Chapter 31 Chapter 1 Dawn of the Imperial Capital

In the eighth year of Dawu Deyou, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Empress Dowager Liu decreed that Emperor Deyou had passed away and took control of the government, and wanted to make Yu Wang Xiao Qianhong the young emperor. In the ninth year of Deyou, on New Year's Day, Queen Ling's coup d'état was successful by borrowing troops from Jurchen, a vassal country outside the Guan Dynasty. ". After the palace change, King Gaode of Chu, in memory of Emperor Deyou, ordered that during the acting regent period, no new year name should be established. This year is known as the "Nine Years of Qing Dynasty" in history.

After ten years of Deyou, Emperor Deyou, who had been missing for more than a year, returned to the court. The king of Chu led a hundred officials out of Dawumen to welcome him, and handed over the jade seal of the country on his own hands. After returning to the throne, Emperor Deyou made great efforts to govern, get rid of the old and innovate. Since the eighth year of Deyou, the empire that has experienced disasters, wars, mutinies and changes of owners has gradually recovered its vitality. It is now the 23rd day of the seventh month of the eighteenth year of Deyou, which is held every three days. Due to the long sitting, the gilded and painted furnishings of the Qianqing Palace have become dark and heavy.

Sitting behind the curtain where I could only vaguely see the figures of the officials under the throne, I put my hand on the armrest and supported my chin. In front of me, the large throne was vacant, and a little to the right of the throne, a thin figure was sitting on a temporary large chair. As if unaffected by the deserted throne, His Majesty Dan's officials were discussing enthusiastically. They are counting Qi Chengliang's crimes.Qi Chengliang, Marquis of Weiyuan, who guarded the frontier for more than ten years, made Jurchen dare not take a single step in the Central Plains, repelled several Tatar attacks, and pacified the southwest frontier three times.

About ten days ago, Li Yan, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, wrote a letter to impeach Qi Chengliang for embezzling military pay and military funds for delaying the military situation, and attached 12 pieces of evidence that are said to be conclusive. This sealed letter was kept for five days. , Li Yan's second impeachment was placed on the imperial case.In the next three days, from the thirteen supervisory censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to the speech officers of the sixth division, impeachment memorials were pressed on the cabinet table like a hill. Because there has been no response from the emperor, these core ministers of the empire have impatiently condemned their former colleague and abused him as a traitor to the country.

Amidst the vigorous and fierce debate, the small body in front of me, wrapped in the bright yellow court clothes, twisted slightly, very lightly, not to mention the servants of His Majesty Dan, even Feng Wufu, the chief inspector of ceremonies standing beside me, didn't notice it , this important minister of the inner court who has been the head of the inner court for more than 20 years, bowed slightly and lowered his eyebrows, his figure looked a little stooped. I leaned forward a little and lowered my voice: "Lian'er, are you tired?" As if he didn't expect to hear the people behind him speak, he hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, then lowered his head, and said softly, with a hint of grievance: "It's a little annoying."

It's no wonder that he is impatient. An eight-year-old child got up at Yinshi to get ready, and since Maoshi, he sat motionless in this hall for two hours. Hearing such a boring court meeting, it's hard not to feel sleepy . After a pause, I continued: "Remember what I told you when I came here?" After hesitating again, he nodded very lightly. Even though I knew he wouldn't see it, I nodded lightly: "Go ahead." Although Lian'er's character is not calm enough, she has always been decisive. After getting permission, she waved her hand regardless of His Majesty Dan and the ministers chattering, and said with a crisp and immature voice, "We will discuss it another day, and we will retire today!"

"Your Highness's decree, we will discuss it another day, and retire today!" Feng Wufu announced the decree loudly in a high-pitched tone. His Majesty Dan was silent for a moment. I don't know which minister reacted first, knelt down and kowtowed: "His Royal Highness is a thousand years old." "His Royal Highness is a thousand years old, a thousand years old, a thousand years old." The slightly scattered mountain call sounded, and without any hesitation, I got up together with Lian'er, walked out from behind the curtain, and walked down the high platform along the steps under the throne.

