Tanhualang

The carriage rumbled along, and the thick curtain kept the cold wind from the cold night outside.

There was warmth in the compartment, Zhao Heng leaned against the compartment wall and looked helplessly at the person in his arms.

He fell asleep peacefully, but his sleep was a little restless, and he moved his body from time to time.He raised his hand to brush away the hair on Shen Jing's face, and was afraid that Shen Jing would get out of the car and catch a cold if he slept too deeply, so he called softly: "Miao An, Miao An?"

I thought Shen Jing was fast asleep, but unexpectedly he closed his eyes and responded vaguely, "Hmm... Your Highness?"

Zhao Heng shook his head helplessly: "Drink like this, you will feel better tomorrow."

Shen Jing shook his head again, half-opened his eyes: "My mouth is so thirsty..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Heng took half a bowl of tea from the table and handed it to Shen Jing's mouth: "Come, drink some water."

Shen Jing half-closed her eyes, obediently held the tea bowl with her hands, raised her head and drank the tea.

Zhao Heng put down the tea bowl, and seeing the water stains on his lips, he raised his hand to wipe it off, then pinched his face again, and complained in a low voice: "I don't know how to go home in the middle of the night. What you have done is more tiring than the lonely prince."

Shen Jing leaned on Zhao Heng's shoulder, raised her head when she heard the words, rubbed Zhao Heng's chin twice, and said drunkenly: "I was wrong... I didn't understand the style, and asked the beauty to stay alone..."

After finishing speaking, he touched Zhao Heng's cheek, and sang intermittently in a low voice: "Xiaosheng—I apologize, miss, please forgive me—"

Zhao Heng was so angry that he almost laughed when he heard these two decent singing lines.

If it was the past, I'm afraid he would have been coaxed away, but today he refused to let him go, pinching his face in dissatisfaction: "Drunk like this, who is still thinking about the lady? Get up and tell Gu, A mere Lu Meng, Yu Zhijing, Li Xiushi and Wan Zhen from the household department—there are just a few people who would not dare to force you to drink. How can you still drink like this? Could it be that the wine in this restaurant Is it extra delicious?"

After Shen Jing listened, she curled her lips and smiled, turned over from Zhao Heng's arms, lifted the teapot from the table, filled the tea bowl again and drank it up, slowly wiped the corners of her mouth, leaned on the table with her hands on her face, halfway With his eyes closed, he said with a drunken smile: "Drinking, is it because... I feel uncomfortable today. This is called, using alcohol to relieve sorrow—"

"Then why are you worried?"

Shen Jing opened her eyes to look at Zhao Heng, then closed her eyes again, sighed a long breath, and said seriously with her tongue out, "I can't—I can't tell His Highness."

"Why not?"

"Because—because—because I can't say..." Shen Jing stammered for a while, but didn't say anything, but fell asleep on the table at the end, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Zhao Heng was also helpless, sighed, took the robe from the side and covered him, sat a little closer, lowered his head to the side of Shen Jing, pushed him lightly, and asked tentatively in a low voice: "Miao An, You can't say it out loud, so you can tell Gu quietly. You feel uncomfortable, why?"

Shen Jing leaned on the table, opened her eyes slightly, closed them again, sighed softly, with a strong taste of alcohol, and said in a low voice: "...I feel uncomfortable because... Your Highness is going to marry the princess."

The smile on Zhao Heng's face froze.

Shen Jing let out a long sigh, and murmured intermittently: "...the Holy Majesty carefully selected for His Royal Highness, and the concubine he chose was the daughter of the Guozijian Jijiu Restaurant and the Grand Scholars' family...Since she was born noble, she must also be beautiful, gentle and considerate, In the future, with His Highness, we must be husband and wife, and have children—”

"No." Zhao Heng's face turned livid, and he interrupted Shen Jing's words. After a long time, he sighed again, opened his robe, held him in his arms, and lowered his voice, "Miao'an, do you believe me?" I... I will not marry a wife."

