On the official road leading from the city to Tianjin, the soldiers of the Hezong Mansion held torches to open the road, galloping, and there were two bright angle lights hanging in front of the car, which illuminated the night road half-bright and half-dark.

In the shaking carriage, there were candles burning, Chen Yan pondered for a long time, and looked at Zhou Xiangtian in the car, "Sir, how do you think the emperor will fall the prince this time?" ”

Zhou Xiangtian stroked his short beard and said slowly: "My lord, since I said that the emperor heard that Qi Shiwu and others were greedy for ink, he summoned the three eldest brothers into the palace to discuss together. I thought that most of the emperors still knew the thoughts of the elder brothers. They do it together, and the matter is a certainty. The emperor is afraid that the crown prince will be difficult to return. ”

Hearing this, Chen Yan breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall of the car, "That's fine." His face gradually showed some tiredness, "It was originally my duty to supervise Heyin, how these gentlemen want to toss about this, that's their business, and it has nothing to do with us." ”

Zhou Xiangtian glanced at Chen Yan, smiled slightly, and arched his hand: "What the adults said is extremely true. After a pause, "Madame would be glad if she knew about it." ”

Chen Yan looked at Zhou Xiang, "I'll tell her when the emperor's will comes down." Sighing softly, "My brother-in-law's family is still in Longfu Temple on the outskirts of Beijing, and she is going to send it back to Gaoyou." He turned his head and opened the curtain and said, "Faster." ”

Although it was a hurry, it was already the afternoon of the second day when the carriage arrived at Dejinwei.

Chen Yan jumped off the horse, hurried past three halls, asked nothing important, and was about to enter the back house, but stopped. He pondered for a while, and whispered to Zhou Xiangtian, "The day before yesterday, I asked Mr. to inform Mr. Cui Qianzong of the matter, and Mr. will go in person." "After a pause," the boats that Jiangsu helped deliver grain back were all detained. ”

Before Zhou Xiangtian could speak, Chen said: "If there is an urgent matter, Mr. Zhou will do the rest first." Then he hurried into the back house.

The back house is quiet, there is no half-figure, the bluestone road is falling on the leaves, being swept by the autumn wind and constantly swirling, it has accumulated a layer, and no one seems to be cleaning it today. Chen Yan's footsteps were stunned, and he was puzzled, and he didn't see the shadows of Zhi'er and Li'er.

Chen Yan was shocked. Flirtatious robes. Hurry to the inner room and go up to the cloister. Fang opened his mouth and called. "Su Niang—" and heard the voice. "Doctor. Our grandmother ......"

Chen Yan's heart was suddenly relieved.

He walked to the door of the inner room. The house was already on fire, and the copper charcoal was burning vigorously in the basin. The room was filled with warm incense. Zhi'er and Li'er stood beside the bed and put down the tent. Only one wrist is exposed. The old doctor closed his eyes and checked the pulse.

Zhi'er invited Lao Langzhong to get up and go to the table to write a pulse list. Li'er heard the footsteps for the first time. A joy on the face. "Lord is back."

The old doctor was shocked. Hurriedly stood up and saluted. Chen Yan walked in lightly. looked at Qi Su Niang, who was sleeping with her eyes closed on the bed. Standing sideways beside Lang Zhong and looking at the pulse list. "Uchiko ......"

The old man wants to speak. The branches on the side were full of smiles. I couldn't suppress the joy in my words. said: "Master." Grandma is happy. ”

Chen Yan was stunned, first happy, and later, he didn't know what it was like for a while. He turned around and walked to the bed, sat down on the edge of the bed, and held Qi Su Niang's hand, only to feel that a heavy stone had fallen to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the weather is already in winter, and the Cao River is about to freeze. Although Qi Su Niang has a body, Qixi and Zhi'er are still married.

Qi Su Niang became more and more tired, and Chen Yan was worried that she would lose her vitality from premature birth in Yangzhou, so she was worried, and sent someone to invite a doctor to take a look.

