Pei Gonggui

The sky in the palace is square.The sun has risen to the top, which is the time for the shift change of the palace.

Jiang Zhan suddenly opened his eyes and found himself standing in front of Zhongqing Hall.He looked at the palace gate in the distance, his head was scorched by the sun, his stomach was empty, the fine sweat from his vest had already wetted the inner of the dragon robe, but his hands and feet felt extremely cold.

He took a step forward in a daze, and for a moment he couldn't remember why he was here, but he vaguely felt a longing surging in his heart from endless loss.This longing forced his eyes to fixate on the palace door, as if waiting for something.

Suddenly, a figure ran from the palace gate.An eunuch was running furiously, sweating profusely, holding a wooden plate with intricate patterns in both hands, on which was a thin letter with a piece of sandalwood on it, and was rushing along with the eunuch's galloping. up and down.

"Quick! Quick!"

Hearing Hu Li's urging, Jiang Zhan turned his head to look, and saw Hu Li beside him hurried down the stone steps with his whisk in his arms, grabbed the letter from the running eunuch, turned around and trotted Go to Jiang Zhan and present the letter properly and respectfully.

Picking up the letter, Jiang Zhan saw six bold ink characters written on the envelope: "Pei Jun kowtows to present."

It turned out that he was standing here weakly, waiting for Pei Jun's letter.

With trembling hands, he opened the envelope and took out the letter paper, and he couldn't help but feel joy in his heart just because of the action of unfolding the letter paper.The surrounding temperature is hot and humid, the air is stuffy, the palace walls are airtight, and the white marble railings are like iron bars, trapping him in a square inch, but it seems that at the moment when he opened the letter in his hand, he gained a trace of indescribable love. free liberty.

This is a piece of freedom from Pei Jun.

And his world is the letter in his hand.

He read the letters over and over again.The mountains, rivers and rivers in the letter made him yearn for it, and the mourning people in the letter made him panic. What Pei Jun saw and heard along the way always fascinated him and made him laugh, but he couldn't help coughing when he laughed.

There was a throbbing pain in his chest, and his vision was dark for a while. When he came back to his senses, he saw that his surroundings had become the interior scene of Chongning Palace. Among the carved beams and painted buildings, several imperial doctors rushed forward. Hu Li took the letter paper away from him.He tried his best to reach out to touch the letter paper, but he missed it. He took a deep breath and was about to speak, but he was already supported on the bed, coughing and panting again.

At this moment, he seemed to remember——for several years, his health went from bad to worse.When the weather is bad, even walking a little outside is dizzy.It has been a long time since the early court, and all political affairs are weighed by Pei Jun and his trusted courtiers. Most of the time, he only has an idea, and when he rests, he almost completely lives in the world of Pei Jun's letters.

When he felt uneasy about crony disputes and the power of King Jin, seeing the results of reform brought about by Pei Jun traveling around for him, he cheered up and hoped together with the fierce words in Pei Jun's letter; He was depressed by the criticism from himself and the government. In this huge imperial city, only the rumors and stories from the rivers and lakes written by Pei Jun in the letter could comfort him.

He pressed these letter papers next to the short knife under his pillow every night, as if these letters could become his most personal armor just like the short knife.He mentioned his situation less and less in his replies again and again, and the words he said became more and more pale. Finally, facing Pei Jun's dissatisfied inquiries between the lines, it was really difficult for him to reply in person, so he couldn't help but call Hu Li. As a ghostwriter, let him only write about the current situation of the DPRK and China.

He didn't want to be Pei Jun's burden.He hated being Pei Jun's burden so much.

But he knew he already was.

This was the 18th year of Yuanguang, and there was a spring drought in the north.Because the courier was accessible, the imperial court learned about it quickly, so they urgently dispatched food for disaster relief.The grant move continues through the summer.

