Linque

Near noon, Empress Chu, who was exhausted from traveling during the day and restless at night, finally had enough rest, and was willing to get off the dragon bed. After washing, she handed over the jade comb, and asked Her Majesty to tie her hair and crown.

This technique has been practiced for a long time, and was ridiculed several times by Empress Chu during the period. Now, finally, these two hands can hold the comb as dexterously as holding a sword.

"Not bad," Chu Heng looked at the mirror, nodded and praised, "It seems that the past few months have not regressed too much."

Ling Ye handed the comb to the maid serving at the side, and glanced at him with a half-smile, "Maybe we can improve if we go back two months earlier."

Chu Heng stopped mentioning it immediately.

After brewing a cup of maple dew tea and drinking it, there was the sound of a rumbling car outside the hall. Not long after, two dumplings came in one after the other. Qing Yan looked up and saw Chu Heng, with his mouth slightly open, his eyes lit up, and he gave him a hasty The royal father knelt down, and before Ling Ye could yell, he got up and threw himself into Chu Heng's arms.

On the other hand, a dumpling at the back saluted politely, called "Uncle" to Ling Ye, and then looked at Chu Heng.

Chu Heng waved and said with a smile: "Jing Xing, come here."

Jing Xing is the child of Princess Qinghe, and Jiang's son-in-law has no respect at all, and neglects and humiliates the princess. Last summer, His Majesty sent Su Lang and Ye Xinghui to Wanzhou to bring the princess back, so Jing Xing was naturally rejected. I brought it back, changed it to my mother's surname, and entered the royal family's jade certificate.He was the same age as Qingyan, more than a month older than Qingyan, the two dumplings soon got together and ate with classmates every day.

During this period of time, I started to learn calligraphy in the Yuzheng Palace in the morning, and went to the Mingcheng Palace at noon to greet the emperor and have lunch.

Ling Ye said softly, "Get up."

Only then did Jing Xing get up, walked to Chu Heng's side, and called for Master.This child looks very much like his mother. As the saying goes, his nephew, Uncle Xiao, and Princess Qinghe's facial features are somewhat similar to Gui Haimingyuan, so Chu Heng looked at Jing Xing, and felt affection for him unconsciously, and patted his head. , bent his lips and said, "Looks like I've grown a little taller."

A little blush appeared on Jing Xing's face.

Qing Yan compared himself on the side, and asked, "Has Ah Yan grown taller?"

Chu Heng laughed, nodded and said, "Well, Ayan is tall too."

"Learn the rules but fail to improve." Ling Ye took a sip of tea and glanced at the proud Dabai Tuanzi.

Qingyan let out a "huh" when he heard the words, and buried himself in Chu Heng's arms.

Chu Heng rubbed him, smiled lightly and stood up, holding the hands of the two dumplings to have lunch.

……

The days back to Jiuchong Que passed quickly, spring began, and in a blink of an eye, it was February [-]th. Su Lang and Ye Xinghui, who went to Changzhou to investigate the fraud case in the imperial examination, returned to the imperial capital and reported to the emperor.

This time, some officials involved in the case of Changzhou Xuezheng and the local school department were removed, and a new person was sent from the imperial capital to take over and preside over the Changzhou autumn examination again.

There are gains, but not entirely as expected.

Xuezheng is in charge of the education of a state, which is a real position of real power. It is of course a good thing that in Changzhou, where the most aristocratic families gather, such a gap can be opened, and the emperor's confidant can take over.

But the problem is-

"This journey is a bit too smooth." Chu Heng took the tea handed by Xing Hui, blew on it gently, and said.

After cheating in the state examination, they were harassed by Changzhou students to the imperial capital after the Shangyuan Festival. Su Lang and Xinghui went to Jindu, Changzhou for more than a month, and the case came to light.

If the imperial envoys went to places like Ningzhou and Gyeongju to investigate the case, it is still possible that it will be broken for more than a month, but Changzhou?Even if Su Lang is from Changzhou, it will not be much easier for the noble family to occupy the widest place.

Reporting the case is easier than investigating the case.

A few students from poor families escaped from the state capital's arrest from the state city of Jindu, and then passed through several aristocratic families' Wangcheng, all the way north, and finally came to the imperial capital, Lao Dengwengu?In the middle of the city gate, you have to lead all the way. The aristocratic families in Changzhou Prefecture and Changbei can actually let a few students who have no power, no power and no connections, "pass five passes and kill six generals", all the way to the north and come out— —Either they were all blind and eating nothing, or they just didn't want to catch it at all.