In the majestic and majestic hall, there are neatly kneeling ministers wearing court uniforms. The purple, blue and green official uniforms are densely packed, extending all the way to the gloomy sky outside the hall. This huge queue of ministers was silent, like a silent cloud, pressing down in the open field, the silence was suffocating. Eight years, eight years later, some people came and went, some things changed, but the imperial civil servants still lined up on the square outside the Qianqing Gate every day, meeting the emperor on time, discussing government affairs on time, The memorials and tickets are to be delivered to the inner palace, and the government orders issued are executed on time, just like a large machine that operates precisely and never makes mistakes, actually controlling the empire.

I've always disliked these people. His eyes no longer stayed there, he turned his head and passed through the huge golden pillar of the dragon in the hall, and walked towards the apse together with Lian'er. In eight years, things have indeed changed. Five years ago, my father, who was the chief assistant of the cabinet, handed over the government affairs to Yang Tingjie, the second assistant of the cabinet and a veteran of the three dynasties in his sixties, on the grounds of lack of energy. Four years ago, Zhang Zhuduan, who had already made his mark in the previous Westernization Controversy and tax law reform, entered the cabinet at the age of 29 and became a cabinet minister.He stood at the pinnacle of power a year earlier than his father, who was promoted the fastest in the history of the empire and was known as the genius of the world.

Two years ago, another young bachelor under the age of 30, Wu Qiying, the champion of Deyou for 11 years, was also filled into the cabinet by the edict. Whether it is created by current events or deliberately arranged, the position of the core of power has begun to be occupied by more and more young faces. Sisi stopped after walking down the high platform of Qianqing Palace, and Lian couldn't wait to jump off the soft sedan chair that carried him to the palace, and ran to my sedan chair, addressing him with a little attention: "Mother, mother, take me home together! " I also signaled the servant who carried the sedan chair to put down my sedan chair, and touched Lian's little head: "No, go to Jingyang Palace to do your homework first, Yan and Xiaoxie are waiting for you there."

Lian's little face immediately collapsed, and he reluctantly lowered his head and muttered something. I knew what he was thinking, and my heart softened a bit, but I reached out and touched his head again, and my tone became tougher: "I told you to go, you go!" Lian let out an aggrieved "Oh", shook his head and climbed back into the soft sedan chair. I signaled those people to take Lian's sedan chair directly to Jingyang Palace. The court meeting was delayed for too long, and it was already past the time for Zhan Shi to start classes. Lian didn't have time to change into the court clothes. The eunuch dragged it like a big tail for a long time. Finally seeing off Lian, I also got off the sedan chair, let the servants who carried the sedan chair retreat, and walked towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation by myself. Walking through Yangxin Gate, what appeared in front of me was a small courtyard that was almost independent after construction. After Deyou returned to the palace ten years later, there would be no concubines living in the next few palaces anyway, so I simply asked someone to knock down a few walls and connect the Yangxin Palace with the Yongshou Palace and Qixiang Palace behind. One, now Qixiang Palace has been transformed into a garden, and Yongshou Palace has been slightly repaired for children to live in. This yard is usually called "home" by children. All the way through the front hall without stopping, Jiao Yan walked up to me, she looked at me and smiled: "The empress is back." Xiao Shan married outside the palace five years ago, and now Jiaoyan has succeeded Xiao Shan as a female official in the Palace of Mental Cultivation and a female official in monk uniform, she is almost the highest-ranking aunt in the palace. I smiled at her: "Am I coming back late? Have you got up..." I didn't finish the last sentence.Because of the fast moving steps, I have already brought me to the door of the front hall. Through the opened door, I saw the person under the corridor of the apse. He was sitting behind the vermilion railing, wearing a white uniform, and because of the gloomy weather, he also wore a layered blue coat over his shoulders, with dark purple embroidery showing from the sleeves and neckline. Hearing the sound of footsteps, he put down his hands and looked through half of the things, then looked up and smiled. The fragrance of flowers and herbs rushed to the tip of the nose at this moment, and the melancholy and irritability that had been smoldering all morning suddenly disappeared without a trace. The garden is full of blooming onion orchids, and