Duanmu Fei recalled the scenes after she and Cen Yin met, nodded with affection, and smiled sweetly.

"Master Mu, that's what you said."

Lord Cen is the best!

While speaking, Duanmu smiled and took her small seal from Cen Yin's hand again, this time, she carefully put the small seal in her purse, looking solemn.

Looking at Duanmu Fei's cute little face, the corners of the emperor's lips curled higher, and the corner of his eyes just caught a glimpse of the corner of Duanmu Fei's purse with the signature paper.

The emperor moved his eyebrows and asked, "Girl, you said you asked for a sign today?" ”

"Yes, Master Mu." Duanmu Fei took out the signing paper from his purse, and after unfolding it, he read crisply, "The sycamore leaves will fall in autumn and will be twilight, and the travelers will return like clouds. ”

According to the meaning of the sign, although Feng Yan's trip to Puguo had twists and turns, but with the help of the gods, everything was finally agreed.

It's an auspicious sign.

The emperor also read the last sentence in a low voice, "The ship carries treasures and treasures with the wind", and said with a smile: "The sign of this Qianfeng Temple is really accurate." ”

The emperor slowly took a sip of hot tea, and then said to An Ping: "Eldest sister, I just received the excerpt sent by Ah Yan from Puguo yesterday, and they have already embarked on the return journey...... It is expected to be in the capital next month. ”

Feng Yan's name made the pavilion quiet, and only the sound of the cold wind blowing the branches and leaves remained.

The emperor casually rubbed the teacup in his hand, smiled and congratulated An Ping: "Eldest sister, your mother and son will be reunited soon." Isn't this great news? ”

"I hope so." An Ping said calmly.

Before An Ping's words fell, he saw the maid beside Prince Bao and Princess Bao nervously "ah".

Princess Bao frowned slightly, and looked at the personal maid behind her with displeasure. This is a loss of honor in front of the emperor.

The girl's pretty face faded with blood, she raised her hand to the ground, and stammered, "Princess, ants...... Better...... Black Ants! ”

Black ants?! Everyone in the pavilion immediately thought of the dense ant colony in the Buddha shrine in the meditation hall before, and their faces were slightly stiff.

Everyone looked along the girl's finger, and saw a swarm of black ants crawling out of the bushes on the side of the pavilion at some point, crawling on the ground with black pressure, rustling......

At this time, Prince Bao didn't care about any imperial disgrace, almost jumped up, and retreated from the other side of the pavilion in a panic.

Naturally, the emperor also saw the astonishing number of black ant colonies, his face was very ugly, and he chuckled in his heart, and couldn't help but have a thought, could it be that he had really angered the gods by opening the Buddha shrine without authorization just now?!

As if to test his guess, more black ants crawled out of the bushes in a steady stream, densely packed, and scattered in all directions in the pavilion, the ground was full of black ants, and there was hardly room to put their feet.

"Your Majesty, why don't you avoid it?"

"Second princess, be careful."

"Ah, the ants crawled over......"

“……”

In a burst of exclamations, everyone left the pavilion one after another, including An Ping and Duanmufei.

However, there were too many black ants in the pavilion, and no matter how careful they were, they still let some black ants climb on their shoes, robes, or skirts.

The surrounding palace people and maids hurriedly leaned over to help their respective masters brush off the black ants on their bodies, and there was a lot of noise for a while.

Ziyue and Luluo also squatted down to help their master dust ants, but found that An Ping and Duanmu Fei's skirts were clean and clean, how could there be any ants.

Green Pothos's heart moved, and suddenly she thought that her girl wore her own insect-repellent ant sachet every day, and she was relieved, but she still walked out of her nervous appearance and pretended to dust off the ants.

The emperor was rarely so embarrassed, his face sank, he looked at Mu Youchang, and thought angrily: It's all to blame for this rebel! If it weren't for the fact that he led him to open the Buddhist shrine, how could he anger the gods?!

The more the emperor thought about it, the more he felt that this was the case, and his face sank like water.

Mu Youchang didn't notice the emperor, and his face was not very good-looking, his heart was uneasy, and his heartbeat echoed in his ears like a drum.

Could it be that he just set fire to the meditation hall and angered the gods and Buddhas?

No, it won't.

He immediately cut off this thought, and said to himself in his heart that it was just a coincidence, and that he was the son of his life.

