Regarding the news of Diejun's death, after discussing with Concubine Shu, Concubine De still decided to keep it a secret for the time being, and wait for the emperor to return to Beijing to make a decision, and only bury Diejun's body first.

The emperor and his entourage, who had no idea of the tragedy in the palace, left the "sad place" of Qizhou the day after Luo Yiyi's death and headed for the next destination, Chuzhou. Luo Yiyi's body was personally escorted back to Beijing by Wen Fu'an, the co-leader of Qizhou.

Wen Fu'an thought that he could meet his long-lost daughter Wen Hao in the team of the Southern Tour, but he never thought that Wen Hao took the initiative to give up the opportunity to drive. It can be seen that the daughter's life in the palace was not as good as described in her letter. Wen Hao's family letters have always reported good news and not bad news, she only said some happy things about being promoted to a noble concubine and raising a princess, but she never confided in the loneliness she suffered in the deep palace. Wen Fu'an missed her daughter, so she took this opportunity to take the initiative to invite Ying, and went to Beijing to visit by the way. Anyway, the errand of transporting the corpse is something that others can't avoid, and he takes the initiative to take it, and it's too late for the emperor to be happy, so how can he not allow it?

Surprisingly, the King of Jin also invited himself to return to Beijing early that day, because Xiao Shizi Duanmaode had a rash. King Jin was worried that the child had some serious infectious disease, so he insisted on going back to take care of it. So, Wen Fu'an took Luo Yiyi's coffin and went against the southern tour team with the King of Jin.

After more than ten days, the team finally entered the territory of Chuzhou. Chuzhou officials, big and small, and the people of Li greeted them.

When you arrive in Chuzhou, you can feel the real charm of the south of the Yangtze River. "Thousands of miles of warblers cry green and red, water villages, mountains and Guo wine flag wind" is not only a depiction in poetry; The scene of "Qingsha covering the city with bamboo as a house, and every family without a well drinking tide water" can also be seen everywhere, which is really "the Jiangnan terroir is full of joy, and it is leisurely and everywhere" [Tang Zhang's "Xianghe Song and Jiangnan Song"].

As pre-arranged, the emperor's guard of honor lived in the renovated palace, and Lu Wensheng and Shen Zhong were in charge of receiving them.

"I didn't expect that the palace of the previous dynasty could be so well preserved! It can be said that it is 'the glittering shell Que Zhu Palace, Qi Zhen Zhen Biwa Zhu Yong, wide and slender Luo Wei embroidered into a oak, Yu Weiwei painted beams and carved buildings. [Yuan Wang Ziyi's "Strayed into the Peach Spring" Second Fold] is good, very gorgeous! The ministers accompanied Duan Yulin to visit the palace, and after the ladies settled down, they went to the flower hall to drink tea and rest.

"What the Holy Lord said is that several monarchs of the previous dynasty were fond of extravagance, so even the palace was built to be extremely magnificent. This time, when he heard that the holy driver was coming, Lord Lu ordered the craftsmen to renovate the palace day and night, and he himself was reluctant to personally supervise the work day and night, so that it was completed before the arrival of the emperor. However, adhering to the style of advocating frugality since the opening of the dynasty, Lord Lu also tried to reduce the cost of renovation. Moreover, many of the expenses are subsidized by Lord Lu himself, after all, the country's money should still be spent on the people. Your Majesty, take a look, are you still satisfied? Shen Zhong invited credit for Lu Wensheng in a timely manner.

"Yes, I'm satisfied. I am not only satisfied with the specifications of the palace, but also satisfied with Lu Aiqing's benevolent heart that knows how to be a diligent and thrifty official and benefit the people! Later, I will hand over the cost of Aiqing's subsidy out of her own pocket to Fang Da, and I will make up all for Lu Aiqing after returning to Beijing. Duan Yulin nodded appreciatively to Lu Wensheng.

"Thanks, thank you! It's just that repairing the palace is not the work of the ministers alone, and there is also the great help of Lord Shen and Governor Ding. Lu Wensheng knew that he couldn't monopolize the credit at this moment, and he still needed the support of Shen Zhong and others next.

