Bastard's Counterattack [Rebirth]

"Zhou Xiaotong fled? Are you alone?" King Qing asked seriously, and at the same time took out an elegant and simple wooden box from the depths of the drawer, and solemnly stored the letters between him and Rong Youtang.

"Yes!" Xie Ting spoke quickly and forcefully, and explained in detail: "She pretended to be a maidservant and quietly left Zhou's house and walked to Pingnanhou's mansion. Your brother has already sent someone to report back, but you are still in the palace. Half an hour ago, Zhou Xiaotong fled the Pingnanhou Mansion in a panic. Unexpectedly, as soon as he left the street, he bumped into the car of His Royal Highness, and was taken away after being interrogated for a few words. Walk."

"The girl is missing, and the Zhou family didn't send anyone to look for it?" King Qing closed the drawer.

"Today, Zhou Renlin and his son went out for a social gathering. Zhou Su and his concubine went to the temple to offer incense. They were left unattended. I guess we will find out about it later." Xie Ting lowered his head and said nervously, "Your Highness please punish me for my incompetence."

"What's wrong with you?" King Qing smiled, calmly, spread out a piece of paper, picked up a pen and dipped in ink, and ordered without raising his head: "Tell them to keep watching, go down."

"Yes." Xie Ting bowed and left with a sigh of relief.

Emperor Chengtian summoned him in the middle of the afternoon, and now at three quarters noon, there is still half a day free.

after a while

The personal guard knocked on the door and announced: "Your Highness, the Marquis of Dingbei is asking to see you."

King Qing stopped dipping in the ink, and after a pause he said, "Please come in."

"Yes."

a moment

Marquis Dingbei was dressed in the official uniform of Shangshu, and went straight to Prince Qing's mansion after he had been busy for a while in the morning. He stepped into the study, and saw his nephew was writing at his desk, and he didn't get up to greet him warmly like before. He bowed his hands in a regular manner and said: "Meet Your Highness."

"Please, uncle, there is no need to be polite." King Qing put down his pen and raised his head, and said gently, "Sit down."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Marquis Dingbei took his seat, and the servant served tea. He was holding it, and walked quickly because of his impatience, his forehead was slightly wet with sweat. He didn't care to take half a sip of tea, so he leaned forward and asked: "Last night, the Lantern Festival banquet ended in a hurry. , it is inconvenient for us to inquire about the affairs of the palace, the old lady is very worried about you and your Highness."

"We are all fine, the old lady can rest assured. Uncle is visiting, Xiao Jiu should meet with him, please wait." After speaking, King Qing was about to turn his head and order someone to inform his younger brother, but Dingbei Hou hurriedly dissuaded him:

"I just asked. Your Highness is taking a nap. He is growing up. Let him sleep more. It's the same when I come to visit another day when I'm free."

"Okay." King Qing nodded, his eyes calm.

Uncle and nephew faced each other, speechless and quiet for a while, instead of the previous intimate intimacy or eager chatting, the scene was rather awkward.

Could it be that His Highness is still angry?

He can't blame us for being honest with an outsider, can he?

But... last time we were a bit inappropriate and rushed.

Marquis Dingbei was secretly annoyed, but he never regretted urging Rong Youtang to leave Beijing as soon as possible, otherwise the current situation would be even more chaotic.He took a sip of tea, pretended to be ignorant, and asked kindly, "Is the emperor all right?"

"How much have you heard?" King Qing asked back.

"I have heard a little bit." Dingbei Hou was gentle, with a short beard, and said slowly: "Last night, when the banquet hall was enjoying the music and dancing, it suddenly dispersed. His Majesty led the royal family to leave the banquet in a hurry. It's the emperor's grandsons who are unwell."

"Something happened, but it's under control, so it's not a serious problem." King Qing explained.

Every time he talked about the "emperor's grandson", Dingbei Hou was shocked, worried, and extremely anxious. He said for countless times: "Alas, among all the princes, except for His Highness King Rui who is weak and resting and has not yet married, you are the only one who is still single." gone."

