Chapter 74: Competitive but Short-lived
As Chang Suining and his two servants approached, the flute sound stopped.
The person playing the flute also turned sideways subconsciously.
It was the face of a very young man, only in his early twenties.
Even though spring was already here, he was still wearing a thick fox fur cloak, which still made him look thin and frail.
That handsome face was too white, and the color of his lips was slightly lighter than that of ordinary people.
A servant stood beside him. Seeing Chang Suining coming, he whispered in his ear: "Sir, this is the lady Chang..."
Chang Suining didn't know what the attendant said, but seeing that he was standing by the river, she couldn't pretend not to see him. She stopped five or six steps away and raised her hand.
"Prince Rong."
The young man was surprised when he heard this: "You recognize me?"
Chang Suining shook his head: "I guessed."
The other party was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood: "That's right."
He smiled, as if with a hint of self-mockery: "There is no other royal family member in the capital who is as sickly as me."
That is true.
But Chang Suining was able to recognize him for another reason - his features and eyebrows were 70% similar to those of his father, Prince Rong, and no one would believe that he was not a biological son.
Thinking of Prince Rong, the elder from the past, Chang Suining asked, "I heard that Prince Rong was frightened and fell ill before. I wonder if he is feeling better now?"
This matter has something to do with her.
On the list Yu Zeng gave her that day, she saw that Prince Rong was also on it, so she asked Xier about Prince Rong Li Lu. However, she heard from Xier that he was ill and was frightened on the day of the blessing ceremony.
In other words, she, the unlucky girl who was attacked by the elephant that day, was not scared, but instead frightened Prince Rong into illness.
It was an unexpected disaster.
"It's fine now..." Hearing her mention this, Li Lu looked a little uncomfortable: "I'm sorry to make you laugh, Madam Chang."
Chang Suining didn't take it seriously: "It's just a matter of luck, nothing to laugh at."
She is courageous, but she doesn't look down on the timid.
People who are physically healthy have no right to laugh at the sick and weak - just as if a lucky person were to ridicule an unlucky person, he would look really stupid.
Li Lu was a little stunned when he saw that the girl had taken the maid to the river to fetch water.
Seeing her skillfully fill two buckets of water to 80% and then lift them up easily, his face was filled with surprise again.
Watching the master and servant walk away, Li Lu's surprise was still there: "A few days ago, I heard that the prince of Yingguo was beaten by Madam Chang. I didn't believe it at first..."
And now, he couldn't help but feel a little worried about the injury of the Prince of Yingguo.
"Isn't it... The water is really solid." The attendant couldn't help but sigh: "She is worthy of being the girl of General Chang's mansion."
Li Lu nodded: "Yes."
The girl in General Chang’s mansion—he repeated in his heart.
"Sir, it's windy here, why don't you go back?"
“No hurry.” Li Lu looked at the green hills on the other side of the river: “The scenery here is very beautiful. I feel like I can breathe more smoothly…”
As he spoke, he held the flute in his hand and brought it to his lips again.
Chang Suining did not stop even though he heard the clear and melodious flute sound coming from behind him again.
Prince Rong is the youngest half brother of the late emperor.
The late emperor refers to the late prince’s father, Emperor Shengce’s late husband, Emperor Hongxiao.
Shortly after Emperor Hongxiao's death, the former crown prince who was to have inherited the throne also died of illness. Amid the panic, the current Emperor Shengce, the former Empress Ming, and a group of ministers discussed and established the only remaining seventh prince, Li Bing, as the new emperor.
However, after Li Bing ascended the throne, he showed his debauchery and stupidity, and ruled without justice. Later, he suffered from an unexplainable spring disease, and his illness became increasingly violent, causing complaints from the court.
Three years later, when Dasheng won a great victory in a battle with Beidi, Xuan Ce's army returned to the court. After many proposals from the ministers, the Empress Dowager Ming advocated the abolition of Li Bing's throne.
Not long after being deposed, Li Bing died of illness and was buried with the ceremony of a prince. Therefore, people no longer refer to him as the emperor. When talking about the late emperor, they are still referring to Emperor Hongxiao.
Prince Rong was the youngest half-brother of Emperor Hongxiao and the youngest uncle of the late Crown Prince.
Prince Rong, who is now the governor of Yizhou, has only one son, Li Lu.
Because Li Lu was weak, he stayed in Beijing to recuperate.
He appears to be recuperating, but in reality he is more like a proton.
Chang Suining would ask Chang Kuo or Qiao Yubai about court affairs when she had free time these past two days. Qiao Yubai told her yesterday that it was said that when Emperor Shengce ascended the throne, he wanted to select a crown prince from among the royal family members to inherit the throne in the future. He had originally thought of making Li Lu the crown prince, but Prince Rong and many ministers thought that Li Lu was weak and could not bear such a heavy responsibility, so they gave up.
