So what, it's just four words, but after it came out of the king's thin and merciless lips, it seemed to add layers of frost to the entire imperial study, and the infinite and endless cold was born for no reason, freezing all the glass windows, mahogany dwarf, cyan indoor potted plants, and there seemed to be hoarfrost invisible to the naked eye, which was spreading on these things, and then spread all the way out, enveloping the entire cold palace, making the cold turn into freezing, and the cold even pierced the sky, hitting the gray clouds in the far east。

The clouds are like frightened small animals, stimulated by this cold, the whole body shrinks sharply, shivering, the color becomes darker, and they have to squeeze out some of the wetness hidden deep in the clouds and mist.

The dampness condensed into water, condensed into rain, and slowly fell from the sky. In the gray Kyoto, the Imperial Palace, all the people who had woken up squinted at the clouds in the sky, only to know that the first rain of early autumn had finally fallen, and the weather was about to turn cold.

However, the chill on Emperor Qing's body was not overwhelming, there was not the slightest gap, and the color of his thin lips was not very good-looking, and there was still a touch of room in his mind. Chen Pingping sat in a wheelchair, quietly looking at the master she had served for decades, quietly waiting for the other party's next sentence.

If Emperor Qing never had the slightest sense of guilt about what happened back then, there was no trace of hidden pain in his heart, and if his ruthlessness was really extreme, then he would be the most flawless person in the world. Whoever stands in front of this king will involuntarily give birth to a sense of surrender and defeat. and will not look at him indifferently like Chen Pingping.

The corners of Chen Pingping's eyes drooped, if His Majesty the Emperor was really like a thousand years of ice, then why did he say those four words? Although they were the coldest words, they were still words.

The emperor just didn't accept Chen Pingping's mind, he couldn't compare to Ye Qingmei. That's why he's really angry.

"Ye Qingmei, for Your Majesty, it is still impossible for you to be a passerby......" Chen Pingping sighed faintly. His eyes swept over His Majesty's shoulders and looked at the wall behind the Imperial Study, as if to see through the wall until he was looking into a certain portrait.

His Majesty the Emperor laughed, his smile was very light, very cold, very self-deprecating, very painful, very complicated. He was silent for a long time and then said, "I don't want to talk about the past. ”

"Why don't you mention it?" Chen Pingping squinted at him. "Do you think she's so dazzling that she has completely overwhelmed Your Majesty's pride, so you've always felt uncomfortable from the bottom of your heart?"

The emperor sneered slightly, didn't explain anything, just said: "Xiao Yezi has never been a person who likes to show his head. ”

"So you know. Chen Pingping laughed, and there was a hint of resentment in Jiansha's voice, "What do you have that you can't tolerate?"

"I can't tolerate it. Or is there no room in this world?" the emperor slowly raised his head and looked directly into Chen Pingping's eyes, very indifferent and solemn. "Maybe you people have never thought about it. ”

The indifferent voice stopped abruptly, and it was obvious that Emperor Qing didn't want to talk about anything about the year at all, even in the face of his partner who had been with him for decades, even in such a situation. He still holds on to the underworld in his heart. Reluctant to touch.

However, Chen Pingping returned to Beijing today to die, in order to tear apart this middle-aged man. The veil in the heart of this seemingly irresistible man that has been separated for thousands of miles reveals the wound that may exist in the other party's heart, so that the other party can be weak!

Chen Pingping stared at Emperor Qing's eyes and said, "Is it the queen mother's displeasure, the powerful rebound of the princes and nobles, or your pride that made you make such a cold-blooded and ruthless decision?"

Emperor Qing looked indifferent and did not answer his question, but his pupils gradually became empty, and the focus drifted to somewhere, so he changed the topic coldly: "What prompted you to make such a rebellious decision? You are a eunuch, do you also like women?"

"Eunuch, ......" Chen Pingping slowly lowered her eyes and said: "As I said before, whoever is good to me, I will be good to whom, and I have always kept in mind her kindness to me." The sorrow of her death, I must also be confused, I have been guarding for decades, just to ask Your Majesty for her. ”

"Could it be that I treat you badly?" Emperor Qing lightly brushed his gaze on Chen Pingping's old face, and said lightly: "I give you supreme glory, I give you the status that ordinary courtiers will never have, I give you...... trust, and you, because of a woman who has been dead for twenty years...... You want to ask me?"

