Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen

The weather was so hot that it seemed to fall into a fire. There was a straight post road with no trees on both sides for shade. The bluestone was shining bright white under the scorching sun. When the horses stepped on it, the hoofs almost splashed with sparks.There was a procession of hundreds of people, there was no wind in the afternoon, the seventeen pairs of horses were school guards in military uniform, and the thirty-four horses were also well-trained.More than a dozen pairs of flags were hung down on the flagpoles, and they were occasionally fanned out as they walked, revealing the Chilong embroidered with gold thread on the black flags, clearly a guard of honor allowed by pro-vassal parties.The guards had already soaked their coats with sweat, dried them in the sun, and sweated again after drying. At this moment, a circle of white salt frost had condensed on their vests, but they just controlled the horses silently.

"Son of a bitch," murmured the boy on the horse. "Hey!" Xu Changzhi finally couldn't help laughing out loud. Although he was only about 20 years old, as a servant, he immediately restrained his smile, pretended to be a young man, and said with a straight face: "Eleventh Master, You have a noble status, so you can't open your mouth to scold your mother casually." The young man was born extremely handsome, his brows were bright and his starry eyes were full of splendor, the corners of his mouth were slightly sunken, but he had an expression of disapproval.Xu Changzhi thought in his heart that the princes of the Yu family were all born with good looks, and he couldn't complain that when Prince Jing first joined the army, everyone was contemptuous of him, and even nicknamed him "Fen Mian Lang Jun" to ridicule him Born handsome and weak.Unexpectedly, this young prince has been struggling for many years, eating bran and swallowing vegetables like a sergeant, and he would not even frown when he charged into battle.Hardened by the wind and frost outside the Great Wall, his body has not become thicker, but he still looks handsome and weak, but his eyes are gradually shining with precious light, and there is a kind of flying and unrestrained.

"As soon as you go to the capital, you are not even allowed to scold your mother." Prince Jing was very annoyed: "Thinking about it, I feel boring." "My lord, if you meet the emperor, you can't say such a thing." Xu Changzhi was worried. Xichangjing is no better than outside the pass. You can laugh and curse at will. I don't know how many people are watching in secret. Prince Jing and Prince Jing are siblings, but they have always had some heart problems.Prince Jing looks handsome and weak, but he is born with a fiery temper. No one can stop his stubborn temper, so Xu Changzhi is worried about Zhong Zhong, fearing that he will contradict him again.Prince Jing comforted him: "I know all about it." The corners of his mouth were slightly pursed, but he had a rare dignified expression: "Don't worry."

After traveling for another three days in a row, they arrived in the jurisdiction of Xichangjing at noon, ten miles outside the city, known as the "Jiting" boundary, where civil and military officials have always been greeted and sent off when they leave Beijing and return to Beijing.It is said to be a pavilion, but it is actually a small building with octagons on all sides, located on the side of the official road.There are countless weeping willows beside the road, faintly revealing the vermilion railing in the corner of the small building, and the sound of cicadas is like noise.It was the time when he was sweating profusely, and the people sent by the governor of Changjing had already greeted him early, and made the court salute first, but Prince Jing never liked these red tapes, so he ordered people to stop him.

The prime minister was very opportunistic: "The weather is too hot, please come into the building to cool down." This sentence is very thoughtful, when you go into the building, there is thick shade around the building, the building is deep and cool, once you sweat away, you will feel refreshed.He had already prepared iced tea with melons and fruits, and Prince Jing was on his way under the scorching sun. At this time, Fang felt that his whole body, even every pore, felt comfortable.However, the carved windows on all sides of the upstairs are open, and the strong wind blows directly into the building, which is very cool.Overlooking the picturesque green hills in the distance, it is Xishan.And Wangdong City Corridor is far away, countless people, annihilated ignorance, are the ten feet of red dust in Changjing City.

Seeing him thinking, Xu Changzhi hurriedly said, "My lord, this sour plum soup is ice, sour and sweet, really authentic." Prince Jing smiled and drank the sour plum soup in one gulp, mouth full of saliva, he couldn't help boasting: "It's really good." The prime minister hurriedly saluted with a smile: "The prince is willing to praise his face like this, it is the blessing of the lower officials." The prince Jing has been out of Beijing for more than a year, and he has not heard such flattery for a long time. He just feels very nasty and ignores it. People, put down the teacup, and walk to the window to have a look.But I saw a few oil-walled light cars going up the official road, three or four cars were all ornately decorated, one of them was especially good, the whole body of the car was vermilion, and the curtains of the car were drooping.Prince Jing saw that these light carts were guarded by servants with tall horses, and thought that they were the female relatives of the noble family going back to the city.Occasionally, the wind blows the car curtain slightly raised, revealing a layer of light gauze curtain inside, but it is embroidered with folded branches with silver threads.