I don't know which day in June, King Rui entered the palace and sent some exquisite snuff bottles and Nanyang embroidered fans, saying that the snuff bottles are for Jiang Zhan to hold the pills, and the embroidered fans are used to remove heat. While enjoying the game with Jiang Zhan, he said casually: "Hey, Your Majesty, I heard that Pei Ziyu's reforms are becoming more and more effective now, just in time for King Jin to put down the rebellion in the south, seeing that there are fewer rioters. "

Jiang Zhan was sitting behind the imperial case, holding a snuff bottle in his hand, and he rarely smiled when he heard the words. He was about to speak, but King Rui continued:

"But... why hasn't the national tax increased?"

Jiang Zhan's smile condensed on his face, then dissipated, and he said after a while: "Innovation is not accomplished in a day. The elimination of riots is already a credit. Pei Ziyu is diligent, and the court should allow him time."

King Rui didn't notice Jiang Zhan's strangeness, so he continued on his own: "But there are thousands of people living in the southeast, northwest, and there should be more taxes if there is less riots. Since Pei Ziyu doesn't want us nobles to take care of the mess of post delivery, We should send all the feudal food towns to Beijing, right? But he has changed the law for five years, and our brothers have no more food towns than before! If it is said that the law has changed and the money has increased, why? Will he not see it? Seeing that this disaster relief didn’t allocate much money from the national treasury, could it be that… all the money went into his own pocket—”

"Presumptuous!" Jiang Zhan interrupted him angrily, and threw the snuff bottle at his feet.

King Rui was startled, he looked up and saw that Jiang Zhan had thrown all the snuff bottles and fans he had brought to the ground, and hurriedly picked them up.

Looking at this scene, Jiang Zhan became even more angry, pointed at his nose and scolded him: "King Rui, you slander the important ministers in the court with empty words and no evidence, so what should you do? You are incapable of doing things, enjoying the fun in Beijing, and blame the work Didn’t the people give you enough money? I’m the emperor, and I don’t have any plans for the national treasury. You only have the title of a prince, so why should you come to ask? Could it be that you don’t even want the title?”

King Rui was originally ordered by his mother's Cai family to listen to Jiang Zhan, but unexpectedly, Jiang Zhan was furious, and hurriedly knelt down to beg for mercy: "I have nothing to say! I am guilty! The emperor calms down, the emperor calms down!"

Jiang Zhan got up and yelled him out, and King Rui left in a panic.But seeing King Rui walking out of the palace tremblingly holding those messy tributes, the seeds of despicable anxiety in Jiang Zhan's heart began to germinate little by little.

He closed his eyes and shook his head, admonishing himself: King Rui came to sow discord on Cai's behalf, so he must not fall for this trick.However, when he closed his eyes day and night, he still couldn't escape the dark and selfish self in his heart.

He seemed to hear a voice whispering in his ear: "Although King Rui is incompetent and relies on the Cai family, he is also a relative of the emperor. He is your elder brother. He lives with you, but what about Pei Jun?" ?Who doesn't want to monopolize the power of the world? Who doesn't want to replace you, a sick child? Do you really believe that Pei Jun said that he loves you, helps you, and protects you? That kind of coldness hurts you, Pei Jun has no blood relationship with you, why should he help you without hesitation? If what King Rui said is true, then Pei Jun should be the most dangerous person in the world!"

--Do not!

He tried his best to push away this thought, and woke up shivering in the hot night, clutching the thin quilt tightly in fear, and since then, he has been sleeping less and less.

Soothing decoction and burning incense did not save Jiang Zhan from suffering from insomnia.Hu Li's servant was deeply disturbed, and couldn't help but search for a way to sleep.Just at this moment, Cai Lan, the attendant of the Imperial Academy, took a guqin and kowtowed to see him, saying that he could share the worries of the saint.

So on this day of autumn, the sound of the piano sounded behind the swaying light windows of Chongning Hall.The sound of the piano is sometimes accompanied by whispers, sometimes with a chuckle, and gradually reduces from the first three songs in the middle of the night to two songs and one song.Later, sometimes there was no sound of the qin, and Cai Lan entered the hall, but she still stayed there until dawn the next day.

