[Red Mansion] Ronghua Road of Mrs. Hou's Mansion

In an elegant room on the second floor, the layout is unique and elegant, with plenty of sunlight coming in, blending with the curling tea smoke.There is a charcoal fire in the house, which is very warm.

On a long table, four people sat down.Ning Wang smiled and said: "It's rare that Lord Hou is willing to show his face and allow Xiao Wang to sit at the same table with you. Xiao Wang will toast you first."

King Ning knew that Gu Xingchi was favored by the emperor, he acted recklessly, and did not take anyone seriously, but the emperor also pampered him, so King Ning was happy to give him some face.

Gu Xingchi picked up the wine glass and drank it down in one gulp.

"His Royal Highness Ning came here not just to have a drink with me?"

King Ning shook his head and laughed loudly, "Master Hou is indeed a straightforward person. Anyway, since Master Hou said it, I won't beat around the bush. Today I am indeed here specially to wait for Master Hou."

Gu Xingchi twitched his brows slightly, "Oh, I don't know if Your Highness has anything to say to me?"

King Ning laughed and said, "Master Hou is a smart man, so he naturally knows what I'm talking about."

Gu Xingchi said indifferently: "Since that's the case, Your Highness might as well talk about it."

"That's natural." Ning Wang glanced at Sister Feng.

Gu Xingchi took a piece of emerald steamed cake for Sister Feng, poured her another cup of hot tea, and exchanged the wine in front of her. His movements were casual and natural, and King Ning and Princess Ning were also stunned.

Gu Xingchi said: "There are no outsiders here, His Highness just speak directly if he has something to say."

Sister Feng also wanted to hear what King Ning had to say, so she didn't take the initiative to leave.

Concubine Ning has a dignified demeanor and a gentle smile, "Everyone says that Lord Hou and his wife are deeply in love with each other, and seeing them today really lives up to their reputation."

Seeing this, King Ning's eyes flickered, and he said, "I want to cooperate with Lord Hou."

The intention of King Ning's visit seemed to be expected. Gu Xingchi was not surprised, but just smiled lightly and said, "Please forgive me for not understanding what your Highness said. Your Highness knows that the Gu family remains neutral and will not be contaminated by any prince's struggle." .”

Ning Wang smiled and said: "Indeed, Lord Hou is loved by his father, so there is no need to participate in this kind of thing. It can be done later, has Lord Hou thought about it? If the crown prince ascends the throne, the Gu family may be the first to be eradicated."

Gu Xingchi raised his beautiful peach eyes, "Your Highness, you want to cooperate with me to bring down the prince and get rid of the Xu family?"

King Ning just smiled and didn't answer.Of course, everyone understands that he meant this by default.

"Why does Your Highness think that I will agree?"

Ning Wangdao: "Master Hou also thought about this, didn't he? Since Master Hou has not made up his mind yet, why don't I take the initiative to bring it up, isn't it beneficial to both you and me?"

Gu Xingchi lowered his head and poured a glass of wine, "I don't know, what's good for me?"

King Ning knew that Gu Xingchi was asking him for a promise.He didn't hesitate, and said in a sincere tone: "As long as Master Hou agrees, after the matter is completed, the Gu family will still be a prominent family in Dajing, and the Gu family will be unscathed. I believe in the character of Master Hou, and I also believe in Master Hou. It will only be mutually beneficial, and will not do things like 'cook the rabbit to death, and the bird to hide the bow', Lord Hou can rest assured."

Gu Xingchi thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Your Highness must have made up his mind by being so outspoken."

"Now I just wait for Lord Hou to say something."

Gu Xingchi was silent, tapping his fingers on the table, making a sound of 'duk tuk tuk'.

In another private room, Xu Lingzhe sat opposite a man.

The man was dressed in a black brocade suit, with a jade crown on his head, with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, as rich as jade, with clear but resolute eyes.

Xu Lingzhe said: "I thought Mr. Cheng would not attend the appointment."

Cheng Xun stared at him, "I always want to see what kind of medicine you sell in the gourd after making such a big circle."

Xu Lingzhe didn't care about the coldness emanating from Cheng Xun's body, and said with a smile: "It seems that Mr. Cheng knows everything."

Cheng Xun raised his eyebrows and smiled sarcasticly, "After so long, if I still can't see clearly what Xu Shizi meant, wouldn't it be true that I'm going to become a fool that you play at will?"

Xu Lingzhe still smiled modestly, "Cheng Shizi is serious, I just want to find a cooperation opportunity for the Cheng and Xu families."

