The Nanjing royal family's family banquet was held on a small island in the center of Taiying Lake. In early summer, the breeze blew, the green locust trees and willows on both sides swayed, the lake was rippling, the lotus reflected on the water, and the fragrance floated around the shore.
It was rare to see such graceful and elegant beauty in Beiyuan, but unfortunately Wei Zhenfeng had no intention to appreciate it. In front of him sat all of Zhao Mian's family members - Emperor Jing was the head, with Xiao Xiang and Zhao Mian on the left and right, followed by Zhao Lin and the little princess who had to be held.
Noon was the hottest time of the day, but fortunately there was a breeze blowing in from all directions, and he was wearing the finest and most luxurious silk, so normally he shouldn't feel hot. However, thanks to Emperor Jing's pretended indifference, Prime Minister Xiao's indifference, and Zhao Lin's gloating, Wei Zhenfeng still broke out in a sweat.
The only one who welcomed him and was willing to smile at him was the little princess who kept twisting and turning in Xiao Xiang's arms. Unfortunately, the little princess couldn't speak and couldn't help him. After laughing enough, she fell asleep in Xiao Xiang's arms and was finally taken away by the wet nurse. Only five men with their own thoughts were left.
As the ruler of a country and the head of a family, Zhao Qi was the first to speak: "I heard that you are very arrogant."
Wei Zhenfeng was puzzled: "Pretentious?"
Zhao Mian was used to his father's peculiar way of speaking, and explained, "It probably means he is very arrogant."
"Your Majesty, you must have believed the slander." Wei Zhenfeng said humbly and politely, "I am not arrogant at all."
"Father, don't believe him," Zhao Lin said angrily, "He is just very arrogant! He is not afraid of anything! When I came back with him, we met a group of bandits on the way. Father, you don't know his methods..."
Zhao Mian glanced at his brother who was complaining and said, "Father, I think Wei Zhenfeng is okay. He is not as arrogant as me."
Zhao Qi held his forehead and thought to himself, "Mianmian, please stop talking. Father doesn't know you yet. You are arrogant, but you only show off to outsiders. In front of me and the prime minister, you are just a kitten who can be petted at will. Wei Zhenfeng is obviously different from you. Father is helping you suppress Wei Zhenfeng's arrogance. Father is afraid that you will be bullied in the future."
Xiao Shiqing understood Zhao Qi's good intentions best. He said to his two sons, "Listen to what your father has to say first."
Zhao Qi smiled at Xiao Shiqing, and turned to Wei Zhenfeng before regaining his serious expression: "You should know that I am different from other emperors, and the Nanjing royal family is also different from other royal families. Prime Minister Xiao and I can only make suggestions on the prince's marriage, and the specific decision is still up to the prince himself."
Wei Zhenfeng sat upright and nodded obediently: "Junior understands, Your Majesty."
"Also, as long as you are with the prince, there are a few conditions you must abide by. First, there is no such thing as having three wives and four concubines in our family. If you have someone else, the prince will definitely dump you."
Zhao Lin raised his fist as big as a casserole and threatened: "I will beat you too!"
Wei Zhenfeng continued to nod obediently: "Yes, Your Majesty."
"Second, your relationship is your relationship, don't let it affect national affairs."
Wei Zhenfeng smiled and said, "Your Majesty can rest assured about this." It was true that he could come and go freely in the Eastern Palace, but as soon as he got close to the place where His Royal Highness the Crown Prince reviewed memorials and stored case files, the Eastern Palace guards would put their swords on his neck without any mercy.
"Third, and most importantly, the prince can now accept being separated from you for a long time, so I have nothing to say." Zhao Qi said with some distress, "But if one day he can't stand it anymore, I hope you can think of a solution..."
Zhao Mian couldn't help but interrupt: "Father, I can bear it." He got rid of his crying and clingy habits when he was a child.
Zhao Qi silently looked at his stubborn and obstinate son, seeing through him but not saying anything.
Wei Zhenfeng said with a smile: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, even if the Crown Prince can bear it, I can't."
"It's okay. If things don't work out, we still have father." Zhao Qi smiled at his eldest son, "Father, Prime Minister, and sister will always be in the capital to accompany you."
Zhao Lin was stunned and pointed at himself: "Father, what about me?"
Zhao Qi smiled and said, "Three years of military service in the Northern Territory, please—you agreed to it yourself in the beginning."
