This sleeve is broken secretly

The spring of Hongwu's 25th year had arrived before Xie Ling and Shen Yi had completely pierced through the layer of window paper.

The coolness of late winter has been lingering until the end of February, and the stinging chill in the capital gradually faded away.The weeping willows on both sides of the Yu River shook off the frost and snow frozen on the branches, and on a certain spring night, they quietly pulled out the tender green willow buds.At this point, the real early spring has really come to the capital.

The top priority after spring is undoubtedly the Shangsi Festival on the third day of March.Since ancient times, people have been used to going out of their homes on spring and Jingming days, and gathered on the bank of the water to hold a ritual of exorcism. Dajie" ("Book of the Later Han").

However, in this dynasty, the meaning of 祓禊 has been weakened, and people prefer to take advantage of the early spring to indulge in the mountains and rivers, to swim in the lake and have fun.And on such a good day, take off the heavy and clumsy winter clothes, "Men are dressed in bright red clothes, while women are beautiful in brocade" ("The Biography of Xia Zhongyu"), the talented man and the beautiful woman meet at the head of the Liuyin bridge, and the glimpses are often heard. good story.As a result, Shangsi has gradually transformed into a festival for unmarried men and women to look at each other with affection.

It is said that the Shangsi in Hongwu's 25th year will be extremely lively.The Yuhe River from Donghua Bridge to the root of the east wall has been repaired after a heavy rain in spring last year. Many new willows were planted and three Yuhe bridges were built.Many noble ladies from official families and gifted princes have already made an appointment to go to the lower reaches of the Yuhe Bridge on the third day of March.

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Among the pleasant spring scenery in the garden, Xie Ling's complexion was the most stinky.

He couldn't bear it anymore and turned to Xie Hua who was following him, and said angrily in a low voice: "Second brother, I beg you, don't embarrass yourself here, okay? You are a man with a wife, why are you coming to the spring festival party?"

Xie Hua finally took off the official mansion. He was wearing a stone green narrow-sleeved cardigan, a plain white square scarf on his head, and a folding fan. He was also very romantic and suave.Hearing that his younger brother was so annoyed, he smiled and said: "I came here for you. You saw that you had such a big battle a few days ago and searched for a woman in the capital, but you didn't find one you like. Dad and I thought Let me take this opportunity to come here to help you meet each other, maybe there will be a woman of the right age?"

Xie Ling complained endlessly.The secret book he got back from Mrs. Huaihua after alarming half of the capital was still useless, but he paid himself in first, which is really not worth the candle.Moreover, on such a beautiful day, he wanted to ask Shen Bing to come out, but why was it wasted on his elder brother?

The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became, he flicked his sleeves and turned angrily, "I'm leaving."

"Wait a minute." Xie Hua grabbed him, stretched his head and squinted his eyes to look into the distance, "Wait a minute, look—is that Shen Liangqing? And the people around him—"

When Xie Ling heard the word "Shen Liangqing", he turned his head in a "bass".Sure enough, under the weeping willows beside the embankment, who is the slender figure of Xiuyi but Shen Tie?

At this time, he was brushing away the willow branches blowing on his face with one hand, while lowering his head slightly to chat and laugh with the people beside him in a low voice.In this beautiful spring day full of the city, it seems that he only needs to stand in the shade of willows in the upwind place with his green clothes and wide sleeves, and he has become the most outstanding scenery.

The joy in his heart burst out almost instantly, Xie Qin raised his foot and ran a few steps almost subconsciously, and shouted loudly: "Liangqing!"

Shen Bing on the embankment turned around in astonishment, just meeting Xie Ling's eyes.He was slightly taken aback, and subconsciously smiled, but then he lowered his head in embarrassment, stepped sideways, and revealed another figure beside him.

It was a middle-aged man, wearing an ordinary flower-embroidered robe and a square scarf, looking at Xie Ling meaningfully from the side of Shen Bi.

Xie Ling's pupils shrank suddenly, and his hurried footsteps stopped abruptly and he couldn't stand still, almost biting a dog to eat shit.As soon as he bent his knees, he wanted to kneel in a stumbling position but hesitated a little, extremely embarrassed.

Why is Emperor Hongwu here? !

What did he and Shen Bing come to Shangsi Festival together?