The coldness in Cheng Xun's eyes deepened, "Severe words? Xu Shizi said lightly, but my third brother will lie on the bed for three months. Do I still have to thank you for being lenient and not taking my third brother's life?"

"Why should Cheng Shizi be so angry, I act with discretion, so that my brother's legs and life will be safe."

Cheng Xun didn't like him, and asked directly: "Xu Shizi, you deliberately bought the boy next to Chen Ziyu, let him put a needle on the back of my third brother's horse, causing my third brother to fall off the horse, and then planted it logically. Give it to Chen Ziyu, and finally stand up and clear Chen Ziyu's grievances. You killed my third brother and took advantage of the Chen family. What exactly do you want to do? Is it to let everyone know that I am against your Xu family?"

"Cheng Shizi really has sharp eyes, and his words hit the nail on the head." Xu Lingzhe laughed, "Indeed, I just want everyone to know that the Cheng family and the Xu family are enemies, and it will never be possible to cooperate sincerely."

Cheng Xun's heart sank, and he quickly understood Xu Lingzhe's implication.

He said coldly: "The Xu family has the Chen family, so naturally there is no need to seek cooperation from others."

Xu Lingzhe sighed slightly, as if regretting, "The Chen family is indeed a famous family. If it was in a peaceful and prosperous age, it would naturally be extremely useful. Unfortunately, the Chen family is a noble family, and it would be useless in a troubled world."

Cheng Xun raised his eyebrows, "It turns out that the Xu family doesn't want a noble family like the Chen family, but a family of martial arts?"

"Cheng Shizi really understands my thoughts."

"You want to take advantage of getting married?"

"It's not utilization, it's cooperation." Xu Lingzhe emphasized.

Cheng Xun sneered.

"Does Cheng Shizi not believe my sincerity?"

Cheng Xun said: "Thank you, Mr. Xu, for looking up to us to start a family, but we just want to live in peace and contentment, and don't want to usurp power and seek rebellion."

Xu Lingzhe shook his head with a smile, "I think the crown prince has misunderstood. Our Xu family only wants to support the crown prince and has no intention of usurping the throne. But now there are treacherous villains around His Majesty, and he is jealous of the crown prince, which hurts a lot. The heart of a loyal minister. In order to eradicate the villain and preserve the foundation of the country, we have no choice but to resort to this trick.”

Cheng Xun sneered, "Aren't many rebellious officials and thieves rebelling under the guise of the Qing emperor's side? The Xu family is willing, so why do they think they can drag the Cheng family into trouble?"

Xu Lingzhe said: "Your Majesty is indifferent and suspicious. Since he ascended the throne for 24 years, how many nobles and heroes have been eradicated? Do you think that getting married can always be safe? After all, not everyone can be treated by His Majesty like Marquis Jing'an." Unconditionally maintained."

Seeing that Cheng Xun was silent, Xu Lingzhe said again: "Actually, our Xu family did this for self-protection. Doesn't Mr. Cheng not want Wudinghou's mansion to go up to a higher level? If Mr. Cheng is willing, after the matter is completed, I will allow you to have a different surname, Wang. If you are in the position, then the married family will be prosperous and prosperous forever. What do you think, Prince Cheng?"

Sister Feng opened the curtains, but the noise outside hadn't stopped, so the [-] knives hadn't been cut yet.She didn't want to watch the execution, but when she turned her eyes, she saw King Ning and Princess Ning getting into the carriage.

After watching for a while, Sister Feng lowered the curtain and asked, "Did you know that King Ning would come?"

Gu Xingchi pretended to be profound and said: "I'm not a god, how could I expect that? Maybe he also came to watch the fun, so we met together?"

Sister Feng pinched his hand vigorously, "Don't try to lie to me, you pretended to take me out of the mansion to watch the excitement, but in fact you came to meet King Ning by chance. I thought you were kind enough to accompany me to relax, but it turned out that it was just incidental. "

Gu Xingchi hurriedly gave her a pat on the back: "You think too much, I'm just here to accompany you today, and meeting King Ning is incidental."

Seeing him rushing to explain, she couldn't help laughing, and also felt that she was making trouble for no reason.

"But from King Ning's point of view, you didn't know in advance that he would come, and it was entirely because he took the initiative to seek your cooperation."

"That's the best way." Gu Xingchi said with a smile, "If I take the initiative to ask him to cooperate, then we will be at a disadvantage. It is best to let the other party ask us, so that he will listen to us in the future."

