I heard my brother is a tyrant

There have always been some customs and rules of Duan Yang in the palace. After Xie Dan ascended the throne, he was not so keen on some festivals and banquets in the palace.

Originally, he didn't plan to do anything else on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival. Since the little girl was going up the mountain, Xie Dan took care of some rituals and customs of the Dragon Boat Festival in the afternoon.In the early morning of the Dragon Boat Festival, the palace will give zongzi and sachets to the clan and close officials, and fans to the important officials of the court, which means "to move the breeze to increase virtue".

After taking a short nap after lunch, Xie Dan went to Qingliang Hall to arrange all these things, and when he left early tomorrow morning, the imperial court and the inner court would naturally implement these things in an orderly manner.

And tomorrow morning, according to the rules, I have to sit in the palace of the Empress Dowager and say hello.But in the afternoon, the Empress Dowager sent Concubine Shu to visit, as usual, to ask how the Duanyang Festival was celebrated.

What the Empress Dowager meant was that even if the clan members were not invited to have a banquet or to race the dragon boat, apart from their grandparents and grandchildren, there would also be Concubine Shu and Concubine Wei in the palace. There must be a family banquet.

Chen Lianjiang treated Concubine Shu's arrival as if he was facing a formidable enemy, and entertained her attentively while waiting outside the Qingliang Hall. The emperor sent someone to send a message, saying that Concubine Shu should go back first, and he would discuss it with the Empress Dowager later.

Chu Congchan was used to this.She has been in the palace for so long, and the harem has no purpose and is not allowed to go out. The empress dowager has to find some reason to send her to the imperial court every once in a while. Sometimes there is a legitimate reason, and sometimes she just says that the empress dowager is worried that the emperor is busy with state affairs , asked her to bring a tonic soup, and said a few words "take care of the dragon's body".

Then the emperor would not see her as usual, and she could go back after saying a few words like "Thank you, grandma".

On the way back Chu Congchan met Concubine Wei Wei Linbo, Wei Linbo blessed her slightly with a smile on his face: "The concubine has met Concubine Shu."

Chu Congchan stopped, raised her eyebrows and asked, "Why is Concubine Wei going, I can remind you that if there is no order in the harem, you are not allowed to go to the imperial court, and you will bear the burden of your majesty's crimes."

"The concubine Xie Shufei reminded me." Wei Linbo still said with a smile on his face, "Your Majesty summoned me, and the concubine dare not not come."

Chu Congchan held his breath in his heart and rushed away angrily.

Wei Linbo said to the maid next to him: "Why is she still not calm?" and went all the way to Qingliang Hall in a beautiful way.

Xie Dan summoned her not only to annoy people, but also to ask about the affairs of the harem.He decided to take advantage of the palace to escape the summer heat and let some of the maids out of the palace.The usual age for maids to be released from the palace is 25 years old. Xie Dan lowered the age to 20 years old this time on the grounds of advocating frugality in the harem and being considerate of the people.

After he ascended the throne, he almost never cared about the affairs of the harem. During the reign of Emperor Yanshi, there were countless concubines in the harem, and the palace staff was also redundant. .In the past few years, apart from the old maids who were released from the palace every year, except for a few new slave maids, no good maids were selected. The overall age level of the existing palace ladies is too old.

Wei Linbo calculated in his mind, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, if all 20-year-olds are released, as far as I know, three or four percent of the existing maids in the palace will go."

"Then do it like this. After the Duanyang Festival, I will make an order, and you and Chu Congchan will work together on this matter."

"Observe the order." Wei Linbo clicked his tongue in his heart, if he did this, within a few years, all the people in the harem would be replaced.Especially the little palace ladies are unusable. Those in this age group are often the big palace ladies who need to be used. These people happen to be the ones in the palace who can speak and do things.

"Your Majesty, the concubine will retire first?"

Xie Tan said without raising his head: "You go to the side hall and wait, later I will go to the Empress Dowager's Palace to pay my respects, you will accompany me."

