Chapter 236 It’s Always You

“Madam, you are…”

Ji Yunzhang narrowed his eyes dangerously.

Rong Peilan ignored his jealousy and reached out to push his face away. “It was because of these dreams in the past few days that I figured out some things.”

Ji Yunzhang didn’t quite understand. It was just a dream, wasn’t it? Why was he taking it so seriously?

Rong Peilan, “It’s been so many years since what happened. I’ve forgotten everything. I can’t even remember how you easily accepted such an outrageous thing as a marriage exchange.”

“But the dreams I’ve had these past few days have reminded me of what happened back then, as if it happened yesterday.”

“My mother proposed the Xie family when she was getting married. Now that such a huge pie has fallen into Xie Shuning’s hands, do you know how many sisters in the same clan are envious?!”

Ji Yunzhang didn’t believe it. He still remembered how shocked she was when she woke up after being in a coma for a day, as if marrying him was like the sky falling.

“My dear, please don’t bully me because I am old and have a bad memory. Who was the one who woke up and wanted to go back to Xie Mansion? Why didn’t you envy me?”

Rong Peilan glared at him and said, “Don’t interrupt.”

Ji Yunzhang touched his nose and looked back. The ceremonial guards behind him were all far away and everyone had their heads lowered.

Fortunately, his imperial dignity was not damaged.

Rong Peilan frowned and tried hard to recall the scene of that year.

“Two days before her wedding, my cousin quarreled with my aunt and refused to marry. That’s when she decided to marry me.”

As she spoke, she raised her head and said, “Tell me, why did my cousin put me in the bridal sedan at the Xinling Marquis Mansion, which was so famous back then?”

Ji Yunzhang held her in his arms and said, “My dear, isn’t it a little late for you to investigate now?”

Rong Peilan patted the hand on her shoulder and said, “I just wonder why my cousin, who is so ambitious, would choose the poor Kang Jintang.”

Ji Yunzhang didn’t want to explore that terrible nightmare. “Okay, there’s nothing to think about. Your cousin is blind.”

Rong Peilan frowned as he recalled the fragmented dreams of the past few days, “Your Majesty, can you believe in past and present lives?”

Ji Yunzhang was born not to believe in ghosts and gods, let alone past and present lives.

“No matter in the past life or this life, you are my wife, no doubt about it!”

Rong Peilan pursed her lips, if that dream really was from her previous life.

The results of the two lives seem to be the same. The corruption and decline of the Meng Dynasty is inevitable sooner or later, no matter how hard they struggle.

What about the people in the chess game?

In the previous life, my father stirred up the situation, Prince Sheng purged his followers, launched an unprecedented palace coup, and bloodbathed the city of Yanjing, causing heavy casualties.

In this life, her father stirred up the situation, and she and Ji Yunzhang discovered it in advance, which alerted Prince Qing and forced him to abdicate in advance, triggering a large-scale attack by the Western Jin Dynasty, which caused even more tragic casualties than in the previous life.

If she and Xie Shuning were the anomalies of this life, should these be blamed on their father or on the two of them?

Her cousin often talked about Kang Jintang’s successful career. She knew that her cousin might have been given a new life by chance.

But if she didn’t interfere in Ji Yunzhang’s affairs and let him develop on his own.

If my father would not have died, would such a big war not have occurred, causing so many deaths and injuries.

Ji Yunzhang patted Rong Peilan’s hand. Over the years, she had helped manage the court, and her fingers were covered with calluses. “Natural disasters and man-made disasters, my lady, please do not ignore the choices of people.”

“Just like your cousin, she had the chance to live her life again, and she chose what she thought was a good man in her previous life.”

“But what about the result? Whether she marries into the Ji family or the Kang family, it is the result of her own choice. She is still herself, so the result will not change.”

“You are still you, and the result will not change.”

“My dear, our marriage is destined by heaven. Don’t try to find out. Just be honest and stay together with me for the rest of your life!”

It’s hard to explain.

The succession of dynasties always involves sacrifice and bloodshed.

Ji Yunzhang held Rong Peilan’s hand and walked along the long palace road, at the end of which was a small archway of the imperial city.

Dozens of palace servants and eunuchs followed behind, carrying the sedan chair. Ji Yunzhang sighed, “This imperial city has been around for hundreds of years and has witnessed countless changes of power.”

“The former Zhou eunuchs lost their country, and the former Qi prime minister lost his country.”

“Everyone is cursing the officials and the evil prime minister. Are the former Zhou royal family and the former Qi royal family innocent victims?”

“If the dream is really the previous life, then there was no demon in the previous life. There was only the Meng family killing each other and fighting for power.”

“If you ignore the laws of the court and the lives of the people, the change of dynasties is the inevitable result.”

Finally, he held Rong Peilan’s hand and asked, “What will be the final outcome of Dasheng? Will it be a harem dictatorship this time?”

Rong Peilan raised her eyes slightly and looked at him.

Ji Yunzhang patted her hands and said, “I’m not talking about you.”

“We have no choice now.”

“But you are the founding queen, you have been in power for six years, and you have established a girls’ school, which will benefit future generations.”

“But if it gets to the wrong people’s minds, it will become a precedent for the queen to participate in politics.”

“Will the situation become one of imperial harem dictatorship and hegemony of foreign relatives?”

Rong Peilan hadn’t thought that far yet. “Since Your Majesty has already thought of it, why…”

Ji Yunzhang, “What’s the use of thinking about it? I can’t take care of myself right now, so why should I care about future generations?”

He looked at the afterglow that dyed the sky orange and murmured, “I hope that future generations will be smarter.”

The vast night sky swallowed up the last bit of light bit by bit, and the guards of honor behind him had already lit the lanterns in their hands.

Just like the newly born Great Prosperity Dynasty, although the stars are shining, the lights are also continuous.

Ji Yunzhang said to the person beside him, “Let’s go, my lady.”

In private, he still likes to call her wife.

It was as if the two of them were still the same as usual, whether they were the Hou Mansion or the Zhaofeng grain merchant who hid their identities.

The two are the same as always.

Even the emperor and empress, who were high in the temple, were just an ordinary couple.

The bright moon in the sky disappeared into the clouds.

The two people sleeping in each other’s arms seem to have entered the same dream at the same time and can see each other’s past lives.

It seemed like this was a perfect ending to the previous life.

Marriage, disaster, war, and national chaos.

The decline and change of dynasties is like a big wheel dragging two people forward.

The two non-intersecting lines have undergone tremendous changes like marrow cleansing in their respective trajectories.

It was not until the rebels launched a coup that the two men met in Ningzhou from their respective paths.

He is still the same him, and she is still the same her.

Qi’an and Sui’an, no matter whether they were born earlier or later, are still their children.

And no matter how wide the two parallel lines in front of them are, they will always intersect.

No matter in the past life or this life, they are always husband and wife.

When Ji Yunzhang woke up, Rong Peilan was already awake.

He sat cross-legged like he had on his wedding night.

He looked at the woman whose face was no longer young, and couldn’t help but sigh, “Fortunately, in this life and the past, it has always been you.”

(End of this chapter)