The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 1291 Keeping the Promise

Sheng Yuan has been summoned to the palace frequently recently, and has been able to see Emperor Yanping about five or six times out of ten.

And every time Emperor Yanping met her, he either asked about politics or talked about history, or discussed military affairs and the use of personnel. Looking back, it was as if he was laying out all the details of the court for her to see clearly.

It would be fine if it happened once or twice, but if it happened every time, she couldn't help but think about it.

"Wen Zhen is here? Then play a game of chess with me!" In the side hall of Qingyuan Palace, Emperor Yanping saw Sheng Yuan, set up the chessboard at hand, and waved to her.

The king and his minister sat opposite each other on either side of the chessboard, placing the chess pieces while chatting casually.

"Wen Zhen, you have offended those censors again! They said that you asked them to have a face-to-face debate, which was actually a diversionary move to divert their attention. By the time they reacted, the previous farce and even the aftermath had disappeared!" Emperor Yanping smiled and picked Heizi out of the encirclement, and happily mentioned the censors' anger and embarrassment, "Look, they are probably going to jointly impeach you again."

"I sought to debate with them with sincere intentions, but they insisted on making associations, and I was helpless." Sheng Yuan said she was helpless, but there was no helplessness on her face. It looked like she didn't know how much truth there was in what she said.

Emperor Yanping did not intend to delve into these details, so he just laughed it off. After eating a few more black pills, he smiled and said, "The tax reform I am promoting has reached a critical moment. Not long ago, I ordered the Chief Minister Gu Yuncheng to lead and guide the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate Han Kezheng to complete it... In this way, the affairs of the cabinet will be handled by you and the Second Minister An Suiyun... Of course, you know the character of the Second Minister An. He is already a semi-retired person, so you must take responsibility for the big and small affairs of the cabinet."

When Sheng Yuan heard about the tax reform, she immediately remembered her sister's warning. Now, after listening to what the emperor said, she suddenly understood a little.

Since the emperor and her sister didn't want her to interfere in tax reform, she simply ignored it and just focused on the job at hand.

"I will obey your command!" Sheng Yuan placed the black piece, which not only broke the siege but also affected a dozen white pieces.

Emperor Yanping casually set up another game nearby and said, "Wen Zhen is responsible for three important positions. Although he is inevitably a little flustered, he cannot make any mistakes, especially the affairs of the Five Military Command Office."

"I understand."

……

The gates of the imperial palace were locked and the palace lanterns were lit up, but the inner hall of Qingyuan Palace was eerily quiet at this moment.

Emperor Yanping put down the fragrant drink in his hand, looked at his wife who was grinding ink beside him, and sighed softly: "This is the list of ministers of state, Yongde can make the arrangements as appropriate."

Sheng Ran paused when she heard this, raised her head slightly, and looked at Emperor Yanping: "Your Majesty, why did you call me by my nickname today?"

Emperor Yanping did not answer. He looked at Sheng Yan, whose face was shining brightly in the candlelight, and said as if reminiscing and joking: "Thinking back to the time when I was studying at the Imperial College, I... I met you under the name Xie Yuan, and soon we became good friends. At that time, I often called you by your nickname 'Yongde'.

Who would have thought that time flies so fast, and more than a decade has passed in a flash. Looking back, it seems that after our wedding, you have never called me Yuanlang, and I rarely call you Yongde."

Sheng Ran stared at the candlelight for a moment, then shook her head: "A name is just a nickname. No matter if you call her by her given name or her given name, she is still the same person. As long as the feelings remain, it doesn't matter what you call her."

"...I am being too picky." Emperor Yanping smiled and nodded, but did not change his name. He just waved at Sheng Ran, "Sister Ran, please sit with me."

Sheng Ran's hands hidden in her sleeves trembled suddenly. She suppressed her worry and walked over with a gentle face: "Your Majesty, do you want to chat?"

