PNB Chapter 287 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (The End)
Chapter 287 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (The End)
Standing so high during the ceremony, Lu Liruan couldn't see anything clearly when she looked down.
He could only watch as Ji Shumin, holding his hand, walked forward step by step in front of him.
The light shone from the front, as if enveloping everything in its majesty and brilliance.
It was a brilliance for humanity, and also for a dynasty, ushering in a glorious and prosperous era.
Lu Liruan felt as if she were floating on clouds, and it wasn't until night fell that she finally came to her senses.
Today, Qinghe, who has become a lady-in-waiting in the imperial court, accompanied Lu Liruan, appearing more composed than before.
"Your Highness, let me help you remove your hair ornament." She gently rubbed Lu Liruan's head, which was sore from being pulled.
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty...His Majesty said to wait outside for Your Majesty," Xiao Xizi said meekly at the door.
Now he is the chief eunuch in the palace and a favorite of the emperor. With the new emperor's ascension to the throne, countless people want to curry favor with him.
As it turned out, everyone discovered that the eunuch who seemed kind and easy to talk to the emperor was actually tight-lipped, and they couldn't pry out a single useful word.
Lu Liruan had no idea what Ji Shumin was up to.
He had just gone to see Ji Shuqin, making a show of visiting him out of politeness. As for Ji Shuqin's current condition, Lu Liruan could guess a thing or two.
Lu Liruan changed out of her uncomfortable shoes, put on a coat, and went out.
Ji Shumin leaned against the doorway. Hearing the sound, she turned her head slightly. Lu Liruan smelled a faint scent of alcohol on her.
"Your brother is ill, yet you still drink with him?" Lu Liruan raised an eyebrow, speaking deliberately.
Ji Shumin seemed slightly drunk and did not answer, only smiling slightly.
He leaned down and looked at Lu Liruan's face, a smile playing on his lips, which puzzled Lu Liruan.
“Let’s go…” He took Lu Liruan’s hand, affectionately rubbed her palm, and pulled her outside.
"Huh? It's this late, where are we going?" Lu Liruan had no idea what he was up to. The servants around her stood far away, heads down, eyes downcast, seemingly oblivious to what the Emperor and Empress were doing.
Lu Liruan followed him onto the palanquin in a daze, and when she came to her senses, they had already arrived in front of the main hall.
The empress does not enter the court. When Lu Liruan looked at the magnificent and dignified front hall under the night sky, she couldn't help but feel a little amazed.
Just standing here, one feels an endless surge of thoughts, a boundless and overwhelming feeling, as if standing at the center of power, one could reach out and pluck the stars from the sky.
Looking around, it's not hard to develop boundless ambition.
Ji Shumin pulled Lu Liruan's hand and walked upstairs.
"Why did you bring me here?"
No candles were lit in the main hall.
The road is long. Walking from the very end to the very front, when you stand at the back, you can't see the dragon throne very clearly. The closer you get, the clearer it becomes. When you stand where the important officials usually stand and look up, you see a completely different scene.
“No wonder…” Lu Liruan murmured.
"No wonder what?" Ji Shumin leaned close to her shoulder and asked quietly.
“No wonder everyone wants to compete for it. Once you enter the court, your great ambitions will be fulfilled, and you will have no regrets in life.” Lu Liruan tilted her head slightly.
"Li Ruan also has such ambitions?" Ji Shumin chuckled. He seemed to be really drunk, his voice trailing off softly, as if he were flirting with Lu Li Ruan.
"Who doesn't have ambitions? It's just that everyone's desires are different. Scholars have their ambitions, farmers have theirs, men have their desires, and women have theirs."
"What is it that Li Ruan is seeking?"
Lu Liruan thought for a moment and said in her heart: At first, my wish was to complete my mission, but now my wish... is to stay by your side more.
But she couldn't say this to Ji Shumin. Lu Liruan coughed lightly and said, "My wish for you is that you can stay safe and healthy and stay with me."
Ji Shumin didn't speak, but his heavy breathing fell on Lu Liruan's ear in the dim light.
"Hmm?" Lu Liruan was being held very tightly by him.
"And you? What do you wish for now?" Lu Liruan turned her head slightly and rubbed her cheek against his ear.
"Ah—" Lu Liruan's body felt light, and the next moment her legs left the ground.
"What are you doing? Hey! Don't drop me!" This was the first time Lu Liruan had been picked up by Ji Shumin. Ever since Ji Shumin's leg healed, he had tried to do it, but Lu Liruan had always refused him righteously.
The impression that you have a leg disability is really deeply ingrained in my mind... Lu Liruan thought to herself: I don't trust you.
But this time Ji Shumin didn't give her any time to prepare. In the rush, Lu Liruan hurriedly reached out and hugged Ji Shumin's neck.
She felt him holding her as he walked step by step up to the dragon throne, then bent down and steadily placed Lu Liruan on it.
“You…” Lu Liruan was still a little dazed after being put down, and turned her head to look at Ji Shumin.
