"Elder-in-law" migraine

The 22nd year of Jingyan was an eventful year. In the first half of the year, the favored minister Fang's family declined. A few months later, the beloved concubine Defei from the Fang family died of depression.King Ping'an and his mother had only known each other for a few months, and heaven and man were separated forever. Emperor Jingyan took pity on his benevolence and filial piety, and allowed him to go out of Beijing to relax.

Ren Zhi thanked Shengen, abandoned all the guards, and led his Wuzhi out of the city alone.At that time, it had been a month since Concubine De died, except for occasional encounters in the palace, Ren Zhi had never spoken to Duan Yixian once.Duan Yixian only felt that, overnight, Ren Zhi seemed to have changed into a different person, becoming extremely strange.

Ren Zhi can finally ride a horse and go wherever he wants, but in his heart he only feels a loneliness that he has never had before.He led Wuzhi, and walked slowly on the official road out of the city. This road is the only way to enter Beijing, so the road is dusty, and horses and pedestrians come and go in a constant stream.But only Ren Zhi led the horse and walked slowly forward alone.

There was the sound of galloping horseshoes behind him, Ren Zhi avoided the side of the road, but he didn't expect the horse to stop behind him, Ren Zhi turned around with some doubts, but saw Duan Yixian riding on the horse, his breathing was a little short, "Finally caught up with you."

Ren Zhi was a little surprised, raised his eyebrows slightly, "Father, what do you want me to do?"

Duan Yixian jumped down from the horse and grabbed Ren Zhi's hand, "I have something to do with you."

Ren Zhi lowered his eyes and said lightly, "What's the matter?"

Duan Yixian smiled bitterly, "I just feel that I must come to see you. If I don't come, I'm afraid you will never come back."

Ren Zhi raised his head and looked at Duan Yixian with some amusement, "How could it be, I finally found out about my life experience, and once I have a seat, how could I give up so easily?"

There seemed to be some pain in Duan Yixian's eyes, he grasped Ren Zhi's hand, and said helplessly, "I know that position has never been worth mentioning to you, I'm just afraid, when you leave, it's not just you who give up The place where you don’t care, and me. I know you heard what the master said to me that day, so you ignored me afterwards. I wanted to explain to you, but I didn’t expect that something would happen to Concubine De... …I watched your pain from afar that day, but I couldn’t tell you. Let’s wait for you to return to Beijing, and everything should have settled down. At that time, we can get everything we want, Life will never be the same again.”

Ren Zhi looked at Duan Yixian quietly, for a long time, took out something from his pocket, threw it into Duan Yixian's arms, and said softly, "Do you know this?"

Duan Yixian took the things and glanced at them, slightly hesitant, "This is..."

"The medicine powder inside contains some powder, you should be familiar with it, it is the poison most commonly used by the master back then, even the imperial doctor couldn't detect it." Ren Zhi paused, and said lightly, "I picked it up in my concubine's bedroom. Arrived."

Duan Yixian opened his mouth, but was interrupted by Ren Zhi, "Mother Concubine has always been ill, but the day before, she had recovered too much, she will not suddenly die of a serious illness within a day." Ren Zhi closed his eyes and said in a dull tone, "I thought you knew what I wanted. To me, the throne is just a fetter, never a desire."

"No, Ren Zhi, I really didn't do this, I won't treat you like this, you have to trust me." Duan Yixian clenched the small bottle tightly, and opened his mouth hastily.

"I know it's not you. You won't do this, but that doesn't mean others won't either." Ren Zhi closed his eyes, "I just pity myself, even if I know who the murderer is, I can't avenge my concubine. That's all. , Duan Yixian, you don't need me now, just let me go, you don't want me to end up like my mother and concubine one day in the future. In that case, I won't be able to forgive you until I die. "

"No, Ren Zhi, it is impossible for the master to do this matter. I have already convinced him. You were brought up by him. How could he really attack you? I will investigate this matter carefully when I go back, and then report to you." You have to explain. You can't even give up on me because of this." Duan Yixian shook Ren Zhi's hand with some excitement, his eyes were full of pain.

