The morning of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month of the first year of Zhongping brought a new breath. Perhaps because of the absence of He Jin, the air in the whole Luoyang felt much fresher.
Although I don't know much about He Jin, it's enough to know that it's better to have him than to have him. I didn't trick Yin Ling back last night. I feel helpless when I think about it. But recently Yin Ling always seems to be untouchable. Maybe it's because of her father. Until now, she still keeps a certain distance from me.
In the morning, I was called up from bed by Empress He and her group. She smiled and called me softly, just like a child, with a numb heart and sore teeth, I ate breakfast by the couch. While eating, I was thinking about how to avoid the mother-son ceremony after eating, but in the end I couldn't escape it. Then, with the help of the "mother's" maid, I had to put on a yellow and black court dress, which was made for me overnight by the skilled craftsmen in the palace. I asked why I had to wear this, as she had to attend court today.
Then, I quickly and vaguely said, as if I had granted amnesty: "Mother monkey, go first." Then I hurried out, but after only two steps, I had to come back. Empress He smiled and handed me the white jade board. It was nothing. There was a line of beautiful handwriting on it: Monkey, I expected that you would forget this and ask me for it in the end. I summoned my daughter-in-law fù to the palace yesterday, and you have nowhere to hide.
When did Yin Ling become so big-mouthed that she would point out my shortcomings to Empress He like this? The etiquette should also be changed. This white jade tablet is used for recording things. Since I have nothing to report, why should I bring this thing? It can't be put anywhere, and it's too cold and stretchy to put it around my neck.
I was in a bad mood this morning. When I saw a eunuch carrying something over, I wanted to beat him up. However, when I saw his appearance, I realized that he was only a child of about ten years old with a childish face. Moreover, he had a handsome face, so my disgust was greatly reduced.
I must admit that I still don't have a good impression of Empress He, but I still give enough face to my adoptive father.
So when I met him during court, I naturally had to go through the formalities again. Suddenly I wondered why we Han people have so many troubles.
I followed him all the way, feeling secretly proud in my heart: I am probably the first official to go to court with the emperor.
But it was very awkward when the court session started. The emperor had just ascended the throne, facing south and yet to sit down, when I heard a sudden ringing of bells. I couldn't hear what the eunuch shouted, so I had to kneel abruptly not far from the left side of the dragon throne. The civil and military officials below had just come back from their homes, and they probably couldn't understand anything at all. They glanced sideways and thought: Oh, who is that family in front that is so strange to greet in such a place.
After hearing all the cheers, I just felt that I was unworthy and that I would live longer at least.
"Zirui, go down and stand with your father." The emperor said with a smile, pointing to the stairs. When I went down, I clearly saw the strange looks of the ministers. I could only have confusion in my eyes, indifference on my face, and no idea what was going on in my heart.
Immediately below the steps where He Jin had stood before stood Shen Gong, Teacher, and Brother Meng De. I stood below Shen Gong and looked at Teacher and Meng De, thinking that if we destroyed He Jin, our status would immediately become extraordinary. However, it seemed that they all knew that they would have to stand here for the morning court today, but no one informed me. They really treated me like a child and ordered me around at will, which made me very angry.
But no one spoke in the hall for a long time. I didn't know what was going on. I looked around but couldn't find any familiar faces in the crowd.
"Ah, I haven't sat in court for a long time, and I almost forgot the ancestral rules. My dear ministers, what do you want to report?" Perhaps because he has been a puppet for a long time, the emperor can't even remember that it is his turn to ask about political affairs that need to be discussed. When he has something to report, he must feel a rare excitement in his heart.
But the following is a bit disgusting. A group of people came out to despise He Jin for usurping power and covering up the emperor. They all have a deep hatred for He Jin. If they were really loyal ministers, why didn't they think of a solution in the past few years? Now they come out and really turn my stomach. If I were an official in Luoyang... I'm afraid I really wouldn't live long. Thinking of the last sentence, I think I calmed down. But they are probably on the side of the eunuchs, otherwise how dare these people do this when Queen He is still alive.
Although he knew he couldn't be careless, he still muttered, "A bunch of people."
I immediately noticed the gaze next to me, and I glanced over guiltily. It was a look of reproach, but he nodded slightly, and finally raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and then returned to normal.
My heart warmed, but at this moment someone below expressed his intention to leave, but this time his voice was calm, and it was not about He Jin's problem.
"Your Majesty, today's morning court was delayed, so I saw a strange phenomenon. I don't know what it means. Please make your judgment." The person who came up was Si Tu Wang Yun. The teacher was right about the person. This person was indeed a good minister.
"My dear Lord Wang, please explain."
"Today, at the hour of Mao, the sky was slightly bright. The moon had not yet set in the west, but the sun had already risen in the east. The two lights faced each other in the sky for half an hour, and then the moon disappeared." This, they might really be used to going to the palace at the hour of Mao. I have seen this many times in Xiangyang, and it seems to have happened in spring, summer, autumn and winter. So, I don't think it was a sign from the heavens, but that the moon was moving slowly, and the sun was impatient to wait and came out on its own. In fact, it often happens at night that the sun has not yet set, and the moon is impatient to wait and comes out on its own.
"What do you think, my dear ministers?" I am also very interested in hearing their "brilliant ideas".
