Harue Kagetsu

The next morning, Luoshen arrived in Jiankang.

It was still early, the dawn was dim, and with a heavy creaking sound, the two tightly closed city gates slowly opened in front of her.

This inconspicuous green felt car passed through the city gate, walked on the empty street, and headed towards the palace.

Her arrival, like her departure, was silent and did not disturb any unrelated people, except for the group of people who were standing on the royal street leading to the main gate of the palace at this moment.

That group of people is naturally not irrelevant.

Before the fifth watch, it was still dark, and they came here one after another, waiting for the arrival of the car.

Among them, there is the figure of Liu Hui.

Not what it used to be. The change of ownership of the country is a sure thing, and even Gao Yin acquiesced in the actions of Ying Tianjun, an already precarious dynasty, and thus lost its last reliance.

Feng Wei returned last night, and although he didn't say a word, his ashes expression was enough to convey everything.

The end has come.

With apprehension and fear, they can't wait to take a stand, and this is the best chance.

The sky was bright, but the expected car never came.

The group of people gradually lost their temper, and sent people to inquire constantly. Only then did they learn that just before dawn, the car they were waiting for had changed its route and entered Jiankang Palace from Ximingmen.

Luoshen walked on the palace road. The palace servants who got up early recognized her gradually approaching figure in the morning light, showed surprised and respectful eyes, and immediately knelt beside the road and saluted her.

She came to Taichu Palace.

The military chaos subsided, and after Gao Yongrong returned to the palace, he still lived here.

After the sudden death of the young emperor, he was buried in a hurry. A few days ago, the court organized a funeral that conformed to the ritual system. There is no trace of it anywhere else, but this palace seems to be still immersed in great grief. Unable to extricate himself, the white flags did not withdraw, and swayed in the morning wind.

The light in the hall was dim, and under the shadowy candlelight, Luoshen saw that Gao Yongrong was supported by two palace servants on the left and right, sitting dryly beside the spiritual seat, with a hunched back, like a clay statue.

A palace servant stepped forward, leaned down, and announced her arrival in a low voice.

Gao Yongrong turned his face slowly, his eyes were puffy, his complexion was dark, and he looked much older.

She looked at Luoshen steadily, and slowly, tears welled up and overflowed from her eyes.

"Ami - you're finally here..."

She trembled and struggled, trying to get up from the futon, but she swayed and fell to the ground.

Luoshen hurriedly stepped forward and, together with the palace servants, sent the fainted Gao Yongrong to the apse and lay down. Luoshen was about to call someone to teach an imperial physician, when Gao Yongrong's eyelids moved slightly, he came to his senses, and reached out and grabbed Luoshen. arm.

Her palms were wet with sweat, and where they touched it, it was cold and smooth.

"Elder sister knows that if such a big thing happens, you will definitely come back, and you won't leave it alone..."

She murmured, tears welling up from her eyes again.

Luoshen Chupa wiped away her tears and whispered, "Sister, I heard someone say that your serious illness has not recovered, and you can't sleep every night. If you continue like this, your body may not be able to bear it."

"I'm reciting the curse for Deng'er... I dream of Deng'er every night... I really hate it, why didn't I die at that time..."

"...I'd rather die than me... He was so young, yet so cruelly handed..."

She let go of Luoshen, and covered her face with her hands instead, tears gurgling out from between her fingers.

Luoshen fell silent.

She also heard about Deng'er's death. The truth is that at that time, the queen mother could not bear the oppression of Rongkang, and set up a bureau with several ministers who were willing to resist, and wanted to poison Rongkang. In retaliation, Rongkang killed the Shaodi on the spot, and the method was extremely cruel.

"Ami, I couldn't help myself at that time..."

She was crying and choking.

"Rongkang's evil deeds are outrageous, all the ministers are cowardly, and no one can use them. I only wanted to get rid of the traitors, but I didn't expect that something went wrong..."

"At that time, the thief forced Deng'er with poisonous wine, and I begged bitterly, hoping that he would let Deng'er go. I would rather he take my life, but the thief did not listen, and in order to take revenge on me, he actually appeared in front of me. , killed my Deng'er..."

She burst into tears again, her grief was too much, she couldn't catch her breath, and she fell on the pillow.

A cool breeze came silently from the depths of the corner of the hall from nowhere, flicking the candles, and the lights in the hall were shadowed.

Luo Shen advised her to mourn.

She wept for a long time, and the sound of mourning finally stopped slowly, and then slowly stretched out her hand again, holding Luoshen's hand again.

