After being rejected, he emptied the mansion and went into exile

Chapter 447 Confessed

After listening to Xiang Hongxuan's explanation, Shen Jinyao finally understood why she had heard Xiang Hongxuan's voice before entering the space.

He took a risky move, angering the emperor so much that the poison took effect, and he left the palace early.

"The emperor's poison shouldn't be fatal, right?"

Xiang Hongxuan nodded.

"The emperor's greatest love was not the throne."

Upon hearing this, Shen Jinyao smiled faintly and said, "What he loves most is his life."

Xiang Hongxuan smiled faintly, and the tension between the two finally eased.

Xiang Hongxuan said, "The emperor should be half-asleep right now. In order to live, he will agree to abdicate directly. The imperial edict will be issued in the next two days."

Shen Jinyao nodded.

She knew that the situation at the time was definitely not as simple as Xiang Hongxuan was now saying.

After all, simply replacing all the officials' wives with female bodyguards was already a very difficult task.

Not to mention the deployments outside the city, outside the palace, and outside the gates of various officials.

The crown prince cannot commit regicide to seize the throne, after all, the country has only been established for three generations. This is the only way to make the emperor voluntarily abdicate.

All of this was the emperor's karmic retribution.

For the sake of imperial power, the court disregarded the suffering of the people and watched helplessly as natural disasters struck year after year.

The emperor disregarded the stability of the court, the demotion of loyal ministers, and the rise of treacherous officials, focusing only on using factional strife to stabilize his imperial power.

In the end, he even murdered his own son.

Now that they know about the 'immortality' elixir, they have become even more brutal and rampant.

We handed over the land that our ancestors had built to others!

Although Shen Jinyao was born in a peaceful era, she still has a patriotic heart.

Now her heart is much calmer.

It seems like everything has settled down, yet it also seems like it hasn't.

Xiang Hongxuan also had some concerns.

"I'm afraid that the crown prince's ascension to the throne is just the beginning of the war between the Northern Xiongnu and the Western Regions."

Shen Jinyao nodded; she felt the same way.

"It just so happens that the Crown Prince also needs political achievements, so it will probably be long before he sets off to wage war."

"We'll prepare in advance and catch them off guard."

Shen Jinyao's tone became much lighter, making the heavy topic more relaxed.

Xiang Hongxuan's lips involuntarily curled up as she said "we".

"it is good."

The two fell silent, as if neither knew what to say next.

Xiang Hongxuan: "Let's go out..."

Shen Jinyao: "Don't you want to know where this is?"

They spoke at the same time and looked at each other simultaneously.

Looking into Shen Jinyao's calm eyes, Xiang Hongxuan finally spoke: "Do you want to tell me? If you don't want to, you don't have to. As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."

"Perhaps you don't know, during the day and night I couldn't find you, I felt like a madman, not knowing what to eat or drink, not knowing what day or night was."

"Seeing you again made me feel like a real person."

He looked at Shen Jinyao with some pain and said, "At that time, your maids all said they couldn't find you, but I saw your shadow. I found the assassin who tried to kill you."

"One of them was closer to you and saw you suddenly disappear. I was terrified after hearing that."

"because……"

He stared into Shen Jinyao's eyes and said without any hesitation, "Because I once suspected that you were not the Shen Jinyao I knew, but I don't want to investigate any further. It's enough that you are who you are."

He took a deep breath and continued, "I left only the guard with me to wait where you disappeared. I don't know if you will reappear, or where you went."

Xiang Hongxuan seemed to recall that long period of waiting. He thought that if he couldn't find Shen Jinyao again, he wouldn't be able to act like a human being anymore.

"To me, your sudden appearance is like... a gift from heaven. You want my life simply because you're afraid I'll reveal your secret."

"I swear on my life, I won't do anything to hurt you, and no one will know what happened today. I just want..."

Xiang Hongxuan swallowed the bitterness in his mouth. "I just want you to stay by my side, as long as you are alive and well, that's enough."

"I love you... I'm most in love with you. My biggest regret now is not stopping the Xiang family from breaking off the engagement. When the Shen family was exiled, I just felt that you were different. Later, when I spent time with you in Wuhe Village, I slowly discovered that you were in no way inferior to men."

He seemed to have thought of something, and smiled slightly, saying, "I've never liked a woman before, so I didn't know what to do. I went to the First Prince and made a lot of fools out of it."

"Later, when you agreed to marry me, I was restless and couldn't eat or sleep. I felt like it was all a dream. I knew you had secrets, and I also knew you weren't in love with me."

"Originally, I was thinking that once things were settled, I would have a proper talk with you. As long as you didn't leave the Xiang residence, you could do whatever you wanted."

"I know you're smart, and you must have figured out what I'm thinking. I... Originally, if you didn't want to talk about it, I wouldn't have asked. As long as we could still be together, now..."

"Then what do you think?"

Xiang Hongxuan did not intend to force Shen Jinyao; he wanted to give them both time.

However, he also knew Shen Jinyao's personality well; she was someone who could take things in stride and was intolerant of any wrongdoing.

Since that's the case, let's make things clear once and for all.

After he finished speaking, he felt unprecedented pain.

The sage was right; love and affection are the hardest things to overcome, making one unlike oneself.

Shen Jinyao stood there, stunned.

This was the first time she had realized that Xiang Hongxuan could say so much at once.

They were all sweet nothings.

She was confessed to by Xiang Hongxuan.

He spoke very earnestly, but also clumsily.

Originally, she was still a little worried and just wanted to tentatively ask Xiang Hongxuan if he wanted to know the secret of the space.

Unexpectedly, it was Xiang Hongxuan who confessed his feelings to her.

For a moment, she was at a loss.

Simply because the person opposite him had such serious eyes.

He asked her what she thought.

"I...I haven't thought about it yet. Why don't we go outside first, and I'll tell you when I've made up my mind?"

"I trust you about the space, but if you tell anyone, I will kill you."

Xiang Hongxuan nodded obediently upon hearing this.

The fact that you didn't immediately reject him means there's still a possibility.

After all, Shen Jinyao rejected Murong Wencheng on the spot.

Shen Jinyao was unaware of Xiang Hongxuan's inner thoughts.

She took Xiang Hongxuan's arm and led her back to the place where the two of them disappeared.

By this time, the sky was already beginning to lighten. The two men had their servants prepare their horses and headed straight for the manor outside the city.

By the time they reached the vicinity of the village, it was already broad daylight.

Outside the manor lay many corpses—assassins, government soldiers, and江湖 (jianghu) assassins.

Shen Jinyao ran to the entrance of the manor and saw that the Qimen Dunjia set up by Song Yingxue had been disturbed!

She quickly moved the stone according to the method Song Yingxue had taught her, and the previously indistinct gate was now visible.

She and Xiang Hongxuan ran inside.

There were signs of a fight in the yard.

"Let's go to the secret passage."