My enemies became my companions

Chapter 385 Peace and happiness
The meeting with Zhou Yitong was more of a spur-of-the-moment episode than a premeditated plan.

If it had been planned in advance, Chen Yi wouldn't have had to buy fireworks, let alone be chased half the street by a group of kids.

But it was precisely this kind of sudden impulse that made the wife of the previous life feel most excited.

Because she couldn't think of it.

Sometimes it's like this,
If you do something that others want to do a thousand times, it will be forgotten as soon as you do it. But if you do something that no one else wants to do once, you will remember it for a lifetime.

It is good that the best thing in life is simple joy, but there are still thousands of other tastes besides simple joy.

After briefly explaining his plan to Zhou Yitang, Chen Yi returned to the palace.

Naturally, he spent the night in Concubine Dong's courtyard, under the big quilt.

The bed was warm and he had a beautiful woman by his side. No matter how much Chen Yi hugged her, he still felt it was not enough. However, when he woke up in the morning, a palace maid came and said that the Queen Mother wanted to see him.

Chen Yi washed up casually, put on his clothes, and went over under the guidance of the palace maid.

Looking down from above, one can see a figure as small as a black dot appearing under the Zhenyue Tower.

Queen An stood on the terrace, looking at the first day of the new year. A group of palace maids poured fish food into the lake, and thousands of koi fish tumbled around. The big red lanterns around created a very festive atmosphere.

Hearing footsteps behind him, An Hou knew who was coming without having to look back.

"Did you sleep well last night?" asked Queen An.

Chen Yi stopped walking, his face was gloomy, and after a while he said:

"is acceptable."

His voice sounded hesitant, and An Hou could tell that it was the hesitation of someone who had accepted someone else's kindness but was too embarrassed to reconcile.

This is often the case; people clearly want to reconcile, but sometimes they don’t know how to start the conversation, and even if they do, their tone is inevitably stiff and awkward.

It takes time to heal these grudges.

And she still has plenty of time.

Empress An asked slowly, "Do you know the name of the imperial concubine?"

"It seems her name is Dong Zhiji, and her courtesy name is Lingshan." Chen Yi replied.

"Even if a Korean woman has a Chinese name, you can tell she is Korean," Queen An paused and said, "Don't worry, she has no mother's family, no matter how you treat her, she won't dare to say no, and no one in the palace will say you are not a Korean."

This was an intentional or unintentional reminder. Concubine Dong was given to Chen Yi as a gift from the palace. As long as he relied on the palace, Concubine Dong would always be his. Otherwise, the palace could take her back at any time.

Queen An continued, "On the first day of the new year, we should hear some happy news. Although the daughter of the King of Xiang does not want to be named a princess, it is not difficult to pardon her crimes. As for the Prince of Xiang's Mansion, it will be given to you as a marquis' mansion. People have been sent to take care of it. You will get married there during the Lantern Festival. I know that you have always doted on the daughter of the King of Xiang, but everything has a sequence. You must marry the Crown Princess first and make her your principal wife."

Chen Yi said as if in tacit agreement: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Rather than calling her "Empress", Queen An wanted to hear him call her "Mother", but now that their relationship had become more harmonious, there was no need to irritate him or act rashly.

An Hou felt relieved, she turned around, her eyes gentle as water.

She took two steps forward, stopped in front of Chen Yi, then walked past him and said:

"You come with me."

Chen Yi started to follow her, one in front and one behind, and went down the Zhenyue Tower near Lianyin Lake.

At first, there were palace maids following him, but they only followed for a distance or two and then stopped. It seemed that Queen An took Chen Yi away from the inner court where all the women were, and came to the outer court.

Circling around the outside of the palace, we came to a deep place. The road was shaded by grass and trees, and surrounded by green bamboos. Who knows what was hiding in the shadows.

The two finally stopped in a half-open yard, where there was a small martial arts arena. In addition, there were dummies, wooden stakes, and a series of swords, guns, sticks and clubs arranged on the weapon rack.

Chen Yi stopped and felt a chill down his spine, as if someone was staring at him.

An Hou looked straight ahead and said, "Come out."

