Ch. 94 - Pei Hong: Xiao Sheng, are you talking about me?

Tonight is New Year's Eve, a day for family reunions. The rebels outside have not made any moves for the time being, so Zhong Yansheng gave his ministers a day off.

Why is Zhong Sidu coming to the palace instead of staying at the Marquis' Mansion with his parents?

Zhong Yansheng was stunned for a moment, then rubbed his buzzing ears and said, "Bring him over here."

Zhong Sidu came with a food box.

On New Year's Eve last year, Zhong Yansheng was still in the Marquis' Mansion. Now that his status is different, it would be against both moral and etiquette for him to go there again.

The Marquis's wife felt reluctant to see Zhong Yansheng alone in the palace, and had planned to come to the palace herself, but she had caught a cold recently, so Zhong Sidu took the initiative to step forward.

In the lunch box were some of Zhong Yansheng's favorite side dishes, all made by his favorite cook.

It was steaming hot. Zhong Yansheng was already full, but he couldn't bear to let her down. He picked up the food with his jade chopsticks and tasted it. He smiled at Zhong Sidu and said, "Thank you for making the trip. Please thank my mother for me when you go back."

Zhong Sidu looked a little haggard, perhaps because he was worried about the imperial examination. He did not respond to Zhong Yansheng's words, and his voice was a little hoarse: "I saw some patrolling soldiers in front of the palace gate."

Zhong Yansheng put down his jade chopsticks: "What's wrong? Some of them are His Royal Highness Prince Jing's men."

After receiving the news of the great victory in Mobei, Zhong Yansheng was pleasantly surprised, but guessed that the rebels might launch a general attack at any time, so he transferred the last guards in the palace to the front, leaving only the last small group of black-armored guards by his side.

What he has to guard is not only the imperial palace, but the entire capital city.

However, the palace was so large that it was impossible for dozens of black-armored guards to guard it. It would be so deserted that no one would know if an assassin sneaked in. Pei Hong suggested to Zhong Yansheng that he let his personal soldiers guard the palace gate.

After King Jing arrived in the capital, he gave up his military power, stayed in the palace honestly, and never interfered with his personal soldiers and state affairs. Those who had been suspicious of King Jing in the court also relaxed their vigilance.

Compared with the people left behind by the old emperor, Zhong Yansheng trusted Pei Hong more.

Zhong Sidu was silent for a while, staring at Zhong Yansheng, his lips moved, and suddenly said: "Do you know when I knew my identity?"

Zhong Yansheng was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but sit up straight: "When...?"

Zhong Sidu's brows were indifferent, but he did not answer directly. Instead, he talked about some past events.

The secret guard who took Zhong Sidu away was seriously injured and did not have time to send Zhong Sidu to the people arranged by Huai'an Marquis Mansion.

The farmer who adopted Zhong Sidu was not so kind. Zhong Sidu had been lacking in food and clothing since childhood and barely escaped starvation. When he grew up, he had to help the farmer with housework. If he was slow or ate one more bite, he would be beaten. The farmer's most common curse was "You bitch, you are unwanted by your parents. If it weren't for me, you would have been taken away and eaten by a wolf long ago."

When Zhong Sidu was ten years old, famine broke out in the area and the farmer planned to exchange Zhong Sidu for food.

Zhong Yansheng's eyes widened slightly. Zhong Sidu had never told anyone about these things. When talking about his childhood, he just said with a perfect smile, "My adoptive father passed away when I was ten years old."

"Do you know how he died?"

Zhong Yansheng felt so heavy in his heart that he could hardly breathe: "How...did he die?"

Zhong Sidu said in a gentle tone: "I usually go to the old doctor in the village to help, and I stole some medicine."

He smeared the medicine on half a steamed bun that he had managed to obtain, and handed it obediently to the farmer who was so hungry that he was almost losing his mind.

Then he found something useful and left quietly.

There were so many people starving to death at that time that naturally no one paid attention.

Zhong Yansheng was extremely flustered. His back felt cold and sweaty, and his throat was choked: "You..."

"I walked a long way, I didn't know where I was, I became a beggar, and often lay outside a private school to eavesdrop. I remembered everything he taught me once, and I could apply what I learned to other situations. Seeing that I had a talent for reading, he adopted me and asked me to write poems and lyrics for him, using his name."

"Then I secretly took the college entrance examination, won the first place, and met a man."

Zhong Sidu looks so much like the Marquis of Huai'an and his wife that anyone who has seen them can recognize him, not to mention the token from the Marquis's mansion as proof.

Zhong Sidu learned more from that person.

