"Yue'er," Empress Dowager Li didn't dare to look at her son's eyes for a while, but she didn't look over, and her voice was much quieter, "Alas, the queen mother didn't expect it to be like this." But Ah Ye, you have to believe the queen mother, the queen mother really didn't expect such a thing to happen. ”

King Gangneung had no words.

He used to be a person who had been in the whirlpool of power, and he knew deeply the saying that there is no family affection in the heavenly family. He also knew that Empress Dowager Li must also treat Sima Yue's granddaughter sincerely, but when she encountered power, she made a trade-off, and it was nothing to calculate Sima Yue. If it was really said back then, when Emperor Qinglong was suspicious of him, wasn't Empress Dowager Li actually suspicious of him? Even though both of them are her sons, it is obvious that Empress Dowager Li does not want the two of them to have infighting, and she must ensure the security of her position as Empress Dowager.

So even though Empress Dowager Li said this, King Jiangling still understood in his heart that Sima Yue's matter must have been fueled by them, in order to let Wang Jun intervene in this matter. And the reason why Empress Dowager Li has insisted on letting him come to the capital this time is not only because Sima Yue is blind, but also because he must still hope that he can stand on the side of Emperor Qinglong at this delicate time and resist Cui Hao together. After all, as a prince, he is also allowed to have his own guards in his fiefdom, and the number of guards is actually not small.

And for Wang Jun's ability, King Jiangling still understands. On that day, Wang Jun went to Jiangling to ask for marriage, and he had already sent someone to investigate him carefully, otherwise he would not have agreed to Wang Jun's marriage after all.

It's just that now he and Empress Dowager Li have just met after more than 20 years, and it's not too ugly, so King Jiangling thought about it, and then said: "Yue'er is my first child. When her mother gave birth to her, she had a difficult birth, and it took two days and two nights to give birth to her. At that time, she was breathless when she was born, with a small face and a blue face, no matter how the delivery of the stable woman slapped her, she didn't cry, and then I took it and slapped her little ass hard, and she cried out loud. She cried, and the princess and I also cried, crying that her little life was finally snatched back from the king of Hades. But even so, Yue'er was often sick when she was young, and every time she caught a cold, she would inevitably have a fever, and the princess and I were very nervous and felt sorry for her, so we were too accustomed to her and developed such an arrogant temperament. Later, when I saw that it was not a problem for me to continue like this, I sent her to study at the Royal Academy. At that time, of course, I thought that she would learn the rules at the Royal Academy and be honest in the future, and the reason why I sent her to the Royal Academy at that time was also because I thought that she was your granddaughter, even if my mother and I were not by her side, but you, the grandmother, would definitely take care of her. “

Speaking of this, King Jiangling did not continue, but the implication of the words was also understood by Empress Dowager Li.

That is, I, as a son, trust you so much, and sent Sima Yue to study in the Royal Academy, expecting you, a grandmother, to take good care of her, but in the end, you can calculate your granddaughter so much?

So Empress Dowager Li didn't know how to answer for a while. After a while, I heard her sigh and said, "Yue'er's business, I did an errand with your brother." It's just that you must also know the current situation, Queen Cui, the foreign family is getting bigger and bigger, and she is always unwilling to be the prince. But on our side, the Li clan in Longxi has already declined, and the number of people available in the court and court is also limited, in this case, it is too important for us to win over the Taiyuan Wang clan......"

Before she finished speaking, King Jiangling had already spoken: "Even so, you should ask Wang Jun about this matter, and you shouldn't use Yue'er to calculate him because he values Yue'er in his heart, which will inevitably fall behind." ”

Speaking of which, Wang Jun is also his son-in-law after all, and in his own heart, he is also very satisfied with Wang Jun's son-in-law, so he can't help but protect it once.

Although he said this lightly, the condemnation in it was still very heavy, and Empress Dowager Li immediately felt that her ears were a little hot.

"This," she sighed heavily, "and your eldest brother and I have no way to come up with this decision. is really Wang Jun, he has no interest in his career at all. When your eldest brother went to Taiyuan, he invited him to go out of the mountains three times, and in the end he just agreed to be the dean of the Royal Academy. ”

King Gangneung pursed his lips and did not speak. He actually still had some hatred for Emperor Qinglong in his heart.

At the beginning, he trusted his eldest brother so much, and he did not hesitate to show his knife and fight hard with others for his eldest brother, but in the end, Emperor Qinglong was suspicious of him and poured a knife in his heart.

When Empress Dowager Li saw that King Jiangling did not speak, she naturally guessed what he was thinking. Speaking of which, Emperor Qinglong and King Gangneung are both children born to her, but in the current situation of not getting along with each other, in fact, she is also responsible.

