For a long time, because Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty, and Zhao Guangyi, the current saint, died suddenly and inexplicably after drinking at night, the legend of "candle shadow axe" is still circulated among the people. Therefore, the issue of succession has become the most head-scratching thing for the saints today. Whether to pass on the throne to his nephew Zhao Dezhao (that is, Zhao Kuangyin's eldest son, the legendary Eight Sages King), or to his son, Zhao Guangyi hesitated for a while. Only then did the eldest prince Zhao Yuanzuo be eighteen years old, and the second prince Zhao Yuanzuo was also seventeen years old, and he was still not made the crown prince.

Such a situation will inevitably make the princes have the heart to compete for the crown, and privately win over their cronies and become the key to reserve strength. And Xiao Guoliang is a second-class official, and he is the prefect of Yanshan Mansion, an important town in the north, and he is a veritable feudal official. This will naturally fall in the eyes of Zhao Yuanxi, the second prince who covets the position of the crown prince. It just so happened that I knew the inside story of Xiao Yiran's death, how could I not make good use of it. As long as you grasp this point, you don't have to worry that Xiao Guoliang will not be used.

Xiao Yiran analyzed it like this, although he understood Zhao Yuanzuo's intentions, but he began to worry about his parents. Since ancient times, people who have been involved in the dispute over right and wrong, once they stand on the wrong side, have never had a good result. In the future, if Zhao Yuanxi succeeds, his father Xiao Guoliang may still be promoted to the rank of knight, in case Zhao Yuanzuo fails, then what will be brought to his father Xiao Guoliang will be a loss of office, and his life will be difficult to protect.

"Alas, I blame myself for being too careless."

Xiao Yiran couldn't help complaining about himself in his heart.

"If you go directly to Huayin to meet Mr. Kou and hide in Xiabang County, how can you cause these troubles?"

Xiao Yiran thought that hiding in Koufu in Xiabang County would not cause such trouble, but he was very wrong. In the past year or two, the Kou Mansion in Xiabang County has been full of people. This made Mr. Kou Xiangkou, who had been hiding at home, impatient. I have long wanted to leave, but I am older, there are many inconveniences when I go out, and my wife is also old, once separated, I am afraid that there will be no day to see again. That's why I'm patient at home. Because most of the people who came to visit were from prominent backgrounds, they had to receive them in person. The old gentleman's days are almost in sighing, day by day.

As early as ten days before Xiao Yiran read Zhao Yuanxi's letter, the main gate of Kou Mansion in Xiabang County, Huayin, opened again, and an ordinary carriage drove into the courtyard. When the carriage stopped, Mr. Kou Xiang, who had been waiting in the courtyard for a long time, took two steps, came to the carriage, and bowed to salute.

"Old Kou Xiang has seen His Highness."

Although he claimed to be old, Kou Xiang only gave a salute, and did not pay a big salute like a real civilian.

"The old gentleman can't help it."

Zhao Yuanxi stepped out of the carriage, hurriedly supported Kou Xiang's arm, and helped him to walk towards the living room, looking like a small character. When he arrived in the living room, Kou Xiang asked Zhao Yuanzuo to sit in the first place, but Zhao Yuanzuo refused, and went directly to the guest seat to sit down. Seeing this situation, Kou Xiang had no choice but to sit on the main seat.

"Your Highness's daughter's body, how did you come to this poor country in Xiabang?"

"The old gentleman is polite. Ha Bang is not a backwood. Not to mention Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Renyuan is willing to have two sages, only Mr. Kou Lao, it is enough to make the name of the next state go down in history. What's more, since Kou Zhixian became an official, he has always had a clean and honest reputation, and he will definitely be a generation of famous ministers in the future. ”

"How dare the old decay be compared with the sages, Your Highness must not be so exalted to the old decay. Zhun Er has only been an official for a few days, let alone a clear and clear government. ”

Although Kou Xiang was asking Zhao Yuanxi the purpose of coming here, he actually understood it like a mirror in his heart. Prior to this, the eldest prince Zhao Yuanzuo first sent the governor of Huazhou to come, then sent the governor of Jingzhao Mansion to come, and finally came again in person. Now Kou Xiang, the champion of the previous dynasty, has become a treasure in the eyes of all princes, and he doesn't want to pull Kou Xiang into the front.

"This king is not a big deal here, one is to go to Xiyue to make incense, pray for the peace of the country and the people, the longevity of the country, and the health of his father and dragon. The second is to stop by to see Mr. Kou, a contemporary Confucian. ”

"It is rare that His Royal Highness has a heart of concern for the country and the people, and a heart of filial piety. As for the title of Confucianism, the old man really doesn't dare to take it. ”

"The old gentleman doesn't dare to be, so who else dares to be?"

After the two talked a lot of nonsense, Zhao Yuanxi suddenly changed the topic and asked:

"Old gentleman, this king remembers that the daughter of Lord Xiao Guoliang's family seems to be the old man's personal disciple, right?"

Suddenly hearing Zhao Yuanxi mention Xiao Yiran, Kou Xiang was stunned. As for Kou Xiang, who is good at Qingjian, although he also received a letter from his son Kou Zhun, saying that his disciple Xiao Yiran died of a violent illness, Kou Xiang was the first not to believe it. In particular, he has not received a single word from the Xiao family all this time, which makes Kou Xiang not believe that his proud disciple will have an accident.

"It's not a disciple of the family, Miss Xiao has only learned the end of the art from the old man for a day or two, and as for the poetry articles, she was already familiar with it long ago before she met the old man."

