"Go and fetch Gong Shu for me! I have something to tell him," Ji Wushang said.
"yes."
Huangfu Jun'an, being a sharp-eyed little fellow, turned his head and happened to see Beigong Minhao standing outside. He immediately called out loudly, "Uncle Beigong!"
Beigong Minhao smiled, "Nianlang."
Huangfu Jun'an turned and glanced at Ji Wushang, who blinked. "Go!"
"Yes!" Huangfu Jun'an immediately ran to Beigong Minhao's side.
Ji Wushang looked at Huangfu Jun'an, then glanced at Beigong Minhao, but turned away from them.
Huangfu Jun'an was to accompany her on her marriage to Qingzhao, while Beigong Minhao was the Zhenbei King of the Great Xia Zhou Dynasty. As the name suggests, he would at most escort her into the Qingzhao royal palace and stay for a few days before returning to the Great Xia Zhou Dynasty.
From now on, Huangfu Jun'an will never see Beigong Minhao again. This can be considered their final intimate farewell!
Huangfu Jun'an looked at Beigong Minhao and jogged, but unexpectedly, his little feet lost their footing and he fell to the ground!
"Waaaaah!" Huangfu Jun'an immediately burst into tears. Ji Wushang turned around and was about to go forward when he saw that Beigong Minhao had already picked up Huangfu Jun'an. "Good boy, Nianlang, don't cry. Your mother is watching. Nianlang, don't cry. If you cry, your mother will be sad."
"Waaaaah! I miss my love so much!" Huangfu Jun'an immediately explained, rubbing his eyes and then his knees.
Ji Wushang thought about going forward, but he remained where he was, staring at them expressionlessly.
She finally learned Nan Xuzong's unchanging expressionless face.
Bei Gongminhao gently patted Huangfu Junan's little hand, then patted his little knee. "Alright, it doesn't hurt anymore. Nianlang, don't cry, okay? Otherwise, your mother will get angry!"
Huangfu Jun'an stopped crying and then looked back at Ji Wushang, but Ji Wushang did not respond.
He turned his head and said with utmost seriousness, "Nianlang, don't cry!"
"Yes, that's a good boy." Bei Gongminhao hugged him. "Let me tell you, Nianlang, from now on, when you're by your mother's side, you must protect her like a man, understand?"
"I understand, Nianlang!" Huangfu Jun'an's eyes were bright and his expression was extremely serious.
“If you fall down, you have to get up on your own in the future,” Bei Gong Minhao said again. “Today, Uncle Bei Gong helped you up, but in the future, if Uncle Bei Gong is not here, you have to get up and stand up on your own, because you have to become strong, strong enough to protect your mother.”
“Yes, Nianlang understands!” Huangfu Jun’an looked at Beigong Minhao, as if he understood what he was saying.
Ji Wushang stepped forward, "Your Highness, please don't say such things to Nianlang. He's still young, and I don't want to burden him with too many things." Huangfu Jun'an is not even three years old; how could he let him shoulder so much? What about protecting himself?
"Nianlang is not a child anymore!" Huangfu Jun looked at Ji Wushang with wide eyes. "Nianlang must grow up quickly and protect his mother so that she will not be bullied by outsiders!"
Ji Wushang smiled helplessly. Oh well. She turned around, just as Gong Shu walked in from outside.
"Fourth Imperial Consort, Second Master." Gong Shu immediately stepped forward and bowed.
Ji Wushang stepped forward and said, "Gong Shu, there are some things I need to ask of you."
"yes."
Ji Wushang turned to look at Beigong Minhao and Huangfu Junan, "Your Highness, please take Nianlang out first! I'll be there shortly."
“Okay.” Bei Gongminhao nodded and gave Ji Wushang a smile.
Ji Wushang walked to the stone table in the courtyard and sat down. Then he looked at Gong Shu and said, "Gong Shu."
"Fourth Imperial Consort," Gong Shu immediately knelt down, "please give your orders."
"After I'm gone, please take good care of Fu Shang for me. Cong will come back. If he asks, just say I'm dead." Ji Wushang turned her face away, not wanting anyone to see her red eyes and silent tears.
