The Empire and the Kingdom

As soon as Xue Xiang heard about the burial in the early court, he reacted quickly. Not only did he want to save Xue Ai's life, but he also wanted to break off his engagement with the prince and set Xue Ai free.Originally, this marriage was his helpless move, but now it is terminated, so that Xue Ai will not be talked about when she remarries in the future.

"Ai'er, if this matter has come to such an extent, your engagement will definitely be dissolved. The marriage that your parents arranged for you back then almost killed your life. It's because your parents didn't think carefully. Although the engagement has been annulled, But you will still be affected by this matter. In terms of getting married in the future, it will probably not be too smooth. I tell you this for no other purpose, just to let you look away, don't worry, everything is up to your parents to decide for you. "

Xue Ai is not in a hurry, not at all.She said very sensiblely: "Father, my daughter can still sit here and talk to you, thanks to my father's protection. My daughter understands my father's painstaking efforts. If my daughter can't get married in the future, then I don't care. My daughter is willing to serve her parents all her life. At Cheng Huan's knees."

Xue Xiang smiled, "Ai'er, it's good that you have such a heart, but how can my daughter not get married? Don't worry, Dad will definitely choose a good marriage for you."

Xue Ai sighed in her heart, Dad, my daughter really doesn't want to marry!

In order to appease Xiang Xue, the emperor called Xue Xiang to Qinzheng Hall after the morning court.

"Xue Qing, about your love..." The emperor apologized, "The crown prince passed away, and the empress was too sad, so she did something irrational. Fortunately, your love is fine."

Xue Xiang raised his head, "Your Majesty, there was indeed an assassination at my minister's house, but I don't understand what this has to do with the queen. Please tell your majesty clearly."

The emperor kept silent for a long time, Xue Xiang, an old fox, pretended to be stupid at this time, and indeed gave the emperor a step down, but what is under this step?trap?Thinking of this, the emperor made a haha, "It's nothing, I was confused. Xue Qing, you and my monarchs have not talked about family affairs for a long time. I remember that you mentioned your daughter's marriage contract before, and the daughters of the Xue family are naturally good. Yes, Miss Xue San has been wronged in this matter, I know it well. In this way, no matter who Miss Xue San marries in the future, I will personally give her a marriage, and prepare a dowry according to the specifications of the princess."

Xue Xiang stood up, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

The emperor waved his hand, seeing that Xiang Xue was sitting on the sidelines again, the emperor was a little embarrassed, "Well...Xue Qing, the three towns that were taken over from Liguo need manpower to appease them, as well as the relationship with Sangguo, it is best to send envoys I'm going to communicate with you, you see..."

Xue Xiang replied: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will immediately deal with the affairs of Sanzhen and Sangguo. If Your Majesty has nothing to do, I will leave first."

Does the emperor have anything else to do?I just hoped that Xiang Xue would not have any grudges in his heart, but seeing that Xiang Xue didn't talk about this matter at all, the emperor didn't know what to say, so he had to let him go.

Why didn't Xue Xiang take the emperor's words?Of course he has his considerations.In this matter, what he loves the most is Xue Ai, a daughter who was dragged out by her parents to deal with the royal family, and somehow became a widow and was to be buried with her. There is a lot of weight in my heart, even that unknown Xue Ai back then was also the lady of the Prime Minister's mansion, and Prime Minister Xue would not allow others to bully him like this, is it true that there is no one in Xue's family?

It's just that he won't put pressure on the emperor because the emperor is not the real culprit. From the very beginning, marrying the Xue family was the queen's intention. Now the queen is also the one who wants to kill Xue Ai. In the eyes of the queen, his own daughter is actually the queen. Marry if you want to marry, kill if you want to kill, if you can still be indifferent, Xue Xiang, the prime minister, will be in vain.

Xue Xiang is not pursuing this matter now, just because the time is not ripe.If he wanted to deal with the queen, he had to deal with the Cheng family. He was not just a banker who just gave a little favor. If he wanted to plot against someone, he had to make that person pay a price he would never forget.

