Linque

As soon as the twelfth lunar month entered, the entire imperial capital became busy.

The sixth day of the lunar new year is the feast of the Qianqiu court, where princes from aristocratic families gather, envoys from all over the world gather, and the grand ceremony of the celestial dynasty cannot be mistaken.

The court was not idle either, and they had to rush to finalize all important matters before the end of the year. After the [-]th of the twelfth lunar month, the central government offices would seal their seals and suspend their official duties one after another. After the Lantern Festival, they would reopen their seals, Officially went to court to discuss politics.Therefore, the period before the New Year's holiday has become the busiest time of the year for officials at all levels of the Ministry of Taiwan.

There are actually two things that the DPRK and China have recently been fighting over.

One is the Jingnan Silk Road, whether to suspend it for the time being or divert it to Nanxi, this matter is the most important thing on the surface.Helantuo, the holy son of Yujiang, assassinated the prince of Dayin, and the war between the two countries was imminent. However, the silk road originally planned by the Ministry of War happened to pass through the territory of Yujiang, and now it had to be overturned.

On the second day after arriving in Beijing, Nanxi Guoshi Jingxueli conveyed the sincerity of the Nanxi Monarch to the emperor and courtiers. They hoped that the Jingnan Silk Road would pass through Nanxi, although it had to bypass the Xingling Mountains Go on a longer journey, but Nanxi is more stable than Yujiang—Jing Xueli means that they will mobilize border troops to ensure the safety and smooth flow of the entire Silk Road, and are willing to make concessions on tariffs .

For this reason, there were two voices in the court. There were many people who supported the diversion, but some secretly suspected that Jing Xueli had something to do with the assassination of the prince, because if the silk road diversion was completed, Nan Xi would be the only beneficiary of this matter. .

But the Shadow Guard of the Son of Heaven has checked all traces of Jingxueli since he set foot on Dayin, and apart from meeting King Jing in Anfan City, this great witch has never done anything out of the ordinary.When the crown prince was assassinated, the movement of everyone in the Nanxi Mission was already under the close surveillance of the emperor's shadow guards.

Whether Jing Xueli had anything to do with the assassination? With only doubts but no clues, it is impossible for Tianzi Yingwei to interrogate Nanxi's national teacher directly. Probably only by catching He Lantuo can he know.

But the strange thing is that even though Dayin is currently sealing off the border and checking the capital, Helanduo has never been seen, as if he has disappeared from the imperial capital city - he can escape the tracking of the emperor's shadow guards, it is obvious that the imperial capital Someone is helping him.

The second issue in the courtroom was the chief and deputy examiner of Enke next year, which was the most important thing in everyone's mind.Although the direct lineages of all families are all top-ranked officials, but the offshoot students have to take the imperial examinations now, and everyone wants more children of their own families to be awarded officials and enter the court, so the chief and deputy examiners of Enke have become all families. The seat to be contested.For this reason, the Xuanzheng Palace is full of fierce quarrels. This scene is no longer a day or two.

Inside and outside the palace, and in the court hall, everyone was exhausted physically and mentally. The few days before the Qianqiu court banquet seemed particularly tormenting, and Chu Heng felt the same way.

He has had a really "difficult" life these past few days, and there is no other reason. Since the noon of the twenty-ninth day of the winter moon, after he ate red soup hot pot and suffered from colic, His Majesty has strictly followed the food tonic prescription left by the old doctor Cheng, three times a day. He watched him eat the medicinal meal.He was not even allowed to eat breakfast in the Hall of Martial Heroes, and all of them came to the Hall of Jingcheng to drink bowls of porridge mixed with medicinal herbs under the eyes of His Majesty.Not to mention the sliced-skinned roast duck that he has been thinking about, he almost couldn't even eat the shrimp.

This tragic situation lasted until the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, and he asked His Majesty for instructions that he wanted to go back to Luyuan at night.

