bastard returns

At the same time, in the courtyard of Ningyuan in the west of the city, Zhou Shi was sitting on the roof, guarding against any suspicious people who might approach the courtyard, while Tang and Shu each held two bowls of sweet soup and knocked on the door of Ningyuan. door.

There were exactly four people sitting in the room, Ning Yuan was reading a letter written to him by an unknown person, another man wearing a silver mask sat silently at the side, Nu Xuan and the guard of the masked man stood by. The position at the back is also silent.

Putting down the sweet soup, I felt that the atmosphere was a bit dull. Tang originally wanted to say something to smooth things over, but was stopped by Shu. At that time, he still persuaded Tang to leave the room.

The silence in the room was restored, replaced by the sweet smell of sweet soup.Huyan Yuanchen swallowed his saliva, he hadn't eaten or drank since the evening, the smell was terrible now, but Ning Yuan's heavy look holding the letter made him feel embarrassed Take the initiative to drink the sweet soup.

After waiting for another quarter of an hour, Ning Yuan seemed to have finally finished reading the letter with few lines. He put down the letter paper, remained silent for a while, and then raised his head and said to Huyan Yuanchen, "Thank you."

"It's nothing, it's just a matter of little effort." Huyan Yuanchen immediately said: "The people I sent are all my confidantes, and I will definitely take care of Mr. Gao very well. Unfortunately, Daxia is not peaceful at the moment, otherwise Mr. Gao will be sent directly. It would be nice to send it to my country of Xia.”

"If it wasn't for your help, I'm afraid the teacher would have been murdered by now." Ning Yuan carefully folded the letter paper and put it in his arms, because Sikong Xu said that it would be bad for Gao Yu, Ning Yuan thought about it, No one can be trusted right now, so I can only go to Huyan Yuanchen for help. After Gao Yu was rescued by the people sent by Huyan Yuanchen, this letter was written hastily and entrusted them to bring it back. The content is nothing more than telling Ning Yuan that he is well. Wuyu, told him to be careful, and also told him to go to Tian Buwei if he needed anything. Now he is the most reliable person in the Hanlin Academy.

"It's easy to say, but compared to his own comfort, Mr. Gao is obviously more worried about you. He said that if possible, you'd better leave the capital and find a peaceful place to live." Paused , Huyan Yuanchen seemed to understand the language error of his words, and hastily defended: "Of course I didn't go, this is what Yan Fei said."

"I will not leave the capital, not to mention that even if I want to leave, some people will not let me go so easily." Ning Yuan got up and walked to the bedside, and brought over a wooden box. Huyan Yuanchen was wondering what it was What, Ning Yuan has already opened it, and there are some bottles and jars of wound medicine and gauze inside.

"Stretch out your hand, even if you hide it well, you can't hide the smell of blood." Ning Yuan pointed to Huyan Yuanchen's left hand.

Huyan Yuanchen was stunned for a while, then smiled bitterly, and helplessly stretched out his left hand in front of Ning Yuan. Ning Yuan held his wrist, and gently rolled up his sleeves. He circled the white cloth, and a small piece of blood oozed from the white cloth.

Yan Fei on the side showed a look of "I knew I couldn't hide it", and turned his head silently.

"I just asked you to send your subordinates to help. Why did you go in person? You were even injured. I wonder if it's because after becoming the prince of Yongyi, your martial arts have regressed every day." Ning Yuan untied the white cloth , found that the wound was not big, but it looked a little deep, as if it was caused by some kind of hidden weapon.

"I just don't know what those assassins are capable of, so I went by myself just to be on the safe side. As a result, one of the assassins saw that he was going to die, so he didn't forget to throw a dart. It's dark and windy this month, and people can't avoid it." Carelessness." Huyan Yuanchen didn't care much about this kind of minor injury, "Besides, those assassins have some skills, and they should have received long-term training. If they were handed over to Yan Fei and the others alone, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to complete this errand."

"Now you should be glad that the dart was not poisoned." He re-applied medicine on his wound, wrapped another round of gauze, checked it himself, and after making sure that there was no more bleeding, he put away the wound medicine and handed it to the slave. Xuan, let him put it away.

"By the way, there is one more thing." Huyan Yuanchen moved his left arm, and seeing that the pain really disappeared, he admired Ning Yuan's skill in dealing with the wound, and said, "You asked me to help find out about that Sikong Xu's recent situation." Well, I heard from the person in charge of the posthouse that he has indeed been more favored by the emperor recently than before. The emperor even gave him a new vacant mansion as the prince's mansion. It is said that it was the mansion of a former Shangshu surnamed Shu .”

The sound of "Kang Dang" as if something fell to the ground interrupted Huyan Yuanchen's words. The two followed the sound and looked over, seeing Nu Xuan's face full of embarrassment, and the wooden box containing the wound medicine fell at his feet. It looked like it accidentally dropped it.

