Shengshichun

After Fu Zhen and Su Xing'er paid their respects, they stood up. The prince had already gone to the mourning hall surrounded by Prince Rong and his son.

The two eunuchs who accompanied him followed him, blocking a group of officials who wanted to follow him to serve him.

Su Xing'er looked at the backs of the group of people and said, "The river is going downhill."

Fu Zhen glanced at her and walked towards where Pei Zhan was: "How do you say this?"

Su Xing'er leaned close to her ear and said, "This prince's virtues are not as good as those of the empress."

Fu Zhen said: "How can you see it?"

"You didn't know that he was still young before. He has grown up in the past few years. Since he has several concubines in the harem, there are rumors about him every now and then.

"Although the Emperor has other concubines in the harem, he only respects the Queen in everything, and all matters in the harem are controlled by the Queen alone. Over the years, there has been no mistake in the rules.

"So the concubines in the harem are very well-behaved and don't have any troubles. They are more relaxed and docile towards the queen than in front of the emperor.

"But what about the East Palace? If it weren't for the fact that the prince favored Concubine Li and made Concubine Yu, who gave birth to the emperor's eldest grandson, uneasy, I'm afraid the former concubine wouldn't have colluded with Yongping.

"If a man doesn't behave himself, can the harem be stable? In other words, if he can't control the harem, he'll be careless in other aspects."

The two of them had talked about countless disrespectful topics since childhood, and talking about the prince's private behavior was nothing at all.

Fu Zhen was curious: "How many concubines are there in the East Palace now?"

"There were originally four, two concubines and two beauties. The remaining concubines were locked up, so there were only three left."

Fu Zhen thought about the age of the prince. The crowning ceremony had been held two months ago, and there were only three or four concubines in the palace, which was not a lot.

She said: "The Emperor is an eternal sage. How can anyone in the world compare to his virtue? The prince is still young and is a little inferior to him. It is not incomprehensible."

The main reason is that Fu Zhen greatly admires the moral character of the emperor and empress. With such parents setting an example, the prince's virtue will still have the opportunity to be tempered.

After all, talking about these things behind your back can easily lead to criticism. After some other gossip, they went to the small courtyard where Yang Zhan arranged for Pei Zhan to handle official business.

Pei Zhan, a Pingxi general, came to do the work of the Imperial Guard. It was really overqualified, but even though he was here, things still had to be done.

I was busy setting up patrols last night, so I didn't return home until midnight.

After returning home, she woke up Fu Zhen, who was sleeping soundly. After chatting with her about nothing, he put a few dewy lotus flowers picked from the yard into her vase, and then went to wash up and lie down with satisfaction.

Early in the morning, Mrs. Pei's voice came from the main room, scolding the flower thief. Pei Zhan picked out his ears with his bare hands and went to Prince Rong's Mansion again.

When Fu Zhen and the others arrived, Pei Zhan happened to be sitting in the room listening to the guards' replies. After a day and a night's work, no useful clues were collected from the palace.

"Go out first. I see a familiar female family member has arrived, and then I'll talk to you." Pei Zhan dismissed Guo Song and looked at Fuzhen: "This kind of occasion is very boring. Why doesn't mother come by herself?"

Fu Zhen smiled: "There was a thief at home, so she asked her father to set up a trap at the gate of the garden."

Pei Zhan paused: "As for that!"

I just pinched a few broken flowers from her...

Su Xing'er looked at him: "Hey, you're not happy that we came together, how about we leave?"

Pei Zhan was of course very happy. Ever since he decided to get married, he had been teased frequently and had long since stopped taking it seriously.

In such a large area of ​​​​the palace, Fu Zhen and his friends did not attract attention in this corner. After the prince went to the mourning hall to pay his respects, he was also invited to a quiet and spacious place in the palace to drink tea and rest.

After a round of tea talk, someone came to report to King Rong. Seeing that King Rong was about to scold the person, the prince said, "Uncle Wang, don't be cautious. There are a lot of things in the palace, just go and take care of them."

King Rong sighed, stood up and asked Yang Zhan to accompany him, and then withdrew.

Only the prince and Yang Zhan were left in the room. The two had been together since childhood, and their demeanor became relaxed.

The prince said: "I heard that the incident happened in the ancestral hall. The murderer was surprised. He finally entered the palace. Why did he choose such a place?"

Yang Zhan shook his head: "I am also puzzled."

The prince glanced at him and lowered his head to sip the tea.

Yang Zhan's hands on his knees began to rub together unconsciously.

In the teahouse outside the alley, Xu Yin and He Qunying were sitting opposite each other.

