A breeze came in from the window and ruffled the corners of his white robe. Jing Jiu looked down at her and said, "You are very smart."
Empress Hu lowered her head and said nothing.
Jing Jiu sat down on the chair and looked at the distance between the soft couch and him. He slightly raised his eyebrows and said, "Yes, killing you is the simplest solution, but I won't do it because His Majesty asked me to do it before he left."
Empress Hu couldn't stand it anymore. She raised her head and looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean by that? Do you mean … before His Majesty left, he thought that I … couldn't protect him? In his eyes, I would definitely cause trouble in the court … so he asked you to spare my life? "
The more she thought about it, the sadder she felt. She said with tears in her eyes, "Although I am a vixen, I am not that kind of person! How could His Majesty think of me like that? "
Jing Jiu was silent for a while and then said, "Yes, you are not that kind of person, so he didn't mean it."
Empress Hu opened her big and confused eyes and asked, "Then why did His Majesty ask you to do it in advance?"
"Vixens are affectionate and deep. His Majesty was worried that after his death, you would be too sad to get over it and might even follow him …"
Jing Jiu looked at her calmly and said, "This is not what he wanted to see. He wanted you to live happily."
Empress Hu looked at him in a daze, not understanding what he meant.
More than a hundred years ago, when His Majesty the Emperor left the world, she was indeed extremely sad.
No one knew, not even Jing Yao and Gu Qing, that many nights she almost followed the Emperor.
Jing Jiu said, "Many years ago, he had Gu Qing come to the palace to teach Jing Yao. He was preparing in advance because he knew what kind of man you would like. Isn't the best way to forget him and your pain to fall in love with someone else?"
Empress Hu fell to the ground with a pale face.
"So don't disappoint his efforts and live happily."
After saying this, Jing Jiu picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip before leaving the palace.
Empress Hu sat on the ground. She felt guilty and happy at the same time. She missed him and felt sad at the same time. Her tears kept flowing.
…
…
After dealing with these boring things, Jing Jiu went to the side hall. It was not because the things here were not important, but because he did not want to come.
The temperature in that side hall was extremely low, and the pillars and windows were covered in frost. No matter how exquisite the carvings were, they were covered in frost and snow, and no matter how exquisite the carvings were, they were no longer beautiful.
A gust of wind and snow appeared out of nowhere in the hall, bringing with it a bone-piercing chill as it fell toward the ground.
Yuan Qijing was dressed in black. He sat cross-legged under the snowstorm. He had been sitting there for a hundred years.
The wind and snow fell on his body and disappeared instantly.
He was extremely thin and no longer as tall as before. His heavily damaged black clothes fluttered in the wind.
Walking into this side hall, Jing Jiu felt as if he had walked into the manor cave on the Shangde Peak.
He had lived on the Shangde Peak for hundreds of years, but he still disliked the cold and damp feeling there. He disliked this side hall even more that day.
"You've changed." Yuan Qijing opened his eyes and said to Jing Jiu with an indifferent expression, "If it were before, you would have killed that vixen with one swing of your sword, no matter what the Emperor had told you."
Jing Jiu had said that Zhao Layue's style of killing the vixen with one swing of her sword was similar to his own.
It was true.
Yuan Qijing and Liu Ci had seen such a scene many times.
Back when he was the Immortal Jingyang, he had never paid attention to the affairs of Aoyama. It was because he didn't like trouble. Killing people was actually a pleasure, because it was the simplest and fastest way to solve the problem.
It seemed that the departure of Liu Ci and Lian Sanyue had influenced and changed him a little bit.
"You've also changed. You've become thinner and uglier."
Jing Jiu sat down in front of Yuan Qijing and looked at his skinny face. "Thank you for your hard work," he said after a moment of silence.
Jing Jiu had told Zhao Layue many years ago that Yuan Qijing and Liu Ci had only a few decades left in their lives. According to the time limit, Yuan Qijing should have passed away a long time ago. The reason he was still alive was that he had used the secret method of Aoyama to prolong his life.
Tai Lu had used this secret method to prolong his life in the Sword Jail until one hundred years ago.
This method of prolonging one's life was not the true method of prolonging one's life. It was because the Cultivation practitioners would lose all their senses after using this secret method, and they would have to endure innumerable conflicts in their spiritual souls, which was more painful than being a dead person. Living like this was more horrible than death. If Tai Lu didn't hate Taiping and Jingyang so much, he wouldn't have used this method.
The reason Yuan Qijing used this secret method to prolong his life was not because he was afraid of death, but because Jing Jiu was still in a deep sleep, and Zhaoge City needed to be guarded by him.
"If I can't even endure this pain, why should I cultivate?" said Yuan Qijing expressionlessly.
