This is Lu Bingzhen's second visit to Yuanshan Hall.

Yuanshantang feels very similar to Lu Zhi himself, both of which exude the twilight and shrewdness of an old man.

Lu Bingzhen knelt down in front of the desk and thought about it, she was actually quite afraid of this grandfather who looked smiling.

The matter of the fifth cousin, the mother Li family never hid it from her, it was Lu Bingzhen who knew how this grandfather easily gave up his granddaughter who had been favored for more than ten years.

"Jiu Niang, you have also grown up, there are hundreds of women in the family, do you have any ideas for yourself?"

Hearing this, Lu Bingzhen replied cautiously, "My granddaughter doesn't know, I think it's just the parents' intentions and the words of the matchmaker." Is there a reason for granddaughters to make their own decisions? ”

Lu Zhi was noncommittal about this, his tone was a little inducement, and he said casually, "It's also as it should be, Jiu Niang is really a good boy who understands the rules." I recently heard someone reply that you have been reading the Di Bao, but what insights do you read? Tell my grandfather about it. ”

"The granddaughter is not talented, she only knows about the changes in officials at a cursory time, and she doesn't dare to talk about her opinions."

"Jiuniang is too humble, you can come up with someone who can set up a regular position, but you are definitely not a little lady in an ordinary lady."

Lu Zhi's eyes looked deeply at the granddaughter in front of him, and he thought, "It's a pity that such a smart person is only married to the Qilang of the Wang family." If she marries into the East Palace, Jiu Niang will be enough to influence the prince and even the court in the future.

If the crown prince ascended the throne with the support of the Fanyang Lu family, and was deeply influenced by Jiuniang, the crown princess who was born in the Fanyang Lu family, then the Fanyang Lu family would be enough to become a family comparable to the Langya Wang family in the previous dynasty. “

The temptation to restore the glory of the Fanyang Lu family as a family was too great, and Lu Zhi maintained ignoring the idea of his son Lu Qi as the next head of the Fanyang Lu family.

In his opinion, as long as Jiuniang can be persuaded to voluntarily marry into the East Palace as the crown princess, his son Lu Qi has nothing to blame him. It's all the children's own will, and it's about him to be a grandfather.

What Lu Zhi didn't expect was that a thought would actually accelerate the demise of the Fanyang Lu family as a family. In the decades that followed, Lu Qi was indeed a virtuous minister who was famous in the history books, but his single-handedly promoted and perfect imperial examination system did further accelerate the collapse of the family.

As for Lu Zhi's own expectation of consolidating the prestige of the family's status, Lu Qi and Lu Bingzhen's father and daughter did not work in this direction at all, but ran all the way in the opposite direction.

Seeing that his granddaughter was so resistant to defense, Lu Zhi was not in a hurry to say anything, slowly made a pot of tea, and began to talk about the current situation in the court and all kinds of disputes in the world.

Speaking of today, the suspicion is getting worse day by day, and he has become more and more suspicious of the prince who is known as a virtuous man. Speaking of several princes except the crown prince, none of them have the virtue of being a king. He also said that Hu Lu, who led his troops to attack Xuanhua City in the north, had ascended to the position of Khan and was sharpening his sword to the Central Plains.

As he spoke, Lu Zhi was satisfied to see that Jiu Niang's hand trembled uncontrollably, and the calm and indifferent look on his face gradually disappeared.

Lu Bingzhen was rarely rude in front of her elders, she got up in a hurry, hurriedly said goodbye, and walked out of the Yuanshan Hall with messy steps. Her speed grew faster and faster, and at last she ran without regard for etiquette.

The rings on his body jingled, and the cutting ice couldn't even keep up with the pace of his little lady.

In Liuchun Dock, Lu Bingzhen rarely drove all the people who were waiting outside the house, and she was the only one who stayed quietly in the house. Even when he wanted to come in and light the lamp in a soft voice, Lu Bingzhen didn't say a word.

When the twilight was sinking, Lu Qi hurriedly stepped into the Lu house. The servants sent by the Li clan had already told him what had happened today. For what his father did, Lu Qi couldn't comment much on what his son did, and could only say that the son didn't say anything about his father.

Lu Qi is most worried about the thoughts of her daughter A Rui, if her daughter really listens to her grandfather's words, she is determined to sacrifice the happiness of the rest of her life for the glory of the family. He really didn't know how to stop his father, who was ambitious to restore the family.

"Rui, open the door. It's my father and my mother. What can't I say to my parents? “

After opening the door and lighting the lights, what appeared in front of Lu Qi and his wife was Ah Rui, who was still wearing white clothes and had blank eyes.

Li stopped Lu Qi, who was about to speak, and instructed Onyx to take Cutting Ice and Melting Snow to help Ah Rui wash and groom together. Li Shi stood outside the screen and said in a calm tone, "Ah Rui, as a daughter of a family, you can't lose your dignity at any time. “

Lu Bingzhen seemed to have finally come to her senses, she raised her eyes and looked at her parents in her usual clothes, and asked in a low voice, "Has the family been rooted in the imperial examination system when it came out?" ”

"Ah Rui, you are just a little lady of the family, and you can neither enter the imperial examination, nor can you pay homage to the prime minister. Naturally, the glory of the family does not need you to maintain it. Ah Rui, listen to your father and mother, marry Wang Jia Qilang and go to Beijing to live a free life, just like when you were a child, isn't it? ”

Lu Bingzhen's tone became more and more calm, "But the family is in the same spirit, if the Lu family is defeated, even if the Wang family Qilang is a good man who can be entrusted for life, I am afraid that I will not be able to resist the elders of the Wang family to protect me." What's more, the current Fanyang Lu family is the head of all families, if the Lu family is defeated, how long can the Wang family maintain its glory? ”

Lu Qi, who was familiar with the empty talk of the family in the previous dynasty and misled the country, but always controlled the situation of officialdom, finally sneered and said under heavy pressure, "If the family is a maggot with bones that resides on the people of the dynasty, and even the people of the family themselves have to make way for the glory of the family, then the family will no longer have to exist." ”

Li, Lu Bingzhen, and all the maids in the house were all shocked by these words, and the room was silent for a moment. Fortunately, the people who can be left in the house today are the confidants of several people, and they don't have to worry about this leaking out.

