The prince in the cold palace

After exiting the entrance of the secret road, there was an empty side hall in front of them. Avoiding the eyes and ears of the guards, the two hurried down the mountain along a path. At the beginning of night, the newly rising moon was covered by thick clouds, and only in the There was a faint yellow light in the middle of the clouds, like a lingering mist.

There was no way to go back to the accountant's hut. Yin Wuyao broke into the secret passage and took him away, but he didn't want to reveal his identity. Thinking about it, he suddenly pulled Yin Wuyao's sleeve, "Shen Rongku found out that I was gone, Will it tear up the covenant..."

"Covenant?" Yin Wuyao hooked the corners of his lips, "You can tear up that kind of thing at will, mainly depends on Shen Rongku's attitude—"

Stretching out his hands to rub Zhifei's black satin-like hair, Yin Wuyao took Zhifei up to the horse that had been prepared down the mountain, protected Zhifei in front of him, wrapped his arms around Zhifei and pulled the rein, "Shen Rong Ku was able to find you because he already knew that Nineteen was a member of the imperial court, his indifferent attitude towards Rong Li, his favor with Xiao Qi, and even enriching his arsenal and purchasing a large amount of supplies, all of these are nothing more than a point—— Shen Rongku's deliberate deliberation is precisely because the imperial court has to cooperate with him to wipe out the Rongli, so that he can return to the imperial court logically."

With a cold snort, Yin Wuyao looked at the sky, the shadows of the two riding together under the moonlight were not very clear, "Shen Rongku's wishful thinking was well done, but it's a pity that he met me..."

After offending Rong Li and making his stand clear, Shen Rongku couldn't help but continue acting.

Playing cards not according to common sense, holding the world in the palm of his hand, Yin Wuyao's confident expression is like a proud god.

If Shen Rongku found out that Zhifei had been taken away, he probably wouldn't be able to say anything. Rong Li was suspicious of Zhibao's identity. At this time, Zhifei left Batianzhai, which might be exactly what Shen Rongku wanted.

No matter what, Yin Wuyao achieved his original goal, separated the forces that might merge with Rong Li, and the next step was the Mu family.

The houses on Batianzhai were lit up one after another, and a few wisps of cooking smoke could be faintly seen in the mountains and forests. The sound of howling wind passed by his ears, Zhi Fei leaned against Yin Wuyao's chest, and slowly closed his eyes .

In addition to the sound of the wind, there is the sound of galloping horseshoes, with a certain rhythm, regular and pleasant.Occasionally, there are a few chirping calls of birds returning home, some are high-pitched, some are tactful, some are weird, but they complement each other, and it feels good to listen to.

"Xiaoqi... asleep?" Yin Wuyao looked at Zhibao who was able to close his eyes safely on the horseback with some amusement, retracted his arms, and circled him tighter.

Zhi Fei moved his eyelids, his long eyelashes flickered for a moment, and slowly opened his eyes, "Hmm...can't sleep, just a little tired...Father, where are we going?"

Yin Wuyao showed an unfathomable expression, "Xindu."

I don't know how long it took before they came to a still prosperous town and entered an unremarkable inn. The signboard of the inn had lost some paint, and there was a common and common name written in bronzing handwriting, which was easy to remember and also It will be easily confused with other small shops because it is too familiar.

The groom led the horse, and the two sat in a corner of the lobby and ordered some food, which was light and ordinary, and ended the meal hastily with crude tea. Yin Wuyao gracefully put down his chopsticks and looked at the executive who was still bowing his head waste.

Xindu is not within the range of the northwest, and it is also some distance away from Batianzhai. In my impression, Xindu is a rich and beautiful place with simple folk customs. Natural disasters have not been affected too much for many years. The most taxes are paid to the imperial capital every year. Therefore, being an official in Xindu is a fat job that can earn a lot of money. Whenever local officials are transferred, many people bribe the ministers of the official department.

Rong Li's hand should not have stretched so far, so why did Yin Wuyao take the opportunity to attack the Mu's family and take him to Xindu?

Speaking of Xindu, Zhifei thought of the prince who was sealed in Xindu. Except for seeing him at the state banquet when he was a child, Zhifei seemed to have never seen that prince who was not alive.

Seeing that Zhifei was thinking about something, Yin Wuyao didn't speak, but occasionally put some vegetables in Zhifei's bowl.

As Zhi Fei thought about it, there were always many things that he couldn't figure out. The emperor always explained at the end. What he saw always seemed to have nothing to do with each other, but they could be connected together in Yin Wuyao's explanation. .

Whenever encountering something unimaginable, Zhi Fei has become accustomed to think independently first, and then ask Yin Wuyao to explain his doubts.

