[Comprehensive] The days when I pretended to be a meow in the Forbidden City

"Quack quack quack!"

A burst of loud brain-piercing sound hit, its huge penetrating power attracted Xia Anran to look over involuntarily.

There should be a shop selling poultry and birds, and he could see bird cages from a distance. Xia Anran's heart moved, and he quickly stepped forward. cooked.

It was the cry that woke him up from his dreams countless times.

It was also the last sound he heard in the World of Red Mansions.

Xia Anran brushed aside the retreating crowd and went upstream, but what he saw was not a snow-white goose with a long neck, but a gray... small bird.

It's not big, but it's full of air. It looks like a parrot, but what it calls is a goose. At this time, it is flapping its wings, singing very cheerfully.

Xia Anran thought it might be a coincidence, but he still flicked his hem and squatted in front of the bird.The bird didn't care about Xia Anran, it kept singing very happily, its singing changed from qua to croak, and then to chirp.

"A lot?" Xia Anran was silent for a while, and called out tentatively, but as he expected, the bird ignored him.

Also, where can such a coincidence be found.

For a moment, Xia Anran couldn't tell how he was feeling. Although he didn't hold out hope, he still felt somewhat disappointed.

Xia Anran lowered her eyelids slightly, with a hint of bitterness.

He put his hands on his knees and wanted to stand up, but found a middle-aged man with a kind and commercial smile standing beside him.

Seeing Xia Anran looking over, the man clapped his hands slightly, "Officer, I think you are destined for this bird."

Xia Anran was taken aback for a moment, he got up and spread out the fan, the fan was painted with a freehand landscape painting, which was especially inappropriate for the busy street scene at this time.

He pressed his thumb on the handle of the fan, and the cool wind gently blew his hair, "Why did the shopkeeper say this?"

Where no one else could see, the nails of the fan were piercing the flesh of his thumb.

This fan nail was custom-made by him, the ordinary folding fan nails are mostly round, in order not to make the owner feel uncomfortable, but Xia Anran's fan nails are awl-shaped.

The reason for doing this is that Xia Anran wants to use the most inconspicuous method to remind herself - to be cautious.

It is difficult to resist the body's instincts, but if he wants to live to the end of the mission in this age of divine power, he must get rid of the problem of his body's mouth being faster than his brain.

There is no more subtle and elegant way to use this method.

The shopkeeper of this stall spread his hands flat and drew a semicircle in the air. He motioned Xia Anran to look around, and then said with a wry smile, "All the customers were driven away by this bird, and only the officials were left behind. Is there a fate for this bird?"

The young man holding a folding fan shook his head and said with a smile, "I'm just curious to come and have a look." Seeing that the shopkeeper was also vacant for a while, he simply tapped the gray feathered bird with the folding fan, "This bird...but Parrot?"

In the Northern Song Dynasty, parrots were completely rare species. In China, native parrots are only distributed in Guangxi. This kind of bird is a typical tropical animal, and only a small number can accept temperate and subtropical climates. They are colorful and have bright coat colors. Compared with other birds, they are closer to each other, and they are climbing birds with weaker flying ability. They are more suitable to be kept at home and do not require much space, so they have been loved a lot. Bird people welcome.

What's more, they also have the ability to learn the tongue.

A few auspicious words from the church are given as a gift. Both parties have great face and a bit of elegance, and they can use this as a topic later, which can be described as a top-notch gift.

Although only the tail of this bird is red, and the rest is gray, which is different from the colorful feathers of parrots in Xia Anran's impression, but judging from its special beak shape, it should indeed be a parrot.

Parrots feed on seeds and fruits. Due to the geographical environment, the fruit of tropical fruit trees is hard, so the parrot's beak bite force is huge.At the same time, the main activity mode of parrots is climbing. Their beaks act as human hands to help fix climbing objects, which makes parrots' beaks more curved than other birds.

Xia Anran also used this to identify its identity.

The shopkeeper bowed, "The official is smart, this is indeed a parrot, but it's not my parrot."

