Jiang Xuan noticed that Lu Qingrong was strange, and still quietly helped her into the carriage.

On the way back to the house, I saw that Lu Qingrong's face was not improving, but was getting redder and redder.

"What's going on?" Jiang Xuan naturally held her hand, "Did something happen during the banquet?" ”

"Nope!" Lu Qingrong hurriedly denied it, but he quickly realized his panic and slowly slowed down his speech, "There are too many people in Fengning Palace, and it's a little stuffy. ”

Of course, she knew that Jiang Xuan was referring to her face, because she could feel some heat on her face herself.

"The Queen Mother is not embarrassed by you!" Jiang Xuan said so, but he still had doubts in his heart.

"Not really!" Lu Qingrong recalled the situation in Fengning Hall just now, "Not only did he not embarrass me, but he also praised me." ”

"Oh? What are you praising about? Jiang Xuan's expression finally stopped tense, and asked with a smile.

"Say I am, I am a blessed man." Lu Qingrong thought about it for a while, and said with a bit of playfulness: "There are also things like you getting better, working hard, being highly valued by the emperor, etc., all of which are my credit!" ”

The more Lu Qingrong spoke, the more exaggerated it became, and in the end, even she couldn't help laughing.

On the contrary, Jiang Xuan did not laugh as she expected, looking serious thinking, and after a while, she pretended to be stern and said: "The Queen Mother has a point!" He nodded as he spoke.

This made Lu Qingrong lose his temper, put away the laughter just now, and didn't know how to proceed.

Seeing Jiang Xuan's hot eyes staring at him all the time, Lu Qingrong involuntarily began to dodge.

If I continue to look at him like this, I'm afraid the temperature on my face is about to burn......

racked his brains to think about how to change the topic, and it seemed that it took a long time before he heard Lu Qingrong speak: "Is the relationship between the Queen Mother and Mrs. Wu very good?" ”

It's not that she's out of words, she has always had this doubt.

"It should be considered good." Jiang Xuan stopped teasing her, and said seriously: "Although their contact is not frequent on the surface, I guess there should be frequent contact. After all, from Mrs. Wu's marriage into the Hou Mansion to the later Fuzheng, she has caught up with the heyday of the Zhenbei General's Mansion, and she can get her wish step by step, and she must be inseparable from that person...... There is also the Anle Hou Mansion is also an example, they have always been masters of high and low, tending to the flames, except for the Empress Dowager Wu and the crown prince, they are rarely seen close to others. However, they attach great importance to Mrs. Wu's side branch, which should be the result of figuring out their intentions. ”

Lu Qingrong thought about Jiang Xuan's words and fell into silence for a while.

She felt that the so-called Mrs. Wu's "every step of the way", Jiang Xuan still had one thing to mention. Is he reluctant to bring up his sad past, or is he still worried about himself? Lu Qingrong himself couldn't be sure.

But it didn't take long for her to seem to make up her mind.

There have been breakthroughs in her relationship with Jiang Xuan several times before, mostly because of Jiang Xuan, and this time she also plans to take the initiative.

"This also includes the death of my mother...... That thing? Lu Qingrong's voice was extremely soft.

"What do you mean?" Jiang Xuan obviously didn't expect her to ask this question, and her composure at this time became a little reluctant.

"I was so young at that time that I didn't know what the people in the capital thought of it at that time." Lu Qingrong tried hard to recall, "But after all, the Lu family and the Hou Mansion were close at that time, and they have been taken care of by the Hou Mansion a lot since the old Hou Ye, but in recent years, because the Hou Ye is seriously ill and rarely sees guests, it seems to be a little estranged......"

"You...... Ever heard something? Jiang Xuan asked hesitantly.

"I heard my mother talk about it, she is not a person who likes to add oil and vinegar, but she just said what my father saw and heard when he came to the Hou Mansion." Lu Qingrong paused, and finally made up his mind: "Although we are outsiders, we also feel that the funeral was handled in a particularly hasty manner, and it gives people a very strange feeling from beginning to end, as if there is some secret that is afraid of being known by outsiders. At that time, the Hou Mansion looked like a great enemy, and everyone was tight-lipped, which made the sadness seem secondary......"

