"King Lanling, where were you last night, and what happened to the injuries on your body? Are you plotting with Gao Bainian to rebel and seize my country? ”

Gao Zhan's questioning, word by word, was shocked.

Just now, the younger brother he watched grow up committed suicide by hitting a pillar in front of him. He watched him die in front of him, unable to do anything, not even a single tear. Otherwise, with Uncle Huang's suspicion, maybe he won't live tomorrow.

Gao Changgong endured the pain, looked up at the emperor on the seat, and said calmly: "The minister doesn't know about the abolition of the prince, let alone the rebellion. The minister can swear to the sky, and the minister has never done anything sorry for His Majesty and the Qi country. ”

"So where did you go last night, and where did the wounds on your body come from? Last night, the thief from the ** temple stole into Gao Bainian's room, and you were not in the room at that time. The traitor escapes with his wounds, and you have wounds on you. How you tell me how to believe in you, how not to doubt you! Gao Zhan's eyes were fixed on Gao Changgong, wanting to find something unusual on his face.

Gao Changgong was forced by this kind of look, and said calmly: "The minister was not in the room last night, he was discussing chess with a senior monk, and he forgot his feelings for a while, so he didn't return for a long time. As for the wound on the minister's body, he was injured by Luo Ti's knife. ”

——

After a night of snowfall, I woke up in the morning and the temple was covered with cold snow. Soon, Emperor Qi sent someone to summon me and Master Huiyuan to Dali Temple for questioning in the snow.

"The minister has long heard that Master Huiyuan Daolong Desheng, who is a famous monk today, has been friends with God for a long time. This time, I heard that Master Huiyuan was staying in the ** temple, so I took the opportunity to visit, talk about Buddhism, and play chess. That night, when the ancestral court set up an ambush to arrest people, I was in the same place with the master, how could I rebel? Gao Changgong said calmly.

Facing the world's famous monk, Gao Zhan's face softened a little, "Master, but so, he was indeed with you last night?" ”

Master Huiyuan bowed his head and said, "Back to Your Majesty, King Lanling was indeed with the poor monk last night. ”

Gao Zhan was still not at ease, turned to Gao Changgong, and asked, "King Lanling, what did you say to Master Huiyuan when you went to visit him?" ”

Gao Changgong said calmly: "The minister asked the master, how can I stay away from the fight?" How to get rid of pain? The master told me that all the struggles and sufferings in the world are caused by the human heart. If the heart does not move, it will not hurt, and if the heart is calm, it will be peaceful. As long as there is a pure land in the heart, not happy because of things, not sad because of oneself, why not afraid of strife and pain! ”

Master Huiyuan responded: "The so-called phase is born from the heart, and the environment is created by the heart. If you are sad in your heart, you will be sad in your heart, and if you are happy in your heart, everything will be determined by your heart. The king of Lanling has a pure and kind heart, talks with poor monks, does not want to quarrel with others, and only wants to be loyal to the king and serve the country. Hold the hand and play the chess, and rarely attack, and the chess path is peaceful. It can be seen that the prince is not good at fighting, pure and generous. Your Majesty has such a virtuous minister, which can be described as the blessing of the Qi country. ”

Gao Zhanyuan thought that King Lanling was deceiving him, but now these two people have even talked about Buddhism, and even Gao Changgong's way of playing chess, if they haven't really talked about it, how can they say it in such detail? Master Huiyuan is a highly respected monk, not a person in the temple, it is impossible to conspire with the abolished prince, and it is a new acquaintance with Gao Changgong, let alone shelter him. The master praised Gao Changgong between his words, and most of the doubts in Gao Zhan's heart were reduced, and he still said sternly on his face: "King Lanling, where did you go when you left the master's room, and what does your injury have to do with Luo Ti, and what does it have to do with this woman?" ”

Gao Zhan's cold gaze turned to me, this is the first time I really saw the emperor of Qi State, in the past, I only listened to other people's words in Luoyang City, but now I see that he looks rich and handsome, but his eyes are so tight, I don't dare to look more, I bow my head and bury the ground: "King Lanling was indeed stabbed by Luo Ti with a knife." ”

