Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

Chapter 63

In the Jokhang Temple, Chu Jun cleaned his hands and burned incense, and entered the hall under the guidance of his attendants.In the main hall, the golden and green statues sit with flowers in their hands, with seals in their hands, with neither sadness nor joy in their eyes, overlooking all living beings.

All the monks in the temple chanted scriptures and prayed behind the curtains, and the chant was endless, rippling like water waves, and then gathered again to form a surge, back and forth.On the incense table in the temple, there are flowers, melons and fruits, and glazed lamps. The fire is shining brightly, reflecting the golden statue.There are various scriptures and stories painted on the walls of the hall. From top to bottom, the nine heavenly palaces are painted in sequence.

Chu Jun was dressed in plain clothes and long train, wearing a white jade crown on her head. She stood in front of the statue. She held three sticks of fine incense in her hands, but she never knelt down to worship.After a while, a small door opened on the side of the statue, she put the incense into the incense burner casually, and stepped into the door alone.

Although the door is small, the inside is very wide. A row of ever-burning lamps are built high along the wall. Two futons were placed under the lamps. Chu Jun sat and waited for a while. A Taoist man in purple came in through the secret door and saw her. He saluted and said, "Join Your Highness."

Chu Jun pointed to another futon: "Sit."

The Taoist sat down cross-legged according to the words, and Chu Jun said: "Did the mother dream about anything recently?"

The Taoist bowed and said: "Your Majesty said the day before yesterday that he dreamed of a long snake passing through the palace wall, circling around the room and refusing to leave."

Chu Jun nodded slightly, and said again: "May I ask the imperial physician?"

The Taoist closed his eyes and said, "I didn't ask for my pulse, but I made another batch of elixir."

Chu Jun pondered for a moment and said: "Snakes and rats are unknown in dreams. If the Queen Mother goes to Yuqing Palace to help the spirits today, I will tell her this. A nest of snakes and rats in the court will become powerful."

The Taoist opened his eyes and said, "Why is Your Highness so sure that His Majesty will come to Yuqing Palace to make me wait for the spirit?"

Chu Jun smiled, and said: "The Taoist priest doesn't need to know, just prepare according to what I said. Anyway, the Taoist priest has the power to reach the heavens. If the Queen Mother asks why he prepared in advance, the Taoist priest will only ask the heavens to send an omen. "

The Taoist nodded, got up and saluted, and then left through the secret door.

Not long after, another person came in from the side, saw her and knelt down to salute: "My lord, the people have already been dealt with."

Chu Jun said: "Have the people on King Yue's side been arranged?"

"Yes, the people under King Qi have been arrested, and they were sent to Wucheng Bingmasi Prison by that Master Li."

Chu Jun smiled and said: "He is also not afraid of trouble, but he is quite smart, so I don't need to do it."

She stood up from the futon, walked around the room with her hands behind her back, and said: "It's safe until you arrive, so don't take it lightly."

The man said, "Yes."

Feng Yun wiped the knife again, feeling a little strange, and said, "So you already knew?"

Qingping went to pour tea by herself, she was really thirsty, she walked around outside non-stop, and then hurried back to participate in the ceremony, watching a group of examiners enter the courtyard with unopened lacquer boxes, and then the Weide Building was closed. Surrounded by the forbidden army and guarded tightly, she took a breath.

She said perfunctorily, "No, it's just in case."

Liu Zhen came back after admiring the calligraphy and painting on the wall in the room. Feng Yun asked strangely, "Who is this?"

Qing Ping said: "The people who serve His Highness King Xin."

Liu Zhen saluted Feng Yun, and Feng Yun returned the salute with a strange expression.Liu Zhen came here for Chu Jun, so her status is naturally unusual. She will return to the palace soon, and the two wanted to talk, but with Feng Yun here, they can only pretend to be bureaucratic, which is very boring.

It's a pity that Fengyun refused to leave all the time, Liu Zhen and Qingping looked at each other helplessly, and finally Liu Zhen said: "Lord Li, I'll go back first, Your Highness still needs someone to serve."

Qingping could only bid farewell to her and send her outside the door with his own carriage and horses.She returned to the room and waited for the master in charge to ask about today's affairs. Feng Yun rushed over and said in a low voice: "It's really a big show, the prime minister is a guest, and the people around the king are not to be offended. Did you offend her?"

