Autumn is getting stronger, and the annual Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Festival in Kyoto is also coming.
This poetry meeting was not officially organized at the beginning, but a small gathering organized by a group of young masters in Beijing. At the beginning, it was just a dozen people in a small circle for self-entertainment. With the support of Emperor Wen Xiao to the literati, the scale of this poetry meeting has gradually expanded, and now it has been taken over by the imperial court, and it has become an officially organized event, attracting countless scholars and literati to participate every year.
Unlike Xie Ming, who has an appreciation heart but is not good at poetry, Mu Yuanwen has been quite literary since he was a child, and has a high attainment in poetry and prose. He has always had a reputation as a talented scholar in Beijing. His talent will definitely rank among the top in next year's Spring Festival.
Therefore, he will definitely not miss this Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Fair specially organized for literati.
Originally, in the past few years, Xie Ming would come with him every time, but this time Prince Su's wedding has not yet passed the limelight, and his friend is like a lazy person who is going to die in the mansion and grows silently and refuses to move. In addition, his friend was already married after all, so Mu Yuanwen consciously didn't post to him.
When it comes to the taboo about male wives, he is actually a little confused about where Prince Su's bottom line is for Xie Ming.
In fact, in the Wen Dynasty, men’s wives had greater rights than women’s. Not only were they in charge of the affairs of the rear house, but they also helped manage the husband’s family’s property. Marry him a capable man and come back to take care of the family business in the mansion, so there is no rule that men and wives cannot see outside men alone like women.
But after all, a man and a wife bear the name of a wife, and they usually avoid getting too close to men outside the mansion.
It was also for this reason that Mu Yuanwen hesitated to send a visit post to Prince Su's mansion after his friend's marriage, for fear that Prince Su would be unhappy and make Xie Ming feel uncomfortable in the back house.
But when I went to Prince Su's mansion that day, although I didn't see Prince Su, seeing the unabashed attitude of my friends and the obedience of the people in the mansion to Xie Ming, Mu Yuanwen felt that according to Prince Su's attitude towards Xie Ming Attitude, maybe you don't mind friends and strangers.
Don't accept concubines, let Xie Ming bully all the beauties sent by the emperor in the mansion, and don't mind Xie Ming inviting foreign men to meet alone in the mansion, this Prince Su's heart... is really wider than he expected. .
The Mid-Autumn Poetry Fair is basically a place for men. It stands to reason that being a man and wife is extremely taboo, but Mu Yuanwen feels that if Xie Ming wants to come, Prince Su will probably really agree. He didn't intend to go out, so he didn't say that.
But although Xie Ming didn't come with him this time, he assigned two servants to him.
Mu Yuanwen originally thought that Xie Ming told him to be careful that the second prince was just burying him casually, so he didn't take it seriously, but he didn't expect that on the day of the Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival, this person directly sent someone to "protect" him, and it was also to scare him jumped.
But after the shock, he began to figure out that something was wrong.
How courageous is the second prince? How can Xie Ming not know after being pestered by him for so long
Since he knew it well, of course it was impossible for the second prince to worry about what he would do.
So he sent these two guards, it must not be to guard against the second prince, but someone else.
It's just that he thinks that he has always been a peaceful person, and his popularity is not bad, and he has never had any ill relations with anyone. Who would want to harm him
On the way to the Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Fair, Mu Yuanwen sat in the sedan chair. He couldn't think of a suspicious candidate after thinking about it. Instead, he thought about himself so much that he raised the curtain of the car and took a few glances at the person who was following in the car. The two low-browed and pleasing to the eye, looking at the non-existent servants, were a little relieved.
The servants from King Su's mansion were selected by friends, so they should be very reliable.
In fact, after Mu Yuanwen guessed that someone might try to harm him at the Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Fair, he hesitated for a while, but he did not choose to give up going to this poetry festival.
As long as the person who wanted to harm him didn't stop thinking about it, he would be able to avoid it this time, but he couldn't keep hiding in such fear in the future. Sooner or later, what should come will still come.
You can't let the servants in the mansion follow behind you all day to protect yourself, right
Although he has a good relationship with Xie Ming, there is no reason to brazenly bully the servants in the family's mansion not to return them.
The Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Fair was held in a restaurant in central Beijing dedicated to literati consumption. It was roughly divided into two venues. Commoners with low status and some well-known literati gathered lively in the spacious lobby. Famous literati go to the private room on the second floor.
As the legitimate son of the Hou family, Mu Yuanwen is well-known in poetry and prose, so he naturally wanted to go to the private room on the second floor.
After being led to the private room by the waiter in the restaurant, Mu Yuanwen was still looking for someone he knew acquaintances, when a figure rushed out from nowhere, and was skillfully blocked by the servant behind him.
This person is the second prince.
Because he was stopped by the servant, the second prince showed a trace of anger on his face, and was about to reprimand this bold servant, but when he turned his head to look over, he quickly laughed, "Young Master Mu, why don't you sit down with me?" There happens to be a seat on the seat next to me."
