Eastward Flow

Chapter 4 [Edit]

The residence of Le Zheng's family is in Qionghua Lane, which is the closest to the imperial city, and the people who live there are either marquis or nobles, or high-ranking officials.Among all the illustrious mansions, the mansion of Marquis Zhenbei seemed narrower.Therefore, on the day when Zhenbei Hou returned to the court to report on his duties, the queen issued an imperial decree to expand the Hou's mansion to show her great love.

The mansion assigned to the expansion of Zhenbeihou was only separated from the west wall of the Hou's mansion. It was originally the mansion of Princess Xuanning, the eldest princess of the former dynasty.

Princess Xuanning is the twin sister of the former assassin of the Great Chu Dynasty.But the beauty is unlucky, and not long after the assassin gave birth to Zhong Lisuo, the eldest princess died of illness suddenly.Therefore, the mansion has been empty for nearly 24 years.

Fortunately, during the reigns of Emperor Assassin and Emperor Zhao, someone kept cleaning them, so the expansion of the Hou Mansion only required opening up the walls separating the two mansions.However, in a few days, the original Princess Xuanning's mansion was changed into the west courtyard of Hou's mansion. After the servants cleaned it up, Zhong Lisuo asked his parents to move into this clean west courtyard.

The winter in Yuanzhou City came later than that in Chucheng, but it was also colder.Zhong Lisuo, who had long been accustomed to the cold, walked into the snow-covered forest wrapped in a thick silver fox cloak on a sunny day when the snow stopped.She stepped on moccasin boots, looked up at the icicles hanging on the peach branches, and let out a long breath of white air.

Cold and cold, this is the taste of Yuanzhou City in winter.

Really long time no see.

Walking to the end of the peach forest, I saw a wide and clear lake with air-conditioning in front of me.Dry willows are lined up on the shore bare, and a flock of white geese are floating on the lake, wandering along the sky, leaving a few ripples on the cold lake, which looks very interesting.

Zhong Lisuo stood on the shore, looking at the only scene full of vitality in this winter, he thought optimistically, if spring came, the green willows would hang down the shore, and the warm lake water would float with white geese and black ducks. is more interesting.

Not to mention, the peach and pear trees planted all over the west courtyard, and the beauty of a hundred flowers blooming when the spring breeze comes.

It's no wonder my mother likes this kind of scenery.Now, due to a chance meeting, she was allowed to stay here, it was really God's pity, another love for her.

"Second Young Master, Second Young Master..." Just as he was engrossed, a waiter's call came from afar, Zhong Lisuo turned his head, and looked at the blue-clothed waiter wrapped in a turban running towards her, angry as he ran Panting, he said, "Master Hou is looking for you and asked you to go to the front hall."

Zhong Lisuo smiled, looked at the waiter standing still in front of him, gasped and complained in a low voice: "Why did you come here alone, it's easy for the little ones to find, it's so cold today, if you If there is one, what should I do if I fall ill?"

"A Sheng, I'm fine." Zhong Lisuo smiled with a gentle expression on his face.

The owner of this body, Le Zhengsu, was once ill, and everyone in the Hou Mansion knew how delicate the Second Young Master was.A Sheng, who has been with the second son since childhood, is full of worries about her body.The little boy opened his big round eyes and stared at Zhong Lisuo vigorously: "Don't say you're fine, just last time, you sneaked out, and ended up being sick for a few days, which worried Madam very much. This Your body is not just yours, the wives and children all care about you very much, and I hope you will take care of yourself..."

After staying in this body for more than half a year, Zhong Lisuo, who already knows the personalities of everyone around him, knows how nagging his servant is. Seeing his intransigence, Zhong Lisuo quickly changed the subject with a smile: " Didn't it mean that my father was looking for me, and he didn't follow me to the front hall."

"Hey, yes, hurry up, Master Hou has been urging people to find you for quite a while."

Saying so, Ah Sheng led Zhong Lisuo to the front hall.

