The early sun slowly rose, illuminating the dim Pingzhou City little by little.

The quaint streets have been swept clean, and the bloody rain of last night has disappeared like the snow that has been swept away, leaving no trace.

People pushed open the courtyard gate, took off the extinguished red lanterns, and chatted and laughed with the neighbors.

Then, the first sound of firecrackers sounded in Pingzhou City.

Immediately after that, the second tone, the third sound......

The whole city is drowning in the sound of firecrackers, and the air is filled with the joy of the New Year.

People are chatting as usual, talking about the usual trivial matters of firewood, rice, oil and salt.

Occasionally, a few people passed by the magnificent Tufu and saw the officers and soldiers in front of the vermilion gate and the seal affixed to the door.

They vaguely guessed that something was going on in the city, but they didn't care.

For the street people, the struggle for power and lust of the famous family can only be regarded as a drunken conversation, and they are more concerned about their own small life.

Xinwang Mansion is located in the center of Pingzhou City, covering an area of nearly 100 acres, with many pavilions and high eaves.

There is an attic in the house, which is called Mochizuki Tower.

The Moon Tower is far above the surrounding houses, like a flock of chickens, pointing straight to the sky.

At this moment, Meng Jing was wearing a brown python robe and standing under the eaves of the palace's dormitory.

He looked up at the Moon Tower in the distance, thoughtful.

He spent a month carefully arranging, secretly summoning the army of Tiansi County under the jurisdiction of Pingzhou, taking advantage of the fierce fight between the Tu and Ning families, to disintegrate the Pingzhou family in one fell swoop and seize the military power of Pingzhou City.

It was a risky move, and thankfully, he won.

The butcher's family has been raided, everyone has been imprisoned, and the heads of the rest of the families have died at the Dragon Gate Sacrifice, and their vitality has been greatly damaged.

Meng Jing was nervous for a month, and now he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, he still has a slight concern

Since the death of King Xin, the financial power of the palace has been in the hands of the princess. Princess Yang is also the current concubine, Meng Jing's nominal mother-in-law.

The Yang family has always been lukewarm to Meng Jing and has never had too much communication.

Meng Jing understands this, after all, he is just an illegitimate child, unlike the adopted son of the Xin Wangfu, he was not raised by the Yang family, and there is no affection between the "mother and son".

It is not surprising that Yang did not want to see him.

But now that the Yang family is in power, if she doesn't agree with Meng Jing, then Meng Jing's previous efforts are a bamboo basket for nothing, and he is still the puppet prince.

There was a sound of soft footsteps next to him, and a little maid wearing a cloth jacket and a beautiful face walked to Meng Jing's side.

She is Meng Jing's personal maid Xiaozhu, fifteen years old, and she is holding a black coat.

"Lord Wang, it's cold outside, don't catch a cold. ”

Xiaozhu's cheeks were red from the cold, and the tip of her nose was also red, and she whispered, wisps of mist coming out from under her small red lips.

After speaking, Xiaozhu tried to stand on tiptoe and tried to drape the black big coat on Meng Jing's body, but she was much shorter than Meng Jing, and she couldn't reach Meng Jing's shoulders even if she tried her tiptoe.

Looking at the little girl's flushed face, Meng Jing smiled, touched her head gently, and then bent down.

Xiaozhu took the opportunity to drape the big qi on Meng Jing's body, she took a few breaths, danced and laughed, as if she had completed an earth-shattering event.

Meng Jing has no resistance to the innocent and lovely girl, he thinks that this is the purest innocence in the world, and always wants to do his best to maintain it.

Meng Jing stretched out his hand and gently held Xiaozhu's small hands, which were cold, like two ice lumps.

Meng Jing frowned slightly, and said gently:

"Your hands are so cold, go and cover the king's stove. ”

Xiaozhu's face blushed with shame, and she lowered her head at a loss, staring at her toes.

She has not served Meng Jing for a long time, and she does not know the habits of this new master, so she is always careful in doing things, for fear of violating Meng Jing's taboos.

She had been in the palace for several years, and had seen several sisters expelled from the palace for minor mistakes, and she did not want to follow in their footsteps.

It's just that it's the first time she's seen such a kind and unscrupulous master.

Meng Jing saw that Xiaozhu was stunned and didn't move, thinking that she didn't hear clearly, so she repeated it again.

"Xiaozhu, take the king's stove and use it. ”

Xindao: This little girl looks very smart, but she is a little stupid.

Xiao Zhu immediately came back to his senses when he heard the sound, nodded again and again, and then turned around and walked towards the dormitory.