"Don't worry, I won't treat my courtiers who serve me wholeheartedly, and they will be rewarded! I heard that Governor Ding broke his leg not long ago? It's also difficult for him, dragging the crippled body and not forgetting to take over the driving. I will go to Haosheng tomorrow to appease Ding Aiqing. A group of people walked around the palace, and it was time for dinner.

The banquet was set up in the flower hall where the ladies and dependents relaxed. The flower hall of the palace is very large, just enough to sit all the princes, ministers and harem concubines. The structure of the flower hall here is peculiar - a boxy stage is built with bluestone in the center of the entire flower hall; a shallow three-foot-wide ditch was dug around the perimeter of the stage; The canal is filled with water from the pond in the back garden; White and purple double-petaled water lilies float on the water.

Everyone sat around the stage from north to south, and because the stage played the role of a partition, there was no barrier between the male and female guests. The two squares facing each other are not very clear to each other, and they usually focus their attention on the stage. Even so, the stage naturally cannot be empty. After a while, Lu Wensheng and Shen Zhong prepared wonderful performances in advance and appeared one by one.

After a wonderful song and dance, the subordinates of the Lu Mansion carried two large screens and put them on the stage, just blocking the audience's sight. Everyone is very curious, what mysterious show should be staged next?

Duan Yulin stared with interest at the Suzhou embroidery screen on the stage decorated with a pattern of flowers blooming and wealth, and saw three shadowy figures behind the screen come to the stage. Two tall and one short, the short one looked like a child.

Without waiting for everyone to guess who these three were, a beautiful melody sounded. The three people and the three musical instruments - the pipa, the lyre and the gonghou - play so seamlessly that the listener can't help but be fascinated.

The guqin tone starts to be in tune, and at first it seems to be "nicknamed children's language, grievances and grievances [from Tang Hanyu's "Listening to Yingshi Playing the Qin"]"; The pipa is played noisily with the guqin, and the sound of the pearl falling on the jade plate highlights the agility in the gloom; The sound of Konghou is still immature compared to the guqin and pipa, although it can't play the rhyme of "Jiang E's crying bamboo and plain girl sorrow [from Tang Li He's "Li Pinggong Hou Citation]", but if time passes, it will be able to attract "barefoot oblique flying wet cold rabbit [ibid.]".

Then the rhyme turned, and the strings "suddenly became Xuanang [from "Listening to Yingshi Playing the Piano"]", which can show the magnificent atmosphere of "warriors going to the enemy field [ibid.]"; The pipa is not far behind, and the four-string reple is like a silver bottle bursting. The sound came to my ears, and I couldn't help but think of a tragic and magnificent scene—water slurry splashing like blood on the buzzing iron horse swords and guns; The sound of "Kunshan Jade Broken Phoenix Called [from "Li Pinggong Hou Citation"" is bound to catch up in the artistic conception, adding a little crispness to the majestic sound in front......

At the end of the song, all four are quiet. Moments later, thunderous applause.

"It's wonderful! Lu Aiqing, where did you get the musician to work the three instruments together so well? With such a tacit understanding, I am afraid that it will not be possible without three or five years of running-in. If I'm not mistaken, I'm afraid that the musician who plays the gonghou is still a child, which is really amazing! Duan Yulin praised the performers.

"The emperor has a good reputation. But the emperor is right about one thing, the reason why the three of them can cooperate together is indeed because they have been learning to play together since childhood. Lu Wensheng was also very satisfied with the performance.

"Invite a few musicians out, I'll be rewarded." Duan Yulin was very curious about the youngest musician, what kind of little prodigy could play such high-level music?

Lu Wensheng high-fived, and his subordinates immediately removed the screen. On the stage that lost its cover, the true face of Lushan of the three "musicians" was revealed.

A pair of slender and delicate, similar in appearance and different in charm - Tao Qian is gentle, and the eldest sister Lu Haozhen with long eyebrows and sideburns is the eldest sister; Fresh clothes like maple and red plums are reflected by the second sister Lu Yangqing. A child is happy, exquisitely well-behaved, Yuxue is cute, and the little sister of the Lu family is late.

What a three-sister concert in unison! Duan Yulin couldn't help but be amazed by Lu Wensheng's creativity. His eyes first fell on Lu Yeqing, who had the most outstanding complexion, and saw that this woman's waist was straight, her eyes were not squinting, and her sassy air was coming! Beauty is beautiful, but there is a little less feminine femininity.

