() Xue Ke's face was coated with a thick layer of pearl powder, and the whole person was crookedly half leaning on the couch and thinking about things with his eyes closed, and his earlobes were choked: "What is so important?" Thinking about it? ”

Xue Ke heard the prince's voice and narrowed his eyes slightly: "Why are you here?" Is it cold outside?"

"It's okay at hand, I'm afraid you're in a hurry. Where is it cold? The prince took her body into his arms.

Xue Ke was a little greedy for the heat on his body, and leaned into his arms: "Didn't His Highness's forehead be smashed by the emperor with an inkstone?" I have the impression that His Royal Highness said that it was the medicine sent by Gonggong Cao. ”

"Not bad." The prince listened to her talk about business, and also tried to sit up straight.

"Does Your Highness think that Gonggong Cao sent medicine to the emperor's meaning?"

"At that time, the emperor was angry, and I was afraid that he would not send me medicine." The prince sneered, and said, "It should be sent privately by Father-in-law Cao." This also makes sense, Father-in-law Cao is an old man in the palace, remember to leave a way out for yourself in everything, I will write down this love. ”

Xue Ke shook his head: "This is not a convenient favor, His Royal Highness was in a difficult situation at that time, and Gonggong Cao risked angering the emperor and offending the queen." ”

The prince thought for a moment and nodded: "That's what you said." I'll go back and find someone to send it over. But why did you suddenly remember this? ”

"It's not a backup ceremony. His Royal Highness should talk to Gonggong Cao. ”

"He's the emperor's close attendant, I'm afraid it's not easy to get too close."

"I think back to some details of entering the palace today, when the situation was urgent, but Gonggong Cao deliberately reminded me to be a little stupid when I faced the saint. I thought I'd come back and tell you, but then I forgot about it. ”

The prince felt a slight pain in his heart, he had always been unable to let go of her humiliation in the palace, and Xue Ke had never been in front of him, and at this time, he just said "there are many things". At that moment, he stared at the gods and said: "Gonggong Cao? I never wanted to befriend him. He followed the emperor when he was in the palace, and he won the emperor's trust for so many years, and his status in the palace was outstanding. I've never thought about it. ”

Xue Ke nodded: "It is said that he is in the palace, he should be the person who is enveloped by the queen, and the most shortage of His Royal Highness at the moment is the power in the palace, and this time the matter of Hua Concubine also suffered in this regard." If Gonggong Cao is interested, it would be even better. ”

The prince nodded: "I will consult with them tomorrow to see how to act safely." ”

The prince made a decision in his heart, and then looked at Xue Ke's face covered with pearl powder and frowned, and couldn't help but say: "There are so many vassals in the East Palace, everyone is slowly pondering, you can rest at ease and recuperate, and don't worry about it anymore." ”

Xue Ke let out an absent-minded "um", and was thinking of a detail to say, Mama Zhang brought a few little girls into the house with water, handkerchiefs, etc.

The prince watched with a little curiosity on the side as the pearl powder was washed off little by little, revealing Xue Ke's clean and fair little face. Under the lamp, the scar was already faint and invisible.

Mama Zhang held the candlestick and looked at it carefully for a while, nodded with satisfaction, and looked at the prince again.

The prince coughed lightly: "I'll go back after discussing with the lady." ”

Mama Zhang left with the little girl.

The prince hugged Xue Ke to his lap, Xue Ke had already taken off his headdress, and his hair was covered with green silk. The prince buried his face in her hair and muttered, "Mama is old, I want to arrange for her to be raised, and every day, she stares at me like a thief." ”

Xue Ke couldn't help but laugh twice. When the prince heard this, he bit her neck with hatred.

Xue Ke raised his head and asked softly, "It's late at night, why don't you go back tonight?" ”

The prince looked at her with a pair of eyes shining in the candlelight, like a pool of blue waves in the sun, crystal clear, and like a monster hidden from the previous year, charming. The prince's throat rolled a few times, and finally his voice was hoarse and said in her ear, "I'll hold it for a while and leave." Mama said that this time is the most important moment. After a while, he said as if he had given himself courage: "Lonely can endure it." ”

Xue Ke smiled, stood up and took the prince's cloak over. The prince was tall, and she stood on tiptoe to put on her cloak and carefully tie it. Fingers brushed his clothes lightly, slowly across his shoulders and chest, and the prince's muffled and low moans were heard.

"Since His Highness can endure it, then endure it for a few more days." Xue Keruo glanced at the prince absently. It was obviously a bland glance, the prince only felt that there was infinite charm, and just wanted to hold her, but Xue Ke raised his voice out of the window: "Is Xing'er waiting outside?" ”

"Lady! The little ones are here! Xing'er's crisp voice sounded.

