I am neither beautiful nor crazy

long silence.

"You're right." Jiang Yu suddenly laughed softly, "It was arranged for the volume to be secretly placed on Father's desk. I forged the volume, and deliberately didn't draw the plum blossom painted with rouge."

"So, Master Xia wants to put me in prison and punish me for the death penalty of bullying the emperor? Knowing that my mother and concubine will not treason, but let her bear unnecessary infamy for so many years? And then bury me with her, Labeled a sinner forever?"

"you……"

Jiang Yu took a slight breath, his eyes were shining brightly, "Master Xia, this is not deceiving the emperor, this is a son reminding his father for the sake of his mother. This is not a crime. The guilty one is the real murderer. A vulgar and sympathetic person in the Manchu Dynasty! Master Xia used to have little power, but now you are respected as Minister of the Ministry of Justice, why don’t you dare to bring up the old case of injustice? Why do you always stop me and say wait, wait, wait .I already--"

"I've been waiting 17 years..."

"Master Xia always told me to hide and wait for the opportunity. But now that Northern Xinjiang has just leveled off, my father is old, and all the princes are staring at the dragon seat. Who can retreat freely? Point out, I have been pulled from the dark to the bright, how can I hide again? The case of my mother and concubine has been shelved for 17 years, and now it has been provoked, and the father's heart has been shaken, why should I hide?"

The room is silent, flickering candlelight penetrates the strong smell of medicine and blood, and the silhouettes of the two are reflected on the window.

"Master Xia, the problem now is not how to hide again, but how to advance." Jiang Yu said softly.

"Life and death are a matter of life."

Inside the Prince's Mansion.

The prince has always been diligent, thrifty and kind, donating most of the gold and silver to drought-stricken areas, and the layout of his house is plain and simple.The bedroom is nothing more than a wooden couch, a table and chairs, and a furnace of elegant incense.

He was seriously injured in the fire a few days ago, and he is still recovering from the collapse, with an abnormal layer of gray on his face.

When the emperor walked in, the prince was sitting down to take medicine, but there was a white mourning belt on his forehead.

"Sit down." The emperor stopped the prince's movement to get up, "I just came to see your injury, and I don't need to treat each other with the courtesy of a monarch and a minister."

The prince hastily put down the medicine bowl, cupped his hands and saluted slightly.

Sitting beside his couch, the emperor couldn't help asking, "What are you using this mourning belt for?"

The prince seemed to think of something suddenly, with surprise on his face, he wanted to take it off, but was stopped by the emperor.

"Return to Father..." Seeing that the blocking was ineffective, the prince could only reply in a low voice, "This is... for the prime minister, I hope Father will not blame you."

The prime minister died of poisoning at a palace banquet not long ago, but the new prime minister has not yet been established.

"Since I was young, the Prime Minister has taught me the art of war, poetry and books, which means that I have a teacher and kindness to me. Now that he is dead, the murderer has not yet been brought to justice, and my minister is bold enough to mourn the funeral with... the etiquette of a teacher and a student."

What he said was sincere and touching.

The emperor sighed softly, and the corners of his drooping eyes looked haggard and old.

"Yes, you have been very close to Xiangguo since you were a child." He recalled, "I remember that the case of Ruoyang Pan was collected and filed by the prime minister himself, and the day the letter of the enemy was found, you were in Jiangyu. Play chess with him in the palace."

The prince's fingers hidden under the quilt curled up involuntarily.

"My son has been recuperating in the palace for a few days due to illness...but what happened?" He asked tentatively.

"It's nothing." The emperor waved his hand, "I'm getting old, just remember the past, let's not talk about it."

The prince lowered his head and smiled meekly.

"Father, my son escaped death this time, thanks to the seventh younger brother who sacrificed his life to save him. Since he was a child... he has no mother and concubine, and he is used to loneliness, and now he is almost reaching the crown."

"Yes, if you don't remind me, I almost forgot about it." The emperor pondered for a moment, "Then do you have a suitable candidate in mind?"

The prince immediately cupped his hands and said, "Seventh brother has a life-long event, and I dare not talk too much."

"Just say it."

"..." The crown prince pondered for a moment, then tentatively said, "I heard that Master Xia has a daughter who is about the same age as the seventh brother, with a very good appearance, who knows how to read poetry and etiquette. My minister thinks... that she is a perfect match for the seventh brother. .”

Gu Yuan was boiling the soup, while Jiang Yu took the scroll by the side and flipped through it casually.

These days, he was forced by the imperial physician to recuperate his wounds in the palace. He was bored, so he asked Gu Yuan to go to the folk market to buy books. The more free and miscellaneous the better.

