The next morning, Xiao Jue did not come back.

Xiao Jing also entered the palace, and Bai Rongwei and He Yan stayed in the mansion. Bai Rongwei was pregnant, and He Yan didn't dare to let her worry, so she didn't tell her much about the palace. After the maid helped Bai Rongwei to rest in the house, she sat in the yard by herself, waiting for Xiao Jue to come back.

When Xiao Jue came back, it was already evening.

The sky was completely dark, and the lanterns in the yard had been lit. He Yan was sitting at the table absentmindedly reading a book. Seeing him coming back from outside, with a damp body and a cold expression, he hurriedly stood up and walked over to ask, "What's wrong?"

Xiao Jue put the wine on the table, took off his outer garment, and said after a moment of silence, "The country will be in mourning in three days."

"So fast?" He Yan was surprised.

"Not only that, before his death, the emperor left a will, ordering four concubines and twenty palace maids to be buried with him."

He Yan blurted out: "Impossible!"

There are indeed records in history that women were buried alive with the emperor after his death. But this custom was abolished before the previous emperor ascended the throne, because Emperor Hezong at that time thought that burying women alive with the emperor was too cruel, so it was abolished. This is a rule that has been abolished. Moreover, although Emperor Wenxuan did not make much achievements in government affairs, he was still benevolent and tolerant, and would never issue such a will.

"Among the four concubines who were buried alive, there was Concubine Lan." Xiao Jue said coldly.

He Yan understood immediately, "You mean, this will is fake?"

Emperor Wenxuan doted on Concubine Lan for many years. Now that Emperor Wenxuan was dead, no one could protect Concubine Lan. He could use a fake edict to get rid of this thorn in his side.

"If the edict is all fake..." He Yan raised his head and looked at Xiao Jue, his eyes moving slightly, "Have you ever met His Majesty..."

Xiao Jue looked at her and said, "No."

He Yan felt his heart pounding.

If I hadn't seen Your Majesty in person, I wouldn't know if Emperor Wenxuan really died of illness. If it was something else...

"I asked the eunuchs in the bedroom at that time, and they said that the emperor had met the fourth prince before he went to sleep."

"What a coincidence?" He Yan frowned slightly, but if it was the Fourth Prince who attacked the Emperor, he couldn't find any reason.

"After the national mourning, there will be the coronation ceremony." Xiao Jue sat down on the chair, "The prince will ascend the throne."

He Yan's voice sank: "This is not a good thing."

Before the edict of succession to the throne was issued, Emperor Wenxuan left the palace and the crown prince ascended the throne. Not to mention whether the crown prince could hold on to the position, the situation that the Xiao family would face would not be optimistic once the crown prince ascended the throne.

Seeing He Yan's frown, Xiao Jue curled his lips and comforted her, "Don't worry, I'll go to the Fourth Prince's residence tomorrow."

"you……"

He didn't say anything, just looked at He Yan calmly. In an instant, He Yan understood. She lowered her head and remained silent. After a moment, she raised her head again, put her hand on the back of Xiao Jue's hand, and said firmly, "Go."

…

When Emperor Wenxuan passed away, the imperial mourning lasted for 27 days. During the mourning period, officials were forbidden to hold banquets, drink, or have fun. A date was chosen and the emperor was buried in the imperial mausoleum three days later.

The court was arguing over the Emperor Wenxuan's posthumous edict about "being buried alive with the emperor". The most fiercely opposed were naturally the fourth prince Guangshuo and the fifth prince Guangji, because Concubine Lan and Concubine Ni were also buried alive with the emperor. Guangji was still young and only knew how to cry and make a fuss. Guangshuo brought Yu Shi to protest, but was refuted by Guangyan with "the posthumous edict has been obeyed".

At present, it seems that Guangyan has seized the throne, but it is hard to tell what is going on in the world. As long as there is no coronation ceremony, the situation will not be settled. Even if he really ascends the throne and becomes emperor, there have been cases in history where an emperor was dethroned and replaced.

Everyone in the court felt insecure, and there was a sense of crisis.

After Emperor Wenxuan passed away, Guangyan, as the crown prince, temporarily took charge of all court affairs. The first thing he did was to release the previously imprisoned Wutuo envoys. He also ordered that Wutuo's request for peace be approved, and intended to allow Wutuo people to open a market in Wei.

