"Isn't the Jin King's Mansion to your liking?" The emperor's face was dark, and he asked in a gloomy voice.

"Nope." Shen Zhou lowered his head and said.

"What do you like about the Akiba Mountain Residence, you can send a message to the palace, and I can give you anything. But you shouldn't come to have a private meeting with Mo Xue in the middle of the night. The emperor gritted his teeth and said, "You are a child of the clan, Mo Xue is a boudoir woman, and the male and female are unmarried, what do you do with the royal family?" ”

"It's my fault, it's because I'm not used to living in King Jin's house that I secretly ran back." Shen Zhou recognized it and said, "Your Majesty is angry, I'll go back now." ”

"Really? I don't think so. The emperor's gaze fell on Chu Zhixia, as sharp as a knife, "Mo Xue, you say." ”

Chu Zhixia was watched by everyone, her eyes full of deep meaning were like mountains, she couldn't help but take a deep breath, bowed her head to the ground, and said: "His Royal Highness the King of Jin recognized his life, so he repeatedly returned to the Autumn Leaves Mountain Residence. The minister can't persuade him, it's really a fault, please punish your majesty. ”

Without saying a word, the emperor put the teacup on the table, got up and approached Chu Zhixia, and Shen Zhou subconsciously blocked it to the side. The emperor was silently stopped by Shen Zhou for a moment, and Chu Zhixia secretly pulled the hem of his clothes before he stiffened his back and moved away.

"Lift your head up and look at me."

Chu Zhixia straightened up and looked at the emperor.

The emperor stared at Chu Zhixia's delicate face for a long time, and let out a sneer.

"I only use you to dance with knives and guns on weekdays, and I don't have the twists and turns of ordinary daughters, forgetting that your mother is a person from an unknown background who can climb the Chu clan in the clouds." The emperor sarcastically said, "Ah Zhen is a member of the royal family, how can he allow people to entangle and charm? ”

Chu Zhixia listened to the emperor take a bite of "Ah Zhen", and only felt strange and funny, but his face did not show anything. Chu Zhixia quietly listened to the emperor's reprimand and humiliation, and between the words were accusing Chu Zhixia of seducing Shen Zhou and causing their father and son to separate.

But the heart that has never been close, where to talk about clutching.

It's ridiculous.

Chu Zhixia was not shocked, but the hand under Shen Zhou's sleeve was clenched tightly, his palm was pinched out of a circle of blood marks by his fingernails, and the green tendons on his wrist jumped like a snake.

The more Chu Shixia was silent, the more angry the emperor became. The emperor had to see the uneasiness on Chu Zhixia's face, and see fear and submission, in order to demonstrate his supreme imperial power and the confidence to be able to absolutely control his own son.

The fire in the emperor's heart burned more and more, and he suddenly raised his hand and waved it at Chu Zhixia's cheek.

The Emperor's hand stopped in mid-air, and the bones made a pop.

"Bai Zhen, are you going to rebel?" For the first time, the Emperor was angry with Shen Zhou.

"I don't dare."

When Shen Zhou said this, his heart was actually about to explode. Chu Zhixia has knelt in the ancestral hall countless times since he was a child, and the whip has been whipped countless times, but he has never been slapped. Li Qingbai didn't, Chu Mingyan didn't, and Chu Mingxiu didn't.

Shen Zhou stared at him tightly, and said word by word: "But Your Majesty said something wrong, and the minister had to correct it." Your Majesty looked at me and her faces, if you talk about seduction and bewitchment, it is also me who is willing to seduce Chu Zhixia, longing for her eyes and pity. The scheming and shameless person in His Majesty's mouth has always been me. ”

The emperor laughed angrily, said hello three times, took two steps back and pointed at Shen Zhou, "Do you want to talk to your father like this in order to protect an irrelevant outsider?" You are my son, how can you call yourself a courtier like her? You didn't even call me father. ”

"Your Majesty has many sons," Shen Zhou said coldly, "as long as Your Majesty wishes, everyone in the world can call you father." Not one worse than me. ”

Chu Zhixia didn't want to show Shen Zhou's obedience to her in front of the emperor, so she made up her mind not to say a word. But Shen Zhou's words became more and more excessive, and Chu Zhixia had to whisper: "Shen Zhou, don't say it." ”

"Let him speak."

