It's better to fall in love than seize the heir

The mountain vomits four more cold moons, and the frost is not as light as the jade bottle.

It's past the end of the year, and the wind and snow at the gate of the city has long since stopped. At the feet of the guards standing with iron halberds, there are only red chips of firecrackers scattered all over the ground.The two bright red lanterns on the tall and majestic city gate swayed gently, as if they were also startled by the sound of cars and horses just driving in.

"Here we are." Liang Yan reined in his horse and stopped beside the carriage, and said softly through the curtain with a smile on his face, "Guess who is here to pick you up?"

Shen Jinghe lifted the curtain and jumped down lightly.When he raised his eyes, he saw two familiar and excited faces.

"Fourth sister! Fifth brother!"

The Pianpian son of Zhilan Yushu seems to have turned back into the little prince in the deep palace back then. He put aside all his dignity and stability in front of outsiders. Warm embrace.

"I'm back, it can be regarded as coming back...Shen Zhuoxuan, you are such an adult, why are you still crying, are you ashamed!"

Shen Rutang hugged this younger brother who was a head taller than herself with one hand, and wiped the red eye circles with the other hand, while turning around to scold Shen Zhuoxuan, who also had slightly red eyes.

Shen Zhuoxuan looked at his sister who was out of breath from crying and still hugged her tightly, a warm smile appeared from the corners of her reddened eyes.He took another step forward, hugged the two of them tightly, and patted their shoulders.

"It's good to be back at last... You don't know, the fourth sister loves to run to my house after confinement, which made General Lin look at me in the wrong way." Shen Zhuoxuan saw that the two gradually calmed down, with gentle smiles and a gentle tone. But there was a hint of grievance, "Also, most of the letters you sent back to us were also snatched back by the fourth sister, obviously I also have my share in it!"

Shen Rutang burst into tears when she heard the words, and her bright eyebrows and eyes could not tell that she was the mother of two children.She gave Shen Zhuoxuan an arrogant look, and then brought Shen Jinghe to her head:

"The day Jinghe left, I didn't even get to see him off, so what if I took a few letters away!" She turned her head to look at Shen Jinghe and looked at their bickering eyebrows with a smile. The more she looked, the more docile and cute she felt, Your fifth brother is stingy, he just loves to argue with me. Jinghe, you will sit next to fourth sister at the banquet later, and ignore him!"

"Okay, listen to Fourth Sister." Shen Jinghe coaxed her sister well, then turned her head and winked at Shen Zhuoxuan.The latter could only sigh modestly like a gentleman, shrugged helplessly, and made the people around him laugh.

After Shen Jinghe laughed, he turned around and saw Liang Yan still holding the horse and standing watching them laughing. Although there was no expression on his face, his brows were obviously soft.With a slight movement in his heart, he broke away from his brothers and sisters, took small steps and walked back holding Liang Yan's sleeve.When he wanted to speak again, he ground his toes on the ground embarrassingly, and his tone hesitated.

"Fourth sister, fifth brother, I didn't suffer much in South Vietnam this time, thanks to Liang Yan's care..."

Liang Yan was originally watching Shen Jinghe's reunion with his relatives, although he was very happy for him in his heart, but thinking of his family members who died young, he still felt a little hurt.However, he didn't expect that Shen Jinghe would be sensitive to this, and would take the initiative to pull him into his closest family.

This is because he is afraid that he will be sad, and it is also to open up his own world for him without reservation.

Liang Yan turned his head to look at Shen Jinghe, who was a little embarrassed, with a tenderness in his eyes that he didn't even realize.

Shen Rutang and Shen Zhuoxuan looked at each other when they saw their actions.The smile on Shen Zhuoxuan's lips was still helpless, but Shen Rutang gave him a glare, pushed him away, and stepped forward to Liang Yan gracefully:

"General Liang, I know how difficult it is to travel thousands of miles back and forth to South Vietnam, let alone staying there for so long. You took good care of Jinghe. From before to now, we brothers and sisters have always watched In my eyes... you have worked hard."

"It's not hard." Liang Yan's throat suddenly felt a little dry, and there were many things he wanted to say, but in the end, he just held Shen Jinghe's hand tightly without hesitation, his straight back was as unyielding as Axue Qingsong said, "It is my greatest wish to take care of him for the rest of my life. I am willing and will not regret it."