Because the prince's guard of honor was here, the few cars had to be stopped, and a servant who accompanied him came to negotiate immediately behind the car.The two sides argued for a few words, and the servant was very arrogant, and said in a sharp voice: "Regardless of who he is here, he has to get out of the way." The school guard who respected the prince was neither humble nor overbearing, and said: "According to the "Law of Dayu", from the hundred officials down, all should avoid the prince's guard of honor." The servant sneered again and again, and said: "I dare to bring out "Da Yu Lu" to scare people, you just wait." He whipped his horse back to the back of the carriage, but got off the horse and reported to the owner behind the curtain.Prince Jing was a rough man with fine details, and when he saw that something was wrong, he called Xu Changzhi to go downstairs to have a look.Xu Changzhi looked carefully at the carriages and horses, and felt that something was wrong, so he turned around and reported to Prince Jing, "It seems that they are all female relatives." Order the ceremonial team to temporarily avoid, let those chariots and horses pass first.

The other party's servants were used to being arrogant, they didn't thank them, they didn't get off their horses, and led the chariots and horses away.Prince Jing stood in front of the window, and the carriages and horses were moving very slowly. Suddenly, in the car with the vermilion oil wall, a corner of chimaera gauze was lifted up. Zhang Furong showed her face, and in a glimpse, it was even more dazzling than the scorching sun in June.Prince Jing only felt a shock in his heart, the gauze curtain had been lowered again.He suspected that his eyes were dazzled, but the face that was revealed in an instant was like a flash of lightning, piercing through the dark and silent sky, leaving behind a faint blue arc after a long time, making people dazzled and fascinated.

He looked at the light car with oily walls, surrounded by it and gradually drifting away, the words taught by his master when he was a child suddenly came to his mind: "The mountains are long and the rivers are so wide..." A trace of melancholy appeared inexplicably. Xu Changzhi clapped his palms and laughed loudly: "Your lord, if you don't lose your writing, you will lose your teeth." Prince Jing was used to playing with him, so he became angry and kicked him. Prince Jing returned to Beijing by order, and had to go to the palace to have an audience after changing clothes in the next place.Xu Changzhi was afraid that he would get angry, so he repeatedly told him: "When you see the emperor, you must pay attention to what you say. You are used to being careless, and if it spreads to the ears of others, it may not be another matter." , Already feel tied hands, just sullen.When he got out of the sedan chair at last, Xu Changzhi was still worried, grabbed his sleeves, and whispered in a very low voice: "My lord, but for the sake of Empress Xiaoyi, be patient in everything."

Prince Jing snickered and laughed: "Don't worry, I won't fight with him this time." He has been away from the palace for more than a year, but his fiery temper has really calmed down a lot. After entering the Chaoyi Gate, he waited at the Yongtai Gate, but Zhao Youzhi greeted him in person, and said with a smile: "The emperor is taking a nap, please go with the slaves." Qingfengmingyue Pavilion', it's cool there, come back with Long Live Lord, and summon the prince there." "Qingfengmingyue Pavilion" is actually a well-regulated palace. It is located by the Taiye Pool. It was originally the place where the prince studied. Everything has changed, and it is no longer what it used to be, and I feel sad.Zhao Youzhi delayed him here, fearing that the emperor would wake up, he turned and went back to the Yuanqing Palace, and the remaining small internal officials brought tea.Prince Jing couldn't bear it for a long time, and saw the awe-inspiring inside and outside of the hall, the small yellow gates all lowered their eyes and cupped their hands, standing in the depths of the hall, silent as a pair of dolls.He walked casually to the porch of the apse, the empty porch hovered above the water, and under the porch was the emerald green water of Taiye Lake.It was hot summer, and when I looked far away, I saw red lotus and green leaves in the Taiye pool, layered on top of each other, reaching far to the sky.And the green lotus outside the vermilion fence that is close to you is like a cover, the pavilion is clean and planted, and several lotus leaves are poured into the fence. The leaves are as big as a wheel, and they are squeezed. There is a lotus arrow among the green leaves, which seems to be full of rouge. With a pen, the color is almost indistinguishable.The fragrance of lotus water on all sides, mixed with green tea and green water, blows slowly on the face, which is refreshing and pleasant.

