"Yue'er, if I hadn't known that the third prince treated your cousin very unusually, I would almost have thought that he was not helping her, but harming her." Yuan Yuyi said with a sigh.
Nangong Yue took another sip of sweet-scented osmanthus tea: "It's too late, that's probably it." After a pause, she changed the topic, and said with a smile, "Sister Xi, time flies so fast, in more than a month it will be October 2 It's ten."
When she said this, Jiang Yixi's pretty face instantly turned red.
Yuan Yuyi and Fu Yunyan glanced at each other, and they both thought about it.
On October 20, Jiang Yixi will leave the cabinet!
Fu Yunyan said enthusiastically: "Sister Xi, if you need my help, don't be polite to me!"
"With the help of the empress, it's your turn!" Yuan Yuyi elbowed Fu Yunyan, "Sister Xi, just wait obediently and wait to be the bride."
Jiang Yixi blushed as if she was about to bleed, and said with a warning: "Sister Yi, there will always be your turn!"
Yuan Yuyi showed a bit of embarrassment, coughed dryly as if nothing had happened, and then said meaningfully: "Yes, there was a 'someone' who went to Ronghua Pavilion to find my mother yesterday."
Fu Yunyan immediately felt the taste: "Who?" Thinking that Yuan Yuyi would never bring up this topic for no reason, Fu Yunyan suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and instinctively blurted out, "Could it be Princess Qi?"
I didn't expect it to be guessed so easily. Yuan Yuyi lost interest for a moment, but she still nodded and said: "It's the third aunt. She said a bunch of nonsense about kissing and getting closer...but she was driven away by my mother."
Nangong Yue, Jiang Yixi, and Fu Yunyan looked at each other, first Fu Yunyan, then Yuan Yuyi, Princess Qi, is she planning to offend all her relatives so that she doesn't want to lose money to others
Yuan Yuyi glanced at Jiang Yixi, and said: "Third aunt probably wants to find a noble daughter-in-law to beat sister Xi."
Mr. Han Huai, the eldest son of the concubine, is getting married soon, and he is marrying the eldest daughter of the Duke of Enguo, the queen's niece, and the marriage of Prince Qi's son has not yet been settled, so it is no wonder that Princess Qi is anxious.
With Qi Wangfei's temperament, she must want to choose a daughter-in-law for Qi Wang's son who can overwhelm Jiang Yixi, but unfortunately there are not many candidates.
Furthermore, no one knows the virtues of King Qi's son among the nobles in the capital. This son of a good family doesn't look down on his son, and the princess of Qi doesn't look down on a person with a bad family background.
"Aunt Biao has high eyes but low power." Fu Yunyan's brows twitched, "So, is it true that she quarreled with Mrs. Wei Guogong these days?" She thought it was a rumor.
Yuan Yuyi nodded, "I heard from my mother that it was the third aunt who fell in love with the second daughter of the Duke of Wei's family, but the eldest daughter of the Duke of Wei's family has not yet married, and Mrs. Wei thought that the third aunt was here The eldest daughter said they were close, but the two quarreled once they came and went. The third aunt even scolded Mrs. Wei Guogong, saying that Miss Wei, even Ke Erfu, wanted to marry them in the Qi Palace. She didn't have any self-knowledge! The Duchess was so angry that she almost fainted..."
The current Wei Guogong is the natal nephew of the Empress Dowager. It is not surprising that Princess Qi would choose Wei Guogong's mansion, but the eldest girl in Wei Guogong's mansion had a bad life. For the golden boy and jade girl, the two families also considered getting married when the child grew up, but unfortunately the cousin passed away unexpectedly at the age of nine.
The unlucky thing is still to come. When Miss Wei was twelve years old, Mrs. Wei Guogong planned to help her meet her. Who knew that before she had time to meet, the other party fell into the water and died the night before... I don’t know why. Whoever got the word out, gradually Miss Wei became known as Mrs. Lianke.
Now she is sixteen years old, and she hasn't talked to anyone yet.
Miss Wei's marriage was originally a pain in Mrs. Wei's heart, but Princess Qi wanted to step on that pain.
Nangong Yue, Fu Yunyan, and Jiang Yixi were all dumbfounded when they heard this. It was just a sounding board, and the two houses became feuds. This is unprecedented.
