Looking at the Sword by Lamplight (18)
The morning operas in the brothels and theaters had ceased after a night of singing. The building was completely silent. Two or three servants brought a light breakfast to the table and quietly withdrew. Bian Hongqiu naturally sat down next to Meng Shizhuang, watched him pick out all the shredded ginger from the bowl, and handed him a clean spoon.
Meng Shizhuang was in a melancholy mood. She ignored Bian Hongqiu's advances and just ate her meal.
Bian Hongqiu gently gripped the spoon in his hand. He'd clearly sensed a softening in Ah Shi's attitude when he'd been nagging Meng Shizhuang before going downstairs. What had Ah Shi been thinking about during those few steps? What was he worried about? After all, it had come to this point—he'd already put on his skirt and called her "husband." If it hadn't been for Meng Shizhuang's serious attitude last night, he probably wouldn't have gotten into bed with her.
Do you still care about such a cold expression?
So he ignored Meng Shizhuang's indifference and pushed a plate of vegetables over to her: "Ah Shi, try this."
Then he told Hengbo to sit down as well, pushed the egg custard she liked over to him, and then asked, "How many people can we deploy in the city?"
Hengbo held the bowl and said, "There are still more than thirty people left who can act."
She had gone out before to calculate how many people they had left in Chunxiangzhou after a night of turmoil.
"Mrs. Li wouldn't do anything without a purpose. Since she said she wants to pay a visit in such a short time, it must be a big deal. Except for these thirty-something people, let the rest who can't participate in the operation withdraw from Chunxiangzhou first. If they really can't cover up their tracks, just let them go." Bian Hongqiu finished the porridge in a few mouthfuls, took out a silk handkerchief embroidered with magnolia flowers, and handed it to Meng Shizhuang with perseverance.
Meng Shizhuang didn't want to take it at first, but turned to look at him, dressed as a woman. The fresh fragrance of the handkerchief stood out among the smell of food. An idea struck him, and he swiftly pulled it from Bian Hongqiu's hand. After using it, he folded it neatly. "The flowers on this handkerchief are very delicately embroidered. I like girls with good embroidery. I wonder which girl in Prince Liang's mansion embroidered this handkerchief?"
His eyes drooped slightly, his gaze almost filled with direct provocation, but his tone was very serious.
Unexpectedly, after a moment of stunned silence, Bian Hongqiu actually revealed a complacent expression.
Meng Shizhuang: “…”
Wait, this won't...
Bian Hongqiu smiled. "I embroidered it. I can also embroider purses. What kind do you like? I'll embroider one for you."
Meng Shizhuang knocked himself unconscious with a stupid move. He said expressionlessly, "I never knew that His Highness Prince Liang also wanted to learn how to embroider purses."
Bian Hongqiu casually made up a story: "The Liang Wang Mansion is a wealthy and powerful family. You know, it's actually more difficult for a family like mine to accept a son-in-law. If he's too high-ranking, it will hurt his pride. In addition to money and power, he should also learn some skills such as embroidery and cooking that can enhance the relationship between husband and wife."
Meng Shizhuang: "If it hurts your self-esteem, don't marry into the family."
Hengbo watched them chatting over a handkerchief, munching on a sesame cake while watching intently, thinking of taking note and retelling it to Song Jingyan when she got back. She was secretly amazed. She didn't expect that her prince had returned from the disaster in Xiliuhai and learned eighteen skills just to be able to accurately guess what his beloved liked in one of them?
Will the ability to talk nonsense improve along with other skills?
Bian Hongqiu looked at Meng Shizhuang as if no one was around, nodding repeatedly, "Yes, yes—but there are many men in this world, but not many good men. Not to mention good men, even normal men who don't have any virtuous deeds are just trying to find gold in the sea, relying on their daughters to force them to marry. In short, you're not good, and I'm not good either. Anyway, there's someone who's lucky enough to eat up the whole family."
"So, when I meet a good guy, of course I have to seize the opportunity."
Meng Shizhuang was almost confused by him and nodded halfway before she realized, "...you don't need to marry into the family now."
