poor parents
Qi Yan and Nangong Jingnv went to the treasury to select the return gifts for the various governments. Nangong Jingnv said to Qi Yan very generously: "How many would you like to choose? Just choose!"
Qi Yan chuckled: "No need, His Highness gave a lot of rewards when the mansion was established, and the palace treasury of the Concubine's Mansion is almost too full."
Nangong Jingnv curled her lips: "Don't just keep yourself in the study every day, and move around occasionally~. The New Year is approaching, take some decent things to go to an old friend for a walk."
"His Royal Highness has a heart. I don't have many friends in Beijing, and the gifts are ready."
"What is it?" Nangong Jingnu asked curiously.
Qi Yan took a step forward, lowered her voice and replied, "I wrote a few words." After speaking, she blinked playfully.
Nangong Jingnu couldn't help laughing: "You're a sleazy person, but Lay Shepherd's words are hard to find, so it's a good gift."
Qi Yan: "If your Highness needs, I can write a few pictures and keep them as a return gift to save money?"
"I don't want it~ When did Ben Gong fall down to selling your words to maintain it!? Besides, how could I give away your things..." Nangong Jingnu only reacted after she finished speaking: she accidentally said what was in her heart and blushed. .
Qi Yan's eyes became more and more gentle, and she took Nangong Jingnu's hand: "Your Highness, let's go back."
"it is good."
Qi Yan stayed overnight in the Princess Mansion, and the next morning, she found an opportunity to ask Nangong Jingnu if she had thought about what she said about entering the palace.
Nangong Jingnu looked a little confused, but Qi Yan didn't say anything.
After all, her hints are too subtle, and it is indeed difficult for her who has never been involved in politics.
She accompanied Nangong Jingnv to lunch and forced her to play a game of chess. Anyway, it was only after the time of entering the palace that she left.
Qi Yan returned to the private house and first wrote a letter of worship to send Qian Yuan to Gongyang Mansion, and agreed to meet tomorrow. Then he took a calligraphy and painting and hurried to Xie An's mansion.
When they arrived at the Xie residence, they said a few words of greeting to Xie An in front of the servants, and the two came to the study.
"Brother Yuanshan, long time no see."
"Brother Xian came here today just to give New Year's gifts?"
"No, there is an urgent matter, Brother Yuanshan, please notify His Highness immediately. This kind of important event cannot let the Second Highness take the lead."
Xie An immediately raised his spirits: "Brother, please tell me, I will do it myself."
As a result, Qi Yan told Xie An the news that the farmers in Shiyi were detained in large numbers and awaiting conviction for failing to hand over all their offerings, and said: "This year's poor harvest is caused by both natural and man-made disasters. The affected area is very wide, and the number of farmers involved is unprecedented. It is the best time for His Highness to win over the hearts of the people!"
Xie An pondered for a moment, then asked cautiously: "But... Is it really convenient for His Royal Highness to speak about the relationship between agricultural income and taxation?"
Qi Yan hooked the corners of her mouth and replied firmly: "Brother Yuanshan, just go, if His Highness has the same suspicion, please tell him: With His Majesty's behavior of loving the people like children, I will find a reason to pardon these farmers in the end. , If His Highness doesn't go, the second prince will go too, farewell."
Qi Yan left, Xie An admired Qi Yan's mind for a long time, and did not dare to delay even though he had doubts in his heart, changed a set of clothes and hurried to Nangong Rang's mansion.
Sitting on the carriage back to the mansion, Qi Yan opened the curtain and looked out...
She gave Nangong Jingnv one night, but the other party did not understand the mystery, so Qi Yan made up her mind to "deprive" Nangong Jingnv of the right to intercede for the people this time.
This matter is too involved. If Nangong Jingnv cannot fundamentally discuss this matter with Nangong Rang and transfer the conflict to the national policy of the imperial court, once the news spreads, she will become a thorn in the eyes of the entire imperial class.
