Chapter 19: Love

Qian Hongzuo was surprised and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Wen Minghui said: "Ran Qiang found Xie Xiangcun in a remote village near Taizhou, where there are many displaced people. He was taken in by an elderly couple. He had hired a horse-drawn carriage to rush to the village to look for his family, but he fainted halfway through. The coachman didn't know if he was afraid of a lawsuit, or if he coveted his silver taels, so he threw him on the side of the road. Fortunately, the old couple was kind enough to see that he was still breathing when they passed by, and pulled him back to their home on a cart. When Ran Qiang found him, he had been bedridden for many days. ”

Qian Hongzuo exclaimed: "It's really dangerous, fortunately I met a kind person!" He then asked, "What disease does he have?" Is it the driver who sent him, murdered him for money, and poisoned him? ”

Wen Minghui said: "That's not it, Ran Qiang has already found a doctor for him, saying that he is too weak, but he is struggling to support and keep running, and he has never been able to find his family, so he is in a hurry, so he fell ill and there is no sign of poisoning." After the doctor's diagnosis and treatment, his condition has eased, and Xie Xiangcun also agreed to return to Hangzhou, but his condition is still serious. Ran Qiang wanted to wait for his condition to improve before leaving for Hangzhou. ”

Qian Hongzuo said: "Ran Qiang is thoughtful, very good. Everything must be done with Xie Xiang's body. You send someone to rush overnight to pass on the message to Ran Qiang that King Gu will not rush back to Hangzhou, hurry up and treat Xie Xiangcun, when the doctor says that he can hurry, and then escort him back. In addition, let the Taizhou Yamen arrest the coachman who took advantage of the danger, I, Wu Yueguo, will not allow such a troubled people, confiscate all his family property, and compensate Xie Xiangcun; He sold himself as an official slave, and the silver taels he received were given to the two old couples who helped the poor as a bounty. ”

Wen Minghui led the order to retreat.

On that day, it was not the day of worshiping the Buddha, but Qian Hongzuo still went to the Xixin Hall to take a hurried bath, and then came to the Huguo Temple in the palace to burn incense and bow down, asking the Bodhisattva to bless Xie Xiangcun to recover as soon as possible. In the midst of the fireworks, Xie Xiangcun's smile seemed to appear in front of him, which made Qian Hongzuo miss him even more.

After Ran Qiang escorted Xie Xiangcun back to Hangzhou, Qian Hongzuo still didn't see him, Ran Qiang said to Qian Hongzuo when he replied: When Xie Xiangcun passed through the gate of Luocheng, it was the time of the court, he deliberately stopped and bowed three times and nine bows in the direction of the Qinzheng Palace, but he did not ask to see Qian Hongzuo. As a common man, he did not dare to ask for a meeting.

Qian Hongzuo had heard Empress Dowager Xu say that Qu Liuyu would definitely tell him that he wanted to summon Xie Xiangcun to be a guard with a knife in front of the palace. If Xie Xiangcun intends to take refuge, he will inevitably come. But after Xie Xiangcun returned to Hangzhou, he did not come to take refuge. Qian Hongzuo sent someone to see if his condition was cured, and the person sent back to report that Xie Xiangcun had recovered for a long time, and now, as in the past, he practiced martial arts and learned art every day in Fangli Villa. Qian Hongzuo felt sad when he heard this, and he expected that Xie Xiangcun was still intoxicated with the dream of being a famous singer and didn't want to give up his dream wish. Maybe it's really like what my mother said, the three armies can win the commandery, but the horseman can't win the ambition.

Although Qian Hongzuo was very eager for Xie Xiangcun to come to his side, after experiencing all the troubles of Empress Dowager Xu to make a hoopoe man the queen, Qian Hongzuo knew the pain of being forced, so he didn't think of pressing the royal power and forcing Xie Xiangcun to come on an errand.

Time flies like water, and in a blink of an eye, it is time to prepare a birthday banquet for the Empress Dowager Xu, and after the list of invitations is announced, almost all the courtiers think that the meaning of this birthday banquet is not just as simple as celebrating a birthday. The list of invitees is all the famous ladies and their mothers in the boudoir, and some noble ladies who are also very noble, if there are no daughters to be married in the family, they are no longer invited. Therefore, both the court and the people speculated that this birthday banquet implied the meaning of the election, just because the lord of the country was the first king to keep filial piety, and did not say it publicly.