People in the palace said that Cai Shishou had the same eyes as Pei Ziyu.

In autumn, Pei Jun returned to court.Suspicious, Jiang Zhan pretended to be coquettish and slapped around, twisting Pei Jun to transfer one-third of the county tax books of Jiufu into the palace, saying that he would learn to check.Pei Jun laughed out loud at him, and agreed.Half a month later, Jiang Zhan ordered the digital eunuchs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to do the calculations in the palace. These accounts are all neat and tidy.

Jiang Zhan couldn't help but feel relieved, and the dark seeds in his heart fell into the loose soil like sand and gravel-as long as Pei Jun stood by him like a towering giant tree to protect him from the wind and rain, the seeds would have nowhere to germinate.

But Jiang Zhan was relieved, and the royal family and officials whose interests were damaged by him who were blocked by him became more and more uneasy.The new policy reforms arranged by Pei Jun were piloted at the local level and spread to the central government, passing through counties, towns, government roads, and provincial capitals. They will soon spread to central Beijing. Zhang and Cai, who are political enemies of the Pei Party, are in a hurry. At this point a closer investigation began.

Zhang Ling was sick in the mansion, personally wrote hundreds of letters, and sent them to the mansions of gentry, scholars, and inspectors in the east, west, north, and south, spreading the law net and collecting Pei Jun's illegal actions; Zhan Chuiqing, followed Cai Lan to the palace again and again to face the saint, asking for the transfer of various accounts and military supplies.

However, the repeated investigations failed to find any clues.

When Zhang Ling was no longer hopeful, Cai Yan searched for even the slightest gap more closely, waiting to burrow into it like a snake, dig three feet into the ground, and pierce his thorny fangs into the top-secret truth.

Soon, the opportunity Cai Yan had been waiting for came.

After autumn, Pei Jun went to the north to inspect the supervising army, and Jiangdong had an epidemic.As soon as the epidemic broke out, the imperial court learned of the disaster situation very quickly and urged the government to provide disaster relief. After many days of delay, the Jiangdong government claimed that it had no money for disaster relief.

The prefect of Jiangdong dismissed the government office overnight, hanged himself, and left behind a confession, which finally exposed a huge case of injustice.It turns out that the magistrates and county officials of Jiangdong Prefecture have divided up the official money for more than ten years since Yuan Guangnian, and it has already become a tacit custom among officials.They guarded each other by officials and officials, imprisoned the whole family of informers, died unjustly, or murdered them, so that the chain was soaked in blood to be extremely solid, coupled with the exploitation of couriers and poor communication, no one could complain about this injustice.

When Jiang Zhan heard the news in the palace, he was terrified and quickly ordered Yushitai to solve the case, and at the same time ordered his household staff to distribute relief money.After receiving the order, the Ministry of Household Affairs made the accounts of the transfer of silver from the national treasury as usual, but in fact, it has distributed the tax money from the surrounding counties according to the local tax money distributed by Pei Jun.

Fang Mingjue, who was in the household department, knew very well that the tax bank arranged by Pei Jun in Jiangdong should have been embezzled by the officials. Once the imperial censor investigates and there are mistakes in the account books, all the arrangements for the past five years will be in vain.It was too late to contact Pei Jun at this time, so he had to urgently borrow silver taels from the Mei family to make up for the shortfall.Unexpectedly, when borrowing money into the treasury, Cai Yan suddenly brought someone in and found that the treasury was empty, and immediately ordered Fang Mingjue to be arrested and imprisoned.

When Yan Yuliang heard the news, he realized that an inner ghost had leaked the news, so he asked Deng Zhun to send a letter to Cao Luan for help, but he was implicated and imprisoned before he could evacuate.Deng Zhun begged for glory and sent the letter to Cai Yan. Cai Yan arrested Cao Luan according to the letter, took Cao Luan and Deng Zhun into the palace together, handed the letter to Jiang Zhan, and ordered Deng Zhun to be ten thousand Say what Pei Jun did.

