PDLP Chapter 185: Plead for them
Chapter 185: Plead for them
Xiao Mo reacted quickly and blocked it with her hand. In just a moment, the blood oozing from her forearm soaked her sleeve.
The princess, who had never wielded a sword or a gun, was so frightened by the scene before her that she trembled and the knife in her hand slipped to her feet.
The emperor frowned and shouted, "What are you doing? Do you think you can marry that poor boy by killing him?"
The princess's thin lips trembled slightly, and she unconsciously took two steps back, shook her head, turned around and knelt on the ground: "No, father, I, your son, just..."
"Come here, the princess has behaved unbecomingly in front of the emperor. She will be immediately confined to the Showa Palace and will not be allowed to leave the palace without my permission!"
The emperor closed his eyes, turned around and said, "Xiao Mo, go to the side hall and ask the imperial physician to treat your wound."
Xiao Mo covered her wound, nodded in response, and then walked out after paying her respects.
Qi Minxiu and Qi Yue, who were waiting outside the hall, saw her come out and immediately noticed her bleeding arm.
Qi Minxiu walked forward worriedly to support her, glanced behind her, and asked in confusion: "What happened? Why is your hand injured?"
The moment Qi Minxiu moved, Qi Yue also took a step, but he stopped when he realized something was wrong.
"Did you see the princess being taken away just now? She was locked up for refusing marriage."
Xiao Mo raised her chin with an unpleasant expression and pointed to the side hall next to her: "You guys go in, I'll go take care of the wound."
Qi Minxiu turned his head to look inside the hall, then turned back to look at her arm: "Let me accompany you to check your injury first."
Qi Yue glanced at the two of them and strode into the hall: "I'll go see what's going on."
On this side, after entering the door of the side hall, Xiao Mo took off the veil on her face.
At this point, she felt there was no need to hide her identity any longer.
When the imperial physician arrived, Qi Minxiu had already wiped the blood from around her wound.
When Qi Minxiu saw Xiao Mo's fair arm with the skin and flesh cut inside out, he felt as if it was being cut on his own body.
He watched the imperial physician treating her wound and couldn't help but gasp, as if he was enduring the piercing pain.
After bandaging the wound, the imperial physician gave a few brief instructions and left.
Not long after he left, a palace maid came in with a set of clothes and said that it was the emperor's wish that Xiao Mo change back into her previous attire.
Xiao Mo took it with a smile. After changing her clothes, she did not leave the palace, but went to ask for an audience with the emperor.
Qi Minxiu guessed what she wanted to do and reminded her a few words. Seeing that she insisted on going, he had no choice but to follow her.
In the main hall, Qi Yue returned to the East Palace after understanding the situation.
When Xiao Mo went to ask for an audience, the emperor was the only one in the palace who was secretly grieving.
After hearing the report from the palace maid, the emperor was upset, but when he thought about how she had been stabbed by the princess, he agreed.
He looked at Xiao Mo kneeling in the hall and asked in confusion, "General Xiao is injured. Instead of going back to rest, he came to see me. What important matter do you have to report?"
Xiao Mo knelt straight and said what was on her mind directly without beating around the bush.
"I would like to talk about the princess and her lover."
The emperor raised an eyebrow, his expression changing from annoyance to seriousness: "What else can you do about the princess's problem?"
"My solution is to help her and that young master get together." Xiao Mo lowered her head slightly, her tone firm without any weakness.
Hearing her words, the emperor's eyes moved, and a spark quickly condensed in the depths of his eyes.
"I tried every possible means to stop her, but you actually let me fulfill her wish. Are you also moved by their love?"
"Their feelings are truly touching. In my humble opinion, they transcend social status."
Xiao Mo lowered her eyes and said this with courage.
Just as the emperor was about to lose his temper, Qi Minxiu walked over to Xiao Mo and knelt down.
"Father, I think what General Xiao said is not entirely unreasonable."
"Reason, what reason? My princess is of noble status. How many people can be worthy of her? Who is that young boy? How dare he covet her!"
Princess Zhaoning was his favorite among all his princesses. In his eyes, his princess was a fairy from heaven.
Not to mention someone like this with no family background, he might not even look down on the son of an important official in the court.
So when he found out that Zhao Ning liked a man from a poor family, he almost lost control and killed him.
If Zhao Ning didn't know his father so well, that person would have passed the seventh day of his death by now.
Xiao Mo knew that the emperor was angry, so she didn't dare to say what she had originally prepared. She could only try to change her words in a tactful way.
"I wonder if the emperor has ever heard of the story of Princess Liao of the Ruan Kingdom in the Western Regions."
The emperor looked at her with confusion and motioned for her to continue.
Princess Liao was the most beloved daughter of the King of Nguyen. She fell in love with a woodcutter while she was out hunting with the King.
The king did not allow his princess to marry such a man, so he sent people to assassinate the woodcutter three times but failed. Instead, the princess found out.
The princess threatened to die and refused to marry a woodcutter. The king was furious and put her under house arrest.
When the princess learned that the woodcutter had been beheaded by the king after she was imprisoned, she hanged herself in her room in despair.
When the king, feeling sorry for her, went to see her, her body was already cold."
The emperor's heart palpitated as he listened, and a flash of fear flashed across his eyes. "Are you telling a story that's allegorical? Don't you know the crime of cursing the princess?"
Xiao Mo's heartbeat accelerated for two seconds, but she quickly controlled it and stabilized it.
"Your Majesty, this story has long been spread among the people of Western Xinjiang. Everyone who mentions it expresses their regret for Princess Liao.
I am simply afraid that the princess will take this relationship too seriously and end up doing something that will hurt herself."
Her words, combined with the story of Princess Liao that she had just told, finally softened the emperor's resolute heart a little.
Xiao Mo saw every subtle expression on his face.
Xiao Mo's lips curled up slightly, and she raised her head slightly and asked, "Your Majesty, I dare to ask you, what is happiness?"
The emperor frowned, a look of confusion flashed in his eyes, but he did not respond.
Seeing that he wasn't angry, Xiao Mo continued, "I believe that no matter whether they are rich or poor, as long as two people are of the same mind and can eventually become a couple, that is the greatest happiness."
"But my daughter is not an ordinary person, she is a princess who is high above everyone else."
The emperor sighed and lowered his eyes in a somewhat compromising manner.
Xiao Mo felt that there was a chance, so he quickly struck while the iron was hot: "Forgive me for being so bold, but I would like to ask the emperor another question.
Do you hope that the princess will spend the rest of her life in happiness or in endless memories and regrets?"
The emperor slowly raised his eyes and looked at her as if he knew the answer but still wanted to ask.
She smiled faintly: "Now the princess's heart is all on that poor man. If the emperor insists on breaking them up, the lightest consequence will be that the princess will never be happy again and will be depressed for the rest of her life.
The worst case scenario would be similar to Princess Liao. After all, if a person has lost hope, nothing can stop them."
The emperor stared at Xiao Mo with his deep eyes without blinking, and did not reply for a long time.