novelSusiti Chapter 311 The wedding invitation was sent to the Northern Border again, and Xu Longxiang was so an
Chapter 311 The wedding invitation was sent to the Northern Border again, and Xu Longxiang was so an
Three hours later, Xu Longxiang still couldn't believe it.
How could Liu Hongyan betray them?
But the facts speak for themselves.
She stabbed Zhao Laosi with her own hands.
He personally set an ambush and killed him.
He personally uprooted the intelligence network that the Northern Border had cultivated in Liyang for many years.
Xu Longxiang stood by the window, his fingers slowly tightening on the window frame.
The scenes of his time with Liu Hongyan flashed through his mind frame by frame, as clear as if they were yesterday.
But he knew those scenes could never be relived.
Xu Longxiang clenched his fists even tighter, his nails digging into the ironwood window frame, making a soft, teeth-grinding "clucking" sound.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and his throat felt like it was stuffed with a wad of blood-soaked cotton, which he couldn't swallow or spit out.
He couldn't figure it out.
He gave her his trust, he gave her power, he gave her everything she could want.
He never treated her as a subordinate.
In his heart, she was one of the most important women.
He was even waiting, waiting until his great cause was accomplished, to give her a proper title, so that she could stand openly by his side.
Indeed, Xu Longxiang always regarded Liu Hongyan as one of the most important women in his life.
He originally planned to take Liu Hongyan into his harem after he overthrew the Qin Dynasty, so that she could rightfully follow him and enjoy wealth and honor.
But she betrayed him.
He didn't even know the reason, or why all of this was happening.
Xu Longxiang slowly released his grip.
Five deep finger marks were left on the window frame, like five wounds that would never heal.
"Why?" he asked in a low voice.
No one answered him.
Outside the window, only the howling north wind could be heard, its mournful sound like someone crying.
He closed his eyes.
I took a deep breath.
Then he opened his eyes, turned around, and prepared to walk back behind the desk.
Just then—
The palace doors were suddenly pushed open.
The sound was urgent and heavy. The door slammed against the wall with a dull thud, causing the candle flame on the bronze lampstand to shake violently and almost go out.
Xu Longxiang's brows furrowed sharply.
He turned his head and saw Sikong Xuan standing at the door.
His old advisor, who had been with him for twenty years, was now ashen-faced.
Those deep-set eyes were wide open, their pupils filled with extreme fear and disbelief.
He stood at the doorway, the hem of his gray robe swaying slightly, but he seemed to be nailed to the spot, completely motionless.
Only those eyes were fixed intently on Xu Longxiang.
Xu Longxiang's brows furrowed even more.
He rarely saw Sikong Xuan like this.
This old man, who had followed his father for most of his life and for so many years, had experienced the turmoil of the court when the late emperor passed away, the internal and external difficulties when he ascended the throne as a young man, and the life-or-death situation when 100,000 iron cavalry from the Northern Barbarians pressed in.
He has seen great storms, mountains of knives and seas of fire, and battlefields more terrifying than any nightmare.
He had never done that before.
A sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in Xu Longxiang's heart.
"What's wrong?"
"Did Zhao Laosi get into trouble?"
Sikong Xuan shook his head.
"No, it's not Zhao Laosi."
Xu Longxiang's brows furrowed even more.
His brow furrowed deeply, forming a deep "川" shape. "What is it?"
Sikong Xuan opened his mouth.
His lips were trembling, and his Adam's apple was bobbing, as if something was stuck there, unable to be swallowed or spat out.
Xu Longxiang's ominous premonition grew stronger.
He stared at Sikong Xuan's hand.
The hand emerged from the sleeve, clutching an invitation in its palm.
The invitation was bright red with gold lettering that gleamed dazzlingly in the candlelight.
Xu Longxiang's gaze fell on the invitation, his pupils contracting slightly.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind—an invitation.
Another invitation.
The last time I received an invitation was when that tyrannical emperor took his sister as a concubine.
That time, he sat in Zhenyue Hall, looking at the bright red invitation card and the three words "Xu Fenghua" on it, and crushed his teacup.
This time, who is it?
Xu Longxiang's Adam's apple bobbed.
His voice deepened, sounding as if it were being forced out from his chest.
