"Master, I wonder what the astrology and destiny you mentioned mean?" The Ming family members were terrified, but they were afraid that if they asked too much, they would bring trouble to the two masters. After holding it in for a long time, Shen Ying, who was also a woman, asked a question.
"Oh." The Taoist priest looked up at the sky: "It is something that can change at any time. Just bend down to pick up a leaf or say one more word, and it may change."
The Ming family became even more confused.
"In this life, just do good deeds and don't worry about the future." The Great Dao laughed: "Life and death have a destiny, but also no destiny, it all depends on one thought."
The Ming family understood that this was the realm of a master. It didn’t matter if they didn’t understand, as long as Jiuzhu was safe.
"The feng shui of the capital is not good for our cultivation. We will return to Lingzhou tomorrow." The Taoist priest greeted the Ming family and said, "You don't have to entertain us. Go and rest."
"My two immortals, Jiuzhu misses you very much. Please stay in the capital for a few days and have a good chat with Jiuzhu." Ming Jiyuan saw that the two immortals were about to leave and tried to persuade them to stay: "I will go to the palace to deliver a letter tomorrow morning and ask Jiuzhu to come out of the palace to meet you."
"Let's talk about tomorrow's matters tomorrow. Let's go to sleep first." The Taoist priest yawned. This is the bad thing about the people in the capital. They are better at staying up late than the other. It's already past midnight, but they are still full of energy.
"We dare not disturb the immortals' rest. Please come this way." Ming Jiyuan felt relieved. The two immortals did not leave directly, which meant that they wanted to see Jiuzhu.
As the morning light just broke, Jiuzhu woke up from her dream. She looked at the gorgeous bed curtains and suddenly came to her senses.
"You woke up so early?" Yun Duqing put his arm around her waist and said vaguely, "Sleep a little longer."
"Your Highness, I dreamed of Master."
Hearing the longing and depression in Jiuzhu's tone, Yun Duqing opened his eyes, sat up, and wrapped himself and Jiuzhu in the quilt: "Do you miss them?"
"I dreamed that they were carrying a large pot of medicine and chasing me desperately." Jiuzhu shuddered: "The last time I had such a terrible dream was when I secretly poured out the medicine."
"Ming Xiaozhu, you were quite naughty when you were little. You even dared to secretly pour medicine." Seeing her guilty look, Yun Duqing reached out and ruffled her long hair: "Sleep for another half an hour, and I will accompany you home to visit your parents-in-law later."
"Okay." Jiuzhu rolled onto his chest in a daze and lay back on the bed, not forgetting to pull up the quilt to cover Yun Duqing's exposed arms.
After being tormented by her like this, Yun Duqing lost his sleepiness. He turned his head to look at Ming Xiaozhu who was sleeping soundly. He laughed out of anger. He was really worthy of being called a little pig. He could fall asleep as soon as he said he would.
He put on his clothes quietly and told Yang Yidu to prepare the carriage, as he wanted to go to the Ming family with the Crown Princess.
"Your Highness." Yang Yiduo hesitated and said, "You just got crowned as the crown prince, and you took the crown princess to Minister Ming's house. I'm afraid that other court officials will think you are close to the Yue family."
"They actually need to believe in such a thing?" Yun Duqing asked arrogantly, "Isn't it the truth?"
Yang Yidu was so shocked by the Crown Prince's self-righteousness that he was speechless for a long time.
That being said, sometimes it’s okay to… not be so blunt.
"Your Highness, the officials of the Zhanshi Mansion have been selected. Would you like to meet them today?" Yang Yidu gave up the previous question and turned to mention the newly established Zhanshi Mansion.
Normally, the officials of the Zhanshi Mansion would select a few of the prince's trusted advisers, but since his highness had just become the prince and had no habit of keeping advisers and retainers, all officials in the Zhanshi Mansion were decided by His Majesty and the Ministry of Personnel, and his highness himself did not have to worry about it at all.
"Even if they don't meet, I can guess that they must be familiar people in the capital. It doesn't matter whether they meet or not. There's no need to bother them back and forth." Yun Duqing waved his hand generously: "Just wait until they go on duty in three days and then meet again."
It is said that a new official will start with three things when he takes office. Your Highness, are you so lazy that you don’t even plan to light a fire?
"Okay, I will send someone to the houses of the adults to pass on the message."
The officials who were about to go on duty at the Zhanshi Mansion did not feel relieved but became even more nervous when they heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was not in a hurry to see them.
The Ministry of Personnel and Your Majesty arranged for them to work in the Prince's Palace, but the Prince was unwilling to meet them in advance. I wonder if he was dissatisfied with them or did not trust their abilities?
Those who can stay in the capital and serve as officials are most likely to think too much. They thought about it over and over but could not come up with an answer, so they could only muster up their energy and wait to show their talents in the Prince's Mansion and get the Prince to look at them differently.
