saint

midnight.

When the lights in Wan'an County were gradually extinguished and everyone fell asleep, the lights in Zhongjing, thousands of miles away, were still dim.The painted boats on the Ziwei River are full of brilliance, and the banishment building at the end of Tianjie is singing and dancing.

In the center of Zhongjing, the eternal palace lanterns of the Changming Palace shone like daylight.Looking down from a high altitude, the entire Zhongjing City is like a plate of radiant jewels, and Changming Palace is the most dazzling pearl among them.

Behind this pearl, there is a small mass of black. The light of Changming Palace shines in all directions, but it cannot reach the palace next to it.Compared with the light of Changming Palace, the darkness is not obtrusive, on the contrary, it seems to blend abnormally.

Outside the Jingsi Hall, a row of servants and maids stood silently under the long porch, watching each other with their eyes, not allowing the slightest noise.His Majesty, who was always kind, encountered troubles on rare occasions, so he ran to the Jingxin Hall to try to be quiet, and he must not be disturbed by any animal without eyes.

A line of guards of honor winds up, and the center of the guards of honor is a conspicuous phoenix chariot.The golden phoenix feathers on the phoenix chariot were like a raging fire, they were not made by human craftsmen, but the patriarch of the phoenix clan of Wan Yao Kingdom personally pulled them out from his body and presented them to Daxuan.

Hou An, the chief eunuch who was guarding outside the Jingsi Hall, suddenly had a smile on his face, and walked quickly to the front of the phoenix chariot, and said, "Welcome to the empress."

When the phoenix chariot reached the ground, a lady in royal attire came down from the phoenix chariot, glanced at the food in the hands of a few guards outside the Jingsi Hall, and frowned slightly: "Your Majesty hasn't eaten yet?"

"Returning to your mother, His Majesty has refused to eat since he came down, and the slaves have arranged the imperial dining room to be available all the time."

The queen shook her head slightly, casually took a plate of pastries from the dinner plate, and a jug of good wine, pushed open the door of the Jingsi Hall, and walked in.Hou An hurriedly closed the palace door again from the outside, and stood guarding the palace gate.

The Queen walked into the Jingsi Hall, where several candles were flickering, and figures swayed in the candlelight.She saw Emperor Daxuan sitting in front of a short table, holding a scroll of scriptures and reading.The queen covered her mouth and chuckled: "Your Majesty's book is upside down!"

The emperor sighed, put down the book in his hand, glanced at the approaching charming queen, and said, "Zitong, don't make fun of me, my heart really hurts."

"But for that immortal literary heart?"

The emperor smiled wryly: "The one who knows me is Zitong. It's funny to think about it. I have been Emperor Daxuan for 40 years, and I would not think about eating and drinking for a treasure. The first emperor was right, but I have too little structure in my chest and no emperor." Proud."

The queen walked up to the emperor, sat down, poured a glass of the fine wine she had just brought in, and said in relief: "Your majesty is so young and difficult, so naturally he cannot compare with the aura that the late emperor grew up under Emperor Lin's knee; what's more, in the past 40 years If it weren't for your majesty's diligence, how could the Daxuan dynasty be so stable now, your majesty should not underestimate itself."

"As for the immortal literary heart, it is not an ordinary treasure. It can only be condensed after the three immortal achievements of great Confucianism: success, morality, and speech. Daxuan has been in power for 800 years, and the total number of literary hearts condensed is only 86."

The emperor drank the wine in front of him, let out a long breath, and then nodded: "Yes. These 86 literary hearts, whether they have a teacher or a family, really belong to the court, and there are only ten fingers. Rare I really can't bear to have a Wuzhu Wenxin appear and give it away like this."

"Since this is the case, why did Your Majesty agree to Wen Xiang and let Wen Xin choose the master?"

"Old Wenxiang is dedicated to the country, and protects me for a year. How can I refute him when he speaks in person? Besides, if there is no master Wen Xin, he will choose a master. This is the case in ancient rituals, and I am inconvenient to stop him."

