The first day of June in the first year of Yuanyou was the anniversary of the death of the late emperor.
Because Tianshou Mountain, where the imperial mausoleum is located, is more than ninety miles away from the capital, on May 28th, Empress Dowager Qi and Emperor Yuanyou led the civil and military officials of the capital and a group of royal relatives to the imperial mausoleum to prepare for the memorial service.
Early in the morning on the first day of June, the memorial ceremony officially began.
The two eldest princesses, Huayang and Nankang, stood behind Empress Dowager Qi and Emperor Yuanyou.
If he was in the capital, Huayang would no longer cry when he thought of his father. But now, standing in front of his father's tomb, his tears flowed naturally without any effort.
But after all, a year has passed, and Huayang's sorrow is more like a calm stream flowing. He just wipes his tears with a handkerchief and does not cry out loud.
The same was true for Empress Dowager Qi and Emperor Yuanyou. However, it was Nankang who cried the most sadly. She fell to the ground, crying so hard that she was out of breath. In the end, she was helped away.
Watching her back as she walked away supported by the palace maids, Emperor Yuanyou looked at his sister with mixed feelings.
Huayang gave his brother a helpless look.
Although Nankang's crying showed that she and her brother were not filial enough, she really couldn't let Huayang deliberately lie on the ground and cry just to compete with Nankang.
Emperor Yuanyou thought the same thing, and he even almost choked up just now, but he was startled by the noise in Nankang.
He returned to Beijing at dusk on the third day and Huayang stayed in the palace that night.
The brother and sister had dinner with Empress Dowager Qi. After the meal, Emperor Yuanyou expressed his intention to send his sister back to Qifeng Palace.
When they really arrived at the Qifeng Palace, the brother and sister dismissed the palace maids and sat on the couch in the side room, talking intimately.
There was an ice pot in the room, making it cool and refreshing. The first thing Emperor Yuanyou complained to his sister was Nankang's crying: "I think she did it on purpose, to embarrass the two of us!"
Emperor Yuanyou, who had been on the throne for a year, had become accustomed to referring to himself as "Zhen" in public. It was only when he was in front of his own sister that he changed back to his old name.
Hua Yang smiled and said, "I think she was really crying. Think about it, ever since Prince Yu rebelled, her mother lost even the title of Li Jia Gui Taifei. Although she was given the title of the eldest princess, her status in the capital is far less than before. She even wants not to leave the house. Compared to when our father was alive, how can she not feel wronged?"
Emperor Yuanyou had no sympathy for Nankang: "The Prince of Yu became like that because of the indulgence of the noble concubine. Nankang and the Prince of Yu were born from the same mother. It's just her bad luck."
Huayang thought that it was the father's fault for not raising and educating the child, Prince Yu was incompetent, and his father the Emperor and Concubine Lin Gui were all responsible.
But my father is the emperor, and no one in the palace dares to accuse him of being lazy. At this time, we can only rely on the concubines to decide what will become of the princes and princesses.
Obviously, her mother was not only much smarter than Concubine Lin Gui, but also put much more effort into educating her children than Concubine Lin Gui.
Of course, Huayang didn't need to go into so much detail with his brother.
"How have you been doing in the past six months?" Huayang picked up a lychee and peeled it while chatting with her brother. "Sister has been in mourning in the mansion for the past six months. I don't have anything to worry about other people, but you."
When this was mentioned, the Yuanyou Emperor seemed to have lost all his energy and spirit. He leaned lazily on the windowsill next to him, his eyes unconsciously attracted by his sister's delicate hands peeling lychees. He said, "It's too tiring. I have to get up before dawn to study every day. After breakfast, I sit in the court for more than half an hour, then listen to the elders' discussions, and then read for another half an hour. There is an hour of rest at noon, and I get up to continue studying and practicing martial arts. In the evening, I have meals with my mother. You know, my mother used to just check my homework, but now she has to give me memorials to analyze."
Emperor Yuanyou didn't even lean on the windowsill. He stretched out on the couch and looked up at his sister who was eating lychees with a pitiful look: "Sister, I'm so tired!"
