Prince Tang, in the bedroom, Xiao Yu was dressed neatly and was about to go out when he heard the report from the chambermaid that the Crown Princess had returned.
He did not rush to leave, but stayed in the room and waited for a while.
After a while, Chu Ning really came back, and when he saw him, he hurried over to salute.
"His Royal Highness, I was unable to get back in time with the snowstorm last night. Please forgive me."
When Xiao Yu saw her, he was in a happy mood. He beckoned her to come closer, took off her cloak himself, and said, "It's okay, it's the wind and snow that blocked the road, just remember to come back earlier next time. Where did you stay last night? ?"
Chu Ning was wrapped in his arms obediently, and replied: "There is a Taoist temple at the foot of the mountain, called the Seven Saints Temple, and I lived there last night."
"Yeah." Xiao Yu glanced at her, his face was still gentle, but he turned around and summoned a servant outside the house, "Go, go to the Seven Saints Temple at the foot of the mountain and give more silver taels as a thank you gift."
"Here."
The waiter's voice went away, but Chu Ning was terrified. She knew him very well, and immediately saw that he was worried that she was with Zhao Yanzhou last night, and asked someone to go to the Taoist temple to ask if the two were innocent.
He is still worried about a person who has been mutilated by him.
She and Zhao Yanzhou are not afraid of his suspicions, but there was Xiao Kezhi in the Taoist temple last night. If he finds out, he will probably cause more trouble. I don't know if Xiao Kezhi is gone now, and whether he has already arranged everything.
"Wait." She suddenly said, calling out the servant who had already left.
"What?" Xiao Yu's expression was slightly restrained, and he looked down at her.
"His Royal Highness, I lived in the Seven Saints Temple yesterday. I saw that the Taoist priests were living a poor life. I wanted to have them take some cloth and vegetables from the warehouse and send them to the city. It is difficult for them to get to the city on such a cold and snowy day. Going to the market to buy these things and give away money will not solve the urgent need.”
The most important thing is that she wants to give Xiao Kezhi more time while people go to the warehouse to pick up things, count them, and register them.
"Okay, Aning is kind-hearted and always wants to help others, so go get it." Xiao Yu didn't think much, and after listening, he motioned the servant to do as he did, and he drank two sips of tea and went out.
As soon as the person left, Chu Ning hurriedly asked Cui He to go to the Feishhuang Palace in person, and asked Liu Kang to send a message, and asked him to show him the situation in front of Xiao Kezhi. Completely relieved.
Several maids prepared hot soup for her, a pot of light sake and a few plates of refreshments. She leaned in the pool, washed away her tiredness, and came out refreshed.
Seeing that it was still early, she sent someone to send greetings to Duke Lu's residence, and when she could hear back, she brought Cui He together to pack some gifts and went to visit.
When Duke Lu was not there, only Madam Xu and Guoer and her daughter were there. When Chu Ning arrived, Guoer was following the maid in the courtyard to make a lantern in the shape of a rabbit, while Madam Xu took the two to tend flowers and plants. When she came over, she put down what she was doing and greeted her.
Guo'er's eyes were sharp, and she saw that Chu Ning was wearing the same one she gave last time. She was very happy, and took the initiative to pour her a cup of tea, and then pulled her sleeves to sit close to one another. speak down.
Mrs. Xu washed her muddy hands, took the dessert from the maid and put it on the table. She smiled and said, "His Royal Highness! I have nothing to do, I'm working on flowers and plants." Then she pointed to Guo'er, "Seeing that Shangyuan is coming, this child heard that there will be a lantern festival in the palace, so he is so happy that he wants to make a lantern himself!"
Chu Ning looked at the half-finished lantern, which had begun to take shape, and nodded in praise: "Guo'er's hands are getting better and better, but she is much better than me! Are you still learning to ride horses in the past two days?"
Guo'er shook her head and whispered softly, "Miss Zhao said that she has caught the wind and cold in the past two days, so she can't teach me."
Madam Xu hurriedly pointed to the side and said to Guo'er, "Okay, let's do it for a while. Didn't you say you want to make one more for His Highness? It's better to do it sooner."
Although Guo'er was young, she didn't like to talk, but her mind was sensitive. Her round eyes looked between the two of them, she nodded obediently, and followed the maid to the side to continue making lanterns.