The emperor gritted his teeth and said, "I want to hear if there is anything else he wants to say." I braved the world's condemnation to recognize you, that's how you see me? In your eyes, what is I, the Ninety-Five, the biological father? ”

Shen Zhou bowed his head in a straight posture and said: "The son's words and deeds are not true, please punish Your Majesty." ”

He learned etiquette roughly, and even if he bowed to the ground, his back was straight, like an untamed beast.

——

The emperor took Shen Zhou back to Weiyang Palace, no matter what the emperor said along the way, Shen Zhou recognized it, except for a few words related to Chu Zhixia, and he couldn't bear a bad word. The emperor was so angry that he was dizzy by this son who hated to hold it in the palm of his hand, and as soon as he entered the Weiyang Palace, he dropped something and ordered someone to be punished with a cane.

"Whatever you want, I can give it to you. Only Chu Zhixia can't! The Chu clan in the clouds is so prestigious, and there are countless elite soldiers and strong generals under his command. If you are entangled with her, how can the prince tolerate you, and how can the courtiers tolerate you? The emperor was so angry that his eyes were red, and his chest was rising and falling.

Who is it that makes the prince and the courtiers unable to tolerate me?

Shen Zhou looked at the angry emperor and retorted in his heart, if Shen Zhou was just a nameless guest, then Shen Zhou and Chu Zhixia, two names that grew together and entwined, would not set off any waves in the court at all.

But Shen Zhou also understood that he could no longer anger the emperor, so he unbuttoned his shirt with his own hands and said, "Your Majesty only punishes." ”

Shen Zhou's shirt was always high-necked, seemingly covering the part under the Adam's apple. The clothes all faded away like flowing water, revealing a white jade-like body, but it made Yu Linwei, who was executed, couldn't help but gasp.

His chest and back were crisscrossed with countless scars, like the messy marks left by a rough craftsman on jade. The most shocking thing was the hideous white scar on his throat, which made everyone who saw it breathless.

How is the emperor's favorite son like an outlaw rolling through the jungle of blades? The emperor sat in a daze, trying to get up and help Shen Zhou up, but he couldn't pull his face down. It was as if he had been pierced by a sharp sword, unable to move.

Bai Shan is the best at looking at the eyes, and immediately pleaded with the emperor with a face full of reluctance: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the King of Jin has been living among the people since he was a child, and he has suffered a lot of hardships. Your Majesty, please think twice! ”

The emperor let out a heavy breath and waved his hand tiredly, "Forget it." Today's affairs, I don't care about you, and I won't be embarrassed anymore. ”

The palace people immediately rushed up and served Shen Zhou to put on his clothes. Shen Zhou pushed them away uncomfortably, dressed himself, and looked at the Emperor with a slightly suspicious look from time to time—he couldn't believe that the Emperor had let them go so easily.

"Today is your mother's birthday." The emperor suddenly said, "It is precisely because of this that I will go out of the palace late at night to look for you." But you can't be found in the Jin King's house, so I will go to the Autumn Leaf Mountain Residence. ”

Shen Zhou didn't know what to say, and looked at the emperor dryly.

"Let's go see her with me." The emperor stretched out a hand to sink the boat and said.

Shen Zhou knelt on the spot for some reason and did not move, Bai Shan coughed dryly, lowered his voice and reminded him: "His Royal Highness the King of Jin, why don't you come and support Your Majesty?" ”

——

There is a warm pavilion near the water behind the Weiyang Palace, and there are countless paintings hanging in the attic, and the paintings are all the same person.

