Several files of different thicknesses lay quietly on the table in the imperial study room. In this short period of time, I don’t know how many times they were flipped through by those steady hands, and then they were put aside as if they were forgotten. It's eerily quiet here. Time is not enough to cover these files with dust, but the crisp air of early autumn makes the pages of these files curl up, as if they had been roasted by fire.
That pair of deep and scorching gazes slowly moved away from the scroll, and turned outside to the drowsy, dazzling morning light of the palace. The light from the east has already illuminated the highest bluestone brick of the city wall in Kyoto, but it has not been able to illuminate the imperial palace that is deeply locked in darkness by the city wall and palace wall.
Emperor Qing took a sip from the teacup with a blank expression on his face. The tea was cold tea, and the little eunuchs who were used to serving him didn't have the guts to come in and change it to hot tea as usual. A whole night passed, and what he drank was cold tea, but like a fish drinking water, he knew whether it was warm or not, and when the cold tea drank into his chest, it turned into a stream of heat that burned him.
Is it uncontrollable anger, the pain of being cheated by someone you trust, or a sense of humiliation that you have never felt before? That old dog has lied to me for decades!
The more angry he became, the calmer he became. Emperor Qing was no longer as angry as he was a few days ago. His face and eyes were as calm as two pools of ice water, extremely cold and extremely calm, not like an ancient well, but like water that was about to freeze. the cold. This chill spread around the Imperial Study Room, making everyone who stayed outside feel a kind of fear from the bottom of their hearts.
A familiar voice came faintly from a distance, it was the sound of a wheelchair rolling over the bluestone slabs of the palace. The special round chair rubs against the gaps between the bluestone slabs. The width of the bluestone slabs is fixed, and the distance between the wheelchairs is fixed, so the rhythm and time period of the sound of the wheelchair crushing the bluestone slabs is also fixed.
This fixed rhythm has sounded countless times in this quiet palace in the past few decades. Whenever Emperor Qing has something important to do, or... just wants to talk, the wheelchair The voice will be transmitted from the outside of the palace to the inside of the palace, and to the imperial study.
In recent years, the sound of the wheelchair has become less loud. The old black dog hid in the Chen garden to enjoy the happiness, leaving me alone in this cold palace to suffer. However, three years ago, when dealing with Yun Rui and those three old monsters, the wheelchair still entered the palace twice... Emperor Qing's expression was indifferent, and he remembered many past events in an instant. Then he looked up slowly.
When his calm and deep eyes fell on the closed wooden door of the imperial study, the sound of the wheelchair rubbing against the bluestone board also happened to stop outside the imperial study.
The emperor's eyes suddenly became complicated.
Eunuch Yao's trembling voice sounded from outside the imperial study room. It wasn't that the head eunuch deliberately used this panicked voice to express his respect for the person in the wheelchair. The chill that naturally emanated has already controlled the minds of most people.
The door of the imperial study room opened, several eunuchs carried the black wheelchair in cautiously and fearfully, and then left as fast as possible under the leadership of eunuch Yao. This line of eunuchs in the inner court was very far away from the imperial study room, and even went all the way to the imperial study room and passed the stone arch garden gate, leading directly to the Tai Chi Hall.
Eunuch Yao wiped the cold sweat off his brow, glanced at Ye Shuai and Senior Fellow He who were waiting outside the garden gate, and said nothing, not even a hint on his expression. Ye Zhong's face was heavy, and he just sighed in his heart. After escorting the black carriage into the imperial study, these top figures of the Qing Kingdom consciously hid here far away, because they knew that under the chill of His Majesty, he would be with the person in the wheelchair. Every word and every sentence I said, I didn't want anyone to hear it.
Old Dean Chen is safe and came back very gently. Although they were not used to such an easy solution, and although they knew that Old Dean Chen was not a simple scary person, including eunuch Ye Chongyao, they were not worried about any surprises happening in the imperial study.
His Majesty the Emperor is a great master. After Dadongshan, no one in the world can hurt him anymore.
…
…
The door of the imperial study room was tightly closed, shutting out all the air, sound, light, breath, and autumn outside, leaving only His Majesty the Emperor sitting upright on the couch, and Chen Pingping, who was sitting casually in a wheelchair .
The two monarchs and ministers hid in the small building, and blocked the storms and storms of Qing Kingdom from the outside, because these two powerful people caused the storms and storms of Qing Kingdom in the past few decades.
