In an ordinary study room in the Imperial College, under the still dim lights, there are three extremely distinguished people inside at the moment, and among them, the one with the lowest status is the only marquis in the world.
"Tonight, I'm afraid that Father and Mother will not be able to rest until very late." I knelt on one knee with my fists clasped together. I apologetically but still wanted to laugh and came up with a temporary solution, "Perhaps, we can live on the city wall, so that we can rest earlier."
"No, never." The two elders immediately refused, then looked at each other and finally decided that the emperor should come up with the reason: "Yesterday I thought about guarding against everyone, but I forgot to guard against you. I can't do that today."
"Since I knew that, why would I go up there again?" I quickly put on an adorable and honest child's look, and added a simple and innocent smile.
"No, we are still worried because you have a criminal record." The emperor hesitated for a long time and finally rejected my proposal.
"That's fine, but at least tomorrow Father can rule the country without any worries, without having to worry about those scumbags trying to influence the government."
"Whose is it? Aren't you still in the court?" Although Empress He pulled the emperor's sleeve, the emperor still decided to make fun of me.
"Am I that kind of scum?" I also laughed.
"Aren't you just waiting to interfere in state affairs on behalf of He Jin? And that's why you acknowledge me as your godfather." He still refused to give in. Although he was joking, he probably didn't expect how bad his adopted son's temper was.
"Who do you think I am, Xie Zhi? I, Xie Zhi, never take these empty and meaningless fame and fortune seriously!" I jumped up and pointed at the person in front of me. "Zi Rui has never had the grace of his parents since he was born, but he never regrets such a dirty deal. I just want the world to be pacified as soon as possible, and the people can live and work in peace and contentment as soon as possible, without suffering from war and displacement. I can share the joy of family reunion, the happiness of a loving father, a virtuous wife, and a filial son with the world. Since you think so, I have nothing to say. From now on, you and I are no longer foster father and son. I will leave after the matter is done. I hope you can sympathize with the people of the world and be a famous ruler."
After saying this, he was about to leave, but after taking two steps, he suddenly realized who was behind him. He was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat and thought to himself that this time he would be punished by a thousand cuts.
I hesitated for a moment, but thinking back to what we just said, the emperor was obviously joking, so why should I take it so seriously? But since it was my fault, I had to apologize before I died, so that I could feel at ease. I also thought that maybe they would forgive me after I apologized, so I turned around and knelt down again.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please forgive my rudeness. I have a bad temper and have committed a crime against your superiors. I dare not refuse. Now that everything is ready, I will help to correct the relationship between the ruler and his subjects." I stole a glance at the Emperor and the Empress. At this moment, both of them raised their arms to protect themselves. Their facial expressions could not be seen through their sleeves. I could only see two pairs of frightened eyes. I felt nervous and thought to myself, please forgive me soon.
"You bastard." The emperor suddenly lost his temper, threw down his sleeves, and shouted, "You scared me!"
However, everyone present felt that they lacked confidence after hearing this.
"I was shocked too." The queen also touched her chest.
"Even if you don't regard me as your adoptive father, I am at least the emperor of the Han Dynasty. You are so brave!" Although it was a rebuke, just by hearing the tone of his voice, I knew that I had escaped another disaster.
"You are not good either. Why are you so angry with Zirui? If Zirui had this intention, he would not have saved me first and only brought a few hundred people to save you."
"He, you have become bolder recently. I am your husband and the emperor. Why do you treat me like this?" He was not blaming the queen for being so blunt, but clearly blaming the queen for not standing on his side. With the loss of his royal authority, he could only let it go. "Forget it. My temper has been worn out over the past ten years, and I no longer have the dignity of the emperor of the Han Dynasty. Besides, Zirui is sincere, so I should consider your feelings. Okay, listen to the traitors below. If a minister does such a treasonous act, he should be killed; but if a son... it should be counted as the father's fault for not disciplining him strictly, and I will deal with it. So, Zirui, do you want to live or die?"
This is clearly a way out for me, and this is indeed my fault, so why am I still being stubborn
"Father, I am an unfilial son and I have frightened you."
"Well, the boy is teachable." The queen breathed a sigh of relief.
"Should he be punished?"
"Should."
"Okay, I'll punish you when I think of a way." The emperor's tone was full of cunning, and I felt something was wrong.
Today was not a good day, but it's finally over.
※※※
That night, Meng De led his troops into the palace, and all the eunuchs, including the ten eunuchs and palace maids, were killed. Afterwards, their bodies were loaded onto hundreds of carts. When Ping An Feng Yun Hou learned about this, he said to others, "Meng De is a cruel official." He was resentful of him from then on.
