The morning court session was not as troublesome as Zhao Rong had imagined.

Maybe the little emperor was still too young, and some military and national affairs had already been discussed privately by Dugu, the regent, and other officials in the court, just like Zhao Rong and others discussed matters in the back hall of Weiyang Palace last night.

So the morning court session was just a formality.

At this time in the court, Dugu, who was behind the scenes in power, announced the appointment of Confucian scholars such as Zhao Rong, and announced that they would have full authority to manage the Fengshan Ceremony.

Later, it was announced that the location of the Fengshan ceremony would be Jiyue Mountain.

The civil and military officials in the court knew that this matter was of great importance and it was not their turn to question it. Therefore, no one had any objection.

Except for some censors, including the thin censor whom Zhao Rong noticed very much, most of the officials looked at the young Confucian scholar who was given a seat by the young emperor with admiration.

The latter had a calm expression, and his eyes occasionally swept over the little emperor sitting high on the dragon throne.

The little emperor seemed to be in a good mood today. He was just distracted occasionally, and I don’t know what he was thinking about, but a smile appeared on his face.

After a while, the morning court ended and all officials withdrew.

However, they did not leave immediately. Instead, according to their daily routine, they changed into white clothes and went to the hall where the late emperor's body was still lying to pay their respects and kneel down to pay their respects.

Zhao Rong didn't quite understand the funeral customs of these deceased people, but he followed the local customs, so he changed into white clothes and went with them.

Xiao Qian'er was not in a position to come in, so she waited for him outside.

…

A magnificent and solemn hall was filled with mourning clothes.

There is a gold-painted golden nanmu dragon coffin placed in the center.

Dugu and the young emperor took the lead and led all the officials to kneel down.

The first two are closest to the dragon coffin.

She shed tears and sobbed, her clothes were wet with tears.

Zhao Rong stood at the back of the crowd. After paying his respects, he looked up and only then could he clearly see Dugu's figure from behind.

Finally, I am no longer hidden behind the pearl curtains.

Everyone in the hall lowered their heads, but he was the only one who was brave enough to look around...

It seems that this Dugu should be very young.

From Zhao Rong's perspective from behind, her hair was as black as silk, her clothes were white and her sleeves were white, and she had a great figure.

The tight-fitting snow-white mourning dress outlined the young widow's extremely graceful waist. Her waist was thinner than any other woman Zhao Rong had ever seen, and the curve was undulating...

At this moment, she was sitting on the ground with her legs bent, as if she didn't care about the dirt on the ground. She covered her mouth with a handkerchief with one hand and held the dragon coffin with the other hand, and began to cry.

Zhao Rong only saw this young widow, who stood at the pinnacle of power in Dali, with her shoulders trembling and her hands covering her mouth to wipe away tears.

Beside her, the little emperor was also affected by her words and actions, crying out, "Mother, please don't be hurt"...

All the ministers wept and knelt down, even Li Mingyi, who was always dignified and calm, knelt on his knees with a sad face.

Some ministers who looked very senior because of their white hair and beards had even more exaggerated expressions. Some of them almost threw their heads on the ground and banged their heads against the pillars crying.

In the hall, cries of "late emperor" and "waaaaaaa" echoed throughout the room.

Zhao Rong finished the worship quietly and in an orderly manner.

At this moment, the young scholar could not help but look around at this noisy scene, wondering if he should also howl a few times to show his respect.

Everyone is working so hard, he has to say something at least.

Otherwise, wouldn’t it be an insult to everyone’s efforts to create this atmosphere?

But Zhao Rong tried hard for a long time but just couldn't shed any tears.

He suddenly thought of something for no reason... it would be great if Xiao Qian'er was here. She is the best at pretending to cry and act pitiful. She has been like this since she was a child. So, in fact, women do have a talent for this...

At this time, behind the crowd, Zhao Rong covered his mouth with his fist and coughed lightly.

Fortunately, after entering the funeral hall, he kept a low profile, stayed behind the crowd and did not stand in the front, otherwise, wouldn't everyone in the audience be so embarrassed that they would pick their feet with his disrespectful and indifferent look?

After a while, the wailing finally came to an end.

Xian Le Li Nu wanted to support Dugu, who was feeling grief-stricken beside the dragon coffin, but she was pushed away by her shaking her head.

"Woo woo, let's send His Majesty back first. He still needs to go to the Imperial Study to study with the teachers. Everyone else should go away. Let... let me be the only one to accompany the late emperor..."

Xian Le Li Nu received the order and went to help the little emperor.

Li Mingyi and all the officials also said goodbye and left in an orderly manner.