"After the autumn of last year, my father decreed that Miss Xiao was given to the third brother of the king, and Zhao Heng, the king of Han, was the concubine. Have you ever heard of it? ”

"The matter of the marriage given by the Holy Lord, the old man has heard of it. Miss Xiao's violent death was learned from Zhun'er's family letter. The rest, is not clear. ”

Kou Xiang is also an old and sophisticated person, and when he heard Zhao Yuanxi suddenly mention Xiao Yiran, he had a premonition in his heart, but when he saw that the other party was not picky, he pretended to be confused.

"What does the old gentleman think about this?"

"What does Your Highness mean?"

"Miss Xiao's violent death."

"There are unpredictable circumstances in the sky, and people have good and bad luck."

"However, last month, this king went to Deyue Tower on the shore of the West Lake, but happened to meet Miss Xiao Jia, who was dressed as a man."

Kou Xiang was still pretending to be confused, shaking his head and saying:

"How is this possible, how can a person be resurrected after death? I'm afraid that His Highness recognized the wrong person, right? ”

Seeing Kou Xiang speak like this, Zhao Yuanxi stopped talking about Xiao Yiran. Zhao Yuanxi has already seen that no matter whether Kou Xiang knows the truth or not, one thing is certain, Kou Xiang never thought that Xiao Yiran was dead. It is rumored that Kou Xiang has blue eyes and is very proud of his female disciple. However, today, Zhao Yuanxi didn't see a trace of worry and sadness in Kou Xiang's expression.

Zhao Yuanzuo originally wanted to use Xiao Yiran to cheat death, and also encircled Kou Xiang into it, not to mention that Kou Xiang didn't know the truth, even if he knew the truth, he would never give Zhao Yuanzuo any handle.

Zhao Yuanzuo's Kou Mansion only sat for less than an hour, first said some nonsense, and then as a junior, asked Kou Xiang about some problems in governing the country and the people, and by the way, he also talked about some local customs and customs, etc., and did not stay for lunch, so he said goodbye and left.

Sending Zhao Yuanzuo away, Kou Xiang pondered for a moment, and immediately wrote a letter to Kou Zhun to the effect that once a member of the royal family visited, if he asked about Xiao Yiran, he would deal with it with hearsay and ambiguous words.

Zhao Yuanxi left Xiabang and went straight to Jiangning Mansion without stopping.

Xiao Yiran, who was hiding in the Song family's Tuan Zhuangzi, has not had a good time these days. Although it is still the same as usual, in the morning and evening in the lotus pond, or lingering under the bamboo forest, but the brows are tightly locked, and it is rare to have a moment of relaxation.

Finally, June 15 arrived. After having dinner early, Xiao Yiran sent all the original subordinates on Zhuangzi away, and then sat in the courtyard, waiting for the arrival of the second prince Zhao Yuanxi.

When the full moon rose in the east, and the time was about a moment old, the sound of a sparkling carriage was heard, and then the courtyard door was gently knocked. Xiao Qing, who was standing next to him, stretched out his hand to open the courtyard door, only to see a handsome young man in a white brocade robe and a folding fan in his hand under the moonlight, slowly walking into the courtyard. Xiao Yiran hurriedly stood up, took two steps forward, and curtsied.

"Meet Your Highness."

Zhao Yuanxi looked at Xiao Yiran in front of him in the moonlight, and couldn't help but be slightly stunned. As the saying goes, you see a beauty under the moon, and it's true. In the brilliance of the full moon, Xiao Yiran showed more demeanor, and his posture was clear and beautiful.

"No courtesy. I really don't know if this king should call his younger brother and sister, Princess Han, or Miss Xiao. ”

Xiao Yiran did not answer Zhao Yuanxi's words, but invited him to sit in the room.

"Wouldn't it be a disappointment to hide in the house on such a beautiful day? I wonder if I can be lucky enough to invite Miss Xiao to visit the next month? ”

Xiao Yiran still didn't speak, just bent his knees slightly, and agreed. Then he turned around and took the lead towards the lotus pond.

"Can this king call you Ran'er?"

"Your Highness can call it whatever you like."

"Although this Zhuangzi is not big, the scenery is extraordinary, which shows that the owner is not good."

"Your Highness hasn't seen any kind of Zhuangzi, here is just a lotus pond in front of you, and the bamboo forest in front of you, it's nothing."

"If you put it somewhere else, it's nothing. It's just not the same here. The landscape is beautiful and has aura, and the beauty is more beautiful because of the landscape. The so-called complementarity is also said. ”

"Your Highness isn't just here to talk about the wind and the moon, right?"

Xiao Yiran didn't want to hear Zhao Yuanxi say something similar.

"Ran'er is a very smart woman, is there something necessary to say something? The beautiful scenery is current, if you really want to say it, isn't it a big scenery? ”

Seeing that Xiao Yiran was silent, Zhao Yuanxi looked up at the bright moon in the sky, and suddenly chanted softly:

"When is the bright moon, ask the wine to the sky, I don't know what year the heavenly palace is tonight?"

Xiao Yiran couldn't help but be stunned when he heard it, isn't this Su Shi's "Water Tune Song Tou Bingchen Mid-Autumn Festival"? That was decades later, how could Zhao Yuanxi know?

"Doesn't Ran'er feel familiar?"

Xiao Yiran was even more surprised, thinking that Zhao Yuanxi, like himself, was also a person with memories of his previous life, and he already knew his secrets. However, Xiao Yiran shook his head in confusion before he was sure.

"Ran'er won't forget the words she wrote so quickly, right?"

Write it yourself? When he was in Yanshan Mansion, on August 15 last year, before Lin Chen left the field, he did copy Su Shi's words, but after writing it, he handed it over to Xiao Xing to burn. No, could it be that Xiaoxing didn't burn those poems that copied other people's poems according to her own orders?