I am a ruler in troubled times

Zhao Guo respects black, and only the royal family and officials above the second rank can wear black as the base.

Song Peiyu's court dress is dark blue as the base, with the outline of a white deer outlined with silver thread on the chest, and the same silver auspicious cloud pattern on the cuffs.

Song Peiyu once couldn't help asking Song Er why the court clothes prepared by the Ministry of Rites for honored officials were not white tigers and white deer, but auspicious animals such as cranes and magpies.Is it in the connotation that the honorary officer is the mascot?

Song Er was a little surprised at the time, and then his face was full of enlightenment, Song Peiyu still remembers it vividly.

It was only later that Song Peiyu learned that the court uniforms of officials were regulated by Emperor Yonghe himself.

During the court meeting, Song Peiyu would always enter the palace a cup of tea earlier, first to see if Chong Yi was packed properly, and then go to the Palace of Qinzheng together.

When Song Peiyu entered, Chong Yi was wearing a crown, looking at the bronze mirror with feeling, his eyes met Song Peiyu's.

"You have grown taller." Chong Yi withdrew his gaze.

Song Peiyu tried her best not to laugh too much, and said modestly, "Perhaps the servant girl at home is thinking about my recovery from a serious illness, so she put a few more layers of wool pads in her boots."

Chong Yi raised the dragon-shaped jade pendant on his waist and straightened it, his voice was vague, "Well, I was wrong."

The smile on Song Peiyu's face froze, she turned and retreated outside the door.

Little did he know that just as he turned around, the man who was playing with the jade pendant twitched the corners of his lips for a moment, which made the palace maid think she was dazzled, and she didn't dare to take a closer look, the movements of her hands became slower and slower.

Laifu came in from the outside, skillfully stuffed Song Peiyu with a small hand stove covered in fox fur that could still be held in the palm of his hand, and said with a smile, "I haven't seen Mrs. Shaoyin for a long time, but your complexion is better than before the vacation. It can be seen that I did waste a lot of thought for His Highness before."

Song Peiyu casually exchanged a few words with Laifu, worrying secretly in her heart, with Chongyi's distasteful character, how could she persuade him to ask Emperor Yonghe to marry Song Jingjue and Miss Murong.

Lai Fu stared at the corner of Song Peiyu's clothes for a while, and asked hesitantly, "Has Shao Yin grown up? I think the court clothes seem to be a little short. It just so happens that His Highness's court clothes are also a little short. I'm going to the Ministry of Rites later." Let them make new court clothes, Shao Yin might as well measure the size after he goes to court, and I will take it to the Ritual Department together, lest you have to ask someone to come again."

Song Peiyu regained her spirits, looked at Laifu with a half-smile, "Really?"

For some reason, Laifu suddenly felt a chill on his back, but he didn't take it to heart, and said with a smile, "How can this be fake? I haven't heard of any adult's court clothes shrinking."

Song Peiyu snorted and remembered the lesson of blood in her heart.

Don't be humble with Chong Yi, otherwise the other party will recognize his humility because they are too lazy to spend more time with him.

Except for Emperor Yonghe, there are only two males in the royal family.

In the court hall, King Su lives on the left, and Chongyi lives on the right.

Song Peiyu was sitting three steps away from the right back of Chong Yi, looking up was the faces of King Su and her eldest brother, and turning her head was the backs of Lord Shang Shuling, the head of the Bei Lu family, and Lord Shixia, the head of the Mu family.

As a person wearing dark blue court clothes, but sitting in the front of a group of black court clothes, Song Peiyu has gone through a long psychological change from being trembling at the beginning to being indifferent and even sleepy now.

Unexpectedly, today's grand court will still revolve around Emperor Yonghe's harem. All the officials open their mouths that the harem is empty, but shut up that the royal family is not prosperous enough. Soong Peiyu can almost memorize those few sets of rhetoric.

Just when Song Peiyu started to feel drowsy again, relying on pinching her fingers to persevere, a sharp voice suddenly sounded beside her ear, "Your Majesty! I was surprised to see the auspicious auspiciousness descending from heaven yesterday, and today I will bring the auspicious auspiciousness to His Majesty first. God bless Zhao Guo , God bless Your Majesty!"

