Linque

On the seventeenth day of the next winter month, the news that the prince was assassinated on his way back to Beijing spread throughout the imperial capital, and the whole line within [-] miles of the capital was sealed off. ①

The emperor was furious, and urgently summoned the Shangshutai, the Privy Council, Honglu Temple and all the generals in Beijing to discuss matters in the Jingcheng Hall.

The assassination of the crown prince was Helanduo, the holy son of Yujiang, which was almost equivalent to declaring war on Dayin by the sixteen tribes of Yujiang.

However, the Jingnan Silk Road originally planned by the Ministry of War happened to pass through the territory of Yujiang, so it had to be stopped.

The Northwest War was about to break out, and the Privy Council urgently sent an order to block the border.All Yujiang people in the imperial capital were not allowed to leave the capital, and were interrogated and interrogated by the soldiers and horses of the five cities.

At the same time, the Nanxi mission headed by the national teacher Jing Xueli has entered Lingguang Pass and is about to arrive at the imperial capital. Honglu Temple received it according to the order.

It was raining heavily today, the sky was dark, and the candles in the Hall of Jingcheng had been burning for a whole morning. When several ministers came out, they happened to see an ebony and gilded broad-framed carriage stepping on the ground in the broken rain. The posture of usurping crossed the Chongji Gate and went straight into Jingzhang Palace.

Jingzhang Palace is the place where the emperor lives and governs.There is a decree in the national law that, apart from the emperor, only the carriages of the Empress can drive unimpeded in the Jingzhang Palace. If there is no special order, even the crown prince has to dismount and park in the sedan chair in front of the Chongji Gate.

The driver was the Emperor's Shadow Guard, and the person in the car was obviously not an ordinary person. A group of ministers and ministers looked up to the platform at the same time, and saw that the head of the Palace of Jingcheng, Gao Bandit, had led the waiter holding an umbrella, and was in front of the Nuan Pavilion. bowed and waited.

The carriage stopped slowly in front of the steps of the temple. After a while, a man in a red and white brocade shirt came down from inside. He raised his head, and the silver mask on his face jumped into everyone's eyes. The group of people instantly knew who was coming. identity of--

The king and concubine of Lishan Mountain have no moon.

It was this guy who happened to pass by the official road yesterday and helped stop the assassin.

Bandit Gao quickly greeted him with salutes, opened an umbrella and opened the curtain, and respectfully invited him into the warm pavilion.

This scene fell into the eyes of several princes and ministers from aristocratic families, and a group of people felt slightly strange in their hearts.

The imperial power and the aristocratic family are separated from each other, maintaining a tacit balance.In recent years, the power of Yiye Gucheng has become more and more difficult to be underestimated, but the attitude of Lishan is very neutral, and has always been out of the affairs of the Kyushu Dynasty. Set foot in the imperial capital.

If Ji Wuyue's younger brother surnamed Chu Mingheng hadn't had a relapse of his old injury, Dong Jun naturally wouldn't have come over.

Now because of the prince, Lishan Dongjun, who should have left the imperial capital, has a close relationship with the emperor. This is really not a good thing for the aristocratic family.

Thinking of this, the princes couldn't help but glanced in Yan Mao's direction. On the tenth day of the lunar new year, the court had already argued that the reason why the second son of the Zhongpinghou's mansion got sick was because of Yan Mao's illness. Those who look at me are scared.

Yan Mao didn't know if he noticed the eye knife handed over by others, and he didn't even give them a wink, and stared directly at Ji Wuyue's direction.

Perhaps because his eyes were too focused, Lord Lishan Dong, who was about to step into the palace gate in the distance, suddenly stopped and looked straight in their direction.When Dongjun looked at the film with Yan across the long corridor, he quickly turned his gaze back into the Nuan Pavilion.

It must be remembering Yan Xiang's enmity, several ministers thought secretly.

Chu Heng was actually beating a small drum in his heart.

He already saw yesterday that His Majesty didn't like to see Ji Wuyue very much, but for some reason, at the end of today, Rong Shan, the deputy commander of the shadow guards, once again came to Luyuan to "invite" him, and by the way, he also visited the sick "Chu Heng" on the bed.

Although he blocked it with the excuse of calmness and comfort, and only allowed Rong Shan to meet "Chu Heng" in a hurry, he still felt unreal in his heart, and even faintly panicked.

So when Rong Shan said that the emperor wanted to invite a banquet at noon to express his gratitude, Chu Heng refused immediately, but he failed to do so, and was still blocked by Rong Shan without any leaks.

There is no way, it is actually very easy for the emperor to find Ji Wuyue.

Use please - please do not go.

Don't be afraid of old methods, just do what works.When Rong Shan came, Chu Heng and Ye Shuli were eating the signature crispy candy that Qi Feng bought from Jinfulou.Since the emperor sent someone to invite him, and he happened to be sitting idle, there was really no decent reason why he could not shirk.

