After several months of trekking, Li Chengqian, the crown prince of Qingguo, and his party finally returned to Kyoto from the distant Nanzhao Kingdom. The official road outside Kyoto is not paved with loess, sprinkled with clear water, and the blue and black stone road is smoothly attached to the ground, welcoming the return of the prince, and the dense willows on both sides of the road nod slightly with the hot wind, signaling to the prince.

Outside the city gate, the prince was greeted by the Chinese military officials, as well as the three princes who remained in the capital, and after seeing the ceremony, the prince gently helped the two brothers and the younger brother, held hands and looked at each other, and said softly about the aftermath.

The eldest prince looked at the crown prince with concern, and confirmed that this difficult journey did not make this younger brother suffer too much, and Fang Shi was relieved. He, like everyone else, was wondering why his father handed over this mission to the crown prince, but his status was different from that of other people, and he was indifferent, and he didn't want to think too deeply, anyway, how to do it had nothing to do with him, as long as Cheng Qian was fine.

And the second prince, who had been silent in the palace for nearly half a year, greeted the prince's return with his signature smile, but there were some other things in the smile, and the prince was immersed in his heart little by little. The prince smiled at him, nodded, and said nothing.

Li Chengqian took the third child's hand, looked at the quiet and well-behaved face of the little boy beside him, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the situation has developed to this day, but this youngest brother has faintly become his biggest opponent, which is really incomprehensible.

He suddenly thought that the new lord of Nanzhao Kingdom seemed to be as big as the third child, his heart suddenly trembled, and the hand holding the third prince was subconsciously loosened, but his index finger was not completely cocked, so he reacted, and gently and seriously held the little hand.

The prince knew that his third brother was much smarter than Nanzhao's snot countryman, not to mention that his teacher was Fan Xian. It's just that the eyes of the third prince looking at the crown prince seem so calm, far more calm than a child should have, and there is no other affection.

Several dragons stood outside the city gate cave, each with their own thoughts, the prince bowed his head slightly, looked at the lonely shadows in the sun, and thought with some sadness, father and son cannibalism seems to be inevitable, do siblings have to chop each other around?

............ The prince entered the palace, saluted, returned the book, knocked on the emperor, and returned to the palace.

The procedure is as normal and smooth as the regulations of the Ministry of Rites and the Second Temple, and there is no problem, at least no one will find that the expressions of His Majesty the Emperor and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince are the slightest abnormal, but people have noticed that His Majesty Xià seems to be a little tired, and he did not leave the prince to talk more in the Taiji Palace, not at all like the look that a son who has not been seen for nearly half a year should have when he returns home, so he let the prince go back to the East Palace.

Under the leadership of Eunuch Yao, the prince came to the door of the East Palace, he looked up at the renovated East Palace, and couldn't help but sigh in surprise...... It seems that the father really doesn't make things too sensational.

He was suddenly stunned, turned back to Eunuch Yao and asked, "This palace ...... I want to go and say goodbye to the Queen Mother for a while, I don't know if it's okay?"

Eunuch Yao was stunned for a moment, he was responsible for sending His Royal Highness back to the East Palace, naturally he was secretly monitoring His Majesty's consciousness, and he must ensure that the prince returned to the palace, so he could only be in the palace, which was equivalent to a disguised house arrest, but the prince suddenly asked, and with this kind of reason, Eunuch Yao couldn't say anything at all.

He smiled bitterly, slowly leaned down, and replied slightly: "Your Highness is scared of the slave, you are the master, you are going to see the Queen Mother, why do you come to ask the slave?"

The prince smiled bitterly, didn't say anything, pushed open the door of the East Palace, but when he entered, he subconsciously glanced at the location of Guangxin Palace. He knew that his aunt had been confined in the royal courtyard, guarded by the people of the Supervision Yuan, the Guangxin Palace that he was very familiar with and longed for...... It was already empty, but he couldn't help but look greedily over there.

Eunuch Yao watched the prince's expression carefully and unobtrusively.

The prince didn't think that he didn't exist at all, and looked at that place in a daze-he thought to himself, people live in the world, there are always so many obstacles, but he doesn't know who is enchanted, who is crazy, he thinks of what his aunt said, his heart begins to beat, yes, people are crazy, the world is crazy, everyone in the royal family has a crazy factor, if you want to have this world, you must be crazy to the end.

Driven by madness and self-control, he turned around again, smiled gently at Eunuch Yao, and then closed the door of the East Palace.

According to the theory, the action of closing the door is naturally done by the palace maid and eunuch. It's just that today's eunuchs and maids in the East Palace are far less than the number of people rated in the etiquette system, a few months ago, hundreds of eunuchs and maids disappeared in the entire palace for no reason, no one knows where they went, and the prince knew that they went underground...... Although the current East Palace has been supplemented with many eunuchs and palace maids, these novices are obviously a little nervous.

With so many dead people in the palace, naturally they couldn't hide it for long, but none of the courtiers dared to ask without a long eye, first, this was not their business, and the courtiers were also afraid of death.

Along the way, there were palace maids and eunuchs knocking on the ground to ask for peace, but no one dared to come forward and wait.