After learning about his own life experience, Zhong Sidu was not too surprised, but more of a confusion, anger and hatred.

Later, he traveled thousands of miles to the capital to find his relatives, but was placed in a villa outside the capital. He could not return to the marquis's mansion, recognize his parents, and restore his identity.

Zhong Sidu's voice was soft, as gentle as ever: "Now do you know why I hated you so much when I first returned to the Marquis' Mansion? You are indeed innocent, but I hate you... is that wrong?"

Zhong Yansheng's voice was choked up, and his eyes were red: "No... I'm sorry."

"You don't have to feel guilty." Zhong Sidu said in a low voice, "I just..."

But Zhong Sidu didn’t say anything else. Zhong Yansheng felt heavy and uncomfortable, but he didn’t have the heart to ask any more questions.

The room was silent for a long time before Zhong Sidu spoke again: "His Royal Highness Prince Jing is still in the palace, so it's inconvenient for me to stay longer. Since you're in the palace, we probably can't spend the Lantern Festival together. Mother has cooked some glutinous rice balls, so remember to eat some. I'm leaving first."

His words were incoherent. Zhong Yansheng was still immersed in the heavy emotions just now. Suddenly hearing these two words, he looked up blankly and followed his movements. He asked in a low voice: "Zhong Sidu, do you still hate me in your heart?"

"……maybe."

Zhong Sidu put on his cloak, pushed the door and left.

It started snowing outside again, and the rustling sound of the falling snow made the palace seem even more dead silent.

Zhong Yansheng sat at the table for a long time before he picked up the slightly cooled glutinous rice balls in the food box and wanted to take a bite.

When I lifted the bowl, my fingers felt something at the bottom of the bowl.

Zhong Yansheng lifted the bowl a little higher and found that it was a piece of paper folded into a square and stuck to the bottom of the bowl.

Did Zhong Sidu secretly put it under the bowl? When he left just now, he reminded him to eat tangyuan for Yuanxiao.

Why is Zhong Sidu so cautious in the palace? Is he afraid of being heard by someone?

Zhong Yansheng was stunned for a moment, his heart suddenly beat faster. He carefully took down the paper and opened it.

Perhaps because they were afraid that the food box would be discovered when the palace guards checked it, there were only two lines of poetry written on it: "When a person is alone in a world, tears come to his eyes when a letter from afar enters his mouth."

In addition to eating glutinous rice balls, there is another interesting activity during the Lantern Festival.

Zhong Yansheng stared at the two sentences in a daze for a while. After a long while, his face turned pale. With trembling fingers, he handed the note to the candle flame and burned it.

Then he quickly wrote two secret letters, called Wei Ling over, and handed them to Wei Ling: "One to Taiyuan, and one to Mobei."

But the situation was worse than Zhong Yansheng thought.

The next morning, Wei Ling hurriedly knocked on Zhong Yansheng's door.

Wei Ling has always been careful and attentive, and he also feels sorry for Zhong Yansheng. If it weren't for an extremely urgent matter, he would never wake Zhong Yansheng up so early.

Zhong Yansheng knew this, so he suppressed his temper and rubbed his eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"

Wei Ling said with a sullen face, "Young Master, all the carrier pigeons released outside the capital were shot dead. There were not many left in the pigeon cages, and the last few died this morning."

Zhong Yansheng's temples couldn't stop throbbing, and he suppressed his panic and asked, "How did he die?"

"I'm asking the imperial physician to check it." Wei Ling paused, "I think it's poison."

Now that the rebels have been blocked outside the city, it is almost impossible to send people out of the city to deliver the message. If carrier pigeons cannot deliver the message either, the capital will really be isolated and helpless.

Because of the reinforcements from King Jing these days, Zhong Yansheng was no longer in a hurry to ask Taiyuan for help. Moreover, they could still receive messages from Mobei via carrier pigeons, making it even more difficult for them to detect that their news had been blocked in the capital and could not be transmitted out.

Zhong Yansheng, wearing a robe and with messy hair, walked back and forth for a few times before saying with a wooden face, "Don't make it public yet. Find a way to spread the news."

Wei Ling pondered for a while and said, "Young Master, there may be another way to spread the news now."

Zhong Yansheng's eyes lit up: "What?"

"I am not sure whether it is true or not." Wei Ling hesitated and said, "It is said that when Taizu conquered the capital and rebuilt the palace, he ordered people to build a secret passage underground to connect the palace with the outside of the city, leaving it for future generations to prevent unexpected events. However, only after the crown prince ascends the throne can he get the map of the secret passage."

When the former crown prince launched the coup, they failed to find the so-called secret passage.

