Yuwen Lan had never expected that Yan Shu even knew where Wei Ruzhang hid his people.
After all, the Jinyiwei hadn't come to report to him yet...
Just as he was shocked, he heard Fu Hai say at the door, "Your Majesty, the Minister of the Honglu Temple wants to see you."
Then, Yan Shu said, "Then I won't bother your Majesty. I'll take my leave first."
She looked at the stew pot on the table again, showing an embarrassed smile, and said, "I'll make another pot for you to drink in the evening."
Tsk, looking at the dark color, it's better not to poison the emperor.
Yuwen Lan, "..."
Although he was still confused, he couldn't think of how to ask her.
He could only nod and watch her go out with the pot of soup.
After a while, the Minister of Honglu Temple came in and reported, "Your Majesty, the King of Liaodong has arrived in the capital, and is expected to enter the city tomorrow. The welcoming banquet will be held tomorrow evening. What do you think?"
Yuwen Lan was thinking about something else at the moment, so he just casually replied, "Okay."
The Minister of Honglu Temple then left.
The room was quiet. Yuwen Lan thought for a while, and summoned the Jinyi Guard to come closer, asking, "Have you found out where Wei Ruzhang is holding the person?"
Jinyi Guard said, "We just got the news, it should be in the Guitian Farm of Wei Mansion at the foot of Daqing Mountain in the suburbs of Beijing."
Yuwen Lan was stunned.
She was right again.
If those were all old stories, she might have heard them from somewhere else, but this one just happened.
Could it be that...she has some special ability?
Just as he was thinking, he heard the Jinyiwei asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to go and rescue people now?"
Yuwen Lan came back to his senses and said, "Make preparations first, and wait for Wei Ruzhang to show up before taking action."
After all, to catch a thief and a kidnapper, you must have solid evidence to convince the public.
Jinyiwei agreed.
~~
In the afternoon, a carriage drove into the Guitian Farm under the Daqing Mountain in the suburbs of Beijing.
Wei Ruzhang, a scholar of Wenhua Pavilion, was wearing a cloak that covered half of his face. He was led by a servant into a dark woodshed in the farm.
At this moment, there was a man in the room with his hands tied behind his back and his eyes blindfolded with a black cloth, kneeling on the ground. It was none other than the missing bookseller.
Hearing the noise, he immediately panicked and said, "I have no grudge against you, why do you want to arrest me? If you want money, you can ask my family to send it to you, or if you want a bookstore, I can also offer it to you, but I only ask you not to hurt my life. I have elderly parents and young children at home, so please have mercy on me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone said fiercely, "Why are you talking so much nonsense! How could our master be short of your money?"
The bookseller was startled and cried, "Then what do you want?"
But a voice rang out, "I just want to know who the young man Xiaoyao who wrote the storybook is?"
The bookseller cried, "I don't know either."
"Don't know?"
The other party sneered, "The storybook was not published by your bookshop?"
The bookseller said helplessly, "It was indeed published by my bookshop, but I have never seen that young master Xiaoyao. These two storybooks were brought by an adult from the Hanlin Academy. According to him, they were also published for others. As for that young master Xiaoyao, none of us has ever seen him..."
Hanlin Academy?
Wei Ruzhang narrowed his eyes.
Although he was also from the Hanlin Academy, not to mention that no one knew about his past, now the Hanlin Academy is full of young people, and it is impossible for them to know things that happened more than 50 or 60 years ago.
He lowered his voice and said, "It seems that you still don't want to tell the truth. Then torture him."
The servant agreed and immediately brought a set of torture instruments and put them on the bookseller's hand.
In a moment, screams came from the woodshed.
Wei Ruzhang showed a sneer on his face full of ravines.
——First there was the storybook, but who knows if someone will come out and testify about his past of hanging out in brothels?
He has been a university scholar for many years, and he cannot let a storybook writer ruin his reputation!
No matter who the other party is, he will not let him go.
However, at this moment, the door was suddenly kicked open, and
someone said coldly, "What is Lord Wei doing? Kidnapping civilians and forcing confessions?"
Wei Ruzhang was stunned, but saw that a dozen sturdy men suddenly appeared at the door, all wearing Feiyu costumes and hanging embroidered spring swords on their waists.