Zhao Rong also stood up and left with the crowd.

He had sharp ears and heard the admiration and sighs of many Confucian scholars and civil servants in the crowd.

"Your Majesty is truly pure and virtuous, with the demeanor of an ancient empress..."

"It is clearly even better than before. Our Dali is blessed to have the Empress behind the scenes to assist the young emperor. This is truly the legacy of the late emperor and a great blessing..."

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty and Your Majesty come here every day, feeling sad and painful, unable to forget the late emperor. Your filial piety is so pure and touching that it moves heaven and earth. Your filial piety has inspired all the people, and all the people on earth respect you..."

Some old ministers stroked their beards and sighed, saying that they would swear to be loyal to the Queen Mother and His Majesty until death, and all the officials around them agreed.

Zhao Rong raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and glanced at the back of the man in the python robe walking in front of the crowd. He couldn't see his expression at the moment, or how he reacted after hearing these words.

The young scholar smiled.

At this time, he had already walked out of the hall.

At the door, Zhao Rong couldn't help but turn his head and take one last look at the young empress dowager lying on the ground beside the dragon coffin in the main hall.

From a distance, after everyone left, she seemed to stand up with the coffin in her arms. She was wearing a snow-white, close-fitting mourning dress, and she was indeed very beautiful...

However, Zhao Rong didn't think much about the pretty widow's bad taste, but thought about other things.

At the moment, it seems that this Dugu family, with the young emperor, an orphan and a widow, holds power in Dali. The most important cornerstone of this power is indeed "legitimate righteousness".

Before coming to Hanjing, Zhao Rong was still a little confused. How could Li Mingyi and Zhou Dufu, two high-level warriors who were comparable to Jindan realm cultivators and held military power, reach a triangular balance with a powerless woman and still be suppressed by her?

What he saw and heard at this moment made him understand a lot.

Regardless of whether the feelings between this orphan and his widowed mother were genuine or not, as long as they kept the filial piety, they could suppress the two high-ranking warriors and not make them move, regardless of whether they had the intention to rebel or not...

This is justice, this is taking advantage of the situation.

This pretty young widow in the hall is obviously a master at taking advantage of situations.

As for Zhao Rong and Gu Yiwu, they were brought to Linlu Academy by her with courtesy.

Now this Fengshan ceremony was a gamble. If they won, Dugu and the young emperor would gain tremendous power. As for losing...

Zhao Rong shook his head and didn't think about it anymore.

None of it has anything to do with him.

He brought his classmates here with his own mission and purpose.

Zhao Rong was an outsider in Lidi and had no friendship entanglement with him... Well, there seemed to be an extra Su Qingdai now, but her problem seemed to have been resolved.

At the moment, he will not be foolish enough to take sides and get involved in the vortex of various forces in Dali.

Not to mention being Dugu's knife.

On the contrary, Zhao Rong's acting skills were off the charts, playing the role of a greedy and lustful Confucian scholar, jumping around and cutting into the three forces in Dali, letting them bleed...

At this time, on the steps of the main hall, at the back of the crowd.

Just as Zhao Rong stopped and looked back, distracted, a short figure approached.

"Mr. Zhao, what are you looking at?"

It’s the little emperor who is preparing to go back to the imperial study to study, he asked curiously.

Zhao Rong immediately turned around and bowed, "Your Majesty."

Then, he glanced at the young emperor's innocent face, and couldn't help but twitch his lips... I'm looking at your mother, um, not cursing...

"The late emperor passed away at a young age, and I am deeply saddened and grief-stricken."

Zhao Rong sighed slightly and nodded seriously.

The little emperor felt warm in his heart, and took a step forward, saying sincerely: "Mr. Zhao, please don't be too sad, it's easy to hurt your body, just like the Queen Mother."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."

At this time, there was a large group of people following the little emperor. In addition to the palace maids and guards, there were also two string music players sent by the Dugu family. In addition, there was a figure that Zhao Rong looked very familiar with.

Zhao Rong couldn't help but glance at the thin and respectful censor standing behind the little emperor.

I saw him outside the palace gate this morning.

At this time, the thin imperial censor was also staring at Zhao Rong intently with a calm expression.

As if noticing Zhao Rong's gaze, the little emperor smiled and introduced Zhao Rong enthusiastically.

"Mr. Zhao, let me introduce you to Mr. Zhang Huizhi, who is currently a censor at the Imperial Censorate. Half a month ago, my mother hired him as a lecturer in my study, and he is now one of my teachers of classics."

…

After everyone left, the Tingling Hall became empty and lonely.

