At night.
Kui Shou Street, Su Palace.
As the Xiliang Army entered the city, the originally idle Su Palace became lively. The Xiliang Army soldiers in black armor stood neatly outside the gate. There were lanterns hanging in front of the main gate of Su Palace, and on the side gate, there was a gilded board with the words' Qing Kui '.
General Yang Zunyi and Tu Qianchu had already left Chang 'an for Xiangyang to continue the attack on Jingmen. Yue Jiulou and his staff moved into the mansion, waiting for the arrival of Su Of Gojoseon.
Under the deterrence of the thirty thousand Xiliang Army, the atmosphere on Kui Shou Street was very serious. All the ministers and ministers stayed at home, waiting for the situation to stabilize. They didn't even make a sound when they talked, in case Xu Buling heard them and became the target of 'killing the chicken to warn the monkey'.
However, as Song Ji said, the biggest ability of the aristocratic families was to change the direction of the wind. Although the situation had not stabilized yet, the Xu family's pattern of 'holding the emperor and ordering the nobles' had obviously taken shape. If they showed their loyalty at this time, they would definitely be promoted on the spot like Gong Sunming.
Therefore, although many of the aristocratic families on Kui Shou Street didn't come to Su Palace openly, many of them 'accidentally' let the ignorant young ladies run out of their back houses.
These love-struck young ladies talked about the beauty of 'Zhaohong' every day, but they didn't care about the affairs of the country at all, nor did they know anything about it. They even dressed up nicely and ran to the front and back gates of the mansion in the heavy rain to wait for them.
The changes in the palace could not be spread outside the palace. The streets were still going on as usual. The Xiliang Army was also under the command of 'Song Ji' to move into Chang 'an and exchange with the royal guards. The Xiliang Army standing outside the mansion naturally couldn't disturb the people and drive them away. They could only watch a group of fearless young ladies strolling outside the gate in shock.
At this time, Xu Buling naturally didn't have the leisure to go out. After discussing the next arrangement with his staff, he returned to the back house alone.
The back house of the mansion was very big. This time, he didn't bring any servants or maids, only Xu Buling, Cui Xiaowan, and Ning Qing Ye. The whole back house was dark, and only the main courtyard was slightly lit.
The mansion had been unoccupied for more than a year, so the garden was overgrown with weeds. The summer night was stormy, so it looked quite messy. The vines climbed to the roof of the veranda.
Xu Buring walked along the veranda and looked around. The west wing was lit up, and he could faintly hear the sound of water splashing through the curtain of rain. Someone was bathing in the room.
After coming back in the afternoon, Cui Xiaowan and Ning Qingye tidied up the room that had been unoccupied for a long time. Xu Buring still had something to do, so he went directly to the outer residence. It was hard to say who was in the west house at this time.
Xu Buling stopped and thought for a moment. He walked to the west house and listened carefully. In addition to the sound of water splashing in the room, there was also:
"General, please don't drink too much. The road ahead is not easy to walk on. I'll wait for you at home."
It was just these four lines. The latter part was Xiang'Er didn't teach it, and it sounded like she liked the song.
The window paper was dim, so the scene across the wall couldn't be seen.
Xu Buling didn't mean to peek. He just hesitated whether he should tell Cui Xiaowan the complete song at this time.
Unfortunately, the Heavens weren't in his favor. Before Xu Buling could think about it, a flash of lightning suddenly flashed in the rainy night.
Bang — —
The huge back house turned into day in an instant under the lightning.
Across the wall, Cui Xiaowan, who was humming in the bathtub, faced the window. Under the flash of lightning, the dark window paper turned into day, revealing the outline of a figure.
In the middle of the night, there was nothing more terrifying than this scene.
Cui Xiaowan dared to live alone in the deep mountains, so she was not afraid of ghosts and gods. However, the person outside the window was obviously a real person. Seeing this shadow, Cui Xiaowan was almost scared to tears. "Ah — —" She screamed and suddenly shrank down, hiding the two big white balls in the water.
The palm-sized porcelain box smashed against the window with a crisp bang.
Xu Buling knew something was wrong and hurriedly turned his back,
"Miss Cui … Well, I just happened to pass by, don't misunderstand."
Passing by?
Cui Xiaowan was not a silly girl. Xu Buling's bedroom was in the middle, and he came to the west house. Was it because his legs were not long enough to walk a few more steps?
Cui Xiaowan's face turned red, and she frowned,
"What are you looking at?"