Mu Youchang calmed down, raised his voice and scolded: "Someone, go and call the abbot!" How is this temple full of ants! disturbed the father...... Dear, can they afford it?! ”

This rebel still wants to use himself as a shield?! The emperor's face was so gloomy that he almost dripped water, and he unceremoniously interrupted him: "Enough! What a shame! ”

The emperor couldn't help but look towards the pavilion again, and after a while, the number of black ants in the pavilion seemed to have doubled, and it was as dense as the clouds in the sky, lingering in the pavilion.

The emperor's heart was heavy, as if he had pressed a boulder, and he was even more annoyed and panicked.

He couldn't stay any longer.

"Drive back to the palace."

The Emperor coldly dropped these four words and strode towards the gate.

The emperor was gone, and the others naturally followed, and the surrounding area of the pavilion soon became empty.

Duanmu Fei was about to follow, when his eyes suddenly froze, and he noticed a pool of gray powder sprinkled under the railing bench in the pavilion.

This is......

Duanmufei's nose moved, and his little face was crooked, just in front of Cen Yin's narrow and charming eyes.

Cen Yin winked at her quickly, smiled slightly, and was as charming as a fox.

Interesting. Duanmu Fei tried hard to suppress the slightly upturned corners of his mouth, and walked forward with An Ping casually.

After a stick of incense, a group of carriages and horses surrounded the emperor and galloped away from the foot of Qianfeng Mountain, and Anping's carriage followed slowly behind.

An Ping opened one side of the curtain, looked out of the carriage, and saw that the emperor and his party were dozens of zhang away in front of him, so he lowered the curtain and asked, "Fei'er, what happened to the meditation hall?" ”

Duanmu Fei started from the fact that she found that the second prince Mu Youchang's sleeve was scorched a small piece, and methodically talked about her speculation......

Rao is as calm as Anping, but he was also afraid for a while, and his face changed slightly.

It was she who was careless, and almost ...... The tablet of my brother and sister-in-law will almost be buried in the fire.

"Scarlet, thanks to you." An Ping affectionately hugged Duanmu Fei's shoulder, and his eyes were full of gentle smiles.

The daughter-in-law's eyes are really sharp and clever, and her stupid son has really earned it.

An Ping raised his hand and gently rubbed the top of Duanmu Fei's soft hair, Duanmu Fei was obediently touched by An Ping, smiling sweetly and cutely.

From time to time, the shouting and whipping of the coachman could be heard outside the carriage.

An Ping's eyes were in a trance, and he couldn't help but wonder in his heart: How much does Mu Youchang know?!

An Ping thought back to every word Mu Youchang said today, Mu Youchang's fire was too risky, according to what she knew about this nephew, he should not be the kind of person who would rashly set fire without a little support, he was afraid of knowing something, the question was, he was just "doubting" or "convinced".

Not many people know about the tablet, and who revealed it?

An Ping smiled quietly, his thoughts racing.

Duanmu Fei has been obediently touched by An Ping, and his head is empty, for fear that he will think too much.

Can't think, can't think, can't think......

Duanmu said to himself repeatedly in his heart as if chanting, his eyes glazed.

But in Anping's eyes, Duanmufei's sluggishness became well-behaved, the more Anping looked at her, the more cute she became, and personally made tea for her, feeding her tea for a while, and feeding her snacks for a while.

Ziyue looked at her master as if she was raising a little girl, silently looked away, and said in her heart: Anyway, the master is happy.

Anping almost wanted to bring Duanmufei back to his home, but in the end he reluctantly sent Duanmufei back to Duanmu Mansion.

Hey, why is Scarlet only twelve years old!

An Ping sighed silently in his heart, counting his fingers, there are still three years!

The carriage returned to the princess's mansion in Anping's sigh, and the east corner door opened and closed, and it was not until the evening that the east corner door opened again, and a letter was handed into the mansion and delivered to Anping by Ziyue herself.

There were only two words on the letter-

Well.

The handwriting is strong, and the power penetrates the back of the paper.

An Ping looked at these simple two words in a daze for a while, as if he wanted to see through the paper.

An Ping closed his eyes, and when he opened his eyes again, his eyes became precipitated.

She casually threw the silk paper in her hand into the brazier beside her, and the orange-red flames suddenly jumped up along the paper, dyeing Anping's face with a layer of warm orange.