A young woman leans on a snow-covered plum tree, or takes a self-portrait by the water, looks at herself, or lazily lies on her side on the couch and waves a fan; Crying, laughing, or frowning, but more often staring blankly into the distance.

Even on the paper, the woman had a sense of emptiness that could not be tolerated here, like falling snow and ink-stained water, which made people unbearable to see her fall directly on the drawing paper. She was supposed to hang in the moonlight, floating among the clouds.

Hundreds of paintings were made by different painters, and the exquisite brushwork of their lives depicted the joys, sorrows, and sorrows of that person in the emperor's memory.

"I met her twenty-five years ago. Looking back on it now, it feels like a dream. ”

The emperor beckoned Shen Zhou to sit beside him, held Shen Zhou's hand, and said, "Your mother is from Loulan, and her name means 'mountain and moon' in the ancient language of Loulan. After Loulan died, she and her clansmen were exiled to the Great Zhou. ”

Shen Zhou listened quietly.

The people of Loulan are good at trade, good at divination, and even claim that the people of Loulan have the ability to communicate with the gods. However, Loulan is located in poor mountains and bad waters, and it is a small country with little strength, which can easily be swallowed up. Shan Yue took the only remaining clansmen to wander away, and met many ill-intentioned people along the way.

Beauty without self-preservation is a sin in troubled times.

For Yama Yue, her beauty is a gift from heaven.

"The people of Loulan could not bear the trouble brought by Shanyue, so they betrayed the goddess they worshipped and offered Shanyue to Da Zhou as a gift, seeking the protection of Da Zhou. Yamazuki was only thirteen years old at the time, and the regent, seeing her as a trophy of the submission of a small country, locked her in a side hall. ”

In the fourth year of Jingtai, the emperor, who was forced to marry the daughter of the regent, broke into the deserted side hall.

Shan Yue, who was leaning on the red window and singing, was alarmed. She turned her head under the moonlight of the veins, her eyelashes were flowing with frosty moonlight, every crevice of her hair was flowing with silver light, and the silver-white skirt was like ripples of water, rippling on the floor layer by layer.

Shan Yue's frightened and puzzled gaze fell on the emperor.

At that moment, the supreme man in the world only felt that God lovingly dropped a kiss on his forehead to send him the first gift of his life.

"I used to be a person with no ambitions, thinking that if I could live my life like this while guarding the mountains and moons, what would happen if the power of the world was ceded to Chen Bang. But I'm too stupid and naïve, and the puppet doesn't have the power to struggle. I can't protect her, and I can't protect you. Being teased and fiddled with by the Chen family, I endured it day after day, and there was not a moment when I didn't want to kill Chen Bang...... Not a moment when I didn't miss her. ”

As he spoke, the emperor almost burst into tears.

He trembled and stroked Shen Zhou's cheek, and said movingly: "Ah Zhen, you look like her." ”

Shen Zhou's eyes were cold, like a mirror, reflecting the emperor's deep affection but unmoved.

——

When Bai Ziche came to visit Shen Zhou, he hadn't left the gate of the Jin Palace's mansion for more than half a month, both openly and secretly.

Shen Zhou lay on the table, teasing the finches in the golden wire cage with slender grass stalks, with a sad expression. The gold wire cage is woven with red gold pressed into thin silk threads, and is embellished with tiny, sparkling red gemstones, like the eyes of a bird. The white cat on the side stared at the trembling finches in the cage.

"Shen Zhou, you don't seem to be in good spirits, are you sick?" Bai Ziche asked politely.

Shen Zhou nodded without hesitation.

Bai Ziche didn't expect him to be really sick, so he asked down the line: "Where is it uncomfortable, why don't you ask a doctor?" ”

"Lovesickness." Shen Zhou said expressionlessly, "The doctor can't cure it." ”

Bai Ziche smiled, fed a grain of millet to the finches in the cage, and said calmly: "Did Your Majesty tell you not to see Chu Zhixia again?" ”

Shen Zhou nodded.

