off the city wall in front of him. He rushed forward with a broken heart but could only grab a piece of clothing.

 

The emperor was getting thinner and thinner. The Imperial Medical and the Imperial Kitchen tried every possible way, but they could not make the emperor’s health improve.

 

As soon as winter came, the emperor caught a cold and continued to attend court despite his illness.

 

The civil and military officials in the court were trembling with fear. Since the imperial preceptor left the capital, the emperor became more and more moody. He was often fine one moment and suddenly furious the next.

 

The commander of the Jinyiwei couldn’t stand it anymore, so he found Lord Pei privately and asked about the whereabouts of His Highness King Duan.

 

After Pei Yanqi came out of the imperial prison, his real power was taken away. Now he is an idle official, and he has to even pay his respects to the commander of the Jinyiwei.

 

But he just replied lightly, “I don’t know,” and asked him to go back.

 

The commander of the Jinyiwei had no choice but to take the initiative and conduct a secret investigation.

 

After the beginning of spring, he finally found the whereabouts of King Duan and immediately reported it to the emperor.

 

After hearing this, the emperor was stunned for a long time before slowly asking, “Is he doing well?”

 

“It’s a remote place with simple food and tea, which is not very good.” The commander knelt on the ground and replied cautiously, “Your Majesty, after so long, maybe His Highness has calmed down.”

 

The emperor raised his hand and gestured, “You retreat first.”

 

That night, Xiao Shen sat in front of the lamp, rubbing the jade pendant around his neck with his fingertips repeatedly, and did not get up until dawn.

 

He endured it again and again, but after half a month, he could not bear it anymore and quietly came to the village where his master was.

 

He thought, just take a look, take a look at his master, and then he will leave.

 

When he stood in the village and saw the familiar figure from afar, his heartbeat stopped for a moment, and then started beating wildly again.

 

With just one look, he finally came back to life.

 

His master stood among a group of children, handing out candies one by one, with a gentle and beautiful smile on his handsome face.

 

He was almost infatuated. How long had it been since he saw his master smile from the bottom of his heart?

 

But soon, he saw another young man coming over, brushing the fallen flowers off his master’s shoulders naturally, and the two whispered intimately.

 

In an instant, Xiao Shen’s muscles tensed up, and an uncontrollable jealous fire gushed out.

 

Who is this person?

 

Why is he so close to his master?

 

He was split in two, one half was greedy joy, and the other half was ugly jealousy, and he hid in the bushes and watched secretly until his master disappeared completely from his sight.

 

After that day, Shen Qingzhuo often felt that there was a sight watching him in the dark, but when he looked around, he found no trace of it.

 

He suspected that someone was watching him, but everything in the village was calm, so he had to put his doubts aside for the time being.

 

That night, he woke up thirsty, and when he opened the window, he clearly saw a black shadow flash by the window.

 

His heart skipped a beat, and he opened the door and walked out.

 

There was silence outside the door, only a full moon quietly shed silver light, but Shen Qingzhuo had an inexplicable intuition in his heart, just because the gaze staring at him was too familiar.

 

“Come out.” He called softly, “Xiao Qi.”

 

After a while, a tall and thin figure appeared in the night, “Master…”

 

Shen Qingzhuo’s face was calm. “You promised me that you would set me free.”

 

“No, I didn’t…” Xiao Shen immediately explained incoherently, “I didn’t mean to disturb you, Master! I, I just wanted to take a look…”

 

“You see already, I’m doing well now.” Shen Qingzhuo replied coldly, “You can go back.”

 

The bright black eyes dimmed, and Xiao Shen stepped back with difficulty. “Master, I’m sorry.”

 

After watching the man walk away, Shen Qingzhuo sighed and turned to close the door.

 

After half a year, seeing that familiar face again, his heart actually rippled.

 

After seven years of living together day and night, no matter how cold he pretended to be, but he actually regarded his little disciple as his closest person, so Pei Yanqi’s proposals were repeatedly rejected by him.

 

He hated the rebel so much that he wanted to kill him with his own hands, but later, when he had the chance, he still couldn’t do it.

 

If the rebel hadn’t done anything wrong, if…

 

The next day, Shen Qingzhuo found that the eyes that were spying on him had disappeared, but he still felt that something was wrong.

 

A group of people came to the village to repair bridges and roads, some donated money to renovate and expand the private school, and some raised chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs and donated them to widows, widowers, and poor families.

 

The living conditions of the villagers improved a lot at once.

 

Another late night, Shen Qingzhuo woke up from an absurd and shameful dream and broke out in a hot sweat.

 

He panted softly, thinking that it was all because of the rebel who appeared in front of him that he had a dream.

 

He sat up and suddenly heard a noise coming from the roof.

 

Shen Qingzhuo immediately became alert, got up quietly from the bed, found a handy weapon, woke up Xiao Dezi, and walked out of the door together.

 

“You bold thief!” Xiao Dezi shouted, “Why don’t you surrender now!”

 

With this loud shout, the man on the roof slipped.

 

“Be careful!” Shen Qingzhuo rushed forward quickly. Fortunately, the man grabbed the eaves in time and did not fall down.

 

“Your Majesty?” Xiao Dezi was stunned. “Why are you here?”

 

Xiao Shen jumped down in a panic, looking like a big dog caught on the spot for doing something wrong. “Master, I just want to repair the roof…”

 

There have been strong winds and heavy rains recently, and a few tiles on the roof have indeed been blown off.

 

Shen Qingzhuo was both amused and annoyed: “You are the king of a country, but you secretly climbed over the wall to repair the tiles in the middle of the night. Look at your lack of ability.”