At nightfall, the Emperor and the Empress temporarily moved to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and ordered all ministers and their wives to accompany the Emperor in offering public sacrifices. However, Marquis Ping'an Fengyun was forbidden to enter. There were two reasons for this: one, he had not fasted, and two, he had not married.
Late at night, Ping An Fengyun Hou, wearing red clothes and holding Jinwu, was patrolling the temple. Others said, "Guarding the night." His son thought, "It's a punishment!"
※※※
On the second day, I was inevitably very sleepy, but another big thing was before me. I had to discuss with everyone what to do next. There were millions of troops outside the Great Wall on both sides. Although no one had taken action at the moment, changes would inevitably occur in the long run. Since the situation inside the imperial city had been settled, we had to prepare to solve the problems outside the Great Wall. However, I could not think of any plan now.
In the past two days, the teacher and Brother Meng De have been getting along very well. They often discuss things together. Whenever they see me coming, they wave enthusiastically to call me over, but the original discussion is no longer about the business. I don’t really want the teacher and Brother Meng De to be so close. This morning, at the morning court on the tower of the imperial city, the two were whispering again, and then the teacher stepped out to make a report, saying: "Although He Jin is guilty, he is not as guilty as the eunuchs. Although he has usurped power, he has not harmed the foundation of the country. His evil is far beyond the eunuchs, so I dare to ask for forgiveness of He Jin's crime."
At that moment, a group of people behind came forward to agree, which really made people feel disgusted. So they turned their heads away and didn't look at them, but they found that their father's face was also turned away.
The emperor approved the order and issued an edict, stating that all the scholars of He Jin's caliber who were hiding in various families in Luoyang would be recruited by the court again. They would temporarily stay in the He residence where they were originally from and change their names to Wu Ning.
I shook my head, thinking it was wrong; my father also shook his head, but claimed that Meng De must have had some evil plan.
At noon that day, a car was transporting the eunuch's body out of the imperial city. I saw a child's hand hanging under the straw curtain, and I thought of the eunuch I saw in the palace that day. Even if it was a child like this, couldn't Brother Meng De let it go? I felt even more disgusted.
Then, within less than half a day, more than a hundred people came to report. Meng De picked up the list he had searched out from He's house and compared it with the list. He found that there were a few more people on the list, so he requested to carry out the plan as planned that day.
The emperor raised his head again, and we suddenly realized what had happened and were horrified.
So, that night, more than a hundred people in Wu Ning's mansion were killed.
At night, His Majesty summoned the ministers again. Meng De asked for the Emperor's will and brought out various letters that had been found in He's mansion. Many of them contained evidence of the ministers' affair with He Jin. Many of the ministers looked panicked, and some even fainted on the spot. I just shook my head, not wanting to watch any more, but my father stopped me and asked me to learn the following move.
But Meng De said, "He Jin is very powerful. You have no choice but to seek revenge. In this case, all members of the He family have been executed today. The emperor is so gracious that he will not pursue the matter. In the future, you should serve him and not have any second thoughts." He then ordered all the documents to be burned.
I felt that I was beginning to hate Cao Mengde. I would never do anything for him, and my sister must never marry him. I would not pay attention to such a treacherous and dangerous person. This was what I thought at the time, although I felt that burning the documents was right.
So that night, when Meng De wanted to talk to me, I ignored him, flicked my sleeves and walked away quickly, then went straight upstairs and fell asleep. That night I really had a nightmare. A group of bloody children wearing eunuchs' clothes surrounded me.
※※※
The next morning, I was still in low spirits, so I listened to the emperor and the ministers deciding to send an imperial envoy to invite all the generals to the capital. Then I asked to leave. I didn't want to stay in Luoyang any longer. I was not suitable for this place. I would rather take risks to protect myself than stay here and watch all these dangerous people and add to my worries.
It is not shameful to use tricks and deceit when facing the enemy in battle; it is not shameful to laugh or scold when treating friends; but I cannot tolerate such scheming among colleagues and in the court.
The emperor asked a few questions with great concern. He had no intention of letting me take any risks, but thinking of my performance in the Yellow Turban Army, he finally agreed to let me go along to appease the people.
My father stepped out and recommended another person, but it was my brother Ziyu. From what my father described, it seemed that he was indeed very reliable. The emperor immediately summoned Ziyu to see him. Ziyu came in wearing the official uniform of Jingzhou. Whenever the emperor asked him questions, Ziyu would answer fluently. The emperor was very pleased and immediately decided that the two of us would be envoys. He also promoted Ziyu to the position of Zhijinwu on the spot. He dismissed the original Zhijinwu and transferred him to the position of Shaochang. He dismissed Shaochang again and transferred him to Youpuqishi. I was surprised and amazed at the emperor's memory because almost half of the people were promoted at that time. I don't know what happened. It seems that the official position was just right in the end. I can't even remember where there was an extra official inadvertently in the middle. According to the rotation, there should be one more person who disappeared.
