Hearing what the supervisor said, the chief eunuch beside Song Jiaye frowned in displeasure.
"Hey, what do you mean by that, Supervisor? His Majesty is the true dragon emperor. How could the spiritual energy of heaven and earth be afraid of His Majesty?"
The supervisor of the Directorate of Ceremonial wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and said, "Your Majesty may not know. You are the Son of Heaven, a dragon, and naturally protected by the pure yang dragon aura. The Empress is the mother of the people, a phoenix, protected by the extremely yin phoenix aura. These two auras will naturally disturb each other. Moreover, not only Your Majesty, but others also need to stay three feet away from the Star - Picking Tower. Otherwise, this official..."
"Alright, alright, stop talking. Just do as you said." Song Jiaye waved his hand impatiently. All he wanted now was to save Li Qiyu quickly. He could bear anything else.
With Song Jiaye's approval, others naturally fully cooperated with the supervisor's work. Several palace servants carried Li Qiyu, tightly wrapped in a quilt, to the Star - Picking Pavilion and placed her on the "ritual ground" that the supervisor had prepared in advance. After that, they retreated.
After about half the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the supervisor of the Directorate of Ceremonial walked outside to check. After confirming that there was no one on the Star - Picking Tower, he walked into the Star - Picking Pavilion, closed the door behind him, and waved to Zhou Donglin, who was hiding behind the screen, dressed as an eunuch.
"Hurry up. Time is limited."
The supervisor of the Directorate of Ceremonial thought he was really crazy and reckless. He dared to let another man secretly meet the Empress in the palace.
If it weren't for the years of getting along and the many drinks he had shared with Zhou Donglin, feeling indebted to him, and also truly feeling sorry for Zhou Donglin and Li Qiyu. After all, Zhou Donglin was definitely a lovelorn man. He had been waiting for a woman he would never get, which was really admirable.
Moreover, the Empress was terminally ill. Letting them meet now might be their last meeting before life and death.
Thinking of this, the supervisor of the Directorate of Ceremonial didn't waste any more time and urged, "I'll go outside to keep watch for you. Hurry up."
Zhou Donglin thanked him repeatedly.
After the supervisor left, he walked up to Li Qiyu.
It had been a long time since he last saw Li Qiyu. She had been living in the inner palace for a long time, and besides, Song Jiaye had deliberately kept him away. He could only hide his longing deep in his heart.
She had become much thinner and paler. The once high - spirited young general had now become a comatose invalid.
Zhou Donglin's heart ached.
He knelt beside Li Qiyu. Due to the huge gap in their status, he didn't even dare to hold her hand. Looking at her, his heart, which had been severely hurt in the case of the Li family's extermination, was now adding new wounds. The old and new wounds were mixed together, dripping blood.
Zhou Donglin couldn't even speak.
But he had to.
Otherwise, Li Qiyu would really die.
Looking at the pale - faced Li Qiyu, he persuaded, "Qiyu, don't be afraid. You still have me."
"You can't give up. You have to get better. It was me who announced the imperial edict. You have to get up quickly, beat me, scold me, punish me. How can you let me off so easily?"
"By the way, your little nephew, Li Yu, is still alive. I replaced him with an unnamed male corpse from Yizhuang. Unfortunately, Song Jiaye's people were watching closely, and the others..." Zhou Donglin was full of guilt. "You must scold me for being useless. I didn't even dare to keep him by my side or know his whereabouts. I was afraid that if the matter was exposed, Song Jiaye would find him through me. I could only have someone take him away. You are my master. When an apprentice makes a mistake, the master is supposed to help clean up the mess. Now, it's up to you. You have to get up quickly, even if not for yourself, but for little Yu."
However, Li Qiyu remained unmoved.
Zhou Donglin slumped to the ground. Covering his face, he lowered his head like a shrimp and sobbed.
"I'm sorry." These three words kept murmuring in his mouth.
"I'm sorry. I failed to protect you and the Li family. I couldn't even protect little Yu. I'm sorry, Qiyu. I'm useless."
Zhou Donglin cried like a helpless child. Afraid of being heard, the more emotional he got, the tighter he covered his mouth.
"Qiyu, don't leave me, please. You can hate me or scold me. As long as you can come back to life, I'll do anything. I..."
Zhou Donglin looked up at Li Qiyu. With tears all over his face, he finally said the four words that had been on his lips for a long time but he had never been able to say, which had caused them to miss half their lives.
"I like you."
Unfortunately, Li Qiyu couldn't hear. He both hoped she could hear and gain some confidence to live, and hoped she couldn't hear. After all, it was he who had sent the Li family away. He didn't even know how to face them, let alone Li Qiyu.
At this moment, the supervisor pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing Zhou Donglin with tear - filled eyes, he was shocked.
"Oh my, why are you crying? Hurry up and hide. The time is almost up. People will come up soon."
Since Li Qiyu was ill, Song Jiaye would surely be worried about leaving her on the Star - Picking Tower. So the supervisor didn't dare to say the time would be long. He only said it would take half an hour. Although there was still some time before half an hour, Song Jiaye's people were already eager to come up and check the result.
Zhou Donglin had to quickly hide behind the screen.
Both of them were in a hurry. Neither of them noticed that a tear had fallen from Li Qiyu, who was lying in the middle of the ritual ground.
The sandalwood on the table burned out, and the Emperor's people appeared at the door of the Star - Picking Pavilion on time. The head of the guards knocked on the door and asked, "Supervisor, have you finished the ritual?"
The supervisor quickly got up and said, "Yes, yes."
The supervisor opened the door - after all, the other was the Son of Heaven, and he couldn't very well refuse them entry.
Song Jiaye rushed into the Star - Picking Pavilion quickly. But when he saw Li Qiyu lying on the ground, he was furious.
"Are you kidding me? It has no effect at all."
"Your Majesty, it will take some time for the spiritual energy to fuse and take effect. Please be patient."
"How long will it take?"
"At the fastest, two or three days. At the slowest..." The supervisor wanted to say two or three years, but thinking that he would surely be beheaded for saying so, he said, "At the slowest, two or three months."
"Fine!" Song Jiaye's tone was clearly angry, but now it was obvious that he had to try this last - ditch effort. He squatted down and looked at the pale - faced Li Qiyu. Just as he was about to stand up, he caught a glimpse of a wet mark on the quilt beside her.
Song Jiaye reached out and touched it. It was colorless and odorless, and felt like water. It seemed to be a tear.
Who was crying for the Empress?
Song Jiaye suddenly turned around to look at the supervisor, but the supervisor's expression and behavior were normal.
Then who on earth was it?!