Wei Linbo shrank his neck and went to the side hall, and asked Chen Lianjiang in a low voice: "Eunuch Chen, what happened in the harem to offend His Majesty these days?"

"Hey, how does this servant know, it seems that there is nothing wrong."

Some things are like a game of chess. In the eyes of the emperor, everyone is a chess piece. Chen Lianjiang thought that His Majesty has moved a little bit more recently, probably because... the girl is in the palace?

The emperor is probably planning to clean up and rotate the entire palace within a few years.Chen Lianjiang couldn't help but click his tongue.

However, even the emperor cannot be regarded as exhaustive.

Ye Chu had nothing to do, so he ate a few honey-soaked greengages while studying in the afternoon, and ran to the garden to pick plums on a whim.There are many plum trees planted in the garden of the palace. In winter, you can see the flowers and in summer, you can see the fruits. At this time, the plums full of trees are green and yellow, and the fennel is the most greedy. I decided to pick some more and go back to make pickled plums.

Then Ye Chu stood in the Meilin Pavilion and looked over, and saw Xie Dan followed by a slender woman in a scarlet dress, walking back through the flower and stone path by the lake together.

This time Xie Dan only brought two servants with him, accompanied by Wei Linbo, from Qingliang Hall to the Funing Hall of the Empress Dowager through most of the palace.

Ye Chu squinted his eyes, and couldn't see clearly from a distance, but the tall man in the Ganshi-colored robe was definitely his elder brother, and she could recognize him at a glance no matter how far away he was.

"Who is that woman?" Ye Chu pointed at them and asked Ye Hui.

Ye Hui looked at it, shaking her head like a rattle: "I don't know."

Chun Jiang glanced at it, then laughed quickly, "Girl, I'm afraid that my lord has some business to do."

What kind of official business, I accompanied a young woman to visit the garden, but when I left in the afternoon, I told her that I was going to be on duty in front of the imperial court!

Ye Chu squinted his eyes for a while, and saw a group of people walking across the small bridge by the lake and heading north.The little girl snorted in her heart, she can accompany whoever she wants, and coax her no matter what!She pointed to the plum tree and called Ye Hui: "You can fly, you can pick them all!"

Ye Hui looked at her and said, "We won't be able to eat all the pickled plums. This small basket is enough for us to make pickled plums."

Ye Chu said: "Let's take it back and make green plum wine."

Ye Hui wanted to say, girl, can you make plum wine, but after thinking about it, the kitchen definitely knows how to do it anyway.

Then they picked a large basket of plums, and the maids made a small jar of honey-soaked plums by themselves, and sent the rest to the kitchen. The cook said it was enough to make two jars of good plum wine.

Xie Dan took Wei Linbo to the Empress Dowager's Palace, Chu Congchan happened to be there, she had just filed a complaint, saying that the emperor summoned Concubine Wei to Qingliang Hall, who would have thought that the Emperor would take Concubine Wei with him soon after? Here comes the grandeur.When Chu Congchan looked at Wei Linbo, knives could fly out of his eyes.

The Empress Dowager was also upset when she saw it, she simply waved her hand and told Chu Congchan and Wei Linbo to retreat, leaving Xie Dan to speak.

First we talked about the Dragon Boat Festival, and then we talked about the release of the older court ladies.The Empress Dowager disagreed at first, saying that in the past few years, she had only been out but not in, so how could there be enough manpower after nearly half of the palace people left? Besides, it is impossible to select good maids every year, and the little eunuchs also rarely come in. , hasn't the palace stopped accepting after a few years?

Xie Dan said: "The people who want to stay in the imperial grandmother's palace will naturally be kept to serve you. This is also a helpless move. When Emperor Yanshi was emperor, there were only a hundred concubines, big and small, in the palace. One, there are naturally many people in the palace, and now there are only a few people in my harem, how can I need so many palace ladies and eunuchs, if the eunuchs can't be released from the palace, then there are only fewer people coming in. The treasury is not full, and money is needed everywhere, Shu There has been another plague of locusts in the land these days, and it is a kind of grace for these court ladies to be released early to marry and marry, and the cost of the harem will also be saved."

