Shen Ruoyu nodded, followed behind Fang Xiaoru, cautiously climbed the steps, and after climbing the high steps, under the gaze of the two majestic imperial guards, he crossed the high threshold and entered the gate of the Wuying Palace. He kept his head down, from the time he stepped up the first step until he entered the main hall, he still didn't dare to look up, just stared nervously at the red carpet under his feet, feeling his heart hang, dangling, and making him panic.

Fang Xiaoru, who was walking in front, was obviously accustomed to it, and he opened his voice and said calmly: "Weichen Fang Xiaoru knocked to see Your Majesty." While unhurriedly pulling up the hem of the official uniform, he knelt down in front of the court, and kowtowed to the mountain and shouted: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live." ”

Shen Ruoyu looked at Mr. Fang and kowtowed, a little at a loss for a while. He knelt down mechanically, followed the example of Fang Xiaoru, and said: "Grass people Shen Ruoxiao knocked on the Son of Heaven, long live the Son of Heaven, long live, long live, long live." ”

A person walked down from the high platform in front of him, walked straight to Fang Xiaoru, and was about to reach out to help this famous scholar of Hallym University, while saying:

"Mr. Fang, hurry up; I have said many times, my husband is my teacher, and I don't need to be so polite in front of me. ”

Shen Ruoyu couldn't help but be secretly frightened: the voice he heard was so young and weak, just like a timid student facing his strict master, without the slightest shackle of the Son of Heaven and the majesty of an emperor.

Fang Xiaoru was flattered and kowtowed: "Long live the king, how dare Weichen make a mistake." Wechen Xie Long Live Longen. ”

After speaking, he stood up, smoothed his clothes, and glanced back at Shen Ruoyu. The young man who entered the palace for the first time was still trembling and lying on the ground, not daring to raise his head.

Zhu Yunwen returned to the throne and sat down, and asked, "Who is in the court?" ”

Shen Ruoyu was still lying on the ground silently; Fang Xiaoru reminded in a low voice:

"Ruo Shao, what about you."

Shen Ruoyu was taken aback, he had already said it once just now, why did the emperor ask again, could it be that he had forgotten it; He had no choice but to reply:

"The grass people are Shen Ruoxiao, knock on the Son of Heaven."

"Flat," was still the same soft, light voice.

Shen Ruoxiao looked at the cat and painted the tiger and said: "The grass people thank Tianzi Longen," and then dared to stand up.

Zhu Yunwen saw Fang Xiaoru standing aside, pointed to the seat that had been prepared next to him, and said, "Mr. Fang, please take a seat." ”

Fang Xiaoru said: "Weichen doesn't dare, long live Longen." ”

Zhu Yunwen smiled kindly: "Mr. doesn't need to be polite, Mr. is so hard, I can't bear to see it." Sir, don't excuse yourself, please take a seat. ”

Fang Xiaoru understood the emperor's temperament, knew that he couldn't shirk, and he was no longer stubborn, and said:

"Then the minister will have the grace of God. Obey the order, thank you Your Majesty Longen. ”

With that, he respectfully sat down on the chair that had been prepared for him.

When Shen Ruoyu arrived at this time, he finally couldn't resist his strong curiosity, and secretly raised his eyes and glanced at the high platform in front of him.

At this glance, he couldn't help but be stunned.

Behind the high imperial case, there is a wide and majestic dragon chair; In the center of the dragon chair sat a young man with clear eyebrows; The young man was very slender, with pale and delicate skin, and delicate features, like a young girl; The thin lips were very narrow, tightly pursed, the eyebrows were slightly frowned, the eyes were happy with obvious worry, there seemed to be a hint of panic and doubt, and the pale cheeks were slightly red. At first glance, the young man sitting in the temple resembled a shy girl of fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed as a man, rather than a grown man of twenty-two years of age, married to a wife, and had a son of three years old; Or, it is also a diligent living who is locked in the study all day long and just buries his head in hard reading, and does not eat the fireworks of the world, and is definitely not a supreme son of heaven, the monarch of the Ming Empire, and the successor of the iron-blooded emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Shen Ruoxiao was in a daze for a moment, all his previous imagination of the Supreme Son of Heaven was instantly shattered by what he saw in front of him, and the tension and fear generated by the majesty of the palace in his heart suddenly disappeared without a trace.

He had already heard of it from many aspects, and it was not that he did not know that the new emperor, who had just ascended the throne, was very young, and was a person who loved to read, and basically only loved to read.

But no matter how young, a twenty-two-year-old person should always look older and more mature than his nineteen-year-old self. However, there is such a great difference between reality and imagination, although Zhu Yunwen also wears the black yarn and good wing crown exclusive to the great emperor, and wears the wide dragon robe exclusive to the emperors of all dynasties; The golden and bright yellow of the pure, the sun-like radiance, the supreme and noble five-clawed dragon embroidery, the profound twelve chapter patterns, the indispensable Xuan belt, the carved dragon white jade pendant - all these seem to not only not add to the majesty and dignity of this emperor, but on the contrary, it seems extremely ill-fitting and makes him even more weak.