"Speaking of which, I'm really greedy at the next moment," the man seemed a little annoyed, and he pointed to the gray parrot, "My birds all come from the south, and this batch is even more so in the next few days." Escorted by myself, one day when I was resting and drinking in the mountains, the bird accidentally came to steal the bird food from my house. With evil intentions, I took a net to catch it, and wanted to see how it looks like, maybe it can also please the nobles of the capital, who knows..."

He said with grief and indignation, "This bird eats too much. Whenever a guest wants to buy it, it will imitate a goose and forcefully drive the guest away. I can't afford this Buddha, so I want to let it fly." , but it just didn’t go away.”

Sure enough, Xia Anran just now noticed that this bird does not have anklets on its feet. In other words, it can leave at any time if it wants to. He thought this bird had human nature and was well domesticated. Now it sounds like it's just Someone who just came here to grab a meal?

Xia Anran silently looked at the proud bird with its head held high, as if it had written: That's right, the young master is just that powerful.

"I can't help it. The business has been disturbed by it a few times. I just thought about putting this ancestor in the back. Unexpectedly, it won't do it. It must stay at the front. I can't sell it, and I can't get rid of it." Don't go, the judge seems to be interested in it today, judge you have a character and appearance, it is a blessing to follow you, how about you do me a favor and take it away for a try?"

The man moved closer and whispered, "If you don't like it, you can find a place to release it. It was caught in the wild, so it can live outside."

"Don't worry, officials, this parrot has not been clipped, and it can fly if you throw it out..."

"Gah~~~~quack quack"

The two of them were silent for a while, and when they looked down, the gray parrot was pulling its neck and singing loudly. When he saw the two people looking over, he made a small sound of flicking his tongue and then fell silent again. This attitude of protest was no longer acceptable. It's more obvious.

Xia Anran was a little surprised, he encountered quite a few animals with human nature, and there was no shortage of good actors, but when it came to this parrot that could understand human words and give emotional responses, it was really the first time. once.

He tried to put the fan in front of the parrot. The parrot looked at the fan for a while, and before Xia Anran wanted to take it back, he stepped on the bone with his paw in a reserved manner.

Xia Anran raised her fan and sent the bird in front of her, "Are you really going to follow me?"

The parrot didn't look at him, but tilted its head. Xia Anran sighed, and said to the shopkeeper, "Excuse me... how much is this bird?"

The shopkeeper rubbed his hands, "Cough, officer, you also know that this bird is not ours, so I'll just charge you a cost, and just pay for the food it eats. This bird always picks up food." For the best food, just pay ten guan..."

"Gah!!"

The bird held on Xia Anran's fan uttered an angry duck call at the shopkeeper.

"Hey, this year is the fifth year we have set up a stall. Give the officials a discount, and you will give me a good deal..."

"Gah!"

"five……"

"All right, all right, two sticks, all right!"

"Okay, okay, I'll give it to you, I'll give it to you. Ouch, my lord, don't bark! I'll bring you some snacks you like!!"

"Hey ancestor, ancestor, I'm calling you ancestor, if it's all right, I'll bring this for you too."

"No, no, no, this is too precious. You actually want to take away the shelf. It's impossible."

"Oh my god, ancestor, ancestor, at least I have raised you these days, let's give you a way to survive."

Xia Anran retracted the ribs of the umbrella, and put the parrot in his arms. He slowly stretched out his hand to hold the parrot, which was about to raise its neck, and said, "I'll buy the ones he wants, since it's me It’s not easy for the shopkeeper to spend money on my little pet.” The young man smiled lightly, “There are a lot of things, and I have to go to the night market next time...Can the shopkeeper deliver them to my lodging place after the market is over?”

After a while, Xia Anran, who left the delivery address, disappeared into the crowd with a gray-bottomed red-tailed parrot on his shoulder. It wasn't until the person and bird were no longer seen that the shopkeeper gasped, "Oh, hello!" , can be regarded as sending this ancestor away."

He looked at Xia Anran's address on the paper, rolled his eyes, touched his chin, and called a clerk.

On the other side, Xia Anran carried a semi-adult parrot on his shoulders, and his walking posture was somewhat affected, but he didn't care about it, instead, he put on a faint smile.

