After the emperor confessed, he glanced at Yang Chengqian, and he saw indescribable fear in his son's eyes. The fear disappointed him a bit, although he knew his son was still just a child. Such a secret, even if told to an adult, would be intimidated.
But he was still dissatisfied. In his opinion, the descendants of the Yang family should not have such an expression.
"I know you are still young, but you are already the emperor..."
He looked at Yang Chengqian and said word by word: "I have mentioned twice before that the descendants of the Yang family must be prepared to sacrifice for the continuation of the Sui Dynasty. No one is an exception, including me and you. This is For the third time, you have to remember, don’t forget a single word.”
"My son..."
Yang Chengqian's shoulders trembled slightly, and it took a while before he lowered his head and said: "I have written it down, and I will never forget a single word!"
"That's good."
The emperor's face softened a little: "You go out, your mother and I still have something to talk about."
"My son will leave."
Yang Chengqian bowed and pushed it out, and glanced at his mother before going out. He saw his mother's eyes resting on his father's face with tenderness and attachment, and his father had long since lost his former demeanor. The current father looks like a mummy, but the mother doesn't feel disgusted at all.
He doesn't understand these, after all, he is still very young.
What's more, at this time, his mind is full of the secret his father told him before. If the secret that the old dean told him before he went south has surprised him beyond compare, then the other secret that his father said just now makes him feel There were bursts of chills, cold to the bone.
Like falling into an ice cave.
He didn't dare to think about it, didn't dare to recall the words his father had just whispered in his ear. Those few words kept echoing in his head, making him more and more frightened and irritable. After he came out of Dongnuan Pavilion, he walked faster and faster, and at the end he started to run wildly, as if there was some wild beast or evil spirit Yasha chasing after him.
So embarrassed.
In the East Nuan Pavilion, the emperor felt the empress's palm gently caressing his face, he liked the warmth of that palm. Over the years, he has gotten used to everything about her. When he is outside, the first thing he thinks about is the foundation of the Yang family, and the second is the woman in front of him who has been with him for decades.
She still seems so beautiful, never changed. Although there are wrinkles on her forehead and the corners of her eyes, although the skin on her face is no longer as flamboyant as when she was a girl, and although her figure has been slightly out of shape, she is not as beautiful as before, but she is in front of him. Always so beautiful.
"Actually, before I come back, what I'm most afraid of is that I won't be able to see you for the last time."
The emperor rubbed his face against her palm.
"But I'm afraid to come back and let you see me as a ghost and a ghost. I don't want to leave without looking at you, and I don't want to make you feel more uncomfortable because of taking one last look at you."
The queen fell down, resting her head on the emperor's chest. Just like it has always been, although at that time his chest was broad and warm, but now it is as shriveled and cold as if his ribs were covered with a layer of skin. When he breathed, it was like the sound of a broken bellows, and every breath was very difficult, so it seemed that the chest rose and fell, but it was so weak.
The emperor raised his hand and stroked the queen's hair.
"The concubine knows that your majesty pities me, but your majesty has forgotten that no matter what your majesty becomes, you are still your majesty, and your concubine is always your concubine."
This was a bit of a mouthful, but the emperor understood.
"if you can… "
The emperor's eyes were a little confused: "I think it's good not to be the emperor, just live a normal life with you, maybe we will quarrel over some trivial things every day, but there may be many things left in our memory. Sitting in a daze together, worrying about what to eat for the next meal together, writing some couplets by hand for the festival together, rowing a boat together on the lake and talking about some homely things... But I became the emperor, so these It's all gone. After becoming the emperor, I don't have many days to remember with you... "
"But the concubine knows that His Majesty's heart is always with the concubine."
The empress murmured in the arms of the emperor, just as she had done before. He is in the prime of life, she is in the prime of life. He is her everything, and she is his life. Although the emperor is now thin and shriveled, she still wants to find a sense of security in his arms like a little bird.
"It's hard for you to be my wife."
said the emperor.
His voice trembled a little.
"The concubine only finds it sweet, and doesn't know what is bitter. Whether you are an emperor or not, whether you are busy or not, I know that you will come back when you need a rest, and lie by my side. That's enough... I'm a woman with no talents, so I can't help you more, I can only do not make trouble for you, and let you do what you want to do... You have no regrets, I Any regrets?"
When Su Buwei died, the emperor thought that he had no more tears.
But now, he burst into tears.
"Come out for a walk with me. I want to take a look at the pomegranate I planted in front of your palace. I dug a hole and you water it. It's been more than ten years. I want to see if it's grown tall... "
"good."
The queen nodded and did not tell the emperor that the pomegranate tree had been dead for three years. No matter how she watered, fertilized, or rescued, she didn't keep it.
…
…
The queen pushed the wheelchair, and the emperor sat on it, covered with a thick blanket. The guards have sealed off the place they passed, and no one is allowed to enter or leave. After all, the emperor had been dead for a long time in the hearts of most people in Chang'an City, and he didn't want to cause any more trouble for the prince.
"I remember I promised you to build a small lake in this palace, but I never did it."