Princess Qi's ability to offend people is really impressive.
Thinking of this, the girls looked at Jiang Yixi with a hint of sympathy...
At this moment, Bai He came over and said: "Concubine Shizi, the wine jars have been moved out."
"Can you make wine?" Fu Yunyan couldn't wait to stand up.
The four girls moved to the backyard.
The sweet-scented osmanthus sugar has been fermented in the wine jar for several days, and the final step of brewing sweet-scented osmanthus wine is just to open the wine jar and put rice wine or sorghum wine into it.
After all, these sweet-scented osmanthus wines are brewed for girls to drink, so Nangong Yue basically chooses rice wine.
The wine making process is extremely simple, the only thing that needs to be careful is the final wine jar, if it is not sealed properly and air leaks, that good wine jar will be ruined.
Seeing the wine jars being resealed one by one, and being moved into the wine cellar by the maids, Fu Yunyan couldn't help salivating, and couldn't wait to ask: "When can I drink this osmanthus wine?"
Jiang Yixi said with a smile: "It will take at least one year. Yue'er, am I right?"
Seeing Nangong Yue nod her head, Fu Yunyan's shoulders suddenly collapsed, and she lamented, "No way? It will take so long a year."
Nangong Yue smiled and said: "Have you heard the old saying? 'Old wine produces good wine'. This year is already fast. If you cellar it well for five years and then drink it, it will be a good wine."
"Ah Yue," Fu Yunyan looked at Nangong Yue flatteringly, "My requirements are not high, one year is enough!"
Seeing her fawningly wagging her tail like a puppy, Nangong Yue and Jiang Yixi were amused by her. The small courtyard was filled with the girls' laughter like silver bells, as if even the faint autumn atmosphere had been dispelled...
"Concubine Shizi." While speaking, Baihe blessed Fushen, and whispered in Nangong Yue's ear, "Just now Zhuzi came to pass the word that Master Shizi is at the son's place and will come back later, so you don't want to wait for him to have dinner gone."
Nangong Yue nodded and waved her back.
Due to the emperor's imperial decree, no matter how close Xiao Yi and Guan Yubai get, they won't attract attention.
Recently, both of them had to spend a lot of thought whether it was for the court or southern Xinjiang. Nangong Yue thought about asking Lily to bring some sweet-scented osmanthus cakes.
Xiao Yi still doesn't know that he will have sweet-scented osmanthus cake to eat soon, at the moment he is in the palace where Guan Yubai lives, looking at a secret letter that has just been delivered.
Compared with the intelligence network in Guan Yubai's hands, what Xiao Yi collected in the past few years can be regarded as quite simple, so Xiao Yi simply handed them all over to Guan Yubai.
When Xiao Yi first made this decision, Guan Yubai couldn't help being astonished, but soon accepted it readily.
Xiao Yi casually put down the secret letter and said, "So, the Empress Dowager's poison came from the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"
The queen mother's poisoning involved the court, so Yu Xiao Yi and Guan Yubai naturally couldn't ignore it, and they ordered people to investigate early, and the news just came.
Guan Yubai said calmly: "The hair oil is a tribute from the Chen family, an imperial merchant in the south of the Yangtze River. It already contains the ingredients of black lotus. The ones bought in some shops in the south of the Yangtze River are the same as the ones found by the Queen Mother. That is to say, the problem should be the perfume. I searched for some of the same perfume, but there was no longevity flower. After the perfume was paid, it only passed through the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and there was only the Queen Mother in the palace. ,The perfume they get contains longevity flowers, so it is most likely that something went wrong in the House of Internal Affairs."
Tapping his fingers on the desk, he continued: "I ordered people to investigate all the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and found a very interesting thing. Back then, when Dayu was not established, Concubine Li was the emperor's personal maid , had a childhood sweetheart fiancé. Later, Concubine Li opened her face and became a housekeeper, and later the emperor was established as the prince, and Concubine Li was established as the prince Chenghui because of the birth of the eldest son. He got rid of his slave status. Now Zhang Yan, the head of the Guangchu Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, is Concubine Li's former fiancé."
Li Pin is now the mother of the eldest son of the emperor.
