Humane Yongchang

In the 12th year of the Han calendar, autumn.

When Chen Tai, the second son of Chen Sheng, commanded a fleet of [-] iron-clad ships in the East China Sea, and launched the first voyage of Hanwai to explore the outside world.

Chen Sheng from Jinling City quietly came to Xiao He's mansion... This veteran of the Han Dynasty who has gone through the three magnificent eras of the Ji Zhou Dynasty, the Renwu Dynasty, and the Republic of China is about to come to the end of his life.

As soon as Chen Sheng entered the door, he saw Xiao He's two sons, Xiao Lu and Xiao Yan, leading the whole family of the Xiao family, all the elders and children, kneeling inside the door to welcome him with the great ceremony that greeted kings in ancient times.

Chen Sheng was displeased: "Who taught you to perform such a grand ceremony?"

Xiao Lu, who was the head of the Salt Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs at the time, kowtowed sadly and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, my father specially ordered that if Your Majesty comes to visit, we must welcome His Majesty with the gift of a subject bowing down to the king. Whether it is the new government or the new government, the Xiao family will always be His Majesty's most loyal subjects, you should remember the righteousness of the monarch and the ministers, and observe the etiquette of the monarch and the ministers..."

All the young and old members of the Xiao family kowtowed together and said: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live, long live."

Chen Sheng chewed on Xiao He's words, he didn't like it, but he still reprimanded him with a tiger face: "You two brothers, don't listen to your old and foolish father. He is clearly dissatisfied with me in his heart. I'm taking eye drops!"

As he spoke, he strode towards the backyard as if he had entered no one's land. Xiao Lu quickly got up, bowed and walked beside Chen Sheng, leading the way for him.

As soon as Fang set foot in the backyard, a group of gray-haired old men with sticks and crutches squeezed into Chen Sheng's eyes: Han Fei, Fan Zeng, Meng Tian, ​​Li Xin... Even the youngest Chen Ping was already a grey-haired man. Middle-aged.

Chen Sheng glanced at these gray-haired old men in a blink of an eye, and his heart became more and more uncomfortable, but he said in a strange voice: "Hey, it's quite neat, look at who this is, isn't this General Meng Tianmeng? Even I Changning You can't even invite the autumn banquet in the palace, I thought you were already paralyzed..."

Meng Tian smirked and glanced away...why didn't I dare to go, don't you have any idea?
"His Majesty……"

Fan Zeng came to greet him with a shy face, Chen Sheng glanced at him, snorted, and went straight to Xiao He's bedroom, making Fan Zeng blush.

He turned his head abruptly, and said angrily at Han Fei: "You are still embarrassed to laugh, if you hadn't pushed us to force the palace back then, how could His Majesty have hated me for so long?"

Han Fei, who obviously didn't smile:? ? ?
Li Xin's eyes were full of schadenfreude, and he secretly rejoiced that it was fortunate that when Han Fei tried to force the palace, he was still in the East China Sea to hand over the command of the navy, and he was not in Jinling, so he escaped the catastrophe.

Chen Ping, the only young man present, was stroking his gray beard and watching them quarrel, thinking in his heart, should he also retire?

Chen Sheng walked into the bedroom, and all the doctors around the bed got up to make way for him.

After Chen Sheng stopped their ceremony, he glanced at the thousand-year-old wild ginseng, Tianshan snow lotus and other hanging objects scattered in the room, and he knew that Xiao He had run out of time.

He pulled over a small horse tie, sat in front of the sickbed, looked at Xiao He on the sickbed who was thin, his eyes were dull, and every breath seemed to use up all his strength, and he said with a gentle smile: "I said, old Xiao He Ah, you are not a real person, I have treated you well after all these years, how can you still treat me like this?"

Hearing his voice, Xiao He finally knew that he was coming, two brilliance suddenly lit up in his dim eyes, he tried his best to smile and said: "I have been an official for half my life tremblingly, but I can't accept my minister when I'm here." Straighten your back and say something from your heart?"

Chen Sheng: "If your words spread, others will think that I have oppressed you."

Xiao He tried his best to shake his head, and he was so exhausted that his head was full of blue veins, and he said: "I know that in your majesty's heart, I have never trusted me, and I think that I am loyal to the King of Yue..."

Although this is an old thing many years ago.

But this matter was deeply buried in his heart, and he couldn't say it out loud.

If he can't explain this matter clearly at the end of the day, he will die with a grudge in his heart!

Chen Sheng looked at him struggling to squeeze out word by word, and was really afraid that the old guy would belch before he finished speaking, and he would die in peace, so he stretched out his hand and patted his arm lightly, and gave two Xu Renhuang was overwhelmed and relieved his pain.

