It was getting dusk, and the palace lanterns in the palace were all lit up, and they were bright and beautiful. Zhu Youtang came to the Changchun Palace before it got dark. After getting the news, the old Queen Zhou happily greeted her from the Nuan Pavilion with her cane. She was very happy.
Can't close my mouth from ear to ear.
"Old Queen, I'm here to have a reunion dinner with you." Zhu Youtang said with a smile.
Empress Dowager Zhou nodded repeatedly and quickly ordered people to set up a banquet and invite the emperor to take a seat.
After both grandfather and grandson sat down, Queen Mother Zhou said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the Ai family called you to accompany me on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Your wife will not be unhappy."
Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "The Queen Mother is too worried. Don't you know what kind of person the Queen is? She is not such a narrow-minded person."
Empress Dowager Zhou nodded and said: "Yes, the empress is virtuous, generous and virtuous. She has loved and supported the emperor for many years, and has been praised by everyone. She is a role model for women in the world. It is not easy."
Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "The old queen praised her so much. She would be extremely happy if she knew it."
Empress Dowager Zhou waved her hand and said: "The Ai family didn't praise her deliberately, she is indeed very good. The Ai family still remembers that when she just married the emperor, she was so charming and virtuous. The Ai family liked her very much when they saw her.
"
Zhu Youtang laughed and said: "The Queen Mother still remembers what she looked like when she was young? I have even forgotten it."
The old Queen Mother Zhou chuckled and said: "If the queen heard what you said, she would definitely be unhappy. Doesn't it mean that the emperor has forgotten what happened back then. Although he is older now and his appearance has changed,
But being virtuous and capable is still the same. Otherwise, the emperor wouldn't be so doting on her, right?"
Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "Although the Queen Mother is older, isn't she still the same wise?"
Empress Dowager Zhou waved her hands and said: "Don't talk about the Aijia. The Aijia themselves don't dare to look in the mirror. They are so old that they no longer look like human beings. Hey, I should have invited the queen and the prince to come together tonight, but... the Aijia
I am old, talkative, and like to talk about things in the past. I am afraid that they will feel bored here. There are some things that I just want to talk to the emperor about, so that I don’t have to make the queen and the prince suffer too. "
Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "You are really worrying too much. How can they feel bored listening to the ancestors talking?"
Empress Dowager Zhou sighed and said: "Of course she will be depressed. When people get old, they are verbose and sarcastic, which naturally makes people disgusted. Besides, they always like to think about the past, and they don't like to hear it. To be fair,
The emperor said that when we were worshiping our ancestors this morning, the Ai family again thought of your father and the late emperor. And your mother, and the Wan family. Alas, just thinking about it, the Ai family started to cry.
I couldn't calm down in my heart. Thinking about those things back then, it felt like it happened yesterday. I thought, Ai Jia is seventy-four years old, and his time in this world is not long. Maybe during the Chinese New Year next year, the emperor will not be able to see him anymore.
Arrive at Ai’s house.”
As the old queen mother spoke, her eyes became moist. She wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.
Zhu Youtang hurriedly said: "Grandma, please don't think wildly. Grandma is going to live a long life, and she still has many good years to live. Don't think wildly."
Empress Dowager Zhou said: "With the emperor's good words, the Aijia also want to live a few more years. The emperor is so wise, and the world is now peaceful and prosperous. Everything is good. The Aijia naturally want to live a few more years and see more of me."
The prosperous scene of the Ming Dynasty. When I go to the spring to see your father and the late emperor in the future, tell them so that they can feel more at ease."
After hearing this, Zhu Youtang was moved in his heart, and said in a deep voice: "Grandma, don't worry, I will do my best to make the country of Ming Dynasty seem like a year, so that my father and emperors can rest assured."
