The Gilded Cage

Chapter 4: The gray wolf passed her silently. ……

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The whole day's ceremony finally ended in the evening. Chu Ning was so tired that he was so stiff that he couldn't walk an inch. With the help of Cui He, he moved two steps before gradually slowing down, and boarded the chariot to the Wanchun Palace.

As a courtesy, they should go back to the East Palace.

The East Palace is adjacent to the Taiji Palace, especially from the Wude Hall in the east of the Taiji Palace, which is only separated by one door. However, Xiao Kezhi had already excused his nephew's frailty and was inconvenient to run around, and asked people to clean up the Wanchun Palace for the prince and the prince to stay overnight.

Xiao Yu felt dissatisfaction in his heart, and as soon as he entered the main hall, his face became gloomy. The maid next to him who took off his boots was startled, her face turned pale, and her hands were unable to exert her strength.

"Get out." He said lightly, without even looking at the maid.

"I'll come." Chu Ning gestured to the maid with his eyes to go down, while he knelt down on his feet and took off his two boots for him, "Don't worry, Your Highness, they are all their people inside and outside the East Palace. It's no different from Huidong Palace here."

Xiao Yu lowered his eyes and didn't speak. He didn't know what he was thinking. After a long while, he stretched out his hand to pull her up from his feet, held her in his arms, rubbed her waist with one hand, stroked her face with the other, and kissed her gently. few times.

"Okay, I know. Aning, you are always so kind to those irrelevant people." His expression softened a little, and he looked at her with joy or anger in his eyes.

Chu Ning knew that he was talking about the fact that she had just helped the maid out of the siege, and said softly, "There are not many servants around Your Highness, so why bother your own people? I treat her better, and it is also for His Highness's good."

She knew that Xiao Yu would not listen to what she said, but in order to avoid his doubts, she still persuaded him with his usual good words.

Sure enough, Xiao Yu listened, laughed disapprovingly, shook his head and said, "Some people, if you treat him well, he won't appreciate you." After speaking, he didn't want to say any more, and squeezed her waist. , pointing to the humane who was already waiting outside, "You go out first, I want to talk to Xu Qing."

Chu Ning got up softly, sorted out the messy dress, turned around and walked out of the main hall.

"Madam," Cui He quickly followed, reminding in a low voice, "Zhao Sizhi is already waiting outside the door."

"Understood, let's go now." She turned around and headed towards Shenlongmen with Cuihe, while pointing to a maid and instructed, "If Your Highness asks me, remember to tell the truth."

Wanchun Hall is located in the east of Taiji Palace, with Xianchun Gate in the west and Shenlong Gate in the north. Inside Xianchun Gate is close to the inner courtyard of the palace, and outsiders are not allowed to enter. Ministers can enter and leave as long as they have permission.

Beneath the high wall, Zhao Yanzhou was already standing and waiting, and when he saw Chu Ning approaching, he bowed and saluted from a distance.

"Don't be too polite." Chu Ning approached, waved him to get up, and went out of the Dragon Gate to continue to the north.

This palace road is very wide, leading all the way to the Qianbu Corridor and the Shanshui Pond. Between the exchanges, you can meet palace maids, servants, and even the king's relatives from time to time.

Although Xiao Yu did not directly prevent her from communicating with Zhao Yanzhou on weekdays, she also had to pay attention to her proportions, so that she would not be suspicious of selfishness between the two.

"Ceremonies must not be abandoned." Zhao Yanzhou followed three steps behind her, succinct and concise.

He is the only son of a cousin of Chu Ning's mother. He was erudite and intelligent when he was young, but his family was helpless and his parents died. When he was eight years old, he had to go to Chang'an alone to join the Chu family. Chu Qianyu loves talents, and has deep affection for his wife. He takes great care of this wife's cousin, not only providing him with food and clothing, but also personally teaching him to read.

