Queen Sun

Chapter 62
The long misty rain soaked the entire city of Luoyang, and the passers-by on the street were in a hurry.Just like the day they first came here, Ruoshui and Mingyao walked unhurriedly by the side of the road holding umbrellas.

"Mother, Du He said he wanted to come to our house to propose marriage." Ming Yao's eyes were tinged with worry.

Ruoshui sighed softly: "Even if your father spoils you again, I can still imagine his angry expression when he knows everything."

Ming Yao walked a few steps without saying a word, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth: "Mother, if you were here, Dad wouldn't be so angry, right?"

"Yao'er, I have never been able to influence your father's decision, do you understand?" Ruoshui shook his head, "Your only hope is that your father will Choose the latter."

"I don't understand. In the past, mother obviously changed many of father's actions, and even elder brother's marriage is not the same?" Ming Yao's expression was sad.

Ruoshui's eyes are as clear as a clear spring: "Mother has never changed the choice of an emperor, and I don't need to change the choice of an emperor. I just expressed my thoughts at the right time. As for whether your father accepts it, it must be up to him to decide." Think and choose from the emperor's point of view."

"That's because Dad loves Mother, so he always obeys Mother's wishes."

There was a hint of irony in Ruoshui's smile: "Do you think that every word my mother said was thoughtless? If there is something that endangers the country or the king's virtue, how can I say it easily? Yaoer, once , your father is right, you children are spoiled by us so much that you don't understand the fact that you are in the royal family, your father has too many responsibilities and shackles, but you have just touched the bottom line. "

Ming Yao tugged at her mother's sleeve in frustration: "Is mother still angry with Yao'er?"

"As your mother, I only feel regret and heartache." Ruoshui said calmly, "But as a queen, I can't agree with your words and deeds, Yaoer, you should understand that if others know, When the marriage of the eldest princess of the Tang Dynasty turned out to be nothing more than a farce, when you want to marry someone else so willfully, the Li family, the eldest grandson's family, and even the Du family will all be involved in an unpredictable storm middle."

"Then, shall I reject him?" Ming Yao murmured in a daze.

Ruoshui's eyes suddenly became darker, with an extremely helpless sadness inside: "Silly boy, you should go and tell Du He, and tell all the past clearly before he knows everything you have hidden. , and then face it together. Otherwise, when he realizes that you are lying to him, what you will lose is trust that is more precious than love."

Mingyao chewed Ruoshui's words carefully in her heart, and after a while, she suddenly heard her mother muttering to herself: "Don't try, the temptation will wear away the luster of love little by little, and in the end, only one piece of love will be left. Ordinary stone." At that moment, mother's eyes were extremely cold, but she was also extremely tired.

Luoyang, the old house of the eldest grandson.

Coming here again, Changsun Wuji unlocked the lock and slowly opened the front door: "Your Majesty, this place has not been cleaned for a long time, and the inside is probably deserted again."

Li Shimin was slightly surprised: "During the sixth year of Zhenguan, I remember you came back once, didn't you say you wanted to repair it?"

Changsun Wuji stood aside and asked Li Shimin to go in first, and then replied: "Yes, this house was refurbished by the minister in the sixth year of Zhenguan, but after that, I felt that there was no one living in it anyway, so I decided to leave it alone." It’s closed empty, and I don’t know what the dust inside has become.”

"Wuji." Li Shimin stopped and jokingly said, "I didn't know when you were so stingy? But even if you find a few servants to clean up on weekdays, it won't cost much money, why don't I help you?" You pay?"

Changsun Wuji smiled slightly, and then said: "This is the first time Your Majesty has visited the old house of Changsun's family, right?"

Li Shimin said with a look of nostalgia on his face: "Yes, I only went to your uncle's house back then. It seems that you and Ruoshui both regard Gao's house as their own."

Changsun Wuji's face suddenly froze, and after a while, he shook his head: "Your Majesty, for us brothers and sisters, there is actually only one real home, and that is here, even though we have lost it once."

Li Shimin couldn't help being startled when he heard the words, he raised his eyes to look at Changsun Wuji, but he smiled as usual.

