"Your Majesty," the Queen put down the gift list, "Such rumors are not good for you or the Marquis of Chengan. The concubine thought that it should be clarified."
However, Emperor Yunqing felt that only by treating Rong Xia as his own son could he escape that nightmare. He is in a high position, but cannot have a healthy body. Like many absurd emperors in history, Emperor Yunqing is afraid of death and aging. The ambition and black and white of his youth have all vanished. The only obsession is to be strong. body and longevity.
"What's the use of clarifying, these people will only think that I am covering up," Emperor Yunqing said nonchalantly, "The Qing people are self-cleaning, and the Queen doesn't need to care."
The queen pursed her lips and lowered her eyelids, "My concubine knows."
The Lin family back then was indeed as beautiful as an orchid in an empty valley, even if a woman saw it, she couldn't help but feel pity in her heart. Lin Shi was supposed to be His Majesty's cousin, but because of the grievances of the previous generation, she suffered a lot of grievances when she was young.
It is said that before His Majesty married her, there was a woman he liked. Although His Majesty never mentioned this woman after their marriage, the Queen still couldn't help but wonder, could that woman be Lin? That's why His Majesty can't marry her, or even express his intentions
"Empress," the emperor thought that he had understood enough, and the empress would never misunderstand, "the marriage between the Marquis of Cheng'an and the girl is very important to me, my health is not good enough, and everything depends on you more. worry."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty," the Queen lowered her head to help Emperor Yunqing sort out the list on the table, "This marriage will not go wrong."
With the extent of the Ban family's doting on their daughter, it is impossible for this marriage to go into trouble.
The Ban family, who had four fiancés, is finally getting married.
After the news spread all over the capital, some men envied Cheng Anhou's good luck, some women envied Ban Hua's good luck, and there were people who had nothing to do with a weird mentality, and envied that Rong Xia might have two fathers.
Although some people speculate about the possible splendid past events in the past, but they have extremely serious faces on their faces, holding the banner of concern for the government, and counting the possibility of His Majesty recognizing this "illegitimate child", if His Majesty really recognizes this Son, will the throne become Rong Xia to sit
Thinking of King Ning, who is now doing things upside down, and the prince who is a little weak in character, many officials who really care about the great cause of the world suddenly feel that if Cheng An Hou is really the blood of the Jiang family, he will be the emperor. Good choice. At least they don't have to worry that the emperor will listen to the slanderous words of the traitor because of his soft ears, nor do they have to worry that the emperor does things according to his heart, and he beats or scolds the courtiers, and does not put the lives of the people in his heart.
"How is this possible," Ban Hua couldn't help laughing after listening to Ban Heng's gossip. "These are all messed up rumors. He can never be His Majesty's child."
"That's not necessarily true. You see how good Your Majesty is to the Marquis of Cheng'an. He has been promoting him all these years. After his elder brother passed away, not only did he not let him downgrade, but he also let the Queen's family take care of him," Ban Heng said. Originally, I thought this rumor was very absurd, but as the rumors became more and more intense, and these people said it with nose and eyes, because of the front edge, and now, he couldn't help but believe it, "If this is not my father, I will A courtier's son is so good?"
"You forgot that Rong Xia's father used to be his companion when His Majesty was the prince?" Ban Hua thought for a while, "Perhaps it was because of this relationship that he specially took care of Rong Xia."
"Do you believe it?" Ban Heng raised his eyebrows to look at Ban Hua, distrusting her words very much. If His Majesty is really such a person who misses the old love, when his elder brother Rong Xia was still alive, he even used the reason that his filial piety had not expired, and he never let Rong Dalang ascend to the title. Xia Xijue's will came down, and he was still an earl just like his father.
According to the rules of their great cause, descendants who inherit the titles of their elders must be demoted to one rank. If the family is not welcomed by the royal family, it is also possible to drop two or three grades. As emperors, they are more careful about such rare things as titles, how can they be so generous
Ban Heng even felt that half of the reason for Rong Dalang's untimely death was that Emperor Yunqing dragged him with the title of nobility.
