Chapter 637: Beautiful Spring, Better to Have a Dream
The empress is gone.
On the west city gate, Zhao Duan slowly put down the drumstick. The spring breeze blew from the western suburbs, ruffling his hair.
In the field of vision, Xu Zhenguan led the emperor's guards, bid farewell to the capital, and headed straight for Xiping Road amid the respectful farewell of all officials.
"Lord Zhao." Zhao Duan, wearing the official robe of the Grand Guardian, walked down the city wall. A group of familiar court ministers looked at him.
Zhao Duan smiled and said, "Your Majesty is leading the army in person today. I will have to thank you all for your hard work in handling the affairs of state."
The court officials immediately agreed. Even though many of those present had higher ranks than Zhao Duan, who in the entire capital didn't know the importance of the future emperor's husband?
As for the stability of the court after the empress's western expedition, no one was worried about it.
On the one hand, the civil strife has ended. On the other hand, although the empress has left, she has left behind the powerful Zhao Duan to take charge. Who would dare to have any other thoughts?
Sent away all the court officials.
Zhao Duan turned around and entered the city gate, then stepped onto the prepared carriage. The coachman from Lihua Hall, Xiao Wang, said,
"Sir, the wine and meat you requested are ready."
Zhao Duan got into the carriage, took a look at the jar of osmanthus wine and the beef wrapped in three layers inside the food box, and said:
"Go to the White Horse Prison."
He was going to visit the old eunuch, but when he arrived at the White Horse Prison, he was surprised to learn that the old eunuch, who was supposed to be bedridden, was not there.
"You mentioned that Mr. Sun, the old man, seemed to be in much better health this morning. After breakfast, he went to the palace." said a messenger.
Is Old Sun’s illness cured?
Zhao Duan was stunned.
…
…
Sun Lianying woke up at dawn. For some reason, she felt as light as a swallow.
The pain that had plagued him for months seemed to be taken away all at once. When he got out of bed, his steps were light and he was completely unaware of the pain.
He stopped coughing, and the face in the mirror looked more rosy.
Driven by hunger, my appetite improved a lot and I had a rare hot and full meal.
Then, perhaps because he saw that the sky was bright blue and the spring scenery was so beautiful, Sun Lianying ordered the servants to help him wash and change his clothes, and personally arranged all the items in the backyard in order. Then he walked out of the yamen and took a carriage to the palace, as if he was not planning to come back.
"Let's stop right here."
Unexpectedly, when the carriage reached the imperial city but before reaching the palace, Sun Lianying ordered the coachman to stop.
The driver was surprised and said, "Sir, this place is still a long way from the palace."
Sun Lianying got off the carriage with a smile. From a distance, he seemed to hear the sound of drums outside the West City Gate. He said:
"Your Majesty has gone on a western expedition today and is not in the palace, so I will not go."
After saying this, he waved his hand and sent the confused driver away.
When only one person was left, Sun Lianying narrowed his eyes and looked at the "Third Princess's Residence" standing in front of him in the imperial city.
Before the royal princess got married, she temporarily lived in the imperial city. This was where the empress once lived.
After he ascended the throne, the room was no longer locked up, and was only cleaned regularly once a month.
Sun Lianying walked to the gate with a slightly hunched body, took out a copper key from his inner pocket, and opened the dusty palace of the Third Emperor's Daughter.
Push open the door.
Sun Lianying walked into the mansion. It was quiet and peaceful, with no outsiders around. It was extremely quiet.
Perhaps it was simply that the spring weather was truly wonderful today. The trees in the mansion were sprouting, and the flower beds were blooming with early spring buds and green flowers. Under the eaves, swifts returning to their nests were flapping their wings, flying through the house and chirping non-stop.
"It's such nice weather, it's time to ventilate the house. If it's been stuffy for too long, it'll get moldy."
Sun Lianying narrowed her eyes, opened the utility room, and soon came out with a broom in her hand and began to push open the closed doors one by one.
Sweep up the floating things.
In the warm spring sunshine, the eunuch in charge of the seal, wearing a bright red dragon robe and with gray hair, was busy and meticulous, just like he was in his youth.
I don't know how long it was, but when he was sweating and his waist was sore, he moved a smooth bamboo chair and sat under the eaves.
Hearing the sound of horse hooves outside the mansion, Sun Lianying raised her head and saw a figure approaching from afar in the dazzling spring light.
"You're here." Sun Lianying said with a smile.
Zhao Duan, holding a jar of wine in one hand and a food box in the other, looked at the old man sitting in the shadow of a corner under the eaves, surrounded by open doors and windows. He pursed his lips and walked over in the spring sunshine.
"I heard you were coming to the palace. Fortunately, I bumped into the coachman and found out you were here."
