After Yu Zeng left, he felt uneasy for a long time.
Chang Suining held a family dinner today and did not invite him, but there was nothing wrong with this - he came as an imperial envoy, and she was promoted to the governor of Huainan Road, so it was a wise choice to avoid suspicion with him.
But he came here privately on his own initiative, but she still refused to see him, and did not ask him why he came, and postponed the conversation to tomorrow. This was unreasonable...
Yes, she had traveled all night to return to Jiangdu City. Although she was tired, it was not enough to explain her negligence.
Today, Yu Zeng no longer gets angry at the neglect of a junior who is not very close to him. He is more confused, confused by the strangeness hidden behind this neglect.
Countless speculations emerged in his mind. Yu Zeng looked into the deep night. At the moment he was in it, he felt that for a moment, everything hidden in the darkness lost its true form and became strange and unpredictable, representing that the constant years of the past and present were also reversed and overlapped.
The cardboard lamp hanging in the corridor swayed gently in the wind at night.
The door of the study was closed, and occasionally a woman's happy laughter could be heard.
After the banquet, Chang Suining kept Princess Xuan'an to talk alone.
On the third day after the New Year, Princess Xuan'an, who had secretly stayed in Jiangdu to celebrate the New Year, set off back to Xuanzhou to handle affairs, but about five or six days ago, she came to Jiangdu again.
In the words of the Grand Princess, she estimated that Chang Suining should also set off back to Jiangdu, so she came again specially to congratulate her.
Chang Suining had no idea that he, a mere provincial governor, could have such a great honor that the always arrogant Princess Xuan'an could come in person, twice, and in private.
But since this honor was presented to her, there was no reason for her to expose it.
So Chang Suining thanked the Grand Princess and mentioned the many ways Xuanzhou had helped her before.
"Why are you still talking about those things that are not worth mentioning?" The eldest princess smiled and her face relaxed: "From now on, we will have to trouble Envoy Chang to take care of our small Xuanzhou."
"Your Highness, you have embarrassed me." Chang Suining said with a smile, "Your Highness has done many things to help me in my time of need, and I will remember them in my heart."
Even though he knew that those actions were mostly due to Chang Kuo and Chang Sui'an, Chang Suining was privately willing to do this favor.
Huainan Road and Jiangnan West Road are adjacent to each other, and friendly exchanges between them benefit both sides.
Speaking of Chang Sui'an, in the following conversation, the Grand Princess seemed to ask about Chang Sui'an's recent situation by chance.
Chang Suining did not hide the fact that she had been to Youzhou and met her brother. Facing the concern of the Grand Princess, she tacitly informed her of her brother's recent situation. What she said was all true, but she talked more about Chang Suining's glorious or interesting deeds, and appropriately omitted the more dangerous part.
Princess Xuan'an vaguely sensed her "appropriateness in details and omissions", and a soft feeling arose in her heart.
And the "proper" feeling that Chang Suining gave her was far more than just this moment. This young girl knew how to advance and retreat properly, how deep and shallow she was, and how sincere and how far she would go.
The eldest princess even felt that the other party had already noticed her secret but had not investigated it further.
This is not the behavior a girl of her age should have.
But then I thought, what part of the girl in front of me could an ordinary girl of this age do?
The eldest princess did not expose anything. All she could say turned into one sigh: "The loyal and brave marquis is truly blessed..."
How could such a huge treasure be picked up by this reckless man?
Oh, it wasn't him who picked it up, it was her nephew Li Xiao who picked it up, but his ancestral grave was filled with smoke, and the treasure fell into his hands.
Speaking of the heart, the eldest princess took Chang Suining's hand across the small table between them, patted it gently, and said with a smile: "I'm going to say something that may sound frivolous to you, but from the first time I saw you in Xuanzhou, I felt that I was very compatible with you... It's as if we've met a long time ago, and we're like a family."
The eldest princess's smiling eyes fell on Chang Suining's face: "I don't know why, but I have this inexplicable illusion of déjà vu."
Chang Suining listened to it and did not feel it was empty.
There may be two reasons why the Grand Princess has this "illusion".
One reason may be because of herself, the other may be because of A Li herself, or both.
Chang Suining smiled sincerely and said, "When I met Your Highness, I felt as close to him as if he were my own elder."
The eldest princess' smile deepened.
After all, she knew that Chang Suining was tired. No matter how well they got along, Princess Xuan'an did not stay for long. She told Chang Suining to have a good rest and left with her maid.
On the other side, Wu Jue Menglie and Chang Kuo were also on their way out.
Before they had walked far, Chang Kuo signaled his followers to retreat a little further and followed in the dark. When there were only three of them, he lowered his voice and asked Meng Lie, "...What have you found out? Was Yu Zeng really responsible for what happened back then?"
