I heard my brother is a tyrant

Chapter 30 New Year's Eve

Chang Shun was worried that it would not be good for monks and Taoists to practice at the same time, and their house was not nearby, so he first invited Master Puxuan, the abbot of Huguo Temple, the next day.

Master Puxuan was already an octogenarian, and he hadn't been out for a long time. Chang Shun was eager to make up for his mistakes, and personally took the token from the palace to invite him.Master Puxuan originally thought he was going to enter the palace, so he brought only a young novice, but was brought into the mansion by a carriage, and met the emperor.

The old abbot's beard and eyebrows were already white, but he was not surprised by this.

Afterwards, I entered the back houses and saw a woman who needed to be shocked.The pale girl is lying on a silk canopy bed, with cinnabar and sterling silver tassels hanging on the bed curtain, tied with red silk, and a big chiseled gold Buddha is placed on the head of the bed, and the girl wears a blood jade on her wrist to calm the nerves and ward off evil spirits. Bracelets and mahogany beads.

Seeing this scene, the old abbot couldn't help reciting the Buddha's name, clasped his hands together and said: "This female benefactor doesn't seem to be frightened in general, can I ask her birthday horoscope?"

Xie Dan calmly reported Ye Chu's birthday, the old abbot lowered his eyes and counted silently for a moment, then recited a Buddha's name and said: "Amitabha, this girl is born rich and honored, her fate is indescribable, she is definitely not a sign of premature death, my sage can rest assured .”

"Born to be rich..." Xie Dan recited these four words, and said bitterly, "What is wealth? Why did she lose her mother when she was young, her body was weak since she was young, and she experienced the pain of running around and being separated at a young age."

"Everyone is destined for good fortune. This girl's parents have a shallow relationship, but she is blessed by a noble person. Here is the protection of the heavenly spirit, and the evil spirits dare not approach. The female benefactor is not ordinary frightened. Auspicious people have their own celestial features. The old monk is here today. Let’s read a scripture to her first.”

Master Puxuan sat cross-legged in front of the bed, put two fingers on the pulse of Ye Chu's wrist, closed his eyes slightly, recited a volume of the Great Compassion Mantra, and silently wished a few words before leaving.

In the afternoon, Chang Shun called the Taoist priest from Taiqing Temple again.The Taoist priests didn't know the emperor, and they didn't know the mystery of the house. The Taoist priest brought some disciples with him. Naturally, Xie Dan would not let them enter Ye Chu's house. Incense table, practice around the yard.

The little girl still had a fever.She repeated this over and over again, and fell asleep sleepily.

Obviously the fever subsided after noon, but it started to have a fever again before evening. Xie Dan knew Ye Chu's physique. Every time he had a fever since he was a child, no matter what medicine he took, it would take a while for him to recover quickly.Xie Dan suppressed his tyrannical anger to take care of her, so he simply asked someone to cover up the bunk outside, and then rested outside to guard her.

He tossed and turned without sleep, and told the maids to take care of him carefully, and he didn't fall asleep until very late.During the night, Ye Chu's fever subsided a little, he was sweating all over, and he woke up.

Her consciousness is still not clear, it seems that she is still in a dream.In the dream, I repeatedly saw someone slashing at my brother with a knife, and the knife slashed at my brother's back. In the dream, my brother's body was covered in blood...Ye Chu pressed his chest that was jumping hard, and sat down on the bed in a daze. stand up.

Chun Liu wiped the sweat off her forehead with a warm wet handkerchief, and asked softly, "Girl, you're awake, do you want some water?"

Ye Chu turned his eyes and asked, "Where's brother?"

"Your Excellency has watched over the girl in the middle of the night, and now she's resting on the outer bed."

Ye Chu lifted the quilt and got off the bed. Chunliu hurriedly put a thick cloak on her, and asked after her, "Girl, what are you going to do? Slow down."

"I want a brother." Ye Chu pushed her away, stepped over the threshold and went to the outside room.Xie Dan had already woken up when he heard the movement. He was wearing a white collared inner robe and sat up from the bed.

"Brother!" Ye Chu choked with sobs and ran over and threw himself into his arms.

Xie Tan touched her forehead, the fever had almost subsided, he asked warmly: "Are you awake?"

"Brother... I dreamed that a bad person harmed you. He wanted to kill you. He was holding a knife..."