Chen Yan was sitting aside and waiting for the results, Li'er came in quietly and said to him: "Master, Mr. Zhou said that there is an urgent matter, please go ahead." ”

Chen Yan stood up and told Zhi'er, "The doctor's pulse list will be sent to the front later." ”

There was a drizzle of snow particles in the sky, and the cold wind was blowing non-stop, although Chen Yan was wearing a leather robe and walking on the stone road, he still felt that his legs were stabbed like pins, and the cold air was surging.

The window room in the study room of the front office was blown by the wind, and Zhou Xiangtian's figure could be faintly seen walking back and forth in the study, very uneasy. Chen Yan slowly pushed open the study, and the heating gushed out, and two large charcoal basins were burning in the room.

Zhou Xiangtian didn't wait for Chen Yan to sit down, and said: "My lord, Master Cui was attacked in Tongzhou a while ago and was seriously injured. ”

Chen Yan frowned, "I still haven't escaped...... I slowly sat down at the table, thought for a while, and sighed, "He offended the fourth master - fortunately, he didn't lose his life." Send someone to send some medicinal herbs. Then he asked, "Do you know when the wound will be healed?"

Zhou Xiangtian figured out that he cared so much about Cui Hao's thoughts, but he wasn't sure what his plans were, so he had to reply: "I called the doctor who treated Lord Cui's injuries and asked, although Lord Cui has a thick foundation, I am afraid that he will not be able to recover until the beginning of spring next year." ”

Chen Yan didn't say anything for a long time, "I want to ...... next year" and nodded slowly, "I will stop next year next year......

Zhou Xiangtian heard this, and thought for a long time, but there was still no result, so he had to say: "My lord, the ships of the Jiangsu Gang have seized twenty of them under the pretext of privately seizing private goods. The second leader of the Jiangsu Gang has already rushed here from Huai'an. ”

"Li Er is here, so he bothers Mr. Zhou to deal with one or two. The ship — let it go. After that, Chen Yan stood up, "Su Niang's health is not good, and Mr. Lao is in front of her." ”

Zhou Xiangtian saw his back in a hurry, stared and thought, suddenly woke up, and wanted to understand the reason for his behavior, his face suddenly changed, and he sighed again and again.

In the house, because Qi Su Niang has a body, she is full of joy all winter. Festival, Chen Yan specially asked Qixi and Zhi'er to go to Tianjin Wei Dahong Temple to receive the Fu Laba porridge offered to the Buddha to add blessings to Qi Su Niang.

Qi Su Niang looked at the eight-treasure porridge made of pine nuts, ~, milk mushrooms, water chestnut rice, and trivial grapes, shook her head again and again, and looked at Chen Yan with a smile, "At the beginning in Gaoyou, it was just peanuts, red dates, chestnuts, and Jiang rice, and the relatives and friends of the four villages felt that it was good. ”

Chen Yan smiled and didn't speak, and Zhi'er said on the side: "Nurse, this porridge was originally divided into three grades, and the hometown that grandma said was already considered second-class porridge, and the third-class porridge given to the poor people was naturally thinner." The slave maid heard Mr. Zhou say that there are many old, helpless, and disabled sailors on Cao, although they have the Cao Gang to support the elderly and die of starvation, but they also spend the festival with those thin porridges. ”

Chen Yan was stunned and sighed lightly, Qi Su Niang saw that he was unhappy, and hurriedly scooped a spoonful of porridge and sent it to his mouth, Chen Yan couldn't help laughing, so he also turned around and drank porridge with her and laughed together to spend the New Year, and the back house was full of laughter.

In the city of Beijing, however, there is a storm of snow.

"The emperor abolished the crown prince!?" Su Niang suddenly jumped up from the newly burned kang and hurriedly hugged her, "Grandma, you have a body!" Be careful! ”

Qixi was also shocked, and waited for Zhi'er to coax and trick Qi Su Niang to sit down on the side of the kang and breathe a sigh of relief, and continued with a smile: "Back to ***, the prince was imprisoned in Xian'an Palace. The emperor has already paid tribute to the ancestral temple and announced the abolition of the crown prince. The emperor's decree said...... Everything is because of Yin, Yin is not benevolent and unfilial, and it is especially shameless to ask this generation of greedy flatterers to communicate with the news in vain......"

