The house is full of wind and rain

The autumn wind blows suddenly, and the cold mountain becomes slightly chilly.

The weather was as hot as a steamer a few days ago, but it turned cool after an autumn rain, and the chill went straight to the bone through the thin clothes.

Time passes so quickly, like a horse passing by the window, and the sun and the moon disappear in a flash.

Inside the Qinzheng Hall, Ji Mingxiu leaned against the long golden nanmu table with an indifferent expression, casually fiddling with the begonias in full bloom on the table.

Li Qingyun stood aside with his hands hanging down, staring quietly at the white and red scene in front of him, as if he was admiring a gorgeous and exquisite painting.

When the tea in the cup had cooled down, Ji Mingxiu withdrew his gaze from the tender branches and gently moved his gaze to Li Qingyun.

"What's the matter, Prime Minister?"

He couldn't remember the last time Li Qingyun came to the Qinzheng Palace, but he suddenly came today. Did he finally get tired of it?

"Of course it was because of what Lord Liu had advised us against during the morning court session."

Oh? Ji Mingxiu raised his eyebrows in surprise. Since he personally selected a group of officials in the spring examination, he squeezed many official positions of Li Qingyun's party members before they came out of the Hanlin Academy. Anyway, last autumn, he used the excuse of going on a military expedition to investigate a group of old parties in the court, and now there are many vacant positions.

He thought Li Qingyun came to him for this matter. He had already written a full draft, but suddenly he was at a loss for words.

That's right, Ji Mingxiu thought about it and understood. After all, it was Li Qingyun who gave him the idea of ​​weakening the party by taking advantage of the expedition. He probably didn't expect that he would shoot himself in the foot.

"What happened in the morning court?"

Ji Mingxiu sat up straight and looked at Li Qingyun. What could those old ministers from the aristocratic families do? They stared at his harem without blinking. The emperor's death was not over yet, but the Liu and Li families could not sit still and were eager to send their daughters to the palace. If they knew that a woman had already moved into the palace under their noses, wouldn't those old guys be furious?

However, he did not take it seriously. He had only been on the throne for a year, and the current internal and external situations were so turbulent. He had a thousand reasons to refuse to be forced.

But he didn't expect Li Qingyun to attach so much importance to this matter that he followed him all the way to the Qinzheng Hall after the morning court ended.

What does it have to do with Li Qingyun whether he takes concubines into his harem? As far as he knows, Li Qingyun is already thirty years old and has not even married, let alone a daughter.

It can't be that Li Qingyun wants to enter the palace himself, right?

"Well, it's not a trivial matter after all. Let's consider it carefully before discussing it."

Ji Mingxiu narrowed his dark and clear eyes. No matter how many random thoughts were in his mind, they disappeared in an instant. He could not figure out Li Qingyun's thoughts, so he gave an ambiguous response that was almost the same as in the morning court.

"Your Majesty, don't you think it's too early to think about this?"

Li Qingyun's denial was too hasty, no longer as calm as usual. This made Ji Mingxiu want to find out his thoughts so as to find out the authority to control him.

"Don't worry too much about whether it's early or late. We should just go with the flow. Maybe it's destiny."

"Your Majesty is so anxious, has he already chosen a candidate?"

Li Qingyun retorted. He was usually very good at understanding people's minds, but at this moment he was particularly aggressive, and his words were full of thoughtless defiance and disrespect.

"What kind of beauty has bewitched your majesty's mind? He doesn't even care about the current situation in the world. Is he trying to imitate the King Jie of Xia and the King Zhou of Shang to win the smile of a beauty?"

"Li Qingyun!"

Ji Mingxiu slammed the long table and stood up suddenly. He raised his head and stared at Li Qingyun, who was a head taller than him. The dark black robe embroidered with gold patterns swept the celadon vase on the table to the ground, and it shattered to the ground.

"Get out! Get out!"

Ji Mingxiu shouted at the palace maids outside the palace who heard the noise and wanted to come in to check. The tender begonias that had just bloomed were now scattered on the ground. The soft, pink petals were soaked with the moisture from the bottle and were crushed into mud under his feet.

"This is my family affair, the Prime Minister has no right to interfere!"

"Your Majesty, since you are the ruler, why are you talking about family matters? Everything is about state affairs."

Li Qingyun knew that the possibility of His Majesty agreeing to this matter was very slim, but he still couldn't help wanting to confirm. He desperately hoped to get a promise from His Majesty.

This urgency made him feel panicky and frightened. Perhaps people are always greedy.

