At the end of April, it is a good time for flowers to bloom. Luoyang is the most suitable for ground vein flowers, and peonies are especially rare in the world. [1]
The magnificent and magnificent building of Prince Mu's Mansion covers a huge area, and the back garden is even more magnificent. The rockery and strange stones are all Taihu stones specially transported from the south of the Yangtze River. All kinds of precious flowers and trees are guarded by top gardeners. The pond is clear and green, and the golden-red koi are fat and big. The fish from rich and noble families are stronger than the children from poor families.
When Tao Ti's carriage arrived at Prince Mu's Mansion, all the officials and women in Luoyang City, led by Princess Mu, greeted them at the door in a uniform manner.
Tao Ti is dressed very dignifiedly and gorgeously today. She wears a jeweled green woven silver silk peony tunic and a milky white soft silk skirt that drags the floor. The emerald jewellery, with a gold pinch of jade and red gold double-headed Qufeng Bu Yao, was inserted obliquely, and the delicate tassels swayed with her movements, rippling with fine golden light.
She is young, but the indifferent and calm demeanor between her eyebrows can suppress the jewel blue clothes on her body.
When she stood still, a group of female relatives saluted respectfully, "My wife/I will pay my respects to the Crown Princess, and the Crown Princess will be in peace and prosperity."
Tao Ti was supported by Linglong, raised one hand, and said with a gentle smile, "You all don't need to be polite, get up."
Everyone stood up, Princess Mu also wore a deep red dress with peony patterns today, she greeted Tao Ti with a smile, and said warmly, "It's so beautiful for the princess to come to our house, the flower hall has been prepared Serve good tea, please come in, let's sit down and chat slowly."
Seeing how friendly she was, Tao Ti also smiled and nodded at her, and slowly arrived at the flower hall in the backyard surrounded by a group of well-dressed female relatives.
Along the way, Princess Mu and several high-ranking wives were chattering in their ears, praising Taoti's dress for a while, how honored they were to be able to come to the banquet for a while, and how many peonies in Luoyang were in bloom. tender and beautiful…
Tao Ti always had a polite smile on her face, echoing from time to time, but her eyes were calmly looking at the decoration of Prince Mu's Mansion.
Tsk, it's really resplendent and resplendent, not losing to Luoyang Palace at all.
I heard that Prince Mu has been a shepherd in Luoyang for 20 years. In the past 20 years, he has searched for a lot of people's fat and anointment, so that he can have everything in front of him.
After arriving at the flower hall, Tao Ti and Princess Mu sat in the upper seat, and everyone in the lower seat lined up according to the official positions of their husbands or fathers and brothers.
Facing a room full of strange women, Tao Ti felt slightly socially intimidated.
Fortunately, she was mentally prepared before she came, and she was barely able to maintain a gentle personality and socialize with them.
After drinking a fresh cup of Lushan Yunwu tea in the flower hall, Princess Mu led a room full of people to the back garden to enjoy the flowers.
Among the clusters of flowers, butterflies dance lightly. Weeping willows by the lake, when the wind blows, the green reflections spread out on the lake, causing ripples.
I have to say that the peonies in Luoyang are indeed beautiful, with huge flowers and beautiful faces.
Moreover, the gardens of Prince Mu’s Mansion are full of outstanding treasures, such as Yao Huang, Wei Zi, Zhao Fen, and Ou Bi. Needless to say, the most surprising thing is that there is a pot of snow-white peonies with double pedicles in Mu Wang’s Mansion. The stamens are light golden yellow, and the layers of petals are piled up like snow. The whole flower is charming and elegant.
Tao Ti enjoyed it happily. In her previous life, she traveled to Luoyang, and she also went to the local Peony Flower Fair, but there were too many people in the scenic spot, people taking pictures, recording small videos, and posting on Moments... There were crowds of people, noisy, There is no time to relax at all.
After all, the ancient nobles would enjoy it.
As she thought this way, the young ladies not far away had already organized various entertainment activities, hitting balls and shooting willows, throwing pots and fighting grass, and bursts of laughter like silver bells wafted in the wind.
