Yun Yanze stood under the high palace wall. He looked at Yun Duqing and Ming Jiuzhu in the distance. The night wind brought their laughter, and even the sound of firecrackers could not cover up their happiness.
The joys and sorrows of the world are always like this
He sat down against the wall, looked up at the fireworks exploding in the sky, his mind going blank.
These brilliant fireworks buried his mother's death, but he didn't even have the courage to see her for the last time.
"Yan Ze, you must study hard and become the best prince."
"You have to be good, then your father will like you."
"Yan Ze, you are all my mother's hope. You must become the crown prince and the most noble man in Dacheng."
"I really hate it, I really hate it..."
The sound of firecrackers had stopped, and when he came to his senses, Yun Duqing had already left. Ming Jiuzhu was holding a palace lantern in her hand, followed by several palace maids and eunuchs.
"County Lady, there seems to be someone over there."
A eunuch spotted him and said, "Let me go over and take a look."
"Don't go." Jiuzhu stopped the eunuch. She looked at the blurry figure at the foot of the wall. On this night of reunion, people who were alone, not disturbing them was a decent and gentle gesture to them: "Let's go, don't disturb anyone."
Watching the girl and the eunuch leave, Yun Yanze stood up, looked up at the fireworks still blooming in the sky, turned around and blended into the night.
In Qianyi Pavilion, Zheng Lanyin held the white silk in her hand, looking at the fireworks flickering outside the window. She was still unwilling in her heart, but the powerful eunuchs didn't care about that. They dragged her and wrapped the white silk around her neck.
She reached out to tear at the white silk in fear, crying and sobbing, without any trace of her former elegance and dignity.
"Lady Zheng," a eunuch said in a sarcastic tone, "Go on your way. If you continue to struggle like this, you will implicate the Fourth Prince."
"Who dares to kill me? I am the biological mother of the Fourth Prince!" Zheng Lanyin seemed to have finally found the confidence: "You lowly dogs and slaves, no one can touch me."
Even though he was called a dog slave, the powerful eunuch was not angry. He and another eunuch used their hands to strangle the white silk. Seeing Zheng Lanyin's struggle becoming weaker and weaker, he sneered and said, "There is something I forgot to tell you just now. Not only has the emperor stripped the fourth prince of all his titles, he will also bring the imperial concubine to worship the ancestors tomorrow and enthrone her as the Empress of the Central Palace!"
Zheng Lanyin opened her eyes wide, struggled desperately for a few times, and took her last breath with her eyes open.
"Even before he died, he still wanted to use the Fourth Prince as a golden ticket to avoid death. With such a grandfather and biological mother, the Fourth Prince is really unlucky." The powerful eunuch tried Zheng Lanyin's breath and said, "If he is dead, take him to report."
"Eunuch, Eunuch." Bai Shao rushed into the room, took out the silver from her pocket, and stuffed it into the hands of the powerful eunuch: "Please be lenient for a moment, and allow me to tidy up my appearance for my master."
The powerful eunuch tossed the silver in his hand twice, and said with a smile: "You are a loyal servant. Go ahead."
"Thank you, eunuchs." Bai Shao bowed to them and then walked towards Zheng Lanyin's body.
The powerful eunuch sneered. What was the difference between the female official in charge, who was once high and mighty, and now being a drowned dog?
Ming Jingzhou and Shen waited outside the Suzaku Gate for a long time before they saw their daughter running towards them in small steps, followed by several eunuchs holding lanterns, walking cautiously and respectfully.
"Be careful, don't fall." Shen reached out to support Jiuzhu, smelling the faint scent of fireworks on her body, and asked her to sit down beside her: "Did you have fun with His Royal Highness Prince Chen?"
Seeing her daughter nod, Shen was not surprised at all. It turned out that Prince Chen had delayed her daughter's departure from the palace.
"Sit down, let's go home." Shen lowered the curtain, blocking the view of the young eunuchs outside.
The wheels rolled over the road, making a rumbling sound. Jiuzhu recalled what happened at the annual banquet and couldn't help asking Ming Jingzhou: "Father, why did the Fourth Prince's maternal grandfather and his mother commit so many serious crimes, and why did so many people plead for the Fourth Prince?"
"They are not pleading for the Fourth Prince, but for their own future." Ming Jingzhou did not lie to his daughter just because she was young: "What do you think of the Fourth Prince?"
Jiuzhu shook her head: "He has a good appearance, knows how to act and behave properly, and is a gentleman, but I don't like him."
"Because you recognized the Zheng family's steward who harmed you?"
"No." Jiuzhu continued to shake his head: "As early as the first time I saw him, I felt that he was a little strange."
Even though she herself didn't know why.
"In this life, you will always meet one or two people you dislike or unforgettable." Shen touched her daughter's head and said, "Don't worry about such trivial matters. If you like someone, get closer to him. If you don't like him, stay away from him. Don't make things difficult for yourself."
Jiuzhu smiled: "My daughter knows."
Sometimes, if you don’t like each other, you can’t force it.
"In the eyes of those adults, the Fourth Prince strictly observes etiquette, has a kind character, and values civil officials. For civil officials, he is the best candidate for the emperor." Ming Jingzhou smiled with an ambiguous tone: "Prince Huai is close to military generals, Prince An and Prince Jing are mediocre, and Prince Chen's personality..."
Jiuju looked up at him.
"The Prince is selfish and cannot be controlled by the civil officials." In his daughter's eyes, Ming Jingzhou changed the word "domineering" into the euphemistic "selfish". He knew what some civil officials were thinking, but he was only loyal to His Majesty. Even if he knew what these people were planning, he had no intention of getting involved.
