Chapter 104
Chapter 104
The emperor closed his eyes in the middle of the night last night.
The illness came like a mountain falling. Ever since the last time he visited the former crown prince in the dungeon, the emperor has been ill. The root causes of the illness that had been buried in his bones have emerged one after another. His body is no longer as good as before. He was already bedridden. Unexpectedly, the former crown prince wrote a blood letter while being escorted, and then hit his head against a rock and died.
Everyone says that family affection is as thin as paper under imperial power, but how can a father be so heartless and ungrateful? Thinking of the former crown prince in his cradle, his eyes were clear and bright, he giggled at him, and the first word he called out after learning to speak was "father". Later... why did he come to this point today? Apart from his mother's teachings, it was the position of the country that blinded the former crown prince's mind. The father and son gradually drifted apart. As he grew old, he began to miss family affection besides the throne and status.
The blood letter written by the former crown prince was a great blow to the emperor. He lay in bed and could never get up again.
Tomorrow is the wedding of the Crown Prince. Overwhelmed by the joy, the Emperor was energetic at night. He couldn't sleep and asked Liu Kun to help him up. He hadn't eaten much for several days, but now he suddenly had an appetite and wanted to eat some meat and fish. Liu Kun quickly asked someone to prepare it for him.
After the meal was prepared, the emperor ate half a bowl of porridge, a lot of fish slices, and a drink. His face was ruddy and he was not sleepy at all. In the dead of night, he began to review his life and asked Liu Kun, "You have followed me all your life. Do you regret it?"
Liu Kun hurriedly shook his head, "It is my blessing to be able to serve Your Majesty."
The emperor sighed, "You are such a stubborn person. If you were more active, you would be in a high position and have many children and grandchildren."
Liu Kun said, "Your Majesty saved my life. If it weren't for Your Majesty, I would have become a ghost in the underworld. I don't regret it at all. I have followed Your Majesty to enjoy wealth and honor. I don't know how many people envy me. I am very blessed, and it is all Your Majesty's reward."
"I can still bestow blessings upon you." The emperor laughed, "I really can't live without your mouth these years." He paused, and continued, "I often dream of Nian'er these days. She cries and laughs at the same time. No matter how I persuade her, she won't listen. Is she still resenting me..."
Liu Kun said hurriedly: "Your Majesty is thinking about the queen in his heart. He thinks about her during the day and dreams about her at night."
No one knew, except Liu Kun, that when the emperor ascended the throne, he secretly posthumously conferred the title of empress on Lady Zhou Xie Nian.
Therefore, no matter how the Crown Prince asked Lady Zhou for the title of princess, His Majesty did not agree.
"How can I not miss her?"
In this life, he had let down too many people in order to sit in this position, but the one he felt the most guilty about was Xie Nian. He was unable to give her a good life during her lifetime, and could not publicly give her a name after her death. This eventually became a knot in his heart that he could not let go of. With such regrets, how could he have the face to see her in the underworld? Even if she did not blame him, how could he be at peace? "Find a time to let her return to the clan, and tell the world that she is my first queen."
Liu Kun bowed and nodded, "I understand."
"As for the status of the crown prince, whether he is an adopted son or a foster son, he is still my son." After a few glasses of wine, the emperor's eyelids slowly grew tired. "The Yang family, I have given a lot. In order to kill the Queen Yuan's limelight, I have favored her, the Imperial Concubine, over the years. Although she has not been given a title, she enjoys more than the Queen. I am already this age, why should she cling to the position of Queen? Human nature is greedy, giving too much will bring disaster, Yuan is an example."
Liu Kun listened attentively.
"If I cannot survive tonight, I will stop the funeral and keep the news secret. I will ring the funeral bell at noon the day after tomorrow, after the Crown Prince's wedding."
The royal family has few descendants, and we cannot afford to delay the mourning for a year...
"Your Majesty will be able to hold on until the Crown Prince gets married. In another year, Your Majesty will be able to see his little great-grandson."
He actually wanted to live a few more years, to see the crown prince ascend the throne, the Zhou family prosper, and the world be stable. But what would be the use of living a few more years? When had the world ever been stable again?
As soon as he finished speaking, the eunuch outside came in and reported: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has arrived."