Sister Feng glanced at him, "What does King Ning want to do?"

……

Prince's Mansion.

In the evening, the concubines of the prince returned from the concubine's place, and they all went back to their respective courtyards. The prince still stayed at the concubine's place tonight.

It has been three months in a row. Although the crown prince will also go to Gu Zhaoyu's room, he spends most of his time at the crown princess's place. Gu Zhaoyu is impatient looking at his flat belly.

She was walking while thinking about something, when a soft voice came from behind, filled with countless sarcasm.

"Liang Di, I think you have been depressed recently, is it because His Highness the Crown Prince has neglected you? However, I advise Liang Di to be more open-minded. After all, the Crown Princess is His Highness's main wife, how can you and I compare?"

Gu Chaoyu turned his head and found that a woman in light yellow clothes with almond eyes and peach cheeks was coming. It was Meng Liangyuan, the prince's concubine.

Gu Zhaoyu secretly scolded her for adding insult to injury, and said coldly, "There is no need for Meng Liangyuan to worry about that."

Wu Chenghui walked over shaking Yangliu's slender waist, covered his lips and smiled: "Sister Meng, let's not disturb Gu Liangdi, after all, Gu Liangdi's mother was just raped today, she is depressed, and it is normal that she doesn't want to talk to us."

Mei Zhaoxun said: "I originally wondered how Gu Liangdi's character was achieved, but now I think it is a family tradition. My mother killed Mr. Gu with cruelty and cruelty, and my daughter also learned the tricks. It is no wonder that the crown prince hated you at first. , now that you have been left out in the cold, His Royal Highness must have realized that after getting along for a long time, it is the Crown Princess who is the most upright and the one who truly cares for the Crown Prince."

Ever since Gu Zhaoyu entered the prince's mansion, she has enjoyed the prince's exclusive favor, and angered a group of beauties, but because of the prince, she dared not confront her face to face.Now they see her falling out of favor, their mother being tortured, and their father being expelled from the clan, they are all gloating and adding insult to injury.All day, she seemed to have heard all the sarcasm.

She couldn't bear it anymore and said: "It's just a mere Zhaoxun, how dare you talk to me like this, do you still understand the rules?"

Mei Zhaoxun said with a smile: "I was born in a small family, so naturally I don't know the rules. I can't compare to Gu Liangdi, who is the daughter of a big family and rushes to be a concubine for others. into the prince's arms."

Today's Gu Zhaoyu was easily irritated, she raised her hand, "If you dare to talk nonsense again, I will teach you a lesson!"

Meng Liangyuan grabbed Gu Zhaoyu's wrist at once, and said with a smile, "It hurts you so much, Liangdi, don't get angry. You come from a rich family, so it's unseemly to hit people at will. I know Liangdi's rank is higher than ours, but to put it bluntly, It’s nothing more than the crown prince’s concubine, the difference lies in who is favored. Now that you are out of favor, what is the difference between you and us?”

After saying that, he let go of his hand.

Gu Chaoyu's face turned pale, "You are talking nonsense, the reason why the crown prince dotes on the crown princess recently is to have a son-in-law, and the crown prince will come back to me again in the future."

At the beginning, the prince promised her that he would protect her and pamper her, and she believed that the prince would not lie to her.

Wu Chenghui's voice was soft, "Isn't this really Liangdi deceiving herself?"

Thinking of Feng's tragic death, and Gu Yanwen who was kicked out, Gu Chaoyu felt dizzy for a while, and she snorted coldly, "Don't talk sarcastic here, aren't you also being ignored by the prince?"

Mei Zhaoxun said: "How can this be the same? Because you are favored and we are left out, we are naturally not reconciled. But this time it is because of the Crown Princess, why should we be angry. We are not like some people who like whimsical ideas, we She is very self-aware. The Crown Princess is the main wife, and she is so virtuous, shouldn't the Crown Prince dote on her?"

Gu Zhaoyu didn't want to hear their ridicule anymore, so he walked away.

She will not give up easily, she must climb to the highest point, and trample these people under her feet.Of course, she hated Gu Xingchi and Sister Feng the most.If it wasn't for them, how could the events of those years have been exposed, and how could the Feng family have died tragically?It's all these two people's fault!

The three watched Gu Zhaoyu's figure disappear into the night, Wu Chenghui said: "If we treat her like this, she won't complain to the crown prince later?"

