soy sauce lady

Chapter 24

After the morning court that day, His Majesty the Emperor ushered in Wen Shaofu's last lesson.

Before the class, His Majesty the Emperor first expressed his resentment: "Young Master Wen, I canonized you as the emperor's teacher, but you only teach me three lessons. Isn't it too easy?"

"Your Majesty, it's not about the number of lessons, but about the quality."

His Majesty narrowed his eyes, "Are you really lazy?"

Wen Su looked calm, "If Your Majesty really wants me to teach you written knowledge, I can give it a try."

"..." His Majesty waved his hands depressedly, "Forget it, let's go to class!"

I thought that today's last lesson would be the quintessence of the quintessence, and it would definitely open the eyes of His Majesty the Emperor, but the reality was unexpected.

Wen Su sat in front of the emperor holding the air of Shao Fu, and after drinking almost half a pot of tea, she said leisurely: "Your Majesty, you are not calm enough."

Of course the emperor was not calm, he was waiting for the lecture, but she was drinking tea carelessly by herself, and didn't take him as the emperor at all!
"What is Shao Fu trying to sell?"

"Your Majesty, don't be impatient. If you ask such a question, I will answer you, but some people may not be able to answer."

"Cut! According to what you say, is it possible that I have to think of a thousand ways to ask a thousand people?"

"That's right!" Wen Su clapped her hands and nodded appreciatively, "Your Majesty is right, that's why I hope that His Majesty can grasp the characteristics of others as soon as possible, because I want everyone to listen to you obediently and tell you what you want to know , we must remember the cross mantra of the humble minister."

"Cross mantra?" The little emperor became interested, "What exquisite mantra? Come and listen to it!"

Wen Su took a sip of tea again, with a sly smile on her face: "Talking about people when you see people, talking nonsense when you see ghosts."

"..." Your Majesty turned his head, wondering why such a profound mantra is so common?
"Your Majesty, don't underestimate this common saying. This is precisely the true meaning of being harmonious. What to say to whom is what His Majesty needs to control the most at this age."

Only then did the emperor start to think deeply, with a serious expression on his face, "It really makes some sense, maybe follow the emperor's uncle to say some soft words, so he won't keep scaring me with buckle belts."

"Cough, cough, cough..." Wen Su just took a sip of tea in his throat, and it turned upside down for a while.

What kind of example is this?
Before leaving, Wen Su saluted and bid farewell to the emperor as usual, but never thought that the emperor would also stand up and salute her in return.

"Young Fu, before today, I still cared about making you the emperor's teacher, but after these three lessons, I have really benefited a lot, so please don't avoid this ceremony."

Wen Su nodded lightly, and accepted calmly, "Your Majesty is talented and intelligent, and will definitely become a wise king."

Turning around and walking to the door, she stopped again and turned to look at him, "Your Majesty, there is one more thing that I must say."

"Please tell me, Shao Fu."

"Don't judge right from wrong on the surface. What is cruel to you is not necessarily bad, and vice versa."

The emperor was stunned, she opened the door and walked out as usual.

The dense mist lingered in front of my eyes, and the boiling water made a soft gurgling sound against the lid of the pot.

Xiao Zheng sat upright behind the short table, his plain white robe was slackly pasted on his body, and his black hair casually tied was scattered on his shoulders. He was graceful and elegant.

With his sleeves rolled up high, he skillfully cleaned the tea set, picked out the tea leaves, poured them into boiling water, and then slowly pushed a cup of fragrant green tea to the person opposite.

"Try it."

Wen Su was staring out the window admiring the early spring scenery, turned around after hearing this, and just met his smiling eyes.

Because of the steaming heat in front of him, a fine sweat broke out from the tip of his nose.She smiled, took out a silk handkerchief from her arms and wiped it carefully for him, until his hand was held by him, and then slowly wrapped it into the palm of his hand.

"Susu, listen to me, after I leave, the imperial court will definitely target you, so I have an arrangement..."

"Didn't you say you're here to drink tea? What are you talking about? Let's just ignore that." Wen Su waved his hand, took a sip of tea from the teacup he pushed over with one hand, and let him hold the other hand .

"It's true." Xiao Zheng smiled, and then gently released her hand.

"Let's go, you...about when will you leave?"

Xiao Zheng raised his eyebrows, "Don't you want to talk about this?"

