The day's court meeting didn't end until near noon. After leaving the court, Ye Tianzhan was not as busy preparing military rations as everyone imagined. He only confessed to Liu Guangyu, "Come see me at the palace before returning to Dingzhou", and then drove back. government.
Liu Guangyu went to Zhiyuan Hall to meet him separately, and after detailing the current situation in Dingzhou, he planned to rush back overnight. Remember King Zhan's instructions before leaving, and rush to King Zhan's mansion first.
After waiting in the hall for a while, Qin Yue, the servant next to King Zhan, came out and greeted with a smile: "Master Liu, please, our lord is waiting for you in the study."
Liu Guangyu followed Qin Yue to the inner courtyard of the palace, along the Xianyu Lake where the snow fell and thin ice, and entered Yanbosongshuangzhai. It was winter, and the study room was near the lake and water. It was supposed to be a very cool place, but because of the floor heating, people couldn't feel the chill of deep winter at all. Surrounded by a light fragrance similar to sandalwood, it is urged to float in the air by the warmth. Walking in, there are calligraphy, painting and books as soon as you enter, which is quite dizzying.
Liu Guangyu was originally a civil servant and was proficient in calligraphy and painting. As he walked, he looked at the painting and admired it. When he reached a quiet room, Qin Yue raised his hand to invite him in, while he stayed outside.
It was very quiet inside. Liu Guangyu saw that King Zhan was half lying on a soft chair with his eyes closed. The room was so warm that he couldn't wear a coat, but he was still wearing a silver-gray mink fur. Liu Guangyu felt that the King Zhan at this time seemed to be different from before. When he saw him in the Taiji Hall, even under the circumstances at that time, he always had that distinguished and noble look on him, as intimidating as a pearl and jade, but now he But he seemed a little tired, and the slightly tight brows made people feel that he didn't want to be disturbed, so Liu Guangyu hesitated to speak.
He was hesitating when Ye Tianzhan opened his eyes and looked at him. When he raised his eyes, Liu Guangyu saw sharp brilliance in those jade-like eyes, like the dazzling light of black gemstones under the sun, but it was replaced by calmness and tiredness in a blink of an eye.
"My lord."
"Oh, it's you." Ye Tianzhan sat up and pointed to the two letters on the desk nearby, "Before you go back to Dingzhou, take these two letters to Yuzhou Inspector Linlu and Songzhou The transfer envoy He Li, the military rations in Dingzhou were temporarily transferred from them, and it will arrive in five or six days at most."
Liu Guangyu went to take the letter under his signal, but saw that the seal was not the Prince Yuxi, but the private seal of King Zhan, not only a little suspicious. With just these two private letters, could it be possible to mobilize millions of money and food from Yu and Song states? He couldn't help asking, "Just take these two letters?"
Ye Tianzhan could naturally see his doubts, so he didn't say much, but said lightly: "That's enough."
Although Liu Guangyu is stationed in Dingzhou, he has a general understanding of the recent situation in the imperial capital. Hearing what he said, he knows that the shortage of military supplies in northern Xinjiang is indeed caused by King Zhan cutting off the source of the treasury. Why do you want to help Dingzhou at this critical juncture. I wanted to return to my thoughts, but of course I couldn't ask, so I cupped my hands and said, "Your Majesty first thanked the lord on behalf of the soldiers of Dingzhou."
Ye Tianzhan was silent for a while, sighed softly, raised his head and said, "Sit."
Liu Guangyu took a seat aside, and Ye Tianzhan asked about the situation in Dingzhou in detail. After listening, his complexion became more and more bad. He got up and took a few steps, and said to Liu Guangyu: "Well, when you go to Yuzhou, first let Lin Lu go out of the warehouse to buy urgently needed medicinal materials locally and send them to Dingzhou. I will try to increase the military rations. If there is anything For special needs, you can send me a letter directly, and you must control the situation in Dingzhou so that there will be no more trouble."
Liu Guangyu said: "I know now, it's not too late. If the prince has no other orders, I will leave for Dingzhou now."
Ye Tianzhan nodded and said, "You go."
