Chapter 16： Counterattack

In a dilapidated Taoist temple far away, a gray-haired Taoist priest was meditating next to a sleeping child. Suddenly he opened his eyes, and started to count with some doubts. After a long time, he said to the sleeping child: "The fate has changed, you may be aware of it."

Naturally, the sleeping child does not respond. The veteran Taoist sighed: "The wind starts at the end of Qingping. It has no breath and no shadow. You can't know the person who can see the way of heaven. You don't understand it." He looked at the broken window, pondered for a long time, and finally closed his eyes again and continued to meditate. .

In the grand prince’s mansion, the grand prince’s mood was originally very good: the emperor had already made a decree, and the grand prince was established as a prince "for the sake of his protagonist, for the elder, and for the virtuous." The Ministry of Rites will arrange the specific time for the canonization ceremony. At the prince canonization ceremony that is about to be held, the emperor summons his ministers, publicly announces and appoints officials to assist the prince. Then, the prince will move into the Chaohua Hall of the Forbidden City, and the surrounding palace courtyards have since been referred to as the East Palace.

Once he becomes a prince, the "three masters and three young masters" (Taishi, Taifu, Taibao, Shaoshi, Shaofu, Shaobao) appointed by the emperor for the prince will train the prince to rule the world in the future. These are the prince’s teachers, who are responsible for improving the prince’s ideological quality and teaching the prince’s principles of governance, but the eldest prince has reached the age of eighteen, and these people do more to assist and guide rather than educate and enlighten.

According to historical example, the position of the prince is second only to the emperor himself, and he has his own East Palace, which is similar to the imperial court. The official configuration of the East Palace was completely modeled on the imperial system, with attendants such as Zhanshi, Chunfang, and Temple, and a private guard similar to the emperor's imperial army, the "Prince Zhusui" (Tang system). These people will help the prince get familiar with national conditions and political affairs, and master the way of being a king. Once the crown prince is enthroned, these people will become the confidants of the new emperor.

From then on, the prince would formally intervene in the affairs of the court, listen to the minister's revelation, read the memorial, and sometimes make political decisions under the supervision of the emperor. In the future, he can also supervise the country, lead soldiers, and inspect other provinces on behalf of the emperor. It can be said that he is the official heir of the lord of the country, with only one person and more than ten thousand people. How can the prince be upset

The wives and concubines of the prince, like the emperor’s concubines, have official titles. The newly married wife of the prince will be named the prince princess, and the prince’s side concubine, noble concubine, prince concubine, Liangdi, Liangyuan, Chenghui, Zhaoxun will also be canonized. , Fengyi, Ruren, etc.

Although the official canonization ceremony of the prince has not been held in front of the ministers, but the will has been made, and the grand prince becoming a prince is firmly established, and the entire grand prince’s mansion is filled with a festive atmosphere inside and out.

But the big prince, who should have been full of joy, was upset by a few small things:

After the national game player Ji Wenzhao arrived in the capital, the people of the eldest prince recruited several times, but the other party pretended to be deaf and dumb and did not respond.

The fourth prince came out of the palace in a micro service. One day he did not know where he was going. He came back very late and was very tired. That day was when the children of Zhenbeihou were outing in the suburbs, but the eyeliner of Zhenbeihoufu did not see the four princes. It should be just a coincidence.

Also, the eldest daughter of Hou's house suddenly had an unbearable abdominal pain while playing, so the eldest son Shen Yi took someone back to the house one day in advance. The patrol in Hou’s Mansion was very strict that night. The people inside didn’t know what arrangements were there, so they didn’t rush out to report the letter. They thought it would be fine to report the next day, so the people on their side didn’t get the news in time, and the people left in the suburbs. It is impossible for people in the guard to return to the city to deliver letters. As a result, when the Guards of the Hou Mansion came back the next day, according to the original arrangement, they still used the reputation of women to make trouble. There were no women in the guards. Under the eyes of everyone, the lie was exposed, and naturally nothing happened.

Of those who arranged, the man was beaten to death, and several brothel women were taken to the yamen. Because the men said that they were instigated by others, they were all killed for fear of being held accountable by the Hou Mansion. As for the women, they are just prostitutes and prostitutes in Wanhualou. This time they just gave them money to make trouble without telling them whose idea it was, so they are not afraid of them talking nonsense. People have already told the government to take it leniently, and let them go back for a few days after being closed for a few days, so as not to say that they were instigated by others.

The prince felt as uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly. It stands to reason that on such a happy day, these small unsatisfactory things should be completely ignored, but he is uncomfortable, his face is dark, and he does not speak.

