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"This performance review banquet will probably be the last one I'll eat with you."
After returning from paying tribute to Deng Chong, Emperor Xingwu fell ill again and was bedridden.
At the age of fifty-eight, he could be considered old, but not too old. For example, Duke Zhang Jie of Wei, who was only one year younger than Emperor Xingwu, still had a full head of black hair. Although Yan Xizheng, sixty-six years old, had white hair, he was in very good health. So many ministers caught colds this autumn and winter, but Yan Xizheng was not hurt at all.
Commoners outside the court rarely had the opportunity to see the emperor. The court officials all knew that Emperor Xingwu had begun to noticeably age since Deng Chong's death. In the words of the imperial physician, this was due to excessive worry and a buildup of internal depression. This knot in the heart was difficult to resolve, like a lump in the body. Normally, it might seem harmless, but a headache or fever would flare up simultaneously with both physical and mental ailments, bringing on a devastating onslaught.
Looking back at the two years after Deng Chong left, from the Northern Expedition to the Donghu to the dethronement of the crown prince to the enthronement of the crown princess, each one was a major matter that consumed Emperor Xingwu's mind. In addition to these major matters, Emperor Xingwu had to review piles of memorials every day, and also take care of the "small matters" between the capital and the counties that often affected the people's livelihood. His physical and mental burden was far heavier than that of the two prime ministers in the Secretariat. After all, the Northern Expedition failed, and the people scolded the emperor for his incompetence in selecting generals and for failing to provide timely disaster relief when disasters occurred in the local areas. But the people still scolded the emperor.
Due to overwork, Emperor Xingwu became ill. By this winter, his body was as weak as a dead tree and no medicine could cure him. The imperial doctors could only try their best to delay Emperor Xingwu's aging and prescribe some prescriptions to calm his nerves and relieve pain.
After drinking the medicine, Emperor Xingwu continued to sleep, and Concubine Li continued to stay by his bedside.
Qingyang looked at his father's tired sleeping face, and went out with his uncle, eldest sister and three royal brothers.
As soon as they reached the outer palace, Prince Yong couldn't help but complain to his niece, "Yesterday was a day off, and we weren't in the palace. We didn't know the emperor was leaving the city. Lin'er, you didn't know that even though you live in the palace? The emperor's illness has never been fully recovered, and he listens to your advice the most. Why didn't you stop him?"
Don't mention the Crown Princess or anything like that. That was in the court. What he was discussing now was family matters, so as an uncle he had the right to scold his niece for doing something wrong.
Qingyang could tell Uncle Wang that her father had asked her to go to the Secretariat to review memorials early yesterday morning, and she had no idea when her father left the palace.
She could also tell Uncle Wang that she actually remembered Deng Chong's death anniversary, and she guessed that her father was going to pay tribute to Deng Chong as soon as he opened his mouth, but she knew that she could not change her father's decision, so she did not say anything to persuade him.
But why should she explain to Uncle Wang, who was rude to her right away?
Qingyang stopped and turned around.
Prince Yong, who was closest to the scene, had to stop because he wanted to teach someone a lesson, and the four Yongkang siblings who were lagging behind also stopped.
Qin Hong was about to smooth things over for his sister when Qing Yang said coldly, "Father may be ill, but he's not confused. He knows what he's doing. Anyone trying to stop him under the guise of concern will only cause him more worry."
The Crown Princess did not directly scold Prince Yong for being self-righteous, but the tone of her voice and the cold look in her eyes when she refuted Prince Yong clearly showed that she regarded Prince Yong as a fool.
Prince Yong's chest bulged with anger, his mouth opened wide, but before he could utter a single word, Qingyang stared at him again and said, "It's up to your father to decide whether to leave the palace or not. I won't dictate to you just because of your favor. Please remember your duty, uncle."
Prince Yong couldn't let out this breath, and his face turned red!
Qin Hong, who wanted to smooth things over but had no chance to speak, said: "..."
Qin Ren reacted quickly, taking two steps forward to support Uncle Wang and escort him out, pushing him while trying to persuade him: "We all know that Uncle Wang is concerned about Father. So think about it, Uncle Wang, Father loves you the most. When Father is sick, the one he cares about the most must be you. You're already feeling bad, and you're still saying that to her. How can you not be angry? If I were to wrongly accuse Uncle Wang like this, he would have taken action directly."
"roll!"
King Yong pushed his nephew several steps away.
Qin Ren staggered to his feet. He was not angry, but looked helpless. He even wanted to coax Uncle Wang again.