At this stall, Shen Jue and Emperor Hongwu on the embankment had already stepped down.And Xie Hua also hurried over, cursing his younger brother in his heart, while bowing down, he was about to bow down: "Please refer to—"

"Okay, no courtesy." Hong Wudi raised his hand to stop his kneeling ceremony, "I came out of humble service, so I don't pay attention to these empty etiquette."

Xie Hua said yes again and again, glanced secretly at Shen Bing, and then returned to Emperor Hongwu. After hesitating for a while, he couldn't help but ask tentatively: "Emperor—why are you here—?"

Emperor Hongwu laughed and didn't answer, Shen Yan smiled beside him and said: "The emperor heard that the folks have the custom of going out for spring near the Yuhe River during the Shangsi Festival, so he wanted to go out of the palace to see it with his own eyes." Seeing that Xie Hua still looked hesitant, he again Said, "Don't worry, my lord, the imperial guards and the imperial guards have already known about it, and there are also guards on the left and right."

Xie Hua breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.It is not a trivial matter for the emperor to go out of the palace for a private visit. As a subject, he should advise the emperor to take care of the dragon body and return to the palace as soon as possible, but now that Emperor Hongwu is in high spirits, how dare he say such a thing?But if you don't say it, what should you do if Yushitai finds out about it in the future and impeaches him for "slandering and slandering" one by one?

To be on the safe side, he still followed closely beside Emperor Hong Wu, not daring to lag behind.

Emperor Hongwu was still in high spirits. While looking at the men, women and children playing in the wild on both sides of the Yu River, he chatted casually with Xie Hua about the homework and walked forward.Xie Ling and Shen Yan followed behind, Xie Ling deliberately took two steps behind, pulled the corner of Shen Yan's clothes and asked in a low and anxious manner: "What's going on? You pulled the emperor out?"

Shen Yan smiled slightly, and corrected in a low voice: "The emperor 'himself' thought it up."

"You—" Xie Ling didn't have the heart to play word games with him, and said anxiously, "You are too courageous! Aren't you afraid that Yushitai will spray you to death afterwards?"

Shen Yan shook his head and said calmly: "It's okay, I have my own concerns."

Looking at Shen Yi's appearance, he knew that there was an arrangement, but Xie Ling still couldn't help being anxious for him.But he changed his mind and thought again, isn't the left censor of the Inspectorate just Yang Lian?If the Procuratorate impeaches Shen Bi, can Yang Lian see clearly that Shen Bi is not a "young talent" at all, and let him dismiss the idea of ​​marrying his daughter to Shen Bi?No, although this is a clever plan, but he can't bear to bet on Shen Bing's official career...

Xie Ling's face was cloudy and sunny, full of thoughts, and two gray hairs almost appeared in just a few steps.

The other three people didn't know his worries at all.At that time, the Huifeng will be smooth and the scenery will be peaceful, and they will leave and talk about the monarch and the ministers. The atmosphere is also very harmonious.Not long after, when they passed by a few peddlers on the side of the road, Shen Yu stopped at the right time and smiled at Emperor Hongwu: "Shangsi has a habit of bathing in orchid soup and apotheosis by the river, so men, women and children like to wear orchid grass. .Your Majesty, would you like to go to the country and do as the Romans do?"

Emperor Hongwu saw that the baskets of the roadside peddler were indeed full of freshly planted orchid grass, which were tied into small bundles with red strings. The smell is even more fragrant and refreshing in the nose.Can't help but like it in my heart, and nodded.

Shen Bing came to the peddler and bought a bunch of bluegrass for everyone to hang around his waist.The other hawkers saw that they were elegantly dressed and suave, so they knew they were noble people, so they peddled at the right time: "Would you like to try our rice wine and glutinous rice? It's also sweet!"

Emperor Hongwu walked for a while, and at this time he was indeed hungry and thirsty, so he nodded and said: "That's fine."

How dare Xie Hua let Emperor Hongwu eat outside at will?If he eats something good or bad, he won't be able to pay for a single head.Xie Hua was about to look left and right to see if there were any more serious tea houses and restaurants, but Shen Bing over there had already reached into his pocket to take out money.Xie Hua was suddenly anxious and wondered: Everyone said that Shen Bing has a steady temperament, why is he so ignorant of the importance of doing things at this time?

"How much?" Shen Yan asked.

