Chapter 648: Peace is so good
When Ma Wan turned her head, she saw a figure running towards her quickly and hugging her: "Girl!"
Ma Wan was a little stunned: "Lan Ying..."
"It's the maid! It's the maid!" Lan Ying responded repeatedly, and stood up to hold her girl's arms. The overly thin and thin arms under her hands made Lan Ying's eyes red with pain: "How come the girl is so thin!"
How much suffering did her daughter endure after she left? Lan Ying couldn't imagine it at all. Thinking of the child and looking at the girl's dazed look, she didn't dare to ask any questions. She only felt hatred towards the Rong Palace and blamed herself: "It's all my fault. I couldn't stay with the girl and take good care of her! The girl...please punish me!"
Lan Ying's eyes were filled with tears, and she was about to kneel down to apologize. Ma Wan finally came to her senses and hurriedly pulled her back. Her slightly dull eyes fell on Lan Ying's face, and she asked, "What's wrong with your face?"
Those were the scars left by Lan Ying from repeatedly hurting herself with scorpion grass. Although most of them were not dark in color, they were crisscrossed and almost covered her entire face.
Hearing this concern, Lan Ying burst into tears immediately, and said with a smile and tears: "It's okay, the girl will give me a few bottles of Danshen sheep fat cream to use tomorrow, and it will get better slowly!"
Ma Wan nodded: "Okay, I'll find it for you."
There are still things to find, there are still people who need her, so she still has reason to stay in this world.
"Girl, I will take you home." Lan Ying lifted up Ma Wan's arm and held back her tears: "I will cook your favorite food for you and make sure you get all the weight back!"
Her tone was as if she had given herself a military order, vowing to accomplish something extremely important.
Ma Wan couldn't help but smile a little, her eyes finally turned red, and she nodded gently to Lan Ying.
Not far away, Wu Chunbai, who brought Lan Ying here, looked at the master and servant who were approaching with a smile.
Ma Wan also saw Wu Chunbai. They were of similar age and had both been noble ladies from imperial families in the capital in the past, so naturally they had met before.
But Ma Wan still had to think hard for a long time before she suddenly remembered who this girl was.
Lan Ying whispered beside her: "Girl, it was the girl from the Wu family who took me to Luoyang..."
Ma Wan then stopped and bowed seriously to Wu Chunbai.
Wu Chunbai also returned the gift to Ma Wan, and the spring breeze blew across their dresses. Then Wu Chunbai accompanied Ma Wan and left the yamen.
The crime of Prince Rong's Mansion is unforgivable, but Ma Wan was meritorious in exposing Li Yin, so she will not be implicated. She will be rewarded according to her merit when the case is formally concluded later.
Wu Chunbai told Ma Wan that she could return to Ma Xiangfu to live first.
Lan Ying was afraid that her daughter would be reminded of the past, so she suggested that they could rent a small courtyard outside.
Ma Wan suppressed the tears in her eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "Let's go home."
She wants to go home.
Even though she knew that her grandfather had once "abandoned" her as his granddaughter, she had voluntarily asked for her to marry into the Rong Palace. How could she ask her grandfather to betray the Dao in his heart for her? She knew her grandfather's ambition very well. When it came to choosing between Dao and her, her grandfather chose the former. When it came to choosing between Dao and his life, he still chose the former...
Her grandfather was no longer alive, but in order to protect the emperor and to repay his kindness, she sacrificed her life without hesitation.
To Ma Wan, such a grandfather is not hateful but respectable.
She respected her grandfather's choice and would not completely deny his love for her just because he abandoned her later.
Her grandfather is gone, but her grandmother is still alive, and she has a younger brother...they are her closest family members.
Yes, she still has family around, how could she commit suicide so easily? She finally escaped death, and the people who should die are already dead, so she should live a good life.
Ma Wan wiped away her tears, got on the carriage prepared by Wu Chunbai, and returned home with Lan Ying.
The former Prime Minister Ma's Mansion is now empty, and the Ma family is on their way back to Beijing from Luoyang to escort Ma Xingzhou's coffin.
The assassination of Emperor Shengce that day was indeed done by Li Yin. Although the Emperor Shengce's life was barely saved under the planning of Wei Shuyi and others, the danger at that time was by no means false, and it was also true that Ma Xingzhou was seriously injured while protecting the emperor.
Ma Xingzhou died in Luoyang. He had been in a coma for many days. When he died, he barely woke up for a moment and vaguely asked, "Is Your Majesty out of danger?" Wei Shuyi answered seriously, "Your Majesty is fine." Then the old prime minister passed away with his eyes closed.