He did not live up to his expectations. At the age of fourteen, he was promoted as a child prodigy. At the age of sixteen, he was admitted to the Hongwen Museum. At the age of twenty, he was elected as a school secretary. , will have a bright future.

But three years ago, an accident happened to Chu Qianyu. He managed to escape the disaster because he was not from the Chu clan, but he still disregarded his own remarks, stood up and spoke with justice, which delayed his future.

Chu Ning had a brother-sister relationship with him since he was a child. Knowing that he was talented and grateful for the past, he recommended him to the prince Xiao Yu and won the official position of Zhan Shi Sizhi in the East Palace for him.

Zhan Shisizhi was in charge of the general affairs of the Eastern Palace and was a close confidant of the crown prince, and his status should have been equal to that of Xu Rong. It's just that he came a little later, and she was the one recommended by the Crown Princess, so Xiao Yu always had reservations about him.

Chu Ning was already used to his stern smile and didn't mind it. He just asked Fang Bo's recent situation while walking. He was relieved to know that although he was still insane, his body and bones had improved slightly.

Thinking of Xiao Yu's words early in the morning, she instructed again: "His Royal Highness already knows that we have found Fang Bo, but you shouldn't know what you believe in. If Xu Rong asks you to investigate again, you have no choice but to deal with it."

Zhao Yanzhou didn't ask any more questions, and answered all her words.

After explaining a few other trivial matters in the East Palace, Chu Ning asked what he wanted to know most at the moment: "Who is that King Qin?"

Although Xiao Kezhi was a prince, he stayed in Ganzhou for more than ten years and was almost forgotten. Except for the fact that Chu Ning knew that he was the youngest son of Emperor Gaozong and the sixth uncle of the prince, the rest was almost blank.

It's not just her, the nobles and important officials in Chang'an City, I'm afraid everyone doesn't know, and they are privately inquiring about the King Qin's person.

Before they knew it, the two had walked to a pavilion. Chu Ning stepped up the steps and stepped into the pavilion, leaning on Langan and looking at the fish swimming in the pond, while Zhao Yanzhou consciously stopped outside the pavilion to find out what they had discovered over the past two days. Come one by one.

Chu Ning listened to him quietly, was silent for a moment, and asked a few more questions, and then asked him to go back to rest first, while he remained by the pool, looking at the red sun sloping westward in the distance, while combing in his heart before listening. If you arrive.

Qin Wang Xiao Kezhi was the youngest son of Emperor Gaozong. His biological mother was an ordinary servant girl surnamed Wei in the palace. Because the emperor was drunk, she was lucky and gave birth to a son and was named a talented person.

Wei Cairen has a low status, is not liked by Emperor Gaozong, and has a very soft temperament. Seeing Empress Qi's domineering and ambition, she did not want her son to be hurt. Before she died, she begged the emperor to send her eleven-year-old son to the frontier.

The emperor thought that she was a dying person, so he granted her request and made his youngest son Xiao Kezhi the king of Qin and sent him to Ganzhou.

Ganzhou is located on the northwestern border of Great Liang, where the wind and sand are extremely strong, the environment is bitter and cold, and it is often invaded by aliens. The eleven-year-old prince was forced to leave his dying mother and go to that place alone.

It is said that when the departure from Chang'an, the palace of Ganzhou had not even begun to be built.

Anyone who looks at them thinks that Wei Cairen is too harsh on parents and children.

But Chu Ning thought about it carefully, but felt that she really had a vision. During the 14 years that King Qin stayed in Ganzhou, he just avoided the time when Empress Qi got rid of Gaozong's other princes, and had the opportunity to secretly accumulate strength and establish prestige in the army.

In recent decades, there have been few wars in Great Liang, and the imperial court has become more and more popular. Whether it is Empress Dowager Qi or Xiao Yu, most of the important ministers around are civil ministers, and the government soldiers standing in the country are on the edge all the year round. For Xiao Kezhi, who was helpless at that time, staying in Ganzhou was the best way to save his life.

