Pick all the cold branches

Huang Kao's concubines moved to the west side of the emperor's mausoleum to serve the late emperor.The palace carefully selected, and dozens of palace people went to serve together, and no one dared not be careful.The son of heaven is benevolent and filial, personally respectful, and sends his stepmother and adoptive mother to the imperial mausoleum.Rong Wang Jiayu, who is the parent and son of Concubine Wan, has relapsed and been ill in the palace since the funeral of the former emperor, and has not appeared from the beginning to the end.

Concubine Wan cried every night, weeping and writing to the Son of Heaven, pleading with the Holy Grace to take pity on the weak son, and exhausted the kindness, filial piety and affection that she had never used for this adopted son who lost his mother when he was young, and the tears were stained on the silk, shocking.

According to records, the son of heaven was moved when he saw it, and he bowed to him, and said from the bottom of his heart, "The empress is my adoptive mother, and Shiro is my younger brother. I have never forgotten it for a moment, and I will never forget it." For more than [-] years Mother and child are separated, and the ice melts in parting.

But that Zheng family, who lived in the deep palace for many years and was said to have gone mad, had a strange light in his eyes the moment he stepped off the carriage and saw the gate of the imperial mausoleum.

With her face half upturned, she was in a daze for a long time, raised her hand to adjust the crown on the whole bun that symbolized the identity of the empress, turned around to look at the emperor who came to see him off, and suddenly pulled the corners of her lips faintly.

"I didn't kill your mother. But you killed my son."

This sigh is so sad and resentful.

According to the records of the Imperial Physician, Empress Zheng has not spoken for many years.

Haohao Tangtang followed many people around Jiafei, there were servants who were waiting nearby, there were court officials from Qin Tianjian, editors from the Hanlin Academy, cabinet ministers who served the country, and Jinyiwei guards with swords. With such a sentence, everyone was stunned.

Yuqing reacted the fastest, and instinctively raised the knife in her hand, wanting to step forward.

Jiafei raised his hand to block it, and pushed it back to its original place.

He stared at the stepmother who had been silent for many years and started to attack him as soon as she opened her mouth. After watching for a while, he replied in a deep voice:

"The eldest brother is in the suburbs of Beijing. He is in good health and has no worries about food and clothing. If you want to see him, you can send a letter to the palace, and the palace will make arrangements as appropriate."

Zheng Hou's eyes were black, and he turned slowly, scanning everyone present one by one, and landed on the stone plaque in front of the mausoleum that towered into the clouds again.

"You were here for three years back then. We, mother and son, will never go back in this lifetime."

It looked like her life had already ended when King Zhuangmin died in the imperial tomb, and she would never be able to get out of this pool of stagnant water.

Xiuzhuan, who followed Jiafei to note the daily life of the emperor, was the number one scholar in the new department. Although he was not young, he had never seen such a scene. His hands were shaking with fright, and he dropped a small wolf with a northern tail on the ground. I bent down to pick it up, but I couldn't even pick it up two or three times.

The slender and straight pen rolled all the way to Zheng's back feet, and was stopped by Su Se's shoes before finally stopping.

Zheng Hou lowered his head to take a look, leaned over to pick up the Langhao Shibi, and then twitched the corners of his lips and smiled.

She took two steps forward, and directly sent the pen to Zhen Xian who was standing beside Jia Fei.

Zhen Xian was slightly taken aback, and immediately he didn't answer it, and he didn't answer it, he could only grit his teeth secretly in embarrassment.

Seeing this, Jia Fei stretched out his hand to take the pen over by himself.

Zheng Hou immediately withdrew his hand.

"Your Majesty should not touch this historical pen."

She raised her eyes to look at Jia Fei again, and in an instant, the light that flashed in her eyes was as sharp as a blade.

She slowly moved the pen to her right.

A gray-haired figure, but not old-fashioned, bowed and took the brush with both hands, and rushed to the already trembling Imperial Academy Xiuzhuan in a few steps.

