The death of the Empress Dowager is not a surprise. She is very old, her mind was not sober many years ago, and her body is not tough. The Ministry of Rites has already made some funeral preparations in advance. That's right, I didn't seem flustered because I changed the Minister of Rites only a few years ago.
After the big mourning sound was knocked, the entire beam immediately entered the national mourning period. The emperor adorned the court with filial piety for 30 days according to the Liang etiquette, the clan followed the ceremony, and all the ministers of the third grade and above entered the palace to pay their respects, and the whole country banned music banquets for three years.
At the same time, the incident had several additional consequences.
First of all, Xie Yu's case was decided to be executed, but because of the national mourning, the execution was not executed, and the sentence was commuted to Qianzhou, where he set off after two months.
The marriage between Liang and Chu was also suspended, and only the marriage contract was exchanged, and the marriage could only be given after three years. This time, Da Chu took the initiative to propose a marriage. Originally, it was for the purpose of forming a good beam and freeing up his hands to pacify the Burmese. Yan, ready to offer condolences and then return to China. On the one hand, Princess Jingning grieved over the death of her great-grandmother. On the other hand, she was relieved because of the postponement of the wedding date. For a while, her heart was mixed with joy and sorrow, and she cried even more.
Princess Liyang, who lived in seclusion in a mountain temple, immediately set off back to Beijing to observe filial piety after hearing the news. Xiao Jingrui and Xie Bi are no longer qualified to be titled and have no companionship, but the old man who passed away has loved every younger generation for many years. After returning, their status was embarrassing, and their situation was completely different from before, but they still accompanied their mother back to Beijing and lived in Princess Liyang's mansion.
The party strife that was going on in full swing was temporarily stopped by the sound of the great mourning bell. During the 30-day vigil, all princes must stay in the palace, not allowed to return to the palace, not allowed to take a bath, sleepless without a bed, without food, knelt down on the sutras every day, and weeping in the morning and evening. How could the pampered Crown Prince and Prince Yu endure this hardship, they still held on at first, but gradually they could not bear it any longer. As long as Emperor Liang was not there, the sadness on their faces was somewhat reduced, and their subordinates, in order to flatter them, also Will do some illegal actions to please the master. Because this filial piety is really strict, if you don't want to do something, I'm afraid that before the wake-up period, people will die first, so their own body is more important. Anyway, the two violated the rules together, and no one could sue the other, and none of the ministers who accompanied the sacrifice dared to say that they were wrong. At the beginning of the two of them, although the other princes were more restrained, they couldn't help but follow suit. On the contrary, King Jing had a military physique, pure filial piety, full of grief and courtesy, and meticulousness, which was different from the princes. Because King Jing's title is only the king of the county, he usually seldom stands with the prince and the prince on grand occasions. At this time, everyone stayed in the same filial hall for 30 days. In the eyes of high-ranking ministers, that is really good and bad.
On the thirty days of filial piety, Mei Changsu did it in his own room. Although Dr. Yan knew that this would cause great harm to his body, if he did not let him express his condolences, he would only be worried that it would be even worse, so he could only take care of it. Because he was only willing to eat white porridge, Li Gang and Aunt Ji went to great lengths to add some nourishing herbs to the porridge without telling him, and they had to be careful not to be noticed by him. Fortunately, Mei Changsu was in a trance and sadness, but he didn't pay attention at all.
Because the big people were all trapped in the palace, the entire imperial city went on strike every day, curfews at night, and the whole place was under strict security. There was no accident. Li Gang and Zhen Ping, who had recently arrived in the capital, were in charge, and Mr. Thirteen was in charge. The situation was still under control, and he tried not to let the filial sect master worry a little.
At the end of the wake, Quanyi went out for a big funeral. After four dynasties, nearly a hundred years old, the elderly empress dowager, who was deeply loved by the descendants of her subjects, was sent to the mausoleum of Wei to be buried with her husband who had died more than 40 years before her. The coffin drove out from the Miyagi Suzaku Avenue, and the music was played all the way, and the paper money was flying. The soaring and mournful music could also be clearly heard in Su's house, which was a block away from the main road. Mei Changsu knelt down in the porch to salute, her eyes were red, but she did not cry.
After the funeral, the emperor returned to court. But because everyone was tossed and tried their best, so they just walked through the motions, then went home to see their relatives, take a good bath, eat a meal and sleep.