In the past ten years, he has always acted justly in the army, and has always lived and ate with the soldiers. Whenever there is a foreign looting, he personally drives them away, and saves many poor people. In the Ganzhou area, everyone is right He was amazed.

To be able to endure for many years, while conquering people's hearts, is indeed a man with a shrewd heart. What's even more rare is that he loves the people, which neither Empress Dowager Qi nor Xiao Yu have.

While her thoughts were racing, a very short cry from Cui He beside her suddenly brought her back to her senses.

"What's wrong?" She turned her head to look, but saw that Cui He was staring at the steps of the pavilion, pinned to the spot as if scared by something, trembling all over.

"Madam, yes, it's a wolf..."

Before Chu Ning could react, he just turned around subconsciously, but all of a sudden he met a pair of yellow-brown eyes, which were glowing with a faint cold light under the brilliance of the setting sun.

With gray fur, sharp teeth, strong limbs, and a huge body, he was indeed a wolf.

Where the line of sight met, it slowly approached with silent steps, baring its fangs from time to time, exposing a blood-red tongue.

Chu Ning was so frightened that his back was chilled, and he didn't even have time to think about why there were such beasts in the back garden of Taiji Palace, which were rarely seen in hunting grounds. The hand hanging by his side slammed into Cui He, who was beside him, and said in a trembling voice: "Don't move, don't look at it."

The two of them froze and didn't dare to move, let alone look at the fierce beast, but out of the corner of the eye, he found that it was still approaching step by step.

At this time, three or five palace servants holding clothes happened to pass by on the road by the pool, and one of them screamed in horror when he saw the situation in the pavilion.

The cry broke the stalemate in the pavilion, and the wolf quickly turned around and rushed in the direction of the voice, throwing the palace man to the ground.

For a time, the clothes were scattered all over the floor, and the palace servants next to him were so frightened that they crawled to the side to hide. The loud noise seemed to stimulate the wolf even more. Seeing that it opened its bloody mouth and was about to bite down at the poor palace servant, a long whistle suddenly sounded not far away.

"Weimore, come back." Qin Wang Xiao Kezhi stood on the edge of the road and said to the gray wolf.

Grey Wolf was surprisingly obedient, and immediately let go of the palace servant and trotted back to him. The two guards who followed immediately shook the live rabbit in their hands and led it elsewhere.

Several frightened palace servants have been dragged to the ground to be comforted, and the scattered clothes on the ground were quickly picked up, but Xiao Kezhi was still standing there, looking sideways in the direction of the pavilion.

Chu Ning stared at him in a daze, then came back to his senses, and found that his back was soaked in cold sweat, and his legs were weak and weak, and he could only support Langan reluctantly.

Xiao Kezhi paused for a moment, approached with a blank face, and asked, "Are you scared?"

His low voice contained a bit of roughness, as if it was mixed with the wind and sand from the northwest, so that people couldn't tell whether it was sarcasm or concern.

Chu Ning stroked his calm chest, shook his head reluctantly, called "Uncle Six Kings", and wanted to salute.

But the fear just now had not completely subsided, her legs were weak and she was about to fall down, but her raised elbow was suddenly firmly supported by a broad palm.

After a strong force supported her to stabilize her figure, she did not move away immediately, but remained at her slender elbow.

The hot temperature in the palm of her hand slowly spread to the skin through several layers of clothing, causing her back to tremble slightly.

Only then did she realize that, at some point, the two of them were only a step away from each other, and when she raised her eyes a little, she could see his eyes glowing like the wolf just now, It passed her silently.

She couldn't help trembling again, resisting the subconscious thought of breaking free, and only slowly turned her face away from his gaze, but just showed a soft profile.

The night fell, and a strange atmosphere pervaded the silent air.

Cui He's eyes widened, and she was at a loss for a moment, not knowing how to react.

The two were facing each other, and suddenly there was a sound of footsteps from far to near on the palace road not far away, followed by the cold voice of the prince Xiao Yu: "A Ning, it's not early, it's time to go back."