Chapter 363: The Narrow Road of Kyoto Variations

The sixth day of the second month, at the end of the midnight period.

Ruolan entered the room lightly, put her hands on the charcoal stove first and then warmed her. Then she walked to the bed, inserted her warm little hands into Qin Lei's black hairline, and gently combed them back and forth. This was her way of getting him up... neither noisy nor annoying, just like the way she existed by his side.

In the darkness, only the blue fire leaps in the charcoal basin, which reflects Qin Lei's quiet face and makes him look even more angular. Ruolan likes to see him sleep the most, like a pure baby, without the unpredictable smile during the day, nor the lingering sense of oppression. Only at this time can she look at him carefully, appreciate him, and talk about deceiving herself that he is hers.

"What are you thinking?" Qin Lei woke up very early today. His dark and kind eyes were like morning stars, making Ruolan lost in a sudden and even forgot to respond to the prince's question.

Seeing that she was lost, Qin Lei stretched out his slender and powerful arms, took her into his warm arms, and whispered: "I'm sorry, I've ignored you these days..."

A word seemed like a warm current that spread throughout his body. Ruolan hugged Qin Lei tightly with her backhand, allowing tears to flow silently. Feeling the wetness in her heart, Qin Lei couldn't help but feel guilty. Looking back on the past month, he seemed to rarely give her a smile... In the face of facts, any words were pale.

He raised his hands slightly and lifted Ruolan's soft body up, and his two faces were pressed together. Before the girl could react, Qin Lei's hot lips were accurately printed on it. Perhaps only the warmest kiss could dissolve the grievances that had accumulated in the girl's heart for many days.

His kiss was gentle and focused, not as domineering as before, nor as he had ever asked for it. He was as if he was the most fragile treasure in the world, silently confides his pity and love to the girl.

Ruolan was completely immersed in this rare tenderness, even if she was torn to pieces the next moment, she would not want to destroy the tenderness of this moment.

Time was like quicksand. It took me a long time to separate my lips. Ruolan lay on Qin Lei’s chest, gasping for breath, and said, “Master, you are going to get up, otherwise you will delay going to court.”

Qin Lei nodded, gently stroked Ruolan's shoulder, and said warmly: "After this time, it's time for spring to bloom, I'll take you to see the peach blossoms." Ruolan's eyes burst into surprise and said happily: "Really..."

Qin Lei laughed and said, "It's more real than real gold!" Ruolan had the courage to kiss Qin Lei loudly on his face, then stood up happily, served him dressed and ate, and then took him to the car before turning back.

With this joyful mood, Qin Lei saw Mr. Shen Bing, the corner of his mouth twitched, and said with a smile: "Although it is a mule or a horse, I will pull it out today, but you are not a mule or a horse, so there is no need to be so nervous."

Shen Bing did not respond to the prince's unfunny joke, and his two thick eyebrows almost frowned together and said, "Half an hour ago, His Majesty received ten disciples."

The smile suddenly froze on Qin Lei's face, and disappeared in an instant. He shrugged his shoulders hard, leaned on the back of the chair, and said indifferently: "If there is no reaction, wouldn't it be a shame to the reputation of the No. 1 conspirator of the Qin Dynasty?"

Seeing the prince's face calm, Shen Bing was about to relax, but he suddenly punched the carriage on the wall. There was a loud bang, and the carriage was even slightly tilted.

'Luckily this is a specially made assassination carriage,' Shen Bing thought with gratitude: 'Will there be a hole being punched out.'

After punching, Qin Lei leaned against the back of the chair with his arms and sneered, "It turns out that the dog can't change it..."

Shen Bing was sweating and thought to himself: 'It's your father at least...' But he knew that the prince was so angry that he could say anything.

He stretched out his middle finger and index finger of his right hand and slowly rubbed his eyebrows. Qin Lei ordered in a deep voice: "From now on, the connection with the head wolf and the lone wolf should be more secret. It is better to temporarily break the line than be discovered." Shen Bing responded in a deep voice.

The carriage gradually became quiet, and Qin Lei also knew that this was not his own game, and there were some bigger and stronger players playing together. All he could do was to protect his own interests as much as possible, rather than relying on others to plead for mercy.

Thinking of this, my mood calmed down. I laughed at myself and started singing gently on the beat:

"There has never been a savior, nor is it relying on the gods and emperors,

To create our own happiness, it depends entirely on ourselves.

We must regain the fruits of victory and let the future break through the cage.

Just burn the fire to the red color and strike the iron while it is hot to succeed!”

Accompanied by the rhythmic sound of the wheels, he actually sang the marches alone, which made Shen Bing and Shi Gan next to him involuntarily attracted, and nodded gently to the rhythm.

