Dragon Queen

It is dark and humid, and snakes and rats are rampant.

At the foot of the Son of Heaven, it is used to detain serious offenders, hence the name Tianlao.

The commander of the imperial army carried the food and wine, followed Zhao Zhouxing, and walked through the prison cells made of stone walls and iron bars.The leader in front held a torch and followed the road carefully, until he reached the place where the felons were detained inside, and stopped.

There was only one person in the prison, Bai Yao.

When Zhao Zhouxing first came to the throne, he pardoned the world, and since then, the prison has been empty.An empty mouse can barely survive here.

Zhao Zhouxing ordered the prison door to be opened, carried his clothes, and stepped in.

Bai Yao was lying down and sleeping, when she heard the voice, she raised her eyelids and saw that it was Zhao Zhouxing, so she turned over, turned her head all over, and went back to sleep with her head on the inside.

Zhao Zhouxing knew that Bai Yao was awake, and when Zhai Xin put down the food and drinks, he asked him to go out and guard.

The chain on the door rattled and was locked again.

Zhao Zhouxing poured two glasses of wine, "I heard that Bai Shilang disliked the food and didn't eat it at noon, so I specially brought some food to see how Bai Shilang is doing in prison."

"Your Majesty, don't worry." Bai Yao got up from the straw mat, pressed the edge with her hands, lifted it up and looked it over again, "This mat is too hard."

Zhao Zhouxing laughed, "Why, disgust?"

"I don't dare." Bai Yao came over and sat down, grabbed a steamed bun and ate it, "The emperor is here today, what's the big deal?"

"The matter of the Son of Heaven is a matter of great importance. It is already a matter of great importance for me to come to see you." Zhao Zhouxing drank two glasses of wine, "Today I was out admiring plum blossoms and thought of a poem, but unfortunately I couldn't think of it. Next sentence, after thinking about it, I had no choice but to ask Bai Shilang for advice."

"Please tell me, Your Majesty." Bai Yao nodded, took a mouthful of food, and said vaguely.

Zhao Zhouxing pushed the wine glass in front of Bai Yao, "Bai Shilang should taste this wine."

Bai Yao hurriedly swallowed what was in her mouth, picked up the wine glass, smelled the aroma of the wine, "Good wine."

Then drank it down, "It should be made from plum blossoms."

Zhao Zhouxing recited to the two of them again, "The poem I thought of today is——drinking plums in the snow and thinking about my old friend."

The prison was very quiet, and the corridors with a smell of rotten food stretched out, disappearing into an invisible darkness.But from the small, impenetrable window on the top of the high wall, a ray of light shone in, making the dust as bright as stars.

Bai Yao ate the food that Zhao Zhouxing brought, and finally took the last piece of steamed bun, turned it around on the bottom of the plate, threw it into his mouth, and then patted his stomach contentedly, "I will tell you the truth, I haven't eaten it for a long time. Such a good meal."

"I'll tell them to give you better prison meals later on," Zhao Zhouxing said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Bai Yao wiped her lips, frowned, and said to Zhao Zhouxing suddenly, "Last night, I was lying in this cell, but I could see the stars in the sky. That sentence can be made right. This sentence is, the long night looks at Xiao Xingchen from afar."

Zhao Zhouxing put those two sentences together, repeated them several times, and said with a smile: "Bai Shilang will explain it to me."

Although Zhao Zhouxing was smiling, the smile was full of meaning, Bai Yao met Zhao Zhouxing's eyes and smiled too.

"The stall left by the old man will be cleaned up by the emperor." Bai Yao said.

"Do you know?" Zhao Zhouxing asked suddenly, "I've been thinking that I don't have any necessary reason to do this. Now the country is considered peaceful. Although there are foreign enemies invading, they haven't touched the root yet. By then, If I go down with this knife, countless people will be implicated. I originally thought that if I can bear it for a while, it will be for a while..."

It was snowing in winter when Zhao Zhou returned to the palace, but it was hot summer when he left.Every year, the imperial court allocates fixed funds to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to repair dams and prevent floods.But when she passed that area, what she saw was beggars everywhere, the dams were repaired every year, and they burst every year, and once they burst, they had to allocate funds for disaster relief.

A mere embankment has been built into a bottomless pit.

"I have no choice but to sit in this position, but the ancients said that in his position, he seeks his own government. Since I am here, I can't ignore some things." Zhao Zhouxing stood up and looked at the small window above. "Father left them for check and balance. I understand in my heart, but if this continues, it will only be a matter of time before the national treasury runs out of money. If the treasury runs out of money, additional taxes will be levied, and the taxes will be exploited layer by layer. I'm afraid I won't have much money in my hands." Yes. It’s a good idea for them to lie to others.”

However, there is another layer that Zhao Zhouxing did not mention.The Wenxiang faction advocates that women cannot be emperors. When Zhao Feng was in power, he planned to enlist Zhao Zhouxing, but Wenxiang raised objections.Wen Renhe lived in Jintian Temple all the year round, but he appeared at the ceremony and suppressed all criticisms.After all, Zhao Guo was founded on religion, although Emperor Jing no longer paid attention to this matter.

Waiting for Zhao Zhouxing to formally succeed to the throne, they forced Zhao Zhouxing to choose a son-in-law, but Zhao Zhouxing left him alone, and some of them turned to Fu Zizhou.

