The famous book tour starting from the Red House

Time soon came to May [-]rd.

As the largest metropolis in the world, Bianliang City came alive just after dawn, and it was a scene of prosperity.

Liu Yong, a great poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, described the prosperity of Kaifeng, the capital city of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the prosperity of singing and dancing in the poem "Toubixiao" in dreamlike language:
"Beside the moon, the fragrant trees of ten thousand years are full of auspicious smoke. The emperor's residence is magnificent, the royal family is prosperous, and the fortune is like a thousand. The Duanmen gate is clear, the goblet edge shines on the sun, and the double towers are in the middle of the sky. In peacetime, the court and the public are full of joy. The fragrance of Jin Street Mo, Juntian song blows, Langyuan fairy.

In the past, I was proud of my sightseeing, and I went wildly in the scenery. Seeing you again is even more beautiful.Near the shade of willows, looking for the flower path, let the bridle hang down the whip in the air.Leyou Yaxi, flat Kangyan quality, should also remain.Who is it, thank you, Chanjuan.The traces of the Taoist career and the feelings of singing and drinking are not like those of the past. "

Coincidentally, there was a similar praise in Volume [-] of "Tokyo Menghualu":
"Near the capital, there are all gardens. The next spring is full of fields, warm and clear, thousands of flowers compete for the whitewashed walls, thin willows are slanted in cages and Qimo. The incense wheels are warm, and the grass is like a rug; the horses are arrogant, and the apricot blossoms are like flowers. Embroidery".

】

Even with these side descriptions, people of later generations can only imagine the charm of this city in case.

Especially since it was the birthday of the new emperor Zhao Huan, Bianliang City was even more lively than usual.

In order to cover up the gloom under the prosperity of the prosperous age and suppress the rumors of being unfilial, Zhao Huan spent all his money this time. He changed from the simplicity he had when he was a prince in the past, and ordered the court to organize his first Longevity Festival.

From early in the morning, the imperial street that runs through the imperial city is crowded with people, and colorful sheds are set up everywhere. Artists of all colors compete to perform various programs such as sumo, Cuju, Baixi, Henan opera, etc., attracting applause from the onlookers from time to time .

And in the imperial city, after the new emperor Zhao Huan washed up, he came to the Longde Palace as usual to greet the Supreme Emperor Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji got up early today and waited for Zhao Huan in the hall, trying to take advantage of his birthday to ease the tense relationship between father and son.

So after Zhao Huan asked about the etiquette, Zhao Ji acted like a loving father, not only giving expensive gifts, but also pouring wine with his son himself.

Just when Zhao Huan raised the wine glass to his lips and was about to drink it all down, he suddenly heard Liu Fu, the personal servant below, cough lightly. Sudden severe abdominal pain, I am afraid that I will not be able to drink, so I will leave."

After all, regardless of Zhao Ji's ugly face, he turned and left resolutely.

Seeing this situation, Zhao Ji didn't know that his son suspected that he had poisoned the cup, he felt dizzy for a while, and then he covered his face and wept, completely giving up his intention to make peace with him.

After Zhao Huan stepped out of Longde Palace and on the way to Daqing Palace, not only did he not feel guilty at all, but he praised his servant Liu Fu greatly, thinking that if he hadn't been reminded by him, he would almost be in danger.

After a while, when they arrived at the Daqing Hall, Zhao Huan boarded the Danbi dragon chair, and all civil and military officials, relatives of the emperor, led by Taizai Xu Churen and Shaozai Wu Min, saluted Zhao Huan's birthday.

At the end of the ceremony, Xu Churen, who was the prime minister, went up to the palace alone, holding a wine glass in his hand, wishing the emperor a long life, and then took a red silk gold beard handkerchief and tied it on Zhao Huan's arm.

When Xu Churen retired, the officials presented congratulatory forms to Zhao Huan one by one, and Zhao Huan rewarded the officials with tea soup according to the ceremony.

After all this, Zhao Huan came down to the Queen's bedroom surrounded by his servants, and repeated the procedure just now. The only difference was that the person who toasted the wine and tied the red silk handkerchief became Mrs. Xu Churen. Replaced with their respective female rolls.

The reason why the prime minister and his wife toasted alone was to express the most honorable gift of Confucian officials.

In addition, Zhao Huan had given women rolls of soup and tea, and was about to go back to the inner palace to change clothes, but suddenly found that Princess Yun Zhu Fengying was missing in the palace. He thought about it again, and it seemed that King Yun Zhao Kai did not show up when he was in Daqing Palace.

Zhao Huan was very displeased immediately, waved to summon Empress Zhu Lian, and asked her, "Why don't you see King Yun and his wife?"

Zhu Lian was clearly aware of the filth between her husband and sister-in-law, but thinking of the sisterhood, she still opened her lips lightly to smooth things over for Zhao Kai.

