Nangong Meng silently looked at Liu Mingzhi who was bowing to him in front of him, and the complex expression of struggle and entanglement in his phoenix eyes was self-evident.
As the empress who was in charge of the Three Palaces and Sixth Courtyard in the past, the later empress dowager, and the last empress dowager, Nangong Meng's character and mind are naturally far beyond ordinary women.
She is not a fool, how could she not feel how filial her son-in-law Liu Mingzhi has been to her mother-in-law over the years.
Except for the fact that he took away the throne of his eldest grandson Li Ye, Nangong Meng knew very well how Liu Mingzhi treated his mother-in-law in other aspects.
It can be said that even though I am trying to find faults in the eggs, I can't find any fault with my son-in-law.
Over the years, he has lived alone in Fu'an Palace without leaving the house. Except for his biological daughter Li Yan and grandson Liu Chengqian, mother and son, all the other wives, concubines and children of his son-in-law Liu Mingzhi come to Fu'an Palace from time to time to pay their respects to him.
No matter who they are and what their status is, they all show great respect to themselves after arriving at Fu'an Palace, and they are even more obedient to some of the things they ask of them.
Nangong Meng knew very clearly that although it was only Liu Mingzhi's wife, concubines, and children who came to Fu'an Palace to pay respects to him, it was his son-in-law Liu Mingzhi who really wanted to be filial to him behind the scenes.
Otherwise, in addition to his biological daughter Li Yan and his grandson Liu Chengqian, mother and son, the current Queen Qi Yun, the former Queen Wanyan Wanyan of the Jin Kingdom, and the former Turkic Khan Huyan Yunyao and their three sisters are no less important than themselves. There is absolutely no need for the younger generation to bring their children to the palace to pay their respects.
To put it even worse, if his son-in-law Liu Mingzhi hadn't still acknowledged his identity, his current identity would have been completely different from that of the three sisters.
Under such a situation, their family came to pay their respects to him more often and more frequently than the old friends of the Li clan in the clan mansion.
Nangong Meng even had to admit in her heart that the filial piety shown by her son-in-law Liu Mingzhi over the years was much stronger than that of her own flesh and blood.
It's not that I can't feel the good intentions of my son-in-law, but I still can't let go of the fact that he took away the throne from his grandson and destroyed the Li family.
Nangong Meng originally did not want to attend the wedding banquet of her half-grandson and granddaughter Li Jingyao because she really didn't know what to say when facing Liu Mingzhi.
But seeing her daughter begging her with tears in her eyes, Nangong Meng finally relented and agreed to her daughter's request with hesitation and melancholy.
The most important thing is that when they were in the palace, the third princess Li Yan said some heartfelt words to Nangong Meng, which gave Nangong Meng an excuse to convince herself.
That is, the children born to Liu Chengzhi and Li Jingyao in the future will still have the blood of the Li family. If Liu Chengzhi inherits Shiwanli Mountains and Rivers in the future, even though Dalong’s Jiangshan is surnamed Liu, his descendants will inherit Jiangshan Sheji. But he has half the blood of the Li family.
So as long as the blood of the Li family's royal family flows through Liu Chengzhi's children, although there is a slight difference from the Li family's control of the country, there is not much difference.
Although Nangong Meng knew that these were just words from his daughter to comfort him, he finally found an explanation that could barely eliminate the grudge in his heart.
So after the third princess’s hard persuasion, Nangong Meng finally agreed to attend the wedding banquet of Liu Chengzhi and Li Jingyao.
The third princess looked at her mother's sad and complicated eyes as she looked at her husband, and gently shook Nangong Meng's arm and shouted softly.
"Mother!"
Nangong Meng reacted with a gloomy look on her face and sighed secretly: "Forgive me."
"My son, thank you very much, Queen Mother."
"It's getting late, let's rush to Qinzheng Hall first. If the auspicious time for Chengzhi's son Chengzhi to marry Jingyao is delayed because of the Ai family, then the Ai family will be guilty.
Today is a great day for everyone to celebrate. I won’t mention some of the past things. Let’s finish the children’s wedding banquet first.”
"Yes, the sons and ministers listen to the mother, and the mother invites you first."
"Um."