Since the prince knew his identity, he only asked the emperor "Who is she?" at the beginning. After that, he never asked the emperor about his life experience. But he still treated the emperor as before, and did not slack off in his filial piety. After the emperor fell ill, the prince came to see him sooner or later. Today was the wedding of the crown prince's grandson, so he came late. After hearing that the emperor had not yet gone to bed, he sent someone in to pass on the message.
After entering, I saw the emperor still sitting on the couch with a table of food and wine in front of him. I was slightly stunned, "Is the emperor feeling better today?"
The emperor forced himself to cheer up and asked Liu Kun to add a set of bowls, chopsticks and wine glasses for the prince. "We haven't had a drink together for a long time. I remember that year on the battlefield, looking at the river on the other side, you and I carried wine bags in our hands, toasting the heaven and earth and the dead souls, stepping on this world under our feet, and we were determined to win it. How magnificent it was. Now..." He looked up at the prince in front of him. His character was still there, but his forehead and eyes were also covered with fine wrinkles. He sighed, "You are old too. My grandson has married, how can I not admit my age..."
The prince saw him picking up the wine pot again and advised: "Father is taking medicine, just drink a couple of cups, take care of yourself."
The emperor did not listen to the advice. He looked at the prince steadily and said, "I cannot accompany you all the way. The rest of the journey, as well as the kingdom I have conquered, will be handed over to you."
The prince's heart skipped a beat, "Father will be well soon..."
He knew his own body well. He had asked the imperial physician long ago and he knew that he would not survive for more than a few days. The fact that he could sit here now was just a last gasp of life. He shook his head and said, "I am going to see your mother."
The prince's throat rolled slightly, but he didn't say anything.
"I know you blame me in your heart and feel sorry for your mother, but I have never felt at ease for a day. Your mother has never complained since she married me. Even when she didn't have enough food, she always smiled. She always smiled in front of me, but after taking one last look at you, she shed tears." The wine went down his throat and went to his head. The emperor suddenly lowered his head and choked up, "I'm sorry for her..."
He buried his head and never raised it again. His head slowly tilted to one side. The moment he fell, the prince rushed over and held him up in time. He said in a lost voice, "Father."
Liu Kun was stunned for a moment, but soon reacted. His legs softened and he knelt on the ground, crying, "Your Majesty..."
When the imperial physician came in, the patient had already died, and no matter how hard the physician tried, there was no way to save him.
Liu Kun read out the emperor's last wish. In the second half of the night, the prince summoned Xie Shao and asked him to bring people to personally surround the emperor's bedroom and not let anyone in.
They stayed up until the early morning, when Pei Qing came to take over, and Xie Shao was able to rest.
The people in the East Palace had no idea of the news and the excitement continued.
Royal marriages are very particular. Ming Wanrou sets out from the Ming family at daybreak, kneels before heaven and earth, and before the Taimiao. After following a set of rules, she enters the bridal chamber at dusk and sits on the wedding bed. It’s another round of hassles, including drinking the wedding wine, and tying the hair... After everything is done, it is already dark, and the room is filled with red candles as thick as arms.
The housekeeper and the maid left, and the maid took the round fan from Ming Wanrou's hand. The tassels and pearls on the phoenix crown blocked her face, so she couldn't be seen clearly. Zhou Kuang walked over and sat on the marriage bed with her, leaning over and asking, "Are you tired?"
The more nervous she got, Ming Wanrou shook her head, and the tassel beads clattered, "Not tired."
Zhou Kuang reached out his hand and gently pushed aside the tassels that were blocking her face. Ming Wanrou subconsciously shrank back and looked up at him with a defensive look in her eyes, timid and shy. She let him put the sea pearl tassels on the phoenix crown, and tried hard to recall the things that the nanny had told her about the wedding night. She stood up and said sincerely to the crown prince, "I will help your highness change his clothes."
Zhou Kuang looked at her suspiciously, "How can you change my clothes when you are dressed like this?"
Ming Wanrou was stunned, "Then..."
"Come here first, I'll take it off for you, and then you can help me take it off."
At first glance, this statement seemed a little wrong, but upon closer thought, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. The nanny instructed herself to change the clothes for the prince, but she did not say that the prince could not change clothes for her.
The maid was sent away by Zhou Kuang. Ming Wanrou couldn't take off the phoenix crown on her head. She walked over obediently and sat beside him, leaning her head closer to him, "Thank you, Your Highness."
