Linzhi

For 11 years, He Tai never saw anyone who came from the capital to visit him.

When he first came to Fangzhou, He Tai dreamed at night that he ran to the emperor crying and complaining about his grievances, and then he couldn't finish speaking again and again, and was dragged down by his emperor's father.

But later, he gradually stopped having this kind of dream. From the first panic, to the later disappointment, and even despair, He Tai had almost forgotten the beauty and prosperity of the capital. Threats of death, there is no need to look at his father's face, and intrigue for power.

He thought he was calm enough to see wealth as floating clouds, but when he heard the news suddenly, his body still couldn't help shaking, his expression also changed, and all kinds of feelings came to his heart.

Immediately, He Tai realized that his children were still by his side, so he quickly calmed down and calmed down: "Who is here?"

He Song murmured: "I don't even know about villains, there are only two of us."

Two people, it shouldn't be the forbidden army flying cavalry to take people.

He Tai secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Invite them in..."

"Father!"

"Father."

It was He Mu and He Rong who spoke at the same time.

He Mu ignored his younger brother, and hurriedly said: "Father, the identity of the other party is unknown, and the fact that he came from the capital alone does not prove that it was sent by His Majesty. To be prudent, we should meet first, so that there is room. "

He Rong nodded: "I think the same as big brother."

After being reminded by the two sons, He Tai calmed down a little: "Alright, I'll let you go to meet the guests on behalf of the father first, and Jia Niang and I will go to the inner room."

He Mu saw his younger sister helping his father in, so he asked He Song to invite the guests in.

……

The visitors were one old and one young, like fathers and fathers, and their clothes were also ordinary, but when the young man opened his mouth with a slightly shrill voice, he immediately revealed his identity.

Seeing He Mu staring at the beard on his face, the young man smiled and bowed his hands in salute: "The villain Ma Hong is a regular servant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This beard is temporarily glued on to conceal people's eyes and ears."

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is an internal supervisory institution of the palace, and all the staff are eunuchs. The internal servants are under the internal servants, but they also have a very important position.

He Mu didn't dare to underestimate him, and hurriedly returned the gift, "I'm just a commoner, I dare not be a servant of the horse."

Ma Hong introduced the old man: "This is Imperial Physician Qi from the Imperial Medical Office. Your Majesty heard that He Langjun was unwell, so he sent me and the old imperial physician to visit."

"Your Majesty really asked you to come?" He Tai asked tremblingly.He couldn't hold back in the back room and showed up directly.

The two brothers felt a little helpless for their impatient father, so they had to help him smooth things over: "Father, why did you come out before your health recovered?"

He Tai came to his senses and hurriedly supported his forehead, pretending to be weak: "I have been seriously ill for several days, and I can only sit up today, please forgive me!"

Whether he is sick or not, the old doctor Qi can tell at a glance, but He Tai has been living here all year round, and he is depressed, and his complexion is indeed not very good.

"If it's convenient for you, sir, why don't you let me check the pulse?"

The emperor really sent someone over, on the one hand He Tai was a little excited, but on the other hand he was unavoidably disappointed. The two came here in disguise, obviously not here to pick him up.

Ma Hong seemed to see what was on his mind, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty has different identities now. If you come here with great fanfare and cause people to misunderstand, it is not good after all. But the nature of father and son cannot be parted. When Lang Jun writes, His Majesty must read every letter. , Sometimes the letter is late, and His Majesty will take the initiative to ask, this time, seeing that Lang Jun's handwriting is different from the past, His Majesty is worried about Lang Jun's health, so he sent me here to treat him."

He Tai didn't dare to say that he had written so many letters but got no response, so he simply let his elder son write it for him. He could only vaguely say: "Tai has been ill in bed recently and can't pick up the pen, so Da Lang has to write it for him. Your Majesty, God, Tai Thank you so much.”

While talking, He Jia offered tea in person, but Ma Hong didn't dare to take it, so he hurriedly got up to return the gift.

If there had been no Bing Shen rebellion case, He Tai would still be the high and mighty prince now, and He Jia and the others would have been enshrined, instead of serving tea to the guests in person as they are now wearing coarse clothes.

Looking at He Tai again, he was obviously less than [-] years old, but he looked similar to the old doctor Qi who was over [-] years old, his face was full of vicissitudes and exhaustion.

Although he sighed like this, Ma Hong didn't have any regrets. He had seen many winners and losers. Compared with the fate of the other one, He Tai's situation was not bad.

