==Chapter 58==

The daughters of the Xiao family live together, so most of them will walk together when they come out of An Rong Courtyard every day.

In the past few days, everyone has seen the edges, but they also have their own ideas, so this time when they saw Xiao Siniang biting people again, everyone else ignored it. On weekdays, if Xiao Sanniang was there, she would have stopped two sentences, but she was not here today, and after inviting An Rong Yuan, she was pulled away by the Zheng family.

Xiao Liuniang sneered, passed by Jiu Niang, and followed by Xiao Shi Niang and Xiao Nan. One walked slowly with a flat eye, and the other followed behind Xiao Liuniang with her head hanging like a little daughter-in-law, and it was Xiao Nan who hung her head.

Now Xiao Liuniang takes Xiao Nan with her wherever she goes, although when she asks for peace in An Rong Courtyard, she can only stand outside the door as Xiao Nan, but Xiao Nan has a low status, so it is good for her to stand outside the door and be extravagant, this is what Xiao Liuniang said to Xiao Nan in private.

Shi Niang glanced at Jiu Niang in a complicated way, and Xiao Nan, who had been following behind with his head down, had the same action.

Jiuniang was already a little annoyed, Xiao Liuniang sneered, and then saw Shi Niang and Xiao Nan following behind her, and the inexplicable anger floated up.

She glanced at Xiao Siniang and the two of them with a side face, her eyes were as sharp as knives.

"Xiao Siniang, if you like to go crazy and go back to your yard, what are you yelling at me? And Xiao Qi Niang, I found out that you don't remember to eat, if you feel tight-skinned, I don't mind helping you loosen! ”

Jiuniang has never opened her mouth, and when she opens her mouth, she is not afraid of that kind of smart person, because smart people always know how to judge the situation, but stupid people give people a headache, just like Xiao Siniang and Xiao Qi Niang, knowing that they can't provoke her, they have to come up and tease her twice.

Maybe Xiao Qiniang doesn't think that she can't provoke Xiao Jiuniang, after all, the two things before are too far apart, maybe she thinks that this is in the Anguo Mansion, Xiao Jiuniang doesn't dare to be too arrogant, especially Siniang is the daughter of the third room, and if she offends the fourth mother, she can even offend the entire third room.

What Xiao Qi Niang understands, how can Jiu Niang not understand, but why does she have to endure it? When facing the county lord of Chaoxia, she will choose to regress and use a roundabout method, because the lord of Chaoxia is powerful and has an advantage in rank, but it does not mean that she will put up with Xiao Siniang and Xiao Qiniang.

They all like to find soft persimmons to pinch, why don't Xiao Siniang and Xiao Qiniang pinch Sanniang and Liuniang? In the same way, these two people forgot that Jiuniang had the identity of the county lord of Yirong, and Jiuniang herself did not forget jì.

Listening to Jiu Niang's words, Si Niang exploded on the spot, and Qi Niang looked like she was dripping.

Jiuniang did not give up, but continued to stare at Xiao Qiniang with sharp eyes, ignoring Xiao Siniang on the side. She is naturally not stupid, but she will not fall for Xiao Qiniang's trick. There is a debtor and a debtor, without Xiao Qiniang's instigation, Xiao Siniang would not be able to provoke her. and knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger, she has always played this set very well.

"Xiao Cui, give me a slap on her mouth, Xiao Qiniang, you probably forgot that the county lord is the county lord of the imperial court, how can you be rampant!"

Xiao Cui is the maidservant of the Anguo Mansion on the face, but in fact, the core is not, except for Xiao Jiuniang in this mansion, she doesn't recognize anyone next to her.

After listening to Jiuniang's words, without saying a word, she grabbed Xiao Qi Niang, and slapped her twice.

This behavior directly frightened Xiao Siniang, Xiao Siniang was slapped twice, and she was stunned on the spot with her face covered.

No one expected Xiao Jiuniang to do this, and Xiao Qiniang cried out with a whimper. Xiao Liuniang hadn't gone far yet, and when she heard the movement here, she stopped, and she also looked surprised.

Jiu Niang's sharp eyes slid over the stunned Siniang and moved to Xiao Qi Niang's face, "This flower sticker is from the hair in the palace, if you are not convinced, go to your grandmother and her old man." By the way, you can go with the wound on your face, I won't stop you. ”

Dropping this sentence, Jiuniang took Lianzhi and Xiaocui away, leaving Xiao Siniang and Xiao Qiniang to stand there for a long time, until someone came over, Xiao Qiniang covered her face and ran away.

