Longxi,Gaoyang County,.

"Mai Dong, the candle is out." Zhang Qi had only turned a page of the book in his hand, and he saw that the candle on the desk flickered in the wind, and then it was extinguished, "Let's change it again." ”

There was no sound around, Zhang Qi's heart tightened, but he still slowly put down the book, and his voice was still as gentle as Fang Cai: "You lazy boy, where have you gone?" ”

As soon as he spoke, he saw a figure flash on the door, but under the dissolution of the moonlight, it was only a moment. Zhang Qi's mind flew around quickly, but he suddenly loosened his straight back, and there was a little smile on his lips.

"Since Your Excellency came uninvited, why didn't you show up and see why you extinguished my candle."

There was still no sound around, only the black shadow that seemed to show a corner of the door froze. Zhang Qi sat in the darkness of this room, and by the moonlight, he got used to it a little, his eyes fell on the bookshelf, he slowly stretched out a finger, pointed to a box on the top, and nodded at the darkness, but he didn't know who he was for.

There was a sudden sound outside the door, and then the door in front of Zhang Qi was broken, but in this August night, the wind in Longxi was still a little cool. With this sound, Zhang Qi swiped his eyes, but the box was missing from the bookshelf. A very shallow smile appeared on his lips, but his face was already in a pretended calm panic, and one hand was tightly clenched on the cane, and he stood up abruptly.

"I didn't know that to deal with such a cripple as me, and to put up such a battle with you." When Zhang Qi said this, his voice was full of emotion, although he sneered, but look, he was really panicked.

At this time, in the study of the county guard's mansion, there were more than a dozen black-clothed people with knives, all of whom only showed their eyes, but they all looked extremely fierce. Although Zhang Qi, who was on crutches, was tall, he was extremely thin, and the two sides faced each other silently in the darkness, and the situation appeared immediately.

"I am afraid that I will be attacked by thieves in this mansion, and I am afraid that I will startle the snake, so I will call my subordinates to sneak in and protect my lordship. If I surprise you, I'll make amends here. As these words rose and fell, the black-clothed sword-wielding warriors parted on both sides, and one of them slowly walked into the study wearing a moon-white brocade robe, and the tone sounded respectful, smiling, and sincere.

In this darkness, Zhang Qi looked straight at him, his facial features were blurred, only the moon-white robe glowing with blue fluorescence seemed to shine under the moonlight.

"Then I want to worry about Lord Lao, such a good night, I actually alarmed you to bring someone here in person."

"The guards of the county guard mansion have always been useless, they can't even catch a thief, you are a noble family, if there is really damage, this marquis can't afford it." Li Jiangyuan laughed lowly, Zhang Qi sighed in his heart, knowing that this matter was menacing, and he couldn't avoid it no matter what, so he had to continue to cheer up and finish the role of the head of the Zhang family.

"Since Master Hou said that there are thieves in my house, dare to ask if you have taken it?" Zhang Qi's voice suddenly rose, "Look, your guards are all in my room, but I want to ask you, where have all my guards gone in the county guard's mansion?" ”

"Naturally, I caught the thief." Li Jiangyuan was still smiling, and his face was full of arbitrariness, "Lord County Guard, it's lucky to say that this thief was really caught by me." ”

"Bring it up and show it to the county guard." Li Jiangyuan's voice fell, and there was a sound behind him, which seemed to be the sound of a warrior's armor walking, but it was also mixed with the sound of people moaning and struggling, "Hold the lamp, tell the adults to see clearly." ”

In an instant, the torch lit up, illuminating the dark room, and between the flames, it cast a shadow on the kneeling person on the ground, but when Zhang Qi saw his face, his body trembled, and he could barely support his body by leaning on a cane.

Zhang Qi looked up at Li Jiangyuan suddenly, his eyes were already full of undisguised horror and anger, and he met Li Jiangyuan's mocking gaze.

"Lord Zhang seems to recognize this thief, it can't be a thief from the prison guards in the house, right?" Li Jiangyuan smiled in a low voice again, and after a pout, someone threw a brocade box on Zhang Qi's bookcase, and Zhang Qi glanced at it, then looked away, and his face was already gray.

"Seeing that your mansion is not very stable, it is better to go back to the house with Benhou. The Guiyuan Marquis Mansion is not to say that it is an iron wall, but it can also ensure that no one outside dares to hurt you a penny. Li Jiangyuan looked at Zhang Qi's appearance, his smile became more and more open, and the presumptuousness in his voice was that he didn't even bother to hide it, "Please." ”

*

Changping, Dongnei, Zaotang.

"The second half of the month is your crown ceremony, but you are leisurely, and you can read in this algae hall."

"Brother Anting." Su Lan still sat and didn't get up, but smiled and pointed to the seat in front of her, "It's rare that the summer heat in the capital is not heavy in the afternoon, but everyone looks at this place." ”

Qiao Anting smiled slightly, sat down opposite her, and didn't poke it, he was obviously invited by her.

It has been half a year since the new emperor ascended the throne, and everything has gradually straightened out, and he, who is used to being an invisible person in the officialdom, has recently moved to the position of Taifu, and it is logical to take Xie Wei's shortage, and it is less than a month before Xie Wei died.

Su Lan shook her head, stopped Qiao Anting's action about to speak, and slowly pointed to the curtain of the inner hall with a slender and white almost transparent finger. Qiao Anting followed her finger and saw a shadowy figure inside, not tall and with immature shoulders, combing the young man's hair, but his back was straight.

