The drifting clouds obscured the crescent moon, and the cold moonlight faded. In the huge city below, the lights of thousands of homes looked like a dense river of stars.
In the imperial city, a figure rode his horse through the imperial city. When he arrived in front of the Xuanwu Gate, he let out a "whoosh" and tightened the reins. A soldier came over and said, "Greetings, Duke Yue!"
The person who dismounted was none other than Yang Su. He handed the reins to the soldier who came over, said a few words of encouragement, and quickened his pace as he walked through the long and tall palace road. On the way, he bowed his heads one by one to the patrolling guards and imperial guards on duty who held their weapons.
With words of greeting, the old man walked through the Xuanzheng Hall and came to the cross street of the harem where His Majesty lived. There were tall buildings extending beyond. The eunuchs and palace maids were waiting outside the door with their heads bowed. When they saw the old man coming, they took a half step to the side without moving.
"Maidens, greet Duke Yue."
The old man came over and asked the eunuch in charge to raise his head and look at the closed doors and windows on the side. In the lighted window frame, a figure could be vaguely seen working at a desk.
"Your Majesty is still reviewing the memorials?"
"Replying to Duke Yue, His Majesty is still reviewing the documents and hasn't even had a bite of food. This really makes me feel bad."
Yang Su took off the magic sword behind him and handed it to the eunuch who was speaking. He nodded and hummed, then strode towards the door. The young eunuchs waiting on both sides hurried forward to open the door.
Inside, Yang Jian was sitting behind a long desk, and was just putting down a memorial and throwing it aside when he heard the sound of the palace door opening and closing. He raised his eyes, pointed to the seat on the side below, yawned, and took a few yellow memorials from under the gold and jade dragon carved lamppost and looked through them.
"Come on, sit down for a while, I'll review a few more books and then I'll be done."
The palace maid came over with the lamp and added more tea. After bowing and leaving, Yang Su took a sip of hot tea and saw the emperor with gray hair and beard behind the dragon case, he couldn't help but persuade him.
"Brother, you are a wise ruler in a prosperous era, and you are diligent in government affairs, but you should also pay more attention to rest."
On the other side, Yang Jian smiled and threw a memorial to the other side, then waved his hand to interrupt him.
"… Stop talking. Before I became emperor, I wanted to be an emperor. Now that I am sitting on the throne, I envy you. If you do good things, you can drink and play with women at leisure."
He paused, looked at his cousin who was sitting below, and asked, "Tell me, why are you here in the palace looking for me in the middle of the night instead of practicing at home?"
When Yang Su was asked this question, he finally remembered why he came here. He withdrew his thoughts from the idea of comforting the emperor and got down to business.
"Brother, I just came from Fellow Daoist Lu."
Hearing this, the emperor behind the dragon case put down the imperial pen in his hand and stood up in the swaying light: "Mr. Lu is in Chang'an?"
"I arrived this afternoon and stayed at the Yunlai Inn in the city."
"This afternoon?"
Yang Jian put down the memorial, stroked his white beard, strode down the imperial steps, walked to the dragon and phoenix lamp stand in front of the hall pillar, stood still, looked at the swaying lights, and pondered for a while.
"Then Mr. Lu, do you have any other options?"
The old man at the table probably guessed that his brother was worried that Fellow Daoist Lu had to leave for other things, so he asked this question. He smiled and stood up, walked behind the emperor, and bowed.
"Don't worry, brother. Fellow Daoist Lu came here this time to fulfill the promise we made last year and serve as the Imperial Master."
In the flickering light, Yang Jian's beard stretched out. He turned around with a smile, waved his dragon sleeves, asked his cousin to stand up, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly: "Come here, bring me my imperial edict and jade seal."
After saying this, he returned to the dragon desk and sat down again. He grabbed the imperial pen and gently scraped off the ink. He looked at the imperial edict spread out by the eunuch, thought for a moment about the words, and then wrote down the blue ink with a flourish of his pen, while still speaking.
"We can't delay this matter any longer, otherwise Mr. Lu will get away again. I will tell all the ministers about this matter at the court tomorrow morning. I don't think it will be a difficult matter."
She wrote a long letter and asked Yang Su to look at it. Seeing that there was nothing wrong, she returned to Yong'an Palace with great satisfaction. The eunuchs with lighted lamps were waiting there to greet her. This was already the norm. They obviously knew that the emperor would come to the empress's place after handling government affairs every day before he could fall asleep.
Lanterns extended under the eaves. Walking through the corridor, he arrived at the back garden of Yong'an Palace. The waiting palace maid said hello and bowed to open the door. The gauze curtains were rolled up, and behind the hazy curtains, the fragrance of books was in the air. On the bookshelf made of Dalbergia odorifera, various books and bamboo slips were neatly arranged. Yang Jian lifted the gauze curtain and went in. Behind a small table on the other side, a woman was reading a book. When she heard footsteps, she put down the book and stood up to greet her.
"Your Majesty is back."
Smiling, she undid his complicated dragon robe for him, just as she did before she became the queen.
Looking at his old wife busying around under the light, Yang Jian was most impressed by her and felt relieved. He took off his heavy robe, went to the copper basin to wash his hands, sat on the bed, and breathed a sigh of relief.
After giving the dragon robe to the caring palace maid to put away, Dugu Jialuo came over and sat next to her husband, gently massaging his arms and shoulders.
"Judging from your Majesty's complexion today, I think something good is going to happen."
Yang Jian felt the gentle touch of his wife's fingers, looked at the ceiling, and laughed, "There is one thing. The Queen should know about Lu Liangsheng, right?"
"I have heard Your Majesty talk about it several times. What's the matter?"
"Mr. Lu has come to Chang'an today. Tomorrow, I will announce to all the ministers that I will appoint him as the Imperial Master to protect our country and the people of Sui Dynasty and bring them peace and happiness."
Seeing her husband laughing like a little child, the woman chuckled and twisted his beard.
"Your Majesty, you should think it through. Mr. Lu is a little young, and he may not convince the courtiers below. I heard that he was outside the South Gate of Chang'an last time and got involved with a group of Taoists. I think that when it comes to employing people, you still need to be calm and prudent, and have considerable prestige."
Yang Jian knew that his wife was a devout Buddhist, had been intelligent since childhood, and had always been by his side during his most difficult times. Now that he was saying this, he couldn't help but feel a little curious.
Looking at the woman who had been with him for fifty years, he sat up from the bed.
"Then what do you think I should do?"
"Your Majesty, do you still remember where you were born? Who raised you?" Dugu Jialuo was no longer as pretty as before, but she also had an aura that other women could not have. "The nun Zhixian from Prajna Temple might be a good choice. She also raised your Majesty, so I can repay her for that."
Lying on the couch, Yang Jian frowned.
How could he forget the nun his wife mentioned? He was born in Fengyi Prajna Temple and was raised by the nun Zhixian. In other words, she was his adoptive mother.
"What the Queen said makes sense, but she is a woman, how can she enter the court? Monks should be pure and free from desires, how can they get involved in the worldly affairs? No, no, if she is allowed to come, the first to object will be the ministers."
He immediately waved his hand to reject his wife's proposal. The woman wanted to say more, but Yang Jian yawned, sleepily lifted the quilt, fell asleep in it, and waved his hand.
"I have to attend court early tomorrow, and the Queen should go to bed soon. You and I are not young anymore, so staying up late is not good."
"yes."
Seeing her husband snoring after lying down for a while, Dugu Jialuo sighed, took off her coat, and went to the emperor's side. Soon, the palace maid came in quietly and blew out the lights.