Princess Mu is thirty-five years old this year. She has a long face and looks a bit bitter, but the smile on her face has not disappeared since Tao Ti entered the door.
She held Tao Ti's hand to admire the flowers affectionately, without any distinction, just like a good aunt, chatting about some family matters.
Seeing that they were playing over there, she asked Tao Ti kindly, "Crown Princess, do you want to play together?"
Tao Ti didn't have much interest in those, so she declined with a smile, "No, let them play. If I pass by, they will all be restrained, and they will feel uncomfortable playing."
Concubine Mu didn't force her, and pulled her to continue chatting.
At noon, Princess Mu prepared a peony banquet. The dishes at the banquet were extremely exquisite, and the dishes were arranged like Chinese paintings.
These dishes are either made in the shape of peony flowers, or directly served with peony.
A look of color flashed in Princess Mu's eyes, and she smiled humbly, "When you come to my house, you must be treated well, not to mention that the Crown Princess came from afar, and it's the first time to be a guest in my house, so you can't neglect... "
Having said that, she turned her head to look at Tao Ti, "I wonder if the princess is satisfied with these dishes?"
Tao Ti smiled slightly, and said softly, "The princess has a heart."
She picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of yellow peony made of fish fillets. The fish slices were sliced as thin as a cicada's wings. After frying, the color was golden. It was served with a rich and oily sauce. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, delicious. Heavy and very tasty.
Seeing her move the chopsticks, the rest of the people also picked up the chopsticks and started eating.
After using the carefully prepared peony banquet, the group moved to listen to the play again.
Watching the babbling performance on the stage, Tao Ti propped her head bored, thinking to herself, I don't know what Pei Yan had for lunch, the sun is quite bright outside, will he get tanned in the suburbs
Before going to bed yesterday, he seemed to have told her something...
As she was thinking about it, Princess Mu, who was standing across a small table, turned her head, with a smile in her eyes, and asked with concern, "The princess doesn't like to watch this play, why don't you change it?"
Tao Ti was slightly taken aback, recovered, and said with a smile, "No, this play is pretty good."
Hearing what she said, Princess Mu also understood, she slowly put away the play list, and said with annoyed expression, "I was negligent, if I had known that you don't like to listen to plays, I should have arranged a polo match."
She paused, her annoyed expression relaxed and relaxed, and turned into a gentle smile, "However, I have arranged a painting boat tonight, and I have also booked a table in Yipinzhai. When the time comes, I will enjoy the night view of the Luohe River while enjoying the night view of the Luo River." Tasting delicious food and wine, and then finding a few outstanding musicians from the Jiaofang Division to play the piano and sing songs, it must be more interesting than this."
After hearing Princess Mu's description at first glance, Tao Ti was still yearning for it, but—
Her slender eyebrows were slightly frowned, and she smiled embarrassedly, "Thank you, Princess, for your kindness, but I may not be able to go on this night cruise."
The smile on Princess Mu's face froze immediately, and her pupils shrank twice.
But soon, her expression recovered, but the smile on her face faded significantly, "Why can't I go? It's a lot of fun to visit the Luohe River at night. I don't know when you will come to Luoyang next time. If you miss it this time, What a pity."
Seeing the change in her face, Tao Ti was a little embarrassed, she thought for a moment, and explained softly, "There are still some things in the palace waiting for me to go back to deal with, today is really inconvenient..."
Princess Mu narrowed her eyes, her smile didn't reach her eyes, "What's so important? I prepared this boat specially for you, Crown Princess, and it really took a lot of effort."
Seeing her being so kind, Tao Ti's scalp was inexplicably numb. Thinking of Pei Yan's explanation last night, she could only bite the bullet and perfunctory.
Concubine Mu wanted to persuade her again, but suddenly, a well-dressed woman hurried over, shouting while running, "Princess, concubine, it's not good!!"
Concubine Mu's brows were erected, and she was very dissatisfied with the servant's rude appearance. Her face sank, and she scolded in a cold voice, "Zhao Er's family, why are you in such a hurry, you don't have to lose the face of our Mu Palace!"