It was the first time Zhou Kuang touched the young lady's hairpin. He saw the jade hairpin with gold beads stuck in her hair, shining brightly, soft and delicate. He didn't know where to start for a moment, and looked at it for a while before raising his hand.
Fearing that he would pull her hair, he struggled for a long time but still couldn't take off the phoenix crown. Before the young lady said anything, he became anxious and simply held her on his knees and said, "Just lie down for a while, it will be done soon."
Ming Wanrou was pressed into his arms, face down, her nose almost blocked, and she had to prop up her chin with both hands, "Don't worry, Your Highness, take your time to remove it."
After a while, the hot breath penetrated the red wedding dress and slowly soaked into the skin. Zhou Kuang felt a heat in his heart and became more and more anxious. He took off the phoenix crown, and his hands were shaking. "Okay, get up, I'll help you get out of this."
I thought the phoenix corona was the most troublesome thing, but when I got to the wedding dress, the row of buttons were stuck tightly. I lost my patience and took the scissors on the table that they had used when they got married. I didn't want the pearls on the buttons either. I cut them with a pair of scissors. Ming Wanrou was shocked, "Your Highness, the pearls..."
The wedding dress was made by the palace maids at the request of the Crown Princess. Every bead was carefully selected, and at least a dozen beads fell off with this snip of the scissors.
How much silver money you get.
"No." A night of spring is worth a thousand gold, so why would one have the time to worry about that worthless pearl?
He had originally planned to wait for the young lady to help him change his clothes, but now he lost interest and quickly took off his wedding dress. Like Ming Wanrou, he only kept the snow-white undergarment.
What to do next...
Suddenly she remembered, "Your Highness doesn't have to go out to entertain the guests?" According to what the nanny said, she should take a bath first, and then wait for His Highness to come back after entertaining the guests before she can have a dream.
He seemed to be out of order.
"My mother has instructed that I don't need to thank the guests today." He couldn't say the rest of the words.
The Crown Princess's original words were, "You are already 21, God has mercy on you. Your father would have had you by your age. Work hard and do what you are supposed to do. You don't have to worry about other things."
When he was in Fengcheng in the past, Prince Jing and Madam Zhou had never put any pressure on him. He could do whatever he wanted, and no one urged him to get married.
After arriving in Dongdu, Prince Jing and Madam Zhou's identities changed, and they became different people as well. Not only them, but also the Emperor and the ministers in the court were putting pressure on him openly and covertly. I'm afraid everyone is looking forward to it tonight, waiting for him to complete a big task.
It would be best if a baby could be created tomorrow.
Although Zhou Kuang was not used to such a life, he had no choice but to let the other person, who was the young lady he liked, urge him more and more. The more others urged him, the more they could stir up his emotions.
If there hadn't been a riot, he would have married a beautiful bride long ago.
The order was inexplicably messed up and something happened one step ahead. Ming Wanrou suddenly didn't know what to do. She stood there hesitating, when suddenly Zhou Kuang picked her up and carried her to the bed.
After the bright red curtain was put down, after a while nothing could be seen inside except for a few pieces of clothing being thrown out.
Ming Wanrou was already nervous when she felt the pressure, like a frightened bird. She grabbed his arm in panic, "How about... Your Highness take another look at the album."
Zhou Kuang was so confused that he didn't have the energy to look for the booklet anymore. He lowered his head, kissed her on the red lips, and whispered to her to reassure her, "Don't worry, I've read it at least ten times, and this is it, there's no mistake..."
The girl below sank in one breath and exclaimed, "The fairy is right, you are going to kill me..."
On the wedding night, I'm afraid no one would mention other people at this time. After Zhou Kuang heard her call out, he felt his scalp tingling and his whole body trembling. He confessed everything in an instant.
Seeing that he suddenly stopped moving, the young lady breathed a sigh of relief, and she trusted Wen Shuse more and more. She glanced at her lover who was still supporting her, and said sympathetically, "Your Highness, don't be angry. I like your Highness like this."
She was afraid of pain, and he almost hurt her to death, and she couldn't bear it any longer.
Zhou Kuang's face turned pale, and he fell beside her without saying a word. He stared blankly at the top of the account, his face full of frustration.
The treasures are here, but I plan to write about A Yuan and Zhou Kuang's wedding first, and move Xie San's imperial edict to the back. (The hundred red envelopes continue~)
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