Every dragon robe is tailored according to the figure of the Son of Heaven**, how can it not fit?

Shen Ruo stared at Zhu Yunwen intently. Zhu Yunwen was also looking at him, but after a while, he found that the other party had been staring at him intently, and the young Tianzi's face turned red first, and he didn't know what to ask for a while, so he had to turn his face away, look at Fang Xiaoru, and ask for warmth.

Only then did Shen Ruoyu notice that there were not only three people in the Wuying Palace. There are also two people who look like civil officials, sitting side by side next to Fang Xiaoru. Both of them seem to be in their old age, one has a slightly fat figure, and the other is as thin as Fang Xiaoru and has a dark complexion; Both of them were born gentle and elegant, and they wore the same official clothes as Fang Xiaoru, but the complement pattern on their chests was different. Fang Xiaoru's complement was a white pheasant, the official who was as thin as him had a peacock on his chest, and the slightly fatter civil official had a golden pheasant on his chest.

In Shen Ruoyu's view, the white pheasant, the peacock and the golden pheasant are all the same beautiful rare birds, and there is no grade difference between the three; However, he knew very well that the different birds on the complement represented the different ranks of each official, and there was a clear distinction between high and low. However, he saw that Fang Xiaoru and the other two people seemed to be very cordial and friendly, and there seemed to be no difference or estrangement between them, so he couldn't figure out which of the three birds was the most noble and who was relatively low.

Zhu Yunwen and Fang Xiaoru chatted for a while, and Fang Xiaoru said:

"Long live yesterday ordered the minister to bring Shen Ruoyu into the meeting, Shen Ruoliao is here now; Why don't Banzai and the two adults take this opportunity to ask him about it and find out the details of King Yan? ”

When the three of them heard this, they all looked at Shen Ruoliao in unison. Zhu Yunwen opened his mouth and asked:

"You are Shen Ruoliao?"

Shen Ruo nodded blankly, looking at this weak scholar, it was difficult to force himself to believe that he was really the son of today.

"Ling Zun is Shen Rufeng?"

Shen Ruoyu was slightly stunned. He expected that the Son of Heaven would ask his father, but at this moment, the Son of Heaven's question still made him feel abrupt and embarrassed.

He replied, "Yes." ”

Zhu Yunwen was silent for a moment, and said shyly and softly: "The emperor's ancestor has a will, and all my descendants of Zhu Ming cannot be reused after Shen Rufeng forever." The corpse of the first emperor is not cold, how can the fourth emperor uncle have already violated the last orders of the first emperor twice, first led the troops to the funeral, and then reused Shen Rufeng's son? ”

Shen Ruoyu was stunned and hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty has misunderstood; First, when King Yan gave me an errand, the first emperor was still alive, and the prince had not yet received the ban; The two, I am actually nothing by the side of King Yan, just to help the prince run errands, deliver letters or something, just do chores, and I can't talk about reuse at all. ”

Fang Xiaoru interjected: "Your Majesty, although Shen Ruoliao has no real position in the Yan Wang's Mansion, he is deeply trusted by His Royal Highness the Yan King, and once helped the Yan King send a secret letter to the Shu King Mansion in Chengdu, overcoming obstacles and obstacles all the way, and successfully reaching Chengdu. This person is young, but his martial arts are extremely strong, and he is knowledgeable and courteous, chivalrous and courageous, and His Royal Highness King Yan will definitely have blue eyes for him. There are thousands of elite soldiers in the Yan Wangfu, and the masters are like clouds, but the fact that the Yan King chose him as a civilian to deliver the letter is a clear proof. ”

Shen Ruoyu panicked; King Yan asked him to go to Chengdu to send "The King of Shu into Sichuan", how secret, he and Lu Jiang's heads were tied to it; He never revealed half a word to anyone, thinking that all secrets were only known to Wang Jing. Jinyiwei had indeed reported everything to the imperial court; He just didn't know what evidence they had in their hands. He threw himself into the river twice, and he never recruited half a word, and the secret letter of the King of Shu had obviously been soaked into a mess of mud in the Han water. Where did Fang Xiaoru get the idea of "secret letter"?

He panicked and said incoherently: "Your Majesty, Mr. Fang-Lord Fang, he has won the award, I am actually really incompetent and incompetent, and I can't compare to the imperial guards around you in terms of martial arts, and the paper can't be compared with Fang Xian-Lord Fang." The prince asked me to do something, but it was because none of his people could spare time at that time, so I had to go-"

"Being able to pick you, an ordinary ordinary ordinary person, from tens of thousands of people in Beiping, is enough to show that you are not ordinary." Fang Xiaoru smiled and said, "Your Majesty, it is true that King Yan reused Shen Ruoxiao first, and the first emperor's last life was last. At this point, King Yan cannot be regarded as disobeying the last order of the emperor; However, after he used Shen Rufeng privately, he did not report to the emperor in advance, and asked for the permission of the holy decree, which cannot but be said to be a pass. ”

Zhu Yunwen nodded hesitantly; The other two civil servants also chimed in.

