bastard returns

On the day of the Empress Dowager's real birthday, the floodwaters accumulated in the west of the city had all faded away as the weather cleared. Fortunately, the houses in the capital were well built, and after being soaked in water, they were still in good condition, except for some scattered items that were washed away by the water. There were no other major losses. In addition, the emperor was sympathetic to the people. He not only allocated the relief silver, but also exempted the affected residents from taxes for a year. The people celebrated, making the atmosphere of the whole city even more lively than the previous Jiuyang Festival .

The specifications of the birthday banquet this time are also the same as those of the Nine Suns Festival, all civil and military officials can attend, but as Ning Yuan is now an ordinary citizen, he is not qualified to participate in the birthday banquet, but he naturally has his own way. "As Sikong Yue's car drove into the Guanghua Gate of the Imperial Palace in a grand manner, Ning Yuan also followed the Ningguo Palace's convoy and entered right behind.

Ning Guogong is old, and his health has been ill recently, so he is no longer fit to participate in such occasions, so he bid farewell to the emperor, and the younger generation will do his best to congratulate the Queen Mother on her birthday.Ning Guogong's son-in-law died early, and this time it was his son-in-law, Ning Zhongkun's uncle Ning Huayang, who brought Ning Zhongkun's brother and sister, and his own sons to celebrate his birthday.

As far as Ning Huayang is concerned, he can be regarded as a strange person in Huajing's official circles. He is clearly the eldest son of Ning Guogong. In the second year, he was finally admitted as a Jinshi, but he did not accept the appointment of the Beijing official. Instead, he went to Yunzhou and worked as a county magistrate for four years, and a magistrate for three years. Every day, she organizes and archives all the imperial edicts issued by the emperor in the palace. She only gets married when she is nearly thirty years old, and she is not married to a famous lady, but the daughter of the restaurant owner.

To say that he is strange is not only because he honestly disregarded his own background, but also took part in the imperial examination and went to Yunzhou. The concubine Yinglan has a very good relationship, and was even ready to come to propose marriage, but in the end she accidentally married a commoner's daughter, which is really puzzling.

Many people thought that Ning Huayang, the concubine of Ningguo's family, was an honest man, and that he would be mediocre for the rest of his life. Yang, the honest man in the past, gradually came to the center of everyone's attention, but Ning Huayang left the Menxia Province where he had been staying at this time, and entered the Inspector's Office. In charge of the courtyard, one of his two sons became an official of the Inspectorate, and the other entered the Imperial Guard Barracks as a commander-in-chief. All of them were better than Ning Zhongkun, who had no official position. It was a sign that Ning Guogong wanted to support Ning Huayang to become a bastard, and he also began to get close to this previously unknown person.

In a big car at the front of the Ningguo Palace convoy, Ning Huayang sat in the middle and closed his eyes to rest. "Honesty", her wife, Rong Shi, was sitting at the side, carefully admiring a glass luminous cup placed in a brocade box.

The cup was crystal clear and exquisite in workmanship. In the slightly dark environment of the carriage, it shimmered like a night pearl, which was very strange.

"My mother is willing to give up such a rare treasure." She held the wine glass and looked at it carefully, with an expression of admiration on her face, as if she didn't want to put it down at all.Mrs. Wu, the Duke's wife, did not come to take care of Duke Ning, so they asked them to help present congratulatory gifts.

"As long as it's for Zhongkun's affairs, mother will be willing to part with it no matter how reluctant it is." Ning Huayang said indifferently, "I heard that this luminous cup comes from overseas. When blowing it, in order to make it overflow with luminous light, I don't know how to smelt it. How many night pearls have been put in it, and now it is so dazzling, if it is poured with fine wine, even the wine will be full of brilliance, if it is not for the queen mother's birthday, such a treasure that is hard to find, mother would not be able to get it."

When Rong heard the value of the cup, his hands trembled, and he immediately put the cup back into the brocade box and put it away, and said: "It's really hard for my mother to bother, I found two good ones for Shanshan a few days ago. The marriages are all handsome young men with good looks, but unfortunately, when they presented it to mother, she just didn't nod, it seems that mother has made up her mind to marry Shanshan into the royal family."

"It's not enough just to marry into the royal family. What is our mother's plan? Don't you and I not know? Her old man is pointing at Shanshan to become the princess and the future queen." Ning Huayang sneered "As long as this girl Shanshan has a good future, I will not be able to take the position of Duke Ning in the future, or Lie'er and Yi'er. It's a pity that my mother is an old man, she is old and has no other means." , other than acting like a spoiler, that's the only way to do it."