The prince laughed self-deprecatingly, entered the main hall, and then ...... He frowned and sniffled, for he smelled a very strong smell of wine, a strong and disgusting smell of wine floating in the most honorable palace of the Qing Kingdom.

The light in the hall was a little dim, only a few high-rise lamps were lit, Li Chengqian was stunned, and returned to his gaze, only to see a familiar woman lying on the couch, on the side of the screen, the large-leaf fan produced in the inner library was shaking again and again, fanning the breeze, dispelling the suffocating smell in the hall.

The woman was dressed in a sumptuous palace dress, but the decoration was very bad, her hair was a little fluffy, she carried a flask in her hand, and she was pouring wine into her mouth, and her brows and eyes were full of haggard and despair.

Pulling the big leaf fan was a small eunuch who couldn't see clearly.

Li Chengqian frowned in disgust, but then sighed, with a trace of tenderness and pity in his eyes, and walked forward. He knew why the queen mother became what she is now, and he was also disgusted by the other party's pretense of mystery, but once the incident happened, she was panicked, but she was his mother after all.

"Mother, the child has returned. ”

The half-drunk queen was startled, rubbed her eyes and looked at it for a long time, only to see clearly that the young man in front of her was her son, and after a while, she suddenly cried out, staggered to her feet, threw herself in front of the prince, hugged him, and cried: "It's good to be back, it's good to be back." ”

The prince hugged his mother's body and said with a harmonious smile: "I have been going for a few months, and my mother is worried. ”

A trace of joy flashed in the queen's eyes, and she slurred her words and said, "It's good to be alive, it's good...... I thought...... I'll never see you again...... Finish. ”

Since His Majesty sent the crown prince to Nanzhao, the queen's mind has been immersed in despair, she and the emperor have been husband and wife for twenty years, of course she knows how desperate and terrifying the man on the dragon chair is, she thought that the prince went south this time, and it would be difficult to come back, at this time to see the living son, I couldn't help but be overjoyed, and found a trace of hope in despair.

The prince smiled self-deprecatingly, hugged his mother, patted her on the back, and comforted her. Until now, the empress still didn't know why the emperor suddenly gave up the crown prince, and the prince didn't tell her the truth, although the royal family was crazy, they did a good job in filial piety.

Therefore, the prince did not plan to tell his mother how many dangers and difficulties he had encountered along the way, if it wasn't for someone secretly helping, even if he could come back alive, he was afraid that he would be haunted by the sickbed and difficult to recover.

Soon after, the half-drunk queen gradually fell asleep in the prince's arms, the prince carried her to the couch, pulled a very thin embroidered scarf, waved his hand to stop the eunuch who pulled the big leaf fan, took a round palace fan, and began to fan the queen carefully.

I don't know how long it took to fan it, but after confirming that his mother was asleep, the prince threw down the round palace fan, sat on the couch in a daze, buried his head deep between his knees, and never raised his head for a long time.

............ He raised his head, his face was slightly pale, his eyes drifted to the side, looking at the only eunuch in this empty and lonely palace, and asked, "Niangniang, these rìzi often drink?"

"Yes. The little eunuch came out of the shadow and knelt down with great respect.

Looking at the face pet raised by the eunuch, the prince was taken aback, then frowned, and said with a slight mockery: "There are more than 100 people in an East Palace, and now you are still alive alone." ”

The eunuch was not someone else, it was the eunuch who was the head of the East Palace, Hong Zhu. A trace of guilt appeared on Hong Zhu's face, and he lowered his head and didn't say anything. At this point, all the subordinates of the entire East Palace were ordered by the emperor to be killed, and he was alive alone, which has explained all the truth.

Although Hong Zhu has never told the emperor a secret, he has told Fan Xian, and this qiē thing seems to have started because of this, so the guilt on Hong Zhu's face is not a lie, his rì in the East Palace, the queen and the crown prince are good to him, especially the queen is extremely gentle to him, these rìzi, he secretly served and monitored the queen under the strict orders of His Majesty, watching how this mother of the country turned from disappointment to despair, rì night used wine jīng to anesthetize herself, and it was inevitable that a little unbearable arose in his heart.

The prince looked at him quietly, suddenly laughed sadly, and said to himself: "I thought you had offended Fan Xian, but my father drove you over, it turned out that ...... Hongu forgot, after all, you are the one who came out of the imperial study...... Is the feud between you and the Duke of real?"

"It's true. Hong Zhu bowed his head and replied: "It's just that the slaves are the people of Qingguo, so naturally the order of His Majesty is the first." ”

For some reason, the prince suddenly became furious, grabbed something beside him and smashed it, and scolded: "You eunuch, you also call yourself a citizen!"

The thing thrown out was the round fan he had used to fan the queen before, and it didn't hit Hong Zhu, it floated down beside Hong Zhu and landed on the hem of the eunuch's clothes.

The crown prince was afraid of waking up the mother queen, so he calmed down his breath with great difficulty, and looked at Hong Zhu with resentment: "It seems that His Majesty really likes you...... Knowing such a big thing, I actually saved your dog's life. ”

Hong Zhu kowtowed twice, and asked with some doubts, "Your Highness, what's the matter?"