Looking at the third princess who was supporting Nangong Meng and walking past him, Liu Mingzhi smiled lightly and gave her a vague thumbs up.
"Yan'er is awesome."
The smile in the third princess's eyes flashed away, she pursed her lips a few times and helped her mother walk down the corridor.
Liu Mingzhi breathed a silent sigh, arranged the jade fan and put it into his cuff, and followed him quickly.
In the time it took about half a stick of incense, Master Liu and the other three figures appeared in the Qinzheng Hall.
A group of people in the hall who were resting, laughing and talking about interesting things were subconsciously stunned when they saw Liu Dashao and the other two people who suddenly walked into the hall door.
After reacting, some people showed excitement and relief in their eyes, while others looked slightly stunned and confused, obviously not knowing who Nangong Meng was.
Liu Zhi'an coughed and hurriedly reached out to touch Madam Liu's wrist, then cryptically pursed her lips at Nangong Meng, the third princess and her daughter who were standing at the threshold of the hall.
"Madam, why are you still standing there? Why don't you hurry up and greet your mother-in-law?"
Mrs. Liu realized what she was doing and hurriedly stood up and greeted Nangong Meng with a smile: "Mom, I haven't seen you for a long time. My sister is here to greet you."
Nangong Meng hurriedly stretched out her hand to stop Madam Liu who was about to salute her. Her phoenix eyes softly and peacefully looked at the crowd of familiar people and strangers mixed together in the main hall. She shook her phoenix a few times at Madam Liu's dignified and virtuous manner.
head.
"My mother-in-law, you must not be so polite. We sisters have known each other for many years since our two children got married. My sister definitely does not deserve your great gift.
Get up quickly, it would be a bit strange for the two of us to greet each other."
Mrs. Liu looked at the sincere look in Nangong Mengfeng's eyes and nodded with a smile: "Hey, my sister listens to her and won't go out.
Come on, we sisters haven’t seen each other for so long, let’s go to the back hall to have a good chat about home affairs.”
"That's fine, but sister has to say hello to the old friends in the palace first."
"Yes, yes, look at my sister's mind. You are so happy that you are so happy after meeting your sister. My sister will introduce you to some of the juniors in the palace."
"Then I'll help my sister."
Liu Mingzhi looked at his mother accompanying Nangong Meng among the crowd with relaxed eyes. He smiled lightly and looked at the third princess aside with curious eyes.
"Yan'er, how did you convince your mother?"
The third princess smiled brightly and raised her eyebrows at Young Master Liu and said softly: "There are too many people in the palace now, so it is not convenient for me to explain them in detail. I will explain them to you one by one when I return home after I finish my business."
Liu Mingzhi suppressed the curiosity in his heart and nodded with a chuckle.
"Okay, I listen to you husband, then we can wait until we get back after finishing Chengzhi's wedding banquet."
While Mr. and Mrs. Liu were laughing and chatting softly, Liu Song hurried in from outside the hall.
"Master, the auspicious time has come. You can ring the bell to welcome guests and go out to welcome the bride."
Liu Mingzhi's smiling face suddenly became serious, and his face returned to its simple and majestic look. He shouted softly at Liu Chengzhi, who looked expectant and nervous in the hall.
"Chengzhi, the auspicious time has come. It's time to go to the princess's mansion to welcome the bride."
"Hey, I got it."
Young Master Liu turned around and walked towards the outside of the hall at a fast pace, and said calmly to Liu Song who was following behind him.
"The sound of drums serves as trumpets, the bells are rung, and music is played to welcome guests into the palace."
"I obey, little one."
Liu Song quickly bowed to Liu Mingzhi, holding the hem of his clothes and hurriedly ran towards the heavy red silk drum hanging on the left side of Qinzheng Hall.
Liu Song reached out and picked up two drum hammers wrapped in red silk, took a few deep breaths and beat them hard.
In the blink of an eye, the rhythmic, thick and melodious drum beats echoed inside and outside the palace without warning.
The drums vibrated for about seven or eight times, and then the war drums sounded one after another on the palace walls. The thick and melodious drums resounded through the heaven and earth in and outside the capital one after another.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three simple but clear and melodious chimes from the direction of the bell tower were mixed with the sound of drums, completely kicking off Liu Chengzhi's national wedding.