Hello Chang’an

Facing the dissatisfaction written on the faces of the officials, Dai Cong just turned a blind eye and calmly asked people to lead the way to the resettlement place.

The team of carriages and horses drove again in an atmosphere of indignation and dissatisfaction. The Holy Emperor, who had never stepped out of the carriage, was sitting in the carriage. Through the half-draped green bamboo curtain, he nodded slightly to Wei Shuyi, who was standing aside and silently saluted. No mood swings.

After the Empress' car was far away, Wei Shuyi slowly straightened up.

After a group of court officials settled down, they tried to find the Taifu, but they heard that the Taifu was in the Governor's Mansion.

The Governor's Mansion is Cui Jing's place. Under such circumstances, it is naturally inconvenient for them to go and meet each other.

All the ministers were shocked and angry, and they became more and more certain that the Taifu must have been kidnapped by Chang Sui Ning. They privately cursed Chang Sui Ning even more.

And in the process of reviling, they gradually became desperate.

If they were fashionable in Luoyang and still retained a bit of dignity and support, then after coming to Taiyuan, they truly realized what it is like to be a mermaid and have no control over life and death.

This place is more than a thousand miles away from the capital. Looking north, they can see the rough, desolate and uninhabited border land. They can't help but feel a sense of desolation when they are touched by the scene.

Chang Sui Ning did not restrict their movement, but they must be followed by military guards when they went out. They were still wearing official uniforms, which was a symbol of their status acquired through years of hard study and becoming officials. However, at this time, they seemed vulnerable in front of the ubiquitous men wearing armor and holding swords. Even resistance was doomed. It will just become a joke.

This is not a chaotic and chaotic world. On the contrary, this place has strict order and everything is in order, but the maker of the order is Chang Sui Ning... a rebel!

This rebel wants to pretend to be a descendant of the Li family, steal the Li family, twist the supreme etiquette system for his own use, trample on the dignity of the royal family, and whitewash his shameless ambition!

A censor surnamed Tu raised his sleeves and pointed to the door. His voice was low but extremely passionate: "She has people watching and threatening us. She just wants us to retreat and be timid and succumb to her lies!"

"But how can a shameless rebel know what ethics is?"

"Even if I kill someone, I will never act as a coward!"

“…”

This statement made many officials feel sad.

Human nature is greedy for life, but for many of them, there are things in this world that are more important than survival.

They desperately escaped from the capital, wanting to avoid disaster, but also determined not to associate with rebels like Bian Chunliang.

Some of them are guarding the legitimate imperial power, and some are guarding the Li family. Now the empress is old and sick, and the prince is like a puddle of mud that even Adou has to avoid when he comes... With all these things, and being trapped in Taiyuan, what is the way forward? Is there any hope?

Living is important, but rather than lingering in despair and shame, they would rather die with dignity and backbone... At least a hundred years later, they can leave a clean name in the history books!

Many people, led by Tu Yushi, were ready for the blood-splattered ceremony - they would never let this false return ceremony be completed smoothly, and they would never admit the identity of the Li family fabricated by Chang Suining to their death!

After Wei Shuyi finished arranging the arrangements for the emperor, the crown prince, and other officials, he returned to the Governor's Mansion. When he saw Chang Sui Ning, he sighed: "The envoy didn't come forward to meet me, so Wei received a lot of cold looks."

Those officials all regarded him as a heinous and shameless traitor.

After hearing Chang Suining say "Thank you, Prime Minister Wei", Wei Shuyi asked: "The envoy really doesn't intend to see them?"

"I saw what they were doing." Changsui Ning had just finished discussing the ceremony with the Cui clan, and now he picked up a cup of tea to quench his thirst, and said casually: "Only counterfeiters with guilty consciences need to intimidate them into collusion, and I am serious."

"It really just takes the evidence and the truth, and they just have to watch and listen."

Wei Shuyi smiled and was about to speak again when Dai Cong came in from outside: "Jie Envoy, the saint has sent someone to deliver a message. He wants you to go and talk to him."

Chang Suining put down the tea cup without any hesitation and said without thinking, "Let me tell you what happened between me and the saint. We can talk about it after the ceremony is completed."

Dai Cong had long been accustomed to her acting like this, so he responded "yes" and withdrew.

Soon, people came in one after another and announced: "Yao Tingwei is here to see the envoy."

"Princess Xuan'an has arrived in the front hall."

"Mrs. Zheng Guoguo has arrived."

“…”

Obviously, these people were all anxious to see Chang Sui Ning as soon as they settled in the city.

Chang Suining stood up and looked at Wei Shuyi: "Excuse me, Prime Minister Wei, go see Mrs. Duan first and convey the message for me. I will go there later."