The rain was falling more and more densely, and Ruoshui and her daughter's footsteps were also a little faster. "Mother, this rain is really weird, the sky ahead seems to be sunny." Ming Yao looked at the distant sky and said curiously.

"Maybe when we get there, we won't need to open an umbrella." Ruoshui said with a smile.

"Has mother ever thought about that old house?" Ming Yao asked sideways.

Ruoshui's eyes seemed to be covered with mist: "That's a place that only appears in dreams."

"But when mother sees that house, won't she think of that unbearable past?" Mingyao puzzled, "If I were mother, I would definitely be sad."

"No matter how bad it is, it's my mother's home there. Every brick, every tile, every flower and every tree there has childhood memories. That kind of feeling can't be erased even if you leave home for a long time." Ruo Shui said leisurely, in her heart There is a faint fear of being close to home.

Sure enough, when they stood in front of a huge house, the rain seemed to have never fallen. Ruoshui pushed open a side door and said, "Yao'er, this is the place where mother used to sneak out when she was young. Your uncle came here before." When I was resting, I still kept it."

Mingyao was a little surprised and said: "Will mother be so naughty?"

Ruoshui smiled lightly: "Okay, let's go in. I heard that this house has been left unused by your uncle for a long time. I don't know if you can see the original appearance."

At the other end of the house, Li Shimin, accompanied by his eldest grandson Wuji, walked through the main hall and courtyard, and came to the wide but barren garden behind: "Wuji, if this garden is properly organized, it must be no worse than the garden in the palace. It’s bad, I just don’t know where the small door on the wall leads to?”

Changsun Wuji's heart sank, and he replied cautiously: "This door is connected to the neighbor's house. When I was young, a few children used to come in and out here, playing around."

Li Shimin took a meaningful look at Wuji, pointed to the stone well under a tree and said, "Have you noticed that the scenery here is somewhat similar to the small courtyard in the Prince Qin's Mansion back then? No wonder Ruoshui liked to stay there by himself the most. side."

"Yes, Ruoshui has liked peach blossoms since she was a child, and every spring, she would pester Weichen and my late father to come here, but later on, she no longer had that chance." Changsun Wuji's voice was full of emotion. .

"It's a pity that it's not the flower season now, and the splendor it was in full bloom at that time is nowhere to be found now." Li Shimin paused, and then added, "Do you think so?"

"Your Majesty, since the person appreciating the flowers is gone, this peach tree has no meaning to exist." Changsun Wuji said with a hint of determination, "It's like the former residence of the humble minister, so I will not give up. , but I won’t live there anymore, I just want to let it stand still in the past time.”

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes slightly, stared at Wuji for a long time, and then said quietly: "If Ruoshui was alive, would she think that way?"

Changsun Wuji couldn't bear to sigh softly: "Your Majesty, Ruoshui's wishes are actually very few. What she subconsciously looked for was just a warm place. Unfortunately, the world is so big that no one can give it to her completely. In this life, she has given almost everything to her. All of her cruelty was given to herself, just because the thing she didn't believe in the most in her life was actually eternity."

If you don't want to be strong, these four words suddenly appeared in Li Shimin's mind, what a strange contradiction, a woman who should be as bright as a peach blossom is as pale as clear water, a woman who should be the richest and noblest in the world, but almost There is no selfish desire at all.Unlike himself, there was a trace of apathy in his eyes, and there were countless desires hidden in his heart, Jiangshan, beautiful women, Sheji, and Ruoshui, but now all of them seemed to be less important now, Ruoshui's disappearance Having taken away the enthusiasm and color in his heart, he is now just an emperor, an emperor who will surely leave a good name in the history books.

"Mother, is this the boudoir you used to have?" Ming Yao pushed open the door, and a layer of dust fell down. Ruoshui pulled her daughter away and wiped the dust off her body: "Yes, I don't know what's inside. What has become of it?"

The mother and daughter walked in together. I don't know if it was because the elder brother rearranged it before. The bed, the table, even the guqin and books were all placed in the places in their memory, just because they were overturned. Dust, dusty, like a black and white movie in the past, and he was like the protagonist in a silent movie, Ruoshui pursed his lips, but didn't know if it was a smile.