"Hmm." King Qing said calmly.

The Marquis of Dingbei couldn't help frowning, sighed, and reminded seriously: "I heard that your Majesty intended to urge you to get married next year, but due to the heavy workload, it was postponed to this year. Now that the Lantern Festival has passed, His Majesty may decree to marry you as soon as possible. Allow some time for preparations, pick an auspicious day, and get married in the middle of the year or at the end of the year would be very good."

King Qing was still calm and nodded in agreement: "It is probably possible."

"Then you...?" Dingbeihou held his breath, full of anticipation, wishing for his nephew to get married at the end of the month, a concubine and two concubines to enter the court one after another, and a fat son and son at the end of the year!

"Right now, Father has not made any orders, so there is no rush." ​​King Qing was calm and steady, and his mind had already been decided.

"Your Highness, please allow this old man to talk a little bit more." Ding Beihou put the teacup aside, leaned halfway, clasped his knees with both hands, intending to have a long and in-depth conversation.

"You always know how to measure, and what you say should be what you say. How can you call it 'talkative'? Please speak up if you have something to say." King Qing smiled lightly, without changing his expression, and drew the dry ink-stained approval letter to the desk, Pick up the pen and dip in the ink again, and review the accumulated official documents.

Marquis Dingbei was stunned, squeezed the hem of his robe tightly in embarrassment, and thought to himself: Although His Highness asked me to speak directly, he warned me not to say what I should not say!Alas, it seems that his temperament has not turned back to the right path, so let's try to persuade him later.

The study fell into silence again, only the rustling sound of writing could be heard.

——The mother and concubine died early, and the one sitting in front of her was the mother's brother.

Thinking of this, King Qing put down his pen, pinched his brows tiredly and said: "I have to visit the emperor's grandson in the palace today, and I have no time to go out of the city to visit the northern camp. I wonder if Ziyan can go back to the city last night?"

The Marquis of Dingbei cheered up, and said with a smile: "Never, he's been resting in Beiying most of the time recently." After a pause, a flash of inspiration flashed across his mind, and he tensed the back of his neck, tentatively asking: "Is the emperor's grandson safe? , why did your Highness leave the palace?"

Uncle and nephew looked at each other, the former was nervous and eager, while the latter was calm and unhurried.

"Xiao Jiu entered the palace before the Wanshou Festival last year. Until now, it's enough to play idle and play for a few months. He should concentrate on studying again, so as not to waste the good time of studying." King Qing explained seriously.

"I see." I didn't believe it.Dingbei Hou thought, he couldn't stop guessing wildly.

King Qing thought for a while, picked up the pen and dipped it in the ink, and he swiped the pen, and said modestly: "Uncle, please look, how is this word written? Recently, I have been busy with official duties, and I have neglected to practice, and some hands are sloppy." .”

"Oh?" Marquis Dingbei hurriedly got up and approached, and looked down:

I saw a strong and vigorous "Shen" in the middle of the paper!

"This... is very well written. The pen is strong and powerful, and the atmosphere is refined. Your Highness is humble." Dingbeihou praised with a smile, barely restraining his doubts.

"Uncle, I'm overwhelmed. In fact, when I write, I always feel that I am not as smooth as before." King Qing said with a pun, he picked up the paper, silently opened the smoker, and burned it on the spot.

Marquis Dingbei hesitated to speak, his smiling face disappeared!

"The weather has been gloomy recently, how is the old lady?" King Qing asked in a low voice.

"It's okay to entrust His Highness's concern."

"I haven't seen you for a long time, and I miss you very much. Xiaojiu will go to the mansion to have dinner at night, visit my grandmother, and pay my respects on behalf of the king." King Qing said to himself, closed the smoker cover, and let the paper be burned by red charcoal Ashes turned to the washstand to wash his hands, his tone was normal, and he didn't say anything.

——Although the unhappiness happened before, King Qing believed that his grandfather's family would do their best to protect his younger brother.