Ma Xingzhou was the first prime minister of Dasheng who truly came from a humble family. His supreme loyalty to Emperor Shengce was more like repaying the kindness of his benefactor.
At the moment when watching Ma Xingzhou pass away, Wei Shuyi was thinking, even if the Holy Emperor had thousands of faults, she chose to employ the poor and kill the gentry. This achievement was indeed a great favor to countless children from poor families, and would also leave an extraordinary and lasting impact on future generations.
Speaking of the Holy Ce Emperor, Master Chu declared in the Imperial Ancestral Temple that the Empress was still alive, and the "Letter to Punish Li Yin's Hundred Crimes" also mentioned this. There was no shortage of discussion in the capital, and many people were wondering - is the Empress still alive? If so, where is this emperor who has experienced so many ups and downs now?
The royal family members and officials in the capital were also very curious about this matter, but strangely, no one mentioned it or asked about it openly.
Although the Crown Princess took the initiative to live in the Eastern Palace, no one dared to ask about the whereabouts of the Emperor.
Officials in the capital gradually came to their senses after this change and began to think about the future. At the same time, the news of this sudden change was gradually spreading to various provinces and prefectures.
Wherever the news spread, everyone was shocked.
Everywhere had been prepared to listen to the news of the new emperor's official ascension to the throne, but they never imagined that the anticipated coronation ceremony would become a place for the trial of traitors... and the crown princess, who in the eyes of many people had already died in the Northern Di, suddenly replaced Prince Rong Li Yin and became the new master of the imperial city.
The situation was like a sudden rain, changing the color of the sky and the earth in an instant.
Under the control of the people in the capital and with the cooperation of Li Suining's secret agents in various places, the first news that shocked everyone in various regions was Li Yin's treason. Only later did the Crown Princess enter the capital to attack Li Yin and take charge of the overall situation.
The order in which the two pieces of news were spread silently blurred the time when the Crown Princess led her troops into the capital, avoiding unnecessary doubts and troubles, and allowing this sudden and unmitigated change to be within the scope of reason and morality.
Those forces loyal to Li Yin will certainly try to find out the truth of the specific process, but that is meaningless.
Li Yin's defeat was an irreparable one. Rather than thinking about the details of the defeat, they should make plans for their future as soon as possible.
The complete truth is only known by a few people, while the information received by ordinary people is often slower, more vague and fragmentary.
Among the paths and ridges of the fields, the common people heard that the Crown Princess had won a victory in the battle and had returned from the Northern Di.
The Northern Di surrendered, and the princess returned safely. Naturally, this was a matter of great joy for the whole country. The people were all grateful to the princess who bravely defeated the enemy and regarded her as a savior.
However, some people soon became afraid. The princess had returned, and there was no place for two tigers in one mountain. I heard that Prince Rong was going to ascend the throne? Or had he already ascended the throne? In short, Prince Rong was going to be the emperor. If the princess also wanted to be the emperor, there would have to be a war! When the people expressed this concern, other people were immediately terrified. Some of them were like frightened birds, crying helplessly: "...It's rare to have such good rain this year!"
Rain determines the harvest of crops.
They carefully loosened the soil and sowed seeds, and watched the crops grow day by day. Just then did they begin to feel a trembling hope in their hearts. But if there was another war, they would once again have to watch the war horses trample the fields. Even if they were lucky enough to save the crops, after the hard-earned harvest, they would have to use all the money as military pay.
How many people would starve to death? They were illiterate and cared more about the few acres of crops in front of them than who would win or lose and who would become the emperor. This was an important matter that could determine their survival.
As fear spread among the crowd, a scholar from the village came back from outside, holding a few pieces of paper in his hands, walking hurriedly and saying something loudly.
The crowd didn't listen carefully, and they all rushed forward, anxiously asking: "But there will be another war!"
"It's done!" The scholar panted, but his eyes were bright: "It's over!"
The villagers were confused. What did they mean by "the fighting is over?" They hadn't heard any news, so how could the fighting be over?
"In this war, because there were benevolent people who led the troops and had a benevolent heart, the chaos was only in the capital!" A layer of tears appeared in the scholar's bright eyes: "The Crown Princess won a great victory... The world will be truly peaceful!"
The surroundings suddenly became noisy.
The scholar excitedly spoke of the various news he had heard, including the fearless act of the scholars in the capital who spontaneously launched an attack on Li Yin. Then he unfolded the copied letter of a hundred crimes and began to read it aloud, regardless of how noisy the villagers were.
After confirming the authenticity of the news, the people came to their senses and felt at ease. Only then did they feel like cursing Li Yin.
