The news of Emperor Zhaokang's biography as the crown prince soon spread throughout the six palaces like long legs.
When Tao Ti heard the news, she was eating hot pot around a round table with Xu Wenchan, Qinghe, the fifth prince and six princesses.
The little eunuch who delivered the message beamed with joy, but Tao Ti shook her chopsticks in shock, and the freshly cooked fat beef roll fell back into the bright red hot pot, which the fifth prince with quick eyesight picked up.
"Are you sure you heard it right? Has His Majesty really passed the throne to the Crown Prince?"
"Back to the Crown Princess, it has been spread everywhere in the palace. This slave has a fellow villager who works as an servant in the Golden Dragon Palace. He heard it with his own ears. Even with a hundred courage, he wouldn't dare to talk about such a big thing." The little eunuch said respectfully.
Tao Ti was still full of surprise, unable to calm down for a while.
It was Xu Wenchan who came to his senses first, and stared at Tao Ti like a baby with his round eyes, "The crown prince has become the emperor, so Arti, you are the queen? Wow! The queen is a close friend of mine, This is too face-to-face!"
Qing He pursed her lips and smiled lightly, "My cousin is the princess, she was originally a queen's reserve."
Xu Wenchan rubbed his nose embarrassingly, and said, "Your Majesty is still in the prime of life. I thought the crown prince would have to ascend the throne at least ten years later, but I didn't expect it to be so soon!"
Tao Ti pursed her lips with a serious expression, wondering in her heart: Emperor Zhaokang was not yet fifty years old, and he was in good health, so it would be no problem to be an emperor for ten or twenty years in this state. But why did he abdicate
This happened so suddenly, the shock in her heart was far greater than the joy, and she was vaguely uneasy.
The spicy hot pot on the round table is still boiling, and the bright red peppercorns and sea peppers are rising and falling in the rich and fragrant soup.
Several people at the table congratulated Tao Ti, and picked up chopsticks to eat again. There are small crispy meat, beef balls, enoki mushrooms and bean curd sticks, as well as duck intestines, beef, lamb slices...
The prince is about to ascend the throne, and they are sincerely happy. But if you are happy, you still have to eat hot pot quickly, otherwise the hairy belly will be hot for a long time, and it will not taste good when you are old.
—
Inside the Hall of Qinzheng, it was extremely quiet, and even the sound of pouring tea seemed too loud.
After the tea was brewed, Emperor Zhaokang pushed back all the palace people, who secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly retreated.
In the gilded bronze furnace with animal patterns, the best tranquilizing incense is burning, and the green smoke curls up, exuding a calming fragrance.
Emperor Zhaokang leaned on the pillow with a tired expression, but within half a month, he had aged a lot, and there were only a few gray hairs on his temples, but now they are all white. Also, most of the fierce aura between his straight brows has dissipated, and the center of his brows is wrinkled into a "Chuan", as if his energy has been taken away, his whole body exudes a decadent air.
Pei Yan's rough fingertips lightly rubbed the cup wall, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Father, why did you suddenly issue the edict of abdication?"
Emperor Zhaokang stretched out his hand and rubbed the center of his brows, then raised his deep black eyes, stared quietly at Pei Yan in front of him, and sighed, "I'm getting old."
"Father is in his prime, not..."
"I'm getting old and tired, and I'm tired of sitting in the position of the emperor." Emperor Zhaokang interrupted him directly.
Pei Yan frowned, and pursed her thin lips.
Emperor Zhaokang leaned back on the pillow, half-closed his eyes, spoke in a lazy tone, and said slowly, "Everyone thinks it is good to be the emperor, and they will do everything to fight for the throne. When I was young , I also love power, I feel that as long as I sit on that dragon chair, I can control everything in the world, omnipotent, omnipotent... Heh, what about now?"
He sighed wearily, "After all, I'm still old."
When people get old, they like to recall the past, and miss those ordinary and warm beauty even more.
After the night of New Year's Eve, he thought a lot.
He wakes up from a soft and beautiful bed every day, followed by a group of palace servants, eating delicacies from mountains and seas, and wearing silk and satin.
Beauty, wealth, power, he has everything.