"To be honest, I did have concerns about this a few years ago, but that's not because I didn't believe in your character!"

"On the contrary, I believe in your character too much, so I have this concern, otherwise, I will give what the King of Yue can give, and I will give what the King of Yue can't. How can I still think that you are thinking of the King of Yue? "

"Of course, I think so, maybe it's out of a kind of protection for you. As long as I don't give you the opportunity to collude with internal and external parties and rebel against each other, you can all have a good death... How dare you say that in the early years, Liu Bang If that fellow had the opportunity to rebel, wouldn't you help him succeed?"

He never disdained the act of a hypocrite with a sweet belly sword. Even when facing Ying Zheng who dominated the Western Regions back then, he was not afraid to put his guard and checks and balances in the open.

What's more, to an old minister who is already on his deathbed?

After hearing this, Xiao He showed an expression of "as expected". After being supported by Chen Sheng's majestic spirit, his spirit slightly improved, and his speech became much smoother: "Old minister knows, your Majesty must think so, But in fact, since the day when His Majesty released the King of Yue to cross the south of the Yangtze River to Baiyue, the old minister has firmly believed that His Majesty will be a greater enlightened ruler than the King of Yue!"

Chen Sheng smiled and said: "Isn't this still related to the King of Yue?"

Xiao He shook his head: "The old minister said so, not because His Majesty let go of the Yue King, but because of His Majesty's deeds, which the Yue King would never be able to do..."

Chen Sheng thought for a while and said with a smile: "Among all the people I have met, when it comes to understanding people, except for that old man Fan Zeng, you should be the leader!"

Hearing this, Xiao He's face became inexplicably brighter: "In this way, Your Majesty believes that the old minister is a humerus minister who is loyal to His Majesty?"

Chen Sheng: "Is it important to believe it or not?"

Xiao He: "To the old minister...important!"

Chen Sheng thought about it seriously for a while, until the brilliance on Xiao He's face began to fade, and he said: "When I was leading the army in person, every time I thought of Han Fei, Fan Zeng, and you in the court, I would not be afraid of the rear. When you feel anxious, you can concentrate on fighting the enemy in front of you."

A brighter brilliance broke out in Xiao He's eyes again, and he smiled and shook his hands at Chen Sheng: "It is enough for Xiao He to be praised by His Majesty in this life, and let the old minister take a step ahead. ... I wish my emperor long live and the great man long live!"

As soon as the words fell, his breath also took a sharp turn. There was still a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, but his pupils had completely dilated.

Chen Sheng reached out to feel his pulse, only to find that his pulse had stopped.

He was silent for a moment and sighed heavily.

Human imperial energy possesses many inconceivable great powers, such as one thought blooms a hundred flowers and one thought suppresses mountains and seas.

But the matter of life and death is still a forbidden area that the emperor's spirit cannot set foot in.

Except for life and death, everything is trivial...

Chen Sheng got up sullenly, took one last look at Xiao He who was smiling, turned around and slowly walked out of the bedroom.

The members of the Xiao family waiting outside saw Chen Sheng come out with a gloomy expression, and there was no sound in the room, and they burst into tears.

On the other side, many old men who came to see off Xiao He, an old friend and colleague who had been a minister for more than [-] years, for the last journey also sighed in unison.

At their age, this kind of thing is the worst thing to see.

But at their age, this is what they see the most.

Chen Sheng walked among them slowly, moved his eyes and glanced at them one by one. Every time he saw a person, the appearance of them in the past appeared in his heart.

"You're all dying, take care of your old bones..."

He said lightly: "Try to find trouble for me for a few more years!"

A group of old fellows were very touched, and were about to say thank you, when they heard Chen Sheng say again: "Except for Han Fei, if you are willing to die early, I have no opinion at all, tomorrow will be all right, I will keep it for you Burial, if the country has no money, I can still hold a banquet for you at my own expense!"

The old guys' skillful expressions of gratitude didn't show up, and they turned into funny and dumbfounded. Everyone thought that the love and killing between the old friends was really interesting!

Han Fei didn't seem to see the weirdness on the faces of the old men, so he nodded with a smile and said, "Then I'll try to die as soon as possible, and try to cheat you for a feast. It's agreed, I want a grand burial, but You can't send me away with ten tables and eight tables of meager banquets!"

He has already become a sub-sage. Over the years, as the status of the law in the great man has become more and more lofty, his realm has also risen with the tide, and there is a faint tendency to challenge the supreme sage. He is the real No. 1 big man under Chen Sheng!
As far as his lifespan is concerned, at least he can live for 500 years. If he is a little more serious, he can live for 800 years just like playing.

