Nearly a year had passed, and one could only imagine how much she had suffered.
She had aged rapidly, unable to sleep at night, filled with self-loathing during the day. If not for the thought of seeing the Emperor again, she likely wouldn't have endured.
"So, this past year, everyone has had a difficult time."
Ling Yao thought to herself, no wonder her father hadn't visited her at Fengque Tower often back then. She had assumed he was too busy with Turkic affairs and court matters!
"The Taiji Hall is full of Prince of Runan's men. My imperial aunt, the Consort, said she couldn't find the Empress anywhere. Eldest Imperial Brother, what do you think?"
"Prince of Runan..."
He was the Emperor's most trusted man. Yet, when he sought his help, the Prince had done nothing.
Recalling his refined and kind demeanor, he couldn't bring himself to believe that when they met in the palace as children, the Prince hadn't given him a cold shoulder like his father, but merely nodded faintly. Though not overly warm, it was far gentler than his father's.
For a time, he had even wished he were the Prince of Runan's son.
He was the Emperor's own brother. It was said that their Imperial Grandfather had initially intended to pass the throne to him, but the Prince only wished to be a carefree prince and had gone traveling alone, which led to his father's succession.
A man without ambition, who didn't even want the throne, how could he possibly have a reason to harm his father?
"I will investigate further."
"Besides Father and Second Brother, I am not familiar with anyone in the palace. In my eyes, everyone is a suspect."
Including the Prince of Runan, whose reputation had been tarnished to save her, the late Princess Lingyin! kuAiδugg
"I understand, Imperial Sister."
And what about him?
"Eldest Imperial Brother, we must find the Grand Shaman as soon as possible."
These events, one after another, formed a vast net that ensnared the entire imperial palace, making the truth elusive.
The only outsider she trusted was the Grand Shaman.
"The new shaman is the former shaman's youngest disciple. According to the people at the Shaman's Mansion, the Grand Shaman suddenly went mad one night and disappeared. The Imperial Astronomical Bureau could not be left without a head, so a new shaman was chosen, by the Emperor's decree."
So, the Grand Shaman's incident must have occurred before she was declared the false goddess.
"It seems my father was already under control at that time."
"What do you mean? It was this new shaman who predicted you were the false goddess, and I also discovered that the new shaman had contact with Grand Tutor Lu."
Grand Tutor Lu colluded with the new shaman to send her to the Turks. Then, out of caution, he planted his own men in the wedding procession, intending to kill her at the border between the two nations.
To avenge his son, that seemed to be the reason.
"Eldest Imperial Brother, you might not know, but the person Father trusted most was not the Prince of Runan, but the Grand Shaman."
In the past, when her father and the Grand Shaman discussed matters at Fengque Tower, they never excluded her. They were not ordinary ruler and subject, but the closest of friends. They would often debate heatedly about the livelihoods of Jingguo's citizens and even seek her opinion, offering guidance along the way.
However, in court, the Grand Shaman was merely an ordinary official. He didn't even have the right to attend regular court sessions, only appearing when summoned by the Emperor, aside from predicting the nation's fortune.
The First Prince was greatly surprised; this was also something he hadn't known.
Indeed, the Emperor's affection for Ling Yao was not ordinary. He truly regarded her as Jingguo's goddess and intended to entrust the future of Jingguo to her.
"Therefore, we must find the Grand Shaman. He must know the truth."
After further discussion, the First Prince left. He thought about it and decided to check on Qu Linglong.
"Miss, the Master has sent a message." Yu Liu's face was beaming, holding a thick letter in her hand.
Even though Miss didn't say it, she and Yu Shan knew how much Miss missed the Master. In solitude, she would often space out, and in her sleep, she would murmur the Master's name.
As expected, Ling Yao snatched it with surprise, "So soon? Did he write it as soon as he reached the border?"
And so much of it, a thick stack!
"It was sent through the Xianwang Sect's channels, which is faster than the post station," Yu Liu explained.
The envelope was sealed with wax. Ling Yao carefully opened it.
"This, is this what your Master wrote?" her expression was peculiar, and she looked at Yu Liu hesitantly.
Yu Liu was puzzled, but she had never seen the Master's handwriting either, so she replied, "Yes, the messenger was Xianwang Sect's envoy Zeng Lin. It passed through no one else's hands, and he said the Master instructed it to be delivered with the utmost speed."
"Oh, alright, you may go!"
Ling Yao slowly sat down on a stool, looking at the wild, claw-like characters. They were almost as messy as a chicken's scratch, and so different from his composed demeanor. The force behind them was considerable, almost tearing through the paper, looking fierce and menacing. No wonder she had never seen him write; it turned out his handwriting was so ugly?
She couldn't believe that a dignified First Rank Great General couldn't even write. Were his previous memorials all ghostwritten?
Then, such a thick stack of letters must have been quite a struggle for him.
However, as she began to flip through them, she was stunned.
Each sheet had only a few words. Because he wrote so large, he couldn't fit many before the page was full.
What a waste of paper!
The first sheet: My beloved wife, Xue Niang, have arrived at the border (misspelled), miss you dearly.
The second sheet: While eating, I wonder if you have eaten enough.
The third sheet: While sleeping, I wonder if you are cold.
...
The later ones were even more outrageous. He missed her while riding horses, while falling, in his dreams, even while urinating!
The intensity of his longing grew, his punches could shatter giant rocks, and his brothers were so scared their mouths could fit eggs.
While studying formation diagrams, he shouted at the explaining strategist, "My wife is right!" startling him into a jump and a hasty retreat.
In short, he was obsessed with missing her.
"Silly man, you're embarrassing yourself in the army camp. How can you fight like this!" Ling Yao, her face flushed, threw the thick stack of letters aside.
Then, she carefully picked them up one by one.
"I can't be distracted during battle, I must teach him a good lesson."
With a frown, she sat at the desk and began to write a reply.
Her beautiful hairpin-flower script filled two pages, the word count being many times that of Xiao Shan's stack of paper.
Finally, she drew two lines in the blank space at the end.
"Your straightforwardness probably won't notice this, right!" Blushing, she folded the letter and put it into an envelope.
Handing the letter to Yu Liu, she returned to her room and reread Xiao Shan's letter.
Flipping to the last page, she discovered more writing she hadn't seen. It was written on the back, and the ink was running out, making it fragmented and unclear. That's why, on the first read, she had thought the paper was stained, but it turned out not to be.
The Second Prince will arrive soon.
Reading this, Ling Yao couldn't help but curse again.
So, the most important piece of information, he had saved paper and ink at the beginning. If she hadn't reread it, she would have missed this crucial detail!
Her Second Brother was returning soon. After a year, she would finally see him again.
They would surely be able to rescue Father.
Just a little longer, it would be soon.
Ling Yao caressed her abdomen and lay down on the bed.
After rescuing Father, she wanted to apologize to him for not trusting him, for resenting and hating him.
She was wrong.
Terribly wrong.