He raised his hand to gently wipe away the water marks from the corners of Shen Jing's eyes, and repeated in a low voice: "...I will not marry a wife."

The next day is a holiday.

Shen Jing slept until almost noon before getting up from the bed with her hands on her forehead.

He put on his robe and went to the door, only to feel a chill at the door, and when he opened the door, the cold air hit his face even more.

Shen Jing shuddered, and looked outside, only to see that there was heavy snow blowing outside.

Xiaomeng was sweeping snow in the yard in his coir raincoat, when he heard the sound, he threw the broom in his hand and went to the kitchen: "Sir, are you up? Wait for me to bring hot water."

Shen Jing let out a "huh", closed the door, turned around and returned to the bed, and sat in a daze for a while.

He only remembered that at the banquet last night, when he heard Yu Zhijing mention Zhao Heng's marriage, he felt bored, so he couldn't help drinking a few more glasses.I still remember what happened until Li Xiushi and Wan Zhen left.

I still vaguely remember that I was helped out of the restaurant...and got into the carriage...whose carriage was it?

It seems that I still heard Zhao Heng talking... I don't know if it is a dream or something real?

Thinking of this, Shen Jing's heart suddenly raised: I was depressed last night, and I don't know if I said anything I shouldn't have said in front of Yu Zhijing and Lu Meng after I was drunk?

Worried, Xiao Meng came in with hot water.

Shen Jing hurriedly asked: "When did I come back last night and how did I come back?"

Xiao Meng turned around: "It was about three o'clock when I came back. Your Highness sent the husband back."

Was it not a dream?

Shen Jing patted his forehead annoyed.

Since Zhao Heng sent him back, it must be Zhao Heng who went to pick him up from the restaurant - he didn't return late at night, and he was drunk, so Zhao Heng must have been annoyed last night, otherwise he wouldn't have Send yourself back here.

Thinking of this, Shen Jing couldn't help feeling annoyed again, after casually washing up, Xiao Meng brought hot porridge again, and put the bowls and chopsticks on the table: "Sir, eat some."

Shen Jing clutched her forehead, only felt a splitting headache, and waved her hand: "Wait a minute. This meeting is really unbearable."

"Mister drank too much last night..." Xiao Meng muttered in a low voice, "I can't walk the road, and His Highness still brought you in."

"Where is Your Highness, did you leave last night?" Shen Jing asked, then asked after a pause, "Did he get angry last night?"

"No. Your Highness took the gentleman back to the room. He rested here with him last night and left early this morning. He said that he had to go to the palace because of some business matters." Xiaomeng pushed the bowl and chopsticks and advised , "Sir, eat as much as you want. Before leaving, His Highness told you to eat as much as possible. Empty stomach after drinking is easy to hurt your health."

"Understood." Hearing the words, Shen Jing was relieved, nodded, picked up the bowl, but looked out of the window again, "When did the snow start to fall when His Highness left?"

"It's been half the night. When His Highness sent you back last night, it started to snow. You can see that the snow on the eaves is more than half a foot thick." Xiao Meng got up and walked out and replied, "But don't worry, sir. Well, Your Highness's carriage is so big, please be steady."

Shen Jing reluctantly drank half a bowl of porridge, endured a headache again, put on her robe and went to the yard to sweep the snow with Xiao Meng, sweating a little, then asked Xiao Meng to boil hot water, and after soaking in hot water for a while, she felt The headache is slightly better.

It was snowing heavily outside, and it never stopped.

When it was time for dinner, Shen Jing cooked the stewed chicken soup by herself, and specially added ginseng slices, just waiting for Zhao Hengruo to come and have dinner together.

Unexpectedly, instead of waiting for Zhao Heng, someone else came.

As soon as the sky started to darken, Zheng Man rushed in with a few Jinyi guards, and he wanted to enter the palace quietly together: "Your Majesty, please, Shen Hanlin, hurry up."