Suddenly he saw Lord Tian Kai smiling, and he immediately understood that Wang Yun was promoted to Grand Tutor and Tian Kai was promoted to Grand Commandant, which was an additional rank from He Jin's name.
But my father and teacher have not received any reward so far, which is not right. I made the mistake, so it is right that I don’t receive any reward, and I don’t care. But my father and teacher have received nothing for all their actions, which makes me very unfair.
As for the other person nearby, I didn't even look at him.
It was also agreed that Ziyu would go east and I would go west, and we would set off as soon as the flags and staffs were ready and the fasting and sacrifices were finished. I wanted to go east because I thought there were more people there and it would be more interesting, but the teacher thought that I would offend many people when I traveled south from various states in the east, so it would be better for Ziyu to go. I like this teacher, he is straightforward, and although I have some complaints in my heart, I still feel happy.
Unlike some people who remained silent, I finally glanced at him and thought to myself that I should go back and wash my eyes.
※※※
It was noon, and I still had no appetite, so I said goodbye to His Majesty and wanted to be alone. Although His Majesty allowed me to go out and live with my father, he dragged my father to have a quarrel with him, and even brought up the issue of snatching his daughter-in-law. During the conversation, the emperor even used the term "climbing the ashes". I don't know where the emperor learned it from. After they finished, they both paused and looked at me. I don't know if they were a little regretful or afraid. The two elders immediately got down to business and quickly dispersed.
To be honest, I don't really care about this word, because we used this word in Xiangyang Academy. When we knew that Brother Wendong had a wife and a son, someone used this word, and everyone laughed at that time. This word was told to us by a Yangzhou calligrapher who was performing on the roadside in Xiangyang. Later, we learned the meaning of it after special inquiry. If the emperor heard it, then there would be reason to doubt what the emperor did when he was young. But I can understand others very well, so I quickly found a more legitimate and reasonable reason for the emperor: anyway, he doesn't have to do anything, or can't do it, sometimes it's understandable to use eunuchs to help sneak out to listen to folk singing, otherwise no one can stand this kind of boring life of a puppet, and it's like this for ten or eight years. If I were in my place, I could only do some things to participate in yin and yang, understand the gods, practice the great righteousness of heaven and earth, and follow the great principles of human relations. Occasionally going out to listen to singing, of course I give great understanding and support.
I did forget that the emperor has been in much better health these days than when I first saw him. His face is a little rosy now, and I think he is in a much better mood than before.
※※※
After leaving the palace, I wanted to look for Yinling, but my father gave me a bad look and let me go. However, he still reminded me about fasting. He seemed to not believe that a big-bellied man like me could eat vegetarian food.
In fact, it's just a diplomatic mission and there's no need to be so pretentious. It's not like we're going to talk to foreign envoys, but you still ask me to fast. This is a bit too much. Some of the rules of the Han Dynasty are a bit annoying.
However, I still decided to perform my duties honestly and respect my duties, so let Yinling do more for me.
※※※
"Your Highness the Marquis of Ping'an Fengyun! Please stay." I heard a familiar voice calling me from behind on the street. I reined in my horse and turned around to look for the source of the voice.
"Do you recognize me?" A middle-aged man with a white beard clasped his fists and bowed in front of my horse. He looked to be in his forties or fifties, but I knew he was only in his thirties, just looking weathered on the surface.
"I recognize you. I've seen you when I was with Cao Mengde. You must be his military advisor Xi Zhicai, right?" I didn't dismount. I just answered casually.
"It's me, Your Excellency. You have a good memory. I am just a scholar and don't dare to call myself a military advisor." His politeness doesn't make me feel any good about him now.
"I spent half a day at his place almost every day in the past few days. If you still can't remember you, then you must have no memory. Did your master ask you to come to me? What's the matter?" I didn't want to associate with this kind of person, Cao Mengde, so I was not polite to his subordinates.
"No, I just admire your name, and we happened to meet on the road. I wonder if we can have a chat in the restaurant in front?" If Cao Mengde hadn't asked you to come, I would have taken your surname, I said fiercely in my heart.
But I really had no grudge against this person, so I couldn't refuse him. After thinking about it, I followed his invitation gesture, dismounted and greeted him, and followed him with the wolf in the leather case. Looking at his back, I admit that I had the urge to hit him.
Xi Zhicai led me to a secluded private room on the second floor of the restaurant and asked someone to serve some wine. I told him that I was fasting and could not drink alcohol or eat meat, so he changed his mind and asked for some vegetarian food.
Afterwards, he kept hanging around the window and explained to me that he was checking to see if the food was served. In fact, he was just giving the host a signal.