When this order came out, everyone in the court was in an uproar.

If he had done so before, there would have been some opposition among the ministers, but it would not have been so strong. After the Tianxingtai incident, Guangyan insisted on advocating peace even though he knew that Wutuo had evil intentions. It was really disheartening.

The memorials from the historian flew to the prince's desk one by one, and were all thrown into the waste paper pile. Guangyan seemed to have made up his mind on this matter and ignored anyone's opinion. The people of Shuojing City did not know the pros and cons, and most of the civil officials advocated moderation. Only the military generals were indignant, but they could do nothing about it - many years ago, Xu Jingfu had already manipulated Emperor Wenxuan to use civil officials, and now the position of military generals was far less important than that of civil officials.

At the residence of Marquis Shi Jin, Chu Zhao looked at the long letter in his hand.

After a moment, he held the letter in his hand. The letter paper was crumpled into a ball, revealing his complicated and slightly angry mood at the moment.

He rarely behaved like this. Seeing this, his confidant asked cautiously, "Fourth Young Master..."

Chu Zhao threw the letter into the brazier and pressed his forehead.

Although he had known that Guangyan was a brainless idiot, he had not expected that he could be so bold. He had clearly reminded Guangyan that regicide was not an option, but Guangyan still did it. I'm afraid that Empress Zhang and her family also helped behind the scenes, otherwise everything would not have gone so smoothly.

"Fourth Young Master, in three days the Emperor will be buried in the Imperial Mausoleum, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will soon ascend the throne. Isn't that a good thing for the Fourth Young Master?" After all, Xu Jingfu was gone, and some of Xu Jingfu's people were under Chu Zhao's command. In a way, Chu Zhao was also the Crown Prince's man. Once he gained power, everyone would rise to the top. As long as the Crown Prince became the Emperor, the Fourth Young Master's future would only get better and better.

Chu Zhao smiled, without any warmth in his eyes, "He can't be the emperor."

The confidant raised his head and looked at him: "This..."

"He was too impatient. If it weren't for the edict, there might have been a chance to turn the situation around. But the edict of burial sacrifice only accelerated his own death." He said these treasonous words, but there was no fear in his eyes, as if he was not talking about a noble royal person.

"That will must be a fake, but I don't know whether it was written by the Crown Prince or the Fourth Prince. If it was written by the Crown Prince, then he is not only stupid, but also ridiculous for being so smart. If it was written by the Fourth Prince..." Chu Zhao smiled slightly, "Then no matter what, the Crown Prince will not be his opponent."

"You mean, before entering the imperial mausoleum..."

"Concubine Lan wants to be buried alive with the emperor. The Fourth Prince will definitely not allow this to happen. If she enters the imperial mausoleum before ascending the throne, I'm afraid that even before he ascends the throne, he will lose his position."

Even now, although every word he said was shocking, his expression did not show much fluctuation, as if he had already anticipated everything that happened.

The confidant was worried: "Fourth Master, if the Crown Prince is not worthy of following, what should we do now?"

It is probably too late to follow the Fourth Prince now. What's more, they have too few chips and do not have the capital to make a deal with the Fourth Prince.

Chu Zhao looked out the window.

It was spring, but the weather was still unusually cold. He had followed Xu Jingfu before. If it weren't for Xiao Jue, Guangyan, with Xu Jingfu watching over him, might have been able to hold the throne. But without Xu Jingfu, Guangyan would never be a match for Guangshuo, no matter how long it lasted.

If you keep the enemy for a day, you will suffer for generations. Sometimes Chu Zhao would feel that he should be grateful to Xiao Jue. It was because of Xiao Jue that he got his freedom.

But at the same time, he also lost everything.

Following Guangyan now would mean going down a dead end. But if he followed Guangshuo now... at most, he could only survive, and everything he gained from Xu Jingfu would be lost in an instant.

The cruelty of fate to him is that the other road to darkness is not light. Comparing the two, it is not that you can choose another bright road by abandoning one, but it is just a matter of weighing how much you have lost.

He stood up and said, "I'm going to the Fourth Prince's residence."

…

The night in Jinling is still as prosperous as ever.