Liu Guangyu put the letter in his arms and said goodbye. It was still Qin Yue who personally sent him out of the mansion. In order to hurry, he went to the side door of Prince Zhan's mansion. Qin Yue sent Liu Guangyu away, and when he turned around, he saw a light car parked in front of the door. He was startled when he saw the person beside the car, and the person smiled and nodded at him: "Eunuch Qin."
Qin Yue looked into the car suspiciously, stepped forward and cupped his hands and said, "Commander Wei, this is..."
Wei Changzheng said: "Eunuch Qin, is the prince in the residence?"
Qin Yue said: "Yes."
Wei Changzheng went to the front of the car and said something in a low voice, the door opened slightly, and a handsome young man in white clothes and light fur with a shawl in his hair came down. Qin Yue's shock was no small matter, and he blurted out: "Your Majesty!"
Qing Chen raised his hand to stop him from saluting: "Take me to see your lord."
Qin Yue hurriedly leaned over to invite her into the mansion, thinking that the queen's outfit was not to let too many people know that she was here, so he chose a less crowded road to Yanbo to send Shuangzhai.
After Liu Guangyu left, Ye Tianzhan lay back on the soft chair again. When he returned home from the palace today, he felt unspeakably exhausted, and the familiar chill came up, and his whole body felt chills. He knew that this was an unhealed old illness and a faint sign of another attack, but he still couldn't calm down and rest. Before Liu Guangyu came, Yin Jianzheng had just left from Prince Zhan's Mansion, so what he came here to talk about was naturally about the morning court.
Ye Tianzhan had already expected that Yin Jianzheng would come, and he knew better than Yin Jianzheng that the accident in Dingzhou was an excellent opportunity for him to gain the upper hand in the contest with Ye Tianling. He should have watched from the sidelines, watching the treasury burn and burn, but he didn't. In the Hall of Tai Chi, through Liu Guangyu's anger, he thought of the hundreds of thousands of border guards. In northern Xinjiang, he had personally witnessed them guarding the frontier with their spears and swords without fear of wind, sand or severe cold. Under the quilt in the cold night, thirsty to drink the blood of the barbarians, the kind of hardship and heroism that ordinary people can't imagine, makes the blood of the clanking man boil, and makes everyone who is on the scene stand in awe.
He had to admit that he had sincere admiration for these soldiers of the Celestial Dynasty, and even for the Four Emperor Brothers who had been fighting bloody battles and defending against foreign enemies. That is the appreciation and respect that men have for men, and it will not differ due to status, status or position. So this morning, he made that risky move.
He didn't tell Yin Jianzheng about all this, he didn't want to say it, and there was no need to say it. When he was left alone in the Yanbo Shuangzhai, an inexplicable feeling of loneliness spread in his heart without warning, and the cold soaked into his limbs and bones.
Yes, alone. Although thousands of people are around, they are alone and lonely. I don't know when he started to have this feeling, and the farther and farther the road went, the stronger the feeling became. Perhaps when he took the first step, he didn't expect it to be such a lonely road.
However, what made him even more unexpected was that, standing on Danbi's side today, at the moment when several confrontations with Ye Tianling were on the verge of breaking out, the two of them would each take a step back in different ways for the same purpose. At that moment of snapping his fingers, it seemed like a tacit understanding that different routes lead to the same goal. Ye Tianling seemed to know why he did that, and he also made a decision for it. It's an absurd idea, but it's so true.
He raised his hand in confusion to press the aching forehead, why? The sudden confusion actually made him feel a little fear in his heart. It is a terrible thing to work hard but lose his real purpose, to live without knowing why it is such a terrible thing. He would never want to fall into such a quagmire, like his father, who got everything but had nothing; like his mother, who pursued hard but got lost in it without knowing it.
If he can't let go of some things, he may not get what he wants, but if he gives up what he insists on and gets it, what's the point
At this moment, all kinds of thoughts came to my mind, just like the fierce battle between heaven and man in the Tai Chi hall. He tried his best to suppress the thoughts that just popped up, as long as there is a slight wavering, perhaps disaster will follow, how can he resist that person... no, it is that person... Two people.
The pain in his head gradually became severe, which made him a little irritable. At this moment, he heard someone enter the quiet room, and it was Qin Yue's voice calling softly: "My lord."
Ye Tianzhan still closed his eyes, knowing that someone was coming again, he said impatiently: "No matter who it is, I don't see it."