Lu Bingzhen was silent for a long time, and finally mustered up the courage to say, "Daddy, mother, tomorrow is the Shangsi Festival, Ah Rui wants to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in person." ”

Lu Qi and Li still wanted to influence Lu Bingzhen's thoughts, but thinking that she had made up her mind since she was a child, and the nine cows couldn't pull it back, the two could only sigh.

On the second day, the little ladies of the Lu family led a group of maids to go to the Leyou Plain to play. The families in Leyou Yuan have already set up curtains with silk, and looking at it, Lu Bingzhen is not surprised to see many familiar little ladies.

Liuniang was the most interested in the Shangsi Festival, and just arrived at Leyouyuan, she shouted that she wanted to go to the water's edge to get rid of her illness. She held a handful of bluegrass in her hand, grinning and preparing to dip it in the river water and sprinkle it on the people around her.

Lu Bingzhen had something in his heart, but he was inevitably infected by Liuniang's emotions, and a shallow smile appeared on his lips, "Sixth sister, seventh sister, you go to the river to play first, I'll go later." ”

Qi Niang is a sharp-minded but introverted person, she is silent on weekdays, but she is actually very sensitive to changes in people's emotions. Since going out today, Qi Niang can feel that the ninth sister is actually not very interested, and it seems that something has been pressing on her heart.

Therefore, Qi Niang asked without a trace, "Ninth sister, what about you?" Today, I always have to go to the river and the waterside to get rid of the disease. ”

Feeling her kindness, Lu Bingzhen smiled slightly and said, "I'm just a little late, Seventh Sister don't worry about me." After speaking, Lu Bingzhen winked playfully, "Isn't the seventh sister worried about the sixth sister?" ”

Qi Niang also smiled, and blinked like the ninth sister, so she and Liu Niang went to the waterside to get rid of their illness first.

Lu Bingzhen, who was sitting in the tent, looked at the guard of honor traveling in the East Palace not far away, and secretly made up his mind. She raised her hand to beckon Lu Chi and whispered a few words of encouragement.

Lu Chi hesitated, but in the face of Jiu Niangzi's firm eyes, he remembered the patriarch's plan again. Lu Chi can only comfort himself, it is a common thing for the unmarried gentlemen and little ladies to travel together during the Shangsi Festival, which is not out of line, as for the identity of the prince of the other party's East Palace, it is ignored by Lu Chi.

Lu Chi took a deep breath, clasped his fists and saluted, and left, preparing to do what Lu Bingzhen told him.

Outside the honor guard of the East Palace, Lu Chi first went to find Pei Jian, a subordinate official of the East Palace, and whispered a few words. Pei Jian originally came from the identity of a subordinate official of the East Palace, and he was quite arrogant and unwilling to deal with Lu Chi. But Pei Jian remembered that on the night of the Shangyuan Festival, His Royal Highness had a cold tone towards him, so he could only reluctantly go to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to report the matter.

Today, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was persuaded out of the palace by his mother, the Queen Mother. Recently, His Majesty's suspicion has become more and more serious, and it has reached the point where he doubts the prince no matter what he does. Every moment, His Majesty is looking at whether this growing son is going to raise a butcher's knife to slaughter his brother the next moment, or whether he is going to raise the banner to kill his father and destroy the monarch the next moment?

The prince can only suppress his anxiety day by day in such a scrutiny, and make a respectful and humble appearance.

Knowing her son Mo Ruo's mother, the queen mother can't see that her son is already on the edge of the limit of repression. She deeply hated His Majesty for ignoring the conjugal relationship between the young husband and wife, and the father-son relationship of holding the prince on his lap to study in the past, but she was also deeply jealous of His Majesty as the prince's arm

The queen mother resented this but was helpless, so she could only let her son relax as much as possible.

"Today's Shangsi Festival, go out of the palace to see the scenery on the Leyou Plain"

The crown prince was also exhausted by his father's capricious behavior recently, and he wanted to excuse himself when he heard his mother say with a smile, "Since the palace entered the palace, I haven't seen the scenery of the Rakyu Yuan Shangsi Festival for more than 20 years. You go out of the palace and take a look, and come back to your mother. ”

Xiao Min couldn't refuse his mother's request, so he had to agree. He wanted to stay for a while and go back to the palace, but he didn't expect to hear Pei Jian's unexpected reply.

"What do you say? The nine ladies of the Lu family? She invited me to the Lu family's tent to inquire about something? ”

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, after a brief hesitation, quickly agreed to the matter. He only ordered Pei Jian to follow, and then drove briefly to the curtain where Lu Bingzhen was under the guidance of Lu Chi.

And Lu Bingzhen had already sat in the curtain and waited for a long time.