Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Taiye Furong Weiyang Liu

"Amu!" I tugged at his sleeve, but changed my address again, and called out in a low voice, "Your Highness..." Amu raised his head and looked at me a little blankly.He was wearing a casual robe, and the plain robe made his eyes darker, and his expression seemed to be a little childish. Originally, according to the palace rules, I could not directly call the prince by his baby name, but when I entered the palace, I was seven years old, Amu was younger than me, he was only five years old, we two should be like brothers, I am older than him, everywhere protect him.When he couldn't memorize the book, I cheated for him under the eyes of the Taifu. When he was punished, I could imitate his handwriting perfectly and write a thick stack of copybooks for him without showing any flaws.Together we played slingshots, cricket fights, climbed trees in the imperial garden, and played tricks on those serious court ladies...

We have grown up gradually, but I know that the friendship between us has not changed at all.Amu will tell me any troubles, and I am always willing to find a solution for him. There are many things that bother Amu, His Majesty only has one son, so he naturally places great hopes on him.But in front of a wise emperor like His Majesty, everyone is so ordinary that they are almost insignificant. Amu once asked me: "How can I be like my father?" I can't answer. His Majesty is good at fighting. He has conquered the Western Regions four times, pacified Nanyi, conquered countless cities, and created a foundation that will last forever.Standing in front of the royal map, anyone will feel excited.In the more than a hundred years since the founding of the country, the territory of our dynasty has never been so vast.Every year at the time of tribute, all nations come to court, and all the barbarians are naturalized.I used to accompany Amu to stand on Chengtian Gate with His Majesty, and listen to the call of Long Live Mountain, the sound shook the nine cities, even ignorant boys like us felt the mountains shake and the ground tremble, and our blood surged.But His Majesty was stingy with giving even a smile. He would often just stand on the tower for a while, not even refusing to stay for a moment, and then he would order people to lower the curtain and go straight back to Xi Nei.It seems that all the supreme prosperity in this world is just a passing cloud in the eyes of the king's pride and indifference.

With such a royal father, I don't think Amu is pitiful. Your Majesty is proficient in bow and horse, and I also won the world on horseback in my court, so the education of the children of your family starts with riding and archery, and the art of literature is second.I was taught by my father himself. Among the children of the gentry, my kung fu is not bad, but compared with His Majesty, I am far behind. I once saw His Majesty make a move.That day, Amu and I accompanied His Majesty to walk in the garden. A pair of birds on the branch were singing happily. His Majesty took the slingshot from Amu's hand, squeezed a golden ball, and shot the pair of birds down.The so-called killing two birds with one stone is nothing more than that, one golden ball smashed the heads of the two birds to a bloody mess, almost smashed into powder, which shows His Majesty's astonishing strength.

Your Majesty doesn't much like things in pairs.In the past dynasties, the Bingdilian lotus appeared in the Taiye Pool in the palace, which was regarded as an auspicious omen, and it was indispensable to call the Hanlin scholars to write poems and poems.But in the second year of Qinhe, the Bingdi lotus appeared in the Taiye Pond, but no one dared to report it to His Majesty. In the end, the king's servant was bold enough to order someone to destroy the lotus quietly. Because of His Majesty's weird temper, when building Xiyuan, even the number of rooms in the supporting hall was odd.Zhang Lian, a doctor from the Ministry of Industry, is the most careless person, but he is very bold in this matter.Although the Ministry of Rites believed that this matter violated the ancestral system, Xiyuan was only a royal garden after all, not a serious palace, so it just turned a blind eye and closed its eyes.

The reason why the Ministry of Rites is so knowledgeable is because His Majesty's temper is becoming more and more violent year by year, but no one dares to persuade him. Your Majesty is not stupid, he still knows people and makes good use of them, and the government is in order. It's just that there isn't even a favorite concubine in the harem, and His Majesty doesn't get close to female sex very much, and occasionally hunts, which can't be called indulgence.The ministers were helpless against such a king who had no desires or addictions. It is said that some courtiers were very worried because His Majesty only had one son. For the royal family, such a meager son was naturally unavoidable.

Countless admonitions flew to Xi Nei like snowflakes, as if His Majesty would be sorry for the world if he had no more than ten or eight sons. But His Majesty just ignored it. After four years in Qinhe, the concubine Li finally became pregnant.Both the ruling and the opposition hoped that she would have another son for His Majesty, but Li's dystocia, struggled to give birth to a princess, and passed away. This is Princess Chaoyang. His Majesty bestowed the title on the princess with the name of Chaoyang Palace in the main hall, which shows how much he dotes on this daughter. Princess Chaoyang was indeed born with beautiful makeup and jade, very cute.Perhaps because of pity for her mother's death at birth, His Majesty often personally supported her, and even carried her to the court and put her on his lap.It seems that teasing immature girls is more important than all national affairs in this world.

