Pei Gonggui

It was also mid-spring at that time, and it had just rained in central Beijing.Jiang Yue held the golden invitation card from Sejong Pavilion to invite him into the palace, sat in a sedan chair and went up to Yuanchen Gate. He passed all the way through the alley archway, and lifted the curtain under the eaves with carved corners. What he saw was that the street was not tight. Pedestrians passing by with umbrellas and businessmen setting up stalls and joking along the road.

After getting off the sedan chair and walking into the palace, what he stepped on was the bluestone brick floor that was darkened by mist and rain.The brick floor was solid and flat, and there was no vibration of iron hooves trampling on the barren slopes outside the Great Wall, nor the dust blown up by the wind after chasing horses lightly. What was there was just the feeling that the palace servants were used to when he stood at the foot of the imperial city again. Then a respectful salute.

Everything is so peaceful, clean and peaceful, very much like the royal royal clothes and crown with ribbons and crowns that are thick in color and intricately embroidered on him.

The brocade clothes covered his body with layers of war wounds, big and small, and wrapped them up secretly. Even his eyes, which had seen too much life and death, were half-hidden by the pendant beads swaying towards the front of the crown.

This is what he bought for Beijing in exchange for three years in the army, and he went through life and death, which is called "Taiping".

Those things that he had never seen with his own eyes in his comfort zone in the middle of the capital, those things that he had never heard of in the palaces, high-school schools, and drinking wine, have all been taught by a war. gave him.

It was as if he had a new pair of eyes.

These eyes made him suddenly able to easily see through the viciousness and cruelty hidden under the tranquility and prosperity.When he took off his armored suit, took off his saber, and put on the Prince's Ritual Dress that was forced out by so many bridesmaids for days and nights, the weight that was suddenly lost from his shoulders almost shocked him——

It turned out that what he had enjoyed in Beijing since his birth had always been such a peaceful and comfortable life.

Because of this, he began to question those things that were once taken for granted and taken for granted when he was born in the royal family: for example, the ever-burning lights in the palaces and palaces, for example, the government officials in the capital spent money from southern Anhui for comparison. The bottles of stones brought back, such as the tables and tables of wine and banquets bought by the officials at the expense of the royal family on a trip, or...

The Hanlin Academy provides 800 taels of pen and ink subsidies every month.

The 800 taels of silver are just for these sour and corrupt civil servants who are not involved in politics to exchange the papers that save flowers for gold ones, or even exchange wolf hairs for purple hairs, and stone inkstones for jade inkstones. A battalion of soldiers guarding the cold winter often lacked a few hundred taels of subsidy and did not even have a pot of good charcoal to burn for warmth.

At the first court meeting after returning to Beijing, Jiang Yue went to the shuffle and asked to stop the Hanlin subsidy, and ordered the Hanlin civil servants to write down every necessary expenses and submit them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for approval; on the other side, he asked Increase the barracks in the Northwest and Central North, and let the border expenses be directly accepted from the Ministry of War, avoiding many tedious tasks.

At that time, his nephew Jiang Zhan had been on the throne for less than two years, and he was cowardly and fearful of ministers after succeeding to the throne. He had never dared to go to court to listen to the government. Don't dare to underestimate each other, so once this remonstrance is accepted by the cabinet, it will be implemented immediately.

For a while, there were rumors in the court that Jin Wang returned to the capital with a plan, and it seemed that he wanted to take over the government from his nephew and take over the imperial power. It also began to be rumored that he wanted to take back the one that was taken by the previous emperor. It belongs to his position, so he reached out to the army to intervene.

These unknown rumors quickly spread to the palace.The cabinet ministers and the clan members who benefited from the young emperor's lack of political affairs couldn't sit still any longer, so they issued a golden invitation to invite Jiang Yue into the palace to discuss matters, just to sound out his tone.

