The prince in the cold palace

In the imperial capital, an unremarkable restaurant on a bustling street.

Although the private room on the second floor cannot avoid the influence of the noisy market around it, at least no one can hear what is said here.

The war was in a state of anxiety. A battle was fought for nearly half a year, costing the people and money. The sense of fear and novelty at the beginning of the war was all flat.

Anyway, the flames of war can't reach the imperial capital, and the most prosperous place is still full of peaceful colors.

The man under the cloak knocked on the table impatiently, looking at the unremarkable street scene outside the window, the yelling of bowls and chopsticks colliding and buying and selling downstairs was extremely harsh, the impatient man clicked his tongue, grabbed the flagon and put it in his mouth pour wine.

The young man in white sitting across from the man is the opposite, gentle and elegant, with a laid-back look, even in the bustling city, he is still as calm as a spring breeze.

"You know, even the best temper will be worn out." The cloaked man said suddenly, his extremely magnetic voice seemed a little hoarse.

"You don't need to mention this point, because I am more impatient than you." The young man in white frowned as he looked at the only jug of wine on the table out of a cleanliness habit he had developed since childhood, sighed, and called for a small pot of wine. The servant whispered and asked the shopkeeper to bring another jug ​​of wine.

The unstoppable sinister gaze under the cloak pierced through, and the man rolled up the slightly curly hair that was exposed outside and played with his hands, "When you do it, I will give you what you want."

"Oh?" The young man in white raised his eyebrows amusedly, the slightly frivolous movements made by the refined young man did not feel frivolous, but more elegant and uncontaminated, "What I want... I'm afraid it's too late After all this time, you still don’t have any clues?”

"Hmph, if there are any clues, you will know when the time comes."

"Then I'm really looking forward to it." There was a gentle smile on the corner of the white clothed youth's mouth, but there was no warmth.

"However, those of you who talk about morality and ethics all day long are really not straightforward. Why do you want to coerce the emperor to make the princes?"

"Does your excellency think that the emperor of my Great Zhou can be compared with the straw bag on your grassland?" He retorted, the sarcasm was just right and merciless.

The man in the cloak laughed softly, his originally lazy aura was also tainted with the wild nature of his origin in the grassland, exuding an indescribable courage all over his body, "But to be honest, a dying person disappeared overnight, as long as you use Think about it a bit, the answer is probably close to ten..."

The young man in white turned pale instantly, his gentleness could no longer be maintained.

"No...impossible..." I closed my eyes and tried to recall the voice and smile of the person who evaporated from the world, and I always felt that it seemed very ethereal at that time, and I couldn't say it, "Impossible...he , he can't let it go at all, there are still people he cares about..."

Seeing the rare fragile expression on the young man's face, the man in the cloak was in a good mood, and was willing to say a few more words, "I have been investigating this matter a lot in the past six months, and the guard next to that man is also Yin Wuyao's shadow guard. Then he went back to Yin Wuyao, and the housekeeper also returned to Prince Xin's Mansion later. If that person hadn't died, at least the two of them would have disappeared too. If it was disguised, how could they not be found by the prince's methods? , unless your emperor's father, Jinwu Zangjiao, is stalemate in the war, he doesn't have that free time."

"Stop talking..." Weakly holding his forehead with his hands, Zhiyu couldn't hold on any longer, his face was livid.

Zhiyu himself knew that the longer the time dragged on, the lower the possibility of that person surviving, but he was not reconciled.

Although he is always respectful and courteous in front of outsiders, it is difficult for anyone to take anything to his heart, but that person is different.

Only that person would call himself "Brother". When I heard it for the first time, it seemed like a world away, and then I felt numb but warm in my heart, a kind of warmth that could not be obtained in the cold palace.

After all, he is the emperor's son, with the cruel and ruthless blood of the emperor. He knows that once the bottom line of a man is touched, even the one he loves the most will be buried with him.

Just like Zhifei, the only child who can call himself "brother".

He couldn't help being confused and regretting that it was him who single-handedly pushed the child he cared about to a dead end.

Stepping out of the door of the restaurant, the bustling crowd passed by him, and suddenly, he felt that he was already alone in this world.

The servant of the palace dutifully opened a way for him, got into the carriage, and recalled the past six months of muddling.

The emperor is still leading the battle on the front line. Although the battle has been stalemate for half a year, Zhou Guoyuan still has the upper hand in terms of manpower and financial resources. It can be dragged on for half a year.

After holding on for half a year, after all, they were almost unable to hold on anymore. When they met this time, Zhiyu saw a trace of exhaustion under the cloak of the proud prince. They were all tired.

He stretched out his hand to lift the car curtain and looked out aimlessly. It was not the first time that he felt that a certain pedestrian on the road was a waste, but when he got out of the car to look for it, there was no trace of that person at all, not even a shadow of his back. Down.

He felt that there was a piece missing in his heart, and he knew it was an illusion, drinking and stopping the carriage on the street over and over again, and being disappointed over and over again.