When He Tai saw Ma Hong and the others, he seemed to think of his old days, and when he looked at the shabby house, he couldn't help but his eyes turned red, and he forced a smile and said, "I made Ma Nei laugh, the tea leaves are all picked from the wild tea trees on the mountain. , compared to the tribute tea in the capital, I am afraid it is rough and hard to swallow."

Ma Hong: "Mr. He Lang is serious about his words, and the simple tea and light food are better than being completely natural, which is enough to keep you healthy for a hundred years."

He Tai: "I don't know if your majesty is still in good health? As a son of man, I can't serve my knees, and I feel deeply uneasy. I can only pray for my emperor's longevity every day."

After the gaffe, He Tai gradually regained his composure, and his responses were vaguely at the same level as before.

Ma Hong sat up straight, and replied solemnly: "Your Majesty, the dragon is in good health, and everything is going well."

He Tai laughed at himself: "That's right, without my unfilial son beside me, His Majesty must be in a better mood."

Ma Hong didn't know how to respond to these words, seeing that Imperial Physician Qi had just finished his pulse, he hurriedly asked, "How?"

Imperial Physician Qi: "He Langjun is fine, but there is dampness and coldness inside, and you need to eat more food to dispel the cold. You can soak your feet in boiling water with ginger or mugwort at night, otherwise, after a long time, minor illnesses will eventually come. will become seriously ill."

He Tai: "To tell you the truth from the imperial physician, my whole body is indeed sore and painful all day long during the rainy season. In spring and autumn, my body is itchy and has many rashes."

Imperial Physician Qi sighed: "Forgive me, sir. There is no cure for this disease, it can only be relieved. I will prescribe some medicine later, and please take it regularly. If you have similar symptoms in the future, you can continue to take medicine according to the prescription."

Ma Hong secretly made a note of these words, he will report them one by one when he goes back.

He Tai couldn't see Ma Hong's reaction, so he could only ask clearly: "Dare to ask Ma Nei, did your majesty ask me to wait to return to Beijing?"

Ma Hong said euphemistically: "This time I waited for the two of you to come here, and I didn't use the banner of Your Majesty to disturb the place. This is for the sake of your safety. If anyone asks, please tell me that we were in the capital's palace in the early years. The old servant, returning to his hometown in old age, passed by Fangzhou, just stopped by to visit."

He Mu and He Rong nodded secretly, Ma Hong was very thoughtful.

After all, my father is the eldest son of the emperor. Even if he is deposed as a commoner now, his identity is still indelible. He was exiled here before, and it seems that he will never recover from his life. If someone knows that the emperor has not forgotten the eldest son, he will send someone here Visiting, it is inevitable that some thoughts will arise.

He Tai: "Don't worry, waiter Ma Nei, I'll save it. The two of you came from a long way, you must be very hungry, and the humble house doesn't have much delicious food. I'll ask Da Lang and the others to pack some food from an outside restaurant and come back to entertain you two!"

Ma Hong smiled and said, "You don't have to bother me, we also brought some japonica rice and fine noodles. The carriage is not big, and the load is limited. It's a mere thought, please accept it."

These years, the He family has been eating brown rice. In order to save food, steamed rice is not often eaten. Most of the time they eat porridge or soup. The rice brought by Ma Hong, even if it is not tribute rice, must be good rice. In the past, He Tai didn't even tire of eating a meal, and now he heard that there were round-grained rice, his throat rolled up and down, and he swallowed involuntarily.

He Rong said: "Second brother and Wulang are coming back soon, and they must have gained something. I'll go out and have a look, and let them grill the wild game along the way, so that they can entertain guests."

He Tai came back to his senses: "That's right, you go now!"

He Rong stood up, pleaded guilty to Ma Hong and the imperial physician Qi, and left.

Only then did Imperial Physician Qi realize that He Rong's legs and feet were not very flexible.

But he has a leg problem and is still leaning on a bamboo stick. It should be a slow and clumsy scene, but he walks a little lightly and gracefully.

Even the bamboo stick seemed to blend in seamlessly with the green clothes.

Imperial Physician Qi couldn't help but uttered: "If you don't give up, Mr. Xiaolang, I can take a look at your feet for you!"

He Rong stopped, turned around and cupped his hands, and said in a calm tone, "Thank you for your kindness, the old doctor. It's just that my foot injury was caused by falling off a horse and breaking a bone when I was young. I showed it to the doctor at that time, and they said there was nothing I could do."

