lady, please calm down

At the end of the You hour, the eunuch summoned all the students from Huaibei to the palace for an audience.

More than a hundred people entered the palace at the same time, creating a huge momentum.

But this made the officials, who had arrived earlier and were much older than the students, unhappy.

Whether from the perspective of respecting the elderly or from the perspective of importance, Your Majesty should first summon all the gentlemen who have been waiting here for a long time!
Inside the duty room, all the officials were making a lot of noise. Only Chen Bokang spoke up and reprimanded them, "Silence! You are all important officials of the court. How can you be so impatient?"

Chen Bokang was the first official among the old ministers of the Zhou Dynasty to cooperate with Huaibei. Because of this relationship, Your Majesty values ​​him very much. Now he has become the backbone of the old ministers in the new dynasty, and his words carry a lot of weight.

Some of my colleagues may feel dissatisfied, but they should just calm down and wait for a while. His Majesty will have to see us anyway!
Zaixin Hall in Xiyuan.

This is not the relatively solemn front hall, but belongs to the harem.

Choosing this place to meet the students seems to be an attempt to create a relaxed atmosphere for brothers and sisters to meet.

Below, the seats of more than ten students represented by Peng Yuyan and others were only ten steps away from Chen Chu. Although there was lingering sorrow on their still young faces due to the sudden news of Cui Zaidao's death, everyone tacitly did not mention the matter.

Just now, when the emperor summoned us to the palace, Peng Yuyan quietly told his classmates: "Cao Ling and Lu Xiaozhai have been captured, and the emperor has summoned us to the palace to meet him. With this attitude, the emperor will not let Cui Xuechang's death be in vain. I think the emperor is also sad, so don't mention this matter again later."

Peng Yuyan and his friends pretended to be relaxed as they reported on the recent progress in their work. When they talked about interesting things, they pretended to be relaxed and laughed dryly.

They didn't mention it, and Chen Chu didn't say anything either. He only asked whether everyone had adapted to the climate in the south of the Yangtze River, whether their salaries were enough to cover their expenses, and so on.

It was not until the middle of the night when the meeting was about to end that Chen Chu once again warned: "Don't be arrogant. A person with a clear conscience is not afraid of a crooked shadow. As long as I am here, I will not let you suffer an unjust accusation. You must keep yourself useful."

Everyone knew what Chen Chu was talking about, and couldn't help but feel sympathetic.

When saying goodbye, Chen Chu suddenly said, "Tonight, Xiao Cui's remains can be transported back to Lin'an, and tomorrow they will be taken back to Huaibei for burial. Yu Yan, you will send Xiao Cui off for me tomorrow."

Speak slowly and in a calm tone.

But after all, they grew up with Chen Chu, and they were very familiar with this brother. They could all tell that under his calm tone, there were emotional fluctuations that were suppressed with great effort.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. Tomorrow, all of us classmates will escort Senior Cui out of the city together."

Peng Yuyan responded and slowly left Zaixin Hall with everyone.

But after walking out of the palace gate, Hu Tou couldn't help but look back, only to see Chen Chu leaning forward slightly, looking down at the floor with a frown, as if thinking about something.

Just now when everyone was in the hall, I didn't feel that Zaixin Hall was spacious. But now looking at it again, the huge hall was exceptionally empty. My brother was sitting alone on the dragon throne, looking extremely lonely.

Hu Tou suddenly felt a strange feeling in his heart, and he turned around and ran back into the hall. Cao Xiaojian, who was guarding the door, was caught off guard and failed to stop him.

Hearing footsteps, Chen Chu looked up and saw that Hu Tou, who had returned, was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He couldn't help but smile and said, "What's wrong with Xiangyi? Is there something wrong?"

When Hu Tou heard the voice, he flattened his mouth and said, "Brother, don't be sad. I, Yan Ge'er, A Zu, and thousands of classmates in the school are all on your side."

Ten or so breaths later, Hu Tou trotted out of Zaixin Hall and caught up with his classmate.

Before Wu Junru, Si Lan and others could ask the reason, they heard Hu Tou sobbing, "We...we feel bad, we can talk to each other and ask His Majesty for help. But His Majesty is sad, who can he tell? Those ministers outside are obviously trying to bully His Majesty. Who will help my brother?"

"."

Si Lan didn't understand why Hu Tou was crying, but the child from Huaibei had blindly trusted His Majesty. She just said, "Those ugly people outside are bullying His Majesty? Ugh~"

After the students left, Chen Chu sat in the empty Zaixin Hall for a long time until Cao Xiaojian came forward again and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Chen, Luo, Xie, Zhou and dozens of others are still waiting outside the Nangong Gate."

Compared to the report from an hour ago, this time there seemed to be one less surname. Chen Chu couldn't help but ask curiously, "Where's Lord Xu?"

"Master Xu, Master Xu, something urgent happened at home, so he went back."

