On the second day after Chu Yanzhi returned to the capital, he proposed several reforms in the court, the first of which was to collect the arrears of the state treasury, which immediately set off a shocking wave in the court. The wealthy nobles of the capital do not owe tens of thousands of taels to the treasury, so the first step of Chu Yanzhi's reform was met with unprecedented opposition from the Manchu Dynasty since the opening of the Dayue Dynasty, and the emperor's little uncle King Rong even reprimanded Chu Yanzhi in front of the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military affairs.

If it is said that the emperor secretly supported Chu Yanzhi in the past, then, after this incident, the emperor's attitude towards Chu Yanzhi has turned to the surface.

Although Chu Yanzhi's move offended the relatives and nobles in the capital, he bought the hearts of a large number of Qingliu scholars.

Even after Xiao Xiwei knew about Chu Yanzhi's actions, she had to admire his courage.

Compared with Yan Guifei's Yan King Chu Xizhi, if he, the palace maid, wants to be recognized and overshadow the limelight of Yan King Chu Xizhi, then he has to take a risky move.

Compared with the turbulence in the court, the harem is relatively much calmer.

Two noble concubines in the palace. Concubine Yan lived in seclusion in Yikun Palace to recuperate, and did not go out. Concubine Shen closed the palace and thought about it, and she had already faded out of everyone's sight. Concubine Xiang, who has been in the limelight the most recently, has become older, and she has rarely left her Chuxiu Palace recently, and someone has made a special trip to Chuxiu Palace to report to her about all matters in the harem.

On this day, Xiao Xi sent a soft sedan chair to visit Concubine Yan in Yikun Palace.

Although Yongchun Palace is some distance away from Yikun Palace, Xiao Xiwei always has to go to Yikun Palace every three or five times, but she is followed by a few pairs of eyes, so every time she meets Yan Guifei, she only greets a few words, and she doesn't dare to talk more, for fear of falling into people's ears.

Yikun Palace lit sandalwood, and as soon as he stepped into the house, his nose was surrounded by a faint fragrance of vegetarians, which was very quiet.

Concubine Yan wore a light purple palace dress on the couch, and saw her right hand supporting her forehead, and her eyebrows were tightly twisted. When Xiao Xiwei entered, a palace maid was holding a medicine bowl and persuading Concubine Yan to drink medicine.

"Mother." Xiao Xiwei walked up to Concubine Yan and blessed her body.

Hearing Xiao Xiwei's voice, Yan Guifei turned her face and beckoned to Xiao Xi with a smile, "Come, come and sit here." ”

Xiao Xiwei sat next to Yan Guifei and said with a smile, "Did the concubine have another headache just now?" ”

"It's all old and old...... Forget it, don't talk about this, come, let Bengong touch if my little grandson is growing again. Yan Guifei said as she smiled and reached out to Xiao Xi's slightly bulging lower abdomen. As soon as her hand was touched, after a while, there was a tremor in her palm, and Yan Guifei's eyes lit up suddenly, "Wei'er, look, this little guy is kicking the palace." ”

Xiao Xi pursed his lips slightly and smiled, "He's blaming his grandmother for being disobedient and refusing to take medicine obediently." ”

After listening to Xiao Xiwei's words, Yan Guifei looked at Xiao Xiwei helplessly, sighed, and said, "You...... In fact, it makes no difference whether you take this medicine or not, it has been many years, and it can't be cured. However, this palace is also this age, and it is not rare to see if it can be cured. ”

"Mother, how can you say that?"

"Don't talk about that." Yan Guifei waved her hand, as if she was unwilling to continue talking about this topic, she turned her head to look at Dong Yue and said, "Take this medicine down, I feel uncomfortable smelling this." ”

"Niangniang......" Dongyue frowned, and looked at Yan Guifei unwillingly and shouted. Seeing that Concubine Yan was unmoved, she hurriedly moved her gaze to Xiao Xiwei, "Princess, can you persuade Niangniang?" ”

"Dongyue, since the concubine doesn't eat it, let's serve it." Xiao Xi looked at Dongyue with a smile.

Dongyue looked at Xiao Xiwei and blinked, a little unable to react for a while.

