?

  Seeing the messenger hesitate, Zhang Gui said sincerely: "If Xiao Lang blames you, just say it was me who said it. As a woman and a person who has experienced worldly affairs, I am fully aware of the weight of things and will not stir up any trouble. Under the heavens, apart from Xiao Lang, which husband can I rely on? Please tell him to rest assured."

  The messenger hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright." The situation was too urgent, not only for Xiao Shangshu, but also for these people, their lives, honor, and wealth were all at stake!

  Xiao Mo Lai Qi's time was too short, completely subdued, and with talented guards, half of whom were in this courtyard. Having a few more people would mean having a few more points of assistance.

  After the messenger led those thirty guards away, Ah Lu came running over, skipping and jumping. She leaned in close to Zhang Qi and said in a low voice: "Ah Qi, it's good now, there are fewer people watching us, and Xiao Lang won't have time to come here either."

  Zhang Qi smiled and nodded, also responding in a low voice: "En, it's been several months of peace." She turned around with a smile, "Let's go, let's have some fun on the street."

  At the time when Zhang Qi and A Lu were discussing, a handsome and elegant young man with an extraordinary temperament also appeared on the streets of Beishuo State.

  He is Su Wei.

  He had just returned from a trip to the northern grasslands and, seeing that the weather was extremely cold and seemed about to snow, he came near to Beizhou Prefecture, planning to stay in this city for the winter.

  Staying here also has a secret thought of his own: it's close to Jin Yang, can't see it, and it's good to look far away like this...

  Unexpectedly, just as they entered Beishuo State, a solar eclipse occurred.

  The heavenly dog eats the sun. The vast heavens are about to impose punishment on the world, but it is unknown which of the three kingdoms will suffer the punishment? Or is it that all the people in the world have fallen into even deeper disaster?

  He had just stayed in Beizhou for a few days when news arrived that Gao Ye was critically ill. It seemed that the Qi state was being punished.

  As he walked and pondered, it was already noon. Su Wei jumped off the horseback, handed the reins to the groom, and stepped towards the wine building.

  He had just entered the wine house when he heard several young men sigh and say: "There is a saying that 'female beauty brings disaster to the country.' But how did this happen on this day of feasting? After Zhang Ji, the emperor was also seriously injured. What's going on in our Qi state?"

  At that moment, Su Wei's footsteps suddenly stopped, and another young man choked with sobs: "A peerless beauty like Zhang Ji, how could she die like this? Gao Changgong is really something... She didn't want you to take a formal wife. You didn't marry her, but... How could you drive the beauty to death?"

  "Alas, for a thousand years the heavens have been obscured, and among the multitude of people, this peerless beauty has appeared. It is rare to encounter such a person once in a hundred years, yet she died like this. Truly, it is a waste of heaven's gift!"

  The beautiful things in this world always bring people joy and infatuation. And their disappearance is always heartbreaking. When Zhang Guiyao was alive, her various behaviors were unbearable to many people, but now that she's dead, people have forgotten her arrogance and willfulness.

  Since Zhang Gui's death spread quickly, countless people in the state of Qi cried bitterly for her.

  Just then, a handsome and tall young man rushed up to the several young men and asked in a trembling voice: "Who did you say died? Which Zhang Ji?"

  When they saw him pale, the young people felt a sense of familiarity. A black and strong youngster stood up, patted Su Wei's shoulder with his big palm, and cried: "Mourn in peace. In this world, emperors do not live long, beauties cannot be kept, it is also an unavoidable thing."

  Su Wei grasped his hand in a reverse grip. With this one grasp, the sturdy black youth only then discovered that the refined and handsome young noble before him actually had boundless strength. He was both in pain and shouting: "What are you doing? Let go quickly!"

  "Which Zhang Ji?"

  "Aren't you Langling Wang's concubine? Let go of me, you little scoundrel!"

  The tall and sturdy young man shouted loudly, Su Wei suddenly took a step back. He stared blankly at the few people, muttering to himself: "Dead? Dead? How could he be dead?"

  He couldn't believe it and suddenly rushed out of the wine building, just two steps in the direction of Jin Yang, looking at the flow of people coming and going on the street, but didn't know what he was doing.

  It's too late for anything now!

  At this moment, Su Wei was overcome with grief, and the young man couldn't help but cover his face with his sleeve and burst into loud sobs.

  Zhang Qi and several others were just thinking of finding a wine house to have lunch, when they saw this crying young man. Next to the young man, passersby kept turning their heads to look, pointing and whispering. "He's crying for Zhang Ji." "Such a beautiful woman is a pity." "Who in this world is not a pity?" "She has a heroic spirit... but in this world, only heroic spirits easily turn to dust!"

  In the midst of one by one discussions, several maids turned their heads to look at Zhang Qi. Ah Lu also turned her head back and said in a low voice: "Ah Qi, he is crying for you. These days always encounter people who shed tears for you."

  Zhang Qi nodded and thought to herself: This young man seems a bit familiar, but where has she seen him before?

  Just as she stared at Su Wei, Su Wei, who had been crying bitterly, suddenly wiped away her tears and lifted her head.

  Suddenly, they locked eyes!

  The boy with a somewhat familiar look, his eyes red from crying, suddenly opened wide and stared at her. Zhang Qi hastily lowered her head and whispered, "Let's go." She turned around and left.

  When she walked out a few steps, Su Wei moved. A few swift strides and he squeezed through the crowded crowd, chasing in Zhang Qi's direction.

  ...Her appearance, he had painted countless times in his heart, and he was also good at painting. Her portraits were hung inside and outside the room.