Therefore, the Prince of Rong once missed the position of crown prince.
Fortunately, we just passed each other.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to hear the sound of the flute at this time.
From the current situation of the Pei family, it is not difficult to see that the so-called return of power in the future is just to stabilize people's hearts.
The struggle for power always intensifies gradually.
Just as the Queen had already aspired to be the emperor, but still recommended Li Bing as the new emperor, the three years when the new emperor was incompetent were also the three years when she took the opportunity to seize power and win the hearts of the people.
Some aristocratic officials, when secretly despising the Queen, would often mock her for having given birth to a pair of short-lived good children.
When these two children were alive, they won honor and favor for her.
When these two children died, the timing was just right, which also brought her the greatest benefit.
——Sufficiently ambitious, yet short-lived.
Chang Suining closed his fingers around the wooden barrel and looked at the bluestone path ahead.
At this moment, a dark blue figure coming from a side road came into her sight.
It’s Cui Jing.
"Little A'li, you are here!" A'dian, who was behind Cui Jing, walked over quickly and took the bucket from Chang Suining's hand: "Let me help you!"
Although he came to Dayun Temple to find Chang Suining, he was a man after all, and it was not suitable for him to be by her side all the time, so he was placed in Xuan Ce's army by Cui Jing.
Chang Suining had not seen Cui Jing in the past few days. When he met him now, he thought of what happened to Ming Jin that day and said, "Thank you, General Cui, for what happened that day."
"Why are you thanking me?" Cui Jing said expressionlessly, "I never helped in any way."
The implication is that he didn't help beat the person.
Seeing that he was also going back to the temple, Chang Suining walked forward with him, saying as he walked, "I mean, you spread the news that I beat Ming Jin—"
Cui Jing paused for a moment and asked, "Why do you think it was me who did this?"
Chang Suining: “Guessed.”
After that, he added: "That's an easy guess."
Cui Jing: “…”
Why does it seem like he is looking like a fool for asking the question?
"It just happened." He did not deny it.
Chang Suining asked, "Why did Grand Commander Cui help me publicize this matter?"
"Now that everyone knows about this, Mingjin may be a little more cautious in the future."
Chang Suining nodded, just as she had guessed.
She asked again: "Why did Grand Commander Cui help me?"
"Little A-li, do you even need to ask this?" A-dian, who was walking in the front, said without turning his head: "Of course it's because we are all family."
Cui Jing did not comment: "Mrs. Chang had a conflict with Ming Jin because of Senior - Senior is from Xuan Ce Mansion, and this matter should have been resolved by me."
Chang Suining understood it clearly, it turned out to be because of this.
"But Adian is also my friend and family member," she said. "This is what I should do."
"What's there to argue about?" Ah Dian suddenly put down the bucket, turned back to face the two of them, and first grabbed Chang Suining's arm: "Little Ah Li, you and I are family--"
Then, he grabbed Cui Jing's arm and said, "Xiao Jing, you are my family too!"
As he spoke, he suddenly took Chang Suining's hand and pressed it on the back of Cui Jing's hand: "So, the three of us, oh, and Uncle Chang... the entire Xuan Ce Mansion, are all one family!"
Chang Suining: “…”
Cui Jing: “…”
Ah Dian's eyes were full of expectation: "Am I right?"
Yuan Xiang on the side looked at the hands that were forced together with a complicated expression.
I never thought that the first time the Grand Commander touched a woman's hand, it would be like this.
And General Adian is famous for his great strength...
This is like asking a forced question - are you touched?
In this situation, the only answer I can give is: I dare not move, I can’t move.
Under external pressure and expectant eyes, the two could only nod.
Cui Jing: “Yeah.”
Chang Suining: “That’s right.”
Ah Dian laughed, "Hey", and then let go with satisfaction.
Chang Suining shook his wrist which was a little painful from being squeezed.
Cui Jing silently put his hand behind his back and looked forward as if nothing had happened.
Adian happily picked up the water and walked forward again.
"Mingjin is used to being arrogant. Even if he has some concerns, they are not too many." Cui Jing continued the previous topic and said, "You need to be more careful in the future."
Chang Suining nodded.
She has heard this countless times in recent days, which shows that Ming Jin's actions are indeed reckless.
"If you run into trouble in the city, you can go to the nearest Xuan Ce Army for help if you have time." Cui Jing was afraid that she didn't understand, so he explained, "There will be Xuan Ce Army patrolling the city during the day."
Chang Suining said subconsciously: "But they don't know me, so they may not believe me easily, right?"