Ye Chu sobbed aggrievedly, struggled out of his arms, and stretched out his hand to pull his clothes.

Xie Dan grabbed her little hand and comforted her: "Isn't my brother here? Look, it's all right."

But Ye Chu stubbornly broke free from his hand, stretched out his hand to untie the tie of the skirt under his armpit, tore off the inner robe on him without any explanation, and then took off the white coat inside.Xie Dan's back stiffened, he sighed in his heart, and simply let her manipulate him.

The expressions of the maidservants who came out couldn't help but changed drastically, and they didn't know how to react for a moment, so they quickly bowed their heads and retreated out when they came back to their senses.

But Ye Chu almost forgot everything around her. She stubbornly unbuttoned Xie Dan's upper body and pulled it off from the neckline on the back. Xie Dan's entire back was exposed, and a scar running from his left shoulder to his back came into view.

"Brother..." Ye Chu stretched out his hand to caress the scar, sobbing so hard.

It's not a dream, it's all real, it's all real.

"It looks scary, but in fact it only hurt the flesh." Xie Dan turned around, pulled up the jacket and put it on, held her chin up to wipe her tears, and asked, "An'an, what do you remember?"

She dreamed... Ye Chu recalled the repeated scenes in the dream, and asked for confirmation with tears in his eyes: "Brother, I saw someone die, you didn't die, right? You don't want to die."

"Why, what nonsense did you say, look, brother is fine." Xie Dan picked up the veil, wiped her face carefully, and coaxed her comfortingly, "Stop crying, be good."

At this moment, the little girl was completely caught in a certain emotion, she couldn't get out, she couldn't break free, the scene in the dream couldn't go away, she hugged Xie Dan tightly and didn't let go, her emotions couldn't be restrained, she was eager to prove that her brother Not dead, my brother is alive and well.

Xie Dan had no choice but to pick her up and send her back to the bed, while coaxing her, he told someone to tell Huang Zhiqi immediately.

Huang Zhiqi gave her a few needles, and the little girl was probably tired from crying, and fell into a deep sleep.

This sleep lasted until dawn, and after waking up, he felt a little better, and seemed to have escaped from that emotion, but he was so clingy that he tugged on Xie Dan's sleeve and refused to let go.

After three days in a row, Xie Dan had to leave the mansion on the fourth day, and returned to the palace for an early court.The emperor's illness is not a trivial matter. As soon as the news spread, the outside of the Zichen Hall was crowded with civil and military courtiers who came to pay their respects. Call someone.Chen Lianjiang stood bitterly outside the Zichen Hall every day to deal with it. He only said that His Majesty caught a cold occasionally and it was not serious.

There were a lot of people outside the Zichen Hall all day long, but no one saw the emperor's face.His "sickness" lasted for three days. He couldn't see the emperor in the harem before, so he couldn't help but speculate. One day, two days, three days passed, there were already various speculations and rumors in Beijing, and some people even suspected that the emperor had been poisoned. Or got some serious disease.

On the fourth day, the emperor, who was rumored to be suffering from severe illness and poisoning, appeared on time at the morning court of the Xuanzheng Hall, and decisively dealt with the government affairs accumulated in the past few days.

And because of an errand in the Ministry of War that was not done well, the Holy Wrath was moved. Someone in the Ministry of War was blamed for the crime, and inexplicably blamed Dao Zhong Wang, who took the lead a lot.

In fact, King Zhong had nothing to do with this matter, but as the head of generals, King Zhong had been strongly recommended by the Minister of War.In front of all civil and military officials, King Zhong was pointed at the nose by the young emperor, and Leng Sensen scolded him as "old-eyed, dizzy and old-fashioned", and ordered him to shut up and think about the past three months.

God is sorry, King Zhong is only in his [-]s, and he still attracts noble girls who are [-] years old in the capital. When King Zhong retreated from the Xuanzheng Palace, his face turned pale.The emperor's anger seemed to come for no reason. King Zhong thought about it, but he didn't think of what happened to him recently, where he offended the emperor.

The prince closed the door and thought about his mistakes, and the entire Zhongwang Mansion must keep a low profile. Both Guo Zijin and Guo Heng stayed in the mansion and never went out.

