Chapter 233: Why don’t you go and get muddy?

Ci Ning Palace.

Through the veil, the silhouette on the couch was indistinguishable, and one could only hear the Empress Dowager’s sullen voice coming out from behind the drapery; “The Emperor is here.”

“Yes.” Emperor Jinglong sat on the round stool in front of the couch and asked, “How is mother’s health?”

The Empress Dowager asked again, “Where’s Cheng’er?”

“–The son minister is here.” King Yu strides into the bedchamber, salutes the emperor, and takes a seat on the round stool on the other side, “Mother is urgently summoned, and my son does not dare to delay a moment.”

“Roll up the curtain.” The Empress Dowager said.

Immediately a palace man came forward to roll up the curtain and hang it on the jade hook. The Empress Dowager reclined on the matted head of the bed, her face did not look sick, but her expression was depressed. Her usual makeup is gorgeous and exquisite, over fifty years old looks like a beautiful woman in her forties, but at this moment, the lead is removed, revealing the fine lines at the corners of the eyes of the eyebrows that are difficult to smooth out.

Seeing this, Emperor Jinglong was a bit surprised, but as if he had expected it, he asked, “I don’t know what kind of emergency the Empress Mother is suffering from? I have summoned Ambassador Wang of the Imperial Hospital and the other two court judges to come over, so that I can give the Empress Mother a careful consultation.”

The Empress Dowager supported her forehead with her hand and sighed slightly, “Heart disease.”

“What kind of heart disease has caused the Queen Mother to not even take care of her makeup?” King Yu dragged his stool forward and leaned in to scrutinize, “But Mother is also beautiful without the need for makeup, and it’s really a good thing that my son was born like Mother.”

The Empress Dowager was almost amused by him, “Poor mouth! When will you be steady and proper and learn from your royal brother.”

“Don’t, I wouldn’t dare to follow his example.” King Yu glanced at the seated Emperor, “If Empress Mother has something on her mind, she might as well say it, so that my son can share your worries.”

The Empress Dowager said, “Do you know what day today is?”

King Yu thought about it and asked with less certainty, “Which Bodhisattva …… or Immortal Monarch’s birth date? Empress Mother believes in too many Gods and Buddhas, forgive me for not being able to recognize or remember them.”

“Gag me as much as you can.” The Empress Dowager slapped the back of his hand as if she was punishing him, “Twenty-seven years ago today, my younger sister got married in haste to Wei Yan, who was a full round older than her.”

Emperor Jinglong and King Yu both knew about the matter of the Qin Wangfu in the past.

At that time, their mother was facing a big crisis of side consort competition for the throne. Their father, who was still only the King of Qin, was also facing danger and opportunity at the same time –

King Qin’s eldest brother, Emperor Ming Taizong, died of illness only three years after ascending the throne, leaving no heirs. With the death of his elder brother, Emperor Taizu’s other dozen sons became one of the reasonable and legitimate candidates for his successor.

Removing those of low birth and mediocre ability, there were also seven other princes who had a fighting chance against the state weapon.

Their father was one of them.

The aunt’s marriage was exchanged for the support of the entire Qingzhou army for the Qin King.

Qingzhou is adjacent to the Tartar tribes and has not yet been fully subjugated. It often fluctuates with the war situation at the border, and is one of the forces at the border that the kings of the border are struggling to fight for. At that time, the commander of Qingzhou army was Wei Yan’s father, Wei Tu.

Wei Tu was old and capable of fighting. It was because of the marriage with the Qin royal family that Wei Tu made up his mind to lead his troops to the throne, and eventually escorted their father to the dragon chair.

From the dragon’s merit is second only to the Ding Ding, it can be said that the Wei family can not be ignored.

“The day my younger sister got married, she took my hand and said, ‘Eldest sister, it doesn’t matter who I marry, what’s important is that you have to be good, continue to be the rightful consort of the King of Qin, and make er or cheng er the son of the world. Only then will we have a day of reckoning.” I still remember, at that time, the way she held back her tears as she spoke, and I also know that she has long had someone in her heart, but she swung her sword to cut off her love for me.” The Empress Dowager’s gaze was hazy, as if she had fallen into long ago memories, “Later, the Wei family really lived up to her expectations. Although Wei Yan was mediocre, he was obedient to her, and Wei Tu also re-examined your father’s weight, eventually becoming the most powerful of the forces that pushed him to the throne.”