Song Peiyu recognized the speaker from the court clothes as Qin Tianjian Jianzheng, his eyes moved from his trembling face to the tray handed to Eunuch Meng by the guard outside the door, secretly guessing what was inside.

The tray was placed on the imperial case of Emperor Yonghe, and Eunuch Meng lifted the silk and satin covering it himself, with a look of surprise on his usually calm face, then hurriedly knelt on the ground and shouted, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, for your auspicious happiness, It can be seen that your merits and virtues have been seen by God."

Song Peiyu also got up and bowed with the people around her, repeating Eunuch Meng's words without nourishment. She lowered her head only to realize that Chong Yi in front of him was still sitting on the chair indifferently.

In order not to make Chong Yi look awkward, poor King Su raised his buttocks and sat down again.

After the others were seated again, King Su stood up and said loudly, "I wonder if my ministers and colleagues will have the honor to share the auspiciousness with the emperor?"

Emperor Yonghe was kind enough to ask Eunuch Meng to take down the tray and show it to everyone in turn.

Song Peiyu thought it was a natural stone with extraordinary meaning, but she didn't expect it to be a winter fruit with words, and she was very disappointed.

Dongguo is a fruit that Song Peiyu has only seen in this era. It blooms in autumn and bears fruit when it is extremely cold. Because it is too abnormal, many people think it is a strange shape.

In some countries, winter fruits are not even allowed to appear in the territory. Once it is discovered that there are people who have planted them privately, the male owner must be arrested and served in the military.

Emperor Yonghe didn't care about this, and Zhao Guo didn't ban Dongguo either.

Now, on the four round winter fruits, there are characters growing out of each, and together they are 'Zhao Guo Da Xing'.

Song Peiyu listened carefully to Qin Tianjian's passionate narration, how did he discover that handwriting appeared overnight on the winter fruit tree in the yard, and how much he was in awe of the sudden appearance of auspiciousness...

Song Peiyu was indifferent, and it was a pity that Qin Tianjian had ruined his way of making money.

He originally planned to hand over to the melon farmers in Zhuangzi next year. When planting pickled melons, he would use molds to make some pleasant words such as 'cong', 'wisdom', and 'courage'. When the time comes, put the unpicked cold melon on the mold, and when the cold melon is harvested, the words on the mold will grow on the cold melon.

Now it seems that his vision is small.

Because of Qin Tianjian's supervision, the grand court meeting, which could have ended in two hours, just added two more hours. Some civil officials who are famous for their literary talents even wrote poems and essays on the spot, using the "auspiciousness from heaven" without a bottom line. Praise Yonghe Emperor.

The way of Yonghe Emperor Longxin is to reward. He has never been stingy when rewarding gold and silver treasures. The court hall suddenly became more lively. sycophants.

Some people even said on the spot that the auspicious winter fruit that fell from heaven happened to be used during New Year's festival sacrifices, telling the world that Zhao Guo is the destiny of heaven.

Emperor Yonghe was so happy that he walked down from a high place, and he was about to share the three fruits of 'Zhao', 'Guo' and 'Xing' with Su Wang and Chong Yi on the spot, and ordered people to send 'Da' to the princess' mansion.

Qin Tianjian was like a hen being strangled, his eyes widened and he said, "Your Majesty, no..."

'click'

When Emperor Yonghe swallowed it, it was half a winter fruit.

The originally bustling court hall was suddenly quiet, and only the sound of chewing fruit could be heard.

King Su raised his thumb without realizing it, "Xiangrui's fruit is just extraordinary, I have never eaten such a sweet and juicy winter fruit."

After entering the gate of the East Palace, Song Peiyu couldn't bear it any longer, she supported Laifu's shoulder and lowered her head, her face flushed with suppressed laughter.

All he can think of now is the faces of Emperor Yonghe, King Su and Chongyi who were constipated when they were eating winter fruit.

Eunuch An greeted him, stood in front of Song Peiyu and said in confusion, "What's wrong with Shao Yin, is he not feeling well? Otherwise, you should go and rest first, and this old slave will send someone to send you an imperial physician."

Chong Yi, who was walking in front, turned around when he heard the words, lightly swept Song Peiyu's shaking shoulders, and said to Mr. An, "Just go and serve him a plate of winter fruits."

