A few days after the winter solstice, it was Zhu Yunxuan's birthday. The first year of the new emperor's enthronement should have been celebrated with great fanfare, but because the first emperor died less than a year ago, Zhu Yunxuan followed the proposal of the Ministry of Rites, so he just let it go and just personally I went to Yuanji Temple in the southern suburbs to do a religious service, but it was for Empress Xie who had passed away for many years.
Empress Xie died of dystocia when she gave birth to Zhu Yunxuan, her second son. Zhu Yunxuan's birthday was her death day. For Zhu Yunxuan, this day was never a good day. From the first day he was born, he lost his mother. When he was young, he was repeatedly said behind his back that he had killed his biological mother. Sometimes even he himself felt that he might really be an ominous person. His mother died early, his father was displeased, and his elder brother suffered another disaster. In the end, leaving him alone in this huge imperial city, alone and helpless, is retribution.
Now being able to do this for the mother is just for peace of mind.
The old abbot of Yuanji Temple and Empress Xie are old acquaintances. In the early years, Empress Xie would donate a lot of sesame oil money to the temple every year, and would often come to offer incense and worship Buddha in person. We got along very well with this old abbot. Zhu Yunxuan only found out about it later when she heard about it from an old nanny who served Empress Xie in the palace.
This ritual was done for a whole day, and by the time the last memorial was lit in front of Zhu Yunxuan, it was already the end of the day.
He went to the Buddha statue again, knelt down and worshiped the incense sticks, Liang Zhen followed, and also bowed on the incense sticks.
The dinner is the vegetarian meal in the temple, the dishes are simple but delicious, Zhu Yunxuan is not picky, Liang Zhen is also very happy to eat, Zhu Yunxuan's eyes fell on the Buddhist beads on his wrist, he hesitated slightly, and asked: " Didn't you say that you don't believe in gods? Why did you follow me to burn incense before, and why did you always wear this string of beads?"
Liang Zhen smiled: "Your Majesty observes carefully, should I feel flattered?"
Faced with Zhu Yunxuan's displeased expression, he gave a low cough, suppressed his joke, and explained seriously: "My father believes that this string of Buddhist beads is also my father's, and this is all I have. As for my minister, I believe that man will conquer heaven. "
Zhu Yunxuan thought about it seriously, maybe Liang Zhen's arrogance is really contemptuous of anyone, or maybe it's like he said that he has no worries and is not afraid of death. He would be lucky and beg for a little blessing from the gods, at least... he was like that.
They stayed in the temple at night, it was quiet here, Zhu Yunxuan liked it, and planned to stay for three or two days before returning to the palace.
In the quiet temple, late at night in winter, only the sound of sparks crackling and jumping in the brazier remained. Zhu Yunxuan sat in the meditation room, reading a book by the light of the fire, feeling unprecedentedly peaceful in his heart.
Liang Zhen came here in the dark, and when he entered the door, he brought a burst of cold air, Zhu Yunxuan raised his eyes, and looked at him with calm eyes: "Why is King Zhao here?"
He was not worried that Liang Zhen would pester him to mess around with him today, no matter how bold Liang Zhen was, he would not dare to desecrate the pure place of Buddhism.
Liang Zhen squatted by the brazier and roasted for a while, and when his body was warm, he came up to Zhu Yunxuan and talked to him: "What is Your Majesty looking at?"
"It's just some Buddhist scriptures."
Liang Zhen sighed in his heart, he was really afraid that Zhu Yunxuan would become more and more constrained to himself, put on all the shackles of rules and regulations, and eventually become a rigid, stubborn and unrepentant emperor, just like the Buddha statue that was enshrined by others.
"It's your Majesty's birthday today, I have prepared a birthday gift for you, at least let's take a look at it."
Zhu Yunxuan's gaze shifted from the book to Liang Zhen's hand. He was holding a piece of warm yellow jade in his hand. Liang Zhen smiled and stuffed it to Zhu Yunxuan: "Touch and see."
Zhu Yunxuan held the jade in the palm of his hand suspiciously, and within a moment he felt a slight warmth rising, and Liang Zhen explained from the side: "This jade is a bit special, it is really warm in winter and cool in summer, a very rare kind of jade , Your Majesty may keep it if he likes it."
Zhu Yunxuan's mood was a bit complicated. Liang Zhen also gave him a birthday gift last year, saying that it was a precious inkstone used by a great Confucian in the previous dynasty. No, Liang Zhen is the only one in the entire palace who is still thinking about this matter. Unfortunately, the Fang Baoyan was placed on the case in the imperial study room. He had already swept it off the ground in a fit of anger last time and broke it into pieces.
"What is Your Majesty thinking?" Seeing that Zhu Yunxuan was stunned, Liang Zhen called him softly.
Zhu Yunxuan's thoughts came back, and he said lightly: "This is very good, then thank King Zhao."
Liang Zhen hooked the corners of his lips, and was about to say something more, when the temple bell suddenly rang, long, deep, profound, and endless.
Gao An reminded Zhu Yunxuan in a low voice: "Your Majesty, it's time to turn off the lights."
This is the rule in the temple, Zhu Yunxuan had no intention of breaking it, nodded, and said to Liang Zhen: "King Zhao, go back."
Liang Zhen smiled slightly: "Your Majesty, let's rest earlier, and I will take you around the temple tomorrow."
This time, Zhu Yunxuan slept soundly, and didn't wake up until dawn, and didn't see Liang Zhen coming over after breakfast, so she wandered around the temple by herself.
