In the end, Xiao Yu did not make the appointment as scheduled, but instead went to Xu Rong's residence.
In the slightly small and simple house, the two rulers and ministers sat opposite each other under the lamp, silently facing a letter.
This is a letter written by Zhao Lun who is far away in Bozhou. The end of the letter is also stamped with Zhao Lun's seal as the general of the township. Before Zhao Yu'e left, the maid beside her silently carried it to Xiao. Yu's hands.
What was written in the letter was indeed the same as what Zhao Yu'e said. The two brothers and sisters intend to join the Eastern Palace and help him gain the throne.
Xiao Yu sat quietly for a moment, stretched out his hand to lift the lampshade, held up the letter and handed it to the flames, watching the flames burn more and more intensely, quickly devoured the letter paper, and when he was about to lick his fingertips, he threw it into the incense burner beside him.
"I've also read the letter, I wonder what Xu Qing thinks?"
As soon as Xu Rong heard it, he knew that he was hesitating in his heart, and after pondering for a moment, he said softly, "Your Highness, I think this is a great opportunity for His Highness God! Being under the control of the saints, as long as you plan carefully, you will be like the saints when the emperor died, and you can take Chang'an in one fell swoop!"
He had thought earlier that Zhao Erniang had deliberately approached the saint, and there must be some ulterior motive. The sage's temperament is so unruly, and he has no intention of accepting the Zhao family's show of affection.
He knew that Xiao Yu was suspicious, he thought about it, and then said: "The letter has already been stamped with General Zhao's seal, if we hand over the letter, the Zhao family will surely die, they are willing to take such a dangerous move, it can be seen that they are in a hurry. , I will never dare to cheat again, the minister thinks that their words can be trusted by your Highness by eight points."
Xiao Yu showed no expression, just stared at the candlelight in a trance.
He naturally knew that the Zhao family did not dare to joke about such a thing. The generals with heavy soldiers made friends with the crown prince in private, with the intention of rebelling.
Even if Zhao Lun was forced to choose him as the second prince because he had repeatedly encountered obstacles in the emperor's place, this was definitely a golden opportunity for him.
It was Zhao Yu'e's request that made him both unhappy and hesitant.
"Prince dignified, how can you marry an unclean widow? Besides, I have a proper wife."
Although he had already thought about taking a concubine, he never thought about moving his wife's status. Aning is the wife he is marrying, and even if the family is gone now, she is still a serious princess.
Xu Rong understood, not only did the prince dislike Zhao Erniang, but more importantly, he was reluctant to bear the Chu family.
However, such a good opportunity cannot be slipped away in vain, he thought for a moment, carefully persuaded: "His Royal Highness, the hero has not yet asked the source. Although Zhao Erniang's identity is not worthy of His Royal Highness, the Zhao family's military power is worthy. Besides, the Crown Prince Concubine's place... Your Highness might as well think about it, if he ascends the throne in the future, wouldn't it be up to His Royal Highness to decide who he wants to be the next? "
Xiao Yu had a sullen face, rubbing the rough lines on the case with one hand, as if thinking about his words, after a long time, he suddenly asked: "But Zhao Yu'e is in such a position, if I want to marry her rashly, how can I avoid the suspicion of others? Saint, Even the queen mother, I am afraid not only will not allow it, but will also give rise to doubts."
Xu Rong saw that he was wavering, but he didn't care that he had not yet thought of a countermeasure, and hurriedly assured: "Your Highness does not need to worry about this matter, as long as Your Highness agrees, I will arrange everything properly."
Xiao Yu looked at him blankly. After all, he couldn't make up his mind. He just got up and said, "Let me think about it carefully. It's getting late today, so I'll go back first."
Xu Rong responded with a series of voices, and took the initiative to walk in front of him to guide him, and put him on the carriage before sighing and slowly straightening back up.
…
In the dormitory, Chu Ning was sitting with a few maids by the charcoal fire with great interest and reading the script.
A few round chestnuts were placed in the charcoal fire, and they were being roasted and peeled, exuding a fragrant and attractive aroma.
Halfway through reading the book, Cui He took a pair of tongs and picked up one of the chestnuts, looked at it, and said, "Miss, it's baked!"
Several people laughed and put the hot chestnuts into the fruit bowl. When it cooled down a little, they carefully peeled off the hard black outer shell, revealing the yellow and bright inside.
Chu Ning picked it up and tasted one, only to feel that the taste was powdery, sweet but not greasy, smiled and nodded and let them eat together.
Today, the prince went out for a banquet. According to the situation a few days ago, he should have returned very late, so the maids were not restrained, thanked him with a smile, and handed over the plate to eat more than half of it.
Just as he was joking, a cheerful and excited sound of silk and bamboo suddenly came from outside the hall. Listening to the direction, it seemed to be coming from the direction of Feishhuang Hall.
The maids stopped talking, looked at each other, and said: "This voice, I am afraid that the saint has summoned the musicians and singers to the Feishhuang Palace again!"
Prince Tang was the closest to the Feishhuang Hall, and the movement of Zhaole there was naturally heard clearly. In the past few days, every night, the sound of silk and bamboo is always heard from the Feishhuang Palace.
"I don't know why these few days, there is music every day, and the saint has become more and more informal since the New Year's Eve banquet. I have never heard that Taiji Palace has called singing and dancing before."
