first minister

Chapter 47 The Situation Takes a Steep Turn
"Welcome to the empress!"

Ten miles outside Jiang'an City, the dignitaries of Sishui Prefecture, headed by Mr. Yun, knelt down and shouted slogans.

The momentum of the battle was magnificent and astonishing, and the scene was extremely grand.

The concubine Yun Qingzhu slowly stepped down from the carriage, the beauty overshadowed the river, the autumn water was clear, and the bright light covered the mountains and forests, making the officials and gentry who have lived in this remote state for a long time finally feel the splendor and nobility of the capital city.

Concubine De stepped forward, first helped her father up, and then helped Zhou Mu up, and then said loudly: "Everyone is flat, and I am grateful to all of you who have come a long way to welcome you!"

Everyone stood up one after another, Muwei Yuanzhi from Sishui Prefecture who came yesterday said with a smile, "Madam visiting relatives, that is a major event in Sishui Prefecture, it is our good fortune to welcome you, I don't dare to take it for granted."

Concubine De familiarized herself with the most important officials of the prefecture and county, gave a few words of encouragement, and then took her father's hand and returned to the carriage.

Everyone also returned to the team, and the group slowly headed for Jiang'an City in a mighty manner.

In the spacious carriage, the father and daughter who haven't seen each other for a long time have mixed feelings.

Grandpa Yun looked at the thoughtful face in front of him, and subconsciously stretched out his hand, but he reacted immediately and wanted to retract it.

But unexpectedly, Concubine De stretched out her hand to grab his hand, and even brought her face closer.

"My lady."

"Father, there are the etiquette of rulers and ministers in front of people, but no matter how good I am, Yun Qingzhu, I am still your daughter!"

Concubine De smiled with tears in her eyes, and also reached out to caress the corners of her father's moist eyes, "I haven't seen you for more than ten years, and my father is also getting old."

Old Master Yun murmured: "Yes! I'm old, I'm old!"

The father and daughter faced each other with tears in their eyes, and many things flashed through their minds.

There was a scene where he, who was still young and handsome, and her, who was still young, were playing in the mansion;
She, who is slim and tall, and him, who is gradually becoming dignified in middle age, seem to quarrel from time to time;

There is also a picture of her, who was already a grown-up girl in my family, and him, who was in his early age, crying and saying goodbye before the imperial envoy team conscripted into the palace;
In these vivid scenes and pictures, there are also the mistress of this family, the eldest son and elder sister-in-law of this family.

But they were all absent from today's reunion.

and will continue to be absent forever.

The tears are long-lasting, like the waves stirred up when going back in the long river of time.

"Don't cry, I have to meet with you in a while, my eyes are red from crying, it's not a royal demeanor."

"If you lose it, you lose it!" Concubine De choked up.

"Stupid boy, you are already a mother, and you are still so willful."

Old Master Yun smiled and planned to rub his daughter's head, but he suddenly reacted and patted her on the shoulder lightly.

Speaking of her son, Concubine De finally broke free from the sorrow of parting, and happily told Mr. Yun about his grandson.

But without saying a few words, he fell into another concern.

Fortunately, Old Master Yun said in time: "Don't think about it, take a look outside and see the scenery, is it different from yours back then?"

As he spoke, he helped lift the curtain, Concubine De looked sideways, and gradually recognized these landscapes that had appeared countless times in dreams.

Who is pity for wanderers, people are old and landscapes are new.

They are like relatives who will never grow old, still standing in place, waiting for the long-lost reunion with open arms.

"Is this Xiaopan Mountain?"

"Ah! Here, Big Brother used to take me and Sister Xiaodie to release the kite!"

"This tea shop is still there? We used to go out to play, and we liked to rest and drink tea here! Come, go and reward the owner of this tea shop with ten taels of silver."

Picking up memories along the way, the mighty team slowly drove into Jiang'an City.

When we arrived in the city, every plant and tree became more and more familiar.

The people along the way were crowded with people watching the excitement, blocked by soldiers holding spears, and sent the loudest greetings to the biggest person who ever appeared in the history of Jiang'an City.

Concubine De didn't show up to pay her respects, this was a special request from the leader of the Wudang army who escorted her along the way.

She has never been willful to add trouble to other people's work, so she sat very honestly.

After the team arrived outside the county government office, Concubine De got out of the carriage again to meet with the officials and gentry.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, she introduced the accompanying civil servants to the State Shepherd of Sishui State, and asked him to be responsible for coordinating food and accommodation.

This team, led by the Minister of Rites of the imperial court, will be stationed in Jiang'an County for a period of time to come, and will not return to Beijing until Concubine De returns.

Zhou Muwei Yuanzhi naturally knew that this team was not just following to build momentum, so he didn't dare to be negligent and responded repeatedly.

The rest of the matters were also arranged by the relevant personnel. The welcome dinner was set for tomorrow, so Concubine De went back to the carriage and walked towards the home she had been thinking about day and night.

