Tanhualang

In the autumn of the third year of Hongchen, the turmoil caused by Duke Ming and Degong in the court had completely subsided. When Shang Mao was just promoted, he was the chief assistant, proud of the spring breeze, and very conscientious.

At the beginning of winter, the Tartars invaded the frontier. Sun Ping and Cao Feng respectively supervised Xuan and Ji two mansions and won great victories.

The DPRK and China are stable and the border is stable. Zhao Heng finally ended his busy days and got some leisure.

It snowed heavily in the evening, and by dark time, a thick layer had already accumulated outside.It happened that there were two frozen fish sent by Cao Feng the day before yesterday in the kitchen, so Shen Jing cooked it herself and boiled a pot full of fish slices and shredded ginger porridge.

After nightfall, the master and servant were in the kang room on the west side, with the door closed, drinking porridge with hot pickles, when there was a knock on the door outside.

As soon as Xiaomeng heard this, he immediately raised his head to drink the porridge, hissed a few times when it was hot, got up and said with a smile: "At this time, His Highness must be here. Sir, wait, I will go to open the door."

Shen Jing put down the bowl and got up, before reaching the door, she saw Zhao Heng lifted the inner curtain and came in, while undoing the cloak on his body, he smiled and said, "It smells so good."

Shen Jing took the cloak and put it aside, sat at the table and filled another bowl of porridge, and pushed it to the opposite side: "I made a pot of fish porridge. Your Highness, try it."

Zhao Heng sat down at the kang table, tasted the mouth of the spoon, nodded and said: "Salty and mild, very delicious."

The two sat opposite each other and drank half a bowl of porridge before Zhao Heng put down his spoon: "Didn't go on duty today? You still have time to cook porridge at home."

"I went to the yamen at noon. There is nothing wrong with me. Miao Shangshu let me go back early." Shen Jing smiled, "You are humble, but you are at ease, unlike His Highness who takes care of everything every day."

"The Ministry of Industry's most outstanding contribution this year is that you earned it for Miao Shenjian? Not only the Ministry of Industry, but also Sun Ping and Cao Feng should thank you. If it weren't for the bumper grain harvest in the south of the Yangtze River this autumn, where would they have the confidence? Drive the Tartars out for two hundred miles in one breath?" Zhao Heng smiled, leaned over and pulled Shen Jing's hands over, spread them on the table, and pointed with his fingers, "A good pair of hands for holding a pen is now like this. Now, if Miao Shenjian is sensible, he should reward you well and let you stay at home for a while."

Shen Jing smiled and withdrew her hand, pointing to the fish fillet in the bowl: "Dr. Cao has already thanked you. These are the two fresh fish that Governor Cao sent yesterday."

"As far as he is smart, the two fish will send you away." Zhao Heng smiled, and while taking out a small box from his arms, he reached out to Shen Jing, "Come here."

Shen Jing got up and sat down beside Zhao Heng.Zhao Heng opened the lid of the box, revealing the white greasy ointment inside, picked some out and rubbed it on the back of Shen Jing's hand, slowly rubbing it away: "I don't know where I bought it, and said that this thing is the most nourishing for the skin. "

Shen Jing couldn't help laughing and said: "Your Highness, it is true. But I have two calluses, and I am not a girl, so how can I be so delicate? Or is it that Your Highness dislikes my rough hands?"

"I don't dare to despise you. I'm afraid you despise me." Zhao Heng finished rubbing, let go of his hand, sat leaning on the kang table for a while, his tone was a little hesitant, "There is something that I have always wanted to tell you, but I don't know what to do. Where to start."

Shen Jing got up and put away the bowls and chopsticks on the table, took the tea tray on the side table, poured a cup of tea for Zhao Heng, and sat down opposite him: "What makes His Highness so embarrassing?"

Zhao Heng took a sip of tea, "It's about the late Princess Yu."

Shen Jing was also a little surprised, paused, and said: "I don't know how to say it, so there is no need to say it."

Zhao Heng put down the tea bowl, was silent for a moment, and then said: "People are gone, so it is reasonable not to make false remarks about the deceased. But Xiaoyou reminded me that day, saying that this matter was spread unbearably in the public, so I had the opportunity to talk to you. It would be good to explain one or two things. I thought about it, and he said the same thing.”

He looked up at Shen Jing: "Since Gu intends to stay with you for the rest of his life, naturally he can't let you have this thorn in your heart in the future."

Shen Jing felt her heart warm when she heard it: "With His Highness's words, many thorns have disappeared."

Zhao Heng raised his eyebrows and glanced at him: "That said, there are still thorns."

"..."

Shen Jing didn't know what to say.

The Princess Yu of the past is the daughter of Xu Wen, Minister of the Ministry of Rites.The concubine Yu has been gone for several years, and it is said that she died of an accident. Now Xu Wen is still working hard as a minister of the Ministry of Rites, with a high position and authority. It can be seen that Zhao Heng still has some old feelings for the deceased concubine.

It is impossible to say that I don't mind at all, but I will hear my colleagues mention these things every now and then, and it is inevitable that there will be some differences.

Across the table, Zhao Heng reached out and squeezed Shen Jing's hand, and began to talk about the past.

"Therefore, Princess Yu, whose boudoir name is Xu Ying, is the daughter of Xu Wen, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites. It was when I was 17 years old that the imperial brother made this marriage for me."

