Gu Qingci

After Emperor Lingkong succeeded to the throne, there was no prime minister in the court, and many things were directly reviewed by the emperor, and the emperor was still a human being, so it was impossible for everything to be detailed, so there was such an institution as the cabinet.

In the past few days, the imperial court has been uneasy again, and the ministers have talked a lot.

When the emperor came to court, he proposed to a group of ministers to connect the four rivers in the north.This is not a trivial matter, and the emperor held great power, and he did not intend to discuss this move with the ministers, so many people complained, saying that the emperor thought it out.

However, after Master Zhang Yi was not in the cabinet, he had the qualifications to go to the court, and he tried his best to turn the tide in the court. He debated with many people every day, and Liu Yuehua also supported him somehow, so the opposition became smaller and smaller.

Master Zhang Yi has been to the north, so he must have a better understanding of the basic situation of the four rivers in the north than these Beijing officials.

After a few days of arguing, the turmoil gradually subsided.The emperor immediately sent an army to the four towns in the north, and recruited many militiamen in the northern cities.The matter of connecting the four rivers was officially put on the agenda, and the work started immediately.

Because they were worried that the news would be too loud for Northern Qiang to snoop on, this matter was very low-key, and the rapid march was used, and the Beizhen Yamen did not publicize it to the public, but the faster the speed, the better.

Naturally, the trend of the river, the depth and length of the excavation all refer to the materials that I have compiled and drawn for a full three months.

So, I became a celebrity in the imperial court again.

==

Since I stayed with the emperor every day, almost all the work that Pianqiu should do in the imperial court fell on me.

The emperor never concealed our relationship in front of Pianqiu.Once I faced her over the distance in front of Pianqiu, the emperor was not annoyed, it could be seen that she trusted this serious and old-fashioned woman very much.

Although I became her servant, I never did any serious business???nor did I stay overnight in Chaofeng Palace.Mostly kisses.

I don't know why, but this kind of thing is not decided by the emperor, so I don't ask.

It took nearly half a year to pass through the four rivers in the north. When the imperial court sent Liu Yuehua and Zhang Yi to supervise the work in the final closing period, the emperor was very busy.

During that time, in addition to the upcoming completion of the northern project, there was another change in Nanban. It seemed that they had contacts with some big merchants in Jiangnan County. The spies of the Fengqi Army returned several secret letters.

I found out that the emperor has a bad habit of staying up late.During the twelfth lunar month at the end of the year, the bruises under her eye circles were so obvious that she couldn't even cover them up. It was because she hadn't had a good rest.

That day, seeing that her mental state was really not good and she was still reviewing a large number of documents, she said, "You should rest for a while."

The emperor looked up at me, pressed his temples hard with his fingertips, and said with a weak breath, "It's okay, I can still hold on."

Because I get along with her every day, I am a lot more courageous.Before she could react in time, he reached out and took out the brush in her hand, went around behind the chair and squeezed her shoulders.

Putting your hands on her shoulders, after a little effort, you can clearly feel that her entire shoulders are stiff, it must be because of long-term fatigue and never relaxing.

Kneading, pushing, and pressing with her palms and fingertips, she gradually relaxed.

"Little worry..." came out a very weak voice.Um, she's calling me?

I persuaded her softly again: "Go to sleep, okay?" My breath lingered around her ears.

At some point, her arms were no longer tense, and her shoulders were also soft.Maybe I did a good job of pinching her sleepiness little by little.

So the emperor finally nodded in agreement.

I want to take her to rest on the bed in the room behind the screen.But she said: "I can't go, I can't get up when I lie on the bed."

"Where do you rest?"

She got up and walked to the left, which was another side hall.

At the end of the year, the temperature dropped several times, and the ground dragon in the government affairs hall was on fire again.The furnishings of the side hall are very simple, with several rows of bookcases covered with thick carpets and a rocking chair behind the bookcases.

The emperor lay down on the rocking chair, put his feet on the pedals under the chair, closed his eyes and said to me: "Let Pianqiu come over with a blanket on the bed, and call me in half an hour."

Seeing that she seemed to be able to fall asleep at any time, her mind moved slightly, and she pondered for a while and said: "You are too tired like this, or...you should consider setting up a prime minister."

She didn't respond, she seemed to have fallen into a dream, afraid that she would catch a cold and hurried out to find Pianqiu.Just as the front foot crossed the threshold, an inaudible sound came from behind.

"Do you want to be prime minister?"

He paused and looked back at her.

Her head rested slightly on the rocking chair, and her breathing was heavy.

When Aunt Pianqiu came in to deliver the blanket, the emperor was fast asleep.Seeing this scene, she didn't say anything, and came in again after a while, and handed me an insulated wooden box.Pianqiu told me that there was a bowl of medicinal food in the wooden box, and the emperor let her eat it after he woke up.

Only then did I realize that her health is actually not very good, and she has to drink some sleep aid decoction to fall asleep in the past few days, otherwise she will suffer from insomnia due to excessive fatigue for days.

The days slip away quietly here, squeezing shoulders and backs, serving tea and delivering water.

