She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

In the tenth day of the tenth month in Pingzhou, the early spring cold began to set in.

It was a cold and snowy day, and Pingzhou Prefecture was silent.

Hengzhi changed into a single layer of clothes, braved the snow, and went to the city gate alone to pick someone up.

The air at dawn was filled with chill, and the snow particles were like salt, slowly covering the barren countryside.

A man and a horse came from afar, breaking the silence.

Hengzhi raised his head slightly, and the cold snow fell on his face and into the gaps in his clothes. He knew the sound of the horse neighing.

Yun Cheng walked back and forth between Pingzhou and Kezhou, surrounded by dust. He tightened the reins and stopped steadily in front of the city gate.

"Master." He held the reins for a long time, and his dry hands clasped them together without saying a word. "I and Yun Cong have already taken care of the matter in Beitang. We have received the order from the governor and have locked up the two leaders in the court jail."

As he spoke, he took out a wax-sealed document from his bosom and handed it to Hengzhi.

"It's snowing heavily, and you don't even put on some thick clothes?" Yun Cheng rubbed his hands. Seeing that he was only wearing the black clothes under his armor, he looked much prettier. If it was a bright spring day, he would have been thrown into the car full of fruits.

But it’s cold!

These days, if water drops don't turn into ice, it's almost like ice chips.

Even if the purpose is to temper one's character, there is no need to torture the body in this way.

Hengzhi looked around the envelope, "Since the first battle, Chen Lan relied on our unfamiliarity with the terrain to quickly disperse his troops and hide them in various places. The enemy is in the dark, and I am in the light. I have to patrol the city every day. Wearing so many clothes, it's natural that he's hot."

Yun Cheng was so choked that he could not utter a word of rebuttal. He could only nod silently, fearing that if he said a word more, the job of morning and night patrols would fall on him.

"You will be with me starting tomorrow." Hengzhi's eyes were filled with appreciation. He patted Yuncheng's shoulder maliciously, then walked out from under the tree and ordered, "Tie up the horse. There is still one person who hasn't arrived yet."

Yun Cheng's shoulders slumped instantly.

Having been with the young marquis day and night for these years, I should have known that this was his favorite thing to do, and inspections were hard and tiring, so how could I avoid it this time?

He raised his head and looked at the sky in despair, "God wants to kill me."

Hengzhi folded his arms, standing as straight as the city wall behind him. He raised his leg and kicked the wooden flagpole. The snow accumulated on the flag fell down and soaked Yuncheng.

"Ah!" Yun Cheng stretched out his hands to grab his neck and dodged far away in panic, "I didn't know that the master had such a teasing nature."

Hengzhi now exuded some laziness, no longer tense like an arrow on a bowstring. "A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. If you learn this now, you will benefit from it for the rest of your life."

Yun Cheng thought about what he said carefully, and wondered if he had guessed that after he returned to Kezhou, he would tell Yun Li and the others everything about the annual banquet in the capital.

Looking at the handsome face of my master who seems to have seen through everything, I'm afraid it's at least 80% likely.

"I'm not as knowledgeable as you are." Yun Cheng muttered, and after tying up the horse, he walked back and asked, "Who are you waiting for?"

One is from the north and the other is from the south. Now that the one from the north has arrived, the only ones left are heading south.

But he soon found out.

In Li Shuyuan's private residence in the capital, there was a letter post station that had not been used for many years. It was originally set up by his father to facilitate communication with friends all over the world. Later, his father passed away and Li Shuyuan worked in the palace, so it was left unused.

The old man at the Shuxin Post Station passed the job to his son. Now raising birds and selling them to the government-owned Bird Post Station is Li Shuyuan's additional property.

Before leaving for Pingzhou, Li Shuyuan mentioned to him the matter of reopening the letter post station. Since neither of them trusted the official post station, it would be better to use their own. Whether it was to deliver family letters or urgent news, it would be more convenient.

Judging from the loving look on her face when she said the word "letter from home", Hengzhi guessed that she was trying to build a bridge between him and A'an, so he gladly accepted it.

What we are waiting for today is the plum tree that is in the middle of its journey of getting a messenger.

When the person was brought into Pingzhou Prefecture, Hengzhi dismissed everyone around him and kept him in the study.

