On a summer afternoon, the sun was still playing a residual heat, and a few crisp laughter floated in the distance outside the window, which was known by the girls holding a long pole on the sticky tree, and I don't know who suppressed the voice and whispered, and those laughter stopped abruptly, and the surroundings were quiet again. At this time, the weather was extremely hot and dry, but the ice cubes placed in the corners of the house were cool and comfortable.

This sleep was so good, there was no more than half a dream, the little girl in the back room moved her eyelids, and then opened her eyes slightly, and suddenly a magnified face appeared in front of her. The girl was startled, and her body reflexively shrank back into the bed.

"Sister Xian, are you awake? You've been asleep for a long time. A young boy's voice appeared in his ears.

The little girl is naturally Zhao Xian, Zhao Xian squinted her eyes and looked at the beautiful boy's face in front of her, stunned for a moment, as if she suddenly remembered, her small body sat up lazily. She asked in a milky voice, "Brother Zhen, how long have you been here?" Why didn't you call me? ”

"I saw that you slept soundly, and I didn't disturb you. Are you feeling better? I haven't seen you come to the palace to play for a few days, and I asked Uncle Eight Emperor a few days ago, when it comes to your body, it's not very refreshing, is it hot in summer? How do you feel now? The little boy asked with a worried look on his face.

The little boy is the current crown prince Zhao Zhen, who is six years old this year. And the little girl is Zhao Xian, the youngest daughter of the eighth prince. Because the two are only 2 years apart, they have been playing together since they were children, and their relationship is much better than that of others, better than brother and sister.

Zhao Xian pursed her lips and said, "I'm much better, but my father doesn't allow me to go out, and others watch it tightly, so I can only be bored in this yard every day." Then he turned his worries into joy, "Fortunately, Brother Zhen, you came to see me, now it's up to Daddy to take care of his head and feet." ”

This little girl should be angry and happy, a little face is quite interesting, which caused Zhao Zhen's worries to be swept away, he looked at Zhao Xian's complexion carefully, it seemed to be not bad, and then nodded and smiled slightly, "Then I will rest assured, Sister Xian, don't be annoyed, Uncle Eight Emperor is also anxious about you, when your body is completely neat, can you come to the palace to see me again?" ”

Zhao Xian smiled and nodded. He took Zhao Zhen's hand and shook it a few times, and asked, "Brother Zhen, do you have a gift for me?" ”

At this time, the nurse rushed in when she heard the sound, and Zhao Zhen retreated, waiting for the nurse to help Zhao Xian freshen up and change clothes.

Before it was dinner time, Zhao Xian took Zhao Zhen to the lake in the house for a walk, and a group of maids followed from afar. The two villains sat and chatted under the willow tree by the lake in front of them.

Zhao Xian had the thoughts of an adult at this time, and she wanted to know about the future emperor's situation very much, so she pretended to be naïve and followed Zhao Zhen's words, and the topic of the two gradually turned to the current queen.

Zhao Zhen asked curiously, "Xian'er, how does your mother treat you?" ”

"My mother treats me very well, I worry about this and that every day, my father always says that my mother spoils me too much, but doesn't my father love me like this? Brother Zhen, your mother, oh, no, is the queen mother treating you badly? Zhao Xian asked tentatively.

"The eldest lady treats me as kindly as the little lady, she is quite strict, and I am really afraid of her. In fact, I am not afraid of my father. Zhao Zhen said with distress.

"For what? Isn't the queen your mother? Shouldn't mothers love their children? ”

"Xian'er, let me tell you secretly, the last time I heard a private rumor from the palace that the eldest lady was not my mother, and my mother didn't seem to be there. I don't know if it's true or not, don't tell anyone about this, I'll only tell you. Zhao Zhen said quietly.

