Strange Tale of Qingluan

Su Zhongming and the fourth prince Chao Sheng came out of the Empress Dowager's bedroom together, chatted and laughed with him, and then turned their backs to each other and parted ways.Chao Sheng went to Chasing Lin Palace on his own, and opened the door of the house that was already covered with dust. It was dark and unclear because no one lived there for a long time.

Chao Sheng walked into the hall and ordered the eunuchs who followed him to open all the windows. He walked to each small pavilion by himself, looking at them while walking, and slowly recalling the happiness when he lived with his mother and concubine when he was a child. day.

Concubine Mu, I'm back, that woman must have made you very unconvinced when she became the queen mother, right?It doesn't matter, after I drive her son down and ascend the throne, I will definitely send her to clean the palace and tomb for the mother and concubine. —He walked, thinking so in his heart.

The eunuchs were busy in the hall, sweeping the dust and dust, and removing the old tea sets for new ones. With his back to them, Chao Sheng opened the old boxes and looked at the old things leisurely, as if he was not in the same world as them .

He took out a picture scroll from the box, and was opening it to look at it, when a voice sounded from behind, "Fourth Prince, it's already packed." He looked at the picture scroll, without looking back, only replied: "Go down!" After saying that, three or five eunuchs immediately walked out, leaving him alone in the hall.

Su Zhongming returned to Zhuzhen Palace, entered Bingzheng Hall, and leaned against the window lattice behind Yitian, looking very unhappy.Yitian was writing diligently, without saying a word, Su Zhongming occasionally glanced back at him, and said to him: "Today, the queen mother's great enemy is back..."

Yitian couldn't understand, so he quickly raised his head and asked: "Who is the queen mother's enemy?" Su Zhongming told him calmly: "The fourth prince, the one named Chaosheng." Yi Tianping said "Oh" flatly, and continued to write .Su Zhongming looked at his uncontested reaction, from the heart to the root of his teeth, he was not frosty, and blurted out: "Can you give me a reaction that matches my current mood? I am super ~ level ~ no ~ frost .”

After hearing this, Yitian looked up at his face again, and couldn't help worrying whether he would order him to copy the book, and said with an innocent face: "If I pretend to be angry, you will definitely see it immediately, and it will definitely make you more unhappy. Yes. I'm still... like this, but I will sympathize with you and the Queen Mother!"

Su Zhongming stared at him dissatisfied for a moment, then looked away helplessly, "Forget it...you, a little kid, of course don't understand hatred. Actually... I don't understand either. It's just that when I watched Chao Sheng, I felt It's not frost."

"Does he look like a bad guy?" Yi Tian asked curiously.Su Zhongming shook his head, walked to him, and sat down, "No, it's just that his eyes and tone make people feel very unconvinced. I can guarantee that nothing good will happen to him when he comes back this time." He grabbed another picture he wrote I took a look at the paper and couldn't help complaining, "After practicing for so long, why is my writing uglier than mine?"

Yitian's face showed innocence again, "If I write better than the teacher, will the teacher praise me? I will be angry, right?" Su Zhongming squinted, only glanced at him indifferently, and did not answer.Yitian suddenly begged, "I want Master Hou to teach me how to write, is it possible?"

Su Zhongming gave an 'ah' in surprise, and asked in confusion: "Ask him to teach you how to write? Why?" Yi Tian replied with a face of course: "I have seen him write in his house before, and his calligraphy is really good! I also want to write such good calligraphy." When Su Zhongming heard this, he couldn't help feeling jealous, couldn't control his mouth, and began to murmur dissatisfiedly: "Yes, yes, his martial arts are good, his calligraphy is good, what about your teacher? Will not work……"

Yitian smiled and said, "I... I didn't say anything! Don't punish me for copying books." Su Zhongming snorted lightly, becoming more and more unhappy, and only ordered him, "Hurry up and continue practicing calligraphy! "Yi Tian didn't dare to disobey, so he buried his head and continued to write.

