Xiao Zhuo found me again, and I was a little surprised by this.

It stands to reason that no one noticed what my senior brother and I were doing at Fahua Temple, and he should not have noticed it, and unlike last time, this time, he did not summon my senior brother to come, but he only met me.

Thinking about it, there is only one reason, that night, the young man in white I met in Shengjing was Xiao Zhuo's person.

He told Xiao Zhuo what he had seen and heard in the Bihai Chaosheng Pavilion, otherwise, Xiao Zhuo would not have known that this matter had something to do with me.

When I came to the Emperor's Grandson's Mansion, I was taken to a courtyard by my subordinates, Xiao Zhuo sat in a pavilion, the narrow corridor leading to the pavilion was tortuous and tactful, and in the center of the courtyard, there was a rockery.

The rockery is planted with rare plants and trees, and there is spring water flowing in the hole, perhaps because of the dampness of the back, and the stones are covered with moss, as far as the eye can see, verdant and dripping, quiet and pleasant.

I stood outside the pavilion, bowed my hand, and saluted the people inside: "See His Royal Highness the Emperor Eldest Sun." ”

Like last time, Xiao Zhuo is still sitting by the desk to cook tea, he doesn't look very old, not yet thirty years old, but the habit is very old-fashioned, listening to the people in his house, when Xiao Zhuo is free, or when he is in a bad mood, when he wants to think about something, he always likes to stay alone, cooking tea in the pavilion, and no one is allowed to disturb.

Seeing me coming, he didn't even raise his head: "Lord Gu, I got a good pot of tea in this palace the day before yesterday, and I specially invite you to taste it." ”

I saluted him again and said, "Your Highness is a king, and a minister is a minister. His Royal Highness is so gracious, Wei Chen is terrified. ”

"I have long heard that Master Gu's skills are profound, and I don't want to be familiar with the polite rules in this officialdom."

He raised his eyes, hooked his lips slightly, looked at me and smiled, his eyes showed sarcasm and ridicule, and then sat up straight, straightened his clothes, adjusted a sitting posture, and said slowly: "You should know what is the matter with this palace looking for you, since everyone knows it, it is better to sit down and speak clearly." ”

Different from the generosity and filial piety he showed before, at this time, his expression was solemn, obviously cold and ill-intentioned.

I think I still underestimated Xiao Zhuo's ability before, and I wanted to make a joke with him and make a gag to fool what we did before, but he didn't play his cards according to common sense, and I was caught off guard by a straightforward beating, and I didn't know what he wanted me to say next, so I could only walk over and kneel opposite him.

I heard him say again: "I heard that a few days ago, Lord Fu invited a few palace guards to a banquet in the mansion?" ”

I said: "Yes, Your Highness also knows that there have been many events in the palace recently, and when my senior brother saw that those guards were on duty on weekdays, he asked them to go over to drink as a reward." ”

Hearing me say this, Xiao Zhuo didn't react, didn't say anything, just brought the tea to me.

I had no choice but to take the teacup and take a sip, but I heard him speak: "Master Gu, how does this tea taste in this palace?" ”

To be honest, I'm not afraid of anything now, I'm afraid that people will ask me what it tastes like.

No matter how delicious the delicacies are, in my place, they are like chewing wax, and I can't say anything bitter, spicy, sour and sweet.

Fortunately, I still have a sense of smell now, this tea smells fragrant, and even this fragrance is a little too much, I think the taste is very strong, but I don't know whether it tastes bitter or sweet, but on the other hand, if it is sweet, I said that it was bitter, and I immediately showed my feet in front of Xiao Zhuo, but if it was bitter, I said that it was sweet, at most it was considered flattery, so as not to make Xiao Zhuo suspect that there was something wrong with my sense of taste.

So, he lowered his body and arched his hand: "This tea has a pleasant aroma, clear and sweet, and after entering the mouth, it makes people have an endless aftertaste." ”

Sure enough, as soon as I finished speaking, Xiao Zhuo snorted and laughed lightly, this laugh was a mocking laugh, I know, I guessed wrong. This tea is bitter.

He picked up the cup in front of him, as if admiring the tea inside, and said slowly: "This tea in this palace is just taken from the servants of the next people, it smells fragrant and strong, but the taste is very bitter, so bad that even the subordinates are unwilling to drink, in this place, unless you need to entertain some guests who come and go to the house, this palace has always drunk this kind of tea, it always reminds the palace of the difficult and painful days before, the snub and bullying that it has suffered, and also reminds the palace not to forget the former self, let alone forget, What makes Hongu who he is now. ”

Xiao Zhuo's life experience, in fact, is a little pitiful, when Mrs. Qi Ru was favored, even with her son Lu Yun was also loved by the king, and because the Qi family has a very high status in the court, even Xiao Zhuo's father, the prince of the East Palace was bullied by them to the point that he couldn't raise his head, if it weren't for the desperate refusal of some old ministers in the court, I am afraid that even the position of the prince and prince has become owned by Lu Yun.