Qingping didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and she didn't know where she saw that she and Liu Zhen had a grudge, Fengyun continued: "Let's wait for this matter, please go to Wanxianglou for a drink?"

"No, no, I don't like drinking very much." Qingping quickly refused, what is the Wanxiang Building, it is a place of ecstasy, who knows which shepherd's bed got up after drinking?

Feng Yun smiled. She usually looks capable and serious, but when she talked about this incident, she lost her warrior demeanor and said, "You haven't been there, have you?"

Just as Qingping was about to refute, Fengyun approached mysteriously and said, "You civil servants have a lot of business and rules, and my sister will guarantee you that if you go there, no one will find out, so you can rest assured."

Unexpectedly, the way she expressed her gratitude was so special, Qingping hurriedly said: "No, really no need!"

Feng Yun ignored her refusal, and made a final decision: "That's it, take a rest this month, and set a table at Wanxianglou, I'll treat you!"

Just after she finished speaking, a voice outside asked, "Why don't you invite me?"

The lord in charge came in with the clerk, and Qingping saluted, "Hello, my lord."

The head of the courtyard pointed at her and said to an official beside her: "Su Qing, this is the child with the same surname as mine. He handles things very neatly and is a good seed."

The man was wearing a royal blue official uniform, embroidered with crane patterns.With a serious face, Wen Yan only glanced at Qingping, and said lightly: "Not bad."

Qingping's heart broke out, the crane pattern is only worn by the principal of Chenghui Mansion, but where is Chenghui Mansion?It was a place that was specially responsible for dealing with the affairs of the clan. She didn't understand what the headmaster said.

The master in charge saw her confusion, but he didn't point it out, he just said: "Let's sign and make a deposit first, and hand over the matter at hand."

Her clerk took out the blue book and the red sign, and Qingping complied one by one.The master in charge said: "The matter that the scroll was robbed in Dongfang has been reported to His Majesty. After the Dali Temple is broken, if His Majesty wants to summon you, you have to be careful."

What she said was very strange, as if there was something difficult to say, Qingping said: "Please teach me, sir."

The master in charge smiled, looked at the head of the Chenghui Mansion, and said with a smile: "Just tell the truth, but be careful with your words, don't say things that are unclear and offend His Majesty."

Qingping secretly wrote down her words, but he didn't expect that she would be summoned into the palace the next day when the scientific examination just started.

The sky in October is gradually becoming autumnal, and the morning is foggy.The summer in Chang'an is very short, and it is late autumn in a blink of an eye. There are still a few stars hanging in the cold sky, which looks empty and deserted.Qingping took another look at his attire, it was the first time he met the saint, there was no room for sloppiness, if he didn't do a good job in keeping it clean, he was dragged out of the empress' eyes.

Because the surrounding area was dark, the blue tiles and vermilion eaves, the majestic palace could not be seen, the four imperial guards followed her and waited by the side door of Yuqing Palace, Qingping stood until his feet were almost numb, only then did he hear Shangyang Palace. The bell rang.

The palace gate opened, and another group of people came from the other side. They were also palace people holding up lanterns and guards escorted them.With sharp eyes, Qingping could tell at a glance that the man was Feng Yun.

The two teams greeted each other by nodding their heads. The deep palace is the place where the empress practiced every day, so of course they can't make loud noises.The palace gate opened, and palace servants came out in a file. Naturally, this battle was not for them, but for the few cabinet ministers behind them.

This was the first time that Qingping saw Yan Minghua, the chief assistant of the cabinet, and Shen Mingshan, the second assistant, waiting outside Yuqing Palace with several cabinet ministers who had not participated in the scientific examination.

Yigong said humanely: "Your Majesty summons the deacon to offer wine to Li Qingping, and Feng Yun, the Sanqi houseman, to see him!"

Qingping and Fengyun bowed to the adults, Yan Minghua glanced at them, and said: "There is no need to be too polite, let's go in quickly."

The palace roads in Yuqing Palace are well-organized, with the royal road paved with white marble in the middle, and roads paved with sapphire stones on both sides for the palace people and officials to walk. They followed the palace people through the long corridor and walked for a long time before arriving at the entrance of the main hall.