"Oh?" Eunuch An turned his head in a daze, and he didn't realize that Song Shaoyin liked to eat winter fruits on weekdays.

Song Peiyu couldn't hold back, she laughed out loud, waved at Eunuch An, and walked quickly towards his room in the East Palace.

Changing from the court clothes, Song Peiyu finally returned to her usual seriousness and went to the main hall for dinner.

Some days I didn't eat it, and the dishes in the small study room in the East Palace were even better than before, Song Peiyu couldn't even lift her head.

Eunuch An stood in the corner and looked at the two young men who were eating with a smile, and went out from time to time to tell the little eunuch to continue serving food in the small kitchen.

After the meal, the caring Eunuch An personally brought a plate of sliced ​​winter fruits and placed them in front of Song Peiyu, and said softly, "Although Shao Yin regards the Eastern Palace as his home, just tell the old slave what dishes or fruit snacks you want, please don't worry." Stay away."

Song Peiyu swallowed half a sip of tea with difficulty, hesitated for a while, after all, it was hard to resist Eunuch An's kindness and it was difficult to explain, so she picked up a piece of winter fruit and stuffed it into her mouth.

The sour and bitter taste spread down the throat, Song Peiyu's eyes widened suddenly, he spit the fruit in his mouth on the handkerchief, and called for tea repeatedly.

There were four or five cups of tea in the mouth before Song Peiyu felt that the sour and bitter taste in his mouth was not so strong, but the aftertaste was still bitter and numb. He smiled wryly at the grumpy Eunuch An, "It's my bad luck. It's bitter, I'm sorry for my father-in-law's feelings."

"This..." Eunuch An said with a tangled expression, "Dongguo is only fully ripe during the Chinese New Year. At this time, Dongguo is sour and astringent. I thought Shaoyin's taste was unusual, so I thought about this." Time to eat winter fruit."

Song Peiyu was stunned when he heard the words, and locked his eyes on Chong Yi who was drinking tea, "What is the taste of your highness's winter fruit?"

Chong Yi put down his teacup, frowned in disgust, "What do you think?"

Then you still said that I want to eat winter fruit, and I asked Mr. An to get it for me?

Song Peiyu can understand the problem of growing taller, but Chongyi is too lazy to argue with him.

But no matter what reason he found, Song Peiyu couldn't convince Song Peiyu that Chong Yi was not looking for him for this plate of winter fruit.

Song Peiyu's thoughts turned, without any clue, she simply asked, "But what did I do wrong, Your Highness is dissatisfied with me?"

Chong Yi raised his eyelids and looked at Song Peiyu, "You think too much."

However, Song Peiyu felt that his thinking in analyzing Chong Yi's thoughts had never been so clear, and he definitely didn't think too much!

If he really thought too much, with Chong Yi's personality, he would definitely procrastinate until he couldn't go on any longer, so he would give an understatement of 'hmm' as a perfunctory excuse.

Chong Yi doesn't care what others think of him, and he never cares whether others can understand his thoughts.

There was something serious that he didn't tell Chong Yi, but Song Peiyu felt that he had to think carefully before speaking, so he went back to his room in the East Palace on the pretext of being tired.

During this period, Song Peiyu thought hard, and finally found a plausible reason for Chongyi's abnormal behavior of asking Mr. An to give him winter fruit.

Seeing that it was almost time, Chong Yi's lunch break should be over, Song Peiyu went to the flower hall again.

As soon as he entered the door, he heard the sound of rattling. No matter how he heard it, Song Peiyu felt that the sound was very familiar. Looking up, Eunuch An, Lai Fu and two other people were sitting together. Mahjong is exactly the same.

Sitting on the chair at the corner of the table, Chong Yi could have a panoramic view of Eunuch An and Laifu's cards.

When Song Peiyu asked a carpenter to make mahjong, he expected that sooner or later there would be a mahjong wind in Xianyang, but he never expected that this wind would blow to the East Palace so soon.

Seeing Song Peiyu, Eunuch An beckoned, "This is a popular pastime in Xianyang recently. It's simple but very interesting. Would you like to play for a while, Shaoyin?"

