Still waiting for Zhaoyang

Chapter 20
But Wang Ji didn't answer his son, but instead said: "The emperor gave me a secret edict." He paused, and continued, "One day he will be the ninety-five emperor, and Xiaoxiang will be the queen one day, and her son must be the same. Crown Prince. If she has no heirs in the future, His Royal Highness will record her as the crown prince under her name." After speaking, Wang Ji carefully took out the bright yellow silk from his sleeve.

Wang Qing took it, looked it over impatiently, sighed, and forced a smile on his fat face: "Father, the foundation of the Wang family's century-old lineage is within this thought, you agree?"

Wang Ji shook his head solemnly: "Qing'er, you are wrong. The emperor didn't give us any room, we have to choose if we agree, and we have to choose if we don't agree."

"Then..." Wang Qing hesitated to speak.

"There are still people in the Human matter, and they are all under his control. Once you and I have any ambiguity, the entire Wang family will be wiped out from then on."

"But, that poison is..."

"Qing'er, it's useless to say such things, so let's just leave it like this." Wang Ji sat down slowly.

Wang Qing said again: "I have always felt that the emperor is cautious in his actions, and it is not all the absurd state of the people. Now that I think about it, we have underestimated him."

Wang Ji couldn't help saying to himself: "We are not the only ones who underestimate His Majesty."

Sitting on a chair, he slowly recalled the secret conversation at night. Shang Rui had already made no secrets in front of him, which was completely different from the usual immature impression.He can use any thing that is useful to him, and he can easily disrupt the set chess and come in another way.The emperor's posture is all in the eyebrows.It was not difficult for him to imagine that if he showed the slightest disagreement at that time, that person would prevent him from leaving the Kangning Palace tonight.

At this moment, Minglian in the Kangning Hall personally removed the soup from the case table, and then reminded the meditating Shang Rui: "Your Majesty, it's getting late, let's rest."

Shang Rui didn't respond, Minglian could only bite the bullet and call out the emperor again.Shang Rui came back to his senses, but he didn't get on the couch. He sat at the sandalwood square table where he reviewed the booklets, and wrote a letter with a pen.

By the time the letter was written, the outside of the window was already a little white.

Shang Rui rubbed his eyes, and ordered Minglian to personally inform He Lanxun to wait in Tian Yuan's village.

After doing all this, there was one person's name in his mind——Min Xiayue.

Getting her was really an accident, a pleasant surprise.

But now, with such an important move, he is a little hesitant.

When Shang Rui thought of Xia Yue, besides her relationship with Wei Ranyu, what filled his mind was actually two rows of pearl-like teardrops when she was sleeping soundly on the table.

Thinking about it is another matter, Xia Yue, as an orphan of the Yu family, has a strange relationship with King Yanping with Gao Xin Baoyu, and at the same time is in Qi'an's residence, so it can be seen that her relationship with Qi'an is also different.

Thinking so far, Shang Rui closed his eyes, leaned his head back, and after a while, stood up from the seat: "Come here, change clothes."

The eunuchs and eunuchs on duty at night had just changed shifts, and the eunuchs and eunuchs serving the emperor who got up early to go to court filed in one after another.Shang Rui opened his arms, allowing them to wash and change their clothes.

People in the world just perform their duties.

And even if I try my best to sit in the mountains and rivers, I am just a chess piece for the people of the world, which emperor can escape such a fate.

Even he is like this, how can he protect others.

In the Qiantai Palace, all civil and military officials were already waiting, and Shang Rui sat on the dragon chair, looking down on all living beings.

As he expected, the news did not reach the court until the court, causing an uproar in the court.There was a mutiny in the southern region, Xu Yang was missing, and the Xu family was all anxious.Or maybe the Xu family could not wait to want Duke Huai to rebel, not for anything else but because his surname was Wei.

Following Xu's wish, Shang Rui appointed Xu Jingye as the commander-in-chief to go to the southern region to suppress the enemy.Empress Dowager Xu had a lot of complaints in the harem when she learned that Xu Jingye was already the king of Wei with a fief. The throne was hereditary. Decide.

As soon as the court came, the queen mother sent someone to invite the emperor to go over.

