The Changqing Of Gojoseon liked beautiful women and did not care about court politics. He had even less contact with Prince Ning. Novel chapters updated the fastest.
He and the current Emperor were cousins, and his seniority in the Imperial House was not low. However, his presence in court was not even half as important as Rong Xia. However, since he came to visit as a junwang, Rong Xia could not refuse him at the door. Thus, he could only put down the invitation and rise to personally welcome him.
"Your Highness the Changqing Of Gojoseon," Rong Xia walked into the door of the reception hall and bowed to the Changqing Of Gojoseon. "Your presence brings light to my humble fu."
"Marquis Cheng'an, why are you so polite?" The Changqing Of Gojoseon put down his teacup and stood. "These past two days, I wanted to see you, but I knew that you must be busy investigating the assassination case, so I did not come to disturb you. Now that I heard that the case was solved, I was relieved and did not worry that I would disturb you. "
"These cases were all handled by Commander Chen and the other officials of the Supreme Court. This official has not recovered from his old injury and encountered this kind of thing. I do not have the energy to worry about these things." Rong Xia smiled and said, "I am just reading in my room and recovering."
"This is the way to live." The Changqing Of Gojoseon waved the fan in his hand noisily. "Right, my niece is also recovering here?"
Rong Xia smiled faintly: "Yes."
"Ah," The Changqing Of Gojoseon sighed. "This child has been restless since she was young. When she was eight years old, she had an argument with Prince Ning and actually fought with Prince Ning, who was several years older than her. Tell me, in the entire court, how many children would dare to fight with a prince like that?"
Rong Xia did not speak. Or rather, he did not have the habit of discussing his fiancée's private matters with other men.
However, the Changqing Of Gojoseon obviously did not care about what he thought. He walked directly to the door and said to Rong Xia, "Let's go. I haven't seen my niece for a long time. Today, accompany me to see her. Which courtyard does the little girl live in? The one next to yours? "
Rong Xia saw the Changqing Of Gojoseon walking straight ahead, as if there was no one else around. Rong Xia quickly followed.
"Your garden is well built." The Changqing Of Gojoseon stepped onto the nine-bend white jade bridge in the middle of the lake. "I heard that your father built this bridge especially for your mother when he was still alive?"
Rong Xia looked at the koi fish wagging their tails in the artificial lake. "This lake and bridge have existed since I can remember."
The Changqing Of Gojoseon laughed and said, "Your father and your mother have such a good relationship. I'm envious."
Rong Xia smiled faintly and said, "When the old qinwang and qinwang fei were still alive, their relationship was harmonious. Junwang is joking."
Even if it was a well-meaning joke, it was inappropriate to talk about someone else's deceased elder. He felt that his relationship with the Changqing Of Gojoseon was not good enough for him to make such a joke.
"You are still so particular." The Changqing Of Gojoseon saw his displeasure and sighed. "Fine, fine, fine, I won't say it."
The two walked across the bridge. Rong Xia did not take the Changqing Of Gojoseon to the neighboring courtyard, but to his main courtyard. When they reached the door of the main courtyard, he said to a manservant guarding the door, "Go invite the Princess Fule and Ban Shizi. Say that the Changqing Of Gojoseon has come to visit."
Hearing this, the Changqing Of Gojoseon stopped the manservant. "There is no need to be so particular. Chuang yatou is ill. I cannot bear to see her go back and forth. Why don't I go see her?"
"Junwang Ye, in private, you are her elder. There is no reason for you to go see her. In public, you are Junwang, your status is higher than hers. You cannot lower yourself to visit her. "Rong Xia smiled faintly." Her spirits are better today. It will be good for her body to walk. "
"So it is like this." The Changqing Of Gojoseon did not appear embarrassed. "It was I who did not think properly."
Rong Xia led the Changqing Of Gojoseon into the main hall of the main courtyard. The Changqing Of Gojoseon sat on the seat of honor and he sat on the second seat.
