Still waiting for Zhaoyang

Chapter 29
I only heard the people outside the door say: "Master, I think you are your blessing, you are a singer, you don't sell yourself, you really think of yourself as the eldest lady of the official family."

As soon as Yu Yin'er heard the voice, her expression changed, and her hands stopped immediately.

The woman who was entangled by him did not cry, but said coldly: "My lord, this is in the imperial city of the imperial capital, at the foot of the emperor, not in your Jinluo. If you continue to buy and sell so hard, I will have to report to the officials." .”

"Bah——" the man spat, "Do you think I can't do anything if you escape to the Imperial Capital? You're still in Lao Tzu's hands."

Then, I heard that someone from the restaurant came to be a peacemaker.

The man couldn't help but talk, he dragged and dragged the singer all the way to the stairs outside the door of Shang Rui's private room.

Yu Yin'er cried anxiously, put down the piano and was about to go out to help.

Minglian didn't want to make trouble, so he stopped her and said, "Miss, do you know each other?"

"She is the older sister of the slave family, her name is Yu Hua'er, and she is from Jinluo. That prince has been trying to trick my sister, so we had no choice but to avoid him and come to Beijing."

Hong Wu was originally an impatient person who hated evil and hated all kinds of things, and he couldn't help complaining when he heard this kind of thing, but because Shang Rui didn't speak at the moment, he didn't dare to move.

Yu Yin'er was anxious and frightened, so she couldn't help crying.

Shang Rui was leaning on the back of the soft couch, fiddling with the plate of fried pine nuts with his fingers, closing his eyes and meditating.Hearing the crying, he opened his eyes, and said quietly: "Listen, this man surnamed Wang is rich and powerful, and he is so interested in your sister. Isn't it good to marry him?"

Hong Wu originally thought that Shang Rui would come out to uphold justice, but he didn't expect him to say such a sentence, and even persuaded people to marry that scoundrel, almost vomited out a mouthful of old blood in anger.

Yu Yin'er shed tears and said: "But my sister already has a sweetheart and is engaged. After the prince found out, he secretly sent someone to beat him up, and he died within a few days after returning home."

When Hong Wu heard this, the anger in his chest burned even more.

Unexpectedly, Shang Rui said: "If I were Wang, I would like your sister very much, and I would like to grind that man into powder."

As soon as he said this, he almost choked Hong Wu and Yu Yin'er to death.

"Young master..." Minglian knew what he was thinking, but he was going to die, and he couldn't distinguish between right and wrong, and just poured salt on his wounds.

Shang Rui threw two pine nuts on the plate, patted the crumbs of the nuts in his hand, and said to Hong Wu, "Go and see."

Hong Wu couldn't sit still for a long time, he took a big step, pushed the door and walked out.

I saw the man surnamed Wang and several servants pulling a woman in white.The owner of the tavern and the buddies were all on the sidelines to persuade him.

The woman struggled stubbornly, there were no tears on her face, but her lips turned white from fright.

Hong Wu stopped and said: "Brother, if you force a weak woman like this, will you lose the king's law?"

The surname Wang saw that although Hong Wu had a strong figure, he was dressed plainly and looked like a rough man, so he sneered and said, "You can even call the word 'Xiongtai'? Do you know who I am?"

"I don't care who you are." Hong Wu said with a light cut of one hand, and then released the other's hand on the woman.

The man suddenly cried out in pain.

Hong Wu took the opportunity to protect the woman behind him.

The other party was furious and shouted: "You bastard! Do you know that my surname is Wang! Wang Kui, an official in Jinluo Prefecture, is my father, the current prime minister is my uncle, and the queen is my elder sister. Even His Majesty the Emperor would call me when he saw me. Brother-in-law, be careful of your dog's life."

Hong Wu was also a little dumbfounded, he never thought that this person happened to be Wang Kui's adopted son and the queen's cousin——Wang Gan.

That day, Wang Gan was stabbed in the heart by Chu Zhong, and he narrowly escaped death.Unexpectedly, his heart looks a little different from ordinary people's, and ordinary people's heart is on the right, but he is on the left.The knife didn't hit the vital point. After being fished out of the river, it didn't take long for him to get out of bed and walk.He usually does a lot of evil and has many enemies, so Wang Kui investigated the murderer in Jinluo, but there was no result. He was afraid that he would be killed again, so he simply sent him to the foot of the emperor. Give him an idle job, so as not to cause trouble by doing nothing.

