==Chapter 86==

Shangyuan Festival is a day for the whole country to celebrate, in other words, the palace is usually to set up a banquet, after the banquet, today the saint will take the ministers and princes to the gate of the Suzaku Gate to show their faces, in order to show joy with the people.

But this year's Shangyuan Festival was in a bad mood because Emperor Chengyuan was in a bad mood, and there was no banquet in the palace.

The King of Chu was about to go back to the house, but he was stopped by King Zhao before leaving the palace, along with King Cheng Qi and Meng Changxi, and several people asked him to go out of the palace to visit the lantern market to enjoy the lanterns.

The king of Chu did not refuse, so the four carriages left the palace one after the other, and only stopped when they arrived at Pingkangfang.

A few people got out of the carriage one by one, and the king of Chu was in a wheelchair for Chang Shun to push, and a few people accompanied by a number of guards and chamberlains who were not dressed in ordinary clothes followed the side, as for whether there were people who were protected by them in the dark, I don't know, anyway, I can't see them on the surface.

"Sister Changxi, the lamp market in the entire Chang'an City, the east and west cities are the most lively, and there are all kinds of lantern juggling stages, let's take a good look at the excitement today. The fifth man has always been cold, and I, as an elder brother, have asked him to come out and sit down several times, but he has all refused, and now it can be regarded as a blessing for you. King Zhao said to Meng Changxi with a smile, and glanced at King Chu between words.

is the same as what King Cheng and his family think, but now the King of Chu is a fragrant bait, and seeing that the suppression could not be achieved, he did good things for the King of Chu, causing Emperor Chengyuan to look at him more and more differently. No, seeing that Hu Yingrong is about to be promoted to the secretary of the Criminal Department, this Hu Yingrong is the well-known team of the King of Chu.

Stealing chickens doesn't make rice, it can be said that it is King Zhao and King Cheng.

But what they think is not bad, who can know that Emperor Chengyuan does not play cards according to the card, it is clear that the king of Chu has committed such a big thing, and it is not a trivial matter to sell the official mantle, although this matter is not done by the king of Chu, but his subordinates handle it, and the blind man also knows that it has nothing to do with the king of Chu. But Emperor Chengyuan just ignored it, except for being thought about for a month behind closed doors, plus his subordinates lost a petty official, there was no other.

This turn of the head, just at the beginning of the new year, Emperor Chengyuan approved the letter of the criminal department to tell the old, and mentioned Hu Yingrong to be promoted to fill the position of the criminal department secretary, King Cheng and King Zhao were all kinds of envy, jealousy and hatred, and the words were indescribable.

It's okay now, it's impossible to suppress it, and it's better to win it over. After all, the king of Chu is known to be a cripple, and a cripple is useless no matter how powerful he is, so he is naturally a master who makes wedding clothes for others. King Cheng and King Zhao are evenly matched, as long as they can win over the King of Chu to their side, they can immediately crush each other.

As for the crown prince, don't look at King Cheng and King Zhao both fearing the prince, but in the long run, as long as the prince does not give birth to an heir, there is actually nothing to fear, Zuo is just a short-lived ghost. Don't look at the fact that there are many moths in the East Palace recently, it is just a precaution, if the prince can give birth, Emperor Chengyuan would have married him a concubine a long time ago, as for delaying it for so long?

Although King Cheng and King Zhao don't know the specifics, they are not fools, and they make a few preparations, which is the most basic code of conduct for a smart person.

Seeing King Zhao say this, Meng Changxi glanced at King Chu shyly and timidly, and said: "Brother King Zhao, don't say that, Brother King Chu is a cold character, today you and Brother King Qi are here, and it is natural for your brothers to get together, but it has nothing to do with Xi'er." ”

Therefore, none of these people are simple, saying that they are going to visit the lantern market to enjoy the lanterns, who really has this purpose. Not to mention the thoughts of King Cheng and King Zhao, Meng Changxi just hadn't seen King Chu for a long time, so he thought a little carefully in front of King Zhao. And King Zhao knew Meng Changxi's thoughts, but thinking that the King of Chu had a different view of Meng Changxi before, he had the idea of using Meng Changxi to fish out the King of Chu.

The initial purpose of these people was not pure, and no matter how lively the lamp market was, it was boring, and it was only for a while, and a few people found a restaurant to rest.

Several people were dressed as either rich or expensive, and King Zhao seemed to be a frequent customer, but as soon as he stepped in, the shopkeeper of the restaurant greeted him. Obviously, the restaurant was already full of guests, and a private room with the best location on the second floor was also arranged for several people.

