"Open it."
After a while of silence, there was a low voice from behind the door.
Although Jiafu had guessed who might be in the door just now, she was still quite surprised when she heard that familiar voice coming from behind the door.
At the end of the year, the internal affairs of the court are divided, and the foreign affairs are even more complicated. Since half a month ago, when the Pei family was immersed in the mourning of Mrs. Tai, many vassal states, such as Goryeo, Annan, Zhancheng, Liugu and other countries, or chief princes, or envoys, rushed to the place one after another. At this time, he went to Beijing to congratulate him, and envoys from Mengmu, Wuszang and other places also came. Honglu Temple received the reception, the Ministry of Rites arranged daily audiences and feasts, and the emperor's daily busyness could be imagined.
But at this moment, she heard the voice coming from behind the door clearly, and it was as she thought, it was Emperor Xiao Lie.
Pei You'an was even more surprised than she was.
The moment he heard the voice, his sword-holding hand suddenly stopped.
The voice fell, accompanied by a slight "squeak" of the door pivot, and the two doors on the opposite side slowly opened, and the eunuch Li Yuangui stood behind the threshold and whispered: "Lord Pei, long live the holy chariot is here, you must not rude."
Pei You'an's gaze went over Li Yuangui's head and landed on the figure standing in the middle of the snow behind him.
The man was wearing a cloak, from head to toe, completely covered by darkness, at first motionless, like a statue, slowly, raised his arms, took off the cap that covered his head, revealing the face of a middle-aged man ,
A clear face, under the snow light, showed a faint blue and white color, and the eyebrows became darker and darker, and the eyes flickered slightly in the night.
Pei You'an immediately put his sword back into its sheath, and knelt down with his head in the door: "Long live my servant. I didn't know that long live here, how offended, please forgive me!"
Jiafu also followed Pei You'an and knelt on the snow.
Li Yuangui turned sideways early and avoided it.
Xiao Lie said: "Those who don't know are not guilty. You two get up."
Pei Youan thanked her and got up with Jiafu. For a while, the two people inside the door and the two outside the door fell silent across the threshold, and the atmosphere suddenly became weird, and after a while, Pei You'an suddenly said: "I am here in the daytime to deal with the fundamental hall. A dead tree in the middle, so as not to overturn the lotus altar of the ancestors. Because it was late and it was inconvenient to go down the mountain, I stayed overnight in the temple with my wife. Strange, it is indeed a blessing for the minister."
His tone was full of respect, and he explained to the emperor why he brought his wife here at this time. After speaking, his eyes turned to the emperor.
This courtyard was the place where Pei Wenjing died of serious illness. From the time of King Shun'an, it was gradually abandoned, and it has almost become the private place of the Pei family. Except for the festivals, the Pei family took the lead to come to the sacrifice, all year round. , a rare outsider.
Tonight, Pei You'an and his wife came here to pay tribute to his aunt, which is only natural, but in the middle of the night, the current emperor actually appeared here, and his whereabouts were so secretive.
The meaning of Pei You'an's words is about to come out.
The emperor remained silent.
The atmosphere became weird again. For Jiafu, who knew the inside story, he even seemed to feel the embarrassment from the emperor.
Jiafu quietly glanced at the figure blocked in the door, hesitated for a while, then bowed to the door, breaking the silence, and said softly, "It is inconvenient for the servants to stay, please retire first..."
The emperor coughed slightly, and Li Yuangui spoke, saying: "Mrs. Pei used to look after Wanzai very well, but now the immortal passed away, Wanzai is very sad, and she planned to come to the private sacrifice a few days ago. I didn't have time to spare for a moment, so I was able to leave the palace tonight. I just arrived at the temple, and I remembered the friendship with Mrs. Pei's aunt when I was young, and I felt it for a while, so I came here to pay tribute."
Jiafu glanced at Pei Youan quietly.
His expression was the same as usual, and he couldn't see what he was thinking at the moment. He only lowered his eyes slightly and said respectfully, "Long live this minister. If there is nothing else, I will retire first."
He bowed to the emperor, and took Jiafu back, and kept retreating seven or eight steps away, then turned around and took Jiafu away.
Jiafu walked with Pei Youan and did not dare to look back, but she could clearly feel that Xiao Lie's two eyes seemed to have been falling on the backs of the two of them.
"You'an, you stay here, I have something else to say!"
After going out for dozens of steps and about to turn across the corridor, the emperor's voice suddenly came from behind.
Pei You'an stopped and turned around slowly.
Li Yuangui has walked out quickly, came to the two of them, and said to Jiafu: "Long live, I have something to say to Mrs. Pei, please wait here, madam, please accompany Mrs."
His tone was very respectful.
Jiafu hurriedly said, "Father-in-law is very polite, I'll just wait."