"Another invitation? Who will that tyrant marry this time?"
Sikong Xuan did not answer.
He just stood there, his hands shaking more and more violently.
Xu Longxiang's gaze fell on the invitation, on the gold-embossed words, on the dazzling red color.
A name suddenly flashed through his mind.
The name struck him like a bolt of lightning, cleaving through the chaos in his mind.
His pupils suddenly contracted, and his fingers clenched tightly.
"Could it be—" he began, his voice hoarse.
"Liu Hongyan?"
Sikong Xuan's lips trembled even more violently.
He didn't speak, but simply shook his head and slowly handed the invitation to Xu Longxiang.
Xu Longxiang extended his hand.
I accepted the invitation.
The moment the invitation was taken, Sikong Xuan's hand suddenly fell limply, as if all his strength had been drained away.
He stood there, his whole body hunched over, like a stone statue that had been eroded by wind and rain for too long, about to collapse at any moment.
Xu Longxiang lowered his head.
The invitation cover was bright red, with four words written in gold foil: "Wedding Invitation".
The handwriting was beautiful, with strong, vigorous strokes, clearly the work of a master.
But looking at those four words, he felt they were an eyesore.
The red was so vibrant, it reminded him of the day his sister got married. The red silk, red candles, and red veils were everywhere in the imperial city, as red as blood.
He opened the invitation.
The handwriting inside is even more beautiful.
The running script is characterized by its continuous and fluid brushstrokes, executed in one breath.
But those words were like knives in front of him, cutting into his heart piece by piece.
"It is hereby decreed that the grand wedding ceremony of Emperor Qin Mu of Great Qin and Empress Zhao Qingxue of Liyang will be held on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month at the Imperial Ancestral Temple of Great Qin. We hereby extend our respectful invitation to attend."
Xu Longxiang's eyes were fixed on that line of text.
"Empress Zhao Qingxue of Liyang".
These seven words exploded in his mind like a thunderclap!
It blew him away, made him dizzy, and shattered his liver and gallbladder!
He stood there, motionless.
His eyes were wide open, and the unbelievable shock deep in his pupils was churning wildly!
Like a lake being struck by a boulder, it stirred up towering waves!
Zhao Qingxue.
Empress Liyang.
His white moonlight.
The person he's kept hidden in his heart for so many years.
The person he had never forgotten since the first time he met her several years ago.
He thought that once he achieved his goal and sat in that position, he could stand openly in front of her and say, "Zhao Qingxue, I'm here."
Now, she is getting married.
She married that tyrannical emperor.
Xu Longxiang's hands trembled violently.
The trembling started at the fingertips and spread to the wrists, arms, shoulders, and the whole body.
He was like a leaf in the wind, swaying precariously.
Countless images flashed through his mind.
In the Qin Dynasty palace, at her sister's grand wedding ceremony, she drank with him from afar through a beaded curtain, her deep purple phoenix eyes gleaming with a cold light in the candlelight. She said, "I've long admired you," and he raised his cup and drank it all in one gulp.
She bid him farewell outside the east gate of the imperial city. The morning light bathed her in a pale golden glow. She looked at him with a complex expression and said, "Prince Xu, take care."
He thought that was the beginning.
He thought that as long as he was powerful enough, as long as he overthrew Qin Mu, as long as he sat in that position, she would see him, she would acknowledge him, she would…
He didn't realize that was the end.
That was the last time he saw her.
The next time they meet, she will be Qin Mu's empress.
She was the mistress of the Qin Dynasty.
She is someone he can never have.
Xu Longxiang lowered his head, staring intently at the invitation.
The gilded lettering became increasingly blurry in his eyes, as if seen through a layer of mist.
He blinked, and the mist thickened.
It wasn't water vapor, it was tears.
His hands were shaking more and more violently.
The invitation trembled violently in his hand, like a butterfly with its wings caught in a trap, making its last struggle.
"Is this true?" he asked.
His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, like a sob squeezed out from deep in his throat.
His lips trembled, his tone carrying a pleading, humble expectation.
I hope Sikong Xuan will say "no," that it's fake, that it's the tyrant's trick, that Zhao Qingxue didn't marry, and that his white moonlight is still his white moonlight.
Sikong Xuan looked at him.