at the other end of the snow-white flowers scattered all over the ground like stars, he smiled softly at me. It's really silly, suddenly I can't tell whether it's been a few hours since I was separated from him, or how many centuries. Leaving Jiaoyan behind, I almost ran, passed through the flowers, jumped into the guardrail, and stretched out my arms to hug him through the heavy court clothes. After feeling the temperature from his arms, I remembered the same thing, raised my head and asked, "Why did you get up so early? Why did you come out and sit so early?" He still looked at me with a smile: "It's almost noon..." It just occurred to me that the stinky morning meeting was over, and it wasn't almost noon.Still confidently: "It's too early at noon!" After speaking, he reached out to touch his cheek, "Look, isn't it as cold as a popsicle?" He smiled, as before, did not argue with me, quietly resigned to his fate and was ready to listen to my continued criticism. Take a deep breath, and prepare to recite those who like to be brave but don't know how to cherish your body and always make others worry, but the words suddenly fell silent when they reached their mouths. I buried my head in his collar again, and I smiled: "Let me hug him for a while, it will be warm after a while." He didn't say anything, just quietly stretched out his hand and wrapped it around my shoulder. The body in his arms is very familiar, and there is a faint fragrance of Ruinao in his cuffs. Such a quiet moment of embracing each other is so beautiful that people don't want to speak. In fact, in the past eight years, he rarely made me worry about his body. Eight years ago, pregnant with Lian'er, after finding him in Daiyu City who had rushed back from southern Xinjiang, although he knew that his body had been severely damaged in the year of traveling around the rivers and lakes and on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, but the past few years after returning to Beijing His body has always been fine, and even if he feels unwell occasionally, he always recovers in a few days.Coupled with the fact that the children were born one after another, a lot of my energy was diverted all of a sudden, and more of my attention was shifted to the younger children. That's why in the spring of this year, no matter how pregnant he was, he insisted on going to Jiangsu to deal with a dispute between Fenglai Pavilion and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, which forced him to put aside the government affairs and go with me. Originally planned a trip of up to ten days, due to the birth of Ran'er and Can'er and some other trivial matters, it was delayed to travel outside for almost a month.After returning from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, although I had a wet nurse to help, I was also quarreled by the little ones who were not born for a long time. I had to get up several times almost every night to comfort the two little ones who refused to be safe. So that's how it happened when the kids were finally getting a little older and getting closer to their wet nurses, without me sleeping next to them every day, thinking I could take a breather and relax. On that day at the beginning of this month, the two of them completed their respective busy days as usual.Finally, after putting the children to sleep, I had some time, so I went to the front hall to pick him up and go back to the room to rest together. Seemingly surprised that I would appear there, he smiled, but didn't let me stay there to wait for him, urging me to go to rest first. I didn't care, and went to the next yard to check how the children were sleeping, then went back to the front hall and continued to wait for him outside the Nuan Pavilion. As a result, I waited until late at night, but still didn't see him coming out, so I couldn't hold back and ran in and patted the memorial in his hand, forcing him to come with me. He smiled at me apologetically, stood up while supporting the table, but before he could take a step, he fell down in front of me without any sign or sound. With a face that was so pale that it had no color, breathing that was barely noticeable, and a heartbeat that was so faint that I could hardly feel it, when I rushed to hug him, my mind was almost blank.Feng Wufu, who still heard the noise and barged in, kept calm and ordered someone to find Yang Tai, the current doctor of Taitai Hospital. He didn't wake up until the next afternoon, and the first thing he did when he woke up was to find me who was guarding by the bed, and smiled apologetically: "Cang Cang, don't worry." I always thought that I would never cry in front of him again in this life. When I saw my figure in his eyes, the tears still couldn't stop sliding down. I once swore that I would never let him bear it alone anywhere again, but in the end, due to various reasons, it was only after he couldn't hold on and collapsed that he learned from Feng Wufu that he was born in the south of the Yangtze River. After returning, his appetite has been very poor in recent