Lu Qingrong said cautiously, she hoped that Jiang Xuan could open up to her, but she didn't want to arouse the sadness in his heart.

Because of her bizarre identity, she couldn't tell Jiang Xuan, she had witnessed the scene of Mrs. Jiang's funeral, and in the funeral procession like the top of the silver mountain, the little figure of the lost soul still clearly remained in her mind and could not be erased.

At this time, Jiang Xuan's eyes staring at her became a little excited, and after a long time, he said word by word: "No matter what the secret is, there will definitely be a day when the truth will be revealed." ”

His voice was soft, but extraordinarily firm.

"As long as you don't give up, you will be able to wait until that day." Lu Qingrong rarely encourages others like this, but today he can't help it.

"Don't worry, I'll never give up." Jiang Xuan's expression softened a little, and he seemed to barely squeeze out a smile, "There are some things that can't be rushed, just like the things we just mentioned, that one is still there, even if we really have real evidence in hand, we may not be able to move her at all." If you don't do it, you will be surprised, some opportunities are only once, and if you miss it, I'm afraid it will be even more difficult to turn the tables around......"

Jiang Xuan didn't continue, he believed that Lu Qingrong should be able to understand.

Lu Qingrong sighed in her heart, Jiang Xuan's outspokenness to her made her very moved, and at the same time, she could vaguely feel that he was waiting for the opportunity to win with one blow.

Her hand was still tightly held by Jiang Xuan, and at this time, she felt not only his warm body temperature, but also the beating heart, which seemed to be overlapping with her own heartbeat...... Lu Qingrong quietly felt this fit.

Her thoughts were still drifting farther and farther because of Jiang Xuan's words just now, when was the best time? Lu Qingrong secretly asked in his heart, but the answer seemed to have been placed there for a long time, and there was no need to break it.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's illness, is he getting better?" Lu Qingrong asked suddenly.

Jiang Xuan was stunned for a moment, and soon smiled.

"It's not good to say, today's banquet in the court has been accompanied by the emperor from beginning to end, but there are still some poor spirits." Jiang Xuan told the truth.

"No wonder the crown princess always seems a little vague when she mentions this matter today. I hope that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can get better as much as possible. Lu Qingrong sighed sincerely.

"What you think of is not your third sister, but the crown princess?" Jiang Xuan asked casually.

Lu Qingrong sighed helplessly, she didn't intend to complain to Jiang Xuan about this, but just explained: "The crown princess looks like a very kind-hearted person. ”

Seeing the crown princess twice, although there was no too close contact, Lu Qingrong could still feel that she was a little different, and she didn't seem to be too close to the queen mother, who was also from the Wu family, but was more like the queen, and she had a posture of not being humble or arrogant, and being alone.

"Well, it's really not like it's from the Wu family." Jiang Xuan was halfway through speaking, and suddenly laughed, "I have never talked about others behind my back like this. ”

Is this also talking about others? Lu Qingrong didn't expect Jiang Xuan, who had always behaved unrestrained in the eyes of others, to be so self-disciplined, and couldn't help but lean over and quip: "It feels good, right?" ”

Jiang Xuan was only stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter: "It's really good!" ”

"If you have something to say, you naturally have to say it, how uncomfortable it is to hold back." Lu Qingrong said without hesitation: "It's not to tell outsiders!" ”

Her sentence "not an outsider" made Jiang Xuan extremely happy in his heart.

The two of them began to talk about the interesting story of their respective banquets today.

Of course, the blushing conversation between Lu Qingrong and Tang Yue was not mentioned from beginning to end.

However, Lu Qingrong and Jiang Xuan returned to Yuyuan on the front foot, and Tang Yue sent someone over on the back foot, saying that they had sent her a musical score.

