After Xiao Yue set out on the expedition, Xu'er's homework did not fall behind, and during the family banquet in the palace on Chinese New Year's Eve, the emperor learned about this matter, summoned Xu'er to his side, touched his head and asked him a lot of academic questions.

Xu Er answered some of them, and some of them seemed to understand.

The emperor smiled and nodded, "Very good, your husband teaches very well, when you are older, Uncle Huang will find a good teacher for you." ”

Xu'er shook her head, "Daddy went to fight the bad guys, and when Daddy comes back, Daddy can teach me." ”

From childhood to adulthood, enlightening Xu'er, riding and archery, etc., were all taught by Xiao Yue himself.

The emperor listened to his answer and laughed, which was probably the only smile the emperor showed that day.

After that, the emperor often summoned Xu'er to the palace, sometimes staying for several days.

On this day, the emperor summoned the ministers in the imperial study to discuss the aftermath of the war ahead, and after discussing the matter, when the ministers left, he summoned Xu'er, who was reading and writing behind the screen.

On the side of the imperial case, there is a small square table, which is for Xu'er, who sits at the small square table with a book in his hand, and the emperor approves the folding.

When he didn't understand something, Xu'er walked to the emperor with a book, and the emperor explained it to him in detail.

"Uncle Huang, when will my father come back?" After Xu'er finished all the homework assigned by the emperor, she stood beside the emperor and asked in a low voice.

The emperor thought for a moment, put down the cinnabar pen in his hand, and touched his head, "Miss your father?" ”

Xu'er nodded sheepishly.

"Is Uncle Huang bad?" The emperor continued to ask.

"Okay." Xu'er nodded.

"If you are allowed to live in the palace for the rest of the year, are you willing?"

Xu Er tilted her head, thought for a while, and asked, "Then do my father, mother, great-grandmother, grandfather, and cousin Chen'er all live in the palace?" ”

The emperor shook his head and said, "Only Xu'er lives in the palace alone and accompanies the emperor's uncle, is it okay?" ”

Xu'er shook her head, "No, where my father and mother are, I will be there." ”

The emperor was silent for a moment and asked, "Xu'er, the prince in the palace, those brothers, who do you like the most?" ”

Xu Er stood at the table, bit her lip, and whispered, "I don't like any of them." ”

The emperor was stunned, thought for a moment, and said with a smile, "Also, even I don't like it." ”

"Uncle Huang, aren't you happy?" He looked at the emperor with a sinking face a little worriedly.

The emperor smiled slightly, "Uncle Huang is happy." ”

He raised his eyebrows, looked at Xu'er and said, "Xu'er, did your father teach you how to talk to me?" ”

Xu'er shook her head, "It's all my own thoughts, when I entered the palace, my mother said to Xu'er that if the imperial uncle asked me about something, what I thought, I would tell the imperial uncle." ”

The emperor stared at the pure eyes that stared at him, laughed, and hugged Xu'er beside him into his arms.

Originally, he wanted to teach King An well, and during that time, he detained King An by his side, and at the same time brought Xu'er to the palace from time to time, just to let the two brothers cultivate a relationship.

At that time, he did cultivate King An as a future emperor.

He hoped that after his death in the future, the new monarch would be a person who had good intentions towards the Jin palace and was willing to continue to treat them as well as he did to them.

If King Ann can't, then forget it.

He began to think, this one doesn't work, so what about another one?

He is now in his prime, and there are still many years before his death, and he still has a prince under his knees, so he can always raise one.

It's too beautiful to imagine, but too cruel to the truth.

His sons do not have the same relationship as him and Xiao Jiu to support each other, nor do they have such a heart as him.

The emperor has always been suspicious, and he can't guarantee that the future emperor will be as kind to the Jin palace as he is.

The emperor's cold and hard heart suddenly became incredibly soft when he met Xu'er's clear and clean, as if he were empty.

In this world, it is said that he is too partial to the Jin Palace.

But they don't know that they deserve such a preference.

He put down Xu'er in his arms, ordered someone to take the ordinary clothes for going out, and when everything was dressed, the emperor put a cloak on Xu'er.

Xu Er obediently let people serve, "Uncle Huang, do you want to send me back?" He looked at the emperor happily, his eyes full of joy.

The emperor laughed and took his hand, "Uncle Huang will take you out of the palace to see the people under Uncle Huang's rule and see the world." ”

Although she didn't go back, Xu Er was slightly disappointed in her heart, but when she heard the emperor say that she would leave the palace and go to the market to have a look, she was happy again.

When my father was at home, I would often take him out to see and play, and after the expedition, my mother said that there were bad people outside, so I didn't take him out.