"That was the first year I had just arrived in Ningxia. Not long after my brother ascended the throne, I was struggling. At that time, I was only thinking about getting ahead in the army as soon as possible so that I could be used by my brother. Suddenly one day, my brother wrote to me and told me I have chosen a concubine, a daughter of the Xu family, who is one year older than me, and asked me to go back to make a ceremony."

"I didn't have any opinions on this matter at the time. I just thought that since Brother Huang made a decision, there must be his reasons, so I rushed back to the capital."

"After he came back, Brother Huang told me that he needed to borrow the strength of Xu Xian and Xu Wen—Xu Xian is Xu Wen's elder brother, he is already old now, and he was also a court elder at that time—that's why he chose Xu Wen's daughter to do it. This princess. But he is also called Huangsao—Ming’er’s mother, who is now the concubine. At that time, Empress Ouyang had not yet entered the palace—he took a look for me, and said that this Miss Xu is well-educated and dignified. The appearance is outstanding, and it is not a disgrace to the title of princess."

"At that time, I felt a little anxious and uneasy, but since the emperor's brother had already made a decision, I didn't say anything else. I knew from a long time ago that I was going to marry a princess, who would I marry? Since the emperor is optimistic, Xu The young lady of the family is worse than the young lady of other families."

"All the etiquette has been prepared a long time ago. On the third day after returning to Beijing, the Ritual Department organized the wedding."

Having said that, Zhao Heng paused.

"But on that day, Ms. Xu and I just paid homage, and the ceremony was not actually completed. In the bridal chamber, Ms. Xu turned away the attendants, uncovered her head, knelt on the ground and begged for the postponement of the bridal chamber ceremony, saying that she was physically ill. Unwell. I agreed. It’s just that I was worried about the situation in Gansu, and I couldn’t stay in the capital, so I bid farewell to the emperor and returned to Gansu the next day.”

"After more than half a year of my visit, I took the opportunity to raise food and grass to return to Beijing. I didn't hide the fact that Miss Xu and I didn't have a bridal chamber, so he specially called me into the palace at that time and asked me to do something about it. Scattered leaves and other words remind me; the emperor's sister-in-law also sent someone to Xu Ying to teach a few words."

"It's just that when I went back to the Palace to see Ms. Xu, she still said she was unwell. We still lived in separate rooms."

"That time I stayed in the capital for three days, then left for Nanjing, and then returned to Gansu from Nanjing."

"When I returned to Beijing for the third time, it was more than a year later. General Liu of the Gyeonggi Camp died suddenly. The emperor urgently ordered me to go back to the capital to lead the Gyeonggi Camp. It was this time when I came back. On the way, I heard the news that Princess Yu committed suicide by hanging herself. .”

"Even though there was no real relationship between husband and wife, I couldn't help being shocked and terrified at the time, especially after seeing her death. Miss Xu also left a letter saying that she was tired of this dry and lonely life and didn't want to bear it any longer. I would rather die. When Xu Wengang heard the news of his daughter’s death, he was shocked and hurt, and cursed at me, saying that I killed his daughter, and even the emperor couldn’t persuade him.”

"When I saw that letter, I was filled with self-blame. I felt that I was really sorry for her, and I was even more worried that Xu Wen would attack Brother Huang because of it. In addition, my leg injury had not fully healed at that time, and I was on my way in a hurry. , fell ill all of a sudden."

"Prince Yu's mansion suddenly lost the person in charge. Brother Huang was very worried, so he sent a capable nanny from the palace to take care of me, and also to take care of the funeral of the princess. It was this nanny who reminded me vaguely, saying: When the concubine was dressed up, her figure seemed a bit strange."

He paused, and said softly: "It turned out that... Miss Xu was four months pregnant when she died."

Shen Jing's feeling at this time can no longer be described as shock.

No matter how much he wanted to break his head, he never thought that there would be such an inside story about the death of Princess Yu.

"Now do you understand why?" Zhao Heng gave a short laugh, "It was always rumored that Xu Wen and his son were followers of power, they didn't even care about their daughter's life, and only wanted to curry favor with me. The truth is, He has something in my hands."

Shen Jing held the tea bowl in her hands and was silent for a while: "I didn't expect it to be like this."

Zhao Heng picked up the teapot and filled the tea bowl, took a sip, "I was also surprised. Ms. Xu looks smart, and she is well-mannered, she doesn't look like someone who would do such an outrageous thing."

Shen Jing listened and smiled: "You can't be judged by appearances. When I saw His Highness that day, he was dignified, solemn, and meticulous. I never thought that we would have today with His Highness."

After a pause, he raised his head and asked Zhao Heng, "Your Majesty must have not told the late Emperor about Miss Xu's matter?"

Zhao Heng shook his head: "If Brother Huang knew, how could the Xu family have today?"

"Why is your Highness hiding it?"

"Firstly, in order not to make Brother Huang angry, and secondly, to save some face for Xu Wen, so that he can continue to be used by Brother Huang. Thirdly, Miss Xu is gone, so why not leave her alone."

Across the kang table, Shen Jing stretched out her hand to hold Zhao Heng's hand, and said with a smile, "I know. Because His Highness has always been soft-hearted."

The longer we get along, the more he understands the value of Zhao Heng's character. He occupies a high position and is decisive in killing, but under such a cold and decisive package, he still has a compassionate and tolerant heart.

Zhao Heng shook his head and smiled: "What kind of soft-hearted. You feel lonely and soft-hearted. This is probably the fate."

He held Shen Jing's hand back, smiled slightly, and looked at Shen Jing tenderly: "I am destined to meet you. I can only rely on the rest of my life, Miao An can cherish a little more."