In the side hall of Feishhuang Hall, Xiao Kezhi sat expressionlessly on the couch at the gate, closed his eyes and rested. Awe and coercion.
In his hand was a small silver sachet that had been extinguished and cooled, and beside the sachet were several pieces of silver carbon strips the size of knuckles, which were found from Zhao Yu'e earlier.
"Everyone, someone's here." Liu Kang's voice came from the door, and then two strong inner servants came in with Zhao Yu'e, who was described as embarrassed.
Zhao Yu'e's hands were tied, her hair was messy, and her clothes were no longer as neat and tidy as before. There was anxiety and anger in her reddish eyes, but a thick cloth was stuffed in her mouth, and her usual beauty was lost.
She was pushed forward and staggered two steps forward. Because she couldn't move her hands, she fell on her knees in front of the couch without noticing.
The candle flames on both sides were flickered and flickered by the fan of her dress, illuminating the scene in the room.
She couldn't help looking up at the man on the couch.
He didn't know when he had opened his eyes, and he was looking down at her, his eyes were cold and waveless, as if a ruthless iceberg was under heavy pressure.
"You are very courageous. You crossed the line a few times, but I ignored it, but you still don't give up. You even dare to make this thing today."
The things on the couch were thrown in front of her, and the spherical silver sachet was immediately split in half from the middle, and the incense ashes were scattered and fell to the ground.
Zhao Yu'e stared at the messy ground, and the original anxiety slowly cooled down, leaving only stubbornness and confusion. She wanted to speak, but because of the rough cloth in her mouth, she could only look at him silently with her eyes.
She knew that the matter had been exposed and could no longer be undone, so she simply did not make unnecessary struggles.
"What, do you have something to say?" Xiao Kezhi met her gaze, without showing too much joy or anger, he only stretched out the rough cloth from her mouth, "I'll give you a chance."
Zhao Yu'e didn't show any timidity at all. Once she was free, she straightened up and said simply: "Yes, Yu Niang has something to say. Yu Niang wants to ask Your Majesty, why others can, but Yu Niang can't? It's because Yu Niang is not enough. Beauty is still not gentle enough? Or, your Majesty dislikes Yu Niang who lost her father and is a widow? Yu Niang doesn’t ask for Your Majesty’s affection, but only wants a place in the Tai Chi Palace, why is Your Majesty not allowing her?”
The "others" she was talking about was naturally the unidentified woman she saw on the racecourse last time, and it was because of that woman's appearance that she gave birth to her thoughts tonight.
There was a hint of surprise in Xiao Kezhi's eyes.
He had seen some of Zhao Erniang's temperament before, and I am afraid she is also a very assertive and bold woman. Looking at it today, it is indeed the case, even more direct than he thought.
But for some reason, he looked at the colourful woman in front of him, but the figure of another woman flashed in his mind uncontrollably. That woman is now sleeping peacefully in his bedroom.
He suddenly wanted to ask himself why he had the same scheming and asked for nothing from him, but his attitude was completely different. He was calm and unwavering in dealing with one of them, but he was already in chaos when dealing with the other. Mind, involuntarily.
This is about his miasma.
He seemed no longer interested in her words, slowly looked away, and said indifferently: "Who do you think I am? As long as a woman is a woman, shouldn't she refuse to come? The woman I like is the lowest female slave. It's okay, what I don't like, even the goddess in the sky is useless. Do you understand?"
Zhao Yu'e bit her lower lip, her eyes a little hurt.
She understood, it had nothing to do with beauty, identity, or character, he just had no interest in her at all.
This was probably the most damaging word to her self-esteem she had ever heard in her more than 20 years of life.
In the past, many of these noble girls in Chang'an City had ridiculed her background in a family of military commanders, but she never underestimated herself because of it. She always felt that it was just because she was not tall enough. When everyone stepped on her feet, no one would dare to despise her like this again.
She was born beautiful and had a straightforward and bold temperament. No man would ever ignore her like this. What she said today really embarrassed her.
"Your Majesty, Yuniang is the wife of the Zhao family. Looking at the whole of Great Liang, the only thing that can be compared to your Majesty's Ganzhou army is the Bozhou army in the hands of Yuniang's brother. My Zhao family has been operating in Bozhou for many years. Help, why would Your Majesty refuse?" She was unwilling, gritted her teeth and continued to ask.
This time, Xiao Kezhi suddenly laughed.
He stood up from the couch, his hands behind his back, and when he stood in front of her, he looked even more burly and sturdy.
"Compared with the Ganzhou Army? That's probably just wishful thinking by outsiders."
He has been in the army all these years, and the Ganzhou army has already been trained by him to be an invincible team, capable of blocking the iron cavalry that is several times stronger than himself.
As for the Bozhou Army, it might have been comparable to it twenty years ago, but now in Zhao Lun's hands, he can only block Xiao Nanzhao by the terrain.
However, in recent years, the majors in North Korea and China have focused their attention on the military, and most people are unaware of the changes.
There was undisguised contempt in his tone, as if he couldn't despise the large number of Bozhou troops, which made Zhao Yu'e feel terrified.
His tone became more and more meaningful: "Besides, who is in the hands of the Bozhou Army? Isn't it my decision? If your Zhao family is so useful, why are you in such a hurry to approach me?"
This time, Zhao Yu'e froze completely, looking at him with a pale face, unable to say a word.
"Okay, that's it for today. Next time, if I don't know what to do, I will send you directly to the Dali Temple prison, and let your brother come back from Bozhou to see you. Do you understand?"