"Huh? No way? Zhao Xian pretended to be surprised. Don't worry, Brother Zhen, whether it's true or not, I won't say it, don't be sad, don't you still have me? I'll definitely help you with anything. I've always treated you as my own brother, and my eldest brother was a little jealous last time. Zhao Xian looked at Zhao Zhen seriously, this is a delicate face, and it can be predicted that he will be a handsome young man in the future. In any case, while you are young, it is always good to hurry up and fight for the future emperor's personal treatment.

Zhao Zhen took Zhao Xian's little hand movingly, her eyes were a little red, and she choked up, "Good sister, I will never forget today's words." ”

Zhao Xian's heart secretly blossomed. At the time, Zhao Xian was four years old and Zhao Zhen was six years old.

Zhao Xian is the first daughter of the eighth prince Yuan Yan and his wife, the eighth princess. There is a very strange phenomenon in the royal family of this dynasty, the emperor's harem heirs are difficult, but the royal family has a group of children.

There are many heirs of the eighth prince, there are only four sons-in-law, and there are many concubines and concubines, but there is no concubine. When the prince was in his thirties, he gave birth to such a concubine, which is this Zhao Xian. Therefore, the prince and princess are like jewels, and they are favored like eyeballs.

Every summer, Zhao Xian is quite difficult, because she is young, and there are some congenital deficiencies in her mother's womb, because her body is not very good, and she spends half of the year in bed.

For this reason, the eight princes and their wife searched everywhere for a good solution, in order to improve the physical fitness of this little daughter. But every summer is still Zhao Xian's most difficult season.

The autumn breeze is cool, the hot summer has finally passed, and Zhao Xian's body has gradually become cooler.

Because she wanted to deliberately shorten the distance with Zhao Zhen, every once in a while, Zhao Xian always asked the eighth prince to take her into the palace to play with Zhao Zhen.

Sometimes when I went to the palace, it happened that the crown prince was about to give a lecture to Zhao Zhen, and Zhao Xian would sit aside and listen very obediently; Or Zhao Zhen is reading, she will accompany him to read it and never disturb him.

On this day, after Zhao Xian followed the eight kings into the palace, she was accompanied by the nurse and two maids, and still walked north from the east corridor of Xuanyou Gate to Zishan Hall, usually Zhao Zhen usually studied here at this time.

When he walked into Zishan Hall, he didn't see Zhao Zhen's figure, Zhao Xian was secretly strange, and asked the little chamberlain Fang Zhi that the prince Mu Xiu was going to be in the Ying Pavilion at this time.

Zhao Xian reluctantly prepared to walk towards the Ying Pavilion, but the nurse saw that she was a little tired, so she hurriedly carried Zhao Xian on her back to find Zhao Zhen.

The Ying Pavilion is the place where the emperor learns and the ministers speak today, and most of the special officials face the emperor to read the group scriptures and specific historical books and sub-books. As the future emperor, the current crown prince also needs to come here often to listen to lectures on "imperial learning" and "sacred learning".

At this time, Sun Shuang, a scholar from Hanlin in the Ying Pavilion, was talking about the Analects, and Zhao Xian motioned for the nurse to put her down, and she quietly stood outside the door to listen.

Zi said: "The way is to govern, all to be punished, and the people are free and shameless; The way is virtuous, all are courteous, shameful and qualified".

Wai Gong asked: "What is a **** suit?"

Confucius said: "Straighten up and make mistakes, **** obey; The mistakes are wrong, and the **** is not convinced. “

Zi said: "If you govern a big country, you can cook small fresh." ”

Sun's hearty voice came from the pavilion, and at this time, there was a sound of "click" from inside, as if someone was knocking on the bed. Zhao Xian looked in curiously from the door, and happened to see Zhao Zhen looking left and right, and using his feet to step on the bed under the seat.

When the waiter heard this, he looked up at Zhao Zhen, then stood up straight and looked at him silently.

