I ate a cold dish today, and there was a lot of mustard in it, and the result was ...... Heaven and earth are falling apart...... I really want to use this as an excuse not to write......

-------------------- this is a lack of logical dividing lines-------------

As the New Year approached, Xiao Jingrui, Yan Yujin and Xie Bi finally returned to the capital from Tiger Hill Hot Springs. Only one day after they returned, they were surprised to find that they had only been away for more than a month, and the situation in the capital had changed rapidly, becoming more lively and turbulent than when they left.

The dispute between the crown prince and the king of Yu, in fact, has reached a stalemate in recent years because of the equal strength of the two sides, and it has been very quiet on the surface, and there has been no major move on both sides. Unexpectedly, all this was just a build-up, and it only took a small touch to immediately enter the climactic offensive and defensive battle. Concubine Yue was demoted, Lou Zhijing fell, Qingguo Gong raided his home, and He Wenxin was sentenced to beheading...... This wave after wave makes people a little overwhelmed. Now that Concubine Yue has just been reinstated, there are several imperial historians, pointing out that the etiquette department is inappropriate when presiding over the ceremony, and King Yu took advantage of the situation to invite more than a dozen respected contemporary Confucians, and launched a court debate, which directly pointed to the extraordinary treatment that Concubine Yue had received over the years, as well as the lack of etiquette of the prince in front of the queen.

Regardless of anything else, just talking about the dozen or so old gentlemen invited by King Yu, they are indeed very weighty, and it can be seen that his efforts to pay tribute to the scribes over the years have indeed not been in vain, and he has accumulated a lot of contacts. Among them, there is an old Mr. Zhou Xuanqing who has lived in the Lingyin Temple in Jingxi for many years, that is really the most important thing, whether it is the royal family, it is difficult to see him, this time he even moved and drove into Jinling City in person, which really makes people impressed by the potential of King Yu.

But what is strange is that after this old Mr. Zhou entered Beijing, he did not live in the Liuhe Garden specially arranged by King Yu for these great Confucians, but lived in King Mu's mansion.

According to some well-informed sources, it seems that Mr. Zhou left Lingyin Temple because Mu Xiaowang personally brought a sedan chair to greet him, and he didn't even see anyone after living in Mu Mansion, even King Yu was no exception.

However, who invited Mr. Zhou Xuanqing, it doesn't matter who he has seen or not, the important thing is that as a university scholar, even Emperor Liang must be courteous when he goes to the court, coupled with rigorous scholarship and well-founded arguments, people who don't have two brushes should not want to argue with him.

In this way, it is really difficult for the Ministry of Rites to compete, even Yan Yujin, who has always been frivolous and polite, can judge the defeat of the prince in advance.

In the end, this court debate lasted only three days before the curtain came to an end, although the concubine Yue was reinstated, but she was not allowed to stand on the altar with the emperor and queen during the ceremony, and the prince drank wine, and had to caress the emperor's and queen's dress; The responsibilities of the Ministry of Rites were negligent, Chen Yuancheng was dismissed, and because of his old age, he was allowed to be a scholar and no longer investigated. And the prince was repeatedly emphasized in public by King Yu in the court because of his identity as a concubine, and he was extremely embarrassed, and he couldn't hold back for a while and slapped King Yu, and was scolded by Emperor Liang in court. In the chaos, King Jing stood calmly among the princes and watched coldly, and his demeanor of pampering and not being shocked left an excellent impression on many courtiers who did not pay attention to him.

In this way, not long after the head of the household department was changed, the Ministry of Rites became the second department to change heads.

When Chen Yuancheng trembled his gray hair and took off the official hat he had worn for nearly twenty years from his head tremblingly, King Jing seemed to see the pale hand gently playing behind his back, and the plain face that always looked pale and never seemed to get excited.

But for most people, they didn't know that in this matter, there was actually the existence of Su Zhe, who had gradually faded away.

