Chapter 0002 Another Talented Individual.

After the death of the Crown Prince Li Xian in Bazhou, in the first year of Chuigong, the title of Prince Yong was restored. His wife and children were all adopted and confined to the palace, not allowed to live outside. This includes the original Crown Princess Fang and various concubines, as well as his eldest son Li Guangshun, his successor Li Shouli, his youngest son Li Shouyi, and his young daughter, Princess Changxin County.

The Lady Fang, consort of Prince Yong, is currently being detained behind the Yao Guang Palace in the western part of the Separated City, as she is unable to clear her name. The Yao Guang Palace is situated on an island in the Jiu Zhou Lake, and at present, the gardens are in full bloom, with picturesque scenery. However, Lady Fang, being under suspicion, is only confined to the back halls of the palace, where all she can see are dense and tangled bamboo groves, with no access to the beautiful scenery of the imperial gardens.

At this moment, Fang Shi finds it difficult to sit alone in her room. She sees that the palace maid cannot speak frankly, so she just waves her hand and says in a hoarse voice, "Please, Miss, leave for now. Don't let me trouble you..."

The woman lifted her arm to embrace Li Tong, but suddenly withdrew as she was instructed by the female official Xu Dian to be dragged to the back by the palace people.

The palace maid did not know what she wanted to do, but after hearing these words, she dared not stay for long and hurriedly left the room. When the female official had walked far away, Fang Shi sat for a moment, as if gathering strength. She took a few deep breaths, supported herself on the table, stood up, and walked unsteadily on her legs that had been numb from sitting for a long time, but still gritted her teeth and walked towards the outer room.

After learning yesterday that her son, Li Shouyi, had died prematurely, her mood became even more sorrowful. She let her hair down and covered her face, kneeling deeply in the room without eating or drinking. Her posture has remained unchanged from yesterday until now. If it weren't for occasional sobbing, the palace attendants responsible for monitoring her would suspect that the imperial concubine's situation is also worrying.

Amid adversity, family affection is particularly precious. Lady Fang had no biological children, but she treated her adopted son Li Shouli as her own and loved her other two sons deeply.

After all, Fang Shi is the former crown prince's legitimate wife. Although she is guilty, the palace attendants responsible for interrogating her dare not humiliate her excessively. They only confine Fang Shi's daily activities to this small room and have someone come to ask her some questions every day.

At that moment, Xu Dian's expression kept changing. While responding to Fang, he hinted to the palace maids to step forward and snatch the hairpin. However, before those people could step forward, Fang pulled out the hairpin and stabbed it at her throat, her face turning extremely pale, saying, "The late king entrusted me with his flesh and blood, I endured the pain to survive! Now, mother and son are separated, their life and death unknown. If we cannot reunite, it's better to go to the underworld together and search for the late king!"

Amidst the clamor, Xu Dian immediately ordered several female officials by his side to step forward and pull Fang Shi back to the house. Fang Shi swiftly snatched a hairpin from one of the female officials and clenched it tightly in her hand. Her teeth clenched, her face twisted in a grimace. Just as the female officials and palace maids were in a state of panic, Fang Shi forcefully plunged the hairpin into her left leg. Blood splattered and quickly soaked her robe. The palace maids immediately screamed in shock, and the female officials who were holding onto Fang Shi hurriedly let go and retreated.

Seize the advantageous hairpin from the Empress Dowager's hand!

Seeing that the Fang family was resorting to death as a means of coercion, Xu Dian had no choice but to arrange it. Of course, he did not forget to report to higher authorities in order to alleviate his own culpability.

Your Majesty, I am not dead. I died, but then I came back to life...

Li Tong stood up and looked at Fang Shi with the tone of the young Li Shouyi, trying hard to squeeze out a smile, but his face looked stiff.

These days of being detained and interrogated are naturally not comfortable. Fang, who is only thirty years old, already looks haggard, with dull and lifeless eyes.

It is obvious that the phenomenon of soul transmigration, which he himself cannot accept or explain, has brought great pressure to those simple and heroic Tang Yulin guards.