Soon, the flames greedily devoured the silk paper, leaving only a few ashes mixed with the charcoal fire in the brazier.

As Duanmu Fei expected, the next morning before dawn, the capital began to snow again, the next half a month, the goose feather heavy snow intermittently stopped for two days a day, the snow in front of it did not melt, the snow behind it accumulated again, the weather became colder and colder, the people were mostly closed, and the whole capital also seemed to be much deserted.

Heavy snowfall has turned the capital into a world of snow, and the snow in the capital is getting thicker and thicker, and the thick snow has collapsed many houses in the north of the city, and those who have suffered from the snow disaster are facing a homeless situation.

Kyung Zhao Yin was so busy with this that he couldn't stop spinning like a spinning top.

Of course, the snow disaster in Beijing could not be hidden from the emperor, which made the emperor's heart even more irritable.

Since returning from the Qianfeng Temple half a month ago, the emperor has been a little panicked, and those black ants in the Buddhist shrine and the pavilion have appeared in front of him from time to time, and there have even been a few times when he mistakenly saw the words on the paper as black ants.

The imperial study was quiet, and the little chamberlains serving in the imperial study knew that the emperor had been in a bad mood recently, and they were all trembling.

The emperor sat behind the imperial case, and turned over the folds in his hand uncertainly.

The cabinet proposed to arrange the affected people to live in a nearby temple temporarily, and the imperial court would be the main soup kitchen, and the grain sown in autumn would probably be frozen a lot, and the imperial court should reduce taxes in the coming year.

In addition, this is still the case in the capital, and it is likely that many places in the north and northeast have been hit by snowstorms, so they must be prepared in advance.

This is really a house leak that happened to rain overnight.

The emperor rubbed his eyebrows, and was about to close the fold in his hand, when he heard a loud "boom" from outside, and it seemed that even the ground under his feet shook with it.

The emperor only felt as if his heart had been hammered by something, and he was startled, and ordered with a frown: "Little Lizi, go and see what's going on outside." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." A young waiter in Tsing Yi hurriedly took the order to withdraw from the imperial study, and there was a lot of noise and commotion outside.

Xiao Lizi frowned, casually called a waiter under the eaves, and asked, "......What the hell is this?"

Before he could finish speaking, he was dumbfounded by the scene in front of him.

Five or six feet ahead, a hundred-year-old pine tree the size of a bucket broke off at the waist, and the broken crown fell to the ground, scattering pine needles and snow on the ground, and it was a mess.

Obviously, the loud noise just now was the sound of the old pine breaking.

The broken old pine has already surrounded many chamberlains, palace maids and forbidden soldiers, and more people have heard the noise, and the courtyard is getting more and more noisy.

How so?! Xiao Lizi stared at the old pine with a broken waist and swallowed his saliva, and without stopping for a few breaths, he hurriedly turned back to the imperial study to return.

"Your Majesty, the one outside...... The old loose is broken. Xiao Lizi stammered, not daring to look up at the emperor's face.

Emperor Huo Di stood up and slammed into the chair behind him, making a "click" sound, which was particularly harsh and loud in the silent imperial study.

The emperor didn't look at Xiao Lizi, so he bypassed the imperial case, strode out of the imperial study, and raised his eyes to look at the broken pine in front of him.

"Your Majesty." As soon as the palace people under the eaves and in the courtyard saw the emperor, they all bowed down and saluted, and they were sincerely afraid, and everyone around them suddenly became shorter.

And these voices could no longer reach the emperor's ears.

The only thing left in the Emperor's eyes was the broken pine in front of him, and there seemed to be an invisible barrier around him that separated him from the others nearby.

The emperor's face became more and more gloomy.

In this huge palace, except for a few gardens, including the Imperial Garden, few tall trees are planted, in order not to give the opportunity to hide at the moment, except for the old pine outside the imperial study.

Since the founding of the Dasheng Dynasty, this old pine has stood there, thriving, more and more vigorous and lush, it has witnessed the history of Dasheng, and also witnessed the descendants of the Mu family from generation to generation in charge of this great mountain and river......

Since the emperor had a memory when he was three or four years old, this old pine has been there, standing there as a matter of course, and the emperor never thought that one day this old pine would fall!

The emperor's heart seemed to be pinched by an invisible palm, and his face turned pale.