The queen smiled again and said: "Your Majesty is too worried. It's not that the literary heart has never happened in my dynasty, but how much has it really succeeded? The Kong family's literary heart has been established for 500 years. During the period, how many times have people from all over the world been invited to participate in the selection ceremony, isn’t it still enshrined in the family temple? Wen Xiang said that if there is no selection of the host, then Wen Xin will be placed in the Confucian Temple.”

"What's the difference between this Confucian temple and the imperial court?"

"Taking a step back, if there are really talented people who let Wenxin choose the master, it means that I, Daxuan, will add another great Confucian seed. It is difficult to judge whether the great Confucianism or Wenxin is more beneficial to the dynasty."

The emperor nodded slightly: "Yes, what Zitong said is reasonable." But the frown did not ease.

Seeing this, the queen pondered slightly: "Does Your Majesty have other concerns?"

The emperor stood up, took two steps, and said, "I do have a little thoughtfulness."

After finishing speaking, the emperor walked up to a stone screen in the Jingsi Hall, waved his sleeve, and a stream of white air shot out from the emperor's hand and hit the stone screen.There was a flash of white light on the screen, and the patterns of nine giant tripods slowly appeared on it, but only six of them were filled with white light, and the seventh tripod was only about one-third of the white light, and the rest and the remaining two Dingdu showed a gloomy color.

"Your Majesty!" The queen stood up in surprise.

This wall of national destiny is the treasure of the Daxuan royal family, and it can reflect the luck of the Daxuan.

"Nine tripods prosper, eight tripods dynasty, seven tripods strong country!" The emperor looked at the wall of national fortune in front of him, and said softly, "Back then when Emperor Lin was in power, luck overflowed the nine tripods, monsters did not dare to be kings, and all races came to court. Qihuang After the death, the two tripods of luck were destroyed; the first emperor succeeded to the throne, worked hard to rule, five times of northern expedition, three times of southern expedition, the barbarians dared not look south, and the demon clan dared not go north, finally condensed a tripod of luck."

"When I succeeded to the throne, I worked hard for 40 years, but I only had six and a half tripods of luck, barely maintaining the appearance of peace. If the luck drops again, I will be in danger of going down to the country."

The queen walked up to the emperor, stretched out her hand to hold the other's palm, and said softly: "The first emperor's northern expedition and southern expedition overdrawn the fortune of our dynasty, and his sudden collapse damaged the foundation of luck. , The world has been in chaos for another ten years. I heard from my father that when His Majesty ascended the throne, there were only four tripods left in the country's fate, which was a precarious appearance. It was Your Majesty who set things right, worked diligently for decades, and brought Daxuan From the precariousness of the four tripods to the subjugation of the five tripods, and from the subordination of the five tripods to the peace of the six tripods. In the eyes of the courtiers and concubines, Your Majesty is no worse than Emperor Linhuang!"

The empress's sincere words warmed the emperor's heart, and he shook his head: "I have neither the heroic talent of Lin Lin, nor the heroic spirit of the previous emperor, only the word of diligence, and I can barely be a conservative king. I am worried about the emperor's son"

The queen's face turned serious, thinking of her troubled prince, she quickly explained: "The emperor has worked hard recently."

The emperor waved his hand slightly, helped the queen up, and said: "I am not blaming him. It's just that if I die, my aura will fluctuate, and if the royal family has a more literary heart to suppress it, my luck will be more stable. This is my selfishness. "

The queen was startled, and quickly said: "Your Majesty will be prosperous in the future, you must never say such unlucky words again."

"The emperor has his own number of days." The emperor said indifferently, "But there will be a day when Wenxin is only an aid, and those who really rely on are those important ministers."

After speaking, the emperor looked at the wall of national fortune again: "If there is more luck, it will be fine."

After the emperor finished speaking, the Jingsi Hall fell into silence.

The chief eunuch Hou An's squeaky voice sounded outside the palace gate: "Your Majesty, Minister Wen is asking to see you."

The queen's voice came from the hall: "Your Majesty is tired, let Wen Xiang go back, see you tomorrow at the court."

Hou An seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then replied: "Minister Wen specially ordered that there is a way to increase the luck of the dynasty to offer!"

There was a sound of hurried footsteps in the hall, the door of the hall was suddenly opened, and the emperor rushed out.

The queen followed, carrying a pair of shoes, and shouted: "Your Majesty, shoes"