As a result, Gu Yuan brought back a bunch of books that could be called "ancient earthy love story books".

"What are you buying here?" Jiang Yu couldn't bear to drop the book after flipping through three restricted picture books in a row, "I let you buy idle books, but I didn't let you buy action picture books."

Gu Yuan looked aggrieved, "Your Highness, I bought all the idle books on the roadside stalls, who knew they sold all these... I'll help you throw them out." Gu Yuan was afraid of causing trouble. When he arrived at his highness, he quickly picked up the stack of painting books and was about to run outside.

"Wait, who told you to throw it away?" Jiang Yu raised his eyelids, and there was still anger in the upturned eyes.

Gu Yuan didn't want to leave, nor did he let go, he just froze in place, the two looked at each other in blank dismay.

"Put it away." Jiang Yu said sternly, "I'll watch it when I recover."

Gu Yuan was stunned for a long time before he understood the meaning of Jiang Yu's words, and his face turned red instantly.

And Jiang Yu still had an extremely indifferent expression, as if what those watery eyes were looking at was not a painting book, but mountains and rivers covered with snow.

Gu Yuan put away the small stack of drawing books with the same hands and feet, searched around the room and found no place to put them, and finally had to press them under the bed.

Jiang Yu glanced at him, just smiled, "It's my fault, I didn't think about finding a good girl for you earlier."

"Your Highness, don't talk about me." Gu Yuan got up, "I heard that the emperor called the name today and married the eldest daughter of Mr. Xia's family to His Highness."

Jiang Yu's face was slightly gloomy, but it was not obvious because he lowered his head.

"It's just..." Gu Yuan was in the middle of speaking, and suddenly became very entangled, "Now outside, there are still rumors about you and General Xiao. When I went out today, I heard someone say..."

Jiang Yu interrupted what he was about to say with one hand, "Rumors are not scary, and they are not true."

"But in fact, His Highness doesn't have to hate General Xiao so much. The murderer of the poisoning case has not yet been identified, and it was General Xiao who was on the scene of the fire that day regardless of his life..."

Jiang Yu rubbed his eyebrows irritably.

The two were talking when suddenly a tiny black shadow flashed past the window.

That was the black bird commonly used in communication between Jiangyu and Xia Zhixing.

Gu Yuan ran out, took off the letter on the bird's claw and handed it to Jiang Yu.

This is the matter of replying to Xiao Xiangling who was entrusted to investigate that day.

Xiao Xiangling's personal information is listed above. He was born in the north of Xinjiang. He has no brothers and sisters in his family. He is only three or four years older than Jiangyu, and he doesn't seem to have any abnormalities.

It's just that his parents' names were circled in a huge circle by Xia Zhixing with a Chinese ink pen.

It is marked on the side: No such person was found.

Jiang Yu frowned and looked down.

In Xiao Xiangling's information records, the names and places of origin of his parents were written, but these two people were not found in the household registration information of Northern Xinjiang within 100 years.

The household registration system in northern Xinjiang is far less rigorous than that in the Central Plains, and it is very common to miss information during times of war.

It's just that there are two lines marked at the end of the scroll:

According to the household registration records in northern Xinjiang, there were two people with the same name and surname as Xiao Xiangling's parents 300 years ago, and they were husband and wife.

This is unreasonable, or a coincidence.

At the same time, in the palace of the emperor.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty, Lord Xia has been kneeling outside for two hours. He said that if you insist on not seeing him, he will...not leave at night."

The emperor's writing hand froze slightly, and a small piece of ink was blurred.

He just pointed out the marriage in the morning, and from afternoon to night, he received countless letters of remonstrance and resignation.Not only that, but Xia Zhixing was still kneeling outside the palace gate, begging to see him.

Seeing Xia Zhixing's grief-stricken look, those who didn't know thought it was the emperor who gave him the marriage to Jiangyu.

The emperor changed a sheet of paper, took a few breaths, felt more impetuous, and said angrily, "Tell him to come in."

Xia Zhixing knelt outside for a long time, and when he walked in, his legs and feet were already a little awkward.

"Master Xia is dissatisfied with this matter?" The emperor preemptively said, "But you think my prince is not worthy of your daughter?"

"How dare a sinful minister, Your Majesty." Xia Zhixing fell to his knees with a plop, "It's not that His Highness the Seventh Prince is unworthy, it's that a dog girl is unworthy."

The emperor was impatient and motioned him to finish speaking quickly,

"A humble minister deserves death." Xia Zhixing kowtowed on the ground, "It's just that I have an unspeakable secret... The daughter in the minister's house is not the minister's own flesh and blood. She absolutely dare not dirty the blood of the dragon."

The emperor's hand holding the pen froze in place.