The word "falling off the horse" made the old doctor Qi wake up slightly, he turned his head subconsciously, and Ma Hong shook his head slightly, telling him not to ask more questions.

Looking again, He Rong's figure has gone away.

Imperial Physician Qi only joined the Imperial Medical Office after the case of rebellion occurred. At that time, the eldest son of the emperor, He Tai, had already been deposed as a common man, and his whole family was exiled in Fangzhou.

Imperial Physician Qi had heard about He Rong's fall from the horse. He only heard that He Rong took his younger brother to ride a horse. Unexpectedly, the horse suddenly went berserk and threw the two brothers off. He Rong broke his leg, while his younger brother He Yu Although he was not injured, due to his young age and excessive fright, he developed a high fever that night and died three days later.

The following year after the fall, the appalling Bingshen case occurred, and even He Rong's biological mother was involved. A large number of people were beheaded and exiled. It has been more than 11 years.

This kind of old case has nothing to do with Doctor Qi. He was ordered to come here, and he only needs to go back to report after seeing his illness, and the errand will be completed. Those rumors related to the reverse case are just forgotten and not taken seriously. .

But at this moment, seeing the situation of the former emperor's eldest son with his own eyes, seeing the slim He Jia, and having a few words with He Rong, Imperial Physician Qi couldn't help but sigh.

Pity.

……

As expected, He Erlang and He Wulang returned with a full load. Many small animals were rushing to stock up on food before the winter, but they let them pick up a bargain. The hare and wild pheasant could hardly carry them with two hands, so they just slaughtered them to entertain the guests. But there is no hostess in the house, and the housekeeper He Song has to lead the handymen to light a fire to cook, and also to help greet the guests, coming in and out, so it is inevitable that he is a little bit flustered.

There are not enough servants, He Tai's former side concubine and current concubine Yuan Shi also came out to help entertain the guests.

He Tai used to have one wife and two concubines, seven sons and three daughters. Among the princes, he had a lot of heirs, which should have been envied. Unfortunately, after the death of his first son, He Yu, his second concubine, Lu, was so sad that she couldn't afford to get sick, so she went with her. , followed by the exile of the whole family. Among the three daughters, two died halfway due to the hardships of the journey, and the other concubine could not survive the hardships in the early days of exile and died of illness. Now there is only one who is with He Tai. Yuan Shi.

No matter how beautiful a woman is, she can't stand the test of wind and frost. Although Yuan Shi doesn't have an aging face like He Tai, deep lines have already appeared around the corners of her eyes and mouth.

She gave birth to He Qilang He Xi, who was only one year old when he was exiled with him. Although he was lucky enough to not die halfway, he also left the root cause of the disease. He is still weak and bedridden.

Under Yuan Shi's pleading, Imperial Physician Qi helped He Xi diagnose pulse and prescribe medicine, and also instructed some precautions.

He Tai smiled wryly at Ma Hong: "I made waiter Ma Nei laugh."

In this situation, Ma Hong also had to sigh: "He Langjun has worked hard these years, and the villain will report the truth after he returns!"

With these words, He Tai felt a little better.

In the evening, except for He Xi who was in poor health and Yuan Shi who needed to take care of him, the five brothers of the He family, plus one He Jia, were all present.

Ma Hong wanted to invigorate the atmosphere, and complimented: "He Langjun's sons and daughters, all of them have extraordinary demeanor, which is really enviable!"

He Tai: "Today when the honored guest came, I was worrying about abandoning my humble home. I didn't have rich dishes to treat each other. I was afraid of neglecting the two of you. I only had to call my children to accompany me, which was a bit of courtesy."

After 11 years of training, he learned how to speak, instead of entangled with his previous identity and unable to let go of his dignity.

Ma Hong said with a smile: "There are meat and vegetables at the banquet, how can it be said that it is not rich, Mr. He is too modest."

Imperial Physician Qi also said: "Servant Ma Nei is right, I am old and can't eat too much meat, this is just right, just right!"

The host is enthusiastic and the guests join in, so it is natural for the guests and hosts to have a good time.

The wine was bought by He Mu at the market. Compared with the fine wine in the palace, it is naturally much worse. Ma Hong took a sip and put it down. Urgent?"

He Tai hurriedly asked: "I've heard about it, but I don't know much about it. How is it now? I'm bound to win big, right?"

Ma Hong's face was serious: "The situation is not good, Liangzhou is reversed."