Qingping raised his head and glanced, there were guards standing outside the palace gate, the palace servants came forward to report, and then a few palace maids came out from the side gate to meet them and took them to a large hall.

The two of them didn't dare to vent their anger, they glanced at each other quickly, and then secretly looked at the inside of the hall.The Yuqing Palace is not as luxurious and rich as imagined, but very cold. There are no phoenix chairs in the main hall, and there are huge alchemy furnaces on the ground of the palace. Taiwan worship.The two of them were standing by the alchemy stove, when suddenly a crisp bell rang, the curtains directly in front of them were slowly opened, layer by layer, and at the deepest part of the hall there was a white jade step, which was as high as two people. On the upper steps, there were palace people kneeling and holding long burning lanterns, and the two knelt and kowtowed, and an ethereal voice came from the stage: "The deacon Li Qingping, Sanqisheren Fengyun, you two were in charge of escorting Feng Yun yesterday. Did you go to the official school?"

The two knocked their heads on the cold floor tiles and said, "It's Wei Chen."

The voice continued: "Then it was true that the Dongfang seal was robbed yesterday?"

Although this voice is neither human nor ghost, but the aura of Yu Ji Tian Xia has not weakened in the slightest.Qingping broke out in cold sweat behind his back, gritted his teeth and said, "This matter is indeed true."

The empress said slowly: "You are Li Qingping? I have seen a few of your notebooks. Earlier, when you were an admonisher in the Sixth Division, the cabinet was full of admonitions. Why did you change your position? See Can’t even read the envelope?”

Qingping had no choice but to kowtow, she couldn't answer at this time, because the empress didn't ask her to answer, she said: "Your Majesty calm down."

"Calm your anger?" The empress's voice became cold and hard, "The three-year talent show almost lost the seal because of you useless trash. If this paper is lost and the exam questions are leaked, then it's true." This is a big joke in the world! How can I face my ancestors face to face? Feng Yun! As a Sanqisheren, you are my guard, and you can't even read a paper, so what are you doing? To guard the palace for me?"

Feng Yun said in a low voice: "The minister deserves death for his crimes! Please calm down, Your Majesty!"

The two were sprayed head and face by the empress' anger, and they almost became nothing. They could only kneel on the ground and pretend to be grandchildren. The empress sat down and said coldly: "Speak! Dali Temple can't tell the beginning and the end, Since the two of you are here, explain the matter clearly!"

After a brief silence, Qing Ping said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty has learned from you." Then he recounted the conversation he had with Master Ti Xue when he first entered the official school.

Qingping Zhengyi said Lingran: "Since then, I have kept my mind on it, and I began to feel that there seemed to be something tricky in it, but I couldn't report it because there was no evidence."

The empress's voice softened a little, and she said, "Just because of this incident, you made another set of sealed lacquer boxes and hid them in the carriage?"

Qingping knew that every sentence she answered now was very important, so he said very carefully: "This is the work of this humble official, after all, this matter is too ridiculous, I am afraid that no one will believe it if I tell it."

"Oh, you are very courageous." The empress smiled, as if she was very happy, "That's right, you even dare to speak out against the first assistant and the second assistant, so why not dare? But it's also considered right, so be prepared .”

Probably because the image she created in the six subjects was too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so what she did now is justified.Qing Ping knelt on the ground and said: "Lucky for me, I got the second best in the examination. Although I can't face Tianyan, I also know that I have to be treated favorably by His Majesty in order to be where I am today. And the examination is very important. How dare you delay His Majesty's selection of talents? This is the reason why I took the risk because of my inexperience..."

The empress heard the words but said: "Feng Yun, tell me, you are also involved in this matter."

Feng Yun hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, according to what I see, the robbery must have been premeditated. If Li Jijiu hadn't arranged it in advance, I'm afraid it would be..."

"It's really a joke!" The empress shouted loudly, and her voice echoed in the hall for a while.

The two fell on the ground again, and said: "Your Majesty, calm down!"

The Empress said coldly: "Don't think that I don't know, which bandits and gangsters in Chang'an city dare to rob the guards? The soldiers and horses from the five cities were dispatched that day, but they couldn't stop this group of people. Very deep!"