But when he fell asleep at night, looking at this magnificent but empty palace, his heart was also very empty, as if the cold winter wind was pouring into his heart, bitter and bitter.
The boundless loneliness is like an invisible and intangible monster, eroding him little by little, and driving him crazy.
Emperor Zhaokang closed his eyes, suppressed the sadness and fragility in his pupils, opened them again, and said kindly to Pei Yan, "Yan'er, you will be a good emperor, I believe in you."
On the night of New Year's Eve, Pei Changzhou forced the palace, and Emperor Zhaokang was not completely unaware. But before he put down the order, he received the news, and Donggong also made some moves.
At that time, he also guessed a little bit, this may be a game in the middle of "the mantis catches the cicada and the oriole is behind".
He knew it, but he didn't want to stop it.
If he had to choose one of the two sons, he would undoubtedly choose the prince.
What's more, he also wanted to see the prince's methods and temperament.
Facts have proved that the prince did not disappoint him.
Ruthless enough, neat enough.
Since the prince is already so outstanding, I can rest assured that I will hand over the country to him.
After a long silence between each other, Pei Yan drank half a cup of tea without saying a word, put down the celadon porcelain cup, and prepared to leave.
Emperor Zhaokang nodded, "Go, there are a lot of trifles about enthronement, enough for you to do."
But when Pei Yan got up, he couldn't help calling him, "Yan'er."
Pei Yan paused, lowered his eyes slowly, and said in a deep voice, "Is there anything else you can order, father?"
Emperor Zhaokang had a dark look on his face, hesitated for a long time, and said with difficulty, "I didn't order anyone to hurt the eldest prince."
Pei Yan's black eyes moved slightly, and the corners of his mouth tightened.
Emperor Zhaokang said, "Zhou's mad woman said those words deliberately to provoke the relationship between our father and son..."
Pei Yan said lightly, "I know."
The hands hanging by his legs were clenched little by little, and he was silent for a while, but finally couldn't suppress the doubts in his heart, and looked straight at Emperor Zhaokang with sharp eyes, "Brother, is he really not the child of the emperor?"
Emperor Zhaokang's eyes suddenly darkened, and his tone was a bit cold, "No."
He made no secret of his indifference to that child.
He has never been a kind and open-minded person, and the reason why he can accommodate the child is because half of the child's flesh and bones belong to Yuan Yuan.
"It's impossible for me to treat him like my own son. I originally thought that when he grows up, he will be assigned to other places to be an idle prince, and he will be pure if he is out of sight."
After a pause, Emperor Zhaokang said solemnly, "Although I loathe his existence, I never thought of harming him. I never thought that crazy woman Zhou would come to your mother's back to sow discord..."
Thinking that Yuan Yuan was deceived by Zhou's words and took poison, the veins on Emperor Zhaokang's forehead twitched, and he was furious.
He hated Zhou's femme fatale, and was saddened by Gu Yan's distrust of him. As long as Gu Yan can ask him personally, it won't be...
Seeing Emperor Zhaokang's remorseful expression, Pei Yan sat down again and continued to drink a cup of tea, "Father, please forgive me for being rude, but I want to know what is going on between you and the queen mother .”
His tone was casual, but his gaze was extremely firm.
Emperor Zhaokang felt ashamed of Pei Yan, pondered for a while, raised his head, and said slowly, "Go to the antique cabinet, press the carved pattern on the third row and fourth from the bottom, and take out the painting inside."
Pei Yan glanced at Emperor Zhaokang in surprise, without saying much, got up and walked to the Bogu cabinet behind the sandalwood table.
The carved pattern looks ordinary on the bright side, but when you press down with a little force, a deep and long drawer opens with a "click".
Sure enough, there is a picture scroll inside, which is very well preserved.
Pei Yan turned back with the painting and handed it to Emperor Zhaokang.
Emperor Zhaokang took the scroll carefully and unfolded it slowly. It was a picture of a beautiful woman leaning on a railing.
"Yan'er, this is what your mother looks like, do you still remember it?"
"..." Pei Yan thought, not remembering.
He was less than five years old when his mother died. Not long after, he fell into the water and fell seriously ill. He had a high fever for several days and barely survived.
After the high fever, the queen mother's appearance became blurred.