I glared at Luo Ti, who was also lying on the ground, and said: "It's all because Luo Ti has been rude to the folk girl several times, and the folk girl is angry, so I went to him that night to settle accounts and told him not to pester me again." Who knew that he actually used his hands and feet against the folk girl, with bad intentions, and the folk girl stabbed him lightly in a panic out of self-defense. Luo Ti's indecent deeds did not succeed, but he wanted to falsely accuse the people of murdering the court officials, and he wanted to convict the people and put them to death in prison. Luo Ti was a bully, and the people were very scared, but fortunately, the prince arrived and rescued each other, and he received a knife from him on behalf of the people's daughters, canceling each other out, and he was willing to stop. ”

Luo Ti wanted to argue, but Gao Changgong took a step ahead of him and said: "Your Majesty, after the minister came out of Master Huiyuan, he remembered that Luo Ti had insulted Ah Qing several times before, and he was relieved, so he decided to go to Luo Ti and warn him not to trouble Ah Qing again." When the minister went there, Ah Qing had no choice but to hurt Luo Ti in order to protect his innocence. But Luo Ti refused to give up, insisted that she fight with her life, and threatened me to sue His Majesty. The minister could only return the knife to him on behalf of Ah Qing and ask him to spare the poor and innocent Ah Qing. ”

When Gao Zhan heard this, he said angrily: "Luo Ti, is there such a thing? ”

Luo Ti naturally denied it, saying that I wronged him, he was framed, and begged the emperor to make decisions for him.

Gao Zhan was suspicious in his heart and asked us, "You have each other's opinions, and you can't get evidence." I ask you, do you have any physical evidence? ”

"Yes. That night, Luo Ti insulted the people and stabbed the prince, and many tenants in the temple saw it. Your Majesty can summon them and ask them to see if there are any injuries on Luo Ti's body, and everything will be clear. "Last night when I went to see Locky, I deliberately shouted his name, banged on the door vigorously, and made a lot of noise, just to wake up the other tenants, to witness everything, and to testify for us.

Gao Zhan immediately sent someone to summon the other tenants of the ** temple to interrogate, and they truthfully told them what they saw and heard last night, which was not much different from what I said. Gao Zhan ordered someone to check whether Luo Ti had any injuries on his body, and as a result, everything was consistent with what I said, and Luo Ti was indefensible.

Gao Zhan was angry and scolded Luo Ti for thirty years and suspended for one year. As for Zu Ting, he was suspended for half a year and fined for one year as a punishment for his ineffective work.

At this point, Gao Zhan's suspicions were fully relieved, and he personally came down to help Gao Changgong, his expression became friendly, and he said softly: "Changgong, I blame you for my mistake." But this is also because I attach too much importance to you, you are too important to me and to Daqi, and I can't afford to lose you as a capable leader. ”

"Get up too." Gao Zhan finally noticed that there was still such a person kneeling on the ground, so he let me get up.

The color styles of the imperial clothes of the Zhou Qi and Chen Kingdoms varied, the imperial clothes of the Zhou State were black, the Chen State was yellow-white, and the Qi State was crimson.

Gao Zhan's scarlet imperial suit flickered in front of my eyes, and I saw his eyes swirling on me and Gao Changgong, and then smiled: "Changgong, I know that I have wronged you this time, and I will compensate you." ”

Gao Zhan's gaze fell on me, and he turned to Gao Changgong and said, "You don't want so many beauties that I have given you over the years, but you voluntarily took a knife for this woman, and you didn't even want your life." In doing this, it can be seen that your friendship is deep, and I can be regarded as an eye-opener. ”

"In addition to the princess in your house over the years, there is not a single side concubine or concubine in your house, and it is rare to have a woman who can enter your eyes. The Lanling Mansion is too deserted, and the princess has not come out, so it's time to add a new person. Seeing that you are in love, then I will do a good deed of adult beauty. ”

The more I listened, the more wrong it became, and I was about to say something, but Gao Zhan suddenly said: "I will give you this daughter as the concubine of the king of Lanling today, and I will make an order tomorrow to fulfill your infatuation." ”

What the! I was taken aback and was about to object, but Gao Changgong grabbed me, knelt down together, and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!" ”

When I heard him say this, I was even more surprised, and looked at him for some reason, but Gao Changgong gestured to me with his eyes, and the seriousness in his eyes was unprecedented, so I had to bow my head and thank you: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!" ”

"Good!" Gao Zhan consciously did a good deed and laughed heartily.

