Marriage of the Di Daughter

Ji Heng left, leaving Yin Zhan standing alone. The usual hearty smile on his face has disappeared, leaving only gloom.

He could hear the murderous intent in Ji Heng's words, filled with impatient joy. He suddenly felt a little nervous, and there was not enough time for nervousness, so he turned around abruptly and left quickly.

Ji Heng entered the palace, walked through the long corridor, and walked through the main hall. Eunuch Su led him into the emperor's imperial study and retreated outside the door.

Ji Heng walked in, and the young emperor sat at the table with thick memorials.

"Your Majesty." He cut straight to the point, "The time has come."

Emperor Hong Xiao raised his head from the memorial and looked at Ji Heng.

At first, others thought that Ji Heng's allegiance to Emperor Hong Xiao was not an excellent choice. When King Cheng was still there, Emperor Hong Xiao's power declined, and he could be replaced by King Cheng at any time. After the matter of becoming king, everyone discovered that this emperor whom they had always looked down upon was a real sleeping lion. From the very beginning, Ji Heng picked the most powerful person keenly.

However, the relationship between such monarchs and ministers is not solid after all, and there seems to be some suspicion of mutual use. Besides, Emperor Hong Xiao was able to doubt the right minister at the beginning, so how could he not be wary of Ji Heng?

But Hong Xiaodi himself knew it was not. There is a wonderful relationship between him and Ji Heng, which is about sympathy for the same disease, or the same hatred for the enemy. For Emperor Hong Xiao, Ji Heng was not only a bargaining chip, a reliable subject, but in some respects, Ji Heng could also be regarded as his trustworthy friend in his lonely imperial career.

Maybe it's because Ji Heng told himself his plan from the beginning, or Ji Heng has always abided by his duty as a courtier. He seemed to act recklessly, but in fact he grasped the distance so accurately that Emperor Hong Xiao had no reason to doubt him.

"Have you really decided?" Emperor Hong Xiao asked, "I don't want you to take risks."

"Your Majesty, I have been planning this matter for many years. If I hadn't done it, others might not be able to succeed. By that time, it would be a failure." Ji Heng's expression remained unchanged, "I have made up my mind, please Your Majesty to fulfill it."

Emperor Hong Xiao let out a long sigh.

Yes, a long time ago, he knew that such a day would come. It was not easy to get to this point. King Cheng's complete defeat and Yin Zhan's return were all under their control. They planned carefully, and at the end of the day, they realized that so many years had passed, and the years flew by.

"Ji Heng, you must come back safely." Emperor Hong Xiao said.

"Yes," Ji Heng smiled, "Whether it's for His Majesty or the Ji family, I will... kill him with my own hands."

Eunuch Su stood at the door, as if everything was not on his ears, his expression remained unchanged, but he sighed in his heart. It is said that if you are noble in front of others, you must suffer in the future. Others only saw the current pride of His Majesty and Su Guogong, who knew how difficult they had been through these years.

Just don't talk about it.

...

Yin Zhan returned to the Yin family.

It was still early when he came back from the palace, but everyone in the mansion thought he was not there, because he locked himself in the study as soon as he returned to the mansion. When night fell, when Yin Zhan came out of the study, the servants were startled, Yin Zhiqing said: "Father, you are at home, I thought you were out."

Yin Zhiqing has also lost some weight these days, because Ji Heng and Jiang Li are engaged. But after all, she has a warm and hearty temper, and she is already trying to get out, at least she is not immersed in pain.

Yin Zhan glanced at her, and Yin Zhiqing was taken aback by Yin Zhan's gaze, which was extraordinarily cold, as if looking at a stranger. Although Yin Zhiqing knew that Yin Zhan always loved her elder brother the most, she had never looked at her with such eyes before, so she couldn't help but take a step back.

At this time, Yin Zhili came from the other side, happened to see them, and said, "Father, love."

"Brother." Yin Zhiqing was a little scared, and hid behind Yin Zhili. Yin Zhili looked at Yin Zhan strangely. Although Yin Zhan was strict with Yin Zhili on weekdays, most of the time, he smiled. Today, he doesn't have a smile on his face at all, which can almost be called scary. up. Yin Zhili was also taken aback, and heard Yin Zhiqing whispering behind him: "What wrong did you do again to make father angry?"

Yin Zhili was at a loss, but he didn't do anything. At this time, Yin Zhan said to Yin Zhili: "Zhili, come with me."

Yin Zhili had no choice but to follow.

