Chang'an was the capital of the Jiang Dynasty, located in the center of Yongzhou. People from all over the world gathered here from three religions and nine streams, and it was so lively that it was said that "Chang'an never sleeps". Every night, from the streets of East Market to the lanes of West Market, countless lights light up the prosperity of Chang'an.
But now this prosperity has been suppressed by silence, and the Human Emperor has passed away.
On the steps of the palace sat a pair of siblings wearing sackcloth and mourning. My sister is pretty and about fourteen or fifteen years old. The younger brother is naive and looks like he is only six or seven years old. The two of them were the third princess Jiang Zhiyuan and the fourth prince Jiang Xianfeng.
"Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou..." Jiang Xianfeng scratched Bai Xiaobu on his head, "I remembered it well yesterday, but I can't remember it now. This thing must have strangled my head."
Jiang Zhiyuan glared at him, and Jiang Xianfeng immediately stopped preparing to remove Xiaobu.
"Sister, what should I do? That antique master is going to get whiplash tonight, I can't remember it!" Jiang Xianfeng threw herself on Jiang Zhiyuan's lap, bursting with snot and tears.
"Don't be anxious, don't be anxious, take your time." Jiang Zhiyuan patted his back gently, "If you can't remember it all at once, just remember it separately."
Jiang Xianfeng immediately stopped crying, raised his head and looked at her, "Why do you remember it separately?"
"Recite after me, Ji, Yong, Liang." Jiang Zhiyuan said every word.
"Ji, Yong, Liang"
"Yu, Jing, Yang"
"Yu, Jing, Yang"
"Yan, Qing, Xu"
"Yan, Qing, Xu"
"Is this easier to remember?"
Jiang Xianfeng blinked his eyes and recited it a few more times, then was surprised, "Really, hahahaha."
"I can remember, I don't have to get slapped tonight!" As he said this, he wanted to get close to Jiang Zhiyuan and kiss him on the face.
Jiang Zhiyuan glanced at his snot-covered face with disgust and pushed him away, "Why don't you wash it off? What will happen to your face?"
"I want to see who dares to make a loud noise at this time."
A cold voice came from behind. The two siblings immediately turned around and bowed their heads in salute.
"Concubine, we were wrong."
Liu Wanyu frowned and looked at the children in front of her. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Feng'er will kneel in the mourning hall for an hour. Yuan'er will follow me."
Jiang Xianfeng still wanted to argue, but Jiang Zhiyuan had already left with Liu Wanyu.
Jiang Xianfeng slowly walked towards the mourning hall with his head drooped. To be honest, he didn't have much impression of this father whom he had never met. He knew more from his mother-in-law and his companion how powerful his father was. He led the endangered human race to defeat the powerful Monster clan.
Other than these, he only knew that when his mother-in-law gave birth to him, his father took a look and hugged him. Also, when he turned one year old, he was given the same jade Buddha pendant as his two brothers.
Finally, he suddenly fell seriously ill a few days ago and was lying on the bed. He hid behind his brothers and sisters and looked at his father seriously. His wrinkled face could not hide his cool eyes, and he stared quietly at the gauze above his head. Tent, is he thinking about what color to use for the gauze tent? Isn't this yellow one cute? Before he could take a closer look, the imperial doctor who had been holding his father's hand suddenly said something. The crowd behind him burst into excitement, crying and shouting. His brothers and sisters immediately knelt down and cried. He also listened to his sister's advice before. , learn in a good way. But he still doesn't know why he used the word "cool". Is it because the ice coffin in front of me is so cool?
He knelt quietly in front of the ice coffin and looked at it, just as he had looked at his father on the bed.
In the luxurious and huge palace, two maids were guarding two huge candles, and the blue candlelight was dimly imprinted on the ice coffin. The dragon pattern carved on it seems to be swimming with the flicker of candlelight.
Jiang Xianfeng rubbed his eyes. He seemed to have seen the dragon on the ice coffin really move just now. He eagerly wanted to see up close whether the dragon on the ice coffin was really moving.
Looking around, there was no one else in the hall except for the two maids who looked like sculptures, staring quietly at the candles in front of them.
So he slowly stood up from the futon, his legs that had been kneeling for more than half an hour almost made him kneel back again.
He slowly moved closer to the coffin, feeling a cold air hit his face. He couldn't help but shiver. The ice coffin was exquisite and clear, but he couldn't see what was inside. He could only see a black shadow, and the dragon patterns on the surface were lifelike. Jiang Xianfeng unconsciously reached out to touch it.
"Fourth Prince, the ice coffin is not something you can touch casually."
A slender and gentle hand held his hand that was reaching for the ice coffin. He was so frightened that he immediately pulled out his hand and looked back, "You...you are the imperial doctor who sat at the bedside of my father's bed that day."
"The fourth prince has a very good memory. His humble position is Sun Zhining, the newly appointed imperial doctor of the Imperial Medical Office."
"Oh, then did you know that the dragon on this ice coffin can move on its own?" Jiang Xianfeng looked up at Sun Zhining and asked.
