Chapter 132 The Emperor's Wrath
Madam Wei guessed that the emperor summoned her into the palace because of Wei Qingyan's matter.
Therefore, when she was taken to a side hall by the eunuch and waited for half an hour but was still not summoned, she did not feel uneasy.
Wei Qingyan's death was related to the prince. She was Wei Qingyan's mother and the victim, and the prince was the emperor's son. In order to show his benevolence, the emperor should appease and reward the General's Mansion at this time.
Apart from the married daughters of the Wei family, there are only her and the old lady left in the General Protector's Mansion. The old lady lives far away in the Wei family's ancestral home, so the benefits naturally fall on her.
As she expected, the emperor was indeed kind and said some polite words to her.
Just when Madam Wei was wondering whether the emperor would reward her with gold and silver, or upgrade her imperial rank.
The emperor lamented, "It was because I failed to teach the deposed crown prince well that a good general like Wei Aiqing died so early. I feel deeply guilty.
After much deliberation, I have decided to have him buried in the imperial mausoleum, and I would like to ask Madam Wei for her opinion."
These words were like a bucket of cold water poured down on her face, and Madam Wei's expression changed immediately.
In the early days of the previous dynasty, in order to reward meritorious officials and generals, they would allow them to be buried in the emperor's mausoleum after their death to show the emperor's love for his meritorious officials.
Being buried in the imperial mausoleum and being remembered forever is the greatest honor for a subject.
However, the last few monarchs of the previous dynasty were foolish and trusted treacherous ministers, and most of those who were buried in the imperial mausoleum were treacherous ministers and eunuchs.
After the previous emperor established the Wei Dynasty, he did not follow the system of accompanying tombs.
But the emperor mentioned it today on his own initiative, which is still a great honor for his subjects. Usually, when subjects encounter such a situation, they will be grateful to the emperor.
But Madam Wei was stunned for a moment before she refused, "I thank Your Majesty for your grace on Qingyan's behalf, but Qingyan is still young and unworthy of such an honor.
Moreover, I only have Qingyan as my son, and I hope to see him from time to time.
If he were moved to the imperial mausoleum, offering sacrifices would be inconvenient. As I age, I'm afraid it will become even more difficult in the future. I hope Your Majesty will sympathize with my longing for my son."
If the grave is moved into the imperial mausoleum, the coffin must be opened and the bones reburied.
The emperor knew that Wei Qingyan was a woman, but the body in the coffin was that of a man.
At first, she was worried that Wei Qingyan's identity would be exposed to the world and the emperor would take the opportunity to deal with the Wei family.
Seeing that there was a male corpse in the coffin that looked similar to Wei Qingyan, he guessed that it was a substitute that Wei Qingyan had found for himself, so he didn't think too much about it and nailed the coffin shut.
At that time, she was sure that Wei Qingyan would blow herself up.
But if the emperor discovered that the coffin was not filled with the remains of a woman, how would she explain it? Would the emperor suspect that Wei Qingyan had faked his death?
Will she be charged with desertion in the face of the enemy and the General's Office of the Protectorate be punished?
The man repeatedly warned her that the emperor had long been wary of the Wei family and he would never lie to her.
She still depends on the protection of the General's Mansion for the rest of her life, and she can't let such a thing happen.
What's more, she had casually nailed the corpse into the coffin. When it arrived in the capital, the corpse was already rotten. She buried it directly on the grounds that Prince Rong had already helped Wei Qingyan to bury him.
If the tomb is moved this time and people find something unusual inside the coffin, once the emperor blames Prince Rong, there is no guarantee that Prince Rong will not betray her.
A mother, after her son died in battle, did not clean his body and left it buried in bloody and tattered clothes. What would the world think of her, and would the emperor punish her?
Seeing her making excuses like this, the emperor became furious.
Madam Wei had just entered the palace, and before he had time to summon her, Lan Shu brought Shi Yu and Chang Qingnian into the palace.
He originally thought that Lan Shu never wanted to see him again in this life.
He didn't expect that she would come to him on her own initiative so soon. But before he could be happy, he was so angry about what Lan Shu said that he wanted to chop off Madam Wei's head on the spot.
After Wei Qingyan died in battle, Madam Wei actually went to Huangshaling. She took advantage of Shi Yu's feelings for Wei Qingyan and asked Shi Yu to take Wei Qingyan's body to Beiling. She only returned to Beijing half a year later.
