Born short-lived

In Dong Sheng's impression, Xuantian Pavilion is a group of night owls who die at the sight of light. They are rarely seen in broad daylight. Even in Xuantian Palace, there is no distinction between day and night.

The empress was fifty steps away from him, and she was shrouded in darkness behind a layer of bead chains. With the candlelight flickering on the beads, he could barely see the familiar figure clearly.

Xuan Tianwei quietly stepped aside, leading to the small pavilion with bead curtains where the empress was.This Xuantian Palace was built to be cold in winter and cold in summer, and in this solar term when a drop of water turns into ice, even the air in the palace seems to be frozen, making it hard to breathe.Dong Sheng only knelt on the ground for a while, his legs were already numb from the cold, he tried to move his arms that were as stiff as icicles, he paused three times on the ice-like floor, just about to get up, Xuan Tianwei, who was closest to him, paused with a black gold pestle on the ground.

Dong Sheng was stunned for a moment, only to hear the man's hoarseness to the extreme like an evil ghost, and a deep and deep voice as if wrapped in lead: "Kneel!"

Dong Sheng had no choice but to kneel back again, and walked forward with his knees touching the ground for a while, then kowtowed three more times, kowtowed again, kowtowed again, and did not stop until ten steps away from the queen's curtain.

The two candlesticks are just like decorations in this dark ice cellar. Under the strong coldness and darkness artificially created, the two small flames seem a little weak, and what should be dark is still very dark.

At most, Dong Sheng could recognize his own mother.

Dong Sheng clasped his palms together, and smacked his head again: "I see Your Majesty."

The empress put a half-palm-sized teacup back on the small carved case on the couch, and casually raised her hand and waved it. The eunuch who was kneeling aside got up and pulled the bead curtains, hanging on the thin silver hooks on both sides. superior.

She turned over slowly, without raising her eyes, her overly long eyelashes cast a fine shadow on her cheeks, and the end of her eyes were raised, showing an indescribable arrogance.At first, she was silent for a while, leaning on the desk to support her forehead with one hand, as if she felt a headache when she saw Dong Sheng, she sighed intentionally or unintentionally, and then said slowly: "Do you know why you were called here?"

Behind him were a dozen or so Xuantian Guards with swords and concealed weapons on their bodies. Dong Sheng cleared his throat that was smothered because he hadn't spoken for a long time. , so he said in a low voice: "My son knows."——Because of this voice, he seemed to admit his mistake.

After hearing the words, the empress was finally willing to appreciate her face and raised her eyelids, and glanced at him lightly like a feather floating on water, and sneered between her teeth: "You still know... Tell me."

Dong Sheng said: "My son is guilty."

The queen raised her eyebrows: "What's the crime?"

Dong Sheng paused, thought for a while, and then said clearly: "The crime of uneasy destiny."

The queen slapped the table with her palm, shaking the cups on the table to shake out some tea: "Bold!"

Dong Sheng didn't say a word, the queen pointed at his hand and shook, and almost laughed angrily: "You...you really dare to say it cough...cough cough..."

The queen was agitated for a moment, and was choked by her own saliva so that she couldn't speak. The eunuch next to her quickly came up and stroked her back and handed her tea. She gasped for a long time before finally recovering. Seeing Dong Sheng seemed to be dazzling, and he frowned and closed his eyes with a headache, and asked in a hoarse voice, "This...you really did it?"

Dong Sheng nodded: "Yes."

"You came up with the idea too?"

"Yes."

The queen had already adjusted her breath for a long time before she came to see him, for fear that she would not be able to resist rushing up to tear him up when she saw this son, but now she found that all the psychological preparations she had made before were in vain.

She still wanted to tear him up.

"The priest has already gone west, I can't pursue it, you...you know if it's not..." The queen couldn't continue, and the last sentence was stuck in her mouth, she shook her hand twice, and then she just sighed and shook her head. He waved his hand, "Forget it... Heh, do you think I dare not treat you?"

The queen looked at him weakly, shook her head, stood up and breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay... okay, I can bear it, you didn't accept the concubine, and you killed the daughter of the Li family, yes, there is also the one you recommended Those newcomers to the cabinet, you... do you think that my old eyes are dim and I can't understand? Hmm? Now you're making trouble again..."

