The Grand Finale of Da Han Yan Hua Volume 3: The Luminous Dice of An Hong Dou 139 Unfinished

  Decided to go back and revise the previous chapter, so I'll post this one first.

  Hmm. This chapter is slightly inconsistent with the previous one, so take this one as the standard.

  Emperor Hui's fifth year spring

  After three months of preparation, the emperor's carriage procession finally departed from Xuanping Gate in Chang'an, crossed the Ba River, passed through Ziyang, Xin'an, Huaxian, Huayin, and exited through Hangu Pass to Luoyang. The speedway was three zhang wide, with green pines planted along both sides of the road. The horse-drawn carriages galloped steadily on the road.

  After the sixteen longevity streamers, purple streamers, and rainbow streamers, came the emperor's carriage. Behind it was the carriage where the empress resided. Lu Yuan lowered the curtain of his own carriage and also blocked out the view of the scenery along the roadside, sighing, "It's really been a long time since I've returned to Pei County."

  "A Yan probably won't understand her mother's feelings," she said, looking at her daughter leaning on the sedan chair, "You were born with a noble status since you were young, and have never mixed with the common people in the countryside. You've also never been to Pei County before, I'm afraid you'll just laugh at your mother."

  "Mother said where the words are." Zhang Yan threw a plum into her mouth and took another sip of tea, "Pei County is the birthplace of Your Majesty and Ah Mu, and I also want to take a look. Besides, isn't it that Your Majesty understands Ah Mu's homesickness and insists on taking her along?"

  Lu Yuan smiled and said, "Yes." His expression softened. "It's a pity that Mother is old now and can't come with us. Otherwise, our family would be truly reunited."

  "Your Majesty, Princess," the guard came to the front of the carriage and reported, "His Majesty ordered me to inform you that once we pass Luoyang, we will be taking the postal road. The roads in the eastern provinces are far from as smooth as the postal road, so the ride may be a bit bumpy. I hope Your Majesty and the Princess will forgive us."

  Before long, Ji You stepped out and smiled. "Her Majesty the Empress said she understands. She thanks General Li on her behalf."

  Only a loud rumbling sound of wheels was heard, and the horse turned into the sandy road, raising endless dust.

  That evening, the imperial carriage rested at a village pavilion beside the road in Neihuang County.

  In the village pavilion, they received an early notice of the emperor's arrival and welcomed him with a clean sweep. Although Emperor Hui had previously made it clear that this trip was just a private tour and that there should be no grand welcoming ceremonies along the way, local officials and guards dared not to treat him simply. Even in a small village pavilion, they hastily arranged the guest rooms in a fairly neat manner.

  Since the person who informed them in advance did not have any additional instructions, the steward naturally arranged for the main hall to be occupied by Your Majesty and the Empress, while Princess Ruyuan lived alone in a small courtyard. The various kings, nobles, and ministers who followed, each according to their rank and position, were assigned accommodations in descending order, while the attendants and guards could only be accommodated, with seven or eight people sharing a single room.

  Backyard

  Washing away the dust of the journey. Zhang Yan changed into her nightclothes and casually asked, "What is Your Majesty doing now?"

  "Reporting to Your Majesty," said Xiao Huangmen, bowing slightly, "Zhao Wang You, Dai Wang Heng, Wu Wang Bi, and Qi Wang's son Xiang, as well as the governor of Dongjun and the county magistrate of Neihuang, have all arrived to pay their respects. They are currently waiting in the front hall for Your Majesty to receive them."

  "Oh." Zhang Yan nodded, indicating that she understood. Suddenly, a strange voice came from outside the house, "Sister is well." The tone was unusual. She couldn't help but frown and ask, "Who's out there?"

  The maid came out of the door and looked around, then came back with a smile and said, "Your Ladyship, it's a parrot raised by a young woman in the pavilion, hung on the corridor, can speak human words, just now that sentence was what it said. We should go take a look to relieve boredom?"

  Zhang Yan felt a bit bored and nodded, "Let her bring it over and take a look."

