In the silence of the mountains and forests, the sound of horses' hooves trampling on the bluestone road can be heard far away, Xiao Shiyi sat quietly in the carriage, ignoring the resentful gaze of the maid in the same car. Her mind was blank at the moment, not only the past, but also the expectations for the future seemed to be thrown away in the palace.

The deep palace has been struggling for more than ten years, and her wish is to be able to leave the court, but once she leaves, her heart is even more confused, and the road ahead is shrouded in a thick smoke, so that she has no idea whether her choice is right or not. I don't even know if it was too hasty to make a choice to break away from the protection of the crown princess and enter the prince of Zhou after only looking at the token that the man handed over to his younger brother.

At that time, Xiao Shiyi faintly knew that she was willing to take the risk and agree to King Zhou, all because of the unwillingness in her heart. is unwilling to live under others, unwilling to marry a husband casually, and then live an ordinary and ordinary life. Following the crown princess, she will never be able to enter the eyes of the prince, and the best ending she can get is to be a female official in the East Palace, and always grovel to the hostess. She wants to be a master; wants to make those who have treated her badly pay the price; I want to live a life of fine clothes and food......

"Sister......" A hesitant male voice sounded outside the carriage.

Xiao Shiyi realized that the carriage had stopped, and even the maids in the carriage had disappeared.

Seeing that there was no reaction in the carriage, Xiao Zisu tentatively raised his voice slightly, "Sister! ”

Xiao Shiyi lifted the curtain suddenly, her eyes fell on the handsome man who was both familiar and unfamiliar next to the car, her eyes gradually blurred, her throat moved, and she called in a trembling voice: "Ah Qi......"

Xiao Zisu's eyes were red, and he pounced very excitedly, "Yes, it's me, Sister ......"

Xiao Shiyi didn't know when, but he also threw himself to the side of the car and held his brother's hand tightly. The two held hands and looked at each other, silent, only tears.

King Zhou, who stood aside and watched for a long time, coughed lightly, "Congratulations to Zisu and brother on finally reuniting." ”

Xiao Zisu suppressed his overly excited feelings, turned to King Zhou and bowed, "Xiao Mou thank you!" ”

King Zhou hurriedly stretched out his hand to help him, and said with a smile: "Why should Zisu be polite to this king." He patted Xiao Zisu on the shoulder, "It's rare for your sister and brother to reunite, so this king won't bother much." ”

Xiao Shiyi hurriedly got down from the carriage and bowed deeply.

Xiao Zisu arched his hand and said, "Send it to the prince." ”

After King Zhou walked away, Xiao Zisu took Xiao Shiyi back to the guest house where he lived. He originally wanted Xiao Shiyi to sleep first, so that the two siblings would have a chance to talk about things in the future. But too many things happened today, and Xiao Shiyi couldn't sleep at all. Xiao Zisu could only sit opposite his sister and talk at night.

The two recounted to each other what had happened in the past ten years, and then the conversation turned to the crown prince and the crown princess.

Xiao Zisu wanted to know more about the prince, "Sister, you were in the palace before, and then you married into the East Palace with the crown princess, can you know anything about the prince?" ”

Xiao Shiyi shook his head, "The crown princess is in charge of the East Palace very strictly, and a musician like me can't even step out of the door of the music shop without the summons of the crown princess on weekdays." "Not to mention them, the East Palace, that is, the female officials and palace people who serve beside the prince and princess in the East Palace, and they are not allowed to wander around the East Palace alone.

"What about the crown princess?" Xiao Zisu then asked.

Xiao Shiyi said: "In the entire East Palace, I am only afraid of the crown princess. She glanced at her brother and asked in a low voice, "Are you planning to rely on King Zhou?" ”

Xiao Zisu nodded without hesitation, "King Zhou has the appearance of an emperor." He said this, but his hand was stained with tea, and he quietly wrote the words on the table, and after Xiao Shiyi saw it clearly, he wiped it casually and removed the handwriting.