Walking to the front hall, Zhong Lisuo saw the upright Zhenbei Hou chatting and laughing happily with a middle-aged man with a long beard at a glance.Zhong Lisuo took a hard look and was dazed for a moment, then heard Zhenbei Hou say: "Su, come here quickly, this is my father's friend, Master Cheng Wen from Hongwen Hall."

"Boy see Master Process." She walked over, bowed to the man and saluted, and saw a trace of surprise in his eyes the moment she looked up.

"This is my second daughter who I heard was raised as a kid by Master Zhanran. Take a look, this child may be your student." Because Le Zhengsu was ill in bed all year round, he only invited her in the early years. Mr. learned some basic knowledge.As a father, Zhenbeihou had only hoped that she would grow up safely.But now that Le Zhengsu has finally survived the catastrophe, his desire to make his son a success has begun to become active.

Hongwen Hall was the school for the former Chu to educate noble children and princes. In the Qing Dynasty, the empress, who inherited most of the systems of the Chu Dynasty, still let the children of officials study in Hongwen Hall.

The Hongwen Museum is divided into ten levels according to the heavenly stems, and each level is divided into classes according to the twelve earthly branches.Children who enter school for the first time are basically seven years old, and they study Gui.One year after entering the school, there is a collective assessment at the Gui level. Children who pass it will be the Ren level the next year, and those who have not passed will still be the Gui level.

Originally, this was the way to enter the Hongwen Museum.However, considering that many sons of foreign officials were studying abroad, they finally transferred to Hongwenkan.Therefore, juveniles in this situation can enter school as long as they pass the assessment at all levels.

Cheng Wen is the instructor of Zigeng class, as long as he passes his assessment and then goes to Hongwen Hall for assessment, Le Zhengsu can go directly to grade G after paying the tuition fee.

As a puppet emperor who was indifferent to his own officials in the deep palace, Zhong Lisuo originally had no contact with a little gentleman from the Hongwen Museum.But besides being the master of Hongwenguan, Cheng Wen is also the Lezheng of the Music Bureau of the Ministry of Rites.This music was appointed by Zhong Lisuo during his reign, because Cheng Wen played the piano well.

Zhong Lisuo admired the folk art, so he did an insignificant little thing.

It's just that she didn't expect that she, a piano listener, would have such a relationship with the piano teacher, and she would become his student when they met again.

Cheng Wen looked at her carefully, looked at her for a long time, stroked his long beard and muttered: "Hongwen Hall has teaching without discrimination, the second son can naturally become my student, it's just son... where did you learn all your lessons?" ?”

"I have learned all the Four Books and Five Classics, but I am not very good at it." In her previous life as an emperor, although her knowledge was a little behind, it was still excellent.It's just that Le Zhengsu has been bedridden for several years, how can he compare to the former her.

Cheng Wen picked up some of them and asked her. Zhong Lisuo answered the easy ones more completely, and the difficult ones gave ambiguous answers.In this way, he showed the level of Lezheng Suyaomo, which just happened to deal with Cheng Wen and passed the assessment of Hongwen Museum.

"It's okay to learn, although it's slower than others, but because the study time is not long, there is nothing wrong with it. Only the students in the seventh grade are younger than you, and the oldest student I teach is only 12 years old. , the youngest is only eight years old, so I wonder if my nephew would still be willing to be my student?"

Studying with boys and girls who are much younger than themselves, most young men of this age are too proud to be embarrassed. Most people would rather not keep up with the progress and choose to go directly to a higher level.

But Zhong Lisuo didn't think so. She lived in Lenggong in her previous life and never went to Hongwen Hall.There is an opportunity in this life, plus it is the kindness of my father, and the husband in front of me is a familiar person, so there is no need to refuse it.

So she bowed, saluted, and said, "Students are willing."

Cheng Wen stroked his long beard and showed a satisfied smile.

The next day, Zhong Lisuo went to the Hongwen Hall for the assessment, and after passing the examination, he started his study career in the Hongwen Hall in mid-winter, facing his mother's worried eyes.

A 16-year-old student came to the Zigeng class of the Hongwen Museum, which attracted the attention of many students in the library.The younger senior seniors came to greet Zhong Lisuo one after another, and left in satisfaction after hearing his elder brother call him senior.