At this time, all the confidantes who can be in the room will soon have official titles and are happy in their hearts. Seeing the expression of the prince, they looked at each other, a little confused about the prince's gloom.

An staff member said carefully: "His Royal Highness, about Ji Wenzhao, after the crown prince canonized the ceremony, the East Palace is officially equipped with official positions, and we will invite high-ranking officials again. It will probably do."

The big prince still did not have a soothing expression. Another staff member speculated on the big prince’s thoughts, and tentatively said: "The Hou Mansion is not enough, we will arrange it in the future. Besides, the young girl of Zhenbei Hou is only seven years old. When she becomes an adult, and then ruin her reputation, it is not better for a gentleman to get revenge for ten years. Your Royal Highness can wait."

The eldest prince let out a sigh of relief, and the staff member also let out a sigh of relief. It seems that he was right. But I was a little puzzled: Didn't you just confide in a few words? What kind of hatred is this? How did the prince take this matter so seriously, it should be Ji Wenzhao that matter is more important.

The eldest prince was also a little confused: He wanted to destroy the stupid-looking girl, why is he so anxious? If it weren’t for Zhenbeihou’s military might be there, he really wanted to let people kill that girl. Where does this anger come from

The eldest prince said in a calm tone as much as possible: "Tell us people in the Hou Mansion to be diligent and report everything in time to avoid such loopholes! Otherwise, let them be careful!"

Everyone nodded and said yes. A flash of thought in the heart of one of the staff: Is it because the Hou Mansion is on guard to let the eldest prince’s arrangements fall through. Is that an excuse for the eldest lady’s illness...

But after looking at the relaxed expression of the eldest prince, he still did not speak: Whether the Hou Mansion was on guard, it could not change the fact that the eldest prince became a prince, and the reputation of the young girl was not a top priority, so there was no need to make the prince angry anymore. .

That night, Shen Wen combed the maid’s simple hair bun, wore the dark maid’s short dress, and wiped his face with incense ash. While helping her prepare, Su Wanniang repeated meticulously a few places that ordinary guests would pass by. Shen Wen half-heartedly didn't tell her that she had chosen the location-the clean room! Only there can people not go to see what happened immediately after hearing the sound.

Shen Wen was afraid that after telling Su Wanniang, Su Wanniang might pinch her face again.

Before the hour, Shen Wen arrived at Wanhualou. She first folded two branches in the garden. After choosing the clean room, she sat down on the nearby roof and waited for the person she wanted to talk to. A fifty-year-old old man was supported by two maids. This person probably couldn't hear the others clearly, and Shen Wen didn't move. A drunk drunk was dragged by the young man, and Shen Wen let go. The next few groups of people all came together, and Shen Wen didn't take a risk.

The two young men came over while talking and laughing. There was no servant next to them: "That Fang'er just had a great taste..."

"Don't tell me, when she sang that song..." The two entered the clean room.

Shen Wen felt his surroundings and found that there was no one else nearby, so he jumped off the roof and stepped aside, walking towards the clean room step by step. At the same time, he drove the branches in his two hands together with his footsteps to hit the ground in turn. Imitate the sound of another person's footsteps.

She asked in a shrill voice with anxious emotion: "...say, what will happen to the sisters who were caught in the yamen? They stopped the motorcade of the Houfu in Zhenbei!" She mobilized her consciousness. The force has strengthened the vibration frequency of its own sound waves, and the sound that is not too loud can be heard clearly in people's ears.

The two people in the clean room stopped talking and laughing vaguely.

Shen Wen raised her voice again, with a contemptuous tone: "Why is there something you don't know who asked them to do this?" She is already an adult, and she speaks in a more mature tone, but her voice is a bit thin, and it is also similar to the previous one. The voice is significantly different.

Shen Wen asked in a thin voice: "Who dares to trouble Zhenbeihou Mansion"

Shen Wen said with a rough voice: "Is the Zhenbei Hou Mansion bigger than the prince?"

Then ask in a thin voice: "Why did the eldest prince and the eldest prince rectify the young lady in the town of Beihoufu?"

Shen Wen said with a thick throat and a low cough: "I told you, don't talk nonsense. In the first month, the fourth princess, the sister of the big prince, had a quarrel with the youngest daughter of Zhenbeihou. No one knows about this. The prince didn’t like Zhenbeihou Mansion. While she was out, he asked the sisters in our building to make trouble, embarrassing the lady who had quarreled with his sister. But who knows, the lady in that mansion Our sisters were arrested if they weren't in the car. It's okay, they will be back in two days. You can wait. The prince is amazing!"

