Hello Chang’an

Over the years, Yu’s mother has never felt truly at ease while carrying that secret alone.

At first, she had nightmares every night, dreaming that her lies were exposed, and that she and her second son were thrown back into the homeless den and among the beggars again.

Fortunately, the nightmare did not come true. More than twenty years later, she was the mother of the head of the Sigongtai. She wore brocade clothes and learned to burn incense and worship Buddha like those noble ladies. Although her second son had no talents, he also benefited from his elder brother's glory. He found a serious and leisurely job in the capital, married a considerate wife, and gave birth to a smart and lively grandson...

The life was so good that she no longer had nightmares, and began to dream frequently about her grandson growing up and becoming an official in the court, and the glorious inheritance of the Yu family continuing...and all of this stemmed from what she had sown in the past. That lie.

Although that lie was risky, to her, it was really worth it.

Every time she looked at everything in front of her, she would feel that even if she had to do it over a hundred times, she would still make the same choice.

Her white hair gradually became more and more, which gradually gave her the illusion that everything would settle down when she gets old, and there would be no other big twists and turns in her life except waiting for old age and death. .

Until that night, in the wine cellar, "Yu Zeng" told her that he knew everything clearly.

She tried to pretend to be confused at first, but looking at the dim face and the emotionless eyes, the luck in her heart quickly disappeared.

She wrung her hands together tightly, showing an extremely uneasy expression, and murmured to him when he noticed it.

He said in a very calm voice: [When you and I first met. 】

There was a roar in the woman's head.

So, when she admits someone's mistake, the other person is also admitting his mistake?

There were so many things that she couldn't figure out, but she didn't dare to ask anymore. She knelt down in a panic, crying and begging him to take into consideration the years of love between mother and son, and the fact that Yu Guang never knew about it and always treated him as his brother. For the sake of…

Before she finished her plea, she heard him say: "You used me for greed, and I used you for greed. You and I don't owe each other anything." 】

She was stunned, was he greedy? What is there in her and the second son that is worthy of his covetousness?

But what she was more concerned about was that since he had been making mistakes for so many years...why did he choose to speak out now?

"Yu Zeng" quickly gave her the answer.

[I leave Beijing this time, and I may not be able to return safely. If something happens to me, you can leave from here. 】

Looking at the darkroom door being pushed open, the woman was unable to react for a moment.

[Disaster may come suddenly. In order to avoid being temporarily unable to escape, you can use this secret passage to leave early and let the servants say that they are going back to their hometown to visit relatives. Bring enough accommodation, change your identity, and go farther. 】

She was stunned. Go further? It's so chaotic outside now, where can I go? She has seen the terrible world where people eat people... The second son is mediocre. After leaving, can they really protect themselves?

He said, "You may not be able to return safely," but that doesn't necessarily mean you won't be able to come back, right? Maybe we can save the day? Life can still go on, right?

The woman could not imagine the stakes involved. She only knew that once she left, she would never come back!

She looked at the door and nodded unwillingly.

Out of this door, her second son and grandson's future, wealth, safety...all will disappear.

She thought vaguely that it would be better to gamble once, just like she did more than twenty years ago.

She came back to her senses and expressed her attitude to "Yu Zeng": [Over the years, mother has already treated you as her own son... We are already as close as one family, how can we leave you behind? 】

She doesn't know anything, but she knows what she wants.

"Yu Zeng" didn't know if he had seen through her plan, so he didn't say much.

He has given reminders and arrangements. As for the other party's choice, he no longer has to influence it.

Yu's mother chose to stay. After Yu Zeng left, she fasted and chanted Buddha's name every day, praying for him to turn danger into safety. She was extremely pious... But what was supposed to come came tonight.

This time she had bad luck in gambling, but fortunately she had made up her mind from the beginning to bet only on herself, so she asked her confidants to make arrangements in advance.

If she wins the bet, everything goes as she wishes; if she loses the bet...she bears it all on her own!

Her plan was just the greedy and clumsy calculation of an ignorant little person, but she would still do it if she had to do it again.

In the carriage, the woman's tears were like raindrops gathering outside the carriage, cold and damp.

After getting off the carriage, she saw the tall and majestic palace wall hidden in the night. It was something she had never had the chance to see in her life.

In Sigong Taichung, Yu Zeng's body has not yet been brought back, and the purpose of her coming here tonight is not to identify the body.

Si Gongtai was responsible for palace punishments and also dealt with some people and matters that were inconvenient for the emperor to see, so there was a torture department.

Under the eaves, the raindrops dripped down where the light alternated between light and dark, seeming to be infected with the fishy coldness of blood.

…

Ma Xingzhou returned to the Prime Minister's Mansion. It was already late, but Mrs. Ma Xingzhou still hadn't fallen asleep.

