Dressed as the teacher of the Black Lotus Emperor

A few years ago, the younger Xiao Shen never understood what he did wrong.Father and emperor never came to see him in the cold palace, as if without him as a son, mother and concubine often dragged him to die together, and kept cursing and crying when she was awake, regretting why she didn't bump her head to death when she was pregnant with him.

Later, he gradually realized that it wasn't that he was not good enough, but that he was abandoned by everyone since he was born.

But at this moment, the gentleman in front of him looked at him tenderly, and promised him solemnly that he would never abandon him easily.

This scene has been deeply engraved in Xiao Shen's eyes and heart since then, so that after many years, he can still clearly recall every detail in his mind.

The starlight scattered in the bottom of the eyes, the upward curvature of the eye tails, the soft and moist lips opened and closed, the breath is as clear as the morning dew, and the breath is as thick as the plum blossoms. Also overshadowed.

"Okay, it's so cold, don't stand here and blow the air." After a while, Shen Qingzhuo withdrew his hand, and patted the little apprentice's thin shoulder comfortingly, "Go back to sleep, and come to listen to the lecture as usual tomorrow."

"En." Xiao Shen responded with a blank expression, turned around and walked forward with a rigid posture.

Shen Qingzhuo stopped him: "Hey, where are you going?"

Xiao Shen paused, a trace of bewilderment appeared on his face.

"The palace gate is over there." Shen Qingzhuo raised his finger helplessly and pointed in another direction, and suddenly remembered something, "Have you not had dinner yet?"

Xiao Dezi reported that when he went into the small study for dinner, the people inside disappeared, presumably hiding in a corner secretly waiting for him to come back, probably still hungry at the moment.

"Ah?" Xiao Shen finally woke up from the dizziness, subconsciously denied, "I've already eaten."

As soon as the words fell, there was a gurgling sound of protest from the empty stomach, which was very real in the silent night.

Xiao Shen: "..."

The young version of the little tyrant froze on the spot, his face full of bewilderment.

Shen Qingzhuo couldn't help laughing, and thoughtfully found a step for the little apprentice, "I'm hungry, do you want to have something to eat with your husband?"

There was an imperceptible blush on the snow-white face, Xiao Shen reluctantly nodded.

The small dining room was neat and tidy, and the ingredients and kitchen utensils were neatly arranged, which formed a sharp contrast with the environment of the cold palace.

In order to prevent the master from wanting to eat in the middle of the night, the small dining room has no time to make it, so they usually prepare supper early and put it in a steamer to keep warm.

Shen Qingzhuo lifted the lid, and in the pot was a bowl of sweet and sticky red bean porridge, a plate of emerald shrimp dumplings, served with Linglong Yuxin crispy radish, delicate and appetizing.

He brought out all the supper and put it on the stove, signaling the little apprentice to eat it while it was hot.

Xiao Shen was not too polite, picked up the hot bowl, ate a mouthful of red bean porridge, and felt his whole body warmed up.

Shen Qingzhuo leaned aside and said softly: "Eat slowly, don't burn yourself."

"Sir, don't you want to eat?" Xiao Shen asked while holding the bowl.

Shen Qingzhuo said with a smile: "Seeing that you eat so deliciously, sir is full."

Xiao Shen was a little confused: "Why?"

"Sir, let me teach you another idiom today." Mr. Shen joked in a serious tone, "It's delicious to eat."

In fact, he ate a lot at the Prince's Mansion at night, so he couldn't get anything in at the moment.

"It's delicious?" Xiao Shen blinked his eyelashes twice, secretly remembering this idiom in his heart.

***

The next day, on the day of Mr. Shen's birthday, congratulatory gifts prepared by various palaces were delivered to his door.

The original owner was just a hostage, but in order to show his benevolence and generosity, Emperor Guangxi had always treated him gently and kindly. Especially yesterday's big rewards, all the palaces moved after hearing the news, and sent carefully prepared birthday gifts one after another.

Shen Qingzhuo is not interested in these gold, silver and jade articles at all, but in the palace, it is always good to have enough personal belongings, and there is no telling when they will be useful.

So, he handed over this matter to Xiao Dezi, who recorded the list of congratulatory gifts in a unified way, sorted them into different categories and stored them away.

Favors come and go, and they will all be repaid in the future.

At noon, Shen Qingzhuo received a letter from Youbei's family.

The wax used to seal the envelope had obvious signs of being damaged, but he didn't care, and opened the letter directly.

The font that catches the eye is as light as a bird, graceful as a dragon, as if you can glimpse the demeanor of the person who wrote the pen through the pen that penetrates the back of the paper.

The person who wrote this letter was the eldest son of King Zhenbei, the Great General of Shenwu, Shen Fenglan, who was also the elder brother of the original owner.

The letter is nothing more than some commonplace words, reporting that everything is well at home, third brother, you are far away in Shengjing alone, you must take good care of yourself, elder brother will visit you when he has the opportunity to come to Beijing.

