The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

"Do you have it on you now?" Ruan Yuhu has always been very active and spared no effort in sending Li Chaohui away.

"No, how could I possibly carry that kind of medicine with me?"

Duan Qingning could clearly feel Ruan Yuhu's urgency. She didn't understand who on earth could make this powerful woman in the harem and the previous dynasty so eager to get rid of her.

"I'll give you the herbs. How many days will it take you to make it?" It's not that Ruan Yuhu is really anxious, but there are too many uncertainties in Li Chaohui's work.

She can wait, but Li Chaohui can't.

"As long as we have the medicinal materials, it can be made in three days at most." As long as there are the necessary medicinal materials, making medicine is not a problem for Duan Qingning at all.

"Okay, tell me the herbs you need, I'll write them down and have someone prepare them and send them to you."

The palace has all kinds of medicinal herbs. As long as Duan Qingning provides the list, Ruan Yuhu guarantees that she will get all the herbs she needs within half an hour.

Thus, a list of medicinal materials dictated by Duan Qingning and written by Ruan Yuhu himself was freshly produced.

After writing the list, Ruan Yuhu called Chunchao in and told her to prepare the herbs as quickly as possible.

Only after finishing all this could Ruan Yuhu take a break and sit down to make himself a cup of tea.

Ruan Yuhu handed the brewed tea to Duan Qingning and said, "Have some tea. This is like the sparrow tongue before the rain. The taste is light and elegant but long-lasting."

Duan Qingning took the tea and took a sip. It tasted really good, but she had never liked drinking tea. After staying in Yunli for so many years, she had not learned to adapt to the local customs.

Putting down the teacup in her hand, Duan Qingning decided to tell Ruan Yuhu about her relationship with Chao Yun right away.

She knew one thing very well in her heart, that is, the only one who could protect Chaoyun and keep Chaoyun safe was Ruan Yuhu.

As for her, this useless mother, she has no ability to protect the child now.

"That child, is his name Chao Yun?"

Ruan Yuhu, who was drinking tea, stopped what he was doing, unable to hide his excitement, "Well, but her name wasn't Chao Yun before, her name was Hong Ying before."

"Chaoyun was the name the Empress later gave her. It means the rising sun, the rosy clouds stretching across the sky, and peace and prosperity from now on."

"The rising sun rises in the morning, the sky is filled with rosy clouds, and everything will be peaceful and smooth from now on. The name Chaoyun is really a good one."

A rare smile appeared on Duan Qingning's face, which made her face, which was as white as wax paper, look a little more colorful.

"Didn't you just ask what the relationship between me and Chao Yun is?"

"I can tell you right now, but I beg you not to tell anyone else about this. And no matter what happens in the future, you must protect her and let her live a peaceful and smooth life, just like her name."

"Okay, no problem." Ruan Yuhu agreed readily.

No matter what Chao Yun's background is, even if she is the daughter of the Emperor of Nanchu, Ruan Yuhu can protect her with her current status.

"Many years ago, when I was still the princess of Nanchulin Palace, I met a boy."

Duan Qingning did not directly tell Ruan Yuhu about Chaoyun's life experience, but told her the story.

"My status is different from his, but that doesn't stop us from becoming good friends."

"As we grew older, we, childhood sweethearts, who were inseparable and grew up together, inevitably became a couple."

"Although Nanchu doesn't care about family background as much as Yunli does, my father will never marry me off to someone without status."

"The relationship between the two of us is destined to be a bitter love that can only blossom but never bear fruit."

"For the benefit of our family, my father arranged a marriage for me. The other party is from the most powerful family in Southern Chu, namely, General Chao Gang's son Chao Feiran."

"Chao Feiran is the only son of the Chao family, but he is a complete sickly child."

"Let him be a sickly person. For the sake of the family's interests, I have no other choice."

"If I had been able to marry into the Chao family smoothly, I wouldn't have all these troubles now."

"But it's fate."

Duan Qingning smiled bitterly and continued, "When Chao Feiran and I set the wedding date, Duan Zhengwen, the current emperor of Nanchu, was the crown prince at the time."

