Practical Life in the Red Mansion

Jingzhong Imperial Palace

"Ai family, I'm sorry for Boya in this life." The queen mother coughed lightly, and said slowly, tears oozed from her old and turbid eyes, and rolled down on the stone blue brocade square pillow, "Ai family dreamed about Boya last night, she is still a beginner Entering the palace, she looked graceful and graceful, but she refused to look at Ai's family, she complained that Ai's family did not take good care of Yi'er."

"Queen Mother, Boya is not that kind of person. She has always respected and loved you, so how could she blame you?" The emperor, who was over sixty years old, held the Queen Mother's hand, his tone a little eager.

"Yes, she has always been a generous and kind child." The corners of the queen mother's mouth curled up, "I remember that Yi'er and Xi'er somehow offended the grand master and were punished to kneel in front of the imperial study. She felt sorry for the child and specially gave it to him The knee pads passed by, but you found out, and the two children were punished even more severely."

The emperor also laughed when he heard the words: "She has always loved those two children, Xi'er killed all the birds in the imperial garden when she was a child, not only did she not scold, but instead pulled me to lead the two children to roast and eat the birds. "

The queen mother also chuckled: "Does she not love that child in the palace? That child has never listened to her teachings. The third girl and the sixth girl have lost their biological mothers. If Boya didn't take care of them carefully, they would treat them as if they were their own children. I don't know how to be abused."

The emperor also fell into the memory: "When Lao Qi had chickenpox, she was also taking care of her indiscriminately. Everyone said that Lao Qi couldn't make it through. It was she who forcibly took Lao Qi's life back from the hands of Hades." He and Boya are dead. It's been 20 years, but her appearance is already clear, she still looks like a shy girl on her big wedding day.

The empress dowager grabbed the emperor's hand with such force that the emperor couldn't help but frown and groaned. "However, she is so good, but God is jealous of her beauty. If she hadn't left so early, how could the palace be in such a state."

The emperor was speechless, but the queen mother continued to cry: "When she came back from Fujian with her parents to visit the Ai family, you secretly fell in love with her and wanted to marry her. , insisted on letting her enter the palace, but the Ai family did not protect her, if I had known this, it would be better to let her live a peaceful life outside the palace, and I would have a whole family of children and grandchildren." The tone was full of self-blame.

The emperor's voice hurriedly said: "It's me, it's me who's sorry for her, and it has nothing to do with the queen mother." The queen mother shook her head: "She held Aijia's hand and asked Aijia to take good care of Yi'er, but Aijia didn't take good care of her."

"Mother, it's Yi'er who is not good. It's because of his evil intentions that I dealt with him. I never thought of taking his life." There was a trace of guilt in the emperor's tone.

The queen mother sighed: "He has the same temperament as his mother, and he refuses to be humiliated. Every time Aijia thinks of the humiliation he suffered before his death, he can't sleep because of his heartache. How did the princes and grandchildren get to the point of being abused by others?" What?" In this world, only the Queen Mother dared to mention Prince Xiaomin.

Thinking of the eldest son who died young, the emperor felt a dull pain in his heart. He had so much hope for the child when he was just born, and when he knew how much disappointment and hatred he had when he rebelled, he imprisoned the child in a rage, but was arrested. Died by torture.The emperor clenched his fists, and the veins on his hands became more prominent.

The queen mother held the emperor's hand and said: "The mourning family does not ask for anything else, but asks him to have a supply of incense." The emperor whispered: "I moved his rank to the Taimiao to be buried with the emperor's mausoleum." The queen mother sighed: "I only wish He can enjoy the incense of the Taimiao for a long time, but unfortunately he has no heirs." The queen mother's casual words touched the emperor's heartstrings.

"Queen mother," the emperor asked tentatively, "it's better to give Yi'er an heir." The queen mother shook her head and said, "I'm afraid some people will find it hard to tolerate." But you don't necessarily feel sorry for your elder brother. It's hard for the Queen Mother to say that when it comes to the prince.The emperor also understood and remained silent.

The queen mother was not in good health, and the emperor saw that she was tired, so he hurriedly left.The queen mother didn't rest. Hearing the news from the eunuch, the emperor summoned the seven princes to have a meal together, then she smiled wryly and said, "I can only do this." Suspicious, but on the other hand, because of the fear of aging, he nostalgic for the past years when he was young and powerful. Empress Zhaohui and Prince Xiaomin undoubtedly occupied the most important weight in the past. Only benefits.

The emperor was conceited and refused to admit his mistake to reverse the case for the prince, but he felt even more guilty towards the prince. She cried out to the queen Boya and the prince Yi'er in front of him, but it only made the emperor feel more guilty, and she could treat the queen and the prince on good terms.The mention of the prince's incense is just to let the emperor consider that the successor can treat the prince's incense well. After all, the throne of the prince who died early in the previous dynasty was also removed from the Taimiao.

Mu Zheng had already given up his service, just in time for the martial arts test. The test was divided into three rounds. The first round was a horse and arrow test. The target was placed 35 steps away from the examinee's side. He galloped forward and fired a total of nine arrows, four of which were If the arrow hits the target, it is qualified; in two trial steps, the examinee is [-] steps away from the target, and the candidate shoots nine arrows, and if one of the arrows hits the target, he is qualified; in three trials, two questions are selected from the four books And the book of war, involving the art of war, astronomy, and geography.

