Sure enough, when the dead princess was mentioned, the gossipy light in Mu Xin's eyes disappeared, and her eyes dimmed. "I have already prepared everything."
Facing the imaginary opponent, Zhu Zhanji became a stubborn, hypocritical person who spoke sweet words but had a sharp tongue. He was a sugar-coated bomb and an emotionless killer who continued to swing the 40-meter-long sword at his uncle's heart.
Poke where it hurts.
Zhu Zhanji also looked sentimental, "I remember that Aunt Changning liked to eat the sweet-scented osmanthus cake from the street the most. She disliked the palace cake because it had too much sugar and oil in it. She got tired of it because it was not as refreshing as the ones outside."
Mu Xin smiled bitterly and said, "Lard and sugar are both expensive ingredients. People in the palace put them in as if they were free. On the street, people want to do business and make money, so they put less. This is more to the princess's liking."
Zhu Zhanji, the wolf cub, was biting his uncle madly, "My aunt also likes to watch Journey to the West, and she always orders it at family dinners..."
Zhu Zhanji couldn't stop talking about Princess Changning, and he was always poking at his uncle's pain points. How could this be a chat? It was like holding a memorial service for Princess Changning, and Mu Xin was almost depressed.
Until A Lei, who had remained silent, said: "I'm home. Thank you, Prince Consort and... the Crown Prince, for seeing me off. Goodbye."
A Lei's figure disappeared in Hu's house. Mu Xin suddenly realized that his task of testing A Lei was not yet completed. Is she the daughter of my eldest brother and Hu Shanggong? Is she my niece
The Crown Prince suddenly appeared and Arei escaped from Mu Xin's trap without realizing it.
It's really like a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Mu Xin not only failed to take advantage of the situation, but was also stabbed all over by Zhu Zhanji, which made her very depressed.
Zhu Zhanji was secretly happy: Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you are handsome. If you don't let go of A Lei, I have other ways to deal with you.
Zhu Zhanji went to the Han Palace to meet several cousins. As an elder brother, he talked about the past and the present with them. Halfway through the conversation, looking in the direction of Hu's house, Zhu Zhanji suddenly realized four very serious problems:
Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing
What is my purpose of leaving the palace today
In order to apologize to Arei, compensate for the glasses, and ask her to forgive me and not ignore me.
Have I done these three things
No. None of it.
What did you do today
I held a memorial service for my aunt in front of my uncle today...
So, why do you want to lose sight of the important and pursue the trivial, kill a thousand enemies, lose ten thousand of your own, and still not accomplish anything
I…
Zhu Zhanji sadly discovered that his IQ and EQ automatically dropped to negative numbers once he met A Lei, and he was so slow to realize it that it was outrageous. He was so stupid that it was terribly scary.
At the Hu residence, Arei was swinging on the swing in her own yard. This swing was built by her and her brother-in-law together. Alas, when could her brother-in-law go home
Arei looked in the direction of Prince Han's Palace, thinking of Brother Xiaoji who was chasing the poor widower Mu Xin on the road. He knew that Mu Xin was very sad about the death of the princess, but not only did he not say anything to comfort her, but he also brought up irrelevant issues. It was so cruel that one person could support a memorial service.
When did he become so sarcastic and lose his compassion
After he became the crown prince, he started to get cocky. Alas.
Zhu Zhanji and A Lei were facing each other across the street across two high walls. One was regretting in the Prince Han's Mansion, while the other was sighing on the swing in Hu's residence.
Mu Xin returned to the princess's mansion, and the impression of Mu Chun, the portrait of Mu Chun in the ancestral hall, the fat and greasy middle-aged Mu Chun on the artillery carriage, and A Lei's face flashed repeatedly in her mind.
A Lei's age matches the time of Muchun's death exactly.
Hu Shanggong resigned and left the palace three years between the Hongwu and Jianwen dynasties, and the date of her departure coincides with A Lei's date of birth.
But the person who has been rumored to be having an affair with Hu Shanggong is the current Jinyiwei Commander Ji Gang. The two used to work together frequently, and now they are both in their forties, still unmarried. Whenever Hu Shanggong has problems, Lord Ji will definitely help her, which really makes people imagine, so the rumors about the two have been circulating for more than ten years without interruption...
No, the scandal between Lady Hu and Ji Gang might just be used to confuse the public! To cover up another shocking fact!
Mu Xin remembered that when he was a tutor to the princes and grandchildren in the palace, he had heard of the legend of Concubine Hu.
There were retired maids in the princess's mansion. Mu Xin invited one of them over and asked, "I happened to meet the sister of Hu Shanggong on the street today. This sister and Hu Shanggong have the same father but different mothers. She is the daughter of Mr. Hu in his old age. Her mother died during childbirth. Mr. Hu was too old to raise the little girl, so he gave her to Hu Shanggong to raise."