The emperor's mind couldn't help but think of the black ants of Qianfeng Temple again, the sudden snow disaster in the past half month, and the fact that he had been restless and unable to sleep well during these days......

The emperor's face became more and more ugly, and he was almost out of breath.

Since he ascended the throne, everything has come naturally, he eradicated dissidents, and gradually sat firmly in the country, these more than ten years have been smooth, this is the first time in so many years, the emperor feels as if there is a big knife hanging above him, let him be like a man's back.

Little by little, the emperor's deep eyes became deeper and more violent, as if a storm was brewing.

When the others saw that the emperor's face was sinking like water, they were all silent, and they lowered their heads a little lower.

There was a dead silence all around, and there was no sound except for the whirring cold wind.

"Bang!"

There was another sound of a branch breaking, and a pine branch fell from the canopy with a snap.

A palace maid trembled in shock, and almost didn't go limp.

The emperor's face became even more gloomy.

At this moment, a figure dressed in a red unicorn robe appeared in front of him, and the young man walked towards this side unhurriedly.

In a group of palace people, I don't know who called out "Overseer" in a low voice, and everyone else glanced in the direction where Cen Yin came, maintaining a bowed posture and not daring to move, secretly relieved in his heart, and said in his heart: It's good that Cen Overseer is here.

Cen Yin walked past the broken old pine, glanced at it lightly, his thick eyelashes fanned slightly, and the corners of his mouth turned slightly at an angle that the emperor couldn't see.

His steps did not stop, and he walked straight to the emperor, with a light breeze.

"Your Majesty, I'm frightened." Cen Yin saluted the emperor under the eaves and persuaded, "It's freezing outside the emperor, you better go back to the house, so as not to be infected with the wind and cold......"

As he spoke, Cen Yin glanced at everyone slowly, and reprimanded lightly: "Isn't it just that the old tree is dead?" What are you all fuss all about?! also alarmed the emperor, what a crime! ”

The chamberlain, the palace maid, and the forbidden soldiers were all so frightened that they knelt directly on the ground, bowed their heads, and rested their foreheads against the cold and hard ground.

"The emperor forgives his sins!" They shouted in unison, their bodies trembling.

The emperor, who had been standing there stunned, finally came back to his senses, and felt that the oncoming cold wind cut his face like a knife.

The emperor turned around and strode back to the imperial study, his back slightly stiff.

Those palace people and forbidden soldiers still knelt on the ground motionless, and no one dared to get up.

Cen Yin also followed the emperor into the imperial study, leaving only four words: "Get up." ”

The imperial study is naturally lit with a charcoal basin, warm and comfortable, the weather is gloomy these two days, the light is dim, so it is only noon, there are several palace lamps lit in the room, illuminating the whole study is bright.

The Emperor was walking back and forth in the imperial study, walking faster and faster, and the irritable breath was exposed without words.

Seeing Cen Yin come in, the emperor stopped, rubbed his eyebrows, and said in a deep voice: "As the saying goes, there must be demons in natural visions. Ah Yin, did you think it was the ...... at Qianfeng Temple that day that angered the gods?

Without waiting for Cen Yin to answer, the emperor blamed himself and said, "Hey, it's all because I acted too recklessly that day!" ”

The emperor's eyebrows were raised, his heart was in turmoil, and he turned around and walked in the other direction, his steps heavy.

The corners of Cen Yin's mouth hooked an arc that seemed to be smiling but not smiling, and then returned to normal, and gently reassured the emperor: "How can this be the emperor's fault!" Speaking of which, it was the second prince who was too reckless that day to ......"

Cen Yin didn't continue to speak, and sighed slightly, as if he was a little helpless.

The emperor's heart seemed to have found the backbone of the heart all at once, he looked at Cen Yin with burning eyes, and said to himself in his heart, Ah Yin was right, if it weren't for the second son, he wouldn't care about the Buddha shrine at all.

The emperor nodded approvingly, and sighed, "I, the second son, have not been calm enough since I was a child...... Out of tune. ”

Although the emperor didn't say it directly, he felt that this matter was indeed the fault of the second prince.

As he spoke, the emperor's eyebrows widened a little, but soon his brows furrowed again, and his eyebrows tightened.

The matter of Qianfeng Temple was indeed stirred up by Mu Youchang's rebel, but now, obviously, God blamed him.