Song Peiyu just walked to Chong Yi's side and stopped. Hearing this, he looked at Chong Yi, "Do you want to play two rounds, Your Highness?"

Chong Yi said without hesitation, "I don't want to."

Perhaps Song Peiyu's gaze was too persistent, Chong Yi raised his eyelids to look at Song Peiyu, and said, "It's too easy to win, it's not fun."

Lai Fu echoed, "As soon as we got mahjong back, His Highness tried it with us. Obviously His Highness has never played it before. He only heard Eunuch An explain the rules, but he was very good. He played sixteen rounds, and he couldn't beat it in one round. Never lost."

Song Peiyu thought to herself, isn't it your credit?

On the surface, he wanted to show a surprised expression, "Your Highness is so powerful?"

"It just so happens that I have never lost before, Your Highness is willing to enlighten me." Song Peiyu said as he untied the jade bamboo around his waist and put it on the table, "How can you lose a lot of money playing mahjong? The jade pendant will belong to His Highness."

Eunuch An and Laifu also booed, Chong Yi finally nodded, and took off the jade pendant from his waist, and put it next to Yuzhu.

Song Peiyu's eyelids twitched, looking at the jade pendant with a dragon and pearl on the corner of the table, it was hard for him not to wonder if Chong Yi couldn't afford to lose.

If he had more courage, he wouldn't dare to take the dragon pearl and jade pendant from the prince.

Although the idea of ​​playing is to make Chong Yi happy, but Song Peiyu knows what is gradual and orderly, wanting to promote and suppress first.

He wants to break Chong Yi's record of never losing a game at the beginning, and then slowly lose to Chong Yi.

However, the ideal is very full, and the reality... Chong Yi is really a sparrow god.

If it wasn't for the fact that Eunuch An and Laifu were pecking at each other when they first entered the door, Song Peiyu would have wondered if there was something wrong with this mahjong set.

Even though she tried her best, she still lost eight out of ten rounds. Song Peiyu directly conceded the bet and at the same time felt Chong Yi's undisguised evil taste.

It's boring to play mahjong by yourself, but you are willing to watch Eunuch An and Laifu play. Doesn't this mean that it's interesting to watch Eunuch An and Laifu play stupid?

Chong Yi tied the two jade pendants at the corner of the table back to his waist, nodded slightly, and gave Song Peiyu affirmation, "You played well."

Song Peiyu was not comforted at all, but realized that this was the best time to speak, so she smiled wryly, "It's the minister who made a fool of himself, how about I tell His Highness a story?"

Seeing that Chong Yi's attention was on Song Peiyu, Eunuch An and Lai Fu removed the mahjong table and walked out silently.

Before telling the story, Song Peiyu suddenly mentioned the past, "Did your Highness think that I couldn't help laughing after I stepped down to court, and that I was laughing at His Highness King Su?"

Chong Yi didn't answer, Song Peiyu took it as his guess was right, and explained to himself, "I just think that when Your Majesty and the two Highnesses share the auspicious winter fruit, the expressions of the adults below are too funny. I really don't know this. Seasonal winter fruit tastes like this."

When she didn't get a response, Song Peiyu didn't care, and started telling a carefully prepared story.

With the core of the protagonist of the story, it vividly tells the boy's heart.

A young man from a family came across a girl by accident, fell in love with that girl at first sight, even though he didn't know the girl's background, he made up his mind not to marry Feiqing.

It's a pity that since then, the young master has never seen that girl again. When he saw that girl again by chance, he actually learned that that girl was someone else's fiancée.

From then on, the young master's heart was ashamed, and he lost weight in a short period of time. He kept this love that ended before it started, and only occasionally in the dead of night would he still think of the first meeting between the two.

During the period, the young master's family chose a wife for him, but the young master refused.

Although he already knew that he couldn't marry the girl he liked, but the young master was even more unwilling to delay others by marrying someone he didn't like.

A few months passed in a blink of an eye, and the young master accidentally learned that he had misunderstood.

The girl he liked was not engaged, and he misheard the girl's surname when he was shy and excited.

The little boy was ecstatic, and immediately went home and begged his parents to propose marriage to the girl he liked, but unexpectedly, there were many twists and turns in vain.