Hong Wu was not afraid of the royal family, he was just afraid of messing with the emperor's housework.

Wang Gan was a man who was very good at observing words and demeanor. When he saw that he had signed up, Hong Wu had a look of hesitation on his face. He immediately felt that his aura was a bit higher, so he called the servants around him to deal with Hong Wu.

Hong Wu couldn't make up his mind whether to move his hands, so he pulled his wrists back, only tightly protecting the woman.Just when the sword was on the verge of breaking out, a voice sounded behind him unhurriedly: "Just now, I didn't hear clearly, can you say it again?" The person who spoke was Shang Rui.

When Hong Wu turned his head, he found Shang Rui walking out slowly.He said this without any emotion, but the eyes staring at Wang Gan were extremely cold.

Shang Rui walked to Hong Wu's side and stood still slowly.

Wang Gan snorted, and repeated proudly: "Clean your ears and listen clearly. I am the nephew of the current king, the cousin of the empress, and the emperor's brother-in-law. Don't ask if there is any law. Because young master, what I say is king..."

Unexpectedly, before the word "Fa" was spoken, Shang Rui suddenly raised his leg, kicked Wang Gan hard on the stomach, and kicked him down the stairs in an instant.

Because the incident happened suddenly, except for Hong Wu, no one else could see clearly how he made his move.Before Wang Gan could make a sound, Gululu rolled down the stairs to the first floor like a ball.

Wang Gan had a chest injury and his flesh was not fully grown. He was alone at home and thought of Yu Hua'er's tender little hands. He was so anxious for a while that he secretly went to the restaurant to have fun with his family behind his back. Who would have thought that he would meet Shang Rui? Plant stubble.Now he rolled down the stairs, the wound was open, blood poured out, and he passed out immediately.

The four servants next to him were flustered for a while, one of them crawled down the ground to check on Wang Gan's injury, and the rest rushed towards Shang Rui.

How could Hong Wu dare to wait for Shang Rui to make a move? In an instant, there was wind under his feet, he blocked Shang Rui's body, and kicked the nearest person with a quick kick. The three rolled down the stairs together.

Several people struggled to get up, knowing that they couldn't beat them, so they didn't dare to rush forward again, and then they made eye contact with each other, and then walked away crookedly with the fainted Wang Gan behind their backs.

On the way back to the palace, Shang Rui remained silent.

Minglian was worried that he would transfer his anger to the queen and cause other unhappiness, so he was worried all the way.

When he arrived at Kangning Hall, Shang Rui turned around suddenly, staring at Minglian with both eyes.

Minglian was taken aback: "Your Majesty?"

"Where's my fried pine nuts?"

Ming Lian breathed a sigh of relief: "I was in a hurry, the servant forgot to take it, I will make it for the emperor tomorrow."

Shang Rui turned to look at Hong Wu.

Hong Wu hurriedly said, "I didn't take it either."

I don't want Shang Rui to say: "Go to Li Ji's place and tell Yao Chuang," he paused slightly, "Must leave Min Xiayue and that jade cicada together."

Hong Wu was also clever this time, after taking the order to turn around and take two steps, he felt that something was wrong and came back and asked, "Your Majesty, if Miss Min insists on leaving, how should Yao Chuang stay?"

Shang Rui glanced at him upon hearing this.

Those eyes were extraordinarily clear under the moonlight, making those around them terrified when they looked at them.I only heard Shang Rui Weiwei say six words: "Leave me alive."

When he returned to the bedroom, his expression was calm. He didn't continue to mention Xia Yue or Wang Gan. He asked people to change clothes and wash up coldly, and then went to sleep with his head covered.

Early the next morning, Shang Rui was about to go to the Queen Mother to say hello, and met Yao Chuang as soon as he went out.

Yao Chuang followed beside him, and without waiting for Shang Rui to speak, he replied: "Your Majesty, nothing happened overnight, she didn't leave."

"No?" He stopped and glanced sideways at Yao Chuang.

"No. Neither she nor the little girl left." Yao Chuang repeated.

He stood where he was, and the people following him did not dare to move.After a moment of silence, he blinked his eyes, his eyes were clear, and then he said a word cleanly: "Let's go."

Others couldn't tell, but Minglian knew that his mood was different, so he asked, "Where are you going, Your Majesty?"

"Didn't you greet the Queen Mother? Where else can I go?"

