Spring Breeze Crossing Guanshan

The wind and snow in Da Zhou this year was even harsher than in previous years. In the Hanyuan Hall, even though the whole hall was lit with candles, it was still dark and cold.

As soon as Guan Junchen stepped in, he heard a deep and deep voice from the depths of the hall: "Prince Ning, you are here."

"My brother sees the emperor's brother, and the emperor's brother Wan'an."

Guan Junchen raised the hem of his robe with both hands, and kneeled neatly.

With his head down, he could only see the red gold boots slowly walking in front of him step by step, as if admiring his prostration, Zhou Yingdi paused for a long time almost deliberately, and finally said: " flat body."

"Prince Ning," Zhou Yingdi said in a calm voice, "You and I, we brothers haven't met and talked like this for a long time. When I think about it a few days ago, I feel a little nostalgic."

Guan Junchen stood up slowly, raised his head, and looked at the Great Zhou Emperor in front of him, his elder brother.

Emperor Zhou Ying was one of the more ordinary-looking people among the late emperors.

But on that mediocre face, there is a pair of long and narrow eyes that are breathtaking, and no one has ever been able to see through the depths like a cold pool.

But in those eyes, the lightning-like sharpness that flickers across from time to time always makes people's hearts shudder.

"When my brother was in Jinling, I often missed my brother." Guan Junchen replied respectfully with his usual expression.

Both he and Zhou Yingdi knew well that they, the royal brothers, were definitely not casually reminiscing about the past at this time.

Yan Chunxi was currently locked in Feng Prison in Wuyi Lane, and in the hands of Guan Junchen was the only antidote for Duanxuechao that could save Xia Baimei's life.

They are each holding the door of each other's hearts and are testing each other. This seemingly understated conversation is actually an extremely fierce royal battle.

Guan Junchen was well aware of the truth that too much talk is too much wrong, he neither mentioned Yan Chunxi nor Xia Baimei, whatever Emperor Zhou Ying said, he would respond to it, neither anxious nor impatient.

Before coming to Hanyuan Hall, Guan Junchen had already delivered the death-preventing golden sword bestowed by the late emperor to Grand Master Yan.Yan Taishi was the head of the three generations of emperors, the head of the three lords of the current dynasty, and the most important official in the Great Zhou Dynasty. In his hands, the golden sword to avoid death is like hanging high above the temple.

Even Emperor Zhou Ying had to be afraid, at least at the moment, he would never dare to take him, Prince Ning, for nothing.

"Prince Ning, do you know why I called you here today?"

Zhou Yingdi walked back to the white jade table in a leisurely manner and sat down.

"My brother doesn't know."

"I really don't know?"

Emperor Zhou Ying paused for a moment, and seeing that Guan Junchen was unmoved, he smiled slightly: "That's okay, I just drew up a decree, just read it, and check it out for me."

When he said this, he casually threw over a roll of red-gold cloth on the table.

"Yes."

Guan Junchen reached out to take the silk book, for some reason, at this moment, his back felt tense, he knew that Emperor Zhou Ying must have come prepared.

In this round of chess, although he has used all his killer moves, he still has no confidence in facing this scheming Emperor of Great Zhou.

Under Zhou Yingdi's gaze, Guan Junchen unfolded the silk script inch by inch. The imperial edict was only a few words, but every time he read a word, his heart sank an inch.

After reading the whole silk book, when he raised his head again, his back was covered with cold sweat.

"Previously Prince Ning escorted Xia Baimei back to the capital. He is my close minister. Since he asked me to deal with it personally, I have to give Prince Ning an explanation. I can't disappoint the important officials on the spot. How--Prince Ning, are you satisfied?"

Under the flickering candlelight, Zhou Yingdi's expression that seemed to be a smile was not a smile, but in the eyes of Guan Junchen at this time, the truth made him feel chilly.

"Commander Xia Baimei of Wuyi Lane took credit for his arrogance and despised the prince. The crime of disrespect is undeniable. The crime is serious and deserves to be punished. Thinking that he has shared my worries for many years, he has really worked hard. To avoid capital punishment, I bestow Bai Ling. I admire it."