A servant girl came in to serve tea. The Changqing Of Gojoseon looked meaningfully at Rong Xia. "The servant girls of Marquis' fu are really …"
"Marquis, Junzhu and Shizi have arrived." A manservant's voice sounded from outside.
These servants called them Junzhu and Shizi, not Princess Fule and Jingting Gongfu Shizi. The difference was not small. The Changqing Of Gojoseon lowered his head to take a sip of tea. It was rumored that Rong Xia did not like Princess Fule, but the Princess Fule kept pestering him. Adding on the fact that she had saved Marquis Cheng'an's life, Marquis Cheng'an's character would not disregard the opinions of others and allow her to stay in the fu to recover. He could not bear to disappoint her.
But if Marquis Cheng'an did not have feelings for Ban Han, why would the servants in his fu be so close to Ban Han?
"Greetings to Your Highness, the Changqing Of Gojoseon."
"We are a family," the Changqing Of Gojoseon raised his head to look at the pair of siblings with outstanding appearances. He smiled and invited them to sit down. "My sudden visit today did not disturb Huahua's rest, did it?"
Ban Han smiled and replied, "Your Highness is concerned about me. How could it disturb me?"
The Changqing Of Gojoseon immediately smiled and said, "Niece, you are right. Since there are no major matters in the imperial court, I am looking forward to attending your wedding banquet."
Ban Han turned her face. "Your Highness, did you come today just to make fun of me?"
There were no major matters in the imperial court?
She was afraid that there were major matters everywhere, and everyone was just pretending not to see.
The Changqing Of Gojoseon heard this and immediately laughed. He was like the most gentle elder who was joking, but also took the younger generation's feelings into consideration and made the joke just right. If Ban Han did not have that strange dream last night, she would definitely like this Changqing Of Gojoseon very much.
But now, no matter what the Changqing Of Gojoseon did, her mind was still filled with the scene from the dream.
Because the bottom of his foot was stained with blood, he wiped it on the body of another person. It was as if he was not stepping on a person, but a rag. She never felt that she was very kind, but it did not mean that she could accept someone being so cold and heartless.
"Little girl?" The Changqing Of Gojoseon sensed that Ban Han's expression was not right. He looked at her with eyes full of worry. "Have you not recovered yet?"
Ban Han forced a smile and said, "I am still a little dizzy."
"Since that's the case, I won't disturb you any further." The Evergreen King stood up and said, "I came here today to visit you. Seeing that you're fine, I'm relieved."
Ban Han narrowed her eyes and smiled. Her bright eyes narrowed into crescents. She looked very happy, but no one could see her true thoughts.
"This official will see Junwang Ye out." Rong Xia also stood and walked out of the main yard with the Changqing Of Gojoseon.
When they walked out of the moon gate, the Changqing Of Gojoseon suddenly said, "Marquis Rong, you are a person of good fortune."
"Why does Junwang Ye say this?"
"I originally thought that with your personality, you would find a woman as elegant as a chrysanthemum. I thought that this kind of life would be very boring." The Changqing Of Gojoseon played with the fan in his hand. He shook his head and said with a smile, "I didn't think that you would be able to obtain ben wang's most interesting niece."
"Junwang is joking." Rong Xia's tone suddenly changed. "But Junzhu is a rare and good girl."
The Changqing Of Gojoseon laughed softly and turned to continue walking. When he reached the second gate, he saw several servant girls and manservants walking in with numerous gift boxes. Some of the gift boxes even had the insignia of Prince Ning.
Seeing this, the curve of his lips widened. He turned and said to Rong Xia, "Marquis, please wait. You don't have to see me out."
"Junwang Ye is too courteous. Please."
"Please wait."
Rong Xia sent him to the gate. Before the Changqing Of Gojoseon sat in the carriage, he covered his mouth and coughed lightly.
The Changqing Of Gojoseon heard the sound and turned to say to Rong Xia, "Marquis, you have to take care of yourself."
"Many thanks for Junwang Ye's concern."