Xiao Xiwei smiled, and said the same to Concubine Yan, "Actually, Erchen is the same as his mother, he is most annoyed by the smell of these medicines, and he always feels that there is something good about taking these medicines, and he is so bitter that he can't do it...... When I go back in a while, I also asked the palace people to throw away all those fetal pills and everything. ”

"You dare." Yan Guifei sat up suddenly, looked at Xiao Xi's slightly smiling face, stretched out her hand and pinched the pavilion and sat back down, "You girl, okay, okay!" Isn't it okay to take medicine in this palace? ”

"Dongyue, don't bring the medicine up yet. Otherwise, the mother concubine will regret it for a while. Xiao Xi smiled and turned his head to Dongyue.

Only then did Dongyue understand the intention of Xiao Xiwei's words just now, so she hurriedly brought the medicine up. Xiao Xiwei took the medicine from Dongyue's hand and personally fed it to Yan Guifei one bite at a time. After drinking the medicine, Xiao Xiwei took tea with her own hands and waited for Yan Guifei to rinse her mouth, and then pulled a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, and after everything was done, she sat down again.

"Is the concubine tired?"

"If you go back to the princess, you won't be able to sleep well these nights."

"Mother, otherwise, my son will read you a Buddhist scripture." Xiao Xi looked at the Buddhist scripture lying on the couch and said to Concubine Yan with a smile.

"It's fine." Yan Guifei nodded.

Listening to Yan Guifei's words, Dongyue hurriedly stepped forward to help Yan Guifei lie down.

Xiao Xiwei picked up the Buddhist scriptures on the couch and gently turned a page, "If there is a Bodhisattva, in the evil world after that, there is no fear, and if you want to say that it is a scripture, you should enter the line and be close to the outside." Leaving the king, i.e., the prince, the minister, the official, the sinister one, the bhikkhu who broke the vows, the name Arhat ......"

"You're reading it wrong, the sinister dramatist, and Chandra, the ...... of the outer way of Brahmanism"

"Yes, Erchen was wrong. The retainers continue to read to you, and Chandra, the outer way of the Sanskrit. Nor is he close to the slow man, greedy for small ...... Mother, what does this word read? Xiao Xiwei stretched out his hand and pointed to a word on the Buddhist scripture and whispered to Concubine Yan.

Yan Guifei raised her eyes and glanced at Xiao Xiwei lightly, "This word is multiplied." ”

Xiao Xi nodded slightly, and then continued to recite the Buddhist scriptures.

The palace maid sent by the emperor to monitor Xiao Xiwei originally listened carefully to the two of them, but after listening to them for a while, she saw that the two of them were talking about some Buddhist scriptures, and Xiao Xiwei's voice was low and gentle, like a warm spring breeze blowing, gradually, the palace maid lowered her eyes and half looked at her, and her mind gradually disappeared.

"I can't take care of you too much now, you have to be careful in everything." Seeing that the palace maid was gradually losing her mind, Concubine Yan was busy lowering her voice and whispering to Xiao Xi.

Xiao Xi said in a low voice, "Erchen knows, and so do you, concubine." ”

Yan Guifei nodded, "You mispronounced this word again." Unfortunately, there's news over there. ”

"Not yet, but Erchen has already sent someone to inquire about the news. The son-in-law was dull, which made the mother laugh. ”

"That's it, you're tired of reciting Buddhist scriptures for so long, go back." Yan Guifei covered her mouth and yawned, and looked at Xiao Xi with some tiredness.

"The retainers retired." Xiao Xi slightly held Ziyan's hand and got up and blessed Concubine Yan.

At this time, the palace maid who was sent to monitor Xiao Xiwei came back to her senses, and she hurriedly walked a few steps and stood behind Xiao Xiwei.

Coming out of Yikun Palace, it was almost noon.

It's autumn, and even though the sun is shining on your body, you still don't feel a little warm.

Unfortunately, there has been no news from the other side, and similarly, the people sent by the emperor to Suyang have not returned.

Xiao Xi looked at the bright sun above his head with his eyes swayed, and inexplicably felt a little flustered.

