Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 30

Liu Qingtang didn't know that things would develop, her brother and friends pulled Qin Shu to tell him her embarrassing stories.If she knew that this would be the case, she would definitely have shoved Qin Shu into the small building where she used to live, instead of pulling him in front of those two, but unfortunately she didn't know. .

After Liu Qingtang pressed Qin Shu in front of his brother and friends, he smiled and waved to the three of them, and Shi Shiran left the yard.However, she didn't go far, she just stopped after walking out of the sight of the three of them.

Although those three people were people she valued and were worthy of her trust and reassurance, they were still a little worried after all.Standing there, I vaguely heard my brother say, "The person who wants to marry...bring it to me..." Liu Qingtang rubbed her face and laughed.Naturally, she could guess what her brother was talking to Qin Shu, it was nothing more than telling Qin Shu the agreement that their brother and sister made back then.

But that agreement was only remembered after she came to this yard. Before that, she just thought that she liked Qin Shu and would spend the rest of her life with him, so she brought it back to show to her valued relatives and friends.

But when his brother said it so clearly, Qin Shu should have been frightened.

As long as Liu Qingtang thought of Qin Shu's frightened face that might appear now, but she couldn't see it, she felt a sense of regret spontaneously.

Qin Shu deserved to be frightened. She had signaled her so many times, both openly and secretly, but he still couldn't believe her intentions, so it would be good to let him be frightened by his brother once.

Liu Qingtang went to listen again and couldn't hear anything. Their voices were a bit low, and she couldn't hear them clearly when she was standing so far away.Liu Qingtang couldn't hear clearly, so she gave up and left from here to Liu's father's study with her hands behind her back.

If she really wants to know what they talked about, she can ask Qin Shu when she comes back, he won't lie to her anyway.And this kind of thing that would make him feel at a loss, if he was asked to mention it in front of her, his reaction must be very interesting.

Liu Qingtang made up her mind, temporarily put the three people in Yizhuyuan aside, and turned her head to look at the surrounding scenery.

This is the place where she grew up, and every place she is familiar with has her memories.Looking at it along the way, the pavilions, gardens, rockeries, lotus ponds...all things have not changed at all.The familiarity made her feel that just yesterday, Liu Qingtang, the little miss of the Liu family who fell in love with jumping up and down to make trouble everywhere, was running briskly on this path and in this garden corridor.

Looking at the long-lost plants and trees with greedy and nostalgic eyes, Liu Qingtang couldn't help but see a little water in his eyes.Now, everything is still the same, and all the people who care about are still there, but under her young face, her heart has become vicissitudes.

As she walked forward, she would see some servants coming towards her from time to time.The servants here are all old people of the Liu family, and they basically watched her grow up or grew up with her, and they were very excited to see her.Just remembering that she is no longer the young lady of the family, but the empress dowager, they hurriedly saluted and stood aside, watching her leave.

Liu Qingtang also stopped to say hello to a few cooks, and they were both moved and terrified to wipe away their tears.They were all big girls who were as old as her father, and she grew up eating the food they made.When she was a child, she always went secretly to play in the kitchen, and every time she went, these big women stuffed a lot of pastries and food as snacks, so she became a chubby girl when she was a child.

Hibiscus cakes, mung bean cakes, peanut cakes, chestnut cakes, yam cakes... Occasionally in the palace, she missed the handicrafts of the ladies, and the chefs in the palace couldn't make that unique taste.

There is also the gardener in the garden, Liu Bo, who is already a little older.It is said that he was still his father's soldier back then, but because he was injured and could no longer go to the battlefield, and he had the ability to tend flowers and plants, he voluntarily stayed here as a gardener.Liu Qingtang was naughty when he was a child, and always accidentally damaged the flowers and trees he trimmed in the garden, so he was often chased and beaten by him.

This was the only person in the mansion who would not indulge Liu Qingtang because she was the young lady of the family at that time, and would directly teach her a lesson when she saw her making trouble.But instead of teaching her a lesson, it's better to play chasing games with her. When she was a child, she always liked to tease him deliberately.

