Chongxi [rebirth]

After the Double Ninth Festival, Ye Yunting did what he said before, and went to Hengyang Courtyard to invite the old concubine to help manage the banquet for the fifteenth day.

The banquet time was set on the [-]th day, and most of the matters were handled by the subordinates, with the assistance of Zhu Lie and Wu Geng, Ye Yunting only needed to take care of the overall situation.It's just that a few of them are men, but on the day of the banquet, there are women's relatives present, so many arrangements are not proper. Now Ye Yunting has invited the old princess to sit in the town, which just solved this difficult problem.

The old concubine Jingchai was sitting in the hall in plain clothes, no makeup was applied, but her complexion looked much better than that on the day of Chongyang Festival.She unhurriedly flipped through the banquet etiquette booklet that Ye Yunting handed over, and pointed out a few problems for the people below to improve one by one, before she looked at Ye Yunting and said: "This matter should not be entrusted to you, it is also hard work for you." gone."

Traditionally, the banquet in the mansion is organized by the head of the house, with the assistance of the chief steward.But the palace suffered major changes, the loyal old steward was killed, and she ignored everything in the palace.This burden must fall on Ye Yunting.

Just now she carefully read the ceremonial schedule booklet, and found that although the banquet arrangements were not enough, they were well organized.Especially the handwriting on the brochure, flowing like clouds and flowing water, coming out of the fine lines, with a strong character.Although the characters are not connected, the climate is connected.It's amazing.

The old concubine comes from the Shen family in Nieyang. Although the Shen family built their family on military exploits, their ancestors have always valued the knowledge and literary talents of their children. When she was in her boudoir, she also read a lot of poetry and books, and was familiar with the four books and five classics.

So when he looked at Ye Yunting again, there was pity in his eyes.

Although she ignored everything these years, it didn't mean she couldn't understand the current situation. Ye Yunting was sent to the palace for joy, but because he had no one to support him, he was a sacrifice in vain.

It's pity that he is full of knowledge and transparent mind.

Ye Yunting smiled: "It's not hard work, Zhu Lie and Wu Geng are mostly busy."

The old concubine shook her head, pondered for a while, and said: "I have nothing to do besides paying respects to the Buddha. In the future, leave the affairs of the mansion to me. With Yiqiu's help, I can take care of you for a few more years." She looked at Ye Yunting's eyes were very kind: "Hanzhang's father is unruly, so there are no rules in this palace. Although you are married into the palace, you don't have to restrain yourself like a woman in the back house." Paused After a pause, he continued: "Although you can't take the imperial examination to be an official, you can do other things."

She stared at Ye Yunting softly, obviously she really planned for him.

Ye Yunting was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, and then a trace of warmth flashed through his heart, and he sincerely thanked: "Thank you, mother."

The old concubine waved her hand: "You can do other things yourself, and leave the banquet to me. You don't have to waste your time here with me."

Ye Yunting hesitated: "Mother, don't be too tired..."

"Don't worry, I'm in good health." The old concubine glanced at him, with hints of a smile in her eyes: "When you go out, call Yiqiu in by the way."

Ye Yunting got up when he heard the words, bowed before backing out.

Leaving the front hall and walking to the garden, I met Li Fengqi who entered from outside the door.

Li Fengqi was accompanied by another person, with a black cloak, a crimson official uniform, a beard under his jaw, and a dignified and serious face. He was Ye Yunting's uncle whom he had not seen for a long time, Wang Qie, Minister of Dali Temple.

He didn't know why Wang Qi came to the palace suddenly, was he looking for Li Fengqi's business or came to see him?

Dazed for a moment, Ye Yunting suppressed many guesses and stepped forward to salute: "My lord, uncle."

Wang Qi said "hmm" with complicated eyes: "It seems that you are doing well in the palace."

"It's all thanks to the lord." Ye Yunting's tone was light, not close enough, more than unfamiliar.

He and this uncle are not even familiar with each other.

In these years, he has seen this uncle no more than ten times, and every time he met was on his mother's day, it was nothing more than Wang Qie politely and distantly asking him how he was doing in the Duke's mansion, and he agreed.After that, it was relatively silent.

He has long been used to and accepted such cold treatment from his family.

Seeing each other suddenly now, there is no disturbance in my heart, but some slight doubts.

