Qi Huang

The court meeting will not be dispersed until the sun is three poles.Everyone with different expressions poured out from the three side doors of the Purple Luan Hall, no matter if they were sober or confused, they all knew the outcome of today's hasty meeting.

This canal needs to be repaired.

The ministers who were not in the same party as Li Jin thought to themselves, the Qin family would rather take the risk of violating the precepts of their ancestors and pay for the construction of the canal. Is it really profitable?

They can despise the current Qin family, but they cannot despise the original Qin family.Even when they acted as a deterrent to the powerful families in all directions, the Qin family had produced several generations of emperors - at least in the matter of choosing the emperor, it was enough to prove that the Qin family had a vicious vision.

Everyone's faces were mixed, and everyone had their own calculations.Du Yuzhi walked out slowly with the flow of people with his sleeves in his hands, and when he raised his eyes, he saw Qin Ting lingering on Longbi's side, as if he was reluctant to leave.He looked back along Qin Ting's line of sight, and at the end was Xie Xuan and the Queen Mother who had not left in Ziluan Palace.

Generally speaking, the emperor should be the first to leave when the court is dispersed, that is, the queen mother, but today, for some reason, the queen mother taught the eunuchs to dismiss the courtiers first, and she and Xie Xuan stayed at the end.

Du Yuzhi thought for a while, stepped forward to talk to Qin Ting and said, "Master Qin? Are you still leaving?"

Qin Ting turned his head back, with confusion in his eyes: "I don't know why, the lower official suddenly feels restless."

Thinking of the rumors spread all over the lanes, Du Yuzhi couldn't help but joked: "Could it be that the priests of Penglai Mountain showed their spirits and wanted to give you a dream today?"

After Qin Ting listened, the hesitation on his face had not dissipated, but he still showed his face to Du Yuzhi and said, "I can't tell."

He waved his hand, and finally walked down the steps beside Long Majesty.When he reached the flat brick road, he paused to look back, but at this time, he could no longer see the scene inside Ziluan Hall.

In the huge hall, eunuchs and palace servants serve on both sides.After the crowd dissipated, only the surrounding area was empty, and if someone paced in it, they could hear echoes.

The Empress Dowager sat in her own seat beside the dragon chair, and did not speak for a long time, so Xie Xuan could only wait by His Highness.

At the end of the dynasty, there was no abnormality in the group who opposed the digging of the canal the most. Even Li Jin seemed to accept the result.There is only one thing, only one person—Xie Xuan is not unfamiliar.

It was a young man who had just entered the official position, the blood in his chest had not yet cooled down, and his eyes were the brightest when Xie Xuan just spoke.He didn't worship the sky or the earth, even when he went down to the court, he was a bit perfunctory when he worshiped the queen mother, but before leaving the palace gate, he bowed to Xie Xuan in a well-mannered manner.

At that moment, Xie Xuan did not let go of the slightest expression on the queen mother's face.

"Do you know why Ai's family let you stay?" After the relief of Jiulong's clinging, the queen mother said leisurely.

Xie Xuan cupped his hands and said, "Grandson doesn't know."

"The Ai family saw you talking in the palace just now, and thought of myself when I was just regent."

Her face was unmoved—she always was.At such a young age, it is already like a bell in an old temple used to see the morning, evening, and rain.Emotions, anger, sorrow, and joy are all hidden under that gorgeous skin, without any fluctuations.But at this moment, something unknown cut a hole in that skin, and only then did Xie Xuan get a glimpse of the touch of "youth is easy to throw away".

The dragon chair on the left was unoccupied, and the brilliance shone on the Queen Mother's face.She raised her hand to brush the back of the golden chair, and reached out to Xie Xuan who was under the steps: "Come."

She wants Xie Xuan to come forward.

The nine-foot-high staircase symbolizes the power above the nine heavens as constant as the moon, as rising as the sun, as long as the Nanshan Mountain, and as lush as the pines and cypresses. It didn't take long for Xie Xuan to climb this staircase.

The queen mother took Xie Xuan's hand and tugged in her direction.

Xie Xuan was a little confused at first, but soon, he understood what the Queen Mother meant.

Everyone said, "Happy at the knees", no matter how young the Queen Mother looked, no matter how young she was, she was lonely for many years in this extremely cold nine days.

Xie Xuan knelt down beside the Empress Dowager, then turned her head and gently placed it on the Empress Dowager's lap.