If it was Chen Jingzong, Huayang would definitely not feel distressed, but her younger brother was only fourteen years old, with a thin figure, and his handsome face still had a bit of immaturity. It would be fine if he was just being stubborn, but now he showed his tired side. As an elder sister, how could Huayang not have any sympathy for him
She asked, "Do we have to hold a daily meeting now?"
Emperor Yuanyou snorted and nodded.
At that time, my father only held court meetings on the first and fifteenth day of every month, and Lord Chen and my mother had no complaints. But when it was his turn, Lord Chen and my mother took advantage of his young age and demanded that he attend court every day.
Huayang looked at the dark circles under his brother's eyes and smiled as he offered an idea: "It's really hard to go to court every day, and ministers don't have things to report every day. Why don't you pretend to be sick and talk to the cabinet minister about your true feelings, and persuade him to agree to reduce the number of court meetings. Then he can persuade mother, and it will be done."
Emperor Yuanyou: "They are always of one mind. Can the elder take my side?"
Huayang: "Didn't you tell me before that the Lord is much more lenient towards you now?"
Emperor Yuanyou: "He is lenient on minor matters, but he will definitely not listen to me on major matters like reducing the number of court meetings."
Hua Yang: "How can you know if you don't try? The elder and the queen mother are strict with you, just because they hope you can grow up to be a wise ruler, but they will also put your health first. As long as you tell them about your hard work, they will never be reluctant to force you to grow."
In the previous life, my mother and father-in-law were both strict in temperament. My younger brother was strictly disciplined by them since he was young. Even if he had any troubles or grievances in his heart, he dared not speak out. It was not until he really fell ill in the autumn of this year that my father-in-law took the lead in compromising and changed the method to hold court meetings only on the third, sixth, and ninth days of each month.
Because of this, Huayang dared to help his brother to pretend to be sick. If it worked, his brother would probably be moved by his father-in-law's compromise.
Emperor Yuanyou blinked and said, "Okay, I'll try it later."
Huayang asked him to sit up, and then stuffed the freshly peeled lychee flesh into his mouth, and whispered: "Don't let it slip, and don't tell me if you do, or I will never come to the palace to see you again."
Emperor Yuanyou quickly assured that it would not happen.
He also peeled lychees himself and continued chatting with his sister: "The reforms of the cabinet minister have offended many ministers. Both Beijing officials and local officials often submit memorials to him, but I rejected them all and even fined a group of people."
Huayang still had the lychee in his mouth. After he finished eating, he asked thoughtfully, "Why did those ministers complain to the old man? If what they said makes sense, you can't just side with the old man. You have to tell him what he should correct. After all, he is now the chief minister of the cabinet, and you are the only one who can warn him from time to time."
Huayang smiled: "No one is perfect, and the old man is no exception. He should be a role model in front of you. You may not know that I have been a daughter-in-law in the Chen family for several years, and I often hear the prince consort and the old man's wife complain about him."
Emperor Yuanyou became interested: "What are they complaining about, Lord?"
Huayang: "The most common complaint is strictness. You should know this very well. When the Prince Consort and his three brothers first moved to the capital, the two older brothers were already very sensible, and the Prince Consort was only three years old. The elder paid more attention to the Prince Consort, and more attention meant more strictness. As a result, the Prince Consort was directly pissed off and ran away. Until now, he would rather live with me in the Princess's Mansion than go home."
Emperor Yuanyou: "So you will all live in the Princess's Mansion from now on?"
Huayang: "Yes, I also like the Princess's Mansion more. It is large and magnificent. The Chen family's small garden is incomparable."
Emperor Yuanyou: "Will the Queen Mother be unhappy?"
He knew very well that his mother valued etiquette and hoped that his sister would be a filial daughter-in-law in the Chen family.
Hua Yang smiled and said, "I already know how to make my mother soft-hearted."
Emperor Yuanyou: "How?"
Huayang pointed to his eyes and said, "Last time I wanted to join the army, my mother didn't agree at first, but when I cried, she agreed."
Emperor Yuanyou: …
Although he also wanted his mother to be soft-hearted, he really couldn't do it.
He teased his sister: "You really love your husband."
