Is the emperor cremated today?

Chapter 18

Fang Shuhuai couldn't fall asleep for a while, so he got up and went to the desk to review the memorial.

Zhu Weng pushed the door open and came in, holding a cup of ginseng tea in his hand, and came to the desk, "Your Majesty still has to take care of your body, and you only slept for less than two hours."

After taking a sip of ginseng tea, Fang Shuhuai said, "I know what's in my heart, I wish Weng to go and rest."

Zhu Weng sighed secretly, in order to return to Yangzhou as soon as possible, His Majesty dealt with political affairs day and night, and his eye sockets were sunken, but the one in Yangzhou didn't know anything.

Zhu Weng shook his head and left the bedroom.

For the past two days Xu Miaoyin slept very restlessly. The dream was full of strange things, but she couldn't remember anything when she woke up. She stood up, rubbed her forehead, lifted the curtain and got out of bed, squeezed on her shoes, put on a casual dress and Open the door to the porch.

Because the sky was not yet bright, there was silence in the hazy sky, and occasionally the wind blew, carrying some earthy breath, but it unexpectedly soothed her restless heart.

She sat on the porch and looked around her yard. She had lived here since she knew about it, and she was very familiar with every brick and tile here, but now she suddenly felt a strange emotion.

I don't know if it was influenced by those two letters, and my state of mind is also different.

The banana tree in front of the window seems to be taller, the circle of moss under the stone bench in the yard is gone, and the cobblestone path on the ground is glowing white...

Everything seemed to be half-new and still the same as before, but it made her feel strange for no reason.

She touched the pillar next to it. There was a child's imprint on it, which was carved by her mother according to her stature every year on her birthday. She was measured.

She got up and walked out of Lanyin Courtyard. After crossing the corridor, you will see the lotus pond. Sitting in the pavilion beside the lotus pond, you can not only admire the lotus, but also see the wall of roses planted by your father for your mother. After passing the flower wall, you will see the four seasons. The flower field is planted with flowers that are suitable for all seasons. They are always blooming in all seasons and are beautiful in all seasons. Further forward is Xiaojing Lake. Make tea here...

It seems that everything is still there, but it has changed.

She was standing by the waterside pavilion, the rising sun slightly illuminated the surface of the lake, and there were ripples of light. On the opposite side of the lake was her father's study, and the lotus flowers under the study were in full bloom.

Xu Miaoyin stared at the lotus in a daze, but suddenly heard footsteps coming from Ling Yuexuan's direction.

She turned her head to look, and it was Xu Jiaoyue walking slowly in her direction.

Xu Jiaoyue's legs were not completely healed, and she walked very slowly. Xu Miaoyin just watched her walk in front of her, and did not go forward to help her.

There was thin sweat on Xu Jiaoyue's forehead, with a smile on her face, she said, "Why is my sister here?"

Xu Miaoyin looked at her and said with a smile, "Just walk around as you like."

She looked at her legs again, and warned: "It's not all healed yet, don't walk so much, or the root cause of the disease will remain."

Xu Jiaoyue smiled indifferently, "Don't worry, my sister, I know it well."

Xu Miaoyin saw her smiling brightly, as if any problem was not a problem in her eyes, so she also showed her face, and stretched out her hand to support Xu Jiaoyue towards Ling Yuexuan.

"You haven't got married yet and have children. If you become a lame bride, it won't be beautiful."

"It's still early, and besides, I'm so young, I won't be crippled after walking these few steps, so I'm recovering." Xu Jiaoyue said with a smile.

Xu Miaoyin was noncommittal to her words, but still smiled softly: "After taking this class for a while, it seems that it is quite effective, and Jiaojiao's speech is not like before."

Xu Jiaoyue was stunned, feeling slightly annoyed, how could she forget it again, she laughed a few times, then leaned her head on Xu Miaoyin's shoulder and acted coquettishly.

"Sister, my leg hurts a bit!"

Xu Miaoyin patted her head dotingly, and sent her to the door of Lingyuexuan, and saw Yunxiang came out to welcome her, and handed her over to Yunxiang, she planned to go back to Lanyin Academy, but was held back by Xu Jiaoyue hand.

"Sister, do you seem to have something on your mind?"

Xu Miaoyin was still smiling, "It's nothing, it's just that I haven't slept well recently."

Xu Jiaoyue pursed her lips, and said again: "Sister, no matter what happens, I will help you."

Seeing the firm look in her eyes, Xu Miaoyin was slightly taken aback, and her heart softened, "It's great that Jiaojiao is sensible, but with my sister here, you don't have to worry about anything."

After speaking, he helped her straighten the broken hair on her forehead, then turned and left Ling Yuexuan.

