Tanhualang

Shen Jing followed Zhi Jing, Lu Meng followed the eunuch to the open hall where the banquet was held, and took his seat after saluting.He knew in his heart that Zhao Heng was also in the pavilion, so he kept his eyes on his nose, his nose, his heart, and didn't dare to lift his head. He was a little nervous and worried, wondering if Zhao Heng would come to talk to him.

But out of the corner of his eye, Zhao Heng sat firmly in his seat all the time, not moving at all, but turning his head from time to time to talk to the minister wearing vermilion clothes next to him.

After waiting for a long time, Shen Jing let out a light breath, trying her best to shake off her disappointment.

...Zhao Heng is, completely disgusted with himself, right?

The majesty hadn't taken his seat yet, and the Jinshi next to him on the same list were all chatting in private.There is only silence, with a mess in my heart, sitting silently.

Lu Meng, who won the second place, is originally from Guangdong, and he should also look very young. After taking his seat, he has been chatting quietly with the champion Yu Zhijing.

After a while, he spoke a Cantonese accent with a very strong accent, turned to Shen Jing, lowered his voice and said to Shen Jing: "Hey, is that over there His Royal Highness Prince Yu?"

Shen Jing followed his gaze.

Coincidentally, there was a long table, diagonally across from the quiet, just happened to be Zhao Heng, who was also wearing a vermilion princely dress and a jade belt, and was getting up to greet another minister.

Shen Jing retracted her gaze and nodded: "Exactly."

"Tsk tsk, tsk tsk." Lu Meng admired in a low voice, "I have long heard that His Royal Highness Prince Yu has an extraordinary bearing. When I saw him today, he really lived up to his reputation. He is even more handsome than the legends say. And he looks very young."

Shen Jing nodded silently: "Yes."

Just as Lu Meng was talking, he only saw an eunuch who was dressed in the fourth grade, he must be some kind of chief executive, walked up to Shen Jing and saluted lightly, and said with a smile, "Shen Tanhua?"

Shen Jing hurriedly got up to return the salute, and then the eunuch laughed and said: "The Holy Majesty ordered to give flowers to all Jinshi. I still have to work hard for you, please go to the imperial garden with your slaves to pick flowers?"

Since ancient times, Jinshi has been rewarded with flowers.Although the rewards for Jinshi uniforms now include green feathers and silver branches and red velvet flowers on the hairpins on Wusha, it is a rule for the emperor to give flowers and pick flowers at the Enrong Banquet.

Shen Jing saluted and said with a smile: "My lord, please lead the way."

Everyone watched Shen Jing follow the eunuch.

Several ministers who were already seated at the banquet stared at Shen Jing all the way, and whispered to each other:

"Your Majesty's eyes are as bright as a torch. This Tanhualang selected this year is really very handsome. I don't know where he is from?"

"I heard that he is from Suzhou. Jie Yuan from Suzhou Township Examination."

"Yo, that's amazing. No wonder people say that there have been beauties in Suzhou and Hangzhou since ancient times. I don't know if this Tanhualang has ever married?"

"I don't know about that. When Mr. Hong comes and asks him, it will be all clear? But why are you asking this, do you want to choose him as Chenglong Kuai's son-in-law?"

"I don't dare to think about it. How many families have daughters in the capital, and how many pairs of eyes are staring at such a person, where is it our turn?"

Zhao Heng sat on the table and listened to a few words absently.Looking up, he saw that Shen Jing had gone far away, and there was no one in sight, so he stood up, said "excuse me" to the minister beside him, and walked out of the open room calmly.

Shen Jing followed the eunuch leading the way into the garden, and heard him laughing at the front: "In the past, I went to the apricot garden to pick flowers. This year, the apricot blossoms in the garden are particularly prosperous. At that time, we also said that this is a good omen. , indicating that the imperial court has got another batch of thriving talents. Unexpectedly, the test was postponed, and now there are peonies, peonies, hydrangeas, and crabapples in bloom in the garden. But there are no apricot flowers."

Shen Jing smiled and said, "It's even more auspicious. It can be seen that the saint is virtuous, a hundred flowers bloom, and all people return to their hearts."

The eunuch smiled and said, "Shen Tanhua is really kind. We've arrived at the Shaoyao Garden, please."

As soon as the two entered the garden, they heard footsteps.Looking back to see it was Zhao Heng, Shen Jing panicked and hurriedly followed the eunuch to salute.

Zhao Heng raised his hand and said loudly, and said to the eunuch: "Director Hao, if you have something to do, go there, Yougu is here to guide Shen Tanhua."

Manager Hao left after hearing the words and saluting.