Now that many years have passed, whenever he thinks of his mother, there is only an unreal image in his memory. As for the appearance, he can't remember it clearly.
Emperor Zhaokang stared at the beauty in the painting obsessively, and said softly, "This is the scene when I first met your mother. At that time, I was still the crown prince, and I saw your mother at the spring banquet..."
He has long heard that the young lady of the Gu family has the title of the most beautiful woman in Chang'an, but he is not very interested.
After all, he's not a fan of womanizing—
Of course, after seeing Gu Yan, he realized that it wasn't that he wasn't interested in women, but that he hadn't met her.
The first time he saw Gu Yan, he was moved.
Whether it's love at first sight or love at first sight, he only knows that the first time he sees Gu Yan, he can't move.
Like a frightened deer, she was obviously in a panic, but she pretended to be calm and bowed to him, "My daughter pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince, all blessings, Your Highness."
Her voice was extremely pleasant, gentle and gentle, like catkins fluttering in spring, gently falling on his heart.
After the spring feast, he saw her again at the Dragon Boat Festival.
The dragon boat race on the banks of the Wei River was fierce and lively, she was standing on the pavilion, facing his direction, with a gentle smile—
At that moment, his heart was pounding violently: she was smiling at him!
But soon, his restless heart was poured a chill.
Gu Yan didn't smile at him, but smiled at Wenming Yan not far behind him.
Wen Wenyan, the eldest son of the head of the imperial hospital, and Gu Yuan are childhood sweethearts.
Heh, childhood sweetheart, childhood sweetheart.
Looking at this scene, two thoughts came to his mind:
First, kill Wen Wenyan.
Second, snatch Gu Yan back and lock him into the East Palace, and let her only smile at him from now on.
But before he acted, he was sent to patrol salt in the south of the Yangtze River.
It lasted for three months and returned to Chang'an again. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival.
He heard that Gu Yan and Wen Wenyan were engaged—
That night, he got drunk, angry and unwilling, and went over the wall of Gu's house in the middle of the night.
The sudden appearance made Gu Yan's face turn pale with fright.
He covered her lips, with red eyes, and said fiercely, "Yuan Yuan, you are not allowed to marry him, you can only be mine."
Three days later, Gu Yuan eloped with Wen Wenyan.
He almost died of anger when he heard the news from the dark guard. In the middle of the Taifu's class, he ran out without hesitation and led others to chase him.
He gritted his teeth and swore that even if they fled to the ends of the earth, he would capture them back...
He admits he's an extremely mean bastard.
He threatened the lives of the Gu family and Wen Wenyan, and Gu Yuan finally married into the East Palace and became his concubine.
In the second year, the father died of illness, he became the emperor, she became his queen, and gave birth to the "premature" eldest prince.
He did have her, but he didn't own her smile.
Her smile became less and less, and the light in her eyes disappeared little by little, like a marionette without a soul.
The last time she laughed was when she fell into his arms after taking poison.
Crystal tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, and she laughed while weeping, with a relaxed smile and a sense of relief.
Yes, relieved.
Both he and Yan'er are her burdens.
The memories came to an abrupt end, and Emperor Zhaokang came back to his senses, the corners of his eyes were already warm and moist.
With a gloomy face, he murmured in a daze, "I was wrong, I was wrong..."
Pei Yan lowered his eyes, the ink welling up in them.
Once upon a time, like his father, he had such despicable thoughts, wanting to lock Artie up and never let her see anyone again.
Gently caressing the red rope on his wrist with his fingers, he secretly rejoiced that he had controlled his evil thoughts, otherwise...
He didn't dare to imagine the scene of losing Ati. When he thought about it, his heart felt like a blunt knife cutting flesh, and it hurt.
After coming out of Qinzheng Hall, the sky had already turned dark.
Pei Yan looked up at the gray sky, and after a while, he told Li Gui in a deep voice, "Father is in a bad mood at the moment, Director Li will take care of you carefully."
"Don't worry, Your Highness, this slave will take good care of Your Majesty." Li Gui responded and sent Pei Yan away respectfully.
When the sedan chair reached the Yaoguang Hall, it was completely dark.
The two palace lanterns were on at the gate of the hall, Pei Yan got out of the sedan chair, just as he walked to the gate, he bumped into Tao Ti who was walking out.