Two dark shadows suddenly appeared in the shadowy corner at the base of the wall. They were dressed in palace maids' clothes, their movements were skillful, and their breathing was as steady as those of the dead. They were no more than ten feet away from Chen Yi, and this distance was always a delicate distance between danger and safety.

The two girls jumped in front of Queen An, knelt on one knee in unison and said, "Your Majesty."

Seeing Chen Yi's nervousness, Queen An smiled and said, "They are two of the four disciples that Madam is most proud of. They are both masters of the throne, so they are guarding me in the inner court. It's a pity that they are a bit ugly, so they are not suitable for you."

Chen Yi remembered their identities and asked, "A pair of beautiful birds?"

Empress An nodded approvingly and said, "Yes, it is them. There are many stories about them in the martial arts world. Even if I just listen to them, I find them sensational."

There are so many beautiful women in the world, and there are even more beautiful masters, both men and women.

Because of this, there are many stories of women committing assassinations in the martial arts world, most of whom are beautiful women, because beauty traps are difficult to defend against, but the double-bird trap is not one of them.

Although it is difficult to guard against the beauty trap, those prominent people are not fools. Since they know that it is difficult to guard against the beauty trap, they will no longer get involved with beauties of unknown origin.

But if one loophole is blocked, another one will be leaking. That is why those servants and maids who seem to be taciturn, often don’t even remember their masters, and they are often the ones who reveal a sharp knife.

This is the case with the two beautiful birds.

"Beauty is a weapon, but if you are too good at it, you will ignore the real things." Queen An said calmly: "The most beautiful people in Magpie Pavilion are usually not the masters."

Chen Yi pondered for a moment, and then said: "It seems that I am not born to be the host."

Queen An raised her eyebrows slightly and couldn't help laughing.

After laughing, she continued, "Who knows? After you destroy the Chen family of the Western Jin Dynasty, you will change your surname to An. If you want, you can take care of Xi Que Pavilion."

Magpie Pavilion has always been one of the foundations of the An family, and it was also an important aid in Queen An's seizure of power after the death of the previous emperor. How could Chen Yi not understand the trust and promise in the words.

Seeing this, Chen Yi asked, "Why did the Queen bring me here today?"

Empress An said, "After you get married and leave the capital to enter the Western Jin Dynasty, in addition to the official entourage, I will send people from the Magpie Pavilion to accompany you. Not these two beautiful birds, but the other four... Come out."

As soon as the order was given, Chen Yi saw four people emerging from the yard, three men and one woman, dressed differently. Although they had no weapons in their hands, the murderous aura in them was not diminished in the slightest.

From left to right, one tall and one short, one fat and one thin, they are all the master or deputy master of Magpie Pavilion.

"The death-death crow, the returning sparrow, the laughing pelican, the impermanent eagle."

An Hou read from left to right,

"The martial arts of these four people are at least fifth-grade. With them escorting you all the way, even if the Chen family of the Western Jin Dynasty goes all out, they can still protect you from death."

Chen Yi didn't take it seriously at first, but after hearing An Hou's words:
"I said everyone should come out, including the Broken Swordsman."

After he finished speaking, he looked at the four killers again. Such short sentence encompassed so much coldness, ruthlessness, murderousness and determination that Chen Yi instantly felt a chill in his heart.

Chen Yi had no doubt that if he changed his mind and gave up destroying the Chen family of the Western Jin Dynasty, he would die under that knife...

After letting Chen Yi face off against this group of killers, An Hou turned and left.

Although there was no killer in the courtyard who clearly showed murderous intent towards him, Chen Yi still felt uncomfortable staying there, so he quickly followed An Hou's pace.

As they walked, An Hou said:

"It's New Year's Day, and I shouldn't have brought you here, but they are not your enemies, and neither am I."

Chen Yi did not answer.

An Hou slowed down her pace, glanced at him and asked, "Do you think they are?"

"I'm worried that they are." Chen Yi replied, "They listen to you, not me. As long as the queen says a word, their knives will be pointed at me and Xiang Ruoshu."

