In the palace of the King of Guangling, the lights were bright at this time.

Since last summer, since Xue Yan officially served in the court, he has been named king and left the palace to open a mansion.

Now the emperor is in good health, and he has not established a prince, so the titles of their princes are not princes, but county kings, without exception.

Although the grades are the same, no one in the court now knows that the Guangling County Palace is the most eye-catching boundary in the entire Chang'an City, apart from the imperial city.

King Guangling has only been in the dynasty for a year, and he shines brightly, even if the ordinary officials in the dynasty are not as reliable as him. In addition, Emperor Qing Ping suddenly favored him again. In the past year, he has easily changed from an obscure prince to the most popular prince in the court.

In addition, now that the second prince is unloved, the fourth prince's biological mother is immoral, and the sixth prince is said to be the direct son of the middle palace, but his ambition is not in the court, and he refuses to come out if he goes to the military department. At this time, even a prince who could compete with him could not be found in the court.

For a while, the eyes of the officials in the DPRK, those who were spying, those who took refuge in, those who waited and watched, all fell on the palace.

However, even so, as the most secretive existence in the imperial city, Dongchang can still come and go freely here.

Xue Yan sat in front of the desk, the lights on the desk flickered gently. He also held an envelope in his hand, which was a secret letter sent by someone from the East Factory.

A month ago, he received such a letter, saying that there were many officials in the court secretly playing to Emperor Qingping, saying that Duke Yongning had a close relationship with Taifu Jiang, and Taifu Jiang came from the Linjiang Academy in Jiangnan. It is not appropriate for Duke Yongning to invigilate the examination in Jiangnan.

After all, Mrs. Yongning and Mrs. Jiang's daughter were good friends in their boudoir in their early years, and they had some personal friendships, which were well known in the court.

After a series of secret performances were presented, Emperor Qingping, who had no doubts, was also a little shaken.

So, he summoned the ministers to discuss how to deal with the matter - after all, it was about Mrs. Jiang, and he didn't summon any of the officials from the civil imperial examinations. He only met officials from aristocratic families.

So after deliberation, Emperor Qing Ping decided that he would pick a trustworthy one from the family officials, secretly lead the order, and go to the south to supervise.

Xue Yan knew at a glance that this was a plan set up by officials from the Xu family's faction.

They didn't want to let the errand of Jiangnan's chief examiner fall on Yongning Gong, so they wanted to lead Qing Pingdi to suspect first, and then send their own people to do something secretly.

This is the second time that the Xu family dares to move the people of the Jun family under his nose.

Xue Yan knew that they couldn't sit still. In the past, there were only two factions of Jiang and Xu, one from the aristocratic family and the other from the commoners. Although there were constant struggles, it was considered a balance.

But now, killing him halfway, not only won the Sacred Heart, but also took control of Jin Yiwei. Jin Yiwei has the right to supervise hundreds of officials, and has a strong deterrent power, which immediately broke the balance.

The Xu family wanted to prevent him from getting bigger, and also wanted to prevent the Jiang family from overpowering themselves and jumping over the wall in a hurry, so they set their sights on Duke Yongning.

After all, Duke Yongning does not belong to any faction.

For Xue Yan, this matter couldn't be better resolved. Even in his subconscious, he was extremely happy to solve the matter himself.

Because Jun Huailang is in Jiangnan.

This year, he kept himself busy as much as possible and taught himself that he had no time to be distracted by him. But you can control what you do every day, but you can't stop who you think about.

His heart was empty, for a whole year.

If he had never met Jun Huailang, it would not be difficult for him. But the warm wind blew, melted the ice, and left him in the cold night again. This kind of cold, which he was used to, became extremely unbearable.

Even after that, he was much better off. Emperor Qingping was no longer afraid of him, and the ministers in the court began to curry favor with him, but in his eyes, these only made him feel disgusted and troublesome.

Zhuyu is in front, how could he put these other things into his eyes.

So he didn't hesitate, and when Emperor Qing Ping summoned him, he seemed to mention this matter inadvertently.

Over the past year, Emperor Qingping trusted him more and more. In addition, there has never been anything wrong, and Shaxing's assertion seems to have been self-defeating, and Emperor Qingping is closer to him.

