Zhou Ying's heart sank slightly, Zhou Huan said about the speculation about the eldest prince Zhou Lian, of course Zhou Ying also thought about it, but now is not the time to grow other people's ambition and destroy her own prestige, she only shook her head and sighed: "How can I sympathize with my sister you, I admire you." ”

Zhou Huan's eyes were suspicious, and he didn't believe that Zhou Ying would praise her.

"Let's open the skylight today and say something, you hate me, of course I know. But if you want to say that you have been thinking about your cousin all these years, purely to get revenge on me, I will never believe it again. Zhou Ying said this, and Yibi also clarified her thoughts, her eyes were a little complicated, "You obviously have ladylike thoughts about your cousin, obviously as long as you wait, when I marry as you wish, you can kill two birds with one stone, in addition to me, the thorn in the eye, and get your sweetheart." But I really didn't expect you to be so cruel to yourself for the sake of future trouble. ”

"Ruthless?" Zhou Huan clenched his fists and sneered, "If I can nail you to death, what is the price of this?" ”

"Indeed, the sixth sister is only half a year older than me, if I don't plan early, if the situation changes, I will be arrested and taken to the top post to marry outside the Saiwai, wouldn't it be a counter-erosion to steal chickens?" Zhou Ying even nodded in understanding, "But there is one thing that I haven't figured out." ”

Zhou Huan lifted his chin, "What?" ”

Zhou Ying said with a sincere face: "I admit that you are in this palace, and your scheming methods are excellent, but after all, you don't have the ability to reach out to the court." No matter who it is, if you say that the Western Turks chose me and your relatives, the sixth sister doesn't have to be too excited, this matter may indeed make you revenge, but it is not you who contributed at all, don't you feel embarrassed that the sixth sister put gold on her face like this? ”

Zhou Huan was furious, but the moment she blurted out, she suddenly came to her senses, "You are tricking my words." ”

Zhou Ying sighed in her heart, the opportunity cannot be lost, and it will not come again, but she still tried: "What? ”

Seeing that Zhou Ying was still pretending to be stupid, Zhou Huan calmed down more, "I know you want to find out who and what methods you used to make you fall into such a dilemma." That's how you can get the right medicine and deal with it, isn't it? ”

Zhou Huan took a step forward, so close that she could almost count Zhou Ying's eyelashes, she lowered her voice, and the voice seemed to come from hell, "But you think, I hate you so much, I wish you were at the end of the road, and you couldn't turn over for the rest of your life." Do you say that in this case, I will be lightly provoked by you and say the key to getting you out? Zhou Huan sneered and said word by word, "Don't dream." ”

As soon as she heard this, Zhou Ying knew that she couldn't find out anything more, so she would no longer waste time with Zhou Huan.

Actually, Zhou Ying had a rough guess in her heart, but it was difficult to say it, so Zhou Huan was on guard, so she simply didn't say her guess, and just said: "Since that's the case, I won't delay the time of the sixth sister." It is not far away, and it is easy to walk all the way. ”

Seeing that Zhou Ying drove people away unceremoniously, Zhou Huan held back the fire in his heart.

But Zhou Huan thought about it, at this time Zhou Ying was already at the end of his rope, and this struggle before dying was regarded as watching the Western scenery.

Thinking about it like this, Zhou Huan didn't care, and even said generously: "Then I'll take my leave, my sister might as well take stock of the treasury these days and prepare a dowry. ”

Zhou Ying didn't care about the malice in these words, waved her hand at Zhou Huan, and entered the mansion, leaving Zhou Huan alone.

As soon as Zhou Ying returned home, she was assigned to let everyone start from several aspects and go to find out the news.

Before the curfew, Huang Qian and others returned home, but the news they brought back was not optimistic.

The first is the circumference.

Although Zhou Huan mentioned the eldest prince Zhou Lian before, he was sowing discord, but he also reminded Zhou Ying. Zhou Huan has always been openly and secretly compared with Zhou Ying, no matter what Zhou Ying has, he wants to snatch it from her, Xu Hong is an example. And Zhou Ying is good friends with the eldest prince Zhou Lian, and Zhou Huan may have deliberately dug into this corner, but between her and Zhou Lian, the alliance relationship is more than brother and sister. Zhou Huan's methods may not be able to impress Zhou Lian.

