Dou Yuan was urgently summoned to the palace again.
He rushed onto the sedan chair in a flurry. While urging the sedan - bearers to go faster and faster, he sighed with relief that he hadn't been entangled with Qing Luo when the imperial edict arrived this time.
... After all, if his intimate moment was interrupted again, he might develop a psychological shadow. If he became impotent, Qing Luo would surely abandon him, right?
However, this time seemed different from usual. Dou Yuan wasn't summoned to the Taihe Hall. Instead, the sedan - bearers carried him all the way to the imperial library in the palace.
This imperial library was an affiliated institution under the cabinet he, the left prime minister, was in charge of. When he saw the dragon - shaped eaves of the library in the distance, his first reaction was to mentally go through all the affairs he had handled in the past few days. But after much thought, he didn't think he had made any mistakes.
The sedan chair stopped in front of the library. Dou Yuan felt a bit nervous. He cleared his throat, smoothed out the wrinkles on his clothes, and stepped inside.
He gently pushed open the ancient and old door of the library. What greeted his eyes were rows of bookshelves with a bit of dust in the air. The bookshelves were as tall as two people, neatly filled with volumes of bamboo slips and paper books.
The imperial library in the Dacheng Palace boasted an extremely comprehensive collection of books, rarely seen in history. It was divided into several major categories such as official history, unofficial history, skills, military, craftsmanship, and folk legends. Under these major categories, there were over a hundred sub - categories. Although Dacheng was founded by force, emperors of all dynasties had a fondness for collecting books. As a result, the literary atmosphere in Dacheng was prosperous. Influenced by the royal family, the general knowledge level of the common people was relatively high, and their thinking was more open. This was also the reason why everyone in the world knew about Dou Yuan and Qing Luo's relationship, yet no one impeached him.
Sunlight shone in through the high windows of the library, forming a golden column of light in the center of the attic. The dust floating around in the attic slowly drifted into the light column and instantly seemed to be gilded, twinkling with tiny glimmers in mid - air.
The library was very quiet. But Dou Yuan knew that since Sikuo Ting had summoned him, there must be something urgent. So he scanned the surroundings with his eyes. When he didn't see Sikuo Ting, he softly called out, "Your Majesty?"
Sure enough, after a brief moment of silence, Sikuo Ting's voice came from behind a bookshelf, "Over here."
Dou Yuan followed the voice and found that in front of a bookshelf stacked with countless books, Sikuo Ting was sitting cross - legged on the ground. There were books and bamboo slips deliberately spread out or carelessly discarded all around him. Dou Yuan was startled and felt panicked. He looked at the rather messy scene, swallowed hard, and asked, "Your Majesty, what has happened?"
"It has nothing to do with you," Sikuo Ting immediately understood what Dou Yuan meant and said in a deep voice, "I'm looking for the records from eleven years ago."
Dou Yuan heaved a sigh of relief. He stroked his chest, walked to Sikuo Ting's side, bent down to clear a clean space with his hand, sat down cross - legged as well, and leaned over to ask, "So Your Majesty summoned me to help you look for them?"
"Yes."
For some reason, Dou Yuan always felt that Sikuo Ting was in an unusual state today. He pinched his chin and asked, "Your Majesty, has something happened?"
Sikuo Ting stopped his hand movement. After a long while, he put down the bamboo slip in his hand, looked up at Dou Yuan, and Dou Yuan looked back at him. Unexpectedly, he caught a glimpse of a hint of hidden pain and remorse in Sikuo Ting's eyes. Dou Yuan was shocked. Before he could react, he heard Sikuo Ting ask, "Do you know General Gu Hanfang?"
Dou Yuan was stunned. He didn't react for a moment why Sikuo Ting would mention a person who had been dead for eleven years at this moment. But anyway, he knew Gu Hanfang.
She was the only daughter of the Gu family, a military family in Dacheng. She was the first female general in Dacheng and also the wife of General Qin Feng. Eleven years ago, on her way back from the expedition to Loulan, she was ambushed while passing through the Kunlun Snow Mountains. She and her horse fell off a cliff, and her body had never been found.
Just because Gu Hanfang died on the battlefield, the next year, after Qin Feng's repeated requests, the former emperor finally agreed to Qin Feng's request to go on an expedition to Loulan in the warm spring. And once Qin Feng set off, he advanced irresistibly all the way and directly attacked the capital of Loulan, bringing nearly ten years of peace to the border between Dacheng and Loulan.
But why did Sikuo Ting bring up Gu Hanfang again today, eleven years later?
Dou Yuan frowned. He wanted to ask, but seeing Sikuo Ting's complex expression, he swallowed his words.
Sikuo Ting lowered his head, took a few deep breaths, took out an opened letter from his bosom, and slowly handed it to Dou Yuan.
He said tremulously, "Take a look."
Dou Yuan took the letter and quickly opened it.
There was only a simple line on the letter:
"Two days later, I will take Geng Nan. Don't delay my reunion with my brother.
By the way, in the Dacheng imperial library, on the 48th bookshelf, in the Tian - character south room, the third book from the left, the Record of Emperor Yong, page 829."
If what was written above was still confusing, the name at the end of the letter almost made Dou Yuan's eyes pop out:
Qin Huailian.
"What the...!" Dou Yuan took several deep breaths but still couldn't calm his racing heart. He turned to look at Sikuo Ting and asked in disbelief, "What does this mean? Qin Huailian?"
Sikuo Ting lowered his head and didn't say a word. He reached out and handed the book spread out in front of him to Dou Yuan.
Dou Yuan looked at the slightly yellowed book hovering in front of him and suddenly didn't dare to take it.
He knew that this was the book mentioned in the letter.
The Record of Emperor Yong, which was the daily record book of the former emperor.
Dou Yuan swallowed hard, gritted his teeth, and took the book. He picked it up and scanned it quickly:
In the 23rd year of Yongping, Crown Prince Sikuo Ting was kidnapped by bandits while on an overseas visit with Emperor Yong. Fortunately, General Gu Hanfang, who was in the capital for a report, led troops to rescue him. However, she was seriously injured and fell into a coma, almost beyond cure.
A wandering Taoist said that there was snow lotus on the Kunlun Mountains, and those who ate the snow lotus could be cured of all diseases. So Gu Hanfang launched an expedition to Loulan. On her way back, she picked the snow lotus on the Kunlun Mountains but was attacked by the people of Loulan. During the retreat, she unfortunately encountered an avalanche, and both she and her horse fell into the valley. Her body was never found.
When the snow lotus reached the capital, the white lotus was stained with blood, which couldn't be washed clean no matter how many times.
Crown Prince Sikuo Ting drank the snow - lotus soup. The next day, his body recovered, but he also contracted a hidden illness and could no longer have contact with women. Emperor Yong sent people to look for the wandering Taoist again but found nothing. After the crown prince woke up, his memory of the past was hazy and unclear.
These few short lines made Dou Yuan's heart skip a beat.
He stood there stiffly, only his eyes moving as he read the short lines over and over again.
After a long while, Dou Yuan finally accepted this fact.
He put down the letter, stared blankly into the distance, and murmured, "The 23rd year of Yongping... That was eleven years ago... Your Majesty's hidden illness was also discovered eleven years ago. General Gu Hanfang died on the battlefield eleven years ago... This..."
"Don't you understand yet?" Sikuo Ting suddenly spoke. He gave Dou Yuan a sad smile. Pain and helplessness almost filled his eyes. "Eleven years ago, Gu Hanfang... that is, Qiu'er's mother, died because of me. This piece of memory that I had forgotten due to my serious injury has been known by Qin Huailian."