Zhao Mian discovered at a very young age that the Nanjing royal family was different from the other three kingdoms. His father did not have three palaces and six courtyards at present, and he was very sure that he would not have them in the future, so he simply converted the harem into a polo field, archery field, Cuju field, Liushang Qushui kite flying and other places for the two princes to entertain themselves in their spare time.
Not only that, his father was not like other emperors who usually lived in their own palace and only went to the harem when they were in the mood. His father and the prime minister lived in the same palace and slept in the same bed, whether his father was in the mood or not.
There weren't three thousand beauties in the palace, so naturally there were only two children, him and his younger brother. Although his younger brother was naughty and talkative, once something happened, he would always stand up to protect him first.
He and his brother had only seen the common competition for favor in the harem and the fight for the throne among the princes in history books or in the intelligence from Qianjiyuan.
He had thought about what a child who grew up in a normal palace would be like. Probably like most children raised in wealthy families, they would be cautious in their words and deeds, and would be very cautious. Because of the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, they would have to hide their true nature due to the disputes within the palace, and they would be very thoughtful.
But Wei Zhenfeng had never given him a similar feeling.
In his opinion, Wei Zhenfeng's words and deeds were indulgent and unscrupulous, which was far from his stereotype of a normal prince. Sometimes, he would even naturally classify Wei Zhenfeng as a royal child like himself.
It was not until Wei Zhenfeng said those words just now that he realized that the young man who had been traveling with him for several months grew up in the Beiyuan Palace.
Zhao Mian remembered Wei Zhenfeng once said that crying is not shameful, and a man can cry whenever he wants. He cried a lot two years ago, probably... because of his mother's death.
The anger that filled Zhao Mian's heart disappeared by a large margin. Coincidentally, Zhou Huairang's meal was also cooked at this time. Zhou Huairang held the pot with both hands and carefully poked his head out from the door: "Your Highness, Little Prince, are you done fighting?"
The aroma of rice made people's mouths water. How could the little prince, who hadn't eaten for three days, resist such temptation? He really wanted to lie on the bed with Zhao Mian for a while longer, but sorry, eating was more important to him now.
Wei Zhenfeng immediately stood up and pulled out the dagger stuck in the bed. Just as he was about to get out of bed, he heard Zhao Mian say, "You're leaving now?"
The starving boy clasped his hands together and said humbly, "Zhao Mian, I'm really hungry. Can you let me eat first?"
Zhao Mian walked down the stairs: "I will let you go this time." He looked at his clothes that had a hole in them, and said coldly: "Next time you ask such a stupid question, I will make sure you are extinct."
Although Zhao Mian was not hungry, he could not resist the temptation of rice. Zhou Huairang found bacon and ham from somewhere and steamed them with rice. The aroma was so good that Wei Zhenfeng called out "Xiao Rang" on the spot, which made Zhou Huairang stunned.
Zhao Mian watched Wei Zhenfeng finish three bowls of rice in a row, so quickly and without showing any rudeness. After knowing the truth, Zhao Mian thought about why he was so hungry and wanted to scold him for what he deserved.
He was also wondering why Wei Zhenfeng had suddenly been taking better care of him recently. It turned out that it had nothing to do with him, but was just because Wei Zhenfeng thought he was pregnant with his child.
Now that Wei Zhenfeng is sure that he will not be pregnant, he becomes unscrupulous and just now stabbed his clothes with a dagger.
Zhao Mian closed his eyes, trying to suppress the inexplicable unhappiness, but unfortunately he failed.
So, the little prince who was eating well was scolded for no reason: "Wei Zhenfeng, you are so annoying."
Wei Zhenfeng: “…?”
After eating and drinking, the three boys recovered to full strength. After discussion, they decided to rest in the underground palace for two days, and then take enough water and food to find a way back to the Yuan Army base camp.
During this period, the three of them were not idle. The number of treasures in the Xixia "Little Palace" was large and varied, plus the stored food and weapons, it would take them forever to count them, but they still had to look at them one by one to get a rough idea of the number.
