On the fifth day of the first month of March, the lights in Lianyun City were lit up to welcome the birthday of King Sheng Fuyu of Yue.

Nan'an is located on the coast, the climate is hot and humid all year round, the girls in the streets and alleys have changed into light Luo shirts, holding baskets to the market to buy silk fabrics. This is the custom of the Yue royal palace in the past dynasties, and the princess will send people to collect purse sachets from the people on the birthday of the lord and display them to the guests at the birthday banquet to show the love of the people.

In previous years, many people came back from the banquet, and the South China Sea was very far away from Fanjing, and the emperor couldn't control coming here, so the local officials of Yuanping, Qining and Nan'an would diligently send big gifts and take care of their careers.

In the palace house, Mrs. Zhang looked at the long list and had a headache. She was born in a small family, and she had never been exposed to such a big errand, but fortunately, the prince's heart was not at the birthday banquet, otherwise she would not have taken the lead.

She has an unstable fetus, but in order to fight for a virtuous reputation in front of the prince, she can do anything. In previous years, it was taken care of by the princess of Yue, but now that the princess is missing, the house claims that the main mother is unwell, and the big banquet is imminent, and there must be a female family to handle it. The concubine next to the prince died early, and she finally conceived a child, which is the time to be favored, and it is too much of a loss not to strike while the iron is hot. If you do this time, there will be the next time...... At that time, the position of the princess is not impossible. Mrs. Zhang saw in her eyes that the Yuan family was not as important to the prince as it was back then, and a woman without an heir, even if she got it back, she couldn't fight with her!

"Madam, don't complain, there are half fewer people attending the banquet this year than last year!"

The personal maid smiled and served her the fetal pill, and blew on the silver spoon.

Mrs. Zhang stared at the list and frowned, "Put it first, change my clothes, and go to the front yard early." ”

As soon as the words fell, firecrackers exploded in the distance, crackling and hilarious.

Her stomach was very uncomfortable stimulated by the loud noise, and she didn't want to drink it anymore when she saw the bitter decoction, so she relied on her own strength, added some rouge and left the small building.

Guests came in from the main entrance, greeting and flattering endlessly, and the housekeepers and maidservants were busy like ants moving on a rainy day. Five or six out of ten of these people are local officials, wearing jade pendants around their waists and flying birds on their shoulders, for fear that they will be humiliated by those who do not have long eyes if they wear low-key clothes.

The banquet is set in the garden, rockery and flowing water, pavilion and stone bridge, and the exquisite layout naturally attracts praise from everyone. The king of Yue is dressed in a solemn green robe, the dragon is on both shoulders, Zong Yi is wrapped around his sleeves, and the gold ornaments on the nine crowns are extraordinarily majestic. His facial features are upright, and his face is particularly young, with only the gray hair on his sideburns showing a little bit of age.

Mrs. Zhang was wearing a sandal-colored palace skirt, her makeup was gentle and decent, she sat down next to King Yue with her bulging lower abdomen, and looked at the audience with a smile.

The unhesitating praise speech poured into his ears like a burst of water, and King Yue's bad mood for many days faded away, and he frowned, and took Mrs. Zhang to toast to the guests. The flute sound is clear, and the dancers dance with the soft silk and bamboo sound, and the pink goose yellow skirt occupies half of the spring color of Lianyun.

"Yes, yes!"

King Yue stroked his palms and laughed, Mrs. Zhang saw that he always looked at the leading dancer, and her nails scratched his palms intentionally or unintentionally.

After a tour of wine, the song and dance temporarily retreated, and officials and merchants from all over the country presented gifts in the order of the list. The red coral, the crystal the size of a pigeon's egg, the tightly packed pen and ink sealed in a red box, were sent from the garden to the storehouse, and some people sent horses and peacocks and other animals, all of which were sent to the newly renovated Fubei Garden.

The detention of Ling Jieyu's Bao Youxuan was completely burned, and King Yue had to ask the craftsmen to rush to work, dig the pond and dig the ground, and complete it before the birthday banquet. Thinking of this, he rose up again, they were all Yuan's family! They had been relatives for 20 years, not only did his wife run away, but the prisoners who were heavily guarded were also let go, how could he not be told not to be like thunder!

