It was not until he was about to put out the candle to sleep that Han Ruzi had the opportunity to open the note and glance at it quickly. There were only four words on it: Shang Si meat no.
Han Ruzi understood the meaning of the note. This was not a question, just like the "I want to eat meat" he wrote back then, it was just a way out. The Minister of Rites, Yuan Jiuding, handed over the note at the time, indicating that the road would be blocked, while Han Ruzi held the note tightly and did not intend to hand it over.
The candle went out, Tong Qing'e hardly made a sound when she slept, Zhang Youcai was young after all, and soon started snoring lightly, Han Ruzi didn't feel noisy, but felt at ease, closed her eyes, and began to think about the most important question: who did the note come from
The act of stuffing the note must have happened in the middle of the afternoon fight, when a group of people came up to fight, and anyone could stuff something in the emperor's belt without being noticed.
Will Donghaiwang be an insider or even a collaborator? The last time he pretended to wrestle and gave the emperor a chance to stuff a note.
Han Ruzi clenched the paper bag tightly and rejected this possibility. The paper bag was quite old, and it had obviously been hidden from the owner for a while.
Zhang Youcai's snoring suddenly disappeared, Han Ruzi opened his eyes, waited for a while and asked softly, "Is it you?"
"Um."
"You haven't been here for a long time."
"This is the palace, and I can't come and go freely." Meng E didn't treat the boy as an emperor, and ordered, "Sit up."
Han Ruzi got up, remembering that he hadn't practiced reverse breathing very much these days, and he couldn't help feeling a little nervous. Meng E was not someone who was good at talking and fooling.
"Are you concentrating on your practice?"
"I've practiced, but there's been a lot going on recently..."
"You're not practicing the boy's kung fu. Marrying the queen has no effect on you. If you want to learn advanced internal skills, concentration is more important than anything else. Like you are now, you won't be able to practice vitality in a hundred years."
"I have to... I have to save my life first, otherwise I won't be able to repay you even if I learn internal skills."
Meng E slapped a palm, and Han Ruzi fell and sat up again. Knowing that she was testing the results of her practice, she couldn't help but feel apprehensive, "I haven't practiced for a long time, will it produce results so quickly?"
"Do you have any special feelings?" Meng E asked.
"No... Yes, it just hurts a bit where you hit your chest."
"That doesn't work." Meng E was silent for a moment, "There is no other way, but this move."
"What is 'this trick'? It's not dangerous, is it?"
Meng E didn't answer, she said, "Can you feel your ears?"
"What do you mean? My ears are right here."
"Can your ears move?"
The more Han Ruzi listened, the more confused he became, but he still tried his best to control his ears, "It's a little difficult."
In the darkness, Meng E clipped a slender object to the emperor's right ear, "Try again this time."
"It seems a little easier."
It was a hairpin, and Meng E took it back and said, "You understand, you have to have a feeling before you can practice and strengthen. The method of reverse breathing is not to practice, but to allow you to feel the existence of qi, but you Couldn't do it."
"Sorry, I do… don't work too hard, always distracted."
"I can't blame you entirely. The internal skills of this sect are extremely complicated. There are seven levels of skin, flesh, tendons, bones, blood, marrow, and qi from the outside to the inside. The normal training method should go hand in hand. Your training method is too simple, indeed It's hard to have an effect."
Han Ruzi did not dare to complain that Meng E did not teach well, "Then teach me normal practice."
"No, you are the emperor, there are too many people around you, you can't practice, and you will be recognized by my brother. There is only one way."
Meng E mentioned "this trick" just now, Han Ruzi had a faint sense of ominousness, and hurriedly said: "I don't have to practice internal skills, as long as you are willing to protect me, I will repay in the future..."
"I can't protect you all the time. If you want to repay me, you must first owe me a big enough favor. Open your mouth."
Han Ruzi didn't want to open his mouth, so he slapped another palm from the opposite side. The turbid air in his chest rose and rushed into his throat. He opened his mouth involuntarily, feeling that something had entered his mouth. Too late, "What did you feed me?"
"Good thing, I've been trying to find a way to collect medicinal herbs these days, and I finally managed to make three medicinal pills. You eat one first, and then take the second and third pills in a few days. , that is, you really can’t practice inner strength.”
"Can you feel breathless after taking medicine?"
"It's only possible. Compared with normal practice, it's a side project. I'll give you a little more help." Meng E didn't ask for consent, and quickly pointed a few fingers on the emperor, "Okay, in the next few days, you may There will be various symptoms such as hiccups, abdominal pain, diarrhea, body heat, dizziness, etc. Don't worry, hold back and try to run reverse breathing."
"But I'm getting married soon, and I still have important things to do... Hey, are you still there?" Han Ruzi felt something flash in front of him, and after waiting for a while, he was sure that Meng E had left.
He really hoped that Meng E could stay a little longer. In this sinister palace, the cold Meng E was the person who could bring warmth the most.
He lay down, practiced reverse breathing for a while, and fell asleep, without experiencing the symptoms Meng E mentioned. When he got up the next day, everything was still normal. Han Ruzi thought he was lucky, so he didn't take it to heart.
The King of the East Sea did not come to meet the emperor as usual, and went to greet the empress dowager. Han Ruzi only saw him in the imperial garden when he went to Lingyun Pavilion to listen to the class.