*

Siniang and Qiniang didn't dare to go to Anrong Courtyard to complain.

After going back, Ma trained Siniang, saying that she had a pimple in her head and was used as a gun, even if Xiao Jiuniang did not have the identity of the county lord of Yirong, it was not something that Xiao Siniang could provoke now. I didn't see how amiable An Rongyuan and the second room of the big house were recently, not to mention that Xiao Jiuniang had just been summoned into the palace by the prince a while ago.

Xiao Qiniang didn't go back well, Cui's treatment of the concubines has always been good, and she is also tolerant and generous, and she even understands the principle of inner harmony.

Earlier, she had always been good to Xiao Qiniang, and there were qualified concubines below, she cultivated them with her heart, and she will benefit from them in the future, Cui's family was born in a big family, and she understands this truth. How do you know that this Xiao Qi Niang is getting longer and less successful, her appearance is average, only with her elegant temperament and excellent Danqing Bozhong. Now Danqing's skills have not grown, as if the implementation of the 'hour Jiajia, Da Wei', that outstanding temperament has gradually disappeared from the public.

Cui Shi knew that it was the previous two things that made Xiao Qiniang's heart a little distorted, and after she came back, she also explained the other party with words, but unfortunately it was useless. Smart people are the most ruthless when they drill the tip of the horns, Xiao Qiniang doesn't show it on her face, but she seems to have always thought that she has been unhappy all these years, and the culprit is that Xiao Jiuniang.

Cui and Ma respectively instructed their daughters not to mention it for the time being, and went to An Rong Yuan to ask for peace the next day, and the old lady also beat the two.

On the contrary, it was Xiao Jiuniang who ordered someone to teach her sister a lesson, but the elders didn't say a word. After this incident, no one dared to provoke Xiao Jiuniang among the little ladies of the Xiao family, and even Xiao Liuniang restrained herself.

*

In the blink of an eye, it was August 15th.

It was just after evening, and many carriages drove out of various places in Chang'an City. At first, it was not obvious, but when I was about to reach Quchifang, the road in front of me was blocked.

These carriages are all richly decorated, at a glance it is known that they are the carriages of the nobles and women of various families, and occasionally there are nobles dressed in gorgeous clothes and noble clothes, riding horses in twos and threes, all of whom are going to participate in the moon viewing banquet in the Hibiscus Garden.

When they arrived at the Furong Garden, it was already dark, and the carriage went to stop, while Xiao Sanniang and the others followed An Guogong into the largest royal forbidden garden.

At this time, it is already the beginning of the Chinese lanterns, Jiuniang and others enter the garden, and they are greeted by a luxurious and gorgeous scene, a huge road, hundreds of colorful lotus lamps are hung far away, looking at it, the carved fence jade house in the distance is stacked on top of each other, and there seems to be a large lake and water, reflecting this kind of lights, as if coming to the fairyland of the world.

After walking a little way inside, Jiuniang and the others separated from An Guogong, and the three of them were led to the right by the maidservants who led the way, and the moon appreciation banquet that the women participated in was not in the same place as An Guogong, a nobleman in the court.

After walking for almost a quarter of an hour, I turned into the corridor in front of a water pavilion, the faint sound of silk and bamboo music came, and then I walked forward and stepped on a red carpet, the lights were bright in the distance, and there were people talking and laughing in it.

It is an open-air platform built on the water, made of white marble, surrounded by white jade fences to prevent anyone from slipping into the water. Looking at it, it is a lake and water, and the bright moon is hanging in the sky, but it is a good place to enjoy the moon.

There are no seats in the field, but according to the layout of the field, there are many half-person-high curved foot tables, and there are many melon and fruit snacks and fine wine and tea on the table, and of course, there are also today's food 'moon cakes'.

At this time, many noble ladies have arrived, all dressed up in beautiful national colors and heavenly fragrance, or talking in twos and threes, or leaning on the stone fence to look at the lotus lanterns in the pool. There is a lamp more than one person high every few steps in the field, which illuminates the field as if it were daytime, like a fairyland on earth.

As soon as the three of Jiuniang stepped into the entrance, before they could stand still, someone called Sanniang, but it was Xiao Sanniang's best friend, a young lady surnamed Lu, and several people went there.

