The mountain wind suddenly picked up, Yushu turned her head away, her eyes were a little wet.
"Mother Concubine? What's wrong with you?"
Yushu forced a smile and said, "It's nothing, I was blinded by the wind."
As I was talking, I suddenly felt that the wind was much weaker. Yushu raised his head in doubt, but saw a tall and straight figure standing in the wind, just in front of their mother and son. There was a cliff in front of him, the man stood facing the wind, the corners of his clothes were blown up by the wind, and the white snowflakes hovered around him. Although he stood so close, it seemed that he was thousands of miles away, and no one would ever be able to get close to him.
"Mother Concubine? Mother Concubine? What's wrong with you?" Seeing her in a daze, Yong'er cried out anxiously.
Yushu knew that he had lost his composure, so he quickly turned his head and said: "It's okay, Yong'er, quickly kowtow to the father."
The child stared, "It has already been knocked."
Yushu nodded, put in the last string of paper money, bowed three times, and stood up.
"Are you ready?" A deep voice sounded in front, and Yushu nodded hastily with lowered eyebrows. Yan Xun said, "Then let's go together."
Where did Yushu dare to object, she still nodded and agreed honestly.
Yan Xun stepped forward, took Yong'er's hand, and asked with a smile, "You know how to ride a horse?"
More than a dozen guards ran forward, some were packing up the sacrificial vessels behind, and some were guarding the left and right sides.
Yong'er often went to and from the palace on weekdays, and Yan Xun was always kind to him, so he was not afraid of strangers, he held the hand of the most powerful person in the world, raised his head, and said with a bright smile: "Yes, Uncle Jiang taught me, But I'm still too young to ride a big horse, only a pony."
Yan Xun smiled and said, "Your father didn't know how to ride a horse when he was your age, you are better than him."
"Ah? Really?" Yong'er was stunned for a moment, opened his eyes stupidly, and asked, "Father is so stupid?"
Yan Xun laughed happily when he heard the words: "Your father can do anything else, he is proficient in poetry and has read a lot of books, but he can't ride a horse. His equestrian skills are still learned from me."
"Wow, isn't the emperor my father's teacher? Can the emperor teach me? I want to ride a big horse, not a pony. The pony that Uncle Jiang gave me is too lazy to run. Yes, only in small steps."
"You are too young to teach you how to ride a horse, but I can teach you something else."
"What else can the emperor do? Can he fight crickets?"
"I know a lot."
"Your Majesty, brag, the red-headed general I raised is invincible all over the palace, and even the mighty green-headed king of the second prince was bitten off a thigh."
…
On the narrow stone steps, two people, one tall and one short, walked in the front, chatting while walking, having fun. Fengxue is right around, but it seems that they can't intervene between them.
Yushu followed behind, staring at their backs with ecstasy, thinking in a daze, if the prince was still there, maybe it would be like this. Maybe he will take Yong'er out for outings in his spare time, talk about other friends' embarrassing things when they were young, and then brag about how smart and powerful he was when he was young, maybe, that's what it looks like.
She suddenly felt a little sad. Although she was a simple woman who only knew how to take care of her husband and children, she was not completely ignorant of external affairs.
Over the years, especially in the past two years, princes in the palace were born one after another, but it was never heard that the emperor loved any son so much. Subconsciously, Yushu also understands that the Yan Kingdom was first established, the regimes of all parties are still unstable, and there are still small-scale wars in the north, and Dayan has promised before the queen married into the Yan Kingdom, the emperor of Dayan must be the queen Therefore, even if the queen has no children yet, the emperor cannot get too close to other sons, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the ruling and opposition parties. After all, in the court today, the old ministers of Huai Song Dynasty still have certain influence.
The emperor spoke with such a gentle expression, perhaps he had never even seen his own son.
His biological son is in front of his eyes but he can't get close to him, the emperor's heart may be very sad.
Yushu sighed foolishly, and a flock of birds flew over from above the forest, their wings fluttering. She raised her head, the wind was blowing on her face, it was icy cold.
A burst of laughter came from the front, the sound was so pleasant.
In the deep palace far away, Nalan Hongye threw a piece of flower paper into the fire and watched it being engulfed by the flames and turned into black ash. Vaguely, it seems to hear the wind blowing from the southeast, with an unfamiliar sound, lingering between the eardrums.
In the cold and deep palace, she was wearing a gorgeous palace dress, her back was straight, but her shoulders were slightly tired.
The sun shone on her, and under the beam, there were fine dust flying up and down.
Everything is changing, only her shadow, for many years, together with loneliness, has been stretched by endless time for a long time.
"Xuan Mo, it's been another year." Silently, she smiled slightly, but the smile dissipated like mist in the cold snow at the end of autumn. The wind is rustling outside the window, and the curtains are heavy in the empty hall. As soon as the imperial physician who asked for the pulse left, Aunt Yun went up to the hall, dressed in a first-grade court gown for a female official, and saluted Nalan Hongye in an upright manner, but she didn't get up.
Seeing this, Nalan Hongye smiled helplessly and asked, "What's the matter, aunt?"
Aunt Yun was already very old, her hair was full of silver frost, her wrinkles were deep, her eyes were cloudy and dull, but now they were as bright as knives. She raised her head, looked sharply at Nalan Hongye, and said in a low voice: "The emperor has gone to Yanxi Mountain again."
Nalan Hongye was noncommittal, smiled quietly, nodded and said: "King Xuan has made great contributions to the country, and it is rare for the emperor to be sympathetic to the heroes. Isn't this a good thing?"
