bastard returns

Sikong Yue was upset and didn't intend to see the guests, but the housekeeper whispered something in his ear, his eyes rolled, "Really?" After thinking about it, he still said: "Then quickly Please come in." After speaking, he waved his hand and asked his servants to remove all the boxes in the hall.

After a while, the two young men in white clothes were led into the main hall by the butler, and after paying a little salute to Sikong Yue, they finished their tasks according to priority, and the servants served tea, and they all left the room while Sikong Yue was waving his hands.

"My prince's mansion is much deserted now, and it's rare for you to come to visit, Mr. Ning." Sikong Xu was drinking tea while looking at Ning Zhongkun who was sitting under him.

Ning Zhongkun smiled dryly. In fact, he didn't want to join in the fun at the First Prince's Mansion at this time. Everyone knew that Sikong Yue had a bad temper after losing power, and would often lose his temper for no reason, so many people passed by the First Prince's Mansion. Walk around, if it wasn't for Ning Yuan's request, he wouldn't have come at all.

Thinking of the conditions he had negotiated with Ning Yuan, Ning Zhongkun still bit the bullet and said: "Your Highness is out of touch by saying that, I know His Highness is worrying about the Empress Dowager's birthday, and it just so happens that my distant cousin knows the same It's quite a congratulatory gift, so I want to introduce him to His Highness one or two." After speaking, Ning Zhongkun waved his finger and pointed to Ning Yuan who had been sitting next to him with his head bowed.

"It's you?" Sikong Yue naturally remembered Ning Yuan. Aside from the few things that happened in Huajing, back in Jiangzhou, Ning Yuan made Sikong Xu lose face again and again, and also indirectly Si Kongyue had saved himself once, and Sikong Yue was more pleasing to his eyes, but not long after the incident in the spring court this year, Gao Yu was dismissed and assigned, and Ning Yuan was also deprived of the title of Juren. But he suddenly came to his mansion, and he was not afraid of bringing bad luck to the eldest prince's mansion.

Thinking of this, Sikong Yue became a little displeased, and said: "This palace is indeed upset about the imperial grandmother's congratulatory gift, but if your so-called good congratulatory gift is just an ordinary thing, there is no need to show it."

"Of course it won't be a vulgar thing." Ning Zhongkun smiled more and more reluctantly. In fact, he didn't know what Ning Yuan's plans were. He was just responsible for introducing people, and now, he also began to feel a little regretful. However, if Ning Yuan took out something inexplicable and made Sikong Yue angry, it would be really worth the candle for Ning Zhongkun.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, no matter how stupid the villain is, he still knows that the congratulatory gift to be presented to the Empress Dowager cannot be measured by ordinary yellow and white things. My congratulatory gift is neither a utensil nor gold or silver, but a person." Ning Yuan stood up at the right time and bowed to Sikong Yue. After speaking, he clapped his palms twice, and immediately an old woman in a white robe came in from the outside with a solemn appearance.

The old woman had an aloof expression on her face, with a dust whisk between her elbows and her hair in a clean and dignified bun. After entering the room, she didn't salute like Sikong Yue, but just stood in the room with half-closed eyes In the middle, it looks like a bodhisattva waiting for others to make offerings to her.

Sikong Yue looked at the old woman for some unknown reason, then looked at Ning Yuan and said, "Who is this?"

But just as Sikong Yue finished speaking, the old woman suddenly opened her half-closed eyes, looked straight at Sikong Yue and said, "Your Highness, be careful that disaster will come from heaven."

Sikong Yue's complexion immediately collapsed, and he stood up abruptly. Just as he was about to tell the housekeeper outside the door to lead someone to take down the inexplicably rude crazy woman, he suddenly heard a sound of wind coming from behind him, before he could turn around. , There was a dull pain in the back of his head, as if something hit his head hard, and then a thick plaque fell dusty to his feet, making a loud "clang" sound.

Ning Zhongkun stared at this scene dumbfounded, and forgot to speak for a moment, the movement inside the house naturally spread outside, the housekeeper ran in anxiously, seeing Sikong Yue's bowed back, pale with pain, he was also startled , and immediately called the servants to clean up the plaque that fell off the wall inexplicably, and asked Sikong Yue cautiously: "Your Highness, are you okay?"

"I didn't call you, so I just came in and made trouble!" The plaque was made of mahogany, and it was extremely thick, but Sikong Yue was also a martial arts practitioner after all. The old woman just said the four words "disaster from the sky", and immediately transferred all the temper that she was planning to lose to the old woman to the housekeeper, scolded the housekeeper bloody, and obediently withdrew.