"Wang..." Qin Yue's voice seemed to be interrupted, followed by the sound of his retreating footsteps. The surroundings became quiet again, but Ye Tianzhan felt that someone was still in the room, and a strange feeling arose spontaneously. He frowned and opened his eyes, but when he saw the person coming, he suddenly lifted himself up from the soft chair, and the sable fur on his body fell to the ground.
In front of her, Qing Chen stood with a faint smile. She was dressed in a boy's robe, which was very similar to the dress she used to wear when she was going out to play in the palace. He almost blurted out to ask her if she was going to listen to the scriptures or visit Xishan today. If he had time, he would go with her. But from such a distance, he could see clearly that there was a kind of charming tenderness between her eyebrows and eyes, which was unfamiliar to him, reminding him that although people are here, they will rest yesterday.
The joy that had just appeared in his eyes fell instantly, Qing Chen looked at his expression carefully, and stretched out his hand to him. He leaned back and said in a calm tone, "Your Majesty is here today, what do you want from me?"
Qing Chen sighed softly, knelt down beside him, "Give me your hand."
Ye Tianzhan didn't move, Qing Chen put the sable fur that had slipped off on him again, took his wrist and laid it flat, with his fingers resting on his veins. She turned her head on one side, her black eyebrows gradually tightened. After a while, she wanted to switch to the other hand to check her pulse again. Ye Tianzhan suddenly clasped her wrist with his backhand, and the cold snow-like breath on his body enveloped her heart. The hot breath is close at hand.
"What are you doing here?"
The strength in his hands was not light, Qing Chen frowned deeply, but did not struggle, letting the cold and shaved hands pinch her tightly, and said: "Song Defang is hard to see you, do you have no medicine for him at all?" Use? No wonder the emperor said that you look bad, if I don't come, you just go on like this, don't you really care about your body?"
Ye Tianzhan said, "He asked you to come?"
Qing Chen said: "Yes."
Ye Tianzhan let go of her with a flick of his hand, and said indifferently: "Go back and tell the emperor that I will not die, please rest assured."
Qing Chen had never seen him look so cold, his brows and eyes were silent, and he was silent. She turned to study ink and write, thought carefully, and wrote a prescription, then got up and walked to the door, "Qin Yue."
Qin Yue has been waiting outside, and came after hearing the sound. Qing Chen said: "Decoct the medicine according to this, and send someone to Muyuan Hall to tell Zhang Dingshui, saying that I asked him to come to Prince Zhan's Mansion every five days to diagnose the pulse of the prince."
Qin Yue agreed to leave, and Qing Chen returned to Ye Tianzhan's side, stood quietly for a while, and took out two rolls of paper from his sleeve to him. Ye Tianzhan didn't want to look at it at first, but Qing Chen stubbornly held the thing in front of his eyes, and he finally took it. After opening one of the volumes and reading, his face suddenly changed slightly, he gradually sat up, stared at his hands, and quickly flipped through. After reading, he suddenly turned his head and asked: "What is this!"
Qing Chen looked at his pale face due to shock and anger, and replied: "This is the statement of the female officials around her and the maids in Qingquan Palace that I interrogated on the night of Yin Niangniang's death. The other one was left by the Empress Dowager. The emperor's decree."
Ye Tianzhan's hands trembled uncontrollably, of course he could see what these were. With his mind, he also thought that the execution of Empress Yin might not be the emperor's intention. He always thought that Empress Yin wanted to die on her own. But from these several statements, it can be seen that it was the Wei family who first-handedly directed this matter, and it was Empress Yin herself who cooperated with the Wei family to complete this matter.
The Wei family arranged for the servants in the palace to send the cup of poisonous wine that killed Empress Yin, and Empress Yin knew about it in advance. Before that, Wei Yan had secretly communicated with Empress Yin, saying that the reason why King Zhan remained on the sidelines was because she was concerned about her being in the palace. In other words, Empress Yin has become the biggest stumbling block for King Zhan. Empress Yin was already proud and arrogant, and with what the Empress Dowager said that night, the more she thought about it, the more disheartened she became, and she could not bear the confinement, so she willingly committed suicide by drinking poison.
