"Have you heard? Xu Laosan disappeared." In the imperial city, on the busy street, two acquaintances walked across, one of them stopped the other and whispered the strange thing he just knew.
"Xiao, disappeared? What does this mean?" The man frowned, and his voice was even more puzzled, "But disappeared?"
"Oh! I don't know what to say," the man dragged the other person to the corner so as not to block the way of others, "I only heard that Mr. Xu's family was sitting together for dinner last night. But people will disappear after eating this food.”
The man's eyebrows frowned even tighter: "Why do I become more and more confused the more I listen to it? Did Mr. Xu leave home halfway through the meal? Or did he suddenly fall ill after eating halfway through the meal?"
The man also frowned: "It's not that he left home, nor did he suddenly get sick and die. He just disappeared in front of his family. I heard that Mr. Xu was eating with his job bowl and chatting with his family. In a word Before he finished speaking, this person suddenly disappeared in front of everyone's eyes out of thin air, and the bowl in his hand fell to the ground and broke into pieces."
"Are you serious? Didn't you joke with me?" The man asked in disbelief.
"Of course it's true. No matter how unreliable I am, I can't take such things as jokes." The man said with confidence, "Our neighbors from four outside helped Xu Lao San's daughter-in-law find most of the night yesterday. , but I didn’t even see a ghost, and this morning Xu Laosan’s daughter-in-law went to report to the police. It’s not that I have a bad mouth, this Xu Laosan, I’m afraid that’s the end of it.”
"This matter is really wicked. How could such a living person suddenly disappear under the noses of so many people?" The man folded his arms, looking a little scared, he stepped forward and asked in a low voice. He said, "Do you think it could be that Xu Laosan is entangled with something unclean, otherwise how could this person disappear for no reason?"
The person on the opposite side was about to speak, when a voice that did not belong to the two intervened: "Brothers, are you saying that someone disappeared for no reason?"
The two people looked at each other, and heard the word "you" in his words, one of them said: "Brother, have you heard about this?"
Then the man nodded: "Two days ago, a relative of my family disappeared in the same way. The family has been looking for it for a few days, alas!" At this point, the man shook his head.
After hearing the words, the two quickly comforted each other a few words, and then said: "But it's really a strange thing, are you talking about evil spirits?"
The three of them talked non-stop at this street corner, not to mention the three of them, but there was a restaurant called "Zuixiaolou" diagonally from here. It's not even noon yet, and the restaurant has already received customers one after another.
Looking upstairs along the line of sight, you can see that all the private rooms on the second floor have open windows, and there is a tall and handsome young man standing in front of the window in the middle.
The young man looked out of the window, with his hands behind his back, he looked beautiful and elegant, exuding an aura of nobility all over his body.
"Your Highness, let's have a cup of tea." A pair of beautiful hands held a teacup from the side and brought it to this person. The voice of the person who spoke was like spring water and stones jingling, and he was also a handsome young man.
"Thank you." The voice of the man called His Highness was clear, like the sound of jade and stone colliding, clear and bright, and his hands with clear bones were too beautiful.
"Tomorrow is His Highness's big day, why is His Highness still drinking with me here? You should return home as soon as possible to prepare." There was a slight smile in the voice.
If it is said that in the entire imperial city, no one knows that tomorrow is the day of King Ruiying's wedding. King Ruiying, whose name is Huan Yanshi, whose style name is Jingchu, is twenty-one years old. He is the eldest son of the serious emperor of the Dayuan Dynasty, born to the Empress Yuan and Emperor Chongjin.
However, although Yan Shi was the eldest son, he was not established as the prince, and now he is only a county king. You must know that the remaining three grown-up sons of Emperor Chongjin had already been established as princes. The reason for this can be traced back to the "Prince Murder Case" that shocked the palace fifteen years ago.
Fifteen years ago, the infant prince died suddenly. Everyone in the entire harem was in danger. At the end of the case investigation, all the evidence showed that the queen was responsible. But when she wanted to investigate further, the queen committed suicide in the Zhengyang Palace, and the case was concluded as the queen committed suicide in fear of crime. At that time, the border was in an emergency, and the Wei family was fighting the enemy at the border. In order to appease the Wei family, Emperor Chongjin did not carry out further punishments such as abolishing the empress, but closed the case and buried Wei with empress rites.
Therefore, even though Emperor Chongjin established another queen later, Yan Shi is still the eldest son, but only the person concerned knows best what kind of life he has lived in the palace for more than ten years.
Yan Shi smiled and shook her head: "Qingyue, Qingyue, I didn't expect you to tease me."
Jiang Qingyue also smiled: "Qingyue dare not."
Yan Yi took a sip of the tea, the fragrance of the tea lingered on the lips and teeth.