"The officials don't know about it. My sister sent someone to report early this morning, saying that my third brother has recently contracted a cold and is sick. He cannot come to celebrate the official's birthday. He can only worship outside the palace."

Of course Zhao Huan would not believe such nonsense, but he did not expect that Zhao Kai would have unruly intentions, he just thought that Zhao Kai still had a grudge, so he couldn't help but sneered,

"I don't think the third brother is sick, but the heart medicine is difficult to cure!"

After leaving this sentence, Zhao Huan walked away, obviously not ready to let it go.

Looking at Zhao Huan's back, Zhu Lian shook his head, couldn't help but worry about his sister's family, and made up his mind to find an opportunity to reconcile the conflict between the two parties.

He didn't mention how angry Zhao Huan was, but said that Zhao Kai had secretly sent away the whole family in Prince Yun's mansion at this time, and then secretly put on makeup and came to the courtyard prepared by Shi Xiu.

As soon as Zhao Kai entered the inner courtyard, he saw five hundred masters waiting for him, all of them were full of murderous intent, they only waited for an order to change the world.

Seeing the scene in front of him, Zhao Kai seemed to have seen the throne beckoning to him, and he felt inexplicably happy, and couldn't help but sighed to Shi Xiu who came to greet him, "With the help of these strong men, why worry about nothing happening!"

Shi Xiu would not be so blindly optimistic. After searching for a period of time, he found that although the imperial army of the Song Dynasty was defeated, the palace guards were all first-class experts, so this trip may not be smooth sailing.

But he also knew that this must not be said to Zhao Kai, otherwise this guy would probably retreat again.

To be honest, if it wasn't for the fact that this trip had to be done in Zhao Kai's name, Shi Xiu would not want to take on this burden. She is obviously timid and weak, but she thinks of herself very high. I don't know what to say.

In order to prevent Zhao Kai from acting on his own and spoiling the big event, Shi Xiu had to listen to his chatter patiently before Fang Youxian said, "Your Highness, let me tell you in advance that you only need to lead the way and persuade the emperor tonight. Don't participate at all, okay?"

Zhao Kai heard the meaning of warning in Shi Xiu's words, and immediately felt a little unhappy, but considering that these people still need to work hard for him, he forced himself to restrain his anger, and replied flatly, "This king knows the seriousness. .”

After such a small episode, Zhao Kai lost the interest in talking, so he just sat aside, imitating Shi Xiu's example, closing his eyes and resting his mind.

I don't know how long it has passed, the sky gradually darkened, and suddenly there was a strange sound in the sky, but it was a firework that rose into the sky and bloomed in the dark night. Judging from its location, it was located near Xuandemen.

Shi Xiu knew that the time had come, so she shook Zhao Kai who was sleeping beside her, "Your Highness, it's time for us to set off!"

Zhao Kai rubbed his eyes, looked around, but saw that everyone in the courtyard was standing neatly, everyone had changed into a big Song inner court guard uniform, he hurriedly got up, stomped his numb feet, and pointed at Shi Xiu nodded.

Shi Xiu waved her hands knowingly, and walked towards the door with Zhao Kai first, followed by all the subordinates silently.

A group of people passed through a deep alley and came to a street, and they rushed in one direction under the leadership of Shi Xiu.

Fortunately, there were not many residents in this street, and because of Zhao Huan's birthday today, the nearby people all went to the Yujie area to watch the excitement, making it easy for Shi Xiu and the others to come to Genyue South Gate.

The arrival of such a large group of people naturally alarmed the gate guards. When one of them wanted to raise the alarm, he was stopped by the school captain Zhang Hu, who only listened to him,

"Don't make such a fuss, the officer has already received the order to prevent the fireworks from being scattered and light up the flowers and trees in Genyue, the Commander specially sent additional guards in the garden."

Hearing this, all the guards immediately lowered their vigilance, and some gloated, "This is a hard job. If there is a fire, they will feel better!"

"Why do you care so much? It would be great if someone came to wait for me. I just took the time to go to Ji'er Lane to have fun."

"Hey, Brother Sun's suggestion is good. Since all the officials and masters are in the palace tonight, those girls will let me take advantage of them."

"Wang Er, it's your mother's spring and autumn dream! It's true that those officials and masters are gone, but you can afford those high-class girls. How much money do you have? How dare you let such a big talk!"

"you…"

"Shut up, sir, and don't even look at what this place is, so why are you talking nonsense! Stand up for me honestly, and after the errand is handed over, it's up to you to go wherever you like."

Zhang Hu stopped the crowd, then walked quickly to meet Shi Xiu, and said in a low voice while making gestures to salute, "My man, the villain has done what he promised, when do you think I will let my family go?"

Shi Xiu smiled and replied, "There's no rush, your family will be reunited later."

While speaking, he winked, and saw [-] of his subordinates come out and walk up to the gate guards. Pretending to be changing shifts, he raised his knife and dropped them to finish them off, and then dragged the corpses to the gate neatly.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Hu knew something was wrong, and wanted to call for help, but Shi Xiu grabbed his throat, followed by Kacha, and followed in his footsteps.

