"Here he comes, Crown Prince." Seeing Empress Yin leading Blind Liu towards them, the inner palace attendant hurried in to report, "Crown Prince, the Empress has brought someone with her. It must be Prime Minister Nan. He's here, he's really here!"
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager stood up in a flash, then turned to Emperor Yongping and shouted, "Father, the Southern Minister is here! Jincheng really invited the Southern Minister here!"
Blind Liu stepped into the palace and paused for a moment after hearing what the prince said. The queen then turned around, bent her knees slightly, and made a gesture to invite him in.
"Father, Prime Minister Nan is here. He is right next to me now. Please open your eyes and take a look!" The prince's voice rose a little, and he was uncontrollably excited in his heart.
Blind Liu's face remained expressionless. When his weathered eyes fell on Emperor Yongping's face, as if sensing his presence, Emperor Yongping's eyelids twitched, and the crown prince shouted again in delight, "Father!"
However, Emperor Yongping was no longer able to open his eyes, and his life was slipping away bit by bit...
The queen turned her head away, a tear sliding down the corner of her eye.
"Prime Minister..." Emperor Yongping never issued an edict to remove Nanyangzi from the position of Prime Minister, so the prince still called him Prime Minister. He stood up and lifted his robe, and was about to kneel down to pay his respects to Blind Liu when a strong force hit him and pinned his knees down.
Blind Liu threw a pill to him and said coldly, "Just put it in your mouth. It will melt in your mouth."
"Thank you, Prime Minister!" The prince stuffed the pill into Emperor Yongping's mouth with his own hands. In a short while, a trace of color appeared on Emperor Yongping's face. The prince waved his hand, and all the palace servants in the hall retreated.
"Your Majesty..." The Queen stepped forward and called softly a few times.
Emperor Yongping's eyelids moved and he slowly opened his eyes. When he moved his gaze towards where Blind Liu was standing, he vaguely saw a thin old man, and his eyes gradually focused.
Inside the bedroom, it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
The Queen and the Crown Prince seemed to have held their breath, both of them looking at their noses and their hearts, not looking at Emperor Yongping and Blind Liu who were looking at each other.
"Yuanzi." Emperor Yongping knew that he didn't have much time left, so he was the first to break the silence. When he called out Yuanzi, Blind Liu's expression changed slightly. His deep, cold eyes became even colder because of this old name.
Blind Liu's original surname was Nan, his given name was Zhou, and his courtesy name was Yuan. Nanyangzi was the name given to him by his master. Qingyuan Palace was originally named after Qing, the capital of Qing State, and his courtesy name.
This shows how much Emperor Yongping valued him back then!
"Help me sit up." Emperor Yongping raised his arm, and the Crown Prince and the Queen hurried forward and helped Emperor Yongping to half lie and half lean on the dragon couch.
"Yuanzi, I'm sorry to you and your whole family. I was wrong, I was wrong!" Emperor Yongping said this in one breath, his breathing becoming heavier. The prince's eyes were red, and his hand was stroking his back.
Before the grand banquet, there had never been a precedent in all dynasties for an emperor to admit his mistakes to his subjects. The prince was extremely shocked and the queen was in tears.
It's not that she hasn't felt wronged and resentful in these years. When she heard the emperor admit his mistakes to Xiangnan, she felt as if she had suffered the same thing and tears could no longer flow down her face uncontrollably.
"My son, call, call Wang Jin!" As soon as Emperor Yongping finished speaking, Wang Jin, the chief eunuch of the imperial household, who was holding the brocade box high in his hands, shouted repeatedly, "This old servant is here, this old servant is here!"
Wang Jin stepped forward tremblingly, raised the brocade box in his hand high above his head, and presented it to Blind Liu. "Prime Minister Nan, this is the imperial edict written by His Majesty the Emperor himself. I gave it to this old servant six months ago. Please read it yourself, Prime Minister Nan."