"He falsely conveyed the Empress Dowager's decree and asked me to enter the palace to learn wedding etiquette."

"When I arrived at the palace, he imprisoned me."

"He is my blood cousin, yet he has evil thoughts towards me that he shouldn't have."

"Seeing that I was about to marry Chao Feiran, he desperately wanted to possess me. Not only did he want to ruin this marriage, he also wanted to destroy the Chao family."

"The reason is simple. Not only does the Chao family want to marry me, but they are also a stumbling block to the throne."

"I was imprisoned by Duan Zhengwen, so naturally I refused to surrender easily. Just when I was struggling to escape, my lover suddenly appeared."

"It was only then that I realized that he was not some unknown person from a poor family."

"He was originally the child of Chao Gang's affair with someone outside. However, due to some secrets that could not be known to others, he could not be acknowledged by the Chao family and could only remain a wild child."

"After he found me, he wanted to take me away from the palace. I was young and ignorant at the time, so I followed him and escaped from the palace under his sweet words."

"After leaving the palace, he placed me in a remote mountain villa."

"What happened next was a bit mundane. He and I were married in that mountain villa, even without our parents' permission or a matchmaker's words. We became a carefree couple."

"Then I became pregnant. After I gave birth to my daughter, my personal maid found me."

"She told me that ever since I disappeared from the palace, great changes have taken place in the palace and at home."

"My father became a traitor overnight, and my entire family, from top to bottom, were killed without a single person being spared."

"In the palace, Duan Zhengwen launched a coup, forced his father to death, strangled several of his brothers, and ascended the throne as emperor."

"And because Chao Feiran suddenly fell seriously ill and died, the Chao family's owner changed. The new owner of the Chao family is my husband, Liu He, with whom I have sworn allegiance to heaven and earth."

"No, he's not Liu He, he's Chao Heran."

Recalling the past still makes Duan Qingning heartbroken. The betrayal of her lover and the departure of her relatives are pains that will never be healed in her life.

"It was then that I realized that the lover I had abandoned, regardless of everything, to be with him, was the mastermind behind the plot to destroy my family."

"And he did this just to gain power and seek justice for his mother."

"Although my father inherited the throne, he is a man of great talent and strategy. Such a person is bound to be regarded as a thorn in the side and wanted to be eliminated as soon as possible."

"The Chao family is the backer of Concubine Chao and the Third Prince. As long as the Chao family is there, Duan Zhengwen's position as crown prince will be in jeopardy."

"So, the two vicious people, each with their own ulterior motives, reached an agreement to eliminate both Prince Lin's Mansion and the Chao family at the same time."

"It's just that Duan Zhengwen didn't expect me to be such a variable. He originally thought that I was rescued by someone from Prince Lin's Mansion, but he never imagined that I was actually rescued by his collaborator."

"Not only that, but she also married that man and had a child."

"Chao Heran thought that since I was married to him and had a child, he could control me at will."

"But now that I know the truth, how could I possibly be with the enemy who wiped out my clan?"

"So I chose to hand my daughter over to my maid and let her take my daughter away."

"Before leaving, I separated the secret Gu King from my ancestors in the Lin Palace into a mother Gu and a baby Gu. I kept the mother Gu and implanted the baby Gu in my daughter, so that one day we could be reunited."

"After sending my daughter away, I burned down the villa and returned to the deserted Lin Palace to mourn for my parents and relatives."

"Duan Zhengwen knew that I had returned to Prince Lin's Mansion, so he immediately sent someone to take me back to the palace."

"He killed my clan members, yet he still fantasized about having me enter his harem and become his concubine."

"Don't you think this is ridiculous?"

"I went back with the intention of seeking revenge and dying. How could I possibly fulfill his wish?"

"So I told Duan Zhengwen that Chao Heran and I were married and had a child."

"When Duan Zhengwen heard that Chao Heran and I were married and had a child, he naturally refused to let it go. He locked me up in the cold palace."

"The cold palace is a place that can make life worse than death."

"Just when I was desperate and helpless and wanted to end it all, Nan Chu was defeated in the battle with Yun Li."