The peddler smiled flatteringly, and made a gesture of five: "Five, fifty copper coins."

For the two brothers Xie Hua and Xie Jin, fifty copper coins are like a hair on a cow, which is not worth mentioning at all; let alone Hong Wudi, who has never used money to buy anything in his life.Several people didn't know what the real price of four bowls of rice wine and four pieces of glutinous cake should be, but when they saw Shen Ting's hand holding out the money, he frowned: "Why is it so expensive?"

Xie Hua paused, keenly aware of something, and quickly glanced at Emperor Hongwu.Emperor Hongwu looked as usual, with his hands behind his back, his eyes were focused on the peddler, and he didn't say anything to stop him.

The peddler was stunned, he didn't expect that this handsome young man, who looked like a banished fairy, would even consider fifty copper coins too expensive.But he was indeed cheating, so he had no choice but to admit it, and said with a mournful face: "Three, thirty."

However, Shen Bing didn't accept it as soon as he saw it.Instead, he lowered his face, stared at the peddler coldly, and said in a cold voice, "Man Wu, are you trying to trick us into ignoring the price of firewood and rice? A bag of rice is only a hundred cash, and you dare to sell it for a few pieces of rice cakes." Thirty? How dare the Son of Heaven dare to be so presumptuous?"

The peddler was at a loss and did not want to argue with these nobles.But when Shen Yan mentioned the price of rice, his heart suddenly aroused, and one of them couldn't hold back and shouted: "Oh, my little master, then you really don't know. How much is the price of rice for [-] Wen?" Years ago, the current price has risen so much that we, the commoners, have no way out, otherwise how dare we raise the price of a few rice cakes?"

Xie Hua's expression became more and more disturbed, Xie Ling had already understood Shen Ji's plan, and he was also a little worried, frowning and did not speak.Among the group of people, only Emperor Hongwu looked the calmest, but he took out a gold leaf and put it on the hawker's basket, and picked up rice wine and glutinous cake.

The peddler guessed that he had never seen real gold in his life, so he was too frightened to take it, and shouted: "Your highness, this is too much, little one—"

However, Emperor Hongwu turned around and left.

A few people followed behind Hong Wudi, and the atmosphere was no longer the peace of talking and laughing just now, but full of stiffness and tension that were on the verge of breaking out.Xie Hua pursed his lips in embarrassment, quickly thinking about how this matter would end; Xie Qin frowned and peeked at Shen Bing; but Shen Bing seemed to have foreseen all the developments, followed calmly, lightly Drooping eyelashes.

The eerie silence lasted for half a cup of tea.Emperor Hongwu stopped suddenly, and suddenly shouted coldly in a low voice: "Shen Bing, you are so courageous!"

Xie Hua's heart was shocked, and he subconsciously fell to his knees with a "plop".Xie Jin also lifted his clothes slowly, and followed his elder brother to kneel down.

Facing the fury of Emperor Hongwu's thunder, Shen Ting was as calm as ever, but saw him kneeling calmly, straightened up and asked quietly: "I don't understand what the emperor means."

"You don't understand? I think you understand too much!" Hong Wudi blushed with anger, walked around twice, pointed at Shen Yu's forehead and said angrily, "What do you mean by arranging this out today? Huh? But it’s just because I love you that I dare to act like a dog. I cherish your nobility, but I didn’t expect that there is any difference between you and those villains? Hmm?"

Shen Yi was not afraid at all, and lowered his eyes and said: "Everything today, none of it was arranged by the minister. The only thing I did more was that the emperor asked an extra question about the price of rice when he stopped to buy rice cakes. And Even this sentence, I am not asking for myself, but for the emperor, for the common people in the world!"

Emperor Hongwu was furious, the veins on his forehead popped up, and he said angrily: "Okay! Okay! You have to ask for me, you have to ask for the world... You know so much what I and the world need to know, why don't you decide for the world! "

This sentence is to kill people alive!

Xie Ling kowtowed violently, took two steps on his knees and said anxiously: "I beg the emperor to calm down! I beg the emperor to see Liang Qing's dedication to the king and the people, and spare his life."