Wang Qi didn't seem to know how to talk to him, so he fell silent.He explained: "The case of Yin Chengru has progressed. I need to ask Vice Governor Zhu about some things. I came to visit the palace because I haven't seen the princess for a long time. Seeing that the princess is doing well, I feel relieved."

"Uncle Lao is worried." Ye Yunting said politely.

Again and again, the conversation came to an end.

Li Fengqi couldn't see Ye Yunting's courteous smirk, and didn't bother to pay attention to Wang Qi. He turned the wheelchair and walked forward, naturally took his hand and said, "Uncle is looking for Zhu Lie, so we won't bother you here. Go eat." After speaking, he turned to look at Wang Qi: "Uncle is on business, so I won't keep you for dinner."

Wang Qie cupped his hands and nodded: "This trip is on official business, so you don't have to be polite."

Li Fengqi nodded slightly at him, pinched Ye Yunting's palm, and motioned for him to push him away.Ye Yunting also felt that the atmosphere was really awkward. He and Wang Qie really had nothing to say, so he pushed Li Fengqi to the backyard as he said.

Wang Qie stood where he was, looking at the backs of the two, his eyes hard to distinguish.

These days, he has heard many rumors.Both good and bad.But the most common thing is that in order to save his own face, King Yong'an deliberately went to Zhaohe Main Street to play with the princess. Many courtiers said that King Yong'an was able to seek kindness and tolerance, and even the humiliation of the male princess could be swallowed. I'm afraid this time It's a feast without a good feast.

Ever since the case of Yin Chengru's rebellion, the struggle between King Yong'an and the emperor has been brought to the fore.The courtiers were busy weighing the pros and cons to stand in line, but he only wanted to bring down the Yin family and broke Ye Zhili's arm.

When he came today, he knew that he would meet Ye Yunting.After hearing all kinds of rumors, he was also prepared that his life would not be too good.

But I didn't expect that when I saw him, I found that he was much taller and straighter than when he was in the Duke's mansion, and his brows and eyes were calm and demeanor like never before.

"Qing Niang." Wang Qie looked at the sky with his hands behind his back, and sighed in a low voice: "He is becoming less and less like you, I hope my guess is wrong..."

If it is true, then Ye Zhili will be stripped of his skin and bones, and he will not be able to atone for the crime he committed.

Here, Ye Yunting pushed Li Fengqi back to the main courtyard,

The two were silent all the way, and it was Li Fengqi who spoke first: "The case of Yin Chengru secretly stationing troops with the intention of rebelling has made progress."

Speaking of business, Ye Yunting had to put aside his personal feelings, he was still very concerned about the progress of Yin Chengru's case: "How is the progress?"

"A few days ago, the king sent someone to Jizhou to collect evidence. I don't know how he got the evidence of Yin Chengru's deployment of troops." Li Fengqi said.

Wang Qie is over forty, but has been in charge of Dali Temple for more than ten years, and he is quite capable in investigating cases.

He and Ye Zhili had old grievances, and the Yin family was Ye Zhili's in-laws. The Ye and Yin families have been helping each other over the years, and their relationship is very close.If he wanted to shake Duke Qi's mansion, he had to break Ye Zhili's arm first.

As long as Yin Chengru can be convicted of treason, when Yin Chengru dies, the Yin family will suffer heavy losses, but Ye Zhili has not tried his best to deal with it, and there will be a gap between the two families.

In order to convict Yin Chengru as soon as possible, Wang Qie's actions are not unpleasant.

"If it can be proved that he dispatched troops privately, then half of the crime is settled," Ye Yunting said, "It's just that if you want to say that it was treason, I'm afraid there is not enough evidence, right?"

Li Fengqi nodded, and smiled casually: "So he came to look for Zhu Lie."

"Is there evidence in the hands of the deputy governor?" Ye Yunting was really curious.

The matter of Yin Chengru's treason was entirely due to Li Zong's framing of Zhu Lie, but Yin Chengru was involved instead.The framing is true, but treason is unfounded. He wonders what evidence Zhu Lie can have to convict Yin Chengru.

"Young Master, you want to know?" Li Fengqi raised his eyebrows and raised his chin: "Come here with your ear, I will tell you to listen."

