Chapter 50: Walking on the Grass (I)
After hearing him say this, Ni Su knew that he really wanted it. Thinking of how calm and restrained he was, he couldn't help but reveal his feelings to her.
"If you miss him, go see him."
Ni Su supported herself on the bed with one hand and sat up, "Even if you don't say anything, even if he doesn't know you're back, it's good for you to look at him from a distance."
"I had already seen him on the day I came to Beijing with you."
On the bridge, it was indeed a distant glimpse.
"That's enough."
Xu Hexue smoothed out the wrinkles on the fabric above her knees, "I can miss him, but I can't let myself see him. I'm lucky to be called back to the world of the living by you. I shouldn't endure more."
If he wants too much, how will he give it up when he returns to Youdu one day?
A dead person should have fewer delusions.
"Why do you think so, Xu Ziling?"
Ni Su reached out to pull his sleeve, "But I think you can want more. You came back here to fulfill all the regrets of your youth."
Xu Hexue lowered his eyes and looked at her white and slender fingers, gently pulling the edge of his sleeve. He shook his head gently: "Teacher is not my regret."
"What is it then?"
Ni Su asked.
The melted snow gently tapped the dark tiles, and the light golden shadow cast from outside the lattice window softly enveloped the person in front of Ni Su, as if he was wrapped in a handful of clean frost and snow.
Ni Su heard him say: "What I am doing now is fulfilling my regret."
Was it Du Cong? Was it the account book? Or were they the anonymous high-ranking officials in the account book? Ni Su looked outside the curtain and saw an open book on the table by the window.
A "cooing" sound suddenly rang out.
Their eyes met, and Ni Su felt a little embarrassed.
"There's porridge cooking in the kitchen."
Xu Hexue understood her discomfort, he looked away, held onto the edge of the bed and slowly stood up, he turned around to leave, but he paused and looked back to see that her fingers that were holding onto his sleeve had not loosened yet.
Ni Su's hand seemed to be burned by the flame and he let go.
He lifted the curtain and went out. Ni Su wrapped herself back in the quilt, resting her cheek on the soft pillow, with her eyes lowered.
The man was clearly no longer in the room, but the wind from his clothes was still swaying under the curtains.
She thought to herself.
Ever since Xu Hexue woke Jiang Xianming up in the middle of the night, the old story has gradually spread in Yunjing City that when Emperor Zhengyuan first ascended the throne, the Hexi Jiedushi wanted to present the treasure of the ancient Western Region to the new emperor but lost it on the way. This was because the Chief Censor Jiang Xianming submitted a memorial to the emperor, bringing up the disappearance case in the first year of Zhengyuan, implying that the treasure was not looted by bandits, but embezzled by someone with ulterior motives.
This sounds really absurd. Which minister would be so bold as to embezzle money from his king and father?
But Jiang Xianming has always been known for his integrity and uprightness, and the fact that he provoked such an incident made many people skeptical.
The treasure of the ancient country in the Western Regions is a jade statue of a white horse stepping on a flying swallow. It is said to be five feet long and was made from a piece of white jade as big as a hill. It took many years to carve it meticulously. It is so lifelike that every detail is visible.
Its disappearance was the first unhappy thing that happened to Emperor Zhengyuan after he ascended the throne. Moreover, Emperor Zhengyuan was extremely sensitive to the word "money". Jiang Xianming's mention of the jade statue of white horse stepping on flying swallow was undoubtedly exactly what Emperor Zhengyuan wanted. Naturally, he would not miss the opportunity to investigate all officials and fill the national treasury.
"Look at what has happened in the past month. It's been a mess."
Today, Emperor Zhengyuan attended court for the first time. Pei Zhiyuan wore a cinnabar red official uniform and a long-winged hat. He walked down the white jade steps while holding up the hem of his clothes. "Mr. Meng, I think the officials in the court don't care about hating you as much as before. The one they hate the most now should be Censor Jiang."
Meng Yunxian laughed when he heard this. "They don't hate Censor Jiang just now. Chongzhi and I haven't been in Beijing for more than ten years. I'm afraid Censor Jiang has been hated for a long time. You know this best, don't you?"
"What do you mean? When you were not around, Mr. Meng, I have been taking advantage of the situation in the court for more than ten years. I don't care about many things." Pei Zhiyuan waved his hand.
Meng Yunxian raised his eyebrows, "Minxing is too modest, you are a very smart person."
"Hey, Lord Meng, you are embarrassing me!"
