After that, Shen Ruyu appropriately reduced the number of times she went to Changchun Temple, changed to use letters, and the days passed slowly, and soon, it was her eighteenth birthday.

During these days, there was no warning, and the dream and supernatural events found that Shen Ruzhuo was doing well—no matter which one it was.

It's just that on Shen Ruyu's eighteenth birthday, after the Shen family held a birthday banquet, a carriage was sent from the palace and parked at the back door of the Shen family in a low-key but non-negligible manner.

When he and Shen Nanfeng sent Shen Ruyu to the carriage, Shen Ruzhuo's expression was always very gloomy.

Speaking of which, after worshipping Ah Brick, the real Shen Ruzhuo begged Shen Ruyu to give him a new name - Shen Ruyu thought about it at the time and named him Mingxi.

Knowing the heart, pointing directly to the heart, the dawn breaks, and the morning light is like the dawn.

……

When the carriage drove into the palace silently like a ghost, Shen Ruyu opened the door curtain, looked at the starry sky outside the window, and thought silently in her heart, after going back today, it should be the time for Shen Nanfeng to decide to send her out of the capital, right?

Harvest and release, harvest and release, she is like a skilled hunter, just as the so-called "bait", Shen Ruyu is not very happy with the definition of the role she plays.

Walking in the night was a very troublesome thing in ancient times, Shen Ruyu got out of the carriage, even if there were countless palace lights in the palace, it was difficult for her to see the road clearly.

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long before a considerate and meticulous palace maid came to her side, gently held her hand, and led her towards the Taiye Pool.

The closer I got to the Taiye Pool, I felt that the light was getting brighter and brighter - turning a rockery, Shen Ruyu's eyes suddenly lit up, and I saw that the eaves of the corridor leading to the Taiye Pool were full of palace lights, and finally the road ahead was no longer dark, and at the same time, Shen Ruyu was also shocked to find that the person she had always thought was holding her hand was not a little palace maid, but the male emperor Li Cao.

It seemed that she felt that the idea she had misunderstood just now - Li Cao and the palace maid - was a little funny, Shen Ruyu couldn't help but laugh out loud, Li Cao was beside her, and threw a somewhat puzzled look at her.

"I thought it was ......," Shen Ruyu tried to hold back a smile, "I thought it was a palace maid who was supporting me." ”

Then, before Li Cao could react, she quickly added, "It's very good." Well, it's very good. ”

As if in order to prove that he was telling the truth, Shen Ruyu nodded thoughtfully.

Li Cao looked at her and laughed helplessly.

"It's coming soon."

His tone was incredibly gentle.

In fact, when she got here, Shen Ruyu had already recognized the way - when the queen was alive before, she had been to Taiye Lake several times, and at that time, the queen took her to sit in the pavilion in the middle of the lake, watching the sparkling waves, the water and the sky meet, and the lake was like boundless.

I don't know what powerful skills the people of Yuhuafang used, the lotus leaf red lotus in the lake is always undefeated.

It's just that the Taiye Pool at night has another style, and those lotus leaves and red lotuses leave only graceful outlines in the dark night.

Li Cao took her hand and slowly walked up to the long corridor leading to the small pavilion in the middle of the lake.

Heaven and earth are silent, under the starlight sky, only the candlelight burning on both sides of the corridor, in the dark night connected a series of winding roads, at this moment, holding each other's hands to feel each other's temperature, as if it is the only one in this world.

For a moment, both Shen Ruyu and Li Cao felt as if this corridor would never be finished.

Therefore, when he found that they had arrived at the small pavilion in the middle of the lake, Shen Ruyu subconsciously glanced back at it without reacting, only to prove that he had indeed completed the long road.

Li Cao discovered her behavior, and Shen Ruyu couldn't see his expression clearly in the night, only hearing his voice a little low, "Just now I was thinking about how good it would be if that road could never be completed." ”

Shen Ruyu paused for a moment before speaking with a smile, "If I never finish, then I will never see the gift that His Majesty prepared for me." ”

In the haze, Li Cao seemed to turn her head to look at her, and she heard him say softly, "Ayu is right. ”

They sat down in the small pavilion in the middle of the lake, the eaves outside the pavilion were also full of palace lamps, and the candlesticks on the fence were also full of candles, although they had not yet reached the point where they were as bright as day, but at least they could let Shen Ruyu and Li Cao see each other's expressions clearly.

It didn't take long for Shen Ruyu to suddenly notice that a little bean-sized light appeared at the end of the water and sky, and it flickered on the surface of the lake, flowing slowly along the water.

At first, it was just a bright and lonely one, slowly, more and more light points appeared at the end of the lake, looking from a distance, they seemed to accidentally fall into the lake as bright and shining as the Milky Way, until they drifted closer, Shen Ruyu saw that it was a lotus river lamp, blooming brilliantly in the night, they floated on the surface of the lake, it looked like the whole lake was emitting light.