Sure enough, Emperor Qingping told him his plan.

"I feel that we should indeed send someone to take a look," he said. "I can be more at ease."

"How did the royal father determine that the official who received the secret order can be trusted?" Xue Yan said. "If it is an official in the DPRK, there will definitely be news out of Beijing. If it is not an official in the DPRK, one is of insufficient rank, and it is difficult to resolve the situation;

When Emperor Qingping heard the words, he fell into deep thought.

Xue Yan added: "If the father secretly investigates Duke Yongning and lets him notice it, it will surely chill the hearts of the courtiers. It is better for the father to send officials to the south in an upright and open manner. Even if Duke Yongning wants to do anything, he will not dare."

Emperor Qingping nodded in agreement: "It's just that Duke Yongning has a high position, who should he send?"

Hearing this, Xue Yan lightly curled his lips.

"My son is willing to go," he said.

So, within a few days, the imperial decree to send Xue Yan to the south for inspection was issued. It didn't take long for Dongchang to sit still. A few days before his departure, a letter was sent.

This letter naturally persuaded Xue Yan to find a way to stay. His power in Beijing has just been established, and it is not yet stable. Except for the Duke Yongning, there are no officials in Jiangnan who are worthy of wooing. What's more, he went to inspect this time, maybe he couldn't win, and he would also provoke Duke Yongning to guard against jealousy.

Xue Yan held the secret letter in his hand and smiled slightly.

The East Factory is not what it used to be. Originally, they wanted to win over Xue Yan secretly, give help in the snow, and slowly nurture him, but they didn't expect Xue Yan to be so lucky, and suddenly a blessing in disguise and the green eyes of Emperor Qing Ping.

At this time, Dongchang was reluctant to bear his big tree, and by virtue of the kindness of "giving charcoal in the snow", he began to flatter him.

After all, these eunuchs are different from officials, and only relying on the imperial power can they make a fortune. Xue Yan gave them enough face again, and there is no more suitable backer than Xue Yan.

"This king doesn't want to go either, but it's just that the emperor's life is hard to violate, and it's not easy to resist the decree." Xue Yan put away the letter, looked up at the Dongchang fanzi who delivered the letter, and said lightly. "When the autumn season is over, this king will be able to come back, and the affairs of Beijing will be troublesome for Eunuch Duan to worry about."

Even if he left, he was relieved. Dongchang is here, and will obediently monitor the movements in Beijing for him, after all, they can't bear his big tree.

And with Xue Yan's words, all the news of Chang'an Zhong was handed to him through the hands of Dongchang, which made it even more obvious that he loved and trusted Dongchang, which made those eunuchs more at ease.

It's also interesting to think about. Although Jinyiwei supervises hundreds of officials, it is an independent organization, subordinate to the imperial court, only Dongchang, directly under the imperial power, is the emperor's closest eyeliner.

However, Emperor Qing Ping insisted on favoring the eunuchs who served him, and allowed them to crowd out Dongchang, forcing Dongchang to go elsewhere to recognize the master.

Hearing the words, he didn't persuade him much, and after clasping his fists, he said, "My lord, Eunuch Duan said that if you insist on going, he won't be able to stop him, but the mountain is high and the road is far away, so please bring Duan Shishi with you. Come on, it's better to take care of it."

Xue Yan knew that this was a competition for favor.

Now that Jinyiwei is under his command, he will also bring some Jinyiwei's followers this time to the south. The factory guards have always fought endlessly, so Duan Chong must have a close person by his side to be at ease.

This fourteenth paragraph is Duan Chong's adopted son.

Back then, he secretly raised 20 orphans under the name of numbers, trained them uniformly, and then put them in one place to kill each other, and finally left one, which he adopted as his adopted son.

"Duan Shishi just turned 12 this year, right?" Xue Yan asked, lifting his eyelids first.

The son said: "Yes. But Eunuch Duan said, you don't have to worry about his young age. Duan Shishi is very quick and won't drag you down."

Hearing this, Xue Yan nodded with a half-smiling smile.

"Then I would like to thank Eunuch Duan for your kindness," he said.

——

That night, after Jun Huailang finished writing the letter, he sat in a dream at night.

