0p0 Chapter 662: Xiao 7 Farewell
Chapter 662: Xiao 7 Farewell
After so many years, the young Emperor Shenwu first experienced the bright and vivid colors of the world in the small peach garden on the border. The sweet words flowed into his ears. For the first time, he looked at Lan Qingwu, who was sitting side by side with him on the branch of the peach tree, so seriously. He saw that the little girl had clear eyes and a bright look, and her eyelashes were like crow feathers. She lingered freely in the beautiful scenery around her. There was still some childish baby fat on her delicate face, but one could already glimpse a hint of her beauty when she grew up.
The young man Yun Heng stared at Lan Qingwu for a long time, causing her to ask with a puzzled look on her face, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
The young man Yun Heng slowly shook his head: "No! I just suddenly found that this world is still very beautiful!"
You look great too!
Lan Qingwu smiled brightly in response.
Outside the Qianzheng Palace bedroom, the prince could no longer stay there. He took a step to leave, but paused again. After a moment, he made up his mind and turned back into the bedroom.
Emperor Shenwu also woke up from his memories. He looked at the prince who knelt silently on the ground as soon as he came in, and said in a low voice: "What's the matter?"
The prince raised his head and said, "Father, when are you going to send Mother off?"
The Shenwu Emperor paused as he stroked the Ice Jade Coffin: "Wait a little longer!"
"Father!"
The Crown Prince knelt slowly before the Emperor Shenwu and said in a deep voice, "Father, please let Queen Mother go! She will always be waiting for you under that big peach tree. Even now, the Ice Jade Coffin has been in your bedroom. You are suffering, and Queen Mother cannot rest in peace! People come and go here, how much longer can you keep Queen Mother? The funeral ceremony is almost a hundred days old. This is Queen Mother's last wish. Please grant it, Father!"
"Rest in peace?"
Emperor Shenwu said softly, "People here value burial in peace. How can I know what the rules are like there?"
He didn't want to let Lan Qingwu leave. This world was so boring. His eyes could only regain some color when they touched Lan Qingwu. "If your mother leaves, you and I won't be able to see each other whenever we want! If your mother leaves..."
The prince's eyes were filled with grief. "I know, I know, Father. You can't bear to leave Mother, and I don't want to either... But Mother wants you to live well. She doesn't want you to suffer so much every day and night. If Mother knew in the afterlife that you endure endless grief every day and night, and your black hair has turned all white, would she be at peace? Father, let Mother go, and let you go too! I will always be with you!"
The prince's request, word by word, made Emperor Shenwu close his eyes, tears dripping onto the ice jade coffin. He didn't want to, he really didn't want to...
"Maybe it's really time for me to let go! Ruo Ruo, thank you for staying with me for so many days. Remember to wait there... wait for me!"
After much deliberation, the Crown Prince decided to arrange for Nie Wushuang to accompany the Seventh Prince to the border. He summoned Nie Wushuang and said, "Originally, my mother wanted to introduce you to the Seventh Princess, but the Seventh Prince has been frail since childhood, and you have single-handedly taken care of his health. I really don't feel comfortable handing my brother over to someone else. Doctor Nie, for Xiaoqi and... Aunt Ruping, are you willing to go to the border?"
Nie Wushuang immediately replied, "I am willing to go! I have three disciples, each with their own strengths. I can introduce Wu Zhiyan to the Seventh Princess. The other two disciples can be assigned by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Okay! I'll make the arrangements, and you can leave together. Doctor Nie, if you feel uncomfortable speaking to Aunt Ruping, I can issue an order..."
Nie Wushuang shook his head: "Your Highness, not all feelings need to be expressed. Miss Ruping and I are fine as we are now. Miss Ruping's past experiences don't require her to be with any man! Let's just leave it like this!"
The prince seemed to understand, but in his heart, if he really liked someone, just like his father, he would definitely keep her by his side. How could just occasional companionship be enough?
"Doctor Nie is a man of compassion and kindness. He has saved countless lives. I have always admired him!"
Nie Wushuang bowed respectfully, "I can only heal illnesses and patients, but the Empress can heal hearts! Over the years, countless lives have been saved because of the Empress. I am ashamed of myself!"
"Heal the heart! The human heart is the hardest to heal, and the hardest to save!"
The 100th day of the commemoration of the Nation Mother had already arrived in early spring. Emperor Shenwu once again led all the civil and military officials, royal relatives, and concubines to the imperial mausoleum to pay tribute to Empress Zhaoyi.
After the ceremony was completed one by one, Emperor Shenwu walked out of the mausoleum. He stood on the highest jade steps. His knife-like face had hardly changed except that he was a little thinner. Nie Wushuang knew that this was because he drank the ice crystal dew, and the emperor's glaring white hair was particularly conspicuous.
