The Gilded Cage

Chapter 51: Shang Yuan will personally take you to appreciate the lanterns

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Xiao Yu slept alone at night, thinking about it for several hours, and finally gritted his teeth and made a decision in his heart.

The next morning, he woke up and returned to normal. After leaving the Prince's Soup after breakfast, he summoned Xu Rong to discuss it privately.

In the dormitory, Chu Ning sat by the window alone, recalling what happened last night, and he was fascinated for a while, until Cui He came in with the folded clean clothes, and then he came back to his senses.

"Where's Zhao Sizhi? Let someone find him." She stood up, opened the cupboard for Cuihe, and said softly.

Cui He nodded, put away his clothes, and went out.

After half an hour, Zhao Yanzhou hurried from outside, stopped at the corridor, and after saluting, he asked, "His Royal Highness summoned the minister at this time, but what happened?"

Chu Ning shook his head: "It's not a big deal, I just want you to ask the guard who went out with the prince last night to see if something happened after the evening. Ask casually, if you can't ask, don't worry."

As she spoke, she briefly explained Xiao Yu's abnormality.

Yesterday, Xiao Yu went out early in the morning and came back in the evening. Xiao Yu's behavior was very normal. When he came back at night, something abnormal happened. Not only did he not go to the banquet as planned, but after he came back, he said those puzzling words. After going out in the evening, who and what happened, it was so abnormal.

Zhao Yanzhou listened, without saying a word, and directly answered: "I understand, I will ask in person."

He is the director of the Zhan Shifu, in charge of the general affairs. Although he does not need to personally ask about the small matters of arranging the chariots and horses, it is not surprising that he occasionally asks about the situation.

After a while, he came back and replied softly: "His Royal Highness, I have asked, those people are all the Prince's personal accomplices, and they just took a break today, and their words are quite strict, only that the Prince met someone on the road last night, and later He went straight to Xu Shidu's residence, never saying clearly what happened."

"Going to Xu Shidu?" Chu Ning repeated in a low voice, remembering Xiao Yu's words, and said, "I'm afraid this matter has something to do with me."

How could Xiao Yu wrong her

She has nothing left, except for this pair of skins, there is only the position of the crown princess behind her. Her flesh|body has long been occupied by Xiao Yu, leaving this crown princess...

Could it be that he wants to take a concubine at this time? In the past, among his followers, there were many people who wanted to send their daughters to the East Palace. He never agreed to it because of his reputation. Now that the situation has changed, it makes sense for him to have such thoughts.

If so, she didn't feel any grievance, but she felt sorry for the woman who was given to Xiao Yu by her family as a tool.

But if it's anything else, I can't tell if it's good or bad.

She told Zhao Yanzhou the conjecture in her heart and told him not to worry for the time being, just pay attention to Xiao Yu's daily movements and just wait and see how things change.

After a few days, it will reach the top dollar.

Tangquan Palace imitated the folks and held a lantern festival. No foreign envoys were invited, but only princes and nobles in Chang'an City, especially young men and women.

Spring is approaching, the last snow on the mountain has melted away, and the weather is getting warmer day by day. Although New Year's Eve is only 15 days away, you don't need to wear a cloak when you go out, you only need to wear slightly thicker clothes. Skirt is fine.

In the evening, after Chu Ning served Xiao Yu and had a meal, they went to the press table together.

Along the way, Xiao Yu didn't say a word, it was surprisingly quiet, even a little abnormal, Chu Ning glanced at him and felt uneasy, couldn't help asking: "Your Highness, why don't you speak today? But what's on your mind? "

Xiao Yu was in a trance. He was stunned by her question. Then he twitched the corners of his mouth and shook his head: "It's nothing, I'm probably a little tired from dealing with official duties during the day, and I'm a little distracted at the moment."

In fact, early this morning, Xu Rong quietly brought him a message, saying that he and Zhao Erniang had already made a decision. Tonight at the Lantern Festival, he would find an opportunity to avoid everyone's eyes and eyes and meet in private.

Since he got the news, he has been a little nervous, even a little dazed and apprehensive, as if he doesn't understand why things have come to this stage.

If nothing else, he is about to temporarily abandon the wife beside him.

It's just that he couldn't tell Chu Ning this, he could only use official business as an excuse to prevaricate it.