Qin Bing was furious. He fixed his third brother with a glare and said to Uncle Wang, who was still glaring at his sister and seemed ready to explode, "What's the matter? Uncle Wang, are you still going to hit me? Did my sister say anything wrong? Uncle Wang used to advise Father often, but when did Father ever listen to you? It's the second anniversary of Uncle Deng's death. Isn't it okay for Father to go and see him?"
He Yuanjing, with a hunched back, stood between the two sides and began to smooth things over: "The Emperor will not go to bed until the two princes have calmed down. If he hears the princes quarreling because of him, I'm afraid he won't be able to sleep."
King Yong glared at him and walked away.
Qin Bing snorted heavily at Uncle Wang's back, turned around and wanted to coax his sister, but saw the eldest brother standing behind his sister hurriedly walking away with tears in his eyes, wiping his face with his hand!
Qin Bing: "...Brother, why are you crying?"
It would have been fine if he hadn't asked. But when he did, Qin Hong couldn't hold it back any longer. His shoulders shook and he choked out sobs, "It's all my fault, it's all my fault!"
It's his fault that he couldn't be a good crown prince. If he had his sister's talent and courage, his father wouldn't have to worry so much about the issue of the crown prince. If he had established the dignity of the crown prince early on, how could his uncle dare to yell at a crown prince who had great power in the court? Why let his sister suffer this grievance?
Qin Bing and Qin Ren both went to comfort their eldest brother who was crying more and more.
Qingyang looked at his elder sister, who used to care about him the most but now looked at him calmly and seemed a little indifferent.
Yongkang not only did not try to persuade her, but when she met her sister's gaze, she raised the corners of her lips and smiled sarcastically, then walked over and whispered, "He's just like this. I've seen it for more than 20 years."
Her younger brother has been a coward since he was young. He just listens to whatever anyone teaches him. Yongkang doesn't like it, but she hopes for the best for her younger brother, hopes that her younger brother will become the crown prince and the future emperor, and hopes to benefit from her younger brother's glory. So she tries her best to protect, take care of and assist her younger brother. As a result, her younger brother resigned from the position of crown prince himself.
Now that her younger brother is no longer the crown prince, Yongkang is only vaguely worried that he might get into trouble because of his status as the former crown prince. She doesn't bother to care about anything else. His sister-in-law arranges his food, clothing, housing and transportation, and comforts him whenever he cries or feels wronged. Why should she bother with that? Her younger brother is about to turn 30, does he still want her to help wipe his tears?
Qingyang could understand her elder sister's disdain, because she also disliked her elder brother who always blamed himself and cried. At least at this moment, her mind was full of her father's illness and the memorials in the Secretariat that she had approved on her father's behalf. She had no time to comfort her elder brother.
After visiting his father in the evening and seeing that his father looked more energetic than in the morning, Qingyang returned to Jiuhua Palace with Zhang Su.
After dinner, Qingyang asked Zhang Su to rest first, and she went to the study.
She had a cabinet specifically for storing the small wooden birthday gifts given by Zhang Su, and also a camphorwood cabinet specifically for storing her paintings.
Qingyang started learning to paint at a very young age. She would tear up and throw away most of her practice works. There were only two types of works that she would keep. One was the one that made her very satisfied, and the other was the one where her painting skills did not satisfy her but she was reluctant to tear up the people she painted. The latter were mostly paintings of her family, the most of whom were her mother, because when she was a child, her mother was the most idle and was willing to sit still and paint for her. The next most popular ones were her third brother and Zhang Su. In the first few years when Qingyang had less schoolwork, she liked to paint for the two young men who were engrossed in reading or practicing calligraphy in her third brother's study. Then there was her father, who was always very busy despite living nearby.
Even so, Qingyang painted more than 30 paintings for his father!
Each painting was framed, and a small wooden plaque with the time of painting engraved on it was hung on the ribbon tied to the painting.
Qingyang picked up a painting she'd made when she was three. The painting depicted her father, a man with a round head and two dark eyes, his robes decorated with dragons soaring through the clouds. The painting also contained his inscription, which read, "This is me!" To verify the painting's authenticity, he had affixed both his imperial seal and his personal seal.
Qingyang only looked at this one painting, and did not dare to open the others that looked more and more like his father.
Outside the door, Jie Yu, who was guarding under the eaves, retreated to the courtyard at some point and was replaced by Zhang Su.
