A small meeting attended only by Tianziqi, Shen Tujia, and Yuan Ang came to an end after Shen Tujia's sudden cough.

Half an hour later, Shen Tujia, who finally recovered from the severe cough and was given a needle and a pulse by the palace master, was sent back to the mansion by the palace official.

That day and night, the news that came out of Shang Guanli finally made people inside and outside the government and the opposition secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Shen Tujia, it's okay.

But just because Shen Tujia is okay doesn't mean that everyone else is okay.

- For example, early the next morning, he put on his court clothes, got into a carriage, and set off from his own home······

·

The carriage drove slowly on Huayang Street, making a 'creaking' rutting sound.

In the front room of the carriage, Zhonglang General Zhidu's face was grim, and between his eyebrows, there was a faint sadness.

At this time, Chao Cuo, who was wearing court clothes, was sitting on the carriage driven by Zhidu himself, and let the carriage drive towards the market farther and farther away from Weiyang Palace······

"Chao Gong, aren't you curious?"

"—not curious."

Zhi Du asked softly, but only got a cold answer from Chao Wrong, which made Zhi Du's already ugly face a little unbearable.

After thinking about it for a long time, I felt that the words on my lips turned into bursts of sighs and inexplicable promises one after another.

"The wife is small at home, Chao Gong, don't worry······"

"-Okay."

"I will also try to help with the funeral as much as possible······"

"-Okay."

"If it is possible, Chao Gong's heir, I will send Chao Gong's teacher: Zhang Hui Zhangzi's side······"

"-Good ······"

Listening to the car window, Zhidu promised one after another, but Chao Cuo was still sitting in the carriage, his eyes closed, and he only squeezed out the word 'good' from time to time.

The carriage just went all the way, and walked······

At last we came to the corner of the street not far from the market, and a slightly old, but still full of breath called a call, finally stopped the carriage.

Chao Cuo's eyes, which had always been closed, finally opened slowly.

"Who's in the carriage?"

Hearing the sound of the call sign, Chao Cuo leaned out indifferently, lifted the curtain, and looked out the window at the veteran.

"The history is wrong."

Seeing Chao Cuo poke his head out, the veteran was not surprised, but raised his head with a smile: "Chao Gong, where do you want to go?" ”

"—Enter the palace and face the saint."

A few short sentences of dialogue, but for this Chang'an City at the beginning of spring, it adds a bit of inexplicable loneliness.

Chao Cuo's house is just outside the Weiyang Palace, only one street away from the palace wall;

But here, it is near the market a few miles away from Weiyang Palace······

"Please get out of the car."

Hearing Chao Cuo's brief reply, the veteran raised his head as if smiling and stared at Chao Cuo for a long time.

Seeing Chao Cuo, he was not annoyed, so he opened the curtain with his hand and looked at himself expressionlessly, the veteran seemed to be too addicted, and beckoned Chao Cuo to get out of the car.

Then, the veteran took the lead, and the sergeants on both sides of the street cleared the way, leading Chao Cuo to a dilapidated abandoned mansion.

From walking out of the house in official uniforms and getting into the carriage driven by Zhidu himself, to the moment in front of this abandoned mansion, Chao Cuo did not ask even a single question.

Chao Cuo didn't ask Zhidu: When you enter the palace to face the saint, why do you need Zhonglang to send it in person?

Chao Cuo didn't ask Zhidu: Since it is to enter the palace and face the saint, why do you want to drive in the direction of the market?

Until this moment, he stopped in front of this inconspicuous dilapidated mansion, Chao Cuo, and still did not speak, asking the veteran next to him: Why did we come here.

It's as if everything has a premonition;

It's as if everything is predestined······

Under the veteran's gradually admiring gaze, Chao Cuo's face, which had always been disillusioned in the past few months, finally emerged a slight change.

Seeing that Chao was mistakenly determined, he subconsciously straightened his waist, and carefully sorted out the mink crown on his head, the court clothes on his body, and the silver and silver hanging from the cyan ribbon on his waist.

In the end, Chao Cuo forced out a smile and looked at the small courtyard in front of him.

Reach out and push the door open;

When Chao Cuo's footsteps, the moment he stepped into the courtyard, looking at Chao Cuo's back full of determination, even if he was a veteran who had always been against Chao Cuo, he couldn't help but sigh slightly.

