Hard to be a shadow guard

New Year's Eve.

Looking at the completely different scenery outside the house, Xie Yiqian realized very clearly that another year had passed.

It's just that this year is really different from the past. What happened in just over 300 days really caught Xie Yiqian off guard and felt absurd.

Even though everything is mostly controlled and guided by him, but thinking of the Zuoxiang Liang Wang who both fell from his horse, the emperor who was seriously ill, and even Xuan Ying who was heartbroken and no longer loyal...

The corner of Xie Yiqian's mouth curled into a forced smile, and he raised his eyes to look around, but there was a moment of bewilderment in his eyes.

On the contrary, Xuanying was amazed at seeing the snow scene for the first time.

His lips trembled slightly, and he couldn't help but say: "My lord, I want to go out and have a look..."

When Xie Yiqian was called, he woke up from his panic.

And it was to bring Xuanying out for a walk, so he naturally had no objection.

Xie Yiqian said "Mm" in a low voice, then walked out slowly step by step, holding Xuanying's armpit.

The snow under his feet was extremely soft, and when he stepped on it, more than half of it sank, and the surface of his feet was inevitably covered with a layer of snowflakes.

Xuan Ying seemed to be very novel, her steps were raised up and down, leaving footprints on the snow as if playing around, and the snow layer on the feet became thicker and thicker.

But he himself was still enjoying it, staring at his feet without blinking, watching those footprints getting more and more, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Seeing that he was in a good mood, Xie Yiqian wisely didn't bother him, just letting Xuanying have a good time, but always paying attention to Xuanying's movements to prevent him from getting cold because of his playfulness.

There is an aura of peace and peace in Prince Rui's mansion, but not necessarily the ones nearby...

As New Year's Eve approached, the emperor's condition did not improve, and it was even worse than before, causing panic inside and outside the palace.

Someone went through layers of inspections and finally went in to meet the emperor.

But they could only see the old man lying on the dragon bed panting, and they didn't even look at them.

Just because of this serious illness, the emperor's energy was completely exhausted. Just looking at his face, he was not even comparable to a farmer of the same age. He looked completely decayed at first glance.

The emperor is dying, but only lingering on his last breath.

Xuanying didn't know at the beginning, long before he poisoned the emperor, Xie Yiqian's men had already attacked the emperor.

Even young and middle-aged people can't survive two consecutive pours of poison, let alone an old emperor?

The emperor can survive until now, mostly relying on the various prescriptions of the imperial doctor to hang himself.

But to make him last until now, it has basically come to an end...

Xie Yiqian didn't care about the situation in the emperor's palace, and just continued to shrink in the palace, holding Xuanying's little hand, and reading the vernacular on the street.

Rarely relaxed.

It's just that the end of the year is approaching, no matter what Xie Yiqian has in mind for the emperor, he respects the queen mother from the bottom of his heart, and it is even more necessary to pay a visit to the queen mother.

Just this time—

The old empress dowager, who had been delighted by King Rui's arrival for many years, sent someone to say for the first time: "The empress dowager is not feeling well. I haven't seen any guests recently. Please go back first, my lord."

"Ah?" Xie Yiqian stood in front of Renshou Palace, looking at Aunt Ruan Qiu in front of him, momentarily stunned.

Only this time, Ruan Qiu lost all kindness towards him, and said with a cold face: "The queen mother also said that if the prince has no major affairs in the future, she will not come here. The queen mother is inferior and cannot be a prince."

As soon as these words came out, Xie Yiqian finally realized that he was panicking.

He took half a step wrong, barely suppressed the throbbing in his heart, and asked very humbly: "I don't know what mistake Xiao Wang made, which made the empress angry, please give me some advice."

Ruan Qiu sneered, looking at King Rui's sincere eyes, but felt it was hypocritical.

She didn't turn away the servants on the left and right, and said directly: "If you want people to know, you have to do nothing yourself."

"When the prince used the empress to get rid of Princess Rui, did he ever think about where he would put the empress?"

"You disregarded His Majesty's safety for the sake of your own family's hatred. Your Majesty is still sick in bed. Have you ever thought about your empress' feelings?"

"There is also the case of King Liang's treason, why have you ever cared that King Liang is also the grandchild of the empress?"

"Thanks to His Majesty King Liang's concern for His Majesty, he couldn't bear to accept you to be deceived by His Majesty all the time, so he deliberately found all the evidence and sent it to His Majesty. Even though His Highness King Liang may not have good intentions, at least His Majesty can see your true face."

Ruan Qiu did not hesitate to explain why everything was discovered.

"Your Majesty only hates that she doesn't know people well. She raised a wolf for nothing, and ended up harming others and herself. It's retribution if you eat the evil results. You don't dare to see the prince again."

She put all the dirty things on the bright side, and she was not afraid of Xie Yiqian's embarrassment and anger, so she told him clearly.

And every time Ruan Qiu said something, Xie Yiqian's panic intensified a bit.

Until Ruan Qiu's words fell, Xie Yiqian's face was completely pale.

He didn't care about pursuing Lin Feng's solicitation of the relationship between him and the queen mother, and his mind was full of how to make up for his mistakes.