"However, I remember a rumor I heard about Concubine Hu before. It said that when Concubine Hu first entered the palace, she was abused by her stepmother, so her hands were covered with chilblains. She was dressed very shabby and didn't even have a pair of shoes. She walked into the palace wearing socks. Is this true?"
"Yes." The white-haired palace maid nodded. "As the saying goes, if you have a stepmother, you will have a stepfather. It is better to live with a beggar mother than a father who is an official. It is really pitiful for a child to live under the control of a stepmother. Hu Shanggong has a strong temper and was unwilling to endure the torture, so she signed up for the female official examination and entered the palace."
Mu Xin added: "I also heard that Concubine Hu entered the palace barefoot, so my eldest brother Mu Chun asked Empress Xiaoci for a pair of boots and gave them to Concubine Hu."
The maid smiled and said, "Everything that goes in and out of the Queen's belongings must be recorded in the account. This is not a rumor, but a fact. Who dares to make up stories about the Queen's belongings? The Duke of Qian is innocent and kind, and the Queen is merciful. It's just a pair of boots, so it's a reward."
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Mu Xin discovered the truth from it and felt that the affection between his elder brother and Lady Hu might have already sprouted!
Mu Xin's gossipy soul was burning, and he was restless and couldn't sleep all night.
Now, the greasy middle-aged man who looks like Mu Chun has already set out with the southern expedition army, and it is difficult to check; Mu Xin dare not offend Hu Shanggong's current status; A Lei, who is suspected to be his eldest brother's illegitimate daughter, lives in the back house, and it is not easy for him, a widower, to take the initiative to contact a young girl, which will damage his and A Lei's reputation.
This gossip was like a hedgehog covered with sharp thorns, and Mu Xin had no idea where to start.
Mu Xin rolled around in bed all night long, and finally thought of a way to protect himself and verify his guess: just ask his second brother Mu Sheng who was far away in Yunnan. From the content of the reply letter "Don't investigate!" and the traces of Hu Shanggong living in Yunnan, his second brother probably knew the truth.
And since we are all family, this shocking secret is controllable.
Mu Xin wrote a secret letter and sent a confidant to deliver it to Kunming urgently.
After sending the letter home, Mu Xin felt relaxed and continued to secretly keep an eye on A Lei.
Five days later.
Zhu Zhanji had been waiting outside the foreign goods shop where A Lei had pre-ordered the glasses. He knew that A Lei was in a hurry to get the glasses and would definitely not delay, but he was not sure when she would come.
In order to hide, Zhu Zhanji sat in a private room on the second floor of a restaurant opposite the foreign goods store, waiting for A Lei to appear.
Zhu Zhanji had just eaten a crab roe bun when he heard chaotic footsteps coming from the corridor outside.
"This room has the best view. I want this one." A familiar voice sounded. It was the Prince Consort Mu Xin.
Zhu Zhanji: It can't be such a coincidence, he must be here to wait for A Lei! Bah, shameless!
The waiter apologized, "Unfortunately, this room is already occupied."
Mu Xin said, "If you want him to change it, I will pay ten times the price and compensate the difference to this customer. This is your reward."
"This..." The waiter secretly weighed the reward money, went in to coordinate with Zhu Zhanji, and told him Mu Xin's generous compensation conditions.
The room was not soundproofed, and Zhu Zhanji did not want to expose himself, so he dipped his finger in the tea and wrote the word "get out" on the table.
The waiter looked left and right, up and down, and said, "This... I can't read. Sir, please speak frankly."
Zhu Zhanji was speechless for a moment, and could only whisper: "No, I won't change it, no matter how much money you offer, I want him to get out."
The waiter had no choice but to go out and pass on the message, reluctantly returning the reward to Mu Xin, "The customer refused to change it."
Mu Xin had to settle for the next best thing and went to the cubicle.
Just now, the waiter came in to deliver a message. Zhu Zhanji was distracted for a moment and didn't stare at the foreign goods shop opposite. A Lei was in a hurry to get his glasses, so he went in as soon as the door opened. At that time, Zhu Zhanji was writing the word "滚", and the two missed each other perfectly.
So, when Zhu Zhanji looked across again and planned to change the place to wait, A Lei had already paid the balance and went out with his glasses.
Zhu Zhanji ran out in a hurry, and when he stood up, he picked up the sesame oil bottle with various seasonings on the table, opened the door, and heard the sound of a chair being pushed in the compartment. He knew that Mu Xin also saw A Lei through the window and wanted to chase A Lei too.
Brother Chicken has a chicken heart, truly worthy of his name.
Brother Xiaoji smiled coldly, sprinkled the sesame oil in front of the compartment door, and then went downstairs quickly.