Wen Su curled her lips, "I mean don't talk about me, it's still okay to talk about you."

Xiao Zheng shook his head with a smile, but his expression gradually returned to solemnity, "Probably... just in a few days."

"What day is it?"

"What, you want to send me off?"

"nature."

"It's better not to send it away..."

Wen Su pursed her lips, and muttered crookedly: "I don't know when I'll be back, and I don't want to be sent off!"

Unexpectedly, before he finished chanting, there was a shadow beside her, Xiao Zheng had already sat down next to her, stretched out his arms to hug her, and said with a low smile: "It's not that I don't want you to send it off, I don't want to make it so sad, I will definitely come back , why should you care about this separation?"

Wen Su lowered his head and remained silent.

Xiao Zheng sighed, hugged her tightly, and kissed her side face, "Just wait until I come back..."

The deployment of soldiers to Jiangnan this time has ended, and they can set off for Jiangnan with only one order.

There were many battles of this scale in the past war experience, but Xiao Zheng didn't want to look back, because in this battle, the sword was aimed at his brothers who were connected by blood.

The night was dark, but he stayed up for a long time, sitting in the study and wiping the long sword again and again, until his indifferent face was faintly projected on the sword's flickering cold light.

Someone knocked on the door lightly, he put down the sword in his hand, and heard Zhao Quan reporting from the outside: "My lord, the king of Pingyang asks to see you."

"come in."

Xiao Duan pushed the door and entered, only saw the corner of the white clothes and heard his smiling voice: "This time I can finally say goodbye to my uncle in person."

This is easy to say, but there is a bitterness in it.

When Xiao Zheng was fighting everywhere, he was trapped in the palace, and it was absolutely impossible to catch a glimpse of his leaving back from a distance.Xiao Zheng left in a hurry during his trip to Jiangbei last time, so it is not easy to say goodbye to each other like this now.

"Staying up so late is not good for your health." Xiao Zheng put away his sword, sat back at the table, and motioned for him to sit down too.

"Didn't uncle sleep too? What's bothering you?"

"I guess..." Xiao Zheng sighed, staring at the candlestick on the table without saying a word.

Xiao Duan rolled his eyes and understood, "Is it because of Su Su?"

"Ah."

"Worried that she will be outnumbered after you leave?"

"Ah."

"Uncle must have already been concerned about it."

"There is care, but...but I am still worried."

Xiao Duan's eyes flickered slightly, and he laughed, "What are you worried about?"

"It's easy to hide a sharp spear, but it's hard to defend against a hidden arrow..."

After a pause, Xiao Zheng glanced at him lightly, got up and walked to his side, raised his hand and patted his shoulder, "You should be well in the capital."

Xiao Duan's body froze slightly, and it took a while before he said "hmm".

"It's not a bad thing to be an idle county king."

"……Yes."

When he walked out of the west pavilion, he seemed to come out of the water, and his chest, which had been suffocated for a long time, finally breathed in fresh air.Xiao Duan supported the pillars of the cloister and panted lightly, his face was pale, and a layer of sweat appeared faintly.

Is it because the uncle is really overbearing, or because he thinks too much, why does he feel like he can't breathe?

Finally, when he staggered forward a little, he turned his head and glanced at the faint candlelight from the west pavilion.

I'm sorry uncle, for that day, let alone a prince, even I myself would give up!

The spring day gradually reveals its softness, the catkins are flying, and the spring is harmonious.However, at this time, the court was full of chills and indifference.

Xiao Zheng stood under the jade steps holding the Regent's seal in his hand, his face sank like water, the little emperor above looked stunned, and the ministers below looked at each other in blank dismay.

"My king is about to go to war in a few days, and today I will announce some arrangements in front of His Majesty and all the adults."

After a pause, Xiao Zheng glanced at Wen Su, "Where is Wen Shaofu?"

"The next official is here." Wen Su came out, lowered his eyes and cupped his hands.

"During the period when the king was not in Beijing, all government affairs were handled by Wen Shaofu alone. The seal of the king is here. Based on this, from today onwards, Wen Shaofu will be in charge of the government."

"Uncle!" The little emperor suddenly screamed and stood up from the dragon chair.

"Wen Shaofu, step forward to receive the seal!" Xiao Zheng ignored him and stared at the person in front of him.

