Chapter 37 Chapter 37 As long as Your Majesty agrees, I will let him go...
Chapter 37 Chapter 37 As long as Your Majesty agrees, I will let him go...
It started snowing again.
When Cheng Yian got off the carriage, Xue Mozi came over with a chill and snorted at her twice. She tightened her cloak and looked towards the door.
The gate of the princess's mansion was closed.
The guard sent by the princess immediately stepped forward and rang the doorbell. The doorman heard a familiar voice and hurriedly opened the door. He saw Rulan holding Cheng Yian's arm in the cold wind. He didn't bother to question him and quickly led him in.
"Young Madam, please come in."
Upon hearing the news, the concierge came over to pay his respects. Seeing Cheng Yian's worried look, he asked, "Is there something urgent, Madam?"
The eldest princess has not woken up yet. If there is any emergency, report it. If there is no emergency, no one dares to disturb the eldest princess's sleep.
Cheng Yian guessed from the steward's expression that the eldest princess should still be resting.
"No hurry, is Your Highness resting?"
"Yes, Your Highness stayed up late listening to music last night and hasn't gotten up yet."
Cheng Yi calmed down and said, "Please allow me to sit in the hall for a while. I will report to His Highness when he wakes up."
The steward agreed on the surface and took her to the side hall to wait, but he did not dare to be careless in his heart.
With Cheng Yian's temperament, he would not easily run to the princess unless something happened. Other things were unimportant. If Cheng Mingyu was involved and he was delayed by him, it would be a sin.
So after settling Cheng Yian down, he quickly told the news to the chief secretary who was in the meeting room, and the chief secretary quickly ordered someone to pass the news to the female official.
Upon hearing the news, the female official quietly glanced into the inner room. The curtains were still and the princess showed no signs of getting up. It was not easy to report it, so she told the chief secretary.
"Please invite the young lady to the backyard first."
This was Cheng Yian's first time to visit the rear hall of the Princess's Mansion. The building had five large bays and a hip roof. The palace was of extremely high specifications, with uniform golden glazed tiles, a magnificent porch, and a gorgeous caisson ceiling in the arches, all of which showed the royal dignity.
A familiar female official was waiting at the door. Cheng Yian nodded to her, and the female official knelt down and walked into the hall.
Passing the tall and magnificent screen, we entered the east side room. This east side room is not an ordinary side room in a mansion. Various palace lanterns are hung above. The room is very large. Several pieces of huanghuali carved window grilles divide the east side room into three small rooms. Next to the grilles, there is a huge antique shelf with various exquisite antiques displayed on it, which shows the luxury.
There are many paintings and calligraphy hung on the walls around, including beautiful court paintings, majestic mountain travel paintings, and landscape paintings with profound artistic conception. It can be seen that the painters are very skilled and superb in their skills, but it is somewhat uncoordinated to have so many paintings of different styles all laid out in one room.
The female official saw her confusion and whispered in her ear, "These are all the calligraphy and paintings of Mr. Cheng in his early years."
Cheng Yian understood that his father was famous for his talent in his early years, and many of his works must have been circulated. Later, when he heard that the eldest princess wanted to buy them for a high price, he stopped writing.
Although Cheng Yian tried his best to cover it up, this female official had served the eldest princess for many years and was already an astute observer. She knew that there must be something fishy about Cheng Yian's behavior and rushed to the inner room in a hurry.
Just at this moment, the princess was also awakened by the noise outside.
He frowned and asked, "Who's outside?"
She had been ill in her early years and had trouble sleeping since then. So as long as she was still asleep, not even a mosquito dared to enter the house.
The female official calmly stepped forward to help her get up from bed, "Your Highness, Miss An An is here."
The princess was stunned and said without hesitation,
"Let her in."
The female official personally opened the curtain and let Cheng Yian enter the inner hall.
The princess's inner chamber was a huge, elaborately carved bed, as big as an ordinary room. To the west was a dressing table, and to the east was a wooden cabinet inlaid with eight treasures. The curtains were drawn, and the princess was leaning on the pillow at the head of the bed, looking at her. Her black hair covered half her body, and her face was tired from waking up in the morning.
"Why did you think of coming to see me so early in the morning?"
Like a kind elder, with both love and anger towards the younger generation.