When they arrived at Chengfu Palace, the Empress Dowager was too busy.

The old lady's favorite dog recently gave birth to a litter of puppies.I don't know what happened last night, but the dog threw all the cubs out of the nest and refused to nurse them.This made the Queen Mother very anxious.

Shang Rui sat far away, watching the queen mother carefully feed the puppies milk with a spoon, scooping it up spoon by spoon, very carefully, and muttering: "Slow down, slow down..."

"I never saw you love me so much when I was a child." Shang Rui said.

"Doesn't Aijia think it's you?"

"..."

Since the last conversation, the relationship between mother and son has not slowed down.Shang Rui came to pay his respects every day, and left coldly after finishing speaking. This time, he said a few more words because of a litter of puppies.

Shang Rui walked outside Chengfu Palace, turned his head and told Minglian: "Go ask the Queen Mother for one."

Minglian was taken aback for a moment, but he didn't dare to ask any further questions, and hurriedly followed suit.

The queen mother was surprised: "Didn't he never like dogs since he was a child?" He said so, but still asked someone to choose the strongest cub for Minglian.

The queen mother paused for a moment, and suddenly understood, "Your majesty won't have a crush on someone, and you want to use Ai's treasure to please him?"

Minglian hung his head, not knowing how to answer.

"This is really strange." The queen mother said again, "What do you think your majesty thinks? Ai's family will definitely not agree to spoiling concubines and destroying wives, but now he only goes to the queen's place, not to mention that the harem is exposed to rain and dew. Anyway, you have to think about others. There are only two or three people in the harem. Xu Zhaoyi has come to Aijia to cry several times. I can't guess what he is thinking about Aijia. If your emperor likes someone, as long as he is innocent, Aijia I don't want to stop her, I just hope that a son and a half will come out soon. If he is not good at women, but he spoils the queen like a heart..."

Ming Lian was able to escape after being nagged by the Queen Mother for a while, and then sent the puppy to Xia Yue.

He Xiang teased the little black dog in the basket: "Miss, look, luckily I didn't leave, not only did nothing happen, Mr. Hong was also afraid that you would be bored while recuperating, so he sent such a cute little thing."

Xia Yue glanced at it and then looked away: "Nothing to be courteous, either adultery or robbery."

While taking care of Xia Yue, He Xiang took care of the puppy.Although Xia Yue is very cold, He Xiang likes the puppy very much, and even named it A Mo.

For several days, Xia Yue not only did not wait for "Hong Wu" to bring people to arrest her, but instead received all kinds of items sent by him, including snacks, fruits, and tea leaves, without any rules, as if it was her own. When there is something good to eat and drink, I will give her another portion.

She was ready to fight to the death, but she didn't expect that there was nowhere to do it because she was full of death.

three

Early in the morning, news came from the front that the food supplies had been burned by the rebels, and King Huai personally led troops to attack the barracks at night.

Shang Rui asked coldly: "Where is Xu Jingye?"

Tian Yuan knelt on the ground: "General Xu... has been captured."

As soon as this remark came out, there were still people whispering in the court hall, but it suddenly fell silent at this moment.

Shang Rui slowly repeated the last three words: "Caught?"

When he asked like this, no one in the hall dared to answer.

"You said that Xu Jingye, the great general of the king of Wei, was captured alive by that repeated villain Wei Shangren?" His tone was extremely slow, and his words were like a bowl of water without waves, without ups and downs, but called others Hearing this, he hardly dared to breathe.

He Lanxuan lifted the corner of his robe, and was the first to kneel down and said, "Your Majesty, calm down."

Afterwards, the others knelt down one after another as if they had just woken up from a dream, begging to appease their anger while calling His Majesty.

"Who is in charge in the army now?" Shang Rui asked.

"General Xu's deputy general Xu Zizhang." Tian Yuan replied.

Shang Rui sighed quietly: "Zizhang has never been alone. His father was captured. I am afraid that he will be impatient and unable to take on the big responsibility." After speaking, he looked around at His Highness and asked, "What do you think?"

There was no one in the hall to answer.

After a while, someone from the Ministry of War said: "Master Sima is highly respected. Although he is old, His Majesty can give it a try."

"Where is Sima Lin now?" Shang Rui asked again.

Tian Yuan replied: "Report from the front line, Master Sima has been advising General Xu not to rush forward, but General Xu detained him in the camp twenty miles north of Canghuang..."