Wen Su raised her head slightly, and many emotions flashed in her eyes: shock, bewilderment, and then suddenly and gratitude.

He said in the painting that there was an arrangement, but he meant this, giving her the power to override everything, so that no one can touch her during this period of time.

Wen Su hesitated for a moment, then walked towards him...

"Ridiculous! It's ridiculous!" Ding Zheng roared furiously and stopped her from moving forward. "First let the woman be an official, and then let her rise up step by step. If today's emperor's teacher is not enough, let her be in charge of the government !"

He was shaking his gray beard, and in a fit of rage, he raised his trembling fingers and pointed at the regent, "Do you still have Your Majesty in your eyes? And all the ministers present?!"

Wang Dingyong frowned, feeling very displeased in his heart, but when he turned around and saw Wen Su's calm face, thinking of the emperor's astonishing changes these days, he finally just echoed with a flick of his sleeve: "It's really ridiculous!"

The little emperor supported the dragon chair with one hand, and already didn't know what to say.The bead curtain behind her made a soft sound, and the Queen Mother Li, who had hardly said a word recently, couldn't hold back anymore.

"Uncle Emperor, you'd better think carefully." The emperor glanced at Wen Su with complicated emotions.

This is the teacher who opened another window for him, as if he opened up his two channels of Ren and Du, and Linglong's mind returned to the seven orifices.He admired her and was grateful to her, but he still couldn't accept such a result.

Xiao Zheng was expressionless, completely deaf to the confusion in his ears, and just stared at Wen Su like a torch, "Wen Shaofu stepped forward to receive the seal!"

Wen Su clenched her palms tightly, and finally strode forward, lifted her clothes and knelt down on the ground, "I will definitely live up to my lord's trust."

The red sandalwood box containing the king's seal was placed in her hand, she held it firmly, and the surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Away from the crowd, Liu Ke stood far away, and the shock in his heart could not go away for a long time...

"Daughters from the South come here, and you can't be Jinshi. Bingxue is pure and smart, and catkins are talented. After ten years of cold windows, it's not as good as it is. If you don't give birth to a boy, you will give birth to a girl..."

Several children on the street clapped their hands and sang nursery rhymes. Their childish voices matched their cheerful expressions. They might not understand the meaning of the lyrics at all, but they still sang happily.

Wen Su in the carriage looked away from the window pane, lowered the curtain, and sighed softly.

As a woman, it's really extreme to be an official like her.

The driver who drove the car was quite familiar with her, and joked with a smile: "Master Wen has become a household name in Daliang now!"

Wen Su laughed twice, which was regarded as a response, and lifted the curtain and said: "Go back to the palace directly, and not go to the palace."

Back at the palace, as soon as he walked to the courtyard gate, he saw Fu Qingyu standing there, as if he was waiting for her.

"Qingyu, why are you here?"

"I'll give you this." Fu Qingyu handed her a book in his hand, without looking at her, "The things you asked me to look up last time are all in this book, you can read it yourself."

Wen Su looked happy, and quickly picked it up, "That's really great, thank you very much."

Fu Qingyu replied dryly: "No thanks."

Turning around to leave, she took a few steps but stopped, she turned to look at Wen Su, "Susu, do you really know nothing about your ancestors?"

Wen Su was taken aback by her expression, and nodded sincerely, "My father never told me about such an ancestor, if I hadn't met an old man in Jiangbei, I still wouldn't know about it. "

"So it's like that..." Fu Qingyu muttered in a daze, "Could it be God's will..."

Wen Su was a little puzzled by her appearance, and wanted to stop her to ask what was going on, but saw that the two maids beside her had already approached her considerately and helped her back, and they still politely greeted her I saluted.

Wen Su looked down at the book in her hand, curious in her heart, and couldn't wait to open it. Fu Qingyu marked one of the pages, and she quickly found the text that recorded Wen Zijin.

His hands trembled and he almost lost the book.

My god, isn't it, the ancestor of her family is so flamboyant and tough!

"You said that you have an ancestor who is as good as Long Yang?"

Xiao Zheng raised his face from behind the desk, the candlelight reflected the smirk in his eyes, "Who told you?"

"Here, read it yourself." Wen Su handed him the book in his hand.

After a while, Xiao Zheng put down the book and made a summary: "The records are quite interesting."

Wen Su raised her eyebrows, "That's it?"