"Wei Shangren is an ungrateful bastard," the queen mother cursed, "it's useless to treat him so kindly. I'm always afraid that the third sister will suffer with him. He is the best among the princes. He has a vast land and many people. Now he is not satisfied. Grace will be revenged."

Shang Rui said: "Mother, there is no need to get angry, the matter has come to this point, saying anything will not help the matter, not to mention I still have my uncle to support me."

It's okay not to mention this, but Empress Dowager Xu felt a headache again when she said it, but she swallowed the words again, no matter what, she still couldn't say anything bad about her mother's family in front of her son, and finally said: "Some things, You have to think about it yourself.”

"My son understands."

Shang Rui came out of Chengfu Palace and went back to the Imperial Study Room.Helan Xun and a group of people were already waiting for him there.

"What's the news from other places?" Shang Rui asked as soon as he entered the door.

"Duke Huai sent a letter to every prince."

"Letter?" Shang Rui sneered.

"It basically means to call on all the vassals to restore David's orthodoxy, but they haven't responded to him yet." Tian Yuan replied.

When Shang Rui heard this, the coldness on the corner of his mouth deepened: "Where is King Liang?"

Liang Wang was the closest to the first prince during his lifetime, and later the first prince fell, and he was also implicated by it. Although he survived by luck, he had the worst life in all aspects, and it stands to reason that he should also have the greatest resentment.

"The same is true for King Liang." He Lanxun said.

Shang Rui remained silent.

Tian Yuan said: "Do you want to order them to go to Beijing immediately? That would be a shocking blow."

He Lanxun said: "I'm afraid it's not appropriate. At this moment, everyone is in danger. If they rashly announce them to Beijing, they may backfire."

"But I..." Tian Yuan wanted to say more, but was stopped by Shang Rui raising his hand.

Shang Rui said slowly: "The people we placed in various places before can do it."

four

In the suburbs of Beijing, Tian Yuan's home.

Xia Yue nestled peacefully all day, drinking medicine and eating, but no one showed up.When resting at night, Xia Yue thought that if there was no one there tomorrow, she would simply go back with He Xiang, otherwise she would suffocate to death before she found out why.

On the morning of the third day, she heard the sound of the piano just after she finished washing.The melody flowed slowly, in this quiet snowy day, for a while it was like birds singing in a valley, and for a while it was like flowing water in a mountain stream, mellow and fresh, extremely beautiful.She is a restless person, she is very good at piano and chess, and when she heard the sound, she couldn't help but go looking for it with He Xiang.

After passing the veranda, I realized that the sound of the piano was coming from the rockery.

He Xiang helped her up the stone ladder.

In the gazebo on the top of the mountain, a young woman is playing the piano.When the woman heard someone approaching, she looked up suspiciously, but the sound of the piano stopped abruptly.

Xia Yue was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt that she was a bit abrupt, so she had to give her a blessing: "You take the liberty to disturb me."

The young woman smiled and said, "Is it Miss Min?"

"Exactly. Madame?"

"My husband's family name is Tian, ​​did you just disturb the girl's rest?"

This person is Tian Yuan's wife, Wu Shi.Yesterday, after Tian Yuan finished his work in the Southern Region, he remembered that Xia Yue was still with him.At that time, Shang Rui left Yao Chuang to look after him.But this is in his Zhuangzi, how to take care of it, he didn't get Shang Rui's instructions.If Xia Yue leaves, will he stay?He didn't know what Shang Rui planned to do with Xia Yue, and he didn't dare to get too close, so he had to offer up like a Bodhisattva.

Tian Yuan secretly asked He Lanxun before.He Lanxun has more sloppy intestines than him, and said with a leisurely smile: "You might as well send your wife there tomorrow morning. Talk to people, make friends, and pass the time. If you can keep it, you can keep it. If you can't keep it, it's fine. But If the emperor suddenly asks, and the person is gone, you will be in trouble."

Helan Xun certainly knew Xia Yue.Shang Ruixi doesn't like her, he doesn't know, but now that the South Region is rebelling, keeping her may be a move.

So he coaxed his wife to come to Zhuangzi in the snow before dawn.

Xia Yue heard her say that her husband's family name was Tian, ​​looked at her clothes again, and tried to ask: "Is it Mrs. Tian?"