"It's not a question of whether you believe it or not, it's a question of whether Rongxia is the illegitimate son of Emperor Yunqing," Ban Hua stood up and said without reasoning with Ban Heng, "Don't listen to those rumors outside, it's stupid in the first place, listen again. Even more stupid."
Ban Heng: …
"where did you go?"
"I'm going to see the emperor's illegitimate son you mentioned." Ban Hua picked up the fox fur cloak on the shelf and was about to go out.
"Sister," Ban Heng stopped Ban Hua, "are you and Rong Xia really going to get married before New Year's Eve?"
"Isn't the day already set?" Ban Hua stood in front of the big bronze mirror and tied the rope of his cloak in front of the mirror, but there was no rejection of the marriage on his face, "Your Majesty is eager to get us married, can we still delay it? ?"
"It was said before that February was a good day, but I turned my head two months ahead of schedule. What is Your Majesty trying to do in such a hurry?" Ban Heng's tone was somewhat dissatisfied.
"Perhaps Tu Chongxi?" Ban Hua joked, "Isn't this common among the people? When the elders in the family are sick, they let the younger generation get married to bring joy and wash away the sickness."
"That's only if the younger generation gets married. You and Rong Xia are not His Majesty's son or daughter, so what kind of happiness are you rushing?" Ban Heng scoffed at his sister's unreliable joke, "It's still snowing outside, don't ride a horse. already."
"Got it," Ban Hua opened the door and turned to Ban Heng. "By the way, don't forget to practice your boxing skills."
"Ok, go, go see your fiancé." Ban Heng waved his hand, obviously not interested in practicing boxing. Anyway, Rong Xia is just a weak scholar. If he dares to do something wrong to his sister in the future, how can he beat Rong Xia with his fists and feet
The snow in the capital was heavy, and it did not stop for several days. There were much fewer pedestrians on the road than before. Ban Hua sat in the soft and warm carriage, holding a hand warmer in her hand. Hearing the jingling horse bells, she opened the car curtain impatiently.
Pedestrians on the street were all holding their hands, some selling charcoal, some selling oil, and some selling New Year pictures, fur, and meat. She exhaled a white breath and suddenly realized that another year was about to pass.
In the corner, there were still boys and girls with grass stickers on their heads who were being sold. Ban Hua looked away and lowered the curtains.
Recently, more and more people in the capital have begun to sell children. She frowned. Even the capital is like this. How hard should life be in other places
The mansion of the Marquis of Cheng'an was not too far from the mansion of the Duke of Jingting. When the carriage was about to reach the mansion of the Marquis of Cheng'an, it stopped. Ban Hua lifted the curtain and glanced, "Why stop here?"
"The county lord, there are several carriages parked in front, and this place is blocked."
Ban Hua lifted the curtain and walked out of the carriage to take a look, but there were several carriages parked. Looking at the regulations of these carriages, the quality of the people riding the carriages was probably not too low. She handed the hand warmer to the guard beside the carriage, took another hand stove from the maid, stepped on the carriage bench and got off the carriage, looking at the dirty snow on the ground, it seemed that the people from the Marquis of Cheng'an were still there. Not a lot.
"Forget it, let's go back." Ban Hua didn't like to deal with these people the most, so he turned around and planned to go back.
"I've seen the county master." A young servant in Tsing Yi trotted to Ban Hua, and respectfully gave her a big gift, "Please come inside."
Ban Hua stood on the horse bench and raised his chin towards the carriages, "Does your Marquis have time now?"
"There is not necessarily time for others to come here, but if you come, there must be time," the little servant wore a pleasing smile on his face, "The Marquis has already given an order, if the county master comes, he must I'll welcome you in at the first time, and if there is any slack, let the younger ones pack their bags and leave the Hou residence."
"Bullshit," Ban Hua smiled, "Your Majesty, is such an unreasonable person?"
"Master Hou is usually very reasonable, but when it comes to your case, it is unreasonable to talk about it." The little servant rubbed his head and smiled embarrassedly. Don't dare to look too much, the maids beside the county master are all so good looking that people can see that they even dazzle their eyes.
