In autumn, when the leaves fall all over the ground and all the trees are bare, the whole of Kyoto looks a little desolate.

After receiving the prince's reply, Grandpa Guo took Feng Ling to the prince's mansion in a carriage.

The Prince's Mansion is not very far from the Zhenguo Mansion, and the time for a carriage and an incense stick has arrived.

With the Imperial City as the center, the Prince's Mansion is on the east side of the Imperial City, and the Zhenguo Mansion is on the west side of the Imperial City. On the eastern side of the land are the palaces of the royal family: the prince's mansion, the prince's mansion, and the princess's mansion.

The Zhenguo Mansion was a reward from Taizu, and later Taizu's daughter, Princess He'an, married the second generation of Zhenguo Gong, because there was no other princess mansion, so Taizu ordered the expansion of the Zhenguo Mansion. From that time on, the Zhenguo Mansion acted cautiously and handed over all the military power. The children of the Zhenguo Mansion have no real power, except for the hereditary first-grade Zhenguo Gong, none of the children have been to the second-grade officials. Later, when he was in Gaozu, he handed over a 50,000-strong Fucheng army to the Duke of Zhenguo. Therefore, the Zhenguo Mansion acted more cautiously, there were no concubines in their mansion, they were afraid of internal fighting, and they never did anything to bully men and women outside. Therefore, the Zhenguo Mansion is the duty in the heart of the emperor, honest in the hearts of the emperor's relatives, timid in the hearts of the nobles, and kind in the hearts of the people.

Now the prince of the country took the dishonest Feng Ling and got out of the carriage in front of the prince's mansion, and was taken to the meeting hall of the prince's guests by the prince's butler who was waiting at the door.

Grandpa Guo whispered in Feng Ling's ear: "Be cautious." Feng Ling nodded.

Grandpa Guo and Feng Ling entered the council hall and saw a young man sitting above the main hall. Grandpa Guo and Feng Ling respectfully bowed and sat on the chair on the left below. Two maids in green clothes and pink skirts came in and quietly retreated after serving tea.

The prince motioned for them to drink tea, and Grandpa Guo tasted the teacup and said, "The best Longjing, elegant and fragrant, endless aftertaste, good tea." The prince nodded: "Yesterday I went to ask the emperor for peace, and Your Majesty rewarded me." ”

Grandpa Guo respectfully bowed his hand in the direction of the imperial city and said: "The emperor loves the prince and benefits Weichen. ”

The prince smiled and did not speak. Grandpa Guo continued: "Bring the little girl to thank the prince for his regeneration. After speaking, he handed over a gift list, and the prince said, "Grandpa Guo is polite." "Take the gift slip and hand it to the butler.

Feng Ling got up and respectfully saluted the prince three times, then retreated and leaned over and half-sat on the chair.

She glanced at the prince and saw his appearance: a tall nose, thin lips, and sword-like eyebrows flying diagonally into a few strands of black hair under the corners of his sideburns. Handsome side face with impeccable facial contours. With a light expression and firm eyes, he showed the momentum of a superior person up and down his body.

The prince nodded at her and said, "Miss Liu doesn't have to be polite, it's just a gesture." ”

He turned his head to Grandpa Guo and said, "The eldest lady of your mansion is quiet and beautiful. He glanced at Feng Ling carefully, he looked twelve or thirteen years old, and his body had not yet grown. The skin is white and delicate, the facial features are upright, and there are a pair of big eyes full of aura. He could foresee that this girl would become a rare beauty in Chang'an City.

Feng Ling looked at the red jade pendant hanging from the prince's waist, she glanced at Zhen Guogong and then looked at the pendant. The crown prince found that Grandpa Guo and Feng Ling showed special attention to his red jade pendant, so he said: "This pendant was given to me by the queen mother, and she said that this thing is very important to me, let me keep it well." In fact, Lone now doesn't know the origin and intention of this pendant. ”

Zhen Guogong got up and arched his hand and said, "Your Highness, I know about this matter, and I want to take the opportunity to tell the prince today, and ask the prince to decide." Hearing this, the prince sat up straight.