The Empress Dowager's clothes were intricately patterned, but her body was soft, and the hands covering Xie Xuan's hair were also warm.

She gently stroked Xie Xuan's bun, showing a loving face like countless elders in the world.

"Your father used to sleep on my lap like this, when he was only five years old." The Empress Dowager looked far away, as if seeing the distant past through the long and quiet corridor on the main hall.

"At that time, the former emperor passed away suddenly, and the Dazhou Mountain shook. The Xie family was surrounded by many aristocratic families, and its foundation was not stable. Your father's brothers also died, and only the five-year-old He can ascend to the Ninth Five-Year Honor alive. If I don’t act at that time, I will follow the late emperor to die.”

"People are always pushed forward, Xinglan." The Queen Mother said slowly, "If there is no pressure from the world, you will never know where you can go. Your father ascended the throne, and I am in power behind the curtain, which is difficult. , only you know.”

Xie Xuan lay on the queen mother's lap, looking at the queen mother without blinking.He pretended not to understand the deep meaning of the Empress Dowager's words, and acted extremely obedient, and obediently replied: "The imperial grandmother and the imperial father depend on each other for life, so the imperial grandmother must like the imperial father more."

The queen mother was amused by his sassy tone: "Your father is not as clever as you. He was stupid when he was young, and he often made me angry. He was five years old and his head was less than my knees. Whenever he saw me angry, his mouth would swell. His skills are poor, and he would only climb onto his knees and grab my hand and shake it."

Xie Xuan commented seriously: "It looks like Brother Ten."

This time, the Queen Mother laughed uncontrollably.

A smile finally appeared on her face.A person's joy and anger can be faked, and sorrow and joy can also be faked, but the joy that comes from the bones cannot be faked.

Wang Qi was right, she really couldn't bear to be lonely.

From having nothing to the present, from almost dying to holding the lives of thousands of people, along the way, not many people dare to look directly into her eyes.When they looked at her, there was either fear in their eyes, or hatred that wanted to strangle her to death.

Seeing all kinds of eyes too much, Xie Xuan, who deliberately rolled from the wine table to her at the family banquet that day, looked outstanding.

After a while, the liveliness on the Empress Dowager's face faded away, and her smile melted into silence for no reason like ice thrown from a cold day.The queen mother flicked on Xie Xuan's eyelashes, forcing him to close them.

With his sight blocked, Xie Xuan could no longer see the Empress Dowager's expression, but he could clearly hear the bone-chilling coldness in his words.

"Xinglan, I can give you the position of the crown prince."

Xie Xuan remained silent.

"You have to build the canal, you have to build the family, and anyone in this world who stands in your way to become emperor can be killed."

The queen mother stood up and brushed Xie Xuan's hand away.And behind the dragon chair that symbolized the Ninth Five-Year Lord, a eunuch approached quietly, holding a wine cup that was just a cup in his hand.She leaned over and looked back, and saw that Xie Xuan was still kneeling on the ground in the original posture, and the dependence in her eyes had not yet faded away.

But she's hardened.

"I will be your most steadfast backing." The Queen Mother coldly handed the wine cup to Xie Xuan.

Xie Xuan lowered his eyes.

The hand next to her still had a tactile sensation. It was the temperature of the empress dowager's palm, but now it was completely cold.Xie Xuan found that even though he had rehearsed the current situation, he still couldn't help feeling flustered.

The loathing of being confined by Li Jin in a cage in his previous life has penetrated into his bone marrow. He is alone and not afraid of anything.But now why are you afraid again?

That wine cup is so ordinary, you can find traces of its existence in any corner of the palace, it just contains a glass of wine... Xie Xuan, what are you afraid of?

My mind is complicated, and many cloud-like thoughts flutter past like wings.In the illusory dreamland where no one visits, 15-year-old Xie Xuan buried her head in her knees, her hands trembling, and no one could hug her.

Suddenly a person appeared in front of him. 15-year-old Xie Xuan looked up - he saw himself.

In the empty and silent Ziluan Palace, Xie Xuan looked at the glass of wine, the wine was crystal clear, and it was impossible to tell what kind of poison it was: "Grandmother keeps her word?"

"Keep your promise." The queen mother said lightly, "Besides, isn't this what you want?"

The sun was shining brightly, and the golden window lattices in the temple were scorched blood red by the sunlight, and they fell down together with the crumbling peach blossom branches on the wall.

Xie Xuan took the wine cup and drank it down.