 

“Master!” Xiao Shen’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help but take a step towards his master.

 

Of course, he still turned away.

 

Xiao Shen gritted his teeth, lifted his robe, and knelt in front of the door to apologize.

 

In the second half of the night, it really rained heavily.

 

Shen Qingzhuo lay on the bed, quietly listening to the sound of raindrops hitting the window, unable to fall asleep.

 

But he still didn’t open the door. The rebellious was crazy but not stupid. In such heavy rain, he would naturally find a place to shelter from the rain.

 

The next morning, he opened the door and was surprised to find the rebel still kneeling in front of the door, as wet as a drowned chicken.

 

“Master…” Hearing the noise, Xiao Shen tried to raise his head and apologized with red eyes, “I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong…”

 

Shen Qingzhuo was speechless and asked Xiao Dezi to help him in.

 

After kneeling in the rain all night, Xiao Shen finally got a chance to enter the house. His face was filled with excitement that he could not hide.

 

However, after changing into clean clothes, Shen Qingzhuo coldly ordered him to leave and told him not to come again; otherwise, he would move away.

 

The flame of hope that had just emerged was extinguished in an instant.

 

Xiao Shen returned to the inn where he stayed and slept in a daze for a day and a night. The guards were so scared that they grabbed the physician over.

 

After waking up, he pushed away the medicine bowl and decided to see his master for the last time.

 

It would be better if his master never forgave him, at least he would not forget him.

 

After the rain, the air in the village became fresher.

 

Shen Qingzhuo picked a bunch of wildflowers and planned to take them to the private school. When he stood up, he saw someone not far away.

 

“Master.” Xiao Shen said softly, “I came to bid farewell.”

 

Shen Qingzhuo was slightly stunned and didn’t say anything for a while.

 

After just one night, he became even thinner, his face was pale, his lips were chapped, and his handsome features were shrouded in endless fatigue and sadness.

 

“Before I leave, can I ask for a hug from you, Master?” Xiao Shen looked at him and asked humbly, “For the last time.”

 

At this moment, Shen Qingzhuo felt bitter in his heart.

 

They supported each other for seven years, and it was so difficult to reach the supreme position, but they still ended up like this today.

 

Which step went wrong?

 

With silent consent, Xiao Shen mustered up the courage to step forward and trembled as he embraced his master in his arms.

 

He greedily sniffed the rich and charming plum fragrance, and his arms were so strong that he seemed to melt the person in his arms into his bones and blood.

 

In the suffocating embrace, Shen Qingzhuo slowly closed his eyes.

 

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Shen finally let go of his arms and staggered back a step.

 

He didn’t dare to look at his master again, fearing that if he looked at him again, he would go crazy and snatch his master back. He could only say incoherently, “Take care of yourself, Master, I won’t come again, Master. Stay safe, if you need anything…”

 

“Be careful!” With a cry of surprise, Shen Qingzhuo’s body reacted faster than his brain, and he pushed the person in front of him down.

 

But the speed of the cold arrow was too fast, and he didn’t have time to dodge, and the arrow hit his chest.

 

The incident happened suddenly, and the Jinyiwei guarding the forest rushed out to protect the emperor.

 

“Master” Xiao Shen suddenly came to his senses, quickly crawled in front of his master, his hands trembling like sieves, and he didn’t dare to touch him at all, “Master!”

 

Shen Qingzhuo touched the arrow stuck in his chest and smiled bitterly: “I really owe you.”

 

“It’s alright, it’s alright, just pull it out!” Xiao Shen turned his head and shouted, “Someone! Find a physician! Find a physician!”

 

When he turned his head again, Shen Qingzhuo had black blood flowing from his lips, and his eyes went dark before he fell down.

 

“Master!” Xiao Shen’s eyes were red with anger, and he hurriedly caught him, “Master, don’t be afraid, I’ll carry you to find a physician.”

 

He said not to be afraid, but his voice was trembling, and he wanted to pick up his master, but he failed after trying several times.

 

“Xiao Qi” Shen Qingzhuo opened his mouth, and streams of black blood gushed out. “The arrow, the arrow is poisonous, there is no hope…”

 

“Imp, impossible.” Big tears fell one after another. “Master, you won’t die, you won’t!”

 

Shen Qingzhuo’s voice became weaker and weaker, and he forced a smile. “It’s really strange, I clearly want you to die, why…”

 

Xiao Shen was like a completely mad beast, roaring heartbreakingly, “No, I won’t let you die!”

 

This time, he finally struggled to pick up his master and stumbled forward, “Don’t leave me, Master! Even if I chase you to the underworld, I still won’t let you go…”

 

“This world is just like this.” Shen Qingzhuo used up his last bit of strength, raised his fingertips, and touched his chin. “Xiao Qi, don’t treat Master like this in the next life or the next next life.”

 

The slender, jade-like fingers fell powerlessly, and Xiao Shen knelt on the ground with a “thump”, still subconsciously protecting his master in his arms tightly.

 

In the fourth year of Tianqi, the imperial teacher died.

 

The emperor went crazy, mumbling to himself while holding the imperial preceptor’s body all day long, and did not allow anyone to touch it.

 

Whoever touches it will die.

 

Later, after Lord Pei’s repeated persuasion, the emperor finally agreed to let the imperial preceptor be buried in the imperial mausoleum.

 

In the same year, the emperor summoned King Qin and gave him a cup of poisoned wine.

 

After King Qin died, the emperor buried himself alive in the coffin of the imperial preceptor.

 

Living together, dying together.

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T/N: The remaining extras will be posted tmr~