His Royal Highness Prince Yan always kept his word. That day he said he would test him with a book, and from then on he would wait for him in the room every morning with a red sandalwood ruler.
The prince claimed to be ill and did not attend the court. The one in Funing Palace also said that the emperor was not feeling well. A message was passed to all officials that there would be no morning court for the next half month of the new year. If there were any important matters that had to be reported, all the memorials should be handed over to the Regent's Palace.
During the New Year, all the officials were enjoying their free time by visiting their relatives and greeting each other. Not many of them dared to come to the palace to submit memorials and bring bad luck to Xie Shiguan.
The prince was bored in his mansion, almost bored to death. He had fed two koi fish in the yard so much that they died of overeating. He had no place to vent his anger, so he had to torture Shen Que.
Shen quietly raised his eyes and secretly glanced at the person in front of the table.
The end of the ruler was tied with a purple jade gourd bead, with a silk tassel hanging down. Xie Shiguan's hand holding the ruler was as white as cold jade, with distinct joints. His knuckles would tap the ruler from time to time, and his dazed eyes would waver inadvertently.
Shen Que's gaze was unconsciously attracted to it, and he was in a daze and forgot all the words he had memorized at the desk last night.
If you can't recite it, you will be beaten. When your left hand turns red, you will be beaten with your right hand, then your calf, and then go up... to the end of the spine.
The prince's attack was not actually very heavy. Shen had been exercising all year round and often fought with his colleagues on the training ground. The sticks they used hit him much harder than the prince's. If he was hit, his body would be covered with bruises that would not heal for three to five days.
But the ruler in Xie Shiguan's hand was very different. It was not heavy, and it did hurt, but Chen always felt that it was a little different from the sticks used by his colleagues.
Although he felt a little pain in his body, a different feeling arose in his heart, an almost morbid tremor, a mixture of uneasiness and fear, but also a bit of expectation and longing.
He couldn't explain it, but he actually felt a little...craving for this kind of pain.
After being distracted for only a moment, Shen immediately came to his senses again, feeling extremely ashamed of the mean and obscene thoughts in his mind, and lowered his head to look at the tip of his shoes.
He felt that he deserved to die. However, he didn't know that the prince holding the ruler across from him, who looked righteous, actually had much dirtier thoughts in his mind than he did.
At this moment, Shen suddenly heard footsteps.
The next moment, Shen Xiangzhi stood half an arm's length away from him and reported without looking away, "Your Highness, Master Man is here."
"What is he doing here?" Xie Shiguan threw the ruler in his hand onto the table with a muffled sound, "No more."
Shen Xiangzhi looked a little embarrassed. Man Changshan had a close personal relationship with Prince Yan, which was known to everyone in the palace. Therefore, if Man Changshan wanted to come, there was no reason for them to keep him out.
If Xie Shiguan said he didn't want to see them, wouldn't that mean he would ask them to leave Changshan again?
“Your Highness,” Shen Xiangzhi said cautiously, “someone is already waiting in the side hall, do you think…”
Or would you please do me the honor of meeting him?
Shen Xiangzhi deliberately hesitated and looked at Xie Shiguan's expression with lowered eyebrows. He saw that the prince frowned slightly, but he didn't look unhappy. Instead, there was a hint of worry between his eyebrows.
Shen Xiangzhi had followed Prince Yan since he was a little boy, so he could figure out a little bit of the prince's thoughts from the details.
Since Xie Shiguan wasn't really angry, there was still room for negotiation.
"Forget it," after a long while, Shen Que finally heard the prince sigh lightly, "Let the old man in."
He called him an old man, but the man who was welcomed in a moment later looked young. He was wearing a dark purple official robe, his hair was neatly tied up, and he wore a black gauze hat neatly. He had a square face with sharp facial lines, high cheekbones and brow bones, and looked like a very serious person.
He didn't hesitate and lifted his robe and sat down below Xie Shiguan.
This was the current Taifu, the teacher of the emperor, but Shen did not dare to neglect him. He quickly brewed a cup of hot tea and respectfully served it to him.