"Alas······"

·

"Teacher."

When Chao mistakenly walked into the house, it was not surprising that it was the figure of Tianzi Qi waiting here.

It's just that at this moment, Tianzi Qi's eyes are slightly red;

On the desk in front of Tianzi Qi, there were also sumptuous meals, as well as two obviously uncommon large bowls.

This large bowl for drinking can only appear in two places and is used by two kinds of people;

- Officers and men in the army who are receiving rewards;

-- The prisoner who is about to be beheaded at the court······

"Teacher, sit down······"

There was a slightly trembling greeting from Tianzi Qi in his ears, and Chao Cuo only stepped forward with a smile.

When Chao Cuo came to the case, Tianzi Qi had already grabbed the wine jar and filled the wine bowl in front of him.

put down the wine jar, picked up the wine bowl in front of him, and Tianziqi stood up from his seat;

Holding the wine bowl in both hands, he looked at the front with a sad expression, this old friend who had been dealing with him for more than 20 years.

"Student, a bowl of respect to the teacher!"

Seeing that the Son of Heaven gave such a big gift, Chao Cuo did not turn sideways to avoid the salute in fear as usual, or knelt on the ground, saying 'I don't dare'.

With a slight smile, he leaned down, poured himself a bowl of wine, and then grabbed the bowl on the table;

Holding the wine bowl in both hands, he lifted the wine bowl towards the sky.

The two of them just smiled lightly, choked up, each holding a wine bowl, and looked at each other for a long time.

Eventually, both of them lowered their heads at the same time and took a sip of the cloudy wine in the bowl.

It's been like this for a long time, for a long time······

In the two bowls, there was obviously not a drop of wine left, but no one put down the bowls between the teachers and students, the monarch and the ministers.

On the two faces covered by wine bowls, the teachers and students looked different, but they couldn't cry at the same time······

"Ha~"

The first to put down the wine bowl was a mistake.

Putting down the wine bowl freely, and pouring it to himself, Chao Cuo burst into tears at the same time, and between his eyebrows, he showed a sense of relief and relief.

After that, Tianzi Qi also took the empty wine bowl away from his face.

It's just that at the same time as he opened the wine bowl, Tianzi Qi immediately turned sideways;

quickly grabbed his face with his hand, and Tianziqi pretended to go to the window to see the scenery, but in fact, he seemed to want the tears in his eyes to be dried by the spring breeze outside the window.

Just after a while, Tianzi Qi became a little irritable, and he swung his fist full of anger and smashed it on the earthen wall in front of him!

With his back to Chao Cuo, he gritted his teeth with tears, and stood by the wall for a while, Tianzi Qicai took a deep breath and explained very deliberately: "This rain is really upsetting······"

But a few days ago, Chao Cuo only smiled with tears, raised the wine bowl in his hand with a big grin, and drank the wine again.

After drinking two bowls of wine in succession, Chao Cuo's face also turned red slightly.

It is that face that exudes elegance at all times, and faintly has a slightly sharp face, and at this moment, I can't help but have a touch of heroism that only soldiers and chivalrous people have.

"The minister remembers that the first time the minister went to the prince's school, the day when he taught for His Majesty, it also rained, right?"

Leisurely asked, and when Tianzi Qi slowly turned around, Chao Cuo shook his head and smiled.

"That day, the minister will never forget it in his life."

"——As soon as the minister arrived at the palace gate, His Majesty held a cloth umbrella and greeted him at the palace gate;"

"From the minister to the carriage, all the way to the prince's school, the minister was up and down, and he was stunned that there was not a drop of rain."

"On the contrary, Your Majesty, in order to hold an umbrella for the ministers, he was drenched with most of his body and burned for several days in a row······"

said with emotion, and a touch of embarrassment immediately surged on his wrong face.

"Hey ······"

"For this matter, the minister was still in front of the first emperor, and he was beaten and hanged······"

"It's the Queen Mother, and since that day, she has lost a good face to her ministers·········"

With Chao Cuo's calm tone, Tianzi Qi, who was standing by the window, couldn't help but recall that past.

At that time, Liu Qi was just in his early teens.

The matter of Prince Wu has only happened for a long time.