The layout of this private room is quite unique, it is said to be a private room, but there is no partition, the entire second floor is separated from the east position, and there is a staircase directly connected to this place. From the inside, you can directly look at the first floor, and from the outside, one side of the wall is all window lattice, and at this time, the row of windows is wide open, and you can directly enjoy the night sky outside and the rows of lanterns that look like fire dragons in the light market in the distance, and the scenery is very beautiful.

"This place is really good, it is said that there will be fireworks in the east and west cities, and I don't know if I can see this place." Meng Changxi went to the window to look out of the window, and then returned to the couch and sat down.

King Zhao laughed, "This is natural, the place arranged by this king, can it be good?" ”

At this time, someone had already served wine and all kinds of wine and food, King Zhao picked up a glass of wine on the table in front of him, and raised his glass to King Cheng and King Qi of Chu, "Do you get together, this king respects one of you." ”

King Cheng and King Qi both picked up the wine cup and drank it, but King Chu looked faint, looking at the wine cup on the case and did not move.

King Zhao seemed to smile, "It's rare to be happy, the fifth brother doesn't give his brother this little face?" ”

The king of Chu raised his eyes and glanced at him, picked up the wine cup, and drank it. Chang Shun, who was standing behind him, had a somewhat strange face, but he wanted to speak and stopped.

"Good, good, good wine, good scenery, the fifth brother also gives face, come again!"

King Zhao waved his hand, and immediately someone stepped forward to pour wine for a few people.

King Cheng and the others drank well, and they were not afraid of King Zhao secretly drugged or anything on this occasion, so they did not refuse, and this time King Chu did not hesitate, and took the wine cup to drink. After a few times like this, several people had already drunk two jars of wine, and King Zhao ordered someone to go and get the wine.

The king of Chu has always said little, at most occasionally copes with one or two sentences, he has drunk nearly a pot of wine, and he is not slightly drunk, his face is still white and cold, and his eyes are still calm.

When King Zhao came to pester wine again, King Cheng stopped him, "Okay, second brother." The fifth child is not in good health, and he has rarely drunk alcohol, why do you want to get him drunk today? ”

Such a good opportunity to be a good person, King Cheng naturally won't let it go, he took the wine cup in front of King Chu and drank it in one gulp, "I drank this cup for Lao Wu, how about we stop?" ”

King Zhao seemed to be smiling, "The third child, you are good at doing favors, but it seems that I am particularly intolerant as an elder brother, this king is not also looking at the beautiful scenery of today's good day, and it is a little popular when it is a festival." ”

"Okay, the fifth brother can't drink it, let's drink a few brothers, the third brother is here, and I will toast you with a cup." King Qi interjected.

The three brothers pushed their glasses and exchanged glasses, and their words and demeanors were constantly sharp. Meng Changxi ordered someone to pour a cup of hot tea and brought it to the king of Chu.

"Brother King Chu, you don't have anything, drink some tea to relieve hangover."

King Chu glanced at her, took the teacup and put it aside, and then Chang Shun walked over with a smile on his face, and also took a cup of tea in his hand.

"Xi Niangzi, our Royal Highness has always been stubborn, and drinking tea is also, if the taste is not suitable at all, you won't drink it, don't be surprised."

Between words, he offered the tea cup, and the king of Chu took it and took a few sips.

Meng Changxi's face was slightly red, and he didn't say anything, but just sat beside the King of Chu and looked like he wanted to say something, as if he wanted to say something.

After being silent for a while, she was not as calm as King Chu after all, and said, "Brother King Chu, I haven't seen you much recently, but you're very busy?" ”

King Chu nodded and did not speak.

"That ......"

Meng Changxi's face was a little aggrieved, and she wanted to say why she had been rejected many times, and why Xiao Jiuniang was able to enter the gate of the Chu Palace, but she was a woman after all, how could this kind of words be easy for a while, just when she hesitated, she suddenly heard King Zhao's voice sound.

"Yo, fifth brother, isn't that your little cousin?"

It turned out that when King Zhao was drunk, King Qi was there to play with King Cheng, and he leaned on the railing on the second floor to make a boring and leisurely appearance.

In fact, if you think about it from King Zhao, it is not interesting to sit here and drink dryly, and at this time, this scene is worthy of drinking and dancing to have fun. But Meng Changxi is here, and there is no arrangement in advance, so she can only give up.

