Looking at the mountains and rivers

On the ninth day of December in the sixth year of Yong'an, Prince Mu's Mansion.

In the past two days, there have been several heavy snowfalls in Jian'an, and the entire capital is covered with snow, but there is no snow on the street outside the Prince Mu's Mansion. It was cleared early, exposing the bluestone road.Thick purple barriers were pulled up on both sides of the road. Not long after, two handsome servants came riding. They were all wearing blue robes, holding the reins carefully, and stopped when they reached the gate of the palace.A servant of the palace had already stepped forward to lead the horse, and the servants stood by the road with their hands down, and then someone came from behind, standing all the way along the street like this.Until the end, an imperial chariot pulled by eight divine steeds came along the street and stopped outside the main gate of Prince Mu's Mansion.

The bureaucrats in the royal palace greeted them out of the door early, waiting respectfully for the people in the car to show up. It was not Emperor Yong'an who was in the imperial chariot, but the envoy who came to announce the canonization decree.However, the identities of the two envoys are very unusual, the envoy is Yang Sui, the eldest elder of the royal family, and the deputy envoy is Xie Ji, the Taiwei of the current dynasty.

King Yong got off the chariot slowly, looked up, and saw a thin young man standing alone behind the crowd rushing forward to salute.The young man was wearing a formal gown with purple flowers, a green lotus branch pattern and a jade belt around his waist.Because of the cold weather, a dark purple fox fur was draped over his shoulders. The fox fur was very loose, making his thin figure even more apparent, almost frail.

King Yong hadn't seen this nephew for many years, and he had only heard from the stewards that the young man was weak and cowardly, at first glance, it seemed to be true, but upon closer inspection, it was not entirely true. .

I saw Yang Yan took a step forward calmly, his eyes were clear, and the corners of his lips smiled slightly: "Uncle, thank you, please come inside." Seeing his calm demeanor, neither cramped nor happy, it seems that he is not about to accept the canonization A big gift is just an invitation to be a guest at leisure.

Xie Xie is no stranger to this palace. Seeing that most of the surroundings are old-fashioned, he couldn't help but sighed with a smile: "Life is everywhere, it should be like Feihong stepping on snow. The palace has changed owners several times over the years, but I didn't expect it to end up in this place. In the hands of the Fourth Young Master."

Yang Yan, who was walking in front, couldn't help but turned around and smiled after hearing this: "Mu Wang's mansion is no longer the same as it used to be, I was sick and blind, I had neither heart nor ambition, I just relied on my father and elder brother to survive .Now my brothers have scattered and left in all directions, causing me, a useless person, to take over the palace. After thinking about it, I’m just living a sloppy life.”

As he spoke, he walked into the main hall of King Mu's mansion, where there was an incense case, King Yong stood on the east side of the case, and Yang Yan knelt on the west side of the case, waiting respectfully for the decree.

The decree of this canonization is all ordinary words, but it is to praise Yang Yan for being courteous, courteous and close, and not slack in deeds. It is considered a gift when it is put on the case.

Xie Ao arched his hands: "His Royal Highness Mu Wang, I am here to congratulate you."

There was no joy on Yang Yan's face, he just said calmly: "Uncle Lao, thank you sir." He paused, "tea and snacks are prepared in the side hall, please rest for a while."

King Yong never exchanged greetings with his nephew from the beginning to the end, only coughed lightly at this moment, Xie Xie hurriedly said with a smile: "Your Majesty and His Highness King Yong will return to the palace to revise the order, and we will trouble you again some other day."

Yang Yan didn't force him to stay, he just got up and took two steps, but saw the old figure of Yong Wang suddenly paused, turned to him and said: "Mu Wang, it will be the Yuan Ri Heaven Ceremony in a while, don't forget .”

Yang Yan was slightly taken aback, then quickly nodded and said, "My nephew knows."

After boarding the imperial chariot, Xie Ai sat opposite King Yong, feeling a little guilty in his heart.It turned out that he was the official envoy and the deputy envoy was Yuan Hesheng, the Imperial Inspector.I don't know how this old prince took over the job of the envoy, so he was appointed as the deputy envoy.Xie Xie originally thought that King Yong had some relationship with this nephew, but judging from just now, King Yong was very indifferent to that young King Mu, and he didn't even say a polite word, which was very strange.

Although he was puzzled in his heart, he didn't show it at all on his face, he just smiled and said: "The last time I came to Mu Palace with the prince, it seemed to be a few years ago."

King Yong nodded his head: "That's right. At that time, Lao Qi just had an accident, and Yang Dai and Yang Jue in Prince Mu's mansion were fighting fiercely for the succession to the throne."

"Yes," Xie Yu said with a smile, "it's still the prince who remembers clearly."

King Yong's muddy eyes flickered slightly: "Master Xie, how do you think this King Mu compares with the previous two?"

