Chapter 365 Mother and Queen
(Thanks to the reader "twomix560" for the red tip. I wish all readers a happy National Day and an unforgettable holiday.)
The palace was supposed to be the emperor's home, and he had been away from "home" for many days, but the Han Ruzi who had returned had no feeling of going home. Before entering the city, just thinking of the high walls of the palace, he felt a slight disgust, and suddenly realized that he One of the reasons for his reluctance to return to Beijing is that he does not want to return to the palace.
He quickly adjusted his mood, and in any case, he was now the master of the palace.
The emperor has many things to do when he returns to Beijing, but the first one is not a national event, let alone reuniting with the queen, but to see the queen mother.
The Empress Dowager Shangguan was still the emperor's nominal mother, and the rules of Da Chu required the emperor to show sufficient filial piety, and the empress dowager also had to show sufficient love.
Neither Han Ruzi nor the Empress Dowager Shangguan could do it. Fortunately, there were the Ministry of Rites and internal officials. They had rich experience and made up for all shortcomings and covered up all embarrassment with perfect and complicated ceremonies: a group of eunuchs sent him to the emperor. Local specialties, a female official spoke softly for the queen mother and comforted the emperor who had returned from afar.
The emperor is already in charge of the government, so there is no need to kneel down and say, "The emperor will visit the queen mother, stay away forever, and the queen mother will be in suspense", even if the task is completed.
Just keep smiling.
It was not until he moved to another room and met his biological mother Wang Meiren alone that Han Ruzi felt at ease and called out "Mother" with emotion.
Wang Meiren has her own bedroom, but she still lives with the Queen Mother and performs the ceremony of being a maid and concubine, which has won her a lot of fame.
Wang Meiren looked at her son carefully, and reached out to touch his cheek to make sure that he had not a single hair. It took a long time to let out a long breath, "Your Majesty is finally back."
"I'm fine." Han Ruzi turned around, "I'm still a lot stronger."
Wang Meiren smiled and shook her head, then said sternly: "If you want to call me 'Zhen', even to me, even in private, you can't just call yourself an emperor. The emperor is the emperor, even if there is no one around, he is still the emperor."
"Yes, I...understand." Han Ruzi could understand his mother's caution. It was not easy for him to be an emperor, so he should hold it firmly.
Wang Meiren softened her tone, took her son's hand, and asked a lot of trivial matters on the road. How many meals do you eat every day? Is it hot or cold? Are you on time? Is there any soup? Are the eunuchs obedient? Do you get used to changing beds every day? These are the kinds of questions a mother can ask.
Han Ruzi answered one by one, not feeling bored at all.
Wang Meiren was finally satisfied, let go of her hand, let her son sit down, and became serious again, "There is one person that Your Majesty should bring back, but I didn't see it, and another person, His Majesty should not bring back, but I heard about him Following the team, triumphant, what's going on?"
Knowing who his mother was talking about, Han Ruzi smiled and said, "Concubine Jin is a Xiongnu. She doesn't want to go back to Beijing, so she chooses to live in the grasslands."
"Choose it yourself? When did the Emperor of Chu allow the concubines to choose their own residence? Who was such a big palace built for? Besides, after all, she was the concubine of Great Chu, and there was no reliable person to watch, so she just let it go. Outside, it’s still a barbarian place without etiquette, isn’t Your Majesty not afraid of ridicule from the world? The Minister of Rites, Yuan Jiuding, went to Jincheng in person, and he never objected to it?”
Han Ruzi's face was slightly red, as if he had returned to his childhood, when he occasionally did something wrong, his loving mother would become strict.
But he had grown up after all, and replied, "Yuan Shangshu opposed it, and he led the accompanying officials to give advice together."
"But Your Majesty doesn't listen, and still insists on going his own way?"
"The situation is a bit special. When I married Concubine Jin in Jincheng, I only had the seal of the treasure seal by my side, and there was no seal of canonization, so... the canonization document is not complete. Strictly speaking, Concubine Jin is not an official concubine, nor will I Be included in the clan pedigree."
The emperor has twelve seals, each of which has its own purpose. The treasure seal is the most important, but it is not omnipotent.
Wang Meiren frowned slightly, "That's okay too? Can't Concubine Jin and the Huns see any flaws?"
"Concubine Jin knows the truth, she doesn't care, the Huns—probably know what's going on, but pretend to be confused."
Da Dan was in a hurry to return to the grassland, convinced that it was enough for the emperor to like Jin Chueduo, and he didn't care about other things.
What Wang Meiren was thinking about was the imperial concubine, "She doesn't care? How could she not care... Forget it, what about the other person?"
"King of the East Sea? He has changed a lot. I can guarantee that he will never have a different heart."
"The King of the East Sea is not dissenting, what about the others? Sometimes it's not someone who wants to rebel, but is pushed up by a group of ambitious fanatics, such as the King of England."
The King of England is still missing and is said to have been taken to sea by a group of thieves.
"If that's the case, I want to keep the East Sea King by my side and pay attention at all times."
Han Ruzi's tone was indifferent, but Wang Meiren could hear the meaning of toughness. This is her son. She knew it better. Ruzi seldom made a loud noise since she was a child, but even if she admitted that she was wrong on the surface, she would still admit it later. persist in.
He is the emperor now, and he doesn't even need to admit his mistakes on the surface.
Wang Meiren softened her tone again, "Okay, if Your Majesty thinks that he can keep watch over King Donghai, then it should be fine, but you must be careful, King Donghai, like his mother, is very good at covering up."
"Yes, I will be careful."
Wang Meiren thought for a while, "Why did Your Majesty terminate the draft?"
