Looking at the mountains and rivers

Zongzheng Temple Prison.

The north wind howled and rolled snowflakes in through the narrow skylight, the cell was cold and damp, Yang Jue curled up in a corner of the cell, folded his hands, shivering from the cold.

At first, he thought about asking the jailers to bring some charcoal basins and fur coats to keep out the cold, but the jailers didn't look good at the former King Mu who had lost power. Bitter words.Yang Jue was ridiculed by these lowly status guards, he was naturally very angry in his heart, he gritted his teeth and thought, after he escaped, none of these lowly things would survive.This anger didn't last long. In the prison day after day, his anger gradually turned into despair.Over the past few months, the emperor has not issued any decree, as if he has been forgotten.There was no movement from King Yong, and there was no news from the Lu family, which was really unusual.He guessed that something must have happened outside, but he had no idea what it was.

Today is Yuan Day, since last night, there have been intermittent firecrackers, which made Yang Jue feel more and more depressed.I still remember this time last year, when he was still the invincible King Mu, sitting on his shoulders, being carried through the palace, throwing money everywhere, and countless servants followed behind to fight, praising his kindness endlessly.But now, in this rotten and cold prison, he can't even drink warm porridge.

The sound of the iron door opening suddenly sounded outside, and Yang Jue stood up suddenly from the messy straw. He knew that Yuan Ri had the grace of amnesty, and if someone was doing activities for him outside, today would be the day when he might be released.

Just as he was looking out full of hope, the jailer's voice sounded: "His Royal Highness King Mu is here—"

Yang Jue froze, thinking in his heart, someone has succeeded King Mu, who is it, Yang Cong?

At the end of the dark corridor, several figures projected in, besides the jailer, there were two other people, Yang Jue tried his best to look over there, and saw the jailer carefully saying: "Your Highness, this place is not very clean, please be careful with your steps."

As the footsteps approached, the two people behind the jailer finally showed their faces. The attendant beside him was very familiar. It seemed to be Tang An, a former gardener in the mansion.And that King Mu wearing the purple gold crown is surprisingly Yang Yan!The moment he saw clearly, Yang Jue was obviously startled: "Why is it you?"

Compared with his flustered tone, Yang Yan was very calm, and only smiled slightly: "Who does the third brother think is here, the second brother?" He paused, "It turns out that the third brother still doesn't know, and I lost In whose hands."

Yang Jue suddenly felt a chill in his heart, and there was a tremor in his voice that he didn't notice: "Why, could it be you who is behind this?"

Yang Yan smiled, the meaning of that smile could not be more obvious.

"How is it possible..." Yang Jue became more shaken, staring at his younger brother's face, and murmured, "You are obviously blind and don't understand anything, how could you do it..."

He suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the iron railing and shouted, "Han Ping taught you all this, right? What benefits have you given him?"

Yang Yan sighed very lightly: "Third brother, you sent people to watch my every move before, and you also know that I often write some words and sentences for mounting, but have you never read my writing? "

"Your handwriting?" Yang Jue was a little confused besides being surprised. He never thought about reading Yang Yan's handwriting.

"If you've seen it, you should feel familiar," Yang Yan put his hands on his sleeves, raised his chin and said with a chuckle, "Didn't you often receive news from Jian'an during the two years you were exiled in southern Xinjiang?"

Yang Jue was stunned for a moment, and exclaimed: "That friend of Jian'an...is that you?"

Yang Yan shook his head: "Third brother, there are many things, you can detect the clues as long as you think about it a little bit. But since you won the throne from your elder brother, you have been enjoying yourself all day long. Have you ever thought about your own situation? " He took a step closer to his elder brother and said in a low voice, "You want to use me to control your grandfather, you want to use me as a pawn, but have you ever thought that, in fact, you are my pawn."

Yang Jue's face turned pale, and he roared in disbelief: "You are talking nonsense! You obviously don't understand anything, I have the support of Mrs. Lu, and the favor of King Yong, what are you!"

A look of pity appeared on Yang Yan's face: "Lu Shi can't save you, and King Yong can't save you either. The reason why you can return to Jian'an from southern Xinjiang is because I need you to help me bring down big brother. Fortunately, you You did pretty well in this matter, speaking of it, I should let you live, but it's a pity..."

