bastard returns

"This fairy girl really has some skills. If she works for the Queen Mother's prescription, His Highness will be able to exhale and raise his eyebrows completely." Speaking of this, Ning Zhongkun patted his chest, "I just saw that the fire phoenix disappeared for no reason. I have been fighting in fear for a long time, it's so dangerous."

"I have something to leave for a while." Ning Yuan didn't say anything to Ning Zhongkun, but got up and exited the house from an inconspicuous place, and came outside the hall. The Empress Dowager's Hall is a heavily guarded place. As soon as Ning Yuan appeared, They were questioned by two guards, but before Ning Yuan could answer, a grey-haired mother came from a distance and said, "This is a guest who came to the banquet, so don't be rude."

The nanny looked dignified, and her clothes were much more gorgeous than ordinary palace people. Seeing that she must be a person of some status, the two guards immediately bowed their heads and retreated when they heard her words. The nanny walked in front of Ning Yuan , Ning Yuan saluted first, "May I ask, but Mother Kang from the Empress Dowager's Palace?"

The nanny glanced at Ning Yuan and said, "Young master's clothes are wet with wine, just wipe them off with me." Then she turned and left, Ning Yuan immediately followed him, and the two came together In a secluded place, Mother Kang stopped and stretched out her hand to Ning Yuan with a stern expression.

Ning Yuan fished out from his sleeve robe, took out a simple silver hairpin and handed it to the mother.

Seeing the silver hairpin, the solemn expression on Madam Kang's face immediately collapsed, as if she saw something in her heart, she stroked the pattern of the hairpin twice with trembling fingers, and said with a sob: "Ma'am, is she okay?" .”

"Your concubine, everything is safe." Ning Yuan bowed and said, "Your Majesty also misses Nanny, knowing that I have entered the palace this time, she specially asked me to say hello to Nanny."

"I'm an old servant girl, how dare I accept my mother's comfort." Mother Kang wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. Thanks to Empress Shu for saving me, I was able to save my life. This silver hairpin was a thank you gift to Empress at that time. Later, my combing skills were appreciated by the Empress Dowager, and I was lucky enough to enter the Empress Dowager’s Palace. However, Empress Dowager was in trouble. Even though she is the nanny in charge of the Empress Dowager's Palace, she is still just a servant girl, and she has always felt ashamed in her heart because she couldn't even say a word of intercession when she watched the empress kicked out of the palace."

"Nurse Kang, don't blame yourself. Your concubine and His Royal Highness have been well all these years." Ning Yuan comforted.

"Hmph, what happened back then must have been caused by an inner ghost who framed the empress, thinking that betraying the empress would bring prosperity and wealth, but unfortunately many unrighteous deeds would result in suicide. Since the empress was out of the palace, except for one or two people who were lucky enough to be set aside Those who left the palace, and the rest all died inexplicably." Mother Kang gathered herself together, "Since the empress dragged the young master to contact the old slave, she must have a plan, the young master can tell me in detail."

Ning Yuan lowered his voice, and whispered in Nanny Kang's ear, and Nanny Kang nodded, "In this case, Mr. Lao will take care of your mother, and the old slave will take care of that Xiangu He's affairs." Yes." After finishing speaking, Mother Kang took two steps back and looked around vigilantly, "There are many people in the palace, so you should go back quickly, so that no one will be found suspicious, and the affairs in the palace are left to the old man Don't worry, my lord." After speaking, he turned around and left in a hurry.

Ning Yuan walked back to the flower hall for the banquet along the less crowded place, and before he entered the hall, he suddenly heard a melodious sound of qin and Xiao Xiangxiang music coming from inside.

The music was dominated by the sound of the qin, supplemented by the sound of the flute. It was an unfamiliar, but extremely pleasant piece of music. It could be heard that both the player who played the qin and the person who played the flute were very skilled.

Ning Yuan walked into the hall with light steps, and just stepped over the threshold, he stopped while looking at the scene in the hall.

