Still waiting for Zhaoyang

Chapter 24 Smoke and dust in the deep east (2)
With the letter in his arms, Zijin scalded the skin on his chest like a branding iron.The crowd followed him for a whole night's journey. Seeing that the sky was getting brighter, they got off their horses and rested.

He leaned under the tree and looked at the letter solemnly. After a while, he opened it silently.

The man said just now that she had fallen from the horse and hurt herself, and his words were so vague that he was so confused that he almost suffocated.But he didn't dare to ask, and he didn't dare to ask her where the injury was. How is it now? Did Wei Shangrui torture her? He was afraid that he would show any flaws and make Xia Yue's situation even more embarrassing.

Seeing this, Chu Qin couldn't help persuading: "Your Highness, since the man said that he treats Miss as a guest of honor, he can't be wrong. You don't have to worry too much about her safety."

There was no one else here, so he didn't need to hide any more, the uneasiness and grief in his heart were all written on his face, he pulled out the letter with trembling fingers, read it hastily, and remained silent for a while after reading it.

Zijin stood under the tree, staring blankly at the distant clouds dyed red by the rising sun, motionless.After a long time, he lowered his head and read the letter again. This time, he read it much more slowly than last time, almost printing every word in his mind.

The eyes under the long black eyelashes are as bright as the sea of ​​stars, but at this moment, waves are surging.

Chu Qin couldn't help touching Zijin.

Zijin came back to his senses and handed him the letter.

After reading it hastily, Chu Qin asked, "What are your plans, Your Highness?"

Zijin said calmly: "He took her life, even if he asked me to commit suicide on the spot, I would not hesitate at all, let alone act with him." He paused, and then said, "It's just a pain for others."

Chu Qin lit the torch and handed it to him.

He put the letter on the fire, and the letter paper slowly turned to ashes in the flames.Flames flickered in his eyes.

He asked calmly, "How is Wang Gan?"

Hearing Zijin's question, Chu Zhong briefly recounted what happened last night.

Zijin said: "If he is really alive, let him live for a few more days."

three

The soldiers were under the city, and Xu Jingye stood on the high platform of the military parade. No one knew that when the entire imperial capital was in high spirits before the expedition, a white horse had already arrived in the southern territory.

It was just a corner of the sky, and Shang Rui was already fully dressed, stepping up to the soldiers' platform step by step.

Everyone kneeled neatly at the feet of the emperor, "Long live my emperor, long live, long live."The sound was deafening, like a response from the sky, echoing over the parade ground.

The flags are in full swing.

Shang Rui reached out and took the wine cup presented by Qin Tianjian.The cold wind made his sleeves flutter, and he squinted his eyes and handed Xu Jingye a cup: "General Xu, I am waiting for your triumphant return."

Xu Jingye knelt down, cupped his fists and saluted: "The minister will not disgrace his life!" Then he got up, took the wine and drank it in one gulp, turned around and shouted: "Let's go!"

Immediately, the sound of gongs and drums filled the sky, morale was high, and all the soldiers shouted and went south.

Shang Rui looked at the direction where Xu Jingye's banner was going away, and stood with his hands behind his back.Until the sky was bright, Ming Lian stepped forward to persuade: "Your Majesty, it's cold and windy, should you go back to the palace first?"

Shang Rui didn't say yes or no, and stood silently for a long time, and left slowly when the snow began to drift in mid-air, never thinking that he was called to Chengfu Palace by the queen mother on the way.

The elder brother went to the expedition, and the queen mother was obviously a little nervous. After Shang Rui arrived, she first babbled and scolded Prince Huai, and then talked about her younger sister—Princess Huai, and finally the topic turned to Jingtan.

"You said that if Jingtan entered the palace last year, he would have to think about it anyway." When the Queen Mother mentioned this, there was still a hint of blaming Shang Rui in her tone.

Shang Rui didn't drink the teacup on the table, but just lifted the lid, and gently drew circles on the edge of the cup with his fingertips: "Her father's thoughts are not on the spur of the moment, I'm afraid a single daughter can't be pulled back. What's more, if this is the case, how should Tan'er deal with herself in front of me and the queen mother? She is always competitive, and if there is anything she can't think about, she will kill her for nothing." He changed his usual laughing, and said lightly Said.