While reaching for a cup, he poured the liquid in the cup into his thirsty throat, and only when there was a burst of tingling in his throat and a faint bitterness on the tip of his tongue, Zhi Fei could smell the strong aroma of wine.

Yin Wuyao was holding his head and smiling evilly, "Xiaoqi can drink a lot..."

I don't know if he suddenly drank the wine and choked, or because he was embarrassed by Yin Wuyao's joking words, Zhi Fei blushed slightly, frowned and poured a cup of tea to drink.

Zhifei's alcohol tolerance is not good, and he always avoids the toasts of the princes or ministers at the banquets in the palace. Most of the wine used by the court has a high concentration. Often, people can feel their cheeks burn slightly after drinking three or four cups. , so Zhifei is always the first one to leave.

When I was in the cold palace, occasionally during festivals, my concubine would brew some light fruit wine, which was not strong, but had a mild fruity aroma, sweet but not astringent.

Thinking of the mother and concubine, and thinking of the red crane like a prodigal son.

That night, they stayed in the inn, and they still shared the same bed, Zhi Fei slept in it, and due to exhaustion and bumps, they fell asleep quickly.

The next day, the two set off from the small town early, and only then did Zhifei see the horse they were riding together. It was all maroon, with only four snow-white hooves. Its coat was bright and its mane was just the right length, very handsome He snorted loudly, his eyes were piercing and brightly reflected Zhi Fei's approaching face, looked at Zhi Fei, and the bay red horse gently rubbed Zhi Fei's cheek.

Zhi Fei smiled faintly, touched it too, held the rein in his hand, stepped on the stirrup and got on the horse. Yin Wuyao from the stable was leading another horse over. Yesterday he was too hasty to leave Batianzhai With the power of Rong Li, he was able to ride alone, Zhi Fei touched the mane of the horse affectionately, and whispered something to the horse.

From a distance, seeing the young boy leaning down and rubbing against the horse's neck with a happy face, Yin Wuyao's eyes flashed with displeasure, he got on the horse, clamped his legs towards the horse's belly, and left the inn first.

Zhi Fei followed behind and rode out with a slight smile.

Although there were only the emperor and Zhifei along the way, Zhifei could still feel that many eyes were staring at him. Yin Wuyao had already contacted his subordinates, and it was impossible for the shadow guards not to follow the emperor. , but hiding in the dark.

Along the way, Yin Wuyao seemed to have something on his mind and rarely spoke.

When arriving at the next inn, Zhi Fei saw Dan He.

Danhe was also busy all the way, obviously came from other places to meet up, with a tired face, but still maintained a high degree of vigilance in front of the emperor, but the emperor was drinking tea casually, with no flaws in his body.

"I'll take you to Xindu and I'll leave, scholarly family" Danhe said succinctly, "The Mu family's affairs are almost done, and the cooperation with the emperor is just to avenge my sister..."

Speaking of which, Danhe showed a wry smile for the first time, "Where are you going in the future? Yes, the world is so big, I have plenty of places to go."

Zhi Fei pursed his lips, thought for a while, and then said to Dan He, "Aren't you going to see the concubine mother?"

Dan He shook his head slowly, his sharp gaze softened a lot, "I will go to see you, but not now..." With a certain firmness in his eyes, Dan He fixedly looked at Zhi Fei, He showed a helpless but hearty smile.

The road to Xindu is a bit boring, Danhe is not as unscrupulous as before, he does whatever he wants, when facing Yin Wuyao, there will always be a glimmer of haze in his eyes, and occasionally he will smile and tell Zhifei some strange news, attracting A curious gaze.

It is not so simple to intuit that Danhe will cooperate with Yin Wuyao, but whenever the topic comes to this issue, Danhe always keeps silent, and the group of three finally arrived in Xindu.The prosperity and excitement of Xindu is indeed as good as the rumors. The bustling market, a variety of shops, and teahouses and restaurants are everywhere. As far as the eye can see, there is a thriving scene.

Choosing a simple and clean inn to stay, Yin Wuyao and the shadow guard went to other places. Perhaps Yin Wuyao also had plans to deal with Rong Li in Xindu. Looking at Yin Wuyao's back with a slightly hurried look, Zhi Fei sighed slightly.

Every time after he has deployed, he will tell himself what to deploy.

Yin Wuyao's prudence sometimes makes Zhifei feel that he has nothing to help him, he is like a useless person in front of him, he feels like a puppet when he is pessimistic and helpless, or It is a pawn under his protection.

It's this kind of feeling that always makes the stubborn heart a little blocked, but I don't know how to resolve it.

