Let me eat a soft meal

With the end of the winter month, the approach of the twelfth lunar month, and the first heavy snowfall in Kyoto, the body of the late emperor was sealed in the imperial mausoleum, and all the plain white banners in the palace were taken down, but no festive red silk was hung up. , Even the Qianyuan Palace only hung two red lanterns symbolically.

The palace banquet was not held as big as in previous years, without the participation of courtiers, only a long table made of agarwood wood was set up in Chengtian Hall, and the exquisite dishes prepared by the dining room early were placed from here like flowing water. At the other end, there was a full table.

However, Ye Xuan sat at the main seat and looked around—the left side was empty, and I saw Concubine Shu in a purple palace dress holding her chin and looking at her newly dyed colorful Kodan, and the last Limei and the only one. Ye Zhu, the eighth prince who is not crowned king.

He turned his eyes to look to the right again - the third princess was sitting opposite Concubine Shu, and two seats away was the sixth princess with a haggard face. The two silently looked at the dishes in front of them.

On the opposite side, Feng Zijian, who came uninvited, sat with a big sword and a golden horse. He had already finished two pots of wine in front of him, and he was calling for a passing eunuch to drink more. And do.

There were only a few masters sitting sporadically on the long table, and the vacant seats could not be satisfied even if all the servants in the kitchen were sitting.

When the New Year's Eve coincided with the national funeral, although Ye Xuan had expected that it would not be so lively, he never expected that it would be so deserted.

The dishes had already been served, and the servants and servants of the cloth dishes were waiting beside their respective masters. Zhao An bowed to remind him that it was almost time for the banquet, but there was no communication from outside for a long time.

Ye Xuan looked at the fine snow falling one after another outside, and fell into a short thought.

"What are you looking at, Your Majesty?" Feng Zijian leaned on the chair, shook the half-empty wine bottle in his hand, his narrowed eyes seemed to be drunk, but also clear.

Ye Xuan came back to his senses, looked around the field, raised his lips with a smile that was not a smile, and said, "I was thinking, it's snowing outside, it's probably because of the cold wind, and the little eunuch who guards the gate fell asleep. There was no communication for half a day."

Ye Xuan's words seemed to be a joke, but all the maids and eunuchs in the room knelt down in fear.

The atmosphere of silence was tense instantly, the third princess stood up first, and thoughtfully gave a faultless salute, and said slowly, "Your Majesty, forgive me, it's probably because the night wind is cold, and my mother caught the cold, and I'm afraid I'll overwhelm Your Majesty with her illness." , so I didn’t come here. I’m not afraid of His Majesty’s jokes, I’m as naughty as a man by nature, and I’m not as careful as my younger brother, so my mother left my younger brother by my side.”

"Oh, so it was windy last night?" Feng Zijian played with the white jade wine glass, and laughed moderately.

The third princess cupped her hands at him, not panicking at all, and went straight up, "General Feng misunderstood, my mother has been suffering from a cold for a few days."

"How many days?" Feng Zijian looked at her.

"It's been a few days." The third princess said as if she didn't say anything, but she gave a good reason, and said, "My mother was afraid that we would be worried, so she kept hiding it from us. In addition, we are busy with the funeral of the emperor recently, so we can't help it." I also ignored it, and I didn't know about it until I heard my mother cough yesterday when my brother and I entered the palace to say hello."

Concubine Xian was, after all, the love of the late emperor's life who did not hesitate to use the concubine Yue Guifei to ward off disasters. The three princesses and the king Ye Yin both had mansions in Beijing, and they were located in a prosperous place with a grand family.

Feng Zijian didn't know whether he believed it or not, so he just nodded "Oh" and continued drinking.

It doesn't matter whether Xianfei's illness is true or not, Ye Xuan should also say hello, "Have you seen the imperial physician?"

"Look, doctor Jiang was on duty at the Imperial Hospital last night. He prescribed a few doses of medicine, and said that he would be fine after taking a nap after sweating." The third princess answered eloquently.

Ye Xuan also nodded and let it go, and turned to look at Concubine Shu.

Concubine Shu is the most solemn and luxurious one in the field. Although the purple palace dress is not out of the ordinary, the hairpins all over her head are full of hairpins, the red eye shadow and lips, and even the newly dyed Koudan are strong and gorgeous. color.

The first emperor died less than a hundred days ago, but as a concubine, she made such a disguise. If there were court officials here, it means that the dynasty has not officially opened yet, and Ye Xuan would have received a basic certificate of disrespect for the concubine Shu.

The last time Ye Xuan saw Concubine Shu was at the hunt seven years ago, what impressed him the most was when he and Xie Yushu went to pay her respects on the Empress Dowager's birthday, and Concubine Shu directly asked Xie Yushu for blood jade beads.

At that time, Xie Yushu was 15 years old and was a foreign minister. According to the law, even though he was only a half-grown child, he was still a bit out of line.

However, everyone present seemed to be used to her temperament, and even the Queen Mother later said that she was straightforward and straightforward, so there was no need to worry too much about it.

Ye Xuan used to think that Xu Guogong probably had only one child left, so he pampered him a little bit.

Later, I deeply understood from Concubine Liang that a woman who can rise and fall in the harem looks like a well-behaved fox with beautiful fur, but in fact her claws are sharp and ruthless, and she may see blood at any time.

Ye Xuan looked at the dazzling jewelry on her head now, and for a moment didn't know whether she was really hearty and upright until she didn't care about everything, or if she had a grudge against the late emperor.