Zhao Lin was about to cry: "But I have gotten so tanned outside, my brother is almost disgusted with me!"
Zhao Mian said disdainfully, "You are indeed very dark. You haven't been back home for a few days, you are still so dark."
Zhao Qi comforted his youngest son: "I heard from your grandmother yesterday that the new pearl honey cream she uses has an excellent whitening effect. I will ask her to give you a few bottles later."
Zhao Lin was overjoyed: "Thank you, father!"
Wei Zhenfeng asked: "Your Majesty, can you also give me a bottle?"
"You want one too?" Zhao Qiqi asked, "You're not black at all."
"There's nothing we can do. We must take precautions before it happens." Wei Zhenfeng was still terrified. "Our Crown Prince really hates dark skin."
After Xiao Shiqing and the other two finished talking about Heipi, he said, "If A-Lin doesn't want to go to the North, you can find another way to make up for it."
Zhao Lin suddenly understood as if he heard heavenly music: "Is it true, father? What method is it? I can go to the East Palace to be a secret guard for my brother, just like Shen Buci..."
Zhao Mian frowned slightly: "No need."
His father had just discussed this matter with him, but he felt that Zhao Lin was still young and he couldn't bear to let his younger brother go out and take risks. At least he had his master to look after him in the Northern Border military camp.
Xiao Shiqing saw the worry in Zhao Mian's heart and said, "Your brother is already seventeen years old and will soon become an adult. He is not young anymore."
Zhao Qi looked back and forth at the father and son, and urged them, "What kind of riddles are you two playing? If you have something to say, say it quickly. Urgent, urgent, urgent."
"Father, please don't be anxious." Zhao Mian asked Wei Zhenfeng, "Three months ago, my father asked you to pay attention to the case of the disappearance of the Dongling royal family. Did you check it out?"
Wei Zhenfeng said, "Prime Minister Xiao reminded me, how dare I not go. The one missing from Dongling is Emperor Ling's cousin Xie Yanbing, who is only five years old this year. It is said that he suddenly disappeared at home. Fuxue Tower has made many inquiries, but the clues obtained are very few, not enough to restore the full picture of the incident."
Zhao Mian raised his eyebrows: "Without enough clues, you don't have your own judgment?"
Wei Zhenfeng smiled and said, "That's not the case. Xie Yanbing is just a child who knows nothing about the world. His father is just an idle prince who lives far away from the power center of Kyoto. He has many wives and concubines and many children. Xie Yanbing is not valued among them. If this case is really a long-planned plot by someone, it can only be said that Xie Yanbing is one of the easiest bloodlines of the Dongling royal family to be targeted."
Zhao Qi understood: "In other words, the instigator was targeting little Xie Yanbing's royal status."
Zhao Lin slammed the table in anger, making the chopsticks break: "Who is so disgusting that he would attack an innocent child!"
Zhao Mian said: "Early this morning, Qianjiyuan reported that a child from your Beiyuan royal family has also gone missing."
Wei Zhenfeng was a little surprised: "The news from Qianji Academy came so quickly?"
Zhao Mian asked back: "You already know?"
Wei Zhenfeng nodded. He had just received the news from Fuxue Tower when he went out of the palace to receive a generous gift and went back to the palace today. "The one missing in Beiyuan is the King of Ying, my sixth uncle's youngest son, Wei Chengsi, who just turned one year old. My sixth uncle attaches great importance to the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. A Si is the legitimate son he has been looking forward to for many years. Just by looking at the name he gave A Si, you can tell how much he cares about this son. After A Si disappeared, my sixth uncle wanted to dig up the ground in Shengjing to look for his beloved son, but unfortunately he still found nothing."
Unlike Xie Yanbing, Wei Chengsi can be said to be the treasure of the Yingwang Mansion, and the servants who serve him are naturally dedicated. Even so, the thief was still able to succeed, and the strength of the mastermind behind the scenes should not be underestimated.
If the disappearances of the royal families of the two countries were caused by the same force, the situation would be even more intriguing.
"First it was Dongling, then Beiyuan. The difficulty gradually increases, just like leveling up and fighting monsters." Zhao Qi's face was solemn for the first time. "Could it be the Nanjing Royal Family's turn next?"
The five men all looked at the little princess who was sleeping in the cradle.
The royal family of Nanjing was pitifully small. By Zhao Mian's generation, there were only three brothers and sisters left from the direct lineage of the previous emperor. The most dangerous of them was naturally the little sister who had just been born.