Wu smiled and nodded, got up and pulled Xia Yue into the pavilion to sit down, patted the snowflakes on her shoulder and said, "Are you still used to living here? My master is busy with things, so he didn't take good care of Miss Min."

"Where is it, I am bothering you."

Mrs. Wu is about 30 years old, and her attitude is extremely kind, so the two of them started talking after a while.

Under the instruction of He Lanxun, Tian Yuan did not tell Wu Shi Shang Rui's identity.

Xia Yue went to touch her qin as she spoke: "It's really a good qin."

"The year I passed the door, the master gave it to me."

"Master Tian is really caring."

Wu smiled: "He is a rough man."

"What song did Madam just play?"

"Recently, "The Wild Goose Pagoda" is very popular in the imperial capital. I have always liked this kind of simple and affectionate tunes. The majestic and magnificent ones are just for men to play."

"It turns out that this song is "Yan Er Pagoda". I heard it a lot a few days ago, but unfortunately I didn't listen to it intermittently."

Wu smiled: "If you like it, I will remember the score. You wait for me, I will find a pen and paper to write it down for you." When he left, he took off his snow-white cloak and put it on Xia Yue. "It's cold outside, you're just getting better, don't freeze."

Pointing to the lotus fragrance, she said, "Tell this girl to come with me to fetch a stove and hot tea, and let's enjoy the snow and sing."

It was rare for Xia Yue to meet her bosom friend, she was in a good mood, and hummed the most familiar part of the song just now.Still feeling unsatisfactory in my heart, I couldn't help touching the strings in front of me.

The piano is indeed a good piano.She had seen a really good piano before, and it was in Qi An's collection.But it feels too tough, not as delicate and friendly as Mrs. Tian's.Perhaps if this remark was heard by a real famous person like Qi An, he would sneer at it.Anyway, she doesn't know much about it. She only knows that the melody is pleasing to the ear and playing comfortably is a good thing for her.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help dialing with my hand.

It was inconvenient for her to move her left hand, so she only used her right hand to play out the verse that she just hummed intermittently.

Hearing footsteps from behind, she was afraid that she would be laughed at like this, so she immediately stopped moving, and when she looked up, she saw that it was Shang Rui who came.

He smiled and asked, "Why don't you play anymore?" His expression was almost the same as before, but it was definitely not the tone he spoke to her before he left the day before yesterday.

Today he wore a white dress with wide sleeves, against the white snow, he showed a different kind of handsomeness than before.

Xia Yue stared at him, and suddenly asked intentionally, "Master Hong also knows how to play piano?"

Shang Rui shook his head: "I don't understand." His expression didn't fluctuate at all.

Xia Yue didn't know that the name "Hong Wu" revealed by Yao Chuang was also instructed by Shang Rui, so how could he show her a flaw.

She looked at him carefully, afraid of missing the slightest clue, and said: "Young Master Hong must be pretending to be modest."

He still smiled: "Do you think I am a humble person?"

This is the truth.

Xia Yue continued: "I heard that the sons of the imperial capital are all sensual and sensual, and it's rare for them to be incomprehensible."

Shang Rui smiled and turned his eyes: "Miss Xia, it's not a good word to indulge in sensuality."

Because he was always unpredictable in front of her, Xia Yue didn't know if what she said made him unhappy again, she was not good at this, so she couldn't find any other topics to test him.

Shang Rui also fell silent.

It was snowing heavily outside the pavilion.There were many snowflakes, some fell on the ground, some fell on the branches of the trees and accumulated in clusters, reminding her of Jinluo's pear blossoms.

In an extremely quiet world, there seems to be only wind blowing and snow falling.

He stood tall and tall here, and suddenly said: "Maybe, our family is indeed different from others."

She looked up at him, not knowing why.

He added: "My mother has always believed that a mediocre sound can lead to depression and is not the way to manage a family. So I only learned how to manage a family since I was a child, and I didn't learn rhythm and other things."

In addition to riding horses and archery, he was better at painting when he was a child.Who would have known that with his restless temperament, he could hold a pen alone for a day, but his mother never allowed it.He still remembered what his mother said at the time - what you want to practice is the art of the emperor, how can you waste time on these things.

"That must be boring." Xia Yue said.

He smiled lightly again: "How can people in the world live a perfect life, can't sit and enjoy the family property of their ancestors, and at the same time don't know what's good and what's wrong?"

