The Great Han Dynasty Volume 1: The great wind rises and clouds fly high.

  Volume 2: There are trees on the mountain, and there are branches on the tree.

  Eighty-eight urgent turns.

  Warning: This chapter contains lightning. Enter with caution.

  I really didn't want to write it, but after looking at the outline of the later plot, I silently shed tears.

  So I can only comfort myself, the bitterness now is for the sweetness later on.

  "Oh?" Lü Wei smiled unintentionally and said, "Tell me about it."

  "A few days ago, I followed Your Majesty and Ah Yan back from Xin Feng. On the way, we met a fangshi who looked like an immortal with a strong aura. When he spoke, his words also seemed to have some similarities."

  In the hall, Zhang Yan's smiling mouth corners stiffened, and she suddenly coughed thunderously.

  Liu Ying also gave Fan Tong a stern look and said, "The imperial wine in the palace is not strong, is General Fan's mouth too idle?"

  It turned out that everyone's interest was piqued, and Lu Yuan smiled, "Don't be afraid, younger brother. Just speak up. If these two have any opinions about you, just find me."

  "Yes, thank you for your kind intentions, Princess." Fan Jiong suppressed a smile and cleared his throat, intentionally putting on a serious face. "That fortune teller said that this young master and this little maiden have very auspicious facial features, and will have a Qin-Jin relationship in the future."

  The crowd was silent for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing.

  It's come to this, and even if she gritted her teeth, Zhang Yan could only swallow the blood and smile, "It's fine for my uncle to tease me, but if Auntie Ji of the Lu family heard about it, that would be a disaster."

  Lv Lian called Zhang Yan over, holding her hand and smiling, "Actually, Ah Yan is beautiful, has a good temperament, and is intelligent. If she weren't my granddaughter, I would really rather have her as my daughter-in-law."

  "Mother." Liu Ying called out awkwardly, her voice tinged with a hint of faint reproach. The ice and snow within her melted away in this burst of laughter.

  Very good, very good, very good. Zhang Yan was secretly resentful in her heart. She had gone to great lengths to build a bridge for this mother and son to reconcile, but in the end, she had sacrificed herself as the last stepping stone. Bo Jun smiled.

  Although the mourning period for the previous emperor had not yet passed, and it was not possible to have a grand celebration in the Chang Le Palace, Empress Lü's 50th birthday was still celebrated with great fanfare. The vassals came to congratulate her, cups and dishes were exchanged, and when the party dispersed, it was already late at night.

  After drinking some clear wine at the banquet, Zhang Yan's footsteps became somewhat unsteady.

  The sedan chair stopped in front of the imperial garden. She was supporting her mother's hand and was about to get on the carriage when a small palace servant came forward and called out, "Please wait, Princess Chang. The Empress Dowager requests that Lady Zhang go over for a visit."

  Zhang Yan blinked, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, revealing her cheeks which had been slightly flushed from the wine. She smiled and said, "How convenient, I was thinking of taking a walk and getting some fresh air." (into phone) "Mom, I'll be right back. You and Dad wait for me, okay?"

  "This child." Lu Yuan gazed at her back, helplessly smiling.

  "Man Hua," under the night sky, Zhang Jie smiled and said. "Don't you think that every time Ah Yan drinks wine, she becomes especially lovely?"

  He gazed at his wife, with a tender and gentle gaze after a long separation, "just like you." "Ah." Lu Yuan suddenly felt a bit flustered, lightly holding Zhang Ao's thick hand, but his face gradually turned red.

  Arrived at Changxin Hall. But Empress Lü was not there. It seemed that she had not returned since the grand banquet. Zhang Yan sat for a while, and after the effects of the wine dissipated, he became impatient and stood up, saying, "I'll follow the original path to look for my aunt."

  Entered the Longle Palace at night. It was very quiet.

  Although it is no longer the political center of the Great Han, I can usually see people coming and going in the Chang Le Palace. This time, however, I walked for a long time without encountering anyone. The spacious and bright corridors that are visible during the day appear like a dark and gloomy cave entrance at night, eerily revealing their ominous atmosphere. Two palace attendants led the way ahead, with lanterns casting circles of light on the ground.

  A loud "caw" echoed through the corridor as a crow flew swiftly past the eaves, startling a group of people.

  "Daughter," Xie You's voice trembled slightly, "I've heard that the crow's call represents bad luck. Is something terrible going to happen in this Chang Le Palace?"

  "Look what you're saying." Zhang Yan forced a smile, "This is Chang Le Palace, what could happen?"

  Even if something goes wrong, it won't happen openly.

  Zhang Yan also had some regrets in her heart. If she had known it would be like this, she would have stayed in the Changxin Hall and waited for her grandmother to return.

  After turning the corridor and corner, in front of her was the brightly lit Longle Palace. Zhang Yan took a deep breath, clapped her hands and laughed, "You see, aren't there people here?" After walking a few more steps, she herself also felt that something was off.