Shen Ruyu couldn't help but stand by the fence of the small pavilion in the middle of the lake, looking at the lotus lanterns blooming layer by layer at close range, floating beautifully and quietly in front of her.

However, she only looked at it for a while, and the already very bright lake suddenly became more firelight, Shen Ruyu looked at the sparkling waves of the entire lake, all reflected into a golden light, stunned for a while, and then suddenly remembered something, and looked towards the sky.

In the deep night sky, the stars shone brightly, and in all directions of the palace, countless sky lanterns were raised at this time, and countless bright candles reflected a golden light in the vermilion sky lantern, like stars in the sky.

"Ayu, do you like it?"

I don't know when, Li Cao has already walked to her side, he gently took her hand, as if he didn't want to disturb her feelings immersed in such dazzling beauty, and his tone was soft.

Shen Ruyu was still a little unable to come back to her senses for a while, she turned her head to look at the young man beside her, under the countless lights, his black eyes seemed to be burning with golden flames.

Seeing that she just looked at herself in a daze and didn't answer, Li Cao paused, slowly approached her with some nervousness, then closed her eyes and pressed her lips down awkwardly.

In the dream-like scene of starlight and lights in the sky, the silhouette of a tall and slender young man and a slender and beautiful girl is as beautiful as a painting.

However, the next day, when Li Cao, who felt that the relationship between them had been greatly improved, was full of joy and was ready to issue an edict to grant Shen Ruyu an official position, Shen Nanfeng refused to accept it more resolutely than him.

And it is unfortunate that what these people are best at is precisely to put everything in the political struggle, and then start a long and boring fight.

The emperor who supported the power of the Han clan and the clan that Shen Nanfeng represented to protect the interests of the family began to wrestle with them for an unknown number of times.

Shen Ruyu was an ordinary ordinary person in her previous life, and the most political word she could come into contact with was probably "checking the water meter", but in this life, the blessing of being an extremely easy family to be an official is almost that she can participate in the so-called political struggle while sitting at home.

What's more, she is still an extremely valuable political bargaining chip.

What's worse is that as the daughter of the Shen family, she also feels that the family should not monopolize the official position, even after so many years, the little knowledge that Shen Ruyu learned when she was in school has probably been returned to the teacher a long time ago, but she still remembers that the junior high school history textbook required her to memorize the meaning of the imperial examination to the death.

——In a way, the imperial examination is a system that enables the Han people to become officials.

Although it has certain historical limitations in later generations, it is a sufficiently advanced system at this time.

It breaks the confinement that birth is more important than talent, and enables those who are truly capable to exert their strength.

Therefore, no matter which aspect it is, Shen Ruyu is more inclined to the imperial party.

…… What a painful realization.

Shen Ruyu thought, it was better for her not to take the initiative to go to this troubled water.

She knew that she might still have a little talent in literature and art, but politics? Forget it.

So complicated, so dirty.

She didn't have any interest.

However, Shen Ruyu has no interest, but it doesn't mean that others don't either.

Shen Ruzhuo was very interested in the affairs of the court, and when the imperial party and the family began to oppose each other, she began to follow Shen Nanfeng's side frequently, and slowly emerged.

Shen Ruyu was not surprised by this, after all......

Now in that body is a soul with extremely inflated power.

For him, power is more important than anything else – even more important than his own son on the other side.

However, what is puzzling is that Shen Ruzhuo proposed that she wanted to be an official, but her request was - she hoped to become a military attaché.

In this dynasty that emphasizes literature over military force, compared to the noble civil officials, the status of military generals is surprisingly low, a large number of male soldiers are treated as consumables and lowly slaves, and the few women also give people a feeling of extreme vulgarity and inferiority, as the saying goes, good women are not soldiers, and good men do not practice martial arts.

Shen Nanfeng was furious about this, but strangely, Shen Ruzhuo was very persistent.

"She wants a force of her own." When listening to Shen Ruyu mention this matter, Cui Wenjun said sternly. "In terms of force."

"I feel like she's taking her first steps toward building an army." And Wang Zizhi's reaction was also solemn.

Shen Ruyu couldn't help but laugh and joke when she saw their reactions, "You said as if she was preparing to rebel!" ”

However, judging from their identical strange expressions, Shen Ruyu suddenly restrained her smile.

…… It seems that in the original history, Shen Ruzhuo probably really rebelled......

I don't know how much the two sides of the court compromised and fought with each other, and in the end, Shen Ruyu still left Beijing and returned to his hometown, but he inexplicably had the title of "patrolling on behalf of the Son of Heaven".

"Okay," Shen Ruyu said with a helpless smile to Wen Ming and Mingxi when she learned the news, "...... Maybe we can see more than we think. ”