Meng Liangyuan sneered and said, "His Royal Highness has been in a lot of trouble recently. He doesn't have time to listen to women bickering and quarreling. It's just left to the Crown Princess to deal with. The Crown Princess is the most generous and kind, at most she just scolded us a few words."

Mei Zhaoxun said: "To be honest, I would rather the crown prince stay with the princess concubine all the time, and I don't want the crown prince to spoil Gu Zhaoyu any more. How can the prince turn a blind eye to such a good person as the princess concubine and hold Gu Zhaoyu in his hands?"

On the second day, Gu Zhaoyu fell ill.But when she greeted the princess, she still insisted on going.

The prince did not go to Gu Zhaoyu's place for more than ten days in a row, and he couldn't help being startled when he saw Gu Zhaoyu's pale face at first glance.

"What's wrong with you?"

Gu Chaoyu was clearly on the verge of falling, but he still forced a smile on his face, "It's nothing serious, how can such a trivial matter delay paying respects to the Crown Princess?"

When the prince saw Gu Zhaoyu's delicate yet pretending to be strong, his heart softened for a moment, and he was even a little dissatisfied with the princess.

"Since I'm not feeling well, it's fine for someone to report it. Is the Crown Princess the kind of person who treats concubines harshly?"

The princess didn't seem to notice the prince's dissatisfaction, and she said to Gu Chaoyu: "Since you are not feeling well, let the servant girl help you go back, and let the imperial doctor come to treat you and prescribe medicine. You can rest well in the next few days, and you don't need to come here to say hello. gone."

When the crown prince heard what the crown princess said, the dissatisfaction disappeared again, and he said to Gu Zhaoyu: "What the crown princess said is, go back and rest quickly."

"The concubine is resigning." Gu Zhaoyu did not forget to salute.

"Go ahead..." As soon as the crown prince raised his eyes, he saw Gu Chaoyu's body tilted and he was about to faint.

He hurriedly put down the teacup to help her, only to hear a 'crash', the teacup shattered, and the hot tea stained the prince's robe.

The crown prince completely ignored these things, hugged Gu Zhaoyu by the waist, and said loudly: "What are you doing in a daze, why don't you hurry up and call the imperial physician!"

The princess said to the left and right: "Didn't you hear what the prince said, why don't you go quickly?"

Mei Zhaoxun looked at the anxious expression of the prince, and said to the concubine: "Your Majesty, look at her, she clearly did it on purpose."

"Is it so important on purpose?" The princess turned around and said, "Please rest, you all go back."

With that said, he entered the room.

"Doctor, how is she?" The crown prince looked at Gu Zhaoyu who was unconscious on the bed.

The imperial doctor said: "Your Highness, don't worry, Di Liang's body is fine, she just fainted because of excessive sadness and depression in her heart, Wei Chen prescribed some calming medicine for Di Liang to take, rest for a few days and she will be fine." .”

The prince was relieved, and asked someone to send the imperial doctor out. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at this lovely and pitiful face, and couldn't help sighing.

He suddenly felt guilty.

He promised to take good care of her and protect her at the beginning, so why did he neglect her for so long just because he wanted a son-in-law?Her mother died tragically yesterday, she must be very sad, but not only did he not come to comfort her, he even went to the princess, he really felt ashamed of her.

Thinking of this, he rarely waited patiently for a woman to wake up.

I don't know how long I waited, but when the prince was drowsy, Gu Zhaoyu opened his eyes and was surprised when he saw the prince here, "Your Highness, why are you here?"

The prince woke up suddenly, and looked at her with concern and doting, "You are asleep, where else can I go if I am not here to accompany you?"

Gu Zhaoyu was first moved and then surprised, and finally turned into hesitation, "As the prince of a country, it seems inappropriate for you to do this. If the princess finds out, you will say that the prince is not doing his job properly."

The prince's face turned cold, "She dares. I just want to accompany the woman I love, what's wrong? Those who know say she is the lonely princess, but those who don't know think she is the official censor. Gu's mistakes are not let go, and he always puts the responsibility of the prince on his lips, if Gu didn't want to have a son-in-law as soon as possible, he wouldn't go to her to rest."

Gu Zhaoyu's smile was pale and his face was clear, "Your Highness, don't be angry, the Crown Princess is also doing it for your own good."

The prince sneered, and smiled at her again: "Forget it, don't mention her, you've slept for so long, are you hungry? I'll ask someone to bring you food."

Gu Zhaoyu was moved to tears, "Thank you, Your Highness. I am in much better health. Your Highness still has government affairs to attend to, so let's go back first."