This matter has come to an end for the time being, and in this matter, the one who profited the most is Wang Guifei.The crown prince died, and the queen stayed in Fengde Palace behind closed doors, which gave her and the second prince a chance.Although the emperor's decree is for her and Concubine Shu to jointly manage the harem, Concubine Shu has only one Princess Zhenshu who is married, and she is not interested in the power of the harem at all. After chatting a few words, she went back to her own Lixin Palace, which meant that the power of the harem fell into the hands of Wang Guifei.

The second prince was also released by the emperor, and no one mentioned the previous assassination incident.And what is even more surprising is that the Fifth Prince, who had been imprisoned in the palace for a long time, was also released.Faced with the emperor's actions, many people couldn't understand it. As long as the eldest son passed away, the emperor cherished the remaining sons and forgave all the previous mistakes.

Of course, some people don't think so. Xue Ai thought about it for several days. She is a person who knows the inside story better, and finally came to a conclusion that makes sense.The fifth prince was imprisoned because of the assassination in the paddock. Even if the emperor had a deep affection for his son, it would be difficult for him to have much affection for a son who wanted to kill him.

Forgiving the fifth prince so quickly can only show that the fifth prince was not the mastermind behind the assassination in the paddock at all, so who could be the mastermind behind it?The second prince?Of course not, because the second prince was also released.Then there is only one answer left - Prince.Whether the paddock was assassinated or the prince was assassinated, it was actually the prince's trick.

During the assassination in the paddock, the second prince was wronged. Although the fifth prince came out and took the blame, the second prince's side still suffered heavy losses, and the prince's side benefited the most.The assassination of the crown prince happened when the crown prince and the second prince were fighting for power. As soon as this happened, the second prince suffered another setback.The prince has already become addicted to this trick, but it is a pity that he is so desperate to be stabbed. The prince did not expect that he would be killed by a weak woman soon.

The emperor did not pursue the assassination of the prince, which just shows that the emperor knew the truth behind it, and of course he also knew the truth about the assassination in the paddock.There was no attack twice, it was all to save face for the prince and queen, this is the emperor, when he treats his relatives, he is always soft-hearted.And because of his soft-hearted temperament, some people challenged his bottom line time and time again, stepping on his heart to do their own things.

After Xue Ai figured it out, she felt much better. After being bored for a few days, she ran to the yard to get some air.The little fox was let out, but with a chain around his neck.It rubbed against Xue Ai's feet, looking very intimate.

"Fei Yun, are you fat again?" Xue Ai knelt down and patted the little fox's chubby belly, "Look at you, you're about to become a pig!"

The little fox cupped Xue Ai's hand with its pointed mouth, as if it wanted to eat it.

"No, you can't eat anymore. No matter how fat you are, you won't be able to walk." Xue Ai stroked the fiery red fur of the little fox, "Your fur is so beautiful, it must be very warm as a scarf."

The little fox bared her teeth at Xue Ai, Xue Ai smiled, "I scared you, I can't bear to use you as a scarf, you are a gift from sister Su."

One person and one fox are playing while talking, and the picture is surprisingly harmonious.

At this moment, Xue Ai heard someone talking outside the yard, the voice was not too loud, but her yard was always quiet, and the little fox didn't bark much, so the conversation outside could be heard clearly.

"The eldest lady smashed things in the house just after she came back, and now the eldest lady has gone to Weiying Pavilion."

"Why? I heard that not only the eldest lady, but also several young ladies have been very bad-tempered in the past few days, and have smashed a lot of things."

"What else can it be for? Isn't it because of the third lady? The third lady has become a widow. She doesn't go out, and the other ladies are ridiculed when they go out, and they all come back crying in anger."

"Well, Miss San's life is really hard. She was not welcomed by the wife in the mansion, and she finally had a marriage that everyone envied, but the prince died before she got through the door. Do you think Miss San is hard-pressed? ?”

"I don't know about Kekefu, but fate is certain. Think about it, Miss San killed her elder brother when she was born. How hard is this fate?"

The two maids walked and talked, and walked past Pingle Pavilion.When Meng An heard these words, she wanted to go out and tear the mouths of these gossips, but was stopped by Xue Ai.