The ministers were upset at first, but then they gradually discovered the benefits of Princess Chaoyang. For example, when His Majesty is furious and no one dares to disobey Tianyan, as long as the nanny hugs Princess Chaoyang, even a catastrophe can be eliminated invisible. Princess Chaoyang always giggled, stretched out her hand towards His Majesty, and threw herself into his arms. And when His Majesty picked her up, he must have been smiling. When Princess Chaoyang was four years old, she owned tens of thousands of households and countless servants.His Majesty even spared no effort to build a palace in Mount Li for her sake, just because Princess Chaoyang had a cough and asthma, and the imperial doctor advised her to soak in hot springs more.

Everyone in the world knows that only Chaoyang is regarded as the supreme treasure by His Majesty. Amu often said to me, Zhong An, I don’t know who will be blessed to marry Chaoyang in the future. I understand what he means, whoever marries Chaoyang will have everything in this world. Chaoyang grows up day by day, cuter and more naughty than when he was a child. In the entire palace, she was the only one who was carefree. I often hear her laughter, as clear as a silver bell, and like the most singing bird in the world, but isn't she a dexterous bird? After growing up, Chaoyang likes to be with Amu very much, because His Majesty only has one son and one daughter, and they are the only siblings.She often wore men's clothing and went out of the palace with us to play, anyway, no one in the palace dared to stop her.The three of us often go to tea shops on the street to drink tea, watch juggling, and listen to stories told by book artists.

It was a happy, pure, bright time. Looking back now, it was the happiest time in my life, with Amu by my side and Chaoyang. When Chao Yang died, both Ah Mu and I were heartbroken. The truly heartbroken person is His Majesty, but overnight, his hair turned completely white. He sat alone in Chaoyang Palace, silently ignoring anyone. Amu knelt outside the hall for a long time, but he was not summoned. His Majesty issued an edict to bury Chaoyang in Yuling. It was his own mausoleum, and everything was built according to the emperor's etiquette. Because of the huge project, it has not been completed yet, but now he wants to bury his most beloved little daughter.There was an uproar between the government and the public, and there were endless disputes. In the end, His Majesty only removed some Weng Zhong in front of the mausoleum, and shortened the Shinto by a few feet, as a slight gesture to calm the public opinion.

After leaving the court for ten days and the national mourning for a hundred days, His Majesty used all the methods allowed or not allowed by the etiquette system to pay homage to Chaoyang.In fact, the real suspension of the court was far more than ten days, because after that, His Majesty didn't pay much attention to the court. The memorials of all the officials were piled up at the gate of Zhongshu, and the Taifu couldn't help but sigh at Amu.Amu entered the palace several times, but was not summoned by His Majesty.I know that Amu is very worried, so I can only comfort him: "It will be fine when His Majesty is over this period of sadness."