The Changqing Of Gojoseon walked into the carriage. The luxurious junwang carriage slowly drove away from the Marquis Cheng 'an fu. Rong Xia stood at the gate and silently watched the carriage go away. When it could no longer be seen, he turned and walked back.
But when he returned, he saw Ban Han standing on the nine curved white jade bridge. Ban Heng, who liked to be her little tail, was nowhere to be seen.
"Huahua," Rong Xia walked to Ban Han's side. "It's windy here. Why are you here?"
"It's too boring to be cooped up in the yard, so I came out to bask in the sun." Ban Han's hair was loosely tied up and she looked very relaxed. She raised her chin towards the gate. "The Changqing Of Gojoseon has gone back?"
"En, he's gone back." Rong Xia reached out a hand to her. "Let's go bask in the sun in the yard. It's windy here. If the illness worsens, you'll have to drink medicine again. Won't that be torturous?"
Ban Han looked at the hand in front of her and put it in Rong Xia's palm. "Okay."
She really didn't want to drink that bitter medicine anymore.
"Where's Ban Xiongdi?"
"I told him to go back to the yard and practice the horse stance," Ban Han said. "His body is still too weak. He needs to practice."
Rong Xia paused and then nodded. "You're right. It's good for boys to be stronger."
In any case, everything Huahua said was right. Then there was no problem.
The case of the assassination of Marquis Cheng 'an was finally determined to be the revenge of the jealous officials of the Ministry of Appointments. It had nothing to do with anyone else. Some people believed this statement. After all, the Emperor had sent people to investigate the case with great fanfare and had rewarded Marquis Cheng 'an with many things. There were even rumors that if Marquis Cheng' an hadn't been to court recently and had just been conferred the title of Marquis, the Emperor would have already promoted him to a Duke. This kind of attitude didn't seem to indicate that the Emperor didn't value Marquis Cheng 'an.
The nobles scoffed at this kind of rumor. It was the title of a Duke, not a candy to coax children. When the Emperor saw that you were unhappy, he would be given one.
In the entire imperial court, there were only three people who were Dukes.
One was the younger brother of the Empress Dowager, one was the father of the Empress, and the last one was the playboy of the Ban Family.
These three Dukes all had one thing in common, and that was, they relied on women to get to the top. One relied on his sister, one relied on his daughter, and the last one relied on his mother.
As an official or a subject, if they could earn a noble title, it would bring honor to their ancestors. Even if it was recorded in the genealogy, it would be recorded in a big way. Even if there was a change of dynasty a few hundred years later, their descendants would still be proud to see it.
There were a few people who understood that the Emperor wasn't cherishing Marquis Cheng 'an, but was comforting him. This was because the real murderer couldn't be the official of the Ministry of Appointments, but someone else. How could a small official of the Ministry of Appointments have the ability to hire such a professional assassin and bribe the servants of Marquis Cheng 'an?
They didn't need to think too much about who the Emperor wanted to protect. They all knew in their hearts who it was.
Prince Ning.
Some of the old officials were disappointed. Prince Ning had done such a thing. Even if the Emperor wanted to protect him, he shouldn't continue to be the regent. Today, Marquis Cheng 'an made him unhappy, so he sent assassins to assassinate him. Tomorrow, if they didn't do what he wanted, would he also send assassins to kill them?
Marquis Cheng 'an was lucky. At the most critical moment, Princess Fule came to save his life. But could all of them be so lucky?
The Emperor's actions showed that he didn't care about the lives of the court officials.
Some of the court officials were heartbroken, while others beat their chests and stomped their feet. Ban Huai brought a few of his playboy brothers and caused a ruckus at the court. Prince Ning was so angry that his face turned ashen. If it weren't for the fact that he was worried about Ban Huai's status, he would have already sent the Imperial Guards to drag Ban Huai away.
Originally, they thought that after Prince Ning was angered by Ban Huai, Ban Huai would strike while the iron was hot and cause trouble at the court again. Who knew that when the court session started, not only did Ban Huai not come, he even asked for an injury leave.
