The smile on Rong Xia's face froze for a moment, but only in the blink of an eye. He asked in shock, "So the prettiest peacocks are not female peacocks? This is my fault. Every time I see you, I always think of the arrogant and leisurely appearance of those beautiful peacocks. This article is written by... The starter. "
"It's fine. It's not a big matter that you don't know that the beautiful peacocks are all male." Ban Han comforted Rong Xia considerately. "We have a few peacocks in our family's compound. Next time, I'll take you to see them."
"Good," Rong Xia said emotionally. "In the past, I had a teacher. Today, I have Huahua to be my teacher."
He made a student's bow to Ban Han. "Many thanks, Mister Huahua."
Ban Han covered her mouth and laughed lightly. Even the tips of her brows were smiling. The sun shone on her hair and her entire person seemed to glow. Rong Xia looked at her with a smile, his gaze becoming gentle. — — —
In the fu of the Count Of Zhongping, Xie Qilin had just walked to the door when he saw the chief taijian steward of the Empress's palace come out with several junior taijian. He stopped in his tracks and greeted the other party.
"Xie er gongzi is well," the chief taijian said with a warm smile, "Zajia is running errands for the Empress and has come to deliver some gifts to Miss Xie."
"Many thanks to the Empress, thank you for your trouble." Xie Qilin thanked the taijian and wanted to give a jade pendant to the taijian, but the other refused.
"Xie er gongzi is too polite," the chief taijian said with a smile, "Zajia is still waiting to drink your fu's wedding wine."
Xie Qilin exchanged some pleasantries with the chief taijian. After the chief taijian mounted the horse, he turned and entered the gates of the Xie fu. Entering the zhengyuan, his meimei and mother were looking at the gifts the Empress had sent. He could see the smiles on their faces from far away.
"Qilin, you have returned?" Xie mu saw her son return and put down the pearls in her hands. She gestured for him to sit, "The Empress has bestowed this year's new tea. I will have the servants brew it for you to try."
Xie Qilin looked at his mother and meimei who were in high spirits and did not mention the gossip he had heard outside. He said faintly: "Since it is something the Empress has bestowed, it is naturally good. Son is not a particular person, so there is no need to specially make it for me."
Mother Xie saw that her son's expression did not look too good and thought that he still could not accept the fact that one of his eyes was damaged, so she said, "Nonsense, tea is for people to drink. What's there to be particular about? As long as you're happy, it's fine."
Xie Wanyu put down the things in his hands, got up, walked over to Xie Qilin, and sat down. "Second Brother, what's wrong?"
"I'm fine." Xie Qilin forced a smile and patted Xie Wanyu's forehead. "Your wedding with His Highness the Second Prince is next month, so don't go out for a while. The people in Jing are complicated. I'm worried that someone will do something bad to you. "
"Don't worry, second brother. Recently, I have to learn the rules from the mamas sent by the palace every day. I'm so busy that I don't have time to go out and meet with other people." Xie Wanyu was a sensitive person. She saw that Xie Qilin's expression was not right and guessed that he might have encountered something outside. "Ge, did you hear something outside?"
Xie Qilin smiled: "It's nothing. You're thinking too much."
"Second Brother, don't lie to me. Something must have happened." Xie Wanyu had a good relationship with Xie Qilin since they were young. If the other was lying, she could tell at a glance, "It has something to do with me, so you don't want to say?"
"It has nothing to do with you." Xie Qilin shook his head, "Today, I met Princess Fule outside."
"Her?" Xie Wanyu's expression was complicated. She used to hate Ban Han. Even though she still hated it, it wasn't to the point that she would be happy to get rid of it.
She really didn't like Ban Han when she was engaged to her second brother. At that time, there were always people hinting in her ear that Ban Han wasn't good enough for her second brother. If her second brother and Ban Han were to be together, her relationship with her second brother would definitely become cold.
Who was it at that time?
Xie Wanyu shook her head. She couldn't think of those faces. Perhaps … more than one person had said that to her?
When she thought about the fact that her second brother and Ban Han were once engaged, it was no wonder that her second brother would lose his composure when he saw her. She subconsciously said, "Ge, you should stay away from her in the future. Outside, people are saying that it's because her horoscope is not good and will jinx you …"
"Wanyu," Xie Qilin frowned and interrupted his sister's words, "That's just the gossip of ignorant people on the streets. I didn't take it to heart. You don't have to take it seriously. Moreover … moreover, when I was engaged to Princess Fule, nothing bad happened."
When he thought about how people were gossiping about his sister, how Ban Han would stand up and reprimand them, and how his sister still blamed Ban Han, Xie Qilin felt a little upset. It was their Xie family that had wronged Princess Fule. He only hoped that after they parted, Princess Fule would be happy for the rest of her life and that Rong Junpo would be considerate and sincere to her. He hoped that Princess Fule wouldn't be like him and do things that would hurt her.
"On the streets and in the alleys, even among the noble ladies, there are many people who say that about her," Xie Wanyu said with a pout, "You won't speak up for her just because you were engaged to her, will you?"
"Wanyu, that's enough. In the future, you will be the consort of the Second Prince. These words are taboo in the Imperial Family. If you can't control your mouth, sooner or later, it will bring disaster to you." Xie Qilin's frown deepened, "That year, Concubine Lin by the late Emperor's side was a good example."
