Brother Donggong

I was escorted back to the palace, and as soon as I entered the gate, I saw cucumber sticking behind the rich gate, wandering around like a hound sniffing a rabbit but unable to find its owner.

As soon as he saw us coming back, he put his hands together first and asked the Buddha to bless himself once, then I blessed him once, and finally asked the Buddha to bless all eighteen generations of Yang Yimo's ancestors beside me.

He jumped over and immediately said, "My lord, quick! Quick! Quick! Enter the palace!! There is a decree! There is also a plate of scallion pancakes in the palace! Hurry up, my lord! Eat it!"

I looked him up and down, and asked suspiciously, "You mean, let me eat before entering the palace?"

"No! Absolutely not! The palace has issued three decrees to ask you to enter the palace to have an audience. The servants are going crazy! The servants mean that you can eat this scallion pancake on the way." Cucumber's claws grabbed Yang Yimo's sleeves, "Old Yang, you have to work hard, send His Highness King Qi to the palace, and then go to the East Palace to pay the order when you come back."

Both Cucumber and Yang Yimo are supervised by Si Li, and they are relatively familiar.

Yang Yimo didn't speak, but just stared at Cucumber steadfastly, carefully pondering what Cucumber said with a serious look of studying whether his wife had cheated on him, and I took the opportunity to shrink back from the shackles of him and Cucumber.

I scratched my ears and said, "Cucumber is not what I said about you. What you said made my heart tremble. How is this like the original twelve gold medals summoning Yue Fei! It has been like this since ancient times. There are many gossips in the palace. I don't know what's going on, so it's better not to wander around inside. I'll go eat first, and you send someone to Dazheng Palace to inquire about it and see what's going on, so I can make up my mind. Old Yang, you go back to the East Palace by yourself Reply to the prince's order and go, I won't keep you for dinner, so you can leave!"

The claws of the cucumber grabbed my belt. I was afraid that my trousers would fall, so I didn’t struggle. I glared at him, and he quickly smiled and said, “My lord, don’t be afraid, this time it’s not someone else looking for you, it’s the imperial concubine who made an order Let you enter the palace."

"Who? Concubine Gui? Concubine Du, is the third son his mother?"

"My lord..." Cucumber was so anxious that he almost rolled his eyes, "It's our concubine!"

When he saw that I was still staring at him, he stomped his feet, "It's Concubine Xiang, the prince's mother!"

"Hey!" I dug my ears, "Don't yell so loudly, my old man is not deaf yet! I said when did the father know that the scallion pancakes were given to me, it turned out to be my mother. You know what I'm thinking Is it? I wondered, when did my mother learn this trick? It turns out that she won’t even hold the oil bottle upside down, so how did she learn to order me to enter the palace? How strange!”

I asked Cucumber to twist a towel over and wiped my face, and then I ate the scallion pancakes and set out on the road.

Uncle Cui Guo was assassinated, his life and death were unknown, and the entire Yongjing was under martial law. The common people who wandered in the streets, no matter they were doing business, setting up stalls, eating fruit, or singing ditties, were all sent home and told to go back to their homes. , Each finds his own mother and goes to play.That's not to mention, officials of the third rank and above who have lived in Yongjing for a long time, and children of princes and princes within three generations, if they are not called to go out and wander around, they will all be charged with treason.Although officials below the third rank do not have such strict prohibitions, if they are seen at this moment, they will run to some high-ranking official's house and report to the Metropolitan Procuratorate for "secretly forming party members and plotting to disrupt the government".For this reason, everyone stays at home. As for whether they really devote themselves to political affairs or drink with women in their arms, it is not known.

Yang Yimo escorted me to the Forbidden Palace. Seeing that my father's confidants were there, I was absolutely safe here, so he went back to his East Palace with peace of mind.

At this time, the sun had already set, and the palace servants were carrying lanterns, swaying and swaying indistinctly, and the surroundings were extremely peaceful. Suddenly, there was a sound of drumming from the distant mountains of Yongjing, and they floated over through the Jiuzhong deep palace. .

My mother is chanting scriptures in Shouchun Palace.

In front of her is a little palace maid who serves tea and flips through the scriptures in front of my mother.When my mother saw me coming, she sent the little maid away and asked me to wash my hands with clean water and turn the scriptures for him.

I turned ten pages and couldn't go any further.

My mother doesn't know many words, but she can read the scriptures more than enough, but she is not proficient, so she stutters and recites extremely slowly. I knelt and sat there with my fingers stretched out, but I couldn't turn the page. In the past, my fingers were almost cramp.