And Mei Changsu suffered from this one month of suffering, and it was inevitable that he would get sick. Fortunately, Dr. Yan has been guarding him. It is not as dangerous as the previous few times. Some symptoms such as a small amount of blood, fever, cough, night sweats and fainting can be suppressed by taking a dose of medicine when the attack occurs.
After being lethargic for an afternoon, Mei Changsu woke up at night and sat on the bedside, watching Feiliu Origami Man. Looking around, I caught a glimpse of a white post on the case. It was sent by Feiqiyao, the special envoy from Yunnan, from the master of Nihuang County. It arrived yesterday, and only the words "Please take care of my brother" were written on it. At that time, I still read it. It was sad, so he put it aside, thinking that Li Gang and others would not dare to deal with it arbitrarily, so they kept it on the desk.
"Fei Liu, bring the post here."
The young man fluttered and quickly completed the task. Mei Changsu unfolded the post, stared at the words hidden in the four beautiful, half-hearted, and then called Fei Liu to move the lamp over, took off the gauze, put the post on the flame of the lamp and lit it, watching it slowly Slow down to ashes.
"Burn?" Fei Liu blinked, a little surprised.
"It doesn't matter," Mei Changsu smiled lightly, "there are some words that can be engraved in my heart."
The boy tilted his head, as if he didn't understand, but he was not someone who would be troubled by this, and soon sat on his small stool and continued to fold the paper figurine, probably because the paper figurine's head had not been folded well, so he didn't. He lost his temper patiently, threw it on the ground and stomped on both feet, and said loudly: "Hate!"
Mei Changsu waved his hand, motioning him to bring a new piece of paper and sit beside the bed, then slowly folded and folded, and folded a beautiful paper figure with a head and limbs, pull this hand, and the other will follow Moving together, Fei Liu was very happy, a smile appeared on his face, and suddenly said: "Liar to me!"
These two words are really clueless, but Mei Changsu understood them, glanced at him reproachfully, and said, "Brother Lin Chen taught you the origami method is right, I didn't lie to you, it was Fei Liu himself who didn't. Learn, you can't just wrong people!"
Fei Liu looked at the paper figurine in his hand aggrieved, and whispered: "It's different!"
"There are many ways to origami people. I know this kind of thing, which was taught to me by my great-grandmother... When I was a child, she often gave me origami people, paper cranes, etc., but I didn't like it at the time. Always wanting to slip away from her and run out and ride..."
"When I was a kid?" The teenager was very confused, probably unable to imagine that Brother Su also had a childhood, his mouth was slightly open.
"It was a time when we were much younger than Fei Liu now..."
"Wow?!" Fei Liu exclaimed.
"Bring another piece of paper, Brother Su will fold a peacock for you."
Fei Liu was very happy, he chose a piece of beige paper that he liked the most, without blinking, watching Mei Changsu's every move very seriously.
When the peacock's tail was gradually taking shape, Fei Liu suddenly turned his head and shouted, "Uncle!"
Mei Changsu was stunned, his hands stopped, and he instructed: "Fei Liu, go and pick up Uncle in."
"Peacock!"
"When Uncle is gone, Brother Su will continue to give you a discount."
Because his beloved origami activity was brutally interrupted, Fei Liu was very dissatisfied with the culprit, Meng Zhi. When he brought him in, his handsome face was as heavy as if it had been dyed with ink. Meng Zhi was at a loss, wondering where he had provoked this little guy again.
"Brother Meng, sit down." Mei Changsu handed the half-finished peacock to Fei Liu and asked him to play on the side. He bowed and sat up again. Meng Zhi hurried over to help him.
"Brother Meng has been working hard for a month, and it's easy to change shifts. I'm afraid it's still busy in Miyagi. If you have time, why don't you go back to the palace to rest?"
"I don't trust you," Meng Zhi looked at him under the light, and saw that he was getting thinner and thinner, and couldn't help but feel sad, and persuaded, "Although your relationship with the Empress Dowager is deep, she is already old, so she is happy. Mourning, you still have to take care of yourself."
Mei Changsu lowered his eyes and said slowly: "You don't need to persuade, I understand the reasoning, but I can't help it... The last time I saw my great grandmother, she took my hand and called Xiaoshu, no matter if she really recognized it, She was still calling out in a confused way. In short, she must have Xiaoshu in mind before she called out that name... I always hoped that she could wait for me, but now I don't even have that thought anymore..."