"I'm just saying it at home," Xie Wanyu was a little scared by Xie Qilin's words and whispered, "At worst, I won't say it in the future."
"Okay, okay, both of you stop talking," Mother Xie stood up to smooth things over, "It's already past noon. Let's prepare to eat."
"Huahua, I heard that you went out with Rong Junpo today?" Ban Huai saw that Ban Han didn't eat much at lunch. After putting down his chopsticks, he finally asked the question that had been in his heart for the entire afternoon, "Was it fun?"
Ban Han thought carefully for a long time and nodded affirmatively, "He's a very interesting person."
Ban Huai's shoulders instantly drooped and he looked a little pitiful, "Oh."
"But what I'm looking forward to the most is that father will take me to the hot springs," Ban Han looked at Ban Huai expectantly, "When can we go?"
"In a few days. I've already had the servants tidy up the hot springs manor," Ban Huai's drooped shoulders suddenly became spirited again, "The weather these few days isn't very good. It's easy to catch a cold in the mountains."
"En!" Ban Han nodded heavily and began to discuss with Ban Huai what to bring to the hot springs manor and whether the large hot springs in the manor were suitable for swimming. The father and daughter quickly forgot about Rong Xia.
Ban Heng silently looked at Ban Huai. Father, did you forget something?
In fact, he really wanted to know how his sister and Duke Rong were playing.
"Duke Rong, the cloak has been washed. Should I send someone to send it back to Princess Fule?" A mama carefully held a cloak in front of Rong Xia as if she was holding a rare treasure.
"No," Rong Xia reached out and gently stroked the cloak. She smiled faintly and said, "After her mourning period, I'll send her a more beautiful cloak. This one will stay in the fu."
The mama understood tacitly and retreated with the cloak.
He returned to the study and took out "Zhongcheng Lun" from a hidden corner and flipped to one of the pages.
"Zhongcheng Lun" didn't just teach people how to be a minister or a ruler. This book also recorded many secrets, but the way it was recorded was very complicated. Even if an average person read it, they wouldn't be able to understand the hidden information.
Although he knew that there was a lot of useful information hidden in this book, he had secretly sent people to search for it for a long time without finding anything. He didn't expect that in the end, this book would be easily delivered to his hands.
The book that contained countless secrets of the previous dynasty, and even recorded the previous dynasty's hidden treasures, was lying in his hands.
Turning another page, he once again saw the charmingly naive little turtle. Thinking of Ban Han drawing a turtle in boredom, Rong Xia couldn't help but laugh.
"Duke Rong," a voice said from outside the door, "Wang Qü requests an audience."
Rong Xia restrained the smile on her face and put the book back in its original position, "Come in."
The person who walked in was a middle-aged man wearing clothes bought by the Duke. When he saw Rong Xia, he was about to kneel down and greet him, but was stopped by Rong Xia: "Mr. Wang doesn't need to be so polite."
"Duke Rong, this subordinate is incompetent. It took me a year to find evidence of Shi Chonghai selling official positions and titles," Wang Qü took out the letter in his hand, "Shi Chonghai is very cautious and almost never sends letters to others. Even if he sends letters, he uses code names and even changes his handwriting."
"If Yan Hui didn't lose power and let him get carried away, he wouldn't have exposed himself," Wang Qü thought for a moment and said with some worry, "Duke Rong, Shi Chonghai is an old fox. You must be careful."
"No matter how cunning a fox is, it still has a tail," Rong Xia took the letter and put it in a very inconspicuous book, "Mr. Wang has worked hard this year. Go and rest for a few days."
"It is this subordinate's responsibility to buy the calligraphy and painting that Duke Rong likes. I don't dare to take the credit."
Rong Xia asked someone to bring Wang Qü to bathe and change his clothes. Then, she prepared a comfortable room for him so that Wang Qü could feel the warmth of returning to the Duke's residence.
When night was about to fall, Du Jiu hurried back to the residence. When he saw Rong Xia, he bowed and said, "Duke Rong, Wang Qü is back?"
Rong Xia nodded and thought for a moment before saying, "Withdraw the people we arranged in the Xie residence. The Xie family is already on the verge of collapse. Let them go."
Of the two sons of the Xie family, one was stripped of his official position and spent a month or two in prison. His temperament was gloomy and he frequented the taverns. The other had injured his eyes and was lethargic. Letting them go was a good thing. If they were suppressed too much, it might cause a dog to jump over the wall.
February was about to pass and March was about to arrive. When peach blossoms were blooming all over the mountains, the noble men and women of the capital rode their horses to the outskirts for a walk. As a talented and beautiful noble lady, Shi Feixian naturally formed a poetry club with some talented ladies. In their free time, they wrote poems and commented on paintings together. She and several other talented noble ladies were given a title by the scholars of the capital. That title was the Six Fairies of the Bamboo Forest.
Because their poetry club was built in the middle of a bamboo forest, that was how they got their name.
Originally, this gathering was supposed to be a good time for these girls to entertain themselves. However, an ignorant noble lady from some unknown family said something that made the atmosphere stiffen.
"Do you know who Cheng Anbo's fiancée is?"
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