Shen Jing stands next to a bush of peonies at a loss.

He knew that Zhao Heng must have something to say when he came here, but he couldn't think of what Zhao Heng would say, so he couldn't help feeling anxious for a moment.

Zhao Heng's expression was normal, and he looked at Shen Jing with his hands behind his back: "I haven't had time to congratulate you on high school."

"...Thank you, Your Highness."

Zhao Heng turned around, and casually broke off a peony from the flower branch: "Gu Lai, I want to accompany you."

Shen Jing was startled when she heard the words, and before she could speak, Zhao Heng continued: "Your essay in the palace examination is really remarkable, and several ministers who reviewed the papers also praised it. Originally, Brother Huang wanted to give your essay a nod." You are famous, but after reading the name, I knew it was you, and I was worried that someone would criticize me if they knew you had been in the Gu Mansion, so I pushed you to No.3."

He looked at Shen Jing with his hands behind his back: "This matter is that Gu has troubled you. You could have been awarded a sixth-rank editor, so you only have a seventh-rank editor, which will waste you for two years. When you have a chance in the future, Gu will be with the emperor again." Brother, I will make up for this debt to you."

Island, Xi, regiment, team, independence, home.Shen Jing hurriedly said: "Your Highness absolutely must not. The Holy Majesty is very considerate. If His Highness is like this again, you will fail the Holy Majesty's love and protection. The number one scholar is just a false name, and it is really not worth worrying about."

"I don't care about whether it's worth it or not." Zhao Heng smiled and said, "I don't like to owe this favor. You just know it, and don't worry about the rest."

Hearing the words, Shen Jing couldn't help but look up at Zhao Heng.

However, Zhao Heng threw the peony in his hand into Shen Jing's arms lightly: "Shen Tanhua, let's continue. Gu will go first."

"...Your Highness!"

Zhao Heng stopped and turned around: "Is there anything else?"

Shen Jing lowered her eyes and said in a low voice: "That day...if I was rude, I hope His Highness will forgive you."

Zhao Heng raised his eyebrows: "Disrespect? Where is your disrespect?"

"I...shouldn't have said nothing and contradicted His Highness."

Hearing this, Zhao Heng turned around and walked back, and stood in front of Shen Jing with his hands behind his back: "Shen Tan was talking too much. What you said that day was right. I have a noble status, but I care about a villain like Mu Junhuai, and I really lowered my status."

"..."

"That day's words and deeds offended Shen Tanhua's sweetheart, and if she was rude, please don't blame Shen Tanhua."

Zhao Heng said, smiled again, turned around and walked out of the peony garden.

Because of Zhao Heng's words, Shen Jing was absent-minded throughout the banquet.

He almost didn't even hear the Holy Majesty's question during the dinner, but fortunately Lu Meng was there to remind him: "The Holy Majesty called your name!"

Shen Jing hurriedly got up to attend the salute, but the Holy One asked him with a smile, "Are you married?"

"Not yet."

"Such a good-looking talent, many people must be thinking about it." The Holy One smiled, and turned to look at the ministers in the banquet, "It is said that elderly people like to be matchmakers, so I will join in the fun today. Who is there?" The minister took a fancy to it, so he came to tell me that it would be a good thing for me to be the matchmaker."

Shen Jing heard this, but her heart tightened.

What the Holy Majesty said was clearly intended to be a matchmaker for him, but to put it bluntly, it meant that the Holy Majesty had already fallen in love with this person, and asked others to stay behind.

Shen Jing thanked her, got up and took her seat again.

Lu Meng, who was next to him, came over and said in a low voice, "Congratulations. It seems that you are going to have a double happiness. You must invite me to have a wedding wine when the time comes."

After speaking, he smiled and muttered: "Oh, if I knew why I got married so early? It would be nice to wait for the Holy One to give me a daughter-in-law."

Shen Jing reluctantly smiled and replied, but then she became even more upset and lost her appetite.

He had imagined all kinds of troubles after entering the imperial court before, but he never thought that on the first day of his entrustment, at the honor banquet, the Holy Majesty would present such a big problem for him.

After the Enrong Banquet, Shen Jing was quite busy for a while.

Xiao You, Wei Zheng, Cao Feng, Xi Wei, and Sun Ping took turns to invite guests to congratulate him, needless to say; now there is a group of fellow Jinshi and colleagues from the Imperial Academy, most of them are high-spirited young people, There are countless rewards and exchanges between each other.

Although Shen Jing doesn't like to socialize, she also understands the principle of doing as the Romans do.