Pushing open a palace door, a mixture of various aromas hit him in the face, which was extremely pungent. Wei Zhenfeng looked around and said, "This should be the place where the things of the former Xixia concubines were stored."
The Liao area of the original Western Xia territory was not large, only one-third of Beiyuan, but it contained the largest number of ethnic groups among the four countries. As a result, the Western Xia emperor was very lucky and had many exotic beauties in his harem.
Among the items left by the beauties, the most valuable are all kinds of jewelry, including hairpins and step-shaking ornaments commonly used by women in the Central Plains, and forehead veils unique to beauties in the desert, all of which are inlaid with jade and gemstones, and you can tell at a glance that they are priceless.
Considering that there was only one woman in the Nanjing Palace, the Queen Mother, Zhao Mian suggested that most of these things could go to Beiyuan, and he would pick a few of the best quality ones to present to the Queen Mother. Correspondingly, Nanjing would get a larger percentage of the items in the armory.
Wei Zhenfeng agreed to his proposal quite readily.
In addition to these, the warehouse was also filled with gorgeous cloth and clothing, including Beiyuan's warm cotton wool, Nanjing's exquisite silk, Dongling's ordinary cotton and linen... everything was available.
Zhou Huairang found a lot of ready-made clothes of the Xixia concubines. The most eye-catching one was a set of cool desert clothing. The light gauze skirt was hung with strings of small bells. The color was so bright red that it looked like roses blooming in the yellow sand of the desert.
The workmanship of this dress was light, but the price was that it was too transparent. When holding it in the hand, one could vaguely see the skin on the palm. Zhou Huairang put the dress back with a slightly red face, muttering, "What can this cover?"
"I suggest you carry it with you," Wei Zhenfeng said with a smile, "You might not feel too hot if you wear this when walking in the desert during the day."
Zhao Mian ignored him and said calmly, "I'll go somewhere else."
Wei Zhenfeng looked at the lonely and cold back of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and said, "This... is it still not over?"
Wei Zhenfeng thought his voice was not loud, but Zhao Mian heard it clearly.
"No," Zhao Mian said coldly, "I'm still so angry that I can't fall asleep."
Wei Zhenfeng and Zhou Huairang watched Zhao Mian leave. "Your Highness must have lost heart towards the young prince." Zhou Huairang's eyes were filled with sympathy. "Real heartbreak doesn't mean making a scene or drawing a sword, but speaking in short sentences and with a cold look. Look, Your Highness doesn't even bother to pay attention to you, the young prince."
"Is it that serious?" Wei Zhenfeng was skeptical. "I just asked him a question, it shouldn't be that serious. Besides, I have explained it clearly and apologized sincerely."
Zhou Huairang was extremely curious: "What on earth did the young prince ask to make our highness so angry?"
Wei Zhenfeng said in a tone that said, "I'm doing this for your own good," "I advise you not to ask."
After the inventory was completed, Wei Zhenfeng and Zhou Huairang headed to the next warehouse. Zhou Huairang walked in front and muttered, "I guess the next one should be the place where antiques and calligraphy are stored. I haven't seen any of them yet. What do you think, young prince?"
Wei Zhenfeng disagreed: "Given the character of the Xixia Emperor, would he bring these things? Think about it carefully."
"That makes sense. There must be gold, silver, jewelry and other things in there." Zhou Huairang was about to push open the door of the storeroom when someone suddenly grabbed his collar from behind and pulled him down.
Zhou Huairang exclaimed: "Little Prince?"
"Don't make any noise." Wei Zhenfeng squatted down beside Zhou Huairang, "Someone is here. I heard the sound of a bow being strung."
Zhou Huairang covered his mouth with his hands, stared with horror, and asked with his eyes: How could there be someone? Who is it? Could it be Lao Shen and the others? They came? !
Unfortunately, the young prince is not His Highness, and the level of understanding between him and the young prince is far from enough for the young prince to pay attention to him.