Tao Ti was wrapped in a snow-white fox cloak. She was petite. Wearing a furry hat, her slapped face became smaller and her cheeks were flushed like snowballs.
"Your Highness, you are back, and I am going to find you."
When she heard the news of Emperor Zhaokang's succession at noon, her heart was scratching like a cat's paw, and she wished she could run to Pei Yan and ask about it carefully.
Waiting and waiting, until Pei Yan didn't come back at night, she couldn't sit still.
Pei Yan could read her mind at a glance, grabbed her little hand, put it into his warm cuff, and said calmly, "Don't worry, let's talk slowly when we return to the hall."
Seeing him covering his hands as soon as he entered the door, Tao Ti's heart warmed. She blinked her bright eyes, "Well, go in first."
The two walked into the hall together, and Tao Ti ordered Linglong to prepare a mandarin duck pot, which happened to be dinner.
Not long after, the mandarin duck pot was served on the table. The clear soup was a delicious mushroom base. The other side was not a spicy pot, but a sweet and sour tomato pot.
"I ate spicy hot pot at noon, thinking that it would be easy to get angry if I ate it at night, so I replaced it with tomato pot."
Tao Ti rinsed the fresh cabbage leaves and said, "I boiled the butter base, which tastes delicious, but eating it at night is too spicy and oily, which is not good for the stomach. Well, I will make it for you tomorrow. Keep it and you will fall in love with that taste."
Pei Yan said good, and smiled lightly, "The clear soup pot and the tomato pot are also very good, I like them both."
Through the hazy smoke, Tao Ti couldn't wait to ask, "Your Highness, did His Majesty pass the throne to you? Why did he pass the throne all of a sudden?"
Pei Yan didn't hide anything from her, and answered straight to the point.
Only then did Tao Ti really realize that her husband was really going to be the emperor soon, and she was also going to be the queen soon.
In the dead of night, after the two showered and changed, they lay on the bed together.
Pei Yan was still thinking about the entanglement between Emperor Zhaokang and Empress Gu, and did not fall asleep for a long time.
Tao Ti was too full to eat tomato pot, and she didn't sleep at the moment, she felt that Pei Yan seemed to have something on her mind, she rubbed her little head into his arms, and asked softly, "Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"
Pei Yan embraced her, the tip of her nose lingered with her elegant and pleasant fragrance, calmed down a little, and said slowly, "Today, my father told me a lot about my mother."
Tao Ti was taken aback, and her heart was full of curiosity, "Well, can you talk to me?"
Pei Yan pressed her little head in her arms, her slender eyelashes drooped, her eyes were half closed, and she gave a low hum.
His tone was low, his voice was as golden and cold as jade, and he narrated the past many years ago...
The more Tao Ti listened, the more energetic she became, and her mood became more and more complicated.
The first queen is too miserable.
This painting style of plundering, plundering and abusing the heart and body is just like an ancient script of abusive scripts.
Although Tao Ti didn't have much contact with Emperor Zhaokang, but thinking about it carefully, a person like Emperor Zhaokang could indeed do such a thing.
Suddenly, she hugged Pei Yan with both hands and feet.
Pei Yan froze, looking down at the little girl who was holding her tightly, "Ah Ti?"
Tao Ti buried her face in his arms, and said softly, "It's a good thing you didn't become like that..."
Pei Yan couldn't help laughing.
Yes, he was also very happy.
Tao Ti suddenly remembered that on New Year's Eve, Pei Yan hugged her and begged her not to abandon him.
Is it also because of the grievances between Queen Gu and Emperor Zhaokang
Yes, if Empress Gu was really forced into the palace by Emperor Zhaokang, then the birth of Pei Yan...is not something to be happy about Empress Gu.
But what did Pei Yan do wrong
Many years ago, he was just an immature child who instinctively longed for his mother's love, but his mother left him early and left him alone in the deep palace where people can't spit out bones.
burden.
Disposable.
A child who is not expected by the mother, even disgusted.
When Pei Yan knew this, he must be very sad.
Thinking of this, Tao Ti's nose became sore, and her heart softened into a puddle of water.
She raised her head and kissed his chin, "Your Highness, I will always be with you."