These are second to none, and what makes Ye Tianzhan furious the most is that Wei Yan always uses the name of Prince Zhan's Palace to persuade Queen Yin to take care of the overall situation. For Empress Yin, this fatal cup of poisoned wine is tantamount to her son making the final choice between the throne and his mother. What kind of mood was that moment
Several confessions were held tightly by Ye Tianzhan, pieces fell down and were destroyed in his fingers. A surge of grief and anger suddenly surged in his heart, and he resisted having nowhere to vent, he turned his head abruptly, and burst out a series of violent coughs from between his lips. Qing Chen hurriedly helped him, but he brushed her away vigorously, and the sleeve robe passed in front of her, already dotted with scarlet.
Qing Chen asked in surprise, "How are you doing?"
Ye Tianzhan raised his hand and slowly wiped away the blood on his lips, his eyes were cold and filled with killing intent, but at this moment his heart was clearer than ever. The emperor first left the Wei family alone, and then told him the truth about the death of Empress Yin at this juncture. It is expected that he will never tolerate the Wei family again. He is forcing him to do something to the Wei family, asking him to personally investigate for him. The deficit clears the way and opens the gap in the power of the valve, and it will be out of control.
His heart was like a raging fire, and suddenly he was stuffed into a handful of bone-piercing ice and snow. The churning of fire and ice tormented the bone marrow. He tried his best to stabilize his voice, and threw away the dilapidated confession and the edict: "Take it away, I don't believe it."
Qing Chen let those things fall on the ground without looking at them, "I didn't lie to you, whether you believe it or not is up to you."
Ye Tianzhan's eyes suddenly tightened, he turned his head to look at her, and gave a sneer: "Okay, then let me ask you something, if you dare to tell me the truth, I will believe you."
"You ask."
"Is Ye Tianling the emperor's son?"
Qing Chen frowned, but her eyes were still as calm as before. After a long time, she said two words lightly: "No."
Her answer really surprised Ye Tianzhan, he raised his eyes and asked, "Do you know what these two words mean when they come out of your mouth?"
Qing Chen said: "It means what I said, I will never lie to you in my life. You understand in your heart that if you keep the Wei family, there will be more disasters sooner or later. Long-term pain is worse than short-term pain."
Ye Tianzhan said: "Wei family, I can't tolerate it, and now he can't tolerate it either. You know that my patience is not bad, I can afford to wait, if he still wants to do things, he will do it before me. But don't blame me for not reminding, this is an enemy of the world's officials, if there is a slight mistake, I will not let go of the second chance."
Qing Chen said: "You know better than me what he is going to do. Can't you see how much of this was once your idea? The great ambitions you set up yourself, you said in this "Smoky and Shuangzhai" If you forget, I have not forgotten, I do not believe that you are really willing to let him fall short!"
Ye Tianzhan's body shook slightly, but his face remained indifferent: "You just have to believe that I can do it."
Qing Chen shook his head and said, "Stop entangled with him about the treasury and the deficit, you can't really force him to the end of the rope, besides, I won't just sit idly by."
Ye Tianzhan said: "What can you do?"
His eyes were sharp and indifferent, revealing a determination as hard as iron, and the cold center was like a bottomless black hole, getting deeper and wider, which made Qing Chen startled. She raised her fine eyelashes suddenly, and said four words to him that would shock anyone, "The Royal Treasure House."
Ye Tianzhan's eyes suddenly sparkled: "What did you say?"
Qing Chen just looked at him quietly: "If you get to that point, it's really irreparable. Have you thought about it, it's a situation that hurts both sides, and it will definitely bring disaster to the entire Celestial Dynasty. Just like today, no matter how many recruits you have Army rations, no matter how much I teach the Imperial Hospital how to treat diseases and detoxify, thirty-seven soldiers in Dingzhou have already died, and we are ashamed of them."
Ye Tianzhan stared at her for a while, then suddenly leaned back on the soft chair weakly, and sighed: "Qing Chen, what on earth do you want? You advised him, but now you are helping me. Tell me everything frankly, what are you going to do? "
After hearing this, Qing Chen sat down beside him, hugged his knees, looked away, and shook his head slowly: "I don't know, how can I think the situation in front of me will be useful? If you play hard , I’ll help him, if he pushes you hard, I’ll help you, what else can I do? Who among you can let go? Even I can’t let go.”
Ye Tianzhan asked calmly: "What if life and death are divided one day?"
