The Gilded Cage

Chapter 27: Will that is a cunning and unlearned woman. ……

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In the Ganlu Temple, the cold wind poured in, but Xiao Kezhi did not let the door close, but just sat quietly on the couch, looking at the night outside the temple, fascinated.

He just started to meditate just now, in order to wake up his excited mind and think carefully about his true inner thoughts.

But as long as she was still in the hall, he couldn't completely calm down and sort out all the clues, so he had to hold a book and read at night. Now that the people are gone, and the huge Nectar Hall has returned to empty and silent, he finally calmed down completely, in his heart. Sort out everything that has happened since returning to Chang'an.

The difficult situation since childhood made him develop the habit of taking one step and watching ten steps. After returning to Chang'an, he has always firmly grasped everything.

Only the niece-in-law had an exception.

At first, it was her unforgettable beauty that caught his attention, and later, it was her initiative and ulterior motives that caught his attention little by little.

He seemed involuntarily, but in fact he was deliberately condoning.

Everything tonight was a matter of mutual affection between adult men and women. After trying this, he did feel the beauty of it. Even now that she had just left, he was already a little bit eager to move.

Eat the marrow and know the taste, that's about it.

Everything seemed to be expected, and it seemed that something was wrong.

He frowned and pondered, slowly recalling the complicated emotions that flashed in his heart just now when he saw her forcing her exhausted body to take the initiative to serve him.

Some were stunned, some disagreed, and there seemed to be a bit of pity that made him uncertain.

This kind of pity was different from the pity that was purely because she was the daughter of Chu Qianyu but became the Crown Princess when she first saw her, and it was more of a heartache for her.

It was this that made him feel that something was wrong, as if some emotion he had never experienced was gradually taking root in his heart, breaking out of the ground, and becoming clear little by little.

He thought that he probably had some vague feelings for her unconsciously.

Suddenly remembering this possibility, he was a little surprised, but then he felt it was reasonable.

He is a man of great patience and perseverance, which is probably a gift. It was this talent that made him go from a forgotten prince to the emperor of Great Liang today.

When he was young, he was angry because he had witnessed the plundering of civilians in the borderlands by the Beirong people. This anger supported him to practice horsemanship and archery for more than ten years after that. One side is peaceful.

He also changed his plan to live and grow old in the borderlands because of a word of encouragement from others, and made it his lifelong wish to return to Chang'an and ascend the coveted throne of the emperor, and for this he endured dormancy for many years. , trying to find opportunities to get closer to the center of power when others are hard to detect.

Everything, the first cause is just a passing thought.

And for that woman, perhaps it was the first sight of pity, and it was already doomed to everything he is today.

"Everyone, Her Royal Highness has arrived at the East Palace. It's not early, and there will be a court meeting tomorrow, do you want to settle?" Liu Kang looked at him in a trance, hesitated for a moment, and asked carefully.

The few people who just carried their steps to the Wude Hall have returned, saying that the Crown Princess has returned to the East Palace successfully, and there is nothing else to do now.

Up to now, he is still secretly shocked by this incident in the Nectar Palace—the emperor and his niece, if they were placed in the public, would be spurned by people from ten miles and eight townships! But when it comes to the royal family, it makes people feel that it doesn't teach people to grit their teeth so much.

Xiao Kezhi came back to his senses when he heard the words, slowly put down the nearly dry pen in his hand, and said softly, "It's time to sleep."

He got up from the couch and went back to the bedside, which had been remade and flattened in the inner room, and somehow felt empty.

He closed his eyes, and the woman's pure, charming, weak, or bold gestures appeared in his mind one by one.

She approached him for no purpose!

This fact was like cold water pouring down his head in winter, making him cold.

He didn't care much about it at first, but now it feels like a stick in his throat, making the anger and dissatisfaction he dissipated because of the temporary relief rekindled.

That is a cunning woman who needs a lesson, he can't be easily fooled and let her succeed!

In the East Palace, when Chu Ning returned to the bedroom in the dark, it was already the second half of the night.

She was really exhausted, and her body was so sore that she felt her legs were fighting a little when she stepped over the threshold. Fortunately, Cui He stayed by the side, and hurriedly helped her to the bed when she saw this, and then she delivered the prepared medicine. by her hand.

The dark concoction has long lost its temperature, and it glowed with a cold luster in the dark night. She held it in her hand and frowned slightly, biting her teeth and raising her head to drink it.

"Ma'am, it's really inconvenient to boil medicine in our house." Cui He handed over the tea and lowered her voice to remind.

In the past, Bizi soup was handed over to the back kitchen to cook in an open and honest manner, but now that Xiao Yu is gone, she has no reason to drink Bizi soup, so she has to let Cui He cook a bowl in the house.

It's just that the smell of the medicine attracts attention. Once or twice, it can be said to others that it is a tonic used by Cuihe. If there are many times, it will inevitably attract attention.

The best way, of course, is to leave the matter to someone else to handle.

Chu Ning nodded. After drinking the tea and rinsing his mouth, he said, "Next time, I will ask Your Majesty to give me a bowl of soup."

If there is a next time.

She put down the tea cup, lay back on the bed, covered with a quilt, and instructed Cui He to hurry up and rest.

But for some reason, she was clearly feeling sleepy, and she was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, but she couldn't fall asleep.

Surprised emotion came out with hindsight.

She never expected that Xiao Kezhi, who was already twenty-five years old, would actually be the first time to do something between a man and a woman, which was very different from what she had thought before.

She couldn't help guessing, what kind of life he lived in Ganzhou for so many years, not only did he not even have a wife and concubines, but he didn't even touch a woman.