  When Liu Ying returned, she saw a woman in green clothes standing awkwardly and explained, "Your Majesty the Empress, this parrot was caught by my child while playing in the fields. It has been taught to speak every day and is quite clever. It's quite likable, if Your Majesty likes it, I'll give it to you."

  "It's fine." Zhang Yan raised her head and glanced at them with a hint of a smile, "A gentleman does not take away what others love. I was just teasing for a bit, and will return it to you in a moment. If your family's child is reluctant to part with it, it won't be my fault."

  The parrot in the cage suddenly shouted, "Beautiful sister is so beautiful!" Jumping up and down, it glared at the beautiful girl with anger. Zhang Yantai was quick-witted and glanced at its long tail, then secretly grabbed a handful of it. The tiger-striped parrot struggled left and right, but the bamboo cage was too small to move around in. After dodging east, it bumped into the west, and was surrounded on all sides.

  The girl had a handful of pine nuts in her other hand, and seeing that it was angry, she threw one into its mouth. With her left hand holding the tail and her right hand feeding the pine nuts, she played with great joy.

  The parrot was teased by her and wouldn't eat the food that was brought, but the pine nut tasted good and she really couldn't bear to give it up, so she couldn't help chirping in protest.

  Liu Ying shook her head and called out, "A Yan."

  "Hmm?" Zhang Yan replied, turning around.

  The people in the house and the villagers' wives only discovered that Liu had returned, and they hurriedly turned around to salute, "See your majesty." Suddenly, a cry of "Ah" was heard. It turned out that because Zhang Yan was distracted, the parrot took the opportunity to bite her slender white fingers hard.

  Zhang Yan slightly frowned and withdrew her hand.

  The young daughter-in-law was frightened and quickly knelt down, kowtowing to Liu Ying and Zhang Yan, begging, "I am willing to die."

  "It's nothing." Zhang Yan shook her head and said, "I was the one who teased it too much, and it didn't bite hard either. Not even a single drop of blood came out. Hmm, you can take the bird down now."

  Since he was back, she didn't have the heart to care about other things anymore, and just smiled at him.

  Liu Ying also looked at her and suddenly said, "That parrot has a good eye for beauty, she's indeed a beautiful woman."

  Zhang Yan was taken aback by his words and suddenly came back to her senses, only to find herself somewhat at a loss.

  "Nothing's wrong?" He walked up and examined her fingertips. Seeing that there wasn't even any redness, he scolded again, "How many times have I told you? Every time after washing your hair, dry it properly before doing other things. You always ignore me, until you're old and get dizzy spells, then you'll know regret, right?"

  She puckered up, letting him take a dry towel to wipe her hair, actually, it was not that she couldn't remember, but she was greedy for the tenderness he showed each time he wiped her hair, so she always let him.

  "Your Majesty," she asked casually, "how much longer will it take from Neihuang to Pei County?"

  "It's probably another two or three days' journey. How is it, are you feeling tired from the trip?" Liu Xian sighed, "Actually, you can stay in Chang'an and don't have to accompany me on this trip."

  "How can that be?" Zhang Yan shook her head and said, "I myself am willing to come. Pei County is the hometown of my mother and your majesty, I naturally also want to follow and take a look."

  "And yet." She smiled, her dimples appearing and disappearing in the soft candlelight on her left cheek, serene and beautiful. "I'm not that weak. If we're talking about hardship, Your Majesty has to rush on the road and handle government affairs, isn't that more tiring than me? To say it, if I wasn't born in an imperial family, I would have taken this path anyway. It's just a normal thing."

  The night grew darker, and the eunuch held a candle to light the way. The maid had already arranged the soft and fluffy quilts on the bed. She asked, "Your Majesty, would you like to rest now?"

  "Hmm." Liu Ying glanced at the leaky roof and said, "We still have a long way to go tomorrow, let's sleep for now."

  Zhang Yan nodded, wiped away her tears, and got onto the bed. After a while, Liu Ying finished washing up and changed into her nightclothes. She lifted up one corner of the quilt and lay down beside Zhang Yan.

  The eunuch put down the curtain and blew out the candle flame. He retreated and went out.