The steward's eyes were sharp, and seeing that the master's face was cloudy, he bowed down to the stage and said a few words in his ear. King Yue's eyes lit up, and he said loudly:

"Please!"

Mrs. Zhang covered her lips and smiled: "Who is it, look at the husband who is happy." ”

King Yue said twice, "I have worked hard for you today, this is the last gift, after you send it up, you will go down with the maid to rest, and the rest of the etiquette will be with the children." ”

Mrs. Zhang rarely saw him so considerate, presumably the person who gave the gift was very important to the prince. She took a sip of tea, it was too hot, and she sat in the garden for a long time, even if someone fanned her for shade, it was still getting more and more uncomfortable.

On the stone path of the garden, several dart masters carried several large red and gold painted chests, and walked to the middle of the field, followed by the guard-like people.

King Yue stood up directly, his eyebrows widened: "You have come all the way from the capital, this king is really honored!"

The guests who were full of drinks were all surprised, and there were actually people in the capital who came to celebrate their birthdays? The gatherings in the Yue Palace, which had always been talked about by locals, were the first time in recent years that they had met such a big lord. Having said that, now that Nan'an and the capital are on the same page, who is so bold under the nose of the Son of Heaven?

The guards, who had no swords, all stood in front of the screen, and one of them said respectfully:

"The shop that Lord Xie booked in the capital added some fashionable incense and clothing and jewelry to the princess, wife and county lord, hoping that the prince would accept it with a smile. ”

There was a faint fragrance wafting in the air, and Mrs. Zhang sniffed a few times, but suddenly covered her mouth and nose and retched, and the maid hurriedly offered a special plaster and applied it to her temples.

King Yue was hesitant in his heart, but he walked down the steps enthusiastically, pointed to the box and said with a smile: "Look at it, this Lord Xie is obviously a martial artist, and he also gave these delicate women's things!"

The guests immediately agreed, and they all searched their stomachs to think about which adult surnamed Xie was a high-ranking military attache in the capital.

"This king originally invited Lord Xie to come to live in the cold house, but he didn't have time to come as a guest after he arrived in Nan'an. Today, I invited him, but I didn't see any other figure, it's really unfair!"

The guards bent down to plead guilty, and said, "Lord Xie commanded, he will not be absent from the prince's birthday banquet, but he is really suffering from the fact that his comrades here in Nan'an are too hospitable, and he can't get out at the moment." If the prince can't forgive him, let him take the blame in front of everyone later. ”

King Yue nodded frequently, and he asked the lord to pretend to be sick and travel thousands of miles to Chuzhou to meet, because there were still some remnants of the Lu clan in the south who had cut off their military status, so he deliberately asked him to collect them along the road. It was originally what he requested, but now that the other party can't catch up, how can there be any reason to criticize others?

So he said happily: "Everyone, sit down, I can't let you go up to the peak to know that this king has neglected his subordinates." ”

Mrs. Zhang hurriedly interjected: "Lord Wang, the birthday gifts of all the adults have been inspected one by one, and this last one must be very different." There are few rare guests in the capital, and people said that we looked down on him as a courtesy, so they carried it directly to the warehouse. ”

Just open a box and take a look, thinking that it is a woman's house to taste fresh, King Yue looked at the curious looks of his daughters, and raised his hand. In fact, he didn't care what he was pretending to, he was very satisfied with this heart, after all, not every ally was willing to spend money on this pile of priceless treasures.

Although the guards were tired all morning, they were also full of energy, and introduced: "The first box is the most famous spice cake and incense powder in Fanjing, and ten ivory incense tubes, fifteen silver smoked balls, and twenty jade makeup boxes are presented, the second box is a summer skirt made of ice silk, and the back box is gold and jade jewelry. ”

The ladies were overjoyed, and Mrs. Zhang watched comfortably as the master opened the first box, ready to open her eyes, and the two rows of guests also put down their wine glasses, their eyes shining.

The box is very large, almost enough for one person, and I don't know how many precious incense cakes and utensils are contained in it.