Yun Duqing, whose thoughts were being speculated by countless officials in the Zhanshi Mansion, had now taken a carriage and arrived at the gate of the Ming family with Jiuzhu, where he ran into Ming Jiyuan who was about to enter the palace to deliver a message.
"Sister, you're back just in time." Ming Jiyuan was overjoyed: "Your masters are in our house, go and meet them!"
Ming Xiaozhu’s master has arrived?
Yun Duqing subconsciously looked down at what he was wearing today to see if there was anything inappropriate.
Upon hearing that his master had arrived in the capital, Jiuzhu pulled Yun Duqing and prepared to rush out of the gate, but after pulling him, he didn't move.
"Your Highness?" She turned to look at him in surprise.
"Oh, it's okay, let's go." Yun Duqing straightened his clothes and was about to walk into the house in a graceful manner, but Jiuzhu pulled him and blew him into the inner courtyard of the Ming family like a gust of wind.
"Master, Second Master!" Seeing the masters, Jiuzhu let go of his hand and flew into the arms of the two Taoist priests who were having breakfast.
The two Taoist priests raised the bowl with one hand and held Jiuzhu with the other hand, and the porridge in the bowl did not spill at all: "Slow down, slow down, don't let the porridge spill."
"I missed you guys so much." Jiuzhu didn't care about the porridge and rubbed against the two of them.
Yun Duqing adjusted his hat, straightened his sleeves, walked up to the two of them, and bowed as a junior: "Junior Yun Duqing, greetings to the two masters."
"Your Highness, there is no need to be so polite." The Taoist priest pushed Jiuzhu to sit on the chair, took a cake from the table and stuffed it into her hand, then turned to Yun Duqing and nodded with a smile: "Your Highness, please take a seat."
Although the two men were hermits from the mountains, they were neither humble nor arrogant when facing Yun Duqing. They only had friendly expressions and seemed to have a good impression of him.
"Jiuzhu often mentions His Highness in his letters." The Second Taoist Priest also took a piece and handed it to Yun Duqing, using the same movements as the First Taoist Priest had used to coax Jiuzhu: "Seeing is believing, His Highness is a man of integrity and good looks."
"Thank you for the praise, Master." Yun Duqing brought a stool, squeezed in next to Jiuzhu and sat down, holding the pastry given to him by the second master and began to eat it.
The Ming family members looked at each other, then left the house silently, leaving the house to the two masters and Jiuzhu Yunduqing.
"You've gained weight." The second Taoist priest pinched the baby fat on Jiuzhu's face and said, "It seems that the food you have eaten since returning to Beijing is very good."
"Second Master, other people's elders like to say that children have lost weight when they see them." Jiuzhu covered her face and hid her head in Yun Duqing's arms.
Yun Duqing smiled politely at the second Taoist priest and covered Jiuzhu with his wide sleeves.
"Tsk." The second Taoist priest withdrew his hand and continued to eat his meal with his head down.
The Taoist Priest noticed Yun Duqing's action of protecting Jiuzhu without hesitation, and put down his chopsticks: "Seeing that you are doing well, your Second Master and I are relieved. We will set off to return to Lingzhou in two days."
"Master." Jiuzhu reached out and grabbed her sleeve: "You and Second Master can stay in the capital for a while longer, okay?"
"The feng shui of the capital is not good." The great master looked at Yun Duqing calmly and said, "I can't get along with your second master."
"Are you coming to the capital this time to see how I am doing?" Lingzhou is thousands of miles away from the capital, and the two masters traveled through mountains and rivers just to see her.
"You have a nice thought." The second Taoist priest stretched out his hand to poke Jiuzhu's forehead, but seeing Yun Duqing's distressed look but unable to stop him, he bent his finger and tapped her head lightly: "Someone paid a lot of money to ask us to perform a ritual, so we came to see you on the way."
Jiuzhu didn't believe it. The two masters were too lazy to even wash the dishes, so how could they run so far to perform rituals for others just to make money?
However, she did not expose it, but just reached out and gently held the hands of the two masters.
"Little Pig, talk to the two masters nicely. I'll go out and talk to my father-in-law." Yun Duqing stood up and bowed to the two Taoist priests. When he closed the door for them, he saw that the two Taoist priests' eyes were full of love for Jiuzhu.
He did not go to find Ming Jingzhou, but stood under the pomegranate tree in the yard, looked up at the blooming pomegranate flowers, and smiled softly.
Ming Jiyuan was standing outside the yard. When he saw this scene, he stopped as he was about to step into the yard. He hesitated for a moment, turned around and walked to the courtyard wall, and called Ming Cunfu, who was studying hard, across the wall.
"Third brother, if you have anything to say, say it quickly. Don't delay me from studying for the imperial examination." Ming Cunfu leaned against the wall, but his eyes never left the book.
