Talk about the world of mortals in detail

After the eunuchs and guards retreated, the emperor was left with only one concubine, who was still rubbing his shoulders to relieve the pressure.

"Your Majesty, are you having a nightmare?"

The emperor's eyes were half closed, his body relaxed a little, and he nodded.

"It was indeed a nightmare. I dreamed that there was no one in the deep palace, and there was a monster coming to harm me."

"Your Majesty, didn't the Imperial Master say that the emperor is protected by the imperial energy of crape myrtle, which can be transmitted from heaven to earth and monsters cannot harm him? Your Majesty, just relax."

Hearing this, the emperor nodded slightly.

"But the Imperial Master is not here, and I always feel empty in my heart. My health has been getting worse every day in the past two years. I am still looking forward to the Imperial Master refining the elixir of longevity for me that he said."

The concubine smiled.

"Your Majesty's body is very strong. He tortured his concubine to death. Your Majesty just misses the Imperial Master. As for the longevity elixir, your Majesty's body is far from being able to use it!"

As soon as he said these words, coupled with the intentional or unintentional movement of the people behind him, the emperor's body also had some reactions, and he turned to look at the concubine behind him who was half-shielded by the spring light.

The storm on the bed was comparable to the thunderstorm outside the palace. Whether the concubine's scream was real or fake, it at least made the emperor feel better.

Deep in the palace, there is another place where people are awake late at night. In the East Palace sleeping area, there is a man who is nearly forty years old. He is wearing a curly robe without a crown, sitting in front of the table in the room with a book in his hand, and a hanging hanging behind his back. This is a sword.

This man was the current Prince of the East Palace of Dayan. Of course he did not hear the farce of the escort in the rain in the distance of the palace, but he heard the clear and high-pitched crane cry that woke up the emperor.

After hearing the crane's cry, the prince also put down the book he had been reading for half the night but didn't actually turn many pages. His heart was as chaotic as the rain, but the crane's cry cheered him up.

The prince stood up, walked to the window step by step, and gently opened the window. The sound of rain outside became louder.

In the wooden corridor in front, rainwater came in with the wind from time to time. Although it could not reach the window where the prince was standing, the wind carried enough moisture and was cool enough.

"Did you hear the sound?"

Unlike the emperor's palace where there were not many guards on the outside, there were also guards on the wooden corridor in the prince's east palace.

Hearing the prince's question, a guard hesitated to answer.

"Your Highness, do you mean the sound of rain or thunder?"

As if in response to the guard's words, lightning flashed in the sky, followed by thunder.

"Rumble"

The prince frowned, and although people outside could not see his expression, he spoke again.

"It's not rain or thunder, I'm talking about the roar of cranes."

It's great not to have to play riddles with the prince. It's the same guard as before, and this time he answered quickly.

"When I returned to Your Highness, I didn't hear anything. Tonight there was wind and rain, thunder and lightning, but there was no other sound in the palace. Moreover, the white cranes in the palace should be resting now and won't crow in the middle of the night."

"Really? Didn't anyone else hear it?"

Another guard responded.

"Back to Your Highness, I didn't hear you."

The prince looked at the heavy rain outside and breathed softly.

"Maybe I heard wrong."

At this moment, the commander of the guards outside reminded him again.

"Your Highness, it's time for you to rest."

"Um."

——

In the early morning, the sun shines into the entire imperial city and also illuminates the entire palace. Because of the thunderstorm in the middle of the night, the new and old palaces feel fresh.

The prince got up early and wandered around the palace's large pond garden with his entourage. This was not a whim, but he had always been concerned about the sound of the cranes last night, so he came over to take a look after getting up and washing.

The white cranes generally don't get too close to people. Most people are walking around this pool. The white cranes are either on the other side or farther away. Only when the eunuchs responsible for taking care of and feeding fresh food come over will the white cranes get closer to people. .

It was still early in the morning, so there was no one in the Dachi Garden, and the cranes had naturally woken up early. White cranes were walking around the edge of the pool, pecking at the water with their beaks from time to time, showing their leisurely attitude.

The prince did not speak, and just watched quietly from a distance. Naturally, no one in the entourage broke the calm at this moment.

Until two eunuchs came from a distance carrying two buckets. As soon as they came, many white cranes surrounded them step by step. One eunuch scooped up the contents of the buckets with a wooden bucket and sprinkled them around. Suddenly some white cranes started to appear. to chase

It turned out that the things in the bucket were all small loach fish and shrimps.

But at this moment, one of the white cranes was very unique. While the other white cranes were rushing around the two eunuchs to peck and feed live food, this white crane was still standing on the edge of the big pool.

"Eat some, you eat some too!"

A eunuch used a wooden bucket to throw out a lot of small loach fish, and threw them next to the white crane. The white crane just looked at it unmoved, but two white cranes nearby came over to peck at it, and the original one walked away. I took a few steps and combed my feathers a few times.