And letting Zhou Ying marry far away will undoubtedly cut off one of Zhou Lian's arms, which will greatly weaken the strength of Zhou Lian's side. The current Zhou Lian has not yet reached the stage of cooking the cunning rabbit and dead lackey, so it won't be him. And from the perspective of who benefits more once this matter is done, Zhou Huan's helper is very likely to be the second prince Zhou Yan. Zhou Huan and Zhou Yan, one looked at Zhou Ying unpleasantly, and the other looked at Zhou Lian unpleasantly, but they could hit it off.

Sure enough, judging from the news that came back from the inquiry, Zhou Huan did have a close relationship with Zhou Yan during this period of time, and it was Zhou Huan who took the initiative to show Zhou Yan goodwill. This is also in line with Zhou Ying's guess. Although Zhou Ying has not given Zhou Lian advice in recent years, the Quyuan plough and the salt drying method have indirectly increased the weight for Zhou Lian. Zhou Yan has wooed, calculated, and suppressed Zhou Ying, but he has never resorted to such a heavy method of backhouse traces. If it is Zhou Huan's plan, it is not difficult to understand.

So the second thing to inquire about is Zhou Yan's whereabouts.

Zhou Yan was in the Ministry of Rites, and he was one of the people in charge of receiving the Western Turkic envoys this time.

Zhou Yan put down the prince's shelf and personally accompanied Ashina Jimang to visit the theater and go down to the Qinglou...... With Zhou Yan controlling the situation on the side, coupled with his flexible coping skills, after a few days, Ashinaji recklessly provoked trouble, or the number of troubles on the table decreased sharply, and the two also hooked up and became friends who traveled hand in arm with each other every day.

Ashina Ji recklessly goes out early and returns late every day, busy looking for fun, without contacting other royal families, important ministers in the court, and even without any positive contact with Zhou Ying himself, he actually fell in love with Zhou Ying and the princess at a glance.

In the end, what Zhou Ying was most concerned about was the reaction of the emperor and even the adults in the court after Ashina Ji Mang's meeting.

Although there is a precedent for harmony in this dynasty, and the successive princesses and princesses have not lived long, the eldest princess of Pingxi is not enough to be compared with the princesses, and there is more than the bottom. But there is one point, this Ren and the princess is the emperor's own sister, when the first emperor married to the Western Turks, the emperor can only watch his sister marry a foreigner, and now the emperor has inherited the throne, and the eldest princess of Pingxi died unclear, does the emperor want to seek justice for his sister?

As always, the ministers of the DPRK and China were divided into two factions, the main battle and the main peace, and they quarreled fiercely, but the emperor did not say a word......

As soon as the door of the Fang opened the next day, Zhou Ying set off and entered the palace, and didn't care about going up to the inner study, so she directly asked Su Zhi to take leave with her master, and came to Weiyang Palace to wait. At this time, the front was still in the upper court, Zhou Ying waited for a long time, and finally dispersed in front of the court and saw the emperor.

Since the emperor is still willing to see her, it can be seen that there is still room for things to turn around.

So Zhou Ying also put down her mind, first asked the emperor to say goodbye, talked about it for a short time, and even in order not to disgust the emperor, she also brought a box of custard crisp. Because the custard crisp had already been tasted by the eunuch who tried it, Zhou Ying personally took out the custard crisp, brought it to the front of the case, and said with a smile: "My father got up early in the morning to go to court, and he should be hungry after half a day of hard work, right?" It just so happened that I got up early today and cooked a custard cake myself, can my father try it? ”

As for why Zhou Ying got up so early, the emperor naturally knew it. Seeing that Zhou Ying was still so filial, the emperor couldn't help but feel ashamed, and naturally had nothing to do with Zhou Ying's request, so he reached out and took a piece of custard crisp and tasted it, "This custard crisp was delivered in time, and I happened to be hungry." ”

Zhou Ying saw that the emperor was so accommodating, and her heart was slightly relieved, but after the emperor tasted the custard crisp, she talked about it for a long time, but she didn't say a word about the matter of harmony, and her heart couldn't help but sink. Obviously, that bit of guilt is only limited to guilt, and when the emperor takes the initiative to mention it, it is no longer possible, so Zhou Ying can only take the initiative to speak.