In the palace, Mrs. Shen is being favored by the first emperor, and Mrs. Shen's son Liu Yi is also more and more praised by the government and the opposition.

On the other hand, Liu Qi was first accused by the government and the opposition inside and outside because of the matter of Prince Wu;

And because of 'leaving the palace and returning late', he was caught by Zhang Shizhi, the court lieutenant at that time, and forced the emperor to take off his hat to Zhang Shizhi to apologize······

Everything is developing in a direction that is not conducive to Liu Qi and Empress Dou.

And the one who finally sounded the alarm was the famous man who was appointed as the prince of Liang by an edict from the first emperor: Jia Yi·········

"yes~"

"In the blink of an eye, more than 20 years have passed······"

"King Liang Huai and Jia Changsha have already turned into loess."

"It's our teachers and students, but it's good to live in this world·········"

A sigh full of melancholy sounded, and a smile finally swelled up on the tear-stained face of the Son of Heaven.

It's just that this smile is extremely complicated.

Especially on the face of being wronged, the relieved smile that was so pure that he couldn't see the slightest impurity was set off, which was even more complicated.

"Back then, there was a hidden danger in the position of the prince."

"Jia Yi, who is famous all over the world, was also sent to King Liang Huai by the first emperor to be the prince's concubine."

"If it weren't for the appearance of the teacher, I would have thought that I would lose the position of the crown prince and die at the hands of my own brother······"

shook his head and sighed again, but it only caused Chao to laugh again.

With a relaxed smile on his face, he poured another bowl of wine for himself, and said while pouring it: "It turns out that the first emperor did not choose the wrong one. ”

"Your Majesty, it's the right person."

"If it is King Liang Huai, then in such a field today, I am afraid that this temple and community will ······."

"Hey!"

Halfway through his words, Chao Cuo stopped talking at the right time, grabbed the wine bowl with a chuckle, and poured it down again.

On the opposite side of the case, watching Chao Cuo pour wine one bowl after another, Tianziqi's heart was painful one after another······

"In the past, I never heard that teachers like to eat and drink?"

asked softly, only to provoke Chao Cuo to wave his hand indifferently, but he did not stop drinking.

After a bowl of wine was drunk, Chao Cuo let out a comfortable 'ha~', and then looked at Tianzi Qi in front of him with a smile.

"When Your Majesty was still the crown prince, I was afraid that people would seize Your Majesty's handle and say that the prince was a drunkard who was addicted to alcohol."

"After Your Majesty sat on the throne, there were too many facts in your hands, and there were too many enemies in the court;"

"I'm afraid that one day, I will drink too much, do things that I shouldn't do, and say things I shouldn't say······"

"-It's okay now~"

"You don't have to worry so much anymore, you can open your belly and eat a meal!"

With a free and easy word, Chao Cuo stretched out his hand again and grabbed the wine jar that had been half drunk by himself;

Only this time, Tianzi Qi did not 'watch coldly' again.

"Students have been teaching for more than 20 years······

saw Tianzi Qi return to the desk, grabbed the wine jar with both hands, and was busy pouring wine into the wrong bowl in his hands, but in his tone, he also quietly choked.

"In the past 20 years, I have never poured a glass of wine for the teacher······"

"Teacher ······"

"Please ······"

Hearing the choking in Tianziqi's tone, Chao Cuo finally took away the smile on his face and stretched out his hand with a sad expression.

Picking up the wine bowl, Chao Cuo did not forget to straighten up, holding the wine bowl with both hands, and bowed deeply to Tianzi Qi, who was standing in front of him.

"Minister, ashamed to lead ······"

thanked him, drank all the wine in the bowl, put the wine bowl back in front of the desk, and still didn't play and said: "Thank you, Your Majesty······"

As the wine bowl was once again placed back on the table, time seemed to freeze again.

Nei Shi Chao sat in front of the desk, bowing his head and saying nothing;

The Son of Heaven stood beside Chao Cuo, weeping and speechless.

After a long while, Tianzi Qicai once again adjusted from his sad mood, wiped away the tears on his face with his forearm, and finally sat down in front of the desk.

"In the past, my teacher always taught me: in this world, right is right, wrong is wrong, black and white, clear at a glance."

"But the student, since he sat in the position of the emperor, he felt more and more that he couldn't tell the difference between right and wrong······

"—Some things are obviously right, but students try their best to never get it done!"