Emperor Qing quietly looked at the old guy in the wheelchair. He didn't know how long he looked at it until he saw the wrinkles on Chen Pingping's face as chrysanthemums hanging under the temple. Fan Xian, I knew about this a long time ago, and the inner court sent three people there. When you passed by Dazhou a few days ago, He Qigan should have been there too, did you see him?"
If someone else is here at this time, they will be very surprised when they see this scene. His Majesty the Emperor has mobilized so many people, and the key government offices in the entire capital are waiting in full force. The cold young man in the Overwatch Council has also followed His Majesty's will and started to suppress the inside. Only then did the old lame man in a black wheelchair Please go back to the capital, everyone knows that there is no room for change between the monarch and his ministers, but the first sentence His Majesty the Emperor said to Chen Pingping was a very inconspicuous name.
However, Chen Pingping was not surprised. He knew his majesty the emperor very well. He smiled slightly and said in a sharp and slightly sandy voice: "When I was sent to Chengwang's mansion, He Qigan was still young, and he lived outside the city of Dazhou. When I met him once, I think he doesn't remember me at all."
"It's not surprising. The name Chen Wuchang has disappeared in the palace for a long time." The emperor nodded, and with one sleeve of the dragon robe flying off his body, a cup of tea slowly left the desk and flew in front of Chen Pingping.
Chen Pingping took it, nodded respectfully, held the hot teacup, and sighed comfortably: "It's better to drink hot tea."
The emperor held his ice-cold teacup with his fingers, took a sip, and said calmly, "The tea will be cold when people leave, otherwise why would He Qigan not recognize you?"
Chen Pingping shook her head and said, "Except for Hong Sitching, few people know that I used to stay in the palace."
The emperor's eyelids drooped slightly, revealing a hint of sarcasm, and said: "Later, you made some fake beards and stuck them on your chin, of course you didn't want people to know...you were an eunuch in the first place."
Chen Pingping's complexion remained unchanged, she lowered her head slightly, and said calmly: "It took me many years to realize that I am an eunuch, why should I hide it from the world."
"But you still deceived the world after all." The emperor put the cold tea cup on the case, stared into Chen Pingping's eyes and said, "Back then you were sent to the palace by the palace to monitor the movements of the emperor, but even The palace didn't expect that you secretly revealed your identity to me, and you were willing to help my palace to cause trouble... Even the old eunuch Hong in the palace was persuaded by you to side with the emperor, which is also your credit. So, the status of the eunuch who was always guarding the palace was a great contribution to you, to Zhen, and to the Kingdom of Qing, so why should you keep thinking about it."
"The reason why the first emperor was able to ascend to the throne has nothing to do with the slave." Chen Pingping called the slave, but unlike the past, there was not much inferiority in this slave, just following the past, naturally Said. He slowly raised his head, looked directly into Emperor Qing's cold eyes, and said word by word: "That's because someone killed the two princes, so it was the turn of Prince Cheng to sit on the dragon chair, so that His Majesty can have today's ten thousand miles." Jiangshan, unworldly merit... "
The emperor's eyes suddenly became sharper, obviously he didn't want to hear anything related to this matter, and said: "But why did you betray the nobles in the palace, surrender to the palace, and be loyal to... Zhen?"
Chen Pingping looked at Emperor Qing with a half-smile, as if she was watching a big joke, and after a long time, she slowly said: "Your Majesty, you were a young man at the time, with a clear and open mind, you are very sincere to others, and you are very good to me. The servant is born with a weird personality, as long as people treat me well, I will treat him well."
The emperor fell silent. He sat upright on the soft couch, as if he was still savoring what Chen Pingping said. His sharp eyes became like the sky in early autumn, and his cheerful side gradually unfolded. The corners of his lips Slightly turned up, he said mockingly: "So you still know that I treat you well."
"Back then, the old prince had no status in the court, and he had no support in the court. The Cheng Palace was not big and inconspicuous. I was actually the most useless little eunuch in the palace, so I was sent to the palace. A powerful person like Hong Sitching, of course, has always been guarding the side of the nobles in the palace."
Chen Pingping also seemed to recall many past events, and sighed leisurely: "However, it is good to have small ones, and it is better to have simple ones. At that time, the three big and small children, plus a small one, tried their best to toss, and Fan Ma yelled at the side from time to time. Two sentences, no one seems to think this is bad."
