Qiu Yizhi, who was alone in a cage, didn't have the opportunity to feel such a grand occasion, but he didn't feel lonely and cold. When Zhong Li Kuang visited the prison a few days ago, all the news brought to him was enough to make his heart fluctuate for a while-

The emperor's dragon body is in danger, in case it dies one day, once this towering tree falls, what will happen to the branches, leaves, moss, insects and even rotten scars attached to his body?

And the kingdom cannot be without a king for a day, and after this great tree falls, there will inevitably be another great tree that will grow on his body. To whom will this mighty and wise emperor, with his increasingly weak fingers, give up the throne that determines the well-being of all the people of the world? The eldest prince Zheng Xin, the second prince Zheng Sen, and the third prince Zheng Miao, these three princes are not mediocre people, which one of them is lucky to be favored by their supreme father?

Today's emperor is a wise emperor who knows both others and himself. He knew that his life was short, and he would inevitably sort out the next one for his successors—at least the old emperor himself thought so—an iron bucket. However, if it is "tidying", then there is "reason" and "rectification", I don't know which one, or which group of unlucky people, will lose their official position and disgrace in this "rectification" process?

After the emperor's funeral, what kind of policy will the new monarch take in the face of such a huge country? Will Qiu Yizhi and Dai Luanxiang be sent to Youyan and Lingnan respectively to guard these two key points for the imperial court? Will the "New Deal" measures that the old emperor had in mind continue to be implemented in the hands of the new monarch?

This series of questions, mixed with thoughts about Wen Lingjiao, the county lord of Yiran, and his rumored son, was like a paste mixed with straw, which made Qiu Yizhi's originally flexible and intelligent entire brain clumped into a ball. also made the owner of this brain, Qiu Yizhi, unable to sleep and eat, and his body, which had been fattened in prison, lost weight very quickly.

The prisoners who are in prison are divided into the following categories:

One was held in prison before the sentence was pronounced. The circumstances of these people's cases are unclear and the criminal law has not yet been determined, and they cannot help but feel apprehensive and restless. If the crime is slightly more serious, or if you refuse to confess for various reasons, then it is inevitable that the criminal law of "one small fight a day, one big fight in three days" will inevitably be greatly damaged, both physically and mentally.

One is those who have already been convicted, or exiled, dismissed, or beheaded. These people have a certain future, and they are the most calm. Especially for death row inmates who have been sentenced to capital punishment, the cell bosses often serve them very well in order to avoid being entangled by their unjust souls. There are many death row inmates who came from poor places, and it is in prison that they eat the best food in this life and this life.

On the other hand, it is a sentence of imprisonment, which is to serve the sentence in prison. Because they must live in prison, they know that if they offend the cell chief, they will not have their own good fruit to eat. Therefore, he is the most stubborn to the cell head and jailer, and often asks the family members outside to bring some money to bribe the living Yamas who take care of them, so as not to be bullied and framed by them.

There are also people who have been forgotten in their cells for various reasons. These people have a bleak future, and some of them have no one to prepare their own food, so they have to pick up the leftovers that are already crude and unbearable in their cells.

Qiu Yizhi is like this last kind of person, no one is tortured, no one is arraigned, and no one is released; No one said he was guilty, nor was he innocent; No outsiders can come in to visit the prison, and of course they can't leave this dead place.

This kind of encounter seems to be really forgotten by the world, if ordinary people encounter such a situation, they must be afraid of disorder, serious illness, and even die because of it.

Although Qiu Yizhi is full of words about retiring to the mountains and forests and ploughing for fun, now he is full of thoughts about the rise and fall of the world, the future of the society, and the safety of the country.

In this way, Qiu Yizhi has been imprisoned for half a month, and the emperor has neither summoned nor released him, and his originally tense heart has finally gradually relaxed under the passage of time.

Qiu Yizhi knew from Lin Shuhan's correspondence outside the prison every three or five times that the rebels in the Lingnan palace had been completely wiped out by the imperial court, but the imperial court was not ready to take over all the important military and political affairs in Lingnan, so he temporarily stood still in Jiangnan Province and did not immediately move south.

Zheng Xin, the eldest son of the emperor, and Zheng Sen, the second son of the emperor, who were responsible for encircling and annihilating Zheng Yu and the remnants of the Lingnan army, were also ordered to return to Jinling and come to the emperor's car, as for the army in their hands - the elite cavalry brought down by Zheng Sen from Youyan Road was the emperor's old army and could accompany the escort; Zheng Xin's newly recruited soldiers from the northwest were all stationed nearby and could not be brought back to Jinling.

At the same time, the emperor issued another decree to summon Dai Luanxiang, a former general who lived in the capital, to Jinling, apparently to ask him to assist in the reorganization and gradual disbandment of the Lingnan Palace, but in fact, he had already prepared to let him lead the army to Fuzhen Lingnan Province.

As for Zheng Miao, the third son of the emperor who supervised the state in the capital Luoyang, the emperor let him carry out government affairs, except for occasional comments and interference, he never intervened much, and often had a few words of approval in the holy decree.