Deng Zhun had been instigated by Cai Yan before entering the palace, but in fact he didn't know what Pei Jun's intention was to transfer the treasury silver.Jiang Zhan was furious when he heard this, insulting Deng Zhun for being ungrateful and attacking his teacher, but Cai Yan immediately produced physical evidence that the household department was in short supply, threatened Cao Luan with his wife and children, and forced Cao Luan to follow the evidence, and then lucky enough to confirm every statement of Deng Zhun .

Jiang Zhan witnessed witnesses and physical evidence, and was hit hard. Cai Yan didn't wait for him to recover, and used Fang Mingjue to fill Jiangdong's deficit as an excuse, and put false accounts and deficits into Jiangdong's big case of ink corruption, and sent Taifu Pei Jun planned to be the last person in Beijing to accept huge bribes and shield his subordinates. He even said that officials at all levels in the world were probably making profits for Pei Jun, so he sternly asked Yushitai to investigate thoroughly.

Jiang Zhan looked at the fake accounts in front of him, and shook his head ridiculously in denial: "This is impossible, I believe Pei Jun, he will never...never do such a thing! These are just documents that you planted, you Jealous of Pei Jun! You want him dead!"

Zhang Ling was supported by Zhang San and stood by his side, sighed, and said hoarsely: "Since the emperor doesn't believe it, it's better to believe it by seeing."

Therefore, under the protection of his personal guards, Jiang Zhan was wrapped in a thick sable fur, supported by Hu Li, got into the car and left the palace, and came to the treasury of the household department in the heavy snow.

Officials took out boxes from the empty shelves in the warehouse and placed them on the snowy ground. The white slag from the sky drifted into the boxes, almost covering the money that filled the bottom of the boxes in a short while.

Jiang Zhan's legs softened, and Hu Li supported him.His eyes were red, his throat was tight, and he couldn't make a sound at this moment.

Cai Yan sighed beside him and said, "Your Majesty, Pei Ziyu's short-term promotion by pampering him for the reform of the New Deal is actually a wolfish ambition! It seems that he has made such plans all these years!"

Zhang Ling let go of Zhang San's supporting hand, clasped his fists and begged for the decree: "I implore the emperor, this time we must not tolerate Pei Jun again!"

Jiang Zhan only felt his eyes go dark, the back of his head went numb, and his chest almost felt like a wave of vomiting.His eyes were red, and he shouted hoarsely: "How could it be! Impossible! He made me believe him...he said he was helping me!"

Zhao Taibao folded his arms and asked in vain: "Your Majesty, what should we do now...?"

The sadness in Jiang Zhan's eyes seeped into anger, and the anger turned into hatred. He gritted his teeth, and slowly ordered: "I will pass on the decree... I am sick, and I am afraid that time will not be long... Order Taifu Pei Jun to return to Beijing immediately to see !"

The yellow scrolls with wax varnish were sent out of the capital by fast horses.When Jiang Zhan returned to the palace that night, he developed a severe cough and had a high fever for days.

Seven days later, Pei Jun received the imperial decree in Beidi, thinking that Jiang Zhan was seriously ill, so he hurriedly brought him back to Beijing.But when he hurried back to Beijing, what greeted him was rounded up by hundreds of officials from Dali Temple.

When Jiang Zhan, who was ill in the palace, heard that Pei Jun had returned to Beijing, he ordered Pei Jun to be brought into the palace to confront him.

