“Bang!”
The next moment, he whipped the horse hard on its buttocks and angrily urged the horse towards the gate, as fast as the wind.
When Chu You arrived at the gate, one of the gates of the palace had been dismantled, and several imperial guards were dismantling another one.
The commotion here was so loud that it attracted a lot of passers-by on the street outside the palace, all pointing in the direction of the palace.
"Your Highness Prince Kang!" The eunuch who came to deliver the imperial edict bowed to Chu You politely, his eyes indifferent, "I am here to deliver the imperial edict."
What he came to convey was, of course, the imperial edict to demote Prince Kang from a prince to a duke.
The eunuch took the bright yellow imperial edict from the tray and read it directly without caring whether Chu You knelt or not: "The Emperor, in compliance with the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims: Prince Kang Chu You is young and vigorous..."
Chu You's ears were buzzing and he didn't hear the rest of the words. He just watched them completely tear down the vermilion lacquered gate of the palace.
According to the regulations of the Da Jing Dynasty, the door nails on the gate of a prince's mansion were arranged in nine rows and seven columns, while the number of door nails on the gate of a county prince's mansion was reduced to nine rows and five columns. Therefore, since Prince Kang was demoted, the original gate of the prince's mansion could naturally not be used.
Not only that, even the pair of stone Qilin beasts in front of the door were carried away.
The gate of Prince Kang's mansion became empty. At first glance, it looked as if an imperial decree had been issued to search and confiscate the property.
"I hereby order."
After reading the last two words, the eunuch folded the imperial edict and said calmly, "Your Highness, the Emperor said that those oversized items in the palace can be left alone. There is no need to mobilize a large force."
The chief eunuch simply changed his address to "Prince". Prince Kang was no longer a prince, and was no longer qualified to be called "Your Highness".
"Your Highness, please thank me." The chief eunuch said as he handed the imperial edict to Chu You with both hands.
Chu You clenched his teeth tightly, looking sinister.
He wanted to wave away the imperial edict, but he knew that doing so would lead to him being accused of disobeying the imperial order, which would be used as evidence to attack him.
Now that things have come to this, let’s just be patient for a while.
"Your Majesty, I thank you for your kindness." Chu You said with a dark face. He took the imperial edict with both hands. A chill rose in his heart and quickly spread and expanded throughout his body.
So what if nothing happened in the palace? The world is watching the door lintel.
He was demoted.
He was conferred the title of prince by the late emperor when he was ten years old, but now he is gone.
Chu You's dark eyes were filled with humiliation, and his hands were clenched into fists.
I watched helplessly as the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs took down the plaque on the gate with the four big characters "Prince Kang's Mansion" inscribed on it and replaced it with a new plaque with the three characters "Prince Kang's Mansion" inscribed on it.
The plaque of "Prince Kang's Palace" was inscribed by the late emperor himself, and it was the honor bestowed upon him by the late emperor.
But now, this glory has been taken away.
Chu You knelt down slowly, little by little, little by little... Finally, his knees hit the ground heavily, making a "dong" sound.
He looked distraughtly at the plaque that meant so much to him gradually disappearing into the distance, and felt the imperial edict in his hand was heavy.
For a moment, he felt a little regretful...
As soon as this little regret emerged in my heart, it was suppressed by another stronger emotion.
He told himself in his heart that for his daughter, he had no regrets! After the eunuch issued the imperial edict, he led his men and horses away in a mighty procession, and the people who were watching the excitement outside the palace also dispersed.
These people also spread the news of King Kang's demotion as a topic of conversation, and everyone in the capital knew about it that day.
This news also reached the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion.
Madam Gu locked herself in the small Buddhist temple, concentrating on chanting sutras, eating vegetarian food and reciting Buddhist scriptures.
This thought caused me to stay at home for several days, and I also avoided the morning and evening visits from my younger generations.
After enduring for a few days, Madam Gu finally couldn't bear it anymore and ordered her confidant, Nanny Li, to go to Yuheng Garden.
"Second Miss, the Madam asks you to go to Cihe Hall to discuss the matter of the Third Miss."
When facing Gu Yanfei, Nanny Li was extremely respectful and polite, with a smile on her face.
"I won't go." Gu Yanfei's faint voice came from behind a screen embroidered with bright red peonies.
When Nanny Li heard this, her expression froze and her heart sank.
Through a hazy screen, one could vaguely see Gu Yanfei putting on his clothes one piece at a time, accompanied by subtle rustling sounds.
Nanny Li was just considering her words when she heard Gu Yanfei say, "Go back and tell the Madam to ask Gu Yunyan whether she drank the magic water."
"..." Nanny Li was stunned again, not understanding what this meant.
Behind the screen, Gu Yanfei slowly tied his belt, with the corners of his lips curled up in a smile.
Based on her understanding of Gu Yunmeng, she knew that Gu Yunmeng would definitely not drink this magic water.
Nanny Li continued cautiously, "Does the Second Young Lady have anything else to tell the Madam?"
Gu Yanfei raised her hand and tied her long black hair behind her head, and chuckled nonchalantly, "Tell the Madam to rest assured that the marriage will be successful."