Qing Chen smiled silently: "If he dies, I will follow him."
"What about me?"
"I'm desperately protecting it."
Ye Tianzhan was slightly moved, and Qing Chen suddenly laughed again after speaking: "It's strange, why does it sound like I'm dead on both sides."
Ye Tianzhan frowned tightly: "Don't say that word again, I don't want to hear it."
Qing Chen said, "You said it first."
Ye Tianzhan didn't discuss this with her, he suddenly looked at her intently, as if he had never seen her before. The sharp edge in his eyes faded away gradually, and the ink was rippling, and the clearness was like the blackest night, the deepest ocean, slowly flowing out strong colors. "Qing Chen," he whispered her name, "be my woman, I let you go, as long as you are."
It's not like what he would say, it's low-pitched, soft, and warm, slightly poignant, but sincerely from the heart. He looked at her for a moment, waiting for her answer, Qing Chen looked back at him, his lips parted slightly, "Is it possible?"
Her eyes were reflected in the bottom of Ye Tianzhan's eyes, quiet and clear, so calm and beautiful, he saw everything from this almost maddening calm. After a while, Ye Tianzhan suddenly laughed softly, but his expression was extremely lonely. He finally moved his eyes away, looked at the empty space in front of him, and slowly shook his head.
Qing Chen was quiet for a while, then said, "I'm already his wife."
Ye Tianzhan said, "I know."
Then neither of them spoke again, one was lying down and the other was sitting. The room is so quiet that you can hear the flow of air, and through the curtain and screen, the warm fragrance of sandalwood branches comes through. Qing Chen turned his head, and suddenly found that everything on Ye Tianzhan's desk was the same as before, without any change. It's still the Fang Qilin Ruichi Inkstone, the same Xuetao ice silk paper, a pot of elegant daffodils is placed on the left, and a few purple jade stones she threw into the transparent flower ice cup. A yellow jade bamboo carving pen is his usual one, and it has always been placed on the right hand side. She hung a crystal clear jade bell on the vacant space on the pen holder, and it is still hanging there now.
She stretched out her hand and touched the bell lightly, the thin jade ringed slightly, crisp and moist. Hearing the sound, Ye Tianzhan smiled faintly: "Listen to the ringtone when you are upset, and your troubles will disappear. This is what you said."
"Does it work?"
"Um."
Qing Chen also smiled, and simply rang the bell frequently. The sound of jingling jade filled the room, suddenly making people forget everything in front of them, only the red furnace painting screen, the fragrance is warm and the snow is light, the person is like jade, and the smile is like a flower. Ye Tianzhan looked at Qing Chen and sighed softly, but his expression Joy gradually emerged.
Qing Chen leaned his head sideways on his knee, and met his eyes, which were bright and bright. At this moment, the room seemed extraordinarily warm. She looked at him, and he looked at her, time seemed to go back quietly, back to a moment many years ago, back to a scene long ago in memory. Scenes of deja vu, the entanglement of several lifetimes, there seem to be thousands of thoughts flowing slowly in my heart, so dense that it makes people sigh. Familiar with each other's faces, there is a touch of peace and a smile in their eyes.
At this time, Qin Yue reported outside through the curtain, "Your Majesty, my lord, the medicine is ready."
Qing Chen turned his head and said, "Bring it in."
Qin Yue went in and put the medicine beside him, and avoided it wisely. After exiting the door and walked a few steps, he saw Wei Yan entering the water pavilion, and hurriedly stopped: "Princess!"
Wei Yan didn't even look at him, and walked forward, asking, "What are you doing?"
Qin Yue said: "I just delivered medicine to the prince."
"Why are you offering the medicine at this time? Who is with the prince?"
Qin Yue thought to himself that the prince would definitely not want to be disturbed by anyone, but he had no reason to stop Wei Yan, so he hesitated and said: "It's a new prescription... The prince... Uh..."
"What's going on?" Seeing him hesitating, Wei Yan was immediately displeased, she opened the curtain and walked into the quiet room. Qin Yue didn't have time to stop her, so he hurriedly followed behind and shouted: "My lord, my concubine is here."
Wei Yan turned around the Yanshui Liuyun screen, and suddenly saw Qing Chen dressed in men's clothing, and stopped her steps suddenly. When Ye Tianzhan saw her, his brows furrowed, and his expression darkened instantly.
