Dingjiangshan

Ning Yan's coronation ceremony was not held in the palace, but moved to the place where his enthronement ceremony was held before.

At the first hour of the hour, he would lead all the officials out of the city to worship the ancestors in the ancestral temple, and at least he would not return until after noon.

The emperor went on tour, the idlers retreated, and the guard of honor with horses and horses was grand and mighty.Ning Huaijin sat in the flower hall separated by a wall from the palace road, and could hear the movement outside clearly.

——The inner city has already cleared the scene in advance, and only the sound of horseshoes and wheels can be heard outside.Going further out is the outer city, the main road is closed, the shops are temporarily closed, and the common people and subjects will kneel on both sides, waiting quietly and piously to meet the emperor.

If the previous "accident" hadn't happened, he should be with Ning Yan now, riding in front of his frame on the left, guarding the way for him, and talking to him when no one was paying attention.

Ten years ago, he personally sent Ning Yan to the high platform to ascend the throne, but ten years later, he could only listen to the movement outside through a high wall, guessing where he had gone.

The garden of Prince Gong's Mansion is well maintained, and there are no shortage of flowers all year round. It is early spring now, and the winter jasmine in the corner of the flower hall is in full bloom. The cut fell into Ning Huaijin's hand.

"My lord." No matter how dull Wei Ji was, he could tell that something was wrong this time, he looked outside the wall with a sad face, then at Ning Huaijin, and asked, "What's the matter with you and Your Majesty. "

Ning Huaijin shook her head, not wanting to speak.

This matter is disgraceful, and it will damage Ning Yan's reputation if it is spoken out, even if it is the closest person, it is difficult for him to speak up.

But it was because of this that he kept the ups and downs in his heart alone, and he was pulling with himself on the left and right, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt like he was in a poor alley, and he was extremely miserable.

For a moment, his mood strangely merged with Ning Yan's, and he tasted the same feeling as him.

The sound of cars and horses outside gradually died down, it should have passed the area in front of the palace gate, and started to walk towards the outer city.

Ning Huaijin reached out to take the teacup from the stone table in front of her, and absently flicked the foam from the tea with the lid of the tea bowl.

"Did the palace say when His Majesty will return to the palace?" Ning Huaijin asked.

"It's been a long time." Wei Ji said: "According to His Majesty's driving distance, plus the time for worshiping the ancestors, at least it will take more than two hours. I haven't heard of the specifics."

Seeing that he was thinking about it, Wei Ji couldn't help being anxious for him, and tried to persuade him: "What's the matter between the prince and your majesty? It's worth being so angry that you don't even go to your majesty's coronation ceremony." If you overstep, His Majesty is still young, even if you don’t do well, the prince should take more care of you, if the juniors of ordinary families make mistakes, it’s enough for the elders to reprimand you, if there is any truth, the relationship will be broken.”

"You also think I should go to his coronation ceremony?" Ning Huaijin asked.

Wei Ji didn't expect that he had a big talk, but Ning Huaijin actually picked out the most useless sentence and listened to it. He sighed tiredly, but he could only follow his words and continued: " That's right, the crowning ceremony is only once in a lifetime. Leaving aside the identity of His Majesty, the elders of ordinary families don't prepare for the child in advance, adding the crown and formal clothes to present the gift is no different from the full moon wine."

Ning Huaijin groaned, not knowing what she was thinking.

Wei Ji has been with him for a long time, and he also understands his temperament. Ning Huaijin looks like he has a good personality, but he is actually a master with ideas. No way.

Wei Ji shook his head, feeling a little regretful.

Next to the family of ministers, which one is not looking forward to mutual trust and a blind date with His Majesty.With such a good relationship between Ning Huaijin and Ning Yan, no matter how you say it, don't let it go.

Ning Huaijin skimmed off the froth for a long time, but he didn't see him take a sip.His attention was all outside, he thought he had finished drinking a cup of tea after holding it in his hand for a while, so he put it back on the table intact, and grabbed a small handful of fruit from the silver saucer beside him.

