It was said that a few hundred years ago, there was a scholar who was unrestrained. He wore a loose robe and his long hair was untidy. However, because of his outstanding talent, he was praised as a famous scholar and even received the title of Kuang Sheng. But how good could a man with disheveled hair be?
Shi Jin had always been well-behaved since he was young. He couldn't even understand why someone's unruly behavior was praiseworthy.
Although he and Rong Xia had different standpoints, he couldn't help but admit that Rong Xia was a rare character in the capital. After seeing his current sorry state, Shi Jin didn't feel any joy in his misfortune. Instead, he felt complicated and indescribable inside.
He didn't want him to treat Princess Fule badly, but he also wanted him to love Princess Fule until their hair turned white.
Shi Jin glanced at the person in Rong Xia's arms and raised his hand, indicating for his subordinates to let Rong Xia leave.
Rong Xia nodded to him and boarded a carriage that was hurriedly parked outside.
"Marquis Cheng 'an," Shi Jin walked to the side of the carriage. "How is Princess Fule?"
"Thank you for your concern, Lord Shi. My wife's life is not in danger," Rong Xia lifted the curtain and said with an indifferent expression, "Goodbye."
"Goodbye." Shi Jin took two steps back and watched the carriage with the emblem of Marquis Cheng 'an leave.
He turned his head and saw that the servant girl who had been brought in was being escorted out. The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess followed her out. Their expressions weren't very good.
"Your Highness," Shi Jin walked to the Crown Prince. "Is this palace maid the culprit who poisoned Princess Fule?"
"Although she is the culprit, there is someone else behind the scenes," the Crown Princess continued. "Has Marquis Cheng 'an already left?"
"He left in a hurry just now."
The Crown Princess pursed her lips and turned to look at the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince's face was full of worry. She reached out to pull the Crown Prince's arm. "Your Highness, should we send some medicinal herbs that Princess Fule needs?"
"Thank you, Crown Princess." The Crown Prince nodded at her and turned to go to where the courtiers were.
The Crown Princess stared at the Crown Prince's back in a daze. A long time ago, the Crown Prince liked to call her by her maiden name. At that time, she always advised the Crown Prince that it was against the rules. If other people heard it, they would definitely laugh at him. Now that the Crown Prince no longer called her by her maiden name, she suddenly felt disappointed.
It must be because Marquis Cheng 'an was Ban Han's nickname that she was so worried. The Crown Princess laughed at herself. She was different from Ban Han. Why should she compare herself with her?
"Crown Princess." Shi Jin looked at her worriedly. "What's wrong?"
"I'm fine." The Crown Princess shook her head. "I'm just a little tired."
Shi Jin saw that she didn't want to say more, so he saluted her and left.
Fire, a raging fire.
Ban Han felt as if she was propped up on a pile of firewood. The fire was so big that half the sky was red. She opened her dry lips, but all she saw was the dark sky. Not long after, snow began to fall from the sky. The snow became heavier and heavier. She was so cold that she had nowhere to hide.
Was she not going to be burned to death by the fire or frozen to death by the snow?
She looked down at her clothes. They were made of coarse hemp and had no sense of beauty. She touched her hair. Her hair was scattered and dry. It was no better than a chicken coop.
No, no, she couldn't die like this.
The snow had already sunk into her calves. Every step she took was extremely difficult. She took a deep breath and looked in the direction of the Jingting Gongfu.
After a few steps, the road in front of her changed. One side was fire, and the other side was snow. She stopped and felt despair in her heart.
But as soon as she looked down and saw the clothes on her body, she regained her courage. Step by step, she moved forward with difficulty.
At the end of the road were countless tombs. There were no weeds on the tombs, nor were there any tombstones. Each one stood there coldly, making people's hair stand on end.
Ban Han stopped. She suddenly remembered the dream she had. The souls that had died under the Suppressing Army's blade. Some of them were real bandits, but most of them were victims of the disaster who had been forced to a dead end. She closed her eyes and wanted to walk through this place.
She heard the cries of children, the wails of women, and the roars of men. She bit her cheeks. She didn't dare to look back, nor did she dare to respond to the people who were calling her name. Grandfather had told her that if someone called her in the cemetery, she must not look back or respond.
"Huahua." A tall and sturdy old man wearing a green robe stood in front of her with a smile. "What are you doing here? Come back with me."
Grandfather?
