Blacksmith Alley.

Bai Ziche scooped up the tumbling eggs at the bottom of the pot with a spoon, carefully peeled off the eggshells, and handed them to Chu Shixia. Chu Shixia flipped through a booklet in his hand, took it casually, and was stunned for a moment before taking a bite.

Bai Ziche was stunned by her movements, and smiled helplessly, "This is for you to apply to your face." ”

Chu Zhixia let out an "ah" and smiled a little embarrassed.

The two sat across the stove, the hot water in the pot gurgling. This dilapidated yard was tinkered with, and finally there was no leakage, and there was moonlight shining in the open skylight. The two of them sat in the chairs of the animal skin shop, so soft that they didn't want to stand up as soon as they sat down, and the warm red light sprinkled on the faces of the two people, like the afterglow of the sunset.

"Who hit your face," Bai Ziche pointed to the red marks on her face, and the tips of her eyebrows twisted slightly, "Prince?" ”

"It can't be Your Majesty." Chu Shixia said indifferently, "I didn't even see the shadow of His Majesty." ”

Bai Ziche was a little displeased and a little puzzled, "Isn't Shen Zhou here?" ”

When Shen Zhou was there, it was impossible to let this slap fall on Chu Zhixia's face, even if the other party was the crown prince.

Chu Zhixia was silent for a while and said, "He's gone." ”

Bai Ziche's eyebrows jumped, and he didn't understand what this "gone" meant.

But Chu Zhixia didn't give him a chance to ask, and instead said, "That girl was saved." ”

"As long as the prince doesn't move her, the Chen family and the Jiang family can't guess what the prince means, so they won't do anything to her." Chu Zhixia twisted the egg yolk from his fingertips and breathed a sigh of relief.

Bai Ziche nodded, agreeing with her statement.

"Your Highness's health is well?" Chu Zhixia asked.

"It's all right." Bai Ziche shook his head.

"Let His Highness suffer." Chu Zhixia said sincerely.

The strategy to bring down Wang Xianfu was too dangerous, that is, Bai Ziche had the courage to agree, and he did it well.

"Wang Xianfu's power is too huge, and if we want to defeat him with our current strength, we can't do it without taking risks." Bai Ziche shook his head, "You don't have to blame yourself, this is what I promised myself." I hate him far more than you do. ”

Chu Zhixia didn't ask.

Bai Ziche has been in the palace for so many years, if she wants to say that she has not been tortured by Wang Xianfu, she doesn't believe it. In addition to the death of the edict of the painting academy, perhaps there is a deeper feud between the two - guess viciously, maybe Bai Ziche's unidentified mother also died at the hands of Wang Xianfu.

After all, Wang Xianfu thought that it was his responsibility to share the emperor's worries, and he was a good dog leg who was loyal and conscientious. And the emperor's feelings for Bai Ziche's biological mother were very weak, not to mention that Bai Ziche at that time was a trouble for the emperor.

"It's going to be late autumn." Bai Ziche leaned back in his chair and said lazily, "Your Majesty's determination to implement the new policy is unprecedented, and it is said that you will open a martial arts hall independent of Taixue to teach the princes the art of war. ”

"I've heard something, is Your Highness going?"

"What do you think?" Bai Ziche asked her opinion.

Chu Zhixia pondered for a moment and said, "If Your Majesty speaks, there is no need to refuse. ”

Bai Ziche is cautious in front of people, if he disobeys the emperor's will, not only annoys the emperor, but also seems deliberate.

"That's what I thought, too. After a while, it will be a martial arts exercise in the army, and the princes will accompany them and choose to speak in the martial arts hall to accompany them. Who do you think I would prefer? Bai Ziche put the white egg on Chu Zhixia's face.

Chu Zhixia tilted his head, dodged it, and took it and pressed it on the red and swollen swelling, "Does Your Highness have a favorite candidate?" ”

Bai Ziche's knuckles were unnaturally retracted, he shook his head, and his face remained silent, "I don't know the children of the military family very well. ”

——

Qunyufang, full of courts.

The courtyard where Jiang Qiao lived was remote and narrow, and a thick and greasy layer of moss crawled on the courtyard wall. There were more than a dozen people guarding the front and back, but none of them killed her. Jiang Qiao knew what her eldest brother was afraid of. The prince didn't kill her, Chu Zhixia also wanted her to live, the situation was confusing, if Jiang Qiao died at this time, he was afraid that there would be endless troubles.

It's just that I don't know if he will lock Jiang Qiao up until he dies of old age.

