Jiangshan is hired [rebirth]

The bells rang one after another, at first it was still faint, and then the bells telling the time all over the capital and the temples in the suburbs of Beijing joined in. The long and heavy bells carried a solemn and sorrowful meaning, indicating that this was destined to be an uneasy night.

Huo Lan put on his clothes and walked out of the courtyard. Many servants of the Yun Mansion outside were also awakened from their dreams, and came out with their clothes on, quietly guessing what happened.

Although many people came out, Xu Suzhen had always managed the servants properly, everyone was surprised but not flustered, those who were on duty at night continued to stay where they were, and the rest gathered towards the front hall in an orderly manner.

Huo Lan followed the crowd to the front hall, Yun Shujian and his wife and Wen Taicang had already arrived, and Yun Miaoqing also came here with Xu Muzhen after a while.

"Is this... the death knell?"

Shuangya was trembling with her arms in her arms. Seeing her like this, Huo Lan suddenly felt a slight chill in himself. He couldn't tell if it was because of Night Breeze or because of the atmosphere.

Yun Shujian took off his robe and put it on Shuangya: "Your Majesty or the Queen Mother? I saw His Majesty doing well during the day..."

"It's not His Majesty." Yun Miaoqing whispered, "The crown prince has not been decided yet, if His Majesty suddenly dies of illness, it's too late for them to hide it, and they won't make a statement."

Beside Yun Miaoqing, Xu Muzhen sighed: "I also saw the Queen Mother during the day, and she told me that she ate well and slept well recently, and she seemed to have really become younger."

But there is no doubt that the person who died must be the Queen Mother.

The queen mother is more than 80 years old, which is considered a happy funeral, and seriously, the queen mother's life has been very smooth. She was born rich and noble in her early years. Promising.She has hardly suffered in her life, and she hasn't had many intrigues with others, and she still retains a kind of simplicity when she grows old, which is extremely rare in a court full of scheming and scheming.

It was precisely because of this innocence that she felt that she was sympathetic with Xu Muzhen, so she would treat the Yun family wholeheartedly regardless of the checks and balances that the emperor in the court had to consider.It's just that such a cute old lady finally came to the end of her life.

These years, the Yun family's prosperity and safety cannot be said to be entirely dependent on the Queen Mother, after all, His Majesty has never allowed the harem to interfere in politics, but the Queen Mother still took care of the Yun Family as much as possible.As soon as she left, everyone in the Yun family sighed. After five o'clock, the door opened and the drum rang, and everyone changed into plain clothes. Shuangya brought Yun Muchen, who had just woken up, and the seven of them sat down and were ready. The carriage enters the palace.

Huo Lan happened to be off duty today, Yun Miaoqing took her to worship the Empress Dowager, and when they arrived in the palace, white tents were hung everywhere.

This is Huo Lan's second visit to Kunhe Palace, and there are still many people waiting outside like last time during the Chinese New Year.It's just different from the festive celebrations of the last New Year's Eve. At this moment, Kunhe's palace is quiet and quiet. Whether the people who came to condolences are sincere or not, at least looking at the past, the expressions on everyone's faces are very sad.

Huo Lan lowered his eyes and stopped looking around, waiting for the communication ahead.After about twenty-five minutes, it was the Yun family's turn to enter the hall to worship.

The main hall of Kunhe Palace was clothed in the shape of a mourning hall. The empress dowager's coffin was parked in the middle of the hall. The emperor led a group of princes to kneel on the right side of the coffin, and the concubines and princesses knelt on the left side of the coffin. Many royal relatives.

The maid in charge of Kunhe Palace distributed incense to several members of the Yun family, with Xu Muzhen leading the way, and seven people went up to offer incense in batches.

There was a lot of crying in the hall, and the emperor kept his head down when the members of the Yun family were offering incense, but he lifted his eyelids and glanced at Huo Lan when he knelt down.

Coming out of Kunhe Palace, Huo Lan turned his head and looked behind him. All he could see were people in plain clothes wiping tears, and the main entrance of the main hall, which was extremely dark because the windows were closed.

Obviously, it was only a careless queen mother who passed away, and the emperor who was in charge of power was still there, but somehow Huo Lan felt a little bit of the decline of the dynasty from the gloomy clouds.

It turned out that everything was not without warning.

After the queen mother passed away, the emperor put state affairs first, and kept filial piety for 27 days instead of 27 months according to the law.

During these 27 days, Zhong Yu took a break from the morning court, but summoned Huo Lan several times. Sometimes he asked him to play a game of chess with him, and sometimes to talk about some national policies. Once he even closed his eyes on the couch and asked Huo Lan to replace him. I remembered the booklet.

Huo Lan's identity was originally known to only a few people, but now they can't hide it anymore. There are rumors that Huo Lan is the orphan of Prince Pingzhang.Some people say that the pain of losing one's mother also reminded His Majesty of the pain of bereavement of one's son. His Majesty may have remembered the goodness of Prince Pingzhang again. To Huo Lan.