"I am Li Shu, and I am honored to meet General Heng." Li Shu is the youngest son of the old man. He is only thirty years old and has just got married. He has received a commendation from Li Shuyuan and is now very dedicated. "Except for the things that Madam Li gave you in this box, the rest of the words were passed on orally by me."

After saying that, he glanced at Yun Cheng and asked, "Do you want to dismiss this young general as well?"

Heng Qi took the wooden box, opened it and saw that it should be Li Shuyuan's deposits in some banks in Pingzhou and the account books and keys of a shop in the city. He closed it again and said, "No need. This is my deputy general. Just tell me."

"Yes."

In the next half hour, Li Shu described in detail how the princess had been bullied by Jin Zhaoyi since the fire in the West Palace and was forced to move from Changsheng Hall to the old Buddhist temple next to the East Palace.

After Jin Zhaoyi took control of the palace, she became more and more arrogant. First, she redecorated the Changsheng Hall and moved away the relics of the late Queen Chen. Then, she filed a complaint with the emperor and ordered him to deal with Princess Xuancheng.

The princess was then imprisoned in the Changsheng Palace and then in the Buddhist temple, where she had to recite and copy Buddhist scriptures every day, praying for good weather and good harvests to atone for her sins.

Yun Cheng was shocked after hearing this. "How can this be possible? The princess did nothing wrong, but she still has to suffer such a loss!"

Hengzhi remained calm.

Li Shu looked at the two people's faces one by one, and then continued, "Yes, but the next words are what Madam Li, my family's master wants to tell the general, which is another situation."

I knew that Ah-yi would never let herself suffer such a loss.

"The head of the family said that when Jin Zhaoyi came out of Changsheng Hall that day, she quietly ordered people to repaint and repair the Buddhist hall in the middle of the night. Now it neither leaks rain nor wind. The next day, she asked for permission to leave the palace and asked for a statue of Akasagarbha Bodhisattva, who is said to be very effective. She originally wanted to ask for the Five Gods of Wealth, but she was afraid that the large number of statues would attract attention, so she asked for this one. It doesn't seem like a wicked idea that Jin Zhaoyi would come up with."

Heng Zhi chuckled. "The head of the family said that she went to the temple to look after the princess. She kneeled before the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha every day to seek wealth. She was very pious!" Li Shu also laughed. "I didn't expect that our princess was such a lively and playful lady. I also found it interesting. So the head of the family asked me to tell the general that the princess must have her own plans. Jin Zhaoyi's brain can't compete with the princess's. You don't have to worry."

Hengzhi quickly replied, one letter to Li Shuyuan to thank her and one to A'an, without leaving any signature on them, and gave them all to Li Shu.

Li Shu learned to be a qualified messenger under the guidance of his father since he was a child. He also knew that the road was long and difficult in winter, so he set off right after lunch, not daring to delay for a moment.

Hengzhi's relief only lasted until the moment Li Shu's figure disappeared at the city gate.

He originally thought that Pingzhou was limited in area, and since Chen Lan's uprising did not alarm the four directions, he would not have much power. This was roughly consistent with the situation reported to him by the Ministry of War before he left.

Fortunately, he had always been cautious. He sensed that something was wrong on the way and sent scouts to investigate the situation in advance, so he avoided being caught in the trap set by Chen Lan before he even entered the city.

Only then did he realize how unreliable the military reports collected by these ministers who were far away in the capital and could only talk about military affairs on paper were.

It can be said that Chen Lan had long harbored rebellious intentions. Even when he first joined Beitang, he used his persuasive mouth to secretly win over forces that could be used for his own benefit.

Beitang in Pingzhou can be said to be the place where Chen Lan was crowned the king of monkeys.

If there were still a small number of people who had not been deceived by Chen Lan, then after seeing Kezhou massacring Beitang, they all joined Chen Lan's rebellion one after another.

Hengzhi held his forehead with his hands, realizing that he had unintentionally helped him.

They followed the tact of the local tyrants, and when they saw that frontal tactics were unable to resist the Hengzhi rebellion, they dispersed all the people and hid in the hard-to-detect streets. This was a difficult task like finding a needle in a haystack. It was almost impossible for the conspicuous army to quell the rebellion as soon as possible.

