After saying that, Zhu Jiayu smiled again: "Besides, he went to the palace and doesn't have time to care about me right now."
Song Jiangmei: ...
So that's how it is. She thought Zhu Jiayu was really that audacious.
However, when it came to entering the palace, Song Jiangmei recalled a recent amusing incident and smiled, saying, "I never expected that the one on the dragon throne now is actually the son-in-law of the Wei family. Recently, I went to admire flowers with several young ladies in the capital, and they all sighed with regret, wondering why they hadn't realized back then that the Wei family would have such good fortune."
"If it weren't for your engagement to Wei Qinglou, I'm afraid Wei Qinglou..."
She smiled, her lips pursed, everything understood without words.
Zhu Jiayu, however, was not so relaxed: "Former relatives and friends, now ruler and subject. In the eyes of outsiders, the Wei family is now naturally thriving and prosperous, but little do they know that the Wei family has already reached the pinnacle. If they were to take another step forward, I'm afraid the person on the dragon throne would not be able to sit comfortably."
Song Jiangmei's eyes dimmed, and she was about to comfort her when Zhu Jiayu acted as if nothing had happened: "But it doesn't matter. After all, the royal family and the Wei family still have some kinship ties. Besides, I've heard of Prince Ke; he's a kind and generous person."
"Drink today, for tomorrow we may die. Let's not talk about that now. We'll just have to work on holding up the sky when it falls down. Let's drink."
She raised her glass, clinked it against Song Jiangmei's, then tilted her head back and downed the drink in one gulp. Finally, she asked, "How is your stepsister?"
After returning to Yujing, Song Jiangmei first used a scheme to make her stepfather fall ill, then forced her mother to retire to the Buddhist temple, spending her days in solitude and forbidden from interfering in the household affairs. From then on, she held absolute power in the Nie family. She also had a stepsister, the legitimate daughter of the Nie family. However, a few days ago, Zhu Jiayu heard that this Miss Nie had already married, and she suspected that Song Jiangmei might have been involved.
Mentioning her stepsister, a hint of mockery flashed in Song Jiangmei's eyes: "I gave her a generous dowry and married her off to Quzhao. I originally didn't intend to harm her. With Nie dead, the Song family is no better off alive than dead. For me, this is avenging my deceased father. But my dear stepsister actually had someone try to drug me, knock me unconscious, and sell me to a brothel."
"Later, I found out about her and her affair was exposed. She then hooked up with a young master named Qu Zhaolai, promising him half of the Nie family's assets if he could deal with me. I decided to go all the way and went to his parents to marry her off to them. That way, she wouldn't be left to cause trouble in Yujing."
Zhu Jiayu paused for a moment, then filled her glass with wine: "Let's not talk about this anymore. Congratulations, you've gotten your revenge."
Song Jiangmei raised her cup with both hands: "I also wish you and Lord Wei a harmonious and long-lasting marriage."
...
A faint crescent moon hung in the sky, and everything became distant and indifferent.
The shadows of the mountains and rivers are faint, and the sounds of the wind and snow are faint.
Only in the palace were the lights bright, the music clear and distant, and the sleeves of dancers swirling in the air.
Today, the Turkic envoys and princes presented New Year's gifts to the new emperor of Daye. The new emperor hosted a banquet, with his ministers in attendance.
At this moment, someone rode from the palace to the Ministry of Justice prison in a carriage. Behind him followed a young eunuch who was bowing and holding a red lacquered tray, with a whisk tucked into his arm.
The jailers, who had already received the order, waited at the door and opened the prison gate. Then, someone went into the prison and lit the candles on both sides of the corridor.
The usually dimly lit prison was now unusually bright.
Wearing the official robes of a second-rank civil official, Wei Qinglou slowly walked to the innermost cell and stood there.
The middle-aged man in the cell stared blankly at the shadow on the ground for a moment, then slowly raised his head and looked at the young civil official in front of him.
After a long pause, his face twitched slightly, and he smirked, revealing a smile that was both mocking and wistful. He spoke in a hoarse voice, "I've been wondering who will be there to see me off on my final journey."
Wei Qinglou also looked at him, his expression solemn, and said, "Now that you've seen me, it's me."
Chang Beiqiu nodded: "It was expected. If your second brother's life is exchanged for this old man's life, then my life has not been a loss."
He sat cross-legged, his white clothes filthy, yet his back remained ramrod straight, as if he were not in a prison, but in a quaint teahouse or bookstore.
Wei Qinglou was not angered by his words.
Firstly, his second brother was still alive and well, so Chang Beiqiu's wishful thinking had failed; secondly, he had long understood that Chang Beiqiu's power was now crumbling, so he could only resort to empty words.
He shouldn't bother arguing with a dying man.
However, he still said, "I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. My second brother infiltrated the enemy camp alone and took the enemy general's head. The morale of the border troops has greatly increased, and the battle has been won."
"Chang Beiqiu, don't you understand? You deserve to die, not because of my second brother, but because of the three thousand innocent soldiers who died unjustly, and because of those poor abducted children and girls."
Chang Beiqiu's face was cold and stern: "Is that so? Da Ye has suffered from the aristocratic families for too long. Because of you scions of powerful families, you have firmly grasped the power of the Da Ye court, causing countless scholars from poor families to have no way to serve their country?"
"So you wanted to use the lives of three thousand soldiers to exchange for my second brother's crime of treason, thereby wiping out our Zhenguo Duke's Mansion in one fell swoop, and using this to strike at the aristocratic families, so as to pave the way for the poor and noble families?" Wei Qinglou looked at him indifferently, "Unfortunately, your grand ambitions will ultimately not be realized."
He stepped back two paces to the side and said to the eunuch behind him, "Send Lord Chang on his way."
He looked at Chang Beiqiu again: "I have already advised the Emperor to abolish the marriage system between Daye and the Turks, but if we want to force the Turks to accept it, we need to borrow your life. I suppose Lord Chang has always prided himself on serving the country and its people, and now that he is about to die, he should do one good thing for Daye."
Taking the poisoned wine from the trembling hands of the eunuch, Chang Beiqiu smiled and nodded: "The Turks will certainly not agree, but if the important ministers of Da Ye die at their hands under mysterious circumstances, Da Ye will have an excuse to raise an army. Now it is the dead of winter, the grasslands are barren and the horses are thin, and General Wei has also decisively defeated the Qi army. If the two countries go to war, Da Ye will have all the advantages of timing, location, and popular support, and will surely win a great victory. To avoid war between the two countries, they will have no choice but to reluctantly agree to cancel the intermarriage system. At that time, Da Ye can say that everything was a misunderstanding, and the two countries will still make peace, only no longer intermarrying..."
"Wei Qinglou, you are truly cunning! But I lost to you not because I am inferior to you, but because I am inferior to Heaven."
Seeing that Chang Beiqiu had finished drinking the poisoned wine, Wei Qinglou said nothing more and turned away indifferently.
As he walked out, the candles behind him gradually went out, and a desolate song began to rise:
"I do not wish to ascend the Golden Terrace, but only to drink from the Yellow Flower Cup. In my drunken stupor, I forget the world, and all fame and fortune of the past and present are but dust. Cease your haste, and linger on, for I have long since severed my worldly ties in my prime, and will return to the Five Sacred Mountains and the Three Mountains."
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