It was nearly evening, the sky slowly darkened, in the corner of the most lively street, stopped a warm sedan chair, a big and a small two men came down in the sedan chair, the big one led the small, one big and one small, two figures, along the street, slowly walked forward.

On both sides of the street, there are many shops, before it gets dark, lanterns are hung high in front of the houses, and the wine shops are even brighterly lit, and the guests are like clouds and bursts of laughter.

On the street is the dragon horse incense car, the river is endless, prosperous and rich, a rich atmosphere.

Xu'er's eyes seemed to be insufficient, constantly looking at the scene on the street, and when she came across her favorite, the stall selling gadgets would stop, and after a while, Xu'er had everything in her hands.

Sugar gourds, sugar people, bamboo knick-knacks, and even in front of a stall, he saw a wooden hairpin with magnolia flowers, he felt that it was very suitable for his mother, borrowed silver from the emperor, bought it, and prepared to go back to his mother.

Although he was tired of walking, he was excited, and the emperor did not stop him from doing what he wanted to do and what he wanted to buy, but encouraged him to try to bargain with others.

After the two returned to the warm sedan chair that had just stopped at the corner of the street, the emperor asked Xu'er, who was full of excitement, "Xu'er, is it fun?" ”

Xu Er was nibbling on a sugar gourd, raised her head, got a little sugar stain on her lips, and nodded vigorously, "It's fun." ”

The emperor took out a handkerchief to wipe the sugar stains on his lips, and then heard Xu'er ask again, "Uncle Huang, is this the world you govern?" ”

The emperor smiled and said nothing, he took the things in Xu'er's hand and held it himself, so that Xu'er could eat the sugar gourd, and then said,

"Uncle Huang will take you to see other places."

He knocked on the sedan chair, which was slowly lifted, and continued to move forward, as if he had walked a long way.

Finally, the sedan chair stopped.

Xu Er followed the emperor to get off the sedan chair, there was a dim light outside, and the end of the alley was pitch black.

As far as the eye can see, the streets are narrow, the houses on both sides are low and dilapidated, and it has just snowed in the early days of the new year, and the original white snow on the ground has been trampled into a dirty black color.

There were few pedestrians in the alley, and there were three or two walking on the road, and they also crossed their hands in their sleeves, with sad faces, and some of them even lowered their heads and walked in a hurry.

Compared with the prosperity and richness I saw on the street just now, it is like a sky and an earth.

Even if Xu'er and the emperor were wearing ordinary clothes, the material was not something that people in such places could wear.

The appearance of the two of them was a little abrupt, but the people on the road just glanced at them and walked away with their heads down, no one cared who they were or what they came to do.

With such a care for others, it is better to rush home, eat a hot meal, drink a sip of hot soup, warm the hands and feet that know how to be intuitive, and eliminate the hard work of a day of running outside.

Xu Er held the uneaten sugar gourd in her hand and stood there in a daze, looking at the people in a hurry in front of her.

He had never seen any of this, even the servants of the house, even the most inferior rough servants, who were all neatly dressed and had a smile on their faces.

The emperor didn't come forward to disturb Xu'er, and after waiting for a while, he stepped forward to take Xu'er's hand, bent down and said, "Go forward with the emperor's uncle again?" ”

Xu'er turned her head in a daze, looked up at the emperor, nodded, and continued to walk forward.

The further you go, the narrower the road becomes, and if the houses you just saw are still finished, but they are old, then the houses you see now are all dilapidated, and some of them can't even be called houses.

It was only four pillars, and they were covered with tarpaulin, and some were made of thatch, and spread on them.

From time to time, there was the crying of a child, the scolding of a woman, or the sound of a long sigh.

Commander Yang, who was originally far behind the emperor and Xu'er, suddenly became nervous, and gestured to make the guards fully alert.

Xu'er's mood has changed from excitement at the beginning, and has slowly become calm, and by this point, it has become solemn.

His small lips were tightly pursed, holding the emperor's hand tightly, his eyes were looking around, step by step, walking through this place where the emperor's grace could not be bathed even under the roots of the imperial city.

Walking out of the darkness, slowly, the lights gradually turned on, and Xu'er's eyes were blind for a short time, and suddenly brightened up again.

"Master, young master, buy a few flowers, take them back to the ladies to wear, they are fragrant, they are beautiful." A little girl wrapped in a torn cotton jacket, her face was frozen black, she touched a basket of flowers and shouted forward, looking at the group in front of her with longing eyes.

Xu'er subconsciously took a step back, and Commander Yang behind the emperor wanted to step forward, but was blocked by the emperor.

