Card Room

↘End♂Ben♂God♂Lizhan↙Mobile phone user input address: m.xinwanben.com

【Chapter 160, Beacon in Troubled Times-10】

When Qu Wanyue came to this world, she was in the Princess Mansion. Her identity is a dancer, her parents died, and she makes a living by dancing. A few years ago, Princess Nine was passing through the capital, and Qu Wanyue happened to be bullied. Seeing that she was pitiful, the princess bought her and took her as a maid. She usually took care of the princess's daily life and taught her some dances.

That day the princess suddenly wanted to go to the street, and Qu Wanyue accompanied her. When she went shopping for clothes, she happened to meet Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou.

At that time, Qu Wanyue just turned around to buy cookies for the princess, but she was not by her side. When she came back, she saw the ninth princess with a dark face, and said angrily, "I'm going to Jiangzhou too!"

Qu Wanyue didn't know why. But as a princess maid, she can only keep up with the princess.

On the way, she heard the nine princesses scold Master Yu for being blind and ignorant of good and evil, and then realized that Team Yu was also going to Jiangzhou.

It seems that this time the crime took place in Jiangzhou, Qu Wanyue followed the princess to Jiangzhou with peace of mind, she did not confirm her guess until she saw Long Sen at the gate of the palace.

***

After Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin entered the palace, they asked their servants to inform the Eighth Prince that Yu Hanjiang, the magistrate of Jiangzhou, was visiting.

The housekeeper who was in charge of the reception at the palace heard that he was the new magistrate, so he immediately took the three of them to the side hall to settle down respectfully, poured tea, and then turned around to report to the prince.

After a while, a middle-aged man strode into the side hall.

The three of them met the legendary Eighth Prince for the first time—the middle-aged man in his forties was tall and strong, wearing a brocade robe and jade robe, which made his eyebrows even more handsome.

The three of Yu Hanjiang immediately bowed and saluted: "I have seen the prince."

The prince smiled and said, "You don't need to be too polite." He looked at Yu Hanjiang with admiration in his eyes: "This is Mr. Yu, right? Your Majesty often mentions you in letters, and this king has also heard about you. A 19-year-old high school champion who was promoted to the prefect of Jiangzhou in less than a few years, Mr. Yu is really young and promising!"

"My lord is too famous." Yu Hanjiang brought Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin in front of him, and introduced to the lord: "This is Xiao Lou, my wife, and this is Mr. Mo, the magistrate. I brought them here together to congratulate the lord." birthday."

After he finished speaking, he gave the prepared congratulatory gift to the prince, which was a famous calligraphy and painting brought over from Kyoto. As an upright official, he is not good at buying too expensive things. He heard that the prince likes calligraphy and painting, so he brought a calligraphy from his family's collection.

The prince asked his entourage to accept the gift, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty Yu is so polite. You have been exhausted along the road, and I should have hosted a banquet to entertain you. Unfortunately, the palace is busy with internal affairs these days, and it is difficult for me to get away. In a few days, I must invite adults to come to the house again."

The Eighth Prince has no royal airs at all, he is very polite to Yu Hanjiang, and his smile looks very kind.

This smile reminded Yu Hanjiang of the emperor sitting on the dragon chair in Kyoto, who was also smiling, showing no signs of happiness or anger. Sure enough, those who survived the royal struggle were all human beings.

Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice and talked about the business: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty still has a few words to convey to my minister."

The Eighth Prince understood, and said: "Master Yu, please go to the study with me. As for your wife and master..." He turned to look at the maid beside him, and said, "Caiyue, take your wife and master to the garden Let’s go shopping and entertain the two distinguished guests well.”

Caiyue responded, turned around and left with Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin.

Yu Hanjiang followed the prince to the study room, took out the sealed letter from his arms, and handed it to him respectfully: "This secret letter was delivered to the prince by His Majesty."

"Oh? Secret letter?" The Eighth Prince immediately took the letter from Yu Hanjiang. After opening the secret letter, his brows were slightly frowned. He didn't know what was mentioned in the secret letter, and his expression became a little serious.