Yin Zhan took Yin Zhili into his yard and walked to the study. He even drove all the servants at the entrance of the study to the gate of the yard, and asked them to guard at the gate of the yard. In the entire huge yard, there were only two people, Yin Zhili and Yin Zhan.

The servants were used to Yin Zhan's uncompromising temperament, and they didn't even have any curiosity, so they obediently went to guard the gate of the courtyard. On the contrary, Yin Zhili was puzzled, he didn't know how important what Yin Zhan was going to say to him next was why he arranged it so thoroughly.

As soon as he entered the door, Yin Zhili asked, "Father, what happened?"

Yin Zhan just looked at him without saying anything. Yin Zhili has never seen Yin Zhan with such complicated eyes. He is used to saying what he wants to say directly, and not saying what he doesn't want to say. He is clean and neat, never procrastinating. Today he looked at Yin Zhili, but it was like a drowning person struggling desperately, which made people tremble with fear.

Yin Zhili was inexplicably uneasy, and he asked again: "Father?"

After a long time, Yin Zhan said: "Zhi Li, there is one thing I must tell you. Your biological mother is still alive."

Yin Zhili's eyes widened in surprise, and he stuttered for a moment. He said, "What, how could it be? Mother was not..." She died when she gave birth to him. This is the fact that everyone told him.

"She is not your biological mother," Yin Zhan said in a deep voice, "Your biological mother is the current queen mother."

Yin Zhili took a step back, his face suddenly pale, and he said: "Father...you..."

"You are the son of me and the queen mother, Zhili." Yin Zhan said.

With just one sentence, all the causes and effects are instantly clear, there is no need to ask more questions, and there is no need to doubt anything, Yin Zhan's expression says it all. Having been with Yin Zhan for so many years, Yin Zhili already knew what Yin Zhan's expression was when he told the truth.

This is the expression now.

"No, it's impossible..." Reason knew it was true, but emotionally, Yin Zhili couldn't accept it. There is only one thought in his mind, he is an adulterer! This disgusting crime will accompany him for the rest of his life!

But Yin Zhan just looked at him, as if he had taught him countless times in the past, he said: "You know I won't lie to you."

Yin Zhili suddenly realized.

Those things that I always didn't understand in the past seemed to be understood suddenly. For example, his biological mother, why is it that almost no one in the house mentions her, and when asked about Yin Zhan, Yin Zhan doesn't seem to care. He never took the initiative to talk about Yin Zhili's biological mother, but Yin Zhan didn't like the current Mrs. Yin very much either. He sometimes felt that there might be a cherished person in his father's heart, but there was no clue about that person, and now he understood that that person was the present empress dowager.

From Yunzhong to Yanjing, from King Cheng to Jiang's family, he didn't understand why Yin Zhan would do this or that, and Yin Zhan never gave him a reason. Now this reason appeared, so righteous and confident, but Yin Zhili couldn't accept it.

"What do you want me to do?" Yin Zhili said with a sneer, "The marriage with the Jiang family is because you have wolf ambitions! I am the queen mother's son, so what? Because the current emperor is not the queen mother's biological son, so the queen mother still hopes I will inherit the great rule, do you want to rise up and seek to usurp the throne! How dare you do such a thing! I don’t have such a mother!”

With a "slap", Yin Zhan slapped Yin Zhili hard on the face.

He said in a deep voice, "I won't allow you to insult her!"

Yin Zhilihong retorted: "If you do it, don't be afraid of people talking about it!"

"When I met her, she was Miss Lin's family. We fell in love with each other, and I was going to come to propose marriage! The Lin family was greedy for vanity, and she married the emperor's brother when he got a marriage. She didn't cherish the emperor's brother. Life in the palace is worse than death. If I hadn't appeared later, she would have died in the palace. Yin Zhili," he called Yin Zhili with his first and last name, as if extremely angry, "I forced her, your mother Innocent! She could have not given birth to you, at least that way she wouldn’t have to be held accountable and in danger, but she still gave birth to you because she couldn’t bear it! You can hate me, but you can’t hate your mother, she has no regrets You! Do you understand?"

Yin Zhili couldn't help but shed tears all of a sudden. The man does not flick his tears easily, but right now, he really doesn't know what to do. He can't blame the Queen Mother, because the Queen Mother risked her life to give birth to him, and he can't blame Yin Zhan, because Yin Zhan has raised him for so many years and taught him carefully. Who can he blame? Who the hell can he blame?

A miserable cry escaped from his throat.

Yin Zhan couldn't bear it, he knew that this would be tantamount to torture to Yin Zhili. But he knew his son's disposition, he was too soft-hearted, he was kind and hesitant if he said it well. Yin Zhili was soft but not hard, so he couldn't harden his heart towards the Queen Mother.

