Forbidden City, inside Cining Palace. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

On the high stage, the two characters Danjiao and Xiaosheng were babbling there to tell their hearts, and the eyes of the queen mother and palace maids below were a little red.

However, what is sung on this stage is not the so-called quintessential Peking Opera in later generations, but Kunqu Opera. In fact, it was not until the middle and late stages of the Braided Dynasty that Peking Opera was able to change from Kunqu Opera, and finally completely killed its predecessors by relying on the continuous popularity of the official - so some people who constantly emphasize that Peking Opera is the quintessence of the country and cannot be lost have not thought about how this thing flourished, and it is not a shot of the previous wave and the latter wave.

Not only is the type of drama different from what later generations are familiar with, but even the actors are not as male and female as later generations believed, but all of them are men. In fact, until the time of the Republic of China, there were still few women singing on the stage, because in people's traditional concepts, women should not show their heads, otherwise it would be really unseemly, so later Mei Lanfang and others would specialize in Danjiao.

So at the moment, there are only two men who are lingering on the stage, and they are only two men who are in love to death. This will be put aside for hundreds of years, and many people will always feel awkward when they see it, and of course, there will be some people who start with rotten characters who will also be excited and excited because they see this scene.

However, Emperor Wanli obviously didn't have such an advanced consciousness, looking at the stage and performing with one board and one thing, he really couldn't arouse much interest. It's just that whenever Empress Dowager Li moves her gaze, he still puts on a look of relish.

The Chinese New Year is over, not only will the people have a good reunion and live a few good days, but the heavenly family is actually the same. For the emperor, who has to deal with countless political affairs every day and has little leisure, filial piety in front of his mother has become even more luxurious. Only in the few days before and after the New Year, he will accompany the Queen Mother with peace of mind and make his biological mother happy. Accompanying her to watch the play is naturally one of them.

However, Wanli, who is entering the youth stage, also likes to watch those martial arts dramas, and he really can't be too interested in these lingering love scenes. It's just because the Queen Mother likes to watch it that she barely accompanies her. Listening to the singing method that dragged out the tone above, Wanli was almost about to yawn.

At this time, Wanli even hoped that something important would save him from this boring time watching the show. Even if it's bad news, it's better than staying here and doing nothing.

The Son of Heaven was blessed by the gods, and soon after he had such a thought, his wish really came true. A little eunuch suddenly came to the door of the palace and first glanced at Sun Hai, who was waiting on the side. Sun Hai went over and said a few words to him, then came to the emperor's side again, bent down and whispered: "Your Majesty, the Jinyi guard commanded Yang Zhen to ask for a meeting outside the palace gate, saying that there is something important to report. ”

"Huh? Yang Qing wants to see me? Hearing such a report, Wanli's spirit was lifted, and he whispered: "You go out and let him wait in the warm pavilion, and I will go over later." "I finally have a valid reason to leave for a while.

After waiting for this section to be sung, the Queen Mother wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with a silk handkerchief, and praised the play for a few words, Wanli found an opportunity to tell her mother about her guilt, saying that she would go out for a while.

In this regard, of course, Empress Dowager Li would not disapprocate, but said quite meaningfully: "If the emperor is busy with government affairs, there is no need to rush to accompany the mourning family." This year hasn't started yet, and we should still focus on national affairs. "Zhizi Mo Ruomu, although Wanli tried his best to pretend just now, his mind still couldn't escape the eyes of Empress Dowager Li.

"Erchen understands." Wanli agreed a little embarrassedly, and then got up to leave. Behind him, there was another burst of melodious music, and a new play began.

When Wanli came to the Warm Pavilion, Yang Zhen had been waiting there for a while. And when he saw that he was actually carrying two lanterns in his hand, the young emperor suddenly laughed a little strangely: "Yang Qing, why did you run into the palace again when you didn't rest at home during the Chinese New Year?" And he also brought two lanterns, is this for me? ”

"Your Majesty said with a smile, this lamp minister would not dare to pay tribute to His Majesty in death." After Yang Zhen got up, he said solemnly.

Wanli saw that he said solemnly, and he was suddenly even more surprised: "In that case, why did you mention it?" ”

His Majesty Rong Chen said slowly. In fact, these two lanterns came from the royal street not far in front of the palace gate, and the minister had just picked them up from there. ”

"Huh?" Wanli was even more stunned when he heard this, no matter how ordinary the things on the royal street were, they were not something that a courtier could take at will, even if it was favored, because it was a great disrespect to him, the emperor. However, Wanli was not angry because of this, because he could see that Yang Zhen must have something to say.

Sure enough, after a pause, Yang Zhen continued: "I don't know if Your Majesty still remembers the incident mentioned by the minister a few days ago. ”

"Why, does this lantern have anything to do with it?" The emperor suddenly became interested and hurriedly asked.