The two days of sunny weather did not bring about an increase in temperature, but made the cloudless morning seem even colder. Not long after the gate was opened, the soldiers guarding the gate saw a very luxurious carriage galloping towards it, escorted by about a hundred knights.

Even if he didn't recognize the sign of Mu Wangfu in front of the carriage, he knew that the person who came was not an ordinary person, so the little colonel led by him hurriedly beckoned his subordinates to get out of the way, bowed his waist and respectfully let the group swagger out of the city.

Because the weather was too cold, the driver breathed white air one by one, but because of the thick curtain and the heater in the carriage, there was not much chill.

The two passengers sitting in the car, one is very old, the other is still a teenager, the other is clothed and cotton shoes, and the other is embroidered with a crown of beads.

"Grandpa Zhou, do you drink tea?"

The old man shook his head.

After a while, "Grandpa Zhou, can you have a snack?" ”

The old man silently refused again.

After a while, "Grandpa Zhou, do you want to try this ginger candy?" ”

Mr. Zhou Xuanqing finally lifted his eyelids and glanced at him. Mu Qing had an innocent smile on his face, and leaned over with ginger candy: "This is delicious." ”

Mr. Zhou, who is strict in the Qing Dynasty, has a temperament that has been cultivated for many years is awe-inspiring, but Mu Qingmu doesn't seem to feel this temperament. He regarded this old gentleman as an ordinary grandfather from the beginning, at most, after Zhou Xuanqing refuted the other party speechless in the court, which made him happy to breathe a sigh of relief for his sister, he revised his original impression to "an ordinary grandfather with great ability", so when getting along with each other every day, he still focuses on intimacy, supplemented by courtesy, and does not have the slightest estrangement and politeness.

Mu Xiaowang is young and handsome, lively and cheerful, not at all worthy of the prince's shelf, he is a very cute junior, of course Zhou Xuanqing still likes him very much, but the usual dignified style makes this old man look faint, at this time, for the ginger candy handed to the young man's mouth, he still shook his head and refused, without any special expression.

"This one doesn't stick to the teeth." Mu Qing thoughtfully introduced, "Take a bite? ”

"Little prince, eat it yourself." Zhou Xuanqing said coldly, his old eyes narrowed slightly, looked at the tassel on the top of the sedan chair, and after being silent for a while, he suddenly said: "Little prince, that token, can you take a look at it again?" ”

"Oh," Mu Qing hurriedly swallowed the ginger candy, grabbed the hand towel on the side and wiped the frosting on his fingers, and then touched a small cloth bag from his arms and handed it to Zhou Xuanqing.

Tear open the seal of the cloth bag, pour it into the palm, a jade cicada fell out, the carving is lifelike, the jade quality is also unusually smooth and lovely, at a glance it is a valuable jade.

However, for Zhou Xuanqing, the significance of this jade cicada is not in its value.

"Little prince, did you say that the person who asked you to bring this jade cicada to see me would be waiting for me outside the city?"

Mu Qing nodded, "That's what he said in his letter. Said that on the way back to Lingyin Temple after you left Beijing, he would come to see you. ”

Zhou Xuanqing let out an "um", retracted his fingers, held the jade cicada in his palm, and closed his eyes again without saying a word.

After walking for about half an hour, the carriage suddenly shook and stopped, Mu Qing lifted the curtain and glanced at it, turned around and said, "Grandpa Zhou, the person you want to see is here." ”

Zhou Xuanqing's white eyebrows moved, and he trembled and helped Mu Qing's men get out of the carriage, and when he was looking around, a middle-aged man had stepped forward and said respectfully: "Mr. Zhou, the sect master of my family has been waiting over there for a long time, please move the old man." As he spoke, he replaced Mu Qing, held the old man's arm, carefully picked him up and turned the menrise on the side of the road, and arrived at a recess on the other side of the curve that was both sheltered from the wind and not eye-catching.

Zhou Xuanqing squinted his eyes, looked at him carefully for a while, spread out the jade cicada in his hand, and asked, "Is this jade cicada yours?" ”

"Exactly."

"Where did you get it from?"

