Lang Yi

The weather was very cold at the end of the year, and since the death of Prince Duanrui, the emperor and empress have become more and more exhausted; in order to avoid the bleak air, they moved to live in the hot spring palace on the outskirts of the city, and stayed in the palace to handle political affairs on their behalf.Tianzong reviewed the memorials every day, and only selected the important ones, attached his own proposals, and sent them to the palace for the emperor's reply; the rest of the daily affairs were decided by himself.

In fact, to the east of the East Palace, there is also a warm pavilion named Hongyuan. Because the yard is small, the walls are thick, and it is covered with a layer of pepper mud.In the previous dynasties, this place was used by the prince at that time, but it was located on the east side of the palace and the place was small, so it was gradually abandoned.

This day, when the sun was setting, Li Qiu walked into the study and leaned into Tian Zong's ear: "Your Highness, everything is ready."

Tian Zong was a little embarrassed, nodded and said, "Thank you."

Li Qiu's nose was sore for no reason, and he laughed quickly: "Well, this servant has been with His Highness since childhood, so I should have noticed His Highness's thoughts; but this servant is really stupid, and I don't know how to sympathize with Your Highness's hard work. It was not until I helped to handle this matter that this servant felt that, He is truly His Majesty's personal friend."

Tianzong got up and followed Liqiu to Hongyuan Pavilion.Ning Xingye had already guarded there, led him into the courtyard, pushed open the door of the pavilion and asked with a smile: "Your Highness, do you still agree?"

After all, Tian Zong was a little ashamed and couldn't hold back his face, so he ordered the two of them to retreat, and closed the door by himself to look at the furnishings in the pavilion.

The earth dragon was set on fire in the house, and there were not many exaggerated furnishings; when the screen was turned around, the curtains and curtains were red, and two red candles as thick as arms were burning quietly on the tall table, and two big red futons were placed on the ground under the table.In the side hall, the small pool more than ten meters square overflows with bursts of water vapor, and the warm current gently brushes the red tents and the red candles flicker.

Satisfied, Tianzong put on the red clothes on the desk, forcibly suppressed his excitement, stared at the red candle and waited quietly.

Not long after, the door of the pavilion opened with a creak, and a gust of cold wind blew in briefly, and the door was immediately closed by the visitor.The visitor was stunned for a while through the screen, and then hesitantly walked around the screen; when he raised his eyes, he was completely stunned in place.

Although Tian Zong was a little shy himself, he still waved and called: "Xinghe, come here."

Ning Xinghe was still wearing the uniform of the imperial guards, and at this moment, as if falling into a dream, he walked forward foolishly.Tian Zong handed him another set of red clothes, and said concisely, "Put it on."

Ning Xinghe seemed to be unable to think anymore, he listened to his orders like a puppet, took off his guard uniform, and put on the red dress.The two looked at each other, looked at each other in a daze for a while, Tian Zong finally couldn't help laughing, and tugged on his sleeve: "Kneel."

As he spoke, he flicked his front skirt, faced him, and knelt on a futon.

Ning Xinghe finally came to his senses, as if frightened, he hurriedly sideways to avoid him, and came to pull him: "Your Highness, what are you doing, exactly... what are you doing?!"

Tian Zong shook off his hand, pointed to the futon opposite, and said seriously: "Don't make trouble, hurry up and kneel down."

Seeing that Ning Xinghe was still in a daze, he raised his eyes and smiled and asked, "Could it be that you don't want to?"

Ning Xinghe seemed to have become dumb, he wanted to speak but his throat was choked; he finally shuffled, turned to the other side, and knelt down facing Tian Zong.

Tian Zong looked at him carefully in the red light, and imprinted every bit of him in his eyes from the hairline, eyebrows, neck to feet, and then said firmly: "Now, let's pay respects."

Ning Xinghe exerted all his strength, and finally broke through his throat and uttered a word: "Your Highness..." But his throat was blocked immediately, and he couldn't continue.

Tian Zong looked at him, and solemnly apologized: "In the past, I always ignored your thoughts and feelings, and always made you sad and uneasy. I did this today, just to let us both feel at ease in the future."

He raised his eyes to look at the two red candles with tears streaming down his face, and sighed: "It's just... about the matter between you and me, I can't pray to heaven and earth, and I can't pray to my ancestors. It’s nothing. The only thing I can promise you is this kind of heart.”

Ning Xinghe stared at him intently, hoarse: "Your Highness..."

Tian Zong corrected, "Call me by my name."

In the flickering candlelight, Ning Xinghe's tears flowed all over his face, and he called out forcefully: "... Tian Zong."

Tian Zong nodded with a smile, and took the lead in bowing down.Ning Xinghe bit his lip fiercely, and followed his movements opposite him, bowing down together.

The inside of the pavilion is small, the two of them knelt very close to each other, when they bowed to the ground, the tops of their heads were almost touching, so they bowed to each other three times.During the ups and downs, Tian Zong's mouth was hot, and he pursed it into his lips to taste it, and it was Ning Xinghe's tears that splashed on his face.Without hesitation in his heart, he swallowed the tear down his throat.

After the three prayers, Tian Zong picked up the small scissors, cut off a lock of hair from the two of them respectively, tied them together with a thin red thread, and teased while tying, "I have always loved your hair so much, if it wasn't for this, I’m really reluctant to cut it. You see—in this way, we are tied together, and we will meet again and never be separated.”

