However, with Queen Ma's personal letter in hand, he had no choice but to accept the truth even if he didn't want to.
In his life, he had misjudged two of his sons.
One he had taken a fish - eye for a pearl.
The other he had taken a pearl for a fish - eye.
Emperor Guangwu had thought that since the pearl had been covered in dust, he might as well set things right and return the position of crown prince to the rightful person. But he never expected that Queen Ma would leave such an imperial edict, and Song Yinghuai would refuse to accept the position of crown prince.
Leaning against the head of the bed, Emperor Guangwu felt like a complete failure for the first time.
After a long while, he finally made up his mind. "Summon Lü Baiwei and Song Xiuzhu."
...
On the first day of the tenth month of the thirty - third year of Yuanzheng in the Great Ye.
Song Xiuzhu, the son of the late Crown Prince Song Chengyuan, was enfeoffed as the imperial grandson, and Concubine Lü was promoted to be the crown princess.
Lü Baiwei was overjoyed. Her long - cherished wish had finally come true.
After Emperor Guangwu had arranged for his successor, it seemed as if the last bit of his soul was about to be torn away.
But he couldn't die yet. Although the internal troubles had just been settled, the external threats remained.
Wendusu's troops were approaching Yanmen Pass and Tongguan. Coincidentally, the princes in these two places had been beheaded, leaving the troops leaderless. The inside of the passes was in complete chaos. The defending generals were unable to withstand the attacks of the Tartars, and the beacon fires were burning everywhere.
Emperor Guangwu urgently ordered Prince Yan, Song Yinghuai, to lead 100,000 troops stationed in the capital to rush to the areas of Qin and Jin for reinforcement.
He also ordered Sheng Jiangli, the commander of the Hu cavalry, to quickly return to Shanhaiguan and lead the Hu cavalry to launch a surprise attack on the grasslands behind the Tartar forces, trying to force them to withdraw their troops for reinforcement.
As for the Tartar Khatun Lan Jinxiang, she was placed under house arrest in Shangjing to observe the situation.
After all the deployments were completed, everyone was in a hurry.
Caiyu had just left the imperial city when she bumped into someone.
The middle - aged man let out an "ouch" and fell to the ground. Then he got up and grabbed Caiyu, shouting in surprise,
"Hey! Shu'er? Are you Shu'er?"
Caiyu was stunned for a moment, then widened her eyes in surprise. "Uncle - in - law?"
She excitedly grabbed Li Zhonggui's arm, hardly believing her eyes. "Uncle - in - law! You're in Shangjing? Does that mean Father and the others have also been brought back to Shangjing for retrial? Where are they?"
She fired off a series of questions in one breath.
Looking at her excited expression, Li Zhonggui poured cold water on her. Suddenly, tears rolled down his face.
"Brother - in - law, Sister - in - law... Ah, they, they were assassinated by mysterious people in Hainan a few days ago. Everyone was killed!"
"What!"
Caiyu swayed on her feet, held her breath, and opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound.
It was as if she didn't understand.
What had Uncle - in - law said?
Everyone was killed... What did that mean?
Caiyu felt a buzzing in her ears. Li Zhonggui's voice seemed to be getting farther and nearer, like gusts of wind blowing into her ear holes.
She didn't want to listen, but the wind seemed to penetrate everywhere and stubbornly got into her ears.
"More than half a month ago, we had just returned from the labor camp. As soon as we entered the door, we were intercepted by a group of masked black - clothed men. They didn't rob money or people. They just raised their swords and started slashing..."
"They were all unarmed people. Even though they had once been in the military, they couldn't fight against those people," Li Zhonggui cried. "The attackers were extremely cruel. In the end, they set a fire and burned everyone to death..."
"I was lucky. During the fight, I was kicked out of the house and fainted in the bushes. When I woke up, I found..." Li Zhonggui beat his chest and stamped his feet in grief. "My sister! My brother - in - law! My nephew... No, no, no, and my poor child, my wife..."
Li Zhonggui was crying so hard that he seemed about to faint.
But Caiyu didn't even have the heart to support him because she looked like she was about to faint even more.
More than half a month ago... It was just a few days after Emperor Guangwu had agreed to the Lan family's retrial.
How could it be such a coincidence? Just when they got the chance for a retrial, something happened to the Lan family.