"You, you are the benevolence of a lady." The queen mother accused.

"Does mother really think that her son will be nothing but mud that won't stick to the wall?" He said suddenly.

The queen mother was stunned for a moment when she heard the words, looked back at him, scooped up a spoonful of hot ginseng soup, and said: "You have resentment, Ai's family knows. Ai's family interferes in everything, but I am afraid that you will be young and repeat the old emperor. Mistake. These words should not have come from the mouth of the Ai family, but the first emperor favored his wife and waited on his women, and he was defeated in the west. Wiping the corners of his mouth, he said: "Your grandfather was fighting outside at that time, and the food and grass were in short supply. He couldn't wait for the food for a long time, so he had to kill the horse, drink the horse's blood and eat the horse's meat, and your father brought a folk woman from somewhere. Entering the palace, he placed it in his own bedroom. He threw the urgent report asking for food on the table without even looking at it. At that time, Aijia was pregnant with you, so he ran to the palace at night and knelt down to beg him. He called A eunuch came out to send us away.

"Ms. Wei clearly had convincing evidence of her crime. She used medicine to poison our mother and son. Just because she blew some pillow wind in his ears, and cried and cried out that she was wronged and wanted to commit suicide, he actually let her run amok. Later she came to kill us again. The second time, I let your sister die in my womb before she was born, how can I not hate!" When the Empress Dowager talked about her grief and indignation, she even forgot what she called herself.

"Back then your grandfather was in military power, and someone tried to persuade him to establish himself as the emperor, but he was so loyal that he wanted to hand over this country to you. First, he loved you, and second, he wanted you to be the eternal emperor of the Wei family."

"My son knows." Shang Rui replied softly.

"You don't know! You don't know how afraid the Ai family is. When the first emperor succeeded to the throne, there were folk rumors that I, David, died in the seventh dynasty. Wouldn't it be the seventh generation to come to your father's place?"

"Later, the tradition was passed on to my son. Isn't the rumor already self-defeating?" Shang Rui said.

"That's because of your grandfather! Aijia never believed in these things before, but your father was not what he was later when he was young, as if he was really possessed by evil spirits."

This is what Shang Rui knew. Ever since he was sensible, the late emperor didn’t know what happened. He seemed to be suffering from hysteria, and his condition was good and bad. Sometimes he was drunk and indulged in sex, licentious and irritable.Once, the first prince tried to persuade him, but the first emperor almost drew his sword and killed him on the spot.

Later, after Shang Rui came to the throne, the king of Wu in the fief was also Shang Rui's eldest brother, who was also at the age of the first emperor, and he had the same disease, and went crazy at every turn. One day he stumbled and fell from the attic, and died in his fief inside.

Shang Rui put down his finger that was drawing circles on the rim of the teacup, took a handkerchief from Minglian, and wiped his fingertips wet with tea: "If that day really comes, my son will take advantage of my own When you are still conscious, first pass the throne to Jun'er, and then exterminate yourself in the Kangning Palace."

When he spoke, his tone was extremely calm, as if he was talking about something completely unrelated to him.

Even Minglian's hand paused slightly.

Shang Rui seldom disobeyed his mother, and he never said a serious word, because he and his mother depended on each other in this palace when he was young, and it was not easy to walk along the way, so after succeeding to the throne, he obeyed his mother in everything, if It wasn't for Xu Jingye's arrogance and arrogance later on, being too greedy for power and wealth, holding military power in his hands, and letting himself be controlled by others everywhere, he would not have murdered this uncle.

Now that he suddenly uttered such a sentence, Empress Dowager Xu was so choked that she didn't know what to say for a while.

Coming out from the Queen Mother, Shang Rui felt panicked, so he simply took Hong Wu out of the palace.He rode a horse and arrived at Tianjiazhuang.When Tian Yuan heard the movement, he came out early, with a strange look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Shang Rui handed the reins to someone else and asked Tian Yuan.

"Miss Min said that she has a sore on her body, and as long as a doctor surnamed Mu whom she is familiar with sees a doctor, no one else is allowed to go in." Tian Yuan followed behind Shang Rui and said.