There is a qin platform in the center of the main hall, and a young man in Chinese clothes is sitting beside him, his slender fingers are constantly walking on the strings, bursts of music are continuously flowing from the strings like spring water, and in the Beside the noble young master, another young man in a black robe stood tall, and he was holding an iron flute to his lips, and the sound of the flute was used to meet the sound of the young master's piano, and the two could see that they were both The people with outstanding skills cooperated seamlessly with each other. For a while, there was no sound of talking in the hall, and everyone was attentively appreciating this rare rhythm performance.

I don't know how long it took, the sound of the son's zither changed from slow to hasty, and then to slow again, and the sound of the young man's flute gradually changed from thick and turbulent to empty and distant, until the two of them stopped, the sound was still like a The hall seems to be lingering for a long time, slowly drifting away until it can no longer be heard.

"Okay, okay!" The emperor clapped his palms hard twice, "Meng Shizi's piano skills are well-known in Huajing. I have heard it a few times before, and I already think it can be called the sound of nature. Compared with the music in the palace Musicians should be good, and I don’t know how many people there are. If you don’t talk about today’s Yi and Prince Yongyi’s flute, it’s even more amazing.” After speaking, the emperor looked at the smiling Queen Mother, “What does the Queen Mother think?”

"It's the first time the Ai family has heard such a good music." The queen mother also nodded in admiration, and then asked Meng Zhifan: "What kind of music is this, because the Ai family has never heard it before?"

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, this is "Sang Tian Yue Xia Song" written hundreds of years ago by Lu Guangqiu, a musician of the State of Xia. The score of this song has only been incomplete in my Zhou Dynasty. The villain has been looking for the complete copy of the score for many years. Unexpectedly Unexpectedly, I found out that Prince Yongyi had the complete copy, so I licked my face and asked Prince Yongyi for it, and the prince was willing to use the flute to make the song more rich, which really surprised the villain." When Meng Zhifan said this, he turned sideways and bowed to Huyan Yuanchen, "I would also like to thank the prince for his success."

"Young Master Meng is overrated." Hu Yanyuanchen clasped his fists in a reserved manner in return, the corners of his lips slightly raised under the mask, "It just so happens that I haven't prepared any congratulatory gifts for the Queen Mother, so I use such a song to express my heart, It doesn’t always look too shabby.”

"Meng Aiqing, you have a good son." The emperor reached out and nodded to Meng Guogong, and raised his wine glass at the same time. Meng Guogong immediately got up to respond, and the scene of toasting and mingling in the palace resumed. , Ning Yuan walked back to his seat calmly, but couldn't help but glanced in the direction of Huyan Yuanchen, and found that he was bending over to listen to Meng Zhifan, their cheeks were very close, and Ning Yuan could see I felt bad for a while.

Ning Zhongkun seemed a little drunk, when he saw Ning Yuan came back, he tugged at him and said, "Let me tell you quietly, actually, I have always suspected that Meng Zhifan is a guy who likes men."

Ning Yuan blinked, as if he didn't hear clearly, "What did you say?"

"I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Many young masters in Beijing guessed this way more or less. It's just that they are concerned about the kid's identity and are embarrassed to say it in the open." Ning Zhongkun hiccupped, "You said This Meng Zhifan is not too young, and his status is still there. Since he became an adult, there have been many noble ladies who have come to ask for marriage. Meng Guogong has also picked out some decent-looking people who want to marry him. In the end, he rejected all of them, saying that he was still young, he should spend more time on his studies, and it is not advisable for a man to talk about marriage too early. If you don’t talk about marriage, let’s not talk about marriage. I want to play for two more years in the capital. It's not that there are rich kids who bring a tigress home and tie themselves up, but this Meng Zhifan is really strange. At this age, there is no girl connected to the house. Not interested in women."

"Cousin, I see that you have drunk too much." Ning Yuan said calmly, "Some people in the world just like to keep themselves clean, and it is too narrow to judge others by themselves."

