In this world, there was a kind of awkwardness. One step forward, the clouds and rain would overturn, and one step backward, the abyss of hell. Du Jiu had followed his master through wind and rain. He had seen blood and experienced many things. But today's situation made him wish he didn't have eyes. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to see such an embarrassing scene.
Ban Han noticed him and smiled at him: "Du Jiu, why are you here?"
"Marquis asked this subordinate to send a booklet over." Du Jiu tried hard to pretend he didn't see anything. He lowered his head and prepared to leave, but Ban Han stopped him.
"That's good. I don't need to send people again," Ban Han took out two grasshoppers made of grass, "Your master always said that he didn't play with these things when he was young. Bring them back to him. I'm helping him make up for his childhood. "
Du Jiu blankly took the grasshoppers, "Xie, Princess Xie?"
Their family's Marquis didn't play with these things when he was young. Where did Princess Xie get these things from? Needless to say, the craftsmanship was very good. The grasshoppers were very cute. Children would definitely like them.
But was their family's Marquis a child?
But when he saw Princess Fule's smiling eyes, he lowered his head and didn't dare to show the slightest bit of strangeness.
"Okay, you can go back." Ban Han revealed a satisfied smile and turned to walk through the front door of the Ban Family. Her relaxed and happy appearance made it clear that she forgot that there was someone kneeling behind her.
The front door of the Ban Family slowly closed. Du Jiu glanced at Xie Qilin, Princess Fule's ex-fiancé. He decided to take a few steps to the side and try not to enter Xie Qilin's line of sight. But when Ban Han was talking to him, Xie Qilin had already seen him.
"Guard Du." Xie Qilin stood up from the ground and called out to Du Jiu, who was about to leave in a hurry. "This humble one has something to tell Duke Rong …"
"Second Young Master Xie, you should now call our family's master Marquis," Du Jiu interrupted Xie Qilin, "If you have something to say, you can say it in front of our family's Marquis. This one is not literate. If I make a mistake and say a few words, then it will not be good. So it's better if you don't say that in front of me. "
He always felt that after spending so much time with Princess Fule, he started to speak like Princess Fule. Was this a good thing or a bad thing?
"Goodbye." Du Jiu bowed and left in a hurry, leaving Xie Qilin with a calm back view.
Xie Qilin stood there in a daze, looking up at the signboard of Jingting Gongfu. He had a feeling of not knowing what day it was.
When Ban Han returned to the inner courtyard, he found his parents and told them about borrowing the doctor.
"You did a good job." Yin Clan laughed after hearing the story. "There is no doctor in the world who can cure this kind of illness. Unless the doctor is an immortal, Xie Dalang can only be crippled."
"I think so too. It's better to borrow the doctor than not." Ban Han rested his chin on one hand. "But Xie Dalang's luck is really …"
Yin Clan lowered his eyelids and smiled faintly. "Who knows if it's bad luck or karma?"
"Mother, sister, we lent the doctor to the Xie family, but Xie Dalang can't cure him. Will the Xie family blame us for deliberately not letting the doctor cure him?" In Ban Heng's opinion, the Xie family was full of petty people who were more sensitive than the tip of a needle.
"Who cares what they think? If they are shameless, we might as well make this matter known to the whole world. Their son's family jewels were destroyed, and they can't reattach it, so they blame others for not doing their best. "Ban Huai laughed mockingly." If word gets out, the whole world will laugh at them. "
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Yin Clan glared at Ban Huai. How could he say such dirty words in front of his children?
Ban Huai shrunk his neck and said, "I'm telling the truth. It's already a miracle that she could save the life of the Xie family's Dalang. How can she turn him back into a real man? How can this matter be justified? You can't blame us."
"It's better that he's alive." Yin Clan smiled faintly. "A person like him should live well. After all, he used to be a giant among men."
"Madam, you seem to have a problem with Xie Chongjin?" Ban Huai asked cautiously when he saw the strange expression on Yin Clan's face. "Did he offend you?"
"You're thinking too much. I don't see Xie Family more than a few times a year. How could he offend you?" Yin Clan waved the round fan in his hand. He seemed a little tired because the weather was getting hotter. "Why are you all sitting around here? Let's go and have dinner."
"Oh." Ban Huai stood up obediently and went out to ask the servants to prepare dinner.