"Nanchu needs to select a woman from among the clan members and bring her to Yunli for marriage."

"At that time, the Grand Empress Dowager, my great-aunt, took pity on my situation and felt sorry for me, as I was left alone after the entire Lin Palace was wiped out. She wanted to preserve the only bloodline left for the Lin Palace."

"So he sent someone to find Yun Li's envoy and bribed him to let me, known as the most beautiful woman in Southern Chu, marry him."

"At that time, Nan Chu was defeated and had no right to bargain with Yun Li. In addition, the Empress Dowager intervened, so I was sent to Yun Li to marry."

"As for what will happen in the future, you already know everything, so there's no need for me to tell you."

Ruan Yuhu had thought that Duan Qingning's experience would be bizarre, but he didn't expect it to be this bizarre.

As someone who has had similar experiences, Ruan Yuhu now not only sympathizes with Duan Qingning, but also feels a sense of empathy and mutual respect.

Ruan Yuhu now looked at Duan Qingning with new respect. Duan Qingning was much more capable than her.

She was burdened with a deep blood feud and was repeatedly framed and betrayed, but she was still able to live according to the will in her heart. This made her feel ashamed and admire him very much.

"Then why did you do that to Concubine Zhuang?"

If Duan Qingning had not conspired with Concubine Zhuang to murder the late emperor, even though her life would have been more difficult later on, she would not have suffered so much.

"I was forced into this situation. Qian Wanhe sent me to the palace, but he still harbored evil intentions and often used the opportunity of paying respects to the Empress Dowager to harass me."

"Because of that rumor, Concubine Zhuang still harbors hatred towards the late emperor."

"So she used this as a handle to blackmail me, asking me to agree to cooperate with her and kill the late emperor, and then she would set me free."

"Of course I'm not afraid of Concubine Zhuang, so I rejected her immediately."

"But who would have thought that Concubine Zhuang was such a scheming and resourceful woman? She actually sent people to Nanchu and found out that I had a daughter."

"She used this news to threaten me again and promised to help me find my daughter."

"You and I both know very well what kind of person the late emperor was. If he knew I had a daughter in Nanchu, he would definitely not let it go."

"He will never let go until he finds that child and kills her."

"I didn't dare to gamble, and I couldn't gamble, so I chose to cooperate with Concubine Zhuang to put a curse on the late emperor."

"But Concubine Zhuang never considered that her plan was controlled by the late emperor from the very beginning."

"So the poisoning plan failed without a doubt."

"When the late emperor was settling accounts with the bankers, he included me in the list."

"He ordered me to be strangled to death and then thrown into a mass grave in the cold palace."

"Fortunately, the person who came to carry out this order was Xuanwu. I saved him and was indebted to him. He couldn't bear to let me die like this, so he saved me."

"If I leave the palace with this face, I'll be conspicuous wherever I go."

"So in the end, Xuanwu chose to let me live in Concubine Zhuang's Jade Palace."

"In order to prevent me from being discovered, he staged a haunted incident himself."

"The late emperor already believed in ghosts and gods. He killed all the people in the Zhuang family, and the scene with Xuanwu was so realistic, so he was naturally afraid."

"Once he was afraid, he designated the Yu Cui Palace as a forbidden area. Naturally, no one would go to the Yu Cui Palace after it became a forbidden area."

"I have lived in Yu Cui Palace with my mute slave for over ten years, and Xuan Wu has been providing us with food, clothing, and daily necessities for over a decade."

"It's just that in the past one or two months, the supply from Xuanwu suddenly stopped for some reason, so I fainted."

Speaking of Xuanwu, Duan Qingning actually already had a guess in his mind. Something must have happened to him, otherwise he would not have disregarded his own life or death.

"Xuanwu, he suddenly fell ill and had a stroke two months ago. His family came to the palace and begged me to send a royal physician to treat him."

"I did send a royal physician to treat him, but he said he was old and had old injuries, so it would be difficult to cure him."

"Within two days, he passed away in his sleep."

The Xuanwu that Duan Qingning mentioned was one of the many guard captains around the late emperor.

After the death of the previous emperor, he remained in the palace to work as a guard.