turmoil

Since coming to this world, Zhang Jingche had brushed shoulders with death countless times, but none of them gave him the chills like this one.He once again experienced the ruthlessness of Tianwei. In the eyes of the emperor who occupies the dragon seat, human life is not human life, but a pawn, an ant, a bargaining chip in the game, and a "tool" for the emperor to teach his successor. You die.

He bit the numb numbness in his mouth, and ferocious blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth.

Liu Yanzhao in the hall was still kowtowing and begging, but Emperor Taiping pinched his chin and forced him to raise his head: "I know that it was the boy surnamed Zhang who pushed our father and son to renounce. If he dies right now, you will be my uncle." Yin's legitimate heir, if he is alive, you will have to bear the crime of murdering your brother and forcing your father, you choose yourself!"

Liu Yanzhao raised his head suddenly, with panic in his eyes: "Father!"

"My son, you have to know that even if you are the emperor, you are not omnipotent!" The old emperor looked at him with a smile mixed with kindness and cruelty on his face, "Take it as the last lesson my father taught you, Living in this world, everyone has to learn to choose and choose, and the Nine-Five Supreme is no exception. The father gave up your brother for the great Yin Jiangshan. Now, it depends on whether you are willing to give up that treacherous villain for the sake of your ancestors. !"

Cold sweat rolled down Liu Yanzhao's forehead. He saw resentment and malice in the old emperor's eyes. An unforgettable revenge by his own heirs.

He was forced by his eldest son to dispose of his eldest son, and he wanted to take away the most important person in his heart, so that he would always remember the crime of forcing his father to kill his brother.

Liu Yanzhao's lips trembled, and hissed: "Father...he is innocent!"

Emperor Taiping laughed strangely: "Innocent? Living in this world, who is not innocent? Your emperor's brother is all innocent? De concubine is all innocent? For the sake of your position, you can even deal with your concubine's brother and concubine's mother. A pet?"

Liu Yanzhao couldn't care less about arguing with the terminally ill old emperor, he struggled to get up, and was about to run out of the palace.But the old emperor's voice came like a shadow: "The Commander of Jinyiwei, Lu Xiang, is my confidant. He has two orders in his hand. If you stay in the palace, you will still be the legitimate successor of my great Yin, but if you go out... Hehe, even if he ascends to the throne in the future, the history books will not be free from the stain of murdering father and brother!"

Liu Yanzhao turned his head suddenly, and saw the severe coercion in the eyes of the old emperor. He was like a dying old lion. Although he was weak and unable to move, he still had an indescribable strength that made people dare not look directly into his eyes.

At that moment, the heir of the empire suddenly realized that even if he was only one step away from the great position, he could not escape the shadow of his father, just like in the past 20 years.

More and more cold sweat rolled down Liu Yanzhao's forehead, but his legs were pinned in place by this force, unable to move.

After a moment of hesitation, whistling and noise suddenly came from outside the hall. Lu Xiang raised his head with a frown, and saw a man separating from the heavy guards and rushing forward.Seeing the face of the person, Lu Xiang was taken aback, and hurriedly went forward: "I've seen the Marquis of Dingbian! Marquis, Your Majesty has never summoned you, what's wrong with you..."

Yang Fan was impatient to hear his ramblings, so he kicked the Jin Yiwei who was executing the execution aside, and took off the cloak from his shoulders, wrapping the bloody man around: "Ming Huang, can you hear me? Wake up, don't Sleep, I'll take you home!"

Zhang Jingche was so dazed that he couldn't even see the face of Marquis Dingbian clearly, and only heard the word "go home" in a trance.That young Lord Hou may have just said it casually in a hurry, but he would never have imagined how these two light words penetrated Zhang Jingche's darkening consciousness and echoed thousands of times in his heart.

Hearing the sound of the glaciers cracking, he gathered strength from nowhere, tried to spit out the numb numbness in his mouth, and said vaguely: "Home..."

