Le Youcheng, Cloud Town.

"This young man, you are a purebred Dawan Jade horse, do you really plan to exchange it for my vulgar horse?" Under the plane tree in the corner of the courtyard, an old man in a stone green cloth clothes, look closely at the two young men in front of him, one of them stands sideways, looking at the empty valley around him, his face is clear and handsome, his eyes are clear, he stands upright, wearing a purple robe, although he has been old and ugly, he still looks extraordinary, standing in front of the green horse; One person accosted him, dressed in an ink-colored robe, with sparse eyebrows, a gentle demeanor, a strange bones, and a magnificent shore, and the two were wearing a dark cloak, with a calm temperament, and the old man couldn't help but sigh three times in his heart: Good boy, good bearing, good foal.

"Master, you have good eyesight, but my son and I came from the moon pot, the two horses are already exhausted, and it will be late, I want to change carriages with you, and I hope it will be convenient." The ink-robed boy patted the horse's back as he spoke.

"Hahaha. When he was young, he served the horses and fed the horses, and when he was young, he and his father went out of the Central Plains to ride horses in the north and south, and now in his later years, he lives by doing the business of horses, and he has been with horses all his life, how can he not know horses? The old man shook his fan and stroked his beard, not without pride: "You have found the right person today, I have a chariot driving side by side, the blood is pure, the horse color is pure and not mixed, but I can travel five hundred miles a day[1]" said as he stretched out his thick black palm and gestured.

"Dare to ask what the two young heroes want? If it's getting late today, and the wind and rain are about to hit, why don't you rest overnight at the old man, and then go on your way tomorrow?"

"Thank you, old man. My son-in-law has a business in Chengyang that he is in a hurry to discuss, so he thanked him. ”

"No matter what, you should be careful when you first go out to do business, strangers, Chengyang is not far from here, from this past" the old man said while pointing, "through the valley, to the east, less than half an hour out of the city, is the suburbs of the junction with Chengyang, and then along the ditch all the way, it will enter the city of Chengyang."

"Thanks, farewell." The ink-robed young man clasped his fists and saluted, and the boy boarded the carriage while taking advantage of this, and the ink-robed young man jumped up, got on the horse, and rode away.

The old man looked at the carriage and went away, then shook the banana straw fan, turned back: "This is a good deal!" Worthwhile! ”

Not long after the carriage traveled to Qi Bi (place name), saw a few drooping children, holding the adult's coat and hat, playing in the rain, chanting loudly "The egret flies in front of the Xisai Mountain, the peach blossom flowing water mandarin fish fat, the green hat, the green lily clothes, the oblique wind and drizzle do not need to return; Diaoyutai fisherman brown for Qiu, two, two, three, three boats, can longitudinal, accustomed to riding the stream, the Yangtze River white waves have never worried about ......", but saw those children while throwing down the coat and running away while cheering "buy sugar balls, buy sugar balls", it was the ink-robed young man who gave those children a few copper coins and sold the clothes and hats to him.

The western suburbs of Chengyang City.

The western suburbs are surrounded by mountains, surrounded by cliffs, the terrain is low and flat, the narrow mouth is passed, it is a mountain forest that covers an area of a very wide area, it was originally the place where the ancestors of a city were trained, the world is peaceful in modern times, the prosperous times are safe, there is no need to train troops in this imperial capital, it is abandoned, but after all, in the wild, the land of ointment, the rain is moist again, the wild flowers and grasses breed the fertile (that is, luxuriant), after a few years, it grows a lush tree shrub forest, pine elm and locust cypress, cinnamon hibiscus and magnolia mixed Chen. In the evening, the wind and rain were bright, it was the drizzle that washed away the dust, and the sky was full of frogs and insects chirping in the forest, and the birds and birds gradually became dim in the response.