After quickly scanning the letter, he put away the secret letter, smiled slightly, and said, "Thank you, Mr. Yu. This king has not been back to Beijing for four full years, so it's time to go back to the capital to have a look."

Next, the prince politely questioned some of the emperor's situation, expressing his love as the emperor's uncle. I don't know if I really care about it, or if it's just for Yu Hanjiang to see. Regarding the government affairs of the court and some important decisions of the court, he didn't mention a word. They all said that he was an idle prince who didn't care about political affairs. It seemed that the rumors were true.

***

At the same time, Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin were admiring flowers in the palace with the maid.

The area of ​​the Zhenjiang Prince's Mansion is astonishingly large. The environment of the entire Palace is quiet, with pavilions, pavilions, trees, and flower beds arranged in a well-proportioned manner. The gardens are planned very carefully. There are also some hidden Fengshui layouts, which are obviously specially designed. .

Mo Xuemin studied design, and when he saw this courtyard, he couldn't help but whisper in Xiao Lou's ear: "The planning and design of this courtyard is very reasonable, and it should have cost a huge amount of money to build. It is almost comparable to the People's Park in our city. .”

Xiao Lou also felt that walking in the yard was full of scenery, which made people feel refreshed.

There is a huge lotus pond in the middle of the yard. It is early autumn, and the pond is full of lotus flowers. Walking on the cobblestone path beside the pond, you can still smell the fragrance of lotus flowers. There happened to be stone tables and benches beside the lotus pond, paved with a breeze, Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin simply sat down to enjoy the flowers, and the maid thoughtfully brought them several plates of washed fruits.

At this moment, a thin woman with a white veil on her face passed by the lotus pond, and beside her was Liu Qiao with a neat ponytail.

With a medicine basket.

Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao looked at each other, tacit understanding - it seems that the person next to Liu Qiao is Qi Yiwei, the Fourth Miss.

As the daughter of the palace, she was dressed in a very simple and elegant way. She was dressed in a white dress with simple silver dark patterns on it. There are no gorgeous pearl hairpins in the hair, only a wooden hairpin.

The white gauze covered most of her face, only her eyes and eyebrows were exposed.

She glanced in the direction of Xiao Lou, her eyes were clear and lively, matched with the curved willow-leaf eyebrows, she had a kind of elegant and beautiful temperament, she was obviously a little beauty, I don't know why she kept covering her face with a veil.

Liu Qiao quickly walked away with Miss Fourth.

Since Miss Fourth has Liu Qiao on her side, there is no need to worry about missing clues, Xiao Lou is very relieved of Liu Qiao.

The palace is too big, we need to find out the terrain first.

Xiao Lou came up with a plan, and suddenly said: "I want to go to the toilet, please ask Miss Caiyue to show me the way."

"Okay, Ma'am, please." The maid immediately brought Xiao Lou to the backyard.

The toilet in the Wangfu was built in a very hidden place. It was impossible for the maid to follow Xiao Lou in. After pointing the way, she waited outside. Xiao Lou used an invisibility cloak and accelerated shoes at the corner, and used this time to quickly move around in the Wangfu. turned around.

Zhenjiang Prince's Mansion is really too big, and he has limited time, so he only found out the backyard.

There are courtyards in the east, west, south, and north directions of the backyard, all with very literary names, which are the residences of wives and ladies. There is a small Buddhist hall in the most secluded corner, and Xiao Lou saw a dignified girl knocking on a wooden fish and chanting scriptures in the Buddhist hall—this is obviously Qi Yiyao, the eldest lady of the palace.

Long Sen once mentioned that the eldest lady is pure-hearted and ascetic, and loves to read Buddhist scriptures. She usually goes to the Buddhist hall to copy scriptures and read Buddhist scriptures alone when she is free. Xiao Lou found that the girl had her eyes closed, with an extremely calm expression on her face, as if everything in the world had nothing to do with her.

She has a marriage contract with the eldest young master of the Lin family. Young master Lin is promiscuous outside and hangs out in brothels every day. I don't know if she is raised in a deep boudoir and has never heard of it, or she doesn't care or care about that fiancé?

Xiao Lou was very puzzled.

This lady is only 20 years old. At a young age, it is so strange that she hides in the Buddhist hall and recites Buddhist scriptures every day.