Wei Zhenfeng took Zhou Huairang to hide in the corner, thinking of keeping the same in the face of all changes. Zhou Huairang waited quietly. He was very experienced in similar situations and knew that at this time he only needed to listen to the smart guy and not hold back would be a merit.
The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and Wei Zhenfeng judged that there was only one person coming.
Who could it be? Where is Zhao Mian now? Has he encountered the intruder? If so, no matter whether the intruder is an enemy or a friend, there should be no movement on Zhao Mian's end.
We must reunite with Zhao Mian as soon as possible.
Since the enemy had already drawn his bow, his and Zhou Huairang's positions were likely exposed. The enemy was in the dark, and they were in the light. As long as he leaned out, the enemy would have a chance to shoot him. But he had to go find Zhao Mian, and he couldn't keep wasting time here with the enemy.
Wei Zhenfeng signaled to Zhou Huairang with his eyes: You can just hide here.
Zhou Huairang was confused.
What do you want to say, little prince? I don't understand.
Wei Zhenfeng didn't have time to explain to Zhou Huairang. He drew his sword, thinking of throwing the scabbard out to make a noise to attract the enemy's attention, so that he could take the opportunity to find the enemy's position and launch a counterattack.
The moment he threw the scabbard, he heard the sound of a fully drawn bowstring.
-It's now.
With a bang, the arrow flew towards the direction where the scabbard fell to the ground, but towards the direction where he appeared.
Huh? It's so hard to cheat.
Wei Zhenfeng immediately retreated behind the wall, but it was too late - in the blink of an eye, the arrow had pierced through the hem of his clothes and was nailed to the wall.
Wei Zhenfeng suddenly realized, and after being stunned for a moment, he burst out laughing.
Zhou Huairang's face turned pale with fear, and he dragged his limp legs to check on the situation: "Little Prince! Are you okay?"
"It's okay." Wei Zhenfeng said lightly, "Your Highness has a good sense of proportion." If it was a little off, it wouldn't just be his clothes that would be torn.
Zhou Huairang was completely confused: "Huh?"
Wei Zhenfeng pointed at the sleeve pierced by the arrow and said with a smile: "Look, he is taking revenge on me."
Zhou Huairang: "... You are quite proud."
Zhao Mian's voice rang out from outside: "Why aren't you coming out yet?"
The two of them turned the corner one after the other, and saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince standing not far away waiting for them, holding a hunting bow made of green bamboo in his hand.
"I found this thing in the armory. It looked exquisite, so I thought of giving it a try." Zhao Mian's eyes fell on Wei Zhenfeng's sleeves. He admired his "masterpiece" and felt a little relieved.
Zhou Huairang wanted to cry but had no tears: "Your Highness, your test almost frightened me to death."
"Practice more courage." Zhao Mian deliberately avoided Wei Zhenfeng's gaze, which seemed to be about to smile or not. "What new discoveries have you made?"
Zhou Huairang shook his head: "Not yet. We were just about to go in when you came to try out the bow."
Zhao Mian said: "Let's go in now."
The three of them walked into the storeroom. Zhou Huairang smiled when he saw the room full of books: "It seems that the young prince's judgment can also be wrong sometimes."
Zhou Huairang's initial idea was correct. This warehouse was full of books, calligraphy and paintings. Zhou Huairang picked up a book and flipped through it. After reading two pages, his eyes widened: "A fragment of the handwritten copy of the Spring Diary of the previous dynasty?! This is a treasure that can't even be found in our Nanjing!"
Wei Zhenfeng nodded: "I understand, this warehouse does not contain the things of the Xixia emperor."
"What is that?" Zhou Huairang saw rows of plain painting jars filled with painting boxes and suddenly realized, "It's Gu Ruzhang's relic!"
"It's not accurate to say it's a relic." Zhao Mian glanced at Wei Zhenfeng, "Gu Ruzhang should still be alive."
