Although he was kneeling, his body was as straight as a pine tree, but the empress dowager's heart trembled more and more.
After a stick of incense, the Queen Mother sighed sadly: "Why did it come to this, Rui'er?"
After calling his nickname, the Queen Mother burst into tears.
Shang Rui knelt straight on the ground: "The ancients said that the trouble with a chariot of ten thousand is that the ministers are too powerful, and the trouble with a chariot of a thousand is that the left and right are too trusting. Xu Jingye is so greedy for money and power, has no respect for the law, deceives his superiors and hides the truth from his subordinates. It will be difficult to convince the world if he doesn't die."
After saying this, he placed the memorial next to the imperial edict, kowtowed deeply to the empress dowager, straightened his back and slowly said, "Mother, there can only be one family in the world, and no one else can sleep peacefully beside the emperor's bed."
When the Queen Mother heard this, she knew that his heart was as hard as a rock. She was extremely sad. She closed her eyes and tears flowed uncontrollably. After a long time, she walked to Shang Rui, squatted down, and reached out to pick up the imperial edict with trembling hands. She spread it out with both hands and read it over and over again.
"But he is now in Wei Shangren's prison, and his life and death are not his own decision."
"Mother, don't worry about this." Shang Rui said.
"Zi Zhang..."
"Once Hongwu's reinforcements arrive, Sima Lin and Hongwu are both veterans of the battlefield. With a two-pronged approach, they will naturally find a way. With your mother's letter, Zi Zhang will not be suspicious. And Xu Chengzhi is already my man."
Empress Dowager Xu handed the imperial edict back to him and murmured, "You have a foolproof plan, which is great. But Zi Zhang and Yang Er are so innocent."
"As long as they treat their son well, he will never be implicated."
Empress Dowager Xu nodded weakly, walked slowly to the door of the palace, opened it, called someone in, then turned around and helped Shang Rui up.
Ming Lian also followed them into the hall.
When the empress dowager saw the stains on Shang Rui's body, she said to Ming Lian, "Go and get some clothes for your emperor to change before you leave." After that, she went straight into the inner room and never appeared again.
That day, the sunlight was very strong. Shang Rui walked out of the Empress Dowager's Chengfu Palace. The shadow under his feet was stretched into a thin line. He lowered his head and looked for a long time, then left with his hands behind his back.
five
When Shang Rui went to Li Ji's house again, Xia Yue and He Xiang were playing with the dog in the garden.
Xia Yue was stunned when she saw him.
He Xiang stood alone in front of Xia Yue.
Xia Yue said: "He Xiang, take Ah Mo back to the room. I have something to say to Master Hong."
Shang Rui stopped him and said, "No need. I'll go out with you." It was obvious that he was in a bad mood.
Xia Yue looked at him warily.
Shang Rui smiled bitterly: "I can't eat you, so I'll take you to a place and come back soon. We can talk on the way."
Xia Yue looked at He Xiang, then turned to look at Shang Rui, nodded and said, "Wait for me." She turned back to her room and changed her clothes. When Yao Chuang brought He Xiang to find her, she did not bring any jewelry. At this moment, her dress was also extremely simple. However, she walked a few steps and turned back, took out the Linlangfang hairpin from under the pillow, but did not wear it in her hair. Instead, she hid it against her chest before leaving with him.
The carriage left the city.
Shang Rui sat next to her, with a small table between them.
Xia Yue didn't look at him and didn't ask where he was going. From time to time, her left hand touched the hairpin hidden on her chest.
"Li Ji said that your hand is healed too?" Shang Rui asked.
"Um."
"You don't ask me why I know you are Yu Zhaoyang?"
"You'll say it naturally if you want to." Xia Yue replied without turning her head.
Shang Rui smiled lightly and didn't ask any more questions.
The carriage arrived at a horse farm outside the city, and Shang Rui lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage: "There will be a mountain road later, I will take you on horseback?"
The smile on his lips reminded Xia Yue of the embarrassment she had felt the last time, so she resolutely refused and said, "No need."
Shang Rui was not surprised and asked someone to find a horse for her.