The woman was out of breath, and bowed to Princess Mu, crying with an old face, "Princess, it's the prince... the prince is not good!"
As soon as she heard the words "Senior Master", Princess Mu's expression changed immediately, her beautiful eyes widened, and she raised her voice and asked, "What's wrong with Master Shizi, what can't be called, please speak clearly!"
The mother-in-law stammered, "Master brought a woman back from outside, but who knew that woman was an assassin, she took scissors, scissors..."
The mother-in-law stopped talking, and glanced at the nobles present in a panic.
The drama on the stage had long since stopped, and all the noble ladies and noble ladies from various prefectures were all eagerly watching this side.
When Concubine Mu heard the words "assassin" and "scissors", she couldn't bear it anymore, and seeing this woman's unspeakable appearance, many terrible conjectures popped up in her mind.
"Where is Xuan'er now?!"
"The prince is in his own courtyard."
"Let's go, let's go..." Princess Mu's face was pale, she didn't even care about the group of distinguished guests in Xiyuan, she staggered out.
She has only such a precious son. She almost risked her life to give birth to him. She has loved him like an eyeball since she was a child. He is her only hope in this life!
If there is any ups and downs in her Xuan'er, she won't be able to live anymore!
In the West Garden, the guests looked at each other in blank dismay.
In the end, they unanimously set their sights on Tao Ti, who had the highest status.
Tao Ti, "..."
This happened so suddenly that she was a little overwhelmed!
She squeezed her fingers, encouraging her from the bottom of her heart, don't panic when encountering things, calm down first...
Don't leave at this time, the host doesn't have time to talk to them.
But if he left directly, firstly, he didn't say goodbye to the host, which would be impolite; secondly, he had a little relationship with Prince Mu's mansion, the cousin of Pei Yan who was "assassinated", was also her cousin in name only, You should go see it yourself.
After her brain turned around rapidly, Tao Ti slowly raised her head, and said in a calm tone, "Princess is busy with housework, I'm afraid it will be difficult to entertain you... It's getting late now, everyone should go back first..."
When the ladies heard this, they responded one after another and scattered in twos and threes.
On the contrary, there were a few senior officials' wives, who should have a good personal relationship with Princess Mu, and did not leave, but came forward with worried faces.
Among them, the slightly affluent woman in a silver-gray dress was Mrs. Fu Yin. She said to Tao Ti sincerely, "Crown Princess, let us go with you to see what's going on? If there is something wrong, we will It can also comfort and help the princess."
Tao Ti thought to herself, it would be good to bring them with her, as she would save herself from knowing how to appease Princess Mu.
So he nodded and agreed, "Okay, let's go and have a look."
—
In the Huiya courtyard, it was extremely noisy.
The man's cries of pain, the woman's vicious curses, mixed with suppressed cries and unrestrained laughter, the scene can be described as very chaotic.
As soon as Tao Ti and the others arrived at the door, they saw a mess in the room, and there was a strange sweet fragrance in the air, mixed with faint blood.
As soon as Linglong smelled it, she showed alertness, and immediately took a handkerchief and handed it to Tao Ti, "Crown Princess, the room is lit with aphrodisiac incense."
As soon as these words came out, the other ladies immediately covered their mouths and noses, and frowned tightly.
"Ah, Concubine Mu, I'm in so much pain—" It was a weak man's voice.
"Xuan'er, mother, please bear with me a little longer, the doctor will be here soon!" This was Princess Mu's voice.
Suddenly, the tone changed and became extremely fierce, "You bitch who kills a thousand swords, how dare you lay such a cruel hand on my son! You tie up this bitch tightly for me, I want to cut her into five pieces, a thousand times!" Cut into pieces with a knife to relieve the hatred in my heart!"
Afterwards, a clear and delicate laughter sounded, "Come on, kill! Since I dared to sneak into the palace, I have already put my life and death aside! Although I can't take the life of this beast, I castrated him, and from then on he is A useless person... Hahahahaha, the dignified Prince Mu has since become an eunuch! Happy, really happy!"
