Mountains and rivers pray for peace

Chapter 16 Contradiction Escalation
On the official road of Chang'an in the capital, in Ning Guogong's study, a carved oil lamp flickered on and off, occasionally making a "crackling" sound of a burning wick.

A middle-aged man with a handsome face stood behind a Zen chair with his hands behind his back. His straight body was as tall and straight as a green pine, and his light beard hung on his chin. He could vaguely glimpse the elegance of his youth.

This person is the owner of the study - Huo Ruhai.

The group had just returned from the Qiuju Banquet, and it was already time to go to bed, but Huo Ruhai called Huo Qi into the study for the first time.

He had a worried look on his face and had been standing for nearly a quarter of an hour without speaking.

Huo Qi looked at Huo Ruhai's back, thought a little in his heart, and broke the deadlock first: "Dad, my daughter shouldn't have lost her temper today and showed off without authorization at the Qiu Ju Banquet, ignoring your usual teachings. Please punish her. "

Huo Qi was born with a beautiful heart and could compose a poem in seven steps at the age of six. She is a well-deserved talent.The reason why she was originally known as a "flower vase" in the capital was because when she was very young, Huo Ruhai told her to hide her clumsiness and not to be in the limelight in front of outsiders.

Although Huo Qi never understood his father's intentions, he always pretended to be illiterate in front of outsiders.

Today, because of Princess De'an's agitation, she was going to write a poem at the Qiuju Banquet. At this moment, her father called her into the study to talk. She guessed that Huo Ruhai might be angry about it.

After hearing this, Huo Ruhai turned sideways slowly, with a loving face on his face: "Princess De'an deceived others too much today, and you did it as a last resort, so why would my father blame you for this matter?

It's just that people are sentimental, and your poem today reminded my father that your eldest brother was far away beyond the Great Wall, which made me a little sad for a moment. "

Huo Qi hadn't heard his father mention his eldest brother for a long time, and he was a little stunned for a moment.

Huo Xian is the eldest brother of her mother and compatriots. In the eyes of outsiders, Huo Xian is the legitimate son of a family of civil servants and the only son of Ning Guogong, so it is logical to inherit Huo Ruhai's mantle.But Huo Xian was rebellious since he was a child. He didn't like the Four Books and Five Classics, but liked to dance with swords.

Because of this, Huo Xian and Huo Ruhai had a big fight.On the night of the quarrel, Huo Xian took advantage of his family's inattention and went outside the Great Wall alone, leaving a letter and then disappeared.

I have been away from home for three years now.

In the last life, Huo Xian came back in the fourth year after leaving the capital.

The elder brother wrote a letter home, so excited that the father and mother did not sleep a wink for three days and three nights, and everyone in the house was immersed in the joy of the eldest and young master's return.

But who would have expected that the last thing the entire Ningguo Duke's mansion was waiting for was not the eldest young master's honorable return, but a cold and mutilated corpse.When my mother saw her elder brother's body, she fainted.Dad, who was in high spirits in the court, seemed to have aged ten years at that moment.

Thinking of this, Huo Qi felt unstoppable pain in her heart, as if a pair of big hands were squeezing her heart fiercely, making her almost unable to breathe.She gripped the corner of the case in front of her tightly with her hands to stabilize her body.

"Okay, let's not mention these sad things." Huo Ruhai didn't notice Huo Qi's strangeness, and said to himself: "Speaking of which, at the Qiuju Banquet today, His Majesty pointed out Miss Lan to that child Yuan Shao. Father knows, You were interested in Yuan Shao..."

Before Huo Ruhai finished speaking, Huo Qi interrupted: "Daddy, my daughter has no such intentions. Now that Huo Qinglan and Yuan Shizi are finally married, my daughter is happy for them."

Huo Ruhai looked at the daughter in front of him, feeling half sad and half happy.He had watched Huo Qi and Yuan Shao grow up, so how could he not understand his daughter's feelings for Yuan Shao?
However, he is not as delicate as Mrs. Wang, so he stroked his beard and said a comforting word in a daze: "I can afford it and let it go, this is my Huo Ruhai's daughter."