When Juanbi, who was standing by, heard the last four words, she immediately took a step closer to Nanny Li and stretched out her hand as if to ask for permission.
"Then I will go back and report." Nanny Li bowed with a smile before leaving with Juanbi.
The next moment, Gu Yanfei walked out from behind the screen casually with a leisurely smile on his lips.
She changed into a dark gown with dark patterns, embroidered with a few orchid leaves in silver silk thread, and an embroidered brocade belt around her waist, which made her waist look very slim.
She looks particularly good in the simple men's clothing, with red lips and white teeth, and a heroic look that catches people's eyes.
When Juanbi came back after seeing Nanny Li off and saw Gu Yanfei for the first time, she opened her mouth in amazement.
"What a handsome young man!" Juanbi clapped his hands with shining eyes, walked around her, and looked her up and down.
Gu Yanfei was amused by Juanbi and he casually smoothed the silk ribbon that tied his hair, and the silver silk ribbon fell to his chest.
The kitten squatting on the windowsill sneered disdainfully, staring intently at the white dove that had already flown away in the sky.
Gu Yanfei casually picked up a pigeon letter on the desk, put it in his sleeve pocket, and went out, leaving only one sentence: "You two stay at home."
"You two" refers to Juanbi and Qingguang.
"Meow!"
Leaving the kitten's unhappy complaints behind, Gu Yanfei left the Marquis' Mansion with great interest and went to a place she had never been to in her previous life, Tianyin Pavilion in the south of the city.
Tianyin Pavilion is a theater and one of the most famous theaters in the capital.
Every day when the play starts, the seats are always full.
Gu Yanfei arrived early and, at the invitation of a waiter at Tianyin Pavilion, sat down in a private room on the second floor.
About 70% to 80% of the seats upstairs and downstairs are already occupied by guests, including people of all kinds, all with shining eyes and high spirits.
There was a lively and noisy atmosphere in the theater.
The guests gathered in groups of three or four, drinking tea, drinking wine and chatting.
"Brother, have you heard?" A young man in a green robe nudged the middle-aged man sitting next to him with his elbow and winked, "What's the name of today's play... Anyway, there's a new actress, and I heard she's a stunning beauty!"
"I know, I know! The Yao family troupe was invited by Tianyin Pavilion from all over the south. They just arrived in Beijing these few days. The opera they sang is amazing. Hehe, to be honest with you, I came here just for this Hua Dan." The middle-aged man spoke with saliva flying, and became more and more excited.
"That Tianyin Pavilion really invested a lot of money."
"That's right! You have to spend a lot of money. Haven't you seen that Yunli Garden has been getting more and more popular recently, catching up with Tianyin Pavilion..."
“…”
The sounds from downstairs came into Gu Yanfei's ears intermittently, arousing her interest.
She has been in the Yaoling Realm for two hundred years and has never seen a play.
She picked up the play script casually and flipped through it quickly, only to find out that the play to be sung here today is called "Lotus Fan". The play is divided into four acts, and it is about a prince of a marquisate who pretends to be a knight and wanders around the world, wavering between a princess of a royal palace and a singing girl, performing a lingering love story.
Gu Yanfei glanced at the pages quickly.
More and more guests filled the theater. When the seats were about 90% full, a loud gong sounded from the direction of the stage.
Then, a long and leisurely sound of stringed instruments echoed throughout the theater, melodious and pleasant to the ears, indicating that the play had begun.
But the stage was still empty, with no one in sight.
Just as everyone was wondering, a voice as sweet as a clear spring suddenly rang out, slowly cutting through the air.
The air in the building seemed to tremble slightly with the sound of this voice, and the surrounding atmosphere was completely different, as if suddenly coming from a noisy and prosperous city to a quiet inner courtyard of a high gate. The beautiful singing voice was flowing and delicate, the tone was pure, smooth and fluent, soft and graceful, and contained extremely rich and implicit emotions, which made people imagine the owner of the voice.
As everyone was eagerly waiting, a graceful figure floated out from behind the screen and made her debut on the stage. Her bright red dress embroidered with hundreds of butterflies and flowers sparkled in the flickering candlelight on the stage.
The Huadan gently and gracefully swung her long sleeves while tilting her head slightly to reveal half of her beautiful face.
Her eyebrows were as black as ink, her lips were as red as vermilion, her powdered cheeks were as white as porcelain, and her enchanting eyes were slanted towards her temples, outlining an indescribable charm.
Her facial features are perfect, forming a stunning face that is breathtakingly beautiful.
He is like a night-blooming cereus blooming layer by layer under the moon, with a fleeting beauty, irresistible beauty and priceless value.
All the audience looked at the actress who played the role of the princess in amazement and forgot to breathe for a moment.
Looking at the stunning beauty on the stage, Gu Yanfei was slightly startled, the wine glass in his hand also paused in mid-air, muttering to himself: "So red..."
Gu Yanfei leaned forward slightly, resting his right elbow on the windowsill, supporting his chin with slightly bent fingers, and carefully looked at the people on the stage.
His whole body was scarlet, or rather, the aura on this man was a deep scarlet color, as gorgeous as blood, as if he was born in blood, or as if he was in a ball of burning flames.
Unlike others, who are all surrounded by a faint white light.
(End of this chapter)
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