As soon as Li Tong finished speaking nonsense, another voice of astonishment sounded behind the Fang family and others. The voice was clear and melodious, and then the owner of the voice appeared in Li Tong's field of vision.

Following all the way, Xu Dian suddenly felt overjoyed when he saw the situation. He raised his arm and drove the palace maids behind him to rush up and gather around the fallen woman.

Hearing this, Fang's body suddenly trembled, his swollen eyes widened, and he stared at the palace maid in front of him, saying, "You said my son is not dead? That, that child, he is still alive!"

Shangguan Cairen? Shangguan Wan'er?.

Upon seeing this scene, Li Tong was so embarrassed and unable to restrain himself that he threw away the humble and pitiful guard in his heart, strode forward, forcefully pushed aside the palace maid blocking his way, and bent down in front of the woman. After seeing the joyful yet exhausted look in her eyes, his lips trembled for a few moments before he finally called out, "Your Majesty".

Fang Shi fell to the ground, but stared fiercely at Xu Dian, who was equally panicked, and said in a trembling voice, "I want to see my son, Shouyi, go see him immediately!"

Hearing this, not only did the people around freeze for a moment, even the look in Fang Shi's eyes, who was half embraced by the palace maids, showed a hint of doubt when looking at Li Tong.

Li Tong squatted in place, looking at the woman through the intertwined figures of the crowd. He already felt the reality of being in such a world in his heart. The slightly embarrassed woman opposite him was his stepmother. In such a harsh palace environment, even if it meant risking her life, she wanted to fight for a chance to see him!

The palace maids who were originally scattered in the courtyard were also driven and gathered together, but no one came forward to interact with him. The soldiers who gathered here just stood against the wall, looking like they were facing a formidable enemy, which made Li Tong, who was trapped in the room, feel a bit tragic and amused.

This...this...is the Empress Dowager's command. How could I, how could I dare...

However, as soon as this idea was just opened, there was no time to continue pondering. There was a commotion outside the door, interrupting Li Tong's train of thought. He got up and cautiously walked to the side of the door, peering out. What he saw was a scene that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

At this moment, Fang Shi had already been assisted by the palace ladies to the left side of the palace, about to step out of the confined area of detention. Xu Dian came from behind and, upon seeing this, shouted loudly, "Your Majesty has shown mercy, allowing Empress Dowager to explain herself here. Does Empress Dowager intend to disobey the order?"

Within the palace walls, there are many eyes and ears. News of what happened in Jiacheng quickly spread to the neighboring city. Although many outsiders have kind intentions, their status and influence vary. Seeing how sad Fangfei was, it was inevitable that some palace members would feel sympathetic and console her in private, saying, "Please bear with your grief for now, Empress Dowager. It was probably a mistake in the message that was sent the other day. The King is still alive..."

The woman was standing several meters away from Li Tong, but as soon as she saw him, a sincere smile appeared on her haggard face. Then, it seemed as if a force of conviction quickly drained from her, and she fell to the ground in the courtyard.

Hearing the sobbing of the Fang family and the address of the visitor, Li Tong was taken aback and then curiously looked at the visitor.

Especially this young child, Li Shouyi, his birth mother, Lady Shen, followed the Crown Prince to Bazhou and committed suicide. The Consort has never lacked such intentions, but there are still young children in the family who need to be raised. She could only bear the pain and give birth in secret, and she was even more attentive to the young and helpless Li Shouyi who lost his parents at a young age.

Li Tong was stunned. He did not know this woman, but upon seeing her, he felt an inexplicable sense of affection and joy, and instinctively took a step out of the door, with a name on the tip of his tongue but unable to be called out.

However, before Li Tong could carefully examine it, Fang had already turned around and rushed to the owner of the voice, crying and saying, "Please ask the official to inform Her Majesty the Empress that Kunfu is prosperous, the young son Chengze is alive again, and the deceased soul has been revived, fortunately under the grace and favor!"

Is what the king said true?

Do not cut the concubine...

