On the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, the court had stopped, but the third-rank court officials in the central government could still enter the palace to report affairs. Qi Lingzhan was the second-rank official who participated in political affairs and had the same position as deputy prime minister. Before New Year's Eve, he still came to the Zichen Palace to sit on duty every day.
The Kunming Palace where the Queen lived was constantly undergoing injections and medicines, and Emperor Changning couldn't get away, so he sent Yang Xushi, the director of the Imperial Medical Department, to pass the news to the Zichen Palace and give Qi Lingzhanye a consultation.
In the side hall of Zichen Hall, the warm fragrance of sinking water rises from the gilt beast furnace, and it is so rich that it makes people drowsy. Yang Xushi smelled the condensing fragrance, then looked at Qi Lingzhan's face, and asked, "Is the wound hurting again these days?"
Qi Lingzhan nodded, "One thing, it's bearable during the day, but it's hard to sleep at night."
Yang Xushi sighed: "The five natural senses, with pain as the first, are for people to know how to avoid, not to endure. Take off your clothes and let me see your injuries."
Qi Lingzhan then put down the chapter in his hand, took off his clothes, and put his wrist on the pulse pillow.
This slender, pale hand looked like a jade ornament made by a famous palace craftsman. It was as beautiful as a natural, heavenly jade sculpture, but it also exuded a heavy air of death, without any color or warmth.
At the connection between the palm and the wrist, there is a shocking old scar. It can be vaguely seen that it once traversed the meridian and almost cut off half of the hand.
Yang Xushi put his fingers on his pulse, closed his eyes and carefully felt his weak pulse. After a while, he asked him: "Should I use acupuncture or drink medicine? Acupuncture hurts like marrow extraction, and medicine only tastes more bitter, but it needs to be done three times a day." Bowl, warm and rest.”
Qi Lingzhan said without hesitation: "It's not good luck to take medicine during the New Year."
So Yang Xushi lit a candle, spread needles, pinched the meridians in his palms, and slowly inserted silver needles. He said it was a bone marrow pain, which was not an exaggeration. Qi Lingzhan's eyebrows suddenly tightened, the veins on his forehead stood out, and he broke into a cold sweat from the pain.
After more than a dozen injections in a row, black blood was seen on each needle. He leaned back in the Taishi chair with his eyes closed, and there was no blood on his lips.
Yang Xushi told him about the situation in the harem: "The Queen has been using decoctions and medicines recently, which is not a long-term solution. Qin doctors are taking care of her illness. I have read the prescriptions, and some of them are dangerous medicines."
The Imperial Medical Office tended to be conservative in their medication use, and Qin Yi was originally a cautious person. Yang Xushi's words meant that the Imperial Medical Office was at its wits' end.
Qi Lingzhan felt another stab in his heart, but he was too uncomfortable to say a word.
Yang Xushi said: "The Queen's congenital deficiency is a disease of premature death. If she had not been rich and well-bred in the palace, she would have been left in an ordinary family. She might not have lived to be seven years old. To be able to live today and give birth to a prince is to compete with heaven. .”
He really doesn't know how to comfort people, and comforting people is not his original intention. He raised his head and saw that the dripping was gone, and started to pull out the silver needles one by one. At the same time, he said to Qi Lingzhan: "Concubine Yao Guifei of Linhua Palace has recently been asking about the recipe for pregnancy. If her wish is really fulfilled, then Yao Dang... "
Qi Lingzhan whispered: "No, Your Majesty has discretion."
"Even if Linhua Palace has no heirs, if Kunming Palace... Prime Minister Yao presses so hard, if Concubine Yao is taught to inherit the throne and then takes the prince under his knees to raise him, everything will be irreversible."
Yang Xushi sighed again: "Zi Wang, I know that asking you to plan this matter is tantamount to killing your heart, but if things are not planned, things will go wrong. We really can't afford to lose."
"I see."
Qi Lingzhan immersed his hands in the medicine basin, and the thick black and hot medicine soup slowly swallowed him up. His eyes, slightly closed due to exhaustion, were opened by the medicine, like a peach red fan, and the white jade was crying blood, and it was about to burst.
He slowly said to Yang Xushi: "Brother Zhenghe, don't worry. The Yao family can't have a queen, and the prince will not change his surname to Yao. I will go to Kunming Palace before the end of the year. If I make a decision, I will inform brother Zhenghe."
