The Favorite of the Court of Joy

The next day, Bai Mudan came to Zhang Xiaoqian again, Zhang Xiaoqian told him his thoughts, he would help Bailian get out of prison for a while, kneel down in front of Zhou Bowen to apologize, and at the same time let Zhou Bowen do ideological work, let him accept Bailian's apology , and agreed to intercede for Bai Lian to reduce her sentence.

Things went smoothly, Zhang Xiaoqian expected that Zhou Bowen would accept the apology and plead for Bailian to reduce her sentence.Why?Nothing more than a reputation.Zhou Bowen was deliberately assassinated by Bai Lian, but he still forgave Bai Lian's out-of-control behavior for a while, and pleaded for a commutation of his sentence, which did not reflect his magnanimous character.How could a talented, unafraid of power, and magnanimous person not be loved by the common people or noticed by the emperor?No matter how Zhou Bowen did in the exam again, in short, his reputation has been established. During the palace exam, the emperor will definitely give him some good impression points.

Bai Lian spent several days in the dark prison, which made him feel fear and anxiety, and his arrogance was gradually diminished.He regretted not listening to Bai Mudan, regretted his stupidity, regretted that he lost his mind and killed someone.Bai Mudan told him to let him cooperate with the sentence, do more good deeds, and behave well, and maybe his sentence can be commuted again, so he can be released from prison early.Bai Lian wept bitterly and nodded, promising that he would cooperate well.

On the other hand, Zhang Xiaoqian got the title deed and transfer letter of Xunhuan Pavilion, released all the owners of Xunhuan Pavilion, and closed Xunhuan Pavilion, thinking that he had done a great deed.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, the first day of April is here. Candidates walked into the examination room again. Many of them were full of confidence and believed that the decision of this examination would be fair and just.Zhou Bowen is still in the training period, but this time he risked his life to fight for the exam, so he has to take the exam no matter what.

Zhang Xiaoqian and Wan Zi had a stomach that was more than seven months old, they lived happily in Prince Rui's residence.Although there were still a few inconspicuous concubines in the palace, Zhang Xiaoqian felt extremely at ease without the woman who was most annoying to look at. In addition, Zhao Minghan stayed with him every night, so he was naturally in a better mood.However, occasionally he would be unhappy, because those outside who wanted to cling to Prince Rui always tried to send women into the palace. Fortunately, Zhao Minghan didn't accept any more women, otherwise he would have to eunuch him with a knife while he was fast asleep. Kill him, so that he can no longer be humane.

On the surface, the capital is still a scene of joy, peace and blooming flowers, but in fact there is an undercurrent.Ever since Grand Master Li absconded and became a wanted fugitive, Zhao Minghan and his nephew knew that he must have escaped to King Guangping's fief and got in touch with King Guangkang.They spread rumors that the emperor and the regent were bewitched by the two darlings. Prince Rui named the darling as a side concubine, and the next step was to promote her to be a concubine, which would be recorded on the imperial jade certificate. In the imperial palace, maybe the emperor got carried away and came up with a male queen. The emperor and Prince Rui really violated the rules of the world. They made up their minds to fight against the rules of the world. As subjects, they cannot just sit and watch the future of Dongyue Kingdom be ruined here. In the hands of the uncle and nephew.So, they contacted the vassal kings from all over the country and got a lot of support, but some vassal kings were unmoved and wanted to take advantage of it.

How could Zhao Minghan's uncle and nephew not know what happened in the feudal domain? Temporarily inaction does not mean that there are no precautions, but it is just waiting for an opportunity to catch them all.

However, Taishi Li is really hateful. He not only contacted many vassal kings in an attempt to rebel, but also secretly contacted people from Beisha Kingdom in order to succeed in his own selfish desires.Since Beisha Kingdom intermarried with Nordic people 100 years ago, their descendants are all tall and powerful, and they provoke border wars from time to time, ambitious to annex Dongyue, Western Chu and Southern Xinjiang.

According to reports from border spies, Zhao Minghan learned that Beisha's army was slowly approaching the border, and a war with Beisha was inevitable.

In the capital, the re-examination was in full swing. The cheating incident last time shortened the time of this scientific examination. The three examinations were completed within five days.Candidates must bring enough dry food and wrap up quilts. During the five days, they will eat and drink Lhasa in the examination room.The weather has been very nice these days, neither hot nor cold, God is also helping.

On the evening of the fifth day of the lunar new year, the gate of the examination room was opened, and there were a bunch of people standing outside, all of whom were here to pick up their relatives, some were the candidates’ parents, some were the candidates’ wives and children, watching the candidates come out in twos and threes, each of them stared wide-eyed looking for Familiar figure.

