activa-t Chapter 167 Abdication
Chapter 167 Abdication
Abdication is understandable.
After all, there were many emperors who retired from the throne in history, and the emperor abdicated on his own initiative, not under duress, so the relationship between the father and son was still good. The emperor did not like to deal with government affairs, so for court officials and ordinary people, it was actually better for the prince to be the emperor than the emperor.
But it was the first time in the world that an emperor wanted to become a Taoist priest.
No one understands.
After the imperial concubine found out, she took a group of concubines to find the emperor.
Since the emperor was not there, the imperial concubine had no choice but to kneel outside the Sanqing Hall with her sisters.
The emperor still disappeared.
The concubines knelt for a day and a night.
The imperial concubine could not bear it, so she quietly told her personal maid to call the princes, princesses and grandchildren over.
But before he could finish his words, the palace door suddenly opened and the emperor in a grey Taoist robe walked out.
He walked up to the imperial concubine.
The imperial concubine looked at him like this and was unable to react for a moment.
The emperor helped her up.
"Cousin, I'm old and tired of these mundane things. Now I just want to be quiet and follow Master to cultivate my mind and make elixirs. Why do you do this? There's nothing wrong with being a concubine. Ce'er is filial and he doesn't have a biological mother, so he won't treat you badly. Lai'er has a son now, too. You can be a good grandmother and enjoy your son and grandson, isn't that good?"
The imperial concubine looked at him in a daze.
After so many years, it seemed as if she truly knew the person in front of her for the first time.
She had a lot of things to say in her heart, but when she got to her lips, what came out was: "How many years have you not called me cousin?"
The emperor had a smile on his face and raised his hand to tidy up her hair.
"No matter what, I am still your cousin."
The imperial concubine thought about the past few years, and how her son was diagnosed with mental disability and her aunt blamed her. It was her cousin who argued for her and won the position of imperial concubine.
She couldn't help but feel her eyes turn red and tears welled up in her eyelashes.
She blinked her eyes slightly, and her eyelashes trembled under the weight.
Tears just rolled down from my eyes.
The imperial concubine did not look sad.
She wiped her eyes and burst into laughter.
"Yes, no matter whether you become a Taoist priest or a monk, you will always be my cousin."
Did the two of them have a relationship?
The imperial concubine can no longer remember.
Maybe there was.
But after a few decades, no matter how strong the love is, it will fade away, just like those concubines who were once held in the palm of the emperor's hand, but disappeared one by one in the palace.
They are as brilliant as fireworks, and just as short-lived as fireworks.
It did not leave too many ripples in the emperor's heart.
In the end, all that was left in the emperor's heart was a little affection for his cousin.
The imperial concubine stood up with the emperor's help.
She did not say anything more, nor did she ask the other concubines to stand up. She just led her palace maids and left the Sanqing Hall step by step.
The imperial concubine has thought about this more than once over the years.
If Lai'er was a healthy child, would the emperor still treat her the same way he does now?
If Lai'er were healthy, would he give the throne to Lai'er?
It’s not like she hasn’t had times when she felt conflicted and regretful.
On the contrary, she spent most of her life in entanglement and regret.
When he was young, he struggled with whether to listen to his mother's family's choice of a girl and have another child. Later, he regretted not having pulled Concubine De down, not having strangled Li Jian to death in his cradle... He also regretted not having taken this child to raise when Li Ce was young.
But at this moment, she suddenly felt relieved.
She stopped thinking about those things.
The past is past, and no matter how much you worry about it, it won’t change it.
Now, what concerns her is her child.
Just when Li Ce was busy and overwhelmed, the imperial concubine asked someone to invite Jiang Wanyue over.
Jiang Wanyue was also quite surprised when she received the news.
She immediately guessed that it was Zhang Rao who did it.
But no one expected that Zhang Rao could actually persuade the emperor to worship him as his teacher!
Although Taoists do not need to shave their heads like monks, they still have to observe the precepts if they formally become monks.
The emperor had been sitting on the throne for so many years, holding control over everyone's life and death and holding all the power, yet he gave it up so easily?
She couldn't figure it out.
Therefore, when Jiang Wanyue received the news that the Imperial Concubine had sent someone to invite her, she naturally thought that the Imperial Concubine was looking for her to find a way to persuade the Emperor to change his mind.
So, she only took Xiuchun and Mier to the palace to meet the imperial concubine.
Unexpectedly, the first words the imperial concubine said when she saw her were.
"This harem will be handed over to you from now on. Tomorrow I will leave the palace and go to Prince Ding's mansion."
Jiang Wanyue's eyes widened in shock.
It took her a long time to regain her thoughts.
"Your Highness, even if the Emperor abdicates and His Highness ascends the throne, you can still live here. His Highness's biological mother died early, and you are like his biological mother to him."
This is naturally a polite remark.
But at this time, what else can I say besides polite words?
The imperial concubine smiled and waved her hand.
"Of course I know that you and His Highness are filial, but Prince Ding and Princess are so old, and it's so hard for them to have a child. I miss them so much and always want to see them."
She changed her self-proclaimed name without realizing it.
"This palace is magnificent and beautiful, but after living here for a long time, I always feel suffocated."
She sighed and raised her hand to stroke the fine wrinkles around her eyes.
Jiang Wanyue was silent.
If someone wants to live with their children and grandchildren and enjoy family life, you can't stop them.
However, if the imperial concubine moves out of the palace now, who knows what people outside will say about Li Ce!
So, after being silent for a while, Jiang Wanyue still tried to persuade him.
"The palace is busy right now, so Your Majesty, please help His Highness and me and move later, okay?"
The imperial concubine nodded.
Jiang Wanyue breathed a sigh of relief and thought to herself, it was already the end of May, and in a few days it would be the annual summer vacation time. She would have to leave the palace anyway, and if the imperial concubine moved out at that time, it wouldn't attract too much attention.
At the same time, she was thinking about how to arrange the other concubines.
The emperor had so many concubines that one or two palaces could not accommodate them all. Moreover, most of them were childless, so it would be too cruel to send them all to the temple.
Jiang Wanyue raised her hand to support her forehead and couldn't help but look back at the imperial concubine's palace.
They are indeed cousins. When they act willful, they are exactly the same.
She was secretly complaining in her heart.
After returning to the East Palace, she did not go directly back to Yichun Palace, but went to Chongwen Hall and asked someone to find the blueprints of the imperial palace.
Not long after, Li Ce also returned to the Eastern Palace. When he heard Eunuch Wang say that Jiang Wanyue was in Chongwen Hall, he came over as well.
As soon as he entered the hall, he saw Jiang Wanyue frowning and looking worriedly at the drawings spread out in front of her.
"What's going on? Are you choosing the palace you want to live in?"
Although Li Ce was busy, he was in a very good mood. He walked over with a smile and pointed at the drawing casually.
"Just stay here!"
Jiang Wanyue looked in the direction he pointed and saw three words clearly written on it.
Liangyi Palace.
"Your Highness, stop making trouble."
Liangyi Hall was the emperor's residence.
Li Ce grabbed her hand.
"Why? Wan'er doesn't want to live with me?"
"Your Highness, did you say that on purpose? You know that Liangyi Palace is the emperor's residence, and the women all live in the harem!" Jiang Wanyue said kindly, "Besides, I'm not choosing a residence for myself, I'm thinking about how to arrange the people in the harem now."