Rong Xia sat in the main hall and talked about this with these adults. These people in front of them are all factions that support the prince. After the prince was placed under house arrest in the East Palace, these adults have been running for the prince. It was not until King Ning wanted to suppress the officials of the prince's lineage.
There is no need to say what these people came for, Rong Xia understood that it was nothing more than having heard the rumors outside and wanted him, the "illegitimate son", to help the orthodox prince to speak nicely in front of the emperor. Rong Xia felt that these people were a bit ridiculous. No wonder the prince would develop such a temper. It turned out to be influenced by the people around him.
King Ning is now in great power. They don't want to think about how to clean up King Ning. They only know how to find someone to intercede on behalf of the Crown Prince. The best method to use should not be to pull Prince Ning off his horse, or find a way to make His Majesty disappointed with Prince Ning, and then they go to help the Prince to intercede, so that it will be easier for His Majesty to let the Prince out
It seems that among the people in the prince's line, the best person to use the most means is Shi Chonghai, but it is a pity that he is too proud, which makes Emperor Yunqing dissatisfied. Watching King Ning flaunt his prestige in the courtroom.
"The Marquis of Cheng'an is dignified and has the manners of a gentleman. The prince often praises the Marquis to ministers," an official said.
These people did not leave the prince for three words. Although Rong Xia was very moved by their loyalty to the prince, he was determined not to be moved at all.
"Master Hou," the housekeeper came in, "The Lord of Fule is here."
Hearing this, Rong Xia put down the teacup in his hand, got up and said to the officials present: "My lords, Rong Mou's fiancee is here, everyone, sit down for a while, Rong Mou will come as soon as he goes."
No matter how thick-skinned the adults were, they were embarrassed to interrupt the relationship between the fiancées. Although they saw that Rongxia didn't say anything to plead for the prince, at least they didn't refuse, which made them still hopeful in their hearts.
"I'm waiting to say goodbye."
"Please don't be rude, my lords."
After some farewells and retention, several adults finally walked out of the door. They didn't go far when they saw a group of people coming in at the front door. The woman at the head was only seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a snow-white cloak that melted into the snow. A group of beautiful maids and servants surrounded her, like a fairy concubine traveling, with an extraordinary style.
"That's..." The leading official stopped and turned to the people behind him, "Let's wait."
This is to prepare to wait for Ban Hua to pass by before they go out. The housekeeper who sent them out bowed his head and stood behind them respectfully.
Who knew that Ban Hua, who was about to pass by, saw them. She stopped, took off the cape and hat on her head, and nodded slightly to these adults. Several adults were flattered and bowed their hands in return, and only slowly recovered after Ban Hua walked over.
They looked over again, and saw that Lord Rong Hou had already welcomed County Master Fule, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, and they were really envious of others.
"Masters, please." The butler smiled and made a gesture of invitation to several people.
Several adults came back to their senses and walked out of the gate of Rong's house with a busy smile. After leaving the door, they separated from each other with a wry smile, and there was no other way.
The entire capital knew that His Majesty valued this wedding, so the people who had contacts with the Ban family paid their full attention when giving the makeup gifts. Jewelry, ancient books and picture books, were sent to Ban's house one after another.
Nearly ten days before the wedding of the two families, some people have already begun to speculate how much the dowry of the Fule County Master will be carried, and how much will be the dowry gift from the Marquis of Cheng'an Mansion
There were even some dudes who had a good relationship with Ban Huai and began to bet on whether Ban Huai would cry when he brought Ban Huai to marry, or whether he would hold his daughter and be unwilling to let her marry. It was originally an ordinary wedding of a noble family, but because Emperor Yunqing gave a separate palace to two unmarried couples, and the rumors that the Marquis of Chengan was the emperor's illegitimate child came out, this wedding became eye-catching. stand up.
The Yan family and the Shi family didn't react much to the reaction, but the Xie family was rather strange, so they specially prepared a generous gift and sent it to the Jingting Palace. Everyone knows that the Ban Xie family is at odds, but it is beyond everyone's expectations that the Xie family will send such a generous person to the Ban family.