Shen Zhuoxuan leaned on his forehead and sighed softly, Shen Rutang smiled deeply. As for Shen Jinghe, he looked up at Liang Yan in a little astonishment, sucked his nose, held that big hand even tighter, and smiled brightly at him.

"Ai, you... Ai, this is still on the street." Shen Zhuoxuan struggled for a few words, but was mercilessly beaten by his sister, and could only helplessly hold his head and feel wronged.

Shen Jinghe never explicitly mentioned his relationship with Liang Yan, but obviously he never meant to cover it up.Shen Zhuoxuan is not a fool, as time goes by, and the two of them always interact with each other intimately, he naturally senses something is wrong.

When he first reacted, Shen Zhuoxuan was astonished in his heart, not to mention that the two of them are men, but a prince of the Tian family and a heavy general in the court, this is destined to be a road full of obstacles and no hope.He didn't make it clear, thinking that sooner or later they would understand and separate, only worried that Shen Jinghe would be affected and hurt his heart.

It's just that he didn't expect that four or five years later, instead of being separated as he expected, the two people became more and more emotional and inseparable.

Later, when Shen Jinghe went to South Vietnam, for some reason, he didn't even want the original window paper. The letters he sent back always mentioned how he and Liang Yanping lived together, so they almost didn't tell them. The fact that they are already together.Shen Zhuoxuan was really worried, he felt that it was impossible to go on like this, and he couldn't bear to see his brother sad, so he had to take the letter to his sister who just gave birth to a young daughter to find a solution.

Shen Rutang handed the daughter who had just fallen asleep to the nanny, read the letter carefully, and flicked his forehead hard with his backhand.

"Shen Zhuoxuan, I think you are usually very smart, don't you? Why are you so confused at this time, eating salty radish and worrying?" Shen Rutang said rudely to the person who was gasping for air and rubbing his forehead, "Jinghe is not a child Now, who treats him well, who he likes, I know better than you. Do you need the advice of your elder brother, whom your own wife can't ask for?"

Shen Zhuoxuan suffered severe pain on the forehead, and a knife was stabbed in the heart. He could hardly hold back his gentle look, and asked with twitching corners of his lips: "Sister, no... You really didn't realize that Liang Yan is also a man?"

"A man is a man, and our Jinghe is also a man. What's the big deal?" Shen Rutang raised Liu Yemei indifferently, regardless of Shen Zhuoxuan's eyes that were staring out of the window. It's not easy! It's not like you don't know how good General Liang treats Jinghe, and sometimes, even my elder sister feels ashamed."

Shen Rutang fought back again: "Besides, you have no right to speak out about others. Your sister and I have a son and a daughter, and Jinghe will have a companion for the rest of his life. What about you, we shall be the fifth prince? When will you be able to?" Bring me someone back, whether it's a man or a woman, old or young, I have no problem!"

Shen Zhuoxuan walked back that day with a dazed expression, thinking about it for several days, and finally had to accept this fact.Coupled with the letters that Shen Jinghe sent back from time to time, the mutual trust and support between him and Liang Yan almost overflowed between the lines, and slowly, Shen Zhuoxuan let go.

Even so, seeing Liang Yan and Shen Jinghe flirting with each other on the street, he couldn't help struggling to say a few words.It's a pity that among the three people in front of them, two of them only have each other in their eyes at the moment, and the other one is smiling and narrowing his eyes with satisfaction, and no one pays attention to him at all.

... I can't help but brother.

Shen Zhuoxuan sighed bitterly in his heart, and was about to say something more, but saw a figure slowly walking across the long street with sharp eyes.

"Eunuch Dequan..."

Shen Jinghe stepped forward and hurriedly supported the old man who wanted to salute him.Dequan was still wearing that crimson palace gown, which had a few more wrinkles compared to the one he left on the front, but his eyes were still full of love when he looked over.

"Your Highness, you are finally back! Did you suffer a lot over there? The servant seems to have lost some weight..."

"Nothing!" Shen Jinghe looked at Dequan's gradual aging over the past few years, and felt a little sour in his heart, "I had a good time in Nanyue, but my father-in-law should take care even more in the palace."

