Stigma

In the palace.

Duan Mingchong came to the Queen's Palace every day to greet him. Today, because of a delay in the Yamen of the Criminal Ministry, it was already dark when he arrived in the Queen's Palace.

When Duan Mingchong was introduced by the palace man, he caught a glimpse of the old **** waiting by his side, and his eyes moved lightly.

Sure enough, after Duan Ming Chong nodded in, he saw Emperor Beilan who had a good chat with the queen.

Duan Ming kneeled respectfully and bowed: "Please peace of mind, mother and father."

As soon as he came in, the emperor's face sank immediately, and he looked at him a little coldly, neither letting him get up nor questioning, but bowed his head and picked up the teacup.

The atmosphere in the hall was a bit dignified, and the queen smiled and raised her hand towards Duan Mingchong, and said, "It's cold underground, get up quickly."

Duan Mingchong lowered his head, still kneeling, and said lightly: "I dare not."

The queen looked up at the emperor vaguely, and said hesitantly: "Your Majesty."

The emperor said indifferently: "Even if you dare to advertise this kind of rebellion, what can the prince dare not? Since you want to kneel, you kneel, do I still beg you to get up?"

Duan Mingchong did not speak, kneeling straight.

The queen couldn't bear it, and said: "Your Majesty, Ming Chong is young and never changing. For a while, I was fascinated. This will come to please calm down. I must have known that I was wrong-Ming Chong, let your father confess a mistake."

Duan Mingchong was very obedient, kowtow, and said, "My son knows his mistake."

The queen breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Ming Chong was the one who listened to your Majesty the most since he was a child. If you think about it carefully, he will not spread the rumors-I and your father, the emperor, were still talking about you. Marriage, do you have any lady you like, the queen mother is in charge of you."

Duan Mingchong's eyes were a little soft, and he whispered softly, "Forget going home every year."

Queen: "..."

The emperor tossed the lid of the cup at random, made a crisp "click", and said coldly: "Do you think he looks like repentance?!"

The queen has been making rounds, and now she can't hold back her face. She took a deep breath and said, "Ming Chong, you have to behave yourself when you are fooling around. No matter how beautiful he is, he is a man after all. You are a man. Prince Chao, is it really impossible to marry a man as a concubine?"

Duan Ming Chong said: "Why not?"

Why not...

The emperor was already a headache because of the rumors all over the city. At this moment, seeing Duan Mingchong's unrepentant appearance, he was furious and threw the unfinished tea in his hand directly to Duan Mingchong's side.

With a crisp sound, the porcelain cup was torn apart, and the hot tea was sprinkled on the back of Duan Mingchong's hand, which instantly turned red.

Duan Mingchong didn't even look at it. He leaned down respectfully and said calmly: "My father calms down his anger, and my son knows his fault."

The emperor turned pale with anger, and pointed at him and cursed: "Asshole! Although you know your mistakes, but you never repent, did you deliberately **** me off?"

The queen hurriedly stepped forward to pat the emperor's back smoothly, and said anxiously: "Your Majesty calms down your anger, Ming Chong did not do it on purpose."

The emperor clutched his chest and said in a trembled voice: "You...look at what he looks like now, indulging in beauty, and being fascinated by a man, where is the appearance of a prince?!"

This sentence was a bit serious, and the queen's face was pale with fright.

Duan Mingchong seemed to have done it deliberately, saying: "Your Majesty calms down his anger."

He didn't even call his father.

The emperor was angina with anger while pressing his chest.

The palace man on the side ran to call the imperial physician cleverly. While the queen was anxious to give him sorrow, at the same time she cast a color at Duan Mingchong, and sternly said: "If you are sick with your father, I will never forgive you. Don't kneel here anymore, you want to kneel out and kneel."

Duan Ming Chong nodded and said yes, stood up and walked outside the dormitory, and knelt down straight.

The old **** guarding at the door saw the crown prince actually kneeling in the cold night of the ice, and hurriedly bowed over and whispered: "Your Highness, what are you..."

Duan Ming Chong said: "I rushed into your Majesty recklessly and voluntarily admitted punishment."

The old **** watched Duan Mingchong grow up, and he was distressed to death, and said: "His Royal Highness, you are kneeling here, not to mention the damage to your body, and tomorrow 80% of the rumors that your Royal Highness is at odds with your Majesty and his father and son will be heard. If you are listened to by someone with a heart, there may be something wrong with you, you are... alas..."