"Do you know where those students from Dengwengu came from Changzhou?"

"Dingkang." Xinghui said.

Dingkang Zhou family again.

Chu Heng was holding the teacup, one of the leaders in the family that put Yan Xiang to death was them, Duke Ding Zhou Kui had secretly visited Jiang Jincheng, and had quietly surrendered to King Jing.

This is the first imperial examination after Yan Xiang's restructuring. The fraud case has no other effect except to focus the attention of the whole Kyushu, especially the imperial capital, on Jindu, Changzhou.

So not afraid of making things worse, no matter how you look at it, it looks like you are repairing the plank road openly and hiding Chen Cang secretly, but this "Chen Cang", Chu Heng thought about it, and the other arm of King Jing - Cangwu Fangshi appeared in his mind.

The Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice who sentenced Yan Xiang to beheaded at the beginning was Fang, and I am afraid that he also got the secret instruction of King Jing and the Queen Mother.When it comes to Cangwu City, one has to mention Fang Hongzhen, one of the Mahayana realms, Cangwu Martial Venerable.

The Fang family of Cangwu is far above the emperor, and Fang Hongzhen sits in the town. Compared with the Zhou family of Dingkang secretly sneaking around, the Fang family can be said to have been walking around with King Jing in the past two years.

However, Jindu of Changzhou attracted the attention of the imperial capital, and what can be saved for the Fang clan of Cangwu, who is already the "heart of Sima Zhao", to save "Chen Cang"?

Chu Heng couldn't figure it out for a while.

Xinghui said: "Su Lang also thinks that the fraud in the Jindu Prefecture test is a cover. Also, we met Xiao Gaomin in Jindu."

Mentioning this person, the young master's tone suddenly became careless, touched his nose, resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and said, "He mentioned something to Su Lang, maybe the Kang Zhou family has been doing it in private for a few years. In the Nanyang spice business, the goods enter from the coast of Changzhou and cross the Lanjiang waterway, but when they enter the port, they avoid Yinghai and go to the farther port of Huaize."

Yinghai is the largest commercial port in Kyushu, and it is also the mouth of the Lanjiang River. It has the widest and fastest waterway extending in all directions.

"Real spices or fake spices? The sea transported to Changzhou is not suitable for Yinghai, this is to avoid Yinghai Su's." Chu Heng said softly, pulling the corners of his lips lightly.

"Who knows if it's true or not." Xing Hui said, "Our trip is to investigate fraud in the imperial examination, so it's not easy to go to Dingkang and Huaize. Su Lang said that we will find an excuse to go to Changzhou after a while, and wait for the opportunity. Find out."

Chu Heng glanced at him when he heard the words, wiped the matcha cover, and said leisurely: "Three sentences are inseparable from Su Lang, 'we' come 'we' go, the young master thinks that the second son of Duke Ying's son 'marks virtuousness', so I want to Abduct back to Lishan to be your daughter-in-law?"

"..." Xinghui's face was filled with burning clouds, "Brother!"

The elder brother continued calmly, "Isn't this the promise you made with your master before you came to the imperial capital?"

Xinghui's expression froze, "...Brother, you didn't tell my father when you went back to Lishan, did you?"

Chu Heng said in his heart that I didn't want to be beaten for you, but on the surface he was very considerate of the young master, and said solemnly: "I think you are the one who was kidnapped, how can you tell Master. But in March soon, the city masters of various families It is inconvenient for the master to come to Beijing for a pilgrimage to report on his work, so it is probably my wife who will do it for me, so you should think about how to explain it."

The senior brother couldn't hold it back for a moment, the gloating in his tone still showed, the junior brother was very dissatisfied when he heard it, and said: "A year ago, the second senior brother sent a letter to me saying that you have a little goblin like a baby in the imperial capital, who is tightly covered. Strictly keep it secret. Coincidentally, this morning, when I went to report to the imperial court, I saw a jade pendant with a lot of history on His Majesty’s waist. At that time, I was almost dumbfounded, senior brother, right?”

Xing Hui imitated Chu Heng's leisurely tone that was not a big deal when he watched the excitement just now, and it made Chu Heng choke.