Sure enough, a moment later, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from the street downstairs, "Mr. Xi, why are you in this tavern?"
"Master, I happened to meet Mr. Zirui, so I invited him here to chat." This lie sounded really disgusting.
"Oh, Brother Zirui is here too?" I was shaking all over at that time. Such disgusting words really made my hair stand on end.
As I went down the stairs, I heard heavy footsteps, as if several people were coming up.
"Oh, it's my brother Zirui." I looked at him coldly. Behind him were his two brothers. They were not wearing official uniforms this time. They were all dressed like ordinary people. To be honest, it couldn't cover up his natural aura. It was also thanks to this person that I came to meet him.
"But you are no longer my brother Meng De. I don't want to talk to you. I'm leaving now. Sorry for the inconvenience." I was not good at flattery. I said what I was thinking directly and coldly. Then I clasped my fists and bowed them fiercely. Then I stood up and left with Tianlang.
He had only taken two steps when he heard a loud shout from behind.
"Zi Rui! Listen to me first. I'm done. If you still want to leave, I won't stop you. From now on, you and I will no longer have any friendship." I didn't expect this person to get angry first and shouted at me from behind.
"Well, I, Xie Zhifei, am not the kind of person who doesn't listen to others and blocks their mouths. Speak!" Hearing this, he was a little shocked when he left the pavilion. He then turned back and threw down Tianlang. He wanted to hear what he had to say.
"I know you blame me for being too harsh, but I want to ask you what you would do if it were you?" He didn't wait for my answer, and continued excitedly, "How many years has the Han Dynasty been without peace? It's not for anything else, it's all because of the misfortune of the eunuchs. No matter which faction is in power, they only care about forming cliques and eliminating dissidents. They don't manage government affairs internally, and they don't show the power of heaven externally. As a result, the government is corrupted and the Han Dynasty is declining. The two factions only care about building large-scale projects to show their achievements, only care about the deficit of the national treasury, and ignore the poverty of the people. In fact, he only levied heavy taxes and levied heavy taxes, causing many people to lose their homes. In addition, the two factions were fighting each other, causing disputes in various places and the displacement of the people. In order to make up for the holes of extravagance, he did not contribute to water conservancy and farming in various places, and to facilitate the salt and iron trade, but sold official positions in Shanglin Garden. Who knew that this huge amount of money would bring disaster to the people of a place for decades! At this God-given opportunity, if we don’t clear this source, how many years will this disaster harm the world and the people in the future? "
He started by just mentioning it lightly, as if it touched my heart just by casual mention, and he became more and more excited, which made me more and more excited.
"I understand this, too." I felt aggrieved for some reason. This was something I had been so eager to do, but I was not happy when he did it for me. Am I too petty? But then I suddenly came to my senses. "Why did more than a hundred innocent maids in the palace die? And why did you kill those eunuchs too?"
"If you lead the soldiers in and only kill the eunuchs, what if they change their clothes? What if they hide? How can you tell which one is the eunuch? And once the fight starts, in the dark and windy night, how can the soldiers take care of this? They also want to survive, and the eunuchs are not waiting for you to kill them with their hands tied."
"Why did He Jin's men want to kill so many people? Could it be that the emperor's order could be cheated in this way?" I admit that I was a little disappointed at this moment.
"The men of He Jin are scattered all over the city. There may be officials and families who have connections with He Jin in each family. If we let these people escape, and once they threaten these ministers with their past collusion with He Jin, and then pick up a group of new He party members, this force will never be our opponent. Do you want to search every family? If we can't find anything, we will be sued. If we find it, will we have to punish that family together? This will kill more people. Think about what the result will be if we kill tens of thousands of people in Luoyang at once. These people are all outside, and they may be the leaders of the troops outside Hulao Pass. We must stabilize them. Do you want to ask if we can order those officials to take the initiative to send these people from the He Mansion to us. I tell you: it's impossible. These people who have been in the officialdom for so long will only wait and see. There will be no People are stupid enough to be the first to come out. They know that once they betray these guys, and if any of these Hefu assassins escape, and then take revenge on him by selling out his affairs, he will not have a good life. Therefore, they can only do one thing for these Hefu assassins, hide them and don't let us catch them; at the same time, don't let those assassins move. And our best and fastest way is to trick these people out in the name of the imperial edict, because the king is not joking, they will definitely come out to be loyal ministers, and those ministers may have guessed it, but as long as those who can guess it think about it, they will know that we must not want to touch them, otherwise we don't need to do this. But as the saying goes: The king's will is fickle, and they can't blame anyone for their death. "Although Brother Meng De's voice was silent, every word he said was like a thunderbolt in the clear sky, which made me stunned.