This, this, this, isn't this the Jinyiwei?
He was suddenly panicked, they are the king's men...
~~
The next morning, the news that Wei Ruzhang, a university scholar of Wenhua Pavilion, kidnapped civilians and forced confessions by death spread throughout the court.
The court was shocked.
Who could have thought that the usually amiable and elegant scholar would actually do such a thing?
Only Yan Shu continued to write her own storybook calmly.
- Well, the bookseller has returned home safely, and she can continue to sell storybooks.
But before she could write a few words, she saw Yuwen Lan coming.
Yan Shu hurriedly saluted, but she felt a little strange in her heart - at this time, this workaholic should be in the study governing the country, how could he have time to come to her?
Yuwen Lan heard it and took the initiative to answer her question, "I came here to tell you that the bookseller has been found and has now returned home safely."
Yan Shu hurriedly pretended to be surprised, "Really? That's great! Your Majesty is indeed wise and brave, and found the person in one day."
Yuwen Lan, "..."
pretended very well.
He looked at her and said deliberately, "He was captured by the Grand Master of Wenhua Pavilion."
Yan Shu also pretended to be surprised, "Oh my God! Why did the Grand Master do this?"
Yuwen Lan, "..."
Her heart didn't beat fast and her face didn't blush?
He continued to look at her and said, "Didn't you say yesterday that someone was identified by the name?"
She thought for a while, then suddenly opened her mouth and said, "Could it be that when the Grand Bachelor was young, he did the kind of wicked things described in the storybook I wrote?"
"Don't judge a person by his appearance! This is too coincidental, isn't it?"
She thought to herself, "Tsk tsk, now you know what kind of person your Grand Bachelor is, right? This old man is full of bad intentions, he deserves to be ruined in his later years and despised by the world!"
Yuwen Lan listened silently, nodded and said, "It's indeed a coincidence. I almost thought that you knew about him."
Yan Shu was stunned, and laughed quickly, "Your Majesty, you are joking. I grew up in Ande since I was a child, and then entered the palace. I don't know this Grand Bachelor at all, how can I know about him? But it is indeed a coincidence." She
thought to herself, "It seems that I have to be more careful in the future, otherwise I will scare the emperor!" 】
Yuwen Lan, "..."
Can't get anything out of her at all?
He sighed half-truthfully, "I find it strange too. I thought you had some magical ability."
Yan Shu hurriedly laughed and said, "Your Majesty thinks too highly of me."
Ahem, she has no ability, she just ate a lot of melons.
But the melons were not eaten in vain, this time it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, and the bad guys finally got their comeuppance.
It seems that this storybook has a social function.
Yuwen Lan, "???"
Why "eating melons" again?
What exactly is this "melon"?
Could it be that... she knows magic? What kind of magic weapon is this "melon"?
But he has come here so many times, and he has not found anything special in this palace.
At this time, Yan Shu, who had no idea what he was thinking, was thinking in her heart -
【What should I write in the next storybook? Why not write about the affairs of Duke Cheng'en who were filthy and had affairs with Xiaowu, Xiaoliu, Xiaoqi and Xiaoba?】
Yuwen Lan's eyebrows jumped.
After all, he was the Queen Mother's brother. If something happened to him, it would definitely affect the Queen Mother's reputation.
Then she said, "No, no, Duke Cheng'en is the Emperor's uncle in name. Besides, there is the Queen Mother in the palace. If the Queen Mother knew that I was the one who exposed her brother's scandal, wouldn't she kill me? Forget it."
Yuwen Lan breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, she knew the seriousness of the matter.
Then she said, "How about writing about the Minister of Rites' affair?"
Yuwen Lan nodded secretly. That was possible.
After all, he was just wondering what was going on. Ahem.
However, at this moment, Fu Hai came to the outside of the palace to report, "Your Majesty, the King of Liaodong has entered the palace."
He paused, and had to say to Yan Shu first, "I will return to Qianming Palace first, you write first."
After speaking, he stood up.
Yan Shu agreed and hurriedly stood up to see him off.
Seeing his figure walking away, she couldn't help but become curious, who is this King of Liaodong?
It sounds like he has a big face, and the emperor left as soon as he came.