"On New Year's Eve, the matter of Mrs. Zhao—hey, it's a dilemma after all!" Madam Xu waited until her daughter was far away and could no longer hear her, before she lowered her voice and said to Chu Ning, "Before, I only thought that Mrs. Zhao's attitude was a little perfunctory, but In the end, I was patient with teaching Guo'er, but now that such an embarrassing thing happened, I just don't teach it. I naturally don't want to teach Guo'er halfway, and I want to have someone teach her again, but Mrs. Zhao was ordered by the sage personally, I really don't know what to do. How good is it!"
Chu Ning understood, Zhao Yu'e couldn't refuse, Madam Xu saw Xiao Kezhi's face, and it was not easy to find someone else directly, so she felt that she was in a dilemma.
She thought for a while and said, "Ms. Zhao was indeed chosen by the sage for Guo'er, but the sage's meaning was probably just to teach Guo'er to let go of her temper and to have more contact with others. If Madam thinks it is inappropriate, or If Guo'er doesn't like it, she can say it politely, as long as it doesn't hurt her face, it's fine."
"But the sage Chrysostom said, I don't know if he will blame..." After hearing her words, Mrs. Xu felt that there was some truth, but thinking of Xiao Kezhi's serious and stern appearance, she was still confused.
Looking at her hesitant look, Chu Ning couldn't help laughing.
She knew how much Xiao Kezhi valued the only relative of his mother's family, but obviously the Duke and his wife of Lu Guogong treated him more in awe than in intimacy. I am afraid that his usual unsmiling appearance is too scary.
"Madam, you, Duke Lu, and Guo'er are relatives of the sage. Since they are relatives, what can't you say? The sage just looked cold, but in fact, he cares a lot about your family. ."
After Mrs. Xu listened, she slowly remembered that after Chang'an, the saint's many cares for their family, although she never said it, was enough to teach them to be grateful.
"What Your Highness said seems to make sense..." She smiled crampedly, her eyes filled with admiration, "His Royal Highness is really attentive, when we see saints on weekdays, we don't even dare to let out the air, where is it? Will you be like Your Highness, so understand the meaning of the saint?"
However, after she finished speaking, she thought about the relationship between the prince and the emperor again, and suddenly felt that she had said something wrong, so she hurriedly closed her mouth and looked over carefully.
One is the emperor, the uncle, the other is the princess, the niece, how can we understand each other
Fortunately, Chu Ning just paused for a while, and then he naturally talked about other topics, and he didn't seem to take it to heart, so he exposed the matter.
…
On the other side, in the Feishhuang Hall, after Xiao Kezhi came back from the court, he took a shower and changed his clothes again, so that people could send the memorials to be read today on the bookcase.
After being busy for a long time, I had time to sit down.
He didn't rush to pick up the pen to read Zuo Shu, but took a sip of tea, summoned Liu Kang, and asked, "You said that people around the Chu family had come, why?"
Liu Kang hurriedly told Xiao Yu's people to go to the Seven Saints Temple, and said: "Everyone, don't worry, the old slave will have people take care of it in advance, and the people in the temple didn't say anything."
Xiao Kezhi nodded, but his frowning brows did not loosen. The prince's suspicion is so serious, it is no wonder that he can't become a great weapon. In the past, he only felt a little emotional, but now that he has Chu Ning, he began to feel uncomfortable for her.
He thought for a moment, quietly made a decision in his heart, and then let go of his brows.
"Okay, let's not talk about it, I heard that there is news from the south today, let Jin Jiang come over."
Liu Kang responded, and Jin Jiang arrived shortly after.
"Tell me, how is the situation in Bozhou?"
Jin Jiang bowed his hands in salute, then took out a sealed letter from his sleeve, and said, "Five people have been selected from the local clan, and now they each serve in different positions, it is only up to Your Majesty to decide, Who can hold the position of General Zhao."
Xiao Kezhi opened the letter, recorded several names one by one in his heart, browsed through each person's resume, and pointed out three of them, saying, "Have they all checked out their family background?"
Jin Jiang nodded: "It has been checked, and it will be sent tomorrow along with the official file."