Probably because she had not yet dressed up, the princess was no different from an ordinary woman. She did not have that alluring ruthlessness, nor that stubborn stubbornness.
A room full of servants served her comfortably. She should have been the most carefree person in the world. However, in her previous life, she became insane due to her father's death and lived a lonely and helpless life.
She didn't deserve to end up like that.
Cheng Yian recalled a myriad of things, tears welled up in his eyes and fell towards her.
"Your Highness!"
The eldest princess was caught off guard and hugged by her, and was obviously stunned.
She had never been held in her life. Her biological mother died early, her father also passed away before she reached adulthood, and her stepmother, the Empress Dowager, did not treat her well. Although she was the only princess of the Jin Dynasty, she grew up in the palace with many bumps and bumps. No one taught her how to behave. She was favored and indulged by her two royal brothers, which led to her developing a willful personality.
Even after she married that prince consort and flattered her to the utmost in bed, she still didn't dare to hug her.
Today, Cheng Yian hugged me like this.
Warmth enveloped the girl's sweet fragrance, lingering all over her, intoxicating. Is this what a hug feels like?
However, the princess was only stunned for a moment, and immediately pulled Cheng Yian out of her arms. Seeing that her face was covered with tears, she asked angrily,
"Who bullied you? Lu Xusheng? Or someone else?"
It seemed as if as long as Cheng Yian gave her a name, she would execute him on the spot.
Cheng Yian shook his head with tears in his eyes, slowly stood up, wiped his tears embarrassedly, "No, I just had a nightmare..."
Just because you had a nightmare, you came to the Princess's Mansion crying and complaining?
The princess never realized in the past that Cheng Yian was so childish.
It was a good thing that the child depended on her. The eldest princess had never raised a child and did not have much experience, but she also found it very interesting.
"Well, then tell me what the nightmare was, and who bullied you in the dream, and I will settle accounts with him!"
Cheng Yian was made to laugh by her, but then he remembered her intention and shook his head with a gloomy face.
"No one bullied me, it's just that the nightmare was related to my father."
The princess paused, and all the teasing emotions on her face disappeared, leaving only a serious look. She glanced at the female official, who immediately led all the servants out of the curtain. The princess then asked Cheng Yian seriously,
"What dream?"
As long as it is related to Cheng Mingyu, even if it is just a dream, it is enough to make the princess cautious.
Cheng Yian felt extremely guilty, but there was nothing she could do. She gritted her teeth and said,
"Did you know that the court has decided that my father will go to Jiangnan to pacify the tyrants at the beginning of the year?"
The princess hadn't been able to hide Cheng Mingyu's affairs, so she nodded without hesitation, "Yes."
Cheng Yian said anxiously, "Coincidentally, the night before this matter was decided, I had a strange dream. I dreamed that my father became ill due to overwork in Jiangnan and was left with lung disease. He died a year after returning to Beijing."
The princess' heart sank. "Really?"
At this moment, she felt like her ancestor, thinking that this dream was extremely ominous and a bad omen.
There was no need for Cheng Yian to say anything else. She immediately called the female official to help her wash and dress.
Cheng Yian watched as five or six people were busy surrounding the eldest princess and he stood aside, unable to help.
The eldest princess looked stern and said nothing.
The palace ladies were all very well-behaved. Even though they were so busy, they didn't make any noise at all.
As long as Cheng Mingyu is not involved, the Princess's Mansion will be extremely strict.
Cheng Yian was standing not far behind the eldest princess, and through the bronze mirror he saw the sadness and suppressed viciousness in her eyes.
I guess the princess must have looked like this after her father died in her previous life.
A quarter of an hour later, the princess was dressed and told the court lady, "Ask Chen Changshi to go to the palace gate and report that I have something important to ask His Majesty to see me."
After saying this, he stroked his long sleeves and said to Cheng Yian,
"Wait for my news at home."
Cheng Yian saw her out the door. When the princess reached the steps, she suddenly turned her head and looked at her intently.
"An An, thank you for telling me. Otherwise, if something really happened to your father, I'm afraid I would go crazy."
Cheng Yian was stunned.
Wasn't she crazy in her previous life?
Afterwards, the princess went to Donghua Gate without delay.