"Your father's surname is Bai all his life."

"If it's boring to call Duoduo Naduo, why don't you call it... Bai Dede (Bai De's)?"

The skinny Xia Anran got a light peck and bite in his hair, it's really a lot.

He stretched out his hand to hold the bird in his arms, and walked through the crowd while stroking the bird. This time, he walked in the direction of leaving the market.

He has already found his best partner, so naturally he no longer needs to buy a pet. With a smile on his face, Xia Anran used his five fingers to smooth the parrot's head and neck. When he returned to the hostel where he stayed, He was a little surprised to find that all the items he ordered had been delivered.

He came back early. He thought that these things would not be delivered until after the night market was over. This service attitude...isn't it too good?

Seeing Xia Anran returning with the bird in his arms, the shopkeeper of the inn didn't show any surprise on his face. He had already guessed from the supplies for these birds what kind of pet this big-spending guest was planning to keep.

People in Bianjing love to keep pets, and the store itself has a few koi in the courtyard. If Xia Anran has cats, dogs, or falcons, the shopkeeper will inevitably have to be more careful, but that's just a little bit. Big parrots are fine.He also just reminded Xia Anran lightly not to let the birds chirping disturb the surrounding customers, and then helped Xia Anran carry the things up after counting the goods.

Xia Anran nodded in agreement, expressing that her bird is very well behaved and won't bark indiscriminately during rest time.

Because this bird is a free gift, Xia Anran plans to spend much less assets in the pet market than he imagined. With this extra wealth, he plans to buy some daily necessities for Xia Duoduo.

A few days later, when the Daxiangguo Temple Night Market opened again, Xia Anran returned to his hometown with the arrogant Xia Duoduo.

Xia Duoduo has been in the pet market of Daxiangguo Temple all year round, no matter how shrewd the shopkeeper is, he will not guard against a bird, so he is very clear about the cost price of these commodities, and whenever Xia Anran suffers a loss, he immediately yells to remind him.

Forcing the pet merchants to have a headache for this person and bird, this son is rich, but this bird... They all reprimanded Xia Duoduo for eating inside and outside.

However, Xia Anran appreciated his diligent and thrifty housekeeping behavior. As a reward, he also bought an expensive honey pomelo and shared it with Xia Duoduo.

Although I don't know why, since Xia Duoduo's body is a parrot, he should be able to learn how to speak, and he doesn't need to pre-treat his tongue like a starling, but he has never opened his mouth.

Xia Anran sometimes wondered if he had admitted his mistake again. After all, he had a criminal record in this matter, but the only birds he knew were Xia Duoduo and Dahei. When the parrot Xia Duoduo didn't notice, Xia Anran also secretly poked and shouted that Dahei had tried this bird.

When people are unprepared, they will naturally respond to their own name, but when he calls Dahei, the parrot does not respond at all.Seeing this, he didn't try any more. He wondered whether Duoduo had some difficulties, and he might have to pay some price for following him through the worlds.

Xia Anran pinched the parrot's little red tail, and complained in a low voice, did it really know nothing but geese?Of course there was no reply.

The red-tailed parrot moved its little butt, and continued to tuck itself into Xia Anran's neck to sleep peacefully. It was really annoying to be harassed, so it used its wings to fan Xia Anran a few times, and then gave it to his thin-legged love Kick kick.

In the end, Xia Anran would pinch her in the palm of her hand and poke her belly.

After losing the fighting power of a goose and the large size of a horse, Duoduo is always treated like this, always tilting his neck, and his little black eyes are full of sadness.

In the following days, Xia Anran would write manuscripts in the house after getting up during the day, the hotel would contract the two meals for breakfast and lunch, and have to go out for dinner, after all, the three-meal system had not yet been popularized in the early Northern Song Dynasty.

At this time, Xia Anran would go out with the birds, one person and one bird swaying on the streets of Bianjing, let alone the appearance of him holding a folding fan and holding a bird on his shoulder. Very dandy style.

Even so, Xia Anran still felt that the yamen servants looked at him with a little subtlety.

