Sometimes the palace is sunny

Chapter 13
The emperor was not in the main hall of Chaohuayuan at this time. Li Congyuan followed Sishu all the way through the veranda next to the side hall, exited through an arch full of crabapple trees, and went around a hillside, which was mostly pines and cypresses. Reflecting the maple forest in the distance like fire, it is more and more lush and lush.

Climbing up the steps, Li Congyuan finally saw a young man sitting in the pavilion. The man was wearing a straight long gown with narrow sleeves, as if he had just returned from riding a horse, and his expression was calm, which was quite different from the past.

The two big eunuchs, Yiji and Sanmao, were carefully serving them.

Sanmao half-kneeled on the ground to change the wound on His Majesty's hand, and said in a soft voice:

"The emperor is concerned about his body anyway, how can he hold the rein if his hand is not healed?"

Pulling his hand back, His Majesty frowned: "A little injury prevents me from enjoying myself."

Li Congyuan knew at a glance that it was His Majesty who was in a hurry to ride the horse before his hand injury healed, but it hurt the injury again.

Seeing Li Congyuan coming, His Majesty waved his hand, and the three cats went down with the medicine box.

Li Congyuan saluted, and before he could speak, he heard His Majesty asking himself, "Do you think Chen Shouzhang deserves to die?"

He immediately understood what the eunuch Four Mouse had just said to him. His Majesty has indeed changed. In the past, His Majesty would only say "I want Chen Shouzhang to die." Only when His Majesty is satisfied will he let go.

Now, His Majesty has changed his method, and he is a bit confused when he wants to bargain.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe that even though Chen Shouzhang is a little frivolous and his words are a little indulgent, it is, also, because of his temperament, he will not be guilty of death."

"I feel the same way."

At the age of six, he was called a prodigy, and he entered the palace to talk about "Rituals" with the emperor. At the age of 16, he was admitted to the Imperial Academy. A bachelor of Wu Ying Dian, most of his life has passed, Li Congyuan thought that there was hardly anything in the world that would surprise him, but at this moment he could hardly hide the surprise in his eyes.

Your Majesty, what are you talking about?
It's not that what His Majesty said was unreasonable, it's just... Li Congyuan vaguely remembered that the last time His Majesty was so "reasonable" was when he was eight years old, and he said that he wanted to study hard to be a virtuous king, but it turned out that the schoolwork article was his He asked someone else to do it for him, and he played crickets with the eunuchs all afternoon.

At this time, Li Congyuan could hardly bear the desire to leave the palace immediately and go to Jin Yiwei's prison to see if Chen Shouzhang had been secretly executed.

Shen Shiqing, who was acting like an emperor, didn't look at Li Congyuan, but looked at the scroll in front of her. She tried riding a horse just now. Emperor Zhaode was good at riding and shooting. She had almost forgotten the riding skills taught by her mother when she was a child. Fortunately, this body still remembers how to ride a horse, and once sitting on the horse, the waist and abdomen will naturally relax, without any tension, the legs are strong, the arms are relaxed, and it is natural to be good at riding.

In this way, even if she is a little rusty in riding skills, she can still excuse that it is because of her hand injury.

Another matter was solved, and she also had leisure time to appreciate paintings. The imperial supervisor sent a few paintings by court painters, most of which were fine brushwork flowers and birds. Naturally, the painting skills are first-class, but there is a lot of craftsmanship. After seeing a few, Shen Shiqing's favorite It is a picture of a pine forest, with delicate brushstrokes without losing the character of the pine forest, with a profound artistic conception, it is a masterpiece.

Of course, Shen Shiqing, who is proficient in pigments, also likes the green color composed of green salt ① mixed with top-quality malachite to make stone green. No cost at all.

"I don't want to kill Chen Shouzhang, because I don't want there to be no one in the court who dares to talk about the suffering of the people."

Li Congyuan paused, then said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty is wise."

Shengming?

Shen Shiqing glanced at Li Congyuan, then looked back at the painting.

