In November of the ninth year of Youqing, the footsteps of the Nanwu army's eastward expedition were blocked outside the Yuesan Pass. Since the beginning of Nanwu's crusade to the east, the common people have been terrified, which has been the best news since the start of the war.

Nanwu was menacing, and the army was like a bamboo, killing all the way to the east, and in a blink of an eye, it was approaching the Yuesan Pass. The shape is severe, causing rumors to spread in the government and the opposition for a while, and everyone is in danger. Yuesanguan can be said to be the last line of defense of the imperial court, once the imperial capital is broken, it will be in danger, and the entire Donghe is about to face the crisis of destroying miè.

According to folk legends, on the eve of the Battle of Yuesanguan, Donghe and the eldest princess Ning Yan made a generous statement in the Wuji Palace, and forcefully replaced the guard Cen Jia of Yuesanguan, which was able to maintain peace for a while.

When the news came back to the imperial capital, the people were boiling, and they went to the gate of the eldest princess's mansion in the southwest corner of the imperial capital to thank them. And the eldest princess has always been kind, and everyone who pays tribute to him will give a cup of tea, and I don't know how many pots of tea have been boiled in the end of this day.

This made the housekeeper Ding Bo worried, so he expressed his little opinion to the eldest princess very implicitly. So the next day, there was a rumor that the eldest princess went to Fahua Temple in the eastern suburbs to pray for blessings, and everyone followed them to Fahua Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha. The princess's mansion finally calmed down.

In the boiling of the city, the small princess's mansion was unusually quiet. This is an exquisite courtyard, full of lush greenery, and the houses are green and vermilous. There is no trace of royal luxury, but there is an extraordinary charm in the simplicity.

It's so quiet that you can hear even the sound of a cat landing on the ground, and there are only five people living in it, including the housekeeper Ding Bo, the cook Aunt Gu, and the little maid Xiaowu, and our eldest princess Ning Yan and the maid Qingluan. On weekdays, no one moves, and even the fallen leaves in the courtyard are rarely cleaned, so it is quiet.

At this time, the door of Tianyishui Pavilion was lightly closed.

The woman on the desk raised her head, revealing a picturesque face that was pale without a trace of blood. She rubbed her brow, which was faintly painful, and closed the book in front of her.

I heard that the door was knocked lightly twice, and a woman stood at the door and said respectfully: "Princess, the emperor announced that you have entered the palace to meet you." Closing the book, the woman stood up, straightened the plain white smoky gauze wide-sleeved palace skirt on her body, and helped the flowing clouds on her head. got up and left the desk and opened the door.

"Prepare a sedan car! Qingluan, follow me into the palace. The voice was soft and slow, but with the domineering spirit of being in a high position and not being able to put a beak on it.

The gloomy sky seemed to be rice paper full of ink, as if it would drip down the next moment. The soft sedan chair arrived at the palace gate, and a light rain had fallen.

The woman in a white dress walked out of the car door, but she was not in a hurry to leave. Just stood in place, looked up at the gray sky, and looked at it for a long time. The fine rain poured through every strand of her hair and luxurious clothes.

A smile of unknown meaning curled up on the woman's lips, and she said softly, "Qingqing, did you hear the sound of drums and horns from the north?" More and more ...... It's getting closer...... "Qingluan stood quietly behind her with an umbrella, and she didn't urge, only when she got up and walked to the palace did she quickly follow.

The two entered the cloister from the path one after the other, and the maid in Tsing Yi closed the umbrella. Qingluan said, "Princess, your clothes are a little wet. ”

"It doesn't matter." A smile tugged at the corner of the woman's lips. After a pause, he added, "Besides, he didn't finish any of the homework I assigned to him the day before yesterday. I'm going to see what he has to say to me. ”

Qingluan raised her eyes and looked at her, but stopped talking. The woman in white glanced at her, and a smile appeared on her fair face. "Say whatever you want!"

"That's it...... Recently, there have been some rumors in the palace, saying that you, princess, don't take the emperor seriously, and even want to ......"

"Want to replace it? If they want to say, let them say go! The woman waved her hand disappreciatively.

Qingluan hurriedly said: "Everyone is full of gold, and they have destroyed their bones." Princess, you don't care, is it hard to guarantee that the emperor doesn't care? In the past few years, you have been handling important military and political affairs, although it is said to be the acting director of the government, but it is always unjust...... name." If the name is not right, it is not right...... The woman stopped.

"Qingqing, even though I am in a high position now, I still can't do many things. I can control the mouth of Youyou, but the human heart is the most difficult thing in this world to grasp after all, especially ...... It is the human heart that has changed color. She sighed softly and walked slowly.

The dazzling Donghe Palace is quiet in the rain, and the Qianyuan Palace in the center is the daily business and rest place of the emperors. The four corners of the cornices, the glazed tiles washed by the rain are very eye-catching.

Passing through the long flower corridor, at the end, is the Zhangqing Palace, the emperor's bedroom. The woman's eyes sank, bottomless. The curvature of the corners of the mouth is more pronounced. She shook her long sleeves, and Shi Ran walked into the palace.

"Ning Yan see the emperor!" Standing at the door, the woman bowed slightly to the bright yellow figure behind the beaded curtain.