The final rankings are determined according to the following criteria: Those who answer strategies and have insight into strategy, who are proficient in morality and morality, who are excellent in bow and horse, are top-notch; Ma is quite excellent, but he has a rough understanding of strategy theory, the art of war tells the facts directly, and those who are not as good as literature are listed after the middle.Either the strategy is excellent but the bow and horse are not as good as it is, or the bow and horse are too long and the strategy is unreasonable, all of them will be dismissed.

Emperor Kangqing was also a prince who held military power when he was young, so he was naturally very interested in the Martial Palace Examination.The drums are rumbling, the shouts are bursting, and the banner is fluttering in the wind.In the distance stood two hundred Xinkewu Jinshi.

Emperor Kangqing looked at the first bow and arrow with great interest, and asked: "I don't know how many people can be left behind in this riding and shooting?" All the princes were at the side,

The fourth prince, who works in the Ministry of War, said with a smile: "This cavalry shooting has to be in half a stick of incense, and I am afraid that many people will fail to pass ten arrows."

Emperor Kang Qing heard the words, and said lightly: "They are all talents of generals and ministers in the future. If they don't have real skills, they will go to the battlefield in the future, and the enemy will not stand like a target."

The fourth prince stood aside with a smirk.

While talking, the following also started. Everyone rode a horse and galloped on the school grounds.Quickly drew the bow and arrow from behind, and shot it at a distant target.

Emperor Kang Qing carefully looked at the riding and shooting range, leaned forward slightly and pointed at someone: "Lao Qi, take a look, is it Mu Zheng, the grandson of your Aunt Puyang's family?

The man's back was straight, his legs were sandwiched between the horse's belly, he drew his bow and set his arrows, a set of movements was smooth but unpretentious, every arrow was sure to hit the bull's-eye.

Emperor Kangqing clapped his palms and smiled: "It really is a young talent, Lao Qi, you tell him to go, if he doesn't win the first prize, then go back to Fujian and live well."

The Seventh Prince promised to go, but the Twelfth Prince said: "Seventh Brother thinks highly of him. When I went to the palace, I saw Seventh Brother pointing him out. If he is not the number one scholar, Seventh Brother would be disappointed."

Emperor Kang Qing's smile didn't change, as if he didn't hear it, the Eleventh Prince whispered when he saw this, "The Twelfth Brother forgot, Mu Zheng called Seventh Brother Uncle, and he should give advice to the younger generation."

Only then did the twelfth prince suddenly realize: "Look at my memory, I forgot about this relationship." The fourth prince snorted coldly when he heard that, who doesn't know that the twelfth and the seventh are close.

When the Seventh Prince came back, the second competition had already begun. Mu Zheng was not affected in any way, standing upright like a green pine, drawing the arrow, raising his hand, drawing the bow, and firing the arrow, all in one go, vigorous and powerful.

The third competition was held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony the next day. Emperor Kang Qing flipped through the strategies handed over, and the first one was Mu Zheng's.After reading the article, Emperor Kang Qing applauded him even more. He immediately named Mu Zheng as the No. Ranked third among the twelve guards of the pro-army, it is a unique guard and forbidden army, known as the man with the sword.

Mu Zheng was very calm when he heard the words, and thanked him respectfully. After waiting in the hall, he found that the clothes on his back were wet with sweat.When he returned to his study, he wrote the letter to the Lin family in Yangzhou. Before he could send the letter, the secret guard sent a message. When Mu Zheng heard the news, his expression turned ugly, and he also wrote it in the letter. , Order the dark guard to send the letter to Yangzhou immediately.

This room, Lin Yang was gearing up for the test, but he saw Lin Hai's face sinking like water and brought in a letter. As soon as Lin Hai came in, he asked Sanqi and Ai Cao to guard the door, and handed the letter to Lin Yang, who accepted it. After a look, his expression was not good, and he said to Lin Hai: "The emperor fainted in the study? The news came out?" Lin Hai shook his head: "It was the queen mother who passed the news to the seventh prince."

Lin Yang was uneasy. Although according to the original book, the old emperor gave way to the new emperor, the world is already very different from the original book: "Then what shall we do?" Lin Hai said: "We are too far away, we just You can stand still, and in addition, you have to be careful of the Zhen family."

"I still have the guards left by Mu Zheng. It's nothing. You're going to participate in Beijing Middle School next year and you won't be in Jiangnan. I want your mother to take all three of you to the capital, just in case the Zhen family dog ​​jumps over the wall in a hurry. " Lin Hai said in a deep voice.

"Will there be chaos in Beijing by then?" Lin Yang asked softly. "No, there are still twelve guards in Beijing. Even if there is a coup, it will not affect the people in Beijing. I don't worry about where you have gone."

"Then what about father?" Lin Yang was worried about becoming the target of the Zhen family.

Lin Haidao: "I'm here alone, so I can give it a go." He laughed: "It's not that bad, it's just a precaution."

Lin Yang pursed his lips tightly and did not speak.

Lin Hai got up: "I'll tell your mother to prepare to go to Beijing immediately."

"Father." Lin Yang exclaimed, "Are you going to leave so early?"

"If you don't leave, the canal will be frozen." Lin Hai explained gently.

Jia Min also got the news very quickly, she sat silently, Lin Hai hurriedly asked their mother and son to go to the capital, and what happened at the scheduled time, but she couldn't ask, she still had a child to take care of, so she could only pretend not to know, pack her bags Go to Beijing, let Lin Hai rest assured.