Several files of different thicknesses lay quietly on the desk in the imperial study. In this short rìzi, I don't know how many times I have been read by the pair of steady dìng, and then it is like being forgotten, resting here, quiet and unusual. Time was not enough for the dust to fall on these files, but the crisp air of early autumn made the pages of these files warp as if they had been roasted by fire.

The deep, burning gaze slowly moved away from the scroll and into the dim, dazzling morning palace light outside. The light from the east has illuminated the bluestone bricks on the highest part of the Kyoto city wall, but there is no way to shine into the imperial palace that is locked in darkness by the city walls, the palace walls, and the palace walls.

Emperor Qing took a sip of the teacup in his hand with an expressionless face, the tea was cold tea, and the little eunuchs who were used to serving by his side did not have the courage to come in and change it to hot as usual, and the whole night passed, and he drank cold tea, but like a fish drinking water, he knew that these cold teas were drunk into his chest and abdomen, but they turned into a hot stream that burned himself.

Is it the unquenchable anger, the pain of being deceived by someone you trust? Or is it a sense of humiliation that has never been felt before, that old dog has been hiding from me for decades!

The more angry, the calmer, Emperor Qing is no longer as angry as before, his face and eyes are calm like two pools of ice water, cold and calm, not like an ancient well, just like the water that is about to become ice, blindly cold, this cold is scattered around the imperial study, so that everyone who stays outside feels a fear from the bottom of their hearts.

There was a familiar sound faintly in the distance, it was the sound of a wheelchair running over the bluestone slab of the palace, the gap between the special round chair and those bluestone slabs kept rubbing, the width of the bluestone slab was fixed, and the distance of the wheelchair circle was fixed, so the rhythm and time period of the sound of the wheelchair crushing the bluestone slab were also fixed.

This fixed rhythm, in the past few decades, I don't know how many times it has sounded in this quiet palace, whenever Emperor Qing has something big to do, or...... Just when I want to speak, the voice of the wheelchair will be transmitted from outside the palace to the palace, all the way to the imperial study.

In recent years, the sound of wheelchairs has become less loud, and the old black dog hid in Chen Yuan to enjoy Qingfu, leaving me alone in this cold palace to be tortured. However, three years ago, when it was time to deal with Yun Rui and the three old monsters, the wheelchair was still in the palace twice...... Emperor Qing's expression was indifferent, and he remembered many past events for a moment, and then he slowly raised his head.

When his calm and deep gaze fell on the closed wooden door of the imperial study, the sound of the wheelchair rubbing against the bluestone slab also happened to stop in the imperial study room.

The Emperor's gaze suddenly became complicated.

Eunuch Yao's trembling voice sounded from the imperial study, not that the eunuch leader deliberately wanted to use this panicked voice to express his attention to the wheelchair figure, but at this time, inside and outside the imperial study, Emperor Qing had already controlled the mood of most people with the chill that naturally emanated from the state of mind of the great grandmaster.

The door of the imperial study opened, and several eunuchs cautiously and sincerely carried the black sè wheelchair in, and then left as fast as possible under the leadership of Eunuch Yao. The eunuchs of the inner court in this line were very far away from the imperial study, and even walked all the way to the imperial study around the stone arch garden gate, leading directly to the Taiji Palace.

Eunuch Yao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, glanced at Ye Shuai and Scholar He who were waiting outside the garden gate, and didn't say anything, not even a hint of expression. Ye Chong's face was heavy, and he just sighed in his heart. These top men of the Qingguo, after escorting the black carriage into the imperial study, all consciously hid in this far place, because they knew that under the chill of His Majesty, he would not want anyone to hear every word he said to the person in the wheelchair.

Old Dean Chen came back very safely and gently, although they were not used to solving it so easily, although they knew that Old Dean Chen was not a simple horror person, but including Eunuch Ye Chongyao, they were not worried that anything would happen in the imperial study.

His Majesty the Emperor was a great grandmaster, and after Dadong Mountain, no one in the world could hurt him.

............ The imperial study was tightly closed, isolating the air, sound, light, breath, and autumn mood outside, leaving only the emperor Xià sitting straight on the couch and Chen Pingping, who was sitting in a wheelchair at will.

The two of them hid in the small building, and they blocked the ups and downs of Qingguo outside, because the wind and rain of Qingguo in the past few decades were originally set off by these two powerful people.