"The state of Qi rebelled again, the Huns invaded, the Great Chu suffered frequent military disasters, and I was besieged in Jincheng, and I was lucky enough to escape. At this time, the draft was inappropriate, and it only increased the burden on the people, making the world think that I was a foolish monarch."
"Hey, His Majesty is right. It's all my fault. Living in the palace for a long time makes me forget the suffering of the people."
"Mother is also kind, what's wrong?"
"But His Majesty's imperial decree came a little later. I have already summoned ten beautiful girls into the palace. What should I do? Do you want to send them out?"
It was the Ministry of Rites and the corresponding officials who were responsible for terminating the draft. Sending the beautiful girl out of the palace was tantamount to showing the mistake of the emperor's biological mother. Han Ruzi could only say, "If you have already entered the palace, just stay, just to serve the mother and the queen mother."
"Heh, we two old ladies, how many people do we need to serve? Stay by your Majesty's side, it doesn't matter to others, two of them are from noble backgrounds, and they can't even have a title after entering the palace... Forget it, His Majesty just came back, these are We'll talk about it later."
"Yes, mother." Han Ruzi didn't want to worry about the harem right now.
Wang Meiren still did not intend to let her son leave, and took a sip of half-cold tea, "Why did Yin Hanhou of Henan offend His Majesty and actually want to dismiss him?"
"Removed? My mother misunderstood. He was promoted from Henan Yin to Zong Zhengqing. He is the elder of the clan, and he works well. He is suitable for this position. The original Zong Zhengqing is very old. people."
"When Your Majesty said this, I understand." Wang Meiren smiled, and she didn't want to have a dispute with the emperor now, not to mention the reunion after a long absence, and her son had suffered a great disaster in Jincheng. Now she only cares about her son's safety, and for others Things don't really matter.
"Your Majesty has really grown up." Wang Meiren said sincerely, she stretched out her hand, wanting to squeeze her son's cheek as before, put her arm down immediately, and repeated, "Your Majesty has really grown up."
Han Ruzi held his mother's hand, "No matter how old you are, you are still your son."
The mother and son chatted for a while, and it was getting dark outside, and Wang Meiren finally let her son leave, "Go, Your Majesty is a married man, you can't always stay by your mother's side, the queen is still waiting for you, she is also It's not easy, Your Majesty should comfort her well."
"Yes, mother." Han Ruzi was slightly surprised, but he didn't expect his mother to say good things about the queen, got up to leave, and remembered one more thing, "Deng Cui, the commander of the state, has done a good job in saving him, and hopes to send his sister into the palace. "
"Your Majesty is in charge of this kind of thing, just discuss it with the Queen." Wang Meiren was a little tired. In the past few days, she was even more tired than the emperor walking on the road. She always calculated the schedule, and now she finally let go of her heart. , I feel like the whole person has been hollowed out.
"Mother have a good rest." Han Ruzi stepped down, feeling much more at ease, went out to meet Zhang Youcai and other eunuchs, and hurriedly walked to his bedroom.
The queen waited for more than a day in full clothes. Knowing that the emperor would be busy, she didn't send anyone to urge her, so she sat up alone, recalling every bit of her time in the House of Marquis Juan, with a warm heart and a smile on the corner of her mouth.
"Your Majesty returns to the palace!" Someone shouted outside.
Cui Xiaojun stood up and found his heartbeat a little faster.
The reunion between the emperor and the empress did not have so many etiquette, but they had to abide by certain rules. They had their own female officials to guide them.
The ceremony was over soon, the female official withdrew, and the maid also withdrew after helping the queen take off the heavy crown, leaving only two people in the room.
Han Ruzi stood ten paces away, staring intently at the queen.
Cui Xiaojun pursed his lips and smiled, "Your Majesty doesn't recognize me?"
"Why does the queen have such a big change?"
"Change?" Cui Xiaojun looked down at himself in surprise, "How can there be any change? Even the clothes are old."
"No, there is a change." Han Ruzi took a step and approached slowly, "It's more beautiful than before."
Cui Xiaojun blushed and said with a smile, "Where did Your Majesty learn the rhetoric?"
Han Ruzi wrapped his arms around the queen's waist, "You don't learn rhetoric. When you meet the right person, it will naturally pop out of your mouth."
The queen prepared the wine and food, but neither of them had any appetite. They went to bed hand in hand and complained to each other.
On the first day back at the palace, Han Ruzi felt very good. The conflict between his mother and the queen did not seem to be as big as he had imagined.
The emperor did not have to go to court for the first two days when he returned to Beijing. Han Ruzi still got up early, went to Lingyun Pavilion, and summoned Yang Feng, the middle palm seal. He wanted to take advantage of these two days to hand over to Yang Feng.
Yang Feng had been waiting in the pavilion for a long time, still looking lukewarm, as if this was just the end of a vacation, the students might be a little excited, but the teacher felt that he had to face the stubborn disciple again.
The two nodded to each other without even a word of greeting. Yang Feng began to introduce the situation in the DPRK in detail. Some memorials were more important, and others could not approve it on their behalf.
Han Ruzi quickly entered the state, ready to officially take over the entire court.
After a morning passed, Yang Feng finished his introduction and talked about his own affairs: "Since Your Majesty has returned safely, please allow me to step down from the position of the Central Seal."
Han Ruzi was stunned, completely unexpected to hear this sentence, "What does Duke Yang mean?"
"While His Majesty was trapped in Jincheng, some decisions I made made me unfit to serve as an internal official again."
"I understand Yang Gong's intentions, and I have never blamed you."
"Even so, please let your majesty let me out of the palace, and let me continue to track down the whereabouts of Chun Yuxiao, who is looking for Qi."
Han Ruzi didn't understand how someone as smart as Yang Feng could be trapped in front of such a hurdle and couldn't get past it.