The leader of the three clans led a delegation to Shangjing to pay homage to the emperor of the new dynasty. Accompanying the three clans were envoys from Changsha.
The emperor held a grand reception ceremony for the envoys from the three clans and Changsha State, and bestowed rewards on each of them. Among them, the reward for Yuan Handing was particularly eye-catching.
He was granted the title of Zhennan General, a first-class duke, and was granted fiefdoms and hereditary titles. Not only that, a few days later, on the eve of the envoys' departure from Shangjing after their pilgrimage, a eunuch came to the post station again and summoned Yuan Handing to the palace.
The night before his departure, he still had to receive such a great favor from the emperor. Amidst the countless envious gazes around him, Yuan Handing left the posthouse and followed the eunuch into the palace. He walked through the palaces shrouded in the night, passed through a quiet courtyard, followed the guidance of the palace lanterns, and finally came to a building at the end of the courtyard.
The eunuch stopped and said respectfully, "General, please come in and wait for a moment."
Yuan Handing looked forward and saw a plaque hanging in the center above the palace gate with the three characters "Qingxin Pavilion" inscribed on it.
He nodded and walked in.
The lights in the hall were bright, the painted buildings were covered with red curtains, and there were a few calligraphy and paintings hanging on the south wall. The night breeze slowly poured in through the half-open window panes, bringing a refreshing fragrance of flowers and trees. The surroundings were exquisite and elegant, not the imperial study he had thought before. It seemed that this place was very consistent with the inscription on the plaque outside the door, and it was more like a private pavilion for friends to gather.
Yuan Handing held his breath, stood in the center of the hall, and waited quietly for a long time, but the emperor never arrived, and doubts gradually arose in his heart.
He returned to the door and took a look outside. He found that the eunuch who had brought him here was also gone. He didn't know when he had left. The night was dark and there was no one around except him.
Yuan Handing hesitated for a moment, being in a dilemma. Just as he was about to call for help, he suddenly heard a rustling sound of footsteps coming from the corridor opposite to the one he had just walked through.
He looked up and saw a shadowy figure, as if a woman and her personal maid were walking towards him. The maid was holding a palace lantern, which gradually came closer, illuminating the figure.
Yuan Handing finally recognized that the palace maid was Danzhu, and the woman who was walking towards him was Mu Fulan.
This was the first time they met after she left Changsha that day.
He was very surprised. He didn't expect that she would come here before he could wait for the emperor. Then he thought about it and suddenly realized.
From the moment the eunuch arrived at the posthouse and said the first words, he never said that he was summoned by the emperor. He just assumed it for granted.
It turned out that it was not the emperor who met him, but she who summoned herself into the palace.
Although he was a little surprised, he was still very happy to see her before leaving Shangjing.
He immediately stepped out of the door and walked towards the woman who was walking towards him. He knelt in the corridor and kowtowed to greet her.
When Mu Fulan saw him, a flash of surprise flashed across her eyes and she was stunned for a moment, but soon a smile appeared on her face and she walked forward to ask him to get up.
She entered the palace. Yuan Handing followed her in, stopped at the entrance of the palace, and said respectfully: "This time when I came to the capital, I was not only honored by His Majesty the Emperor, but also had the opportunity to see the Crown Prince during the day. The Crown Prince treated me with great courtesy and conveyed to me the Queen Mother's greetings and expectations for me."
Mu Fulan smiled and said, "A disciple should respect his teacher as he would his father. The prince has been taught riding, archery and martial arts by you in the past, so it is his duty to respect you. Brother, please don't be polite in front of me."
Yuan Handing slowly relaxed and a smile appeared on his face.
"I have benefited a lot from this visit to the capital. It is my honor to be summoned by the Queen before I leave. I can express my gratitude to her in person. Please rest assured, Queen, I will be more loyal after I return and live up to the grace of God. The Queen specially summoned me here. If there is anything else, please tell me. I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"
Mu Fulan smiled and said, "I don't have anything else to say. Although Xi'er conveyed my regards to you during the day, I thought that you would leave tomorrow and I happened to have nothing to do at night, so I came to say goodbye to you. It is inconvenient for me to leave the palace, so I invited you here. I hope you have a safe journey and return home soon."
Yuan Handing thought that she had summoned him here privately because she had some unspeakable secret or wanted his help, but it turned out that she just wanted to say goodbye to him and thank him again.
Mu Fulan came up, helped him up personally, and chatted with him about the affairs of Changsha State.
Yuan Handing knew that her current status was very different from when she was the regent princess in Changsha State. He knew that it was not convenient for him to stay here for long, so after chatting for a while, he said goodbye and left.
Mu Fulan did not want to keep him, and sent him out of the hall, saying, "I prepared some things for Mu Mama and A'ru, please take them back, brother, and ask Mu Mama to take good care of A'ru. I will go back to see them when I am free."
Yuan Handing agreed to all of his requests. Mu Fulan stopped on the steps outside the palace gate, and when his figure gradually disappeared at the end of the palace road, the smile on her face disappeared.
She turned her head and looked towards the dark night sky where Yuanchen Palace was located. She stared for a moment without saying a word, then immediately walked towards Yuanchen Palace.
It was late, but the lights in the imperial study were still as bright as day. Xie Changgeng sat behind his desk, looking down at the memorials. The palace was silent, and the palace servants waiting in the corner held their breath. It was so quiet that one could even hear the sound of the emperor's pen brushing across the paper.
