The bright room of the princess's mansion is enveloped with a prosperous fire, the house is smoked with incense, a few paintings of lotus flowers are hung on the snow-white wall, the calligraphy and painting of pomegranate flowers blooming and yellow orioles climbing the branches, the height of the Bogu shelf is uneven, the rare antiques of different colors are placed in a staggered manner, a number of flower stands in the corner of the wall, there are lush branches and leaves, and the green oil seems to be dripping with oil and water.

Princess Zhu Qixia of Ning'an sat on the small kang obliquely, with a stove in her arms, and was playing Go with a big palace maid named Yu'er, and the princess's nurse Cui's mother was watching the game. The two of them were enjoying the news, and the little palace maid who was listening outside came in to report: "Princess, the master of the horse asks to see you." ”

Princess Ning'an ordered someone to bring him in, and asked someone to take away the chessboard, tidy up his clothes, and sit upright waiting for Li Mingshuo to enter the house.

Li Mingshuo entered the door, curtsy and bowed first, and the princess motioned for him to sit down, and he sat down on the chair brought by the little palace maid to speak.

When the princess saw him sit down, she asked him what was going on in his head, where it was bumped, and how it was bumped.

Li Mingshuo repeated the lie he had told his mother to the princess.

The princess smiled and said, "Master Horse, you are also a scholar, why do you keep books all day long, and prefer to ride horses and get guns, as if you are determined to learn from your father to be a military attaché." ”

Li Mingshuo hurriedly complimented: "It's still the princess who has a unique eye and sees that my ambition is coming, in fact, in the past few years, I have always wanted to stop my studies and go to the frontier to follow my father to make contributions, but my mother has been refusing, saying that I want to go to the border, I must have a son and a half daughter, and I am willing to let me go to the frontier when there is a successor." ”

The princess has been out of the cabinet for many years, and there has been no sign of pregnancy, and she doesn't like others to talk about pregnancy and childbirth, so she diverted the topic and said: "The day after tomorrow is my mother's birthday, and I am worried about what gift to give my mother, but it happens that you are here, and you will accompany me to the treasury to pick a pick, help me grow my eyes, this year my father rewarded me with a lot of things, but unfortunately I picked and picked to pick and choose, and I couldn't see the good or bad." ”

Li Mingshuo drooped his face and said: "The princess doesn't have to bother, I came from home just now, listening to the old lady's words, she doesn't seem to want to celebrate this birthday this year." ”

Why is that? Isn't the old lady's birthday celebrated every year? Why don't you want to live this year? The princess was amazed.

Cui's mother also asked: "Master Ma, the old lady's birthday only happens once a year, and everyone can't wait to take this opportunity to get together and be lively together?" Why don't you think about it? ”

Li Mingshuo glanced at Cui's mother, who was standing beside the princess with a sallow yellow face, and said to the princess very seriously: "I also asked the old lady ---- just now."

"And what did the old lady say?"

"She said that every year on her birthday, the aunts, aunts, uncles, and all kinds of mothers in the family all asked the old lady when the eldest son of the long house in our house would give birth to a grandson, saying that every year on her birthday, she knelt in front of the old lady and shouted that the grandmother's black pressure was a small black head all from the second room, and none of them were children in the long room.

The princess still had a smile on her face, but when she heard his words, she didn't smile at all, her face sank like water, and she stopped talking.

Mother Cui said indignantly: "Are those aunts, aunts, and uncles of your family still slandering our princess behind their backs that they are jealous women, and they refuse to think about the heirs of your Li family, and they block the ground and prevent you from taking concubines." ”

Li Mingshuo said to Cui's mother with a stammering smile: "There is no doubt about it, Mom, think about it, these old ladies don't say that they have seen the world, and some of them can't even recognize all the words. ”

The princess said: "Mother is just irritable in her heart, just talking angry, this birthday is naturally going to be celebrated." Don't be busy flattering Mother Cui first, but help me think about how to stop the mouths of those aunts, aunts, and aunts, and don't let my mother worry is the right way. ”

Li Mingshuo slipped directly from the chair to the ground, knelt down, and begged the princess: "There is a way, and it is unavoidable, I can't get it in the past, this year is also the princess Hongfu Qitian, there is such a good way, but I only ask the princess to have a lot of it, and I can tolerate this method." ”

The princess was accustomed to seeing her husband sometimes stingy, sometimes making small clothes, frivolous, and moody, and she was not surprised by his kneeling, but said lightly: "You get up, if you have something to say, in order to relieve the worries and boredom of our parents, we naturally have to discuss what kind of system we will become." ”

Li Mingshuo refused to get up, but still begged: "There is a source of this matter, it's me who is wrong, so I still kneel and report to the princess, if the princess hears it, if she gets angry and someone beats me a few times, I don't have to kneel down and get up again, get up and kneel down again." ”

When the princess saw that he was playing tricks again, she was too lazy to entangle with him, and agreed, "It's okay, tell me your faults first." ”

"That's right, princess, a few months ago I was gambling with people in the gambling house outside, I originally wanted to gamble for pleasure, but I didn't expect that my luck was very good that day, and the other party didn't believe that his luck was bad, so he bet more and more, and in the end I actually won a house for him----- in addition, well, I also won him a slave."