"Father, I heard that the Western Turks proposed marriage and mentioned me,......" Zhou Ying bit her lip and said, "Is this matter serious?" Although I opened a mansion, I was lazy and rarely went out, so how did the Western Turkic envoys know about me? Is there something wrong? ”

"It's true." The emperor sighed, but he didn't say anything, "I heard that I heard about your reputation among the people." ”

"My reputation?" Zhou Ying sensitively heard the faint blame in these words, she bit her lip, didn't delve into it, just talked about the matter, "Father, do you believe this?" Among our sisters, I am a little out of line, but the gentleness and filial piety of the sixth sister and the beauty of the eighth sister are ...... Which one has not been famous among the people? How can I be able to attract the pity and favor of the Western Turks? ”

For Zhou Ying's words almost clearly pointed out that someone framed her, the emperor may not have no doubts in his heart.

But the Western Turks are watching from the sidelines, and now is far from the time to pursue them. What's more, the Western Turks have already put forward candidates, what else can Da Chen do and ask the Western Turks to be replaced? If Da Chen has this confidence, wouldn't it be better not to marry the princess directly?

The emperor closed his eyes, suddenly changed the subject, and asked, "Do you know the last princess Heqin, the eldest princess of Pingxi?" ”

Zhou Ying's heart sank, and the emperor avoided answering, which had already shown his inclination. But at this time, Zhou Ying couldn't force the emperor to nod, so she could only barely keep up with the emperor's train of thought, and replied: "I know, she is my imperial aunt, my father's own sister." ”

The emperor's eyes Liao Yuan looked out of the window and recalled: "I was just an unfavored prince back then, and I depended on my sister for my life, and when she was selected by the emperor and married to the Western Turks, I couldn't do anything except hug my sister and cry. I swore that if I came to power one day, I would bring my sister back. Those barbarians who dare to rob me of my sister, I must beat them back to the grassland. ”

Zhou Ying faintly understood the emperor's intentions, and her heart sank, "Later, my father ascended the throne, and Aunt Pingxi never returned to the capital. ”

The emperor's eyes fell on the jade seal in the upper right corner of the bookcase, "Ordered by the sky, both longevity and eternal prosperity", the majestic imperial power, in fact, it is nothing more than that, his eyes are complicated, "Yes, when I ascend the throne as the emperor, I know that even if I am the son of heaven, many times I have to compromise." ”

The emperor added: "Da Chen's annual taxes are spent on the army, but he has never won even a big victory in a frontal battle with the Western Turks. Occasionally getting a squad and beheading more than a dozen Turkic bandit leaders is already a great victory, and I can't wait to be added to the knighthood immediately. You say, how can I argue with the Western Turks and get them to return my sister? ”

Zhou Ying closed her eyes and asked, "So did my father choose to break the oath of the year?" ”

The emperor was stung by these words, "Xiao Qi! ”

Zhou Ying was not frightened by the emperor's angry shouts, she looked at the emperor, "Father, if time comes back, when Aunt Pingxi is facing a distant marriage to the Turks, the father is already in power, will the father marry Aunt Pingxi to the Turks because of the situation?" ”

The emperor listened to Zhou Ying's calm words, looked at this daughter who had always won his favor, the beautiful face as before, the despair and pleading with the last trace of hope in the calm, and the blood that was enraged cooled down little by little.

For a moment, the emperor was helpless and disheartened.

Back then, he couldn't save the royal sister, and he could shirk that he didn't have the ability to protect it, but now that he has this ability, he still has to watch his beloved daughter go. The emperor slowly sat down and said discouragedly: "Yes, even if I do it all over again, I will still marry the imperial sister." ”

As soon as these words came out, it was as if something was shattered in an instant.

Zhou Ying smiled softly, "Okay, I see." Zhou Ying left her seat, bowed deeply to the emperor, and then got up and left without saying a word.