The next day, at the court meeting, Su Zhongming came late, and as soon as he entered the hall, he saw that Chao Sheng had already presided over the meeting without his permission, and all the officials were also attentively listening to Chao Sheng's speech on political affairs.Su Zhongming graciously walked to his own seat, and the officials all got up silently after realizing it, only Chao Sheng didn't realize it, he was talking vigorously.

When Su Zhongming passed by him and sat on the honored seat, Chao Sheng turned his head and said respectfully to him: "Because I haven't seen your Majesty arrive for a long time, I can't wait to discuss with all ministers. If Your Majesty is angry, please calm down." .” Su Zhongming was expressionless, feeling in his heart that he did it on purpose, and only said to the officials: “If you have anything to say today, just say it.”

An elderly minister immediately replied: "Before Your Majesty came, these matters had already been discussed under the auspices of the fourth prince. Now it is the fourth prince who is talking about Ge Yunguo's affairs, and he is talking about Geyunguo's farming policies. The ministers feel that Ge Yunguo's policy can be used as a reference, and I implore Your Majesty to allow the fourth prince to continue talking."

"Okay, since you all want to hear Ge Yunguo's strategy for governing the country, please go ahead, fourth uncle!" Su Zhongming looked kindly on the surface, but he was unhappy in his heart.

When Chao Sheng heard what he said, he felt a little complacent, he only pretended to be pertinent and benevolent on the surface, thanked Su Zhongming, sat on the table with the ministers, and continued to talk freely.Su Zhongming didn't have a chance to speak, so he could only sit on the honored seat and listen to Chao Sheng's speech boredly, and squinted at Chao Sheng presiding over the court meeting.

After the meeting, Su Zhongming didn't need the eunuch to follow him, he walked slowly and sullenly alone, after Ding Xuehou came out of the hall, he searched for him all the way for a long time, finally saw his figure in the long corridor, and hurriedly followed.

Hearing footsteps, Su Zhongming looked back and found that the person following was Ding Xuehou, so he continued to walk slowly.He murmured as he walked, obviously for Ding Xuehou to hear, "My heart is so cold..." Ding Xuehou listened, as expected, he cared very much as he wished, and blurted out a comforting sentence, "Chao Sheng came back on his own, indeed. It is surprising, and besides, he presided over the court without authorization, which is really unsatisfactory."

"Is this what you have in mind? Isn't it perfunctory for me?" Su Zhongming glanced back at him, obviously questioning.Ding Xuehou looked calm, and calmly replied: "Why should I perfunctory you? You never promised me that I would have a fantasy tonight." Su Zhongming immediately made an arm gesture with himself when he heard the words that were beyond words. Dingxuehou walking side by side.

"Don't mention the last two words in broad daylight! You want everyone to know what we did between us?" Su Zhongming blurted out dissatisfied, and hummed softly.Ding Xuehou had been carefully observing his emotions and his temperament before, but this was not enough to prove that he understood him. Whenever he faced his emotions, he had only one way - to remain calm and silent.

After being together for a long time without words, Su Zhongming seemed to have calmed down, and opened his lips and said: "This Chaosheng came back suddenly, I suspect...he has another purpose. Although he kept saying that he had repented for the past, I always felt that he was just pretending, I've been thinking about something in my mind for a long time."

"En." Ding Xuehou looked down at the road, and replied, expressing his approval of his idea.Su Zhongming was also dissatisfied, and once again thought that he was being perfunctory, and muttered: "You don't have your own ideas." Ding Xuehou looked up at his expression, and felt that he was very difficult to deal with, so he couldn't help blurting, "He and you I don’t know what you said and what tone you used, so what can you think? Since you said that, I agree, and you are unhappy if you agree, I don’t know what to do.”

Su Zhongming snorted at him, walked forward quickly, and ignored him.Seeing this, Ding Xuehou knew that his quick words would actually lead to such a situation. He watched Su Zhongming gradually walk away, and wanted to follow in his heart, but he didn't dare. It was a big mistake, so he simply didn't move, watching Su Zhongming disappear after turning the corner.