Shen Qingzhuo glanced briefly, then put away the family letter in a dispirited manner.

In the book, there is very little detail about the relationship between the original owner and his family. In the year when the original owner died, news spread to Youbei, and no one even dared to come to Shengjing for the funeral to collect the original owner's body.

But there was no corpse to collect.

"My lord, the Empress Dowager sent someone to bring you the tranquilizing incense." Xiao Dezi walked in holding the sandalwood incense box in both hands, "You can continue to burn incense tonight."

Shen Qingzhuo glanced at it: "Sent by the Queen Mother?"

Xiao Dezi replied: "Yes, after the young master suffered a serious illness last year, he couldn't sleep well at night, so the empress dowager gave the young master the tranquilizing incense that was a tribute from the Western Regions. The incense was burned out a while ago, no, hurry up On your birthday, the empress dowager has sent new incense."

"Really?" Shen Qingzhuo looked at the box of incense with a thoughtful expression.

As far as he knows, in the original book, the Empress Dowager and her relatives behind her have been engaged in power games in secret with Emperor Guangxi.The reason why he proposed to enlighten the Seventh Prince was not because of the grandmother's love for her grandson, but just to take the opportunity to test whether Emperor Guangxi would listen to her or not, and whether he would take her as the empress dowager seriously.

So, the Empress Dowager kindly sent him incense to help him sleep for no reason?

I'm afraid it's not that simple.

Shen Qingzhuo was thinking about it, when he heard the eunuch's announcement from outside the hall: "My lord, Pei Shaofu sent someone to send a congratulatory gift, and he is waiting outside the hall."

"Let him come in." Shen Qingzhuo withdrew his scattered thoughts and stepped out of the inner hall.

It seems that the specious words he said to the prince yesterday played a role, Shaofu Pei deliberately avoided suspicion, and today he only sent someone to give gifts.

"My lord." The visitor offered a congratulatory gift, "This is a congratulatory gift from Mr. Pei's subordinates—the Four Treasures of the Study."

Shen Qingzhuo raised his eyebrows slightly, this Shaofu Pei seemed more interesting than he imagined.

He walked over and opened the box with his slender jade hands.

Langhaohu brush, pine smoke emblem ink, green sandalwood rice paper, ice-patterned Duan inkstone, the first of the four treasures of the study, all of which are top-grade, it can be seen that some thought was spent on the selection.

"Thank you, Young Master Fu, for me." Shen Qingzhuo took the gift with his own hands, and said with a smile, "By the way, convey it to me, I like this birthday gift very much."

The visitor replied sternly: "This subordinate must convey the truth."

Shen Qingzhuo tilted his head, beckoning Xiao Dezi to bring him some rewards, then walked back to the hall slowly holding the Four Treasures of the Study.

Not long after, a thin figure suddenly broke in, "Sir!"

Shen Qingzhuo raised his eyelashes: "What's wrong?"

Xiao Shen gasped for breath, his eyes fell on the inkstone in his hand, and there was excitement hidden in his tone, "I understand that poem."

Early this morning, my husband asked him to recite and understand a brand new poem by himself, and he did it.

"I thought what was going on, I was shocked." Shen Qingzhuo laughed, "You came just in time, Shaofu Pei sent someone to send you the top four treasures of the study."

Hearing the word "Pei Shaofu", the excitement in Xiao Shen's eyes disappeared instantly.

"What are you doing?" Shen Qingzhuo waved to the little apprentice, "Come and have a look."

Xiao Shen walked over hesitantly, and saw that the master's hand was resting on the rice paper, which was a bit more white and shiny than the delicate white paper.

"This is my favorite congratulatory gift I received today." Shen Qingzhuo said with a smile, "When your handwriting is more beautiful, sir will borrow flowers to present Buddha, and give you this set of four treasures of the study."

Xiao Shen stared straight at his fingers, and replied, "I don't want it."

"You little idiot, you don't know how valuable this set of four treasures is." Shen Qingzhuo just pretended that he didn't know the goods, and patted the back of his round head lightly, "Forget it, go and check your homework first."

He turned and walked out, Xiao Shen followed behind him without saying a word, his small face wrinkled in bitterness.

***

It was night, Xiao Shen was lying on the bed in the cold palace, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

What Mr. Bairi said and the way Mr. Bai looked at the four treasures of the study kept echoing in his mind.

Today is Mr.'s birthday, Jiyue Pavilion is full of congratulatory gifts.He originally wanted to give his husband a birthday gift, but after thinking about it, he was rude enough to give it.

He has nothing, nothing in his hands.

The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became. He raised his arms to embrace the lamb fur that his husband had given him, buried his face in the soft wool, and smelled the increasingly faint fragrance of plum.

Mei Xiang... wait!

Xiao Shen jumped up from the bed suddenly, grabbed the cotton coat, put it on, and walked out the door quickly.

He remembered that there was a plum grove near Jinhua Palace. He had heard from the palace people that it was because Concubine Shu loved plum blossoms, so his father ordered them to plant a large plum grove.