If bastard is dead, he won't even die!

Chen Sheng: "It's easy to say, if I don't have any more money, I can still pay for the one-hundred and eighty-table banquet. If you can die tomorrow, I will steal the golden nanmu longevity tree my father saved and give it to you!"

Han Fei: "You don't have to. Isn't there a common saying that 'stay in the front line and meet you in the future'? I'm satisfied if I can cheat you for a hundred and eighty tables of banquets. The emperor's golden nanmu longevity material, let him continue to suppress it." Cangdier..."

Chen Sheng snorted, and turned his face aside angrily.

Xiao He has just passed away, even if he is the emperor, it is not good to slap his ass and leave immediately.

Besides, he also wanted to spend a little longer with these old bastards.

Time is like a knife, no matter whether you are a world-class hero or a peerless arrogance, you will not be able to escape this slash...

……

That night.

Chen Sheng returned to Changning Palace by car, and A Yu brought him a bowl of steaming food as usual.

Changning Palace is very large, covering an area of ​​[-] mu, with thousands of palace rooms and over ten thousand palace guards.

But they have been working hard to make their lives too small... as small as they were in the Chen Family Compound in Chen County.

Like this time.

Chen Sheng sat at the dining table, chewing slowly and eating the meals made by A Yu himself, while telling what he saw and heard at Xiao He's house during the day.

Ah Yu was sitting under the lamp, sewing an unfinished robe while listening to Chen Sheng's story...

Tonight, and every night.

When Chen Sheng said that Meng Tian and Li Xin might not live for a few years, he suddenly closed his mouth, and after a few breaths of silence, he pretended to be unintentional and asked: "Ah Yu, we have been in Jinling for more than 30 years in a blink of an eye. , are you tired of it?"

A Yu was stunned for a moment, and asked in confusion, "Why did you ask this question?"

Chen Sheng stuffed a mouthful of food into his mouth, and said vaguely: "It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered that you were also a son and daughter of the rivers and lakes who came and went like the wind and lived everywhere!"

Ah Yu seemed to guess what he was thinking, and said with a gentle smile: "If you don't mention it, I will almost forget... Our home is here, the eldest brother is here, the father-in-law is here, and the children are also here." Here, no one would get tired of living in their own home."

Chen Sheng raised his eyelids, and took a careful look at the little wife under the dim light.

I saw her fair face with a bit of baby fat, but it was no longer plump, with brown spots on her skin, and crow's feet at the corners of her eyes. The light flickered, and even illuminated a few strands of her skin that she usually hides. Great white hair...

A Yu was inexplicably flustered by him, stroked his temples and asked, "Why is elder brother looking at my concubine like this?"

Chen Sheng shook his head and said nothing.

But after he bowed his head and took a few mouthfuls of food, he said again: "Otherwise, let's go out for a walk, while the children are grown up and Dad's body is still strong, let's go around and take a good look at this place." We, the big fellows who have worked hard for most of our lives, can also go to check the implementation of national policies by local governments..."

A Yu heard him return to work after three sentences, feeling angry and helpless: "No, Xiaoyu and the second daughter-in-law are both pregnant, and giving birth to a daughter's family is a big event. As parents, how can we leave our children behind and go out to play in the mountains at this time?"

Chen Sheng subconsciously took a mouthful of the food, thought for a while and said, "Then wait until they have all given birth before going out!"

A Yu raised the sewing needle and wiped it between her hair, and said in a babbling voice: "That won't work, this is Xiao Yu's first child, and she has a frizzy temper, how can I know how to be a mother, I have to go." Let her take care of the confinement child and take care of her grandson..."

"There is also the second child who is not at home. She doesn't go to sea early or late, but she ran out to sail some kind of sea when her mother-in-law and aunt were giving birth. If we leave again, the second wife will feel that she is alone at home. ?”

"There is also the eldest daughter-in-law. Didn't you say you have it a month ago? Counting the time, when Ah Yu and the second daughter-in-law are confinement, she should show her pregnancy. When Xiaoyu and the second daughter-in-law are pregnant, we will not Let's go, the eldest daughter-in-law has a big belly, but the two of us ran out to visit the mountains and rivers, what do you think of the eldest daughter-in-law..."

Chen Sheng was cooking while listening to her narration. After a while, he suddenly said: "Don't you want to go back to Chen County to have a look? Years ago when Uncle Dao returned to Beijing and passed through Chen County, he went home to visit and said that the magistrates took us The house is well taken care of, and it’s still the same as before.”

A Yu paused for a moment when he was threading the needle in his hand, and said with a final word: "Then just go back to Chen County to have a look."