"Then why keep such a minister?" I admit that I was wrong, but this fact is really hard for me to accept, so I shed tears unconsciously, and I didn't realize it until I asked with sobs. At this moment, I no longer have any idea of blaming Brother Meng De.
"There are millions of soldiers outside the two sides, and there are tens of thousands of people in the city who are related to the government and their families. How can we distinguish the intricate connections between the two sides? How much strength do we have? The only way now is to stabilize them." Brother Meng De's voice became even lower, and then he looked at me sincerely and said, "Zi Rui, I know you are kind-hearted and can't stand these massacres; I also know that you are simple and straightforward, so you can't stand such deceitful actions. But if we don't do this, the world will surely fall into chaos. , we are all doomed to die, and what happens next will not be what we expected, and the Han Dynasty will be in danger. That’s why I came to look for you, because I want to tell you, don’t act on impulse when you go to Tongguan. You are upright and unyielding, which is admirable; you may also think that sacrificing your life is natural. But if this group of people really rebel, the world will be in chaos, and Jiang Wei, although young, will be much more stable than you. So I’m only worried about you.”
I stood up, took a step back, and knelt down again, saying, "After listening to your words, I suddenly realized something. I was shallow-minded and almost made mistakes. If it weren't for your advice, it would have caused a disaster. Moreover, I have been looking at you coldly these past two days, which is really disrespectful. I am ready to take the blame and ask for forgiveness. I beg you not to blame me for being stupid and not understanding your painstaking efforts. I almost ruined the foundation of the Han Dynasty. Zirui must make all the princes in the west abandon their troops and come to Luoyang without a single soldier."
"Brother Zirui, please stand up. I don't know what to do with you. I know you are kind-hearted, simple-minded, and have clear likes and dislikes. I am really afraid that you will be bullied in the future."
"I have no intention of competing with anyone, and no one will harm me."
“Well, others don’t think so.”
"Forget it. I have no intention of pursuing a career in Luoyang. It would be better for me to return to Jingzhou. Brother Meng De, is there anything else you can teach me?" I was a little tired, and thinking about this kind of question made me even more tired.
"Oh, I'm fine. You must help me with what I asked you to do." He suddenly became serious on purpose.
"It's a problem. My sister... I'm not good." I also deliberately made things difficult.
"Then give the silver bell back to me." He started to act like a rogue.
"Hey, you are my brother, we were good friends a long time ago, why are you being so shameless?"
"You are going to get married, and to two children, and I heard that Wang Yun gave you two beautiful maids yesterday. I am over 30 years old and still single, so of course I have to act like a rogue." Brother Meng De was deliberately making things serious.
"Okay, okay, since big brother has ordered me to do so, I will do my best!" I expressed my concession.
"I don't want promises, I want results." He was getting a little too demanding, but at that moment I had nothing but respect and love for him, so I just smiled and gave in.
He went downstairs with everyone laughing, all the past grudges were put aside, and he apologized to Mr. Xi along the way, saying that Mingzi was rude and had offended a good person.
Mr. Xi seemed to be in poor health. He was about to talk to me when he was choked by the chili oil fumes coming up from downstairs. He started coughing non-stop, but I just sneezed and that was it. Meng De frowned and waved for everyone to leave quickly.
But when everyone was holding their breath and rushing downstairs, someone suddenly said, "The Marquis of Gaoling was really cruel and ruthless. All the palace maids were killed."
"It is said that some soldiers raped palace maids and were afraid that the matter would be exposed, so they killed people to silence them." Someone said with his face pressed against the table, looking around as if he had seen it with his own eyes.
The people around him cursed.
When Brother Meng De and the others heard this, they shook their heads and left without explaining, but I stayed and listened.
Then someone said, "Also, the entire He Mansion was massacred twice in a row, even the kitchen staff and servants were all killed. How could the Gaoling Marquis be so cruel!"
After a little thought, I knew that Brother Meng De still had to bear some responsibility, but then I thought of another thing, so I made up my mind firmly, and then said coldly: "Gao Linghou was just following orders. He could only follow the orders of that person because that person's official rank was higher than his, and he was now in charge of Luoyang. That person threatened him that if he didn't do it, his entire family would be exterminated."
"You must be Lord Shen?"
"No." I shook my head listlessly.
"Mr. Han Chu?"
"No." He continued to shake his head expressionlessly.
"Who is that?"
"Ping An Feng Yun Hou Xie Zhi." The cold tone is not pleasant to hear. If it were me, I would probably even hate myself.
"How do you know?"
