Hypocrites

In the last two years of the late emperor's reign, Nan Qi's court officials continued to appear on the political stage, not to display their talents to serve the country, but to die.

Liang Heng couldn't go out of the palace, Duan Yanling often came to visit him, and Lian Zhen stayed at home to take care of his old father who couldn't get up because of the cane.Duan Yanling often brought bad news, such as Yu Shi Qu Hao, who wrote a letter of remonstrance and condemnation, bluntly saying that Shan Guangyi disregarded human life and punished improper crimes.

Of course, the end was miserable, and he was thrown by the first emperor in court.

Culling, Liang Heng had seen it in Niuyuan before, putting people in sacks and throwing them down from the high steps, the dead appearance was covered by the sackcloth, only blood oozing out.

Later, I heard that Xu Chou, the prefect of Shixing, was convicted and imprisoned for being in the same party as the Shen family.

Prior to this, Liang Heng never knew that Xu Fu also had contacts with Master Shen.Originally, a courtier who admired Shen Jin as a man, complained of grievances and offended the Holy Majesty and was demoted or punished. Later, people with ulterior motives saw that as long as they were falsely accused of the Shen Party, they could kill people, so they used this trick one after another.

Xu Chou may not have really spoken for Shen Jin, maybe he blocked someone's way and got caught by Luo Zhi once.This trick worked really well, and Xu Fu died in prison shortly afterwards.

At that time, people were in a state of panic, and the grass and trees were all soldiers, and they were all afraid that it would be their turn next.The most unlucky one was Grand Tutor Zou Qing, who was half buried in the loess, and only wanted to enjoy his old age peacefully and have a good death. When he received the edict to enter the palace to face the saint, he thought it was finally his turn, so he killed himself with a cup of pepper wine.

Later, it was proved that the emperor only had a routine order from the government officials. After learning that the Taifu committed suicide, he spurted five steps away.

Duan Yanling told Liang Heng about these obituaries as a wake-up call, and made him lose his heart to persuade the emperor.Only those who live to the end are smart people. His father Duan Boyu, in order to protect himself wisely, lay under the quilt during the dog days, pretending to be sick and not going to court, covered his whole body with prickly heat.

After Liang Heng heard this, his face gradually turned pale.

"With so many ministers dead, the teacher can't do without killing them."

"Then what can we do?" Duan Yanling warned him, "If you dare to make a heavy word before His Majesty, believe it or not, even the crown prince has to do it?"

The establishment of Liang Heng as the crown prince was originally a decoration, because the emperor and the empress had only one son, not because of how virtuous and capable he was.Annoyed the emperor, any one in the clan can take his place.

Of course Liang Heng knew this.

But if he knows what to do and what not to do, and he has the character of obeying the rules honestly, he will not let himself go and make progress after so many years.

When Xinzhou was secretly asked by the little master to get a set of Huangmen costumes, he was not the least bit frightened.

"This won't work!" Xinzhou sternly refused for the first time, "Don't say that you are still grounded. The water is so hot outside right now, why do you have to go into the muddy water?"

Liang Heng said: "Can I ignore my teacher?"

What he said in his heart was that the entire Shen family was locked in prison, and Shen Yu was waiting to be killed!

Xinzhou said: "Your Highness wants to risk himself, and I cannot agree with it!"

Liang Heng said: "I am Your Highness and you are Your Highness? This Palace orders you!"

Xinzhou finally succumbed, and led the changed Liang Heng out of the Chu Palace, pretending that His Highness was sick, and went to Zhangyi Palace to find a doctor.

The two sneaked into the palace.The emperor slept on Fengque Terrace, which was high and windy, which could dispel the smell of medicine and let him smell the fresh air, so he wouldn't feel like he was soaking in medicine jars all day long.

The curtain divides the hall into two parts, the inside and the outside, the outside is where the eunuchs are boiling medicine, Qiu Zhiyuan moved a mahogany desk, stacked volumes, and a pair of pens and inks for reviewing documents.It was not for the emperor's use, but for his own trial.

The eunuch held the handle and turned the hexagonal cattail fan, sending a sultry wind.

When Qiu Zhiyuan saw Xinzhou, his expressionless face made Liang Heng feel cold all over.

"My lord, my subordinates have something to report."