"The sun is yang, the moon is yin, and if they both stay together, is it possible that women are going to come out and seize power?" This is a rough man, but his words do make some sense. I know this rough man, Zisheng's father-in-law, Lord Tian Kai.
"Teacher Tian has a point. With the continuous debauchery, there is now one man and three women in the world. I know that there are female officials in Jingzhou."
"I, Guannei Hou Zhang Rang, have a petition to make." A man suddenly knelt down beside the emperor and came out with a sinister look. I had never thought that the Ten Regular Officials would come out to discuss politics openly, and the leader of the eunuch party came out directly, but when I looked around, no one stopped him, and I was furious. I was about to take a step forward and scold this eunuch thief.
My hands were grabbed by someone, and I immediately looked at Shen Gong, but he said softly: "Let me do it."
Just after the emperor said, "Marquis Guannei, please speak," my father resolutely stood in front of the steps and made a clear and direct remonstrance.
"It has been stated in the ancient calendar that eunuchs in the inner palace are not allowed to be granted titles or participate in politics. Now the precedent of granting titles has been broken. If we start a new one to participate in politics, the laws of the Han Dynasty will be ridiculed from now on. Please stand back and there is no need to say more." My father still gave him face. At least he did not scold him and even acquiesced to his title. If it were me, I would have pulled his hair down or hit him on the head with my knee.
However, Zhang Rang could not help but vent his hatred on his father, but he was frightened by his father's righteousness and awe-inspiring power and had to retreat. And my father returned to his original position. At this time, I felt that there was a heroic spirit in my father's fat body.
There were some whispers below, so I took the opportunity to say, "Dad, you are really a hero."
"A few days ago, I'm afraid you didn't want to acknowledge me as your father?" He also replied softly.
"Yes."
My father glanced at me in surprise and said, "Aren't you too honest?"
"I'm sorry, Dad, I let it slip." I smiled, and my father also smiled. From then on, all the grudges between father and son disappeared.
"Come back for lunch at noon. I have something to ask you."
"Yes, father." We took the opportunity to discuss the household chores.
The emperor put aside his objection, looked at Zhang Rang, and pointed to the end of the team and asked, "What does Mr. Zhu have to say?"
This was a young man of medium height and young age. Judging from his clothes, he seemed to be a Grand Historian. This kind of thing should really be asked to him. He stepped forward and knelt down, saying:
"Your Majesty, in fact, this kind of strange phenomenon has been recorded in all four seasons. There is really nothing to speculate about." He said very simply.
"Mr. Zhu, you are an excellent physiognomist, but what do you think of this young man in front of the steps?" The emperor seemed to be a little off topic. I don't know why he suddenly thought of this place, which made me puzzled. Obviously, among the four ministers in front of the steps, only I could be called a young man. So, I came out naturally, performed the etiquette between the emperor and his subjects, and turned to face him and let him look at me. Then the emperor also mentioned that I was adopted as his adopted son, which made the eyes of the group of people below change drastically. And I finally found my two brothers in the crowd, but they were one on the left and one on the right. I don't know when Zisheng became a military officer. He was wearing a black robe and a white jade tablet covering his mouth. I guess he was laughing. My eyes drifted away and greeted the two brothers. Then, Zishe looked over and said, "You climbed so fast." The meaning over there was almost the same. I looked at both sides and said, "I'll beat you."
"This adopted son of the Emperor has a very broad mind, but also has some youthful spirit; he is honest and kind, but also cunning and treacherous. His life seems unpredictable, and there are all kinds of strange lights in his eyes. He is not an ordinary person. I can only say that he will have great disasters in his twenties, forties, and sixties. If he can overcome all the disasters... then it is a great blessing."
There was nothing important to do at the morning court that day. Many people knew what was going on with the person who replaced He Jin above us, so some wanted to see what we thought. That morning, the teacher, Brother Meng De and I had nothing to say, and my father had nothing to say either, so soon there was nothing to say.
There was only one thing that was ordered by the emperor himself, and no one had to remind him on the spot.
"There has been a great riot in Luoyang recently, and the people are in a panic. As tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, I have ordered the people of Luoyang to hang up lanterns and decorations as usual. I will go to the Imperial College to watch the lanterns and celebrate the Lantern Festival with the people to reassure them. I will ask Lord Han Chu to plan the Lantern Festival, and Marquis Gaoling to be in charge of the security in the city. I hope you will go to the Imperial College to take charge of the overall situation, and Zi Ruier will be by my side to protect me."
When the court was dismissed, my father and the emperor talked for a while, and I had to stay there and wait for the two elders to finish talking. The issues they talked about were a bit troublesome, and in the end they even talked about the issue of snatching their sons.
Eventually, I followed my father back to where he lived.
At noon, Sister Qi, my father and I had lunch in a secluded room in the Dongcheng official post station. The atmosphere was a little silent. I didn't expect that my father would be quiet again after coming back. The atmosphere that seemed good just now became a little awkward again. Sister Qi asked me about my father's affairs, and then asked my father about my affairs, trying her best to mediate the awkwardness between us.
My father gestured to Sister Qi to stop talking, and then he finally spoke to me: "Why don't you let Han Chugong guard and Cao Cao preside over the Lantern Festival affairs?"