"And there are some things that are obviously wrong, but no matter how unwilling the students are, they have to do ······"

Hearing Tianzi Qi's words full of loneliness, Chao Cuo couldn't help shaking his head and sighing, and took his eyes off Tianzi Qi.

After thinking for a long time, he suddenly shook his head and smiled.

"The minister still thinks: Yes, that is, yes; Wrong, that's wrong. ”

"The right thing will be right in the end;"

"What is wrong, in the end, is still wrong."

"—It's just that sometimes, the wrong thing will be done in the right way, so it will appear that he is right."

"And the right thing, sometimes, also needs to use 'wrong' means to achieve the 'right' goal."

"At the end of the day, it's right and wrong, it's not the process that matters;"

"It's the result ······"

Chao Cuo's calm and soothing tone finally made Tianzi Qi choke again;

looked at Chao Cuo's gaze, and was full of guilt.

"Teacher, you taught me ······"

"Poisonous snakes gnaw their teeth, strong men break their wrists;"

"For the world, no, regardless of the ······ of wealth"

Mixed with sobbing words, Tianzi Qi could no longer raise his head, facing in front of him, this teacher who had taught and accompanied him for more than 20 years, only bent down deeply towards Chao Cuo, bowed his head and sobbed;

On the opposite side of the case, Chao Cuo exhaled a long breath full of feelings, and with a complex smile composed of relief, fear, joy, and grief, he slowly nodded towards Tianziqi.

"Your Majesty's meaning, the minister understands ······"

"You don't even need Your Majesty to say that the minister himself has already expected this day."

"In the past time, the minister has also been thinking about how to cooperate with Your Majesty, so that Your Majesty will not be infamous because of this incident······"

As he spoke, he lowered his head with a smile, tidied up his robe casually, and stood up from the desk.

After pacing two steps in the direction of the far door, Chao Cuo turned around and pointed out the window with a chuckle.

"It's sunny after the rain;"

"Minister, it's time to hit the road."

"I just have a few last words, I want to say ······ to Your Majesty"

At this moment, Tianzi Qi was already sitting in front of the desk, crying silently;

Hearing this, he only waved his hand weakly.

"After the minister leaves, Wu Chu will definitely not retreat!"

"This rebellion will only end at the cost of blood and tears!"

"After the rebellion is over, Your Majesty, you must not stop cutting the feudal domain!"

"——The calamity of the clan prince and the vassal king is like the water and grass on the grassland, the wildfire is inexhaustible, and the spring breeze blows and grows again······"

"Your Majesty, you must take advantage of the power of quelling the rebellion to implement the method of 'the son of the king of Tui'en' mentioned by Jia Yi in the "Public Security Policy" to all the clan princes in one fell swoop!"

"Only in this way can we completely solve the problem of the tail of the clan relatives and princes, and create favorable conditions for my Han family to raise troops to the north in the future, crusade against Hulu, and create favorable conditions·······"

When these words were said earnestly, Chao Cuo wept and smiled bitterly, and knelt down in the courtyard gate;

Chao Tianzi knocked down three times, and Chao Cuo got up resolutely and pushed open the closed courtyard door.

"Teacher!"

was about to step out of the threshold, but there was a sad cry from the Son of Heaven behind him, which caused Chao to stop subconsciously.

But after a while, the words that Chao Cuo rushed to his lips finally had to turn into a burst of helplessness······

Close the courtyard door and turn around;

Seeing Tianzi Qi sitting paralyzed in front of the desk, he was reluctant to look at himself, but Chao Cuo only shook his head with a wry smile.

"For his family, the minister has no other explanation;"

"I didn't walk out of the courtyard gate, and it's not that I don't want to go."

"—but at this moment, the prime minister, is ······ outside the courtyard gate"

The low voice of words provoked the crying Tianzi Qi couldn't help but be stunned!

But seeing Chao Cuo, he smiled bitterly and lowered his head, and bowed to the Son of Heaven again.

"Minister, I'm afraid I won't be able to see the prime minister······"

"I still need to bother Your Majesty to separate the prime minister······"

"Just wait for Your Majesty to leave the courtyard gate, and the minister should leave through the back door, outside the East City, and go on the road with peace of mind······."

(End of chapter)