Mu Chun followed Hu Shanwei to the harem to meet Empress Ma. Wang Ning wanted to catch up and say something, but the Jinyiwei Ji Gang who was guarding the Longguang Gate drew his sword and said, "The harem is a forbidden area. Please go back, Earl Yongchun."
A palace wall blocked Wang Ning's view.
Shi Qianhu and Chen Xuan came over and pulled Wang Ning, who was staring at the high palace wall, back to the banquet: "You are really drunk. The toilet is over there. Go quickly. The banquet is about to end. We have to go back and bow four times to express our gratitude."
Next, without the need for Shi Qianhu and Chen Xuan to force him to drink, Wang Ning poured himself a glass of wine, holding the jar and drinking it all in one gulp. After bowing four times to express his gratitude, he fell to the ground and passed out from drunkenness.
Mu Chun followed Hu Shanwei to Kunning Palace to meet Empress Ma. Hu Shanwei walked very fast, and Mu Chun followed him step by step. "Sister Shanwei, I saw that your ivory card has changed to Shanggong Bureau Si Yan, congratulations on your promotion. I have also been promoted to command the Imperial Guard Yulin Youwei and patrol the palace. I will see Sister Shanwei as often as before. After half a year of not seeing each other, we have both grown into our own shells, which is great."
Hu Shanwei ignored him and walked faster and faster, leaving drops of water on the stone road wherever he walked.
Mu Chun hurriedly took his long legs to catch up, only to find that Hu Shanwei was crying in the wind, with tears rolling down his cheeks and hitting the stone road.
"Sister Shanwei, you—"
"It's better to forget each other than to support each other in times of adversity." Hu Shanwei took out a handkerchief to wipe his tears. "It's easier said than done. I can't let him see me cry, so let's break up completely. Muchun, is my makeup still on? I have to report to the Queen soon, so I can't make any mistakes."
At this point, she still cares about whether her makeup is neat or not. Women are really hard to figure out. Mu Chun pointed at the tear trough on her cheek, "It seems a little dirty here."
Hu Shanwei was deeply influenced by Fan Gongzheng. He wore makeup every day, and after crying, his made-up face looked like raindrops hitting the glass window, leaving faint mud marks.
Hu Shanwei hurriedly took out the powder box and a small diamond-shaped mirror from her purse, dipped some purple jalapa powder in it, and used it to cover the tear marks under her eyes.
The head can be cut off, blood can be shed, love can be lost, but the makeup cannot be lost. This is the dignity of a court lady.
"What about now?" Hu Shanwei touched up her makeup and asked Mu Chun.
After crying, Sister Shanwei's eyes became brighter, like a pair of colorful glass. Mu Chun was stunned, and somehow remembered the poem that the doctor said when he was studying in the Imperial College: "After putting on makeup, I whispered to my husband, is the depth of my eyebrows in fashion?"
Mu Chun smiled absentmindedly, "It looks good."
Mu Chun followed Hu Shanwei to Kunning Palace. Empress Ma talked to him affectionately and only let him leave when the palace gate was about to be locked.
Wang Ning got drunk at the banquet for his reward. When he woke up, it was already dark. Mao Xiang, his former superior and commander of the Imperial Guard, was writing at his desk under the lamp. Seeing Wang Ning wake up, he said, "Awake? The sobering soup is on the table. Drink it yourself. Don't drink so much at palace banquets in the future. It's not fun to lose manners in front of the palace."
Wang Ning didn't touch the hangover soup and asked, "Master Mao, do you have any wine?"
He didn't want to wake up. It was nice to be drunk and forget the pain.
"This is my duty room. You are not allowed to drink alcohol while on duty." Mao Xiang said, "Don't call me Lord Mao anymore. You are now the Earl of Yongchun, the youngest Earl in the Ming Dynasty. Your title is one level higher than mine."
Wang Ning would rather drink water, holding the teapot and drinking it down.
Mao Xiang saw his expression and knew why he was like this. He said angrily, "I have heard from Ji Gang that you were in a daze outside the palace wall. Isn't it just 'the love is still there, but the fate is over'? A real man will never worry about not having a wife. I have already reported your name to the inner court for the selection of a prince consort."
Wang Ning spit out the tea with a "Puff" sound, "You didn't even ask me! I don't want to be a consort of a princess!"
Mao Xiang did not stop writing and continued writing: "From the previous selected princes-in-law, all of them are from famous families. The emperor will only choose to marry with the founding heroes and use the princess' marriage to stabilize the Ming Dynasty. I put your name in just for the sake of formality, so that the list looks like there are men from common families running for the election. Your chance of being selected as a prince-in-law is not as high as that unreliable Mu Chun."
When Wang Ning heard the name Mu Chun, he immediately recalled Mu Chun's "tearful accusation" to Hu Shanwei about concealing her identity, as well as the folding fan that Shanwei had written poems on. Mu Chun called her "Sister Shanwei" so sweetly. What was the relationship between the two of them
"Mu Chun also wants to marry the Lord?" Wang Ning asked, thinking that Mu Chun was so kind and obedient in front of Shan Wei, and was totally different from the rogue in the army. Could Shan Wei be deceived by Mu Chun
Mao Xiang stopped writing and blew the ink dry. "Xiping Hou signed him up, so of course he has to participate. Come over here, check if there is anything wrong, and then sign and stamp your name."