Yin Zhan didn't care whether Yin Zhili hated himself or not, he was only worried that Yin Zhili would not recognize Lin Roujia.

"Royal blood is in your blood." Yin Zhan said to him shortly but firmly: "Listen, next, I'm going to do something, this thing is very dangerous, maybe I won't come back. If I can't come back, everything in the Yin family will be handed over to you, and the queen mother will also be implicated, promise me to protect your mother."

Yin Zhili cried for a while, looked at Yin Zhan, he realized something, and said, "What do you want to do?"

"It's time to settle the grievances from the early years." Yin Zhan said, "I'm not afraid to accept the result, I just can't let you mother and son go."

Yin Zhili shook his head: "No, don't do it."

"There is no turning back." Yin Zhan laughed suddenly, his smile was as bright as ever, but there was a paranoid madness in his eyes, he said: "From the time I met your mother, my fate is doomed. In life, I live for no one but only for her. Zhili, you are the same, your destiny is like this, I will remove the obstacles ahead for you, but you have to do the rest yourself. You must not fall by the wayside , all the members of the Yin family, as well as my soldiers and horses, will be handed over to you in the future."

He said it so solemnly, as if he knew that once he left, he would never return. In Yin Zhili's heart, deep sorrow suddenly welled up. But he still shook his head and said: "No, no." I don't know if he is resisting the fate imposed on him, or rejecting the unknowable future that he doesn't want.

But at the same time, he also understood that Yin Zhan had started making preparations many years ago. He taught himself the art of war, and taught himself the way of governing people. Now it seems that this is a plan that started a long time ago. Perhaps since he was born, even when he was in the womb of the queen mother, Yin Zhan and the queen mother have already planned for him a very bright and brilliant future in their eyes-sitting on the world.

"Are you lying to me? Father," Yin Zhili looked at Yin Zhan pleadingly in a daze, "I'm not the queen mother's son, but you lied to me because you hoped that I would do what you said?"

This gentle and handsome noble son is the best in everyone's eyes. He has never been so humble before. But Yin Zhan just hardened his heart and said, "I didn't lie to you. The year Rou Jia gave birth to you, Concubine Liu Shu framed her to prove her innocence and went to Hongshan Temple to face the wall and meditate on Buddha. It was there that she gave birth to you... "

Talking about the past, Yin Zhan seems to have a picture of the past floating in front of him. Those days were really frightening. To prevent the entire Hongshan Temple from revealing their secrets, those days of trembling are over now. But the future seems to be approaching a dead end.

This may be his fate, and he has no choice.

Yin Zhili couldn't help trembling again. He had never been so helpless before, Yin Zhan said: "Zhi Li, I don't care what you think now, but I don't have time. I have to tell you the next thing, you have to listen..."

In Yin Zhan's yard, there was no sound at all. In the outside room, Yin Zhiqing was sitting beside Mrs. Yin, and asked worriedly: "Did Yin Zhiqing cause a catastrophe? I just saw the expression on my father's face, it was really scary."

"No." Madam Yin comforted, "Your father has always loved Zhi Li, even if Zhi Li really made a mistake, he would not blame him too much."

Thinking about it, Yin Zhiqing felt that what Mrs. Yin said was true, so she felt relieved. This is true. Yin Zhan's love for Yin Zhili is obvious to all. It is said that his father favors his daughter, especially Yin Zhiqing is the youngest daughter, but Yin Zhan's difference between Yin Zhiqing and Yin Zhili can be seen by everyone.

Fortunately, Yin Zhiqing was used to it since she was a child, and Yin Zhili also treated her very well.

"But they went in and said they haven't come out for so long. It's really worrying." Yin Zhiqing said, "A few days ago, Yin Zhili was sad for a while because of Miss Jiang Er. Worse."

Madam Yin looked at Yin Zhiqing and sighed inwardly. It is said that Yin Zhili is sad because of Jiang Li, so why not Yin Zhiqing? This idiot has lost a lot of weight and emaciated himself, and he still thinks about others. She is really just like herself, she has a beautiful and shrewd face for no reason, but in fact she suffers more than anyone else. She couldn't help feeling sad.

After a long time, Yin Zhan came out from the yard. When he came out, his eyes were cold and his face was gloomy, and none of the servants dared to step forward. Neither Yin Zhiqing nor Mrs. Yin dared to say anything. He walked out of the courtyard and directly out of the gate of the Yin Mansion. It was so late and he didn't know what to do.