The more the queen thought about it, the more angry she became, and her hand on the table trembled: "The prince is already yours, what else do you want? If you don't move, how can Jiang Kun stand up to you?! You are the crown prince! How can he stand up to you?! I can put you into the Black Water Prison right now, do you know that!"

As soon as she said this, two Xuantian guards stood behind Dong Sheng, and the knife hanging around her waist was already half an inch out of the body with her thumb.

Dong Sheng was silent for a while, then suddenly laughed.

"If my son didn't move, I'm afraid he would have died in the black water prison." Dong Sheng smiled bitterly, raised his face slightly, the dim candlelight reflected in his eyes, and there was no trace of warmth, "Ah, no ...Maybe three years ago, you couldn't even get out of the southern border?"

When the queen saw him like this, she didn't know whether she was extremely angry or stunned, but she choked up, opened her eyes wide, and stared straight at him.

"Your Majesty, Queen Mother," Dong Sheng seemed not afraid of her at all, looking at her with scorching eyes, the candlelight in his eyes seemed to be struggling on the edge of a cold abyss, wet and penetrating. Sadly, "I also want to live a good life. Don't I deserve what Your Majesty has given me?"

The queen also looked at him, feeling an indescribable shock in her heart. She suddenly remembered—this young man with great ambitions and even some unscrupulous methods is also her own flesh and blood, her only son, and it hurts when she is injured. Will be angry, will also be unwilling.

In fact, he didn't expect anything extravagantly.

The queen looked at him deeply: "Do you know what crime it is to tamper with divination for sacrifices?"

Dong Sheng: "...capital crime."

The queen slowly closed her eyes, took a deep breath, as if she was planning some extremely painful decision, she sighed after a long time, and said: "The way of heaven is to benefit but not harm, the way of saints is to fight for nothing... …A ruler should be magnanimous, have a big heart, hold the heavens and the earth with his head up, and hold life and death with his head down.”

"If I forgive you, it will be disregarding the laws of the country, and it will be a disaster for the common people." The queen turned her head away, raised her hand and waved, "Take it down, and you will be punished with three hundred lashes. If you can't make it through, it's your life. If you make it through Just confine your feet to the Eastern Palace, without me...forget it, you get over it first and then we can talk about it."

Zhou Zirong led people to change the civilian boat, and soon passed Jingchu. At this time, the dawn was about to break, and the sky was not yet bright. It was a wash of indigo blue, and the river was still covered with a layer of veil-like mist, shrouded in a gloomy on the river.

After Zhou Zirong woke up in the middle of the night, he couldn't fall asleep after such a toss. He stood in the bow of the boat wrapped in a cloak to blow the wind, and the cold wind like a thin knife penetrated into the neckline. The neck was frozen.

For some reason, since last night, his chest has been writhing and painful, and he feels flustered when he lies down or sits down. The cold wind can start the pain relief effect and make him feel more comfortable.

For no reason, he couldn't feel better.

"General," a small soldier came out of the cabin to pass the message, "I have already left the city, and I will arrive in Anqing at noon today."

"Yeah." Zhou Zirong turned around and smiled at him, "It's better to hurry up."

He didn't just say these words casually, he had been hanging in his heart, and he had never felt that the turbulence of the river was so disturbing.

"It's already the fastest." The little soldier said, "I'm afraid the boat will not be safe any faster."

After all, it is a civilian ship, not as good as the ship bestowed by His Majesty. Although it is light and light, it is impatient, and it is too fast to hold the rudder steadily.

"Okay," Zhou Zirong said, looking back at the waterway in front of his eyes, there was no expression in his eyes, "Thank you for your hard work."

The waterway in front of them was dark, and I don't know if the light in the sky can be saved, it has not come to them for a long time.Water Salad Salad from Hull

Passing by, leaving the city at this time, the river is surrounded by wilderness, so quiet that only the sound of water can be heard.

Suddenly, there was a muffled noise from nowhere, and the boat shook violently.

Zhou Zirong grabbed the side of the boat to stabilize his body, frowned and said, "What's wrong?"

There was a commotion at the bottom of the boat, and two or three small soldiers rushed up in a hurry: "General! The bottom of the boat...the bottom of the boat was pierced!"