As long as the system of "exchanging banknotes for salt and attracting money" still exists, things that can't pay for offerings will definitely happen again. Every time the royal family will think: It is this high-ranking princess who has touched their core interests. It is inevitable that there are Depressed people are not good for her.
Qi Yan's eyes froze: Nangong Jingnu's life, except yourself... don't want to get involved!
Three days later, Nangong ordered a decree to pardon the peasant households who had not paid all their sacrifices this time, on the grounds that the second prince and the third prince both persuaded them at the same time, and I was kind and generous.
This made Qi Yan a little surprised, she thought Gu Feng shouldn't be so stupid...
For this reason, Nangong Jingnv specially asked Qi Yan to tell her the "good news": "I knew that the royal father would be extra-judicial! But it is not my credit. When I mentioned this matter with the royal father. , the father said that the second and third brothers have already been admonished."
Seeing Nangong Jingnu's slightly regretful and gratified expression, Qi Yan said, "Why don't your Highness return the rations needed for the new year to the farmers who rented the food fields of the Princess Mansion?"
Nangong Jingnu raised her chin and replied proudly, "You still need to say it? I have already told Qiu Ju to do it!"
…
Jingjia ten years New Year's Eve.
The year name falls on "ten", according to common sense, the scale of this year's palace banquet should be unprecedented, but the entire inner courtyard is shrouded in a cloud.
The fifty-two-year-old Nangong Rang fell ill again, and this time in the courtroom.
In the last court meeting of Jingjia's ninth year, Si Jiu presented a sealed memorial.
After reading it, Nangong Rang's old face was flushed with suffocation, and his eyes were staring.
The court meeting immediately became chaotic, and the civil and military officials rushed to escort them, but the four-ninth father-in-law opened his arms to block the imperial steps, and shouted: "The miscellaneous family see who dares to move!"
Hundreds of officials were stunned by the spirit of a servant, and they all knelt on the ground.
More than a dozen imperial doctors came, but the chief medical officer of the imperial hospital didn't say anything after the diagnosis.
What happened after Your Majesty? What's wrong? Is there any explanation? no one knows…
The chief of the Imperial Hospital was very puzzled: What is the reason for His Majesty to be so angry that he fainted
He told Sijiu the reason, who ordered him to keep his mouth shut.
The chief of the imperial hospital prescribed a prescription for decoction, and left four imperial physicians with the highest medical skills. They were waiting for twelve hours. The youngest imperial physician among the four: surnamed Ding, given name You .
The ministers were still waiting in the hall, and none of them dared to leave.
Si Jiu entered the inner hall and knelt down to Nangong Rang's bedside and called out "Your Majesty." There was no answer.
He noticed that in Nangong Rang's tightly clenched fist, a cloth horn was exposed...
After pondering for a long time, he opened Nangong Rang's fist and took out the silk cloth.
This is extremely disrespectful, even if Nangong Jingnu comes, it may not dare to, but forty-nine can.
Just because he has only been with such a master in his life, and this silk paper must have something to do with Nangong Rang's fainting, he thought just in case...
If there is something wrong with His Majesty, he can also figure it out, and he will avenge His Majesty after all his life!
Si Jiu opened the crumpled silk newspaper, and there was a small word carved like a knife on it: Your Majesty is looking down, and the minister Meng Yanwen risked his death to remonstrate.
In November of the ninth year of Jingjia, the minister ordered to go to Luobei to investigate and found that there was a song circulating among the local people.
The minister visited more than 60 counties and counties in Kyushu, and the people everywhere spread it.
The minister felt that something was wrong, and presented the song to His Majesty.
A pair of golden crows hang in the sky, the east is not bright and the west is bright. He Jinwu entered Qiongbao, and his prestige spread far and wide.