If we could have found this so-called secret passage back then... maybe the Crown Princess could have been saved.

Zhong Yansheng had just woken up and was feeling sleepy. He looked as if he was in a daze while thinking. After a while, he nodded and said, "There is no smoke without fire. Send your men to be careful and check around the palace."

"yes!"

"Bring some hot water. I'll wash up and go to the Yangxin Palace."

Zhong Yansheng didn't really expect to find out anything from the old emperor. Even though the old man had fallen to his current situation, with his entire body covered in dirt and tortured by the Wuxiang Pills, he rarely spoke the truth.

After all, he was a man who had sat firmly on the throne for decades. Even though Zhong Yansheng hated him, he had to admit that the old man's character was truly incomparable to ordinary people.

When he arrived at the Yangxin Palace, Zhong Yansheng saw two people before he even stepped inside.

It was Tian Xi and Pei Hong. Tian Xi had his head buried and no one knew what he was saying. Pei Hong was probably still hungover and his expression was somewhat similar to the cold one he had last night.

Hearing footsteps, Pei Hong turned around and saw that it was Zhong Yansheng. He habitually raised a smile and waved his fan to tease him: "Xiao Sheng is a busy man, how come you still have time to come here?"

Zhong Yansheng paused, glanced at Tian Xi who was silent, and smiled at Pei Hong: "Today is the first day of the lunar year, I came to take care of His Majesty."

"What a coincidence. I'm here to show my filial piety as well." Pei Hong shrugged. "Unfortunately, His Majesty hasn't woken up yet. How about trying to stuff snow into his collar to see if he can wake up from the cold? Or maybe light a fire on his hair?"

Zhong Yansheng: "...Your Highness Prince Jing, isn't this a bit too damaging to your virtue?"

Tian Xi was also wiping his sweat vigorously.

Pei Hong laughed, closed his fan, and said leisurely: "It's okay, he deserves it."

Zhong Yansheng took a step back unconsciously and whispered: "Forget it, it's New Year's Day, it's not an urgent matter, I won't do this kind of thing."

As he was speaking, Wei Ling stepped in from outside, bowed his head and said, "Young Master, there are unusual movements of the rebels outside the city, and several elders and the Minister of War want to see you."

Wei Ling arrived just in time. Zhong Yansheng took another step back, facing Pei Hong's dark eyes, and maintained a soft tone: "Your Highness Prince Jing, I have something else to do. I'll go get busy first."

Pei Hong suddenly took two steps forward, reached out and touched his thin face, and sighed: "You've lost a lot of weight again."

His fingertips were cold, which was different from Xiao Nong's fingers with thin calluses. He always felt at ease when Xiao Nong stroked Zhong Yansheng's hair and cheek with extra care.

Thinking of Xiao Nong, Zhong Yansheng's eyelashes trembled twice, his eyes became moist almost immediately, his nose tip felt sore, and his usually affectionate black eyes became moist with a thin layer of tears.

That somewhat aggrieved look was particularly endearing. Pei Hong retracted his fingers and said in a low and soft voice: "Xiao Sheng should be well protected in a beautiful environment, and not be so exhausted and hurtful."

Zhong Yansheng blinked his eyes, blinking away the tears, and said seriously: "Your Highness, Prince Jing, just because I was born in a wealthy and prosperous environment, I should fulfill my duties when disaster strikes."

Pei Hong paused and smiled: "You are right. I won't keep you talking anymore. Go quickly, Xiao Sheng."

As Zhong Yansheng expected, when the good news from Mobei came, the people in Beijing were delighted, but for the rebels, it was undoubtedly bad news, and time became urgent.

Within two days, Huo Shuang reported back that he did not find Prince An among the rebels, but the rebels did make unusual movements and launched a fierce attack on the capital. If it were not for Prince Jing's personal soldiers, the army would probably have been at the gates of the city.

On the sixth day of the New Year, the weather in the capital was sunny, a rare occasion.

Xiao Wenlan carried a pot of good wine and excitedly went to find Pei Hong to drink.

Pei Hong was free to enter and leave the palace during this period and lived in the palace where he had lived for a period of time before. Xiao Wenlan often came to the palace when he was a child and often came to play with Pei Hong. He was very familiar with the palace paths and took a shortcut through the back door to enter the palace and go to the pavilion by the lake where he and Pei Hong often drank.

There seemed to be no one in King Jing's Palace, and no one was sweeping the snow on the road. The snow had accumulated for several days, and it cleared up today, so the road was very slippery.

Xiao Wenlan was walking without looking at the road and he slipped unexpectedly, breaking the jar of wine he was holding and splashing all over him. The strong smell of alcohol was there.