"Prince Jing was still young at that time, so no one would pay attention to him." His Majesty raised his eyebrows and said, "Even if Fan Jian and him joined forces to attack me, you stopped them all in the end. The two of us Together, no one has ever been our match... even today."
As soon as these words came out, Chen Pingping and the emperor fell silent at the same time. After a long time, Chen Pingping lightly touched the armrest of the wheelchair, sighed and said, "Fan Jian is His Majesty's milk brother after all, and a slave is just a slave after all. I didn't think much at the time, I just wanted to protect you."
The lines of Emperor Qing's face gradually softened, but his eyes drifted to the distance, as if they drifted to the scenes when the monarch and his ministers were indistinguishable from each other, and said faintly: "It must be admitted that in those years, you protected me a lot. times, without you, I don't know how many times I would have died."
After saying this, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the files on the table, his eyes paused slightly, he took out the first file gently, opened it slowly, and watched the scenes mentioned above, including his His younger sister, his son, and many, many things.
"When Daqing first expanded its borders, it did not disturb the iron cavalry of the Great Wei Dynasty, so you and I were a little careless. When spying on the defense of the small Chen country at that time, which is now Yanjing, our group was captured by Zhan Qingfeng in Dingshan. The first kill under his command surrounded Hu Yue, that man's arrow skills are good..." Emperor Qing sighed and said: "After so many years, Xiao Yi is the only one who can beat Hu Yue's arrow skills better."
When talking about Yan Xiaoyi, the governor of Zhengbei University who once betrayed him, there was no trace of hatred or anger in Emperor Qing's tone, but only pity. Emperor Qing is a person who cherishes talents, and even more so, he is extremely confident. He is not afraid of Yan Xiaoyi at all, that's why he showed his emotions. However, judging from the arrangements for the Overwatch Council these days, in his heart, Chen Pingping was a role far superior to any other courtier.
He turned his head, looked at Chen Pingping in the wheelchair, and said, "If you hadn't sacrificed yourself to block Hu Yue's arrow that day, I might have died at that time."
Chen Pingping replied calmly: "This is the duty of a slave."
Emperor Qing laughed at himself, and glanced at the dossier in his hand. This dossier said that when the capital rebelled three years ago, Chen Pingping secretly connived at the princess's invasion of the capital, and finally succeeded in besieging the imperial city. Although the Overwatch Council's hands and feet are extremely meticulous, and there is not much evidence in this dossier, but with the emperor's eyesight, he can clearly see the great evil hidden in it.
He casually threw the dossier aside and ignored it, then picked up another one, squinted his eyes and read it again, and said, "On the Hanging Temple, why do you want to let the shadow do the assassination? "
Previously, he was recalling the past in a gentle and gentle manner, but at this moment in the imperial study room, the voice of asking for guilt suddenly sounded, and a faint smell of blood and rain gradually permeated the air. However, Chen Pingping seemed to be ignorant, and replied respectfully: "I want to see what His Majesty's last hole card is."
"I want to see my hole cards." The emperor stared at the wrinkles on Chen Pingping's face, and after a long silence, he said calmly, "It seems that you have been thinking about my death for a long time."
Chen Pingping didn't answer, but just smiled gently, acquiescing to this huge crime.
"Is Shadow really Si Gu Jian's younger brother?" Emperor Qing asked.
"Your Majesty's gaze is like a god, and you can tell the true origin of the shadow in one sip that day. This servant really admires it." Chen Pingping said that she admired it, but she didn't know if she really admired it in her heart.
Emperor Qing closed his eyes, thought for a while, threw the scroll aside again, and said: "At the time of the first Northern Expedition, when Zhen Shengong was breaking through, he suddenly went crazy and was trapped in the mountains by Zhan Qingfeng's army. In the midst of this, I have entered a land where mountains and rivers are at the end of the road, if you hadn't led the black cavalry to rescue me at the risk of death, and exchanged my life along the way, I would have died ten times or eight times."
Chen Pingping's gaze moved with Emperor Qing's hand, watching him throw aside the dossier about the truth about the Xuankong Temple's assassination, the smile in his eyes became more and more prosperous, and then withered, extremely lonely, There is also a trace of sarcasm in the loneliness.