Ning Xinghe just shed tears and couldn't speak, staring at his every movement without blinking.Tian Zong held this bundle of hair in the palm of his hand, wiped his tears with the other hand, and said seriously: "Xinghe, if there is an afterlife, I swear, I will do my best for you, and I will not let you shed a single sad tear."

Ning Xinghe couldn't bear it anymore, cried and hugged him: "No matter how many afterlife, I only have His Highness in my heart, and I will guard His Highness."

Tian Zong corrected again: "Xinghe, call me by my name."

……

Soon, Ning Xinghe got used to calling out his name, one by one, gasping and sobbing in his ear.In the soup pond, Tian Zong brushed away his messy wet hair that was stuck to his face and shoulders, greedily took in his emotional expression and demeanor, wanted to take good care of him, but couldn't help but want to bully him more.

The two of them stirred up a pool of warm water, reluctant to separate, so they entangled so drippingly, and rolled into the red tent again.

The skin touches and rubs against each other, and the scorching temperature quickly evaporates the water in the whole body.Tian Zong was unreserved, and poured all his enthusiasm into the people under him; Ning Xinghe hugged him tightly, and between frantic groans, he sighed in a hoarse voice: "... Tian Zong, Tian Zong, I am To die at this moment is also complete."

Tian Zong hastily blocked his mouth, not allowing him to say such ominous words.

The short reunion, the gap between joy/love, how can the two be willing to fall asleep, hug each other and tell each other their hearts.

Tian Zong hugged him, combed his hair with his fingers, it was slightly cool and soft, and each strand of hair was entwined between his fingers, creating infinite stability and tranquility; unknowingly, the tight string in the dark part of his heart suddenly loosened , and told him about the red lotus he saw in the South Ruins, and the phantoms that often plagued him after that.Talking about his dream that the red lotus fell into fire and Ning Xinghe disappeared into the fire with the palace, he still couldn't help but tremble slightly.

Xinghe listened quietly, leaning his head on his shoulder, stroking his back: "Your Highness, don't be afraid, these illusions are just shadows in your heart. If you don't believe anything else, then believe me—for Your Highness, I will never die, I will never disappear; so Your Highness, the scene you dreamed will never happen, it is just a nightmare."

Xinghe kissed his brow lightly, and said resolutely: "I will always protect you."

The warm current poured into the heart along the place where the eyebrow was kissed, rushed into the limbs, and the whole body was full of energy.Tian Zong hugged him tightly again, entered his body again, clung to him in the deepest part, felt him, and immersed himself in his tight and seamless encirclement...

Love breeds fear, and love breeds infinite courage.Although this affection cannot be shown under the bright sun, but fortunately his lover is strong enough, like the Milky Way full of stars in the night sky, staying together peacefully, also bright and bright, fully illuminating his heart.

*****

Although Princess Duanrui brought Zhen'er to visit the palace from time to time to have fun, but the empress' grief over the loss of her eldest son was hard to heal; especially the empress, since she fell ill last year, her physical condition has been deteriorating.Since the emperor returned to the palace from the hot spring palace, although Tian Zong visited frequently every day to inquire about her health, seeing her mother in such a state, she couldn't say what she wanted to say.

It wasn't until this day that the emperor heard that the emperor ordered people to go to the imperial garden to select good-looking wild geese in order to discuss the wedding date with the Dou family, so he hurriedly found time to come to the imperial study alone and asked for a performance.

The emperor just took a pen and slowly copied the pine and stone in front of the case, without raising his head, he asked, "What's the matter? Is it a business matter or a private matter?"

Perhaps it was because the father paid too much attention to teaching the eldest son Tianci in the past. As the second son, Tianzong didn't spend much time with him, so he was a little trembling when facing him, but Tianzong still admitted frankly: " ...is a private matter."

"Wrong!" The emperor put down his pen and looked at him calmly: "Prince Da Yingchao, what's the matter with you? All your affairs are official matters - what is it, you can tell me."

There was a little sweat on Tian Zong's forehead, but he still insisted on saying as calmly as possible: "It's about my son's marriage date. My son has been stupid since he was a child, and he doesn't care about political affairs; he has not been involved in handling the government affairs for a long time, and he is really powerless. So my son Thinking, if we are going to get married in the near future, it will inevitably involve energy, so it is better to delay the marriage for a while, and it will not be too late to start a family when the son and minister are able to take care of themselves."

The emperor didn't speak. Although Tian Zong lowered his head, he could feel two scrutinizing eyes on his face. He could only suppress his guilty conscience, keep his expression unchanged, and waited for a reply.

After a while, the emperor Fang said: "It's rare that you are thinking about making progress now. Forget it, I will think about it and reply to you tomorrow." After finishing speaking, he picked up his pen and dipped it in ink again, and ignored him.

Tian Zong didn't dare to continue disturbing, so he had to withdraw, thinking that he would just beg again tomorrow.Fortunately, although Zhen'er's child was passive in the mother's womb, she is growing strong and cute now. The royal family finally has descendants, and the request for her marriage should not be too urgent.

Although he knew that as a prince, he would get married sooner or later, Tian Zong still wanted to delay the wedding as much as possible; although it was an unsolvable ending, when he thought of Xinghe, he just wanted that day to come later and later .