In the following days, the Wang family feasted and drank almost every day, and the guests were always full. Wang Chang and Xiao Yang's family were too busy just to entertain guests, and secretly worried that they would make some jokes inadvertently, so they had to invite the patriarch and his wife and other clansmen to come to help. With respected elders in charge, they are much more comfortable in their actions. It's just that at this time, it was too late for them to start pretending to be loving fathers and mothers, and all kinds of gossip had already spread all over Shangzhou, and even more good people quietly went to the bottom of it.

As the most important person in the feast, Wang Zixian did not stay at home every day. He held several literary meetings in succession in the temples and temples of Shangzhou, and sat down with a group of literati to give papers. Every day, he takes the prince to go out early and return late, wearing the stars and the moon, and he has no time to entertain those guests who come out of curiosity.

Even Wang Luoniang, who wanted to stare at him and continue to cultivate the love of brother and sister, couldn't find a chance, and she sulked several times in vain. After Wang Chang heard this, he scolded her for being too willful and shouldn't disturb her brother's business, which made her cry aggrieved. And Xiao Yang had to explain her privately, and he didn't know what to say, but he taught her to laugh with tears in her eyes.

Since then, when she met Wang Xiangniang, she didn't take this sister more and more seriously. However, it is precisely because she thinks that the two sisters are like a cloud of mud, and she is too lazy to "care" with Wang Xiangniang, and she no longer bullies her with her temperament.

On this day, Wang Zixian once again returned home before the door closed. After parting ways with the prince, he returned to his courtyard. I inadvertently raised my head, but found a thin figure standing in the dark bushes outside the courtyard. He narrowed his eyes slightly, raised his hand to stop Qingsuo and Cao Shilang from secretly drawing their knives with vigilance, and asked in a low voice, "...... Xiang Niang? ”

Sure enough, the next moment, Wang Xiangniang walked out from behind the bushes. She looked around a little nervously, and then looked at Keisu and Cao Shiro, as if she was extremely wary of them. Wang Zixian had never seen her show such a look, and couldn't help asking, "Do you have something to say to me?" On the day he came back, she seemed to be a little speechless and stopped, and then was stopped by Wang Luoniang.

Wang Xiangniang bowed her head slightly, and her voice was extremely low: "Brother, I want to see you...... She has something to say to you. "I know of a secluded path, from where I can avoid the servants guarding the backyard." Brother, don't worry, I've been through it many times, and I haven't been discovered. It's just that the first two days came unfortunately, and Brother Ah has already rested. ”

"What does she want to sue me?" Wang Xiangniang's so-called concubine is her biological mother, Wang Chang's only concubine Zeng. The mother and daughter have very similar temperaments, living almost silently in the corners of the Wang family, and not many people have ever paid attention to them. And since Wang Zixian grew up since he was a child, he has never seen this concubine a few times, let alone interacted with her, so it is really difficult to guess the intention of her move.

"I don't know...... Brother, she said that this matter is extremely important, and she must make it clear to you before she dies...... If it weren't for that, I wouldn't dare to come and disturb my brother. Wang Xiangniang said, her eyes reddened slightly, "She has been sick for a long time, and now she is just dragging her feet." I heard that my brother came back after being hit by the head, and it was not easy for me to feel better in the past two days. ”

"Okay, then you'll lead the way." After some thought, the prince made a decision. With his intuition, it was impossible for Xiao Yang to set such a clumsy trap to wronged him and put him to death when Wang Ziling and Wang Luoniang were about to say goodbye. At such times, if his reputation is ruined, the whole family will be discredited and ruined. Moreover, with Wang Xiangniang's intelligence and knowledge, she is by no means a person who is lightly controlled by her, and it is impossible to act for the tiger.

Qingsuo and Cao Shilang were stunned, and were about to open their mouths to persuade a few more words, but Wang Zixian shook his head.

Wang Xiangniang then led the way in front, the prince was in the center, and Qingsuo and Cao Shilang followed, especially vigilant against nearby movements. At the slightest disturbance, the two of them were eager to rush out and eliminate the danger before it arises.

Wang Xiangniang really knew the things in the inner house very well, and after a while, she silently brought them into the courtyard where the Zeng family lived. This small courtyard is located in the corner of the back garden, so remote that even the steps are covered with moss, and the yard is also overgrown with all kinds of weeds, as if no one has ever cleaned it up. Whether it is the main room or the side room, it looks a little dilapidated, as if it has not been repaired for many years, but it is very clean.

Wang Zixian followed Wang Xiangniang into the main room, and there was only one rough servant guarding it. When she saw them coming, she bowed silently and withdrew. Behind the dilapidated screen, a withered woman lay on her bed and rested, covered with a thick futon. She did seem to be terminally ill, and her breath was very weak, as if she could be cut off at any moment.

Wang Zixian looked at her, his brows gradually furrowed. In his distant memory, Zeng should be one or two years younger than Xiao Yang, born round and beautiful. According to Qingsuo, she should have been hired by Xiao Yang as a good concubine when Xiao Yang was pregnant with Wang Luoniang, and she was liked by Wang Chang for a while. However, now it seems that she is like the elder of the Xiao Yang family, and she has long since lost her original appearance.