Eunuch Cao Jin entered the palace and signaled with his eyes to the palace attendants. When only he and the emperor were left in the palace, he walked closer, bowed, and whispered, "Your Majesty, I have made arrangements. The queen has already gone."
"What happens tonight is kept secret, and no unrelated people will know anything about it." Cao Jin added cautiously.
Xie Changgeng's eyes were still on the open book in front of him, and he didn't say a word.
His face was indifferent, as if he didn't hear anything. He finished reading a letter, closed it, and raised his hand to pick up another one on the desk. When his fingertips touched the letter, his hand suddenly stopped and his face gradually turned pale. After a moment, as if he could no longer hold it in, he coughed violently.
The imperial physician once said that the emperor had injured his lungs that day. Although the external injuries have healed, the internal organs still need to be adjusted slowly. If the qi and blood are not flowing smoothly in daily life, it will cause internal coughing, which should not be ignored.
Cao Jin came up and rubbed the emperor's back. Seeing that he was coughing uncontrollably and with a look of pain on his face, he suddenly lowered his head. When he slowly stood up, he saw a cluster of bright red blood on the memorial in front of him, which was shocking.
The eunuch was stunned. After he came to his senses, he opened his mouth to call for the imperial physician, but was stopped.
The emperor closed the memorial, closed his eyes, and said, "Go and bring me the medicine."
Cao Jin's eyes were red. He knew the emperor's temper and that he would not change his mind, so he had to retreat.
He retreated to the door of the imperial study, turned around, opened the door and was about to step over the threshold, when he was startled.
Outside the door stood a beautiful woman with a hint of anger on her face.
"Queen!" The eunuch reacted and quickly stepped aside to greet her.
Mu Fulan lifted her skirt, stepped into the imperial study, and said, "Get out!"
The eunuch turned around quickly. Through the layers of curtains, he could see the emperor still looking down at another memorial, as if nothing had happened. He didn't notice the movement at the door. He hesitated for a moment and said cautiously, "The queen came here suddenly..."
"Get out!" Mu Fulan said coldly, then stepped forward.
The Queen is gentle and virtuous, and is tolerant towards her subjects, something she has never seen before.
The eunuch didn't dare to speak again. He lowered his head and walked out, closing the door.
Mu Fulan walked straight in, came to the imperial court, stared at the man opposite her, lowered her voice, and said word by word: "Xie Changgeng, what is your intention tonight?"
She waited for a moment and saw that the man was still sitting upright with his brows lowered and his hand holding the pen still writing. It seemed that he did not hear a word she said. She could no longer suppress the anger boiling in her heart, so she stepped forward and snatched the memorial he was reviewing.
His wrist trembled slightly, and the tip of the pen slid across the page at an angle, leaving a long trail of ink on the page.
"Your Majesty, may I ask if you are testing loyalty or treachery, or if you want to catch a pair of traitors?"
She threw the memorial from an unknown minister and sneered.
Xie Changgeng slowly placed the red brush in his hand on the pen holder, raised his eyes, looked at her, and moved his lips, as if he wanted to speak but couldn't.
Mu Fulan's mind flashed through the scenes that happened tonight: Cao Jinlai came to tell her to go to Qingxin Pavilion, saying that the emperor summoned her there. She didn't understand why, but she went anyway.
She never expected that the person she met there was Yuan Handing.
What made her even more angry was that Yuan Handing was obviously kept in the dark and thought that the person who summoned him into the palace privately was her.
She hadn't been as angry as she was tonight for a long time, so much so that on the way here, she clenched her fists and trembled uncontrollably.
Seeing him like this, she didn't want to hear anything more from him, so she continued, "Your Majesty, I always thought you were a wise man, but now I have to doubt it. Such a ridiculous and stupid act is a humiliation to me and Brother Yuan, and also to Your Majesty yourself."
"I hope you don't let this happen again!"
After she finished speaking, she turned around and was about to open the door and leave when a faint voice came from behind her.
"I thought you and him should have something to talk about..."
She stopped and turned away.
He was still sitting there, looking at her, his face a little pale, but his expression seemed much calmer than before, and his voice was very steady.
"Do you remember what I told you before? I won't interfere in your affairs."
He said. In front of his eyes, it seemed as if the scene of her eyes shining with joy when she heard the name Yuan Handing that night appeared.
"Yuan Handing has come all the way here. I think you must want to meet him, but you have never been able to meet him to avoid suspicion. If you let him go like this, I don't know when you will meet again, which will be a pity."
He paused.
"You didn't come to the capital out of your own will. Believe it or not, I really hope you can live as comfortably as possible here, so I made such arrangements. If I offend you, it's my inconsiderateness, I hope you can forgive me."
Mu Fulan was stunned.
She looked at the person in front of her.
He was clearly Xie Changgeng, the man whom she could not get rid of in both lives and who was as familiar to her as the other half of her body. But at this moment, or rather, since some time ago, he seemed to have changed and was no longer the person she knew.
This feeling had actually already crept into her heart a long time ago, but it had always been vague and had never been as clear as it was tonight.
The anger in her heart gradually dissipated, and was replaced by another kind of confusion and bewilderment that even she herself could not describe.
She looked at the man, was silent for a moment, and said slowly: "Thank you Chang Geng, I appreciate your thoughtful consideration for me, but you really don't know me at all."
"I tell you, if I ever want to do it, I don't need your arrangement. I, Mu Fulan, know what to do!"