Zhao Mian sneered, "I want to see who dares to touch her." When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince really turned cold, his pressure was very similar to that of Prime Minister Xiao, "You are just courting death."
Xiao Shiqing said: "Ji Jinzhi returned to Beijing this time to investigate this matter. He suspected that the disappearance of the royal families of the two countries was most likely related to the Tianque Sect in Dongling."
Since ancient times, the more turbulent the times, the more likely it is to breed folk sects. Since Lu Wang came to power in Dongling, the government has become increasingly corrupt and the people are living in dire straits. Unable to escape from suffering in reality, they seek hope in the stories of gods and ghosts.
The Tianque Sect has been rooted in Dongling and Xixia for a long time, and has grown at an alarming rate in recent years. Now it seems that wreaking havoc in Dongling alone is no longer enough for them, and traces of the Tianque Sect's activities have been discovered in Beiyuan and Nanjing.
Wei Zhenfeng asked, "Could it be that the Tianque Sect wants to unify the Three Kingdoms, so it wants to sacrifice the royal blood of the Three Kingdoms to the heavens first?"
"We can't rule out this possibility." Zhao Mian said, "Dongling is a country of poison, and is good at using various secret methods to deceive people. The people in Tianque Sect are also very cunning. Ji Jinzhi and Qianjiyuan have been investigating for several months before they have some clues and found dozens of their bases in Nanjing."
Zhao Qi listened very carefully, and for a moment he even forgot to be careful about how he addressed Xiao Shiqing in front of the younger generation: "Prime Minister, do you want my eldest son to wipe out the Tianque Sect?"
Wei Zhenfeng, who was drinking tea, choked a little.
Zhao Lin heard this and quickly expressed his opinion: "I can do it! Father, let me go, let me go!"
Zhao Qi frowned, "This... If the Tianque Sect is really after the royal bloodline, Mianmian, A Lin, and even I could be their targets. Isn't it too dangerous to let A Lin go?"
Zhao Mian said: "If Zhao Lin is willing to go, I will let An Yuanhou and others accompany him."
Zhao Lin continued to express his opinion: "Let me go, let me go!"
Zhao Qi sighed, "Okay. But to be honest, I am really traumatized by the things that came out of Dongling. The main reason is that they never fight you with real guns and knives, but always use some kind of poison or poisonous biological weapons to attack you. Among the five of us at the table, except for A Lin, who hasn't suffered from it?"
There was a moment of silence at the family dinner.
Xiao Shiqing suddenly said: "I remember that King Ying of Beiyuan was one of the commanders of the Shengjing Imperial Army."
Wei Zhenfeng said, "Yes. After I leave Shangjing, I plan to personally find the legitimate son for my sixth uncle and win this favor."
Xiao Shiqing nodded: "Yeah."
The little princess waited obediently until they finished talking about the business, then she started to cry. Xiao Shiqing stood up and wanted to comfort her, but Wei Zhenfeng volunteered: "Xiao Xiang, please sit down, and I will go."
The little prince picked up the little princess skillfully and made a peculiar but not unpleasant sound, which soon made the little princess giggle.
Zhao Qi was shocked and asked, "Is Wei Zhenfeng so good at coaxing children?"
Zhao Mian raised the corners of his mouth and said proudly, "Yes, he is very good at it."
"Don't be so proud, Mianmian," Zhao Qi said helplessly, "This is not a plus for you."
The various dragon robes that His Royal Highness will wear in the future are about to be embroidered, including daily clothes for the four seasons, court clothes, auspicious clothes... There are dozens of them. The people from the clothing bureau came to the East Palace to measure Zhao Mian's body, and Wei Zhenfeng and Zhao Lin watched and made noises on the side.
"Your waist is too thin." Wei Zhenfeng watched the palace servant record Zhao Mian's waist circumference, "You need to eat more, Your Highness."
Bai Yu smiled and said, "Young Prince, please don't give me any stupid advice. What if Your Highness really gets fat in this March and the dragon robe doesn't fit him when he ascends the throne?"
"That's impossible." Zhao Lin said with pearl powder on her face, "Royal brother can't get fat by eating. If he gets fat, it's definitely not because of eating."
Zhao Mian likes bright and dazzling colors, and usually wears colors like red, persimmon, apricot and yellow. He has never worn the color of the emperor, which symbolizes the highest authority. He imagined himself wearing a dragon robe, and couldn't help asking Wei Zhenfeng: "On the sixth day of the seventh month, can you come to watch the ceremony?"