Xie Yu was taken aback: "This King Mu is by no means as useless as he said, the officials always think he is very dangerous."

"Danger?"

Xie Xie nodded: "That's right, Xiaguan can't see through him at all, so he feels dangerous. It's like walking alone without lighting a lamp in the dark night, and you will inevitably feel uneasy."

King Yong sighed softly: "I'm afraid he is not the only one who is in danger."

"My lord is saying?"

"There was a piece of "Zou Wenjue's Private Communication with Yi Dishu" before, have you read it?"

Xie Ao nodded immediately: "This memorial caused an uproar in the court as soon as it was published. Although it only listed a few crimes of Yang Jue, it was eloquent and brilliant. Yang Jue was convicted, and this memorial is a credit. Must have." When he said this, he paused slightly, "Could it be that Wen Zhi, who wrote this memorandum, had some contacts with King Mu?"

King Yong shook his head and said: "At that time, there was more than one piece of memorandum. Mr. Xie might as well think about it."

Xie Ao contemplated for a moment, only remembering that Yang Jue had not yet been convicted, but the imperial impeachment memorial was handed up like snowflakes, and he murmured: "Yes, there are also Mr. Lantai Linghan and several officials from the Ministry of Rites. , Taichang Temple, Yushitai..." He was stunned for a moment, "I didn't realize that His Royal Highness King Mu is already full-fledged. He is not a lonely, sick and weak person."

King Yong obviously knew these things long ago, and now he just looked at him with a wry smile.

Xie Ao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly he was startled and almost jumped up in the chariot: "Also! He also has his grandfather Tuobaxin. Tuobaxin is still in charge of the military power in the northwest. He was the proton who suppressed Tuobaxin in the past. , but now he has become King Mu. If Tuobaxin insists on supporting him, wouldn't this, His Highness King Mu..."

Because he was too excited, he waved the car curtain unexpectedly, and the cold wind outside the car suddenly poured in. Although it was only for a moment, King Yong coughed violently.He was already old, and now he was coughing violently, as if he was almost out of breath, the sound was terrifying, and it didn't subside for a long time.Xie Xie was so frightened that he was at a loss, and was about to call someone out of the car when King Yong covered his lips with his hand, and blood foam suddenly splashed out accompanied by coughing.

Seeing that Xie Ao was so shocked that his face was pale, King Yong seemed to be used to it. He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve to wipe off the blood on the corner of his mouth and beard, and said hoarsely: "Lord Xie, don't panic. This is an old disease. It's an old disease. He sighed faintly, "This king is in his dying years, it seems that he will indeed give way to the younger generation."

It has been snowing for the past few days, and there are more people in the Habayashi Guard who are lazy and neglect their duties. It is not easy for Wei Changxuan to leave the camp all the time, so he has to stay in the camp for days and stare at these subordinates.It was not until today that he received Yuan Xiaohou's invitation that he came out of the Habayashi Guard Camp and went to the downtown area of ​​Xifang to find the Ziliang Garden he mentioned.

Ziliang Garden and Yueming Tower are both places of romance and moonlight, but they are not as elegant as Yueming Tower.It used to be a dilapidated garden, but later someone set up a viewing shed and recruited some actors to perform here in order to attract business.It can be seen that there are several rooms separated by railings under the shed, there are people who teach books, perform comics, and some gaudy music and dances.In the past, most of the people who came here frequently were peddlers in the market. Later, when the business got bigger, a high pavilion was built behind the viewing shed, and the rehearsals were all exquisite repertoires, specially entertaining dignitaries.As a result, the vulgarity of the music and dance has become the signature of this place. The nobles are used to the slow-talking elegant music, but they love the vulgar music here.

Sitting in the attic at the back of Ziliang Garden, Wei Changxuan felt a little familiar in a trance. When he was still in Shenwuwei, he would often squeeze into the viewing shed in the downtown area with young people of the same age to watch acrobatics or It's a farce, and I won't leave after watching it for hours.That kind of shed is far less big than that of Ziliang Garden. It is full of people and smells of rancid sweat everywhere. Now that I think about it, I feel a little nostalgic.

Yuan Xiong saw that Wei Changxuan was fascinated by the funny show on stage, and couldn't help laughing: "It seems that I was right, General Wei really likes this place."

Wei Changxuan smiled sheepishly: "I'm sorry to trouble Master Yuan Xiaohou." He paused, "I heard that Yuan Xiaohou went to the north some time ago?"

Yuan Xiong was smiling lazily at first, but he suddenly suppressed his smile after hearing this sentence, and nodded: "Yes, I went to Huining." His voice sank, "You know, Chen Shao and I grew up together. He died in battle, and we brothers in the past felt very sad. When I went to visit General Chen this time, I saw that his hair was all white, it was really sad."

Wei Changxuan's expression darkened when he heard him talking about this matter.