Jiang Qiao is not a person who sits idly by.

Jiang Qiao sat in front of the bronze mirror, combed his hair carefully, and then sat in front of the courtyard gate to listen to the four small guys playing horse tags. The courtyard door was locked, and she could only push open a very narrow slit, and the little servants looked at her with some hesitation.

But Jiang Qiao neither begged for mercy nor spoke, just looked at their cards, and a few little guys were relieved and reshuffled the cards.

When he was scorched, the little guy closest to Jiang Qiao was a little hesitant, and he was so anxious that he was sweating.

"Don't be afraid, the next card is 'Cross,'" Jiang Qiao said, "Draw the card." ”

"Cross" is the biggest suit in the horse tag, the horse tag to hit the big small, if the next card touches the cross, this little guy wins.

The little guy was stunned for a moment, and he touched the card in disbelief, and it was indeed a cross! Several of the little guys all looked at Jiang Qiao with some surprise.

Jiang Qiao came back to his senses after realizing it, and looked at them and stopped moving, "Well, what's the matter, aren't you guys fighting?" ”

Jiang Qiao's knowledge of cards and cards quickly spread among the subordinates of Fang Manting, and the subordinates who bet on red eyes would ask for advice in secret, Jiang Qiao was not stingy, but it was up to each person to learn a few points. After more than ten days, the old bustard pushed open the door of Jiang Qiao's courtyard.

"I've heard people say that you use arithmetic to count cards." The old bustard stared at Jiang Qiao deadly, as if he wanted to hook a piece of meat off her body.

"Yes." Jiang Qiao replied meekly.

"And you're going to do the accounting?" The old bustard asked eagerly.

"It depends on how far you want to go." Jiang Qiao looked at her with a smile.

"Good girl, what do you want?" The old bustard eagerly grabbed her hand, eager to kneel down with her, "Jewelry, jewelry, rouge gouache?" I can introduce you to the most generous guests! ”

"I do have a guest I want to meet." Jiang Qiaowan smiled.

——

Yan Jue and Chu Zhixia were in a wine shop on the street.

The cold plum brew in the clouds, the apricot blossom drunk in the south of the Yangtze River, and the drunken spring in the imperial capital are called the three uniques in the world. Drunken Chunnong is brewed in spring and opened in autumn, and the mellow aroma of the wine is precipitated just right, not too thin, not too strong.

"This is this year's new brew, I wonder how it compares to the cold plum brew in the clouds?" Yan Jue poured a full cup for Chu Zhixia and pushed it in front of her.

"Honestly?" Chu Zhixia took a sip, sweet, fragrant, and intoxicating.

Chu Zhixia shook the half-full wine glass and said with a smile, "I haven't drunk that thing." My eldest brother is not in good health, he takes medicine all the year round, and he doesn't drink at all; My second brother is a hob meat in the market, slamming the door and messing around, every time he takes me to drink, he is only willing to buy a burning knife. ”

Chu Shixia paused, a little resentful, "This thing is cheap, and it has a lot of energy." My second brother has been arguing with me since I was a child, so he got drunk and saved trouble, so that he could go out with his fox friends and dogs. ”

Yan Jue laughed out loud.

"Thanks to him, I drink a lot of alcohol, and I don't get drunk easily." Chu Zhixia was extremely helpless.

"Is there something wrong with asking me out?" Yan decided to get down to business.

"I'm here to remind the little marquis, pay attention to proportions in the martial arts after seven days." Chu Zhixia said vaguely.

Yan Jue was stunned for a moment, but he didn't understand.

"Chen Jixun's matter, have you heard of it?" Chu Zhixia nodded, "I heard that the children of the Chen family have also signed up for martial arts, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has a lot of complaints about the Chen family now. If His Royal Highness chooses a man from the Chen family to read again, I'm afraid His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will not be happy. Although the little marquis is loyal to His Majesty, it is best not to offend the prince. ”

Yan Jue frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "I know." ”

"Little Hou Ye doesn't have to be embarrassed, you don't need to get in the way of this matter. Otherwise, it will be difficult to offend the Chen family. Chu Shixia said step by step, "You only need to do one thing. ”

"What?"

"On the day of the martial arts, I will make a speech to Your Majesty." Chu Shixia pushed a letter over.

Yan Jue opened the letter and read it carefully, but his frowning brows did not let go.

"This is a good way, but Miss Chu, why do you care about this? Aren't you afraid of setting yourself on fire? Yan asked himself that the relationship with Miss Chu had not reached this point. Yan Jue looked at her quietly.