"During the New Year's Day," Xie Shiguan leaned on the couch like a boneless man, "Why is Master Man visiting the palace instead of accompanying his wife and children?"
Taking one look at his attire, Xie Shiguan knew that he must have just gone to meet the emperor and had just come out of the palace when he came towards him.
Man Changshan couldn't stand his lazy look: "Your Highness is the highest official in the country, the pillar of the court, and the role model for the emperor. How can you be as limp as a pine caterpillar? You don't know how to sit properly."
Xie Shiguan moved when he heard that, changed to a more comfortable position, and taunted him with a curled lip: "This is Prince Yan's Mansion, my private residence, so I can sit however I like. Could it be that Master Man has to wear pants when he goes to the toilet at home?"
Man Changshan was so angry that he glared and couldn't speak for a long time.
"No one comes to see me for no reason," Xie Shiguan showed a bit of impatience, "What do you want to see me about? Tell me now."
The two had known each other for many years, so there was no need to say polite words. Man Changshan got straight to the point and said, "You shouldn't be angry with him."
He paused, and then said, "Yizhi is only 28 years old now, and still has the mentality of a child. After all, the Miao family is his mother's family, so you shouldn't push him too hard."
"It's time for him to grow up," Xie Shiguan said coldly, "Miao Zongping kidnapped my personal guard for no reason and tortured him to force him to confess. This time he kept his mouth shut, but what if it was someone else?"
"The crime of ordering the personal guards to assassinate me was imposed," he smiled at this point, "and then His Majesty, against all odds, openly and secretly favored me, not wanting me to be imprisoned. Those who know said that I was innocent, but what about those who don't know?"
Man Changshan kept his eyes calm and said nothing.
Xie Shiguan then continued, "Those who don't know may think that I am a perverse and evil traitor who has blinded the eyes of the saint, which is why he is so protective of me."
"He just thought I was doing this out of personal grudge and wanted to embarrass his maternal uncle. Just because Miao Zongping said one thing, he wanted to cut off my arm to pay it back. How ridiculous, Changshan."
Man Changshan raised his head to look at him, and saw that His Royal Highness Prince Yan was smiling, but his eyes were cold.
This reminded him of the year when his ancestor emperor passed away. A decree was issued, requiring hundreds of concubines in the harem to be buried with him. The leader was Xie Ling's biological mother, Concubine Liu, who was considered to be virtuous.
Taifu Man was nine years older than Xie Ling. He was only seventeen that year and entered the palace to be the prince's companion. Prince Yan was smart and talented since childhood, and he had a good impression of this smart and handsome little prince.
That day, he heard the crying of a young child and hid from the palace servants to break into the little prince's residence. Only then did he see the child who was desperately trying to scratch the door and had scratched his five fingers until they were bleeding.
The child saw him and walked towards him quietly.
Then she fiercely pulled the orchid embroidery on his chest, and blood smeared his front. Man Changshan lowered his eyes and saw that the child's eyes were filled with tears, hatred and resentment, and indescribable beauty, mixed with extreme and vicious resentment, like an evil ghost crawling out from the ground.
“Why?”
"My mother, what did she do wrong?" He shouted at the top of his lungs, "What did she do wrong!"
Since that day, Man Changshan never saw him cry again.
The lonely little prince has now grown up and will never lose control again. Even when he is extremely angry, his eyes are still crooked, but he is more creepy than the child with hatred in his eyes.
Miao Zongping kidnapped Shen Que for no reason and wanted to kill him, just like the palace servants dragged Concubine Zhaoxian Liu into the mausoleum alive. This idiot Miao Zongping stepped right into Prince Yan's minefield.
But today's Xie Ling is no longer the little prince who could only cry and shout "Why?"
Man Changshan knew that he was stubborn, so he took a sip of tea and said, "I have scolded him before, and he regretted it and gave in. Now is a time of trouble. How can it be justified for the emperor and his ministers to be angry and not attend court?"
Chen stood by with his head down, and couldn't help thinking that his casual remark of "I gave in" had cost a bloody life.