It had been a year, and for the first time he dreamed that he had returned to Mingluan Palace. He was still the same as before, getting up early in the morning and tidying up, Xue Yunhuan was waiting for him in the front hall of his palace.

"Where's the Fifth Highness?" Jun Huailang came out and asked quite naturally.

Xue Yunhuan showed a puzzled look: "What fifth highness?"

Then, as if he suddenly remembered, he said, "Oh, that evil star. How could he be here? Who knows where he was driven by the father. What are you asking him for?"

Jun Huailang paused, turned around and walked out.

Xue Yunhuan quickly caught up: "What are you doing?"

Jun Huailang said, "I'll go find him."

After that, Xue Yunhuan didn't seem to follow, but he himself searched the palace and couldn't find where Xue Yan was.

Until the sky broke, Jun Huailang woke up.

He lay in bed quietly, and then came back to his senses from the dream.

In the dream, what he thought was not that Xue Yan would repeat the same mistakes and do what happened in his previous life again, but was worried about how he would be bullied if he was not in Mingluan Palace and no one would protect him.

When he regained his senses, Jun Huailang smiled helplessly.

I am really worrying about myself. Not to mention that the current Xue Yan will never be bullied again, just talking about himself, how can he be able to protect him in the palace?

But after thinking about it, Jun Huailang thought of something else.

For example, in Mingluan Palace, Xue Yan solemnly promised to be Ling Huan's elder brother, such as the large stack of silver bills he stuffed to him during the Chinese New Year, such as the glazed lantern in front of his house, and he fell violently after he fell into the water. of that tear.

Thinking about it, the corners of Jun Huailang's lips curled up involuntarily.

These things are optional, but once he starts, Jun Huailang realizes that he clearly remembers them all.

He rarely stayed in bed that day, and it was only when Fuyi called him to get up that he suddenly came back to his senses.

After that, Jun Huailang took precautions and started going to Linjiang Academy every now and then.

Fortunately, now that summer is about to begin, students from all over the south of the Yangtze River have rushed to Jinling one after another and gathered near the Linjiang Academy. Every day, new students come to Linjiang Academy to study, and the Academy also has a tradition of accepting students, so Jun Huailang's move is not abrupt.

He would have the opportunity to go to the embankment from time to time to have a look and check a little.

On the other hand, Shen Liufeng was quite happy, as if Jun Huailang was here to study, he reserved a good seat for him every day so that he could teach him to read with him.

Jun Huailang didn't reject his good intentions. He went back and forth between the government office and Linjiang Academy on weekdays, secretly listing what he had investigated and learned, including his past life memories and experiences, and compared them back and forth.

Seeing that it is summer.

In summer, the rain in the south of the Yangtze River is more abundant. It was raining continuously, and even the corners of the academy grew moss.

These days of rain can be bitter Shen Liufeng. He only felt that he was trapped by the continuous rain, and finally found the day to clear up. Without waiting for a rest, he dragged Jun Huailang away after class during the day.

"You're not allowed to go anywhere today," he said. "I have already sent someone to book a cruise ship on the East Lake, and I will eat boat dishes with me tonight."

Jiangnan people have the custom of "no food from time to time", and they always pay attention to what time they eat when they are in time. There is a lot of water in the south of the Yangtze River, and there are lush fresh rivers in summer. There is a custom in the south of the Yangtze River. They will salvage aquatic products in the lake and cook and eat them on the boat, which is called "boat food".

The East Lake is located in the eastern suburbs of Jinling, connected to the Yangtze River and connected to the canal to the north. The East Lake is wide and the water flow is gentle, and a wharf is built on the north side. Ships coming from the south and east, if they want to stop at Jinling, are all anchored at the pier of the East Lake.

Except for the routes and docks, they are all places to play.

Jiangnan is rich and prosperous, especially in Jinling. At night, the East Lake is full of boats and picturesque boats. At night, the lights are lit, and they are lively reflected on the lake. It is a sparkling light.You can hear the sound of singing and music on the lake.

Jun Huailang had nothing to do today, so he never declined when he heard the words.

But neither of them knew that there was a huge official ship from Chang'an that was sailing quietly along the southward canal to Jinling.

Just tonight, it will be moored on the East Lake.