On March 15, the fifteenth year of Qianlong, the emperor's eldest son, Yonghuangxu, posthumously crowned the prince and said An.

When Ruyi entered the Yangxin Hall to report Yonghuang's funeral to the emperor, the emperor was lying on the couch of the warm pavilion. Jin Li Ping, soft smoke, lotus petal pillow, pillow side luodian on the glaze red twining branch bottle, obliquely inserted in the bottle with a bewitching posture of the mandala, snow-white and light purple petals spilled down, meandering into a charming style.

Everything is the same as ever, but lifeless.

The bright and clear spring sunlight shines through the finely carved mahogany lattice windows, like a golden veil rising and falling softly, silently covering his face, but it cannot hide the slightest haggard and sad color.

The emperor rubbed a lioness and Tian Qingyu pendant in his hand, and heard her voice quietly, but raised his heavy eyelids slightly, and said hoarsely: "You are here." The emperor turned his face and revealed a green hawthorn that had not been shaved for a few days, quite a fragmentation of the bones and temples.

Ruyi's heart sank, and there were some slightly sour ripples. Originally, she was dealing with the funeral in Yonghuang's mansion, but the emperor refused to show up, although she only served as Yonghuang's adoptive mother for a few days, she couldn't help but be resentful in her heart, and the emperor didn't even give the eldest son the last face. But now seeing him like this, Ruyi couldn't help but feel a little pity, and turned to a low voice: "Your Majesty, rest assured, everything is taken care of." ”

The emperor handed the lioness and Tian Qingyu pendant in his hand to Ruyi. It is a fleshy green jade pendant, the jade is delicate and oily, the light is quiet, the knife work is simple and smooth, the pulp is ripe and beautiful, one big and one small two lions look intimate, snuggled together, and it is an ancient thing at a glance. The emperor's words revealed a little sadness out of thin air: "I have been looking for a long time, really for a long time. You went to preside over Yonghuang's funeral, and I have been looking for it, trying to find something that Zhu Ying has used, so that I can make a thought. But I couldn't find it, but Yuhu remembered it and found it from the brocade box in the storeroom. I remember very well that this was Zhu Ying's dowry. Although they are all Fucha clans, she is far from being as good as Lang, so this jade is not very valuable. But she wore it for a long time, and she didn't take it off until she died. I told them to be sealed. "You see, this pair of lionesses is so affectionate, and they have no suspicions." ”

Ruyi's pupils suddenly tightened: "The emperor means that the father and son of the Heavenly Family are not as good as this pair of lions." ”

The emperor glanced at her, but was not angry, but just held the jade pendant in his hand and stroked it carefully: "If you say this, only you will say it." Ruyi, you're really not afraid. He smiled bitterly, his voice like a glowing brocade under the incense burner, dotted with burnt ashes, "I really feel sorry for Zhu Ying." She was my first woman, and if it weren't for that moment's heartbeat, I wouldn't have left her. She is such an innocent and innocent woman, she will smile so happily when she sees me. ”

Ruyi said sadly: "But we didn't treat her children well after all." ”

The emperor's eyebrows were filled with warmth and tiredness, and he said slowly: "I didn't mean not to give Yonghuang face and not go to his funeral. He held Ruyi's hand, "Ruyi, I really don't dare to look at it, let alone face it." In the days when Yonghuang was sick, I didn't want to hear the slightest news of his serious illness, and I didn't want to see him. I'm afraid that he will look at me with nothing but resentment. I was even more afraid, afraid that I would once again see my child walk ahead of me. ”

Tears filled his eyes uncontrollably, and the sour taste slowly welled up in his throat from his cavity. Although he was ruthless, it turned out to be so difficult. Ruyi had to say softly: "The concubine knows." The concubines told the emperor everything they meant in the Yonghuang Mansion, and all the elder brothers and wives went to mourn. ”

The Emperor shifted and leaned weakly on Ruyi's lap, depressed like a wounded child. "From the death of Prince Duanhui in the third year of Qianlong, the death of the seventh elder brother in the twelfth year, the death of the ninth elder brother in the last year, and now I am the eldest brother again. Since I ascended the throne, I have always admired God and revered Buddhism, why did my sons go away one by one, so that I fell into the sadness of the white-haired people sending the black-haired people. What did I do wrong? ”

There were tears vaguely on the eyelashes, like rain about to fall in the twilight. Ruyi said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, people, those who eat grains and grains are sick in their bodies, and those who can't stand the world are sick in their hearts." It's not your fault. ”

The Emperor covered his forehead with his hand and sighed, "I know what you say, and only you will tell me that Yonghuang's death is a heart disease." Since the death of Empress Xiaoxian, I know that Yonghuang has the heart to take the heir, and I have tabooed him. He was my son, he had just come of age, he was still so young, but I was starting to grow old. I can't help but be taboo, I can't help but be suspicious......"