The eldest princess and others were too idle to ask to see the emperor, but every time they came to see the emperor, it was always because of Cheng Mingyu.
Therefore, Eunuch Wu, the manager of Fengtian Palace, was afraid when he saw her.
But he did not dare to be perfunctory and immediately sent someone to report to the emperor.
In the past, the emperor would not be willing to see the eldest princess and would have refused if possible.
Over the years, the eldest princess has been obsessed with Cheng Mingyu and has caused a lot of trouble for the emperor. For example, some time ago, a court official had an intense argument with Cheng Mingyu in court. He pointed at Cheng Mingyu's nose and said something, spitting on Cheng Mingyu. Later, he was dragged out of the mansion by the eldest princess's men and whipped a hundred times in public.
The emperor had to work very hard to appease the man.
Things like this are not uncommon.
So the emperor got a headache whenever he saw the eldest princess.
Today was different. Lu Xusheng in the court concentrated his firepower on Cheng Mingyu and insisted on removing this candidate. The emperor was annoyed by their noise and when he heard that the eldest princess was coming, he immediately found an excuse to leave and return to Lu's study.
The eldest princess knelt in the middle of Lu's study in her gorgeous attire, her skirt covering the entire floor. She stood upright, her expression calm.
The emperor was frightened by her posture, and walked around her and stood in front of the table, glancing at her from the side.
"What are you doing?"
The princess bowed solemnly to him with her eyes lowered.
"Your Majesty, I have something to ask you."
The emperor stared at her suspiciously for a moment, then sat down behind the desk and asked, "What's the matter?"
The princess looked up at him first, and seeing that he looked unhappy, she asked,
"What's wrong with my brother?"
The emperor never told the eldest princess anything about Cheng Mingyu. He just made up a lie and then asked her what was the matter.
The princess then explained her purpose, "I heard that Your Majesty ordered Cheng Mingyu to go south to pacify the tyrants. I think this is inappropriate. Please revoke your order."
The emperor almost jumped up from his throne.
"What are you mixing with this?"
The princess analyzed calmly.
"Your Majesty, Cheng Mingyu seems to be an excellent candidate, but in fact he is not. He is old and loves to do everything to perfection. If he goes there, he may be exhausted and suffer from illness. If something happens to him, imagine what will happen to the court, Your Majesty?"
Once Cheng Mingyu died, the evil spirits in the court could no longer be suppressed. It was possible that the noble families would stir up trouble again. The Wang family would take advantage of the situation, and a fierce battle would break out between him and the prince.
But the emperor was not so easily fooled. After all, this was only a possibility, and the likelihood was extremely small.
What's more, Cheng Mingyu looks to be only in his early thirties and is better maintained than him, the emperor. What could go wrong?
To put it bluntly, the princess just loves men and doesn't want to see Cheng Mingyu suffer.
"According to what you said, I will order Cheng Mingyu to retire today and let him live out his days early?"
The princess thought about it seriously and replied, "It's not impossible."
The emperor was so angry that he died.
Why do all of them seem to be picking on Cheng Mingyu?
There came the undisciplined Lu Xusheng, and now there came an even crazier princess.
The emperor sat on the dragon couch with a majestic horse and a golden sword, and said with a fierce face, "Go back. I will not allow you to interfere in the affairs of the court."
The princess was not surprised by the emperor's reaction and said calmly,
"Your Majesty, leave Cheng Mingyu in the capital to take charge of the court, and I will go south to survey the land for him."
The eldest princess's first thought was that she accompany Cheng Mingyu, but she knew that Cheng Mingyu would not agree, so she could only settle for the next best thing.
The emperor thought she was joking.
"You go? Even if you are the eldest princess of the dynasty and have some prestige, it is not so easy to deal with those powerful families. After all, you are raised in the deep palace and lack the means and experience to deal with them."
The princess had already found out the details before she came, and immediately offered her own proposal.
"I will go with Lu Xusheng. I will use my status as a royal princess to appease those powerful people and make it easier for Lu Xusheng to do his job."
The emperor fell silent suddenly.
Of course he knew that it would be more beneficial for him if Lu Xusheng went to Jiangnan, but he was more worried that Lu Xusheng was young and hot-tempered, and would take an undue approach and anger the powerful, which would backfire. However, if the princess was in charge, with one person playing the good cop and the other the bad cop, the situation would be different.