Having said that... the law and order in Kaifeng Mansion is really good, but is it a little too serious?Or is there something sensitive going on now?Xia Anran always felt that there were too many soldiers patrolling...

He often stares at these yamen servants, wanting to find out if there is the famous Kaifeng Mansion F4 in it. Although he doesn't know what the four people in Kaifeng Mansion Zhang Zhao Wangma look like, the reason is very simple. F4 is Mr. Bao Theoretically speaking, the confidant should be the front when he takes the yamen servants, and the clothes should be different, but according to his eyesight, he has not found the existence of these four people so far.

Seeing that no one could be found, Xia Anran quickly gave up. The place he chose for dinner these days was a restaurant, not because the food in this restaurant was particularly delicious, but because the owner of the restaurant seemed to be There is some face in the hall, and some interesting gossip can always be obtained.

Of course, the boss is not stupid, he will not tell the secret news of the government, he just tells some palace gossip, for example, because the son of a certain son was punished by his master for copying big characters because he didn't read well, his father ordered him to copy before he didn't copy well. You are not allowed to leave the palace.A certain concubine heard that there were beautiful silks and satins outside and wanted to buy them to make clothes, but she found out that she couldn't afford them.

He also talked about some market news, such as a type of font that has been passed down from the south, which is very square, and is especially good for children to describe, or a kind of cloud candy from the east, which is particularly delicious.

Xia Anran listened to the gossip with great interest for five or six days, and finally heard a piece of news that interested him.

It is said that Bao Zheng, governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, was conferred the title of Grand Scholar of Longtu Pavilion, and he will soon be sent to Chenzhou to check for relief. The official family also bestowed three royal letters. Three Dragon Tiger Dog Three Cutting Knives.

The dragon head guillotine can kill the emperor's relatives, the descendants of dragons and phoenixes; the tiger head guillotine can kill corrupt officials and treacherous ministers who harm the country;

This can be said-if there is a crime, each will act according to the grade.

As soon as this news came out, there was a lot of discussion in the hall, but generally speaking, most people felt that it was very gratifying, but most of the people didn't think it mattered much.

In fact, to be honest, the clans of the Song Dynasty were all relatively low-key.The reason is, of course, that at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, they always fought fiercely to win the supreme throne. In addition, the throne in the Song Dynasty was ruled by brothers and sisters, so the young emperor would naturally dislike his brothers of the same age.

Especially now that we are married but have no children yet, the families of the cousins ​​today are all as quiet as chickens, and they will never stand out if they don’t cause trouble. degree.

This move is naturally a means for the royal family to protect themselves.

In the eyes of everyone, although he has not yet been in charge of the government, since he ascended the throne, the life of the people of the Song Dynasty has been improving day by day. From this point of view, the people think that the official family will be a good emperor if he is in charge of the government. Home and crown day is full of anticipation.

Ordinary common people naturally felt very happy when they heard the transfer of Kaifeng Mansion, but in the eyes of those who are interested, this is actually the little emperor preparing for his own administration.

The position of Governor of Kaifeng is a most important position, not only because its jurisdiction is the imperial city, but also because the position of Governor of Kaifeng was the place where the quasi-heirs practiced their skills in the Zhou Dynasty. Song inherited the Zhou system, the Five Dynasties, and the early Song Dynasty, but most of the people who served as the governor of Kaifeng were the de facto princes.

Now Bao Zheng is serving as a courtier in Kaifeng Mansion. He is just a newcomer in the officialdom, but he is already under the Minister of the Song Dynasty, above the Minister of the Song Dynasty, and the official ranks up to the second rank.

And why does the emperor value this young boy...

Because he is easy to use.

When Empress Liu came to power, the power ministers and the emperor formed a tripartite confrontation. The triangle is certainly a stable posture, but the premise is that one's own side is not among them.

As far as Yu Renzong was concerned, when he was not in power before, the current state was still tolerable.

But he will be in charge in one year. Seeing such a smoky court again, he naturally needs to establish his prestige. However, Zhao Zhen has a soft and kind personality. One is his mother who is regent but not hegemonic, and the other is Zhao Family clan, no matter which side he can't treat cruelly.

