Qu Xiaoxiang also guessed that it was her poor words that made the emperor angry, but she couldn't figure out why.

The Qu family has made great achievements, so before entering Beijing, the old prince told them to be low-key and humble, and not to anger Long Yan. Therefore, even if he is arrogant in his bones, when facing the emperor's relatives and relatives, Qu Xiaoxiang is also as humble as possible, never saying a word more, not taking one more step, even in front of the queen mother.

As everyone knows, this just aroused the vigilance and disgust of the superiors.

"Grandpa Guo's admonition is correct, but it is not suitable for you."

Lin Ruo opened his mouth and revealed the mystery with one word.

"Why?"

"It is true that the master of high merit is guilty, but the master of high merit does not make mistakes, and it is the most feared crime to let those in power fail to grasp the handle."

Qu Xiaoxiang frowned, what is the reason?

"The birds are all gone, and the good bow is hidden; The cunning rabbit dies, and the lackeys cook. Xiaoxiang should know this truth best. ”

Qu Xiaoxiang nodded, so her grandfather told them to be humble!

"'Meritorious master' is just a saying, and it can be regarded as a trumped-up charge. Therefore, all heroes and good generals, if they want to have a good death, they are all trembling, walking on thin ice, or retreating, or humbly hibernating. However, they all forgot that what made the emperor jealous of them was not their merits, but their ability, the ability of the people to respect them and sing praises to them. Admiration, praise, means what people want. However, the only one who can have the desire of the heart is the king! ”

Qu Xiaoxiang frowned, she admitted that what Lin Ruo said was reasonable, but she didn't understand the trick.

"The more perfect a person is, the more he will be appreciated and recognized by the people. The more such a person makes the emperor jealous, do you understand? ”

Qu Xiaoxiang looked at Lin Ruo and nodded, but he was not convinced: "So, I endured my temper and brought humility, and I did something wrong?" ”

Lin Ruo shook his head: "It's not wrong, it's just that you have to divide people and timing." ”

"How can you tell the difference?"

"For example, on the day I return to Beijing, the prince of Qing'an Hou Shizi came to make things difficult for me with the city defense army, Xiaoxiang should have heard of it, right?"

Qu Xiaoxiang nodded: "The emperor reprimanded Qing'an Hou and punished him for thinking about it." ”

This matter is obviously the fault of Jiang Ming, the son of Qing'an, and Lin Ruo has always been a popular person in front of the emperor and the queen mother, Jiang Ming made things difficult for no reason, in the final analysis, it was Qing'an Hou's godson who was inappropriate, and he should indeed be punished.

Lin Ruo sneered softly: "If you were me, would you be dissatisfied with the emperor's treatment?" ”

Qu Xiaoxiang was stunned for a moment, looking at Lin Ruo's smiling expression, and didn't know how to answer.

It can be big or small.

After careful study, Lin Ruo did not suffer any substantial grievances, but Qing'an Hou Shizi was unlucky and moved stones and smashed his feet; For Qing'an Hou, punishment and thinking are just innocuous punishments, which do not hurt the muscles and bones, and at most they can't hang up their face. But these old foxes, who have been immersed in the court and party strife for decades, have the thickest skin, and they don't care about it at all.

Qu Xiaoxiang secretly thought to herself, if the person who experienced this incident was her, would she be unwilling in the face of the emperor's will to punish Qing Anhou, or would she feel happy?

But the only thing that is certain is that she will never be as indifferent as Lin Ruo.

"Qing'an Hou Shizi dares to do this, who do you think he was instructed to do?"

"You're ......!"

Hearing Lin Ruo's heart-to-heart exchange so bluntly, Qu Xiaoxiang's eyes widened, and he felt incredulous.

Lin Ruoyun smiled lightly, as if he was just gossiping comfortably: "There are just two of us in the carriage, and the walls of the carriage are thickened with wooden planks, and we can't hear it outside." ”

But even so, Qu Xiaoxiang cautiously did not speak.

Who is standing behind Qing'an Hou, the answer is self-evident. But whether Qing'an Hou Shizi made it difficult for Lin Ruo to be instructed by that person, Qu Xiaoxiang didn't dare to speculate.

Lin Ruo didn't care, her usual just right smile on her face, making people feel neither alienated nor close: "You can guess, I can guess too." Your Majesty, you can know better. This matter, to put it mildly, is just that Qing'an Hou has no way to teach his son, so that Qing'an Hou Shizi is arrogant. But if you go deeper, this is a temptation and confrontation between the princes. ”

Although Qu Xiaoxiang did not speak, his expression became unconsciously grim. She didn't feel that her friendship with Lin Ruo was deep enough to talk about the battle for the throne of the prince in such a secret way, but she couldn't help but want to listen to Lin Ruo continue, so that she could tell Mrs. Xuanlu the most timely news and pass it on to the Duke of Dian Guo, who was far away in the south—it was one thing for the Qu family not to be involved in party disputes and stay out of the matter, but it would not be completely closed and ignore the news in Beijing.

Lin Ruo also followed her wishes and continued: "Actually, to put it bluntly, whether it is the prince, the minister, or you and me, they are just chess pieces. We are in the middle of a chess game, but the emperor is the chess player. Whether the chess pieces are useless or not, and how to use them, is up to the emperor. You say, who does the emperor's treatment of Qing'an Houfu favor? ”

Looking at the meaningful smile on the corner of Lin Ruo's mouth, Qu Xiaoxiang fell into deep thought.

Yes, who does the emperor prefer?

On the surface, he helped Lin Ruo get justice, and it seemed that he supported the prince; But what about in the dark? The punishment is not painful, not to mention that the Qing'an Houfu has not been hit, and the Ye Wangfu has not moved in the slightest, isn't it biased to the side of the Ye King?

A companion is like a tiger, and the holy will is unfathomable.

At this moment, Qu Xiaoxiang inexplicably felt a chill in his spine.

Lin Ruo opened the topic as if he hadn't noticed, and talked about the Qianqiu banquet again: "Let's talk about today, why do you think the emperor would let you stay in the Zhaoming Hall and accompany the Queen Mother?" ”

Being asked like this, in connection with the unpredictable holy intent that Lin Ruo said just now, Qu Xiaoxiang frowned, and began to hesitate and delve into the emperor's true intentions.

Lin Ruo smiled helplessly and said, "Actually, it's very simple, because the imperial grandmother is old, and she imagines the old people of ordinary people, with children and grandchildren on their knees." You are the daughter of the Qu family, so the emperor will issue an order for you to accompany the imperial grandmother. However, you are too reserved to say a word. Whose younger generation will stand aside when they accompany their grandmother on her birthday? ”

Qu Xiaoxiang was stunned, and couldn't understand the real reason that was like this.

"Most people think of simple things as too complicated, but they think of complex things too simply, so they get into a predicament. For example, in this Qianqiu banquet, at the banquet, the swords and swords are staggered, and there is naturally no mistake; But later, in the Zhaoming Palace, the emperor's original intention was to hope that we, the juniors, would put aside our identity concerns and accompany an ordinary old man to enjoy the ordinary family fun. ”