Guo Zijin complained to Guo Heng in private: "This matter was originally not about the father's business. Didn't the emperor deliberately vent his anger?"

Guo Heng had a small incident these days. Guanshi Liu, who he sent to keep an eye on Ruyi Xiaozhuang, just sent a letter, but when he arrived, he didn’t even see anyone. What’s even more strange is that since then No one saw Guanshi Liu again, and the few people he brought out also disappeared out of thin air.

Guo Heng instinctively felt that something was wrong. He suspected that it was related to the people of Ruyi Xiaozhuang, but he couldn't find any information.

Now that King Zhong is contemplating behind closed doors, he can't go out to investigate again, and if he talks about a few servants, they will be gone if they are gone. He can only say that they are useless.But Guo Heng couldn't help being suspicious in his heart, could this Ye Zhi be someone with some background?

At the beginning when he promised to buy Ruyi Xiaozhuang to Guo Zijin, Guo Heng only regarded it as a trivial matter, but unexpectedly it became a difficult matter.

Hearing Guo Zijin's complaint, Guo Heng sighed softly: "He is the supreme emperor of ninety-five years, thunder, rain and dew are all God's blessings. Now the foster father is trapped in the capital and is a courtier. What can he do. Zijin, so brother I just told you that if we want to keep the Zhongwang Mansion, you must be the empress."

***

A few days later, Ye Chu's condition finally stabilized and he no longer had a fever. The whole house was relieved.

But the little girl was still listless all day long, with a sickly look on her face, all kinds of messy images in her dreams lingered, and she always woke up at night.

In addition to drinking medicine, Xie Dan began to ask Huang Zhiqi to give her injections.

The needling will be done during the day, Xie Dan came back from the palace at Shen Shi in the afternoon, Huang Zhiqi and Xu Yuanzhi were already waiting in the outer courtyard, seeing him hurriedly saluted, Xie Dan called out and took them to the inner house.When he went in, Ye Chu was leaning on the bed and eating fruit, the newly tributed grapes from northern Xinjiang were as sweet as a bag of honey water, as well as apples and autumn pears.

"Brother is back." Seeing him coming in, Ye Chu smiled softly, squeezed a grape and brought it to his mouth.

"Brother, try it, this grape is so sweet."

Xie Dan opened his mouth to eat the grape, touched her little hand, it was slightly cold, and warmed her in the palm of his hand.He sat down beside her and asked her about her meal and medicine today.

The little girl said one by one, and complained aggrievedly: "Brother, I obviously took the medicine well, but I still dreamed about those messy things that were scary, and I felt tired after waking up. I dare not sleep anymore."

"What did you dream about again?" Xie Dan smiled as calmly as possible, "Actually, it might all be something that happened when you were young, and you just forgot about it when you were young. The little boy you keep dreaming about should actually be yourself. You are so good-looking, my brother is afraid that someone will steal you, so he will dress you up as a little boy when he takes you out."

"?" Ye Chuqing looked at him with lingling black eyes, looked a little surprised, tilted his head and smiled, "No wonder, why didn't I remember it?"

"You were only so old back then, you were too young." Xie Dan said.

He said: "Once, you were almost taken away by someone. It was a woman who wanted to take you away and hide you. My brother searched for a long time and snatched you back. Do you remember?"

Ye Chu thought about it, and after Xie Dan said, she seemed to have some impression.It seemed that the woman was someone she was familiar with.

The weather is getting colder and colder, from late autumn to the first snow, and then to the severe cold in March and September, the house is burned with earthworms, and the thickest carpet is laid. In the middle of the cold winter, it is almost impossible to go out, even in the yard. up.

She suffered from this illness for two or three months.Huang Zhiqi came to give her acupuncture every three days, while Xie Dan deliberately led her and told her about those childhood memories.

After a few months, the little girl's complexion gradually became a little rosy, but her temperament became more and more clingy.She was always frightened and restless, and always liked to cling to him. Every time he came home, she would always cling to his side, and would not leave for a while.

Xie Dan faintly felt that she probably remembered something, and she didn't say anything, so he didn't rush to ask.

There are always several heavy snowfalls in the capital every winter. The weather is cold, and the snow will not melt away. The old snow is covered with new snow in the shade of the mountains and forests. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, there is another heavy snowfall, and it falls continuously all night long. From the palace to the government, the seal and ribbon were sealed, preparing for the New Year.