He doesn't have to be like Xiao Yu, in order to win over the courtiers and maintain his reputation, he does not have to deliberately restrain himself, and he is not close to women. Could it be that he, like those few upright and even slightly old-fashioned ministers, was against keeping a concubine for the sake of rules

But he is clearly not a person who pays attention to the rules, otherwise he will not pay attention to her at all...

Thinking of the situation when he stopped her from serving her forcibly, she suddenly felt a little strange in her heart, let's pretend he pity her.

This person is probably an outlier in the Xiao family.

I just don't know if today's appearance has achieved what she wanted. Before leaving, his indifferent look that could not be understood is really unsure.

She deliberately did not take advantage of today to say what she wanted, but deliberately left a hook and waited to see his reaction.

If he intends, he will give her a chance. If he doesn't, she will say it today, and it will be of no avail.

After thinking about this, she slowly relaxed and gradually fell into sleep.

The next few days were peaceful in the palace.

The door beside Wude Hall was still open every day.

The palace people in the East Palace were still talking a lot at first, and kept guessing about the intention of the Taiji Palace, but after a few days, there was no other movement, and they couldn't help but lose interest and stopped watching.

The atmosphere of fear faded day by day, and it seemed that the East Palace had returned to its previous appearance, and even because Xiao Yu was away, the atmosphere became more relaxed.

Cui He quietly went to the door to see it a few times, but the Buchan near the Wude Hall never appeared again that day.

She was a little anxious, but seeing that Chu Ning was always calm, she felt relieved and stopped looking at it.

Seeing that it is almost mid-November, the real winter season is coming.

The Taiji Palace is low-lying and difficult to withstand the severe cold. Therefore, in previous winters, the first emperor would move to the Lishan Tangquan Palace for self-cultivation, and return to the Taiji Palace in the spring of the following year.

This year, when a new king ascends the throne, the courtiers will take the initiative to play and ask the emperor to move.

Naturally, Xiao Kezhi would not object, and immediately issued an order to set off in five days to go to Lishan Tangquan Palace.

In the Hall of Ganlu, Liu Kang handed over the prepared list to Xiao Kezhi for review, and finally sent the one involving the East Palace carefully.

According to him, the crown princess is also a member of the royal family, and naturally she has to accompany her. But these few days, he has been serving in front of the imperial court, and he has never seen the emperor mention the prince concubine again, which makes him hesitate for a while.

"Everyone, look at the east palace, the prince is not in the capital, the crown prince—?"

Xiao Kezhi's eyes lingered on the word "Chu" for a moment, and then he frowned and said, "I said that everyone in the palace will go, why do you still ask?"

Liu Kang was agitated, and immediately understood, and hurriedly said: "Old slave understands, this will let people pass the order to the East Palace."

The East Palace seems to be adjacent to the Taiji Palace, and the two have nothing to do with it. In fact, when it was first built, it was also regarded as the attached palace of the Taiji Palace. In this way, the princess is naturally a "person in the palace".

"Okay." Xiao Kezhi glanced at him, but did not stop him, only called Jin Jiang in.

"How's the matter in Bozhou?"

He had previously been suspicious of Zhao Lun's movements in Bozhou because of Zhao Yu'e's sudden appearance, so he asked Jin Jiang to send someone to investigate.

Jin Jiang said: "I am ashamed, Bozhou is remote and the terrain is steep. I haven't found out the real place, but I have only caught some clues."

In fact, it's only been more than half a month since that day. Xiao Kezhi didn't expect him to find anything in such a short period of time. Hearing that, he just shook his head and said, "No problem, tell me what the clue is."

"It seems to be related to the late General Zhao. There have been some local rumors that in the past few years, there was a close relationship between General Zhao and the Nanzhao royal family."

Xiao Kezhi listened, pondered for a moment, and then ordered: "Continue to check. In the capital, Zhao Erniang's mansion also sent people to watch to see the situation between her and Zhao Lun."

Jin Jiang's words did not explain, but just that rumor already revealed a lot of things.

It is also a marginal area that is difficult for the court to reach. Xiao Kezhi has been in Ganzhou for ten years, and naturally understands what Tiangao Emperor Yuan means. The Zhao family has been guarding Bozhou for generations, and it is inevitable that some thoughts that should not be born will arise.

When Jin Jiang heard the words, he should "here" and remembered them one by one.

"Where's the prince? How many days should we be in Huazhou? How did the people in Huazhou deal with it?" Xiao Kezhi took a look at the documents about dredging the river that he brought up a few days ago from the case.

Jin Jiang nodded and said: "The prince has arrived in Huazhou for seven days, everything in the prefecture is as usual, and there is not much difference, but in the nearby states, there are rumors that His Majesty wants to replace the generals, and some people seem to be interested in the prince. See you."

"Sure enough." Xiao Kezhi sneered and quickly said a few names, all of which were nodded by Jin Jiang, who was the one who had an opinion on Xiao Yu.

He sent this useless nephew to Huazhou, of course, on purpose, in order to try a few officials nearby who had a vegetarian meal, and now he has tried it.

Xiao Yu and Empress Dowager Qi seem to be completely opposite parties, but in fact they have some subtle things in common. The luxuriant tree was riddled with holes by countless silverfish, and it seemed to be a towering giant tree that was difficult to shake, but the inside was crumbling due to its hollowness.

In the end, they are all selfish people who only consider their own interests.

Since he has chosen to keep the prince, he cannot let either of the two parties collapse too quickly. Only by slowly eliminating them little by little can the stability of the court situation be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

Thinking of this, he quickly ordered: "Let the Hanlin Academy draw up a decree to summon generals from Caozhou, Weizhou, and Bianzhou to report their duties in Chang'an."

Time to dig up the few sores there.