After dinner, when Ban Han was about to return to her courtyard, Yin Clan suddenly called out to her.
"Huahua, you stay here." Yin Clan stood up. "The moon is bright today. Come with me to the garden."
"But now …" Ban Han looked at the flowers and plants outside the courtyard worriedly. "Won't there be mosquitoes outside?"
When Madam Yin heard this, she retracted her foot. "Forget it. Let's talk in the room."
The summer night was filled with the sound of insects. A cool breeze blew in through the window. Ban Han leaned against the window and looked at the crescent moon in the sky. She turned to Yin Clan and said, "Mother, is there something on your mind?"
Yin Clan smiled and didn't say anything. She sighed faintly. "Huahua, there are some things that I shouldn't tell you. But I think Rong Junpo isn't an unambitious person. If your destiny changes in four years, you will have to meet more people in the future and face more conspiracies. "
Ban Han smiled and asked, "Are you worried that I will be taken advantage of?"
"I'm worried that the Ban Family won't be able to protect you." Yin Clan shook her head. "Your brother is a muddle-headed person. We don't know who the new Emperor will be. I'm worried that you won't have a good life."
"Mother, what's wrong?" Ban Han held Yin Clan's hand. "Didn't we agree that we will live happily when we have a good life? No one knows what will happen in the future. We don't need to let the unknown affect our current mood. "
"You." Yin Clan tapped her forehead. "You seem to be reckless, but you always have a sense of propriety. You are smart, but you don't have any scruples when you do things. You are not like me or your father. I think you are like your grandmother in her early years. " “
Isn't it good to be like my grandmother? "Ban Han smiled.
"Your grandmother is a good person. She can see through everything." Yin Clan smiled bitterly. "But if she can be more muddle-headed, she will have a better life."
She looked at her daughter's bright black eyes. In the end, she didn't tell her the speculations about the royal family. "That's all. You should go to bed."
"Mother, you are hiding something from me." Ban Han stared at Yin Clan. "Is it related to my grandmother?"
Yin Clan shook her head. She got up and put a box on the table. She opened the box and took out a stack of papers. "Your father and I prepared this dowry a few years ago. There is also the private property that your grandparents left for you. We haven't touched it all these years. But you were still young at that time, so we didn't give it to you."
Ban Han took the stack of papers. After reading a few pages, she felt dizzy. She had so much property?
"Mother, why are you giving this to me now?" Ban Han didn't like to worry about accounting, so she put the papers back into the box. "I'm not married yet."
"Next year will be here soon." Yin shi looked at her daughter reluctantly. "These are your things. You have to know which fields and manors you have under your name. Otherwise, if you want to check the accounts one day, who will you look for?"
"Grandmother's storehouse was taken care of by Chang Mama. I think Chang Mama is a good person. In the future, my private property will be taken care of by her." Ban Han said. "Although my maidservants are loyal, they are too young. They are not as experienced as Chang Mama."
"What a coincidence. I was planning to do the same." Yin Clan smiled. "If it was someone else, I would be worried. But if it was Chang Mama, it would be perfect. But you can't be lazy. You have to learn what you need to learn. Otherwise, the servants will fool you. "She tidied up the papers, closed the box, and pushed the box in front of Ban Han.
Ban Han took the box with a sad face. People who didn't know better would think that she took a box of promissory notes.
If this was known to the girls who favored boys over girls in the family, they would gnash their teeth in hatred. They wanted the family to prepare more dowry, but the family would only leave the good things to the sons. How could they let a married daughter have too much?
Ruyi saw Junzhu come out of the furen's room with a mahogany box. She reached out and took the box for Junzhu. She said in a small voice: "Junzhu, just now the heir sent a plate of fruit. He said that he got it from a friend and wanted you to try it."
"What is it?"
"It seems to be lychees or something?" Ruyi thought for a moment. "This servant doesn't know much. It is said that this thing was kept in ice all the way. It wasted a lot of ice and killed a few horses before it was sent to Jing. The heir also said that this thing is delicate and can't be stored for long. "
"It must be lychees." Ban Han smiled. When she returned to the yard, there really was a plate of lychees on the table. There weren't many lychees, but the color was bright and each one was plump. It was clear that they had been carefully selected. There was ice at the bottom of the plate and it emitted traces of cold air.