Until the "opening" before the Lantern Festival next year, the imperial government will not be officially open again. During this period, apart from handling some important political affairs from time to time, Xie Dan is relatively relaxed.It's just that there are many festivals and customs in the palace, and there are special arrangements for offering sacrifices, worshiping Buddha and burning incense, various sacrifices and blessings, and the highlight of the New Year's Eve palace banquet.

Xie Dan looked at the white snow all over his eyes, and then issued a decree, the weather is cold, the people are poor, and everything in the court and harem should be simplified.

This simplification simplifies the etiquette and banquets that he can't bear to deal with. Even the New Year's Eve palace banquet no longer invites courtiers and foreign wives to enter the palace, only the royal family members are invited to give the banquet in the palace.

On New Year's Eve, Xie Dan had breakfast with Ye Chu in the mansion before going out. Before leaving, he told her that he asked the kitchen to prepare the reunion dinner at night. He might be a little late, but he would come back as soon as possible to watch the new year with her.

Ye Chu felt sorry for his brother, and murmured: "It's not easy to be a bodyguard. Didn't you say that you have sealed the seal and rested for the New Year? Others don't have to be on duty when they are officials, but you are the only one who has to do it after the New Year." Go to be on duty. Especially this kind of New Year's Eve palace banquet, they are having fun inside, and it's so cold, you still have to be on duty outside."

Ye Chu understands the truth, guards, guarding the palace is different from government officials working in the office, guards still have to guard during Chinese New Year and festivals.Brother is really hard.

"Hey, I'll just go and answer, it's just boring things, and I don't want to go." Xie Dan smiled and pinched her face and said, "You eat dinner by yourself, ask Ye Hui and the others to play with you, When I come back, let's have New Year's Eve dinner together and watch the New Year together."

"When will you be back?"

"It's probably the end of Xu."

The palace banquet on New Year's Eve is a big event, Xie Dan decreed that the first family members and important officials of the first year of the new year should not enter the palace to pay their respects, so this part was spontaneously moved to the palace banquet that night.The emperor will also reward the clan according to the custom.

The snow had not melted a few days ago, and there were small snowflakes in the evening. The annual New Year’s Eve palace banquet was held in the snow. The Hanyuan Hall was full of singing and dancing. Toast, congratulate the New Year, and say some New Year greetings. There are not many opportunities like this after ascension to the throne, and each of them racked their brains to spout all kinds of auspicious words, lest they say less than others.

With the interlacing of toasts and the sound of silk and bamboo orchestras, Xie Dan was a little absent-minded all night. These tedious and boring things really made people impatient, and An An was still at home waiting for him to celebrate the New Year together.

"The concubine wishes your majesty a happy new year, may your majesty's country last forever, and may I enjoy the great week and Kyushu, and serve the guests from all over the world."

Chu Congchan was dressed in gorgeous auspicious clothes, folded her hands, prostrated three times, and said coquettishly and timidly, "Your Majesty, I would like to offer you a glass of wine. May I pour wine for you?"

Chu Congchan was also a little absent-minded all night.Before the banquet, the Empress Dowager explained to the people who are still in bed, folk couples have to reunite during the New Year and holidays, and the husband and wife sleep together. The New Year is a good sign of harmony and auspiciousness, and the same is true in the palace.

What the Empress Dowager meant was that by taking advantage of New Year's Eve, today the emperor must summon his concubine to give birth to an heir as soon as possible.Shang Bedroom was caught between the two masters, and bravely conveyed this meaning.

According to the ancestral system in the palace, the emperor must be served by the queen during the three days of New Year's Eve, first day, and second day.Now that the queen has not been established, isn't it the turn of Chu Congchan who has the highest status in the harem?

Seeing the smiling face of the Empress Dowager, Xie Dan raised his eyes and glanced deeply at the banquet.Because they were all clan relatives, the palace banquet was not divided into two places, the clan members sat in the east hall, and his unfamiliar concubines sat in the west hall.

At this time, Wei Linbo Yingying stood up at the concubine's table, and said: "Ms. Shu, Your Majesty was ill a while ago, and now it's just fine. The servant looks tired, I'm afraid he is also tired. Your Majesty's dragon body is the most important thing, and my concubine thinks it is not appropriate to drink too much, so please stop persuading me to drink. Or should my concubine accompany you for a drink?"

