Family Has a Concubine

At a quarter to three in the afternoon, Ye Tangcai returned to Dingguobo's mansion, but heard Qing'er calling the third master outside.

She opened the curtains, and sure enough, she saw Chu Yunpan standing there, wearing thin light blue clothes, with a sullen expression on her face, she didn't know how long she had been standing here.

When she saw him, her heart finally settled down, and she smiled: "Third Master."

"Yeah." Chu Yunpan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her.

Although she had already prepared a plan for her escape, she had already called Princess Xinyang, and when the needle in the prince's mansion came to report, she went to rescue Ye Tangcai.

No, it seemed more natural that Lin Mojin took the lead.

But even so, Chu Yunpan's heart was still tightly hanging, and he waited here. Seeing her smiling face, my heart dropped, but thinking of what happened to her in the Prince's Mansion, I still felt extremely uncomfortable.

The carriage entered the hanging flower gate, Huiran put down the scorpion, Ye Tangcai was holding her red dress, and was about to hold Huiran's hand, but Chu Yunpan suddenly grabbed her soft catkin.

Before Ye Tangcai could react, she was suddenly pulled by him, she let out a cry of surprise, and was pulled forward by him, and then threw herself on her body.

It made her stand on her knees in the carriage, but her upper body threw herself on him and was hugged tightly by him.

Ye Tangcai was in a daze, her face flushed, and she was shocked and angry: "You, what are you doing?"

"Your foot...isn't it sprained?" Chu Yunpan's voice rang in her ears.

The hot air he exhaled made Ye Tangcai's ears burn, and she was annoyed: "When did my feet sprain?"

"I heard... from the messenger." Chu Yunpan's voice was a little hoarse. Her delicate body was thrown into her arms, and only then did she have a sense of reality.

"I made a mistake... ah..." Ye Tangcai exclaimed, and then the world was spinning for a while, and she was already being hugged by him.

Ye Tangcai couldn't find her balance for a while, and in a panic, she had to wrap her arms around his neck.

"It's not wrong." Chu Yunpan hugged her and walked forward. "This is the last time. You don't have to do this kind of thing in the future, and you don't have to go to the Prince's Mansion again."

Hearing these words, Ye Tangcai only felt her eyes heat up.

God knows how disgusting and frightened she is every time she goes to the prince's mansion to deal with them, and today, even if she knows that Chu Yunpan and Liang Wang have prepared a way to save her, there is always a chance of this kind of thing... just in case The moment she agreed to do it, she was ready to lose her temper.

"But..." Hui Ran ran up: "The crown prince has his eyes on the girl, so what if he asks the girl to make some tea or wipe some flowers in the future?"

Ever since Huiran learned that Ye Tangcai was being targeted by the prince, recalling how many times she went to the prince's mansion, she felt a wave of fear.

Chu Yunpan's handsome face turned cold: "I will bring you all the status and glory." I will never let you be bullied or humiliated again.

Hearing these words, Ye Tangcai felt a slight shock in her heart. She buried her small face in his arms, listening to his heartbeat, the corners of her lips curled up slightly.

Chu Yunpan carried Ye Tangcai all the way into Qiongmingxuan.

Qiuju rushed out to greet her, and when she saw Chu Yunpan coming in with Ye Tangcai in her arms, she was startled: "Girl... what's wrong with you?"

Chu Yunpan had already carried her into the house, put her on Luohan's bed, turned to Huiran and said, "Prepare water!"

Hui Ran agreed, then ran outside, called Yu Yang and Yu Han, and asked them to bring hot water together.

Qiuju stepped forward: "Girl, what happened to your leg?"

"My leg..." Ye Tangcai wanted to say that her ankle was sprained, but when he hugged her just now, she said no, now she couldn't admit it, so she curled her mouth.

"It must have been kneeling too much at the Prince's Mansion?" Qiu Ju said with a distressed face, "But... did you go in?"

Ye Tangcai shook her head: "No."