For the first time, the emperor found the proposal somewhat attractive.
Seeing that the emperor showed signs of wavering, the princess immediately took out her trump card.
"As long as my brother agrees not to let Cheng Mingyu go south, from now on, I will never bother him again."
A strong wind blew in through the window lattices of Lu's study, lifting the long skirts of the eldest princess's clothes. She looked like Guanyin kneeling on a lotus platform, her brows showing no expression of either sadness or joy, and she stood still.
The emperor looked at her in shock and asked in disbelief,
"Ming Lan...are you serious?"
You have to know that the Censorate received at least ten, if not a hundred, memorials impeaching the eldest princess every day. In order to avoid the eldest princess, Cheng Mingyu avoided going to places he could avoid and did not attend banquets he could avoid. Even he, the emperor, had no idea how many messes he had cleaned up for her.
And now, she's saying let go.
Even the emperor couldn't believe it.
Thirty years. Once the obsession of thirty years has penetrated deeply into the bone marrow, trying to pull it out is like scraping the skin and pulling out the bones.
When the princess said this, she looked dazed, with a faint smile on her face, as if she was talking in her sleep.
"Yes, a gentleman's promise is as good as his bond. Although I am not a gentleman, I still keep my word. As long as you agree to my request, I will let him go..."
She knew that if she didn't offer attractive enough conditions, her brother would not agree.
The emperor looked at her lonely expression and remained silent for a long time.
Thinking about how she had been thinking about that man for thirty years but couldn't get him, and now she had to let him go for him, the emperor felt distressed and heartbroken.
Does Cheng Mingyu know about the chaos she is facing alone?
What does it matter if you know? They are not the same kind of people after all.
However, Ming Lan was finally willing to let it go, and the emperor was pleased to see it happen.
"Go back, I will consider your proposal carefully."
The emperor watched the princess walk away, and stared at the magnificent government office area in front of Fengtian Hall. The eunuchs rushed to the emperor's face and reminded him carefully, "Your Majesty, there is still a quarrel in Wenhua Hall. Liu Zhangyin asks you to go over."
The emperor then nodded, took the eunuch's hand and slowly went to the Wenhua Palace.
When he reached the main hall, he found that the ministers who had been arguing fiercely just now were now silent.
The emperor looked at Liu Xi who was sitting beside the dragon throne and asked,
"What's going on?"
Liu Xi pointed at Cheng Mingyu and Lu Xusheng standing in the hall and said with a wry smile,
"Your Majesty, when you were not here, Duke Lu publicly announced that he would issue a military warrant and would not return to the capital until Jiangnan was pacified."
The emperor was shocked.
He looked at Lu Xusheng.
This general, who was only 21 years old, had an upright posture and deep eyes. Looking at him was like looking at a monument standing on the border. He would never disappoint you at any time.
He now knew that not only the princess but also Lu Xusheng was serious about it.
The emperor did not have the ability to govern the world, nor was he a monarch with great talent and strategy, but he was very broad-minded and able to accommodate others.
Lu Xusheng had never let him down before, and he wouldn't let him down this time either...
"Mr. Cheng, what do you think?"
This utterance is the beginning of a new situation.
Cheng Mingyu has been trying to meet Lu Xusheng these past two days, but Lu Xusheng has been paying no attention to him.
There is no other way but to tell the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, please allow me to have a conversation with General Lu in his study."
The emperor took the two to Lu's study.
He ignored Lu Xusheng, but still asked someone to give Cheng Mingyu a seat.
Cheng Mingyu did not sit down, but asked Lu Xusheng, "Shenzhi, why do you insist on stopping me from going south?"
Lu Xusheng couldn't fool him by saying that his daughter had a dream or something like that. Such words would not shake Cheng Mingyu.
Lu Xusheng said firmly, "Father-in-law, I am not against you. I will stop anyone from going south, because I am the only one who can handle this matter. If you still have doubts, I might as well tell you directly. I am worried that if you go, you will not be able to completely win the hearts of the people."
Cheng Mingyu thought deeply and said, "Be careful. If you pull one hair out, the whole body will be affected. Jiangnan is a tax-heavy area, so it is better to be prudent."
