Chapter 562 First Encounter
He was the previous emperor's crown prince, Zong Zheng Changyuan. From the moment of his birth, he had been crowned the crown prince, shouldering the heavy responsibility of governing the country. His father was a law-abiding and steadfast believer in the family rules, but when it came to bringing him to the morning court, he remained steadfast, no matter how the ministers challenged him with ancestral rules.
Because my father firmly believed that while reading thousands of books is important, traveling thousands of miles is also indispensable. If you only read books without putting them into practice, they are just empty talk.
So ever since he could remember, his father took him to the morning court every day, so that he could understand all the affairs of the court through daily observation and observation.
Moreover, the emperor would let him participate and encourage him to express his inner thoughts. Even if he said some hilarious childish ideas, the emperor would smile and praise him for having his own opinions, and said that he would definitely be an emperor with great talent and strategy in the future.
His father never treated him as a child.
Unfortunately, my father was a benevolent but somewhat indecisive emperor. Although he appointed people based on their merits, worked diligently and loved the people, he ultimately lacked the courage and bloodiness to kill decisively, which led to the downfall of the dynasty.
On the day of the coup, the sounds of killing were deafening, flames shot up into the sky, the ground was littered with broken limbs and arms, and the air was filled with blood mist, as if it had rained blood.
The confidants of his father and mother risked their lives to help him escape and hid him in the national temple, thus escaping the disaster.
After the storm had passed, the lady-in-waiting beside his mother took him back to his mother's hometown to live and changed his name.
In name, the female official was his biological aunt. His parents had both passed away, so he was fostered in his aunt's home.
Therefore, he took the surname Yan from the female official.
That year, he was only seven or eight years old, and he was burdened with a deep blood feud.
When he was a teenager, he passed the imperial examination and returned to the capital. He stayed with Chu Mingyuan and devoted himself to planning the restoration of the country. He never paid attention to unimportant people.
He divides the people of this world into two categories: those who are useful to him and those who are useless to him.
But Princess Yizhen was an accident.
The first time I saw her was in Guosi Temple.
That year, he was twenty years old.
She is twelve years old.
He caught a cold and went to the National Temple to practice meditation. When he had nothing to do, he would debate with Master Xuqing to release the pent-up emotions in his heart.
That evening, he brought the young novice monk out of Master Xuqing's meditation room and went to the dining hall for dinner. They happened to pass by the area where the National Temple was being expanded and met a little girl there.
The little girl was dressed simply, with her smooth black hair combed into two buns and tied with two red ribbons, with no other decorations.
She carried a load of water and walked towards the dining hall with great difficulty.
That thin arm was not even as thick as the shoulder pole on her shoulder.
But everyone has his own destiny.
He didn't take it to heart and just treated it as a passerby.
Naturally, there will be no mercy.
Instead, the young novice monk beside him explained the reason why the little girl was carrying water in the temple: "She is Princess Yizhen, who was held hostage by the Great Zhou in Northern Qi. She heard that her brother was ill, so she begged the abbot to take her in to work in the temple and give her a good meal."
"But the temple's chores were done by outer disciples, so she was naturally not needed. The temple happened to be expanding, and the abbot was kind-hearted, so he kept her in the temple to do some rough work."
"She looked young, thin and petite, but she was quite strong. She never complained about the tiredness or the dirtiness of her work, and she worked harder than the other strong men who came down from the mountain to work in the temple. For lunch, she asked for a bowl of porridge and a steamed bun. She only ate the porridge, leaving the bun. For dinner, she would take the two buns down the mountain."
"One day, a senior fellow in the dining hall saw her pale, with sweat on her forehead, leaning against a mountain spring to drink water. The senior fellow in the dining hall knew some medical skills, so he took her pulse and realized that she was starving."
"After asking, I found out that she only ate one bowl of porridge a day, and gave the rest to her brother. The senior brother took pity on her, and from then on he gave her an extra steamed bun and some vegetarian food. She didn't take it for free either, and before going down the mountain, she would carry a few buckets of water to the dining hall."
He doesn't like to listen to other people's gossip.
This time, it was probably because I heard the words "Princess Yizhen" that I listened to the little monk's story all the way.
Because before the palace coup, his father and mother admired Empress Xiao'en of the Great Zhou very much. They said that she quelled rebellions and stabilized the country while in military uniform, and was able to support the late Emperor of the Great Zhou in governing the country even without military uniform. She was truly a rare and extraordinary woman, so he had an impression of Empress Xiao'en.
Until Emperor Jing'an and Princess Yizhen came to Northern Qi as hostages.
The spy relayed the news to him.
Only then did he learn that the previous emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, fearing Empress Xiao'en, had exterminated all nine of her clans and sentenced her to death. As for her two children, they were also sent to Northern Qi as hostages.
At that moment, he only felt that the world was impermanent.
Apart from this, there is no other idea.
A muffled "bang" sound came from behind.
He paused and turned around, only to see Princess Yizhen fall to the ground, her clothes soaked by the water in the wooden barrel.
Probably because she had fallen and injured herself, Princess Yizhen lay on the ground, motionless.
The little monk exclaimed, "Little donor." As he said that, the little monk rushed over and carefully helped Princess Yizhen to stand up.
As soon as she stood still, Princess Yizhen's face turned pale, and she bent her knees and knelt on the ground.
At the critical moment, he subconsciously grabbed Princess Yizhen's arms to prevent her from kneeling on the ground and aggravating the injury on her knees. When he came to his senses, he realized what he had done.
Being soft-hearted is a fatal flaw for someone like him.
It's difficult to achieve great things.
He was about to help Princess Yizhen sit down on a stone nearby when he keenly noticed that her body was shaking and she seemed to be in great pain.
Suddenly, his sleeves sank and he looked down.
He saw a hand tightly grasping his sleeve, and he cried out softly with a nasal tone: "It hurts."
It was at this time that he discovered that Princess Yizhen's skirt at the knees was stained red with blood, and it was obvious that her injuries were extremely serious.
He sighed, and ultimately no longer cared about the differences between men and women. He carried Princess Yizhen horizontally to Master Xuqing's meditation room.
Master Xuqing was a little surprised to see him come back. When he saw the little girl in his arms, he raised his eyebrows in surprise, as if he had not expected that he would one day meddle in other people's affairs.
Perhaps it was because his father and mother admired Empress Xiao'en, and Empress Xiao'en's children were held hostage in the enemy country, which was subtly similar to his fate, so he helped her.
At this time, the young novice monk brought out a brown robe that he had never worn.
Several people left the meditation room and helped Princess Yizhen change into clean clothes.
At this time, Master Xuqing reminded him: "Heqing, as Princess Yizhen, you should have less contact with her."
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