Ning Yuan's eyes flickered, and he said to Huyan Yuanchen: "I'll talk about these things later, it's getting late now, you should go back."

"That's right." Huyan Yuanchen nodded, "After all, I brought people out quietly. Although I have made arrangements, it is hard to guarantee that the Queen Mother Xia's eyeliner will not see the clue." He stood up and led Yan Fei to the exit. After entering the door, Ning Yuan sent him outside the room, and suddenly he turned around and said, "No, I've been busy for most of the night today, so I should ask you for a little thank you."

"Thank you?" Ning Yuan was taken aback, "Then what do you want?"

Huyan Yuanchen coughed lightly, and spread his arms out, "It seems that since we met again, you haven't given me a serious way to hug you, but now you just have to do it."

Looking at his open arms, a trace of shame rushed onto Ning Yuan's face, he thought that Huyan Yuanchen was joking with him, but seeing his serious expression, it seemed that there was no sign of a joke at all, so he thought for a while Even if the two people are not in that kind of relationship now, they seem to be almost the same, not to mention that today he was indeed troubled and injured, because of love and propriety, and for such a simple request, Ning Yuan couldn't help it. Should not refuse.

So he finally leaned forward slowly, and wanted to hug him lightly, but Huyan Yuanchen's arms suddenly tightened, and they pressed their bodies tightly together, feeling the other's body temperature and heartbeat through the clothes. It was clearly heard that Ning Yuan's face was reddened due to this matter.

Time passed minute by minute, and I don't know how long it took before Huyan Yuanchen let go of his arms, stroked the hair on Ning Yuan's temples with his hands, and said softly: "Come to me again if you have anything to do." Taking Yan Fei with him, he turned around and left the courtyard.

Until the backs of the two could no longer be seen, Ning Yuan still stood there with a sense of loss in his eyes. Although the time of hugging just now was short, Ning Yuan felt that if Huyan Yuanchen hugged for a longer time, he might rely on Fell asleep on his chest.

He really hadn't felt such a peaceful and peaceful feeling for a long time.

Shaking his head, Ning Yuan cleared his mind and told himself that this is not the time to be sentimental. He turned his head and looked at Shu Shi's room not far away. He saw that there was still a light on the window, and Shu Shi was not asleep. He thought about it for a while. , turned around and opened the door of his own room, and said to Nuxuan who was still in the room: "Come with me."

Nuxuan was still cleaning up the bottles and jars on the ground that he had knocked over. Hearing Ning Yuan's words, although he didn't understand why, he quickly tidied up the floor, followed Ning Yuan around half of the yard, and finally came to Shu's door forward.

Ning Yuan knocked lightly on the door first, and after getting a response from Shu Shi, he opened the door and walked in.

The furnishings in the room are simple, and Mrs. Shu is mending it by the light of the oil lamp. The clothes look like pajamas, with cloud patterns embroidered on it, which is very beautiful.

"Young Master, why are you here?" Shu stood up a little hastily, seeing Ning Yuan looking at the pajamas in her hand, she continued to smile: "I am clumsy, and I just learned to embroider cloud patterns with my wife, so I wanted to give it to you." Xuan made a new pajamas." Shu's culinary skills are excellent, but women's red work is very clumsy. Seeing that Tang's embroidery is so good, the two mothers in this house began to complement each other. Asking for cooking skills, Shu's learning from Tang's female celebrities, but also living a happy life.

Ning Yuan nodded, and closed the door. Just as Mrs. Shu was about to invite Ning Yuan to sit down and drink tea, when he turned around, Ning Yuan lifted up the hem of his clothes and knelt down straight to him, kowtowed, and said : "Grassman Ningyuan, I greet your concubine, your wife is a thousand years old and Jin'an."

Following Ning Yuan's actions, Shu's whole body froze immediately, and Nu Xuan was also taken aback, and immediately went to get up with Ning Yuan, "Young master, what are you doing!"

Nuxuan's words seemed to remind Shu Shi, and she also came back from a burst of surprise, leaned forward to touch Ning Yuan's other arm, and kept saying: "Young master, get up quickly, how can this servant accept such a big gift from the young master!" While talking , Shu also looked at Nuxuan reproachfully, she thought that Ning Yuan would suddenly behave like this, it must be Nuxuan talking too much, and talking about their former identities indiscriminately.

Nuxuan couldn't argue for a while, he couldn't confess to Shu Shi that Ning Yuan actually knew their identities early on, because Shu Shi once severely warned him that he must keep silent about his life experience, and he was also very surprised, it was so good, Ning Yuan Why did Yuan come here suddenly, uncharacteristically.

