"But father..." Li Wanting frowned. It was an honor to be with Gu Yanwei. Li Wanting had never thought that she could become the queen.
"Don't think too much. You are my only good daughter. Everything your father does is for you. Just wait. Your father will enter the palace soon."
The time of one stick of incense has passed, and Gu Yanwei is getting very anxious.
"Why hasn't Li Sheng come yet?" As soon as the words fell, the voice of Eunuch Li was heard outside the door.
"Your Majesty, General Li has arrived."
"Let him in!"
"I will pay my respects to your majesty!"
"My dear, please get up. Today is Double Ninth Festival. I called you here so late because there is something very important."
"But as for the Xiongnu, I heard that they got some elephants from somewhere, and they are extremely brave. Our soldiers suffered heavy casualties."
Gu Yanwei nodded, "Yes, now, the court has sent out two generals and 100,000 elite soldiers, and now they are all seriously injured. General Li, now I have no choice but to send you to reinforce."
"Your Majesty, I will devote myself to the court until my death. However, I am old now and may not be able to come back. But my daughter is well-behaved and smart, and I am really worried about her."
Li Sheng suddenly knelt down and said, "If you want me to send troops, I have only one condition. Please agree to it, Your Majesty!"
"General Li, please speak!"
"My daughter entered the palace a few years ago, and by chance she was saved by the emperor. Since then she has been deeply in love with the emperor. Now she is past the age of marriage, but she still does not want to get married. If I die, the only thing I will worry about is my daughter. I hope the emperor can make my daughter the queen."
"What?! Li Sheng, you are so bold."
Gu Yanwei never expected that Li Sheng would put forward such unreasonable conditions.
"I know my conditions are indeed excessive, but the late emperor gave me the military token, and only I can mobilize those 200,000 troops. I hope Your Majesty can consider it carefully."
"You are threatening me?" Gu Yanwei was furious.
"I dare not!"
The two of them confronted each other like this. The war against the Huns was urgent. If they waited a moment longer, one more person would be sacrificed. But if she agreed to Li Sheng, how could she be worthy of Qingqiu?
Before they knew it, it was daybreak, and early in the morning, General Li's mansion received the imperial edict.
"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims that General Li Sheng's daughter, Li Wanting, is gentle, virtuous, dignified, and intelligent. Therefore, from today onwards, she will be promoted to Empress Dowager Cixi, and will be crowned Empress in ten days."
"Will the Emperor really enthrone me as queen?" Li Wanting never imagined that in just one night, she would become the queen and be able to face Gu Yanwei day and night from then on. This was something she had never dared to think about before.
"Miss Li, it's true. Please accept my order."
Li Wanting stood up tremblingly and took over her long-awaited dream. However, compared with the joy in the general's mansion at this time, Gu Yanwei was pacing in Chengchun Palace with unspeakable sorrow between his brows.
The door in front of him was suddenly pushed open, and Shen Qingqiu walked out.
"Your Majesty, why are you standing outside?" Shen Qingqiu saw that he was worried, frowned, and walked to Gu Yanwei.
"What is it, your majesty?"
Gu Yanwei tightly grasped Shen Qingqiu's hand, and after a long while he finally spoke: "Qingqiu, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't keep my promise to you."
——
Ten days later, the wedding took place.
Liu pushed open the door and looked at Shen Qingqiu who had been hiding in the room for ten days. She shook her head, walked up to her with the porridge in her hand and said, "Qingqiu, His Majesty also has his difficulties. He hasn't eaten well since he came back from the palace. Mother cooked some porridge for you. Please eat a little."
Shen Qingqiu just sat there quietly, like a porcelain doll, and shook his head, "Mom, I can't eat."
No wonder they say love is a tormenting word. She felt so uncomfortable even before she was deeply involved in it. Fortunately, she was not deeply involved in it.
Seeing her daughter so sad, Liu could do nothing to help and could only feel sad with her.
The stars and the moon quietly climbed up into the sky. Li Wanting, wearing her wedding dress, sat happily on the bed in Fengwu Palace, imagining what the scene would be like when Gu Yanwei came and saw her.
But she didn't know how long she had been waiting. The sky had already brightened, but there was no sign of Gu Yanwei. Li Wanting finally lifted her veil and stood up. The maid who was serving her was already drowsy.
Hearing the noise, he suddenly woke up, "My Lady."
"Where is the emperor?" Li Wanting frowned, the joy in her eyes no longer there.
"My lady, I don't know."
Li Wanting took off the crown on her head and was about to go out, but was stopped by the maid beside her, "Your Highness, you must not do this. You just got married to His Majesty. It is really inappropriate to go out like this."
Li Wanting was also afraid that Gu Yanwei would hate her because of this, so she stopped.
"Go and find out where His Majesty has been and why he was not seen on the wedding night."
"yes."
At this moment, in the imperial study, Gu Yanwei had been reviewing memorials all night.