"He's presumptuous!" Shang Rui shouted in a low voice.

Hearing this, everyone took a breath.

This Xu Jingye is too lawless.

The courtiers did not dare to raise their heads and were silent.

At this time, Prime Minister Wang Ji stood up, knelt in the center of the hall, and said: "I have a book to play—"

Shang Rui waved his sleeves: "Wang Qing, please speak."

"The anti-thief Wei Shangren camped in Canghuang, he must hope to collude with King Liang. Now that the country is in chaos, I am afraid that the people of Wusun in the Western Regions will take advantage of the loopholes. At that time, there will be internal and external troubles, and it will be too late to make up for it. A quick battle is urgent. Xu Zizhang should be ordered to release Sima Lin, and hand over the seal of command to Sima Lin to stabilize the morale of the army. Although Sima Lin has not been in command for many years due to injuries, he is well known for his resourcefulness and military skills. I hope Sima Lin will I will take on this important task with the heart of doing my best and dying. I also hope that Xu Zizhang will put the overall situation first when the court is in crisis."

Wang Ji's old coughing illness was still not healed, and his voice was hoarse and unpleasant, but it was sonorous and powerful.

After listening to Shang Rui, he was noncommittal, but raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at the sky outside the gate of the main hall.

Before Wang Ji got up, the only son Wang Qing walked over. Others thought he was going to help his old father, but unexpectedly he knelt beside his father: "I also have something to do, please Your Majesty's permission."

"Tell me." Shang Rui said.

"Thanks to the gift of the first emperor, the Wang family has a large piece of fertile land in Xuzhou. My father has always ordered my minister to take care of it. Last year, the weather was good and the grain was full. The minister is willing to donate all the stored grain and personally escort it to the front line."

After he finished speaking, the officials began to whisper, while He Lanxun clenched his fists tightly.

At this moment, the old general Li Bingli also cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, the veteran's family also has food, please send it to the frontline soldiers, Mr. Wang."He was originally a commoner, and he got to where he is today by relying on his courage and fighting several times. His family background is very meager.

Prime Minister Wang Ji said again: "Lord Li has always been poor, but he is full of sincerity. His loyalty can be learned from the sun and the moon. I hope His Majesty will not refuse."

Following what Wang Qing said, the others couldn't stand anymore, and expressed their views to Shang Rui one after another.

All of a sudden, voices from the hall erupted one after another.

However, some people in Xu Jingye's party are taking advantage of the trend and defecting, while others have not moved at all.Xu Jingye's arrest happened suddenly, there was no news before, and even the one who got the news and went to the Queen Mother to report it had not had time to turn around.

Shang Rui said: "I'm very pleased that all my lovers have such a heart of loyalty and patriotism. As for the food and grass, I will leave it to Wang Ji for the time being."

Wang Ji said again: "Your Majesty, the frontline commander has made a decision early."

Therefore, some people recommended Li Bingli to lead the army; others said that Li Bingli was too old and not as good as Sima Lin; Xu's party insisted on Xu Zizhang.Several sides insisted on their own opinions, and the debate was inexhaustible.

At this moment, Shang Rui glanced at it from the corner of his eye.Minglian bowed lightly and told Shang Rui that the queen mother had arrived at the apse.

Shang Rui sat on the throne, and suddenly asked loudly: "Where is Xu Chengzhi?"

A tall man with a straight nose and a wide mouth walked from the crowd to the center of the hall in response: "My minister is here."

This man's name is Xu Chengzhi, his father is Xu Jingye's cousin, although he also holds an important position in the army and is in charge of the Gyeonggi camp, but because his father died young, his branch is not as prominent as Xu Jingye.

"I have an errand for you to save the face of your Xu family army. I wonder if you dare to accept it."

Xu Chengzhi kowtowed and said: "This humble minister is so heartbroken that he will never hesitate to die."

Therefore, Shang Rui ordered him to take five thousand elite cavalry to the Canghuang to cut off the rebels' food and grass, and then waited to join Sima Lin.Amidst the controversy among the crowd, Hong Wu was sent to deploy [-] reinforcements from Kaizhou, and the troops were divided into two groups. While supporting Sima Lin, they cut off the momentum of the rebels encircling King Wu.Afterwards, Li Bingli was ordered to succeed Hongwu in charge of the Gyeonggi garrison.

(End of this chapter)