"I have nothing to do, idle." Chu Zhixia used a chopsticks to fry the pig's head meat, and he wanted to laugh or not, "It's so interesting to play martial arts, why bother watching the little boys embroider their legs." Have a lively fight to add some heat to the winter. ”

Yan Jue smiled dumbly.

Of course, Chu Shixia is not idle.

If Bai Ziche wants to enter the martial arts hall and win the emperor's love, he is bound to show his edge. The emperor's mercy is limited, and as time goes by, Bai Ziche will become his dispensable son again. So Bai Ziche had to prove to the emperor that he was worth enough to rival the value of the crown prince and the Chen family.

But this is not safe for Bai Ziche, there are queens and queen mothers in the palace, and there is a third prince who will go crazy if he can't say when he can't say; There are protégés of the Chen family outside the palace, and they are all waiting for the prince to ascend the throne, so that they can be ministers of the dragon and rise to the top.

Therefore, Chu Shixia wanted to provoke the contradiction between the prince and the Chen family.

The grandfather was busy cleaning up his grandson, and the grandson was worried about rebelling against the grandfather, so no one would pay attention to Bai Ziche.

"What's more, the exercise of martial arts is a matter of military politics. The little marquis doesn't want the Chen family to completely control the imperial capital's armaments, and neither do I. Chu Zhixia rarely held back a serious sentence, with three points of sincerity, "It's a wine bag and a rice bag, and it's a wolf's ambition, all of which are the tumors of my Great Zhou army." ”

Yan Jue let out a long breath, acquiesced in Chu Zhixia's meaning, and nodded vigorously.

Chu Zhixia raised his glass and touched him.

Yan Jue quickly left, taking the letter with him.

Chu Zhixia sat alone in the wine shop and drank a whole pot of wine with pickles and pig's head meat, and slowly watched the sunset sink into the majestic city wall. Pedestrians come and go on the road, and the lanterns are held high in the air, casting a hazy halo.

She paid the money and led the horse to the Akiba Mountain Residence, but unexpectedly bumped into a person.

Deng Mian, who was out of breath, stood in front of the door of the Autumn Leaf Mountain Residence, his eyes were blood-red.

"What's wrong?" Chu Zhixia was stunned.

"You, she...... Wei Ran is listed in the Scarlet Jade Pavilion, and now it's called 'Qiao Ji', you know? Deng Mian was so anxious that his eyes were red and his face was red, and he looked like he had run all the way.

"I know now." Chu Zhixia didn't react in particular, as if it was an unrelated person.

Deng Mian asked a little dumbfounded: "Don't you care about her?" ”

"What are you going to do?" Chu Zhixia turned his head to look at him, "She is the person the prince once wanted to kill, you redeem her and put her at home, kill or not?" Have you ever thought about whether she is a slave or a concubine in your house? ”

Deng Mian was speechless.

Chu Zhixia's patience with him was unprecedentedly kind, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Go home, Deng Mian, read your book well." She has nothing to do with you in the first place. ”

"She was bought by a person named 'Dong Xian', who seems to have a grudge against Fang Manting's owner, and there is no difference between people and those who robbed it. If you go to see her, she's not having a good time...... Can you buy her back? I don't know how to settle her, but you're so smart that you must have thought that I could pay for it. ”

Chu Zhixia had already walked up a few steps on the steps, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but turn his head and looked at him wonderingly: "Why?" ”

Chu Zhixia only said that Deng Mian was naïve and stupid, his father was loyal to the regent, and he followed the three princes to fool around; was saved by her once, and followed her with all his heart. Deng Mian grew up pampered, and compared with the third prince, he only had the advantage of being soft-hearted, and he could still distinguish a little black from white, so Chu Shixia was willing to say a few more words to him.

Jiang Qiao, who can do this for Jiang Qiao, who has a relationship with several sides, can see Jiang Qiao's involuntary suffering, and will grieve and pain for him, which is to smash his habit of dividing people into three, six, nine and so on from childhood to adulthood.

Not everyone has the courage to admit that they are a bad person, and an impure bad person like Deng Mian is used to whitewashing and burying the evil he has done.

"I don't know." Deng Mian wiped the corners of her moist eyes and said, "I only know that on the day she was bullied by the third prince, I closed my eyes and she didn't make a sound...... I thought she was going to die, and I was so scared. ”

That was the first time Deng Mian knew that those people he couldn't see before were also people.