Huayang showed a gentle expression, not hiding the affection between husband and wife, and confided to his brother: "Because he treated me well first, I will treat him the same way."
Emperor Yuanyou didn't quite understand: "How did he treat you well? He just carried you up the mountain a few times. It's a matter of exertion. It would be the same if he changed the guards."
Huayang smiled and said, "It's not just a simple mountain climbing. Take the flood for example. I just walked out of the living room without saying anything, and he came to me and wanted to carry me up the mountain. If you have ever experienced a rainstorm, and if someone can carry you steadily through the mud, you will understand the feeling. And my sister was afraid of insects, and he would also lie on the ground and help me block them without complaint."
Emperor Yuanyou was silent for a moment, then said, "If it were me, I would definitely carry a woman on my back and block the bugs for her."
Huayang: "If you are willing to treat a girl like this, then that girl is the most blessed person in the world."
Emperor Yuanyou was still young and had never dreamed of these things. He continued to ask, "How has the Prince Consort been good to you?"
Huayang: "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me if I tell you something. When my sister was in Lingzhou, the third brother and sister-in-law of the Prince Consort lived in front of our yard. That year, his sister-in-law gave birth to a daughter. I heard her screaming at night. I told the Prince Consort that I didn't want to have a child now. Even if I wanted to have one in the future, I would only have one, no matter a boy or a girl. The Prince Consort agreed. After we returned to Beijing, Nankang laughed at my sister for not being able to have children. The Prince Consort never urged her for a day, and he never went out to flirt with women."
Emperor Yuanyou recalled how respectful and honest his son-in-law was in front of his sister.
Even though my sister dared to join the army for the sake of her husband, she actually always treated her husband with a condescending attitude. Even so, her husband had no complaints.
At this point, Emperor Yuanyou finally understood the relationship between his sister and the prince consort. His sister is cold on the outside but warm on the inside, while the prince consort must be very steady and reliable!
Emperor Yuanyou turned the topic to Chen Ge Lao: "What did the Ge Lao's wife complain about him?"
Huayang: "That's a lot. The old man was born in a poor family, and now he is the old man. He has been promoted very quickly, but he left all the family affairs to his wife. His wife raised four children by herself, and one of them died of illness. How could his wife not blame him? In addition, the old man is old, but he still doesn't know how to take care of his body when he is busy. He refuses to follow the doctor's advice. When his wife cares about him, he still has a bad face. Anyway, these are all trivial things that happen every day. The old lady said that if she had known that he would become like this when he was old, she should not have married him for his appearance."
Emperor Yuanyou disagreed with this: "I think she is just being unappreciative of her good fortune. The elder passed the imperial examination at a young age and now holds a high position in the government. How many women would like to trade places with her, yet she is still complaining."
Huayang: "You are the emperor, so of course you are happy that your subjects are wholeheartedly serving the court. What's wrong with a wife wanting her husband to spend more time with her? You, just wait, there will be a day when your wife will complain to me about you."
Emperor Yuanyou understood that this was the difference in thinking between men and women, and he and his sister could not agree on anything.
At this time, the eunuch Cao Li beside him reminded him from outside the curtain: "Your Majesty, it's late. You and the princess have been tired all day. Why don't you go to bed early?"
Emperor Yuanyou looked at his sister with lingering feelings and said, "Then I'll come again tomorrow night." He definitely wouldn't be free during the day.
Huayang said regretfully, "Sister will be leaving the palace tomorrow morning, and I have to go to Chen's house to visit the old lady, and show my filial piety as a daughter-in-law."
Emperor Yuanyou was unhappy: "She is your mother-in-law. You haven't been filial to your mother for half a year. How can she go over her? You should stay a few more days."
Hua Yang: "Don't do that. When my father was alive, no one dared to report me. Now if I stay in the palace for a long time, the imperial censors will hand over their memorials to you."
Emperor Yuanyou: "I'm not afraid of them either!"
Huayang smiled softly: "But I feel sorry for you. You have to study and learn politics at the same time. It's so hard. I don't want to cause you any trouble."
Emperor Yuanyou felt warm in his heart.
(End of this chapter)