Regarding this, the King of Thailand only said: "Brother used to be afraid of you when he was here, but it was because you were liked by the emperor. Now his son's dragon chair has not been seated and warmed up, and you have made military exploits at a young age and come back. Who in the court doesn't think too much? But when they guess you and doubt you, they just worry about you for a while, and they will leave after that. Listen to what they ask, so don't be stubborn, lest you have to challenge them for things that you didn't have before. If it becomes real, then it will be troublesome!"

He nodded and listened to King Tai's words, but didn't say much about it.But when he came out of Sejong Pavilion, he walked with the King of Thailand in the imperial garden where he played in his childhood. Once he thought that thousands of people went out to fight, were injured and died in battle, for such a court scene, he suddenly felt that it was too absurd. I can't help but want to hurry out of the palace and go quietly.

But at this moment, under the chirping of Fenglin and Birds, a faint human voice came from across the Evergreen Pond beside him:

"... Don't you feel evil? Hey, Da Xian'er! Tsk, don't sleep! You get up and talk about it, we provoked him? He used to deal with us, why is he coming back now? Where are you going to deal with us?"

The person who spoke was a thin man sitting on a rock. While speaking, he pulled up another person who was sleeping under a willow tree.

Looking across the water bank, Jiang Yue saw three figures with pine-blue patchwork sitting under the shade of willows on the opposite side, distinguishing their clothes from a distance, they seemed to be civil servants of the fifth rank.

The faces of the three of them were covered by the shade of willow branches, so they couldn't see who they were.At this time, the figure of the person who was pulled up by the thin man flickered, and already impatiently hit the thin man on the head, and said in a low voice:

"I'm so high up, I don't remember who we are. Let's sleep on you, don't be sentimental—"

"Hush, shut up!" The tall man sitting next to this person suddenly became alert, and whispered to the other two, "Someone is coming, don't sleep! Hurry up!"

In an instant, the blue shadows under the willow tree were in chaos, and the three hurriedly patted their robes and got up.When the first one suddenly picked up the willow branch and rushed out of the shade, it immediately ran into the eyes of Jiang Yue who was looking across the bank without any cover——

This was the first time Jiang Yue saw Pei Jun again after a lapse of three years.

Different from Jiang Yuejiu's wheat-colored skin and vigorous physique forged by the strong wind and scorching sun outside the Great Wall, Pei Junyi, who had just reached the weak crown at that time, was full of complexion and handsome figure, standing brightly under the green trees in spring. His appearance can be regarded as the first-class leader of the handsome young man in Beijing.In addition, on weekdays, he travels to and from the imperial city of officials, without the sun or rain, the scriptures he sees, the sages and pedants he writes in his hands, his appearance is still like white jade, without half a blemish, and the same body Jiang Yue, whose murderous spirit has not dissipated, faces the pond for a comparison. One is almost a willow leaf, and the other is a bitter cold branch.

At this moment Jiang Yue almost heard the drums of war coming from his chest.He looked at Pei Jun, and for a moment he forgot that he was already in Anping. The hands clenched in fists under his sleeves were dripping with sweat, and his face was not happy, and his feet took half a step forward irresistibly——

But it was only half a step.

At the same time, Pei Jun on the opposite bank put down his right hand, raised his long eyebrows obliquely in the shade of green leaves, and looked at Jiang Yue with light eyes and slight surprise. It seemed that after distinguishing for a while, he finally remembered the little girl on the bank. Who is the prince.Then the astonishment in his eyes disappeared very quickly, his face was once again filled with a look of indiscretion, and a fake smile appeared on the corners of his lips, and he slowly raised his hand, far away. He bowed his head to the two princes, and then left in a hurry with the two princes, without any lingering at all.

Jiang Yue immediately raised his eyes to chase, and before he recovered, he heard King Tai laughing beside him: "Old Qi, they really hate you."

Jiang Yue was taken aback, and quickly asked, "Why?"

"You do not know?"

The king of Thailand shook his head and looked at him with an intuition of Coke, and his expression was a bit like an elder examining a young man: "They are from Hanlin. Here, look at the most handsome one at the head, that is the son of Marquis Zhongyi——Pei Jun and Pei Ziyu .He was bought by Hanlin, which you stopped writing and subsidizing. You...have lost your money!"