These countless pieces of news are like countless thin threads tied to a silver needle, and countless messages from countless directions are finally only gathered in the direction of the small needle tip - as Prime Minister Zhong Likuang said, Emperor Zheng Rong is preparing for his death, and the heir to the throne is more and more obvious to the third son of the emperor Zheng Miao.

Zheng Miao has the best relationship with Qiu Yizhi among the three princes, and his personality is a combination of rigidity and softness, if he ascends to the pole and becomes the emperor, then Qiu Yizhi's chances of realizing his ultimate wish to retire to the countryside will be greatly increased.

As soon as he thought of this, Qiu Yizhi couldn't hold back his excitement and excitement. So much so that he vaguely dreamed several times that he was with Wen Lingjiao, plowing, reading and singing in the beautiful countryside; Several times in a trance, I dreamed that I was with the county lord of Yiran, galloping and laughing on a horse on the endless grassland, but behind him was my own son, whose face was still a little blurred.

Whenever this happens, Qiu Yizhi can laugh out loud in his sleep.

But after blinking, he fell into depression and contemplation again - after all, Zheng Miao is the youngest of the three brothers, and he is not the eldest son, so he owes a little bit in terms of etiquette, and the throne may not be stable at the beginning, and when the time comes, it will be difficult for him to refuse.

"It's okay, the third brother is not a stupid person, and with Master Zhongli by his side, as long as he comes forward to take care of the details for Zheng Miao. In this way, the long is only two or three years at most, and the short is only a year and a half, and after the situation is stabilized, you can retire to the rivers and lakes with peace of mind. ”

With such wishful thinking, Qiu Yizhi lived in the Jinling cell for half a month.

In the past ten days, Qiu Yizhi has made up her mind to recuperate in prison first, and eats and sleeps, punches and reads books every day. It's just that Zhong Li Kuang never came to visit the prison again, and the emperor didn't give him any orders.

The weather in Jiangnan gets hotter and hotter as soon as spring passes, and in the airtight cell, it is even hotter and more unbearable. The cell boss who was in charge of Qiu Yizhi knew the identity of this unusual prisoner to some extent, and accepted bribes, so he sent Qiu Yizhi iced melons and fruits every day for him to use to cool off.

Rao is like this, Qiu Yizhi is still so hot that he is sweating profusely and fidgeting.

When Qiu Yi was holding a basin-sized fan in his hand and fanning it on his belly, he suddenly heard the cell door "creak" and was opened from the outside, bringing a cool breath.

When Qiu Yizhi was disheveled, this cool air blew on his bare skin, which made him shiver, and he quickly tightened his loose robe, and then looked up, but saw the two of them standing at the door one after the other in strong suits, and their figures seemed to be very familiar.

The light in the cell was very dim, and when Qiu Yizhi was still identifying the identities of these two people, he heard the person in front of him say: "Childe, it's not good, something happened, you should leave quickly!" ”

This voice reached Qiu Yizhi's ears, which immediately lifted his spirits, and he said with great surprise in his tone: "Lingjiao...... You...... What are you doing here? As he spoke, he jumped off the bed with a pair of bare feet, walked quickly to Wen Lingjiao, and hugged her tightly in his arms.

Wen Lingjiao seemed to have something very urgent on her body, pushed Qiu Yizhi away, and repeated: "Childe, it's not good, something happened, hurry up and go out with me, otherwise it's going to be a big deal." ”

Qiu Yizhi is a curious person who does not want to be at the mercy of others, of course, he has to ask the reason: "You say it slowly, what is going on?" How did you get in? ”

Wen Lingjiao was so anxious that her pair of willow eyebrows tightened into a ball, and immediately explained: "Your eldest brother, that Zheng Xin, is going to rebel." He's going to come over and kill you, I'm breaking in with Ji Ming now, why don't you come with me quickly! ”

Qiu Yizhi was stunned when he heard this, tilted his head, and sure enough, he saw Yu Chi Jiming protecting Wen Lingjiao behind him, his face was full of nervousness, and there were some blood stains on his clothes.

This Wen Lingjiao is Qiu Yizhi's confidante, Qiu Yizhi has no reason not to believe her words, but the big news of "Zheng Xin's rebellion" still makes him difficult to accept for a while, and he still confirms with a little suspicion: "How is this possible?" The eldest brother is the emperor's own son, what kind of rebellion did he make? Even if he rebels, I'm a prisoner, and what are you going to do to kill me? ”

Wen Lingjiao was so anxious that she almost cried: "I don't have time to talk to you in detail." I just want to tell you, my brother is there with Zheng Xin now, and he instigated Zheng Xin to rebel. This news was also overheard, I came to save you, and my brother didn't know yet. Don't ask, come with me! ”

Qiu Yizhi was stunned when he heard such news: Wen Honghui, the leader of the Tianzun sect, has always been a troublemaker, and after the failure of the Lingnan Wang's uprising, he looked for a way to join the emperor's eldest son Zheng Xin, and it was not an unimaginable thing to provoke Zheng Xin to make trouble; And such news, brought by Wen Honghui's own sister and the Holy Daughter of the Tianzun Sect, Wen Lingjiao, undoubtedly increased the credibility of the news to a greater extent.