The Empress
But in half a month, Shangguan Wu arrived.
He was the only one who came with a few confidants and guards. After inquiring about it, he found out that Shangguan Wu immediately came with his confidants day and night after receiving the news, but Shangguan Youhe was too young to bear the bumps, so Shangguan Wu arranged a large team to escort him. You He walked slowly behind.
Shangguan Wu's face was covered with beards, his eyes were bloodshot, and his hair was messy, just like a raging and exhausted lion.
Going to the main hall, Shangguan Wu stood in the middle of the court looking at Nangong Jingnv for a long time, before kneeling on one knee and bowing: "Chen, Shangguan Wu, see Your Majesty."
The majesty of the Son of Heaven cannot be looked directly at, let alone glared at. Shangguan Wu's behavior has already constituted a crime of arrogance, but the old Confucians in the court should not have seen it, and they were silent. Nangong Jingnu also felt guilty and did not criticize him sentence.
Nangong Jingnv: "The Great General Wang Mengli is flat and came from a long way. It's hard work."
Shangguan Wu cupped his hands: "I also invite Your Majesty Rong Chen to see his wife."
Nangong Jingnv sighed softly: "After retreating from the court... My eldest brother-in-law came with me."
Shangguan Wu: "Yes."
After going down to court, Nangong Jingnv took Shangguan Wu to the side hall of Ganquan Palace. No one spoke on the way, and the atmosphere was terribly quiet.
When I came to the side hall of Dingling, there was a black veil hanging outside the door. Many palace people knelt outside the door wearing sackcloth and filial piety. It's been half a month inside, and because of... the weather is hot, although I used ice cubes, but... the eldest sister's body is already... I ordered someone to seal the coffin on my own, and I don't want to surprise Fu'er, he is still a child."
After Shangguan Wu heard what Nangong Jingnu said, the seven-foot-tall man's eyes were red, and he stood outside the door and didn't take a step.
Nangong Jingnu: "eldest brother-in-law..."
Shangguan Wu: "Your Majesty, can I borrow a place for my minister to bathe and change clothes. The minister came all the way and was very dirty. I don't want to... let Your Highness see me like this."
Shangguan Wu's voice was low and there was a hint of hoarseness. Hearing that, Nangong Jingnu's eyes were also red.
Even after a few days, this guilt and heartache has not been reduced by half.
Nangong Jingnu: "Come on, take the general king to bathe and change clothes."
Servant: "According to the order."
Shangguan Wu bowed his hands to Nangong Jingnu again and followed the servant.
After more than half an hour, Shangguan Wu came back, took off his shirt, removed his sword, and put on a robe of Confucianism and plain clothes.
Shangguan Wu went directly into the mourning hall. Shangguan Fu, who was kneeling in front of the coffin, lost more than a circle of weight. His face was as big as a palm, and his eyes were extraordinarily large. On the other side of the coffin was Qi Yuxiao, who was also dressed in hemp and filial piety. , the emperor could not keep filial piety to the vassal king, so Qi Yuxiao replaced Nangong Jingnu.
After school these few days, Qi Yuxiao will appear in the mourning hall on time after eating, and has been accompanying Shangguan Fu to keep filial piety to Nangong Su Nu.
When Shangguan Wu saw Qi Yuxiao kneeling in the coffin, his face became a little better. When Shangguan Fu saw his father, he got up from the futon with difficulty, big tears overflowing from his eyes, and called out, "Father."
Qi Yuxiao: "Yuxiao has seen the eldest uncle."
Nangong Jingnu took Qi Yuxiao's hand: "eldest brother-in-law, I'll take Yuxiao out first."
Shangguan Wu held Shangguan Fu with one hand and stroked the coffin board of golden nanmu with the other: "Thank you."
…
On this day, the father and son of the Shangguan family stayed in the mourning hall for a whole night. Nangong Jingnv ordered that no one should go in to disturb them.
At night, Nangong Jingnu came to half the forbidden palace, alone, with a jar of wine in her hand.