"The Chen family's hair oil was not included in the tributes in the past, Zhang Yan contributed to it. And the perfume entered the Ministry of Internal Affairs very early, and it was only presented to the palace at the beginning of the year." Guan Yubai sipped lightly Taking a sip of tea, he said, "Although there is no solid evidence, according to my judgment, this matter should be done by Concubine Li and the First Prince."
Xiao Yi nodded, he didn't care who did it, anyway, they were all the emperor's sons, no matter which one. For them, more importantly...
"What should I do next?"
According to his original plan with Guan Yubai, he would use this incident to add some variables to the succession, so as to buy himself more time. But now... the third prince, Han Lingfu, has been rejected. If the eldest prince has another incident, the variables will obviously be much less.
"Let's put this matter down now." Guan Yubai had thought about it a long time ago, and said, "It's good that you and I know about it. This trick can be uncovered anytime and anywhere. If it's not urgent, it must be put at the end. The timing is good. I ordered people to do some tricks on the Jiangnan side, and Jin Yiwei's investigation will only reach a stalemate... Let this matter leave a thorn in the emperor's heart for the time being."
Xiao Yi agreed with Guan Yubai's judgment without hesitation.
In the big picture, Guan Yubai often sees farther than he does.
Guan Yubai was surprised at Xiao Yi's trust without any grudges at the beginning, but now he has become accustomed to it. He put down the teacup in his hand, turned the conversation around and asked, "Ayi, how is southern Xinjiang doing these days?"
"Old General Tian blocked my father's king for me. For the time being, I have saved tens of thousands of people." Speaking of southern border, Xiao Yi frowned. It was really hard for her to move around, "As for the Xuanjia Army, they are still practicing. Yao Lianghang and Mo Xiuyu have no experience. I don't expect it to take shape in a year or two. Let them practice at least. Yes. Yes, the blueprints of the Xuanjia that you gave me last time have also been sent along..."
Guan Yubai nodded slightly and said: "The best place to train an army is never on the training ground, but in actual combat..."
Xiao Yi pondered for a moment, "Let's practice for now, there is always a chance for actual combat."
Guan Yubai suddenly smiled, and continued: "Actually, apart from actual combat, there are more important things for an army."
"Oh?" Xiao Yi raised his eyebrows and asked, "What is it?"
"Belief."
Both Xiao Yi and Guan Yubai have placed deep expectations on this Xuanjia army. Once this army is formed, it means that Xiao Yi has a real elite soldier in his hands.
This elite army will obey him completely from top to bottom, and will no longer be the king of Zhennan.
Although Yao Lianghang and Mo Xiuyu are still young and inexperienced, but precisely because they are young, they have boundless energy and fighting spirit.
Ever since Xiao Yi handed over the formation of the Xuanjia Army to the two of them, the two of them have been growing at a very fast speed, it can be said that they are growing day by day.
From dawn to dusk, Mo Xiuyu would, as always, be on a huge training ground, watching the soldiers drill.
Shouts came and went.
In the center of the arena, thousands of soldiers formed a huge square formation. Following the shouts of orders, the soldiers punched and kicked their legs from time to time... making shouts that shook the world, and every sound seemed to shake the world. I was shocked.
Just looking at it like this makes people feel excited.
Mo Xiuyu formed this team with his own hands, and witnessed how it became stronger little by little, became well-trained, and became full of vigor, but in just over half a year, it can almost be said to have a completely new look.
At this time, Yao Lianghang appeared at the entrance of the venue and waved to Mo Xiuyu. Mo Xiuyu nodded slightly, and then shouted to stop in a rough voice.
The next moment, the soldiers all stopped and stood still.
"Sun Tzu's Art of War? Military Struggle" has a saying: Therefore, it is as fast as the wind, as slow as the forest, invades and plunders like fire, immovable as a mountain, difficult to know as cloudy, and moves like thunder.
Seeing those soldiers sweating profusely, but full of energy, standing in place without even shaking, a trace of satisfaction flashed in Mo Xiuyu's eyes. This elite army has already taken shape. Father's request.
Then, he ordered the soldiers to run around the field for another 30 laps, and then they went back to their tents to rest.