Qixi knew Qi's intentions, and the tone of what she wanted to hear and liked to listen to was smooth, and Qi Su Niang didn't understand these words, and explained them sentence by sentence.

Qi Su Niang's eyes widened more and more, and tears gathered more and more: many, in the end, she finally cried: "Brother-"

Zhi'er knew that she couldn't persuade her about this, so she had to coax gently, "The slave knows that grandma has always had this in her heart, and the uncle has never sent it back to his hometown for burial." Now that I have a wish, it's time for the uncle to be buried. ”

Qi Su Niang cried, "I've been waiting for this day, I've been waiting for this day......" Suddenly remembering something, she suddenly looked up at Qixi Festival, "Who is the current prince?" Be...... Is it the eighth master? ”

Qixi hurriedly shook his head and said: "Back to ***, the emperor has another prince, and I heard rumors in the capital, saying that the emperor will not set up a prince in the future, and there will be no secret decree until the emperor dies." ”

Qi Su Niang was overjoyed, "The emperor is really a saint!" ”

In the yamen of the river, the spring breeze blows away the red plums all over the garden. Zhi'er listened to Qi Su Niang's instructions, cut a few well-bloomed plum branches, inserted a bottle, and sent them to the front office's study.

Chen Yan finished reading the newspaper of the Waste Prince's Mansion in his hand, threw his hand on the bookcase, and said to Zhi'er with a smile: "Grandma sent it."

Zhi'er smiled and said, "If you go back to your grandfather, grandma will also ask your grandfather and Mr. Zhou to finish their official business, and then go back earlier, and Li'er is preparing for the banquet." ”

Chen Yan smiled on his face, beat the branches and went back, taking advantage of his leisure to enjoy the red plum.

Chen Yan saw that today's red plum was particularly graceful, and said to Zhou Xiangtian with a smile: "Sir, how about this red plum?" ”

"After the frost, the clearer it becomes.

Zhou Xiangtian was absent-minded, but he glanced at it and said with a smile. Thinking that Chen Yan was secretly meddling in the affairs of these masters, he was a little worried, and persuaded: "My lord, although the crown prince is abolished, the fourth master and the thirteenth master are also implicated this time. The momentum of the eighth master in the future is afraid that it will be difficult to resist, and adults must not be reckless. ”

Chen Yan stretched out his hand to caress the petals of the red plum, only to feel cold and moist, he shook his head: "The eighth elder brother has already become a wing, and he has already attracted the emperor's jealousy." In the past two years, the emperor has suppressed the crown prince, and he can still tolerate him. Now that the crown prince is deposed, the emperor has his hands free, and his life will not be easy - I will not do it again. Sighed, "Although the Thirteenth Master has been neglected, it's better not to mix these things." ”

Zhou Xiangtian heard him say this, knowing that he had a plan in his heart, and the worries in his stomach quietly disappeared a lot, and when he saw Chen Yan appreciating the plum, he also walked to the desk to play with the red plum, and said with a smile: "Madame must be extremely happy, so she specially sent someone to send this plum branch." ”

Chen Yan was full of smiles, "It's been four or five months, just don't be shocked." As he spoke, he walked behind the desk and looked at Zhou Xiangtian, "Sir, have you gone to see Cui Qianzong's injury?" ”

Zhou Xiangtian nodded, "I'm already raising it, and I'm a lot more careful in and out." ”

Chen Yan pondered silently, and inadvertently stretched out his finger to press on the red plum branch, which passed through the cold outside, and seemed to feel the warmth in his hand, so he bent down. Chen Yan raised his head and said, "In this way, the injury will be recovered next spring?" ”

Zhou Xiangtian looked at Chen Yan, smiled bitterly, and nodded again, "That's true." ”

Chen Yan's hand was taken back suddenly, and the red plum blossom branch bounced off, perhaps to keep that little bit of warmth, so he trembled slightly, and opened his teeth and claws, "The Cao River will freeze in the spring of tomorrow, and when the Jiangsu Cao boat sends grain on the return trip in May, all the big ships of more than 700 stone will not fall, and all of them will be detained." ”