He heard faint crying, but Zhang Su did not listen deliberately. He stood facing the yard, looking up at the waning moon that would be full in a few days.
I don’t know how much time passed before the door behind me opened.
Zhang Su turned around upon hearing the voice, then opened his arms and hugged the Crown Princess who rushed towards him after a brief moment of surprise.
He was not an imperial physician and could not help the emperor. The only thing he could do was to accompany her.
.
On the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Liangzhou General Ge Dayong, Jinzhou General Chen Sheng, Jizhou General Guo Yanqing, Liaozhou General Meng Ji, Qingzhou General Li Yu, Fuzhou General Peng Ying, and Yunzhou General Zhang Jian all finally arrived in the capital and went to the palace to report on their work on the same day.
As in previous years, Emperor Xingwu held a performance banquet in the palace. The military officers attending the banquet included the four commanders of the capital camp, Prince Yong, Lü Zan, Zhang Jie, and Hou Wanzhong, the commander of the Imperial Guard, Fan Zhong, the commander of the Imperial Front Army, Xue Ye, and the younger generation of generals such as Zhang Su, Fu Kui, Qin Liang, Deng Kun and Deng Tai, Meng Changhe, Cheng Zhixu, Fan Huaizhong, and Xue Yanzheng, and naturally the four siblings of the Crown Princess.
The generals of the seven states only returned to the capital once every three years. At the performance review banquet, Emperor Xingwu mainly listened to the generals' reports.
Among the seven generals, Jizhou General Guo Yanqing is the oldest, at the age of 61, but he still looks very strong and healthy. Qingzhou General Li Yu and Jinzhou General Chen Sheng are the same age, both 55 years old. Ge Dayong, Meng Ji and Peng Ying are all in their early 50s. Zhang Jian is the youngest, at only 36 years old.
In addition to praising these generals, Emperor Xingwu looked at them with a hint of envy. Although the generals saw that the emperor might not have much time left, they did not dare to show their sadness.
Neither the emperor nor his ministers deliberately mentioned this matter, and the performance review banquet was still lively.
When the banquet was about to end, Emperor Xingwu sighed, put down his wine bowl, and said to the seven generals, "This report banquet will probably be the last one I will eat with you."
The seven generals left their seats at the same time, knelt in a row before the emperor, and cried and begged him to take care of his health.
The four brothers and sisters from Qingyang and the military officers sitting at the table also knelt down.
Emperor Xingwu smiled and said, "Birth, aging, sickness and death are common to all human beings. I will not avoid them. You don't need to deliberately say auspicious words to please me. Lin'er, come here."
Qingyang deliberately recalled the mountains, rivers and people he had seen during his southern tour, and the corpses strewn across the fields during the two northern expeditions, and only then did he come to his father's side with a normal expression.
Emperor Xingwu patted his daughter's hand with satisfaction, motioning for her to stand beside him. He then addressed the seven generals, "After I leave, Lin'er will ascend the throne as the new ruler of Great Qi. A change of thrones is bound to be somewhat turbulent, especially since Lin'er is the first female emperor in thousands of years. With Lin'er, my brother, and several other high-ranking officials in the capital, I doubt there will be any unrest. The security of the border depends entirely on you. So, I'd like to ask, can you all secure the border for Lin'er and Great Qi?"
The seven generals raised their heads and looked back at the emperor in front of them with firm eyes: "Yes!"
The generals were not good at speaking, so they did not need to make too many promises like the civil officials. The word "can" was enough to prove their determination.
Emperor Xingwu asked again, "After Lin'er succeeds to the throne, are you willing to be as loyal to her as you are to me?"
The seven generals simultaneously looked at the Crown Princess standing beside the Emperor. The Crown Princess, whose figure was as straight as a sword and whose gaze looked down at them was as cold as a sword. The Crown Princess, who had been favored by the Emperor since her childhood and had captured the King of Donghu in her first battle. The Crown Princess, who had been designated by the founding emperor of the Great Qi and would rightfully inherit the throne. They pledged in unison, "We swear allegiance to the Crown Princess until death, and to the Empress of the Great Qi!"
Emperor Xingwu nodded, told them to excuse themselves from the formalities, and then instructed his daughter: "They are all my great generals who protect the country, and they will be your great generals who protect the country in the future. You must trust them as I do and continue to use them."
Qingyang also knelt down and made her promise to her father and the generals.
She will never betray those who are loyal to her.
【Author’s words】
Here it comes, second update tonight, everyone be prepared [poor]
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