turmoil

Zhang Jingche was vaguely aware that someone was guarding the bed, and that person was very patient, grabbing his waving hand again and again, stuffing it back into the bedding, and finally patting him like coaxing a child, saying something He would hum the tune of the nursery rhyme that went out of tune and ran to the sky.

After several times, Zhang Jingche was finally able to sleep soundly.

When he really woke up, it was already six or seven days later, and Han Xun was standing by the bed, probably very sleepy, he was leaning on the bamboo chair, his head was falling straight down.Zhang Jingche rolled his eyes, but he couldn't find the figure he saw in his dream. He thought that he had a fever and was confused, so he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

He tried to stand up, but just as he moved, something slipped out from between his fingers and fell to the ground with a crisp "pop".Han Xun, who was beside the bed, woke up suddenly, raised his head and met his eyes, and couldn't help being overjoyed: "Boss, are you awake?"

Zhang Jingche nodded, his gaze fell on the ground, and what slid down was a familiar mutton fat jade pendant with the word "Ding" carved in tiger patterns on it, which was the token of the Hou Mansion that Yang Fan had given him before.

Zhang Jingche raised his head suddenly: "Have Yang Hou been here?"

When Han Xun heard the word "Yanghou", he remembered the bold words from Dingbianhou. He was in a bad mood, but he couldn't ask about this matter in detail, so he could only say nonchalantly, "I've been here, and I've been guarding you for a long time." My God...you are very dangerous this time, your high fever won't subside, and you can't even feed it with medicine, it's Yang Hou who is patient, coaxing you to drink the medicine, and then leave after your fever subsides."

Zhang Jingche leaned over to pick up the jade pendant in his hand, and looked at him suspiciously.

Han Xun rubbed his nose in embarrassment: "Well...cough cough, you were sleepy before, holding on to the corner of Yang Hou's clothes, Yang Hou had no choice but to untie the jade pendant and hold it in your hand , and then escaped."

Zhang Jingche finally knew the reason for the constipated expression on Vice Chief Han's face, and the temperature that had just subsided showed signs of coming back again, burning his face like a crown jade slightly red.

He coughed twice, and said as if nothing had happened: "Marquis Yang is in a hurry to leave, but what happened to the Marquis Mansion?"

Seeing his calm expression, Han Xun seemed embarrassed and a bit petty, and then straightened his expression: "It's not the Dingbianhou's mansion...the Holy Majesty passed away, and Lord Hou entered the palace to celebrate the funeral. It hasn't happened yet. return."

Zhang Jingche squeezed the jade pendant tightly, his eyes were extremely cold.

Emperor Taiping has been the son of Shengming all his life, even though he has been lazy for decades, he can still hold the officials in his hands, which shows that he is a really smart man.However, this wise man never dreamed that Lin Li would be tricked by his bedside person and meet the past emperors in a daze.

That night there was a turmoil in the Palace of Qinzheng, and Emperor Taiping was still angry. It was not very good at the time, and he developed a fever the next day. He invited the imperial doctor to look at it. They all said that it looked ominous. After six days of hard work, he finally passed away. .

On the contrary, his wife, children and court princes who had been looking forward to his death breathed a sigh of relief.

When the old emperor died, Zhang Jingche was still unconscious, so naturally he didn't have to work as hard as Jin Yiwei's colleagues.On the contrary, it was Marquis Dingbian who knelt in front of the old emperor's coffin and mourned with the princes and grandsons every day, his voice was hoarse.

Intrigue while alive, but pretending to be a filial son and grandson in front of the officials and the people of the world after death, is also a scene in heaven.

In this case, Yang Fan is not the protagonist, so naturally there is no need to move forward.He finds an unobtrusive corner to kneel down every day, howls a few times following the routine, and leaves when the time comes, neither lazy nor showy.Even so, before the end of the day, he was still caught, the little eunuch lowered his head and blocked the only way that Marquis Dingbian must pass, and said respectfully: "My Lord, Your Highness, please go and talk. "

Yang Fan came late and left early every day, just worried that this would happen, and he would not be able to hide from all the tricks, so he could only sigh silently: "Understood, my little eunuch will lead the way."