After the servants left the room, Mrs. Ma showed a look of uneasiness: "In my dreams these days, I always dream of Wan'er crying and calling her grandmother... Sir, please tell me, how is Wan'er doing now?"

Ma Xingzhou, who had already changed into his middle coat, sat beside the couch and said in a very low voice: "Prince Rong has indeed turned against you for a long time."

The gray-haired Mrs. Ma Xiang's face tightened when she heard this: "Then our Wan'er..."

Ma Xingzhou could only close his eyes and sigh.

"It has been two months since Wan'er's family letter came back..." Mrs. Ma Xiang grabbed her husband's arm and asked anxiously with red eyes: "Now that it has been confirmed that King Rong is rebellious, can we try to bring Wan'er back? Or first? It would be nice to find out about her current situation!”

She is Ma Xingzhou's poor wife. She comes from a poor family. Although she has been married for many years, she still can't be absolutely rational when she is in a hurry.

Seeing that her husband was silent, she asked with tears in her eyes: "Master Sir, you are talking!"

"Madam..." Ma Xingzhou sighed again, shook his head and said, "At this time, Prince Rong's Mansion will definitely be keeping an eye on Wan'er's every move. The more we do, the more detrimental it will be to Wan'er."

Mrs. Ma Xiang burst into tears: "Then just watch..."

"We should have been prepared for this the day Wan'er made the decision." Ma Xingzhou's voice was slow as if he was talking to himself: "As of now, it all depends on her fate."

"Then the saint..." Mrs. Ma Xiang wanted to ask, "What did the saint say?" But when her words reached her lips, they only turned into tears.

What would the saint say? Wan'er is just a chess piece, and as a grandmother, she has vaguely noticed from Wan'er's letter that Wan'er has a real affection for Prince Rong, so that her evaluation of Prince Rong's Mansion is not objective, so from this point on Strictly speaking, Wan'er is not even a qualified chess piece...

Now that he has become an outcast in this situation, can he still expect the saint to feel ashamed and pity and come to his rescue?

Mrs. Ma Xiang was not stupid. After thinking through all this, her tears became more painful and desperate.

The rain fell outside the window all night long, and it didn't stop until morning the next morning.

Emperor Shengce returned to the Manlu Palace in the imperial chariot. Under the service of the palace servants, he changed out of his heavy and cumbersome court clothes and moved to the study to handle government affairs.

When the servant was serving hot tea, he whispered: "Your Majesty, that woman is timid. She is always asking for mercy after being punished a little... but she has no idea who Chang Shi Yu is working for, so she was unable to find out the confidential information."

This was expected by the Holy Emperor, but he heard the chamberlain say: "However, she also told a secret...she is not Yu Changshi's biological mother." The chamberlain carefully explained everything the woman confessed. : "When His Royal Highness the Prince asked someone to find Yu Changshi's wife, he found her..."

After hearing this, the Holy Emperor sneered slightly: "It turns out that Yu Zeng took someone else's identity from the beginning. It's no wonder."

But the woman didn't know Yu Zeng's original identity, and she just made mistakes, trying to find a way out for herself and her second son.

So, who is Yu Zeng originally? Was he a member of King Rong from the beginning?

If so, then the concealment and betrayal that King Rong had planned for a long time through Yu Zeng was enough to put him in a place of eternal doom in Ashang's heart.

"Your Majesty, the woman's second son Yu Guang and his wife and children are missing at this time. Do you want to..."

The woman made many pleas to him, saying that the second son knew nothing, and that she should be merciful and spare his life, but there was no need to relay these meaningless words to the emperor.

The emperor's voice was very plain: "Ignorant and useless things are not worth the extra effort."

The waiter understood and tried to ask: "That woman..."

The Emperor of the Holy Book of Praise was unclear and said: "A foolish and timid person is actually very bold when it comes to being a mother."

If we say that more than 20 years ago, the woman's first bet was for herself and her second son. This time, there was clearly a way to leave, but he still didn't leave. It was because of the second bet. It was obviously just for the sake of the second son.

"Give her a happy life, take her out of the palace and bury her."

The waiter waited and withdrew.

At the end of noon, someone from the palace came into the palace to announce that the officials who were envoys to Dongluo had returned to the capital safely. They came to return their orders and asked for an audience outside the palace.

The Holy Book Emperor put down the ink pen in his hand and said: "Hurry up."

After a while, a group of envoy officials, who had changed their clothes and bathed, but still looked like they were dusty, entered the palace and saluted.

The leaders were Wei Shuyi and Wu Siqing. Song Xian, Tan Li and others also had a rare opportunity to enter the Ganlu Hall to meet the saint. At this moment, they all stood behind with their heads bowed respectfully, not daring to look sideways.