As soon as I ran to the stairs downstairs, I heard the sound of my uncle falling down upstairs with "Ah... bang!"
It's your fault, you old cow want to eat young grass. A Lei is your niece, my good uncle.
There was oil on Mu Xin's feet and he had fallen hard, so he shouldn't be able to walk fast.
Zhu Zhanji killed his uncle with a bottle of sesame oil and went after A Lei at a leisurely pace.
Arei didn't walk far. She was now unemployed and had nothing to do, so she walked around aimlessly. Before she knew it, she was like an old horse who knew the way, and she ended up on the road leading to the Baochuan Factory.
Alas. A Lei sighed inwardly, stopped, and just as he turned around, he met Zhu Zhanji.
"Sister A Lei, I want to apologize to you today. I was too aggressive the other day. I was wrong. I shouldn't have chased you on horseback, causing you to lose your glasses."
Zhu Zhanji learned from the two previous bitter lessons and apologized first, instead of being distracted by other people or other things, losing his composure and forgetting his goal.
This straightforward approach really worked. Zhu Zhanji apologized sincerely. A Lei was not as narrow-minded as Xiao Ji Ge. Today's reunion was definitely not a coincidence. Xiao Ji Ge must have been waiting for her outside the foreign goods shop.
Seeing his sincerity, Are's expression eased a little, and he took out his newly bought glasses and shook them, "It's okay, I already got a new pair, which is almost the same as the one my sister gave me."
Zhu Zhanji said, "I met you in the foreign goods shop that day, and I wanted to find a similar pair to compensate you. But my uncle was there, and you ordered one yourself, so I lied."
Brother Xiaoji has been a weird person since he was a child. He says one thing and thinks another. His heart is just like a chicken, with so many twists and turns that it's exhausting to talk to him.
Today, both of his sentences were very direct, which was rare. Arei looked at the sky in surprise.
Zhu Zhanji followed her gaze and asked, "What's wrong? Is it going to rain?"
A Lei said with a smile: "I am wondering if the sun is rising from the west today. It is rare that you can speak whatever you want, just like Zhu Zhanhe."
Why is it my cousin again? Why are you comparing me with my cousin? He and I are different... I—
Zhu Zhanji suddenly remembered the root cause of the unpleasantness between him and A Lei: it was his younger brother Shuikeng. He was angry that day because A Lei said that his younger brother Shuikeng "always seems to have an easy life, laughing all day long", and felt that A Lei liked his cousin but not himself.
Stop, stop, stop! Zhu Zhanji secretly warned himself that every failure is a learning experience, and he should not regret it after being stung. He should first stabilize A Lei's sister.
Zhu Zhanji resisted the urge to argue, "My brother and I are different," and smiled awkwardly, "Have you forgiven me?"
Purpose, pay attention to the purpose, don't be too serious. This is not a debate in the court because of different political views. What's the point of winning the argument
It was useless. And we ended up in a bad mood.
A Lei waved his hand cheerfully, "It's not a big deal, don't take it too seriously, I'm not that petty."
Arei thought to himself: However, if you don’t come to me to apologize, I won’t forgive you so quickly.
Zhu Zhanji said hurriedly, "Sister A Lei is really magnanimous. But your glasses were broken because of me, and you have to pay for the damage. What do you want?"
A Lei thought for a moment and said, "Can you get me a few large Western clocks from the palace? I'll borrow them to take a look and then return them to you."
It is said that A Lei was unemployed and at home. His brother-in-law went to the south for an expedition, and his sister went out early and came back late. A Lei was bored at home and had no interest in socializing with her friends. Suddenly, a large Western clock in the house stopped ticking.
When Arei had nothing to do, he dismantled the grandfather clock into pieces. The parts filled several desks. He replaced a broken bearing, but could never put it back together.
Arei needed a few samples to remove the decorative wooden boards on the outside and see how the inside was installed.
The author has something to say: Alei, a hardcore science and engineering girl. Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angels who cast [mines]: Qu Jin, zuobin18, jesling 1;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:
30 bottles of cat claw hair; 10 bottles of Tiantian, Yaoyao, Tingting Jingzhi, and the cat who likes to eat peaches; 6 bottles of Qiongju and the little girl who eats lipstick; 5 bottles of Changge Dangwu, Ajiu, 17184939, Lemonade, and Cabbage Pig; 3 bottles of Little Tornado; 2 bottles of llllna, Dimple, and Xixi who is chasing books; 1 bottle of Pandora, Natiao Xiaoxiaoyu, Xiaoxiao, I want a little Corgi, Qianqian mm, Junqi, Qingxuan Zhubaizhou 19, Tianyi Youlan, and Yang Yanxi Dabapenyu;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!