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Chapter 23 Drunken Fragrance

On February [-]nd, the dragon raises its head, and on March [-]rd, Xuanyuan is born.

In March, when the seasons change, the yin qi has not faded away, but the yang qi is about to break out. People are most likely to get sick when the yin and yang are intermingling, and they need to be washed with water.In the early morning of the third day of junior high school, when the spring is beautiful, all men, women and children, old and young, go to the water's edge to wash and remove dirt and eliminate bad luck. This is called "祓禊".

The sound of silk and bamboo resounded throughout the Jiankang Imperial Palace, which used to be the old capital of Wu State, and it became the Chen family's in a blink of an eye.

In the imperial pool, smoked orchid soup, smoky, very pleasant.Chen Huai leaned his head against the edge of the pool, let out a long breath, and closed his eyes comfortably.

Worship, fast, and bathe.This is a specific procedure. Chen Huai's fasting period is over, soaking in the orchid soup, opening his long and narrow eyes, turning around and putting his hands on the edge of the imperial pool, resting his chin on his hands, looking through the fluttering curtains, a black shadow Stand outside the door.

The servants who served were all driven away by Chen Huai, Wang Hong leaned on the pillar with his back to the door, watching the dawn in the sky, and sighed.

"Shao, come in and help me get dressed." The emperor walked out of Lan Tang with a silly smile, tilted his head and asked with a hint of amusement, "Prime Minister?"

Wang Hong froze for a while, then turned around, opened the door, took a step forward, and slowly kowtowed to the ground.

The emperor looked at his cautious appearance with a smile, hated and pleased at the same time, and said, "I'm about to catch a cold."

"Here." Wang Hong got up, walked forward quickly with his neck bowed, consciously stopped at a distance, and fell to the ground again, his eyes did not dare to look at the part above the emperor's feet, and he turned his head away immediately when he was supported by the emperor He took the court clothes, put on the middle clothes indiscriminately, took them off and put them on again.

Wang Hong is a person who respects etiquette, and those damned monarchs and ministers always push Wang Hong far away, but the emperor recently discovered that as long as it is not related to national affairs, some unreasonable demands can only be asked three times by himself. Wang Hong didn't dare to refuse any more.

"When I was in Langya, I ran to find you. You didn't tell the adults that the son is coming, but you secretly took me to the ear room. You taught me my calligraphy, remember?" Ribbon, "You like to hang out with the servants, so take me to punish them and watch them embarrass themselves. Shao..." Chen Huai took a step forward, and while pushing Wang Hong down, he covered his head with his hands, and the court clothes he finally put on were all gone. Loose, resting on shoulders.

Chen Huai's eyes were filled with water, and he buried his head on Wang Hong's shoulder and sobbed: "Just today... don't push me away because of the differences between monarchs and ministers, okay? You help me win people's hearts and stabilize the throne. After today, I will be the real one." The emperor is now, I will definitely be a good emperor and give you a peaceful and prosperous life in Heqing and Haiyan."

After the death of Emperor Min, many people who claimed to be princes rushed to become emperor, and in the end it was Langya King Chen Huai who won.The Seven Kings rebelled as soon as they had military power. Wang Hong had long seen that the Central Plains had suffered so much that it could no longer be used as a base for development, and the Jiangzuo area was far away from the disaster. He rescued Emperor Min, won the position of General Jiandong and a large area of ​​land in the south, and managed him to fight to the death in the Central Plains.

The reputation of the Langya Wang clan among the gentry plummeted because of Taiwei Wang Fu's defeat in the battle. Wang Hong was not surprised when he received the news of the defeat in Jiankang. The gentry, and for the "wild species" emperor, wooed the gentry to consolidate the throne.Wang Hong is capable and favored, and the Langya Wang family is reborn from the ashes. The only Yingchuan Yu family who can contend with it is nothing to be afraid of falling into Pingyang after the disaster of Anxi, and the Wang family has once again become the leader of Shilin.

Wang Hong had to wave the banner of the royal family of King Langya to establish orthodoxy, while the "wild species" emperor could only rely on the reputation of the Wang family in Shilin to keep the emperor's dignity, so the two depended on each other and shared half of the country.