I knew what was going on, but my sister didn't understand, so I stopped her from asking.
"Because most of the soldiers in Jingzhou are surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers, the teacher is afraid that if the situation cannot be controlled, there will be chaos."
"But Meng De is a little too cruel." The father nodded, but still added helplessly.
After dinner, I was about to leave. He asked me if I had anything else to do in the afternoon. It was rare for me to leave the palace, so I went to visit my two classmates from Jingzhou. But he added, "Today, the Right Servant Zhong Wenjie and the Doctor and the Priest Jiang Yong are both attending a banquet at Situ's Mansion. He also invited me, but I didn't go because I had something to do, and I also declined his invitation to you. They should be there again in the evening, and I will go there in the evening. You should be careful of Wang Yun when you are alone there in the afternoon."
I don't know what happened to Wang Yun. I think Wang Situ is a good person. Maybe he behaved too differently in the morning. My father has been in the upper house for a long time and has become a little worldly. Although I can still be a hero once, I don't trust others anymore.
He immediately understood, laughed, and rode his horse to Situ's mansion.
But I didn't expect the person at the door would not let me in. I told him my identity, but he looked behind me and still didn't believe me.
Finally, I got a little angry and asked him why he didn't believe that I was the Marquis of Ping An Fengyun.
"You are not as tall as him, your appearance is not impressive enough, you didn't bring Tianlang, and you didn't bring any servants. You only have this skinny horse, and you are dressed like a dandy. I wonder if you have been to many places of opium and treason. You can enter by reporting that you are safe. Where do you think this place is?"
I had some doubts in my heart, and was about to get angry when suddenly someone came up from behind and passed by me. I immediately pointed at his face and asked, "Is this person's appearance impressive enough?"
The man stopped and looked at me. I knew I had gone too far, so I quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, brother. I just wanted to make it clear to him that he was being very rude."
"You are so outrageous. Do you think a country rich man like you can just enter the Situ Mansion? Besides, no one in the whole Luoyang dares to call me fat. What do you mean? What do you mean by having a good appearance?" It was my fault. Why did I say this just because I happened to meet a fat man? So I hurried to explain, but he got excited and was really unreasonable.
“Gang'er, why are you arguing with others… Could this be Marquis Ping An Fengyun? Oh, accept my respects.” The fat man was speechless immediately. He knew that the man in front of him was really someone who dared to do anything.
“Could this person be…” I couldn’t come up with this question. Who could remember so many garbages in the court
"Taichang Yuan Kui, this is my son Gang. I just offended you. I hope you can forgive me."
"You are too polite. It was indeed Zirui who was rude just now. I hope Uncle Kui and Brother Gang can forgive me. Zirui is terrified. Uncle Yuan, please accept my greetings."
This courtesy was done in a solid way, because I still think that the description of fat people with appearances that are significant enough is a bit vicious.
Finally everything was fine, so they were about to go in, but I stayed at the door to ask the guard something. Now, the guy with his head shrank had already treated me respectfully as if I were his real father.
"There is one thing I want you to tell me. I wonder if you have been to the smoky land too often, but you can enter by reporting that you are safe. What's going on?"
"I also listened to my brother. I heard that there are people all over Henan pretending to be a marquis. They dress nicely and have their hair down like you. They go in and out of places with smoke and flowers, and report that they are safe and sound, and they don't have to pay."
After hearing the news, I went in silently. I needed to maintain my demeanor as the Marquis of Ping An Fengyun, but at that time, there was only one word in my mind: murder. I didn't know which bastard had done this to ruin my reputation. If I met him, I would definitely kill him like a madman, kill his entire family, dismember him, castrate him, smash his private parts into pulp, and throw him into the water to make him bloated and fat. I was so angry that I turned around and immediately went out to discuss this matter with someone to arrest these people and chop them into pieces for me.
As for being cut into pieces, I am not afraid of it in the last two days. After lunch today, I felt that being cut into pieces was far away from me.
"You rough guy, what are you doing here?" Suddenly someone stopped me. When I looked closely, I saw Zishe's excited and still frivolous smile. I immediately felt happy and put the matter aside.
"Zi, are you pregnant?" I asked loudly.
"Yes, yes, I had it before the New Year. Juan! Bring Yuying here. Zisheng, Zirui is here." At this point, his eyebrows were even more beaming. It was strange that when encountering such a situation, my thought was always to beat him up.
"Girl?" I smoothed his beard with my hand and said, "Do you look like a decent person now?"
"Well, it's only been a dozen days. During this time, I have hired someone to take care of me at my father-in-law's house. You should know that we two don't know a lot, and you are still so frivolous. When Zisheng comes, you will know what it means to be a decent person." This person actually started to learn to be polite. I was afraid that Yinling would not be able to accept it. Thinking of this, I suddenly wanted to see my wife. She has been a little distant from me recently. The emperor will do it for me as soon as things are settled. She also knows that it is the case that Yinling is hard to see.
But the first to come out was a group of officials who came from nowhere. This one was the Praetorian Guards, and that one was the Shaochang. They just chatted with me about some boring things. It took me half an hour to get rid of them. In fact, I just laughed it off. Later, if it wasn’t for the help of Lord Situ, who asked everyone to go enjoy the music, I would definitely not be able to escape from the encirclement of this group of people.