Recognizing Huo Lan seems to be just a matter of timing, and if His Majesty can recognize a person who grew up in the common people back to the royal family out of compensation, will he be given more preferential treatment and power out of compensation?

"Absurd! Nonsense! This is simply disregarding the face of our royal family! What a shame!"

The study room of King Yu's Mansion was in a mess, with broken porcelain pieces and torn papers all over the floor. King Yu Zhong Jin walked back and forth in front of the desk, as if he was still not relieved, he picked up the inkstone on the table and threw it out again.

"Even if he, Huo Lan, is really the brother's flesh and blood, he is still an illegitimate child! He was a bastard with a country maidservant! When the eldest brother was alive, he didn't even have an identity. Why would he still have an identity after the eldest brother died?" Can you recognize your ancestors and return to your clan?"

In the study, apart from Zhong Jin, there are four other disciples who have lived in his house for a long time, as well as his uncle Qi Hong.

"Your Highness, please calm down. These are just rumors. Your Majesty has only summoned him a few times. Maybe he is old and lonely. He saw the shadow of Prince Pingzhang in him, so he called him to take a look."

King Yu is in a fit of anger now, and no one else dare to persuade him except Qi Hong.

"Why don't you call him He'er or Xin'er when you're lonely? Are so many emperors and grandchildren not enough to accompany him? If you insist on calling such a bastard, who should you be?"

Zhong Jin roared "ah", and swept everything on the table to the ground.

"Your Highness! Shh, shh, speak carefully!" Qi Hong tugged on Zhong Jin's sleeve, and said in a low voice, "You can just scold Huo Lan, but you can't talk about Your Majesty behind your back!"

"I'm just talking about what's wrong!" Zhong Jin drank wine at noon, and his body smelled of alcohol, "Brother has been dead for 18 years! 18 years! What kind of life have I been living? I am almost forty now, he is late If I don’t canonize the new crown prince, what will others think of me? The whole world is watching Zhong Jin’s jokes! They say that I am in a dilemma because I have no talent or virtue! In the end, I am the villain, the worst Hate the most damned person!"

"Oh my lord!"

Qi Hong is one of the rare civil servants in the Qi family. He was weak since he was a child, and he couldn't hold Zhong Jin at all right now. He pointed to the other four people in the room angrily and said, "What are you doing? The queen mother's funeral is not over yet, what are you doing?" You can let your highness drink! If this gets out, your highness will have nothing to eat."

"It's none of their business! Who cares if the queen mother is not the queen mother, I want to drink it! That hypocrite, vicious villain, the fifth, will always make me trip up in front of my father. I have endured him for a long time, that Huo Lan, a country bastard, why would he dare to ride on my head and shit?"

Zhong Jin burped, shook his chubby body and threw a memorial to Qi Hong.

"This is a request to send troops to fight against Rongjia. Today, the emperor gave the approval to the Ministry of War and asked them to start preparing for the war."

Qi Hong hurriedly caught the flying memorial, and said, "That's a good thing..."

"What a fart! He intends to let Du Chengyou lead the army! Don't use the ready-made Marshal of the Northern Army, Uncle, but use Du Chengyou. Isn't it clear what that means?"

Du Chengyou is Du Shouming's younger brother, and the reason why Huo Lan was accepted by His Majesty so smoothly is that Du Shouming is behind it all.

Qi Hong flipped through the content of the memorial: "No, take a step back and say, even if His Majesty is really dissatisfied with you, with so many princes, why should he pave the way for such a person of unknown origin? Besides, it has not yet been decided. It’s not like we have no chance of winning on the day of sending troops, so don’t be too depressed, it’s important to quickly think of a way to deal with it.”

Zhong Jin wiped his face, and finally stopped making noise, but his eyes were more gloomy than before.

"No matter what, let's kill that Huo Lan first."

A dark cloud covered the originally sunny sky, thunder suddenly rang, and then it rained heavily.

For several days in succession, it rained every afternoon in the Qingjing area, and it didn't stop until evening.Without the morning morning, the duties of the guards' office were half relaxed, and because of the rain, the daily training in the afternoon was also cancelled.

Everyone is hiding under the eaves of the corridor to hide from the rain. Usually, they can sneakily play dice to gamble for a small amount of money in their free time. Now that the queen mother is mourning, all entertainment activities are prohibited. If it's light, it might not even save your life.

Everyone is extremely bored and can only gather in one place to chat.There was a lot of rumors about Huo Lan's identity outside. Many of their guards had relatives who were officials in the court. Naturally, they heard some rumors. They could hold back for the first two days, but they were almost ruined by the third day. Now, there is only this "big event" that everyone is interested in that has not been discussed.

There are a few people in the same group as Huo Lan who are familiar with each other. They went in and out with Huo Lan and stayed on duty for a period of time. They approached Huo Lan and asked, "Hey, did your majesty call again this morning?" you go?"