Tomorrow is the six thousand autumn court banquet at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, the emperor must go to the Cihe Palace at night to show his filial piety with the queen mother in advance, and then have a family banquet with King Jing and his brothers to save face.

It was all bad things, Ling Ye couldn't have dinner with Chu Heng at night, and heard Chu Heng said that he was going to Luyuan, so he gave him a few words of taboo and let him go.

Yun Fei was waiting for Chu Heng at the gate of the palace.

A few of them didn't go together, Su Lang and Han Chengmiao didn't enter the palace today, according to the agreed time, the two of them have passed by now, and Ye Shuli had to leave from Luyuan.Chu Heng came out of Jingcheng Hall late, Yun Fei waited desperately, and was pacing back and forth at the gate of the palace. When he saw him, he got into the carriage and drove towards Xuanping Street without saying a word.

Chu Heng didn't discuss with them before, and only knew about Yun Fei's arrangement. Seeing him going straight there without stopping, he couldn't help asking: "How do you know that Xu Shao must pass by Xuanping Street tonight?"

"I found someone to find out," Yun Fei handed Chu Heng a piece of cake, and said, "Tonight, someone invited Xu Shao to dinner at Sishi Restaurant, and Su Lang confirmed it for me. His Majesty announced in the hall It is said that the Enke will be opened next year. Those scholars, literati and side branch students who can find a way in the court must make good connections in advance. If it is too late, they will not be ranked. Xu Shao is now a sweet potato. , There are quite a few people who want to invite him to dinner, so it is easy for us to block him these two days."

Chu Heng has been reading the papers recommending imperial examination examiners in Jingcheng Hall recently, and there are really not many mentions of Jiayong Hou Xu Ao.There were constant quarrels in the court about this matter, and no conclusion has been reached yet, and the examiners have not yet made a decision. Why do these people invite Xu Shao to dinner?If you have to ask, you should invite the Ministry of Rites.

Yun Fei swallowed the mustache, drank his saliva, and said: "The Ministry of Rites is in charge of the imperial examinations, but the officials who will be awarded later, whether they stay in the imperial capital or let them go outside, are in charge of the Ministry of Officials. Xu Shao's father is in the Ministry of Officials. , it’s still fair to say on this matter.”

Chu Heng frowned: "I haven't taken the exam yet, and I don't know if I will be admitted, so let's deal with the appointment of officials first?"

Yun Fei just laughed when he heard the words, and after a while of silence, he slowly said: "It's on the record."

His voice was very soft, his expression was careless, but his tone was rare and low: "Chu Heng, you have stayed in the imperial capital for too short a time, and it is the first time you have seen the imperial examination, so you may not be clear about it. What is the last name of this person when he was born?" You have already decided how far you can go. Like your Zhongli Chu family, or our Tanchuan Yan family, the children of these sixteen aristocratic families, as long as they can pass the exam, they will not fail the exam. The imperial examination papers are not vague , Whoever made this policy theory is written at the top. The examiners know the name when they see the name. The imperial examination is said to be a way for students from poor families all over the world, but there may be one or two in the top ten of the annual list. It’s not bad for a humble scholar.” ①

——But if there is no imperial examination, even these two are gone.

The imperial power and aristocratic families maintained a tacit balance, and the three generations of emperors struggled to pry a gap from the barriers built by the aristocratic families, and only then did the imperial examinations that allowed poor students to enter the Tianzi Hall.But if the aristocratic family took a step back, the emperor had to take a step back, so there was an imperial examination but he could not be named.

Chu Heng didn't speak any more, he had been watching the Hall of Respect and Sincerity for so long, and he knew exactly what His Majesty was facing now.There are no lambs who can make it to the court of the Xuanzheng Palace. Everyone is a wolf. They are born to know how to fight and how to bite off a piece of meat from their opponents unexpectedly. His Majesty is also their goal.But the supreme authority of the emperor destined him to be stronger than any single person, so these people had to form a group, and of course there were some who were willing to follow the strongest, as long as the emperor gave a little favor as a return for their allegiance.