Qiuju sighed softly, her eyes were reddish: "Miss Ling... what should I do? Do you really want to marry that person?" Moreover, the girl just lost the chance to be close to the princess! How should this be done!

"There is always a way." Ye Tangcai's bright eyes flashed a cold light. "I'm hungry, Qiuju, tell the kitchen to cook two bowls of wontons."

"Okay." Qiuju sniffled, turned and went out.

When her figure disappeared at the gate of the courtyard, Ye Tangcai said, "Then... when will King Liang make a move?"

"How do you want to put your token in?" Chu Yunpan twitched his lips: "Is it your cat?"

"How do you know?" Ye Tangcai was surprised.

"You suddenly went outside to pick up a cat. It doesn't look like a whim, and you specially ordered a gold medal as a toy for it. The size and shape of the gold medal are very similar to the emperor's return order." Chu Yunpan said.

The corners of Ye Tangcai's lips curled up slightly: "This cat has a hobby, which is to hide things. Especially those gold objects, it loves it the most. But where it is hidden, you must wipe its urine. Its nose is extremely sensitive. Where it urinates, it will come back after five or six days.”

"Is it reliable?"

"Naturally. In the past six months, I have tested it no less than a hundred times and kept training. Then, when will the brand be put in?" Ye Tangcai asked him back.

"Since it can be a few days later, let's do it in three days!" She had only entered the study of the Prince's Mansion today, and if the incident happened tomorrow, the suspicion would be too great.

"It's just...even if something happens to the crown prince because of this token, can you help me?" Ye Tangcai asked worriedly.

"It's definitely possible." Chu Yunpan said without hesitation.

At this time, from a distance, Qiuju was seen coming back with a tray, and when she walked into the room, Ye Tangcai smelled a burst of fragrant wontons.

Qiuju put the wontons on the round table in the small hall, and after a greeting, Ye Tangcai and Chu Yunpan went over to have dinner together.

On the tray was a small white porcelain plate filled with small wontons, dripping with oil, sprinkled with chives, and two celadon bowls.

Chu Yunpan picked up the spoon and filled two bowls of wontons, Ye Tangcai picked up the spoon, scooped up the small wontons and ate them one by one.

When Chu Yunpan saw that she was eating happily, the corners of Chu Yunpan's lips curled up. She always looks good when eating, especially when eating duck cakes. Watching her eat makes me happy.

The two were eating when they suddenly saw Luye walking into the courtyard gate.

Ye Tangcai looked around, could it be that the Qin family already knew that she went to the Prince's mansion to "kneel" and wanted to make trouble for her not to bring Chu Miaoshu?

But soon, she denied it, because behind Luye there was a familiar maid named Xiaoqing, who was the second-class maid beside Miao.

Luye and Xiaoqing stood outside the house, Luye said. "Third grandma, your natal family is here to look for you."

Xiaoqing hurriedly saluted Ye Tangcai: "Big aunt, uncle."

Seeing Xiaoqing's flustered face, Chu Yunpan frowned: "What's the matter?"

"Auntie, didn't you see the third wife sent you a letter last time?" Xiaoqing's face was full of anxiety, with a sense of reproach, "Miss Ling was promised to the Miao family again, and she was about to get married at twenty-six." The old lady is so anxious that she wants to die in the house, so go back and persuade her!"

Ye Tangcai had already put down the spoon: "I'm now..."

"Go back and tell the old lady that she is dead and my sister-in-law is tortured at Miao's house and no one cares about her. If she is alive, even if she is married, she can still support her!" Chu Yunpan said coldly.

Xiaoqing choked.

"I'll go back and have a look tomorrow." Ye Tangcai said.

Xiaoqing only felt that Ye Tangcai was too heartless. Miss Ling was so kind to her in the past, but now that something happened, she didn't go to see it, and now she came to call someone, but the eldest uncle scolded her.

But seeing Chu Yunpan's overly cold and handsome face, he didn't dare to say much. After a blessing, he left.

Ye Tangcai said: "She was just anxious. After sister-in-law's accident, I was busy with the Prince's Mansion and never went back. They don't know that I am working hard for sister-in-law behind the scenes, so they will naturally feel that I am heartless. This is human nature .”