Wang Hong stroked his hair, the scent of orchid grass made his bones almost crisp.Wang Hong held him in his arms, even if his shoulder was bitten and bleeding, he remained silent.

Gu Siquan has been waiting in front of the palace gate for a long time. Today, on the Shangsi Festival, the emperor will go out of the palace to watch the sacrifices to the suburbs and participate in the people's sacrifices. These are the activities of the people on the Shangsi Festival. Don't care about wine.

Gu Siquan stood dignifiedly and waited for a long time. From a distance, he could see the dragon chariot surrounded by the emperor's canopy and palm fans. The dragon chariot was surrounded by gentry and high-ranking officials riding tall horses, surrounded by the emperor like stars holding the moon.

Before the people arrived, Gu Siquan quickly prostrated himself on the ground, and the emperor's team slowly came out from the palace gate.

Six horses pulled the chariot carved with dragon and phoenix patterns and inlaid with gold, silver, jade, precious stones and pearls. Wang Hong supported the high-ranking emperor down from the chariot. After hanging his crown, he looked at Gu Siquan with frowning eyes, and was reluctantly accepted by Wang Hong. Hong led him to Gu Siquan and helped him up.

Chen Huai said lightly: "Gu Qing has worked hard."

Gu Siquan lowered his head all the time, and said in a panic: "I dare not, I am willing to die for Your Majesty."

"Where is Gu Qing talking?" Chen Huai was amused, and followed the path Wang Hong envisioned, saying, "I still rely on you to sit in Taicheng and discuss the Tao."

Gu Siquan: "Your Majesty, there is no need to be like this. Is it possible that the whole world is the land of the king, and the king regards the world as his home. Why should he care about the words of vulgar people?"

The two said a few more polite words, Chen Huai's patience had reached its limit, he asked Gu Siquan to join their team and then got on the dragon chariot, watching Wang Hong greet Gu Siquan with a blank expression, chatting and laughing.

A group of people continued on the road surrounded by dragon chariots, left the imperial palace, set foot on Jinma Street, the central axis of Taicheng City, passed the Yamen Office, and came out of Taicheng City from Xuanyangmen. The official mansion is located in an orderly manner, and the emperor's motorcade is marching forward.

The people in Yanshi walked in groups of three, four or five in spring clothes, holding bluegrass in their hands, flirting and flirting all the way to the Qinhuai River.

As soon as Long Nian arrived in Yanshi, there were several rows of people kneeling on the left side of Jinma Street. They were all wealthy people in fine clothes. Chen Huai recognized some people from famous families among them. The Zuo family all watched the wind and steered the rudder to come to worship.

It didn't matter if General Jiandong first arrived and no one visited him for a whole month, but when he became emperor later, those people didn't pay much attention to the emperor who lived in Jiangzuo. They rushed to show their faces.

Those who fell on the ground all said in unison: "The grass people kowtow to His Majesty, long live."

The voice is full of convincing.

Chen Huai looked at Wang Hong who was closest to him, the corners of his mouth raised as if he was proud of himself, planning everything with his own hands, and everyone bowed down.Everyone has chosen a path for their future and is gearing up, only Chen Huai is still at a loss.

Time stood still for a long time, and Cen Li didn't know why Wang Bing escaped Liu Pi's clutches and came behind him.

"You go." Wang Bing put his hands on Cen Li's shoulders, "They won't..."

Cen Li wiped away the tears all over his face indiscriminately, got up and pulled Wang Bing to protect him behind his back, his hand was still hot, and it was covered with the blood of Tu Ya.

Wang Bing felt worried when he saw his eyes, Cen Li pulled out the sword that pierced Tu Ya's left chest, Wang Bing immediately stopped him and shouted: "You can't kill him!"

Cen Li was like a crazy wild horse eager to go up and tear up Lin Yi. Wang Bing stood in front of the fallen Lin Yi. Cen Li pushed him away, and he ran over again. Pointing at Wang Bing with a scimitar, he said angrily, "Go away! Otherwise, I'll kill you too!"