Chen Pingping looked at the emperor with a smile, and suddenly said: "She treats me well, she treats me like a friend, Your Majesty treats me well, she treats me like a slave, can this be the same?"

The emperor waved his hand, a little tired, he didn't want to say this question with no answer at all, the encounters in life are always extremely wonderful, especially these partners in Qingguo back then, the entanglements between each other, I am afraid that it will not be clear if I talk about it for three days and three nights.

Chen Pingping continued: "I am just a eunuch in the Chengwang Mansion, but she has never disdained me in the slightest because of my physical disability...... Ah, this is the treatment that the old slave has never enjoyed in his life, not before her, and not after her. ”

He suddenly smiled and said, "Fortunately, Fan Xian is more like her." ”

At this time, in the quiet imperial study, the name Fan Xian was particularly harsh, and His Majesty the Emperor, who had always maintained indifference with a strong heart, frowned extremely slightly when he heard the name Fan Xian.

"I don't want to say anything about what Xiao Yezi has done for Qingguo, for the Li royal family, and for us people. Chen Pingping sighed a little tiredly. Yes, there is no need to say anything about the past, in fact, it is all stored in the hearts and minds of these partners, and no one will deliberately remember it, but no one will forget it.

His voice was slightly sharper. said: "Yes, when you first ascended the throne, the government was unstable, and you wanted to implement a new policy, but the rebound was too big. I was in charge of the Supervision Yuan, which also caused some unstable movements in the whole of Kyoto. Moreover, the Queen Mother has always been very jealous of the woman who refuses to enter the palace, especially when she finds out that the influence of that woman on Your Majesty is even farther than her! The stupid woman of the Queen Mother has just married you, and she doesn't know why you don't stay in the palace every day, but you have to go to the Taiping Courtyard to climb the wall!"

"Ye Qingmei has helped you, on the seashore of Shanzhou, the picture scroll she once promised is gradually unfolding. The old Ye family has already repaired the three major squares in northern Fujian, and the foundation of Qingguo has been firmly laid, and she no longer seems to have any effect on His Majesty, on the contrary, ...... She is the most unstable factor in the imperial court, if you follow her picture scroll, Qingguo will not be today's Qingguo, and Your Majesty. But it is impossible to allow such a thing to happen, let alone in the process, you may offend the officials and gentry of the whole world. ”

Chen Pingping's eyes narrowed slightly. The slight tip mocked and said: "If you want to make immortal achievements, you need to have immortal courage, but you don't have this kind of courage, and you don't want to give up everything you already have, as long as Ye Qingmei is dead." You enjoy everything she has given you. But they don't need to bear any of the dangers she brings. ”

"A thousand reasons, ten thousand reasons. Even if you have countless reasons to kill her, because of this dragon chair, because of this country, because of your own ambitions. Chen Pingping pursed her lips, shook her head disdainfully and said, "But this person is you, and you are not qualified to do this." ”

Emperor Qing's eyes were still empty, as if he hadn't heard Chen Pingping's words in his heart at all, but he said slowly: "There are still the original words in King Jing's mansion, I think you should remember clearly, like her whimsical ideas that deviate from people's hearts, although they are wonderful, they are poisonous flowers, once they bloom in the fields of Qingguo, I am afraid that the entire Qingguo will fall because of it." As the king of Qingguo, I must be responsible for the people of the world. ”

"In my life, I cherish that woman the most. His Majesty the Emperor turned his head and looked at Chen Pingping indifferently, "I cherish that woman more than anyone else in the world." ”

"What does it have to do with the people? What kind of person is Xiao Yezi, Your Majesty and I know very well that she has never been a person who has empty ideas and is unable to put them into practice, and what she says and leaves behind words may just be what she wants to stay. Chen Pingping looked at the emperor coldly, "And you, but you were shocked by those terrible thoughts, Your Majesty, you suddenly discovered, you suddenly found out that her thoughts, for this chair is too harmful, even if she doesn't do it now, but she left the ground fire, maybe when, this bright appearance, but in fact rotten chair will be burned to ashes." ”

"Rotten chair?" the emperor laughed strangely, looked at Chen Pingping and said, "I didn't expect that you, an old dog, would still be such a character. ”

Chen Pingping didn't answer, but after coughing twice, she continued to say weakly: "Your Majesty, why do you have to explain so much, it's not as good as the previous four words...... You're just greedy for this chair, you're too ambitious, or so ambitious to be rewarded, how can you allow someone to endanger the process......? You can't have a woman looming over you forever. ”

After hearing these words, Emperor Qing was silent for a long time, not knowing whether this was a tacit acquiescence, or thinking about his most obscure inner activities back then, and after a long time, he said indifferently: "I have any ambitions, isn't she giving them to me?"

