At the foot of Mount Li, a group of chariots and horses were heading towards Tangquan Palace.
In the most spacious and luxurious carriage in the team, Prince Xiao Yu was leaning on the thick mattress and closing his eyes.
It was sunny and sunny outside, but his face was a little gloomy, as if he was upset about something.
There are still five or six days before the New Year's Eve. He planned to stay for a few more days on the way back to Chang'an from Huazhou, and took the opportunity to visit several surrounding generals. As long as he returns to Chang'an before New Year's Eve, it will be fine.
Under the arrangement of Xu Rong, he had written several letters with them. Although they did not have a very clear intention of forming an alliance, at least they did not show resistance or indifference.
This should be the perfect time.
However, before he could arrive, someone had already arrived in Chang'an City. His sixth uncle, Xiao Kezhi, took the lead and sent several generals back to Chang'an to report on their duties.
The hope that had just been ignited was shattered. Even though he had long heard that the DPRK was going to call military attachés to report to their posts, and there might be some big changes, he still couldn't help but wonder if the emperor already knew about his plan, and this was intentional. obstruct.
Even if it is not intentional to obstruct, once there is a change, these people will no longer be useful to him.
All the way, he couldn't, so he could only come back to Chang'an earlier and think of other ways. If the emperor really moved too many people, he didn't believe that the courtiers and noble families would obediently allow them to be slaughtered.
The carriage ran smoothly, and the guard at the front met an inner servant who hurried back to report the letter. After chatting a few words in a low voice, he rode his horse to the side of the carriage and asked, "His Royal Highness, there is news from Tangquan Palace, and the saint is at the foot of the mountain today. On the racecourse, it seems that Her Royal Highness Prince Concubine is not in the palace, and came down the mountain with the wife of the Duke of Lu."
"Well." Xiao Yu opened his eyes, lifted the curtains to look at the clear sky outside, and said, "Then don't go back to the palace first, just go to the racecourse."
Theoretically, as soon as he returned to Chang'an, he should meet the emperor. Now that he knew that the emperor was on the racecourse, he naturally had to go directly. There must be many clansmen and courtiers on the racecourse, and it must be the safest to see them in front of everyone.
…
On the racecourse, in the imperial tent, the heavy curtains blocked most of the bright sunlight, obscuring the not-so-spacious space inside into a bit of darkness, and blocking out countless prying eyes.
Xinjun is simple and simple. Although he often comes to hunt on horseback, he has never made the imperial tent that resides here too luxurious. There is only a simple low couch, a table top, a few shelves and a few lampstands. , it is even difficult for people to see that it is the emperor's tent.
The only place that can be called luxury is the thick layer of fleece blankets on the ground, next to the fire, and a large tiger skin, which he hunted himself last year.
The tiger skin was well preserved. Not only was it very complete, but its glossy color even allowed people to imagine how fierce and huge this beast was at that time.
Only now, on the large tiger skin with black, white and yellow interlaced, there is a beauty lying on the side.
The beauty had messy hair, blushing cheeks, and confused eyes, probably because she had been stuffed by the heavy cloak for a long time, and she managed to break free to breathe. striking.
The riding outfit that had been tightly wrapped around her body had just been loosened for the most part. With the movement of her arms half-supported by her side, it hung on her body, shaky, and it became more and more white as jade against the background of the terrifying tiger skin.
A dash of warmth was added to the dim tent.
Xiao Kezhi stood aside, looking down at the embarrassed beauty on the ground, his Adam's apple couldn't help rolling, and his eyes became a little darker.
While slowly loosening his shirt, he approached step by step, stopped beside her, and let his tall and sturdy body cast a heavy shadow on her.
"Your Majesty..." She couldn't help but want to hide away, but his oppressive figure hung above her, like a mountain so heavy that she couldn't stand up, so she had to turn around and slumped forward to escape.
Xiao Kezhi admired her appearance like this, until she felt a little labored and her movements slowed down, then suddenly and effortlessly grabbed one of her ankles and pulled her back.
"What are you running for? You want to go out and let people see that your niece is actually in my tent at this time?"
"A Ning is wrong, please forgive An Ning!"
She lay on her stomach and tried to struggle between the soft fur, but his feet were so tightly controlled that she couldn't move, and she lost her strength.
"It's like this every time, you will pretend to be pitiful." Xiao Kezhi gritted his teeth as if venting his anger, his tone was both resentful and proud, and the blue veins on his forehead jumped, "This time, I will not fuck you. It's time."
Chu Ning turned his head to look at him with embarrassed red eyes, both grievances and complaints.
The two of them didn't let anyone else, as if they were going to stalemate to the end.
Chu Ning's eyes flashed, biting his lip tremblingly, he reached over with a jade foot and continued to make trouble.
"You—" Xiao Kezhi was shocked, his face froze suddenly, he wanted to reprimand, but he couldn't speak, staring at her with a bit of annoyance, a bit of disbelief, and a bit of suppressed pleasure.
"Your Majesty, Aning is not an ignorant girl of fourteen or fifteen years old." She whispered, smiling proudly at him, looking at his eyes full of charm and demonstration.
Yes, although she is young, she is not an ignorant girl, but a woman who has been married for two years, who is much more familiar than him.
His heart was bitter and bitter, and he suddenly felt a burst of brute force.