Naturally, Chu Ning would not believe his words. Hearing that, he just smiled and said gently, "Your Highness always works hard for official business, and you should pay more attention to your body."

Xiao Yu didn't say anything, just looked at her sideways.

Probably because today is Shangyuan, although she wears a light purple jacket as usual, she looks generous and dignified, gentle and elegant, but the inside of the jacket is embellished with delicate apricot yellow, which makes the originally plain dress lively and bright. When he got up, even the hairpin was not the jade of the past, but the shining gold and silver, plus a touch of flowers on the forehead, it was even more dazzling and beautiful, like a goddess.

His eyes flickered, he slowly looked away, kept his voice extremely low, and said, "A Ning, I will make you my queen."

Chu Ning's heart beat even more.

She looked around and saw that several of the attendants were still far away, so she breathed a sigh of relief: "Your Highness said carefully, there are many people today, be careful not to be heard."

Xiao Yu took a deep breath, nodded lightly, and continued to walk in the direction of the crowd with her.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Sixth Bureau have already made various exquisite palace lanterns, or hang them on the treetops near the press station, along the promenade, or place them on the side of the road or among the grass and trees.

Hundreds of young men and women gathered around the palace lanterns to chat and laugh. On the high platform not far away, there was music and dance rehearsed by the Jiaofang Division, which made the originally quiet night bright and cheerful.

After a while, Xiao Kezhi and Empress Dowager Qi arrived, stood on the high platform and waited for everyone to salute. After a few words, they let everyone disperse and play as they wanted without restraint.

For a time, young men and women walked in groups of three or five, walking around on the huge press platform, enjoying the lanterns and playing.

Some of the palace servants and palace servants held many exquisite masks to hang on the treetops, and the lively prince and ladies immediately picked their favorite masks with great interest, took them off and put them on.

There were many men and women who wore masks and could not tell their identity.

Daliang has always been open-minded, with a layer of cover, and people who were laughing wildly don't have to hide it, they are bold, walking side by side, and even quietly holding hands.

Chu Ning watched with great interest, but Xiao Yu had no intention of admiring it, waiting for someone to send a message.

After a while, a confidant next to him crossed the crowd, walked near, whispered something to him, his expression changed slightly, turned around and said to Chu Ning: "Okay, I still have some things to do, I won't accompany today. You looked at the lights, and in a while, you can go back earlier."

Naturally, Chu Ning would not stop him, nor would he ask any more questions. He just nodded his head respectfully and watched him leave. He let the other two younger maids play by himself, and he continued to enjoy the lanterns with Cui He.

Without him, it was much easier.

The two walked for a while, and watched a few young ladies guess lantern riddles under the lights for a while. They were about to turn to the other side, but suddenly they saw Liu Kang walking towards them.

The little ladies who were laughing suddenly fell silent and looked at Liu Kang nervously.

However, Liu Kang went straight to Chu Ning, and in front of everyone, he respectfully saluted, and said with a smile, "It seems that I have found His Highness the Crown Princess. The sage is calling His Highness over by the river in front."

Chu Ning was startled, and almost subconsciously grasped Cui He's sleeve. In front of others, she didn't dare to show anything strange, so she could only try her best to stabilize her mind, smiled slightly, and asked, "Please come here in person. Xun, I just don’t know what the saint summons, why?”

The people next to him were also attracted at this time, and when they heard the words, they stopped and waited for Liu Kang's answer. After all, the relationship between the emperor and the prince, but suddenly summoning the prince and concubine alone, is really unbelievable.

Liu Kang calmly said with a smile, "Mrs. Lu Guo is leading Madam Wei to talk to the sage. Madam Wei is skillful and made two lamps herself, one for the sage and the other for the sage. Give it to His Highness, and the saint asked the old slave to invite His Highness to come along and help the little lady Wei put out the lights."

It turned out to be for the little lady of Lu Guogong's family.

Everyone suddenly realized that Mrs. Lu Guo and the Crown Princess have always been on good terms, and the saint also attached great importance to the Duke Lu family, so it is not surprising.

After Chu Ning listened, he also breathed a sigh of relief, and followed Liu Kang to the river bank in front of everyone's eyes.

There were indeed many people gathered there.