"Hey, hey! I know Your Highness is concerned about your servant!" Dequan nodded joyfully, "The servant is here today not only to greet His Highness, but also to pass on the word of mouth for His Majesty."

Shen Jinghe asked: "But the emperor wants me to enter the palace to see and report on my duties?"

Dequan replied: "It was originally like this, but His Majesty hasn't healed from the wind and cold these days, and today he has some headaches, so His Highness will be exempted from entering the palace for an audience, and everything will only be discussed in the Jinluan Hall during the court."

"Father's illness is so serious? It's been so long and he still hasn't recovered?" Shen Jinghe frowned.

Dequan was not in a hurry to answer, he carefully looked left and right, and quickly said in a low voice: "Your Majesty has a dragon body and God's blessing, and His Highness is kind and filial, there will definitely be no disturbances."

After saying this sentence, Dequan regained his expression, saluted with a smile, turned and went back to the palace.

Shen Jinghe sent him two steps, his face thoughtful.

It seems that the emperor's "illness" was mostly caused by his sons...

Thinking of the vigor and limelight of the third prince's faction who couldn't hide more and more recently, Shen Jinghe lowered his eyes, covering the flashing sharpness from the corners of his eyes.

When Cao Cao arrived, Shen Jinghe hadn't thought of provoking him yet, but who would have expected that their sedan chair would be stopped by someone on the way to the reception banquet that Shen Zhuoxuan had ordered in advance.

Shen Zhuomin led three or two attendants, as if just passing by, looked in surprise at Shen Jinghe, who had a calm expression, and smiled amiably.

"I wondered why the magpies kept screaming on the branch today. It turns out that the sixth brother has arrived in the capital... It's a pity that the emperor was stumbled by government affairs, otherwise he must go to greet him in person."

Shen Jinghe played with him patiently and kindly: "I'm sorry, Brother Sanhuang, I'm going to pay a visit after returning to Beijing. I didn't want to meet him here by chance. It's really a coincidence. .”

The two looked at each other across the sea of ​​people on the long street with people coming and going, talking and laughing, Yanyan, but there was no gunpowder, but they knew each other that a tense war was about to break out.

Shen Zhuomin glanced at the direction they were heading, and the three big characters "Baiweiju" on the plaque were flamboyant.He backed away two steps, let the way out, and smiled.

"Sixth Brother has been traveling all the way, so it is natural for Brother Huang not to delay your meal, please hurry up."

Shen Jinghe also bowed in a well-behaved way, and couldn't find any faults.

"Thank you, brother."

When they passed each other, Shen Zhuomin suddenly realized and slapped his head with a friendly tone.

"Almost forgot, in order to celebrate the sixth brother's return to Beijing, the emperor prepared a big gift for the sixth brother."

A bad premonition flashed in Shen Jinghe's mind, he quickly turned his head, but only had time to see Shen Zhuomin's sight drifting across his skin like a poisonous snake.

He stopped and stared for a while, until the figures of Shen Zhuomin and his attendants disappeared completely.

"Soldiers come to block, water comes to cover." Liang Yan looked at the scene in front of him without saying a word, and waited until Shen Zhuomin left, then stepped forward and gently hugged Shen Jinghe's shoulder as a comfort.

"I'm fine. Whatever he wants to play, I'll just accompany him to the end." Shen Jinghe smiled.

When they walked up to Baiweiju, Shen Zhuoxuan and Shen Rutang, who were in other sedan chairs, arrived early.Seeing that the two were delayed, Shen Zhuoxuan asked a little strangely: "What's the matter, did you encounter anything on the way?"

"A little episode, it's okay." Shen Jinghe walked forward without changing his face, not wanting the two to worry about him.

Shen Zhuoxuan didn't really believe it, but seeing that Shen Jinghe didn't want to mention it, he just let it go.

"Hurry up and sit down. I ordered the new 'Wushu Cauldron' from Baiweiju. I heard that it is eaten from the north. It is most suitable for sitting around and enjoying in winter."

"Come on, Jinghe sit next to Fourth Sister! General Liang is good enough to sit on the side next to him. We eat as our own family, so we don't need to be so restrained." Shen Rutang greeted with a smile, and asked Xiaoer to serve two jars of good wine.