Cai Lan, who was by his bedside, heard this, and hurriedly grabbed Hu Li, who was about to deliver a message, and whispered for a while.When Hu Li heard the words, his eyes tightened, he turned his head to look at Cai Lan in surprise, and said, "You guys are going to—"

Cai Lan covered his mouth, pulled him out of the palace, and said tremblingly: "No, Eunuch Hu, I will never harm the emperor! But if the emperor is bewitched by Pei Ziyu again, I will forgive Pei Ziyu's crime... ...Then I'm afraid that if my father gets anxious, he will kill the emperor first."

Hu Li was even more surprised.Cai Lan's nose was red, and she took a deep breath and said, "Eunuch Hu, you die and live for the sake of 'profit' in the palace, and what my father wants is 'power'. Right now, my father has secretly ordered my elder brother to come to Beijing, and he is playing the role of regent as king." My private wish... I just want to save the emperor's life. Eunuch Hu has served the emperor for many years, and he must not bear to see the emperor suffer. Now... Anyway, Pei Jun's situation is gone, death is not a pity, you will be involved with him again It’s just harming others and yourself, so it’s better to do what I say... I promise! After the day is done, the Cai family will definitely benefit from you.”

He leaned close to Hu Li's ear and warned: "Eunuch Hu, you have helped my family a lot these years. Now as long as Pei Ziyu dies, we will all be safe; but if Pei Ziyu doesn't die, we will all die."

The vast and boundless snow gradually covered the golden tiles of the imperial city, only diverging from the high palace walls along the road in dazzling red and white colors.

It's getting colder.After burning incense, Hu Li returned to Jiang Zhan's bedroom with his hands down and his head bowed. He leaned against Jiang Zhan's bed, hesitated for a moment, and then whispered that Pei Jun became angry after being arrested, went crazy, and insulted Sheng Gong.What he said made Jiang Zhan angrier the more he listened. In a panic, he suddenly coughed up blood, his eyes went dark, and he passed out.

Cai Lan was taking care of it, and when she saw this scene, she immediately asked the imperial physician to find a way to treat her, but she was so frightened that she had no idea, so she had to keep asking Hu Li what to do.

Hu Li's cheeks were blue and white, his whole body was tense, and after a few quick turns in his mind, he looked at Cai Lan:

"Our family just heard from the emperor that Pei Jun...is going to be severely punished. Mr. Cai also heard it?"

The court ladies and eunuchs next to the two looked at each other in silence for a while, and there was panic in their eyes.Cai Lan was stunned when she heard the words, but immediately reacted and said: "I heard... I heard it too. I'm going to pass on the emperor's decree!"

That night, Cai Lan went out of the palace to meet Cai Yan, and falsely preached an imperial decree, saying that the emperor was furious and wanted the Judiciary to thoroughly investigate Pei's party and never tolerate it.For a time, all the courtiers, gentry, scholars, and businessmen who had relations with Pei Jun were investigated by Yushitai and Dali Temple. Competing to report, turned against each other, and those who kept their mouths were tortured to extract confessions. In the end, they confessed to everything they had done, even if they hadn't done it, they had done it.

Pei Jun was convicted by Yushitai as a traitor and a sycophant, and all his office work was questioned.Cai Yang, who was demoted to the Northwest, was rehabilitated because of this. The first thing he did after returning to his original post in Beijing was to go to the sky prison, holding the short sword in his own hand, and stabbing it into Pei Jun's palm.

Pei Jun gritted his teeth from the pain in the iron chains, with blue veins on his forehead, but he never screamed in the face of Cai Yang's persecution.

Cai Yang slapped Pei Jun on the face, pinched Pei Jun's jaw, poured a bottle of poison into Pei Jun's throat, and laughed wildly: "Pei Ziyu, isn't your mouth like a deer like a horse, and your tongue like a lotus flower? Say it again! I want to see how you can still say it!"

The great fame and fame, the glory and favor of the prosperous age, will be wiped out in the end.

In the cold prison, mice and reptiles gnawed at Pei Jun's wound.His hands and feet were broken by the jailer's beating, and they were covered with bloody sores. He hated to the end and had no more tears.A few bowls of sour rice twice in three days made him limp on the ground like a rag. During the torture, Fang Mingjue and Yan Yuliang, who were hung on the wall opposite him, were in the same situation as him.