"Will you listen to him, then?"

Shen Zhou hesitated for a moment and said, "Listen for the time being." ”

He hadn't thought about the rest yet.

"Have you ever thought that Chu Zhixia can't stay in the imperial capital for a lifetime, she always has to go back to the clouds. Even if she really stays in the imperial capital for a lifetime, it is impossible to marry the prince. His Majesty would rather let her learn from Empress Chen and knock on wooden fish in the Buddhist hall for the rest of her life. ”

Bai Ziche opened the golden wire cage, looked directly into Shen Zhou's eyes, and asked, "At that time, what are you going to do?" ”

The sunken boat overturned the birdcage violently, and the startled delicate finch fluttered its wings and broke its delicate feathers in vain. The white cat was frightened by the sinking boat, and with a meow, it jumped into the bushes and fled, not even showing the tip of its tail.

"Mo Xue said that after the last battle, we will be able to go home. Why is it different, why is it the way it is now?! The emperor will recognize me, and I will listen to him; He asked me to have a dragon blood jade ring, and I also accepted it; He wanted to change my name, and I didn't say a word. But why did he treat me like this, and did this to Mo Xue! Mo Xue saved him, and he also saved his Jiangshan Sheji, is this how he reciprocates! ”

Shen Zhou's eyes were scarlet, like dripping blood.

——

"You don't know Your Majesty, and you don't know the Emperor."

In the eyes of the emperor, the loyalty and sacrifice of the courtiers were taken for granted, and there was no need to be grateful to Dade, let alone rewarded. If the emperor gives, the courtiers must accept it with bitter tears; If the emperor doesn't give it, the courtiers shouldn't have half a word of complaint. The reward for meritorious deeds and the promotion of officials to knighthood are to encourage others to succeed the clan, and it is by no means the emperor's original gratitude. ”

"In the eyes of the emperor, the whole world and the seas are in the bag, and the subjects are all dust under the boots. Dust can be built on a high platform, a statue of a god can be built, and it can be run over without fear. What is the fate of everyone, it is only waiting for the emperor to decide. ”

"This is the heart of the emperor."

Chu Zhixia said to Pei Zhang.

"So, I no longer expect His Majesty to let me go back to the clouds."

——

Bai Ziche recalled the conversation he was listening to, and the suppressed unwillingness and melancholy in Chu Zhixia's words.

Bai Ziche only felt that Shen Zhou's life was good, and there was such a person who worked hard for him and resisted all the conspiracies and tricks. Chu Zhixia obviously knew that there was no hope in returning to the clouds, but he still couldn't bear to poke the hope of the bubble in the water of the sinking boat. Shen Zhou Zhibai was really angry, compared to Chu Zhixia's despair, there was still a trace of the breath of a living person.

"Shen Zhou, if you are with Mo Xue, your children are descendants of the royal family. The Chu clan in the clouds is entrenched in the four northern states of the country, and intercepts the Beidi Iron Cavalry with the Snow Pass, and is a family with soldiers, power and prestige. ”

Bai Ziche cruelly uncovered this unsolvable death situation, and said: "Your Majesty has already met a regent, and will not tolerate you, or your bloodline, becoming a second puppet to be pinned. Even if you and Mo Xue have a deep relationship, can you guarantee that the Chu family will be loyal and good generals for generations and not ambitious? ”

"The more you argue with Your Majesty over Mo Xue, the more Your Majesty will rack your brains to eradicate her. Your affection, your maintenance, sooner or later will kill her. ”

"The title is taken from Li Yu's "Seeing Huan": "Lin Hua thanked Chunhong, too hurried. Helplessly, the cold rain came in the morning and the wind came in the evening. Rouge tears, drunk together, when heavy. Since people grow and hate water, they grow up. ”」