There are gains and losses in life, so he never regretted it.Many literati despise power, but those who have not really tried it will never be able to experience the satisfaction of vanity and wild ambitions.If one life of freedom and one life of hypocrisy were exchanged for half a moment of the throne, many people including him would readily agree, right?
When he said these, his tone was extremely indifferent, his eyes were deep and calm.But the wind blew in, and the snow was caught in it, and the corner of his hairband and robe was lifted.Those fine snowflakes seemed to try to get in through his cuffs by taking advantage of the wind.

Shang Rui rolled up his sleeves slightly to keep them out.

Following Shang Rui's movements, Xia Yue inadvertently caught a glimpse of his hand.The patch of skin where the ring finger and little fingertips of that hand meet the back of the hand was red and swollen.His hands were originally slender and well-proportioned. She still remembered that he wore a white jade wrench on his right thumb. It is estimated that apart from the calluses for holding the pen and drawing the bow, there were no other flaws.Now, the finger is removed, and the fingers have become like this, which is out of place against the luxurious sleeves with white dark lines.

Xia Yue was a little strange, how could a dude from a family like him, who was either rich or noble, suffer from frostbite when he was served by so many people.

Xia Yue didn't have time to think about it, and saw that he had noticed her gaze, and took a few steps to avoid her gaze.

She also felt that it was inappropriate for her to stare at the man's body so carefully, so she said casually: "You don't have to worry about it. In fact, your ability to bully people is first-rate when you ride a horse and shoot arrows."

He smiled, nodded and replied: "Yes, yes. Some girls can be slapped if they disagree with each other, and they will carry her for two miles in the snow. I don't know who is bullying whom."

She was suddenly embarrassed, and turned her face away embarrassingly.

He said: "You threw away the hairpin I bought. I paid a lot of money to buy it. If you compensate me, I will forgive you."

"You broke my hands, why should I apologize to you?"

"Then I'll apologize to you first, and you tell me later?" He said cheekily.

"I……"

As he was talking, he saw He Xiang and Wu Shi came back together with things, and Ming Lian followed behind with the stove.

Seeing that so many people came, Xia Yue stopped talking to him.

Wu Shi was not surprised when she saw Shang Rui, she thought she had seen him just now: "Young Master Hong drink tea to warm up."

Shang Rui didn't refuse, and sat down leisurely.

As soon as Mrs. Wu put down her things, she suddenly remembered something, stomped her feet and said, "Look at my memory, I was going to get a pen to write a score for Miss Min, but I forgot about the business in my busy schedule." She seemed to be a busy person, She didn't look like the mistress at all, and after she finished speaking, she ignored Xia Yue's dissuasion and went back to the house with her maid.

They were left for a while.Because of Xia Yue's injury, He Xiang no longer has a good impression of Shang Rui.But Minglian never spoke much.So the four of them fell silent together.

Shang Rui lifted the cup of tea and took a shallow sip.So she saw his hand again, the frostbitten fingers were contrasted by the smooth and delicate white porcelain cup, which was particularly eye-catching.

At this moment, Mrs. Wu just came back and handed a book to Xia Yue: "There is also a ready-made score in the study."

Xia Yue hurriedly thanked her.

Sitting down, Mrs. Wu also noticed Shang Rui's hands, and asked casually, "Is Mr. Hong's hands better?"

Shang Rui didn't take it seriously: "It's a small matter, it doesn't matter." Then he flicked his sleeves and put his hands away.

Mrs. Wu said: "I heard that Liu Bi said that he was frostbitten in the snow near our Zhuangzi?" Liu Bi is Tian Yuan's word.

Xia Yue was taken aback when she heard the words, then looked at his hands, and suddenly understood.

That must be because of her.

Suddenly, she wanted to say something, but because of the presence of others, she didn't know how to speak, so she had to give up in the end.She has never been able to hide herself, and the Wu family seemed to read something from this look, so she found an excuse to avoid it, and did not forget to call Ming Lian and He Xiang before leaving.

If it were someone else, once they noticed Wu's deliberation, they might feel embarrassed, but Xia Yue has always been a free and easy person, so she couldn't help asking directly: "Why didn't you rub the ginger slices at that time?"

(End of this chapter)