On the sixth day of the first month of February, when the hundred officials met in the court, on the Taiji Palace, Taizong gave the princes a sudden gift, which made people secretly suspicious.

Li Kuan, King of Chu, Governor of Hezhou, Li Ke, King of Wu, Governor of Tanzhou, Li Tai, King of Wei, Governor of Xiangzhou, Li You, King of Qi, Governor of Qi, Governor of Qi, Sixth Prince Li Chen, King of Shu, Governor of Yizhou, Seventh Prince Li Yun, King of Jiang, Governor of Anzhou, Eighth Prince Li Zhen, King of Yue, Governor of Yangzhou, and even Li Shen, the tenth prince who was only seven years old, was also named King Ji.

The governor of the capital, which is the Sui system, is the highest executor of the military and land in the current states of the Tang Dynasty, and has the position of leading the army. Taizong gave the land of seven states in a row and handed over his march to his sons, which was not an unacceptable thing in itself, but among the eight princes who were rewarded this time, two key figures were left out - the crown prince Li Chengqian and the ninth prince Li Zhi.

The Manchu Dynasty was civil and military, who can say that the emperor did not mean it, it was unintentional? Why did he miss his two sisters-in-law, he didn't have any land or an official, why didn't he even have a symbolic comfort reward?

What's the matter, is it the eldest grandson queen who almost favored the harem who fell out of favor? Many people also think of the incident of Li Chengqian's fever that was rumored a few days ago, although the back is proved to be nothing, but a bigger scandal broke out, it turned out that the prince fell into the river on the Shangyuan Festival, or because of women.

Could it be that because of these, the emperor has the idea of reforming, this time Xu wants to reward which one alone, so he made a bunch of rewards to hide people's eyes?

Judging from the fiefdom alone, Tanzhou, Xiangzhou and beneficial states are all important land, which is biased towards the king of Wu, the king of Wei and the king of Shu, Li Tai needless to say, so far I have not seen anyone more favored than him, but this Li Ke and Li Chen are all from Concubine Yang, the brothers of the same mother, but people can't guess what the emperor's intentions are.

When standing upward, the prince who won the reward was mostly courteous, but Li Chengqian's face was not very good-looking, Xu was not able to develop the ability to be moody, and the entire early dynasty had a black face.

After the dispersal of the dynasty, the civil and military officials wanted to retreat, and the discerning people noticed that when the prince walked to the king of Wu and the king of Wei, he didn't know what to whisper when he approached, but the king of Wei had the same expression, glanced at Li Chengqian, who had a cold face, and walked towards the outside of the hall, and the reaction of the king of Wu was intriguing.

"Brother Huang, you really misunderstood me, if we hadn't separated that night, I wouldn't have let you leave with a strange woman." Although Li Ke's voice is low, there is no lack of ear tips on the side.

"Hmph, now I'm pretending again, it's the palace that sees the wrong person, just when you are raised by a rabbit, but now you have become a dog that bites"

"Brother Huang, you have said it." Anyone who is scolded as a dog will not be happy.

"Yes, this palace is over, you are not as good as a dog, even if you have a dog, it will not deny its owner, and it will not be able to lead the rope one day, and it will not pee according to what its background is, dog things"

A sentence of "dog thing" scolded, and many ministers on the side who were struggling to listen to gossip changed their faces, and then looked at Li Ke, he was actually angry and red-faced, and pinched it with a punch, it seemed that he couldn't hold back and didn't wave it on Li Chengqian's face, but to everyone's surprise, it was Li Chengqian who slapped Li Ke in the face with his backhand, knocked him off the rails, and smashed him directly to the ground with another punch.

Li Ke exhaled in pain, spit out a bloody tooth on the spot, and when he looked up and saw Li Chengqian's disdainful gaze, he actually jumped up and threw him to the ground.

There was a "bang", and the ministers who were still staying in the palace were in an uproar, and the eunuch screamed at the top of his throat, but no one dared to go up to stop him, but seeing the two of them, they were going back and forth, fists and feet.

Li Tai had already walked outside the palace gate, heard the movement behind him, and turned back, not far away and standing to watch the excitement, the blue eyes flowed without knowing whether it was mockery or disdain, until the officials of good deeds ran out and pulled the eldest grandson Wuji and others who had gone away to come back, and this farce in the Taiji Hall ended hastily.

Immediately afterwards, the two eunuchs sent by the emperor and the crown prince entered the imperial study.