After the past, with the little lady of the Lu family, there were two girls of the same age as Sanniang, and they seemed to be very familiar with Sanniang. After a bowful salute, they went to a resting place next to the pool and sat down.

"This hibiscus garden is worthy of being a royal forbidden garden, and the scenery is really beautiful."

"Luckily I had dinner before I came today, otherwise I would have been hungry by now." A young girl said.

In fact, most of the people came after dinner, that is, it was a moon viewing banquet, and it was such a purpose, so it was naturally impossible to open a banquet for others to satisfy their hunger, and even if there was a banquet, these noble ladies paid attention to their image, at most they ate two bites, and would rather be hungry than dignified.

After a while, a few girls came over called Liuniang, and Xiao Liuniang said hello to Sanniang and left. This is the royal forbidden garden, and there are many guards and maids, and they are not afraid of anything that will happen to them. Jiuniang didn't know anyone, so she sat next to Sanniang and listened to a few people.

Most of the girls present are familiar with Jiuniang, and the Duchess of Anguo went to the Anguo Mansion as a guest that day, so naturally they all know Jiuniang. That happened that day, although many girls did not speak out on the spot, they also cried out for Jiu Niang in their hearts. When I saw Jiu Niang this time, I asked about her injuries with concern.

Jiu Niang is neither humble nor arrogant to answer one by one, a few girls see that Jiu Niang is young, not to mention her beauty, not to mention, not as domineering as some noble girls, since they look at her quite differently, plus there is a Xiao Sanniang on the side, and they are also very kind to her.

At this moment, there was a surge in the field, as if some strange figure had come to the entrance, and many young girls were rushing there. Lu Yuling couldn't help but pout, and made eye contact with a girl on the side, while another round-faced girl teased: "Okay, you can't let others see this face, don't forget what you're here for today." ”

Lu Yuling rolled her eyes and patted off the pastry residue on her hand, "I didn't have that idea when I came today, and I can't choose a concubine for the prince." ”

Most of the three Xiao Sanniang's friends here are not high-status, and their appearance is not very good, which is why Lu Xiuling has such a statement. After speaking, she looked at Sanniang on the side, and hurriedly said: "Sanniang, you weren't back then, your status is much higher than ours, and you have a queen's aunt, but you have a chance." ”

Xiao Sanniang smiled helplessly and shook her head, "Okay, where is this kind of thing accurate, and we have been here for so long, and we haven't seen any movement, who knows what's going on." ”

"You, you, you look like you don't fight or grab anything, look at those people-" Lu Yuling pursed her lips and pointed directly at the crowd, "Go and get a chance, and I don't want to think that Meng Changxi has a fart, even if she has a good relationship with several princes, the right to choose a concubine is in the hands of His Majesty!" ”

Only then did Jiuniang know that it was Meng Changxi who caused the sensation, and she thought it was a lady in the palace who had arrived. However, the occasions when Meng Changxi appeared were always like this, and Jiuniang was not surprised.

"Okay, okay, look at your true form, hurry up and converge, don't let people see it, when the time comes, it will reach the ears of your aunt, and you will have to be trained again!"

Lu Yuling stuck out her tongue, grinned, and went with a few friends to see the movement over there. Jiuniang also followed and looked over there, only to see that with the crowd surging, Meng Changxi had already entered the field.

Today's Meng Changxi is dressed up very delicately, wearing a light blue dress, her hair is beautiful and coiled in a snake bun, only a high-grade mutton fat white jade hairpin is pinned to the bun, and the waist is tied with a moon-white brocade belt, which makes her waist and limbs slender, like a fairy who has fallen into the dust for nine days.

This plain dress is extremely dazzling even among the gorgeously dressed girls, and it is a beautiful green lotus among the thousands of delicate flowers, which is the unique route. It seems that Meng Changxi also knows that there are many noble ladies today, and most of them are extremely gorgeous, so she chose such a simple body.

"Do you think you'll pick her?" The round-faced girl said curiously.

Lu Yuling pursed her lips and said, "How old is she, she hasn't even done the ceremony, it can't be her." ”

It seems that this Lu Yuling is also a clear-eyed person, just what Jiu Niang thought of, in fact, before today and the future, Jiu Niang knew that she and others were all foils, and several princes were not young, even if they chose a concubine, they would not choose the young one, which is why Jiu Niang was able to be at ease.

It has nothing to do with us, we're just here to see the show.

The ladies came more and more, but there was no arrangement, and gradually many people felt a little bored, so they left the venue in twos and threes to have fun elsewhere.