Then he turned to the messenger: "First take Yao Tingwei to see the Taifu, and tell Yao Tingwei that the Taifu's words are my words."

After saying that, he raised his feet and walked out: "I'm going to see Her Royal Highness the eldest princess."

Everyone saluted and watched Chang Suining leave.

Chang Suining invited the eldest princess Xuan'an to the study to talk, and dismissed all the servants.

"Ning Ning, I would like to ask you, are you really my imperial brother's youngest daughter?" the eldest princess asked straight to the point, staring at the young girl in front of her.

Chang Suining has not officially announced her specific identity, but news about the late emperor's youngest daughter has spread like wildfire.

The two sat side by side across a coffee table. Changsui Ning turned sideways slightly, met the eldest princess's eyes, and said, "Aunt, I am and I am not."

This voice was calm and familiar, as if he had called "aunt" many times before. Li Rong's eyes trembled slightly, and his right hand lying on the coffee table tightened slightly.

She asked one word at a time: "What is... yes and no?"

The answer she heard next was completely beyond Li Rong's expectations, and even beyond her common sense and understanding -

"Aunt, I am not my father's youngest daughter, but his fourth daughter."

Li Rongxian's eyebrows moved slightly. The fourth daughter... what does this mean?

The fourth daughter of the imperial brother... is clearly Chong Yue!

So what kind of flimsy nonsense is this?

Li Rong felt that this statement was ridiculous. She couldn't even understand how a girl who had always been calm and intelligent could say such a thing, but those unusually sober and calm eyes caught Li Rong off guard and fell into great confusion.

All doubts were stuck in her throat, and she even briefly lost the ability to organize her words: "...You mean, Chongyue, Ashang? How old are you this year? Do you know that she has already..."

Chang Suining looked at her: "Aunt, it's me."

Or maybe it was really too ridiculous. Li Rong turned his face and looked away for a moment, and laughed randomly without knowing his emotions. When he turned back, he asked seriously: "Do you know what you are talking about..."

Chang Sui Ning's eyes were still sober and calm, with a faint smile on his lips: "Auntie, you still remember that you returned to Beijing from Xuanzhou for the seventieth birthday of the Imperial Grandmother. After the banquet, you and I left Cining Palace together. When he came out, he said something to me—"

Li Rong's mind was in confusion, and he subconsciously followed the guidance of this sentence to search in his memory.

On the mother's 70th birthday, she did return to Beijing...

But she didn't remember seeing Chong Yue.

Chongyue was weak and rarely attended banquets. She could count the number of times she had seen her niece on one hand.

The person who came out of Cining Palace with her that night... was clearly Prince Xiao. The reason why she could easily recall this matter was very simple. She had always liked beauty, and her nephew Li Xiaosheng was quite beautiful. He had a kind of androgynous beauty, and his temperament was even better -

She had very few opportunities to see her nephew. After drinking some wine that night, she couldn't help but pinch her nephew's beautiful face and said something like -

[Today, my aunt heard that someone was secretly cursing that my romantic days were coming to an end. I don’t think so... My Li family has such an outstanding son, so why worry about prosperity? Are you worried that I, Li Rong, will not live a happy life? ? 】

This old joke, which had become blurred in memory and could not be fully heard by a third person, was now completely repeated in the mouth of the girl in green in front of him.

In an instant, Li Rong stood up suddenly, feeling the world was spinning, and reached out to hold the coffee table.

In this dizziness, she seemed to have returned to that night outside Cining Palace. The face of the young man whose face she pinched suddenly overlapped with the vivid face in front of her.

Soon, Li Rong discovered that she could not remember Li Xiao's original appearance. It seemed that the Li Xiao in her memory was exactly like the person in front of her.

But…

how come? !

The fourth daughter of the late emperor...Chongyue, Prince Xiao...what does it mean?

Recalling many past events, Li Rong seemed to understand something, but most of them were still unbelievable.

She looked again and saw the young girl picking up the teapot and pouring a cup of tea for her. She said slowly, "My aunt and I were not very close in the past. Now I will tell my aunt about my story in general."

When the girl put down the teapot, she pushed the cup with her finger, raised her head and smiled: "Don't worry, aunt, I'm not an evil spirit, and I won't hurt anyone easily."

Seeing the cup of tea being pushed towards him, Li Rong, who was filled with thoughts, slowly sat back.

Li Rong spent a cup of tea and listened to a story that spanned many years.

After that, Li Rong spent another cup of tea in silence.

After leaving the Governor's Mansion and getting on the carriage, Li Rong was still in a daze.

Seeing her expression, the maid in the car asked uneasily: "Your Highness, what's wrong with you..."

