turmoil

Zhang Jingche really wanted to leave the capital. This plan was not for a day or two. The reason why he had been procrastinating until now was not because of worrying about Empress Dowager Wu and Emperor Xinglong, but because of Zhang Jingsu who stayed in the palace.

Now, among these reasons that hindered his footsteps, there is another Dingbian Hou.

Commander Zhang made his heart clear, and Yang Houye didn't deliberately hide it, his thoughts were only written on his face blatantly, and he couldn't pretend to not see it.

At first, Zhang Jingche thought that he was overthinking, because his status was not correct, everyone seemed suspicious.It wasn't until Yang Fan asked himself to leave the capital that he didn't even care about arousing the suspicion of Emperor Xinglong, so he affirmed his speculation.

Zhang Jingche has been regarded as a "male favorite" for half his life, and he has a natural resistance to "broken sleeves", but unexpectedly, he does not dislike Yang Fan's closeness.

Maybe it was because Marquis Dingbian had saved him too many times, and he couldn't repay his life-saving grace, or maybe it was because...he subconsciously felt that Yang Fan didn't regard him as a plaything, but looked at him seriously , just like a young man who is in love with a woman he likes, he is both attentive and apprehensive.

However, this friendship alone was not enough to stop Zhang Jingche's determination to withdraw. He really wanted Yang Fan to bring Ledger and Fan Cheng back to Beijing, so that he could feign death and hide himself, so as to reject Emperor Xinglong's thoughts.It's just that there are too many irresistible factors in this world, and soon, an urgent letter from Beijing cut off the back route that Commander Zhang had deployed earlier in the morning.

People are not as good as the sky.

When Zhang Jingche pushed the door and entered, Yang Fan was frowning at the text message. Seeing Zhang Jingche coming in, he handed over the letter and said hesitantly, "Don't worry, the letter only says that Concubine Shu has moved her fetus." , the Empress Dowager and the Holy Majesty urgently summoned the imperial physicians to the Changchun Palace...it may not be that serious. Besides, the imperial physicians in the palace are all masters of Xinglin, and they have cured countless difficult and miscellaneous diseases. With them, the concubine Shu is sure to be safe and sound."

These words seem to be reasonable, but in fact they are very pale, because if the situation was not critical and he was close to death, with You Yunwei's prudence, he would never take the risk of "forming a party for personal gain" to pass the letter to Marquis Dingbian.

Zhang Jingche read the text message back and forth three times, and finally made up his mind: "Go back to Beijing!"

Dingbian Hou Shuer raised his head.

Zhang Jingche has lived for more than [-] years, living himself as a bare commander with nothing to worry about. There are not many people who are worthy of his heart, and Zhang Jingsu is one of them.

He never mentioned anything about his childhood, but Yang Fan inferred the general ins and outs from the rumors in the market and Zhang Jingche's scattered words: he lost his mother when he was young, and his younger sister entered the palace. In order to protect himself and his younger sister, he was forced to throw himself into the Eastern Palace. Subordinates——It can be seen from this that in the heart of the cold-hearted commander of Jin Yiwei, this young girl is very important. He made a small fuss for her, humiliated her, and even risked the world's disgrace by sending her away. Robbed from the palace.

Yang Fan didn't dare to imagine what kind of blow it would be to Zhang Jingche if Zhang Jingsu died twice.He couldn't even imagine what kind of behavior Zhang would do without this straw.

Full of worries, Marquis Dingbian and Commander Jin Yiwei hurried back to Beijing.Zhang Jingche was still injured and could not ride a horse, so he could only sit in a carriage.Yang Fan was in the same car with him, peeking at his face from time to time, trying to see the sporadic flaws in this kid's watertight skin.

Zhang Jingche remained calm and let him scrutinize him.

Yang Fan couldn't see the clue, so he could only sigh deeply.