Yang Fan feared that he would not be able to support himself, so he would faint. He held his hand and patted him on the shoulder like a child: "Go home... I'll take you home! Where do you want to go? The capital or the south of the Yangtze River? I will take you there!"

Zhang Jingche smiled. He seemed to have returned to the year when he was 16 years old. He saw the red flowers and willows in the south of the Yangtze River. He saw himself wearing silver flowers and winning Jieyuan. "Sound", saw that she had returned to the dilapidated hut, her adoptive mother raised a loving face, and held a bowl of hot Yangchun noodles to her eyes.

Or, he saw where he came from, where there were many mansions, busy traffic, and young and vigorous medical students roaring by on the Qingqing campus. It was a completely different time and space, where there was no imperial authority, no hierarchy, every Everyone's face is full of sunshine, and they can fight for a future with bare hands.

Then, the sunlight disappeared, Zhang Jingche couldn't hold on any longer, and fell down helplessly.

Yang Fan was so frightened that his liver and gallbladder were torn apart, he stretched out his hand tremblingly, and probed under his nose and heart, and felt his breath and pulse as thin as gossamer, and the stopped heartbeat started to beat again.At this moment, Lu Xiang's dissatisfied voice came from behind him: "Young Marquis, I was ordered by the emperor to deal with sinners in such a lowly position, and Marquis Yang barged in so loudly, could it be that he wanted to defy the order openly?"

Yang Fan picked up Zhang Jingche and handed it to You Yunwei who was following behind him, then turned around coldly, his armor making a clattering sound.

It was only then that Lu Xiang noticed that Hou Dingbian's robe was covered with a cold iron armor, and when he stood there, his murderous aura was about to come out.

He couldn't help being surprised and angry: "Yang Hou, you entered the palace wearing armor, could it be that you want to rebel!"

Yang Fan's expression was indifferent: "Commander Yang misunderstood, the Marquis entered the palace in armor, just wanted to remind everyone of one thing."

Lu Xiang held the saber at his waist with one hand, and Jin Yiwei surrounded him, forming a confrontation with Marquis Dingbian: "What's the matter?"

"The ancestors of the Hou family and the holy grandfather were friends in need. Back then, the ancestors of my Yang family accompanied the holy grandfather to defend the capital and turn the tide." Yang Fan took a wooden box from his personal guard, "After the Beile army retreated, the holy ancestor was grateful for the ancestor's meritorious deeds, and specially gave the iron coupon of the alchemy book, and said that with this iron coupon, the Yang family's children could be exempted from the death penalty three times!"

He opened the wooden box and took out a mottled iron deed. The moment it was bright, the surroundings suddenly fell silent.

Only then did Lu Xiang vaguely recall that the Holy Grandfather had indeed given the Yang family an iron certificate of alchemy, but he was cautious in his lineage. Although he held military power, he seldom dictated government affairs, and he was deeply relied on by the emperors of all dynasties.As time passed, even Commander Lu forgot that the Yang family still hid such a life-saving trump card.

Right now, Marquis Dingbian suddenly showed this trump card, which caught Lu Xiang a little unprepared, and he was stunned for a moment before he said: "This... Marquis Yang, if I remember correctly, the Dan Shu Iron Coupon can only protect the direct descendants of the Yang family. Zhang Jingche and the Dingbianhou's residence are neither related nor related, let alone direct lineage, how can they be counted?"

Yang Fan put the iron coupons back into the box, and said in a calm and unhurried manner: "Why don't you count? Ben Hou and Zhang Tongzhi hit it off, and they have become brothers - two people, one life, not to be born in the same year, the same month, but to die in the same year, the same month and the same day ! If Commander Lu disposes of him, he disposes of this Marquis!"

It never occurred to Lu Xiang that a dignified first-rank military marquis would actually say such slapstick and nonsense words, and he couldn't laugh for a while, but he was speechless: "Master... this Danshu iron certificate is the holy ancestor Bestowed, how can you be so nonsense? For a mere favorite, Hou Ye arbitrarily disturbed the bestowed thing, isn't it afraid that the holy ancestor and the spirits of the ancestors of the Dingbian Hou Mansion will not live in peace?"