Emperor Jinglong was silent for a long time and said, “Mother, I know that the Wei family used to be meritorious. So these years they have enjoyed all the glory and wealth, want to give the field and pay, I allowed, want to send the daughter into the palace, I also married. The whole twenty years ah mother, I have many of their illegal acts are lenient, and even turn a blind eye. But they do not know to restrain, more and more wanton, more and more greedy, do you have to give away the countryside and the countryside, in order to be worth the credit of the year?”

The Empress Dowager slapped the surface of the couch and called out in an unusually grim voice, “–Emperor!”

“…… My son made a slip of the tongue, please calm your anger, Mother.” Emperor Jinglong backed down.

The empress dowager took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her voice showed her old age: “I can tell which is more important! Today with you to say these, is to hope that you do not put things to the extreme, to give the Wei family to leave a way out. I will also personally warn the couple to stop at the right moment, to be able to save a lifetime of glory is already the grace of heaven, not to be greedy for anything else.”

“What about the crimes committed before? Has the Queen Mother ever seen the crimes that the officials have submitted to the court, and the people who died in vain–“

“There are billions of people,” the Empress Dowager interrupted the Emperor, “but I have only this one relative!”

Emperor Jinglong stopped speaking.

Seeing that the atmosphere between the two sides is a bit stagnant, King Yu rounded off the situation by saying, “Mother is protective of her shortcomings, does your brother not know that? When the two of us fought with King Xin when we were young, no matter what the cause was, which time didn’t the Queen Mother protect us and go toe-to-toe with his mother?”

The Empress Dowager glared at King Yu with less satisfaction: ”What protection, I was protecting my calf! It’s the same today. The second prince will turn a year old, he needs a birth mother who can speak her mind in the harem, and he also needs a maternal clan that can stand up in the court. To deprive him of all of these, how will Zhao’er be able to gain a foothold in the future?”

“Based?” Emperor Jinglong slowly pondered the weight of these two words, “He is a concubine son and a young son, where can he stand? Or rather, where does the Queen Mother want him to stand?”

“Emperor!” The empress dowager said sorrowfully, “people grow a big bunch of melons on the vine, but also pick and choose, leaving the biggest and sweetest to do the seed. You have two here, how not to pick and choose, first grow which one to stay which it? If this one is sour and bitter, and the other one is culled by you in advance, what harvest will there be in the coming year?”

Emperor Jinglong was silent for a long time and said, “Mother’s likes and dislikes are really as good as one day for fifteen years.”

“Look at the temperament, look at the studies, look at the heart, mother’s eyes have not deviated there, and you look at the recent out of the stone column this thing, can not prove that the trigrams requested back then were fulfilled?”

“Trigrams? What kind of sign? What was fulfilled?” King Yu asked curiously.

Emperor Jinglong shook his head, “The words of the ghosts and gods are not to be believed.”

The Empress Dowager said, “Believe it or not, I believe it anyway!”

King Yu still wanted to ask further questions, but the Empress Dowager gave a wink towards Qiong Gu, the eldest palace maid. Qiong Gu immediately invited King Yu to one side and whispered, “Your Highness should not ask the Empress Dowager any further questions and touch her sadness.”

“Then what the hell is going on, you tell me.” King Yu insisted.

Qiong Gu had no choice but to simply say, “When Empress Qian Zhang first entered the palace, the Empress Dowager was shocked and displeased at the first sight of her, due to the fact that she was born to resemble the late Emperor’s side consort Mo.”

“Mo? The birth mother of King Xin and King Ning, the one who fought with the Queen Mother for the position of the rightful consort back then?”

“Exactly. The Empress Dowager specially inquired about the former Empress’s birth date, and it was actually exactly the same as the day Mo died, even the hour was not different–“

“Wait!” King Yu interrupted Qiong Gu, “I heard that Mo was imprisoned in seclusion by Father after the incident and died of depression, and that she had been dead for two or three days when she was found by the servants. How does mother know the exact hour of her death-“

King Yu suddenly silenced his voice, his eyes becoming deep and unfathomable. He thought of the only possibility: that Mo actually died at the hands of his mother ……

Qiong Gu only as did not hear, then said: “The empress dowager sleeps and eats, but also found a master to divination, fortune telling is also very bad. The empress dowager wanted to send the first queen out of the palace, but the imperial master of her temperament, people and learning are quite satisfied, and ultimately set her position in the palace. On the night of the wedding, the Empress Dowager was sick and didn’t show up, but actually drank a lot of wine, and when she was drunk, she kept cursing Mo, and talking to His Third Highness upside down ……”

“Third Highness …… You mean, my third brother who died early?” King Yu was surprised, “Mother always remembers him ……”

Qiong Gu reddened her eyes and sighed: “That is the Empress Dowager’s biggest heartache. Mo is the main culprit for the untimely death of His Third Highness. Imagine the reincarnation of her son’s murderer marrying another son of hers and giving birth to a grandson who looks like him, how can she swallow this?”