Rong also laughed and said: "Husband, your official career is prosperous now. Lie'er and Yi'er are not only promising, but also please father. After all, the father has the final say on who the son is. No matter how much mother does, if you can't change father It’s just a waste of time.” Rong paused, and then said: “But because of the flood in the capital a few days ago, that kid Zhong Kun smirked a lot in front of his father. It’s really strange. The boy was an arrogant and stupid person all the way, how did things go so well this time, and he knew how to stockpile food for a rainy day before the flood happened?"

"I've already investigated this matter. It's not that he became smarter, but someone 'helped' him become smarter." Speaking of this, Ning Huayang lifted the curtain of the window and turned to the carriage behind I took a look, "I didn't expect that kid from Jiangzhou to look like nothing mysterious, but he was a little clever. Now he is with Zhong Kun. In the future, Zhong Kun may not do stupid things to make his father angry again." Maybe."

"A kid from Jiangzhou?" Rong's mouth was half-opened, and he thought for a while before realizing, "You're talking about the Ning family in Jiangzhou? The son of Wu'an Bo Ning Ruhai was deported this spring because of Gao Yu's case. That Ning Yuan who holds the title of Juren?"

"I was dismissed from Juren, and I can't take the imperial examination for the rest of my life. If you still want to make a living, finding a big tree to curry favor is indeed a good way. Unfortunately, this kid is a little clever, and it is limited to cleverness. Don't look at it." If you know exactly what kind of tree it is, just flatter yourself, and when the tree falls and the monkeys disperse, you will crush yourself to death, and you can't blame others." Ning Huayang put down the car curtain, and a strange smile appeared from the corner of his mouth, that smile was forced The original honesty and honesty on this face was destroyed, and it became a bit sinister. Looking at that expression, even though they have been husband and wife for many years, Rong couldn't help but shudder down his spine.

Except for the last banquet to welcome the envoys of Great Xia, this is the second time Ning Yuan has entered the palace, and the investigation before entering the palace this time is obviously much stricter than last time. The outer three floors were searched, and only after making sure that there were no suspicious objects were they allowed to go. Perhaps the assassination in the main hall last time made the emperor more aware. The so-called "studying a pit to gain wisdom", this time the Queen Mother's birthday banquet is absolutely not allowed. Something went wrong.

There are many guests who are allowed to attend the birthday banquet, but not everyone can see the Queen Mother. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has arranged two venues for the birthday banquet. Most of the insignificant people will have the banquet in the banquet hall in the palace , and then handed over the congratulatory gifts to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Ministry of Internal Affairs checked them one by one and put them into the treasury. As for other important officials and relatives of the emperor, there was another place to accompany the Queen Mother and other members of the royal family to have a banquet.

Ning Guogong's mansion is one of the three princes of the current dynasty, so there is no reason to be placed outside. The palace people who led the way respectfully led the Ning family around the long corridor of the Royal Garden, walked for a long time, and finally entered the Empress Dowager's Hall directly. flower hall.

This is the place where Bajing is having a birthday banquet.

Along the way, Ning Zhongkun kept reminding Ning Yuan of the etiquette that Ning Yuan should possess when participating in this kind of banquet, and kept emphasizing that it would be very risky for him to force him to bring him here, so he must be careful not to lose it. He wiped his own face, but he didn't know that Ning Yuan might know more about these things than him.After several people were seated, some people were ushered in one after another by the palace staff, most of them were familiar faces.Pang Song came in with Sikong Xu. They didn't seem to notice Ning Yuan at all. After entering the door, they had a haha ​​with several officials. Not long after, Huyan Yuanchen also came. Ning Yuan was just curious. Even the assassins hadn't found out yet, how could the emperor arrange for Huyan Yuanchen, a guest from the Xia Kingdom, to come here for a banquet with the emperor's suspicious temperament, but immediately after, Ning Yuan's eyes fell on Meng Zhi who came in with Huyan Yuanchen Fan body.

"Yo, I didn't realize when this boy Meng Zhifan became so familiar with Prince Yongyi." Ning Zhongkun said in a strange way, "Meng Guogong has never liked Xia people, and he still gets close to him like this , I really don’t have a brain.”

Ning Yuan picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip of water. He didn't speak, and looked away. He came in with Ning Zhongkun this time just to ensure that the sorceress wouldn't make mistakes in her work, and he didn't have the mind to take care of other things for the time being.

Sikong Yue was the last one to arrive at the scene. As soon as he entered, many officials immediately stood up and came up to greet him.

Everyone knows that because of the flood in the capital, the Emperor praised Sikong Yue's handling of it properly. The officials were used to fooling around, so they naturally knew when to turn the tide. It also made Sikong Xu who was sitting there look gloomy.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. Although Your Highness has gained power for a while, after tonight, I don't know if he can still be so public." Pang Song smiled and said to Sikong Xu in a low voice: "I heard that His Highness dedicated this time to the Queen Mother. Your concubine's congratulatory gift is actually a magic stick pretending to be a ghost."

