The Gilded Cage

The two who came were Zhao Yu'e and Xiao Yu, and their hiding place was only one foot away from Guo'er. However, the sky was dim, and there was shadow of the tree, almost not letting in any light. Her shadow was completely attached to the trunk of the tree. Together, it was not noticeable at all.

"His Royal Highness sees Yu Niang today, but have you thought about it?"

Zhao Yu'e didn't turn around at all, and asked straightforwardly.

Xiao Yu's face was cold, with his hands behind his back, just glanced at her and looked away, as if he didn't want to look at her more: "I can agree to your request."

Zhao Yu'e covered her lips and chuckled, as if she had expected it: "It's so good, sure enough, no one will refuse a thing that kills two birds with one stone. Once your Highness has agreed, Yu Niang will go back and tell her to tell her elder brother."

"Hold on, I haven't finished speaking yet." Xiao Yu stopped her in a deep voice, and his hands behind his back were also quietly clenched.

"His Royal Highness, please speak."

"I promise to marry you as my wife, but this matter needs to be arranged by my subordinates, and you are not allowed to make opinions. After the matter is completed, I will immediately dispatch troops so that your brother will be prepared as soon as possible. Will intervene."

He negotiated with Xu Rong. Time is waiting for no one. The Zhao family is in danger. They have to make good use of them before they lose the Bozhou Army. Can solve it, but I don't want to spend such a lot of effort. The huge Bozhou Army, with a total of hundreds of thousands of people, is a huge number of chewing daily.

Zhao Yu'e naturally understood what he meant, and she sneered at him, a villain who only wants to benefit and does not want to contribute, but he is kind and kind: "Naturally, my Zhao family's business in Bozhou for many years is not a trifling matter. Using soldiers. Regarding the matter, your Royal Highness can just speak up, and Yu Niang's brother will take care of the rest."

Xiao Yu nodded, pursed his lips, and said the last sentence: "One more sentence, even if I marry you in the future, you, and your brother, can't touch Aning a bit."

Zhao Yu'e was stunned, looked at him in a little surprise, and then laughed: "This matter does not need to be ordered by your Royal Highness. The Chu family has nothing to do with me, and there is no support from the people behind him. My Zhao family will never put her in In the eyes."

"That's the best." Xiao Yu didn't loosen his eyes, still staring at her firmly, not relieved.

Zhao Yu'e was irritated by his suspicious eyes, and she couldn't help but sneer: "I heard that your Royal Highness has a deep affection for the prince, and love is like a treasure. When I saw it today, it was true. Even abandoning his wife. It's so'sentimental'."

Xiao Yu's gripped hand suddenly became tighter, and it was about to explode. He couldn't help but meditate on the pros and cons of this matter in his heart. Then he calmed down a bit, snorted, and sarcastically said: "Ms. Zhao is also as rumored. She was shameless and killed her ex-husband and rushed to climb onto someone else's bed."

Zhao Yu'e smiled nonchalantly: "It seems that Yu Niang is a fellow traveler with Her Royal Highness. In this way, Yu Niang will order someone to go south tonight and pass the news to her elder brother."

After that, she bowed and bowed, and when she turned to leave, she walked more intentionally, swaying in style, and even faintly provocative. She looked at Xiao Yu's face to the extreme and stood alone in the wind for a while before turning away.

In the darkness, Guo'er still held the rough tree trunk blankly. He didn't even notice that his palm was cut by the bark because he was too tight. It wasn't until a bird suddenly flew up and tweeted between the branches. Woke her up.

She stared wide, jumped off the stone, but accidentally leaned to the side, ignorantly looking left and right, then reluctantly stood up, ran in the direction that she didn’t know, with her skirt covered, just hitting her head. Into a familiar embrace, I couldn't help but sniffle, red eyes and tears.

"What's wrong with the little lady?" The person who came was the maid who had gone back and forth, followed by the waiter who lifted her steps behind her. Seeing her unconscious and embarrassed only knowing that she was crying, they were all startled and went up. Come to ask for comfort.

Guoer didn't dare to answer, just shaking his head and crying.

Although she was young, she knew very little about the secrets of the nobles in Chang'an, but she knew the two people just now, even if she did not understand what the prince meant by "adjusting soldiers", she understood. The meaning of "marry you as your wife"-the prince clearly already has a wife, but he wants to marry again!