The Empress Dowager said: "You also know that there are not many people in your harem. How many years have you been on the throne? It's fine if you don't take the throne. You just care about state affairs and don't get close to the harem all day long. So far you have no heirs. If the palace people let go of so many , how deserted the palace is. According to the Ai family, you can let the maids go as soon as you let them go, and the selection of good maids cannot be suspended for a few years. The Ai family is thinking that the queen should also be established."

The meaning of the empress dowager is naturally to establish Chu Congchan.

Of course, the Empress Dowager would not directly say that she would set up her own grand-niece. The Empress Dowager said that the King Zhong is the leader of the generals and holds a heavy army, so he has to guard against it. Sooner or later it is a curse.The foundation of the Wei family is still shallow, so one concubine should be enough.And the Chu family is her natal family, and the elders of several dynasties will naturally be loyal to the emperor.

"Concubine Shu is more suitable for the latter position than those two. First establish the queen, and then choose a few concubines for you. You must have a few caring people by your side."

Xie Dan smiled, and said: "Emperor Grandmother should understand that I don't like it. Whoever is appointed as the queen in this harem and how many people enter are nothing more than supporting idlers."

The Empress Dowager said angrily: "Then what are you going to do? Let this Great Zhou Dynasty have no successors?"

Xie Dan said indifferently: "Let's go with the flow, I'm still young, and I shouldn't be short-lived, why are you so anxious to consider an heir?"

The empress dowager choked.

Xie Dan said: "I beseech the imperial grandmother to be considerate of my grandson. I lost my parents when I was ten years old. I am used to being withdrawn. My blood relatives are not trustworthy. The people around me are not scheming. I don't dare to get close to anyone easily."

The Empress Dowager's complexion changed, knowing what he meant, she held up the teacup in a concealed manner, but her hands trembled slightly.

"Grandmother is resting, I will take my leave first."

The Empress Dowager looked at his tall and straight back and went out boldly, holding the teacup without moving for a while, and suddenly threw the teacup heavily on the ground.

"The empress dowager calm down." The mother next to her knelt down in panic.

The Empress Dowager scolded: "You heard it all, what did he mean by that? He must not forget that the imperial decree for his enthronement was issued by the Ai family."

When Xie Dan returned to Yuqianzhai, Ye Chu was watching a few maids making honey-soaked plums, when he looked up and saw Xie Dan coming, he asked nonchalantly, "Brother is back, have you been on duty all afternoon at the imperial court? "

"Yes, otherwise, what else can I do." Xie Dan said.

Ye Chu nodded, looked at him with dark eyes and said nothing.Xie Dan instinctively sensed something was wrong.

He glanced at Ye Hui and Ye Ling next to him, Ye Hui pretended not to see her eyes lightly, and even hinted at some kind of accusation, Ye Ling lowered her head to avoid his gaze.But Chunjiang simply pretended to play with the plums in the jar.

One by one, without giving him any hints, how courageous, a whole room of people dared to play charades with him.Xie Dan felt a little helpless, thought for a while, could it be that the little girl discovered something?

He is not afraid that she will find out, he will know sooner or later, but he has to find a way to hide the lie for a long time, his identity is now a hidden danger, if she finds out out of the blue, Xie Dan will really panic.Everything is most afraid of being caught off guard.

"Let's all back down." Xie Dan said.

The maids retreated one after another, and Ye Hui took the jar away before leaving.Xie Dan didn't have a clue in his mind, so he simply asked, "An'an, did you tell brother what happened?"

"No." Ye Chu asked back, "What happened?"

For some reason, she felt uneasy. It was fine for her brother to accompany the beauty to the garden, but he still kept it from her.

Why dare not let her know?

Guilty!