In the morning, Eunuch Zhang personally came to pick up the person, who else could it be if not His Majesty, this question is pure nonsense.

Huo Lan had nothing to hide and nodded.

"Why does Your Majesty keep summoning you? Are those rumors true?" The person who asked the question was Tao Cai, who was the youngest in their group, only 16 years old, and his clear eyes were full of curiosity.

"What rumor?" Huo Lan frowned slightly, pretending to be so.If it was three months ago, she might not have paid attention to this person at all, but ever since Yun Miaoqing sent her here and "by the way" brought some snacks to those who were on duty with her, She then understood what Yun Miaoqing meant.

Yun Miaoqing is helping her manage the interpersonal relationship here, and I hope everyone can treat her better.

If you want others to treat you well, you can't reject people thousands of miles away with a straight face every day.So Huo Lan began to learn to be more patient with others. Although she felt that she didn't need the friendship of others, if Yun Miaoqing felt that she needed it, then she wouldn't mind trying it out.

Tao Cai didn't know at all that although the person in front of him was looking at him, he was thinking of another person in his heart.Seeing that Huo Lan didn't understand what he was talking about, he scratched his head anxiously: "Oh, that's the rumor about your father being the one who can't be said!"

"Which one is so so?" Huo Lan paused, then suddenly said in a low voice, "The commander is here."

"Don't lie to me, the commander went to the House of Internal Affairs to ask about His Majesty's [-]th birthday, it's still too early to come back!"

As soon as Tao Cai finished speaking, he heard a sad voice from behind: "Who said it's too early for me to come back?"

Tao Cai was so frightened that his legs went limp, and he almost bowed to Huo Lan on the spot.

"Why are you walking without making a sound? You scared me to death!"

Tao Cai himself spoke about others behind his back, but instead a villain came to complain first.Huo Lan heard that the Commander and Tao Cai were cousins, and he couldn't tell it during training, but today they really seemed very close when they were talking, at least someone else would not dare to talk to the Commander like that.

The commander gave a cold "hum", and didn't bother with Tao Cai about who was at fault, and asked everyone to gather and stand.

"I just went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to inquire. His Majesty's birthday will still be held as scheduled, but the theater troupe that was originally prepared will not be used, and other activities can be saved as much as possible. In this way, the burden on us on duty will be much lighter. But don't be careless, understand?"

Everyone said in unison: "Understood!"

During the shift change in the evening, Huo Lan finished handing over with others, and came to the place where Yun Miaoqing picked her up every day outside the palace gate, and unexpectedly saw Du Shouming here, talking to Yun Miaoqing.

When she approached, Du Shouming seemed to have finished speaking. He glanced at her from a distance, nodded to her, and then turned and got into his own carriage.

Strange, didn't Du Shouming say to meet them less, why are they still chatting at the gate of the palace?

Huo Lan watched Du Shouming's carriage leave, only to hear Yun Miaoqing walk up to her and ask, "Are you tired?"

"Not tired." Huo Lan shook his head, and got into the carriage with Yun Miaoqing, "It's raining all the time in the afternoon, so there's nothing to do. What did that Du guy come to you just now?"

"Do you still remember that King Zhuang said that Du Wenyao might have a handle on King Yu? He really found it. He came out of the palace just now and met me, so he talked about how to use this."

Yun Miaoqing already had a plan in her heart, and Du Shouming was the only link missing. Now that this link was closed, everything was just right, and the two reached an agreement within a few words.

"So what did King Yu do so afraid of being known?" Huo Lan was curious.

"That's not the only thing he's afraid of being known by others." Yun Miaoqing sneered, and suddenly changed the subject, "Aside from this, Du Shouming also said another thing, which made me feel...how should I put it? The feeling of surprise seems to be within reason.”

As if knowing that she was speaking too vaguely, Yun Miaoqing didn't wait for Huo Lan to ask questions, and said bluntly to Huo Lan's suspicious eyes: "Du Shouming said that His Majesty not only appointed Du Chengyou to lead the army to attack Rongda, but also planned to let you go with him .”

Huo Lan's eyes widened. In just half a year, she was promoted from an ordinary citizen to a first-rank bodyguard. Not to mention the title, would she still want to get a foot in the army?

"Too fast, isn't it?" Yun Miaoqing said, "In fact, I have always suspected that an emperor who was once so cruel that he could even push out the prince he set up as an abandoned son, would really miss him just because he was old. Is the love here?"

The carriage shook and shook, and Huo Lan felt that his head was almost turned into a paste by the carriage.She tried her best to recall Yun Miaoqing's words, and suddenly said: "You mean, His Majesty did all this intentionally? He wants to... repeat what happened to Prince Pingzhang?!"

Yun Miaoqing's eyes turned to the window, and she smiled faintly: "Who knows, everyone wants to be the oriole behind the mantis in this competition, and it depends on who has the ability to have the last laugh."

The author has something to say: Is everyone so surprised that the story has been told almost halfway?I'm also afraid that everyone will think that my progress is too slow, scratching my head