Qingping felt his knees go numb, and couldn't help but think of Chu Jun, did she kneel like this in this palace?I have to pretend that I am kneeling happily and comfortably, this feeling is too uncomfortable.

If there is no sound on the white jade steps, Qingping will think that the empress is asleep.The Empress suddenly said: "Then why didn't you report the incident between the two of you?"

Qing Ping thought it was finally here, she said: "Your Majesty, the madman who robbed the papers came so suddenly at that time, Master Feng never thought of it. The gangster robbed the carriage and fled, Master Feng went to chase the carriage, the incident happened suddenly It was too late to send people to report. Besides, this matter is of great importance, if you rush to report without knowing whether the sealed papers are intact, the next day will be the examination, and it will not make nearly ten thousand candidates in Chang'an feel helpless?"

"...hehe." The empress stood up from the throne, Qingping and Fengyun bowed their heads in silence, Qingping guessed that the emperor who had lived in the deep palace for several years and was extremely self-willed already understood what she meant, although she was not very In contact with ministers, but the desire for power will never be lower than that of any emperor, otherwise what is the purpose of pursuing the way of longevity?Sure enough, the empress said: "Bring a pen."

Someone in the palace presented a pen and paper, only to hear the rustling sound, and then the empress said: "Take it down, give it to Shen Mingshan, and say that there will be one more strategy question in this scientific examination, and the judging paper will be based on this topic, and then the Xuanmen officials will search Candidates."

As soon as these words came out, Qingping breathed a sigh of relief.That's exactly what she meant. The fake test paper had already been leaked out. It can be said that those who wanted to use fraudulent methods to win the exam were almost ready.It is not very good for all candidates to change the test paper at this time, and the method of cheating is not this kind, there are more advanced ones.All she needs to do is to let the empress know about the fraud, implying that there is an examiner colluding with high-ranking officials, and the next thing is beyond Qingping's participation.If you can’t change the test paper, just add one more question. Candidates who cheat or bribe the examiner will not think of this no matter how well prepared they are.

But in this matter, she subconsciously avoided the link where Chu Jun appeared, and did not say how the Wucheng soldiers and horses were mobilized, but such an inconspicuous matter made the whole matter seem complete and insignificant. There was no flaw, Qingping felt a chill in his heart, he didn't have time to think about what kind of role Chu Jun played in this process, but he remembered it again when he heard the crisp ringtone, the empress said: "The merits and demerits equal each other, you should think about it on your own." .”

The two responded in unison, the curtains fell layer by layer, and the palace man led them out of the Yuqing Palace, the two dared to look at each other when they stood outside the palace gate, and they could see from each other's faces that they were lucky to have escaped. .

Feng Yun wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, cupped his fists and said, "Thank you so much, Mr. Li, when you are free, I—"

Qing Ping covered her mouth and said in a low voice: "Still in Da Nei, let's talk about it when we go out."

Feng Yun immediately shuddered. She often walked in the palace, so she naturally knew the key to this. She looked around in horror and covered her mouth.

The examination lasted for five days. Qingping went directly to the official school after he came out of the palace. Chang'an official school was not an examination room, but because the examiners had to mark the papers in it, he even had a lot of trouble with the guards outside the gate when he entered.

She felt that she was exhausted, but she still insisted on going to see the head of the school. The head of the school presides over the examination matters in the official school. When she saw her, she said with a look of displeasure: "It's just in time. Give this thing to His Royal Highness Xin Wang."

Qing Ping shuddered instantly when he heard this title, and after thinking about it, he said: "My lord, I want to ask for leave and go back to rest for a day. You can ask someone else to deliver it."

The headmaster gave her a strange look, and said with a smile, "You still want to ask for leave? It seems that the trip to the palace is not in vain." After saying that, he approved her leave, and changed another person to deliver things to Chu Jun.

Qingping staggered back home, plunged into the bedroom, rolled up the quilt and climbed up to sleep.Probably because she was too tired, she fell asleep immediately and dreamed.Perhaps it was because of thinking too much during the day, her dreams were upside down, and the girlish Chen Jun and the young Xin Wang appeared repeatedly, alternately in the dream, and it was difficult to distinguish each other.