Only then did people realize that many of the terrible sufferings and wars were caused by the sinner Li Yin.
Before this, these devastated poor people did not even have the chance to know the truth.
"...It was also said above that the former crown prince was originally a woman?" someone asked amidst the scolding against Li Yin.
"Yes." The scholar said with a firm expression: "The words of the Grand Master cannot be wrong!"
Amidst everyone's sighs and lamentations, a group of children came running back from the fields, all covered in mud. The leading child had lost one of his shoes. His mother grabbed the child and was about to beat him up, but was stopped by everyone.
Beating children is a normal thing, and no one would necessarily ask about it on normal days. But today, everyone was in a very good mood and started to persuade the child at once.
"The world will be at peace! Tiezhu's mother, please spare Tiezhu this time!"
"Yeah, there's no need to fight anymore, why are you still fighting him?"
"It's just a pair of shoes, what are you afraid of? Bring a pair of Tiezhu's shoes to my house and I'll make him an extra pair!"
"Yes, yes, stop fighting..."
The woman was surrounded and persuaded like this. She blushed and felt helpless for a moment, but she couldn't help but smile and let go of the child.
Tiezhu, who had escaped the disaster, didn't react too much. He tilted his head and listened to the adults' words curiously. He couldn't help thinking - it's so nice to be in peace! Everyone started to laugh and joke, and A Niang stopped hitting people!
Even when it was raining, A'niang would just say "Oh" in frustration when she thought about the clothes that were not collected at home, then quickly took his hand and ran home with a smile.
A villager forcibly pulled the scholar over and asked him to go to his home to take shelter from the rain so that he could talk in detail.
Tiezhu looked at A Niang's happy smile in the rain and thought again - peace is good! I really hope the world will always be peaceful!
The scene here is a microcosm of countless ordinary people.
For most ordinary people, compared with the disputes over imperial power, the news that "no more wars and the world is at peace" is the most shocking good news.
This feeling is like having a sharp blade hanging over their heads all the time, and suddenly a fairy waves his hand, causing the blade to turn into countless dust particles, which float down and then turn into wind and rain, bringing peace of mind to their tormented hearts.
And that immortal is no longer an illusory god, but a real person. He is the Crown Princess, the scholars and generals who have dedicated their lives to this cause, and the hundreds of thousands of wise men who have opened the way to peace for the people.
As the news spread farther and farther, accompanied by this Qingming rain, it completely washed away the haze of the people and restored the world to its true nature of Qingming.
The rain and thunder cannot drown out the surging voices of the people.
The sound of people's excitement was perhaps worst in Huainan Road.
Rather than caring about the outcome of the struggle for imperial power that attracted widespread attention, most officials and civilians in Huainan Road were more concerned about the "triumphal return of the Crown Princess" itself.
The Crown Princess in the eyes of the world was their Governor and Envoy, the one who pacified Jiangdu, the one who wiped out the Japanese rebellion, and the one who gave them shelter in this chaotic world and saved them from the suffering of war.
If you listen carefully to the noise in various places on Huainan Road, you can hear both crying and laughing. The laughter comes from people who have cried before, and the crying comes from those who have previously restrained themselves and remained calm.
Some people also sneaked to temples and Taoist temples to ask if accidentally crying for the living and accidentally burning a lot of incense and paper would usually cause harm to the living, and if there was any way to solve the problem and make up for it.
However, when I got there, I found that there were quite a few people who shared the same belief... I thought burning paper for the princess was a very rare thing, but it turns out that everyone did it secretly! The temples in Huainan Road were crowded with people recently, and the rain could not stop people's eagerness.
There has been a lot of rain in Jiangdu recently. Yao Ran listened to the news coming back from outside, stood under the corridor, and watched the dancing raindrops. He felt that he had never seen such cheerful raindrops in his life. Every one of them danced on people's hearts and washed away all their fears and uneasiness.
Going west, in Guangzhou City, the rain has stopped and the sky is clear, the clouds have parted and the sun is visible.
The governor Shao Shantong also went to the temple in person. Of course, he did not cry or burn paper in advance. He just prayed for blessings. This trip was specifically to fulfill a vow.
After coming out of the temple, Shao Shantong and his wife boarded the carriage together. He sighed after realizing it belatedly, "I was wondering why the Loyal and Brave Marquis would change so suddenly. So this is what happened..."
The governor's wife teased, "Now you finally know that you have misunderstood the Marquis, right? How foolish of you! We are family, and you, an outsider, have suspected the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery!"
Good night everyone~
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