So he supported Bao Zheng. With Bao Zheng's personality, if he caught a courtier breaking the law for him, he would definitely not take care of the balance of the court, but just beat him up.

And this random beating was exactly what Zhao Zhen wanted.

Once Bao Longtu stirred the barely clear pool water, the demons and ghosts had to poke their heads in order to breathe. Once they poked their heads, they would have an opportunity.It also allows him to see who are the individuals that lie beneath the potential muck.

This is the reason why Zhao Zhen tacitly allowed Bao Zheng to change his three imperial letters into three imperial guillotines.

Chenzhou was hit by a disaster, and the emperor Zhao Zhen sent his brother-in-law to help the disaster. This was against the wishes of many parties. The empress dowager Liu and the powerful ministers had their own recommendations, but Zhao Zhen wanted to support the Pang family, so he went his own way I ordered Pang Yu.

Unexpectedly, Pang Yu even failed such a simple matter, turning this credit that could have been easily obtained into a life-threatening talisman.The moment Bao Zheng was sent out, Renzong knew that Pang Yu might not be able to keep him.

Although he hinted at Bao Zheng in many ways, he didn't know whether Bao Qing really listened to what he said... I only hope that Pang Yumo is going to go too far, if he only embezzles the disaster food... If he is in the disaster area people...

He heaved a long sigh, thinking of Pang Tong who was leading the army in the north... his heart felt even more tormented.

At this time, an eunuch came to report, and the Imperial City Secretary had something to report.

Zhao Zhen tapped his fingertips to signal to summon him, but after a while, a stalwart man entered from outside the hall, stood ten steps in front of the emperor, held his saber on the ground, bowed and said, "I'm working as an official in the imperial city, Bai Jinxi has seen the officials."

The young man was cold all over, but his gestures were extremely elegant and good-looking. Zhao Zhen saw that he was a confidant and loved general, so he hurriedly gave him a seat, "Ze Xuan just came back from Chenzhou? Why don't you take a break and come back."

"The matter is of great importance, and the lower officials dare not delay." Bai Jinxi did not sit down, Su Rong clasped his fists at the officials, his gesture made Zhao Zhen's expression serious... He pondered for a moment, "Seriously?"

"Yes." His most trusted minister of the imperial city came up with a report, which was transferred to Zhao Zhen after being passed on by the eunuch. Completely but not in the mood to appreciate it, he glanced at ten lines, only feeling the qi coming from his dantian, straight to his throat, he folded it and put it on the imperial case, endured it, couldn't hold back, flicked his hand, and put it on the table Sweeping all the pen and ink on the ground, he stood up and paced back and forth in the hall.

He gritted his teeth and suppressed his voice, "Take my money and build a Taoist temple?"

"Longevity?"

"Ask for Purdue?"

"Let the victims starve to death, begging for his longevity? And begging for me by the way, do I want to thank him for remembering my brother-in-law?" The more he spoke, the louder he was, but he was forced to press himself in a room only Within the audible range, the emperor finally couldn't hold back, and kicked up on the hall pillar, "General Flying Star, how can General Flying Star have such a younger brother?"

His luck was trembling, "Concubine Pang is docile and pleasant, General Flying Star is dedicated to his duties, although the grand master often has selfish intentions, but he is still available for business, why does this family have such a person as Pang Yu?"

No one in the room answered him.

Concubine Pang was Renzong's beloved concubine.

There are various reasons for this. When Zhao Zhen reached the age of queen selection, he had a dispute with Empress Dowager Liu on the choice of empress. He fell in love with Pang Zi, who was obedient, smart, and good-looking when he was running for the election. However, in this matter, he failed to compete with Queen Mother Liu, and Pang Zi had to be a concubine.

After marriage, Guo's character was domineering, and it was also pointed out by Empress Liu, and he felt that he had something to rely on. Although Zhao Zhen tried to cultivate a relationship with him, he really had no common language. In addition, Pang was taught well, soft and cute, smart and kind. , he will inevitably favor Ponzi even more.

