The Marquis Is Innocent

Grandmother’s tone was different from Mrs. Zhu’s. She didn’t sound different and didn’t look as excited as she should.

If there was anything different from usual, it was the proud look Xiao Qiao saw in the light emitted from her one eye.

These heroes or lords have created this chaotic world, and this world has made new heroes and lords.

Wei Shao’s grandmother could indeed afford to be proud of having a grandson who ranked among the hegemons of the north at a young age, Xiao Qiao wondered in her heart, especially now he had captured Jingyang. In military terms, Jingyang was not just a city. Wei Shao’s accession to Jingyang meant he had truly unified the north and become a true northern ruler, but most importantly, he gained access to the granary land.

With a sufficient supply of food and provisions, it was a guaranteed success in the Central Plains region. Chen’s father and son sit on the treasure land, but in the end, other people benefit from it and can only blame their incompetence.

Her nightmare about the future, which has haunted her since her first day in this world, is becoming real. The appearance of a woman named Su E Huang and the unification of the north by Wei Shao.

If there is no accident, her husband, Wei Shao, will become emperor.

She did not make this assumption simply out of her nightmares or the mysterious destiny of the heavens. After arriving at Wei’s house, she saw with her eyes the ambition, the energy, the unbridled determination, and the perseverance in Wei Shao.

Such a man, who could reach the end in the chaotic world, was never because of chance.

Xiao Qiao’s heart inevitably became more suspicious as well. In this life, Wei Shao’s wife is no longer Da Qiao. As the wife has changed, the Su girl, who appeared on this trip to Zhongshan, will she remain on track with her previous life and stand with him to become the founding empress of this magnificent kingdom?

All the knowledge of the previous life ended when Wei Shao became the emperor, Da Qiao killed herself, Su girl became the queen, and Liu Yan’s city was destroyed.

She wondered. After Wei Shao becomes the emperor as he wished, being together with his lover, and destroying the Qiao family which he hated to the bone, would there be a trace of guilt in his iron heart when he remembers the poor woman he treated coldly all her life and could not enter the Wei family’s tomb after her death?

How will he end up?

……

(Previous life)

Three months ago, Wei Shao’s army attacked Luoyang and broke into the Imperial Palace Zhuque Gate. Before the abolition of the last Han emperor, he besieged Xing Xun and finally killed him in the North Palace.

North Palace fire burned for three days and three nights before it subsided.

Half a month later, Wei Shao offered a ceremony in the northern suburbs, ascended the throne in the Qianqiu Long Live Hall, and was named “Yan.”

That year, he was in his early thirties and became the new ruler of Luoyang, the imperial capital with a population of one million.

He set up the imperial temple, the provincial government, and the court, rewarded merit, and punished crime, but the harem remained empty.

There are two women in his harem.

One is Da Qiao, the first wife he married ten years ago.

The other is his beloved concubine Su, who served him for many years.

He unified the north many years ago. Eliminated the central china and Luoyang warlords, leaving a few small escapes.

The only piece of land that can enter his eyes, but not his hands, is the Yong.

Two years ago, to resist Xing Xun’s tyranny, some of the courtiers loyal to the Han Dynasty welcomed Liu Yan, the son of the former Langya King, to Yong and set up a small Han Dynasty with its capital at Yong.

By taking Yong, the world would fall into Wei Shao’s hands.

After Wei Shao invaded Luoyang and Xing Xun died, a messenger brought a decree from the small dynasty, making him prime minister and grand secretary, asking him to go to Yong and make Liu Yan, the rightful emperor, the emperor of the kingdom.

Wei Shao laughed at that time. Everyone could see his contempt and arrogance.

He said he would be blamed for not taking the gift from heaven.

Half a month later, he raised an army to attack the small dynasty.

Before he went to war, he didn’t crown Da Qiao as his queen, nor did he crown Su, whom he had favored for many years, as others had speculated.

He did only one thing. He made Su girl his wife.

It was the highest-ranking consort in the harem below the Empress.

Afterward, he left Luoyang to go on a personal expedition to the Yong Capital.

The day after he left, Su E Huang came to the Chongde Palace.

……

Luoyang Imperial Palace is magnificent, divided into two palaces. The South Palace is the emperor’s pilgrimage to discuss political affairs, and the North Palace is the emperor’s harem.