months, and he is often too busy to fall asleep until late at night. At that moment, no matter how many people were around, I foolishly hugged him and cried, but I still couldn't control the trembling of my body. After waking up that day, although Yang Tai repeatedly said that he was just overworked and his body wasted too much, as long as he took care of himself and paid attention to rest, he still could hardly eat anything in the next few days, and his spirit was so weak that he easily fell asleep. It wasn't until the last few days that he looked a little better, and he was able to get up in the afternoon, and he no longer vomited up no matter what he ate like a few days ago. I hugged him tighter, feeling the thinness of his body under the cloth, so I let go a little. "Cang Cang," he called me softly, with a smile in his tone, "it's too tight." I relaxed my hand, took a deep breath and raised my head, I glared at him: "If it's tight, you have to bear it! Who told you that male pets can complain?" He smiled and sighed helplessly: "Then just hold tight..." I couldn't help but also laughed, I finally let go of the hand holding him, pulled the cumbersome court clothes and piled them under my feet, squeezed into a chair next to him, and asked a series of questions with a sullen face: "What do you do when you wake up?" Did you stay in bed for a while longer? Did you drink stomach nourishing soup before breakfast after getting up? Did you vomit after breakfast? Did you take your medicine on time after breakfast? Did you secretly leave a lot of medicine?" "Yes, I had a good breakfast and didn't vomit. Since I was caught sneaking leftover medicine last time, I don't dare anymore..." He smiled softly, looking like he was waiting for me to continue nagging . I would not let him be fooled by this kind of cover-up for a long time, I glared at him again, reached out and grabbed the stack of things that he seemed to have put on the back of the chair unintentionally, and I shook the not-so-thin memorial in front of his eyes : "Did you come to see this thing with a little bit of energy?" With a slight cough in embarrassment, he slightly turned his eyes away: "Well, I came to watch after saving a lot of energy." I didn't expect him to blurt out such a lazy sentence to me, he was angry and funny, holding up the stack of memorials, his face was not easy to maintain seriousness, and he couldn't hang on. I was still in a daze when he suddenly asked softly: "Did He Yi say anything to the court this morning?" Thinking back to the calm Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, there were only a few people in the early court who stayed out of the matter, neither criticizing Qi Chengliang nor defending him, and He Yi was one of them. Shaking my head, I answered him, "I didn't say anything." He nodded lightly, and there was no emotion in his words: "The first letter of impeachment was written by the imperial censor of the third rank. This is the first time since the founding of the country with great military power." Qi Chengliang was attacked by the officials after he was ill, because he was mentally ill, I never dared to tell him, now it seems that he was aware of it. I didn't answer, and looked at him quietly sideways. His brows were slightly knitted just now, and a straight line was drawn on his pale and thin lips. Lifting my fingers, I slowly stroked the lines of his side face, and I laughed silently: "Brother Xiao..." "Huh?" Because his train of thought was interrupted, he was stunned for a rare moment, "Cangcang?" "It's nothing," I closed my eyes and smiled, "I just suddenly felt...why my male pet is getting better and better, he doesn't look like the father of five children..." Startled for a while, he finally laughed, his frowning brows spread out, and he nodded without hesitation: "Really? Doesn't it look like it?" "Yeah, yum!" I nodded solemnly, and then said more solemnly, "Hurry up and say that I don't look like the mother of five children, and let me be happy too." He laughed even harder, shaking his head again and again: "It's not like, it's not like, Cang Cang doesn't look like it at all." Not very satisfied with his answer, I emphasized my tone: "Huh? It doesn't look like anything?" The dark clouds dissipated, the sky lit up little by little, and the snow-white scallions in the courtyard seemed to light up little by little, and even the narrow red corridor seemed to light up little by little, among all these bright things In the middle, is a pair of bright and deep pupils that are dizzy with laughter, reflecting the clear sky. Eight years after we reunited, the man who still smiles at me warmly is Xiao Huan. At noon, I had lunch with Xiao Huan. First, he held a porridge bowl and forced him to drink a bowl of hibiscus chicken porridge, and then threatened him that if he wanted to vomit, he would vomit quickly and couldn't bear it, so he stared at him with a half-smile. Knowing that he is silently laughing at my inconsistency, how dare a person who has thinned himself down like this dare to have an