Zhong Lisuo didn't care about these little things at all, and just enjoyed a life in the Hongwen Museum in an orderly manner.

This little incident only caused a little ripple in Hongwen Hall.As the end of the year approaches, an undercurrent surges from the court to every corner of the imperial city.

And the owner of the Dark Tide Center is sitting on the throne of Zhaohui Hall at this moment, wearing a black gauze skirt, and holding a vermilion pen to review the memorial.

She is the founding empress of the Qing Kingdom, Xuan Jingchen.Before that, she was the empress of Emperor Zhao, the concubine of Prince Zhaoming, and the wolf exorcising general who was personally appointed by Emperor Assassin.

The common people thought that she should be the god of war with a heroic face, compared to the weak Emperor Zhao, the queen who set off to march north as the commander must have three heads and six arms.

She should have a tall and straight body, strong arms, and eyes looking down on the world.

But obviously, all the women sitting on the throne at the moment have none.

She has a fair and beautiful face, a slender and exquisite figure, and slender and soft fingers that all the noble girls in Yuanzhou City dream of.

She neither wears a crown like all the empresses of the Chu Dynasty, nor does she wear a heavy official dress. Instead, she pulls her long hair like ink casually, wears a simple gauze skirt, and sits upright on the admirable high position.

She looks so slender, but her thin shoulders have already taken on the heavy responsibility of a country.Le Zhengying, who had been used to seeing His Majesty's delicate appearance since he was a teenager, looked up at the woman who was reviewing the memorial while listening to him after finishing the narration, and couldn't help sighing again.

"Your Majesty, although you are busy with business, I hope you take care of your health." As usual, she added this sentence at the end.In the Zhaohui Palace, which was burned by earth dragons into summer in this cold winter, Le Zhengying, who was dressed heavily, raised his hand to wipe off the sweat from his forehead, and let out a long sigh of relief.

The earth dragon in Zhaohui Hall has been burning very high since Emperor Zhao.The empress had already adapted to the cold winter temperature, and she didn't feel anything wrong at the moment.When she heard the words, she glanced at Le Zhengying, just in time to see that he was wiping the sweat on his brow, so she turned her head and told the maid, "Keep the earth dragon down."

After saying that, he looked at Le Zhengying: "I know. You did a good job in this matter, and I will think about how to reward you."

"It is the responsibility of the minister to share the worries of the king. I am afraid, and I hope your majesty will not think about it. Last time you ordered someone to build a mansion for the minister's family. The minister is enough to attract people's attention." Xu Shi knew each other when they were young. He always speaks frankly in front of him.

At this moment, she had a wry smile on her face, and she looked a little unbearable.

His Majesty glanced at her, changed the memorial and said, "It was because of your father's military exploits that I made the decree." If it weren't for worrying about more gossip, the mansion should have been expanded long before Zhenbei Hou returned to the court. .

"Besides, rewards for meritorious deeds and punishment for demerits, isn't that what it should be?"

This His Majesty speaks softly, no matter how you look at it, she is a very gentle lady, no one will believe that she is the general who holds the world's soldiers and horses in her hands.But this His Majesty, who holds a heavy army in his hand, behaves quite like a soldier.After being on the throne for three years, he has thoroughly implemented the system of rewards for meritorious deeds.

"Yes, that's what you said." Le Zhengying had no choice but to tug at his heavy robe, and said again: "I've finished my business, but I have one more question to ask you about the matter of the King of Clouds, are you What do you think? The ministers are urging you day and night, and the King of Yunzhong is the only blood of the former royal family, and he is also your brother-in-law, no matter how you look at it, he is very suitable for the nobles."

His Majesty raised his head, looked at her condescendingly, and said, "Why do you even come to ask about this matter? Of course it is impossible."

"Of course I understand this matter, I just want to tell you that you are busy day and night, and you have not paid attention to many things. How to arrange the King of Clouds, why don't you ask Princess Pingan what she means?"