Everyone asked for the reason. Well, the dignified Duke of Jingting was on his way home from court when he was startled by someone. His head hit the wall of the carriage, and there was a wound that was neither too big nor too small. Fortunately, the interior of the Duke Of Jingting's carriage was covered with a thick layer of cushions. Even the walls were sewn with fur, so the injury wasn't serious.
However, the Duke Of Jingting, who had just defended Marquis Cheng 'an in court, was injured on his way home. Moreover, it was a "coincidence" that he was startled by someone.
They had never seen such a coincidence in the world. They were afraid that this wasn't a coincidence, but rather, someone else's doing. People in high positions couldn't help but be paranoid. Therefore, the Duke Of Jingting's accident this time was already determined in everyone's mind that someone else had an ulterior motive.
Who would hold such a grudge against the Duke Of Jingting?
Everyone's gaze shifted to Prince Ning, who was sitting on the serpent-patterned seat below the dragon throne. He was irritable, easily angered, cruel, disregarded human life, and narrow-minded. If this kind of person became the emperor, how could they survive? Even Marquis Cheng 'an and the Duke Of Jingting had been schemed against by him, let alone them.
When Ban Han, who was still recuperating at Marquis Cheng 'an's residence, heard that Ban Huai was injured, how could she sit still? She hurried back on the same day. In the end, she circled around Ban Huai a few times and only saw a thumb-sized bump on his head. Other than that, he wasn't injured at all.
"Father, what is going on?" Ban Han drank half a cup of tea in one go. In order to get back as soon as possible, she didn't even have time to eat lunch.
"This really was a coincidence," Ban Huai laughed dryly and explained what had happened.
The gist of it was that a person accidentally rushed out and startled the horse pulling the carriage. Ban Huai, who was sitting in the carriage, bumped his head into the wall of the carriage. Even more coincidentally, the person who had done this was one of Prince Ning's eunuchs. He had secretly left the palace in order to buy something.
This matter couldn't be explained clearly. Even if Prince Ning didn't order someone to do it, in the eyes of everyone in the capital, it was Prince Ning who did it.
Thus, everyone once again sighed. Prince Ning was truly crazy. He was capable of doing anything.
At this time, Jiang Luo, who was in the limelight, was quarreling with the wangfei. Jiang Luo disliked Xie Wanyu for meddling in other people's business. He shouldn't have sent someone to deliver gifts to Marquis Cheng'an. Xie Wanyu laughed at him for not using his brain. Not only had the Emperor and the Empress bestowed gifts to Marquis Cheng'an, even the Crown Prince, who was locked up in the Eastern Palace, had sent someone to deliver gifts to Rong Xia's residence. How much face did he have that he wasn't even willing to send gifts? Did he think that there weren't enough rumors outside and that they weren't ugly enough?
"So what if I ordered someone to kill him?" Jiang Luo sneered, "Who does he think he is? I'm a dignified prince. Do I have to live my life in front of him?"
"But you didn't kill him," Xie Wanyu despaired of Jiang Luo's brain, "If you really had the ability, you should have taken his life that night. Now, not only have you alerted the enemy, many people have become aware of your motives. What do you want the officials to think of you? "
"I don't care what they think of me. To me … …" Jiang Luo sneered, "They're just a pack of dogs. Who cares what dogs think?"
Xie Wanyu was too lazy to say more to him. He simply stood up and left the room.
Dogs also bite people. Besides, even if these people were willing to be dogs, they might not be willing to let Jiang Luo be their master.
"Wangfei," A servant girl ran in front of her and said in a small voice, "Da Gongzi sent someone to deliver a letter."
Xie Wanyu's footsteps paused. His eyebrows raised: "You mean da Gongzi?"
"Yes."
She took the rolled up piece of paper that was thinner than her little finger. When she opened it, her entire face paled. She abruptly turned her head to look at the courtyard behind her.
"Wangfei, what's wrong?" The servant girl saw that her expression was not right and looked worriedly at her.