This is what Duan Ming Chong wants.

He lowered his head and smiled softly, and said, "Father-in-law, don't worry, you're all alone."

After a short while, the imperial doctor hurried over, gave the emperor some medical treatment and prescribed some medicine for him to take.

After tossing for more than an hour, it was already late.

Waiting for the emperor to sleep soundly, the queen hurried out of the palace and saw Duan Mingchong who was still kneeling, and hurriedly stepped forward to help him up.

Duan Mingchong stood up, his pale face was frozen with a smile: "Mother Queen."

The queen was so distressed that tears were falling, and Duan Mingchong grew up under his lap since he was a child, and how did he suffer such suffering.

She reached out her hand and touched Duan Ming Chong's face, only feeling cold in her palms, and hurriedly pulled Duan Ming Chong into the hall.

After a while, Duan Mingchong sat on the soft chair, sipped the **** tea he had prepared in his hand, and his pale face finally recovered some blood.

The queen straightened up a strand of hair that had been scattered by Mingchong, and said distressed: "Why are you deliberately angering your father? For a man, is it worth it?"

Duan Mingchong smiled softly and said, "Knowing that I deliberately angered the father and the queen, and the mother and the queen are still willing to help me, Ming Chong is grateful."

The Queen's hand paused, and a touch of helplessness appeared on her glamorous face. She gently grasped Duan Mingchong's hand, and the tears that had been in her eyes were blinked by her and slowly slid down.

Duan Mingchong stepped forward to wipe her tears, his voice softened: "What is the queen crying for?"

The queen tilted her head slightly, wiped away the tears, and whispered softly: "The queen is just...from childhood to adulthood, I have never seen you that you have been so attached to something..."

Duan Mingchong was startled, smiling helplessly and tenderly.

Duan Mingchong has been named the crown prince since he was born. Since he can remember, his entire life has been arranged by the emperor—not so much an arrangement, but rather a manipulation.

When he was young, he either studied literary and martial arts at the Taifu in the palace, or learned the way of governing the country with the emperor. He has read countless books and never had free time in all seasons of the year.

Fortunately, it is clear that the temperament is happy and quiet, and he can calm his temper after so many years of such boring days.

Over the years, the emperor has been full of praise for his well-being and gentleness, sometimes making people feel that he is not trying to train a prince, but is raising a puppet.

Duan Mingchong has been on the safe side since Xiao An, not fighting or grabbing, never said what he wants, everything seems to be dispensable to him.

The queen watched him grow up little by little, and her temper became calm and steady, but she only felt that her children had never had the vigor and popularity that ordinary children should have.

This was the first time that she had seen Duan Mingchong so persistently wanting someone, but he did not hesitate to make the emperor furious.

Duan Mingchong helped her dry her tears, and said softly: "I thought the queen would blame me..."

After all, not everyone can accept that one's own son likes a man to go against one's dignity.

The queen choked and said: "The queen can't care about you, and doesn't want to restrain you. If this matter is over, you can bring Wanggui into the palace and let me see."

Duan Mingchong smiled and said, "Okay, the queen mother will like him."

Duan Mingchong knelt outside the queen's palace for an hour, and it was secretly spread throughout the palace less than midnight. In addition to the previous rumors, the ambiguous rumors between the prince and An Hou of the same age were even more clamorous, and many people even said that They all admired that the prince was infatuated, and he blatantly defied his majesty for the sake of his peace.

He walked out of the queen's palace, and the scalded hand had been treated by the queen himself. Although he used the best medicine, there was still a burst of fiery pain.

Duan Mingchong walked back to the East Palace with a pale face. When passing by the Duanlishu bedroom, he saw a figure under the plum tree at the door from a distance.

It is as expected.

Dressed in a big cloak, he stood alone under a tree with a carved lantern, and looked up at the closed palace door slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.

Duan Mingchong looked at him from a distance, let the accompanying people wait in place, and walked forward slowly by himself.

A thin layer of frost has fallen on the shoulders and hem of the look, and I don't know how long I have been waiting.

Seeing Duan Mingchong coming over, Duan Ruwang tilted his head slightly, his eyes were a little lost, as if they were covered with a layer of mist, and it took a long time to disperse.