Bian Hongqiu shook the tassels on her head at Meng Shizhuang and suddenly realized, "I forgot."
Meng Shizhuang was speechless. He glared at Bian Hongqiu, turned around and went upstairs. The soft silk handkerchief could not be folded into a shape, and a small corner of it slowly slipped out of his sleeve.
Bian Hongqiu didn't bother to return to his room. Instead, he ascended to the second floor of the theater, a terrace set aside for viewing the view. Few people dared to wander the streets of Chunxiangzhou, but the palaces were bustling with activity. Officials and soldiers alike hurried to and fro, the clatter of iron swords against heavy armor echoing far and wide.
The sky in Chunxiangzhou is clear, but the whole city is filled with the heaviness of impending storm.
Counting the days, their actions in the western border will soon be reported to the capital.
—
Capital city.
Compared with the Eighteen Continents of Zuo Dan, which are in a state of panic, the capital city is more than just a place of peace and prosperity.
Although the treasury still jingled, and Emperor Xue himself remained a pauper, even less wealthy than the lesser-known merchants, the common people were already quite wealthy. The best businesses here were those in brothels and brothels, and the biggest worry for the young men and women was why the chrysanthemums didn't bloom in the spring.
——When the fathers recalled the countless dark nights when their children were still in their cradles and the whole family hid in the Forty-Nine Immortal Palaces, it seemed like a past life.
After the Taiji Hall, the remains of the Forty-nine Immortal Palaces were gradually cleared up within ten years.
A minister petitioned Emperor Xue to rebuild the palace, but with wars raging in the four regions of Dayu, and the echoes of Emperor Ling's exhaustive spending of the people's resources on the construction of the Forty-Nine Immortal Palaces still resonating, Emperor Xue kept the petition to himself. He hadn't appeared at the Grand Court for a long time, and the Crown Prince Regent had been temporarily handling many affairs for several years.
At today's court meeting, Crown Prince Bian Chen harshly punished several officials from his mother's clan, the Cai clan, starting with General Cai Zhao, who was assigned to patrol the western border. The most serious punishment was exile three thousand miles southwest. It's said that his mother had been crying and pleading for mercy in the Eastern Palace for several days, but the Crown Prince had sent her away without mercy.
Every discerning court official knew that His Majesty had been ill recently. The Crown Prince, a benevolent and filial son, refused to delegate care to others, and the court was also busy with affairs. Adding to the burden, the Cai family had fallen into the crossfire. With this in mind, the officials, after leaving court, returned home to discipline their children, forbidding them from singing and dancing for the time being.
In the emperor's bedroom, His Majesty Emperor Xue, who had not been seen in public for a long time, was leaning on a soft pillow, listening to Jiang Zhongyi reading to him a popular storybook in the capital.
His health was indeed at its twilight years. Seven years ago, he refused to rest from court, and he fainted during the last court meeting, shocking everyone. It was Puyang Ci who reassured him, saying that the Crown Prince was young and inexperienced, and Zuo Dan's Eighteen Continents had yet to regain control. As long as he was still alive, he would be the backbone of Dayu. But if he died, the court would be thrown into chaos again.
Only then did Bian Zixue step down from the stage.
He was as thin as a skeleton, his hair a mass of white. Every breath he took felt like the bones in his body vibrating, so he dared not move a muscle. Jiang Zhongyi had, over the years, developed the skill of keeping his constant worry about him hidden. Thinking of his own Majesty's youthful vigor, he felt like crying just looking at him now, but he controlled his voice and told the story with vivid detail.
It was at this time that Crown Prince Bian Chen came in.
Fortunately, with the arrival of spring, the weather was getting warmer, allowing the emperor to frequently get some fresh air in his bedroom. Seeing that several windows in the palace had been slightly opened, he knew that Bian Zixue was no longer asleep, and his pace quickened.
Only when the prince, who was about to come of age, came to his side did Bian Zixue come back to his senses from Jiang Zhongyi's voice.