Yang Fan also regarded Zhang Jingche as a "favorite" and a "good fortune". At that time, he never dreamed that one day, he would not be able to hear the word "favorite".

"A pet?" He thought with a sneer, "Which family's pet can calm down the northern border and make a fool of the prince of Beile? Which family's sycophant will risk his life and uproot all the moths in the south of the Yangtze River?"

Yang Fan made a gesture, and You Yunwei, who followed closely behind, surrounded Zhang Jingche and firmly guarded Zhang Jingche, only to hear the Marquis Dingbian say lazily: "Nonsense? Ci, since it was given to the Yang family, how to use it is of course the final decision of the Marquis! Now, Zhang Tongzhi has become sworn brothers with Ben Hou, so to pick a good day tomorrow, Ben Hou will open an ancestral hall and write his name in Yang's name. The family tree—from this point of view, he is also considered to be the Yang family, so he should be protected by this iron bond, right?"

Commander Lu was completely speechless by Dingbianhou's fallacious reasoning.

At this moment, the door of Qinzheng Hall suddenly opened, and the old servant who had been with Emperor Taiping for 30 years stood at the door, holding his voice and dragging his voice: "Your Majesty has a decree, to announce that you will see him!"

Yang Fan straightened his expression, walked past Lu Xiang, picked up his clothes and went up the stairs.

The windows in the Palace of Qinzheng were closed tightly, and no matter how thick the incense was, it could not hide the rotten breath of the dying person. Hou Dingbian held his breath and knelt down in front of the couch: "My minister pays homage to Your Majesty... please rush to have an audience. Your Majesty forgive me!"

Emperor Taiping on the dragon couch lost his former kindness and stared at him almost calmly.At this moment, the old man who was in awe of Kunmian tore off the fig leaf of tenderness, revealing the clear line between "monarch and minister" in front of everyone's eyes.

"Yang Qing," the old emperor said coldly, "what are you doing?"

Yang Fan kowtowed and saluted: "My Majesty, I heard that Zhang Tongzhi had an audience at night. This matter is not in line with etiquette, so I came here to find him."

Emperor Taiping narrowed his eyes: "It was Zhen who announced him into the palace, do you have any objections?"

Yang Fan was very calm: "I don't dare... It's just that Weichen and Zhang Tongzhi have both been taught in the Wang University Scholars Hall, and they have a friendship of life and death, and they have become brothers. Now that my brother has been convicted for no reason, this Weichen As a brother, it is imperative to speak a fair word for him——Zhang Tongzhi established the northern border first, and then flattened the south of the Yangtze.

Emperor Taiping was suddenly furious, and slapped the edge of the bed suddenly: "Presumptuous!"

Yang Fan was neither surprised nor angry, and continued on his own, "Wei Chen and Ming Huang have known each other so far, and I don't know what kind of pet is in the family. I only know that he has great talents and learning, and he has loyalty to his family and country. Such a person should be high in the temple. Seeking profit for the people, but because of the selfishness of Huainan Wang and his son, the sharp knife is rusted and the pearl is covered with dust... I have the courage to speak out today, not for anything else, I just ask His Majesty to save his life, and it should be for the family, the country and the community The next pillar to help the world and save the world!"

Emperor Taiping became more and more annoyed: "It's a bunch of nonsense! If there is no one in the Great Yin court, what danger is there for him to be a favor? What kind of life! This person is soft and sycophantic, and he is even more daring and reckless. He intends to provoke the relationship between father and son in the Tian family, and he is dead." A hundred times is not too much!"

Liu Yanzhao winked at Yang Fan frequently, telling him to be smart, kowtow quickly to plead guilty, don't make the old emperor angry, this is a serious crime of "angrying the emperor to death", even the Marquis of Dingbian can't afford it.However, Yang Fan was born with a pair of two or five eyes, as if he didn't see it, he knelt on the ground and said straightly: "Back to the emperor, back then, the lord of the Yang family once gave the Yang family alchemy iron coupons, and said that if the descendants of the Yang family commit capital crimes, as long as they don't involve If you disobey the king and treason the country, you can avoid death. If your majesty refuses to forgive me..."