"Bang!" the lock popped open, and the heavy incense mixed with the strange and familiar smell rushed out like a floodgate in an instant.

"Ahh

The burly dart master was so frightened that he fell to the ground, and his eyes were as big as copper bells: "This-this, this......"

The guards were pale, and they shouted tremblingly: "Xie, Lord Xie!"

"Box ...... There's a hand hanging from the box!" I don't know who shouted hoarsely, knocked down the porcelain bottle with a bang, and poured the wine all over the ground.

King Yue seemed to have been knocked on a stick, and staggered a few steps closer to the smell of blood, only to see a long box placed in the red box, the lid was gone, a red ribbon was tied to the inside of the buckle, and a miserable white arm with only a tattoo was tied!

A sober guest recognized the tattoo with its unique shape: "Xie Lou, the commander of the city and the south of the city, is Lord Xie of the Soldiers and Horses Division of the Five Cities of Fanjing!"

"Madame!"

The maid's piercing scream of panic echoed on the banquet, and King Yue knew that it was not good, so he hurriedly turned around - Mrs. Zhang was supported by two maids on the left and right, and the person had fainted, and a bright red blood stain meandered out under her body, and the ladies were faint and crying, and they were in a mess.

King Yue was furious: "Quick! Quickly pass on the good doctor! If the child can't be saved, throw it all out to the king to feed the dog!"

He gasped a few times and slapped his palm on the edge of the box, the hand trembling mockingly.

"No one is allowed to leave the house!"

The birthday banquet turned into a farce in the snap of a finger, and the shocked birthday officials and businessmen were dragged to the backyard to search their bodies before they could wake up from their wine, and dozens of guards appeared in the garden of singing and dancing, drawing out their swords and guarding in all directions.

The guard from the capital viciously grabbed the collar of the dart master: "What's the matter!"

The unboxing dart master stammered, "Little ones...... The little ones swore that they had never opened it! The box had only been removed from the outer linen cloth in the carriage when it entered the city, and it had been carried from the gate of the city to the money house for storage! I went with the adults this morning to get it, and you know it!"

King Yue pressed his throbbing temples, "...... Money?"

The guard said sadly: "Because of the secrecy of the so-and-so, I arrived in the capital before Lord Xie, and the lord was afraid that it would be too ostentatious, so I arranged a money village in Lianyun and let the so-and-so place the birthday gift." ”

The contents of the box were neatly built according to the shape and size, and the stumps were originally packed in the box, and when they were opened, they would be pulled up by ribbons to intimidate onlookers. King Yue stabilized his mind, endured his nausea and carefully examined the box, and as expected, found the lid of the box stuck between the gaps between the two mutton fat jade makeup boxes.

"Take it out. ”

The guards did as they were told, and found that a red ribbon was also tied to the lid, and a purse was dangling.

It is the kind of carefully sewn purse that the princess collects from the folk at the birthday banquet of the Yue Wangfu every year.

King Yue made a gesture, the guard swallowed his saliva, pulled open the silk rope at the mouth of the bag, and the two round bones rolled down.

Rao is dart masters who have seen blood are also stunned.

Bloody, black beads...... Eye.

Xie Lou's eyes were lying on a box of extravagant spice jars, staring at them coldly.

King Yue shook his hand and snatched the purse, and a note dyed with incense and blood fell out of the opening, and the snow-white paper was secretly engraved with auspicious cloud lines, which was specially written for people to write a name card when giving gifts.

"Since Master Xie didn't come with you, how did you receive the instructions?" he said with hatred word by word.

"Letter, last night my lord sent us a letter, yes, it was in his handwriting, handwriting. ”

The incense in the box had covered the stale corpse gas, and the arms had begun to dry up after special treatment, at least for more than a day.

King Yue threw the note in their faces: "Rice bucket!

The guards took it, their faces blue and white, and they were dumbfounded.

The words on the note were very sloppy, only a short line, exactly like the secret letter they received yesterday, but the content was full of malice:

——I wish Uncle Wang a long life than Nanshan. Yun Yi respectfully.