King Donghai knelt by the side of the road in the garden, touching the ground with his forehead, carrying a wooden stick more than three feet long on his back. Dozens of attendants stood behind him, all of them nervous, not even breathing.
Han Ruzi didn't expect such a scene at all, he was stunned and asked Zuo Ji beside him, "What's going on?"
Since the last time he failed to persuade the emperor to practice husband and wife, Zuo Ji has rarely shown a smile, and it is the same today, "Donghai King is disrespectful and disrespectful, this is to apologize to His Majesty."
"Let him get up." The fight yesterday was not serious. Han Ruzi didn't even have a scratch. Although the King of the East Sea was not likable, it was too much for him to be so humiliated in public.
The person who made the King of the East Sea plead guilty is not the emperor, and it is not him who can make him get up. Zuo Ji shook his head and said softly: "As usual, you have to kneel for at least half a day to plead guilty. Your Majesty will go to Lingyun Pavilion first, and there is nothing to worry about here. ."
It was a convention again. Suddenly, Han Ruzi understood the meaning of the concubine's words. There is something called "routine" to replace the emperor in power. Han Ruzi didn't feel it deeply before because he didn't even have the most basic power. .
Han Ruzi didn't fight anymore, all the chips in his hand were used to fight wits and courage with the Queen Mother, and he shouldn't waste it on the King of the East China Sea.
This morning, the emperor was alone in Lingyun Pavilion listening to the class, and the garden outside the window was quieter than usual.
The lecturer was Luo Huanzhang, who didn't mention the experience of the old disciple. Standing in front of the emperor, he raised his head to think for a while, and asked, "Where did Caomin talk about last time?"
Luo Huanzhang's national history was the only class that Han Ruzi liked to listen to. He remembered it very well, and immediately replied: "Just finished talking about the deeds of Taizu."
"That's right, Taizu has already said it, and the next step should be Emperor Cheng. Emperor Taizu was a military man throughout his life. Emperor Cheng was fond of Confucianism since childhood. After he succeeded to the throne, he practiced the way of benevolence and righteousness. Taizu won the world, and Emperor Cheng guarded the world..."
As a scholar, Luo Huanzhang obviously admires Emperor Cheng, and he is full of praise. The more he talks, the more excited he gets. The gorgeous sentences are like a group of well-trained soldiers of the ceremonial guard. The armor is dazzling, and the flag is fluttering in the wind. It's been a while, but it can't help but feel a little boring.
Luo Huanzhang was becoming indistinguishable from other old masters, and Han Ruzi was gradually disappointed. He could barely keep his eyes open, but the two eunuchs at the door had already started to doze off.
After half an hour, Luo Huanzhang's praise finally ended, and the conversation suddenly changed: "Although Emperor Cheng is the direct son of the Taizu, he is not liked, he was demoted several times, and he was almost eliminated. In order to be enthroned and become emperor, this is the luck of becoming an emperor and the luck of the Great Chu."
Luo Huanzhang was an orthodox Confucian scholar. He never directly accused the emperor of his mistakes, and he should try to hide it as much as possible when he mentioned it occasionally.
Han Ruzi raised a little interest, "Emperor Cheng has a good mother and a good minister."
Luo Huanzhang shook his head, "Emperor Cheng has a good mother, but not a good minister."
Han Ruzi sat upright and became more interested, "Didn't the minister protect Emperor Cheng?"
"Some people support Emperor Cheng, and naturally there are people who support other princes, especially King Zhongshan, who was the favorite of Taizu. There are many ministers who have written to ask for a more crown prince. In the first few years of Emperor Cheng's ascension, they were all solving this problem."
"Emperor Cheng demoted those ministers back?"
"At the beginning, there were too many ministers who supported King Zhongshan. Emperor Cheng killed a few and demoted a few, but not many. Emperor Cheng was very smart and soon discovered the truth."
"What truth?"
Luo Huanzhang glanced at the dozing eunuch at the door, and said slowly: "Those ministers who proposed to establish a new crown prince, they are not courting the Taizu, let alone King Zhongshan."
"Who would that be?" Han Ruzi's eyes widened in surprise.
"Emperor." Luo Huanzhang paused for a moment, then continued: "The ministers follow the emperor, whoever is on the throne, and whom the ministers follow. Those who once courted the Taizu, some of whom were later the most staunch supporters of Emperor Cheng."
"The minister does this... it doesn't quite conform to the way of benevolence and righteousness, right?"
"Of course, a nephew is a nephew, which is not good for the country, nor does it help the emperor, so Emperor Cheng still chopped off some people's heads, but for most people, Emperor Cheng took another method, transforming them, educating them, and introducing them into the The way of righteousness."
Han Ruzi understood a little, "Because such ministers are easier to reform."
"Your Majesty is smart, and you can see through it at one point. A gentleman is benevolent and righteous, but he also needs a villain to follow. The wisdom of becoming an emperor lies in finding the trustworthy side of the minister, sailing with the current, and finally accomplishing a great cause."
Han Ruzi nodded, suddenly understood something, looked at Luo Huanzhang blankly, and asked uncertainly, "Is it you?"
"Does Your Majesty still think about meat?"
Han Ruzi was shocked, wondering how the note came from Luo Huanzhang, the two had never had physical contact.
Luo Huanzhang looked at the emperor with encouraging eyes, Han Ruzi slowly straightened his body, and was about to speak, when suddenly his abdominal pain was like a cramp, he clutched his stomach and fell on the brocade mat.