Roselle Peony

It was late at night, and the cold air hit, and the young man in thin clothes couldn't help shivering a few times.

He slept with the prince every night in the Prince Liang's mansion, but he didn't have a place to stay for himself.He secretly found a small separate room in the Inquiry Hall, and lay down on the couch with his clothes on.The brocade quilt on the couch was cold and bitingly cold, making him shiver, he didn't care anymore, but at this moment he really didn't want to go back to King Liang's bedroom, and didn't know how to face the prince again.

Accompanied by the sound of frogs outside the house, the young man fell into a deep sleep with tear stains on his face.

***

The sound of servants walking back and forth outside the house came, and Lu Shangqiu woke up leisurely.His health is not as good as before, and all the drunkenness from last night surged up, making him have a splitting headache.

The glare of the sun shone into the window sill.

He yelled inwardly that he was not good, and sat up, but his headache was unbearable, and he immediately fell back on the couch.

With a "squeak", the door of the Question Hall was pushed open.

"Why are the officials here?" The maidservant who came to clean up saw Lu Shilang lying on the couch, frowning, looking haggard, and hurried forward in panic.

"What's wrong with the officer, but you're not feeling well?"

"I'm fine." Lu Shangqiu rested his hand on his forehead and sat up again, "What time is it now?"

"It's just past time."

Sure enough, it's past morning time.

"Has the lord left already?" He asked the maidservant.

"The prince found out that the official was missing this morning. He was so anxious that he sued the emperor for leave. He has been looking for the official and sent someone to look outside the palace. I didn't expect you to hide here." The maid helped him slowly. Get up, "Officials sit here to rest, servants will make you a cup of hot tea to warm up, and inform the prince by the way."

Lu Shangqiu stopped the maid who was about to turn around and leave, and shook her head: "No need, I don't want to see your lord right now."

"How can this be done? The prince has been unable to find officials for a long time, and he blamed his slaves. Now everyone is kneeling in the front yard." The maid said anxiously, "The officials should hurry up and explain to the prince."

Sure enough, there were a group of servants kneeling in the dark in the front yard.

Liang Wang sat on the grand master's chair at the door and stared at the crowd, his face was covered with dark clouds.Seeing the person following the maidservant, his complexion did not improve, but became even more gloomy.

With a wave of his hand, he made all the family members retreat, and shouted to those who came: "Come here." He put his hands behind his back and walked straight to the bedroom.The maid helped Lu Shangqiu to follow.

In the dormitory, there were snowflake-like debris all over the floor.

King Liang threw a stack of letter paper into his arms and said angrily, "What is this!"

Lu Shangqiu stared at the letter paper in his arms with dumbfounded eyes. The large signature on the envelope made him feel as if someone had stripped him of his skin in an instant, and exposed him to the sun in broad daylight, completely ignoring his little thoughts.

"Who is Brother Yuan?" Liang Wang was even more angry when he saw the reaction of the person in front of him.

"It's not what you think." He explained hastily.

"It's written in black and white, every word expresses the love of a concubine, and you still want to argue!" The prince was anxious, and slapped him with a palm, "No wonder I can't see you through, so it turns out that your heart has been eaten by some brother Yuan long ago!" , I didn’t even leave a piece of it for this king.”

King Liang took the letter paper from his hand, lit it on the oil lamp and burned it. He thought it was too slow, so he tore the rest of the letter paper into pieces.

Lu Shangqiu was turned away by the slap of the prince, his mind was buzzing, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.During the two years of getting along, it was the first time that the prince hit him with his hands.

Scattered pieces of paper were flying in front of his eyes, and his heart sank down.

Liang Wang himself beat Lu Lang by mistake, and felt a little bit sorry, but after all, his lover was sitting on the wall with his back on his back, and he was still angry, with his hands behind his back, and said while anxiously pacing: "What do you think this king is not good for you? How has this king ever treated you badly! Why do you still have someone outside behind this king's back?"

"You treat me well? Hehe." The person in front of him smiled brightly at the prince, and the bloodstain on the corner of his mouth added to the weirdness of the smile.

"You are a high-ranking prince, I was trapped in the mansion by you, and I was stared at by your slaves all day long; you treat me as your plaything, your pet, just because you are happy."