"Because I am the one who did it." After saying that, I tore off the leather cover, letting Tianlang show his proud wolf fangs amid the amazement and admiration of the crowd. "I, Ping An Fengyun Hou, don't want to tell lies." I was very clever here. I just didn't want to do it, so I did it just to make myself feel at ease. "But since it was me who did it, it's not what I want to be labeled as someone else's. Don't worry, I have already made it clear to you. You can do whatever you want in front of me or behind my back, but remember, tell the truth, because I don't kill people who tell the truth."
From beginning to end, I kept a stiff and cold expression on my face. Only when I finished, I laughed three times in a very artificial way, fluttered my cloak and left.
When I came out, I saw a face with indescribable emotions. When he saw me approaching, he suddenly came to his senses and hurriedly dragged me away from the crowded and noisy place until we stopped in a secluded alley.
"Brother Zirui, why do you have to do this? Since I have done this, I will definitely not worry about what others will say. I just want to have a clear conscience."
"Well, brother, you will continue to display your ambitions here and benefit the world, but I won't. I know nothing and will only mislead the country and the people here. So, I'm leaving. It's useless to keep a good reputation. I might as well use my reputation to exchange for your innocence. Although I may not be able to remove all the bad reputation from you, at least I can share some of it." I said calmly and a little helplessly.
"Brother, why are you saying such discouraging words? You are only eighteen years old. You will slowly accumulate these things in the future. Why are you so discouraged?"
He was very sincere.
“I don’t want to learn. Sometimes I really don’t want to grow up. I see the world becoming more and more complicated, but I always try to make it simple in my mind. In fact, that is not possible. To be honest, maybe I will try to grow up in the future, but now I just want to go home.” I felt like I was about to cry again, but I could only hold on for the best.
"As long as I am here, you don't have to be afraid of these things. I will stand by you through thick and thin."
"Thank you, brother. After I finish these things, I will go home and stay quietly for a while. Please forgive me for leaving first." I clasped my fists and said goodbye to everyone, ignoring their calls.
Faintly, I heard someone say behind him: "Actually, I would like to go back to Zirui's age. Maybe I would be happier."
※※※
I went to my father's place first and greeted him. My father asked me why Yinling was not with me, and after seeing my expression, he asked if I had angered my daughter-in-law and ran away. I didn't, I just suddenly didn't want to look for her. My father asked for a while, but didn't get any information, so he gave up.
I finally found Sister Qi and told her calmly. I didn't expect her to be so excited. Suddenly she found me next to her and stopped talking in embarrassment. It was the first time I saw Sister Qi like this. It was funny and awkward. She suddenly felt that my face was not right and asked me if I was sick. I said no. I didn't expect that she would think of Cao Cao's threat to me to pass on the message. This surprised me. She was furious and wanted to avenge me. I quickly put on a smiling face to dispel her idea and told her not to think too much. She also made up a reason. I was thinking about how to talk to Ding Yuan in Tongguan because I had some grudges with him.
In the end, the only thing left in the girl's heart was love. She seemed to no longer pay attention to me after I said a few more words.
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After completing the task requested by Brother Meng De, I rode my horse to see the teacher again. The teacher saw that I looked strange and asked me why. I had never concealed anything from the teacher, and I also wanted to get an answer from the teacher, so I told him about Cao Cao's visit to me, and also told him about the matter of helping Meng De, as well as my future plans.
The teacher just shook his head and sighed, saying, "How old are you? How much do you know about the dangers of the world? Without the accumulation of time, you can't think so much. You have just made up your mind: 'When facing the enemy, it is not shameful to use tricks and deceptions; when treating friends, it is not shameful to laugh and scold; but I can't stand the mutual calculations between colleagues and in the court.' This is very good, it proves that you are an upright and kind child. You can sympathize with the hardships of the common people, while those scholars and officials are not very good at it; you can pity the innocent, while those scholars and officials basically don't; you can directly express what is in your mind, while those people are even less likely to do so. You just like to simplify things as much as possible. In fact, there is no simple thing in the world. Don't mind. This time we will solve the problem like this and think of a way to stabilize the world. With your achievements and your age, your future is limitless. The three of us are middle-aged, and you are still a teenager... Do you understand what I mean?"
"The students understand!" Only a fool would not understand this.
"Think about it carefully! I asked you to put justice in the world first, but I didn't want you to be so decadent and discouraged and try to escape." The teacher saw that I was a little uneasy and knew that I couldn't calm down for a while, so he let me go to rest.
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Walking in the post station, the winter bleakness had not yet dissipated, and the leaves and withered grass were still there. This post station had been uninhabited for a long time, and it was really a bit deserted. I think many officials from other places who came to Beijing for work would not stay in such a shabby place. They would just stay in the homes of acquaintances in Beijing, and sing and dance day and night, regardless of what they came for. They only stayed here once a year during the court meeting according to the rules, and by the way, they would build some relationships with people from other states. I thought it was a dirty place, could I really stay there
The wind picked up the fallen leaves and swirled them on the road, as if playing with the old and withered leaves. The fallen leaves were different last year and this year, but the wind remained the same. Therefore, this scene would only appear every year without an end. The whole post station was rendered bleak and withered by this atmosphere.