Jing Jiu said, "Back when we played mahjong, you didn't say this. I remember that you said it didn't matter whether you won or lost; it was more important to be happy during the process."
Yuan Qijing said, "You and I are not good at chatting like Liu Ci; it's better to shut up."
"Do you want to eat hotpot?" asked Jing Jiu.
Yuan Qijing said, "I won't leave until one day later. You go and do what you need to do."
Jing Jiu said, "I've finished what I need to do."
It had been quite a few days since spring.
He had been gazing at the stars in the Zhao Garden, but he didn't want to enter the royal palace.
It had nothing to do with what Gu Qing thought. He didn't want to enter the royal palace because he knew that Yuan Qijing would wake up and leave once he entered the royal palace.
"Two people who know how to play mahjong," he suddenly turned his head and said to the outside of the grand hall, "must be good players."
His voice wasn't loud, but it echoed in the royal palace like the ringing of a bell. It even reached Zhaoge City, startling many residents and causing many misunderstandings.
…
…
As soon as Jing Jiu yelled, the whole of Zhaoge City was in chaos.
The Imperial court soon elected a few representatives led by Grand Scholar Hu, but they were all vetoed by Gu Qing without hesitation. Being good at playing mahjong was only one aspect; the key was who the players were. Jing Jiu was certain that his Master didn't want to face these white-haired old men, and he couldn't give such an opportunity to others.
It didn't take long before Empress Hu walked into the side hall shyly. She bowed to Jing Jiu and Yuan Qijing, saying, "I'm good at playing mahjong."
In the next moment, Que Niang's surprised and bewildered voice broke out at the gate of the grand hall, "Teacher? It turns out that you are here. "
… … Back in spring, the whole of Chaotian had seen the dozens of ruts in the ocean of clouds, knowing that Jing Jiu had woken up. Zhao Layue remained calm, and Yuan Qu had no choice but to remain calm. Que Niang came to Zhaoge City directly, but she didn't know where he was. She was replaying the Go game between her Teacher and Tong Yan on the Chess Board Mountain that day when she suddenly heard her Teacher's voice in Zhaoge City. Feeling startled, she hurried to the royal palace.
Jing Jiu was quite satisfied when he saw her. "She is the best chess player among my students," he said to Yuan Qijing, "and I believe she is good at playing mahjong as well."
Empress Hu didn't lie, and Jing Jiu didn't misjudge her. These two women were indeed very good at playing mahjong, and the two men and the two women cooperated well with each other. The green mahjong tiles rolled on the table, making a pleasant sound.
Jing Yao stood behind Empress Hu to encourage her, and Ping Yong-Ka stood behind Jing Jiu, ready to pour tea for him at any moment. Apiao sat by Yuan Qijing's side and gave him advice. Sometimes she couldn't help but play the tiles herself, chattering happily.
Gu Qing was cooking the hotpot not far away, and Blue Bird was looking at the distance from the window sill.
Countless chancellors, eunuchs and palace servant girls were standing outside the grand hall, ready to serve them at any moment.
…
…
They played mahjong and ate the hotpot. They cooperated well.
The Royal Dowager Hu and Que Niang were not as nervous as they had been in the beginning, and they cooperated better. The speed at which they played the cards was in a comfortable rhythm, and the tacit understanding between them didn't require them to make eye contact. As a result, Yuan Qijing lost naturally and won happily. He didn't realize that he was the worst player at the table.
The game lasted for a whole day and a whole night. When the morning light came again, Yuan Qijing suddenly stopped building the tiles.
The atmosphere in the grand hall seemed to be frozen.
The people outside the grand hall were even more nervous.
Yuan Qijing glanced at them with a smile, and suddenly said, "I've never made a Nine-Lotus Jeweled Lamp in my life."
Then he looked at Jing Jiu and said, "You three have all made one."
He didn't mean Jing Jiu, Que Niang, or Empress Hu, but Jingyang, Taiping, and Liu Ci on the Shangde Peak many years ago.
Hearing this, the people let out a sigh of relief and continued playing mahjong.
It was … a coincidence.
Qiao Qiao's mother was born Qiao Qiao.
In the next game, Yuan Qijing made a Nine-Lotus Jeweled Lamp.
He looked at Jing Jiu and said with a spurious smile, "You have been fooling me all along."
He wasn't referring to the game today, but to the games at the Shangde Peak many years ago and the events that had taken place in the last several hundred years.
Jing Jiu said, "You're too honest."
"You're right. But I've been happy over the last several hundred years."
Looking at the neat mahjong tiles, Yuan Qijing laughed out loud and walked out of the grand hall, turning into snowflakes in the morning wind.
…
…
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