Chu Yunpan didn't answer, and filled her bowl silently.

He just resented Ye Tangcai for running around these days, kneeling and begging for help, and being treated lightly by the prince, so it was hard for him to eat a meal with peace of mind, and he didn't want to be disturbed before half of the meal.

Ye Tangcai looked at the celadon bowl in front of her that was full of small wontons, stuffed to the point that there was no space left, her bright face wrinkled: "I can't finish it."

"Eat." Chu Yunpan only said a simple word, "Or, do you want to eat duck cake?"

When Ye Tangcai heard the word duck cake, the corner of her mouth twitched, she quickly picked up the spoon, and silently fought with the small wontons in the bowl. Thinking of the duck cake, I felt bitter, but no matter what I heard, I felt that there was something wrong with what he said.

After she finished eating, Chu Yunpan said, "I'll go out for a while."

Ye Tangcai agreed, and Chu Yunpan stood up and walked outside.

After he left, Huiran's hot water was ready, and she woke up when she was lying comfortably on the bed after taking a bath. By the way, she finally felt that something was wrong with what he said!

He actually threatened her by eating duck cakes?

That is to say, he already knew that she didn't like to eat this stuff? Then why buy it back for her to eat?

Thinking of this, Ye Tangcai was in a bad mood. I wanted to run to question him, but he must have gone to King Liang. Ask him again tonight!

But when it was dark and he hadn't come back, Ye Tangcai had to sleep carelessly by herself.

...

In the early morning of the next day, the news that Lin Guogong and his son went to the Prince's Mansion to appraise paintings spread more than half of the capital.

Originally, the marriage between Miao Jihe and Ye Lingjiao made the people dubious, wondering if Miao Jihe was real or fake, and whether the crown prince had an affair with Miao Jihe.

Now seeing that Lin Guogong and his son came to the door without hesitation, apparently even the Duke of the country believed that the prince was innocent, and Miao Jihe and Ye Lingjiao's marriage was in front of him, so he felt that it was all a misunderstanding. Even if a few people don't believe it, it doesn't affect the prince's image.

Xu Rui was sitting on the second floor of a restaurant on East Street, listening to the diners talking about Miao Jihe and praising the prince. A smile appeared on the corner of his lips.

It is all thanks to the prince that he can wash away the stigma!

Don't know her, do you know about this? If you know, you will definitely be pissed off!

Thinking that her bright little face would be furious because of him, and it would bloom even more beautifully, making Xu Rui indescribably excited.

At this time, I saw a familiar figure downstairs coming with two maidservants. I only saw her jet-black hair bun with butterfly tassel hairpins, and a water-red skirt. Even though she couldn't see her face, Xu Rui still took a look I recognized it, it was Ye Tangcai.

It's really a narrow road! Xu Rui thought to himself. Ye Tangcai actually appeared in the city, she must have just come out of Jing'an Hou Mansion.

Xu Rui guessed right, Ye Tangcai did go to the Jing'an Hou Mansion just now.

Yesterday she promised Xiaoqing to go back and have a look. If there were no accidents, Anning Hall and Ye Lingjiao's place would be surrounded by rough envoys, and she couldn't see anyone even if she wanted to.

I also heard from Ye Weicai that after Xiaoqing went back yesterday, she turned the message to the old lady, and then she calmed down and stopped making trouble.

Ye Tangcai thought in her heart that it's not too late these days, she doesn't have to go in and take a look, otherwise there will be trouble again.

Ye Tangcai came here for breakfast after leaving the Jing'an Hou Mansion.

Ye Tangcai walked to the corner of the lobby, sat down with Huiran Qiuju, and ordered food. I saw a person dressed as a scholar walking over, it was Xu Rui.

Xu Rui stepped forward with a smile: "What a coincidence, big sister."

Qiu Ju's eyes widened, he was everywhere! "We don't know you, what's the matter with you?"