Although Li Yuangui was an eunuch, Pei Youan knew that when he was young, he was also skilled at bowing and horses. He looked at the shadow standing in the courtyard in front of him, pondered for a while, and said to Li Yuangui, "Trouble", then turned around and stepped forward. and enter.
The deserted garden was cold and snowy, the sky was congealed and the earth was closed, the emperor held his hands and stood in the middle of the snow, with a stagnant expression.
Pei You'an knelt down again towards the man in front and kowtowed: "Long live, what's your order?"
Xiao Lie seemed to have regained his senses.
"You come with me." He said, turned and walked in the snow, pushing the door in.
Pei You'an stared at the back in front of him, got up from the ground, followed him in, and closed the door.
The doors and windows of the house were closed, the light was dim, the air was unusually cold, and there was a faint smell of dust and rot in the breath.
Pei You'an stood by the door, watching the emperor slowly walk to the front of the bar, raised his hand and stroked his fingers a few times, as if he was caught in some kind of thought.
He didn't speak anymore, just watched silently.
"You'an, you have been doing business for me before, and you have a funeral when you return to Beijing. There is something you probably don't know about."
The emperor finally spoke, with a light tone: "I have decided to admit the princesses of Gaoli and Annan into the palace, and then follow the Ministry of Rites to enter the palace, and start the spring harvest of selected girls to fill the harem."
Goryeo and Annan, in addition to paying tribute, also had Wang Ji Shi Nv along with the embassy, expressing their willingness to dedicate their marriage to the Emperor of Wei, and the rest of the embassies also made contributions from various beauties. The Ministry of Rites proposed that the emperor's harem has so far only had one person in the middle palace, which is not what it used to be.
"The Book of Rites says that the emperor should establish six palaces. This is related to the body of a country. Long live the saints." Pei Youan said respectfully.
The emperor was silent for a moment, and then said: "Li Yuangui just now, in fact, concealed something for me. I thought that since I met here, it must be God's will, and it would be okay to tell you. I came here tonight, the original intention is just to pay tribute to your aunt, I just didn't expect to meet your couple here."
He paced slowly, walked to the window, turned his back to Pei You'an, and stood there for a moment.
"Zhen and your aunt were childhood sweethearts, but God did not agree with everyone, and we were forced to marry each other. She had a noble character, but she was jealous of her beauty, and unfortunately died here at a young age..."
"You'an, if I told you that your aunt's death was all because of me and it was my fault, would you hate me?"
The emperor's emotions seemed to be out of control all of a sudden, his voice trembled slightly, and he turned around abruptly.
Pei You'an's figure froze, but soon, he seemed to have reacted, hesitated, and said cautiously: "Long live is serious. Even if it is true, long live it must have been an unintentional fault, my aunt has a spirit in the sky, if you forgive me How dare You An dare to talk about right and wrong?"
The emperor looked at Pei You'an for a long time, his emotions seemed to finally calm down, he nodded, and spoke again, his voice was much calmer.
The emperor said: "Tonight at this moment, I regard you as a son and nephew, not a monarch, so I have mentioned a few old things to you. To tell you the truth, because of your aunt's grief, all these years, all the time, If there is a needle in my heart, even if I die, it will be difficult for me to forgive myself. I am a little relieved to have such kind words from you. In the matter of Jingxiang, you stop Ge Xingren, you have a unique vision, and you do an excellent job. The overall situation has been settled. Now that the old lady has unfortunately passed away, I know that you must be sad. You have been running around for me for so many years, but there is no moment of peace. To appease the people, you can rest for a while, so that you can rest and recuperate your body, after a while, I will look at the situation and use you for love, how about it?"
Pei You'an said respectfully, "The minister follows the order."
The emperor said again: "You'an, you remember, no matter what happens in the future, I hope you, don't hide it from me, even if I say it, if I can answer, I will definitely do anything."
Pei Youan thanked him again.
The emperor stared at him in the dim snow light, his eyes were extremely gentle, he was silent for a moment, and said: "Okay, I'm fine here, it's freezing cold, you take your daughter-in-law back, rest early..."
At this moment, a low voice suddenly came from outside: "Who is it?" The voice seemed to be from Li Yuangui.
"Long live, stay here, I'll take a look!"
Pei You'an opened the door and ran out, seeing a black figure like a night owl rushing away in the snow under the shadow of the moon.
Li Yuangui had already pulled out the waist knife he was carrying, and was protecting Jiafu. He quickly uttered a sharp whistle, and urgently called for the guards who had been left outside the mountain gate to come and escort him. When he turned his head, he saw that Pei Youan had already rushed out. A big tree ten steps away said, "Master Pei! This assassin was hiding in the tree just now!"
The guards arrived quickly, Pei Youan ordered the guards to escort Jiafu inside, escorted him, drew his sword, followed the two footprints left in the snow, and quickly chased after him.