"Please forgive my daughter for saying bluntly, my daughter and Prince Cangwu are interested in each other, and my daughter is willing to marry Cangwu!" When Zhu Zhijie spoke, her heart was actually beating wildly, thanks to the mantis stinger, but her face was very calm.

"But Ye Zhiqiu...... I just sent a dozen birds, and I didn't mention anything about marriage. "Emperor Ming looked at him left and right.

"Mother, what is Ye Zhiqiu's reason for coming to Bihai this time, everyone in the palace already knows it, why bother to play dumb riddles with her daughter again?"

"Presumptuous! I don't care about you when you drink wine today, but you have to know how to speak in a measured way. "Emperor Ming has already made a face.

"The daughter wanted to ask the mother queen why she didn't agree to the marriage of Cangwu."

"This matter is about the national system, you should be cautious, how can it be child's play?"

"Cangwu and Bihai have been an alliance for decades, and the aunt of Qinghui Palace was also married to Cangwu, and she married the emperor's grandmother when she married the minister, and now I am equal to the prince's door, how can it become child's play?" Zhu Zhijie said it very confidently.

Emperor Ming squinted at her for a while, and said, "I didn't know that you could talk like this, but you looked like your sister." ”

If he was left alone, Emperor Ming would have been furious long ago. But this is her daughter, and this is the temperament she admires and hopes to show in her children, and she has always thought that Zhu's daughter should be like this.

"I didn't expect you to like this prince so much. Although he is of noble birth and is on par with you, but I have carefully looked at his face, he is really a useless person, and there is no qualitative character, I can't guarantee that I will be sincere to you for a few days, if you really marry him, there will be discord in the future, this mountain is far away, and the mother emperor will not be able to protect you. ”

"Useless people?" Zhu Zhijie suddenly laughed: "His Cangwu Kingdom is relying on the Mu Yun clan to support the country, and the kings of all dynasties are useless people, no one knows this, why does the mother emperor need to look at his face to talk about it?" What's more, if he is a useless person, he will become a monarch in the future, the sky is weak and the blue sea is strong, for the mother and the queen and his sister, there are no advantages and disadvantages, so why bother? ”

Emperor Ming heard this and smiled slightly: "You can see it thoroughly, but you are my child after all, which mother wants her child to marry a useless person?" I am a concern, but you don't understand me. ”

Zhu Zhijie also smiled: "My daughter also hopes to marry someone as smart as Zhao Wuyun in the future, but so what? If I am in this palace every day, but I don't want to see each other once a year and say a word, and I am caught in the middle like my sister, I would rather marry a useless person and live a dull life. ”

Emperor Ming's face changed greatly when he heard this: "You are indeed drunk and talking nonsense today, how can you get involved with your sister's affairs again." ”

"Okay, then let's not talk about my sister, just talk about my daughter's own business." Zhu Zhijie didn't care about the displeasure on Emperor Ming's face, and said: "Mother, since I was born on this Taiye Island, I have been trapped in the Qinglian Palace every day, and I will only sit in those palaces during the Lantern Festival, Chongyang Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, or when there are envoys from neighboring countries. The daughter will always be placed there like a mud statue, and then put it back to Qinglian Palace after it is finished. Up and down the palace, has there ever been a person who treats me like a living creature? ”

Hearing her say this, Emperor Ming took a deep breath, and his brows tightened.

I didn't know that I had treated this daughter badly, and I didn't want to get close to it in the distance. In my heart, I was secretly glad that she never kept silent, but she was snubbed, and after a long time, she became even more lazy to pay attention, and now she was suddenly said to be to the point, and she knew that she was wrong.

Zhu Zhijie continued: "I was already like ashes, thinking that this was the case in this life, and I planned to be a decoration for the rest of my life, but Prince Cangwu came, and he cared about me. I broke the dragon's beard and he covered it for me, he tasted the dim sum I made, I cried and I laughed, he cared. Do you know that it is such a straw bale prince and useless person in your mouth, he is the one who really treats his daughter as a human being. But you say he is useless......"

Zhu Zhijie raised her head, looked at the high dome of the Dingxiang Palace, laughed and shed tears:

"He's all useless, what does he have to do with his daughter? If he is useful, his daughter rejoices. If he is useless, he has the help of the Muyun family, as long as he is willing to guard his daughter for the rest of his life, what more can he ask for in this life? ”

The Emperor was silent.

This daughter who is placed in the distance really doesn't think much about it on weekdays, but suddenly said that she wants to marry thousands of miles away, and she is still reluctant in her heart. After all, his mother's temperament is much gentler than back then, unlike his mother, who can marry his sister to Mu Yun for the sake of imbalance. But now it is difficult to make up for the loss of sheep and repair the mother-daughter relationship that has been cold for more than ten years.

Emperor Ming felt ashamed in his heart, slowly stood up, and personally brought a cup of tea for his daughter, and said comfortingly: "You have a cup of tea first, and wake up the wine." I know all the sufferings you are talking about. But you don't have to marry away from another country for the sake of momentary anger. As long as you are willing, I will be the master to find someone who is in love with you for you, and you are by my side, and I can take care of you with peace of mind, isn't it? ”

Zhu Zhijie shook her head and said: "Don't want your daughter, your daughter already has someone she likes, so why look for it." The daughter used to want to stay by her mother's side and want to be filial. But now that the daughter thinks that it is better to marry farther away, the mother will be more at ease, right? ”

Emperor Ming was puzzled and asked, "What does this mean?" ”

Zhu Zhijie slowly stood up, put her face in front of Emperor Ming's eyes, and said word by word: "As long as the daughter still has this face, the mother will not be willing to get close to her daughter, let alone see her daughter, right?" ”

Emperor Ming's face changed greatly when he heard this, his heart trembled, and he was forced to take a few steps back, and stood firm on the corner of the table with one hand.