I bowed to Lord Situ, who was inviting everyone, and thanked him for his help. Then I finally let out a sigh of relief and faced my brother. However, Master Tian hadn't gone in yet. When I asked him why, he babbled and he couldn't understand. Fortunately, with the help of Sister Zhong, we finally got this troublesome elder in.
My attention was obviously focused on this girl who couldn't even open her eyes. At this moment, she was sleeping soundly, mumbling and smacking her lips. I obviously didn't dare to say the real description in my mind, because it was: "For a girl, this girl is a little ugly."
"This is the eldest of our next generation." This is the first child among my classmates. I suddenly felt that I had grown up a lot, and my back straightened a lot. "Zisheng, you..."
I paused for a moment, then pretended to be calm and said, "Why do you want to wear a fake beard?"
Then he grabbed his beard and gently pulled it down; sure enough... he squatted on the ground, covering his beard.
"Zirui, that's true, your hands are so heavy." When he stood up, he was still covering his cheek.
"Look, I'm right, Zirui is still the same as before, the number one rough guy in Xiangyang Academy." Zishe stood bravely behind his wife and children, and said to Zisheng's husband.
"Are you really growing a beard? Why is it so long?" I knew I was too rash and wanted to go over to comfort him, but he was still frightened and started to avoid me, covering his beard.
"Come here." I grabbed his beard again, thinking, I can't catch you anymore, "I'm sorry, Brother Wenjie."
"I'm sorry, you're still so arrogant." Zisheng had no choice but to follow me because I was so unreasonable.
"His hands are so fast!" This sentence really helps me. It came from my sister-in-law.
"Of course, I am..." I suddenly remembered that this had nothing to do with Ping An Feng Yun Hou, so I had to quickly change the subject: "Why do you have a beard?"
"My father thought Wenjie was too delicate and didn't match him. His former subordinates who came to visit him always thought Wenjie was too literary. Later, my father asked Zisheng to grow a beard and asked him to fill the position of right cavalry servant."
"Isn't the Grand Tutor a little too martial?" I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This Grand Tutor was really interesting.
"He is not worthy of you. Stop! We are just meeting as brothers, don't cause bloodshed." Zishe calmed me down before I could react.
"Why call her Yuying? Which Ying?" I had to change the subject, otherwise I would start stuttering if I continued arguing.
"Ying means "full of rain". Last year, Luoyang had plenty of rain, so it was named this." I thought to myself that my hometown in Jingzhou had even more rain.
"Uncle Jiang, what do you think?"
"I'm very happy, but let him have another boy next year." Zisheng laughed evilly and betrayed Zishe cruelly and ruthlessly.
"Then he should be named Zhaodi. Ah, Brother Zisheng, it seems that my sister-in-law doesn't have any reaction!" I attacked both of them even more ruthlessly. Even a generous person like my sister-in-law bowed her head. I was really bad.
"Then it seems that you haven't even decided on that other half." Both men stood back beside the lady, looking indifferent.
"I'm getting married. It's an arranged marriage, and for two people. What do you think?" I pressed forward again.
"Do you have it?" They still refused to give in.
"I'm very strong."
“There are many people who are strong on the outside but weak on the inside.”
After arguing for the whole afternoon, Yuying was even woken up, and I felt too embarrassed to stop. But the feeling I had that afternoon can only be described in one word: awesome.
In front of my brother's wife and sister-in-law, there really weren't that many dirty things to talk about, so we talked about business. They asked me if I had anything to reveal, but I didn't. They were really powerful. They asked me if tomorrow would be good. The two ladies felt that they were confused. Among the previous and subsequent conversations, only this sentence was so confusing. I could only say that tomorrow would be bad. They asked again if it was a big deal, and I smiled and said that even wood could understand what was going on. I finally told them the matter, and I think they also knew what it meant.
But there are some obscene places here, and we dare not tell others. So, the three of us talked in a confusing way, leaving the two ladies confused and not knowing what was going on.
As evening approached, I remembered the request from the schoolmaster, so I went to Nalan with my brothers. As I expected, they immediately attacked me. But this time I didn't make any excuses, I just did what my friend asked me to do. After they attacked me, they found that there was no response and lost interest, so Zishe went to ask Master Situ to make the decision.
Situ was indeed efficient in his work, but too efficient, so when he went out he brought two maids with him.
"Both of them are Nalan?" I asked curiously after I finished my greetings.
"No, you came to me to redeem the maid, although it was entrusted by an old friend, and you only wanted Nalan; but don't you think that as a Situ, how can I ask you for money for the maid? I will give it to you naturally, and how can I only give a maid as a gift? That will cause criticism and people will think you want to take a concubine." Situ was a little angry and amused, which made me feel embarrassed. At this time, I felt that if this kind of thing was not entrusted by someone, I was afraid I would really be embarrassed to do it.
After they gave me the maid's contract, I really couldn't stay any longer. I thanked them for the maid, said my father would come to visit Lord Situ in the evening, and said goodbye to everyone.
All the way I felt that something was not going well today. Looking at the carriage that Situ Jia had assigned behind me, I felt that today's incident was really embarrassing. But thinking back to that time... one of the maids seemed really pretty.