Qiu Zhiyuan put down his pen and went out with Xinzhou outside the hall. When he passed by, his eyes glanced at Liang Heng, who was bowing his head, as if he could see his true face through the low brim of the yellow door.

Liang Heng shivered.

As soon as Qiu Zhiyuan left, the eunuchs in the hall showed signs of laziness and fatigue.In the hot weather, being fumigated by the medicine gas, no one can cheer up.

The person who shook the fan knocked his head, and the person who boiled the medicine covered his nose with a face towel, and his exposed eyes were glued together up and down.

The wind blows and the curtains part.The sleeping emperor didn't make a sound, even his chest rose and fell very weakly.Liang Heng touched the edge of the couch lightly.

It had been a long time since he had had the opportunity to observe his father so closely.Emperor Wenshen's face was vague in his memory, even in his distant childhood, he had never been close or respected by other fathers and sons.Liang Heng sometimes felt that his father treated him indifferently, but Shen Yu taught him that "Parents only worry about their illness".

Apart from physical health, there is nothing worthy of parental concern.

In their family, the unhealthy one is obviously the father.

Liang Xuan ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor at the age of weak crown. In the sixth year, he married Duan's daughter as queen, and gave birth to Ziheng every year.Now Liang Heng is nineteen years old, and Liang Xuan has just reached the age of forty, but his temples are mottled, and his life is dying.

Liang Heng stared at his father's strange face, and suddenly a cold thought came to his mind: If his father died before the edict was issued, the teacher and Brother Yu would be saved.

He found something he wanted under the confession case beside the emperor's bed, and quietly withdrew.

The eunuchs were still drowsy.

Only at this time did Liang Heng have a doubt - what Xinzhou claimed to report should be "His Royal Highness seeking medical treatment" as they had agreed before they came, but why did Qiu Zhiyuan go out of the palace on purpose?And it didn't come as a surprise?

Soon after Qiu Zhiyuan and Xinzhou came back, the tension restrained Liang Heng again, making him forget this doubt.

The thing Liang Heng stole from Fengque Terrace was put on the case, Xinzhou saw it, and wished to take off his head to apologize - the crown prince stole the emperor's golden seal.

In which dynasty did such a strange thing happen?

"If there is no seal and no edict, let's use it as a strategy to delay the troops." Liang Heng said easily.

Xinzhou is about to kowtow to this ancestor: "Your Highness! Stealing the Golden Seal is a capital offense! Why are you so nonsense!"

Liang Heng said: "To be buried with him, I admit it. Besides, didn't you bring me into the palace?"

Xinzhou felt that he was cheated: "..."

"It's better to hide it so that no one will find out." Liang Heng ordered lightly.

Not long after, Wangcheng set off a mighty mobilization to catch thieves. Duan Yanling went to the Chu Palace to eat and eat, and talked about it: "This thief seems to have stolen Shen Gong's limelight. If this person is caught, it must be He wants to lose his head before Shen Gong.”

Liang Heng said with a calm expression: "If you can't find Jinxi, he can't execute anyone."

It was at this moment that Xinzhou discovered that there was something different about the little master he had grown up serving.

Thinking about Qiu Zhiyuan's report on Liang Heng's recent situation, Xinzhou didn't know what to say.Liang Heng is not the fool he said that he can't make any decisions by himself. A person's personality is like a cone in his pocket, which will show up sooner or later.

Fortunately, Qiu Zhiyuan has no time to care about the little prince, he has more important matters.

"As long as you keep an eye on him, don't ask him to cause trouble for me. Because of Shen Jin alone, the court has been restless for a long time, and now even the golden seal has been stolen."

Xinzhou trembled in his heart, for fear that Qiu Zhiyuan's next sentence would expose Liang Heng's actions.

"A steady stream of innocent people are implicated to serve their sentences. Is there any way to end this situation?"

Qiu Zhiyuan didn't ask for anyone's answer, he pinched the sash of his hat like he was pinching his beard, and smiled slightly: "So I can only ask Mr. Shen to go to hell early to end this endless debate."

Xinzhou fell on the ground and shook, which made Qiu Zhiyuan see it.Treating his humble subordinates like dust, Qiu Zhiyuan gave him a stingy look, and raised the toe of his shoe to signal that he could leave.

Xinzhou stood up, and Qiu Zhiyuan said again: "By the way, the items belonging to His Highness should be returned to him after the Shen family is executed. It is useless already."