The hall was very quiet, so quiet that the sound of the wind passing through the corridor could be heard far away. Aunt Yun knelt there, looking at her so quietly, without speaking, and her eyes were not too harsh, but being stared at by her silently, the camouflage on Nalan Hongye's surface gradually receded.
She sighed helplessly, and said with a wry smile: "What does Auntie want? I am fine now, and the emperor has not broken his original oath, so why bother to cause trouble?"
"But the Emperor hates you!" Aunt Yun suddenly said excitedly, "He hates you for taking away the military power of King Xuan, hates you for mobilizing his own army, hates you for transferring him to the East China Sea, hates you for detaining King Xuan for the last time. In the letter written to him, he thought that King Xuan was the brother Jinlan who watched and helped him. Over the years, he has hated you to the core, don't you know?"
"Yeah, he hates me so much." Nalan Hongye smiled slightly, with a bit of joy in her voice, and said happily, "Look, aunt, he is not a heartless person. He treats me as a sworn brother. , still very good."
"Princess!" Aunt Yun finally got angry, she stood up with a cane, her face turned blue.
Nalan Hongye coughed twice, then sighed helplessly: "Auntie, you are so old, why are you still so angry?"
Aunt Yun didn't speak, but just looked at her steadily.
Nalan Hongye was still smiling, but no matter how you looked at it, there was a trace of indescribable bitterness in that smile, "What does Auntie want from me? Use this as a bargaining chip to beg for a little favor from the emperor? Auntie, what do you think I am? Broken, did Hongye even lose her dignity?"
Aunt Yun was stunned suddenly, the candlelight in the main hall shone on her old face, revealing a kind of helpless vicissitudes.
"I don't live for me alone. Behind me, there are thousands of royal family members. With the honor of the queen and the love of Xuanmo, we Huai Song's survivors will not live too much Hard."
Aunt Yun frowned, and tried her best to argue: "But if the emperor knew the truth, he would treat you well, it's no different."
"It's different." Nalan Hongye turned her head, with a gentle smile hanging from the corner of her mouth, "You understand."
Fragrance curled up, one strand after another spiraled upwards, and as the night fell, heavy curtains fell, making the entire palace seem more lonely and solemn. She turned around and never looked back, just walked in step by step.
"He and Xuan Mo are brothers, and that's just brotherhood. Once the 'brothers' become husband and wife, the relationship will be gone."
The door of the vermilion lacquered gold palace opened slowly with a creak, and there was no one in the depths of the hall. Nalan Hongye stood upright, looking at the brilliant yellow palace, the fingers in his sleeves were fastened one by one, and then opened one by one, Vaguely, it seems to let go of something, and it seems to admit something.
So what if I told him? He doesn't love you, he just owes you nothing.
Inwardly, she whispered to herself. It turned out that admitting all this was actually such a simple matter.
What a beautiful woman she is, with one heart and one mind, exquisite and translucent, she has spent her whole life playing games in the court and playing with people's hearts. She knows every method and technique to win the greatest benefit for herself. The reason why she doesn't say anything and hides it is because she clearly knows that even if she reveals everything to the world, she will not be able to win his attention and favor in this life.
Instead of getting one point of gratitude and two points of guilt, but still have to emotionally scramble against the endless stream of women in the entire harem, it is better to let him and myself have a way out.
She has long understood that there are some things in this world that cannot be forced, the human heart is the most powerful shackle in this world, just like Xuanmo is to her, and just like she is to Yan Xun, once trapped in it, she cannot Detachment.
"Princess! If you want to keep my Great Song survivor, the most important thing is to give birth to a prince. It's been five years, it's been five years!"
The palace gate was slowly closed, and Aunt Yun's angry voice was no longer heard. Wen Yuan led the servants and retreated, and she was left alone in the hall. She walked calmly to the side of the small table, sat down slowly with her hands on the golden lacquer carved pillars, and poured water for herself very quietly. The soup flowed out, it was all black soup medicine, she didn't think it was bitter, so she just drank it one mouthful at a time. The decoction was still exuding heat, circling upwards, and the orchid pattern on the cup wall rubbed against the fingertips, giving it a warm touch. It was like a big wedding night, when her fingers lightly touched his skin, it was scarred and cold.
"There are only brothers who are equal and treat each other with sincerity, and there is no husband who has three thousand hearts and belongs to him. I am the eldest princess of Huai Song Dynasty, and I am Nalan Hongye."
In the silence, a deep voice sounded slowly, she opened her eyes wide, and two lines of tears flowed down her cheeks.
Cold tears rolled down her pale and thin cheeks, and fell on her wrist along the arc of her jaw, only two drops.
She just sat there all night.
On the second day, Aunt Yun died of illness, and Yan Xun personally decreed that Aunt Yun was canonized as Mrs. Kang Lu, the second rank, and enjoyed the spiritual ceremony of the third rank imperial official. Aunt Yun never married and had no husband's family, so she rewarded her mother's family, enjoyed the honor, gold, silver and brocade, and blessed her descendants.
On the day of Aunt Yun's funeral, Nalan Hongye stood on the turret of the west tower of Zhenhuang City, wearing a dark luan suit and a purple-gold tiara on her head, quietly watching the long dragon-like send-off team slowly leave Zhenhuang City, Go all the way south.
People die and return to their hometowns, and fallen leaves return to their roots. Five years ago, Aunt Yun followed Nalan Hongye thousands of miles away from her hometown and came to this snowy land. Now, her princess has grown up, and she is no longer the child who would hide in her arms and cry bitterly. She finally let go of everything and left.
That evening, it was snowing again, and the maid put on a thick long fur for her, but she still felt cold. With a pale complexion and a thin figure, she stood alone on a tall building, like a frozen stone statue.