But I still pressed it to see what those two people were thinking, because I had unexpectedly run to the post house where the teacher lived. When I thought about Yinling's thoughts, I felt a little troubled.
So, he made up his mind immediately and led the two maids in.
As I expected, from the teacher to the end of the week, everyone was paying attention to the two maids behind me. Yinling also ran to my side and asked me what was going on with these two people.
I answered Yinling first, "Jealous?" Then I looked at Yinling's eyes and quickly pulled away to tell the teacher that I had been asked by a righteous man named Nayan to redeem his sister. Immediately, a surprised voice came from behind me: "Brother?"
"Is Nayan your brother?" I turned around immediately, but found that the one next to the speaker was more beautiful, and felt a little disappointed.
"Yes." After hearing the affirmative answer, I turned around and repeated what Situ and I had said, and everyone suddenly realized.
"Then how do you plan to treat these two maids?" the teacher asked, his eyes looking at Yinling. Looking at his eyes I knew that my life depended on the next few words.
After thinking for a while, he made a prompt decision, lit the contract on the lamp, then turned around, avoiding Yin Ling's sight, and said to the two people below: "From now on, you are no longer slaves. Nalan, you stay here and live with my teacher. When I find your brother, I will send you there. This girl, if you have any relatives still alive, I will order someone to send you there immediately."
Both maids knelt down to thank me for my kindness. The pretty one said, "I have been an orphan since I was young. If the family does not abandon me, I am willing to stay with you, my Lord."
"Then you should serve my master and Third Uncle first. I have a lot of people over there, so they don't need you." This was even worse than what I said. I regretted it deeply, but then I declined.
"Teacher, I want to take Yinling into the palace." I turned my back to Yinling and gave the teacher a sly smile.
The teacher seemed to be deliberately very confused, "Yinling? Why are you going to the palace? Don't make trouble."
He cursed in his heart, but had to very tactfully and obscurely tell her that he would take her there so that she wouldn't worry.
Finally, he dragged the shy girl away amid everyone's laughter, but Zi Yu followed them out.
"Brother Ziyu, what's the matter?" I held the girl's hand, but she tried to get away, kicking and pinching me, but I remained motionless.
"You guys pay attention." Brother Ziyu couldn't stand it any longer, "Father asked me to visit Lord Shen if I have a chance. He used to work for Lord Shen. It's too late today. Can you help me tomorrow?"
"Okay, okay," I restrained Yin Ling's hands with one hand, but it was quite laborious, so I could only answer quickly, "I'll come to see you tomorrow. There are disputes within the family right now, so I won't talk to you any more."
"And what's the name of that pretty one? You burned the deed too quickly."
"I don't know either," I just realized, and said with some annoyance, "Because Yinling was there, I forgot."
"Brother." Ziyu came closer and whispered, "You seem to have forgotten that Yinling is right beside you. I'm leaving now. I hope to see you tomorrow."
Then he suddenly stepped back five steps, waved goodbye to me with a cold face, bowed deeply, turned around and walked into the post station.
I slowly turned away.
"Let go." She said coldly.
"I'll let you go. Don't hit me." I let you go, but still stepped back cautiously because my father told me that I should never trust a woman's promise.
She kicked me, got into the carriage and closed the curtain.
He let out a long sigh, mounted his horse, looked back at the carriage with a happy smile, then rode away.
At the palace gate, I asked the carriage to return to Situ Mansion and then took my wife into the palace. Recently, this has become my home.
There were no obstacles along the way and someone even informed me.
As I expected, the Emperor and Empress looked at us with strange eyes again: "Zi Rui, Yin Ling is three years older than you, right?"
"Yes, mother." I thought to myself, you have all met Yinling, and this time it's just my husband and I who came together to pay our respects. Is it necessary to ask again
"What a coincidence, I am also three years older than the emperor. Zirui, be nice to your daughter-in-law."
The Emperor and the Empress were just like an ordinary pair of parents at this time. Perhaps it was at this time that my impression of Empress He began to improve. It seems that I am still too soft-hearted.
That night, Yinling wanted to go out for a walk. It was not convenient for me to hang around in the imperial city, so I went out with her.
We didn't talk much along the way and I felt a little depressed. After all, we were once a family. But after I decided to marry her, she started to distance herself from me.
"I want to go up to the tower and take a look." She suddenly said this, and of course I agreed. I found a tower where no one was there, ordered someone to open the door below, and then went in with Yinling.
It was a bit dark inside, so I bumped into her from time to time as she walked in front of me. In the dark stairway, we could clearly hear our panting.
But I couldn't stand the bumping around on the long stairs anymore, so I went forward and put my arms around her waist. Before she could exclaim, I had already held her in my arms.
I couldn't see the expression on her face, but I didn't care. She seemed to agree, so as I moved upwards, my face slowly and secretly moved towards her arms.
"I'm heavy, like a pig." What a gentle and shy voice! She is clearly the wife I have been waiting for all my life.
"I don't care, I'll always hold you." My own voice became weird, but it was so natural at the time.
"Why are you so close to me?" The voice just now exposed the distance between me and her, but I didn't care. She was just asking a few questions.