The air was silent for a moment, but before Huo Qi could speak, Huo Ruhai suddenly changed his subject.

"Actually, even if there was no marriage at Qiu Ju's banquet today, your mother and I would not approve of you and Yuan Shao being together. Now, it is good for everyone."

These words made Huo Qi a little confused.

Yuan Xianzhi, Marquis of Zhenyuan, has a very close relationship with his father, and the two families are well-matched.Regarding the marriage between her and Yuan Shao, she always thought that her father was happy to see it happen, and it was an act of kissing.

But tonight, he told himself that he didn't agree?

Huo Qi intuitively felt that this matter was not simple, and asked tentatively: "Why did daddy say that? My daughter thought that you wanted your daughter to be with Yuan Shao. In the eyes of outsiders, the Yuan and Huo families were married, dependent on each other, and profitable. No harm done.”

Huo Ruhai turned his back and stared at the landscape painting hanging on the study wall, wondering what he was thinking.

In the end, Huo Ruhai took a deep look at Huo Qi, and smiled freely: "You are still young, you will understand later. It is getting late, go back and rest earlier."

Huo Qi nodded slightly and retreated.The girl gently closed the door. The moment she turned around, two lines of clear tears welled up from her eyes, which looked particularly desolate under the moonlight.

……

Today is destined to be a sleepless night. At this moment, the Zhenyuan Hou Mansion is also brightly lit, and no one sleeps peacefully, but the atmosphere is not as harmonious as that of the Ningguo Mansion.

The main courtyard of the Zhenyuan Hou Mansion was full of murderous aura, Yuan Shao lay down on the bench weakly, his whole back was already bloody, his face was as pale as paper, and the corners of his mouth were still dripping with blood.

The two servants were standing on the left and right sides of the bench, and the one-foot-long sticks in their hands were trying to greet Yuan Shao's body. The sound of the wooden sticks colliding with flesh and blood was particularly shocking in the silent night.

"Hit me, beat me to death! Let's see if this guy can remember a little longer!" A middle-aged man sat on the master's chair in the main room. His majestic voice could almost penetrate the entire courtyard. At this moment, his anger could almost It was Yuan Xianzhi, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, who overturned the roof.

After hearing this, Jia Ding had no choice but to increase the strength in his hand.Yuan Shao on the bench let out a muffled groan, the voice was as low as a mosquito screeching.

When Yuan Xianzhi's wife, Jiang, saw this, she knelt at Yuan Xianzhi's feet and begged, with tears already streaming down her face.

With a sad look on her face, she pulled the corner of Yuan Xianzhi's robe and said in a hoarse voice: "Master, Ah Shao is our only son. How can you bear to deal such a heavy blow! If you want to beat him to death, you might as well beat me to death first!" My son is gone, and I don’t want to live anymore!”

After hearing this threat, Yuan Xianzhi's anger did not decrease at all, but became even stronger.Thick palms slapped the table, shaking Jiang who was still crying into silence like a cicada.

His round eyes lowered his head and glared at Jiang Shi, and the foul breath from his nose made his beard tremble: "A loving mother is a loser! If you weren't too spoiled at ordinary times, how would he dare to do such absurd things in the palace today? Benhou's face has already been lost by him!"

Jiang shook his head and cried, "Master, Ah Shao was the one you saw growing up, how dare he do such a thing. Our son must have been murdered by a traitor!"

After Yuan Xianzhi heard these words, he straightened up and stretched out his body that was originally hidden in the Taishi chair. From a distance, it looked like a hill, which was quite overwhelming.With his hands behind his back, he was pacing back and forth in the main room with a sinister look on his face.

In fact, the reason why Yuan Xianzhi is so angry today is not because of Yuan Shao's romantic affairs.He just didn't expect that the son he taught would be so stupid that he would be fooled by this little trick.

If it wasn't for Yuan Shao being an only seedling, he would have wished to kick this useless son to death.