Ban Han looked at the old man in front of her in a daze. She wanted to call out to him.
No, that's not right.
Before her grandfather passed away, he was tortured by his illness. He was so thin that he didn't even look human anymore. However, he held on day after day for her grandmother. When he couldn't hold on any longer, he took her hand and asked her to accompany her grandmother.
Grandmother …
Ban Han's tears finally fell. She was sorry for Grandfather. She didn't stay with Grandmother and didn't protect Grandmother.
"Huahua …" Rong Xia rushed to the bedside. He saw that the fever hadn't subsided. Ban Han's face was red from the fever. He quickly grabbed her hand and asked loudly: "Huahua, where are you feeling unwell, Huahua?"
"Marquis Cheng'an." An imperial physician who had finished performing acupuncture saw Rong Xia and couldn't help but say, "Marquis Cheng'an, Princess is in a coma right now. She can't hear your voice."
"How is Princess now?" Rong Xia gripped Ban Han's hand tightly. The burning temperature made his heart uneasy, "Didn't you say before that the amount of poison wasn't large and that there wouldn't be any danger to her life?"
"Logically speaking, that should be the case. But Princess vomited so much blood and started to have a high fever. This situation is dangerous." The imperial physician saw that Marquis Cheng'an's face was dark and didn't speak. He carefully said, "Don't worry, we will do our best to treat her."
Rong Xia nodded silently: "Thank you for your trouble."
He turned his head and wiped away the tears on Ban Han's face.
The imperial physician saw his soulless appearance and helplessly shook his head. He was about to speak when a manservant rushed in.
"Hou, Marquis, the Duke Of Jingting, Madame of the Duke Of Jingting, and Shizi have arrived." The manservant gasped for breath and bowed to Rong Xia, "The Duke Of Jingting couldn't wait to report and has already rushed over."
"I know." As soon as Rong Xia finished speaking, Ban Huai's voice sounded.
"How's Huahua?"
"Who schemed against her? Who were the imperial physicians that were invited? "
The Ban Family rushed in. The imperial physician discovered that other than the three members of the Ban Family, there were also some people from the Ban Family's side branches. These people all looked fierce. If they didn't mention Princess Fule's nickname, the imperial physician would have thought that the Ban Family was here to cause trouble.
"Father-in-law, mother-in-law," Rong Xia bowed to the two elders. But the two elders of the Ban Family weren't in the mood to wait for him to bow. The Yin Clan walked to the bedside and touched Ban Han's hot forehead, "Did you catch the culprit?"
Rong Xia bowed and said: "I will personally investigate this case."
The Yin Clan nodded and used a handkerchief to wipe away the sweat on Ban Han's forehead: "With you in charge, we can rest assured."
Rong Xia bowed deeply to the Yin Clan and didn't say anything else.
"If I knew that something like this would happen, I would have gone to the imperial fields," Ban Huai was both regretful and angry, "Which little bastard made my daughter suffer so much? I will kill him."
The imperial physician couldn't help but think that the Duke Of Jingting was indeed a descendant of a general. His cursing words were very direct.
"Once we find out who is behind this, we will not let him off!" Ban Huai gritted his teeth. He walked behind the Yin Clan and looked at his sister, who was in extreme pain. He turned to the imperial physician, "What kind of poison is in my sister?"
"Aconite."
"What?" Ban Huai's legs went soft. How could it be such a vicious poison?
His sister …
His sister …
"Don't worry, the princess is not seriously poisoned. As long as she survives the fever, she will be fine."
Ban Huai's heart was still in pain. When had his sister ever suffered like this? What do you mean by 'as long as she survives'? She was poisoned. She wasn't hungry or thirsty. But who had such a deep hatred for her sister that they wanted her life no matter what?
Prince Ning's Consort Xie Wanyu?
The Crown Princess, Shi Shi?
The second son of the Xie Family, Xie Qilin, or Shen Yu, who had been whipped by his sister?
Not mentioning the first three, even if Shen Yu hated his sister, did he have the ability to arrange for someone to cause trouble during the Farming Festival? If he really had the ability, how could he have been stripped of his scholarly honors and lost his official position?
Ban Huai knew that his brain was limited, so he raised his doubts.
"It can't be Shen Yu," Yin Clan said with certainty, "He went back to his hometown, Dong Zhou."
"I was wondering why I hadn't seen him. So after he was stripped of his scholarly honors, he went back to his hometown," Ban Huai looked at Rong Xia, "Brother-in-law, please find the culprit behind this."
