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

Chapter 321: Won’t he be embarrassed (two in one)

ten days later.

Although Beiya and Sansi remained silent about the poisoning of the tenth prince and the sudden death of Emperor Xiaode.

But in the capital, rumors about Prince Rui and Marquis Yiyang secretly colluding to kill the prince were rampant and discussed.

It is said that the mother-in-law of King Rui was born into a noble family of the previous dynasty. As a defector from the previous dynasty, Marquis Yiyang colluded with the old master and attempted to overthrow the Zhou Dynasty. It is also reasonable.

It is also said that back then, Concubine Liu Shu, the mother-in-law of Prince Rui, was groomed to death by the late Concubine Zhao while she was in the harem. Prince Rui had a grudge against Concubine Zhao, who is also his current concubine. This is the so-called "House of Hate". "Jiwu", King Rui also hated Jin Shang to his bones, so he killed the emperor's three sons one after another.

Just as these rumors were intensifying, news suddenly came out from the Imperial Hospital that the condition of the tenth prince, who was poisoned in the tent hall on the Shangsi Festival, suddenly worsened and he fell into a coma. There were also rumors that Zhu Lianxi, the eunuch in charge of the emperor, had gone there in person. The Ministry of Rites conveyed the emperor's oral instructions and asked the Ministry of Rites to start preparing for the tenth prince's funeral.

There are various signs that the tenth prince is about to die soon.

As a result, the "Curse of the Violent Emperor" that had not been mentioned for a long time began to spread in the streets and alleys of the capital.

"Before his death, Emperor Ru cursed the Chu royal family to have no descendants. No matter who killed these ten princes, can they be counted in this curse?"

"How can it not be counted? The curse before Emperor Wu's death did not say that he must be killed by witchcraft to be considered dead. If you ask me, death from illness, drowning, or falling, as long as it is death, it is all death in the final analysis. This curse killed me.”

"Speaking of which, this prince is really tough. Let alone death, he has never been injured before..."

"Why haven't you been injured? He was the first one to almost die in the Zhanlongpo battle. Maybe, at the end of this round, it will be his turn..."

Originally, these rumors were spread by word of mouth among the people in the capital behind closed doors.

It wasn't until the East Palace posted a notice offering a huge reward for a landscape embroidery painting that pushed these rumors to an unprecedented height of public opinion.

"It seems that even the cold-faced Crown Prince is afraid of death. I heard that the embroidered picture was specially ordered by the late empress of Yun Kingdom to embroider it. It contains the method that can undo the curse of the cruel emperor. Emperor Xiaode suddenly On the day of his death, this embroidered picture disappeared. Now that the prince is offering a reward for this embroidered picture, he is probably afraid that it will be his turn in the end... so he wants to break the curse in advance."

"There are rumors in Yunjiang that this crown princess is the reincarnation of the little princess. The prince first married the little princess's spirit, and now he married this one, maybe to save his life..."

In the study room of the East Palace, Chu Yan and Shen Lingxi were sitting at the table near the window, drinking tea and listening to Chunjun reporting the rumors from outside to them one by one.

Shen Lingxi was still thinking about how to add fuel to these rumors and burn out the "yellow bird".

But Chu Yan, because of those last words, showed a little displeasure on his face.

"The last one was also released by you?" He raised his eyes and looked at Chunjun.

Chunjun: "Your Highness, this is the only one that is wrong. These are all people's speculations..."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Chu Yan, "You mean, in the hearts of the people, such a mercenary person can even plot his own marriage?"

Chunjun choked.

This is a bit of an over-interpretation.

Moreover, when did His Highness become so concerned about these false reputations?
No matter how confused he was, Chunjun also understood what Chu Yan meant and hurriedly said: "I will deal with it now and never let such false rumors continue to spread."

Chu Yan responded with a very calm voice.

As soon as he turned his eyes, he saw that Shen Lingxi had put down the tea cup in his hand at some point, and looked at him with a pair of almond eyes, "Your Highness is in a bad mood today?" she asked tentatively.

Chu Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, "Why do you think so?"

"When His Highness told me that he wanted to get married to me, he didn't want the emperor to press for marriage again... It can only be said that he did it out of necessity, and it can't be said to be mercenary or calculated..." Shen Lingxi said thoughtfully.

Chu Yan: ...

Seeing that he was silent, Shen Lingxi thought about the suggestion again: "I just think that there is no need to specifically eliminate such irrelevant rumors... Mixing them in those rumors will make it easier for the other party to believe the information we want him to believe."

Chunjun also nodded with deep understanding.

Rumors, true and false, false and true, mixed together to fish in troubled waters.

Chu Yan glanced at the two of them, his eyes slightly lowered, and his slender finger bones lightly rubbed the rim of the cup.