Now the colleagues around him, I don't know how many will become ministers of the court in the future.Since he became an official in the court, being able to know and understand one more person now means that he will have more vision and scheming in the future.

Therefore, if there is an invitation among colleagues, he will go with the crowd; it's just that during the banquet, he watched more and listened more, and said less.

But there is also a trouble.

The capital said it was not too big, and the news that he had written next to King Yu quickly spread, so people often asked him about his work in Prince Yu's mansion.

At this time, Shen Jing said truthfully: "I know some cooking skills. When I was in the palace, I once made soup for the prince."

As soon as the news spread, some laughed and others scolded.

There are those jealous and tricky scholars who nicknamed Shen Jing "Tang Tang Tan Hua", ridiculing Shen Jing for clinging to the powerful, and surrendering his status as a scholar to be a cook for others.

After Shen Jing heard it, she just smiled and ignored it.

Even if some snarky people laughed at him face to face, he still smiled and asked the other party: "I have no other strengths, but this hobby. If you also like appetite, you can also come to me for a taste or two."

Because of his open-minded attitude, on the contrary, many villains who were envious of him turned off their flames.

After more than a month of busy work, Shen Jing quickly made many friends among colleagues and fellow Jinshi.Therefore, the contact with Xiaoyou, Xi Wei and others has decreased a lot.

After entering the Hanlin Academy and getting a public office, time flies even faster, and it is summer in a blink of an eye, and the weather is getting hotter.

It coincided with the rest of the day, and Lu Meng, who had the best relationship with Shen Jing among the fellow Jinshi, invited Shen Jing out for a drink.

Lu Meng was three or four years older than Shen Jing, and he already had a wife at home in Guangdong, but because of the long distance and the need to serve the elderly, he could not go to the capital to meet.

His family was not well-off, so he was picky and picky, and he never bought a suitable house, so he only temporarily lived in the class room of the Imperial Academy.Therefore, knowing that Shen Jing actually has a yard in the capital, she would often come to Shen Jing's place to eat and drink.

This time I went to a newly opened mutton restaurant in Beijing. It is said that the mutton is delicious.Shen Jing followed Lv Meng to the place, and found that besides herself and Lv Meng, there were Chen Fang, an attendant from the Imperial Academy, Mi Xiurui, an editor, and two principals from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, surnamed Zhang and Liu respectively.

After greeting each other and taking their seats, mutton in various recipes was brought up, paired with several side dishes.Shen Jing didn't eat much, so he put down his chopsticks after a few mouthfuls.

During the dinner, Mi Xiuzhuan and Mr. Zhang were very good at drinking, and they kept persuading them to drink, which made Shen Jing drink a lot.After drinking for three rounds, he felt that he couldn't hold on anymore, so he got up and left the table, using the excuse of cleaning his hands, to go outside to avoid the limelight.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked out of the door, he ran into Xi Wei coming out of another room. He looked up and saw Shen Jing, and immediately greeted him with a smile: "I really can't help talking! I was still talking about it in the room, and I haven't seen you for a while, so when I came out, We met, this is not fate!"

As he spoke, he dragged Shen Jing into the room: "Come on, come on! Have a drink here before leaving! ——Look who is here, I can't even invite you, but I just ran into it!"

Shen Jing followed him in with a smile, and before he had a closer look at who was present, he saw Zhao Heng who was sitting in the upper seat, and was taken aback before bending over to salute and say hello.

Zhao Heng was taken aback when he saw him, and then smiled politely: "Shen Hanlin is polite. Please take a seat."

Shen Jing was immediately froze by the stab of "Shen Hanlin".

Ever since Zhao Heng met Zhao Heng at the Enrong Banquet last time, and Zhao Heng said those few words to him indifferently, he has been carefully avoiding him, and has never seen Zhao Heng again. It has been more than a month.

Xiaoyou Wei Zheng present here naturally knew what was going on, and Cao Feng and Sun Ping also sensed something was wrong, so they didn't dare to say anything for a while.Only Xi Wei didn't realize it. He dragged Shen Jing to sit next to him, and poured him a glass of wine with a smile: "You've been really busy lately, and you haven't even seen anyone. I went to pick you up before I came here, Xiao Meng." But you said that you came out with that Lu Meng. I didn't expect to come here, what a coincidence."

Shen Jing smiled: "It is indeed a coincidence."

Xi Wei handed him the wine glass and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for so many days. I won't let you drink too much. Toast Your Highness and have a drink with us. Then say a few words and let you go."

Shen Jing had already had enough to drink over there, and she almost felt like throwing up when she saw the wine glass.At this time, he had no choice but to take the wine glass, got up and forced a smile and said to Zhao Heng, "I haven't greeted His Highness for many days. Let's use Xi Weibao's place to respect His Highness's glass."

