eternal sleep
In the three hundred years of the Great Wei Dynasty, among all women, only Li Muyun was buried with military honors.
When Yang Fujin received Yuan Cheng's memorial requesting permission, he refused, saying, "There has never been such a precedent in previous dynasties!"
At that time, Consort Dong was also in the Imperial Study. Instead of accompanying the Emperor, she stood in front of Yang Fujin, her slender fingers gently touching the military letter sent from the Northwest.
The handwriting was messy, with many ink smudges. The mistakes were not rewritten on new paper, but were simply erased with large strokes.
The more hasty his writing, the more pain he felt in his heart; just stroking those words made her heart ache.
Who could have imagined that the farewell in Pingdu would be a final farewell?
Yang Fujin rejected Yuan Cheng's request and only allowed Li Muyun to be buried with the rites due to a princess.
Having finally defeated this formidable rival of many years, he was naturally eager to erase all traces of her in the Northwest. How could he possibly grant her such glory and allow her to be celebrated in future generations?
Qingying gave a bitter smile and mocked Yang Fujin: "There was no precedent for eunuchs interfering in politics in previous dynasties, but there is one in our dynasty?"
“You…” Yang Fujin was surprised by Dong Qingying’s hostility. She had never been on such good terms with Li Muyun before, and now she was interfering in court affairs for her sake.
Dong Qingying sat back down next to the emperor and said, "My little aunt died protecting the Great Wei dynasty. She will surely be remembered in history. If Your Majesty grants her a military funeral, future generations will remember Your Majesty's kindness."
The emperor was somewhat persuaded. After all, he was a member of the Li family. When he was young, he learned from his ancestors' family precepts that the emperors of the Li family were famous for their civil and military achievements and left a strong mark on history books. So, from time to time, the emperor also wanted to make some achievements.
"Then grant Aunt a military burial!" the Emperor instructed Yang Fujin to begin writing.
Yang Fujin glanced at Dong Qingying, who sat quietly and expressionlessly beside the emperor, and after a long while, he said, "As you command!"
The imperial edict was sent to the Northwest, but Yuan Cheng didn't even glance at it. He didn't care whether Pingdu approved it or not, nor did her soldiers!
He went to Hongheling, which was burned by fire, and found nothing related to her except for charred corpses scattered everywhere.
The spear that he personally supervised and that the master craftsman forged is no longer there.
He gave it to her as a gift for her twelfth birthday, and personally engraved her name, Yun Ting, on the spear.
He staggered and rummaged through the charred corpses. A soldier came to help him, but he pushed him away violently. His heart ached so much that he couldn't breathe, and he finally couldn't hold back and fainted where she had left.
When he woke up again, he was already in the camp. He had woken up crying from a dream in which she was dead.
Such a proud person ended up isolated and helpless, dying in battle on the frontier. She was alone until her death.
Her lieutenants knelt on the ground, their eyes red with grief ever since they learned of her death. Upon seeing Yuan Cheng, they felt as if they had found their pillar of support, and they wept as they recounted Mu Yun's grievances.
"Your Highness could have retreated south to the Central Plains, or requested reinforcements from the two neighboring states, but the southerners refused to open the city gates, saying that the Emperor had ordered that Your Highness not retreat south, otherwise you would be punished for treason!"
"Without soldiers or provisions, yet Your Highness is expected to defeat the enemy? Lord Yuan, does the Emperor truly want the lives of the Qiang people or the Princess? Before His Highness died... before His Highness died... he had not eaten a single bite of food for three days!"
At this point, the person in the tent could no longer suppress his grief and, like a three-year-old child, burst into tears!
Yuan Cheng remained silent. He stiffly turned his head to look, but the main seat was empty.
He suddenly realized that the woman who once wielded a silver spear and rode a horse with such elegance was truly gone.
When the pain reaches its peak, even tears can't flow. He feels as light as cotton, floating gently in the air, not knowing where he came from or where he's going.
He was so confused that he couldn't even remember who Li Muyun was.
On the day of Li Muyun's funeral, Yuan Cheng carried the coffin.
In terms of status, he was not qualified.
He was a eunuch, and although he held an official position, he was ultimately a servant of the Li family. Moreover, he came from the Muyun Palace.
But no one dared to utter a single word.
Dressed in white, he walked beside her hearse like a lost soul, bidding her farewell on her final journey.
She had two great hobbies during her lifetime: shooting and drinking.
Last night, he personally placed her usual set of armor in the coffin. On the cold, hard armor was an ordinary osmanthus hairpin and a jar of osmanthus wine.
Thousands of soldiers from the Northwest Frontier stood in formation, watching her leave. Not one of them failed to weep, and the cries grew even louder amidst the drumming and music.
Their eyes followed the coffin, tears streaming down their faces. Some of the younger ones couldn't hold back their sobs, and starting with them, the other soldiers couldn't help but wail, their tears soaking their armor.
Yuan Cheng walked numbly step by step until he reached the main street, where tens of thousands of people knelt on both sides of the street, their cries reaching the heavens.
During her lifetime, she never made a big fuss or disturbed the people when she went out. At most, she would lead her own troops and gallop through the streets, coming and going as fast as lightning. Sometimes, when she returned from a victorious battle, she would not allow the people to kneel down to greet her.
Yuan Cheng then said, "You are a princess, it is only right that the people kneel before you."
She still refused: "I'm not dead, why should I kneel before you?"
She finally died.
When Yuan Cheng saw the spontaneously gathered people kneeling on the ground and weeping for her, he finally cried.
