Huaibi

That night Li Qingjue suddenly had a dream.

The peach blossoms reflect the water, the fish swim in the shallow bottom, and my nephew Rui Ning reads poems on a scroll, laughing and saying to him, "If you are honest, you will not deceive me."The righteous brother and sister-in-law are at ease, sitting in the small courtyard to choose vegetables and weave frames, whispering about which girl seems to be in love with Rui Ning, and she should ask a matchmaker for a marriage.Not long after, the door of the hut opened, and the adopted son Rong Xi and Lianhua walked out side by side, raised their heads and looked at him, with smooth eyebrows.

Li Qingjue felt that this scene was unreal, and the blessing was like the sun, which made his heart ache.

In a trance, he turned his head to look at the person beside him. It was not a red robe that had been silent for many years like a palace wall, nor was there a dragon flying between his chest and back. Picking up half of the fragile flowers that have fallen from the wind, I held it between my fingers and smiled at him: "'There are beautiful women in the southern country, and their beauty is like peaches and plums'."

Li Qingjue suddenly tightened his grip on Pinghuai, shaking the flower so that it fluttered down, so anxious that it seemed that a person with such a description would disappear in the blink of an eye.

Ping Huaizhen only smiled lowly, raised his other hand to cover the thin palm on his wrist, and asked, "Why is Qingjue so restless?"

Li Qingjue's lips trembled, his eyes were uncertain.

"You... are you really?"

"It's true, what Qingjue sees is true."

Li Qingjue took half a step forward and hugged him tightly, buried his head on his shoulder, wishing he could melt into his body, and murmured back and forth with hot eyes: "Don't deceive me, don't deceive me..."

Ping Huaizhen embraced him back.

Into the nose is the plain peach fragrance, the dew breath of the shallow grass, also curled with the water vapor of the quiet lake, and the agricultural smoke in the courtyard.

Unknowingly, however, the taste of the world has changed, and the familiar incense gradually shattered the whole dream. Li Qingjue vaguely smelled the thick and suffocating damp of the palace walls and the mildew that persisted in the imperial city all year round, and his brows were blocked. Frowning, eyelids twitching.

Until a moment later, he kissed the center of his eyebrows.

Li Qingjue loosened his clenched fingers bit by bit, and with his eyes slowly opening, he saw Ping Huaizhen clearly in the dim moonlight. The jade crown was temporarily removed, but the nobility remained undiminished.

Li Qingjue closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had no extravagance, and he was no more frank than in his dream.

"Have a nightmare?"

In the dark night came a thoughtful inquiry, Li Qingjue shook his head, approached Ping Huaizhen and said: "Dreams are good."

Ping Huaizhen seemed to believe it or not, wrapped him in his arms and coaxed him to sleep.

Outdoors, it is still in the middle of the moon, the cold stars are faint, and the clouds are dyed in autumn.

The two embraced each other and went to sleep, Ping Huaizhen woke up again, half of the quilt was cold, the person next to the pillow was no longer in the palace, she couldn't help but felt a sense of sadness, half-opened her eyes looking at the empty embrace, she didn't move, she forgot the time geometry.

A palace official opened the door to enter the hall and waited outside the double curtain, and the only person walked in bowed, and whispered from outside the bed curtain: "Prince, it's time to get up."

Listening to Jiang Changzhi's voice, Ping Huaizhen came back to his senses little by little, and felt unprecedentedly tired at that moment, sat up with a splitting headache, reached out and swung the curtain vigorously.

Jiang Chang's heart groaned, sensing that the prince was in a bad mood today, he hurriedly caught the shaking curtain, tied his hands and feet neatly at the end of the railing, and deliberately said something good when he leaned over to put on his shoes: "Prince, The servant heard early in the morning that the post was delivered in the palace this morning, it was from the Chengyuan palace, and the concubine went to the palace to visit the empress at this time."

During the conversation, he raised his eyes and looked at his expression, seeing that Ping Huaizhen stretched his brows a little more happily, so he restrained his temper a little bit.

"Then you can wait in front of the queen later, I will come back."

"Hey." Jiang Chang answered, the shoes were arranged, and he helped Ping Huaizhen to stand up.

The palace maid outside the curtain immediately waited for the order to bring in clear water and warm tea, and served them deftly and skillfully.Ping Huaizhen changed his clothes and hair absently, sipped a cup of hot tea in a hurry, and went out after breakfast.