Emperor Qing quietly looked at the old guy in the wheelchair, I don't know how long, until he wanted to see the wrinkles on Chen Pingping's face as chrysanthemums under the hanging temple, and then said quietly: "He Zongwei secretly checked Gundam and wanted to deal with Fan Xian, I already knew about it, the inner court sent three people over, when you passed by Dazhou a few days ago, He Qigan should have been there, did you see it?"

If someone else is here at this time, they will be very surprised to see this scene. His Majesty the Emperor mobilized so many figures, and the key yamen in the entire Kyoto were in full array, and the cold prince in the Supervision Yuan also began to carry on His Majesty's will, and launched a pressure on the inside, before he invited the old cripple in the black sè wheelchair back to Kyoto, everyone knew that there was no place to return between the monarch and the minister, but the first sentence of the emperor's majesty facing Chen Pingping was to say a very inconspicuous name.

However, Chen Pingping was not surprised, he knew his own emperor too well, he smiled slightly, and said in a slightly sharp and slightly sandy voice: "When I was sent to King Cheng's Mansion, He Qigan was still young, and he met outside Dazhou City, and he couldn't remember me at all. ”

"It's not surprising that the name Chen Wuchang has disappeared from the palace for a long time. The emperor nodded, the dragon robe on his body flew with one sleeve, and a cup of tea slowly left the desk and flew in front of Chen Pingping.

Chen Pingping took it, nodded respectfully, held the hot teacup, and sighed comfortably: "It's better to drink hot tea." ”

The emperor took his cold teacup with his fingers, took a sip slightly, and said calmly: "People will be cold when they leave tea, otherwise how could He Qigan not recognize you?"

Chen Pingping shook her head and said, "Except for Hong Sizhen, few people know that I used to stay in the palace back then. ”

The emperor's eyes drooped slightly, revealing a hint of mockery, and said: "Later, you made some fake beards and stuck them on your chin, of course you didn't want people to know...... You were originally a eunuch. ”

Chen Pingping's face remained unchanged, bowed her head slightly, and said lightly: "It took me many years to understand that I was originally a eunuch, so why hide it from the world." ”

"But after all, you still deceived the world. The emperor put the cold teacup on the table, stared at Chen Pingping's eyes and said: "Back then, you were sent to the palace by the palace in order to monitor your father's movements, but even the palace didn't expect that you secretly revealed your identity to me, and you were willing to help my palace in trouble...... Even in the end, the old eunuch Hong in the palace was persuaded by you to stand on the side of his father, which is also your credit. Therefore, the identity of the permanent eunuch in the palace back then was a great credit to you, me, and Qingguo, so why should you always remember this matter. ”

"The reason why the first emperor was able to ascend to the throne did not have much to do with the minions. Chen Pingping called herself a slave, but unlike in the past, there was not much inferiority complex in this minion, but she just followed the past and said it naturally. He slowly raised his head, looked directly at Emperor Qing's cold eyes, and said word by word: "That's because someone killed the two princes, so it was the turn of Prince Cheng to sit on the dragon chair, and His Majesty could have the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains today, and the immortal merit ......"

The emperor's eyes suddenly sharpened, obviously he didn't want to hear anything related to this matter, and said, "But why, in the first place, you betrayed the nobles in the palace, threw yourself into the palace, and served ...... I?"

Chen Pingping looked at Emperor Qing with a smile, as if she was looking at a big joke, and after a long time, she said slowly: "Your Majesty, you were a young man at the time, your heart is clear and far-reaching, you treat people very sincerely, and you treat them very well, and the slave is a strange person, as long as people treat me well, I will treat him well." ”

The emperor was silent, he sat straight on the soft collapse, as if he was still savoring Chen Pingping's words, his sharp eyes became like the beginning of autumn, and gradually unfolded his high side, the corners of his lips curled slightly, and said mockingly: "It turns out that you still know that I am not bad for you." ”

"Back then, the old prince didn't have the slightest status in the court, there was no help in the court, the Cheng Wangfu was not big, and it was inconspicuous, and I was actually the most useless little eunuch in the palace, so I was sent to the palace. A powerful person like Hong Siitch, of course, has always been by the side of a noble person in the palace. ”