"Master Xiuzhuan, you have it."

It was Chen Shiqin.

All eyes were focused on the historical pen presented by Chen Shiqin.

The Hanlin Academy Xiuzhuan was already covered in cold sweat from fright, his green shirt was soaked and stuck to his chest and back, his right hand was shaking like chaff, and he couldn't hold the pen at all.

Seeing this appearance, everyone sighed and worried, but they didn't know whether he was afraid that he would be more suspicious by the emperor if he accepted the sum, or that Eunuch Chen would be more concerned if he didn't accept the sum.

Yuqing followed the emperor, the closest, seeing the lord being provoked so much, she was not up to the task, and felt anxious, she couldn't help stretching out her hand to grab the editor's wrist, cursing: "Don't shake, it's shameful!"

He insisted on taking the pen according to the hand written by the Hanlin Academy.

Zheng Hou narrowed his eyes slightly, raised his hand and called Chen Shiqin: "Chen Banban, help me go."

Chen Shiqin got the Queen Mother's order, and bowed down in front of Jiafei to worship for a while.

"This old slave kneels down to thank the Holy Grace, and he will serve you carefully, never daring to be lazy and half-hearted."

Then he stood up, patted the dust on the hem of his robe, and walked to Zheng Hou's side to help him, unexpectedly his face was full of color.

When the first emperor made a big move, this person immediately stood beside the queen mother, sizing up that although the queen mother has no real power but has status, after all, she is also the stepmother of the first emperor and the son of the emperor, so he can be used as his shield, so he has nothing to fear.

The Hanlin Academy Xiuzhuan, who was still in shock and couldn't recover, held the pen tremblingly, dazed for a long time, but didn't know how to write down this one.

It was cold winter, and it was the season of snowfall. The world was covered with a vast expanse of whiteness, with layers of forests and mountains behind, and a lone stone tablet standing in front of the imperial mausoleum, like a gate of heaven.

Jia Fei stared at the door that separated life and death until Empress Zheng, supported by Chen Shiqin, led the former emperor's concubines and servants and disappeared out of sight.

The crowd bowed their heads and walked slowly, silently, kneeling and knocking step by step, leaving lengthy footprints on the snowy sky steps, and then soon covered by freshly fallen snowflakes, disappearing as if they never existed.

Jiafei stood still for a long time, until the blood all over his body was almost cold, then he turned around and sighed softly to the waiting ministers: "Go back."

The ceremony officer and the guards in line played the low and melodious horn.

Jia Fei paused, and suddenly grabbed Zhen Xian who was half a step away from him.

"You go with my car."

Zhen Xian's footsteps stopped and almost bumped into him, trying to dodge in a hurry but lost his balance and almost fell down.

Jiafei immediately stretched out his hand to grab it, and hugged him by the waist.

In front of the Mausoleum of the Emperor, he hugged the current imperial censor tightly in his arms, as if all the cynicism and sarcasm he had said just now were fed into the dog's stomach.

It's just a prank.

Xiuzhuan of the Hanlin Academy, who had just been completely frightened, had a look of lovelessness on his face, and the two writings were all black, so he simply pretended to run out of pen and ink, and closed the scroll.

Everyone stood awkwardly, watching, not knowing what to do.

Zhen Xian's face was also completely pale, and he couldn't drag people to watch the excitement, let alone push Jia Fei away in public to completely freeze the scene, so he could only follow him into the emperor's car with half push and half push.

The interior of the car is spacious, with a cushioned heater, and there is not a single servant left behind.

Zhen Xian sat on the cushion near the door and window, with his head half down, silently listening to the creaking of the axle and the regular and soft sound of the horse's hooves stepping on the snow, and was speechless for a long time.

His Majesty the Emperor, who was sitting upright in front of him, had a gloomy expression, apparently very unhappy.

There is no need to ask about the source of this anger, it is naturally Chen's, but it may not be all.

Zhen Xian secretly bit his lips, silently counting the rhythm of each other's breathing.

