Jiang Qing

Zhao Zhen almost lost his temper in the early morning today, holding back his breath, and didn't let it out until he returned to Qinzheng Hall.

He walked quickly to the table, grabbed the inkstone and threw it at Bai Bingchen who was still standing still.

Bai Bingchen lowered his brows and did not dodge. The inkstone brushed against the corner of his eyebrows, scratching a large piece of skin and bleeding.

"I think you are crazy!" Zhao Zhen said bitterly, looking at the blood dripping from his forehead.

The blood on his forehead dripped down his brows, and Bai Bingchen frowned slightly, his voice was too firm to refuse: "I implore you to step down and go to Cangzhou to prevent and control the floods, so that you will pay off your merits."

"Shut up!" Zhao Zhen was a little annoyed.

Bai Bingchen ignored his anger, and continued to say: "As the head of all officials, I failed to monitor the bad behavior of Fan Hongxin, the former minister of the Ministry of War, and I really failed His Majesty's entrustment. Please allow me to relieve my heavy responsibility and go to the Cangzhou understands the suffering of the people's livelihood."

"Put away your high-sounding words! I just want to ask you, are you going to let go of the court foundation that has been in business for so many years and leave?" Zhao Zhen stared at him firmly, capturing every inch of his face look.

"The flood season in Cangzhou is only two months long. After the flood control is over, I will naturally come back. Is your majesty implying that as long as I go to Cangzhou, there will be no room for me in the court?"

When he was furious, Bai Bingchen was still talking lightly and laughing.Zhao Zhen only felt that his breath was hanging in his chest, he couldn't get up and down, and he was so choked that he couldn't even utter a word.

After being silent for a long time, Zhao Zhen bit the pressure and popped out a few words: "Is it for Mei Shao?"

When his name was mentioned, Bai Bingchen's eyes moved slightly: "I said before that he will not stay in Pingdu."

He raised his eyes and looked at Zhao Zhen without any scruples: "Your Majesty thinks that there is nothing you can do if you send him to Cangzhou to let him accumulate power and return to the court?"

"I won't let him grow bigger than I can control. Your Majesty should know that when encountering such a situation, I'm used to snuffing out momentum in the bud." Bai Bingchen seldom said so bluntly. What he said was even more disregarding the etiquette of being a minister, and there was still anger in his eyes.

Zhao Zhen took a deep breath, restraining his urge to curse: "Are you still blaming me for calling him back to Pingdu?"

"Yes." Bai Bingchen replied bluntly, with a sense of confrontation in his words, "Your Majesty forgot to promise me that Mei Shao will never be a knife in the Zhao family's hands."

Restraining the overflowing dissatisfaction in his heart, Bai Bingchen picked up the inkstone that fell on the ground, carefully wiped off the blood on it, gently put it back on Zhao Zhen's desk, took the ink thrown aside, and replaced it He grinds, his posture is very low, but his words are loud and loud: "I can be a dog of the Zhao family, devote myself to the Zhao family, and die, but Mei Shao can't."

Zhao Zhen grabbed his grinding hand, his gaze was sharp: "For so many years, I have always wanted to ask you, if it wasn't for the fact that I was the only one among the princes who had a quarrel with the late emperor, would you have chosen King Jing, who is easier to take over?"

Bai Bingchen smiled gently, and the blood stains that flowed down caused him to squint his eyes slightly: "A loyal minister has nothing to do with two masters. A minister can only choose His Majesty, and only His Majesty can choose. The same is true for Your Majesty."

"What did the late emperor call you in before he died?" Zhao Zhen caught a glimpse of the fine marks on his wrist, his heart trembled, he moved his hand away, and asked the question that had been haunting him all this time.

Bai Bingchen's eyes were empty, and he seemed to see the emperor lying on the sick bed through the blood in front of his eyes. The corner of his mouth was raised: "It doesn't matter what the first emperor said to the minister. The important thing is that the minister's loyalty has always been towards your majesty. For example, The death of the current emperor is like the disaster of the Fudi Pavilion today."