"The mouth grows on someone's body, how much can you tear?" She stroked the little fox's head, "It's good to have someone who can tell what's in your heart. It's better than not knowing anything. Is this really the case with sisters recently?"

Meng An nodded slightly. "Except for the fifth lady who doesn't go out, the eldest lady, the second lady, and the fourth lady have all been ridiculed outside. Now that the fourth lady is not going out, the eldest lady and the second lady still have to go out to the banquet, so they often give birth when they come back. If you are angry, take the things in the house and the servants in the yard to vent your anger."

Xue Ai sighed, "It's hard for them too."

"They are not in a difficult situation." The sudden voice startled the master and servant.The two looked up following the sound, and saw Guan Xuejing squatting on the wall to greet them.

"Sister Guan." Xue Ai got up to salute.

Meng An rubbed her head, do all the recent princesses like to climb over the wall?

Guan Xuejing was arranged by Feng Jingsu to take care of the Xiangfu, so she came to visit from time to time, Xue Ai didn't go out these days, so she didn't show up.Today she ran over and accidentally saw Xue Ai in the yard, and a little fox, she only showed up because she thought it was new.She fell into the yard and ran over to tease the fox. "It's so beautiful!"

The little fox was quite fierce, he would bite Guan Xuejing after chasing him.

"Wow! Bite!" Guan Xuejing jumped all the way.

Xue Ai quickly patted the little fox's head, "Fei Yun, be good, she is one of my own."

The little fox couldn't understand, but finally calmed down, but his vigilant eyes kept staring at Guan Xuejing, grinning in protest.

"It's quite fierce." Guan Xuejing leaned over, not daring to reach out to tease her now.

"Sister Guan, sit down."

"Xiao Ai, your sisters are indeed being talked about outside, but they are not being ridiculed. They are laughing at you with others." She is also the daughter of the Duke's Mansion, and her status is no worse than anyone else.So she couldn't push many banquets even if she wanted to, and she would go to any banquet that Feng Qianzi would go to, because she found that at other people's banquets, Feng Qianzi was much gentler to her.

Feng Qianzi used to attend banquets with Xue Ai. Recently, Xue Ai had a series of incidents and stayed at home, and she became a person again.At this time, Guan Xuejing dangled in front of her eyes from time to time, no matter how annoying he was, he was still alone, right?Make do with it.

The two of them often attend banquets, and these days they have frequently heard wives and ladies talking about Xue Ai being a widow.This is not Xue Ai's fault, everyone knows it, but how dare they talk about the prince, who can talk about such a big matter?We can only talk about Xue Ai.Ladies and gentlemen are bored all day long. Although they hate other people's backbiting, they never get tired of talking about these things themselves.

Everyone in the world is like this, the same thing, there will always be two sets of standards for others and yourself.

Xue Ying took into account her status as the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister's Mansion, so she always pays more attention to what she says outside. Of course, others speak with restraint in front of her.He always pretends to mention it inadvertently, and apologizes to Xue Ying after mentioning it, saying that he didn't mean it, and then brings up the topic and keeps asking about it. Xue Ying is very annoyed by this kind of thing, but she can't avoid it. Fuck, she has always hated Xue Ai, so of course she cleaned up the prime minister's mansion and blamed all the problems on Xue Ai.

And Xue Zhi and Xue Ai's Liangzi is much bigger than Xue Ying's.The first time Xue Zhi poisoned Xue Ying to frame Xue Ai, she was reprimanded and grounded by Xue Xiang, the second time Xue Zhi replaced Xue Ai's medicine, which made Xue Ai's condition worse, and was reprimanded and grounded by Xue Xiang, although she took the initiative to harm both times Xue Ai, but she felt that she was the victim.According to her logic, if there is no Xue Ai, can she do it herself?If he didn't do it himself, how could he be punished by Xue Xiang?