"Nonsense, why did this king treat you like this?" Liang Wang retorted.

Lu Shangqiu didn't seem to hear it, and continued to say to himself: "My father doesn't recognize me, and I will never be able to reunite with my own child."

"It's not the king's fault."

"You killed Sisi."

King Liang was dumbfounded.Sisi's death was indeed his fault.

"You forced to death the child I have never met." A line of tears fell silently from the eyes.

King Liang was silent.

"From the beginning to the end, you only regarded me as He Lanmin's shadow."

"Stop talking!" King Liang shouted violently, his complexion suddenly changed.

Seeing that the prince reacted so intensely when he heard the name, it further confirmed his conjecture.His heart sank to the bottom of the sea, and there was a look of despair in his eyes: "You always live in your memories, but you don't allow me to have mine. You only love yourself, and you never really loved me."

He turned around and brushed away the hand that King Liang wanted to keep: "I'm tired, let me be alone."

Lu Shangqiu strolled in the garden.

It's a good time now, spring is warm and flowers are blooming, and it's the peony season again. Last year was a cold winter, and this year the peonies will bloom even more beautifully.

Now is also a good time for him, alone, with no worries.

It's a pity that we can no longer see the beautiful famous flowers.

***

Liang Wang held a book in his hand and looked at it absent-mindedly, his eyes wandering and his mind wandering.

Wu Chonglie ran over and shook his father's sleeve: "Daddy, Lie'er also wants to play in the well."

Liang Wang was preoccupied, so he dealt with it casually: "Silly boy, you can't go into the well, you will drown."

"But Lie Er saw Master jumping off just now."

King Liang turned pale with shock, and the ancient book in his hand dropped with a "crash".

***

Opening his eyes again, he saw a familiar scene in front of him, the bedroom in the East Pavilion of the Lu Mansion where he had lived for 20 years.

His mother, Yan Shi, was sleeping soundly beside him, and there were several traces of undried tears on the woman's face.

This must be a dream, I saw my mother again in the dream, Lu Shangqiu thought, long time no see, the wrinkles on my mother's forehead became more and more.He slowly stretched out his hand and carefully smoothed the wrinkles on his mother's forehead with his thumb.

"Qiu'er, it's great that you finally woke up." Yan woke up and held his hand happily.

Lu Shangqiu murmured, "Mother."

"Hey." Yan replied happily, holding her son in her arms excitedly, "It's fine if you wake up, it's fine if you wake up."

Then she shed tears again.The two mothers hugged each other and cried.

Yan wiped away her tears and shouted outside the house: "Master, Qiu'er is awake."

Lu Suyuan lifted the curtain and came in, and put a bowl of traditional Chinese medicine on the bedside table.

When Lu Shangqiu saw that it was his father, he buried his head deeply and got back under the covers.

"It's hard to save my life, don't suffocate yourself." Yan took off the quilt for her son, and glanced at Mr. Lu, "Your father has forgiven you."

Seeing his son turning his pleading eyes to him, Lu Suyuan cleared his throat, put his hands behind his back, and nodded his head as an acknowledgment.Human hearts are made of flesh. After all, blood is thicker than water. He was only a precious son who was sent to the capital for three years and was sent back half dead.As the saying goes, it is the fault of the son who does not teach the father, and the father is also at fault for his son's current situation. Back then, when he was angry and said something to sever the relationship between father and son, he also felt distressed when he came back and saw Yan crying. , It's just that it's hard to chase after a word, so he can only secretly pray that his son will not have an accident.

After his son finished taking the medicine, Lu Suyuan clapped his hands, and the maid led in the elder brother Lu Wuzai who had already started babbling, the second son Lu Wuyi who could just walk, and the third younger sister Lu Lanze.

The family was reunited, and there was another burst of crying and laughing.

After a while, as if thinking of something, Lu Shangqiu raised his head and asked his mother, "Where is Xiangling?"

"Xiangling also forgives you, but she doesn't want to see you. When you recover, take the time to write a letter of divorce so that she can remarry." Yan said.

Lu Shangqiu was very ashamed: "Boy, I'm sorry for Xiangling." The divorce letter has caused great harm to her daughter's family, and may cause her to never have a good home in her life.

