Chapter 340: The Sadness of the Twilight Beauty (Part 2)
At noon, people from the Runan Palace came to report that the old prince Zhao Yunrang was no longer alive.
Zhao Zhen had known that Zhao Yunrang was seriously ill, but he didn't expect that he would reach his end so soon. He felt very sad. After all, they were old brothers for fifty years. It would be a lie to say that they had no feelings.
But he couldn't go to visit rashly, because a minister reported that he was critically ill, and the emperor's visit to the patient was both a supreme honor and a heavy pressure - what if you recovered after the emperor came, wouldn't it be deceiving the emperor?
Sin? In this case, the minister has only one choice, which is to die with his full name.
Zhao Zhen was a careful official who cared about his subordinates, so he naturally had to take this into consideration, so he first ordered Hu Yandui to visit him and said: "Go and have a look. If it really doesn't work, come and tell me quickly."
After that, Zhao Zhen felt a little uneasy, and after watching the scene, he felt even more emotional. While he was thinking wildly, he suddenly saw Li Xian standing there with his hands hanging down, and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Back to the official, the Imperial City Secretary reported that Liu Hua has been found and has been brought to the palace." Li Xian reported softly.
"Oh..." Zhao Zhen now completely lost interest in listening to the opera. He waved his hand for the troupe to retreat and asked slowly: "Where did you find it?"
"Daxiangguo Temple." Li Xian reported back: "This guy didn't leave the capital. Instead, he shaved his head and hid in the Zen courtyard of Xiangguo Temple."
Zhao Zhen stopped talking. Some gray memories that he tried his best to avoid thinking about, but couldn't get rid of, came to his mind.
"Do you want to interrogate him?" Li Xian asked tentatively.
"..." Zhao Zhen was silent for a moment. He shook his head and said, "Let the Imperial City Division review it first."
"Yes." Li Xian responded.
After Li Xian withdrew, Zhao Zhen's mood became even more gloomy. He felt a splitting headache, so he asked the palace attendant to massage him. After a while, he fell into a deep sleep.
When Zhao Zhen woke up, the sky had darkened. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw that Hu Yandui had returned, so he asked, "How did you go to see it?"
Hu Yandui replied: "The old prince is very ill! The imperial doctor said that he could not last more than a day and night. But he is still conscious. He himself said that this is called returning to the light, and that he wanted to see the emperor before he died..."
"Then prepare a sedan chair and change into private clothes for me." Zhao Zhen thought for a moment and said, "Call the queen again." Zhao Yunrang was not only the prince of the Song Dynasty, but also Zhao Zhen's brother. As his younger brother and sister-in-law, the emperor and the queen should accompany him.
Go see him one last time.
Hu Yandui said: "If you leave the palace now, you will definitely not be able to come back before the palace door is locked." There is an extremely strict time limit for the opening and closing of the palace door, and even the emperor must abide by it... Of course, Zhao Zhen can let
If the gatekeeper opens the door, he will inevitably be criticized by the courtiers.
"Let's go today, my old brother won't wait for anyone..." Zhao Zhen thought for a while.
"Yes." Hu Yandui said no more, prepared a sedan chair for Zhao Zhen, picked up Empress Cao, who also changed into casual clothes, and left the palace in the dusk.
The main entrance of Runan Prince's Mansion is located on Royal Street, only one mile away from Xuande Gate. It can be reached in just a moment.
When we arrived at the door, the palace had been closed, and the two large lanterns with the words "Prince's Palace of Runan County" written on them were swaying in the cold wind, looking quite desolate.
Hu Yandui knocked on the door and heard a voice inside: "No guests will be seen after closing the door! Come back tomorrow if you have anything to do."
Hu Yandui whispered: "It's the officials and the empress who came to visit the old prince."
There was a rush inside, and after a while, the middle door suddenly opened wide. Zhao Zongyi led the brothers to welcome him out, saluted him and said: "My father is seriously ill and cannot go out to greet me. Please forgive me, the officials and my mother-in-law."
"I am here to visit my brother, why should I be polite?" Zhao Zhen said, lowering the curtain of the sedan chair, and the sedan chair was carried directly into the palace.
Hu Yandui whispered to Zhao Zongyi and others: "The officials came to visit incognito today and told the family not to leak the news."
Zhao Zongyi naturally responded and led the official couple's sedan chair straight to the backyard and landed in front of the palace's bedroom door.
According to Hu Yandui's instructions, the rest of the family has been dismissed, with only Zhao Zongyi's brothers and a few attendants. Because the queen also came, Zhao Zongyi's wife Gao, and Zhao Zongshi's wife Gao Taotao also stayed...
They are both nieces of Empress Cao.
While the Zhao brothers invited the official couple into the inner room, they quickly informed their father: "The official family is here to visit."
Zhao Yunrang was lying down in a daze. After hearing this, he struggled to be helped up and wanted to get down to the ground to salute Zhao Zhen and his wife.
But the official held him down and said: "Lie down, we are traveling incognito, and we came to see you by the way." The reason why he said this was to prevent Zhao Yunrang from dying and lay the groundwork.
How could Zhao Yunrang not appreciate the hard work of the official family? Two lines of old muddy tears flowed down silently.
When Zhao Zhen saw this, he felt sad and had two tears in his eyes. He held his hand tightly and choked up and could not speak. Queen Cao and others on the side naturally shed tears along with them.
