[Wu Zetian colleagues] Wu Lingchun

There are some things in this world, no, it should be said that there are many things, which cannot be solved by the words "preparing for a rainy day".

For example, people's hearts.

Empress Wu has always been smarter than others, and thinks farther and more thoughtfully, but she has to admit that all her foresight and foresight are not worth the word "people's hearts".

In the past, when she was sitting on the chariot on the way to Jing'an Palace, surrounded by the queen's guard of honor, she once thought about Shangguan Wan'er's slender and slim figure and her more open and beautiful face.

At that time, she was more concerned about that face, and the increasingly vulgar temperament exuded by the owner of that face, being favored by her husband or sons, thus disrupting the situation in the harem that was already under her control Bar?

But now?

What is she thinking now?

In the Eastern Capital Luoyang Palace, Empress Wu sat alone, staring blankly at herself in the mirror——

Could it be that since that time, many, many years ago, she actually had some different thoughts about that little thing?

Could it be that when Xiao was thinking about the beauty of the little thing, she was already coveting the beauty of the little thing?

Could it be that back then she was worried that the little thing would charm the king and cause trouble in the harem, but it was just that she hadn't seen clearly her own thoughts about the little thing...deceiving herself?In fact, back then, she was just agitated and jealous?

Thinking of this, Empress Wu became unhappy.

She twitched the corners of her mouth at herself in the mirror, and then, as if stimulated by something that suddenly appeared, she pursed her lips suddenly, returning to her usual proud appearance.

Just now, when she lowered the corners of her mouth unhappily, her sharp eyes caught a trace of...wrinkles at the corners of her mouth and the sides of her nose.

wrinkle……

She gave birth to such a nasty thing!

She had never been with such a nasty thing before!

Empress Wu suddenly got up angrily, never wanting to see herself in the mirror again.

The self in her memory has always been bright and beautiful, her skin has always been smooth and fair, without a trace of wrinkle or even half a speck.

But now-

Those tiny fine lines were infinitely magnified in her thoughts, turning into a terrifying existence that reminded her of her age.

Intellectually, Empress Wu knew very well that the reason why such a horrible thing grew on her face was due to the traveling and exhaustion of these days.

The emperor is dying, and all forces are ready to move. There are too many things that need her to worry about, and there are too many people and relationships that need her to worry about.Even if she is as healthy as she is, even if she falls asleep as long as she touches the pillow, there will be times when she cannot sleep at night and is tired from deep thinking.

However, rationality belongs to rationality. Emotionally, Empress Wu still couldn't face her face, and wrinkles appeared on her face.

This kind of "unable to face", she couldn't help but think of Wan'er's face that flashed into her mind just now——

That young face glowing with brilliance, and that life with infinite possibilities in the future and an immeasurable future...

How annoying!

Empress Wu felt a rare sense of discouragement in her heart.

The age gap with that little thing made her unable to help but imagine that one day in the future, that little thing will be old, and she will be old, with wrinkles all over her body, between the bed... …

That little thing must despise her, right?

In that case, she really coveted that little thing!

Empress Wu took a rough breath.

The stasis in the chest did not weaken at all because of this.

Instead, her brows became even tighter: that night, that little thing cried so pitifully, as if he had caused her so much pain... Could it be that the strange thought that the little thing felt for her before was just her own? illusion?

Empress Wu, who had always been confident, felt doubtful about her own charm for the first time.

Her right hand involuntarily fumbled towards her left wrist...

On Empress Wu's left wrist, she was wearing the string of southern red agate beads that once belonged to Wan'er.

Because Wan'er has been wearing it for many years, Wan'er's breath and temperature have penetrated into the string of beads.

So strangely, when Empress Wu touched the string of beads, she felt as if she was touching Wan'er's skin.

This kind of touch made Empress Wu's heart no longer feel so flustered and helpless.

After all, that little thing still belongs to her...

Thinking of this, Empress Wu felt a little red hot in her eyes.

But when reminiscing about the beautiful details of that night, my heart suddenly trembled——

She remembered again, something particularly important: the little thing was supposed to be... but why?

Empress Wu's face darkened.

Some kind of doubts in the past, because of the non-stop busy, only had time to flash in her mind a few times; however, at this moment, when the overall situation is basically settled and she is almost completely victorious, her mind finally has something to do. Free time to think about that.

And this kind of thinking made the tightness in her chest even stronger.

impossible!

Empress Wu's first reaction was to deny her own thoughts, but...but she has lived in the palace for so many years, and she already knew that everything is possible in this world.

Could it be the emperor...

"Queen of Heaven..." The maid's voice interrupted Empress Wu's thoughts.

Empress Wu looked up unhappily.

The maid served her to dress up, and when she saw this, she was so frightened that her legs gave way, and she almost knelt down.

