〖On the 16th day of the first month of Jiaxu, the first year of Tongtai in Southern Chu, King Yong sent his son to a long journey and called a banquet for his officials. Zhe did not attend. Persuade him with courtesy, and retreat ashamed.
— "The History of Chu in the Southern Dynasties: The Biography of Jiang Suiyun"〗
I stretched out comfortably. In the past few days, I have received news that the prince has taken the bait, so that I can put these troublesome things aside for a while. In fact, Prince Yong’s mansion is so busy today that he is going to die. Who asked the prince to replace King Yong and become a vassal? According to the usual practice, His Royal Highness King Yong wants to invite a feast of ministers. I am not interested in this kind of thing, so I told His Royal Highness to take leave. I'm going to take a good look at the few out-of-print ancient books that King Yong gave me in the cold garden. Your Highness understands that I don't like the lively mood, because many princes and nobles will come to the banquet today, so I'm afraid King Yong's outer palace will be too much. It's messy. After all, many of them are qualified to stroll in the palace. As long as they don't approach a few forbidden places, it doesn't matter. In order to prevent people from disturbing me, His Royal Highness specially sent someone to guard the door for me, and others are not allowed to enter. , In fact, according to His Highness, I might as well hide in the back house, but I didn't agree to the order from Guatian Li. Anyway, there are people guarding outside the cold garden, what am I afraid of
Xiao Shunzi knows my temper best. When I come together in the morning, I open the doors and windows to let out the turbid air from the night, and then light a fragrant incense, while I change into a loose robe and drink the fragrant tea Xiao Shunzi brewed for me. , what a magical day. After watching for a while, he looked up inadvertently and saw that Xiao Shunzi was carving a piece of white jade with a silver knife. This is a habit he has developed recently. Since the last time I forced him to carve a wooden doll for Rou Lan, He suddenly liked to carve, and he used a knife to carve around when he had nothing to do. I once asked him why he suddenly liked these things, and he mysteriously told me that he found this to be a good way to practice qigong. I always feel that martial arts seem to have no progress. Who knows that in order to carve a wooden man well, it turns out that his moves are a bit smoother and more natural. Now he has found a new way to practice. Although I don't understand wood carving and martial arts. It doesn't matter, but I still understand the reasoning by analogy. Seeing Xiao Shunzi's transformation from rigid and messy to smooth and continuous knife marks, I also feel that he seems to have made some progress. At least the things he carves are lifelike now, so I simply bought it. Give him a bunch of ordinary jade blocks and let him sculpt and play. No, the book town on my bookcase was carved by him a few days ago.
Looking at him, I suddenly laughed and said, "Xiao Shunzi, although you like carving, you don't need to practice every day. Today, His Highness is entertaining guests. There is a juggling music in front of you. Go and relax."
Xiao Shunzi said lightly, "There are too many people outside today, I don't worry about you alone."
I smiled and said: "You are too careful, this is Prince Yong's Mansion, I am only a small subject, who will assassinate me? Well, let's play, don't forget, you are only twenty years old, Don't act like a little old man all day, then I'll be guilty."
Xiao Shunzi glared at me, but he was still young after all, and those juggling things were also very attractive to him, but he was always a little worried about me, I smiled and said: "Well, you call Hu Wei in, Let him guard you here, so you can rest assured?"
Xiao Shunzi looked at the teacup on the desk and said, "But someone has to serve the tea."
I had no choice but to say: "Xiao Shunzi, don't forget that I taught you to make tea, well, let's go play, you are not allowed to follow me today, the lanterns will be on for three days in a row, and you can protect me last night. Today you go out and have a good stroll, don't be bored in the house all day long, and I won't go out, there will be no danger."
Xiao Shunzi finally nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go out and call someone. You can rest assured, son, and I'll make arrangements."
I looked at his back and smiled with relief, right? A kid who is just 20 years old, so mature, he should have fun, although when I was 20 years old, because this stinky boy stole me He had to take the champion exam because of his entanglement, but he didn't have to feel wronged.
Xiao Shunzi was sent away, and I continued to indulge in the book. When Hu Wei came in to meet him, he saw that I had no response. He followed him for a while, until I sometimes forgot everything when I saw the book, so I quietly Exited without disturbing me. I don't know it right now, but the closest moment of my life to death is coming.