"Did this trip go smoothly?"

"It was smooth sailing all the way. As expected, what you said is true. With the support of the General's Palace, the Ning family's reputation has improved by more than one level in the north and south of the Yangtze River. Routine inspections of the docks along the way have not taken any effort."

He Qunying's eyes were deep and his expression was indeed sinister.

Xu Yin raised his lips: "In that case, we can start the next step. When will you get on the next boat?"

He Qunying pondered: "We are on our way south now. We estimate that we will arrive in Hangzhou in about twenty days. If we go north again, it should take about a month."

Xu Yin nodded: "It takes half a month from here to Tanzhou, and half a month from Tanzhou to Hangzhou. But - if you are making trouble with your family, will your father stop you halfway?"

He Qunying snorted coldly: "The middle child of the He family fell into the hands of the side family, and I don't know how much of the family property was misappropriated by them privately? I just sold a few shops, how can I be so unreasonable?"

Hearing this, Xu Yin lowered his eyes and smiled: "You are the eldest son of the General's Mansion, won't the He family's property belong to you in the future? If your father wants to favor the bastard, it must be legal and compliant. But the middle minister is not in your hands. , but it is really hard to guard against. I say you should also consider renewing your string. If you have a wife by your side, the middle part of the general's palace will not fall into the hands of others. "

"It's easy to say," He Qunying looked at him, "I already have a son and a daughter with my first wife. How can a woman from a similar family be willing to marry and be a stepmother? I don't like those with poor qualifications."

Xu Yin stopped talking.

After drinking tea, the two of them parted ways, and Xu Yin went to Prince Rong's Mansion.

Seeing the guards and eunuchs at the door, Xu Yin stopped and stood at the threshold.

Lian Ruan saw it from a distance and walked over quickly.

"The Crown Prince is here and is talking to the Crown Prince at Liulicuan."

Xu Yin then raised his head and glanced in the direction of Liu Lixuan.

"How long have you been here?"

"It's only half an hour before and after."

"Who else is here?"

"The prince was here just now, and he came out later. Now only the prince is with him."

Lian Ruan's voice became lower and lower as he spoke, and finally he cast his eyes on Xu Yin meaningfully.

Xu Yin turned around, his back facing the servant walking under the verandah, and his sharp eyes faced the wall in front of him.

After a while, he raised his hand and placed it on Lian Zhan's ear, whispering a few instructions.

He nodded repeatedly and then disappeared into the crowd.

The Sanskrit music has already begun in the mourning hall. There was an endless stream of people coming to express their condolences.

Everyone seems to have no spare time to care about others.

After the prince took a few sips of tea, Yang Zhan stood up and said, "I will go to the kitchen and tell you to prepare the banquet. Your Highness has not left the house for a long time. I respectfully invite you to have dinner here today."

"No need to be busy."

The prince put down the tea, "This is such a mess. You didn't even catch the assassin's shadow. Who knows where it is hidden? My father has been ill recently. I can't let him worry about me anymore."

Yang Zhan smiled and said, "Your Highness is a filial son, and you have taught me a lesson. However, this time the Emperor has ordered Pei Zhan to personally lead the army to reinforce the defense again. Your Highness can rest assured about the safety issue."

The prince said: "I don't see you being so enthusiastic usually. Even if I haven't left the palace for more than half a year, you don't invite me to sit here. Why do you have to keep me here today?"

Yang Zhan hesitated to speak, but in the end he just smiled.

"If you have something to say, just say it."

After all, he was the crown prince. Even though he was a few years younger than Yang Zhan, his majesty was revealed.

Yang Zhan took a breath and moved closer with a salivating face: "With the mother and concubine leaving like this, those people in our backyard can no longer hold back. Although they are all your cousins, I and Your Highness have been together since childhood. Relying on this Qingyi, if you stay and have a meal, you can also support my younger brother..."

The prince stared at him when he heard the words: "Look at how hopeless you are. You have been the heir for so many years in vain, and you can't even hold down a concubine!"

Yang Zhan was ashamed: "Two fists are hard to beat with four hands. I have to look outside and inside at the same time. I am really tired of dealing with it. I often endure one place but lose the other."

The prince stood up, glanced at him angrily, waved his hand and said, "Then go ahead!"

Yang Zhan immediately thanked him and went out quickly.

The prince looked at his back, his eyes gradually darkening.

He called the eunuch under his door and asked, "Have you ever found out what happened in the ancestral hall of the Prince's Palace that night?"