But if it suddenly changes, it must be because there is one more person in front.
The wind seemed to dance only for her. In order to show its dancing posture and not be ignored by the viewers, it pulled the golden leaves to fly with it, surrounding the beautiful girl.
But no matter how it dances, I only have eyes for her.
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She was looking at me with a smile, and I finally felt a kind of happiness from the bottom of my heart. I temporarily put down all my burdens, opened my arms and walked towards my beauty.
I just hugged her and didn't care about anything else.
Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind: "Ah, this post station is really big. I haven't seen anyone after walking for a long time. Yu'er, let's continue to go north."
"Ah... Ah, okay, brother Zhen, I didn't expect everyone to disappear. Let's see who reaches the north wall first."
They walked away, and their happy laughter came with the wind.
"Zhou Yu has become smarter." I said with a smile to the slightly frightened and shy woman in my arms.
"Yeah, she has also learned to lie with her eyes open." She covered her mouth and laughed.
"Yes, after staying here for a long time, maybe one day I will become a liar with open eyes." The speaker did not mean it, but the listener took it to heart.
"What's wrong, Zirui?" The speaker obviously sensed that the listener was thinking about something.
"Maybe I'm too useless. Maybe it would be better for you to marry Cao Cao." I smiled and shook my head.
But I didn't expect that the person in my arms would pull out her hand and slap me hard. I was caught off guard and I saw stars. When I looked at the person in my arms again, her eyes were full of tears.
"What's wrong, Yinling?" I was a little confused.
She raised her hand again, but she couldn't hit me anymore. In the end, she just rubbed my burning left cheek and said in a trembling voice, "Do you think I'm a vain, fame-seeking person? Don't you understand me?"
"No, no, Yinling, I was wrong." I immediately realized my mistake, but was too anxious to come out, so I pulled out my hand and slapped myself to wake myself up.
She hurriedly grabbed me and said, "Don't, don't." The pain in her eyes was evident in her rapid voice.
She used her hands to stroke my cheeks, staring at me with a pair of eyes shining with tears. After a pause, she looked around at me, and then said gently: "A person must first become an upright person, and then become a person who can do something. At least I believe that you have achieved that upright person, but in life, if you remain unknown, you cannot benefit the people, and it is difficult to give an account to yourself after death. So, do as much as you can! I hoped that you could study medicine, but my father would not let you. In fact, even if he let you, it would be useless. Your memory has always been bad. How many times did I ask you to recite it before you could recite Shennong? If you were really a doctor, it would be great. We would get married, collect herbs together, dry herbs together, and go out to see patients together. By the way, travel around the world and see famous mountains and rivers. Maybe this is what I hope for, a life of benefiting the people and being happy. Although it is hard, it is full of joy. But now that it has come to this, I have no regrets. Do you understand?"
"I understand. You seem to have liked me for a long time and want to start a family with me." How could I not understand? But I wanted to ease the atmosphere from teaching to talking about love, otherwise it would feel like a sister teaching her unlucky and useless brother a lesson.
"Oh, why did you think of that? How did you know?" She was anxious at first and thought I had thought something wrong, but suddenly she realized that something was wrong.
"We were siblings at that time, but you wanted to start a family with me. It shows that you liked me at that time. You should have known that we were not siblings, right?" I said with a smile.
"It was still the case at that time, but I vaguely knew that there was no sibling relationship between us, and I was with you all day long, and there was no boy with me. Sometimes when I thought about that matter, I could only want to do it with you..." Yinling started to feel shy again.
"Yinling, I'm sorry. Something happened today. I was a little depressed, so I talked some dirty words with you. Madam, please don't mind." He then recounted what happened today.
"Oh," Yinling also shook her head, but she finally looked up at me, "Zirui, Zirui, you are so silly and cute, and so smart and cute; you are so kind and cute, and you are so naughty and cute. You are like this, which makes me feel a little guilty. I always feel that I am too cunning and too vulgar. I feel a little guilty that I am not worthy of you."
"Yinling, you asked me to stop talking nonsense, but you didn't. You are so vulgar that I don't want to be tainted by vulgarity, just like this leaf," I bent down and uncovered a fallen leaf on the roadside, and another leaf appeared underneath, "Look at how much dust is on the upper leaf, but the lower one is clean. Just like you and me, how could I dislike you, and, I want..." I stopped talking, brushed off the dusty leaf, bent down again, picked up the clean leaf, and covered this leaf again, and when I stood up again, with a smug smile, "That's it!"