"I have sent Jin Yiwei to Dengzhou to thoroughly investigate what Chen Shouzhang said. After the results are obtained, we will discuss how to deal with him. I called you here because I have something to ask you."

The young man sitting on the stone bench spoke kindly, but Li Congyuan's heart tightened again.

Ever since His Majesty ascended the throne, talking to him in such a deliberative tone was for three things: killing people, fighting wars, and building palaces.

None of these three things can make people worry. I asked him to discuss it in advance, and I said that I would not kill Chen Shouzhang.

Forget it, if Chen Shouzhang can be kept, what if he takes two steps to His Majesty and suffers some scolding?

Li Dashi and Li Dashangshu, who are well-established in the city, secretly took a sigh of relief, preparing to face a new round of shock from their emperor, but they heard his majesty ask him:

"Zhang Qi has been a fourth-rank general for less than two years, yet he has accumulated tens of thousands of taels of silver. Where did the money come from?"

This is what Shen Shiqing didn't understand after reading the Jinyiwei's report.

According to the military system of the Dayong Dynasty, Zhang Qi's real job was to command the Pengcheng Guards, and there were commanders above him. The Pengcheng Guards had only more than 5000 people. The Commander knew that he was deeply rooted in the army, so he transferred 2000 people to him for two years. The sum of the money and food given to Pengchengwei is not as good as what he got from being greedy for ink. Even if he smashed the bones of these 2000 people, how could he save so much money?

She looked at Li Congyuan, but saw Li Congyuan looking at herself in surprise.

A chicken on the side hurriedly called in a low voice: "Li Shangshu? The emperor asked you something."

"Ah..." Li Congyuan consciously lost his composure, and hastily lowered his head and pulled up his sleeves to cover up, "The money obtained from that deed, on the one hand, is to fill the pockets of the army's salary, and on the other hand, it comes from the occupation of the army field..."

Seeing His Majesty looking at him quietly and listening to his words, Li Congyuan felt a sense of relief spontaneously, and he spoke in more detail, from the military system since the founding of Dayong to the military fields of the guards in various places now being occupied untenable situation.

After this talk, it went on and on. The place where the monarch and his ministers talked was moved from the Zhuoxin Pavilion to the side hall of Chaohua Garden. In the middle, they also had dinner together. As he said that, seeing that His Majesty the Emperor listened carefully, he simply talked about the entire branch of the Dayong Weisuo to the map.

He is well-read and knowledgeable, and keeps all the documents he has seen in his heart. He is very familiar with the income and expenditure of various places, and he speaks eloquently and logically.

When he finally spoke happily, the lights in Chaohua Garden were already turned on.

"Thank you, Li Shangshu."

"Emperor Zhaode" smiled and thanked him.

Li Congyuan realized that there was no perfunctory meaning in it, and felt relieved again. He wished he could stay in the palace right away, and tell him what he should have said but didn't tell him before when His Majesty was rarely eager to learn.

He planned to devote himself to death, but Shen Shiqing did not intend to let a quasi-chief assistant die exhausted in Xiyuan. When Li Congyuan bowed and retired, the lights were brightly lit, illuminating his gray-haired sideburns.

Shen Shiqing's heart moved lightly with the candlelight.

"Li Shangshu."

Hearing His Majesty's call, Li Congyuan stopped backing.

I'm coming!Your Majesty has forced himself to be a good student for a day today, how big of a mess is this going to create?

Li Congyuan even began to consider writing a letter to beg for bones at this moment.

"I've heard that famous people in Beijing will gather at Zhezhu Terrace to recite poems and make a collection of poems and essays. Have you ever been there?"

Folding bamboo platform?
Li Congyuan sighed: "Your Majesty said that Zhezhutai was an old story ten years ago, and I have not heard of it for a long time. Back then, some old friends of mine and I were young and energetic. We thought that we could make the world's articles new, so we wrote it." What "Zhezhutai Jixian Ji" came out."

After speaking, he smiled.