"Yes, Lieutenant Mo!" The soldiers responded in unison, shouting loudly, and then they ran around the practice field in neat steps. Each of them had the same speed and the same gap, as if they were measured with a ruler. Like coming out.
After Mo Xiuyu and Yao Lianghang left the training ground, they went to Tian He's camp. When Tian He saw the two of them, he waved for them to sit down with a smile on his face. He still held a few pieces of letter paper in his hand.
Mo Xiuyu's eyes paused on the letter paper, and he immediately thought of something, and said with joy on his face: "General Tian, but the son has sent a letter again?"
"Not bad." Tian He stroked his long beard, then handed one of the letter papers to Mo Xiuyu.
Mo Xiuyu took a closer look, and found that it was a blueprint of armor. On the paper, a soldier was wearing black armor, black robe and black cloak, with a sun badge on the breastplate and a sword on the waist. I can feel a solemn and murderous air.
After careful observation, he found that the black armor was improved, it was lighter, but it protected the key points...
Mo Xiuyu couldn't hide the excitement in his heart, he raised his eyes and looked at Tian He, "General Tian, your son is planning to..."
Tian He nodded and said, "That's right, the prince intends to equip all three thousand Xuanjia troops with this uniform armor and costume."
Mo Xiuyu and Yao Lianghang glanced at each other, their eyes filled with passion. Once the Xuanjia army is equipped with this special armor, it will be a unique existence in southern Xinjiang. As long as the people see the armor, they will know that it is the Xuanjia army of the son. Proud of identity... Even the soldiers in southern Xinjiang will be proud to join the Xuanjia Army in the future.
Yao Lianghang thought of something, and said hesitantly: "General Tian, but this armor is made of fine steel, from head to toe, a set of armor must be expensive, right?" Man, that's three hundred thousand taels of snowflake silver.
Yao Lianghang felt his flesh hurt just thinking about it.
Tian He said: "My lord said that the old prince left him two mines, one of which is iron ore... My lord sent another one hundred thousand taels of silver this time." At least the initial expenses should be enough.
Mo Xiuyu and Yao Lianghang were overjoyed again. Once there were iron mines, they would save a lot of money all of a sudden. But there is still a lot of work to do next...
The son of the world has really worked so hard, not to mention that the property has been taken by the princess, and now he has to do his best to raise money for them. If they don't train this Xuanjia army well, they will be too sorry for the son of the world.
Thinking of this, the three people in the camp became more energetic, their eyes filled with high fighting spirit.
As Guan Yubai said, the growth of soldiers not only requires actual combat, but also faith!
At this moment, they are all looking forward to the return of the son, and they will use a legendary army as a welcome gift at that time.
The night is getting dark...
In Luoyue City's Zhennan King's Mansion, there is another person who is not sleepy.
Xiao Fei was in her own room, unfolding a piece of imperial decree with both hands, her expression condensed.
Taking the imperial concubine's order... Being unkind to her mother, treating her stepson Xiao Yi harshly, unbearable to be honored by the concubine...
These words were like sharp arrows piercing Xiao Fei's heart, and a nurse opposite her was a little nervous, urging in a low voice: "Miss, this servant has to return this edict quickly..." If the prince finds out, it's hard to say whether his life can be saved.
Xiao Fei stared at the imperial decree in her hand, and unconsciously exerted force with her hands.
I see!
No wonder the father's attitude has become so strange recently. He clearly agreed to her to visit the mother and concubine at Mingqing Temple, but when the imperial edict came, the father immediately changed his words after returning to the palace, saying that the mother and concubine were going to visit the concubine in the Ming Dynasty. Qing Temple prayed quietly and did not want anyone to disturb her.
No matter how Xiao Fei thought about it, she felt that something was wrong, and in the end she could only attribute the reason to the emperor's latest imperial decree.
But this time, the father kept the content of the imperial decree tightly, and no one revealed a word.
Therefore, Xiao Fei simply took advantage of Zhennan King going out today, and quietly ordered someone to take out the imperial edict, but upon seeing it, she was taken aback. Rao she had all kinds of guesses, but she never expected that this would be written in the imperial decree.