The day before the birthday banquet, the chief merchant went to meet Qian Hongzuo with a brocade box. After Qian Hongzuo opened the brocade box, he saw more than a dozen Huadian with a high degree of simulation, in addition to being bright and dazzling, all of them were inlaid with gold edges, which was a first-class craftsmanship at a glance and was worth a lot of money.

The head of Shang said with a flattering smile: "Holy Lord, this is specially given to you by the Queen Mother as a reward." The Queen Mother said that this birthday banquet invited all the famous ladies, and there are many talented women among them. Of course, the best flowers should be rewarded to your favorite person. ”

Qian Hongzuo understood what his mother meant, which was to reward the best Huadian to the hoopoe male Miss Dai family, so he asked: "Everyone is inevitably restrained, or there is no talent, if there is no performance, then the lonely king does not need to be rewarded, right?" ”

Mr. Shang: "Look at what you said, the Queen Mother's birthday banquet is when the ladies show their faces and become famous, how can no one perform that?" ”

Qian Hongzuo suddenly remembered his mother's talent for Qu Liuyu and admired it very much. If Qu Liuyu comes to perform, Xie Xiangcun is likely to come behind his back like last time. Maybe he and he can meet and chat for a few words, but the last time he and Xie Xiangcun met was four months ago. He asked: "Will Fangli Villa also send people to perform to help the fun?" ”

Mr. Shang: "This is natural, I heard that there are many rehearsals, and those who can be sent on the stage are not only rewarded with rich silver, but also have great face. ”

Qian Hongzuo deliberately asked: "Do you know which lady the queen mother likes to listen to the piano and sing the most?" ”

Mr. Shang thought about it for a while and said, "I really don't know. ”

Qian Hongzuo informed: "It's Qu Liuzhen. ”

The head of Shang immediately shook his head and said, "He is a crippled man, wouldn't it be a loss of royal dignity to celebrate his birthday." ”

Qian Hongzuo thought about it, took off the jade wrench on his thumb, and handed it to the general manager: "You have worked hard to organize a birthday banquet for the queen mother in the past few days. This one is yours to be rewarded. ”

Qian Hongzuo's jade wrench finger was quite precious, and the chief merchant hurriedly clicked on the ground with one leg, and bowed half-kneeling: "Thank you for the generous reward of the saint, serving the queen mother and the saint is the blessing of a slave." ”

Qian Hongzuo said: "You immediately go and ask the queen mother, and say that the lonely king recommends Qu Liuzhen, play and sing a song at the birthday banquet, and ask her if the old man minds Qu Liuqing's physical disability?" If the queen mother doesn't mind, you will immediately send someone to inform Fangli Villa, be sure to arrange Qu Liuzhen, and perform at the birthday banquet tomorrow. ”

The chief merchant immediately said with a smile on his face: "The slave will go." ”

After a while, the chief merchant returned to tell Qian Hongzuo, and the queen mother allowed Qu Liuyu to enter the palace to perform.

Qian Hongzuo was indescribably happy in his heart, he was originally quite helpless about the birthday banquet, but he became full of joy because of the possibility of Xie Xiangcun.

Qian Hongzuo has complex emotions for the hoopoe man, and his childhood experience makes him instinctively disgusted with a queen who is shrouded in military power, but he hopes to have a good impression of the hoopoe man, after all, he has been educated by the Empress Dowager Xu for many years, and he understands that the overall situation should be the priority, and it is best to marry the hoopoe man as the queen in order to stabilize the political situation. He secretly hoped in his heart that the hoopoe man was more like Concubine Tian than like the former queen Ma Shi.

Although the love has not yet opened, Qian Hongzuo faintly feels that among his father's concubines, it is not his mother who loves his father the most. After all, her mother shoulders the mission of harmony, and her love for her father is not blind. But Concubine Tian loved him so much that for some reason, her father would be killed at any time when she went to their country as a hostage, but Concubine Tian married him with the respect of the county lord. In order to help him return to China, he even did not hesitate to betray his father and country; As the original match, her father refused to make her queen, and she did not resent her father; Queen Ma regarded her as a sworn enemy and humiliated her a lot, but before Queen Ma was deposed, when her own two princes needed to be preserved, she took these two children under her own name, so that their status in the royal family was not damaged at all; She did a lot of difficult things for her father, but in the end, the mistress of this palace was not her. is also from a noble background, the difference between Concubine Tian and her mother and the queen is so big, so confused, so weak and deceitful. But what Qian Hongzuo hopes is: Hoopoe man, the daughter of the generalissimo, is more like Concubine Tian, even if it is only half of her weakness and scum