He waved everyone away from the council chamber. The prince stood up a little excitedly and said, "Lone has never known the intention of the queen mother to give me the pendant, and Lone doesn't dare to inquire around, for fear of attracting the attention of others." ”

Zhenguo Gong took out a handkerchief from his arms, then carefully opened it layer by layer, and handed it to the prince. The prince stretched out his hand to take it, and said in surprise, "Why is the queen mother's phoenix card here with you?" After she went, I searched her treasury and jewelry cabinet and found it. Because this phoenix card was told to me by the queen mother since I was a child, this is for my future daughter-in-law. I thought it was stolen by the palace people. ”

Zhen Guogong pointed to the pendant around his waist and said, "This pendant belongs to my wife, and it is a dowry gift from our Zhenguo Gong to his wife." ”

The prince was taken aback when he heard this. He looked at Zhen Guogong, and then at Feng Ling, he pointed at Feng Ling and asked, "This is a token of my betrothal from the queen mother?"

Zhen Guogong nodded: "I just heard from the insider about the past last night, the woman is timid, please forgive the prince for the insider who concealed this matter." I heard from insiders that a month before the first queen left, she went to the palace to greet the first queen, and the first queen told her that if my family gave birth to a daughter, I would allow her to be her daughter-in-law. The two of them exchanged tokens on the spot, and that day when they went home, Mrs. fell and gave birth prematurely, and then recuperated for a few months, during which the queen collapsed, she was afraid that the queen did not confess the matter, and the royal family did not recognize this family, so she concealed the matter. Last night I accidentally flipped over this card, and I saw that it was a royal object in the palace, and under questioning, the lady spit out the truth. ”

He continued: "Today I have come to explain this matter to the prince, and I want the prince to decide, if the prince does not admit this family matter, we will exchange it for a token, as if nothing happened." ”

The prince shook his head and said sadly: "The queen mother thinks about me in everything, and she set up a family affair for me before she died, how can I not be filial to ruin this family." He touched and touched the phoenix card lovingly and handed it to Zhen Guogong, who turned around and hung the phoenix card around Feng Ling's neck and instructed: "Ling'er cherish this phoenix card well." ”

The prince looked at Feng Ling: "Don't worry, I will wait patiently for you." ”

Feng Ling got up and was blessed, bowing his head and pretending to be shy. She pretends to be like that, and she can deceive the people she meets.

The crown prince turned around and sat down in his chair and said, "Now that I know that the Guogong Mansion is my father-in-law, I have something to tell you frankly." I am having a difficult time now and in the future, facing many difficulties and crises. We need to be prepared and think of a countermeasure. ”

Grandpa Guo arched his hand and his attitude was extremely sincere: "Our Zhenguo Mansion obeys the prince's drive. ”

"There's no hurry. Take your time and think long-term. ”

Grandpa Guo hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Highness, does the emperor know about the first queen......'s marriage to you?"

The crown prince said expressionlessly: "I'm afraid Your Majesty knows." Otherwise, I have not yet been given a marriage when I am eighteen years old, which is obviously a problem in the royal family of early marriage and early children. I couldn't understand it before, but now I know why he withheld so many letters asking His Majesty to give me marriage. Today, he finally figured out what he couldn't figure out in his previous life: why he has not been able to get married, why the Zhenguo Mansion will be implicated, and why the Zhenguo Gong's Miss Yan will marry a poor family.

His father knew that his mother had assigned him a marriage and exchanged tokens. If he gives himself a marriage in front of him who doesn't know about it, then once the Zhenguo Gong takes out the token to explain, he will fall into an unrighteous predicament and will be pointed out by the world. So he pretended not to know, waiting for Zhenguo Gong to make a decision, he looked forward to Zhen Guogong seeing that he had not recognized this marriage, and he might find another family for his daughter, and then the emperor would give him another marriage. And the Zhenguo Mansion is afraid that if there is a marriage contract and another marriage, it will implicate other high-ranking families and make enemies, so they will find a husband who has the ability and no family background for their daughter.

He didn't know why the Zhenguo Mansion was different from the previous life, and in this life, he took out the token early and let him know about it. He remembered that in his previous life, the emperor concealed this matter, and only when the Zhenguo Mansion married his daughter did he point out a family to himself. And the fiancée that his mother pointed out to him married someone else and was killed. Thinking about this, he was angry, if he hadn't been reborn, he wouldn't have the face to see his mother.

He said: "This is not known in advance, so that someone can take advantage of it." I tried to find a way to open and admit it, and set the marriage earlier, in case there were too many dreams at night. ”

Feng Ling saw that the two of them were talking about family affairs related to him, pretending to be shy, and kept lowering his head and pretending to be a lady.

Wang Jinghong looked at Feng Ling's well-behaved and obedient appearance, and was a little worried about whether she could withstand the ups and downs of being with him in the future.