But when I no longer felt bored on the stairs, the stairs suddenly ended and I had to let go of my mouth which was pressed against hers. She quickly covered her face and ran to the railing, then put down her hands and held the railing.
I also walked to the railing, stood next to her, held the railing, and stood looking at the night view of Luoyang. The wind was strong on the tower, and Yinling could not bear it, so I moved to her side upwind and put my cloak on her. Then, I felt I could not bear it anymore.
The wind finally eased a little, and I relaxed my tense body. Looking at my Yinling, she was looking into the distance, but her eyes were full of confusion.
"What's wrong with you?" I asked her softly, and she responded by dropping her head onto my shoulder.
"I returned to Jingzhou but didn't dare to see my father. According to Uncle Zhang, my father came to see me and was very angry." She answered softly.
"You don't have to go see him. I'll go with him." I put my arms around her shoulders and patted her gently, trying to comfort her.
“It would be nice if it could always be like this.”
"Then it will always be like this, right?"
"How is that possible? You won't be with me like this at this time tomorrow."
"By this time next year, perhaps my shoulder will also be busy." I thought to myself, but I didn't dare say it out loud.
"But soon there will be someone else by your side." I was surprised that she came out first again.
"Yeah, it's hard to make a decision, luckily I have two shoulders." I deliberately came out in a very frivolous manner again.
"You are so beautiful." Yinling rolled her eyes at me and was about to leave, but I quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her into my arms with a smile on her face.
"Once we finish our work in Luoyang and settle down, we will return to Xiangyang, get married, and have many, many children."
"You can find a pig to give birth to yourself." She said to me with a wicked smile.
"Okay, you can change your name to Pig from now on." Then as I expected, I was beaten, but I just hugged her and let her go.
Not far away, on the tower of the imperial city, a middle-aged couple were shaking their heads.
"Young people today are so outrageous."
"Forget about it, my dear child. You didn't even notice where your hands were. No wonder the maids had to leave. Let's see if you can still do this at this time tomorrow."
"Then we must hurry up."
"This is all you can do as your Majesty."
"Your brother has restricted me... I'm sorry, Queen, I lost my words."
"It's nothing. You know I'm not He Jin's biological sister. He forced me to enter the palace as a concubine and finally selected me as a noble lady, which allowed him to be promoted. Forget it. He's gone too. I don't miss him. Let's not talk about him. At this time, let's not talk about the emperor and the empress. We are all old married couples."
"Aren't you quite satisfied now?"
"Who knows what kind of abilities you have at that time?"
"Then let's continue."
"I have never seen an emperor like you."
"I've never seen a queen like you."
"Right here?"
"It's not like there's no bed."
"Aren't you afraid of being unsafe?"
"Isn't Yinling going to move in? Why not let Yinling live at Zirui's place? Then let Zirui live downstairs after his child comes back. Even those demons and monsters won't dare to approach him."
"You are so inhumane."
"Silver Bell will definitely thank me for this arrangement."
"Yinling is only nine years older than you, don't act like a child."
"There's not much difference between nine and twelve, so don't waste time."
That night I let Yinling sleep at my place, and I slept on the tower. I must admit that my stepfather and stepmother were very thoughtful. It was just that we were too far away, so I felt it would be easy to be caught if I wanted to do something bad.
After thinking about it, I could only lie on the couch and let my thoughts run wild.
Suddenly, I heard a noise upstairs, a creaking sound from time to time. I thought to myself, could it be that they knew someone had entered the palace tonight? Or was it just a coincidence? Or was there some treasure upstairs? I quickly got up and picked up the wolf tooth sword and went upstairs.
The next day was the Lantern Festival. I got up in a depressed mood. There was no morning court today, so no one brought me breakfast, and I was soon invited to the harem by the palace maids as expected.
I didn't dare to say a word during the one-hour lecture. I couldn't help laughing and even received a life threat, which was later confirmed to be a scare tactic.
Accompanying Yinling back home, Yinling thought my eyebrows were almost drooping to the corners of my mouth. Of course, I didn't sleep well last night. She, didn't I fall asleep as soon as I touched the bed? I, I was thinking about her.
As a result, she scolded me for being immoral again and ignored me all the way, but she chuckled from time to time.
When I arrived at the teacher's place, he scolded me again, asking me how could I live in the palace with Yinling. I just needed to go and see His Majesty, and it was okay to stay a little late at night and do something, but I still had to stay in the inn at night, otherwise I would be criticized.
The teacher started laughing as he listened, and the matter finally ended.
But the teacher took out the wolf and I was very surprised, because I thought they didn't bring it at all, but if they did, why did they give it to me now? I asked the teacher, and the teacher was right. This thing was too murderous, and I was afraid that it would be bad to hold it a few days ago, but tonight I was going to be a personal bodyguard, and using this thing would have a greater deterrent effect and would be relatively safer. But they still wrapped its wolf fangs thickly with white fur, and now it was like a silver bell. I was also surprised, why did I suddenly have such a strange analogy.
Ziyu asked me to take him to see his father, so I said goodbye and went out with Ziyu.
But I ran into Xiahou Yuan on the way. Gaoling Hou was looking for me, so I hurried and took Ziyu to my father's post station. After reporting Gaoling Hou's affairs, my father let me go first. I noticed that when my father heard the surname Jiang, he seemed a little sad, as if people with this surname had some connection with my father. I wanted to make this matter clear, but was expelled by my father without any room for negotiation. There must be a story behind it, but I have no way of knowing it at the moment, so I can only ask Ziyu later.