If Duan Yulin was still a young man with a weak crown, then he would definitely be overwhelmed by Lu Yangqing's unique temperament, just as he was attracted by Feng Wu at the beginning. However, now that he is over forty years old, he can no longer stand the strong woman, and he prefers to indulge in the tender fragrance of nephrite.

So, Duan Yulin turned his gaze to Lu Yezhen next to him. Ho! This woman is a little older, but she does not show the slightest hint of Shaohua's fading state. The years have wrapped her in a faint layer of poignancy, which has made her more attractive as a mature woman, and she exudes a pitiful charm all over her body. Tsk, this woman has already cultivated to the best!

Lu Wensheng found that the emperor was staring at his two daughters, and thought that the first step in this matter was a success. So he coughed lightly twice and drew the emperor's attention.

Duan Yulin heard Lu Wensheng's cough, and realized that he was staring at the woman on the stage in a daze, and he was a little embarrassed. In order to alleviate the embarrassment, he deliberately beckoned to the youngest girl and said, "Little sister, come here." I have something good to reward you" At the same time, he asked Lu Wensheng as usual: "Lu Aiqing hasn't told me yet, who are these three people?" ”

Just as Lu Huiwan was jumping towards them, Lu Wensheng took a step ahead of the emperor, pulled Lu Yanwan to his side, and knelt down with her: "Back to Your Majesty, it is the minister's three daughters who are playing for you just now." Lu Wensheng introduced his three daughters to the emperor in turn, and the three of them also saluted the emperor one by one.

"Oh? Are they Aiqing's daughters? Duan Yulin was taken aback, and pulled Xiao Yanwan up and sat down beside him as he spoke: "You and your sisters played well, I want to reward you." Little girl, what do you want? "She was the same age as Princess Yangshun, and when Duan Yulin saw her, she remembered her daughter, and couldn't help but dot on the tip of her nose.

"The courtiers want a wedding dress, which looks better than the second sister's!" Night's childish words amused everyone present. The little guy was actually greedy for the wedding dress that the Lin family sent to Xingqing a while ago.

"What, your second sister is already married?" Duan Yulin glanced up at the younger woman in scarlet, and there were some regrets in his heart.

"Not yet, but I'm going to marry Brother Lin this winter!" Sunrise has always been close to the second sister, and Lin Ze is very good at pleasing children, Sunqing has not married yet, and Sunwan has already regarded him as his own family.

"Brother Lin?" Duan Yulin turned his head and looked at Lu Wensheng suspiciously, and Lu Wensheng hurriedly explained that it was Lin Ze, the second son of the co-leader family. Duan Yulin nodded: "Well, that's good." It's a good guy. But he secretly regretted in his heart that the two daughters were about to get married, and the eldest daughter was even more unlikely to stay in the boudoir. He laughed at himself, laughing at his crankiness, so he turned his energy back to the little girl: "You are still so young, you are thinking about getting married?" What a big ghost! Hahaha. The group laughed again.

Yan Wan was a little embarrassed, rubbed her nose, and argued: "I didn't!" I just want to wear the prettiest dress! In a hurry, she even forgot to call herself a "courtier".

"Okay, well, then I will reward you with beautiful clothes!" Duan Yulin motioned for Zi Yu to take the little girl down to choose the cloth to make clothes. After Yan Wan left, Duan Yulin pretended to ask casually: "Lu Aiqing's second daughter is married to such a good family, presumably your eldest son-in-law must also be the best among people, right?" ”

"Alas, the minister also wants to! Pity...... Alas, don't mention it! Lu Wensheng's bitter and hateful appearance aroused the emperor's desire to explore.

"What's wrong? Aiqing, is there something unspeakable? Duan Yulin glanced at Lu Yuzhen, who was as delicate as a delicate flower shining on the water.

"It's not a secret, the minister's eldest daughter is really miserable, and she lost her husband at an early age...... so Lu Wensheng naturally told Lu Haozhen's experience.

After hearing this, the emperor narrowed his eyes and touched his chin thoughtfully. It took a moment to spit out two words: "Virgin." ”