Amidst the deep and cheerful laughter of the King of Thailand, Jiang Yue once again looked at the distant figure in the corridor on the other side, secretly startled by the gentle breeze, and couldn't help but muttered to himself:

"...he entered Hanlin?"

So farewell, it is several months.

During the period, Jiang Yue also made a special trip to Hanlin along the way, or when he was rushing to Sejong Pavilion on business, but no matter whether he passed Changqing Pond or walked along the corridor, no matter whether he slowed down and looked around, Still pretending to be a marquis, looking around, but never saw Pei Jun again.

This imperial city is always so small that it is extremely small, and it is as large as it is extremely large. When there is a relationship, you can occasionally get over the wall to make you hate each other.

He couldn't help sending someone to ask—but he didn't know who to send and how to ask; he couldn't bear to think at night—but he didn't know why or whether he could think.

The pine blue back that easily left by the Evergreen Pool in the Imperial Garden, after three years, seemed to take root again in his heart, sprouting, and growing into a towering giant tree in an instant, making him suddenly find a trace of the subtlety of the past years Connected, and finally have the real feeling of being in a safe place.

And those youthful thoughts that he spent three years on the battlefield to forget and suppress, those things that he advised himself thousands of times to be against human ethics should not and should not be, and for a while, just because that person "went into the Hanlin", he once again... Backtracking—like a sudden torrent again, it brought everything that he had tried to contain outside his mind for the past three years, and violently rushed back to his closed heart, even more than every thought three years ago heavy.

He really wanted to know why the person who used to light lamps with him and discuss the moon with him under the moonlight in summer nights was clearly a disciple of Zhang Ling, a dragon and a phoenix in the prison, and it was clear that his ambition was lofty and his heart was lofty, but why did he destroy his future? , set up obstacles, and entered Hanlin with peace of mind...

He soon knew the answer to this question when Qiu came.

In the crowd of people who dispersed after a court meeting, he finally saw Pei Jun again.

At that time, Pei Jun was still a pine green patch, dressed leisurely, carrying five or six volumes of wind odes in one hand, and walked up the stone steps against the dark sea of ​​people rushing to the outside of the Hall of Qinghe. It is recommended to be recorded by Hanlin.Unexpectedly, just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by Zhang Ling who was at the side.

Jiang Yue, who had just walked out of the palace gate with the King of Thailand, saw this scene, and hurriedly stood by the pillars of the main hall to watch from a distance, only to hear Zhang Ling ask him from afar: "I heard from the Ministry of Officials, do you invite yourself to attend the study in front of the imperial court? "

Jiang Yue was taken aback when he heard the sound, and pulled King Tai to stop to look again, but seeing Pei Jun bowed his head and said briefly: "Yes. No one in the courtyard dared to go, so the students had to go."

These words made Zhang Ling immediately angry: "Absurd! You haven't cultivated your own knowledge and disposition, and you even have the idea of ​​​​misleading the emperor! I think you are used to living a leisurely life in the Hanlin. I don't know if this day What kind of situation is there!"

Jiang Yue frowned when he heard the words, but when he saw Pei Jun standing still and Zhang Ling preaching again, he realized that there was a rift between the master and apprentice who used to fight.But when he was thinking about the scene in his heart, Pei Jun, who was standing in front of Zhang Ling safely, spoke again:

"Master has taught so many students, but why didn't he talk about it...why no one dares to go to the Imperial Academy? If no one dared to go, the school is so beautiful, how many people would be competing for it?" Please take it, how can it fall on the student, the idiot with no head armor?"

People in the Hanlin do not want to go to the imperial court to study, but they are actually afraid that they will be in a delicate situation after getting close to the young emperor, and their future will be hindered.The source of this matter is that the cabinet and foreign relatives control Jiang Zhan's succession, but they don't want Jiang Zhan to be in charge.