He slowly raised his hand, motioning Jiang Zhongyi to fetch what he wanted. The prince half-knelt before his couch, his eyes filled with admiration and joy. "Father, you seem to be in better spirits today. When the teacher returns from Zaoshan Academy, please allow me to dine with you."
The teacher Bian Chen mentioned was Puyang Ci. Bian Zixue had been ill for decades, and Bian Chen was still a young man growing up. His diet was light and simple, and he couldn't eat meat, so he always sent Bian Chen back to the East Palace. This time, he refused, saying, "Your birthday is coming soon, and I'm always drowsy now. I'm afraid I'll sleep through it like last year. I'll give it to you early today."
Jiang Zhongyi came with the birthday gift he wanted to give to Bian Chen.
Bian Zixue was an emperor who shunned extravagance—perhaps since his accession to the throne, he hadn't had the opportunity to do so. The Emperor's bedroom was a specially renovated side hall behind the Taiji Hall. Looking around, there wasn't a single valuable treasure. Even in the Imperial Study, used for receiving court officials, the golden dragon sculpture from the former Forty-Nine Celestial Palaces' Lingdi Palace was removed and replaced.
Therefore, when Jiang Zhongyi showed the Hundred Pearls Crown and the Embroidered Picture of Mountains and Rivers, the bedroom actually became a little brighter.
Bian Chen had seen these two treasures before.
It is no exaggeration to say that these are probably the only two items in his father's private treasury.
Bian Zixue was exhausted and had a long speech to say, so he asked Bian Chen to pick him up.
The young and energetic prince held his father, the emperor, who was much younger than his biological father, in his arms, thinking that he was holding a weightless nightgown. He felt bitter in his heart, and when he thought about his own fault of nepotism and the insolence of his mother's family, he felt extremely ashamed.
Jiang Zhongyi and the servants in the palace left, and the room was filled with only the bitter smell of medicine.
Bian Zixue extended his bony fingers and gently placed them on the Hundred Pearls Crown. A thumb-sized pearl on the crown's crown pressed against the gold thread, trembling slowly. "You should all be familiar with these two treasures. They're called treasures, but in terms of gold and silver, they're probably not as valuable as a jade pillar from the Forty-Nine Immortal Palaces."
Bian Chen replied softly, "This is a gift of gratitude from the people to my father. It is a priceless treasure."
Bian Zixue: "This hundred-pearl crown was donated by the people of Hunzhou in the Ming Dynasty. In fact, there are only seventy-eight pearls. Look here..."
He motioned for Bian Chen to turn the Hundred Pearls Crown around and pointed to a hollowed-out round support on the back of the crown. It was empty, yet not out of place, and one couldn't tell at first glance that a pearl had once been there. "There should have been a pearl here, as big as the one on the crown, but Xi Zhongting snatched it away. Chen...the picture of the people he painted was of the then-prefect's daughter, a girl named Lan Ye. It was she who dived into the depths of the Xiliu Sea to retrieve this pearl. He heard that pearls from Minghunzhou were the most important tokens of marriage, and he insisted that the pearl wouldn't look good in that place, so he had the audacity to steal it."
Bian Chen couldn't help but laugh, and he could hear the teasing in his father's words.
Then, Bian Zixue changed the subject: "After he returned to the capital, he told the old marquis that Miss Chen had forced the pearl on him, and he had accepted it reluctantly, so he had to propose marriage. The old marquis had been eager for him to get married for a long time, and he quickly gathered most of the marquisate's betrothal gifts and sent him to Minghunzhou. But it happened that the previous emperor passed away, and the King of Jingxi rebelled again. I sent him a message before going alone to Licheng to negotiate."
"I heard from his followers that he has already arrived at the gate of Minghunzhou. But he turned around and left because of a letter I sent him."
Bian Chen's cheerfulness just now disappeared without a trace. He recalled that a few years ago, Xi Zhongting returned to Beijing with a great victory in recovering Ming Hunzhou. His father privately summoned him to the imperial study and told him that he had persuaded the old marquis who refused to agree to the reinstatement because of the "life-buying fortune". He wanted to personally arrange the wedding for this companion and friend who had devoted all his life to him since his youth.