In the past, he only wanted to see His Majesty once, but now that he can see him every day, he begins to desire to possess him. Why can Gu Zian and Su Yuanbai have it, but he, Li Qingyun, can't?

He even felt that he had gone mad. His originally humble emotions had become chaotic, complicated, terrifying, and selfish under the pressure of darkness.

He wants to be exclusive.

This idea, which seemed almost out of the blue, made him tremble with excitement.

He couldn't help but take a step forward, and the distance between him and His Majesty was shortened, so that he could see his shadow reflected in His Majesty's bright and trembling eyes.

Probably a crazy and twisted look.

All of this was something Ji Mingxiu had never seen before, or even imagined. In his eyes, Li Qingyun was always deep and steady. No matter how sinister he was, he could hide it perfectly, always showing a kind and perfect arc at the corner of his mouth.

He is like a lurking beast, always patiently waiting for his prey to reveal a weakness before delivering a fatal blow.

It was not like this now. The surging anger in his eyes almost completely tore through his hypocritical mask of the past, and every bit of his ruthlessness was exposed nakedly without any cover.

Ji Mingxiu felt inexplicably frightened. When he met those ink-deep eyes, he subconsciously wanted to escape.

Once such a thought arises, it will spread like wildfire and cannot be stopped.

He staggered back half a step and fell back into the armchair. The momentum he had just gathered disappeared with this half step.

"The Prime Minister is truly a man of great righteousness, and he loves the people like his own children."

Ji Mingxiu turned his head away in a somewhat wolfish manner, his eyes and brows showing weariness, as if he was extremely tired and didn't want to talk about it anymore.

It’s just that when the begonia blooms, it’s bright red and full of fragrance, but if it withers one day and loses its color and fragrance, who will know?

Ji Mingxiu lowered his eyes and looked coldly at the fallen red petals all over the ground.

So are flowers, and so are people.

*

The moonlight flows on the tiles, and the thin clouds disperse.

Inside the Qianqing Palace, Ji Mingxiu was lying on his side on the bed and sleeping peacefully, while Cheng Tianfeng, who was sleeping beside him like a large temperature-controlled pillow, was almost stiff.

Ever since His Majesty asked him to warm the bed on New Year's Eve last year, except for the occasional time when the Imperial Master would rest in the Qianqing Palace, he has been sleeping on this dragon couch with His Majesty for more than a few months.

Although he was really just warming the bed, he had long been accustomed to this level of closeness with His Majesty.

Just today...

Cheng Tianfeng straightened up slightly and quietly looked at Ji Mingxiu's silent sleeping face in the dim moonlight between the curtains.

But soon he lowered his eyes, and his trembling eyelashes revealed his inner struggle.

You always have to make a choice...

After a bitter struggle between himself and himself, Cheng Tianfeng finally got out of bed quietly.

He turned around and looked at the sleeping Majesty with a lustful look. Perhaps it was because the night of Zhifeng was so quiet that it seemed to be able to accommodate everything. Cheng Tianfeng listened to the Majesty's light and lingering breathing, and he actually felt a sense of satisfaction that went beyond the norm.

It was this transgression that gave him unprecedented courage, allowing him to do something he had imagined thousands of times but had only dared to do deep in his heart.

He half-knelt in front of the couch and leaned over to place a kiss on His Majesty's cool fingertips.

Long and tender.

*

In the execution hall, the cold, moldy air and the pungent smell of blood lingered, lingering like a poisonous snake gnawing at bones.

It was not a big deal for wealthy families to maintain private armies, but it was rare to see an army of this scale as that of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Cheng Tianfeng knelt in the middle of a circle of torture instruments, blood-stained chains tightly bound his limbs, and his body was covered with scars, with almost no good flesh left.

"Master, the punishment is over."

"Tianfeng." The leader of Xingtang put away his iron whip and took a step forward, his tone was quite disappointed, "Your scouting skills are the best among this group of shadow guards, how come you can't even handle such a small matter?"

"Since you have betrayed the Lord's trust, you don't have to go there anymore."

Cheng Tianfeng's ears were filled with piercing noises, making it almost impossible for him to hear what the hall master was saying. The cold sweat running down his forehead blurred his vision, but he still raised his head with difficulty and looked at the badge that proved his identity.

The words "天-风" are clearly engraved on the bronze metal.

The severe pain made him lose all reason, and only the surging emotions took over and drove this broken body of flesh and blood.

"No……"

He heard his own feeble resistance, desperate and resolute.

"Submit."