But Jiang Zhan, who was ill, had no way of knowing all of this.

His illness seems to be really gone.

One night, he woke up from a wet and cold dream. He felt that he was a little more awake. He heard the sound of silk and bamboo coming from outside. After asking Hu Li, he realized that this day was the state banquet at the end of the year.

Looking at the continuous snow outside the window, he suddenly remembered that for the past ten years, every year in the past, it was Pei Jun who took him by the hand and brought him into the banquet hall, just like he was pulled out of the bedroom by Pei Jun back then. Like being on the throne.

He thought of his throbbing and embarrassment when he hid in the bushes after stealing a kiss with Pei Jun when he was 16, and also remembered the tension and joy when he went to the land of clouds and rain together with Pei Jun for the first time.At this time, looking at the distant night sky with dots of sparse stars, he can still find the North Star that Pei Jun taught him to recognize in Liuying Temple, and he still remembers the stories about the stars.

He turned to Hu Li and asked, "Where's Pei Jun?"

Hu Li froze, and said vaguely: "Return to the emperor, he is still locked in prison."

— in prison.

In this way, Pei Jun still failed him.

Jiang Zhan's empty heart was once again filled with cold pain.He sat alone on the high stage of the state banquet without saying a word, only feeling that everyone around him was spying on him secretly, those eyes were like sharp steel needles, piercing his back like thorns, and the sound came from his ears. In the detailed discussions, it was either the word "Pei Jun" or Jiangdong's case.

Leaving the state banquet and returning to the palace, he was full of resentment, and he couldn't help killing those who proved Pei Jun's crime, so he first recruited Deng Zhun, who was selling his teachers and begging for glory, to give poisoned wine, and then wanted to kill Cao Cao Luan, but because of what Cao Luan said, he had to testify against Pei Jun when he learned that this person was a relative who was threatened.

After Cao Luan left, the grief and anger accumulated in his heart still had no place to vent out. Thinking of the extreme anger, the coldness in his eyes gradually turned into a dark hatred, and suddenly he raised his hand and swept the golden rooster paperweight on the imperial case.

——This is an object that Pei Jun won from a cockfighting event in Beijing when he was 17 years old, but it was given to him to play with, but he has kept it until now.

There was a sharp splitting pain in the palm of his hand, he clenched his fists tightly, breathed wildly, and immediately coughed violently again.

During the exclamation of the palace people, Cai Lan, who had sent Cai Yan out of the palace, just came back. Seeing this scene, she hurriedly helped Jiang Zhan to lie down on the bed, and wiped off the blood on Jiang Zhan's lips with great pain, and stayed until the imperial physician After serving the decoction and retreating to the outer hall, I saw Jiang Zhan waking up from his lethargy, babbling and talking to him weakly.

Cai Lan hurriedly picked up her sleeves, nodded her eyes, and leaned forward, but heard Jiang Zhan intermittently ordering: "Declare... let Pei Jun come into the palace to see me."

Cai Lan's eyes were wide open, and a deadly coldness floated in her heart.After Jiang Zhan fell asleep again, he supported the bed frame and got up, and somehow got outside the hall.

Cai Yan had already heard the news and rushed over, accompanied by Kong Wu's powerful Cai Yan.The two hurriedly asked how the emperor Cai Lan was doing, but Cai Lan just walked past them in a superficial manner, walked to the corridor and sat down, saying: "The emperor wants to announce Pei Jun to have an audience."

Cai Yan was startled, looked at Cai Yan, frowned and pondered, secretly pulled Hu Li aside, stuffed a small wooden box into Hu Li's hand and said, "Eunuch Hu, the emperor must be sick and confused, please return the favor." Go and show the emperor the medicine."