The little girl ate dinner quietly, and she obediently ate the food Xie Dan gave her, which made people feel uneasy.

After eating, Ye Chu said that he would go to take a shower first, Xie Dan went back to his room and asked the servants to call Ye Ling and Ye Hui over.

There was no girl in front of her for courage, Ye Hui and Ye Ling were immediately cowardly when they saw the neither happy nor angry expression on the emperor's face, when Xie Dan asked, the two quickly said everything.

It turned out that it wasn't a matter of identity, Xie Dan heaved a sigh of relief, but instead he didn't understand.

When An An saw him walking with Wei Linbo, she asked him what he did. The little girl thought he lied to her, so she was upset?Why is the whole room playing charades with him, making it look like he has done something bad.

Xie Dan didn't come around for a while.

Xie Dan glanced at Ye Hui and Ye Ling, they were kneeling on the ground with their heads lowered, pretending to be quails, Xie Dan stared at them, and waved them to back off.

He strolled to the back, thinking about explaining to her that it wasn't something important, he didn't think she was asking about it, and he didn't mean to lie to her on purpose.

The youngest daughter's family is really inexplicably coquettish and petty, so Xie Dan decided to coax her.

He got up and went to the back, but he heard that Ye Chu had already returned to the bedroom to lie down after taking a bath.It was a hot summer night, and Xie Dan didn't go in in the bedroom of the youngest daughter's house dressed coolly and casually.

The next morning, during the Duanyang Festival, Xie Dan took Ye Chu up the mountain after breakfast.

Ye Chu was not in high spirits, and she didn't sleep well at night.

For some reason, Ye Chu was always a little absent-minded.She couldn't help thinking, who was that woman yesterday, and why did her brother hide it from her?

Does my brother have a woman he likes? Will he be full of other women, and then marry her a sister-in-law...

She will be 15 years old tomorrow, will my brother want her to be like Han Jin'er, and ask her to marry someone one day...

She doesn't want to marry, grow up, and let alone be separated from her brother...

Brother doesn't want her anymore...

The elder brother was so kind to her, he was afraid of falling when he was holding it, and he was afraid of melting if he was holding it in his mouth. He wanted to get whatever he wanted, and wished he could pile up all the good things in the world in front of her.It was so good that she didn't have to think about anything, she was as carefree, safe and happy as her brother hoped.

However, her childhood experience is like a sensitive and restless seed buried in her heart, which will germinate unexpectedly.

Something called worrying about gains and losses made the girl unable to tell at this moment whether she was angry, disappointed, or something else, anyway, she was just not that happy.

Ying Mountain has beautiful scenery and quiet forests. Xie Dan took Ye Chu to a small valley and asked his accompanying guards to guard at the entrance of the valley after patrolling. He only took Ye Chu into the valley and walked through a section of rocky path to show her A pool of water at the bottom of the valley.

"I came here when I was very young. I was seven or eight years old, and I was still grilling fish in Tanbian." Xie Tan asked, "Do you want to try it? I'll ask someone to bring fishing tackle and a grill."

Ye Chu looked around, but said: "Brother, you are the one talking about burning the piano and cooking the crane. In such a quiet and elegant place, you set up a shelf to grill fish in smoke."

Xie Dan: "..."

He pulled her to sit down on a grassy slope, and said seriously: "An'an, brother is busy on weekdays, so he may not always take care of you. You must tell brother if you have anything. For example, if you are unhappy, you can tell me .”

The little girl snorted in her heart, looked at him sideways, her clear eyes were like pools at the bottom of the valley, she tilted her head and asked, "And then?"

"Then I want to know what you are unhappy about, or what you want." Xie Dan said, "An An, the last thing my brother wants is that you don't say anything and hide it in your heart, and you will be sullen all by yourself."

Ye Chu pouted: "I'm not sullen."

And said she wasn't sulking, and her mouth was so pouted that she could tie her pony.Xie Dan smiled lightly and asked, "So you have something hidden in your heart?"