Sure enough, it didn't take long before he heard Jiafei's extremely deep voice.

"Chen Shiqin went to look for you last night, if it wasn't for Yuqing, wouldn't you plan to tell me?"

Zhen Xian's eyes trembled, he had expected it, he let out a breath of white air, and put down the hand stove that was in his sleeve.

Jia Fei frowned tightly.

No longer being stared at by many complicated gazes, anger overflowed from his eyes undisguisedly, cutting Zhen Xian's face like a knife.

He questioned Zhen Xian in a low voice:

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Zhen Xian was speechless for a long time, and could only look up at him.

It was an unexpected disaster.

Ever since Jiafei ascended the throne, the former Prince Jing's Mansion has been vacant.Originally, Jiafei wanted to change this old palace and make it the residence of Lord Censor, so that Zhen Xian could still live in it, and the old family members of the palace would still stay at home to take care of them, so they knew the way and the way, so it was convenient to take care of them.

But of course this is illegal.So Zhen Xian resolutely rejected it.

At the end of the stalemate, Zhen Xian moved into the other courtyard that His Royal Highness Jia Yu asked Tong Qian and Yu Qing to buy when he first returned to Beijing.It was also the place where Xiao Hengwu hijacked Zhen Xian in the old days.It was also the place where His Highness Prince Jing sneaked back to the capital and avoided the East Factory search together with Zhen Xian.Compared to Prince Jing's Mansion, it was even more turbulent and complicated.

As soon as I entered the small house, although it was not luxurious, it was better than quiet.Even though Jiafei was dissatisfied, he still couldn't hold back in the end.

Zhen Xian also doesn't like to be waited on by others, when he is not forced to stay in the palace, he just likes to stay at home by himself, eating only porridge and side dishes, and reading after official documents are approved.

Jiafei changed ways several times to send people to serve him, but all of them were sent back, not even a book boy who helped tidy up the Four Treasures was left behind.

Most of the princes and nobles lived in the inner city, and they were within walking distance of Xi'an Gate. Only Master Zhen lived in a remote place.His Majesty the Emperor was really afraid that this person was hiding in a place he could not see and would suddenly disappear at some point, so he had to ask Yuqing to personally select a few Jinyiwei from the palace, and set aside an entire alley. Move in directly and live door-to-door, watching and guarding with good eyesight, don't disturb me when I have nothing to do on weekdays, deal with small matters directly, and report major matters immediately.

So there was a report that was rushed to the palace the night before, saying that Eunuch Chen had brought two captains from the East Police Factory and two squadrons under his banner to Mr. Zhen's door.

Eunuch Chen got out of the car and entered the courtyard. Seeing the deserted and empty situation, there was not even a servant except Zhen Xian, so he laughed out loud on the spot.

The door was kicked open by Dongchang's fan, Zhen Xian was reading in the study, and he didn't even hear the sound outside the door.

On the contrary, Yu Qing, who was diagonally opposite the door, was still holding a piece of red bean cake for midnight supper. When she sensed the movement, she didn't even have time to change her clothes, so she rushed over with a knife in her hand, just as she heard Chen Shiqin smiling and saying to Zhen Xian:

"Unexpectedly, it turned out to be you who saved my life. Fortunately, the late emperor has ascended to the bliss of immortality, otherwise I'm afraid I will be vomited by you, a boy who has failed the holy grace."

Yuqing has always hated Dongchang the most, and even more hated Chen Shiqin. She hated Chen Shiqin even more. I'm leaving for the imperial mausoleum, I'd better go back early and rest."

With a humble face, Chen Shiqin bowed his hands and said: "I came to thank Lord Zhen for saving my life before I left. My emperor is wise, and I will not refuse." Yuqing was so angry that she almost choked to death on the spot on the red bean cake.

Zhen Xian raised his head from the scroll with a dazed face, froze for a long time before wrinkling his eyebrows, and said, "I didn't save your life."

Chen Shiqin's eyes were hale and hearty, his complexion was ruddy, no matter how humble his posture was, he was as domineering as his every word and every word of mockery.