"I would like to enter the tiger's den and feed the tiger with my body, but Mei Shao can't. Your majesty should know the bottom line of the minister, and I hope your majesty will approve this trip to Cangzhou." Bai Bingchen presented Zhao Zhen's vermilion brush for reviewing the memorial with both hands, and said respectfully, "The lessons learned from the past, I hope His Majesty will remember and read it."

His hands holding the pen stopped firmly in front of Zhao Zhen, without the slightest intention of retreating.

Zhao Zhen stared at this courtier who had always been gentle and polite, standing in front of him with an unyielding attitude, his eyes were in a daze, as if he had returned to the day when Bai Bingchen chose him.

At that time, the military generals who participated in the Cangshan Incident had all been dealt with, the previous dynasty was in turmoil, and the harem was not peaceful. Concubine Mei Guifei committed suicide, her bones were not cold, and the ladies in the palace were already thinking about how to climb to the throne of imperial concubine.

No one thought that the 26-year-old prince Zhao Zhen didn't even have a decent tutor, so he could only go to the Imperial College to take classes.

When he was young, he couldn't understand the ways of the world, so he foolishly stayed on the ground every day. When he was older, he could understand the pity or contempt of the people around him, and Zhao Zhen didn't want to take another half step.

Anyway, no one cares whether to go or not, the teacher who teaches will not pay attention, the father who has not seen him for a long time will not ask about his homework, and the only mother and concubine who is sincere to him has long since passed away.

He is eager to learn and does not get a compliment, and he is vulgar and vulgar and has no one to educate him.He is the most inconspicuous royal blood in this high-rise golden palace.

Learning the ways of Confucius and Mencius is better than playing with catching bugs in the grass.

He muttered in a low voice, squatting in the haystack, waiting for an opportunity to grab a grasshopper that blended into the color of the grass, but seeing that he was already holding it in his hand, he was frightened by a voice and let go.

When he came back to his senses, the grasshopper had long been submerged in the smoke and green, without even making a sound, and there was no trace of it.

Zhao Zhen turned his head impatiently, and saw Bai Bingchen standing two or three people away from him. Regardless of his indecent posture, he bowed upright: "I see the king of Ruijun."

Taking a look at the mud on his hands, Zhao Zhen got up and wiped a couple of handfuls on his clothes casually, glanced over inadvertently, but stopped his gaze when he saw the deep and shallow spots on Bai Bingchen's blue skirt.

That looks like bloodstains...

Zhao Zhen thought secretly, and then looked at Bai Bingchen's expression.

It seemed that he came in a hurry and didn't even have time to change into the bloody clothes, but there was no trace of anxiety on his face.

Thinking of Bai Bingchen's trial of Cangshan's treason case recently, could it be that the blood stains came from the imperial prison?

Zhao Zhen looked at him for a while, only to realize that he was also being watched by Bai Bingchen, but his gaze was too modest and polite, making it difficult for people to feel the discomfort of being sized up.

Zhao Zhen looked away, waited for a while, saw that he didn't speak, and squatted on the ground to look for grasshoppers.

"Your Majesty has been feeling unwell recently. Doesn't His Royal Highness need to attend to the sick?" He asked gently behind Zhao Zhen, but his body trembled slightly.

"Father ordered you to call me?" Zhao Zhen didn't turn his head, and unconsciously grabbed the weeds.

The prince who can serve the king by his side is almost the chosen prince. For a moment, Zhao Zhen didn't know whether Bai Bingchen's words were just a joke, or he was testing himself.

"Even if His Majesty didn't summon him, does King Ruijun want to show his filial piety before His Majesty's sick bed?"

Bai Bingchen saw Zhao Zhen's eyelashes tremble slightly, and the abandoned prince slowly stood up, looking at him with a faint light in his eyes.