Hearing that there were lanterns to be placed in Qujiang Pond outside, Lu Yuling and the others went outside together.

Halfway through, because there were many people and the lights were dazzling, Jiuniang was just in a trance, and found that Sanniang and the others were missing.

This garden is huge, built around the water, there are rockeries and strange stones everywhere, pavilions and pavilions, lush vegetation, ten steps and a lamp, but it is not dark. Since it was a lantern, it must be at the water's edge, Jiuniang expected that Sanniang and the others would not go far, so they walked forward on the cobblestone path by the water's edge.

The further she went, the more quiet she became, and Jiuniang wondered if she had taken a fork in the road. However, it is very quiet here, the environment is beautiful, there is a moon overhead, the moon shadow is reflected in the water, the breeze blows, the pond waves are vast, it is like a fairyland. For a while, Jiu Niang was reluctant to leave.

Jiuniang stood next to the stone fence for a while, and was about to walk away, when she suddenly heard a voice from the corner not far away.

"Your Royal Highness the Prince, let's leave, I'm afraid Your Majesty is ordering people to look for you at this moment."

"Let Lonely stay a little longer."

"Your Highness—" The shrill voice tasted slightly pitiful.

"Alright, let's go."

Jiu Niang was surprised by the protagonist in this dialogue, and before she could react, she saw a person dressed as an internal servant pushing a wheelchair over.

It was too late to dodge, so Jiu Niang could only bow her head and knees and salute.

"I've seen His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Hey, are you Xiao Jiuniang? How did you get here? ”

The prince was sitting in a wheelchair, dressed in a purple costume that made him full of luxury, not as elegant and lazy as Jiu Niang saw last time. He had a heavy blanket on his legs, leaned crookedly in a wheelchair, his thin eyebrows were lightly folded, and there seemed to be a faint loneliness on his thin face under the moonlight.

"Jiu Niang and her sister at home were separated, they said that they were going to put lanterns, and Jiu Niang went down the water's edge to find it, it seems that she went the wrong way."

The prince smiled, raised his hand and pointed behind Jiu Niang, and said, "You did go the wrong way, and you went farther and farther, you should be going that way, but you came this way instead." So be it, Lone will go over there, and you will be with Lone. ”

Jiu Niang had nothing to say, and followed the prince in his wheelchair.

This road was extremely quiet, and all kinds of thoughts came out of Jiu Niang's mind.

She knew that the prince almost didn't leave the palace gate because of physical reasons, but she didn't expect the prince to come to this moon viewing banquet.

Could it be that the concubine was chosen for the crown prince this time?

This thought flashed through Jiu Niang's mind like lightning.

Trying to recall the memories of his previous life, the crown prince has a crown princess, but the crown princess, like the crown prince, has always been low-key and rarely shows her face in front of people. In her previous life, Jiuniang rarely cared about this, because this kind of thing had nothing to do with her, and the reason why she knew something was because of the Wang family.

The words 'Wang family' suddenly made Jiu Niang's mind clear as if she had been struck by thunder.

Then Jiuniang suddenly remembered why the King of Chu would say that Princess Changping would be proud again, because in the memory of her previous life, the crown princess was the daughter of the Wang family, the sister of Wang Shilang, and the eldest daughter of Mrs. Wang, the sister of the lord of Chaoxia.

For a while, all kinds of thoughts churned in Jiu Niang's heart, and she suddenly felt that the previous construction of the King of Chu was very good, and she had this plan, so she was even more determined at this time. After this incident, he went to the Guozijian to find the Zhang sacrificial wine.

"Brother Prince, it turns out that you are here, and the emperor's uncle is ordering people to look for you everywhere."

In the distance, a crisp female voice sounded, and I saw a few people walking not far away, and the person in the front was Meng Changxi.

Meng Changxi didn't pay attention to the person on the side, but it wasn't until she walked close quickly that she found out where Jiu Niang was.

Under the moonlight, Jiuniang wore a goose yellow plain satin full-breasted skirt, with wide-sleeved green short undergarments, and a bright blue light gauze shawl loosely placed at the crook of her arm. A pair of black and thick hair with butterfly buns, a few beautiful butterfly sideburns on the sideburns, and a pair of pearl ears hanging down, showing her slender jade neck and pointed chin, adding a touch of childish and delicate. A gust of wind blew, and the shawl and skirt fluttered with the wind, reflecting the cool moonlight, as if it was a beautiful and unparalleled lotus demon.