opinion?He stared back fiercely. Then he watched him frowning and drank the medicine with difficulty, and took a rest for a while before walking hand in hand with him to the children's yard at the back of the hall. Now is the time for class break, and a group of little boys just finished their meal, running around in the yard unwilling to sleep, when they found us coming, they all froze in place. Xiao Xie, who was digging a hole under the crabapple tree looking for ants, got red eyes first, dropped the flower shovel in his hand and ran over, threw himself into Xiao Huan's arms and hugged his leg, crying in a crisp voice: "Daddy, Xiao Xie I miss Daddy so much..." Lian and Yan also ran over quickly, their bright black eyes covered with mist, looking at Xiao Huan, but they didn't rush forward like Xiao Xie. Leaning over to hug Xiaoxie and pat her on the shoulder, Xiao Huan comforted her softly. I also leaned down and touched Xiaoxie's face, pulled her from Xiao Huan to my arms and hugged her, nodded to Lian and Yan: "Hey, come and find a comfortable place for your father to sit in the house!" The two little guys immediately ran into the room obediently. Hugging Xiao Xie who was still twitching on my shoulder, he walked into the room with Xiao Huan. As expected, Lian and Yan had already fixed the soft couch by the window, looking expectantly at us at the door. Put Xiao Xie on the ground, and let her drag Xiao Huan to the soft couch, I couldn't help but complain: "I haven't seen each other for more than ten days when I went out, why didn't I see someone miss me so much? It's too partial right?" Xiao Huan had been dragged by Xiaoxie and pressed on the soft couch. Hearing the voice, he raised his head and smiled at me: "Cangcang..." Anyway, no matter how resentful I look now, the three little guys won't have time to look at me, so they snorted and walked over, and sat down on the soft couch next to me. The three children over there had already climbed onto Xiao Huan's lap and huddled together. After Xiao Huan got sick this time, because of his poor spirit, he didn't see the children all the time, and the children made a fuss.So I made an agreement with them that after lunch today, I would come over with Xiao Huan to see them. As the Pavilion Master of Fenglai Pavilion these years, when encountering matters that I have to face, I would often leave my children behind and go out.On the contrary, although Xiao Huan was busy with government affairs, he tried his best to spend time with them every day.As time goes by, the child doesn't cling to me very much, but especially likes to cling to Xiao Huan.Xiao Xie became even more dependent on her father. Several times in the middle of the night, she hugged the pillow and ran to Xiao Huan and I's room, insisting on sleeping with her father.Originally, the two of them were sleeping just right, but a little girl forced her way in between. I was so angry that I jumped up and down, but there was nothing I could do. I haven't seen my father for more than ten days, and the three children don't know how much they have saved.I heard the rattling over there.Lian was talking about the difficulties encountered in homework for the past two days, Yan was beside him embarrassingly interspersed with a few new allusions he had learned, Xiaoxie was pulling Xiao Huan's sleeve, and telling him what he had just learned with his crisp back . Hold your head and sit by the side and watch what they are talking about, making a fuss.After a while, Xiao Huan, who seemed to be too busy to be distracted by the children, raised his head and smiled at me, then patted Yan: "Mr. Wu told you the story of respecting the virtuous and carrying the harrier, do you want to follow me?" Mother said?" Lian and Yan are two children, Lian is more lively, Yan is more obedient, when he heard what Xiao Huan said, he immediately crawled over his knees, pulled my sleeve timidly, and looked at me with watery black eyes: "Mother, come and listen to Yan'er's story, okay?" Smiling and pinching his little cheeks, I nodded: "Okay, mother just wants to hear Yan'er tell a story, Yan'er must be very good at telling it." Encouraged, Yan's little face flushed with excitement, and immediately began to speak clearly about the allusion of Tang Taizong respecting the virtuous and carrying the harrier. It took about half an hour for the family of five to chat and laugh. After comforting the reluctant three children to take a nap in the room, they went to see Ran and Can at the nurse.The two little ones are growing their deciduous teeth, and when they are full, they close their eyes and spit bubbles. After tossing around, after watching the children and returning to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, almost an hour passed. I went back to the room and sat down. I didn't do anything, just leaned on the soft couch and watched Xiao Huan sip the freshly brewed ginseng tea. After watching for a while, he finally put down the teacup in his hand, with a helpless smile on his face: "Cangcang...you have been watching from the bottom