Looking at this young man he had watched grow up, and at the light in his eyes that was slowly dying out.
Those deep-set eyes were filled with sorrow at that moment.
He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but it felt like something was stuck in his throat, and he couldn't squeeze out a single word.
He could only stand there, watching Xu Longxiang, watching the light in his eyes grow dimmer and dimmer, like the last star in a winter night in the North, swallowed by dark clouds.
"I've checked it several times," he finally said, his voice hoarse as if sand were grinding against each other.
"It's true."
These three words were like a knife, piercing Xu Longxiang's heart.
His body jolted violently, as if he had been struck by something.
His hands instinctively braced themselves on the table, his fingertips pressing against the shards of porcelain. The shards dug into his flesh, and beads of blood seeped out, but he felt no pain.
He couldn't feel anything anymore.
His mind went blank, with only those seven words echoing wildly in his head.
Empress Zhao Qingxue of Liyang.
Empress Zhao Qingxue of Liyang.
Empress Zhao Qingxue of Liyang.
She's getting married.
She married Qin Mu.
She married that tyrannical emperor.
That licentious and incompetent ruler who neglected state affairs and forcibly took wives of his ministers.
How could she marry him?
How could she possibly agree to marry him?
She is the Empress of Liyang, the Empress who commands respect throughout the Eastern Continent, and Zhao Qingxue, who stood atop the Star Gazing Platform overlooking the myriad lights of the city and made the vow to "unify the Nine Provinces."
How could she marry someone like that?
unless……
Unless she was forced into it.
This thought struck Xu Longxiang like a bolt of lightning, making him shudder.
That's right!
Qin Mu forced her.
It must have been Qin Mu who forced her!
He must have used some means to force her to marry him!
In Xu Longxiang's eyes, the light that was going out suddenly shone again.
He suddenly raised his head and looked at Sikong Xuan.
"Sikong—"
He only said two words.
Because he saw Sikong Xuan's face.
That old, wrinkled face was now filled with worry.
Sikong Xuan looked at Xu Longxiang, at his pale face, and a deep sense of regret suddenly welled up in his heart.
He suddenly realized he shouldn't have shown the invitation to His Highness.
It shouldn't have happened at this time, not right after Zhao Laosi had just told the news of Liu Hongyan's betrayal.
It was inappropriate to do this when His Highness was already exhausted.
But no way,
This matter is of great importance, and he felt that His Highness should be informed of it no matter what.
Only by knowing as soon as possible can we make plans accordingly.
But he forgot that His Highness is also a human being.
It will hurt, it will be tiring, and it will be crushing.
He's not made of iron.
He is made of flesh and blood.
Sikong Xuan opened his mouth.
"Your Highness, you—"
He didn't continue.
Xu Longxiang's body suddenly swayed violently.
He staggered back a step, his back hitting the window frame with a dull thud.
He leaned against the window frame, panting heavily, like a fish stranded on the shore.
The invitation slipped from his hand and fluttered to the ground.
The bright red cover faced upwards, and the gold lettering gleamed dazzlingly in the candlelight.
The words "Wedding Invitation" were written on it.
Those four words were facing Xu Longxiang, as if mocking him, or perhaps pitying him.
Sikong Xuan stepped forward.
"Your Highness—"
He reached out his hand, trying to help him.
But before his hand could even touch Xu Longxiang's arm, Xu Longxiang's body jolted violently.
His face suddenly flushed red, and veins bulged on his forehead!
Then, he spat out a mouthful of blood!
It spewed from Xu Longxiang's mouth, blooming into a shocking flower of blood in the air, before falling down and landing on the invitation!
"Qingxue..."
Xu Longxiang murmured the name.
Then his eyes slowly closed.
His head was tilted to one side, resting against the window frame.
Sikong Xuan's expression changed drastically, and he pounced on him.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
He reached out and put his hand on Xu Longxiang's shoulder, his fingers touching Xu Longxiang's face, which was as cold as the coldest snow in a winter night in the North.
"Your Highness—!!"
Sikong Xuan's voice suddenly rose, exploding in the silent hall.
He turned his head and shouted hoarsely towards the outside of the hall:
"Quickly summon the doctor! Summon the doctor!!!"
Footsteps immediately sounded outside the hall.
.........