Ten thousand people think gloom is reborn

I closed my eyes and sat down in my seat.

Because it is the season between late autumn and early winter, the hall has already been burned with earth dragons, and the heat is warm. I have been sick several times in the past month, and Concubine Zhuang specially asked me to wear a few more clothes before letting me go out.Maybe it's really weak, I wear more clothes than others, and I don't feel hot.

Most of the palace attendants at the Enlightenment Banquet tonight are beautiful court ladies. Under the bright lights, they are like spirit fish, walking orderly in the hall with gold-painted walls. The skirts are like ripples in the spring stream, and the fragrance powder is overflowing. .

The members of the Lefang palace knelt in a corner of the hall and sang happily.

Some Jinshi have probably never seen this kind of battle of soft fragrance and gentle jade. Several of them were confused by it, but most of them still didn't look at it.

If my guess is correct, the Enrollment Banquet is a princess-in-law banquet in disguise, and these court ladies are used to test Jinshi. If you look left and right at the banquet, you will naturally not be able to catch the eyes of concubines and princesses.

Lin Chongtan should be the key object of investigation tonight. I see that he has the most court ladies who go to him, and he is also the one with the best appearance.

What caught my attention the most today was not Lin Chongtan, but the Second Prince.He was obviously much more low-key at this banquet, and his behavior and expression were all normal, as if I made a mistake about his preparation to force the palace.

The emperor arrived a little later, and the person who came with him was not the empress, but Concubine Zhuang.At the meeting in the evening, the eunuch next to the emperor came to say that the queen was unwell and could not attend, and asked Concubine Zhuang to accompany the king.

The decree came late, Concubine Zhuang hurriedly washed and dressed, and had to go to the Imperial Palace, so she didn't go with me.

After the emperor arrived, the banquet officially began.

Today's dinner is a bit different from the past. In the past, it was nothing more than watching songs and dances, watching fireworks, etc. Tonight, the prince suggested to the emperor to play games after drinking for three rounds.

When the emperor heard about playing games, he readily agreed, "I will watch you young people play games."

The prince heard the words and asked the palace servants to bring up the copper pot used for throwing pots. This copper pot is different from the ones I have seen before. The mouth of the bottle is very narrow, and it may be difficult for arrows to enter.

The prince said: "Today we don't compare who gets more arrows, but who is the last one. The number of challenges is limited to the poems made on the spot."

What the prince means is that if you want to play Touhu, you must first compose poems, and you can challenge Touhu after the poems are completed.Poetry is not difficult for these Jinshi, but the difficulty is to throw the arrow into the small pot.

I have no interest in this kind of game, I just drink my milk tea with my head down.The milk tea presented by the Imperial Dining Room tonight was warm and nourishing, with a mellow taste. I drank two bowls in a row.

Suddenly I heard someone exclaiming, I looked up, and it turned out that someone had hit the target, but that person was not Lin Chongtan as I imagined, but this year's Tanhua.

Tanhua always selects people with good looks, and this year's Tanhua is no exception. He is the most handsome in this group of Jinshi except Lin Chongtan, and he is not very old, only 25 years old.

Tanhualang is a good player in throwing pots, and he hits three arrows in a row. From this angle, I can just see the twelve princesses behind the screen, and I see her staring at Tanhualang with bright eyes.

I looked at Lin Chongtan again, and found that his cheeks were flushed, as if he was drunk so he didn't play.

Although he sat still like an old monk, someone yelled at him.

"Why doesn't our new champion go up and show off?"

Hearing this, the emperor was in a good mood tonight, and said with a smile: "I still remember Lin Chongtan's demeanor in forcing the northerners back in the arena. Lin Chongtan, you also play a couple of games."

Lin Chongtan could only get up from his seat after being appointed by the Holy Majesty, but he bowed his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I have drunk too much alcohol, I am afraid that I will be ashamed later."

"It's okay, just try it." The emperor said.

Lin Chongtan nodded, yes, he did look drunk, and walked to Tanhualang's side in a nonchalant manner.

Tan Hualang, who had an extraordinary appearance just now, suddenly became a fish-eyed pearl when Lin Chongtan set it off.

I saw the eyes of the twelve princesses quickly turn to the target.

Lin Chongtan first composed a poem, and then brought a bow and arrow from the palace man. He aimed carefully, but missed the shot, and the bow and arrow passed by the mouth of the pot.

He went on to challenge the second, third... sixth time, all of which failed.

In the end, Lin Chongtan had no choice but to salute the emperor, "I am useless, and I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

"It's just a game, not to the point of forgiveness." The emperor said with a good temper, but the expressions of the others all changed, and the happiest one was Tan Hualang, who regained everyone's attention.The twelve princesses first squeezed the round fan tightly in their hands, but after a while, they stared at Tanhualang again.

