… In the end, Gu Naizheng and his party’s boat could not be found, and there was nothing that could be done about it: in Furong Island in midsummer, the hibiscus flowers and leaves reached to the sky, and the turbulent reeds could cover the huge Furong Island. Breathable!
It would be impossible to hide three small boats in a place like this. It would be difficult to find them until the water is dry in autumn and winter, unless you encounter them by chance. After hearing the news, Brother Xie and his wife each took a small boat and searched around the area but couldn't find any clues. It was the Shen Family Courtyard because Shen Zangfeng had agreed with them before and used it at the Xie Family Restaurant in Furongzhou. After dinner, he went back, but when he arrived at Chenguang, he still didn't come back, so he sent Zhou Ji to inquire.
So Zhouji happened to be there to send Gu Naizheng and the others away... Of course, their servants couldn't get on board together, so they had to be sent off by the Jie family's boat.
After all this trouble, it was almost evening when we returned to the other courtyard.
Although this courtyard is located in a quiet location, there is a lakeshore in front of the courtyard, a pier is built to tie the boats, and tall locust trees are planted for shade. I think in spring, the shores of the Spring Grass Lake are full of velvet and locust flowers blooming. No matter how you look at it, it is an intoxicatingly beautiful painting.
The villa was also decorated with flowers and willows. He put a lot of thought into it, but because he met the lotus picking girl and Gu Naizheng, Wei Changying entered the villa, reluctantly met the servants, threw himself on the couch, and didn't even think about getting up for dinner.
As you can imagine, the night passed in a hurry. The next day, for fear of being bumped into by Gu Naizheng again when we went to the lake, we only walked with Shen Zangfeng by the lake near the courtyard - the weather was hot, and although there was a lake breeze, we couldn't walk very far. It is also inevitable to get tired easily.
Wei Changying then said: "Shall we go back? Although we have talked to mother for two days, I am afraid that mother will be worried if we go back late."
Shen Zangfeng also knew that the two of them would not have much time to go out this time. Yesterday they were disturbed by the lotus picking girl and Gu Naizheng. It was hard to be in the mood today, so he said, "Let's come back later."
"Yeah." Wei Changying felt sweet when he thought that this time he came out because her husband specifically offered to accompany her to relax. The disappointment of being disturbed before was much lessened. She took the initiative to rest her head on his shoulder for a moment, looking at the lake, and felt The sounds of vegetation growing around, the orioles chirping willows, and the waves lapping on the lake shore, all the sounds of nature quietly fade away. In the vast world, only the couple is left, and each other's heartbeats can be clearly heard - even though they are just leaning against each other gently at this moment. , yet there is a feeling of harmony between water and milk.
The so-called husband and wife are one, and the young couple came across this truth in a ignorant way.
... Shen Zangfeng gently wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief, kissed her temples gently, and said with a smile, "Let's go."
I was in high spirits when I went there, but I couldn't help but feel a little heavier when I came back. Thinking about the lotus picking girl, Wei Changying was still a little uneasy after all.
Especially when they met in front of Mrs. Su after returning home, Mrs. Su dismissed Shen Zangfeng with a few words and left her daughter-in-law alone to ask: "You don't look very stable, but did you encounter something when you went out this time?"
Wei Changying secretly cursed himself for not living up to expectations—how could his mother-in-law see it so easily? Mrs. Su asked clearly. She did not dare not to answer. She muttered about the lotus picker girl. Seeing that Mrs. Su's face became uglier and her voice became lower and lower the more she listened, she waited patiently for Mrs. Su's reprimand...
She thought that she had mishandled the situation somewhat this time. She took action rashly without confirming the identity of the person behind him, forcing Shen Zangfeng to take action himself in order to deal with the aftermath. This not only offended the prince, but also left him with a reputation of being narrow-minded. From Mrs. Su's point of view, her daughter-in-law had harmed her son, so Wei Changying was expected to be scolded this time.
Just as he was preparing to plead guilty, he heard Mrs. Su snort loudly and said: "What a group of shameless women! They deserve to be disfigured by Feng'er, and they will never come out to do such things in the future!"
Wei Changying was stunned.