Empress Dowager Zhou said: "Yes, the Emperor can certainly do it. However, the Emperor must also take care of himself and not be too tired. Sometimes they say that the Emperor stays up all night to deal with government affairs, which makes the Ai family feel very sad. Today
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, when you are here at the Aijia, you don’t have to think about anything and don’t have to taboo anything. The two of our ancestors can just talk to each other and drink some wine. By the way, the Aijia haven’t talked and drank with the emperor alone for many years.
"
Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "Can an old grandmother also drink? Aren't you afraid of getting drunk?"
Empress Dowager Zhou said angrily: "Your Majesty, you have forgotten? When you were in my palace when you were a child, I drank wine. I still remember your appearance when you were young, seven or eight years old. The Ai family still remembers it clearly. You stole my pear nectar."
Eat, you got drunk after eating, do you remember? I was discovered by the palace maid Yu'er next to me, and you begged her not to tell me, do you remember?"
Zhu Youtang laughed and said: "Remember, Yu'er told you after all, and I also got a beating. The old queen has a really good memory."
Empress Dowager Zhou smiled and said: "Of course the Ai family remembers everything that happened when the emperor was a child. The Ai family remembers everything clearly. If you want to hear it, let's chat while eating wine. Wan'er, pour the wine, this child, the emperor
Here you go, are you scared to death?"
Empress Dowager Zhou scolded a woman standing next to her.
Zhu Youtang originally thought that the person standing next to him with his head lowered was just a palace maid, but after hearing what the Empress Dowager Zhou said, he realized that it was not the case. He turned around to look, and the girl happened to be looking over timidly. Zhu Youtang
The moment he saw her appearance clearly, his whole body froze and he was immediately stunned on the spot.
"Your Majesty, this is the grand-nephew of the Ai family, her name is Wan'er. Last time Qing Yunhou brought her to the palace to meet the Ai family. The Ai family liked her very much, so they kept her in the palace to talk to the Ai family.
"Er. Wan'er, why don't you come and see the Emperor? Didn't you say you have never seen the Emperor? This is the Emperor. You child, how come you are speechless after seeing the Emperor." Empress Dowager Zhou was whispering beside her.
Talking nonchalantly.
The young girl Wan'er shyly stepped forward, bowed her head and said in salute: "Wan'er... see you, Your Majesty."
Zhu Youtang stared at the girl in a daze and didn't react for a moment. It wasn't until Wan'er saw it again that Zhu Youtang suddenly woke up. While letting Wan'er lie down, he said in surprise: "It's so similar, it's just too much.
Looks like it."
Empress Dowager Zhou smiled and said: "What does the emperor say is too similar?"
Zhu Youtang hesitated to speak, and laughed and said: "It's nothing, it's nothing."
But Zhu Youtang was thinking in his heart: This Wan'er looks so much like the queen, she looks exactly like the queen when she was young. When she first met the queen, the queen was at this age. And this Wan'er in front of her
, it is exactly the same as when I first met the Queen. Even the bold eyes and shy expression are the same. How can there be such a similar person in the world.
"Wan'er, why don't you pour wine for the emperor? Why are you just standing there?" Queen Mother Zhou said.
Wan'er hurriedly responded, holding a small silver flask with her fair fingers to pour wine for Queen Mother Zhou and Zhu Youtang. She secretly glanced at Zhu Youtang from the corner of her eyes. When she saw Zhu Youtang looking at her, she was immediately frightened.
He averted his eyes like a deer.
Zhu Youtang had a strange feeling in his heart. For a moment, he seemed to have returned to the time when he was only ten years old, and to the moment when he first met Queen Zhang. The girl Wan'er in front of him made him feel
A feeling of stepping back in time.
Back then, when I was seventeen years old, I was completely attracted by the beautiful and lovely girl at the first sight when I saw the sixteen-year-old Queen Zhang. From then on, I decided that this woman was the only woman in my life. Now I am ten years old again.
Seven years have passed. I just said that I have forgotten what Queen Zhang looked like when she was young. It is indeed true. But the moment he saw Wan'er in front of him, Zhu Youtang's memory was completely activated.