Bird Raiders

"My fate is bad. As far back as I can remember, I have heard this sentence the most. Seventh Prince, you must have been an evil spirit in your previous life, so you killed your mother as soon as you landed. I have always been very unconvinced. But now..." The Seventh Prince smiled and drank the wine in his glass.

"So, you don't want to escape?"

"I don't want to, I've had enough."

Yi Xuan sighed and sat down, "How old are you?"

"24. You were in the Forbidden Palace for the first 16 years, and you were in the frontier fortress for the next eight years. Prime Minister, you have had a smooth journey. You have studied and become an official official. You may not understand my difficulties."

Yi Xuan listened patiently.

"In the frontier fortress, in order to catch that rare poisonous insect for the emperor to use as medicine, I went up the mountain alone, and was bitten by a snake. I had a high fever for seven days, and almost died in the frontier fortress. I finally found the poisonous insect and sent it to him immediately. Come back, whoever wants to be tampered with by the prince, the emperor will give me death penalty without even thinking about it, fortunately, you interceded for me."

Yi Xuan couldn't say anything consoling, the emperor really wanted to kill the Seventh Prince.

"Also, when I was in the Forbidden Palace, life was not very easy. My wet nurse was thrown into the Forbidden Palace with me. She loved me very much, and she was the only one who loved me. At that time, the palace people didn't pay attention We, the rice that was delivered every day was either bad or raw, but I was growing up at that time, and I kept crying when I was hungry, so my nurse secretly dug a hole in the corner of the wall and quietly ran out at night After eating, she is very lucky. Sometimes she can steal a pack of jerky, which is enough for me to eat for half a month. It has been like this for several years. When I was ten years old, the palace celebrated the Lantern Festival, and everyone ran to Looking at the lanterns by the Yuhe River, when passing by the Forbidden Palace, I heard someone say that Yuanxiao and Tangsu are very sweet and delicious. I was drooling greedily at the time, but I didn’t show it, but the wet nurse saw it. The guards are not strict, and they want to go out and steal some candies for me..."

Yi Xuan's eyes were already red when he saw the prince.

"She was beaten to death. The nanny who knew her told me that when she was dying, she was still holding two pieces of sugar cakes. Later, I ran out of the hole she dug and went to the mass burial. Gang carried her out and buried her behind a nearby hill."

"Later, in order to let me go to the frontier to find poisonous insects to die for him, the emperor specially released me from the forbidden palace and built a palace for me. The first thing I did when I left the palace was to dig out the wet nurse's body , buried in the backyard of the palace, I have been in the frontier fortress for so many years, and every time I couldn’t survive, I just thought, I have to come back and kowtow to the wet nurse again, so I survived like this.”

"When I came back, I was a little ambitious and wanted to do something, so I threatened you to be my backer. Later, the poisonous insect incident completely made me give up." The prince poured himself a drink and emptied another glass. He smiled at Yi Xuan , suddenly asked: "Do you know why the emperor sent me to the frontier?"

"why?"

"Because the wizard said that only blood relatives can catch poisonous insects. He has thirteen sons, and I am the only blood relative."

"My lord..."

"I didn't come to you on purpose to complain, I just want to ask you one thing."

"what's up?"

"My personal bodyguard, named Kuai Zheng, was given to me when I went to the frontier. He is a very capable person. He helped me a lot along the way and saved my life. If I die, the crown prince will not die." I will let him go, so please do me a favor, change his identity, and give him a half-job, even if he is a petty official, it doesn’t matter, with his talent, he will definitely do something, and it’s a grievance to follow me him."

"Only this matter?"

"Only this. I dismissed all the servants in the mansion the day before yesterday and placed Kuaizheng in the Tongrong Inn in Xicheng. I hope you can help me with this."

"I came here this time to rescue you."

"I thought you wished I was dead."

"Why?"

"Because I provoke Artin."

Yi Xuan raised his glass and took a sip, "I'm really angry, but you didn't hurt him, so forget it."

The prince's eyes fell on the corner of the desk, the bunch of candied haws had already melted, he slowly looked away.

"I have never had anything to do with Ah Ting, he is still a child who doesn't understand anything."

Yi Xuan put down his glass, "I forbid him to be with you, not because of you."

"What's that for?"

"Because I won't allow him to fall in love with a human being, no matter who it is."

"Then you—"

"Compared with them, human life span is too short. I don't want him to be sad in the future. A Ting is a very simple and soft-hearted child. He has been very painful since he was a child."

The prince stared blankly at the food and wine on the table.

"When he was six years old, he asked me why the housekeeper's beard turned white. I said it was because he was old, and he asked me again, what would happen when he was old? How should I answer? Death will turn into a pile of bones, I am reluctant to let him know this, so I said that when the housekeeper gets old, he will turn into a goat and go to the grassland. It will turn into a flower peacock, he asked where is Daddy? I said, Daddy will become a tree, like the camphor in the back garden, you can fly to it to rest when you are tired, and Daddy will always be with you."

"He has always thought this way, and I don't allow anyone to tell him the truth. But if he falls in love with a human being, grows old with him, and watches him die, will he collapse? Will it be very painful? I can't imagine."

"I want him to be happy and worry-free during the decades by my side. He doesn't need to understand anything. When I die, I will return to the Yaozu with his mother and sister, forget the past and start a new life."

The prince was stunned for a long time, and then said: "I don't know whether I should feel lucky or sad for A Ting."

"It's like I don't know whether I should be thankful or sad for your decision."

Yi Xuan and the prince clinked glasses, and then drank them all in one gulp.

Yi Xuan said again: "By the way, I have always wanted to ask you one thing. Are the more than a dozen admonitions written by General Yuan Sheng, who guarded the frontier fortress, all from you?"

The prince paused, this action immediately betrayed him.

"You came to thank me before you went to the frontier fortress and returned all the books to me. I accidentally found a few pieces of paper inside. On them were articles written by you. They were very insightful and brilliant, which impressed me very much. Seeing Yuan Sheng's remonstrance, the writing style is too similar to yours."

The prince smiled helplessly, "As expected of the number one scholar."

"If it's not limited by your status, you—"

"Prime Minister, I'm going to Huangliang now, so don't say things that make me flinch."

"You... have made up your mind?"

"Living is also painful, it is better to seek relief."

When the prime minister was about to leave, the prince stopped him again, "Prime Minister, thank Ah Ting for me, and tell him that candied haws are delicious. I have already tasted them. That old man did not lie to him. It is really the sweetest one." string."

……

……

Ah Ting slept in the mahogany nest for two full days, and when he woke up again, the outside world had undergone earth-shaking changes.

A fire suddenly broke out in the Seventh Prince's Mansion at night, and the Seventh Prince was burned to death in the room. The king of Chu was the most suspected. In order to avenge his younger brother, the prince led troops to encircle and suppress the Chu Palace.

One day later, the king of Chu was captured, the crown prince won, and the emperor died in the Taiping Palace.