After traveling all the way, Zhang Jingche actually persevered and arrived at the Nine Gates of the capital in the early morning of the fifth day.He didn't care about rest, simply washed and changed his clothes, and then handed the waist card to the palace, begging to see Emperor Xinglong.

Liu Yanzhao received the secret report from You Yunwei early in the morning, so he was prepared. When he heard that Zhang Jingche had returned safely, he was also overjoyed.He ordered the little eunuch to announce the person into the palace, and before Zhang Jingche could fully bow down, he had already dragged the person up, inspected him up and down, and let out a long sigh: "It's good to come back... I heard You Yunwei's secret report , I’m so worried! What, you’re not injured, are you? It looks like you don’t look good, but it’s been too hard to run all the way?”

If it was normal, Zhang Jingche would have to be perfunctory if the emperor asked him earnestly.However, at this moment, he was impatient to exchange greetings with King Liu, and went straight to the point: "What's wrong with Concubine Shu?"

Liu Yanzhao's warm and smiling face suddenly sank.

He looked at Zhang Jingche gloomyly, and said after a while: "I heard that you have escaped from death and you are like this, and you still miss her... You still tell me that you are just an ordinary fellowship with her?"

Zhang Jingche didn't have the patience to explain, and asked again: "What happened to Concubine Shu?"

Liu Yanzhao's face turned completely cold, holding back the anger in his eyes, he waved his hand at the eunuch for a while: "Lead him to Changchun Palace... Since it's a fellowship with Concubine Shu, at least I should see him."

Zhang Jingche suddenly had an ominous feeling in his heart.

He is worthy of being the leader of the two major secret service agencies of the country and the dynasty. Crow's mouth is unmatched by anyone. As soon as he entered the harem, he saw plain silk hanging on both sides of the red wall, and two plain white lanterns hung at the entrance of the Changchun Hall. On the coffin and coffin, there is a god tablet on the incense table, and on the black tablet is impressively written "Shushen noble concubine Zhang's god tablet".

Zhang Jingche only felt dizzy, and the internal and external injuries that had been suppressed along the way came to him at this moment. He staggered back a few steps, almost sitting on the ground.

The little eunuch who brought him here was startled, and hurriedly helped him up: "Master Zhang, what's wrong with you? Do you want this servant to call an imperial doctor to take a look?"

Zhang Jingche was grabbed by his cold and wet hand, as if being entangled by a snake, he felt an urge to gag for no reason, and hurriedly shook it off.He bit the tip of his tongue hard, and suppressed the distress in his chest with the sudden pain, and said in a deep voice, "Thank you...no need."

The little eunuch hesitated to speak, but Zhang Jingche didn't dare to look at the divine card on the incense table, turned around as if evading, and saw four incense burners floating towards him, the eunuch squeezed his throat, and said in a drawn-out voice: " The Queen Mother is here!"

Zhang Jingche took a deep breath, clenched his trembling fingers tightly, knelt down and kowtowed: "My minister... I kowtow to the Queen Mother!"

The Empress Dowager wears a crown of golden dragon pearls and emerald nine phoenixes on her head, gold silk and beaded pendants hanging from her ears, and her graceful and luxurious skirt slips across the gold brick floor, like a peony blooming among the rich and colorful.She lamented and sighed: "Get up... Concubine Shu passed away. The Ai family knew you were not feeling well. How could it be better for the Ai family and the emperor? She was pregnant with the grandson of the Ai family, and it just disappeared. ..."

Zhang Jingche gritted his back molars, gasping for every word: "Dare to ask the Queen Mother, Concubine Shu...how did she die?"

The queen mother hesitated to speak, and sighed for a long time: "Concubine Shu is a good boy who values ​​affection... You were attacked in Qilu, and your life and death are uncertain. Concubine Shu heard the bad news and accidentally moved her fetus. Unable to keep the emperor’s heir. Concubine Shu unfortunately suffered a bloody collapse after a miscarriage, and ended up with two dead bodies. The emperor mourned unceasingly, and bestowing her the title of Noble Concubine Shushen is a testament to her loyalty to the emperor.”

