Mrs. Wei probably guessed that the reason why the emperor summoned her to the palace was related to Wei Qingyan's affairs.
Therefore, when she was taken to the side hall by the chamberlain and waited for half an hour, but still not summoned, she felt no uneasiness.
Wei Qingyan's death was related to the prince. She was Wei Qingyan's mother and the master of suffering, and the prince was the son of the emperor. In order to show his benevolence, the emperor should appease and reward the general who protected the country at this time.
Now, excluding the married daughters of the Wei family, she and the old lady were the only two people left in the Protector General's Mansion. The old lady was far away from the ancestral home of the Wei family, so this benefit naturally fell on her.
As she expected, the emperor was indeed kind and said many polite words to her.
Just when Mrs. Wei was thinking about whether the emperor would reward her with gold and silver or upgrade her imperial edict.
I heard the emperor say with regret, "I didn't teach the deposed prince well and let a good general like Wei Aiqing die early. I feel very guilty.
After much thought, I decided to let him be buried in the imperial mausoleum and wanted to ask Mrs. Wei what she meant. "
These words were like a bucket of cold water poured down on her, and Mrs. Wei's face immediately changed.
In the early days of the royal family of the previous dynasty, in order to reward meritorious ministers and generals, they would be allowed to be buried with the emperor's mausoleum after death to show the emperor's love for meritorious ministers.
It is a great honor for a minister to be buried in the imperial mausoleum and be remembered for eternity.
However, the last few monarchs of the previous dynasty were foolish and gullible, and most of the people who ended up being buried in the imperial mausoleum were sycophants and eunuchs.
After the late emperor established the Wei Dynasty, he did not follow the accompanying mausoleum system.
But today the emperor took the initiative to mention it, which is still a great honor for his ministers. Normally, ministers would be grateful to the emperor when encountering such a situation.
But after a moment of confusion, Mrs. Wei refused, "I would like to thank Your Majesty for your kindness on behalf of Qing Yan, but Qing Yan is still young and cannot bear this honor.
Moreover, my wife has a son named Qing Yan, and she hopes to see him all the time.
If he moves into the imperial mausoleum, it will always be inconvenient to offer sacrifices. As my wife gets older, it will probably be even more difficult in the future. I hope your Majesty will be considerate of my wife's feelings for her son. "
When the tomb is moved to the imperial mausoleum, the coffin must be opened and the bones must be collected again.
The emperor knew that Wei Qingyan was a woman, but there was a man's body in the coffin.
At first, she was worried that Wei Qingyan's identity would be exposed to the world, and the emperor would take the opportunity to deal with the Wei family.
Seeing the corpse of a man with a similar appearance to Wei Qingyan in the coffin, he guessed that Wei Qingyan had found a substitute for him, so he didn't think much and nailed the coffin directly.
At that time, she was sure that Wei Qingyan would blow up her.
But if the coffin is opened this time and the emperor discovers that the person in the coffin is not Wei Qingyan, how will she explain it? Will the emperor suspect Wei Qingyan of faking his death?
Will she be charged with defecting before the battle and be sent to the General Protector's Mansion?
The man warned her repeatedly that the emperor had long been wary of the Wei family and there was no way he would lie to her.
She would spend the rest of her life relying on the shadow of the Protector General's Mansion and couldn't let that happen.
What's more, she nailed the body into the coffin at will. When she arrived in the capital, the body was rotting. She buried it directly on the grounds that King Rong had helped Wei Qingyan to be buried.
If the tomb is moved this time and everyone finds something strange inside the coffin, once the emperor blames King Rong, there is no guarantee that King Rong will not expose her.
A mother who did not clean up her son's body after his death in battle, but allowed him to be buried in bloody and tattered clothes, how would the world think of her, and would the emperor despise her?
When the emperor saw her evading her duties like this, he became angry.
Mrs. Wei Xiao had just entered the palace, and before he had time to summon her, Lan Shu brought Shi Yu and Chang Qingnian also into the palace.
He originally thought that Lan Shu never wanted to see him again in this life.
She didn't expect that she would come to him so quickly, but before she could be happy, what Lan Shu said made her so angry that she wanted to chop off Mrs. Wei's head immediately.