It was the ballad written by the third prince Nangong Wang in accordance with Qi Yan's strategy. The four or nine people who read little can't see through it hide the names of the second prince Nangong Wei and the fourth prince Nangong Zhen, but he also knows that there is only one in the golden crow in the sky. It is said that there are no two suns in the sky, and no two kings in the country.
Forty-nine read the silk paper several times, raised his sleeves to wipe the cold sweat on his forehead, smoothed the silk paper, folded it, and kicked it into his sleeves.
After thinking about it, he took out the silk paper and put it in his arms.
He kowtowed to Nangong Rang a few times: "Your Majesty, Master, you must not be in trouble. This old slave is willing to give you the rest of his life..."
Si Jiu looked at Nangong's gray hair, even a well-maintained emperor couldn't survive the baptism of time. In the past two years, his gray hair has been more than a day.
Si Jiu raised his sleeves and wiped his tears, picked up the whisk and walked towards the hall...
"Your Majesty has a decree: I am sick today, all ministers can go home on their own!"
"According to the order!"
Some courtiers were relieved, while others were skeptical: Your Majesty seems to be quite ferocious, why did you wake up in such a short time
Forty-nine left, and Zhongshu ordered Xing Jingfu to follow.
Taiwei Lu Quan put his fist to his lips and coughed weakly twice, his eldest son Lu Boyan looked at his father, Lu Quan squinted his eyes and turned his head to the place where Sijiu disappeared, the latter understood and quickly chased after him. go out…
Xing Jingfu: "Father Four Nine, please stay!"
Lu Boyan picked up the hem of his shirt and stood beside Xing Jingfu before Si Jiu could speak.
Xing Jingfu brushed his sleeves, took a step to the side, and let out a cold snort from his breath.
Lu Boyan's face was a little unbearable, but the other party usually fought against the Taiwei party. Even his father was afraid of him, so he could only endure it.
Si Jiu Yi shook the whisk in his hand, raised his clean chin, half-squinted turbid old eyes, fair skin and drooping old skin, he was always respectful to these adults on weekdays, but today he picked up the leader's inner servant He asked in a shrill voice, "Your Majesty's dragon body is ill, and the miscellaneous family has to rush back to serve. What are the two adults doing?"
Xing Jingfu smiled and bowed his hands to Sijiu: "Dare to ask your father-in-law, what special order does your majesty have."
Forty-nine: "No!"
Xing Jingfu: "While Your Majesty is resting, who will handle the affairs of the court? If there is an urgent matter, who should I ask to make a decision?"
Sijiu pondered for a moment, then bowed his hands to the sky: "Although Your Majesty's illness has come a little more urgently, the imperial doctor said that it was caused by overwork, and it can be cured by resting for ten days and a half. In two days, it will be New Year's Eve, until After the Shangyuan Festival, the dynasty will be suspended, and His Majesty has not specifically explained it."
Xing Jingfu felt that it made sense when he heard it, so he bowed his hands and left.
Sijiu looked at Lu Boyan again, the latter's smile was a little stiff: "Is it really okay, Your Majesty? Can this minister go..."
"Ah!" Lu Boyan yelled while covering his face, before he could finish speaking, he swung the whisk and swept it across his face.
"Presumptuous! The son of the Taiwei's mansion is really different, and he dares to curse His Majesty?!"
Lu Boyan's knees softened with fright, but the pride of the eldest son of the Taiwei's mansion would not allow him to crawl under the feet of a eunuch. He took a step back and took down the hand covering his face, his nose was already red from the whisk.
Lu Boyan: "This is definitely not what I mean. I'm just worried that Your Majesty wants to visit with your father-in-law. After all, my father is His Majesty's opposite-sex brother, and he is also the family of his children. At this time, Zheng Zhinian should also visit him about his love and reason."
Lu Boyan thought that he had brought out his father, and the relationship of this level of in-laws should be a little bit jealous of the other party. Even if he was not allowed to visit, he should say a few polite words and let him go.
