It was already dusk when Qi Ning led Gu Qinghan back to the capital.
According to the original plan of taking care of Qinghan, she was to go to the East China Sea under the arrangement of Mrs. Tian, and then temporarily settle down in the East China Sea. She had discussed everything with Mrs. Tian in advance. She was originally going to wait for Mrs. Tian's arrangement near the capital, and Not going to Beijing, but Qining was naturally unwilling to let Gu Qinghan stay alone outside the city.
When Gu Qinghan came to Beijing, he was only worried about being discovered. Fortunately, Qining had several masks presented by the Thousand-faced Fox Zhongya. These masks were made with special workmanship and were by no means comparable to the ordinary masks in the world. Moreover, according to the shape of the user's face, , can be changed arbitrarily.
Therefore, when Qi Ning returned to Beijing, having an inconspicuous middle-aged man by his side would naturally not arouse any suspicion.
It was already dusk. When Qi Ning arrived in the capital on the way, he planned to arrange Gu Qinghan at an inn and then go to inform Mrs. Tian in person. However, Gu Qinghan had a soft spot for the fish noodles from Liufangzhai in the capital. This fish noodles was the best in the capital. It is a famous snack. Gu Qinghan said that people bought it from outside and brought it back to the house to eat. It tasted really good. However, when she bought it from Liufangzhai and brought it back to the house, the taste was somewhat reduced. Gu Qinghan could not leave the house easily on weekdays, so she always hoped You can go to Liufangzhai and try the freshly made fish noodles in person.
Gu Qinghan was about to leave. Not to mention just eating a bowl of noodles, even if it was a more difficult task, Qining would certainly try his best to do it for her.
When Qi Ning returned to Beijing, she had already changed into ordinary clothes. She was worried that she would be too conspicuous and be seen.
In fact, Liufangzhai is not too far from Tianzhai. It is three or four streets away. After eating Liufangzhai's fish noodles and settling down with Gu Qinghan, he can go directly to Tianzhai.
At dusk, there were already many customers in Liufangzhai. Liufangzhai has two floors, with various snacks. Qining originally wanted to have a separate private room, but for such a time-honored snack bar, he really couldn't bear to have a separate room. There are seven or eight tables on the upper and lower floors of the room, which are open for seating. If there are many people, many people usually don't mind sharing tables.
The tables in the good seats were already occupied. Qining could only sit down with Gu Qinghan at a table in the corner. Two bowls of hot fish noodles were served. Qining saw the joy in Gu Qinghan's beautiful eyes. Although Gu Qinghan had a high status in the Qi family's house, he might not be happy after working day and night. At least it was rare to see such joy flashing in Gu Qinghan's eyes in the house before. Light, but a bowl of ordinary fish noodles can make this beautiful girl extremely happy.
The fish noodles tasted good, and the side dishes Qining ordered also had their own characteristics.
This kind of market life is actually very real, making people truly feel the charm of life.
While eating noodles, Gu Qinghan saw Qin Ning staring at him, and couldn't help but glared. His feet under the table lightly stepped on Qin Ning's feet, and then he pursed his lips to the side. Qin Ning immediately understood what Gu Qinghan meant.
Gu Qinghan is now dressed like an ordinary middle-aged man. When eating noodles, if a man stares at another man, he will inevitably feel strange if others see him.
Qi Ning withdrew his gaze and glanced to the side. There were three or four people sitting at the table next to him. They didn't pay attention to this side. They leaned forward one by one and were talking in a low voice. Qi Ning didn't pay attention to these people just now. , naturally ignored what they were saying, but at this moment, a man with a mustache said: "There is a saying that goes without smoke without fire. Since this matter is rumored everywhere in the capital, it cannot be groundless."
"Zhou Laosan, where do you think this thing came from?" A thin monkey-like man next to him said: "Then King Yiheng is almost twenty now, why has there been no wind in the past twenty years?" However, this time there are rumors everywhere.”
Qin Ning frowned when he didn't expect these people to be talking about him. When Gu Qinghan saw the change in Qin Ning's expression, he couldn't help but pay attention.
"Wang Houhou, how many years have you been in Beijing?" Zhou Laosan said with a proud look: "Your mother-in-law only came to Beijing seven or eight years ago. My grandfather's generation has been making a living in Beijing. The streets and alleys of Beijing There’s no one I’m not familiar with, and those old stories from adulthood are all here... 1" After saying that, he nodded his head.
Another person laughed and said: "That's true. Brother Zhou is a native of the capital. As long as you ask the third brother about the weird things that happen in the capital, you will know everything." He added: "Third brother, are you saying that King Yiheng is really not a descendant of the Qi family?"
As soon as these words came out, Qining's expression changed even more, but he turned his head to hide it. Gu Qinghan also turned pale and looked at Qining.
"We don't have real evidence in our hands, so we can't talk nonsense." Zhou Laosan whispered: "But when King Yiheng was born, something strange happened to the Qi family. You may not know that, as far as I know, King Yiheng After her mother gave birth to King Yiheng, there were rumors that her mother died due to dystocia, and although the child was saved, the master left."