Shen Jing didn't dare to ask more questions, she hurriedly changed her clothes and followed Zheng Man and got into the carriage, restless all the way, when she reached the front of the palace gate, she carefully asked Zheng Man, "My lord, I don't know why the Holy Majesty summoned you?"

Zheng Man glanced at him: "Because of His Royal Highness Prince Yu."

Shen Jing's heart sank suddenly, and her voice trembled when she spoke again: "His Royal Highness King Yu...what's wrong?"

Zheng Man sighed lightly: "Shen Hanlin will know when he's gone."

In the evening, the palace lanterns had just been hung up.

Shen Jing followed Zheng Man and hurried into the palace following the light of Huang Yingying.

The heavy snow is still falling.

There is a thin layer of snow on the green brick road.Probably just scanned it, but it was covered again in a blink of an eye.

The surroundings were quiet, except for the rustling sound of snow dancing with the biting night wind, which disturbed Shen Jing and made her feel more and more flustered.

Seeing that he was approaching the front of the palace gate, Zheng Man stopped and patted the snowflakes on his body.Shen Jing couldn't care about anything else, with trembling hands, he forced himself to take a step forward, and begged in a low voice: "Master Zheng...I dare not ask anything else, just ask: Is Your Highness well at the moment?"

Zheng Man looked up at him, his eyes were deep and peaceful, but Shen Jing but sensitively saw a trace of imperceptible pity in it.He glanced back at the palace gate, turned his head, and whispered meaningfully to Shen Jing: "Your Highness is well. Instead of worrying about Your Highness... Shen Hanlin would rather be worried about himself."

Hearing this, Shen Jing was slightly taken aback, then smiled slightly at Zheng Man, bent down, and saluted him calmly: "Thank you."

After a pause, he said to Zheng Man: "Master Zheng, I beg you one more time... If I can't go back today, please send a message to His Highness for me."

Zheng Man looked at him, shook his head and sighed: "Master Shen, please tell me."

"Just say..." Shen Jing lowered her eyes in embarrassment, paused for a moment, and then said in a low voice, "...Just say, Shen Jing has no complaints or regrets."

After hearing this, Zheng Man's eyes became a little complicated, but he didn't say anything, and walked into the hall: "Master Shen, please come with me."

This is Shen Jing's first time entering the imperial study.

The majestic palace looks magnificent from the outside.But when I went inside, I couldn't see the same beauty, probably to prevent someone from being assassinated, there was neither curtains nor screens in Yu Xi's Dujia Hall, there were only empty and deserted rooms connected to each other. One after another, the tall palace lanterns were erected one after another, and the sound of my own footsteps step by step.

But unexpectedly, he didn't have the fear and trepidation of seeing Zhao Du in the past.

Walking all the way inside, Shen Jing and Zheng Man entered a small warm pavilion.

Zheng Man notified, and knelt down quietly to salute.

Zhao Du sat behind the desk, looked at the report in his hand as usual, and spoke after a long time, still with a tired voice, said to Zheng Man: "Take him to see King Yu."

Hearing the words quietly, he raised his head in astonishment.

It happened to meet Zhao Du's deep gaze, and his deep and calm voice: "Go well, and bring King Yu back to the palace."

Hearing this, Zheng Man came over and said softly, "Lord Shen, come with me."

Surprised and suspicious, Shen Jing hurriedly got up and followed Zheng Man away without paying attention to salute.

As Zheng Man walked outside the study, Shen Jing couldn't help but catch up with him, and asked urgently: "Master Zheng! Didn't you say that His Highness is well—what happened to His Highness? Where is he now?"

Zheng Man sighed softly: "Master Shen, you will know it after looking at it."

He said and walked out in a hurry with silence.

When I came out of the study room, it was already dark outside; standing above the main hall, I could see snowflakes flying all over the sky, and under the palace wall, one after another blurred lanterns.