Who would have thought that Si Jiu sneered and took a big step forward, holding an orchid finger almost to Lu Boyan's nose, and shouted sharply: "What kind of a piece of shit are you! This old slave was born in the Nangong Mansion, and he is still a son since his majesty. I was with him when I was there. At that time, you didn't know which old lady was in the calf! Don't say it was you, even if the captain came here, he wouldn't dare to talk to the miscellaneous family like this. Visit? According to who you are, your Majesty is sick, is a third-rank foreign minister qualified to visit?"
Lu Boyan has never dared to talk to him like this, let alone a eunuch!
His face was red and white, and he wanted to attack but didn't have the courage to "you" for a long time without uttering a complete sentence.
Si Jiu snorted coldly with a smile that was not a smile, threw his sleeves and turned to leave.
In normal times, he would never say much, but his master who had been loyally serving for more than 40 years suddenly collapsed, and Sijiu felt that his sky was also collapsing.
But he can't fall, His Majesty once said: he is the person he trusts most.
That sentence: A pair of golden crows hang in the sky, is it alluding to the two kings of the country
Although Sijiu didn't read many books, he firmly remembered every word of the master. He remembered that Nangong Rang was very disgusted and jealous of the Taiwei's mansion, so he naturally imagined "a pair of golden crows" as the Taiwei's mansion. The Lu Quan…
Don't say that Lu Boyan came to test him today, even if Lu Quan came in person, he would have to fight with all his life!
…
Nangong made him unconscious, and Si Jiu was like an ant on a hot pan, not knowing what to do.
The inner servant came to report: "Ms. Yafei is here."
Sijiu thought about it, and ordered the servant to invite Ji Ya to come in.
"Old slave see Empress Yafei."
Ji Yayan smiled sweetly, she has always been kind to Sijiu: "Why bother Father Sijiu to come and pick him up in person? I'll just go in by myself. Yesterday, I made an appointment with Your Majesty to have lunch today, and Your Majesty has no idea in the future. Biography, I'll come over to take a look. Your Majesty is approving the memorial?"
Si Jiu raised her hand and made a gesture of "please": "Empress Ya Fei took a step to speak."
The two came to a secluded place, and Ji Ya saw that Si Jiu was looking around nervously, and smelled the scent of medicine in the hall, and she already had the answer in her heart.
Sijiu: "To tell the truth, Your Majesty, he fell ill in the courtroom. Now he is in a coma!"
Sijiu didn't tell Ji Ya the reason why Nangong fell ill, and naturally he didn't mention the silk paper. He only said that the imperial doctor's diagnosis was overwork, and it will take some time to recover.
Ji Ya restrained her smile and said sternly, "Take me to see it."
Sijiu thought for a while, but still got out of the way: "Empress Yafei, please come here."
Ji Ya saw Nangong Rang, like an old man in old age, lying on the bed with a pale face and motionless, if it wasn't for the ups and downs in her chest, she would have thought that Nangong Rang was dead.
Ji Ya saw that Nangong Rang's lips were a little blue, and frowned: Could it be poisoned? But this speculation was quickly denied. Nangong Rang had to taste every dish before each meal, and even the tableware used by Nangong Rang was in charge of Si Jiu's first hand...
Jiya: "Your Majesty this is..."
Forty-nine: "As your mother can see, she is overworked and has slept for almost two hours."
Ji Ya: "Where's the medicine?"
Forty-nine had a sour nose, and said with restraint, "I've fed it twice, but I can't get it in!"
Ji Ya: "Bring a bamboo tube and bring the medicine over."
…
In the blink of an eye, Nangong Rang had been ill for two days, and even though the courtiers tacitly "closed up" on the matter, the word spread.
The imperial heirs did not receive the will of the palace banquet, and they also entered the palace to inquire about the reason.
Nangong woke up the middle a few times, but his state was not good, mainly because of slurred speech.