In Ruyun Tower, due to the state's mourning, few people came. The girls stopped playing the piano early and just sat in the tower.

Hua Youxian also changed into plain clothes. Although the country does not force the people to wear plain clothes during the mourning period, it is better not to make any mistakes at this juncture.

It was already dark, and in the evening, the rain that had stopped before started again. Hua Youxian took the last bag of red bean cakes that she had just bought from Guangfuzhai and hid under the eaves of a teahouse on the Qinhuai River to avoid the rain. As soon as she stood still, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure walking around the corner.

"Lord Yang?" Hua Youxian couldn't help but shout.

The man looked sideways. He was wearing a sandalwood robe and had an elegant appearance. It was Yang Mingzhi, the Jinling Patrolman.

Yang Mingzhi was also startled when he saw Hua Youxian. He must have just returned from abroad and did not bring an umbrella. Most of his clothes were soaked. After hesitating for a while, he walked over and stood beside Hua Youxian, saying, "Miss Youxian."

Hua Youxian smiled and looked outside: "I don't think the rain will stop for a while, why don't we sit down and have a cup of tea and wait until the rain stops before leaving."

Yang Mingzhi thought about it for a moment and nodded.

Now, during the period of national mourning, he had an official position and could not drink, so he ordered a pot of tea and some snacks. The teahouse was next to the Qinhuai River. With the window open, he could see the lights of the boats on the Qinhuai River flickering, like a dark star in the dark night in the rain.

"It seems that every time I see Lord Yang, he is alone." Hua Youxian said with a smile.

Although Yang Mingzhi was the Jinling Governor, unlike the previous governor, he did not like pomp and circumstance when traveling. As a result, even after he had been the Jinling Governor for several years, not everyone in the city knew him.

Yang Mingzhi lowered his head and smiled without saying anything.

Hua Youxian was a little curious. When she saw this group of young men in Ruyun Tower, she had a particularly deep impression of them because they had experienced the world together. Although Yang Mingzhi was not as stunning as that Governor Xiao, nor as unrestrained as Young Master Yan, and not as popular as Young Master Yang, he was still handsome and outstanding among the young men, and had a bit of a good air. After they met again, although he was already the governor of Jinling, he looked much more silent, not as energetic as he was back then.

"Master Yang, do you know that Master Xiao got married not long ago?" Hua Youxian picked up the tea and took a sip. "My servant and Cailian sent someone to send a gift. Master Yang is busy with official duties and probably has no time to visit. Speaking of which, Master Xiao seems cold and indifferent, but he treats Miss He very well."

Thinking of this, Hua Youxian also felt a little emotional. At that time, she saw that He Yan was a girl, and Xiao Jue took good care of He Yan, but she didn't expect that the two would get married so soon. It seems that fate is really wonderful. If it is the right person, it doesn't take ten or eight years to test the sincerity.

Yang Mingzhi lowered his eyes to look at the teacup in front of him, paused, and then said, "Yes."

But my heart is not as calm as it seems.

In fact, Xiao Jue did not invite him. Of course, he did not think that he would receive Xiao Jue's invitation. Many years ago, the brotherhood between him and Xiao Jue had probably disappeared.

Back then...

Yang Ming turned his head and looked at the river outside the window. The river was winding and cold, carrying the boats on the water, slowly flowing towards many years ago.

Many years ago, when he was still a student at Xianchang Hall, he did not know the dangers of the world, nor did he know the sufferings of the world. He had friends whom he truly admired, who shared the same ideals and were generous and righteous. He also once believed that the friendship between young people should last forever.

Until something happened to the Xiao family.

He was extremely anxious and agreed to help and went home to find his father. However, he did not expect that his father, who always praised Xiao Jue in front of him, would reject his request outright.

At that time, Yang Mingzhi was extremely puzzled and knelt down to beg. Perhaps because his attitude was too firm, Lord Yang finally gave in and finally told him the truth.

It was not until then that Yang Mingzhi realized that his father had always been Xu Jingfu's man. The entire Yang family was taken care of by Xu Jingfu.

"If you help him, you will harm the Yang family." His father stood in front of him and shook his head, saying, "You make your own choice."