Hengzhi worked hard on paperwork every day. With the help of the information forced out by Kezhou Beitang, as well as Chen Lan's life, Pingzhou's topography and market layout, and the population records of the household department, he settled down and figured it all out in secret as if he was recuperating.

It was not a waste of time to investigate the trivial details. Waiting for Chen Lan to lose his temper and counterattack was a bad idea after all. I was afraid that Hengzhi could not wait, and the new emperor of the capital could not wait to have him beheaded.

In this case, it is better to keep a low profile and wait for the right time to deliver a heavy blow.

After all, Hengzhi is very familiar with this strategy of keeping a low profile.

When the so-called family letter was handed to A'an, a new task had come upon her.

There is no early rise without gain. As soon as the sun rose, Xiao Jin knocked on the door of the Zen room.

Ying'en let her in. Both the master and the servant had murderous looks on their faces and almost stared through Xiao Jin.

"What's your attitude?" Xiao Jin sat down at the table without treating herself as an outsider and poured herself some water to drink. "Yuan Ning, I have something to tell you."

Everyone in the palace knew that she, Cui Yi, was Princess Xuancheng, born to the previous emperor. The title bestowed upon her by Emperor Wu'an was Yuanning. In order to get closer to her, Xiao Jin shamelessly called her that.

She also said that she was her half-aunt after all, so she insisted that A'ao accept the name.

She wore an apricot-colored palace dress today, with only a long hairpin on her hair. She didn't paint her lips like the Nian beast that ate babies raw on New Year's Eve, but looked much more plain, with a more virtuous look.

Ah'ao was not used to seeing her not being fancy.

"Just say it straight." Ah'ao was still sleepy. She supported her head with her hands, leaning on the table, without any composure at all.

My ability to stay in bed is improving day by day. When I was in Kezhou, I was energetic even though I was busy with all kinds of things. Even if I didn't get a full night's sleep for a few days, I didn't feel as sleepy as I do now.

It is true that people easily become tired when they have nothing to do.

Xiao Jin was mysterious and somewhat proud. "I did as you said. Yesterday I went to the temporary palace to report to His Majesty about the palace renovation. I also specifically mentioned that your teacher participated in the drawing of the beams and pillars of the Chong'an Hall. The drawings were also based on Feng Shui and are extremely beneficial to the emperor."

Ah-yi nodded, "He believed it?"

"Of course." Xiao Jin straightened her back proudly. "I am the most favored person in the palace now, and I rely on my ability to read His Majesty's eyes. When His Majesty heard this, he really said that he wanted to summon your teacher Huai Chengbai to the palace to repair it, but Huai Chengbai had already traveled all over the world and it would take a while for him to find him."

"So, you are so smart that you can come up with other words?" A'ao encouraged, with a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes.

"Indeed! I told your Majesty that I had prepared the pigments needed to paint the pillars and eaves. If left for a long time, cinnabar would deteriorate and change color, which would harm the emperor's spirit. Your Majesty was anxious, so I took the opportunity to tell him that the craftsmen in the Ministry of Works recommended the princess, who had studied with Huai Chengbai since childhood, so that her merits could atone for her sins. As expected, your Majesty agreed."

Xiao Jin spoke in a hurry, and as soon as she finished speaking, she drank a large cup of tea and no longer cared about her manners.

Everything went just as Ah'ao had expected, smoothly and quickly. She was so happy that her impatience for being lazy in bed disappeared.

"Stay for lunch and eat hotpot together!" The princess waved her hand and insisted on treating everyone.

Ying En came in from outside the palace, holding a letter in her hand, but interrupted her plan first, "Your Highness, Yang Siyi said that he saw your letter when he passed by, so he brought it to you."

The room fell silent for a moment.

A'an stared at Ying'en, and Ying'en stared at her meaningfully. Xiao Jin's inquiring gaze moved back and forth between the two of them, and it seemed that both of them had impure motives.

"Oh." She sighed, "It must be a letter from my lover! It's from the north, right? I understand. I'll go back to the palace first. Don't forget to ask someone to treat me to lunch."

After saying that, he ran away in a flash.

Ah'an walked back and forth, weighing the letter in her hand that did not leave any name on it.

It was the north, yes, but not as far north as she thought.

(End of this chapter)