"I was just an inconspicuous son of the Chengwang Mansion back then, although I had great ambitions, pity the people, and wanted to change everything in this war and strife, but how could I achieve all this, and even dream of all this?" The emperor said with a slight mockery: "It is her, it is you, it is Fan Jian, and it is all the people who let me step by step to the dragon chair, and have the possibility of dreaming all this and realizing all this." ”

Emperor Qing's gaze sharpened, his voice became calm, louder, and said slightly: "Since I have sat on this dragon chair, I have to complete the idea of the year, no matter who it is, don't try to stop this."

"What did you think back then?" Chen Pingping looked at him and said indifferently: "Your Majesty, do you still remember what we thought back then?"

"I know what you're trying to say, old dog. The emperor sat on the soft couch, his two-sleeved dragon robe spread out like a vast cloud, and a powerful and solemn aura appeared on the whole person's body, like a god among the clouds. He said in a deep voice: "I want to lay down a big country and dominate the whole world, so that hundreds of millions of people in the three kingdoms will no longer have to suffer from wars and chaos for thousands of generations, isn't this her will?"

Emperor Qing's voice gradually rose higher. looked at Chen Pingping with a cold voice: "It's been a long time since I've talked like this, and I just found out." It turns out that you, an old dog, are still a tragic character, but don't forget, I am the emperor of Qingguo, and I don't care about the agreement at all, and I don't care about what I have deviated from, but I ...... I care about her, I promise her, I do everything. So...... Whether it is you or Fan Jian, even if she comes back from the underworld and asks me what I have done in the past few decades, I can look at you with disdain and say, as long as I can do all this!"

Chen Pingping fell silent.

"She's a mysterious woman, but she's a woman after all, she's naïve. It's just that I didn't expect that you were also naïve. The Emperor slowly closed his eyes, only the thin lips opened slightly. The words were full of coldness, "Governing the country is not about hoeing flowers and weeds, and it is not about King Jing's waste, just self-pity every day." As a king, anyone can die in order to achieve his goal. ”

"Anyone can die. ”

"So she died. Chen Pingping was hunched over in a wheelchair. Sadness said: "All the causes of chaos within Qingguo can die. For example, the queen, such as the eldest princess. For example, the crown prince, such as many, many more. But I just don't understand, what is the difference between the Qingguo today and the Qingguo before? What is the difference between this world and the world 20 years ago? Your Majesty, you said that you are the one who is chosen in the world, so you can sacrifice everything for your goal, but if one day it is your turn to be sacrificed, will you be willing to go away? ”

"I ...... He will be the lord of the world and the king of the earth. Emperor Qing said indifferently: "If there is a day, the world will be better than one day." ”

"It's still a name. Chen Pingping sighed and said: "Your Majesty, you have extraordinary energy, your eyes are as bright as a torch, and the good governance of the Qingguo officials is unprecedented, but what should you do after you die? People always have to die." ”

Immediately, the old cripple in a wheelchair waved his hand and said lightly: "Even if the flood is monstrous after you die, I suddenly thought of this sentence, I suddenly thought of this sentence and asked a little redundant, Your Majesty, I still look up to you, after all, you are just an ordinary person who is occupied by ambition all your body and mind, whether it is a great grandmaster or a generation of emperors, you still can't escape this." ”

The emperor was not so angry, just looked at him and said lightly: "At least I have done what I promised her back then, one by one. "Yes, before the old slave died, can you listen to His Majesty's explanation, so that I can die with peace of mind, and let Your Majesty give the old slave the last grace." ”

The emperor noticed the hint of sarcasm on the corner of Chen Pingping's lips, and for some reason, the king's heart suddenly trembled a little, and countless anger arose, probably as an emperor, especially an emperor like him, the most unbearable thing is to be ignored or deliberately despised for the achievements made on this continent in this life.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said slowly, "I don't need to explain anything to you, a thief, when I die, I will naturally tell her one by one." ”

"Your Majesty, do you have the face to see her after you die?" Chen Pingping today is not at all like the past, people are about to die, their hearts are also clear, and their ambitions are also strong, in front of the world's strongest man, he is indifferent and mean to scratch the other party's center of the earth, "I heard that on the shore of the Lanzhou Sea, you once explained this so-called ...... One thing at a time, do you want to comfort yourself, or do you want to let her in the dark forgive you through Fan Xian?"