"Yes." Everyone knew that Nan Xuzong was dead, and even they themselves had come to believe that Nan Xuzong was dead, but only Ji Wushang still believed that he would come back... Gong Shu sighed inwardly.
"I entrust everything in the manor to you." Ji Wushang held back his tears and said, "If there are any older women who want to get married, please help arrange it so as not to waste their youth. If any servants want to marry a woman, please help them as much as possible and give them some money to do them a favor."
"yes."
Ji Wushang gave several more instructions before leaving.
Gong Shu looked at the stubborn yet frail woman and shook his head inwardly.
Hopefully, she can cure Grandpa's son, Nianlang, and hopefully... she can have a smoother path in the rest of her life.
The carriages of the Prince Zong's residence were indeed quite large, and Ji Wushang's wedding as Princess Wushang was a grand affair. Ji Dingbei and Madam Qin also came to the Prince Zong's residence to see Ji Wushang off.
With tears in his eyes, Ji Wushang bid farewell to everyone and finally got into the carriage.
She wore a phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, with a phoenix jade hairpin adorning her cloud-like hair. Her face was light pink, and her lips were bright red.
She wore only a longevity jade bracelet on her wrist, and sitting on her lap was the sleeping Huangfu Jun'an. Beside her sat Hongfei and Cuiwu.
Bei Gongminhao watched as the carriage curtain was lowered before mounting his Red Hare steed. "Today, I, Bei Gongminhao, am escorting Princess Wushang to her wedding. Anyone who blocks my way will be killed without mercy!"
The crowd parted to the sides, watching Beigong Minhao lead the way while the carriages moved behind.
Ji Wushang closed his eyes, his mind blank, his only thought being Huangfu Jun'an.
"Hongfei, give Nianlang a hug for me," Ji Wushang said, turning to Hongfei.
"Yes." Hongfei immediately took Huangfu Jun'an and held him in her arms.
"Cuiwu, bring me the zither, I want to play a tune." Ji Wushang looked outside the curtain, at which moment the carriage began to move.
Three years ago, when Nan Xuzong wanted to abandon everything, he gave the Dumb Qin and the Nine-Bend Heavenly Palace to Huangfu Xuan. However, Huangfu Xuan ultimately kept the Nine-Bend Heavenly Palace, while returning the Dumb Qin to Ji Wushang.
At that time, he said, "No one in the world can play the mute zither except Ji Wushang. Now, it is returned to you, Ji Wushang."
Ji Wushang then ordered his men to repaint the zither, disguising it as a more classical instrument.
When Ji Wushang left, she took with her what Nan Xuzong had left her: his last letter, a pair of mandarin duck swords, a silent zither, a box full of red plaques that she had taken off, the blood jade bracelet she wore, and the phoenix jade hairpin she wore in her hair.
"Yes." Cuiwu immediately turned around and quickly took out the mute zither from the zither case on the side.
Ji Wushang placed the mute zither on his lap and plucked the strings, causing those around him to tremble in their hearts.
Beigong Minhao was taken aback, but still kicked the BMW between his legs and continued walking forward.
Ji Wushang's slender fingers began to play. The strings produced a hoarse sound, and the melody was mournful. She sang:
“
The journey of a mile is the hardest to part from; so sad and miserable, whose family is grieving, and who is it that is speaking of this sorrow?
Longing for home is short, but longing is long; at the end of longing, the whole city is filled with it.
Shattered into butterflies, dreams turned to sorrow.
The fragrance of iris is most intense, its aroma mingling with the scent of camphor trees. Amidst the twilight and nightly solitude, a bitter sorrow lingers.
Discard this brocade, then that satin; at the end of the brocade, blood-red lotus blossoms.
Blood lotus blossoms and white hair appears.
Three miles of sky, the most thought-provoking, grudges and resentments, short life, wasted years.
My heart is with you, my love; may your soul forever accompany me.
The love between the infatuated couple is tender and enduring.
The sorrow of the four miles is most profound, the pain of half a day is most intense, the flowers shed tears, in the blink of an eye, the mortal world is shattered.
Reincarnation is a matter of shallow or deep karmic connection; destiny binds us together, leaving no room for turning back.