I had a bad day, but after talking with Gao Linghou, I felt much happier. Brother Meng De is a true brother who understands me, but the other thing he asked me to help with was a bit troublesome for me.
But anyway, there is no need to worry about anything until tomorrow.
We have something big to do tonight.
It was just a earth-shattering event, but at the beginning it was very ordinary and had nothing to do with the big event.
In the evening, Luoyang was full of lanterns, and Yinling and I finished our meal in the palace. Yinling scolded me as a glutton. When I went to relieve myself, I met a palace maid passing by alone and suddenly asked her, "Do you think I look like an unlucky person?" The girl was so scared that she couldn't speak, so I had to let her go, feeling even more depressed, and finally forgot about the purpose of relieving myself.
So, when I rode on the horse and carried the wolf on the left side of the emperor and empress's carriage, I wanted to find a place to relieve myself. The empress lifted the curtain and found my restlessness. She asked me with concern, "Zi Rui, you seem a little uneasy, what's wrong?"
"I'm a little anxious."
"My daughter-in-law's mother is over there. I'm thinking about her. Should I call her over here?" She chuckled.
"I'm a little anxious." I had to confess honestly.
"Zi Rui'er, you need to replenish your body. Maybe your kidney water is damaged. You have only been out for half an hour. You go first." These were the words that suddenly came out of the emperor, but were later suppressed by the queen.
After relieving myself, I felt as light as a swallow and quickly ran back to the carriage, just in time to see the Emperor and the Empress getting off the carriage. My father was waiting to greet them at the gate of the Imperial College, and Zishe was also waiting to greet them at the gate with my father. The Doctor and the Chief Academician should have been present at this time as well; but the Emperor and the Empress' personal guards arrived in a hurry, which must have made my father glare at me fiercely.
Today is not a good day for me.
Next, we watched the lanterns in the heavily guarded Imperial College. After a bad day, I decided to be honest and not touch the grass and accompany the elders. The emperor was still a little unhappy, so he asked me to find Yinling and go to watch the lanterns by myself. I needed to protect my adoptive father and mother. In fact, my heart was moved, but I looked at my father's eyes and didn't dare to breathe. I just followed my parents like a good baby, without saying a word. Only after they entered a room did I let them out for a while, and I was told to pay attention to the princes and princesses, fearing that the palace maids could not control them.
This is a night that seems very peaceful and tranquil, but it is bound to be an unusual night. On this night, Ziyu meets the love of her life.
This is a very complicated and mysterious process. I have listened to at least four versions: Yin Ling's version where she laughed so hard that she couldn't breathe, Li Zhen's version where she played a sentimental prank, Zhou Yu's version where he exaggerated things, and Master's version where he heard things from someone else. These four versions are very similar but different.
The first method started like this. Ziyu was walking alone in front of the main hall of the Imperial College. Suddenly, the wind blew and the headband on her head covered her eyes. Ziyu turned her head, lifted the headband and threw it behind her head. Then she adjusted her headband. She saw a very beautiful girl in the corridor of the main hall. Her hands froze on her head. At this point, I had to laugh at the storyteller's poor choice of words, but I was stepped on by the storyteller. Then, the two of them were attracted to each other and just stared at each other. In view of the man's treacherous revenge last time, I did not criticize this person who had no creativity and imagination this time. Then the two of them started to hide on both sides of the thirteen thick pillars in front of the hall. This made me think of something strange. Of course, I didn't say anything to avoid physical injuries. The two of them walked west together, appearing and disappearing all the way. At the end, when they reached the edge, the girl accidentally fell out. Zi Yu immediately rushed forward, and then the storyteller himself couldn't stop laughing.
My interest was piqued, so I immediately turned to the next witness and asked him what happened.
This time it's much more vivid and disgusting, but it's too anticlimactic.
This unbearably romantic story was caused by a young man in gorgeous clothes with a face like a crown, eyes like bright stars, a chin covered with red, a tall hat and wide sleeves, and a graceful demeanor strolling in front of the main hall of the Imperial College in the gentle spring breeze. There are really few handsome men in the world, but he is a little short. This last sentence was added by me and I laughed with the person who told this story. In the spring breeze, a woman with dark eyebrows like new willows, bright eyes like clear springs, and slender hands like sheep fat, but actually very ordinary, strolled in the corridor. I immediately interrupted the speaker's description, but when I saw the danger he was facing, I immediately understood his situation and difficulties, so I let him continue. The two of them lingered back and forth between the thirteen thick and thick pillars. They first surrounded a pillar and looked at each other left and right. Ziyu was very generous, but the girl was a little shy. She always glanced at him and then floated back behind the pillar. Then they walked west together, and both pretended to be calm, but in fact, their eyes were on each other. Suddenly, the girl stopped and stopped behind the pillar. Ziyu was still walking forward. Suddenly, he found that the girl disappeared behind the pillar, so he moved forward. The girl came out again. The two met and shyly moved away. The speaker was afraid that he couldn't make himself clear, so he demonstrated with the people next to him. It was just that the two performers were too unprofessional and their performance was too disgusting. Then I heard the third French method and the second method at the same time. One person continued to play tricks on Ziyu and stopped to let the girl find him. The girl suddenly couldn't see the boy, and she was confused. She didn't pay attention and fell down. The other one was that the girl continued to shyly hide behind the pillar, and Ziyu rolled and crawled over and hit the pillar. The girl heard the loud noise and panicked. She came over but didn't pay attention and fell down and fell on Ziyu.