This sentence is very indifferent, but it just happened to stab Emperor Qing's center. Emperor Qing opened his eyes, his eyes were still strangely empty, but his face was slightly pale.

"Why don't I dare see her? After Emperor Qing was silent for a long time, he suddenly laughed, and the laughter echoed in the imperial study, "Back then, on the shore of the sea in Shanzhou, in the old mansion of King Cheng, the things I promised her have been done, or will be done, and what I have done in this life are not all things that she has looked forward to infinitely?"

Chen Pingping just looked at him indifferently.

Emperor Qing's voice was low, and he said coldly: "She wants to reform, to cure the shortcomings in the court, okay, I will rely on her, I will change the yuan, reform the system, and implement a new policy." ”

She explained that you should be able to hear the advice. Therefore, I have allowed the power of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to discuss rumors. ”

She said that the establishment of a postal route system in the country is very beneficial to the business and people's livelihood, and I spared no expense in the national treasury to build a postal road throughout the country in the shortest possible time. ”

She said that the eunuchs in the palace were pitiful and hateful. Emperor Qing glanced at Chen Pingping indifferently. "Therefore, I abolished the custom of sending eunuchs to the palaces and princes, and scattered half of the eunuchs in the palace. and strictly prohibit eunuchs from interfering in politics. ”

She said that the country was rich without business, so I vigorously supported merchants and sent Xue Qing to stay in Jiangnan for a long time, so as not to let the imperial court interfere in private business affairs. ”

She said that the country was unstable without agriculture, so I vigorously built water conservancy, and set up a special river transport governor Yamen to repair the embankment of the river. ”

"She said she wanted a newspaper, and I started it. ”

"She said she wanted lace, and I painted it. ”

The more the emperor spoke, the faster he spoke, and his eyes became brighter and brighter. In the end, he seemed to be a little emotional, looking at Chen Pingping and scolding loudly: "Whatever she wants, I will do it, you, or why do you accuse me!"

Chen Pingping smiled, very quickly, very strangely. He looked at His Majesty the Emperor and said softly: "This paragraph is very skillful, presumably except for the shore of the Lanzhou Sea, you are often in the small building. Talking to yourself at that portrait, is this trying to comfort her in heaven and earth, or is it trying to dispel the chill in your heart?"

Emperor Qing's ground color changed slightly, but Chen Pingping slowly sat up straight, looked at him and said word by word:

"Implement the New Deal. Either changing the name of the era twice is a new deal! The restructuring is still less about changing the military department into an old military department. Then it was changed to the Privy Council, which was called reform. Your Majesty, do you remember what Taixue was called in the first place? Do you still remember that there was a yamen that used to be called the Education Institute? Tongwen Pavilion? What is the Transfer Division? What is the Transportation Division?"

"The New Deal is not a new name, it is a new deal!" Chen Pingping's sharp voice was like a whip. He slapped the emperor in the face, "The restructuring is either a name change or a restructuring, what kind of bullshit is the new deal! Let the officials and the people not know what the yamen is called, is it the new deal? Are you deceiving the people of the world, or are you deceiving yourself?"

"How did the Imperial Procuratorate end up with a mess of mud in the hands of the eldest princess of Xinyang? Allow them to be innocent of their deliberations? In the autumn of the fifth year of Qingli, the imperial history of the left capital surrendered, and those imperial historians who wore Chu-colored official robes were miserably beaten by the court because of Fan Xian, which ...... Whose will it be?"

"Not to mention the postal route system! This is purely a joke, it costs one or two pieces of silver to send a letter, who can afford to send it except for the children of the eunuchs? What is the use of this postal route except for the lazy relatives of a large number of officials in the post station?"

"It is strictly forbidden for eunuchs to interfere in politics? What kind of thing is Hong Siqi? The assassin entered the palace and was involved in court and state affairs, but he was a eunuch who had the right to preside over the investigation. Okay, even if he has a special status, then let me ask Your Majesty, when Eunuch Yao goes out, a large number of officials of two or three grades will bow down to make way, what is this?"