"That's right, it's true that you shouldn't judge others by yourself." Ning Zhongkun laughed twice, "But even if it's as absurd as my generation, even if I get tired of going to the fireworks brothel, I won't think about getting a young actor to raise me Let's stay in the mansion, Meng Zhifan is very skilled at things we can't do."

Ning Yuan stopped holding the wine glass.

As soon as Ning Zhongkun got drunk, he couldn't stop the gossip, "I'll tell you, it's no longer a secret. Two years ago, there was a very popular opera troupe, the Cuizhu Troupe, which opened in the capital. There was a young actor named Qu Yue, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, very tall and handsome, and his performances were all fighting dramas, which was very different from other Yingying and Yanyan male actors. He fascinated a large area of ​​the capital. Miss Yatou, later Meng Guogong invited this green bamboo troupe to the mansion for his birthday. After the end, everyone else was sent out of the mansion, but Naqu Yue was kept in the Meng mansion for one night. When he came out the next day, someone Seeing that his expression was strange and his walking posture was not very stable, later on, every now and then, Naquyue would be quietly picked up by the Meng family's carriage into Meng's mansion at night when there were few people, and he would be sent away at dawn. After inquiring, it turned out that the boy Meng Zhifan fell in love with Qu Yue, and gave a lot of money to the leader of the Cuizhu class, and every time Na Quyue was sent to the Duke of Meng's mansion, it was not for singing, but by Meng Zhifan. Pulled into the room, I don’t know what shameful deeds to do!”

Speaking of this, Ning Zhongkun hiccupped for a long time, Ning Yuan frowned slightly due to the smell of alcohol, but he didn't move his head away, as if he wanted to continue listening.

"Don't think I'm lying to you, Prince Yongyi. Although he has been wearing a mask and can't see the true face of Lushan, but just looking at his figure, he is many times stronger than Naqu Yue. Meng Zhifan has always been arrogant. The young masters of the various families have little contact with each other, and now they would take the initiative to get close to Prince Yongyi, nine times out of ten they fell in love with him, and planned to see the opportunity to make a move..."

"Cousin, you really drank too much. It's the Empress Dowager's birthday party now, so be careful." Ning Yuan suddenly interrupted him, and said with a blunt expression. As if he just realized where he was now, he looked around vigilantly, shut his mouth and stopped talking.

But what he said just now seemed to have taken root in Ning Yuan's mind, and no matter how hard Ning Yuan tried, he couldn't get rid of it.

"That kid Meng Zhifan is a guy who likes men."

"Now he actually takes the initiative to approach Prince Yongyi to get close. There are nine out of ten that he has taken a fancy to him and plans to seize the opportunity to make a move."

"Young Lord Yongyi, although you can't see the true face of Mount Lu clearly with a mask on all the time, but just looking at his figure, he is many times stronger than Yue Naqu."

Ning Yuan bit his lip, turned his eyes and looked in Huyan Yuanchen's direction again.

Perhaps it was because his sight was too obvious, Huyan Yuanchen quickly noticed these two searching gazes, and looked back at Ning Yuan, grinning with a corner of his mouth, but it's a pity that before his smile was fully opened, Ning Yuan had already I looked back.

The half-baked smile was stuck there, Huyan Yuanchen didn't let it go, he didn't take it back, he froze for a while, then awkwardly picked up the wine glass and took a sip of the wine.

Yan Feike, who was sitting behind him as a guard, took all the scene just now into his eyes, and let himself break out in cold sweat, but as a subordinate, he was not good at telling his master what to do. When he actually wanted to "harmonize with the piano and flute" with the prince of Meng, the young master might just be out of politeness and didn't think deeply about it, but he, Yan Fei, saw it and felt that the sky was about to turn upside down.

I still remember that day when I was distributing dinner to the victims, I just saw the young master and Mr. Meng say a few words, and Mr. Ning made a bad face at himself. Now Mr. Ning has seen the scene of "harmony between the piano and the flute" just now , if the young master wants to help spread the message by himself, what should we do?

Thinking of this, Yan Fei looked at Huyan Yuanchen's back with hatred, and sighed one after another.