Gu Ruolan had already prepared dinner, and only brought her own meal back to the side hall, leaving the venue to Nangong Jingnv and Qi Yan.
Qi Yan was already waiting at the door, and saw Nangong Jingnv take the wine jar and took the initiative, and then took Nangong Jingnv's hand into the hall.
Nangong Jingnu: "The Great General King is here today."
Qi Yan: "It seems to be some time sooner than expected."
Nangong Jingnv nodded and said with a sense of loss: "He only brought eight people to Beijing in total, and the rest of the army accompanied You He to Beijing slowly at the rear."
Qi Yan: "That's it."
Nangong Jingnu sat down at the table and said in a low voice, "Today...I've been thinking about whether we have the hearts of villains. Today's eldest brother-in-law...don't want to come here to ask for guilt, he's just a middle-aged wife who lost his wife. Ordinary people."
Qi Yan thought for a while and replied: "It is human nature to be saddened by such misfortune, but the imperial court still has to take precautions so as not to be passive. If the general king can continue to maintain normalcy in the love of the eldest sister, it will be unfortunate. Fortunately, people's hearts are always unpredictable, and after he returns to the fief, his thoughts will change, so let's deploy according to the plan."
Nangong Jingnv nodded, patted off the sealant of the wine jar and poured herself a cup, Qi Yan held a bamboo chopstick and placed a piece of tofu for Nangong Jingnv: "Drinking on an empty stomach is the most harmful to the body, Your Majesty eat something first One mat, sister Ruolan's craftsmanship is very good."
Nangong Jingnv ate the tofu silently, then took up the wine glass and drank it.
Qi Yan gave Nangong Jingnu another dish, and the latter still ate it silently and drank another cup.
Seeing Nangong Jingnv like this, Qi Yan only felt distressed in her heart. She would rather see Nangong Jingnv cry than to see her look so sad, but ah... After all, this person in front of her has grown up. With age and mental maturity, coupled with the addition of the throne of God, I can no longer express my emotions as wantonly as before.
At this moment, Qi Yan hated her incompetence a little bit. If she was really as desperate as Nangong Jingnu thought, she should protect her from being hurt a little bit.
Qi Yan gave Nangong Jingnu another dish, watched her eat it, and raised her hand to take a wine glass.
Before Qi Yan's hand could touch the wine jar, Nangong Jingnu held it.
Nangong Jingnu: "What are you going to do?"
Qi Yan: "I have a drink with Your Majesty."
Nangong Jingnv: "No, drinking hurts your body. You're still drinking medicine and it's not easy to drink. Just sit and accompany me."
Qi Yan: "The body of this minister is clear to me. It's not as bad as His Majesty thinks. Besides... It used to be a lie to say that you can't drink alcohol. Prairie people are born to drink."
Nangong Jingnv: "No, I don't allow you to drink alcohol. At least you have to wait until your body is completely healed. At most, you are allowed to pour wine and vegetables for me."
Qi Yan looked at Nangong Jingnu, with tenderness and pity flowing in her amber eyes: "What about Your Majesty? Knowing that drinking will hurt your health, wouldn't this minister feel distressed?"
Nangong Jingnu's eyes reddened, she turned her head away from her tears, pressing one of her soft weeds on the wine jar, and muttered, "Just let me go this time, except for drinking, I have already I don't know what else to do, at least... I feel at ease when I'm drunk with you. If you're not allowed, I don't even have a place to drink."
Qi Yan took the wine jar and poured a glass for Nangong Jingnu, and said guiltily, "If your majesty wants to get drunk, this minister will pour the wine for you. If you are drunk, take a good sleep, and tomorrow the minister will wake up your majesty."
Nangong Jingnu replied sincerely, "Thank you."
…
Nangong Jingnu used to like to drink the most, and it can even be said that she is a bit greedy. When she left the palace, she almost emptied the inner court wine cellar. She seldom drinks, even if there is a palace banquet, it's just a matter of taste, just because she doesn't want to delay the political affairs because of drinking, even if it is a slim possibility, she still gave up one of her favorite things in the past.
