Palace

Emperor Baili Jin of Jingguo is not an emperor who covets beauty, when Jingguo was first established, in order to appease the six major families, they deliberately canonized their children according to the size of the power of several major families. Later, although there were drafts, there were very few women who could be selected every year. And few of those who are chosen can give birth to a son and a half daughter safely.

As Bai Lijin gets older and older, the draft has been edicted several years ago, and he will no longer be drafted in his lifetime. The world was in an uproar over this edict. Some people rejoice, some people are sad. But most of them are happy or complaining about a sentence or two in their hearts, and no one has the courage to tell the truth to Bai Lijin.

Now, in addition to the queen, the four noble concubines, and the two concubines in the harem, there are no other women.

The queen is the daughter of the Zhao family who is a brother and sister to the emperor, and it is said that in the draft that year, the emperor was most satisfied with this daughter. In the following years, he once spoiled her. For this reason, there was an uproar in the court. The sudden disappearance of the eldest prince more than ten years ago made the two who were once very affectionate have been separated from each other.

The four major concubines are Wen Guifei, Liu Guifei, Wang Guifei, and Guo Guifei. Among them, Wen Guifei has a very high status among the people because of the three princes she gave birth to. In the harem, the status is also close to the queen. The rest of the people are on par with each other.

Some time ago, because the queen mother was unwell, they were exempted from greeting in the morning and evening. Now, the queen is in good health. Yesterday, I had ordered the steward around me to inform them to come to Yunxi Palace to say hello after breakfast recently.

Since the eldest prince suddenly returned to the palace, not only the dark tide above the court was turbulent, but even the harem revealed a strange atmosphere. Although there are not many concubines in the saints today, there are many lowly princes. Now there are five of them who are adults. They are the eldest prince born to the queen's mother, the second prince born to the late Li Cairen, the third prince born to the concubine of the Wen family, the fourth prince born to the concubine of the Liu family, and the seventh prince born to the concubine of the Guo family. These five princes, except for the second prince, have no backers, and are basically abandoned sons. The other one is not a contender for the Prince. Before the eldest prince returned to the palace, the most fierce competition was between the Wen family and the Liu family. At that time, the water and fire were already incompatible, and now there is another Zhao family whose strength far surpasses them. Wen Guifei and Liu Guifei have been sleepless almost every night recently.

Early in the morning, Concubine Wen and other concubines in the harem came to Yunxi Palace. Xiao Dalang has been back in the palace since he returned. No matter how busy you are with three meals a day, you will come to eat with the queen, and recently it is no exception. But unfortunately, I happened to meet all the mothers who came to say goodbye to the queen mother. Seeing this, Xiao Dalang put down his chopsticks and took the handkerchief handed by the maidservant. Wipe your hands, get up and want to say goodbye.

Unexpectedly, Liu Guifei was one step ahead of him, and walked over with a handkerchief and smiled

"Hey, I've heard how filial our eldest prince is, and I've heard that since the eldest prince returned to the palace, every time he eats, he will come to my sister's table to accompany and serve my sister, I used to think it was the palace maid and eunuch in the palace who said nonsense, I thought about it at the time. The four princes of our family are busy every day and don't have time to ask me for peace, and the eldest prince has grown up in the folk since he was a child, and many things, when he arrives in the palace, he has to learn from scratch, how can he have time to accompany the queen's sister. But I didn't expect this to be true. Huh"

When the queen heard this, her eyes flashed slightly, and she still had a gentle smile on her face, and stood up from the dining table, ignoring Liu Guifei. Instead, he looked at Xiao Dalang with a loving face

"The emperor has worked hard, didn't your father let you accompany your mother to finish the meal, and then go to the imperial study to discuss something with you? Hurry over and don't keep your father waiting. ”

It's been almost four months since I returned to the palace. During this time, he experienced a struggle that he might not have had the opportunity to experience in his life before, from the initial intolerance to the current numbness. Now, how could he not hear the meaning of Liu Guifei's words, as well as the words deliberately said by the queen mother. Knowing a smile. Saluted to the queen mother, turned around and left the Yunxi Palace

After Xiao Dalang left, Yun Xi Palace fell into silence for a while. A few people sat in their seats, quietly drinking tea and eating pastries. Wen Guifei has always been smart, drank a few sips of tea, put down the teacup and looked at the queen, "Sister Queen is really blessed to give birth to such a filial son." The eldest prince looks like a talent, although he has lived in the folk for so many years, but the luxury of his body has not been drowned out at all. Sister, let's say that our eldest prince is twenty-three this year. The men of our Jingguo, when they reach the weak crown, they can become their own children. Although the eldest prince has just returned to the palace not long ago, I am afraid that my sister will also be concerned about the matter of choosing a concubine. I don't know if my sister has a favorite family, if not, my sister I have a good girl here to talk to my sister.