His voice paused, and the old emperor said angrily: "What are you doing? Are you forcing the palace!"

Yang Fan was neither angry nor angry, and said slowly: "The big deal is that I will write a marriage certificate and marry Zhang Tongzhi into the Dingbian Hou Mansion—since he has become a member of the Yang family, His Majesty can't go beyond the holy grandfather and force him to deal with him, right?"

Emperor Taiping and Liu Yanzhao couldn't believe their ears. They never imagined that Marquis Dingbian would be so unscrupulous. To save Zhang Jingche's life, he could even say such stupid words as "marry a man".For a moment, the old emperor was trembling all over, full of anger and unable to vent, panting for a long time, finally let out a breath and said to Xiaohan: "Get out...you get out!"

Yang Fan wanted to add fuel to the flames: "I obey the order! Your Majesty, if you have no other orders, I will drag Zhang Tongzhi back to the church to get married..."

Emperor Taiping was so stimulated by the words "worship to get married" that his head exploded, his eyes stared, and he pointed at him with trembling fingers: "Get out...all of you! Get out!"

Yang Fan kowtowed to thank him, and Ma Liu exited the hall.

This turmoil was too quiet, even if the palace officials of Qinzheng Palace were tight-lipped, it was still spreading.A day later, the news that Emperor Taiping had dealt with Zhang Jingche overnight was known to everyone. What shocked all officials even more than the old emperor's murderous intent was the bold words that Marquis Dingbian uttered in front of the Qinzheng Hall.

No one knows how the father and son of the Tian family felt when they faced Dingbianhou's feat. After returning to the mansion that night, Yang Fan was ordered to be restrained by the enraged Emperor Taiping.However, this decree can stop other people, but it can't stop Dingbianhou who is used to slipping walls and climbing trees. Taking advantage of the dead of night, he changed into night clothes, jumped out from the courtyard wall of Hou's mansion, and touched Zhang's house with ease. Small courtyard.

Zhang Jingche had saved his life that day, if Yang Fan had been a little late, his little life would have been given to the court staff.Even so, after being sent back to the mansion by You Yunwei, Zhang Jingche also had a high fever for several days. The best doctor in the capital guarded Zhang's small courtyard.

Han Xun helped Zhang Jingche up and tried to stuff the medicine bowl into his mouth, but that Zhang's teeth were clenched tightly, like a shell that couldn't be pried open.In the weather at the end of May in the capital, Han Xun broke out in a cold sweat. Most of the bowl of soup was spilled, so he had to change it.

Yang Fan stood on the side watching for a while, and finally got impatient, grabbed the medicine bowl with his hands, and said without looking back, "Hey, I'll cook some more bowls of medicine while you stare at the kitchen, don't let others get their hands on it!"

Han Xun agreed, and hurried away.

Zhang Jingche felt the pain in the burning, it was not an ordinary pain, like being crushed inch by inch by a carriage, and nailed the joints crudely.He struggled in the flames, roared in the abyss... His hands and feet, convulsed by pain and high fever, were grabbed by someone.

Someone held him in his arms and gently patted his shoulder like coaxing a child: "It's all right... I'll take you home! Let's go home, shall we?"

Zhang Jingche didn't know who that person was, but felt that the voice was inexplicably familiar, so he whimpered indistinctly in pain: "Go, home..."

As soon as he loosened his teeth, a hard object was pushed in, and the heat rushed in, causing him to cry.Zhang Jingche shook his head and shook his head, but the man pinched his cheeks with his fingers, and said unquestionably, "Drink it! After drinking the medicine, you can go home!"

Zhang Jingche was like a wolf cub who had been bullied, finally returned to the warm wolf den, and lost consciousness amidst the man's chatter.