Yuanji Temple is built on the mountain, occupying the entire mountain, with mountains and water, the scenery in the temple is very attractive, just to enjoy the scenery, those dignitaries in Beijing sometimes come to stay for a day or two, Only these two days, the emperor closed the temple when he came to perform ceremonies, and no longer received other foreign guests, so it was even more quiet and quiet.
Zhu Yunxuan boarded a tall building overlooking the panorama of the temple. The monk who led the way was clever and eloquently introduced to him the past history and allusions of the various treasure halls and pavilions in the temple. Zhu Yunxuan was playing with the jade stone Liang Zhen gave yesterday, His eyes swept over one by one, and he listened very carefully.
After a while, Gao An behind him suddenly took a step forward and reminded Zhu Yunxuan in a low voice: "Your Majesty, King Zhao is over there."
Zhu Yunxuan looked in the direction he said, and sure enough, he saw Liang Zhen sitting in a pavilion below, playing chess with the rather old and kind-hearted old abbot.
Zhu Yunxuan narrowed his eyes lightly, watched for a while, and then saw the chess game dissipated, Liang Zhen got up and walked towards him.
As soon as he approached, he smiled and said to him: "I saw that His Majesty was still awake, so I didn't bother His Majesty, and came to play a game of chess with the old abbot. I didn't expect that His Majesty had already woken up and went out to visit the garden. "
Zhu Yunxuan nodded lightly, Liang Zhen asked the monk who led the way to go back, and told the following guards to lag behind by more than ten steps, and continued to walk forward with Zhu Yunxuan.
Listening to him talking about all kinds of things in this temple, he knew no less than the monk just now, Zhu Yunxuan asked casually out of curiosity: "King Zhao seems to be very familiar with this place, and he seems to have known that old abbot for a long time? "
Liang Zhen didn't hide anything, and Zhu Yunxuan answered whatever he asked: "I have known each other for a long time. When I was eight years old, I came here with my grandmother to offer incense, and then I met the old abbot. It was he who told me that back then, my father I hid here and gave birth to my minister."
Zhu Yunxuan was taken aback for a moment, he never expected to get such an answer. He actually had a lot of guesses about Liang Zhen's real life experience, and he also pieced together some information from his few words. The accompanying reader who was born in the mansion, but he didn't want to understand why, since Liang Zhen's biological father is the son of the Hou family, if the first emperor really likes it, there is nothing wrong with being a male concubine, how can Liang Zhen be reduced to an illegitimate child, and his flesh and blood will be separated. several years
The Dayan dynasty was established for more than two hundred years. Although there was only one male queen, the founding empress, there were men in almost every harem of the six or seven emperors. Their status varied from high to low, and some had given birth to heirs. Only Emperor Zhaoyang was Exceptionally, in the first ten years or so, he favored Concubine He, and in his later years he favored Concubine Chen alone, and treated Empress Xie with extra courtesy. Empress Xie passed away many years ago, and the Fengyi Palace where she lived in those years still maintains its original appearance and enshrines her tablet , It was not until the prince was deposed and the emperor was disheartened that he withdrew it.
Everyone thought that Emperor Zhaoyang didn't like Nanfeng, but it happened that the illegitimate child he took great care to protect was born of a man.
Seeing that Zhu Yunxuan hesitated to speak, he could see through what he was thinking at a glance. The corner of Liang Zhen's lips raised an inconspicuous arc, but there was lingering irony and darkness in his eyes: "The first emperor was the adopted son of Empress Dowager Qinghui. The throne, obeying mother's instructions, married the daughters of Xie and He, who were powerful at the time, one was the empress and the other was a concubine. After ascending the throne, she was not satisfied with this. She wanted to include my father in the harem, but the Empress Dowager Qinghui refused , quietly sent my father to this temple, my father was pregnant at that time, and later..."
What Liang Zhen said was both true and false, Zhu Yunxuan's heart tightened, and he always felt that what Liang Zhen said next might not be what he wanted to hear, so Liang Zhen laughed: "Not long after my father gave birth to me, someone I found out, someone was worried that his son would threaten the position of the crown prince, so he drove my father to a corner, jumped off the cliff at the back of the mountain, and was smashed to pieces. The son of the wife of the prince of the Hou family at that time."
Zhu Yunxuan unconsciously clenched the jade in his hand: "Threat... the position of the crown prince?"
Liang Zhen looked at him, with an inexplicable and strange smile on the corner of his mouth: "The old Xie Guogong, Xie Chongming, is Your Majesty's uncle, right?"
The jade rolled to the ground, Zhu Yunxuan stared at Liang Zhen in a daze, his lips trembled, and he was speechless for a long time.
Liang Zhen bent down to pick up the jade, and was nibbled by the hard stone slab. Although the jade was not broken, there was a crack on its original smooth surface, lying there.
He stuffed the jade back to Zhu Yunxuan, seemingly not caring, and said: "The former Duke is now dead, so there is no scum left, and he deserved it."
That's right, how arrogant the Xie family was back then, they forced people to die at will to protect the position of the crown prince, but in the end they killed the crown prince and themselves, it was really a retribution.
Zhu Yunxuan's mind flooded with so many past events in an instant, and he suddenly understood why the late emperor removed the memorial tablet of Fengyi Palace after Liang Zhen returned from his brother's accident, and why he knew that his brother was wronged and refused to let him go again. When he came back, he not only wanted to pave the way for Liang Zhen, but also took revenge on Xie's family. Even though his elder brother and he were both the late emperor's biological sons, they still had the Xie family's blood on them, and they were the enemies who killed the late emperor's beloved. .
"... What you did to me, was also... for revenge?"