Rebellious officials bow their heads

In the next few days, the sky was a little gray, and the day of the Queen Mother Huijin's death was even colder.The thick clouds spread to the vast distance, the vegetation withered at the end of autumn, and the cold wind rolled over the altar on the top of the mountain. At the bottom of the stone steps stood a group of civil and military officials, silent and solemn.

Xie Linze, dressed in black, walked forward from Ji Han's side, passed through the saluting crowd, and came to the bottom of the altar. The servants next to him wanted to step forward to help him, but he raised his arm to block him, and then stepped on the stone steps.

There is already a person standing on a high place, wearing a white lun scarf and a crane cloak, with a tall and straight figure, ethereal and dusty.In the turbulent cold wind, the sleeves of the clothes fluttered, the silk belts fluttered gracefully, and the white jade tied around the waist collided with the flowing beads on the crane feathers, making a jingle and crisp sound.

Xie Linze heard the voice, and the movement of his feet stopped slightly, and he settled on the stone steps.

All the officials bowed their heads down the long stone steps to salute, only Ji Han raised his head and looked at the scene inexplicably, naturally noticing the emperor's pause.

Among the generals behind Ji Han, General Huaiyuan raised his eyes and looked at the movement above.

For a moment, the man behaved as usual and continued to walk forward.

The national teacher on the altar looked at Xie Linze who was approaching, his light-colored and transparent eyes slightly curved, showing a little smile, and dispelled the wind and frost soaked in his body.

He put the wine bottle on the gold-painted tray and made a ding.

Xie Linze reached out to take the wine bottle, and poured the wine on the stone platform when all the officials raised their heads after the ceremony.

After performing the sacrificial ceremony on the top of Mount He in the early morning, people poured into the Duyun Temple to bathe and burn incense, praying for the people with the spirit of the ancestral temple and the country. When they returned to the palace later, they would hold a dinner in the Qinglu Hall.

The dignitaries and dignitaries in the hall have arrived, and the solemnity of the day has been relieved, gradually becoming lively and noisy, and after a distance, the sound of silk and bamboo can still be heard, and the bright lights outside are projected on the ground of the inner hall, pulling out a light shadow from a distance .

Xie Linze leaned on the beam and pinched the space between his eyebrows.

"You seem to be preoccupied, what are you thinking?" Ji Han walked in wearing a purple python court dress, carrying a bowl of medicine, and the sound of footsteps echoed in the empty and dark inner hall.

"Is it because you saw Qing Ci?" He looked at the man opposite and asked.

"I didn't see it." Xie Linze opened his eyelashes, stretched out his hand towards him, and said plainly, "I can't tell who is with whom at all."

Ji Han didn't hand him the bowl, and said tentatively, "I thought he was the last person you want to see."

Xie Linze smiled casually, "Are you talking about yourself?"

"Actually, sometimes I think it would be a good thing if you were just blind." Ji Han paused for a few breaths, then handed him the bowl, and sighed, "It's a pity."

Xie Linze finished drinking the medicine with his head raised, and put the bowl back into his hand, "It's a pity that there are more blind people in this world."

He was about to leave, but Ji Han stood in front of him without moving, and said, "On the day Queen Huijin passed away, you and Qing Ci were both at her bedside. Did she have any last words before she died?"

Xie Linze stared at his face, so close that he could clearly see the lines in his pupils.

For a moment, a smile appeared on the man's face, he patted Ji Han's shoulder, and said with a smile: "You have been wondering for so long, don't think about it, it's just what you guessed."

Ji Han's expression froze.

After Xie Linze finished speaking, he walked around him and walked towards the brightly lit main hall. After a long while, Ji Han followed the other party's footsteps like a stone sculpture shaking off dust.

Xie Linze sat down at the head of the hall, raised his hand towards the bottom, and all the officials got up with a whoosh, and he raised the wine cup as a signal, and they continued to drink and stagger enthusiastically.

It's just that the excitement didn't last for a while, as a man entered the hall, the surroundings gradually became quiet.

From far to near, Qing Ci stood alone in the hall and saluted, with elegant manners and a cool demeanor, as if she was surrounded by moonlight.

He raised his head and smiled at Xie Linze, and the bright moon hanging high in the sky turned into the spring light of October in Yanjing City.