A dragon coffin was placed quietly in the center.

A woman in white clothes, covered with a snow-white veil, was half-lying on the ground next to the coffin.

The huge dragon coffin made her slender body look even smaller.

Her waist is slender and her figure is extremely beautiful.

Even though the face is covered with a veil, a certain light cannot be concealed.

With the presence of this pretty widow, this slightly dim hall seemed to be brighter.

At this moment, she showed half of her face, with a pair of charming and majestic phoenix eyes. Because of the tears in her eyes and the redness at the corners of her eyes, she looked particularly charming.

Especially the posture of the widow lying on the ground, looking weak and helpless as if she had lost her backbone.

If any man saw this, his first impulse would probably be to rush forward, hold her in his arms, and love her tenderly...

At this moment, when the footsteps outside the hall faded away, there was only one person and one coffin left in the hall.

Dugu suddenly stood up lightly.

He lowered his eyes and glanced at the dusty sleeves and skirt.

She frowned slightly and walked directly to the back of the hall, where a bookish girl in palace dress was standing quietly with her head bowed, looking at the ground.

The girl didn't look away.

Dugu frowned and held out his hand.

Doukou handed over the hot, wet white towel in her hand.

The young widow, covered in a white veil, wiped her hands carefully with a white towel and walked away with her chin slightly raised.

Before her figure disappeared around the corner, she turned her head slightly and glanced at the noble dragon coffin in the center of the hall behind her.

His eyes were calm.

And indifferent.

This is not cold-blooded indifference, but the kind of indifference that a woman has...a superior attitude and doesn't care about a man at all.

…

"...Mr. Zhao, Mr. Zhang, like you, is also a scholar who came from an academy, but Mr. Zhang is from another academy, Siqi Academy...Linlu and Siqi are both the dream places for scholars in Wangquezhou...Mr. Zhao, Mr. Zhang, you are both talented and outstanding among them.

"When my father was alive, he highly valued Mr. Zhang. Later, my mother also respected Mr. Zhang very much... My mother often told me that Mr. Zhang was an honest official, upright, capable of governing, and upright... He was a minister of state that my father specially left for me."

In the square not far from the main hall, the little emperor was walking and introducing the thin censor behind him to Zhao Rong.

Zhang Huizhi...your father kept it for you? No wonder your official position is so low, waiting for you to promote Shi En... Zhao Rong nodded gently.

He exchanged glances with the latter.

"Brother Zhang, nice to meet you."

He smiled slightly, and Zhang Huizhi also nodded, but just bowed and did not reply.

He looked serious and stern.

Zhao Rong didn't care either.

The little emperor seems to be in a good mood today.

Zhao Rong glanced at it.

Right now, they were on their way.

Zhao Rong has already figured out that the little emperor is a simple-minded person and is rather naive and childish, but he seems to be a little afraid of his mother and his uncle.

But he found this sensitive boy who always cared about other people's attitudes quite interesting.

Somehow, it made Zhao Rong feel close to him.

The young emperor also admired Mr. Zhao, a man of extraordinary literary talent.

I also saw that he spoke in a casual and relaxed manner, without much distinction between the emperor and his subjects. I just felt like I was basking in the spring breeze and felt a lot more relaxed.

In addition, the two of them touched hands tacitly at the dinner party last night.

As a result, the king and his minister, one big and one small, actually got along very well.

People around were secretly looking at him, or were surprised.

Zhang Huizhi glanced at the two people who were chatting enthusiastically, but did not interrupt.

Zhao Rong did not move his eyes, but he could feel that the look in Censor Zhang's eyes seemed a little strange.

He remained calm at the moment, but kept it in mind.

At this time, the little emperor seemed to be in a hurry to go back and walked quite fast.

A servant girl nearby suggested that he get on the sedan chair and return to the palace.

"The sedan chair is too slow. It's faster to walk."

The little emperor turned around and gave instructions to everyone.

At this time, Zhao Rong and his group had reached the end of the square, an intersection with a forked alley.

The two sides are on different paths.

We are going to separate.

The little emperor turned to look at Zhao Rong, looking a little embarrassed:

"Mr. Zhao, I originally wanted to invite you to sit in the imperial study, but it is a bit inconvenient today... I have to go back to study first."

"Oh? It's okay." Zhao Rong glanced at the young man's embarrassed face and shook his head, "Your Majesty's enthusiasm for studying is a blessing to the country of Dali."

The little emperor felt a little embarrassed by being praised.