The emperor was stuck in memory, but he was not miserable but only guilty: "I still remember that after you planted the pomegranate tree that year, you said you wanted to release paper kites, and I really wanted to go with you, but I told you that you are already The empress is the main dignified mother of the people and the harem. Those words were a little against my will, but I said it anyway, and I regretted it for a long time. Since then, you have never said such things to me. I know you are not blaming me , but to do what I want.”
The queen kept letting herself laugh, even with the tears streaming down her face.
"Didn't Your Majesty secretly take me to the imperial garden to release paper kites at night?"
she said with a smile.
"But I still regret it."
The emperor shook his head slightly: "You have been with me since you were fourteen years old. I always asked you to do this or that, but you never asked me to do anything. You are calm and don't like excitement. You will be very satisfied if you are quietly in the bedroom. I found out later that because you are too deserted, you specially asked someone to plant flowers all over the yard, and talk to the flowers."
"So you sent someone to find a pair of precious birds, who can learn human language and make me happy."
said the Queen.
The emperor said: "How can that be enough..."
"Why not enough?"
the queen asked back.
The emperor had no way to answer, so he had to smile apologetically: "What is the first sentence you teach that bird?"
The empress blushed slightly, shook her head but did not answer.
"How are you, Shiro?"
The emperor struggled to pull his hand out of the thick blanket, and held the hand of the queen's cart: "Although you are in this palace and I am in this palace, it is not uncommon for us not to see each other once in half a month. I know you want to ask me if I'm okay, but there's no way to ask, so what you said to yourself was learned by that clever thing, and I will accompany you to ask... Shiro, how are you?"
The queen's tears flowed silently down her cheeks, but she still smiled happily and contentedly.
"It turns out that His Majesty knows."
she says.
"Yeah... I know it all, but I still haven't spared time to spend more time with you. I've forgotten how long we haven't walked and talked together like this. It's not about those annoying state affairs, it's just a good talk like this .”
The queen wanted to tell him that it was seven years, nine months and sixteen days, but she didn't say it in the end.
"I forgot too."
she answered.
The emperor smiled, but did not expose the queen's heart-warming lie.
"I remember when you and I met for the first time... You were only fourteen years old wearing a lotus gauze dress, standing there timidly like a lotus out of water and daring not to look at me. I knew at the first sight that you were me No one is allowed to snatch away the ones I want. I will fight desperately with anyone who robs me.”
The queen said softly: "What I think is that this man doesn't look as handsome as my father said, with his beard, hair and clothes messed up, he looks like a lazy person. "
The emperor laughed out loud, coughing up blood.
"Yeah, before that day, I drank with a few brothers until midnight. If Lao Qi hadn't persuaded me, I wouldn't have gone to see you... At that time, our brothers still had some real feelings, father. The body is still healthy, so the heart is much purer than before. I still remember that I lost to Lao Liu a pair of jade unicorns that night... I haven't given it to him yet."
"Because His Majesty saw me the next day, he forgot what he had promised."
When she was not a queen, the queen would often make such wisecracks with him.
"Ha ha… "
The emperor laughed unscrupulously, and didn't care at all about the cough that would be caused by the laugh, and the cough would vomit blood, and the pain in his chest would be terrific. There was no pain on his face, nor any worry. But the queen still pretended to be nonchalant and reached out to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth for him, not saying anything about worry or fear.
Such a tacit understanding.
…
…
The two of them were talking casually, and then they were crying and laughing casually. It seemed that she was not in a hurry to push him slowly on the corridor of the Taiji Palace, but he and she were both in a hurry, in a hurry. To feel the last time the two of them were together.
When he was about to reach the gate of the queen's bedroom, the emperor suddenly smiled and said: "I know that with your temperament, after I die, all you have is Cheng Qian, so you will not allow anyone to hurt him in anything." ... But he is my son and a descendant of the Yang family, so there are certain things that must be faced."
"The concubine knows."
The queen lowered her head, straightening out the emperor's hair that was blown tousled by the wind: "Chengqian is my child and I want to protect him, but he is also your child. How could you harm him? I believe you."
she says.
The corner of the emperor's mouth trembled slightly, but he did not continue speaking.
"When the old dean accepted Lao Qi as an apprentice, Lao Qi came back and told me that the old dean was a god. At that time, I ran to him and asked him outside if I could practice. The old dean didn't go out. He just told me that to live is to practice. At that time, he may have seen that I was sick, but he didn't say it clearly. I was selfish... So I thought of many ways to try to prolong my life for a few more years, so I was in the old home The boss told me to go to the Northwest when my life is not long, because only those disgusting bugs can save my life, but I can't do this in the palace, not only because I'm afraid that the people below will find out, but also because you will hate me... I know , you are most afraid of bugs..."
The queen smiled and said, "Your Majesty has forgotten that my concubine likes everything about Your Majesty."
The emperor was silent for a while, and then smiled: "Why am I not?"
The queen pushed the emperor to the door of the bedroom, and the emperor saw the dead pomegranate tree that had not been cleared.
"Push me over and water again."
said the emperor.
"Your Majesty... the concubine failed to save it..."
said the Queen.
But she found a watering can anyway, and then took his hand and the two of them watered the dead pomegranate tree together.
"I just want to... die here."
The emperor smiled.
contented.
The kettle fell to the ground, splashing her dress.