Soon, someone brought a bay horse with shiny, glossy fur, like satin. Xia Yue couldn't help but touch it. Although the horse was strong and tall, it had a kind and gentle character and didn't resist her at all.
Before she went out, she had no idea what Shang Rui was up to, and she just wanted to change into a set of narrow-sleeved clothes so that she could be prepared if anything went wrong. Unexpectedly, it would come in handy.
"Let's go." He jumped on the horse and turned to look at her.
Xia Yue said nothing. She took the cloak handed to her by someone else, put it on and tied it up, then stepped on the stirrups and mounted the horse.
The two horses rode one after the other along a stretch of the official road to the east.
Xia Yue followed him, and after climbing over a few hills, the terrain became flat.
Shang Rui's horse was always walking in front of her, not too close or too far, just ten feet away. Sometimes when she slowed down, he would slow down, and when she fasted, he would also speed up.
He never spoke, didn't say where he was going, and didn't even turn his head.
Xia Yue was a little unconvinced and wanted to catch up with him to find out what was going on. Unexpectedly, when she kicked the horse's belly, he also rode the horse and ran away.
She had never had much patience, so she shouted at him, "Hey—"
Shang Rui turned around when he heard the voice.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Didn't you just say that you didn't want to ask me, and I would tell you when I wanted to?" Shang Rui glanced at her, "I don't want to say it now."
"You!" She was a little annoyed.
When she was angry, her cheeks would turn red and her mouth would be so dumb that she couldn't utter a word for a long time.
Shang Rui's eyes curved, and a smile spread from the corners of his mouth. Suddenly, it seemed as if a spring breeze was born and lingered around him. He looked at her and suddenly asked, "Do you know what I like most about you?"
Xia Yue was stunned when she heard that. Although she was not particular about trivial matters, she was an unmarried girl after all. Apart from her family members, she seldom came into contact with men. She never thought that someone would blurt out such words in front of her. She was stunned.
"I just like the way you are helpless towards me." After saying that, he laughed out loud and whipped the horse.
Xia Yue's face turned from red to white in an instant, and she almost wanted to chase him, pull him off his horse and beat him up.
He walked a short distance, then pulled the reins, turned back to her side and said, "I heard that when you were young, your father hired a horseman from northern Xinjiang to teach you how to ride a horse. But I don't think you're that good at riding. Do you want to compete?"
"Do you know my father?" Xia Yue looked at him in surprise.
"Want to know?" Shang Rui raised his eyebrows and asked.
Xia Yue sat on the horse, looking at him without saying anything.
"If you win the horse riding competition, I'll tell you, but..." He tilted his head, a playful smile spread across the corner of his mouth, "If you lose, let me kiss you. How about that?"
Before he could finish his words, she angrily raised the whip in her hand and swung it at him, but he was so smart and agile that he and his horse jumped forward and dodged.
Her face turned red with anger, and she rode forward to catch up with him and kick him off his horse.
Unexpectedly, he took the horse and leaped even further, and turned back proudly and said, "Do you want me to let you go twenty feet first before we compete?"
"Why should I compete with you!" She was furious.
"You don't dare?" he provoked her.
"Who said I don't dare!"
He held the whip in his hand, pointed ahead and said, "Ten miles north, there is a black cliff by the sea of Weilu. Whoever gets there first wins." Then he glanced at her and said, "If you don't dare, just go back the way you came."
"Let's compete." Xia Yue said with hatred, "Walk ten miles north and you will reach the Black Cliff by the sea. I've been there. I don't need you to show me the way." After saying that, without waiting for him to say anything, Xia Yue rode away on her horse.
Shang Rui was behind her, looking at her back, with a smile on his face, and slowly followed her.
This ten-li stretch was the widest and flattest stretch of road from the Imperial Capital to the Weilu Sea. Few people went to the Black Cliff to the north, and the winding path in the grass was difficult to identify, so the horse ran happily on the road. She hadn't ridden so fast for a long time, and she could only hear the wind whistling in her ears.
Fortunately, the horse was very gentle and obedient. She was a little nervous at first, but later she gradually cooperated more and more with the chestnut horse. Her hands and feet relaxed and her whole body stretched out.
It is chilly in spring.