Since he didn't want the young emperor to be in charge, he naturally didn't care about the young emperor studying.At this time, it is not a big deal for Chao Zhongkong to be a servant, but if someone rushes to fill the position, he is afraid that he will be noticed by the cabinet.In this way, the entire civil service group controlled by the cabinet will naturally isolate and ignore the replacement person in order to protect their safety. In this way, no one dares to mention the replacement.

That's why Pei Jun's words almost alluded to the fact that the cabinet took power too much and affected the throne, and immediately attracted several people in the cabinet who had not gone far beside Zhang Ling to turn their heads back.

Among them, Taifu Xue and Cai Yan raised their eyebrows to look at Zhang Ling, and then looked at Zhang Ling, an ignorant student, and coughed lightly twice at the same time.

These two coughs made Zhang Ling stop what he was about to say, and the next moment Zhao Taibao came over with a smile and smoothed things over:

"Hey, Mr. Zhang, you are too strict with your students. None of us knew that this student had the best foundation and the best knowledge back then? He went to be an attendant, but he just listened to the emperor's endorsement." , It’s not that you are really a husband for the emperor, what can he miss? You, just let him go with peace of mind.”

For a while, the rest of the people also persuaded Zhang Ling in the same way, telling Zhang Ling to stop talking, and finally he only looked at Pei Jun with a complicated expression, and he didn't know whether it was a sigh of worry or hatred, and followed the next moment. The cabinet left in a huff.

After Zhang Ling left, Pei Jun brushed off his sleeves and wanted to leave, but at this moment he saw the little prince Jiang Yue on the stone steps in front of the main hall, leaning on the pillar and staring at him.

This inevitably made Pei Jun startled, and for some reason, he frowned, and stared at Jiang Yue in a courteous manner.

Jiang Yue quickly withdrew his gaze, but his heart was crackling like an overturned pearl jar. At this moment, his ears were burning, so he hurriedly stood behind King Tai.

King Tai laughed and said: "You say you watch the fun, just watch the fun, and you still laugh at them. This will make Pei Ziyu angry. You should be more careful in the future."

Jiang Yue was startled, and raised his hand to touch his face, only to realize that he was really smiling, secretly thinking that something was wrong, and finally understood why Pei Junshi glared at him.

But at this moment, when he raised his eyes to look down the stone steps, he saw that Pei Jun's figure had already left. In desperation, he had no choice but to recognize the situation of the two misunderstandings again, sighed and replied to the king: "Brother Wang , I'm not laughing at him, I just think he has the guts. I'm afraid there are no people in the court who dare to talk to the cabinet like this."

After finishing speaking, he chatted with the King of Thailand again: "But isn't this person serving in the Imperial Academy? Since he is not involved in political affairs, I should be careful what he does?"

"Do you know why he is the only one who dares to go to the imperial court to read?" The king of Thailand whispered while pulling him out, "This is the same reason why he is the only one who dares to talk to the cabinet: he has The death-prevention order bestowed by the late emperor. Relying on the protection of the late emperor, as long as he did not commit rebellion and rebellion, no one in the court would be ashamed to punish him. If such a person came to the imperial court, the emperor would be considered angry. No matter how bad it is, no matter how many servants were beaten and scolded before, I am afraid that this guy will not dare to torment him because he is loyal to the Pei family; Now that Pei Jun made it up, it's not easy to refute him, so as not to make people feel disrespectful to the late emperor. Looking at it this way, this person can handle both sides, do you think this person is important?"

Jiang Yue was stunned when he heard the words.But after thinking deeply about the deep meaning of King Tai's words, he frowned slightly: "If according to what Brother Wang said, this Pei Jun's identity is really so important... then since no one can do anything to him, how can he Why would you be forced to attend school?"

The king of Thailand saw that he had awakened his joints, so he started meaningfully: "So, you said that this Pei Ziyu... Could it be that he really had no other choice, so he had to be a servant? He had no choice but to take the lead if he had any hidden worries in his life. It was as you said—he dared to pick up burdens that ordinary people would not dare to pick up. Knowing that his own status is perfect for this person, so he chose this path to go, then this person must not just say that he has courage..."