……

Song Peiyu omitted the process of the young son's almost broken leg, and attributed the two families' discussion to ask His Majesty to marry him to the girl's father.

Although the girl's father wanted to recruit a son-in-law wholeheartedly, he liked the young man's character and ability very much.That's why he was willing to step back and only begged His Majesty to give him a marriage to ensure that if he had an accident in the future, his daughter's life would not be affected.

No matter how polished this story is by Song Peiyu, it is far less interesting than the Journey to the West and Liaozhai he once told.

Chong Yi lost interest when he heard that the young master failed for the second time, but he never interrupted.

Song Peiyu sighed after telling the story, stood up and bowed to Chongyi, "I don't know if Your Highness would like the beauty of an adult? Let my nephew embrace a beautiful woman."

Chong Yi, who was drinking tea, looked at the back of Song Peiyu's head unexpectedly, and finally showed a non-indulgent expression on his face, "The young master in the story is your nephew?"

Song Peiyu knew that if Chong Yi didn't want to, it would be useless even if he knelt through the floor of the East Palace, and returned to his original seat after saluting, "Young master is the nephew of the minister, Song Jingjue, the eldest son of the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, At the banquet held by the Eldest Princess the day before yesterday, he also won a sword tassel from His Royal Highness. The girl is the only daughter of the left servant of the Ministry of War."

"In order to become Quan Jue, my second elder brother had private talks with Lord Murong several times, and finally won Lord Murong's resignation. It's just that the second elder brother can't face the saint privately, and His Majesty has never given a marriage to a minister. I don't know why. Will the imperial decree of marriage embarrass His Majesty? This is why I begged me to talk to His Majesty, please intercede in front of His Majesty in private."

Song Peiyu said these words as if chatting, and assured, "Your Highness only needs to mention this marriage before His Majesty and ask His Majesty to make it happen. If there is no result, it means that Jing Jue and Miss Murong are not destined."

Chong Yi half-closed his eyes, his thoughts were not affected by Song Peiyu at all, "Your second brother is at odds with Uncle Yunyang? Uncle Yunyang is always by my father's side, so I can mention this in private."

Song Peiyu's thoughts changed, and he threw away the set of arguments he had prepared, and looked at Chong Yi sincerely, "The eldest brother and the second brother grew up together, so naturally they would not refuse such a small effort.

I took this matter out of my own mind to bother His Majesty. Eldest brother has never asked His Majesty for family matters. This is the measure of eldest brother as a close minister of the emperor. Neither I nor second brother want to easily break this measure.

It's exhausting for eldest brother to do business by His Majesty's side and protect the family. How can we have the heart for eldest brother to mix family and business affairs together for the sake of human nature. "

After a long time, Chong Yi's voice came out from the completely dark corner, "Well, I see."

Song Peiyu stopped entanglement, gave a big gift silently, bowed her head and exited the flower hall.

After Song Peiyu's footsteps disappeared completely, a voice sounded again in the dark, "Smart little liar."

Song Peiyu sat in the carriage, carefully recalling the words and deeds in the East Palace.

He gave up the original method of breaking up the interests and telling Chongyi that if Emperor Yonghe bestowed a marriage at Chongyi's request, apart from the Song family and the Murong Mansion, the Emperor Yonghe would benefit as much as the East Palace would benefit. Instead, he chose bet.

Betting Chongyi would soften his heart for that plate of winter fruit.

He also bet that Chongyi would protect Emperor Yonghe more than King Su.

Song Peiyu's last words were half true and half false, but they came from the heart.

His eldest brother was very kind to Emperor Yonghe back then, and used the entire Song family to support the face of Emperor Yonghe who was not recognized by the aristocratic family, and devoted all the strength of the whole family to support Emperor Yonghe.

Judging from Emperor Yonghe's behavior after he proclaimed himself emperor, and the elder brother's occasional words about getting along with Emperor Yonghe, it can be seen that Emperor Yonghe did not treat his eldest brother badly.

Uncle Yunyang did not make an exception for his family and asked Emperor Yonghe, and kept a clear distinction between public and private. 'It is an important factor for the maintenance of this relationship between monarch, subject and friend.

He bet that Chong Yi, who seemed to care nothing, would also see these things in his eyes.

