Born of Worry

Li Xian came down from the morning, feeling a little exhausted. He said that he was very thirsty, and drank a few cups of tea. Seeing Mo Wen protruding beside him in human form, he couldn't help asking in surprise, "What's wrong?"

There were deep wrinkles between Mo Wen's brows. He stared closely at the person in front of him, feeling extremely sad in his heart.Li Xian was furious when he saw him: "I, what's wrong with me? Why are you looking at me like this..."

"Little Xian..."

"what?"

"That... just now is really you?"

Li Xian's face turned pale, "You, what are you talking about... Who else could it be if it wasn't me..."

"Tell me, what did you do to Zhao? Since he hasn't shown his feet for so many years, it shows that he is very cautious. How could he be so stupid as to bet with 200 taels of gold?"

What did he do? He bribed a distant relative of Zhao Zhao. On the first day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he let that relative have a meal with Zhao Zhao, added some medicine to the meal, and asked him to stimulate Zhao Zhao the next day. Impulsively, he bet a hundred taels of gold, and used this excuse to present all the evidence collected for two years.

The voice subconsciously lowered by half, "You already know..."

"Why? You have been hiding your strengths and biding your time for two years, and pretending to be deaf and dumb for two years. Now, is the time finally ripe? Xiao Xian," there was indescribable sadness in his dark eyes, "So, you have been pretending all this time, right? ? Pretending to know nothing, pretending not to care about anything, pretending to be easy to bully... Did you deliberately ask me to accompany you to court today? Did you deliberately want me to see your true face?"

Li Xian showed a sad smile, "You are right, I pretended it on purpose and let you see it on purpose, but I don't think I was wrong." He raised his head and met Shang Mo Wen's gaze , "I do this, is it for myself? If I just do it for myself, I can enjoy it, eat, drink and have fun, and I can be a foolish king who achieves nothing. Anyway, the world is peaceful now. Even if I become a foolish king, Dayin It won't perish here, even if someone scolds me, it will be after my death. But Mo Wen, I can't do it, how can I bear to watch the country that my father and the others took down be bitten in my hands? riddled with holes?"

"Do you know, from the day I learned that the Minister of the Ministry of Officials was accepting bribes and selling officials, I knew that this country has been ruined. My strength is limited, my courtiers do not accept me, and no one is willing to do it for me." I do things, what should I do? I can only bear it, as you said, keep a low profile, pretend to be deaf, knock out teeth and swallow blood. I can’t complain to my father, he will be disappointed in me, even himself What qualifications does a monarch who can't control even his courtiers continue to sit in this position?"

"My brothers don't want to take this hot potato, so I'm the only one here. I can't claim to be a wise king, but I try my best. My brothers all have the right to choose, but I I don’t even have the right to choose, my retreat has been cut off, what can I do, even if I grit my teeth and endure it, don’t I have to go on?”

"Little Xian..."

"I know you are powerful, and I also know that you can completely deter them, but I can't rely on you. It is unreliable to rule a country by force. I exposed a Zhao Zhao today, and I don't know how many Zhao Zhao are waiting for me. There are corrupt officials, I can’t help it, what I can do is to reduce the number of such people, I can’t shake the foundation of the country just to catch a few corrupt officials, are you right?”

"You say I'm pretending to be deaf and dumb, or you say I'm pretending to be crazy and stupid, I admit it. This time the matter is over, Lin Xingzhi should not look down on me anymore. With him taking the lead, all civil and military officials, Only then can you serve me willingly..."

"Tell me, how can there be such a failed emperor as me, who can't even intimidate his own courtiers, how can father rest assured that he will hand over the country to me?"

"Xiao Xian..." Mo Wen suddenly hugged him tightly in his arms, "I don't want to blame you... I'm just... I'm just not used to you like this. You didn't do anything wrong, I know that your whole heart is for this Dayin, for the sake of the world...just, don't make yourself too tired, you make me so worried..."

"...I'm fine, maybe you will see me like this often in the future."

"Little Xian..."

"Mo Wen, if one day you get tired of staying by my side, go back. You are a dragon and shouldn't be trapped in this deep palace."

"Little Xian! You are not allowed to say that! My mission is to protect you. As long as you are still the emperor, I will not leave!"

"Oh... what if I abdicate one day?"

Mo Wen was surprised, "You...why do you think about this? You are not yet 20 years old, why do you already think about abdicating?"

"No reason..." Li Xian buried his head in the hollow of his shoulder, "I don't like... maybe some people are not born to be caged, just like sparrows, although they are so small and inconspicuous, they have With such a big temperament, if you catch it and lock it in a cage, even if you are provided with fine clothes and fine food, it will not bother to look at you, it will get angry with itself and starve itself to death..."