"You...... What are you talking about? ”

Zhu Zhijie didn't back down, took a few more steps, leaned over and asked faintly, "Does mother think that her daughter looks like her dead father?" ”

Emperor Ming looked at Zhu Zhijie's face, and suddenly there was an indescribable fear in his heart: "You...... What exactly are you talking about? Did you listen to someone say what? As soon as the words came out, a thought flashed through my mind.

Zhu Yuxiao! It had to be her!

"But what did your aunt tell you?" Emperor Ming's tone suddenly became stern, but he couldn't hide the wavering in his heart.

"The daughter was still skeptical, but now looking at her mother's appearance, the daughter has to believe it." Zhu Zhijie shook her head, stepped back, and sat back in the chair she had used to be.

The daughter was still looking forward to the day when her mother would change her mind and pamper herself like a little sister, even if it was only half of her little sister. But now it seems that it is a fool's dream. At this point, I also asked my mother to agree to her daughter to marry Cangwu. I heard that Emperor Wen has an excellent temperament and is very considerate to the children under his knees, so I think he will treat his daughter well and take care of his daughter for his mother, please rest assured. Although the words were a request, the tone was cold and insincere.

"No, you can't marry Prince Cangwu! If you marry so far away, how will I ...... in the future?" Emperor Ming said to his lips, but he couldn't say it anyway.

If you marry far away, how will I compensate you, how will I compensate for the calf I have owed you for more than ten years, will you hate me for the rest of my life?

Zhu Zhijie suddenly walked quickly to Emperor Ming and asked hatefully, "No?" Mother, think about your dead father, and think about your neglect of your daughter in the past 18 years, so that her daughter was born like an orphan. Now it's easy for your daughter to find a happy land, but you say no, how can you bear it? If you treat your daughter with half the mind of your sister and little sister, why are you here today? ”

Emperor Ming looked at the indifference on his daughter's face, and his heart was already full of remorse, and he couldn't help crying, and pleaded softly: "Then ...... Then from now on, let the mother treat you well, okay? ”

Zhu Zhijie shook her head again and said, "My daughter knows that the mother is a little guilty at this time, but what my daughter is asking for is not the favor of the mother emperor, but the mother emperor can agree to the marriage." Since they are already tired of each other, why not let go of each other and get out of the sea of suffering? ”

"But I can't bear you! Jie'er ...... I can't bear to ...... you" Emperor Ming held his daughter's hand tightly with one hand and refused to let go, holding the corner of the table with the other, unable to cry.

Zhu Zhijie leaned close to her mother's face again and asked calmly, "Mother, you look into my eyes and tell me, have you ever loved me?" Is your guilt for me, or for yourself? ”

Have you ever loved me?

Emperor Ming's eyes were already blurry, she looked at that extremely familiar face, could no longer hold the corner of the table, and sat down on the ground all of a sudden.

Zhu Zhijie's face in front of her has turned into Lu Wenjun's face at some point.

His voice seemed to be ringing in his ears.

Yutang, have you ever loved me?

Is your guilt for me, or for yourself?

She suddenly felt extremely frightened in her heart, Wen Jun was so gentle, he wouldn't ask like this, he didn't ask until he died. But he must have understood, understood that she had given up him for the throne, and she had already known that he understood in his heart, but he took advantage of this tenderness, and only dared to use a trace of golden incense to quietly sacrifice him and punish himself for more than ten years.

Wen Jun's voice sounded in his ears again:

"Let it go...... Let me go, and let yourself go. ”

The illusion in front of him disappeared, and what Emperor Ming saw was still Zhu Zhijie's alluring face. She held her daughter's arm and wrist, slowly stood up, and slowly sat down again, the expression on her face returning to its former calmness.

She quietly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, restored the majesty of the emperor, nodded and said, "I know, then I will inform Ye Zhiqiu and agree to the marriage." ”

"Daughter, thank you to the mother, it's just that my daughter still has two requests."

"You say."

"My daughter doesn't want to wait for Cangwu to send a delegation to welcome her relatives again, and my daughter wants to go with Ye Zhiqiu this time."

Emperor Ming couldn't help but reprimand in a low voice: "How can this be? He is not a marriage envoy, and he has neither a guard of honor nor a guard, so how can he take you back? The face of my blue sea royal family ......" Before the words fell, he suddenly saw Zhu Zhijie and shook his head again.

"My daughter has been doing decorations for more than ten years for the face of the Bihai royal family, and now my daughter only asks for these two things, will the mother agree or not?"

Emperor Ming frowned and said, "It's just that he has only a few dozen people, how can he protect ......?"

"The mother has always been resourceful, and my daughter believes that you will be willing to take care of her daughter, right?"

“…… And what about this second thing? ”

"My daughter is married far away this time, and she doesn't want any dowry, but the portrait of her father collected in the Yi Palace, I hope that the mother can give it to her daughter, thousands of miles away, and I have a thought."

Emperor Ming pondered for a while, and said: "There is only one portrait of this, I will ask someone to copy another one, and after it is completed, I will send someone to Cangwu, okay?" ”

"Daughter, thank you." Zhu Zhijie bowed deeply, and without waiting for Emperor Ming to speak, she staggered out of the hall.

Emperor Ming sat motionless at the table, like a wax figure.

Eighteen years have passed, and we have never said so much to each other. If a pot of wine could tell so much, it should have given her that pot of wine. Speaking of which, the day after tomorrow is the fifth day of the new year, will she still come to say goodbye?

A wry smile came from the Dingxiang Palace.

It's a pity that when I want to be close to my daughter now, it is also the time for my daughter to quench her last bit of longing for her.

I only hope that she can find what she wants and live her life in peace.