"Xi'er is indeed not young, and she will make a decision after the palace and the emperor discuss it. Okay, it's not too early, and the palace is also a little weak. Go back first. ”

After speaking, the queen's side stepped forward to help the queen up and slowly entered the bedroom. When the concubines saw that the queen was gone, they walked out of the hall in twos and threes, "Hmph, even if you recognize your ancestors and return to your ancestors now, you can't change the temperament of the countryman." You're still thinking about it, and what will happen in the end, people don't want to deal with you at all. Liu Guifei walked past Wen Guifei, and did not forget to say a few words and laugh.

Wen Guifei's face changed slightly, and then wiped the strange appearance on her face. Laughing and walking forward

"It's better for my sister to say less, otherwise, if you cause any trouble with the four princes in the future, sister, don't blame my sister for not reminding you today."

Hmph, stupid woman, no matter how bad the eldest prince is, but his noble identity is there, and he is the queen's biological son. Sister-in-law of the royal family. In the future, even if he unfortunately fails in the seizure of the throne, with the queen here, no one will dare to embarrass him. What's more, with the current emperor's preference for the eldest prince, it is really unpredictable what the final situation will be. So, she had to leave a way back for herself. Single Moon Temple

"Father-in-law Liu, go and help me find out what those concubines said in front of their mother just now?" The palace has never been just a man's world, but also a women's battlefield. After watching it for so long, Xiao Dalang now knows the meaning of it.

"Yes, the minion will go and investigate." Gonggong Liu bowed and bowed and exited the room.

After Xiao Dalang waited for Gonggong Liu to leave, he casually opened a miscellaneous book and looked at it. In the past, when I was in Xiaojia Village, my daughter-in-law liked these strange miscellaneous books the most. But at that time, he was running around all day for a living, and he didn't have time to look for these. Since he came to the capital, he dragged Zhao Qi to help him find some, thinking about when he was free these days, so he asked someone to bring it back to her. But after much hesitation, in the end, the book did not leave for a while.

Xiao Dalang was in a daze at the books on the table, and there was a knock outside the door. Xiao Dalang looked up. Said

"Come in."

The door was pushed open from the outside, and Zhao Qi walked in from the outside, holding a letter in his hand, and walked to the desk. put the letter in front of Xiao Dalang's eyes

"This is a letter from Qingyang County this morning, take a look."

Xiao Dalang picked up the letter on the table and looked at it, looked up at Zhao Qi again, opened the envelope and took out the stationery, with a deep doubt in his eyes. Since leaving Xiaojia Village. In the past few months, Zhao Qi and Han Yu seemed to have discussed it, never in front of him, nor did they talk to him about any topics related to Xiaojia Village in Qingyang County. Why did you suddenly take the initiative to mention it today and show him the letter? "Kai, did something happen to her?" In addition to this, he couldn't think of anything else that could make Zhao Qi suddenly change his mind.

Zhao Qi glanced at Xiao Dalang and shook his head, "No, she's very good." When he said this, Zhao Qi almost gritted his teeth, but. Xiao Dalang was worried about Xia Chan, so he didn't notice the strangeness in Zhao Qi's words at all.

Hearing that she was fine, Xiao Dalang's hanging heart relaxed slightly. Seeing Zhao Qi's face selling, he couldn't wait to open the letter and read it. It was quite a long letter, Xiao Dalang read it quickly, his face changed again and again, and the corners of his eyebrows frowned. After reading the letter, he put the letter aside, and after a long silence, he slowly raised his head. looked at Zhao Qi with a tired face

"When? They: "Are they really together?" Did she say yes? Xiao Dalang's mind was in chaos. There is anxiety, sadness, and fear on the face.

