Shen Yu has always been curious about this Xu Chengping, but when she saw the real person at this time, she felt that what she said was true.

Different from the ruthlessness hidden in King Wei's smile and the mediocrity of the prince clearly written on his face, although the fifth prince rarely appears in front of people, and does not have the scenery of the two elder brothers, but there is more openness between the eyebrows and eyes, and now the true feelings are revealed, although there are still tears on the face, there is no lack of perseverance.

Xu Yan paused and held his shoulder, but there was no comfort, "It's this morning, Concubine Xu can't let go there, you go back first." Wait for the day of the big funeral, and then go to see you Brother Wei Wang. ”

"Does it matter to my father?" Xu Chengping tilted his head slightly.

Concubine Xu is not favored, and he rarely gets the care of Emperor Huiping, although he is in the same palace, he rarely meets, and the relationship between father and son has always been thin. However, at this time, the young man's eyebrows and eyes were full of concern and anxiety that could not be hidden.

Xu Yan thought about it, "He is in the Chengqian Palace, if you are worried, go over and say hello." ”

Watching Xu Chengping drift away, Shen Yu couldn't help but look at Xu Yan at the beginning of the film, "His Highness likes him very much?" ”

"How?"

"The emperor is newly experiencing the pain of losing his son, and he must hope to be comforted at this time. The concubine can't count on it, if the prince comes over, I'm afraid that this juncture will provoke the emperor to have other thoughts, but it is better to go over with the five highnesses who have no quarrel with the world, and maybe they can comfort the emperor. ”

"That's the plan." Xu Yan never went around in circles with Shen Yan.

Shen Yu sighed, "It's just that the King of Wei and the crown prince have made trouble with this step, I don't know if it will involve the Fifth Highness." ”

"Cheng Ping was born in the royal family, and there are some things that should be borne by him." Xu Yan turned around, the figure of the young man had already disappeared into the corner, and he muttered, "After all, he is fifteen years old." ”

When the two of them arrived at Yongfu Palace, Concubine Cui was not too sad, but just wiped her tears and said a few words of pity, and there was nothing else to say.

The next day, Emperor Huiping summoned Yousi to the palace to discuss matters, and appointed Dali Siqing, Shangshu of the Criminal Department and others to thoroughly investigate the matter, and on the premise of not delaying the funeral of King Wei, find out the causes and consequences of King Wei's suicide.

Then there were many theories presented in front of Emperor Huiping - in the case of the death of Jiang Ge Lao, there were actually faint traces of the crown prince; Later, most of the charges of corruption and bribery borne by King Wei were also fabricated by the prince, and the king of Wei was asked to carry the black cauldron.

The ups and downs made people panic, and Emperor Huiping may have felt guilty about the death of King Wei, and punished the prince to close the palace and repent for half a year as a punishment.

When Xu Yan got these news, there was no longer much turmoil in his heart.

Emperor Huiping has always downplayed the crimes of the crown prince, and he will deal with it in this way, and he does not expect it. It's just that it is inevitable that people feel cold, that self-obsession is better than the government and the world, better than family lovers, and the brother he used to rely on the most is no longer what he was at the beginning.

The news about Cui Zhan has also been found one after another, but it is very difficult and confusing.

After calming down and thinking about the past six months from the death of Jiang Ge Lao to the death of King Wei, Xu Yan was extremely sure that someone was behind the tricksters. The most suspicious is the Marquis of Ningyuan's Mansion, but Xu Yan has never been able to guess the reason behind this-

Even if the eldest princess of Leyang has more friendship with Prince Zhaoming than Emperor Huiping, what good will it do her if she killed King Wei, made the prince snub, and secretly colluded with Ye Qin?

However, he could only temporarily suppress these things in his heart, and did not dare to investigate deeply. On the day of King Wei's death, Emperor Huiping's subtle change of attitude Xu Yan had a full view, knowing that this brother was extremely suspicious, Xu Yan did not dare to act rashly at this time, so as not to provoke a commotion in vain.

King Wei died, the crown prince was banned, and even the usually restless courtiers were suddenly much more honest, the water above the court was not prosperous, and the concubine and the queen were also alive there.

In the blink of an eye, it was September weather, and after the August sun, the clouds in Emperor Huiping's heart seemed to disappear.

Previously, he was stimulated by the death of King Wei, and he was very attentive in court and politics for a while, but now he seems to be exhausted, and gradually reverts to his usual appearance, alchemy, taking medicine, lecturing and sitting, the only thing that can provoke his enthusiasm seems to be the nine-story platform-

According to the description in the so-called "Tongxuan Sutra", the foundation has already been built, but the nine layers above it are made of all the best agarwood. Even if the court comprador had countless money in his hands to dispatch, how could the wood used to build a nine-story platform with agarwood be collected in just a few months?

So the squire of the Ministry of Industry was ordered to supervise in person, and the labor and wealth caused the government and the opposition to discuss things like boiling, but Emperor Huiping didn't care.

With such an emperor, Xu Yan is also powerless, fortunately, after his conquest in the past few years, the border is still safe, Xu Yan originally wanted to take Shen Yu to Mobei to see, considering the suspicion of Emperor Huiping, he could only give up, only go to the "Four Library Canon" from time to time, and the rest of the time will be with Shen Yu to do the things of the library.

It seems that the wind and waves in the capital are calm, but when you experience it carefully, there seems to be an undercurrent.