Zheng Man walked down the steps with Shen Jing until he reached the last two steps, only then did Shen Jing realize that there was a familiar figure kneeling on the snow under the steps.

...it was Zhao Heng.

Shen Jing only felt that her eyes went dark, her legs softened, and she almost fell to her knees in the snow.

Zhao Heng faced the imperial study and knelt straight in the snow. Although there were two palace servants holding umbrellas standing behind him, there was still a thick layer of snow on their bodies.He should have seen Shen Jing from a distance, moved his arm slightly, and then stopped moving.

Shen Jing was completely frozen, as if he was frozen, he stood there for a long time and couldn't move, it seemed that he couldn't even understand what Zheng Man was saying: "... His Majesty refused, so His Highness knelt outside this hall, why? They don't even want to get up. In this snowy day, it will be terrible if it goes on like this...Master Shen, go and persuade His Highness to get up."

After Zheng Man finished speaking, seeing Shen Jing as if he didn't hear, he raised his voice and repeated: "Master Shen, go and persuade Your Highness."

Only then did Shen Jing move her steps and slowly walk towards Zhao Heng.

The snowflakes brought by the cold wind overwhelmingly pressed towards him, and Shen Jing felt that every step of her footsteps seemed to be extremely heavy.

He walked for a long time before finally walking in front of Zhao Heng.

Zhao Heng's hair, eyebrows, and shoulders were covered with snowflakes. When he saw Shen Jing, the corners of his blue lips were bent, and he managed to squeeze out a smile.

Shen Jing couldn't laugh, and slowly bent down and knelt down beside him, and while slowly brushing the snowflakes off his shoulders, said softly: "Your Highness... get up. Kneeling like this, how can your knees bear it?"

Zhao Heng covered his hands with his cold hands, and sighed tremblingly: "Why are you here? It's cold on the ground, you don't need to accompany me... Don't worry, Brother Huang is soft-hearted, and I don't want to keep kneeling here."

Shen Jing slowly withdrew his hand from his hand, stood up, held back the heat in his eyes, exhausted all his strength, and said word by word: "Your Highness, you don't need to beg any more... and you don't need to kneel any more."

Zhao Heng raised his head slightly.

Shen Jing turned sideways, raised her head slightly, and sighed, "Your Highness... Between you and me, let's stop here."

Zhao Heng looked slightly stunned, as if he didn't hear what he said, and asked softly: "Miao An... what did you say?"

"I said," Shen Jing swallowed the severe pain in his throat, and repeated each word slowly, "between you and me, Your Highness, this is the end—"

The wind and snow, wrapped in biting cold, whizzed past between the two of them.

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Heng grabbed his wrist and yanked him down in front of him. His other hand clasped his chin, his voice was soft but with a dangerous meaning: "Miao'an, listen to Gu's words... Take back what you just said."

Shen Jing moved his feet almost stiff, half-kneeling in front of him, raised his head to meet his gaze, after a long time, raised his hand and raised three fingers to the sky, and said word by word: "I solemnly swear that I will break up with Zhao Heng. If you violate this oath, you will be hit by five thunderbolts, and ashes will fly—"

Zhao Heng's face was livid, and he swung his palm away, interrupting his remaining words.

After a long silence, Shen Jing raised her hand to touch her face, stood up slowly, turned around and walked to the astonished Zheng Man and said calmly, "Master Zheng, please send someone to escort me out of the palace."

"Shen Miaoan——Quiet!" Zhao Heng's angry voice came from behind, "Stop!"

Zheng Man was startled and anxious, and couldn't care less about silence, he hurried to Zhao Heng: "Your Highness, wait a minute—stupid slave! Hurry up and help! If you fall down, ask you! Come, come! Come! Send Your Highness Lift it up—go and call the imperial physician!"

"Quiet! You—stop alone!"

Shen Jing seemed to turn a deaf ear to the voice behind her, braved the wind and snow, and walked out of the palace step by step along the way when she came.