Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

Qingping looked at the yellow books piled up like hills in front of the table and case and heaved a sigh of relief. After she reported to the master book, the master book sent someone to remove the things, and said with a smile: "Li Qingping, you are young, but you are very agile in doing things. "

Qing Ping had never seen the director praise anyone before, but she suddenly praised her, and his heart started beating. The director smiled and said: "I am also a student of Professor Shen, you still have to call me senior sister."

It turned out to be Professor Shen's student, but the number of students taught by Professor Shen is not [-] but [-]. Qingping didn't dare to be careless, so he called her senior sister in a low voice, and the master said: "The performance test is coming out, do you want to stay here?" In the Ministry of Rites, or in the Ministry of Officials?"

The so-called transfer and compensation means that the number of department officials is not enough, and if they need to be filled in time, they will be transferred with good performance, which can be regarded as a promotion in disguise.Qingping only said: "Naturally, I'm waiting for the adults to order."

The words were ambiguous, and it was unclear where she wanted to go. The director was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect this guy to be so cunning, so he changed the subject. He didn't try to find out whether she had the intention to stay in the post several times, and suddenly lost interest in exploration.

After she left, Qingping breathed a sigh of relief, Yan Jinghan next to him cast a worried look, they all understood it.If you look carefully at the promotion record of Wang Zhihe, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, you will find that this person is actually a member of Yan Minghua, the chief assistant of the cabinet. win over.If you want to stay here, you must join the strict party.

Although officials who are attached to the strict party can naturally enjoy convenient transfer and promotion, this rocket-like promotion speed is also very easy to overturn. The so-called wealth and wealth are sought in danger, Qingping does not want to be attached to the two factions, but judging from the current situation , it seems that neither faction is very safe.

The chief secretary went back to report to Wang Zhihe, Wang Zhihe said: "How? Is she willing to stay?"

The director reluctantly repeated the conversation between them, Wang Zhihe sneered and said, "This man is slippery, he is a smart man."

Then asked: "Where is Yan Jinghan? Will she stay or not?"

The master's face was a bit ugly, and he said: "My lord, she said...she wants to let it out."

Wang Zhihe heheed twice, sat upright, holding the roster of official appraisals, the ink pen was not finished for a long time, thought for a while and said: "It's interesting to let her go. It's a joke to let a good man go out." !"

After speaking, he drew a circle with a Chinese ink brush next to Yan Jinghan's name on the roster.

Yan Jinghan walked listlessly beside Qingping, staggering as if drunk, Qingping stabbed her, Yan Jinghan looked confused, and said: "What's wrong?"

Qingping knew that she was full of struggles in her heart, so she said, "The performance appraisal is about to come out, did the master ask you? What do you say?"

Yan Jinghan said unhappily: "I am entrusted with a heavy responsibility, and the official career is said to have a bright future, and there is only a bright road. What else can I say? I will definitely say that I will let it go!"

Qing Ping sighed and said: "Since you decided to let it go, why are you still muttering about it here, and you will be lost all day long."

Yan Jinghan laughed dumbly and said: "I am a dignified and noble person, but I was released outside. I don't know how I will be ridiculed if this matter is heard in the same year."

It turned out that it was because of this that he was struggling, Qingping said: "You will leave when the time comes, you must have no chance to hear it." After finishing speaking, he smiled wryly, "I'm afraid I have to go through it in my ears, you say the last Who is suffering?"

Yan Jinghan laughed loudly when he heard the words: "It's true, hey, who made us two good friends?" After finishing speaking, he poked Qingping with his hand, winked and said: "If there is a rest this month, let's go together How about enjoying the snow on Chongzhen Mountain, then call Rao Run and Cheng Wenyu, red plums and white snow, can you have a drink?"

The Rao Run and Cheng Wenyu she mentioned were close friends when they were studying in government schools, but one of them was in the Ministry of Industry and the other was in the Ministry of Punishment, so I don't know if they are free.Qing Ping said: "Go and ask if they are busy first."

Yan Jinghan smiled and said: "I asked about Cheng Wenyu last time I met them. They have always had rest and bathing. It's just that our fate has happened. They agreed to me. After the sacrifice to heaven, we will come together Just go ahead."

Qingping nodded, and said seriously: "I don't drink alcohol, don't drink me again."

Yan Jinghan immediately remembered the embarrassing things about her friend, she couldn't stop laughing, she almost lost her temper, she wiped the tears from her laughter and said: "That's you, after drinking, you touched the wall and went to Mr. Tixue's residence, otherwise the How did she find out when she drank for the first time?"