Qin Qing was dealing with the colleagues around him, while thinking about his thoughts. Today, he came to the banquet in place of his father, but he didn't want to chat with those old foxes, so he hurriedly congratulated King Yong and ran to the outside color shed. Looking at the juggling being performed on the high platform, he didn't see it at all, his mind was full of the shadows of Princess Changle and Jiang Zhe.
Back then, he asked the princess to elope, but he was sternly rejected. At that time, he was reckless when he was young, accusing the princess of being ungrateful and greedy for the honor of the Queen of Southern Chu. It's a pity that he didn't have a chance to say sorry, and then he was thrown into the military camp after being heavily censured by his father. He killed this fourth-rank Huwei General with one knife and one shot. Unfortunately, he was not given a chance to hold grudges against him every day. When Nan Chu fought, the princess came back. Knowing this, he was both happy and sad. What he hoped most was to lead the army to break through Nan Chu, and then kneel in front of the princess to plead guilty, but now there is no such opportunity.
After the princess came back, he once begged his mother to enter the palace to convey his feelings on his behalf, but it was a bowl of cold water, and the princess had no more affection for him. He was heartbroken, holding the last glimmer of hope. He participated in the martial arts performance, but fought a tie with the little white face. Although he knew that this did not mean that he was inferior to Xiahou Yuanfeng, Qin Qing knew that he had completely lost hope of reconciling with the princess. , and after the competition, he was imprisoned by his father in the ancestral hall and punished to kneel. It was because of the dispute between himself and the subordinate minister of Nanchu that Qin Qing hated Nanchu deeply. Under his anger, even the people of Nanchu hated him. , Jiang Zhe, a man with a vain reputation, bowed his knees and surrendered with plausibility, and he satirized him a few words, but his father actually moved the family law, and now Qin Qing still remembers the situation when his father scolded him with a face.
"Beast, I don't blame you for your misbehavior in the past, nor do you blame you for taking anger for no reason, but you actually insulted the sage in public. If this goes on, what is the future of my Qin family? You know what a big mistake this is. Jiang Zhe This person is not a mediocre person. He is the counselor of Prince De. Southern Chu took Shuzhong lightly. He gave the king of Shu his life with a long song. You even humiliated him because he was a subordinate, you know that if this person is a little narrow-minded, your life will be in his hands in the future."
Although he was dissatisfied, he still had to bow his head and admit his mistake to his furious father. It wasn't until yesterday that my father let him out and sighed: "Little servant, tomorrow King Yong will call for a banquet, you go to congratulate the prince on my behalf, remember. , I must find an opportunity to meet Jiang Sima and apologize to him. If this person hates you, I am afraid it will be a disaster after all. I have inquired, His Royal Highness King Yong regards this person as a confidant, and even His Royal Highness King Qi also regards him very highly. "The two His Royal Highnesses are not mediocre people, it can be seen that this person is powerful, if you can't seek his understanding, your younger siblings will probably be implicated by you in the future."
So I came to Prince Yong's Mansion full of resentment. I thought it was okay to admit a mistake, but just now, I learned a piece of news that almost made me dizzy. Princess Changle actually had an affair with that shameless surrendered minister.
It was a coincidence to learn this news. After meeting King Yong, he expressed his congratulations on behalf of his father. Although he was awkward, he still offered to apologize to Jiang Zhe. King Yong readily agreed, but said that Jiang Sima was always weak, and I am afraid that he would have to wait until it was time. When I saw the guest, I asked myself to go to relax first, but I reluctantly agreed, while slandering the useless scholar while watching the scenery in the Yongwang Mansion, but not long after I walked, I found two eunuchs whispering behind a pine forest. I didn't intend to eavesdrop, but the sentence I overheard made me immediately stunned.
But it was a eunuch who proudly preached to his companions, saying that Princess Changle met Jiang Sima privately when she arrived at the palace, but it turned out that the two had an affair in Nanchu. Such a big thing? He was still bragging that Jiang Sima gave him a thousand taels of silver, and said that if he was willing to keep his mouth shut, when he became a concubine in the future, he would ask this eunuch to be the general manager.