It's just that everyone in the palace knows that His Majesty's sadness will never pass.It was as if he had completely changed, and he no longer had the slightest interest in anyone or anything.If he had been a cold and ambitious emperor before, now he was just a cold-hearted, mourning father. His Majesty's body was also deteriorating day by day, and for a while he was very ill, and at one point sent someone to summon a special envoy from Xiliang. Xiliang is the most peculiar vassal state under the Celestial Dynasty. It is small and weak, and suffers from desertification repeatedly.All other vassal states sent their princes to Beijing, nominally to learn the etiquette of the Central Plains, but in essence to be protons.But only Xiliang has no protons. Not only does it have no protons, the ruler of Xiliang is also very arrogant and rude, and often does not come to pay tribute. The strange thing is that His Majesty treats Xiliang with favor.Four expeditions to the Western Regions to pacify all nations, but only Xiliang was left behind. I once vaguely heard the old man in the palace mumble that maybe it was because of Empress Mingde. Both Amu and I know that Empress Mingde is a huge taboo, and it must never be mentioned. Empress Mingde was His Majesty's first spouse when he took the throne in the East Palace. Unfortunately, her life was poor and her fortune was shallow. She died of illness as early as the twelfth year of Yuanqing, before Her Majesty succeeded to the throne.His Majesty didn't seem to have much affection for the concubine who died young, until the ninth year of Qinhe, under repeated reminders from the Ministry of Rites, he reluctantly issued an imperial edict, posthumously naming her Empress Mingde.Twenty years later, this posthumous title was also hastily done, because Empress Mingde was buried in Dingling, and His Majesty did not issue an edict to rebuild the mausoleum according to the empress's etiquette, nor did he issue an edict saying that after ten thousand years, the posthumous concubine would let the posthumous Feng's queen was buried in Yuling. Before and after becoming the empress, His Majesty never paid homage to the original spouse who died young. According to legends in the palace, His Majesty disliked this original spouse very much, probably because of the marriage back then, he was forced to confer the crown princess on a foreign woman, which has always been regarded as a shame for the royal family.So in the history books, there is only a few words, but more than ten words, it has explained the life of Empress Mingde. A Mu firmly remembers that this matter is a taboo, because once Princess Chaoyang got a set of Hu clothes from somewhere and proudly wore them to meet His Majesty.As a result, His Majesty was furious, furious for the first time, and ordered all the people around Chaoyang to be rode to death.Chaoyang was so frightened that he cried so hard that he was overwhelmed by fright, and has been ill for more than ten days since then.And His Majesty was naturally regretful, and stayed by her side until she recovered. Concubine Chen Gui was deposed because of this. It is said that she instigated the princess to wear Hu clothes. When I accompanied Amu to visit Chaoyang, the old nanny whispered to us that His Majesty would most dislike someone who looked like Empress Mingde, and Concubine Chen Guifei urged the princess to wear a Hu suit. Ah Mu is so courageous, he even asked the nanny: "Then, does Ah Huang look like Empress Mingde?" Chaoyang's baby name is Fenghuang, and Ah Mu calls her Ahuang. The nanny shook her head with a stiff face, and said, "It's not like that at all, Empress Mingde is not as beautiful as a princess." I also think it is impossible to look alike, what kind of good looks can a Fanbang woman have? The nanny added: "Empress Mingde has fair complexion and a thin body. Although she is clever, she is not as beautiful and beautiful as women from the Central Plains." When she said this, she suddenly sighed, "It's almost thirty in a flash. It's been a year, I didn't expect..." She didn't say she didn't think of anything, I looked at Amu, he seemed to be thinking about something quietly. That was the first time His Majesty lost his temper with Chaoyang, and it was also the last time. A Mu once said that in this world, the only true love of His Majesty is the morning sun. Deep down in my heart, I silently agreed. But Chaoyang died. Since Chao Yang's death, His Majesty has been getting more and more tired of government affairs day by day, and his health has been getting worse day by day. He seems to be tired of government affairs and life itself at the same time.He no longer hunted or feasted, and usually stayed alone in the temple, neither drinking nor indulging in women, but his body continued to decline day by day. Chaoyang seemed to have taken away all the vitality in his life.Not only is his hair gray, but even his heart is dead.I have never seen a person who can be so sad. Amu and I are also very sad about Chaoyang's death, but it seems that it is still not as good as His Majesty's eventuality. Father personally entered the palace to persuade His Majesty.His father's health has also been poor, many years of fighting left him with numerous internal injuries, he has been so sick that he couldn't get out of bed, but he insisted on coming to the palace. The family couldn't resist him, so they had to carry him into the palace with a light chariot.All the servants in the palace were dismissed, and I was the only one who served him and knelt down before His Majesty.I felt that his whole body was shaking, and I couldn't let go of my father's hands. I knew that if I let go, he would fall down at any time.I also know that I should avoid it, but my father is so weak, there is no way for me to avoid it.His Majesty treated his father differently after all, he stretched out his hand himself, wanting to help him up. Father panted slightly, he held His Majesty's hand, just like I usually hold Amu's hand.He said, "Goro, she's dead." My father's voice was trembling, and his words were so soft that I could barely hear them.But His Majesty seemed to be in a daze. I looked at His Majesty's gray temples and cloudy eyes, and he was trembling slightly while holding his father's hand.Since when did His Majesty become such a decadent old man? The father took another breath and said, "She died thirty years ago." There seemed to be tears in his father's eyes, and he said, "Goro, wake up, she's already dead." I have never seen His Majesty have such an expression, he has always treated his father with gentle words and pleasant expressions, but at this moment it is almost ferocious, even the muscles on his face are distorted.He grabbed his father's skirt, and I saw the veins on the back of His Majesty's hand. His voice was almost hoarse because of his fierceness: "You are talking nonsense!" My father was shaking so hard that I couldn't breathe, and I didn't even dare to breathe.In the hall, there was only the sound of my father panting, one after another, like a dilapidated bellows.His Majesty's voice softened, and he even smiled, "Azhao, you know, she has gone back to Xiliang. She has deceived us all, even a shrewd person like you was deceived by her." gone." The father coughed and gasped, and called out in a low voice: "Your Majesty..." His eyes were sad and hopeless, as was his voice, "Princess Chaoyang is not her daughter, and the princess doesn't even look like her at all. You know clearly in your heart I also know that the princess is born of the Xianfei Concubine Li, and the Crown Princess has been dead for thirty years... I went to see her more than ten years ago, and the grass on her grave has already grown..." That was the first time I saw His Majesty cry, big tears, silently gushing out, rolling down on the lapel of his chest.The robe on his chest was embroidered with fine patterns, and the bright teardrop was on the dragon's head, seemingly falling but not falling.Father hugged His Majesty's knees, as if coaxing, comforting, and pity.His Majesty was like a child, finally crying "ho".