When he said this, Yang Jue suddenly felt cold all over, and fell silent unconsciously.

"Unfortunately, you always do stupid things again and again." Yang Yan smiled coldly.

Yang Jue took a trembling breath and said, "Are you blaming me for forcing you to get married?"

Yang Yan shook his head slightly: "I don't know who gave you the idea of ​​getting married, but it's not stupid. I don't blame you. You were instigated by your elder brother and wanted to trample me to death. I don't blame you either." You, but you shouldn't have thought of Wei Changxuan," his voice suddenly became harsher, "Wei Changxuan's life was hanging by a thread in Yuma Garden that day, and I begged you to save him like that, but you refused, just because of this One thing, you deserve to die! Not to mention the fact that you went to ask for his will and insisted on putting him to death! Yang Jue, it's all your own fault for falling into this situation, no wonder me."

As soon as he finished speaking, the jailer in black opened the cell door and walked in. Tang An followed him into the cell as well.

Seeing these two people approaching step by step, Yang Jue finally became desperate, he shouted loudly: "What are you going to do! I am a son of the clan, even if I ask a crime, I need an imperial edict!"

As if he hadn't heard anything, Tang Anyan took out a porcelain bottle from his pocket and handed it to the jailer, "Good luck to send him on his way."

The jailer took it, and said in a low voice: "Yes." He uncorked the bottle, stretched out his hand suddenly, and strangled Yang Jue's neck, and a few drops of dark red liquid in the bottle poured into Yang Jue's mouth in no time.

Yang Jue coughed again and again, struggling hard: "Yang Yan, you bastard, you mutilate your brothers and feet, what face will you have when you go to see your father?"

Yang Yan tilted his head and sighed softly: "Third brother, you taught me when I was young that there are winners and losers in this world, and those who lose have no right to be wronged." Even if I see my father, I am not afraid, my brothers, you will kill me, or I will kill you. Since I am alive, you must die."

After he finished speaking, he raised his hand, and Tang An immediately walked to his side and helped his hand: "Master?"

"Go inside," Yang Yan said, "I haven't seen my eldest brother for a long time."

Yang Jue's screams could be heard intermittently in the narrow corridor behind him, and after a while, there was finally silence, and there was no more sound.In the prison at the end of the corridor, a figure sat in the darkness. He didn't seem to hear the screams not far away, and he only half-closed his eyes and breathed out peacefully.

Yang Yan's footsteps stopped outside the prison door. He groped and stretched out his hand, grabbed the rusty iron bars, and called softly: "Brother."

There was silence in the prison, and after a long time, Yang Dai's slightly hoarse voice came: "You really came."

"Brother guessed that I would come?"

Yang Dai laughed hoarsely: "Of course you will come, you will walk to the throne on the bones of your brothers, and you will walk to farther places on the bones of more people."

Yang Yan suddenly laughed, he lowered his body slowly, and sat down, ignoring the fact that the mink cloak on his body was spread on the dirty ground, as if he was the younger brother of an ordinary family, sitting humbly in front of the elder brother: "Since the elder brother guessed When I come, I must know the purpose of my coming here."

Yang Dai walked out of the shadows slowly, his face was pale and thin, and he said without expression: "Yang Jue didn't kill me earlier, because you begged Tuoba Xin to save my life." The corners of his lips slowly curled up. , "At that time, that idiot Yang Jue thought that you and I were brothers and sisters, and couldn't bear to see me die. But I knew that you wanted to kill me with your own hands by saving my life, right?"

Yang Yan was quiet, raised his face and said, "It's really much easier to talk to a smart person like Big Brother."

Yang Dai's smile suddenly faded, and he looked at his younger brother sharply: "You really know?"

"Know what?" Yang Yan blinked and turned towards him, "Do you know the deepest secret in my brother's heart?"

He shook his head and smiled lightly: "You have been testing me, wanting to know what my father said to me before he died, but just because he was afraid that he would tell me about it." He slowly moved his fingers, unfolding and clenching them, "Actually, I I knew it a long time ago, earlier than you think. When I was a child, I knew that my mother was murdered, and the person who killed her was my elder brother."

The muscles on Yang Dai's face twitched slightly: "So, I really have to admire you, fourth brother. You didn't show a single trace in the palace before, and your thoughts are really unfathomable."