"Nothing, I just want someone to stand with me."
Look, how pitiful a man without a wife is, he has no one to accompany him.
"What's that look?" Ming Jiyuan raised his eyebrows.
"A look of admiration." Ming Cunfu glanced at the bricks that were broken by Ming Jiyuan and swallowed his saliva: "Brother, you are envious of me for passing the imperial examination. Unlike me, I was locked up in the yard and studied hard every day."
"You said..." Ming Jiyuan didn't bother with him: "What is destiny?"
"Destiny?" Ming Cunfu was so confused from reciting the book that he said without thinking, "It's probably like when you wake up in the morning and are hungry, you want to eat buns but there are only dumplings, or you want to eat buns but there are only buns. The former is regrettable, the latter is perfect."
"You are right." Ming Jiyuan nodded suddenly, "Sixth brother, that's a good idea."
Looking at Ming Jiyuan who turned and left, Ming Cunfu was confused. What had happened to his third brother?
"Mother, Du Qingke sent someone to deliver this." Prince Jing put a book in Wei Jieyu's hand and said, "He said that what happened yesterday was due to the servants' incompetence and was not what he wanted. This contains what you want."
Wei Jieyu sneered. She didn't believe a word Du Qingke said.
Open the book, it's a storybook.
The storybook says that two descendants of the previous dynasty became Taoist monks and raised an apprentice, who he let seduce the prince and eventually caused chaos in the court to avenge their ancestors.
"What a mess..."
Wei Jieyu closed the book and was about to throw it away when she suddenly became extremely excited and turned to look at Prince Jing: "My son, what do you think would happen if someone assassinated the empress and all the evidence pointed to Ming Jiuzhu?"
Prince Jing was about to speak when Concubine Wei raised her hand to interrupt him: "No, there is also Du Qingke. If I remember correctly, the Du family is an old family that has been passed down for hundreds of years. They were already a famous family when the previous dynasty was still alive."
It would be a good show if the head of a noble family joined hands with the Crown Princess to avenge the previous dynasty that had been destroyed two hundred years ago.
Because of Ming Jiuzhu's involvement, Yun Duqing has no chance of becoming the next emperor.
"In a few days, it will be Grain in Ear. The Emperor and Su Meidai will go to the outskirts of Beijing to participate in the An Miao sacrificial ceremony." Concubine Wei threw the storybook into the brazier and watched it burn to ashes: "Tell Du Qingke to arrange the assassins. I will arrange people to cooperate with him from inside and outside."
"Mother, our father and Empress Su are surrounded by many guards. I'm afraid the assassination will not succeed."
"Whether it succeeds or not is not important. What's important is that the assassination was carried out by Ming Jiuzhu and Du Qingke." Concubine Wei brought a pot of tea and poured it on the ashes. "If Empress Su could die at the hands of the assassin and the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess turned against each other, I would be happier."
"I understand what my mother means." Prince Jing's dull and ordinary face showed a cold and murderous look without any concealment.
Due to Jiuzhu's obsession, the two Taoists decided to leave Beijing after the Grain in Ear Festival.
What impressed them was the delicious food on the Grain in Ear Festival.
People who practice cultivation do not care about the desire for food. What they do is not called gluttony, but savoring the various flavors of the world.
The Grain in Ear Festival's Anmiao sacrificial ceremony is meant to pray for a good harvest and the safety of the people, so this day is especially lively every year.
When Queen Su changed into the phoenix robe and was choosing jewelry, she saw a peach wood gourd carved by Jiuzhu for her in the box.
The peach wood gourd was round and cute. She picked up the gourd and tied it around her waist.
"My lady, is it inappropriate to wear this today?"
"Why not?" Empress Su touched the gourd and said with a smile, "Today I am offering sacrifices to the gods and praying for blessings. This gourd has a good meaning. Wearing it will bring you good fortune. It has a good meaning."
Xiang Juan smiled, "Yes, yes, anything carved by the Crown Princess herself is naturally good. Wearing it will protect you from all evil, turn misfortune into good fortune, and bring you great blessings and luck."
Everyone in Mingyue Palace knew that the Queen loved the Crown Princess very much, so the palace servants all laughed when they heard this.
The atmosphere was cheerful.
"Stop laughing, go to Qilin Palace and see if the Crown Princess is ready." Empress Su said with a smile, "This is the first time the Crown Princess is attending this kind of sacrificial ceremony. I'll ask the ceremonial officer to arrange for her and the Crown Prince to stand behind me. Du Qing and I will take care of her so she won't be nervous."
After she finished speaking, she lowered her head and stroked the peach wood gourd at her waist. "By the way, prepare an extra set of clothes for them. After the An Miao sacrifice, some newlyweds will go to play mud fights. I think these two will definitely join in the fun."
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