Yin Zhiqing said to Mrs. Yin: "Mother, I'm going to see Yin Zhili."

Mrs. Yin nodded, and Yin Zhiqing quickly ran to Yin Zhan's yard. There was no one in the yard. When Yin Zhiqing opened the door of the study, she didn't see Yin Zhili's shadow at the first moment. She was still wondering why Yin Zhili disappeared in a blink of an eye, and was about to go out to look for him in the yard, but when she turned her head, her footsteps stopped.

Yin Zhili hid behind the door.

He really "hid" behind the door, as if he had been greatly frightened, he curled up into a ball, holding his head, Yin Zhiqing was startled, and ran over quickly, saying, "Yin Zhili?"

Yin Zhili raised his head, and Yin Zhiqing couldn't say what he wanted to say.

She remembered that she had never seen Yin Zhili cry. From childhood to adulthood, Yin Zhili always looked calm and breezy, with a calm and gentle smile on his face at all times. Even if he was thrown off his horse in a martial arts competition, he still comforted his family with a smile. Although Yin Zhiqing felt that Yin Zhili was sometimes too easy to bully and softened her heart, she was still proud of Yin Zhili in her bones. Now that this fragile Yin Zhili appeared in front of her, Yin Zhiqing couldn't believe it for a moment.

She wanted to touch him, but she didn't know how to do it for a while, so she lowered her voice and asked, "What's wrong with you? What did father say to you?"

The numbness in Yin Zhili's eyes startled her.

"Hey, Yin Zhili!" Yin Zhiqing pushed him hard, "Don't scare me!"

Only then did Yin Zhili slowly turn his gaze to Yin Zhiqing. At this time, he also suddenly understood something. It's no wonder that Yin Zhan married Xuxian, who was loving in every possible way before, but after Yin Zhiqing was born, he began to neglect Mrs. Yin, as if she was a different person. In the past, Yin Zhili thought that it was because Yin Zhan was afraid of his over-heartedness and thought that his stepmother and step-sister would take Yin Zhan's favor away, so he did this on purpose. Yin Zhili also felt sorry for Mrs. Yin's mother and daughter, but naively thought that it was because his father loved him enough and put himself first in everything.

Thinking about it now, it all became a wishful thinking joke. The reason why Yin Zhan did this was nothing more than to avoid people's eyes and ears, marrying Xuxian and having a son, I'm afraid it was to reassure the emperor that people would not associate him with Lin Roujia. The mother and daughter of the Yin family are a pair of victims at all. Yin Zhili doesn't know whether to feel sad for the mother and daughter of the Yin family, or feel disgusted by the selfish love between Yin Zhan and Lin Roujia.

Yin Zhiqing frowned, she really didn't like the way Yin Zhili looked at her, as if she was pitying something. She asked: "What's wrong with you? What kind of disaster did you cause, that Dad described you like this?"

She was also very puzzled, even if Yin Zhan had taught Yin Zhili a lesson, Yin Zhili would not have made such a gesture. Yin Zhili withdrew his gaze and stood up. He didn't know if it was because he had been curled up for too long, or for some other reason. He seemed to be unable to exert any strength and almost fell down. It was Yin Zhiqing who helped her up.

After he stood still, he slowly turned his head, looked at Yin Zhiqing, and said, "Zhiqing, you and mother, go back to the cloud."

"What?" Yin Zhiqing stared at him in disbelief for a moment and asked, "Why? Where are you and your father? Are you going back to the cloud together?"

"We may not be able to go back." Yin Zhili smiled at her, but Yin Zhiqing felt that his smile was uglier than crying.

"You and mother go back to the cloud, the sooner the better, I will arrange other things." After saying this, he stumbled out, ignoring Yin Zhiqing's questioning behind his back.

...

The night in the Duke's Mansion, in winter, is still full of flowers, but it doesn't feel warm because of the blooming flowers, instead there is a kind of mysterious bleakness.

At the edge of the flowerbed, someone stood with his hands behind his back. He was standing next to a tree. After all, this tree was still a small tree, which hadn't grown up yet, and had ushered in its winter day. It stood here with its back straight and stubborn, which made another person appear in Jiheng's mind.

He hooked the corner of his mouth and smiled.

"These flowers are blooming again." Beside him, Situ Jiuyue said.

Situ Jiuyue was dressed in black, with bells on her body, hair, and wrists. She was always cold, but tonight she looked a little strange.

"When I'm not around, I will entrust you to take care of them." Ji Heng said.

"Of course." Situ Jiuyue replied, "I will take good care of them. If you don't come back, these flowers will all be mine."