Wang Ning walked over and took a look, and found that it was in his tone that a memorial was submitted to the Ministry of Rites to posthumously confer the title of Lady Tai of Yongchun on his deceased mother.
Like the last straw that broke the camel's back, Wang Ning collapsed on the spot and fell to his knees, "Mom, I am an unfilial son!"
Wang Ning's father died in battle in his early years. At that time, Wang Ning was only eight years old. He inherited his father's title and salary of a centurion and survived under the care of his widowed mother. His widowed mother was overworked in her early years and was frail and sickly. What she hoped for was that her son would return victorious and marry his virtuous and intelligent fiancée. The following year, she would be able to become a grandmother and enjoy the company of her grandchildren.
The Ming Dynasty suffered a disastrous defeat in its second northern expedition. Wang Ning woke up from under a corpse and found that all his comrades had died in the battle. A group of vultures were circling overhead, ready to swoop down at any time to peck at the corpse's already yellowed eyeballs.
Wang Ning collapsed and frantically waved his sword to drive away the vultures. He was outnumbered, and the vultures still started to feast. He still stubbornly raised his sword to drive away the vultures one by one. He had only one thought in his mind: to protect as many vultures as possible, and he would drive away the vultures until the end of his life.
Mao Xiang, who rushed to clean up the battlefield, saw this tragic scene under the sky. The bloody soldiers fought with the sky until the last moment, knowing that it was impossible to do so. He was a brave soldier.
Mao Xiang's men collected the military medals of the dead, and Wang Ning personally lit a fire to cremate his brothers.
Mao Xiang asked him: "You have a chance for revenge, but you must cut off your connection with the past, change your name and become another person, there will be no Wang Ning in the world, and your life will be in danger at any time. Are you willing?"
Looking at the tragic battlefield, Wang Ning took off the military badge on his waist and handed it to Mao Xiang, "I do. Please take care of my mother, and find a good husband for my fiancée. Her name is Hu Shanwei, the daughter of the owner of Hu's Bookstore on Chengxian Street."
"I promise you." Mao Xiang took the Tiejun card and grabbed a few handfuls of wood ash and put them into the jar.
Wang Ning died just like that.
Mao Xiang thought that it was simple to fulfill Wang Ning's request. He just needed to give money to his widowed mother every month and ask the official matchmaker to find a few men who were better off than Wang Ning.
But when the widowed mother learned that her only hope had died on the battlefield, she lost the courage to live and died of depression in less than three months. No medicine or doctor could help. The fiancée Hu Shanwei repeatedly resisted the marriage, even taking the radical action of waving a paper cutter to drive the official matchmaker out of the house, and vowed to never marry.
Mao Xiang was helpless. He couldn't force Hu Shanwei into the bridal sedan. Given this woman's temper, she would most likely commit suicide if pushed into a corner. In addition, Hu Rong and his second wife Chen both seemed to love their daughter very much, so Mao Xiang gave up. Unexpectedly, Chen's temperament changed drastically. She tortured Hu Shanwei. Her father Hu Rong responded indifferently, forcing Hu Shanwei to find another way out and take the exam to become a female official.
As a result, Wang Ning, who was determined to die and sacrifice himself completely to the Ming Dynasty, came back alive. His mother and lover were gone. Wang Ning was conferred the title of Earl of Yongchun and became a lonely man. No one loved him and no one waited for him.
Mao Xiang sighed, "Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety cannot be achieved at the same time. Your mother died for her country, so she deserves this honor. Find a good feng shui location, move her grave and give her a grand funeral, only then can we make up for it."
Wang Ning said, "So what if she was posthumously named Grand Madam? My mother is gone. It was my fault for being unfilial. I cannot make up for the mistakes I made in this life."
Mao Xiang asked, "Besides posthumously conferring the title, what else can you do? The dead cannot be resurrected. If you were given the opportunity to choose again, would you choose to return home after the defeat, marry Hu Shanwei, give birth to a big fat boy, and stay by your mother's side for the rest of your life? Or would you fake your death and lurk in the Northern Yuan Privy Council to provide intelligence for the Ming Dynasty's Northern Expedition?"
Wang Ning knelt on the ground, clenching his fists until his knuckles crackled. After an unknown amount of time, he raised his head, tears streaming down his face. “I have no regrets in this life, except that I feel guilty.”
"My family was destroyed, but the Ming Dynasty won two consecutive northern expeditions and protected the homes of countless people. As a soldier of the Ming Dynasty, how could I regret my choice? I feel guilty towards my mother and Hu Shanwei. I owe them, but I can't repay them or make up for it."