The Seventh Prince, who was in the procession, took this opportunity to step forward and kneel. "Father, I have something to report. The hundred-day mourning period for our mother has passed, but my grief remains undiminished. Please allow me to leave the imperial city and travel to the borderland where she grew up. I wish to mourn her there and visit the place where she grew up! I beg your permission, Father!"
Emperor Shenwu looked at his kneeling youngest son. Silence fell upon the audience. Hesitation and reluctance continued to spread in his heart. However, the Seventh Prince had already looked up at Emperor Shenwu pleadingly: "Father... let your son go!"
"Okay... I agree! But how can I feel at ease when my son goes out alone? You must take good care of yourself and go slowly!"
No one except the Crown Prince and the Seventh Princess knew the entanglement and pain in the heart of the Shenwu Emperor. The Seventh Prince's eyes were red. He looked at the Shenwu Emperor steadily, with a barely perceptible apology hidden in the depths of his eyes. "After your son leaves, your Majesty, please take care of your health. Although it is spring, it is still very cold. Your Majesty, please wear good clothes and eat well. Your son will pray every day for your health, longevity, and a long life!"
"Xiao Qi bids farewell to Father!"
The Seventh Prince kowtowed respectfully, once, twice, three times...
Emperor Shenwu felt extremely uncomfortable. He looked at his youngest son with Lan Qingwu, but his eyes were actually on a team in the distance that was preparing to set off. In the middle of the team was a special, low-key carriage, and inside the carriage was Lan Qingwu's ice jade coffin.
"Father, my son is gone!
Emperor Shenwu said slowly: "Remember...walk slowly!"
Weak, when you arrive under the big peach tree you've been longing for, it will be the most glorious time of the year! The spring sun is warm, peach blossoms are in bloom, butterflies are fluttering, and the scenery is beautiful everywhere. There, there are flowers, trees, birds, your beloved freedom... and all our memories. You just... go ahead!
The Emperor watched the Seventh Prince astride his steed. He remained by the carriage as the procession slowly advanced, gradually fading from the Emperor's sight. The Crown Prince silently watched as the Seventh Princess tried to hold back her tears, but they were already streaming down her face.
"Your mother loves freedom the most! Yet I brought her to this palace where there is no freedom at all!"
After returning to Qianzheng Hall, Emperor Shenwu had lost most of his energy and spirit. The Crown Prince was really worried, and even the Seventh Princess followed Emperor Shenwu back to Qianzheng Hall.
Emperor Shenwu was silent for a moment and then said this.
The Crown Prince served tea to the Emperor Shenwu: "Father, but the Queen Mother is always happier when you are by her side! In recent years, she has even taken you out of the palace. The Queen Mother is very happy, and I think she has no regrets."
The Seventh Princess said, "Father, Queen Mother once told me that she was very lucky because you have given her everything she wanted! If possible, Queen Mother would definitely hope that you take good care of yourself!"
Emperor Shenwu has heard countless words of comfort during these days.
“I wonder if there will be any storms on the road?”
At this time, Li Xiang walked in with a bow, his expression somewhat flustered, and presented a letter to the Emperor Shenwu with both hands, "Your Majesty, please read this!"
Emperor Shenwu's expression changed slightly when he saw the name on the letter.
He quickly opened the letter, and the seventh prince's handwriting, as strong as bamboo, caught the eyes of Emperor Shenwu and the prince.
"Father, Crown Prince, Yueyue, by the time you read this letter, Xiaoqi will have already taken Mother to the border. These days, Xiaoqi often lies awake at night, constantly recalling Mother's voice, appearance, and earnest concern when she was still alive. Xiaoqi's grief is unbearable, and there is nothing else to do. Therefore, Xiaoqi requests to mourn for Mother at her grave for three years. Please grant this, Father! Even though Mother is thousands of miles away, Father no longer needs to worry about her loneliness; your son will be by her side, always protecting her."
"I have already removed the shrines of my adoptive mother and brother, and will now live next to my mother. I believe my mother will be happy too! However, I have two mothers and a brother to look after, so I can no longer stay by my father's side to fulfill my filial duty. I ask you to take care of yourself. I, your unfilial son, will pray every day for your good health and a long life!"
Xiaoqi burst into tears
The letter in Emperor Shenwu's hand fell onto the imperial desk. He said with a sad look, "This child... is so stubborn that he doesn't even plan to return to the imperial city..."
The prince was stunned for a moment, then suddenly turned around and walked out: "Son, go and bring him back!"
"return!"
The Crown Prince paused, and the Emperor Shenwu closed his eyes. "Let him go! This child's temperament is exactly like your mother's. After all, he blames me because of your mother's affairs. If I don't fulfill his wish, I'm afraid Xiaoqi will never be at peace for the rest of his life!"