The carriage stopped in front of the gate of Yun Mansion, looking at the wide gate of the mansion and the high-hanging imperial plaque, Concubine De was slightly dazed.

Old Master Yun smiled and said: "I told you, Daddy is doing well, you don't have to worry about it in Zhongjing."

Concubine De also nodded with a smile, and walked in together holding her father's arm.

Feng Xiuyun and the other palace servants who came to the front station knelt at the door, Concubine De stepped forward and stretched out her hand to help her up, "Get up, this trip has been hard."

Feng Xiuyun said respectfully: "It's a servant's honor to serve the empress."

Concubine De smiled lightly, and walked in.

Feng Xiuyun breathed a sigh of relief, stood up slowly, and when she looked up, she saw a condescending mocking gaze.

This woman, who was also one of the principals of the Shang Palace, had just replaced her before and became the enemy of the concubine Defei's accompanying maid.

Feng Xiuyun's face quickly turned indifferent, as if she didn't see this gaze, she calmly followed the team.

Grandpa Yun accompanied Concubine De to go around the mansion, seeing various places full of memories of past life, and seeing the newly built pavilions.

Seeing that her father didn't have any extravagant desires, Concubine De also secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

Sitting down in the gazebo, they drove away the attendants far away, and the father and daughter chatted a lot, as if they couldn't finish talking.

Old Master Yun slapped his thigh, "Do you still remember the boy I mentioned in the letter I wrote to you! His name is Xia Jingyun!"

Concubine De still smiled, "I can see from the letter that my father seems to respect her very much."

"Of course!" The old man Yun who was prepared for a long time ordered, and then said: "This kid is very outstanding. Daddy, I have never seen a more outstanding young man than him in my life."

As the attendant handed a box to the old servant, the old servant walked over to the old man Yun, and the old man opened it, "Look, this is the word he gave me when I first met him. Is this word good? And if you look at these two sentences again, I hope that people will last forever and be beautiful together. That hit the old man's heart in an instant! What I can't let go of the most is you who are thousands of miles away!"

Concubine De nodded and smiled, "It's indeed a good word, and such thoughts are rare."

For a person in her position, she seldom believes in coincidences, and subconsciously doubts many things.

But her father was so happy, she wouldn't be so stupid as to argue with him on the spot.

Mr. Yun didn't see this, he put away the scroll, and continued to talk about the rest of Xia Jingyun's affairs, wanting to impress his daughter.

Concubine De smiled and said: "Such a talent, then I will see you later."

Old Master Yun lowered his voice, "You are in the palace, and now that you have a prince, you may need to think more about complementing each other and helping each other."

Concubine De was startled, then smiled and said: "Father, it's too early to say these things now. Walk with me?"

"Don't worry, there is one more thing, I beg you."

Concubine De quickly said: "You and I, father and daughter, you can just tell me what you want, so why don't you ask for words."

"Maintain Feng, the female officer under your command, can you reward Xia Jingyun?"

The smile on Concubine De's face was still there, "It's really a trivial matter. But now I'm also Xiuyun's natal family, how about I agree after seeing this young man whom my father admires so much?"

"Okay! Then say that! Let me tell you, don't worry about it, he will definitely satisfy you!"

The father and daughter walked and chatted slowly, and had a warm lunch together.

Afterwards, Old Master Yun went to work on his own, and Concubine De finally freed up her hands to deal with her own affairs.

She was sitting in her own room, an old nun stood on the left, and Fan Yuejiao, a maidservant, stood on the right.

Concubine De sat dignifiedly, and said, "Let Feng Xiuyun come in."

The door opened, and Feng Xiuyun stepped in.

"This trip, you did a good job."

Concubine De's calm words reached Feng Xiuyun's ears, and she was overjoyed.

No one in the palace knows that the empress will be rewarded for her meritorious service.

But immediately felt a little strange for no reason, the joy at this moment seemed not as strong as he had thought.

"I have my own reward for doing a good job, but now I want to ask you another thing."

An ominous premonition rose in Feng Xiuyun's heart, "Please tell me, Madam."

"Then you introduced Xia Jingyun to my father?"

Feng Xiuyun breathed a sigh of relief, if it was Xia Jingyun's case, then it shouldn't be a big problem.

Apart from his love of visiting brothels, that man is fine with everything else.

"The slave girl knew that the old man liked calligraphy, so she wanted to search for some good characters, and one of his calligraphy was among them, and he became attached to the old man because of this."

"Your heart is not exaggerated."

Concubine De nodded slowly, "However, let him approach my father to please him, gain his trust and favor, and then let him ask my father for you, and take the opportunity to get out of the palace and marry your beloved, is this your wishful thinking?"

The more Feng Xiuyun heard it, the more frightened she became, and she quickly raised her head.

Seeing Concubine De's voice suddenly turned cold, "Do you know that what I hate the most in my life is using my relatives to do things!"

(End of this chapter)