Pei Zhiyuan smiled helplessly, leaned over and kowtowed to Meng Yunxian to beg for mercy, then he raised his eyes inadvertently and saw a couple standing together in front of the vermilion palace gate in the distance on the left.
They did not stand at the palace gate for long. They just glanced over here from a distance, then turned around and left, surrounded by a group of eunuchs and palace maids.
Pei Zhiyuan stood up again, turned around and saw that the Hanlin scholar He Tong was supporting Zhang Jing, who was not using crutches, towards the other side of the Government Affairs Hall.
"Mr. Meng, tell me, is this really the letter that Mr. Zhang sent to Prince Jia? If so, why didn't he see Prince Jia after Prince Jia returned to Beijing?" Pei Zhiyuan was quite puzzled.
It was no accident that Prince Jia returned to the capital. This was something Meng Yunxian had planned long ago. It didn't matter whether the chief physician Nie Xiang, who was beaten to death by Emperor Zhengyuan at the beginning of the new year, was drunk and accidentally told the truth or he told the truth on purpose. What mattered was that Emperor Zhengyuan could no longer be immersed in the lies of the Imperial Medical Bureau.
He had to face the fact that he could no longer have children.
Only then would he realize that he actually had an adopted son, Prince Jia, who was adopted from his biological brother.
"If it wasn't Chongzhi, why would Prince Jia submit that letter of greeting?"
Meng Yunxian glanced at Zhang Jing's back as he was about to disappear at the palace gate. "Your Majesty was the crown prince until he was almost forty years old before he ascended the throne. He also had a stubborn headache and needed to take elixirs regularly to relieve the pain. At that time, there were still many loyal ministers in the court. Only one year after your Majesty ascended the throne, someone mentioned the issue of establishing a crown prince. But your Majesty had no son, so where would a crown prince come from? The court officials were in a turmoil and finally forced your Majesty to adopt Zhao Yi, the flesh and blood of your younger brother, Prince Gong, as your adopted son. But you only named him Prince Jia and did not establish a crown prince. This was considered to have shut up the court officials."
"That year, you submitted the "Cleaning the Channels" and were appointed as the Vice-Minister of State Affairs."
Pei Zhiyuan sighed.
"That's right," Meng Yunxian said as he walked forward, "Now that I think about it, the emperor must have hated the ministers who forced him to establish a crown prince, and Chongzhi was one of them."
Emperor Zhengyuan was very concerned about his new accession to the throne, and was forced to adopt a son due to advice. However, when Emperor Zhengyuan saw Meng Yunxian's "Qingqu Shu", he had already secretly been thinking about how to make these ministers of advice return the anger he had endured.
The art of ruling is profound.
As a result, Meng Yunxian and Zhang Jing both unknowingly became sharp swords in the hands of the emperor and father, which eventually led to the current situation where the imperial decree was as heavy as the sky and no one dared to disobey.
"Prince Jia was an adopted son forced upon the emperor by the remonstrance ministers. How could the emperor not have any grudges against Prince Jia? Prince Jia's childhood in the palace was already difficult, and then the late queen suddenly became pregnant and gave birth to Prince An. How could an adopted son compare to a biological child? Prince Jia's situation in the palace was naturally even more embarrassing. Even though Prince An died young due to bad luck, the deep discord between Prince Jia and the emperor could not be explained in a few words..."
Pei Zhiyuan continued with Meng Yunxian's words, "Prince Jia wanted to be as far away from Yunjing as possible, so how could he submit a letter of greeting at that time? The timing was too clever."
Even Pei Zhiyuan and Meng Yunxian were not sure they could persuade Prince Jia to return to Yunjing, and now was not a good time to persuade him. They wanted to take it step by step, but unexpectedly Prince Jia submitted a letter of greeting.
"So Chongzhi is the reason why Prince Jia returned to the capital."
Meng Yunxian said.
"Prince Jia just came back to see the teacher, but I don't know whether to be happy or sad..."
Pei Zhiyuan had a complicated expression.
It was a good thing that Prince Jia returned to Beijing, but now it seems that even if they are interested, Prince Jia is not interested.
"There's no rush for this, Minxing."
Meng Yunxian smiled and patted his shoulders twice. "Now I have another question for you. You are usually as slippery as a loach, so why are you standing on Jiang Xianming's side like Chongzhi today?"
"...What you said, isn't it that I am trying to please the emperor? Anyway, it was Censor Jiang who questioned all the officials at the Censorate and investigated the case of Jade White Horse Stepping on Flying Swallow, not me. I just saw that the situation was a little clearer, so I rushed to say some nice words."