When he was happy, Qin Lei smiled and asked to the two of them: "Who created today's victory?" Shi Gan and Shen Bing looked at each other, not knowing how to respond to the strange but exciting song. They scratched their heads and had to smile foolishly, "It's you, Prince..."

Qin Lei smiled and shook his head, pointed at himself, pointed at the two of them, and sang loudly: "It's all of us together..." He waved his fists and continued to sing: "Everything should belong to us, how can we accommodate parasites!"

As he sang, the carriage stopped outside Chengtian Gate. Shi Gan opened the window and looked at it, and turned back softly, "There seems to be a conflict outside Chengtian Gate."

Qin Lei said 'oh', and looked out, and asked an official standing in the distance, "What's going on?"

The official had already seen the carriage of Prince Longwei and quickly said respectfully: "Report to the prince, the scholars and the people blocked the outside of Chengtian Gate, and their colleagues were unable to stand on duty. They were asking the Imperial Guard to help maintain order."

Qin Lei nodded, stepped out of the carriage, and walked slowly forward. He saw that the passage of the station team was filled with petitioners, blocking the civil and military officials waiting to go to court outside. The team was said to be the golden armored imperial guards who maintained order, and lined up neatly on the other end, looking more like watching the fire from the other side.

When the civil servants saw the fifth prince coming, they quickly bowed and made way. Regarding political matters, they were the most sensitive and had long felt that the wind in Beijing was coming in the wrong direction... It seemed that the south wind of the fifth prince was about to overwhelm the prime minister's east wind.

Qin Lei did not open the officials on both sides, and went straight to the front of the archers. He looked around the archers present, bowed and said loudly: "Everyone, Xiao Wang Qinlei."

The scholars who have been half-dead have finally seen a hint of magic in their eyes. They still want to respect this righteous prince who loves the people.

"What you have reported will be discussed at today's court meeting... Can you give up a channel so that all officials can attend court?" Qin Lei said in a gentle voice.

The sirens were silent for a moment, and after a while, someone finally hissed, "Prince, we have not blocked our way." Before he finished speaking, the sirens in front of Qin Lei leaned to the left and right, and then gave up a two-foot-wide path.

Looking at the path that was more than ten feet long and only allowed one person to pass through, the officials looked at each other and thought to themselves, "Isn't this a mess? Who dares to go in? What if these scholars who are almost hungry and are dragged down, dragged them in and stripped them naked and eaten them?" They all rushed forward for a moment, and some people couldn't help but say, "Please give more..."

The scholars looked at the group of prominent officials wearing python robes with black gauze on their heads and sneered: "It's a conscience to ask the prince and all of you to listen. If you are open and honest, you will be as relaxed and comfortable as walking the Great Way of Heaven. Only those who are black-hearted and greedy and corrupt will regard them as a path of underworld. Do you have the courage to give it a try?"

All the officials looked scared. Is this road really so magical? They don’t know. But the scholars on both sides who are dense and look like ghosts are shocking. For a moment, you look at me and I look at you, and no one dares to step forward.

When their family members thought that their chance to show off, someone jumped out and said, "Master, let the young men give you a clue!"

Unexpectedly, the official didn't appreciate it, so he reached out and slapped, whispered: "Where is cool, stay where you can..."

When the companion was stunned, he covered his cheeks and whimpered, "Everyone is cool..." Seeing his master's swearing eyes, this job of flattering the wrong way had to continue to be wronged, not knowing why good people are so difficult to do.

The servants next to him who wanted to show their gratitude were all scolded by the master's eyes and slaughtered... It seems that all the lords have made up their minds to prevent the dogs from coming out to bite people.

In fact, they also want to do this in their hearts? But in this situation where swords are tense and about to break out, no one wants to be this pioneer... Who knows what the consequences of making a random move are?

Seeing the officials standing there in a competitive manner, without any intention of stepping forward, Qin Lei thought to himself: ‘Oh, I understand, wait for Lao Wen to come forward.’ He couldn’t help but laugh: ‘I want to see how Lao Wen wades through this Flame Mountain.’ He shrugged and smiled: “Everyone continue to linger, I will take the lead.”

After saying that, he didn't take Shi Wei, and walked into the path with great swagger. Every time he took a step, the scholars on both sides of the path would bow together and say, "Please pass." Qin Lei also smiled and nodded slowly. After a while, he calmly walked the path of conscience.

Of course, he would not have any trouble. From the day he asked for the refugees and opened a warehouse to provide disaster relief, his name was associated with the four big words "Love the people as a son". It can be said that wherever there are ordinary people, there are rivers, lakes and seas where his boat travels.

Seeing the prince walking over, Qin Shouzhuo laughed and said, "I am not talented, but I have a clear conscience." He shook his sleeves and imitated the prince's appearance and strode over.