The princess was a super gambler, which made the princess feel very ashamed, and Princess Ning'an asked with a gloomy face: "How dare you bet on such a big game, aren't you afraid that your father and mother will be angry when they find out about your involvement in the gambling house?" ”

Li Mingshuo said with a sad face: "So I have been hiding it until now, and I don't dare to say it, for fear that my mother will scold me for being a dog." ”

"In that case, what is the way to make the old lady happy? You don't want to give the house you gambled on to the old lady as a birthday gift. ”

Li Mingshuo denied without thinking: "How is it possible, that house is remote and dilapidated, and the old lady will not even look at it." ”

"And what the hell is that good idea?"

Li Mingshuo hesitated for a moment, hesitated, shrunk, and said, "The way is on that slave's body." ”

The princess was stunned.

Cui's mother suddenly became nervous.

Li Mingshuo said: "The slave that the gambler lost to me, I originally wanted to reward Mo Ge as his wife, I promised Mo Ge, who knew that on the first night I took over the house, I was happy, drank too much wine, didn't control myself, and actually did the girl busy, the next day I woke up and I regretted it, and asked Mo Ge if he minded eating the food I chewed, and Mo Ge said he would. I was embarrassed to impose it on Mego, so I planned to find a buyer for the girl and the house to resell, and put a few dollars in my hand to spend, but I didn't find a buyer, and the slave was actually pregnant with my child, and I didn't know what to do next. ”

In order to make the princess feel better, Li Mingshuo put on a look of regret and mourning, as if he was the one who was hurt in this matter.

His husband raised the child privately outside, which made the lady of the main room lose face.

After hearing that the princess was like five thunderbolts, she was so angry that she couldn't speak, but Cui's mother was cautious and asked calmly: "Master Concubine, how can you be sure that the child in the belly of that cheap maid is yours, in case it is her original master, maybe you will be a father with this stupid boy." ”

"Mother Cui is really careful, but the princess is my first woman, Dongmei is my second, this slave is my third, I know what a woman's first time is like."

Li Mingshuo had no shame when he said such things, but Princess Ning'an was ranked by him, and Princess Ning'an felt very ashamed.

The princess said coldly: "Hugh wants to compare me with your Meilan Zhuju, you just say how you want to place this slave and the child in her belly." ”

"Princess, didn't we just talk about my mother's birthday feast, and my mother has been worried about the childlessness of my knees. I think that on the day of my mother's birthday feast, when the aunts talked about it again, the princess told me about it, and said that the princess had thought about my parents' heir, and that the princess had done all this for me, and then the princess would bring the slave to the old lady to show her, and wouldn't this be the best birthday gift that the princess had given to her in-laws? By the way, I also blocked the broken mouths of those old ladies in the market. Let our old lady have a happy birthday. ”

The princess looked at Cui's mother, habitually waiting for her mother's advice.

Mother Cui nodded to the princess, and then said to Li Moge, who was kneeling on the ground: "Master Horse, if you want the princess to push that slave to the old lady, then you have to bring her to the princess for the princess to take a look, the princess doesn't even know what she looks like, how can you say that the princess has carefully selected it for you?" ”

"What Cui's mother said is, but the slave maid is the daughter of a poor family, I haven't seen any dignitaries, even if I see it, I won't deal with it, if I see the royal nobles as soon as I come up, I'm afraid it will scare her and faint, I wanted to bring her to the princess to take a look, but she has been vomiting seriously these days, the fetus is unstable, and the doctor told her to stay in bed to recuperate, so she only lies on the bed and does not dare to go to the ground. Actually, there's nothing to see, it's just a poor girl with a little look, only a little different from people---"

When the princess saw that he had paused, as if he were a traitor, she asked, "What is the difference?" ”

Li Mingshuo hesitated slightly, and replied: "This girl can't laugh, if you force her to laugh one, laughing is more ugly than crying, and the others are just ordinary little girls." Princess, you listen to me, there is really nothing to see, lest you see her laughing and crying ugly. I tried not to look at her sad face. ”

Since the master of the horse has said so, I will not be stubborn, I promise you this matter. Mother Cui, do you have any other thoughts? ”

Li Mingshuo was first overjoyed when he got the princess's approval, and then he listened to the princess's opinion, so he became nervous again, and he didn't dare to blink his eyes to stare at Cui's mother, for fear that he would be plotted by her if he blinked.