The prince stood still after hearing this, "Xiao Qi..."
He didn't know that this was just the beginning of his loneliness. His younger brother escorted their mother to the border. In the near future, his father and sister would leave him one by one. In the end, he would be the only one left in the entire imperial city!
Just as Lan Qingwu worried, the emperor is not an ordinary person and cannot have the seven emotions and six desires of ordinary people. Although the emperor has power over the world, he also has to bear heavy pressure that ordinary people cannot bear. They cannot have the seven emotions and six desires like ordinary people. They must be on guard against villains everywhere, accept false feelings, and have a pair of eyes that are keen to see through the good and evil, right and wrong, and finally have to endure loneliness, so they are called lonely people.
Xiao Qi and Lan Qingwu were gone, and the Emperor Shenwu seemed to have returned to his normal life, attending court during the day and sleeping in his bedroom at night. But only he knew that the decay and emptiness in his heart were getting worse day by day.
The Crown Prince tried his best to accompany the Shenwu Emperor, who seemed to have lost his soul. Finally, one day, the Shenwu Emperor set his sights on the Crown Prince: "How can you spend your free time in my palace? You are the Crown Prince. The national mourning period for your mother is three years, which is twenty-seven months. If we use days instead of months, twenty-seven days of mourning will suffice for you! I'm afraid the concubines in the Dongde Palace are waiting impatiently! Come back!"
The prince couldn't help but frown slightly: "Father, your son is still only the crown prince!"
The emperor would use the sun to replace the moon, and the prince really wasn't in the mood.
Emperor Shenwu shook his head. "What's the difference? I entrust the Dasheng Dynasty to you. Its prosperity, success, and continuation all depend on you! There's nothing more I can teach you! There's only one thing left: an emperor cannot indulge in his own will. Whether you're feeling down or thinking about your mother, the Dasheng Dynasty must come first! Do you understand?"
The prince's expression faltered, a hint of bitterness revealed in his phoenix eyes, but he still said, "Son, I understand."
The children in the Dongde Palace are still only one imperial grandson and one imperial granddaughter.
How could he not know what a qualified emperor should do?
"There's one more thing, my son. I want to warn you—don't be like your father! Even if you have a woman you want to favor exclusively in the future, don't give her your exclusive favor! This is the best way to protect her! You've read 'Secrets of the Imperial Family' and you should know that the Snow Queen didn't have a good ending. She was plotted against during her pregnancy, and it was the emperor at the time who used symbiosis to share her life with the Snow Queen in order to survive! Throughout history, the few women in the harem who were favored by the emperor didn't have a good ending. Look at the Snow Queen... and then look at your mother..."
"My son, the emperor may seem to rule the world, high and mighty, and wealthy, but he cannot control the hearts of the people! He cannot see through the wickedness of the human heart! He cannot do whatever he wants. You do not know the true intentions of others, whether they are good or evil, malicious or kind, nor do you know how long the endless conspiracies and schemes can protect the ones you love! Unless you are not in the vortex of this pinnacle of power, you will always be surrounded by these things! Butterflies carrying poison powder, insects that can enter the body by following the scent of the Jiuzhi flower, and malicious assassinations by those around you that are hard to guard against..."
"Father...are you talking about Mother? She's endured so much!"
Emperor Shenwu closed his eyes. "It is your father who has wronged your mother! He has caused her to suffer so much! I have just realized that no matter how powerful an emperor is, he cannot change what has happened, let alone bring back your mother. So, my son—do not follow the same path as me! You can favor the three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines, but you cannot favor one exclusively! You must not have a special attachment to one person, otherwise you will end up like your father today!"
Watching his beloved leave, the pain from bones to skin, from blood to tendons, turned the Emperor Shenwu into a walking corpse! He didn't want the prince to follow his old path.
"Don't give your heart away. You must always remember: if you want to favor one person exclusively, you will put her at the center of public controversy and the target of public criticism. My son, if that ever happens, remember to protect her life, and yours, no matter what. Otherwise, someone with ulterior motives will exploit her..."
You will end up like the Emperor Shenwu!
"Don't follow my old path!
The prince naturally understood what his father meant, but...
"Don't worry, Father. I have a harem and won't favor any one woman exclusively! Besides, I listen to your teachings and will balance the various harems!"
The father and son talked for a long time. Just as the Crown Prince was about to leave, a young eunuch trotted into the palace gate and said, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, Prince An got drunk in the Jade Pavilion today and was caught by Your Highness, Prince Kang. They immediately got into a fight, and in the middle of it, Your Highness, Prince Kang, collapsed!"