Chapter 60 Chapter 60 The vast imperial capital is at your feet, at a glance...
"That's a wild idea!" Zhou Congshan dismissed it directly. "How can you ask a suspect to investigate a case?"
"Aren't the clues you found enough to rule out the possibility of them being mother and son?" Fang Ying asked.
Zhou Congshan shook his head. "Although all the clues point to the Imperial Concubine and her son, I can't completely rule out other suspects. Furthermore, after the death of the Princess of Yan, I've always felt that given the Imperial Concubine and Yan—ah, now Prince Wei—their viciousness and stupidity, I'm afraid they wouldn't be capable of setting up such a complex and venomous scheme."
Fang Ying said, "Based solely on the clues I've heard you share, this plan isn't particularly brilliant or well-connected. In my opinion, anyone with real ulterior motives wouldn't have resorted to such a scheme. Crown Prince Zhaoyi is naturally frail, while the Emperor is in his prime, and the princes are still young. We can just wait and see. Why take such a huge risk and resort to such unnecessary measures?"
Zhou Congshan was silent for a moment, then shook his head again. "No, I don't trust the King of Qin." He paused, then added, "It's better to report directly to the emperor than to ask him to do it."
"That's fine! But can you see the official?"
Zhou Congshan stared at his friend's sparkling eyes, stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "I just said it casually, and you took it seriously?"
"Is it impossible?" Fang Ying listened to the noisy sounds in the street outside and leaned over to her friend to ask quietly, "The King of Qin may have some selfish motives. The Emperor is the biological father of Crown Prince Zhaoyi. Don't you think you can trust him?"
Zhou Congshan looked at her for a moment, then lowered his eyes and said, "My own biological father is no more than that, not to mention that he is more than just a father."
Fang Ying opened her mouth, but no words came out. The two of them were silent for a long time. Zhou Congshan sighed and said, "We came out to have fun and relax today. Let's not talk about this anymore."
"Yes, we are here to have fun and relax. Have you ever been to Fantai before?" Fang Ying also felt that there was nothing to talk about at this time, so she followed her friend's words and asked.
"In the past, we would go there in spring and autumn. After my aunt passed away, my grandmother's health wasn't as good as before, and my cousin would get sick every time the season changed, so we didn't have the energy to go out and play anymore."
Empress Zhaomu passed away shortly after the emperor ascended the throne. It had been eight years since then. Fang Ying felt sorry for her friend, who had spent so many years in seclusion, missing out on so much youth, but she kept it to herself. She jokingly said, "I was hoping to learn from you first. I didn't expect you hadn't been there in so many years. Let's go for a walk together later."
"Your family has been settled in Beijing for several years, right? Why haven't you been to Fantai?"
"No, when I was in my boudoir, I didn't dare to go that far. At most, I would take a walk along the banks of the Bian River near my mother's home."
Zhou Congshan came to his senses and said, "Yes, this is the first spring since your marriage that Ji Liulang has been home. No wonder your wife is so interested in taking you and your family on an outing."
Fang Ying smiled and nodded: "Our wife is very happy recently."
The two chatted about family matters for a while. Fang Ying heard various hawking sounds outside. She reached out to lift the curtain of the carriage and asked Zhou Congshan to look at the street view with her.
The sun was shining brightly at this time, and the streets were bustling with people. Not far outside the car window, there was a peddler selling various small gadgets such as windmills, bamboo dragonflies, rattles, etc. A group of naughty children were surrounding him and chattering. I couldn't hear what they were arguing about, only occasionally a few pleasant bird calls could be heard.
Zhou Congshan was curious: "Is he selling orioles?"
Fang Ying asked the maidservant who was following the carriage to ask. The maidservant went away for a while and came back with a smile, saying, "He's selling whistles."
"His whistle can make bird sounds?" Zhou Congshan widened his eyes in surprise.
The maid shook her head and laughed, "The peddler learned the bird's chirping to amuse the children."
Fang Ying and Zhou Congshan laughed together, wondering if a peddler had such skills.
The carriage continued to move forward, passing by vendors selling rouge and powder, vendors selling fresh fruits, and vendors who set up stoves and made and cooked steamed buns on the spot. As soon as the pots were opened, the street was filled with the fragrance.
As they watched, both of them couldn't help but smile. It wasn't until a strong wind blew, carrying willow catkins all over the sky, that Fang Ying lowered the curtains and sighed, "How lively."
"Well, it would be nice if we were men." Zhou Congshan also sighed, "I really want to get off the bus and stroll around like them."
"When we get to Fantai, we'll get off the car and wander around. Our housekeeper said there are villagers nearby who can weave wicker baskets to sell, and some who can weave all kinds of small gadgets with grass leaves. We'll ask them to weave some nice-looking ones for us to play with." Fang Ying coaxed her.
Zhou Congshan laughed: "You are treating me like a child."
"You are just younger than me. Isn't it natural for an older sister to coax a younger sister?" Fang Ying teased her deliberately.
Hearing about his sisters, Zhou Congshan suddenly remembered something, "Is your family moving into a new house?"
Fang Ying nodded: "My father has chosen the 16th to move into his new home. I was just about to ask you, your marriage has been decided, Sister Chu Yin..."
"That's what I wanted to tell you. Sister Chu Yin is used to living in your house and she likes your Second Mother very much. Why don't you let her continue to teach Second Mother for a few years and wait until Second Mother gets engaged?"
"Aren't you planning to give Sister Chu Yin as a dowry?"
"No, I'm marrying into the royal family, and there are only a few people I can bring with me. Not counting Sister Chu Yin, I'm already in a dilemma."
"I heard that the King of Qin has moved into Kaifeng Prefecture. Will you marry into the palace then, or..."