On August [-], the emperor ordered to investigate the matter of accepting bribes and selling officials by Minister Zhao Zhao.

On August 1000th, Zhao Choi was thrown into prison and ordered the Imperial Army to ransack his home. He got a total of 770 taels of silver notes, 35 taels of gold notes, [-] calligraphy and paintings of celebrities, and four privately owned properties. Into the treasury.This number even shocked Li Xian.

On August 22, Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment jointly produced a list of all the people who had spent money to buy officials from Zhao Choi over the years, ranging from the third rank to the seventh rank Zhima officials, a total of 450 three people, the Ministry of Punishment Personnel were sent to investigate the 450 three people one by one. Anyone who had a vegetarian meal in the corpse was exempted from official investigation;He also used this to order officials from all over the country to review the old cases over the years. If there are unjust, false or wrong cases, they will all be retried.If the buying official judges a wrong case and involves human life, the crime will be added to the crime, and the maximum sentence can be the death penalty.

As soon as these news came out, the common people applauded and cheered.

On August 25, [-]% of the confiscated [-] silver was allocated to relieve the drought in the Lianghuai River.Because there is no rain in March, the rice production in Huaishui has been reduced, which has already affected the local food price.Li Xian dispatched the Ministry of Industry's Tuntian Minister to select personnel to purchase grain in provinces and cities with abundant autumn harvests, and transport them to the north and south of the Huaihe River, and ordered the governors of various places to store grain in warehouses for the winter.

August [-]th...

King Li Ling of Tianjing received an imperial decree inexplicably on this day.

When the father-in-law who announced the decree went to his house, he had just woken up from his afternoon nap and welcomed people in for no reason. Hearing the content of the decree was like a bolt from the blue.

"Holy metaphor: The former Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Zhao Zhao, abused his power, bent the law for personal gain, accepted bribes and sold officials, and has now been dismissed and investigated. However, the position of the Ministry of Officials is not trivial, it is related to the destiny of the country, and it cannot be vacant; think of King Jing Li Ling who is knowledgeable and knowledgeable. , So he was granted the position of Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and retained the original position of King Jing. King Wang Jing fulfilled his duties and did not owe the emperor's grace. I heard that King Jing had a lot of contacts with Lin Ruoqing, the granddaughter of Lin Xingzhi, who was Ling Xingzhi of Shang Shuling, and the two fell in love with each other. Give the marriage to King Jing, choose another auspicious day, the wedding will be completed, and it will be announced to the world, hereby—”

Poor Li Ling was completely dumbfounded. His brain froze when he heard "Give the Minister of the Ministry of Officials", and his eyes almost popped out of the window when he heard "Give marriage".

The father-in-law who announced the decree coughed dryly: "His Royal Highness King Jing, please accept the decree."

Accept order?What kind of bullshit did you pick him up? !

"Your Highness?"

Li Ling accepted the imperial decree with gritted teeth, and when the father-in-law left, he read the imperial decree several times over and over again. It was indeed written clearly and plainly. He couldn't help feeling angry from his heart and evil from his gallbladder, and cursed: "Mom It's... Li Xian!!!"

The servants of Prince Jing's Mansion trembled. An imperial decree actually made their usually gentle and refined His Royal Highness Jing Wang scold his mother. The nearest servants quickly persuaded: "Your Highness, calm down... the emperor can't be called by his name... Be careful of being overheard..."

"Shut up! Prepare my horse!"

"Prepare... prepare the car?"

"Prepare the horse! Are you fucking deaf?! Prepare the horse!"

"Yes yes yes... His Highness calm down, calm down..."

The current vacation system implemented by the Yin Dynasty is a half-day vacation, that is, a five-day vacation.When Li Xian first succeeded to the throne, it was a ten-day holiday. Later, when the government stabilized, it was changed to a half-ten-day holiday.

In fact, someone like Li Xian was quite diligent. After all, not every emperor was in the mood to go to court every morning, and who would not want to sleep more.For example, his father's court was once every three days, but the former emperor seemed to be courted every five days, and there were many people who only had one morning court every ten days and a half months, or who didn't court at all.

This day happened to be the last day of the five-day work. Li Xian didn’t want to sleep after lunch, so he lay down on the table and read his "The Records of the First Emperor" and ate cherries—this was preserved by Mo Wen with a special method. It was the last bit of cherries, and it would not be until next year after eating. Li Xian was still a bit reluctant to eat, so he put it on the plate and looked at it.

Suddenly the little eunuch hurried in: "Your Majesty...Your Majesty, King Jing is here, we can't stop us..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Ling's voice came from afar: "Li Xian!"

Li Xian was so frightened that he almost knocked the cherry on the ground, and hurriedly put away the "Records of the First Emperor". Then Li Ling arrived, rushed to him, and knocked him on the head with the imperial decree: "You Brat, what kind of imperial decree did you issue?! Is it easy to bully when you are your second brother?!"

