As is well known to scholars, aristocratic families love to hold banquets for quiet conversation, where people wear wide-sleeved robes, drink wine and tea, which is very elegant.
Moreover, they looked down on students from poor families, believing that they were vulgar people and were not worthy of sitting with them.
"All the princes are locked up in the palace. We have no idea what His Majesty is thinking." Patriarch A shook his wide sleeves, picked up the wine glass on the table, and looked at the surrounding scenery: "The peach blossoms on the mountain are later, and the scenery is better than at the foot of the mountain."
The maid who sat beside him took the wine pitcher and filled it with wine.
"Brother Du." The head of the family raised the wine cup: "Come, drink."
"Forget about the wine, the tea here is good, and the scenery is beautiful." Du Qingke swirled the tea in the cup: "I wonder how the heads of the families are feeling?"
"What do you mean, Brother Du?"
"It's nothing interesting. I just heard that there is a prince in the palace who often helps His Majesty review memorials," Du Qingke poured the tea into the grass beside him. "If you continue to discuss like this, you won't be able to come up with anything useful when the new emperor ascends the throne."
"It's a pity that the Fourth Prince has lost his power. Otherwise, given his character, he would have treated our family with courtesy after ascending the throne." Patriarch B sighed, "Being implicated by the Zheng family, I will never have a chance to be the emperor in this life."
"But it must not be Prince Huai. Prince Huai has been close to those new nobles from humble backgrounds over the years, and often turns a blind eye to us old noble families."
The servant poured Du Qingke another cup of tea. He listened to the mutterings of these family masters and lazily observed the butterflies chasing each other in the flowers in the distance.
"If someone hadn't tried to assassinate the Fourth Prince, there wouldn't have been so many things that happened later."
"It's hard to say who did it. The four princes were fined. The fourth prince was demoted from a prince to a duke. I'm afraid there must be a lot of cat shit in it."
Du Qingke smiled, ignored them, and stretched out his hand to try to catch a butterfly flying past him. Unfortunately, this beautiful thing had wings and it was difficult for human hands to catch it.
Someone was walking slowly along the distant path. The smile on his face faded a little, and his lazy sitting posture became serious.
"How is it, Fifth Brother?" Prince An climbed up the mountain breathlessly, "Isn't the scenery here exceptionally beautiful?"
He turned his head to look at his fifth brother and his wife, who were breathing steadily, and then looked at his energetic princess. He straightened his back and pretended that he was not tired at all: "The peach blossoms at the foot of the mountain have already withered, but the peach blossoms on the mountain are still in full bloom."
After hearing that his fifth brother's wife liked to see peach blossoms, he immediately asked someone to find out where the peach blossoms were in full bloom and brought them over to climb the mountain together.
Brotherhood is something that exists everywhere.
Jiuzhu looked at Prince An, who was pretending to be nothing even though his legs were shaking from exhaustion. She couldn't bear to say that this place wasn't beautiful, so she nodded and said, "The green mountains and peach blossoms are a rare sight."
When Prince An heard his sister-in-law praising the scenery he had specially inquired about, a relieved smile appeared on his face, thinking that the trip was not in vain.
The wind was strong on the mountain, and their sleeves were rustling in the wind. Jiuzhu saw a few people sitting on a flat ground in the distance. They were wearing loose clothes and should have been unrestrained scholars, but unfortunately their hair was blown into a mess by the wind, and some of them had too sparse hair, making them look a bit... wretched.
The boy holding the pot did not recognize Prince Chen and Prince An. Seeing someone coming to disturb them, he walked up to them and said, "Several family heads are holding a discussion meeting here. Please move aside, gentlemen."
"Wow!" Prince An looked at the boy and said, "There are people chasing us away under the emperor's feet?"
"Is this mountain privately owned?" asked Prince Chen.
The child shook his head.
"Since it's not private property, what basis do we have to move?" Prince Chen ignored the little boy, led Jiuzhu past him, and walked directly towards the heads of those noble families.
"Even if it is private property, when we arrive, your master will have to sweep the couch to welcome us." Seeing the boy's face full of indignation, King An smiled and said, "The whole world belongs to the king. Don't you understand this?"
Even our father’s bedroom was accessible to my fifth brother at will, let alone a mountain.
"Sir, please stop..."