"..."

This sentence sounds very familiar, Li Fengqi also said the same thing when he was in the sedan chair last time.then...

Ye Yunting stopped in time and didn't continue to recall.He looked vigilant, and said: "Forget it, it's better for me not to listen to such important confidential matters."

After finishing speaking, he really lowered his eyebrows and closed his eyes, and started to make tea.

Sure enough, he was wary of him.

Li Fengqi clicked his tongue regretfully, but in the end he said he had listened: "Yin Chengru has no intention of treason, but the evidence of his dealings with Xihuang is conclusive, and Zhu Wen rushed to send the evidence the day before yesterday."

Yin Chengru is the second son of Yin Xiaozhi, and he is the governor of Jizhou.High position and weight, but also quite capable.But there is only one thing, he is very obsessed with training falcons.

Weizhou is rich in hunting falcons, and Jizhou is adjacent to Weizhou. In the past, Yin Chengru would often look for opportunities to go to Weizhou to search for good hunting falcons.At that time, there was no enmity between Li Fengqi and the Yin family, so he just turned a blind eye to it. Occasionally, Zhu Lie would compare with them to see who caught the best falcon—the falcon gifted to Ye Yunting by Ye Fan. This is how Falcon Aqing came.

But now there is a conflict between the two parties, either you die or I die, any mistakes in the past can be used to make a fuss.

Zhu Wen, who lives in northern Xinjiang, originally intended to make a fuss about the fact that he left Jizhou privately and sneaked into Weizhou, but he didn't expect that after following the investigation, he found that Yin Chengru actually had contacts with Xihuang businessmen.

Zhu Wen caught the businessman and got Yin Chengru's letters from the businessman.Most of the letters are about the falcon sale, and most of them are not named. Only the most recent one, involving a very good-looking falcon, involved a huge amount of money, and Yin Chengru seemed unable to pay it off, so it was stamped. Printed privately as a guarantee.

"Actually, it's nothing. With the status of the Yin family, Li Zong won't kill him easily." Li Fengqi smiled and sighed, "It's a pity that his luck is not good. The spies sent by Zhu Wen found him in Yin Chengru. Five days after the border crossing, there was also a change in the Xihuang army, and there was a small group of elite Chen soldiers bordering the two countries."

Privately mobilizing troops and stockpiling troops, dealing with Xihuang merchants, but at this time, the Xihuang army made another move.

Putting the three things together, even if Yin Chengru had a hundred mouths this time, he still couldn't be cleared of the crime of collaborating with the enemy and treason.

Cruelty flashed across Li Fengqi's eyes, and he said coldly, "Yin Chengru will definitely die this time."

Since the Yin family dared to conspire with Li Zong and wanted to get rid of the Xuanjia army and replace them, they had to be prepared to be counterattacked.

"Once Yin Chengru dies, the Yin family will feel like they have lost an arm, and they will definitely feel resentment towards the emperor." Ye Yunting continued.

The Yin family was working for Li Zong, but the matter was exposed, but the emperor couldn't keep him. The Yin family will not expose this matter easily.

"That's right." Li Fengqi smiled: "It's thanks to Wang Qi this time, it wasn't that he got the dispatch letter so quickly, Yin Chengru and the Jizhou Army fought together to deny him death, and he was not convicted so quickly. .”

"Is the lord trying to win over uncle?" Ye Yunting knew the elegant meaning after hearing the string song, his tone was a little hesitant: "It's just that I'm really not close to uncle, so I'm afraid I can't help you."

Uncle probably hated his father's infidelity, and even didn't like him.

According to the nanny, his mother lost her father when she was young, and grew up with her uncle.The eldest brother is like a father. Later, my uncle won the honor in the examination and went to the Shaoqing of Dali Temple. He loved and cared for his only younger sister very much.At that time, his father had already conquered Duke Qi, but he came to ask to marry him. His uncle felt that the difference in family status was too great and he didn't quite agree, but his mother liked his father, and his father had promised him many times, so he had no choice but to agree to the marriage.

As a result, after only three years of marriage, her mother died of dystocia.Within a year, his father continued to marry Yin, and in another year, Yin became pregnant and gave birth to Ye Wang.

So far, the Wang family has almost cut off contact with the Duke of Qi.