Her eyes were red and swollen, she raised her gaze, landed on Luoshen's face, and said in a hoarse voice, "Ami, now we know who is loyal and who is traitor. Sister is extremely regretful. Listening to the slanderous words of Liu Hui's people, you actually became suspicious of your brother-in-law, so much so that he forced his brother-in-law away, and even worse, you were forced to leave Jiankang, and you have no home to return to. It's all my sister's fault..."

She choked again and stared at Luoshen.

"Ami, my sister confessed to you. Are you willing to forgive my sister?"

Luoshen and her looked at each other, and after a while, he smiled and nodded slowly.

Gao Yongrong had a look of relief on his face and smiled with tears in his eyes.

"I know that a family is a family after all. You can forgive sister, sister is really happy. Ami, don't worry, sister will never listen to the words of outsiders. From now on, brother-in-law will still be my chief minister of Great Yu, the most important thing in the country. utensils, for the affairs of the imperial court, we have to rely more on my brother-in-law..."

Luo Shen was silent, quietly watching her talk non-stop.

Gao Yongrong stopped, glanced at Luoshen, as if remembering something, turned his head, and turned his eyes to the direction of the invisible mourning hall, his eyes reddened again.

She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, calmed her mind, as if she had finally made up her mind, turned her head and said again: "Ami, after this disaster, my sister has no intention of going to work. It has been the greatest good fortune. But now people are uncertain, my sister is in this position, and I really can't get out. A few days ago, all the ministers said that the country cannot live without a king for a day, and persuaded my sister to choose someone from the clan and recognize her as Step-son. Sister has thought about it, and she can only do this for the sake of the society. King Guang'an has a son who is of a suitable age and is very intelligent. Sister intends to adopt him. What do you think?"

Luo Shen's gaze lifted from the half of her hand that was inadvertently squeezed tightly and had pale knuckles that was exposed beyond the cuff, stared at her, and nodded.

"It would be a good thing if the elder sister has the right person to adopt as her son."

A light of relief flashed across Gao Yongrong's eyes, and he immediately grabbed Luoshen's hand tightly and said, "With your words, sister, what can't you do? You can rest assured. Sister will call the ministers and declare the decree. , announce the world as soon as possible, I am the Great Yu, and the new emperor will be enthroned in a few days, so as to pacify the hearts of the people of the world."

After she finished speaking, she turned her head and called someone in a loud voice, but no one came. She frowned and was about to raise her voice, but she heard Luo Shen say, "Sister, you didn't understand what I meant. I just said that. , A sister lost her beloved son, she is very sad, if she can get a stepson, she will replace Deng Er Chenghuan in the future, so as to comfort the rest of the year, it will be a good thing. As for the other..."

She slowly stood up from the edge of the couch.

"As for the other things, I have just said that I have no intention of court affairs, so I don't need to be embarrassed in the future, and I can recuperate at ease. I don't need to worry about the affairs of the imperial court."

Gao Yongrong paused for a while, then slowly raised his head, his eyes fell on Luo Shen's face.

"Ami, what do you mean by that?"

She murmured, her eyelids twitching slightly, and a reluctant smile hung on her face.

"I mean, in the affairs of the imperial court, my sister doesn't have to intervene in the future."

"Furthermore, I'm afraid I won't be able to tolerate my sister, so go and interfere."

Luo Shen looked at her and said word by word.

The smile on Gao Yongrong's face seemed to be frozen suddenly.

She stared at Luoshen, her lips trembled gradually, and she said in a trembling voice, "What did you say? Say it again? You talk to me like this? I am the Queen Mother!"

"Sister, sister, for more than 20 years, if you want to see me, I will come here from Chang'an to see you. I understand what you mean. But it's too late. Today, regardless of family matters, the country has changed to this point, you should ask yourself. , what do you think, is it still possible?"

"I advise my sister, instead of clinging to yesterday, it's better to calm down. Li Mufei chased away all the people who were killed, not to mention you and my sister. As long as you are willing, I can guarantee that in the future, your title, status, food and salary will be better than From the past, there will be no less.”

Gao Yongrong held his head upright and stared at Luoshen, his face becoming more and more pale.

Suddenly, she let out a scream full of anger, and her whole body was like a big bird with open wings, rushing towards Luoshen, when she leaned out, she lost her focus, and her whole body fell off the edge of the bed and threw herself on the ground. on the ground.

She raised her head, her face no longer had the tenderness of the past, her eyes were wide open, she pointed at Luoshen, and scolded: "What about your conscience? You were bitten by a poisonous bee when you were a child. You are already dead! Everything today is your return to me?"

Luoshen looked at the uncontrollable anger she was sitting on the ground, which she had never seen before, completely unfamiliar.

She suppressed a trace of sadness in her heart, turned away without saying a word.

"Stop for me! You little bitch!"

"Sister!"