.
Zhao Yunrang and Zhao Yunbi were Zhao Zhen's playmates since childhood. They accompanied the prince to study when they were young, and managed the clan for him in their prime. Although they were uncles and brothers, in Zhao Zhen's heart, they were actually no different from brothers. Although later due to certain things, the two fell apart.
People are somewhat separated from each other, but at the time of separation and death, the grudges of the past have long been forgotten, and the officials' hearts are only filled with reluctance and heartache.
The two held hands and cried for a long time. Zhao Yunrang then trembled and said: "I am going to see Emperor Zhenzong. Is there anything the official wants me to take with me?"
Zhao Zhen just stopped crying and said with tears in his eyes: "The unfilial son feels extremely guilty and has no words to express to my father..."
"Why should the officials be like this?" Zhao Yunrang comforted softly: "The Song Dynasty has been politically improved for decades, and the seas, rivers and rivers are clear. This is a golden age that only happens once in a lifetime. You are worthy of your ancestors."
"Ashamed..." Zhao Zhen was silent, then changed the topic and said: "I have always been lonely and cold, but I am worried about nothing. But it doesn't matter, I will definitely take care of you."
"Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings, I have nothing to worry about." Zhao Yunrang sighed: "Besides, I am not alone. Although I am stupid, I have more than twenty sons and a dozen grandchildren. They are usually in front of my knees.
Cheng Huan, when I'm sick, I always rush to be at my bedside to attend to my illness. After I die, they will also sacrifice to me during festivals and festivals. Why should I be dissatisfied?"
Hearing this, Zhao Zhen said with a sour heart: "My brother is full of children and grandchildren. This blessing is really enviable."
"But the more this happens, the sadder I feel..." Unexpectedly, Zhao Yunrang said with a sad face.
"Why?" Zhao Zhen asked confused.
"Because the official family is half a century old, but there are still no children," Zhao Yun Rang Dingding looked at Zhao Zhen and said with tears: "When he meets Emperor Zhenzong, he will definitely ask me why you have so many sons, but my son is left alone.
Why are you so selfish? I really don’t dare to see him."
In ancient China, it was normal for brothers to adopt offspring. In order to continue the family tradition, families without sons would adopt one or more boys from the families of brothers with more sons. The biological parents of the adopted boy became his from then on.
My uncles and aunts made great sacrifices.
So it's not weird for Zhao Yunrang to say this.
"No, I'm used to it." Zhao Zhen shook his head and said sadly.
"Well, you used to have the princess with you, so you didn't feel lonely. But now even Princess Qingshou is getting married, and there are fewer and fewer people around you. After dealing with state affairs, you return to the harem. Who can you talk to?
What? How can family happiness be missing?" Seeing that there was no displeasure on Zhao Zhen's face, Zhao Yunrang became even more bold and said:
"I sincerely ask the officials to find one or two of their eldest sons to adopt as their adoptive parents!" After Zhao Yunrang finished speaking, he stared at Zhao Zhen closely. His godson also stared nervously at the officials. The atmosphere in the palace quickly changed.
From sadness to tension.
In Zhao Zhen's mind, the scene in "The Golden Chamber" that he had watched in the afternoon, in which Empress Dowager Du forced Taizu to make Taizong his heir, suddenly appeared.
He still remembered Taizu singing this line: 'How will the old man change his mind before he dies?'
'How could the old man change his mind before he died?' Zhao Zhen never imagined that he would be in the same situation... Seeing the official remain silent for a long time, Zhao Yunrang held his hand tightly and cried out: "The official does not need to consider me.
Feelings. I have more than twenty sons, and missing one or two is nothing. Please find a son you like among the officials, let him accompany you, and have fun with you."
The other person was dying, and considering the relationship between family and friends, Zhao Zhen was unable to say "no" and was stunned on the spot for a moment, not knowing how to answer.
After Zhao Yunrang finished speaking, perhaps due to excessive excitement, he started panting violently, his face was like gold paper, and his face was covered with sweat. But one hand held Zhao Zhen's hand tightly and refused to let go.
"Quickly call the imperial doctor..." Zhao Zhen called out and gave way to Zhao Yun: "Treatment is more important. We will talk about it later."
"No..." Zhao Yunrang shook his head with difficulty. He was speechless, but his eyes were fixed on the emperor.
Seeing him like this, Zhao Zhen seemed to be even more unable to refuse when it was time to part ways...
The imperial doctor came, but when he saw this, he did not dare to come forward.
Zhao Zhen moved his wrist and wanted to take his hand out, but Zhao Yunrang's grip was so tight that he didn't even have a chance to break free.
Zhao Zhen had no choice but to look at Zhao Yunrang who was lying on the bed. Zhao Yunrang was still lying there like a dead fish, staring straight at the official's house, refusing to let go.
"Your Majesty, my uncle is also kind-hearted." Now even Empress Cao couldn't stand it anymore, and she persuaded him: "Let's just agree to him."
At this time, blood began to flow from the corners of Zhao Yunrang's mouth. It was obviously the last moment, but he kept his eyes wide open and refused to close them.
Under various circumstances, Zhao Zhen had to nod his head and said: "Okay... divide... the second update will be more and more exciting...
(.).
{Piaotian Literature www.ptwxz.com thanks all book friends for their support, your support is our biggest motivation}
