Queen Sun

Chapter 41 Mid-Autumn Festival (1)
That night, I thought he would walk away, but in the early morning of the next day, when Ruoshui woke up from the dream and clearly felt a pair of powerful arms tightly locked around his waist, an indescribable feeling came to his heart , she kept her eyes closed all the time, and she was unwilling to turn around to face the man who looked down on the world, but his embrace made her extremely at ease and nostalgic.Such contradictory struggles did not slowly dissipate until the husband next to the pillow had to let go of himself to perform the duties of the king.Lying alone on the spacious bed, Ruoshui murmured to his other self, if the man in the dream was the one you dreamed of, then have you ever been moved by the one in your life? ?
In the days that followed, the husband and wife seemed to have forgotten the dispute not long ago, and their expressions and behaviors were not the same.In this way, the Mid-Autumn Festival came in a blink of an eye.

Before the Tang Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not a fixed festival. It was not until the Zhenguan period that the Mid-Autumn Festival was officially called on August [-]th, but it was still not a grand festival. At most, it was a gathering of relatives and friends, which was regarded as the meaning of reunion. .

However, in the mid-autumn festival of the seventh year of Zhenguan, the empress, who had been reclusive all this year, set up two banquet tables in the harem. The concubines and ministers of civil and military affairs were all invited. There was a lot of discussion among the people, and it was impossible to guess whether it was His Majesty's order. It was still the queen's idea, but the will of not being absent at all is quite surprising.

The banquet was naturally held at night, and in the early morning of this day, the crown prince, who had been away from the palace for nearly a year, returned to the palace, but he brought a strange woman by his side.

In the Lizheng Palace, the most honorable mother and son in the world stared at each other silently for a long time.

"Do you think your father and I will agree to bring her back?" Ruoshui looked at his son with a firm face, and couldn't help frowning slightly, questioning the prince as a queen.

Cheng Qian was stunned when he heard the words: "Mother... Empress, you have never refused my wish."

"Have you forgotten?" Ruoshui stared at Cheng Qiandao, "What I told you that night in the second year of Zhenguan, before deciding on every important thing, think about it three times, whether it is good for yourself, whether it is good for your family It is beneficial, whether it is beneficial to the country, this time, have you thought about it?"

When the voice fell, Chengqian lowered his head, thinking that his mother must agree, so he made up his mind to bring Weixi's family back to Chang'an, but now...

"Chengqian, I'll ask you later, once the matter in Lingzhou is over, you should go to Ziyang, but now you're going back on your word for a woman, how can I agree?" Ruoshui's tone gradually became sharper.

Cheng Qian's eyes dimmed slightly, and he only said firmly: "Mother, the son will not marry her in this life."

Ruo Shui showed a tired look on his face, and told his son clearly: "Chengqian, her background cannot make your father let go."

"Mother, you must be able to understand, right?" Chengqian lowered his eyelids and said in a low voice, "Just like the way my fourth uncle looked at you back then, when I saw Weixi for the first time, I felt like..." The young man who had never been in love with anyone could not clearly describe the moment when his heart was pounding.

A deep pain flashed across Ruoshui's eyes, and he said in a slightly erratic voice, "What do you know?"

Cheng Qian avoided his mother's gaze, with deep remorse in his heart, as if he had been possessed by something just now, he actually said that kind of words.But indeed, until that day, he suddenly understood the past that was locked in his memory and maybe no one would know about it, and understood the looming sentimentality when the man with a gentle smile hugged him, but he didn't dare to say goodbye. I can't imagine why my mother would show such a stagnant expression that day.

"I have already seen your deep affection for her." In an instant, Ruoshui put away the deep pain, and said helplessly, "If a momentary heartbeat can make you make a lifelong decision, then you can go to the Tai Chi Hall to see her now." Your royal father."

Chengqian's eyes flickered slightly, he stepped forward a few steps, knelt in front of his mother's knees, and murmured: "Mother, I don't want to be like my father. I love my mother, but still have the Sangong Sixth Court. I will never change my affection for Weixi alone, and I only made a vow to her that "the life and death contract is broad, and I will talk to Zicheng; hold my hand, and I will grow old together with you"."

Ruoshui listened quietly, with a strange smile slowly rising on his lips: "Chengqian, life is too long, but love is too short. As a mother, I hope that my son will never encounter such troubles, otherwise It may be the one you loved deeply that hurts."

Taiji Hall, the main hall of Taiji Palace, symbolizes the highest majesty and power of a dynasty. If it is said that in the ninth year of Wude, Li Shimin's ascension to the throne in the East Palace Xiande Hall means that he has ruled the world, then in January of the second year, His rename in the Taiji Hall to Zhenguan is a sign of the coming of a new prosperous age.Everything here does not belong to any one person, but to every emperor who holds the imperial power in his own hands.And after me, who will this place belong to?When Li Shimin looked at Cheng Qian's figure approaching from a distance, he suddenly thought of this.

Different from his mother's attitude of not being tough even though he disagreed, when Cheng Qian looked at his father's uncompromising expression, his heart suddenly tensed up. "In front of your father, it is far from enough for a man to want to protect his beloved. The only possibility you can convince a king is that the price you are willing to pay can make up for the damage caused by that persistent decision. consequences." Before she left, Mother said this to herself.