"Who sent this?" Ban Han peeled an iced lychee and put it in her mouth. She instantly felt her entire body cool down.
"It's Qiu Lian from the heir's side." Ruyi brought in a cup of hot tea. "Master, do you want to see her?"
"En, let her in." Ban Han used a handkerchief to wipe her fingertips. "Have the servants prepare water. I want to bathe."
"Yes." The masters of the Ban Family all liked to bathe. So the fu prepared hot water every day. They were afraid that when the masters needed it, it wouldn't be delivered quickly.
Not long after, Qiu Lian walked in.
"Has the heir used it?" Ban Han used a silver hairpin to gently poke at the ice at the bottom of the plate. The ice made a rustling sound.
"Junzhu, Shizi has used it. Because you weren't here in the afternoon, this plate of lychees was specially left for you. "Qiu Lian was an honest child and answered whatever Ban Han asked.
"I know." Ban Han smiled. She stood and grabbed a few pieces of silver from the drawer for Qiu Lian. "Go back and have the heir sleep early at night. He can't read random books."
"Yes." Qiu Lian was shocked. How did Junzhu know that the heir had been reading random books these days?
Looking at Qiu Lian's expression, Ban Han knew what she was laughing about. She explained with a smile: "Recently, the study that he often goes to has a new book out. It would be strange if he didn't read it."
Qiu Lian couldn't help but laugh. When she returned, she repeated the words to Ban Han.
"If she didn't read it, how would she know that there was a new book in the study?" Ban Han refuted with slight guilt. But she still put down the book in her hand. "Prepare water."
Bathing and sleeping.
Emperor Yunqing couldn't sleep. It should be said that ever since he couldn't walk, he often couldn't sleep at night. He didn't know if it was because he slept too much during the day or because the nights were too long, but he always had the taijian and palace maids light the candles in the room as though that would calm his heart.
When the commander of the Imperial Guards came in, a palace maid was serving His Majesty with medicine. All of the gauze curtains were hung up, and the candles were so bright that it was as though it was daytime.
Seeing him come in, Emperor Yunqing waved his hand for the palace maid to leave. The palace maid used a handkerchief to wipe the corners of Emperor Yunqing's mouth. She stood and curtsied before leaving.
"What happened?" Emperor Yunqing's voice was slightly hoarse and even slightly aged.
"Your Majesty, the Xie Dalang's body has been harmed. In the future, he won't be able to have children," the commander of the Imperial Guards said in a small voice. "His Highness Prince Ning and Wang Fei left the palace this afternoon to visit the Count Of Zhongping. But when they left the fu, the two had some disagreements."
"When it happened this afternoon, why didn't you report it until now?" Emperor Yunqing was slightly dissatisfied. He had two secret spies. The two sides didn't know each other's identities, but in terms of ability, Rong Xia was better.
But Rong Xia was currently recovering in the fu, and the only person he could use was the person in front of him.
"This subordinate is incompetent. Please forgive this subordinate, Your Majesty." The commander of the Imperial Guards didn't explain and knelt down on one knee to beg for forgiveness.
"It's fine. Have you found the culprit?" Emperor Yunqing said faintly. "Xie Chongjin is a person who has lost power. Who would go against him?"
The commander thought, Zhao Jia was even more inconspicuous than Xie Chongjin. Didn't he still get assassinated? Even though Xie Chongjin didn't have an official position, he had a father who was a count and a younger sister who was a wangfei. No matter what, his status should be higher than Zhao Jia's, right?
"This subordinate has investigated. This incident was just a coincidence." The commander told the story of how Xie Chongjin got into a fight with the local ruffians when he was drunk. There was nothing suspicious about this incident. The one who angered the ruffians was Xie Chongjin, and the one who attacked first was also Xie Chongjin. He probably didn't expect that a ruffian would dare to hurt him.
It was clear that one shouldn't be too aggressive. One day, one might force oneself to death.
The commander then told the Emperor Yunqing about the various fu's reaction to this incident. After hearing this, the Emperor Yunqing opened his eyes and said, "What about the Ban Family?"