Zhang Jingche's face was pale, but his eyes were frighteningly bright: "Concubine Shu lives deep in the palace, how could she know the news from the foreign court? What's more, the attack on my official in Shandong is a top secret, even in the court, few people know about it. Who brought this news to Concubine Shu?"

The queen mother hesitated for a moment: "It's a little maid who heard the news from somewhere, and went to Concubine Shu to sell it, who knew that Concubine Shu's fetus was unstable, and she was stimulated, so she saw Hong at that time... Your Majesty In a rage, they dragged people down and beat them to death with sticks, as a warning to others."

Zhang Jingche didn't believe it at all: "Little maid? How could a little court lady know the foresight and know the changes thousands of miles away? Besides, Concubine Shu has been pregnant for four months, and the fetal image should be stable, so how could she be slightly stimulated?" Dystocia and blood collapse?"

The queen mother looked at him deeply: "You suspect, of course the emperor will not let it go, the little maid was severely tortured in the Punishment Department, and she was almost beaten to death, but she insisted that she was hearing it from hearsay, and no one instructed her... ..."

Zhang Jingche didn't allow her to finish speaking, and interrupted immediately: "Which palace did the little maid originally belong to?"

The Queen Mother frowned, and gradually withdrew her kindness: "Commander Zhang, are you questioning Aijia?"

Zhang Jingche almost bit his teeth to bleed: "I...don't dare!"

The queen mother then sighed: "The Ai family said that the death of Concubine Shu was as painful as the emperor's. If possible, wouldn't the Ai family want to find out the real culprit and avenge Concubine Shu and the emperor's grandson? It is really impossible! "

Zhang Jingche looked over the emerald red golden phoenix crown on her head, and looked at the calm and breezy clouds outside the palace wall: "My minister said earlier that Jing Su is not suitable for the deep palace, and the queen mother insists on trapping her—you move the deep valley orchid into the glass Even if the cover is gold and jade, it will not last long... Now that the Empress Dowager is heartbroken, what did she do back then?"

He repressed his words, endured again and again, and at the end, he finally showed a little resentment unbearably.

The Queen Mother gasped: "You, are you blaming Ai Jia? Zhang Qing, do you still remember your identity!"

"Remember!" Zhang Jingche said coldly, "I am my mother's son, Jing Su's elder brother—even though I am not related by blood, my mother pulled me into adulthood. Jing Su and I grew up together. The kindness and family affection are not fake. Before my mother died, Jing Su had only one thought, but I couldn't protect her... I am not worthy of being a son, nor a brother!"

The empress dowager was shocked by the hostility in the corners of his eyes and brows, and took half a step back, the beads in her ears trembled: "You..."

"Fortunately," Zhang Jingche finally looked at her, with a smile on his lips, "From now on, nothing can restrain me... Queen Mother, the chain on your dog is broken, is it a steal or a loss? "

The Empress Dowager supported the palace servant's hand, her face under the bejeweled beauty was gloomy, she should have been aloof, should have looked down on Zhang Jingche like a pitiful ant, but she felt her insignificance under the gaze of the other party.

In the bone-piercing cold, she said tremblingly: "Aijia... This was an accident, not Aijia's original intention!"

Zhang Jingche's eyes were red, but his tone was unexpectedly gentle: "Accident? It's too early to draw conclusions. The future is long. Let's... take it easy."

He bowed to the Queen Mother and slowly withdrew from the Changchun Palace dressed in sackcloth and filial piety.

Zhang Jingche didn't return to the Palace of Qinzheng again. The sudden death of the imperial concubine Shushen took away his last trace of vitality. He was like a walking corpse who had lost his soul and soul, walking among the red walls and green tiles, hesitating and not knowing where to go... Until he saw a familiar figure at the gate of the palace.

Zhang Jingche stopped, squinted his eyes for a long time, and finally distinguished the identity of the person: "...Hou Ye?"