Eunuch Li glanced at the sky outside, then walked up to Gu Yanwei again and said, "Your Majesty, it's almost dawn. Today is your wedding day, and the Queen is still waiting for you in Fengwu Palace."
Finally, Gu Yanwei raised his head from the pile of memorials in front of him and glanced at the sky outside. It was already getting slightly brighter.
"It's time to go to court."
Watching the emperor leave, Eunuch Li shook his head helplessly, so he also felt sorry for Shen Qingqiu, but now Li Wanting has become the queen, and the emperor's actions will only cause dissatisfaction among the court.
Li Wanting sat lonely in Fengwu Palace all night until dawn, and changed her clothes with the help of the palace servants.
"Your Majesty should have finished the morning court by now. Bring some cakes and we'll go pay our respects to the Emperor."
"Yes." The palace maid also hung her head. She could never have imagined that her young lady would suffer such humiliation on her wedding night.
Even though she was left alone in an empty room on her wedding night, Li Wanting could not feel hatred towards Gu Yanwei. At this moment, she still couldn't wait to see him.
After waiting for about an incense stick of time, only Eunuch Li came back. Li Wanting walked over with cakes and asked softly, "Eunuch, why are you the only one back?" Li Wanting looked past Eunuch Li and frowned as she asked, "Where is His Majesty?"
The emperor did not see the wedding last night. After the emperor left the court today, he hurried to the Hou Mansion. Eunuch Li looked at the newly-enthroned queen in front of him and was really speechless.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty has gone to the residence."
"What?" Li Wanting couldn't believe that her newly married husband would just ignore her like that.
——
"Miss, Miss." Shen Qingqiu's personal maid ran to Shen Qingqiu's room happily, her eyes full of uncontrollable excitement. Looking at her, Shen Qingqiu frowned and said, "How come you have been in the palace for so long, but you haven't learned any rules at all."
The maid scratched her nose and said, "No, Miss, it's His Majesty who has come."
As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Qingqiu stood up. Perhaps because she hadn't eaten well these days, her feet felt a little weak and she was wobbling and almost fell. But at this moment, Gu Yanwei came in and quickly supported her.
Looking at his still handsome face, Shen Qingqiu had to admit that she missed him very much, like crazy.
But he still stubbornly pushed the person in front of him away, and Shen Qingqiu said awkwardly: "What are you doing here, Your Majesty? Shouldn't you be accompanying the Queen now?"
"Qingqiu." Gu Yanwei turned to Shen Qingqiu, gently held her hands and said: "Qingqiu, I have no choice but to make Li Wanting the queen, but you know that I only have you in my heart."
Now he is the emperor, but he is still so cautious in front of me. If he says he is not moved, he is lying to himself. How can Shen Qingqiu bear to ignore him anymore?
Forget it, why bother about this false reputation?
"I know you are helpless now, and there is nothing I cannot tolerate. But remember, I am willing to tolerate it for you because you are the one I love. If you betray me in the future, I will not show mercy."
Gu Yanwei just held her hand and said, "If I betray you, God will not forgive me."
In Fengwu Palace, Li Wanting has had a gloomy face ever since she came back from Jincheng Palace, and all the servants in the palace, big and small, dared not say a word.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor is here, the Emperor is here." Chun'er, the personal maid, ran in excitedly.
Li Wanting immediately wiped away her tears and stood up. But just as she was about to go out to greet the emperor, Gu Yanwei walked in. But to Li Wanting's surprise, there was a woman beside him.
"Princess?" Li Wanting frowned.
"Empress, I was busy in the Imperial Study last night and didn't have time to come and see you. You won't blame me, will you?"
Li Wanting smiled and shook her head, hiding the bitterness in her heart and said, "Your Majesty is busy with many things, so I naturally won't."
"The Queen is indeed virtuous. By the way, you should have seen that from now on Qingqiu is Consort Hui. The two of you will take care of the affairs of the harem together and share my worries. What do you think, Queen?"
Looking at the woman in front of her, Li Wanting was stunned for a moment, but she came back to her senses after just a moment, "It is my blessing to be able to become a sister with the princess."
"That's good. The Queen is indeed magnanimous. Please take a rest first." As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Yanwei took Shen Qingqiu's hand and prepared to leave.
"Your Majesty." Li Wanting hesitated to speak.
"Is there anything else, Queen?"
Looking at the intimate figures of the two, Li Wanting shook her head and said, "Farewell, Your Majesty."
Only after the two figures disappeared from her sight did Li Wanting turn around and sit on the bed. At this moment, she was like a doll with its soul taken away.
"Your Majesty, how could the Emperor do this? He just married you, how could he take her as a concubine at this time, and..." The maid pouted and didn't have the heart to say the rest.
Li Wanting shed tears silently, her fists clenched tightly on the bedside.
What else could she ask for? The position of Queen was something she had never dared to dream of, and now it was hers. She even dreamed of winning the heart of the Emperor. You heard her laughing at herself.
On the other side, Gu Yanwei and Shen Qingqiu finally resolved their misunderstanding, and they walked hand in hand in the imperial garden.
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