This is the imperial edict written by Emperor Zhou Ying himself.

"Your majesty, this is..."

Guan Junchen raised his head, he was shocked, suddenly lost his manners, raised his head and looked directly at the Emperor of Zhou.

"I ask you, are you satisfied?"

Emperor Zhou Ying's eyes were as sharp as unsheathed white knives in the dark hall.

The corners of his mouth were curled up coldly, but there was no smile in his eyes: "Broken snow tide, broken snow tide, even the imperial capital can't find an antidote. There are more than 20 imperial physicians in my family, and no one can cure them. Good trick, Champion."

Zhou Yingdi actually called him the champion, which is already a question of guilt.

In an instant, two drops of sweat rolled down Guan Junchen's forehead——

The emperor's thunderous anger can bleed thousands of miles in an instant, how can he not be afraid.

"You are a smart man," Emperor Zhou Ying stood up slowly, and said word by word: "My brother, of course you are extremely smart. On the surface, you are respectful and cautious, and you came to Beijing according to the order, so you can't be singled out. There is a little bit of a mistake. But secretly, you put on the honor guard of the champion and handed the death-proof golden sword to Grand Master Yan, you are reminding me and telling me to be careful, aren't you?"

"My brother dare not."

Guan Junchen didn't dare to argue at this moment, he immediately lifted up his robe and knelt on the ground.

"I say you're smart, because you're smart enough to take down Xia Baimei decisively and subdue him in the snow tide. You know——he's the only person I've ever loved in this world, right?"

Guan Junchen raised his head and looked at Emperor Zhou Ying in disbelief.

He said personally that Xia Baimei was the only person he ever loved in this world.

But it was also him who wrote down the imperial edict for Xia Baimei's death in one stroke - he deserves to be punished for the serious crime, and he will bestow Bai Ling on it.

Has there ever been such a cold love in the world.

"Yes, I love him. I have nothing to hide. Since I was an adult, Xia Baimei has been with me for more than ten years. From being weak to ascending the throne and proclaiming the emperor, I trust him and love him. I once talked with him at night by candlelight, wrote paintings and discussed poems, and shared the same bed with him, having sex with each other. All the love and affection I have with him in the past are no different from ordinary people in Dazhou. But if you think that, this edict from me Just to scare you, you are wrong. This is also where you are not smart enough, you may use this method to hold anyone hostage, but it is not me, only not me."

"Because I am the emperor."

Emperor Zhou Ying tapped Guan Junchen from afar with his finger, and he walked down the high platform step by step. His voice was deep and deep, echoing in the hall: "I was ordered by the sky to rule the four poles and the eight wildernesses. I am the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty." , Therefore, I can no longer have the weakness and intolerance of ordinary people."

"No one can use love to hold me hostage. You can't today, and no one can tomorrow. If I have a weakness, I will pull it out with my own hands. Champion, you can't do this, so—you are always inferior to me. You won't fight to the death with Zhenyu, because you can't bear to part with that handsome young master from Feng Prison. You have lost this match from the very beginning."

"Look at this."

Emperor Zhou Ying threw another imperial edict in front of Guan Junchen from a distance, and he said flatly, "I don't want your life. But I want you to be obedient."

Guan Junchen knelt down to receive the edict, even though he hadn't unfolded it yet, his palms were already trembling involuntarily.

Perhaps it was at that moment that he vaguely understood that his fate had already been sealed.

His cunning and acumen are useless, and those so-called backhands with careful layout, the golden sword and snow-breaking tide that can make Emperor Zhou Ying fear, are all useless.

He may be able to protect himself. After all, he was once the champion of the former emperor. After all, he was one of the four princes of the "Gongjing Suning" dynasty of the Great Zhou Dynasty. .

But Yan Chunxi is not a nobleman of imperial power.

Yan Chunxi is just a lowly little criminal slave, there is nothing in the world that can protect Yan Chunxi from death.

How clever Zhou Yingdi was, he had already seen through the key points of this game early in the morning.