The edict of repentance was tied with a bright yellow ribbon. In it, Emperor Yongping expounded on his merits and faults throughout his life, mainly talking about his faults. He affirmed Nan Xiang's achievements in the years, formally rehabilitated Nan Xiang and cleared his grievances in the edict, and reviewed himself to Nan Xiang and the people of the world. Every word was so heartbreaking and powerful that it could be felt through the paper!
Blind Liu's hands were shaking uncontrollably when he was halfway through reading. When he had finished reading the whole book, he cried out, "Your Majesty!" and dropped to his knees. The tears that had accumulated for decades suddenly burst out like a dam breaking.
Loyalty to the emperor is something that is deeply ingrained in his bones and has long been integrated into his blood. Like the soul of a soldier, it is a spirit and a belief that is deeply engraved in his heart and will never be erased!
Years of resentment and injustice collapsed after he read the edict of apology. He knelt a few steps and bowed to Emperor Yongping on the dragon couch, crying bitterly, "Your Majesty, I am also wrong, I am also wrong!"
Tears also flowed from Emperor Yongping's eyes. There was sobbing inside and outside the palace, but no one dared to speak loudly, including Blind Liu.
In the months since Emperor Yongping became gravely ill, Prince Yong and other high-ranking officials had sought an audience, only to be dismissed by Wang Jin, who could mimic his voice. If word of the Emperor's serious illness spread, Prince Yong would have stormed the palace with his men before Huo Jincheng could even leave to fetch Blind Liu.
Emperor Yongping was already on his last legs, and even the gods could not save him. Before his death, he asked the crown prince to worship Blind Liu as his prime minister, and also instructed the crown prince to announce his confession of guilt to all civil and military officials and the people of the world!
In the autumn of the 39th year of Yongping's reign, on September 1st, at 5:15 am, Emperor Yongping died in Qingyuan Palace at the age of 67.
The funeral bell did not ring in the palace that day, and the morning court proceeded as usual. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince still summoned all the ministers in the side hall.
Prince Yong was absent that day.
Since the emperor stopped attending court, Prince Yong only attended the morning court every few days, but he would find an excuse to go to the palace every few days. As soon as he entered the palace, his mother would come to ask to see the emperor.
The fifth day after Emperor Yongping's death was the Empress's sixtieth birthday. Under the pretext of bringing good luck to the Emperor, the Empress held a grand birthday banquet in the palace. Prince Yong and important officials of the court all came to the palace with their families to attend the banquet.
After the stringed and bamboo music started in the palace, Wei Dong led 3,000 imperial guards to surround Prince Yong's mansion at lightning speed, and captured all of his followers and imprisoned them all in prison.
That night, Prince Yong and his mother offended the Queen with their words. His mother was banished to the cold palace, and Prince Yong was taken back to the palace and imprisoned.
The next day, many officials in the court were either dismissed from their posts or thrown into prison.
Ten days later, Yancheng Prefecture Governor Yang Minzhi and the Inspector led troops to besiege Prince Rui's Palace, and princes from various prefectures and counties were imprisoned in the palace one after another.
At this point, the dust settled and the death knell of the palace was sounded.
From beginning to end, Blind Liu never appeared in front of anyone. He used elixirs to preserve the body of Emperor Yongping. He stayed by Emperor Yongping's side most of the time, recounting every detail of the past years to his body.
In accordance with Emperor Yongping's last words, his edict of repentance was made public. When Wang Jin finished reading it, most of the civil and military officials who came to pay their respects knew what was going on, especially Prince Pingnan and the Grand Tutor. The prince's recent series of vigorous and decisive actions were quite like those of a southern prime minister.
Huo Jincheng never revealed a word to the Grand Tutor, so neither the Grand Tutor nor the Prince of Pingnan knew that the Southern Prime Minister had arrived in the capital and had met with Emperor Yongping for the last time.
The night before the crown prince officially ascended the throne, he knelt on one knee before Blind Liu and said, "Father, must we leave?"
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