"So they are not really promoting the Fourth Prince, but because they think... he is suitable?"
"Perhaps the Fourth Prince just wants them to think that he is the most suitable candidate." Ming Jingzhou answered his daughter's question: "As long as people are alive, they will inevitably have selfish desires."
The same goes for him.
Jiuzhu was silent for a moment: "But if the Fourth Prince's true nature is not what they imagined, won't they regret it?"
"Jiuzhu, do you know that there was such an emperor in history. When he was young, he was well-mannered, modest, kind, not interested in women, frugal, and his words and deeds were perfect. However, when he ascended the throne, he began to build large-scale projects, collect beautiful women, and was cruel and inhumane?"
"And then...what happened?"
"The country is lost." Ming Jingzhou saw that his daughter was shocked by what he said: "Past events should not be forgotten, and they can serve as a lesson for the future. What Dacheng needs is a truly benevolent and wise monarch like your majesty, not a madman in disguise."
"Father, do you think the Fourth Prince is such a person?"
"I don't know." Ming Jingzhou smiled: "But I know that my daughter doesn't like him."
Jiuzhu widened her eyes. Does it matter whether she likes it or not?
"What's wrong?" Ming Jingzhou looked at her.
"Nothing, I just feel..." Jiuzhu took a breath: "Is it a bit hasty?"
"No." Ming Jingzhou smiled: "This is what a father should do."
The most important thing is that Your Majesty is young and strong, and it is not yet time to look for an heir.
Jiuzhu rubbed her face. Is this the happiness of being trusted unconditionally by her father?
She opened the curtain of the carriage window. Outside there were night stalls that had not been cleaned up yet. There were children gathered together to play with firecrackers, and there was a lion dancer who was sitting at the stall eating noodles with a lion head in his arms.
Amid the hustle and bustle of life, they enjoyed this quiet New Year's Eve.
A prosperous era is hard-won. Why can some people, because of their own selfish desires, ignore the people who are struggling for their lives?
"Master, Zheng Lanyin is gone."
"Dead? It's better to be dead. She should have died a long time ago."
"Your Majesty visited her before she died."
"Your Majesty is like this, with a clear mind, but he still cares about old feelings. If she hadn't been found out about poisoning the concubine and plotting against the prince, Your Majesty wouldn't have let her die in such an undignified way."
There are many ways to make a woman die suddenly and silently in the palace, but His Majesty personally issued the imperial decree to execute Zheng Lanyin.
Things like imperial edicts are meant to be copied and stored in a database, to be passed down to future generations for hundreds of years.
"She was so stupid that His Majesty, who was concerned about their old relationship, gave her such an embarrassing ending. It would have been fine if Prince Chen had died at that time, but Prince Chen didn't die, which alerted the enemy and made His Majesty increasingly suspicious of the princes. Tell me, is she a waste?"
"Master, what should we do now?"
"Of course I will wait."
"The temptation of the throne is so great that there will always be people who throw themselves at it and lose their minds for it."
"But, when Ming Jiuzhu and Prince Chen get married, Prince Chen will have a better chance of winning."
"marry?"
A sneer.
"It is said that a husband and wife of one mind can cut through metal, but what if this couple becomes a couple of grievances?"
On the first day of the first lunar month in the fourteenth year of Longfeng, Emperor Longfeng and his concubine Su went to the ancestral temple to offer sacrifices and sang sacrificial texts. Then they posted an imperial edict to announce to the world that Su was to be made empress.
Although there were opponents in the previous dynasty, Emperor Longfeng was determined not to change his mind and set the ceremony of establishing the empress on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
The harem, which had been ownerless for fourteen years, finally welcomed the first empress during the Longfeng period.
On the day when the imperial edict enthroning the queen was posted, Jiuzhu was locked in the yard, learning the wedding etiquette from the nanny sent by the Ministry of Rites.
There are strict regulations on where to walk, how many steps to take, what kind of etiquette to perform, and even whether to step with the left foot or the right foot. As the daughter of the Minister of Rites, Jiuzhu studied very hard in order not to bring shame to her father.
"The county princess's manner of greeting is really beautiful." The nanny praised: "You are the fastest and best at learning etiquette among all the princesses."
Jiuzhu didn't quite believe this.
Ever since His Majesty took the Queen to worship their ancestors on the first day of the first lunar month, Jiuzhu has discovered that the attitudes of many people around her have changed drastically.
When going out to play with the young ladies, she was the first to decide what kind of tea to drink and what kind of snacks to eat.
When you go out to buy things, the shopkeepers would like to sell them at a half price or give them away for free.
There were more invitations delivered to their home every day than snowflakes, and almost every invitation stated that her mother should bring her along.
Even the princesses and princesses would affectionately call her "sister" when they saw her, with an enthusiasm that was frightening.
"Miss." Chunfen came in with a visiting card: "A visiting card sent by Princess Roude."
"Princess Roude?" Jiuzhu thought about it carefully: "Is she the princess from her uncle's family who stabbed the fourth prince?"
Chunfen nodded: "It's her."
"What is she doing here?" Jiuzhu flipped through the visiting card and said, "Now the princesses all live in the palace. It's not easy for them to leave the palace once. Why waste her time here with me?"
"Then will you meet her?" Chunfen saw that the young lady had a dull expression on her face and guessed that she might not like the princess very much.
"See you." Jiuzhu sighed, "Since you're here, I can't turn a princess away."
"Miss... don't you like this princess very much?"
"Yes." Jiuzhu nodded and said confidently: "I heard that this princess once made His Highness angry in public."
spring equinox:"……"
Wasn't it Prince Chen who embarrass Princess Roude in public?
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