Based on this gangster logic, and the girls who are close to her know that she has a bad relationship with Xue Ai, so they become more and more careless when speaking in front of her.Xue Zhi soon discovered that if these people said something wrong about Xiangfu, she would feel ashamed, but if these people said something wrong about Xue Ai, she would be extremely happy in her heart.

As soon as the prince's matter came out, Wang warned her not to talk too much. She watched Xue Ai change from the prince's side concubine to a widow, and was almost dragged by the queen to be buried with the prince. She was terrified and happy.I have a lot of things I want to share with others, but unfortunately Wang doesn't allow her to say it. Xue Yi never cares about people's right and wrong, and doesn't even bother to listen. Xue Ying and Xue Ruo?She suddenly lost interest.Now that she came out and heard these young ladies laughing at Xue Ai for not being destined to enter the palace at all, she couldn't get through the marriage even if she relied on her family background, she couldn't say how happy she was.Once a woman has the reputation of being a widow, she will never even think about marrying in her life.

Although talking bad about Xue Ai outside is very easy to relieve hatred, but Xue Ying and Xue Zhi both put on the wronged faces of being ridiculed and bullied when they returned home. Their mothers Pan and Wang felt very sorry for their daughter and couldn't help it The complaints are all because of Xue Ai, otherwise, where is the right and wrong?Especially Mrs. Pan, seeing Xue Ying smashing things in the room again, she stomped her feet and said, "You still insist on going out even though you know that you will be ridiculed when you go out. Now you are using these things to vent your anger, why bother?"

Xue Ying cried and said, "I want to ask Sanmei to discuss why she ruined the family's reputation by herself, but mother, you don't allow it? I don't take things to vent my anger. Do you want to trample on my own body? , mother is satisfied only when she is mad?"

Pan's heart ached, "Ai'er is Ai'er's fault, your father told us not to disturb Ai'er, you have heard this, now you go to Pingle Pavilion, be careful that your father will get angry when he finds out. "If Xiang Xue hadn't left a message in advance, the sisters would have gone to Pingle Pavilion to ridicule and ridicule.

"That's right, Dad is looking at Sanmei now, he sees Sanmei in his heart, he doesn't even have me as the eldest daughter! Sanmei and I are both legitimate daughters, Dad has been to Pingle Pavilion several times these days, But she refused to come to Weiying Pavilion to see me. Is it only the third sister who was wronged? She didn’t say she was wronged when she gave her a good marriage, but now that the prince is dead, she is wronged.” Xue Ying doesn’t have to pretend in her own yard. Why is everyone a lady, and she is very similar to Pan's.

Mrs. Pan came over and grabbed Xue Ying, "You can say anything about Ai'er, just don't involve the prince! Didn't you see the queen's tricks? How dare you talk nonsense?"

Xue Ying was so excited that she forgot about this and quickly covered her mouth. "Anyway, my daughter is angry. She is ridiculed when she goes out every day. When will this day be over?"

"Wait a little longer, wait a little longer and it'll be over." Patting Xue Ying on the shoulder, Pan patted Xue Ai more and more in her heart.If one person disturbs the peace of the family, it is better to die in the first place. How much trouble can be saved?

After hearing Guan Xuejing's words, Xue Ai said calmly, "They've always been like this, and I'm used to it."

This kind of calm, this kind of words shocked Guan Xuejing.She came from a noble family, and her parents are loving. Although there are concubine sisters, both concubine sisters are very kind to her, and her brothers let her do everything. It is hard to imagine that she grew up in such a family atmosphere. There is so much bitterness behind Xue Ai's reaction.

"Sister Guan, I'm fine here. If you have a chance to meet Sister Su, tell her not to worry about me."

Guan Xuejing felt sorry for this little girl, "If you are well, I will bring it to you."

"Thank you." Xue Ai smiled sweetly, reached out and pinched the corners of the little fox's mouth and pulled it to the sides. The little fox was forced to open, and also showed a smile.

In Shenhe Palace, just as Feng Jingsu put down the pen in her hand, she looked up and saw Guan Xuejing jumping off the wall with a smile on her face.

"Be careful to let the guards see it." Feng Jingsu stuffed the letter in his hand into an envelope and handed it to Yushu.