"You and I are in-laws. There's no need to be so formal," Xia Ruolan said with a smile on her lips. She thought she could just ask Luo Jiao to have more children. After all, they had plenty of time.
"In-law, when will the Empress usually come back to visit her family?"
"She'll be back in a few days. Why do you ask?" Xia Ruolan looked puzzled. Mrs. Luo said shyly, "I don't mean to look down on the Empress. It's just that I heard about a place. People say it's very effective for praying for a child."
"So that's it. Where is it?" Xia Ruolan asked. She would go there to pray to the gods and Buddhas for her daughter. Her excellent daughter couldn't be childless. How could Xue'er face people then?
"It's the Tuoyue Nunnery in the forbidden mountains. It's a bit remote, but it's said to be very effective. I paid attention to it as soon as I heard others mention it." Xia Ruolan didn't think that if it was really that effective, the Luo family would only have Luo Jiao.
If Mei Qingxue were at home, she would never go there. It was just a bare stone mountain. Fortunately, the nunnery had some land of its own. Otherwise, those nuns would have nothing to eat.
As the day of the royal hunt approached, that person still hadn't appeared. Master Long was a master at hiding. Even when the Qingya Snow Pavilion and the Blue Sea Pavilion had both been mobilized, they still couldn't find any trace of that person.
Master Long had dug a cave. They just didn't expect that the person wasn't on the ground at all, which made it difficult to find any trace.
As long as that person died at his hands, his family would be free. Master Long's face was full of helplessness. After squatting in the wild for so long, his beard was even more messy, and his whole body was covered in dust. He looked like a wild man in the mountains.
Master Long secretly went back home once to see his wife and son. Knowing that this might be the last time he came back, his wife said with teary eyes, "Brother Long, be careful!"
The little child was still babbling and didn't understand anything.
"Don't worry. You know my skills," Master Long said with a smile to his wife. He played with the child for a while before leaving. In a few days, the royal hunting ground would be guarded. Once he went in, he couldn't come out again.
Maybe he would lose his life there.
When Master Long entered the hunting ground, several black-clothed men broke into his house and slaughtered his family. Then they left. Master Long had no idea what had happened to his family.
"Master, the task is completed!"
"Go," said the seemingly crazy man who had appeared in Master Long's house last time.
"It won't be long," the man's eyes were full of venom. He wanted to take back what belonged to him, and he also wanted that woman.
"Master, it's time to rest," a maid said carefully. The man said to the maid, "Get out. Call Lin Geer here."
"Yes."
In a short while, a twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy came. When he saw that it was the master calling, his face was full of fear. Every time that person called him, it wasn't a good thing.
When Lin Geer saw the man, his knees went weak and he knelt down.
"Master, what do you want me for?" Lin Geer said nervously.
A glint of light flashed in the man's eyes. "What else? Serve me well, and I'll let you go. I'll let you be with your family," "Really?" Lin Geer believed it. The master always bullied him. He had said that as long as he was obedient, he would let his family and his sister go.
Lin Geer didn't know that his ten-year-old sister was now under his bed. She had become a cold corpse, her private parts wide open, as if something sharp had cut them out.
The man had a face somewhat similar to Du Guqing's, but the boy didn't know his identity. He only knew that he had been bought by the master.
Lin Geer smelled a faint smell of blood. But the man didn't give him a chance to look around. He threw the things on the table and pushed Lin Geer onto the table with his back to him.
The man who looked somewhat like Du Guqing was Du Gujue, who should have been imprisoned in the Gulan Garden. Du Guqing had secretly released him because he couldn't bear to see his own brother be imprisoned for the rest of his life.
Who would have thought that Du Gujue never left Du Guqing's side? For that position, he had already gone crazy. There was no trace of humanity left in him.
As usual, Lin Geer endured the painful penetration from the master.
But he didn't dare to make a sound because his little sister was still in his hands.
Du Gujue let out a howl and increased his movements. Lin Geer endured the burning pain in his back. The smell of blood became stronger. By chance, he turned his head and saw a foot sticking out from under the bed. When he saw the cloth shoes on the foot, his eyes almost popped out. He knew those shoes too well. They were the ones his sister was wearing when she was taken away.
"You lied to me..." Lin Geer didn't know where he got the strength. He broke free from Du Gujue's clutches and rushed to the window. What he saw made him furious.
"I'll fight you..." A young boy was no match for Du Gujue. Du Gujue sneered and grabbed the boy's throat.
"You're looking for death yourself. Don't blame me!" He tightened his grip, and the boy's throat made a "crack" sound. Then he never made a sound again.
