Prince of Heaven

The customs of the people of the Li country are similar to those of other countries on the mainland. The New Year's Eve dinner, New Year's Eve, New Year's money... If there is a difference, it is worshiping gods. Every country has their patron saints, and the gods they worship are of course different.

In addition, there is a rather unique and romantic custom in Liguo.

People from Liguo practice martial arts, and they regard martial arts as a compulsory course like poetry and etiquette, and let children learn it from an early age.Even poor people can dance a trick or two with a branch.

The customs derived from this are naturally not available to others.When the new year comes, the youngsters or young girls with the best martial arts in the family will wear gorgeous clothes and dance swords with music. There are many types of sword dances, but the purpose is the same, all of which are to "pleasing the gods".

Therefore, on the last night of the old year, the entire Liguo was full of joyful sword dances by young girls and boys, like budding flowers, blooming with the sound of music, blooming the most moving flowers everywhere in the city. posture.

It is a matter of course for the Duke of Jin'an's mansion that the eldest son Jing Huai is responsible for the task of "pleasing the gods".He put on gorgeous clothes, held a sharp and cold sword, and danced sharply and gracefully in the courtyard.

Rong Shi couldn't bear to look at it, and heard the servant of the mansion exclaim in a low voice: "In terms of pleasing the gods, I'm afraid there is no one comparable to our son."

indeed.Rong Shi silently added.

After enjoying the spirit and watching the dance, the people in the whole mansion dispersed.Jing Huai watched the New Year with his father and mother, and remembered that Rong Shi was alone, so he ordered his servants to bring Rong Shi over to watch the New Year with him.

Rong Shi stepped into the room, and politely said a Happy New Year to Jing Huai's father and mother.

Jing Huai looked at him with a smile, and embraced him by his side: "Mingyu, come, let's watch the New Year with Young Master."

At midnight, the sound of the watchman's beeping sounded. After the New Year's Eve, the old people who couldn't bear the sleepiness went to bed first, and the rest of the young people had a rare chance to play around without being restrained. Opened up to play like a wild horse.

Rongshi was not in good health, so Jing Huai also sent him back in advance.

It's almost four o'clock, and the sound of fireworks and firecrackers can still be heard on the street in the distance, which is very lively.

Light sleep for a while, did not fall asleep.

He touched the red sheepskin seal under the pillow, it was the lucky money Jing Huai gave him.

He didn't want it.He is not really Jing Huai's child.But he couldn't refuse, when Jing Huai gave him the red seal with a smile, he rubbed his head and told him to grow up quickly.

Even though this is just the most common blessing from an adult to a child, Rong Shi's heart still beats when he heard it.

After the new year, he can be said to be 13 years old.According to the tradition of leaving the country, a man is sixteen years old, and he will grow up in three years.

Three years passed quickly.Since he lived in the cold palace to now, hasn't three years passed quickly?

Rongshi slept late, because Jing Huai specifically told him not to call him in the morning, and let him sleep until he woke up naturally.So the next morning when he woke up, it was daylight.

He didn't see Jing Huai's figure.

According to the usual practice, Jinghuai should have entered the palace to face the saint.

In previous years, when he was the crown prince, he had also been bowed down by courtiers on the first day of the Lunar New Year.He asked about the time, estimated that it would be several hours before Jing Huai would come back, and after washing his mouth, he went to read a book.

He has a photographic memory, and he can see ten lines at a glance, so he doesn't read books.Therefore, he has been reading all kinds of books since he was a child, including the Four Books and Five Classics, the Art of War, the works of various schools of thought, historical records, geographical records, even essays and ghost stories, ghosts and tales.

After noon, the mansion suddenly became lively.

It turned out that the emperor issued a decree to bestow marriage, and the object of bestowing marriage was Jinghuai and the second princess.

The order of the teeth is arranged separately in the families of the people in the Li country, and the same is true for the royal family.The eldest princess, sixteen, has already married Qianguo and made peace with her. The second princess, thirteen, is not as old as Ji, but has reached the age to discuss marriage.