He fell so hard that his eyes went dark and he groaned for a long time. When he looked up, he found that the jade pendant on his body had been thrown out and slid along the frozen lake surface to the back of the rockery.

Xiao Wenlan spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy this jade pendant.

Seeing tens of thousands of taels of silver flying away, Xiao Wenlan didn't even have time to get up. He endured the severe pain and used all four limbs to quickly rush over. He grabbed the precious jade pendant, looked at it carefully, and found that there were no cracks on it. He breathed a sigh of relief and kissed it happily twice.

Xiao Wenlan was in so much pain on his body that he grimaced. After a while, he was about to climb up with the help of the rockery when he heard a conversation coming from far away.

He was delighted and just wanted to call someone to help him, but he heard someone say, "You've been dragging it out for too long. Are you too soft-hearted?"

The voice sounded unfamiliar, but the content of the words made Xiao Wenlan completely confused. He subconsciously shut his mouth and did not howl out.

Then he heard another familiar voice, a little deeper than usual: "No."

Xiao Wenlan's heart started beating inexplicably. He raised his head and quietly looked over from behind the rockery. When he saw the person approaching, his eyes widened instantly.

He saw the person in the small portrait that Zhong Yansheng had painted in his study a few days ago.

Zhong Yansheng told him that day that this man was the leader of the rebels.

Why did the rebel leader appear in the palace? !

Xiao Wenlan subconsciously felt that he had seen this person before, but he was extremely nervous at the moment. His head was buzzing, he was sweating profusely, and his brain was blank. He couldn't remember who this person was or where he had seen him before. He could only cover his mouth and dared not make a sound.

He wished he could faint immediately to avoid hearing any secrets and being discovered and silenced.

After a while, he watched the two men walking towards the pavilion by the lake, and the sound of their conversation became clearer.

"You are indeed soft-hearted. Humph, you are incapable of accomplishing anything. If you were more ruthless, you could have solved this problem at Qinxin Garden, and there would be no need to create so many unnecessary problems."

It was still winter, and the quilt was as cold as iron without a fire at night. Xiao Wenlan broke out in sweat on his back.

Qin, Qinxin Garden.

He remembered that Zhong Yansheng had just returned to the capital with the Marquis of Huai'an and his wife, and King Jing called a group of them together and took Zhong Yansheng to visit the garden.

They were a bunch of useless young men who ate and drank everywhere. They were drunk and didn't notice how Zhong Yansheng fell into the lake.

There were few people who could swim among the group, and those who could swim were extremely drunk. Even if they were sober, most of them would not dare to risk jumping into the cold water in early spring to save people. Because of this delay and hesitation, Zhong Yansheng almost drowned in the lake.

In the end, it was His Royal Highness Prince Jing who jumped into the water regardless of danger and rescued Zhong Yansheng. Xiao Wenlan admired him very much.

Later, because Zhong Yansheng almost died after falling into the water, King Jing was punished with house arrest. Zhong Yansheng had a high fever and was in a coma for several days before waking up.

Another voice suddenly sounded, coldly: "We are just partners, don't tell me what to do."

"Cooperation? Don't forget what you are."

The rebel leader who appeared in the palace stood with his hands behind his back, a mocking smile on his face, "If you really like him, why not imprison him and make him your lover? Why do you have to act so hypocritically and do all these bad things, and still want to be a good person?"

As soon as the last sentence was uttered, the person with his back to Xiao Wenlan fell silent.

"How long are you going to put on an act? If we can't take the capital before Xiao Nong returns, none of us will survive without the hostages."

After a moment, Xiao Wenlan heard the man's voice become slightly hoarse, and he said coldly: "I know what's going on."

"You'd better take it seriously."

Xiao Wenlan didn't know whether it was because of the cold or fear, his teeth were chattering.

He soon realized that if the two people at the pavilion took a few more steps inside, his position would be discovered, so he quickly held his breath, weakened his hands and feet, and retreated inside with gritted teeth.

After shrinking twice, the rebel leader looked over suddenly: "Someone!"

There was a clang, the sound of a weapon being unsheathed.

The footsteps were approaching.

Xiao Wenlan's lips trembled, his heart was beating so hard that it was about to jump out of his chest. He pushed his messy hair hard and lay on the ground yelling, as if he had just been woken up. He raised his head with a dazed look and shouted with a big tongue: "Who, who is it, wuwu, I, I fell down and can't get up, help me up."

He fell down just now and the wine jar broke, spilling all over him. As he got closer, he could smell the strong smell of alcohol, and it looked like he was really drunk.