When Wei Qingyan died in the battle, Mrs. Wei went to Huangshaling. She took advantage of Shi Yu's feelings for Wei Qingyan and asked Shi Yu to take Wei Qingyan's body to Beiling and return to Beijing half a year later.
All the officials impeached Shi Yu for offending the hero who protected the country. He was also angry at Shi Yu's crazy behavior, but Mrs. Wei didn't say a word that it was her idea.
Instead, they followed the officials and knelt down to beg him, the emperor, to make the decision for Wei Qingyan.
What Shi Yu did was indeed ridiculous, but he was the royal prince, and no matter how unbecoming he was, he was still his younger brother. How could he be bullied by a courtier's wife?
He thought that would be enough to make him angry.
Unexpectedly, Shi Yu told him that Mrs. Wei only needed a quarter of an hour to bury the body and nail the coffin.
The child died in battle, and his body must be covered with scars. From cleaning, to suturing, grooming, and changing the shroud, there was not a single process that could not be completed in an hour.
For a quarter of an hour, it can only be shown that Mrs. Wei did not bury the child at all, but nailed the coffin lid directly.
Even though that was not Madam Wei's biological son, but a soldier who sacrificed his life for the country, she dared to humiliate him like that.
Besides, that was his prince.
The emperor suppressed his anger, looked at Mrs. Wei, and said solemnly, "Although Wei Aiqing is young, he has countless military exploits. He even defeated Wu Dan in two years. He deserves to be admitted to the imperial mausoleum."
"Your Majesty, please understand my feelings as a mother." Mrs. Wei knelt down and insisted.
"As far as I know, Mrs. Wei has not returned to the capital for three years in Yongzhou." The emperor sneered, "How come Mrs. Wei has not been worshiping Wei Aiqing in the past three years?
Is there some reason why Mrs. Wei is blocking my will that I don't know? "
"Your Majesty, I have been wronged. It is because of my poor health that I have not returned to the capital for three years. I feel guilty. I want to visit my son's grave more often..."
"How did I hear that Mrs. Wei was in very good health in Yongzhou and was able to play chess with King Jing in the middle of the night, so that Wanyi was so sad that she had to take her young children and send you back to the capital in person?"
Lan Shu slowly walked out from behind the screen and interrupted Mrs. Wei's words.
Mrs. Wei Xiao did not expect that she was there, let alone that she would know what happened in Yongzhou. Thinking of these days, she occasionally accompanied Yan Lan to visit Wanyi, and guessed that Wanyi told her.
He was resentful that Lan Shu, a lunatic, came out to stir up trouble. He promptly explained, "These are all misunderstandings."
After finishing speaking, he realized that this was not the most important thing at the moment and said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, when it comes to military merit, my deceased husband's achievements are higher than Qing Yan's. How dare my son surpass his father..."
"Then let General Wei sneak into the imperial mausoleum together. Madam Wei, this is an imperial decree." The emperor interrupted her coldly.
He had previously proposed that the general protecting the country move into the imperial mausoleum just to disturb the young lady's heart. Seeing that Lan Shu had no objection, he immediately made up his mind.
The kid deserved it, and that was something he felt guilty about.
At the same time, he also thought a little bit, and was shocked by what Lan Shu just said.
Mrs. Wei Xiao and King Jing played chess in the middle of the night? They are mother-in-law and son-in-law.
It's a pity that Lan Shu didn't intend to say more to him.
The emperor was also thinking about how to force Mrs. Wei to tell the truth about that year, and he didn't want to think too much about the gossip.
Mrs. Wei was completely speechless and her back was wet with sweat. On the way out of the palace, her steps were a little sloppy as she was thinking about how to deal with what would happen next.
The emperor heard the palace servants report on Mrs. Wei's condition and looked at Lan Shu, "I won't press her for the moment. I want to see what she will do and if there is anyone who can help."
"Your Majesty is wise." Lan Shumei responded sincerely.
The scene became quiet for a while.
Shi Yu and Wei Qingyan's eyes met in the air. Then, Shi Yu walked to the palace, lifted his robe and knelt down, "Your Majesty, I have something to confess."
