Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 918 Grief
At the gate of the Cao Mansion, Cao Yuan had already received the news, and brought people out to welcome him.

Cao Yong got off his horse and asked in a low voice, "Is everything ready?"

Cao Yuan hurriedly said: "It's all ready. I know that my master is going to the city today. Cao Fang has already brought Qian Li and Zhao Gang to wait."

Cao Yong nodded, at this moment, Dudley also got off his horse and walked towards Cao Yong: "Uncle Cao, after finishing the errands, I will take everyone back to the camp first, and come back to greet uncle at another time. "

"On the way, I need more guidance from adults." Cao Yong's "thank you" was sincere.

He also saw that this Dudley was not a good talker, but he was quite talkative about his journey. Although he didn't know whose favor it was, Cao Yong appreciated his kindness.

Seeing that Cao Yong was so serious, Dudley felt a little uncomfortable, and he went back to the camp with five hundred guards in his arms.

After passing the Xidan Archway, I saw several large carts parked by the side of the road, and a few people dressed as housekeepers stood beside the carriages.

Those people were staring at the intersection, and when they saw Dudley leading the people approaching, they stepped forward and raised their voices, "Excuse me, are you the guard of the barracks, Mr. Da?"

The guard barracks is the Son of Heaven's pro-army, and the outfits are all customized.In addition, the emperor was not in the capital, and hundreds of guards entered the city. It was impossible not to be conspicuous, so the visitors were not afraid of admitting mistakes.

Dali reined in his horse and said with a straight face: "It's Damou, who are you?"

Although he said it out loud, he already knew in his heart that he was a member of the Cao family.Because among these few people, there are two long followers who followed Cao Yong a few days ago.

I didn't see them at the inn yesterday, so I thought I was going back to Beijing first.

He heard one of them take two steps forward, and raised his voice: "Responding to your lord's words, this villain is Cao Fang, a servant of Cao's mansion. By order of my uncle and wife, I am here to thank you all." He pulled a cart and said: "Because of escorting Mrs. Bo Tai's belongings, the tired adults missed the important event of the siege. Mrs. Uncle was very disturbed. This is the pastry box of Daoxiang Village specially prepared by Mrs. Uncle. It is our Mrs. Uncle's kindness. I hope you will be sympathetic."

Dudley was still listening on the horse at first, but got off the horse when he heard "Mrs. Mrs."

If it was an ordinary female family member of the Earl's Mansion, he would not let him be so considerate, but after returning from outside the Great Wall, he also knew a thing or two about the lady lady's speculation.

Not to mention that he is a small third-rank leader, even the prince and Baylor of the capital are not qualified to stand in front of him.

He knew in his heart that this was obviously a pastry box, but there must be money in it, otherwise the Cao family would not have made a special trip to arrange these, and even pointed out the matter of everyone's siege.

He dared to refute that lady's face, and secondly, the steward replied with a loud voice, and the military school could hear him behind him. If he refused, he would be a stranger inside and out.

Dudley could only smile wryly, this Cao Yong looked like a real person, but he was slippery in handling things.

If Cao Yong was on the road or at the gate of Cao's mansion, Dudley would have justly refused if he came out like this; Lady's reward...

*
Cao Mansion, Orchid Courtyard.

Mrs. Li only got the news yesterday that her son returned to Beijing today.

When the news came suddenly, she was worried that her son had been injured again, but she was relieved when she heard that her son hadn't made any mistakes and was only ordered to return to Beijing.

After she was relieved, she felt amused.

She knew that her son and daughter-in-law had a good relationship, so she thought that her son got the news that his wife was pregnant, so she found a reason to ask for an order to return to Beijing.

After the fun, she felt a bit smug, and complained a little bit that her son married a wife and forgot his mother.Thinking about the early years when I was in Jiangning, my husband was busy with errands, and I spent a lot of time alone in my empty boudoir.

Even so, her love for her son calmed down her grievances, and she happily waited for her son to come back.In one morning, people went to the second gate to ask questions several times.

When Cao Yong entered the second gate, Mrs. Li couldn't hold back anymore, and waited inside the gate with Chu Yu.

Seeing her son coming in, she sized him up several times, but she still felt distressed, and sighed: "It's a lot lighter, and my face is tanned."

"Why did mother come out..." Cao Yong handed the bundle in his hand to the woman next to him, stepped forward two steps, and walked in front of Mrs. Li,

Seeing her full of love and affection, Cao Yong felt a little uneasy when he thought that he had just heard Cao Yuan say that there had been rumors in the capital.

"You have come back from a long journey. I am a mother, and I am not seventy or eighty years old. What's wrong with welcoming my son?" Mrs. Li said with a smile, "Hurry up and take a look at your wife. She has suffered a lot these days. Fortunately, you When I come back, I can also recite Amitabha Buddha."