His Highness's attitude towards Yu Zeng today seemed ordinary, but it was not.
Meng Lie didn't say anything, which was tantamount to his agreement.
Chang Kuo and Wu Jue's faces looked unhappy for a moment.
After a long silence, Wu Jue finally sighed, "Why did it have to be him…"
Chang Kuo's voice was so low that it could not be heard. He frowned and said, "If it was just any random person, how could he deceive His Highness..."
"What is your plan, Your Highness?" Wu Jue asked Meng Lie in a low voice: "...kill him?"
Meng Lie, who knew the inside story better, said in a calm voice: "He is still useful if he is alive."
He added: "But if Your Highness wants to kill me, then you can do so."
When weighing something from the perspective of interests, and whether it is right or wrong, and whether His Highness subjectively wants or does not want to do it, for Meng Lie, the latter is more important.
Wu Jue sighed again, walked a few steps, and suddenly stopped, as if he had thought of something. He grabbed Meng Lie with one hand and Chang Kuo with the other, and put his head between the two of them. He looked around and asked in a low voice: "You say that Yu Zeng is the Palace Attendant. He has been in Jiangdu for several months, and the Saint has not called him back. Has he noticed something?"
"Could that person be trying to do a favor for His Highness, or has some other plan?"
Wu Jue finished speaking and waited for Meng Lie and Chang Kuo's reactions.
Meng Lie knew a lot of information, but he didn't want to tell it, so he pulled out his sleeves.
Chang Kuo didn't know much, but he insisted: "Your Highness has his own way of thinking, why do you have to interfere?"
He finally realized that it was best not to ask too much about anything related to the saint. His Highness would make his own decisions, and the proper balance here was beyond the grasp of outsiders.
So Chang Kuo also withdrew his hand.
Wu Jue could only shake the sleeves of his Taoist robe and say, "Okay, I won't get involved, I won't get involved..."
But he soon got involved in other matters, stretched out his hand to support Chang Kuo, and said, "Let's talk about something else... At the banquet today, that lady Rong is clearly the Grand Princess of Xuanzhou, right? Why did she conceal her identity and come to Jiangdu?"
The three of them were walking at night, whispering to each other, but after this sentence, the atmosphere suddenly changed, and Chang Kuo's voice suddenly became normal: "How should I know? Ask her yourself!"
Because the voice suddenly became normal, the person seemed abnormal.
Wu Jue was quick-witted. He asked, "... Lao Chang, when you were seriously injured and unconscious at sea, who was the person you kept talking about who would abandon you after having sex with you?"
Chang Kuo's dark complexion suddenly turned red: "...Remember your current identity, go back to your front yard, and stop asking questions!"
As he spoke, he walked very quickly with his crutches.
Wu Jue was stunned: "...If I say a few more words, he might just throw away the crutch, right?"
Meng Lie walked down a fork in the road. Wu Jue caught up with him and whispered, "Old Meng, you have help. Go check out Old Chang's past..."
Meng Lie looked straight ahead and said, "They are all my people. If you have any ideas, go find me and talk to me."
Hearing that he had changed his name, Wu Jue came to his senses and left with Lao Chang. Without someone to keep watch, even though the governor's mansion was heavily guarded, it would not hurt to be cautious...
Wu Jue was anxious, but he swallowed his words carefully.
…
Chang Suining washes away all his fatigue, and most of his dreams are related to old things.
The next day, she got up at the usual time, practiced her shooting skills in the yard, took a shower, and changed into the clothes Xier had prepared.
The gauze gown is light and soft, made of brand new material, with wide sleeves in light sky blue gauze, and auspicious clouds and auspicious beasts embroidered on the shoulders, all of which are auspicious meanings.
It was March, the warmest month of spring, and the back garden of the governor's mansion was a miniature version of the Jiangnan landscape.
Huating was built in the center of a pond in the garden. The water was emerald green, the lotus leaves were green, and several koi fish were swimming around.
Chang Suining sat on the railing of a pavilion facing the water, with one leg bent and the other hanging over the edge, leaning against the railing with his arms folded, staring at the scene on the opposite bank, absorbed in the sight.
She had asked all the people waiting for her to leave, except Adian.
The little animal seemed to be able to smell the harmless scent. Adian was naturally carefree and easily gained Hei Li's trust.
At this moment, Adian was playing with Orange and Black Chestnut under the willow tree. Orange punched Black Chestnut twice and then quickly climbed up the tree. Black Chestnut looked up and barked at him.
Not far away, the three horses of Liuhuo's family were eating grass under a tree, wagging their tails with a leisurely posture.
Chang Suining sat here, looking from afar, with a brief sense of leisure and peace between his brows.
