To be honest, although Zhang Zhe has not been in the Ministry of Criminal Justice for too long, anyone with eyes can see what kind of character he is.

Last year, Mr. Chen Ying, the servant, treated guests at Xichenxuan.

On such an occasion, it is inevitable to call some beautiful women in to "serve drinks". Some officials who were dissolute and accustomed to sensuality began to play tricks on the spot and make fun of these girls.

This Mr. Zhang has good features and a cold appearance, but he is out of place among the crowd.

When the prostitute saw it, she couldn't help being moved.

After all, some people who seem to be gentlemen are actually a bit lower than those who are straightforward. Now that such an occasion has come, it is impossible to get out of the mud without being stained. Taking a step back, even if he is a real gentleman, wouldn't it be more interesting to tease him?

So, there were two girls who seemed to have no bones, and wanted to stick to him.

But before he got close, he stood up.

The bystanders immediately laughed and booed.

This Lord Zhang lowered his brows and lowered his eyes, bluntly said that he was too strong to drink, he couldn't drink, it was inconvenient to disturb everyone's interest here, so he left first.

After speaking, he turned and left.

At that time, everyone in Xichenxuan looked at each other in blank dismay.

Chen Shilang's expression was not very good.

After that episode ended, the Ministry of Criminal Affairs secretly rumored that Zhang Zhe was neither interesting nor familiar.

Of course the two guards also heard about it.

And they also heard about Zhang Zhe's resignation with the daughter of the Yao family.

Originally, the horoscope was just waiting to be written, but suddenly one day it turned yellow. Although I don't know which side will withdraw the marriage first, but the Yao family is a big family, and Zhang Zhe comes from a poor family, so it can't be that Zhang Zhe is stupid to withdraw the marriage, right? After all, when the marriage was settled, he himself agreed. Therefore, it was probably the noble and beautiful daughter Yao Xi who disliked this person's dull and boring face, so she withdrew the marriage.

They really know what Master Zhang does.

There was no smile on his face all day long.

In the yamen of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, he is often the first to arrive and the last to leave. He deals with files, murder cases, prisons, and laws all day long. Doing school has repeatedly hit the wall, and over time, no one cares about it.

But right now...

The two guards couldn't believe their eyes!

When they were at the Shuxiang Inn just now, they had already seen Jiang Xuening. After all, such a beautiful girl was so amazing that it was hard to look away with just a glance. She was more beautiful than any woman they had ever seen!

Compared with her, the delicate moth leaning on the red building, and the willow eyebrows nestling in the emerald green pavilion are all the best of the best!

If they hadn't been on official business, they would have been too greedy to leave.

But never thought that not long after they left, the girl chased them out.

And stopped...

Master Zhang? !

The two guards looked at Jiang Xuening, and the initial shock quickly turned to pity: What a pity! Such a beautiful girl has a bad brain! With such a good-looking appearance, who wouldn't fly on a branch to marry? How could he be lame and focus on Zhang Zhe, and even give him something on New Year's Eve? !

Pedestrians and horses come and go on the street.

The two stood opposite each other, motionless.

Like two sinking stones in a gentle stream.

Zhang Zhe thought he had made a decision and warned himself over and over again, but when he saw her again, the high wall in his heart shook and collapsed bit by bit.

It's hard to be quiet.

He didn't even think that Jiang Xuening would chase him out, let alone that she would abandon her reserve and ask him so straightforwardly. But after thinking about it, isn't this just her temperament? It's flamboyant, domineering, and bright, and it's not easy to put it in. If you are timid and worry about gains and losses, it doesn't look like her.

Jiang Xuening slightly raised her face to look at him, her eyes filled with gloom and grievance, but she didn't say it out loud, and even repeated the previous question domineeringly: "Master Zhang received ?"

It's clear that every sentence is something he cares about, but Zhang Zhe feels that every word is cut.

He stood in front of her seemingly unharmed, but his heart was covered with bruises and blood. He had to squeeze the roll of portrait paper in his hand hard to ensure that his voice was as stable as usual: "Got it."

The two guards next to him looked at each other, almost suspecting that they had heard it wrong. Looking at the seemingly normal expression of Master Zhang, he felt something unusual.

After all, Zhang Zhe is winning the holy family now.