When Lu Qingrong looked at the big bag of things sent with the score, he didn't need to ask to know that it was the tonic again, and hurriedly asked Jiang Xuan to put away all those things in Jiang Xuan's curious and different eyes......

On the first day of the New Year, going to the palace to congratulate is only one of the tasks, and another thing that has to be done is the sacrifice in the palace.

The Marquis of Jingyuan's Mansion has been passed down for many generations, so the movement of the sacrifice is not very lively, and in the capital, it is just these people in the mansion.

The place of worship is located in the ancestral hall of the house.

Lu Qingrong and Jiang Xuan returned to the Yu Courtyard, and there was almost no time to rest, and after changing their clothes, they went to the ancestral hall together.

Due to the distance between the Yuyuan and the ancestral hall, Lu Qingrong and Jiang Xuan didn't like to ride in the mansion, so when the two of them arrived at the side hall of the ancestral hall, the people had basically arrived.

Mrs. Wu sat on the main seat and waited, and next to Jiang Ke and Qiu Jinting stood beside her.

Almost at the same time as they arrived, Marquis Jing Yuan also walked in with the support of the two aunts.

According to common sense, the aunt is not qualified to participate in the sacrifice, but after all, the situation of Marquis Jingyuan is special, so she doesn't care about this. If it weren't for the support of the two aunts, I'm afraid it would be a little difficult for Jingyuanhou to stand.

As soon as the hour came, Marquis Jingyuan led everyone out of the side hall and officially began the sacrifice.

The customs of the Great Qi Dynasty, the New Year sacrifice includes sacrificing heaven and earth and sacrificing ancestors.

The offerings had already been placed on the sandalwood offering table in the courtyard. Everyone first knelt down in the courtyard to worship and burn incense, and completed the ceremony of sacrificing heaven and earth, before entering the main hall of the ancestral hall and began to worship their ancestors.

The shrines of the ancestors of all generations of the Jiang family are placed there for future generations to worship.

It's not the first time Lu Qingrong has come here, he has already been here when he first became a family tree, and he is also somewhat familiar with the furnishings on it. At this time, among the tablets enshrined above, several are relatively new, including the tablets of the old marquis and the old lady, and some are Mrs. Jiang's.

Because of her seniority, Mrs. Jiang's tablet was placed in the most remote position, but it still made Lu Qingrong's eyes unable to take his eyes off it for a long time.

When it was time to worship the ancestors and kneel down and burn incense, Marquis Jingyuan and Mrs. Wu were in the middle, Jiang Xuan and Jiang Ke were separated, Lu Qingrong stood beside Jiang Xuan, and slowly bowed down with him.

And what they couldn't imagine was that among the few people in the ancestral hall at this time, there were far more than the two of them looking here.

Although the Marquis of Jingyuan is not in good spirits, there are always times when his mind is clear, such as now.

Whether it was when he knelt down with difficulty before worshipping his ancestors, or when he was supported by his two aunts after worshipping, his eyes turned to that side for a moment, and his eyes couldn't tell whether it was regret or loneliness, or remorse.

Mrs. Wu, who was beside Marquis Jingyuan, also couldn't ignore the tablet. Although she didn't look over there from beginning to end, she was thinking about it all the time.

Instead of pleasure, nervous entanglement, and even a hint of jealousy and restlessness, all kinds of emotions kept rolling in Mrs. Wu's heart, making her unable to regain her peace for a long time.

At the same time, there are two people who are as uncalm as her, it is Aunt Wei and Aunt Chen.

After kneeling down after serving Marquis Jingyuan, they also knelt behind him, and from time to time secretly raised their heads behind and looked at Mrs. Jiang's tablet......

This eerie and silent atmosphere was soon broken by a sudden gust of wind.

This year's Spring Festival is in the middle of winter, and it is not uncommon for cold winds to gust.

Suddenly, a gust of wind struck, blowing the originally open carved wooden door of the ancestral hall shut, and slammed it, making everyone in the ancestral hall feel tight.

If that's all there is to it, that's it.