"Then you kill." Wang Bing held the knife with both hands, and guided Cen Lixiang to his heart. The sword pierced Wang Bing's clothes and stopped.

Liu Pi spat out blood, and with the support of his subordinates, he managed to stand still. Seeing the timing was just right, he picked up the sword on the ground and slashed at the back of Cen Li's defenseless neck.

The pain of bereavement had completely burned Cen Li's mind, and there was a dull pain in the back of his head, and all his strength was drained in an instant. When the sword fell to the ground, Wang Bing stepped forward to hug him, but Wang Bing himself was also injured. Not lightly, to be crushed to the ground by Cen Li.

Liu Pi knocked Cen Li unconscious with the back of his sword, put the sword back into its sheath, and looked at Wang Bing with a cold face.

Wang Bing carefully rolled over the limp Cen Li, carefully inspected the back of his neck, sighed, stood up and looked at Liu Pi: "Let him go, otherwise the edict will be published, and your Majesty will be cast aside by all people."

Judging from Liu Pi's performance, he didn't know that Cen Li was the prince of the Huns, and Wang Bing didn't know what happened to Lin Yi and Cen Li, except that Cen Li was imprisoned.Taking advantage of this, Wang Bing started thinking about countermeasures after Tu Ya died, and while Cen Li was in great grief, he discussed with Liu Pi: "If you think torture can force you to find out the whereabouts of the imperial edict, you can try it. He is just an unknown person, letting him go will not hinder the general's mission. Yuan Pinghou is not dead yet, I will bear the crime of hurting Yuan Pinghou. As long as he is safe, I will present the edict unscathed Give it to the general, and then the general can dispose of me as he pleases."

Liu Pi was silent for a long time, and his abacus was crackling in his heart: "If Yuan Pinghou dies, nothing will be discussed. Afterwards, you follow me to Jiankang, and the prime minister wants to see you."

This is to hand myself over to the emperor. Wang Bing no longer pins his hopes on his second uncle Wang Hong. The emperor sent Liu Pi to represent the emperor's unwillingness to back down. Once he arrives in Jiankang, he will undoubtedly die.

Wang Bing glanced at the unconscious Cen Li, and said, "I'll go with you."

Liu Pi asked his subordinates to contain the corpse, and Lin Yi was still hanging on his back while being carried on his back. Someone immediately went up to help him treat the wound, and someone pulled the cart and pushed Wang Bing up. Xiao Liu hit his head and passed out when the carriage overturned. After the illness was over, it was okay, so he was tied firmly to the ground and pushed onto the cart. All the goods on the cart were emptied, and it was covered with bandit blood. Four people followed him into the cart and stared at him.

Cen Li and Tu Ya who were lying on the ground were ignored, when suddenly someone went up to move Tu Ya's body, Wang Bing struggled and shouted at them: "Don't touch him! What are you doing!"

Liu Pi signaled those people to continue, walked to the side of Wang Bing's car and said, "He has slandered Yuan Pinghou, and His Majesty will not let it go without taking him."

Wang Bing: "I said it was me..." He didn't even dare to think about what would happen if Cen Li woke up and couldn't see Tu Ya's body.

Liu Pi interrupted him and said, "When Yuan Ping woke up, you still wanted to say that you stabbed him?"

Wang's illness was really urgent, and he kept struggling to go up and snatch Tu Ya's body back, his wrists were worn off by the thick rope and he didn't give up: "You killed all the bandits on the road just now, they can..."

"The mere bandits hurt Yuan Pinghou, Mr. Wang, stop joking." After Liu Pi finished speaking, he gave the four of them a look. The back of Wang's neck hurt, and his consciousness gradually disappeared.

Closing his eyes for the last moment, Wang Bing looked at Cen Li lying there alone, thinking that if he was saved like this, he might as well die together.

He knows too well the feeling of being helpless to witness the death of the one he loves in front of him, but before he dies, the one he loves still selfishly and mercilessly begs you to let you live, thinking that it is good for others, but often hurts the most. .

Liu Pi got on his horse, went back to Shanyin to send Lin Yi back to Lin's mansion, and then led the convoy northward, all the way to Jiankang.