"The Ban Family?" The commander was stunned. He instantly understood why the Emperor was so concerned about the Ban Family's reaction to Xie Chongjin's injury. Previously, when the Duke Of Jingting was assassinated, the real mastermind was Xie Chongjin. He was the one who cleaned up the aftermath. Otherwise, with Xie Chongjin's connections and methods, he would have been found out by the Supreme Court.
"When the Ban Family heard the news, they didn't send anyone to visit. However, when the Princess Fule returned home, she met Second Young Master Xie. Second Young Master Xie wanted to borrow a doctor from the Ban Family. "
"Did the Ban Family borrow a doctor?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
The room became quiet again. After a while, the Emperor Yunqing nodded and said, "This is something the Ban Family would do."
They weren't afraid of causing trouble, but they also wouldn't be too harsh.
From this, it could be seen that the Ban Family still didn't know that the real mastermind was the Xie Family. If it was anyone else, they would have already thought of countless suspects. Only the Ban Family believed whatever he said.
He liked such obedient courtiers.
"I heard from the Department of Household Affairs that they recently offered some lychees as a tribute. I remember that the Ban Family likes to eat lychees. Have someone send a basket tomorrow morning."
"Yes." The Commander of the Imperial Guards wanted to say that he didn't care about this matter, but when he saw the Emperor's sleepy appearance, he quietly agreed. After standing for a while and making sure that the Emperor was asleep, he quietly left the inner hall. When he turned around, he saw Wang De standing guard outside the door. The two of them bowed to each other.
The Commander of the Imperial Guards gave Wang De a look. Wang De followed him outside.
"Wang Gonggong, the Emperor said that the Department of Household Affairs will send a basket of lychees to the Jingting Gongfu tomorrow morning." The Commander of the Imperial Guards looked inside the inner hall and lowered his voice, "The Emperor is already asleep. Recently, the Emperor hasn't been sleeping well. We'll have to trouble Wang Gonggong."
"Commander Chen, what are you saying? It's your servant's duty to serve the Emperor. There's no trouble." Wang De sighed, "It's just that the lychees are more troublesome. After they were sent here today, they were sent to the various palaces. Only the Eastern Palace and His Highness Prince Ning haven't been sent yet. This … "
"Since that's the case, we'll have both families receive less," the Commander of the Imperial Guards said, "The Emperor has spoken. We're just following orders. If the Crown Prince and Prince Ning are dissatisfied, we can only invite them to argue in front of the Emperor or the Empress."
"Commander Chen is wise." Wang De smiled and agreed.
"Get out! Get out! "
"Someone come!"
"The Emperor is having nightmares again." Wang De and the Commander of the Imperial Guards hurriedly walked back into the room, but there wasn't much panic on their faces. Ever since the Emperor suffered a stroke, he often had nightmares. They were almost used to it.
At the end of May, the capital became hot all of a sudden. Without any hesitation, it began to feel stuffy and unbearable.
When Ban Huai helped Rong Xia present the memorial to Emperor Yunqing, he didn't know what stimulated the Emperor Yunqing. Before he even finished reading the memorial, his face showed infinite regret, and there was even a hint of … fear?
"Shuiqing," Emperor Yunqing's hands were not very nimble, and he couldn't help but tremble as he held the memorial, "Jun Po is a good child. Don't worry, I will definitely treat him well."
Although Ban Huai was very confused, he still readily thanked the Emperor, "Many thanks, Your Majesty. When this official returns, I will pass on this message to him."
"No need, zhen will personally arrange for someone to visit him." Emperor Yunqing's eyes were somewhat evasive, and there was even a hint of inexplicable madness. Ban Huai didn't dare to look at him and silently lowered his head.
When the weather was hot, people would feel uncomfortable. Fortunately, Rong Xia's wound had mostly healed. Otherwise, in such a hot and stuffy weather, it would definitely cause the wound to fester.
He was wearing a plain wide gauze robe, and his face was still pale from blood loss.
Commander Chen and Rong Xia sat opposite each other, and with a difficult expression, he explained the purpose of his visit.
It turned out that Emperor Yunqing hadn't been sleeping well recently, so he wanted Rong Xia to copy a copy of the scriptures for him to put in his room, and then draw a pair of door gods to paste on the door of the inner hall of the Great Moon Palace.
"It is this official's honor to share Your Majesty's worries." Rong Xia agreed, but when he stood up to salute, Commander Chen still saw a hint of pain on his face. It seemed that Rong Xia's wound hadn't healed, so it hurt when he moved.