"Haha, my second brother, luckily I am not addicted to playing the role of a 'loyal minister'"

After Chen Chu finished speaking, Cao Xiaojian asked carefully, "Your Majesty, would you like to invite all the gentlemen to come to the court?"

"No, I'm tired." Chen Chu waved his hand, got up and left.

Outside the Nangong Gate.

When the officials saw the students leaving, they thought it was their turn soon, so they all stood up and straightened their official robes.

Sure enough, half a quarter of an hour later, Eunuch Cao appeared outside the duty room.

"Your Majesty is tired and has returned to the harem to rest. My lords, please go back."

However, the news brought by Cao Xiaojian immediately caused a commotion among the officials.

Just now, the students were summoned first, and they endured it!
But now, Your Majesty doesn't even want to see them. How can you tolerate this?

The hot-tempered Dali Temple Minister Zhou Wei was furious and shouted, "The matter of Changhua concerns the laws of the court. Your Majesty, can you solve the problem by avoiding the meeting?"

Someone immediately said, "Yes! Your Majesty, if you don't see us, we will just sit here quietly!"

But there are few who agree.
This trick was useful to the Emperor of Zhou before, but it was not effective to the Emperor of Chu.
Seven years ago, many people were killed at Xuande Gate in Tokyo, including some officials.

Seeing that everyone lacked confidence, Zhou Wei could not help but glare at the two senior officials, Chen Bokang and Luo Ruji, and said, "Mr. Chen, Mr. Luo, you two are the most trusted by His Majesty. Now that His Majesty has made a mistake, you two don't stand up and speak those unpleasant but honest words. Do you want to be sycophants?"

Luo Ruoji secretly groaned. He had come into contact with Huaibei early on and knew the temper of the current emperor best.

Although Your Majesty has a good temper and a reputation for benevolence, once Your Majesty has made up his mind, there is almost no one in the world who can change his mind. Even if there are people who can do it, such as Concubine Cai, why would they speak for us?

Chen Bokang and Luo Ruji were in similar predicaments. No matter how they viewed the Changhua incident, the reason why the emperor valued them was because they had considerable influence among the old ministers of the Zhou Kingdom.

The emperor used them so that they could serve as a bridge of communication between the emperor and his old ministers, appease his old ministers, and minimize the cost of governance.

The crux of the problem lies here in that the prerequisite for these two people to have influence over the old officials is to "win the support of the people."

Just like this time, if they don't show up, who among the old ministers will treat them as their own people in the future?
But being forced to come to the imperial city inevitably leads to conflicts with the emperor's will.
Just now, Huaibei's old official Xu Bang was in the front to attract fire, but now Xu Bang has also slipped away after reacting.
Facing Zhou Wei's questioning and his colleagues' sidelong glances, Luo Ruji only smiled and said, "It's not that bad, it's not that bad. Your Majesty suddenly lost his beloved disciple, and it's understandable that he's angry for a while. After two days, your Majesty will calm down, and Lu Xiaozhai and Cao Ling will be safe."

"What if Your Majesty is still angry after a year or two?" Xie Kuo on the side also said that it was the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple to try officials. The emperor sent his own troops to act brutally this time, which violated the power of the two of them.

Of course we have to argue based on reason.

Zhou Wei immediately suggested, "How about this? We will stop attending court today. If Your Majesty does not release Lu Xiaozhai and Cao Ling, we will wait here for a day."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Bokang, who had remained silent the whole time, slapped the back of his chair and scolded, "Nonsense! His Majesty won't see us tonight, but can he not see us at the court tomorrow morning? Lord Zhou is at least a high official, don't learn the tantrum skills of that woman who cried, made a scene, and then threatened to hang herself!"

After saying that, Chen Bokang stood up and bowed to his colleagues, "I am old and can't stay up all night, so I will go back to my house and rest first!"

As soon as he left, the officials' morale dropped by half. Besides, what Chen Bokang said was indeed reasonable. If Your Majesty could avoid the first day, could he avoid the fifteenth?

About a quarter of an hour later, Zhou Wei left in disappointment with everyone after being persuaded by his colleagues.

At the hour of Hai, on the Moon Platform in the West Garden.

The scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is very beautiful, and the scenery in the Zhou Dynasty’s imperial city is more elegant than that in the Tokyo Imperial City.

This platform is located at the commanding height of the imperial city and is a good place to enjoy the night view of Lin'an.

After Chen Chu finished meeting with the students, he came here alone.

However, changing the place did not make his mood better. Old Bai and Uncle Shen died in the early years. After all, they died on the battlefield. At that time, Chen Chu had some awareness and mental preparation for everyone around him, even himself, to die on the battlefield.

But now, it is a relatively peaceful period, and Cui Zaidao lost his life in Jiangnan in such a tragic way, which made Chen Chu start to reflect.

"My lady, can you stand here?"

As he was thinking, he suddenly heard footsteps outside the palace. Chen Chu frowned and was about to scold, but he heard a familiar charming female voice: "Well, it's OK! The view here is good, and there is still wind. You set up the ladder, and I will go to call His Majesty."