"Situ, what you said is terrible." Wen Renyao said dissatisfiedly from the side: "It's really unlucky! Bah, bah, bah, there is no taboo."

The Duke's Mansion tonight seemed to be a little busier than usual. Lu Ji and Kong Liu also stood aside, but they were not as free as in the past, and each looked dignified, as if something big was about to happen.

Xiaohong also seemed to feel that the atmosphere was not right, standing on the branch, tilting her head to look at these people, she was very noisy on weekdays, but today she didn't say a word, she was extremely quiet.

Lu Ji said, "When is your lord going to leave?"

"tomorrow."

"Before you leave, don't you want to say hello to Second Miss Jiang?" Kong Liu asked hesitantly, "After all, you are engaged now, and she is your fiancée, it's better to inform her about such things. "

"No need." Ji Heng said, "She will be worried when she finds out."

Everyone was silent, everyone knew how dangerous this trip was. Between Ji Heng and Yin Zhan, there is destined to be such a life-and-death contest. They are each other's bait, and they make dangerous moves. Everyone has a back hand, and everyone wants to be the last oriole. No one will let it go, but it is uncertain who will be the final winner in this match. Ji Heng has been planning for decades, so why not Yin Zhan?

Perhaps even the difference between them is only a tiny bit, and it all depends on God's preference, whoever is more lucky.

"I'm ready." Kong Liudao, "All arrangements are made in Yanjing City."

"Okay." Ji Heng said: "Lu Ji, you also stay in Yanjing."

"My lord," Lu Ji frowned, "It's extremely dangerous for you to go alone this time. Now is the critical time, and it is absolutely impossible to get out by accident. It is not the best policy to risk yourself."

"Yin Zhan's soldiers and horses stay in various parts of Beiyan, and Yanjing is the most important thing. He will leave as a bait, and he will not bring many people around. If I want to lure him out, of course I can't surround him with soldiers and horses, but there is no way out." Ji Ji Heng smiled faintly, "This time, he must be put to death."

When he was talking, he slowly stroked the branch of the small tree in front of him, and then smiled, "He is the same."

No one seems to know what happened in the flower garden of the Duke's Mansion. In General Ji's study, however, the lamp was lit.

Although he is old and strong and full of energy, he goes to bed early every night, saying that going to bed early and getting up early can help prolong life. For so many years, he did look stronger and younger than the old people of the same age. But it is impossible for an old general to compare with a young general. For example, the weapons and armor in this room are all rusted and covered with dust. Even if he wipes it often, he still looks like a late hero, which is a pity.

He walked slowly in front of these weapons, he stretched out his hand to caress the golden armor, the hard armor, the mighty spear, the fierce sword... Every time he walked in front of a weapon, he stopped and stopped, quietly Standing for a while, it seems that I am recalling the past eventful years. On his face, there was a look of reminiscence, and in the end, he walked in front of a sword.

The scabbard of the sword is inlaid with crystal rubies and engraved with complicated patterns. The body of the sword is bright, light and thin. When it is pulled out of the scabbard, it is eye-catching and unstoppable. A fierce murderous aura hits the face come.

This is a sword that has been on the battlefield, named "Qingming". From him to Ji Minghan's end, Ji Heng refused to use the sword. He only uses a fan on weekdays. General Ji said many times not to use it. Ask him to use such fancy things, but Ji Heng doesn't listen to him at all.

He likes the kind of things that kill people in an instant and still have an elegant posture.

Old General Ji took "Qing Ming" off the wall, walked to the table, found a piece of cloth, and wiped it slowly.

As the cloth was wiped, the sword became brighter and brighter. Holding it in my hand, there seemed to be an illusion that the sword was ringing and clanging.

"Old buddy," Old General Ji wiped it lovingly, and held it in his hand, as if facing a friend who had been away for many years, or a brother who went to the battlefield together many years ago, "I am old, but you are still so fierce."

The sword is held in the hands of the old general, and the picture of the year can be vaguely seen. The young general is holding the sword and galloping on the battlefield with a heroic and fearless posture. Then time was shattered in a hurry, things are not people, the sword is this sword, people are not old friends.

Holding the sword blankly, he sat melancholy for a long time. When others see it, they will be amazed that this always cheerful and happy old man has such sad moments.

He cleaned the sword, put the sword back into the scabbard, and put it on the table. The lamp was burning quietly, illuminating the old general's eyes and the tears in his eyes.

"Ming Han," he murmured, "It's been more than twenty years, and it's time for us father and son to meet again."