"No, at the Ministry of Officials, don't move for the time being, so as not to be noticed." Xiao Kezhi put away the letter and instructed, "Check the family first, especially whether anyone in the family has committed any crime, and how they dealt with it, this is very important. Important. In addition, people have to keep an eye on them, just for two months, write down their daily administration and military training, and then I will make a decision."
Bozhou has a huge army, and it is on the southern border, where it connects with neighboring countries. Even if Nanzhao and other countries are small countries, they cannot be taken lightly.
"Here." After Jin Jiang responded, he reported two more things about the city defense, and then left.
Xiao Kezhi sorted out the things at hand, and asked Liu Kang, "What's wrong with Zhao Erniang?"
He warned Zhao Yu'e a few days ago that if she was unwilling, she might take action.
"Returning to everyone, Zhao Erniang has been ill for the past few days and has stayed behind closed doors. She has not done anything else. It's just that the day before, General Zhao of Bozhou wrote her a letter, and she has asked her to send the reply."
As for what was written in the letter, I am afraid it is what happened in the past few days.
"Well. Zhao Lun may have already noticed that someone is secretly investigating in Bozhou, so he has to keep an eye on it." Xiao Kezhi nodded and said, "What happened to the Qi family?"
"The queen mother seems to have the intention of asking Qi Xianggong to write a letter to persuade everyone to get married. In the past few days, Qi Xianggong has started to contact the ministers of the DPRK and the central government. According to this situation, they will be busy in the first month, and by the middle of February, they will be It will be a joint book.”
"Well." This was expected, he didn't ask more, but talked about something else.
"The Sizhi in the East Palace's Zhanshifu is called Zhao Yanzhou. I heard that his articles were very good back then. Not only was his writing eloquent, but he was also able to pinpoint the current shortcomings. He is quite talented. You go and look for two of his past articles for me. Look."
He loves talents, and has never considered his background. He listened to what Chu Ning said. Naturally, his sympathy and regret for Zhao Yanzhou deepened a bit. If he was really talented and learned, he would not hesitate to support him in the future.
Liu Kang glanced at him and went down silently. He understood that the emperor did not tease the lady in the East Palace at will, but really took her to heart.
…
In the next few days, there was no more snow on Mount Li, and the previous snow gradually melted. In the end, it is spring, and after a while of cold, it gradually warms up.
Xiao Yu went in and out of the Prince's soup every day. In addition to going to the court, he often went to the residences of several officials who lived nearby to have dinner parties.
In the past, he was not very willing to accept the invitations of these officials, only that he would be too close to them in private, and he would lose his majesty. But today is different from the past. There are fewer and fewer staunch supporters around him, so he has to put down his face and make more friends.
In the evening of this day, he only went out from Jinyangmen to take a carriage to the residence of one of the officials to go to a banquet, but he just went up a secluded mountain road, but was accidentally stopped.
"Why did it stop?" he asked unhappily, sitting in the car.
"Your Highness, the road ahead is blocked."
The driver's voice fell, and someone came over, saluted beside the car, and said softly, "Sorry, my wife has something important to report to His Royal Highness, and ask His Highness for permission."
Xiao Yu didn't move, but frowned slightly. The waiter outside the car asked coldly, "Bold, who is your wife? Dare to stop His Royal Highness from driving!"
The man didn't answer, but only presented a wooden plaque with his surname engraved on it, and sent it to the carriage from the inner servant.
Xiao Yu looked at the word "Zhao" on the wooden sign, and his eyes suddenly showed disdain and contempt.
It turned out to be Zhao Yu'e.
Such a disgraced woman dared to stop his car.
He didn't mean to go down at all, he just said "keep going" coldly in the car, meaning to ignore her.
The coachman and attendants responded and immediately urged the horses to move forward again.
But this road was narrow, and when it passed Zhao Erniang's carriage, there was almost only a few inches in the middle. The moment they passed by, Zhao Yu'e's voice came from the other side of the curtain.
"Is Your Highness really willing to live under others?"
Xiao Yu's face froze, and his hand on his lap slammed into a towel. How could he be willing? But in just a few months, he was about to reach the peak, and suddenly fell back to the bottom. He felt that in addition to frustration, there was more panic, only afraid that he would never be able to get up again.