After the salute, Wei Shuyi presented the document from the Lord of Dongluo to Emperor Dasheng, and apologized: "I beg your Majesty to punish me for being late in returning to the capital."

The empress looked at the ministers who were much thinner: "My dear friends, you have traveled a long distance, there are many dangers along the way, and you accidentally got sick due to fatigue on the way back. It is really hard... How can I not distinguish merit from fault and impose punishment indiscriminately? "

At this point, Concern asked everyone if they had recovered.

Wei Shuyi raised his hand and saluted: "Your Majesty, please be considerate and considerate. I am fine."

They contracted a wind-chill on the way. Wind-chill symptoms can be mild or severe, and there are many cases where they can kill people, but the one they contracted was a severe one.

The accompanying medical officer was accidentally defeated in the process of diagnosing and treating them, and the attendant who took personal care was not spared... Soon, among the hundreds of people in the group, the only one who didn't have a runny nose was the horse.

For the sake of his life, he could only stop traveling temporarily and stay in the inn for half a month before setting off again.

While he was recuperating in the post house, Wei Shuyi had a high fever that didn't go away. He was so confused that he, a person who didn't have much attachment to this world, actually had the thought of being very afraid of death for the first time - you know, he hadn't even thought about it yet. He had time to return to Beijing to confirm the truth to his mother, but he would not be willing to die like this even if he was a ghost.

Thinking that he was going to be a ghost, Wei Shilang suddenly shuddered in his drowsiness and suddenly opened his eyes soberly.

Perhaps supported by various thoughts, he was actually the fastest and most agile one in the group.

The Holy Emperor still invited several medical officers to come and check the pulse of Wei Shuyi and others.

"My lords, my pulse condition often shows signs of fatigue and weakness, as well as a weak spleen and stomach... It should be due to fatigue after illness. It is not a serious problem, but it still needs to be taken care of. I will prescribe medicine for you." The medical officer said. He spoke very fluently, after all, most of the officials who asked them to see a doctor recently had such symptoms.

Officials in the capital are overworked, and those outside the capital are no better off.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Shengce only asked Wei Shuyi and others to make a simple return order, and then allowed them to return to their homes to rest and wash their hands. He also said that they would be rewarded for their merits in the morning.

Due to frequent wars in various places and heavy government affairs, the morning court has been changed from two days to one day.

In addition to the morning court, the affairs of various ministries were becoming more and more complicated, and it was difficult to guarantee Xiu Mu. Although the officials were exhausted, they did not dare to complain because the emperor set an example.

The day before yesterday, some officials even suddenly lost their manners and fainted in the morning.

The entire court was supported by extreme tension and exhaustion.

After Wei Shuyi and others thanked him and left the palace, they went home and dispersed.

When Wei Shuyi returned to Zheng Guogong's mansion, the front hall was surrounded by people from the Wei family who were waiting to welcome him.

Uncle Wei covered his mouth with his sleeves and coughed a few times.

"Just now in the palace, the medical officer came to see your husband and said that he has not recovered yet and needs to rest."

After Chang Ji said this, he felt that his reaction was perfect. Lang Jun only needed to cough a few times and he could understand it so thoroughly. It was really outstanding - although Lang Jun had explained to him in advance on the way back that this was It also accounts for some of the reasons.

Wei Yu then told everyone: "In that case, let Zi Gu rest first. If you have anything to say, we can talk to you later."

For the Wei family's most outstanding genius in a century, everyone's tolerance and love were very gratifying. After telling Wei Shuyi to take a good rest, they all dispersed.

After everyone left, Mrs. Duan looked at her son's much thinner face and couldn't help but feel distressed: "Son, I haven't seen you for many days, how come you are so ugly..."

Wei Shuyi: "..."

How could a mother with such a loving demeanor say such cold words?

"Brother's face is not as resistant to torture as that of Governor Cui." Wei Miaoqing, who always looks at faces, also said cold words, but also had a senior and objective look on his face: "It seems that brother is best-looking only if he is raised in wealth. , so to speak, my brother is really a wealthy flower that needs to be pampered carefully. "

"..." Wei Shuyi looked at his father - was it true that no one spoke up for him?

Duke Zheng smoothed his neat and short beard and said perfunctorily: "That's right."

Mrs. Duan's heartache was not fake. Without much chatter, she sent her son back to the hospital with her husband and daughter, taking advantage of the time to talk on the way.

After sending the person back to the courtyard, Mrs. Duan told her servants to take good care of him. When he was about to leave, he heard Wei Shuyi say: "Mother, my son has something to say to you."

Wei Shuyi had been carrying this anxious matter for more than two months, and he really didn't want to wait for a moment longer.

Seeing his expression, Mrs. Duan nodded if she noticed something.

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