Ye Xuan has always speculated about others with the worst malice. He thinks it is the latter. Perhaps Concubine Shu, who has always been regarded as the culprit for murdering the former empress and the child in her belly, guessed the truth earlier than anyone else, and used it to Only by successfully obtaining some privileges from the former emperor can he be so confident in the palace for many years.

Ye Xuan looked at Concubine Shu, and Concubine Shu raised her eyes to look at him.

She laughed and said lazily, "Forgive me, Your Majesty, the princess is pregnant, and she is very sad. Yu'er and the princess are more in love with each other, and they are staying with the princess in the palace."

It is true that Princess Qi lost her baby, and she didn't even know she was pregnant. When she was going down the stairs, she was bumped by a beast and fell to the ground. She immediately saw Hong, and her two-month pregnancy was gone.This is the first prince and grandson of Prince Qi's mansion, or the grandson who was to come out of the womb of the princess. King Qi was so angry that he ordered someone to skin the animal, and also dealt with the animal's owner, a Liang Di in the palace. .

but……

The third princess said, "It seems like a year has passed since the concubine lost her baby?"

"Yeah, she has such a temperament that she can't stand on the stage, and she has a big temper. If I have this time, I'm pregnant with a child. It's no one else's turn." Piggybacked the side concubine of King Qi who was about to give birth.

Anyway, there are reasons, Ye Xuan didn't bother to ask what happened to Concubine Yue who didn't come, just picked up the chopsticks, glanced at Zhao An indifferently, "Get up, and just kneel on the ground if you don't move."

It is considered to have exposed this matter.

Not long after the banquet started, the sixth princess, who had been silent all this time, put down her chopsticks and stood up to leave.

Ye Xuan looked at the arrogant and domineering Ye Ling in the past, but now she looks like a walking dead Ye Ling who has been sucked out of her energy. She is so thin that she is only skin and bones, which makes people worry that a gust of wind will blow her down. She has a sick look on her face and dull eyes .

Being locked up all day in Fengyi Palace, which is not much better than Lenggong, no one speaks, and can only face the mother who is getting crazy day by day, but it is a good result to smooth out his temper.

Ye Xuan didn't sympathize with her. After all, he lived almost this kind of life in the palace when he was a child. In all of this, the emperor was the mastermind and the queen was the accomplice. A beautiful woman counts as one.

That's why, although Ye Xuan disliked Xiao Ba a little bit at the beginning, he never retaliated against him.

Ye Xuan remembered that Xie Yushu had mentioned to him that Ye Ling had asked him to investigate the case of the empress poisoning the concubine Liang, but because the evidence was too clear, no flaws could be found.

Ye Xuan thought for a while, and said, "Putuo Temple has been designated as a national temple. If you want, you can go to the temple with your mother to eat fast and chant Buddha."

Ye Ling looked up at him in surprise, and suddenly there was light in his eyes, as if the dark night that was slowly dimming suddenly came to an end.

She pursed her lips tightly, and when she knelt down and kowtowed to thank her, she burst into tears.

"Ye Ling thank Your Majesty Long En, long live Your Majesty, long live, long live."

Unexpectedly, the time has passed, things are different, and the former enemy has become the first person who sincerely calls him long live.

Ye Xuan waved his hand, thinking that later there would be an excuse to recruit Xie Yushu into the palace.

Not long after, the others also resigned one after another. The Eighth Prince dawdled for a long time, watched Ye Xuan hesitate to speak, and finally left with Li Mei.

All of a sudden, there was only Feng Zijian sitting across the long table.

Ye Xuan put down his chopsticks, and unceremoniously issued an order to chase away guests to his uncle, "It's dark and the road is slippery, the general king should return home as soon as possible."

"Why is Your Majesty driving me away? There are many kinds of fine wines in the palace, and I haven't had enough, and my stomach is only half full."

Feng Zijian sat there motionless, drinking from a big bowl and eating meat, his movements were large, but they didn't look rough, on the contrary, they only made people feel sassy and happy.

Ye Xuan wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, threw it on the table, got up and said directly, "Zhao An, send all the leftovers from this table to the General's Mansion."

Zhao An sneaked a glance over there and paused for a while, then sneered at General Feng, obviously the other party did not bring a weapon to the hall, but he always felt that the next moment there was a cold light, and his head would fall to the ground.

It was a cold day, but his forehead was covered with fine sweat, and the clothes against his back were wet a lot, and his voice was a little trembling.

Feng Zijian was not angry at all, he looked at Ye Xuan with no expression on his face, and said in a vague way, "He is really my good nephew."

"Uncle is ridiculous."

Ye Xuan turned around, "Tai'an, escort the Great General Wang back to his residence."

"Yes." Tai'an stepped forward, and with a flick of his wrist, he revealed a silent menace of the blade, and looked at Feng Zijian silently.

Feng Zijian looked at the young man with a similar face in front of him, with the smell of alcohol in his eyes, he stood up holding the wine jar, gulped it down, and then wiped his lips clean with his fingertips.

"Okay, very good." He said twice, dropped the wine jar, and went straight out.

The footprints on the snow were deep, and the straight one was submerged in the night, without any trace of drunkenness.

Hearing the sound of the wine jar shattering and watching the dancing candles in the hall, Ye Xuan probably understood his choice.

After all, one cannot let go of power once one has it.