  There are people, but there are too many of them.

  Inside the heavily guarded imperial palace, there were people lurking in the shadows. There were eunuchs and palace maids in their uniforms, as well as some familiar faces who often attended to Empress Lü's needs.

  Fish-scale armor school lieutenant came out of the crowd, cupped his hands and said, "Zhang Niangzi, this is not a place you should come to, please leave immediately." The voice was strong and slightly urgent. Lifting up his head, it turned out to be Lü Bu.

  "What's going on?" she asked in a low voice, and suddenly a sense of foreboding rose up in her heart.

  Suddenly, a woman's mournful laughter came from the hall, "A Lu, I wish that in the next life you will be a mouse and I will be a cat, and lifetime after lifetime I will gnaw at your flesh." The voice was full of indignation and resentment.

  "You wretch!" Empress Lü flew into a rage, shouting wildly, "Guards! Cut out her tongue and see if she dares to speak so boldly here again."

  Zhang Yan's face turned white in an instant.

  That is, that is——

  The voice of Madame Qi.

  Her teeth chattered, her body shook violently. Her rational mind screamed at her to turn around and walk away, to get as far away from him as possible. But her feet seemed rooted to the spot, unable to move a single step.

  At that moment, she didn't think of anything, her heart just sank into despair.

  A blood-covered person struggled to crawl to the temple gate, stretched out his hand, wanting to grasp something, but it was in vain, and finally put down in disappointment.

  "Qi Yi," Lü Zhi followed her out, her voice filled with an eerie excitement. "Do you still remember that year, in this very place, you manipulated the former emperor to depose me, hiding behind his back? You must have never thought of today when you were gloating."

  She followed Qi Yi's line of sight and looked down slowly, seeing Zhang Yan, she was taken aback for a moment.

  "Ah." She smiled suddenly, "A Yan is here looking for Ah Jia's family."

  "A Yan," Empress Lü stretched out her hand and beckoned, "come here." Her voice was urgent. The dark-colored sleeve of her robe was torn in one place, fluttering in the night wind.

  As if it were the first time, under a dream-like trance, Zhang Yan stepped up onto the long stairs.

  "Ah Yan." Lü Hou grasped her hand, bent down and smiled with great pleasure. "Look," she pointed at Qi Yi, speaking ardently, "You're not helping Ah Po scold her, are you? A person values self-awareness, someone who hasn't paid any price, just a light smile and two tears, wants to take away something others have paid the ultimate price for." Suddenly, her face turned icy cold. "Where in the world is there such a cheap thing?"

  The hand held in Lü Zhi's hand trembled slightly...

  It wasn't until she walked closer that Zhang Yan could see Qī Yì's current appearance clearly.

  She was dressed in a lake-green robe, as if she had seen herself in the Changle Front Hall years ago. The style was exquisite, but it could no longer set off her former slender beauty. Her black hair had been shaved off, and her limbs bore the marks of flogging and corporal punishment. She glared fiercely at Lü Zhi, muttering to herself, but unable to speak.

  "How beautiful." A sickly flush appeared on Lü Yu's face. It was as if she were admiring a work of art created by herself, her voice was enchanting, but suddenly turned cold, "Qingsi, no more singing. You don't have it anymore. I'll see what else you can use to seduce men."

  Qi Yi exerted all her strength and spat out a mouthful of blood water. Lü Yu was caught off guard, and it landed squarely on the Empress Dowager's ceremonial robes.

  "Looking for death." Lü Hou suddenly became furious, loudly ordering: "Zhang Ze, replace me in cutting off this cheap woman's hands and feet, dig out her pair of eyes that seduce men, pierce her ears deaf, I want to make her a human pig, still in the pigsty, watch her slowly die." The voice gradually turned into resentful, poisonous madness.

  For a moment, everyone in the hall showed an expression of horror and intolerance.

  Qī Fū's mouth couldn't speak, but his ears could hear. His eyes swept around the hall and landed on Zhang Yan. Those two shiny black pupils showed a pleading meaning.

  Zhang Yan nodded.

  She suddenly turned around, drew out the sword hanging from her waist, and stabbed it into Qi Yi's heart, clean and neat.

  Qī Yì let out a soft cry, and gently closed her eyes, with a faint smile still lingering on her lips.

  The entire hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, and Lv Hou's stern voice was particularly clear. "Zhang Yan." With a loud slap, he slapped her.

  That slap was extremely heavy, without any mercy at all. Zhang Yan fell to the ground, and her ears were still ringing. She turned around, got up, and ran out of the hall.

  The wind whistled past her ears, the vast Longevity Palace was pitch black, except for the bright lights of the front hall behind her, but she desperately wanted to leave this place as if escaping a fierce beast.

  Some scenes from the past flashed through my mind.

  In the Eastern Palace, Chen Hu covered her mouth in shock and grabbed onto her, trembling all over, "Do you know? The Marquis of Huaiyin was pierced to death by bamboo skewers. I heard that after he died, his body was dragged out, his eyes were still open and bleeding."