It is said that "the weather is dry and the fire is set on fire, and the rainy night kills people." "At this time, a group of people, about dozens of them for a team, east and west two teams, all dressed in night clothes, only revealing a pair of eyes like wolves and tigers, hiding behind the trees and jungles, smelling the sound of trampling horses' hooves from far and near, from slow to urgent, all vibrating spirits, ready to go, only to see that the groom was wearing a robe, wearing a hat, spurring the horse, although as fast as the wind but calm, seeing this, the east team hid in the back of the rock, seemed to be the leader, quietly shook his head, indicating that everyone did not move to let go, but from time to time, another person hidden in the forest leaves, the sword eyebrows were wrinkled, closed his eyes and inhaled, As the carriage got closer and closer, the smell of blood in the air became clearer, mixed with the smell of mellow wine and bitter smells such as notoginseng and musk, so he plucked a leaf and threw it at the carriage with all his might, as eager as a dart.

As expected, the groom intercepted the blade with one hand, and the speed was staggering.

Suddenly, a group of people and horses poured out from the top of the tree, the ditch, and the stone, holding the sword in the right hand and pulling the sheath in the left hand. The horseman spun and kicked up, leading everyone to the open space, shot very fast, and had no intention of fighting, fast and ruthless and accurate, followed the formation of everyone, picked a flaw, a sword down, locked the throat, kicked his feet, snatched the sword of the fallen man, and put his hands together, and then fell down one after another, and scattered the silver sword with internal force, or stabbed the enemy's arm or pierced the chest, but the enemy was outnumbered, and they were all extraordinary, and they could not win for a while.

Besides, the purple boy in the carriage was knifed in his abdomen, and after the bumpy mountain road on this road, the wound was torn and unbearable, so he disinfected it with spirits, smeared with medicinal powder, and was about to sleep, but the sound of fighting outside, people will quietly approach the carriage, and he did not come out, only indifferently took out the medicinal powder from his sleeve, but it was wrapped in scorpion grass poisonous powder, colorless and tasteless, smeared on the portable dart, and threw it outward, the poisonous powder was very domineering, dissolved in blood and water, and the poisonous hair was poisoned in three steps, and the seven orifices were bleeding, and he died violently immediately.

This fight was only half an hour, there were more than 20 corpses lying on the ground, only the sword eyebrows and the groom were still in a stalemate, the two held the sword, turned around a few times, and instantly lifted the sword, the groom attacked, the man guarded, the two swords struck each other, and the sparks were agitated, from time to time, the man was overwhelmed, and he drew his sword to escape, how could the groom let him get his wish? Pushing back, folding the weapon, he fought with him with his bare hands for a hundred and ten rounds, and after two hours, he finally found an opportunity and sent him on the road.

The groom hurriedly searched all the valuable gold leaf and silver on the black-clothed men, and then picked up the silver swords scattered all over the place, and then drove the horse away.

The night was as thick as ink, drowning over the branches of the trees, and all the waves were calm in the middle of the night.

Prince's Mansion. Banquet.

The sea came from the view of the fish Xuan, the clothes have already been wet by the rain, so they first changed into the Hubi palace clothes, the palace clothes embroidered with a navy peacock is quietly pecking at the vermilion fruit, the open emerald green tail screen, reflecting the light of the lights and candles, the beads are colorful, like a feather fan to the skirt, the skirt is embroidered with a large piece of pleated rafei-colored begonias, fluttering to the ground; It is also inlaid with gemstones as the eye, and the gold wire is threaded as the foot, which is lifelike, smart and lovely.

You see that the prince and the princess are sitting in the east, Haiyan and Fu Ke are sitting in the south, the three Liangdi are sitting in the north, and Mei Lan is sitting with the rest of the concubines in the west.

"Brother Prince, I haven't visited for many days, I hope to forgive my little sister's sins" Hai Xiang pushed a glass to toast.

"My own brothers and sisters, why do you need to say sin" The prince drank it refreshingly.

Fu Jing smiled, "Xiwei really saw the outside, didn't he?"

Hai Xiang lowered his head and smiled: "The courtiers don't dare, don't dare"

"Sister Xiwei will come to Taifu Mansion to find Ke'er if she is free, Ke'er will take you to the mountain to hunt hares, if you want to fight hares, you have to be the third cousin the most powerful, isn't it, sister."