Half a jar of wine entered her stomach, and Nangong Jingnu felt a little drunk, holding her forehead with her jade hand, squinting her slightly drunk eyes, looking at Qi Yan, and tears streaming down her eyes.
Although Qi Yan felt distressed, she breathed a sigh of relief. What she feared most was that Nangong Jingnu kept her sadness in her heart, and it was always good to cry.
Qi Yan lifted the stool and moved it in the direction of Nangong Jingnv, hugging Nangong Jingnv's shoulders.
Qi Yan: "Your Majesty can cry if you want, there are no outsiders here."
Nangong Jingnu leaned on Qi Yan and tugged at Qi Yan's sleeve, tears streaming down her face: "You know what? Since I became emperor, I can't even do the simplest things I thought before."
…
Nangong Jingnv: "I can't cry, I can't complain, I can't even give the elder sister a wake-up call. I just stayed in the mourning hall for so long a few days ago, and someone from the inner court department came to persuade me to leave, and said something humble and not respectful. , If I stay in the mourning hall for a long time, the soul of the eldest sister will not rest in peace."
…
Nangong Jingnv: "My eldest sister's death was all caused by my negligence... The old man's behavior was very abnormal that day. I think he must have assassinated me while the inner court was empty. The eldest sister saw the clue and forced the old man to protect me Pulled away, if the eldest sister is not here, I will be the one who will die! The eldest sister saved my life, lost her life, and left a pair of such small children, but what about me? I can’t even keep her spirits up.”
…
Nangong Jingnv: "I saw my eldest brother-in-law, he was obviously furious, but he wanted to kneel in front of me... I don't know how to make up for the mistakes I made, and what is the power status of this person under ten thousand people? I can't even show the most ordinary feelings, I'm going to lock you up and hide... Because of me, you can't see the light."
Qi Yan: "Your Majesty..."
Nangong Jingnv: "Don't coax me, I have to listen to too many insincere words every day, hypocritical flattery, don't you want to be as good as them? Who says the emperor is innocent? It's wrong, it's wrong. …”
Qi Yan could only embrace Nangong Jingnu and listen to her grief, until the other party's voice became smaller and smaller and stopped abruptly.
Qi Yan turned her head, Nangong Jingnu was already asleep, tears still hanging from the corners of her eyes.
Qi Yan knew that the other party must not have had a good rest these days. She was thin and haggard, but she still had to support the world, and she... couldn't help anything.
Qi Yan took a deep breath, picked up Nangong Jingnu horizontally, and walked to the bed with difficulty to put it down. Do some hard work and you will be out of breath.
No, Qi Yan stood in front of the bed and gasped for a while, and went to clean up the dishes. After returning, she washed a clean cloth and wiped Nangong Jingnu's face, took off her shoes and socks, and went to bed with the lights off.
Qi Yan lay sideways on the bed, staring at Nangong Jingnu through the moonlight, and muttered, "Does your majesty know? How much does this minister want to share your worries for you?"
…
At Shangguanwu's request, Nangong Sunu's coffin stayed in Ganquan Palace for nearly ten days, until Princess Danyang Shangguan Youhe entered the palace, Shangguanwu carried his daughter into the mourning hall and said to Youhe, "Youhe, Here... your mother is lying there."
You He was the age of babbling, and she had never seen a coffin and didn't know what death was. When the little girl heard that her mother was inside, she immediately laid her upper body on the coffin board excitedly, and patted her with a pair of small hands. Holding the coffin board, he called out in a milky voice: "Mother, mother, come out quickly."
Today is the day when Princess Qionghua wakes up and is buried, Empress Nangong Jingnv, Princess Zhuohua Nangong Shunv, Shangguan Wu, and some royal relatives of the younger generation: Shangguan Fu, Shangguan Youhe, Qi Yuxiao, and the son of Lu Zhongxing , the boy who adopted Nangong Shu's knees, and the sons of several deceased princes.