"I didn't hide anything." The little girl snorted in her heart, knowing that she could not hide her every move from him, and the servants around her were traitors with chicken bones and rabbit guts. He should have known what he wanted to know. up.

Ye Chu turned around and didn't look at him, proudly raised his chin and said, "Brother, you are a bully, you know every move I make, what can I hide? It's you, you are the one to hide it first. Me, what did you say that I was on duty in front of the imperial court, you can go shopping with other girls in the garden, and I won’t talk about you, why are you lying to me.”

"That's it?" Xie Dan asked.

Ye Chu was shy for a while, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed for some reason. He turned his head and looked at the green mountains and forests in the distance and said, "I'm not angry. If you lie, just tell it. I can't do anything to you."

Xie Dan said: "Just because of this, you are not happy about your birthday today? Then you just asked me yesterday, can't you?"

"..." Ye Chu turned to look at him, snorted heavily in his nose to express his anger, and asked back, "You are guilty of lying yourself, why are you blaming me instead?"

"I don't blame you." Xie Dan hurriedly apologized, pinched her face indulgently and smiled, "How dare I blame you, I don't know why you are upset by your wonderful day."

He explained earnestly, "The woman who walked with me yesterday is my subordinate. You have met her before. In our house, you still call her elder sister. Do you remember?"

Ye Chu thought about it, and there was such a thing.Ye Chu said: "Who this woman is has nothing to do with my unhappiness, I'm not angry with her."

"Okay, blame me." Xie Dan said with a helpless smile, "The little birthday boy is the biggest today, so it's all my brother's fault and my fault."

"..." Ye Chu said awkwardly, "I don't blame you, it's just..."

I just can't explain why I'm not happy.

Xie Dan said: "Let me tell you that I am on duty, and I am indeed busy with various things. That woman is my subordinate. I took her with me just to handle official business, and I didn't go out to play behind your back, so I didn't feel that I should tell you specifically. .”

He said: "If you had asked me directly last night, wouldn't I have made it clear right away? It's not worth your displeasure. Even the servant girls in your house would push me aside."

"??" Ye Chu looked at him sideways, and protested with wide eyes, "How dare they squeeze you out? They are all traitors, they are afraid when they see you, and they listen to you in everything."

"Don't talk about them." Xie Dan smiled, lay back on the grass, put his hands under his head, and said leisurely, "Hey, if I knew that I would make my sister angry because of such a trivial matter, I don't care. You shouldn't have gone out yesterday afternoon."

"Brother!" Ye Chu felt embarrassed, and slapped him on the arm coquettishly, but Xie Dan stretched out his hand to catch her, and pulled her to lie down too.The two lay side by side, looking at the clouds in the sky, listening to the cicadas in the valley, peaceful and quiet for a moment.

Ye Chu lay down for a while, she was already thin and tender, so she felt that the grass was not so comfortable.

The little girl simply sat up, pulled Xie Dan's arm to use it as a pillow, and lay down again.

She did it as a matter of course and didn't seem to think there was anything wrong.

After all, the little girl grew up in her brother's arms and back.

But Xie Dan knew that the girl who was resting on his arm and playing with a blade of grass in her hand was no longer the little girl she was when she was a child.

"An'an," Xie Dan called her.

The little girl hummed to show that she heard it, put her two little hands in front of her eyes, and played around with a blade of grass in her hand.

Xie Dan asked her: "Today is your birthday, what do you want, do you have any wishes?"

Wish, Ye Chu thought for a while and said, "I want to rely on my brother for the rest of my life and never go anywhere."

She turned over and put her arms up, lying in his arms, and asked him in a clear voice: "Brother, you will never want me, will you?"

Xie Dan was inexplicably distressed.

He lay on his back, looking up at the blue sky and flowing clouds, speechless for a moment, but silently gathered the arm that was lying on her stomach, and with a little effort, he hugged her and pressed her to his chest.