The dream was too deep, and it is not easy for people to wake up. She opened her eyes with difficulty, unbuttoned her official uniform, took off her clothes and put them on the bed, and removed the hairpin. She sat by the bed with disheveled hair, silently in the dark sighed.

She just felt tired and tired, and she didn't know why she was so tired.When people are alone, they will always reflect and introspect constantly, which aggravates the feeling of tiredness.

She didn't want to think about it anymore, so she didn't even bother to make dinner, and got into the bed and wanted to continue to sleep. At this time, she suddenly kicked a soft thing, which was at the corner of the bed. She felt all the way along the quilt, feeling like a-

Qing Ping jumped out of bed suddenly, lifted the quilt, and exclaimed: "Who is it!"

The person mumbled in the dark, and she hurriedly touched the candlestick, how could there be one more person on the bed after sleeping?She lit the candle, thought about exiting the door, found a broom from the yard as a weapon, and then hurried in.

The man woke up, sat on the edge of her bed, stretched his waist, rubbed his eyes when he saw her come in, and said: "Qingping, you are awake."

The broom in Qingping's hand fell to the ground, she walked over with the candlestick in her hand, looked at the person on the bed in disbelief, and said, "Why is Your Highness in my house?" Breaking into a private house?

Chu Jun twitched the corners of his mouth, straightened his wrinkled robe, and said, "Who is to blame if you don't close the door yourself?"

Qingping knew that it was meaningless to entangle her with this kind of problem, because she felt that no matter whether she closed the door or not, as long as Chu Jun wanted to come in, she would definitely be able to come in, it was definitely not a question of the door.She said, "Is there something wrong, Your Highness?"

Chu Jun leaned against the bed with his head propped up, looking sleepy, and said, "If you have nothing to do, you can't come and see."

Sitting at the head of the bed, Qingping remembered that his hair was still disheveled, so he went to look for the hairpin under the quilt. Chu Jun saw it and smiled, Qingping's hand touching the hairpin paused, and glared at her angrily: "I don't know that His Highness is good at not telling you And when you come in, why don't you come in so upright, why don't you just say "official", the official is ready to welcome the guests!"

Chu Jun said: "You sleep so dead, and you still welcome guests. If I didn't see that your door was open, and came in to close the door for you, I wouldn't even know that your house was attacked by burglars."

Qingping touched the hairpin, got up and rolled up her hair, feeling that she could still see people, so she moved the candlestick to this side, she pointed out the flaw in the words: "Your Highness said that the thief didn't see it, but only saw His Highness Sleeping at the end of the bed is really too frightening, if His Highness really wants to rest, I will clean up the guest room immediately."

Chu Jun’s little finger was circling her hair stubbornly, circling it and letting it go, looking very absorbed, she didn’t hear what Qingping was saying, Qingping called her several times before she said slowly: “What’s wrong, what’s wrong? stop."

Qingping has lost his temper. When he met her mother in the morning, he had a good meal. In the evening, he had to deal with Chu Jun himself. Both of them were not easy to deal with. After doing it, he fell on the bed and said, "Is there something wrong, Your Highness?"

The movement of Chu Jun's hands stopped, and he glanced at her sideways. Qingping thought she was in a daze again, but he didn't expect a black shadow to jump in front of him, and Chu Jun directly pressed on her. She was taller than Qingping, so naturally It was so heavy that Qingping was almost out of breath. He wanted to struggle to get up, but was pushed back again.

She remembered that Chu Jun easily pushed and fell back on the bed. After so many repetitions, Qingping no longer had the strength to fight against her.Chu Jun thoughtfully put one hand on her waist, leaving some space for her to breathe, and with the other hand, he picked up a lock of her long hair and circled it around her little finger, circling it, and circling it again, like all little girls Games that girls can play.Qingping watched her play with her hair in despair, feeling that the world had probably gone crazy.

Maybe she was dreaming, she comforted herself like this, when she woke up from the dream, Chu Jun would disappear.

She was thinking that Chu Jun's disappearance was all a dream, and the person on top of her suddenly said, "Qingping, you haven't forgotten what we said last time, have you?"

Qingping asked vigilantly, "What's the matter?"