Yang Yan said in a low voice: "Although I haven't shown any traces, my elder brother's suspicion has never stopped, right? That day when my elder brother gave me the harp left by my father, I knew you meant to test it. That's me. Mother's most beloved konghou, I touched it, but didn't dare to shed a single tear." He took a deep breath, and said after a while, "Speaking of it, it's also thanks to my elder brother's fear of mother's affairs. Speaking of this harp, elder brother immediately became suspicious of me. If he hadn't rushed to attack me and caused witchcraft, third brother might not be able to return to Jian'an so soon."

"The person behind Yang Jue is indeed you," Yang Dai sneered slightly, "It's a pity that he didn't realize it until he died."

"There is one more thing that I don't quite understand, and I want to ask my elder brother." Although Yang Yan looked calm, his voice trembled slightly, "Your mother and my mother are sisters of the same clan. She is very caring, and you are also quite attached to her, why...you would treat her like that."

Yang Dai was silent, he lowered his eyes to look at the top of his younger brother's head, his eyes were very complicated, and after a while he said: "Fourth brother, let me tell you about my mother."

He also sat down, separated from Yang Yan by an iron fence: "My mother's background is not as noble as that of Princess Jing, and she is only a collateral lineage in the Tuoba family. My father married her in to marry Donghu. My mother is a kind-hearted woman. An arrogant person, she can see that she likes her father very much, but his heart doesn't seem to be on her. Sometimes when he looks at her, he seems to think of someone else. She always says that I am her only hope, I am the heir of the marriage between the Yang family and the Tuoba family. In the future, I will not only inherit the throne, but also have greater power. I will not only learn horseback riding and archery from an early age like the children of Donghu, but also learn to learn horseback riding and archery like the children of the Central Plains family. Etiquette in poetry and books. If I didn’t learn a little bit badly, she would punish me severely, and hug me and cry after the punishment. I didn’t understand why she was like this at the time, but I didn’t understand until I grew up. She was very Be strong, and naturally you can't let your son lose to others." Yang Dai said this, and lowered his head very tiredly, "But later, she fell ill, and she was sick for a long time. In the end, she probably realized that she was about to die. , so they called me over and told me what to say."

"She said that after she dies, her father will definitely continue her marriage. It would be fine if she married a woman from another family, but if she married a woman from the Tuoba family again and gave birth to a son, that child would endanger my status. If I can't inherit the throne safely, she will die, and she will never rest in peace." Yang Dai lowered her head, as if recalling the scene of her mother's death, her voice became deeper and deeper, "I was only eight years old at that time, and I don't know what to do. Comforting her, just heard that she was going to die, and kept crying. She put her hand on top of my head, told me not to cry, she said she left me something, and hid it in the cabinet. If my father really If you marry a Princess Tuoba, let me give the contents of the cabinet to that woman."

He closed his eyes, as if his mother's words were still in his ears, so earnest and desperate: "Daier, grandma is watching you in the sky, remember, no one can...no one can take your position away."

"After she passed away, I opened the cabinet and found a box of unopened rouge. The rouge box is a piece of high-quality jade. Once the lid is opened, you can smell the rich fragrance of rouge. I secretly took the box Rouge hid herself, and she was terrified in her heart, and I couldn’t say what I was afraid of.” His voice became hoarse again, “Later, Princess Lu entered the mansion, and I was a little relieved. But who knows, within two years But Princess Jing was married into the palace by her father, and the whole world knows that she is the head of the Tuoba family, the daughter of Tuoba Xin."

Hearing his mother's name, Yang Yan's expression fluctuated a little. He didn't speak, but just listened in silence.

Yang Dai sighed and said, "I've never seen my father be so obsessed with a woman. He can hardly take his eyes off Princess Jing, and he completely forgets about those beautiful concubines in the backyard." He looked up He closed his eyes and looked at Yang Yan, "Speaking of which, your mother is indeed a good woman. What you heard is not wrong. She treats me very well, and I am also very attached to her. Maybe it is related to the Tuoba family. She is somewhat similar to my grandma, but she is gentler and softer. Even now, I still dream of her, dreaming that she holds me in her arms and sings Donghu songs to lull me to sleep."