up..." "If you can make you look fat just by looking at it, I will definitely look harder..." I choked on him casually, I leaned over, grabbed a cushion and stuffed it behind his back, and leaned against his shoulder, and then Pulling his hand and holding it, "Brother Xiao, you are worried about the future, right?" He paused, then smiled: "Cang Cang, you know, the government has not been stable in recent years." I'm silent. The government affairs in the past few years have indeed not been as smooth and smooth as they seem.On the surface, the civil service group still maintains the previous situation where there are many factions, but they compromise and coexist with each other.In fact, due to the growing differences in interests and governance over the past few years, as well as the unusually rapid promotion of young ministers, the original delicate balance has been broken. Headed by the two most prestigious cabinet ministers, gradually Two larger factions were split, which were dubbed "Old Pavilion Old Gang" and "Shaoge Old Gang" by the people. It's just that the two factions no longer had any differences in attacking Qi Chengliang this time. Li Yan, who handed the first letter of impeachment, was a fellow student of Zhang Zhuduan, but most of the people who attacked Qi Chengliang most fiercely later were disciples of Yang Tingjie's school.Now the people on the bright side of the two factions understand very well that it is commonplace to quarrel in the court hall. It would be okay if only one faction rose up to attack, but the two factions that have always been tit for tat can unexpectedly unite unprecedentedly this time. I really can't figure out what kind of medicine these people are selling in their gourds. The most annoying thing is that it's not a good time to pick a time, but pick these few days to make trouble! Thinking about it made me ignite, I snorted coldly: "A group of troublemakers." He didn't go on talking, and smiled: "It's still early, do you want to take a nap for a while?" "No, it's okay." He said it was okay if he didn't mention it, but when I mentioned it, I remembered, "Su Qian promised me to go to the main hall to discuss the Cao Gang this afternoon, and I have to go there quickly." Standing up while speaking, leaning over and grabbing his arm: "Brother Xiao, you can come with me too." He nodded and smiled: "Okay, I haven't been there for a long time recently." "Then go and relax." I smiled, "I'll go get ready." In the past few years, Xiao Huan often went to Fenglai Pavilion with me. Anyway, the road is very close and it is easy to go there. The carriage was soon ready, and it drove me and Xiao Huan out from the Xuanwu Gate. After a short time, we turned into the large courtyard of the main hall of Fenglai Pavilion, passed through the gardens and buildings, and finally arrived at a water in the depths of the garden. Stop in front of the courtyard.Although the layout of this courtyard is different from that of the main hall in Jinling back then, I insisted on setting the place where the owner of the pavilion lives and handles official business near the lotus pond, and named it Yishuiyuan.Because of this, Su Qian and Muyan often laughed at me. As soon as I got out of the car, I saw Su Qian was already waiting at the gate of the courtyard, and she was not polite when we met: "I thought you would hang around until dark before coming!" After speaking, I saw Xiao Huan who was behind me supporting my waist , Immediately changed her expression, and clasped her fists respectfully and politely, "Su Qian has met Pavilion Master Bai." Xiao Huan smiled: "Xiaoqian doesn't need to be too polite." Su Qian still bowed her head and turned sideways to make way: "Please come in, Master." This "Pavilion Master" is definitely not referring to me, I rolled my eyes.Not only Su Qian and Muyan, but also the five guys who are not often in the main hall, a group of people knew to hug Xiao Huan's thigh, anyway, I'm still the real pavilion master, and immediately put me aside when they saw Xiao Huan . Eight years ago, shortly after I returned from Daiyu with Xiao Huan, Su Qian sent someone to hurriedly call me to the main hall before the resettlement ceremony. I thought it was a big deal and hurried over , as soon as he entered the door, he saw seven hall masters sitting in a row in the room, all of them looked serious, and they only opened their mouths with one sentence: "We want to see Pavilion Master Bai." Later, after we met, the exaggeration was even more exaggerated. Seven people stood in a row and clasped their fists in neat movements: "Pavilion Master, please stay safe." They didn't even glance at me who was standing next to me. Still secretly indignant about what happened back then, he was held by someone, raised his head, Xiao Huan smiled at me, and motioned for me to go in with him. When we entered the door, we saw Muyan was already waiting inside. Seeing us entering, Muyan came over and saluted Xiao Huan before talking to me about the business. It's not a complicated matter, but some time ago, the