Xiao Fei took a deep breath, handed the imperial edict in her hand back to the nanny, the nanny breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that she would go back on her word, she hurriedly saluted and left.
Xiao Fei stood where she was, without saying a word for a long time, a touch of humiliation flashed in her usually cold eyes. She has always thought that she is an upright person, so how could there be such a concubine mother! If outsiders know that the imperial concubine mother has been taken away, how will they think of herself
No! This matter must not be known to outsiders!
Xiao Fei bit her lower lip slightly, and finally understood why the Zhennan King avoided talking about it. The Zhennan Prince's Mansion cannot become the laughing stock of Nanjiang!
At this moment, only Xiao Fei and her maid Taoyao were left in the room, Taoyao looked at Xiao Fei with some worry, "Girl..." Are you okay
Xiao Fei took a deep breath, gritted her teeth and said, "I want to go to Mingqing Temple quietly, you can arrange it."
Thinking of the recent lord's order that no one in the palace should talk about the wangfei and the prince, Taoyao hesitated for a moment, but she knew her daughter's temperament best, once Xiao Fei made a decision, even the lord and concubine could not control her.
Tao Yao responded and went out of the house to make arrangements.
Mingqing Temple is three hours away from Luoyue City. If she wanted to go back and forth on the same day, Xiao Fei had to rush out the door before dawn the next day. She still easily left the city without the badge of the palace.
The carriage galloped all the way, and finally arrived at Mingqing Temple at a quarter of noon.
"Sister Fei!" When Xiao Fang heard that Xiao Fei was coming, she smiled happily, and after a little dressing, she went to greet her at the door of the house in person, "Why are you here? Could it be your father..." I ordered you to come and see the concubine mother of
Xiao Fei wore a lake-green dress, which made her skin look better than snow, and her temperament was cool.
After saluting Xiao Fang, she replied honestly: "Father doesn't know about my coming here, I sneaked out to see you."
A look of disappointment flashed in Xiao Fang's eyes, but she still smiled and said, "Sister Fei, you are the most filial to my mother and concubine." She took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of her eyes.
Xiao Fang didn't say anything, but when she said the word "mother concubine", Xiao Fei's eyes darkened slightly, and she followed the righteousness to persuade: "Mother... Mother, you don't have any orders now, and the words are in your body. You should also pay attention to it, so as not to be caught wrong."
Xiao Fang's face turned dark, and his breath stuck in his chest. There is only her and her daughter here, who will talk about the conversation between them everywhere! This sister Fei still speaks so "uprightly", how could I raise such a daughter!
However, Xiao Fei did not pay attention to Xiao Fang's face, and continued: "Mother, I came this time to ask you something, and now the whole southern border is rumored that you have taken over the eldest brother's property..." Xiao Fei shared the recent rumors After talking about the gossip in detail, he also told what he had seen in the imperial decree, and finally asked, "Mother, are these things true?"
Xiao Fang's face sank like water, she knew that these things had already been spread, but she was still happy when she heard that the king of Zhennan had concealed her imperial order from her …
Xiao Fang's mind moved quickly. Originally, she was still worrying about not being able to see the King of Zhennan, and she had nowhere to use all means, but now God is helping her, Sister Fei is here, maybe she can ask Sister Fei to help her with something...
Xiao Fang sorted out her thoughts, and said to Xiao Fei again the set of rhetoric used to deal with the King of Zhennan, trying to minimize the charges on her, "Sister Fei, mother… I took care of your grandfather's property, but I never thought of occupying or embezzling your elder brother's money... I blame those servants for making troubles, slaves bullying the master!"
Xiao Fei frowned slightly, remembering Xiao Fang's doting on Xiao Yi in the past, she nodded emotionally and said: "In this way, it is true that mother cannot be blamed for this matter."
"Of course." Xiao Fang's heart relaxed, and he hurriedly responded.
Xiao Fei sighed and said: "Mother, I have persuaded you many times. Eldest brother is stubborn by nature and doesn't know what is good and what is bad. But you don't listen to my advice and insist on wasting all your motherly love on him. Now you also see Now, this is obviously just a trivial matter, the eldest brother can write to your father and mother in private to explain the matter clearly, but you want to make a fuss in front of the emperor and queen, and you will be deprived of your order."
