When Lai Xing'er woke up, he saw that it was already bright outside the window, he rubbed his eyes, walked around, and found that he was lying on Mama Xia's bed in the cabin, covered with a thick quilt. He was startled, hurriedly lifted the quilt, sat up, and suddenly heard Mama Xia's voice in his ears: "You kid, the amount of alcohol is also small, and you only drank two glasses, and you got drunk like this." ”

Lai Xing'er tried to remember the situation last night, but her mind was blank and she couldn't think of anything. Mama Xia handed him a bowl of steaming rice porridge, and said with a smile: "Niangniang's side sent someone early in the morning, you drink the porridge, let's go to Niangniang's place for the New Year." ”

Lai Xing'er took the porridge and asked Mama Xia in confusion: "Why am I sleeping here?" What happened last night? ”

Mama Xia was surprised: "You came to ask me?" I got drunk and fell asleep on the table, and it took my wife a long time to move you to the bed. What, can't remember? ”

Lai Xing'er sipped porridge, and remembered in a trance that things didn't seem to be like this, but what was going on, his mind was wooden, but he couldn't figure it out in the end.

Lai Xing'er carried Mama Xia back to the stable, and the little eunuch who guarded the door saw the two of them from a distance, and ran to report Jinping. Jinping is arranging for Zhang Luosheng to have lunch, I heard that Xing'er came back, he was angry, and rushed to the gate of the courtyard with the little eunuch, and Xing'er blocked the door in the future, and said with his hands on his waist: "I will take you, a little boy who raises horses, only care about being greedy and happy, and the prince will come later, see if I don't sue you fiercely." ”

Mama Xia hurriedly persuaded: "His child's family is happy for the New Year, and he drank two more cups, which made the girl worried." The old woman will make amends for him, and the girl will forgive him. ”

Jinping saw that Mama Xia came forward to intercede, and it was difficult to refute her face, so she turned sideways to make her debut, muttering to herself: "Mama won't stop him, let him drink." ”

Mama Xia laughed and said, "What's the matter, even I'm involved, isn't it?" Is the prince here at noon today? ”

Jinping grabbed Mama Xia and replied: "Early this morning, someone from the inner square passed the word, and after the prince entered the palace to greet the emperor and queen, he came to celebrate the New Year with Niangniang." ”

The three of them talked and laughed and walked to the door of the upper room where Jing Xuan lived. Lai Xing'er stopped and said to Jinping and Mama Xia: "You go first to talk to Niangniang, and I'll go to the room to take a look." ”

Jinping advised: "I just cleaned up a wild duck hot pot, you tell them to take a closer look at the heat." As he spoke, he let Mama Xia into the room.

There is a charcoal fire in the Jingxuan house, which is warm. Jing Xuan was sitting on the bed in his clothes and reading a book, and when he saw Jinping leading Mama Xia in, he put down the book, got out of bed and said: "I wanted to give Mama an early year, but I'm afraid it's almost noon at this time, so Mama will take care of it." ”

Mama Xia stepped forward to support Jing Xuan, and said with a smile: "The old woman is not interested, I drank some wine last night, and I got up late this morning, so I delayed to greet my mother, and I asked my mother not to be surprised." ”

Jing Xuan instructed Jinping: "Call Xing'er to send someone to inquire diligently, as soon as the prince returns to the palace, we will prepare for the banquet." He pulled Mama Xia to sit on the edge of the bed together, and said with a smile: "Mama is Xuan'er's benefactor, so you don't need to see outside." Let's chatter, and when the prince arrives, let's celebrate the New Year together. ”

But everyone waited until the day was near, and the prince did not come. The person sent to inquire about the news came back and reported: "The prince entered the palace since his death, but he has not come out again. Just after noon, the gates of each palace suddenly increased the guards of the forbidden army, I don't know what happened in the palace? ”

Jing Xuan was afraid that Mama Xia would not be able to bear hunger, and she would not be able to wait for the prince for a long time, so she taught people to prepare snacks to satisfy their hunger. Seeing that it was getting late, there was still no news of the prince, and hearing that there were additional guards at the palace gate, Jing Xuan was very uneasy, so he sent Xing'er to the prince's inner fang to call Shang Jing to come over for questioning.

Lai Xing'er came to the gate of the prince's inner fang, and saw that there were four sergeants with knives standing at the gate of the courtyard, which was usually unguarded. He stepped forward to explain his intention to the sergeant, and one of the sergeants only said coldly: "Let's wait to the side." And he left him aside, and paid no more attention to him. Lai Xing'er was anxious, and he was about to rush in when he raised his legs, but he was hugged from behind. Lai Xing'er struggled twice, but did not break away, and when he raised his eyes, he saw that it was not someone else who was holding him, but Luo San'er, the righteous brother.

Luo San'er was bald and did not wear a hat, dressed in soft armor, and carried a treasure knife at his waist, just like an officer. Before Lai Xing'er opened his mouth and called "big brother", his mouth was tightly covered by Luo San'er with his hand. Luo San'er took a step or twenty with Lai Xing'er in his arms, put him down gently, and asked in a low voice, "What are you doing here?" ”

Lai Xing'er teased: "Heh, the assassin has become an official army." What are you doing here? ”

Luo San'er smiled strangely and gently spit out four words: "Take people by order." ”

Lai Xing'er punched him in the chest and said, "Fart, who are you going to the East Palace to get?" You don't want to live anymore, do you? ”

Luo San'er pouted behind him and said, "Look, it's her who takes it." ”

Lai Xing'er turned around, and sure enough, he saw a team of sergeants walking towards the courtyard of the prince's inner square with a woman tied up with flowers. He asked Luo San'er in surprise: "What the hell is going on?" ”

Luo San'er didn't answer directly, but said: "I am now on an errand in the Qingning Palace under the right prison guard, and you can go there to find me if you have something." Hurry up. ”

Lai Xing'er asked again unwillingly: "Concubine Jing is worried about the prince, I don't know where the prince is now?" ”

Luo San'er heard the words Jing Concubine Niangniang, hesitated for a moment, and whispered: "There is a big case of rebellion in the palace, and the prince is presiding over the investigation of the murderer in the palace. This matter can only be mentioned to the mother, not to others, remember. After that, he pushed Xing'er and hurriedly walked into the prince's inner square.

It was impossible for Xing'er to see Shang Jing depending on the situation, so he had to return to the stable alone. As he walked, he thought back to everything that had just happened, and he felt that there were too many doubts in his heart that were difficult to solve: how did Luo San'er become an officer, and how could he be an errand in the queen's palace? How can there be a rebellious murderer in the East Palace? Suddenly, he remembered Mama Xia's abnormal behavior last night and his inexplicable drunkenness, could it be that the woman who was arrested was the one who walked with Mama Xia? Lai Xing'er didn't dare to think about it any longer, and trotted all the way back to the stable under the thick snow.