Mingyao carefully opened the curtain, walked to the other end of the room and looked around: "Mother, since uncle has already been refurbished, why do you want to leave it so deserted?"

"Because it's a memory, it's the past." Ruoshui said sadly, "Your uncle only wants to let the memories come back completely, but he doesn't want the past to repeat itself."

Mingyao nodded half-understanding: "Besides here, where else would mother go when she was young?"

Hearing this, the peach tree naturally appeared in front of Ruoshui's eyes. "The garden." She said with a smile, "There is a huge garden just to the west, where all kinds of flowers and trees are planted, and they bloom all year round..."

Mingyao held her mother's hand longingly and said: "Then let's go there and have a look."

Ruoshui shook his head: "Where can there be such a beautiful scenery now, I'm afraid it's overgrown with overgrown grass. If you don't give up, let's go."

However, when the two of them stepped out of the room, they heard heavy footsteps not far away.Mingyao panicked, and turned her eyes to her mother, and Ruoshui motioned her daughter to retreat to the room before she had time to think about it.

Gradually, the footsteps became clearer and clearer, even somewhat familiar, Ruoshui held her breath and hid behind the curtain with Mingyao, just waiting for someone to pass by, but unexpectedly, the door was pushed open.

"Your Majesty, this is the place where Ruoshui used to live. We have re-arranged it according to its original layout. There should be no change." Changsun Wuji spoke smoothly, but there was a trace of uneasiness in his heart. , A room that no one has ever set foot in, why is there such a thick layer of dust at the door just now?Could it be that someone has been here before?
Li Shimin's upright body trembled slightly, and he stretched out his hand slowly, caressing the strings of the qin, and made a dissonant voice: "Ruoshui, how long has she lived here?"

"Live until our brothers and sisters are kicked out of the house." Changsun Wuji said softly.

"She didn't look like she did later, right?" Li Shimin's voice was low and hoarse.

Changsun Wuji took a deep breath: "At that time, Ruoshui was only six or seven years old. He was willful and lively, but when he calmed down, he was so bright and wise that he didn't look like a child."

"It's a pity that when I first saw her, there was no sign of the former at all." Li Shimin recovered from his trance, and sighed.

There was silence in the inner room. After waiting for a while, Changsun Wuji said, "Your Majesty, there hasn't been ventilation in the room for a long time, so let's go out."

Li Shimin nodded, and was about to turn around and take a step when he suddenly seemed to hear a slight sound behind him. There was a trace of suspicion in his eyes, but he still followed Wuji calmly and left until the door closed behind him. Stuck at the door, paused for a moment, then suddenly pushed the door open again with his backhand, before turning sideways, an extremely familiar exclamation came to his ears...

Changsun Wuji saw the figure at the same time, and his mind went blank for a moment, Yao'er...how could he be here?

Mingyao couldn't tell whether it was surprise or fear, but her whole body seemed to be pinned, unable to move at all.

Li Shimin's eyes fell directly on his daughter, his lively and beautiful face suddenly turned pale, and his eyes stared blankly at himself and Wuji. "Mingyao, when did you come to Luoyang?" There was clearly no anger in his voice, but Changsun Wuji was shocked into a cold sweat.

"I..." Mingyao seemed to have recovered her voice, and murmured, "I've been here for a long time, and I've always wanted to come here to have a look, but because the gate is locked..."

"You have been following me and your uncle?" Li Shimin frowned tightly, "You came to Luoyang alone?"

Mingyao lowered her head in fear, and tried her best not to look behind her, no, she absolutely must not let her father know that her mother was behind her: "Yes, my daughter went out alone, I saw my uncle opened the door, and passed by." After a while, I followed in to see where Mother used to live."

"Wuji!" Li Shimin's eyes hinted that a storm was about to come, "Mingyao is not only your niece, but also your daughter-in-law. You don't know if she goes out alone like this!"

Changsun Wuji knelt down on his own initiative, and replied cautiously: "Yes, it's my fault that I deliberately concealed."

"You!" Li Shimin turned his face to his daughter again, "Mingyao, why did you come out by yourself? Is it because Chong'er treated you badly, or someone showed your face!"

(End of this chapter)