Li Muyun, how could you die! How could you die!
People began throwing white lilies onto the ground, some of which landed on her coffin.
In the Northwest, Shandan is a place specifically for expressing grief.
The white flowers were in full bloom, pure and noble, just like her soul.
The hearse passed over the daylily flowers, carrying with it the memories of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the Northwest.
She was not alone in the world after all.
A little girl ran out from the crowd, presumably following the instructions of an adult, and placed a wild lily beside her coffin.
Yuan Cheng watched as she ran to the woman, who held her in one arm, tears streaming down her face. In her arms was a quiet little baby, its big, round eyes looking around.
He glanced at the baby and suddenly remembered when he first met Li Muyun, she was also an infant in swaddling clothes.
Consort De gave birth to her when she was forty years old. She thought that a child born at such an age would be weak and frail, but to her surprise, the child's cries were so loud that Consort De could not sleep for three days.
"Mu Yun" was the name she had chosen long ago. Because her cries were as loud as thunder, her elder brother, the crown prince, gave her the courtesy name "Yun Ting".
She was placed in the Xihua Palace and cared for by a wet nurse. Because the Qingyun Palace was short-staffed, the old eunuch brought her over and told her that this would be her master from now on.
He was only seven years old, yet he dared to peek over. The baby who had been crying loudly immediately stopped and looked at the person in front of her who was looking her over.
The old eunuch slapped him on the head and cursed, "You're not allowed to look up without His Highness's permission!"
He felt a little wronged; he was just a baby, how could he speak?
She enjoyed immense favor, and after her elder brother ascended the throne, she received even greater honors than before.
But that's only what outsiders can see. Only Yuan Cheng knows how miserable she is for being in this golden cage.
Unlike other princesses who loved to dress up, she practiced martial arts every day, breaking several sandbags in the process. Yuan Cheng knew she was venting her frustrations.
The emperor's favor was easily broken. When the Western Rong tribes caused trouble on the border, her own brother wanted to send her away for a political marriage.
She would rather die than accept it.
The night before the marriage procession set off, Yuan Cheng told her, "When you get to the Northwest, go find General Lu, he will help you."
"But I don't know him!" she said, somewhat bewildered. Why would Lu Zhi help her?
Yuan Cheng reassured her, "I have my own way. You'll know when we get to Hulao Pass."
Although she was apprehensive, she still nodded: "I'll listen to you!"
Before leaving, she specially handed a brocade box to Yuan Cheng and said with a smile, "I broke A Ying's hairpin last time, and it took me a lot of effort to fix it. Could you return it to her for me?"
Her smile was somewhat forced, and she was about to cry, but she held it back: "You're not allowed to come and see her off, it's not like she's not coming back! Also, tell Aying that her future husband needs to be thoroughly vetted by me before he can marry her."
Little did she know that only two years after she left, sixteen-year-old Dong Qingying was sent crying into the deep palace she had been trying to escape, burying her most innocent past.
Mu Yun's hearse did not go to Pingdu, nor was she buried in the royal cemetery. Perhaps because she had faced life and death several times on the battlefield, she had foreseen that this day would come. At a young age, she made arrangements for her affairs, wanting to be buried at the foot of Fengyin Mountain after her death.
On Fengyin Mountain, the ashes of Lu Zhi and his wife were scattered.
They were her master and mistress, and also her benefactors.
From then on, there was a princess's tomb at the foot of Fengyin Mountain in the northwest, where Princess Li Muyun of the Great Wei Dynasty was buried.
She was born in the sixteenth year of the Yankang era and died in the eighth year of the Anshou era. She had no children and spent her life of twenty-six years pacifying the border regions, governing the northwest, and eliminating foreign threats. As a woman, she won a lifetime of glory.
Yuan Cheng knew that she was approachable, so in addition to sending troops to guard her mausoleum, he allowed people to visit her.
Since her death, the people and soldiers of the Northwest have come here every year to pay tribute to this princess.
No sooner had Muyun been buried than the people arranged by Yang Fujin arrived, with Yang Nancheng, the lieutenant of the Left Army of the Shence Army, taking over the affairs in the Northwest.
Yang Nancheng's adopted son, Yang Fujin, was also a eunuch. When he saw Yuan Cheng, he merely gave him a perfunctory bow and then tried to drive him away.
"The chaos in the northwest has subsided. Your Excellency should hurry back to Pingdu. We don't need you here anymore."
Yuan Cheng laughed: "Oh, so it's Lord Yang who's here to take over the Northwest. I thought it was the Prince of Runan who was here to oversee things. Now that his son-in-law and daughter are in Yongye, Lord Yang must be discussing various matters with the Prince of Runan to prevent internal strife from breaking out in the Northwest after external threats have been eliminated!"
He put one hand behind his back, said no more, and strode away.
Yuan Cheng had no intention of staying in the Northwest, and there was no point in staying any longer. After leaving with Lingyu, Xiao Nu asked him, "I heard that the son-in-law of the Prince of Runan has been staying in Yongye. Is he trying to seize power from Eunuch Yang?"
Yuan Cheng glanced at him and said, "It's certain that he'll seize power, but there's a ulterior motive behind leaving his daughter and son-in-law in Yongye."
He closed his eyes to rest and said no more.
It's not the right time to return to Heito; at least we should finish the urgent matters at hand first. However—
He suddenly opened his eyes and instructed Lingyu, "You need to go back to the palace and do something for me. This matter must not be overlooked!"
Yuan Cheng rarely showed a stern expression, so Ling Yu dared not be careless: "Please speak, sir!"
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