Now that the old emperor is gone, the crown prince Liu Yanzhao is the rightful heir. Although he has not officially ascended the throne, he has entered the Forbidden Palace and started to deal with funeral matters and piles of government affairs.When the little eunuch led Yang Fan into the imperial garden, he was standing by the Fubiting Pavilion, rubbing one hand back and forth on the white marble railing.

It was June at this time, and there were fields of lotus leaves in the pond, dotted with bowl-sized water lilies.The breeze is blowing, there is a faint fragrance floating, the weeping willows on both sides are blowing the ground, and the ancient locust tree is quiet, it is a perfect place to enjoy the cool air.But for some reason, seeing Liu Yanzhao's expressionless side face, Yang Fan's heart skipped a beat, and he felt flustered for no reason.

At this moment, he realized like never before that even if the friendship between the two of them had never faded away, there was still a clear "monarch and minister" barrier between the two of them.

Yang Fan took a deep breath, slipped forward, knelt down and saluted: "I greet Your Highness the Crown Prince."

As if waking up from a dream, Liu Yanzhao stretched out his hand to help him up, his face was as gentle as ever: "You're here? How are you, haven't you been tired these days?"

The crown prince asked with concern, but Yang Fan didn't dare to climb up the pole, and answered after hesitation: "Your Highness, please ask... It is my duty to guard the spirit of the late emperor, and I dare not talk about hard work."

Liu Yanzhao was just exchanging casual greetings, but seeing Yang Fan trembling and keeping his courtier's demeanor every word, he suddenly felt very boring.After a few perfunctory words, he changed the topic: "Thanks to you for what happened that night."

Yang Fan knew that Liu Yanzhao called to stop him because of the disturbance that night in Qinzheng Hall.Those who should come will always come. Hearing this, he calmed down even more: "Your Highness is serious... Zhang Tongzhi is a rare talent. I just don't want the late emperor to ruin future pillars because of a momentary anger."

Liu Yanzhao smiled, and pointedly said: "You value him so much, and you don't hesitate to disobey the late emperor because of him, you must have a great friendship?"

Yang Fan's heart trembled, he felt that Liu Yanzhao's question had a lot of meaning, his palms were trembling with sweat, and he just acted nonchalantly: "It's okay... I went to the south of the Yangtze River and found out that this kid is also in the University of Wang I have been educated under the hall, so I can be regarded as half of my fellow disciples, and we have been through life and death together, we can’t say we know each other very well, but we still have some friendship.”

His expression was upright and his attitude was frank, which seemed that Liu Yanzhao's temptation was superfluous.The prince was silent for a moment, and smiled self-deprecatingly: "It is said that we have gone through hardships together, and the relationship is different from others after all. I am thinking too much... But Yuanzhou, you are not young, and the Dingbianhou Mansion only has one of you." Dumiao, it's time to find someone to take care of you."

Yang Fan hurriedly said: "Your Highness knows best my temper. Why should I delay my life? Besides, I haven't had enough fun in this capital city, which is full of flowers and flowers. I really want to marry a famous lady and come back. That's what you call violence!"

Liu Yanzhao was amused by him, picked a handful of fresh wicker from nowhere, and threw it on his head: "What are you talking about? Yigu sees it, he should find someone with a bad temper, who will take good care of you and tell you to spend all day Drill into those flowery streets and willow alleys!"

Liu Yanzhao was amused by him, picked a handful of fresh wicker from nowhere, and threw it on his head: "What are you talking about? Yigu sees it, he should find someone with a bad temper, who will take good care of you and tell you to spend all day Drill into those flowery streets and willow alleys!"