Zhou Congshan said, "They say it's under discussion, but nothing has been decided yet. I'd rather live in Kaifeng Prefecture to avoid entertaining those people in the palace."
"Yes, when you live in Kaifeng Mansion, you will be the boss of the backyard, and we can also make plans to go out for fun and relax." Fang Ying said with a smile.
Zhou Congshan also smiled and then brought up the previous topic: "Then it's settled, Sister Chu Yin, I'll leave it to you."
This sounded strange, so Fang Ying replied, "Of course I'd love to—Sister Chu Yin has only been teaching Second Mother for a few months, and the child has made great progress. Even my father said that Second Mother understands the rules and knows when to advance and when to retreat. But the more this happens, the more I feel that this is a waste of talent."
"What's the point of being talented? It's already great that she has this opportunity in your family. If you really want to talk about being underutilized, then I think you're the one underutilized. If you were a man, there would be nothing you can't do. How could you only be able to display your talents on trivial matters like family outings?"
Fang Ying heard the noise outside die down, lifted the carriage curtain to take a look, and said, "We've arrived at Lijing Gate." After Lijing Gate, it was the outer city, and it was not far from Fantai. She lowered the curtain and replied to Zhou Congshan, "You just say nice things to coax me in vain."
Zhou Congshan raised his eyebrows and glared: "God and Heaven, every word I say is from the bottom of my heart!"
"real?"
"It couldn't be more true." Zhou Congshan nodded heavily.
"Then why don't you ask me to intervene in this earth-shattering incident?"
Zhou Congshan: “…”
Seeing that she was speechless, Fang Ying pretended to complain: "See, you really just said that to coax me, but when the real thing comes, you don't believe me anymore."
Zhou Congshan told her to be pretentious, picked up his round fan and patted Fang Ying's arm lightly, "Didn't you say you wouldn't talk about this anymore?"
Fang Ying just tried to find a way out, but when she failed to pry her friend open her mouth, she just smiled and poured her another glass of water, letting the matter go.
The outer city was not as crowded as the inner city, and the roads were not congested. The carriages moved much faster, and they soon arrived at the foot of Fantai.
Fang Ying and Zhou Congshan got off the car one after another. They first looked up at the Tianqing Temple built on Fantai and the Fan Pagoda inside the temple. Under the blue sky and white clouds, the pagoda stood tall, reaching the clouds. Below the pagoda, the Tianqing Temple had green tiles and red walls, which looked magnificent. There was an endless stream of pilgrims inside and outside the mountain gate.
The steward of the Ji Mansion arrived first and came forward to greet them. Fang Ying and the other person took the veil hats handed to them by the maid and put them on. Then they asked the steward to lead the way and walked up to the platform hand in hand.
Fantai is approximately three meters high. Legend has it that the music master Shi Kuang once performed music here. King Xiao of Liang in the Western Han Dynasty also built an extension to the platform and enjoyed singing and dancing there. Before the founding of our dynasty, Emperor Liezu of the Jin Dynasty held military training sessions here and also expanded the platform, making Fantai very spacious.
As Fang Ying went up, she saw weeping willows planted all around, with bright red peach blossoms shading among them, creating a scene full of spring.
There was a pavilion built on the platform, and there was a winding corridor near the north side. The manager of the Ji Mansion led her and Zhou Congshan there, saying that they could have a panoramic view of the imperial capital from there.
As Fang Ying approached, the first thing she saw was the Bian Canal, which flowed through the city. This canal, dug by Emperor Yang of Sui, was like a jade belt around the waist of the imperial capital, flowing day and night. On the north bank of the Bian Canal stood a solemn temple—the Xiangguo Temple she had often visited with Li. Further north… lay the glazed-tiled Imperial Palace.
As expected, the vast imperial capital was right at her feet, in full view. She couldn't help but let out a long breath, feeling that her mind, like her vision, had instantly become extremely broad.
Zhou Congshan heard the noise and glanced at her sideways. Then he turned back and, looking at the spring scenery all over the city, he exhaled and sighed, "Climbing high and looking far can really help to relieve all depression."
"Can you find your home?" Fang Ying said excitedly, pointing to a place, "That's our home."
Seeing his friend actually acting like a child, Zhou Congshan looked towards where she was pointing and questioned, "Hmm, are you seeing right? Why do I feel something is wrong?"
"What's wrong? It's right there. Not far away is Xiangguo Temple, look."
"Oh, that seems to be it." Zhou Congshan looked around, "Then... this should be our home."
The two men stretched out their arms and pointed here and there, having a lot of fun, until they had searched every place they could, and then they followed the manager to continue forward.
Today is not a holiday, and most of the people who come to Fantai for fun are nearby residents. They call their friends, bring the elderly and children, and some bring bamboo mats. Friends sit together, talking and drinking, while others simply sit on the ground, grab some grass leaves and teach their children to fight with grass. Everyone has their own fun.
The place chosen by the steward of the Ji Mansion was on the northwest side of Fantai. There was a large open space there, which was just right for hanging curtains for the female family members to sit together for a banquet, and there was also enough space for the children to fly kites and play.
Fang Ying took a look around and listened to the opinions of the managers. Finally, he and Zhou Congshan went to a nearby pavilion to sit down and rest, had some tea and snacks, bought some wicker baskets of various sizes and straw-woven insects and fish and other small items, and then got on the car to go home.
She wanted to send Zhou Congshan back to Zhou Mansion first, but unexpectedly, as soon as she entered the inner city, she met Ji Yanlang and... who came to pick them up. "King Qin? How did he know?" Zhou Congshan frowned and asked when he heard the report.
"...most likely he met Ji Liulang and heard what he said." Fang Ying held her friend's hand tightly to comfort her while asking the maid, "What are your instructions, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin?"
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