Zhao Heng looked at him, but didn't make a sound, didn't take the wine glass, paused and said: "Gu drank a little too much today. Let's drink it another day."

Shen Jing froze and stood on the spot, unable to even laugh

Xi Wei finally realized something was wrong at this moment, looked at Zhao Heng, then at Shen Jing, and didn't know what to say: "This, this..."

Xiao You stood up quickly, poured a bowl of tea and brought it to Shen Jing, he laughed and said, "General Xi thought they were both like you and Cao Feng, why don't you get drunk after a thousand cups? I drank too much. Come and drink a bowl of tea to relieve the bar."

After speaking, he turned back to Xi Wei and said, "Everyone drank a lot tonight. Why don't you ask them to make a hangover soup?"

Xi Wei nodded repeatedly when he heard the words: "Okay! I'm called Xiao Er!"

Over there Sun Ping said with a smile: "The mutton soup here is pretty good, but I don't know how other ones are. Why don't you tell them to go to the Jufeng Building next door and get a copy? They are good at cooking southern dishes, soup, soup, and water. It's delicious."

After Cao Feng heard this, he turned his head and sneered at Zhao Heng, "Listen quickly, Your Highness, what is he talking about? A rough man who is used to marching and fighting is now so particular."

Listening to the gags from the crowd, Shen Jing held the tea bowl stiffly and didn't drink half a mouthful. After sitting in a daze for a while, he forced a smile and stood up: "Your Highness, everyone, please slow down. There are still a few people over there. Wait, friend, please forgive me for being rude."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Zhao Heng to nod, he turned around and went out as if fleeing.

He came out of the restaurant all the way, asked Xiao Er for water to wash his face in the backyard, and stood for a long time before returning to the previous room. He was absent-minded and reluctantly socialized with them, and then left the place.

The head of the Ministry of Industry, surnamed Liu, ordered his followers to drive Lu Meng and Shen Jing back.Shen Jing said that she wanted to go for a walk to digest food, and got out of the carriage halfway.After walking along the way back for a short time, when I was near my home, I couldn't hold on any longer, and hid in a corner and vomited wine.

I don't know how long I vomited, but at the end I only felt bitter in my mouth, my whole body was vain, and I couldn't vomit anything anymore, so I took out the handkerchief and wiped the corners of my mouth, and walked out.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he turned to the street, he saw Xiao You standing there with his hands in his hands, and seeing him approaching, he sighed: "Is it still possible? I'm afraid you'll spit out all the bile."

Shen Jing was taken aback for a moment: "...why are you here?"

But Xiaoyou sighed at him and shook his head: "Drink like this, Shen Jing, why did you come here? I don't know, I really think you are the one who strives for fame and fortune."

With a pale face, Shen Jing forced a smile: "Who in the world is not a person who strives for fame and fortune? I am no exception."

After a pause, he hesitated and said, "You didn't go back home with His Highness?"

"Together." Xiaoyou took out his handkerchief and handed it to Shen Jing, "I just passed by here, and I happened to see you throwing up in the dark on the side of the road. I told His Highness that I have something to do, but he didn't say anything, just let The carriage stopped and put me down. That was tacit consent."

Shen Jing nodded: "...Thank you."

Xiao You sent Shen Jing back home, and before leaving, he sighed: "Take care of yourself. Those on official business are almost enough. I don't wait for the title of Marquis and Prime Minister."

Shen Jing smiled and said, "Thank you, I've made a note of it. But now that we've reached this point, are we going to give up halfway? You have to go well to be worthy of His Highness's cultivation and your hard work."

After another ten days or so, the weather will be in ambush.

It was very hot and stuffy, and I was sweating when I sat and stood. There were thunder and lightning outside from time to time, and there was a burst of heavy rain.

Shen Jing experienced the summer in the north for the first time, but she didn't feel anything, but felt that it was not so humid compared to the south of the Yangtze River.But it's very hot, and my appetite is a little bit bad; and.彡;Xi, I just managed to eat some every day.

It was another busy day at the Hanlin Academy, and I returned home after dark.

The weather was very hot, and there was rumbling thunder on the road, and it seemed that it was going to rain.

Shen Jing hurried home, took a shower to wash off the sweat, and ate some noodles with Xiao Meng Cao, then moved the reclining chair to the porch, put on a thin summer shirt and leaned against it, at the point of the lantern under the porch Dim light, and the wind that seems to exist in the yard, while drying his hair, while reading a book with a fan.