The slightly chubby civil official was Qi Tai, the secretary of the Ministry of War. This person is a Jinshi in the eighteenth year of Hongwu, and in the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, he became the left servant of the military department; After Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, he was promoted to the secretary of the military department in June this year, and he joined the army and state affairs. The thin and dark civil official next to him is named Huang Zicheng, whose real name is Huang Xiang, Zicheng is the word, and Qi Taiju is the same year as Jinshi, and he was revised for Hanlin. In June this year, he was promoted by Zhu Yunwen to be the secretary of the Taichang Temple, and a scholar of Hallym University, and joined the army and state affairs together with Qi Tai. These two people are regarded by Zhu Yunwen as their right and left hands, and they are frequently summoned, and they often consult on state affairs, and they are deeply respected by the Son of Heaven. Although Fang Xiaoru is under the two, he is very talented because of his virtue, and he is deeply respected by the two and has a very good friendship, and he has also become Zhu Yunwen's close minister like the two.

At this moment, Qi Tai opened his mouth and asked Shen Ruoyu, "How did you get picked by His Royal Highness King Yan?" ”

Shen Ruoyu used himself as a street stop to save people, which angered the two princes, but was appreciated by King Yan.

Huang Zicheng asked: "What was written in King Yan's secret letter to King Shu?" ”

Shen Ruoyu hurriedly replied: "I was ordered by the prince to bring the native products of Beiping to the king of Shu, and there was no secret letter. ”

"No MeTs?" Fang Xiaoru's eyes flashed: "I remember that His Royal Highness King Yan gave the King of Shu a painting, and the King of Shu obviously understood it after seeing it. Could it be that this painting is a local specialty of Beiping? ”

Shen Ruoyu seemed to be smothered on the head. He was puzzled, and looked at Fang Xiaoru in a daze:

"Paint?!"

Mrs. Chengtou, in prison, Huang Lizi forced each other hard, and only forced him to tell him what the mysterious thing sent by King Yan was, and asked him to hand over the secret letter of King Shu. How did the court know that it was a painting? Fang Xiaoru has mastered the details to this point, and it is difficult for him to continue weaving; At this moment, his only way out is to lie as much as possible.

He said: "I only know that the prince handed me a wooden box, saying that it was a special Beiping specialty specially prepared for the king of Shu, and asked me to send it to Chengdu." If I am entrusted to others, it is always difficult to open the package without permission to see what is in the wooden box, I don't know. I always thought it was nothing more than some sugar-fried chestnuts, persimmons and the like. ”

Qi Tai asked on the side, "Lord Fang, what is painted on the painting?" ”

Fang Xiaoru shook his head and said: "I only saw from a distance when I passed by the study of the King of Shu, His Royal Highness the King of Shu held the painting and admired it carefully, the painting seemed to be an ordinary landscape map, but the King of Shu pursed his mouth and smiled contemplatively after appreciating it. After that, he brought the painting into the collection room and kept it out of sight. ”

Huang Zicheng asked suspiciously: "What secrets can there be in the landscape paintings?" ”

Qi Tai asked Shen Ruoliao: "Does the King of Shu have a reply to the King of Yan?" ”

Shen Ruoyu secretly thought that Huang Lizi must have already reported all the details of the imperial court, and it was impossible to lie, but fortunately, the secret letter had been destroyed, and no one knew the content; At this moment, he can only answer honestly:

"The King of Shu has a reply; Ruo Yu promised that the King of Shu would personally hand it over to the King of Yan, and he was unwilling to break his trust; Jin Yiwei was unreasonable and forced me to hand over the letter, but I had no choice but to commit suicide by throwing myself into the river, and the letter was ruined. ”

"What??" The Son of Heaven and the three Wenchen were taken aback.

Their reaction surprised Shen Ruoyu even more. He froze there for a moment, not knowing what was going on.

After a while, Qi Tai came to his senses first and asked suspiciously:

"You just said that, Jinyiwei?"

Shen Ruoyu was completely confused at the moment, and he didn't know which move the imperial court was taking; His mind was all out of order at the moment, and he couldn't help but tell the truth:

"Jin Yiwei intercepted me in Xiangyang, saying that the court suspected that King Yan and the King of Shu were conspiring and had the intention of rebellion, and forced me to hand over the letter from the King of Shu. When I crossed the river, I committed suicide by throwing myself into the water, and they fished me up again, broke me in the ribs, threw me into prison to extract a confession, and said that they would take me back to the Jinyiwei Prison in Beijing to be punished. I fled to the river in the middle of the night, and was chased by them again, so I had to jump into the river again, but fortunately, Dan Zhenren drove by and rescued me; That's how I went to Wudang Mountain. ”

The four monarchs and ministers listened to him, but their faces were full of shock and incredulity, as if they were listening to a book from heaven.

Zhu Yunwen opened his mouth first, and his voice was full of excitement and anger:

"When did this happen, and why didn't I know at all? Jin Yiwei is too bold, it doesn't count as doing his own business behind my back, and he hurts people casually? ”

Shen Ruoyu was just more surprised and dazed: "Your Majesty, you ...... In the dark? ”