She was glad to have met the master of the individual and sympathetic to others, and her mind was full of Meng Jing's delicate face.

Lord Wang, you look so good.

Just a few steps away, she was suddenly stunned, as if she remembered something, immediately turned around, walked on her two calves, and trotted back.

"Is there anything else?"

Meng Jing asked in a harmonious voice.

"Lord Wang, the slave maid has something to report, but I'm worried that you will be angry when you hear it. ”

Meng Jing's brows furrowed again, he could probably guess a few points, he had no foundation in the Xinwang Mansion, he didn't even recognize all the people, plus he had no real power in his hands, and even some qualified servants didn't take him seriously, and he was repeatedly neglected.

This time it's probably something similar.

"Say, this king is not angry. ”

"The prince is not in the house these days, and some small items in the dormitory have been taken away by the king's steward, and the slave maid has just checked and found that the stove is gone. ”

The slave bullied the master, and he didn't inform Meng Jing when he took away the things.

Meng Jing snorted coldly.

Xiaozhu continued:

The slave and maid went to the king's steward and wanted to bring the stove back, but the king's steward said that there was no extra stove and let us figure it out for ourselves, but the slave and maid clearly saw that he and several other stewards were holding the stove in their hands. ”

Meng Jing's expression became more and more displeased, he knew the details of the king's affairs, he was an old man who had been in the palace of the king for more than 20 years, and he even won the trust of the concubine Yang family, so naturally he would not take him, the new powerless prince, in his eyes.

The Yang family knew everything about the affairs of the house, and she probably knew about the neglect of the king's steward, but she chose to open one eye and close one eye, acquiescing in the behavior of the king's steward.

Meng Jing had endured it many times, and he didn't want to fall out with the Yang family because of this, after all, she was his nominal mother.

However, Steward Wang and the others intensified, and they were only a little snub before, but now they actually brushed Meng Jing's face openly.

This time, Meng Jing would not tolerate it any longer, and he also wanted the Yang family to know his attitude.

"Xiaozhu, take this king to meet this king's steward. ”

The voice was still so peaceful, and there was not a trace of anger to be heard.

In a lobby of King Xin's Mansion, four middle-aged men in cyan jackets sat around a red table of eight immortals, they were the four stewards of King Xin's Mansion, and Steward Wang was among them.

All four of them held a stove in their hands, and they gambled with baskets and dice on the table, their faces red and their ears red, completely immersed in the excitement of gambling.

"Lao Wang, I heard that the little prince's maid came to you to ask for a warm pot just now, but you didn't give it, is there such a thing?"

The steward of the king stared closely at the dice basket and replied:

"I sent her away in a few words, those stoves are all in the hands of a few of our old buddies, what has been eaten, can you still spit it out for her again?"

"Old Wang, what you have done is too great, after all, the prince is the lord of the palace, and he will definitely be in charge in the future, you offend him now, in case he settles accounts after the autumn. ”

Steward Wang snorted coldly, shook a pinch of beard on his chin, and said:

"In power, just his sick appearance, I'm afraid that he won't live for a few years, and there will be absolutely no chance to settle accounts after the autumn, besides, the concubine doesn't want to see him at all. ”

"No, as soon as the prince arrived in the mansion, the concubine ordered someone to clean up the original dormitory and let him move in. ”

The steward shook his head, pointed to the steward who spoke, and said:

"You are wrong, brother, I have done so many years for the concubine, what kind of person the concubine is, I know best, the concubine has always paid attention to the face of the palace, and will not tell the truth, the treatment she gave the prince is just a formality. ”

Since Meng Jing wrote to the palace, the concubine never took the initiative to meet him, and several times Meng Jing took the initiative to greet him, but the concubine deliberately shirked and disappeared, so that Meng Jing had a closed door.

These royal stewards all looked at it, and with his understanding of the concubine for so many years, he concluded that it was no fun for Meng Jing to take power.

In this case, why be afraid of this paper tiger, it is better to press him a few times and have a good time.

As he spoke, Steward Wang glanced at the other three and sneered:

"You are just too timid, every time you meet the broken prince, you pretend to be respectful, brother, I am not like this, I don't look down on him at all, look at his weak and powerless appearance, I am disgusted, how can I look like a prince. ”

Steward Wang sneered a few times, and then said:

"He is the prince, I'm sorry, I want me to say, according to his white appearance, if you change into a silk robe, painted with rouge gouache, tsk, you must have a bit of a posture, maybe you can be a top brand in the green building, haha." ”

Several of them laughed, their faces full of contempt.

At this moment, a clear voice came from the door.

"It seems that the king's steward has a high opinion of the king's appearance!"