Qin Qing became dizzy when he heard this, and only woke up after a while. When he wanted to ask questions, the two eunuchs were no longer there. Qin Qing stayed there and thought about it. If the princess married Wei Ying or Xiahou Yuanfeng, she would be convinced even though she was sad. If the princess really had an affair with that weak scholar, she would not be reconciled. Think about it. Go, the princess has been virtuous and gentle since she was a child. It must be the one who surrendered to seduce the princess. If it wasn't for King Yong who had something to say first, I'm afraid he would go and question Jiang Zhe, so the next time, whether it's watching juggling or doing something else , Qin Qing was absent-minded. When he arrived, Qin Qing saw that the middle and lower-level officials had basically come, and found a guard to lead the way to see Jiang Zhe. Those guards had already been ordered by King Yong, so they brought Follow Qin Qing to the cold garden.
Although Qin Qing was full of anger, he was a general manager after all, and he was also curious along the way. Since Jiang Zhe was the Sima of Tiance's commander-in-chief, and Changshi Shiyu was going to Youzhou to assist the prince, then in Yongwangfu. This person is a figure below one person and above ten thousand people, but this is more and more deserted, it seems to be an extremely remote guest house. Involuntarily, Qin Qing asked the guard who led the way, "Why does Jiang Sima live in such a remote place?"
The guard smiled and said, "General Qin doesn't know anything. Jiang Sima likes to be clean, so he chose Hanyuan to live there. There's nothing to do, and even the gate of the garden rarely comes out?"
Since Qin Qing had suspicions in his heart, he couldn't help but think, this person lives in a remote place, does it mean that he wants to have a private meeting with the princess
When he arrived at the Cold Garden, Qin Qing found that the place was indeed heavily guarded, and there were more than a dozen guards who had seen it. He led his guards to explain the situation to the guards in front of the door. After the guard entered, he came out and said, "Sima has Please General Qin."
Qin Qing walked into the cold garden, but saw that it was quiet and deserted inside. It seemed that Jiang Zhe really liked the cleanliness. He saw Hu Wei standing outside a Yaxuan door at a glance. Hu Wei was a trusted subordinate of King Yong. Qin Qing is very clear. It seems that King Yong really attaches great importance to Jiang Zhe. Maybe King Yong supports Jiang Zhe and the princess. Qin Qing's anger is even more burning.
I was reading a book when suddenly Hu Wei came in and reported that General Qin Qingqin had come to ask for a meeting. I was stunned for a moment. This person was rude to me in public. What did he come to see me today? I wanted to disappear, and then I remembered that if it wasn't an important matter, how could King Yong arrange for him to come to see me, so I had to put down the book, and I was too lazy to change my clothes. It wasn't a business thing anyway, so I wouldn't be in trouble for a while.
After a while, Qin Qing walked in and stared at me blankly as soon as he came in. I felt strange and waved Hu Wei to go out and asked, "What is the important thing for the general here? Feel free to get used to it, please take a seat, General."
Qin Qing sat down silently and looked at the young man across from him. He was wearing a loose and comfortable green robe. His long hair was not tied up, but he used a hairpin. His expression was leisurely and calm. Qin Qing had a strong feeling that the young man in front of him He is not a worldly person at all. Does he really have an affair with the princess? Qin Qing thought to himself.
I saw that this handsome general had been silent for a while, and couldn't help feeling a little bored, so I said coldly, "What is the matter with the general? Tea bowl, I took a sip of this superb Mengshan tea. This is the best among the tributes. Even His Royal Highness King Yong only has a few taels. I gave half of it to me. It is my favorite. Have a cup. Who knew that I had just taken a sip when I heard Qin Qing coldly say, "Are you really having an affair with Princess Changle?"
"Pfft." All the tea in my mouth spurted out. I stared at Qin Qing blankly, and stammered, "General Qin, what did you say?"
Qin Qing looked at me coldly and said, "I asked if you have an affair with Princess Changle."
I subconsciously played to my strengths, yes, Hu Wei is far away, so I shouldn't hear it, why is there such a problem? I looked at Qin Qing and asked, "General Qin, with all due respect, what is your relationship with the princess?"
