long friend

The day the queen gave birth was the thirteenth day of the winter month, and there was a heavy snowfall in Jinling.

Xiao Qiping hadn't been in Taicheng for almost two years, and was alarmed by this incident, so he deliberately came here in the snow.Since the crown prince was abolished, the relationship between him and the queen has gradually become weaker, not estranged, but also very different from the closeness of the past.

When the carriage arrived outside Mingfu Palace, Xiao Qiping heard voices. After getting off the carriage, he stood at the same spot helplessly. Just as he was about to call someone to lead him in, he was suddenly stopped.

Xiao Qiping instinctively withdrew his hands, and the man said, "Brother Ping, it's me."

He was relieved, and heard Xiao Qichen say again: "Your eyesight is bad, how come there are not many people to accompany you when you come to the palace? Where is Mrs. Wang?"

"I heard that the Queen Mother seems to want to... After all, I am her imperial son. Although she didn't ask me to come, I should accompany you because of the situation. Zipei has been feeling unwell recently, and Aunt Cuiyu took care of her. Thinking about entering the palace After all, someone recognizes it, so I didn't bring anyone here, I didn't expect it to be so busy here." Xiao Qiping seemed a little reluctant when he said the last.

Xiao Qichen thought of a sentence inappropriately, "When you see the newcomers laugh, you hear the old ones cry." This sentence is not inappropriate for the present, Xiao Qiping was loved by thousands of people back then, so he should be so disappointed now.

He tugged at Xiao Qiping's sleeve: "Don't think too much, father always loves you, how is it like me..."

Xiao Qiping was noncommittal, and only raised the corners of his mouth in his direction.He thought sadly that he and Xiao Qichen were not from the same mother, and there were even some grievances and grievances from the previous generation, but Xiao Qichen was more like his own siblings than anyone else, even more so than the boy who hadn't cried aloud inside. It made him feel more at ease.

Everyone in Mingfu Palace was busy in and out, no one cared that there were two more princes in the courtyard.When Xiao Yan arrived in a hurry, she was followed by the graceful Concubine Li Gui. She held her noble head high, as if she could maintain her superiority in this way.

Xiao Qichen hurriedly pulled Xiao Qiping forward to salute: "I have seen my father, my imperial concubine and empress."

Xiao Yan nodded hastily as he understood, and hurried to the inner room.Xiao Qichen stood on the spot without embarrassment, the other hand that was not supporting Xiao Qiping was clenched in the empty sleeve, and the bones almost made a cracking sound.

His heart was extremely cold at Xiao Yan's glance, and he stayed where he was blowing wind with Xiao Qiping, neither of them opened their mouths.

It wasn't until the baby's loud cry came from the inner room that Xiao Qichen came back to his senses.He looked towards the palace, and an imperial doctor came out, sweating profusely but with a happy expression on his face: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, you are a little prince!"

Xiao Yan said in surprise: "Really! The queen has worked hard, and I will definitely reward her well! Come and take me to see the emperor!"

Immediately there was another round of celebration, Xiao Qichen felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, his eyes were filled with colorful lights, the decorations in Mingfu Palace dazzled him, and he could hardly stand still.Xiao Qichen staggered to the side and leaned against the wall, his hand was still holding Xiao Qiping's arm, he managed to catch his breath, and heard Xiao Qiping say: "Do you hate him?"

Xiao Qichen whispered calmly: "Hate the emperor? Did you hate me back then?"

Xiao Qiping wanted to say "you are different", but this really made people think too much, so he was silent for a moment and said: "I never hated you. Even if I later found out that brother Huang ordered Wan Qing to poison me and make me permanently disabled, I would never hate you." hate him."

In Xiao Qichen's astonishment, he continued: "There is no father and son in the Tian family. It is my blessing if brothers can live in harmony. Born in Taicheng, who doesn't want to fight for the first to get out first? It's only because I didn't notice it for a while and was too careless. Yes. Now that there is an extra son, even if you want to strangle him to death, you should."

Xiao Qichen called out: "Brother Ping..."

"But you should not hate him." Xiao Qiping said, "He is just a pawn. When he has his own ideas in the future, he will still be controlled by the throne and glory just like you and me. I have treated you before As I said, it is human nature to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.”

Xiao Qichen lowered his eyes and remained silent, so Xiao Qiping stopped talking to him, he tugged Xiao Qichen: "Let's go, we don't need us here."

"Brother Ping." Xiao Qichen suddenly stopped, not knowing whether to tell him or himself, and said firmly, "I won't be so excited by such a newborn kid."

The heavy snow had stopped, and Taicheng was covered in pure white. The winding corridors under the palace wall were extremely slippery, and the long steps of white marble appeared somewhat soft.In the winter south of the Yangtze River, the dripping water cannot turn into ice, only the frost flowers in the corner of the wall are crystal clear, shining fleeting light in the sunshine after the snow.