What Ling Ye was wearing was his companion spirit jade.After the Double Ninth Festival last year, he went back to Mount Li, and tied this piece of jade around Ling Ye's waist before leaving.In the past, he casually coaxed Xinghui to say that this piece of jade was a betrothal gift for his future wife, but now it has become true.

Chu Heng coughed lightly, and only said: "Anyway, I'm not afraid when my wife comes."

Xinghui let out a "tch", just thinking that he was being stubborn, just mentioning this, Xinghui couldn't help saying: "Senior brother, you gave the emperor's lecture in the name of Ji Wuyue at the beginning of the year, your majesty still doesn't know who you are?" ? But the jade is given, then you have already..."

"Yeah." Chu Heng nodded, "I wanted to find an opportunity to confess."

When this matter was mentioned, Chu Heng felt a little discouraged.

On the couch last night, he accidentally mentioned "elder brother", so Ling Ye tossed him in different ways, and didn't fall asleep until midnight, and his waist is still sore.

For some reason, he tried to say something nice to "Ji Wuyue", but Ling Ye still didn't want to see him. Not only did he not change at all, but he always had many unsightly opinions about "Ji Wuyue".Every time he mentions it, he must be bullied.

This made Chu Heng really depressed.

Finally had to let nature take its course.

As soon as March entered, major events in the DPRK and China came one after another.

The 11th year of Xuanxi is a big year. The princes and family heads of the four kingdoms of Kyushu divided the world into the emperor to pay their respects and pay respects. This is the most important political moment every three years. The entire imperial capital and even Zhongzhou have entered a state of martial law.

When both Chu Heng and Xing Hun thought that the person from Lishan was Mu Xiyun, unexpectedly, the most unreliable person came.

At the gate of the imperial capital, Prince Yong'an Hou rode his horse back from Chaoxian Mountain.Xiao Gaomin arrived a few days earlier, and he rarely came to the imperial capital in the past two years. As soon as he arrived, the noble children in the aristocratic circle sent invitations to invite him to a gathering.Today, there are also people gathering in Chaoxian Mountain.

A group of young gentlemen in fine clothes came back from the outside and reined in their horses as they approached the city gate. While they were talking and laughing, Xiao Gaomin's gaze suddenly caught sight of a Chinese carriage at the front of the queue for entering the city. He recognized the family emblem on the carriage. , It's... Lishan Ye's family.

Xiao Gaomin's heart moved slightly, and he ran forward with his horse's belly. The companion beside him was startled, and hurriedly called him loudly: "Hey, my son—"

Xiao Gaomin didn't respond, and went straight ahead, and after running for about ten feet, he slowed down, and slowly approached the Chinese car of Lishan Ye's.

The horseshoes are knocking on the blue brick and stone road, there seems to be a spring breeze here, and the corner of the curtain is gently lifted, and the people in the car are shaking their fans and looking out from the side, with unchanged smiling eyes, just like in previous years In Jiangnan.

Xiao Gaomin raised his lips slightly, but said nothing.

The curtain of the carriage was lowered, and the carriage drove forward, entering the imperial capital.

Ye Shuli met Xing Hun in the Hall of Martial Ying, and the latter happened to be with Su Lang. After the ghost made things difficult for him and teased his younger brother, he went to the Hall of Jingcheng to find Chu Heng again.

The 11th year of Xuanxi is destined to be a year that will not be peaceful. On March [-]th, the heads of various families will come to the palace to meet and greet them.The visitors from Cangwu City in Yunzhou have attracted much attention. Fang Jingci, the female city lord, is seriously ill and unable to walk. The loving husband, Cangwu Wuzun Fang Hongzhen came to Beijing on his behalf.

Is Fang Hongzhen's trip on behalf of his wife to report on his duties, or is King Jing afraid that the emperor will not do anything and just put him in the imperial capital and kill him, so he invited Fang Hongzhen to escort him? Chu Heng is not interested in investigating these things for the time being. So honest.

Compared with Fang Hongzhen, who came with obvious intentions, Chu Heng cared more about Yan Zhefei who came from Qianyong City.

After Cangwu City in Yunzhou requested an order from the imperial capital, Qianyong City in Qingzhou followed suit.

At the beginning of this year, Ji Wuyue, Jun Ji Wuyue of Lishan Mountain, handed over a memorial, which mentioned that Kyushu had entered the sixth Mahayana realm, and since then, various news have emerged one after another.

Now the sixth man has arrived.

His name is Yan Zhefei.