When Qin Qing heard this, his face flushed and he said, "No?"
I felt that the cold hairs on my body had grown up, and I knew that this person had murderous intentions, but after thinking about it, I couldn't let Hu Wei in. If such rumors spread, I'm afraid King Yong wouldn't be able to keep me. I calmly said: "Since the general has nothing to do with the princess, it would be inappropriate to ask about the princess's affair, but since the general has asked, if I don't answer it, I'll be a little guilty, but this matter can't be repeated. I also hope that the general will use his brain more before asking questions."
I looked at Qin Qing's face and felt that there was still room, so I continued: "Zheben is a subordinate to Nanchu, and it is understandable for the general to despise me, but the only benefit of Zheping's life is to be clean and self-love. I have never had an affair with another woman. If the general reprimanded Jiang Zhe for bowing his knees and surrendering, Zhe would have to listen to him no matter how angry he was. There are only such foul words, although they are over the top of my ears, but I can't let you talk nonsense. ."
Qin Qing's face changed and changed, and said coldly, "Do you dare to swear?"
I smiled contemptuously, and said lightly: "General, Jiang Zhe, in this body, can treat the heavens and gods above, and the people below Li people, I swear I will not do this kind of thing, but I might as well say bluntly, there are only two conversations between Zhe and the princess. Second, once was in Southern Chu, I was ordered to have an audience, and the other time was a few days ago, when I met in Prince Yong's mansion. , there will be no innocent people in the world."
Qin Qing calmed down, he could hear that although my words were harsh, I didn't say a single false statement. Thinking that he had heard the rumor and came to question him, he had a bloody head and how could he apologise to Jiang Zhe in accordance with his father's order, so he could only clasped his fists and said. : "It's my fault. This is what I heard from the two eunuchs in the palace. Please forgive me, Lord Sima."
I felt a chill in my heart, and immediately raised my voice: "Hu Wei."
Hu Wei immediately pushed open the door and walked in. I said coldly, "Some people are talking nonsense and angering General Qin. You go and bring them to see me, General Qin. What do these two look like and where did they meet?"
Qin Qing didn't want to talk about it at first, but when he saw the coldness in Jiang Zhe's eyes, he was shocked and said the age and appearance of the two people. Hu Wei listened for a while and said, "Sir, these two subordinates know that they are the father-in-law sent from the palace. May I ask your lord, did you bring people here?"
I thought for a while and said: "Today, His Highness is hosting a banquet. Don't disturb the guests. You have arrested both of them and imprisoned them, waiting for His Highness to deal with them."
After Hu Wei left, I looked at Qin Qing and said lightly, "General Qin, listen to my advice, the reason why Ling Zun has been favored to this day is not because of power and dominance. I heard that General Fuyuan is a taciturn man, and he will do what he says in his life. The most admirable thing is that the general is fair and decisive in handling things. If there is no fault, even the pawn will not be dismissive. If there is a fault, even the royal family will not accommodate. The general can think about these days. There is something worth boasting about in his behavior, and I can't bear to see the descendants of the generals wither."
Qin Qing should have been angry, but he felt that what Jiang Zhe said was the same as what his father said in daily life. He was originally a descendant of Jiangmen, and he was taught earnestly by his father. Although he was confused for a while, it was not his nature. After thinking about it, he felt that his heart was empty, and he bowed respectfully and respectfully: "Thank you for your teaching, Qing Xiangri has offended you. Sir, please forgive me."
I was surprised. I didn't expect this person to be so knowledgeable and able to change. I couldn't help but pick him up and said, "The general can't afford such a great gift. If there is any offense, please forgive me."
Qin Qing said calmly: "Sir, Qin Qing originally wanted to listen to Mr.'s teachings, but he was ordered to come to congratulate him. The banquet is about to be held. Qing had to go out to congratulate His Royal Highness King Yong. If there is a chance in the future, please ask Mr. ."
Unexpectedly, he turned his guns into jade and silk. I couldn't help but feel happy, so I personally sent him out of the cold garden. After seeing him walk away, he suddenly heard someone scolding: "Whoever trespasses in the cold garden, he will be bound without restraint."