Cao Gang Federation said that Fenglai Pavilion had invaded their business and detained several of our cargo ships without permission. Song Weixiao, who is now stationed in the Jinling branch, took his disciples to negotiate , the two sides had a conflict. Although this matter is not serious, if it continues to quarrel, it will definitely hurt the harmony between the gangs. Song Weixiao reported it to the main hall to ask for the next step. Su Qian advocated absolutely not to show weakness, and Muyan also thought so, so the three of us decided to let Song Weixiao fight with reason and resolutely resist, and informed Nie Hanrong of the Hangzhou branch to lead the disciples to prepare for the situation to expand at any time, and went to Jinling to meet Song Weixiao. A few words came up with a decision, and it took only a quarter of an hour before and after. After I finished speaking, I breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to look at Xiao Huan. He sat on the Eight Immortals Chair as soon as he entered the door, and only took two sips of the ginseng tea that was just served. , looked at me and smiled: "Just now Xiaofen gestured and told me that some fruits just arrived are very good, do you want to try them?" Xiaofen was still the dumb maidservant who used to serve in the Yishuiyuan when she was in Jinling. When the main hall moved here, they also came with her. I walked over to him and smiled at him. Fern nodded and smiled: "Okay, go and get some." After the position of Pavilion Master was handed over to me back then, although Xiao Huan would still go to the main hall with me for so many years, it seemed that Xiao Huan only appeared as a relative of the current Pavilion Master. problem, and he has no further comments on my decisions and methods.In the earliest days, I always observed his face unconsciously, afraid that I might have done something wrong.Later, I found that he was always reading a book or playing chess games in front of the chess record by himself. Not only did he not express anything on his face, he was not even sure whether he was listening to us, so he gradually let go of his hands and feet. That's why I asked him to come to Fenglai Pavilion with me this afternoon. If he stayed in the palace, no matter how much I objected and blamed him, he would definitely secretly go through the memorials that had a whole backlog of imperial cases, and simply put him in the palace. He brought here, but also let him really relax. Xiaofen quickly brought up two plates of exquisitely marinated peach meat and red bayberry. I sat and drank tea with Xiao Huan for a while, then ran to the study next door to deal with some official documents. Although Su Qian handled most of it on her behalf, I have been staying in the palace for the past few days, so I still have some backlogs.After hastily instructing, another disciple came to report that Qingcheng sent Daoist Yiwei to visit, he quickly got up and went to the door to greet him, and after speaking politely, he realized that Yiwei was just looking for Muyan to compare swords, so he turned his head immediately Go call Muyan and throw the person to him. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he reported that the head of the Tongzhou Golden Dragon Escort had visited, and ran to the door to pick him up again. The chief escort of the Golden Dragon Escort, Mr. Zheng, probably thought Tongzhou was too boring, so he would go to the capital every now and then, and wander around Fenglai Pavilion, which was easier than going back to his own escort. . I drank tea countless times just with him, and every time I was dizzy by his nonsense.But since I happened to be there, I couldn't avoid it, so I forced him to invite him into the study. Who knew that as soon as I entered the door, I saw Xiao Huan sitting on the chair in the middle, flipping through the book leisurely. Before I had time to speak, Chief Escort Zheng had already yelled out in alarm, as if he had seen a ghost: "Bai...Bai, Bai Chifan!" Xiao Huan didn't raise his head indifferently, I cleared my cough: "Boss Zheng, please don't call the former Pavilion Master of the Babang by his name." Chief Escort Zheng realized that he had lost his composure, but his voice still hadn't recovered, and he kept glancing at Xiao Huan: "I'm rude, I'm rude..." I smiled: "It's okay, it's okay." Then I walked up to Xiao Huan and took his hand, "I surprised the head of the escort, this is my husband, and his appearance is somewhat similar to that of our Pavilion Master Bai. Misunderstand." Chief Escort Zheng finally calmed down in shock: "So that's how it is." I leaned over and hugged Xiao Huan's shoulders, and said to him softly: "Brother Xiao, are you tired, do you want to go back and rest for a while?" Then I raised my head and smiled to the opposite side, "I'm sorry, Boss Zheng, my husband is not in good health. That's great, I can't talk to the Chief Escort." Chief Escort Zheng didn't answer. Xiao Huan got up, lowered his head slightly and smiled at him: "Zheng Yangwu, Chief Escort Zheng, please