"I'm fine," Xie Wanyu took a deep breath. Her clean and beautiful fingernails dug into her flesh, "Remember, you cannot tell anyone about this piece of paper, including the people of the Count Of Zhongping's fu. Do you understand?"
The servant girl nodded with some fear: "Yes, nubi will remember."
She tore up the piece of paper bit by bit and threw it into the large water lotus jar at the side. The light yellow paper floated on the surface of the water like an eyesore that stung Xie Wanyu's eyes.
"Slap!"
She slapped her hand heavily on the surface of the water. The water splashed everywhere, drenching her face and clothing. She used the back of her hand to fiercely wipe the water off her face. She turned to look at the servant girl who was kneeling on the ground in fear, "What are you kneeling for, stand up."
"Yes." The servant girl stood up, trembling. She didn't dare to look at Xie Wanyu's face.
But Xie Wanyu's expression was exceptionally calm. She used her finger to wipe away the water droplets at the corner of her mouth. She laughed lightly, "Help me change."
The result of Ban Han rushing back to Jingting Gongfu was that she was sick again. Sometimes she was good, sometimes she was bad, over and over again. Rong Xia couldn't always come to the Ban Family, so he could only send people to deliver things to the Ban Family. Today he sent gems, tomorrow he sent cloud satin, and the day after he sent novel stories. Whether it was valuable or not, as long as he felt that Ban Han would be interested in something, he would send it all to Ban Han.
Summer gradually passed like this. By the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, Ban Han's illness had completely recovered. It was as the saying went, 'Illness is like spinning silk,' and her 'spinning silk' was the kind that was especially slow.
His Majesty had already sent out several decrees to have Rong Xia return to court. However, Rong Xia's body seemed to have been in poor health ever since he was beaten last time. He had just returned to court for a few days when he fell ill again. Emperor Yunqing sent an imperial physician to personally take his pulse. The imperial physician also said that his body had been damaged and that he wouldn't recover without a year or so of rest.
Emperor Yunqing had no choice but to promote a few people who had nothing to do with Prince Ning and the Crown Prince's faction.
These people didn't seem very conspicuous, but the Crown Prince and Prince Ning's faction officials couldn't avoid them. In addition, Prince Ning and the Crown Prince's faction officials didn't dare to touch these people. Not only could they not touch them, but they also had to be wary of other people plotting against them.
People on both sides knew that His Majesty was testing the hearts of both sides. If something happened to these people, His Majesty would naturally be suspicious.
When the first snow of winter fell in the capital, Emperor Yunqing was already able to throw away his crutches and walk a few steps without anyone's help. On the night that he planned to return to court, he began to have nightmares again.
He dreamed that he was only ten years old. His father didn't like him, and his brothers looked down on him. Only Ban Huai and Rong Xiao Langjun, who were several years younger than him, followed behind him with sincerity.
He saw the Duke Of Jingting come to pick up Ban Huai, but the Duke Of Jingting's throat was full of pus and blood, and his face was covered in blood. "Uncle, what happened to you?"
"Your Majesty, didn't you order people to poison me to death?"
"Your Majesty," Rong Xiao Langjun, who had been following beside him, suddenly had his hair all over the floor. Black blood seeped out of his ears, mouth, and nose. "Your Majesty, did you hate me for seeing your pathetic past, so you killed me?"
"No, no …"
Emperor Yunqing repeatedly retreated. "I, I did it for the sake of the country …"
"Liar!"
"Liar!"
"No!" Emperor Yunqing was suddenly pleasantly surprised. He screamed in horror, "It wasn't me!"
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! " The eunuchs and palace maids filed in. When they saw Emperor Yunqing lying under the dragon bed, they were so scared that they broke out in a cold sweat. How did His Majesty fall off the bed?
Soon, the imperial physician rushed over. After looking at Emperor Yunqing's symptoms, he shook his head with a serious expression. His Majesty seemed to be even more ill.