"The empress dowager is well-informed and has long felt your love and affection. She has loved you the most since she was a child, and she must be reluctant to let you feel so sad for her. I heard that when Princess Jinyang gave birth to you, she was an old man. I can't wait for you to enter the palace at the full moon, so I went to the Lin Mansion to see you in person. When I was a bodyguard in the palace, I often saw the empress dowager with a group of children, but her favorite among them was always you. .Although at that time, you were really naughty enough... "
"Really?" Mei Changsu's eyes gleamed slightly, but a warm smile appeared on his lips, "I've been thinking about the past few days too... Every time I get into trouble, it's my grandma who came to save me. Dad found that as long as he didn't beat me, grandma wouldn't interfere too much, so he thought of some punishment methods that would be more unbearable than hitting me even if he didn't beat me..."
"I know I know," Meng Zhi also showed a nostalgic smile, "once, you caused something... Probably you broke something important to the late emperor, Lin Shuai was very angry, obviously he was driving with him on the hunting ground. In the end, he didn't let you learn to ride and shoot with me, instead he stuffed you with a bunch of children, fined you to look after you, and didn't allow you to make mistakes, you were still a big kid at that time."
Mei Changsu nodded, obviously impressed by this incident, "At that time, I would rather run to fight bears alone than bring a bunch of noisy boys. Jing Rui was still quiet, but that Yu Yu Jin, running around without stopping for a moment..."
"So you tied him to the tree with a rope?" Meng Zhi raised his eyebrows, "Wang Yong Jing, who kindly came to accompany you, took the blame and said he tied it..."
"But in the end, it was me who was punished for kneeling, until my great grandma rescued me... At that time I felt very wronged, and I thought that Jingyan had already said that he did it, why should I punish me..." Mei Changsu smiled and said again. He coughed, and only paused for a long time. He gasped slightly and continued, "Looking back on these things, my heart is like a hockey puck that was roasted by fire. It was warm at one time, and cold and cold at the same time..."
"Xiaoshu..." Meng Zhi felt a throbbing pain in his heart. He wanted to persuade him, but he couldn't find the right words to say. The cast iron man couldn't help but have red eyes.
"Don't be sad," Mei Changsu comforted him in return, "Grandma is now in the ground, and I have passed the saddest days, and I am much better now. It's just the people who can accompany me to talk about those old things in the past. , now you are the only one, Brother Meng, so it is inevitable to say a few more words..."
Meng Zhi let out a long sigh and patted him on the shoulder, "Actually, I am also very conflicted in my heart, I want to talk to you more and let you remember that you are not only Su Zhe, but also Lin Shu, but I am afraid Talking too much will make you sad." "I understand your kindness," Mei Changsu raised his eyes, his eyes dark, "But whether it's Lin Shu or Su Zhe, it's not just paper or clay. , so I can endure this torment. There are still so many things to do in the future, how can I fall in the middle? Brother Meng, I believe that I can reach the last step, and you have to believe me. "
When Meng Zhi heard him say "the last step", his heart trembled involuntarily. After thinking about it, he didn't know why. He hurriedly smiled and said, "Of course I believe in you. With your talent and personality, why can't you do it?"
Mei Changsu smiled at him gently, leaned back on the back pillow, coughed twice, and urged: "You should go back earlier, you should spend more time with Mrs.-in-law. You can see that I am fine now, there is nothing to worry about. , after this day of shift change, the commander should be busy again."
Meng Zhi saw that it was really late, and was afraid of delaying Mei Changsu's rest, so he got up according to the words, stood up and instructed the last sentence: "There are urgency, now your recovery is the most important thing, all other things must be put behind, Anyway, don't be in a hurry at this time, Xu Wentuzhi is more secure."
Mei Changsu nodded and agreed, not allowing him to stay any longer, and summoned Fei Liu to see off the guests. The young man was eager to fold the peacock. He carried out this instruction extremely efficiently, and almost pushed and beat Meng Zhi out. .
It was already the second watch, Mei Changsu listened to the distant clappers on the street, stroked the filial robes on her body, and tried her best to stabilize her swaying mind.
Now that the first step has been taken, then... we must persevere to the end...
The boy flew back and handed over half a peacock. In fact, only the final process is left, fold and turn it over, and then pull out the fan-shaped tail feathers, and the shape and spirit will come out. In Fei Liu's joyous exclamation, Mei Changsu slowly raised the peacock in his palm, and murmured, "Grandma, did you see it?"