But the owner of the pearl he stole died in Hunzhou in the Ming Dynasty.
The people of Minghunzhou who had gathered together to create this hundred-pearl crown included officials from the prefecture, peddlers, and scholars who had heard that the prince had come in person to help the prefect eliminate the money he had used to buy his life... In short, all the people that Bian Zixue had met in Minghunzhou at that time had died in the catastrophe that had plagued Dayu over the past few years. The people of Minghunzhou today were saved by Chen Lanye with all his efforts and efforts.
Bian Chen whispered, "I know that although Master Chen's actions were for the benefit of the people of Minghunzhou, they involved too many innocent lives. The court cannot publicly grant her a posthumous title. Her mother died when the King of Jingxi first entered Minghunzhou, so she has nothing to do with the 'life-buying scheme.' I will posthumously confer a title on her."
Bian Zixue shook his head: "I feel guilty."
"The people of Ming Hunzhou presented them with a hundred-pearl crown, saying, 'May Your Majesty and the Crown Prince live forever, and that Dayu will prosper. The Crown is a great achievement.' But once I returned to the capital with this crown, I broke my promise to them that there would be no more 'life-saving money' in Ming Hunzhou and that the city gates would never be closed."
"And Xi Zhongting, he treated me with loyalty, but I also delayed him."
Bian Chen held his father's weak hand in his arms.
"The King of Jingxi held court officials hostage in Licheng, threatening that if your father brought someone or delayed entering the city by one day, he would behead the minister and hang his head on the city wall. After your father entered the city, he was chopped off with an axe, negotiated with the rebels, and drank several cups of poisoned wine before leaving Licheng with the court officials. Your father did not let anyone down." The young prince's eyes were red as he talked about this past event that he had heard from several old officials. He was so heartbroken that he almost cried.
Bian Zixue smiled with a dazed look in his eyes.
The King of Jingxi harbored unethical feelings for Concubine Hui and, in a treasonous move, demanded that Emperor Ling bestow upon him her remains, a move the Emperor refused. After Bian Zixue ascended the throne, he heeded Emperor Ling's advice, fearing that the King of Jingxi would tarnish Concubine Hui's posthumous reputation. He simply demolished Tongyunhai Palace and the Forty-Nine Immortal Palaces, ultimately enraging his uncle.
Emperor Ling was obsessed with wine and women, rarely attending court meetings. His days were spent welcoming any suffering women he saw into the palace and thinking about how to please them. He never managed government affairs properly and probably didn't even know how to get through the six ministries. But he was a very loving father.
Therefore, he felt ashamed of putting the future of Dayu on his only offspring. He didn't know where he got the courage and forbearance from, but secretly trained a team of secret guards that could fight against a hundred people at once.
When Bian Zixue entered Licheng, he used various methods to throw all of this secret guard into the city, and cooperated with him and Xi Zhongting who arrived late. At the poisoned wine banquet set up by King Jingxi, he always swallowed twenty-one cups of poisonous or non-toxic wine with a smile on his face to delay time, and finally saved this group of ministers who were almost beheaded.
He had no choice. He needed help.
This elite force was the last thing his father left him. All that remained was a debt to the people of the world.
Bian Zixue closed his eyes wearily, then opened them again after a moment to finish his words. "And this embroidered map of vast rivers and mountains, taken from every silk-producing plant and silkworm in the Eighteen Continents of Zuodan, was completed using the unique embroidery techniques of the Eighteen Continents. I promised that, in my lifetime, I would never allow the harsh taxes imposed before the completion of the 'Forty-Nine Immortal Palaces' to return. When I returned to Licheng to negotiate with the King of Jingxi, I readily surrendered the Eighteen Continents of Zuodan."
"Bao'er." Bian Zixue called the prince by his childhood nickname, "I can only leave these matters to you."
The prince choked up: "Father..."