While he was wandering, there was a burst of crisp laughter from the depths of the dense lotus leaves.He suspected that he had heard it wrong, and after a while, he heard the woman laughing like a bell, and the voice was even sweeter and more beautiful: "Oh, no..." Suddenly, the lotus leaf swayed, and a lotus leaf slipped out from the depths of the green lake. A boat is coming.The lotus leaves swished across the side of the boat, and separated chaotically to the two sides. The boat was extremely small, like a jade shuttle, and instantly passed through the flowers and leaves.There were only two people on board, and the girl holding the oar at the stern let out a low exclamation when she saw Prince Jing.The woman at the bow of the boat put the oars across her feet, holding several red lotuses in her hands, when she saw a strange man standing on the corridor, she said "ah", and in a hurry, she covered her face with flowers.But seeing the clusters of red lotus petals, like clouds and blues, it sets off a pair of bright wrists with frost.The eyes, black as lacquer, protruded from the heavy petals of the red lotus, looking at Prince Jing, like two pills of black mercury, the brilliance fluctuating. Prince Jing suddenly saw this half of her beautiful face, which was as charming as a lotus flower on her cheeks, and suddenly recalled the beautiful face on the light car, and blurted out: "It's you!" There is no trace of pearls and emeralds in the room, she is wearing a thin green dress, and the skirt color is very light, like the color of a newly opened lotus leaf.Unexpectedly, I can see this kind of costume of a folk lotus-picking girl in the palace. Although she is dressed poorly and smiles sweetly, she has a kind of extraordinary elegance and a graceful appearance that is difficult to describe. The woman holding the oars stood up in a panic, wanting to salute Prince Jing. The boat was extremely narrow, and it swayed violently under the hasty force. They fell into the clear water one after another, very beautiful, but seeing that the woman in green clothes was about to fall into the water, Prince Jing said urgently: "Be careful!" In desperation, he reached out his hand to help each other, but it was useless after a distance of Zhang Xu.The woman holding the oar was flustered, the boat turned several times, and finally recovered, the woman in green smiled and said, "I don't dare to stand up and greet the lord, please forgive me." Prince Jing never paid much attention to these things, he thought that the two must be from the palace, but for some reason they pretended to be a lotus picker, seeing the innocent girl in green, he felt good, and asked: "Which palace are you from? " The woman holding the oars looked at the woman in green, and the woman in green smiled and said, "You can't tell the prince." The smile on her lips was extremely naughty: "The female historian and Xiuyi took a nap, so we slipped out to play, and the prince will ask you to come back later." If we tell people, we're going to be in trouble." Her expression was delicate and sweet, and she didn't feel annoying when she spoke like this.Prince Jing couldn't help saying: "Of course I won't tell others." The woman in green smiled sweetly: "Thank you Eleventh Master." As the fingertips flow through, it is like a white jade comb, combing countless extremely thin green silk ribbons. Prince Jing saw that the green shirt on her body was blown by the lake wind, the sleeves of her clothes were fluttering, and the water was shimmering, reflecting her figure in the water, like the lid of a lotus just pouring, she had a kind of unspeakable beauty.I have always referred to beauty as a flower, I don't want to meet today, but I can describe it as a leaf, not losing half of the brilliance. Just when the heart was shaking, suddenly there was a round of applause from far away. It was the emperor Luan driving in the palace.His heart trembled, thinking of whether he would meet again by fate, he hurriedly asked the woman in green: "What's your name?" The woman in the green shirt smiled without answering, picked up a red lotus that had just been thrown into the water, and threw it at him.He took it in his hand, and the lotus flower dripped one after another, wet his palm, and slowly dripped down his sleeve along his wrist.It felt wonderful and fresh, as if something was flowing in my heart.The girl behind the boat had already pulled the oars, and the boat turned over the bow and rowed into the depths of the lotus leaf again.But seeing the lotus leaves swaying wildly, the boat gradually drifted away, and from a distance, I saw the woman in green shirt turning her head and smiling sweetly at herself again. "Walking in the autumn waters of the river, I love the freshness of this red oyster. Climbing the lotus and playing with its pearls, the ripples are not round. The beautiful woman is in the colorful clouds, and I want to give it to the distant sky. Acacia has no reason to see, and I look forward to the cool breeze." It's really lovesickness without reason, looking forward to the cool breeze. He was infinitely melancholy, after all, he was a young man, he couldn't hide