Yuan Xiong said again: "Who knows that on the way back to Beijing, I heard that you were accused of crimes and would be beheaded again. I was really shocked. After finally rushing back, I realized that it was a false alarm," he said. Now, he patted Wei Changxuan on the shoulder, "Speaking of which, you are considered to be very lucky, so today's banquet should be regarded as my congratulations on your survival."

Someone on the other side said: "General Wei is an auspicious person with a natural appearance. Come, I will respect General Wei."

Wei Changxuan couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to take the wine and drink it up, and then someone toasted one after another.The taste of the wine today was not as dull as usual, it was actually very strong, Wei Changxuan felt dizzy after drinking a few cups, already in a trance.

Seeing his drunken face, Yuan Xiong clapped his hands and said, "How about it? Is it good wine? This is a good wine that my father has treasured for 20 years. It's hard to come by." He drank all the wine in the bowl in one gulp. Remnant Jiu, taking advantage of the wine, said, "Wei Changxuan, you fought on the battlefield first, then you were convicted and imprisoned, and you walked before the gate of hell several times, did you realize anything?"

"What?" Wei Changxuan was a little surprised.

At this moment, the farce on the stage has been performed, and the dance music has been replaced, but it is different from the dance music elsewhere.Only listening to the lingering music, the dancers were all wearing gauze skirts as thin as onion wings, almost naked, dancing the Hu tribe, enchanting and charming, Wei Changxuan's ears felt hot when he saw it.

Yuan Xiaohou was used to these gaudy dances and music, so he just said loudly to himself: "You see, I am flamboyant now, I want to enjoy everything, eat and drink to my heart's content, and play to my heart's content, because I have realized it! Once you die, do whatever you want, and it will be too late when you die!"

Wei Changxuan saw that he was drunk, and was about to serve him a bowl of soup to sober him up, when Yuan Xiaohou grabbed his hand and said, "Wei Changxuan, am I right?"

Although Wei Changxuan was drunk, he didn't want to argue with a drunkard, so he nodded perfunctorily: "Yes, yes."

Yuan Xiong suddenly laughed: "Guess why I invited you here today?"

Wei Changxuan was startled: "Why?"

"I see that you have a romantic and affectionate appearance, but in fact you are old-fashioned and boring. You don't marry a wife or take a concubine, and you don't even want to go to a brothel. You have such a face for nothing." Yuan Xiong was extremely drunk. , Talking has no scruples, "We often say in private that we don't know what kind of woman this Wei Changxuan likes."

Wei Changxuan was slightly taken aback, and quickly said: "Yuan Xiaohou, you are drunk."

Yuan Xiong waved his hand: "I know you don't want to say it, it's okay, there is an old turtle man in Ziliang Garden, he can guess what kind of woman you like just by looking at you for a moment, do you think it's interesting?"

Hearing what he said, Wei Changxuan became more and more unbearable, and couldn't help but want to get up and leave, but he was so drunk that he couldn't stand up for a while.But a hunchbacked old man came over, leaned over and whispered something in Yuan Xiong's ear, Yuan Xiong's eyes lit up, he turned to point at him and said, "Is that true? Bring it here quickly."

The old turtle replied with a smile, then took another look at Wei Changxuan, and walked away with his back bent.

Wei Changxuan couldn't help being surprised: "What?"

"He said, he already guessed what you like by looking at the eyes of those dancers just now. Now Ziliangyuan has just come to Ziliang Garden, and one of them is definitely suitable for you," Yuan Xiong clapped his hands with a smile. , "Wei Changxuan, we are friends. Today I am the host, so I will let you have a bridal wedding here. You don't have to thank me, just invite me to drink some other day."

Wei Changxuan's eyes went dark when he heard it, and he was about to reprimand when he saw the hunchbacked old man leading a young girl to their table.The girl was slender and weak, and she looked very timid. Her face was only the size of a palm, but her eyes were big. Because of the tears in her eyes, she was a little hazy.

Wei Changxuan only took one look at her, then was stunned, and then looked at the old turtle with doubts.

Yuan Xiong looked at him from the side, and couldn't help asking: "How is it, does it suit you?"

Wei Changxuan shook his head: "Yuan Xiaohou, stop joking, it's getting late, I should go back to the camp."

When he said this, the old man's expression changed, and he gave the girl an annoyed look, then he knelt down to Yuan Xiaohou and said, "Young Lord, forgive me, it's the old slave who made a fool of himself. If the girl doesn't live up to expectations, this old servant will definitely teach her a lesson."

Yuan Xiong hiccupped, but he didn't seem to be able to react, but the girl knew that she had caused a catastrophe, so she knelt down trembling.There were tears in her eyes, and now the tears were falling down like beads with a broken thread. Just looking at it, they were only three points alike, but now they are seven points alike.