If they listened to someone's private affairs without knowing life and death, how would they know that people would not be afraid and guarded in the future?

The two men bowed and retreated quietly. It's just that I can't help but look back when I go far away, obviously I have irrepressible curiosity.

Jiang Xuening didn't realize it, when she heard Zhang Zhe's affirmative answer, her heart beat a little faster, but it was accompanied by a faint ominous feeling, which made her heart **** like a needle.

A voice shouted in her mind, don't ask, don't ask again.

The words are all here, what else do you not understand?

But the continuous stinging pain already gave her the illusion that she couldn't breathe, and also made her stubbornly ignore the voice: "What was written in there, Master Zhang also saw it?"

Zhang Zhe said, "I see."

Jiang Xuening also smiled, and was frank like never before: "Everyone thinks that you are cold-faced and unfeeling, and you are not easy to get along with. But in Tongzhou, Xue Ning was lucky to be taken care of by you all the way, and you are actually a jade pot in the ice valley, and you are guarded by Qing Jie. Zhang Zhe , I belong to you."

Zhang Zhe, I belong to you.

She doesn't have the shyness of an ordinary woman, only a lonely courage that doesn't hit the south wall and doesn't look back.

Zhang Zhe felt that she was about to cry, but the smile never faded on her slightly pale face, as if she believed that she would definitely get the answer she wanted.

Tugu market, the secular world is noisy.

But he was suddenly pulled back to his previous life by this sentence.

In the previous life, Jiang Xuening also said the same thing.

It's just that she still couldn't understand him at that time, because he and Zhou Yinzhi were deadly enemies, and whenever they had the opportunity inside and outside the palace, they would play tricks on him and make him angry; teased him and made him embarrassed.

Because he knew that he was rigid and conservative, he deliberately made fun of him.

If she accidentally showed a moment of embarrassment, she would often make her clap her hands and laugh, as if she had won some battle.

Although he has a stoic and silent temperament, after being teased for a long time, it is inevitable that he will lose his temper.

It was deep winter that day, and the courtiers were ordered to enter the palace to discuss matters.

He lived farther away from the palace, the road was slippery, and he came later. When I arrived at Qianqing Palace, I saw a group of important officials, including Xie Wei, who was already the prince and grand teacher, waiting in the side hall.

As we all know, Xie Wei is the emperor's teacher, and he is afraid of cold.

When the Holy Majesty summoned all the ministers, it was not unusual for anyone to wait outside, but Xie Wei was asked to wait outside, which was really unheard of and unseen.

At that moment, an old man came in, and he was very surprised: "Didn't the Holy One call us to discuss the matter at this time? Why do you ask so many people to wait outside?"

Xie Wei stood on the steps, still indifferent, turned around and replied: "The empress is inside."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay.

The old man choked for a moment, then lowered his head and muttered, but he didn't say anything after all.

Zhang Zhe glanced at the Qianqing Palace, feeling inexplicably upset.

After waiting for more than half a moment, Zheng Bao, the **** holding a pen who was in charge of ceremonies, bent down to send one person out in person.

It's Jiang Xuening.

Dressed in a high bun, holding an exquisite golden hand stove, her pink cheeks are dazzling, and her lips are dotted with cherry color, but the color seems to be lighter than usual, as if the original mouth has been wiped off somewhere. fat.

When she came out, she first saw Xie Wei on the steps, a trace of disgust quickly flashed across her eyes, and she turned her eyes away.

When I went down the steps, I saw him.

So the brilliance in his eyes turned playful, he deliberately raised his eyebrows and made a smile, he did not dare to embarrass him in front of many ministers, he walked briskly away with a group of maids.

Then Shen Jie called them into the palace to discuss matters.

When he stood up after saluting, Zhang Zhe happened to see the young and elegant emperor, tidying up a section of his sleeve that had been turned up. A little bit of cherry powder was inconspicuously stained on the edge of the transparent nail cover of his right ring finger, as if there was still some tenderness left. Lingering residual warmth.

He wondered if anyone else had noticed.

But during the hour-long discussion, although he answered fluently, when he didn't speak, compared to the usual silence, he was a little more imperceptibly dull.

Everyone retreated, and when they left the Qianqing Palace, Xie Wei suddenly stopped, glanced at him, and said, "The case of fraud in the Jiangnan Examination Center is very involved, Mr. Zhang said less today than in the past."