"Your Highness, I still can't figure out why Duke Kangle betrothed his son to you?" Jiang Qingyue took the teacup handed over by the banquet master and put it on the table, "And the one who gets married is later His eldest son. Duke Kangle belongs to King Zhao, if he said that he married his son to King Zhao, it would be reasonable, but if he said he married you... I have sent someone to inquire, and this marriage was requested by Duke Kangle himself. "
The Dayuan Dynasty allowed men to marry male wives, but not male concubines. If you marry a male wife, you can no longer take concubines, let alone divorce. Of course, except the emperor. After the married couple gets married, the family status they originally enjoyed in the family remains unchanged. That is to say, even if the eldest son is originally married, the title or family business inherited should be his or his.
"I really can't figure out what kind of chess this old fox is playing, Mr. Kangle Guogong." Yan Shi smiled wryly, and sat down at the table and poured himself a cup of tea.
Jiang Qingyue also sat down with him: "Then what does His Highness plan to do?"
"Of course I'm married. Didn't he want me to marry him?" Yan Shi put the teacup under his nose and sniffed it, with a glimmer of light and a hint of sternness in his eyes, "I'd like to see what kind of tea he sells in this gourd." What kind of medicine, my Prince Ruiying's mansion is not a place for him to run wild. If he wants to send a son over to make trouble for me, it would be a big mistake!"
"By the way, another person went missing last night." Yan Shi raised his head again, his gaze has returned to gentleness, "it's a carpenter named Xu Laosan."
Yan Shi is currently the Minister of Dali Temple, who is in charge of large and small cases in the imperial city. Because the wedding is approaching, Emperor Chongjin asked him to prepare for the marriage in the mansion.
"My subordinates have ordered people to check the home of the third son Xu," Jiang Qingyue frowned at this point, "but they still found nothing."
Yan Shi suddenly asked: "Do you believe that this is the work of ghosts?"
Jiang Qingyue shook her head: "There are no ghosts in this world, but some people have ghosts hidden in their hearts."
Yan Shi laughed loudly: "It's interesting, it's really interesting. Let's go, let's go back to the palace and have a look. People from the Ministry of Rites and the palace should be here by now."
Yan Shi was right, the people from the Ministry of Rites and the palace had already arrived.
"Yo, my lord, why did you come back? We have been waiting for you for a long time, and we thought you were dissatisfied with this marriage and hid." The eunuch in his fifties spoke with a thin and thin voice. , the figure is a bit rich. Seeing Yan Shi, he didn't salute, just stood and looked at him. There was a smile on this man's face, but that smile made people look extremely uncomfortable, with a bit of coldness and cunning.
This person is the personal eunuch of Emperor Chongjin, and also Eunuch Liangui, the chief eunuch.
Jiang Qingyue, who was standing beside Yan Shi, heard this and was about to speak when she felt her sleeves being gently pulled off. The unfavored prince and even a eunuch were bullying at will.
Yan Yan took a step forward: "Elder-in-law Liangui was joking. It is often said among the people that there are four great joys in life-"When there is sweet rain after a long drought, encountering old acquaintances in a foreign land, the wedding night in the bridal chamber, and when you are named on the gold list." This wedding wedding night is one of the four great joys. One, I am also an ordinary person, so why don’t I think about it? It’s just that some things were delayed, and I hope you don’t blame your father-in-law. You must be tired after being here for a long time. This king invites your father-in-law to drink a cup of tea. I don’t know what your father-in-law thinks? "
"My lord, please." Although Eunuch Lian said so, he walked to the front of the banquet first. Looking at his back, Yan Shi's complexion darkened little by little, and his eyes were full of darkness.
"My lord, the old minister has been waiting here for a long time." The voice came from behind Yan Shi, and Yan Shi turned his head to see that it was Master Zhang, Minister of Rites. Mr. Zhang is an old minister, and he does his duty with due diligence and impartiality. He doesn't care whether the prince Yanshi is favored or not, as long as he is a prince, he is the same in his eyes.
Yan Shi turned around and said with a smile: "Master Zhang, I really feel guilty for making you wait here for so long. Please, let's go have a cup of tea together."
Mr. Zhang refused a little: "Your Highness, I just want to talk to you about the wedding, and I can finish it in a few words." Sitting with the prince and drinking tea, this is really a bit embarrassing.
"Master Zhang, let's sit down and talk in detail," Yan Shi took a gesture of invitation.
Mr. Zhang couldn't refuse any more, bowed even lower, and also sat down in a gesture of invitation: "Then please, my lord first."
"Qingyue, you stay here and wait for the orders of the adults." Yan Shi did not forget to ask Jiang Qingyue when he left.
Entering the lobby, even your father-in-law was already sitting on the chair and holding the teacup. When he saw the two people coming, he didn't get up from the chair, he only raised his eyelids and said, "Master Zhang is here too."
Mr. Zhang pretended not to hear, he was only an eunuch, and he dared to act like this in front of the prince, but he didn't want to speak out against him. He has been an official in the court for many years, so he naturally knows what kind of virtue this noble father-in-law is. This person is narrow-minded, and he must retaliate. Mr. Zhang is not afraid of him, but he is afraid that if he offends him here, he will hold the banquet in his heart.