Qing gave her a fair look and said: "It's not that you must drink. How many times have I said that drinking is wrong? Drinking is wrong. Can't you drink tea? You must drink!"

Yan Jinghan sneered and said: "What's the point of drinking tea? My daughter's family doesn't even know how to drink. Do you want to get drunk every time you drink?"

Qingping didn't want to pay attention to this person, just thought she was talking nonsense, and walked away.

Taimiao is located in the north of the imperial city, built on the top of Zhongming Mountain. Although it is not high, there are 99 steps.The sacrificial ceremony is usually held in the evening of winter, because visiting the Ancestral Temple can only go up step by step.

On the evening of February [-]rd, the female emperor's palace and guard of honor had already docked at the foot of Zhongming Mountain, and the accompanying officials were already on the sidelines. Torches were lit beside the steps, and everyone knelt in the snow to salute. It didn't take long for faint sighs to pass through the palace. : "Get up."

The empress in Xingyuan asked again: "Is King Xin there?"

Chu Jun stood up, walked to the edge of the shaft, bowed and saluted, "Report to Queen Mother, my son is here."

The shaft fell to the ground, the palace man put down the stool, and stretched out a pale hand. Chu Jun gently supported that hand, and then a middle-aged woman wearing a phoenix crown and a red phoenix-patterned imperial dress stepped on it. The stool got off the shaft, her face was gloomy, her eyes were long and narrow, she looked up at the sky and said, "Has the snow not fallen yet?"

An official dressed in a blue official uniform with the Qingluan pattern stood up, it was Yan Minghua, the chief assistant of the cabinet, and she said: "Returning to Your Majesty, the snow has stopped the day before yesterday."

From the day she was promoted by the moody emperor, trying to figure out what the empress was thinking became the most important job in her political career. You can say a simple sentence of the empress, she can understand many different meanings, and she knows how to answer is the best.I saw the chief assistant of the cabinet said in a deep voice: "The road section blocked by heavy snow in Hengzhou has basically been dredged. The sheriff of Xingfang County has reported the disaster situation in the area under her rule. The ministers and colleagues in the cabinet have read it. It's over, please take a look, Your Majesty."

As he said that, he took out the memorial from his sleeve, and sure enough, the empress looked much better after hearing about it, and waved her hands and said, "No need, your cabinet can figure it out on its own."

Yan Minghua bowed and stepped back, a look of pride flashed in his eyes, she had fooled the empress again.In fact, this booklet reports the damage in the disaster-stricken area in detail. If you read it carefully, it is not so pleasant, but who is Yan Minghua?She obviously didn't say anything clearly just now, but she can make the empress feel better. May I ask, who else in the cabinet has this ability?

Thinking of this, she glanced at Xin Wang Chujun who was standing aside, seeing the young princess following behind the empress expressionlessly, Yan Minghua frowned imperceptibly.For some reason, she didn't come into contact with His Highness Xin Wang a few times, but she could always feel an inexplicable sense of threat from her.

Chu Jun passed in front of her, and seeing the lord Chief Assistant frowning, he knew what was going on in her heart.

In her previous life, she fought wits and bravery with this Lord Chief Assistant, and it took a lot of effort to bring her down. As the saying goes, the person who knows you best must be your enemy. Yan Minghua's hostility towards her, Chu Jun also It's not that I didn't see it.

It's just that she now has the opportunity of the empress to practice Taoism, and she seems to be indifferent, far away from the world, and devotes herself to the cultivation of Taoism, and she is the second empress.Even if the two imperial daughters wanted to win her over, they couldn't find a chance for a while. They could only wait and see what happened, and sent someone to keep a close watch on the palace to prevent this important imperial sister from falling into the other side's camp.

The empress sighed: "God sent a snow disaster warning, as if telling me that my virtues were wrong, which caused God to punish the people? But I have always prayed to God in the palace and practiced for the people of my country. What about sudden disasters?"

This kind of talk is no different from farting. Chu Jun is well aware of the temper of his mother, and knows that she always wants to shirk whenever she encounters a big event, and finds someone to take the blame.For thousands of years, the emperors have been superstitious about this statement. All catastrophes are warnings from heaven to harm the happiness of the people. It is to warn the emperor that you made a mistake, so your people should be punished.