Cao Yong looked at his wife, and saw that her little face had become thinner, and she looked at him with joy in her eyes, but it was hard to hide her lackluster look.

She was wearing loose clothes and soft-soled shoes, and she was more than three months pregnant.

Cao Yong's realization fell on his wife's abdomen, and the uneasiness in his heart was even greater.It was just suspicion earlier, but now it is confirmed that he and his wife are close relatives.

This child...Tianhui...he just feels confused...

Seeing his strange expression and not speaking for a long time, Li Shi couldn't help showing a little worry, Chu Yu's heart also raised.

Cao Yong felt that the atmosphere was not right, he let out a long breath, and said to Li Shi: "Go back to mother first, the son has something to say to mother." After speaking, he said to Chu Yu: "It's a family matter, you also come here."

When he got to the room in Lanyuan, Cao Yong opened the bag he was carrying, revealing several sandalwood boxes inside, unlocked it with a key, put it aside, and said to Li: "This is the property that the queen mother gave to my mother. The reason why my son came back from Mongolia ahead of schedule is to escort these belongings back to Beijing. These are lists, please keep them well. If you like something, ask someone to find it according to the book."

Hearing this, Mrs. Li couldn't help being surprised, and said: "The queen mother is an old man, the queen mother is an old man... isn't she already dead?"

"This batch of property was previously kept by the Prince's Mansion in Horqin. The Empress Dowager left a will in her early years, so they brought it to the imperial court this year." Cao Yong simply replied.

During the few years before her death, the Empress Dowager had to reward her several times every year.

Now hearing that foreign feudal clans and the queen mother's natal family were involved, Mrs. Li was really flattered.

She casually picked up a brochure handed over by her son, glanced at it, her face changed, and her hands trembled.

"Is it a bad memory, or a bad pass on the will? How is it possible?" Li Shi opened her eyes wide, making sure that she read correctly, and asked with a frown.

Sitting beside Chu Yu, she felt her heart beating "chug".

Is it the money brought back from the grassland?Shouldn't it be transported back with the Bahrain Ministry? How could Horqin be involved?
She thought her mother-in-law was the illegitimate daughter of the late Huang Zeng-aunt, and only thought that these were the private property left by Huang Zeng-aunt.

Some things, Cao Yong can no longer hide from his mother, but it is not good to mention these things in front of his wife, so he diverted the conversation and said: "In addition to these things, the emperor also pointed out someone who was an old man before the Queen Mother. He said he was in our house. Being on an errand is actually just looking for a place to retire!"

Speaking of this, he said to Chu Yu: "This man was the deputy chief eunuch of the Empress Dowager's Palace earlier. He is a high-ranking person. It is not easy to treat him lightly. Let someone clean up a quiet courtyard. He will be there in a few days."

The person who pointed out was the eunuch, Chu Yu was surprised, and Li Shi also froze, showing a bit of panic.

Cao Yong gave his wife a look, and Chu Yu avoided it by making an excuse to arrange dinner.

Seeing his daughter-in-law going out, Mrs. Li couldn't help it anymore, and said anxiously: "Why did the emperor still send eunuchs to our house? Is it because of the gold? Even if the world falls into the pie, it's too big. What is the emperor?" Means, don’t let me bring trouble to our family anymore, right?”

On the way back to Beijing from Shengjiaxing, Cao Yong was thinking about how to tell his mother about this. After all, he himself was guessing. Except for the abnormal attitude of Kangxi and the Queen Mother, there was no other evidence.

"Mother, do you still remember the gossip we made up outside a few years ago?" Cao Yong asked tentatively.

"Gossip? Are you saying that I am the daughter of the eldest princess, or a noble daughter of the clan?" Li Shi said, "Why do you mention this? Daughter, even if it is not easy to raise her in Mongolia, there is no need to send her to the south with so many powerful families in the capital."

"Where is the noble daughter of the clan? Has the mother thought about it?" Cao Yong asked.

Mrs. Li was a little hesitant. In the past few years in the capital, she had heard a lot about the fights between wives and concubines in the prince's mansion.

In the past few years, she had doubts in her heart whether she was the daughter of the Li family or the adopted daughter of the Li family.

If it was really the daughter of the Li family, why did the queen mother lose her composure when she saw her?If it was a mistake the first time, there must be some reason for the continuous favor in the next few years.

If it wasn't the daughter of the Li family, then who were her biological parents?Why abandon yourself?Do not recognize each other for decades?
Mrs. Li couldn't think about it, and didn't dare to think about it.

"Even if you are a noble girl, why do you need to live under someone else's roof? If you are living under someone else's roof, how can there be any noble girls?" Li Shi said with a pale face, gritting her teeth.