“The talk of reincarnation is vain, I don’t believe in it.” King Yu shook his head.

“But the Empress Dowager believes! The slave servant also believes.” Qiong Gu said, “And slave girl knows, the empress dowager just look at too …… that face, will think of the first empress, think of Mo, think of early death of the third highness, for her every moment is torment!”

Beside the couch, the empress dowager held the emperor’s hand and said pleadingly, ”Son, mother didn’t force anything. I just hope to wait a few more years, when the second prince grows up, you can compare and see what the situation is. If before then, his mother’s family is devastated by the conviction, then he really has nothing to look forward to. The same son, the feeling that the heart of the hand is all flesh, don’t you understand?”

Emperor Jinglong let her hold his hand and remained silent.

The Empress Dowager said in near despair, “I didn’t just choose you to be the Seon in the first place because you were older and more suitable!”

This off-the-cuff remark, with the unspoken subtext, pierced the emperor’s heart like a sharp arrow.

Not only because you are older and more suitable – but also because I favored you between the two brothers. So I have had to suffer the pain and guilt of the “heart of my hand” and the hidden resentment and dissatisfaction of your brother towards me. Now, in return, can’t you think a little more highly of your youngest son?

The emperor’s face was slightly green, and then turned bloodless and waxy white. He first squeezed the empress dowager’s hand with great force and cackled, then quickly loosened it and withdrew it like a fire.

For a moment, he glanced at King Yu, who was talking to Qiong Gu, with an unspeakable gaze. There seemed to be some kind of deep pain hidden in that gaze, but it also seemed to be just the indifference of a fait accompli.

He replied in a flat tone, “My son has no way to repay his mother’s kindness, and it is only right that he should heed her advice.”

“Then what should be done about the many impeachments against the Wei family?” The Empress Dowager asked.

The emperor’s clenched teeth suddenly loosened, seemingly smiling a little, “Naturally, all dismissed.”

“And how should I reply to my subject’s query?” The Empress Dowager asked again.

“Isn’t that something that Mother has taught her son because she has taught him?” The Emperor said, “‘I have only such a relative, and the matter need not be mentioned again.'”

The Empress Dowager smiled in relief. She lovingly patted the emperor’s hand: ”Mother did not love you in vain. Right now, your aunt is very sick and really can’t withstand the stimulation, when her condition improves a little, the Empress Dowager will personally go and admonish her and her husband, so that the Wei family will restrain themselves more and not make things difficult for you again.”

The emperor got up, arched his hand and said, “My son won’t bother Mother Empress to rest more, all is well with Mother Empress, my son excuses himself.”

King Yu finished learning about the old story from Auntie Qiong, and when he saw that the Emperor had excused himself, he thought about it and also performed the ritual of excusing himself.

Out of Ci Ning Palace, he took big steps to catch up with the emperor, narrowly measuring the other side’s calm and somber face: “Imperial brother, in order for mother to speak to you in her own words, she even intentionally put me aside. At this moment, I should be the one who should be wearing this face, how come it’s the other way around?”

The Emperor stopped his steps and turned his head to look at King Yu.

King Yu raised an eyebrow uncertainly, his gaze meeting it without flinching.

The emperor scrutinized for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand and flicked off a bit of flitter on King Yu’s shoulder. “The flitter is annoying, but it also shows that spring has arrived.” He said.

“That’s not true, the All Souls Festival is over, and imperial brother has aged another year.” King Yu replied.

The emperor did not count with him, but instead smiled faintly, flicked off the fingertips of the willow floss: “This thing looks white as snow, but it is too thin to be touched ……If you make it into a ping pong by the water, it would be better to make it into a wadding stained mud. Go where it should go!”

Twisted into a ball of willow flakes fell to the ground, quickly mixed with the grass leaves and soil made a place, but also just a common seed.

King Yu looked thoughtfully at the ball of willow and snorted, “The more everything you have, the more endearing and pretentious you are.”