Xiao Shiyi frowned and said, "Do you want to borrow the hand of the prince to overturn the case for Daddy?" ”

Xiao Zisu said: "Not bad. Daddy was wronged by others, as a son of man, how could he regard his father as being wronged. ”

"So, why did you ask the prince to take me out of the East Palace? Aren't you afraid that the saint and the prince will be suspicious? ”

Xiao Zisu held Xiao Shiyi's hand, "Sister, I want to make sure that you don't suffer anymore first." ”

Xiao Shiyi shook his head and said: "Ah Qi, you are wrong, stay in the East Palace, with the crown princess, I can be a female official in the East Palace sooner or later, and I can help you when necessary." ”

Xiao Zisu said: "Sister has suffered enough, I will take care of Sister in the future, you just have to enjoy the wealth and wealth, and I will do the rest." ”

Xiao Shiyi raised his chin slightly, "I am also Daddy's daughter, and I am your sister, I should take care of you." ”

A thin figure hidden in the shadows outside the window, listening to the people in the room no longer talking about anything else, waited for a while, Xiao Zisu and Xiao Shiyi, relative to tears, choked and speechless, he left quietly.

In the study in the front yard, King Zhou was playing chess with himself, and the personal eunuch replied in a low voice: "Lord Wang, Wansan is here." ”

King Zhou didn't raise his head, and ordered lightly: "Let him come in." ”

The door curtain was raised, and a thin figure in a gray robe ran silently at the feet of King Zhou, "I've seen the prince." ”

"What did they say?"

Wan San opened his mouth, and Xiao Shiyi's voice actually sounded in the room, and after a while, it became Xiao Zisu's voice. He has an excellent memory, retelling the conversation between the two from beginning to end, and even the ups and downs of the tone are vividly learned. If people who don't know hear it, they still think that Xiao Shiyi and Xiao Zisu are in King Zhou's study.

"Okay, in the future, you have to serve Mr. Xiao and Miss Xiao well, do you hear!" King Zhou said lightly.

Wan San's head hung lower, "The slave obeys." After saying that, he left quietly as he came.

On the chessboard in front of King Zhou, the black and white sides also divided the winners and losers, he threw the chess pieces in his hand on the chessboard at will, stood up and stretched his body, "Let's go, go to the princess." "Today, thanks to the princess's tacit cooperation with him, I have to be rewarded.

Princess Zhu of Zhou unexpectedly welcomed her husband, she waved away the maid, smiled and came over to serve King Zhou to wash and change clothes, and then was hugged into the mandarin tent by her husband. After the restrained and insipid routine of life, Princess Zhou's face was slightly red, she got up and got dressed, and called the maid to fetch water and freshen up.

King Zhou's expression was indifferent, not at all as if he had just been in love with his wife. As usual, Zhu went to serve her husband to wash up first, and then it was her turn.

Although King Zhou said that because Zhu was too rigid in bed, every time the life of the couple was boring. But he is generally satisfied with the princess of the Zhu family, just like today, from the time he entered the house, until the two of them finished washing and lying on the bed to sleep, the Zhu family did not mention Xiao Shiyi and half a sentence, as if he impulsively asked for a musician back in the East Palace today, which was a normal thing.

On the contrary, he can't sleep now, he is rarely in the mood to mention Xiao Shiyi to his wife, "Xiao Shiyi Niang is Mr. Xiao's sister, taking her out of the East Palace, in addition to the identity of Leqi, it is also Mr. Xiao's heart." ”

Zhu said softly: "The prince is not afraid to explain to the concubine, the concubine knows that you do things for a reason." "In Zhu's opinion, it's just a woman, the prince likes it, and it's okay to accept it.

King Zhou talked to Zhu about Xiao Shiyi, and in the Jiuqu Palace, the prince and his wife, who were also lying on the big bed, were lying sweetly with their necks crossed.

The prince played with Su Yan's hair and asked lazily: "Qingqing, don't you really like that musician who blows Xiao, why are you willing to give it to the third brother?" ”

Su Yan closed her eyes slightly, and said lazily: "People's hearts are flying, if you are forced to stay, you have to complain, it is better to fulfill her." ”

The prince's eyes widened at that time, and his voice was also raised, "What, she still dares to have an outside heart!" "Such a cheap maid who has an external heart should be killed directly to set an example. It also fulfills her mind, and she is beautiful. "Qingqing, your heart is just too soft."