With a whoosh, the Dragon Guard drew his sword from its sheath. The little boy looked at the gleaming silver weapon and shut his mouth.
Hearing the sound of weapons being unsheathed, the chattering family heads were startled. They put down the cups in their hands and looked intently at the group of people who suddenly appeared.
"Your Highness Prince Chen, Your Highness Prince An." Du Qingke stood up and walked in front of Prince Chen: "I have met the prince and princess."
Prince Chen glanced at him, then looked past him at the family heads who were sitting on the ground.
"What a coincidence." Prince Chen raised his eyebrows: "I am sorry to disturb your interest."
The heads of the households stood up and saluted.
"Your Highness, you are too kind. We are just here to drink tea and enjoy the scenery. If you two Your Highnesses don't mind, please take a seat and have a cup of light tea." He looked at the dragon guards who had drawn their swords and said, "But swords have no eyes. Please don't scare the poor children."
"I just climbed the mountain and you asked me to go around it." The King of Chen chuckled, "If you don't know, you might think that as long as you are here, no one can pass by here."
"Master Du, the world belongs to the Yun family." He looked over Du Qingke and said, "The country belongs to our Yun family, and also to the people of the world. The heads of the families are a bit overbearing."
The family heads: "..."
You lead a group of dragon guards with sharp blades in their hands, and accuse them of being domineering. Isn't it a bit too much?
"I am a young boy who is ignorant. Please forgive me, Your Highness." Du Qingke bowed his hands and apologized.
But the Prince ignored him and turned to Jiuzhu and said, "Ming Xiaozhu, shall I have someone catch two butterflies for you to play with?"
"Butterfly?" Jiuzhu reached out and caught a butterfly that flew over her head, and handed it to Prince Chen but didn't let him touch it: "Although this kind of butterfly is beautiful, they like to feed on poisonous flowers and plants. The powder on their bodies is poisonous. Your Highness, don't touch it."
After saying that, she loosened her fingers and the butterfly flew away in panic.
"You're still trying to grab something when it's poisonous?" The King's expression changed, and he took out a handkerchief to wipe Jiuzhu's hand clean: "Are you stupid?"
"Your Highness, you said you wanted to catch butterflies, so I showed you." Jiuzhu wiped her hands, and the eunuch holding the bottle who was serving behind them poured water for her to wash her hands.
Prince An looked at this scene in amazement. How could his fifth brother's wife catch butterflies with her bare hands? What kind of skill was this?
Butterfly, live butterfly!
The prince had seen several princesses in the palace catching butterflies in the garden, and thought Jiuzhu would be interested in butterflies, but he never expected her to react like this. He changed to a clean handkerchief and wiped the water off her hands: "Forget it, it's my fault."
It was his fault for speaking.
Jiuzhu saw the place where the heads of the families were sitting on the ground. There were wine cups, fruits and vegetables scattered around. Several women in thin clothes were kneeling on the ground with their heads resting on the ground. She couldn't see their faces or ages clearly.
The mountain wind was howling, and she was even a little worried that it would blow them away.
"Who are these women?" Princess An also noticed the women kneeling on the ground.
"Princess An, these are the wine girls we bought from Lingzhou." A drunken-looking householder replied, "Lingzhou is not only beautiful in landscape, but also in girls. The wine poured by their soft and boneless hands is especially mellow."
Hearing this, Du Qingke frowned. How could this idiot say such a thing in front of the two princesses? Moreover, Princess Chen grew up in Lingzhou since she was a child.
"Speaking of the women in Lingzhou, they have soft waists and beautiful bodies..."
The Prince of Chen kicked him, and he rolled on the ground, most of the drunkenness gone.
"Your Highness, please forgive me. I spoke carelessly after drinking." He crawled up from his knees on the ground, without even the courage to stand up.
The other family heads were silent and no one dared to speak.
Du Qingke looked at their timid looks and sneered in his heart.
This incompetent and cowardly waste wants to restore the glory of the family?
"Drinking is harmful to the body, and drinking too much will lead to speaking carelessly." The Prince of Chen did not look at the head of the noble family who was kicked to the ground by him, and said expressionlessly: "Although you are not important officials in the court, you are also officials of the court. How can you drink and have fun in the wilderness?"
