Wei Ning sat in the courtyard of Lanyue Pavilion, holding a lone book that was about to become extinct. After listening to Ah Zhao's report, her face remained unchanged, and she only said, "Soul Breaking Pill? You really have everything! ”

Although the four provinces have roughly the same land area, they are the smallest of the several countries. Legend has it that the founder of the country was a wealthy businessman, and for this reason, the whole country was keen on the way of business, and the successive monarchs also highly respected it. Over the past few hundred years, the country has developed rapidly, with a variety of domestic commodities and many overseas merchants gathering. Known as the 'Merchant's Paradise', it is now the richest of the four countries.

Ah Zhao: "Princess, the Soul Breaking Pill is not an ordinary poison, it is said that except for the royal family of the Yan Kingdom, it is difficult for ordinary people to get it..."

Wei Ning looked at the book and thought for a while and said, "This is a good place to start, let's start with the source of the poison!" ”

"Yes."

"By the way, look at this." Wei Ning seemed to have just remembered, and picked up a letter from the stone table under the tree for him to read.

On the envelope was written 'Your Majesty personally opened', and after Ah Zhao opened it, he took out a thin piece of letter paper from it, and there were only eight words on the paper. Ah Zhao smiled slightly after seeing it and said, "Lord Chen can really understand His Majesty's hard work. ”

Wei Ning inadvertently touched the jade pendant on her waist, and there was half a word 'Ruan' on the jade pendant, she said: "It's an old minister of the Three Dynasties, and he is naturally a thoughtful character." ”

A few decades ago, the Ruan family in Jiangdong began to engage in business since its decline, and because of the good reputation accumulated for generations, it gradually became a wealthy merchant. By chance, the son-in-law of the second room of the Ruan family married the fourth daughter of the Gu family in Jiangnan, and the Gu family was also a famous family at that time.

After the Gu family gave birth to a pair of children, the Ruan family's business continued to rise and became richer and richer. Gu's family is gentle and virtuous, and takes care of the family up and down in an orderly manner, and also pays a lot of money to invite the best master within a radius of 100 miles to his children and teach them carefully.

Especially the daughter-in-law Ruan Yingqin, calligraphy and painting, proficient in everything. Before she arrived, she had the name of 'Jiangdong Talented Woman'. After the meeting, matchmakers from all over the country rushed to the door, almost breaking the threshold of the Ruan family. The Gu family refused one by one, and everyone looked at what kind of son-in-law the Gu family would choose, but no one expected that a few years later, Ruan Ying would marry Wei Tao, the third prince who was the least favored at that time.

In those years, whenever someone mentioned the 'talented woman of Jiangdong', Ruan Ying always caused a sigh. Later, the emperor died, and he left a will to the third prince Wei Tao to succeed to the throne, Ruan Ying naturally became the queen mother above 10,000 people under one person, and the people who were not optimistic about them in the past were dumbfounded, and the congratulatory gift for ascending the throne was sent to the palace for a few months. The queen was kind, and all those who came did not refuse were accepted into the treasury, and a banquet was held to thank them.

After that, the new emperor treated the Ruan family favorably, and the Ruan family prospered again as imperial merchants and became the largest wealthy businessmen in the country. Shengjing Ruan Mansion, built by a thousand gold, carved railings and jade masonry, pavilions and pavilions, golden silk nanmu, colorful glaze. The wonder of the garden in the south of the Yangtze River is as clever as the Wuyue culture. The princes of Fuqi are half of the wealth.

However, even if the Ruan family is rich and rivals the country and has power over the world, it is only prosperous for a while, and it will not end well in the end.

In the thirty-fifth year of Taikang, the 10,000 taels of disaster relief silver supervised by the Ruan family arrived in the disaster area, and only 100 taels remained. For a time, the impeachment of the Ruan family flew in front of the emperor like a snow-capped mountain. The emperor was furious and ordered the Ruan family to be beheaded, and the queen who lingered on the sickbed struggled to intercede for the Ruan family.

The prosperity must decline, and the extremes of things must be reversed. Now only the prosperous Nguyen Mansion is left and the gate is sealed. This is the end of the farce of drunken gold fans...