I don't know when, so I fell asleep watching it. After sleeping for an unknown period of time, I was awakened by the rumbling thunder in mid-air.

The light of the lantern flickered, and it was about to burn out.

It was almost midnight, and the wind outside was not so hot.Shen Jing tied up her hair, picked up the book that fell at her feet, pulled on her shoes, hiccuped and wanted to go back to her room to sleep.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he lay down on the bed, he heard Xiaomeng knocking on the door: "Sir! The housekeeper is here!"

Shen Jing was sleepy, startled when he heard the words, immediately turned over and sat up, put on his clothes and went to open the door.

Sure enough, Xiaoyou stood at the door with an anxious expression on his face: "I'm here to disturb your sleep at such a late hour."

"What are you talking about?" Shen Jing let him into the room and lit a candle, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

Xiao You hesitated for a while, then looked at Shen Jing: "... His Highness has committed another chronic illness."

Shen Jing paused while pouring tea: "When?"

"It's been at least two days. I haven't committed it again for a year, but I don't know why it happened again suddenly. Yesterday I saw that he had a bad face, and he didn't say anything when I asked him. He just endured it." Xiaoyou sighed, "This morning I probably couldn't hold it any longer, and told me to go to Doctor Xiaoding."

Shen Jing, the Imperial Physician Xiao Ding, knew that he was the apprentice of that old Imperial Physician Zhang.Before, Xiaoyou specially asked him to come here to learn the acupuncture method from Shen Jing. At the end of last year, when Zhao Heng went to Gansu, he also asked him to follow.

Shen Jing hurriedly asked: "Did the needle not work?"

"What kind of needle? The person is not in the capital." Xiaoyou shook his head, "It is said that his father passed away and went back to his hometown for the funeral two days ago. Doctor Zhang said that he left in a hurry, so he didn't have time to tell me. This is a mistake Big deal."

"..."

Looking at Shen Jing, Xiao You stammered, "...that's why I came to you secretly."

Looking at his expression, Shen Jing immediately understood, and said with a wry smile: "Is Your Highness refusing to use me?"

"...Yes." Xiaoyou sighed, "It seems to be very uncomfortable. I was irritable tonight, I didn't eat, and the dishes fell on the floor... I just mentioned it and came to you, and he almost kicked me The table, he gritted his teeth and refused to let him come. He said that if I came to you, let me get out of the palace and don't go back in the future. "

"..."

Xiaoyou sighed helplessly: "It seems... that time... I was really angry. What do you think about this?"

Shen Jing sighed and stood up: "Go outside and wait. I changed my clothes and went back with you."

Xiaoyou stood up and nodded: "Okay... Thank you for your hard work. No matter whether it's good or bad, let's coax this trouble away first."

Shen Jing neatly put her hair up in a bun and changed her clothes, then followed Xiao You to the Prince Yu's mansion in a carriage.

Along the way, there was a little chatter, and Shen Jing only echoed, absent-minded, not knowing what he was thinking.

Since he left last time, he has not set foot in the palace for almost half a year.

The last night before leaving the palace was the beginning of March, when Zhao Heng abandoned his guards, hurried back to the capital on horseback, and came to see him in the middle of the night.

...Thinking about it carefully, what kind of affection was supposed to be, but he could only retreat step by step, betraying the affection.

Entering the gate of the Wangfu, Shen Jing recalled the past as if it had passed away, but she didn't have time to feel emotional, and hurried along the Chaoshou corridor, all the way to the door of Zhao Heng's bedroom.

Seeing Wei Zheng guarding the door, seeing Shen Jing slightly nodded.

There was a faint sound of thunder in the air from time to time, as if a heavy rain was coming.

The lights in the room were still on, and Zhao Heng could vaguely hear the sound of pacing back and forth, and the sound of stopping occasionally and patting his knees.

Xiao You paused at the door, then looked back at Shen Jing, showing a bit of fear.Shen Jing took a step forward, tugged at his sleeve, and said in a low voice, "Go to the kitchen and fry some coarse salt and put it in a cloth bag, and it will be delivered later."

This is the meaning of telling him to avoid the limelight so as not to be angered by Zhao Heng.Xiao You heard the words and nodded gratefully: "Your Highness will be there to help you. I will wait at the corner gate. If there is anything, just ask Wei Zheng to call me."

"Don't worry." Shen Jing smiled bitterly, "At most, I can only say a few ugly words. I won't make a move."

Seeing Xiaoyou walking away, Shen Jing collected his mind, and said to Wei Zheng in a low voice: "Lieutenant You Laowei, please inform His Highness. Just ask Shen Jing to see you."