Ling Ye looked at the word "Fei", and his brows moved slightly. When Ling Qi went to Gyeongju Chahran to explore the departure route, he found an unborn grandmaster in Qianyong City. Now it seems that it is Yan Zhe Fei up.

This person's route number, Tianzi Yingwei, roughly knows that Yan Zhefei did not break through the orthodox martial arts to enter the country, but used a sorcery called Suhui Bone Refining, and took a harmful "shortcut", and he should He is an old friend of Erfei Medicine Sect.

Originally, Ling Ye was just guessing, but Chu Heng brought back Ye Jianwei's message that the Lord of the Eastern Capital knew or knew Yan Zhefei, and he was sure that although Yan Zhefei was not a friend, he was not an enemy when it came to respecting the king. .Ling Ye didn't ask about the reason, and Ye Jianwei didn't tell Chu Heng about it, but it wasn't difficult for Ling Ye to guess—because Yanxi Zhong's, Dingkang Zhou's, and Cangwu Fang's were the ones who caused Erfei Medicine Sect to close down. The instigators of the family's destruction were all King Jing's right-hand men.

According to the information Ling Qi found at the border of Gyeongju, King Jing's foreign ally, Helan Tuo, the holy son of Yujiang, left the Dayin border with the help of Yan Zhefei, so Yan Zhefei was "the same as Fang Hongzhen" ", on the surface they are all "standing in line" to respect the king.

The files of the Erfei Medicine Sect had long been burned by the order of the late emperor. Ling Ye personally told these old things in Tianhe 13, the eve of the late emperor's death, when he mentioned the concubine Gui Haiyanlan of Emperor Huiyuan.

Er Fei Medicine Sect and Zhong Fang Zhou's family's old grievances to King Jing are not clear, and it is impossible for Yan Zhefei to let him know her origin, so she must have made all preparations and gained some trust from King Jing. Otherwise, the ally Helan Tuo would not leave the country from Qianyong City.

It's a pity that it's still "unfortunate". Even though Yan Zhefei, the lord of Qianyong, escorted Helantuo from the imperial capital to Gyeongju all the way, who would have thought that Helantuo expanded out of the Dayin border and came to Yujiang King City, and was vying for the throne with him His own brother set up an ambush to kill him.Even if Yan Zhefei had the foresight, she "couldn't have expected" that Helanduo would stumble and suffer disaster at his own door, so she could only lament the loss of an ally for King Jing.

This time Yan Zhefei came to the imperial capital, although he didn't know what his intentions were, but Ling Ye knew very well that this person came from a sinister way, no matter what his position on the matter of respecting the king, he must free his hands to solve it in the future.

Yan Zhefei's appearance made the imperial capital full of excitement and anticipation, and Chu Heng also wanted to know how the person he saw on Guangling Long Street had anything to do with his junior uncle.

Is it possible that he is...

Chu Heng took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and walked towards Zichen Hall together with Ye Shuli and Ye Xinghui.

On March [-]th, after worshiping at the Taiji Hall, the emperor gave a banquet in the Zichen Hall to commend the meritorious deeds of the patriarchs.

A palace banquet is not a real meeting for discussing government affairs, it is just a time to exchange cups and say polite words, in addition to the heads of the families, the princes and princes who have entered the court also have to have a banquet with them.

Passing through the Zichen Gate and coming to the front of the hall, the three of Chu Heng happened to meet Su Lang and his father Ying Guogong Su Que, so they inevitably stopped to greet each other as a junior.

Su Que's eyes paused for a moment on Xinghui, and he was about to say a few words of praise when something happened suddenly.

Walking in front of their group happened to be Cangwu Martial Venerable Fang Hongzhen, who was about to step on the steps of the Mahayana realm, and seemed to sense something behind him, suddenly turned around and looked straight at Chu Heng.

No one saw clearly how he came here. They only knew that before the blink of an eye, Fang Hongzhen stopped in front of Chu Heng. For a moment, needles could be heard outside the hall, and everyone's eyes were directed here.

Fang Hongzhen's eagle-like eyes swept across Chu Heng's body, and his brows frowned into a word "Chuan", obviously suspicious.

Ye Shuli's expression changed slightly, he took a look at Chu Heng, took half a step forward and blocked Chu Heng with his body, and saluted Fang Hongzhen: "May I ask Wu Zun what advice you have?"