The maid couldn't help, so she had to hug her to walk, and she returned to her residence first, and then hurried to inform Lu Guogong and his wife.

…

At the light show on the song platform, Xiao Kezhi, carrying the dressed-up Chu Ning, walked into the crowd openly, walking slowly among the beautiful and bright lanterns of various colors.

Everyone present couldn't help stopping and looked at the two of them suspiciously.

It's no surprise that the young emperor is here, but it's the masked woman beside him who can't see the truth!

The woman was wearing a gorgeous dress, her waist was tucked away, showing a slender and undulating figure, the exposed neck, and even the two delicate hands on the cuffs were as white as jade, tender and flawless, so people could see that they should be a woman. Young and beautiful women, but their faces are covered up again, which makes people more curious to speculate and talk a lot.

"Well, why is there another woman next to your Majesty? I don't know if it is the same as the previous two?"

"I can't see. In the first two times, one was a family girl, and the other was a maid of the imperial court. Today, this—looks at the clothes and accessories, looks like a dancing girl from Jiaofangsi?"

"Yes, in the past few days, I have indeed heard that the saint returns to the Feishuang Temple every night, and will call the Kabuki of the teacher to go there. This one, I am afraid it is only these few days!"

"Hey, your Majesty is really... uncertain!"

…

From time to time, the discussion in the crowd came into Chu Ning's ears, which made her feel nervous in her heart, as if she could be seen through at any time.

But turning his head to look at Xiao Kezhi, he still walked leisurely in the courtyard, with a calm expression, as if he didn't care about anything.

Perceiving her gaze, he turned his head, and simply stretched out his hand to wrap her shoulders to bring her closer to him. While pointing to a huge dragon and phoenix lantern not far away, he was close to her exposed outside the mask. He whispered in the ear: "I said I will show you the lamp myself, so I can do it, how about it?"

The warm breath rubbed his skin over, causing Chu Ning to tremble, gradually climbing a layer of blush from the ear to the neck.

"Aning is naturally happy, but your majesty's reputation is even worse." She tried to relax her mind, and joked with him, but still subconsciously paid attention to the eyes of others, for fear of being noticed.

Xiao Kezhi chuckled lightly, and simply kissed her ears, and said, "My reputation is not critical, and I would like to let people spread it more outrageously!"

Chu Ning was a little surprised when he heard the words, and suddenly raised his head and asked: "Why?"

"Naturally, for the future." The smile on his face deepened, hiding the coldness and sharpness of the usual day, appearing pleasant and peaceful, "If I am a lustful person, I will **** my nephew in the future, naturally. It’s not unusual."

She was stunned, looking straight at him through the narrow hole in the mask: "Your Majesty has summoned to sing and dance in Feishuang Palace these few days—"

"It's also for this." He nodded altogether, without any evasive intentions, and even said everything else together. "To bring you out today is also for this purpose."

Earlier, when he called for singing and dancing, he was worried that she would misunderstand and be dissatisfied, so he wanted to wait for an explanation today, but he observed for a long time and didn’t find anything unusual about her, so he even asked about it. He didn't have any plans, and he couldn't help but feel lost.

However, even though he was caught in a relationship between a man and a woman for the first time, he was mature enough and would not be resentful because of it. Instead, he simply took the initiative to find out, which not only avoided misunderstandings that might arise in the future, but also allowed her to see her own personality clearly.

"Why bother your Majesty..." She whispered, her tone was not only confused, but also overwhelmed after being flattered, "Aning really doesn't know how to respond..."

He stretched out his hand and rubbed her head, and said softly: "You don't have to respond, I just told you what I did. I am patient and will wait for you slowly."

As he said, he took her to the Zhongming Pavilion where a huge bird lantern was hung, and watched the comments along the way.

Fortunately, Chu Ning never embarrassed herself too much, and simply took away the wandering mind, tried his best to ignore the eyes of others, and walked with him among the hundreds of noble men and women, like a pair of ordinary lovers.

…

On the other side, after Xiao Yu left, he was worried and hesitated. He did not go to Chu Ning or return to Prince Tang. Instead, he took someone to see Xu Rong and told him what he had promised.

Xu Rong was overjoyed, and a huge boulder in his heart finally fell, and he repeatedly said: "His Royal Highness is wise! This way, it can be considered to make up for His Highness's weakness in the military power, and it can compete with anyone!"