Then I heard Mrs. Su say angrily, "Chuncao Lake is a major scenic spot near the imperial capital. How can we allow such a shameless slut to be corrupted? Maybe it was because there were not many people going there in the summer before, so there were no rumors. Next time I enter the palace, I will We must report to the Queen and send people to search for them. Since they like to seduce men so much, they should all be exiled for three thousand miles and vent their anger on the soldiers on the border!"
Unexpectedly, her mother-in-law did not scold him, but she was dissatisfied with the lotus picker first.
Wei Changying didn't know whether he should relax first - at this time, Mrs. Su also scolded her, "I heard that you have been practicing martial arts since you were a child, and you even killed Rong people with your own hands when you were in Fengzhou! Why are you doing this now that you are out of the cabinet? Are you getting less and less courageous? Feng'er can do a lot of harm with one move. You're not a master at all, so why don't you let Feng'er take action on his behalf?"
Mrs. Su's teeth were itching with hatred, "How dare you think about my Feng'er, such a lowly and despicable thing! How dare you even think about them? Are you worthy of it?"
Mrs. Su was so angry. In addition to being disdainful of the lotus picker girl's shameless behavior, she also felt that her son had been offended and humiliated... Wei Changying carefully reminded: "My wife heard from people inside that they are the prince's concubines." .”
Because Mrs. Su's face became more and more ugly, Wei Changying felt flustered and her next words were a bit confusing. She thought maybe her mother-in-law didn't hear clearly.
"Prince Ji?" Mrs. Su frowned. Wei Changying thought that she was going to continue to be scolded, which was indeed the case. However, Mrs. Su's scolding was not that she imagined causing trouble for the family, but she said in a deep voice, " Stupid! Now that you are the crown prince, you can’t be merciful! Why are you so timid?”
Seeing the puzzled look on Wei Changying's face, Mrs. Su sighed to herself that this daughter-in-law had only been married for less than three months, so she was too young and just didn't think things through. But then again, she was praised for her ability and neatness both inside and outside. Didn't the Liu family and the Duanmu family all understand it through ignorance
When it was the third daughter-in-law's turn, Mrs. Su could only continue to teach her. She took a breath and explained, "Feng'er is deeply valued by the clan. You must know this too - you don't know it yourself. Before you came out of the cabinet, your parents' elders always Did I tell you too?"
Wei Changying nodded.
"Perhaps you have also heard that Liu Xixun, whom the Liu family focused on cultivating before, was plotted by the clan members last year." Mrs. Su said in a deep voice, "Liu Xixun has someone plotting against him, isn't there Feng'er?"
"Ah!" Wei Changying was startled and said, "Could it be that... those lotus-picking girls deliberately stopped their daughter-in-law and husband-in-law to provoke them?" She felt confused again, "But later on when they met Gu Zilie and his party on Furong Island, they were also attacked. Because of the entanglement of the lotus picker! Their boat has been lost!"
Mrs. Su said angrily: "Who knows if it's because I'm trying to cover up others' eyes that I'm pestering them? In short, there's nothing wrong with being careful!"
Wei Changying hurriedly said: "Yes!"
Seeing that she was willing to be taught, Mrs. Su also softened her tone and taught earnestly: "Wherever there is benefit, use every possible means! What's more, if something goes wrong, there must be a scam! Think about it, those women picking lotus are not beautiful. , but he goes around seducing men on the lake, even those with wives and wives. He is not afraid of being scolded or beaten in person, let alone the nobles’ revenge afterwards. Is there no deceit in this? "
Wei Changying said in shame: "My daughter-in-law is ignorant."
"It's not entirely your fault." Mrs. Su sighed, "You are still too young and haven't met many things. Your father doesn't have any concubines, and you are also favored in the family, so many secret things are hidden. If you haven't heard about it, you will inevitably think about things too simply! Besides, Liu Xixun has had high hopes from the clan over the years. Except for being suppressed by Feng'er, he has always had a smooth ride - last year he was tricked by his uncle in the clan. It's so cruel. Isn't it caused by being unprepared for a long time? Born in sorrow and died in happiness! After that, I will look after Feng'er! All the children in our sect are good. Some small thoughts are not so unscrupulous, but don't forget, our Shen family still has the common branch of our sect and many branches of the sect!