The young man fell to the ground, bewildered. He didn't understand why his father, who always taught him to live a righteous life, was like this? If the family precepts he had learned since childhood were just words on paper, then what had he insisted on all these years?

No one could answer him.

He broke off relations with Xiao Jue and chose his family. At the same time, he also felt that he was no longer qualified to be Xiao Jue's "friend".

Later, he took the imperial examination again and became an official. He did not stay in Shuojing, but deliberately went to Jinling. He could not face the Yang family, nor could he face himself. He could only pretend to be the young man who cared about the world and distinguished between good and evil here, in the old place where he had traveled with his classmates in Xianchang Hall.

But it was not until he met Xiao Jue and the others again that Yang Mingzhi suddenly realized that Xiao Jue, Lin Shuanghe, Yan He and the others had not changed, only he had changed. They still went to Ruoyun Tower together, drank and talked, but they were no longer in the same mood as before.

In the old days...

In the old days, it was like a huge mountain rising slowly from the plain, but before we knew it, it had long been insurmountable, with endless horizons on both sides.

Hua Youxian seemed to see the momentary sadness in his eyes. After a pause, he finally changed the subject and said, "Now that His Majesty has passed away, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has approved Wu Tuo's people to open a market in Wei. Jinling is prosperous. If the market is interested in Jinling..."

Yang Mingzhi came back to his senses and shook his head, saying, "The market will not be located in Jinling."

"grown ups……"

"I would stop it." Yang Mingzhi lowered his head and smiled, "If I were still the governor of Nanjing."

In fact, after Xu Jingfu got into trouble, the Yang family sent him a letter, asking Yang Mingzhi to find Xiao Jue and ask Xiao Jue to show mercy for the sake of their old friendship. Yang Mingzhi ignored it. Everyone should be responsible for their own choices, just as he chose his family and the Yang family chose Xu Jingfu.

Later, when he saw that he ignored it and Emperor Wenxuan died, I think his family members who stayed in the capital should have made a new choice in the shortest time.

But he can't.

In the past few years, Yang Mingzhi stayed in Jinling to repay his debts. Now that the time has come, he does not intend to continue to act against his own heart.

The establishment of a market will do more harm than good to the people of Wei. Once those Wutuo people enter Jinling, who knows what they will do to the people. This is like inviting a wolf into the house. The officials in the court are high above and think that this fire will not burn them, so they are indifferent.

But once the fire is aroused, no matter whether they are high-ranking officials or ordinary people, they will be treated equally.

He knew very well that, except for a few brave officials, there would be few civil officials in the capital who would dare to raise objections at this time. Yang Mingzhi also knew very well that when his memorial appeared in Guangyan's palace, his career as the governor of Nanjing would be over.

Maybe you will lose your life? Maybe your family will be implicated? But so what?

When I was young, I read "Be upright in your heart, be honest in self-discipline, be loyal in serving the monarch, be respectful in serving your elders, be trustworthy in dealing with others, be lenient towards your subordinates, and be respectful in handling affairs. These are the seven essentials for being an official." At that time, the young people in Xianchang Hall were eager to try. Everyone believed that they could do it and be a good official. But after many years, how many people persisted?

Young people have the courage to fight against all the injustices in the world. They always believe that after many twists and turns, there will be light at the end of the tunnel. However, after a long time, they gradually become helpless and just go with the flow.

Just like himself.

He had great ambitions when he was young, but became unknown when he grew up, and eventually died like grass and trees.

"Young Master," Hua Youxian called him with a smile.

Yang Mingzhi raised his head.

"If he is the governor of Jinling, he is Lord Yang. If he is not the governor of Jinling, he is Young Master Yang." The beauty by the Qinhuai River is as charming as in her memory. She picked up the teacup in front of her. "In my opinion, no matter what position Young Master is in, he is the hero who hated evil and spoke for justice in Ruyun Tower."

"Jinling City will get better and better, so young master, don't underestimate yourself." The friend's voice was soft, like the old days, tolerantly including his past struggles and sufferings, like the thick fog over the Qinhuai River. After the fog dissipated, there was still a pool of spring water and the sound of silk and bamboo.

He lowered his head, and after a long moment, he suddenly smiled. He then raised the teacup in front of him and clinked it with the teacup of his old friend.

"You're right," he whispered, "it's going to get better."