Liang Yan looked at Shen Jinghe's slightly red earlobes because of the words "my family", and he was in a good mood for a moment. He no longer paid attention to politeness and sat down, and nodded slightly: "Since the fourth princess said so, Liang Yan will not be impolite." .Since I am from my own family, it is fine for the princess to call me by my first and last name.”

Shen Rutang himself has a straightforward temperament, and he likes people who are not twitchy, so he laughed happily.Shen Jinghe quietly pinched Liang Yan's arm under the table, then looked up at him.

"Push your nose on your face!"

Liang Yan was not annoyed when he was offended, he poured a glass of wine for Shen Jinghe and handed it over, slightly raised one eyebrow, with a smile in his eyes.

"The five-cooked cauldron is here—use it slowly, sir!"

The waiter in the shop hurriedly carried a small copper tripod and put it on the table. Under the copper tripod, it was heated with charcoal fire. The interior was divided into five areas by partitions, and boiling soup was gurgling inside.Three more dishes were served, with all kinds of dishes neatly stacked inside. One dish was goose meat, pheasant, beef tenderloin, beef louver, lamb tripe and quail, and the other dish was eel, black fish, puffer fish, salmon and sea bream. shellfish, and the remaining dish is vegetables such as cattail vegetables, bamboo shoots, stone fungus and perilla leaves, plus a small dish of sauce made with wine, sauce, pepper and other seasonings.

Shen Jinghe stared dumbfounded at the so-called five-cooked cauldron, where Shen Zhuoxuan was still talking about teaching them how to put the thinly sliced ​​meat into the soup, and then pick it up and dip it in the sauce.

——This, isn't this the hot pot that was very popular in the last life?

There was white smoke and hot air floating on the copper tripod, and the fiery red soup mixed with chili was bubbling, overflowing with a rich and fresh aroma of chili and hemp, which made people salivate.

The three people on the seat each picked up a chopstick and boiled the beef louver, and threw it into Shen Jinghe's bowl at the same time: "Taste it!"

Shen Jinghe was taken aback for a moment, and the three of them were also taken aback, and then they laughed tacitly.Shen Jinghe looked around at their smiling faces, then looked down at the bowl full of hot dishes, and lowered his eyes, he felt that this winter day was actually extremely warm.

"I haven't had time to tell you some good news." Shen Zhuoxuan clinked glasses with him lightly, "We won the opening of Enke in the early spring of this year."

"Win it? How could Shen Zhuomin let go of this opportunity?" Shen Jinghe was very surprised.

Enke was opened once every three years in the Yong Dynasty, and scholars all over the world were looking forward to taking this opportunity to jump into the dragon's gate and get a title on the gold list.The chief examiner of Enke is naturally also a crucial position, and it is incompetent for anyone who has both virtue and literary talent.Once you become the chief examiner, you will be the teacher of all the candidates in this session.

At this critical moment of the battle for the throne, it is self-evident how important it is to have a new batch of political forces flowing into the DPRK.However, Shen Jinghe knew that he was far away in South Vietnam, out of his reach, and the third prince would definitely not waste the opportunity to take the position of chief examiner and hand it over to his cronies, so he made a calm assessment early in the morning and chose not to fight with him.

But they didn't expect that this time the chief examiner would fall into the hands of someone from their side?

"You are very familiar with him. He is Fang Taichang from Taixue, Fang Pingzhi's father." Shen Zhuoxuan said, and then went on to explain further.

It turned out that the third prince was escorted by Taishi Xu. After various connections, he was almost certain to win the position of chief examiner.The candidate they selected was submitted together with several other candidates. Of course, the remaining few were basically just making up the number and going through the motions.

It had been rumored for a few days that the emperor was about to finalize the final candidate, but who knew that after receiving the report from Shen Jinghe to return to Beijing, the matter was suddenly suppressed without warning, and it was postponed indefinitely.Only when the imperial decree ordering Shen Jinghe to return to the capital was handed down, was the final candidate for the examiner circled by Yubi.

——It was Fang Taichang who was originally only in the inconspicuous corner of the list.

It is unknown how many precious porcelains were smashed in the Xu family's house, even Fang's father and son did not think about it.Thank you in a trance, only then did I realize that there is really a good thing about the pie in the sky.

Shen Jinghe frowned for a moment after listening, his expression was indistinguishable: "Brother Sanhuang must hate me for poisoning me."