  It's already carved in his bones, even if the appearance has changed greatly, he won't give up based on that faint palpitation. Moreover, Su Wei was originally an extremely intelligent person, best at collecting details and handling sudden changes. He immediately sensed something off from Zhang Qi's hurried turn around.

  Zhang Qi returned to the mansion and sent all the maids away.

  In the afternoon, Zhang Qi saw that everything was calm and thought to herself with a faint smile: When others look at you, they become vigilant, it's also too cautious. After dismissing the maidservants, she took A-Lu alone and went out.

  The matter of succession is not something that can be done at any time. She must seize the opportunity within these one or two months to take action.

  The courtyard where Zhang Gui lived was extremely ordinary, and since Beizhou Prefecture was a newly built city, there were no nobles. The entire street rarely saw horse-drawn carriages. Therefore, the two of them did not take a carriage either, but walked on foot instead.

  The two of them walked towards a side street, laughing and chatting. Just as they arrived at an alleyway, two arms suddenly stretched out simultaneously, one for each person, pulling Zhang Qi and A Lu into the alley.

  Zhang Qi was about to scream. The whole person was pressed against the wall, and at the same time, a boy's tender voice came. "Don't shout, don't be afraid... Zhang Shi Qi, I won't hurt you."

  He called her Zhang Shi A Qi!

  Caught off guard. Zhang Qi's face turned white as he suddenly lifted his head and looked at him in a panic.

  His eyes widened as he pressed his body against hers, one hand covering her mouth. The handsome young man's voice trembled as he said: "Are you really Zhang Qi? So you didn't die?" Before Zhang Qi could respond, he had already choked up with sobs, "So you didn't die, so you didn't die..."

  He just suspected and deceived like this. Didn't expect to be deceived by him!

  Zhang Qi raised her head, dazed and puzzled, looking at the tears falling like rain. Overjoyed, she gazed foolishly at her young husband.

  After a while, Zhang Qi whispered: "You're pressing on me."

  "Yes, yes, I'll get out of the way, I'll get out of the way." Su Wei's face turned red as he hastily took a step back. At this moment, the young man who was holding Ah Lu and smiling from ear to ear as he hovered around her face turned his head around, curiously sizing up Zhang Qi with an odd Qidi accent, saying: "Ah Wei, is she the beauty you've been pining for?"

  That young man had deep eye sockets, slightly brown eyes, lips red like blood, and a somewhat beautiful face.

  Su Wei nodded, smiling happily: "Yes, she is my heart's desire." As he said this, he stared at Zhang Qi without blinking, his expression full of uncontrollable joy and adoration.

  Hearing the footsteps and voices coming from not far away, Su Wei looked at Zhang Qi and said gently: "Ah Qi, there are many people here, follow me."

  He then grasped Zhang Qi's hand and walked out. As Zhang Qi took a step, his fingers gripped tighter, with only the palm still sweating.

  Zhang Qi lowered her head and quietly followed him to a wine house.

  After leading Zhang Guiying into a guest room and helping her sit down on the bed, Su Wei knelt in front of her, looking up at her and asked gently, as if afraid of scaring her: "Ah Gui, did you fake your own death because of Langling Wang's marriage?" He then said: "You're so beautiful, and the noblewomen of Northern Qi are jealous, faking one's own death is not a bad idea."

  He looked at Zhang Qi with a happy expression, and asked gently: "How did you get here? This is a military location, the Turks and Rourans will invade if they move, it's not a place to hide."

  At this point, Zhang Qi raised her head.

  She stared at him blankly for a while, then said in a low voice: "I want to go back to Chen Di... but I have no way."

  Divider line

  On the wedding night, the groom called out the name of his concubine and refused to consummate the marriage with her. The next day, he hastily returned to Jin Yang.

  This was just a joke to the noble ladies, but when Zhang Qi's sudden death spread throughout Ye City, the eyes of the noble ladies looking at Zheng Yu were already filled with endless pity.

  She's done for; no one can compete with a dead person. Especially since Zhang Ji died on their wedding night!

  Pity or ridicule, Zheng Yu ignored them all. She just sat motionless in her new home, waiting for news from afar.

  She thought, as long as she got what she wanted, no one would dare laugh at her!

  Finally, with the news of Your Majesty's illness arriving, she also waited for the person to come.

  "He doesn't want to come back?"

  Zheng Yu stood up, staring straight at the person who came, with tears streaming down her face, and said: "Zhang Ji wasn't killed by me, she wanted to die herself! Why didn't he come back? Has he forgotten that I am his queen?"

  The newcomer lowered his head and said in a stern tone: "The Duke said that he knew Zhang Ji would seek death, so he wouldn't want anything. The Duke also said that at the time of the agreement, he had explicitly stated that he had never liked women, and among all the women he had been close to, only Zhang Ji was an exception. After the wedding, he would take Zhang Ji with him to live in the military camp for a long time, fearing that the princess would be neglected. It was the princess who said that you just wanted to marry him, as for the husband and wife's moral obligations, everything would be up to the Duke's wishes, and absolutely no family elder would force it, even the matter of having children would also follow naturally."

  The general continued, disregarding Zheng Yu's pale face, "Now that Zhang Ji has passed away, his heart is already ashes in the way of husband and wife. As for the matter of having children, he will not seek it again in this life. This Lanling Wangfu in Ye City, if the princess is willing to stay, she can stay forever; if the princess wants to return home, please feel free to do so."

  ##

  Seeking pink tickets. (Female seeking male)