Since the fall of the Ruan family, when the Du family of the Yue family, the head of the dynasty, Chen Ruyan, was also a family of merchants, the emperor ordered the Du family to serve as the imperial merchants, and Wei Ning did not replace him after succeeding to the throne, and it has been six years now.

Wei Ning's jade pendant was left to her by her mother, Ruan Ying, before she died, and she didn't know why only half of it was left. After she received the letter, she knew that Chen Ruyan must have understood what she meant, so she wrote those words...

The minister's door is like the city, and the minister's heart is like water.

Wei Ning closed the book and stretched. sighed: "His old life, as well as the rise and fall of the family, depends on his future creation." ”

——————

The whole palace was shrouded in gray, thunder came from the sky, rain flowed down from the eaves of the palace, washed the moss on the bluestone slabs, and the begonia petals in the flower pots on the corridor were blown off the ground, and no one was seen.

Liu Xi walked non-stop, walked all the way to the upper study, waited quietly outside the door with a whisk in his hand, the sound of water ticking, and he suddenly had a thousand emotions in his heart. Until a word came from the solemn hall. He got dressed and walked in.

Liu Xi stepped forward and bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, the post of the Spring Banquet has been sent to all families five days ago. King Yan and King Qi sent a message saying that they were busy with affairs and would not come to this banquet, and they both gave His Majesty some gifts. ”

Wei Ning frowned, wondering in his heart, he originally thought that he could meet his eldest brother and sister-in-law at this banquet, but he didn't expect Liu Xi to tell him such news. "It's strange, my eldest brother sent a message a month ago saying that he missed me very much, why didn't he come?"

Liu Xi was embarrassed: "This, the slave doesn't know." ”

"That's it, if you don't come, you won't come."

Liu Xi paused for a moment, and then said: "In the year Your Majesty ascended the throne, most of the palace maids and eunuchs in the palace were dismissed, and the Internal Affairs Office came to report that the spring banquet was held for the first time in three years, and there were not enough people, so it was difficult to prepare everything in five days. There is also a shortage of manpower needed on the day of the banquet. ”

As soon as he said it, Wei Ning remembered that at that time, the first emperor died, and the concubines who had no children in each palace were all placed in the nunnery by her, and only one Wan Guifei was sent by her to guard the imperial tomb, and the two princes had their own fiefdoms, and the palace was empty. As a result, a large number of palace maids and eunuchs were idle, and a lot of silver was wasted, and she had no choice but to send them all out of the palace.

She said thoughtfully: "I didn't expect that if the palace maids and eunuchs were re-elected now, the time would not be enough, and after the banquet, these people would be idle, and they would have to be sent out of the palace, which would be too troublesome..."

Wei Ning untied a gold medal with the word 'Wei' carved with a dragon pattern from his waist. "It's better like this, you take my token and go to the Emperor's Mansion to borrow some, if it's not enough, then go to Prime Minister Ji's Mansion to borrow it, and say that you will return it after the banquet. Then he will give them a sum of money from the treasury.

Liu Xi lowered his head and took it: "The slave obeys!" ”

Liu Xi took the gold medal and was about to retire, but he didn't expect Wei Ning to suddenly speak: "Manager Liu, how many years have you served by my father's side?" ”

Liu Xi was stunned for a moment and glanced up at Wei Ning. She was standing to his right, looking at the portraits of the emperors hanging on the wall. After a pause, he said: "From becoming the chief eunuch and starting to serve by the emperor's side, it is a full twenty-five years. ”

"Twenty-five years... Twenty-five..."

Liu Xi didn't know why she suddenly mentioned this, and she felt a little uneasy, but she could only listen to her keep repeating the number in her mouth.

He watched this little girl come to this day step by step, and Liu Xi always felt that he was more afraid of the teenage woman in front of him than the emperor. She grew up, was kind and intelligent, and always had the same expression on her face. Sometimes even he forgets that this is a young girl...