"Ke'er, you are not young, why are you still so noisy all day long, besides, the princess is expensive and it is difficult to get out of the palace, how can you go to such a dangerous mountain forest" and whispered to Haiyan: "Don't listen to her nonsense"

"Sister, it was supposed to be" Fu Ke said to the sea again: "My third cousin is amazing, others use arrows to shoot rabbits, he is the one who makes daggers, and uses daggers to stab wild rabbits, fast and accurate, often before I can see clearly, the third cousin brings the bloody rabbit ears over, and then picks (tiáo) and peels the skin, and we can eat roast rabbit meat..."

"Sister Ke'er is indeed very different from ordinary young ladies in the boudoir"

"Hahaha, I heard that girls can't make a fuss when they get married," the prince laughed loudly, "Otherwise, let this prince talk to the marquis of Henan, the marquis of southern Henan is going to be a happy event recently"

"Good brother-in-law, you can just play Ke'er" Fu Ke feigned. It turned out that Mrs. Fu had already accepted the marriage of the Marquis of Southern Henan, and married Ke'er to the little prince of the Marquis of Southern Henan, but the two families had not yet performed the marriage ceremony, so there was such a saying.

Hearing this, everyone smiled heartily.

Mei Lan saw all the concubines laughing and talking Yiyi, and several Liangdi also whispered softly, not feeling irritable. The resentment against Hai Xiang and the crown princess in my heart was a little more, and I thought of the words before going out, and I thought of the words before going out: The prince and Xiwei are not from the same mother, Xiwei's mother and brother King Yi and the prince compete, and they are hated by the prince, so they don't like Princess Xiwei very much, but they just treat their sisters with brotherly etiquette.

Thinking of this, Mei Lan immediately covered her stomach, her face was bitter, and she cried out in pain, which had already attracted the attention of the prince: "Ai Ji, what's wrong?"

"The concubine's abdomen hurts abnormally today, and now the pain is even more unbearable, forgive the concubine and retire first" Mei Lan swayed and stood up, but sat down helplessly, frowned, and the fingers covering her abdomen were trembling.

Fu Jing frowned slightly, but only turned her face and smiled in an instant: "Sister Meilan, what are you doing?" Didn't you eat a bad stomach today, Baimeng, quickly help Mrs. to lie down in the room, and Bi Chu will ask for a doctor."

Seeing this, Mei Lan hurriedly glanced at Hua'er, who immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times before saying: "Prince Mingjian, Madame didn't have a bad stomach, but... Rather...."

"And what?" Although the prince is drunk and the jade crown is skewed, his face is still like purple jade, and he is not angry but mighty.

The painting girl hesitated sideways, and then kowtowed: "Please exempt the prince from the death penalty of the slave and maid, and the slave and maid will dare to come."

"Exonerate, but it's okay."

The painting girl will laugh at the Taoist priest one by one, but in the meantime played some tricks, saying that the Taoist priest said that the heir in Mei Lan's womb is the lower realm of the stars of the Heavenly Palace, and said that the golden turtle is its protective god, and now the golden turtle is suffering, and the heir is in danger, so the lady is in pain.

Hearing this, the prince panicked and woke up most of the time: "Then why didn't you come early?" Where is the golden turtle suffering now? ”

The painting girl pretended to be like this, and she stopped talking and didn't dare to say anything more. As everyone knows, Fu Jing sneered in her heart, and Hai Yan also raised her eyebrows to watch the play.

Hai Yan was afraid that the painting girl would bite people, so he implicated Fu Jing, and then rushed to speak: "You said that the golden turtle is the golden turtle raised in that Mingyue Lake?" ”

"Just... Precisely. The painting girl didn't dare to look at her, and said vaguely.

"Brother Qiqi Prince, the golden turtle in Mingyue Lake has been caught and stewed by the minister's sister."

"What are you talking about" The prince instantly remembered Mei Lan crying and complaining in the afternoon, at that time he only said that it was an ordinary golden turtle, and he didn't care, "Caught and stewed!" The prince's anger came from it, and he brushed his sleeves up." How daring! ”

"What kind of golden turtle is this, there are such strange and absurd words in the world" Fu Ke shouted at Mei Lan, who said that she had a stomach ache and did not answer.