Xiao Qichen sent Xiao Qiping outside the palace, and the carriage on the palace came to pick him up.The coachman obviously didn't know why Xiao Qiping entered the palace suddenly, so he said beamingly to him: "My lord, my concubine has been unwell for a few days, Aunt Cuiyu asked a doctor to check her pulse in the morning, and it turned out to be a happy pulse! Congratulations, my lord!"

The news came at the wrong time, Xiao Qiping was not as happy as they expected, he just smiled lightly: "Got it."

In his smile, there was a bit of sarcasm mixed in for a long time. Xiao Qichen was too familiar with this arc. In the East Palace in the past, whenever others mentioned that His Majesty rewarded King Zhao with something, Xiao Qiping would show such an expression.

Xiao Qichen watched the carriage go away, and said in his heart: "It turns out that he will also hate, and he can't escape the secular rut."

The seventh son of the emperor was finally given the name Xiao Qiming. When he was born, the east was white and the morning star was hanging high.Xiao Yan announced the news at the first court meeting in the twelfth lunar month, and then revealed his intention to establish a reserve.

Unsurprisingly, this absurd decision was met with opposition. Veteran Xie Ke was the first to say: "Your Majesty the Seventh Prince is still young and doesn't know what is right and what is wrong. He needs to be guided carefully in the future to see how good he is. The crown prince is the foundation of a country. Your Majesty should think carefully about it." , can make a decision, such a child's play is really inappropriate."

Zhong Mi followed closely, and said: "Even if the abolished prince was praised by everyone back then, it will be after the age of ten. His Royal Highness needs to take good care of his life now, not to encourage the growth of seedlings. I hope your majesty will learn from him."

Even Wang Di, the great Sima who always looked at the emperor's face, stood beside Zhong Mi, and said in a drawn-out voice, "I second the proposal."

Xiao Yan is obsessed, so naturally he won't give up lightly, and only talks about it later.They quickly started discussing the patrolling in the north after the twelfth lunar month, no one noticed that Xiao Qichen's face turned blue and white in the corner, which was very ugly.

After returning to the palace, Xiao Qichen was really panicked. After much deliberation, he finally changed into court clothes and led the people out to ask for a carriage. He couldn't help but say to Tianhui, "Go to the Marquis's Mansion."

The horse's hooves clattered away, he leaned against the car and was knocked so that his internal organs were out of place, but his heart was unprecedentedly peaceful.Unsurprisingly, he still thought of Su Yan at this time, Xiao Qichen groaned, and closed his eyes irritably.

"Your Highness, we're here." Tianhui lifted the curtain of the car, interrupting Xiao Qichen's thoughts mixed with youthful thoughts and family and country affairs, "Young Master just came home."

He immediately got up, jumped out of the carriage in a few steps, and ran in without saying hello: "Su Yan! Su Yan!"

The person standing at the door who had just taken off his cloak before he had time to react was hit by Xiao Qichen who threw himself on his back. Su Yan staggered a few steps forward, and naturally held his hand crossed on his chest: "Sick Are you alive and kicking again?"

Xiao Qichen hung on Su Yan's body carelessly, followed his footsteps and walked in with him: "Yes, ordinary people are easy to get sick in winter, but I feel much better as soon as winter enters. It can be seen that there is a problem of bitter summer. In the future, I will wait for the north to get sick." Pingding, I will go to Youzhou in summer, I heard that the place is very cool..."

He was talking happily, and didn't notice how intimate the two of them were, until he saw the figure waiting outside the east chamber, Xiao Qichen suddenly bit his tongue, grinning and fell off Su Yan's body.

The woman's expression was calm. She walked in front of the two of them and saluted Xiao Qichen. Su Yan lost no time in saying, "This is His Highness Sixth. I told you. Ah Chen, this is Rong Niang. You haven't seen her before." .”

Li Rong said softly, "I have seen His Highness the Sixth Highness."

Xiao Qichen's mood, which had been depressed for a long time, finally turned around, and now there was a sour smell again. He really wanted to deal with it, but because Su Yan was beside him, he said "sincerely", "It's not good for me to be sick on the wedding day. I came here, but I had no reason to visit later, seeing the beauty of the Young Madam today, I am really shocked, no wonder Ayan has stopped fooling around with us recently."

Seeing that he was about to talk nonsense again, Su Yan pulled Xiao Qichen's wrist: "Don't talk nonsense, when am I fooling around? Let's go to the study to talk, I have something good for you to see."

In the words, he pulled Xiao Qichen and left, completely ignoring his new wife.

Xiao Qichen took two steps and looked back, Li Rong was still maintaining a meticulous smile.When she and Su Yan stood together, she looked like a beautiful statue, without any thorns, except that she was a little less angry.

There was a heater in the room, and Xiao Qichen brought a small one with him, holding it in his palm.Su Yan poured tea and picked up the preserved fruit, put them on the table, and then sat down: "I heard from my father that at the court meeting today, Mr. Wang thanked Mr. Wang and Mr. Xie unexpectedly reached a consensus. This is the second time this year. It's unbelievable."