Speaking of this, the King of Thailand looked at the dazed Jiang Yue in the empty corridors of the imperial city after the early dynasty, and said in a low voice: "How many ministers and eunuchs made their fortunes on the side of the emperor in ancient times, and how many stayed behind?" Those who are famous through the ages or notorious are all born as emperors? Old Qi, if this person is at such an age and has such an idea, then it can be said that his ambition is formidable... In the future, there will be such a wise person for a long time Di side, if you offend him, will there be any good fruit to eat?"

Jiang Yue knew that King Tai's remarks were probably based on some of his disciples' suggestions, but these inferences about Pei Jun's intentions were true even though they were not seen. However, it cannot be said to be something out of nothing.

In the sedan chair returning home that day, Jiang Yue secretly thought about the fight between Pei Jun and him for sending books three years ago. It was like a mystery wrapped in layers of mist.

After two months of another morning session, Jiang Yue saw Pei Jun again.

This time, Pei Jun didn't come to deliver books to anyone, nor did he come to listen to someone's training, but just to give someone away.

The person he sent was Jiang Zhan.

He actually dragged Jiang Zhan out of the safe place in the inner palace of the Forbidden Court by himself, and pushed the tearful young emperor to the officials, making Jiang Zhan look like a real man for the first time. Like the emperor, he sat on the throne.

At that moment, when the discussion in the main hall suddenly stopped, all the officials in the hall knelt down in unfamiliar and amazed ways, and shouted long live in scattered astonishment, Jiang Yue frowned and followed Jiang Zhan's tearful eyes to look at the golden screen behind the throne hour--

He saw that Pei Junyi had changed his green shirt into a blue shirt, and he was wearing a ribbon with the official seal on his body. Although he was just a fourth-rank official standing behind the golden screen, the Pei Jun he saw at that time Jun's demeanor, and Pei Jun's expression looking towards Jiang Zhan on the throne, the determination, determination and admonishment in them are definitely not what a Hanlin who is willing to lift the shoes of a sage can have.

Pei Jun's aura was so imposing that it could almost be said to be unquestionable, let alone underestimated.

Under the overt or covert scrutiny and scrutiny of the officials in the hall, this person still looked around firmly and leisurely, and he did not shy away from anyone's eyes at all, just bearing the attention of every official present one by one, with them Puzzled or unkind eyes collided one by one, and never retreated once from the beginning to the end.

From this moment on, Jiang Yue finally realized what ambition is in the government and the opposition, and what it means to be self-reliant and self-sufficient.

In an instant, Pei Jun behind Jinping raised his eyes to look at him, he had no time to dodge his eyes, and he had already met the eyes of this dazzling man.

In the turmoil of his mind, he saw Pei Junyao nodding solemnly to him and lowering his gaze, but when that gaze looked directly at him again, the banter, gloom, suspicion and casualness of the past were gone——

Some are just indifferent to face up to it.

It was at this time that Jiang Yue understood that the person in front of him should never be able to sit with him at the same table.

……

"Jiang Yue..."

"Jiang Yue!"

A finger snapped suddenly in front of Jiang Yue's eyes, bringing Jiang Yue back to his senses in an instant.

A face of Pei Jun suddenly magnified in front of his eyes, startling him for a moment, and took a step back before he finally settled down.

At this moment, the moonlight gradually rose in the court, and Pei Jun had already stayed in the palace for half a day.In addition to pretending to be on official business and instigating the officials of the Ministry of Rites to settle the expenses, he also had a casual meal with Jiang Yue and the staff in the palace at night, and discussed the follow-up strategy. He followed Jiang Yue and slowly walked back to the yard where the medicine was given during the day.

"You've been quiet since dinner just now, what are you thinking about?" Pei Jun walked around him with arms folded, and looked at him with raised eyebrows, "I've proposed a way to turn darkness into light, Zhao Although they said they wanted to think about it, they didn't say that they would reject me, nor did they say that they would agree immediately, so you don't have to start worrying so early. No matter how bad it is, it is feasible for us to make two-handed preparations."