Wei Zhenfeng frowned: "I'm afraid it's a bit difficult." According to his plan, he would not be able to escape from Shengjing throughout the early July, and the earliest he could reach Shangjing would be in the latter part of the month.
Zhao Mian was quite disappointed, but he didn't show it: "It's okay, just focus on your own business."
Wei Zhenfeng didn't want to make a promise about something he wasn't sure of, but he couldn't help but add, "But I'll try my best to come. I also want to see you in the dragon robe."
Zhao Mian was worried that Wei Zhenfeng would miss out on his plans to come and see him ascend the throne, so he said calmly, "I will wear the dragon robe for a long time, so you don't have to rush."
The days with Wei Zhenfeng around passed extremely quickly, as if in just a blink of an eye, the ten-day period was up.
Wei Zhenfeng planned to set out at night so that he would arrive in Shengjing early in the morning and have an extra day.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince seemed to have let it go, and was very calm about the upcoming separation. He didn't even ask to see Wei Zhenfeng out of the city gate, and acted out a scene of sending you a thousand miles away, but you must say goodbye. The two of them had dinner together like they had done in the past nine days, and then sat at the table staring at each other.
Zhao Mian asked: "When are you leaving?"
Wei Zhenfeng glanced at the sky and said, "About half an hour later."
Zhao Mian asked again: "What do you want to do in the last half hour?"
Wei Zhenfeng looked at him.
Zhao Mian: “…”
Wei Zhenfeng: “…”
Zhao Mian was carried into the bedroom by Wei Zhenfeng and placed on the large rosewood bed. He also added the final stroke on the notebook, making it exactly five "正" characters.
During his time in the East Palace, Wei Zhenfeng played a lot of tricks with Zhao Mian, and sometimes Zhao Mian would wonder where he learned all these. But this time, Wei Zhenfeng did not play any tricks out of the ordinary.
The most normal and simplest position, Wei Zhenfeng was on top and he was on the bottom, there was no intense movement, Wei Zhenfeng did not force him to say something difficult to say like before, or deliberately let him see something rude. Wei Zhenfeng just looked at him, kept looking at him, and then couldn't help but lower her head to kiss him.
It can be described as "following the rules", because time is in a hurry and there is no time to make adequate preparations. Wei Zhenfeng lying quietly on the bed makes people feel a little uncomfortable. But Zhao Mian is still intoxicated and satisfied in the gentle and soft feeling.
Afterwards, Wei Zhenfeng wanted to help Zhao Mian clean up as usual. Except for the first time when he didn't understand, he never made Zhao Mian uncomfortable again. However, Zhao Mian refused him for the first time: "It's getting late, you should leave."
"It doesn't matter if you wait a little longer." Wei Zhenfeng wanted to hug him, "I'll take a bath with you."
Zhao Mian pushed Wei Zhenfeng away and said, "I'm a little tired. I'll lie down for a while before I go." The Crown Prince closed his eyes and said indifferently, "You don't need me to see you off?"
"No need, go to bed early if you are tired."
Zhao Mian hummed and buried himself in the quilt. He heard the rustling sound of someone getting dressed, and soon, Wei Zhenfeng had put on his clothes.
Wei Zhenfeng is leaving.
Wei Zhenfeng looked at the big bulge in the quilt and said with a smile: "Are you that sleepy? Why don't you take one last look at me?"
Zhao Mian said in a muffled voice: "If you want to leave, leave quickly and stop talking nonsense."
Wei Zhenfeng said leisurely: "Leaving after finishing it feels like having an affair."
"… roll."
Wei Zhenfeng laughed, bent down and hugged Zhao Mian through the quilt: "See you in early autumn, Mian Mian."
The body under the quilt trembled.
Wei Zhenfeng is really leaving.
Zhao Mian listened to Wei Zhenfeng's footsteps gradually moving away. He seemed to meet Zhou Huairang at the door. Zhou Huairang asked him, "Young prince, are you leaving now?"
Wei Zhenfeng smiled and said, "Let's go."
Wei Zhenfeng could actually still laugh.
Zhao Mian crawled out from the quilt with an expressionless face, casually put on a coat, walked to the window and stopped.
Outside the window was the only way to leave the East Palace, but he could not see Wei Zhenfeng, which was enough to prove how fast Wei Zhenfeng walked.