In autumn, the morning sun is no longer exposed faster than in summer, and the thin frost covers everything lightly like a gauze, exuding the first chill.However, Ping Huaizhen felt a little hot during his quick steps, and only after a few cool breezes from the corridor in front of the Qianqing Hall did the sweat on his forehead dissipate.

There were ministers coming one after another on the long steps behind him. He looked down and looked down, then turned his head and straightened his body, and stepped forward into the hall.

During the dynasty, it was rare for Huaizhen to arrive so early. At that time, there were less than [-]% of the people in the hall, and it was sparse and deserted.But in just a moment, all the ministers gradually arrived from outside the steps, and one side of the hall was quieter than before, and the private friends also stopped whispering, raised their eyebrows, and walked back to their seats.

After a while, a long bell rang out from the Mandian Hall, and it vibrated in a circle under the golden roof of the sorghum beams, sinking more and more.

In the solemnity, before the emperor came to court, no one in the whole hall dared to ask questions, as before, each of them held their wats and bowed their backs, pressing the black on the top of their hats and facing the dragon seat.

Time is like ice, after a long time, I heard the eunuch singing from the back of the hall, accompanied by a few dull low coughs, falling into everyone's ears.

Emperor Hongxuan was not as tall and straight as before, and he was helped to a high position by the prince Xu Bu, but the action of bending his waist and sitting down seemed to have gone through a long time of the change of the sun and the moon, consuming half of his strength.After supporting him to sit, Wang Gonggong did not back away, but put his ears closer to listen to his orders, nodded slightly in response, then straightened his body and raised his head, calling out in a long and clear voice: "The emperor ordered the prince to come forward to manage the government. "

Ping Huaizhen listened to the fleeting uproar at that moment.

The shock in the hall calmed down so quickly that it made him doubtful, not knowing that the shocking sighs he heard just now came from his reverie, but the respect and silence lingering here now are very real.He was not without surprise, Emperor Hongxuan had never mentioned a single word before, and it was undoubtedly a strong move to push him close to the high seat in front of all civil and military officials in the court.

One is the courage to force the prince, and the other is the fear of burning the corrupt.

Under this move, Ping Huaizhen will definitely gain courage, and if he is willing to be brave, he is also good at being brave.

He suppressed the astonishment in his eyes, straightened his back, frowned and walked steadily towards the place where the imperial power is located, one step, two steps, and finally the third step.Emperor Hongxuan moved his fingers, he paused and moved forward three steps, the steps were real and not empty.

All the ministers present seemed to bow their heads, but they all took this scene into their hearts without missing a minute, each sighed, and all kinds of expressions gathered together.

Ping Huaizhen stood still, with a dragon chair inlaid with lacquer gold and jade reflected in his eyes, he suppressed his heart and soul surging like a sea hurricane, turned around and looked down at the ministers, his eyes contained the people of the emperor, and also captured the sudden morning light. Open the door of the palace.

For many years in the court, I have never had such a vision. Looking at it now, it is like a river and a mountain in my arms.

The prince and father sang the word "Qi Chao" loudly, and all the officials bowed their heads and knelt down, shouting long live.

Ping Huaizhen's eyes gradually shone, knowing that once he ascended a high stage, he would never turn back and descend again.

The matter of the crown prince's administration near the dragon seat was burned into the courtiers' hearts like iron, so that there was no major event in the palace that day, and privately passed on the words, saying that the crown prince's position is so deep that even gods can't dig it out.

When the rumors spread to the people outside the palace, what the people said was different.

Ordinary people only want to have enough food and clothing for their families, and don’t need to really worry about who will get the imperial power. Therefore, they only have a trace of ruthless emotion, shaking their heads and secretly saying "the emperor is old", but they don’t know that these four words are the most shocking. There are several families who are hesitant and restless.

Concubine Yi Fang in the palace grasped the power of the harem in the palm of her hand, and when she turned her head, she was hit on the head by the former prince's management of politics. She was so angry that she dropped the newly burnt sandalwood incense burner.