At this moment, a gorgeously dressed beautiful woman suddenly came over and said, "Ayao, today is your father's birthday, why are you still here chanting scriptures? Go back and change your clothes and dress up properly."

Qi Yiyao paused slightly as she knocked Muyu's hand, and said flatly: "Father's birthday, there are so many guests every year, it's lively enough, it doesn't matter whether I participate or not."

The woman's complexion changed when she heard this: "What is this called? You are the eldest daughter of the palace, how can you not attend the prince's birthday banquet? Your three younger sisters will all attend tonight's banquet, and the young master of the Lin family will also attend the banquet." Come here, listen to your mother, go and change your clothes, don't let the younger sisters compare."

After she finished speaking, she grabbed her daughter's wrist and forcibly dragged her away.

Qi Yiyao followed her mother away expressionlessly.

Not far away, Fourth Miss and Liu Qiao passed by the Buddhist hall together and also witnessed this scene.

Liu Qiao asked suspiciously, "Don't Missy like to be lively?"

Miss Si's soft voice came over: "Well, my sister has been in poor health since she was a child. She suffered from a serious illness and almost died. At that time, my father went to a temple outside Jiangzhou City to ask for an amulet, and asked the teacher to raise her until She was brought home when she was ten years old. She grew up in a temple when she was a child, and when she returned to the palace, she also asked her father to build a Buddhist hall. She usually went to the Buddhist hall to copy scriptures when she was free, and she didn't talk much to us."

Liu Qiao was a little curious: "Then why did she make a marriage contract with the young master of the Lin family?"

The Fourth Miss shook her head and said: "We, as children, can only obey the orders of our parents."

Liu Qiao was trying to find out the news, and Xiao Lou was worried that he would be found missing, so he left the Buddhist hall quickly.

The servant girl waited for a long time, and when she saw Madam Yu coming out, she couldn't help but worry: "Why has Madam been gone for so long?"

Xiao Lou smiled slightly, and said, "Maybe it's because my stomach was spoiled by eating in the morning, and I'm not feeling well."

When he followed the servant girl back to the lotus pond, Lao Mo, who had gone to investigate in the front yard, had just returned, and the two exchanged a look.

The clues that could be obtained before the case happened were limited, and Xiao Lou only saw the Fourth Miss and the Eldest Miss in the backyard, the second Miss Shu'an Junjun, and the third Miss who was a boy and loved martial arts.

Old Mo said in a low voice: "I saw that the Lin family has also come, including that Young Master Lin."

Just at this time, Yu Hanjiang and the prince came out of the study, and Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin went up to greet them.

The prince is very busy today, there are a lot of distinguished guests, he took the initiative to say "I have something to leave" and asked his followers to take them to the side hall to settle down first. The three of them bid farewell tactfully, turned around and sat down in the side hall, waiting for the dinner to start.

Soon, Shao Qingge also came in and sent several boxes of congratulatory gifts.

As the richest family in Daqi, the Shao family's congratulatory gifts are of course the most important among all the guests.

Today's Shao Qingge is wearing a gorgeous silk gown, full of extravagance. After he walked into the side hall, he saw Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin, and immediately walked over to show off his acting skills: "Master Yu, what a coincidence, we meet again."

Yu Hanjiang had no choice but to play along with him: "Young Master Shao, it is indeed a coincidence."

Shao Qingge sat on the seat next to Yu Hanjiang with a smile, covered his face with a fan, pretended to catch up with Master Yu, but actually said in a low voice, "I saw someone at the door just now."

Yu Hanjiang asked, "Who?"

Shao Qingge said: "Qu Wan

moon. "

Yu Hanjiang was startled, and finally heaved a sigh of relief. Their team was short of Qu Wanyue who never showed up. Now that Teacher Qu has also come to the Zhenjiang Prince's Mansion, all the members are gathered together, and the main event should begin soon.

Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice and asked, "What is her identity?"

Shao Qingge gloated: "The woman disguised herself as a man and became a handsome young man. When Long Sen saw his wife dressed in men's clothes, her jaw almost dropped, her mouth was so big that she could swallow a duck's egg."

Yu Hanjiang: "..."