A surge of anger surged into the heart of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He felt something flowing down his leg. He caught a glimpse of the notebook on the table from the corner of his eye and suddenly felt annoyed. He suddenly swung his hand, and the pen, ink, paper and inkstone were all brought down by his sleeves. Ink splattered all over the floor, and the inkstone hit the floor with a dull sound.
The ground was in a mess.
The loud noise woke Zhao Mian up. After realizing how out of control he was, he suddenly closed his eyes and tried to suppress the anger.
He was not angry at Wei Zhenfeng, he was angry at himself.
I was angry at myself for not being able to do what I said, and I couldn't face the separation calmly.
He was angry that he had been deceiving himself. He naively thought that he had gotten rid of his clingy and crybaby habits, but in fact it was just because he hadn't met someone he wanted to be clingy with.
But he has indeed grown up. He is no longer a five-year-old prince. Even if he can't stick to the person he likes, he can remain emotionally stable, consider the overall situation, and will not cry anymore.
When Zhao Mian opened his eyes again, he had regained the dignity that a prince should have. He turned around and was about to ask the palace servants to bring in hot water when he was shocked to find Wei Zhenfeng standing in front of him.
What happened? Didn't Wei Zhenfeng leave
Did Wei Zhenfeng see how uncalm he was just now
Zhao Mian tried to remain calm and asked, "Why are you back?"
Wei Zhenfeng looked at him steadily.
The Crown Prince stood in the mess with his long hair loose. He was only wearing a thin coat, and his straight white legs and his stuff flowing down were vaguely visible.
Wei Zhenfeng's eyes were dark and dark, revealing a trace of sadness: "I wanted to kiss you one last time before leaving."
"Oh," Zhao Mian said proudly, "Come on."
Wei Zhenfeng walked up to Zhao Mian, held his cheeks with both hands, lowered his head and touched his lips, then asked him in a low voice: "Why are you angry again?"
After Wei Zhenfeng asked this, Zhao Mian could no longer pretend. He gritted his teeth, angry and resentful: "I found that I am in so deep, deeper than I thought."
Wei Zhenfeng probably understood what the Crown Prince was angry about, and comforted him, "Don't panic, I'm here with you. No matter how deep you fall, you won't fall as deep as I do."
"Nonsense." Zhao Mian did not forget to be competitive in this matter, "It's obvious that I'm the one who is more trapped."
Wei Zhenfeng was stunned: "Why do you think so?"
"You left as soon as you said so. You were so cool and carefree. You didn't even look reluctant at all." Zhao Mian complained in a low voice, "I said I couldn't bear to leave you, and you deliberately said something mean to me - why can't I do the same as you?"
Wei Zhenfeng raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "If you say so, then let me ask you, are you willing to put down your government affairs for me and leave Nanjing for a month?"
Zhao Mian looked hesitant.
Wei Zhenfeng asked: "Let me ask you again, are you willing to give up the throne of Nanjing for me?"
Zhao Mian was stunned for a moment and shook his head: "I don't want to."
"That's it." Wei Zhenfeng sighed, and squeezed Zhao Mian's mouth into a duck shape with a light force of his hand. "Don't always look at what I said, Zhao Mian, you should look at what I did - you think I'm cool? But what if I'm not cool? Hugging you and crying and saying I won't leave, I won't take revenge? That's too weak, will you still like me?"
Zhao Mian wanted to say that he still liked her, but he was never the kind of person who liked the weak.
Wei Zhenfeng said: "Just as you use arrogance to cover yourself up, my unrestrainedness is also a kind of cover-up."
Zhao Mian was stunned. He didn't know if it was his illusion, but Wei Zhenfeng's eyes seemed... a little red
Wei Zhenfeng chuckled: "You have no idea how much I want to stay with you."
Zhao Mian closed his eyes, his heart throbbing. He leaned into Wei Zhenfeng's arms: "I'm sorry."
Wei Zhenfeng was only serious and affectionate for a moment, then his tone became half true and half false: "So, I'm the one who's more deeply in love, Zhao Mian, don't compete with me."
Zhao Mian laughed, then said in distress: "But we can't do this, Wei Zhenfeng." He grabbed Wei Zhenfeng's collar helplessly, "People like you and me, what else can we care about besides the country..."
"I still have you." Wei Zhenfeng said.
(End of this chapter)