Still not satisfied, I decided to ask an elder.
The old-fashioned elder's opening is full of boring dogmatic language: it sounds like a boy and a girl are walking side by side up and down the stairs, appearing and disappearing, stopping and moving, the boy is getting closer and closer to the girl, and finally bumps into the last pillar, while the girl is only thinking about seeing the boy after the next pillar, so she misses a step and falls down.
None of the people here are good at storytelling, so I decided to summarize the story and tell it again. The story should be like this:
On the night of the Lantern Festival, the spring breeze blew on the people who were watching the lanterns, and everything was bathed in peace and tranquility. The moon in the sky was somehow a little broken at the moment, perhaps it wanted the world to fulfill a pair of lovers and would rather damage itself to be perfect. The lonely boy was wandering in front of the empty house. He didn't like the hustle and bustle of today and just wanted to be alone for a while, but he couldn't calm down no matter what, as if something was waiting for him, but he didn't know what to do, so he could only look at the solemn but somewhat lifeless house next to him.
A girl who came from nowhere was missing her lover in the corridor. She had a dream yesterday. In the dream, a beautiful and elegant boy danced with her. She lowered her eyebrows and smiled shyly, or raised her head and opened her arms to dance. She finally took her own dance steps, floated lightly out of the shelter of the corridor pillars, and appeared in front of the boy.
The young man was attracted by the beautiful scene in front of him. Could it be the fluttering of colorful butterflies? Just because of her appearance, the whole house was filled with a hint of fresh vitality, and it seemed that a rainbow was left wherever she jumped.
As soon as the girl saw the boy, she immediately hid behind a nearby pillar, leaning against it with her back, stroking her heart with her hands. She felt a beating heart inside, unable to describe it. What a handsome boy he was, yet there was a hint of melancholy in his eyes. What a charming picture. Did he see me? What did he think of me? The girl turned around, facing the barrier, squatted down and leaned out.
The young man could not help but walk forward, but could only hesitate in front of the ruthless obstruction. Was the girl frightened? Did I scare her? I wanted to see her again! So he leaned over along the edge of the pillar.
The two of them stopped looking at each other, and they saw each other's expectant eyes without any pretense. But the girl was still frightened, she had never met a strange man like this before, she hid behind the cover again, panting continuously, pressing her hands on herself as if trying to calm her panic, but she could not calm herself down no matter what.
The young man took two steps back, fearing that his breath would also alarm the girl in the corridor. However, he hoped that the girl would appear again, so, anxious and helpless, he could only subconsciously rub his hanging clothes and stand solemnly seven feet outside the corridor waiting for the girl to appear again.
The girl couldn't hear the heartbeat and breathing outside her body, and she was actually a little scared. Could it be that it was really a dream? Now she was awake, and she was scared, so she turned out without hesitation.
The two looked at each other for a long time, their eyes exchanging the sorrow of missing each other, just like lovers who had not seen each other for many years and met again, just talking to each other about their love. But the girl couldn't help being shy, she turned her head away, feeling that she was a little rude, and walked forward gracefully, leaving only her eyes on the boy for a moment; the boy also immediately took a step forward with every step of the girl, as if they had been supporting each other and walking the road to the end of the world together, and every time they met again after passing the barrier of the porch, their eager eyes exchanged their thoughts in their hearts more passionately.
The boy walked closer and closer, and bumped into the last pillar. But when he came to his senses, he suddenly realized that there was no way in front of the girl. Fearing that the girl would fall, he hurriedly stepped forward and went around her.
What a scene that was, time became so slow at this moment, because otherwise the whole picture could not be understood.
The boy forced himself to move in another direction, without even standing firmly; the girl was still eagerly hoping to see the boy again in the original direction, but she didn't expect to step on empty air; with this fall and catch, the girl fell into the boy's arms, and fell to the ground with the boy who was still standing firmly below...
But the story has to end hastily here.
All of this wonderful romance was interrupted and torn apart by the noise and bustle outside the Imperial College. At the gate of the Imperial College, a majestic general in black armor reined in his spinning horse and nodded at me. I, also in black armor, turned my head back and raised my Heavenly Wolf to signal him. He raised his spear horizontally and nodded again, then immediately rode his horse and followed the cavalry army galloping behind him to the imperial city.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the third year of Zhongping, the emperor, Wei Dingguo, Duke of Hanchu, Cao Cao, Marquis of Gaoling, and Xie Zhi, Marquis of Ping'anfengyun, devised a plan. Taking advantage of the emperor's visit to the Imperial College to admire the lanterns on the Lantern Festival, they sent troops to attack the imperial city and wipe out the eunuch party.
As the intermediary for all the planning, I knew at that time that things were not over yet and there would be more waiting for me tomorrow.
That year, I was eighteen years old and Jiang Wei was nineteen years old.