The crown prince came to his senses, and after being silent for a long time, he suddenly said: "The East Palace is no longer what it used to be, what are you still doing here? If you want to leave, I will go and tell my father." ”

Hong Zhu's face was a little hesitant, and after a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "Slave...... I want to stay in the East Palace. ”

"Stay in the East Palace to monitor?" the prince lowered his voice and sneered: "The whole palace is full of eyeliner, do you care about more of you?"

The situation has developed to this day, and the prince knows that His Majesty is going to abolish himself after all, so why is he still acting in this secret palace?

"The minion wants to serve the queen. ”

After the prince was silent for a while, he suddenly sighed, a look of pity appeared on his face, looked at Hong Zhu and said, "Xiu'er is also dead?"

Hong Zhu, who was kneeling on the ground, trembled for a moment, and after a long time, nodded a little sadly.

............ "What has happened in the palace in the past few months?" The prince looked at Hong Zhu quietly and asked a question that would never be answered.

Hong Zhu was silent for a long time, and then said: "Your Majesty has been to the Hanguang Hall several times, and every time I come out, I am not very happy. ”

The prince smiled, his mood was a little lighter, and he looked at Hong Zhu appreciatively and said, "Thank you." ”

Hong Zhu lowered his head and said, "The slave doesn't dare." ”

The crown prince sat on the edge of the couch and began to think, his father obviously did not tell the truth of this matter to the empress dowager, although the emperor ruled the world and did not dare to stop him, but the emperor like his father was still troubled by a trace of mental ties.

For example, a face like straw paper, such as the word filial piety.

Qingguo pays attention to ruling the world with filial piety, and the emperor put a cage on himself.

Li Chengqian clenched his fists slightly, knowing that he still had some time, and his father would abolish himself and still need time to arrange his speech, even if the eight departments of the Supervision Yuan wanted to create that kind of noise, it was not so simple.

――――――――――――――――――――――"Xiu'er is dead, I don't know how Hong Zhu feels. Fan Xian said softly: "If it were an ordinary eunuch, he might not think too much, but I know that Hong Zhu has never been a simple eunuch, he has read books and opened his mind, so he talks about grievances and attaches great importance to affection...... Speaking of which, the reason why Xiu'er was killed was my problem, his problem, and the two of us single-handedly caused the deaths of hundreds of people in the palace. ”

He frowned: "For His Majesty's ruthlessness, it seems that our imagination is still a little lacking. Well, even if Hong Zhu doesn't hate me, he definitely hates himself, so won't there be any trouble?"

He said yes again, and then said sadly, "But I was always responsible for the deaths of those hundreds...... Yes, I'm a very weak and ruthless person, but after all, I'm not a monster like Uncle Wuzhu, and I still feel weird in my heart. I used to tell Haitang that if I kill dozens of people or hundreds of people, I may not blink my eyes, but I can't be an emperor because I can't do tens of thousands of people die in front of me, and I can remain calm. ”

"The emperor wants to abolish the crown prince, which I secretly influenced...... Of course, even if I don't affect it, this matter will eventually erupt. Fan Xian shook his head, "But now I want to ask the emperor not to depose the crown prince so quickly, why? Isn't this boring and ridiculous? What am I afraid of?"

"After the fire cooks the oil, it's the leftovers ......of the cold pot," he laughed self-deprecatingly, "If the crown prince and the second princess are finished, I will be the leftovers, even if Your Majesty really loves me and is willing to take me to a big world...... But you know, I'm a pacifist, well, a hypocritical pacifist, I don't like wars, and I've done so much in the past two years, isn't it just to stay where I am?"

"So I have to drag it out, at least until I'm ready, I can't let the emperor enter the track of preparing for war, and when the time comes, let the boss lead the army, let me be the prison army, and kill the Northern Qi Dongyi, and the sword will be full of dead souls...... This kind of iron-blooded rì feels sad when I think about it. ”

"This is the main contradiction that lurks, you know. ”

After Fan Xian said this, he put away the piece of paper in front of him, put him back in the box, and then began to sigh, annoyed by his curiosity, every time he couldn't help but take out his mother's letter and read it again, but every time he read it, it was troublesome to death.

He was in Hangzhou at this time, in Huayuan, and the big box at the door was still open, and the snowflake silver inside was shining beautifully.

Like Fan Shangshu, he also learned to speak to a piece of paper, but his father was looking at the portrait, and he didn't have that ability, so he had to speak to the letter.

There are a lot of things that can't be said to people, and the only few people who can speak are not around, so Fan Xian is very hard, and for a while in the past, he even regarded Wang Qinian as the best listener, but in order to prevent Old Man Wang from being scared into myocardial infarction by his words, he finally stopped the torture of Lao Wang.

Uncle Wuzhu is not there, if he is not there, Wan'er is not there, Haitang is not there, even if there are thousands of words, who will he confide in?

Fan Xian began to gradually feel the sense of loneliness, the meaning that the old lady was very lonely.

And he also had unprecedented self-suspicion about his second life.