"It makes sense. In that case, why not add more."

As he spoke, he put down the tea cup, walked to the desk, picked up a pen and wrote a few words, then read it carefully, with a satisfied look on his face.

When Shen Lingxi saw this, she stood up curiously and was about to get closer to take a look——

But he saw that he had folded the paper in half and handed it to Chunjun, "Just follow what I wrote, plus a few rumors. I will hear the effect in person tonight."

Chunjun took it with both hands and took the order to retreat.

After he left, Shen Lingxi asked curiously, "What did you write just now?"

"Aren't we going to Zuihuayuan tonight?" Chu Yan looked at her, the corners of his lips were slightly raised, and he said meaningfully: "News about Fireworks and Willow Alley always spreads the fastest. Instead of me telling you now, why don't you tell me then?" Wouldn’t it be better to listen to it yourself?”

When Shen Lingxi saw that he had sold his son so far away, he wisely stopped asking further questions and went to the east side hall to handle the affairs of Fu'an Hall.

At the same time, Chunjun took the piece of paper and went out, curiously looked at the content on it, stumbled instantly, and almost fell into the mud.

He looked back at the study and muttered with a very strange expression, "Your Highness has sacrificed too much to fish that man out this time..."

*
At night, the most lively place in the capital is the flower shop.

Red lanterns were hung on the eaves of rows of brothels, and the wide streets were filled with the sound of silk and bamboo, as well as the teasing laughter of flower girls and patrons.

Shen Lingxi specially changed her appearance, pretending to be a handsome man with a pleasant appearance, and followed Chu Yan into the busiest brothel in the entire street - Zuihuayuan.

Chu Yan wore a black robe tonight.

His handsome features, which had never been disguised, immediately attracted the attention of many people as soon as he walked into the bustling Zuihua Courtyard.

An old madam, who was about forty years old and still charming, came up with a few flower ladies, waving handkerchiefs, "Hey, who are you two young masters from? You are so charming. My daughters blushed when they saw the two young masters. I wonder what kind of girls they like. Our girls from Zuihualou are fat and thin, and all of them are very juicy..."

Chu Yan rarely came to such occasions, and this time he came with Shen Lingxi, so he felt uncomfortable from the bottom of his heart.

He estimated that in the entire Zhou Dynasty and even the previous dynasty, there was probably no man who would take his first wife to visit a brothel.

Chu Yan had a cold face, and glanced at the Madam with phoenix eyes. The coldness in his eyes made the teasing smile on the corner of the Madam's lips freeze immediately.

Seeing this, Shen Lingxi took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and threw it into the old bustard's arms with a smile, "I heard that Mr. Chunshan was going to choose a guest tonight to talk about poetry and Taoism face to face. Naturally, the two of us came here for Mr. Chunshan. ."

The old bustard took the money, smiled brightly again, and said warmly to Shen Lingxi: "Young Master came at the right time. Mr. Chunshan will be out soon. Please follow me."

After saying that, she turned around and winked at the flower girl who was following her. The flower girl nodded slightly, covered her lips and left with a smile.

Seeing this, the madam took Shen Lingxi and Chu Yan up the stairs to the box on the second floor from the side of the lively lobby.

Zuihua Tower is a tube tower surrounded on all sides, with an open atrium and a circular high platform in the middle, with dancers dancing on it.The private rooms on the second floor are also semi-open, facing the atrium, with only light crimson gauze curtains hanging down, not allowing people to see clearly what is going on in the private rooms, but also allowing guests to watch the singing and dancing downstairs.

Shen Lingxi and Chu Yan arrived not too early. They entered the box and looked around. Through the gauze curtains, they saw that every box was full of people.

It is hard to imagine that in this flower street and Liuxiang where women are entertained, Mr. Chunshan, a man who talks about poetry and Taoism with others, has become a being that surpasses the top oiran.

As the ancients said, a spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold.

But Mr. Chunshan’s moment was priceless.

The old bustard personally poured tea for Shen Lingxi and Chu Yan, and the maids brought four-color fruits. Shen Lingxi generously threw the silver reward and sent them out.

As soon as the two of them sat down, along with the lingering sound of silk and bamboo downstairs, the voices of the guests next door talking loudly came over clearly.

"Have you heard that there are widespread rumors in the capital today that the prince married the princess, not as previously rumored, just to save his life..."

When Shen Lingxi heard this, she glanced at Chu Yan, and immediately pricked up her ears when she thought of the piece of paper he gave Chunjun during the day.

"What is that? Come on, come on, tell me."

"I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince had never known the Crown Princess before. He fell in love with her at first sight, but later she couldn't get her. In desperation, she had no choice but to plunder her. In the end, she was sincere and the gold and stone were inseparable, and finally she was able to embrace the beauty."