As she rode her horse at a gallop, the wind blew off the hood of her cloak, but she had no time to care and let the cold wind cut her cheeks, but she didn't feel any pain.
I saw the small woods on both sides disappearing rapidly behind me.
She couldn't remember how long it had been since she felt so happy. It was as if all the emotions that had been pent up in her heart had dissipated at this moment. She even forgot about the person behind her. It was not until she galloped to the foot of the Black Cliff that she reined in her horse and turned around, only to see Shang Rui who had been following her.
She was panting, her cheeks flushed red from running too fast, and her eyes were wet, just like the deer in the Dongyuan hunting ground who had escaped from his bow many times.
She raised her chin, unable to suppress the pride in her heart, and announced to him: "You lose."
He didn't take it seriously and got off the horse.
She really ran quite fast just now, but it was not that he could not catch up with her. Instead, he suddenly felt a little worried. So he did not dare to run wildly, but had to follow closely, for fear that she would fall accidentally. He did not even dare to blink. He did not expect that with this thought in mind, he actually forgot the provocation he had made to tease her before.
"Get off. You can't ride on the road ahead," he said.
Xia Yue let go of the reins and jumped off the horse.
So the two men tied their horses at the foot of the mountain and walked up side by side.
Black Cliff is a huge cliff standing on the seashore, named because of its almost black color. One side of it is a gentle slope, and the other side facing the sea is a steep cliff.
The forefathers had carved steps to the top of the mountain on the gentle slope, but after years of exposure to wind and sun, many places were difficult to walk on. At first, the two could still walk side by side, but gradually Xia Yue fell behind.
There was a steep slope on the top and a three-foot-high rock. Shang Rui jumped up lightly, then turned around and reached out to pull Xia Yue.
With his help, she finally climbed to the top of the slope, and the view in front of her suddenly became clear.
There was a clear sky on the Black Cliff side, but there were dark clouds on the other side of the sea in the distance.
The salty and humid sea breeze blew in my face, making my hair fly everywhere.
Only then did Xia Yue realize that the only hairpin on her head had fallen somewhere. She simply raised her arm, took off her hair and hastily tied it up again.
The wind began to pick up.
The waves beneath the rocks were getting higher and higher.
The dark clouds on the other side of the sea in the distance seemed to be sinking into the sea.
Suddenly, the dark clouds in the sky sank a little. No lightning was seen, but the thunder was slowly rolling in from a distance, deep and muffled.
"This is the first thunder of the year." Shang Rui, who was standing nearby, muttered to himself.
She turned to look at him when she heard the voice.
He stood on the rock with his hands behind his back. The sea breeze kept blowing, but except for the corners of his clothes being lifted up, he was completely motionless, standing straight and steady, completely different from her embarrassed appearance of hiding here and there and with her hair scattered because of the wind.
She was wearing a plain dress, but she looked like the sun and the moon.
He faced the wind, his posture tall and proud, staring quietly at the dark clouds, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him and he was completely outside of this world.
Then, it seemed to be raining on the sea, and gradually rain and fog rose.
The waves are rough.
The coast where they stood was still sunny and bright. Such a scene suddenly made people feel that everything in the world became insignificant.
After a long while, he turned to her and said, "This is the first time I've seen rain like this on the sea."
Xia Yue finally saw his eyes clearly, and there was still a childish curiosity in those dark pupils.
"Me too," she said.
As he was saying these words, the sky above suddenly darkened, and then the rain quickly moved towards the shore.
The rain and fog spread like flying.
Suddenly, the weather changed.
When Xia Yue raised her head, she could already feel sporadic raindrops falling on her face.
The rain came so hard that it caught everyone off guard.
They stood on a bare cliff, without even a tree, and couldn't find a place to take shelter from the rain. Just when Xia Yue was worried, Shang Rui said, "There's a road over here, follow me." Without waiting for her to answer, he pulled her to the side.
It was originally a pile of knee-high weeds, but after walking closer and pushing them aside, a path leading to the bottom of the cliff appeared.
Xia Yue followed him closely.
The stone steps of the path lean against the stone wall, winding down.
After walking a few steps, I saw a stone cave on the side of the road.
Rather than calling it a cave, it is more like a two-foot-wide indentation in the stone wall, just about the height of a person. If you stand in it, your body will be covered by the rock above your head.