Yang Xu stopped at the right moment and couldn't bear to push him anymore. He opened a bottle of pain-relieving pills for Qi Lingzhan, told him to rest and recuperate, and left the Zichen Palace.
After the severe pain, there was endless exhaustion. Qi Lingzhan asked his attendant to burn the agarwood incense more intensely. The milky white mist slowly enveloped the person. The pen he held in his fingers loosened and tightened, tightened and loosened again, and finally It fell to the ground with a "snap" and rolled to the side.
No one bent down to pick it up, the room was quiet, and the owner of the pen had fallen asleep at his desk.
The old pain tortured him and he couldn't sleep well for many days. Now his sleepiness was like a mountain, weighing him down and unable to move. He tried his best to curl up his fingers, but he could only grasp the many dreams that surrounded Chaoshen.
First, I dreamed about something from twenty-three years ago. The memory of that night is always clearer in my dreams than in the day. His chariot was intercepted, and the assassin waved the scimitar in his hand. The bright moonlight rolled over the blade and chopped off his hands. He struggled to free himself, and the two scimitars dug into the wall, but the tails of the blades still scraped open his flesh.
He saw his hands hanging down, blood all over the ground, and it seemed like there was a fire burning in his wrists. The fire had been burning for many years and it has not been extinguished to this day. It was hidden in his meridians and would come out to torture him whenever it rained or was cold. .
He felt pain, as if he was falling into darkness in the flames, and suddenly he saw light and shadow flickering again, and he saw his mother's face.
Not Rong, but his biological mother, the late wife of Marquis Yongping.
His mother smiled at him, her eyes filled with tears, her face as youthful as ever. She was holding a child in her hand, it was Yao Ning, a thin and small child who was raised by the old lady to be quiet and quiet. His mother said to him: Azhan, let’s go first.
He didn't want his mother to go and wanted to take his sister back, but his steps were very heavy. He ran from winter to summer, from scorching heat to severe cold. His sleeves were falling red, snow was flying, and his mother and sister were gradually like ink shadows. Escape in the water until it disappears.
Dissipated, the world was silent, but someone called his name when he was panicking, clear and clear, fiercely grabbed his sleeves, and questioned him angrily:
Qi Lingzhan, do you want to exchange me for the queen?
When I leave with sister Yaoning, I will make you live alone for the rest of your life.
He denied it. He said no. The laughter was even clearer and clear of disbelief. It haunted him like an evil ghost. He fell with the voice and suddenly woke up with a "clang".
It turned out that the agarwood incense burned out, and the attendant came to add some incense tablets. Unexpectedly, his hand was burned by the beast stove, and the stove lid fell to the ground.
Seeing that he was awakened, the attendants trembled and apologized. Qi Lingzhan pressed the corners of his reddish eyes and asked him to pick up the ivory pen.
"There is no need to re-burn the incense. Whenever I am on duty from now on, there is no need to light it again." Qi Lingzhan said.
When he was young, he went to Huilong Temple to look for famous monks, and met a monk. He said that it was a rare opportunity and gave him two verses. Today, he was having a dream and suddenly remembered it again.
That verse says: "The fierce fire cooks the brocade, and the flying snow falls across the vast expanse."
When I was young and proud, I didn't believe in gods and Buddhas, but today I feel like I do. Qi Lingzhan picked up the ivory pen again, moistened the ink and wrote a small note: "I want to explore the fire to save the brocade, hold the ice and shine on the snow, is it possible to get it?"
After the ink was dry, he folded the small note and gave it to Ping Yan to send to Huilong Temple.
There was snow on the mountain road, and Hirahiko had a bumpy trip. He didn't return until late in the evening. He rubbed his hands that were red from the cold and took out a piece of reply paper from his arms.
Deyi Xuexueqianhuaisu, drunken with grass, Hirahiko struggled to identify: "What is the ice...what is the sky...what is free..."
Ice and fire are natural, cold and hot are your own fault.
Qi Lingzhan smiled clearly: "That's feasible."
The brim of his official hat pressed down on his eyebrows, and the black gauze covered his jade-white face, which was as dark as ink and lined his skin like ice and snow. Under the brim of the hat, the cold and elegant eyes looked at the dusk clouds in the distance, kissing the owl passing by the house.
After Han Feng passed the martial arts examination, he temporarily experienced events in the camp of the bodyguard's pro-army horse army.
