"So..." Jin Suting didn't know about this. After all, it was the "unofficial history" of the Mother of the Nation. No one told her, and no one dared to talk about it.
"So she has a bad temper," Helan Ruizhe dipped his ink and began to decorate his eyes, "because when she was taken back to the palace, she was stopped by all the ministers. Empress Lingde, the late emperor's empress, also disliked grandma."
"Why? Isn't the Queen Mother their biological daughter?" Jin Suting really couldn't understand. It was obviously a good thing that her daughter who had been lost for many years was found. She should be happy!
"..." Helan Ruizhe was silent for a while, his hand holding the pen hung in the air for a long time, not knowing where to start.
Jin Suting noticed that something was wrong with him and asked, "Is it inconvenient to talk about it?"
"It's convenient." Helan Ruizhe glanced at Jin Suting before continuing to paint, dotting a mole at the corner of the person's lips in the painting.
"It's just too complicated. To put it briefly," Helan Ruizhe dipped his brush twice more, "Grandma was once a disciple of Hanshan. During the time of the previous emperor, Hanshan was opposed to the imperial court."
Jin Suting seemed to have realized something: "So the ministers tried their best to stop it because the Queen Mother was Hanshan's apprentice. Are they afraid that Hanshan would lead her astray and eventually turn against the court?"
Helan Ruizhe chuckled. What kind of adjective was that? But it made sense. He nodded and said, "You are right, but later Hanshan was recruited. It was all thanks to grandma."
"Hanshan, sounds very powerful," Jin Suting thought. Anyone who could go against the imperial court must be very powerful. "The Queen Mother is also a very powerful person. She was able to recruit her."
Helan Ruizhe painted the hair and eyebrows of the person in the painting, distractedly communicating with her: "The greater credit does not belong to her, but to another person."
Jin Suting listened attentively, afraid of missing any information, because she had to prepare a birthday gift for the Queen Mother!
"Who is it?"
Helan Ruizhe glanced at Jin Suting in surprise. He didn't expect her to be so interested. But then he seemed to have thought of something. He lowered his eyebrows and chuckled, saying, "Nangong Si, the younger brother of the former Nangong family head."
Nangong family?
She knew that Nangong Wan, the Minister of Dali Temple, was from the Nangong family.
Helan Ruizhe continued, "Nangong Si is also a disciple of Hanshan, grandma's junior apprentice. They also have a senior apprentice brother, your father, General Jinzhuang."
"My father?" Jin Suting never expected that her father was also from Hanshan, and was also the senior brother of the Queen Mother.
"Yes." Helan Ruizhe nodded calmly, "But General Jin did not participate in the recruitment. The reasons behind this are very complicated and long. I will simply tell you the simplest ones. Grandma is very sensitive about Hanshan's affairs and forbids anyone from mentioning them. I am afraid that you will be used by someone with ulterior motives."
Jin Suting was a little unhappy when the story suddenly stopped midway through. She asked, "Then how do you know so much?"
Helan Ruizhe said: "I grew up in the palace as a child."
Jin Suting didn't understand and asked, "But isn't it forbidden to spread this in the palace?"
Helan Ruizhe helplessly explained: "When grandma first entered the palace, the first maid she had was my wet nurse. She told me everything."
Jin Suting spoke quickly: "Where is she now?"
She wanted to ask too.
Helan Ruizhe suddenly lowered his voice: "She has been dead for many years."
"Just because I said something wrong."
"What?" Jin Suting had no intention of asking further questions, but just answered out of habit.
Helan Ruizhe had originally intended to tell her that these were no secrets to him, and even if there were secrets, he would tell her everything.
He said, "I haven't told you about my father."
Jin Suting shook her head.
He said: "He died in battle when I was four years old, before he could ascend the throne."
Jin Suting didn't expect him to bring up this topic on his own initiative. She didn't know what to say for a moment, and finally just said, "I'm sorry."
If she hadn't asked today, this topic wouldn't have been brought up.
But how could Helan Ruizhe blame her? It was he who brought it up in the first place.
"This has nothing to do with you. I just wanted to talk to you about it."
"Um."
"My mother left Funing after my father passed away. I don't know exactly where she went. I searched for her for three years, but there was no news. So when I was four years old, I was without my parents. Even children understand the feeling of missing someone. When I cried, my wet nurse would tell me about my parents and my grandmother. One day, I accidentally asked my grandmother, 'When will Grandpa Nangong take me out to play?' My grandmother broke down and yelled at me, 'Nangong Si is not your grandfather!' I cried so hard and was deeply impressed. I have remembered it for more than ten years."
"And what happened next?"
"Later, my grandmother found out that it was my wet nurse who told me these things, so she ordered her to be killed. I have remembered this incident for more than ten years."
After Helan Ruizhe finished speaking, he lowered his head, hiding his expression so that it could not be seen clearly.
Jin Suting felt a little sorry for Helan Ruizhe. He spoke lightly, and it looked like a scab-covered wound. But in reality, he was like a bewildered child, still repenting for what happened that year.
Jin Suting put down the grinding work, walked over, gently covered Helan Ruizhe's shoulders with her palm, silently comforting him.
Helan Ruizhe chuckled and turned to look at her: "I'm not that fragile, don't worry!"
"Next, I have to tell you that grandma likes to eat."
"Like to eat?!" Jin Suting also likes to eat. She didn't expect that she had the same interests and hobbies as the Mother of the Nation.
Helan Ruizhe nodded, confirming that she had heard correctly. "As far as I can remember, every day ministers or foreign envoys have offered snacks, local specialties, or feasts to Grandma, and she has always accepted them."
Jin Suting suddenly came up with a brilliant idea. She thought, she knew what birthday gift to give to the Queen Mother!
"I know what to give to the Queen Mother! Helan Ruizhe! Thank you!" Jin Suting almost picked him up and spun him around because she couldn't hold him.
Helan Ruizhe was pushed aside by the excited Jin Suting and stepped aside. Jin Suting saw the person in his painting clearly.
I was standing too far away just now and my mind was not on the painting, so I didn't notice it. But now I can see it clearly, the one painted on it is her!
"You drew me secretly?!"
And she was smiling in the reed marsh - when they were in the east of the city that day, there was a reed marsh next to the small river where they stayed.
Helan Ruizhe actually remembered it and was able to draw it.
"I didn't steal you, aren't you mine?"
"shameless!"
In fact, Jin Suting was not annoyed. Instead, she carefully admired the painting. She was the only one in the painting. She asked, "Why aren't you here?"
Helan Ruizhe said: "I am too handsome, the painting can't fit me."
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