Hu Li's hand trembled suddenly, he stared at Cai Lan who knew nothing behind Cai Yan, then looked back at Cai Yan, and said angrily, "Grand Master Cai, this is—"

"Go, Eunuch Hu." Cai Yan held the wooden box tightly into Hu Li's palm, and stared at him with eagle eyes behind half-closed eyelids.

Hu Li's back trembled suddenly, his lips trembled for a while, but he couldn't speak again.His eyes were red, and he shed tears when he turned around, but he didn't dare to delay in walking, so he had to hunched over, holding the terrible wooden box in his hand, and walked with difficulty through the tall and magnificent corridor outside Chongning Hall.

Just at this time, a loud palace bell announcing the new year's close rang in the magnificent palace—the time of Zi has arrived.

In the past, every sound of the palace bell seemed to be dragging for a long time, but this night, it seemed like the sound of cold footsteps approaching step by step. It was like stepping on the footsteps of Hu Li who brought the soup and bowed his head and walked into the Chongning Palace. Walk on the final track of destiny.

Cai Lan sat beside Jiang Zhan's bed and raised her head, took the soup and medicine brought by Hu Li, and asked the little eunuch to help Jiang Zhan sit up.

He scooped up the medicinal soup with a spoon, and carefully fed it into Jiang Zhan's mouth. Jiang Zhan swallowed the bitter water with great difficulty, and looked at Cai Lan's eyebrows and eyes in a daze, with a dazed expression, and then shook his head again, supporting himself Looking at Hu Li, he asked, "Hu Li...Pei Jun, hasn't he come yet?"

Cai Lan's hand holding the medicine bowl trembled, and the warm medicine in the medicine bowl spilled on his fingers.Seeing this, Hu Li hurried forward to pass the medicine bowl, took Cai Lan's place on the bedside, scooped up the medicine soup and fed it to Jiang Zhan, saying: "Don't worry, your majesty, the subordinates have already delivered the decree, Mr. Pei is coming soon, ah ,Soon."

Jiang Zhan finally finished the soup obediently after hearing the words.After lying down on the bed again, within a cup of tea, he felt more hot and burning pain in his chest and lungs, and suddenly coughed more violently, he quickly patted the bed and yelled for the imperial doctor to come in.

Under Cai Yan's coercion and lure, the imperial physicians outside the hall did not dare to do their best to treat him, and entered the hall one by one tremblingly, just pretending to diagnose Jiang Zhan's pulse in a perfunctory manner.

Jiang Zhan felt out of breath, and asked Hu Li impatiently, "Where is Pei... Pei Jun?"

Hu Lishou replied repeatedly from the side: "Hurry up, Your Majesty, it's coming soon."

Hearing this, Jiang Zhan reluctantly closed his eyes again.In a blur of consciousness, he seemed to be dreaming of the Liuying Palace, dreaming of the gentle and tender entanglement with Pei Jun—but this time, he turned into the mosquito that he raised his hand to kill, and woke up in a flash of being smashed to pieces.

Opening his eyes, he saw the embossed golden dragon in the middle of the top of the bed staring at him with a pair of black eyes, and a deep human voice seemed to come from his ear:

"...Pei Jun is already half-dead, and he is a useless person in prison. The Pei party has also been dismissed. It is absolutely impossible for them to overturn the case. Right now, they only need to wait for the emperor to pass away before they can establish a new emperor, Eunuch Hu. Sometimes I need you to help me in the palace."

He recognized that it was Cai Yan's voice, he felt a chill all over his body when he heard the words, and it was Hu Li who said again: "The emperor has already drank the medicine, how much time is left?"

Cai Yan's voice said: "It's only a stick of incense left and right." As he spoke, he sighed and said, "If the emperor hadn't woken up at the end of his life, we would not have made it this far. If Pei Jun was released from prison, we would All must die."

As soon as the words fell, Jiang Zhan was struck by lightning, and suddenly woke up completely: it turned out that he was deceived by these poisonous snakes!