Pei Zhiyuan leaned close to him and whispered, "There is an official in the Censorate who is indebted to you. I don't believe you didn't get the letter yesterday. Censor Jiang has been busy investigating for a month, and in the end, the jade statue of White Horse Stepping on Flying Swallow was found among the family property that Wu Dai had not had time to clear out and report after it was confiscated..."
Wu Dai is no longer the acting Grand Tutor, but a real commoner. His confiscated property is so huge that the officials in charge had not yet sorted it out during the New Year.
Meng Yunxian could not deny it, "Even so, didn't the government not sentence Wu Dai to death?"
After all, the emperor still remembered Wu Dai's kindness in sacrificing his life to save his master.
On the day when Horse Stepping on Flying Swallow was carried out of the Wu Mansion, Wu Dai looked dejected and slumped in a folding-back chair without saying a word. The officers and soldiers who had been guarding the Wu Mansion for the past few months quickly left with all the property recorded in the roster, leaving only an old servant in the huge mansion.
Jiang Xianming questioned Wu Dai as ordered, but he looked idiotic, his whole body in a trance, unable to answer anything. He was still dazed at this moment, just staring at the bright door, and soon he began to sob.
The old servant was decocting medicine in the back corridor while wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. He had no idea that two figures had walked into the main hall in a dignified manner.
"It does look like he has epilepsy."
As soon as Ni Su entered the room, she saw Wu Dai crying and laughing, he didn't even bother to wipe his tears and snot, and he was mumbling something. She walked forward, felt Wu Dai's pulse, and looked at him carefully. After a moment, she looked at Xu Hexue who was wearing a veil hat, "The kidney water is insufficient, the liver qi is stagnant and phlegm is turbid. If there is still blood stasis in the body, it is indeed possible to suffer from this disease. People with this disease will have a loss of memory, can't recognize relatives and friends, and can't distinguish right from wrong."
Xu Hexue looked at Wu Dai through his veil, and Wu Dai's white hair, which was not combed into a bun, was loose. He tilted his head and looked at Xu Hexue again and again.
"Come here."
Xu Hexue said to Ni Sudao.
Ni Su walked back to him, only to see him take three or two steps forward, with the sword unsheathed, the cold blade against Wu Dai's neck. Wu Dai seemed to be frightened by this extreme coldness and trembled all over, but he was so stupid that he didn't know how to dodge, and even reached out to Xu Hexue's veil.
Xu Hexue turned his wrist and pointed the sword directly at Wu Dai's eyes, frightening Wu Dai so much that his wrinkled face twisted. He cried and shouted with trembling dry lips, "Jikang, Jikang, my son..."
The tip of the sword was suspended half an inch away from Wu Dai's right eye.
Xu Hexue calmly watched every expression on Wu Dai's face. He lowered his eyes and saw a puddle of water under Wu Dai's dirty robe.
Xu Hexue sheathed his sword and turned around, only to see the girl with her face covered with an embroidered handkerchief standing with her back to him, covering her eyes tightly with her hands.
"Ah Xi."
Even though she knew that Wu Dai's epilepsy was most likely real, Xu Hexue remained cautious and did not mention her name in front of Wu Dai.
When Ni Su heard him suddenly calling her nickname, which was little known to many people, she was stunned for a moment. She didn't know why, but her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She actually felt that this clear voice made her nickname sound more beautiful.
"Are you... ready?"
But she didn't dare look back, for fear of seeing Wu Dai's eyes turn into bloody holes.
"Turn around."
"……I don't."
"Then let's go."
Walk?
Ni Su mustered up the courage to look back, only to see that Wu Dai's eyes were fine, but there was a puddle of water in front of him. Xu Hexue walked in front of her to block the filth, "It should be impossible to investigate from him."
" What should we do then?"
Ni Su looked up at him.
The lotus embroidered on the handkerchief was right next to her cheek, and every strand of it shone with a soft luster under the sunlight. Seeing that the wind was about to blow up the handkerchief, Xu Hexue immediately reached out and pinched the edge of the handkerchief to cover her face in time.
Ni Su paused, and looked up from his white knuckles, through the veil, to his eyes.
“Hahahahahaha…”
Wu Dai suddenly burst into laughter. Xu Hexue and Ni Su turned around almost at the same time and saw him clapping his hands while sitting on a chair. Then he looked at Ni Su and muttered, "Jikang, you should get married..."
He pointed at Xu Hexue who was wearing a veil and said, "There's a bride under the veil!"
Ni Su: “…”
