Walking at the front of the entire Ning Wang Mansion's convoy was Ma Sanbao, who was ordered to come and welcome Shen Yuyao.
The convoy had been traveling for nearly seven days. Ma Sanbao looked towards the south and stopped his horse.
The entire convoy stopped along with him.
We are still seventy or eighty miles away from Kyoto, but the sky is gradually getting dark.
Ma Sanbao frowned and looked at the sky again.
"Your Majesty." Ma Sanbao arrived outside Shen Yuyao's carriage and reported, "The convoy was delayed today. We are still seventy or eighty miles from here to Kyoto, but there are no government inns ahead. I have come to ask Your Majesty, should the entire convoy return to Kyoto overnight? Or should we find an inn in the nearest town to rest first?"
"Let's take a break." Shen Yuyao said softly, "We'll set off early tomorrow morning."
"yes."
It was a midsummer day, and although traveling at night was cooler than during the day, Shen Yuyao did not seem to be in a hurry to return to Kyoto.
This time, the entire Ning Wang Mansion moved to Kyoto, although it did not bring much baggage.
But with more than one hundred family members of Prince Ning's Mansion and several hundred palace guards, the entire convoy really looked quite large.
It is actually not easy to find a suitable inn.
Ma Sanbao flipped through the map several times before leading the convoy to a small town.
There was only one inn in the town. Ma Sanbao arranged for the masters of Prince Ning's Mansion to stay in the inn, while the other servants and guards found an open space near the inn and set up a simple camp.
After this arrangement, everyone finally settled down before dark.
Along the way, she received various reports from the East Factory and the Black Dragon Guard, so Shen Yuyao knew everything about the affairs in Kyoto, no matter how big or small.
However, the contents of these letters were basically not much different from what Xia Xiaoxian had told her in advance.
"At Prince Ning's camp, more and more ministers are surrendering."
"The kings of the Great Xia Dynasty, led by the King of Beilin, all petitioned King Ning to ascend the throne, but he refused."
"A country cannot live without a ruler for even a day. The day after being rejected, the ministers again advised King Ning, submitting a memorial: 'I have heard that our ancestors were keen to abandon evil, promote the divine counsels, and climb the ladder of success. They were at the forefront of the stormy times, their achievements shone brightly on the past, and their virtues surpassed those of the present. I respectfully observe that Your Highness is civilized and valiant, benevolent and filial, a direct descendant of the Taizu, a true long-term ruler of the country, gifted beyond compare, and admired by the people as a ruler of peace...' This second advice was still rejected by King Ning."
"On the third day, the ministers submitted another petition: 'The Emperor is wise and virtuous, and may great fortune prevail. Now that all the enemies have left, may the nation and society be forever at peace. We congratulate Your Highness, the eldest brother, for his talent as a dragon and phoenix, his image as the sun and the sky, and his approval recorded in the books...' Prince Ning also made some excuses, but this time, he didn't explicitly refuse."
"On the fourth day, Prince Ning dressed neatly and rode his warhorse into Kyoto."
"After Prince Ning entered Kyoto, he headed straight for the Imperial Palace. The majestic palace walls stood before him, the mighty soldiers followed behind, and the road was lined with common people and officials prostrating themselves before him."
Shen Yuyao looked at the letters and newspapers leisurely, then threw them to Zi Su and said, "Burn them."
"Your Majesty, there are still many here. Would you like to see them?" Zi Su presented the letter she had just received.
"Well... take a look," Shen Yuyao took the letters and continued reading.
The letter contained many descriptions of the various behaviors of the old ministers in Kyoto. One of the descriptions was so detailed that Shen Yuyao felt as if she was there in person.
That day, when Xia Yu was about to reach the palace, an official suddenly rushed out from the crowd and shouted to Xia Yu, "Your Majesty, please stay. Hanlin Editor Yang Rong has something to report to you."
The guards around Xia Yu were about to stop him, but were stopped by him.
Seeing Yang Rong's determined look, Xia Yu thought something important might be going on, so he waved to the guards and said, "Let him speak."
Yang Rong stood up and said in a loud voice, "Your Highness, will you enter the city first? Will you visit the Xiaoling Mausoleum first?"
Upon hearing this, Xia Yu immediately accepted Yang Rong's advice and went to the tomb of the late emperor to pay homage.
When he finished the worship, the officials behind him actually carried out the dragon chariot. Xia Yu then got on the chariot. Everyone shouted "Long live the emperor" three times. From then on, Xia Yu became the emperor.
Seeing this, Shen Yuyao's expression suddenly became a little unpredictable.
"Miss," Zi Su was still used to calling her Miss.
"Is there something wrong?"
"There are indeed talented people in the court, but unfortunately..." Shen Yuyao sighed softly and asked, "Are there any more?"
"There is another one that I just received." Zi Su replied.
"I don't want to read it anymore," Shen Yuyao held her forehead with her hand, she was a little tired, "Zi Su, read it to me."
"After His Highness ascended the throne, his first decree was to confer the title of Empress upon you," Zi Su said with great joy. "The Emperor said that the ceremony of conferring the title will be held after you arrive in Kyoto."
Shen Yuyao didn't look very happy when she heard this. She asked calmly, "Anything else?"
"The emperor's second decree was to rebuild the burned-down Fengtian Hall." Zi Su continued, "The emperor also engraved his and your jade seals."
Shen Yuyao nodded and said, "The Fengtian Palace built by my father must indeed be rebuilt."
"That's all the letters delivered today," Zi Su was a little surprised why Shen Yuyao didn't show any joy.
"Well, I'm tired too. Zisu, you can go out."
Zi Su responded with a "yes" and then walked out. Shen Yuyao raised her head and looked at Zi Su's departing back. A hint of bitterness suddenly flashed in her eyes.
After entering the palace, how should she persuade Xia Yu?
Although there were many concubines in Xia Yu's harem, no one had any children under Xia Yu's instruction.
By now, Xia Yu had become the emperor, but he still had only three sons.
From then on, the issue of offspring became a national affair, which was originally a family affair of Prince Ning's Mansion.
Of course, Xia Yu couldn't continue to be so willful, but Shen Yuyao had no confidence in how to persuade him to give up the promise he had made many years ago.
The night gradually deepened.
A bright moon is in the sky, accompanied by a few stars from afar.
Although Shen Yuyao felt tired, she couldn't fall asleep.
She stood up and stood by the window, looking towards the backyard of the inn.
As the night passed, Shen Yuyao became even more sleepless.
There was a bamboo forest in the backyard of the inn. Under the bright moon, a man and a woman were standing opposite each other.
Shen Yuyao looked carefully and found that the man was Ma Sanbao and the woman was her beloved Xia Xiaoxian!
The two stood facing each other, as if talking about something.
Some of it feels like saying goodbye.
Shen Yuyao didn't know why, but this guess came to her mind.
Ever since she adopted Ma Sanbao, she has loved this child very much.
But she never realized that Ma Sanbao and Xia Xiaoxian were so close.
She suddenly wanted to know what the two were talking about.
But no matter how hard Shen Yuyao listened, she couldn't hear all of their conversation.
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