Ning Yuan didn't get up because of their reaction, but looked at Shu Shi and said: "If your mother has made up her mind to continue living as a slave and hide her name to avoid other people's schemes, then it's okay for me to get up and leave immediately." , but if the empress does not want to do this, but holds a sliver of hope that her grievances can be redressed, then my kneeling is not wrong."

Shu's flustered expression froze on his face because of Ning Yuan's words "he has been wronged", and he couldn't help but pause when he helped Ning Yuan, and said in a daze: "Master, you really know everything... "

"Yes, I know it all, so now, I want to ask the empress about her decision clearly." Ning Yuan said softly: "What the empress desires in her heart is stability in this world, or elation."

Because Ning Yuan's question was really sudden, Shu's eyes were uncertain, but he said to Ning Yuan with some embarrassment: "Young Master, let's get up first, how can I feel at ease when you look like this!"

Seeing that Mrs. Shu didn't refuse directly, and no longer referred to herself as a 'servant', Ning Yuan got up as if she knew it. Mrs. Shu immediately asked Ning Yuan to sit down, and while ordering Nuxuan to prepare tea, he said, "I don't know Axuan said something nonsense to you, young master, but young master, you are kind to our mother and son. Even if we once had a prominent status, it has already passed away. If the young master still thinks highly of me, he will replace me as usual But, the word empress, I really can't bear it no matter what."

Seeing that Ning Yuan had already got up and sat down, Shu couldn't help but calm down. She really didn't know why Ning Yuan would suddenly put on such a battle, and was about to ask, but Ning Yuan's next sentence almost made her A heart raised his throat, "Concubine Yue in the palace, no, now it should be Concubine Yuegui, I must get rid of it, but before I do it, I have to ask Mother Shu, or Shu Your concubine, would you like to give me a helping hand, or in other words, help yourself too."

Nu Xuan had already been completely shocked by the words that Ning Yuan threw out one after another, and stood there dumbfounded, while Shu Shi swallowed, and wanted to pick up the teacup on the table to drink water, but found that his hands were shaking so badly, Can't even hold the cup.

She felt that Ning Yuan had lost his mind and went crazy. The concubine Yuegui was not only very favored, but she had just won the title of Jin, and she also harvested the fourth prince who had never had a mother as a cheap son. It was the time when Ning Yuan was saying What, to get rid of her?A noble and beloved concubine who lives in the deep palace, even the empress has a headache, how can Ning Yuan get rid of it!

"Mother Shu, don't worry, I'm not insane, I'm just telling you my decision." Ning Yuan seemed to guess what Shu was thinking, his words were calm, but his fists on the table were clenched involuntarily "I think you all know what happened to my teacher Gao Yu. As early as in Jiangzhou, I had some disputes with the fourth prince, Sikong Xu. After we came to the capital, we offended Pang Song by accident. , as for my teacher's guilt, it was Sikong Xu, concubine Yuegui and Changsheng Hou Pangsong who arranged the frame-up alone. Now that the teacher is in trouble, he is almost assassinated. As a disciple, I have absolutely no reason to be a coward What's more, I know that Sikong Xu will come to trouble me sooner or later. It is better to fight back than to wait for death. Sikong Xu's power is all due to Yuegui's concubine bewitching the Sacred Heart. Even if I want to protect myself, I must let Yue Shut her mouth forever."

"I also know that I have been deprived of my Juren status now, but I am just a commoner, how can I compete with those high-ranking people, but it is precisely because of this that I am sitting here, and I want to ask Mama Shu, is Mama Shu willing to return?" Palace, help me."

After saying the last sentence, Ning Yuan fell silent, quietly waiting for Shu's reply.

Ning Yuan naturally knew that the concubine Yue would be bestowed to death by the queen mother one day, and the Shu family and Nuxuan would return to the palace one day, but it would have to wait for many years, but Ning Yuan couldn't afford to wait, and Ning Yuan couldn't wait. It's not sure whether Sikong Xu and Yue Bin will change things in the future after they get together, so he can only act first.

He didn't know if the Shu family would agree to him, but he was willing to take a gamble, after all, the concubine Yue had framed the Shu family to such an extent, and she didn't believe that the Shu family had no plans for revenge.

Shu's expression showed hesitation, and he said slowly: "Even if I am willing to go back to the palace, it is not easy to go back to the palace. Ah Xuan and I were convicted and exiled at the beginning, and now we have committed a crime by quietly returning to Huajing. If the adventure shows up, maybe..."

"I can help you." Ning Yuan said firmly, as if he had a plan in mind, "I can help you go back. I just want to know what Shu's mother thinks, whether she is willing or not."

"I……"

"Mother." Nuxuan spoke quietly from the side at this time, he seemed to have endured it for a long time, and finally couldn't help but said: "The house left by my grandfather and grandmother seems to be given to four princes. "

Shu's expression froze for a moment.