Ren Zhi looked at him for a while, then slowly withdrew his hand, but his tone was no longer as flat as before, "Duan Yixian, tell me, if it were you, how would you face it? What do you want me to do? That is my concubine mother, I have been an orphan for 15 years, and one day I finally found my relatives, but lost her immediately, tell me how to face you?"

Duan Yixian clenched his lower lip, and after a long time, he opened his mouth slowly, "Then I will wait for you to come back. When you come back, I will give you an explanation, and I will prove it to you. People have nothing to do with you, I will not allow them to attack you, you trust me, okay?"

Ren Zhi's eyes were slightly red, and after a long time, he nodded, "Okay."

Ren Zhi stretched out his hand to caress Wuzhi's mane, turned on the horse, swung the whip, Wuzhi fled away, Duan Yixian stood where he was, and after a long time, he got on his horse and returned to the imperial city.In the capital, there is still a big situation waiting for him. There is his country, but behind him, his lover is getting farther and farther away from him.

Ren Zhi galloped for several hours, then left the official road unknowingly and walked onto a small road.He reined in the horse, let Wuzhi go to graze aside, stopped by the side of the road, took a big sip of water with his water bag, and lay down on the grass beside him to bask in the sun, bored.

In fact, he didn't know where he was going, he just wanted to leave the imperial city, the place where he had been imprisoned for 15 years.There are only using and framing, and even the people he trusts the most are only strange to him.

He knew that Duan Yixian didn't harm him, but he was afraid. He was afraid that if one day even Duan Yixian treated him like this, then what would be the point of his life in this world?

Ren Zhi took the horse and went all the way south.He stopped and walked, and before he knew it, he arrived in the territory of Longzhou, and he suddenly came back to his senses. It turned out that he had been unintentionally walking along the route that he and Duan Yixian went south to Langzhou.Ren Zhi thought about it, and went straight to Xuguan Village.

Xuguan Village didn’t seem to have changed much from the previous year. There were still a few scattered houses. He walked to the house at the head of the village and knocked on the door again, “Is anyone there?”

After a while, the old man dragged himself out to open the door, and when he saw Ren Zhi, he seemed to be taken aback for a moment, "Young master, have I seen you?"

Ren Zhi bent his lips and said with a smile, "The old man has a good memory. Last year, my son and I were doing business in other places. On the way back home, we lost our money. Only after you gave us some food did we have the strength to go back on the road."

The old man laughed, opened the courtyard door, let Ren Zhi in, and tied up the horse, "Where is that young master? Why aren't you together?"

Ren Zhi's eyes darkened, and then he smiled and said, "Young master's house is busy, I came out alone, I passed by here unknowingly, so I came to have a look. Are you and the old lady still in good health?"

The old man waved his hand, "The old lady didn't catch me at the beginning of the year, so she left my old man and left alone." There was nostalgia in his tone, but he was very calm.

Ren Zhi looked at his expression and smiled slightly, "Don't you feel sad?"

The old man shook his head and let Ren Zhi into the house, "People are going to die sooner or later, but the old lady walked in front of me. When I can't survive that day, I will always go to her company, but it's just a matter of time , what is there to be sad about?"

Ren Zhi nodded with a smile, and looked at the room again. He could still clearly remember where Duan Yixian was sitting and what kind of expression he had on his face when he came here with Duan Yixian last time. There are only two individuals left.

"Old man, if you don't mind, can I stay at your house for a few days? I don't have any place I want to go. I'm alone, and so are you. Let's just treat each other as companions?" Ren Zhi suddenly recovered , asked the old man.

The old man nodded, "It's fine if you don't find my old man annoying."

Ren Zhi and the old man tidied up another empty room. After lunch, the old man sat in the yard basking in the sun. The ease and leisure I have had.

After talking for a long time, the old man was tired and fell asleep unconsciously leaning on the rocking chair.Ren Zhi got up and went to the room to get a robe to cover the old man, and went out of the courtyard to wander around the village alone.