Yan comforted him: "Xiang Ling is the daughter of the Zhao family, and has many suitors. Her father has already found a good family for her, and now she is just waiting to get married."

In fact, Lu Shangqiu still has the biggest question in his mind, and that is King Liang.He didn't understand why he woke up in Bingzhou's house after he committed suicide by throwing himself into a well in the palace.Could it be said that King Liang has really decided to let him go?

Yan saw her son's worry, and if she didn't point it out at this time, her son might never get over that hurdle.

"My mother knows that Qiu'er was coerced by the prince. Now that the prince has promised to set you free, you don't have to be an official anymore."

So, Liang Wang was finally willing to let him go.Then again, was he dismissed on the spot?In this case, his unfilial son will embarrass the Lu family again.

Seeing her son's complexion was not good, Yan quickly comforted her: "Mother, I don't mean that Qiu'er was dismissed from office. The prince said that the capital is not safe, so I want you to stay at home for a while, and then send you to Luoyang when you recover. Taixue is a doctor of Taixue."

Lu Shangqiu thought for a while and said, "Did the lord say anything else?"

Yan checked his son's expression, seemed to have eased up a bit, and then replied cautiously: "My lord said, after you leave the court, the two of you will never see each other again."

***

That day, thanks to the sharp-eyed young prince Wu Chonglie, who saw his wife commit suicide by throwing himself into a well, Lu Shangqiu was lucky enough to save half his life.

However, he was in a coma all the time, so that it was a long time later that he heard about the turmoil in the capital because of him.

On the night when he was rescued and returned, King Wei sent his cavalry guards to King Liang's mansion to demand someone, saying that he wanted to arrest Lu Shangqiu.This is completely unwarranted, just because the king of Wei was impeached as the prime minister and demoted to a special promotion. He has no hope of fighting for the throne, and he has a grudge against the king of Liang. .

The lights outside the palace were brightly lit, and the cavalry guards of King Liang came to the rescue. The two royal cavalry guards met each other with swords outside the palace, and faced each other quietly.

King Liang ordered someone to quietly hide Lu Shangqiu in the Lu Mansion, and he hurriedly slipped through the back door to the palace in plain clothes to beg his aunt.

When Wan'er was serving Wu Zhao and getting ready to go to bed, King Liang rushed in in such a disheveled manner that he couldn't kneel down when he saw his aunt.

Knowing the reason of the matter, Wu Zhao sighed and said, "It's not that I don't want to save your sweetheart, he played forbidden music in court, but it's a solid fact."

When did Wan'er see the prince lose his temper like this, seeing him disheveled and haggard, how could there be any demeanor to speak of.Although she hated Lu Shangqiu in her heart, she didn't want to see her sweetheart so decadent, so she felt pity on her knees and begged His Majesty: "Wan'er can testify that at the banquet that day, Minister Lu was really persecuted by the princess."

Wu Zhao sighed, and she never expected that King Liang would have such a deep affection for Lu Shangqiu that he would meet King Wei in battle for him.

"Think twice, you have always been loyal to me, you have made great achievements, and you are the top candidate for the crown prince in my aunt's heart. Do you know why my aunt has not nominated you as the crown prince for so long?"

"My nephew doesn't know, please tell me clearly." Liang Wang said so, but his heart was already desolate and obscure, and he vaguely felt that it must have something to do with Lu Lang.

Wu Zhao said slowly: "Once you become an emperor, the lives of the people in the world will be the burden on your shoulders. The love of your children will only hinder you from becoming a wise king, or even a foolish one. All my aunt's hard work will be in vain."

Liang Wang is a person who is good at observing words and expressions, his words are very clear, how could he fail to understand the meaning behind Wu Zhao's words.Apparently the aunt still didn't approve of their relationship.He clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into the flesh.The laws of the Great Zhou were harsh, and disrespect to the royal family was a death penalty.More than ten years ago, his cousin and lover He Lanminzhi was framed and impeached, so that he hanged himself to death; now that Lu Lang has died once, he was finally saved, and he can't bear to be with him again anyway. The blow that separates the lover from man.

He took a deep look at Wan'er who was kneeling beside him, gritted his teeth, and pointed the four fingers of his right hand in front of him, "I beg my aunt to let Lu Lang go, my nephew swears to God that I will never see him again in this life."