The touch in her heart surged like a tide, and Ruyi stretched out her finger and covered the emperor's mouth: "Your Majesty, you are in your prime, like the sun and the sky......"

The emperor's eyes showed a bit of depression and gloom: "After the sun is in the middle of the day, the sun sets, where can it compare to the rising sun?" ”

The emperor seemed to be asking, but there was no one to answer. He immersed himself in his thoughts: "My son is naturally happy when he grows up, but when he grows up, he is incompetent and frightening. Ruyi, sometimes even I feel that I love the princess more than the prince. Because I don't love and fear my daughter. Since Taizu Nurhachi, the struggle for power for the eldest son has become something that the king of this dynasty has to fear. Taizu's eldest son, Chu Ying, was narrow-minded and liquidated the heroes because of his military exploits, and was finally strangled by Taizu's order; Emperor Taizong's eldest son, Haoge, coveted the throne and caused repeated incidents, resulting in his death at the hands of Dolgon; Yinren, the eldest son of the Holy Ancestor Kangxi, was imprisoned by the Emperor because of the curse of the prince Yinren, plotting to seize the throne; The eldest son of the first emperor Yongzheng, my third brother Hongshi, spoke for the rebels and was expelled from the clan by the first emperor. Ruyi, I have experienced the Hongshi Rebellion in the past, and I am even more afraid that the children I raised will be the same as the eldest sons of my ancestors and ancestors, so I am stricter with Yonghuang than with Yongzhang, but I still love Yonghuang in my heart, after all, among these children of mine, he is the one who has been with me the longest! ”

Ruyi's eyes were sour, and finally tears fell with a warm breath. She choked up, tried her best to calm her breath, and said slowly: "Your Majesty, if Yonghuang understands your thoughts, he will also be comforted under Jiuquan." The concubine went to see Yonghuang, and before he died, he never forgot his biological mother, Emperor Zhemin, and deeply regretted that he could not fulfill his filial piety. ”

The emperor's voice was extremely soft, as if in a dream: "I am not completely suspicious of the death of Emperor Zhemin's concubine. In the past, I didn't know how to protect her, so she died in a daze when she was in her prime, and now, it was my suspicion that forced her son to death. He gently held Ruyi's hand, his palm was moist and slightly cool, "Ruyi, I am above ten thousand people, looking down on thousands of people." But above these 10,000 people, there is no one on top, which makes me feel lonely, and there is no one to accompany me. ”

Ruyi's fingers ran over the emperor's braid, which was tied with a dark green chalcedony bead and a hollowed-out red gold bead. The emperor has always only used bright yellow to tie his hair, however, somehow, Ruyi only felt that the bright gold had also become dark and heavy, which made people's hearts fall. She said softly: "Your Majesty, don't think too much. You are the emperor, a husband, and a father, sometimes it is not bad to walk down for a while. ”

The emperor shook his head tiredly: "This place, once I walk up, I can't get down. I used to think that Empress Hyo-hyun was too much like a queen and not like a woman, but now I understand that she also has her own body. Ruyi, my position as queen has been vacant, I really want you to come quickly, come to me, and we will stand together. ”

She was surprised to the extreme, and she was shocked to the extreme, not expecting the emperor to mention the matter of the future at this joint. However, there is still an ignorant joy in the bottom of my heart: "Together? ”

The emperor bowed his head heavily, weak and gentle: "Ruyi, tell me that after so many years of being inseparable, no matter whether I treat you well or abandon you, do you have any sincerity towards me?" ”

"Really?" Her joy withdrew so quickly. After all, it's still sober. Even if he can have the glory and fame standing side by side with him, he still cares about that sincerity. "Your Majesty, the concubines have always thought that people who believe in sincerity will not ask like this."