All the ancestors in the capital begged me to be a substitute

Chapter 299 Reward (two in one)

In the compartment of the carriage, tea soup was simmering, and the rich aroma of tea entered Shen Lingxi's nose, bringing with it a hint of warmth.

She looked at Xu Yuanshan who floated into the Yiyang Marquis Mansion with Li Xiaoqing through the car curtain, and smiled.

"Xu Yuanshan naturally won't reveal anything. I only found traces of goods exchanges between Yun Chong and Xu Yuanshan from the account book. As for the relationship between the two of them, I don't know anything about it."

Chu Yan poured the tea soup into a sky-blue tea bowl and handed it to Shen Lingxi, "So, this time you are Jiang Taigong fishing, whoever wants to take the bait?"

"That's right." Shen Lingxi took the tea cup, held the porcelain cup lightly with her onion-like fingertips, and nodded with a slight smile, "I asked Xu Zhen to tell Yun Chong, 'He has to do anything.' Yun Chong is not a fool. , he wants to go to jail and survive, so he can only choose to follow Xu Zhen’s words.”

"Until he met Mr. Li, if he knew anything about the affairs of the Zhenguo family, he would be able to guess who the master behind Xu Zhen was. In this case, he would have to think carefully about how to go back to the capital."

This is the reason why Yun Chong didn't sleep a wink in the guest room all night after meeting Li.

Shen Lingxi paused and said meaningfully: "After returning to the capital, he has two choices, either go to his previous allies to save his life and get rid of our control. Or do something for Xu Zhen that can save his life. , please let us be more generous."

"It depends on how he chooses, and if he chooses his original alliance, we can follow the clues and find out the people behind Xu Yuanshan. If he chooses to cooperate with us, we will naturally save some effort... No matter how he chooses, as far as we are concerned, it is all It’s beneficial and harmless.”

Chu Yan looked in the direction of the Yiyang Marquis Mansion, thoughtfully, "Now that he has begun to show great courtesy in front of the Li family, it means that his first target in Beijing is the Li family. From this point of view, this The Li family is either his ally, or he is the one who gave us his name."

Shen Lingxi looked at Liu Meiren who had drifted into the Yiyang Marquis Mansion with Xu Yuanshan and her ancestors. She raised a slight smile on her lips and turned her head to wink at Chu Yan.

"Isn't this a coincidence? We originally wanted to investigate the Li family. Yun Chong has been arrested and imprisoned for so long, and none of his allies have sent anyone to rescue him. As long as he still has some brains, he will naturally know what to choose."

Chu Yan looked at her cunning eyes and laughed dumbly.

"In this case, we don't need to continue to hide our whereabouts. Today is the Lantern Festival, and there is a lot of excitement in the palace. Let's go into the palace so that we can tell those monsters and monsters hiding in the dark that we are back."

Shen Lingxi smiled and nodded.

*
As the most lively Lantern Festival after the Spring Festival, everything in Beijing is naturally very different from ordinary times.

The imperial street facing Xuandemen stretches for more than ten miles, and all the colorful sheds are erected. Starting from the tenth day of the first lunar month until the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, lights, singing and dancing are performed all night long.

Colored roller coasters, land boats, horse shows, cockfighting, jacking poles, rope walking and other entertainment activities are all happening together, making it very lively.

The city is full of lights, trees and flowers, and there are scenes of peace and prosperity everywhere.

Shen Lingxi dressed up and entered the palace with Chu Yan.

The palace was also decorated with lights and colorful decorations everywhere, and the faces of the palace maids and eunuchs were all filled with joy.

When they entered the palace to pay their respects to the emperor, the emperor was preparing to drive to Xuande Tower.

As the crown prince and crown princess, they naturally have to go with the emperor.

By the time the imperial chariot arrived at Xuande Tower, the queen had already been waiting on top of the tower with her concubines for a long time.

Once the Mu family lost power, it had a huge impact on the queen.

Even though the emperor did not implicate the queen with the crimes committed by the Mu family, the ministers would not let her go easily.

In the past two months, the "abolition queen" has never stopped asking for her life.

It was only after Mu Huaian assisted the prince and Yun Wang to eradicate Xiao Rui in Yunjiang and quell the potential civil strife in Yunjiang that the voices of protest from the courtiers were slightly suppressed.

Therefore, the emperor took advantage of New Year's Eve to show his grace and pardoned the empress' grounding.

This Lantern Festival lantern viewing is the first time the queen has appeared in front of people since the incident in the Mu family.

Naturally, it has also attracted people's attention.

Although she tried her best to dress up, her face could not hide her sick look, and her eyes were dull and lacked their former brightness.

Shen Lingxi sighed slightly when she saw such a queen.

She and Chu Yan met with the queen and glanced at the concubines behind the queen with the corner of her eyes.

After such a scan, I discovered that in just over two months, the emperor's harem had actually added a lot of new faces.

Among them, in addition to Li Yuejiao, who had interacted with Shen Lingxi at the Yongtai Palace before.

There were two or three more women that she had seen in those portraits of beautiful women.