Xiao Zheng smiled and changed the subject: "Did Lin Xuan tell you about Wen Zijin?"

"Yeah, he gave me a book, which records Wen Zijin's wonderful speeches?" Now some of them have been used to harm His Majesty the Emperor.

In fact, if Wen Su hadn't entered the officialdom, Lin Xuan probably wouldn't have spoken about it.At that time, I told him that it was also for the preservation of Wen Su, in case of any accidents in the future.After all, for so many years, Wen's lineage has not changed their names, and Wen Su himself has no knowledge of it, so he has to pay attention.

Unexpectedly, the author of this book left a name, and she continued to track it down.However, Xiao Zheng found that the records in the book were not detailed, and the key points were not recorded in the book.

How did he know that Fu Qingyu had covered up the glorious deeds of Emperor Taizu's huge reward for the head of Wen Zijin, so at this time Wen Su only knew that Wen Zijin was the prime minister in the last years of the previous dynasty, and that he was abducted after the city was broken She fell in love with a male favorite, but she didn't know his connection with this dynasty.

"Anyway, it's all in the past. You don't have to worry about it. It's true or not. If you don't experience it yourself, no one knows what happened at that time." Xiao Zheng smiled at her, pretending to be relaxed.

"Well... that makes sense."

Xiao Zheng nodded and waved to her, "Come here."

"what happened?"

"When you have time, you should learn how to review memorials."

Wen Su was horrified, "You really want me to approve?"

"Of course not, I have to be responsible for Liang, so I want to teach you some skills." Xiao Zheng pushed a lot of memorials in front of her, "First learn the classification, and then I will teach you how to give instructions for each category. You can make up your own mind on which papers, which papers can be handed over to His Majesty, which papers should be handed over to the cabinet for discussion, and which papers must be sent to the south of the Yangtze River eight hundred miles away for my own instructions, you must remember clearly.”

Wen Su lowered his head, "Okay..."

Under the lamplight, the two sat next to each other, whispering constantly.

Because the ministers sent out did not know that Wen Su took over the government for a while, Xiao Zheng did not intend to cause another wave of opposition, so he asked Wen Su to imitate his handwriting, and some notes that could make up their own minds were written in this way.

However, Wen Su has been practicing the elegant lower case script, and Xiao Zheng's own pen is so powerful that it is really difficult to imitate.

After watching for a while, Xiao Zheng became a little anxious, so he simply held her hand and taught her, but because it was inconvenient to move, he simply pulled her and sat on his lap.

This movement was done naturally, but he realized that it was actually very ambiguous when he saw the rosy ears in front of him.

The ink from the tip of the pen dripped slightly on the paper, and the two of them forgot to move for a moment.

Wen Su raised her head quietly, met his eyes, and lowered her eyes hastily.

While he was in embarrassment, his shoulders tightened suddenly, Xiao Zheng had already hugged her tightly, his lips fell from the side of his face, crisp and itchy, and when they finally moved to her ears, he panted slightly: "Susu, When I come back... let's get married."

Wen Su turned her head in surprise, before she could say a word, her lips were tightly blocked by him.

When the brush fell on the paper, it completely melted away a large pool of ink stains, spreading like an inextricable feeling...

The night was dark, but the emperor's bedroom was still lit with candles, reflecting two solemn faces.

"Your Majesty summoned urgently in the middle of the night, and I don't know what to order."

The emperor's face was deep, his eyes dimmed, "Chaoqing, I ask you, what do you think of Wen Su taking over the affairs of the government?"

Liu Ke's expression was startled, and he pondered for a moment before he said: "Your Majesty, this matter happened suddenly, and I haven't thought about it yet."

"Then think about it now!"

The sudden outburst of anger surprised Liu Ke, and it took him a while to recover.

Although the regent's move was quite deviant, he was not stupid. After thinking about it afterwards, he could probably guess that he wanted to give Wen Su power to protect himself.

But I didn't expect the emperor to be so angry.

Liu Ke stabilized his mind and said tentatively: "Your Majesty, I heard that you praised Wen Shaofu a few days ago. She must have some ability..."

"The two cannot be compared." The emperor's tone was still resentful, "I respect her eclectic way of teaching, but this matter is different. The regent is my uncle, and in the end it is a family, but Wen Su is not just an outsider. , is still a woman, how can I rest assured that the power of the Manchu Dynasty is handed over to her alone?"