Fang Hongzhen didn't answer, but still stared at Chu Heng. In the next moment, his inner strength gathered in his palm, and he suddenly made a move, attacking Chu Heng.

This is the Zichen Palace, before the emperor drove, everyone did not expect Fang Hongzhen to make a sudden move, and all of them changed their faces.

Chu Heng, who was in the center of his eyes, didn't move, and Fang Hongzhen was not Jing Xueli, so he didn't have the ability to see through and guess.In Jiuchong Que, where the mountains and rivers of Yongzhen are located, Fang Hongzhen did not dare to mess around.

Chu Heng didn't even move his brows.

Let him try it out.

Seeing that the palm wind was about to fall on Chu Heng, the accident happened again, and suddenly a figure flashed diagonally, and blocked Fang Hongzhen's hand with a horizontal palm——

Yan Zhefei wore a black robe with dark patterns, and the face covered by the mask couldn't see the expression clearly, but the voice was slightly unhappy: "To embarrass a junior who has just entered the martial arts in the public, could it be that this is Cangwu City of Yunzhou?" style?"

He blocked Chu Heng behind him, and Chu Heng stared at his back with a flash of astonishment in his eyes.

Fang Hongzhen withdrew his hand, twitching the corners of his mouth: "You are new to martial arts? Don't you think something is wrong, Lord Yan?"

"It's not wrong." Yan Zhefei's tone became more serious.

Fang Hongzhen was noncommittal, his eyes were like sword lights, and he glanced at Chu Heng a few more times, but finally said nothing.Turning around and flashing his figure, he reached the front of the hall steps and walked straight into the hall.

Chu Heng came back to his senses, and turned his head to look at Yan Zhefei: "Thank you, Landlord."

Yan Zhefei nodded lightly, the inner strength of the whole body gathered, and the invisible true energy enveloped him and Chu Heng, cutting off the sound here, and clearly couldn't see the face under the mask, but Chu Heng felt that he was smiling for no reason, and the tone of his tone Just like the person in my memory——

"We finally meet again, Ah Yue." Yan Zhefei said.

Chu Heng's heart skipped a beat, and he clenched his palms tightly.

No one knew what the two said, Yan Zhefei quickly restrained her anger, turned around and walked towards Zichen Palace.Chu Heng stretched his eyebrows, said "Let's go" to Xinghui Shuli, and walked straight forward.

The farce in front of the palace seemed to be just a small episode, and the night banquet in the Zichen Palace afterwards did not have any changes, and ended in a peaceful and peaceful way.

Compared with this palace banquet with mixed cups and cups, tomorrow's Spring Hunting at Shanglin Garden with Fang Hongzhen and Yan Zhefei present will be the highlight.

Just in case, Dongjun had better be there too.

So after the banquet, Ye Shuli asked the emperor for instructions, saying that he hadn't seen Chu Heng and Ye Xinghui for a long time, and the brothers wanted to catch up on the old days, so they took a leave of absence from the Hall of Martial Arts.

Tomorrow, March [-]th, upon hearing the words, Ling Ye glanced at Chu Heng, who was full of worries during the banquet and was not in the mood all the time, thought for a while, and nodded in agreement.

After the banquet, the emperor left the banquet and went to the back hall to change clothes. Chu Heng and Ye Shuli explained, avoided the crowd and followed.

"His Majesty--"

The apse was quiet, and the maids in the palace stood by with downcast eyes. Hearing the sound, Ling Ye stopped, turned to look at Chu Heng, and said with a smile, "What's the matter? Didn't you want to leave with Ye Shu at night?" Is the palace reminiscing about the past?"

Chu Heng didn't respond. He lowered his head, not daring to look into Ling Ye's eyes. He stood there hesitating for a long time, then suddenly took a step forward and grabbed Ling Ye's dragon robe sleeve, swallowed, turned his eyes and said in a low voice: " Chongjiu, I have something..."

Ling Ye's eyes moved slightly, and he understood.

Chu Heng's voice became smaller and smaller, he still didn't think about how to finish the remaining half of the sentence, his heart was beating extremely hard, he struggled for a long time, and finally got discouraged, so he raised his head and kissed Ling Ye on the lips .

Ling Ye smiled and said, "Is this the thing?"

"Hmm..." Chu Heng bit his head and nodded, thinking in his heart, otherwise wait until the Spring Hunting in Lin Yuan...

He raised his head and kissed again, then turned and went out.