"Your Majesty, don't go on with this calculation anymore. Using a piece of credit for saving you to exchange a big crime of bullying or assassinating the king, whether it is from the Qing law or the court regulations, it is an old slave. It's a huge bargain." Chen Pingping calmed down, looked at His Majesty the Emperor and said indifferently: "In the past few decades, how many times I have saved His Majesty, I can't remember, but I have never expected to use these credits to offset myself. death penalty."
"Exchange the great credit for the great sin." Chen Pingping narrowed her eyes, and said slightly mockingly: "That is the little eunuch in the story she told back then, but the slave is not that little eunuch, and neither is Your Majesty." That alien emperor, why waste so much time?"
"Do you think I'm wasting time?" The emperor's voice became cold, but his eyes became fierce, staring at Chen Pingping as if staring at a dead person, "In the hearts of all people in the world, you are an old black man beside me. Dogs, however, have been raised for a long time, and they also have feelings."
"Your Majesty is of course a kind and righteous person to this old slave. Over the years, the privileged power that His Majesty has given to this old slave is no longer something that ordinary courtiers can enjoy." Chen Pingping leaned slightly on the wheelchair, looking back at the emperor indifferently, all the time He said in a single sentence: "It's just that if you say such things at this time, your Majesty probably wants to find some better reasons for killing dogs for yourself, so as to comfort your own mood."
"Shouldn't you kill?" Emperor Qing laughed back in anger, looked up to the sky and laughed loudly, the laughter leaked out of the Imperial Study Room, and went straight to the entire quiet imperial city, with rare anger in his laughter.
He turned around and grabbed the files on the case, and slammed them over. The files of different thicknesses hit Chen Pingping's body and the wheelchair, making a crackling sound.
Emperor Qing's eyes became extremely cold. He stared at Chen Pingping's face and said word by word: "You want to kill me, and you want to kill my son. It's so hateful that you actually force me to kill my own son... you Shouldn't this shameless eunuch be killed?"
Chen Pingping slowly flicked the pages of the book on her body, admiring the most powerful king in the world with a seldom gaffe in his life with a smile and a hint of joy. This was probably one of his biggest wishes when he returned to Beijing this trip? The dark desire for revenge that has been entangled in his heart for decades, as well as the disappointment and sadness towards His Majesty that no one can explain clearly, combined together to make the old cripple's state of mind so complicated.
"Your Majesty, if you didn't intend to kill your own son, how could the slave force you to do these things?" Chen Pingping looked at the emperor and said quietly: "So in the final analysis, the slave just wants to kill your majesty. As for the Li family in this palace These people, the servant just wants them to be buried with you."
The emperor calmed down, became indifferent, and got rid of that rare anger. A supreme being in the world, a great master of martial arts, showed such a mortal side in front of Chen Pingping. It can only be said that the trust between the monarch and his ministers in the past few decades has already become something that Emperor Qing could not get rid of. Some kind of spiritual need, and this kind of spiritual need suddenly turned into a mirror flower and moon shadow in an instant, and behind the flower shadow, there is even the poison of being betrayed, even he can hardly bear the impact of this emotion.
He looked at Chen Pingping indifferently. Said: "What makes me most angry is not that you want to kill me, nor is it that you want to kill all my sons. What makes me most angry is that since you have already left the capital, why did you come back?"
"Even in such a situation, I still leave a way for you to survive. As long as you are willing to go, I will not leave you." The emperor looked at him indifferently, his far-reaching eyes were like an ancient angry dragon. With infinite power in his eyes, "If I really want to kill you in one fell swoop, I will do it myself, and I will not let those useless soldiers do this job. But... why do you want to come back? Why do you insist on forcing me to do this?" Kill you with your own hands?"
This is a very wonderful sentence, this is a very strange sentence. At this time, those big figures outside the imperial study room, including the general Shi Fei who has returned to the garrison camp, can't guess what His Majesty's intentions are, they don't know The so-called change in Dazhou is still a test of the final trust between the emperor and Chen Pingping, a pair of monarchs and ministers.
In the whole world, probably only Chen Pingping could understand. If he left with the black cavalry in Dingzhou, it meant that he felt ashamed of His Majesty and couldn't face it. But he didn't leave, he returned to the capital, looked at His Majesty's face indifferently and fearlessly, with a clear heart, and forced the other party to kill the most loyal minister in the history of Qing Kingdom.
After a long time, Chen Pingping's eyes were like knives, she stared at the emperor word by word and asked, "Did you ever give her any way out? I came back to Beijing to ask His Majesty, why did you kill her!"