Having said that, Liu Yanzhao and Yang Fan are about the same age after all, so it is inconvenient for them to dictate too much about Dingbianhou's marriage.He raised his mouth as if thinking of it on the spur of the moment, and saw that Yang Fan was not very enthusiastic, so he just let it go, remained silent for a while, and said casually: "That night, you told Father Emperor that you wanted to write Minghuang's name in Yang Fan's name. Family tree..."

Yang Fan suddenly realized that there was a lot of foreshadowing ahead, and this sentence is the real topic!

He didn't dare to be negligent, he hid the restless thoughts carefully, and said seriously: "It's just a stopgap measure... That night, the late emperor was determined to deal with Zhang Tongzhi, but I really had no choice but to come up with this bad policy. I met Zhang Tongzhi not long ago. I thought he was a favorite and a lucky person. Later, I found out that he is talented and has a deep heart. I admire him very much! Such a talent will surely be a pillar of the court in the future. How dare I use such a dirty word? Thinking about him?"

Liu Yanzhao was still listening silently, and he didn't know what his words touched his heart, so he suddenly asked: "Is this kind of thinking... so dirty?"

Dingbianhou was stunned for a moment, his spine started to break out in a cold sweat as he entered and exited the Beile battle formation like a warrior in no man's land.

"Your Highness," he stammered, "I...that's not what I mean!"

Liu Yanzhao sighed, and his expression became more gentle: "Yuan Zhou, you and I grew up together, no different from our brothers... Gu hasn't said anything yet, why are you nervous?"

Yang Fan couldn't help being nervous. He thought of the lingering rumors in the market. Now it seems that the part about Zhang Jingche is indeed fabricated out of thin air, but the part related to the East Palace...is groundless, not necessarily without reason!

Liu Yanzhao folded a gardenia in the flower bed in his hand, played with it for a while, and whispered: "You went to see him a few days ago, is he better?"

Dingbianhou's face turned slightly pale. He had indeed seen Zhang Jingche, but it was all in the dead of night, and he didn't even know much about the generals of the Hou's family.However, Liu Yanzhao spoke so firmly, as if a pair of eyes were hidden near the Zhang family, keeping a close eye on Zhang Jingche's whereabouts.

"It's better," Yang Fan lowered his head, trying not to show any strange expression, "I had a high fever before, and finally receded... But the late emperor passed away, and I have been guarding the spirit in the palace these days. I only vaguely heard that Zhang Tongzhi seemed to be awake. gone."

Liu Yanzhao nodded, indicating that he could step back.

Yang Fan seemed to be pardoned, he hurriedly walked outside, almost out of the shade of the tree, and then he heard Liu Yanzhao say again: "Yuanzhou, what I told you today, just keep it in my heart..."

Yang Fan hurriedly turned around: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I know what I know, and I won't remember anything when I leave this imperial garden."

He raised his head secretly, and saw the young prince standing in the shadows, his expression was gloomy and unpredictable, but his eyes were strangely bright, as if something was about to come out.

Yang Fan didn't dare to look any more, bowed his body slightly, and walked away backwards.

Zhang Jingche didn't know about the conversation that took place in the palace. The court staff in front of the Qinzheng Hall scattered the little vitality he had just regained, and returned to the days of drinking medicine like running water—the Dingbian that lacked great virtues. Relying on his strong body and bones, Hou scavenged all the wild ginseng and astragalus that were not needed in the mansion, and sent them to Zhang's small courtyard by car.Han Xun didn't waste anything, and asked the imperial doctor to boil it into soup, and pressed Zhang Jingche to pour it down.

After more than a month, Zhang Tongzhi's pale face finally became a little more bloody.

Zhang Jingche didn't like to drink medicine, but he didn't want to disappoint Yang Fan's good intentions. He always remembered how Marquis Dingbian rushed into Qinzheng Palace on that windy night and snatched him out of Jinyiwei's hands.He was homeless for half his life and lost his loved ones. Over time, he developed a cold temperament, because he seldom felt the sincerity of others, and when he got something occasionally, he would be flattered and unwilling to let go easily.