He took a deep breath, and before the carriage walked away, he commanded in a deep voice, "Stop."
The carriage stopped at the sound, and he ordered the curtains of the carriage to be opened, but he did not go down, but waited for Zhao Yu'e to walk out of the carriage step by step and bowed to him.
"Your Highness, would you like to hear what Yu Niang has to say?"
Xiao Yu looked at her coldly, as if thinking about it. After a while, he waved his hand and said, "Come up."
Zhao Yu'e smiled slightly and stepped into his carriage with a skirt and a tadpole.
She was still wearing bright-colored clothes today. Although she didn't show her chest as boldly as when she went back to see Xiao Ke a few times before, the slightly tighter dress still outlined her plump figure.
Just now outside the car, the moonlight was dim and I couldn't see clearly, but the bright candlelight in the car illuminated everything clearly.
Xiao Yu looked at her figure, and a strange color flashed in his eyes, which seemed uncomfortable, but also seemed disgusting.
"Okay, if you have something to say, say it quickly, don't waste my time."
Zhao Yu'e didn't care about his indifference, she smiled calmly and said, "Yu Niang is here today because she wants to make a deal with His Royal Highness. I wonder what His Highness thinks, what is the strength of the Bozhou Army in my Zhao family's hands?"
He didn't have the oppressive aura of Xiao Kezhi. Although his face was cold, she didn't feel nervous, just because she knew that what she held in her hand was a bargaining chip that he couldn't refuse.
Sure enough, upon hearing the words "Bozhou Army", Xiao Yu's expression froze, and his heartbeat also trembled.
"The Bozhou Army, its strength should not be underestimated, it is comparable to the Ganzhou Army of the saints. Why, are you using this to trade with me?"
What he lacked the most was military power, which was naturally what he needed the most. And the Bozhou Army in the Zhao family's hands is a better choice than those he wanted to fight for before.
"Yes."
Zhao Yu'e nodded without hesitation, telling the truth about the difficulties the Zhao family faced in Bozhou.
Xiao Yu flexed his knuckles and tapped the armrest lightly, thinking quickly in his heart, and asked, "What do you want from me?"
Zhao Yu'e smiled and said, "My brother and I will assist His Highness to achieve great things, and I only hope that His Highness can protect my Zhao family's status in the future."
Her words seemed straightforward, but in fact they didn't make it clear. Xiao Yu concealed the surging emotions in his heart and asked in a deep voice, "If I promise something like this, what can you do? Make it clear, what do you want? what?"
"Your Highness, would you like to marry me?"
Zhao Yu'e did not detour with him, and simply made the request clear.
Xiao Yu's face turned gloomy, and he said coldly, "I have a wife."
"After marrying me, my brother's Bozhou army will only follow His Highness's horse, and my Zhao family will also be a foreign relative in the future, and no one will dare to despise it from now on. So, isn't it the best of both worlds?"
"If I heard correctly, your Zhao family is desperate now. If you don't rely on me, you will probably be uprooted, and you will never recover. So, you still have to negotiate with me?"
Zhao Yu'e smiled in a relaxed manner: "Yes, the Zhao family has come to a dead end, so why not His Highness? How many days can His Highness live without my brother? If my Zhao family chooses to hand over everything immediately, there is still a possibility of surviving, but What about Your Highness?"
Xiao Kezhi is the Son of Heaven, he has everything in his hands, and there is no shortage of loyal people in his hands. Faced with him, she naturally dare not ask too much. But Xiao Yu was just a precarious crown prince. If it wasn't for knowing that he was in a difficult situation, but still holding the position of the first emperor's heir and the prince, she and her brother would not even bother to hit him.
That being the case, how could she be willing to be submissive to others
"Chu's is just the daughter of a criminal minister. Can you bring a whole Bozhou army to His Highness like me? Her status is no longer worthy of His Highness."
Xiao Yu's face gradually distorted: "She's not worthy, do you, a shameless widow, deserve it?"
"His Royal Highness does not have to rush to a conclusion. Yuniang has a lot of harassment today, and I dare not delay His Highness's business. I will leave now. Please consider it carefully, and it will not be too late to make a decision at that time."
She smiled meaningfully, and without waiting for him to nod, she got up and left on her own.