"Your Majesty is getting old." Ning Huaijin didn't want to say more, she could only say: "I should let go, so that I can close the door and live my own life in the future."

Wei Ji sighed, and didn't want to persuade him anymore. He walked over from the flower hall, half knelt beside Ning Huaijin, and took two pistachios from the bowl.

Ning Huaijin squinted at him, and put the few remaining fruits in his hand together.

There was a dull sound of opening the door in the distance, creaking and creaking, probably because the gate bearings of the inner city were rusted by the spring rain of the past few days, and they hadn't had time to maintain it.

Ning Huaijin took another orange from the table and peeled it in her hands.He clearly didn't want to eat anything, but he didn't want to be idle, so he always wanted to find something to put in his hands.

"Wei Ji." Ning Huaijin suddenly asked, "How old are you this year?"

"It's 23, my lord." Wei Ji said.

"It's time to discuss marriage." Ning Huaijin said.

"My lord, don't be joking." Wei Ji said with a smile: "It's not just a matter of dragging a girl from the street for nothing."

"That's not necessarily the case. What if a wealthy young lady likes you and wants you to come and be her son-in-law?" Ning Huaijin said with a smile.

"My lord, don't make fun of the young one." Wei Ji only thought he was joking, so he waved his hands and said, "The status is different, which family's rich and noble daughter can fall in love with a young servant."

"Yes." Ning Huaijin reminded.

"It depends on the relationship." Wei Ji said: "... Marriage is, after all, living under the fence of others, isn't it?"

"What if the relationship is good." Ning Huaijin asked.

"To be honest... the young one probably won't agree. It's very good to be rich, but it depends on whether you can bear it." Wei Ji thought for a while, and shook his head honestly: "There are differences in identities, and it is natural to see family background." It's all different, and her family members will definitely look down on me. When the love is high, it doesn't matter, and I am happy to see the other party, but in the future, when the love fades, she will gradually feel bad about me. At that time, no matter what her family members No matter how you look down on me, she will become "really so" in her eyes, so why should I suffer that anger."

——Look, Ning Huaijin thought, why does Ning Yan not understand the truth that even a servant understands.

After Wei Ji finished speaking, he suddenly felt that something was not quite right.His family's prince is not a gossip person on weekdays, so he should not make fun of him with such a personal matter.

"Wait, my lord, you... you are not here to match the lady of some family." Wei Ji was so nervous that he stammered: "Dang, of course, it is not completely impossible to discuss, the main thing is to see which family..."

"Don't think about it." Ning Huaijin interrupted him mercilessly: "I am just joking."

Wei Ji was full of melancholy and made all the wrong payments, and suddenly felt that it was not worth it, and angrily stuffed the pistachios in his hand into his mouth.

There was no sound outside, Ning Huaijin put the half-peeled orange on the stone table, patted her sleeves, and stood up.

"My lord is going back to rest?" Wei Ji asked.

Ning Huaijin waved her hands with her back to him, and said, "Go to the ancestral hall."

Wei Ji was slightly taken aback, wondering if Ning Huaijin had been to the ancestral hall a little too much recently.

But he thought about it again, but he didn't pay much attention to it—for filial sons and grandsons, it's not normal to sweep the candlesticks and burn incense.

He slapped the crumbs of the fruit shell off his hands, and instead of following, he wobbled back to the main courtyard.

The ancestral hall is still the same as before, the ever-burning lamps are burning, and the air is filled with the smell of sandalwood and wax oil, which blends with the woody fragrance of the house, creating an inexplicable sense of heaviness.

Ning Huaijin pulled out the futon, took out a stick of incense from the case, and lit it on the candle of the ever-burning lamp.

He respectfully burned the incense, then took two steps back and knelt down on the futon.

Ning Huaijin raised her head, quietly and silently stared at the rankings on the table, accepting their "gaze" with an almost introspective attitude.