Chen Pingping also seemed to remember a lot of past events, and sighed leisurely: "However, small is good, simple is simple, at that time, three children, plus a little bit, try your best to toss, Fan's mother yelled next to her from time to time, and no one seemed to think that this was bad." ”

"At that time, King Jing was still young, who wanted to pay attention to him. His Majesty the Emperor raised his eyebrows and said, "Even if Fan Jian and him joined forces to fight me, in the end, they were not all stopped by you, the two of us joined forces, and no one has always been our opponent...... This is still the case today. ”

As soon as these words came out, Chen Pingping and the emperor were silent at the same time, and after a long time, Chen Pingping gently touched the armrest of the wheelchair and sighed and said: "Fan Jian is the nǎi brother of His Majesty after all, and a slave is just a slave after all, I didn't think much about it at the time, I just wanted to protect you." ”

Emperor Qing's facial lines gradually softened, but his eyes drifted into the distance, as if he had drifted to the scenes between the two monarchs and ministers who had no different intentions and joined hands with each other, and said quietly: "I must admit that you have protected me many times in those years, and if it were not for you, I don't know how many times I would have died." ”

After saying this, the corner of his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of the several dossiers, his eyes paused slightly, he gently took out the first one, slowly opened it, and looked at the scenes mentioned above, including his sister, his son, and many, many things.

"When Daqing first expanded the border, it did not alarm the iron cavalry of the Great Wei Dynasty, so you and I were a little careless, when we spied on Xiao Chen Guo at that time, that is, when Yanjing was now armed. Our group was besieged by Hu Yue, the first killer under Zhan Qingfeng, in Dingshan, and that person's archery skills are ......" Emperor Qing sighed and said: "After so many years, there is only Xiao Yi who can be better than Hu Yue's archery. ”

When it came to Yan Xiaoyi, the governor of the northern capital who had betrayed him, there was no trace of hatred and anger in Emperor Qing's tone, and there was just a pity. Emperor Qing is a person who cherishes talents, and he is a person with extreme self-confidence, he is not afraid of Yan Xiaoyi at all, so he will have this feeling, but judging from the arrangement of the Supervision Yuan these days, in his heart, Chen Pingping is a corner sè that is far better than any other courtier.

He turned his head, looked at Chen Pingping in a wheelchair, and said, "When Hu Yue's arrow, if you hadn't sacrificed yourself to block it, I might have died at that time." ”

Chen Pingping responded calmly: "This is the duty of being a slave. ”

Emperor Qing smiled self-deprecatingly, and glanced at the dossier in his hand, this dossier said that when the Kyoto Mutiny was three years ago, Chen Pingping secretly connived at the eldest princess's long army to invade Kyoto, and finally succeeded in besieging the imperial city.

He casually threw the dossier aside, left it alone, then picked up another one, squinted his eyes and looked at it again, and said, "On the Hanging Temple, why do you want the shadow to assassinate?"

It was still a gentle drizzle of reminiscences of the past, but at this time, in the imperial study, the voice of questioning suddenly sounded, and a faint smell of blood and rain gradually spread, but Chen Pingping seemed to know nothing, and replied respectfully: "The slave wants to see what the last hole card of His Majesty is." ”

"I want to see my hole cards. The emperor's eyes stared at the wrinkles on Chen Pingping's face, and after being silent for a long time, he said calmly: "It seems that I want to die, which is something you have thought about for a long time." ”

Chen Pingping didn't answer, just smiled gently, and acquiesced to this big crime.

"Is Shadow really the younger brother of Sigu Sword?" asked Emperor Qing.

His majesty's eyes were like gods, and when he drank the true origin of the shadow in one gulp, the slave was really admired. Chen Pingping admired it, but she didn't know if she really admired it.

Emperor Qing closed his eyes, thought for a while, threw the scroll aside, and said: "When the first Northern Expedition, when I was breaking through the realm, I suddenly went mad and was trapped in the mountains by the army of Zhan Qingfeng, and I have entered the land of exhaustion. ”

Chen Pingping's eyes moved with Emperor Qing's hand, watching him throw aside the file about the truth about the assassination in the Hanging Temple, but the smile in his eyes became more and more vigorous, flourishing and withering, extremely lonely, and there was a trace of mockery in the loneliness.