Ji Shumin's expression was obscure in the shadows, but Lu Liruan could feel that his gaze was fixed on her with deep concentration.
"What I've been seeking... is all here." Ji Shumin placed his hand on the dragon throne, leaned down, and lightly touched Lu Liruan's cheek for a moment...
Although there was no one around and not even a lamp, Lu Liruan felt a sense of unease, especially in such a place…
She tried to get up, but Ji Shumin bent his knee and pinned her between his legs. The only sliver of light coming in from outside was blocked by Ji Shumin's figure. He looked down at her, his soft, slightly cool hair obscuring Lu Liruan's eyes.
His voice was calm and serene, as if suppressing a raging storm of emotions: "Li Ruan, we will be like this forever, sleeping together in life and dying together. A hundred years from now, I will have someone burn us to ashes, mix us together, inseparable and unbreakable, just like this..."
-
Years pass quickly. Perhaps it's because she's getting older, or perhaps it's because she's been too happy and comfortable. Lu Liruan felt like she had just been in a daze, and suddenly so much time had passed.
At first, Lu Liruan thought about it almost every day: when would she leave? But nothing happened.
Later, Lu Liruan stopped thinking about it and felt that every extra day was a bonus. When she realized this, she looked in the mirror and saw a few white hairs on her forehead.
She sat there for a long time without moving, then Lu Liruan raised her hand and touched it.
The young palace maid who was responsible for combing Lu Liruan's hair thought that the empress was sad because of her gray hair, and said in a soft voice that the empress should wear the jade hairpin that the emperor had just made a few days ago.
Lu Liruan smiled and nodded in agreement. The little palace maid carefully concealed the few strands of white hair.
In fact, Lu Liruan did not feel sad. On the contrary, she felt a strange joy from the bottom of her heart. The years that had passed were all the years she spent with Ji Shumin, the years she did what she wanted to do according to her heart. So what was there to sigh about?
After breakfast, Qinghe arrived dressed in a lady's official robes.
Her hair is now styled like that of a matron, and she has chosen not to marry, but has remained in the palace.
"Your Majesty, the memorial service for the Grand Empress Dowager has been prepared at the Imperial Mausoleum."
Two years ago, the Empress Dowager, who had served four emperors, passed away peacefully in her sleep. Since then, the Empress has been in charge of all the memorial services for her.
"Mm." Lu Liruan nodded, feeling a little wistful, but not exactly sad.
Everyone has to go through this day. By now, Lu Liruan has gradually gotten used to it.
The next day, the Emperor and the Empress went to the Imperial Mausoleum to pay respects to the Grand Empress Dowager. They also stayed at the estate for a few days, a routine the court officials had already gotten used to.
The Emperor and Empress had no children. When the Emperor was in his prime, the court officials tried every means to persuade him to have children. Unexpectedly, the Emperor said frankly in court that his injuries were too severe and the imperial physicians had already diagnosed that he would never have any children in his life.
This also conveyed the imperial decree: the crown prince would be selected from the sons of the imperial clan.
Suddenly, fewer people cared about the emperor's inability to have children, while the imperial relatives and powerful families were more excited than ever before.
The emperor did not specify which relatives to choose from, only that he wanted someone who would satisfy him. As a result, these relatives no longer had the energy to care whether the emperor had any other women in his palace besides the empress.
He no longer thought about forcing a daughter into the family to compete for favor; instead, he focused all his attention on whether he had a suitable legitimate son.
If you don't have one, you should have one quickly. If you do have one, you should still have one, since having one more means you have a better chance!
Not only must one be born, but one must also be well-educated in order to catch the eye of the Emperor and Empress.
Yes, the Emperor himself said that the children selected from the imperial clan will be sent to the palace for education in a few years, so not only must he be satisfied, but the Empress must also be satisfied.
Therefore, those imperial relatives who had advised the emperor to open a harem dared not utter a single word more, for sending women into the palace would only cause trouble for the empress.
In the past, some people openly or secretly said that the Empress was jealous, which was why the Emperor acted this way. But over the years, the love between the Emperor and the Empress has become obvious to anyone who is not blind.
After the Emperor uttered those words, no one dared to say another word about the Empress. Many members of the imperial family began to blame their wives for spoiling their children rotten from a young age.
Now, few people in the court mention this matter anymore. In fact, if a minister brings it up again, the imperial relatives will become restless even before the emperor speaks.
There are far fewer spoiled young men in the capital now. They used to fight cocks and drink in the streets, and throw lavish banquets in groups. Now they are all confined to their homes and tutored by teachers.
When Lu Liruan found out, she raised an eyebrow and thought to herself, "Isn't this just... involution?"
The "tiger parenting" approach is never absent.
But the good thing is that things have definitely calmed down.
In the twenty-fifth year of the Ruiqing reign, the emperor selected sons of imperial relatives to enter the palace and personally taught and selected them. At the same time, the empress selected daughters of imperial relatives to enter the palace for teaching.
A few years ago, the emperor opened a women's examination, but it was still not common for ordinary families to let their daughters study, and they could not produce any decent female officials.
