Lang Yi

It is a good time in spring, the night sky is clear, and a new moon hangs lightly in the sky.

The study room in the East Palace was brightly lit, and Tian Zong sat alone at the desk to read the memorial.The emperor has been mentally ill recently, and even his eyesight is not as good as before, so he ordered him to preview all the papers, and only select important ones to forward, and he will decide the rest.

Tian Zong patiently read through the memorials one by one, only to feel that everything was stretched everywhere: the southeast canal needed to be dredged, the drought in the west was getting worse, and although the north was not complaining, the grassland was not peaceful: it was just a matter of coming and going. China wants money and people.And although he, the new prince, has not had time to count, he probably knows that the current state treasury definitely cannot support these actions.

Just now it was reported that several important officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry came, and the old guys discussed and discussed for a long time, but they didn't come up with any clever tricks. They just made hats and picked the most important ones first.

The lights in front of the case flicked for no reason, making him restless, and he couldn't help but recall the things in the daytime.

The former crown prince died in an accident during the autumn hunting, and the whole dynasty experienced an earthquake, and today they were outraged, and everyone in the hunting ground was imprisoned for strict inspection.However, after interrogation for so long, everyone's confession was verified over and over again, and all the relevant people were tortured until only half of their lives were left, but nothing was found.

Every time before the royal family's autumn hunting, there will be special hunters to drive out the wild animals in the hunting ground, and release a group of powerful and well-specified hounds to chase after them, until the wild animals are exhausted, and then invite the clan members to participate in the autumn hunting The children of the family came on stage.

But that day, the huge bear was obviously hit by several arrows and fell on the ground almost dying. Then the prince's guards accompanied Tianci to step forward, and Tianci shot a deadly arrow.But the bear suddenly jumped up again, opened its teeth and claws, and went straight to Tianci.

The distance was too close, and Tianci was caught off guard. The guards around him tried their best to protect each other, but the horses were frightened, and the scene was chaotic. In autumn, the fur of Xiong Wei was thick. Although the guards risked their lives to defend against each other, Tianci was finally clawed by Xiong Wei. He scratched his chest and died from serious injuries.

There are many doubts about this matter: why can the dying bear suddenly jump up?Why did it happen just when Godsend was approaching?Why did that bastard attack Prince Daying like crazy, without rushing at anyone?

However, the Ministry of Criminal Justice and Dali Temple concentrated all their manpower, and after several interrogations, they finally presented a secret conclusion to the emperor: the attack on the former crown prince was indeed a pure accident.

In the empty hall, the emperor glanced over the secret book in a hurry, and did not ask the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment and the Minister of Dali Temple who were kneeling under their seats to get up, but put the secret book on the lamp flame in front of the case and ignited it.

The secret book was burned to ashes, and the emperor's old face was as gloomy as winter mist overnight, and he never said a word.

The two people under the seat looked at each other tremblingly, and the minister of Dali Temple hurriedly took out another memorial from his arms and presented it.After reading it today, he threw the memorial to the ground angrily, and then he said angrily: "Murdering the crown prince is a heinous crime—the ten tribes of Yi!"

——In the last memorial, Yanming found out that the Qi family, who was in charge of maintaining the hunting ground, harbored resentment towards the royal family and took advantage of the opportunity of autumn hunting to harm the prince.

Tian Zong was puzzled by the side, but he didn't dare to speak without authorization; when the two officials were ordered to retreat, he asked cautiously: "Father, the gamekeeper is only a sixth-rank official, how could he have the guts to murder the royal family? Among them... ..."

The emperor sighed deeply, and asked back: "If not, is it true that it is really announced to the world that my former prince, who was in full bloom and prosperity, died because of an accidental attack by Xiong Wei? Such an unfortunate and ominous thing, It even rarely happens to ordinary people, but it will happen to the most honorable prince of Daying? What will the whole country think? Since this happened, the people have been panic-stricken, and we must not let them be shaken by the royal family .”

For hundreds of years, people all over the country firmly believed that the royal family of Daying was descended from the gods and was born to be the lord of the world.Now the original heir of this dynasty was injured and killed by wild animals for no reason. It sounds too ominous, and it is inevitable that people will think of the abandonment of the gods and the punishment of heaven.And if someone takes the opportunity to fabricate rumors, the hearts of the people will inevitably fluctuate in panic; a little carelessness will inevitably cause chaos in the world.

——In this case, telling the people that Prince Duanrui was deliberately murdered by others, and letting them focus their hatred on a certain person or a certain family, is far more heart-warming than telling them that the prince died in an unfortunate event install.

Tian Zong was startled, but still subconsciously said: "But in this way, wouldn't the Qi family be wronged for no reason..."

The emperor interrupted him and made a conclusion: "The Qi family is a courtier of Daying, if they can bring peace of mind to the people of Daying, it can be regarded as their contribution to Daying."

Tian Zong was stunned, but couldn't think of any other suggestions, so he stopped talking, but the unbearable and distress in his heart flooded up like cold water little by little.He is not ignorant of world affairs, he has led troops in conquests before, and his sword was stained with blood, but as he is doing today, it is a shock to his heart to wipe out the innocent lives of the ten clans of his subordinates with a single word.