A day later, Su Zhongming woke up from his afternoon nap and straightened his clothes. Suddenly, someone broke into the palace majestically, sneaked into the palace of Zhu Zhen skillfully by using light skills, and went straight into the window, which burst open with a bang.Su Zhongming was startled when he heard this sound, and the moment he turned his head, his mouth was blocked by the intruder.

A eunuch's doubtful voice sounded outside, "Your Majesty, what happened?" Dudu's footsteps also slowly approached along with the human voice.After hearing this, the intruder immediately withdrew his hands, dodged behind the screen, and hid inside.As soon as Su Zhongming turned around, three or two eunuchs rushed in, and one of them asked him, "Your Majesty, did something unusual happen just now?"

Su Zhongming opened his lips and was about to speak behind the screen when he accidentally saw a mask lying under the eunuch's feet, so he bent down and picked it up. After a look, he suddenly changed his mind and replied calmly: "It's okay, there is a mask." It’s just a stray cat breaking in.” As soon as the words fell, the person hiding behind the screen imitated the cat’s voice and barked a few times.When the eunuchs heard the sound, they all believed it, and didn't carefully identify whether it was really a cat, bowed to Su Zhongming, and all backed out.

As soon as the eunuch left, Su Zhongming said to the screen, "You can come out now." The intruder walked out quickly, took the mask Su Zhongming handed him, and buckled it in the middle of his head.Su Zhongming glanced at it, and couldn't help but let out a burst of laughter. Since the last time he met Shangyuan Hexiang in the Huangyuan Congress, he thought it was just a habit of that woman, but he didn't want...it turned out to be from the children of Mufeng Society. a habit.

"What's your purpose of breaking into the palace in broad daylight? You don't have money to spend, do you want to steal something?" Su Zhongming asked suspiciously.With a serious face on He Xiao's face, he replied: "I'm not short of that money for the time being, and I just came in today to meet with you for a while." Su Zhongming became more puzzled, and asked, "How long have you stayed in Wen Country? ?”

He Xiao didn't answer first, but he laughed first. After laughing for a while, he finally explained Su Zhongming's confusion, "Actually, I went back after we separated last time." Su Zhongming stared blankly with wide eyes, unable to Believe it, "This... such a long journey, how could you return in just two or three days?!"

"First, I set out from Ge Yunguo on a big boat, followed the Wuhuang River to Liguo, and then went straight into the sea from the river's estuary, and then sailed all the way back!" He Xiao told Su Zhongming the way he came and went.

So that's the case, no wonder he was able to come to Wen Country every three to five days. —— Su Zhongming muttered to himself, raised his head and asked him, "You can't just see me, right?" He Xiao raised the corners of his lips, "Of course, I just don't know if it's worth it to you."

Su Zhongming didn't answer, but the eyes staring at He Xiao were full of curiosity.He Xiao guessed that he would be interested, so he replied: "I deliberately sneaked into the poisonous old man's pharmacy in Timu to steal the antidote for you..." Su Zhongming was pleasantly surprised when he heard this, and hurriedly asked: "What about the antidote?" Woolen cloth?"

He Xiao was full of regret, and continued: "I was caught by Timu on the spot, accused, and taken to the execution room to sell my punishment. The saddest thing is that sentence of Timu. There is no antidote to what he has achieved over the past 20 years."

"There is no antidote..." Su Zhongming's heart was shocked, and his mind went blank for a while.Seeing that he only cared about the antidote and not what he had done for him, He Xiao felt a little unhappy, with a puzzled expression on his face, "You only care about the antidote, I have suffered so badly for your friend, you Always take pity on me and care about me, right?"

Su Zhongming came back to his senses, sighed softly, and then asked him, "Where did you hurt?" He Xiao subconsciously scratched his back, and said calmly, "It's just been whipped for several hours." Su Zhongming listened , frowned, unaware that there was a lie in his words, his eyes were full of pity, "It's just stealing medicine, Mu Fengshe actually did it so viciously..."