After the banquet, Jiuzhu saw many officials surrounding his father and talking to His Highness. He secretly pulled his sleeve and whispered in his ear on tiptoe, "Your Highness, I'm going to watch the fireworks outside the palace with my elder and second sisters-in-law."
"Okay." Yun Duqing saw that although she was holding his sleeves, her mind had already flown to her two sisters-in-law, so he took out a light gauze cape and put it on her: "Don't go out to play for too long."
Jiuzhu nodded with a smile, lifted her long skirt, and ran down the stairs, as happy as a carefree little bird.
The official who was talking to the Crown Prince saw that his eyes followed the Crown Princess until the Crown Princess and the two princes' wives walked out of the palace gate, then he smiled and looked away. He knew that the Crown Princess held an extraordinary position in the Crown Prince's mind.
"Your Highness and the Crown Princess are deeply in love with each other. I am deeply moved."
A prince who knows how to cherish affection is better than a cold-hearted one.
Yun Duqing sent these officials away with a few words, then took the wine pot and sat down next to King Huai and King An.
"Prince, you..."
"Brothers, it's better to call me Fifth Brother." Yun Duqing poured a glass of wine for each of them. "As the saying goes, brothers of one mind can break metal. Brothers, did you see those adults coming over? Please help me block them."
"Okay, no problem." Prince An agreed enthusiastically.
King Huai sighed in his heart. He knew that since the fifth brother took the initiative to get close to them, something bad must be wrong.
"Hey, Fifth Brother." He nudged Yun Duqing with his elbow and said, "I think Fifth Brother's wife is pure and innocent. Are you just going to let her do what she wants?"
"Brother, do you know why I became the crown prince?" Yun Duqing took the wine glass, poured himself some, and gently clinked glasses with King Huai: "She gave me her best heart, so I must hold this heart in my heart, protect it, and cherish it."
"Only then can I live up to her."
When the fireworks bloom, they are as bright as stars.
Jiuzhu looked at him infatuatedly, with a sweet and satisfied smile.
"Jiuzhu." Princess Huai looked at Jiuzhu's profile and stood beside her, shielding her from the other ladies' scrutiny. "I never thought you would appear with the Crown Prince."
What she actually wanted to say was that it is best not to do such things that are against the rules. Because the civil officials would not accuse the prince of doing anything wrong, they would only criticize the woman and accuse Jiuzhu of seducing the prince.
"Because I know that if I accompany His Highness to the high platform, he will be happy." Jiuzhu still looked up at the fireworks in the sky: "The higher he stands, the fewer people will be able to accompany him. I can't bear to let him go."
"What are you reluctant to give up?"
"I can't bear to leave him alone." Jiuzhu lowered her head and smiled at Princess Huai: "The moon in the sky still has the stars to keep him company, so why can't Your Highness?"
Hearing this, Princess Huai's heart trembled, and she opened her mouth to speak, but at the moment the fireworks bloomed, she stopped everything she wanted to say.
There are too many pros and cons to weigh in Beijing, and few people would say, "I gave it to him because he needed it." A pure heart is a scarce commodity in Beijing.
The fireworks spread out like thousands of shooting stars.
If shooting stars can make people's wishes come true, I hope the prince will not let down this rare sincerity.
The ceremonial officer struck the chimes and the fireworks stopped.
The midnight hour is approaching and the Prince's ceremony is completely over.
Jiuzhu and her two sisters-in-law returned to the main hall. She saw Yun Duqing secretly waving at her, so she took small steps to run to him and sat down. The two of them stood side by side, their heads leaning against each other.
"Are the fireworks beautiful?" Yun Duqing poured a glass of juice and fed it to her mouth.
"It looks great." Jiuzhu drank from his hand. "My sister-in-law said that she has been married into the palace for several years, and this is the most grand fireworks ceremony she has ever seen."
Seeing the couple whispering to each other, Emperor Longfeng coughed dryly and raised his glass: "The prince is still young, please assist him wholeheartedly and benefit the people of the world."
All the ministers stood up and congratulated Dacheng for its long reign and peace in the world.
The bell of midnight rang, and the day finally came to a successful end.
Now that the crown prince has been appointed, it would be inappropriate for other princes to live in the palace. Some officials took advantage of Emperor Longfeng's good mood and proposed that the prince move back to the palace and return to the six ministries for training.
These officials who made the suggestions all came from aristocratic families. Emperor Longfeng glanced at his taciturn third son, Prince Jing, and nodded slightly: "My dear ministers, what you said makes sense..."
"Report!" A messenger rushed in and said, "Your Majesty, there was a sudden loud noise from the tomb in the western suburbs. The Jinwu Guards used a telescope to check and found that the tombstone in front of the former emperor's tomb was broken!"
The joyful atmosphere suddenly froze.