Sikong Yue rubbed his neck again and sat down, but at this moment, when he looked at the old woman, there was some suspicion in his eyes, and his tone slowed down, "Who are you?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, this one is He Xiangu." The old woman still stood there with an aloof expression, and Ning Yuan answered for her, "Xiangu was once enlightened by an expert, who can calculate the past and future, yes The villain specially invited him from Jiangzhou."

"Xiangu?" Sikong Yue's tone was suspicious, "So this fairy is what you call a congratulatory gift?"

"Your Highness, the empress dowager has a noble status, so ordinary congratulatory gifts must be hard to catch, but Xiangu is very clever and well-known in Jiangzhou. Wouldn't it be a very good congratulatory gift for Xiangu to pray for the empress dowager's orders and extend her blessings?" Ning Yuan said. I saluted again.

"Hmph, you said she was a fairy girl, but this hall thinks she's just a charlatan who bluffs and deceives." Even though the plaque "disaster fell from the sky", Si Kongyue didn't believe in others so easily. He really brought an inexplicable person there so easily. If this person had evil intentions to assassinate, he would not be able to speak clearly even if his mouth was all over his body.

Especially since he was framed and fell out of favor this time, Sikong Yue became much more suspicious than before.

"Since Your Highness doesn't believe in the old body and thinks that the old body is just a swindler, then there is no need for the old body to stay here any longer." He Xiangu opened her half-closed eyes again, and bent lightly towards Sikong Yue. She turned around and walked out, but before stepping out of the porch, she turned her head and said to Sikong Yue: "The old man just took a look at His Highness's face, His Highness has a broad forehead and a clear face. Gui, the fate of the True Dragon Emperor is just a pity..." At this point, she shook her head, but she didn't say any more, but continued to walk outside.

When Sikong Yue heard the words "True Dragon Son of Heaven", how could he hold back, he immediately got up and said: "Stop, what a pity, finish talking before leaving!"

"Although your highness has a noble fate, but you are restrained by villains, everything is unfavorable, and most of the dragon energy has dissipated. The old man watched the sky at night, and saw that the yin qi was stagnant ten miles west of Beijing. Within half a month, there will be a sign of great danger, your highness. Now that I have the heavy responsibility of sitting in the capital, if I don't handle it properly, I'm afraid that the last bit of dragon energy will be gone. By that time, the fate will be reversed, and it will be from great wealth to great decline. Your Highness should remember to be cautious, and this is what the old man gave His Highness Last advice." The old woman's voice came through the door, and Si Kongyue's face was clouded. He wanted to reprimand the old woman for her nonsense, but what the other party said was that the villain was against each other, and everything was bad for him, which made him quite uncomfortable. fear.

Seeing that the old woman went out, Ning Yuan also showed a panic expression on his face, he immediately apologized to Si Kongyue, and then retreated. Ning Zhongkun really didn't expect that, he kindly helped Ning Yuan introduce her, In the end, it turned into such a situation. While being angry, he was worried that Sikong Yue would get angry and implicate him, and at the same time he followed up to leave. Fortunately, Sikong Yue had been sitting there silently, as if he had no intention of blaming them.

As soon as the two of them stepped out of the Grand Prince's Mansion, Ning Zhongkun couldn't hold back any longer, and lost his temper at Ning Yuan, "What kind of bastards are you doing? I did it because you said you could curry favor with His Royal Highness. The position of the son of the world is beneficial, so I will show kindness to help you introduce it, but it turns out that the crazy woman you brought is talking nonsense in front of the high hall, it is good now, it is really bad luck to steal chickens and lose money !"

"Cousin, why are you so angry? You are actually not far from the position of son." Ning Yuan had a smile on his face.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Offending His Highness can still help you become a prince. Have you lost your mind and gone crazy!?" Ning Zhongkun was baffled.

"Cousin, if you believe me, please start hoarding food after you go back, and store as much as you can. If you do a good job in this matter, maybe not only His Royal Highness will be grateful to you, but even the Duke Your lord will also appreciate you." Ning Yuan finally smiled at Ning Zhongkun before turning and leaving.

"What the hell is this kid doing, to stockpile grain? This year's summer grain harvest is very good, causing the price of grain in the city to fall again and again, and the grain store has accumulated a lot of grain that cannot be sold. It’s not all in your hands.” Ning Zhongkun muttered, shook his head, and got into the carriage not far away.

At this time, Ning Yuan had already passed the corner of the street and turned into an alley where no one passed by. The old woman who looked like an outsider in the Prince's Mansion before was waiting here now, but she was not the same as the arrogant one just now. Compared with her attitude, at this moment, not only her face turned pale, but she kept patting her chest, and hurriedly said to Ning Yuan: "You scared me to death, you really scared me to death, son, you are really hurting me, if you knew earlier that we were going to lie It is His Royal Highness, even if you give me more money, I will not accept this job!"

