Emperor Yong'an relaxed and narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by fatigue.
He closed his eyes and let the past pass by like the wind.
Thirty years have passed. Thirty years ago, on a winter night like this, he made the mistake he regretted most in his life, and he had trouble sleeping and eating ever since.
The snow on the long street has long been cleared away, and the snow is piled under the roots of the red wall. Most of the lights in the palace have been extinguished. Only a few dim lights are still burning under the palace wall. The lights fall gracefully on the snowdrifts, and the snow light Dyeed with warm yellow, the red walls and green tiles, which are usually cold and cold, actually have a bit more warmth.
Han Changmu walked slowly down the long street. Two young chamberlains held lanterns in front of them to guide the way. From time to time, they turned back and whispered respectfully: "Master Han, be careful where you step."
Occasionally, a palace maid was walking through the long street with a lantern. When she saw Han Changmu, she was busy bowing and saluting, and taking a sneak peek.
As the most handsome young talent in the court, even if he only entered the palace a few times, Han Changmu's face was familiar to all the palace maids.
It's just that Young Ambassador Han is cold-faced and taciturn. Even if they want to get close, they don't know where to start.
Pretending to be weak and pretending to fall are all tactics that have been used badly by previous generations, and they seem to be of no use at all.
The maids came to the conclusion that this young envoy Han was a piece of wood who did not know how to show mercy to women.
Han Changmu walked out of the palace without looking sideways. Wang Yansheng, the young eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, led the young chamberlains and was already waiting by the carriage at the entrance of the palace.
Seeing Han Changmu come out, Wang Yansheng came over with a smile: "Master Han, the saint has decreed that our family should accompany you to visit the new house."
Han Changmu nodded and said calmly: "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Wang."
Wang Yansheng shook the fly whisk and said with a smile: "I dare not say it's hard, Mr. Han, please get in the car."
At this time, the palace gate had been locked and the square gate was closed. The chamberlain sent Han Changmu back to his home with a sign, which saved him a lot of trouble.
Han Changmu boarded the carriage. The carriage was warm and the charcoal pot was burning brightly.
Qing Qian had heard the commotion a long time ago, but she didn't dare to show her head to see. When she saw Han Changmu getting into the car, she hurriedly poured a cup of hot water and held it over. She said with a gentle smile: "Sir, drink some hot water to warm yourself up first." ."
Han Changmu took it and drank it down in one gulp. He took Qing Qian's hand and put it in his hand to warm it: "You're in a hurry, are you cold?"
As soon as they arrived in Chang'an City, the carriage of the Internal Security Department picked up Han Changmu and Qing Qian. As for Yao Yao, the prickly head, he just greeted him perfunctorily and returned to Jingzhao Mansion.
He changed his clothes in the car, washed hastily, and then rushed outside the palace. He handed the sign to the palace and asked Qing Qian to wait for him in the carriage.
Her current status is embarrassing. She is neither a concubine nor a maid, and is not suitable to appear in the Internal Security Department. But now that the saint has rewarded her with a house, she just moved there together to avoid being falsely accused.
Yongchangfang is very close to the palace gate. After passing Yanxi Gate, it will not be long before you reach the gate of Yongchangfang.
Wang Yansheng walked beside the car. The cold wind almost blew through him. He did not shiver at all. He said respectfully: "Master Han, the house given by the saint is in the northwest corner of Yongchangfang. This house was not confiscated. It is the private property of the saint, and all the house deeds and title deeds have been handed over, and now this house is yours."
Han Changmu quickly saluted in the direction of Miyagi: "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."
Yongchangfang is considered a big place, but the houses in the place are very large, and only a few families live in it. The house given to Han Changmu is said to have four entrances, but it is much larger than the ordinary four entrances. But it is also the smallest mansion in this place.
But no matter how young they are, no one dares to underestimate the people living in this house. After all, they are personally gifted by the saint and are blessed by the emperor.
Qing Qian listened to these words silently, her heart beating wildly. She never dreamed that she would enter the capital and live in a house awarded by a saint. Whether she was a maid or a concubine, this was all Out of the sea of suffering.
The carriage was swaying and not moving very fast. After entering the square gate, it traveled for about two sticks of incense and then stopped.
Wang Yansheng bowed beside the car and said, "Mr. Han, we're here, please get out of the car."
Han Changmu responded, got out of the car, and reached out to help Qing Qian down again.
Wang Yansheng was stunned. When he was waiting for Han Changmu at the gate of the palace, he had no idea that there was another person in the car. He looked up and saw that the girl had a peach-like face and a graceful figure. She was a beauty, and he smiled lowly as usual.
It is difficult for a hero to be a beauty, and Young Ambassador Han is not immune to this.
The plaque of this house has been changed. The plaque inherits the martial arts style of Prince Han's Palace. On the black background are two rough words: "Han Palace"
Two rows of neatly dressed men and women stood on both sides of the palace gate. One row was all maids in pink clothes, and the other row was all young slaves in green clothes. They all had low eyebrows and did not dare to make a sound.
They stood in the cold night for a long time, and their bodies were covered with a thin layer of frost.