The birthday banquet finally came to an end amidst the sound of congratulations. Most of the guests drank too much, and the palace people sent them to their carriages one after another. Ning Zhongkun was the only one in the Ning family who was the most ecstatic. The two palace servants held hands and carried each other away. The others, whether it was Ning Huayang or his two sons, were generous and not at all drunk. They looked at the family, but the others looked at Ning Zhongkun. With such a mocking look, Ning Yuan shook his head slightly, thinking that it is not impossible for Ning Guogong to abolish his son and establish his concubine.

Ning Yuan came with them on the same road, but they will not go on the same road when they go back. The house in the west of the city has been repaired, and he has to go back and talk to Mrs. Shu about Nanny Kang.Because the banquet ended early, Zhou Shi would not drive to pick him up until the appointed time. Ning Yuan could only stand at the gate of the palace and wait. At this moment, a spacious carriage with the logo of the Meng family stopped in front of him. , Meng Zhifan poked out half of his head from the car window: "Brother Ning wants to go the same way, why don't I give you a ride."

"No need." Ning Yuan replied politely, "I've already arranged a car, and I'll be here in a while."

"Is that so?" Meng Zhifan nodded, "But I think Brother Ning, you will wait for a long time, because I have already sent someone to report to your house, and you will drive back in my car tonight. .”

Ning Yuan narrowed his eyes.

"Brother Ning, let's get in the car." Meng Zhifan took the initiative to pull up the curtain, "The birthday banquet was very reserved just now, I don't think Brother Ning didn't eat much, I just prepared some food and wine, we can eat while we eat chat."

Meng Zhifan's carriage looks ordinary on the outside, but the inside is comparable to Sikong Xu's, not only is it spacious, but all the decorations are also extremely comfortable, even the carriage axles are specially cushioned for shock absorption , even though the carriage was moving, the inside of the carriage did not feel the slightest shaking, and even the wine in the wine glass only shook and rippled very slightly.

Presumably because he disliked the hot weather, Meng Zhifan took off his outer robe and was completely out of sight wearing only a middle coat. The dishes on the small table in the car were full of raw and cold dishes, and even the wine was placed in a cup with ice cubes. in the ice jug.

"I've always been afraid of heat, so I made Brother Ning laugh at me." Seeing that Ning Yuan was silent, Meng Zhifan took the initiative to speak, "Brother Ning, try this bar, this is the famous wine from Xia Kingdom that Prince Yongyi gave me, listen It is said to be brewed with seasonal fruits, and the wine has a fruity aroma, which is much more mellow than our wine."

"Brother Meng looks very familiar with Prince Yongyi now." Ning Yuan finally picked up the wine glass, and the wine in the glass was indeed as fruity as Meng Zhifan said, but Ning Yuan suddenly felt his throat It was as if there was something stuck in it, and I couldn't swallow it at all, so I smelled it, and then turned again.

"I am not just familiar with him." Meng Zhifan suddenly lowered his tone, and said to Ning Yuan mysteriously: "Brother Ning, do you know the name of that Prince Yongyi? "

Immediately afterwards, before Ning Yuan could answer, he shook out the answer as if asking and answering himself, "It is estimated that many people in Huajing don't know, but in fact, this Prince Yongyi who came here as an envoy was the Huyan Yuanchen, the prince of Great Xia who was the proton in our Great Zhou and was recalled back to the country only three years ago."

Of course Ning Yuan knew about this, but he was a little uncertain what Meng Zhifan's sudden intentions were for bringing these things up to him, so he could only pretend not to know: "Oh? Since Prince Yongyi once stayed in our Da Zhou, he should There are quite a few people who will know him, how could no one notice him just wearing a mask?"