Xiao Yu saw that he wanted to cry with joy, but there was no expression of joy on his face. Instead, he was empty and numb.

"I have agreed, but I don't know how Xu Qing will deal with the next thing?"

Xu Rong knew what he was asking, how could he stop other people’s criticism and marry another smoothly. After thinking for a while, he said: "His Royal Highness is not anxious. The minister thinks that he should find the best reason for outsiders to be speechless. Please Prince. Concubine should give up her position."

Then, he said one by one the countermeasures he had thought of for a few days.

After listening, Xiao Yu was silent for a long time, and slowly said, "Just do as you said."

…

At the lantern festival, Chu Ning was tired from walking, Xiao Kezhi simply picked her up, and ignoring the eyes of outsiders, went straight to the direction of steps.

She was taken aback and hurriedly stretched out her hand to help the mask on her face, for fear of accidentally falling off and revealing her true face.

After finally sitting down, he refused to let her sit next to him. Instead, he stubbornly hugged her, forcing her to face him and sit on his lap.

"Your Majesty, don't touch..." She remembered the Molian under the layers of clothing, twisted her waist forward, avoided the palm of her back, and pleaded softly, but the more she did this, the more she pushed herself forward and twisted him more. Can't help but hold her.

"Don't move, otherwise, I won't let you go."

His voice was a little dumb, and his dark eyes shone with a sinking luster under the moonlight. He wanted to see her face and her expression clearly, but through the mask, he could only see the two gleeful eyes with soft waves.

He didn't have enough thoughts, but he was still outside now, and there were countless prying eyes behind him, like a glow on his back.

He held her waist tightly, and suddenly pulled open his own shirt, lifted up the large outer shirt, covered her hood, pulled it in front of his eyes, and lifted it up.

The noisy human voices and the joyous singing and dancing were separated, becoming distant.

The mask was taken off and left aside, a narrow and cramped space was separated under the wide outer shirt, and the two of them were enclosed together, with the forehead against the forehead, the tip of the nose against the tip of the nose, and the lips were only half an inch apart.

"Uncle Six..."

Covered by her outer shirt, she felt a sweltering heat, and couldn't help but blurt out a call to him, but instead called out the most fascinating "Sixth Uncle".

Yan Hong's plumped lips exhaled a damp and hot breath, entangled with his, and the temperature in the cramped space increased sharply.

She was so stunned that she felt a thin layer of sweat behind her, and she became more afraid that the lotus would be destroyed. But he raised her a little more, and simply moved forward, biting her lip and kissing.

"Good boy."

On the mountainside, the steps are not fast and slow.

"Your Majesty's painting—"

She felt sweat from behind, for fear that the Molian had already been worn out by the thin shirt and ruined the appearance, but she hid under the outer shirt, completely dark, and could not really see anything, so she didn't dare to push him away.

I don't know how long it took to get outside the Feishuang Hall.

After stopping, Liu Kang's trembling voice came from the side: "Everyone, you are outside the hall."

Xiao Kezhi let go a little, and opened the outer shirt to expose her head.

The cold wind blew by, driving away the sultry heat just now. Her complexion was crimson, her eyes were full, like a fish that had been short of water for a long time, and finally returned to the water, hurriedly vomiting air.

He walked into the hall with the crushed beauty, and directly let her lie down, and carefully looked at the Molian just painted by the light.

The lotus shape is still intact, but the outline outlined by a few lines is covered by a thin layer of fragrant sweat, and then wiped by the gauze. It has gradually spread, emitting a faint ink scent, adding a kind of scent Hazy beauty.

He couldn't help but trace with his fingers along the ink-scented petals.

The black flowers became more blurred.

"Unfortunately, a good flower was destroyed like this." He looked at the black ink stained on his fingertips, and with a movement of his eyes, he turned her directly over, facing up, and dipped his fingers in the inkstone. Ink, add some more hydration, and start painting again.

"I have to hold it back this time, I can't move."

The plump ink rises up a small arc on the undulating curve, refracting the candlelight, crystal clear and mellow, as long as it sways a little bit harder, it will overflow everywhere.

She had to grasp the corner of the table tightly, squeezing hard, even carefully controlling her breathing, for fear that she would break the ink and wash with one movement.

However, the full ink broke through the small arc, overflowing and flowing, like a ditch that suddenly opened vertically and horizontally between the mountains and the plains. The ink color is interspersed with the snow color, which is so beautiful.