Bian Zixue forced a smile. "Don't worry. I can't close my eyes until Xi Zhongting presents the triumphant news of Zuo Dan's Eighteen Continents' return to Dayu. I give you these two treasures and entrust you with the hopes of the world. I hope you will be different from me and not become a dishonest and useless emperor."
The prince shed silent tears.
Puyang Ci, having returned from Zaoshan Academy, waited quietly outside the screen until Bian Zi Xue ordered Bian Chen to take the two treasures away. Bian Chen came out, half-hearted, holding the imperial crown and the embroidered map. Seeing Puyang Ci, his eyes reddened again.
Puyang Ci raised his finger at him and followed him out of the hall quietly.
He didn't ask too many questions about the Crown Prince's bewildered and aggrieved look, as if he didn't know what Bian Zixue had just instructed him to do. He just smiled faintly and said, "I have also prepared a birthday gift for His Majesty. Your Majesty is bedridden, and I am afraid that Your Majesty will not be able to leave the palace for your birthday. I have sent it to the Eastern Palace. Your Majesty, please go back and see if you like it."
When the prince was facing his royal father and teacher, he was never as at ease and expressionless as he was outside. He looked at him and refused to leave.
Puyang Ci smiled and said, "If Your Majesty is in better spirits, I will definitely go. Your Majesty is still waiting for me to serve medicine, so I will take my leave first."
The prince had no choice but to leave.
After Puyang Ci saw him off, Jiang Zhongyi came from the side hall and said, "General Xi's secret letter has arrived."
Puyang Ci walked with him into the palace: "Your Majesty, have you seen it?"
"His Majesty said to wait for you to come back and see him, and he dared not force himself to be sick." Jiang Zhongyi laughed narrowly.
Puyang Ci took the letter from him, and the smile on his face gradually faded as he read. Jiang Zhongyi looked at his expression and bowed: "I will come again when it is time for Your Majesty to take the medicine."
In the bedroom, the wind and light remained unchanged. Bian Zixue lay on the couch with his eyes closed. He knew Puyang Ci had returned by the sound of footsteps. He controlled his slightly labored breathing, feeling Puyang Ci's movements as she lifted him up, combing his hair with a jade comb, and resting her fingertips on his forehead for a long time.
He listened to Puyang Ci and recalled the past: "I got this scar by smashing it."
Bian Zixue smiled with his eyes closed: "I forced you into the palace, but you only hit me once. You are still too soft-hearted."
Puyang said casually, "I'm playing hard to get. If I really hit you until your head is broken and bloody, wouldn't that be too much of a pretense?"
Bian Zixue grabbed his belt and asked, "What did Xi Zhongting say in the letter?"
Puyang Ci was silent for a moment. "Prince Liang is very dedicated. I'm afraid Fang and his son have forgotten why they went to the western border after the performance in the capital."
Bian Zixue was not surprised.
After ten years, given the dispute between the Fang and Wen families, there should have been news, but all that came were perfunctory words.
He leaned on Puyang Ci's arms for a long time, and suddenly asked: "Ah Ci, after so many years, am I still the same in your heart as before?"
Puyang Ci lowered her head and looked at his white hair. She knew exactly why he asked that. "If Your Majesty hadn't been so cruel to me back then, I would really feel sorry for these people now... Your Majesty, in my heart, has changed. I still like the ruthlessness you used to torture me in the palace."
Bian Zixue was almost falling asleep: "Yes, I have never been soft-hearted towards anyone."
—
"Your Majesty will not be soft-hearted towards the Fang family. It seems that if the Liang Palace makes a mistake, the fate he has arranged will befall the Fang family."
In the private room, Meng Shizhuang leaned against the window, carefully polishing her longsword. Hearing this, she raised an eyelid and glanced at Bian Hongqiu. Bian Hongqiu wasn't known for his extravagant and dissolute lifestyle. Last night, after finishing his fragrant tea, he asked Hengbo to go to the teahouse's warehouse and find a bag of fresh, still-fresh tea.
Li Yan just sniffed and inhaled a musty smell in his throat. He simply put down his teacup and got down to business.
After hearing what she said, Bian Hongqiu said this with an indescribable feeling in his heart.
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