Zhang Zhe was not familiar with this emperor teacher.

But at that moment, I still felt a chill in my heart.

He replied: "This is a big matter, and I am reticent by nature, let alone dare to speak nonsense."

Xie Wei always has a smile on his face, and he is very tactful in dealing with people, even in winter, he often makes people feel like they are in the spring breeze.

But after hearing this, he didn't answer.

The old man next to him happened to come over and invited him to go to the cabinet, Xie Wei seemed to have never mentioned anything, and went to the housekeeping with the rest of the ministers.

Zhang Zhe stood at the foot of the steps for a while before heading east towards Wenyuan Pavilion.

The case of fraud in the examination room was complicated, and even involved the past presidents of the examination, so it was always necessary to ask the relevant people for advice.

It's just that he was a little absent-minded along the way.

He didn't even see when Jiang Xuening walked over with the palace servants from a distance, so naturally he couldn't avoid it.

She seemed to have gone to the Imperial Garden, and behind her were some palace servants, one of whom was holding scissors, while the others were holding several branches of snow plums in their hands.

The weather is cold and the plum blossoms are in full bloom.

Some are red, some are white, some are yellow.

In Du Jiang Xuening's own hand, the slender branch, about a foot long and slanted, is as light green as a bean, which is very rare.

I heard that there is a rare green plum tree planted in the east corner of the imperial garden in the palace. It was planted by the national teacher Yuanji and the emperor teacher Xie Wei one year after the first emperor Shen Lang ascended the throne. When it opens in the cold season of winter, the plum petals are all light green.

The palace people cherished it very much and did not dare to move without authorization.

But when it fell into Jiang Xuening's hands, she folded it casually, pinched it lightly and delicately, and couldn't see its preciousness at all.

He knew it would be bad if he bumped into Jiang Xuening, so he bowed to salute and didn't want to cause trouble, so he gave way to the left side and left.

Not wanting him to go to the left, Jiang Xuening stood to the left;

He walked to the right, and Jiang Xuening stood on the right.

Either way, it was just blocking him.

Then Zhang Zhe knew that she was trying to play tricks again, his originally indifferent face became more and more expressionless, when he caught a glimpse of her curling her pink lips and looking at him with a half-smile, he felt even more annoyed.

He said: "The lower official has something to do, and the empress will let it go."

Jiang Xuening waved his hands to make the palace people stay away, and blocked his way, looking at his stern eyebrows, he was still clinging to the branch of green plum, raised his sharp chin, looked at his face, and said Teasing: "Master Zhang has a stinky and hard temper, but his eyebrows are beautiful. What if I don't let you live?"

How can such words and deeds look like the queen of the world?

Zhang Zhe finally brushed her away, with a solemn face, and said coldly: "Your Majesty is the mother of a country, she is extremely Kun Ning, she should behave in a proper manner, and she is both a husband and a king. Such frivolous words, I'm afraid Provoking criticism from the ruling and opposition parties."

Jiang Xuening didn't seem to expect that he could speak.

I was startled for a moment, then as if I had discovered something interesting, I clapped my hands and said: "I still think you are a boring gourd with a sawed-off mouth, embarrassing you many times, thinking that you have become the second Xie Ju'an in cultivation, and you feel boring. Unexpected There are times when you can't hold back your anger!"

Zhang Zhe was unmoved, and only said: "Your Majesty is like this, where do you put the sage, where do you put the ministers, and where do you put etiquette, justice, and shame?"

It was like this when he saw Jiang Xuening for the first time at the Summer Resort.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Jiang Xuening's joking expression didn't change, but the anger in her eyes became more radiant, and she walked up to him, her toes almost touching his. Twitching the corners of her lips: "Who told me to see you at the first meeting, so that I belong to Mr. Zhang?"

Such words were supposed to be lingering love words, but when they came out of her mouth, they were frivolous and surly, and secretly they were very sharp and mocking!

At that moment, Zhang Zhe was extremely patient.

Knowing that the other party was teasing him, he took a step back and lowered his eyes and said: "The lower officials stand upright and are not afraid of rumors; the words and deeds of the empress are not necessarily free from rumors. I am afraid that you are not happy to see criticism from the government and the public. Please be careful."