Probably felt that this was rude, Xu Er moved his footsteps back invisibly, he pursed his lips, raised his head, and looked at the emperor.

The emperor nodded, motioned to the people behind him to step forward, gave his youngest daughter fifty yuan, and took the basket of flowers.

The little girl was overjoyed, carefully put so many copper coins in the bag, carefully put them on her chest, and said crisply, "Thank you, master and young master, my mother's medicine money is available, and good people have good rewards." ”

After saluting the two of them, she ran forward as fast as if it was too late and the pharmacy would close.

Xu Er watched the little girl run quickly, gradually turning into a black dot figure, hanging her head, looking at the sugar gourd in her hand, sighing, unable to bite her mouth.

When he and the emperor sat back, there was a small copper stove in it, and the sedan chair was very warm.

Xu'er didn't speak all the way, until she arrived in the palace, and the emperor took Xu'er back to the Qiankun Palace to rest.

It wasn't until she changed her clothes and washed up that Xu Er said, "Uncle Huang, is it the world that you took me to see?" ”

The emperor nodded, and then said, "Xu'er, do you know what the world is?" ”

Xu Er looked at the emperor and shook her head.

"The world is all the people. Uncle Huang is the emperor, and what he has to do is to govern the people. ”

When Xu Er heard this, her eyes lit up and she looked at the emperor, "Xu Er understands, what Uncle Huang does is to let the people of the world be fed and clothed." ”

The emperor smiled, his chin was bowed, his eyes were warm, and he said, "Xu'er is right, Uncle Huang wants everyone in the world to be fed and clothed, and everyone has a house to live in."

But as you saw just now, even in the capital, there will still be people who are not well fed, clothed, and have no tiles to cover themselves.

There are many things that the emperor's uncle or the emperor has to do.

Xu'er, you don't like my prince, but Uncle Huang will be old one day, and when Uncle Huang can't govern the world, are you willing to help Uncle Huang rule the world? ”

Xu'er shook her head and said, "I don't want to, my mother said that there is nothing good to be the emperor, I want to be a general as powerful as my father." ”

The emperor was stunned and said slowly, "Yes, the emperor has nothing to do, and it is hard, and there will be precious things."

But, Xu'er, life is like this, there are gains, there are losses, and after a few years, you will understand what the emperor's uncle said. ”

Xu Er looked at the emperor as if she didn't understand.

……

It's April in the blink of an eye.

The battle ahead finally subsided, and the news of Xiao Yue's return to Beijing also spread from the court to the Jin Palace.

In fact, Xiao Yue also had a letter to Gu Nian in private, and these days, Gu Nian had a smile on her face, and it was probably her mood that was passed on to her subordinates, and the entire Jin Wangfu was beaming.

There is a major day in April, and that is the Buddha Bathing Festival.

This year's Buddha Bathing Festival has attracted much attention, because the emperor wants to take the queen and the queen mother to the royal temple Huangjue Temple to worship the Buddha.

At the same time, it is also a prayer for the blessing of the people in the world, and a thank you for the subsidence of the war ahead.

The clans and nobles in the capital have always acted according to the emperor's expression, and they have also asked the ladies in the palace to follow them.

Gu Nian and the eldest princess of the country, Zhou Yuyan and Zhou Yushu also went to Huangjue Temple the day before the Buddha Bathing Festival and lived in the courtyard of Huangjue Temple for pilgrims.

Originally, Gu Nian, the eldest princess of the protector country, and Zhou Yuyan came with their children, but they didn't expect that after arriving at Huangjue Temple, they found that the courtyard where the Pingyang Hou Mansion lived was next door.

Zhou Yushu also came with the child.

Naturally, after Zhou Yushu and her mother-in-law, Mrs. Pingyang Hou, reported to the court, they took the children to the courtyard where Gu Nian lived and accompanied the eldest princess who protected the country.

The emperor, the queen, the queen mother and others also arrived at the Huangjue Temple in the evening of the same day.

The abbot of Huangjue Temple greeted the emperor with a group of monks.

After the emperor was welcomed in, the female dependents went to greet the queen mother and the queen.

After meeting the Queen Mother and the Queen, everyone left in turn, and Gu Nian was just about to leave when he was stopped.

She turned around and looked, it was Zhou Yushu's mother-in-law, Mrs. Pingyang Hou, Zhou Yushu was standing in Mrs. Pingyang Hou, looking at Gu Nian helplessly.

There were other women around, the eldest princess of the protectorate was called by the queen mother to accompany her, Gu Nian smiled and stepped forward to greet Mrs. Pingyang Hou.