If you have feelings, you will have weaknesses.

Ever since that night in the continuous drizzle in Jinling, he hugged Yan Chunxi, whose knees were bruised after being forced to kneel, thinking in his heart that he would never give up——

His fate of crushing defeat has already been doomed.

How could Guan Junchen not know that what he was facing was no longer an ordinary person, but he still had a little bit of luck——

Companionship for more than ten years, from a weak crowned boy to a cruel eunuch, Xia Baimei is a person who has a poisonous voice for Emperor Zhou Ying, and is willing to become a human Shura with viciousness. Mercy without love.

But Emperor Zhou Ying watched Xia Baimei wailing in the palace all night under the poison of the snow tide, and had to forcefully bind his limbs so as not to commit suicide. Such a miserable scene could not make the emperor feel a little bit intolerable.

My God——

Human beings are made of flesh and blood, but after sitting on the dragon chair, they completely annihilate the spirit of being born as human beings. Is this the price for obtaining supreme power?

Guan Junchen felt desolate in his heart, he lowered his head, and slowly opened the imperial edict in his hand.

At that moment, he was already ready to exchange his life for his life.

Even if Emperor Zhou Ying immediately captured him in Feng Prison and sentenced him for treason, as long as Yan Chunxi could be released, he would take the order.

The imperial edict did not mention what he was thinking in his heart, but he read it word by word, and when he saw the word "Qin this", his chest was suddenly hit by a thunderbolt, and he felt dizzy all of a sudden , There is a vague feeling of the world changing color.

"puff--"

Guan Junchen spurted out a mouthful of dark blood, his face was as pale as gold paper, he suddenly kowtowed heavily on the ground, and murmured: "My brother acted rebelliously, I am ashamed of the grace of heaven, now I only ask the emperor to order me to die, My brother has no complaints."

"What did Prince Ning say?"

There was a gloomy and gloomy smile on Emperor Zhou Ying's face. He said slowly in a deep voice, "You are my most valued younger brother, and you have the golden sword bestowed by the late emperor. What are you talking about? Now Pingnan The big case of Wang Mouni is still pending, and he has been imprisoned in Wuyi Lane for a long time, which has caused criticism from the courtiers. Therefore, I have decided to conduct a thorough investigation according to what Tan Menglin said. This case. Taishi Yan refused to try it to avoid suspicion, Taifu Xu returned to his hometown in old age, only the position of Taibao was vacant—”

"Now I have decreed you to be the first-rank Taibao, my brother——the third prince of the court is an extremely human minister. Why, I value you so much, and you are still dissatisfied?"

Guan Junchen's chest felt as if he had been hammered heavily, and his breathing was tingling. At this moment, he could only feel that every word of Emperor Zhou Ying was creepy.

He was originally a martial artist, and he was the best at regulating his breath, but all of a sudden, he still had his blood attacking his heart.

The position of Taibao is by no means a real reward from Zhou Yingdi, but it is precisely the most ruthless part of Zhou Yingdi's game of chess.

The law of the Great Zhou stated clearly that a major treason case involving the royal relatives and relatives needs to be tried by three divisions, and one of the three officials must sit in the presiding judge, and then the six ministers and the chief judge can convict the crime.

Back then, in the trial of King Xiang's reverse case, there were many doubts and practices that violated Zhou's laws.

Now in the case of King Pingnan, if Emperor Zhou Ying arbitrarily uses Wuyi Lane to directly convict him, the three divisions, six departments, and even the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty will always be dissatisfied. Therefore, Emperor Zhou Ying took down King Pingnan, However, he failed to convict for several months, precisely because he was already in deep trouble.

Previously in the court, Tan Menglin of Dali Temple fought hard based on reason. Zhou Yingdi knew that he had a close relationship with Guan Junchen, but he still agreed in the court, because everything Tan Menglin said was reasonable.

So that day the court debated fiercely, and finally Zhou Yingdi agreed to choose a presiding judge, but Guan Junchen didn't know it at that time, it turned out that Zhou Yingdi had already chosen him in his heart.

