The Lady of Xianning County rarely saw her sister so angry, and she couldn't help but feel a little surprised. She had not been in the capital for many years and was not very familiar with the ladies in the capital.
But she had some friendship with Xu Huixian - when she was young, she lived in the palace for a period of time. At that time, Xu Huixian was in the palace as a companion to the second princess.
Later, for some unknown reason, something happened to another study partner of the second princess, and Xu Huixian was also forced to leave the palace and return home.
However, after that, whenever Xu Huixian waited for her to return to Beijing, she would always send her invitations, and as a result, they became friends.
Hearing about this, the Lady of Xianning lowered her head and thought about it. Before she could say anything, Fang Yuanyuan told her again how hateful Su Yao was and how the Xu family later apologized in a humble manner.
She sighed and said, "Because of this incident, the Xu family was in chaos. Sister Xian'er couldn't leave the house and was sick for a long time. Who in the capital dares to offend Su Yao now? Everyone is scared of her. Not to mention people like us, even Yunzhang County Lady and Tian Rui have to give way to Su Yao."
Xianning County Lady did not answer, but changed the subject: "In that case, let's not go to meet him for now, right? Don't cause trouble for Miss Xu later."
Unexpectedly, the Xianning County Lady would say this. Fang Yuanyuan's eyebrows were furrowed into a "川" shape, and she almost couldn't suppress the anger in her heart, but she soon smiled and comforted the Xianning County Lady: "How can it be so exaggerated? I have already apologized and made amends. Do I really have to chop off my head to not offend you? You finally came back, and Sister Xian'er repeatedly told me that she must see you. Now that she has this thing, she doesn't have many friends. We are the only ones who can talk."
She had said so much that Lady Xianning couldn't find any reason to refute. Soon, Fang Yuanyuan smiled and said, "We're here," then she put on her veil and asked Lady Xianning to get out of the car.
Xianning County Lady frowned and took a look. Seeing that it was a study, she thought about it and finally helped her get out of the car and asked in a low voice: "Why did you choose here?"
"She was choosing some writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone for her brother to congratulate him on his studies at the Imperial College." Fang Yuanyuan explained with a smile and went into the store with her.
This is a fairly spacious store, and the interior is very simple. As soon as they entered the door, a waiter came up to them and asked them considerately what they wanted to buy.
Fang Yuanyuan asked the maid to announce Xu Huixian's name, and the waiter suddenly realized: "Oh, upstairs, please, upstairs!"
The Lady of Xianning County was being pulled upstairs by Fang Yuanyuan, but suddenly she bumped into a child at the corner and was knocked back two steps. She almost fell down with the child, but fortunately the servant was quick to support her.
Fang Yuanyuan cried out, holding her head, and immediately looked at the child angrily, frowning and asking, "What's wrong with you? Don't you have eyes when you walk?"
After all, she had a bit of a lady's temper, and she scolded the waiter for not looking at the road in advance.
The guy hurriedly apologized and tried to smooth things over, and the child also came over and apologized hesitantly.
Fang Yuanyuan was furious: "It's such a long road, and you're just wandering around without paying attention! I think you're really uneducated. You're still here to buy books? I think you should stop reading. Reading is also a disgrace to society!"
Xianning County Lady had never seen her sister lose her temper like this. She looked at her in surprise and whispered, "It's not a big deal, forget it."
"Sister, you don't know, he is so mindless, who knows what he is up to?" Fang Yuanyuan said angrily: "There have been many such incidents in the capital, these kids come here under various pretexts, deliberately acting as pawns for others. I heard that they have seduced several girls. This kid looks shifty, who knows if he has the same intention!"
The waiter couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Girl, it's really not the case. This young master is also a regular customer of our store. He often comes to buy books. We..."
The child raised his head, his eyes were like black grapes, dark and bright, and he looked at Fang Yuanyuan with a sharp gaze: "I took the wrong road, I'm really sorry, sisters, but I'm not a kidnapper or a thief, if... "
He wanted to bow and apologize, but Fang Yuanyuan waved her hand impatiently, knocking over the inkstone in his hand. The ink inside instantly spilled out, making the skirt of the Princess of Xianning County all covered with ink spots.
Fang Yuanyuan was startled and immediately pointed at the child and shouted: "You..."
Ever since Song Shiyi got into trouble in the imperial prison and the imperial physician said it was poisoning, Song Heng had already started investigating the people around Song Shiyi. After all, they were the ones who followed Song Shiyi the closest. The people around him knew best who he had met and whether he had been involved with those people before.
But what was strange was that Haowen, Song Zhiyuan's favorite servant, had disappeared.
Sansheng shook his head: "This Haowen is not our family's own son. He was picked up from the refugees when we were distributing porridge in our mansion. The Eleventh Young Master saw that he was smart and asked him to be his servant, so it was difficult to find him for a while."
Song Heng paused.
If that's the case, it's even more suspicious.
He ignored the screams and complaints from the house behind him and strode forward.