"What about people?"

"Still locked yourself in the house."

"I'm asking about the one surnamed Mu." Shang Rui said.

"The minister has already asked someone to invite him."

Shang Rui nodded, and walked straight to Xia Yue's room.

Shut in the house alone, Xia Yue grinds ink by herself after breakfast, and writes down the development of her condition in the past few days on paper. As she writes, she takes off her clothes and checks.

At this time, she heard the movement outside and thought it was Mu Yuanzhi, so she asked, "Mr. Mu?"

"It's me." Shang Rui replied.

"Master Hong?"

"What are you doing in the house?"

"I have sores on my body, I'm afraid I'll infect you."

"What sore?"

"I don't know, maybe jaundice..."

"What's so scary about yellow sores? I've had them before." Shang Rui pushed the door open, only to find that the door was firmly stuck in from the inside.

"It's okay if it's jaundice, but I'm afraid it's—" she said slowly, "I'm afraid it's black Yin Sha."

This black Yin Sha used to be an infectious disease in the Western Regions. At first, it was just a fever, and then there would be sores all over the body. The sores were yellow at first, then turned red, and finally turned black.Village after village was once infected with black Yin Sha, and it is said that very few people survived.

But this disease has not appeared in decades, let alone in the imperial capital thousands of miles away, it is unheard of.

Hearing that she suspected that she had this disease, Shang Rui couldn't help laughing.

From last night to this morning, Xia Yue thought that if she really contracted this disease, she would definitely be close to death, so she even thought about how to arrange her afterlife.When she answered just now, she was very cautious and solemn, but she didn't want to get Shang Rui's contemptuous laughter.

The mocking sneer almost irritated her.

He only heard him say again: "This is the Imperial Capital, and it's winter, and it's not the Western Regions, so how can there be any black Yin Sha. You open the door."

She said unhappily, "Whether it's true or not, we won't know until the doctor comes."

"Can you open the door and talk?"

"I'm doing this for your own good! Mr. Hong's family has a great career, if I get sick, I can't bear it."

Shang Rui frowned, he couldn't help but hesitate: "In these years, I have never repeated the same sentence to anyone for the third time."

Tian Yuan followed carefully, but seeing Shang Rui's expression as a sign of getting angry, he hurriedly said, "My lord, calm down."

Hearing Shang Rui's words, Xia Yue almost jumped up from the stool, walked to the door and said, "This is Mr. Tian's house, not yours. Why are you threatening me? I just said it, and I'm doing this for you." Alright, you still bite Lu Dongbin like a dog!"

When Tian Yuan heard that Xia Yue dared to scold Shang Rui, he almost knelt down to Xia Yue who was in the room, and just wanted to beg her to stop talking.

"You say I'm a dog?" Shang Rui asked back.

He was already a little angry today, but now he is even more unhappy.

"So what if you say you don't know good and bad?" Xia Yue also became angry, "Aren't you quite conceited? You look like the best in the world, then you come in, anyway, I'm dead and I'm in the underworld. besides--"

There was a "bang", before she finished speaking, Shang Rui kicked the door open with anger.

Xia Yue was standing at the door, but felt a gust of cool wind blowing in front of her eyes, and the door was kicked open.Fortunately, I was still some distance away from the door, otherwise I would definitely be overturned by his kick.

As soon as the door opened, the two people facing each other were stunned.

She was checking the sores on her body just now, her clothes were half hung on her body, her shoulders and chest were exposed.She thought it was safe to close the door, but who would have thought that this person would kick the door suddenly.

Xia Yue screamed, and seemed to have no time to cover herself in a hurry.Tian Yuan followed behind, not knowing what was going on, when he heard the cry, he was about to take a step forward, and stepped into the house to see the situation.

Seeing this, Shang Rui quickly closed the door with his backhand, blocking the sight of others.

She covered her chest and turned her back, but found that her back was also empty, so she had to turn around again, pulled up her clothes to cover her front, glanced at him, and said sharply, "Can you turn around first, I'll put it on." Put on your clothes."

Unexpectedly, Shang Rui smiled coldly: "You did everything possible to provoke me, let me in, and took off your clothes again, just to show me."