"The concubine serves...serves the Empress Dowager to dress up..." the maid's voice trembled.

Hearing "dressing up", Empress Wu felt annoyed, as the fine lines and cracks in the mirror appeared in front of her eyes.

"What kind of makeup!" Empress Wu said displeased.

Her original intention was: I already look so good-looking, do I still need makeup to cover it up?Could it be that I am old?

The maid didn't understand what she was thinking. It was Empress Wu's habit to do her makeup after getting up in the morning. Is there anything wrong with it?

Thinking about the hard work of the Empress Dowager recently, and the extra caution of those serving her, the maid secretly took a deep breath.

Then he put on a smiling face and said courteously: "This is the new Dan Kou, Empress of Heaven, you—"

She was thinking that Empress Tianhou hadn't painted her nails for a long time, and she probably didn't have that mood before.Empress Dowager Tian has always liked these novelties, and Empress Dowager Tian will probably be happy when she mentions this.

Unexpectedly, not only was Empress Wu not the slightest bit happy, she even raised her eyebrows and raised her eyebrows: "When is it time to buy this kind of thing! Take it down!"

As she spoke, she seemed to wave away the vermilion Danko in the tray served by the maid in disgust.

The maid was really frightened this time, she hurriedly lowered her head, and retreated holding the tray, not even daring to mention the matter of dressing up.

Empress Wu subconsciously ran over the fingertips of her right index finger and middle finger with her right thumb——

Without the barrier of long nails, the smooth and round touch of the fingertips can be monotonous.

Why monotonous?

Empress Wu pursed her lips, with an indecipherable expression across her face.

Her eyes narrowed, as if recalling.

Because there is no ... thing that belonged to that person that night, so it is monotonous, right?

Empress Wu felt a complicated feeling in her heart.

After that night, she never wore her nails again.

Like... like ready to walk around that place again anytime...

On Empress Wu's cheeks, two blushes rarely appeared.

Fortunately, there was no one else in the hall at the moment, otherwise, if a second person saw the majestic Empress Dowager showing such a girlish expression, wouldn't her jaw drop?

Empress Wu realized the redness on her cheeks, coughed lightly, and sat upright.

She didn't think that her appearance would frighten anyone, she just felt ashamed——

The majestic Queen of Heaven didn't reach her current status by relying on shyness.

At the gate of the hall, Zhao Ying probed his head.

Obviously, he had already heard the news that Empress Wu was in a bad mood.

"What's the matter?" Empress Wu looked at him.

Zhao Ying hurriedly came out, saluted with a smile: "It's Your Majesty's place."

Hearing the news that it was the emperor, Empress Wu forced herself to recover from all kinds of wild imaginations.

"What's the matter?" she asked, with some impatience already in her tone.

Zhao Ying didn't seem to hear Empress Wu's impatience at all, and his expression didn't change at all, and he replied truthfully: "Your Majesty woke up and clamored to see you."

yelling...

Empress Wu frowned: "Let's go!"

She calmly got up and walked towards the hall where the emperor's sick bed was. She was dressed in plain clothes and without makeup, as if she was really worried about the emperor's illness.

Zhao Ying followed him respectfully.

"How's Chang'an?" Empress Wu walked a few steps, stopped suddenly and asked.

Zhao Ying understood, and hurriedly replied in a low voice: "I heard that the Wei family seems to be restless, and they are at odds with Prime Minister Pei!"

"Uneasy?" Empress Wu's face darkened.

Then the voice was cold and stern: "Inform Song Lingwen that if the Wei family dares to plan for Jing'an Palace, they will be killed without mercy."

The three words "Kill Unforgiven" were just spit out by her.

Zhao Ying couldn't help shivering secretly.

He understood that this meant more than just killing someone.If the Wei family really dared to do something to Jing'an Palace, to be precise, to Shangguan's wife, Empress Wu really didn't mind stirring up bloody storms and turning the world upside down.

Thinking that the Wei family is the prince's Yue family, Zhao Ying made a swallowing movement with difficulty in his throat, thinking that Gods, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas bless the Wei family, and the Wei family must not mess up, otherwise nothing terrible will happen.

Who doesn't like to live a peaceful life?Who wouldn't want to live a good life?

Zhao Ying cherishes his life, at this moment, he can only pray to God every day to bless Mrs. Shangguan to live a long life and be free from illness and disaster.

On the couch in the sleeping hall, under the luxurious brocade quilt was the emperor's body so thin that only a handful of bones remained.

His cheeks had sunken, making his eyes stand out even more.

When a person is about to die, even if he is an emperor, how can he still have half the heroic and straight appearance of the past?

Hearing the familiar footsteps, the emperor seemed to have grasped at straws to save his life. He stretched out his five fingers, trying to reach Empress Wu.

"Er Niang..." His voice was so hoarse that it was almost hard to hear.