Xuan Ce's army has strict military discipline and does not take an approachable approach.
Cui Jing stopped.
He took off a copper talisman from his waist. The fish-shaped copper talisman was exquisitely designed and broke into two in his hand.
Cui Jing handed half of it to Chang Suining and said, "Take this with you. If you are in danger, you can always go to the nearby Xuan Ce Army and they will definitely help you."
Yuanxiang was shocked.
Although this talisman was not a military talisman for mobilizing the Xuan Ce Army, it was also a personal item of the governor. Seeing it in the army was like seeing the governor. Why did the governor suddenly give half of it to Madam Chang? Did the governor lose himself in the voices of his family?
Alas... in the final analysis, it was all because the Cui family treated the governor too coldly, so that these few words outside actually made the governor angry! From this, we can see how much the governor longed for the warmth of his family in his heart?
Thinking of this, Yuan Xiang almost burst into tears on the spot.
Madam Chang, why are you still standing there? Take it quickly!
The governor finally opened his heart. If he was rejected, his heart would be locked forever! Chang Suining had just asked casually, but unexpectedly Cui Jing gave him this thing. He was inevitably surprised.
Ah Dian urged, "Little Ah Li, take it! We should not be so formal with each other among family members!"
Seeing that Cui Jing was not being polite but was genuine, Chang Suining reached out and took it: "Thank you, Commander-in-Chief Cui."
Cui Jing then continued to walk forward: "No need to thank me, something is better than nothing——"
"..." Chang Suining looked at the bronze talisman in his hand.
Xier could hardly bear to listen any longer.
Something is better than nothing?
The leader of the Xuan Ce Army, the personal bronze talisman of the eldest grandson of the Cui family... If this is called "chatting", then she is really nothing! Cui Jing's words have not yet been finished: "You still have to pray for your own good fortune."
Chang Suining nodded and said, "Don't worry, Commander Cui, I'm good at this."
After some time of adjusting to this body, and understanding the current situation, she realized that this was her homeland, and that she was surrounded by old friends, except for the fact that her father was a little close, which made her a little dazed - now she was able to let down her guard a little, and slowly became more relaxed.
During those three years in Beidi, she almost forgot how her former self lived and spoke.
Now, she seems to have slowly found herself again.
Hearing these "shameless" words, Cui Jing turned his head and glanced at the girl beside him.
She was looking ahead, her eyes were particularly bright.
Cui Jing returned to the temple and went about his business. Chang Suining took the empty bucket and went to the back mountain to fetch water again.
After four rounds of this, the sun gradually rose higher, and Prince Rong, who was sitting on a boulder by the river, couldn't help but ask, "Madam Chang, aren't you tired?"
"This is the last trip." Chang Suining wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and asked casually, "Is Prince Rong not going back yet?"
Li Lu smiled and said, "We are about to go back."
As he spoke, he looked at the green hills on the other side again: "The scenery here is very beautiful, but it's a pity that we have to leave the temple tomorrow."
"Are you leaving the temple tomorrow?" The young monk not far away looked at Chang Suining and his servant and whispered, "What a pity..."
There is no one to help them with the work.
The older monk beside him reprimanded the younger disciple in a low voice: "...How can you be so lazy?"
The young monk was stunned: "I just said it was a pity, how do you know what I regret?"
Oh! He knows!
Unless senior brother has the same idea as him!
The young monk stared at his fellow monk with a look as if he was catching a thief. The monk's face turned red and he chanted "Amitabha" several times.
Finally, I thought about my experience listening to the abbot’s lecture yesterday, and tried to reconcile with myself and accept my true inner self.
This is human nature for him...
After all, who wouldn’t like a donor who works hard and is sincere? Amitabha, I accepted it too thoroughly by mistake, and even began to look forward to the next blessing ceremony.
…
After seven days of prayer, the emperor set out on his journey back to Beijing.
Returning from the quiet mountain temple to the bustling court, the surging waves also turned from dark to light.
At the morning court session the next day, the decision on how to deal with the Pei family was finally made.
Pei Min is dead, and all those implicated will be punished and their property confiscated. Those who are found not to have committed any crime will not be implicated.
For a time, members of the Pei family were either imprisoned or exiled. Even those who survived did not care about their grief and hurriedly left Beijing with their families.
As Jingshanfang, where the Pei clan members once lived, was confiscated and emptied, the once powerful Pei clan declined and dispersed.
A spring rain fell, and in the Jingye Temple outside the capital, a woman's sharp voice was heard from time to time.
Thank you all for your monthly tickets and rewards. The double monthly tickets are about to end. How cost-effective is it to vote for two tickets? Right, right? (Crazy hint) (End of this chapter)
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