Han Changmu took one look at this outfit and shook his head slightly.
The aesthetics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are really getting worse every year.
Wang Yansheng introduced to Han Changmu: "Master Han first arrived in the capital, and there were not enough people to serve him. This is the sage's order. The twenty maids and twenty boys are not allocated from the palace. They are all I bought it from Ren Yazi, and the rules have been adjusted, so Master Han can use it with confidence."
He waved his hand, and the little chamberlain behind him brought a brocade box over. He continued: "This is their body contract."
Seeing this, Qing Qian hurriedly took it.
Han Changmu nodded and thanked him again.
He was very surprised by the current situation. Not long after he entered the capital, the saint offered to give him a mansion. He originally thought that he would choose one of the palaces of courtiers who had committed crimes and had them confiscated. Unexpectedly, the saint gave him a mansion. He allocated a portion of his private property to him.
What he didn't expect was that the saint was so careful. In order to avoid suspicion, even the people who served him were bought from Ren Yazi.
He secretly rejoiced that he had been prudent just now and did not make a rash judgment on the outcome of the Tubo prince, which caused the saint to suspect that sooner or later he would choose sides among the Dajing princes.
After all, the Han Palace and the King of Han are related by blood, so people will naturally think that the Han Palace loves the Han King.
Wang Yansheng led Han Changmu to the house. It was winter now, and plum blossoms of various colors were planted in the yard. They were in full bloom and had a fragrant fragrance.
The lights everywhere were turned on, making the surrounding area as bright as day, which made it easy for Han Changmu to carefully inspect the house.
Wang Yansheng carefully introduced the layout of the house to Han Changmu. He was responsible for the renovation of this house. He knew very well where the front hall was built, where the flower hall was built, and where the main and side rooms were. Also extremely detailed.
As he spoke, he sighed: "The sage is very concerned about Mr. Han's house. The sage has personally seen the drawings for the repairs and revised them many times before finalizing them." He led Han Changmu to look at the scenery in the courtyard one by one. He pointed out a few Taihu stones in particular, and said with a complimentary smile: "Master Han, these Taihu stones were all selected by the saint himself."
After taking a rough look at the courtyard as they entered, Wang Yansheng led Han Changmu to the warehouse to inspect the many rewards that the saint had already ordered to be sent in.
These rewards simply made Han Changmu stunned. From cloth to porcelain, from furniture to furnishings, from the four treasures of the study to rare ancient books, they were all covered in detail, and every piece was of high quality.
Wang Yansheng had someone register and hand it over to Han Changmu for future inspection.
Han Changmu thanked him again. The extent to which this saint cared about him was indeed beyond his expectation.
To be honest, he is not close to the saint. His mother and the saint have the same great-grandfather, and the saint's empress, Xie Mengxia's biological mother, is his aunt. In addition, he has followed him since childhood. My parents guarded Jiannan Road, and the number of times they met in person was very few.
He knew very well that when he went to Beijing this time, the good news was that he would be transferred to the Department of Internal Health. The bad news was that he came to Beijing as a hostage to dispel the saint's suspicion.
He really couldn't figure out how this weak and almost negligible bloodline could offset the saint's fear of Prince Han's palace, which held a heavy army, and thus develop such a deep concern for him.
After everything was sorted out, it was already the fourth day. Wang Yansheng was also very tired. He bowed and said: "Master Han, since everything here has been sorted out, we will leave first and return to the palace to resume our duties."
Han Changmu hurriedly handed over the bag and smiled politely: "Thank you for your hard work, my father-in-law has gone away. There are many things in the house now. I will definitely invite my father-in-law to come and have a drink in the future."
Wang Yansheng collected the bag unceremoniously. He had to take this benefit when running errands in the middle of the night. His smile became more gentle and sincere: "What you said, Master Han, the holy family is strong, and I will be indispensable in the future." I need you to take care of me. By the way, the saint also said that Master Han has been working hard for many days, so he can take a day off today and there is no need to go to court."
Han Changmu thanked him again and sent Wang Yansheng and his party away. Then he ordered people to close the door of the mansion and began to arrange everyone's errands.
He was destined to have no sleep tonight, but fortunately he had a day off. He didn't have to go to court or go to the government office. After arranging things in the house, he could sleep well all day.
Twenty servants stood in the front hall, heads lowered, looking at their noses and hearts, but no one spoke first.
To put it bluntly, these people were all bought from Ren Yazi, and they were not like those who came from Yeting and were managed by someone in charge.
Han Changmu sat upright, glanced at everyone, and flipped through the roster left by Wang Yansheng.
The information on each person on the roster was written in detail, including their place of origin, name, age, how much money they spent to buy it, why they were sold into slavery, who else was in their family, and where they worked as errands. All were recorded one by one.
Although these people were from different places of origin and were both male and female, they were all around thirteen or fourteen years old. They were all sold into slavery for the first time and had never worked as servants in other mansions before.
Han Changmu raised his eyebrows. It was really difficult for the chamberlain to save himself. It was indeed difficult to find so many people with such innocent backgrounds.