The non-bronze furnace body was immediately smashed to pieces, the incense powder spilled all over the floor, Fudong winked at the maidservant, the maid hurriedly knelt down, cleaned it with bare hands, and carefully took the incense powder out of the debris.Satisfied, Fudong approached Concubine Yi and squeezed her shoulders to soothe her, persuading her in a soft voice: "Don't be mad, why bother throwing this good thing? Gu Chu's tribute is only a little bit every year, it was always the empress's example in the past, Now it’s not leaking anything, let the empress enjoy it all for you!”

Concubine Yi let out a cold snort, and after being coaxed by her ear, she felt a little more at ease.

The maidservant kneeling on the ground has tidied up the ground neatly, and Fudong even sent her away all the idlers in the room, and said in a lower voice: "Your Majesty, look, what you want will be yours sooner or later, it doesn't matter exception."

"What you said is true, what I want will not be someone else's." Yi Fei curled up her beautiful lips, picked up a silk handkerchief and wiped off a smear of incense ash on her finger, she was no longer in a hurry, "At the beginning, the emperor refused to let me assist the harem, but now I can manage alone, wouldn't it be better."

"Exactly, God is helping you, Madam!"

Concubine Yi covered her mouth and chuckled, she did not hide her pride, she thought of the desolate person in the cold palace, she felt very happy, she calmed down before she knew it, and said quietly: "I don't care about him for the time being, but I just bring him into the palace A bastard, the biological mother is nothing like a "concubine Jing", if she hadn't died of dystocia, how could a mere pariah be named a concubine... I have a noble family background, I have been favored for many years and gave birth to a royal son, I should be the future empress dowager."

"Your Majesty is very right, and she will definitely get what she wants."

"Go," Concubine Yi said by humiliating the prince, teaching herself to be at ease, and thinking about the sixth prince she cared about the most, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she was extraordinary in appearance and incomparable in talent, who could be more worthy of the emperor than him, she Thinking about it here alone, my heart was surging, and I ordered, "Go and invite the sixth prince, and I will have a few words with him."

"Yes, servant girl is going right now." Fudong took the ashes-stained silk handkerchief with his hands raised, and left with a pleasant smile.

Concubine Yi was free and didn't know what to do, she simply propped her head on the couch and closed her eyes to rest her mind. When she closed her eyes, she couldn't see the darkness, but she could see a dazzling brilliance. Huai Hao's endless splendor and the appearance of tens of thousands of people bowing their heads taught this history to engrave the names of mother and child with great color.

After a while, there seemed to be a person standing in front of her. She opened her sleepy eyes, saw Aizi leaning over to look at her, met her eyes and smiled and said: "Mother Concubine is awake."

Concubine Yi's expression softened, she woke up completely from the dream, she straightened her body and motioned for him to sit aside, reached out her hand to caress his brows that were no longer immature, shook her head and said: "You can still laugh, you can't see me anymore What a hurry."

"Mother Concubine, why are you so anxious?" Ping Huaihao heard the words seriously, the smile on his face gradually faded, and jealousy floated in his eyes, "He can only go up the six steps, and he can't take half a step higher."

Concubine Yi likes to hear him speak with such determination, but when she thinks of Emperor Hongxuan's many partialities as a monarch, she inevitably panics and resents her injustice: "I don't understand why the emperor has such deep affection for that dead man." Righteousness, is it possible to only take that wicked one as his own son?"

"Mother and concubine, be careful," Ping Huaihao blocked her anger, "Now there is no need to show force with words, one day I want them to see with their own eyes how I am the king of this country."

"Whatever you want them to see, mother and concubine will see." Concubine Yi was easily coaxed by him, and she let out a long sigh of relief after laughing, "But you have seen the current situation, your father..." There was a pause at this point, The words of respect lingered on his lips, and then he whispered again in a deep voice, "I'm afraid your father's illness will rarely get better. If you don't have him, you will usurp the throne if you seize the heir; It’s justifiable.”

Ping Huaihao listened to the words in his heart, and nodded in a haze: "I understand."

Concubine Yi was extremely pleased: "Concubine Mother is waiting."

"Mother and Concubine will wait for you," Ping Huaihao sneered, closed his eyes, and patted her palm. His gaze swept across her beaded hair, and he caught a touch of silver in the black hair. Si, he turned his eyes away and didn't mention it, he just reassured her, "Mother and concubine wait, soon, the three thousand harem will respect you, and all the treasures in the world will be decorated for you."

Concubine Yi's brows and eyes are pleasing like a spring, as if his promise is already in front of her eyes.