"Your Majesty, It's time for Aning to go back." She opened her misty eyes, trying to see his appearance in the candlelight, but she could only see the beams with intricate patterns carved on top of her head.

"Liu Kang!" He called people outside the screen and asked in a loud voice, "Where has the prince gone?"

After a rush of footsteps and murmurs outside, Liu Kang cautiously replied: "Give everyone, the prince is where Xu Shi is studying, and he has not yet returned to the palace."

"Look," he patted her cheek lightly, "What are you afraid of? There are more times."

…

However, he said that the two of Lu Guogong and his wife were still watching and lingering at the lantern festival, and they were more energetic than the young men and women beside them.

Since the two of them had a daughter, they rarely had the opportunity to be alone. They felt comfortable and relaxed, talking and laughing, and were not as restrained as they were in the palace on weekdays.

Wei Shou even picked a fancy mask and put it on Mrs. Xu himself. Mrs. Xu's face blushed and she glared at her husband, but she didn't take it off.

However, it didn’t take long before the maid who had just sent Guo’er back to return, with an anxious expression on her face: “Langjun, Madam, the little lady just didn’t know what she had ran into, she kept crying and didn’t speak. The slave and maid really couldn’t. I had no choice but to ask Mr. Lang and his wife to go back and have a look!"

Lu Guogong and his wife were extremely sad for their only daughter. Upon hearing this, they couldn't help panicking and stopped staying outside. They hurried back, rushing all the way, asking about the specific situation.

The maid didn't dare to conceal it, she said carefully about what she saw before and after, and when she returned to the residence, she led them to Guo'er's house.

Guo'er was tired of crying and was lying on the bed to go to sleep. The two maids stood by, one handed her water to drink, the other wiped her tears. When she saw her parents came back, she suddenly felt less panic. Gu Lu got up and threw himself into his mother's arms: "Aniang!"

Mrs. Xu caught her daughter and couldn’t hold back. Wei Shou hurriedly stretched out her hand to support her, took the mother and daughter together and sat on the side of the bed, asking worriedly: “Guo’er, don’t cry soon, with A-niang and A-niang. Yeah talk about it, but did you see something unclean outside? Say it, it’s okay, what's the matter, Ayeah come and think about it!"

He didn't know what was going on. Hearing that his daughter was crying, he just regarded it as an evil.

Guo'er had his parents by his side at this time, and he had returned to his own house. Why not be so scared as before. After taking away a few maids, and with the careful encouragement of his parents, he interrupted what had just been seen and heard. Said it.

She was very young and frightened, and the things she remembered were upside-down. Only the crown prince wanted to marry another to remember clearly, and she didn't hesitate to say it.

The couple listened patiently and looked at each other, not knowing what to do for a while.

Guo'er still choked, couldn't help pulling the corners of her mother's clothes, and asked with red eyes, "Manny, will your Highness be very sad?"

The "His Royal Highness" in her mouth naturally refers to Princess Chu Ning.

Madam Xu was very worried, and it took a while to react to her daughter's words, and put her arms around her and whispered: "Aniang doesn't know, I just hope that everything will be well..."

Chu Ning treated their mother and daughter well, she knew very well in her heart. I heard people talk about the situation of the prince concubine before, and I felt sympathy. Now I heard that the prince is planning to marry another, and I feel even more concerned.

"Husband, what should this be? The princess treats us as well..."

Wei Shou was feeling restless and frowned, pacing back and forth in the room.

What Mrs. Xu cares about is the princess, but what he thinks is the few words his daughter heard about the Zhao family and military power. Although he was from Tian Shelang, he has seen Chang'an nobles in the past few months, and he has encountered the situation of the Saint of Opportunity governing, and he naturally understands the importance of it.

He knows a little about the identity of the Zhao family. It is not difficult to guess all the actions of Lady Zhao before, but now it is not easy to suddenly turn to the prince's side.

He is the uncle of the saint, and he is taken care of by the saint and must not conceal this matter.

"Fine, I'll go to see the saint now and ask what the saint means. You can take Guo'er to sleep first." He stopped and said to his wife, then turned his head to comfort his daughter, "Guo'er, nothing big, we have your majesty." Protect, don’t worry, just sleep steadily."

He didn't know what the prince was plotting, but he knew that this matter must be known to the saint.