"I will," Rong Xia said with a heavy expression, "I won't let Huahua suffer in vain."
The news that Ban Han had been poisoned quickly reached Emperor Yunqing. When he heard the news, he almost couldn't believe his ears.
"How could poison be brought into the imperial fields?" This time, he had arranged for the Crown Prince to replace him in the Farming Festival. He had specially ordered the Ministry of Rites to prepare the imperial standards. Every food and every item had been carefully inspected. It was almost impossible to sneak in.
Unless the palace maids and eunuchs serving in the imperial fields had already been bribed, it was impossible for such a thing to happen.
Commander Yang had a faint guess in his heart, but he couldn't say it directly. He only said, "This official will investigate as soon as possible."
Unexpectedly, Emperor Yunqing suddenly said, "Do you think it was Prince Ning or Prince Ning's consort?"
Commander Yang froze for a moment, "This official … doesn't know."
"You don't know, or you don't dare to say it?" Emperor Yunqing had Wang De help him to the imperial table, "Grind."
Prince Ning is impulsive by nature. This is Emperor's fault for spoiling him. Now that he's old, he's still impulsive. This Emperor is very sad. Today, I will strip Prince Luo of his title of Prince and demote him to Junwang. I hope he will repent …
Commander Yang only saw these few words on the imperial edict and felt cold sweat run down his back. Was His Majesty going to strip Prince Ning of his title?
After Emperor Yunqing finished writing the imperial edict, he put down the brush and sighed. He restrained himself, but in the end, he didn't have someone send this imperial edict to Prince Ning's manor.
However, that night, Emperor Yunqing began to have nightmares again. In his dreams, he was torn apart by his old friends and almost fell into an endless abyss with them.
In the dungeon, the palace maid Xiao Yu sat in a corner with her shoulders curled up. Not far away, a gray mouse ran past and picked up a dry yellow steamed bun that had fallen at some point. It turned its head and burrowed into the withered grass that emitted a musty smell.
Xiao Yu tried to hide behind the mouse, but there was nowhere to hide except for the thick and cold wall behind her.
"Come out." A prison guard walked to her old door and said in a cold and emotionless voice, "Marquis Cheng 'an wants to ask you something. Hurry up."
Xiao Yu walked out of the cell door timidly. Her feet were shackled, so she couldn't walk too fast. Her long shadow fell on the mottled wall, making her think of the ghost stories she had heard when she was young.
As she walked through the long passageway, she saw that the prisoners were either expressionless or crazy.
When she reached the brightest place, Xiao Yu saw Marquis Cheng 'an sitting on a wooden chair. He was wearing a dark brocade robe, his face was pale, and there were faint bruises around his eyes.
"Marquis, the prisoner has been brought here."
Xiao Yu saw that the other party had finally raised his head to look at her, but his eyes were emotionless. It was so cold that she couldn't help but kneel down.
"Stand up and answer me." Rong Xia's tone was unexpectedly calm. She stole a glance at Rong Xia. The other party's expression was also very calm, as if the coldness she felt just now was an illusion. She stood up shakily. The guilt in her heart made her too embarrassed to raise her head.
In the end, she was only a palace maid of 13 or 14 years old. Her heart wasn't firm enough.
"I don't understand. The first cup of tea was poisoned by you. Why did you give up at the last moment?" Rong Xia asked very casually, as if he just wanted to ask a very simple question.
"Nubi … … nubi's older brother is a servant in the palace, and has received grace from junzhu. Originally, he was just a rough eunuch, but because of junzhu's words and a hand warmer, his life in the palace became better, "Xiao Yu said as she couldn't stop the tears from falling," He often told nubi how good junzhu is. Nubi can't get over the hurdle in my heart. "
Prince Ning had used the lives of her family to threaten her, and she had no choice but to obey. But she didn't think that Princess Fule was such a good person. She spilled the tea, but not only did she not blame her, she even gave her a handkerchief to tell her to be careful. She couldn't just watch such a good person die from poison.
Even she didn't think that she would give up such a good opportunity and throw away the cup of tea in a daze.
Maybe it was because she didn't want to bite the hand that fed her, or maybe it was because Princess Fule's smile was too beautiful that she lost her mind. No matter what the reason was, at least the moment she threw away the tea, her heart was incomparably relaxed.