When will Mr. Shao's gloating behavior be corrected?

Yu Hanjiang asked seriously: "Did you pretend to be a man, or did you become a man?"

Shao Qingge said with a smile: "It should be a disguise. Her identity in this world is still a woman, so she disguised herself as a man to facilitate her actions. There was also a woman who came with her, who was also a woman disguised as a man, with thin skin and tender flesh. Don't know who it is."

Just as he was talking, he saw Qu Wanyue in men's clothing and a handsome "boy" walking into the side hall side by side.

The two found an empty seat and sat down, drinking tea by themselves.

Qu Wanyue met Shangyu Hanjiang's eyes and nodded slightly to him.

Xiao Lou also spotted Qu Wanyue, and then saw another person sitting next to her. That person looked very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before... Xiao Lou thought about it carefully, it wasn't him and Yu Hanjiang Was it the princess I saw when I was shopping in Kyoto?

Xiao Lou smiled lightly, leaned into Yu Hanjiang's ear and said, "Princess Ninth, shouldn't she come to look for you?"

Rumor has it that Yu Hanjiang declined the late emperor's offer of marriage at the beginning, and the nine princesses held a grudge against this. But Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou have been married for four years, she is a princess, and most of them are young talents who want to be consorts, so it's not that they can't let go of it now, right?

Her Royal Highness the Princess came all the way to Jiangzhou, is it just to find fault? If this is the case, then the princess is not just capricious, but has a brain problem. Xiao Lou felt that things would not be that simple.

Worried about Xiao Lou thinking too much, Yu Hanjiang immediately explained: "I really don't know her well, and I haven't spoken more than five sentences in total. Don't think too much, her coming here is probably related to the plot."

Xiao Lou smiled and said, "Of course I believe you. Besides, I also think that the princess's coming to Jiangzhou will not be just to find fault with us. The good show will be staged soon, let's wait and see."

****

[Chapter 161, Beacon in Troubled Times 11]

The Eighth Prince's birthday party officially started in the evening.

Everyone was invited to the backyard. Many round tables were set up in the open space beside the pond, filled with sumptuous delicacies. The guests took their seats one by one, and the prince and his three wives sat at the main seat.

It is rumored that the prince is very beautiful. These three wives do have their own characteristics. Mrs. Yun is dignified and majestic, Mrs. Qing is bright and charming, and Mrs. Han is delicate and gentle. Surrounded by beauties, the prince is full of smiles and seems to be in a great mood.

The folk customs of Daqi are open, so there is no rule that women cannot show up. The three wives are all present, but the four daughters have not shown up yet. Maybe they are preparing gifts for the prince?

Shao Qingge sat at a table with distinguished guests from the Lin family.

The young master of the Lin family, Lin Shaobo, was sitting next to him. Today, young master Lin didn't drink any alcohol. Compared with the booze-smelling dude he saw at Tianxiang Tower the day before yesterday, young master Lin who was serious was a good-looking talent. He has a marriage contract with the eldest lady and will be married next month. As the prince's son-in-law, of course he will attend his father-in-law's birthday, and the gifts sent on behalf of the Lin family are also very impressive, carrying several boxes.

Lin Shaobo glanced at Shao Qingge, then calmly lowered his head and drank tea, pretending not to know him.

Shao Qingge also gave him face and didn't mention Tianxiang Tower.

Toasting to each other, the palace tonight is really lively.

After drinking for three rounds, the show began. The girls from Tianxianglou were invited up, and after a soft dance, the owner, Aunt Qing, smiled and said, "The next show is a brand new sword dance specially trained by us in Tianxianglou, congratulations to the prince!"

Shao Qingge noticed with sharp eyes that Ye Qi had also appeared on the stage.

Miss Ye changed her outfit tonight. She wore a bright red floor-length dress embroidered with golden silk threads, and she wore a lot of pearl hairpins in her hair, shining brightly under the candlelight.

As soon as the bright and beautiful Tianxianglou came out, Shao Qingge almost spit.

It’s okay to dress festively for a birthday banquet, but there’s no need to be so festive, right? Wear a hijab on your head, and you can get married directly.