  In the small courtyard of the Hou Mansion, Lü Yi burst into loud sobs. "Who was born to harm people?... I'm also very scared, but still have to pretend to know nothing and smile. She's clean and tidy watching the excitement, but instead turns around and blames me."

  "Slap——" Lv Hou slapped her hard on the face.

  She let out a cry of pain, her left foot suddenly cramping up, and she had to stop in her tracks. It turned out that she had twisted her ankle and was no longer able to run.

  This was the first time, Lü Hou called out her name directly.

  The Empress Lü began to dislike the Crown Prince's wife as well, starting from the day she witnessed Han Xin's violent death.

  Her calf was cramping up quietly, she stretched her foot back with force, alleviating the cramp, and sobbed out loud.

  The last thing I remembered was the cold words in "Historical Records":

  The Empress Dowager then cut off the hands and feet of Lady Qi, gouged out her eyes and ears, gave her a poisonous drink, and made her live in a toilet, calling her "Human Pig". After several days, she summoned Emperor Hui to see the Human Pig. When Emperor Hui saw her, he asked questions and realized it was Lady Qi, and he wept greatly, becoming ill as a result, unable to get out of bed for over a year. He sent someone to ask the Empress Dowager: "This is not something a human being would do. As your son, I will never be able to govern the empire." Emperor Hui indulged in excessive drinking and pleasure-seeking every day, ignoring state affairs, which was why he became ill.

  He asked and learned that his wife had died, so he wailed loudly and fell ill, unable to get up for over a year.

  Due to illness, I have been bedridden for over a year.

  "A Yan?"

  "What are you doing here?"

  She suddenly raised her head and looked at the person who shouldn't be here at this time, asking, "What are you doing here?"

  Suddenly a wave of despair.

  Can history really not be changed?

  Seeing the disheveled girl crying in front of her, Liu Ying was taken aback. She narrowed her eyes and asked gruffly, "What's going on here?"

  She seemed not to have heard and asked again, "Isn't Uncle supposed to be back at Weiyang Palace already?"

  "Ah." Liu Ying suddenly felt a bit awkward, coughed and said, "I thought I'd come to visit Mother Dowager."

  He felt somewhat guilty for his coldness towards the empress dowager in these days, and since it was Empress Lü's birthday, he turned back to Chang Le Palace, wanting to accompany her again.

  He smiled slightly, his eyes warm.

  That smile, seeing Zhang Yan's heart suddenly sour, almost dropped tears, hurriedly lowered his head and forced the tears back, explaining: "My foot is sprained, I'm afraid of pain, that's why I cried like this, making Uncle laugh."

  Glancing at the palm print on her left cheek that was still visible in the dim light, Liu Ying fell silent for a moment. "Just now, I met your mother at the palace gate. She's still waiting for you to return. I told..."

  "Uncle," Zhang Yan grabbed his sleeve and said urgently, "I can't walk the road, will you take me back?"

  She still wants to try her best.

  Empress Qi is dead, and Empress Lü can no longer control the situation. As long as the palace staff collect her body, even if Liu Ying finds out about this later, he won't see the actual scene, so the impact will be smaller.

  So she cannot let Liu Ying go see Lü Zhi now.

  Liu Ying raised an eyebrow, her heart filled with doubt.

  "Is it all right, Uncle?" she asked him, looking up at him with an urgent tone.

  Her face, once as pale and delicate as jade in the snow, was now slightly puffy, which Liu Ying found somewhat irritating. She let out a sigh and said, "Alright."

  Zhang Yan let out a sigh of relief.

  The young man bent down and picked up the girl, walked to the front of the cart, put her in, suddenly turned around and ordered, "Chang Ji, send Zhang Niangzi to Xi Que."

  "Uncle," Zhang Yan hastily got up and called out from the car, but couldn't help feeling a sharp pain in her ankle, and fell onto the seat.

  "Girl," Chang Jianguo called out in a low voice, advising, "You have an injury on your foot, it's better not to move around carelessly, otherwise you might develop chronic illness and it won't be good for you later."

  She turned a deaf ear and lifted the car curtain to see the back of the young man in black clothes going away, her heart was icy cold, but on her lips, she forced out a faint smile.

  But still can't stop it? March is over. The final vote fell to 435 points. Very happy result. Thank you everyone for your support.

  Yeah, this chapter took me a long time to write because I didn't want to write it.

  But ending March with this chapter is actually quite good. Because once the story enters April, it will be exciting.

  (Finally, after a long and tedious setup, you're willing to get to the main event. I'm in tears.)

  The turning point of this chapter is very urgent, and I will explain in the following chapters why Lv Hou suddenly changed his mind.

  Take a deep breath, there shouldn't be any major plot twists anymore (shouldn't be, speaking with a guilty conscience).

  Cheer up, Ah Yan is about to turn eleven soon. One year and a few months left before getting married.