Raindrops as big as beans suddenly fell down.
However, the sea breeze was too strong. Although it could cover the body, the downpour of rain was carried under the stone wall by the oncoming wind. The cave was too shallow to block it at all.
Without hesitation, he quickly unbuttoned and took off his coat, turned his back to the outside, and supported himself on the top of the cave wall with his hands.
In an instant, he and his coat became a warm barrier, blocking the wind and rain.
Her back was pressed against the rock behind her, and in front of her, very close, was his chest.
The two of them were very close.
For a moment, she didn't know where to look, so she tilted her head and lowered her eyes to look elsewhere.
She could feel his breath on her forehead.
One, two, three...
Soothing and calming.
Suddenly, a drop of water fell on her eyelid. She reached out to wipe it away, then subconsciously looked up.
She raised her head and eyes and saw his face.
Some rain dripped down through the gaps between his clothes and the rocks, and at that moment one drop fell on the center of his forehead, and then the drop slid all the way down and passed between his eyebrows.
He held up his coat with both hands and couldn't free his hands to wipe it off.
The drop of rain only stopped when it reached the tip of his nose.
Unexpectedly, the second drop of rain flowed down from the same place, overlapping with the previous rain on the tip of his nose, paused, and finally dripped down.
It fell on her face again.
He was completely unaware and kept looking elsewhere.
Seeing that the rain was seeping down from other places and falling on his eyelashes, she couldn't help it any longer and reached out to wipe the water droplets on the tip of his nose.
He was stunned by the sudden touch, and then he said, "Do you still recognize the bet we made?"
"Of course I admit it, I win."
Shang Rui raised his eyebrows, clearly disagreeing.
"Whoever reaches the Black Cliff first wins. I got there first." She argued.
"I clearly remember that I arrived first." He gestured above his head with his eyes.
Xia Yue then realized that he meant that he reached the top of the mountain first, so he should be considered the winner.
She was about to argue with him, but suddenly she remembered that he was teasing her on purpose, so she held her breath, frowned, and refused to talk to him again.
With a smile in the corner of his eyes, he lowered his head and looked at her eyes, which were as crystal clear as a sika deer's. At this moment, his unwillingness was written all over his face. He thought she was really interesting.
He laughed again.
The rain came quickly and went away quickly, and it stopped after a while.
After the sudden rain, the sun poured down again.
Shang Rui wrung out the half-wet coat and put it on again.
They wound their way down the path.
Because the beach was damp and covered with grass, and moss grew in some places on the stone steps, we had to walk very carefully.
There is a mudflat at the bottom of the cliff. Because there is sea water on both sides and stone walls blocking the way, the sea is outside the mudflat.
The coasts elsewhere are sandy beaches, but here they are all black reefs.
She was about to walk towards the beach, but Shang Rui grabbed her arm and said softly, "Look back."
She did as she was told doubtfully.
The moment she turned around and looked up, her breathing stagnated and she froze in place.
Everyone loves to stand on the Black Cliff and look out over the Weilu Sea, taking in the entire coastline. Who would have thought that standing at the foot of the cliff and looking back at the Black Cliff would be such a view? The black cliff is covered with a vine called purple bougainvillea. This is a common plant in the wilds of Gyeonggi Province, but no one would have thought that it would grow so luxuriantly on the cliff by the sea. At this time of year, it is the flowering season. The purple bougainvillea that fills the cliff is in full bloom, covering half of the Black Cliff in purple, like a huge flower screen, which is both spectacular and beautiful.
The sea breeze blew, and the purple bougainvillea swayed in the wind.
The fallen petals are colorful, coming from the sky.
Only then did she notice that there was a layer of purple fallen flowers under her feet. She had been so eager to see the sea that she had not noticed it at all, and now she did not dare to step on it.
"It's so beautiful." She exclaimed softly, "How did you find it?"
The side of the Black Cliff facing the sea is convex on the top and concave on the bottom. Standing on the cliff, you can't see the scenery below at all. Moreover, both sides of this rocky beach are blocked by sea water. Only the inconspicuous path just now can lead to here. If you don't pay attention, you won't find it at all.