It was already September at this time, and the weather in central Beijing was getting cooler. Yang Fan shook off his cloak and put it on Zhang Jingche's shoulders.He touched it indiscriminately, and found that under the Jinxiu court robe, this person's figure was unimaginably thin, and his shoulder blades were so hard that he felt as if he had no flesh and blood to cushion him.

"I've heard about Concubine Shu." Yang Fan hesitated again and again, but decided to get straight to the point, "Death cannot be brought back to life, you... you should just be sad."

Zhang Jingche had no expression on his face, and walked straight past him to the carriage outside the palace gate.Yang Fan was a little worried, and hurried to catch up, only to see Zhang Jingche spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell limply to the ground.

Yang Fan was taken aback, but before he could react, he had already rushed forward and grabbed him in his arms.

Zhang Jingche has been in a coma for a long time, in a daze, he doesn't know where he is, and he doesn't understand what happened. The chaotic dreams are tangled into intricate twine, and the long-lost memories flashed like fleeting images. He stared at himself in the parallel space, unconsciously burst into tears.

That was the past that he could never go back in his life, and the freedom he couldn't ask for even if he tried his best.

He passed by the sun, tormented in the abyss, struggled in the sea of ​​bitterness, even though he made a small bow and tried his best, he still couldn't keep his only relative.

"Who the hell am I?" Zhang Jingche thought in a daze, half asleep and half awake, "Why did I come here? Where am I going in the future?"

No one can answer him, including himself.

Fingers and claws were left on the snow by accident, and Hongfei's double counting thing.

When Zhang Jingche woke up, the sky was full of clouds outside the window. He took a breath and suppressed his exhaustion. When he turned his head slightly, he saw Yang Fan sitting in front of the bed, looking at him thoughtfully with his chin resting.

Zhang Jingche forced himself to sit up, and said hoarsely, "Master Hou...hasn't gone back yet?"

Yang Fan poked his forehead: "Look in the mirror, if you are like this, can I rest assured?"

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Jingche suddenly turned his face away and avoided him coldly.

Yang Fan couldn't help being startled.

Zhang Jingche stared at the gauze above his head, his face was tired and indifferent: "The humble job is much better now, Lord Hou can go home with peace of mind... You should take a good rest after running around for days."

His tone was calm, but Yang Fan panicked for no reason. He always felt that the calm was brewing with turbulent waves, but he didn't know what to say--in the face of the loss of a loved one, all casual comforts were to stand up and talk without back pain.

However, he couldn't help but said: "Concubine Shu has already gone, she has a soul in heaven, and she definitely doesn't want to see you like this. You...you still have to take good care of yourself."

Zhang Jingche closed his eyes, and said lightly, "I'm tired of humble work, please go to the Hou."

Yang Fan hesitated to speak, finally sighed, got up and walked out without looking back.Zhang Jingche heard his footsteps going away, and called out in the silence: "Han Xun."

After a while, the door was gently pushed open, and Han Xun stepped in quietly, bowing and saluting: "My lord."

Zhang Jingche opened his eyes, and the whites of his eyes were entangled with a mass of red blood. He asked each word with a pause: "Concubine Shu... how did she die?"

Han Xun sighed.

"Concubine Shu's fetus...in fact, it has never been safe," he said tactfully, "Since Changchun Palace was searched, Your Majesty has not entered the gate of Changchun Palace for more than half a month. Concubine Shu has repeatedly asked to see you. Ignore it. Concubine Shu was restless after returning to the palace, and she didn't think about eating and drinking, that's when the illness fell."

Zhang Jingche's fingers tightened slowly.

"The empress dowager spoke, and the imperial physician has been watching carefully. It was not that there was no room for change, but the bad news came. The concubine Shu was so anxious and mourned that she couldn't do it at that time," Han Xun said in a low voice, "The imperial physician said... That is a prince who has already formed."

Zhang Jingche gritted his teeth, and finally asked the most crucial question: "Who is that little maid...?"