If Mrs. Liu was still standing here alive, she would definitely recognize the old woman who complained so much about Ning Yuan. She was the sorceress she invited to pretend to be a ghost to frame Ning Yuan after Ning Ping'er died. This sorceress has no other skills. Stealing is top-notch, so when Ning Yuan was looking for a partner for an "outsider expert", she immediately thought of her, and sent Zhou Shi back to Jiangzhou overnight, and after negotiating the price, he immediately brought her to Huajing up.It has to be said that this sorceress does have some ability to put on a show, and even Ning Yuan herself couldn't see the clues to the way she acted in front of Si Kongyue before.

"I see that you did a good job just now. As long as you act like this in the future, you won't be caught out. This is today's reward." Ning Yuan took out a silver ticket from his arms and handed it over. He was so frightened that he originally wanted to push the errand back to Jiangzhou to Ning Yuan, but when he saw the amount on the bank note, his eyes immediately became straight, and he swallowed back the words of refusal abruptly, and changed his mind. She put on a smiling face and said: "Success! Success! Today is just a small skill. When I show my true skills, let alone His Royal Highness, I will be fooled even by the emperor!" I also felt that what I said was a bit too much, he laughed twice, and said: "But young master, I just said what you told me in front of His Highness, but I see that Mrs. Jingcheng is so ordinary, Where did the omen come from, when His Highness realizes that we are lying to him, it will be a terrible thing!"

"You don't need to think too much about this, you just need to keep the words I taught you in your heart, and they will be useful in the future." Speaking of this, Ning Yuan looked up at the sunny sky.

It is obviously cloudless weather, but there is always a sense of dullness in the air, and it is so heavy that people can hardly breathe in the first summer.

"The weather is really boring." Ning Yuan said lightly: "The rainy season and flood season are coming soon."

Ning Yuan's words became a prophecy, and that night, a thunderstorm announced the arrival of the rainy season to this sleeping city. It lasted for a whole day, not only did it show no sign of stopping, but it became more and more intense.

At first, the people in Huajing City didn't take this heavy rain seriously. After all, the rainy season occurs every year. Every year at this time, there will always be so many rainstorms. Everyone still lives in a normal way until one morning, Some people noticed that even the most spacious and bustling East Street had started to accumulate water, and they gradually realized that the rain in this year's rainy season had lasted too long.

An official sent a report to Jing Zhaoyin about the stagnant water on the East Street. Although Jing Zhaoyin felt that this was different from previous years, he didn't think too deeply. He only asked the official to open the valves of all the drainage channels in the city, and Use the almanac to calculate the days and calculate when the rainy season will pass.

By the fifth day of the rain, the price of grain in Huajing City had dropped to an unbelievable level.

This is not surprising. The continuous heavy rain and humid air make the grain stored in the granary quickly moldy. As a grain store, if you don’t sell it, if all the grain is moldy in the end, it is equivalent to throwing it in your hands. If there is no return, it is better to sell a little now, so as to minimize the loss, but even if the price of food drops again and again, no one cares about it. After all, if the food that has been dampened is not eaten quickly, it will still be worthless. It will be moldy, even if the price is cheap, it is not worth it for the people who are budget-conscious. As for the dignitaries... only the best quality rice and wheat can be placed on their tables. Nobody eats it.

There is only one "high-ranking official" exception.

When Ning Zhongkun was sitting in a carriage and started visiting one grain store after another to buy grain in large quantities, those grain store owners seemed to have seen a living Bodhisattva, as if grasping at the last straw, they would buy and give away as much as possible. Cart after cart of grain was continuously transported into Ningfu's exclusive granary.

Although Ning Zhongkun is the grandson of Duke Ning's mansion, he is not well-off because of Duke Ning's strict governance. Although food is cheap, buying it in large quantities will cost a lot of money. Ning Zhongkun took out his daily savings He took all the extra money and took some jewelry from his younger sister Ning Shanshan to make up enough money to buy food.

Ning Shanshan didn't understand Ning Zhongkun's behavior. In fact, Ning Zhongkun didn't understand why he did it. It was just such continuous heavy rain, coupled with the price drop of grain, and Ning Yuan once said that he was asked to hoard grain. With those words, Ning Zhongkun just had an inexplicable feeling that he had to do what Ning Yuan said, otherwise, there might be a great opportunity slipping away from him.

Anyway, it was just hoarding some food for two dollars, even if Ning Yuan was playing tricks on him, there would be no real loss.

When the heavy rain reached the tenth day, Ning Yuan suddenly approached Ning Zhongkun.