He is like a solitary beast in the wilderness, mingling among the wild dogs, making people forget that he was originally a fierce tiger. It was not until the moment when the four eyes met, did they realize that the hidden ambition in his eyes was about to explode. Can't hold back.

"I am willing to serve you, and I have fulfilled this filial piety for Your Highness."

There was a whistling wind, coming over the wall, blowing the light in Bai Bingchen's eyes.

He scared away the grasshopper, but paid Zhao Zhen the whole world.

It's all my fault that I have been used to seeing his humble features over the years, almost thinking that he is a kind person, and I almost forgot that when he came to me, his clothes were covered with blood.

He has never been a modest gentleman, but he has stayed under that skin for so long that it is almost forgotten that there is an evil ghost lurking in it.

Zhao Zhen stretched out his hand to hold the vermilion pen, his knuckles turned white, and looked into his eyes: "Are you threatening me? If I don't allow it today, will you finish me like you killed the late emperor!"

"I dare not!" Bai Bingchen knelt on the ground, there was no trace of fear in his voice.

An invisible sense of oppression flows between the two, waiting for someone to break the deadlock.

On the messy table, there were a few letter papers pressed by the memorial. Zhao Zhen caught a glimpse of the grasshopper on it, his heart softened, and he sighed softly: "That's all."

He made a compromise, picked up the ink pen and approved Bai Bingchen's memorial to Cangzhou for flood control.

Before Zhu Pi was finished, the bright red handwriting seemed to be pressing on Zhao Zhen's heart, making him breathless.

"I indulged Mei Shao to torture you in private, just to let you know that he is no longer the same Mei Shao. Even if I were willing to let you go, you might not be able to shake him. But you are always so stubborn. , Never let go of what you have decided, you have to remember, if you are in danger, your life is the most important thing, no matter how big it is, I will take care of you."

"Cangzhou is far away, you have to come back alive." Zhao Zhen instructed earnestly every word.

Out of the court is the rivers and lakes. If someone with a heart lays an ambush, the mountains are high and the roads are far away, the forests are deep and dense, and any place is a place that can kill someone. Zhao Zhen is really worried that Bai Bingchen will never return.

Hearing him thank you, Zhao Zhen suddenly felt tired, and even his voice became weaker: "Zhongyuan must have passed since you were not in Pingdu. Before you leave the capital, go to Zangshuge to copy a few volumes of scriptures. Days, I will burn it to the late emperor for you, and it can be regarded as accumulating some blessings for you."

Bai Bingchen stood up, with a trace of sadness in his heart. Sitting above him was the king he had followed for six years.Unless it was a last resort, I would not threaten him with the death of the late emperor.

It wasn't until Bai Bingchen accepted the memorial and left that Zhao Zhen waved his hand, and the knowledgeable Fushun thoughtfully offered a cup of hot tea.

Zhao Zhen held it in his hand for a long time, but there was no entrance. He stared blankly at the missing corner of the inkstone on the table, and said silently: "Fushun, maybe I was really wrong. I shouldn't have called Mei Shao into the capital."

"Your Majesty is so wise, how could there be any mistakes." Seeing that he was restless, Fushun had no choice but to coax him.

"Don't you think Bai Qing changed a lot after Mei Shao entered the capital?"

Zhao Zhen only took a look from a distance, and realized that Bai Bingchen's habitual calculation in his eyes and the calm and self-restraint hidden in his heart were already on the verge of collapse, but he, the person in the game, was still at a loss.

"Cangzhou is well guarded and hard to be broken by floods. It's just a dike in Bai Qing's heart..."

Zhao Zhen took a sip of tea with a wry smile, all the past flashed through his mind one by one through the dense water vapor.

Bai Bingchen is a person who is used to forbearance. In front of the first emperor and Zhao Zhen, he pretended too well, but he restrained himself for too long. The dam in his heart has long been eaten by silent insects and ants, and many small holes have been eaten. When a heavy rain pours down, the seemingly indestructible heart wall will immediately collapse.