I took a breath, sat down and complained, "Mom, what's wrong with you? What do you want to worship? Why don't you follow my father to believe in Taoism, so that he can help you if you don't know how to read scriptures. With your As far as stupidity is concerned, I don’t think you need to think about becoming a Daluo Jinxian or becoming a Buddha in this life. My father is still a possibility. If you follow him to Taoism, maybe he can support you after becoming an immortal. But you still believe in Buddhism, why don’t you confront my father? He can’t touch the scriptures you read, and he can’t help you practice Zen. Tell me, you old couples, half your life, you are old and old, and you don’t stick to it. Enjoy the happiness of husband and wife together, when the time comes..."

My mother opened her eyes and looked at me, "Chengzi, turn the book."

"Huh?" I looked at her again, "Oh, okay."

I turned a page of scriptures.

My mother clasped her hands together and knelt on the big cushion embroidered with golden lotus flowers, her lips moved as if she was chanting words.

My legs are not very good, and I can't kneel for a long time, so I sat beside her, with my head on my hands, and looked out of the hall.Today's sky is actually pretty good, the clouds have dispersed, and a round of bright moon hangs in the sky, its luster is round, like a fine jade ring.There is a rich fragrance of flowers in the courtyard, which gradually permeates through the peaceful night.

Looking at the scenery in front of me, I have an illusion of past and present lives, as if my past life has ended, it is behind me, and only when I look at the night sky and the silence around me until the dust settles, can I recollect it.

I remember that I liked to look up at the night sky since I was a child. I am not the only one who likes to do this. My father, my grandfather, my grandfather's father, and my grandfather's grandfather all like to do this.What they like to do most is to stand on the Zhaixing Tower, facing the millennium prosperity of Yongjing, and they are filled with emotion, no matter at that time they are the emperor, the prince, or the prince who was once depressed.

Cui Bicheng once said a

A joke, he said that the emperor and the prince are natural enemies, the emperor always looks at the prince who is kneeling respectfully in front of him, always has a toothache in the back molars, on the one hand, he is afraid that there will be no successors and needs to be taught carefully, on the other hand, he must prevent the prince from blasting himself to the Ji Rang roasted sweet potatoes.

When I was an emperor, I looked at the mountains and rivers in front of me and always thought, 'God, let me live another 500 years! ’, the prince must be gnashing his teeth in his heart every day facing the father sitting on the throne, ‘You are not dead, why are you still alive? '

"Chengzi... Chengzi..."

"what?"

Hearing the sound, I saw that my mother had finished reciting sutras, and was holding a brocade bag to hang around my neck. I dodged back, and her fingers pulled hard, and the black silk rope on my neck was caught by her. Caught it, she looked at it, and said to herself in a strange way, "What is this?"

As I spoke, I slowly pulled out the birthday jade pendant Wen Zhan gave me.

She paused for a while, and without speaking, she put the jade pendant back on me.I didn't dare to move too hard, so she hung up the brocade bag in her own hand.

Me, "Mom, what are you doing?"

My mother shook her head and said, "A few days ago, I asked an expert to tell your fortune, and he said that your life is not good recently, and you have a bad omen."

I was shocked, "Mom, how dare you do this? This is my father's court, and he hates witchcraft and fortune-telling the most. If someone uses your reason to read a book, you may have to go back to the cold palace again." Eat yourself."

My mother patted my head, "Don't talk nonsense, the emperor knows about it."

After finishing speaking, she knelt and sat back on the lotus cushion again, like a traveler who has walked a long, long way. She is extremely tired, and if she takes another step, she will fall to the ground and can no longer get up.

I stretched out my hand, trying to help her, but she grabbed my hand, "Chengzi, Mother doesn't ask for anything else, she just wants you to live in peace, the emperor's world sits peacefully, as for I don't care whether the mother is a nobleman or a noble concubine."

I was a little intimidated by her appearance.

I smiled, "Mom, are you okay? Are you worried about my father? Of all the people in the world, he is the only one who is afraid of him, but he has never been afraid of others. You are worried about him, but you really worry about him first. Don't worry, my father." He looks like a sheep, but he is actually a lion. Mother, have you ever seen a lion? It is the thing carved out of stone outside the mausoleum of the former emperor that looks like a big cat. My father is very powerful, so don’t worry about it.”

"Hey." She sighed.

I said again, "Why have you become so sentimental lately? This doesn't suit you, mother, you are a noble concubine now, but aren't all the noble concubines in the world with the virtue of the third son? Frowning every day , take one step and rest three steps, pretending to be a sick Xi Shi, but she is actually very strong. Isn’t her natal family rich, and let him eat ginseng as a carrot every day. I heard..."

As I said that, I leaned closer to my mother, gave her shoulders, rubbed her waist, "Mother, last time you were promoted to the title of noble concubine, the third child chewed three ginseng in a mother's breath, it was all seven or eight taels One wild ginseng, but she ate too much all of a sudden, and she walked around her bedroom all night, and then caught the wind, haha, hahaha!"

My mother gave me a blank look.