Then Sun Shuang's voice came again, "Prince, do you know what a monarch, a minister, a father, and a son are?" ”

Zhao Zhen nodded sneeringly, and Sun Shuang sighed, "Prince, today's minister will talk about this first, you go back and take a good look at the Analects, and tomorrow the minister will continue to speak." ”

When Zhao Zhen heard this, he happily agreed, and then immediately jumped out of his seat and ran to the door, because he saw Zhao Xian.

"Xian'er, when are you here, go, I'll take you to a fun place." Zhao Zhen happily took Zhao Xian's hand and said.

Zhao Xian looked at Zhao Zhen like this, knowing that he was a child, but he had to learn so many things every day at a young age, not only to study in Zishan Hall every day, but also to come to the Ying Pavilion to listen to the lectures. Born in the royal family, it seems to be beautiful, but in fact, who knows that its center is sour and hard.

She let Zhao Zhen take her hand and turn around three times and two times, and came to a place full of osmanthus flowers and rockeries. At this time, the osmanthus is in full bloom, and the air is filled with the fragrance of osmanthus.

"Sister Xian, do you know the way? I really don't want to learn that kind of Rausch anymore, I envy you so much, you can have your father and mother's love, and you don't have to learn so many things you don't understand. ”

"Brother Zhen, let me ask you, if you inherit the unification in the future, what kind of emperor will you be?" Zhao Xian asked with a childish but serious face.

"This, I haven't thought about it, my father is still alive, I'm still young, I haven't thought about it." Zhao Zhen replied casually.

"Brother Zhen, do you hope that in the future, the people of the Great Song Dynasty will live and work in peace and contentment, and the country will be rich and the people will be strong?" Zhao Xian said as she pulled Zhao Zhen to sit on a stone.

"Of course I hope so, and I also hope that I can be a Mingjun." Zhao Zhen tilted his head as he spoke, a light flashing in his eyes.

"So, if you are just having fun now and abandoning your studies, how can you be a Mingjun in the future?" Zhao Xian continued.

Zhao Zhen lowered his head when he was said, and then he was silent for a long time, and finally raised his head and straightened his small chest, "Sister Xian, I know that I will work hard not to disappoint my father, the queen mother and you." ”

Zhao Xian listened to these rather childish words and said with a smile, "Brother Zhen, hard work is not just talking. After a pause, he said, "Let me ask you, Confucius said, 'Straighten up and make mistakes, **** obedience; Do you think what you said is right? ”

Zhao Zhen said very strangely, "Since Confucius and his old man said it, it must be right." ”

"Brother Zhen, what the ancient sages said is naturally very reasonable, but if you think about it, the king, the people of the country, and the situation of the country are different from those now, how can we copy the words of the sages to govern the country?"

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen thought for a while, "Xian'er, how should the king govern the country?" Tell me about it. ”

"For the way of the king, it is necessary to be pro-family, virtuous, and lenient to the people, but not all, as the so-called, 'governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh', and different situations need to be treated differently." Zhao Xian said that she completely forgot that she was a girl who was only four years old.

"Sister Xian, you are amazing, you know so much." Zhao Zhen said with admiration on his face.

The two children were talking there, but they didn't notice that there were two men standing not far away, and what they said was listened to by the two men without a word.

"Eighth brother, your daughter is not simple." A man in a red court robe said to the people around him.

"The official family has won the award, the little girl is still young, just talking nonsense." The man on the side bowed slightly and replied, this person is naturally the eighth prince, he and the current emperor who has just come down to the dynasty wanted to come to see the progress of the crown prince Zhao Zhen's studies, and happened to hear the conversation between Zhao Xian and the two.

"Eighth brother, you are too modest, such a young girl has extraordinary opinions, it can be seen that the eighth brother is extraordinary in the education of his children! Your daughter will often come to the palace to accompany Zhen'er in the future, so that Zhen'er can benefit a lot. ”

"Brother obeys." The eighth prince hurriedly replied. He looked at his four-year-old girl, his eyes flashed with a hint of surprise and inexplicable light, he never knew when his daughter understood so much, and when she had such insight.