"My lord, where are you going?" the servant outside asked him.

where to go ...Zhiyu lowered his eyes, with a bitter smile on his mouth, if he could, he wanted to go to the place where that person was, and then he would call him "brother" in a voice like Dongquan.

After a long time, the servant outside the door asked again, Zhiyu had raised his eyes, no longer showing nostalgia, a pair of unwavering eyes looked at the crowd wearily, "Enter the palace."

From winter to spring, and now it is almost summer, all kinds of rare plants in the palace are growing luxuriantly, and when the weather is hot, there are many palace people who come out to breathe. Several concubines met in the pavilion of the imperial garden to drink tea and eat snacks , I haven't seen the emperor for more than half a year, but I don't have too much anxiety.

Walking in the long corridor, I remembered the boy who was leaning on the pillar and sleeping lightly that night.

The almost transparent skin and the faint scent of wine under the moonlight filled the air with ambiguity. He wanted to just look at the boy's sleeping face like this, but he couldn't move his eyes, and he didn't want to move them at all.

Today, things are different, and memories will only add to endless melancholy.

Zhiyu quickly came to the former palace of the eldest prince, which is now the neighboring palace of the prison country. As soon as he entered, he smelled a strong smell of medicine. He frowned, and all the palace people in the palace knelt down and saluted , he nodded slightly and walked to the bedside.

"Brother Huang?" He softly called the person beside the bed, and the young man who raised his head nodded to him with red and swollen eyes.

The person lying on the bed is Prince Zhong's mother and concubine.

Even if Zhizhong didn't say anything, Zhiyu guessed why his mother and concubine couldn't afford to be ill now. Even though the emperor was far away in the frontier, he knew everything about the political affairs in the court. Dark chess suppressed their forces, and in the end, even though they were rivals, they had to make up their minds to join forces.

Fighting against the one who commanded the war quietly on the surface, but waited for them to automatically jump into the trap of fighting for power like hunting behind the scenes.

Some time ago, the natal family of Concubine Zhong's mother was impeached by the whole court. The crimes were exactly the same. The news spread so fast that the emperor of the frontier directly ordered a thorough investigation, and said that he would not embarrass the unknowing mother and son of Zhong Wang.

That was when he learned that the matter was irretrievable, Zhiyu persuaded Zhizhong to write a letter of love and send it to the frontier. Only by breaking away from Zhongwang's biggest pillar can he gain a chance of life.

And it seems that the emperor's wish is only to cut off Zhizhong's wings.

In this tug-of-war of imperial power, they have no way out.

"Emperor brother..." Zhi Zhong said hoarsely. These days, he seems to have aged a lot, and he has become a lot more haggard. His meticulous face is full of exhaustion and frost. gone."

Zhiyu looked at him, his eyes were a little surprised, but he didn't say anything, Zhizhong sighed, looked down at his hands blankly, "Why...why did the father drive us to a dead end?"

"Probably because," Zhiyu paused, a hint of sarcasm flashed in his eyes, "We are all his sons."

The woman on the bed who once won the emperor's favor was no longer beautiful, her haggard face was sickly white, as white as a ghost, her eyes were sunken, her lips were purple, and she had a dull expression that would only be revealed after the most desperate blow. The woman on the bed murmured, all nonsense that could not be heard clearly, and sometimes she shouted pain, even though she was unconscious, she would occasionally call "Your Majesty" out of her mouth.

The man she loved deeply in the past has cruelly ruined everything about her, even his son.

Heartless and ruthless, well-planned, men can't tolerate those who covet the throne, but they have been arousing their competitive hearts since childhood.

Such an emperor is undoubtedly daunting and yearning.

Pressing the quilt for his mother and concubine, Zhizhong handed the bowl of medicine to the palace man, looked deeply at the once beautiful woman on the bed, he stood up slowly, his eyes were full of tears. resolutely.

"Brother Huang, have you made up your mind?" Zhiyu's face was serious, he caught a glimpse of the woman's empty eyes out of the corner of his eye, and then looked into Zhizhong's eyes, "Now is the best time, but my brother is not in the court, brother Huang It must be hard work."

"It's okay..." Zhi Zhong said lightly, and he was already walking towards the case piled with memorials, "I have nothing to lose, so I can only put all my eggs in one basket."

Zhiyu smiled slightly, "Then, take care, Brother Huang."

They finally made a move.

In May, Zhiyu declared his illness in the court, secretly win over local officials from various states, and used the local power cultivated by Zhizhong to monopolize the price of grain in various places. Soon, the supply of grain and grass in the frontier was gradually exhausted.

As for the court, Zhizhong monopolized the power alone, suppressing the news of the imperial capital and the frontier, and the guards on entering and exiting the imperial capital were even stricter.

In June, the monopoly of grain and grass has been completed, and the frontier is in a hurry, but the documents passed on have been unable to be submitted to the court for a long time.

Zhiyu's "illness" recovered, and he returned to the court to assist Zhizhong in handling political affairs.

Looking at the secret report in his hand, the man laughed softly, but his charming and magnetic voice was as cold as ice.

He knocked on the endless piece of paper, and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, "If it were you, what would you do...Xiao Qi?"