Maybe it was the air flow caused by the sudden closing of the door, or maybe it was the attention of too many people just gathered, but in short, just when the other tablets were standing there without moving, the most remote one actually began to shake.

It only shook and seemed to last for a long time, neither stopping nor falling.

Seeing this, Jiang Xuan hurriedly took a few steps forward, stabilized it with both hands, and carefully waited for the gust of wind to completely stop before letting go.

During the whole process, Lu Qingrong was staring intently over there until Jiang Xuan walked back to his side.

As soon as she breathed a sigh of relief, she suddenly discovered another puzzling scene in the ancestral hall.

Aunt Wei and Aunt Chen didn't receive any attention at all before because they were standing in the back, but at this time, they couldn't pay attention to it.

Originally, everyone had already stood up, but just when the gust of wind blew just now, the two of them suddenly fell to their knees again, as if they had encountered something terrible, and kept kowtowing, but did not say a word.

When everyone turned around, they saw such a scene.

"What are you two doing! Don't hurry up for me! Mrs. Wu shouted angrily.

Lu Qingrong was suddenly even more surprised, she didn't expect that the first time she saw Mrs. Wu, she was furious, because of such an unbelievable scene.

Aunt Wei, who was kneeling on the ground, raised her head when she heard the sound, and looked at Mrs. Wu's extraordinarily sharp eyes, and instantly sobered up for the most part, and hurriedly stood up in a panic, seeing that Aunt Chen next to her didn't seem to hear at all, she still kept kowtowing, and hurriedly went over to drag her again.

"Hurry up......" Aunt Wei whispered something in her ear, but Lu Qingrong didn't hear it clearly.

But whether it was Mrs. Wu's loud shouting or persuading Aunt Wei, it couldn't make Aunt Chen come to her senses. In this way, in the stunned eyes of everyone, she knocked blood out of her forehead alive.

This time, even Qiu Jinting, who was watching the excitement next to him, was surprised inexplicably.

Mrs. Wu no longer expected her to come to her senses on her own, lest she say anything inappropriate for a while, so Mrs. Wu called the maid to come in and put her out directly......

And when this farce was staged, the people in the ancestral hall could be said to be in different forms.

Marquis Jing Yuan had been standing there trembling all the time, not seeing any waves, only when Aunt Chen was taken out, he seemed to sigh slightly.

Jiang Ke's reaction was even more flat, he always looked like he didn't care about himself, he didn't even look at Aunt Chen, and he didn't seem to feel that anything had happened in this house at all.

Although Lu Qingrong's heart was shaken, he tried his best to show a flat look, but when the sacrificial ceremony was completed in a hurry and everyone walked out of the ancestral hall, they had a meaningful look at Jiang Xuan.

Lu Qingrong's first Spring Festival sacrifice after marrying into the Hou Mansion ended hastily.

When Marquis Jingyuan went back, only Aunt Wei was the only one who supported him.

And Mrs. Wu ignored anyone, turned around and left.

As soon as she returned to Qinyi Courtyard, Mrs. Wu could no longer suppress the anger in her heart.

"Those two, if they are really indisputable, they are not enough to succeed and more than to lose! In vain I have mercifully kept them for so many years! Mrs. Wu was furious and said, "I have to kick them out today!" ”

Mother Lu followed her back all the way, and she had already noticed Mrs. Wu's anger, but because she was just waiting outside the ancestral hall at that time, she didn't know what was going on inside. It's just that Mrs. Wu called someone to take Aunt Chen out halfway, so that she knew that there must be something going on inside.

"Madame, don't be angry, you should wait for your anger to be smooth before making a decision." Mother Lu had no choice but to persuade vaguely, "Didn't you often say in the past that the most taboo thing for people in anger is to make decisions, and most of them will regret it later......"

Mrs. Wu was still angry, and told Mother Lu about the scene in the ancestral hall just now, which was inevitably a little intermittent, but Mother Lu understood everything.