The system immediately answered her questions and puzzled her, [King of Liaodong Yuwenhao is the cousin of the emperor. At that time, the emperor's grandfather, Emperor Zhenglong, had five sons, and later passed the throne to the emperor's father, Emperor Qinglong, and the other four princes were made princes. 】
【Later, these princes died, and their sons succeeded to the throne. The emperor's father, Emperor Qinglong, took the opportunity to demote them and turned them into princes. Although they were dissatisfied, they could only endure it. 】
【Until Emperor Qinglong passed away, some of them took the opportunity to make trouble and wanted to compete for the throne. Of course, in the end, they were all defeated by the emperor, who imprisoned some of them and sentenced some to death. 】
【This Liaodong King Yuwenhao was the only one who was honest and did not cause trouble at that time, so the emperor also valued him. 】
Yan Shu understood and nodded, "So that's how it is."
System, "Hey, there's a melon about the Liaodong King."
Yan Shu hurriedly said, "Tell me quickly." 】
...
~~
On the day when the Liaodong King entered the capital, he first paid homage to the emperor. On the next morning, his wife, the Liaodong Princess, brought her son into the palace and paid respects to the empress dowager.
As a courtesy, Yan Shu and other concubines accompanied him in Ci'an Palace.
But the Liaodong Princess Xiao was about 25 or 26 years old, with a plump face. Her three sons, the eldest was about 8 or 9 years old, the second was 6 or 7 years old, looked strong and polite.
The third son, who was only 4 years old, looked a little thin and shy. He was timid when he saluted the Queen Mother. He cried after staying in the palace for a while and wanted to go home.
The Liaodong Princess apologized to the Queen Mother with an embarrassed face, "This child is probably new to the capital and is not familiar with it. Please forgive me
, Queen Mother." After she finished speaking, she reprimanded Chao Dao with a sullen face, "A Jing, have you forgotten what your mother told you?"
- In fact, everyone in the palace had heard that the third son was not born to the Liaodong Princess, but to the Liaodong King's concubine.
So it was not surprising that this child was a little different from the eldest and second brothers.
It was understandable that Princess Liaodong didn't like him.
But this trick did have some effect. Seeing her like this, the little boy immediately held back his tears and dared not make a sound.
But there were still tears in his eyes, and he looked pitiful.
None of the concubines had any experience in raising children, and they didn't know what to do. The Queen Mother smiled and waved to the little boy, her voice was very gentle, "Come to the Imperial Grandmother."
Imperial Grandmother?
Everyone looked at each other quietly, and each muttered in their hearts - is the Queen Mother missing her grandson so much that she is crazy? This is not your Majesty's child, how can he call her the Imperial Grandmother?
Princess Liaodong also said in panic, "Ah Jing dare not."
The Queen Mother smiled and said, "His grandfather and the late emperor are brothers. If the late emperor were alive, wouldn't he call me Grandfather? In this case, what's wrong with calling me Grandmother?"
Princess Liaodong breathed a sigh of relief and dared to smile, "
The Queen Mother is right." Then she pushed Ah Jing to the Queen Mother, "Grandmother is calling you, why don't you go?"
The boy timidly came to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother took his little hand and took a look. She also wiped the tears from his face with a handkerchief, and asked Zhushu to take out some snacks such as winter melon candy and honey dates, and said, "Are you hungry? Grandmother has some food here, you can eat first."
Seeing that there was something delicious, the kid finally burst into laughter.
The Queen Mother said to Princess Liaodong, "It's cold, it's hard for you to walk so far, it's normal for the kid to not get used to it, stay here for a while, and go back when it's warm."
Princess Liaodong quickly agreed. The Queen
Mother asked Zhu Shu to take out a cloth tiger and a small ball for the kid to play with.
The kid finally had peace.
Everyone saw it and was scolded again.
The Queen Mother actually has toys for the kid?
It seems that she really likes the kid.
If they can give birth to a dragon heir, not only can they please the Queen Mother, but the child will definitely have a bright future.
But...
the people headed by Princess Zhou stared at Yan Shu again.
Now that the woman is the only favorite, how can they have a chance?
Yan Shu was drinking tea and eating snacks leisurely at this time.
She noticed the gazes of the crowd and couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
What are you looking at?
Even without me, you can't give birth.