Emperor Zhou Ying walked slowly in front of Guan Junchen who bowed his head, and he handed down a piece of silk to let Guan Junchen wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, and said slowly: "On that day—on the court, you tell me that fathers are kind, sons are filial, brothers and brothers Gong, it is the foundation of etiquette and righteousness in the Great Zhou Dynasty. I was quite moved when I heard it. After I ascended the throne, I first punished King Xiang and then King Pingnan. Filial piety and brotherhood?"

"That's why I want to keep you," Zhou Yingdi said with a smile on his face, "I know you also think Pingnan King is stupid and ignorant, you sent a "Loyalty Post" to remind him a long time ago. , but he is still secretly embracing soldiers and horses. I understand your thoughts. But you don’t want to be with him, but my civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty don’t think so. You, King Xiang and King Pingnan grew up together since childhood. Later, he was regarded as a party of three kings. I will leave you to interrogate him—your close brother will convict Guan Chengkun, and I will see if anyone else will dare to refuse by then?"

Guan Junchen's expression was miserable, he raised his head, and his voice was hoarse: "The emperor wants the younger brother to be this unfilial and disrespectful person. I just don't know, if the younger brother is the judge, how many people does the emperor want the younger brother to implicate? You can't even keep some of the people you trust yourself?"

Zhou Yingdi lowered his head and looked down at Guan Junchen, as if he had never expected that Guan Junchen would be able to see through his plot so quickly.

After a long time, the smile on his face became stronger again, and he said softly: "Champion Lord, Champion Lord, father really had insight back then, you are worthy of being my most outstanding younger brother. That's right, King Xiang has been eliminated, but the party members Quite a few, many of you and those who are highly valued by the King of Pingnan have attached themselves to King Xiang—the remnants of the rebels, so don’t you even try to protect them?”

Guan Junchen knelt in front of Emperor Zhou Ying, and the chill invaded upwards from the icy ground, almost freezing his whole body in the empty hall.He couldn't help trembling, and murmured: "My brother is stupid, with little talent and learning, it is really difficult to take the position of Taibao, Your Majesty—"

At this moment, his words were almost begging.

Once he becomes the presiding judge of King Pingnan's case, he will personally convict King Pingnan and send King Pingnan to the guillotine according to the arrangement of Emperor Zhou Ying.

The reputation of being unfilial and unfraternal is destined to be buckled on his head.

King Pingnan is dead anyway, maybe the righteousness of brotherhood has come to this point, and he really can't take it into account.

However, Zhou Yingdi's ultimate move was more than that.

What Emperor Zhou Ying really wanted to do was to ask him to implicate his party members with his own hands.

He has worked hard and painstakingly for many years, and the confidantes who have gone down every move will also be eradicated by him personally.

If he did it, from now on, no one in the civil and military dynasties of the Great Zhou Dynasty would be able to trust him, and he would never want to establish any power again.

Maybe Emperor Zhou Ying allowed him to live, but he was nothing but a complete waste when he was alive, so what is the difference between this and death.

This is clearly to make him crush his own bones and eat his own flesh.

"I know that you are definitely not willing to agree at this moment, and it's okay, you stay flat and follow me to Feng Prison."

Emperor Zhou Ying was clearly confident: "Let's go and see your young master from Heyuan."

Guan Junchen's face was pale, he knew that he was in a desperate situation, and it was useless to say any more at this time, so he could only silently follow Emperor Zhou Ying out of the Hanyuan Hall.

Emperor Zhou Ying obviously had a plan for everything that happened today, he hadn't seen anyone preparing a car, and there was already a chariot waiting outside.

"Today the snow is so heavy—"

Emperor Zhou Ying looked up at the sky, and saw snow flakes like lead clouds falling heavily from the sky. Although it was not dusk yet, the palace was as dark as night.

Emperor Yingdi of Zhou was always afraid of the cold, and even shivered slightly when he was wearing a heavy fox fur. After sitting in the chariot, he warmed his hands with a hand stove.

Guan Junchen sat at the head of Emperor Zhou Ying, and the two of them had nothing to say for a long time until the chariot stopped in front of the gate of Wuyi Lane.