Xiao Fei's words all conveyed the meaning of "I knew this before, so why did I do it in the first place", Xiao Fang's forehead twitched in anger, if Xiao Fei was not her daughter, if she hadn't asked for this daughter, she would have almost turned her face .
After listening to Xiao Fei's words, Xiao Fang swallowed her anger, then held Xiao Fei's hand and said, "Sister Fei, now that mother and mother have nothing, I can only rely on you. You must help mother! "
Xiao Fei sighed, "Mother, if there is anything I can do, just tell me."
Xiao Fang was overjoyed, and took her daughter to the inner room, walked to the dressing table, opened her jewelry box, and took out a white jade hairpin from it.
I saw that the white jade hairpin was the best Hetian jade, the head of the hairpin was in the shape of a dragonfly's head, and the eyes and mouth were exquisitely carved.
Xiao Fang sent this hairpin to Xiao Fei's hand, and said slowly: "It's very simple, as long as you wear this hairpin on your head, and show your face in front of your father and king." Xiao Fang The corner of Shi's mouth twitched, based on her understanding of Zhennan Wang, once he sees this hairpin, it will definitely arouse old feelings...
After all, back then, the two of them knew each other under such circumstances...
Who would have thought that Xiao Fei frowned, pushed the jade hairpin back decisively, looked at Xiao Fang with a strange look, and said slowly: "Mother, I am only twelve years old."
Xiao Fang knew this daughter's temperament very well, so she said patiently: "Sister Fei, mother...mother just wants you to go to your father for a while." At most, it was just a stick of incense.
Xiao Fei was indifferent, and said righteously: "Mother, this rule is the rule, the rule is more important than everything, and there is no rule without rules. I am only twelve years old, and I am not old enough to wear hairpins. Of course, I can't wear hairpins! If I do this, my father will Don't you also think I'm a person who doesn't understand the rules?" After speaking, Xiao Fei looked at Xiao Fang with a trace of disappointment in her eyes. It's no wonder that my mother is so unruly, she has fallen into this situation today, but she is my own mother...
Xiao Fang almost spat out a mouthful of blood from his throat.
What the hell did she do! The son and daughter are so uneasy, obviously everything is planned by themselves, as long as they cooperate a little, everything will come to fruition, but they just refuse to cooperate!
Everything she does is not for them, as the saying goes: "Mother is more valuable than her son, and son is more valuable than her mother." Only when they are good for themselves can they be good as children.
Xiao Fang took a deep breath and said to Xiao Fei: "Sister Fei, did your mother ever beg you when you grow up so big? Didn't mother beg you just this time?"
Xiao Fei seemed to be moved, but said quickly and decisively: "Mother, people should know what to do and what not to do. I forgive my daughter for not agreeing to you."
I begged her so humbly, but she... Xiao Fang finally couldn't suppress the anger in his heart, pointed at Xiao Fei and cursed: "Get out of here! I don't think you are a daughter!"
"Mother, you are angry right now. When you calm down, you will know that I am right. I will take my leave today." After Fu Fu, Xiao Fei really left.
As soon as she left the house, she heard a bang and crackling sound from behind, obviously Xiao Fang was smashing something in a venting manner.
Xiao Fei shook her head helplessly, thinking: Mother's temper is still not calm enough.
She pondered for a moment and had an idea in her mind. Now that the imperial decree has been issued, there is only one way to let the mother be exonerated and get back the imperial order.
She must make her eldest brother forgive her mother!
A flash of determination flashed in Xiao Fei's cold eyes.
Taoyao knows her daughter best, so she can't help but have a bad feeling when she sees this, she hesitates and says: "Girl, girl..." Please don't do anything stupid
Xiao Fei said decisively: "Let's go to the capital."
Tao Yao and Bai Zhou, another maid who was close to her, were stunned for an instant.
Tao Yao cautiously asked: "Miss, do you want to speak to the prince?"
"No need." Xiao Fei waved her hand and said, "We'll go right away."
But…
Tao Yao and Bai Zhou were immediately dumbfounded, they didn't bring any money when they came out this time!
The girls in their family have never bothered about yellow and white things, they only think that money is too vulgar, but how can they travel thousands of miles to the capital without money