"I forgot. Since you are not a young girl who has never been recruited, I don't have to pity you any more."
He said, without waiting for her to react, he pulled out his belt and tied her hands to the low couch in three or two strokes, making her unable to stand up, so she could only kneel helplessly on the soft fleece blanket .
She was restrained and unable to move, and she was so uncomfortable that tears filled her eyes. Qiqi Ai wanted to speak out, but he pinched the back of her neck and reminded her, "This is on the racecourse, in the imperial tent, there are a lot of people outside."
Her eyes were full of tears, and she bit her lip desperately to suppress it.
…
After a long while, he hugged her and sat on the low couch, slowly kneading her wrists that were a little red from the wear of the belt.
She leaned softly in his arms, frowning from time to time as he kneaded, and her voice was soft, which made him feel comfortable.
She has softened to water, and has no energy to play tricks with him for the time being, but he is still in high spirits and energetic, as if he just came back from a hunt. Only at this time can he find a little peace and comfort in his heart.
"You always get tired so quickly." He chuckled happily in her ear, biting her chin a little bit, watching her lazy appearance that she wanted to avoid but was too lazy to move, as if feeling very novel, " You look like this, no wonder you have to teach Guoer to ride a horse, it turns out to be a sleight of hand."
Chu Ning raised his eyes to look at him, and said angrily: "Why is Aning unwilling to teach? It is clearly that Your Majesty does not allow Aning to teach. Your Majesty must think that Aning intends to approach Madam Lu Guo to please His Majesty, and he is uncertain. How can you scold Aning for being scheming!"
She could see that although he always looked indifferent and fierce, he was sincere towards the Lu Guogong family. In the end is his blood relatives, always pay more attention. In particular, she still remembered that the last time she met him outside the palace, he had doubts about her.
She, the niece who took the initiative to seduce, must be just a cunning and bad woman in his heart, not worthy of the relatives of his mother's family.
Xiao Kezhi looked at her clear eyes, moved in his heart, and asked, "Then you are interested in approaching Mrs. Lu Guo to please me?"
Chu Ning blinked and said half-truth, "Naturally, my niece is indeed a bad woman with deep scheming."
She did not deny that she had a good relationship with Mrs. Lu Guo's mother and daughter, and it was a lot of selfishness, otherwise she wouldn't even believe it. As for her kindness to Guoer, there is no need to let him know.
He was silent for a moment, and then suddenly smiled: "Yes, it doesn't matter, I know that you are sincere when you treat Guo'er and Madam Lu."
He is not a gentleman, let alone a saint. At first, he naturally thought subconsciously that she wanted to please him through Madam Lu Guo.
But today, he saw with his own eyes what she looked like when she was carrying Guoer. She was gentle, kind, considerate, and attentive, without the slightest pretense. Even when stroking the newly picked horse, he remembered to pull Guoer behind him. , so as to teach her not to be afraid, and not to be hurt by a horse that might suddenly become restless.
Those actions made subconsciously, he could see clearly. Where is she hypocritical? Obviously sincere.
But when he misunderstood her, she never defended her. Instead, she made mistakes and made him feel inexplicably guilty, and even gave birth to some explorations and guesses.
He reached out and stroked her bright eyes, and continued: "I asked Mrs. Zhao to teach Guo'er to teach Guo'er to get along with others more. She is my cousin and the little lady of the government's government. She should learn to let go. Temperament, I have to make her understand that, looking at the entire Great Liang, as long as I am here, no one will dare to disrespect her. Lu Guogong and his wife must think the same way. They have only one child, and they are looking forward to it. She can live better and more comfortable. I don't want you to teach her, it's not that I look down on you."
This was the first time he had told her what was in his heart.
He seemed to be explaining what had just happened to her seriously, and the sincerity and patience in his tone were rare.
Chu Ning was in a trance for a while, and stared at him blankly for a while, unable to tell whether the feeling in his heart was more sour or more surprised.
She smiled and couldn't help but whisper: "It feels so good to be cared for by so many relatives."
Xiao Kezhi looked at her tenderly and sincerely, even with an imperceptible look of envy, only to feel that he suddenly understood something in his heart.
If her parents were still alive, she would probably be like Guoer now, surrounded and cherished by her close relatives, carefree, whether she is willful or shy, there will always be people who are tolerant and pampered.
"What about you?" He looked into her eyes carefully and asked, "Since you treat her sincerely, why don't you teach her?"
There was no usual sternness and ridicule in his eyes, only straightforward inquiry, which made her uncomfortable.
She buried her face in his chest, lowered her eyes without looking at him, and said in a low voice, "I said it before, it was Your Majesty who didn't let me teach it."
"No." He frowned, stretched out his hand to squeeze her chin, making her have to look directly at him, "I shouldn't ask you why you didn't teach me, but I should ask you why you have to cover it up even though you are good at riding, Don't show it in front of people."
He just saw it when he was chasing behind her on horseback. If she didn't hide her clumsiness and followed her up to a match, then the wife of the Zhao family might not be able to come out on top.
She obviously has good riding skills, but she insists in front of everyone that she is "poor in riding skills", and other people present seem to have no idea of her true abilities at all. , has never shown in front of others the skills that he used to deal with him.
He intuited that there was another reason for her to hide herself like this, maybe it had something to do with his nephew.