In the winter of the following year, Concubine De, the biological mother of the current emperor, also contracted a serious illness and passed away. It was not until the late emperor issued a decree that the emperor was adopted to the queen mother.
Xiao Mingxuan nodded.
"The fourth brother he calls is the current emperor."
Luo Jiuli asked:
"What request did he make that made you work so hard for the Changning Dynasty for so many years?"
Xiao Mingxuan's eyes were deep, as if his thoughts were recalling the little boy lingering on the sickbed.
"He only made two requests. One is that I protect his mother and concubines."
"The other one, if his fourth brother ascends the throne as emperor one day, and helps his fourth brother to eliminate traitors, I am not allowed to covet the throne of Changning Dynasty in his name."
"And Master, in order to let him leave in peace, told him my true identity in front of his bed."
After Luo Jiuli heard this, he felt sad in his heart.
"Then, how come I have never seen his concubine in the palace?"
When Xiao Mingxuan heard this, his eyes dimmed.
"This is where I feel ashamed of him."
"The second year after his death, when I was ten years old, I returned to the capital once, but it was too late."
Luo Jiuli was shocked.
"His concubine also——"
"Well, I heard from the palace people that since he left the palace, his mother and concubines have been lingering on the sickbed. She was not favored by the saints, and her mother's family was not as noble as the noble families in the capital. She was squeezed out by the concubines in the harem, so he died in depression."
"well!"
Luo Jiuli sighed.
"This mother and son have a really hard life. The palace is a place that restricts people's freedom. In addition, they are not favored by the saints and are ostracized by everyone. They have to look at the faces of the palace maids and eunuchs who flatter and despise them every day. His mother and concubine
It’s easy to imagine how life is going.”
"When he was in the palace, he was still a prince and was humiliated. What's more, he was not in the palace."
"I just heard that when other empresses give birth to children, the emperor will be promoted to a higher position. Even if they are not good enough, they will still be concubines? Even if they are not favored, for the sake of the status of the prince in the future, the mother will be more valuable than the son. Why is his mother's concubine——"
Xiao Mingxuan said:
"His mother's concubine was born as a merchant in Wuzhou. She spent money to go to the palace to choose a beautiful girl. Unexpectedly, by chance, she was favored by the late emperor and became pregnant, so she was given the title of concubine."
"I see."
Xing Xiyan, a merchant from Wuzhou, came from Wuzhou and called Xiao Mingxuan his cousin.
It seems that the Xing family of Wuzhou did not know that the real Ninth Prince had already gone with his concubine.
The current Xiao Mingxuan is just a person with the name Xiao Mingxuan, but he is not the Nine Kings with the blood of the Xing family.
But so what, merchants are the best at scheming, and what the Xing family wants is just a prince named Xiao, a famous war god prince from the Changning Dynasty.
There is someone in the court who is easy to do, and what’s more, this person is a royal prince.
Who can resist the temptation of possessing imperial power?
"No wonder the emperor has so much trust and confidence in the prince."
"A prince who comes from a merchant family and does not have a prominent mother's family status will indeed lose his innate opportunities in the battle for the royal family."
"But, does the Emperor have any doubts about the prince's true identity?"
Xiao Mingxuan shook his head.
"Don't worry, during those four years in the valley, I knew everything about what happened between him and the emperor. Not only did I learn his living habits and speaking style, but even his handwriting was very similar to his."
"In addition, he was only five years old when he left Beijing. Children have changed a lot, and some differences will not arouse others' suspicion."
"Besides, I have no intention of staying in Beijing permanently. I will leave within a dozen days after returning to Beijing."
"She has no interactions with the other princes or princesses in the palace. She only exchanges letters from time to time with the emperor who was still the fourth prince at the time."
"During this period, I began to build my own power. After the first southern expedition, I painstakingly managed military achievements, connections and reputation, assisted the emperor in enthroning the throne, defended the border, and solved the emperor's worries."
"When the time is right, I will wield my sword in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and kill Emperor Wu of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to avenge my father, emperor, mother, queen and those who died unjustly."
When Xiao Mingxuan mentioned Emperor Wu of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, his eyebrows suddenly turned cold and the hatred in his eyes was undisguised.
Kill Emperor Wu and regain the power of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
This is the obsession in his heart after he learned his true identity.
Over the years, for this obsession, he has practiced day and night, built up his power, recruited talents, and his military reputation has not faded.
The counselors under his command were also happy for him, and seemed even more excited than himself.
Sometimes, he can't help but think that these people are loyal, but are they loyal to the future glory and future that he can bring them, or are they loyal to himself?
When I wake up in the middle of the night, I feel a chill that no one understands, and I can only swallow my emotions, anger, and sorrows by myself, and feel the chill from high above.
Gradually, he no longer expected anyone to understand him.
Until Luo Jiuli appeared, suddenly somewhere in my heart moved like a cocoon, and the hardness broke open.
That's why the secret was revealed to her without reservation today.
Luo Jiuli looked at him silently. This man, who had always been strong and cold, led thousands of troops to fight on the battlefield. He was not able to change his color despite being surrounded by so many people from the Queen Mother, the Grand Sima, and the former harem of the Changning Dynasty.
man.
The feeling she felt at this moment was one of overwhelming loneliness.
She stepped forward and snuggled into his arms.
"From now on, I will walk this road with you."
With her here, she won't make him lonely or sad anymore.
Xiao Mingxuan hugged her tightly. There were thousands of words in his heart, but they were condensed into two deep words.
"Li'er."
"Maybe I want to show you something else."
Luo Jiuli left his arms and looked up.
"What?"
Xiao Mingxuan took her hand, and the two of them walked to the memorial tablet on the incense table.
I saw him reaching out and taking out a tablet with an ever-lighted lamp from the side of the shrine of Emperor Shengwen Shenwu of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
Luo Jiuli looked at the swaying lamp with candlelight and the God's tablet. His eyes couldn't help but freeze. He saw a few words written in red lacquer on the God's tablet.
"My son Yu Wenjing, my father Yu Wen Haotian."
"Ever since I knew that King Zhao had never touched you, that child was that night——"
Xiao Mingxuan paused.
"So I set up this tablet for him. Li'er, I have never forgotten our child for a day."
"I believe that our child will not forget us, and he will definitely come to look for us again."
Luo Jiuli clutched her chest, tears falling uncontrollably. Her heart was filled with unbearable grief, as if the child enshrined on the tablet of the God Lord had fallen from her body.
She can be sure that this is definitely not the consciousness of the original owner. The original owner has disappeared. This is the grief from her heart.
It's as if this scene had happened somewhere before.