The study of the palace of the king of Wei

Du Chuke stood in front of the desk and said with a smile:

"The early dynasty happened, King Wu and the prince were inevitably reprimanded by the emperor, so the dynasty fought, not only lost the dignity, but also hurt the royal face, the prince has gradually lost the sacred heart, King Wu only got the throne this morning, maybe it will be taken back in the afternoon, Your Royal Highness, since the beginning of the year, the northwest has suffered from drought, the Dongjiang salt has been lost, the prince has gone wrong, the king of Wu has lost his honor today, there is no good thing, I think that it is time for you to ask for a decree and add a celebration to the emperor."

Li Tai was looking at the letter sent from Yongzhou this morning, and when his voice fell, he said:

"Festive? What are you referring to? ”

"Naturally, it is your marriage with Miss Dongfang, this November, it has been nearly three months now, but the wedding date is not accurate, you might as well ask the emperor for an auspicious day tomorrow morning, it is best to do it in March, your marriage is not only a matter of the emperor's heart, besides, our Wei Wangfu is really lacking a hostess to take care of, Miss Dongfang is knowledgeable, and is the beloved grandson of Oriental sacrificial wine, once you get married, with Mr. Dongfang's prestige and connections among the literati, it will be able to increase your strength a lot."

Li Tai listened to him chattering alone, and he didn't raise his head, but his mouth was like a basin of cold water poured on his head:

"This king is not married, and he will not accept concubines into the house."

"Your Highness?" The smile on Du Chuke's face distorted, and he shouted loudly, Fang Jue lost his temper, made a few fists behind his back, calmed down, and began to persuade:

"It's not good for you to joke with self-denial in this matter, we decided this matter years ago, and you agreed to come down at the time, you should have mentioned the marriage years ago, but you deduced that it was the queen of spring, and that's it, and now you are using the excuse of this concubine to prevaricate, you, can you be such a person who is untrustworthy."

Xu was really anxious, so he held back a sentence of "words without faith".

"Nothing to be believed in? What did the king promise you? Ah Sheng was studying ink on the side, and when he heard Li Tai rarely talk more "nonsense" with Du Chuke, he knew that he was in a good mood at this time.

"You promise—" The voice froze, and Du Chuke opened his mouth but couldn't continue. When he thought about it like this, Li Tai only agreed to choose a side concubine, and he really didn't say anything about getting married as soon as possible

"Okay," Li Tai snapped the letter in his hand on the table, glanced at Du Chuke with an aggrieved face, and said, "Ah Sheng." ”

After more than ten years of service, he knew what the master was going to do with a glance, Ah Sheng put down the grinding stone in his hand, went to the red pine bookshelf, raised his hand and took out a rectangular brocade box on the top of his head, opened it, took out a blue-headed red-edged text fold, and handed it to Du Chuke who didn't know why with some hesitation.

A moment later, even the guards outside the study heard an exclamation from Master Du, who had just been in for a quarter of an hour:

"Your Highness, this matter must not be done"

Longquan Town back mountain

Surrounded by green mountains, in a mountain forest at the foot of the mountain, there is a new tomb, according to feng shui, this is not the best, but it is also a place to hide the wind and latent energy.

This mountain forest, nearly 20 acres of land, with a tomb, was bought by the relics for 23,000 taels of silver, buried Lu Zhi's remains, and asked the mountain people to patrol and take care of it.

Today is the sixth day of the first lunar month, and the fire in the Criminal Department has been two months, and Yiyu lived in the new house last night, got up before dawn, cooked a few side dishes, prepared six kinds of snacks, poured a pot of good wine, and took Pingtong and Pinghui to the grave.

The front of the tomb is very clean, it looks like there are people coming to clean it every day, Pingtong and Pinghui helped to put the plates and dishes on the ground, followed the Yu Yu a little incense, and made some paper money, then retreated to the distance to guard, leaving this pair of brothers and sisters to say something alone.

In February, when the weather was slightly cold in the morning, Yi Yu wiped the stone platform in front of the tomb with a handkerchief, not afraid of ice, knelt on it, and filled the two cups with a wine jug.

She was wearing a white plain shirt, her hair bun was tied with a silk rope, and she didn't even wear a wooden hairpin, because she was carefully cared for for a period of time in the Wei Palace, and the face that was thin before the year ago was only cheekbones, and it was a little rounder, compared to the black and white eyes half a year ago, a pair of peach blossom eyes that gradually became conspicuous, less pure and smart, and more hazy water color, no longer clear at a glance, but more provocative.