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang are also trying to hold back their laughter—poor Ye Qi, this dark history of dressing up as a woman will probably be remembered by everyone.

Seeing Ye Qi dressed like this for the first time, Qu Wanyue almost choked, she hurriedly covered her face with her sleeves, and pretended to drink tea calmly. On the other hand, the Ninth Princess next to her was very interested and said: "This girl is very beautiful, where is Tianxiang Tower?"

Qu Wanyue forced herself to remain calm, and explained in a low voice: "It's the largest song and dance hall in Jiangzhou. The women here are all performing arts instead of selling themselves, and rely on their talents for a living."

The Ninth Princess was thoughtful: "They are going to perform a sword dance, right? I remember you will do it too. I wonder if the sword dance these people dance is as beautiful as yours?"

Qu Wanyue smiled and said, "The princess is too much, I can only scratch the surface."

The two were chatting, and Ye Qi had already played music.

He was in charge of playing the pipa today, and beside him were two beauties in harmony. The three of them were sitting in the gazebo. As the melodious music sounded, five women in red dresses held long swords and danced in the open space.

Seeing them drawing their swords at the same time, the guards of the palace immediately stood in front of the prince.

The Eighth Prince smiled and waved his hands: "Everyone back down, it's just a sword dance for fun."

The guards backed away, and everyone stared nervously at the woman dancing with the sword, for fear that the tip of the sword would accidentally stab her.

All five women wore red veils. The posture of the sword dance is chic and neat, and every time the long sword is swung, it can be retracted and retracted freely like a snake coming out of a hole. Moreover, they are stepping on the rhythm of the music, and their movements are very neat, obviously they have been trained for a long time.

The melody played by Ye Qi gradually changed from melodious and melodious to impassioned and impassioned, like a flying current stirring up thousands of waves.

The dance of the five girls also gradually improved, their movements became faster and faster, and the five swords danced into a group of beautiful sword flowers, which dazzled the guests.

The Eighth Prince took the lead in applauding, and the guests followed suit.

Amidst the warm applause, the formation dispersed in an instant, and the four women suddenly flew up. The four gathered in the center of the field from the four directions of east, south, west, and north. Meet in one place!

The rest of the woman jumped up, her toes were like a dragonfly on the water, and she just stepped on the intersection of the four swords. Her body was suspended in the air, standing on one foot, and posed an elegant "white crane spreading its wings" movement.

"Good!" The surrounding applause became more and more enthusiastic.

The sword dance performed by these five people really opened the eyes of the guests.

However, Xiao Lou clutched his fingers nervously, feeling a little uneasy in his heart.

Those five swords reminded him of the assassin in the early morning of the day before yesterday. They were also long swords with no obvious features. The tip of the sword was coated with poison and cut Yu Hanjiang's back. I have lingering fears.

It is normal for dignitaries to invite people to perform dances on their birthdays, but the sword dance...Xiao Lou always feels that it is not very auspicious.

Suddenly, he met a pair of eyes.

The woman who was posing as a white crane spread its wings in the air, her eyes suddenly became extremely cold, she stomped hard on her feet, and with the help of the elasticity of the four swords, her whole body shot out like a sharp arrow, and flew towards the prince!

The sharp sword pointed straight at the prince's chest!

Madam Yun turned pale with shock: "There are assassins! Hurry up, protect the prince!"

Shouting like this, she hid faster than anyone else, and immediately dodged to hide behind a guard.

The other two ladies also stood there in shock.

The prince looked calm. At the moment when the woman's sharp sword was about to pierce his chest, he suddenly slapped the wine utensils on the table with his palm, picked up a silver bowl to cover the sharp sword precisely, and swung his right hand violently. ——

The force on his arm actually instantly sent the woman's long sword flying!

There was an exclamation among the guests.

The woman dropped her weapon, immediately pulled out the sharp hairpin from her head, and went to poke the prince's throat!

The two were fighting together, the woman's tricks were vicious, and the prince was able to deal with it with ease. I didn't expect the prince to be so powerful in martial arts.

Several nurses hurried over and surrounded the woman. Seeing that the assassination failed, the woman left a cold look in her eyes, jumped up to the roof like a flying goose, and disappeared into the night in a blink of an eye.