In the court, the prince was frustrated, and in the harem, the princess was suppressed by Mrs. Qi Ru again, and even more, for reasons that almost everyone can guess, she had two miscarriages in a row.

Although later, under the protection of some ministers, he left the East Palace and moved to live outside, and he also gave birth to the emperor's eldest grandson Xiao Zhuo, but those two did not get a good death.

I don't know if it's because of the previous miscarriage, and then having a child consumes too much vitality, or there are ill-intentioned people in secret, when Xiao Zhuo was very young, the crown princess Shujin Niangniang died of illness, and more coincidentally, the news of the princess's death came into the palace, and the next day, when the palace people were preparing to hold a funeral for the princess, the prince was also found dead in his study.

The blue tendons on his face protruded, his eyes were bloodshot, at that time, he was believed to have died of some secret art, and he died of fear in his heart, and he also set off a treacherous struggle in Shengjing because of this incident.

There are thousands of people in the world, and what is not lacking in Shengjing is the royal family, how long can a person's death be grief? Even the royal family cannot escape being forgotten, after the death of the crown prince, the prince competes for the crown prince, and everyone focuses on those who may win the position of the East Palace, and it seems that they have forgotten that in the former prince's mansion that is in decline and decline, there is still such a child, he is the orthodox royal heir, and he is the most qualified person to compete for the crown prince of Shengliang.

After the death of the crown prince and the crown princess, Xiao Zhuo's life became more and more sad, and the most impressive thing was that in the cold winter wax moon, the children of the royal family wore newly made brocade clothes and entered the palace to meet the king, and Xiao Zhuo, as the crown prince's concubine, was still wearing the old clothes before, walking among those people, thin, thin and down, and it was clear that the position that belonged to him should actually be at the beginning.

Although I don't know how he has come over the years, there are selfish and biased kings inside, obviously favoring His Royal Highness Lu Yun, but not very much like him, and there are several imperial uncles eyeing him, he can get to today's position, thinking about it, he should have experienced the bitterness and pain that ordinary people can't imagine.

I said: "Your Highness, before Weichen finished speaking, the senior brother invited the guards to a banquet to show that he was rewarded, but in the banquet, Weichen asked them some questions. ”

Xiao Zhuo raised his eyebrows, his phoenix eyes narrowed slightly: "What's the problem?" ”

I pulled my lips and smiled, and replied: "Weichen asked those guards what questions, His Royal Highness should know very well in his heart, His Royal Highness Lingjun is missing, but there is no trace of him in the palace, however, someone heard the cry of a baby in the East Palace, which has been closed for a long time, and because of the prince and the princess, it is easy to think that it may be the princess's previous miscarriage of the heir, His Royal Highness the eldest grandson, is taking advantage of this opportunity to enter the palace with empty swaddling clothes, pretending to go to visit the king, In fact, it was this method that brought His Royal Highness Lingjun out of the palace. ”

When Xiao Zhuo heard this, he was silent for a long time before asking: "There is no flaw in this palace's self-questioning, how did you find out?" ”

I smiled again, picked up the jade flute on the table and played with it in my hand: "Actually, Your Highness also knows in your heart that Your Highness Lingjun is missing, and the people in Beijing suspect you the most, and even they can guess your motives clearly, but just like Shujin Niangniang's miscarriage back then, Your Highness really thinks that no one thought that it would be Mrs. Qi Ru's doing?" I'm afraid that even the crown prince and the princess know it very well, but they know it but can't say it, because there are some things that they know each other, and it's much better than debunking it. ”

"What do you mean......" Xiao Zhuo raised his eyes: "Did the emperor's grandfather have any doubts about that incident back then?" ”

I snorted lightly, feeling that Xiao Zhuo was really interesting, obviously he seemed to be cold-faced and cold-hearted, but he was a lover.

The kind of love here, of course, is not the infatuation with any woman, but in the family affection, he always retains a trace of hope.

Although it may have been a bit callous to say these things to him next, I said them anyway.

"What kind of person Mrs. Qi Ru is, no one should know better than the king, maybe out of trust, and there is no evidence, he has not shown it, but secretly must have doubted, but at that time, the person he loved in his heart was Mrs. Qi Ru, the son he liked, His Royal Highness Lu Yun, and the Qi family held heavy power, the king was unhappy at most, but he would not give up these things for the sake of two unborn children, the dispute between the crown princes seemed to be manipulated by the Qi family, but in fact, I was afraid that even the king himself hoped for it, In the future, it will be His Royal Highness Lu Yun who will succeed to the throne. ”

I paused, and saw that although Xiao Zhuo's face was expressionless, it was obvious that he could not hide a little sadness and loss in his eyes.

He also said: "Your Royal Highness can know that in this life, what Weichen likes and does not want the most is to speculate on people's hearts, when the Qi family was powerful, the king behaved like this, perhaps to protect the prince, or perhaps, just out of preference, now His Royal Highness the Prince and His Royal Highness Lu Yun have passed away, what is the ...... fact?"

I sighed, "Who knows?" ”