Chu Jun's face was flickering in the firelight, she climbed up with her hands on her hands, and happened to be face to face with Qingping, Qingping was inexplicably nervous at once, but she heard her say: "You want to play tricks? who came to see me?"

It was only then that Qingping remembered the conversation that night, and remembered the cause and effect in a daze. Seeing that she was silent, Chu Jun gave her a supporting hand, put all his weight on her body, and said lightly: "Pretend not to remember? Why don't I help you think about it?" Think?"

Her helping out is definitely not a good word, no matter how you hear it, there is a feeling of malice, Qingping hurriedly said: "No, no, I remember, I remember!"

Hearing this, Chu Jun glanced at her lips, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and a bright color flashed in his eyes. He suddenly felt that his lips were very dry, so he pursed his lips and asked, "Really? Then why did it take so long... not coming......"

Qingping touched her forehead to prevent her from approaching, panted his head and said: "There are too many things, I wanted to go, but I didn't go because I was delayed."

She blushed and gasped for breath because of difficulty in breathing. Chu Jun looked down at her, let go of the little finger that was playing with her hair, and got up and said, "Really?"

As soon as she left, Qingping immediately felt much better, the weight of a person was missing from her body, and her breathing became smoother. She realized that lying on the bed seemed a bit indecent, and she wanted to support herself, but Chu Jun pushed her again. Pushing it on the bed, even a person who has no temper will get angry, Qingping said angrily: "It's true! What are you going to do!"

Chu Jun was unmoved, and only said: "Oh, is that so, are you afraid of entering the palace?" He pressed her tightly again, held her struggling hand, and then picked up a strand of her long hair , pinching the end of her hair and sweeping it around her face, like playing some game.Qingping felt that she really had a problem today, but she was not as strong as her. Seeing her absent-mindedly brushing her hair back and forth, with a strand of hair sticking to her lips, Qingping felt very uncomfortable. He moved his hair to another place, only to find that Chu Jun had been looking at him.

"No... I'm afraid." That's strange.

She looked into her eyes, and an indescribable thing diffused between each other. Chu Jun's eyes were deep and filled with strong emotions. She suddenly let go of Qingping, sat back on the bed, and said after a while: " Where's my token?"

Qing Ping didn't know what happened to her, but felt her heart beating fast, pointed to the table and said, "It's on the table."

Chu Jun nodded, Qingping only saw her side face.She got up and straightened her clothes, only to realize that she was actually wearing unlined clothes all the time!

This unlined garment has been worn for many years, and it has become very thin, almost translucent. She immediately felt hot on her face, and she couldn't imagine that she had been wearing this just now and was pressed under Chu Jun.She dragged the quilt to cover her chest, the temperature on her face climbed up to her ears, and then along her collar to her collarbone.

Chu Jun sat thinking about something, Qingping was glad that she didn't look back at the moment, after a while Chu Jun said: "I'm leaving."

Qingping poked his head out from the corner of the quilt, and blurted out, "Where are you going?"

After saying this, she realized that she shouldn't have asked such a question. Who was she, a subordinate, a friend, or an old friend of Chu Jun?None of the above identities seemed qualified to ask about the whereabouts of a prince. Chu Jun seemed to be used to her way of speaking and didn't feel offended. He still answered her: "Go where adults go, children don't ask."

Qingping said helplessly: "Your Highness, I have already been crowned."

Chu Jun glanced at her sideways, and suddenly said: "I didn't see it, who made you so short."

Qingping supported his forehead and didn't want to talk to her, Chu Jun continued: "Crown ceremony, haven't you done it yet?"

"No."

Qingping thought this was nonsense, her paperwork said eighteen, and she came to study in an official school after being crowned, how could she add another crown, of course she didn't.

Chu Jun stood up and took the token on the table, and said to her, "Let's go, don't give it away."

She stood up Qingping only to realize that she was actually wearing a pro-dynasty uniform. She thought she was wearing it when she attended the scientific examination, but she didn't pay attention to it just now, and only now saw it.

Suddenly, her heart moved, did this person come to her after leaving the banquet?Qingping never thinks too highly of himself, lest there be too much contrast between expectations and reality.But this couldn't stop her from thinking too much, looking at Chu Jun's back, she suddenly wanted to ask, Your Highness, what exactly do you want to do?