Mrs. Pingyang Hou didn't look very good, looked at Gu Nian, and suddenly said with a smile, "I didn't expect to live next door with the princess this time, and I haven't been back to the house for a long time." When the time comes, let her accompany His Highness more. ”

Gu Nian replied with a smile and said, "Then I will thank Mrs. on behalf of my grandmother." ”

Stretch out her hand and don't hit the smiling person, since Mrs. Pingyang Hou has a good face, then she naturally can't be cold-faced.

The last time he was in King An's Mansion, Xiao Yue had already taught Pingyang Hou Shizi a lesson.

Zhou Yuyan originally accompanied the eldest princess to the Queen Mother, but this time she happened to come back and saw Mrs. Pingyang Hou talking to Gu Nian, for fear that Gu Nian would suffer, so she hurriedly stepped forward and saluted Mrs. Pingyang Hou with a smile.

When Mrs. Pingyang Hou saw Zhou Yuyan coming, she didn't know that she originally wanted to say hello to Gu Nian, or when she saw someone coming, it was not good to continue, so she waved her hand and said,

"You three sisters talk well, I'll go back to the courtyard to rest first, and I still have to listen to the scriptures at noon."

Zhou Yushu waited until Mrs. Pingyang Hou walked away, and said to Gu Nian in a low voice, "My mother-in-law, that's it, my father-in-law also talked about her last time." Don't worry about it. “

Gu Nianwan smiled, "If she doesn't do anything, I naturally won't worry about her." ”

Zhou Yuyan rubbed her feet, pulled Zhou Yushu to walk behind, and said to Gu Nian, "Xu'er and Chen'er are in the courtyard, my sister and I have something to say, you go back first to help take a look, okay?" ”

Gu Nian glanced at her face, nodded, and left with the maid.

Zhou Yuyan pulled Zhou Yushu to a pavilion, with a wide field of vision, and there was nothing on the side, so that someone could see it from a distance.

She pulled Zhou Yushu to sit down, Zhou Yushu saw that she was mysterious, and said, "What's wrong with you, what do you have to say behind someone's back?" ”

Zhou Yuyan said in a low voice, "What do you mean by your family?" How did I hear that I was still involved with the Four Princes in the past? If it hadn't been stopped by King Jin, would your family still be able to end up well? ”

Zhou Yushu frowned, "This is a matter of men outside, how can I know?" ”

"You're confused, too, what do you mean by men being out there? There is a big deal at stake in the middle, what does the Pingyang Marquis Mansion want to do? This matter, one wrong step, one wrong step, but if you want to kill your head, why don't you comfort the son? ”

"How can I persuade? Besides, aren't the four princes dead now? Isn't that the end of it? What the prince does outside, he never tells me, he says, I don't understand, I'm just an inner house woman.

Besides, I said, will he listen to me? I am just a weak woman, where can I have such courage as you, I will leave when I say that I will leave, and now that Fang Zhongwen comes to the door, you ignore him. ”

At first, Zhou Yushu said a little helplessly, but when he came back, he raised his eyebrows and became angry.

Zhou Yushu sneered, "You don't have the courage of me, how many times has my grandmother said that a woman like ours can do anything as long as she doesn't do anything that breaks the sky."

This matter was pressed by King Jin, today, your mother-in-law still dares to play majestic in front of Niannian, really, I don't know what to say.

You can't persuade you, why are you so confused? If the Pingyang Marquis Mansion is defeated, it is still you who suffers and suffers, even if your grandmother, family, and King Jin can protect you in the future, what about the child?

The children are all surnamed Meng, no one can keep it, there is no impermeable wall in the world, this is a family, a matter of life and death, you don't want the son to mess around again, you have to tell him. You know? ”

Zhou Yuyan heard it from the eldest princess of the protectorate, and Xiao Yue knew that the Mo family and the four princes were colluding before he set out on the expedition, because there was no definite evidence.

The emperor did not move, did not send the Mo family, but let people closely monitor the Mo family's every move, it is such a strict monitoring network, knowing that the people of the Pingyang Hou Mansion have contacted the Mo family.

And some of the people who monitored the Mo family were from the King of Jin, and these people were instructed by Xiao Yue to report all the news they had collected to Gu Nian.

The eldest princess of the protector inevitably knew about this matter, she didn't say a lot to Zhou Yuyan, but vaguely mentioned a few words, just to let Zhou Yuyan go and talk to Zhou Yushu.

Zhou Yuyan searched and searched, just found this opportunity, and pulled Zhou Yushu over, wanting her to be vigilant.

