Dingjiangshan

The main courtyard of the Shu family was brightly lit. Mrs. Shu led her youngest son and was standing at the gate of the courtyard, looking in anxiously on tiptoe.

After returning from the palace banquet, Shu Qiuyu's expression was unkind, and as soon as he entered the door, he "invited" Shu Qinghui into the study with a cold tone, saying that he had something important to discuss with him.

Ever since Shu Qiuyu was on duty in the palace, with her third-rank official seal, she could speak a few words at home. Mrs. Shu was afraid that her father and daughter would have another dispute, so she could only watch at the gate of the main courtyard in a hurry. He just waited in case there was any commotion inside, so that he could go in and rescue his daughter.

But to her surprise, Shu Qinghui seemed to have an unusually peaceful temper today, and entered the study with Shu Qiuyu one after the other. For a quarter of an hour, there was no sound of arguing inside.

Shu Qinghui stood behind the desk with his hands behind his back, looking up at the words hanging behind him.The inscription was written by Ning Zongyuan himself, and it was given to Shu Chuan back then. It was hung in a gold frame and silver frame in the study, and it was the glory of the entire Shu family.

Shu Qinghui looked at it for a long time, then sighed as if admitting defeat, and said, "Father knows what you want to ask."

"Since the father knows what the daughter is thinking, he knows that the daughter does not agree with this matter." Shu Qiuyu said wearily: "Then why did the father do it?"

"...The Shu family could live in peace and stability, but my father just wanted to mix the whole family with the empress dowager." Shu Qiuyu said, "Your majesty can't rub the sand in his eyes. You and the empress dowager are persecuting him like this. It is to roast the Shu family on the fire."

"You also said that His Majesty can't rub eyes with fools anymore." Shu Qinghui turned around, looked directly into Shu Qiuyu's eyes, and said calmly, "So this is the reason why I must do this for my father."

Shu Qiuyu was slightly taken aback.

Shu Qinghui came around from behind the desk, pressed Shu Qiuyu's shoulder, and gently pushed her to sit on a chair beside her.

"If you want to know, my father can tell you." Shu Qinghui said, "Jiang Xuan is indeed our distant relative, but it's too far away, and I haven't moved around for two generations, so you don't know him."

"More than two months ago, the empress dowager sent a letter to Shu's mansion and gave me a list, asking me to find a woman according to the request from above." Shu Qinghui said.

More than two months ago, shortly after Ning Yan returned from the hunting ground, Shu Qiuyu thought.

"Shanzi?" Shu Qiuyu asked, "Why, did the Empress Dowager find this person specially?"

"Yes and no." Shu Qinghui said frankly: "There are some strange requirements written on the list... Generally speaking, when looking for such a woman, most of them have requirements for appearance and figure, but there is more than that on the list. .”

Shu Qiuyu frowned, feeling that something was wrong.

"The appearance on the list is vague, and although the body shape requirements are very strict, it is still within the normal range." Shu Qinghui said: "The only thing is that the empress dowager clearly wrote... she said she was looking for a 'no' Laughing, a woman whose heart is as cold as ice."

"What... what is this request?" Shu Qiuyu said, "Don't those who serve the Holy Majesty look for gentle and submissive women?"

Shu Qinghui shook his head, but did not answer the question directly.

"You are still young, and there are many things that my father doesn't want to explain clearly to you." Shu Qinghui said: "Because the Shu family is the burden of the father after all, and the father can carry this burden for decades. worry."

Shu Qiuyu almost thought he had heard wrong.

If it wasn't for that Shu Qinghui didn't have other twin brothers, Shu Qiuyu would almost have suspected that the man in front of him had been cheated on.

Over the years, there has not been a day when Shu Qinghui has not thought about sending her into the palace. The empress's wedding seems to have become a thorn in his heart, and he can't touch it, just waiting for when Ning Yan Let go and marry her away, this thorn can be pulled out.

In Shu Qinghui's eyes, there is the entire Shu family, the intricate family tree, the numerous lineages underneath, and the glory and reputation of the "Shu family", except for her daughter.

But now, he speaks as if he is a loving father, as if he has been carrying the pressure of the mountains outside all these years, and he has not entrusted the future of the Shu family on her, a little girl.

"Father, you are too serious." Shu Qiuyu said.

Over the years, Shu Qiuyu has actually understood the burden on her shoulders. She has no hatred for it, and she understands it very well - but while accepting it completely, it does not mean that she has never had any resentment.

"Father knows that you don't understand." Shu Qinghui said: "You always feel that Father is forcing you to find a way to marry His Majesty, even if His Majesty is not willing, and if you don't like you, you have to bite the bullet and go for it. s face."

"But daughter, you don't understand many things." Shu Qinghui said: "Things in the court are far from being as simple as they seem in the back house. There are some tacit transactions between the monarch and his ministers."

"Father means that the daughter is a deal made between the Shu family and the royal family?" Shu Qiuyu tried to suppress his emotions, his chest heaved twice, and said coldly: "The royal family got a queen with a clean family and no strong relatives." , and the Shu family gets the glory of this lifetime?"

"No." Shu Qinghui said calmly, "What the Shu family gets is safety."

Since entering the palace, Shu Qiuyu and Shu Qinghui no longer had too many scruples about father and daughter when talking. She tightened the handkerchief in her hand and smiled softly.

She smiled contemptuously, even a little self-deprecating.

"Father, my daughter is not a child this year." Shu Qiuyu said: "You send a woman into the palace today, not to mention where you put your daughter, but whether your majesty can swallow the breath of coercion is not sure." The Empress Dowager is backed by the clan, what is behind the Shu family, the Shu family can only rely on His Majesty, why should they board the empress dowager?"