Because the end of the year is approaching, he did not go home directly after exchanging money today. He first went to Xianghui Building to pick up the ordered New Year goods. One of the pig heads was worth more than a month's salary. Thinking that his mother preferred this one, he reluctantly paid for it. The shopkeeper had a look and rejected his silver. He flattered Han Feng and said, "My dear son-in-law from the Yongping Marquis Mansion, and Your Majesty is still married, if you are willing to taste this, it is our blessing, how can we accept your money?"
Han Feng said: "It's a matter of course, so I don't dare to be conceited."
The shopkeeper smiled and said: "Since ancient times, the father and mother have been attracted by the shadow of the shadow, and the girl has been attracted by the girl. I heard that it is the two girls who have fallen in love with you. This is like a rabbit chasing an eagle, how can there be any mistakes!"
The shopkeeper couldn't resist the hospitality, but Han Feng failed to give away the money. He carried the pig's head and new year's goods in his hand and walked out of Xianghui Building in a daze.
Speaking of the second girl from the Yongping Marquis Mansion, it still feels like a dream.
Two years ago, not long after Han Feng passed the martial arts examination, the commander of the bodyguards called several brothers, including him, and said that there was a distinguished person he wanted to meet. The noble lady turned out to be a young lady, with a face like a flower and a bright smile, which made them all look like loaches in the ground and idiots on the vines.
The second girl asked them about their ages, families, rankings in military examinations and appointments in the civil service, and also asked them what made them famous generals.
Some people say that a famous general is like the Marquis of Yongping. When advancing, he can mount his horse to defend the enemy. When retreating, he can retreat to defend his position. Some people say that a famous general is like his own body. A fish will turn into a Kun or a Peng will spread its wings. He will surely be famous for thousands of years. When asked about Han Feng, Han Feng murmured for a long time and only said one sentence: The sixteen states of Yanyun have not been restored, and no one in the Great Zhou Dynasty can be called a famous general.
The second girl high-fived and laughed, and suddenly asked him if he would marry her. Han Feng was dumbfounded, and a few drops of sweat rolled down his forehead, turning his dark face into a blushing red.
He stumbled and nodded. The second girl pointed at him and said to the commander: "Please tell my mother and sister that I want to marry him. His name is Han...what is Han?"
"Han Feng."
The next day, Mrs. Yongpinghou invited him to meet, and a few days later, the Queen also summoned him. Although the two noblemen were not arrogant, the high-ranking person's pickiness really made him unhappy. Just thinking about the second girl with a cheerful face, Han Feng could bear it.
But after two years of separation, he never saw the second girl again, and his mother gradually turned from ecstatic to anxious. Before the twelfth lunar month, his mother took him to visit the Yongping Marquis Mansion. Unexpectedly, he bumped into the prince and asked them to leave the house without saying a few words. His mother was very angry about this.
Han Feng was walking home carrying the pig's head. There were children lighting firecrackers in the snowdrifts on the street. Seeing that the New Year was approaching, he felt faintly sad.
Unexpectedly, when I walked to the entrance of the alley, I saw a carriage with a red wheel and a canopy parked in front of my house. Two guards with swords stood beside the carriage, watching eagerly.
The neighbor who was watching from the back window greeted him and gestured excitedly: "A young, handsome and intimidating young master has entered. Could it be that he is your future uncle?"
Han Feng was stunned for a moment before he realized that the young master he was talking about was probably the Crown Prince of Yongping.
"Leave it at your house for now. I'll pick it up later." Han Feng handed the pig's head and new year's goods to his neighbor, patted the dust on his hands, straightened his clothes, and walked home.
The Han family is not big, with only two courtyards, three upper rooms and two side rooms. Qi Lingzhan was talking to Mother Han in the hall. The dust from the charcoal made his throat itchy, but what made him even more dissatisfied was what Mother Han said.
Han's mother said that she hoped that after Han Feng and Zhao Wei got married, the Yongping Marquis Mansion could help Han Feng find a decent job in Yongjing, so that he would not have to suffer the hardships of guarding the northwest border.
"I heard that Wen Anbo arranged for his son-in-law to join the Jingzhao Yamen. The Hou Mansion should be more dignified. We, Han Feng, are already the Zhaowu captain. It shouldn't be difficult to stay in the bodyguard army. It would be best if he could be transferred to the emperor's side as a military officer. It’s worth it, to be honest, you are your brother-in-law, so you can be trusted more by your own people, right?”
The more Qi Lingzhan listened, the more he wanted to laugh. He pushed the tea in his hand farther away, slowly rubbed the warm hand between his fingers, and thought to himself: Just a thought, he shouldn't have come.