"...Is it Xiao Nong's useless cousin?"

When they saw that it was Xiao Wenlan, the two people beside the rockery fell silent for a moment.

These days, Xiao Wenlan lived in the palace. Except for a slight restriction on his freedom, he still ate and drank every day. He went to drink with King Jing every few days. He didn't care about anything at all, which perfectly embodied the words "dissolute playboy and waste".

The rebel leader still did not put away the knife. Even though Xiao Wenlan was a known loser, there was still a hint of murderous intent and suspicion in his eyes, and he put the knife towards Xiao Wenlan's neck.

Xiao Wenlan was so drunk that he seemed to be in a daze. When he saw something approaching, he licked the blade with his tongue, made a "Pooh" sound, and shouted in dissatisfaction: "It's not sweet, it's not delicious, I want to eat... frozen persimmons!"

The rebel leader frowned and immediately put the knife back in disgust.

Xiao Wenlan was almost frightened to death. He half-seriously hugged the legs of the person in front of him and started crying, rolling on the ground and demanding frozen persimmons.

The rebel leader's ears were buzzing with his noise and he was a little annoyed: "Kill him and throw him into a dry well."

Xiao Wenlan cried even louder, his words unclear: "Persimmon... Persimmon..."

Help! Someone save him!

Brother! Sister-in-law!

The other person was silent for a moment and said, "He is a member of the Xiao family after all. It is impossible to get rid of him silently. It will be very troublesome if he dies. Anyway, he is drunk and confused. He doesn't know anything. Even if he vaguely remembers something, he dare not say it with his courage."

These words seemed to have moved the rebel leader. After a while, Xiao Wenlan heard the sound of a sword being sheathed, and then another person said in a light voice: "Come here, send Young Master Xiao back."

Xiao Wenlan made a fuss for a while, and then seemed like he was drunk again. When he was carried up, he didn't dare to open his eyes and pretended to be in a deep sleep. He didn't dare to move again until he was sent back to the palace where he was temporarily staying.

After being put back on the bed, Uncle Wang sent away the people who had brought Xiao Wenlan back, and came over with a hot towel to wipe Xiao Wenlan's hands. The old man had sharp eyes and could tell at a glance that he was pretending to sleep: "Second Young Master, what's wrong?"

There was no one else there. Xiao Wenlan opened his eyes dully, his lips trembled a few times, and his throat felt like it had swallowed a piece of iron. In extreme fear, he opened his mouth, but no sound came out of his throat.

Uncle Wang patted his back comfortingly: "Don't worry, you can talk slowly if you have anything to say."

Xiao Wenlan took the handkerchief, wiped his face, and became a little more sober.

He wished he hadn't heard or seen anything, and continued to live his carefree life peacefully, like a coward.

But……

Xiao Wenlan's face turned pale, and he finally squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "Uncle Wang, I, I want to go see the young prince."

Wang Bo sighed, and seeing that he was still shaking violently, he comforted him twice: "Okay, this old servant will take you to find the young prince right away."

"No, no, I can't go out now." Xiao Wenlan's mind turned slowly, "At night, wait until night, I will go there quietly."

Zhong Yansheng stayed in Wenyuan Pavilion for a whole day, listening to the Minister of War and the Minister of Revenue arguing for a long time. When he left in the evening, his head was still buzzing.

The Minister of War wants to allocate funds, while the Minister of Revenue is crying poor. These ministers are really arguing at this moment in time.

No wonder my brother always has a gloomy face when he is in a meeting. It calms people down and makes them talk less nonsense.

After instructing Wei Ling to pass a message to Huo Shuang, Zhong Yansheng returned to Lanqing Palace. It was already dark. As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, a dark figure suddenly jumped out from the shadows beside him: "Young Prince!"

Zhong Yansheng was so scared that he almost jumped up: "Second Young Master Xiao? What are you doing squatting here?"

Xiao Wenlan looked anxious, rushed over to grab his hand, and spoke incoherently: "I, I saw it and heard it!"

"What?" Zhong Yansheng saw sweat on his face and patted his hands gently, "Speak slowly."

Xiao Wenlan had a lot of things to say in his mind. He turned them over and over in his mind and finally found the key point: "I saw... the rebel leader, and Jing..."

Zhong Yansheng's eyelids twitched, and just as he was about to interrupt him, he noticed that the surroundings were unusually quiet.

Xiao Wenlan, who was standing opposite him, choked up, his pupils dilated, reflecting the person behind him.

Pei Hong appeared behind him at some point, bent down, and said with a gentle smile: "Xiao Sheng, are you talking about me?"

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