Just by hearing this voice, Chen Chu's frown relaxed.

A few breaths later, Cai Huan, wearing a Tang-style tube-top dress with a semi-transparent scarlet gauze dress on her shoulders, ran in, holding the hem of her skirt.

Before Chen Chu could speak, Cai Hua winked at him and said, "Your Majesty, come on, I'll take you to see the stars."

“What’s so good about stars?”

Chen Chu, who was upset, was speechless, but Cai Huan ignored him, grabbed Chen Chu's arm and ran out.

Outside the palace, Cao Xiaojian and several palace servants were seen holding a bamboo ladder erected on the ridge of the palace.

"."

Chen Chu looked at Cai Hua helplessly, but the latter said excitedly: "Go up, you can see clearly from the roof."

After saying that, Cai Huan pushed Chen Chu up the ladder.

The palace maids below all had constipated expressions on their faces. Late in the night, the imperial concubine encouraged His Majesty to climb onto the roof to look at the stars. Who would believe it if they told others about it?
When Chen Chu was halfway up, Cai Huan rolled up her sleeves and followed him. After stepping onto two steps, she seemed to be worried about exposing herself under her skirt, and she turned back and threatened, "Keep your heads down. If anyone dares to look up, I'll dig out your eyes!"

The height of the palace in the imperial city was at least ten feet, and the palace on the platform was at least two feet. After Cai Hua finally climbed up, she shouted to the people below, "You just need to guard it down there, there's no need to come up."

After giving the order, he turned around and saw that Chen Chu, who had a look of disgust on his face just now, had found a suitable spot on the roof and sat down, looking at Lin'an from afar.

Cai Huan couldn't help but chuckle, and sat down next to Chen Chu, leaning into the latter's arms, not forgetting to put Chen Chu's arms around her waist.

Looking at the stars from the roof is indeed different from the usual perspective on the ground.
Looking down from here, one can see the clear rectangular outline of Lin'an City. The streets and alleys in the city are like bright capillaries, extending in all directions, and are dotted with lights from thousands of homes.

Looking to the east, you can see ships shuttling back and forth in Qiantang Bay.

Occasionally, a slightly salty and humid sea breeze blows
Chen Chu, who had long been accustomed to being surrounded by people, now felt that the sky was vast and the earth was boundless as he and Cai Huan stayed in this quiet palace, as if they had temporarily escaped from the noisy world.

"It's hard for Huan'er to find such a place to steal a moment of leisure."

Chen Chu knew Cai Hua's painstaking efforts and couldn't help but smile. Cai Hua rested her head on Chen Chu's thighs and looked at Chen Chu's nostrils from below. Suddenly she laughed, "Looking at Chen Lang like this, he's so ugly."

".You woman, you are so ignorant!"

“Hehe~” Cai Huan raised her hand, pressed the corner of Chen Chu’s mouth, and forced a smile, then said: “You are just looking for trouble.”

Chen Chu was silent for a moment, but said: "This time, I was too impatient. Xiao Cui and the others are still young. We should give them a few more years to grow."

"It is always the things that teach us. Who would grow up peacefully and wait for things to come to them? Just like when Feng Changning was looking for trouble with you, would he wait for you to have a plan to deal with it before he came to you?"

"That's different."

"Why is it different? Everyone has to die, no one can escape it. Not to mention Lao Bai and Xiao Cui, even I will leave you sooner or later. When that time comes, you must be more open-minded."

"Why are you saying this for no reason?"

Chen Chu frowned, and Cai Hua raised her hand to smooth Chen Chu's brows, then looked at the starry sky and said, "I am a few years older than you, and I have been suffering from a cold body and yang deficiency since childhood, so I am not destined to live a long life. I will probably die before you."

"Don't say such unlucky words."

"Hehe, Chen Lang, are you nervous?"

Cai Huan raised her upper body, raised her hand and pinched Chen Chu's chin. After observing the latter's expression closely, she smiled and said.

Chen Chu took Cai Huan's hand away, then tightened his arm around Cai Huan's waist and said, "You have been with me for more than ten years. You have only had a few days of leisure time, and you have been criticized a lot. What are you talking about life and death? You still have decades to live."

"Hehe, I haven't felt wronged yet, but you feel wronged for me first."

Cai Hua paused for a moment, then continued: "What I want to say is that seven years ago in Fuchang, those twenty-one years added together are not as good as one day today. Even if I die immediately, I am willing. I am like this, and I think Xiao Cui never regretted entering the school and becoming your student before he died. Fate is predetermined by heaven, you need to be more open-minded. If I die before you, I will wait for you in the ancestral hall. Then you just need to think of me turning into a ghost and wandering around you, and maybe you won't feel so uncomfortable."

"Sigh~"

Chen Chu rubbed the goose bumps on his arms, "Huan'er's love words are a bit creepy." (End of this chapter)