For a while, Jinghuai became the envy of everyone in Shangjing.When she was young, she was loved by the queen mother. After the queen mother passed away, she was accepted as a disciple by Mr. Wei. Six years later, when she returned to Beijing, she became famous and was favored by the emperor. Now she is also a princess. I really envy others.

Everyone in Duke Jin'an's mansion was full of joy, and on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Mrs. Jin'an gave a reward to the servants in the mansion again, and it was a double reward in previous years.

Yin Zhu put the reward he got in his arms, jumped into the room happily, and met Rong Shi's cold face as soon as he raised his head, his body froze instantly.

"What's the matter? Who messed with you, this face is about to freeze, it looks colder than this cold spring." After Yinzhu finished speaking, he rubbed his arms and made a funny movement in order to ease the atmosphere.

However, Rong Shi's face did not change at all, and his whole body exuded an aura of keeping strangers away.

Yinzhu sensed the danger inexplicably, he took a step back, and said tentatively: "Well, I will put the things that Madam rewarded you on your table."

There was no response when he saw Rong, Yinzhu quickly put down his things and slipped away.

In fact, he was very curious about the young man brought back by the young master at first, but by nature he loves to make trouble, and he really can't get along with the eccentric Rong Shi, and gradually he doesn't like to play with him anymore.

As for the "clank oath" to fight for the status of Zhao Buli and Zhao Buqi's brothers at the same time, they have almost forgotten.

He expected that Rong Shi would be favored by the young master, so he would not care about his closeness, and made new friends without any psychological burden.

Rong Shi looked at the direction that led Zhu to leave for a while, but there was no fluctuation in the expression on his face.

He calmly withdrew his gaze, didn't glance at the reward on the table, and sat in front of the desk to start reading again.

The second princess, Rongyun, whose biological mother, Wang Meiren, was an old man when the emperor lived in his residence, was favored in the early years. After the emperor made the empress, she was gradually neglected together with other concubines, but because she had a daughter under her knees, her life was not bad. It is flat, does not participate in competition, and will not be bullied by others.

Rong Yun is also one of the few people who is willing to help out when Rong Shi is miserable.

In other words, apart from the old eunuch in charge of the cold palace, there was only Rong Yun alone.

Although as an unfavored princess, she can't provide substantial help, and Wang Meiren has repeatedly warned her not to allow her to get close to Rongshi.But Rong Yun did indeed give him a little light when Rong Shi was on the verge of despair.

Rong Shi sat motionless in front of the desk, his eyes were lowered as if he was looking at the letter, but he was indifferent, as if nothing caught his eyes.Only the unconsciously curled fingers showed that the master's mood didn't seem to be peaceful.

After a long time, he raised his head and looked in an unknown direction.

He gets it.In this world, strength and power are the most important. Without these, he can't destroy the people he hates, and he can't get the people he likes.

He would never allow Jing Huai to be touched by anyone, let alone get married.

As for how...

There is a more permanent solution than killing Rongyun.

Ying Shiliu's injury has healed up. Although he hasn't completely healed yet, it doesn't hinder his daily activities much.

He went into the palace to report to the emperor what he had observed when he sneaked into Jin'an Gong's mansion that day.

"Jing Huai stays up late at night to guard the abolished prince, and his words and deeds seem to attach great importance to the abolished prince. There may be conspiracy behind it."

The emperor narrowed his eyes and asked, "What conspiracy?"

Ying Shiliu bowed his head and calmly said four frightening words: "Jiang's disaster."

With a "snap", the emperor dropped a roll of bamboo slips in his hand heavily, and the bamboo slips hit the book case with a shocking sound.

Zhang Wangde secretly took a deep breath, took two steps back carefully, and hid himself in the dark, trying to reduce his sense of existence as much as possible.

Ying Shiliu didn't respond. He lowered his head and knelt straight, as if he had no regrets—he was telling the truth.

The emperor had bruised veins on his forehead, obviously in a rage.

At this time, a servant's voice came from outside the door: "Master Jing is asking to see you outside the hall."

Zhang Wangde glanced at his little apprentice and wiped his sweat secretly.I wonder what day it is today, one by one is not celebrating the New Year here to brew a storm.

"Let him in." The emperor suppressed his anger.

The servant retreated, and soon after, Jing Huai stepped into the door and felt an unusual aura.