Hong Wudi's words just now were angry words, and he regretted it when he blurted out.He wasn't in the mood to be overjoyed and angry, so he calmed down a little at this moment, and wanted to take advantage of Xie Ling's words to go down the stairs.Who would have thought that when he looked at Shen Bing again in the blink of an eye at this moment, he still had that clear and cold expression, and suddenly he was angry again, and even smiled angrily, pointing at Shen Bing and turning his head to ask Xie Hua, "Look Looking at him like this, it seems that I have wronged him. Is there such a courtier?"

Hearing what he said, Xie Hua immediately knew that Emperor Hongwu didn't want to argue with Shen Yan, and immediately kowtowed and said with a smile: "You are a good young man, he is straightforward, but his nature is not bad... Your Majesty, if you He is really that kind of person, and today he wouldn't be so ignorant to defeat the emperor's interest on such a good day."

Emperor Hongwu actually understood it in his heart, but he was still angry. He waited sideways and sneered, "The two brothers are begging for you, what do you say?"

Shen Bing bowed down respectfully and said: "When I reported today, I didn't talk or joke at all."

At this time, he dared to contradict Emperor Hongwu?Xie Hua took a deep breath, and couldn't believe it; however, Xie Ling could figure out some of Emperor Hongwu's thoughts better than his brother - since he has already become a critical minister, it is better to be a thorough one.If he was a little scared, he retracted all the thorns all over his body, but it looked fake.

Sure enough, Emperor Hongwu did not continue to be angry, but sneered, and said with his hands behind his back: "Forget it, get up. Shen Liangqing, I will settle this account with you sooner or later."

A few people didn't dare to say any more, and just answered "yes" and wanted to stand up, but suddenly heard a coquettish call from behind: "—Second cousin? Third cousin?"

Xie Jin and Xie Hua turned their heads at the same time, but saw [-] young girls walking quickly a few steps away, holding a bamboo fan of concubine Xiang and waving it briskly at them.I saw that she was wearing a gown of light yellow flowers and ten pieces of flowers, and a coat of peach red, with a circle of snow-white rabbit fur around her neck, making her plump face very festive.

At this time, she came jumping up, her brisk steps and the hem of her skirt swaying like spring flowers, as if the fragrant and fresh breath of March had already rushed towards her face.

"Stupid?"

Xie Hua called out somewhat unexpectedly - this is their distant cousin Xie Jiaohan, who grew up with their brothers in the capital, and they have a very good relationship.The temperament of this silly lady is just like her name, she is straightforward, she dares to say and do anything.Xie Hua almost subconsciously stepped to the side, blocking Emperor Hong Wu, lest this outspoken girl would run into the Holy Majesty.

However, Emperor Hongwu seemed to be very interested in this little girl, and asked with a smile, "Is it the inner sister?"

"Yes..." Xie Hua was a little embarrassed, and said in a low voice, "I have been spoiled since I was a child, and I have no manners. Don't be offended." This is a distinguished guest of the Xie residence."

Xie Jiaohan squatted down with a smile, her expression did not have the shy look of a girl who has not left the cabinet to see a man outside, but said generously: "Mr. Woolen cloth?"

People with a bit of common sense in the SLR, seeing Xie Hua, a third-rank Beijing official, and Xie Ling, a seventh-rank editor kneeling on a middle-aged man in a fancy dress, should know that this person's identity is quite unusual.However, Xie Jiaohan was so innocent that she immediately believed Xie Hua's words.

Simply, her attention didn't stay on Hong Wudi for too long, those round almond eyes moved to Shen Bing.

"Oh." Xie Jiaohan's concubine of Xiang, the asparagus bamboo fan, covered her mouth and exclaimed in surprise, "This young master is really good-looking, even better than the third cousin."

Shen Yan greeted her with a smile.

Xie Ling saw his cousin's curious eyes turning on Shen Yan, feeling a little displeased in his heart, and said coolly: "Han'er, what's your etiquette? This is the number one scholar from the year before last. You have an appearance in your eyes, it is really abrupt."

Xie Jiaohan was startled, and suddenly tapped the palm of her hand with the concubine Xiang's asparagus bamboo fan, and said joyfully, "I said, so you are Lord Shen!"

Xie Ling suddenly felt like he was in a cocoon.

Sure enough, he watched helplessly as the stupid, stupid girl turned her head, raised her small broken fan and rushed not far away, waving and shouting: "Sister Yang! Come quickly! Mr. Shen is here! "

Xie Ling's eyes suddenly went dark, wishing he could kick this noisy girl into Yuhe.