Xia Yue was so annoyed by his words that she was about to go crazy, so she picked up the teacup on the table and threw it at him.

Shang Rui dodged away as soon as he dodged.

The glass slammed on the door.

Tian Yuan and Minglian heard it outside and their hearts jumped.

However, Xia Yue only had one hand to move, and she used it to grab her clothes, but she let go of her hand in frustration, and came to deal with him again.The clothes started to slide down again in an instant, she was so frightened that she quickly squatted down and fished the clothes in front of her.

Shang Rui raised his eyebrows: "Look, you said you didn't take it off just for me to see."

It was really the first time that she was maddened by anger, but there was nothing she could do about it.Her usual stubbornness and eloquence were completely useless. She squatted there with disheveled clothes, and a man stood in front of her and laughed at her condescendingly.

She felt so hopeless that she suddenly began to cry, silently at first, but then aloud.

This made Shang Rui dumbfounded.

"Master." Minglian didn't know what was going on in the house, and called Shang Rui worriedly.

Then Shang Rui heard that Hong Wu had also come, and of course Tian Yuan was still there.

For a moment, he actually felt that the current situation was more troublesome than the 30 troops in Huaizhou.

"Young master." Minglian saw that there was no movement from Shang Rui for a long while, only Xia Yue's cry was heard, so he called again worriedly.

Shang Rui rubbed his forehead and squeezed out a sentence for a while: "Don't stay here, go away."

"My lord..." This time it was Tian Yuan who hesitated to speak.

"Hurry up." Shang Rui raised his voice and ordered.

As a result, everyone dared not stay any longer and retreated elsewhere.

After the footsteps gradually disappeared, Shang Rui turned around and looked at Xia Yue again.Not to mention the clothes on her body, probably because of inconvenient hands, she didn't even comb her hair, and her long hair fell to the ground with her.

"Don't cry..." He really had a headache.

"I was a little angry at first, but then I was teasing you." He explained.

"Don't cry, the doctor will come later, put on your clothes." He said again.

Only then did Xia Yue lift her tear-stained face: "Turn around."

This time, he did so immediately.

As soon as she relaxed, she didn't feel any discomfort in her body. She put the clothes on her body little by little with one hand. After a long while, she finally finished dressing. Comb your own hair.

She resisted the dizziness and trembling hands, supported the dressing table, and walked back to the stool in front of the table with vain steps and sat down.

After everything was over, she looked at herself again, and after making sure that she was dressed neatly, she coughed lightly.

"All right?"

"Ah."

Shang Rui turned around and looked at her.

"You want me to open the door, what do you want to say?" she asked him.

"I……"

This question stumped him, he really didn't know why he was so angry and insisted on entering the house just now.

He said: "I offended you just now, I will give you an explanation." It is not difficult to marry and return to the palace.

"Why are you still talking about these things? When the doctor comes, you'll know if I'm telling the truth." Xia Yue said softly.

Only then did Shang Rui think about the business, walked up to her, took her hand, rolled up her sleeves, and saw a few sores that were not as big as mung beans, and some of the sores had turned from red to orange.

He has a good body and is not afraid of the cold in winter, so his hands and feet are always warm in such cold weather.But at this moment, with his five fingers gently clasping her wrist, he could feel that her skin was much hotter than his palm.

Shang Rui's expression became serious, and he stretched out his other hand to touch her forehead, trying to make sure if she had a fever.Unexpectedly, Xia Yue turned her head away, avoiding his movements, and said in her mouth: "This disease is really contagious, you should stay away from me." After saying that, she pulled out her wrist again.

Shang Rui turned around and went outside to call Minglian.

Naturally, those few people didn't really go far, they hurriedly responded to Shang Rui's call.

Shang Rui said to the outside of the house in a deep voice: "Call Li Jilai, hurry up."

Unexpectedly, that name touched Xia Yue's heartstrings, she didn't even care about other things, she grabbed Shang Rui's sleeve from behind and asked, "Who did you just talk about?"

Shang Rui turned around in surprise, his eyes fell on her eager face, and was about to answer, but was interrupted by Hong Wu who had gone back.

(End of this chapter)