Su Yan said indifferently: "It's just a trick, it's not too much more than her, it's a lot less than her, it's rare for the third brother to like it once, what's the matter with sending him." ”

"Next time you encounter something like this, leave it to me." The prince turned his head sideways to kiss his beloved wife, and his family was too talkative, but he couldn't let people see this, so he came to please her with what she liked.

"Okay." Su Yan agreed, "Next time this kind of thing happens, I'll leave it to Qilang." She raised her hand to cover her lips, yawned delicately, and the whole person snuggled into her husband's arms, rubbing her little face attached to him, and said glutinously: "Qilang, good night." ”

"Good night." The prince said softly.

The next day, the old emperor came to Jiuqu Palace early in the morning, and in order to have a good time with his son, he even abandoned today's early dynasty.

The prince and Su Yan had just finished washing, and before breakfast was finished, they saw his father swaggering in, followed by Jia Xi and Li An with bitter faces.

"Yo, it's just breakfast." The emperor's eyes lit up, and he unceremoniously lifted the corners of his robe and sat directly beside the prince, "One more copy, it's useless for me." ”

"Daddy, what are you doing so early? Don't go to the early court? The crown prince glared at the emperor.

The old emperor said confidently: "I didn't sleep well last night, and my body was slightly unwell, so I suspended the dynasty this morning. ”

The crown prince and Su Yan glanced at each other, their eyes fell on the emperor's red face at the same time, and said in their hearts: This is called physical discomfort? Foolish!

However, he is the emperor and he is the greatest, and he says that if he is not comfortable, he will be uncomfortable. As a very filial son, the prince was more concerned: "Daddy is unwell, but he wants to pass on the imperial doctor?" ”

The emperor said cheekily: "It's no big deal, I'm just hungry now." ”

The prince was speechless, Su Yan couldn't help laughing, she got up and went to order breakfast in person.

The emperor also pretended to stop him, "Qi Niang, my breakfast has always been simple, what is in the dining room, just order something." ”

The prince took the opportunity to say: "Yan Yan, Daddy didn't sleep well at night, and it is not easy to use it too greasy in the morning, just serve a bowl of clear porridge." ”

The emperor directly kicked the stool his son was sitting on, and scolded with a smile: "Bastard boy, get out!" ”

With the emperor here, today's breakfast in Jiuqu Palace is extraordinarily rich, and the dining room of the East Palace, which is rare to show its skills, finally raised its eyebrows and breathed a sigh of relief. Several masters, one by one, took out the skills of housekeeping and made seventy-two patterns for breakfast.

A sumptuous breakfast was placed on the table, but the emperor drooled over the bowl of small wontons with green chive leaves floating in front of his son.

The prince rolled his eyes speechlessly, picked up the bowl and put it in front of the emperor, "Don't look at it, here you go." ”

The emperor was satisfied with a spoon and scooped a small wonton into his mouth, an indescribable umami exploded in his mouth, and the emperor's eyes lit up, "It's delicious." Then he said nothing more, but buried himself in the bitter suffering.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was a little disgusted with his father's rough eating image, but he still took a small longan bun with chopsticks, put it on a small plate in front of the emperor, and said in a sullen voice: "Daddy, don't just eat wontons, try this little bun." After speaking, he took another one and put it into Su Yan's dish, and finally it was his turn.

The emperor is pleased, his son has grown up, and he knows that he is filial to him, and the manager is not in vain. "By the way, I heard that Saburo asked you for a rakuka yesterday?" The gossip on the old emperor's face.

Sure enough, Daddy also felt strange, and the prince silently vomited in his heart. "That rakuka is a face." It is the dowry of his family. Thinking like this, the prince was a little unhappy again.

Su Yan said with a smile: "It's still the reward I won from my father when I first participated in the flower viewing banquet in the palace." ”

The emperor obviously remembered the first time he saw Su Yan, twisted his beard and smiled: "When, Qi Niang will paint me with both hands again." Your last masterpiece was secretly hidden by a bastard boy and refused to give it to me. Poor I lost the music and didn't get a good work. ”

The prince immediately refused, "No, Yan Yan's calligraphy and paintings in the future are all his son's." He is very insistent on this, and everything that passes through his family's Qingqing cannot be given to others, not even his father.