For example——

The papers that Chu Heng read in Yuqian in the past few days, in addition to the invitation and the imperial examination, there are also a few papers that I don’t know if they were misplaced when the Shangshutai classified them, and they were mixed in with the papers about the imperial examination. , and it was from the patriarchs.

Clan relatives are different from the aristocratic families outside. These people are the elders of the emperor, and it is not easy to directly refute what they say.However, according to the Dayin ancestral system, the first wave of official drafts were to be selected from the noble daughters of the aristocratic family. Obviously, these few papers were submitted by the elders of the royal family on behalf of the aristocratic family.

The emperor still has a long way to go. Whether it is the implementation of the imperial examination or other things, there are countless thorns and swords waiting for him.The aristocratic family made a shortcut with him, and borrowed the hand of the clan to hand it to him, just to see if the emperor wanted to leave.

Chu Heng's fingers holding the teacup turned slightly white, he put down the cup and leaned against the wall of the carriage, and closed his eyes.

The imperial examination seems to be a very heavy topic, which can always lead to a lot of melancholy. The two of them had nothing to say all the way until they reached Xuanping Street.

Su Lang, Han Chengmiao and Ye Shuli have all arrived.As the dusk deepened, Chu Heng got out of the car and glanced past the other two people, staring intently at Han Chengmiao who was standing beside Su Lang.

Han Chengmiao also recognized Chu Heng at the first sight. His eyebrows and eyes are somewhat similar to Chu Xin. Even if he didn't know his identity in advance, Han Chengmiao could tell when the two met on the street.He restrained himself, nodded to Chu Heng, and said hello first.

Chu Heng didn't respond, and looked at him brightly, with critical eyes, scanning Han Chengmiao from head to toe, trying to find out one or two things wrong with him, but unfortunately, Chu Heng failed.Just looking at his appearance and stature, there is really nothing to be picky about in the Korean prince. In terms of appearance alone, he is barely worthy of his sister.

The scrutiny and criticalness in his eyes were too obvious, Ye Shuli stepped forward, lowered his voice and asked, "Why do you keep staring at him?"

"It's nothing," Chu Heng said, "it's not pleasing to the eye."

His voice is not loud, but the three people walking in front are all outstanding in martial arts, and he still has the ability to listen to all directions.Han Chengmiao froze, Su Lang almost laughed out loud, Yun Fei turned his head in a daze.

Ye Shuli looked at Chu Heng and raised his eyebrows. It was the first time he saw his elder brother being so mean, and he had never been there before.

Fortunately, they soon arrived at the tea house at the corner of the street, which was owned by the Su family, and they could just see the people coming and going from the Four Seasons Restaurant here.

"I found someone to cover." Several people put on night clothes, Han Chengmiao stood by the window on the second floor and said calmly, "Gu Yanshi invited Xiao Gaomin to drink at his home tonight, and the few of us went together. In case something goes wrong, the governor of Jingzhao will have something to say when he asks about it later."

——It's quite thoughtful, Chu Heng thought silently.

When Ye Shuli heard the word "Xiao Gaomin", he slightly bent his eyes, his eyes were full of unclear meanings.

Han Chengmiao turned around and said again: "Don't talk later, Xu Shao may be able to hear our voices. When beating people, don't use internal force, don't hit the head, chest and abdomen, so as not to cause accidents. The patrolling Jinwu Guards We will pass by Xuanping Street every two quarters of an hour, and we will leave after beating people. Then you go back directly, and Su Lang and I will go back here to make sure that the patrolling Jinwu Guard finds Xu Shao before leaving. In case of cold winter months Something went wrong in the middle and no one took care of it, Xu Shao was lying outside, and something would happen after being too cold for a long time."

——Knowing how to measure, Chu Heng said in his heart.

Yun Fei: "Chengmiao, have you ever done the thing of putting on other people's sacks before, isn't this thoughtful and skilled?"