A sense of desolation rises in my heart in the blink of an eye.
Five miles of sighs, most poignant is the question posed to Heaven, for loneliness and desolation accompany the departing, lonely letter page after page, yet my heart finds no solace.
Strangers on the road, what night will come again? We've cultivated this life to continue into the next.
What a waste of youthful affection!
Dreams are hard to come by, may they eavesdrop? No answer, only the laughter of withered flowers.
Your smile is flawless, yet it has turned into the ends of the earth.
Is there any recourse in the face of death? Endless longing, endless memories.
She wept as she married, her life ending in emptiness, like a withered, yellowed flower.
"
(According to the Annals of the Great Xia and Zhou Dynasties, this is the "Song of No Sorrow" that was passed down by later generations, but that's another story.)
The rest of his life was fleeting, his voice hoarse and sorrowful, bringing tears to all who heard it. Bei Gongminhao listened from his horse, gently wiping away the tears from the corners of his eyes, only to find that even his own Red Hare steed had tears in its eyes.
Beigong Minhao bent down and gently stroked the horse's head. "Good horse, you know how to cry?"
Ji Wushang's eyes were already blurred with tears, yet he still played the last tune on his piano.
Time flies, and youth fades away.
As night deepened, Ji Wushang, Beigong Minhao, and the others stayed at an inn for a temporary rest before setting off again the next day to enter Qingzhao territory and then the Qingzhao Royal Palace.
Bei Gongminhao dutifully waited outside Ji Wushang's door, remaining awake all night.
Ji Wushang held Huangfu Jun'an in his arms and gently stroked him until he fell asleep.
At this moment, in a palace, a luminous pearl illuminates the entire palace.
A tall, slender man sat before the imperial desk, exuding an aura of dominance that seemed to intimidate the world, his presence so imposing that no one dared to tread too far.
However, the man wore a golden mask, obscuring his face. Yet, his dark eyes were wise, sinister, and profound.
With a powerful and vigorous stroke of his wolf-hair brush, he wrote a letter in just a few strokes, then folded it and set it aside. Immediately afterward, he took another folded document from the high pile of documents, placed it in front of him, opened it, quickly glanced at it, and then reviewed it again with his wolf-hair brush.
At that moment, someone gently knocked on the door from the outside.
The man didn't even look up. "Come in."
"Your Majesty, please select one of the concubines to serve you in bed." An old eunuch entered, carrying a small tray with jade plaques bearing names on them, about a dozen in total.
"I'm busy tonight, so there's no need for that." Tuoba Heyan ignored the old eunuch and directly ordered, "Get out."
"But, but you haven't favored your concubines for over two months." The old eunuch was left behind by the late king to serve Tuoba Heyan, so naturally he attached great importance to matters like serving him in bed. This was because Tuoba Heyan was focused on revitalizing and prospering Qingzhao, and didn't really care much about his offspring or other such matters.
Tuoba Heyan looked up, his eyes darkening. He glanced at the old eunuch and said, "Get down." His lips moved slightly, yet an immense pressure pressed down on him.
"Yes." The old eunuch had no choice but to bow his head and take the plate away.
Since Tuoba Heyan was rescued three years ago after accidentally falling down a hillside into a deep pool while on a campaign to the Western Regions, he has changed a lot. He kills for pleasure less, indulges in nightly revelry with his concubines less, and focuses more on national affairs. Although he is still sometimes ruthless in his campaigns, he does his best to fight against enemy countries.
Domestically, we should be more diligent in governing, allowing the people to recuperate and train the troops. Externally, we should seize the opportune moment to launch expeditions to the east and west or negotiate peace with neighboring countries to maintain development.
Honestly, it was because of that fall into the deep pool that Qingzhao's troops had to withdraw from the Western Regions, allowing the Crown Prince Huangfu Xuan of the Great Xia Zhou Dynasty to gain an advantage. The Western Regions had no choice but to cede territory to the Great Xia Zhou Dynasty and negotiate peace.
The old eunuch sighed as he thought about it. It was good that he was back, but the king, who used to indulge in nightly revelry, now showed no interest in women.