"I already had people take control of your family. If you are willing to hand over the mastermind behind the scenes, I will have people protect them. If you are not willing to speak," Rong Xia lowered his eyelids, "I can only have your family go with you."
"Are you serious? My family was really found by you? "Xiao Yu looked at Rong Xia with surprise," You are not lying to me? "
Rong Xia said expressionlessly: "You choose."
"Nubi will speak," Xiao Yu kowtowed to Rong Xia, "Nubi will speak."
"Nubi is … …"
"Marquis Cheng'an," Jiang Luo strode in and glanced at Xiao Yu, "Marquis Cheng'an is really fierce. Your wife is unconscious at home, but you have the leisure to interrogate an insignificant palace maid."
He turned his head and looked at Xiao Yu, "You are a bit tender and delicious."
Xiao Yu was so scared that her face turned white. She didn't dare to look at Jiang Luo.
"Don't pay attention to unrelated people," Rong Xia ignored Jiang Luo. He didn't even stand up to salute Jiang Luo. He only looked at Xiao Yu, "This is your last chance."
"Yes … … yes … …" Xiao Yu looked at Jiang Luo. Jiang Luo was staring at her with a vicious gaze. Her whole body trembled. She closed her eyes and said: "The one who ordered nubi was His Highness Prince Ning."
"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't speak carelessly. When has ben wang ever seen you?" Jiang Luo sneered, "You are just a palace maid that can't be seen in public. Your appearance isn't beautiful enough, and your figure isn't graceful enough. Even if ben wang was blind, he wouldn't notice you."
"Marquis Cheng'an, this palace maid slandered the Imperial Family. She should be beheaded." Jiang Luo suddenly shouted, "Come, take away this palace maid who is speaking nonsense and ruining ben wang's reputation."
"Prince Ning," Rong Xia turned to look at Prince Ning's personal guards. His eyes were cold, "This is the capital's dungeon. If wang ye wants to take someone away from here, you must at least get a warrant from the Supreme Court and the capital governor."
"What are the Supreme Court and the capital governor? If ben wang wants to take someone away, who dares to stop me?"
Rong Xia put his hands behind his back and slowly said: "Is wang ye impatient to silence someone?"
"Silence what?" Jiang Luo made a hand gesture for his personal guards to immediately take the person away, "Marquis Cheng'an, it's better to be more careful with your words."
"Wei chen feels that wang ye should be more careful," Rong Xia raised his right hand. There hadn't been many people in the dungeon, but many guards suddenly came out. There were people from the Supreme Court and people from the capital governor, "Today, with wei chen here, no one can take her away."
"Marquis Cheng'an, you want to offend your superior?"
"Wei chen is only loyal to His Majesty," Rong Xia looked at Prince Ning with a smile that wasn't a smile, "It's too early for His Highness Prince Ning to order wei chen around."
Jiang Luo's face was so dark it almost squeezed out ink. He gritted his teeth and said: "Rong Xia, don't be so shameless."
The only response he got was Rong Xia's mocking laugh.
Under Jiang Luo's anger, the two sides finally met. However, it was clear that both sides were very restrained and didn't dare to kill anyone. Therefore, the weapons in their hands made them timid.
Prince Ning's personal guards didn't want to make a big deal out of it. In the end, they might be charged with rebellion or some other serious crime. The capital governor and the people from the Supreme Court were worried about Prince Ning's status and didn't dare to use their weapons.
Seeing this scene, Jiang Luo's anger increased. Without thinking, he reached out to grab the palace maid kneeling on the ground. However, before he could bend down, he was stopped by Rong Xia, "Prince Ning, do you want to rebel? This is the dungeon. Even if you are a prince, you can't trespass. "
"Get lost!" Jiang Luo wanted to push Rong Xia away, but Rong Xia didn't back down at all. He immediately scolded: "Rong Xia, you're just a bastard raised by my maternal grandfather. Don't try to act like a gentleman in front of this prince. This prince doesn't want to see it."
"Bang!" Suddenly, the door behind them was knocked open. A group of young people holding wooden sticks rushed in. Prince Ning and Rong Xia's people didn't have time to react. They saw this group of young people grab Prince Ning's personal guards and beat them. They didn't hit anywhere else but the calves and buttocks.
For a moment, there were endless howls. Everyone was stunned by this group of young people with unknown identities.
