Deep Palace Pet Peach Blossom Flawless

Chapter 260 I - No Fate with the Li Family Girl

Emperor Shenwu said in disgust, "Why bother saying so much to her! Prince An, take Princess An back to the palace! I'll have the Imperial Guards escort you!"

Prince An realized that there was no turning back, and his face turned pale.

Li Wanqing's pupils contracted sharply, realizing she was at the brink of life and death. A fierce determination surged in her heart, and she turned to Prince An with a gloomy look, "Prince, haven't you always wanted to know why I drink the contraceptive soup? I can tell you now!"

Prince An was startled and quickly interrupted Li Wanqing: "Your Majesty, I will take her away right away!"

Li Wanqing ignored Prince An's attempt to support her and screamed, "That's because I, Wanqing, have always loved someone else!"

Prince An was rarely angered by Li Wanqing. He dragged Li Wanqing up and shouted, "Shut up! Don't you see where we are? I won't tolerate your nonsense! Come with me!"

Li Wanqing didn't care. This time, she shouted directly at the Emperor Shenwu, "Your Majesty, I want to ask you why you rejected me back then? I clearly passed the palace selection, so why didn't you choose me? I'm clearly the best in appearance, etiquette, and talent. I'm a hundred, a thousand times better than those selected concubines! Your Majesty! Why! Obviously... obviously..."

Prince An was furious, his eyes bloodshot and his throat rasping with wheezing gasps, clearly driven to distraction by Li Wanqing. He had long suspected the person Li Wanqing loved, but that suspicion had left him terrified and unable to sleep. Li Wanqing, how dare she! How dare she scheme to marry him, then use her status as Princess An to get so close to the Emperor, even risking the wrath of the world to interfere in the affairs of the harem, and even brazenly poisoning the Emperor!

"Li Wanqing!"

Prince An gnashed his teeth and said, "Even if you are ready to die, don't you care about your Li family? You are so outspoken, and you will bury the entire Li family with you!"

Li Wanqing's frantic expression paused for a moment. She said dejectedly, "My brother has been imprisoned by His Majesty in the Dali Temple. My father is now extremely cautious, fearing that he might make a mistake. Is this going to implicate my mother's family?"

Lan Qingwu had not spoken since Concubine Li was dragged out of the palace. Now, when she heard what Li Wanqing said, she couldn't help but frown and sigh. It was obviously her father who had evil intentions, and her brother who took human lives, but she made it seem as if Emperor Shenwu was deliberately targeting the Li family and wrongly accusing the Li family!

Emperor Shenwu lost his patience: "Come here! Send Prince An and Princess An back to the palace!"

Li Wanqing was about to struggle again, but Prince An said bitterly, "You can stay here, as long as you're not afraid of bringing trouble to your mother clan!"

The light in Li Wanqing's eyes gradually extinguished. She stopped struggling and was dragged out of Qianzheng Hall by Prince An. However, Li Wanqing kept her eyes on Emperor Shenwu until she left the hall, as if she wanted to hear his answer.

But Li Wanqing was destined not to receive an answer. Emperor Shenwu didn't even glance at her or say a single word to her until she left Qianzheng Hall! It was as if, in that national selection, only Li Wanqing's own fate had changed after she was eliminated.

The Emperor Shenwu sent people to escort Prince An and Princess An back to Prince An's mansion. Only Emperor Shenwu, Empress Dowager Li, and Lan Qingwu remained in the palace. The matter seemed to have been resolved smoothly, but Emperor Shenwu leaned forward slightly. He looked at the backs of Prince An and Princess An as they left the palace and whispered, "Mother, I have no chance with the daughter of the Li family!"

Empress Dowager Li was horrified. "No chance with a daughter of the Li family!" Was he referring to Li Wanhui, Li Wanying, Li Wanqing? Or... was he referring to her mother, the Empress Dowager herself, after all, she was also from the Li family.

The matter came to an end, and Empress Dowager Li left Qianzheng Hall in a huff. Emperor Shenwu did not vent his anger on Prince An for the time being, so Empress Dowager Li had no choice but to leave first.

The Qianzheng Hall finally became quiet, but the Emperor Shenwu seemed a little exhausted. He couldn't help but rub his eyebrows gently. Lan Qingwu hurriedly stood up, walked to the side of the Emperor Shenwu, stretched out her white hands and gently pressed the acupoints on the Emperor Shenwu's head.

The Shenwu Emperor's expression gradually relaxed. After a moment, he pulled Lan Qingwu over and held her on his lap. "Wei Ruo Ruo, are you unhappy?"

Lan Qingwu shook his head and lowered his gaze. "I have a humble guess: Your Majesty was not on guard when he arrived at the Cining Palace, and that's why... Concubine Li schemed against him..."

The Shenwu Emperor embraced Lan Qingwu and spoke after a long pause, "Back then, I drank a cup of tea in the Cining Palace and fell drowsy. When I regained consciousness, Li Wanying was by my side... After that, I completely hated Li Wanying. If you blame me now, I won't shirk responsibility. This is truly my fault."

"I don't blame Brother Heng for being weak."

Lan Qingwu said softly, "What happened back then wasn't Brother Heng's fault. Besides, Brother Heng hadn't promised me anything back then. I just feel a little sorry for Brother Heng. He must have been very sad when that happened in the Cining Palace!"

Her biological mother had never stood on Emperor Shenwu's side. When that incident happened, Empress Dowager Li finally pleaded with Emperor Shenwu to release Concubine Li from her confinement.

The Shenwu Emperor slowly approached Lan Qingwu, their breathing audible, his forehead pressed against Lan Qingwu's. "I've long forgotten. Now I no longer care about others. I only want you to care about me! As long as you feel sorry for me! As long as you are by my side, that's enough!"

Emperor Shenwu pecked Lan Qingwu's tender lips again and again, and the kiss became more and more intense. Lan Qingwu gradually became breathless. Finally, Lan Qingwu felt the tip of her tongue go numb, and Emperor Shenwu let her go.

Lan Qingwu lay in the arms of Emperor Shenwu. After a moment, she said softly, "Brother Heng, thank you!"

Thank you for always keeping the promise between us. Although Emperor Shenwu, as an emperor, does not understand why Lan Qingwu insists on him staying with him alone, Emperor Shenwu is willing to make a promise to himself and keep it!

Lan Qingwu had never attempted to change an emperor's deeply ingrained ideas. The most unpredictable thing in this world was a person's heart and mind. To talk to an emperor about a life together and get him to agree was truly ridiculous.

In the evening, Nie Wushuang came to take the pulse of Emperor Shenwu.

Nie Wushuang felt the emperor's strong pulse and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, you are fine now... That day..."

Emperor Shenwu slightly closed his eyes and said, "Didn't you say that I would wake up in two days?"

Then why did you let my master say some half-truths? Aren’t you afraid that the Queen will be frightened and hurt?

As if he understood Nie Wushuang's inner criticism, the Emperor Shenwu said nonchalantly, "I just wanted to confirm some of my suspicions, and now—I've already gotten what I wanted and what I needed to know!"

Nie Wushuang felt a chill in his heart. He quickly lowered his head and dared not be distracted in front of the emperor anymore.

Emperor Shenwu took advantage of the time he had to recover in the past few days to persuade Lan Qingwu to read memorials to him.

Lan Qingwu initially disagreed, but in the end she could not bear the recurrence of Emperor Shenwu's "headache", and she really had no choice but to start reading the books to Emperor Shenwu one by one.