After Song Peiyu left, Eunuch An brought the little eunuchs in to light the lamps.

The servants serving in the Eastern Palace were very well behaved. After they all left the room, they would not enter the door easily unless summoned by the master. That's why the flower hall was dimmed with the outside sky.

"Does Your Highness want to eat?" Eunuch An suddenly smiled, "Usually, Shaoyin would stay in the Eastern Palace until this time, and Shaoyin would accompany His Highness to have dinner before leaving the palace. Today is something at home, why is he leaving in such a hurry?"

"Have someone deliver the food to Qinzheng Palace." Before the words finished, Chong Yi had already walked to the door, and Eunuch An was so frightened that he quickly chased after him, "Your Highness, you are still wearing single clothes, even if you don't want to change, you still need to add a cloak! "

Chong Yi still went directly to the study room, in the huge palace, no one dared to stop him except the slaves of Liangyi Palace.

Emperor Yonghe saw Chong Yi, and the speed of reviewing the memorials was much faster than before, and he finished the remaining few notebooks in a short time, and said with a smile, "No matter, you don't go to the Three Treasures Hall. What?"

When Chong Yi is not begging for help, he must first make people happy.Seeing Emperor Yonghe's question, he replied directly, "I would like to ask you to marry the eldest son of the left servant of the Ministry of Rites and the only daughter of the left servant of the Ministry of War."

Emperor Yonghe was so surprised that he even forgot who his Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Rites and Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War were. He had to be reminded by Eunuch Meng who stood in the corner like an invisible man.

"Ah." Emperor Yonghe was still in a daze when he got the answer, "It's Song Qing and Murong."

"Why do you want to give them marriages?" The trance on Emperor Yonghe's face turned into curiosity.

However, Chong Yi would not follow Emperor Yonghe's wish to give a long-winded explanation, and said casually, "If it doesn't work, forget it."

Emperor Yonghe got up from his chair, sat down next to Chong Yi, and poured a cup of hot tea for Chong Yi himself, "I didn't say no, it's just that what do you exchange this time?"

The corner of Chong Yi's mouth curled into a sneer, "If you don't change it, it's fine."

"Are you begging for help? You are not the one who asks for money." Emperor Yonghe laughed out of Zhong Yi's anger, "OK, OK, I will have something to do with you, Song Qing's eldest son and Murong Your only daughter, right? I will make an order tomorrow, are you happy?"

Chong Yi also had nothing to do with Emperor Yonghe, who was talking to himself, and looked at him helplessly.

Even if Emperor Yonghe doesn't grant the marriage, he will not be unhappy.

"But there must be a reason why you suddenly want to marry these two irrelevant people?" Emperor Yonghe looked out of the window, his tone suddenly became deep, "Is it because the people from Liangyi Palace went to the East Palace to deliver things again?"

Chong Yi shook his head, "I don't know."

Emperor Yonghe never suspected that Chongyi was lying, and said firmly after hearing the words, "Then only your companion is reading, and it was Li Nu who asked you to beg me."

Chong Yi, "Yeah"

Emperor Yonghe pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "You have been too much influenced by Li Nu recently, how about I give you another reading companion?"

Chong Yi paused the hand that was holding something and playing with it, "Yeah"

Emperor Yonghe raised his head and carefully looked at Chong Yi's expression. After realizing that Chong Yi really didn't care, he waved his hand boredly, "I'm serious about joking with you. If you find someone else, you may not be able to catch your eyes. It's better to wait for the raccoon slave to enter the court." talk later."

After eating in the Hall of Qinzheng, Chong Yi accompanied Emperor Yonghe to approve the meeting papers.

He was not released back to the East Palace until Emperor Yonghe was going to sleep.

Lai Fu saw Chong Yi coming out of the Qinzheng Hall, and immediately went up to greet him, "It's snowing again, does Your Highness want to pass on a sedan chair?"

Chong Yi didn't speak, walked straight towards the East Palace, and threw the thing that fell out of his sleeve to Lai Fu.

Lai Fu caught it quickly, and with the help of the lamp carried by the little eunuch, he saw clearly that it was a golden cat with an inexplicably deflated belly, which looked pitiful.

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① Cool melon: watermelon