Until she heard footsteps coming towards her.
This pavilion is built in the water, connected to the shore by a wooden bridge.
A man wearing a red robe and with a skin whiter than ordinary people walked across the wooden bridge step by step, came to the pavilion, and first looked at the person in the pavilion.
She did not sit on the stone bench in the pavilion waiting, but leaned casually on the railing of the pavilion. From the perspective of an elder looking at a younger person, she did not even sit properly.
She was wearing a sky-blue wide-sleeved gauze gown and new white boots. She was sitting with her arms folded. Her thick black hair was neither combed into a girl's bun with pearl flowers, nor tied up in a neat high ponytail. It was just casually tied behind her head with a ribbon, with a short strand of hair hanging down. She looked relaxed and not at all restrained, not acting like someone meeting a guest.
But it was precisely this kind of casualness that made Yu Zeng stop and for a moment he did not immediately step into the pavilion.
Until the person in the pavilion spoke: "Since you are here, sit down and talk."
This voice was just like her at the moment, casual and indulgent.
Yu Zeng's heart trembled slightly, and he looked at her, but he saw that she did not turn her head to look at him, but was still looking at the water and the other side.
He raised his foot and entered the pavilion.
But under this angle of light, he couldn't see her face clearly. The morning sunlight fell on the water, creating ripples and blurring the outline of her face.
Facing the girl from the Chang family, Yu Zeng believed that even though she was the governor of Huainan Road and had a large army under her command, he would not be the least bit restrained or uneasy.
But this feeling of uneasiness was truly present at this moment. Some instincts reacted faster than the answer.
Over the past few months, he had been thinking about many details that he had never delved into before in the Jiangdu Governor's Mansion, and as a result, he had too many incredible ideas. At this moment, all those ideas were rushing towards him and entangled him, making him unable to move.
He didn't move for a long time, and the girl finally turned around to look at him, her eyes calm and indifferent: "Don't you want to sit down?"
Meeting that pair of eyes, Yu Zeng's slightly raised phoenix eyes trembled slightly, and his voice was blank for the first time in many years: "I don't know... whether I should sit down."
Their eyes met, and Chang Suining was also staring at him for a long time.
Yu Zeng is only in his thirties this year, with a handsome androgynous appearance. Time has not left many traces on his face, but has greatly changed his temperament.
Therefore, looking at this face, Chang Suining could easily see the past.
She didn't say anything to test him, nor did she want to test him. She just asked him calmly, "A Zeng, can you tell me why?"
This question brought about a drastic change in Yu Zeng's eyes.
In an instant, countless voices exploded in his mind.
Did Chang Kuo and the others discover something? Did the mysteriously missing Yu Xie say something? So they wanted this Chang family girl to pretend to be a prince to test him and deceive him?
But all doubts based on common sense were instantly crushed by that gaze, turning into floating light dust flying in the morning light.
You must know that he has followed His Highness for more than ten years, more than ten years...
No one could pretend to be His Highness in front of him without being noticed, not to mention that the two faces were not similar.
Thus, he finally became as small as the dust and slowly bent down and knelt down.
He supported himself on the ground with both hands, and when he looked up, tears were already flashing in his eyes. His voice was trembling like dust particles, and it was broken into pieces: "Your Highness... when did you..."
"Should I answer you?" Chang Suining looked down at him and asked, "Should I answer, have I participated in killing someone?"
These words were like a sharp blade, cutting a cold chasm between the master and servant in this life-and-death reunion.
In an instant, the tears in Yu Zeng's eyes seemed to solidify.
Under the gaze of those eyes, he could only lower his eyes, and tears fell on his scarlet robe.
He took something out of his sleeve, crouched down, held the object in his hands, and said in a hoarse and firm voice: "...I only ask Your Highness to grant me death!"
Chang Suining looked at the dagger in his hand and smiled silently with a complicated tone.
After so many years, he still carries the dagger she gave him, but he also admits that he participated in her murder.
People, their hearts, it is so difficult to understand.
See you tomorrow~ (An additional note about the previous chapter, which mentioned that Dasheng had only ten Jiedushi at most: the map refers to the period of Fifteen Circuits in the Tang Dynasty (because Gyeonggi Province and Dugi Province were not included in the local administration, it was also called Thirteen Circuits). The text says that there were a maximum of ten Jiedushi, which took into account the uncertain number of Jiedushi under the political needs of different periods, and there were also situations where one Jiedushi served as Jiedushi of several circuits. Because a book friend reminded me, I specially modified and added a paragraph in the original text for fear that it would be misunderstood as the period of Ten Circuits. However, the modification of the original text also caused the comment of this book friend to be swallowed up by the system, so I explain it here.) Good night!
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