Xu Jiaoyue wanted to pull her back, but was held back by Yun Xiang. Seeing Xu Miaoyin walking away, Yun Xiang said: "What do you want to do, don't forget your identity."

Xu Jiaoyue shook off Yun Xiang's hand and turned back to Ling Yuexuan.

On the way back, Xu Miaoyin met Yuqiu who was looking for her.

Yuqiu heaved a sigh of relief, and said, "Miss, the maidservant was frightened. I didn't see you when the door was open, so I thought something happened."

Seeing her anxious face, Xu Miaoyin comforted her, "Just come out to relax, don't worry."

Yuqiu supported her, and the master and servant went to Lanyin Academy.

After washing up, Xu Miaoyin went to prepare medicine for Xu Rennian as usual. After Xu Rennian finished drinking the medicine, she said she wanted to go to the study to find some books to read. With Xu Rennian's consent, she went to the study.

When Xu Miaoyin pushed the door and entered, there was no one in the study. She closed the door, walked to the shelf full of books, and searched carefully from left to right until she found all the books on the shelf. There is no difference at all.

She looked for the desk again, but there was nothing special about it except for the usual pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Did Xu Ming take the ledger out from his study, or was it given to him by someone else?
She couldn't find anything, so she could only ask Xu Ming, but Xu Ming was not by her father's side today.

She thought about it all night, but she didn't understand that there was any connection between that old account book and the so-called truth. The destruction of the family, there is no doubt that someone behind the scenes must be manipulating all this, otherwise how could there be the appearance of the old ledger?
However, if it is true that someone has turned the Xu family's property into a piece of paper, then according to the previous trajectory, my father has already moved Yanyin, so why is there no movement at all, but now Shuhuai has gone to Yancheng?

And what exactly is Xu Ming's identity, why did he come to tell her when he knew this?

It's not that she didn't want to ask her father in the past, that way she would know more, but for some reason, there was a voice in her heart telling herself that she couldn't go, if she went, she wouldn't know all the truth, so she didn't ask, and she still pretended to be normal .

It's just that Xu Ming can't be seen now, and she has no other clues, how did she know?

Xu Miaoyin was about to get up and leave the study when she saw Xu Ming push the door and walk in.

Xu Ming was slightly taken aback, as if he didn't expect her to appear here, then he saluted Xu Miaoyin and said, "What are you looking for, Miss?"

Xu Miaoyin didn't expect Xu Mingneng to appear at this time, so she could just ask him, and said, "Who the hell are you? What do you know?"

Xu Ming looked sideways at the door, then took two steps closer to her, and said softly: "Madam, it's inconvenient to talk now, the truth you want to know is all in this letter."

As he spoke, he took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Xu Miaoyin.

Xu Miaoyin looked at him, but did not answer, but asked: "Who are you? Who wants to kill our Xu family?"

Xu Ming chuckled and said, "Ma'am, you don't need to know who I am, you just need to know that I'm here to help you escape the Xu family's prison."

Xu Miaoyin accepted the letter with some hesitation, and heard him say: "There are people watching around you, I will come to you again when I have a chance."

After speaking, Xu Ming took a book from the bookshelf and left the study.

Xu Miaoyin was startled, the letter in her hand almost fell to the ground, she clenched the letter tightly, her eyes were full of disbelief, who would watch her at her home.

She doesn't know how much the Xu Mansion is now.

Surveillance?

Knowing from an outsider that she is living under the surveillance of others, and that every move she makes will be watched in secret, Xu Miaoyin's body trembled slightly with this recognition.

She was being watched, so her father, sister, are they also under the watchful eyes of others?

A powerless fear gripped her.

With trembling hands, she stuffed the letter into her cuffs, then slowly got up from the chair and walked out the door.

She looked at the servants of Sasa outside the study, and the maidservants passing by in the corridor, were they?
She walked to Xu Rennian's bedroom, opened the door and walked in. In the room, Xu Ming was making tea for Xu Rennian, and Xu Rennian was looking at the book that Xu Ming had just taken from the study.

Xu Miaoyin always found Zhuangzi's books difficult to understand, but his father liked them very much.

She wanted to say something to her father, but her mind was muddled, she didn't know where to start, so she could only yell "Daddy".

Xu Rennian looked at him blankly and called him, then there was no more to say, and his face was a little pale, so he wanted to get up and help her, at this time Xu Ming stepped forward and said: "Patriarch, you are still sick, you should lie down It's good, if you have anything to ask, just do it."

Xu Ming's words reminded the two of them.

Xu Rennian realized that he was pretending to be sick, so he lay back down again.