"Come... come, people..."

He stuck his right hand under the pillow in extreme unease, trying to make a sound, wanting to call the guards into the palace to take down these treacherous officials and thieves, but struggling weakly, he accidentally fell off the edge of the bed and tore off the draped golden curtain ,

Cai Lan, who was guarding the palace with her eyes closed, was awakened by him, and hurriedly got up to help him, and asked with concern, "What's wrong, Your Majesty?"

When Jiang Zhan saw him coming, he remembered that he was the one who fed the poisonous soup just now, his eyes sharpened, and his right hand was suddenly pulled out from under the pillow.

Cai Lan saw a silver light flashing in front of his eyes, and the next moment he felt a sharp pain in his neck, a sharp short knife had been inserted into his neck.

Blood gushed out immediately and splashed on Jiang Zhan's pale and ferocious face.Cai Lan's screams attracted Hu Li and Cai Yan outside the hall, the little eunuch hurriedly pushed Jiang Zhan away and put Jiang Zhan on the bed, Hu Li was dumbfounded, Cai Yan held Cai Lan's neck and loudly let the imperial doctor enter the hall.

Cai Lan looked at her father in fear, vomited blood uncontrollably, and asked completely incomprehensibly, "Why...why..."

Cai Yan turned to look at Jiang Zhan, and for a brief moment, Jiang Zhan's red eyes were filled with absolute hatred. The madness and despair in it all showed that he had figured everything out and understood everything, but , everything is irreparable.

Jiang Zhan was pinned under the blood-stained quilt by a group of eunuchs, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.His face has become more and more red, his breath has become weaker and weaker, and the air of this world in his chest has become more and more thin... and the only person who gave him to breathe freely has also been killed by his weakness.

He was gradually suffocating in endless loneliness and fear, and his eyes gradually became dark.Finally, the moment he closed his eyes, he completely fell into the abyss of death...

……

There was a muffled thunder in the sky, and heavy rain fell in the imperial city.

Jiang Zhan woke up suddenly from his dream and found himself lying on the bed.

Cold sweat was dripping from his forehead, and his back was soaked through the heavy shirt. Looking around, everything was as before, and only then did he realize that it was just a dream.

He got up, and let out a breath of cold air in the summer night. He couldn't help recalling the past scenes that seemed so real in the dream. He only felt that the pain and regret were deeply engraved in his heart, and it seemed that he had really lived through it. It was not long but miserable. In the life that ended, it seemed that he actually died once.

The people around him noticed that he was awakened, so they also sat up and raised their hands to caress his face.This action startled Jiang Zhan, and he leaned back and turned his eyes, only to see Cai Lan's waking up concern expression in front of him: "What's the matter, Your Majesty?"

The Cai Lan in front of him and the Cai Lan who was guarding him by the bed day and night in the dream gradually overlapped, and then gradually separated.He raised his hand to caress Cai Lan's intact neck, and with a little force, he saw that the blue lines under the snow-white skin became more and more clear.

Cai Lan was confused when she suddenly heard Jiang Zhan say: "Mu Feng, you haven't been home for several days, so bring some rewards and go back and visit your father."

After finishing speaking, Jiang Zhan got up and put on his robe and walked to the outer hall, attracting Hu Li.

Hu Li hurried over from the side hall, and as soon as he got to Jiang Zhan's side, he found that Jiang Zhan was looking at him with cold eyes. The king is on his way, and our people have surrounded Jin Wang's mansion. The assassins who should be sent to the south are also on their way. We just wait for the opportunity to hunt down Jin Wang. The people who are ambushing outside the Zhongyihou's mansion have sent a letter and want to ask questions How to deal with Pei Jun."

Jiang Zhan averted his eyes from him. Hearing this, he recalled the nightmare just now. He couldn't help frowning and thinking for a moment, then said: "Don't kill Pei Jun first. Let them take Pei Jun and return to the palace to see me."