He did not intend to severely punish Zhao Yu'e today. As a result, he really disliked this woman's tricks, and his own face would not look good if he made a big noise. In the past few days, he has already attracted a lot of discussion about the woman's affairs, and he really doesn't need to provoke criticism for himself; Second, the candidate who can succeed Zhao Lun has not yet been decided.
Zhao Yu'e stared at him nervously while gritting her teeth, but she didn't dare to ask directly as boldly as before, she could only nod her face blankly, let him let someone in, and escort her out of the Feishhuang Palace again.
His words made her doubt that he knew her brother's situation in Bozhou for a long time, and even her father's affairs with Nanzhao had been figured out.
At this time, humiliation and injury are no longer important. If he really knows, then their Zhao family will not be able to last long no matter what.
…
In the dormitory, Chu Ning slept for a full half an hour before slowly waking up in the dim silence.
The inner room was empty, save for a solitary lamp flickering on a candlestick beside the screen.
She got up from the bed sideways, hugging Jin's kneaded and sore arms and waist, waiting for her thoughts to slowly return to the cage.
She didn't expect that she would sleep so long in a completely unfamiliar bedroom full of a man's breath.
When she was with Xiao Yu in the past, she would always clean up after the incident and force herself to go back to her room before sleeping. Xiao Yu was suspicious by nature. Although he married her, he still slept alone every night, and was not worried about sleeping in the same bed with anyone. It just so happened that when she was by his side, she was always very tense and didn't dare to relax, so she was happy to have the opportunity to relax alone.
If he occasionally left her to sleep with her, she would have slept very lightly at night. When he left the next day, she would return to her room to make up for her sleep.
Something unusual tonight.
She smiled helplessly, thinking that the thoughtfulness of Xiao Kezhi before falling asleep made her dazed. After all, no one else had treated her like this.
The maid's dress had been taken away, and the original princess' dress was folded beside the bed. She brushed her long hair from the back of her head, put on the underwear inside, and then put on a slightly wider sleeved shirt, and then stepped on the ground barefoot.
There is also a soup spring pipe under the bedroom, which warms the ground.
She stood in a daze for a moment, and when she saw the bright lights outside, she walked lightly.
On the long couch outside, Xiao Kezhi was looking at the scroll under the lamp, with a pen in his hand, writing a series of comments from time to time, the whole person was bathed in the bright yellow light, and the look of concentration made people unable to take their eyes off.
She stood by the screen and watched him silently, and for some reason, she suddenly remembered that today was New Year's Eve.
She remembered that when she was young, every New Year's Eve, her father went to the palace for a banquet. No matter how late it was, he would come back to accompany her to watch the new year. Later, when she was older, she could also attend the New Year's Eve banquet in the palace with her father, but her father still insisted on taking her home to reunite with her relatives, and took her to pay homage to her deceased mother.
At that time, New Year's Eve was a day full of warmth and warmth for her. As long as she thought about it, she would feel happy.
But later in the East Palace, Xiao Yu didn't like this day when the ruler and his ministers gathered together and celebrated together.
He didn't want to see Empress Dowager Qi condescending, nor did he want to see the emperor and his concubines happy, nor did he want to see him being forced to act humble and submissive in front of them. On this day, he always pretended to laugh outside to socialize with everyone, and when he returned to the East Palace, he would return to his gloomy side.
Therefore, the entire East Palace did not dare to have any cheerful and loose atmosphere.
In her memory, the New Year's Eve of the past two years was as cold and lonely as a snowy winter night outside.
Today is different - not touching, warm, or even a little thrilling, but unique enough.
"Awake?" Xiao Kezhi, who had never raised his head, did not know when he had discovered her existence, and asked in a deep voice while writing.
"Yes."
Chu Ning responded, hesitated for a moment beside the screen, suddenly walked to the desk and knelt down gently, lowered his eyebrows and lowered his head, and said, "A-Ning has something to say, ask Your Majesty's permission."
Probably expecting what she was going to say, Xiao Kezhi's hand holding the pen tube tightened silently, but did not stop, only said lightly: "Speak, today, I will allow it."
Chu Ning, with her hair down and her back straight, lowered her eyebrows and lowered her head, and said, "Your Majesty once asked Aning why he approached him deliberately several times. Aning really doesn't ask for anything - Your Majesty already knows it."
As she spoke, as if her emotions were brewing, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes again, and continued: "Aning wants to ask Your Majesty to clear Aning's father and criminal minister Chu Qianyu from the trumped-up charges, and return him to him. An innocence."
Without waiting for him to ask again, she explained how she discovered the truth and learned that Xiao Yu was the culprit.
She thought that when she talked about these things, her emotions would be uncontrollable, but when she really said it now, she felt a sense of relief. Those emotions of pain, hatred, depression, grievance, and helplessness have temporarily worn away sharp thorns , wrapped in a calm attitude.
In front of him, she finally didn't have to pretend to be herself, and finally she was able to show her most secret side.
Now, she just had to wait for his answer.
"I beg Your Majesty to grant Aning's request." She bowed slowly, her tone calm and sincere. Although she begged, she was not humble or embarrassed.
Xiao Kezhi, who was on the couch, did not speak, but the pen tube that he was holding in his hand and kept writing had stopped unknowingly. The saturated ink dripped from the tip of the pen, and a smudge of striking ink was smudged on the paper.
"Your sword is slanted, and you are doing all this for your father?" He still looked down at the writing on the book, his tone was flat, making it difficult to discern his emotions.
"Yes, for my father, I am willing to do anything."
She answered firmly and without hesitation, finally causing him to look up and look at her with complex eyes.
"What about yourself?"
How much have you thought about yourself, how much have you fought for