The prince said: "Now that you are sick, how can I leave? It will not be too late to save those government affairs for tomorrow. You are just too sensible."

Gu Chaoyu wiped away tears, "Since that's the case, I will obey His Highness."

After a while, the maids and the maids filed in and put the food on the table, and the crown prince personally helped Gu Zhaoyu to eat.

"Feel good?"

Gu Chaoyu said: "It's much better."

The prince touched her face pityingly, "Look at you, you have lost a lot of weight. It's all my fault that I have been busy with other things these days and neglected you. I should have come to accompany you yesterday. About the second lady...you must be very sad. The imperial doctor said that you fainted because of depression."

Gu Chaoyu smiled lightly and said, "Your Highness, there is no need to feel guilty, as long as His Highness has me in his heart, I will be satisfied."

As he spoke, the tears couldn't stop flowing down again.She seemed afraid that the prince would see it, so she quickly turned her face away and wiped it off with a handkerchief.

The prince saw her red eye circles from crying, and said distressedly: "Why are you crying again? Who bullied you?"

When the prince said this, her tears flowed down again, Gu Zhaoyu wiped away the tears from his cheeks, but his eyes were wet.

She looked at the prince and said: "I just feel sad. I dreamed about my mother just now, and my mother asked me with a sad face, asking me why I didn't send her off yesterday, why didn't I save her. Although I am my mother's daughter , but I also know that I can’t bend the law for personal gain, but my mother cried and said that she was wronged. " She looked up at the prince, like a helpless deer, "Prince, my mother entrusted me with a dream, could it be that she was really wronged?"

The cool sunlight shone through the carved window lattice and cast on her face, making her face look fairer and almost transparent, with tears glistening eyes, frowning willow eyebrows, slender and sharp chin, pale cherry lips, flawless. Not talking about her sorrow, her weakness, her grievance...

Seeing her like this, the prince felt his heart ache, and he sighed and took her into his arms, "I have heard about the Gu family, but I don't know about Gu Jingyan, and I don't know if the second lady is Wronged."

Gu Zhaoyu's tear-stained eyelashes trembled twice, "For so many years, my mother has always loved me very much. In my impression, she is dignified and gentle. Even if there was a slight quarrel with my father, it was the father who favored his concubine and killed his wife first. There is nothing wrong with that. Not only that, she is also very filial to her grandmother, and very kind to the younger generation. Since her uncle and aunt passed away, she pitied her third brother, both of his parents died since childhood, and took good care of him. I really I don't understand, how could she murder her eldest brother? They are all the flesh and blood of the whole family. How could someone as gentle and kind as my mother be able to do it? This will be punished by God. She is eager to entrust the dream to me, maybe it is I was really framed. It would be unfilial for me not to see her for the last time, if I don't avenge her, even if I die, I won't have the face to see her."

The prince whispered: "Don't say these unlucky things. Those people are too vicious. It's not your fault. You don't have to blame yourself."

Gu Zhaoyu grabbed the prince's hand, "Your Highness, who do you think is going to kill my mother?"

A sneer appeared on the prince's lips, "The second wife was framed and executed, your father was expelled immediately, and even your elder brother was kicked out of the Gu family, and Mrs. Gu didn't want to see you again. Your second wife was all expelled from the Gu family. It can be seen that the person behind is not only targeting your mother alone, but the entire second room. Isn't it obvious who is behind the scenes?"

It has to be said that the crown prince's brain finally had a flash of light, but unfortunately, the flash was in the wrong place.

Gu Zhaoyu was terrified and covered his mouth, "Your Highness, what do you mean by that?"

The prince said: "You, you are too kind. You don't know how to know people, faces, and hearts. For your own benefit, brothers can also plot against each other, let alone separated by a room? The second room is gone, so much property is not enough. Can you just stay?"

Gu Zhaoyu became more and more frightened, "Your Highness, is what you said true?"

The crown prince already hated Gu Xingchi, and felt that Gu Xingchi was playing tricks behind his back to make the emperor like him and alienate him, so the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was Gu Xingchi who did it. In his eyes, Gu Xingchi was just so vicious people.

"Very likely," said the prince.

"Your Highness..." Gu Zhaoyu burst into tears again.

The prince said with pity: "I have wronged you, I will not let you continue to be wronged."

Yusheng residence.

Sister Feng suddenly felt chills all over her body, and she was getting closer to the charcoal fire.

"These days, Your Majesty seems to be in poor health." Gu Xingchi walked over to sit with her.