Actually, even the palace women responsible for monitoring understood that the Crown Prince Li Xian and his family were closely guarded in confinement, with no chance to contact the outside world. Even with continuous interrogations, it was difficult to extract any valuable information. However, this was the Empress Dowager's intention, and they had no choice but to carry it out. Even if they had any sympathetic thoughts, they were powerless and could only suppress them.

At this moment, Li Tong still had no idea what price his nominal stepmother had paid to see him. He instinctively resisted accepting his new identity, but the gathering Imperial Guards had already surrounded him tightly. Obviously, whether he accepted this new identity or not, he had to accept it. Moreover, within the Forbidden City, there probably wasn't a neighboring old king who could help him establish new relationships and start a new life.

However, being born into such a family, experiencing numerous unjust calamities, feeling helpless, shedding tears of farewell many days ago, and now hearing the news that life and death have been severed, unable even to personally attend the funeral, Lady Fang's heart is withered with grief and indignation, already feeling unbearable pain.

Many Feather Guards who were stationed outside the courtyard wall retreated like the tide, dispersing to the left and right. In the gap left by their departure, a disheveled woman in a short jacket and red skirt stumbled inward. She raised her arm, clenched her fist against her neck, and looked inside while walking, letting out a mournful cry: "Sanlang, Sanlang... are you alive or dead?"

The news of the miraculous resurrection of Prince Yong'an, Li Shouyi, who was already dead and about to be buried, is spreading at an astonishing speed. Although the right commander of the Jia Cheng garrison quickly ordered the blockade of the news, this strange and eerie event still spread through various channels.

Li Tong ignored the others and walked up to Fang Shi with a stiff face. He quickly organized his words and said, "Do you believe in the reincarnation of the underworld, Your Majesty? The days and months there are different from those in the human world. After a brief death, I have already traveled through the four seasons..."

Soon, a maid sweeping the floor noticed Fang Shi walking out of her room. She hurriedly went forward to support her and reported to a female official in the vicinity. The female official in charge of this area was in her forties and held the rank of seventh-grade female attendant. The palace staff called her Xu Dian. Upon receiving the report from the maid, she quickly led several female officials to come over.

Ms. Fang's strong reaction startled the palace maids, but in fact, she only heard the news from others. Especially the rumor of resurrection, she really dare not assert. Faced with Ms. Fang's questioning, she could only equivocate.

Xu Dian saw that Fang Shi was determined to die, and for a moment he was completely panicked. It should be noted that just yesterday, due to the premature death of Prince Yong'an, the female supervisor in charge had already been imprisoned. Regardless of how the Empress Dowager treats the family of the deceased Crown Prince, and how pitiful the experiences of these noble women are, it is not something that these female officials can casually force.

Yes, can I take advantage of this strange phenomenon of my soul crossing to make some improvements to the situation?

At the end of April, someone threw a letter into the bronze box placed outside the Zetian Gate, accusing the Li royal family of plotting in secret and forming a conspiracy within the Forbidden City. Although the Empress Dowager did not openly disclose this to the court, she secretly ordered the executioners to search within the Forbidden City. The family members of the former Crown Prince Li Xian, who were imprisoned in the palace, naturally became the prime suspects. As a result, all the wives, concubines, and children of the Fáng clan were separately placed under supervision and subjected to continuous interrogations day and night.

At this moment, a considerable number of people had gathered around him. Several robust imperial guards seemed to have surrounded him. Setting aside his inner fear, Li Tong surveyed his surroundings and said in a deep voice, "I am the Empress Dowager's blood descendant and a descendant of the Sage. How dare you act recklessly?"

The Yao Guang Palace is located on the island in the middle of the pond. The palace maids rowed the boat and brought Fang Shi and several female supervisors to the shore. Afterwards, Fang Shi still tightly held onto her hairpin, disregarding the injury on her leg, and walked step by step towards the western city. Wherever she passed, the bloodstains were glaring, and all the onlookers couldn't help but shed tears with a heart-wrenching sorrow.

My son, I...