He raised his hand towards the dragon guards and said, "Find out who among them is drunk, write down their names and report them to the Ministry of Personnel, and dismiss them from their posts."
"Master..." A family head looked at him in astonishment.
"What?" Prince Chen raised his eyebrows and looked at him: "I see that you don't look like you are drunk, do you want to be dismissed with them?"
The family head who was about to plead for his companion lowered his head when he heard this.
Prince An stood aside, glanced at these family heads, and shook his head in his heart.
There is some truth in the saying that drinking can lead to mistakes. If it wasn't for the alcohol, who would have the guts to say such and such things about the woman from Lingzhou in front of my fifth brother?
Who in the entire capital city doesn't know that Prince Chen and Princess Chen have a very close relationship?
"No matter how beautiful the scenery is, you have to be interested in appreciating it." Prince Chen turned to Jiuzhu and said, "Jiuzhu, let's go to another place..."
Suddenly, one of the family heads let out a terrible howl of pain.
Jiuzhu turned her head in surprise, but King Chen covered her eyes with his hands.
“Don’t look.” Prince Chen looked at the head of the aristocratic family who was twitching and rolling on the ground with his hands covering his neck, and pressed Jiuzhu into his arms.
When a person is in extreme pain and fear, his facial features can be distorted into a monstrous shape. The head of the noble family had a golden hairpin stuck in his neck.
The long tail of the hairpin was completely sunken into his neck, leaving only the head of the hairpin exposed.
The one who stabbed him was the weak and boneless wine-serving girl he mentioned.
I wonder how deep the hatred must be to make this weak woman insert a nail so deeply and cruelly.
"Don't come over here!" The wine girl retreated to the edge of the cliff, her voice trembling: "When you bought me, you clearly promised me that you would help my sister cure her illness, but after I signed and sealed the agreement, you threw her off the carriage."
"You bunch of beasts, you deserve to die!" Her shoulders were shaking violently with fear. She didn't dare to take action at first, because as soon as she did, the other hostesses bought from Lingzhou would be implicated.
When this prince and his princess appeared and kicked the beastly head of the family to the ground, she knew that her chance for revenge had come.
With the presence of a noble, these beastly family heads would definitely not dare to vent their anger on other wine-serving girls.
"You call yourselves a noble family, high and mighty, but you are actually a group of beasts." The thin clothes of the wine-carrying girl fluttered in the wind: "You will get retribution!"
After saying that, he turned around and was about to jump off the cliff.
"Stop her!" The dragon guards rushed to take action, but they were a step too late and could only watch her jump out...
Oh, it didn’t jump out.
The princess pulled her back.
etc……
The princess dragged her back? !
"No matter what it is, it should be handed over to the government to solve it." Jiuzhu pressed the woman holding the wine to the ground, not giving her a chance to jump again: "Don't you want to see these evil people punished by the government?"
"Princess, this woman is a murderer. You shouldn't listen to a murderer." Du Qingke looked at the innocent-looking Princess Chen for the first time. "Even if we hand her over to the government, she is a slave who assassinated her master and is guilty of the death penalty."
"What crime she has committed and how she should be sentenced are all decided by the government." Jiuzhu said without raising her head.
"If she helps the government solve some major cases, she can make amends for her crime." Prince Chen ordered the dragon guards to take the wine girls away. As for the family head who was still twitching on the ground, he was picked up by the dragon guards.
Otherwise the two princesses would be frightened after seeing it.
"You." Prince Chen whispered in Jiuzhu's ear, "Do you want to scare me to death?" Before he could react, she jumped out, moving faster than a monkey.
"Don't be afraid, Your Highness. I'm very strong." Jiuzhu also whispered in his ear, "These family heads should be taken back for a thorough investigation."
"Second brother." Prince Chen walked to Prince An's side and said, "Today's scenery is indeed very special."
Prince An's face was pale, and he leaned against his princess for a long time without saying a word.
He just wanted to cling to his brother's thigh and come out to enjoy the scenery, not to watch people blowing their hair and tying their necks.
Du Qingke looked at the heads of noble families who were taken away by the Dragon Guards, and the smile on her face disappeared completely.
What kind of idiots are these!
He was busy but couldn't help, and his hind legs were pulled first.
"Second brother, who told you that the peach blossoms are in full bloom here?"
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