The people from the Supreme Court were originally a bit nervous. However, when they saw that this group of young people was clearly targeting Prince Ning's personal guards, they immediately relaxed. Whose manservants were these? How could they be so bold?
After beating up all of Prince Ning's personal guards, these young people didn't hesitate. They picked up the thick wooden sticks and hurriedly left. If it weren't for the fact that Prince Ning's personal guards were lying on the ground and howling in pain, they would have thought that it was all an illusion.
"I think …" An official from the Supreme Court stammered, "Shouldn't we call a doctor first?"
What did these people think the dungeon of the Supreme Court was? They came and went as they pleased. Also, the young people dressed as manservants just now had strong arms and heavy footsteps. They were obviously martial artists. If the Supreme Court didn't have a spy, how could they leave in such a hurry and leave unscathed?
Thinking of this, he glanced at Marquis Cheng 'an, who was standing quietly to the side, and wisely chose to remain silent.
In the end, Prince Ning wasn't able to take the palace maids away. Four hours after he returned to Prince Ning's fu, he received an imperial edict from the palace.
Fuhuang had stripped him of his title and demoted him from Qinwang to Junwang.
As the second legitimate son of the Emperor, he was demoted to Junwang. How could he establish himself in Jing City in the future? Thinking of the mocking gazes of others, especially the high and mighty Crown Prince, Jiang Luo felt like his head was about to explode.
The bedding in the room was smashed to the ground and the servants who served him were all dragged away to be beaten. But this wasn't enough. Jiang Luo felt like there was a fire burning in his heart. He couldn't suppress the anger in his chest. He had to find an outlet to calm himself down.
He noticed a trembling servant girl in the corner. He pulled her onto the bed and couldn't hold back the violent emotions in his heart.
"Wang Fei …" The steward of Prince Ning's fu walked in front of Xie Wanyu, "A servant girl tripped and fell to her death in Wang Ye's courtyard. Right now, we need a new servant to serve him."
"Tripped and fell to her death?" Xie Wanyu felt like he had heard the biggest joke in the world, "Is there a cliff or a hidden weapon in the wang fu that can cause someone to fall to their death?"
The steward lowered his head and didn't dare to answer.
"Fine," Xie Wanyu smiled coldly, "I know. You can take care of the matters in the wang fu. There's no need to report to me."
The steward laughed dryly and retreated.
Wang Ye and Wang Fei's relationship wasn't good. As servants, they suffered the most. Neither of them were easy to worry about, but they couldn't offend either of them. What could they do? They could only smooth things over and hope that their days would be better.
Thinking about the miserable servant girl, the steward shuddered. Wang Ye's personality was becoming more and more violent as though he was a different person.
In the past, Wang Ye's personality was impulsive, but it was just that he was simple-minded and didn't care much about his actions. The present Wang Ye was more like a violent madman. In his eyes, no one was worth mentioning.
"Wang Ye," A taijian poured a cup of tea for Prince Ning and comforted him in a small voice, "Don't be angry. Even though you have been demoted a bit, you are on good terms with the commander of the infantry yamen. This is something that the Crown Prince can't compare to."
"The commander of the infantry yamen … …"
The infantry yamen didn't sound domineering, but in reality, half of the military forces in Jing were under their control. The Imperial Guards were close to protect His Majesty, but their numbers were limited.
Jiang Luo suddenly turned to look at the taijian: "Tell me, is Rong Xia my fuhuang's illegitimate child?"
"Wang Ye, you are making things difficult for nubi. When will nubi be able to see His Majesty and Marquis Cheng'an?" The taijian's voice was slightly sharp. This made Jiang Luo frown unhappily.
"But nubi hasn't seen it, but His Majesty is very good to Prince Ning. No wonder some people in Jing are jealous and spread rumors."
"In this prince's opinion, this isn't a rumor."
If it was a rumor, why would Fuhuang demote him for Rong Xia and not investigate the identity of the servants that suddenly appeared in the Supreme Court?
"Since they are so heartless, then don't blame this prince for being unjust."
Since ancient times, how many emperors had their hands stained with blood for the throne?
His eldest brother was cowardly and Fuhuang's movements were inconvenient. Why couldn't he be the master of this world?
Ban Han was still in a dream. She walked for a long time before she finally saw the two words' Jing 'in front of a city gate.
Her heavy feet became light, so light that it seemed as if she could fly.
But just as she was about to step through the gate, someone grabbed her hand.
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