In the evening, we had a sumptuous dinner at Qi Kangping's home.
The mother-in-law's attitude towards her son-in-law has changed a little compared to before, and she is a little reserved.
It had been a full year since the unification of Daxia, but when she actually saw Fu Xiaoguan, she still found it hard to believe it - the small landlord from Linjiang who had climbed over the wall to trick her daughter Qien Shulan away... He had become the emperor of the Wu Dynasty, and now he had unified the world and became the emperor of Daxia!
Why didn’t I see it back then?
If the eldest princess hadn't come to the house to persuade him... although I couldn't stop it, I'm afraid I wouldn't have given this kid a good face.
In her heart, Yan Xiwen was the perfect son-in-law.
Of course, she changed her opinion of Fu Xiaoguan later on, and felt that this son-in-law was more capable than Yan Xiwen, but at that time she didn't dare to think of this son-in-law as the emperor.
So this is fate—the life of Fu Xiaoguan, the life of his daughter Qi Shulan, and the life of everyone in the Qi family!
Of course, she personally made a braised lion's head dish for Fu Xiaoguan. After seeing that Fu Xiaoguan still liked it, her reserve was reduced a lot. She looked at him lovingly and felt that he was not the emperor of Daxia, but her son-in-law.
After having dinner at the Qi Mansion, Xu Yunqing took Fu Xiaoguan and his three daughters-in-law to the Xu Mansion.
Xu Huaishu, the Minister of Rites in the secondary capital Nanjing, knew that His Majesty was coming to Nanjing today. He also knew that his sister Xu Yunqing was traveling with him, but he did not expect that his sister would bring His Majesty and the ladies with her this evening.
The brothers Xu Huaishu and Xu Yungui were really shocked.
"Your Majesty, I bow to the Emperor, Empress, and the ladies!"
The two brothers were about to kneel down in front of the door when Xu Yunqing raised his hand and held them back: "Don't be so pretentious, go inside!"
The house Xu Yunqing was talking about was not the main hall of the Xu Mansion. She went straight to the Buddhist temple in the side courtyard.
Xu Huaishu held a lantern in his hand and quickly told his brother Xu Yungui to get some more lanterns and chairs, because the Buddhist hall was very dark and had not been opened for a long time.
Xu Yunqing pushed open the door of the Buddhist hall, and dust fell to the ground.
She fanned herself with her sleeves, took the lantern from Xu Huaishu's hand and said, "Bring me some incense, candles, and paper money. I'll burn a stick of incense for the Buddha."
Fu Xiaoguan didn't understand what was going on, so he stood outside with Susu and the others.
"The Bodhisattva my father worshipped back then is very effective."
"I died once, and came back to life, all thanks to the Bodhisattva's miraculous power."
"After your grandfather passed away, he has been reciting scriptures in this Buddhist temple... I asked him to ask the Buddha to bless you. At that time, you were in Linjiang, and you could see that your hair was growing more and more crooked."
"You are able to grow up as handsome as you are now, thanks to your grandfather's prayers to the Buddha."
"You guys go back later. Tonight... I'm going to pray to the Buddha all night."
Fu Xiaoguan was stunned. "Mom, staying up late is not good for your health. Besides... I think that having Buddha in my heart is the best belief."
Xu Yungui came hurriedly with a group of servants, holding lanterns and carrying chairs. A moment later, Xu Huaishu also came with his wife and children, carrying incense, candles, and paper money.
The yard suddenly became noisy. Xu Yunqing frowned slightly and ordered Xu Huaishu again, "These stay here. All of you, retreat!"
"Empress Dowager..."
"This is Ai's imperial decree!"
A group of people knelt in front of Xu Yunqing, and after kowtowed, they all retreated.
The lanterns illuminated the Buddhist hall. Xu Yunqing was carefully sweeping the dust off the Buddha statue with a whisk. Xu Xinyan wanted to help but was rejected by Xu Yunqing.
"You're standing outside. The dust is too thick... I owe this to the Bodhisattva, and I'm here to pay it back."
As she cleaned, she said, "Your grandfather has always believed in Buddha. This Buddha statue was brought back from the White Horse Temple."
"In the fortieth year of Taihe, the Yu Dynasty held an autumn poetry gathering in the Lanting Court. Crown Prince Wu Changfeng of the Wu Dynasty came by boat with Wen Xing..."
Xu Yunqing lit a stick of incense. "That was when Mom met your dad at Lantingji."
"He is handsome, but frail."
"After the poetry gathering, he should have gone home, but he stayed at the Jixia Academy for his mother... for half a year."
Xu Yunqing suddenly laughed, as if recalling the good times of his youth.
"During that time, mother felt very happy. He was very foolish and thought that mother didn't know that he was the crown prince of the Wu Dynasty. Of course, it wasn't his status that attracted mother to him... but because I had died once before and knew that he was her husband."
"It was a wonderful feeling, being in love with my husband... Actually, I was hesitant at the time because I hadn't fully experienced that period of history, and I always felt that the outcome wasn't so beautiful."
“The result was really not beautiful.”
Xu Yunqing lit the paper money, and the flames made her face red.
She looked a little depressed.
After a long silence, he continued, "Your father's health was very poor, so I forced him to practice martial arts. As a result... your talents are similar to your father's, and neither of you is cut out for martial arts."
"You grew up crooked in Linjiang, and your father was very disappointed. But later you changed, and that gave him hope. So he sent you to Wu Dynasty, and after confirming your abilities, he wanted to hand the Wu Dynasty over to you. That's when the avalanche happened—"
"Actually, your father's illness was already very serious at that time. Shui Yunjian knew about his illness, he had known about it since your father was a child. He said it was... a congenital heart problem, incurable. It was precisely because of this that Empress Dowager Xi had been waiting for him to die."
"You did something wrong after the avalanche. You shouldn't have returned to the Yu Dynasty. You should have returned to the Wu Dynasty because that's the Wu Dynasty your father left for you."
"You wasted more than two years in the Yu Dynasty, but you also allowed your father to live for another three to five years... He couldn't swallow that breath. He wanted to see the Wu Dynasty's empire completely in your hands... Even if it was Wu Dalang holding it, he wouldn't feel at ease."
"You know what happened next. I didn't misjudge your father, and your father didn't misjudge you. You don't have to feel guilty. This is his fate."
Fu Xiaoguan lowered his head. He listened carefully, but his heart was filled with guilt.
Why did you run away in the first place?
That's running away!
If we had taken over the Wu Dynasty and started to build it, the Wu Dynasty would have been stronger than it is now in both military and economy.
Some things are regrettable after all.
These regrets can never be reversed or made up for.
"The words carved under the Confucius Temple were written by your father. That poem was written by you. It was with that poem that mother made your father fall head over heels in love with her."
"No one knows about that poem except your father. It should be hidden on the eighteenth floor of the Tianji Pavilion. Your father hid it. He said that the poem belongs to him alone."
"This is the story of your father and me. Now that your father is gone, you have to be nicer to Fatty."
"I'm telling you something, something that absolutely cannot be spread to anyone else... Fatty, you're infertile."
Fu Xiaoguan was shocked. "What about the Fu Mansion...?"
"That's why Fatty doesn't want to go back, and that's why Fatty can't be the emperor of the Wu Dynasty... If he goes back this time, I'm afraid he will kill a lot of people."
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