Zhao Qi stood opposite Xiao Dalang, opened his mouth and suppressed what he wanted to say. "Actually, Murong Ye is quite good. If she really likes it, I bless them. With a sarcastic wry smile on the corner of his mouth, Xiao Dalang got up and walked to the window, looking at the bright sun outside the window, his heart ached as if he was being scraped with a knife. The bitterness of the stem in the throat, I want to talk about it but I don't know where to start. Reluctant? He used to think of her as the whole world. now

Xiao Dalang's clenched fists tightened and tightened. His eyes were full of struggle. Zhao Qi stood aside, silent. After a long time, Gonggong Liu pushed the door and came in, "The eldest prince, what you asked the old slave to investigate, the old slave has already found out." “

Xiao Dalang's body trembled slightly, but he didn't turn back. He continued to stare into the distance

"What did they say?"

There was this undoubted majesty in the cold voice, Gonggong Liu was slightly stunned, this master usually looks kind and rarely gets angry, what could be wrong. raised his head and secretly glanced at Zhao Qi, thinking in his heart that Zhao Shizi must have provoked the eldest prince.

"Back to the eldest prince, after the eldest prince left Yunxi Palace this morning, Concubine Wen mentioned your marriage to the queen. The queen seemed to agree, and said that she would go to the emperor to talk about this matter. ”

Hearing this, Xiao Dalang turned around in surprise, walked quickly to Gonggong Liu and asked

"What you said is true?" Marriage? The queen mother clearly said that he could make his own decisions about his marriage in the future. He also thought that he would take his daughter-in-law to the capital when his father, queen and mother were in better health and his position was more stable. But how did things turn out like this in the blink of an eye?

"Really, the old slave inquired from the palace maid of Yunxi Palace, it's true."

"Alright, you go down." Xiao Dalang waved his hand, turned around and walked to the desk, looked at the collapsed books on the corner of the desk, and a thought flashed in his heart. He looked up at Zhao Qi

"Qi, I want to go back to Xiaojia Village, you can help me think of a reason." In this palace, the only person he could believe in was Zhao Qi, and with this thought, he naturally thought of Zhao Qi.

Zhao Qi didn't expect Xiao Dalang to suddenly say such a sentence, the corners of his eyebrows frowned slightly, and he looked disapproving

"Your Highness, the current situation has just improved a little, if you leave at this time, I am afraid that our previous efforts will be in vain." During this time, with the tacit consent of several of them and the emperor, many forces of the third prince and the fourth prince were recovered, but the time was still short, and if they left, it was difficult to guarantee that those people would defect again.

Xiao Dalang's face darkened a little, and he lowered his head and pondered for a moment. continued, "I remember that there was a murder in Qingyang County a few days ago, and that incident finally reached the ears of my father. The father was furious and ordered the county order of Qingyang County to arrest the murderer within seven days. ”

Zhao Qi glanced at Xiao Dalang puzzled, and nodded, "There is such a thing, but what does this have to do with us." Moreover, the capital is about half a month away from Qingyang County, so even if we want to go over to help, I'm afraid we will be powerless. ”

"I know that." Xiao Dalang paused, "If I'm not mistaken, Xiao Shilang was also killed a few days ago. Speaking of Xiao Shilang's death, Xiao Dalang had nothing but disappointment and sighs in his eyes. After so much has passed. He's already drained too much of his compassion.

When Zhao Qi heard this, his eyes lit up. looked at Xiao Dalang in surprise: "You want to go back to your hometown to visit your adoptive parents in the name of Xiao Shilang." ”

"Yes." The brother of his adoptive parents is also his brother, and now that his own brother has been killed, he should naturally go back to worship as an elder brother.

The morning of the second day. Xiao Dalang took a month's leave to the emperor in the name of returning to his hometown to comfort his adoptive parents. At noon, he took Zhao Qi and Han Yu on the road.

Qingyang County

"First Xiao Shilang's body was suddenly thrown at the door of the county government, then Mo Qiye, and now Qin Butler. Murong Ye, do you have a feeling that this is like a bureau. A game that confuses our vision, and then has another plan. It's just that I don't know until now, whether this game he laid out is for you, or for me, or for the two of us. ”

Xia Cicada played with the teacup in her hand, frowning. Murong Ye stopped the pen in his hand and looked up at Xia Chan, and said coldly

"Whether it's for you or for me, I'm going to find that person out this time. I want to see who is so bold as to be my enemy. "Murong Ye was also a well-known little overlord in the capital back then. Little bastard. He has always provoked others, and few people have dared to provoke him. In fact, those people are not afraid of him, who made him the youngest child of the Murong family, or the most beloved baby grandson of Old Man Murong. What's more, Old Man Murong is famous for protecting his shortcomings, and they don't want to be broken by Old Man Murong for months because they are happy for a while. The famous families in the capital almost reached a consensus, and they would rather go around Murong Ye than provoke him.