"Everything was fine just now, why did bad things happen as soon as we mentioned letting other princes return to the six ministries?" An official from the Ministry of Rites suddenly muttered "lowly".
Just now, suddenly, and clairvoyance, these words are desperately telling everyone that this matter has nothing to do with the prince.
Although his voice was soft, everyone could hear it clearly because the Zhengyang Hall was too quiet.
The director of the Imperial Observatory stood up under everyone's gaze and said, "Your Majesty, since the late emperor has given instructions, why not postpone the plan of letting the princes return to the six ministries?"
At the banquet for enthroning the crown prince, the stars and the moon shone brightly, and auspicious omens appeared one after another. The banquet to enthronize the crown prince had just ended, and when the other princes were mentioned, the tombstone of the late emperor cracked. What does this indicate?
This means that there is nothing wrong with the crown prince, the problem is with one of the princes.
"Then let's follow what the Supervisor said and put this matter on hold." Emperor Longfeng smiled gently, "It seems that Father knows that I can't bear to see the children leave my side, so he lets them stay with me for a while longer."
All the ministers agreed, but looking at the looks of the princes, they still felt something was not right.
Concubine Wei almost crushed the wine glass in her hand. After the banquet, she walked behind the concubines and turned to look at Du Qingke who was standing in the corridor, her eyes filled with coldness.
It was agreed that at the banquet to confer the crown prince the title, the tombstone in front of the previous emperor's mausoleum would be blown up to show that conferring Yun Duqing as the crown prince was an ominous sign. Then, the opportunity would be taken to let several princes return to the palace and visit the six ministries to plan for the future.
As a result, the ominous sign did happen, but the timing was stuck when His Majesty agreed to let the three princes return to the six ministries.
Does Du Qingke want to help her, or is he an undercover agent sent by Su Meidai?
"Mother." Prince Jing walked beside her and held her arm: "Your son will take you back to the palace."
Princess Jing let go of Concubine Wei's hand, paused slightly, and fell one step behind the mother and son.
"Du Qingke is not trustworthy." Concubine Wei whispered to Prince Jing, "I suspect he is pretending to cooperate with us and confuse us so that Yun Duqing can be crowned the crown prince smoothly."
If it weren't for the fact that she and the prince were both in the harem and couldn't interfere in many things, how could she have handed such a matter over to Du Qingke.
If she hadn't been afraid of the matter being exposed, she wouldn't have waited until yesterday to tell Du Qingke about the plan. She had thought that with the Du family's strength, it would only take a few hours to handle such a small matter, but she didn't expect such a big mistake to happen.
Yun Duqing didn't succeed in getting into trouble, but instead shot himself in the foot. What a Du Qingke!
Concubine Wei was so angry that she was shaking all over, but she had to maintain a polite smile in front of everyone.
Since Du Qingke is unkind, don't blame her for being unjust!
The housekeeper of the Du Mansion was caught by the Jinwu Guards on his way back after finishing his business.
The one who caught him was Yu Jian. Yu Jian's neighbor when he was a child ran a fireworks shop, so he was particularly sensitive to the smell of fireworks. When the housekeeper of the Du Mansion and several trusted subordinates passed by him on horseback, he smelled something and drew his sword to stop them.
"Sir, I am the steward of the Du Mansion. I just came back from a business trip out of town." The steward of the Du Mansion took out his waist badge and the written records of entering the city from other states and counties.
Yu Jian took the badge and handed it to the brother behind him, then walked to the horse and took off a few petals that had been stuck on the horse's tail at some point.
If he remembered correctly, this kind of flower was most common outside the imperial mausoleum in the western suburbs.
Legend has it that this flower was brought to the human world from the Yaochi Lake by the blue bird in front of the Queen Mother of the West. The royal family believed that as long as the tomb was surrounded by such flowers, the soul would be taken back to heaven by the blue bird and become an immortal.
"I'm afraid the road from other places to Beijing will not pass through the imperial mausoleum in the western suburbs." Yu Jian packed the petals in a cloth bag and waved his hand: "Take the person away."
"Sir, I am the housekeeper of the Du family. You took us away without knowing the truth. Aren't you afraid that the Du family will cause trouble for you?"
"I have already arrested the head of the Du family, so why would I be afraid of a housekeeper like you?" Yu Jian sneered, "I suspect you are involved in the destruction of the late emperor's tombstone. Until the case is investigated, I have to ask you to stay in the Jingzhao Prefecture prison."
How could the tombstone explode without thunder or rain? They, the Jinwu Guards, do not believe in superstition.
Today is a good day for the Prince of Chen to enthrone the Crown Prince, so it is inevitable that some people will hide and do some shameful things, so early this morning, he put on the only clairvoyance tube of the Jinwu Guard.
Unexpectedly, such a great achievement was delivered right under his nose.