"Big brother, this is the best wine in the town, it can't compare to the fragrant Qiongyu liquid in Chang'an City, but it's not easy to get drunk, I can accompany you to have a drink."

She picked up the two wine glasses, touched each other lightly, and with a crisp "jingle bell", she spilled a glass in front of the tomb, and brought one to her lips and took a sip.

The trees in the mountains and forests are complicated, and there are some bamboos around the tomb, which have grown green new leaves, and when the wind blows, there is a fresh aroma coming, she closes her eyes and takes a breath, drinks all the remaining wine in the cup, puts down the wine glass, and reaches out to touch the polished tombstone.

"I didn't belong here, but since the king of Hades sent me here by mistake, I was destined to be the daughter of my mother, the sister of the eldest brother and the second brother, I am very content and happy. Of course, it's not always good things in this world, we have all gone through a lot of hardships, you see, if Yu Yu was still that idiot, maybe so many things would not have happened later, but when I came, all this changed. ”

"Actually, I'm not a very strong person, and every time I'm in danger, I'm scared and helpless, but before that, I never thought of giving up, because I knew that according to my nature, once I was scared and collapsed, I couldn't get up again, and I could only be a burden. Watching you being swallowed by the sea of fire that day, it was the first time I was so close to despair, my mother was taken away, and my second brother was missing, but at least, they were all still alive, didn't they. ”

Her originally calm voice, when she said this, choked up a little, inhaled, and then continued:

"I know you don't approve of me and him, but you didn't force me. I really need him, whether it's because he's been so good to me, or because he pulled me by when I almost broke down, or for the future — I need this guy, and you don't worry, I remember all three things you reminded me. Indecision, the first time you said that about me, I didn't think about it, because because of it I would lose something, but it is enough for people to have such a thing in their life that they will regret for the rest of their lives, and I don't want to be an indecisive person again. ”

"I've always been seeking perfection, in the past, I wanted our family to live a good life without being bullied, but I didn't want you to get involved in the quagmire of Chang'an City, I wanted to maintain my dignity, but I had to bow to the powerful, I wanted to be with him, but I was worried about his identity as a prince. However, there are many things in this world, and there is a plan for both? ”

This sentence is not a question, not a rhetorical question, but a clear self-deprecation.

In fact, it is often impossible to balance between gains and losses, choose one, you have to abandon the other, do what you want most, choose what you want most, so that at least you will not regret it. Speaking of which, big brother, I know the meaning of your letter, just say something, don't bother me - the only thing you have begged me for more than ten years, I can't do it. ”

As if afraid that he would be angry, her slender fingers stroked the tombstone and said softly: "After the fifteenth day of this month, we will leave Beijing, and we will go to the southwest to find some scarce medicinal herbs. As for what he thinks, I'm not sure yet, but I'll figure it out. He is not the King of Wei, if he has no intention, he will not end up like that, if he has the heart......"

Her voice was so soft that a morning breeze blew it away, until she stood up against the tombstone, and her voice was cut off.

Without calling the maid in the distance, she put away the food by herself, glanced at the tombstone that was smooth and without half of her name, and left with the basket.

Tang Law, Criminal Chapter, paragraph 43 has a saying: Therefore, the murderer of the Shi clan will be placed in the official place after death, and the burial will be nameless, and those who have violated the rules to repair the tomb and engrave the monument should be excavated.

The study of the palace of the king of Wei

The guards outside the door looked at Du Chuke, who came out angrily, and looked at each other, all curious in their hearts.

Ah Sheng picked up the fold that was left on the ground, blew the dust that didn't exist, turned his head and smiled at Li Tai, who was looking at him coldly:

"Master, don't blame Master Du, he can't turn his brain around for a while, so he will lose his demeanor."

Li Tai didn't answer his words, took a brush from the pen holder, dipped some ink in the Songhua inkstone, and wrote instructions to Yongzhou's subordinates, as if nothing had happened.

Ah Sheng coughed dryly, hesitated and hesitated, and then he was bold and asked:

"Master, have you told the young lady about this request?"

"When she comes back today, the king will speak to her."

Sure enough, he didn't say it, Ah Sheng smiled dryly, and said: "That's good, master, your subordinates have one more mouth, and it's better for you to discuss this matter with her first." ”()