The prince said coldly: "Chase!"

Several guards immediately flew up to the eaves to chase the assassin, the banquet became chaotic, and Ye Qi, who was playing the piano, was a little dazed—he never expected that there would be an assassin in Tianxiang Tower to assassinate the prince in public!

The prince's face was very ugly, and he immediately asked the boss of Tianxianglou to speak.

Aunt Qing was so frightened that her legs went limp, and she knelt down in front of the lord with a "plop": "My lord, spare me! It's nothing to do with the women. I didn't know that woman just now. Really... none of our Tianxianglou girls know martial arts!"

The other four women performing the sword dance also dropped their swords and knelt side by side, trembling.

Ye Qi and the two people playing in the distance had no choice but to kneel down in the gazebo.

Ye Qi was about to die of depression - who could be more unlucky than him? When they came to this world, they were inexplicably thrown to Tianxiang Tower as the top card. As a result, there was an assassin in the team on the day of the prince's birthday banquet, and they would be implicated collectively.

In ancient times, assassinating a prince was a serious crime of beheading!

The assassins were mixed in the singing and dancing team of Tianxianglou, and they couldn't distinguish their relationship in Tianxianglou. If they met an unreasonable prince, they would directly say that they would all be killed. Wouldn't he be wronged?

Or, play it by ear later and just use the teleportation card to run away?

Ye Qi was struggling, but the next moment, he heard the prince calmly say: "Someone in Jiangzhou City dared to assassinate this king in public, Mr. Yu, you have to investigate this matter thoroughly and give this king an explanation."

The case was actually handed over to Yu Hanjiang?

Ye Qi was taken aback for a moment, but soon became happy. It would be great to leave it to Mr. Yu, at least he wouldn't have to suffer.

Yu Hanjiang immediately took a step forward: "Yes, my lord, I will do my best." He glanced across the audience, and said coldly: "Come here, put all the girls in Tianxianglou into prison for trial!"

A group of guards and yamen servants rushed forward and escorted away all the personnel of Tianxianglou present.

Xiao Lou did not expect that things would develop like this.

He always thought that the internal relationship in the palace was complicated, and it was likely that something happened to a few young ladies or wives. He never expected that someone would assassinate the prince in public at the prince's birthday party, and the prince would hand over the case to the prefect of Jiangzhou... Is this the case of the 8 of hearts? ? Track down the Assassins?

Xiao Lou felt it was not that simple.

He recalled it carefully, and he only remembered that the assassin was a woman, wearing a red dress, about 1.7 meters tall, with cold eyes, and a face that was covered by a veil, making it difficult to distinguish facial features.

The vast sea of ​​people, how to find this?

Just as I was thinking, suddenly, a scream sounded from a distance: "Ah—it's not good!"

It was the voice of the maid.

Yu Hanjiang immediately looked over there, the prince also frowned, and asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"

A maid ran over in a panic, her feet stumbled, she was obviously frightened, and her voice was shaking uncomfortably: "My lord, Miss... Miss, she..."

When Mrs. Yun heard her daughter, her expression changed suddenly: "What's wrong with Miss?"

The maid cried and knelt down: "Missy hanged herself on the tree in the backyard..."

Xiao Lou: "..."

miss? Is it the girl he saw this afternoon, knocking on the wooden fish and chanting scriptures in the Buddhist hall? !

Xiao Lou didn't expect that it was her who died!

The woman assassinated the prince just now and attracted everyone's attention to the prince, and the banquet scene was in chaos. In the end, the prince was not injured at all, but the eldest lady had an accident in the chaos.

Hanged himself?

She is a daughter of the palace, how could she hang herself?

Xiao Lou's eyes quickly swept across the audience.

Young Master Lin, who was engaged to her, was not there, and neither were Second Miss, Third Miss, and Fourth Miss.

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other, and at the same time said to each other with their eyes: "It's murder."

The author has something to say: The past few days have been updated at night, the 2 chapters are merged, so what!

The red envelope has been sent, see you tomorrow!

Support: ↘End♂Ben♂God♂Lizhan↙Friends who like this site can recommend it to more friends who love reading!