When he woke up for the first time, he seemed to want to say something, but he said the words "uuuuuuu", his eyes widened in fear and he couldn't believe it, his face turned red and he didn't say anything. After a complete sentence, I was shocked and angry and fainted again...
Si Jiu was frightened, and hurriedly called for the imperial doctor to disperse all the servants and closed the hall door and shouted in a low voice, "How did you show it to Your Majesty? His Majesty woke up just now, but he passed out without uttering a word!"
The imperial doctor was horrified, knelt down beside the bed to check the pulse for Nangong, then took out a silver needle and dropped the needle in the various acupoints on the top of his head, wiped the sweat on his forehead and replied, "Yes... sir, I am not sure yet, but your majesty The symptoms are somewhat similar to the disease of the typhoid epidemic in medical terms.”
"How to deal with it?"
"Chen... I will change the recipe for His Majesty first, and then take a look at it. Maybe it will be fine when His Majesty wakes up."
At night, Nangong Rang woke up again, and was crying in front of Nangong Rang's bed for four or nine years. A trace of sadness flashed on Nangong Rang's face, and he moved his mouth and tried hard to cry: "Guilty..." Hearing what he said, Nangong closed his eyes in despair.
But Si Jiu understood and wiped her tears: "The servant is here, Master~ you ordered."
Nangong Rang paused for a long time before spit out two words: "Zhibi!"
Forty-nine tumbling and crawling on the ground, he took the pen and paper and handed it to Nangong Rang.
Nangong Rang's hands trembled as he held the pen, but he was also unyielding. He held down his right wrist with his other hand, and wrote a paragraph: "Case Xing Jingfu into the palace..."
"It's a slave, let's go."
But Nangong Rang caught Si Jiu at the last moment...
Forty-nine: "What other orders does Your Majesty have?"
Nangong Rang shook his head, painted over what he had written, and wrote another line in a twisting manner: "Call Jing Nu."
Forty-nine: "Yes, the slave will do it now."
Today is New Year's Eve, Nangong Jingnv and Qi Yan should have slept together, but neither of them slept after the third watch.
Ever since Nangong let Nangong Jingnu's tears stop, Qi Yan has been by her side and said some comforting words, but with little success.
After attending the funeral of the eldest prince Nangongping, Nangong Jingnu seemed to have grown up a lot overnight. She had personally witnessed the fragility and impermanence of life, and she cherished the people around her even more.
Especially her father, who was over fifty years old, remembered that she used to be angry with her father, and once she was angry, she would hold back for several days without saying goodbye, waiting for her father to coax her.
Later, when Concubine Ya entered the palace, she felt that her father "betrayed" her mother and seldom re-entered the palace. Nangong let this illness bring back all the "unfilial" memories of Nangong Jingnu.
She was very afraid. Even if Qi Yan hugged her, coaxed her, or even kissed her, this fear of losing her close relative could not be dispelled.
"Your Highness!" Qiu Ju's voice came from outside the palace.
Nangong Jingnv felt that her heartbeat was about to stop, she got up and walked towards the gate of the hall, but she was so sad that she almost fell over because the rice water had not entered for a day.
Fortunately, Qi Yan took her in her arms. She looked down at Nangong Jingnu's face and red eyes, and felt a pain in her heart.
"Sit down, Your Highness, and I will take a look."
Nangong Jingnu nodded. Although she sat on the bunk bed, her eyes kept following Qi Yan's background.
Qi Yan opened the hall door and asked, "What's the matter?"
Qiu Ju gave a thousand blessings: "There are people in the palace, and Your Majesty has a decree to invite His Royal Highness to enter the palace immediately."
Nangong Jingnu heard the voice and ran over regardless of the dizziness: "I'll go!"
Qi Yan grabbed her arm, her eyes full of pity: "I will accompany Your Highness."
"it is good."
Sitting on the sedan chair, Nangong Jingnv urged her several times, and the sedan chair was bumpy, so Qi Yan hugged Nangong Jingnv in her arms.