The emperor knew his son's cautious eyes, and he was just teasing him. Seeing that the prince was opposed at this moment, he didn't argue anymore, and only muttered: "Careful-eyed bastard." ”

The old emperor was still very curious about the king of Zhou's plea, and he didn't want to express too much gossip in front of his daughter-in-law, which would damage his majesty as an emperor and father. He could only find a time for Su Yan to go out, and secretly discussed with the prince in private: "Qilang, did you say that San Lang had already taken a fancy to that musician, and he was embarrassed to tell me, so he was taken away by your daughter-in-law." ”

The prince didn't care about his half-brother at all, and he didn't bother to pay attention to the same people in the palace, not to mention those who had already moved out of the palace as a parent. He tilted his head and thought about it carefully, but he still didn't have the slightest impression, so he could only tell the emperor with an earnest face, "Erchen doesn't know. ”

There is no good object to talk about, it is really the regret of the old emperor's life. He glared at his son with a look of hatred that iron could not be made of steel, and said dissatisfiedly: "What do you know." ”

The crown prince crossed his arms around his chest, staring at the emperor without blinking, the emperor coughed lightly and decisively changed the topic, "Qilang, let's go fishing." He remembered the last time he won against his son.

"Don't." He had lost once, so he didn't want to lose a second time, "Let's play chess." "It's easier.

This time it was the emperor's turn to refuse, "Don't." Fishing! ”

"Play chess!"

Neither father nor son could convince anyone, and they both tried to widen their eyes and stare at each other, hoping that the other would surrender.

After Su Yan arranged lunch and dinner, he stepped into the Hanguang Hall again, and saw the emperor and the crown prince, staring at each other with big eyes.

"Qi Niang!"

"Yan Yan!"

When the emperor and the crown prince saw Su Yan coming in, they turned their heads sideways and called her at the same time, and then glared at each other, and shouted in unison: "I will speak first!" "I'll say it first!"

Su Yan turned sideways slightly, enduring the laughter that had reached her lips, and when she turned around again, her eyebrows and eyes were crooked, and there was a happy smile on her lips, "Father, Qilang." ”

The emperor crossed his waist with one hand and pointed to the prince's nose with the other: "I am your Laozi, you have to listen to me!" ”

"Didn't Daddy come to celebrate his son's birthday today?" The prince is also very reasonable, "You should listen to me!" ”

Su Yan will probably understand what the emperor and the crown prince are arguing about. She interjected with a smile: "It's better for us to fight horses." "Horse fighting is a game that has only emerged in recent years, and it is very similar to the gameplay of Shuanglu, except that there are only two participants in Shuanglu, while horse fighting can be played by up to five people.

The emperor and the crown prince glanced at each other and nodded at the same time, "Okay." "Horse fighting, like double land, you have to be well calculated, and you have to roll the dice well, so that you can take the lead and win to the end.

The prince was conceited and strategic, and the emperor was satisfied that he threw the red dice well, and the two glanced at each other like cocks, rolled up their sleeves, "Come on." ”

Su Yan smiled and instructed the palace people to set up the chessboard, brought two more dice, pinned them in the palm of his hand, and asked with a smile: "Which of us will come first?" ”

The prince has always apologized to his beloved wife, "Yan Yan throws first." ”

The emperor was also embarrassed to preempt his daughter-in-law, "Qi Niang will come first." ”

Su Yan shook his little hand and asked another question: "Do you want to take the lottery?" ”

The emperor and the crown prince said in unison: "Of course." ”

The prince waved his hand very generously, "My things are as you choose." ”

The emperor didn't open the inner library like his son, but he took out this year's tribute, "Qi Niang won, this year's tribute, you choose." ”

Su Yan shook his head, "Even if I win a game, my father will allow me to go to the Book Pavilion of the History Museum to choose a book." ”

Of course, this is no problem, isn't it a book? The Emperor waved his hand, "That's right." ”

The prince knew that his family loved books, and secretly thought that if he won, he would also go to the library to get books for his beloved wife.