The prince in the distance looked at it, and then brought his entourage closer to the other side.

The two eunuchs didn't see the person over there clearly when they were far away. When they saw who it was, they quickly put down the wooden buckets in their hands and stepped forward to salute the prince.

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"No gift!"

The prince said, looking at Bai He over there, and asked about some things that he usually wouldn't care about.

"You come here every day to feed the cranes?"

A eunuch just stood up and hurriedly answered.

"Back to Your Highness, come every day, usually in the early morning and evening."

"Oh, how many cranes are there?"

The eunuch quickly turned back to count, but the person next to him had already spoken.

"Back to Your Highness, there were twelve last night and thirteen this morning. That one is a new one that has flown in and has never been seen before."

As he spoke, the eunuch pointed at the white crane that was combing its hair. At this time, the white crane seemed to have heard others talking about it. Especially conspicuous.

The prince became interested upon hearing this.

"Oh? As you say, the number of white cranes in the palace is not fixed?"

The other eunuch wanted to speak again, but the prince waved his hand to signal him not to speak.

"I'm asking him."

The eunuch backed away awkwardly, while his companion continued to answer.

"Back to Your Highness, there are some white cranes in the palace that stay for a long time, and some only stay for a while and then fly away, but many of them will come back after leaving, either after a while or a year."

"So that one has never been here before? Why doesn't he eat it?"

The prince asked, pointing to the red-crowned white crane in the distance. The eunuch looked back and nodded to confirm.

"Back to Your Highness, I have indeed never been here before. Cranes are generally more vigilant. They may fly away quickly, or they may eat them after being familiar with them for a while, but this one."

"What's wrong with this one?"

"The villain thinks that one is not afraid of people."

The prince nodded slightly. Careful and capable people always make people take a higher look. His heart moved and he suddenly asked again.

"Did you hear the cranes chirping last night?"

The eunuch who had been lowering his head slightly subconsciously glanced at the prince in surprise, but immediately realized that this move was slightly disrespectful, quickly lowered his head, and covered up his actions with an answer.

"Back to Your Highness, I heard it. It must have been the chirping of this white crane when it flew over."

This was the answer, but in fact, the colleague next to him didn't sleep last night, so he didn't hear it.

The prince's mood suddenly improved inexplicably. Sure enough, there was a crane crowing, and he heard it right!

While the prince was chatting with people by the big pond garden, an attendant trotted over from outside the garden. When he came all the way to the prince, the prince who noticed this had already looked at him.

"What's up?"

The attendant approached the prince and said.

"Your Highness, I heard that the Imperial Master is back, so I came here to inform Your Highness!"

Someone in the entourage couldn't help but murmured.

"so fast!"

The prince also frowned, and his good mood just now seemed to be cast into a haze. Hum, he came back so quickly. It was more than half a month faster than expected. He didn't know when the reply from Yunlu Mansion would be. arrive.

"Father will definitely summon the Imperial Master, let's go!"

After that, the prince turned around and left with everyone, but after walking out for almost ten steps, the prince seemed to think of something again, stopped walking, and turned back to point at the eunuch who had just made him very satisfied.

"May I have your name?"

Although he was already more than ten steps away, the eunuch over there still took two steps forward and bowed to answer.

"Back to Your Highness, my name is Yuan Zhaoning."

The prince nodded.

"Reward twenty taels of silver!"

"yes!"

An attendant took the order and turned back, but the eunuch over there immediately bowed and thanked him.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for the reward!"

"Um!"

The prince then hurriedly left with his men. As he was leaving, he asked the attendants who came to report the news to learn the details of the imperial master's return.

"The Imperial Master came back with a huge fanfare, but there were still only a few people."

"Going back to Your Highness, I heard that there are not many people there, even, it is even said that there is only the Imperial Master himself!"

The prince kept walking while everyone around him was thoughtful.

When they gradually went away, the two eunuchs beside the big pool relaxed. One of them looked at his colleague who had received the reward with no intention of congratulating him.

The other person originally wanted to share the reward, but in this person's situation, he didn't want to be warm to others, so he continued to pick up the wooden bucket and feed it to the crane.

Only after a while, after the atmosphere between the two parties relaxed, Yuan Zhaoning took out ten taels of silver.

"Here, you are on duty with me today, and you should have a share of the reward."

"Ah? This, how can this be done!"

There was surprise on the eunuch's face. He said he couldn't help it, but he had already taken the silver in his hand, and the gloom just now was gone.

"Hey, don't you think this white crane is special?" "It's just a wild bird, what's so special about it?"

The white crane among the cranes is still very conspicuous. The eunuch who just wanted to complete the task showed little interest in this crane, but Yuan Zhaoning was very curious.

At this moment, the white crane also raised its head and looked at Yuan Zhaoning, but only for a short while, and then combed its hair again.