With downcast eyes, she could only see the corner of Jiang Xuening's clothes embroidered with phoenix tails.

There was a moment of silence.

Then a few green plum petals came into sight, and it was Jiang Xuening's green plum that touched the corner of his eye. As he raised his eyes lightly, there were slightly cold sharp wooden thorns at the end of the thin branch, drawing a very faint and thin bloodstain at the corner of his eye.

The pain is subtle but real.

Jiang Xuening changed her thoughtful expression, looked at him and said: "Master Zhang abides by etiquette and righteousness, and is patient by nature, why can't he be calm after being provoked by a few random nonsense from the palace today?"

Zhang Zhe didn't speak.

Jiang Xuening's plum branch didn't take back, it was still pointing at the corner of his eyes, and her eyes moved to his cold and silent eyes. After looking at it for a long time, a smile suddenly appeared on her lips, as if she couldn't believe it, and asked: " Are you jealous?"

At that moment, Zhang Zhe's patience seemed to have reached its limit, and he walked away.

Jiang Xuening smiled and bent over behind him.

When he returned to his mansion, he thought that Jiang Xuening was just talking nonsense like in the past to disturb his mind. He looked through the files, but the two ridiculous words couldn't get out of his mind. Jiang Xuening secretly supports Zhou Yinzhi, but Zhou Yinzhi is a major disaster in the court. How could he be fascinated by his looks, and even feel jealous?

It was just that she deliberately insulted him with words.

But he turned the dossier page by page, but he didn't even sort out half of the clues.

A solitary lamp shone through the long night, and what came to mind was the thinned lip balm and the cherry powder dyed on the emperor's nails.

For the first time, Zhang Zhe hated his ability to see every detail.

Even a little bit of clues can let him see the tip of the iceberg, and he is so impetuous that he can't read the word anymore, just thinking: How can there be such a bad woman in the world?

However, after a long, long time, when he was in prison, when he looked at Yunwai through the small iron window, he forgot all the other bad things. Instead, he always remembered the day when she said to him with a mocking and sharp smile. that joke-

Who told Bengong to fall in love with Mr. Zhang after seeing you for the first time?

At that time, the banter and sharpness, hostility and sarcasm all faded from the face in memory, leaving only the cool breeze and light green snowy plums.

She teased him, and pleaded with him;

She ran against him, and also showed occasional softness.

She dragged him into the vortex, but in the end, the person who was greedy for life and afraid of death also gave up that life to pay him back...

But at this moment, after two lifetimes, she was standing in front of her, no longer calling him "Master Zhang" jokingly, but calling him "Zhang Zhe" very seriously, admitting frankly that she belonged to he.

In this life, she is not a queen, and he is not a courtier.

They should have been together.

Zhang Zhe's whole body seems to be cut in two by the blunt knife of fate. The half of him is exposed, cold and rational;

In a trance, it was the day of Tongzhou Shangqing Temple again.

In this life, Xie Wei was dressed in a Taoist robe, standing on a jagged rock, and asked him: "Are you interested in her too?"

He stopped and remained silent for a long time, saying word by word: "I love her."

That was really the most magnanimous moment in his two lives, he even threw away all the burdens and got a kind of complete release.

But the corners of Xie Wei's eyes twitched slightly, and he just smiled, as if curiously asked: "That's really strange. Why does Xie feel that Mr. Zhang is more honest with others than with his sweetheart?"

He stood there for a long time, looking at Xie Wei.

Xie Wei snorted lightly, showing no gentleness towards him, and said flatly: "Ning Er is a fool, if you have any scruples, you'd better not provoke her."

The wind is no longer cold, people in the capital have put on new spring shirts, and the weeping willows beside the street are also faintly green.

But the flowers are about to bloom, but the plum blossoms are all withered, right?

Zhang Zhe came back to his senses.

Looking at him, Jiang Xuening felt that those eyes seemed to have passed through the struggle of eternity, and there was a faint sense of familiarity.

But she didn't have time to delve into it.

Because the next moment, Zhang Zhe's words made her head go blank, and there was a buzzing sound, giving off a feeling of being lightly stepped on the cotton.

Zhang Zhe stared at her, and slowly said: "Miss Jiang Er forgive me, I already have someone I like in my heart."