Previously, because of the Crown Prince, His Majesty took his anger out on Rong Xia and gave him a beating. Now, Rong Xia's wound hadn't healed, and he wanted someone to copy the scriptures, calligraphy, and door gods for him. This matter was …
Fortunately, Rong Xia was loyal to His Majesty. If it were someone else, he would have been dissatisfied.
As a subject, he should be loyal to the Emperor, but as the Emperor, he should also empathize with his subjects. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to sit on the Dragon Throne for long.
"Marquis." After Commander Chen left, Du Jiu's face fell, "Emperor Yunqing is too much of a bully."
"What's there to be angry about?" Rong Xia stood up calmly, "Right now, I want him to be healthy and live well."
"Master?"
"At least until next March," Rong Xia's tone was icy, "At least when I hold a wedding, I can't let him be tainted with bad luck."
"Then these scriptures …"
"Let Abbot Yun worry about it," Rong Xia sneered, "I didn't raise him for so long to have him accompany me in meditation and chanting scriptures." He lowered his head, took out a grasshopper from the drawer beside him, and slowly played with it in his hand. Only then did the expression on his face improve.
"Yes." Du Jiu felt that the Duke's words were very reasonable.
"Duke, Jingting Gongfu sent someone to deliver something again."
The word "again" seemed to have a deeper meaning. Du Jiu felt that there was nothing wrong with this.
Soon, the item was delivered. It was a basket of iced lychees. Looking at them, one couldn't help but peel off two and eat them.
Rong Xia had Du Jiu personally send the Jingting Gongfu's servant away, while he stared at the basket of lychees in a daze.
Although it was called a basket, it was actually half a basket of ice with a layer of lychees on top. But this feeling of being missed was very good.
The ice emitted a cool air. Rong Xia took two lychees and placed them in his palm. The heat in his heart was also suppressed without a trace.
That night, Rong Xia's drawing of the door god was delivered to Emperor Yunqing. Because the scriptures were too long, he couldn't finish copying them in a short time.
As soon as the door god was delivered, Emperor Yunqing couldn't wait to have Commander Chen personally paste it on the door. Perhaps … perhaps his companions from when he was young would let him go after seeing that the drawing of the door god was made by Rong Xia.
"Your Majesty." Wang De came in with a tray. On the tray was an ugly sachet. The words on the sachet were crooked, but one could barely make out the word "fu".
"What is this thing?"
"Today, when this servant went to Jingting Gongfu to deliver the lychees, Princess Fule gave this to this servant. She said that this sachet was specially embroidered by her."
Emperor Yunqing didn't know what to think, but he hurriedly said: "Quickly put this under my pillow."
"Yes." Wang De smiled and put the sachet under Emperor Yunqing's pillow.
He looked at the old emperor, bowed, and left.
That night, Emperor Yunqing slept very soundly. He didn't have any nightmares, and he didn't wake up at night. He slept all the way until dawn. When he opened his eyes and saw the bright sunlight outside the window, he suddenly felt that he hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time.
He even found that his numb legs and right arm could feel something again.
Was it because of the sachet, or the drawing of the door god?
Or perhaps it was both?
"Someone come!"
"Pass down my order. Reward the Princess Fule and the Marquis Cheng An."
In the following days, Emperor Yunqing slept soundly. He was even able to get out of bed and walk a few steps with the help of the palace eunuchs and palace maids. When the Marquis Cheng An sent someone to deliver the copied scriptures, Emperor Yunqing felt that he would soon be able to get rid of the bitter days of lying in bed and not being able to move.
Rewards were continuously sent to the Ban Family and the Rong Family. No one knew what was going on with His Majesty.
However, the news of His Majesty's gradual recovery spread to the court. Many ministers who had been dissatisfied with Jiang Luo couldn't help but look forward to the day when His Majesty would return to the court.
There were also rumors that the Princess Fule and the Marquis Cheng An went to a temple to pray for His Majesty's health. That was why His Majesty recovered so quickly. However, this rumor wasn't confirmed, so no one knew whether it was true or not.
However, the news that there was a pair of door god paintings on the door of the inner hall of the Great Moon Palace, and that they were the original works of the Marquis Cheng An, eventually spread.
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