Sanxing followed behind him, feeling sad and worried for Song Heng. After such a mess, he didn't know how the family would live in the future. He was just about to ask Song Heng to go back and surrender, but he saw Han, the steward beside Marquis Guangping, coming over, and he couldn't help but shut up again.
Manager Han was much calmer than the people in the previous courtyard. He saluted Song Heng and said respectfully, "Sixth Young Master, the Marquis invites you to come over."
Sanxing saw Song Heng change his route and go to the study room in front. He couldn't help but smile bitterly. Everyone thought that his young master was so unruly and unruly in the mansion, but who knew how difficult their young master's life was.
At this moment, laughter was heard everywhere in the bustling Lion Tower. Everyone was looking at the storyteller in the center of the hall on the first floor and laughing uncontrollably.
The private rooms on the second floor were already full. In the No. 1 room, the window creaked shut. A middle-aged scholar frowned and said, "This know-it-all has only told the same two stories over and over again. People's ears are almost callused, but the number of people listening never decreases. Isn't that strange?"
The person opposite him burst out laughing, and poured himself a cup of tea with a "tsk". "Look at what you said, how can ordinary people have such good eloquence? What's more, he spoke with ups and downs, and the rhythm was good, which made people's heart beat fast, which is already extremely rare. Besides, if you just want to listen to the story, is there any better story than the Guangping Marquis Mansion recently?"
At this point, Mr. Zhan stroked his mustache and said, "Besides, this story was planned and manipulated by you. Whether the people in it live or die, whether they are happy or sad, it all depends on your will. Isn't that enough?"
There was still laughter and cheers outside. When Mr. Zhan saw the middle-aged scholar narrow his eyes, he said attentively: "I originally wanted to invite you to Wanhua Hall, but I was afraid that it would be inconvenient for you, the county horse..."
Shao Wenxun had a little smile on his face and raised his hand to interrupt him: "You know I don't like this."
"Yes, yes, yes." Mr. Zhan laughed, "You and the princess are in perfect harmony, and you are so in love with each other. Naturally, you don't want to see those vulgar women."
Shao Wenxun did not say more on this topic, but turned to ask him: "Whether the Song family is doing something fishy or not, we will soon find out."
There were crowds of people downstairs, and Shao Wenxun never drank alcohol. He drank a sip of tea to moisten his throat, then looked at Mr. Zhan and asked him, "I wonder why Your Highness thinks... it could be Song Heng?"
He asked very cryptically, and obviously knew how secretive this was.
When Mr. Zhan saw that the tea in his cup was almost empty, he quickly and attentively refilled it, with just the right smile and intimacy on his face.
A barely perceptible look of pride appeared on Shao Wenxun's face.
Mr. Zhan caught it keenly, lowered his head and quickly adjusted his mood by pouring tea on the tea pet.
Speaking of which, he and Shao Wenxun are of the same age.
They were both Jinshi in the same year, and his ranking was 23 places higher than Shao Wenxun. Even when he later became an official, he was first assigned to the Hanlin Academy, and his career was expected to be bright.
But who could have known that fate would play such a trick on him? One day, Shao Wenxun won the favor of Princess Le because he met Prince Fenyang on the road. In a blink of an eye, he became a princess. His official career also went smoothly and he went to the Censorate smoothly.
Everyone knows that he is the son-in-law of Prince Fenyang, so how could they make things difficult for him
Not only did he do well in his job, he also had an excellent reputation; everyone said that he was a very upright man.
What integrity
Mr. Zhan knew that Shao Wenxun's family relied on his official position to act recklessly, and even his family members rose to prominence. Moreover, Shao Wenxun had an engagement in his hometown before, but he was forced to withdraw because he was liked by Princess Chun'an.
On the contrary, Mr. Zhan, because he had no powerful backing, had been wasting his time in the Hanlin Academy. If he had not later used the strength of his entire family to find a way to become a tutor to Prince Zhuang, and if he had not been favored by Prince Zhuang and became the chief historian of Prince Zhuang's palace, he would probably be worse off than he is now.
No wonder Shao Wenxun is so proud.
Mr. Zhan suppressed his jealousy and quickly put on a smiling face: "Your Highness naturally has your own channels. Besides, the son of Marquis Guangping was also in Jinzhong back then. It was such a coincidence that he returned to Beijing two years later after leaving Jinzhong and brought back a child. No matter how you look at it, it's always too much of a coincidence."
If that's the case, then it makes sense.
Shao Wenxun nodded thoughtfully, and then he heard Zhan Changshi ask carefully, "I wonder if the prince has revealed anything recently?"
As one of the few remaining members of the royal family, Prince Fenyang was the most favored by Emperor Yuanfeng. He was in charge of the Imperial Clan Court and was highly respected.
Shao Wenxun shook his head: "Taishan has always been a cautious person when it comes to such an important matter. How could he tell us about it?"
Zhan Changshi heard his displeasure and nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, the old prince is very loyal to the emperor. Even if he really has something wrong, he will not tell us casually. I am asking a stupid question. Please forgive me, my lord."