Princess Ping'an is the younger sister of His Majesty, besides Princess Ping'an, His Majesty also has a younger sister, Princess Jingming.Because during the reign of Emperor Assassin of the previous dynasty, the northern barbarians invaded the border once, and all the men of the Xuan clan died in battle.

In this world, His Majesty's only remaining blood relatives are Princess Ping'an, Princess Xuan Jingan and Princess Jingming, Princess Xuan Jingning.

"Jing An..." His Majesty paused for a moment, then looked at Le Zhengying in amazement, just in time to meet his eyes.

"King Yunzhong and Emperor Zhao are blood brothers. They have a gentle temperament, and they treat people and things very well. What's more, he is not a threat, and he is also handsome and handsome, so he can be called a good match." Le Zhengying watched His Majesty staring at her, and continued to say goodbye He said in a hurry: "Also, the princess and the king of Yunzhong have been classmates for several years. They have a deep friendship and will definitely be a happy match."

"I didn't know when you became an iceman." His Majesty paused, with a bit of helplessness in his tone.

Le Zhengying flicked his sleeves, bowed and saluted, with awe-inspiring righteousness; "This minister is sharing the worries for His Majesty."

"This matter...let me think about it carefully." Her Majesty the Empress didn't care about the trivial matters that dragged her into the vortex of the big wedding, but realized that after her beloved sister and the fat and white King of Clouds met each other, there was a complicated look. Emotions came to mind.

That's right, my younger sister is also twenty this year, and she is at the age of marriage.

As a sister, she still didn't care enough.

Thinking of this, the empress said: "I will ask Jing An when I turn around."

Talking about my sister, His Majesty suddenly thought of something, looked at his best friend from childhood, and said casually: "Didn't you say that your little sister has recovered from her illness? How is it now? This year's palace banquet will bring her to me to have a look."

The empress suddenly mentioned Le Zhengsu, making Le Zhengying think of her younger sister's face that stunned her.That appearance that is too similar to the late emperor, appearing in front of everyone at this moment, will definitely cause some troubles.

Le Zhengying smiled and said casually; "Thank you for your kindness, there is nothing very interesting about ministers like ministers. Besides, if I come to the palace banquet with her, I am afraid that I will make my ministers suffer. Your Majesty knows that she is now Study in the Hongwen Library."

"Oh?"

"Because she has been bedridden all year round, the child can only read Geng now. If there is a palace banquet, the twelve or thirteen-year-old children in the adults' families will ask her to call her senior. Recently, she called her younger brothers and sisters "senior" It's too much, you can spare her." Le Zhengying said, making a beseeching look towards His Majesty.

Xu Shi's anecdotes about young people are very heart-warming, His Majesty even smiled, and asked softly: "Did she really shout?"

"No, Zhang Shilang told me with a smile a few days ago that her son was very happy to tell her that his brother called her senior when he came back."

"He is a sincere boy." His Majesty nodded and praised him.

"Yes." Le Zhengying nodded, and said: "The matter of King Yunzhong has also been settled, but the ministers still won't let it go. Your Majesty, I have thought about something for a long time, and I want to tell you. You have been on the throne for three years, and the world is peaceful, it is time to consider a big wedding."

"I also hope that Your Majesty will put the country and the emperor's heir first."

Le Zhengying lowered her head, not looking at her expression.

His Majesty was stunned for a moment, then said softly: "You are one year older than me, and you are almost thirty, and you dare to worry about me if you don't worry about your own affairs. It seems that it is time for Zhenbeihou Urge you."

"I only have parents in my family, but Your Majesty, you have thousands of people." Le Zhengying stood solemnly and said seriously.

The emperor's heir is the cornerstone of the country, no matter what, the queen should give birth to an heir as soon as possible.

But Xuan Jingchen didn't think so. Perhaps, from the moment she married Prince Zhaoming, she never thought about having a child of her own.

Even if two women can get married, how can they have children.

What's more, she's not even here now.

His Majesty looked at the courtiers below, at that familiar yet unfamiliar face, and turned to look to the south.After a while, he replied softly: "I understand."

Just like that day when Su Yanqing who came from the south handed over the imperial edict to her, she just looked at the south and said softly: "I understand."