On the day of Chongyang, Emperor Huiping took advantage of the joy of the festival to release the prince early.

When Xu Yan heard the news, he was still indifferent, and he was at ease to be his idle prince, and took Shen Yu to see all the scenery near the capital.

September 18 was the birthday of the crown prince Xu Chengen, and after he had shrunk for a long time, he was now a little nervous. The king of Wei has long since collapsed and died, and now no one can threaten his position in the East Palace, and the joy has accumulated for several months and has nowhere to release, so he set up a banquet on this day, called inviting people to appreciate chrysanthemums and crabs, which is actually a bit of a celebration.

The banquet was held in the Liuqiao Garden outside the capital.

Liuqiao Garden is surrounded by mountains and rivers, the terrain is open, and the surrounding is full of chrysanthemums, and the scenery is good in this season.

Xu Yan and Shen Yan were naturally invited, and the husband and wife entered hand in hand, and after arriving in the hall, they divided the seats for men and women, and each had fun.

The matter of Shen Yu's last confrontation with the eldest princess Huazhen in the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion had already spread in private, after all, everyone was afraid of Xu Yan's power and cold reputation, and seeing that he was so kind to this princess, they naturally did not dare to despise him. After Shen Yu entered the table, although she met Huo Zongqing's mother and daughter again, she was still safe.

After three rounds of drinking, it is singing and dancing, although the prince is mediocre, but he is particularly talented in these things of singing and dancing for fun, and the dance music in the house is mostly directed by him personally, which is very interesting.

Shen Yu listened to the music with her eyes closed, and suddenly heard Shi Nan softly calling "Princess" behind her ears, so she opened her eyes and asked, "What?" ”

"Princess, look-" Shi Nannu pointed to the woman playing the pipa in the middle, "That person, is it Xue Ning?" ”

"Xue Ning?" Shen Yan didn't hear this name for a long time, but she was stunned for a moment, and then looked at it, only to see that Le Ji was dressed in a crimson gauze dress, with fragrant shoulders half exposed, and a faint waist.

That face is naturally very familiar, but at that time, Xue Ning was still the daughter of an official family, and the gold hairpins and silver ornaments on her head were also delicately dressed. However, now it is coated with Zhu Dan on the mouth, the face is thick powder, and the half-exposed fragrant shoulders can even see the bandeau embroidered with peony patterns.

Her decoration was different from the old ones, and if it weren't for the fact that her facial features were still the same, it would have been like a different person—from delicate and lovely to seductive, her eyebrows lowered and her face expressionless.

"Didn't she go to the workshop, why is she here again?" It was rare to meet an old acquaintance in Luling City, and Shi Nan couldn't help but be curious.

Shen Yu raised her head slightly, and the master and servant whispered, "Xue Wanrong offended the prince, and Xue Ning is probably deliberately 'taken care of', so he didn't see it." ”

Shi Nan nodded, "It's pitiful to look at." ”

yes, poor. But who is to blame? If it weren't for Xue Wanrong's many evils, how could Xue Ning end up where she is now?

The master and servant stopped talking, but Huo Zongqing on the opposite side glanced over here from time to time, swept Xue Ning's body, and then smiled at Shen Yan, the meaning was self-evident.

Shen Yan felt strange. It is said that when Huo Zongqing came to Luling, the Xue family had already fallen, and she had not seen Xue Ning, but looking at the situation today, she knew Xue Ning. Shen Yu has been the princess for half a year, and her tone and momentum have long been different from the little girl in Luling City, and when she saw Huo Zongqing's eyes with a smile, she raised her eyes to look at her.

His eyes were very steady, as if he could penetrate the crowd and go straight to Huo Zongqing, tepidly, but faintly warned.

Huo Zongqing suffered the loss last time, although he cursed Shen Yan seven or eight hundred times in his heart, he still unconsciously restrained himself at this time. She didn't dare to argue with Shen Yan openly, her eyes turned, but she ran to the eldest princess of Leyang.

The eldest princess of Leyang naturally smiled gently, and talked to Huo Zongqing while serving vegetables.

Huo Zongqing had no scruples, pointing at Xue Ning for a while, and Shen Yu for a while, pointing and pointing so much.

The eldest princess of Leyang must have been moved by her, her face showed a surprised color, and she occasionally glanced at Shen Fei, although it was not obvious, but when Shen Yan was paying attention, she could still feel the gaze.

Knowing that Huo Zongqing must be saying bad things behind his back again, Shen Yan almost wanted to laugh.

As soon as the song was played, those Le Ji wanted to retreat after saluting, but Huo Zongqing said loudly: "Is there someone named Xue Ning here?" Her voice was crisp, striking in the quiet of the moments when the music had paused.

Xue Ning Huo Ran raised his head and looked at Huo Zongqing following the voice, his face puzzled.

Huo Zongqing was calm, "I heard that you play the pipa very well, and the eldest princess of Leyang wants to hear you play a song alone, are you willing?" ”

"It is a blessing for a servant to be able to play the pipa for Her Royal Highness the eldest princess." Xue Ning curtsied.

Such scenes are of course common, and there are wonderful people at the banquet, and it is not a matter of giving some reward or summoning another person. Huo Zong was upright, and then looked at Shen Yan, "I don't know if Princess Duan has heard Xue Ning's pipa before, do you want to enjoy it with the eldest princess?" ”