Seeing her coming back, Uncle Liu dropped all the flower hoe in his hand on the ground, and quickly picked it up again, tearfully calling her Miss.Liu Qingtang felt uncomfortable and funny at the same time, and greeted him as well.

This journey was full of memories, seeing a bamboo grove turned around, and in front of him was his father's study, Liu Qingtang took a deep breath and walked inside.

Her father, Liu Shaodi, is rigorous and nostalgic.Many used things are worn out and old and refuse to be replaced, and the unshakable habits of the past few decades have never changed.Apart from the training ground, his favorite place to stay is the study. Generally, if he has free time, he would go to the training ground to practice swords after getting up in the morning, and then he would come to the study to read after breakfast.From a young age, Liu Qingtang felt that her father's life had no other fun besides practicing martial arts and reading books.

Someone in front of the study took a broom and swept the bamboo leaves on the ground rustlingly. He was also an old servant, and he was so surprised to see Liu Qingtang's figure walking out of the bamboo forest path that he wanted to call her.

Liu Qingtang waved his hand to tell him to keep quiet, so he bowed far away, and walked a little further away with the broom.Liu Qingtang walked up the bamboo stairs and stood outside the door of the study. She put her hands on the door but didn't dare to move, so she just stood there for a while in a daze.In the end, the door suddenly opened from the inside, which broke her daze.

Father Liu was not at all surprised when he saw Liu Qingtang outside the door. On the contrary, he seemed to know that she was outside, and said directly, "Come in." Then he turned and walked back into the study.

Liu Qingtang also walked in. She used to come to this study often when she was still at home, and she practiced calligraphy and painting almost all of it here when she was a child.So she walked in with ease, found the chair she used to sit on, and conveniently twirled a piece of red date cake on the small table next to it.

Her father never ate these desserts, and he never prepared pastries in the study when he was alone, so... "Father, you are ready early in the morning when I come back." Liu Qingtang said Biting the pastry, Liu Shaodi frowned, put down the book in his hand and said in a calm voice: "How many times have I said, don't talk when you are eating. You still look good in the palace." Yes, it will look like this when I get home."

Liu Qingtang didn't take it seriously, but rather missed the feeling of being duplicityed by his father, and said with a smile: "There are outsiders trying to act like that in the palace. There are only us father and daughter here, and we still pay so much attention to what to do. Father, what do you do now? Don't you think of me as the empress dowager?"

"Hmph, I haven't come back for five years, and I still haven't made any progress." Liu Shaodi looked at the book, although his tone didn't fluctuate, but Liu Qingtang could hear the deep dissatisfaction in his words.Dissatisfied with her, she has not returned to Liu's house since entering the palace.

Liu Qingtang didn't go back to Liu's house, initially because he didn't have the time to take over the affairs of state, and later because he didn't want to get too close to Liu's house, so that the emperor's nephew would think they had two intentions.And when she saw her father gradually alienating her, she thought he was unwilling to let her come back.But hearing what he said today, my father also wanted her to come back.

"I see. From now on, I will come back every year to see how you are doing." Liu Qingtang turned her head and pretended to get the red date cake, taking the opportunity to blink away tears. "Otherwise I'll come back every few months."

"It's fine to come back every two years. How can you come back every few months. You are the queen mother, don't let people catch your words." Liu Shaodi frowned seeing his daughter like this.It was clear that he acted properly in the past two years, but it suddenly changed these days. It is good for his daughter to come back to see him, but he has been worrying about whether she has something to hide from him these days.

"Qingtang, when you first came to power, you wanted to show your sharpness to frighten the ministers and help the emperor secure the throne. But now that the emperor is getting older, you should slowly learn to delegate power, and you shouldn't be as strong as before. "Otherwise, what will happen to her when the emperor grows up in the future, those ministers who want to step on her will grab this to remind the emperor, and there will inevitably be a rift between her and the emperor.

Although Liu Shaodi was worried about his daughter in his heart, he spoke in a dissatisfied tone, coupled with his condensed expression and frowning eyebrows, he said in an alluring manner: "You have acted too hastily during this period of time. And capriciousness, you used the thunder method to make people awe-inspiring, now you should use benevolent government to convince people, let alone make too many enemies in the court."