The village is not very big, and the few remaining households are old neighbors for many years. They were a little curious when they saw Ren Zhi, a stranger, and looked around in the yard. Finally, a younger man asked, "This little brother It's an outsider, is there anything wrong with coming to our village?"

Ren Zhi explained a few words with a smile, continued to move forward, and finally arrived at the place he wanted to go. It was a ruin, with rubble and burnt wood remaining, but it could be vaguely seen that there used to be a home here. .

There should have been a gentle and beautiful wife in that family, and a considerate husband who has read books. The man can teach the children in the village to read and write, and the woman is weaving cloth and embroidering brocade bags, looking at him gently and smiling.In the evening, the children chatted and laughed and dispersed, and the woman would serve warm meals that were not rich.

They will have their own children in the future. The family may not be rich, but they are very happy. Maybe they will never be able to leave this small village, but at least they are together as a family.

Not like now, only the child, standing in front of a pile of ruins, alone.

But the dream that can't be realized even in this life has a normal family.

Ren Zhi stood in front of the ruins for a long time, finally knelt down, kowtowed three times, then got up and left.

Ren Zhi lived in Xuguan Village for nearly half a month, chatting with the old man every day and helping him with his work. His life was simple, but he didn't have any troubles, but he didn't know that in Beijing, it was already in chaos.

That morning, the old man was cooking breakfast in the room, and let him carry water in the yard. Wu Zhi suddenly neighed, and let him stand up, and saw a man riding a fast horse from outside the village coming far away, stopped in front of the yard, let She glanced at him, a little surprised, "Fu Sheng, why are you here?"

Fu Sheng suddenly knelt down on one knee, "This subordinate has seen King Ping'an, a major event happened in Beijing, and this subordinate ordered His Majesty and His Royal Highness King Yi to look for His Highness."

Fu Sheng's attitude made Ren Zhi a little dazed, he dropped the bucket in his hand, stepped forward to pull Fu Sheng up, "Why can't you just talk about it, what are you doing like this?"

Fu Sheng licked his chapped lower lip, and finally said, "Gong Xibang rebelled, he laid an ambush at the banquet a few days ago, intending to assassinate His Majesty and Master, but His Majesty fell into a coma and Master was also seriously injured. Xibang escaped from the palace under the protection of his subordinates, and now he has led his troops to surround the city. The Southern Army under his command is the Prince's three palaces and three guards, while in the palace there are only the Shenwu Army, which is trusted by His Majesty. Now the Southern Army is surrounding the palace. Everyone in the palace is isolated from the outside world. No one outside the capital knows that the Gongxi family has forced the palace, and no one rushes to rescue. The master sent me to leave the capital in the dark to find you, and let you take this token to find the guards in Yandi General Li, order him to transfer troops to King Jingqin."

Ren Zhi's expression froze, he didn't know what to say for a moment, after a while, he took the token that Fu Sheng handed over, glanced at it, put it in his arms, and went to untie Wu Zhi's rein in silence , suddenly turned around and asked, "Is his injury okay?"

Fusheng shook his head, "It won't hurt your life, but it's inconvenient to move. He said, as long as his injury doesn't affect his leaving Beijing, he doesn't want to involve you again. But now, he has no choice but someone he can trust, Only you."

Ren Zhi lowered his eyes and said nothing, he put Wuzhi's rein in Fu Sheng's hand, "Wait for me at the door, I'll say goodbye to the old man."

Fu Sheng led Wu Zhi out of the courtyard, let him turn around and entered the house, the old man raised his head from the heat of the kitchen and looked at him with a smile, "Are you going?"

Ren Zhi nodded, and suddenly stepped forward to hug the old man, "Old man, I have something to do at home and I have to go back. Take care of yourself and come to see you when I'm done."

The old man patted him on the back, turned around and picked out a few steaming cornbread from the pot, wrapped them in a clean cloth, and handed them to Ren Zhi, "I just steamed them, take them with me on the road."

Ren Zhi bent his lips and smiled, "Thank you."

Ren Zhi took the steaming cornbread and turned around out of the courtyard gate, took Wu Zhi's reins, got on the horse, and headed towards Yandi.