When Danhe left, it was the early morning of the next day, or maybe late at night the night before, without saying goodbye to Zhifei, and without leaving a letter, as if he had never appeared by Zhifei's side, coming and going without a trace. Traces, like swan geese flying by, bring up slight ripples on the water, and the lake returns to calm after a while.

Thinking of what Danhe said to Zhifei, Zhifei frowned slightly, as if he could see Danhe finally standing in front of the sleeping Zhifei hesitating to speak.

Suddenly he heard a noise outside the door, Zhi Fei put on his clothes and went out to look, but there were strange faces, as if they were arguing about something downstairs.

The clothes of those people are very bright, they should be the children of rich families, whether it is the fan worn on the waist, the beautiful jade hanging on the belt, or the fan in the hand, it is not a carefully selected and high-quality item on May Day.

One of them was already blushing, he was wearing a dark green robe with intricate peony patterns embroidered on it, his skin was very fair, his facial features were not exquisite, but he could be considered a handsome man, and with his elegant attire, It is even more youthful and talented.

Enraged by the laughter of the people around him, the young man in green slapped the table heavily, spilling a lot of tea on the table, the Confucian scholars at the same table were silent for a while, and laughed again after a while.

Zhi Fei heard that person say, "I, I really received a reply..."

He hastily spread out the crumpled paper in his sleeve, and there was a round trace of cinnabar on the neat ink on the new white rice paper, dripping on it, as if it was left inadvertently.

The man in the dark blue gown sitting opposite the young man shook his fan and smiled ironically, "What kind of reply is this little red ink, I'm afraid Brother Zhao dripped it unintentionally!"

"No!" The man in green carefully smoothed the paper, but his face was a little frustrated, "This is really the reply from the prince..."

Hearing the word "Prince", Zhi Fei looked at the young man with even more curiosity. He had just reached the crown age, his lips were bright red, and his fingers were very long. The words written on that thin rice paper were too small. I can't see clearly, it seems to be a poem.

The people present laughed again, and someone said, "Brother Zhao, it's not that we disregard the friendship between classmates, but that you shouldn't use such a clumsy method..."

The young man in green wept bitterly, and angrily put the paper back into his sleeve.

Zhi Fei found it interesting, and pulled the child who had just cleaned up the room, "What are they doing?"

The child looked at it for a while, and then smiled with a clear expression, "Hey! It's not the prince of our Xindu. I heard that it has become more and more dull over the years. He locked himself in the room and did not go out. It’s been several years. No, the prince’s butler has posted notices all over the city to reward those who can let the prince speak or even write.”

"The few sitting here are Confucian scholars who are well-known for their beliefs. They often get together in a romantic way. Here, the man in green clothes, Mr. Zhao Muxiao, who is known as the 'Four Talents of Letters', was with another man a few days ago. The young masters lost a bet, saying that the poems he wrote would definitely get a reply from the prince..."

Zhi Fei took a few glances at the young people downstairs who had already turned the topic to the luxury of the palace, smiled lightly and shook his head, thanked Xiaoer, turned and went back to the room.

Yin Wuyao didn't come back all day yesterday, and he didn't see him after noon that day, Zhi Fei felt bored, so he went downstairs after lunch and walked around the inn.

Occasionally, I can hear remarks about King Xin, most of which are how the housekeepers of Xinwang Mansion have tried so hard over the years but still can't let King Xin step out of the room.

Regarding the appearance of King Xin, Zhi Fei can’t remember clearly. It was the first and last time I saw this uncle by blood. It has been almost ten years since now, but the impression of King Xin at that time is still there. Remnant, it was a middle-aged man who had no breath of life.

The notice posted on the city wall was not glued very firmly, and the corners were already warped. If the wind was stronger, the whole piece of paper would be blown away. Looking at the earnest words in black font on it, Zhi Fei suddenly felt that King Xin was a little pitiful.

I don't know why he became like this, but I have a faint feeling in my heart that Yin Wuyao's letter may not be just for the simple arrangement.

Blood is thicker than water, brotherhood.Perhaps in the eyes of others, Yin Wuyao is a king without personal emotions, who kills his relatives to seize the throne, and blood relationship is just a stumbling block to achieve hegemony.

However, I always feel that he is not that kind of person.

Zhi Fei thought lightly, and covered the notice with a corner blown by the wind with one hand. Maybe the wind was a bit strong, and the whole piece of paper was fluttering. Zhi Fei quickly supported the notice with both hands, making it stick Stronger.

But the paper seemed to be glued to the front, sticking to Zhifei's hand, unable to release it for a while, Zhifei sighed, but saw the guards guarding the city looking at him strangely.

Not long after, I heard someone yelling, "Another notice has been released!"