Tanhualang

It took Zhao Heng another two days before he could get out of bed and walk around. During this period, urgent reports came from the capital like snowflakes.

The most urgent news is that Ming Degong bought the Jin Wu general who was in charge of the court and the capital patrol, claiming that Zhao Heng and Zhao Ming had died in the hands of the Japanese, and was plotting to issue an imperial edict to help Zhao Juan ascend the throne.

So as soon as he was able to get out of bed, Zhao Heng began to manage the affairs in person.

Now that he was safe and sound, Shen Jing wanted to go back to Suzhou.

On the second night, he served Zhao Heng to eat half a bowl of porridge, and then mentioned to Zhao Heng to go back to Suzhou, but was immediately denied by Zhao Heng: "The situation is chaotic at the moment. It is best for you to stay here."

Shen Jing said in a low voice: "I am an official of the imperial court. Leaving my post without permission is a felony. I can't stay with Your Highness all the time."

Zhao Heng glanced at him: "The emperor is here. I am alone here. Who dares to ask your crime?"

Shen Jing: "..."

Zhao Heng's tone was a little softer: "Besides, Gu's hands are not cheap now, and he needs someone to help him. Now, there are not many trustworthy people around Gu. After a while, he returned to the capital to calm down the incident. , Gu will not detain you any longer."

Shen Jing hesitated for a while, and asked, "Your Highness, is this incident... easy to calm down?"

Zhao Heng gently lifted his injured right arm, and looked aside with a sneer: "It's God's will that I can't die now. The fate of the Ouyang family seems to be coming to an end."

Next, Shen Jing witnessed Zhao Heng's decisiveness.

Two days later, Zhao Heng ordered Ding Bao to remain stationed in Nanjing, and he personally took Zhao Ming and his party back to the capital.

Along the way to the north, Cao Feng from Henan and Fang Tingxiang from Shandong led troops to support them.When approaching the capital, the generals of Xuanfu and Datong sent a message saying that they had sent troops to the capital to help them.

Only then did Shen Jing understand why Zhao Heng took Zhao Ming and Zhao Juan to the north to work in the army in spite of the bitter cold after the end of the year.

There were still three days away from the capital, so Zhao Heng ordered to slow down.Shen Jing didn't know what mechanism he had here, until the next morning, the guards brought two young eunuchs into the camp to deliver the letter.

Zhao Heng's right arm injury has healed a lot. He personally took the letter from the recipient, opened it and read it, and ordered Shen Jing to write a reply immediately.

Only then did Shen Jing realize that it was the Empress Dowager who sent someone to send a letter asking for peace behind her father's back, Ouyang Jian!

Between father and son, she finally chose her son.

Two days later, Zhao Heng escorted Zhao Ming, joined forces with the Empress Dowager Ouyang Min, opened the city gate, and entered the capital.

On that day, Cao Feng took Jin Yiwei and encircled Mingde Gongfu under the orders of Zhao Ming and Zhao Heng. During the Shangmao period, he read the imperial edict in public, punishing Ouyang Jian's father and son for collaborating with the enemy and treason, plotting rebellion, bewitching the harem, forming cliques for private gains, embezzlement and bribery, etc. A serious crime, deprivation of the title, and house arrest.

Ming Degong immediately became enraged, frightened and bedridden.

In order to eliminate the remaining party of Ouyang Prosecutor, Cao Feng, Fang Tingxiang and others took Jin Yiwei to personally search the mansions of more than a hundred ministers, took forty or fifty of them away and interrogated them overnight in the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Asked to kill more than ten people.

Everyone in the court was in danger for a while.

On the third day, the Empress Dowager Ouyang Min issued an edict of guilt to Zhao Ming, requesting to be reduced to a commoner since Chen's lax restraint on the Duke caused him to harm the country and the people.Zhao Ming issued an order to exempt him from punishment, and granted an extrajudicial favor, allowing Ming Degong to be tried again after he recovered from his illness.

However, Duke Mingde's illness did not get better, and he died in the Duke's mansion four days later.Zhao Ming issued an order to bury him hastily as a commoner, and more than a hundred people from Ouyang's mansion were all detained in the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, awaiting trial.

The powerful and powerful Duke's Mansion collapsed.

Shen Jing stayed in Prince Yu's Mansion for a long time.During this period, Zhao Heng was so busy that he seemed to have forgotten him, and he never even saw him.

Shen Jing knew that he was busy, so she didn't bother to ask, just waited obediently, flipping and writing when she had nothing to do.

It wasn't until half a month later, when the turmoil gradually subsided, that Zhao Heng seemed to remember him, and sent someone to let him go home.

He rested at home for a few days, and first wrote to Xi Wei, asking him to send Cao Xiaoyu and Pan Xiaozhou back to Suzhou.