"It is these series of events, thoughts and actions that made me fall hopelessly in love with you. You know how panicked, helpless and confused I was in the last few years of being your sister, but you were so stupid that you knew nothing. It made me feel extremely uncomfortable, but I had to put on a happy face and pretend to be strong on the surface." She was about to cry again.
"Okay, Yinling, you said your dirty talk and I said my dirty talk, we're even now, no one of us should express our feelings anymore, it would be embarrassing to let others see us, we're all grown up now." I wiped away her tears with my heart and tried my best to comfort her.
"No." She pouted, tears in her eyes but a smile on her face.
I kissed her pouty lips...
Shyness dyed her cheeks red...
She will punish...
I asked her what she was going to punish me for...
She wanted to punish me by making me carry her into the house...
She asked me what I was going to punish her with...
I want to punish her by making her a pig and giving birth to many, many children for me...
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The two sweet lovers went into the house and closed the door, but they had no idea what was happening outside...
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The wind blew, and two fallen leaves were blown up, one fell on the road, and the other flew into the gap of the rockery.
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Further away, two middle-aged men were discussing what they had just seen.
"Zirui is a really amazing kid. Girls all over the world will inevitably be seduced by him after being treated like this." The bearded man in the middle squeezed out this sentence in a serious tone.
"Of course. My apprentice is a handsome man, talented in both literature and martial arts, and he is also so kind and simple. Any parents who don't like him will of course be willing to send their daughters to him." said the middle-aged man who seemed to have just trimmed his beard.
"It feels like I did back then." The two people said at the same time.
The two of them glanced at each other and then turned their heads away.
"Just you?" They said in unison again.
They looked at each other sideways again, then returned to normal.
"Don't imitate me." He said the same thing for the third time.
"Tell my sister-in-law that you were flirting with that pretty maid." Maybe this time can be considered different.
"Hmph, it's finally different for once." The two of them were happy for a moment as if they were trying to get rid of a shadow, but then they found that the shadow was entangled with them again.
"It's a pity that my sister-in-law is too gentle (my sister-in-law is too virtuous)." The two turned around and looked at each other.
"But eldest brother has monopolized such a beautiful maid." The two of them looked indignant and pondered.
"Eldest sister's temper..." Both of them shuddered at the same time.
Finally, the two of them covered their hands with their sleeves, turned around and looked at the house in front of them again, muttering to themselves at the same time:
"It seems that the only way is to harm the boss."
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A little further away, a middle-aged man with a baby face was standing with his hands on his waist, looking at the two people in front of him.
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In a house further away, a handsome man with a pretty face and a pretty face was leaning on the couch without taking off his official uniform, thinking about his lover alone; someone with the same thoughts as him was in Luoyang, and at this moment, the dignified and beautiful woman was also sitting on the couch in her pajamas and loose robe, gently rubbing her smooth but slightly swollen ankle, but she was completely unaware of the pain. Both pairs of eyes had the same vague expectation, longing and concern.
In the north corner of the yard, two young men were laughing carefreely.
Far away within the palace wall, a gorgeous woman was playing a flute, frowning from time to time in thought: not far outside the house, her husband was playing with their son among the ladies.
In a room, a fat middle-aged man was writing furiously.
However, in the Imperial College, which should have been empty, there was a couple chatting and laughing.
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The seventeenth day of the first lunar month in the third year of Zhongping was a day that Ping'an Fengyun Hou would remember for the rest of his life, but if asked what happened on that day, he would probably just shake his head. If he didn't know, he would also shake his head, because it was difficult to tell what that day meant to him.
He might just smile, think for a while and then say, "I grew up another day that day."
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In a corner of Luoyang City unknown to all the people above, an old man walking on the road held his aching knee, squinted his eyes and looked up at the sky, muttering: "The sky is going to change."
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Knot
The first part of "The Change of Heaven", that is, the first one hundred chapters, ended at this moment as planned, and the protagonist Zirui completed the first step of his growth in his life.
For this reason, I couldn't stop writing after I finished the previous chapter, until now I have finished this chapter.
I didn’t give a name to the first part, because it really doesn’t need a name. In the process of growing up, it has everything, yet it has nothing. I will start posting the second part in a few days.
Looking back, I may have been a little artificial in the early days, and there were many places that were deliberately written in a childish way. Maybe I should have just written it when I was sixteen.
I can only write the first 100 chapters, and I wrote the following content: Zirui's life gradually became more complex and richer as time went by. He changed from a boy to a man.
I hope everyone can give more suggestions.
I think I have completed the first step of a long march.
Okay, let me rest for a while. When I wake up this morning, it will be a new beginning.
Author: e_mc2
At 2:11 in the morning on May 18, 2003, I was still awake.