These women did not marry Chu Yan, but were taken into the harem by the emperor.

Judging from where they stood, Li Yuejiao was closest to the empress, which showed that she was now the most favored woman by the emperor in the harem.

Shen Lingxi's eyes swept across everyone's faces, and finally landed on the woman standing behind everyone, who was dressed neatly, like a little white flower that I felt pity for.

This woman Shen Lingxi is no stranger.

It was Concubine Zhao who had been imprisoned in Furong Palace by the emperor.

Unexpectedly, the emperor's pardon this time not only lifted the empress's confinement, but also released Concubine Zhao.

However, as the biological mother of the emperor's only remaining child, although Concubine Zhao was released, her status was the lowest among the concubines.

No wonder everyone else had smiles on their faces, but she looked like she was mourning for her heir.

Concubine Zhao was accompanied by a wet nurse. In her arms, the wet nurse held a baby wearing a bright yellow brocade coat.

The baby has just turned one year old. Although he is a boy, he is very beautiful in pink and jade.The facial features combine the advantages of the emperor and the noble concubine Zhao, which shows what kind of grace she will look like if she grows up.

Shen Lingxi had heard before that after the emperor's three sons died one after another, he felt pain for his only son, the tenth prince, as if he were an eyeball.

The tenth prince was weak and timid, but the emperor would never let the tenth prince appear when there were many mortals, for fear of shocking him.

Unexpectedly, after just over two months, the emperor was willing to let Zhao Guifei carry out the tenth prince.

When the emperor saw the tenth prince, his face was instantly filled with a loving smile.

He waved to the wet nurse and asked her to carry the tenth prince to him.

The tenth prince was not as timid as the rumors said. His eyes were like black grapes, he looked left and right curiously, and he made a milky sound in his mouth.

The emperor smiled and teased him a few times, and said casually: "Liu Lang, now that you are married, you have to hurry up. Our Chu family has few heirs. If we give birth to a few more, we can keep Shiro company. lively."

Shen Lingxi looks at his nose with his eyes, and his nose looks at his heart.

At this moment, she is very grateful for Aweng's tireless "teachings" to her during his lifetime. Faced with the elders' "promoting marriage" and "promoting childbirth", her "Taoist heart" is as stable as a rock. She can pretend that she has not heard it at all, and she will not give up at all. In the heart.

Shen Lingxi originally thought that Chu Yan would just prevaricate randomly like her.

Unexpectedly, I heard him say: "Lingxi still has filial piety. I have sworn in front of the emperor's grandfather before that I will never have any children unless the real culprit who killed my father is found out. I also ask for your forgiveness."

The emperor was stunned, "When did this happen? Why didn't I know?"

Shen Lingxi also pricked up her ears curiously.

How could the late emperor allow Chu Yan, the most important heir of the royal family, to make such an oath?

"I made the oath at the funeral of the emperor's grandfather. Naturally, the emperor doesn't know about it." Chu Yan replied.

Shen Lingxi: ...The emperor simply laughed in anger.

"If your imperial grandfather had known that you were still so angry with him after his death, I would have given you a few more slaps."

"That's all, that's all." He waved his hand helplessly, "Anyway, now that you are married, having children is a matter of course. I won't rush you anymore."

As he said that, the emperor waved his hand to the nanny, gesturing for her to take the tenth prince back to Concubine Zhao.

The wet nurse was blessed and turned around with the tenth prince in her arms, intending to retreat.

However, just as she walked past Shen Lingxi——

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."

The tenth prince, who had been looking around with dripping eyes, suddenly stretched out his hand towards Shen Lingxi, and directly grabbed her Yun Yao with his chubby little hand.

His black grape-like eyes looked at Shen Lingxi curiously and smiled at her.

"Tenth Prince, let go quickly." The nanny was startled, and gently pulled his little hand, gesturing for him to let go.

But how can a baby who has just turned one year old understand what adults say.

Not only did the tenth prince not let go, he also grabbed Yun's shoulder and shook it, grinning and talking to Shen Lingxi "babbling".

After all, he was the emperor's most cherished child. He would not let go, and the nanny would never dare to break his hand in front of the emperor.

Shen Lingxi didn't dare to move at all, letting him pinch her Yun Yao and play with it.

As a person who grew up in the Yun Kingdom Palace, no one knows better than Shen Lingxi——

The food in the palace cannot be eaten casually.

Children in the palace should not be touched casually.

When the emperor saw this battle, he actually laughed.

He said to Chu Yan: "Look, Juro knows it's useless to tell you. He must be discussing with the Crown Princess at the moment."

Shen Lingxi's forehead twitched.

Chu Yanfeng's eyes darkened slightly, and he was about to reach out to grab the little prince's hand and "rescue" Shen Lingxi.

But he saw her smiling lightly and reaching out to untie Yun Jian, "I think Juro took a fancy to the tassel on my concubine Yun's shoulder and thought it was fun, so he grabbed it. The wet nurse should give Juro the Yun Jian to play with. "

Sure enough, after Shen Lingxi took off Yun Jian, the tenth prince no longer looked at her. Instead, he grabbed Yun Jian with both hands and shook it in his hands.