Among several kings with different surnames, Fu Zizhou held a heavy army, and he really had such a heart.Zhao Zhouxing didn't notice this before, and it wasn't until the Southwest and his party went through some things that they realized what it was.

"Since the emperor understands everything, I will not say much." Bai Yao said, "No matter what you do, there will be consequences, but no matter what you do, what you consider is not the consequences, but the worth."

Zhao Zhouxing laughed, "Does Bai Shilang know how many disciples Ji Xiang has?"

Bai Yao hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, "I don't know."

"I don't know either. I only know that in the spring of this year, the top two were Ji Xiang's protégés, and only you, Tanhualang—" Zhao Zhouxing turned around, "I don't know where you came from."

This Tanhualang who came out of nowhere was taken over by Zhao Zhouxing as a police officer and thrown directly to the south of the Yangtze River.

The courtiers naturally opposed Zhao Zhouxing's actions.A "mao head" with almost no official experience was entrusted with a heavy responsibility.Zhao Zhouxing was criticized by the admonisher as being impetuous and disregarding the overall situation.

This remonstrance made Zhao Zhouxing "sick of anger", and it happened that Wen Renhe made a divination, and Zhao Zhouxing left the palace by excuse.

Zhao Zhouxing was really boring at that time, and felt that being an emperor was too tiring, she didn't want to do it, because others were envious and jealous, she really wanted to leave.So for the first time know what is called involuntary.

When I left the palace, I treated it as a game, and went all the way south, and met Zhezhu.

Is a strange person.

Naturally, there is no shortage of strange people in the past dynasties, otherwise the history books will be boring to read, and the folks will lose a lot of gossip and legends.

Zhao Zhouxing recalled the signed letter, it snowed heavily at night, and he came on the snow, and he said it coincided with the first sentence "Seven stars stepping on the clouds".

Although Zhao Zhouxing didn't understand the divination technique, he understood these things more or less, and it was impossible to take them literally.According to folklore, the woman holding the jade seal is actually a tofu seller, and the tofu is her seal.It can be seen.

So I took the initiative to get close, and there was also the intention of testing, but the more I tried, the more confused I became, and the more clear and certain I became.

However, it has been heard by others, so it cannot be used by others.Zhao Zhouxing thought over and over again, if he could stay by her side with peace of mind, it would be better to simply leave her in the harem.Even, it can be placed in the harem on the one hand and in the court hall on the other.

Her abacus was sounding like iron, but she got herself involved.Only then did I realize that it is a huge bad thing to care too much about a person.It's like raising a child for more than ten years, no matter how much you don't like it, you can't let it go in the end.If you think about it all the time, it will become a heart disease.

While thinking about this, she went to safety, and at the same time, she thought that it would not be a bad thing if she died in battle.

Thoughts drifted away, Bai Yao saw that Zhao Zhouxing's expression changed from time to time but stopped talking, thinking she was still hesitating, she couldn't help but sighed in her heart.For those who are above everything, they must never repent.Whether it is self-willed or autocratic, it is the emperor's right.

"Master Ji has many disciples, but he is only a weak scholar. If he forms a clique for personal gain at that time, he can be dragged and beheaded..."

Zhao Zhouxing was stunned for a moment, and then he came back to his senses and said, "What did Shi Lang Bai say?"

Bai Yao repeated her words again.

Zhao Zhouxing frowned, "Bai Shilang's words are biased. Ji Xiang is highly respected among the people, and I can't ignore the opinions of everyone."

Bai Yao stood up, tugged at the prison clothes, and suddenly knelt down neatly on the ground, "I've already entrusted my life to the emperor."

Zhao Zhouxing actually found it funny, and kicked him, "Why is your life bet on me? I ask you, who's life in this world is not mine. Do something and don't do something. "

Bai Yao let out a long sigh, "The emperor wants to have a good year, but his ministers have mothers and children, but they can't live a good year."

"Okay. I can take a look at your old mother and your young son for you." Zhao Zhouxing called Zhai Xin, and as soon as the cell door opened, he left immediately.

The commander of the imperial army packed up the food box, turned his head to look at Bai Yao, "Master Bai, it will be the anniversary of the late emperor's death in a few days, and the emperor is in a bad mood these days. I hope your lord has not said anything that should not be said."

The iron chain rattled, and the cell door was locked again.

Bai Yao returned to the straw mat and just lay down when she saw the prison chief come in and chased him off. A few people outside who carried the bed came in and settled them down. They reset the tables, chairs, pens and ink, added candles, and set up a game of chess. .

Bai Yao stood aside, staring at them.

The prison chief finished cleaning up, and said to Bai Yao: "The emperor ordered to find some entertainment for your lord. The room is too dark, add a fire. By the way, I also asked what kind of food your lord likes to eat."

With both hands in their hands, Bai Yao opened his mouth and said, "Sauce elbow, sauce hoof, braised pig's head, steamed pork..."

The jailer really wrote down everything, "The emperor also ordered that you must finish the food for your lord every day, and if you can't finish it, you will ask your lord to blame you."

Bai Yao said "Hey", "Well, let me serve the same thing for each meal and take turns, so I won't have to think about the recipe."