Nangong Jingnu wanted to vomit, but she couldn't spit out anything.
When they arrived at the gate of Ganquan Palace, the two of them were stopped by Si Jiu who was waiting outside the main hall. He placed the whisk in front of Qi Yan: "Your Majesty has a decree, please only invite your Highness Zhen Zhen to enter."
Nangong Jingnv gave Qi Yan a guilty look just as she was about to say something, but Qi Yan said blankly, "My minister is here waiting for you."
Nangong Jingnu nodded, but she was finally worried, and asked Sijiu in a pleading tone: "Father-in-law, the concubine is weak, can Ye Shenhanzhong let him in and wait? Just stand at the door..."
When Qi Yan heard this, she couldn't tell what she felt in her heart: "His Royal Highness..."
Sijiu looked at Qi Yan and Nangong Jingnu, but put down the whisk in his hand: "Okay."
Nangong Jingnu picked up the hem of her palace attire and ran towards the inner hall, even though Qi Yan urged thousands on the way: Today is New Year's Eve and His Majesty is ill again, don't cry when you see His Majesty...
But Nangong Jingnv burst into tears when she saw her father who had always loved her leaning on the dragon bed with a pale face.
She ran a few steps, threw herself in front of the dragon's bed, and cried out, "Father!"
Nangong Rang's lips trembled, his eyes were red, he raised his hand and stroked the top of Nangong Jingnu's head. It was a married woman's hairstyle, and three thousand blue silk was wrapped around her head.
Nangong Rang was in a trance again: the years are really unforgiving, and the daughter who has grown up with her has been married for two years...
Nangong Jingnv burst into tears: "Father, how are you? My son is so worried about you, did the imperial doctor say the cause? When will you recover?"
Nangong Rang raised his hand. He seemed to have expected what Nangong Jingnu wanted to ask. He took a stack of rice paper from the pillow, and the first one that was spread out was the crooked words: "I'm fine, my son doesn't need to worry about it." The imperial doctor gave me acupuncture, and I cannot speak for a few days.
Nangong Jingnu sniffed and looked up at her father: "Really?"
Nangong Rang tried his best to raise the corner of his mouth and nodded, and patted the position beside him.
Nangong Jingnu sat on the dragon bed, and Nangong Rang took off the first piece of rice paper, only to see on the second piece of rice paper: "How is your concubine treating you?"
The tears that Nangong Jingnv had just stopped were about to burst again. She always felt that the scene in front of her was like the last explanation, and she didn't want it.
But he still said: "Father, don't worry, Qi Yan treats his son very well. He is very obedient and doted on. The son is very happy with him every day. Thank you father for pointing out this good marriage for the son. "
Nangong Rang sighed softly, and the guilt in his eyes just dissipated. He pushed aside the rice paper, and the third one was revealed again: I have decreed that my son's food estate will be raised to 10,000 households, and it will not be hereditary.
Nangong Jingnv was shocked: "Imperial father? This is absolutely impossible!" The princess' food town can only be passed down to three generations at most, and hereditary ignorance violates the etiquette system.
Nangong Rang shook his head firmly, and took out the fourth piece of rice paper, which read: "I, I am afraid that I will rest for a while. In my son's opinion, which imperial brother can be worthy of the responsibility of supervising the country?"
Nangong Jingnu got up and was about to kneel, but Nangong Rang held his arm, coughed a few times, and then clicked the words with difficulty.
Nangong Rang has no direct son, and he is not satisfied with any of the many princes. If he can choose a standout, he has already established himself, so why wait until today
He thought about it for a long time before Nangong Jingnv came, and finally decided to listen to his daughter's opinion.
At least she can see which imperial brother her daughter is friends with. If she has such a day, I hope that the imperial brother she chooses will not forget her past kindness and protect her beloved daughter for the rest of her life.