Queen An noticed Chen Yi calling the East Palace girl by her name, and a hint of satisfaction flashed in her eyes. She said, "As long as you obey me, they will listen to me and you. As for Chen Ruoshu, I said before, and I will say it again this time. She can live. I am not a heartless person. It's good to keep a daughter-in-law. What's more, after giving birth to a child, a woman's mind will be on the child."

Chen Yi followed up with this and said, "The child's last name is also Chen."

"The child's surname is the 'Chen' of you, Chen Yi, not the 'Chen' of the Chen family of the Western Jin Dynasty." After saying this, Queen An seemed to sense Chen Yi's uneasiness and said with a smile: "Leave a queen, leave a queen. Only if you leave a boy, you can leave a queen. If you leave a girl, how can you say you have a queen? So you don't have to worry that I still want to kill her."

Men are used to carry on the family line and continue the incense, while women are just dependencies on their husband's family. This is the deep-rooted concept of Queen An, and it is also the concept of the vast majority of people in this world.

This is different from the idea of ​​a modern person like Chen Yi, who regards children as the fruit of their relationship.

From their conversation, Chen Yi understood what Queen An meant. All the concessions she made were based on the premise that they would not affect the original plan, and nothing would shake what she wanted.

The two of them walked back to the inner court from the outer court. He followed closely beside Queen An. At such a close distance, if someone wanted to kill the king, not even the two beautiful birds could stop him.

However, Queen An left this distance to him.

Chen Yi did not move any closer, nor did he move away. He thought that if she wanted to go to Jingren Palace and give some instructions about leaving Beijing, he would listen carefully then.

After passing a series of red walls, you can look up and see the ridge beasts on the roofs welcoming the morning light. The glazed golden roof of the palace is like lightning, extremely brilliant. The road is covered with fallen leaves, and the palace maids sweeping the floor along the way all lower their heads.

Chen Yi was wondering why An Hou was taking such a long detour, but when she stopped, his pupils shrank.

Kunyuan Hall, Kun means earth. The earth has the virtue of nourishing all living things. The Emperor of Heaven and the Empress of Earth, Kunyuan Hall is the Empress Dowager's bedroom.

She actually brought him into the bedroom.

The door was open and the palace maids bowed to greet her. Empress An stepped over the high threshold and entered the bedroom. There were twenty-four south-facing floor-to-ceiling flower doors embroidered with scenes of birds paying homage to the phoenix. The bedroom was mainly used for sleeping, so there was only a small hall. The bedroom and the small hall were separated by a screen. There were two round rosewood coffee tables under them, both with cushions. Yellow apricot glazed lamps emitted bright light. Looking from the gap in the screen to the bedroom, one could see embroidered quilts and gauze curtains with brocade ribbons and silver hooks, as well as several small chairs with flower rattan for the palace maids who kept watch at night.

Queen An asked him to sit down at the coffee table, and she turned and went into the bedroom.

There is a Buddhist scripture on the coffee table, which is the "Sutra on the Cause and Effect of the King of Wonderful Colors".

When Chen Yi looked around, he turned his head and saw a furnace of ambergris burning on the first day of the Lunar New Year. The palace maids fanned gently, and the room was filled with fragrance, as if it were a fairyland.

Queen An returned with a brocade box in her hand.

She also sat down, and the palace maid ordered tea for the two of them.

Chen Yi stared at her and kept asking, "Why did you bring me here, Madam?"

In fact, Chen Yi vaguely knew the answer without asking.

Queen An said softly, "Because I don't hate you now."

"So, you hated me?"

Chen Yi asked, but he actually knew the answer.

The An family's main branch was destroyed by the Chen family of the Western Jin Dynasty. Queen An wanted to make him into a knife and make everyone in the world think that he was a member of the Chen family of the Western Jin Dynasty. Therefore, she also hated him as a member of the Chen family of the Western Jin Dynasty.

An Hou turned his head, looked away, and said slowly:
"I am over thirty years old and have never had any children except you, Yi'er. How can I hate you anymore? Tushan doesn't hate you either, right?"

Intentionally or unintentionally, she wanted to be like Tushan in every way... Chen Yi pondered for a long time and then said:
"I know what it feels like to hate someone,
That feeling is very strong.
That feeling... nothing you do can make up for it."