"It's enough for me to know my eldest sister." Xu Rui chuckled, "I'm not looking for trouble, but just want to give a gift. Sister-in-law is going to get married soon, and I don't know what to give for a while. Appropriate, here is a piece of jade pendant, elder sister, please give it to my younger sister for me!"

As he said that, he took off a piece of jade pendant from his waist, and saw that it was a piece of jadeite with a very good water head. Look at the network on it, delicate and soft, it must have been made by Yin Tingniang.

Qiuju was furious, and sneered: "Miss Ling won't take any dirty things! Besides, my girl won't give them for you either."

Seeing Qiuju ridiculing his jade pendant as a dirty thing, Xu Rui's expression turned cold, but as a well-known literati and Qiuju was a maid, there was no way to quarrel with her, so he just gave her a cold look.

Xu Rui just chuckled: "Since my sister-in-law is not rare, then I won't give it away. The eldest sister will bring me a few blessings! By the way, I am the one who suggested that my sister-in-law marry Miao Jihe!"

As he spoke, he stared at her bright little face, waiting for her annoyed appearance.

"You, what did you say?" Qiu Ju was startled, "You did something good? No, wait, why did the old man listen to you? Impossible!"

The old man obviously didn't like Yin Tingniang, even if Yin Tingniang had "saved his life" to Ye Chengde, the old man could barely stop hating Yin Tingniang, he would not accept Xu Rui as a drag.

Seeing Qiuju's shocked expression, Xu Rui was relieved for a while, but he was still unwilling, because he felt that this expression should appear on Ye Tangcai's face to be called brilliant!

No, but she just held the tea and took a sip gracefully, without even giving him a straight look.

Seeing that she ignored him, Xu Rui's handsome face turned cold.

"You bastard, you're talking nonsense, you just want to annoy my girl." Qiu Ju gave a cold snort.

When Xu Rui heard her calling him a scumbag, his face was stern, and then he smiled again, looked at Ye Tangcai and said, "Whether I'm a scumbag or not, big sister will know soon!"

Now, it would be interesting to give her a notice first, and then reveal his identity at that time!

"Did I ask you something?" Not wanting to, Ye Tangcai raised her long eyelashes slightly, and glanced at him like a charity. "I'm sitting here, I don't say or ask anything, you just chatter here, just such a trivial matter, it's enough to make you go on like a gossip, and get carried away."

Xu Rui's face froze. Is this mocking him for being petty, like a country bumpkin who has never seen the world? And, gossip?

Xu Rui was furious, and the refutation was irrefutable, so he snorted coldly: "Everything is in my hands, there will always be a time when you kneel in front of me and my mother!"

After speaking, he turned and left.

Qiuju looked at his back, and said coldly, "It's really low, always looking for scolding."

"Let's have breakfast!" Ye Tangcai sneered.

After they had breakfast, they went to Qiu's house to visit Wen's, and then returned to Ding Guobo's mansion.

Walking into Qiongmingxuan, I saw Chu Yunpan sitting on the grand master's chair in the Xici room, with a letter on the coffee table in front of him.

Seeing her coming in, he just smiled and picked up the letter: "Kang Kang, we are already on our way back to Beijing!"

"Really?" Ye Tangcai's eyes lit up: "Xu Dashi is coming back?"

"Yes!" Chu Yunpan said, "Before this letter is sent out, it has already started on the road. It will arrive in Beijing in early March."

Ye Tangcai took the letter and opened it, beaming with delight.

"I'm going out." Chu Yunpan said and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Ye Tangcai raised her bright face from the letter, and looked at him anxiously.

This small appearance made Chu Yunpan want to go up and pinch it, but in the end he held back, "Just to do the thing in front of me. Tomorrow night, in the middle of the night, you put that thing in."

Ye Tangcai shuddered all over, then nodded: "Okay."

When Chu Yunpan turned and went out, Ye Tangcai lay on the window sill and watched him leave, until he disappeared from her sight, then she rolled onto Luohan's bed, opened the letter, read it again and again, and then giggled happily.

Smiling and laughing, her little face suddenly froze again, she forgot to ask about the duck cake!