But fortunately, although Old Man Murong is short, he is not indistinguishable from right and wrong, otherwise Murong Ye would have been biased early.

Midday. Xia Chan had lunch at the yamen, thinking that there was nothing to do, so she planned to go back to the inn to rest. I didn't sleep all night, and I was frightened again in the morning, and Xia Cicada almost fell asleep when she returned to the hotel. But. She didn't have long to sleep when there was a knock on the door. Xia Chan didn't want to pay attention to it, but the sound of knocking on the door intermittently didn't stop, and he got up impatiently and shouted

"Don't knock, doesn't anyone sue you, when you know there's someone inside. When no one opens the door after knocking on the bucket several times in a row, is it just that people are unwilling to open it? ”

When he opened the door, a handsome man came into view, Xia Chan thought he was dazzled, raised his hand and rubbed his eyes, and then opened his eyes, and saw that there was really a handsome guy in blue standing in front of him, and his unhappy expression suddenly changed to a happy heart, and a pair of eyes stared directly at the man in front of him. Tsk, I used to see it in novels, saying that handsome guys were born in ancient times, but she didn't believe it at the time, but now she really believes it. Look at the handsome guys she has seen recently, all of them are top-notch. The handsomeness of the handsome guy in front of him is different from Zhao Qi's black-bellied handsomeness. is not the same as Murong Ye's elegance, he is the kind of handsome who is indifferent and looks very comfortable. Especially the eyes that can discharge, her little heart is about to jump out when she sees it.

Xia Chan**'s undisguised nymphomaniac behavior, the man in front of him turned red. In the end, he finally couldn't stand it anymore and took the lead to break the embarrassment

"Well, are you the owner of this restaurant?" The handsome guy's warm and jade-like voice is like a spring in the mountains, penetrating people's hearts.

Xia Chan still looked at the man with straight eyes. Nodding. Seeing this, the man continued good-naturedly

"That's the case, today I passed through the hurry of here, there will be no spare rooms in the county, I don't know if I can stay in your restaurant for a few days, you can rest assured that I will give you the price of the best inn in Qingyang County." What do you think. ”

There are handsome guys to see, and there is money to take. If she doesn't do this business, then she is stupid. Xia Chan was calculating in her heart, and she smiled brightly. It's just that I haven't said anything for a long time. Seeing this, the man couldn't figure out what Xia Cicada meant for a while, but seeing that it was not too early, he reminded again

"I don't know if this girl agrees or disagrees."

"Agreed, why don't you agree." Xia Chan laughed twice. "Do you still need our restaurant to provide three meals a day? If you need to, I can give you a 20% discount. And, you won't be disappointed. ”

"Really?" The man looked at Xia Chan and looked up and down, his eyes full of doubts. Seeing this, Xia Chan glared at the man with a dissatisfied face, "Believe it or not, cut, just your appearance, except for the long face." The legs are slightly longer and the butt is slightly upturned. The rest, that's just so. Nothing to worry about. ”

The "you" man's always calm eyes changed and changed at this time, and it took a few times to stabilize his anger. When did Jingguo's girl become as vulgar and unreasonable as the woman outside the Saiwai. The man suddenly regretted coming here to stay overnight.

"Me? You think I'm good-looking, don't you? Oops. Even if you know, don't say it so directly, people will be shy. ”

"Poof" Foreman Xu was standing not far from Xia Chan and was painting the wall, and when he heard Xia Chan's words, he couldn't help laughing out loud. I said, owner, you usually look very serious. How did you flirt with such a handsome guy when you saw it? People just wanted to praise you, but they were obviously angry with you and couldn't speak.

The handsome man is difficult to rise with a layer of redness. glanced up at Xia Cicada and stopped making a sound. Seeing this, Xia Cicada was a little bored. However, I finally finished the anger that I was woken up just now. I won't be able to sleep either, so why don't I go downstairs and find something to eat. I have to go to the county government office in the evening. Now the case has not only made no progress at all, but has become more and more confusing.