"What I want, I must get," Du Gujue growled like a wild beast. The boy's body fell heavily to the ground. His wide-open eyes stared at his sister's body under the bed, full of unwillingness.
"In a few days, it will be the hunt. Du Guqing, I want you dead!"
Du Gujue's voice was like a ghost from the underworld. His face was full of ferocity. He completely forgot who had released him from that dark place.
Now he only remembered that Du Guqing had taken the position that should have been his. That position should belong to him... Du Gujue. Du Guming didn't have the talent to govern the world, and Du Guqing was just an illegitimate successor.
He was just waiting for the day when the hunting ground would be in chaos.
That day would be his chance to turn things around. For some reason, Du Gujue was now extremely confident. He thought that that person would definitely succeed.
Master Long was lying in the cave he had dug, waiting for that day to come. The man had said it would be in a few days.
His fingers ran across the cold sword beside him. That sword had been with him for several years. Now... "Old friend, whether it's life or death, this is the last time. Consider it my retirement."
His body smelled extremely bad. It was to match the smell of the cave. Even if someone passed by, they wouldn't suspect him. In recent days, there had been footsteps in the hunting ground. Master Long knew that they were setting up the hunting ground, releasing wild animals, and arranging defenses.
He couldn't move even more, for fear of making a sound and being discovered. Then all his efforts would be in vain.
"A hundred hares,"
"Fifty elk,"
"Two bears,"
"..."
Master Long tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. He calmed his mind and made himself calm.
A killer had to be calm.
For some reason, a sense of uneasiness flashed through Master Long's mind. There was no reason. He just felt that he didn't have the confidence.
Mei Qingxue was even more nervous. There were so many people in the hunting ground, and it was easy for something to go wrong.
"Qing, I'll go too! I've never seen such a lively thing," Mei Qingxue asked Du Guqing. Usually, few women went to the hunting ground. It wasn't because of any taboos, but because there were mostly men there. It would be inconvenient for women to go. Mei Qingxue had already asked. She would follow Du Guqing no matter what.
Only when she saw him safe and sound could she feel at ease.
"Okay," Du Guqing didn't hesitate. He grabbed his wife's hand into his own. "You'll have to ride a horse then," Du Guqing knew that Mei Qingxue couldn't ride a horse, so he deliberately said so.
"Okay," a smile appeared on Mei Qingxue's lips. She had learned to ride a horse in a previous life. It was just a matter of picking it up again.
Xuan Qiao had already gotten married. When the guard led the red-dressed Xuan Qiao away, Xuan Qiao cried loudly. In the end, her mistress even played a joke on her.
Her husband, the county magistrate, was a handsome and healthy man.
Now there was a new maid beside Mei Qingxue. She was also from the Prime Minister's Mansion. But the four girls named Spring that Luo Jiao had mentioned weren't taken in. Mei Qingxue thought they were old enough, so she arranged marriages for them one by one.
When the Empress arranged marriages, no one was reluctant. Instead, they were all happy.
She had been unlucky for nine previous lives. She had been happy for a long time in this life. Was her good days about to end?
It was okay to scold the King of Hell. Why did that guy arrange for her to have a rough life for ten lives? Was she really a very evil person in the past?
For ten lives, she had always done good deeds and been a good person. According to her personality, "Old King of Hell, are you kidding me?" Mei Qingxue was helpless. Should she cause trouble in the underworld again?
If that old guy didn't have her thrown out, the result of the last time she caused trouble was this life. She didn't want the next life. She just wanted the present, Du Guqing, and her parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law in this life.
Someone stroked his beard. "You naughty girl. If it weren't for you always pulling my beard, would I have done this?" The culprit looked around nervously. Ox-Head and Horse-Face each looked in a different direction, not looking at their king. They could only pretend not to hear, for fear of being sent out to have bad luck for ten lives.
That would be a disaster.
Someone lowered his head and pretended to look at his files while stroking his beard.
"It's been quiet for a thousand years,"
Mei Qingxue didn't know what her future fate would be. She only knew that there seemed to be a heavy stone pressing on her heart. She was so nervous that she could hardly breathe. Du Guqing mustn't have any problems.
"What are you thinking about again?" Du Guqing noticed that his wife was in a daze. Recently, she had been in a daze more and more often.
"It's okay," Mei Qingxue patted Du Guqing's hand comfortingly.
There seemed to be something else in her tender eyes. Du Guqing knew that she was afraid that something would happen to him during the hunt. Du Guqing was very confident in his martial arts.