"Brother Prince, please be restless, the sister did stew the golden turtle, just because today the sister went to Puguo Temple to pray for her father, Master Xuanji asked the sister about the symptoms of the emperor, and gave the sister a prescription" As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to the prince: "The above words need the blood crow of the East China Sea as a medicine, and it happened that the sister was playing in Mingyue Lake, and accidentally caught a glimpse of the blood crow of the East China Sea, so she quickly let people stew." This is really for the sake of the health of his father, and the minister has no intention of offending, and asks the prince to forgive him. ”

"It's... This..."Mei Lan and Hua'er never expected to say this, the two looked at each other speechlessly, Mei Lan couldn't help but blame Apple Luo in her heart, and hated not to bring that Apple Luo, so she had to hum and chirp bluntly, and she pursed her lips and wiped her tears: "Blame this child for not being blessed, the concubine is lowly and can't suppress the demon monster"

"My sister's words are wrong, this is in the imperial city, the prince's mansion, the gods of the four directions, in and out of each other, and the dragon grandson that my sister is pregnant with, it is the lower realm of the heavenly palace and stars, there must be a secret blessing of the gods, and why is my sister's lowly status and can't suppress the demons" Huai Liangdi's assistant Fu Jing is in charge of the prince's mansion, and her words and deeds are no different from them.

"It's the concubine's incompetence, I'm afraid this child can't be saved" Mei Lan turned around directly and cried to the prince. The prince took Mei Lan into his arms and comforted softly: "Say some stupid things, this palace will protect the health of your mother and son."

"Mrs. Mei Lan doesn't have to worry, the crown prince has inherited the dragon's life, and he must have the ability to suppress evil and avoid trouble, why are you afraid?"

"Let's let the doctor take a look first," Fu Jing separated everyone and asked the imperial doctor to take Mei Lan's pulse. Turning to look at Bi Chu, Bi Chu nodded slightly.

"Madame, is there a big problem? Can this child be saved? The prince asked.

The imperial doctor nodded and said: "The prince is blessed with all the heavens, and the son in the womb of the lady is fine, but the lady has been a little angry recently, and there is no need to use medicine, just eat some sugar and white pears."

Xue Liangdi: "I said, sister, the prince has purple gas on his head, and the gods are with him, what is the use of asking him for that golden turtle?" ”

Xue Liangdi still wanted to say more, but the prince gave him a cold look and shut up.

"Since it's okay, let's go back to dinner" Fu Jing took advantage of the time to play the round. "Mei Lan will lie here first, and Baiming will send someone to make sugar white pears"

And they departed.

"The crown princess has worked hard" The prince lay down with Mei Lan in his arms, and his tone was flat: "You are also tired for a day, rest early"

The prince was serious. This was originally a matter for the concubines. ”

The prince stroked Mei Lan's black and fragrant hair, but he smiled and looked at Fu Jing meaningfully.

When they returned to the banquet, everyone had no intention of eating, so they all said goodbye, and Xiwei also planned to say goodbye and leave.

"Xiwei, if it's late today, and it's stormy, let's stay in the house tonight."

"It's... The concubine is still waiting for me in the palace... Besides, my father's decoction hasn't been sent back to the palace yet, so forget it. ”

"It's okay, I'll send someone to send the decoction into the palace, and then greet Concubine Duan", and said, "Coincidentally, tomorrow I want to enter the palace to meet my father, so you can go back to the palace with me."

"Sister Xiwei, if you go back to the palace now, I'm afraid that you will get sick [2], and if the road is slippery on a rainy day, the horse's hooves may not be able to step on it steadily."

Xi Wei also nodded yes, and then ordered Qian Yu to let her go back to the palace with the maid of the prince's mansion to report her safety.

[1] 500 miles a day: An ordinary horse travels 300 miles a day, and a thousand miles a day travels a thousand miles, so it can be seen that the horse should be slightly better than an ordinary horse, but far less than a thousand miles horse. (alluding to the social status of the owner's family)

[2] Although he rode in a carriage, the clothes of the carriage were made of cloth, and when it rained, he was drenched.