"You go to see His Highness the First Prince now, and ask His Highness to start evacuating the residents in the west of the city." Ning Zhongkun was taken aback by what Ning Yuan said. Pound bomb, "The Jianghua Canal next to Huajing will soon break its embankment. If there is a flood, the west of the city is relatively low, and it will be the first to suffer."

The city is about to flood?This is not bad!Ning Zhongkun was terribly frightened, and he didn't bother to ask Ning Yuan for details, so he immediately went to the First Prince's Mansion impatiently, but unfortunately he came back in less than half an hour, and his face was extremely ugly.

"It's all a good thing you did!" Facing Ning Yuan who was still waiting for him, Ning Zhongkun scolded him, "It's just raining, but you asked me to come up with such a bad idea to His Majesty and hurt me His Royal Highness scolded me a lot, how could such a strong embankment like the Jianghua Canal break when it rains!"

Ning Zhongkun also felt that Ning Yuan was inexplicable. The Jianghua Canal has been built for hundreds of years, and it has always been impregnable. There has never been a flood. If the First Prince really listened to his advice and worked hard to move the residents in the west of the city, there is one last thing. If not, the saliva of ordinary people can drown His Highness to death!

You must know that the west of the city is the largest gathering place for civilians in the entire capital, and there are probably more people living in it than the east, south, and north combined. If the people's resentment boils over, there will be big troubles in the end!

But in the face of Ning Zhongkun's reprimand, Ning Yuan seemed not to take it seriously, even a little as expected, and said to Ning Zhongkun: "It's fine if His Highness doesn't want to, but you don't have to be angry with me, think about it if His Highness one day I will regret and not follow your advice, how do you think His Highness will treat you in the future?"

Ning Zhongkun was stunned for a moment, and suddenly his back felt a little hairy, "Are you so sure that the Jianghua Canal will burst?"

Ning Yuan raised one hand and spread five fingers, "You will be grateful to me within five days."

In fact, the Jianghua Canal, a man-made river that is "as solid as gold", failed to stand firm for five days under the torrential rain like a waterfall.

On the third day when Ning Yuan came to see Ning Zhongkun, finally on a night where everything was quiet and only the sound of rain remained, an explosion broke out like a galloping horse, and it was fierce. In less than an hour, the magnificent Huajing City had at least as many Half of the city has suffered from seedlings, and as for the west of the city, the whole city has been submerged in water.

The person who reported the danger ran into Jing Zhaoyin's mansion almost as soon as the west of the city was flooded. Jing Zhaoyin had been enjoying himself on the bed with his concubine in his arms at the sound of the rain. He was frightened immediately when he heard the news Withered, knowing that the current situation was beyond his position to decide, the emperor was escaping the summer heat in Liangshan, so he rushed to the eldest prince's mansion in the rain without even having time to change his clothes.

He couldn't help but be in a hurry. There are so many civilians living in the west of the city. Their houses are flooded. Simply unimaginable!

Even Jing Zhaoyin made the worst plan. He has already sent another person to inform Han Tao, the commander of the imperial guards, and asked him to lead the imperial guards to stand by immediately. He must block the refugees from the west of the city in the east of the city. Outside, otherwise, with the personalities of the gangsters in the capital, if they suffer any losses, the first one to suffer will be himself, Jing Zhaoyin!

The facts were exactly as Jing Zhaoyin expected. The sudden flood made the people in the west of the city panic. They almost got up from the bed and ran out of the house before they could get anything. Unfortunately, when they reached the junction of the east and west of the city, they were blocked by rows of well-equipped imperial guards and could not advance any further.

They are all civilians with children and children. Where dare to face these ferocious troops head-on, they can only stay in the rain. But as the area soaked by the flood becomes bigger and bigger, crowds of people come from all directions There were more and more people, and soon the human wall formed by the imperial guards was crowded with people who wanted to seek refuge in the east of the city.The more people there are, the more courageous they will be. There are also some bloody men among them. Seeing that this group of imperial guards will not give an inch, the flood is getting closer and closer. Some old people and children can't stand the rain and feel uncomfortable He picked up farm tools like hoes and sickles and began to confront the army. Unfortunately, there were not many people who dared to challenge the army. It became quiet, but on one side was the flood-soaked street, and on the other side were vicious officers and soldiers. Thinking that their homes were also flooded, some women and children couldn't help crying.

By the time Jing Zhaoyin arrived with Sikong Yue, it was already daylight, and in front of the army blockade, there was another group of people dressed in guard uniforms, who were crowded with the refugees from the west of the city. At the same time, they were also confronting the army, and at the front of the group of guards, a young man in a coir raincoat and a bamboo hat was pointing at the nose of Han Tao, the commander of the guards, and scolded him bloody.