In the middle of autumn, it was already cool after nightfall, and it began to rain again in the evening, and the sparse rain did not stop at this time. The maid on duty under the corridor of the main courtyard of the Dewang Mansion turned pale, and the two of them rubbed their hands together and stomped their feet and whispered, complaining about the sudden cold weather.

At this moment, someone outside suddenly shouted: "The prince is back." ”

The maidservants hurriedly stood up in their own rules, and then saw the dark purple clothes under the King Dewang His Royal Highness expressionlessly passing through the hall, bypassing the shadow wall and stepping on the bluestone brick paved ground.

The door behind them creaked, and their princess hurried out with a smile on her face, as she had always done.

"Lord Wang. Zhao Qifang stood on the verandah and saluted.

The second prince let out a faint "um", and went straight to the Danqi, and a maidservant girl lifted the curtain for the two.

Zhao Qifang hurriedly followed him in, and said with a smile on his face: "Has the prince ever had dinner?" The concubine prepared pigeon soup for you, and she was in a casserole at this time, and she had been boiling all afternoon.

The second prince glanced at Zhao Qifang, and his expression was still faint, "Don't bother you." You are the princess, and these things are left to the next person to do. ”

Zhao Qifang originally raised his hand to take off his robe for the second prince, but he froze in mid-air.

She is a princess, yes! She is not in love with King De, and in the recent days King De has been busy with important matters outside, and she can't even interject a word. There is no affection between their husband and wife, let alone glue, even if it is in the house, there has been no one after the round house. She flattered the second prince with little care, and carefully wanted to win his favor, but every time she got it, she was treated so coldly.

No one knows the bitterness in her heart. But everything about her is still extremely beautiful in the eyes of outsiders. Her close friends are envious and jealous of her, she loves decency, and every time she meets, she can't tell these people about her embarrassment. Even when her mother-in-law asked, she could only smile and say that King De was very good to her.

Is King Toku good to her?

She has never neglected the level of the princess in terms of food and clothing, but as a newlywed young woman, she has never been loved by her husband, can this be considered good?

The second prince ignored her mood, casually threw his robe aside, and walked straight to the tip of the room. And there was a pretty maidservant waiting for him to wash and change his clothes.

Zhao Qifang cheered up, ordered someone to bring pigeon soup, and when the second prince came out and sat on the black lacquered mahogany Arhat bed near the window, he said with a smile: "You taste it first, it's cold today, so warm up." ”

The second prince raised his eyes and glanced at Zhao Qifang.

Zhao Qifang's appearance is dignified, and her young and delicate skin glows with a soft luster like white porcelain.

But thinking of the beautiful face of the person living in the other courtyard, the person in front of him felt that it was too light after all.

After taking the small white porcelain bowl painted with gold, the second prince only took one bite, then frowned and said, "You don't have to do this kind of thing next time." ”

The smile on Zhao Qifang's face stiffened, and she asked worriedly, "Is it because the craftsmanship of the concubine body is not up to your appetite?"

As soon as the second prince saw her cautious appearance as if he had bullied her, he felt a sense of greasy in his heart, put down the bowl casually, and said, "No, I just don't like it." Then he stood up.

Zhao Qifang hurriedly said: "Lord Wang, it's getting late, let's settle it?"

"Well, it's not early, you can rest, this king goes to the study. The second prince turned around and left.

Zhao Qifang was anxious, and hurriedly chased after him: "Is the prince going to the study?" ”

"Rest, don't wait for the king. ”

......

Zhao Qifang stood under the porch, looking at the back of the second prince, and her eyes gradually filled with tears.

This is his husband.

I knew it was so cold, so uninteresting. Why did she marry him in the first place? Marrying a peddler and pawn may be sweeter than their days. She now has status and endless glory and wealth. But how can these things outside her body fill her spiritual emptiness?

Seeing that King De was gone like this again. The maidservants and mothers-in-law on duty all lowered their heads and were silent. For fear that if I saw something I shouldn't see, I would be angry with the princess if I knew too much.

Zhao Qifang didn't pay attention to these people, and returned to the house in despair. But as soon as he took two steps, he said, "Yanqing come in." ”

"Yes. ”

Yanqing is Zhao Qifang's maidservant, and now she is gradually used by his side. Because King De was always busy and didn't return to the palace these days, Princess De was puzzled, so she asked Yanqing to borrow that she had a good little chamberlain in the outer courtyard to ask.

Naturally, there are chamberlains and maids from the palace, but Zhao Qifang feels that the chamberlains are dirty and unclean, so he doesn't let them get close to the upper courtyard.

And these people are often able to know more useful information.

When she arrived at the house, Zhao Qifang sat down on the rose chair with a sinking face, and was silent for a long time.

The princess didn't speak, and Yan Qing naturally didn't dare to ask, so she just stood aside quietly.

After a while, I heard Zhao Qifang suddenly scold violently: "Why, if I don't ask you, you won't say, you can't be woody?" Do you still need me to remind you one by one to know how to do the errand!"

Yanqing was frightened, and suddenly there was a sharp scolding in the quiet room, and she knelt down as soon as her frightened legs became weak, her knees hurt, and there were tears in her eyes.

"Return, back to the princess's words, slave maid, slave maid found out some. Swallowing his saliva, he continued: "It was the boy in the horse shed in the outer courtyard who said that the prince had gone to the house near Shichahai for the past two days. ”

"What?" Zhao Qifang frowned and said, "What is the prince doing in Shichahai's house?"

"This, this slave and maid don't know, the kid only said that the prince told them to stay away, not to let them in, and I don't know who it is, only that on the first day I went, it was the prince himself who carried a girl in. ”

"Girl?!" Zhao Qifang clenched her fists and slammed it on the table.

"I knew that there must be someone, otherwise why wouldn't he even look at me! What is this called, what is this! Just got married, he secretly carried someone outside to raise the outer room, a dignified prince, could he bring people back to the palace, will I not nod? I can still ......" Speaking of this, Zhao Qifang suddenly paused and muttered: "Who must be kept outside and can't be brought back?"

Yanqing knelt on the ground and didn't dare to speak. Until Zhao Qifang kicked her out.

And Yanqing, who left the main house, breathed a sigh of relief, and retreated because it was not up to night recently.

In the middle of the night, while the little girl in the same room was asleep, she went to the corner gate of the garden and stole a note into the crack of the door.

Early in the morning, Yan Qingsai's note appeared in Bai Xiyun's hand. He breathed a sigh of relief and said to Luo Yong and Guan Junyan: "The first step is done. ”