Even if he had a conscience, he was not worried that these scholars would be unfavorable to him. Without his care and indulgence, could these scholars have petitioned safely here? He had been arrested in the Kyoto Prefecture prison... If he could pretend.

Sure enough, the scholars also saluted him and respectfully sent him to pass through successfully.

After these two people passed, another second-rank official came forward, and smiled at the sky and said, "I am the minister of the scattered rank, Qu Yanwu, who has never done anything wrong, but he has to see if this conscience is accurate." After that, he raised his head and passed smoothly.

At this time, Wang Piyan, the commander of the Left Commander of the Censorate, sneered: "Since ancient times, evil has not overcome justice. Our Censorate has shown the righteousness of heaven and earth, and has highlighted the bright sun and moon. He is always upright everywhere. How can all evil be afraid of a small corridor?" After that, he led a group of censors to the right commander of the Censorate with righteousness.

The officials thought to themselves: "This old king is really a ghostly spirit. When he saw someone leaving, he was afraid, so he was brave in groups.' He then shook his eyes, meaning, let's copy it as well...

Who would have thought that the two Lord Wang were halfway through, but were stopped by the scholars and instantly drowned in the sea of ​​people. The censors were frightened and heard Wang Anting say with a stern look on his face: "What are you going to do? Attacking the imperial court officials is a serious crime of beheading!"

A scholar who took the lead said without hesitation: "Since you are the censors, why don't you show off your favor to the people and expose corrupt officials?"

Wang Piyan quietly pulled Wang Anting and suggested that he be more polite. Wang Anting nodded understandingly and said as gentle as possible: "Who said we are not reporting?"

"Sir, we have the conclusive evidence that Prime Minister Wen has corruption and abused the law and manipulated the imperial examinations. Why did the Censorate ignore it? How could he be so safe?" the scholars asked angrily.

When Wang Anting heard this, he felt relieved and said in an official voice: "The censor's report is about evidence. He must be more cautious about the chief minister of the country like the Prime Minister. He must be as strong as a mountain of evidence. How can he be as informed as an ordinary official?"

"We have presented the evidence to Your Majesty!" the scholars said angrily.

Wang Piyan next to him smiled and said, "Okay. This time the court meeting will ask His Majesty about this matter. If the evidence is conclusive, he will definitely be impeached." He said with a false smile, "You should let the way out." The scholars looked at the leader, and the leader asked again, "Be serious?"

"I am the second-rank left censor, with iron mouth and bronze teeth, how can I lie?" Wang Piyan said with a slight smile.

"Okay." The leader waved his hand, and the scholars let the censors of the Censorate over.

For fear that these lieutenants would change their minds again, the censors walked very fast, and when they came out, they had already sweated a hair. Before they could stand at the gate of the city, they could clearly hear the fifth prince applause: "Piyan, it's great!"

The Zuodu Censor swallowed his mouth and could only pretend that he hadn't heard it.

The military officers thought to themselves, we should have nothing to do, right? They are not afraid even if there is something wrong. If everyone is holding each other in a group, they can withstand thirty or fifty breaths, and they don’t believe that the Imperial Guard will sit idly. So under the leadership of Li Hun, they walked over in groups, and indeed did not encounter any trouble.

Only a group of civil servants under Wen Yanbo were left watching silly on the opposite side, waiting for a fool...

Qin Lei glanced at Huangfu Zhanwen, who was covered in serious faces, and a hint of enlightenment arose in his heart: "This is not a cause of trouble, it is clearly a position to establish his authority for Your Majesty..." He immediately understood the identity of the proposer of this action, and it was probably the secret line of Your Majesty!

You know, this plan was approved by Emperor Zhaowu Yulan a month ago. Since Qin Lei can go down the secret line, there is no reason for Emperor Zhaowu...

Finally, when all the officials were almost looking through the autumn water, Prime Minister Wen was looking forward to it.

The civil servants seemed to be bullied children seeing their mother. They surrounded Old Man Wen in the middle, and after greeting each other with joy, they told the situation vividly. After hearing this, Wen Yanbo sneered and said, "It's useless!" He didn't know who he was scolding, but the civil servant No. 10 was so scolded that he couldn't raise his head.

Wen Yanbo waved his hand gently, separated everyone, stood in front of the scholars with a stern voice, held the purple jade belt with one hand, and glanced at the scholars all over the venue with awesome eyes.

Although there was no self-introduction, the scholars could be sure without hesitation that this elegant old man standing in front of him was Wen Yanbo, the left prime minister of the Secretariat of the Qin Dynasty. He was the biggest victim of the scholars, who would be defeated at this rally.

But no matter how angry he was, when the man stood in front of them so easily, the scholars' hearts were bulging. They involuntarily linked this person to the generation power that had covered the sky for twenty years with one hand. The high pressure made the scholars double their insignificance.
Chapter completed!