what was on his mind, and he was still a little restless when he knelt down and bowed to the imperial chariot who was hugging him. The emperor had always disliked the younger brother of the same mother, because the two were seven years apart, so they hadn't been very close since childhood, and as they got older, the temperament of the two differed by a thousand miles.At this moment, the emperor frowned, seeing Prince Jing finished the grand ceremony to see him, and said flatly: "Excuse me." The emperor briefly asked about the situation outside the pass, and then said: "I ordered you to go outside the pass to sharpen you. I always thought that you are the prince of the court and my younger brother. I hope you can change your temper. But now it seems that there is really no improvement, seeing you like this, you are getting more and more impetuous, and all my painstaking efforts are in vain." Prince Jing remembered Xu Changzhi's instructions, and just bowed his head to listen to the emperor's strict orders, but he was thinking in his heart, just now she refused to say which palace she worked in, and he didn't know her name. There are tens of thousands of maids in the palace, and the vast crowd, how can we have the chance to meet again.Thinking of this, I felt depressed and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.Hearing his long sigh, the emperor felt as if adding fuel to the fire. His heart was extremely angry, but his tone was still calm: "You don't have to go back outside the pass—it's useless to stay for another twenty years. In my opinion, you should stay in Beijing." Here, follow your seventh brother to study for three to five years, and see if you can get it out of experience." When Prince Jing heard that he was not allowed to go back to the army, he was already very unhappy. He had always been at odds with Prince Yu the most. The emperor actually wanted to hand himself over to the "Old Enemy". How could he swallow this anger?Immediately said: "I would like to ask the emperor to let the younger brother go back outside the pass. The younger brother is stupid and is in front of the emperor every day. I am afraid that the emperor will be angry in vain. The younger brother would rather stay away from the emperor." The emperor said coldly: "What are you talking about—I'm not afraid that Empress Dowager Xiaoyi will have a spirit underground, and she will be sad when she finds out." Prince Jing straightened up abruptly, with uncontrollable anger in his eyes, he said loudly: "Don't mention my mother to me, you are not worthy of mentioning my mother!" Under his anger, he no longer cared about the distinction between monarch and minister.On the contrary, the emperor was surprisingly calm: "Look at you, you are the one who is not filial, and I have never shamed my mother." Prince Jing was sad, angry, and disappointed, all intertwined, and said: "No matter how my mother treats you , she is also the queen mother, she gave birth to you and raised you, but you still hold grudges in your heart. It's you...you..." He was so emotional that he couldn't continue, and took a step forward. Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhao Youzhi hurriedly yelled : "My lord!" Prince Jing recalled the dispute in front of the sick bed in the Hall of Ciyi, which actually broke the heart of Empress Dowager Xiaoyi, otherwise the seriously ill Empress Dowager would not have collapsed with such regret.When he recalled his mother, his heart was cut like a knife. He clenched his fists tightly and stared at the emperor fiercely. The emperor was so angry with him that he couldn't attack for a while.Prince Jing finally lowered his hands and took a step back: "My brother will leave." He didn't have the humility that a courtier should have. The emperor was so angry that he couldn't speak for a moment. Zhao Youzhi hurriedly said: "Long live, my lord has worked hard all the way. If you have anything to say, I will send it to you tomorrow." The emperor also knew that if he dealt with Prince Jing in a fit of anger, he would lose his temper, so he waved his hand.Zhao Youzhi hurriedly gave Prince Jing a wink, but Prince Jing didn't appreciate it, he gave Zhao Youzhi a look, he didn't salute the emperor, and walked away proudly.Seeing him like this, the emperor was so angry that he couldn't speak for a while.The hall was quiet, the cool wind blew the bamboo curtains in the hall, and there was a faint fragrance of lotus.There were several cicadas in the distance, a little noise and then silence.After a while, I heard a woman's faint and gentle singing from the lake behind the palace. The emperor was furious, and slapped the table with his palm, and said: "Go out and see who is making noise, and lock up such rude servants and give them twenty sticks first." Zhao Youzhi hurriedly went there in person, and after a while, he heard the singing getting closer and closer, the voice was soft and melodious, extremely charming, and the song he sang was also clear to the ear: "...the green lotus covers the green water, and the hibiscus is covered with red freshness. There are parallel root lotuses, and there are parallel head lotus..."