Chu Congchan's smile suddenly froze on her face, she couldn't help but stare at Wei Linbo, gritted her teeth secretly with hatred.

Hearing this, Xie Tan put down his wine glass, nodded and said, "Concubine Wei is considerate and considerate, I do feel a little unwell tonight, and I can't drink enough."

The scene was a bit embarrassing immediately, the clan members and concubines of the whole palace looked at it, and they all disregarded the health of the dragon's body.

Who would dare to toast him again.Since the emperor's dragon body was unwell, everyone ended the palace banquet early, Xie Dan helped the servants to leave first, and everyone sent off the holy driver respectfully, and then dispersed.

The hourglass of the copper pot had already passed the time of Hai, Xie Dan walked back to the Zichen Palace on the thin snow on the palace road, and immediately asked the servants to change their clothes and prepare their horses.

On New Year's Eve, in consideration of the emperor's return at night, the Iron Armored Guards hung up lanterns not far away along the way. The red lanterns were particularly eye-catching in the snow, and the horseshoes stepped on the thin snow and went straight back to Ye Zhai.A string of joyful palace lanterns were also hung in the mansion today in accordance with the occasion.

After drinking some wine at the Xie Dan palace banquet, he didn't feel cold when he rode his horse all the way back, but his heart was a little hot. After dismounting from the horse, he flicked the rein and strode into the back house.He was worried that the little girl at home would be unhappy if he came back so late.

Lanterns were lit in every courtyard, and the lights reflected the snow. The huge house in the snow was shrouded in a thin red halo. Xie Dan ran all the way into the backyard. He strode across the yard. Bowing to salute under the eaves, Ye Hui said in a low voice: "Master, girl...not very happy tonight."

Xie Dan said in his heart that he was really angry, and he didn't know whether it was a good time to coax him or not.

He stepped under the eaves of the porch, took off the hood of his cloak, shook off the snowflakes on the hood, and asked, "What did you have for dinner? Why didn't you accompany the girl?"

"The girl told the servants to retreat, and no one was allowed to stay, and she stayed in the bedroom by herself." Ye Ling hesitated for a moment, and said, "Master, the servant feels that the girl is very preoccupied, and it may be because it is New Year's Eve. The only girl in the house is the master. When you are not at home, she just sits alone and doesn't like to talk all night. Go and have a look."

Xie Dan took off his cloak, threw it to the servant, and walked into the main room.

The earth dragon was burned in the house, and the warm breath rushed over.Xie Dan first went to the brazier to smoke the cage and warmed his hands to get rid of the cold air on his body, while thinking about how to coax her well.

The little girl has been sick for a while, coupled with the severe cold in winter, she was confined in the house all day, and she was already in a bad mood, like some kind of hibernating beast, cute and docile, but sensitive and clingy.

It's all his fault, he couldn't stay at home with her on New Year's Eve, and came back so late.

Xie Dan blamed himself, waved away the maid in the room, and walked lightly into the inner room.Unexpectedly, the little girl was not nestled on the bed, but was sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze.

"An'an, I'm back." Xie Dan called out.

Ye Chu looked up at him, as if he didn't see clearly, looked and looked, black and white eyes were fixed on him.His eyes slowly gathered, Ye Chu stood up, ran over and threw himself into his arms.

"Brother... why did you come back..." She cried out loudly, as if venting the grievances she had held back for a long time, she said with sobs, "I thought you didn't want me anymore..."

Xie Dan suddenly panicked, why are you still crying, and quickly asked: "What's the matter? Don't cry, don't cry, An An, what's wrong with you, angry brother came back late?"

The little girl was immersed in her emotions, and asked, crying aggrievedly, "Do you not want me anymore..."

"What are you talking about, you are my sister, we are the closest people in the world, why would I not want you." Xie Dan patted her back comfortingly, and said, "Brother is all to blame, I came back late, It's my fault. An An forgives my brother this time, okay?"

"Don't coax me. I know we are not relatives, you don't want me anymore, you will send me away again and again, send me to Suizhou, send me to Luzhou..."

Xie Dan was taken aback for a moment, came back to his senses, and asked softly, "An'an, what do you remember?"

She remembered it all.