"Madame is right, those two people are indeed not angry, but you must not act rashly this time!" Mother Lu persuaded bitterly, "The prince is no longer the child of the past, today's events will inevitably make him suspicious, the more intense our reaction is, it will only make his suspicions stricter!" ”

"So what?" Mrs. Wu's tone became even more angry, "If you don't have any evidence, can you still force it on me?" ”

"What if...... What about the credentials? Lu's mother still asked.

"That must have been made up by him!" Mrs. Wu's momentum did not decrease at all, "Take 10,000 steps back, even if he really has something...... As long as there is the Queen Mother, in the end, it depends on what we say! ”

Mother Lu was not speechless, but because she understood that Mrs. Wu was already angry at this time, she didn't want to argue with her, but just reminded: "The killer weapon of the Queen Mother, we have always stayed on our bodies, and it is always better than using it." ”

Mrs. Wu was quiet for a moment, and only after her breathing gradually became stable did she sigh: "I also understand this, just now I just said casually, the Queen Mother can help us once or twice, it is impossible to help us for a lifetime, not to mention that Ke'er still has a long way to go in the future......"

Seeing that Mrs. Wu finally calmed down, the heart that Lu's mother had been carrying was put down again.

"You're right, we really can't react too violently." Mrs. Wu agreed with her statement, "It's just that this matter must not be counted like this, there are many dreams at night, which always makes people feel unsure." I think we need to think about it in the long run, and slowly find a proper place for those two people. ”

Mother Lu nodded in agreement.

It was getting dark, and the whispering of the master and servant in the Qinyi courtyard continued until late......

On the other hand, Lu Qingrong and Jiang Xuan's side were a little unusually quiet.

After coming out of the ancestral hall, the two walked side by side on the way back to the Yuyuan, and no one spoke.

They really don't know how to speak.

The expressions of the two aunts just now are already very obvious, and it seems that many of the strange things in the old past have become ready to come out with the strange behavior of the two people.

But whether it is Jiang Xuan or Lu Qingrong, one thing that understands better in their hearts is that now is definitely not a good time.

The power of the Wu family cannot be faked, and Lu Yiduo's case is a living example.

What if you go to great lengths to find evidence? It's nothing more than sending it to the door to make it easy to ruin miè.

Lu Qingrong knows very well that in this dynasty where imperial power is supreme, evidence is just an adjunct, and more powerful forces are needed to let the truth of the events of the year have a chance to be revealed. And at this moment, it is clear that the more powerful force is not on their side.

After the conversation on the way back to the house before, Jiang Xuan wondered that Lu Qingrong didn't talk to him about it again at this time.

Could she understand the joints too? Jiang Xuan felt that Lu Qingrong was really an elusive person, sometimes extraordinarily young, sometimes surprisingly steady......

It's just that "waiting for the right time" is very simple to figure out, but it is not easy to do. Especially thinking of his mother's voice and smile when he was young, Jiang Xuan couldn't let go of it for a while.

After returning to the Yu Courtyard, Jiang Xuan suddenly hugged Lu Qingrong tightly in his arms and refused to let go for a long time.

Feeling his arms tightening more and more, Lu Qingrong could feel the entanglement in his heart at the moment, he didn't ask, he didn't consol, he just stayed quietly in his arms, stretched out his hand to wrap around his waist.

Lu Qingrong suddenly had a wonderful feeling, obviously he was being embraced by him, but it was as if he was holding him.

Time seems to pass faster because of the tight embrace of the two.

Just when Lu Qingrong and Jiang Xuan felt that they had been in this silence for I don't know how long, the maid Qiulan came in from outside and asked if she wanted to set the meal.

Apparently extremely shy by the sight, when Qiulan came out of the house, she kept her head down, and her whole face turned red.

On the contrary, the two parties in the house are not as strict as her. Xu is because he is often bumped into by green bamboo on weekdays.

"Why wasn't it a green bamboo just now?" Jiang Xuan coughed dryly at first, and then asked.

"I gave her a day off and asked her to go to see her mother in Zhuangzi." Lu Qingrong said softly. R1152