"I can't understand what Royal Father is thinking more and more." Shen Zhuoxuan sighed.

Shen Rutang saw that they were talking about political affairs and the atmosphere was serious, so she knocked on the cup dissatisfiedly: "Hey, you two, this was a good welcome banquet, and you didn't drink enough wine, why are you frowning more than the other here? "

Shen Jinghe came back to his senses, quickly broke away from the state of contemplation, held up the wine cup and smiled flatteringly: "Stop talking, let's concentrate on drinking with Fourth Sister!"

"That's more or less the same." Shen Rutang smiled and filled the wine for the other three people himself.

She stood up first and raised her glass quite proudly.

"Come on, cheers! Celebrate Jinghe finally returning to Beijing smoothly, and our family is reunited!"

"cheers!"

The four wine glasses clinked together lightly, the clear and mellow wine swirled and rippled, and the intoxicating aroma of the wine overflowed, setting off the laughter and laughter in the room, it was a beautiful scene in the world.

Shen Rutang's bright eyes were already drunk, and he still held out a drink to respect Shen Jinghe.Shen Jinghe supported his head and shook it, just when he was about to give up his life to accompany the gentleman, his eyes suddenly blurred, and the wine glass in his hand was easily snatched away before he could react.

"I'll drink it for him."

Liang Yan never refuses the toasts from other people, but even now he doesn't show a hint of drunkenness on his face.He easily took Shen Jinghe's wine glass, clinked glasses with Shen Rutang who was watching them with a smirk in his eyes, and drank without changing his expression.

"Tsk tsk, this is really distressing... Liang Yan can hold a lot of alcohol!" Shen Rutang narrowed her eyes and watched him protect Shen Jinghe and gulped it down, and couldn't help but joked.

"Speaking of drinking capacity, I think of an interesting incident." Liang Yan recalled the past, turned his head and glanced at Shen Jinghe, with a smile in his eyes, "When He'er was in Taixue, he once drank with you all Woke up late, and arrived late for the first time ever. I dragged him to the general's mansion after leaving Taixue that day, and he insisted that he just drank enough alcohol."

"You still say!" Shen Jinghe propped his head on one hand, not delaying to talk back, "You poured a bowl of burning knives from the northern border and said that you would come to accompany me to practice drinking, but when I really wanted to drink, you stopped me Something like that. If you hadn't taken down the wine and replaced it with hangover soup, maybe I would be sober by now!"

Shen Rutang smiled and watched the two of them bicker like children, and patted Liang Yan's shoulder with one hand:

"Liang Yan, it's not easy for you! After taking care of such an unreasonable troublemaker, you can't help but run away without getting annoyed."

"He dares!" Shen Zhuoxuan, who was already slightly drunk, slammed the table, startling everyone, "My brother is so nice!"

Shen Rutang looked at him speechlessly: "What's the matter with you?"

"Why is it none of my business...the two of them quarreled in Taixue and ignored each other, I helped to persuade them!" Shen Zhuoxuan lay on the table, and the white-clothed immortal in the past became the half-eyed fairy now. The drunken fairy, "I knew I wouldn't have persuaded me at that time, alas..."

Shen Rutang laughed so hard that she almost lost her breath.Shen Jinghe was half ashamed and half wanting to laugh, his face was extremely tangled, and Liang Yan's warm fingertips rubbed against the side of his face like a kitten.

"I dare not." Liang Yan said fondly, and looked deeply at Shen Jinghe without blinking, "Why would I not want him? I'm afraid he doesn't want me."

Shen Jinghe's face was completely familiar, and after holding back for a long time, he still couldn't hold back a little bit, and quietly hooked Liang Yan's fingertips, but his mouth was still unrelenting: "...it depends on your performance."

Shen Rutang looked at the two people in front of him and started flirting with each other as if no one else was there, shook off the goose bumps all over his body, and sighed, only thinking about pulling Lin Jifeng over one day and letting him study hard.

The wine was full and the food was full, and the hot aroma was steaming. After the hangover tea was served, most of the drunkenness of everyone disappeared.When he finished paying the bill and was about to leave, Cheng Mo hurried over from a distance, panting while resting his hands on his knees, and spoke intermittently:

"Master, master, Mr. Fang Ping, he, he is waiting for you in the mansion first, saying that...something is urgent!"