It was only later that someone remembered that the Ban family borrowed the doctor from the Xie family some time ago regardless of their previous suspicions. Although they only saved the life of the Xie family, but not the lifeblood, but in such a case, no one except the immortals could save the lifeblood. So it's not my fault to go to work.
With Xie Family Dalang injured to such an extent, being able to save his life is already considered a good medical skill for the Ban Family doctor.
Thinking about it this way, everyone understood that it was for this reason that the Xie family did this.
Strangely, no one thought that the Xie family did this to help the second prince win over the Ban family and the Marquis of Chengan, which shows how complicated the relationship is.
"When the crown princess got married from the Shi family, it was only one hundred and eighty-eight to carry a dowry. Our family's dowry is too much." Said, "Why don't we send something to Rong's house first, so that we will not be greedy for our daughter's dowry because of the character of the Marquis of An."
"What you're saying is that there are also those ancient books, calligraphy and paintings. If you can bring them to the Rong's house, take them to the Rong's house," Ban Huai shook his head, "so as not to stay at home and be wasted."
What will happen in a few years, whether things will change, none of them are sure. In the past, their plan was that if someone came to raid the house, they would find a way to send these books out in advance. Now they have found a literate son-in-law, and giving these books to his son-in-law is better than giving them to outsiders, and even better than being taken away when the house is raided.
Ban Huai thought very clearly that if the Ban family were to be preserved after four years, those ancient books would all be in duplicate, and the original and the manuscript would be half and half for the children and no one would take more and no one would suffer.
Although these things are not rare for him, they are also left by the class parents, and he can be regarded as leaving a memory for future generations.
"I know what you mean," Yin Shi nodded, suddenly looking a little lonely, "After raising a daughter for so many years, I'm about to get married in the blink of an eye, and I feel a little empty in my heart."
She knew that Rong Xia was a good candidate for a son-in-law, and she also knew that her daughter was quite satisfied with the marriage, but as a parent, she was always worried about her children and was reluctant to bear it.
Ban Huai held her hand and said with a smile, "the children will grow up one day, and you and I will accompany you."
Yin Shi suddenly smiled and put the other one on the back of his hand and patted it, "Master can say these words, I must wait for the day when Hua Hua gets married, it will not be too sad."
Ban Huai: …
No, he wasn't sure.
"Bai Xue, red clay stove," Ban Hua said with a sip of tea that Ban Huai brewed himself, "Although I can't drink this tea, it tastes really good."
"As long as you like it." Rong Xia put down the tea stove, "Tea is for drinking. There is nothing wrong with describing it as good or bad."
When Ban Hua heard this, he smiled and said, "You have such a good personality, no wonder you please girls."
"I'm not good to everyone," Rong Xia looked at Ban Hua with an aggrieved face, "When have you seen me go to please other women, what do they have to do with me if they like it or not?"
Seeing that he deliberately made a pitiful look, Ban Hua reached out and squeezed his cheeks and pulled him to the side, "You pretend to be pitiful again, don't think you are good-looking, and I won't dare to deal with you."
"How do you want to take care of me?" Rong Xia put her head in front of Ban's house, her deep eyes like a quiet and deep spring, looking into the bottom of Ban Hua's heart, "I will listen to you."
"Don't use beauty tricks on me," Ban Hua patted her chest, which was jumping a little faster, and fed the teacup to Rong Xia's mouth, "Come, have a drink."
Rong Xia grabbed her wrist, drank the cup of tea with her hand, and licked the corners of her moist lips: "It's very sweet."
"Sweet?" Ban Hua looked at Rong Xia's lips, and she couldn't control it, so she leaned over and licked Rong Xia's lips.
The soft tip of the tongue meets the soft lips, a little sweet, a little hot, and a little breathless. Ban Hua blinked, thinking that the touch was quite good, so she stuck out her tongue and licked it again, then quickly sat back in place, pretending to be serious, "Well, it's really sweet."
Rong Xia touched her mouth and said with a smile, "It seems that Au is very satisfied with what you see?"
"Hmph," Ban Hua was playing with the teacup in his hand, "So all gentlemen are like this?"
"I'm not a gentleman, and I don't know what a gentleman is like," Rong Xia held Ban Hua's hand, "I only know that it's good that Hua Hua likes me like this."