Mao Xiang had never seen Wang Ning cry. He never shed tears when he protected the bodies of his comrades and fought a group of vultures with a sword, when he lit torches and cremated his comrades, and when he took off his military badge and cut off all ties with his family.
The death of his mother and the fact that he was no longer a stranger to his fiancée made him cry.
Mao Xiang was once again thankful that he chose to be single, free from worries, and not forced into a dilemma between family and country. This "big devil" never comforted people, but only told cruel facts:
"You can't have everything. No one has everything going smoothly. Even the emperor has his frustrations and regrets. If you properly rebury your mother and fulfill your filial duty, I will find a way to arrange for you to work outside the capital, away from the place of sorrow."
"I'd better go to the northwest to guard the border." Wang Ning stood up and signed and stamped the memorial to posthumously confer the title of Lady Tai of Yongchun on his mother.
Mao Xiang closed the memorial, thought for a moment, and asked Wang Ning: "Your mother is dead and cannot be saved. But Hu Shanwei... since you still have feelings for her, after serving for four or five years, you can ask for grace to leave the palace. You still have a chance to reconcile. I can help you with this."
Wang Ning's eyes lit up, and he had a vision of happiness, but it soon died down. "As a military officer, I will have to go out to fight sooner or later. I can't stay with my wife and children like a civil official. The Northern Yuan is strong and will definitely invade again. The Ming Dynasty will have many northern expeditions. If I have to choose between family and country again, I will still choose country. I have failed Shanwei once, so am I going to fail her a second time? A third time?"
"I have decided to be like Mr. Mao, not marrying or having children in this life, and to protect the country until death. Mr. Mao, any physical pain cannot compare to the pain I felt when I gave up my family and lover. It was too painful, and I don't want to go through it again."
Mao Xiang watched Wang Ning's staggering back disappear into the night and heard his desolate singing: "… Young today, old tomorrow. The mountains are still there. But the people are haggard."
Wang Ning stumbled and went to Wengtang near Xi'an Gate.
Wengtang is a bathhouse in Nanjing. There is a hot spring underground. The bathhouse is shaped like an upside-down urn, so it is called Wengtang. The round dome and walls are made of rocks and glutinous rice juice.
Men in Nanjing like to go to Wengtang to bathe after drinking, which is comfortable and relaxing. Wang Ning grew up in Nanjing and followed his father to Wengtang to bathe when he was young. He has been away from home for four years and wants to revisit the old place.
When Wang Ning was about to fall asleep while soaking in the hot spring pool, Mu Chun received a tip-off from Shi Qianhu and found this place. He wrapped himself in a white towel and walked to the hot spring pool in the basement.
All the men in the pool were naked, including Wang Ning. Mu Chun saw his underwear through the water.
Well, not as strong as mine.
Mu Chun's confidence increased greatly. He tore off the white cloth around his waist and deliberately did not go down the steps to the pool. Instead, he jumped into the pool with a splash. The splashing pool water was like a rainstorm, waking up the drowsy Wang Ning.
The water in the pond also disturbed other guests. Some were about to teach this man who didn't know the rules of the urn hall a lesson, but were stopped by their friends, who whispered a few times, "The eldest son of the Marquis of Xiping, the famous devil in the capital, forget it, we can't afford to offend him, but we can afford to avoid him."
As a result, all the guests in the hot spring pool left in an instant, leaving only Wang Ning and Muchun.
Mu Chun shook his fist at him and said, "Hey, do you dare to fight me? I have disliked you for a long time."
He made Sister Shanwei so heartbroken, he really deserves a beating!
Wang Ning was still drunk and in a very low mood. Hearing this, he said coldly, "Why not? I have disliked you for a long time."
The two men roared and rushed forward to fight each other. In an instant, chickens flew and eggs were smashed in the hot spring pool.
The author has something to say: Happy New Year to all the little angel readers!
Zhou's Ming Dynasty Quartet, starting with "Jin Pingmei", is always finished on New Year's Eve. This year is an exception because Zhou has written three books this year, two modern novels and one ancient novel.
During the serialization period this year, these three books were updated daily smoothly, except for the time when I had to take leave because my son was quarantined at home due to hand, foot and mouth disease, there has been no interruption in the updates.
In four hours it will be 2019. In the new year, Zhou hopes that his family will be in good health. He will keep the good habit of updating his novel every day, maintain the high standard of his novel, and tell all readers the life story of Hu Shanwei and Chunchun.
ps: Chunchun will not die, will not die, will not die, important things should be said three times~
100 red envelopes will be given out tonight. Congratulations to reader "zz" for receiving a big red envelope of 100 points.
№9 User: zz Comment: "Hu Shanwei" Score: 2 Published: 2018-12-30 20:33:49 Reviewed chapter: 69
Very sad
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[1st floor] Netizen: zz Rating: 0 Posted time: 2018-12-30 20:35:07
Confucius said
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[2nd floor] Netizen: zz Rating: 0 Posted time: 2018-12-30 20:37:35
I was so excited for my first sofa! Confucius said that if a ruler is not discreet, he will lose his country; if a minister is not discreet, he will lose his body.