Emperor Yanping held Sheng Ran's hand and looked into her eyes affectionately, as if he wanted to engrave his wife's appearance in his memory and imprint it into his soul. "Sister Ran." After a long silence, Emperor Yanping spoke with some difficulty, "I left two edicts, one is the decree to let Ping Wa inherit the throne, and the other is the edict to allow you to be emperor on my behalf!"

"Your Majesty!" Sheng Ran was so shocked that she almost jumped up.

Emperor Yanping held down the frightened Sheng Ran and soothed her softly, "Sister Ran, I am not testing you. This is what I really think... She is still young and her talent is not clear. I don't know if it is right or wrong to entrust this huge country to her. I am afraid that her incompetence will drag down the country and the people, and I am also afraid that this huge throne will burden her for the rest of her life.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to see her grow up, nor can I face this unpredictable future with you, so I can only do my best to leave a way out for you.

If Xiongwa is incompetent, you can depose the emperor and establish yourself as the emperor, and just teach her to marry and have children... As for the heir, if her children are qualified, you can choose one, and if her children are not good enough, then you can do it yourself, and choose anyone from anywhere, as long as they don't let the people of this country down. "

"Your Majesty's words are no different from swords and knives. If outsiders hear this, how will I cope with it?"

Sheng Ran looked at Emperor Yanping with tears in her eyes, sobbing softly and saying, "You have never betrayed me, how can I betray you?"

Emperor Yanping looked at the tears dripping down his fingertips, feeling that they were particularly hot. He raised his hand helplessly and with great effort, gently wiped the tears from Sheng Ran's cheek, and coaxed her softly, "This is what I meant, Sister Ran, why would you say that I'm betraying you?"

After saying this, he turned his gaze to the window, looking at the white jade disk in the dark night sky, and murmured:

"【The Jiang family inherited the country from Chen, and when they were powerless, they followed the example of their predecessors; the imperial seal has never had a permanent owner, so whoever rules the country becomes the minister.】"

When Sheng Ran heard this poem, her eyes, which were already filled with tears, became even hotter. In an instant, two lines of tears rolled down and soon wet the front of her collar.

Emperor Yanping heard the sobbing and looked over in surprise. Seeing Sheng Ran crying, he immediately felt distressed, guilty and helpless: "...Sister Ran, do you still remember the question-and-answer poem we wrote when I proposed to you?"

Sheng Ran looked at him sobbing, letting the tears gather and drip down her chin.

"[There are trees on the mountains and branches on the trees.]" Emperor Yanping looked at Sheng Ran with a smile and began.

Sheng Ran opened her lips with great difficulty, exerting great effort, opening and closing her mouth several times, before she managed to utter a word: "[The phoenix meets a group of phoenixes dancing like a weave;]"

Emperor Yanping looked at Sheng Ran lovingly, his eyes wandering over her face inch by inch, bit by bit, from the strands of her hair to the fine lines at the corners of her eyes: "[The clear howl spreads its wings and follows the shadow of the wild geese,]"

Sheng Ran bit her lip and choked up as she spoke: "[This promise will only last until it remains unchanged.]"

"Sister Yan." Emperor Yanping touched Sheng Yan's hair reluctantly, and asked her with a bit of pride and complacency on his face, "Until now, whether it is Crown Prince Jiang Yucong, or Imperial College student Xie Yuan... or Emperor Yanping, they have kept their promise, right?!"

"Yes... yes, yes." Sheng Ran said several yeses with trembling lips.

Immediately, Emperor Yanping looked out the window happily, like a child being praised. His eyes gradually became empty. "When my mother was alive, I often talked to Concubine An about the saying in the storybooks: a couple for life... They said that it was a rare blessing for the royal family. I secretly didn't believe it. Look, I did it, didn't I?"

"Yes... Your Majesty, my lord has done it." Sheng Ran listened to the Emperor Yanping's gradually weakening voice, and the tears that had been flowing all the time suddenly poured down like a torrential rain.

Unconsciously, weeping and murmurs intertwined, memory and reality reunited... the swaying shadows of the trees, the faint chirping of insects, watching all of this blend into history and turn into the breeze.