With a thin voice, he said happily: "This is great!"

Shen Wen had already walked through the clean room and said with a rough voice, "Of course! The person who sent the letter is a relative of my family. There is nothing wrong with what the eldest prince wants to do. Miss Houfu is unlucky, who will let her and Sooner or later the four princesses quarreling will be made notorious..."

Away from the clean room, Shen Wen threw a tree branch, jumped up to the ridge, and returned to the vicinity of the clean room with a few jumps.

After a while, the two people walked out of the clean room, looked around, and then whispered:

"Is this true? The eldest prince took the initiative to rectify the town of Beihou Mansion because a girl quarreled with the fourth princess."

"Actually, I have heard about this a long time ago, but not only with the fourth princess, but the eldest prince was also there. It is said that the girl was stupid and stupid, she didn't care about her words, and had no education at all."

"How old is she"

"It should be seven years old."

"Seven years old! Seven years old knows what a prince is too..."

"Hush, don't talk nonsense, this one is about to become a prince."

"Aren't we just chatting in private with the two of us? You believe that the prince borrowed the hand of Wanhualou to ruin the girl's reputation."

"I heard that this old prostitute from Wanhualou went to the street and stopped the motorcade of Zhenbeihou Mansion for unreasonable trouble and was sent off to the official office. Think about it, if the eldest prince did not take action, what is the status of Zhenbeihou Mansion? No matter how the capital city’s yamen had to give the Hou Mansion a face, and punished the women with a misdemeanor, at least a few shots. But if the eldest prince is really behind this matter, the prostitutes and women will be unscathed. Come back. This is to tell everyone that the slurs they said when they stopped the team are true."

"Oh! It's such an arrangement! It's really clever! It's a pity that it was used on a girl..."

"You're drunk, don't you remember it"

"It's time to hit it, my mouth! I just think..."

The two walked away, and Shen Wen got up and left Wanhualou, rushing back to the Hou Mansion.

After three days, the women who stopped the car in the Wanhualou downtown were released. The government said that they did know the maids in the Hou Mansion. They just remembered the time of the meeting incorrectly. It was a misunderstanding and did not commit anything. offense.

Many people know that Miss Hou Mansion is careless in employing people, and the personal maid turned out to be the handkerchief handkerchief of a brothel-prostitute. Gathering people in groups by things, one can imagine how her character is.

But there are also rumors that this is a means by the eldest prince to retaliate against the young daughter of the Hou Mansion who quarreled with him. Otherwise, with the power of the Hou Mansion, how can't help several brothel women who are provocative and ruining reputation in the downtown area can see the hardship of Wanhualou's backstage. Just at this time, the news that the eldest prince was canonized as a prince was announced to the public, and everyone believed that it was none other than the prince who could openly humiliate Zhenbeihou Mansion.

After realizing it, everyone felt an unspeakable feeling: Although the young girl of the Hou Mansion may be really stupid and rude, she is a seven-year-old child after all. Moreover, for the three generations of Zhongliang of Zhenbeihou, the old Lord Hou in front died on the battlefield. Now Zhenbeihou with 200,000 Shen's army guarding the northern border, has always been a hero in the dynasty. The prince’s actions were not giving any face, and the cause was nothing but the quarrel among the children, this man’s heart...character...kindness...

The staff have heard these talks, and several people wanted to talk to the prince about the Hou Mansion's public discussion. The prince was just established as the prince by the emperor, and it was time to win the approval of the ministers and the people to show that the emperor’s choice was correct. But the eldest prince openly fought with a little girl, and even if she won, the little girl's reputation was ruined, and the reputation of the eldest prince was also damaged. That girl can't marry a good family at best, but the eldest prince here will lose the prince’s moral name. Isn’t it clear who is more important?

But everyone can also see that when the eldest prince touched the affairs of Zhenbeihoufu and the young girl, he would easily become anxious and unhappy. It was summer again, the weather was getting hotter, and the eldest prince had a bad temper. No one of them had the courage to bring up this topic.

The Ministry of Etiquette has set the canonization ceremony for the golden autumn and September, when the sky is high and the sky is refreshing. Counting only less than three months of preparation time, many personnel arrangements, the layout of the East Palace, communication with courtiers and other chores have not yet been resolved. At this time, the discussion caused by a young girl should not be mentioned on the agenda.

Everyone works together tacitly, and the main purpose is to complete the celebration and fulfill the official position. For other things, more is worse than less!

And the Hou Mansion is also very busy here. The Hou Mansion and Liu's family have already left for the marriage ceremony and set a date for the eldest son to marry in March of the following year.