"I know you want to kill me. Your grandfather and father wanted to kill me wholeheartedly, but who died in the end? You are the same. There is a saying that the old slave once said to the queen, to your father I also said that I can say it to you again today: 'If you can't kill me, you will definitely die in my hands.'”

Zhen Xian could only sigh helplessly.

"I never thought of killing you. But you still owe an answer to the national law. Whether the national law kills you, and when, I don't care."

Chen Shiqin sneered upon hearing this.

He looked up at Zhen Xian arrogantly, without a trace of conviction in his eyes.

"What is the difference between what you do and what I do? I use fear to make a king, and what do you use?"

Zhen Xian was speechless for a long time, and finally said: "I am different from you. I am just doing what I should do."

Chen Shiqin taunted him, turned around and leaned in front of him, with a sharp and cold smile.

"You are indeed different from me. When the people in the world want me to die, there is another one who will stand in your way; when the people in the world want you to die, who will stand in your way? The law of the state means not only killing me, Mr. Zhen Didn't you know it since you were a child?"

All of these were all reported by Yuqing in front of the imperial court, even making comparisons, gnashing of teeth, or adding fuel and vinegar, it is unknown.

But there is only one thing that can never be wrong.Chen Shiqin led someone to kick Xiaoxian's door.

Jiafei was so angry that he couldn't sleep all night, and sat in the warm pavilion with his eyes open until dawn.

Chen Shiqin was still able to, and still dared to gallop through the city with Dongchang Tiqi, even knowing who lived in this house, knowing that the entire alley was full of Jinyiwei, and still arrogantly came to the door.A centipede is dead but not stiff.This is an unabashed call.It is a sign of a desperate counterattack.It even killed his weakness.

Chen Shiqin knew that he couldn't just kill a great eunuch who had served the emperor and queen mother successively and who still had cronies in the court and opposition.

It's not that it can't be done, it's that it can't.

Even if he wanted to save trouble and just find a reason to directly bestow Chen's death, not to mention the rest, as long as Xiaoxian is still in the position of the capital censor, the proposal of the Metropolitan Procuratorate will definitely be rejected.

If the Metropolitan Procuratorate wanted to die, and the three jurisprudence departments could not unanimously approve, this person could not be killed according to the laws of the country.

And he can't be a monarch who kills indiscriminately, and he can't break the law of the country from himself.Otherwise, he will live up to too many expectations.

That's why Chen Shiqin thought he won a move in chess, and thought he would always win.

Xiaoxian probably didn't want to talk to Chen Shiqin at all, because he really talked with a duck.

The reason why Chen Shiqin came to Xiaoxian, and the reason why he made such cruel remarks, was not because he really didn't know what he and Xiaoxian were doing, but because he didn't believe it.

A person who wields power all his life and covers the sky with one hand, believes in power from beginning to end, not the law of the country.Therefore, only the emperor who said to kill and kill like his father was Chen Shiqin's opponent.However, his scruples and Xiaoxian's persistence, in the eyes of Eunuch Chen, are nothing but weakness and childishness, a joke with a predetermined ending.

It's not just Chen Shiqin who thinks so.For example, Mr. Cao Ge.There are also all the courtiers who knelt outside the Dagaoxuan Hall and forced Chen Shiqin to die by telling him to obey the last emperor's last edict.

These people used to be his helpers in the past, and they praised him infinitely, hoping that he would succeed to the throne as the emperor, and then kill traitors and purge the court.

And he didn't live up to expectations.

In this way, he has already failed a lot.

However, when a treacherous sycophant should be punished, how should he be punished?And what exactly is the so-called "Chao Gang", and why is it purged?

He used to think he knew, but now that he has become the emperor, and looking at the people coming and going in front of him, he is suddenly not so sure.

Lu Lan's old account book is the real evidence that can sentence Chen Shiqin to death, and it has been missing for a long time. Most likely, it has really been burned in Jiyuan.