If he didn't accomplish such a great feat, he would be letting down the precious telescope on his waist.
"Take away not only the people but also the horses. Take off their shoes and coats and check carefully to see where they have passed."
If you can't be a lackey in the Prince's Palace, it's more glorious to be a lackey in the Prince's Palace.
"Father, you mentioned the shattering of the late emperor's tombstone..."
"Of course it was man-made." Ming Jingzhou sat in the swaying carriage, his tone lacking any respect: "There have been many wise rulers in the history of our Dacheng Dynasty. If there is any warning, it would be from other emperors whose tombstones have cracked. It definitely could not be him."
Ming Jiyuan remained silent.
That makes sense.
If it was man-made, these people might not dare to blow up the tombstones of other emperors, but the situation was different for the late emperor. He was foolish, lustful and incompetent. If his tombstone was blown up, not only would the royal family not be too angry, they might not even conduct a serious investigation.
"Who is helping His Royal Highness?"
The fifth prince had just become the crown prince, and the other princes were sent to the six ministries, which was not a good thing for the crown prince. Once this happened, no matter if it was man-made or a sign of something happening, His Majesty would not allow them to return to the six ministries, and other officials would not be able to bring it up again.
"It can't be... that Your Majesty did it yourself?" Ming Jiyuan swallowed. In order to pave the way for the prince, wasn't His Majesty a little too... "filial"?
Ming Jingzhou coughed dryly: "Don't talk nonsense, your majesty is filial and kind, it is impossible for him to do such a thing."
The carriage stopped in front of the Ming family's door. Ming Jiyuan got off the carriage and was about to lend a hand to help Ming Jingzhou when he saw two Taoists in green robes sitting at the door.
The Taoist woman sitting on the steps was holding a huge steamed bun in her hand and eating it with gusto. When she saw the father and son getting off the carriage, they all looked up at her.
"Masters, where are you from?" Shen Ying got off a carriage at the back, walked up to the two masters, and bowed to them. "It's late at night. If you don't mind, please follow me to my humble abode to rest."
Ever since Jiuzhu came back, the Ming family has been particularly enthusiastic about Daoge.
"Okay." The first master stuffed the steamed bun into the second master's hand, stood up and patted the dust off the back of his robe: "Is there any hot water? Let us take a bath first."
"Yes, yes." Shen Ying was stunned for a moment: "Master, please follow me."
"Thank you very much." The master walked into the gate of the Ming family, looked around, nodded and praised: "Your family is upright and upright, and you are a blessed family."
"Thank you for your praise, Taoist priest." Shen Ying smiled and thanked him: "I wonder where the two Taoist priests are practicing?"
The master paused and said, "I forgot to tell my wife that the two of us are the Taoist masters of Jiuzhu. We two do not care about Taoist names. Jiuzhu has always called us the Great Master and the Second Master. You can also call us the Great Daoist Master and the Second Daoist Master."
"It turns out to be the two immortals." Shen Ying stopped, and Ming Jingzhou and Ming Jiyuan also walked forward.
"The entire Ming family will never forget your life-saving grace. Please accept our greetings, immortals." Ming Jingzhou lifted his robe and prepared to kneel down and kowtow to the two Taoist priests.
"Master Ming, we both have a predestined relationship with Jiuzhu, so you don't have to do this." The master held Ming Jingzhou and Shen Ying by himself. There was no sight of him exerting any strength on his wrists, but the couple could not kneel down.
"You were sent to a cold and bitter land and separated from your daughter because you were upright and unyielding for the sake of the people of the world. God allowed us to save Jiuzhu because of your kindness, not our merits." The master said in a light tone: "If you worship us two, we can only worship you on behalf of the people of the world."
"What's more, Jiuzhu's appearance has also brought us a lot of joy. We gave her growth, and she gave us happiness. No one owes anyone anything."
"Yes." Ming Jingzhou understood what the Taoist priest meant. After she let him go, he bowed deeply to her.
"I just observed the stars and Jiuzhu's fate has changed." The elder Daochang saw that the Ming family understood and did not continue to kneel and worship. He nodded with satisfaction and said, "What important thing happened to Jiuzhu today?"
"Replying to the Great Immortal, today is the day when His Majesty confers the title of Crown Prince. The Crown Prince is none other than Jiuzhu's husband, Yun Duqing."
"I see." The Taoist priest looked up at the starry sky and smiled for a moment: "If we had known this, we wouldn't have to go to Beijing."
Not long after Jiuzhu returned to Beijing, she calculated Jiuzhu's horoscope nine times, and each time it showed that Jiuzhu would encounter a disaster this year.
But today, when she squatted at the gate of the Ming family and speculated again, she found that the fateful disaster had disappeared and that there was instead an air of nobility.
She didn't want to stay in the capital city any longer.
It was a waste of time.
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