"Your Majesty, don't count it like that anymore. Using a merit to save the driver, in exchange for a great crime of bullying the king or assassinating the king, whether it is from the Qinglu or the hospital regulations, it is the old slave who takes a big advantage. Chen Pingping's face calmed down, looked at the emperor and said indifferently: "In the past few decades, how many times have the slaves saved His Majesty, the slaves can't remember, but the slaves have not had the luxury of using these merits to offset their capital crimes. ”

"Exchange great merit for great sins. Chen Pingping's eyes narrowed, and she said lightly mockingly: "That's the little eunuch in the story she told back then, but the slave is not the little eunuch, and His Majesty is not the emperor of the alien race, why waste so much time?"

"Do you think I'm wasting time?" The emperor's voice became cold, but his eyes became intense, staring at Chen Pingping as if staring at a dead person, "In the hearts of people all over the world, you are an old black dog beside me, but after raising a dog for a long time, you also have feelings." ”

"Of course, His Majesty is a righteous person to the old slave, and over the years, the privilege and power that His Majesty has given to the old slave is no longer something that ordinary courtiers can enjoy. Chen Pingping leaned back on the wheelchair slightly, looked back at the emperor indifferently, and said word by word: "It's just that if you say something like this at this time, probably Your Majesty also wants to find some better reasons for killing dogs for yourself, which can comfort your own feelings." ”

"Shouldn't you have killed?" Emperor Qing laughed angrily, looking up to the sky and laughing, the laughter leaked out of the imperial study, and rushed straight to the entire quiet imperial city, with a rare anger in the laughter.

He turned around and grabbed the files on the case, and slammed them over, and the files of different thicknesses hit Chen Pingping's body, wheelchair, and made a snapping sound.

Emperor Qing's eyes became extremely cold, he stared at Chen Pingping's face, and said word by word: "If you want to kill me, you also want to kill my son, it is so hateful that you actually forced me to kill my own son...... You shameless eunuch, shouldn't you be killed?"

Chen Pingping slowly brushed off the pages of the book on her body, with a hint of smile, a hint of pleasure appreciating the world's most powerful monarch's rare gaffe in his life, which was probably one of his greatest wishes to return to Beijing on this trip?

"If you don't intend to kill your own son, how can the minions force you to do these things?" Chen Pingping looked at the emperor and said, "So in the final analysis, the minions just want to kill your majesty, as for these people from the Li royal family in this palace, the minions just want them to bury you." ”

The emperor calmed down, became indifferent, and got rid of that rare anger, a supreme in the world, the great master of martial arts, but in front of Chen Pingping, he showed such a very mortal side, it can only be said that the exchange and trust between monarchs and ministers in the past few decades has already become a kind of jīng god need that Emperor Qing can't get rid of, and this jīng god need suddenly became a mirror flower moon shadow in an instant, and behind the flower shadow, there is a kind of betrayed venom, even if it is him, it is difficult to withstand the impact of this kind of love。

He looked at Chen Pingping indifferently and said, "What I am most angry about is not that you want to kill me, nor do you want to kill all my sons, but what I am most angry about is that since you have left Kyoto, why do you want to come back." ”

"Even in such a situation, I still leave you a way to live, as long as you are willing to go, I will not leave you. The Emperor looked at him indifferently, his far-reaching eyes were like those of an ancient angry old man, with infinite power in his calm, "If I really want to kill you in one fell swoop, I will take action myself, I will not let those useless soldiers do this work, but ...... Why did you come back, why did you have to force me to kill you with my own hands?"

This is a very wonderful sentence, this is a very strange sentence, at this time, those big people outside the imperial study, including Shi Fei, the general who has returned to the garrison camp, can not guess His Majesty's intentions, they don't know that the so-called change in Dazhou is still the kind of mental temptation between the emperor and Chen Pingping, the pair of monarchs and ministers, about the last trust.

Probably only Chen Pingping can understand in the whole world, if he rode away with the black horse when he was in Dingzhou, it means that he has a sense of guilt in his heart and can't face it, and he didn't go, he returned to Kyoto, looking at the face of the emperor indifferently and timidly, and his heart was open, forcing the other party to kill one of the ministers who was considered the most loyal in the history of Qingguo.

After a long time, Chen Pingping's eyes were like knives, staring at the emperor and asking word by word: "Did you ever give her any way to live back then?