He reorganized the Jiangnan water conservancy report, then reported to the Ministry of Industry, and handed the report to Miao Shenjian in person, saying that he came to Beijing specially for the report.

Miao Shenjian left the report, but he was sympathetic and told him to go home and rest for two days.Before Shen Jing had time to rest, Yu Zhijing, Lu Meng and others had already heard the news of his return to Beijing, and Yihan took turns asking him out to pick up the wind and cleanse the dust, and they continued to socialize for several days at a time.

There was no social gathering that day, Shen Jing wanted to go home early, but was stopped by Miao Shenjian again.

It turned out that it was a matter of reporting by colleagues in Jiangnan.At this time, Miao Shenjian needed an excuse to show his face to Zhao Heng. After carefully reading the report, he thought about it for a long time, and felt that this was a good excuse, so he dragged Shen Jing to revise the report repeatedly until noon the next day. , Just let go of silence and go home.

When Shen Jing returned home, she fell asleep and slept until the sun was setting, before getting up in a daze.

It was the end of summer at this time, and although the evening primrose planted by Xiaomeng in the yard had been quite deserted, a few clumps were still blooming here and there.

Shen Jing was a little confused from sleep, and went down the steps ignorantly, looking blankly at Cong Ye Laixiang in a daze, Xiao Meng walked over from the side: "Sir, are you up?"

"En." Shen Jing responded vaguely, yawned again, staggered and wanted to go back to the bedroom for a while.When I turned around, I made a mistake, and noticed from the corner of my eye that there was a light on in the study room on the corridor, so I couldn't help but stop to look.

Dim light shone from the door and panes.

Shen Jing walked along the long corridor in a strange way, and pushed open the half-closed door.

I saw Zhao Heng leaning on the recliner, seeming to be concentrating on flipping through a book in his hand.Hearing the movement at the door, he glanced at it in a blink of an eye, then focused on the scroll again, and asked casually, "Are you asleep?"

Shen Jing was in a trance for a while, feeling that he was still in a dream, and after staying there for a long time, he said: "Your Highness... when did you come?"

"Not long after I came here, I saw that you were sleeping deeply, so I didn't call you." Zhao Heng raised his head again, and said with a slight smile, "I'm reading the report on the Jiangnan Fortifications you wrote."

Zhao Heng has been busy recently, and Shen Jing knew that he often stayed up all night when he was in Prince Yu's Mansion.After all, this was the third time I saw him after returning to Beijing.

At that time, on the way back to Beijing, I didn't think it was a big deal to take care of his food and clothing, but at this time, everything was calm, and I didn't know what to say for a while.

After hesitating for a while, he asked, "How is your Highness recovering?"

"The left shoulder doesn't feel much pain recently." Zhao Heng raised his right hand and shook the scroll in his hand, "The right arm is healed, and I can hold a pen now."

Nodding quietly: "...that's all right."

Zhao Heng put down the memorial, stood up, looked at Shen Jing: "Gu Lai, I have something to tell you."

Shen Jing was watched by him, and he felt a little flustered in his heart: "Please speak, Your Highness."

Zhao Heng took two steps closer, looked down at Shen Jing, and said in a low voice: "Earlier this morning, Gu has made it clear to Shang Maoshi that the engagement is void."

Shen Jing couldn't help holding her breath.

"I won't marry Shang Qingluo. I won't marry someone else." Zhao Heng raised his hand, grabbed Shen Jing's hand, and held it tightly, "Miao An, it is enough to have you by my side."

In August of the second year of Hongchen, the father of Empress Dowager Ouyang Ming Degong was convicted, and the Duke's mansion was confiscated. Except for Ming Degong who died of illness, the whole house was exiled.

The Holy Majesty spared the empress dowager the crime of continuous sitting, so the empress dowager was not implicated, but she punished herself to go to the Huangen Temple outside the city to copy the scriptures as a vegetarian. Before leaving, she entrusted the king of Germany Zhao Juan to Zhao Heng.

At the same time, when Shang Maoshi was promoted to the head of the cabinet, he was crowned the prince and Taibao.

At the end of August, on the grounds of missing the late emperor, Zhao Heng announced that he would be in mourning for the late emperor for three years, canceled his engagement with Shang Maoshi's daughter Shang Qingluo, and made Shang Qingluo the head of Huai County.

At the end of September, Shen Jing moved to Wailang, a member of the Ministry of Industry, under the strong recommendation of Miao Shenjian, Minister of Industry, because of his meritorious service in water control.

In the blink of an eye, another two years passed, and it was the beginning of spring in Hong Chen's fifth year.

In the past three years, the government has been clear and bright, the borders have been peaceful, the weather has been smooth, the people are prosperous, and the people are gradually showing signs of prosperity. The regent Zhao Heng is also famous and the people are full of praise.