This box is specially prepared for literati gatherings. It is extremely spacious. The seat arrangement is the first great Confucian who presides over the poetry meeting, and the rest will consciously line up on both sides according to their status and fame. After all, bearing the name of a prince, the seat is extremely front.
Hearing the second prince's invitation, Mu Yuanwen frowned slightly. Their family's power was not as powerful as that of the Xinyuan Houfu. Although he hated the second prince in his heart, he couldn't take action to teach him like Xie Ming did. Dayton, I can only try my best to hide.
So he coldly evaded and said: "No, Mu has already made an appointment, and I'm afraid I will disappoint the second prince's kindness, so I leave."
The second prince looked at his handsome back, couldn't help smacking his lips, and lamented in his heart. Sure enough, these young masters in the high school are not easy to deal with. Earlier, Xie Ming didn't even open his eyes to look at him, and would kick him at every turn. People, Mu Yuanwen is not much better.
But he looks good, the second prince just likes the lofty and ignorant attitude of these sons and brothers, if he really catches up with him, he will probably get tired of it after a while.
But in fact, he just treats chasing these young masters as a pleasure. It’s best if he chases them, and it’s okay if he doesn’t catch them. The power came to his side.
The second prince failed in his daily seduction, and soon returned to his seat.
Xu Linge, who was sitting quietly next to him, poured him a glass of wine with interest. The second prince touched his smooth hand, took the glass and drank it in one gulp.
Ever since Xie Ming entered Prince Su's mansion, he felt a little empty in his heart. Somehow, he remembered Xu Lingge's kindness again, and missed that kind of docile appearance. This time, he brought Xu Lingge along with him at the poetry meeting. Now, I plan to reminisce with him about the past.
Over there, Mu Yuanwen has already found a good friend with whom he made an appointment to sit together. This person is the son of the Minister of Rites, and when he sees him, he winks and jokes: "I guess you must have met the second prince."
Mu Yuanwen lifted the hem of his clothes, sat on the vacant seat beside him, and said with a wry smile, "I'm tired of it, and you still want to make fun of me here, and sooner or later I'll let you have a taste of it."
The man immediately waved his hand and said: "Don't, I have a vulgar appearance, and I can't get into the eyes of the second prince. Besides, it's not like you don't know my old man's staid temper. If I really make trouble outside, I can't go home I'm about to get a bamboo stick."
"By the way," the two ridiculed each other a few more times, the man suddenly lowered his voice, approached his ear like a thief and asked, "... I heard that you went to the palace the day before yesterday, so how is Mr. Xie, Mr. Xie? "
Mu Yuanwen gave him a sideways glance, and said, "It's better than you anyway."
Hearing the words, the young master moved closer, and lowered his voice: "Then, it is true, as rumored, that Prince Su is... afraid of internal affairs?"
Mu Yuanwen pushed him in disgust, and said in a choked voice, "Come on, you, the whole table of dishes can't stop your mouth."
The servant of Prince Su's mansion is still standing behind them, and he always feels a little guilty for asking him to gossip about the affairs of Prince Su's house here.
Seeing that he didn't want to talk about this topic, the young master shut his mouth tactfully, but he was born with a temperament that couldn't stop talking, so he elbowed Mu Yuanwen again after a while, and said, "Why are you still talking?" Invited two servants to come over? You are careful enough, if you want me to say that the second prince doesn't have the guts, what are you worried about?"
Mu Yuanwen straightened his cuffs: "It's always good to be careful. If the servant hadn't helped me block it, I would have been pulled into my sleeves."
The man thought for a while: "That's true, but the second prince's thoughts always come and go quickly, so Mr. Xie is special, you bear with it for a while. Look, isn't there someone else beside him? "
Mu Yuanwen looked sideways, and recognized the one sitting next to the second prince, who was the second prince's previous companion, the unfavored eldest son of the Xu family, Xu Linge.
He remembered this person. He heard that he was the one who stayed with the second prince the longest. Unlike those who came to the second prince for money and power, Xu Linge seemed to have true feelings for the second prince. The second prince didn't break it either.
Also an unrecognizable person.
Mu Yuanwen sighed inwardly, didn't answer, and turned to other topics.
While the two were chatting, the poetry meeting had already begun.
Reciting poems always requires good wine to cheer up, and when you are in a good mood, you have to be persuaded to have a few drinks. Because of the hint from your friend, Mu Yuanwen was a little wary, so he restrained himself from drinking as much as possible, and at the end it was not too much. Not very drunk.
The whole poetry meeting was very normal and orderly. Except for the second prince getting drunk and hugging the person next to him at the end, there were no accidents.
Until he entered the gate of Anyuanhou's Mansion, Mu Yuanwen was still a little confused.
This Mid-Autumn Festival poetry meeting has passed so peacefully
At least in the eyes of most people, it is true.