Guan Junchen followed Zhou Yingdi and stepped on the eunuch's back to get out of the chariot.

He raised his head and looked at the black and gloomy palace in front of him. On the plaque, the three big characters "Niyi Lane" in red hung above his head impressively. He felt a cold and murderous aura penetrating through his thick robe in vivo.

Feng Prison is located in the dungeon in Wuyi Lane.

This is the most chilling place in the Chengde period of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

People in Wuyi Lane called it Feng Pavilion, as if it was some kind of elegant place, but in the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty, no one knew that if they were detained by Feng Prison, they would just wish they could die.

Guan Junchen followed Zhou Yingdi and walked down the tunnel in Bird Clothes Lane.

He had never been to Fengge in Bird Clothes Lane before. At this moment, he only saw an inch-by-inch cold brick wall in front of him, a dark corridor lit with oil lamps, and two ghostly wailing sounds from the cells on both sides from time to time. Voice.

The further you went underground, the colder and colder it became. Although the champion car was never a person who was afraid of the cold, he couldn't help shivering.

He is smart.

Of course he knew that since Emperor Zhou Ying wanted him to submit, he couldn't kill Yan Chunxi, but he couldn't contain the fear in his heart.

Concern is chaos.

He was terrified, afraid that Yan Chunxi would be imprisoning him in the gloomy cell on the left and right.

Tang Tang, who was afraid of him, was chained in shackles at this moment, crying in pain for help, but he couldn't see anyone at all.

As long as he thinks about this kind of thing, even if he knows that it might just be false, Guan Junchen is so horrified that he almost loses all his sanity. He wished he could just stop thinking about other things, and immediately knelt at the feet of Emperor Zhou Ying, agreeing to everything.

Emperor Zhou Ying seemed to have seen through Guan Junchen's weakness a long time ago. He glanced over indifferently, and then signaled the attendants in Bird Clothes Lane to push open an iron gate.

Guan Junchen was already holding his breath, and when he looked inside tremblingly, he saw only a desk, two chairs, and nothing else in the room.

He turned to look at Emperor Zhou Ying in astonishment, only to see that Emperor Zhou Ying had pulled up his robe and walked in, and a low voice came over: "This is Guanlan Pavilion in Feng Pavilion. You are lucky today. Feng Pavilion is built in The one next to Guanlan Pavilion is just a prison cell."

As he said this, the attendant from Bird Clothes Lane had already bowed over, moved the two chairs behind the desk with ease, then fumbled twice on the wall beside him, and opened two objects that looked like small windows.

I saw Emperor Zhou Ying standing by the small window, with a smile that was not a smile, he tied his fingers together and gave him a "shh", and then said: "I will take you to see the fresh ones, you must not disappoint my good intentions." , if you make a sound, you will not be the one who suffers, but your little baby, I am afraid that you will not suffer."

Guan Junchen's legs and feet were weak, and after he walked over, he suddenly realized that this was actually a small transom, connected to——

He looked over intently, and saw that on the other side of the transom, there was an empty cell about the height of the buildings on both sides.

Only then did he understand the specialness of Guanlan Pavilion.

The transom is placed on the high wall and deliberately built in the dark, so people locked inside will only think it is an ordinary transom, and will never know that someone is watching from the other side.

It is so elegant in the name of Guanlan, but in fact, it is for Emperor Zhou Ying or other commanders of Wuyi Lane to watch the execution quietly on the other side.

In the center of the cell, Yan Chunxi was stripped to only a single piece of clothing. At first glance, it seemed that there were no bloody wounds on his body, but his thin body was firmly handcuffed on the iron rack in a large font. superior.

The boy stepped on the cold stone bricks with bare feet, his whole body was shivering.

And Xia Baimei, dressed in the black robes of the commander of Wuyi Lane, sat opposite Yan Chunxi, with a brazier burning brightly on his left. At this time, he was holding a long iron object in his hand, and was burning it repeatedly in the brazier. The sharp hooks on the top of the ironware have been roasted red.