Shangguan Youhe's remarks made many people in the field have red eyes.
Nangong Shunv covered her face and wept, Nangong Jingnv wept silently, and the strong general Wang also had red eyes.
Qi Yuxiao and Shangguan Fu cried even more sadly.
Shangguan Youhe didn't understand what happened to his brother and sister. He opened his big black eyes fearfully and went straight into Shangguan Wu's arms.
Shangguan Wu patted Shangguan Youhe on the back: "It's getting late, your mother is leaving. Seeing you, your mother should have no regrets."
…
In the third year of Chengqi, on the sixth day of the fourth lunar month, Princess Qionghua was buried in the outer chamber of the emperor's mausoleum. Since ancient times, it was the first time for a woman to enter the emperor's mausoleum as a minister.
Since Nangong Jingnu was also a woman, and the members of the Nangong royal family were withered, and anyone with a discerning eye could see that His Highness Qionghua died for His Majesty, the courtiers did not object to the fact that Nangong Sunu entered the imperial mausoleum.
On the second day of Nangong Sunu's burial, Shangguan Wu proposed to bring troops back to Youzhou, but Nangong Jingnu called him to the imperial study.
Shangguan Wu: "See Your Majesty."
Nangong Jingnv: "eldest brother-in-law, sit down, there is only you and me in this study room, and the eldest brother-in-law does not need to be polite."
Shangguan Wu: "Yes."
…
After a moment of silence, Nangong Jingnu said leisurely: "I would also like to thank the eldest brother-in-law for being righteous and allowing the eldest sister's coffin to stay in the capital."
Shangguan Wu: "It is a great honor to be admitted to the imperial mausoleum. I just ask that after a hundred years, the minister will allow the coffin to return to the capital and build a tomb fifty miles away from the imperial mausoleum."
Nangong Jingnv's expression was a little unnatural. Shangguan Wu was clearly accusing him of breaking up their husband and wife. Princess Qionghua of the imperial mausoleum was able to enter, and the general king would never enter. After a hundred years, the husband and wife could not be together.
Nangong Jingnv: "My eldest sister suffered, I can't blame it. It is reasonable for my eldest brother-in-law to blame me and hate me."
Shangguan Wu: "I dare not."
Nangong Jingnv: "Just, please think about it, elder brother-in-law. If elder sister Quanxia knew, there would be a gap between Youzhou Prefecture and the imperial court because of her departure. I don't know how sad it would be."
Shangguan Wu was silent, and Nangong Jingnu continued: "The eldest brother is like a father, and the eldest sister is like a mother. I lost my mother since I was a child, and the eldest sister is half a mother in my heart. The grief in my heart is no less than that of the eldest brother-in-law. It's just that no one thought that the family members of the compatriots would be so mad."
Shangguan Wu: "... How does Your Majesty plan to deal with the murderer?"
Nangong Jingnv: "What happened that night, it can be concluded that the murderer is King Linjiang, and now he is absconding in fear of crime, and even Concubine Li can't take care of it, I have already taken away the title of Concubine Li, and sent her to the emperor's mausoleum to go to my father. The emperor guards the spirit. The wanted order is widely distributed, and once the murderer is caught, he will be punished according to the law."
Shangguan Wu: "When will you be caught?"
Nangong Jingnv: "The sky is big and the earth is big, it is still difficult to find someone, but as long as I live for one day, the wanted order will never be withdrawn. If the eldest brother-in-law can't believe it, he can send someone to investigate it himself."
Shangguan Wu: "What should I do if I catch him?"
Nangong Jingnv: "Naturally, it's a matter of respect. Even if the old man made such a big mistake, I can't keep him. If the court catches him first, it will be sent to Youzhou to be handled by the elder brother-in-law."
Shangguan Wu: "Really?"
Nangong Jingnu: "You have no jokes."