On this day, the business of the street vendors was very good, because the family members of these candidates came to buy good things for the candidates who had finished the test to nourish their bodies.

Zhang Xiaoqian and Wan Zi were in the small pavilion in Yimei Garden listening to the servants tell the interesting things that happened outside as usual.

Suddenly a figure rushed into Yimei Garden, and the hidden guards of Yimei Garden immediately rushed out and surrounded him.

Zhang Xiaoqian and Wan Zi took a closer look at the people surrounded, oh~~ it turned out to be a familiar stranger——Tang Zeyu.At this time, Ximei was not with them. Tang Zeyu suddenly thought that something happened to Ximei, and wanted to approach Zhang Xiaoqian to find out, but the hidden guards thought that he was going to hurt Zhang Xiaoqian, so they fought with each other.Zhang Xiaoqian hurriedly shouted: "Stop, we are all our own." The two sides stopped fighting.

Tang Zeyu immediately ran over and asked eagerly, "Where is Ximei, where is Ximei?"

Xiao Hua wanted to answer, but Zhang Xiaoqian stopped her with his eyes, and Tang Zeyu felt even more inappropriate when he saw it. "What's going on? Tell me quickly."

Zhang Xiaoqian didn't like this playboy very much, and said: "Young Master Tang, you are so funny, Ximei is mine, what happened to him has nothing to do with you?"

"How can you say that it has nothing to do with me? Anyway, we also met once. He cooked for me. I still think about it. I heard that he was poisoned. As a member of the Tang family, what poison can't be cured?"

"So, Mr. Tang San is here to detoxify Ximei?"

"Yes."

"That's a pity, you came a step late."

Tang Zeyu was very nervous immediately, "You...what do you mean? Ximei, he...he..." Tang Zeyu thumped the pillar of the stone pavilion and blamed himself, "It's all my fault, it's all my fault. Blame me for being a step late. When I received Zhao Minghan's letter, I should have come to Dongyue to detoxify him, and I was the one who harmed him."

Tang Zeyu turned around and faced Zhang Xiaoqian again, with sadness on his face, and asked, "Tell me, where is Ximei buried? I want to visit him."

Zhang Xiaoqian pretended to be calm, Wan Zi and the other maids tried their best to restrain themselves from showing their snickering expressions too clearly.

Seeing Tang Zeyu's grief and self-blame, Zhang Xiaoqian originally wanted to tease him again, but Ximei suddenly appeared, and the game couldn't continue.

Not long ago, Zhang Xiaoqian suddenly wanted to eat sweet-scented osmanthus cake, and Wan Zi wanted to eat hibiscus cake, so Xiao Huang and Ximei went to the kitchen to prepare the cakes, and brought them over after they were ready.

Ximei did not deny that when Da Tang Zeyu appeared, his heart beat violently instantly, and he was very pleasantly surprised, but he didn't know why he suddenly appeared here.

"Mr. Tang, you're here." Ximei took the initiative to greet, "This... this is just made, do you want to try one?"

"Ximei, you..." Tang Zeyu was very surprised, stepped forward and patted his face, pressed his shoulder to make sure that he was alive, and suddenly he woke up, it turned out that he was being played by a favorite.He half-closed his eyes and said to Zhang Xiaoqian, "You concubine Zhang, how dare you tease me."

"Oh, you're a fool, why blame me?"

"What happened?" Ximei was at a loss.Wan Zi pulled him aside, whispered in his ear, and told him the whole story.After hearing this, Ximei blushed slightly, her heart was warm and sweet, Mr. Tang cared about him.

Ximei immediately poured Tang Zeyu a cup of tea, then took a piece of sweet-scented osmanthus cake, and said to him, "Mr. Tang, don't be angry, Xiaoqian is just joking with you. You can drink tea to calm down. I made this sweet-scented osmanthus cake. It's very sweet." It's delicious, try one quickly."

Facing Ximei, Tang Zeyu really smiled, "Since Ximei made it, I must try it." Tang Zeyu took the sweet-scented osmanthus cake, took a bite, chewed it carefully, and then paired it with a sip of tea, admiringly said: "Cake fragrance, tea fragrance, good, very good."

Tang Zeyu pulled Ximei to sit beside him, and then took his pulse to make sure there was no problem. "Whoever poisoned you, tell me, I will avenge you."

Ximei withdrew her hand, so many people were watching, he was very embarrassed. "Mr. Tang, I'm fine. The person who poisoned me has been executed by the prince. Thank you for coming to see me."

"Since you want to thank me, why don't you just cook a meal for me."