Ban Hua looked down at her held hand, and turned to look at the snowflakes fluttering outside the window. At this time a year ago, she hadn't thought that she would be with this man. She remembered what happened in the dream, and asked, "Rong Xia, how do you think Daye Chao is now?"
Rong Xia looked up at her and suddenly smiled: "The people are struggling to live, the government is chaotic, the clan is lazy and inactive, and there is no successor."
"You really dare to say that you are not afraid that I will go to His Majesty's place to sue you?" Ban Hua smiled and looked at Rong Xia, "Our family is also a member of a lazy clan."
"Ban's family is different."
"What's different."
"In my eyes, it's different from everyone else."
"It seems that you are not a fair person either." Ban Hua rested her cheek with one hand, while Rong Xia held the other hand, "I thought you would say that we want our family to learn to make progress."
"I'm an eccentric person," Rong Xia lowered her head and kissed Ban Huan's hand on the back, "As long as you are human, you will be eccentric. In my eyes, the Ban family is not lazy and playful, but open-minded and inaction."
"Isn't that still inaction?"
"Other people's inaction is hateful, but Ban's inaction is cute," Rong Xia smiled, "is that right?"
"Well..." Ban Hua nodded deeply, "That's a very appropriate statement."
Rong Xia finally couldn't help laughing out loud, got up and walked to Ban Hua's side, and took her into his arms. How could there be such a lovely woman in the world, even rubbing her into the bones would not be enough.
"Du Jiu," Wang Qu pushed open the door and walked into the house. Seeing Du Jiu sitting by the window, he asked, "How is your injury?"
"It's a lot better," Du Jiu looked back at him, got up and walked to the table to ask him to sit down, "Why do you have time to come to my room to sit today?"
Wang Qu put down the basket of fruits in his hand: "I just came to see you."
Du Jiu raised his eyelids and glanced at him, "If you have anything to say, you and I have worked together for so many years, so you don't need to be polite to me."
"I really don't understand something," Wang Qu took out an orange from the basket and peeled it off by himself. "According to the original plan, we should be filial to the country."
"Master Hou has his own plan, we just need to follow it, you don't have to worry about the rest." Du Jiu saw that he was eating first, and pulled the basket towards him, "Even if you come and ask me, I don't have it. what is the answer."
"Haven't you ever thought that this time the Lord of Marquis was assassinated, is it too coincidental for Princess Fule to come?" Wang Qu half-squinted, "She seems to have saved the Lord of the Marquis, but who can guarantee that this matter will be related to her in the first place?" Regarding, she just wants to use this matter to win the goodwill of Marquis?"
"But what does she want?" Du Jiu asked back, "Putting the power of Lord Marquis? Status? Or appearance?"
Wang Qu was choked for a while. He held the half-peeled orange and said after a while, "Maybe it's... looks?"
"That's why she spent so much energy hiring a bunch of killers and got a bunch of people's lives on her hands, just to show the appearance of our Marquis. Is there something wrong with her brain?" Du Jiu opened the orange and threw a petal into her mouth. In, "Wang Qu, I know you scholars are smart and smart, but you are also the most likely to make a mistake, that is, being clever is mistaken by wisdom."
Wang Yingfeng couldn't hold on to it: "Isn't this a guess?"
"I don't think you are guessing, but have an opinion on the Lord Fule," Du Jiu threw the oranges back on the table and wiped his body directly, "I think the Lord Fule is very good, with agile skills and long She was so beautiful, and she even gave Hou Ye a lot of ancient books that can't be exchanged. Such a daughter-in-law is hard to find with a lantern. More importantly, Hou Ye likes her."
Wang Qu said: "I always thought that the Marquis would marry the county master because of the power of the military generals behind the Ban family."
"It turns out that you think too much," Du Jiu said in a light tone, "Wang Qu, don't blame me for not reminding you, there are some things that you shouldn't be in charge of, don't worry about it, no one can protect you then."
Wang Qu: "I am also for Hou Ye..."
He looked up to see Du Jiu's expression, and saw some mockery in the other's eyes, so he was speechless.