Qiu Zhiyuan's words were hidden in Xinzhou's heart, it was an extremely vicious secret, every time he saw Liang Heng who felt relieved after stealing the golden seal, he was stung by the poisonous juice.

On the day the emperor issued the imperial edict, he sent it to Ruyang through Shangshutai.At first, Shang Shuling received the Wuxi imperial edict, which was very embarrassing: "Without the imperial seal, it is not in accordance with the etiquette system, and should not have issued an imperial edict."

But among the three princes, one fell ill and the other died. Huo Liang, the Ting Wei who was pulled to make up the numbers, said: "The emperor for 20 years, just let him do his own thing."

From the Yuting Pavilion in midsummer, the waterwheels continuously send the lake water to the tip of the pavilion, and then flow down again.Liang Heng was greedy for coolness in the pavilion, and when he heard the news, he laughed twice: "Huo Liang, this guy is really humorous, does his mouth grow on his butt?"

Xinzhou said: "More than [-] members of Shen's family are all executed in the Dongshi execution ground."

Liang Heng said dryly: "Ha..."

Xinzhou took out a wooden tablet from his pocket and handed it to Liang Heng: "Mr. Shen sent it, but the postman mistakenly took it to Qiu Gong's mansion. Qiu Gong entrusted me to return it to Your Highness."

Some sour poems were written on it, and the person who wrote the poems couldn't stand it anymore. They scraped off two words with a knife and added new ones——

Even if the high-rise buildings are turbulent, my king is at the end of the floating clouds.

Liang Heng stretched out his hand to pick it up, but stopped suddenly, the wooden tablet was not even an inch away from his fingertips.He scratched his face instead, and immediately saw blood.

"Your Highness!" Xinzhou turned pale with shock, before he could stop him, blood dripped down Liang Heng's cheeks, as if protruding from the corner of his eyes.

Xinzhou threw away the wooden tablet and grabbed Liang Heng's hand, but Liang Heng pushed it away.I didn't see that he was so strong before, he pushed Xinzhou to fall, he rushed to pick up the wooden tablet, picked it up and held it in his arms, with his back facing Xinzhou, with a burst of madness like protecting food.

The soul of the early death in Ruyang County seems to be attached to the wooden tablet, turning a piece of broken pear wood into the most precious treasure in the world.

"Dian..." Xinzhou was stunned.The sound of the rain falling from the rain pavilion was too noisy for him to hear Liang Heng's sad voice.But he was familiar with Liang Heng's back. From childhood to adulthood, every time the little highness encountered a wall with his parents, when he returned to the palace, he would sit with his back to digest himself.Usually after sitting for half an hour, it will recover.

It will always recover, there is nothing difficult in the world.Shinshu thought so.Just how long it takes.

He sat with Liang Heng from dawn to dusk, until he felt that the cold would enter his body if he continued like this, and planned to forcibly lift Liang Heng away, but Liang Heng finally moved.

He turned around, with dried blood on his face, and the way he looked at Xinzhou made him feel strange: "Do you think I'm stupid?"

Xinzhou: "..."

Liang Heng said: "How did the things that Shen Yu sent to the Chu Palace and handed over to the Crown Prince end up in the hands of Qiu Zhiyuan? Last time I felt strange, is Qiu Zhiyuan familiar with you?"

Xinzhou's face turned pale suddenly.

Liang Heng asked: "Why did you give Qiu Zhiyuan my things?"

Xinzhou couldn't open his mouth for a long time before he said: "Your... Your minister is guilty... Qiu Gong said that Mr. Shen wrote poems without careful attention to pen and ink. He wrote the word 'My Lord' and was seen by someone with a heart. He must not slander His Highness and covet the throne. , can't wait for Your Majesty..."

Liang Heng smiled coldly.

Shinshu was stared at by him, and suddenly became frightened.When facing the emperor or Qiu Zhiyuan, he had never been so afraid, as if Liang Heng, a person with no power, no power, and no power to restrain a chicken, could chop off his hands and feet and tear his heart to pieces.

After sitting on the ground for a long time, Liang Heng stood up staggeringly, Xinzhou rushed to help him, but was evaded with his hands.

"Get out," Liang Heng said indifferently, holding the wooden tablet in his arms, "I don't want to see you."