Yang Zhen nodded: "It's exactly ......" Then, Fang told all his considerations and discoveries in the past few days, and said that he had found out the problem of this lantern on the royal street before, so he hurriedly entered the palace to report.

If these problematic lanterns were elsewhere in the capital, Yang Zhen had the right to act cheaply. But since he was on the royal street, in order to prevent being attacked, he had to explain everything to the emperor first.

After hearing this explanation, Wanli was also shocked, and he couldn't react for a long time. Then he said a little stunned: "Is this true? The lanterns there have been tampered with? ”

"Exactly." Yang Zhen said, waved his hand and called a little eunuch, ordered him to take the lantern outside to light the fire, and made a gesture of invitation to the emperor: "Please also take a look at Your Majesty." ”

Driven by curiosity, Wanli and Yang Zhen walked to the door of the warm pavilion together. At this moment, the little eunuch had taken a candle and lit the wick under the lantern.

This lantern not only looks quite exquisite in appearance, but also is colorful and crystal clear after being lit. Although it was still daytime, its luster still made many people around it sigh and admire.

Yang Zhen explained at this time: "Your Majesty, in order to expose the problems as soon as possible, when you came, the minister had already removed most of the oil in the lamp, leaving only a small amount of light to burn, and it would be clear soon." ”

Sure enough, not long after Yang Zhen said this, the fire in the lamp shook violently, and then accompanied by a burst of exclamations from everyone, and with a snap, the lantern actually exploded.

If not everyone had been warned to stand far away, I am afraid that some people would have been injured as a result. And the emperor's face was already a little blue and white at the moment. He knew too well what this meant, because there were not just one or two lanterns on the streets, but hundreds, if not thousands. If they suddenly explode during the Lantern Festival, won't the people around them suffer?

And what's even more terrifying is that at that time, maybe his own son of heaven will also be on the spot. Although there are many forbidden army guards around him, he can't think of anything wrong, but the impact of this incident on himself and the court is immeasurable.

Although it was prevented because of Yang Zhen's timely discovery, Wanli, who knew the danger, still felt a little afraid.

At this time, Yang Zhen had already torn open the lampshade of another lantern, pointed to the hidden protrusion inside, and said: "Your Majesty, someone has made hands and feet inside this lamp, and under the wick, there is a secret gunpowder, once it burns to the bottom, the lantern will suddenly burst." It can cause a fire at least or ...... at worst"

"You don't have to say it, I understand. Immediately call someone to take off all the lanterns on the royal street! These thieves are really bold to the extreme, and they actually thought of such an insidious trick! Wanli said angrily. Then, his expression eased again: "It's also thanks to Yang Qing, you are careful, and you have traced it all the way, so you have found it." ”

"I am ashamed to be the praise of Your Majesty. In fact, it was the minister's negligence before that he gave those thieves a chance. At this time, Yang Zhen seemed very modest: "Actually, the minister should have thought of this a long time ago, after all, Zheng Heng has always been in front of the minister, only because the minister's wife was taken captive, this is a mess, and it almost broke the big thing." ”

"Hey, this is human nature, how can you blame Yang Qing?" The emperor waved his hand generously and said, "What's more, Yang Qing, you also found out the truth in time and eliminated a disaster, how can I blame you again?" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your sympathy for your courtiers!" Yang Zhen thanked him again.

"By the way, in this way, that Zheng Heng should be the culprit of this matter, I must order someone to find out!" Wanli said angrily.

"In this regard, the minister should do his best. But ......" Speaking of this, Yang Zhen suddenly spoke, and his face was embarrassed.

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

"The minister still has an idea, but I don't know whether to say it or not."

"But it doesn't hurt to say it." The Emperor said busily.

"The minister always feels that this matter is still a little strange, just Zheng Heng alone, this matter seems to be very difficult to achieve, even if there are two forces of the White Lotus Sect and the Mengren Conspiracy, it is also average." Yang Zhen said with a slight frown.

"What do you mean by that?" Wanli was a little puzzled.

"Your Majesty, please think about it, then Zheng Heng's plan should have been prepared for some days, but it has only been two or three months for him to take this position, how did he know that there was such an opportunity? Also, they can count everything this time, not only do they want to put all the charges on the minister's head, but even the minister's brother Yang Chen was also pulled into this matter. And he can only have something to do with this matter in the past few months. It has been a short time since the manufacture of these lanterns, not to mention the planning and brewing of the entire conspiracy, so the minister boldly guessed that there must be something in this that the minister could not think of for a while. When Yang Zhen said this, his eyes drooped, and a fierce color flashed in the depths of his eyes.