Sun Lianying said with a smile:
"I'm old now, so I don't want to go to Ximen to join in the fun. It's quiet here, it's good."
Zhao Duan came over and moved a chair and a light small table out of the house.
Open the food box, take out the wine bowl, and unwrap the still warm braised beef wrapped in oil paper.
The wine jar was opened with a "bang" and a little clear osmanthus wine was poured into the bowl.
"It's too little, pour more."
Sun Lianying was so greedy that she frowned and complained as she looked at the wine bowl handed to her.
"You haven't recovered from your illness yet, and you're just lying to yourself. Do you really want to drink big bowls of wine and eat big mouthfuls of meat?" Zhao Duan curled his lips.
The old eunuch was helpless like a greedy child, holding the wine bowl tremblingly, and couldn't bear to drink it even though he smelled the taste.
He put down his wine bowl and said:
“This was Her Majesty’s former residence. She has lived in this house since she was a little older and left the Empress.
The royal elders are almost all dead. If we must find a 'family' for Your Majesty, this is the only one. When you marry Your Majesty in the future, you should come and recognize the family."
Zhao Duan drank wine, ate meat, and looked at the clean and elegant scenery of the house without saying a word.
Sun Lianying looked at the grass and trees, as if lost in memories:
“When I was little, my family was originally from a village near the capital. One year, there was a disaster, so I was sold into the palace and castrated, which saved my life.
I was young at that time and not sad. When I first entered the palace, I was surprised and everything was new to me.
White steamed buns, which were hard to eat even during the Chinese New Year at home, were available for every meal in the palace. Even the lowest-ranking eunuchs in the palace lived in better houses than at home, and their beddings were warmer and thicker than at home.
If there was anything wrong, it would be that it was difficult to serve a noble, but at that time, our family was not worthy of serving a noble, I just heard it from others."
Zhao Duan drank silently and listened attentively: "And then?"
Sun Lianying rambled on:
"I can't remember clearly; it's been so long. I just remember being very ambitious at first, hoping to serve a certain Empress, or even His Majesty. Even as a high-ranking eunuch. There was one who was only eighteen years old at the time who rose to the position of Chief Seal, the envy of others."
Zhao Duan nodded and said:
"You've told me this before."
"Really?" Sun Lianying leaned back in a rattan chair, gazing at the swallows on the treetops, and said:
"But he died later. He was killed when he left the palace. I was so frightened that I gave up the idea of serving important people.
But things in this world are often extremely difficult when you think about them, but when you stop thinking about them, they are right in front of you.
Somehow, I was sent to the palace of a new empress. I heard that the empress had a strange temper and several eunuchs who served her had died. I thought I would not survive either.
Unexpectedly, because of her hair-dressing skills and the satisfaction she showed the empress in serving her, she stayed.
A few years later, the Third Prince was born, and I took over the care of him..."
"You haven't told me these things." Zhao Duan continued drinking.
Sun Lianying murmured:
"It was all a long time ago. After the Empress passed away, I followed Your Highness here. Mo Chou was the same age as Your Highness then, or maybe even younger? In short, we were playmates.
Every spring, His Highness would run around the house with Mochou and play with windmills.
We guarded the door to prevent the other servants from seeing us and gossiping. When His Highness grew up and entered a private school, he finally settled down, stopped running around, and began to enjoy reading..."
The warm spring breeze blew across the tender willow branches sprouting in the yard, and the sunlight moved over little by little, dispelling the shadows under the eaves.
Zhao Duan listened quietly to the old eunuch reminiscing about the past, occasionally making a comment, but mostly just listening.
"... I originally thought that after serving His Highness and finding a consort and marrying him, I would leave the palace and buy a small house to spend the rest of my life. Unfortunately, my family has long been lost, and I don't know who to give the little money I have saved... Okay."
As Sun Lianying spoke, she started coughing again, and her face became redder than when she was in good health.
He took a quick breath, and then took another breath, and said slowly:
"Unexpectedly, a coup d'état took place, and Her Highness became the Empress, and everything turned upside down."
"You know everything that happened later."
Zhao Duan looked at him and suddenly said:
"Why don't you stop talking for now and let me help you go back to the house to rest for a while."
Sun Lianying shook her head:
"I've been lying in the house for a few months now, feeling suffocated. It's so beautiful out there. Don't worry about me. I'm going to take a nap and recuperate."
As the old eunuch spoke, he half leaned and half lay in the rattan chair, closed his eyes, basked in the spring sunshine, and continued to mutter in a low voice.
It's just that the speech is not as fluent as before.
As if falling asleep.
"...Think about it, it's really amazing. When I was a kid, I felt great just walking from the village to the town. I was so happy to go to the inner city or the outer city of Beijing...Now I've actually walked to the palace and become a eunuch in charge of the seal."
These were the last words Sun Lianying murmured.