Li Rong came back to her senses and realized that her limbs had almost lost consciousness and her eyes were stinging. She raised her hand to touch the corners of her eyes and realized that they were filled with wet tears.

This night, Li Rong didn't sleep.

Just before dawn, she sat up, looked out the foggy blue window, and murmured: "We met for the first time in Xuanzhou, how come we feel so kind..."

It turns out that they are really her Li family, and they are the children of the Li family that she has met.

A child who is so outstanding and yet so pitiful, but I don't feel sorry for him.

Li Rong's heart tugged, and he lifted the quilt and got out of bed, his mind gradually occupied by dissatisfaction.

This is how her indifferent imperial brother behaved like his father? She absolutely did not believe that the imperial brother could not tell the difference between his son and his daughter!

And as a mother, how can you just watch a child like this marry Beidi?

And that guy Chang Kuo, such a big thing, such a huge thing... actually kept her a secret until she died like this!

Li Rong was so angry that he walked back and forth in the room. He stopped for a long time, opened the window and looked at the increasingly white sky. After a long while, he frowned and sighed. The last conversation between his aunt and nephew yesterday echoed in his mind.

She asked: [Why did you say it? 】

The child answered very frankly: "I want to persuade my aunt to help me and tell lies to make me look more credible." 】

The sky is getting brighter, but gloomy.

The day before the return ceremony, there was a heavy rain in Taiyuan City.

Those court officials regarded this as a sign of dissatisfaction among the Li family ancestors. Some wrote poems in sorrow, and some even ran into the rain and cried loudly.

Chang Suining was not annoyed but pleased after hearing this: "I, Mrs. Li, are so loyal to me. What can I blame you for?"

As he spoke, he looked at the rain outside the hall and said, "Cui Ling'an, do you think that if the ancestors of my family really have spirits in the sky, will the rain stop tomorrow?"

Cui Jing stood half a step behind her and looked into the rain with her: "Don't worry, Your Highness, auspicious days will naturally bring auspicious signs."

"Auspicious days are carefully chosen." Chang Suining turned around and walked into the hall: "It depends on whether the ancestors are willing to give me this face."

Her tone was relaxed, but Cui Jing could inexplicably sense the rebellious tone of "If you refuse to give this face, the incense offerings in the future will be halved."

With just this thought, the priorities were reversed, and Cui Jing wanted to persuade the Li family's ancestors to seek happiness for themselves.

In the early morning of the next day, the rain did not stop, and the return ceremony was held as scheduled.

The ceremony is held in Jinci Temple, Taiyuan.

Taiyuan was the place where the Li family flourished. Emperor Taizong of the Great Sheng Dynasty proposed to build the Ancestral Temple in Taiyuan, but was opposed by the Confucian officials. The Confucian officials believed that the Ancestral Temple should only be located in the capital, and it would be unethical to build it elsewhere.

Although the Ancestral Temple was not built, Emperor Taizong ordered the expansion of the Jinci Temple in Taiyuan City, which had been worshiped by incense from all dynasties. He wrote an inscription here and enshrined the ancestors' tablets in the expanded new hall.

There are rumors among the people that the origin of the dragon vein is hidden under the Jin Temple, and the dragon spirit lingers all year round.

Chang Sui Ning originally planned to hold the ceremony of returning to the clan in Luoyang, but the final choice of Taiyuan was dictated by the situation, but in Wu Jue's view, there was a miraculous guidance in it.

In the main hall dedicated to the ancestors of the Li family, the sacrificial utensils have already been prepared, and everyone has arrived one after another and separated themselves in the hall.

The empress with gray hair in a bun stands on the right front, wearing a wide floor-length robe, holding a dragon-head crutch in one hand, supported by a servant on the other side, followed by the prince, the eldest princess Xuan'an and courtiers, including Yao Yi.

Standing on the other side were Taiyuan officials headed by Dai Cong, as well as Cui Lang and other Cui clan members.

Wei Shuyi stood beside the sacrificial table. Today he was the accompanist of the sacrificial ceremony, so he naturally attracted many looks of contempt like daggers.

There were heavy troops guarding outside the palace, all of whom were from Xuance Mansion and Chang Suining.

The rain had not subsided, and the atmosphere in the palace seemed solemn and depressing due to the demeanor of the courtiers. There was only the low conversation of some officials.

At this time, there was a slightly noisy salute outside the hall, and with a loud singing announcement, everyone in the hall turned their heads to look.

The woman in the green skirt slightly lifted her skirt and walked up the steps calmly. The young man in the black robe beside her held an umbrella for her all the way.

The woman walked to the front of the hall, put down the hand holding the hem of her skirt, and amidst the sound of salutes, she crossed the threshold, stepped into the hall, and walked into the countless lines of sight. (End of chapter)