With a headache, Xia Chan patted his head, returned to the house and put on his shoes, and passed by the man and was about to go downstairs. The man saw this. Hurriedly spoke up.

"This girl, you haven't said you're going to stay in that room yet."

Xia Chan didn't reply and said, "Except for the two rooms next to me, you can choose the others." After that, he went downstairs.

"Sister, you're awake. Come and eat the candy man, which was bought for us by that beautiful brother just now. ”

Dabao was eating candy with Forestry at the table, and when he saw Xia Cicada coming down from upstairs, he hurriedly took the Tang people to find Xia Cicada to ask for credit. He remembered that the second sister also liked the sugar man.

"Sugar Man?" Xia Chan took the sugar man in Dabao's hand and looked upstairs. When the man saw Xia Chan looking at him, he nodded politely at Xia Chan. Then he pushed the door open and entered the room. After a long time, Xia Cicada withdrew her gaze. The candy man pulled Dabao to the table and sat down.

It's been a long time, how long has it been since no one remembered that she liked Sugar Man. In modern times, she has seen a lot of prosperity, but when she came here, she fell in love with the most primitive beauty. So. She began to like sugar people, noodle people. Like something with a heart. Except for the people of the Xia family, only Xiao Dalang knows. At that time, as long as Xiao Dalang went to town, he would always buy some and give them to her. Later, the sugar men were stained with ashes and thrown away by her. The man who gave her the candy man was also lost by her later.

Tears slowly rose in the corners of his eyes. Xia Cicada stubbornly raised her head, forced her tears back into her eyes, picked up the candy man in her hand and looked at it a few times and handed it back to Dabao

"Dabao, let's give you back this sugar man, my sister has grown up, and she won't be a sugar man anymore."

Dabao looked puzzled, my sister just looked like she liked it, why didn't she like it now. However, Dabao has always listened to Xia Chan's words, and since Xia Chan said he didn't like it, he took the sugar man over. This scene happened to be seen by the handsome man upstairs.

After experiencing two lives and deaths in one day and one night, I remembered it again and felt a miracle when Xia Cicada touched her neck. So, in order to celebrate her post-holiday rebirth, she plans to treat herself to the evening. By the way, let everyone taste the signature dishes she prepared.

"Uncle, here are ten taels of silver, you take this piece of paper and help me buy all the things on it. In the evening, my parents and children cooked, and we had a good meal. Xia Chan handed the silver and the menu to the uncle, remembering the two foodies in the county office, and continued, "By the way, when you come back from shopping for vegetables, remember to go to the county government and tell our county magistrate that I will invite him to dinner in the evening." ”

The janitor didn't know the relationship between Xia Chan and the county magistrate, and thought that Xia Chan was trying to bribe the county magistrate. But how can there be such a bribe of others, the janitor is anxious for Xia Chan, and said with an expression that he didn't do so.

"Boss, let's invite the county magistrate to dinner?"

"Or what do you think?" Xia Chan looked puzzled, she was fine just now, why did her face change all of a sudden, she said the wrong thing? Xia Chan thought about it and didn't think there was anything wrong.

"Oh, I said the owner, you really don't understand or how to drop. This bribe the county official, and if you have someone like you, you have to go out to eat, and then send some silver taels or something. ”

"Bribery? Who am I bribing? Murong Ye? Uncle, you think too much, I just just invite him to a meal, I really don't mean anything else. In addition, we know each other well. I don't need to bribe him. ”

"Really?" The janitor was a little unconvinced

Nima? Does she look a lot like a liar? How today one or two doubted her.

"Really, really. Okay, let's go quickly, otherwise there will really be no food to eat at night. ”

After making sure that what Xia Cicada said was true, the janitor happily took his things out of the restaurant. Seeing this, Xia Chan smiled helplessly, stretched, and turned around to go to the kitchen. Murong Ye is a meatless person like her, so tonight's dishes are mostly meat-based. A must-order dish for hot and sour fish, braised pork, spicy chicken, and sauce elbow. What else is coming. Xia Chan stood in the kitchen and thought seriously.

County office

"Back to the master, there is news" (to be continued.) )

PS: I wish you all a happy Lantern Festival!