"Sister Huang, you're finally here. I've been waiting for you for a long time. The fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy paced out of it with an unhappy face and took Ning Yan's hand affectionately. Come on, come on, Sister Huang, take a look at my new painting of Melan today. ”

The young man dragged the woman to the side of the desk and made her sit in the seat where the emperor should have sit. The smile on his face is like that of a child who wants to be praised.

Ning Yan smiled slightly, didn't seem to feel anything wrong, and stared at the painting. "Lan, one of the four gentlemen, has a noble character and does not go along with the world. As for the emperor's painting, the painting power is already there, but the painting is insufficient. ”

The young man hung his head in annoyance: "I knew that I would definitely not be able to pass the test here with the imperial sister." ”

Ning Yan glanced at him, and said with a straight face: "The emperor announced that I came today, just to let me taste the painting?" A few days ago, I asked Duan's father-in-law to present you a few copies of the book, can you read it? ”

"Sister Huang, don't talk to me about those government affairs every time you see me, okay? You know I've never been very interested in those who have always been very interested. The young man pouted dissatisfiedly, and Qingjun's face was full of loneliness.

"Interest? You tell me about your interest? Your Majesty, you are no longer small, you should know what kind of responsibility you are carrying on your shoulders and what kind of mission you have for Donghe! Ning Yan casually flipped through the folds on the bookcase, "These books have been screened by me, including my internal affairs and diplomacy in Donghe for several months. Even if you flip through it, you will know how tense the situation is right now! ”。

The young man hurriedly said, "Sister Huang, don't be angry. I'll read them right away. ”

Ning Yan sighed and said slowly: "Yu'er, the imperial sister is not angry. It is not easy to keep it since ancient times, but it is a pity that the successive emperors of Donghe since Emperor Yuan have no intention of government. In addition, there are still some traitors and villains in the DPRK who are painstakingly trying to seize the throne, and Donghe's national strength has long been much worse than before. For those who are officials, there are more people who fill their own pockets than those who are conscientious; For generals, there are more arrogant and lascivious people than those who train hard; For the monarch, there are more people who indulge in wine than those who work hard. Six years ago, when I returned to the court, I did my best to eliminate dissidents for you and reorganize the dynasty. It is a pity that the DPRK and China forces are intertwined and have achieved little success after all. Yu'er, you are the emperor and the pillar of my Donghe dynasty. I hope...... Don't let me down, at least don't let the people of Donghe down! ”。

Shaking her head, she looked at the young man's still immature eyebrows, and said slowly: "Yu'er, it is impossible for the imperial sister to accompany you forever, everything I am doing now is paving the way for your pro-government." But if an umbrella doesn't support its own backbone, it's useless for others to help. You're on your own. ”

Zheng Yu nodded, with a confused look in his eyes, and muttered, "Sister Huang, is it that if I am in power, you will leave me?" ”

Ning Yan frowned and said, "If you still need me at that time, I will stay." She touched his head, and suddenly remembered how she had seen him for the first time.

At that time, the emperor was newly mourned, and the death knell of Donghua Palace rang twelve times. Yu Jin and his party tried in vain to tamper with the will to help the prince become a puppet emperor, and there was chaos in the palace. She got the news early, and hurried to Kyoto with the military talisman and Shen Yu's 300,000 troops, and confronted Yu Jin's 100,000 forbidden army and 30,000 Gyeonggi guards under Yu Anhuamen.

And he was coerced to stand on the tower. The small body trembled incessantly, and his face was as pale as a dead man. The wide dragon robe was worn on him, empty and unsettled.

She suddenly remembered Fengming Village and her childhood friends who played together. When they were separated by war, they were both seven or eight years old. And now more than ten years have passed, and there is no news of the deceased. So she pitied this child from the bottom of her heart, not just because of Master's last life.

"There's nothing else to do, I'll go back first." Retracting her thoughts, Ning Yan stood up and wanted to leave. When he walked to the door, he turned around and said: "Today, I will take a look at the pieces I picked out for you, especially the annotations I made with a red pen, and I will test you in a few ****." ”

The young man nodded obediently, his eyes showing a trace of reluctance, but he still said, "Duan Ye!" Send the royal sister for me. ”

"Eldest princess, please!" An old eunuch walked out of the inner hall briskly and waved at Ning Yan, with an imperceptible shrewdness in his eyes.

"Hmm." Ning Yan nodded and left.

When he walked outside the hall, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a pot of orchids in full bloom hanging under the eaves of the main hall. The white petals are dotted with sparkling water droplets, and the green leaves are swaying in the wind.

"Is this the orchid painted by the emperor? What breed? She asked casually.

Duan Gonggong bowed down and replied, "This is this year's new Suxin Orchid. If the eldest princess wants to, she can ask the Inner Chamberlain Bureau to send a pot over......"

"No need, the beauty that looks good from a distance is not new when it gets closer." smiled self-deprecatingly, "Father-in-law Duan, you are also an old man in the palace, so please pay more attention to the emperor's affairs." ”

The purple-robed old eunuch hurriedly knelt down and said, "Eldest princess, you are tormenting the old slave by saying this, these are the duties of the old slave...... But please rest assured, the eldest princess. ”

Ning Yan smiled slightly: "That's very good." My father-in-law doesn't have to send him off, my maid is in front. ”

After walking a few steps, he turned around and smiled: "The road is slippery on rainy days, so you have to be careful when your father-in-law leaves." "Saying that, he walked away, and his bearing was clear. The white skirt followed her walking, drawing a beautiful arc. After a while, it disappeared into the smoke and rain.