Hate is what it is. When Chen Yi hated Yin Tingxue in the past, he wanted to crush her heart inch by inch, humiliate her bit by bit, shatter her dignity, and make her a concubine with no status forever. The sword was just the easiest weapon to settle the grudge.

He could understand that feeling and how deep it was.

"I have never truly hated you."

An Hou said suddenly.

Chen Yi looked at her in surprise, even though he knew the answer.

She had hated him, that was true.

But later, in the Tushan Underground Palace, whether it was Chen Yi's self-sacrifice at the Temple of Heaven or the remaining mother-son affection, it shook the woman's heart. In her eyes, Chen Yi was gradually separated from the Chen family of the Western Jin Dynasty, and she even wanted to give him the surname An.

From beginning to end, Chen Yi's identity has never changed, only Queen An's gaze has changed.

"I know you think that I did so much for you just to win your heart."

This time, Empress An no longer referred to herself as "this palace", but as "I".
"It's just that...I don't hate you anymore, so why should I deliberately calm down?

I only hate the Chen family of the Western Jin Dynasty."

"So deep?" Chen Yi asked.

"How deep it is. I have been chanting Buddha's name for so many years, but it has not been resolved. The Buddhist scriptures say that the past is past, which is true, but..." An Hou shook her head and laughed, gently stroking the Buddhist scriptures, "But although the past is past, the hatred remains."

Chen Yi didn't know how much hatred occupied this woman's heart, but he could understand how deep that hatred was.

He had hated others, hated Yin Tingxue, and hated Yin Weiying, and had many evil thoughts. Even if Yin Tingxue was obedient, he still forced her, and used legitimate names. As for Yin Weiying, it was even more so. He interrupted her Changsheng Bridge and took her Taoism. It seemed that it was because she was restless, but in the end, wasn't it a kind of revenge and abuse? But now he no longer hated, and he would no longer hate in the future.

Because Queen An's hatred was too deep, all her concessions were based on an unshakable plan and an unshakable hatred.

Chen Yi was lost in thought. It was the first time for him to enter into this woman's inner world.

"Since there is no hatred between you and me, you also know that I treat you with my heart."

After An Hou softened his voice,

"After you return, change your surname. You can be a rich man or a capable official. It doesn't matter if your first child with Ruoshu is named Chen. It will give her some comfort. As for the daughters of King Xiang and King Jing, they will be given the title of princesses, and their descendants will inherit the title. Then your mansion will be full of joy and children and grandchildren. When I am old, I can come to your house and enjoy the happiness of family."

An Hou's tone was very soft. She carefully planned his future. She was still stroking the "Sutra on the Cause and Effect of the King of Wonderful Colors" on the coffee table.

Chen Yi did not answer, he just listened to all the words silently.

Queen An saw all this and seemed to be wavering.

She gently pushed the brocade box forward and opened the lid.

Chen Yi turned his head and looked.

It was not some rare treasure, nor was it some magical weapon. It was just an ordinary jade pendant with a simple word "Yi" written in seal script carved on it.

"Is it beautiful?" Empress An Mosuo asked while holding the brocade box. "I ordered the best jade carver in the imperial kiln to carve it."

Chen Yi was stunned for a moment, looking at the warm Hetian jade, and said nothing.

Queen An picked up the jade pendant and came closer.
"I'll put it on for you."

Chen Yi didn't move. After a while, the jade pendant was hung around her neck. She looked it up and down, admiring it for a long time.

The light was dim, Chen Yi side-glanced at Queen An, she was like a cloud floating on a mountaintop amidst the mist, she was extremely beautiful, he had never known her, but when he had seen her in Jingren Palace in the past, she was always shrouded in the majesty of a queen.

But it was different now. Chen Yi noticed that her eyes were slightly red, as if... she had cried last night.

"Happy New Year! May you be safe and happy. May you be safe and happy..."

It’s the end of the month and I’m going to update more for you guys, and this volume is also about to be finished.

The chapters will be merged later, which means the update volume will remain unchanged and two chapters will be combined into one.

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(End of this chapter)