When the first emperor passed away, according to the rules, the relatives and relatives of the emperor in Beijing had to keep the coffin for 49 days.Zhang Jingche counted with his fingers, this day happened to be the last day, and the next day was the enthronement ceremony of the new emperor, most likely he would pardon the world, Yang Fan, the Marquis of Dingbian who started his career as a martial artist, could probably breathe a sigh of relief.

After nightfall, Zhang Jingche somehow had a whim and dug up the soil at the root of the only pear tree in the courtyard, and found a wine jar that was sealed by the mud.He shook it excitedly, listened to the movement of the wine in the jar, and said with a smile: "I buried this before I went to Beile... I also said at the time that if I could come back alive, I would dig it out and drink it. I completely forgot."

It was rare for Han Xun to see him happy. Although he didn't want to spoil the scenery, he had to remind him: "Although the national funeral on the 49th has passed, the doctor told you that your injury is still not fully healed, so you can't drink alcohol..."

Zhang Jingche was baffled by his nagging, so he said helplessly: "It's not that I want to drink, go get a small jar... Yang Hou has always been a good wine, this bamboo leaf green has been buried under the pear tree for so long, it must taste good. In my courtyard I don’t have any valuables, I can only thank him with a jar of good wine.”

Han Xun agreed, turned around and left.

Zhang Jingche took a shovel and knocked off the sealing mud on the wine jar bit by bit. Originally, he just wanted to smell it, but who knew that the wine paste had been sealed in the ground for several years. When the seal was opened for the first time, the strong fragrance rushed out without hesitation, making his mouth water Tick, can't stop.

At the beginning, Zhang Jingche still remembered the doctor's advice of "not drinking alcohol", but then he couldn't help it anymore, and whispered, "I'll just have a taste, just one sip...it doesn't matter if you think about it?"

While comforting himself, he dipped the tip of his chopsticks into the altar, and was about to put it in his mouth, when a hand stuck out from his stab and pulled away the wine-smelling chopstick.

Zhang Jingche only thought that Han Xun had come back, sat there without moving, and lazily said, "I'll just lick it, it's fine."

The man said: "That won't work either!"

Hearing that the voice was wrong, Zhang Jingche suddenly raised his head, only to see Liu Yanzhao walking into the yard at some point, looking at him with a smile.For a moment, Zhang Jingche only felt the pain from the healed wound on his back. The smile on his face disappeared, but he had to get up according to the etiquette: "I don't know His Highness is coming, so I am far away to welcome..."

Before he finished speaking, he realized something was wrong. The enthronement ceremony was the next day, so he should address him as "Your Majesty".Fortunately, Liu Yanzhao didn't care about it, and just put aside the chopsticks that were stained with wine: "The doctor said, you are losing vitality, and you are taking medicine for a while, and you should avoid alcohol and meat, have you forgotten?"

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to Zhang Jingche. Originally, he just wanted to check the temperature of his forehead, but Zhang Jingche quickly took a step back as if he had bumped into a scourge.

Liu Yanzhao stood stiffly on the spot with his hands raised, with neither embarrassment nor embarrassment.

Zhang Jingche knew that what he did was too obvious, but it was an instinctive reaction of his body, and he couldn't control it.Seeing that Liu Yanzhao's face was gloomy, he could only lower his eyes, and distanced himself in a respectful and polite tone: "Your Highness... Tomorrow will be the enthronement ceremony, and you may be out of the palace at night, I'm afraid it's out of courtesy."

Liu Yanzhao's brows were full of anger, but only for a moment, he thought of the blood and wind in front of the Qinzheng Hall, and the anger suddenly dissipated.After a while, he said dejectedly, "Are you still weird?"

Zhang Jingche lowered his face halfway. If he was a lazy cat just now, he is now a wild beast ready to go: "Your Highness is serious, humble... how can I dare to blame you?" Your Majesty?"

Liu Yanzhao was silent for a while, and said in a low voice: "Don't blame the queen mother, that night...she had no choice but to do so."

Zhang Jingche silently clenched his fingers.