Although Cao Yong also felt that Kangxi didn't treat him well, he didn't want his mother to be depressed because of his life experience, so he explained: "It may be that my mother's elders have inhumane difficulties, so they can't recognize her."

Mrs. Li raised her head, looked at her son, and said with a bit of grief and indignation: "What did you hear again? Tell me...the so-called elder...who is the so-called elder?"

Seeing that his mother was so excited and her breathing became short of breath, Cao Yong hurriedly said: "Mother, please be quiet, don't get angry!"

Mrs. Li stroked her chest and said, "I'm fine, you kid, why don't you tell me quickly, are you trying to kill me?"

"If the child is as expected, the mother's biological mother should be the Empress Dowager's natal family, and was posthumously named Concubine Hui's Borzigit clan." Cao Yong said.

"Chasing the title?" Hearing these two words, Li's face turned pale, and it took him a while to notice that there was "Concubine Hui" behind him, and he couldn't help saying in surprise, "How could it be a concubine in the harem? Didn't it mean that she was related to the royal family?" Is it?"

She has a good temper and never guesses people's hearts with malice.Even though he knew that he might be an abandoned child, he thought of several reasons for the parents who abandoned him.

But she never thought that her own background would be related to the emperor whom her husband had devoted her whole life to.

If we talk about the details, only Kangxi himself knows.

Cao Yong thought about it, and relayed what Mr. Zhuang said back then to his mother, except for the guessing part about Concubine Hui's life experience.Mr. Zhuang thought that Concubine Hui was Wu Sangui's granddaughter, so she could not gain a foothold in the harem. This is obviously a wrong guess.

Judging from the number of this batch of dowry, it is comparable to the mother of the country.

Cao Yong believed even more that this concubine Hui was a real noble daughter of Horqin, otherwise the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager would treat each other differently.

Everyone knows that Kangxi and Prince Yuxian are brothers who get along the most. In order to bridge the brotherhood, it makes sense to exile a woman.

It's just that Cao Yong didn't know why the bead tire was dark and why it couldn't be kept in the palace.

Mrs. Li was stunned for a while when she heard that the Mongolian Emperor Gegeyinde and Prince Yu loved each other and lived among the people. She shook her head and said, "Could it be that the emperor misunderstood you? But me, how could it be that Mongolian Gege?"

This sentence made Cao Yong stunned.

The "grandmother" here certainly does not refer to Gao.

Although the current ban on non-marriage among banner people was formulated by Dorgon at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty's entry into the customs, this rule is dead, and people are alive.

Just like this Gao family, who is an authentic Han Chinese, although he is also in the banner now, but because he is used to living in the south, he still considers himself a Han Chinese.

"Since I was eight years old, I have known that I am a concubine, not an old lady. The person who gave birth to me was my father's concubine, who gave birth to my mother, and died after giving birth." Li's voice carried A little melancholy: "At that time, I was timid, afraid that the old lady would be upset, so I pretended not to know."

"How could mother know this?" Cao Yong felt heavy when he saw his mother mourning.

"It was because I overheard what the old lady said to persuade the old lady that I knew that the old lady hated your grandfather..." Mrs. Li became more and more sad when thinking about the past.

Cao Yong finally understands why his mother, in order to cultivate such a limp temperament, is so self-righteous as a "concubine" and carefully watches people's faces grow up. It's no wonder that her personality is not suppressed.

"How can the blood of the Tian family be a joke? If it weren't for the certainty, the empress dowager and the emperor wouldn't give favors one after another. Perhaps it was the Li family and the old lady who misunderstood. I heard from Mr. Zhuang that the one who went out of the palace with Concubine Hui back then, There is also a noble girl from Manchuria, maybe it is Mrs. Ru who is the grandfather." Cao Yong thought for a while and said.

"What does Yong'er mean..." Li asked with a frighteningly pale face, looking at his son.

"According to the son, the mother is of royal blood." Cao Yong replied with certainty.

As the news of Yuqian spread in the capital, this gossip is indispensable. Cao Yong hoped that his mother would have a bottom line in her heart and save herself from being frightened when she got it.

"If that's the case, why doesn't the queen mother recognize me, why does the emperor...why does the emperor deny me?" Li said in a low voice, suppressing her grief and indignation.

"Every word and deed of the emperor's affairs must be included in the history books. Perhaps there is something that cannot be tolerated in the history of the early past..." Cao Yong stepped forward, lightly held his mother's shoulders, and comforted him: "Mother, they don't want to let you go." Do you know me or not, is our family doing well? Who cares about having more relatives?"

Mrs. Li couldn't speak anymore, she pulled her son's sleeve, tears fell down...

(End of this chapter)