She took my hand and said earnestly, "Go and see Bizi, and let him mourn. The court has a statement about your uncle's affairs, so let him not make trouble, I'm afraid that the emperor's rules will be messed up."

I still want to ask her something, I think she is a little strange.

The last time someone told her that when my grandfather passed away, she howled and cried, but now she doesn't seem to have that energy anymore.However, if you want to say that she is fine, it doesn't look like it.

My mother looked tired, extremely tired, as if there was no Buddha statue beside her, she could lie on the ground at once, close her eyes, and fell asleep.

I think what Lao Cui did this time was too much.

He has already used this trick on my grandfather once before, and although it is quite effective, it is still a trick after all.This thing is a new trick, but it doesn't work so well the second time you use it. After repeated attempts, I guess even gods and ghosts can do it.

No, as soon as I came out of the Forbidden Palace, I got a token from the Dazheng Palace and rushed to Cui Bicheng's Lingering Garden during the curfew.As soon as I got off the horse, I started to mutter in my heart, did Lao Cui want to save money recently, the yard didn’t even light up, and the courtyard of the deep house was pitch black, looking weird and panicky.

The gate was opened, and there were two young men standing at the door with blank faces. The one who came out was Lao Cui's personal servant, who seemed to be called Baifeng, or some kind of peacock. Anyway, he was a bird man. forget.

He lifted his robe and knelt down, "Your Highness is well."

I walked over, "Okay, there are no outsiders here, and there is no need to set rules in front of your own people. Get up. Where is your master?"

I threw him the coral whip in my hand, and he took it and led the way in front of me.

"Today, the shopkeeper of Jiangnan Waizhuang came and carried a few wooden boxes, all of which were Jiangnan's accounts. Our master, Mr. Jiang and his ten disciples, and the big shopkeeper of Yongjing, Mr. You, were all there. It has been more than two hours in the study room. Only the sound of abacus beads can be heard, and outsiders are not allowed to enter."

I thought to myself, his own father is 'dead', and he still has time to settle his bad debts. I think there is something strange about my uncle's death.Bai Feng originally wanted to lead me to their study, I thought about it, walked around the corridor, and paused.

I turned around and said to Bai Feng, "I won't go to the study, I'll wait for him in his bedroom. You go to the study and call Cui Bicheng out, I need to find him. You go, I know the way myself."

He replied, "Yes."

Said, bowed and left.

Cui Bicheng's nest is comparable to a golden cave, a gentle village. I took off my shoes and lay on his bed. I wanted to pass the time by touching the story book of "The Peony Pavilion" from the bedside. Who would want to touch a copy of "Zuo Zhuan"? There is also the handwriting of the old chief assistant Pei Zhongyue in it.This is called brilliant words, watching my eyelids fight.

Looking at it, I let go of my hands, tilted my head, and crawled into Lao Cui's bed and fell asleep.

Because I didn't take off my clothes, I didn't sleep very comfortably, and there was always a candle flickering in front of my eyes. Later, it was even more exaggerated, and I actually heard a sound of intermittently plucking the strings.

When I rubbed my eyelids and opened my eyes, outside

There was a more drumming sound, which happened to be the second watch.

Cui Bicheng sat sideways on the wooden step beside the bed, with his legs crossed, holding a qin in his hand, his eyes stared blankly at the Persian rug under his feet, and his fingers lightly and unconsciously plucked the strings of the qin. What are you thinking.

I hugged the quilt and got up, looked at him sideways, and asked tentatively, "What's wrong with you?"

He didn't speak.

I just tapped the seeds on his head, but he still didn't respond.

I said, "Old Cui, I'm not talking about you. You are too ostentatious. Uncle is not a grandfather. He is a serious court official. He is an official in office. His death must be carefully handled by the officials." It has been verified, this is not something that can be deceived by just finding a ruined temple in the mountains and singing in the water and land dojo for a few days..."

"he died!"

Old Cui spoke suddenly, his voice was thin as if it came from a dying person.

I did not hear it clearly.

"What did you say?"

"My father is dead."

"What did you say??!"

I was startled, pulled his hand, exerted a lot of force, and immediately felt the skin of my fingers a little wet and sticky, the blood on Cui Bicheng's arm in my hand seeped out through the brocade robe.

Cui Bicheng turned to look at me.

His eyes are very special, his eyes are extremely black, like the pickaxes outside Yongjing, black, extremely black, it seems to contain thousands of clues, but they are all hidden, others can't see clearly.

He said firmly, "He's dead."

Then, Cui Bicheng suddenly pushed me away and threw the Qin in his arms onto the bed. He supported his body with his hands, moved forward two steps, spewed out a mouthful of blood, his body went limp, and collapsed on the silk blanket.

His eyes looked at me, and slowly closed amidst my screams.

Volume No.18 The Power of Two Evils