"Ouch... Ouch! Second brother, stop hitting me... I was wrong! I was wrong, second brother! Stop hitting! It hurts!" Li Xian begged for mercy while using his arms to block it.

Although Li Ling beat hard, he was a scholar after all, and the imperial decree was soft, so it didn't hurt much.But his younger brother's skin was too tender and fair, and soon his arms turned red.

Li Xian looked at him with tears in his eyes, "Second Brother, I was wrong, stop hitting me..."

"Where did you say you were wrong?!"

"I made a mistake in the edict that I didn't praise my second brother enough... Oops!"

His Royal Highness King Jing was about to be overwhelmed and tired, so he threw the imperial decree in front of him: "Say! What's going on!"

"That's it...don't hit me!"

"Speak well!"

Li Xian nodded hurriedly, not daring to raise his eyes to look at him, "Yes...that's what, there is a shortage of staff in the official department..."

"So you put me up?!"

"Um……"

"You!" Li Ling took a deep breath, "I said you...do you know that princes cannot hold these positions?!"

"Why not, that's the old rule, now I'm the emperor and I have the final say..."

"you!"

"And second brother, how aggrieved you are to stay in that mansion. I know that second brother is not some poor and pedantic stinky scholar. Second brother is full of economics and knowledge of astronomy and geography. He knows 500 years before and 500 years later. Bowen strongly remembers the past and the present..."

"Li Xian! Speak well to me!"

Li Xian was very aggrieved, "I only said good things...that is to say, the second brother is very powerful, he will definitely be able to do those things well, he won't take bribes, he won't steal, rape and play tricks...I chose you because I trust you..."

"Okay, okay, let's say you're right, what about giving a marriage? What's the matter with giving a marriage?!"

"Gift marriage...don't you like that Lin Ruoqing..."

"Who told you that?!"

"Third brother, third brother said that you always invite people to your house as guests..."

"It's the third child again!" Li Ling almost wanted to chew the talkative Li Yesheng, "Okay, even if I like it, that's my business, so what's the point of your meddling?!"

"I, I'm kind... Eldest brother already has children, and you haven't married yet, so you're more anxious than daddy. I'm afraid you won't be able to say it, so I'll help you. I've already given you a marriage, and she always You can't refuse, can you?"

"you……"

Li Ling had a terrible headache, and was thinking about how to educate this kid, when he suddenly saw Mo Wen walking over with a blank face, and put the medicine bowl in his hand on the table: "Drink the medicine."

Li Xian's face turned green.

"...Xiao Xian, why do you need medicine? Are you sick?"

"I do not have……"

Mo Wen pushed the medicine bowl: "Drink."

Li Ling looked at this and that, and finally chose to ask Mo Wen: "What happened to him?"

Mo Wen kept his face paralyzed, "Oh, it's nothing, the imperial doctor said he was too tired these two days, take some medicine to recuperate."

Li Ling looked at the pain of his younger brother pinching his nose and pouring medicine, and felt a little sorry. After thinking for a while, he sighed and said, "Forget it, you can do whatever you want, but the matter of getting married... Take it easy, I have to discuss it with Ruoqing. Don't mess around like this in the future," he rubbed Li Xian's head distressedly, "have a good rest, don't be too tired, nothing is as important as your body."

When he was gone, Li Xian blinked and showed a smug smile, but it was immediately replaced by a contorted expression, "Bah, bah, what kind of medicine is this? It's so bitter. Did you put Coptis chinensis? The surname is Mo!" Yes, didn't I ask you to take sugar water? Why did you really make me a bowl of medicine?"

Cough... This is indeed a bitter plan, his second brother is the most soft-hearted, especially for him, let him see that he is devoting himself to the affairs of the country, he will definitely help him out of his worries and problems... But Mo Wen is unreliable, He actually found a bowl of medicine for him, but it was a fake show.

Mo asked him a white look, "Do you really think everyone else is stupid? Is it sugar water or medicine so you can't smell it? It's really kind of you to treat your second brother like this?"

Li Xian touched his nose, ate a few cherries to suppress the bitter taste in his mouth, and said guiltily, "It's a special way at special times..."

Mo Wen shook his head, too lazy to discuss this issue with him, "Go to sleep, you are indeed too tired these two days, don't pretend to be real."

"Ah... I'm really sleepy when you say that... You didn't put something to soothe the nerves in the medicine, did you?"

"as you wish."

"you……"

Mo Wen picked him up and carried him back to the dormitory, coaxing him to sleep, but seeing his sleeping face, he became dazed.His fingertips lightly brushed across his cheeks, and there was a trace of inexplicable emotion in his eyes that should not be noticed.

Li Xian, oh Li Xian... which one is the real you...