Pang also has a good elder brother, Flying Star General Pang Tong, who ran away from home when he was young, concealed his identity and quietly joined the army, and then skyrocketed, becoming a pillar of the Song Dynasty in the north to suppress the gods of the north. Under the covetous eyes of the Liao Kingdom, the Great Song Dynasty maintained a stable state in order to develop.

Although Zhao Zhen has no heart for his relatives, he really wanted to support Pang Yu to take over the position of Grand Master Pang, so he ordered sufficient supplies and soldiers to send him to rescue the disaster, but he never expected that this was the way to protect him from gold. However, it has become an umbrella for him to pocket his own money and do whatever he wants in the local area.

The soldiers he sent were commanded by him to suppress civilians, and the private soldiers of the Pang Mansion were used by him to rob civilian women and men... huh?

"Why is he robbing a man?"

The expressionless person in the hall was silent for a while, and said, "Alchemy...needs the essence of a boy...."

Both the monarch and his ministers remained silent. For some reason, Zhao Zhen suddenly felt that he lost all energy to be angry, and his whole body was weak. He turned around and sat on the throne, propping his forehead with one hand, and his eyes were empty.

At this time, what he recalled in his mind was what Pang Yu said when he entered the palace to thank him when he left Beijing. He said that he would do his best and not let the officials down.

According to the memorial handed over by the Secretary of the Imperial City, Zhao Zhen can basically guess what will happen to Bao Xiren when he arrives in Xuzhou. The mere embezzlement of disaster relief funds is already stepping on Bao Zheng's death line, and the other things are even more... …

He smiled wryly.

Bao Zheng was a knife raised by him, but the feeling of this knife facing his throat is really uncomfortable.

That's right, Bao Zheng is the governor of Kaifeng, and he is clearly the head of Kaifeng, but this time he was sent to Chenzhou to deal with the disaster. Outsiders only thought that the emperor cared about the people, but they didn't think it was true that no one in the court could only send him. go?

Naturally, this is not the case. The officialdom of the Song Dynasty is seriously overstaffed. There are only too many people, and there is absolutely no problem of not enough.

The reason why Bao Longtu was sent this time was that the officials of the DPRK and China had retaliated against Zhao Zhen for letting Bao Zheng clean up the old case and cut off their wings.

How much of Pang Yu's move was his own idea, how much was instigated by others, and where did the Taoist priest come from? Zhao Zhen has a certain amount in his mind. One grew up in Beijing, and his sister entered the palace. He was just an ordinary official boy's Anlehou, how could he have the courage to embezzle relief supplies, and how could he have the confidence that the emperor could keep him.

Need I say more?

Pang Yu is a chess move used by clan relatives and power officials. It has no other effect, it just makes Zhao Zhen feel uncomfortable, as if choking in his throat, let him feel personally the ax that was grinded out by the little tree that was about to be lifted up It's just the pain of being cut off all at once.

As for Bao Zheng's temperament, even if he saw through all this, when he arrived at the boundary of Chenzhou and saw the tragic scene written in the memorial, he might not be able to hold back.

This is what Zhao Zhen admired the most, and it is also what he regrets the most at this time.

Is there any other way... to save Pang Yu's life?

He turned his gaze to Bai Jinxi who was standing quietly in the hall. "Ze Xuan..."

"The minister is here."

The emperor's lips moved, but in the end he couldn't say that sentence, but after a long sigh, he was ordered to order Bao Zheng to bring the chief culprit back to Beijing for trial.

Only in this way can he save Pang Yu's life.

No matter how bad it was...he could keep Pang Yu's body and prevent him from being tortured.

Seeing his gloomy expression, Bai Jinxi continued to say after a long silence, "Officials should take care of their bodies."

"I know." The emperor lost his interest at this moment, he waved his hand, "Go down and rest first, and let me stay by myself for a while."

However, he did not resign from his official duties in the imperial city. Instead, after a little hesitation, he remonstrated, "Official, you have a high status, and now it is a sensitive time. If you want to serve the white dragon fish... between light and dark, you have to bring Get some soldiers."

"I see."

Zhao Zhen nodded casually, until a moment later, when he realized what Bai Jinxi had said, he raised his head in doubt.

He was puzzled, why did he say this on official business, he has never subdued himself recently.