"Imperial physician …" The empress looked at the emperor lying on the bed. His expression was numb and haggard. In the past six months, because of Emperor Yunqing's strange temper, their former friendship had almost been worn away. But when she looked at the man on the bed whose hair was half white, her heart softened. "What happened to His Majesty? Why did so much of his hair turn white overnight?"
"Your Majesty, His Majesty is too worried." The imperial physician knelt in front of the empress. "I am incompetent. His Majesty's condition was gradually improving, but after tonight …"
The empress waved her hand weakly. "I know."
It was extremely difficult to recover from a second stroke.
When Emperor Yunqing woke up, he found that he couldn't leave again. He immediately lost his temper and punished many palace maids who served him in the Great Moon Palace. Even the empress was severely scolded by him.
"Where's my lucky bag?" Emperor Yunqing found that the lucky bag under his pillow was gone. He opened his eyes in horror. "Who stole my lucky bag?"
The lucky bag was gone. Even the door god outside the door was damaged because of the strong wind last night. Emperor Yunqing sat on the bed with disheveled hair and stared at the gauze curtain in a daze. He seemed to have lost his mind. "It must be because these are gone that they came to me. It must be because of this."
"Your Majesty, it's time for you to take medicine." Wang De came in with a bowl of medicine. However, Emperor Yunqing suddenly became agitated and knocked over the bowl in his hand. The medicine spilled all over him and soaked his clothes. However, Wang De didn't even dare to frown.
"Go and pass on my order. Immediately summon Marquis Cheng'an and Princess Fule to the palace." Emperor Yunqing tightly grasped Wang De's hand. "Let them enter the palace immediately."
"Your Majesty," Wang De whispered. "Marquis Cheng'an is sick. He is still resting in bed."
"Bring him in even if you have to ask someone to carry him." Emperor Yunqing's eyes lit up. He was like a person who had been thirsty for water for a long time and found a pool of clear spring water. He didn't care about anything else. "Go quickly."
"Yes." Wang De bowed and left.
When he left the room, the cold wind entered his bones through his soaked clothes. He couldn't help but shiver.
"Grandpa De, do you have any orders?"
"Pass on His Majesty's order. Summon Marquis Cheng'an and Princess Fule for an audience."
"This …" The little eunuch looked at the white snow outside. Two days ago, Marquis Cheng'an was sick. His Majesty even rewarded him with tonic medicine. However, today, he was so cold. Now, he wanted them to enter the palace. Wasn't this tormenting?
"Let the Imperial Guards handle this matter. Make it quick. His Majesty is anxious to see them."
"Yes!" The little eunuch didn't dare to say more. His Majesty's temper was getting weirder and weirder. Several people in the Great Moon Palace had already been beaten to death. Even if he was just a eunuch without roots, he still cherished his life.
The Ban Family was sitting around a warm stove and eating from a warm pot. Although they couldn't eat fish and meat right now, the food cooked from the warm pot was still delicious. The Ban Family was surprised and worried when they heard that the Emperor Yunqing was urgently summoning only Ban Han. However, they didn't dare to openly disobey the Emperor's order.
Ban Han changed into a white fox dress with a white fox collar and put on a white fox cloak. Under the worried gazes of the Ban Family, she walked out of the Ban Family's gate.
The carriage sent by the palace was already waiting outside the gate. The person standing at the front was Shi Jin.
When Shi Jin saw Ban Han, he silently bowed to her and took a few steps back.
An Imperial Guard stepped on the snow and put a wooden stool in front of the carriage. Ban Han nodded to the Imperial Guard. The Imperial Guard immediately retreated to the side with a red face.
The cold wind blew at the collar of Ban Han's fox fur coat. She pulled the collar of her coat and stepped on the wooden stool.
"Princess, please watch your step."
Shi Jin stood beside the stool and said in a low voice with his head lowered.
Ban Han tilted her head to look at him. He was still wearing his Silver Armor. The red tassels on the top of his silver helmet swayed in the cold wind. This was almost the only bright color on his body.
"Thank you for the reminder."
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