The nanny finally breathed a sigh of relief, thanked Fu Shen, and hurriedly walked towards Concubine Zhao with the tenth prince in her arms.

The two of them walked up to Concubine Zhao. Concubine Zhao looked at the cloud shoulder and frowned sadly. She never raised her eyes and glanced at Shen Lingxi...

This was just a small episode, but it made the emperor look at Shen Lingxi much more cordially.

Coincidentally, the largest dragon lantern in this lantern festival danced out from the palace gate, and exclamations sounded one after another on the Imperial Street.

The emperor stood up, walked to the city tower, looked down at the mighty dragon lanterns on the imperial street, and specially summoned Chu Yan and Shen Lingxi to accompany him.

"I heard that when the Crown Princess was in Yunjiang, she once pretended to be a saint of Yunjiang?" The emperor asked casually, "I also heard that the people of Yunjiang regarded the Crown Princess as the reincarnation of a saint. Is this true?"

These are no secrets in Yunjiang. Shen Lingxi and Chu Yan were already on their way here and had already thought of how to respond.

"Back to the Emperor, the trend of witch doctors in Yunjiang has been around for a long time and is deeply rooted in Yunjiang. Only in this way can we shake its foundation. My concubine pretending to be a saint is the fastest and most effective way."

"You made a good move in this move." The emperor smiled and said: "I heard that you also worshiped Queen Zanxi as the 'Miaoling Celestial Master' and attacked her shield with your spear. This move was very clever. I heard from Rokuro that these are all your ideas. Tell me, what reward do you want?"

Shen Lingxi bowed and said, "Since I am the 'Miaoling Celestial Master' bestowed by the emperor, I should carry forward the Taoism of Xuanmen. This is what I should do."

The emperor waved his hand and said, "Rewards must be given."

He glanced at Chu Yan, as if something suddenly occurred to him, his eyebrows moved slightly, and he said playfully: "Well, anyway, Liu Lang just said that he is not in a hurry to have children, so I will give you a Qionghua Temple, where the royal maiden can watch and pray to the sky. How about taking on the responsibility of offering sacrifices and taking over the post of deputy seal leader of the Daolu Department? From now on, all the female temples in the Great Zhou Dynasty will be under your control."

Shen Lingxi blinked.

If it had been in the past, she would have accepted the order happily to thank her. After all, the mountain where Qionghua Temple is located and the imperial village connected at the foot of the mountain are adjacent to the Fu'an mountain she bought. They occupy a very large area and have excellent Feng Shui.

But now, she is married after all.

To take an errand from a stranger like this is not only inconsistent with the etiquette, but also difficult to convince the public. This is not a reward, it is setting her on the fire.

Chu Yan also didn't expect that he had just declined the emperor's "promoting birth", and now the emperor wanted to drive his wife into a Taoist temple. How could this happen?

This time, before Shen Lingxi could speak, he saluted and said, "Your Majesty, I will forgive you. On this trip to Yunjiang, the Crown Princess helped my ministers handle many cases in Beiya."

"The Crown Princess is the best at burying corpses and doing autopsies, and she also knows the subtleties. Compared with the best widowers in the capital and the embroidered clothes handlers who handle cases, she is even better."

"Anyone can be the master of Qionghua Temple, and there is no shortage of people in the Daolu Department to serve as deputy seals. The female temple in the world also has people who are more convincing to manage. But she is the only one who can do this to redress the grievances of the deceased."

"If the emperor really wants a reward, why not give her a legitimate name and assist in Beiya's handling of the case? Is that okay?"

As soon as these words came out, Shen Lingxi's eyes flashed, and a trace of warmth flowed through her heart.

Ever since her relationship with Chu Yan was established, she had been immersed in the case and enjoying his company, but she had never thought about how she and he would go in the future.

Subconsciously, she still rejects life in the palace. After all, the deep palace is like a prison to her.

Therefore, she only lives in the present and never thinks about the future.

But Shen Lingxi didn't expect that Chu Yan would make such a request to the emperor.

Although the people of the Zhou Dynasty were civilized, there was no precedent for a woman to be an official or involved in prison.

Although everything he said was something she was good at and willing to do...

But I never thought that one day I would be able to do it openly.

Now that she is the Crown Princess, she still does things like the owner of a coffin shop, which is shocking enough in the eyes of the world.

If I assist Beiya again...

Is this the "future" that Chu Yan thinks about for her?

Join him and do what she loves.

At this moment, Shen Lingxi had to admit that if it was like this "in the future", she thought it would be pretty good.

Not only Shen Lingxi, but also the emperor could not hide the look of surprise on his face.

"There has never been a precedent for a woman to set foot in a prison in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Let alone a prison, even in this officialdom, there are no women."

"Liu Lang, you have to think carefully. If I really follow your request and set this precedent for her, the court officials and the scholars in the world will not let you go."

"Think about what they have done to the Queen over the past two months. When you ascend the throne a hundred years from now, the Crown Princess will become the Queen. Do you really want to do this?"

(End of this chapter)