"You don't know about this." Meng Zhifan waved his hand, "Xia Guo's military power has always been strong, and although Huyan Yuanchen is a proton, he has never been controlled by our dynasty. Not only that, the noble sons of Huajing I am also a little jealous of this Prince Xia, and they are worried that if they have been close to each other before, they will be regarded as rebels, so except for some large-scale occasions, almost no one will have a personal relationship with him, and only Jing Yi from Jingguo's mansion That kid has a good relationship with him, but now Jing Yi was thrown by Jing Guogong to the army for training, and now a few years later, he put on a mask again, so naturally no one can recognize that Prince Yongyi."

"In that case." Ning Yuan said, "How did brother Meng know?"

"It's a bit embarrassing to say this, Brother Ning, don't laugh at me." Meng Zhifan chuckled, "It is true that I had no contact with Huyan Yuanchen before, and I can't be familiar with him, but he may not be familiar with me, but I have known him for a long time."

Meng Zhifan looked at the wine glass in his hand, his eyes seemed to be sunk in memories, "Actually, I met Huyan Yuanchen the day he first came to court. I was still young at that time, and I heard that the proton of the Xia Kingdom was coming. , perhaps to see what’s new, and it happened that my father was handling the affairs of the reception, so I asked my father to take me with him quietly.”

"I still remember that Xia Guo's guard of honor was a bit shabby, there was not even a carriage, and a few people rode horses in dusty condition, escorted by the officers and soldiers of Dazhou to the gate of Huajing City, and Huyan Yuanchen was riding at the front Immediately, he looked a few years older than me, dressed a bit shabby, and didn't look like a prince at all. At that time, I was extremely disappointed, thinking that this is actually the prince of Xia Kingdom. More than a star and a half."

Meng Zhifan said, but Ning Yuan imagined the scene in his mind, shortened Huyan Yuanchen's stature and made his face look a few years younger, then put it into a suit of shabby clothes, and rode On a dusty horse, just thinking about it, Ning Yuan suddenly felt a burst of joy and caught a cold, and he had to hold back the smile at the corner of his mouth.

"I thought His Highness Proton was just an inconspicuous guy, so I didn't pay attention to him until I ran into him again at the birthday party held by the eldest princess for Monarch Wanyi. Lord Yi joked that she would choose one of the officials' children present to be her future husband-in-law, and then a group of middle-aged and middle-aged men began to compete, from archery to equestrian skills, and then to close-handed kung fu. It is Huyan Yuanchen who is far ahead, so many noble children, even the sons of generals, are not his opponents, especially Jing Yi, who was almost broken by his slap, I think that His Royal Highness is really so good. Twice."

"For a long time later, as long as there was nothing wrong, I would sneak out of the house and run to the Proton Mansion in the west of the city to look at the corner of the wall and hide at the entrance of the alley, just in time to see Huyan Yuanchen dancing a gun in the yard. I never knew that there are still people who can dance a spear so beautifully, so after returning home, I asked my father to find a martial artist to teach me how to shoot. Unfortunately, my Meng family has always been the son of civil officials, so I really don’t know martial arts. I learned a few times from the martial artist Once, after realizing that I had no talent, I gave up, but I would often go outside the Proton Mansion to squat in the corner to watch him dance the spear, and occasionally I would catch him playing the flute. I know that the sound of the flute should be The sound of the qin, dancing with the gun is not good, but I can try the errand of playing the qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, so after I came back, I found a musician to learn the qin, but at that time, I never thought of it, and finally learned this qin and became famous in the capital."

Hearing Meng Zhifan say so much without getting to the point, Ning Yuan was not in a hurry. To be honest, he and Huyan Yuanchen had known each other for so long, and this was the first time he had come into contact with his past, which he had never told. From what Meng Zhifan said about his own affairs, it doesn't sound like much.

"I've always wanted to find an opportunity to get to know him, and even to have a close relationship with him like Jing Yi, but it's a pity that I don't have Jing Yi's open-mindedness and the courage to dare to contradict my father. We are very close, so sometimes even if we met on the street, I didn’t even dare to say hello. I used to be very confused about this feeling. Yue's troupe appeared."

Hearing Meng Zhifan mention Qu Yue suddenly, Ning Yuan couldn't help but look terrified. He suddenly realized that the real highlight was coming.