"What did you say, magic stick?" Sikong Xu was taken aback, apparently he didn't know about it yet, "Where did you find out about it, Pang Dao?"

"There are so many mouths in the First Prince's Mansion, so some people will naturally say a few more words." Pang Song stroked the beard on his chin twice, "So it is said that His Highness can't make a fortune. If others don't dig a hole for him, he will pour it himself. He will dig a hole for himself to jump in, and if the magic stick he found offends the Queen Mother, no matter how much he contributed to the flood, he will write it off."

When Sikong Xu heard this, he couldn't help laughing.

Most of all, he didn't believe in these strange and chaotic things. These magic sticks were just relying on nonsense to deceive some ordinary people who didn't know why, but Sikong Yue actually brought such charlatans into the palace, to the emperor and queen mother To be embarrassing in front of him is to seek death.

Thinking about the congratulatory gift he had prepared for the queen mother, Sikong Xu became more confident. In order to find this gift, he spent a lot of effort and thought. He was sure that the queen mother would be happy. After tonight, he Maybe it will completely surpass Sikong Yue's status.

After everyone got angry, the hosts of the banquet, the emperor and the queen mother, entered the venue from the other side surrounded by a group of harem concubines. It is still the emperor's dragon chair, the empress dowager sits on a phoenix chair on the lower left, and the emperor's lower right, which should have been the empress's other phoenix chair, was taken by a young woman.The woman's make-up was exquisite, with flower tints on her brows. Although she was sitting in the queen's seat, her hands were not idle. She kept tapping the emperor's right shoulder with her hands, and she still looked charming.

And the queen didn't say anything, and sat next to the queen mother instead. Even though she had a smile on her face, through the thick layer of face powder, one could still see how forced the smile on the queen's face was. How reluctant.

The people below didn't dare to speak for a moment, and someone lowered their voices and asked the people around them: "How can concubine Yuegui sit in the queen's seat? This is unreasonable. What is the emperor thinking?" But his question Soon it was stopped by others, "The Empress herself has no objection, neither the Emperor nor the Empress Dowager said anything, what are you talking about."

"The weather has been hot and humid recently, making the emperor's shoulders sore. Concubine Yuegui learned a massage technique from medical skills, which can relieve the pain of the emperor. Therefore, my palace specially let concubine Yuegui sit next to the emperor to massage and massage for him. You don’t need to be surprised as a minister.” In the end, the queen was the first to answer the doubts of everyone below. Hearing this, some people immediately showed an expression of sudden understanding, while others smiled half-smiles, thinking that the queen is the mother of the country and was excluded from this place. For the sake of it, it is really pitiful to pretend to be magnanimous.

But it is certain that no one will express this idea clearly, and immediately after that, the queen said some high-sounding words before closing her mouth again, and as the palace people presented delicacies like flowing water, all the dancers and musicians also entered the arena, The birthday banquet finally started in earnest.

With the opening of the birthday banquet, one gift after another was handed over to the palace by the guests as a sideshow. Naturally, the Empress Dowager would not be short of gold and silver, so most of the gifts were ingenious things, but they were also ingenious. Very, ordinary, the queen mother glanced at it, and asked the palace servants to accept it. When she was interested, she would pick it up and play with it, and then praised a few words. There is always some arrogance in looking at other people's eyes.

Among them, concubine Yuegui's congratulatory gift was the most ingenious. Compared with the jewelry and jades sent by other concubines, what she asked the palace people to carry out was a screen with four exhibitions. The beautiful scenery of the lake and mountains.

It would take a lot of effort to show such a beautiful scene stitch by stitch on such a large screen, and the embroidery is so delicate, the Empress Dowager gave Concubine Yue admiringly, "You have bothered me, child."

"Empress Dowager, don't think that this screen is just such a simple beautiful scene, Yue'er has more thoughts than that." The emperor said, smiling at Concubine Yue, and said loudly: "Bring the things up. "

Immediately, several palace people worked together to lift up a big tripod. There were a lot of ice cubes in the tripod, and the flower hall became much cooler for a while.

The queen mother was curious, and saw that the palace man who was carrying the screen moved the screen closer to the pile of ice, and a strange scene suddenly appeared. The lush mountain on the patchwork began to turn yellow slowly, and then It slowly turned red again, presenting a scene of red leaves all over the mountain. The Empress Dowager was about to call it, when the color on the screen changed again, and the fiery red color of the mountains quickly receded. Immediately afterwards, a piece of smooth snow white began to diffuse, and in a blink of an eye, In the meantime, the red leaves all over the mountain turned into heavy snow again, and the palace staff gradually took away the screen, away from the ice, and the snow-like white on the screen turned red again, no longer a dazzling red, It is red with a light pink color, just like the mountains are full of colorful spring flowers, and then the spring flowers recede, showing the lush lake and mountains like at the beginning.