The emperor sitting at the table lowered his eyes and said slowly:

"How many old friends? To be friends with Li Shangshu, I think they are all pillars of the world."

The pillar of the world?

Some people have lost their official position and returned home, some were dispatched to the frontier, some were high-spirited in the past and now it is dark, and there are also people who are talented but don't know where to bury their bones. Only he is still standing in the court to repay the favor of several generations of His Majesty That's all.

All kinds of old things came to Li Congyuan's mind, he smiled bitterly:

"The ups and downs of the world are unpredictable, and gatherings and dispersals are short-lived. When I was young, I also felt that 'everything is mixed, and Anfujue Pengshang'②. Only now do I understand that one day is counted as one day, and one day can be achieved after one day is lived. Do it for a day."

After finishing speaking, Li Congyuan saluted again: "Your Majesty, what else do you want?"

The young emperor blinked his eyes, and suddenly said with a smile: "No, Li Shangshu should go home early and rest."

Really gone?

Li Congyuan bowed and retreated outside the hall, after all, he never heard the emperor call to stop him.

Turning around, out of the corner of his eye he saw the eunuchs standing on both sides, and Li Congyuan suddenly remembered what the eunuch Sishu had said to him in the afternoon.

Your Majesty is different from before?
Your Majesty, it seems, maybe, probably... is it really different from before?

In Chaohua Palace, Shen Shiqing raised one hand to support her face.

When she was 12 years old, her father asked her to dress up as a boy, pretending to be his nephew, took her by the hand and took her to Zhezhutai.

A group of scribes in green clothes and white robes on Zhezhutai didn't care about their official positions or their age.

Someone beat drums and recited poems so happy, someone wrote in a very handsome style, someone looked at her painting and said with a smile, "this kid will become a master in time", someone held her in his arms more than he was praised. A hundred times happy.

She still remembered that Li Congyuan didn't write poems or articles ten years ago, he only drank first, and then he picked up the pen to write poems on paper when he was drunk, and the pen was always sloppy.

Li Congyuan is old.

Her father is dead.

While she was meditating, Sanmao came in with a tray:
"My lord, the new nets are ready, you choose one? The servant will hang the nets back for you."

Shen Shiqing raised her eyes, and saw more than a dozen strings decorated with different gemstones and an inch-sized white jade seal placed on the tray.

The color of the seal is plain white, and the quality of jade is very delicate. It looks like it is often rubbed and played with in the hands of people.

She picked up the seal, and when she looked back, she realized that the seal should have been stained before. Not only did the tassels have been replaced, but the entire seal had been cleaned and re-raised with Longquan ink pad for a few days.

"A gentleman is not a weapon."

Looking at the words on the seal, she inexplicably remembered the white jade hairpin her father left her.

Although the two pieces of jade are different in shape and size, their textures are very similar, as if they were carved out of one piece of jade.

The three cats on the side said as if to show their merits: "This year's tribute gemstones from Myanmar are of excellent quality, my lord, do you think this red ribbon matches this chapter very well?"

Looking at the injured hand of "Emperor Zhaode", Shen Shiqing suddenly understood how the seal was dirty.

In her mind, she recalled the scene of stabbing herself with a silver hairpin in the Small Buddha Hall.

Suddenly holding the seal in her hand, she ordered: "I won't wear it now, find a box and put this seal away."

　Shen Shiqing: I found the key to our soul exchange.

　　Siri Zhao: Let me see what else is valuable in Shen Sanfei's house, her money is mine.

　　① Green salt is copper chloride, one of the commonly used pigments in ancient times.

　　② Xie An's "Two Orchid Pavilion Poems Part Two"

　　The phase and Xinjia Festival will lead you to wear the same clothes.

　　Thin clouds and Luoyang scenery, breeze and light sailing.

　　Alcoholic mash Tao Dan mansion, Wu Ruo Xi Tang.

　　Wanshu is confused, and An Fujue Peng Shang.

　　A very crazy poem, especially the last sentence, "All the truths are the same, it doesn't matter when you die".

　　
　
(End of this chapter)