"Yeah! Now, everyone says that the sage is showing his true temperament at this time, and that in the past, being clean and not close to women are not true."
…
Seeing that the words of the few people were becoming less and less obscure, Cui He couldn't help shouting: "Okay, don't talk about the saint's affairs, be careful to cause trouble to His Highness!"
As he said that, he glanced at Chu Ning worriedly, for fear that she would be unhappy.
Chu Ning's expression was the same as usual, and he only said lightly: "It's one thing to bring disaster to me, and you should be more careful. If someone who is interested in the teaching hears it, the one who will harm you will be yourself."
She was not as unhappy as Cui He feared. Xiao Kezhi had indeed never told her about the day-to-day life in the Feishhuang Palace, but for some reason, she always felt that he was so successful, and that he must have his own reasons for doing so.
Besides, her identity is not qualified to question his affairs at all, so why bother herself
Several maids looked at each other, knowing that they had made a mistake, and immediately bowed their heads obediently to admit their mistake.
Seeing this, Chu Ning resumed his smile, ate a yellow chestnut, and picked up the book again and read it to them.
The atmosphere gradually eased, and everyone began to laugh from time to time.
I was feeling comfortable and happy, but suddenly there was a servant running close to the outside, and said in a low voice: "His Royal Highness is back!"
Chu Ning was stunned for a moment, wondering why he had only been out for more than half an hour today and came back. Before he could think about it, he waved his hand and asked a few people to tidy up the room quickly, while he adjusted his dress and opened the door to welcome him.
In the courtyard, Xiao Yucai brought people back with a heavy heart and entered his bedroom. When he saw Chu Ning coming over, he subconsciously showed a smile, but after a short while, he quickly put it away as if he had remembered something.
"His Royal Highness, why is it so early today? He came back after only half an hour." Chu Ning carefully observed his expression, then approached naturally and reached out to undress him.
The gentle and watery beauty was just an inch in front of him, unfastening the belt around his waist for him, and the fragrance from his hair seemed to penetrate his nose, making his already heavy heart even more disturbed.
"Suddenly I remembered something, I didn't go to the banquet, and I came back after finishing it." He rubbed his tired forehead and stared down at her brows soaked in the warm candlelight, "You don't want me to come back earlier?"
Chu Ning paused for a moment, shook his head and said a little aggrieved: "Your Highness always talks like this, how could I not want His Highness to come back?"
Her voice was gentle, soft, and soft, and it fell into his ears, which was more inspiring than usual, and her eyes were even more sparkling, making people unable to look away.
He took a deep breath, squeezed her hand that was holding the clean robe for him, pulled her into his arms, and lowered his head to kiss him without any explanation.
"His Royal Highness, what's wrong—" Chu Ning was startled, and hurriedly turned his face away and tried to reach out and push him away.
He was tougher than usual, he directly clasped her hand, forcing her to stand up and take the initiative to send it to him, his cheeks twisted open, and the kiss landed directly on the side of his neck, constantly biting and sucking, the white and smooth neck Immediately after that, a beautiful imprint was left behind.
He saw that his eyes were slightly red, and he simply tore her jacket with a force on his hand, threw it aside, patted her buttocks lightly through the thin skirt, and said dumbly, "Kneel down."
Her breathing was unsteady, her cheeks were already flushed, she didn't apply the powder, but it looked like she was dyed with layers of rouge, plus the clothes that were difficult to cover and the marks on her neck, showing a kind of embarrassing beauty.
She bit her lip and knelt on the bed with difficulty. She closed her eyes and felt the only remaining long skirt being hurriedly lifted and shredded by him.
She was trapped by the arms he supported on both sides and couldn't move, so she could only wait for everything.
Whether it was an illusion or not, she always felt that Xiao Yu seemed very anxious and anxious today, as if he wanted to prove something, but at the same time as if he was afraid of losing something, and the whole person was in a state of hesitation and manic depression.
…
I don't know how long it took, he hugged her naked and went straight out of the house, and soaked in the hot spring that was placed outside.
Under the moonlight, the mist curled up and the waves rippling softly. The dried petals and herbs were soaked in the pool water, and the air was also stained with a touch of bitterness and aroma that seemed to exist.
"A Ning," Xiao Yu leaned against the edge of the pool, pinching the soft, snowy flesh on her body with one hand and rubbing the smooth stone with the other, "If one day, I have no choice but to make you suffer some grievances, would you like to? Don't want to?"
His voice was hoarse and ethereal, and it sounded low in the dark night, so that Chu Ning couldn't help but open his tired eyes and looked at him vigilantly.
"What's wrong with Your Highness today? Suddenly said such a thing."
"It's nothing, you just answer." He pinched her chin expressionlessly, staring at her with complicated eyes, not letting go of the slightest expression, "Would you like to?"
Chu Ning had a gut feeling that he must have decided to do something, so he couldn't help holding back his heart beating wildly, trying his best to say softly, "As long as it's what His Highness said, An Ning has never violated it."
He met her bright eyes, and suddenly his eyes flashed, as if he had been scalded by something, and quickly turned his face away.
"What is Your Highness asking Aning to do?" She put her hands on his wet arms and asked him cautiously.
"It's nothing, don't think about it." He seemed unwilling to talk to her, just put his hand into the water and hooked his slender fingers.
The soup spring was flowing, the waves were glittering, and Chu Ning stopped talking for a while, and blushed again with his actions.