"Let me tell you something from the past: your grandparents died early, and there were only two direct branches of our clan, your father and your uncle. The concubine branches and side clans had endless tricks, and they tried every means to murder, divide, and calculate. It was your fault. My father and uncle worked together to prevent them from succeeding! It's just that these people are still evil... Otherwise, your father and uncle are in their prime now, so why would you start cultivating Feng'er immediately because you are afraid that if you don't cultivate Feng'er as soon as possible, you will not have enough prestige to suppress him in the future? Those people! Those people... we are all of the same family after all, and we can't kill them all. Why don't you keep your eyes on Feng'er now? You are Feng'er's wife, and you will suffer both prosperity and loss. How has Feng'er treated you since you entered the house? I don’t need to say more, do you think you should try your best to solve his problems and be a good helper?”
Wei Changying was convinced and respectfully asked for advice: "My daughter-in-law knows that she is guilty. Please tell me, mother, what should I do now?"
Mrs. Su took a sip of tea, narrowed her eyes and said, "What should I do? Come to the palace with me tomorrow."
Wei Changying asked: "Are you going to apologize to the Queen?"
"Of course not." Mrs. Su frowned and said, "Excuse me? What apology? Let's not talk about the baseless claims made by those lotus pickers about Prince Ji. It is simply not credible - just like Feng'er said, who knew they Is it intentional to slander the reputation of the East Palace? Even if it is not the case, it may not be the prince's doing to stop the men from making fun of and offend the dignity of the royal family! Even if it is..."
Mrs. Su sneered and said, "If the prince is willing to admit such a shameless thing, the queen will not admit it either!"
Then he whispered, "Perhaps you still don't understand why I said that if those people are Prince Ji, you should not be merciful - I will make it clear to you now, and you will know how to deal with it next time if you encounter something similar - You said these women were so shameless that they stared at Feng'er and pestered them endlessly. If Feng'er didn't hurt them, they would turn around and insist that Feng'er was having an affair with the prince, think of the consequences!"
Wei Changying's expression suddenly changed, and he left the table and saluted: "My daughter-in-law is really stupid! Thank you, mother, for your teaching!"
"The honor of the Tianjia cannot be compared with that of the ministers." Mrs. Su said slowly, "It's just that we, the clan leader, have been prosperous for hundreds of years and have not declined to this day, but the Tianjia cannot bully and manipulate them at will. So tomorrow You follow me into the palace. First, you want to report to the Empress that there are shameless prostitutes in Chuncao Lake who pretend to be the prince and do dirty things. What these women did under the guise of the name of the East Palace is unsightly, so Feng'er couldn't bear it and attacked them. Done—do you understand?”
Wei Changying nodded hurriedly: "My wife will take care of it." Except for Cao Yingmei, she and Shen Zangfeng were present at that time, so it was naturally Wei Changying who came to describe what happened. The meaning of Mrs. Su's words was of course to ask her to be more careful. The more shameless the actions of those lotus pickers, the better - so shameless that even Queen Gu refused to admit that the lotus pickers were related to her son even after being beaten to death.
Mrs. Su added, "The second thing, of course, is to ask the Queen to send people to arrest these women to rectify the situation!" This forced the Queen and the Prince to silence themselves.
Seeing Wei Changying nodding his head repeatedly, Mrs. Su nodded with satisfaction and said, "You just came back, and you are tired from thinking about it. If you have nothing else to do, just go back and rest first."
After Wei Changying was reminded by her, he was really in a panic now. He felt that this trip to Chuncao Lake was full of traps and snares, and immediately said: "There is another person who my wife feels is very suspicious!"
"Who?" Mrs. Su looked serious!
I heard Wei Changying say in a very vigilant tone: "This person is Gu Naizheng, whom I met on Furong Island. His temperament is different from that of ordinary children from aristocratic families, and he has been pestering his husband again and again. My daughter-in-law thought, there must be one of them It’s a scam!”
Mrs. Su was stunned for a moment, and then she asked, dumbfounded, "Do you know who he is?"
"Ah?" Wei Zhangying didn't know why.
Mrs. Su sighed and said: "He is Yu Li's fiancé. Because his mother passed away before and she only had a filial piety last month, so she has not gotten married until now. After September this year, you have to call him to express your love." Brother-in-law or cousin-in-law!”
"..." Wei Changying. (To be continued)