The moon is particularly dark tonight, and the fluffy moonlight glows with scarlet color.
Summer is already sweltering, and today there is not even a breath of wind. It feels like a stone has fallen on my heart, making me feel breathless.
In the Zhong Mansion, someone wearing night clothes walked into the hall.
He said: "My lord, everything is ready."
Zhong Ming's hand holding the tea cup shook, and there was a burning color in his eyes.
What was supposed to come finally came...
"Where is Prince Ning?" Zhong Ming asked.
"We have led 30,000 troops and are stationed outside Jinling City in disguise."
"Where is Wang Yuanqin?"
"I have already led people to surround the imperial city, and I only listen to your order."
"Okay, okay, okay..." Zhong Ming said "ok" three times before saying to the subordinate: "Tell them to get ready, I will be here soon."
"yes."
After his subordinates left, Zhong Ming felt a little uneasy for no reason, and his whole body became impetuous. He stood up and walked around the hall several times before he finally calmed down.
Is it a palace change? This is not the first time he has participated, but for some reason, he is extra nervous this time.
No, no, what are you so nervous about?
Isn't everything ready?
Since he can support Shen Muchi to ascend the throne, why can't someone else do it?
After choosing and choosing, I chose Prince Ning, who was far away in Ningzhou.
Prince Ning was the fourth son of the late emperor, with a weak and mediocre personality. The late emperor had always disliked him. When he reached the age of sixteen, he was granted a fief by the late emperor and sent to the farthest place.
It was lucky to have avoided the battle between the five dragons.
After breaking up with Shen Muchi, Zhong Ming began to prepare to support Prince Ning.
First, they built momentum in the Ningzhou area and dug out a stone with a flying dragon. On the stone were eight characters written - The world returns to power and the king comes out of Jiangning.
It means that Prince Ning is the emperor to whom he is destined.
Then he forged the imperial edict, saying that the imperial edict of the late emperor was originally to pass on the throne to King Ning, and that some people were just trying to occupy a magpie's nest.
The imperial edict in Shen Muchi's hand was not clean to begin with, so it was naturally very easy to start from here.
After everything is rationalized, the last step is to force the woman to have a baby.
Most of the ministers in the court are Zhong Ming's people. If they want to force him to abdicate, what can Shen Muchi, a lonely man, do?
More importantly, the Royal Yulin Army is in the hands of Zhong Ming. What if Shen Muchi is unwilling and kills him with his sword?
By the time dawn breaks, the landscape has completely changed.
Civil and military officials did not dare to object, and the people of the world were kept in the dark.
This is his Zhongming ability.
He turned his hands to make clouds and rain, all because the little emperor didn't know what was good and was too disobedient.
He was fully prepared. What did he have to be afraid of? The one who should be afraid was the child with a yellow mouth.
While Zhong Ming was walking around the hall, Ma was sitting in a chair. Her eyes were lowered and she looked listless, as if the whole thing had nothing to do with her.
When Zhong Ming saw her like this, he became angry again.
"Who do you look like you're trying to kill for? Do you just want me to lose to make you happy?"
Ma's head hung crookedly.
"How did you come up with these words, sir? If I wish you were defeated, why bother traveling thousands of miles and begging my father to help you?"
Now not only I, but also the Ma family is tied to you alone, why do you bother to say such things to ridicule me?"
Ma's words made Zhong Ming feel a little sad.
This time he was able to go so smoothly thanks to Ma.
His influence in the court has been greatly reduced by Shen Muchi. If Lord Ma hadn't been in charge, there might not have been so many people selling his favor.
In addition, there is Wang Yuanqin, who is supposed to be Shen Muchi's die-hard loyalist. Except for Mr. Ma, no one else can be driven away.
Thinking like this, Zhong Ming sighed, stepped forward and patted Ma on the shoulder.
"You have contributed a lot this time. Don't worry, I, Zhong Ming, am not an ungrateful person. After this success, you will naturally have a share in the Zhong family's glory and wealth.
You are the matron of the Zhong family, you are now and you will be in the future, and no one can take your place."
After Zhong Ming finished speaking, he turned around and hurried outside.
Ma was left alone, sitting alone in the hall, the candlelight beside her flickering, making her face dim.
After a long while, she lowered her head and sneered, her smile desolate and sarcastic.
How fast did Zhong Ming change her face? It was considered that she had opened her face.
In the past, her identity as the mistress of the Zhong family made her feel proud, but now she only feels that it is an inescapable shackles.
Because of this identity, it had no choice but to drag her entire Ma family into this bloody storm, leaving her father, who had lived a clean life, until the end of his life.
Thinking of her father's gray hair, helpless eyes, and the old figure running around for her, her heart felt like it was being delayed every step of the way, and she was in constant pain.
The bell rings...
This time, he'd better win...
**
In the dark moon, geese are flying high, and the chirping of insects is faint. By the Qinhuai River, smoke and willows cover the sand. Someone is riding a horse across the river, and the strong wind is blowing through the fine grass.
Looking at the bell from a distance, there seems to be lights flickering in front of it, and there are thousands of palaces in front of it.
His heart moved slightly and he couldn't help tightening his grip on the horse's reins.
I just didn't notice it, and while I was distracted, a faint fragrance filled the tip of my nose.
A dark shadow flashed past in front of me, as if heading towards the Qinhuai Lake.
Zhong Ming was shocked...
It was clear that there was something big waiting for him ahead, but by some strange mistake, he reined in his horse like this. He turned around and saw that there was a small boat in the lake at some point.
There was a shadowy figure standing on the boat, with a tall figure and a lake-colored gown.
That figure... looked a bit familiar inexplicably.
The boat gradually rowed towards the river bank, shaking the calm lake shore and stirring the bright moon in the river into fragments of starlight.
The man on the boat spoke.
He shouted: "The bell rings..."
That voice was extremely familiar, it was a voice that was buried in the deepest part of my memory.
The past that he originally didn't want to recall suddenly roared over, and the door of memory that he had tried so hard to cover up slowly opened, bringing with it the dust of the past and smoke everywhere.
No, no...
Zhong Ming knew that he had been dead for a long time and would never appear in this place.
But the surrounding area was silent, except for the lingering fragrance, which made him feel a little dizzy.
For a moment, he couldn't remember whether this was a dream or reality.
"The bell rings..." The voice was still calling him.
The boat was getting closer and closer, and it seemed that his face could be seen clearly in the dim moonlight.
"Father...Father..." Zhong Ming's voice seemed to be trembling.
He rolled off his horse and ran to the river in a few steps, only to see smoke rising from the river.
The fog is getting thicker and thicker, and only the river fire on the boat is bright and swaying scarlet, and there seems to be a temple bell in the distance that is particularly lonely.
Zhong Ming asked: "Father, is it you? Are you back to see me?"
"You have never come to my dreams these years, why do you come to see me at this time?"