"Bitch, you bloody bitch!!"
Concubine Mu was furious, stepped forward and slapped her face left and right, with two loud slaps.
The woman was still laughing wildly and fearlessly.
Princess Mu's chest was heaving violently, and her hands were hurting. Pointing at the woman who was pinned down on the ground, she shouted hysterically, "Come on, come on! Now, drag this bitch out for me right now, hit him, give me I will be beaten to death with a stick!"
Tao Ti, who stood at the door and listened for a while, also heard some clues.
She was about to step forward, but Mrs. Fu Yin's expression was erratic, and she stopped in a low voice, "Crown princess, why, why don't we go first."
The other ladies also nodded, "Yes, yes."
They wanted to see it at first, seven out of curiosity, and three out of 10 because they had a chance to sell well in front of Princess Mu. As for "sincere care", they didn't have half of it.
I thought it was just an ordinary assassination, but I didn't expect to hear such a big secret that "Prince Mu is a cripple" -
This is not something they can listen to!
Tao Ti glanced at them lightly, and said, "You go if you want, I have to go in and have a look."
With that said, she strode in.
The further you walked in, the stronger the bloody smell became. The windows on both sides were wide open, but the bloody smell still didn't dissipate.
Lying on the bed was a young man in disheveled clothes. He was about twenty years old, and his appearance was fairly decent, but his face was pale and his eyes were black and blue.
Of course, excessive blood loss is also an important reason. Tao Ti glanced at the blood-stained quilt on his body.
Concubine Mu sat by the bed, she did not have the dignified and gentle appearance at all, her eyes were red and her face was grim.
On the ground beside him, two strong servants held a young girl tightly.
The girl looked only fifteen or sixteen years old. Although her cheeks were swollen and red from the slap, she could still be seen to be somewhat delicate and juicy. Her black hair was disheveled, she was only wearing a thin underwear, and her hands were stained with blood.
Seeing Tao Ti come in, Concubine Mu was a little surprised, she was ashamed that this scandal was known to her, and she was also annoyed that before she had time to take action against her, this incident happened in her own family first.
The double whammy made her feel really bad!
She looked at Tao Ti, she didn't bother to pretend to be polite, she just frowned, and said impatiently, "Crown Princess, the house is filthy and bloody, you should go out first, so as not to bump into you. Today is my house The receptionist was not good enough, I will come to the door another day to make an apology."
Tao Ti glanced at the son on the bed, and said to Princess Mu, "Princess, this son's injury..."
Concubine Mu didn't want to talk more, she said in a deep voice, "Thank you for your concern, princess, I have already called the doctor."
Tao Ti hummed lightly, her eyes fell on the girl on the ground again, she frowned and said, "Then how does the princess plan to deal with this... assassin?"
Princess Mu gritted her teeth and said, "This kind of bastard dares to hurt my son. He has committed a heinous crime. Naturally, he will be dragged out and beaten to death!"
"The heinous crime? Hahahahaha, I am the heinous sinner? The heinous one is the bastard on the bed!"
The girl who was pinned to the ground was still bleeding from the corner of her mouth, but she was fighting like she was fighting, and she cursed angrily without knowing the pain, "Murder pays for life, this bastard robbed my sister and tortured her to death, he deserves to die!" In the past few years, countless innocent girls have died at his hands, such a beast that is not as good as pigs and dogs, even if he dies a hundred times, he will not regret it!"
Princess Mu exploded like a cat whose tail was stepped on, "Shut up! Hurry up, drag her down and cut off her tongue!"
The girl was still cursing, "I just hate, I hate that my hands and feet are not fast enough, and the scissors didn't have time to plunge into his throat! Pei Jianxuan, you sinful beast, even if I turn into a ghost, I will not let you go! "
The man who had lost too much blood on the bed cursed angrily and powerlessly, "Bitch, bitch, concubine mother, kill her quickly!"
Seeing that the two servants were about to drag the girl down, Tao Ti winked at Linglong.