Half a month ago, the fire burned most of the palaces of the North Palace, and only some of the buildings remain. Wei Shao was anxious to destroy the small dynasty and didn’t issue a restoration order but only ordered the remnants of the palace from the fire to be cleaned up and used as a temporary residence.

Su E Huang lived in the gorgeous Yanxiu Hall. The former Han emperor and Xing Xun’s harem were placed in the east of the Zengxi Palace, and Da Qiao was placed in the most remote part of the Chongde Hall.

She has been sick for a long time. There was only an old woman serving her medicine and food.

A long time ago, when she was not yet married, in her hometown of East County, she was called “Double Qiao” with her sister, Xiao Qiao, for their beauty.

Now she is twenty-five or twenty-six, which should be the most beautiful years of a woman’s life, but she is thin and out of shape. The hands resting on the bed left with only a layer of skin. In the back of the hand, the green veins crawl inside like a spider web. Only when she opens her eyes one’s can find a trace of the remaining beauty from the light of those eyes.

Da Qiao felt thirsty. She had been thirsty for a long time. She knew the old woman did not want to serve her and tried to struggle to go down and pour water herself. But she couldn’t get up. The strength of her body seemed to have left her inch by inch.

She called out to the old woman again in a weak voice. The old woman came in, and her feet made an ear-splitting sound on the brick floor.

The old woman poured cold water and brought it to the bed, but the cup fell on the edge of the bed.

The water spilled and wet the bedding.

“This servant was busy decocting medicine for you. If it’s not a big deal, it’s better not to call.”

The old woman muttered in a terrible mood, turned around, and left.

Although the woman she served was the emperor’s first wife in name, everyone knew the emperor had never visited her.

It is said, the emperor not only does not look at her but has not touched a single finger of her for many years.

To be this kind of woman is a shame to live.

……

Da Qiao struggled to sit up.

Her body is too thin. So thin that when she sat up, she could feel the pain.

She reached out to the water she called with great difficulty when she felt a light come in front of her eyes, and the dim room was brightened.

It was a woman who was walking towards her bed.

The woman is over thirty years old but well-maintained. Her skin is moist and glowing, in contrast to Da Qiao on the bed. She was wearing a complicated and exquisite nine-ring bun, her hair was decorated with bright and clear phoenix-headed shakes, and the glazed string of treasures hanging down from the phoenix’s mouth made a pleasant sound with her pace. It takes two maids to comb her for half an hour. Her body is wearing a gorgeous purple phoenix dress. This silk brocade pattern is precious nowadays, and only one can be woven in a year by twenty women. A man with status usually used it as a belt. She used it to make a skirt. Her shoes are three inches high, made with gold silk, decorated with pearls, with a vivid gold butterfly on the left and right toes. The wings of the butterfly tremble lightly with her footsteps.

She is Su girl, Wei Shao’s favorite concubine, now the madam in the harem, and the only woman around Wei Shao for so many years.

When the old woman saw Madam Su, her face showed a flattering look, and knelt.

Su E Huang told her to go out. The old woman retreated. Only Da Qiao and Su E Huang were in the room.

Su E Huang walked to the bedside, sat down, brought up the cold water, handed it to Da Qiao’s mouth, and smiled, “I heard you are seriously ill. His Majesty conquered the Yong. You and I are sisters. I have come to see you.”

Da Qiao did not move a bit.

Su E Huang looked at her dry and cracked lips and frowned slightly.

A woman in her thirties, although well-maintained, this tiny, unconscious action still caused a few fine lines of varying lengths to appear on the skin between her eyebrows and at the corners of her eyes.

She said: “These unruly slaves, how do they serve! How dare they bring such cold water for you to drink on a winter day!” After saying that, she threw the cup. The bamboo cup was thrown to the ground with a weird sound rolling forward, and the water was spilled on the green tiles.

Da Qiao still did not move.

Su E Huang looked at Da Qiao for a moment: “Before His Majesty left the imperial capital, he made me his wife. You must know that, right?”

Naturally, Da Qiao did not know. No one told her. She didn’t care about that either.