"Your Majesty's concerns are reasonable, but..." Liu Ke took a peek at the emperor's expression and carefully considered: "You should give Wen Shaofu a chance..."

"Chaoqing," the emperor finally felt something was wrong, squinted his eyes and said, "You seem to be talking for her all the time."

"I don't dare." Liu Ke said with a respectful attitude and a sincere tone.

The emperor waved his hand impatiently, "Forget it, you go back first, we will discuss this matter later."

"Yes……"

After Liu Ke left, His Majesty the Emperor still frowned.

Dongde Yusong admired Wen Su very much, and even he, now this half-toned teacher, gave birth to admiration.But even so, it is still a bit unacceptable after all.

He rested his chin depressed, is he not enlightened enough?Or should we give her a chance like Liu Ke said?
On the second day, the [-] troops were assembled, and the Prince Regent would formally lead the army out.

The emperor personally led all the ministers to send them to the south gate of the city. Because of the reputation of the king of Jin in his early years as being good at fighting, the people in the capital also rushed out to see his horsemanly demeanor.

The hunting of the flags and the slaying of the golden weapon dyed this bright spring day with a sonorous and majestic atmosphere.

On the city tower, the three cups of farewell wine were exhausted, Xiao Zheng saluted the emperor, turned around and stepped down the steps, and got on his horse.

The cloak fluttered with the wind, and the black armor shone lightly in the sun.He turned his head and glanced in the direction of the city gate, his eyes couldn't tell whether it was expectation or disappointment.

Obviously she was told not to come and deliver it, but until now, she still has some concerns.

He shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, straddled his horse forward, stopped in front of the soldiers of the three armies under the amazed eyes of everyone, paused for a while, raised his hand, and the whole army moved forward.

Standing on the tower, the emperor watched from afar, and suddenly felt a little admiration for this uncle.

This was the first time he had seen Xiao Zheng go out on an expedition. He was calm and commanding, as if he was not going to fight at all, but just a casual long-distance trip.

Two or three steps away from him, Xiao Duan stood with a calm face.

He didn't have so many emotions as the emperor, but he just felt a little relieved that finally one time when his uncle went to war, he was the one who personally sent him off...

Suddenly there was a sound of horseshoes from below, chaotic but extremely fast, accompanied by a woman's slightly panicked cry.

The dignitaries on the city tower looked down one after another, and a light blue figure sitting on a horse galloped towards the direction of the army.After running for a while, he seemed to have finally figured out the horse's temperament. The man pulled the rein and reined in the horse, and then he stroked his chest and panted heavily under the astonished eyes of the people around him.

The emperor's jaw almost didn't drop, he twitched the corner of his mouth and looked at Xiao Duan, "Could it be that Wen Shaofu overslept? As for being so flustered?"

It is rare for Xiao Duan to have a good face towards him, "Maybe it was a lot of hesitation and struggle that delayed the time."

Speaking of this, there was a slight pause in his voice, he turned his head to meet the emperor's gaze, and whispered with a smile: "I heard that she has already taken charge of the government, how does your majesty feel?"

His Majesty the Emperor's face turned black immediately...

There was another commotion below, the marching army in front suddenly stopped, and a man straddled his horse, swift as the wind.

When he came to him, he reined in the reins, looked at the woman who was panting heavily in front of him, and said with a smile, "Didn't I tell you not to see her off? Why are you still here?"

"I, I..." Wen Su sat up straight, breathed steadily, and said, "It will come, I want to watch you go out and wait for your triumphant return."

Xiao Zheng's complexion moved slightly, with bursts of warmth in his eyes, nodded, and leaned closer to whisper: "During the days when I'm not here, you must be extremely cautious and never make mistakes. Worry, remember, remember."

Wen Su nodded, "I remember, don't worry."

Xiao Zheng looked up and glanced around, coughed dryly, looked at her again and said in a low voice: "Wait for me to come back..."

His eyes already showed everything, Wen Su remembered what he said that night, nodded, blushed and lowered his eyes, "Well, I'll wait for you..."

The emperor on the tower muttered dumbfounded: "Could it be that they..."

"Your Majesty just found out?" Xiao Duan mocked with a smile, as if to say, you are completely played by their pair!

(End of this chapter)