Let the kings of Zhao, Cheng, and Qi who came later, all have a flash of surprise in their eyes.

The sound of wooden wheels rolling sounded, and the king of Chu actually came. Jiuniang didn't dare to look at the King of Chu, her eyes and face were half-closed, and the King of Chu glanced at her, and her inky eyes were churning with waves that made people unable to see clearly.

"Brother Huang."

"But let's look for it for a while, Brother Huang, my father and his old man are looking for you everywhere."

"Lonely and greedy looked at the moonlight, so he stayed here for a while. No, I happened to meet the nine ladies of the Xiao family who took the wrong path, so I was ready to go back together. ”

Jiuniang naturally couldn't pretend to be transparent, so she had to step forward and bend her knees to salute.

"I've seen your Highnesses."

"Hey, Xiao Jiuniang, you are also here, when did you and Xiao Jiuniang meet, brother prince?" Meng Changxi's eyes flashed at this time, and she pretended to see Xiao Jiuniang.

It's not like you're blessed!

Jiu Niang just stood and didn't speak. The prince glanced at Jiuniang and said with a smile: "The fifth brother brought him into the palace before, and he met alone. ”

Meng Changxi bit her lower lip, looked at the prince, and then at the king of Chu, and suddenly fell silent.

Seeing this, King Zhao's eyes flashed, and they all smiled and didn't speak.

At this time, the king of Chu spoke up, "Brother Huang, hurry over, so as not to worry about my father." ”

The prince nodded, and the group went forward.

It seems that everyone has forgotten Jiuniang on the side, and Jiuniang is not following forward, nor is it not following him. Suddenly, King Chu looked sideways at Jiu Niang, who was standing in place and did not move, and said, "Didn't you go the wrong way?" This king will send you back. ”

Jiu Niang's heart jumped, and Baba ran over in small steps, "Cousin-"

King Chu seemed to see the worry in Jiu Niang's heart, snorted slightly, and responded in a low voice.

This change is in everyone's eyes, and it is also the first time that the indifferent King of Chu has shown some unusual treatment of others.

The king of Chu did not expect that Jiu Niang would meet the prince by chance, and let a group of people meet. Since the prince made it clear that he had nothing to hide, his previous thoughts were shaken, and he would see if anyone dared to take the initiative to jump out and touch the tiger's buttocks.

As for Meng Changxi, King Chu looked almost undetectable and bypassed King Zhao and King Cheng, and smiled sarcastically.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her following in small steps, with a well-shaped side face and a small arc of the corners of her lips. King Chu suddenly felt that he was in a good mood.

*

The further you go, the louder the voices become.

From a distance, I saw a group of noble ladies gathered around the water's edge, some standing, some squatting down with their skirts up, laughing and laughing, very cheerful.

Not far ahead, a surface of water glowed with a pale silver glow in the moonlight, and lanterns of different styles carried orange candles away from the shore and drifted away into the distance. There are already a lot of lanterns on the water, and it is very beautiful from a distance.

Someone seemed to see the crowd approaching here, sighed in surprise, and then exchanged ears, and everyone stood up straight and looked at the place.

"It's the prince, oh my God, why is His Royal Highness the prince here today."

"And His Royal Highness King Cheng......"

"His Royal Highnesses King Zhao and King Chu are also ......"

There was a buzzing whisper in the crowd, but he didn't dare to step forward, he could only show his most beautiful appearance and look at it with his eyes.

"Jiu Niang—"

A surprised voice sounded, but it was Xiao Sanniang's exclamation when she saw Jiu Niang and the prince standing together.

Jiuniang smiled at Sanniang, then turned her head and said goodbye to the king of Chu and the others, the prince and the others continued to move forward, while Jiuniang walked towards Sanniang.

The noble ladies all looked at Xiao Jiuniang with surprise, doubt, and even a little jealousy, but they didn't dare to question because they didn't know why the girl in front of them could walk with the prince and the others.

Jiuniang almost had no obstacles, so she walked to Sanniang's side.

Sanniang asked in surprise, "Why did you get to the same place with the prince?" ”

"After I got separated, I came here to look for you, but I got lost, and I happened to meet the cousin of the King of Chu, so I walked along the way."

Sanniang wanted to say something, but a palace maid hurriedly came to say that the queen and the concubine had arrived, so all the nobles did not dare to delay and went to the open-air platform that came out before.