All the officials impeached Shi Yu for offending the national hero. He was also angry at Shi Yu's crazy behavior, but Madam Wei did not mention a word that it was her idea.
Instead, he followed all the officials in kneeling down and begging the emperor to make a decision for Wei Qingyan.
What Shi Yu did was indeed absurd, but he was a prince of the royal family. No matter how unruly he was, he was still his younger brother. How could he allow himself to be bullied by a concubine?
He had thought that was enough to make him angry.
Unexpectedly, Shi Yu told him that Madam Wei only took a quarter of an hour to embalm the body and nail the coffin.
The child died in battle, and his body must be covered with scars. From cleaning, to stitching, tidying up his appearance, to changing into burial clothes, the whole process would take at least an hour to complete.
A quarter of an hour could only mean that Madam Wei did not bury the child at all, but directly nailed the coffin lid shut.
Even if he was not Madam Wei's biological son, he was a soldier who sacrificed his life for his country. How dare she insult him like that?
Besides, that was his prince.
The emperor suppressed his anger, looked at Madam Wei, and said in a deep voice, "Although Wei Aiqing is young, he has made countless military achievements, and he defeated Wudan in two years. He deserves to be buried in the imperial mausoleum.
Besides, the Wei family has no male heirs, so who will support him in the future?"
If it is moved to the imperial mausoleum, the incense will continue to be worshipped.
"Your Majesty, please understand my feelings as a mother." Madam Wei knelt down and insisted.
"As far as I know, Madam Wei has not returned to the capital in the three years since she left Yongzhou." The emperor snorted coldly, "Why haven't I seen Madam Wei offering sacrifices to Lord Wei in the past three years?
Madam Wei is obstructing my will. Is there some reason I don't know?"
"Your Majesty, I am innocent. I haven't returned to the capital for three years because of my poor health. I feel guilty about this. I hope to visit my son's grave more often in the future..."
"I heard that Madam Wei was in great health in Yongzhou and could even play chess with Prince Jing in the middle of the night, which made Wanyi so sad that she had to take her young children and personally send you back to the capital."
Lan Shu slowly walked out from behind the screen and interrupted Madam Wei.
Madam Wei didn't expect that she was there too, and she didn't expect that she would know what happened in Yongzhou. Thinking about these days, she occasionally accompanied Yan Lan to see Wanyi, and guessed that it was Wanyi who told her.
He was resentful of Lan Shu, a madman, for coming out to mess things up, but he quickly explained, "These are all misunderstandings."
After saying this, she realized that this was not the most important thing at the moment, and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, if we talk about military achievements, my late husband's achievements are even greater than Qingyan's. How dare my son surpass his father..."
"Then let General Wei sneak into the imperial mausoleum. Madam Wei, this is an imperial decree." The emperor interrupted her coldly.
Last night, in front of the tomb of the National Defense General, he came up with this idea when he thought that the Wei family had no descendants and that his children would not even have someone to offer sacrifices to them in the future.
But he was worried that Lan Shu would object, so he decided to bring it up first to try. One reason was to upset Madam Wei's feelings, and the other was to see Lan Shu's reaction.
Now seeing that Lan Shu showed no objection, he immediately issued an imperial decree.
The kid deserved it, and he owed it to him.
At the same time, he also paid some attention to what Lan Shu had just said.
Madam Wei and King Jing played chess in the middle of the night? They were mother-in-law and son-in-law.
Unfortunately, Lan Shu didn't intend to say more to him.
The emperor was also thinking about how to make Madam Wei lose her composure, and he didn't have the mind to think about the gossip.
Madam Wei was completely speechless, her back drenched in sweat. On her way out of the palace with the imperial edict, her steps were unsteady, and her mind was full of thoughts about how to deal with what was going to happen next.
The emperor listened to the palace servants report on Madam Wei's situation and looked at Lan Shu. "I won't question her for now. Let's see what she will do and whether she has anyone to ask for help."
"Your Majesty is wise." Lan Shu responded insincerely.
The scene became quiet for a while.
Shi Yu and Wei Qingyan's eyes met in mid-air. Then, Shi Yu walked into the hall, lifted his robe and knelt down, "Your Majesty, I have something to confess."
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