I also have selfish intentions, Ning Huaijin thought, and I didn't tell the truth.

It is really dangerous to get entangled with the king. He and Ning Yan have different identities and are separated by a layer of uncle and nephew. If they get entangled together, whether the relationship is good or bad depends entirely on Ning Yan's heart with.

But the king's heart has always been unpredictable, if one day Ning Yan gets tired, or has to bow to reality, how will the two of them get along with each other.At that time, no amount of love and attachment will be turned into Ning Yan's obstacles, and become synonymous with his "failure" and "mistakes".

Until then, it is good for the two not to meet each other. If one is not good, it is not even a question of whether the huge Prince Gong's mansion can be kept.

Ning Huaijin didn't want to get into this dragon-tiger situation back then, but Ning Zongyuan involuntarily dragged him into this path, and tied him up with the most honorable person in the world in a daze, which made him a small sidekick. Received the glory of this mansion.

But walking into the sea is not a real dragon, Ning Huaijin had to panic.

He spoke impartially and selflessly in front of Ning Yan, and every word he said was about the overall situation, all about the country, and all about Ning Yan's proper emperor status.

But what he didn't say, there is also a selfishness hidden at a lower level.It's just that those selfish intentions are really insignificant compared to the "big picture", so he and Ning Yan selectively ignored them at the same time.

Ning Huaijin thinks that she is also a layman, and the man is determined to make contributions, even if he fails, he cannot end up with a ruined reputation.

Ning Yan was still young and didn't understand that it would be much easier to manage everything in this world if he could use his bare life as the "reserve price".But there are things in this world that are more important than your name and yourself - to Ning Yan, it is the world, and to Ning Huaijin, it is the reputation of his lineage.

This is not pedantic, it is fact.Love is only temporary, but the family's reputation is indeed written in black and white in the history books. If it is written in black, it will never be erased.

Besides, no matter whether Ning Yan is sincere or not, he doesn't want to bear the reputation of being a culprit as a man.

Ning Huaijin sighed, took a few steps forward on her knees, and pulled out a long wooden box from the corner of the altar across the incense burner.He put the square wooden box on his lap, lifted the lid, and took out a thin paper roll from inside.

This paper roll has been here for ten years, and the paper is hard and brittle.Ning Huaijin unfolded it cautiously, and looked down at the writing on it for a while.

This is the secret decree given to him by the first emperor——

The former emperor Ning Zongyuan once said when he was in Tuogu that Ning Huaijin was not allowed to get married before the age of 30, so he could concentrate on assisting Ning Yan.

Ning Huaijin knew that this secret decree was in duplicate, and the other copy was in Jiang Xiaohan's hands. If he had a second heart one day, or if he never obeyed the secret decree, Jiang Xiaohan would kill him.

But Ning Huaijin felt a little dazed when she saw the secret letter.I don't know if it's because of this secret decree, these years he has never really thought about starting a family, so now that he thinks about it, he feels that this kind of thing is really far away from him.

In the past ten years, he has devoted all his heart to Ning Yan, worrying about him and joying him, it is not an exaggeration to say that he has devoted himself to Ning Yan, and he has long been used to following his heart.Even when he knew that Ning Yan had vague feelings for him, he still couldn't break it apart, as if he couldn't stop.

Indecisive, Ning Huaijin thought to herself mockingly.

Ning Huaijin turned her feelings to the sky, then fell silent for a moment, then rolled up and sealed the secret order, and put it in her hand.

He knelt down for a while, counting the time in his mind, and felt that Ning Yan had already left the city. Seeing that he was about to reach the ancestral temple, he slowly bent down and saluted to the ancestral tablets everywhere.

"My ancestors are respectful." Ning Huaijin said in a low voice: "Ning Yan is young, although he is the crown, he is ignorant of the world and has a clear mind. If there are any inappropriate words and deeds in the future, it will be the fault of my teaching."

"Don't be angry."