King Zhao was not in a good mood at this time, he wanted to fish out the King of Chu to talk about big things, but he didn't know that King Cheng followed up like a cat smelling fishy, and there was one more spoiler, and what he wanted to do today was not possible, so in the end, he ended up in a state of a few people sitting here and drinking.

At this time, seeing Xiao Jiuniang and others stepping into the restaurant, King Zhao couldn't help but feel like he was having fun.

He glanced at the group of people standing on the first floor with a smile, and then glanced at Meng Changxi, who was sitting beside King Chu, and turned around and said, "That Wang Shilang of the Wang family is also here, how beautiful he is, this kid is a beautiful person." He stretched his waist idly and beckoned to the waiter on the side, "At this time, there must be no place in the restaurant, call it up, this Xiao Jiuniang is not an outsider, she is the fifth child's little cousin." ”

King Zhao pointed out, and Meng Changxi's face was very ugly.

King Cheng put down the wine cup in his hand, looked at King Zhao with a smile on his face, and did not speak.

After a while, Jiu Niang and a few people were invited up.

Just now, King Zhao's words of 'little cousin', Jiuniang and Wang Shilang heard it, and when they raised their eyes, they saw that it was His Royal Highness King Zhao, who was high above. Because the second floor is located very high, and there are light gauze curtains hanging around, the situation above and below can not be seen, just when a few people are hesitating, one person comes down and asks a few people to go up to the second floor.

I saw that this person had a smooth face and a sharp voice, needless to say, it must be a palace attendant, plus the King Zhao who showed his face, and the words of King Zhao, the people gathered on the second floor must be ordinary people.

Although Cheng Wenjing and the three of them didn't know who these people were, they saw that each other was either rich or expensive, and that Jiuniang and Wang Shilang were very restrained, so they immediately acted cautiously. It wasn't until the two of them stepped forward and saluted and said hello that the three of them knew who these people were, and hurriedly followed behind and saluted one by one.

"Okay, okay, it's not an outsider, Jiuniang is the cousin of the third and fifth children, Wang Shilang is also the younger brother of the crown princess, and this king and others are also some relatives, everyone don't be restrained, sit down."

said so, I was looking for a place to rest, but suddenly several princes and princesses appeared, Cheng Wenjing and the three of them did not mention, Jiuniang and Wang Shilang also understood some of the sharp edges inside, each with their own thoughts, and they were like sitting on pins and needles.

There were chamberlains who moved to sit on the couch, and Jiuniang and Wang Shilang were arranged to sit together with King Zhao, especially Jiuniang's position was arranged next to King Chu, and Meng Changxi was in a left and right shape. If no one specially arranged it, she wouldn't believe that Jiuniang was killed.

And Cheng Wenjing and the three of them were let go of a corner, in exchange for the temperament of Cheng Wenjing and Ruan Mengling on weekdays, they would complain about unfair treatment, but at this time, they were all restrained, how dare they protest, I didn't see that all the people present were nobles, and they couldn't see the master who couldn't be seen at ordinary times, and where could they afford to provoke them.

Anyway, the king of Chu has already made it clear that he wants to be a backer for himself, and Jiuniang is not a hypocritical character, so after sitting down, he smiled at the king of Chu and called 'cousin'.

As for Meng Changxi's burning eyes on the side, Jiu Niang just didn't see it. Anyway, I can't escape the difficulties of this delicate girl of the Meng family in my two lives, so I just let the storm come more violently.

Jiuniang was very safe, a smile flashed in King Chu's eyes, and he picked up the teacup and took a sip.

A waiter stepped forward to change the wine and food on the table, and placed a wine cup in front of Wang Shilang and Jiu Niang, and poured wine. King Zhao didn't know what he was doing today, and he greeted Wang Shilang and Jiuniang very warmly to drink.

Nowadays, the country of Great Qi and the people are safe, from the nobles to the ordinary people, they all have the habit of drinking two cups when they have nothing to do, not to mention men, women also have the habit of drinking.

Jiu Niang looked at the wine cup in front of her and was very embarrassed, she hadn't forgotten what King Jì Chu had said, although she was already salivating in her mouth at this time, and she had a stupid feeling of wanting to drink a few glasses.

"She doesn't drink."

King Chu, who had been silent all night, suddenly spoke, took the wine cup in front of Jiu Niang, and drank it in one gulp.

Meng Changxi's face was shocked, slightly pale, and there was a faint overflow of water in her eyes.