"Your Highness." Su Lan had a playful smile on her face, but she said it silently.

The gentle smile on Qiao Anting's face froze, although his expression was still the solemn appearance of the young man, but it had already shown a bit of the depth that only came in the court, and the relaxed attitude that came slowly from Fang Cai suddenly showed a difference. At this time, he vaguely guessed the purpose of Su Lan's invitation.

Su Lan looked at the look on his face, and knew that he was keen, and the smile on his face was still hanging, but he slowly opened his mouth, and said: "Your Majesty wants to enlighten the two princes, but you don't want to find those seventy or eighty scholars. It's just that both of them are not very old, and His Majesty means that there is no need to make a big fanfare, but you need to bother. ”

"When the overall situation is stable, there will naturally be one or two Taifu, this master's knowledge is secondary, and the most important thing is character, do you understand?"

"Then, according to your meaning, who is up to the task?"

"In the few days I have been in Beijing, I have taken His Highness to study. His Royal Highness has been taught by the Middle Palace, and he has a lot of knowledge and writing skills, so he just needs to find a loyal person with clear righteousness and solid knowledge. ”

"If you say so, then I have a number in my heart." Qiao Anting listened to her words, clearly implied, but also tacitly, just nodded, and said, "When it comes to this, you are the most suitable." ”

"I, ah, I can't be a teacher. I'm not a specialist in the art of exhaustion, and my knowledge is not solid. If you really have some talent, you can also learn more in poetry and articles, but this thing, for enlightened children, is just a show. ”

"Brother Hidden." Behind the curtain, a child's crisp voice sounded, and immediately after, the curtain was lifted, and a little boy of six or seven years old slowly came out from behind, although his expression was immature, but he was very calm.

"Your Highness has read the book?" Su Lan smiled slightly, and didn't talk to him about the courtesy of the monarch and ministers, only asked him to sit down beside him, and pointed to Qiao Anting again, "This is the Qiao Mountain Chief that His Highness has been talking about." ”

"Don't dare." Qiao Anting saw that the eldest prince was going to give him a favor, but he turned sideways, lowered his head slightly, and said slowly.

"The hour is getting late, and it's time for Your Highness to feed. Shall I have someone send you back to the Middle Palace? Su Lan didn't care about them, she just asked with a smile, and when she saw the hesitant look on the eldest prince's face, she laughed out loud and said, "Niangniang, you don't like to study the most, why don't you want to go back today?" ”

"Brother Yin plays with me, even if he reads, he also adds some fun." The eldest prince was serious, "However, when I returned to my mother's side, she naturally wanted to test what book I read today." ”

"You were worried about that." Su Lan shook her head with a smile, "However, I didn't say a few words to you before the university today, it's enough to deal with." As for me, I have to stay in the capital for a few days, so I will naturally play with you. ”

"That's good." The eldest prince's old answer made Qiao Anting, who had been tense, laugh out loud.

After the palace people took the eldest prince away, Qiao Anting stopped laughing, his face became serious for a moment, and he looked at Su Lan and said slowly: "This is your family's choice?" ”

"It's a little early to talk about this. At the moment, everything is in turmoil, and this matter is not the turn of the moment. Su Lan shook her head, poured a cup of tea for Qiao Anting, and said, "Besides, Your Majesty is in the prime of life, and the matter of the throne, you and I, as courtiers, really shouldn't be put on the surface like this." Besides, I can't control what choice my Su family makes, and I can't manage it, can I? ”

"It's just that you're in this position now..."

"A-Cyn, it's not that you don't understand, the person who made this gesture was never me." Su Lan glanced at him with a smile, and said slowly, "My mind is not here at the moment, so I will let them make me a puppet, do whatever I have to do, but it doesn't hurt." ”

"The situation in Longxi is not going well now. Even if Xuan Lang and Uncle Zheng pressed the formation, it was far from enough. Qiao Anting knew what she was thinking, "Li Jiangyuan is really terrifying. I've never dealt with him, it's just that I dared to kill Xie Wei so simply, I really don't know whether to say that he was reckless or fearless. Even the Qingyuan family started by force, and they definitely would not act like this. ”

"This is Longxi. The people of Longxi are not a family, they don't have the set of laws we believe in, and they won't compete with us according to our rules. Killing Xie Wei As far as Li Jiangyuan is concerned, it is just a risky thing, he can't control it, and he relies on his own force, isn't this the nobles of Longxi? But we're afraid of them. Su Lan's tone was still calm, but Qiao Anting, who knew her well, couldn't hear the sarcasm and coldness in her words, "Otherwise, I won't send Xie Wei." Everyone is not a good person, and there is no difference between killing people by themselves and killing people with a knife. ”

"I'm afraid, I'm afraid, since he has already killed one. If the court underplays the past, he will continue to kill. ”

"Pick it up high, but you have to put it down gently. It's just that Li Jiangyuan's courage is not so big, no matter how unscrupulous he is, he doesn't dare to do it again. The rest of these people, he can't afford to be offended. ”

"Don't forget, that little cripple of the Zhang family is still there."

"Zhang Qi is not a person who can be what they say." Su Lan shook her head, an inexplicable smile appeared on her lips, and said, "Do you know that Zhang Qi is Xuanxi Baoju?" (To be continued.) )