“His Majesty was supposed to do one more thing. Crown you as the Empress. But he didn’t. His Majesty naturally could not have made you queen. But as long as you are still alive, I can’t become His Majesty’s Empress either.”

Finally, she sighed and looked at Da Qiao with a sympathetic and compassionate gaze, “I don’t understand why you are still lingering and refusing to die when you have reached this point?”

……

Yes, why is she still lingering and refusing to die?

Da Qiao also asked herself.

She has reached this point but still survives. Perhaps her heart was left in the back garden of her home in East County and can not dispel the one-green-eyed man’s shadow under the moonlight.

……

Su E Huang saw Da Qiao not respond and stared at her.

” Qiao girl,” she said in a tone as if gossiping, “in this world, everyone has something they want. Men need a high official position to honor their ancestors, and women need an honorable husband, or at least to win a man’s heart and marry a man of their choice. But I guess you don’t know that nothing in this world can be obtained at will. Even if God offers, you have to get it yourself. I know you must hate me with all your heart, but do you know everything I have got today is not easy to achieve?”

A smile appeared on her vermilion lips, followed by a soft sigh with a hint of self-pity.

“Originally, I wouldn’t have the chance to say these words to anyone for the rest of my life.” She said, “But for some reason, I suddenly want to talk to you about it.”

She was silent for a moment as if she had fallen into a memory of the past.

“I come from the Zhongshan Marquis family. I have known His Majesty since I was a child. I was two years older than him. By the time I was 14, I had decided in my heart that he would become my husband. Unfortunately, the Wei family suffered a disaster, and when I was 17, my parents married me off to Liu Li. My heart is reluctant. But only I know, even if I defy my parents’ order and His Majesty is willing to marry me, the Wei family will not accept me, because His Majesty’s grandmother doesn’t like me, and His Majesty has great respect for her ……”

When it comes to ‘His Majesty’s grandmother, her lips show a hint of disgust with an odd expression, which then disappears.

“After weighing my options, I listened to my parents’ advice and married Liu Li. This incompetent man of the Liu family, I was committed to him for almost ten years. He didn’t ascend to the emperor’s throne in the end but shamefully died himself. I became a widow. The man who entered Luoyang, Xing Xun, was greedy for my beauty and wanted to take me, but I would not commit myself. At that time, I returned to Zhongshan, and after several twists and turns, I finally saw the face of His Majesty again ……”

She gazed at Da Qiao: “When we met, His Majesty was surprised and asked me why my voice was ruined. I said because I know His Majesty loves my voice, and before I got married, I poisoned myself. Even though I had to marry someone else and could not keep my body for His Majesty, I could keep my voice for him. He was touched. But he did not know that this throat of mine was the result of being sick and taking drugs by mistake ……”

” Qiao girl, from that moment, I knew His Majesty was aroused by me. When His Majesty married you, he was twenty-two years old. But there was no concubine in the room. Do you know why? Because I used to say to him, “Why in the world do men still have three wives and four concubines when they have a woman they love, but women have to keep their bodies for their husbands alone? I broke off contact with him for many years. Why does he not get close to women? He should remember my heartless words back then, which is why he regards the women of the world as a broken broom ……”

Su E Huang laughed, and a smug came out of her gaze.

“Even though I was separated from him back then, so what? He was just a teenager at that time. In his heart, I was his two years older sister who left him something that he could not forget all his life. What’s more, when he was injured and his mother was sick, I stayed in Wei’s house for half a year, taking care of him and his mother every day. With this kind of love, even if I had committed a big mistake, he could not treat me with cruelty.”

Da Qiao stared at her in a daze.

But Su E Huang’s gaze became icy cold.

“Qiao girl, your life is also a pity. With your state today, I did not want to do anything to you. But unfortunately, if you don’t die, I’m afraid the queen’s throne will remain empty. It’s not that I’m impatient and can’t wait that long. But do you know it is an insult to me that the throne is vacant and I become a wife? I have gone to great lengths to get to this day. But what have you done? As the daughter of the Wei family’s enemy, you have occupied the status of His Majesty’s first wife for ten years. It is because you are the one His Majesty’s grandmother married for him! Only when you died would His Majesty crown me as his queen.”

“So, why do you still refuse to die?”

Finally, she stood up, looked down at Da Qiao with a cold gaze, and once again slowly said.