Wei Zhenfeng did not comment. He picked up a painting box from the painting jar, opened it, and unfolded the scroll inside. After seeing the whole picture, Wei Zhenfeng showed a slightly surprised look, and then chuckled: "Interesting."
Zhao Mian asked: "What?"
"Look for yourself." Wei Zhenfeng threw the painting to Zhao Mian, "This should be Gu Ruzhang's authentic work."
Zhao Mian took the painting and looked at it carefully. The painting was called "Night Banquet at Xuyuan". It was called a night banquet, but there was no welcoming or seeing off, or toasting. The center of the painting was a roof with big red lanterns and festive red silk hanging under the eaves. A young man in white was sitting on the roof, holding a dogtail grass in his mouth, his chin supported by his hands, and looking down boredly.
Behind the boy was a full moon hanging high in the sky. The moonlight lingered over him, with floating lights and colors, each with its own unique charm.
The writing on the lower right corner of Night Banquet reads: Painted late at night, May 15th, the first year of Zai Xi.
Obviously, this painting depicts the scene when Gu Ruzhang and Wan Huameng first met.
It was also the Wanhua dream that Gu Ruzhang saw for the first time in his life.
Zhao Mian recalled that Wan Huameng once said that Gu Ruzhang loved painting but had never painted a picture for him.
Wanhua’s dream was wrong. Gu Ruzhang had painted it. He had painted it on the night they first met, but he didn’t know it.
If Wan Huameng had not forced Gu Ruzhang, nor had she cast a curse on Gu Ruzhang, would the two of them have had a different ending
The three of them were silent for a while, and Wei Zhenfeng suddenly said, "Leave these to Nanjing."
Zhou Huairang was overjoyed: "Young prince is so generous!"
After a tour, they counted more than a dozen palaces of various sizes. Although they could not be compared with the real Xixia Imperial Palace, it must have been a huge project consuming manpower and material resources to repair it to this level underground. It seems that the Xixia emperor put a lot of thought into this escape route for himself.
After nightfall, the three of them found a palace to rest in. Zhao Mian naturally stayed in the main hall, while Wei Zhenfeng and Zhou Huairang stayed in the side halls on both sides.
They had experienced too much that day. As soon as Zhao Mian got into bed, he felt sleepy and fell asleep quickly.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Mian suddenly woke up from his sleep. He rarely woke up for no reason, so it must be that his body sensed something was wrong.
Sure enough, he turned around and saw a figure standing beside his bed.
Zhao Mian was surprised to find that he could no longer get angry: "What do you want to do?"
Wei Zhenfeng said, "Didn't you say you couldn't sleep because I pissed you off during the day? I came to see if you were asleep." Wei Zhenfeng sat down beside his bed, "Then I noticed you were sleeping soundly. Does this prove that you're not that angry?"
Zhao Mian was silent for a moment, then nodded reluctantly: "Yes."
yes
yes
Wei Zhenfeng did not expect this answer. He thought Zhao Mian would point at the door and tell him to get out.
Wei Zhenfeng curled up the corners of his lips: "If you are not angry anymore, can you listen to me?"
Zhao Mian had a blank expression on his face: "No, get out."
Wei Zhenfeng stopped smiling and said seriously, "Zhao Mian, listen carefully. Put on your clothes now and follow me."
Zhao Mian realized something was wrong: "Did something happen?"
Wei Zhenfeng said, "There are many uninvited guests in this underground palace. It seems that they have bad intentions."
Zhao Mian couldn't believe it and said, "It's such an important matter, and you actually said so much nonsense before telling me?"
Wei Zhenfeng spread his hands and said, "I was afraid that I might scare you, so I thought I would tell you slowly."
Zhao Mian quickly put on his clothes and got out of bed, impatiently saying, "I've already told you that I can't have your child, you don't have to protect me so carefully."
"If you can't, then you can't," Wei Zhenfeng threw a bow and arrow to Zhao Mian, the same one he tried during the day, "I'm only protecting you."
Zhao Mian: “…”
Okay, he and Wei Zhenfeng have completely reconciled.
(End of this chapter)