Chapter 356 Family Reunion
The news of Queen Nan Jiang Qingyue's awakening spread like wildfire throughout the Nanzhao Palace overnight.
Everyone knows that this queen who has been sleeping for fifteen years is the apple of the Southern Emperor's eye and the one that the two princes have always been longing for.
On the day when Xie Zhen learned that Jiang Qingyue had awakened, he was in Xuanzheng Hall listening to the Ministry of War's report on border defense. He also knew that if Xiao Nanyan left Nanzhao alive, he might cause chaos on the border in the future, so he had to take precautions early.
While discussing matters with the ministers, he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps outside the hall:
"Your Majesty, the Queen is awake!"
The eunuch's voice was filled with incredible ecstasy, shocking the ashes in the incense burner to fall.
Xie Zhen stood up suddenly, his sleeves sweeping across the table, and he didn't even notice that the jade inkstone fell to the ground and broke into two pieces.
He strode out of the Xuanzheng Hall with great strides, his black court boots almost stepping over the white jade steps without touching the ground, even more eagerly than at his wedding that year.
The orchid fragrance of Liuxia Palace was getting closer and closer. He suddenly stopped at the door of the bedroom.
At this moment, Jiang Qingyue was being supported by Xiyan and leaning against a soft pillow. The sunlight shone through the diamond-shaped window onto her face. Her eyes were like water, even softer than she remembered.
"Qingyue..." Xie Zhen's voice was hoarse like crushed fallen petals. He walked closer step by step, unable to believe that the scene before him was real.
Until Jiang Qingyue looked up at him, the eyes that once reflected the spring scenery of Jiangdu were now filled with his figure.
"Ah, Zhen..."
Her voice still had the sluggishness of someone just waking up, but it struck Xie Zhen's heart precisely.
This call completely broke all his restraint.
Xie Zhen rushed over and grabbed her slightly cold hands. Her hands were much thinner than before, and the knuckles were bluish-white, but they were warm.
"I'm here!"
The Southern Emperor's tears rolled down without warning, one drop after another, hitting the back of Jiang Jingyue's hand:
"Qingyue, you finally woke up. I have been waiting for you for fifteen years..."
Jiang Qingyue looked carefully at the husband in front of her, and suddenly noticed that he had a few strands of white hair on his temples and his eyes were slightly red.
The young emperor in her memory, who was full of vigor, elegance and grace, now had fine lines at the corners of his eyes, but the look in his eyes when he looked at her was still as hot as when he promised her that they would be together for the rest of their lives.
She raised her hand tremblingly, her fingertips brushing against a few dazzling silver threads, touching his tear-stained face, her voice choked with sobs:
"Zhen...you, why...are you old?"
She managed to piece together a few words, but having been bedridden for fifteen years, it would take some time for her language and movement functions to fully recover.
Xie Zhen held her slightly cool fingers and gently placed them against his cheek, letting the tears blur his vision.
"I've been waiting for you to wake up for a long time."
He gently held her in his arms, as gentle as if she were a fragile treasure.
"In the future, I will accompany you as you grow older."
At this moment, two figures rushed into the hall.
Xie Lan hadn't changed out of his official uniform yet. It was obvious that he had just rushed in from the meeting room and hadn't even had time to take off his imperial crown.
As for Xie Zhan, the hem of his sky-blue robe was still covered with dust that had not yet been shaken off. It seemed that he had rushed over after receiving the news during the military training on the battlefield.
"Mother!"
The two of them knelt down beside the bed almost at the same time, their knees hitting the gold brick floor with a dull sound.
Jiang Qingyue was stunned at first, her eyes darting back and forth between the faces of the two handsome and tall young men.
Before she fell into a coma, her two sons were eight years old and five years old.
In her memory, Zhan'er always liked to pull her sleeves to ask for candy, and his nose would turn red when he cried; Lan'er was quieter, but he also liked to stick to her and asked her to accompany him to review poetry and books.
But the two men in front of me, although there are vague childhood features in their eyebrows and eyes, their shoulders and backs are as straight as green pines, and their jaw lines are as strong as those of adult men.
Her sons have all grown up.
"Lan,er...Zhan,er".
It took her a lot of effort to call out her son's name, her voice trembling with disbelief.
Xie Lan crawled to the bedside on his knees, took his mother's hand, and rubbed the veins that had become pale from years of bed rest.
"Mother, I am Lan'er." Before she finished speaking, tears had already fallen on the back of Jiang Qingyue's hand.
Xie Zhan buried his head in his mother's arms, sobbing as if he had been wronged as a child:
"Mother, the day before you fell into a coma, you said you would make a plate of osmanthus candy for Zhan'er. Zhan'er has been waiting for this candy for a long, long time..."
His shoulders heaved violently, and his back was tense, as if he wanted to pour out all the longing of fifteen years at this moment.
In Jiang Qingyue's eyes, he was still the five-year-old boy Zhan'er who cried and asked her for candy.
She looked at her son, who was even taller than their father, and suddenly smiled, but tears rolled down her face.
She gently patted the back of Xie Lan's hand, and wanted to raise her hand to touch the top of Xie Zhan's head, but her wrist was so sore that she couldn't lift it very high. Xie Zhan immediately understood and took the initiative to put his forehead to her palm.
The touch was much firmer than she remembered, but it still made her heart burn.
Xiyan stood at the end of the couch, looking at her mother surrounded by her two brothers, and her father smiling with red eyes beside her. Her heart was filled with emotion.
A pair of slender hands unconsciously touched her lower abdomen, and she felt her eyes become moist again.
The sunlight passed through her fingers and fell on the ground, forming warm spots of light.
This reunion, which was fifteen years late, finally came.
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