"You're wrong, daughter." Shu Qinghui said, "The Shu family has boarded this boat ten years ago and never got off it."

The candlestick made a crisp sound, and the lantern exploded twice.

And Shu Qiuyu was already stunned.

"Father—" Shu Qiuyu said in a daze, "What did you say?"

Shu Qiuyu's heart suddenly lost its rhythm, and she jumped up thumpingly. She clenched the handkerchief in her hand, feeling a panic for no reason.

If a minister does something wrong in a moment of confusion, it may not be what will happen, maybe he can sell some face to His Majesty with a little incense, and it's fine to find a wrong person and punish him.

But if the subject has been sleeping with the king for so many years, and still misses other masters in his heart, then that's a different matter.

When Ning Yan ascended the throne, the cronies of the two highnesses in Beijing were wiped out from top to bottom. Occasionally, a few fish that slipped through the net that were deliberately left behind were also transferred outside the past few years. The court was taken out.

So Shu Qiuyu never imagined that her own father had something to do with the Queen Mother.

"Ten years ago, when the two kings took over the throne, your grandfather was already standing behind King Changle." Shu Qinghui said flatly: "If it wasn't for your grandfather back then, how could it be possible for you to be in Beijing with King Changle's heart? The four highnesses are equally divided."

"But—" Shu Qiuyu got a little anxious, stood up quickly, and said: "But at that time, my grandfather spoke for him because the king of Changle was the eldest son. My grandfather was a decent man, and he never took sides. It is also because of the rules of the ancestors that this matter happened, no matter from the point of view of emotion or reason, he must not be counted as the Changle royal party."

"Of course your grandfather stands upright, and no one can say anything about him." Shu Qinghui looked at her calmly, and said word by word: "But the Shu family is not."

Shu Qiuyu stared at Shu Qinghui in a daze, took a staggering step back, and sat down in the chair again.

"Your grandfather was more than rigid all his life, but not tactful enough. He relied on his qualifications and knowledge to walk so far in the court." Shu Qinghui said: "At that time, His Majesty Jingzhong had more than enough energy, and the two Highnesses were fighting against each other. He stands in a proper manner, but in fact the form cannot be controlled by others. If he doesn't choose, others will force the Shu family to choose."

"...Did father work for King Changle behind grandfather's back?" Shu Qiuyu asked in a daze.

Shu Qinghui acquiesced.

Looking at his expression, Shu Qiuyu knew that not only did he do it, but he even did a lot.

"The first emperor pointed you to His Majesty. Apart from the truth that you and your mother understand, it can also be regarded as giving the Shu family a face, and using this method to cancel the fact that they were on the wrong team." Shu Qinghui said: " Your Majesty marrying you means that he will turn a blind eye and turn a blind eye to turn over the whole page of those things, and he will not settle accounts in the future. The Shu family is still a clean stream of civil servants - after all, the queen's mother's family, You can't have anything to do with others, otherwise you will hit His Majesty in the face."

"But it can't do it now." Shu Qinghui said: "From the day His Majesty insisted on refusing to marry you, I felt that he didn't intend to let this matter go."

Shu Qiuyu closed her eyes in pain—she finally understood what the "deal" Shu Qinghui was talking about was.

She originally thought that none of the courtiers in the court wanted to climb up, and whether they were safe or not was an excuse for lack of support.But looking at it now, she thought that Shu Qinghui's selfishness and pedantry were actually the result of the court game.

They used the big words "Tacited", and regarded her as a button connecting the court and the royal family, representing His Majesty's tolerance and generosity to the Shu family, and his condescending charity.

Until now, Shu Qiuyu still doesn't think that Shu Qinghui did the right thing, but she can't think of any way to accuse him.

Just now, she said it herself, His Majesty is a person who can't touch the sand in his eyes - she knows this, and Shu Qinghui naturally knows it too.

Shu Qiuyu has no doubts that if Ning Yan married him step by step, then Shu Qinghui would be happy and be his relative in peace and order.

But now that Shu Qinghui helped Ruan Yin, it meant that he felt that he could not see a way forward for Ning Yan.

"Also, do you know who His Majesty's sweetheart is?" Shu Qinghui asked suddenly.

The future with the Shu family must be, but this incident seems to be the most insignificant. Shu Qiuyu was panicking, and asked perfunctorily without thinking about it, "Who is it?"

"It's a man." Shu Qinghui said.

"...What?" Shu Qiuyu asked back in disbelief.

"Your Majesty rejected you because of a man." After all, Shu Qinghui thought about it, and did not mention Ning Huaijin's name, but continued: "Besides, you and Your Majesty's engagement has been known in the capital, even if Your Majesty withdraws the engagement now, Who will dare to marry a former 'quasi-queen' like you in the future."

Shu Qiuyu's heart was already overwhelmed by the phrase "man", and she couldn't hear the second half of the sentence at all.

——She originally thought that Ning Yan's sweetheart was Jiang Ling, even if it wasn't, it was someone else's daughter, then it didn't matter.But she never expected that she would lose her engagement because of a man who appeared out of nowhere.

Her ears were buzzing, her breathing was suddenly heavy, her chest was heaving heavily, and her hands were shaking.

"Daughter, I'm telling you these things on behalf of my father, just because I don't want you to be naive anymore." Seeing her complexion changing again and again, Shu Qinghui didn't dare to provoke her any more, for fear that she would do something out of shame and anger, so he hurriedly Walked a few steps forward, pressed her shoulders, and said in a low voice: "...Listen to father, you have to go home more than your majesty."