Shangguan Wu took a deep breath and clenched his fists: "Okay."
Nangong Jingnv saw that Shangguan Wu's face looked better, and the conversation changed, please don't be in a hurry, stay in the capital for three or five days, and then bring Shangguan Fu back to Youzhou.
A look of surprise appeared on Shangguan Wu's face: "Your Majesty... What do you mean at this time?"
Nangong Jingnv: "Release your kindness. In the past, when the eldest sister was there, it was okay for Fu'er to stay in the capital and study in the study. Now that the eldest sister is gone, it makes no sense to detain the prince of Youzhou Prefecture."
After all, Shangguan Wu was a military attache. He spoke straightforwardly and asked: "Is your Majesty not afraid of letting Fu'er go?"
Nangong Jingnu smiled and asked, "What are you afraid of?"
Seeing that Shangguan Wu did not answer, Nangong Jingnv raised her chin and said confidently and confidently: "Eldest brother-in-law, there is an old saying: water can carry a boat and it can also capsize it. How can it be capsized when the waves are calm? It has been two generations, but my father is diligent in government and loves the people, and he selects the worthy. The world can also afford the four words with a clear conscience. Youzhou Shangguanfu, Shiqing Shilu have been named in the history of the generations, and they are loved by the people. I can't keep it anymore. I have always treated Youzhou Mansion very well, and the eldest sister has entered the imperial mausoleum again. I really can't think of what the imperial court should be afraid of."
Shangguan Wu sneered: "I made a slip of the tongue for a while."
Nangong Jingnv sighed softly: "The eldest brother-in-law doesn't know anything, it was the eldest sister's idea to keep Fu'er in the capital back then, but when I look back now, don't you understand the painstaking efforts of the eldest sister? How could she be willing to part with Jiao'er? It's just a painful decision to protect Youzhou Mansion. Now that the eldest sister's body is not cold, the eldest brother-in-law... Don't let her painstaking efforts go to waste."
Shangguan Wu: …
Nangong Jingnv: "eldest brother-in-law, since I dare to open the skylight to you and speak eloquently, I will be sure to deal with all changes, but I have a responsibility that cannot be shied away from the elder sister's affairs.
Shangguan Wu: "I admire your majesty's courage, but I won't take Fu'er away this time, and let him stay in the capital to be filial to his mother for three years. After three years, your majesty will send him back to Youzhou."
Nangong Jingnv: "That's fine. There's one more thing... I want to hear what my eldest brother-in-law has to say."
Shangguan Wu: "Your Majesty, please speak."
Nangong Jingnv: "I want to be in-laws with my eldest brother-in-law. How does the eldest brother-in-law feel?"
Shangguan Wu frowned: "Yuxiao and Fu'er?" Shangguan Wu was a little unhappy. First, he knew about Yu Xiao's background. Although Nangong Sunu loved this child when she was alive, Shangguan Wu did not think that she was born in this way. A woman can be worthy of her own eldest son, and secondly, Qi Yuxiao is nominally the eldest daughter of the Empress. How can the name of the consort match that of the Great General King
Shangguan Wu: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that Fu'er will not have this blessing. When he grows up, he will take over my position and guard Youzhou for the court. He is not worthy of Her Royal Highness."
Nangong Jingnv felt a little uncomfortable, he thought that he was still reluctant to let it go, she had no plans to let Yu Xiao marry away, but she did not show any part of her face, but smiled: "Eldest brother-in-law misunderstood, what I said is yes. load."
Shangguan Wu became more and more suspicious. How old is You He? And why didn't he know that Her Majesty the Empress had a son
Nangong Jingnu patiently explained: "The father and the emperor have a decree on his deathbed, and the matter of the empress cannot be passed on to the second generation, so this country still needs the prince to inherit it. I want to keep You He in the capital and raise him as a daughter and a daughter-in-law. , When there is a prince in the future, You He will be the prince concubine, and their children will be the fourth generation king of the Nangong family in the future."