Xie Linze sat in the chair without making a sound, and casually raised a chopstick in his hand to him.

After Qingci sat down on Xie Linze's left, the scene gradually loosened up. Some bureaucrats greeted him with a toast, and he also raised his glass gently.

After finishing his cup, he turned to Xie Linze and said, "I haven't seen His Majesty for a long time. I heard that Lingbei and his party are in crisis, but are they all right?"

On the other side, Ji Han had a sneer in his eyes.

Xie Linze said: "Not bad."

At this time, the sound of silk and bamboo orchestras played, and the maids removed a layer of light gauze in the middle of the hall, revealing a huge round drum on the white jade platform.There is a pool under the platform, and the surrounding blue waves are illuminated by the lights, and the water surface reflects the splendor of the palace.

Because the Empress Dowager Huijin was very good at drumming the flying cloud dance, the late emperor praised her as graceful as a queen. After her death, every anniversary of her death, the palace dancers competed to present the flying cloud dance in the high hall.

Ji Han said indifferently: "It really doesn't change every year."

Four dancers in neon clothes walked up to the white jade stage from one side, their robes were like butterflies, everyone in the hall stopped talking and all looked towards the stage.

The leading dancer is wearing a long skirt that drags the floor. It is cloud white from the shoulders to the waist, embedded with dots of silver mud, and further down is a gradual sky blue color, which gradually settles into black blue, as if it is smudged at the bottom of the lake.

From the top to the bottom of this skirt, it seems that the early morning sun has penetrated into the clear water, from shallow to deep.

The sound of the zither sounded like flowing clouds and flowing water, and the dancers danced accordingly. Their faces were covered with light veils, their feet stepped on the drums, and their water sleeves fluttered together, like flowing clouds.

The leading dancer sang softly: "The snake has a thousand kinds of poison, and the mist is poisonous."

Ji Han sneered: "The dance is good, what is this song about?"

Qing Ci glanced at Xie Linze, then looked at the dancers in the audience, narrowed his eyes slightly, and murmured: "There is something new."

The dancer's footsteps whirled, and the long water sleeve she held in her hand was thrown out, and a stream of rain fell across the sky and clear clouds. She bent back and continued to sing: "Spray people's hairs, drink waves and boil mud, and eat with intestines." There should be no brain-breaking skills."

Compared to Ji Han who poured the wine indifferently, Xie Linze felt that something was wrong and showed a bit of confusion.

Then the dancer sang: "Wear purple python skin to deceive the world, stick out your tongue and sit on a golden chair, fall into the shoal without knowing ten thousand rides, pull out scales and cut off palms to play fish and shrimp."

With a clang, the wine glass in Ji Han's hand fell to the ground.

Xie Linze slowly opened his eyes wide.

The dancer on the stage turned around, faced him, took off her veil, and revealed her face. It turned out to be the embroidery girl from Xu Yan's inn. Cleanse the chaos and open the Qingming."

The courtiers and officials were full, and there was no sound, and everyone's mouths were closed, showing horror.

The water in Qinglu Temple is illuminated by lanterns and flowers, all of which are grotesque, and everything reverses and coincides.

The warm smile that always hung on Qingci's face disappeared, and he turned his head to look at the emperor beside him.

Xie Linze's eyes were as bright as sparks burst into them. He stared at the stage in a daze for a moment, then as if he was looking for something, his eyes turned around to the corners around the hall.

Ji Han finally came back to his senses, he looked at Xie Linze stiffly, and then at Qingci, his eyes could not hide the panic, as if a layer of skin had been torn open, revealing the rotten flesh and blood with nowhere to hide underneath .

He paused for a few breaths and turned to the audience. He slammed the table as if to hide his emotions, and scolded: "Bold! Someone, take it down for me—"

Before he finished speaking, Xie Linze raised his hand to stop him, and said, "Ji Shoufu."

Ji Han looked at him breathlessly.

Xie Linze smiled and said: "I think the level of this dance is not inferior to that of Queen Mother Huijin. These dancers are really outstanding. They should be rewarded, what do you think?"

Countless obscure sights looked over.

Ji Han paused for a long time, his lips pursed into a line, facing this situation and the man's gaze, he seemed to have been slapped in the face in front of everyone, but he had no choice but to reply in a low voice: "...what the emperor said is very true. "