In the evening, Qiuju was resting in the wing room, while Ye Tangcai and Huiran were lying in the main room.

At about midnight, the two got up quietly, and Ye Tangcai picked up the cat from the backyard.

Yuhan had been waiting outside Qiongmingxuan for a long time, and when he saw the two people coming out in black cloaks, he nodded in salute.

The three of them went out together, and there was already a small black carriage waiting there in the alley.

In mid-February, Daqi has not yet warmed up, and the spring is cold and cold. The common people rested early, and some wealthy households hung two lanterns outside their doors, but most of the houses were completely dark. On the street, it was naturally pitch black.

But today is the fifteenth day, and the full moon is very bright. I am used to the darkness, but I can see some things.

A small black carriage was walking on the street, afraid of disturbing people, it walked slowly.

When the carriage was about to approach Jinglong Street, it turned into an alley and stopped.

The three of them got out of the car, led by Yu Han, crossed left and turned right, and came to Jinglong Street, where they could see the side entrance of the Prince's Mansion from a distance.

Several people hid in the alley, Yu Han said: "This is the closest place to the Prince's study."

Ye Tangcai nodded, took the one-eyed cat out of her arms, and teased it softly: "Mimi, let's play a game."

She put the cat on the ground, took two steps back, then smiled and took out a gold medal from her bosom, she lowered her body and shook it.

The cat let out a soft cry, and rushed over, snatched the gold medal, and put it in its mouth.

After smelling it everywhere, it ran out. In the dark night, its little black figure rushed across the street and jumped onto the wall of the Prince's Mansion.

Ye Tangcai breathed a sigh of relief watching it accurately find the scent she wiped down.

Yu Han was a little worried: "Can it put things away?"

"Yes." Huiran looked at him with raised eyebrows, "This thief cat is a real thief, it likes to hide things in places that smell like it, it especially likes to pee in those drawers, in order to recognize that place , and then hide things in it. Not only will it be hidden, but it will also be closed!"

The corner of Yuhan's mouth twitched: "This cat is about to become a sperm!"

"Third Master, what are you going to do? This gold medal is..." Ye Tangcai still doesn't know what's going on. "How did this strategy frame the prince?"

"It's not framed, he did it in the first place." Yu Han smiled mysteriously: "The third grandma will know tomorrow!"

Ye Tang pouted when he saw that he was cheating.

Several people waited here for about a quarter of an hour, and then saw the black cat running back, Ye Tangcai smiled when he saw that it didn't bring back the sign.

The black cat jumped into her arms, and they hurriedly left.

Ye Tangcai knew that something big would happen tomorrow, so early in the morning, she took Huiran and Qiuju to the city and drank tea in the lobby of Qianwei Building.

This is not the most famous restaurant in the capital, but it is the place where the news spreads the fastest! It is also the closest to the palace, if there is any news, it will be spread out at the first time.

"I heard that the marriage between the Miao family and the Ye family is being intensively prepared, tsk tsk, it's been a long time coming." At a table by the window, a pair of friends in their forties were sitting there chatting.

"I heard that on the day of the wedding, Mr. Miao will personally greet the bride."

Not far away, Ye Tangcai raised his eyebrows.

"When I saw Mr. Miao before, I wanted to withdraw my marriage several times. This time, the marriage was not forced, right? Why did you come here to welcome him in person? It must be fake!" Hui Ran said in a low voice.

"It can't be fake to let out such rumors." Ye Tangcai frowned, "Otherwise, if he doesn't welcome the bride then, won't the Miao family make a fool of themselves?"

"He is willing this time." Hui Ran was puzzled.

palace -

Above the court hall, Miao Ji came to the court full of spring, and the reputation of the crown prince and Miao Jihe has improved recently, and the Miao family has made up for it.

The prince is also in a good mood, talking about the scientific examination early in the morning: "The results will be released on the first day of March, and the next day will be the palace examination. The Ministry of Rites and the Imperial College must be ready."

"Yes." Minister of Rites and Guozijian Jijiu repeatedly agreed.