Jiang, who was kneeling on the ground, saw that Yuan Xianzhi was silent, and his eyes trembled up and down: "Master, I'm afraid it was Huo Qinglan who did this. She was low-status and wanted to use this method to marry into the Hou family. It's just that Ah Shao is young and doesn't understand people's hearts. , only then did you fall into that bitch’s trap!”

After hearing what Jiang said, Yuan Xianzhi strode into the courtyard and raised his hand to ask the servants to retreat to both sides.He said condescendingly to Yuan Shao on the bench: "Is it true that Huo Qinglan plotted against you today?"

Yuan Shao was already on the verge of dying at this moment, even his breath was mixed with thick blood froth.But the more painful the body, the clearer the mind became.

He closed his eyes, and the memory of Qiu Ju's banquet came overwhelmingly.

He only remembered that in Changle Palace today, a strange little eunuch gave him a note and deliberately lured him to the Imperial Garden House. Not long after he entered, he only smelled the fragrance of flowers, and soon he was Fainted.

When he woke up again, he was already on his way back home.He questioned the chamberlain next to him and found out that he had been given a wife for no apparent reason and had completely lost face in front of all the ministers.

Although he was annoyed in his heart, he was not completely overwhelmed by anger.Now the more I think back to the details of the Qiuju Banquet, the more I feel that this matter is not simple. The fragrance of flowers in the small building is probably some kind of fragrance.

This matter must be related to Huo Qinglan, he is sure of this.The colorful dance at Huo Qinglan's banquet must have been intended to seduce him.

But does this matter have nothing to do with anyone else?

He doesn't think so.

As he thought about it, Huo Qi's smiling face appeared in his mind.

He coughed up a mouthful of bloody phlegm, and said inarticulately: "Father, it was Huo Qinglan who took the initiative to seduce her son, and my son was tricked. However, I always feel that this matter has something to do with Huo Qi. At the Qiuju Banquet, she looked at her son with a certain look. unusual……"

Hearing this, Yuan Xianzhi narrowed his eyes slightly, remembering the first time he saw Huo Qi in Duke Ning's mansion.

Huo Qi lowered his eyebrows and served him tea.He could see clearly that this girl's temper and character were all gentle and kind.Born into a noble family, he is soft-tempered and easy to control.Therefore, Huo Qi is his favorite daughter-in-law.

But now, Yuan Shao says that this scandal is closely related to Huo Qi?

He hesitated.

If Yuan Shao wronged Huo Qi in this matter, then that's all.If it was really this girl who was scheming behind her back, the gentleness and kindness on that face must be a disguise.A woman who pretends to be flawless in her teens is by no means a good stubble, and she must never be left behind.

Yuan Xianzhi's eyes were a little unkind, he glanced at Yuan Shao and walked away.

After Yuan Xianzhi left, Jiang wiped his tears with his sleeve, rushed over, and helped Yuan Shao, who was covered in injuries, to go back to Shao Mingxuan, which was Yuan Shao's daily living yard.

Yuan Shao was lying on the couch, the pain in his body had already made him feel numb, and a fine pain surged out from the bottom of his heart, as if to swallow him up.He didn't expect that Huo Qi would be so ruthless that he just turned a blind eye to his sincerity and wished to destroy him.

Intense hatred mixed with inexplicable unwillingness, he turned his head and asked Jiang who was next to him who applied the medicine: "Mother, do I have to marry that Huo Qinglan now?"

Jiang wiped her tears and comforted her gently: "His Majesty's decree was decided in front of so many courtiers. Even if your aunt decides on this matter, there is no room for change. But don't worry, I won't let it go." Those bitches who harmed you, when Huo Qinglan gets married, she will have plenty of ways to torture her." Jiang's eyes flashed with hatred.

Yuan Shao nodded, closed his eyes, lay down on the bed and let Jiang Shi apply the medicine, thinking of Huo Qi's soft and harmless face, but grasped the corner of the quilt tightly in his hand.

　Woo woo TT
　　Is there anyone watching? I beg Bao Zikan passing by to give Zhang a recommendation ticket for the sake of my serious typing.

　　


(End of this chapter)