Linglong immediately understood and stepped forward to stop the two servants.
Concubine Mu was startled, and the girls on the ground were also startled. Everyone in the room looked at Tao Ti.
Concubine Mu's face was livid, "Crown Princess, what do you mean?"
Tao Ti's usually gentle and gentle face also sank at this moment, and she said with a rare seriousness, "Princess, if this woman is really a vicious assassin, then I will definitely not intervene. But at the moment , this is not a simple assassination, but another secret."
She lowered her eyes, looking straight at the girl on the ground with a pair of clear eyes, and asked aloud, "Did he really kill your sister? And you just said that he killed other girls? What do you have?" Evidence?"
The girl opened her eyes wide, looking at the gentle and bright woman in front of her, as if she saw a beam of light shining into the dark hell.
She came to her senses, nodded hurriedly and said, "Really, it's true! My name is Xia Sang, my sister's name is Xia Wei, and we live in Hexin Village outside Luoyang City. My parents died young, and our sisters depend on each other for life. I make a living by selling embroidery. On the eighth day of last month, we went to the city to sell embroidery. My sister was spotted by this beast and snatched back to the mansion in the street... I went to report to the government, but the government didn't care and kicked me out. I came to the door Find someone, they all kicked me out…”
"I tried my best to inquire, and finally found out that on the night my sister was snatched away, because she refused to obey this beast, he beat her to death with a whip!"
Speaking of this, the girl's dark eyes rolled down tears, and she choked, "My sister died so badly. I heard that the skin all over her body was torn apart, and there was no good meat left. The body was thrown into the dry well in the backyard of the palace. Li! Princess, everything I said is true, if there is even half a lie, I will be struck by lightning, and I will die!"
Hearing the crying of blood and tears, Tao Ti's heart also became heavy.
She clenched her fingers tightly. If it is true what the girl said, then this son deserves it! retribution!
She glanced at the girl, then looked up at Princess Mu, and said calmly, "Princess, I'm afraid you can't deal with this person privately."
Princess Mu's eyes suddenly turned cold, "Crown Princess, I advise you to stay out of this matter..."
Tao Ti couldn't help squinting her eyes when she saw Princess Mu's gloomy appearance. It seems that Princess Mu is not a good person. Maybe she already knew about the immoral things her son did
Mothers protect their children, and she can understand that this is a mother's nature.
But a mother who protects her children to the point where black and white are turned upside down and right from wrong is indistinguishable shows that the mother has a problem with her own character.
Tao Ti took a deep breath, and her tone became cold, "If I haven't encountered this, I don't care; but if I did, if I don't care, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight!"
A cold murderous intent flashed across Princess Mu's eyes, and she said sharply, "If the Crown Princess insists on going her own way, then don't blame me for not giving you face. Come, send the Crown Princess out!"
As soon as the words were finished, a group of servants and rough envoys rushed in from the door.
Concubine Mu forced a smile on her face, and gave the last courtesy, "Crown Princess please, I won't send you off—don't toast or eat fine wine."
Looking at the group of unfriendly people in the room, Tao Ti bit her lips nervously, her heart beating fast in her chest.
She finally realized what it means that a strong dragon can't overwhelm a local snake. Although she has a high status as a princess, she is too passive in her territory with few enemies and few forces.
What to do, what to do now
She and Linglong were just two of them, and it was really difficult to take this girl away.
But if she left first and then brought back the rescuers, the girl would have died a long time ago.
Just when she was burning with anxiety and at a loss what to do, a familiar voice suddenly sounded at the door, "Who is the princess asking for a fine wine?"
Everyone in the room was startled, and all looked towards the door.
In the backlight, Pei Yan, who was dressed in a black silk brocade robe, walked in with big strides, and there was a hint of a smile that was not a smile on his clear face.
Seeing him, Princess Mu's face turned pale.
Pei Yan went straight to Tao Ti and stood still, lowered her head, her deep black eyes were full of tenderness, "Ah Ti is not afraid, there is loneliness."