"It's not... Ben Wang, Ben Wang..." Xie Yiqian stuttered for a long time, but he didn't know what to say, so he could only look at Ruan Qiu helplessly, "Auntie, be accommodating, Xiao Wang Yun Would you like to go in and meet your mother?"

"Not good!" Ruan Qiu refused bluntly, and said bluntly, "I beg your lord to be merciful, don't provoke the old man in front of your empress again."

"You should have expected such a day when you did it, who do you want to pretend to be?"

When Ruan Qiu thought of this, he became angry, and looked at Xie Yiqian with more and more unkind eyes: "Your Majesty has managed to adjust her mood in the past few days, please don't come again."

"But..." Xie Yiqian originally wanted to justify a few words, but Ruan Qiu didn't give him a chance at all.

Ruan Qiu said coldly: "As long as you still care about your mother's kindness in taking care of you when you grow up, I just ask you to never come to Renshou Palace again. My mother can't bear your visit."

After speaking, Ruan Qiu sneered again, but turned around and left without looking at Xie Yiqian's reaction.

Xie Yiqian stayed alone in front of the palace gate, his eyes were first surprised, then blank, and finally there was only desolation and pessimism left.

He turned his head and saw the palace servants standing beside him, and couldn't help asking: "Is the Queen Mother doing well?"

The palace man who was asked answered with a low eyebrow and pleasing to the eye: "Your Majesty was still sick two days ago, the imperial doctor gave you a prescription, and she has only improved a little recently."

"I heard from Aunt Ruan Qiu that the Empress Dowager was so out of breath and overwhelmed with grief that she couldn't afford to get sick."

"Fortunately, God blesses you, and you will be able to protect your mother from the catastrophe, and her recovery is just around the corner." The palace servant bowed and saluted.

When Xie Yiqian heard this, the last glimmer of hope in his heart was shattered.

He moved his fingers, raised his eyes and saw Renshou Palace with its gates closed, he really didn't have the guts to break in.

After a while, Xie Yiqian stood in front of Renshou Palace, bowed to the palace gate with his hands folded, and took a long time to get up.

This time he didn't stay any longer, turned around and strode away.

It is often said that emperors are mostly lonely, but when Xie Yiqian walked out of the palace and boarded his family's carriage, he searched through his memory, but he couldn't find anyone who still treats him sincerely.

Even Xuanying... I'm afraid he would avoid him like a poisonous scorpion now.

Lonely laughter came from the carriage, causing passers-by to stop and watch...

The gap between Xie Yiqian and the Queen Mother was not known to many people.

Most of the people in the Empress Dowager's Palace have been well-trained, and they know the depth of their mouths, even if they hear something that shouldn't be heard, they will never say it.

And Xie Yiqian would not take the initiative to say that he was bored by the queen mother, so he just returned home quietly.

Finally, on New Year's Eve, Prince Rui did not visit the Empress Dowager's Palace for the first time in many years, but instead stayed at his residence saying that he was sick.

Xie Yiqian ordered people to set up a pot in the room, and then turned away all the servants, leaving only himself and Xuanying alone.

Xie Yiqian poured Qianqian a glass of sake, raised his head to drink it all up, but after lowering his head, he only stared at Xuanying.

Facing Xuanying's indifferent gaze, he snorted softly: "Xuanying...you are the only one left for me."

The second half of the sentence suddenly fell silent, and Xuanying didn't hear clearly.

But I don't know if it was his illusion, at this moment when the family should have been reunited, Xuanying could only see the loneliness lingering around the Lord's side.

Sympathy could not be restrained from Xuan Ying's heart, or it would be more accurate to say that Liao Mo empathized with her.

Affected by this mood, after Xie Yiqian handed over a small wine cup, Xuan Ying took it in a daze.

"Uh..." The cold wine cup touched Xuan Ying's mouth before giving him a trace of clarity, "May your lord have a good year."

The wine was drained in one gulp, and when Xuanying put down the cup, she only saw Xie Yiqian looking at him with a smile, his eyes were full of meanings that he couldn't understand...

Xuanying's health is not very good, and he couldn't keep up the New Year's Eve observance, but he started to feel sleepy at the time of You, even if he tried to hold back, he still yawned profusely.

Xie Yiqian took pity on him, leaned over to coax him for a long time, and finally let Xuanying fall asleep first.

It was only when he stayed by Xuanying's bed by himself, or took a few sips of sake, or raised his head and closed his eyes, that his eyes became clear again until the sound of firecrackers outside the house shook the sky.

Xie Yiqian possessed himself and put his hands on both sides of Xuanying's ears, looking down at the sleeping face below him, seemingly absent-minded and obsessed.

"Xiaoying, happy new year."

The sudden voice was full of smiles, Xie Yiqian's eyes were bent, and only one figure was reflected in the two pupils.

Fortunately, Xie Yiqian's mediation ability is surprisingly good, don't care how lonely he was the day before, and don't care what he actually thinks in his heart——

Only the next day, the sun was bright, and the roar of firecrackers sounded from time to time outside the house.

As soon as Xuan Ying opened her eyes, a human face suddenly appeared in front of her.

Before he could react, he heard Xie Yiqian say: "Happy New Year, Xiaoying, let's go to the street!"

"Happy New Year, my lord." Xuanying replied subconsciously, and the salutation he blurted out immediately made Xie Yiqian's eyes light up.