The prince put down his hand stupidly, gritted his teeth for a long time and put down a cruel sentence: "Wait for me to go back and clean you up!" ”

Xue Ke nodded seriously: "Wait!" Your Highness! ”

The prince looked at her expression, and began to regret why he didn't agree to stay just now, in fact, the scars on her face were almost invisible, and the rest, if he was careful, it wouldn't necessarily be a big deal.

Mama Zhang had already come in with a smile on her face, carefully checked the prince's clothes and cuffs, and stood at the door and carefully told Xing'er to watch the road with a lantern in front.

The night breeze is gentle. The prince walked a few steps, and Fang felt that his mind was a little clearer. Thinking of what Xue Ke said about Gonggong Cao, for so many years, he has always felt that he is a strange and familiar existence.

Since he can remember, the emperor has been served by Gonggong Cao, from the young man with a thin physique and a fair face at the beginning to the general manager of Ouchi who is slightly blessed and has a smiling face when he sees people, he always shouts "Prince" with humility, and there seems to be nothing special.

There were also a few special encounters in my memory. When he was seven or eight years old, he was like a little beast on the grassland, stubborn and ruthless, and he couldn't remember where he paid tribute to a small reddish-brown horse, he had to tame it, but he fell off the horse several times, and his face was covered with nosebleeds, and the palace people did not listen to the dissuasion, but he still had to get on the horse. Father-in-law Cao came over somehow, waved his subordinates away, took out a handkerchief to wipe his face, and said: "Prince, you are like this, how sad the first queen should be when she sees it!" ”

At that time, he glared at Gonggong Cao fiercely. Now think about it, after his mother passed away, his aunt ascended the throne as the successor, and the three words of the first queen became a customary forbidden word in the palace, and no one dared to mention it, as if his mother only lived in the inscription and ode to the dignified and virtuous lady.

At this moment, the past is strung together, and the prince faintly feels a trace of strangeness in his heart. If he was his mother's person, the emperor would definitely not let him follow him, which can be seen from the fact that the old people who served by his mother's side were sent to the corners of the invisible for various reasons. However, Gonggong Cao has served the emperor since he was in the palace, so he must have experienced the years when his parents loved each other. Is he sympathetic to himself? How much can this emotion make him inclined in the battle for succession? How much does it take? Or maybe Gonggong Cao had a holiday with the current queen? However, the queen is famous and generous, and the women of the court and the people in the palace are all praised, how could she choose to be the enemy of the most powerful father-in-law in the Forbidden City? The crown prince sneered in his heart.

Sure enough, after the discussion on the second day, everyone felt that they could get in touch with each other. The first is that Gonggong Cao's help is too great, and the second is that the prince really needs someone in the palace.

The matter of contact was quickly responded. Gong Cao said that he could see him in the house outside the palace in three days.

Although the eunuchs said that they took the palace as their home, they had nothing to worry about except serving their masters, but in fact, most of them bought houses outside the palace when they reached the level of supervisors, and some of them moved their brothers and nephews from their hometowns, and the family lived in a sound and impressive way. Closing the door when it's not bad is like a master, and life is full of relish.

And Gonggong Cao, as the chief manager, was unwilling, and the people below also prepared the furniture and servants of the house and sent them up.

The moon is in the middle of the day. When the prince was introduced into the house, he was not without surprise to find that the layout of the house was more elegant than the ordinary literati academy, and there was no magnificence, on the contrary, it was fresh and lovely everywhere, and the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall were not blindly everyone's works.

The prince was looking at a pair of unsigned words, and the layout of the pen seemed to be Mrs. Wei's real handwriting, and the hairpin flower was smart and beautiful. While he was observing, he heard the footsteps in the room, followed by the voice of Gonggong Cao's accusation: "The prince forgives his sins!" The old slave could have gone off early today, and he was ready to leave the palace, and the saint remembered something important, and the old slave went back to toss again, and asked the prince to wait for me, guilty of sin. ”

Father-in-law Cao is not an ordinary errand in the palace, wearing a homely dress, the prince was in a trance, and hurriedly helped him up: "Father-in-law Cao doesn't have to be polite, father-in-law serves the emperor with all his might, and there is a lot of hardship." Lone has just arrived. ”

Seeing the prince staring at the words on the wall, Gonggong Cao hurriedly said, "The prince likes it?" After a while, the old slave ordered someone to pack it up and send it to the East Palace. ”

"A gentleman does not win the love of others." The prince smiled gently: "This is Mrs. Wei's close post?" ”

Father-in-law Cao smiled: "The prince is so appreciative!" It was Mrs. Wei's handwriting. ”

"That's pretty rare." The prince nodded: "The taste of the father-in-law can also be seen. ”

Father-in-law Cao smiled again: "The prince has tormented the old slave." The old slave is just a vassal and elegant, full of façade, and smiling and generous. As he spoke, he glanced at the prince meaningfully: "The person whom the old slave admires the most likes to copy Mrs. Wei's calligraphy, saying that her grace is like a tree, and Mu Ruo is a breeze, so the old slave has the opportunity to collect some of them." ”

The prince's heart moved: "What are you talking about?" ”

Gonggong Cao didn't answer, and asked the prince to sit down on the chair, and the prince motioned for him to sit too, and he confessed and sat down at the bottom: "The prince is finally willing to come." ”

"So, you've been waiting for Gu to come over?"