Empress Wu lowered her eyes slightly, holding her palm with that skinny, bloodless hand.

"What's the matter with Jiulang?" Empress Wu tried her best to make her voice sound like a good wife.

Perhaps the person who was about to pass away had a particularly bright heart, and the emperor seemed to have noticed her strange mood, holding her palm, and remained silent for a while.

Empress Wu didn't speak, and stayed with him in the stalemate.

In the huge hall, there was silence.

After a long time, the emperor spoke first.

"Er Niang, I'm going to die..." he said, as if he had finally gathered his strength.

Empress Wu's lips moved, and she couldn't say the words of relief no matter what.

Does she wish him dead?Don't you want to?

can not say it clearly.

Perhaps, only "contradiction" can summarize Empress Wu's mood at the moment.

"Er Niang..." The emperor shook Empress Wu's hand.

Empress Wu frowned, and finally cast her eyes on him: "What does Your Majesty want to say?"

When the emperor heard her addressing him, his eyes diverged, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

"Where's Taiping?" He asked weakly, "Why doesn't Taiping come to see her father...one last look?"

"Ling'er, Sanlang, Shiro and the others will be here soon. Wait a minute, Your Majesty." Empress Wu said calmly.

"Is she... is Ling'er still angry with me..." The emperor's eyes were dim.

Empress Wu didn't make a sound.

The emperor let out a long sigh: "She doesn't like Xue Shao...she hates this marriage..."

Empress Wu lowered her eyebrows, but still said nothing.

Inside the hall, there was another long silence.

Following the emperor's rapid breathing, he clenched Empress Wu's hand again.

"Erniang, our grandson... Yan Wang Longji...he is Hong'er's only blood...you..."

"Your Majesty has made him the King of Yan, and he is only under three years old!" Empress Wu decisively interrupted the emperor.

"But he is Hong'er's son... Hong'er was conceived by you in ten months..." The emperor's eyes were fading, but he was still trying his best to make the last struggle, "...he has lost his parents, he is already very pitiful... ...Taiping treats him again... Er Niang, you have to treat him kindly!"

Empress Wu was full of words, and she was eager to blurt out. Her temperament never liked to cause trouble for herself.

However, when she saw the emperor's almost pleading eyes, she finally swallowed all her words.

Seeing that Empress Wu didn't refute him, the emperor smiled from the bottom of his heart.

His body relaxed, as if he had let go of a huge thing.

Staring fixedly at the ornamentation on the top of his head, the emperor seemed to see far away.

"Shangguan..." the emperor murmured.

Empress Wu was shocked: the surname "Shangguan" came from the emperor's mouth, which made her nervous.

"...The person I feel sorry for the most in my life is the Shangguan family..." The emperor seemed to have forgotten the existence of Empress Wu, and fell into his own memories.

"Shangguanyi... Back then, I shouldn't have harmed his whole family..." the emperor still said.

Empress Wu's complexion was already ugly.

As he was dying, the emperor seemed to ignore that Shangguanyi was in trouble because he wanted to abolish Empress Wu.

"Empress!" The emperor suddenly grabbed Empress Wu's hand.

This time, he didn't call her "Second Mother", not as a husband facing his wife, but as an emperor facing a queen.

He locked Empress Wu's eyes tightly, and didn't care about Empress Wu's eyes dripping with cold—

"Shangguan... Wan'er is a good girl... You, you must not make things difficult for her!" The emperor said eagerly.

Empress Wu no longer had the patience she had before.

She slammed the emperor's arm away and stood up abruptly.

He approached the emperor with an aggressive attitude: "It is a great honor to be named a concubine after committing a crime. What else do you want? Do you intend to let her replace the concubine and take this post?"

The emperor was trembling with fright, and looked even weaker.

Empress Wu stared at those helpless eyes and gritted her teeth. A certain terrible guess made her feel chills, bone-chilling.

She trembled uncontrollably.

She forced herself not to say those terrible words, took a deep breath, and asked: "Does your majesty feel sorry for Shangguanyi in the past? Then, may I ask your majesty, is the exiled Chu Suiliang sorry? And your majesty's relatives Uncle, the eldest grandson Wuji is full of families, does Your Majesty feel sorry for it?"

The emperor listened to Empress Wu's questioning. Under the questioning, his face was ashen, and his life was passing by quickly.

When Empress Wu finished speaking the last word, the emperor spat out a mouthful of blood, coughed violently, and almost died.

Empress Wu dodged to avoid the blood.

Then, as if she hadn't seen the emperor's tragic situation at all, she turned around resolutely and said sharply: "Come here! Send the imperial physician!"

And she herself, accompanied by Zhao Ying, left the bedroom without looking back.

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happy mid-Autumn Festival!cuties~

The next chapter returns to the main line of the text.

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