The Empress naturally believed in this statement, but she felt that she had been practicing Taoism for the welfare of the country, so why was she warned by God?This must not be her responsibility, it must be that the minister below made a mistake, which caused her to be punished by God.

The empress felt much more comfortable when she thought about it, and felt that she could also have the face to meet her aunt, the first emperor in the Taimiao. She shot a cold light from her eyes, and said to a group of ministers: "You must have behaved improperly. Do your best, do things that are unfair, whether the punishment is good or not, and you can't decide according to the law, so the gods are furious and send down snowstorm warnings!"

"Your Majesty calm down, it's all the minister's fault!"

A group of courtiers just got up from the snow and knelt down again.The ministers who could accompany the empress to pay homage to the Ancestral Temple would naturally not be very young. Kneeling like this, I am afraid that those with bad knees will not be able to get up.Yan Minghua wept bitterly at first, expounded his guilt, calmed down the Empress's anger, and then said: "It's getting late, please don't miss out on offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors just because we did something wrong!"

Only then did the empress remember her mission here, she walked a few steps, turned around again, stared closely at the chief assistant who was kneeling on the ground, and said coldly: "This year, after the official performance appraisal, the Ministry of Officials will count the list. Let the cabinet ministers and the six ministers carefully select all of them, and we must not let talented people be buried for various reasons!"

Yan Minghua suddenly felt like being poured with cold water, shivering physically and mentally. The first thing she thought of was that the officials under her hands were found out last year for selling their officials!

But Yan Shoufu is the first assistant after all, she thought of a countermeasure in an instant, smiled and said: "The minister will bring the cabinet ministers together to draft the regulations and submit them to His Majesty's desk, please Your Majesty to make a decision."

The empress nodded in satisfaction, and took King Xin to the Taimiao.

The 99 steps are not so easy to climb, especially at night in winter, when the mountain wind is blowing, and the main steps leading to the Taimiao, the palace people are not allowed to follow.So now, apart from the King Xin and the Empress, there are only the Forbidden Army with spears on the edge of the steps.

Chu Jun stretched out his hand and used the robe to cover part of the wind for the Empress. The Empress was pale. She had been taking pills for a long time, and her body was severely deficient and hot. , as if it were a heat source.The empress glanced at her, and said leisurely: "Jin'er, can you benefit from your practice recently?"

Chu Jun couldn't see anything on his face, but said respectfully: "I have some understanding."

The empress's eyes lit up, completely disregarding that this was the way to sacrifice to her ancestors, she said happily: "Tell me about it."

Chu Jun looked at her pale face with sunken blue eye sockets, and felt very ridiculous in his heart.It turns out that this is the mother she once looked up to, the monarch above the thousands of people in this country, and in the face of life and death, she is just an ordinary person who is afraid of death.

Chu Jun thought for a while, and said, "It seems to be in the north."

The empress pondered, "North?"

Chu Jun nodded and said: "I also want to go to Chongzhen Mountain once, to see the place where I first met my mother."

She whispered: "This is also... what my father meant."

The female emperor's pupils shrank slightly, and her hands trembled unconsciously. Wei Guijun's death was too tragic, which became a lingering shadow in her heart. More than once in her dreams, she dreamed of Wei's smiling face, with a very beautiful face, standing in front of her. Walking towards her in the garden or on the jade steps, the jade-like beauty turned into a scorched carbon figure in a blink of an eye, without any facial features, and shouted inarticulately: "Your Majesty..."

This fear has been buried in her heart, becoming her unspeakable pain.And Wei Shi appeared in her dreams from time to time, so the emperor had to seek help from the monks serving in the palace.The monks all said that it was because Wei's death was too unjust and he harbored resentment, so he stayed in the palace and refused to leave. As long as Wei's grievances were resolved, he would definitely leave.

Therefore, the Empress ordered an in-depth and thorough investigation into the case of Wei Guijun's rape. The matter of smuggling out of the palace.

But after all, many years have passed, and it is really difficult to find a child who has been missing for many years in the vast crowd, but I never expected that after the empress disposed of a group of related personnel involved in the incident that year, I thought Wei's grievances ended here Dabai will no longer appear in his dreams, but he never expected to be guided by an immortal, and somehow he found the child who had been lost for many years.

The empress nodded lightly, and said, "After the sacrificial ceremony is over, you can go."

Chu Jun complied, and helped her walk towards the majestic Taimiao.