"This ice coffin is made of thousand-year-old ice transported from the large ice field in northern Jizhou, and has been processed and carved by more than a hundred skilled craftsmen. It will not move on its own, but when the light changes, people will feel that it is moving. "Sun Zhining explained patiently.
"So that's it." Jiang Xianfeng nodded as if he understood, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Prince. It's an honor for me to answer your questions." Sun Zhining said with a smile, "But please don't touch the ice coffin. If others see it, you will be scolded."
Jiang Xianfeng nodded repeatedly, "I won't touch you again."
Sun Zhining smiled, turned around and walked out of the palace. Jiang Xianfeng continued to kneel in front of the ice coffin, and the palace fell into silence again.
"It's not long since your father's death. Ministers in the palace are coming in and out. In a few days, the governors from Kyushu will come. Once they see you joking and playing here. This will not only disgrace the royal family, but also It's controversial. Do you understand?" Liu Wanyu said seriously.
"My daughter knows." Jiang Zhiyuan said calmly.
Looking at her daughter who was still a little unconvinced, Liu Wanyu sighed, "I know there are many things you don't understand, and I won't explain too much to you, but this is the royal rule. Take care of Feng'er these days, you Let’s both settle down.”
"I understand, I would like to send you my concubine."
Jiang Zhiyuan saluted and watched Liu Wanyu leave. Then he climbed up the palace along the pillars and lay down on the ridge. The soldiers patrolling in the distance immediately turned their heads when they saw that it was the third princess. Look away.
In the evening in Chang'an, the evening breeze was blowing, and the sunset filled the entire palace. Jiang Zhiyuan was lying on the roof of the palace, looking at Chang'an as usual. There are still people coming and going in the East Market and the West Market, but there is no bustle of feasting and feasting. The east and west are decorated with white. The palace is still quiet, as if nothing happened.
East Market.
A flag with a big word "Yan" written on it stopped in front of Fenglai Tower.
Fenglai House is the first brothel in Chang'an and is said to have two unique properties. The first is wine, the most unique one is Monkey Wine from Yanzhou Changbai Mountain. The second most outstanding person is Yunyao, the most beautiful woman in Yongzhou. Yunyao has been the top name in Fenglai Tower for many years and has attracted countless powerful people. Once, a son of a powerful man took advantage of the fact that his father was a second-rank official in the court and offered Yun Yao a thousand taels to come to his house to sing and dance all night. After Yunyao refused, the father of the powerful son was sent to the border of Jizhou the next day, and his family fell into decline.
Since then, the dignitaries of Fenglai Tower have become more at ease and do not dare to do too much wrong to Yunyao. However, the people of Chang'an have speculated a lot about the owner of Fenglai Tower who has never shown up. Some people say that he is There is a certain prince in the palace, some say he is a high-ranking official in the court, but this boss still remains mysterious.
Yan Mo got off his horse and signaled his men to knock on the door. After a moment, the door slowly opened, and a faint scent of incense came out from inside. He took a half step back and frowned, even though he had led the Yan Guards to manage the entire Chang'an's security officer has entered Fenglai Tower many times, but he still dislikes the incense.
"I wonder what General Yan wants to do when he comes to my Feng Lai Building?" A woman in purple clothes stood at the door and looked at Yan Mo with a smile, "Now that the emperor has recently passed away, I don't dare to accept guests."
"Mrs. Yun, someone told me that there was music coming from the Feng Lai Tower last night." Yan Mo looked at Yun Xiang and said slowly, "I wonder what your explanation is?"
Pedestrians on the street gradually gathered around, wanting to see why Fenglai Tower, which had not been open for several days, was targeted by the Yan Guards.
Yun Xiang still smiled and said, "Perhaps the servants' hands were clumsy and touched the piano when they were cleaning. As you know, my Feng Lai Building is a small place and cleaning is inconvenient. Please forgive me."
"Then I'm relieved. I thought you had some bad guys in Feng Lai Building, and you dared to bring up Sizhu again at this time."
"How could it be? Although I am just a weak woman, I am still protected by several brothers in Chang'an. How can there be any bad guys coming?"
Yan Mo smiled and said, "Then I won't disturb Mrs. Yun. Goodbye."
Yan Mo's men drove away the crowd, and Yan Mo rode towards the city gate. The door of Feng Lai Tower closed with a creak. Yan Moruo felt something and turned back to look at Feng Lai Tower. A window on the third floor slowly closed.
West gate. On the city wall, Li Ergou, who was guarding the city gate, was standing with his head held high, monitoring the activities outside the city with bright eyes. Trying his best not to let his eyes touch the young man next to him.
The young man looked to be in his early twenties and was wearing a black python robe. He was walking around the city with great interest, looking around.
In the past, at this time, Li Ergou and a few brothers had already hid in the corner of the city to drink some wine, eat some side dishes, and chat. But now Li Ergou has to pretend to be a serious guard here and suffer the consequences.