Lu Xusheng didn't care. "Unless you have selfish motives, you should let me go. The people of Jiangnan have been oppressed by the powerful families for so many years. The court should completely eliminate this hidden danger. I have a foolproof plan. Please rest assured, father-in-law."
Cheng Mingyu was worried about Lu Xusheng's foolproof plan, "Be careful, don't underestimate the enemy."
The emperor glared at him angrily.
"The Jiangnan nobles have been ruling for hundreds of years. Even if you are a fierce tiger, they can still hold you down and make you unable to move."
Lu Xusheng smiled at him and said, "Can it be more difficult than Silver Mountain? Your Majesty, I won't issue a military warrant if I'm not sure."
The emperor was suddenly speechless.
There is a reason why Lu Xusheng wanted to issue a military warrant.
How did he die in his previous life? He was shot through the chest by an arrow from an archer hiding on the hillside, and died on the spot on horseback.
The excruciating pain of the arrow piercing his chest was so despairing that even someone as strong as Lu Xusheng could not get over it. Therefore, his first task after his rebirth was to find the murderer.
Lu Xusheng had been through life and death for many years, and his martial arts skills had already reached the pinnacle.
But the opponent was able to successfully ambush him on the hillside he was passing by, which shows how incredible his skills were.
Such a person cannot appear out of thin air, there must be some traces behind him.
So after his rebirth, he immediately and secretly arranged for someone to look for the assassin.
On the one hand, he led his men northward to Northern Qi. This archer might be from the army of King Nankang of Northern Qi. Ever since he killed King Nankang, his descendants had been waiting for an opportunity to take revenge.
It could also have come from the Crown Prince and the Empress Dowager. After all, the Crown Prince was confronting the Emperor in the capital at that time, while he had just defeated Northern Qi and put down the rebellion on the border, and was preparing to lead his troops back to the capital. His hundreds of thousands of border troops were the Emperor's greatest reliance. Once he died, the situation in the capital would be unpredictable.
So the latter possibility is also quite possible.
After months of secret investigations, spies were sent everywhere and finally got some news this morning.
The night before yesterday, his secret agent intercepted a secret report sent by the Empress Dowager to Tongzhou. After two days of investigation, he finally cracked the code in the secret report. There were only four words on it: "Archers march south."
Others would be completely confused when seeing this message, but Lu Xusheng had experiences from his past life, so he naturally figured out the connection quickly.
This must be a magical weapon that will not be used unless it is absolutely necessary. In other words, this is the Queen Mother and the Crown Prince's trump card.
So the archer back then really was from the Queen Mother's party.
Why go south at this time?
It could only be directed at Cheng Mingyu.
Lu Xusheng didn't know whether there was such a thing in his previous life, but he was sure that his marriage to Cheng Yian and Prince Ning's marriage to Zheng Ying had indirectly brought Cheng Mingyu into the emperor's service. Cheng Mingyu had no intention of usurping the throne, but he could not resist the empress dowager's precautions.
By using the powerful families to get rid of Cheng Mingyu and sparking a fight among the noble families, the Wang family rose again and became the Queen Mother's powerful right-hand man. It was a good deal with huge profits.
Therefore, there is no doubt that he must go south to eliminate this hidden danger first, and then deal with the Queen Mother's party.
Cheng Mingyu looked at Lu Xusheng deeply.
The more Lu Xusheng tried to stop him, the more suspicious things seemed.
Cheng Mingyu was somewhat confident about this son-in-law. It was impossible for Lu Xusheng to really fight for his feelings. Either Lu Xusheng got some important information and knew that this trip was dangerous, so he wanted to take the responsibility for him. Otherwise, Lu Xusheng had another important purpose for this trip.
If it is the former, Cheng Mingyu must not let others suffer for him. If it is the latter, why not be honest with him and let him help him.
Therefore, Cheng Mingyu also said,
"Your Majesty, I can also issue a military warrant."
The emperor looked at the father-in-law and son-in-law who were "at loggerheads" and waved his hands.
"You two make your own decisions. Whoever convinces me will go."
Lu Xusheng knew that he had passed the test of being the emperor.
As for Cheng Mingyu, I'm afraid he will have to be handed over to Cheng Yian.