The Lan family had been in exile in Hainan for four years without any problems, but something happened just at this moment!
The color quickly drained from Caiyu's face.
It was her!
It was she who had caused the extermination of the entire Lan family!
Caiyu trembled her lips. "Do you know... who did this?"
Li Zhonggui took out a waist token from his bosom and secretly handed it to Caiyu. "I don't know, but I grabbed the waist token of one of the assassins during the fight. This might be the only evidence."
Caiyu took a look at the waist token and snatched it away like a madwoman. Her eyes were fixed and straight.
"Prince Yan's secret guard...!!"
The next second, she felt that the waist token was burning her palm painfully. "Impossible! Impossible!"
She shrieked, regardless of the fact that this was a street in Shangjing and regardless of the looks from the passers - by. She screamed hoarsely, "Impossible!!"
Suddenly, the autumn wind swept through. The sky was a hazy yellow, with dark clouds piling up and rolling. Black birds appeared inappropriately on the city wall of Shangjing, flying and screeching.
The noise made her ears buzz. She covered her face with her sleeve to block the wanton gale and felt a bone - chilling cold.
Her family had been killed by the people sent by Song Yinghuai!
"Thud!"
Just before Caiyu fainted, she only heard the noisy voices and exclamations on the long street.
In her dream.
The north wind swept across the land north of Yanmen Pass. A heavy snowfall suddenly descended, floating and swirling like white cotton.
Caiyu suddenly looked up at the woman on the horse. Her white clothes were as pure as snow, her water sleeves were like clouds, and her long black hair was scattered behind her, like a piece of excellent ink - dyed brocade.
Although she was nearly forty years old, her fair face, like a white lotus, was still so young. Her eyes were as gentle as the clear spring on the top of the snow - capped mountains. Even the fine crow's feet at the corners of her eyes looked gentle and serene.
"Mother." Caiyu called softly.
Liu Xiwen looked back and gave Caiyu a gentle smile. Then two lines of bloody tears rolled down.
"Ah!" Caiyu was so shocked that her eyes almost popped out. "Mother!"
The woman on the horse disappeared and was replaced by a heroic and imposing middle - aged man in armor. He was majestic and imposing, laughing heartily at Caiyu.
"Father!" Caiyu called again.
An arrow came from nowhere and hit Lan Yuanyi right in the chest.
A large amount of blood gushed out of Lan Yuanyi's mouth, and he fell straight to the ground.
Caiyu's legs felt like they were filled with lead, and her throat felt like it was blocked with cotton. She looked at the man who had drawn back his longbow.
The man was tall and straight, wearing silver armor and sitting on a horse. His familiar eyebrows were filled with a coldness and killing intent that she had never seen before.
"My lord!" Caiyu trembled her lips. "Why?"
Song Yinghuai's cheeks were stained with the blood of the Lan family. He said heartlessly, "Because you're stupid. You insisted on a retrial. Because of your stubbornness, the emperor flew into a rage and ordered me to wipe out the Lan family."
"I didn't want to spare them, but I can't defy the imperial order. If I let them go, who will spare me?"
"Yuer, the Lan family is dead. Next, your second sister, your eldest sister... and anyone related to the Lan family can't stay in this world."
"You'd better take care of yourself and stay by my side obediently. I'm the only one who can protect you in this world!"
The space - time seemed to be twisting.
Suddenly, a raging fire broke out in front of her eyes.
Lan Yuanyi, Liu Xiwen, Lan Guangling, Lan Guifan, Lan Jinxiang, Lan Jinqin... All of them were crying out in agony in the sea of fire.
They reached out their blood - stained hands to her.
Caiyu covered her ears and screamed madly, "Ah!!! No...!!!"
"Shu'er!"
"Shu'er!"
A voice penetrated through the thick black smoke like a gentle breeze, dispelling the fire and smoke, and rang in Caiyu's ears.
Caiyu took a sharp breath and opened her eyes.
The scenery in front of her eyes was spinning above her head, spinning, and gradually coming to a stop, converging into Sheng Jiangli's worried and handsome face.
"Brother Ali..." Caiyu forced her red lips to part slightly. She couldn't tell if it was a dream or reality. "You're not dead..."
Sheng Jiangli held the hand that she reached out to him. The worry in his eyes disappeared, and he joked,
"I have nine lives. How could I die?"