Xu Buling turned his back to the window and explained, "I didn't see anything. I just came."
"Didn't you see what you are doing by the window? Listening to me take a bath? You might as well look. "
"…"
Xu Buling was speechless.
In the east room opposite, Ning Qing Ye, who was already resting, heard the scream in the rain and asked curiously,
"Miss Cui, what's wrong?"
Cui Xiaowan could tell the truth from the lie. She knew that Xu Buling did not peek and replied,
"Nothing, there was a mouse and it scared me."
"Oh …"
Ning Qing Ye looked out and saw that Xu Buling had already arrived under the eaves, so she did not get up.
After Cui Xiaowan finished speaking, she whispered, "If Qing Ye knew that you peeked at me taking a bath, she would definitely be angry with you again."
Xu Buling stood outside the window and said softly, "Miss Cui, I really didn't peek. Just now, you were humming a tune, and I followed the sound to take a look …"
Cui Xiaowan carefully got up and stepped out of the bathtub. She walked behind the screen and wiped the water droplets with a towel,
"If you can hear the tune, don't tell me you can't hear that I'm taking a bath?"
How could Xu Buling answer? He would not be able to clear his name even if he jumped into the Wei River.
Cui Xiaowan put the dudou around her neck, put on a light nightgown, and wiped her wet hair with a towel. She walked out of the room. She had just taken a bath, and her cheeks were a little rosy. Although he could not see the scenery inside, he could faintly feel her exquisite and graceful figure.
Xu Buling tilted his head to take a look. Seeing that Cui Xiaowan was dressed, he heaved a sigh of relief and said with a smile,
"Look at this window. I can't see anything from here."
Cui Xiaowan wiped her hair and stood beside Xu Buling with a calm expression, "Forget it, it doesn't matter if I look or not. Anyway, I can't do anything to you. Old Merchant is gone, and I have no one to rely on now."
From her tone, it was obvious that she did not believe him.
Xu Buling felt a little helpless. After thinking for a while, he could only change the topic, "It's not that I don't have anyone to rely on. Today in the imperial court, Cui Gong's reaction surprised me. I guess he didn't forget you, his daughter. "
Cui Xiaowan sat down in the corridor and patted her side, "My father must be planning something now. He wants to matchmake me with you. This way, when you become the emperor in the future, he will still be the father-in-law. If you didn't have any power or influence, he would have taken me away long ago. "
Xu Buling knew that this was the truth, but it was not convenient for him to comment on the other party's parents. He only smiled and sat beside Cui Xiaowan.
Cui Xiaowan glanced at Xu Buling and asked, "The Xiliang Army has already entered the city. It's impossible for the emperor to be willing. Did you steal the emperor's power?"
Xu Buling didn't want to talk about the deception in the imperial court with Cui Xiaowan, who was like a blank sheet of paper. However, when Cui Xiaowan asked, he still nodded.
"Yes. Only one of the Xu family and the Song clan can live. I have a family of old and young … "
Cui Xiaowan shook her head, "A man should be more magnanimous and be able to let go. Why are you explaining it to a woman like me? Whether it's me or my mother, we used to be Song Ji's legitimate mother and empress, but now that we're in front of you, to put it bluntly, we're just a good-looking woman. Whether you're in power or not, you can do whatever you want … "
？？
Xu Buling tilted his head slightly and subconsciously glanced at Da Tuan 'er.
Cui Xiaowan turned her body slightly. There was no hint on her face as she continued,
"So, you don't have to care about what I and my mother think. You don't have to care about anyone else either. Now that you're in power, the first thing you have to think about is not to let the war outside. Just like planting crops, you have to get rid of the weeds and vines first before the crops can grow properly. However, after the crops are cleaned up, don't become like Song Ji. Don't feel that you're high and mighty, and look down on everyone. That would be boring. "
Xu Buring laughed. "You only need six feet to sleep in a spacious mansion. You only need to eat three meals a day if you are rich. I've never been greedy for these things. "
"I know, you're just lustful. Six feet is definitely not enough for you to sleep. You need a bed that's at least two to three feet long. "
"…"
This conversation couldn't continue …
Xu Buling's forehead was filled with black lines.
After Cui Xiaowan finished speaking, she didn't say anything else. She stood up and walked to the bedroom.
"It's time to sleep. You should rest early too. Let's leave after we're done. I don't like it here."
"Alright."
Xu Buling responded softly and watched Cui Xiaowan leave. He looked at her swaying back and was silent for a long time. Then, he shook his head and smiled …