If he had to find something worth mentioning, it would probably be that the second prince's performance at the banquet was too meng lang.
In a courtyard on the outskirts of Beijing, the fourth prince's usually mild expression suddenly darkened after listening to his subordinate's report, and a crack appeared in the jade wrench on his left thumb.
He originally planned to drug the second prince and the son of the Marquis of Anyuan at the same time, and then use the nails he had ambushed beside the second prince to send the son of the Marquis of Anyuan to the bed of the second prince. It can only be that the second prince didn't care about it after being drunk, and forced someone to rob the son of Anyuanhou's mansion into his own mansion.
Originally the most suitable candidate was Xie Ming, but Xie Ming has already married Prince Su, and he doesn't come out very often, so there is no chance to make a move. Besides, he didn't have the guts to touch his uncle's person.
After some weighing, he chose the legitimate son of Anyuanhou's mansion to dig a hole for the second prince.
Not only is Mu Yuanwen of high status, but he is also very noble in his bones. His heart is not much lower than Xie Ming's, and he is extremely disliked by the second prince. Apart from Xie Ming, he is the most suitable candidate.
As long as tomorrow, the second prince forcibly sleeps with the son of Anyuan Hou's mansion, there is no need for him to push, the Anyuanhou's mansion may have an enmity with the second prince, and the trouble will be brought to Emperor Wenxiao. Undoubtedly, his impression will be even worse. In order to appease the Anyuanhou Mansion, the Second Prince must be punished.
Of course, making the second prince detested by Emperor Wen Xiao was only a secondary purpose. He tried his best to design the second prince to commit such an embarrassing disaster, the main purpose was to force Xu Linge away from the second prince.
He didn't have the patience to wait for Xu Linge to entangle with the second prince for several years before breaking up. Only when the second prince caused such an irreversible scandal could Xu Linge give up on the second prince in advance.
Especially the second prince didn't know what was going on recently, and he started thinking about Xu Linge again. If he didn't act quickly, his people might be ruined by the second prince.
Therefore, the fourth prince did not dare to relax for a moment and arranged everything at the Mid-Autumn Festival poetry meeting.
However, although his plan was very good, he didn't know which part went wrong today. The glass of mixed wine was never delivered to the table of the son-in-law of Anyuanhou's mansion, and Mu Yuanwen was with two people beside him. For some reason, under the strict escort of the extremely vigilant servant, he got into the carriage of the Anyuanhou Mansion with a clear mind and full beard. His people had no chance to get close, let alone take them away.
This is not the most important thing. What makes him most angry is that in order not to show any strangeness, he originally planned to have someone feed him the medicine to cheer him up after the second prince returned to the mansion, but today the second prince did not know that at the banquet After drinking something indiscriminately, he suddenly became beastly, not only belittled Xu Lingge in public, but even took Xu Lingge back to the Prince's Mansion directly after the end. Any fool can imagine what will happen after that!
Seeing that something was wrong, his people originally wanted to snatch Xu Lingge away after the poetry meeting ended, but these people were all "coincidentally" caught by someone, and they could only watch helplessly as Xu Lingge was burned in a hurry The second prince took the carriage.
The fourth prince is a very possessive person, and his things have always been forbidden to others.
Since his rebirth, he has regarded Xu Linge as his own. What happened today is undoubtedly a stab in his heart. He almost had to do his best to control himself from rushing to the second prince's mansion. , the impulse to cut him into pieces.
The fourth prince sat on the chair, closed his eyes and calmed down for a long time, then said coldly to his subordinates who were still kneeling on the ground: "Go away."
The subordinate quickly backed out without even daring to raise his head.
The wrench in the fourth prince's hand finally cracked completely with a "click", and as soon as he let go, the transparent blue wrench fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
If no one intervened to make troubles, he could screw his own head off and be kicked as a ball by others!
While the fourth prince was in a rage, someone behind the scenes was lying leisurely on top of her husband, and said lazily, "I'm in a good mood these days, why don't I go to the other village in the suburbs of Beijing tomorrow to enjoy the autumn, I'm so lazy God, it's time to go out for a walk."
Prince Su nodded without any objection, and said in a muffled voice: "Then I'll send someone to make preparations tomorrow morning, let's go after lunch, get warmer, and stay there for a few days before coming back."
He Yan half-closed his eyes and gave an "um" sound, knocking his head on his hard chest, as if he agreed to his proposal.
Because Xie Ming's body is relatively delicate, the charcoal was lit early in the house before winter, so the house was very hot without a trace of cold, and both of them were dressed very lightly.
Prince Su put his hand on his back and stroked him slowly through the thin underwear.
The smokeless charcoal bestowed by the palace quietly generates heat in the corner, and there are only some intermittent, dull or sticky sounds in the room, which seem extremely lingering in the autumn night when only the sound of falling leaves can be heard.