Xiao Qichen sneered and said: "Because my wise and powerful father wants to make a tuanzi who is not full moon to be the crown prince."

Su Yan couldn't speak for a long time, afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would commit a crime.He had no choice but to eat a candied date, trying to ease Xiao Qichen's heart: "If you said that day...in fact..."

"Brother Yu is probably going to take advantage of the New Year's Eve to go back to Jinling and hang on." Xiao Qichen said to himself, "On the day my seventh brother was born, Concubine Li Gui looked so pretty. He strangled to death and drowned, so as to avoid future troubles, lest my son spend 20 years of painstaking efforts in making wedding dresses for others."

His expression was as usual, but Su Yan's heart turned cold, and he asked tentatively, "Do you think King Zhao will strike first?"

Xiao Qichen gave him a superficial smile: "At that time, I have no choice but to pretend not to know." After saying this, Xiao Qichen rolled his eyes, and suddenly said: "You said you want to show me something, what is it?"

"Oh, this." Su Yan stood up, took out a book from the cabinet, and carefully spread it in front of Xiao Qichen, "Didn't you say that you and the Tai Tuo were going to study the floods in Qingguang County last time? I went with the army a few days ago Linhai, I met an old man by the sea, and had a good talk with him. He said that he is not long in the world, and only this book is a family treasure. Pass……"

Xiao Qichen's eyes suddenly lit up, he stood up, his fingers gently landed on the yellowed book as if caressing his sweetheart's cheek, and whispered: "..."Shui Jing Yi Answer Record", which has been lost for a long time, is it really still there? I can see..."

The books are well preserved, but the smell of ink has been replaced by the salty smell of the sea breeze.Xiao Qichen flipped through it very lightly, and then put it away solemnly, wishing he didn't bring the expensive box.

Su Yan just picked up a box from under the table: "Put it here and take it home. I tried it and it's just the right size."

That was exactly the sandalwood box that Xiao Qichen gave her on Su Yan's wedding day.

Su Yan was actually a little apprehensive when he took it out, but Xiao Qichen seemed to have forgotten about it, so he put it on respectfully, weighed it in his hand, and smiled at him.Su Yan was still surprised at his ability to change his face after years of experience, so he said, "I heard from Xie Hui that you had a heart attack before... because of His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince?"

"He's not that important." Xiao Qichen touched the four corners on the top of the wooden box, and said casually, "At that time, I thought I would finally be able to stand out, but I was beaten back to the original place by the attitude of the emperor, and I was resentful. In addition... there are other things, so I worry all day long. Thinking about it now, it is very unnecessary."

Su Yan said: "Why?"

Xiao Qichen said: "Because there are some things that I can't change, so I have to compromise. Don't you often do this too? Or is it that you have fallen into Madam's honeypot like Brother Ping now."

"I... can't tell," Su Yan waited for him to mention this, and said, "Mother Rong, both parents are very satisfied with her. She often embroiders on the porch, very quiet. She has never traveled far, and loves to ask me many things. I feel comfortable when chatting with her... That day my father asked me if I liked Rongniang, and I thought about it, only to realize that I didn't know what 'like' meant."

In the study, the stove and incense are combined together, making the whole space like spring and bright April.Xiao Qichen picked up the small heater and put it in his hand, and asked softly, "Don't you really know?"

Su Yan shook his head in confusion.

"Then you remember those... unscrupulous books you read before," Xiao Qichen finished speaking, and seeing Su Yan smile thoughtfully, he also followed suit and said, "There is a saying in the past, 'There is a beautiful woman here, you can't see her very well. Forget. I don’t see you for a day, and I miss you like crazy.’ All the girls by the Qinhuai River know that the person they love is as white as snow on the mountain, and as bright as the moon between the clouds..."

Thinking like crazy, every time we meet, it seems that thousands of suns and moons overlap.Night comes alone and can't sleep, I hear the south wind passing by the dead branches outside the window, I see the bright moon, the stars are shining, but they are not as good as his eyes.

I have a sincere heart, and I was afraid that if I gave it out, no one would want it, so I showed you a shadow through the window paper, and saw that you were stunned, and I was afraid of disturbing the stability of this world, so I hurriedly took it back.Feelings are always unique. If you have seen this sincerity, I don't want to tell anyone anymore.

The word "like" sounds frivolous, but it is heavy to say. After thousands of times, it becomes a pot of bitter wine.

He stood next to Su Yan when he was talking, and the hot air from his breath sprayed on his ears, making Su Yan feel distracted for a while.In the end Xiao Qichen took a step back and raised his eyebrows at him with a half-smile: "Really not at all?"

Su Yan hesitated for a while, and said: "I respect her, but I still don't love her. When I talk to her, I answer every question. She has done a lot for me, and I am very touched, but...we haven't shared the same bed for some time. .”

Now he became Xiao Qichen in astonishment.