"Okay." Ximei was happy to cook for him.

Zhang Xiaoqian at the side rolled his eyes and said, "What a brazen guy, he obviously didn't do anything, yet he has the nerve to beg for food."

Tang Zeyu's face darkened in an instant, "Who said I didn't do anything, I brought Ximei a present." Tang Zeyu took out a small box from his arms and said, "This is for you."

Ximei was very happy. When she opened it, she was a little embarrassed. Zhang Xiaoqian stretched his neck and took a peek. When he saw a beautiful hairpin inside the box, he immediately became angry and said, "Mr. Tang, this golden hairpin It’s not suitable for us Ximei, you’d better take out some brainless girl.”

Tang Zeyu's face was even darker, with a hint of embarrassment on his face. This hairpin was indeed for a little beauty he had just met in Jiangnan. He regained his composure, took back the gift box, and said with a smile, "Sorry, hi! May, I took it by mistake. This is what I want to give you."

Tang Zeyu took out the fan he had been wearing all along.

"Cut, this is shabby." Zhang Xiaoqian sarcastically said, "It's better for my prince, at least the gifts are all valuable. I have a fan made of jade, which looks pretty."

Tang Zeyu suppressed the burgeoning anger in his heart, smiled and said to Ximei: "The wood of this fan is made of golden nanmu, which is not an ordinary thing."

"Golden silk nanmu! Then this fan is so precious, how dare I accept it, Mr. Tang, you can take it out. If you want to eat the food I cook, you don't have to deliberately give it away." Ximei dared not take it.

"Ximei, take it, it's my wish. If you don't accept me, you don't consider me a friend." Tang Zeyu didn't want Zhang Xiaoqian to look down upon her.

Routine!It's all a trick.Zhang Xiaoqian really couldn't stand Tang Zeyu's way of picking up girls.

"This...thank you Mr. Tang." Ximei just accepted the gift, and he immediately opened the fan to look at the patterns on it, one side was written with characters, and the other side was landscape painting. "So lovely."

Tang Zeyu said shyly from the side: "That's right, I wrote the words and paintings myself."

"Narcissism." Zhang Xiaoqian said.

Tang Zeyu snorted, expressing his dissatisfaction with Zhang Xiaoqian, "Concubine Zhang, I advise you to talk less while eating, so as not to choke yourself."

"Thank you Mr. Tang for the reminder." Zhang Xiaoqian continued to eat while saying.

"Let's go, Ximei, I'll take you for a walk in the street." Tang Zeyu was sure that he and Zhang Xiaoqian were incompatible, otherwise a "thriller" like him wouldn't be the most popular wherever he went.Without waiting for Ximei to answer, he picked up Ximei and used lightness kung fu to fly out of Yimei Garden without a trace.

"This playboy is so mad at me, how dare he take Ximei away without my consent."

"Okay, Xiaoqian, don't be angry, let Ximei play for a day." Wan Zi could see that Ximei liked Tang Zeyu, and being able to play with the people she liked was the happiest.But what kind of mentality does that Tang Zeyu have towards Ximei? "Xiaoqian, ask the prince to find out Mr. Tang's attitude towards Ximei. If it's just for fun, don't provoke Ximei again. Ximei is a simple person and cannot stand his provocation."

Zhang Xiaoqian nodded and said: "Okay, when the prince comes back, I will talk to him."

When it was time for dinner, Tang Zeyu hadn't brought Ximei back yet, so Zhang Xiaoqian sat at the dinner table and cursed Tang Zeyu secretly.However, to my surprise, Zhao Minghan, who has been very busy recently, actually has time to have dinner with him tonight.Wan Zi tactfully went to eat at the same table with Xiao Cheng and the others, leaving the two of them alone for dinner.

Zhao Minghan served him soup and vegetables very thoughtfully, and Zhang Xiaoqian felt warm in his heart. What he wanted was this kind of simple love, just like eating with someone he likes now.However, despite being happy, he still noticed something unusual.

He said: "My lord, you are a little abnormal today, what happened?"

"Is there?" Zhao Minghan thought, he has always been able to control his expression, why did the little servant see it all of a sudden.

"Yes, I can feel it." When Zhang Xiaoqian said this, he realized that he cared more and more about him, because he cared, so he cared, so he could feel his subtle changes.

Zhao Minghan smiled and said frankly: "Ah, there is something to do, but let's talk about it later. Let's eat first."

"Well, okay. It just so happens that I also have something to talk to the prince about." Zhang Xiaoqian took a piece of braised pork and some seasonal vegetables for Zhao Minghan Wanli.