"..." Han Chengmiao glanced at Chu Heng, turned his eyes to the window, and remained silent without responding.

"What do you mean by doing it? Do you think that Cheng Miao has ever been incomprehensible?" Su Lang interjected in a timely manner, "Otherwise, why did I call him to come over to review your arrangement? You should follow your original plan. We are afraid that we will be caught by the Jinwu Guards after beating up, and Qing will go to the Hall of Jingcheng to plead guilty tomorrow."

"Yes, yes." Yun Fei scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Come out, let's go—" Han Chengmiao's eyes froze, and he suddenly interrupted their chat. They put on their masks and slipped out from the back door of the teahouse without a sound.

Several side branches of the gentry came to invite him in person, set up a good banquet, and called a little song. After listening to the compliments all night, Xu Shao was in a good mood. He came out of the Four Seasons Restaurant and took his spacious carriage to the Jiayonghou Mansion. drive away.

The night is getting darker, and there are fewer people on the street in winter, especially when entering the inner city of the imperial capital, the figures are even more sparse.The stone lamps lighting the street corners flickered for a moment, then were quietly extinguished by the wind.Xu Shao was thinking about the identities of the people who invited the banquet today, when the carriage suddenly stopped.

He thought that there was another carriage blocking the way ahead, so he asked casually, "Why don't you leave? Who is blocking the way?"

The coachman outside didn't respond, and the carriage still stopped at the same place.

Xu Shao drank and got upset waiting, so he got angry and pushed the car door open with one hand, "What are you doing..."

Half of the conversation stopped abruptly.The coachman had been knocked out silently, Xu Shao's heart shuddered, and before he could be prepared, his vision suddenly went dark, and a sack fell from the sky and covered his head.The opponent was obviously a master in martial arts, his shoulders went numb, and all the internal energy in his body was immediately removed, and then the sky spun, and he fell heavily to the ground.

"Who are you?" Xu Shao shouted loudly.

His response was a kick on the thigh, which seemed to be a signal to do it, and a burst of fists came down.These people were purely for beating him up, they didn't add half an inch of internal strength to their fists, they just punched and kicked with brute force.

Chu Heng didn't do anything, just stood aside and watched, taking a look at the wind.

I don't know if Han Chengmiao has practiced before. He was the one who was standing on the roof of the car with a sack on it just now. He was caught firmly by Han Chengmiao.

——Skills are not bad.

But... Chu Heng was watching from the side, suddenly a little puzzled.At the Winter Festival meeting that day, His Majesty mentioned to him that he intended to marry Han Chengmiao and Chu Xin. Didn't he never inquire about it? Didn't everyone say that Duanfang, the eldest son of the Han family in Yuyang, never did anything wrong?

But he was the one who kicked the first kick just now. He rushed to the forefront, and he beat people the hardest. Even Yun Fei, who took the lead, was not as active as him, and he didn't know what Han Chengmiao and Xu Shao had. hatred.

Chu Heng didn't think about it too much, seeing that the quarter of an hour was almost up, he coughed to signal them to stop and leave.Xu Shao lay on the ground and screamed, but he still refused to accept it. He didn't say a word to beg for mercy, but shouted loudly, "Who are you?"

They stopped and were about to leave. At this moment, Ye Shuli cleared his throat and said, "Okay, because you still have some backbone, you will understand each one after being beaten."

Chu Heng's eyelids twitched, and an ominous premonition suddenly appeared in his heart.

Sure enough, Ye Shuli rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "My family's eldest son said that we don't need a reason for the Yong'an Houfu to beat people, and we will hit you if you don't like it."

"..."

The entire long street was eerily silent.

Su Lang, Han Chengmiao, and Yun Fei looked at each other, turned around with stiff necks, and looked at Ye Shuli in disbelief.

The corner of Chu Heng's mouth twitched. If he remembered correctly, Han Chengmiao said earlier that he specially entrusted Prince Yong'an Hou to cover them.