Shen Lingxi:? ? ? ? ? ?

What can you ask for but not get?Robbery?

Still love at first sight? ? ?
What the hell is this?

She looked at Chu Yan in surprise.

But he saw Chu Yan picking up the tea cup on the table with a very calm expression.

If you didn't look at his already red ears, Shen Lingxi couldn't believe that these rumors were actually spread according to the manuscript he wrote!

"Oh my, is it like what is written in the storybook, where he chases her and escapes...and can't escape in the end? Tsk, I didn't expect that the selfless His Highness the Crown Prince would turn out to be an infatuated person."

"Let me just say, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise, powerful, talented and beautiful, how can he be a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death? I heard that on the Shangsi Festival, when the Emperor questioned the Crown Princess's anger, he bluntly defended the Crown Princess. If he was really afraid How can a dead person dare to contradict the emperor at that time?"

Chu Yan tensed his jaw.

He secretly cursed Chunjun in his heart that he really couldn't do things well. This was too much.

Won't he be embarrassed?
Shen Lingxi's heart at this moment was like thousands of troops galloping past.

Why did he run away after her?Why not write about her ascending to heaven where she stood?
Feeling Shen Lingxi's gaze, Chu Yan coughed, put the tea cup to her lips in disguise, and was going to drink the tea soup in the cup——

Seeing this, Shen Lingxi hurriedly stretched out her hand.

The back of her porcelain white hand blocked his lips, then she flipped her wrist and easily took the tea cup from his hand.

She put the tea soup to the tip of her nose and sniffed it. She didn't smell the medicinal smell. She took a sip uneasily and turned it around on the tip of her tongue to make sure that the tea soup was not mixed with anything that shouldn't be mixed with it. Then she safely drank the tea in her hand. The cup was handed back to Chu Yan's hand.

Because what the neighbor said was really embarrassing, Shen Lingxi deliberately avoided Chu Yan's eyes, just lowered her head and picked up the tea cup in front of her to drink tea.

Therefore, she did not notice that Chu Yan's eyes were as deep as the sea of ​​stars due to this almost intimate action.

The discussion between the two of them next door shows no sign of stopping.

"...Let me tell you, how could His Highness the Crown Prince, who has never believed in ghosts and gods, marry a Kun Dao as the Crown Princess and vow to stay together for the rest of his life?"

"Why can two people who have nothing to do with each other come together?"

"It's love!"

"It's true love!"

Shen Lingxi took a sip of tea soup and sprayed it back into the cup.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!" She choked and coughed with a red face.

Seeing this, Chu Yan quickly took the tea cup from her hand, patted her back gently, and took out a plain handkerchief to wipe the corners of her lips for her.

"Which sentence made you react like this?" Chu Yan asked pretending to be confused.

His eyes fell on her crimson cheeks, and there was a hint of smile in his eyes.

Shen Lingxi didn't dare to look into his eyes at all, "Your Highness, there is no need to go too far... There is no need to let Chunjun spread such outrageous rumors because of that person..."

Chu Yan paused with the hand holding the handkerchief, then gently raised her chin, locking her gaze with his deep eyes.

"I admit that what they said about me... is indeed outrageous. But what they said about me towards you is definitely not a rumor."

Shen Lingxi blinked, what he said to her...

love at first sight?Asking for something but not getting it? ?Robbery? ? ?
Did he not hear clearly what the neighbor said just now?

Isn't this a rumor? ?
Shen Lingxi felt it was outrageous, but her heart was beating uncontrollably for some unknown reason.

"Your Highness, you..."

Her question just started——

"Clang, clang, clang..." I could hear the gong downstairs being struck vigorously.

The discussions next door stopped abruptly, and the noisy lobby fell silent instantly.

Shen Lingxi swallowed the question that reached her lips, sat up straight, and turned her head with Chu Yan to look downstairs.

I saw a tall man, dressed in white, with a bronze Kunlun slave mask on his face, slowly walking onto the round platform.

This is the rumored Mr. Haruyama.

When everyone was looking at Mr. Chunshan with interest, Shen Lingxi looked at the man's side.

In addition to Yun Chong and Xu Yuanshan, there is also Liu Meiren who she told in advance to be here to keep an eye on her.

Liu Meiren noticed Shen Lingxi's position and floated towards her, stopping only a foot away from the two of them.

"Same as last time." Liu Meiren said to Shen Lingxi in disappointment: "This person is not the real Mr. Chunshan, but the substitute from last time. But today, he specially made this scene just to lure you into taking the bait. Can you guys take the bait tonight?" Be more careful..."

(End of this chapter)