The eunuch hunched over and walked up: "Back to Your Highness, I made two rounds of inquiries and tricked several people. They all said in unison that a man in black came in to steal something, which surprised Princess Rong, and then killed her. "

"If it was a theft, why did it come to the ancestral temple where there is no one around?" The prince stood up and paced around the room. "The servants in the mourning hall all said in unison, maybe they were beaten. You go further and look for those people. Ask in a remote place."

"According to the order."

The eunuch withdrew.

The prince turned the ring on his hand and squinted his eyes to look at the passers-by in the distance outside the window.

The incident in Prince Rong's Mansion shocked the whole capital, and people came to express their condolences in an endless stream like crucian carp crossing a river.

The palace opened up the entire west road and set up running water mats. The closer the time was to noon, the more people there were.

The female relatives of powerful people would not join in the fun. After paying their respects, they would usually find some quiet place to drink tea.

Pei Zhan was afraid that Fu Zhen would be bored, so he sent Guo Song out to look out for any familiar female relatives who had a similar temperament to Fu Zhen and the others. With experience, he bypassed the mourning hall and came to a small garden on the West Road.

Sure enough, the noisy sounds outside obviously faded away when we got here, and the only sound was the two or three female family members having tea in the shade in front of the flower garden.

Guo Song looked at it and saw that he was not the target person. Then he continued walking along the verandah.

Just after crossing the moon cave door, I heard a scornful voice clearly coming from the front.

"...That night, the prince returned home in a hurry? When he returned home, he went to the Buddhist hall to find the princess?"

When Guo Song heard this voice, he immediately stopped and hid behind the pillars.

I saw two people standing under a lush clump of Xiaoxiang bamboo in front of me. One was holding a broom, obviously a rough lady in the palace. The other one was wearing eunuch clothes. At first glance, it seemed that this eunuch was no stranger to him. Guo Songchang was walking with Pei Zhan in the palace, and he recognized at a glance that this was Jinbao, the eunuch beside the prince!

"I don't know for sure, but when the prince came back that day, he did go straight to the Buddhist hall."

"What time was that?"

"The hour?... It should be around Hai hour."

"What happened after the prince went to the Buddhist temple?"

"My slave has no idea what happened next. Father-in-law, please let me go. I only do menial work. What happened in the backyard is beyond my reach."

The mother-in-law just begged for mercy, and Jinbao didn't ask any more questions.

Guo Song heard the sound on the other side disappear, and then he looked around. The old lady was still sweeping the floor, while Jin Bao quickly walked along the front in the direction of Liulicuan.

Guo Song frowned and stopped looking for the women. Turn around and walk out quickly along the way you came.

Fu Zhen and Su Xing'er were in the room listening to Pei Zhan talk about the results of secretly searching for information all day and night. As soon as a figure flashed outside the door, Guo Song broke in.

"General! I just saw that the people in front of the prince were secretly investigating the cause of Princess Rong's death!"

"Prince?!"

Fu Zhen raised his head subconsciously. "What does this have to do with him?"

"My subordinates also felt strange because they heard Jin Bao asking questions over and over with their own ears, so they hurried back to report it!"

The three people in the room looked at each other. Pei Zhan touched his chin.

Su Xing'er was still worried about Fu Zhen's collusion between Concubine Yu and Yong Ping, and rolled her eyes: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince doesn't manage the harem very well, but he does take these matters seriously!"

Fu Zhen said: "Where is the prince?"

"In Liulicuan!"

Pei Zhan said: "It's time to patrol. There are many people today. Let's expand the scope, especially the resting place of His Royal Highness, so we can protect him!"

Guo Song understood: "Yes!"

The three people in the room exchanged glances again, but this time they all lowered their heads and drank tea in tacit agreement without saying a word.

Prince Rong had already reported the matter to the palace about Princess Rong. It stands to reason that the prince was just here for routine matters and there was no reason to pursue these matters, so why did he send people to inquire in private?
Is this the emperor's instruction, or is he curious?
Thinking of the errand assigned to Pei Zhan by the emperor, I still don’t know what the purpose is? At this time, everyone wanted to find out.

Jinbao returned to Liulicuan and immediately leaned in the prince's ear to report.

The prince frowned after hearing this. "Come back at Haishi?"

"Exactly. But the information I got from other places said that the dispute at night started around midnight.

"If you say that, the time doesn't match up." Jin Bao said deeply, "I came back at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, so the fight wouldn't start at midnight."

The prince paced around the room.

After two laps, he stopped under the window: "Let's explore again. Let's see when the fight started?"

(Please vote for me) (End of this chapter)