The eldest son getting married is a very grand event. Hou’s mansion only allocated the courtyard, and felt that the house was not spacious enough, so he built a few more beside the original house. Painting and repairing old houses, placing tiles on the roofs, replacing windows and doors with new ones, paving and repairing lands in the yard, and planting flowers and trees are time-consuming and laborious.

Su Wanniang worked hard to persuade Shen Xiang that it was not the time to act. The eldest prince has just been accused of being the prince, and any actions of the Hou Mansion at this time will be misinterpreted as dissatisfaction with the prince and the decision of the emperor. Shen Xiang went to discuss with his elder brothers again, and they all understood that there is nothing to do now, so be patient first. In the autumn, when the prince canonized the ceremony, Hou Ye will also come back. Then, let's see what Hou Ye means.

Now that the children have decided not to make trouble for the prince who is about to become the prince, they feel uncomfortable. Shen Yi suggested going to the wild, this time Shen Wen was resolutely left at home.

When Shen Xiang came back from an outing in the spring, he chose to use it as a weapon. Equestrianism made sense. All of them rode horses, not a single carriage, took the guards out of the city, and walked for more than half a month before returning.

After they came back, Shen Wen knew that on the way out of the city, they met the third prince who also went to the outskirts to ride horses. Since they were all going for fun, the two men and horses joined together and spent this time in the mountains and hills a hundred miles away. time. The three princes and the children of the Hou Mansion were roaring and galloping in the woods or on the grass every day. At night, they lit a bonfire and talked and laughed at the barbecue. They had a great time.

Shen Wen remembered that when there was no such thing as hers in the previous life, Shen Yi and Shen Jian often went out on horseback with the third prince, but they didn't seem to have had such an obvious friendship as they had been playing for so long this time.

Shen Wen didn’t know whether Shen Yi had an appointment with the third prince or met by chance, but she can guess that from the perspective of the prince who is about to become the prince, Shen Yi and others’ walk with the third prince was naked-naked- Naked provocation will further deepen his hatred of the Hou Mansion.

If the Flower Fair is the concealed opening of the conflict, then the quarrel between Shen Wen and the four princesses during the Lantern Festival is to expose the original faint disagreement. It became clear.

On the one hand, Shen Wen regretted that he acted too early and caught the other party's attention too quickly. Moreover, before the other party came to listen to the virtual reality, he did not suppress his breath. The original intention was to leave a stupid impression on the prince, but because he didn't want to be humiliated, the prince was overshadowed. Judging from the actions of the prince on their return to the city, he underestimated the anger of the prince.

Interlocking with each other, Shen Yi fought back, standing with the third prince openly.

Shen Wen began to worry that from then on, the eldest prince would speed up the process of the incident and start the Hou Mansion in advance, but he was too young and had too many things unprepared.

But on the other hand, Shen Wen knew that he couldn't wait any longer. She couldn't let the prince get Ji Wenzhao's most powerful wings, but if she wanted to stop Ji Wenzhao, she had to use a helper, and the most suitable one was Su Wanniang. Rescuing Su Wanniang shocked the other party...

Shen Wen struggled for a long time, and finally thought that at this time in the previous life, the eldest prince had won Ji Wenzhao, and what he did in the next two years was to work hard. I didn't remember anything against the Hou Mansion. Now Ji Wenzhao did not take refuge in the prince, it should be a big loss for the other party, which is regarded as slowing down the opponent's strength. The following can only try to destroy the other party's forces, unite all the forces that can be united, so that the other party has more than enough energy and cannot quickly rectify the marquis.

Shen Wen had a good guess. When the eldest prince received the news that Shen Yi was waiting for a half-month trip with the third prince, he was somber for a long time and said nothing. The surrounding staff used various methods to enlighten him side by side to no avail. That afternoon, the eldest prince sent someone to deliver a letter to the queen, requesting to see the mother queen. The queen immediately asked the eldest prince to come and share dinner.

The queen is only thirty-four years old this year, and she is still a radiant woman, with blue eyebrows in willow leaves, and Danfeng's eyes exposed, but there is no warmth between her brows and her eyes, and the corners of her mouth are slightly inward, seeming to be always unhappy. It can be seen that the eldest prince walked in from the palace gate, and the empress Jia still showed a smile.

After seeing the ceremony, the queen smiled and said: "I haven't seen you these few days, the emperor looks thin."

The prince sighed slightly: "Everything is busy and I have no time to rest. Sometimes I really envy the third emperor. A while ago, I went out for half a month with the sons of Zhenbeihou and had a lot of fun."