Xu Miaoyin realized that her father was still sick, so she couldn't worry about him anymore, she would come to discuss with her father after she found out the truth and who was behind the scenes.

Xu Miaoyin calmed down, glanced at Xu Ming, and said warmly: "Daddy, I'm going back to Lanyin Academy."

Xu Rennian smiled kindly, "Go, look at your complexion, go back and rest quickly, Yuchun is here, you are not feeling well, why don't you ask her to follow you?"

Xu Miaoyin just sent Yuchun to the kitchen for the convenience of going to the study.

"I wanted to eat chestnut cake just now, so I asked her to tell the kitchen to make it. It's okay, I can go back alone."

After saying that Xu Miaoyin saluted Xu Rennian, she left Minghui Hall.

Seeing Xu Miaoyin walking away, Qiao Zhi got out of bed, looked at Xu Ming who was making tea with his head down, and frowned slightly. It seemed that what Chen Fengling said made sense, and Xu Ming should not be allowed to appear in front of Xu Miaoyin again.

Xu Miaoyin no longer knew how she walked back to Lanyin Academy, she held her hands and kept telling herself to be calm and not let others see her strangeness.

As soon as she stepped into the courtyard gate, Yuqiu greeted her, seeing her pale face, she went to help her, but Xu Miaoyin avoided her abruptly.

Maybe she felt that her movements were a bit abrupt, Xu Miaoyin smiled and said: "Yuqiu, I'm a little sleepy, please support me."

Yuqiu helped her into the house, waited for her to fall asleep, put down the bed curtain, and retreated.

After hearing the sound of closing the door, Xu Miaoyin opened her eyes, got up and hung up the curtain on one side of the bed, and took out the letter from her cuff.

The envelope is very thin, but the bottom is a bit thick, like a small label.

She fell down, and several palm-sized notes fell out.

She picked them up one by one, unfolded them and looked at them.

There are very few words on each small sign, "arrived in Yangzhou", "as planned", "married in Xu Mansion", "Jinshuizhai", "money has arrived"...

Every time she looked at a picture, Xu Miaoyin's face turned pale, and her heart felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

The handwriting is very strange, but the content on the paper sign is enough for her to know who it is!
She never thought that the person who caused Xu's family to be ruined would be her husband, Fang Shuhuai!

……

Yujing Rongguo Mansion
As soon as Fang Zhiyuan got off his horse and stepped into the gate of Rongguo Duke's Mansion, Zhang Yan, the manager, greeted him, holding the secret letter he just got in his hand, and followed Fang Zhiyuan all the way to the study.

Zhang Yan handed over the secret letter, Fang Zhiyuan took it, opened it and laughed.

Seeing this, Zhang Yan asked with a smile: "Master is so happy, but the matter in Yangzhou is over."

Fang Zhiyuan was in a good mood, so he patiently talked to him, "No matter how defensive my nephew is, he still let me send someone in. Now that woman knows the truth, I'll see how he responds."

Zhang Yan asked suspiciously: "Isn't the master going to kill that woman? Why not kill the matter directly, and let her know the truth through such troubles."

Fang Zhiyuan glanced at him, and said with a sneer: "If I kill someone, he will hate me forever. If that woman knows the truth, he caused the death of her father and Xu's family. Tell me, that Will the woman go crazy again, so that she can shed her skin without dying, and if I add more fire, that woman will be doomed, and when there is no such woman, my good nephew will obediently obey me."

Zhang Yan echoed with a smile, "Master is wise."

Fang Zhiyuan smiled complacently, the good nephew was still a little tender, thinking that he sent Xiao Duo to him just to kill Xiao Duo, no, he just sent the person he wanted to send in!

At this time, someone knocked on the door of the study and handed in another secret signature.

Zhang Yan took it and handed it to Fang Zhiyuan who was sitting in front of the desk.

After Fang Zhiyuan looked at it, he put it on the candle and burned it together with the previous paper sign.

I saw the words "Your Majesty has left the city" slowly swallowed by the fireworks.

Even if he rushes back now, it's too late!
Under the scorching sun, Fang Shuhuai lashed the horse under him vigorously to make the horse run faster. The horse under him neighed and threw off its four hooves, running desperately, making Qin Zhan behind him very hard to chase.

After Fang Shuhuai announced the date and candidates for dispatching troops early today, Fang Zhiyuan uncharacteristically supported his decision, which made him wonder what purpose he had, and a feeling of uneasiness quietly arose in his heart, which made him sleepless and restless, so he After the early court, he explained all the affairs and took Qin Zhan Kuaima out of Yujing.

Fang Shuhuai urged the horse under him, and arrived in Yangzhou three days later.

(End of this chapter)