The emperor, who was sitting crookedly on the golden dragon chair, yawned. The crown on his head swayed slightly, and he was wearing a golden dragon robe embroidered with gold, which didn't give him much sense of dignity, but made his already sallow face even more yellow.

Emperor Zhengxuan was over sixty years old. At this age, most people were in good spirits, especially those from rich and noble families, who lived in good food and were nourished by ginseng and bird's nest. Most of them looked extremely young.

But Emperor Zhengxuan was in his sixties, with the appearance of seventy or eighty.

His face is wrinkled, his face is drooping, his head is full of pale hair, and his long eyes are dim. One look at him shows that he is seriously ill.

But even so, when he was in good spirits, he still insisted on going to court, and rarely let the prince supervise the country.

He yawned and watched the prince talking eloquently below.

"Report!" A voice suddenly sounded from outside.

Emperor Zhengxuan raised his drooping eyelids: "Where is the urgent report?"

Generally, reports at this time are urgent reports.

A young eunuch ran in from outside with a notebook in his hand. With a plop, he fell to his knees.

The emperor didn't even bother to look at it: "Read!"

The little eunuch said: "The magistrate of Chengzhou sent an urgent report, saying that a landslide suddenly occurred somewhere in Dingshan, and hundreds of people were buried."

"What?" All the officials in the court gasped and couldn't help whispering.

The little eunuch continued: "One of them escaped and ran to report to the officials. The prefect of Chengzhou rushed over with the servants and found that the landslide was..."

Hearing the two places of Hengzhou and Dingshan, the prince's eyelids twitched, a bad premonition arose in his heart, and he said calmly: "This matter..." For a while, he didn't know how to stop it, so he thought about it. Said: "Now we are discussing the general examination and palace examination..."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone looked a little wrong. Liang Wang even sneered: "The general examination and the palace examination have been discussed, and this is nothing new."

"That's right." Yu Shi said with a sullen face, "This is an urgent report, it is said that hundreds of people died in a landslide. His Royal Highness has always been kind, do you think that being able to test is more important than human life?" posture.

The prince's face froze.

The little eunuch kneeling on the ground said: "Master Zhifu said that the landslide seems to be a place for the emperor's sacrifice."

"Emperor Sacrifice Field?" Zai Chao gasped for breath, all of them looked at the Prince in unison.

Hearing these words, Emperor Zhengxuan, who was sick and listless on the dragon chair, straightened his hunched body suddenly, and shot a cold stern light at the prince with his hazy eyes: "What's going on?"

The prince's handsome face was slightly livid, but he still remained calm.

Before the crown prince could speak, Qian Zhixin, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, had already sneered: "What is the emperor's sacrificial place? It's nonsense!"

At this time, a censor had already jumped out: "His Royal Highness actually built the Son of Heaven's Sacrifice, it's really despicable!"

Every generation of emperors in Daqi will build their own emperor's sacrificial field to pray for the prosperity of the country and the people, and good weather. Of course, this is only a secondary purpose. The biggest purpose is to pray for a stable throne and a long life.

As for the prince, naturally he cannot build the emperor's sacrificial field, otherwise he has the intention of usurping the throne. But there is a legend that the prince built the emperor's sacrificial field in advance, which can strengthen the prince's fortune and stabilize his position as the crown prince, which means that he will surely win the throne.

But the crown prince built the emperor's sacrificial field, but it will affect the reigning emperor! It will even kill the reigning emperor!

So, when the crown prince built the Son of Heaven Sacrifice, Zhengxuan Emperor Longyan was furious, coughing non-stop, pointing at the crown prince tremblingly: "You—"

"Father, my son and minister have been wronged." Seeing this, the crown prince quickly knelt down with a plop.

Yao Yangcheng, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, said: "Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince is the most filial, how could he do such a thing."

The eldest son of the emperor, King Lu, came out. He was a thin and handsome middle-aged man who was approaching his age. "Father, the third brother must have been framed."

King Liang stood aside, his charming phoenix eyes gave King Lu a cold look.