In the second half of the round of throwing pots, the fireworks in the Ministry of Rites began to light up.

The Guanhai Temple has a very unique design. One wall of it is full of windows. The windows are opened inward, and the outer layer is a whole side of Western glass.When I saw this glass for the first time, I was speechless for a long time.

Through the western glass, people in the hall can see the koi pond outside and the fireworks set off in front.

The fireworks are like stars in the sky, and they are splashed by rain.

While everyone was watching the throwing pot and enjoying the fireworks, the sound of chaotic footsteps came from outside.

I looked back and found that it turned out to be a Royal Forest Army covered in blood.The imperial army rushed to the hall and knelt down, in a flustered tone, "Your Majesty, there is a rebel army breaking in, and they have already killed Fengtianmen! The commander of the imperial army, Lu Yiyang, has turned against him and is taking the lead in killing people."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone panicked, and some even started screaming.

I immediately looked for the figure of the second prince, but found that he was still in the palace just now and disappeared at this time.Hearing this, the emperor raised his hand to cover his chest, his face turned pale, and Concubine Zhuang Gui hurriedly supported the emperor, with a worried and frightened expression, "Your Majesty!"

After the emperor let out a long breath, he sat down firmly and patted Concubine Zhuang Gui's hand reassuringly, "I'm fine." Then he called the names of several military officers and asked them to go immediately to suppress the rebellious army, but the military officers hadn't come out yet. In Haidian, the sound of fighting is close to the ear.

The imperial forest army was divided into two groups, one group should be Lu Yiyang's men, with red scarves tied on their arms, and they were merciless in killing people.

Most of the people present tonight were people who had never seen blood before, and many people's legs went limp after seeing this.At this time, the second prince finally reappeared. Wearing a red scarf and armor, he walked out from the soldiers behind him and shouted loudly: "Father, my sons come to escort you."

His posture, as long as he is not blind, can see the tricks.

The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly, Long Yan was already angry, "Second brother, what are you doing?"

"My son is here to escort you." The second prince said in a trembling voice, "my father was lingering on the sick bed before, and it was the prince who poisoned my father. The prince has vicious thoughts and controlled the court. This time, my son is only on the side of the Qing emperor."

"I think you are a wolf with ambition." The emperor said angrily.

"Father, my son has absolutely no intention of treason. He is the crown prince. He has a violent nature. The people have complained for a long time. My son is just following the people's hearts and removing this rebellious son for my father." The second prince pointed at the prince.

The emperor seemed to be very angry at what the second prince said, so he didn't speak for a while.

At this time, the distant sky was illuminated red by the flames, accompanied by the panicked voices of the palace people.

"The water is gone! The water is gone!"

Seeing this, the second prince became even more arrogant, and raised his hand to signal for a move.Some of the palace servants in the palace were also traitors, and they drew their weapons from the inside of their thighs.The situation became even more chaotic for a while, as the second prince's men fought with the emperor's guards.I was guarded by Niu Xi, and my eyes were looking for the figure of Concubine Zhuang. Seeing that she was protected by the palace people around me, I felt a little relieved.

But in the next moment, my heart was raised.

Because the entire hall began to shake, which is... a sign of an earthquake.

I have read descriptions about earthquakes in books, saying that earthquakes are serious and can harm tens of thousands of people.The people in the hall were even more flustered because of the earthquake, but I quickly ran towards Concubine Zhuang. She is my mother and concubine, and I need to protect her.

Halfway through the run, the shaking in the hall became more and more severe, and a person-high vase next to me suddenly fell to my side.

Almost at the same time, someone kicked the vase, and another person quickly tore me apart.

Before I could react, I fell into the latter's arms.It was only after smelling the scent of medicine that I realized that the person hugging me was Lin Chongtan.

After Lin Chongtan hugged me, he let go of his hand quickly. At this time, Niu Xi who kicked the vase had returned to my side.

I glanced at Lin Chongtan, and then continued to run towards Concubine Zhuang.When Concubine Zhuang saw me running over, she was so anxious that she cried, "Congxi, don't run around."

I quickly squeezed to her side and hugged her, "Concubine Mu, I'm fine."

The appearance of the earthquake shocked the second prince, but the earthquake was not violent, and it didn't last long before it calmed down.

As time went by, the rebel army gradually fell below, the second prince's already unattractive expression became more and more ugly, he became anxious and looked back frequently.

I guessed what he was waiting for, he was waiting for the rebels who hit Fengtianmen to come and meet him.

But I feel that there are no rebels at all, and the second prince has been deceived from beginning to end.