In previous years, the palace was always the busiest at the beginning of the year, and various palace banquets continued one after another.This year, because the Empress Dowager worshiped Buddha outside the city, Concubine Li, who was in charge of the affairs of the palace on behalf of the Empress Dowager, had always kept a low profile. Coupled with her poor health at the end of the year, there were no banquets in the palace, so it was rare to be less busy and chaotic.

No matter how many stories there are in the imperial city, the common people are cheering as always, congratulating another new year.Lanterns hang high on the Long Street in Central Beijing, and the fire trees and silver flowers seem to be more lively than in previous years.

On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, the lanterns have been put on for the third day, but the flow of people on the street has not decreased at all. As the night gets darker, the flow of people is like a river. When it is bustling, sporadic snowflakes start to float in the sky.

While the moon was shining brightly and snowflakes were flying, no one wanted to avoid the snow. Instead, the crowd shouted "auspicious snow heralds a good year".

The children held lanterns and firecrackers, chasing the falling snowflakes, making more noise.

Amidst the din of people, a carriage came from the east and stopped in the dark of the city gate.A tall man in a black cloak and half a blue mask jumped out of the carriage, turned around and raised his hand, and greeted his companion who also wore a mask from the carriage.

Wrapped in cloaks, the two walked towards the lively lantern market one after the other, stopping from time to time, looking up to enjoy the lantern riddles on the lanterns, their elegant appearances attracting the attention of passers-by from time to time, secretly guessing who is the son of the family together out to play.

The night is getting deeper and deeper, the snowflakes are gradually thicker, and the crowds on the street are a little thinner.

At some point, the two who were originally walking one after the other turned into a man in a black cloak who walked side by side, holding the wrists of the people around him without hesitation, and strolled forward.

Walking along the street, someone looked at the two of them face to face, and whispered about someone's dandy, so unrestrained.

There is a stone bridge at the end of the street, with scattered lotus lanterns floating under the bridge. There are nine railings on each side of the bridge, and a lamp hangs on each railing, and there is an anagram on the lamp.Someone was selling plum blossoms at the head of the bridge, yelling while selling: "Whoever can guess all the twenty-nine crossword puzzles on the bridge will get a bunch of red plum blossoms! The meaning is long and long, and it is booming!"

The man in the black cloak seemed quite interested in hearing the cries. He greeted everyone's attention, led the people around him, and walked up the bridge. He followed the railings and guessed one by one. He took his companion to the florist to fetch plum blossoms.

The florist handed out the bouquet and complimented with a smile: "The two of you are the first to guess all the crossword puzzles today, you are talented!"

Zhao Heng took it with a smile: "Thank you."

There were a lot of people watching behind him, and I didn't know who it was. At this moment, he suddenly said in a sour tone: "Two men are holding hands, what kind of talent are you?"

Zhao Heng turned his head and followed the sound to look at the other party.

Shen Jing noticed Zhao Heng's displeasure, and patted his arm lightly: "I came out today to be happy, so don't worry about it."

Zhao Heng responded, still leading him, and turned to go to the bridge.

When he reached the middle of the bridge, he suddenly stopped, turned around and looked down at Shen Jing.

Shen Jing raised her head, and asked in a low voice with doubts: "Your Highness?"

Regardless of the crowd behind him, Zhao Heng clasped Shen Jing's hands tightly: "Miao'an. Gu knows that you have suffered a lot for Gu over the past few years."

He didn't know how many times he had heard all kinds of rumors and gossip, let alone the silence in it?

Shen Jing's heart felt warm when she heard the words, she smiled and said in a low voice: "What is your Highness saying? I don't feel wronged—"

Before the words fell, Zhao Heng raised his hand to take off the mask, and threw his arm into the river, splashing water, and the excited lotus lantern swaying and undulating.

Shen Jingyu, Xi, Tuan, Team, Du, Jia.She froze, her eyes widened behind the mask.

Zhao Heng's long eyebrows were raised, the corners of his lips were raised slightly, and his handsome face was shining brightly. He pulled him to turn around and walked down the bridge: "Today, I just want to walk with you in a fair manner."

Facing the thickening wind and snow, he held the plum branch in one hand and Shen Jing in the other, with the hem of his robe fluttering, he strode towards the opposite long street.

The guards who followed secretly, didn't care about hiding their figures at this time, appeared one after another and chased after him.Someone in the crowd recognized that face, but didn't dare to confirm it, guessing in a low voice: "Which one...is the regent?"

The streets are full of bright lights, and amidst the sound of firecrackers near and far, a bright moon hangs high.

Two tall figures standing side by side walked together through the wind and snow, gradually walking away from the crowd.

End of the full text.