Xiaoxian's other volumes recorded from memory can be used as circumstantial evidence, but there must be witnesses for verification.However, all the officials involved in the interference case in Suzhou had been killed by the emperor, and the clues were completely broken.

But he knew that Xiaoxian had not given up.

In these years, not only the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but also Jin Yiwei has been investigating him, but every time he got a little bit of thread, he was wiped out again.

He even asked Jia Yu to do some coercion and inducement for him overtly and covertly, but in the end the results were limited and he couldn't grasp the vital points.

The witnesses and material evidences are also incomplete. It is really difficult to bring Chen Shiqin to justice.

Many times, Jiafei can't help but think about it.There is obviously an easier way to go, so why insist on it?It would be better to kill it directly.You can kill whatever you want.It doesn't matter if it's disguised as a vendetta or an accident.Catch thieves and capture kings, kill chickens to make an example to monkeys, and the rest will be ignored.

But as long as he sees Xiaoxian, his burning and anxious heart can calm down, and he can grit his teeth and persevere.

Because he knew that if he asked Xiaoxian, Xiaoxian would definitely ask him back:

What His Majesty wants to fight, is it right or wrong, or win or lose?

He knows.

He just still couldn't help thinking, why does Xiaoxian seem to never waver?

So what about where he can't see?Will Xiaoxian be like him, hesitating, doubting, hesitating and worrying about gains and losses...

The person in front of him lowered his head, biting his lips, refusing to speak to him.

The distressed Emperor raised his hand and pressed the aching temple, and the brows could not be stretched.

"Actually, I regret it all the time—"

His voice was hoarse, but he didn't continue to speak when the words reached his lips.

Zhen Xian was stunned when he heard the words, and finally raised his eyes to look at him, with a hint of worry in his eyes, "I know. That's why I won't tell you. Anyway, you don't need to tell, Your Majesty will know."

For a moment, Jiafei only felt that the blood all over his body was rushing to his head, boiling and roaring in his head, and he couldn't think carefully before blurting out:

"Am I just to keep an eye on you?"

He stared at Zhen Xian fiercely.

Zhen Xian also looked at him, silent for a long time, the worry in his eyes became more and more serious.

"I didn't think so."

He leaned over slightly, hesitated for a moment, and finally slowly and gently put his palm on the back of his hand that was as hard as a stone.

"I just think... His Majesty already knows, so why should I bother His Majesty with words. And what His Majesty doesn't know—"

"What else do you have that I don't know?" Jiafei suddenly turned his face and stared at him.

Zhen Xian seemed to be frightened by his reaction, his eyes sparkled, he watched him quietly for a while, and then responded in a low voice: "When His Royal Highness King Zhao went south, I privately asked Princess Zhao to find someone for me in the southeast. "

My heart suddenly shook.Jia Fei understood in an instant.

The person Xiaoxian is looking for is Lu Lan.

This is the fastest way to cut through the mess among the unsolvable.

Xiao Xian, in his capacity as the censor of the capital, was looking for a key witness in an important case. It stands to reason that he had no position to speak out, and should even be happy to see the result.

But Xiaoxian didn't mention a word to him beforehand, didn't discuss with him at all, and didn't ask him what he thought.

In this way, what did he do when he exiled this Lu overseas?

"Xiaoxian, you--"

Jiafei immediately grabbed Zhen Xian's slender wrist with his backhand, his eyes were about to burst into flames, but after struggling several times, he couldn't say anything.

Things have come to this point, any more words are narrow-minded in terms of self-inflicted harm to the public.

"Your Majesty, it is easy to kill people, but it is difficult to enforce the laws of the country. I understand Your Majesty. I also believe that Your Majesty must understand me."

Xiaoxian's voice was always soft and calm, neither humble nor overbearing rang in his ears.

Jia Fei's eyes became hot, and he could only let go of his hand in a slump.

Of course he does.

How could he not understand.

Sticking to the right path is always the hardest.But only when it is difficult can it be precious.