The muscles on the queen's face didn't seem to change, but the ridiculousness disappeared. She said with a lesson in her tone: "Why don't I envy Concubine Chen, I only wait for the emperor every day, and I don't care about the harem's chores. Human lives are different. As the eldest son, Huang'er will soon become a prince. This is no one can compare. You shouldn't always compare your dissatisfaction with the other's pride, I have told many times You don’t endure hardship and hardship, it’s hard to be a master. If you play everywhere, do you still want to be a prince? If you don’t have the ambition to rise above the clouds, you will naturally be willing to be mediocre. If he plays for two days, you will be envious of him, if he Become a prince, so what do you do!"

The eldest prince nodded hurriedly and said: "What the queen said is that the child shouldn't say that he envy the third emperor's brother, and that he should be grateful that he can get his father's approval.

The queen nodded and said: "This is a sensible child. Besides, there is a full moon, and people have good fortune and misfortune. He plays around, what tricks can he play, and usually my son only needs to concentrate on doing things for the emperor, and I don’t have to put the rest. In the heart."

The prince bowed his head and said, "Thank you, the queen. After listening to the instructions from the queen, the child feels at ease."

The queen smiled: "Why do you need to be polite, have a good dinner with me, knowing you will come, I let them prepare sweet and sour carp..."

After dinner, the eldest prince retired, and the queen took care of some chores in the palace. From the records of the attendants, she knew that the emperor had stayed in the Xiaoxiang Palace of Chen Guifei again tonight.

The queen was in a bad mood, and the palace man next to her moved slowly, and the queen couldn't help but reprimanded. Seeing that the queen had put down the books, everyone hurried forward to prepare for her bedtime. Some people helped remove the hairpin ring, and some helped the queen to change clothes and bathe.

The palace **** extinguished the candles one by one, and there were only candles under the bed and by the door in the queen's bedroom. The three court ladies served the queen to bed, but only one stayed behind to do the final care for the queen.

In the darkness in the room, the lonely candlelight reflected the queen's face a little hideously.

The queen seemed to be muttering to herself: "That **** can't keep it. She is so arrogant, her children dare to add trouble to the emperor..."

The court lady beside her only said "um". The queen lay down, and the maid put down the light tent embroidered with Danfeng Chaoyang, extinguished the candlelight under the bed, left the small lamp at the door, and went out.

At the same time, the inside and outside of the Xiaoxiang Hall where the emperor stayed overnight was also pitch black.

After the dinner, Concubine Chen asked people to set up a gauze tent in the courtyard, turn off the surrounding lights, and play the flute and flute lightly in the distance, while lying on the bench with the emperor, looking at the bright starry sky in the summer night, she spoke slowly. Chat verbally.

Although Chen Guifei was twenty-seven years old, the graceful tone in her speech was like a shy girl in a boudoir.

Seemingly inadvertently, the emperor asked: "I heard that Saburo recently walked very close to the children of Zhenbeihou."

Concubine Chen Gui sighed slowly, and said in a sad tone: "When the child is older, he likes to go riding outside. She always says that she wants to guard the border for the country in the future. The most powerful general in this city is Zhenbei. Hou, he always remembered to compare with other people's children. When he came back, he told me that he was riding faster than some big man in that house. I didn't know how to be ashamed! I said I was afraid that people were letting him. But he said that he is not a great person, people will not let him, he won himself, very proud. Your Majesty, you have time to beat him a few words, don't let him always be so proud, he always feels I have no knowledge as a mother, he will still listen to your Majesty's words."

The emperor laughed: "He is still a young man, so he should have this kind of madness. The child who can defeat Zhenbeihou should also be happy. My child should be superior. Don't let him say that he is not a character. 'Such words, he will become an upright man in the future."

Concubine Chen Gui "chuckled" a smile: "Your Majesty always spoils him so much. If your Majesty doesn't like his contact with the Zhenbei Hou Mansion, tell him! Let him stop fighting with others. Your Majesty, don't get used to him. It’s best to take an opportunity to beat him a few times, and see if he dares to come to me and brag about what he has won again..."

The emperor laughed and said, "You will fight! If you win, don't come to you to blow, go to me and say, I have a lot of money to reward him!"

Concubine Chen Gui sighed with a smile: "The emperor, I will thank him first. You are so kind to him, he really has to become a general in the future, otherwise, how could he be worthy of the emperor's cultivation."

The emperor smiled and said, "That's something for the future. Now, Concubine, I should think about how to be worthy of me..."

Summer insects sounded, warm wind gusted, and the gauze tent was hazy.