Sure enough, this stupid coercion ended in an extremely absurd situation. The second prince was alone and helpless, all the guards around him were dead, and he was the only one standing in the pile of corpses.

Seeing that he could straighten his body suddenly without anyone's support, he looked at his emperor with a cold face, and at this moment he finally understood everything.The second prince's eyes were shattered, and he pointed at the prince with a knife, "You designed to deceive me, deceive me! You deliberately let me hear you talking with your people, thinking that you poisoned the father."

He threw down the knife again, knelt on the ground, and prayed to the emperor, "Father, I really don't have any intention of rebelling against you, I just want to save my father."

"Whether you want to save me, or want to force the palace, you should be clear in your heart. As the eldest son, you don't want to set an example, but only think about the throne. For the sake of the throne, you even don't hesitate to mutilate your flesh and blood relatives and harm people's lives. Unfaithful, unfilial, unkind, unrighteous people. I don't have a son like you!"

The emperor's words made the second prince ashamed, and then he picked up the knife on the ground again, and said with a long smile, "Is it my son who is unfaithful, filial, unkind, or father, you are partial? My son is the eldest son of father, but father The emperor always only cares about the third child, and loves Xiaojiu the most. My son refuses to obey, and he is obviously my father's child." He slowly put the knife across his neck, "I have nothing else to say, my mother The concubine doesn't know anything about what my son and minister are doing, and I hope that the emperor will not anger the son's mother and concubine."

The second prince killed himself.

I covered Concubine Zhuang's eyes to prevent her from seeing this bloody scene.

At this time, a signal flare was lit in the sky. Seeing the signal flare, the prince knelt down in front of the emperor, "Father, my son is lucky to live up to his orders, and he has killed all the rebels."

The emperor was silent for a while before saying: "Okay, well done."

Although the second prince is dead, the emperor is afraid that there are still the second prince's remnants in the palace, so people will investigate thoroughly, and the Jinshi are also temporarily kept in the palace.

After confirming that Concubine Zhuang was staying, I took Niu Xi and sneaked to the Enji Hall where Jinshi rested. The Enji Hall was originally used to store books, but now it is temporarily cleaned up for Jinshi to rest.

After Niu Xi arranged for the soldiers guarding outside, I walked into Lin Chongtan's resting room.Because it is a palace that has been tidied up temporarily, there are no beds, and the quilts are spread on the folded books.

Lin Chongtan was lying on a makeshift bed made of books, and when he heard me coming in, he immediately asked, "Who?"

I didn't answer, just closed the door with my backhand.Lin Chongtan had already found out that it was me. He sat up from the bed, first got out of bed with a frown to look at the situation outside, and then walked to my side, "Why are you here at this time?"

I looked at him and took out the seal in my sleeve.

When Lin Chongtan saw the seal, he didn't show any surprise, but said, "So this one is here with Xiaodi."

He was about to take it back, but I held the seal in my hand first.

"You know that letter, right?" I asked him.

Lin Chongtan's eyes moved slightly, and he nodded slowly.

I gritted my teeth, "You know that I want to kill you, why do you still help me?"

Lin Chongtan didn't speak, I kissed his lips proactively when I saw this.

I am not as smart as Lin Chongtan, he can often guess what I am thinking, so I always lose, but this time he will lose.

When people encounter danger, they instinctively protect the people they care about the most.

After Lin Chongtan was kissed by me, he wanted to push me away at first, but when he heard my soft voice calling him Tan Sheng, he pushed me away instead.He picked me up and pressed me against the book.I smell the smell of calligraphy and ink, and the smell of Lin Chongtan.He turned against the customer and kissed me from the lips to the earlobe.

I couldn't help but inhale when he held his earlobe in his mouth.

When Lin Chongtan heard my voice, his body paused, and he was about to let go of me.But I wasn't going to let him go. I put my arms around his neck and asked stubbornly, "Why do you want to help me? Do you want to save me?"

When he didn't speak, I grabbed him and kissed his face and lips.

Lin Chongtan almost never spoke to me frankly about love, but he didn't know the reason or what was the reason for drinking tonight, so he told me.

"You want to kill me, but I love you too. I thought the word "love" was the most ridiculous word in the world, but I found that I was so stupid that I couldn't see my own heart clearly."

He laughed at himself, then took the sachet from his waist.There is a small interlayer inside the sachet bag. When I saw him take out the small snuff bottle filled with white powder in the interlayer, I didn't realize what it was.

Until he said: "I have your ashes in every sachet and medicine bag. When you are not around, they are with me, as if you are still by my side."

"Xiaodi, don't hate me." Lin Chongtan said to me with pleading.