When Wei Yan saw clearly that the person in the room was Qing Chen, a look of jealousy flashed across her face, and she bowed forward, "I don't know if the empress is coming, I'm not far away to welcome you. Why didn't the empress send someone to notify you first?" With a sound, the middle door of the mansion can also be opened to welcome you."
Qing Chen raised his eyes and smiled slowly: "No need, I just heard that the prince is not in good health, so come and have a look."
Wei Yan's eyes turned between Ye Tianzhan and Qing Chen, and when she saw the medicine cup next to her, she knew that the new medicine that Qin Yue said just now must be the prescription given by Qing Chen, so she couldn't help but sneer slightly: "Your Majesty, I am so sorry." , Your Majesty prescribes prescriptions and medicines, how dare we use them?"
Qing Chen heard that she had other intentions in what she said, and raised his eyebrows casually: "Really?" She looked sideways at Ye Tianzhan.
Ye Tianzhan had been staring at her coldly since Wei Yan came in, and he didn't look away at this time, he picked up the medicine cup beside him, raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.
Wei Yan was startled and annoyed when he didn't show favor like this: "My lord! Why did you just drink like that!"
Ye Tianzhan said to her word by word: "I might as well tell you, as long as it is given by her, even if it is poison that pierces the intestines, I will drink it!" , There was a crisp sound of "哐", ice and porcelain splashed everywhere, he stood up abruptly, and shouted: "Come on!"
Qin Yue immediately led a few servants in, Ye Tian's sleeves drooped quietly, and said in a cold voice: "Take her back to the residence, and from today onwards, you are not allowed to step out of the house, who dares to say a word outside, don't Blame me for being ruthless!"
Unexpectedly, Wei Yan was frightened and froze there, opened her mouth, and asked in a trembling voice: "My lord, what did I do wrong, you want to treat me like this?"
Ye Tianzhan came to her slowly and sneered. He pinched her chin, and raised that beautiful face: "What have you done, I know in my heart, the most failed thing in this king's life is to marry you, the princess!"
His fingertips were icy cold, and his sleeves swept across his eyes, and there was a smell like snow, mixed with a bitter medicinal fragrance. Wei Yan looked at him with wide eyes, the chill in his eyes was worse than the severe winter, making people feel like falling into an ice cellar. Such a gentle person, he was angry, his hand slowly moved to her neck, the strength that was about to erupt under his hand seemed to kill her life with just a little force, she had never felt that he was so scary.
Ye Tianzhan's face was so pale that it was almost transparent, and veins appeared on his forehead, which showed that he was trying his best to control his emotions. He waved his hand to let go of Wei Yan: "Get out!"
The ones in the water pavilion are all Ye Tianzhan's confidantes, who usually can't bear Wei Yan's arrogance, but because she is a princess, she is still respectful, Qin Yue stepped forward and said: "Princess, please."
Wei Yan broke away from them angrily, pointed at Qing Chen, trembling with anger, and said to Ye Tianzhan: "I know, you... you are just because of this woman, you are crazy because of her, you..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Qing Chen slowly brushed away the hand pointing in front of her eyes, with a clear light in her eyes, "Wei Yan, you might as well think carefully about what you and the Wei family have done, if you do this more Just say a word, and I will let the entire Wei family be buried with you."
Wei Yan suddenly understood why Ye Tianzhan was so furious today, and looked at the two people in front of him with a pale face. If they join forces to destroy the Wei family, the Wei family will have no way out. That feeling of desperation fell from the sky, she seemed to be strangled by the throat, she could no longer speak a word, her body was on the verge of falling. Qin Yue glanced to the side, and the two servants immediately stepped forward and led her out of the waterside pavilion half begging and half hugging.
Everyone left, but Ye Tianzhan stood there motionless, the fierce expression just now had long since disappeared, replaced by a tired and sad look. He swayed slightly, Qing Chen called him worriedly, and stretched out his hand to help him, but he shook his hand at her: "I'm fine."
Without looking at her, he turned around and sat down slowly. She was still by his side, he could feel her concerned gaze, and actually wanted to tell her that Wei Yan was right, he was crazy about her, she had made him not him, but he didn't say anything after all.