After dealing with the traces of the scene, Shi Xiu pulled Zhao Kai, who was already stunned, into Gen Yue, looked at the dark garden, and said, "Your Highness, it's up to you now!"

Zhao Kai swallowed his saliva, tried hard to suppress the bile rolling in his chest, and replied repeatedly, "It's easy to say, easy to say!"

After that, he hurriedly identified the direction and took the lead to walk west.

Compared with the outside world, there was almost no one in Gen Yuezhong's way. He treated an old eunuch, and only then learned from his mouth that there was a shortage of manpower in the palace tonight, so Gen Yue and many servants in the harem were transferred. I went to court, leaving only a small number of people to patrol.

Hearing such news by accident, even Shi Xiu couldn't help but secretly sighed that God helped me, and immediately ordered to speed up the pace.

Sure enough, as the old eunuch said, the group of them went through the palace and rooms, and came to the outside of Longde Palace without any hindrance or danger, only to encounter dozens of guards blocking the way.

When the guards saw Shi Xiu and his party for the first time, they thought it was because the current officials were worried about the emperor, so they specially sent extra guards, until Zhao Huan's confidant Tan Shiji, who came here after hearing the news, saw through Zhao Kai's whereabouts by accident, and exclaimed, "It's not good. , King Yun wants to commit a great treason, report it to the officials quickly!"

Being able to reach here smoothly was far beyond Shi Xiu's expectation, he had never expected to be able to rob Zhao Ji out of the palace without disturbing anyone.

Therefore, seeing that he was seen through, he didn't panic, and calmly drew out the simple knife in his waist, and while rushing forward first, he ordered in his mouth, "Follow me, and quickly resolve the battle!"

As soon as the words fell, Shi Xiu had unexpectedly chopped down the head of the most front guards to the ground, and then killed three people in a row.

At this time, the rest of the two sides joined hands.

All of a sudden, there were swords, lights and swords on the steps outside Longde Palace, shouts and killings continued, and people screamed and fell to the ground from time to time.

Tan Shiji was specially sent by Zhao Huan to monitor Zhao Ji, he was not of the easy-going type, seeing that the enemy was outnumbered, he knew something bad was going on, and wanted to escape to report the news, but was blocked.

In a flash of thought, this guy chose not to do anything, tore down the lantern from the porch, and threw it on the door of the main hall.

Lamp oil sprinkled on the door frame, accompanied by sparks, immediately ignited a raging fire.

Seeing this, Zhao Kai in the distance hurriedly reminded Shi Xiu loudly, "General Shi, quickly rescue my father!"

Of course Shi Xiu saw the fire, and immediately figured out the two intentions of the man setting the fire.The former is easy to say, just to send a warning to other places.The latter was a bit vicious, and he was afraid that he wanted to take the opportunity to take Zhao Ji's life, and put the blame on them and his party, so that they could get away with it once and for all.

"The thief is so brave, how dare he plot against your grandpa Shi!" Shi Xiu, who wanted to understand the way, was furious, grabbed a weapon and threw it at him, stabbing Tan Shiji to death.

Afterwards, he even accelerated his charge and quickly approached the burning palace gate.

at the same time.

Zhao Ji in the hall was also disturbed by the movement outside. At first he thought it was the guards playing around, but when he saw the fire, he was frightened out of his wits and had only one thought in his mind, "That Nizi still can't help it, tell me Let's do it!"

For a moment, Zhao Ji's heart was ashamed, and when he was about to close his eyes and wait for death, he suddenly heard Zhao Kai's voice. He couldn't believe it at once, but he still came to the hall barefoot and shouted tentatively through the flames. Said, "Sanlang, Sanlang, but my son came to save his father?"

"Father, it's my son who came to rescue you, please wait for a moment!"

Hearing that it was really the third son Zhao Kai, Zhao Ji jumped up like a child, and said excitedly to himself, "I knew that Saburo was filial and would not abandon Junfu, after I got out, I must..."

"Bang", after a loud bang, the door of the burning palace was knocked open from the outside, interrupting Zhao Ji's words, and then under his hopeful eyes, a big man with a blood-dropping blade rushed in.

Zhao Ji was startled, and Fang wanted to ask, when he saw Zhao Kai's figure behind the big man.

Then, Zhao Kai approached and knelt down in two or three steps, "Imperial Father, my servant came too late to save you, and I made you suffer!"

"Good, good, good!"

Zhao Ji said three good words in succession, helped Zhao Kai up from the ground, and then said in tears, "Seeing my son coming, my heart has finally settled down."

Zhao Kai also said in tears, "Since my father returned to the capital, my son wanted to visit the palace several times, but my elder brother sent people to stop them. I had no choice but to make such a bad move. I hope my father will forgive me."