Chu Heng had no choice but to follow Rong Shan in the end.

When stepping into the Nuan Pavilion, the emperor hadn't come from the main hall, only a big white dumpling was sitting in it obediently eating walnuts and nuts, when he looked up and saw him, his eyes lit up, put down the walnuts in his hand, and trotted towards Chu Heng come over.

This time it's not about hugging.

Qingyan already realized that the person in front of him was a guest at his home, so he pulled Chu Heng by the sleeve and brought him to the desk to sit down, and pushed all the walnuts and nuts in the small dish to Chu Heng's hand, the sound of milk Said milkily: "I'll give you all to eat."

Chu Heng smiled and picked up a piece of walnut and ate it. He couldn't help rubbing his head, and suddenly remembered that he still had two pieces of Jinfulou crispy candy that he put in his pocket this morning. .

Chu Heng took out a piece of crispy candy, handed it to Dabai Tuanzi, and said with a smile, "Eat it."

As soon as Qing Yan saw the small ball wrapped in oil paper in Chu Heng's palm, he immediately guessed it was Sutang, and his black and white eyes lit up instantly.Xiaopang stretched out his hand to take it, but suddenly retracted it with a "whoosh", the excitement on his face disappeared immediately, and Qing Yan looked timidly at the gate of the palace.

Chu Heng was already facing the palace door sideways, and now he was looking at Dabai Tuanzi with his head tilted. He didn't pay much attention for a while, and now he followed Qingyan's gaze belatedly, only to realize that the emperor didn't know when He had already come, and stood at the gate of the hall, looking at the two of them leisurely.

Chu Heng immediately retracted his hand holding the candy.

But it was obviously too late. His Majesty saw clearly the process of the two of them colluding to "violate the family law". He slightly raised his eyebrows, and first challenged the little prince: "Ayan, what did you say yesterday?"

Qing Yan just lay in his father's arms yesterday and said "I won't do it next time", and just a day later, he was caught again for stealing sweets.

He was so panicked, he looked left and right, didn't know what to say to admit his mistake, and finally he knelt down obediently and saluted, stumbling and saying: "Father...Ayan, my son greets Father. "

Ling Ye ignored him, turned to look at Chu Heng again, and said with a half-smile: "Dongjun is quite good at pampering children."

Although Chu Heng is the "principal culprit", he will not be punished. He glanced at the pitiful "accomplice" kneeling on the carpet, and immediately felt unbearable: "Your Majesty, it is my fault. The crown prince is not stealing sweets this time." .”

Ling Ye was noncommittal, and stepped forward to reach out to him.Chu Heng was stunned for a moment, and only after meeting his gaze did he realize that he quickly handed over the crispy candy to Ling Ye's palm.

Ling Ye put away the seized "stolen goods", and then said to Qingyan: "Get up."

Seeing him let go, Chu Heng immediately bent down and brought up Dabai Tuanzi who was kneeling on the ground.Qing Yan knew that he had made a mistake, so he didn't dare to look at his father, so he hid behind Chu Heng, hiding himself carefully, not even daring to reveal the corner of his clothes.

Ling Ye glanced at the two guilty people, felt it was funny in his heart, and didn't pursue it on the surface, chatted with Chu Heng for a few words, and then raised his voice to order people to pass the meal.

Although it was just a small feast of thanks, there were more than [-] dishes, with a variety of sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavors, and the table was full.Ling Ye didn't let the maid serve the dishes, but raised her hand and waved everyone away, leaving only two, one, one, and three people in the warm pavilion.

Chu Heng knew that His Majesty didn't like to see Ji Wuyue very much, so he was somewhat wary of this banquet from the very beginning.He and Ling Ye sat on both sides. Qing Yan, a short dumpling, couldn't touch the dishes on the table when he sat down, and there was no one else, so he just took a small plate and stood beside Chu Heng, He ran wherever he wanted to eat, and begged if he couldn't get it.

There was a plate of boiled anchovy shrimp on the table next to Chu Heng's hand. Ling Ye pointed at it casually, and said with a gentle smile, "Dong Jun, try it. This is a dish that the Imperial Dining Room is good at."

Chu Heng's heart moved slightly, but he didn't respond. He remembered what Mu Xiyun asked Ye Shuli to bring him last night—try not to do what Chu Heng would do in the past, so he looked at the plate of boiled shrimp with all the flavors and tastes. , coughed lightly, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty kindly accepts it, but I don't like shrimp very much."

Don't like to eat?

Ling Ye raised his brows lightly, smiled slightly and said nothing, and instead persuaded the two side dishes, this time Ji Wuyue didn't refuse again, and ate with two chopsticks.