Zhou Yushu listened to Zhou Yuyan's words, frowned, and said helplessly, "Okay, if you go back from Huangjue Temple, I will tell the prince that he doesn't know if he listens or not."

I really don't know what they're doing out there.

Yan'er, you also have to be soft, Fang Zhongwen made a thousand mistakes, and now he knows that he is wrong, after so long, Chen'er is older, if you two can, you should still reconcile, this is good for Chen'er. ”

Zhou Yuyan hated iron and steel, "Eldest sister, don't worry about me, you better take care of yourself, virtuous is not such a virtuous method." ”

"Okay, I got it." Zhou Yushu replied perfunctorily.

Zhou Yuyan saw her perfunctory and helpless face, and sighed in her heart, this sister, speaking of which, was also raised by her grandmother's side, but she didn't have her grandmother's strength at all, and she had a good temper, which was simply annoying.

Zhou Yushu didn't know what to think, and said worriedly, "Although my mother-in-law didn't say anything unpleasant just now, do you say that Niannian will be taken to heart?" ”

Zhou Yuyan glanced at her helplessly, "Who do you think Niannian is, she is not so careful, don't think about those messy things." ”

Zhou Yushu was still not at ease, she said, "No, I still have to go and talk to Niannian, you go back first, I brought some pastries from the house and sent some to Niannian." ”

Zhou Yuyan saw that she couldn't stop persuading, knowing that she would definitely not feel at ease if she didn't do something, and the dim sum of the Pingyang Marquis Mansion was famous and delicious in the capital.

Many families wanted to ask for the dim sum recipe of Pingyang Houfu, but they were all rejected by Pingyang Hou.

Zhou Yuyan saw that Zhou Yushu was gone, thinking that Gu Nian had already returned to the courtyard, turned a corner, and went to the courtyard of the Queen Mother, where the eldest princess of the country was still talking to the Queen Mother.

……

Gu Nian returned to the courtyard and saw that Xu'er and Chen'er were not naughty, but obediently reading a book, and the two were discussing something in a whisper while reading.

She looked at the door, did not bother the two, and went back to her room.

There are not many people this time, astragalus and green leaves are unchanged, and the others are two or three rough mothers-in-law, this is the backyard, and the guards are left in the front hall.

Astragalus and Qingye sat in front of the window to make the upper of Gu Nian's shoes, and Gu Nian held a small shirt made for Xu'er, which was only a few stitches away from being ready.

After a while, I saw the big girl next to Zhou Yushu enter the courtyard, smiling and saying,

"This is a snack made in our house, my wife asked the slave maid to send some over, she was going to come in person, but our lady suddenly felt a little dizzy, and the prince served beside the lady, so the slave and maid sent it over."

Gu Nian looked at it, a big box, and it looked heavy in his hand.

She knew that Zhou Yushu was talking to her just now for Mrs. Pingyang Hou, and Zhou Yushu was making an apology.

Gu Nian was amused in her heart, she felt that this eldest cousin was also thinking too much, she believed in revenge and revenge, as long as Mrs. Pingyang Hou didn't mess with her, she wouldn't do anything.

The eldest cousin made her feel like a bully.

She asked Astragalus to accept the big box, the pastries of Pingyang Houfu are famous for being good, and they are usually not given away.

The big girl was married out by the Hou Mansion, and now she looks a little old, but she still has a girl's hairstyle, Gu Nian was surprised, thinking that Zhou Yushu should not be like this, and she stopped the maid from marrying, probably for some reason.

According to the little medical skills she learned from Astragalus, looking at the posture of the big girl walking, it doesn't look like a room, which makes people even more curious.

Huang Qi opened the box, "Princess, these pastries look delicious, no wonder Pingyang Hou can use these pastries as a festival every year." ”

Gu Nian looked at it and ordered, "Pack a plate and give it to Xu'er and Chen'er." The rest was put on a plate and left for my grandmother and second cousin.

We'll share the rest. ”

When Astragalus heard this, he hurriedly greeted Aoba and said with a smile on his face, "We are blessed." ”

She waited for Gu Nian to pick up a piece and eat it first, then handed a piece to Aoba, and finally picked up a piece herself and ate it.

Aoba took a bite and nodded, "It's really different from the pastries we used to eat. ”

Astragalus took a bite, frowned, took another small bite, put the rest in her hand and broke it, put it on the tip of her nose and smelled it, her face suddenly changed greatly, she shouted,

"Quick, spit it out, this pastry can't be eaten."

After speaking, she picked her throat and spit out what she had eaten, then touched her waist again, opened the purse around her waist, and poured out all the contents inside.