"Yes!" Dingbeihou felt like beating a drum, and wanted to ask, but was stopped by the other party's eyes.

King Qing took off the dry handkerchief to wipe his hands, and said: "Also, send a message to ask Ziyan Haosheng to inspect the camp. I guess the king will be busy for a while."

"Yes." Marquis Dingbei bowed, solemnly accepted the order, his short beard trembled slightly, full of doubts, he completely forgot about the "Wang Concubine, Side Concubine, and Prince".

Shen Shizhong

The twilight was gloomy, and the snowdrops fell to the ground. Kun and Gong Zao had turned on the lamps, and candles as thick as arms were burning in the lamps, which were arranged in a staggered row, very bright.

In the bronze mirror inlaid with beads and inlaid jade, there is a palm-sized pointed thin face, covered with a thick layer of powder, red cheeks and lips, and a head full of precious pearls and emeralds.

However, even thick powder can't cover the fine lines at the end of the eyes, let alone cover up the cloudy and dark yellow eyes.

"Time is not forgiving, I am getting old." Empress Yang caressed her cheeks and smiled helplessly.

"Your Majesty is in charge of the harem, and your mother is in charge of the world. Everything is busy. The most important thing is your magnanimity, which is truly admirable. Even Your Majesty often affirms your virtuous and hard work." Without being respectful, he said happily: "No, the empress has meritorious service in taking care of the emperor's grandson. Your Majesty has specially invited you to dinner, and you are the only one invited!"

They got married when they were young, and they went through countless hardships and rifts together. For decades of ups and downs, the emperor never really treated his wife cruelly.

Empress Yang smiled reservedly, looked around carefully in the mirror, pursed her lips and said, "Nurse He, stop joking, the palace is in a hurry right now, Your Majesty should just call the palace to discuss business matters, and have dinner along the way."

After dressing and dressing, she put her confidant's elbow on her shoulders, and before going to Qianming Palace, she asked doubtfully, "Where is Nanny Yuan? Why don't you see anyone?"

Mrs. He hurriedly replied: "She complained of illness, and she was lying in the room with a cold and fever. Maybe she was frozen when she went out to visit relatives in the palace a while ago."

Empress Yang nodded, and said casually: "Let her take care of it. Let's go, it's not appropriate for His Majesty to wait."

"Yes."

the second quarter of the unitary hour

In the banquet hall of the side hall of Qianming Palace, Emperor Chengtian and his son played chess.

King Qing wore a broad robe with big sleeves and a crown on his head. He was masculine and heroic with some elegance added. He was handsome and handsome, and he was always taciturn.

"Song Shen said that although the poison hidden in the lantern came from overseas, the method of making the poison came from the Guangnan area of ​​Dacheng." Emperor Chengtian's face sank like water, and he twirled the chess with two fingers, observing the chess game absently.

"But the relevant criminals have not been caught yet." King Qing stretched out his hand.

"How could they survive? I'm not too old to be confused!" Emperor Chengtian said with a cold face, and pressed down the chess piece with a "slap".

"Father, calm down."

"I am enough to be benevolent and righteous." Emperor Chengtian said indifferently: "Although Guangnan is poor and full of miasma, it is also a land of Dacheng, and there are tens of thousands of people waiting to be managed. Let the king of Guangping be guarded." He said, staring at it intently. son.

King Quang Binh?

"My son is willing to share the worries of the court." King Qing replied without thinking.

Emperor Chengtian's face softened, and he pretended to be angry and said: "Stop messing around, it's important to take care of the defense of the northwest and the capital for me!"

"Yes."

Li Deying bowed and went inside to report: "Your Majesty, the empress is asking to see you."

"Xuan!" Emperor Chengtian put on a straight face.

after a while

Bai Qiongying raised the curtain, bent her knees and said, "My Lady, please."

Empress Yang, who was originally in a state of mind, raised her eyes and was stunned. She stepped across the threshold and asked in surprise, "Are you...?"

"The servant girl Bai Qiongying was assigned by the empress to serve Zhaoyi in the Ningcui Pavilion."