There is such a change in the embroidery on a pair of screens, not to mention the queen mother, the people below are also stunned.

The emperor said with some pride: "The mystery of this four seasons screen of mountains and rivers is here. With the temperature changes of the four seasons, it will present a scenery that matches the seasons. In order to find these, Yue'er can change colors with the temperature." dyes, but it took a lot of work."

"Concubine Yue Gui really has a heart." The queen mother was also surprised by the strange side of the screen and smiled all over her face, "There is such a strange paint, and the Ai family didn't know it at all before."

"The empress dowager praises it, and the concubine is really terrified." Yuegui hurriedly got up to salute, but her face was very proud.

"Cut, it's just a cheap screen. This time, my grandmother prepared a very rare glass luminous cup for the empress dowager as a gift. I think the empress dowager should be more satisfied." Ning Zhongkun said to Ning in a disdainful tone. Yuan boasted, "If you say that the luminous cup is a rare treasure, I saw it from my grandfather when I was a child. It can emit soft light in a dim place. If it is poured with fine wine, it will be even more dazzling. This kind of treasure can't be taken out by others."

As soon as Ning Zhongkun finished speaking, he saw Ning Huayang who was not far away stood up and said: "My minister was entrusted by his mother, and I also have a congratulatory gift for the empress dowager. I hope that the empress do not despise it." After finishing speaking, He took out an exquisite brocade box with both hands, and handed it to the palace man who presented it on his behalf.

"Look, that's it." Ning Zhongkun said proudly.

The palace man presented the brocade box to the Empress Dowager and opened it. The Empress Dowager looked at it, took out the exquisite wine glass with her own hands, looked at it in front of her eyes for a moment, and asked doubtfully, "This is it?"

"This is a glazed moonlight cup. I dare you, may I ask the emperor to extinguish half of the candles in the hall?" Ning Huayang bowed.

The emperor waved his hand, and the light in the hall immediately dimmed. At the same time, the soft light from the wine glass fell into everyone's eyes.

"The light is so soft, it's like a night pearl." The Queen Mother exclaimed, "It's really a treasure."

"It's more than that." Ning Huayang continued to laugh and said, "Please pour the wine into this cup, Queen Mother, and then look at it."

Immediately, a palace attendant poured half a glass of wine into the luminous glass. The moment the wine was poured into the glass, the originally soft light on the glass suddenly shook, and finally reflected a burst of colorful lights on the walls around the hall. The halo is very beautiful.

"Such a wine bottle is really a rare treasure..." Seeing such a beautiful scenery, the Queen Mother was about to admire, but suddenly, a very slight but clear "click" sound came into everyone's ears abruptly, and interrupted it. Queen Mother's words.

At the same time, the colorful halos originally reflected on the surrounding walls disappeared in an instant, and the wine glasses also dimmed, becoming completely dark. The palace people immediately lit the extinguished candles, and as the palace reopened It became brighter, and everyone noticed that the glass cup that was supposed to be flawless in the Empress Dowager's hand now had an extremely eye-catching white crack on the cup.

Seeing this scene, Ning Huayang immediately turned pale with shock, knelt down with a thud, and kowtowed continuously: "The empress dowager calm down, I, I really don't know why this happened, the empress dowager atones!"

When Ning Huayang knelt, the Rong family and others around him also came out to kneel. Ning Zhongkun was already stunned by the glass cup that suddenly cracked, and Ning Yuan pulled him a few times before he seemed to react. Same, hastily got up and knelt down.

"It's okay." Even though the queen mother looked down, she didn't seem to be angry, but said: "It's just an accident, it's just a pity that such a good treasure has been destroyed like this." While speaking, the queen mother showed regret With an expression on his face, he handed the wine glass to the palace man next to him to hold it again, and stopped looking at it again.

"How could this happen?" Ning Zhongkun murmured, "That's a treasure, how could it suddenly crack?"

Ning Huayang thanked him sincerely, wiped the sweat from his forehead, stood up from the ground, took the wine glass handed back by the palace man, returned to his seat in despair, and sat down again. Under the terrified expression, there was unexpectedly a smile hidden.

Ning Yuan stood up thoughtfully, looked at Ning Huayang's back, and said nothing.

The atmosphere in the hall became gloomy with the sudden crack of the glass cup. After all, such a treasure broke for no reason. Although it cannot be said whose fault it was, it would still make people feel regretful. He stood up to smooth things over, and said to the Queen Mother: "Grandmother, my grandson has also carefully prepared a gift for your birthday, hoping to make Grandmother happy."