"The imperial court vigorously supports merchants, and the imperial court does not interfere in civil commercial affairs?" Chen Pingping's voice became more and more sharp, and said disdainfully: "How come there are so many powerful cadres in the Ming family? If Your Majesty does not interfere in commercial affairs, what did Fan Xian go to Jiangnan for?" businessmen...... Now it's just a flock of fat sheep raised by the imperial court. ”

"Build water conservancy and ensure farming?" Chen Pingping smiled more and more absurdly, "...... Hehe, the Yamen of the Governor of Heyun is the darkest yamen in the world, and the old slave had to check it many years ago, but Your Majesty, the emperor's scheming, knows that this yamen hides half of the world's officials, and you don't want to shake the government, so you have to let him rot, and what is the result? How many people have drowned in the collapse of the river? How many people have frozen to death in the winter of the fifth or sixth year of Qingli? Even if Fan Xian and his wife have been desperately filling it with silver in the past two years, they can still only maintain. ”

"And the Lau Shizi newspaper, lace. The corners of Chen Pingping's eyes narrowed, and she looked at Emperor Qing mockingly, "The newspaper she said is something that opens the wisdom of the people, but it is not useless shit from the inner court, it should not only have the story of my old black dog, but there should be some other content, Your Majesty, do you think what I said is right?"

The emperor's face became paler and paler, so white that he was about to become transparent, and he didn't hear Chen Pingping's last words at all.

"You may be able to convince Fan Xian, you can convince yourself that over the years, you have been trying to do something, make up for something, and practice something for the things in the Chengwang Mansion on the shore of the Lanzhou Sea. Chen Pingping looked at His Majesty the Emperor meanly, "But you can't convince her in the portrait, it's just that she can't speak now." But you can't convince me, Your Majesty, and it's unfortunate that I can still speak now. ”

The emperor was silent for a long time, his pale face was matched with his slightly trembling fingers, it can be imagined that he was angry to the point of hatred in his heart, he slowly raised his head, looked at Chen Pingping and said indifferently: "In my life, in fact, the most wrong thing I did was when I was still the prince, I heard her say that the hundred officials of the imperial court needed an independent yamen to supervise, so I ignored everyone's opposition, wrote to my father and the emperor, and forcibly set up the yamen of the Supervision Yuan. ”

"I shouldn't have listened to her, let you, an old black dog who can't be raised well, this gelding man with the smell of urine, become the first president of the Supervision Yuan. Emperor Qing's voice was calm, but there was an infinite chill in the calm.

After Chen Pingping was silent for a long time, she raised her head and said very calmly: "Even the Supervision Yuan, I, an old black dog, have been guarding the Supervision Yuan for decades, but I'm afraid it is not the Supervision Yuan she wants to see." ”

The emperor listened to the old lame man and said quietly: "The Supervision Yuan is an institution that supervises hundreds of officials, but it is not a deformed and powerful spy agency today, especially since this courtyard itself is still Your Majesty's courtyard. ”

Chen Pingping suddenly laughed ugly, and looked directly at the emperor's face: "Do you remember what is written on the stone tablet in front of the gate of the Supervision Yuan?"

It was a large, glittering golden letter, forever shining in front of the gloomy square building of the Inspectorate, and I don't know how many Kyoto people attracted the attention, but no one would ever really see these words clearly. The officials of the Supervisory Yuan memorized it very clearly, but they did not know the hidden meaning behind this passage.

The most important thing is that those people back then may know the full text of this passage, but whether it is the emperor or others, they may have subconsciously forgotten this. In the whole world, only Chen Pingping and the earliest people in the Supervision Yuan have always remembered that paragraph.

"I hope that the people of Qingguo will become unruly people. When you are abused by others, you will not give in, you will not be frustrated when you are attacked by evil, and when you do something wrong, you will not be afraid to amend, and you will not flatter the jackal......"

This is the words that Ye Qingmei left to the Supervision Yuan, but this passage was not finished, and there were two sentences that disappeared in the dust of history for unknown reasons.

Chen Pingping looked at His Majesty the Emperor indifferently, her withered lips trembled slightly, and she said word by word: "I hope that every citizen of Qingguo can become a king and become the one who rules the territory called his own...... Unique

"Your Majesty, my King. Chen Pingping's eyes were filled with a touch of burning heat and the persistence of being willing to give everything for it.

"Inspectorate...... From the beginning, it was used to monitor you. ”