That house was the last thought left by her parents in Huajing. When she just returned to the capital with Ning Yuan, she thought about asking Ning Yuan to help buy the house back. Now, their mother and son are in trouble. Forget it, even this last thought has become someone else's property.

She looked at her only child Nuxuan again. She was not a person who would compete for favor and profit. She had gone through wind and rain in the palace just to protect her child's safety and success, but now she was being framed. Nuxuan will also be implicated as a slave, so do he want to watch his child, the once noble prince, be a slave for the rest of his life just like himself?

Because of other people's calculations and framing, they have fallen to such a point that they almost lost their lives. Although they are safe now, since they live here with Ning Yuan, they are standing on the same boat as Ning Yuan. Thinking of the jealousy and framing of the concubine Yue, Shu finally made up his mind, paused, and said, "I am willing."

Seeing Shu's statement, Ning Yuan nodded as if a stone had fallen from his heart.

"However, how should we do it?" Shu Shi went on to say: "Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there has been no precedent of criminal women returning to the palace. We..."

"The next thing, just leave it to me." Ning Yuan seemed to be very confident, "It's getting late, Mama Shu should rest first, only when you have recovered your energy can you free up your mind to do things. We still have a lot to do." After speaking, Ning Yuan left the room.

****

After the beginning of summer, in just a few days, the weather quickly became hot and dry. Every year at this time, the emperor would leave the palace and spend the summer in the Liangshan Palace north of Huajing.

Liangshan is not far from Huajing. It doesn’t take half a day to drive the official road. If you take the waterway of Jinghua Canal, it only takes an hour. The place is surrounded by mountains and cool all day long. That’s why it was favored by the royal family and built there. It’s just that compared with the Jiangzhou Palace, the Liangzhou Palace is much smaller, so every time the emperor goes there, all the concubines in the palace can’t follow. Therefore, only those who are favored will be selected to bring.

However, compared with last year, the emperor's ostentation this year has really changed too much. In the entire harem, except for the queen of the middle palace, there is only one accompanying concubine Yuegui, and the rest of the concubines are all left in the palace.

This matter has aroused a lot of discussion both in the court and among the common people, because apart from the empress who must be accompanied by the middle palace, the emperor seems to be taking Yuegui concubine to Liangshan alone to live a two-person world happily. , It can be seen how much weight Yuegui concubine has in the emperor's heart.For a while, not only the concubines who were thrown in the palace complained, but also some officials who had said in the court hall that the concubine Yue was not good also felt in danger, fearing that if the concubine Yue's one-on-one pillow was blown down, they would be black. Yarn is not guaranteed.

As for the several princes, they all accompanied him, especially Sikong Xu. He volunteered to help manage the affairs of the Liangzhou palace with the reason of his many years of experience in managing the Jiangzhou palace, and the emperor agreed. Since being involved in the suspicion of being assassinated in the main hall, his status has plummeted. Not only was he neglected, but this time the emperor also specially ordered him to "sit in the capital" on behalf of his father.

"Sit in the capital" is just a nice way of saying it. Unfortunately, Huajing is located in a large Zhoufu land, and it has always been very peaceful. It needs a prince who has no power to "sit in the city". Therefore, such a high-sounding order is straightforward. It's just to let Si Kongyue stay safely in the capital and meditate behind closed doors, not to follow him into trouble.

Although life has its ups and downs, things like 30 years in Hedong and 30 years in Hexi are not uncommon, but Sikong Yue, as the eldest son of the emperor and the descendant of the empress, has always regarded himself as the future prince, and now he is watching helplessly. Sikong Xu, who was stepping on the soles of his feet, actually climbed onto his head, no matter what, it was impossible to swallow this breath easily.

On this day, several large boxes were carried into the Grand Prince's Mansion through the side door. The contents in the boxes looked extremely heavy, bending several shoulder poles. Hall, then stood aside respectfully with hands down, waiting for Sikong Yue to speak.

Sikong Yue sat at the main seat, and after drinking a cup of tea, he walked to those boxes, opened them one by one, frowning, looked over, shook his head and said: "No, none of them are good, all of them are It's a vulgar thing, even if you send it up, the emperor's grandmother won't like it."

Soon it will be the queen mother's birthday, and the queen asked someone to send a message from Liangshan, telling him to seize this opportunity and present an ingenious gift to make her face proud in front of the queen mother. dissatisfaction, so as to lay some foundation for Xianyu to turn around.

For this reason, during these days in Huajing, he almost racked his brains to search for some ingenious gifts. Unfortunately, the ones presented by the servants were either real money or too cheap, or too vulgar. He couldn't see it himself, so how could he embarrass himself in front of the Queen Mother.

At this moment, another servant came to report that someone outside the mansion asked to see him.