She has a graceful demeanor, not losing to Queen Ruan back then, and she is stunning in the past and present, and her unique style is shocking. When he heard this poem, he almost had no reason to think that she was such a person. Stunning face, and extremely intelligent, sometimes rational makes people feel terrible, and no one can see her true face.

No matter how many people there are, they can't compare to it.

Wei Ning opened his lips and used an extremely light voice, word by word, clearly into his ears. "Then my father-in-law should remember how my mother died..."

Liu Xi's face turned pale in an instant, and he suddenly knelt on the ground, and his voice trembled a little: "Minion, minion remember." ”

"Father-in-law, you should know, that year, Ji Yan and I went to Huguo Temple to study behind closed doors with Master Kongzhi, and when I got the news, my mother was already lingering on the sickbed, and she desperately gave birth to Jiahui, Jiahui was born weak and almost lost her life. I saw my mother hanging on the bed with a sigh of relief, her energy was exhausted little by little, and coupled with the blow to her grandfather, she couldn't let us go, so she worked hard to support her for two years and died. ”

Wei Ning narrated slowly, smashing on Liu Xi's heart word by word, how could he not know her hard work, but... Just as every family has a scripture that is difficult to read. It's not that you can't say it, it's that you can't say it.

Wei Ning's tone was light, as if he was talking about someone else. Although she was still as calm as ever, Liu Xi still saw shallow sadness in her eyes. "For so many years, I have taken care of Jiahui with great fear, and every time she gets sick, I am so scared, afraid that I will not be able to abide by my mother's wishes, and that one day I will have no shame to face her underground. Fortunately, although these years have not been smooth, she still grew up safely. ”

Liu Xi knelt on the ground, looked down at the ground and said nothing.

Wei Ning turned to look at him: "When I came back that year, all the eunuchs and maids in the harem were changed, I don't know who killed the queen mother, but you must know it, father-in-law." ”

Liu Xi's whole body tensed, and he only said: "The slave doesn't understand what His Majesty means..."

Wei Ning was not angry after hearing this, laughed lightly, and then said: "Father-in-law, don't be nervous, I ask you, you just need to answer yes or no." ”

Liu Xi had to say: "Back then, the emperor decreed that the palace maids and eunuchs who knew about this matter were secretly executed, and although the servants knew about it, they really couldn't speak. ”

"Don't worry, father-in-law, I only ask you, is Aunt Qionghua related to this matter?" Wei Ning suddenly approached him and crouched down in front of him, a pair of eyes looking at him tightly.

After waiting for a long time, Liu Xi didn't reply, the room was quiet and terrible, and it was stormy outside, and suddenly there was a thunderclap. The windows were blown open by the strong winds, and the books were blown open with a clatter.

Wei Ning got up suddenly, held the table with one hand, chuckled a few times with his back to him, and then turned around and said, "It doesn't matter if my father-in-law doesn't say it, do you know why I only brought up this matter now after so many years?" ”

"Not saying it doesn't mean I forgot, it's just that I don't have the ability, so I can only keep it in my heart for so many years."

After a pause, she continued: "When I bring up this matter, it means that no matter who that person is, as long as he has a breath left in this world, I will do everything possible to do whatever it takes, even if it is a sword and jade will be burned. I want him to bear a thousand times more than us, and I want him to suffer so much for the rest of his life that he wishes to die, but he can only survive in the world and be scolded by the world. ”

Liu Xi could only look at her eyes in a daze, listening to her clearly spit out word by word from his mouth, he no longer knew where he was, forgot that he couldn't look directly into the emperor's eyes, and forgot all the rules. Just look at her, at the woman who is still as calm as water.

In the end, he didn't know how he got out of the study, he walked on the porch like a wandering spirit, and his feet were so deep and shallow that he couldn't tell the difference between east and south. The rain outside had stopped, the sky was beginning to clear, and he was in a trance until Zhiying grabbed him, and he was unsteady under the pull, and he stumbled and almost fell.

He turned around and saw Zhiying's mouth open and closed, but he couldn't hear a sound. Looking at the shape of his mouth for a while, he vaguely recognized that it was a sentence: What's wrong?

He smiled, drunk and thought: "What should come is always coming, it is all retribution, retribution..."