Did you really answer that sentence-

"The son's fault, the father's ......fault," the emperor said to himself, frowning, and looking ahead, through the transparent glazed window, he could see the icicles hanging from the eaves.

This dragon gave birth to nine sons, and each of them was different.

Mu Youchang, the rebellious son, made a mistake, but he had to bear it as a father, and he really flew into trouble!

The Emperor's thin lips were pursed, and his face was so gloomy that he was about to drip water.

"The emperor shouldn't be too worried." Cen Yin took a step forward and said, "That old pine was planted by Emperor Taizu himself, and the blessing is profound, and it is also a disaster to come this time." ”

The emperor turned around and sat down on a prince's chair by the window, silent.

The old pine outside the imperial study was transplanted by Emperor Taizu from their former residence thousands of miles away and planted by himself a hundred years ago.

Emperor Taizu used this to remind himself not to forget his roots.

In that year, after the establishment of the Dasheng Dynasty, there was a great drought in less than two years, Yuzhou and Huizhou did not harvest the grains for two consecutive years, the people were miserable, and they could only feed on the bark of wild vegetables, Emperor Taizu felt the same way, ate the pine bark, and issued an edict against himself, knelt in front of this old pine for three days and three nights, and prayed for the blessings of all the people in the world.

And it came to pass just after three days, and the rain was so heavy.

The emperor's mouth muttered: "The remaining one is guilty, and there are no more than ten thousand." Ten thousand people are guilty, and there is only one left......"

His voice murmured between his lips and teeth, almost silent.

These words are some of the sentences in Emperor Taizu's edict, which means that if I am guilty alone, please God do not blame the people, but do not affect the people; If all the nations of the world are guilty, then I alone will bear the guilt.

The emperor's right hand subconsciously grasped the armrest of the Taishi chair, the back of his hand was tense like a full bowstring, the green tendons were bulging, and his eyes were half-drooping, blocking the dark and complicated eyes.

Cen Yin stood aside, quietly looking at the emperor, without saying more, his hands leisurely behind his back, those narrow eyes were shining brighter than the pearl gem under the light of the palace lamp on the right side.

In the imperial study, it was quiet, and the needle drop could be heard.

The emperor and Cen Yin didn't speak, and the little plum in the corner didn't dare to speak, almost holding their breath, and the silence spread.

Suddenly, there was a sound of the curtain ringing, and a young waiter in Tsing Yi picked up the brocade curtain embroidered with a five-clawed golden dragon with one hand, walked in quickly, stopped four or five steps away from the emperor, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, Wu Shangshu of the Li Fan Yuan asks to see you." ”

The little chamberlain in Tsing Yi knew that the emperor was afraid that he was in a bad mood at this time, and secretly sighed in his heart that this Wu Shangshu was really not the right time.

The emperor's face was still not very good, and after a few breaths, he said lightly: "Xuan." ”

The little waiter in Tsing Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and after answering the "yes", he withdrew from the imperial study with his head bowed.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man in a purple official robe followed the little chamberlain into the imperial study, Wu Shangshu also saw the broken old pine in the courtyard, and also got the advice of the chamberlain, knowing that the emperor was not in a happy mood at the moment, but he could only continue to move forward.

"See the Emperor." Wu Shangshu saluted the emperor and said straight to the point, "The Yuanshuo clan has just arrived in the capital......

With the arrival of the Yuanshuo tribe, the heavy snow fell one after another, and this time, it did not stop, and after that, other tribes also entered the capital one after another. These tribal convoys that came to Beijing to congratulate also brought offerings from various tribes to the emperor, and every time a group of chariots and horses entered the city gate, they were huge, attracting many onlookers.

The capital became lively because of the arrival of these visitors from afar, and it was the first time that so many people were placed in the Siyi Pavilion, and soon the Siyi Pavilion could not live, so the emperor arranged these tribes to live temporarily in the Qianya Garden on the outskirts of Beijing.

The emperor also went to Qianyayuan from time to time to have fun with the patriarchs of those tribes, held banquets and entertained them, and ordered people to take them around the capital, wanting them to see the prosperity of the capital and how the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.

As more and more tribes entered Beijing, Duanmu Xian was worried, and when he returned home, he shook his head and sighed and said that the autumn tax collected was not enough.