Duan Mingchong stepped forward and said lightly: "Why don't you go in when you come to see Liaoshu?"

Duan Ruwang did not answer.

Duan Mingchong chuckled lightly and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't go in, so as not to make Li Shu upset, besides, she doesn't want to see you."

Duan Ruwang, who had been indifferent until he heard the words, trembled with his cold-frozen hands in his sleeves, his godless eyes looked sharply at Duan Mingchong, and said gloomily, "Shut up."

Duan Ming Chong said indifferently: "Why do you want to silence? Since you dare to use the fence to calculate me, have you really not considered the consequences?"

Duan Ruwang's fist was clenched, and he looked at Duan Mingchong with some resentment.

"Fences are unfettered, it's you and me fighting like death, she just doesn't know how to get along with you when I was young, and now everything is business as usual." Duan Mingchong said, "Even if she is my sister, she has no fear of you from beginning to end. Alienation, he regards the things you gave her as treasures; the folk tales you told her are also written down one by one, lest you forget them. As expected, Brother Erhuang, are you worthy of her?"

Duanyuwang's lips moved lightly, and her eyes were still cold: "I, I don't care, I don't care about anything... That's her own wishful thinking. In the royal family, where is there nothing completely black and white, the winner is the king and the loser... "

Duan Ming Chong said: "You don't care, why wait here in the middle of the night?"

Duan is stunned.

After Duan Mingchong finished speaking lightly, he lowered his eyes to look at the burning candle in Duan Ruwang's hand, and took a step back.

"You can fight no matter how you fight with me. As you said, the winner is the king or the loser." Duan Mingchong retreated into the darkness, his eyes looked coldly and dutifully, and said softly, "But you are wrong, no It's time to involve Wanggui and Hushou."

Duan Ruwang raised his head and looked a little blankly at the red door of Duan Li Shu's bedroom. The lantern in his hand poured a warm light from the side diagonally.

Duan Mingchong didn't know when, he had already left.

The light was extinguished, and the last trace of wax tears rolled around the candling, struggling to wrap up the half-inch pitch-black wick.

The candle flame was beating, illuminating Duan Ruwang's cold white face flickering and dimming, and the sound of the front-end fence faintly sounded in his ears for several days.

"Brother Second Emperor..."

"Brother Second Emperor!"

"I heard that the prince wouldn't let you eat anything outside, why do you always pester me with it?"

The sound of the end fence beam was crisp like a nightingale, his eyes were slightly bent, and he shook his arm coquettishly, saying: "It's delicious, like the prince brother, the third emperor will never bring it to me if it is not clean, only the second emperor. Brother loves me the most, so who won't you pester you?"

Duan Ruwang handed over what was in his hand, and said with a smile: "Here, this, I hide it. Your prince brother knows it, I'm afraid I will scold you."

Duan Li Shu pointed to his chest and said with a serious face: "Even if he is scolded to death, Li Shu will never betray Brother Erhuang!"

Duan Ruwang was amused by her: "You, your mouth is so sweet before you eat it. If you eat it again, the emperor can't stand it."

Duan Li Shu blinked at him and happily opened the medicated honey.

When she was about to eat, she seemed to regret it. She stretched out her hand and grabbed the hand of Duan Hou Shu, and whispered, "Li Shu, this... this doesn't seem to be clean, or the emperor brother will give it to you tomorrow. Bring it again."

Duan Lishu tilted his head and looked at him questioningly: "It's not unclean, Brother Erhuang, how can you be like the prince brother now."

Duan Ruwang wanted to persuade him again, so Duan Hou Shu directly waved his hand away, bent his eyes and started eating.

The candlelight was extinguished twice again, and the eye sockets that looked like sight were a little red, the scene in front of him disappeared like smoke, and the pretty girl disappeared.

Duan Ruwang's eyes stared blankly at the extinguished candlelight in his hand, and gently stretched out his hand to hold down the painful heart.

"I..." He murmured softly, "I took advantage of the only person in the world who was willing to treat me sincerely."

The candlelight in the carved lampshade suddenly burst into flames, and then quickly dissipated.

His astonishing face quickly dimmed, and what remained was that he had returned to his indifferent expression.

In the darkness, the wind and snow roared.