Wang Dashan said yesterday that he would bring a pound of dog meat to appetize the brothers today. Old man Liu also owed me two taels of roasted knives and said he would bring it today. Alas, it seems that he will not be able to eat it today. How come you, a general like you, are like a country bumpkin who has never seen the world? You can watch this city for so long. What is there to see? I have been watching here for several years and I haven't seen anything.
Li Ergou complained in his heart, but did not dare to show his displeasure at all on his face. You must know that this young man is not someone he can afford to offend.
Zhou Ruoxiao was originally an orphan in Qingzhou and grew up eating the food of hundreds of families. Later, when the demon clan started a war, Zhou Ruoxiao, who was only 12 years old, joined the army of Jiang Nanchu, who was still just a general, and followed him around the battlefields of Kyushu. It took eight years to grow from a nobody to Jiang Nanchu's right-hand man. At this time, Emperor Meng and the Demon Emperor died together. Jiang Nanchu took over as the Human Emperor, wiping out the remnants of the Demon clan and appeasing the people at the same time. At this time, Zhou Ruoxiao was sent to guard Yumen Pass, facing the constant harassment from the Western Desert. On the second day after Zhou Ruoxiao took office, he led 3,000 troops and chased the Western Desert army for 200 miles. He captured the two princes of the Western Desert and sent them to the capital of the Western Desert. He forced the Western Desert king to sign a contract not to enter the Western Desert for three years. The contract of the Jiang Dynasty’s territory. So far, there has been no more fighting at Yumen Pass. Zhou Ruoxiao was also named King Xiaoyao by Emperor Jiang.
"Are all the guards in Chang'an capable of standing for a day?"
Zhou Ruoxiao suddenly stood behind Li Ergou and looked at him curiously.
"Well... he's standing pretty straight, much better than the guards at the other end."
"Um...thank you...thank you King Xiaoyao for the compliment." Li Ergou stammered in reply.
Zhou Ruoxiao laughed, "Am I that fierce? Are you so afraid of me?"
On the distant road, smoke and dust were everywhere, and a group of people came galloping on horses.
"These people are called ferocious. I'm going to hide for now." Zhou Ruoxiao patted Li Ergou on the shoulder and turned to leave.
After a while, Li Ergou looked back and confirmed that Zhou Ruoxiao's back was gone. He stretched out his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and started laughing.
"Now I can brag with them for half a month. King Xiaoyao not only praised me, but also patted me on the shoulder, haha!"
Li Ergou turned his head to look at the place where Zhou Ruoxiao had just photographed, and couldn't help but touch it with his hands.
"With a little luck, maybe I can be a captain or something one day."
Li Ergou couldn't help but think about the happy days after becoming captain, "When the time comes, Wang Dashan and Old Man Li will have to be replaced with more lucrative positions, and the reward at the end of the month will be two more copper plates."
"By the way, did he say someone was coming?" Li Ergou watched a group of people approaching and gradually slowed down.
"He seems to have said that these people are very fierce." Li Ergou stared, trying to see the leader's face clearly.
This group of people were all wearing blood-red armor and looked impressive, but the leader was a young man. When they arrived at the city gate, a group of people dismounted. The young man looked up at the two big characters engraved on the city gate, Chang'an. Just as the guard at the city gate was about to come up and question him, the young man took out a token from his arms and threw it to him. The guard looked at the token and immediately knelt down.
"My little eyes are clumsy and I didn't recognize the eldest prince. Please forgive me."
Jiang Fengqing ignored it, took the token and slowly walked into Chang'an City with his men.
On the top of the city, Li Ergou stared at the young man's face for a long time. He always felt that he looked familiar, but he couldn't name him.
"But it is indeed like what Prince Zhou said, it looks very fierce."
After the sunset wiped away the last blush, Jiang Zhiyuan jumped down from the roof of the palace and woke up Jiang Xianfeng who was leaning on the railing and waiting for her from his sleep.
"Still sleeping? Wake up, it's time to go home and eat."
Jiang Xianfeng opened his eyes drowsily, "Sister, you're finally down. I'm almost starving to death."
Not far away, two palace maids had been waiting for a long time with lanterns. In the dark palace, the shadows of the two people were stretched very long.
"Sister, what do you see up there every day? Why don't you take me up there to have a look next time?"
"You don't know martial arts. If I ask you to practice, you'll feel tired."
"Don't you know how? Take me up."
"No, it's too troublesome to take you up."
"Okay, sister."
"don't want."
Feng Lai Lou.
In the magnificent lobby, the curtains on the stage slowly opened, and a beautiful woman in a snow-white dress began to play the piano. The sound of the piano slowly flowed through the pavilion like a trickle. Ten graceful girls danced in harmony, but there was only one man in rich clothes in the audience.
Yun Xiang walked slowly over carrying a pot of tea. The man was quietly listening to the music with his eyes closed, his palms gently tapping his legs to the beat.
Yun Xiang filled a cup of tea for him and said softly, the person you were waiting for came today, and it's time for you to leave.
The man was silent for a moment and said slowly, "Finish listening to this song."
There was a gust of wind blowing on the streets of Chang'an, but it was going to rain.