"I'm not worried about that for the time being." Jiang Yue lowered his eyes and sighed with emotion, "I just remembered some things from the past, and suddenly I couldn't believe that the two of us are sitting at the same table now. Great job done..."

Before he finished speaking, Pei Jun grabbed his arm and pulled him into his arms.

Pei Jun's eyes flickered slightly, he tied him tightly with his long arms, leaned forward and said nose to nose with him: "Don't even think about it. I will not only sit at the same table with you in the future, I will also sit with you." You are sleeping on the same bed."

As he spoke, before Jiang Yue became suspicious, he tilted his head and kissed him. He also took Jiang Yue's belt and pulled him into the courtyard. This garden is really nice, if there is no one, it is worse than us..."

"Yes." Jiang Yue quickly held down the hand he was pulling towards his belt, and said in a timely manner, "Someone's..." Then he added: "They will patrol over soon..."

Pei Jun paused, seeing that Jiang Yue's expression did not seem to be lying, and after thinking about it, it is indeed impossible to have such loose guards in the Prince Jin's mansion, so he also believed Jiang Yue's words: "Dark guards?"

Jiang Yue secretly breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said, "There are still servants."

Unexpectedly, Pei Jun's hand that was holding his belt was still tugging, causing his waist to loosen immediately, and lifted it up again in one breath.

He only heard Pei Jun whisper in his ear: "Then let's go into the house?"

There was a loud noise in Jiang Yue's mind. After trying to calm down, he took a deep breath, but Pei Jun's temptation came from his ears again:

"Jiang Yue, there are people outside...it doesn't look good. Let's go inside..."

Following these words, a burst of warm and moist kisses jumped from the earlobe to the tip of the ear.

Jiang Yue's cheeks were burning hot and the back of his neck was crispy. Even if he wanted to hold back at this moment, the condition of his body completely betrayed him, making him feel that all the senses in his body were heating up with Pei Jun's actions.

He finally couldn't help but slowly respond to Pei Jun's light pecks and clinging kisses. The hands he put on Pei Jun's waist unconsciously were extremely jerky and tentative, but what he got was Pei Jun's more eager possession and capture, unknowingly. The back room has been pushed into the dimly lit room.

His back touched the edge of the bookshelf, and he had no way to retreat at this moment. He could only hear the wet and heavy breathing of the two of them intersecting in one place, which turned into low gasps, and secretly exchanged between the sticky lips and tongues - this loud voice It's embarrassing.

At this time, Pei Jun raised his hands to push back the clothes in front of him, and kissed him from his chin to his collarbone. Jiang Yue's Adam's apple could be seen in the distance, and he immediately bit Jiang Yue's neck, but his hands had already penetrated into his lapel, tearing him apart. Underwear straps.

But just when Pei Jun was about to go deeper, several knocks on the door suddenly sounded:

"Master! Someone from the Zhongyihou's Mansion has come to find him outside, saying that he has urgent matters to find Mr. Pei!"

The two people in the room stopped.

Pei Jun separated from Jiang Yue slightly, frowned and looked at the handsome face of the man in his arms, and pecked again unwillingly, before suppressing his anger, he said harshly: "You look like this...don't open the door, tell him to ask What is the matter in my house looking for me?"

Jiang Yue was pushed into the corner of the wall by him. At this moment, Jun's face was blush, his eyes were slightly messed up, and his clothes were disheveled. It was definitely not the time to open the door, so he listened to him, and first calmly ordered the outside: "Go... ...ask first what it is."

As soon as he finished speaking, Pei Jun came up to snatch his lips again, and then kissed him softly, so that he had no time to think.

At this time, the servant outside quickly spoke again:

"Return to the master, we asked just now."

"They said that it was Cui Shangshu who was imprisoned in Dali Temple who suddenly hanged himself."