  She quietly opened her eyes, and the moonlight shone in through the window, extremely bright and spilled onto the ground.

  "Oh, oh, oh." As if she had just rested her head on a pillow. Then she heard the sound of a rooster crowing.

  Liu Ying woke up from her dream, and when she got up, a corner of her clothes was pressed down. She lowered her head to look and saw the quiet sleeping face of the girl in her arms, and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

  From that winter day on, after that fierce quarrel, he finally understood Zhang Yan's persistence and no longer refused to sleep in the same bed.

  If she would rather spend her whole life in the Weiyang Palace than take a way out arranged by him with great pains, then what is the use of his painstaking efforts to keep her reputation clean?

  The girl in my arms grows up day by day, and the more she grows, the more beautiful and stunning she becomes. Only when she is fast asleep does she still look like a child, with her long eyelashes closed, her skin as white as jade, and even in sleep, her lips are slightly curved, as if she has had a good dream.

  A Yan's sleeping posture was not good, although every day when she fell asleep, she was neat and tidy, but in her sleep, she would always inadvertently turn over and even kick off the quilt. So he had to trouble himself to cover her with a quilt in the middle of the night, otherwise, on the second day, she would catch a cold and drink the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician with a pitiful expression.

  On the third day that he no longer insisted on sleeping separately, Ah Yan ordered someone to take away the spare bed outside the screen of the Peacock Room and burn it as firewood, with great enthusiasm and impatience.

  And he could only touch his nose and smile wryly after hearing it.

  The cypress bed in the Pepper Chamber was large enough, even if two people slept together, there was still a lot of space. He and she shared a bed, but actually had very little skin contact. This time when they went out, although the village pavilion arranged all the daily necessities meticulously, they couldn't find a bed as big as the cypress bed in the Pepper Chamber. Due to the fatigue of traveling, he slept too soundly at night and didn't even know when she turned over and leaned into his arms.

  What's next after knowing?

  He patted Ah Yan's face, this is the person he can't get close to, can't stay away from, can't love, can't hate, can't leave, and can't give up on. He could only spend his days like this, indulging in the last happiness.

  "A Yan," he called out, "get up."

  Zhang Yan murmured a couple of times and said vaguely, "It's still early." She turned over and continued sleeping.

  Han Changyu carried his outer garment into the house and saw this situation, couldn't help but cover his mouth and laugh.

  He jerked back his hemmed clothes and glared at Zhang Yong fiercely.

  Chang Yu hastily suppressed his smile, feigning seriousness and clearing his throat, saying, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was just thinking of a poem, which, when recited in reverse, is actually quite fitting."

  "Oh?" Liu Ying asked curiously, "Which poem?"

  "Yes, it's one of Zheng Feng's songs."

  He suddenly realized and softly sighed, reciting in his heart: "The woman says 'the rooster crows', the scholar says 'it's not yet dawn'."

  After calling out to the maid, she instructed her, "You attend to the young lady. Let her sleep for another quarter of an hour before waking her up."

  "Alright," replied Leng Xie in a low voice.

  The woman said: "Cock crowed." The scholar said: "It's not dawn yet."

  "The child looks up at the night sky and sees a bright star."

  "The swan and the wild goose will fly together."

  "Words of harmony added to yours, suitable for you. Suitable words about drinking wine, growing old with you. The zither and se are in the palace, all is quiet and good."

  "When you know your son is coming, present him with a miscellaneous gift. When you know he is obedient, ask him with a miscellaneous gift. When you know what he likes, repay him with a miscellaneous gift."

  ……

  By the way, about this afternoon's update.

  Because I have three abandoned chapters in the background, and having abandoned chapters is not allowed for VIP extra volumes.

  And I just got to the third volume.

  I then asked the editor for help in the afternoon and published those three chapters that were being blocked.

  Then some bookshelves of children's shoes appeared updated, but came over to see no updates were found.

  This shouldn't happen again.

  If I could guarantee there would be no more mistaken chapters appearing as useless chapters.

  Continue on the road to ask for pink votes.