The emperor stepped down from the throne slowly, his footsteps were a little staggering, he looked at him, and sighed quietly: "My son has always been soft-hearted, originally you should not bear this heavy burden of the country, but now...but it's okay, it's okay "His father turned around and pointed to the hibiscus carved on the throne: "The emperor's heart cannot be tempered overnight. When you sit in that position, you must always put the vast country and the people first; The heart is like a lotus stamen, and it must be turned into iron and stone."

……

As the night deepened, Li Qiu stood guard outside the study door and didn't hear anything for a long time. He only thought that his highness was tired and fell asleep in the pile of memorials, so he gently opened the door and entered, wanting to put on a shirt for him.

Unexpectedly, there were only two stacks of memorials neatly arranged, but there was no shadow of the prince behind the long desk.

Li Qiu panicked immediately, but fortunately he was familiar with Tian Zong's temperament, and immediately went to the window to take a closer look, and sure enough there was a shallow footprint on the window sill, which looked like it was left by the prince's cloud boots.He didn't say anything, he came outside the hall calmly, and whispered something next to Ning Xingye.

The huge palace was quiet all around, Tian Zong was sitting in the shadow of low flowering trees, leaning against the tree trunk and holding up a small wine jar to drink slowly, looking up at the moon that was rising that day.In the past Ning Xinghe felt bored, and used to drink quietly while hiding under the shadow of a tree; now that he has learned it, he thinks this method is really useful.Now that he is a prince, he is surrounded by palace guards all the time, and he has to show the vigor of a prince at all times. Now he finally has a place where he can stay in a wimpy place and take a breather.

Thinking back to the past, I never really understood that Tianci was busy with government affairs as a prince. I always saw him frowning slightly, so I often pestered him to play the piano and enjoy the paintings, thinking that this would solve one or two things; now that I think about it, it is really naive and ridiculous, but Tianci is not. I have never disliked myself as an ignorant brother, and always smile with appreciation every time.

Tian Zong rubbed his forehead and felt a splitting headache.As soon as I closed my eyes, the image of Qi's being executed appeared in my mind: heads of men, women and children from the ten clans fell and rolled one after another, just like the red impatiens seeds falling to the ground after ripening in autumn, silently...

Only today did he truly understand that the pure-colored hibiscus throne was always made of blood.

Godsend, his talent, heart and will are far beyond my own. If he is still here today, he will definitely come up with a solution for today's affairs; Troubled, as hopeless as myself, I hid in the flowers and drank my sorrows with wine.

It's just that Tianci is no longer there, and it was the imperial tomb that he sent him into.It is precisely because he always remembers Tianci's last instructions before he died that he can hold himself back and work hard day after day to dismantle and maintain this cumbersome predicament.

There was the rustling of blades of grass being crushed behind him.

Tian Zong waited for a long while, but he didn't hear anyone speak, so he tried his best to gather his spirits, and said with a smile: "Ning Xingye, why do you deliberately make noise, so that you might scare me? If you don't want to hide here, you can do it like this." Find it quickly; anyway, since you found it, I will go back to the study."

But the man said: "There is no one else coming, Your Highness, please rest here for a while, I don't want to disturb you."

Tian Zong's heart skipped a beat, and when he turned around, he saw that man with a slender figure, a crane-shaped mantis posture, a sword hanging from his waist, and a uniform of the commander of the imperial guards, standing not far or near under the shadow of the mottled tree, the bright white moonlight cast on his face Up, bright and dark.The man's eyelashes drooped like butterfly wings, and a small dark red tear mole under his left eye floated on his delicate face like white jade.

The Guard of the Imperial Guard has always been guarding the edge of the palace, and only passes through the inner palace when on patrol, but there is no rule of acting alone on patrol, so for some reason he would appear here at this time.Presumably, Ning Xingye searched everywhere and couldn't find him, and didn't want to alarm everyone in the first palace, so he asked someone who knew him well for help.

Tian Zong didn't know what to say for a while, and smiled awkwardly: "It's Xinghe?...You two brothers really look alike."

Ning Xinghe just stood where he was, and said in a low voice: "You don't have to laugh anymore, Your Highness, you don't have to force yourself to smile in front of the minister."

Tian Zong watched him quietly.After watching for a while, perhaps because of the drunkenness, his legs and feet felt weak when he wanted to get up. Finally, he couldn't restrain himself, put down the wine jar and waved: "Come here, pull me up."

Ning Xinghe took off his saber, walked in front of him, completely shrouded him in his own shadow, his arms trembled slightly, as if he was struggling in his heart, and finally bowed down and took Tian Zong's hand to pull him up—but he was Suddenly pulled into his arms, hugged tightly.

Tian Zong was startled at first, and froze for a moment, then put his arms around Ning Xinghe's shoulders, leaned his head against it, and began to cry sullenly.

Since Tianci's burial, he has been under the pressure of busyness. He was dignified and dignified, but now he is embracing this person, and the strings that have been tense suddenly loosen without bounds.

Ning Xinghe knew it was useless to comfort him, so he only caressed his back and said softly: "Your Highness, don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."

But why not be afraid?His elder brother died suddenly, and now the emperor and even the whole royal family are in a state of despair, and the whole turmoil that is riddled with holes suddenly falls on his shoulders; What kind of cruelty will he face when it is his turn to make a decision later?

There is no coolness in the spring night, but Tianzong is weakly greedy for this piece of warmth, he just wants to hide here with the person in his arms and embrace until dawn.