The person who asked the question nodded and said, "I heard my father talk about this back then, but no one knows what happened."
"It's not a big deal if it's due to dystocia." Zhou Laosan said: "There are many women who pass away due to dystocia every year, but the weird thing is what happened before and after the lady gave birth. "
"What happened?" Wang Houhou asked anxiously.
Zhou Laosan glanced around, and when he saw that no one was paying attention, he whispered: "Some old people in Beijing know that before the lady gave birth, some monks came from Daguangming Temple. Those monks were in the Jinyi Hou Mansion. After staying for several days, after they left, news soon spread that the lady had passed away during childbirth, but there was no mourning in the Qi family."
"That's right." The person who asked the question said, "I've heard about this too. The servants in his house heard that Mrs. Qi was pregnant. Later, everyone often inquired about it. When the birth was imminent, everyone got pregnant from their house. Everyone knew the approximate date. But the strange thing was that when I was about to give birth, and when everyone asked again, the servants in the mansion never mentioned it. Later, someone saw some monks entering the mansion and knew that they were from the Daguangming Temple. Eminent monk, those days happened to be the days of giving birth. A few days later, I came to my house and left. A few days later, I heard that Mrs. Qi passed away due to dystocia."
Zhou Laosan nodded and said: "The Jinyi Qi family are the heroes of Da Chu. They have made great contributions to our Da Chu. Mrs. Qi passed away. Everyone was waiting for the funeral to see her off, but they never saw Qi. Everyone felt strange when the family held a funeral, but after all, it was the Qi family's business. Everyone didn't know the inside story and couldn't say more. Later, when I asked the servants in their house what was going on, those servants mentioned it. Mrs. Qi, she just turned a deaf ear and asked urgent questions, then she would hit someone."
King Hou said: "This is weird." He touched his chin and said: "This monk came to the door just to perform a ritual and save the souls of the dead. But according to what you said, the monk came to the door before Mrs. Qi gave birth. Then Why did they go to the Marquis' Mansion? Could it be that they knew Mrs. Qi would die without knowing it, so they went for salvation in advance? "
"The Marquis is as deep as the sea. Who knows what happened?" Zhou Laosan said: "After almost twenty years, someone suddenly said that the prince was not a descendant of the Qi family. This is strange. , if anyone really knew that the prince was not of the Qi family’s blood, why did it take so long to spread the word?”
Wang Hou said: "I think someone is deliberately trying to embarrass the prince. Think about it, since the founding of our country in Chu, there has been no precedent for someone with a different surname to be granted the title of king. I heard that the man from the Qi family who was less than twenty years old was actually granted the title of king with a different surname. King, this is something unprecedented, and it is inevitable that some people in the court will be jealous, so they spread rumors to cause trouble."
"If the prince hadn't saved the emperor, there's no telling whether the country of Da Chu would be stable or not." Zhou Laosan even lowered his voice: "With his merits, it is natural for him to be crowned king. But if it weren't for the time before and after Mrs. Qi gave birth No one believed the rumors about the strange things that happened. But the problem was that those things were so weird that no one dared to talk about them. But at that time, the things were spread everywhere in the streets and alleys of the capital. More than ten years later, It's okay if no one mentions it, but when it comes to mentioning it, everyone still remembers what happened back then. Now that these rumors have spread, when everyone thinks about what happened back then, even if they don't completely believe it, there will always be something weird in it. .”
Wang Hou said with a smile: "It's just a matter of eating and having nothing to do. I just say it to make people laugh. I don't believe this is true. We common people don't know what happened back then, but don't the people of the Qi family know what happened? ? The Qi family knows the inside story very well. If the prince is really not a descendant of the Qi family, how could the Qi family raise him? Don’t forget that he also inherited the title of Marquis of Jinyi, and the Qi family of Jinyi is another Even if they are confused, it is impossible for an outsider to inherit their title."
"Wang Houhou's words make sense." Another person said: "This is the important point. Outsiders don't know whether the prince is a bloodline of the Qi family, but the Qi family knows that the Qi family will never let outsiders get the title."
Several people were talking with gusto, but suddenly they heard a cold snort coming from next to them. This cold snort immediately shocked the three of them. They looked around and no one paid attention to them. However, Zhou Laosan still laughed dryly. He said: "Come, eat, eat, monkey, I'm treating you today...!" But he didn't dare to continue.
Both Qi Ning and Gu Qinghan understood clearly. Naturally, they were not in the mood to continue eating noodles. After paying and going out, Qi Ning remained silent. On the street, Gu Qinghan couldn't say much. Seeing that the sky had darkened, Qining was looking nearby. He checked into an inn and asked for an upper room. After entering the room, Gu Qinghan locked the door and saw that Qi Ning had walked to the bed, opened the window to breathe in the air outside, walked over lightly, glanced at Qi Ning, and whispered : "It's just nonsense from boring people, don't take it to heart."
Qi Ning was silent for a moment, and finally looked at Gu Qinghan, looked directly into those beautiful eyes, and said word by word: "I am indeed not of Qi family blood!"