"The old slave doesn't dare." Father-in-law Cao's face slowly became serious, and the image of the humble chamberlain in front of the emperor on weekdays was far from the image of the humble chamberlain: "It's just that the prince is a decent person, I'm afraid he disdains to make friends with the chamberlain." ”

When the prince saw what he said bluntly, he no longer went around in circles: "Father-in-law Cao, you are the most popular person around the emperor, presumably the queen has not bothered much, why should the father-in-law be willing to seek the near and far?" Besides, the lonely temperamental father-in-law is afraid that he can see it clearly, and he is very unreasonable. ”

Gonggong Cao smiled, different from his usual humble smile, this smile came from the heart: "The prince treats people sincerely, and refuses to be false and wronged, which is the wealth of His Royal Highness." ”

"What is the reason why my father-in-law thinks so highly of Lonely?" The prince picked up the teacup and asked unhurriedly.

"The old slave has been in the palace for more than 30 years, and he has been blessed with the grace of the saints, and he has also seen some warmth and coldness in the world." Cao Gonggong's voice became distant and vicissitudes: "Sometimes even the minions themselves forget the origin of the minions." ”

"Provenance?" The prince repeated in confusion. The average eunuch is nothing more than a poor family, or the palace eunuch will pick up some orphans and come back in a disaster year, which can be regarded as giving them a way to live, so the life experience of the eunuch is very miserable.

Gonggong Cao smiled, overwhelmed by the vicissitudes of life: "In this world, people are divided into three, six, nine and so on, and eunuchs are the most lowly one; At the same time, the eunuchs are also divided into three, six, nine and so on. The minions are the lower nine of these lower nine ranks. ”

Looking at the slightly surprised look on the prince's face, Gonggong Cao added: "A slave is a slave of sin." ”

"Oh?" The prince's face was silent, but he was taken aback in his heart, most of the criminal slaves were committed by the ancestors and fathers of the family, and the boys under the age of ten in the family were exempted from death or exile according to the court, so some went to the court to become slaves. However, in order to avoid the resentment of these criminal slaves against the court in their hearts, they usually only arrange the lowest and vulgar work for them in the court, and generally do not come into contact with the masters and nobles in the palace.

"Does the emperor know about this?" The prince asked in a deep voice. He wasn't sure what Gonggong Cao's thoughts were, if it was for revenge, no matter how great the temptation was, his alliance would not be concluded.

Gonggong Cao seemed to have insight into the prince's thoughts, and said with a wry smile: "The prince is too worried!" How can the things of this world be hidden from the Holy One? What's more, the matter of the slave is known by someone who inquires a little. The queen mother once tried to see if the old slave wanted to restore her father's reputation. ”

"Oh?" The prince did not approve of the practice of changing the verdict of history because of political transactions, although he was silent on his face, he still carried a bit of authority: "Then what do you think?" ”

Gonggong Cao showed an indifferent look on his face and asked, "Does the prince know the name Cao Jinde?" ”

The prince searched in his mind for a long time, but found nothing, and shook his head frankly.

"It's normal that the crown prince doesn't know. He's just a six-rank official. But does the prince have any impression of the corruption case of the Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Patrol in Chengdu more than 30 years ago? ”

The crown prince nodded without hesitation. It was a corruption case that caused a sensation in the imperial court, and the property involved was almost the entire Chengdu Prefecture's annual tax revenue, and the amount announced by the imperial court was already astronomical, and insiders said that the money for embezzlement was more than this amount, and in order not to cause greater public discussion, the number of official documents reported by the official residence was compressed a little. And the most incredible thing is that the person involved is just a six-grade official, known as the "petty official huge corruption" case, who has obtained such huge profits as a humble official, and the details have to lead people to reverie.

"Is it your father?"

Father-in-law Cao's eyes fell somewhere in the house, and his thoughts floated out of this conversation, and when he heard the prince's voice, he suddenly came back to his senses and responded: "The slave has a single name, and his father is Cao Jinde."

Although the crown prince disdains the queen's approach, he also has to admit that as far as this case is concerned, there is indeed something to be done.

"Gonggong Cao is acting conveniently now, I don't know if he has investigated? Is there anything new to be discovered about this case? ”