For Wang Chang, he probably forgot that he had a good concubine; For Xiao Yang, tolerating her alive is enough to show the strength of the master mother. And he, who has long developed a temper that is warm on the outside and cold on the inside, will not be moved by irrelevant people, and it is impossible to sympathize with her at will. Whether she is alive or dead, in this family, perhaps only Wang Xiangniang is always concerned.

"......" In Wang Xiangniang's soft call, Zeng slowly opened his eyes, "Da Langjun is here?" ”

"Yes, Auntie, it's my brother here." Wang Xiangniang helped her up, let her lean on the hidden sac, and held back her tears, "If there is anything to say, I will talk to my brother." ”

Zeng Shi carefully looked at the young man in front of him, and laughed lightly, with a little blood on his face: "The rumored Wang Xie Zizi may be like Da Langjun......" She coughed twice, and before the prince could answer, she said again: "Come to think of it, Da Langjun may feel a little strange, for so many years, the slave is just a stranger, why did he suddenly want to see you in private......"

The prince bowed his head and replied, "Don't hide it from my mother, I do have some doubts. However, if the mother can teach a good child like Xiang Niang, she must not do anything for no reason. If my mother wants to entrust me to take care of Xiangniang, I am duty-bound. After all, she is my younger sister, and as the eldest brother, it is my duty to take care of her. "A sister like Wang Xiangniang, a little bit of care can be regarded as full of blood. She is also a smart person and will never force it, which is diametrically opposed to Wang Luoniang, who can never be satisfied.

"The slave has never worried about Xiang Niang...... The slave knew early that Da Lang Jun and San Lang Jun were good brothers, and it was impossible for them to sit idly by and watch her helpless. Zeng said intermittently, "It's just that the slave hides a secret in his heart...... If you don't say it again, I'm afraid you can only take it into the coffin, and the slave won't live in peace after death......"

"Secret?" The prince was stunned, and a sense of foreboding vaguely appeared in his heart.

"I heard that Da Langjun won the first place in the new department, and the slave had the courage to confess the matter. Otherwise, the slave would rather not be at peace after death than involve Da Langjun. Zeng smiled bitterly, "All these years...... The slave watched Da Langjun struggle to survive, and it was extremely difficult to survive. How can you watch Da Langjun take risks...... To deal with that poisonous woman? ”

"......" the prince looked at her and was silent. However, there is already a boiling undercurrent in my heart surging rapidly.

Zeng lowered his eyes and said to himself: "It was the Midyear Festival fifteen years ago, and the slave couldn't sleep because he missed his dead mother, so he quietly came to the back garden. But he didn't want to, and when he went around the back door, he heard hoarse cries one after another...... The slave was so frightened that he quickly hid in the rockery, thinking that he had heard the ghost crying...... After a short time, through the cracks in the rocks, I saw several mothers-in-law dragging a pregnant woman over. ”

The woman screamed so badly that she was covered in scarlet blood...... The moonlight shone on her face...... She turned out to be ...... The personal maid Yan Niang who served by Xiao Yang's side. The slave listened to her shouting, the child in the womb is Ah Lang's, she has no fornication with the manservant, she wants to see the lady......"

However, the mother-in-law kicked and laughed at her, saying that who didn't know that this child was Ah Lang's? However, if you hide from your mother and seduce Ah Lang, you deserve such an end...... The inkstone girl watched a blur of flesh and blood fall from between her legs, and suddenly went crazy, struggling to cry and curse—"

Zeng's breath was weak, and when he imitated the situation at that time, his voice was high and low, which was quite treacherous. However, at this time, as if she was extremely frightened, she suddenly tightened her body. Wang Xiangniang hugged her with a pale face, looked at Wang Zixian in a daze, and didn't know how to react for a while.

Wang Zixian looked at the mother and daughter with an expressionless face, and the boiling love in his heart was like a knife blade, invisibly cutting his flesh and blood as if Ling Chi. Suddenly, he had realized what kind of secret Zeng was going to say next. And this secret will set off such turbulent waves in the life that he thinks is gradually returning to peace.

"Slut! Poisonous woman! I understand! You're trying to get rid of me! You want to cut the grass and eradicate the roots! Do you think that after getting rid of me, no one will ever know about your fornication with your brother-in-law?! Do you think no one will ever know that you deliberately let the big lady find out?! Do you think that no one will ever know that you deliberately went to see her quietly when she was unstable, crying and kneeling down to make her fulfill your adultererous □□?! You just want to her off! I want her to die twice!! You black-hearted poisonous woman!! ”

After Zeng Shi learned this passage vividly, his breath became a little weaker, but his expression was much more relaxed, as if he had let go of his worries and burdens for many years. Wang Xiangniang was completely stunned, trembling slightly, and in an instant, she broke out in a cold sweat.

"......" Wang Zixian was still silent, his eyes were changing like a storm and thunder, but his face was unusually calm, calm and terrifying.

"Don't you believe it?" Zeng sighed for a long time, "When a person is about to die, his words are also good." Why should a slave ...... before he dies? What about making up this story to deceive you? ”

"No, I do." The prince turned his back to them. There seemed to be something in his hoarse voice, as if there was a boiling flame hidden under the ice: "I have written down the kindness of my mother." Xiang Niang, take good care of your concubine. In return for this kindness, I will be responsible for the future life of your mother and daughter. ”