Ling Ye calmly glanced at the dishes that Ji Wuyue touched just now, and he didn't know whether it was intentional or unintentional. Half of the dishes that Dong Jun picked up were things that Chu Heng didn't like to eat in the past.But although these dishes were all included, Ji Wuyue didn't eat much.

Ling Ye made a secret note in silence, no longer persuading him to eat, and only said a few words to eat more.Chu Heng ate a cabbage heartily, and nodded in agreement.

Naturally, Qing Yan didn't notice the undercurrent between them, and ate seriously by himself.He took the jade chopsticks and put the boiled shrimp that Ling Ye pointed out just now into a small plate, only to realize that it was not the peeled shrimp that he usually ate.Qing Yan looked behind him, but there was no one behind him, all the serving ladies were waved away by his father, he turned his head to stare at the delicious boiled shrimp, and suddenly found himself in trouble.

From the beginning of the meal, Chu Heng intentionally picked up a lot of dishes that he didn't like, and he was tormenting himself, when he caught a glimpse of Dabai Tuanzi holding a boiled prawn from the corner of his eye.So without thinking too much at the moment, he naturally took the shrimp from Qingyan's hand and began to peel the shell for him.

Ling Ye's eyes followed closely to his hands. Ji Wuyue's movements of peeling shrimp were extremely proficient. She pinched the head, removed the tail and peeled the shell in one go without any pause. It looked like she had done it many times.

Don't like shrimp?

Ling Ye recalled what he said just now, and his eyes darkened.

If you don't like food, it's a lie, and there is no doubt that you have a ghost in your heart.

But if what is said is true, with such skillful movements, it can only be peeled by Chu Heng, who loves to eat shrimps, every day in Lishan Mountain.

Humph.

The emperor was not very happy with either outcome.

Chu Heng peeled off the shrimp completely, and saw that His Majesty was staring at his hand, following his gaze, Chu Heng glanced at the pink and tender shrimp in his hand, and probably understood something.He turned his head to look at the big white dumpling waiting to be eaten with a spoon, but considering His Majesty's respect, he still put the first shrimp on His Majesty's plate.

Ling Ye was taken aback for a moment, but didn't react for a while.

But Chu Heng had already picked up the second boiled shrimp, quickly peeled it off, dipped it in some soup, and put it in the small dish of the dumpling very fairly for appeasement.

But Qingyan was not in a hurry to eat. He looked at both sides with a pair of black and round eyes. First, there was the shrimp in front of the father, and then the empty plate in Dongjun's hand. He tilted his head and thought for a while, picked up The little spoon scooped his own shrimp into Chu Heng's plate, and continued to sit and wait obediently.

Chu Heng's heart softened for a moment, and he couldn't help raising his lips and chuckling.

A meal started with different thoughts, but in the end, somehow, it was able to finish happily.The serving maid led the palace servants in to clear away the cups, and served two more cups of maple dew tea.Qing Yan was taken down to change clothes, leaving only the Emperor and Dong Jun in the Nuan Pavilion.

After drinking half a cup of tea quietly, Ling Ye smiled warmly and said, "I heard from the prince of Zhenguo that when he fought against the son of Yujiang yesterday, Dongjun didn't have any weapons in his hand. I suffered from the loss of Helan Tuo. The Jiange Pavilion in the Hall of Martial Arts contains famous swords and swords in the world. If I don’t like it, I will give Dongjun a sword as a thank you for what happened yesterday.”

As soon as he finished speaking, before Ji Wuyue could answer, the high-ranking bandit in the hall walked in from outside the hall holding a sword box.

At this moment, Chu Heng finally knew where the unreality in his heart came from—His Majesty knew about his gaffe when facing the sword.

Even, he has begun to doubt his identity.

Bandit Gao respectfully placed the sword box on the table in front of the two of them, Chu Heng's heart jumped suddenly, and the hands under the sleeves trembled uncontrollably.His eyes shrank, and he looked at the sword box with difficulty. Through the thick sandalwood, he didn't need to open it, he already knew what was inside.

The only sword from Lishan in the Sword Pavilion hidden in the Hall of Martial Arts——

Bright silence.

He knew that he should be calm and calm, and then calmly refused, but the roar in his head and the panic in his heart blocked everything, including the string called reason.

He raised his eyes suddenly, and pressed the emperor's half-opened sword box with an extremely strong posture.

At the same time, the moment he met Shang Ji Wuyue's gloomy eyes, Ling Ye's heart tightened for no reason, and he suddenly regretted it.

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① Mengzhang, Jianbing, Lingguang, and Zhiming are the titles of Qinglong (East), Baihu (West), Suzaku (South), and Xuanwu (North), respectively, from the "Seven Emperors Ziting Yansheng Jing" in the Eastern Wu Dynasty.