Lu Liruan then thought that by setting an example for women from the imperial family and the families of officials, the deeply ingrained views of the people could be gradually changed.
-
Lady Gao, wife of Marquis He'an, and Lady Gao passed away in the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth years of the Ruiqing reign, respectively. None of her three sons lived in the capital for long.
The eldest and second young masters of the Lu family are businessmen who travel around all year round. They marry daughters of merchants and mostly inherit titles. They do not want to be idle marquises who stay in the capital.
Young Master Lu was only in his early twenties when he passed the imperial examination and was favored by the emperor during the palace examination. He was then appointed as an official outside the capital and is no longer in the capital.
In the end, the story of this Marquis's mansion ended up with Lu Wanqing!
The young lady of the Lu family was quite famous in the capital, running a very successful business selling fabrics, rouge, and face powder.
Although there were laws that allowed women to be registered in households, it was unprecedented to establish a woman as a marquis.
Not only that, this Marquis of He'an also found a husband and married the youngest son of the official in a grand and joyous ceremony.
The Empress herself presided over the event, and even the Emperor presented gifts at the wedding banquet. The event was incredibly prestigious, and those who criticized the Marquis of He'an had no choice but to shut up. Since the Emperor himself acknowledged and rewarded the event, who would dare to object?
On the day of the wedding banquet, apart from the youngest son who was serving as an official elsewhere, the other two sons rushed back.
Some people were quite certain that the young masters of the Lu family would be unhappy, but to their surprise, the two young masters seemed quite cheerful and showed no dissatisfaction whatsoever. Instead, they even provided their younger sister and brother-in-law with a lot of things.
The Lu family really is... strange in their actions. Although many people thought so, in the following years, there were more and more women in charge of households in the capital and in the villages.
-
Lu Liruan has always been in good health over the years, rarely experiencing minor illnesses or pains. She has only been sick a few times, but none of these illnesses have left any lasting health problems.
Sometimes Lu Liruan wondered if it was because she had been sick so much in the past that she was trying to make herself more comfortable now.
As for Ji Shumin, he was poisoned and injured when he was young, and he took countless medicines, including some extremely dangerous ones.
So compared to Lu Liruan, he was the one who was frail and sickly, and he would often fall ill whenever the seasons changed.
Lu Liruan had gotten used to taking care of him back then, and she was still very adept at it all these years.
But the emperor, who was not young, became more and more pretentious each year. He lay on his couch, sighed softly, and raised his hand to touch his forehead, which was covered with a handkerchief.
"What is it now?" Lu Liruan looked up from the storybook and asked with a sigh.
"Do you think you're going to die soon? Or do you think you have to go before me?" Lu Liruan had already anticipated what he didn't say.
Over the years, Ji Shumin has been saying more and more things, some of which are nonsense and jokes, and some are very serious. Lu Liruan understood that Ji Shumin was worried about dying before her.
This person is always awkward in strange ways. He doesn't believe in the afterlife or the afterlife, but he worries that after he dies, Lu Liruan will live a long and unhappy life alone.
"Be honest, you won't live without me, okay?" Lu Liruan said perfunctorily, then touched his still handsome face.
It's so beautiful. So many years have passed, but it's still so beautiful. I can never get enough of looking at it.
"Maybe we'll be leaving in just a few days..." Lu Liruan murmured. She thought that if she really stayed until the day Ji Shumin passed away, it would be time for her to leave.
Little did I know that my words would come true.
Many more years have passed, and Lu Liruan has a feeling that her days are coming to an end.
Fortunately, there was no pain, but his spirits were declining day by day. When he was young, he pushed Ji Shumin around, but now Ji Shumin was pushing him. Even the wheelchair was the one Ji Shumin used before.
“Who knows when I’ll need Li Ruan’s help again?” Ji Shumin joked when the wheelchair was preserved.
Finally, Lu Liruan's eyes became so tired that she could not keep them open. She neither ate nor drank, and just drifted off to sleep.
In a daze, the warm sunlight felt wonderfully comforting. She wanted to stretch her limbs, but then she felt someone holding her hand, and heard Ji Shumin's voice beside her: "Li Ruan..."
"Ok?"
"fine."
……
"Li Ruan?"
"Ah."
……
Ji Shumin called her name in a steady voice every now and then, as if to confirm whether she was still there.
"It's so warm, the weather is so nice." Lu Liruan felt even sleepier.
“Yes, the weather is wonderful. It’s been raining for days, but it’s finally sunny today,” Ji Shumin replied.
Lu Liruan lifted her eyes and glanced at Ji Shumin. His back was straight, so she couldn't see his face clearly, but Lu Liruan felt that he looked especially like the first time she met him today.
Time flies, yet it also drags on.
"Li Ruan."
……
"Li Ruan?"
……
Ji Shumin bent down steadily, getting closer to look at that gentle, smiling face, with a hairpin he had just made this year adorning her hair.
"You really know how to pick a day, the weather is so nice today, Li Ruan."
It came warmly and left warmly; this life has been so warm and wonderful.
……