Ying Sixteen had disappeared before Jing Huai came in, and only the emperor and a servant remained in the imperial study room, and the atmosphere was eerily quiet.

The emperor asked first, "What's the matter?"

Jing Huai replied: "This minister is here to ask the emperor to take back his order, about the marriage between the second princess and my minister."

The emperor glanced at Jing Huai, who was still neither humble nor overbearing in front of him, sneered, and said: "In the past, the Queen Mother loved the Duke and Duchess of Jin'an, and the queen loved Wu Jiwu, and she loved and indulged you so much. When you come back to Beijing, I will use you more , placed high hopes on you, and granted you many privileges. But you relied on the favor of the Queen Mother and I to run amok, and did not take the rules of the royal family seriously. You took the token that the Queen Mother gave you and took away the people in the palace. During the next god sacrifice ceremony, I asked you to bring that person to see me, but you didn’t bring him, and now I’m marrying my daughter to you, but you’re here to decline——Jing Huai, do you really think that I won’t add any crimes to you?”

Jing Huai replied: "Your Majesty, I have absolutely no intention of doing so. It's just that the second princess is still young, and she is a noble person, so she shouldn't be wronged to marry someone who is half a year older than her. Perhaps, Your Majesty can also ask The wish of the second princess is whether she is willing to marry Yuchen."

"My daughter, I still can't be the master?"

Jing Huai explained: "Marriage needs to pay attention to fate. If there is no such bond between husband and wife, if there is a pair of resentful spouses, the wronged one will still be the second princess."

The emperor's original intention was to use the second princess's marriage to firmly restrain Jing Huai, and of course he never thought about whether his children would be wronged.Isn't the eldest princess more wronged than the second princess when she marries Qianguo and makes peace with her?At the beginning, the eldest princess cried and cried all night, but was she not sent to the sedan chair in the end?

Being in the royal family, there are many places where you can't help yourself.As a princess of the royal family, if her marriage was in a peaceful and prosperous age, the emperor would let her go. But now there are three other kingdoms eyeing her outside the imperial court, and there are temples inside. How can the princess be given such a luxurious freedom of marriage?

"The relationship between husband and wife needs to be cultivated. Jingqing is both civil and military, and she is handsome. What's the problem even if the elder Ajun is six years old? Besides, six years old is not very old. The difference between the first emperor and the queen mother is ten years old. Has the queen mother ever felt wronged?" Ever? I am eight years older than the queen, and have I ever..."

The emperor's voice stopped abruptly.

Zhang Wangde shrank himself in the shadows, not daring to vent his breath.Sure enough, a moment later, pain and resentment appeared in the emperor's eyes, and the violent emotion quickly spread.

But he was trying to suppress it.In recent years, his temper has become more and more irritable, but he rarely shows it in front of courtiers.

The courtiers only knew that the emperor had a bad temper, but they didn't know how bad it was.

Jing Huai was also keenly aware of the abnormality of the emperor.

After weighing the matter, Jing Huai felt that it was inappropriate to continue talking at this time. Since this problem cannot be resolved peacefully, other methods can only be used.For Jing Huai, controlling his marriage is the same as controlling his personal freedom, which cannot be forgiven or compromised.

At this moment, the emperor was suffering from another headache, and the expression on his face was on the verge of irritability.

The Duke of Jin's Mansion is very powerful in the imperial court, and Jing Huai is a well-known teacher. His ability to solve the rumors some time ago has already revealed the tip of the iceberg.If such people cannot be used for their own use, they can only be eliminated.

If Jing Huai refuses again, then the shadow guards in the palace will let Jing Huai stay in this place forever.

"Okay." The emperor closed his eyes, as if he didn't want to discuss this topic any more, "The queen mother probably doesn't want you and Ajun to be a married couple, and I didn't let you get married right away, but just settled on a marriage. When you get married in the next year, you and Ajun can also take this opportunity to cultivate your relationship."

Jing Huai raised his hands, folded them above, and saluted the emperor.The moment he bowed his head, his expression was lost in the shadow cast by his arms.

"Minister, leave."

Jing Huai's voice was calm as usual.