But to them, it must be just like casually breaking a willow tree or stepping on an ant to death, which is not a big deal.
Xie Shiguan smiled and said, "Troublesome times? I wish everyone in this world would die. Whether you are comfortable or not is none of my business."
"You," Man Changshan threw the teacup onto the table, the porcelain making a sharp sound, "do your job, Shiguan, you are the emperor's assistant, you can't mess around!"
Xie Shiguan looked at him coldly. Master Man was the dog of the Jun family, but he was a wolf of the wilderness.
Neither the emperor nor his ministers, nor Confucianism nor Taoism could bind him; neither could wealth, power or influence hold him back; he would not listen to advice, and could act as a loyal minister to protect the emperor, or as a traitor and a rebel; it all depended on his pleasure.
"I have been working hard for the young emperor for more than seven years. What does it matter if Miao Zongping lives?" Xie Shiguan said calmly, "You want to please your mother's family and want my loyalty. Where in the world can you have the best of both worlds?"
"Changshan," the prince raised his eyelids, his narrow and long phoenix eyes revealed a bit of ruthless indifference, "What an honor it is to be the emperor's assistant, but you want to constrain me to be his Xie family dog. If you want me to be loyal, Your Majesty will have to give up something."
"There is give and take," he said, half-smiled, "even children know this."
Man Changshan looked at his bright yet indifferent eyes and eyebrows, and his heart sank.
King Yan always viewed people in black and white, as simple as a child. As long as he recognized someone and considered him as one of his own, he would indulge and pamper that person even if he committed murder or committed unforgivable crimes.
But if what he doesn't like is saving the world and the people, and saving all living beings, then he deserves to die.
If one day, Xie Yizi was also classified by him as the "disliked" camp... Master Man didn't even dare to think about it.
The author has something to say:
I'd like to recommend this next post, "A Bloody Sister-in-law Literature" (I haven't thought of a good name yet, so I'm calling it this. It's a little bit earthy, and it's a story about two apricots giving birth to a child. The copy is as follows:
The next time I saw Yu Yan was at his brother's funeral. He was holding a black umbrella in one hand and stroking the black and white portrait on the tombstone with the other. A tear quietly slid down his fair face.
A distant cousin of the Chao family teased him: "You're so good, kid. Your brother is gone, and you're the only one left in the Chao family. You can have whatever you want in the future."
But he didn't know that Chao Yi didn't want anything at the moment and just wanted to lick away the tear from his sister-in-law's cheek.
Yu Yan is the rose he keeps in his heart.
In the previous life, Chao Yi fell in love with her as soon as they met, and was almost unable to extricate himself from this immoral relationship.
But he didn't know how deep the hatred Yu Yan had for him was. What he thought was love was just Yu Yan's deliberate seduction and trap.
In just three years, Yu Yan deceived him and brought him to the point of ruin and disgrace. He lost his power and everything he had.
What really pushed Chao Yi into the abyss of despair was a report he accidentally found in Yu Yan's bag, which clearly stated that Yu Yan was six weeks pregnant.
He took the report to Yu Yan, but Yu Yan just glanced at it and said calmly: "It was aborted."
It turns out that Yu Yan really doesn't love him.
Chao Yi was reborn. When he opened his eyes, he was back at his brother's funeral and saw again the noble young master who had haunted him and whom he hated so much.
His nominal sister-in-law.
Mixed with love and hate, Chao Yi wanted to strangle his delicate neck, but he couldn't bear to do so.
So he had no choice but to desire her like crazy, and he smashed the jeweled cufflinks his brother gave to Yu Yan, even though they meant a lot to Yu Yan.
Then, in front of his brother's spirit tablet, in the ancestral hall, in his brother and Yu Yan's former wedding room...
"Do you regret it?" he asked.
"This house is mine," he smiled, "and you are mine too, Yanyan."
Note:
1. It's really bloody (really, in the previous life, he was the victim and in the next life, he was the attacker, anyway, they are all very annoying.
2. Twins give birth to a child.
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