"My prince." Li Shimin asked sharply with a cold face, "Even your mother's words can't stop you from continuing that stupid idea?"

Cheng Qian clasped his hands tightly, and after a moment of silence, he suppressed all the expressions on his face, raised his head and said: "Yes, Father, I have made up my mind."

"Very good." Li Shimin looked at the sixteen-year-old boy in front of him coldly, no longer in a fatherly tone, and said indifferently, "Why do you ask me to agree?"

Cheng Qian's heart seemed to fall into an abyss all of a sudden, why?status?Power?Everything about him comes from this noble man in front of him. The queen mother just reminded herself euphemistically, while the emperor bluntly declared the insurmountable authority of the king.

Seeing the restlessness and bewilderment in his son's calm face just now, Li Shimin shook his head imperceptibly. At the age of 16, he was also the age when he married Ruoshui. In comparison, not to mention his own , the behavior of the eldest son who has always been expected to be high at this moment is not even as good as his mother's calmness and determination back then. The one-year exile gave Chengqian the responsibility of being the crown prince, but his temperament is constantly hesitant and emotional. Undoubtedly, it is a taboo of being a king. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but slow down his tone and said: "Chengqian, give it up. If it's just an ordinary concubine, father can still think about it."

"Royal father." Chengqian retorted intuitively, "If you were a son and minister, would you still be able to put the queen mother in such a lowly position?"

Looking at his son like Ling Chi, Li Shimin's heart was full of waves, but finally he sighed deeply: "You are still spoiled by us, Chengqian." Instead, he forgot the fact that he was in the emperor's house.

Cheng Qian looked at his father who seemed to be several years old all of a sudden, and his heart suddenly twisted: "Father, the son didn't do it on purpose..."

"You don't need to say anything." Li Shimin waved his hand indifferently and said, "Your mother and I got married at the behest of our parents, and after a few years of marriage, we separated the two places. In the first few days, what can we say? , but what is the most important thing, we have never forgotten, until now, you still don't understand what a crown prince should consider the most."

Chengqian knelt straight in front of Li Shimin, but there was still no sign of giving in in his eyes.

Two similar faces faced each other in the huge main hall.There is no doubt that Cheng Qian's appearance is the most suitable for him among all the princes. A faint smile appeared on Li Shimin's lips. At that time, Ruoshui was still just a virtuous wife he admired, Wuji's beloved sister, and the emperor's wife. The queen who is praised both at home and abroad.Like most men, he has great pride and expectations for the birth of his eldest son. This kind of special joy never appeared again when Qing Que and the last son were born. Now, is it for a woman... Li Shimin said heavily He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he said coldly, "Go to the desk in front and take a look."

Cheng Qian got up suspiciously, moved forward a few steps, and said in a low voice, "Father, is this the territory of our Great Tang?"

Li Shimin walked up to his son with his hands behind his back: "This was painted by someone I sent after Zhenguan pacified the Northern Territory four years ago, but maybe it will be redrawn soon, do you understand what I mean?"

"Father means..." Cheng Qian thought for a moment, pointed to the area on the west side of the map, and said, "Are we going to send troops to Tuyuhun?"

Li Shimin glanced at him approvingly, and said sternly: "Since the Eastern Turks surrendered to our Tang Dynasty, Tuyuhun has frequently invaded the Hexi Corridor, threatening the trade of goods between our dynasty and the Western Regions. This is the first. The second is the pace of unifying the Western Regions." That’s where it’s going to start.”

Unify the Western Regions?There was a storm in Cheng Qian's heart. He looked at the light that flashed in his father's deep eyes, and suddenly understood what is the ambition of the emperor and what is the dominance of the ages, and what is flowing in his body is exactly this blood. "Does the father want his son to go west with the army?" Cheng Qian seemed to be in disbelief.

Li Shimin nodded slightly, and there was a hint of intolerance and hesitation in his voice that only he could detect: "When you meet my requirements, you will naturally get the promise you want."

Cheng Qian couldn't hide his surprise and excitement to accept the exchange terms between father and son, but what he didn't know was that his father stared at his back with astringent eyes until he disappeared.

After all, he is the son he and Ruoshui personally taught. He clearly knows that the young man doesn’t understand the cruelty of the battlefield at all. He clearly knows that he has no idea what kind of experience he will encounter. Maybe it is the first time to kill someone, maybe it is the first time. A bloodshed, maybe even... Li Shimin sighed, no matter what the consequences are, he can only cut off Chengqian's sensibility and dependence with his own hands.

Sitting in front of the bronze mirror, Ruoshui closed her eyes, and Ren Guangyue combed her knee-length hair for herself. The newly installed incense pot in the room exuded a faint sandalwood fragrance, and there was only a faint smell of a wooden comb passing through her hair. Slightly.

Suddenly, the tranquility was disturbed by footsteps approaching from outside, followed by Guangyue's respectful greeting.Ruoshui didn't move, until the other hand took over the movement that she just stopped, and she said softly: "Second brother, have you talked with Cheng Qian?"

(End of this chapter)