Taking advantage of the moonlight, he carefully avoided the imperial guards patrolling the palace, and walked all the way in the direction of Jinhua Palace.

It was the twelfth lunar month of winter, but the red plum trees bloomed like flames.

Standing under the plum tree, Xiao Shen looked up at the delicate plum blossoms on the branches, and a smiling face appeared in front of his eyes.

Without hesitation, he climbed up a plum tree, stretched out his hand and plucked some of the best growing plum blossoms, and then jumped down neatly.

However, just as he was about to return the same way, a drunken shout came from behind him: "Bold! Which flower thief dares to steal into His Highness's palace?"

Xiao Shen's footsteps froze, his thin back suddenly arched, and his whole body entered an attacking state.

"Yo, isn't this the seventh brother?" Xiao Shaoyuan's eyes widened, and he said incredulously, "You didn't sleep in the cold palace in the middle of the night, but came to my palace to steal flowers?"

"I didn't steal the flowers." Xiao Shen turned around and replied stiffly, "I just broke two flowers."

"Is there a difference?" Xiao Shaoyuan asked the eunuch serving beside him, "Tell me, is he a flower thief?"

"Yes yes yes! Fourth Highness is right!" How dare the little eunuch say otherwise.

"Seventh brother, who did you learn your bad habit of sneaking around?" Xiao Shaoyuan became interested, "Also, didn't the emperor forbid you to run around in the palace?"

One thing more is worse than one thing less, Xiao Shen gritted his molars and replied in a low voice: "I'll go back right away."

"Wait!" Lezi came to the door, how could Xiao Shaoyuan let him go easily, "Did I let you go?"

The fingers holding the plum branch tightened little by little, Xiao Shen watched him approaching helplessly.

Xiao Shaoyuan stopped, slapped his younger brother's face with his big hand, and taught him a lesson: "Look at you, you look like you are cowering and shy, how do you resemble our Xiao family?"

Xiao Shen lowered his eyes and remained silent.

According to past experience, as long as Xiao Shaoyuan has had enough fun, he will naturally be let go.

"By the way, I heard that the emperor gave you Shen Qingzhuo as a servant?" Xiao Shaoyuan continued to pat his younger brother's face, "How is it? He is the prince's guest, so he tortured you a lot, right?"

Xiao Shen's pupils shrank suddenly, and he clenched his teeth.

"Ah bah!" Xiao Shaoyuan spat, "My Highness doesn't look down on him. He looks inviolable all day long. After all, he just climbed onto the prince's bed and is a man who can't get on the stage. Pet - oops!"

With a hard kick in the crotch, Xiao Shaoyuan wailed like a pig.

Xiao Shen stared at him with unprecedented coldness and disgust, "Shut up!"

"Xiao Shen! You're crazy!" Xiao Shaoyuan relieved the initial burst of piercing pain, and rushed towards him like crazy, "I'll kill you, you little bastard!"

Xiao Shen ran away, Xiao Shaoyuan chased after him and cursed loudly, and the accompanying eunuch also hurriedly followed.

In the dark palace road, Xiao Shen relied on his thin stature to sneak around, and soon led people to an abandoned garden near the cold palace.

There is a pond in the garden, which is very remote and inaccessible. After a few days, someone finds two more corpses in the pond, so what does it matter to him?

Xiao Shen stopped in front of the pond with gloomy eyes, and turned to face Xiao Shaoyuan who was chasing after him out of breath.

He has endured this idiot for a long time, since he can't bear it tonight, then let's get rid of it in advance.

"Little, little bastard!" Xiao Shaoyuan hadn't run so violently for a long time, he was so tired that he was out of breath, bent down and supported his knees, and cursed, "Today, today I will beat you until you cry. !"

"Heh..." Xiao Shen suddenly showed a strange smile, and walked towards him step by step, "Fourth brother, do you know where people who drowned will go after death?"

Xiao Shaoyuan looked at the dark eyes, and suddenly felt a strong uneasiness in his heart, "What do you want to do?"

As soon as the words fell, Xiao Shen rushed up, hugged him by the waist, and dragged him to the pond.

"What are you doing!" Xiao Shaoyuan came to his senses and immediately struggled to back away.

But Xiao Shen's murderous intentions were already set in motion, he was like a hungry wolf cub released from the cage, once he bit the prey, he would not let go, vowing to see blood seal his throat.

Xiao Shaoyuan never imagined that the seventh brother, who is usually submissive, dared to kill him. After struggling a few times, he was slammed into the pond.

With a "plop", a huge splash was set off.

At the same time, a clear and anxious voice cut through the dark night: "Xiao Shen! Where are you, Xiao Shen?"

The little wolf cub standing on the shore was startled, and the blood in his eyes suddenly faded away.

The next moment, his legs gave way and he let himself fall into the pond.

"Sir... help me!"

The author has something to say:

Little Wolf Cub: I'm so scared... Sir, save me!

Shen Qingzhuo: Good apprentice, don't be afraid, the master is here!

------------