Li Huaning suddenly opened her eyes. Her turbid pupils trembled slightly as she turned her head with difficulty to look for Li Xinyue's figure.
Li Xinyue knew she still wanted to hear more, so she walked back, sat on the embroidered stool, looked into her eyes and said, "He survived under the identity of the King of Nanxun and has been scheming to usurp the throne. I guess the real King of Nanxun was killed by him many years ago.
It's true that the throne should be his. But if you think calmly, without the support of the ministers, the influence of his maternal family, or the support of the people, he couldn't become the emperor, could he?
Moreover, a king should have a kind and just heart. If he is a tyrant, even if he ascends the throne, the country will eventually perish.
You should have understood these principles long ago. If you had, you wouldn't have ended up on this path."
After a pause, she lowered her eyes and thought.
Surely many people must have said the same thing, and the Princess Dowager herself must have been aware of it.
She wasn't being obtuse; she just stubbornly wanted to hear some answers that would satisfy her.
If there had been just one person willing to condemn the world with her or to reminisce about the dead Crown Prince with her, perhaps the outcome would have been different.
Li Xinyue sighed. She wasn't sure if her guess was right, but she felt that this might be what the Princess Dowager was thinking.
"Aunt blames Uncle for the dead Crown Prince. And because of Uncle's death, she resents her past self. In this way, she has been living in loss and remorse, trapped in a vicious cycle. Over time, she has become listless."
Li Xinyue raised her eyes and stared at her intently, trying to find the answer in her eyes.
But Li Huaning suddenly closed her eyes and only shed tears silently.
Her tears fell like broken pearls, one after another, and her body even trembled slightly with emotion.
Li Xinyue sighed. She said no more and turned to go to the study to look for the calligraphy and painting.
In the drawer, besides the calligraphy and painting tied with a red thread, there was also a small locked wooden box. She had no idea what was inside.
She reached out and fiddled with the lock.
It was just a casual gesture, but unexpectedly, the lock broke open, as if it was meant for her to see.
So she opened the box and took a look. Inside, there lay a puppet quietly, with a black spot on it, which seemed to be a bloodstain.
This puppet!
It was a gift from the Princess Consort to Aunt!
She was shocked. Scenes of the talented scholar and the beautiful lady, the princess and the heir apparent from that year flashed through her mind.
Although she had never witnessed it with her own eyes, she imagined that the Princess Consort must have been as suave and charming as Chu Junyi, very likable.
Suddenly, she seemed to understand why Aunt had wanted to bless her.
Because seeing her now, Aunt was reminded of herself back then.
Similarly, when she saw Aunt, she felt as if she was seeing herself twenty years later.
Filled with emotions, she couldn't wait to open the calligraphy and painting, eager to find evidence of the love between Aunt and Uncle.
When she opened the calligraphy and painting, a small portrait fell out. It was a painting of the Princess Dowager when she was young, radiant and charming, with a smile that bloomed like a flower.
She looked a bit like Li Xinrong.
Yes, Aunt back then was just like Li Xinrong now.
But now, Aunt looked a bit like her, Li Xinyue.
No, it should be that she had learned a bit of Aunt's cold and proud aura, because she liked such a woman, thinking her extremely beautiful and valiant. She had remembered her deeply at first sight.
So in her subsequent growth, she had naturally learned a bit of it.
She rolled up the small portrait and then slowly unfolded the calligraphy and painting.
This calligraphy and painting was very old. The paper was brittle and yellowed. One end of the paper had been burned, but the four characters "May You Two Be Happy Together Forever" were still there. The signature was Wei Jingzhao and Li Huaning.
Perhaps this was left on their wedding night. After the Princess Consort died in battle, Aunt was probably too sad to see anything related to him, so she wanted to burn this calligraphy and painting. But then she regretted it, which was why this incomplete calligraphy and painting was left.
This was indeed a very good blessing, and she accepted it.
"Aunt, I'm leaving. Tomorrow I'll bring Chu Junyi to visit you. If you still cherish the blood - related affection and the late Crown Prince who once lived in this world, then please live on well.
I'll have someone send some more food."
Out of the corner of her eye, Li Xinyue saw the full and untouched food on the small table, and felt a pang of sadness in her heart.
Li Huaning nodded slowly.
However, that night, she passed away.
The new food that Li Xinyue had someone send was still there, untouched.
Li Xinyue sighed helplessly. She guessed that the Princess Dowager had made up her mind to leave, and perhaps the fire in the mansion was set by herself.
After the Princess Dowager's death, with the approval of Emperor Mingde, Li Xinyue and Chu Junyi took her body to a feng - shui blessed place for burial.
When the white funeral streamers and paper money fluttered in the wind, Li Xinyue's heart ached. The once cold and beautiful Princess Dowager seemed to be right in front of her eyes, but in a blink of an eye, she was just a handful of earth.
She still remembered that the first time she saw Aunt, she was a child not yet eight years old.
That cold and beautiful figure passed in front of her, and she had remembered this strange aunt deeply, but had never called her "Aunt".
Because Aunt disliked the Emperor and all the Emperor's children.
So Li Xinyue could only watch her from afar, but her admiration for her had lasted until now. That was why she was a bit shocked when she learned that Chu Junyi had actually traced things back to her.
Li Xinyue looked at the tomb in front of her and then at the scroll of calligraphy and painting in her hand. The four big characters "May You Two Be Happy Together Forever" couldn't bring happiness to them, but she hoped it could bring happiness to her and Chu Junyi.
She raised her eyes and looked at Chu Junyi.
Chu Junyi put his arm around her shoulder. Mixed emotions welled up in his heart. "Since this is the blessing from the Princess Dowager and the Princess Consort, let's accept it. From now on, we'll carry their happiness with us and live on together."
"Okay." Li Xinyue leaned against Chu Junyi's chest, feeling his strong heartbeat. She felt lucky.
Lucky that they weren't the Princess Dowager and the Princess Consort.
Chu Junyi looked at the new tomb and guessed that the reason the Princess Dowager wanted to see Xinyue on her deathbed was that they were the only good deed she had done in the second half of her life.
She had brought them together, and she wanted to take one last look at this act of kindness before she died.
Otherwise, among so many royal princesses, why did she specifically leave the calligraphy and painting to Xinyue?
It was just -
"This handwriting looks a bit familiar. It's like that of a general I once met! The first character he taught me was 'Li'."
It was because of that beautiful handwriting that the seed of learning had been planted in his heart.
Now it seemed that fate was truly wonderful.
...
After the matter of the Princess Dowager came to an end, regarding the punishment of the King of Nanxun, after much thought, Chu Junyi decided to tell Emperor Mingde the truth and let the Emperor decide his fate.
Emperor Mingde, considering that the man was already disabled and had no more possibility of rebelling, ordered that his life be spared and that he be imprisoned for life.
As for the theater related to the King of Nanxun, as long as they no longer participated in the rebellion, they would be safe. And Concubine Yu -