accompany me." Regardless of the suddenly rounded eyes on the opposite side, he walked into the inner room. This time Zheng Yangwu stayed in Fenglai Pavilion for the shortest time in all his visits. After only drinking a cup of tea, he left in a hurry with a blushing face, and repeatedly refused to let me see him to the door. After sending Zheng Yangwu away, I laughed when I returned to the inner room, and threw myself on Xiao Huan who was sitting on the soft couch: "Brother Xiao, thank you for helping me get rid of that annoying guy!" He put down the book in his hand and looked at me with a smile: "Really? I haven't been impatient for so long, I thought you didn't hate him." Speaking of which, because no one has ever seen me bring my husband, in the past two years, several single or widowed Jianghu leaders have frequently come to Fenglai Pavilion to gossip about me.No matter how dull I am, I still feel that something is wrong.Pushing left and right blocking, it's not good to just yell at them and get out, it's a bit of a headache.I don't know when it started, I led a sword sect head in, and saw Xiao Huan sitting inside.That day the head of the Sword Sect opened his mouth so wide that he could almost stuff an egg in, and he never visited the door again. After doing this two or three times, rumors began to spread that the current Pavilion Master Fenglai had raised a man who was very similar to the late former Pavilion Master Bai Chifan as a male pet. I laughed out loud: "Beauty, I'm waiting for you to be jealous," I said as I got up and squinted my eyes, and raised his chin with one hand, "Beauty knocked over the vinegar pot? Come on, let the master I love you so much..." He didn't avoid it either, and raised the corner of his eyes slightly: "My lord, there seems to be someone watching." I hurriedly turned around, and saw Muyan standing helplessly at the door and rolling her eyes: "I told you two pavilion masters, if you want to flirt, please go back to your Hall of Mental Cultivation, there are still people coming in and out here." While maintaining the posture of throwing half of my body on Xiao Huan, I turned back unceremoniously: "Don't look at evil, don't you understand? When you see a couple making out, you should immediately turn around and go out, as if you didn't see anything! " Muyan continued to roll her eyes, and looked at me: "You still pretend to be decent in front of outsiders, why are you still so inconspicuous in private, you are the mother of five children, I really don't know where you have lived all these years gone." "Aren't you also the father of three children? I don't think you have grown much in the past few years." I also glanced at him, "What's the matter here, tell me!" "It's nothing, just to report that Yiwei was taken away by me." He smiled abhorrently, "This is the eighth challenger I have defeated this year, how about it, I am the current number one master of Fenglai Pavilion Bar." It was obvious that I was mocking me even though I was the master of the Fenglai Pavilion, but I had never met anyone who wanted to challenge me, so I snorted coldly in anger: "Isn't it just to accompany people to fight, I know you are the king of fighting!" Muyan immediately shook her head and brought out a lot of things that his martial arts contest was definitely not about fighting, but the highest and most wonderful state of fighting. I was annoyed and interrupted, and the two of you were happily arguing with each other, and finally Xiao Huan had to come out with a smile and interrupt us. The half day in Fenglai Pavilion was half busy and half leisurely. For dinner, I rushed back to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to eat with the children.Even though they met at noon, the little ones were still very happy, and kept talking to Xiao Huan after dinner. After finally comforting and sending them away, it was getting late. He smiled and put his arm around my shoulder: "Do you want to go to bed earlier?" It's fine if he doesn't say anything, but when he said that he got up early at 10 o'clock today, after tossing and tossing all day, I really felt a little sleepy, so I smiled and hugged his waist instead: "Brother Xiao, I want to sleep with you." He chuckled: "Okay, but the belt of my underwear is a little tight today, should I loosen it first?" He's laughing at me for always taking off his clothes unconsciously when I'm sleeping!Who knows since when, he started to laugh at me more and more... He glanced over fiercely: "No, I'm used to it." I hugged him on the bed and went to meet Duke Zhou in a daze. As usual, in a trance, I had already untied his underwear, and put my face directly on the skin of his chest. 琐碎而平常的一天，就在鼻间淡淡的瑞脑清香中结束。 围绕住身体的，是他怀中淡漠的温暖，有他在身边的时候，我的觉总是睡得很安稳，睡沉了之后好像听到了一些细碎的响声，我没在意。 一觉睡到第二天，朦胧间，似乎听到了早朝的钟声，今天明明不是大朝的日子，怎么会有钟声？ 清醒了一些我才发现，被褥虽然裹得很整齐，萧焕不知道什么时候已经不在了。 托着头坐起来，床边就传来娇妍的声音：“娘娘醒了？万岁爷吩咐我在这儿等着您，这会儿还早啊，要不要再睡会儿？” 掀开被子跳下床，我问：“万岁爷人呢？什么时候走的？” “万岁爷上朝去了，”娇妍回答，“今早不到寅时就召集锦衣卫去通知各位大人大朝了。” 不由分说地夺过娇妍手里给我准备的衣物，胡乱往身上套，慌得有些头昏。 萧焕这个时候是突然召集大臣干什么的？ 戚承亮！冲上身体的凉气让我打了个冷颤，我突然明白，戚承亮是原定昨晚被押解到京的。