At the beginning, she was also afraid that if the two brothers were really infighting, they would teach other people to take advantage of the loophole, so she left the capital and went to the fiefdom of Jiangling, she still told King Jiangling in person. At that time, King Jiangling may still be young, and when he was the saddest in his heart, he would only think that she was for his good, but after coming over like this, he is older, and his heart is becoming more and more calm, and if he can't keep it, he will understand her selfishness at that time.

As soon as she thought of this, Empress Dowager Li felt very empty-hearted. But no matter how weak his heart is, he has already walked ninety-nine and a half steps, and this last half step is also a little to go.

So she settled down, looked at King Jiangling, and asked in a low voice, "You, do you want to meet your eldest brother?" “

King Gangneung did not answer immediately. But in fact, he also knew that since he had returned to the capital, he naturally wanted to meet this Emperor Qinglong.

And his non-speech seemed to the Empress Dowager Li in the eyes of him that he didn't want to see Emperor Qinglong. She was a little anxious, so she said again: "Ah Ye, more than 20 years have passed, have you still not let go of what happened back then?" ”

King Gangneung remained silent.

Even if many years have passed, there are still some things that cannot be said to be relieved. It was precisely because he regarded Emperor Qinglong and Empress Dowager Li as his closest people back then, and he didn't even want his life for the sake of them, but he suddenly found that these relatives he thought of were actually suspicious of him, and he could abandon him without hesitation for the sake of power, how could he not be cold? How can you let go?

Seeing this, Empress Dowager Li sighed again, and at the end, a sad look appeared on her face, and her voice also lowered.

"Your eldest brother, hey, it was me and Ah Yuan who were afraid that it would cause turmoil in the government and the opposition if they said it, so we kept it hidden, but in fact, he was already terminally ill and couldn't even speak, I was afraid that it would only be a day or two. I also know that after all, it was him, the eldest brother, who broke your heart, but now that he is like this, don't you really want to meet him? Let's just see him for the last time. What happened back then, he has always regretted it all these years, you go to see him, let him be relieved, and he has no regrets on Huangquan Road. ”

Later, her voice also choked up, and she hurriedly covered her mouth with a handkerchief, not wanting others to hear it.

King Jiangling didn't expect that Emperor Qinglong was about to die, and he was at a loss for a moment when he heard the words, and then he came back to his senses, and he also whispered: "Then let's see." ”

Emperor Qinglong now lives in a relatively hidden palace in the harem, guarded by guards inside and outside, and it is easy not to let anyone in.

These guards are all confidants of Empress Dowager Li and Sima Yuan, and they only obey the two of them.

Empress Dowager Li didn't bring any palace people, but just brought one of her own henchmen and inner eunuchs, and then led King Jiangling to come here.

When the chief of the guard saw that Empress Dowager Li naturally did not stop him, he immediately bowed and saluted, and then turned sideways to let him go.

Empress Dowager Li asked at this time: "Is the prince inside?" ”

The chief of the guard replied respectfully: "The crown prince and His Royal Highness King Langya have been waiting for the emperor in the palace. ”

Empress Dowager Li nodded, turned her head to look at King Jiangling, and motioned for him to follow.

King Jiangling glanced at the guards beside him, and his heart couldn't help but feel a little desolate.

After all, he is the king of a country, but now he is seriously ill, but the guards are heavily surrounded and he is not allowed to enter. In fact, this is almost the same as house arrest.

After entering the palace gate, there was a small courtyard first.

The smooth pavement made of Wukang stone is mossy in the crevices due to the wetness. It's just late autumn, and the original green has turned brown and yellow. However, the few Xiangfei bamboos under the stone wall on the side, reflecting the rugged and abrupt Taihu Lake stone rockery, are particularly bright green and lovely.

King Jiangling followed Empress Dowager Li on the steps, and there were still many guards under the corridor.

The guards waiting on the side of the door pushed open the two doors behind them, and bent down to respectfully invite Empress Dowager Li and King Gangneung to enter.

Empress Dowager Li walked in first, but King Jiangling took a deep breath, stabilized his heartbeat that was beating a little fast, and then walked in.

As soon as you enter the house, the first thing you smell on the tip of your nose is a strong smell of sandalwood. It's just that no matter how strong the sandalwood fragrance is, it can't hide the heavy smell of death mixed in with it.

King Gangneung stood at the door, silently looking at the bed at the end of the hall.

There lay the brother of the only mother in his life. A few years ago, they also played together, brothers, friends, and brothers, and they were close. It's just that because of the word power, the two people became estranged and drifted away from each other, and they never saw each other again for more than 20 years.

But he didn't expect that when he said goodbye, his brother was lying there lonely, dying.