The snow stopped for a few days, and the sky cleared up. People came and went on Chongzhen Mountain. Qing Ping and Yan Jinghan rode a carriage to the edge of the plum grove on the mountainside. When they got off the carriage, they saw two people standing at the agreed place, waving to them from afar.

Yan Jinghan and Qingping walked in, and saw that Rao Run and Cheng Wenyu were already waiting there.Seeing that they occupy a good position with a good view, spread waterproof tarpaulins and blankets, put a charcoal stove in the middle to warm up the fire, and set up a hot pot, surrounded by mutton and beef, it seems that this posture seems to be to wash pot.

Rao Run is straightforward and enthusiastic, while Cheng Wenyu is restrained and reserved. The two of them complement each other perfectly in personality. They were a pair of close friends when they were studying in government schools.

Rao Run said with a smile: "Shocked, long time no see, how about the Ministry of Rites staying? I heard that those Shangguan adults are always conservative, what's wrong with you, an escaped person?"

When the two of them met, there must have been a verbal argument. Cheng Wenyu pulled Qingping over and said, "Let them fight, let's sit down and talk."

It was snowing and clearing, they were in the plum grove, surrounded by fragrance, plum petals fell on them like snow, Rao Run and Yan Jinghan were arguing while pouring wine, Qingping said to Cheng Wenyu: "Wen Yu, how are you in the Ministry of Punishment? "

Cheng Wenyu shook his head and laughed at himself, "Isn't that what it is? Do some chores or something."

Cheng Wenyu came from a famous family. Although his family was in decline, his family still had some old friends among scholars, so he joined the Ministry of Punishment to work.

Qing Ping poured her a cup of tea and said: "It's all just dawdling, I just don't know when it will be brewed."

Cheng Wenyu said indifferently: "I heard from an adult in the Ministry of Rites that there is a sage who asked to be released, isn't it..." She glanced at Yan Jinghan and whispered: "It can't be Jinghan, right? ?”

Qingping frowned and said, "The news spread so quickly?"

Cheng Wenyu poured the tea on the ground and changed the wine: "Otherwise? Many people know where they are going before the performance appraisal comes out."

She looked gloomy, full of a kind of gloomy twilight.Qingping knows that everyone is actually the same, if they don't choose a side in the dispute between the two factions, what awaits them is the fate of being involved in the torrent.

At this time, Rao Run came over with a cup, she and Yan Jinghan bickered regardless of who they were, they only talked about having fun.Seeing these two people drinking heavily in muffled voices, he felt a little strange, Rao Run clinked glasses with her and said, "Drink."

Yan Jinghan took a look at Qingping's cup with the jug, and immediately shouted like a villain: "Qingping, you are drinking tea again! You are still drinking tea at this time, what kind of tea are you drinking! Drink!"

Rao Run also said: "It's okay to drink some wine, anyway, you rest and take a bath, the king of heaven and I can't control it!"

Then he snatched the Qingping cup and replaced it with wine, Cheng Wenyu said with a smile: "Drink, it's okay to drink less."

It's hard to turn down everyone's kindness, and it would be hypocritical to refuse.Qingping didn't want to ruin their mood, so he took a few sips, but Yan Jinghan still caught him and laughed at him.

Then everyone began to put the beef and mutton into the pot. The steaming charcoal stove dispelled the chill around them. After drinking the wine, they felt warmer all over their bodies. Cheng Wenyu was only slightly better at drinking than Qingping. ; while the other two started scolding their bosses for being stupid, and then helped each other scold them, hooking their shoulders and shoulders, looking like they had a good relationship.

Qingping felt a little dizzy, she saw the snow in the depths of the forest, accumulated on the plum branches, it was a bit elegant, so she wanted to go there and have a look.As a result, the group of drunkards were drinking and singing, and she couldn't get up for a long time, so she approached the forest by herself.

The cold wind hit her face, but it made people wake up a little bit. She walked for a while, looked around casually, and thought about going back.

When he turned around, he stepped on a piece of hard ice. After drinking some wine, he became dizzy and fell to the ground unexpectedly.Qingping secretly said that it was unlucky, just begging not to fall on the hard ground, and suddenly fell into a warm embrace.

The familiar incense lingered all over her body, overshadowing the fragrance of plum blossoms, a familiar voice came from above her head, and warm palms touched her forehead, covering her eyes.

In a trance, she actually felt that this was a dream she had when she was drunk.

The man hugged her with one hand, covered her eyes with the other, and said with a smile, "Qingping, why are you drinking again?"