"Lord Wang."

A voice suddenly sounded in his ears, pulling Xiao Xiwei out of his thoughts.

On the empty palace road, a long figure slowly walked towards her, and the sunlight fell on his body, pulling out a slender shadow.

Xiao Xiwei stretched out his hand to help Ziyan get off the soft sedan chair and blessed the person who came, "The concubine has seen the prince." The concubine will not fight the prince and leave. With that, he turned around and prepared to get on the soft sedan again.

I didn't want to say a word to him.

Chu Yanzhi looked at Xiao Xi's slightly bloated figure, and his eyes couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"You, hate this king?"

Behind him, Chu Yanzhi's low, slightly confused voice sounded.

Xiao Xiwei was stunned.

Just this moment, it immediately proved the conjecture in Chu Yan's heart.

"Why?"

It seems that from the first meeting, she can avoid him, at first, he thought she was the reserved of the girl's family, but then he didn't feel like it, that kind of taboo was more like hatred. Why, however, did he seem to offend her in any way?

Why......

Hehe, he was actually asking her why she hated him?

She was also infatuated with him, loved him, believed in him, and valued him, but in the end, what did he give her? A lifetime of exploitation, a lifetime of deception, and a fire of despair......

The originally clear and clear eyes suddenly gathered countless resentful hatred.

"Xiwei ......" Seeing that Xiao Xiwei didn't answer for a long time, Chu Yanzhi couldn't help but shout in a low voice.

Xiao Xi took a deep breath slightly, her slender eyelashes moved, and when she turned her head to look at Chu Yanzhi again, her eyes had returned to normal, calm without a trace of fluctuation, "The prince should call the concubine Princess Yan." ”

Princess Yan......

Chu Yanzhi stared at Xiao Xiwei's eyes tightly, trying to find something in her eyes. However, he looked at it for a long time, but still found nothing.

Perhaps, from the moment Xiao Xiwei appeared, she was a mystery wrapped in countless secrets in his eyes. But he believed that one day, he would solve this mystery once and for all.

"Princess Yan." A faint smile suddenly appeared on Chu Yanzhi's lips, "So, can this king ask Princess Yan, where is King Yan now?" ”

"The prince is naturally in Suyang for disaster relief." Xiao Xi replied with an impassive expression.

"Oh, really?" Chu Yanzhi raised his eyebrows, "Are you sure he's in Suyang." ”

"What do you mean by this?" Xiao Xi looked at Chu Yandao coldly.

Chu Yanzhi smiled, "When Princess Yan said this, it seems that she doesn't know anything about Suyang. ”

The child in the womb moved suddenly, Xiao Xi hurriedly held her stomach and gasped, and Ziyan next to her hurriedly supported her, anxious and worried, "Princess, are you okay?" ”

Xiao Xi pursed the corners of his lips and smiled, "Don't worry, the words of others can't affect me anything, I believe it's a pity." ”

She believed in Chu Xizhi, and he was ...... in her eyes Others.

Inexplicably, these two words pierced Chu Yanzhi's heart.

"Su Yang came to report that His Royal Highness King Yan unfortunately fell into the water and ......disappeared when he went out on patrol," Chu Yanzhi stared at Xiao Xiwei's eyes and said coldly.

Xiao Xi's feet softened slightly, his face suddenly turned pale, and his voice also had a slight vibrato, "You...... You talk nonsense. ”

Chu Yanzhi hooked the corners of his lips, "Do you not believe what this king said, or do you ...... In fact, you are already convinced in your heart that Chu Xizhi will not die? ”

Xiao Xi stood up straight with Ziyan's hand, her right hand was gently covered on her lower abdomen, and her eyes stared at Chu Yan firmly word by word, "Of course I'm sure he'll be fine, because I'm still alive." ”

Chu Yanzhi stared at Xiao Xiwei, a trace of inexplicable light flashed through his dark eyes, "Xiwei, do you think he can escape by pretending to be missing?" Aren't you afraid that the fake drama will come true when the time comes......" Chu Yanzhi said, smiled at Xiao Xi, and then walked over Xiao Xi with his head raised and walked away without looking back.