Liu Qingtang lowered her eyes, staring at a brush on the desk in a daze.In her previous life, she also thought like her father. In two years, after people entered the harem, she began to give most of the power in her hands to the emperor, and gave him all the contacts she had managed for many years. The harem should be a self-cultivating empress dowager.

The father has always kept a low profile, even in order not to make the emperor's nephew feel disturbed, and in order not to let him feel that his relatives are taking over power, her brother, such an outstanding person, did not enter the court and was idle like a dude.

She still clearly remembered that her brother had told her when he was a child that he would enter the imperial court when he grew up, and be a high official who punished evil and eliminated rape.But it was because of her, the powerful younger sister of the empress dowager and the father who held the military power, that her brother's ambitions were not fulfilled.But he never complained and always supported her and her father with a smile.For so many years in her previous life, she hadn't been able to go home. In the first few years, she could still see her father when she was in court, but her elder brother who failed to enter the court as an official, she hadn't seen him for more than ten years.

Just now in Yizhuyuan, it was so hard for her to endure the guilt and tears, and she joked with him in an ordinary way.But even so, she left Qin Shu and ran away in a hurry.

In fact, she is now more and more aware that no matter what they do, as long as she is still the empress dowager who once made contributions to the emperor and handled political affairs on behalf of the young emperor, the emperor will not be able to confide in her.Because when she looked at her calling her queen mother, it was like reminding the emperor all the time that his throne was earned by her, a woman, and kept for him. She was like a mountain pressing down on the emperor's heart.As an emperor, would he be happy in his heart?I'm afraid what I want most is to deal with it and then hurry up.

And father, as long as he still holds the military power, the emperor and the chief assistant will not rest assured of his relative.Unless the father releases the military power, but once the double-edged sword of the military power is released, before the emperor makes a move, those former father's political enemies will swarm him and want to step him down.

Both she and her father naively thought that if they retreated, they would be able to express their feelings and live in peace.But they were all wrong, and they had to retreat every step of the way. In the end, if there was no way to retreat, it would be a dead end.So, this time she can't retreat, and she doesn't want to!

"Did you hear me?" Liu Shaodi was about to be slammed down by Liu Qingtang's indifferent attitude. He had been worrying here for so long, and it seemed that he didn't take his daughter seriously.

"I heard that, the father just needs to rest assured, the daughter has her own opinion."

Liu Qingtang spoke calmly, but Liu Shaodi's expression changed when he heard it. He looked at his daughter who was sitting quietly drinking tea, and asked with some difficulty for a while: "Tell me, do you have the idea of ​​treason that you shouldn't have?" .”

The scene suddenly turned cold, Liu Qingtang trembled, and placed the teacup on the table with a soft click.Looking up at her father, she said softly, "What if I say yes."

Hearing this, Liu Shaodi looked at his daughter with complicated eyes, not knowing what to say for a long time.What is he going to say?Is she going to be arrested for this?This is the youngest daughter she has loved for decades, the apple of his eye who looks so similar to his favorite wife, even if others say that he will take someone to teach him a lesson, how could he be willing to hurt her.

"Father, don't worry, my daughter is just making a joke." After all, Liu Qingtang still couldn't bear to see his father caught between the family and the country, and took the initiative to say: "Our Liu family has been loyal ministers for generations, how can I shame the Liu family? The Empress Dowager assisted the Emperor well."

But Liu Qingtang's words did not reassure Liu Shaodi, he knew exactly what kind of character his daughter had.If she really didn't have this idea, she would be stubborn and argue with him, thinking that he shouldn't misunderstand her.But now, her calm performance made him feel more and more worried.

"Qingtang, did something happen to you?"

"What happened?" Liu Qingtang smiled suddenly. She got up and walked to the window, pushed open the two bamboo windows, looked at the greenery outside to calm down, then turned her head and said in the most stable tone: "Father , do you believe in resurrection from the dead?"

(End of this chapter)