"Gift from Mr. Li Chongli."

"Who are you Li Chong?"

"I was taught under Mr. Li."

Zhou Xuanqing frowned and said: "Brother Li used the body of Taifu back then, did not refuse civilians, set up a teaching altar outside the palace walls, and there were not 10,000 but 8,000 students under the sect, which was naturally all over the world. But in the final analysis, there are only a few people he is most proud of, and the old man is a friend of learning, and the friendship is not strong but deep, so I know these people, but the foot is ...... Old but never masked......"

Mei Changsu smiled faintly: "I am not good at learning, I have a reputation as a tired teacher, and I have not been taught for a long time, so it is natural that the old gentleman does not recognize me." ”

Zhou Xuanqing stared at him for a long time, and sighed, "Forget it, you have Brother Li's token, and the old man should help, but I didn't expect that after a few years, seeing my old friend Jade Chan again, it was actually for the affairs of the court...... When Brother Li was demoted from Beijing, he was full of grief and indignation and vowed not to look back, and he didn't know if it was really in line with his heart when he went to the court this time......"

Mei Changsu's eyes were calm, and he said quietly: "The teacher was convicted that day, just to speak upright, but he was tired from the heart. He knew that he had a reverse dragon face, but he still said what he wanted, and he did not regret it. Therefore, the younger generation believes that the so-called world is everywhere. Hidden in the mountains and forests is the way, and the temple is also the way, as long as its heart is pure, do not make judgments against the heart, and do not make disobedient words, why should they be obsessed with where they stand? ”

Zhou Xuanqing's white eyebrows were raised lightly, a pair of already old eyes suddenly shone brightly, and he nodded: "Although you have not been taught for a long time, you can detect his roots, it seems that he left this jade cicada to you, and it is indeed a wise eye." I don't know if you can understand the meaning of Brother Li wearing this cicada? ”

Mei Changsu slowly lowered his hand, raised his chin with clear lines slightly, and said in a loud voice: "It is difficult to fly in the dew, and the wind is loud and easy to sink." No one believes in Gaojie, who will show his heart? ”

Zhou Xuanqing closed his eyes gently, as if he was settling his mind for a long time, while Mei Changsu looked peaceful, staring at the sky and no longer opening his lips. The two stood silent in the cold of winter, but the scene was not the slightest awkward, as if they met like this, just to silently reminisce about some of the past years.

"In my lifetime, it is enough to see Brother Li again," Zhou Xuanqing slowly put the jade cicada in his palm back into Mei Changsu's hand, and said in a low voice, "The old man doesn't know what great things he has in the capital, I only hope that you don't forget the reputation of your teacher and cherish it." ”

Mei Changsu bowed down with a respectful face and said, "Mr. Yayan, the younger generation remembers." In such a cold season, the old gentleman braved the snow to travel for the old friendship regardless of his old age, and the younger generation was really grateful. ”

Zhou Xuanqing waved his hand and said: "Seeing this jade cicada, don't say that it's just a trip into the city, even if it is to let the old man go to the side, it's not a difficult thing." Now that the matter entrusted to me has been completed, the old man is going back to the temple to cultivate, so don't leave it at that. ”

Mei Changsu hurriedly raised his hand and motioned for the middle-aged guard who was waiting a few feet away to come over to help, and at the same time bowed and said, "Please slow down, old gentleman." ”

Zhou Xuanqing said "um", turned around and walked a few steps with the help of the guards, suddenly stare again, and turned back and said: "Brother Li had a beloved disciple back then, although he was behind the gate, his temperament was flying, but he was a rare smart and intelligent person, who read thousands of books. ”

Mei Changsu's pale complexion looked like ice and snow in the cold, and a cold smile appeared on his lips, and he said softly: "The old gentleman is in love." Such a character only hates the younger generation for not having a chance, and fails to admire his style. ”

"yes, this man...... I'll never see you again......" Zhou Xuanqing said slowly, a touch of pathos welled up in his eyes, and he turned around and walked away without looking back.