The wind blew through the eaves, and the swallows in the trees flapped their wings and flew away.
Zhao Duan was alone. He drank a whole jar of wine and ate all the beef on the table. His eyes became slightly moist without him noticing.
He turned his head and looked at the old eunuch who was lying in the spring light and no longer had any breath.
In the end, he never tasted the shallow bowl of wine on the table.
"Father-in-law?"
Zhao Duan called out tentatively, then remained silent for a moment, picked up the bowl of wine, and sprinkled it evenly on the ground.
The beautiful spring scenery is worse than a dream.
He stood up and picked up the old eunuch, and then he was surprised to find that such a big man was as light as a cloud under his dragon robe.
Zhao Duan carried Sun Lianying out of the empress's old residence.
Walk straight into the palace.
"Master Zhao? This is..."
Inside the palace, a familiar female official saw him approaching and asked tentatively in surprise.
Zhao Duan said calmly:
"Sun Zhangyin has passed away. Please find someone to handle his funeral. I don't know what the palace regulations are, but in short, he should be buried in the most honorable section of the palace. I will explain this to Her Majesty when she returns."
Sun Zhangyin is gone... gone...
The middle-aged female official was stunned for a while before she came to her senses. She nodded hurriedly and called a few eunuchs over to take Sun Lianying away.
Zhao Duan did not interfere in the funeral affairs of his old boss, who was also the first person who was truly kind to him after he came to this world.
He wandered around the palace aimlessly for a long time, and suddenly felt bored.
Before I knew it, I had arrived outside the Xiuwen Hall at the north gate.
"Master Zhao? You've arrived just in time! The Grand Tutor was looking for you!"
Bachelor Han Zhou walked out of Xiuwen Hall and his eyes lit up when he saw him. He hurried forward, grabbed his sleeve and walked inside.
Zhao Duan didn't ask what happened. When he entered a separate room, he saw Grand Tutor Dong Xuan sitting behind the desk, repeatedly looking at a fresh urgent report in his hand.
"You're here." When Master Dong saw him come in, he subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had found his backbone.
But when he noticed the slightly red circles under Zhao Duan's eyes, he was stunned.
He calmly waved Han Zhou away, then closed the door and asked, "What happened?"
He didn't think that Zhao Duan was sad because the empress left the capital...that was too exaggerated.
Zhao Duan said calmly, "Zhang Yin Sun has gone."
Grand Tutor Dong was startled for a moment, and after a moment's reaction, he finally understood. The old Grand Tutor, who was already in his 80s, nodded and said:
"The doctor from the Imperial Hospital told me privately before that Master Sun shouldn't have survived until now. He must have been holding on tight until the Eight Princes Rebellion was quelled."
Zhao Duan was stunned.
After a moment of silence, he collected himself and asked:
"What happened? Are you in such a hurry to find me?"
Grand Tutor Dong waved the military intelligence report in his hand:
"Zhao Shixiong of Yunfu Dao sent an urgent letter, saying that the Liao people are making unusual movements and are planning to attack Yunfu."
Zhao Duan calmly took out a prepared decree from his sleeve and threw it over:
"Your Majesty has already drafted an order, ordering Zhao Shixiong to lead the border troops to hold the Liao people in Yunfu. The goal is not to repel them, but to prevent them from spreading to the heart of the empire. All other priorities are the battle situation in Xipingdao.
Although the Liao people are a problem, they are few in number and too far from the capital. Given the strategic depth of Yunfu Road, they won't cause any problems in the short term."
Dong Xuan was stunned for a moment, then said in surprise: "Your Majesty already knew about this..."
Zhao Duan nodded and said vaguely:
"This matter involves some higher secrets, so I cannot discuss it in detail with the Grand Tutor. In short, everything is under control. Now that Your Majesty is on the Western Expedition, the Grand Tutor is the leader of the court. He should remain calm and composed so that the court officials will not be shaken.
As for the rest...Your Majesty has a reason for keeping me in the capital."
Master Dong was startled for a moment, then heaved a sigh and said:
"That's good."
His eyes were complicated, and he felt deeply that this ancient dynasty had already belonged to the young people.
…
A moment later.
Zhao Duan left Xiuwenguan and tried to leave the palace, preparing to go to Tianshi Mansion.
However, as soon as he reached the palace gate, he saw a person in elegant clothes waiting in front of him.
"Princess Lu?" Zhao Duan exclaimed in surprise.
Lu Yan'er stood alone at the palace gate, looking exhausted, with a hat and a veil on her head.
The guards at the city gate saw him and saluted hurriedly:
"Master Zhao, this woman just came over and tried to enter the palace, saying she was here for an appointment, but we stopped her."
Lu Yan'er took off her veil and said tiredly:
"I have never been a princess. Lord Zhao should correct the title."
(End of this chapter)
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