The emperor and the crown prince both took the lottery, but they invariably ignored Su Yan's. Miss Su didn't want to take advantage of this, so she glanced at Banxia. Banxia willingly left, and after a while, several palace people carried two boxes made of agarwood.

Su Yan opened it with his own hands, took out a scroll at random, slowly unfolded it, and said with a smile: "These two boxes are my grandfather's proud works on weekdays, and I use these as colorful heads." "Mrs. Lu's calligraphy and painting are enough to be heirlooms. With the emperor's ninety-five honor, the palace only collects one word and one painting, and the size is not large. Just these two things, it was the emperor who played tricks on Lu Taifu.

The emperor now looked at the two agarwood boxes, his eyes were green, and he couldn't wait to move into his palace immediately, and he also attached great importance to the horse fight.

The prince will be relieved, but fortunately, Qingqing didn't use his own things as a lottery.

The Emperor couldn't wait to sit down on the chessboard and said loudly, "Let's start." ”

The prince pulled Su Yan and said with confidence: "Yan Yan rest assured, none of the grandfather's calligraphy and paintings will be won away by Daddy." ”

Su Yan nodded with a smile, "Hmm." ”

At the beginning of the first game, Su Yan directly threw two sixes, and the emperor applauded: "Not bad." "At that time, I regretted that this luck was good.

When the three of them continued to play, the old emperor realized that his daughter-in-law was just lucky, and she was obviously a lucky star. From the first game, there was a kind of lead, and he and the prince never won the first place, so they could only compete for the second.

After losing the twelfth time, the emperor rolled up his sleeves again, put the dice in his palms with both hands, closed his eyes and recited the words for a long time, before he blew into the palm and threw the dice, and then he slapped his thigh and sighed heavily, "Alas, why is it a two!" ”

The prince sneered and said, "Daddy, can you throw something else, Yan Yan and I are tired of seeing it." ”

The emperor glanced at him angrily, "You asked Qi Niang to throw a point that is not twelve!" ”

The prince said triumphantly: "That's my family's good luck!" ”

Su Yan said embarrassedly: "Daddy, there are already twelve books, and the daughter-in-law will not participate." ”

"It's only twelve, and there are several buildings of books in the library, which is enough for me to lose." The emperor was particularly unconvinced, thinking that he would definitely be able to turn over today.

Then, from morning to afternoon, and then to the time of the lamp, the emperor lost dejectedly, and glanced at the agarwood box, all depressed.

Seeing that it was getting late and he had to go back to the palace, the emperor drooped his head and said listlessly: "Okay, I should go back." "Hey, my daughter-in-law is too powerful, he didn't win, he didn't say anything, and he was at the bottom many times today. Forget it, he has to enter more than a hundred books today, right?

The emperor was leaving, and the crown prince and Su Yan got up to see each other off. Banxia had already brought over a painting box more than a foot long and respectfully delivered it to Su Yan.

Su Yan took the painting box, stepped forward, and held it to the emperor with both hands, "Thank you father for allowing me to go to the library of the History Museum to read books, this painting was painted by my grandfather many years ago, and it complements my father even more." ”

As soon as the prince heard that his family Qingqing had taken out his dowry to please his father, he immediately stretched out his hand and wanted to grab it, but the emperor was quickly hugged into his arms and walked out with a roar: "This is mine." While talking, he was afraid that the prince would come to rob him, so he hurriedly walked out, and Jia Xi and others hurriedly trotted behind.

Su Yan comforted her husband, sent him out of the Jiuqu Palace with him, and watched the emperor get on the chariot and walk away before taking him back.

The emperor sitting on the chariot couldn't help but take out the scroll and unfold it to take a closer look, and put it on the emperor's lap, depicting three heroic teenagers, who were hiding in the peeping pavilion under the flowers. Take a closer look at the appearance of several teenagers, they are very similar to the emperor, Su Zhoucheng and Lu Shaofu, to be exact, it is exactly what they looked like when they were teenagers and when they were studying in the Lu family.

"This ......" The emperor's expression seemed to be happy and sad, his eyes were full of nostalgia, his fingers stroked the person in the painting, and said softly: "I didn't expect that Mr. actually drew us." ”