At this time, the two of them were walking in front. The little emperor leaned over and approached Zhao Rong, muttering softly:

"Well, Mr. Zhao, I won't hide it from you. My mother, my uncle, and the teachers assign me a lot of homework every day... Today I want to finish it ahead of time, so that I can squeeze out some free time before going to my mother's palace for lunch."

He paused, blushing slightly, "I...I want to visit the beautiful sister who poured wine last night..."

Zhao Rong understood immediately.

Good man, is it the beauty whose hand you touched last night? Go touch her again?

He smiled in his heart, his face uncertain, and nodded.

Then, the king and his minister looked at each other and once again understood each other tacitly.

A bright smile blossomed on the little emperor's face. He raised his head and glanced at the vast and clear sky, with a gentle autumn breeze.

In her eyes at this moment, this deep palace, which she had found increasingly monotonous and depressing since she was a child, no longer seemed to have the gray hue it had before last night.

The young man in dragon robe just felt very happy.

"Then Mr. Zhao, let's take our leave first..."

At this moment, a young broad-faced guard appeared at the corner not far away. He was holding an exquisite food box in his hand. The lid of the box was covered with yellow brocade, which was very beautiful.

The young guard walked quickly towards Zhao Rong and the little emperor.

He came up to him, bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, the prince sent me here to bring you some morning snacks."

Zhao Rong subconsciously stopped walking, and the little emperor turned his head curiously, "Oh? Dim sum, are these the delicious snacks that the emperor's uncle found? Then pass them over. Mr. Zhao and Mr. Zhang are here too."

All the palace maids stepped aside in unison to make way.

The guard stepped forward steadily, knelt on one knee, and presented the food box to the little emperor with both hands:

"The prince said that your majesty has been working hard on studying, riding and shooting recently. You should be encouraged, but you must not slack off. After eating snacks, you must study harder. Your majesty is the emperor of thousands of people in Dali. Don't let down the late emperor's high hopes."

The guard paused and continued calmly, "The prince also said that your majesty would like this snack very much."

"Of course, I will study hard." The little emperor nodded vigorously, then said with a smile: "I will definitely like it?"

The young man in the dragon robe turned around and said happily to Zhao Rong and the others, "Although the emperor's uncle is usually strict with me, he still cares about me and knows that I prefer salty taste. Hey, come and see what delicious snacks are, and let the two gentlemen taste them later."

As soon as he finished speaking, two palace maids stepped forward tacitly and, as per custom, offered to taste the food for the emperor.

The little emperor smiled and waved his hand, "No, it was sent by the emperor's uncle, let me do it."

As he spoke, the young man in the dragon robe showed curiosity. He rolled up the wide sleeves of the dragon robe, reached out his hand, put his fingers on the gap of the food box lid, gently lifted half of the lid, and looked inside...

The next second, Zhao Rong next to him saw that his face was slightly stunned, and then he shouted "Ah".

The young man in dragon robe fell to the ground.

“Ah ...

His voice was filled with fear. He pointed at the food box and backed away frantically.

Behind the little emperor, the palace maids who were at a perfect angle to see the inside of the food box were also screaming and shaking their legs, and they knelt on the ground in fear.

The guard held the food box without moving.

The half-opened lid wrapped in yellow brocade lost its support and fell back, covering the contents of the food box again.

The scene was silent for a moment, with only the cries of fear from the little emperor and several palace maids on the ground.

Zhao Rong frowned.

He stepped forward immediately.

Zhang Huizhi, who had a calm expression on the side, also took a step forward, but was a beat slower than the former.

Zhao Rong strode up to the guards, waved his hand, and opened the lid in an instant.

As the lid fell to the ground with a clatter, everyone looked over.

I saw two pieces of meat quietly placed diagonally in this exquisite food box...

hand?

It's the hand!

And her fingers are slender.

All ten nails were painted red nail polish.

This pair of hands should belong to a woman. At this moment, they are very white and clean, except for the bloody broken wrist... the rest of the hands seem to have been... washed.

And before he turned into a zombie, his index finger moved slightly out of reflex!

This caused the little emperor to scream unconsciously again.

Zhao Rong frowned, feeling that the hand looked somewhat familiar.

And the young man in dragon robe who was so scared that he almost peed his pants was not only familiar in appearance, but also familiar in hands!

The guard remained kneeling on one knee, his hands in a box-like position, his head buried. He did not raise his head at all because of the movement on the field, and his tone remained calm:

"The prince also said that it's fresh and hot, so please touch it carefully, Your Majesty."

Little Emperor: “!!!”

Zhao Rong and others: "..."

At this moment, the smell of blood filled the entire venue.

The air completely froze.