==

When the new year was approaching, Yangzhi asked me if I would go back to see Master once this year.She must go back and take Yan Xi with her.When I heard this, I kept making sour water.The two of them went back to see their elders, and what to do with me, I'm afraid I would be too bright for the whole process.

I also thought that I have a private relationship with the emperor now, and it is not easy to tell outsiders that I don't know how to live this year, and it depends on the emperor's wishes, so I still can't go back to Dongshan to see Master.

Yang Zhi said that I was not filial to my elders.Alas, the dumb can't tell how hard it is to eat Coptis chinensis!When I was complaining about myself, Yan Xi happened to come, and when I heard Yang Zhi complaining to her, she just laughed.I think Yan Xi must know something, the smile is no different from that of a fox.

Sure enough, she coaxed Yangzhi and said: "It's okay, we two can go back, Yanglu she - can't help herself." The words were to the point.

I didn't go back to see Master during the two Spring Festivals, and I always felt very sorry.Since you have taken someone else's body, you have to be filial for others.What's more, the memory fusion between me and this body is getting better and better, and many emotions of longing and gratitude have been integrated into the blood.

After thinking about it, I wrote a letter to the master, which roughly means: the apprentice is busy with work in the capital, and the emperor often has to summon him, so he can't come back to see you when he is free.But if you need any help, feel free to find an apprentice. I have accumulated some financial resources and contacts in the capital, and I will try my best to meet Master's requirements.I wish you good health and all the best.

After finishing writing, I picked the best envelope, sealed it carefully, tied it with some good things bestowed by the emperor, and asked Yangzhi to help me spread the word.

==

Tianjia has arrived for three years.

After the new year, the four rivers in the north were officially connected and merged into one big river, named Beitong River.

The Beitong River merges four rivers into one canal, which has abundant water conservancy, and because it is deep and wide enough, it also avoids the suffering of floods.The people of Beizhen cheered happily, and many merchant ships couldn't wait to start sailing.This grand occasion is called by the history books: the confluence of the north water.

Wild geese fly south, the ice and snow of the Beitong River melt, and there is no need to worry about the floods of previous years, and Daxing is peaceful.

It stands to reason that after the Beitong River is officially opened to navigation, the eldest princess and Lord Zhang Yi should come back.As a result, after waiting for half a month, Liu Yuehua's Fengjia returned to Beijing with great fanfare, but Master Zhang Yi never came back.

A few days later, the frontier came to report, saying that Master Zhang Yi had disappeared.Because of this, the emperor became very angry. It was unimaginable that such a living person disappeared like a dignified court official and minister of the Ministry of Industry.

The emperor was very angry that day, and I spoke a few words of persuasion, but she scolded me like hell, and made me think about it behind closed doors in Yangfu for three days.This has made me depressed for several days, why am I so angry all of a sudden?

Three days later, I put on a spring shirt and changed my hair accessories. It was rare for me to look at myself in the mirror at home, and I put on the peach blossom makeup that is popular in Daxing now, and I want to go to the palace to see her.Anyway, I don't plan to go to the cabinet today, and not many people can see me like this.

Went to the government affairs hall to meet the emperor as usual, but for the first time, she was not there.But because I have to come here for most of the day every day, and I am not familiar with the guards and eunuchs here, so they let me in as usual.

The emperor was not there, but the table was densely packed with memorials.

Generally speaking, there are not many things to do after the Chinese New Year, even in the most leisure time of the year, why are there so many paperwork?Coupled with the emperor's previous abnormal temper, my curiosity became more and more serious.

Alas, the emperor let me stay in the government affairs office for half a year, and her attitude towards me has always been quite easy-going. She usually turns a blind eye to some things that go too far.Plus... thinking of her occasional initiative, I am inexplicably more courageous.

So I went to read it.The documents on the top are all reports on the latest situation of Beitong River, and the same ones are meaningless.

Put it aside, want to see what is under the pressure.

a map.The map of the entire Beitong River was also drawn by me long ago.

It's just... This map is not exactly the same as the one I drew before.There is an additional gourd-shaped water storage port in the northeast corner.It was circled out with a brush.

Um?strangeness.The northeast corner is the highest place of the four northern towns.How come there is an extra gourd mouth?

I was still thinking about this mistake when a cold voice pierced my ears.

"Yang Li, what are you doing?"

God, when did the emperor come in, there was no sound at all.With a guilty conscience, I shuddered three times and slapped the map on the table.

She walked up to me slowly. "I'm too kind to you, isn't it?" His face returned to the original coldness.I pinched my nose and ran out of her case without saying a word.

She was silent for a while, then shifted her gaze to the map on the table, and said, "Recently, you have had a good rest in the mansion, so you don't need to come here."

My peach blossom makeup lost its color in an instant.

"Why?" she asked in disbelief.

She raised her head, looked at me sharply, and asked something I couldn't understand.

"Do you know where Zhang Yi is?"

Of course I don't know, ask me what to do with this.He shook his head without hesitation.

The emperor thought about it, and said, "Go back."

"I..." I wanted to say something, but was interrupted by her, and I was escorted back to Yang Mansion by the guards outside the hall.

Something is not right.