"Xiao Gaomin, wait!" Xu Shao, who was lying on the ground, shouted this sentence, and immediately passed out.He had never dealt with Ye Shuli before, and he definitely couldn't hear Ye Shuli's voice, obviously——

Believe it or not.

"..."

***

On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month of the next day, the Qianqiu Court Banquet was held in the Linde Hall, where princes, dukes, ministers, and envoys from all over the world gathered together. The whole imperial capital became lively on this day.

Before the palace banquet, Princess Changning came to look for the emperor, and just as she was leaving, she happened to see the servant leading Chu Heng to the apse.

The eldest princess took a rough look and recognized that it was the emperor's imperial servant Mo. At this time, she didn't know what the people from the front court were doing in the back hall.

Maybe it's because of government affairs, so the Eldest Princess didn't pay much attention to it. She walked down the steps and walked to the chariot. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Imperial Attendant Mo stepping into the gate of the palace. Her heart moved, and she subconsciously turned her head to look at the figure. It just happened to disappear behind the curtain raised by the palace man.The Eldest Princess stared in the direction of the door, for some reason, she faintly felt that something was wrong.

The emperor had just been wearing a heavy and cumbersome gown to accept the worship of the officials together with the queen mother. When Chu Heng came in, Gao Bandit was waiting for him to change into light clothes.

Chu Heng raised his head and saw the emperor walking out from behind the screen, and felt a little guilty.

Today, at the Qianqiu court banquet, all the sons and daughters of various aristocratic families must be present, but at such an important moment, Wen Yuan, the eldest daughter of the Wenhou family, and Xu Shao, the eldest son of the Jiayonghou family, were both absent.The former is sick, the latter...

Chu Heng felt that His Majesty called him over before the palace banquet, maybe he guessed something and wanted to ask about it.

However, he was wrong.

The emperor had sent him for more serious reasons than that.

The curtain of the inner room was lifted, and the serving maid walked in with a food box, opened the lid with a smile, and put two steaming bowls of eggplant and silver noodles inside.

"Come here, eat a bowl of noodles first." Ling Ye beckoned to him.

"But Your Majesty, isn't it going to be a palace banquet?"

Because it was a winter banquet, the dishes were easy to cool, so the main course of the palace banquet was pot, among which was the red soup hot pot that Chu Heng wanted to eat again.He has been relieved of stomach pains for a long time, but His Majesty still strictly abides by old doctor Cheng's food tonic prescription to accompany him to avoid eating medicinal food, and when the palace banquet is far away, while His Majesty is out of control, he must eat this dish well .

The emperor seemed to see through his thoughts at a glance, and asked with a half-smile: "The palace banquet lasts for a long time, and I have to greet you and celebrate my birthday. The dishes have been left out for a long time, and only two pots are hot. Do you want to eat the one that is full?" ?”

Chu Heng was poked into his heart, and quickly expressed his opinion: "...I only eat clear soup."

"Why don't I really believe it?" Ling Ye looked up at him and smiled slightly, then changed the subject, and said with a calm face: "Don't eat red soup and hot pot, remember? Drinking alcohol is also not allowed, later I will send someone to watch over you. If you dare to steal spicy food, I will not spare you when the palace banquet is over."

Chu Heng's heart turned cold. He thought His Majesty was so busy today that he would never think of it.But who knows—

"Do you remember?" His Majesty not only remembered the old doctor Cheng's words clearly, but also did not intend to let him pass the test vaguely, so he raised his voice and asked again.

Chu Heng lowered his head and said sullenly: "...I obey the order."

I should have known that when His Majesty sent someone to look for him just now, I pretended not to see him.

--------------------

①Pass name: It is to cover the name and change the test paper, just like the sealing line when we take the exam now.The ancient imperial examinations were indeed unambiguous at the beginning.The imperial examination is a line but not the most important.

②The palace banquet is here, and the opportunity is here.