Gao Huan, who came with Luoshen, had been guarding outside the hall, and when he heard the sound, he rushed in, and immediately protected Luoshen behind him, staring at Gao Yongrong with alert eyes.

Gao Yongrong looked angry and stared at Gao Huan who suddenly broke in.

"Rokuro, she is your elder sister, so am I not? I am the queen mother of the dynasty! What she can give you, I will double it for you! Come here!"

Gao Huan did not make a sound, nor did he move.

Gao Yongrong sneered: "Another piece of food! Did you learn everything from her?"

Her eyes turned to Luoshen, staring at her.

What kind of look was that, full of resentment and unwillingness.

"Ami, my good sister, I have saved your life and protected you everywhere. Even if you betrayed me that day, I only detained you and couldn't bear to hurt you. Now you are ungrateful and treat me like this! Man, you betrayed your surname and family, betrayed Dayu, and killed Deng'er—"

"... Deng'er! My poor Deng'er..."

She suddenly became excited, rushed towards Luoshen, stretched out her arms, and made a gesture of strangling her neck.

"Yes, my Deng'er! He was also killed by you together! If it wasn't for Li Mu's misfortune, how could my Dayu suffer this catastrophe! How could he have died so tragically!"

"Empress Dowager, take care of yourself!"

Gao Huan protected Luoshen behind him.

Gao Yongrong fluttered in the air, unable to hold back his momentum, fell to the ground and bumped his forehead against the corner of the pillar.

A dark red blood flowed slowly along the forehead.

Her temples were messy, and her face was bloodied. She lay on the ground, gasping for breath. She looked embarrassed, but she still stared at Luoshen with vicious eyes.

Luoshen slowly removed Adi's arm that was in front of him and stared at Gao Yongrong on the ground.

"Sister, I know that you hate me. Whether you accept it or not, whether it was my father or Li Mu, gave you a chance. You are the one who loses the country if you don't compare your virtues."

"You keep saying that you want to protect Da Yu. Da Yu is just a fig leaf. What you can't let go of is your own power and status!"

"The disaster of Rongkang, of course, has the problem of the accumulation of weakness in the previous dynasties, but as the regent queen mother, you have no tolerance for others, and you are greedy for profit, so you were deceived and led the wolf into the room. , it is not just one family, but ten thousand households in the world!"

"Sister, you said that when Rongkang poisoned Deng'er that day, you fought to die instead. How come I heard that you made Deng'er be poisoned to death to save your own life!"

She shook her head.

"It's not guilty at all. It's ridiculous that you sympathize with me, and make a fool of yourself in front of me with the poor Deng'er who died in vain. As a mother, as a mother of the country, you are not worthy! To this day, I really don't know, where did you come from? How dare you even dare to use the sons of the adoptive clan to ascend to the throne, trying to remain in power?"

"Not to mention that I can't be the master of this country, I can be the master, and even if you save me ten more times, I won't send my national luck to someone like you again!"

When Gao Yongrong heard her mention of her son, it was as if he had been pricked by a needle, and his face turned pale.

"You bullshit... you shut up...you get out..."

She clearly saw that she was already weak, and the sound she made was extremely sharp, and it sounded in Luoshen's ear, piercing the eardrum slightly.

She looked at the person in front of her who she had called her sister for more than 20 years, stopped talking, turned around and left.

"Ami-Ami-Amy is wrong! Don't blame Amy. For the sake of Amy's saving you, please tell Li Mu not to kill me in the future—"

When she walked to the entrance of the hall, she heard the voice of Gao Yongrong's pleading from behind.

She felt her chest swell for a while, and her footsteps paused. Without looking back, she went straight out, stepped out of the hall door, and breathed in the fresh air outside, and then she felt a little more comfortable.

"Madam, what's the matter with you, but what's wrong-"

The maid Qiongshu had been waiting outside. Seeing her finally coming out and welcoming her, she felt a little pale and worried, and asked in a low voice.

"I'm fine, let's go out of the palace—"

Luoshen smiled at her, and before he took two steps, he felt dizzy again, his body swayed slightly, and was supported by Qiongshu, who hurriedly called for someone.

She calmed down, and when the dizziness passed, she suddenly thought of something, but she had been looking forward to it for too long, but she couldn't believe it for a while, her heart pounded violently, and a strange light shone in her eyes. .

"Sister, don't get mad, be careful to get mad at yourself. You shouldn't be here. I think she's crazy—"

Gao Huan looked worried and kept comforting her.

"Send me to Bailuzhou, I want to live there and wait for your brother-in-law to come. By the way, go and ask an imperial doctor to come over and take a pulse for me."

Luoshen came back to his senses, suppressed his fast heartbeat, and said with a smile.