Xiao Guoer stood beside Mrs. Xu, holding her hand tightly, and was talking to Xiao Kezhi with her head raised, it seemed that she was trying to overcome the shyness in her heart.

As soon as she heard someone call "His Royal Highness", she immediately turned her eyes away, let go of her mother's hand tightly, and walked towards Chu Ning quickly, smiling and whispering: "His Royal Highness is finally here!"

Chu Ning pinched her red cheeks, but felt that she was a lot more rounded than when she first came to Chang'an. She felt a little relieved and said, "Guo'er made me a lantern, I will come naturally."

As she spoke, she saluted Xiao Kezhi who was not far away, and responded with a faint smile.

There were two older women next to her and said with a smile: "I never imagined that Mrs. Wei is young, and although she doesn't like to talk, she has very good hands. When she gets married in the future, she will definitely be able to make her wedding dress beautiful."

Guo'er's face turned red again, and her body subconsciously leaned towards Chu Ning's side.

Chu Ning quietly stretched out his hand, encouraging him to stroke her back in general.

She pinched the corners of her skirt, but instead of avoiding it out of shyness, she lowered her head and whispered, "Thank you for the praise from the two ladies."

In a short sentence, she can take the initiative to say it, which is much better than when she first came a few months ago.

Mrs. Xu was pleasantly surprised, patted her daughter's head and praised "good boy" in a low voice.

Guo'er's eyes were sparkling, she showed a cute and happy smile, and she pulled Chu Ning aside to watch the lamp she made.

The one given to Chu Ning is a lotus lantern with a green base and a few light pink petals. Although it is not as delicate as other palace lanterns, it can be seen that it is done very carefully. The paste and knots at the joints are extra reinforced by several layers.

The other one is like a fish and like a dragon, long and wide, with a certain style, as if it was given to Xiao Kezhi. The golden scales on the top were all pasted one by one by one's own hands, densely packed, apparently taking several days to complete.

The two watched for a while, and then Xiao Kezhi, who was not talking, walked over slowly and said solemnly, "My niece has come, so let's put on the lights."

He said, took the fire book handed over by the waiter, lit a candle, and then handed the flame to the candle in the lamp to light it.

Chu Ning saw that he was doing it himself, and was about to turn around to retrieve a red candle, but he silently handed the one in his hand.

She stretched out her hand to pick it up, and a little lantern flashed between the two, reflecting a faint gentle halo, making the atmosphere ambiguous.

She couldn't help but quietly raised her head, facing his eyes with two o'clock candlelight and a faint smile.

Her face burned, and she quickly lowered her head as if she had been scalded, turned around holding the red candle, and bent over to light her lotus lantern with her back to him.

But as soon as she saw the lotus lantern, she couldn't help but think of his powerful arms and the scorching hot temperature in the steamy Tangquan Pool that night, and her face turned even redder.

Others couldn't see the ambiguity between the two, but they felt that the uncle and niece were inexplicably strange, and at the same time, they seemed to be in harmony, and they couldn't help but glance at them for a while.

At this time, the prince did not know where to go, and he was not with the princess. But the sage didn't ask, and other people naturally didn't dare to talk too much, they could only wonder in their hearts.

Fortunately, everyone has a sense of proportion. While watching, they laughed and said auspicious words for the occasion, which made the atmosphere very natural.

On the other hand, Guo'er, who was standing closest, looked at the two of them silently, moving his eyes from side to side, as if he wanted to see something.

Mrs. Xu hurriedly came over and pulled her back: "You, you just let go of the lights, but you can't go any more, you have to stay away from the river, and be careful to fall in!"

Guo'er nodded and followed her mother back, but her eyes couldn't help but turn around between the two.

Except for the two chamberlains, there was no one else by the river.

Holding the lamp in his hand, Chu Ning followed Xiao Kezhi half a step, and followed him to the river.

By the flowing water, the two turned their backs to the crowd, bent side by side, and put the lamp in their hands into the water waves.

The slowly advancing water wave brought two lamps further and further away. His lamp was in front, and the end of her lamp was touching the lotus leaf base of hers, which was like a fish playing with lotus leaves. .

While drifting, the two lamps slowly merged into the middle of more and more lanterns downstream, until they could no longer be seen clearly.

The people behind her laughed and cheered, but she heard him whispering in her ear.

"In a while, I will personally show you the lights."