——

After leaving Dali Temple and returning to the palace in the carriage, I suddenly came to my senses and said to Gao Changgong: "I understand, Your Majesty is testing us, and he suspects that the knife you took for me has another hidden meaning, so he specially gave us a marriage to test the truth of this matter." You stopped me because you were afraid that my refusal to marry would confirm His Majesty's suspicions and make all your previous achievements undone. ”

Gao Changgong looked at me with a solemn expression: "This is just one of the reasons, and the more important point is that Your Majesty is moody and murderous. Since his accession to the throne of God, all those who rejected him have been killed, and no one has survived, not even my eldest and third half-brothers. ”

I trembled, I didn't expect that this Emperor Qi looked at Sven Junlang, and he was so tyrannical and murderous in his bones. Fortunately, we didn't speak out against it, otherwise it would have been as Gao Changgong said, and the head would have fallen to the ground.

——

The will to give marriage soon arrived at the Lanling Palace, and after learning the news, Princess Zheng Shuyao did not have anything abnormal, but just congratulated me and Gao Changgong with a light smile, but it was Ah Sleeve's reaction, which was beyond my expectations.

"Sister, you want to marry King Lanling? That's not true, is it? Ah Sleeve asked excitedly, grabbing my hand.

I couldn't meet Ah Sleeve's gaze, so I could only turn my head sideways and avoid: "It's true." ”

"Why, sister, didn't you tell me a few days ago that you were leaving the palace? Change is a change. Ah Sleeve was disappointed at first, and then said without giving up, "I know, sister, you have a hard time, you are forced, right?" Sister, let's run away and get out of here. ”

"This is a marriage given by the emperor, if I leave, it will affect the king of Lanling."

"My sister was afraid of affecting him and worried about him, so she was reluctant to leave. What about me, sister, aren't you worried about me, you are married to the king of Lanling, what should I do? Ah Sleeve let go of my hand, his eyes darkened and full of sadness.

"Sister, you said that we want to be together for the rest of our lives, and you lied to me." Sleeve's tears fell.

"Ah Sleeve—"

I reached out and tried to wipe the tears from her face, but she dodged and looked at me with painful eyes, "Sister, Ah Sleeve's favorite and most important person has always been my sister. But my sister thinks others are more important than me, sister, how can you leave me, how can you think that others are more important than me? ”

There was an uncontrollable cry in Ah Sleeve's voice, and the tears fell even harder. I didn't expect that the news of my marriage to King Lanling would bring her such a big blow, and I was about to comfort her, but there was a scolding voice in my ears, "Enough! ”

I turned my head and saw that it was Hulu Hengga.

He walked side by side with Gao Changgong and Zheng Shuyao, and Hu Lu Hengjia strode forward, threw the other two away, and said angrily and annoyed to Ah Sleeve: "Your sister and Brother A Su are in love with each other, and they are in love, and it is natural for them to get married." On what basis and in what name do you hinder it? You can't stay with your sister forever, wake up! There was still a trace of imperceptible distress in his voice.

Ah Sleeve's eyes were hazy with tears, and he said coldly to him: "You don't have to worry about my business!" ”

After that, he turned his head, sobbed and ran away.

"A-Yao!"

Hu Lu Hengjia chased after him anxiously.

The remaining three, Gao Chang looked apologetic and said to me: "Ah Qing, I'm sorry, it's all because of me that you and your sister are unhappy." ”

I didn't know what to say for a while, my eyes flickered, but I saw Zheng Shuyao looking at the direction where Ah Sleeve and Hu Lu Hengjia left, shocked, sad, and depressed, like a white lotus withering in the wind, silently withering into the water.

Exegesis:

(1) The title comes from Li She's "Runzhou Listening to the Dusk Corner / Evening Bo Runzhou Wenjiao" in the Tang Dynasty, "Startling the Goose on the Sand in the Twilight Sky"