Have a drink
"After my father ascended the throne, his foundation was not stable, so he married the eldest daughter of the Yu family as his concubine. The Yu family was still a prominent family at that time. They were stationed in the northwest for many years, held military power, and were quite prestigious among the people. In addition, the Yu family only had two daughters and one boy in that generation. The Yu family doted on the two daughters and were reluctant to send them to the palace at first. It is rumored that my father personally went to the Yu family twice to ask for their marriage, and the Yu family had no choice but to let their daughters enter the palace. There are also rumors that the Yu family was not afraid of pressure from the emperor at the time, and it was the eldest daughter of the Yu family who agreed to marry into the palace herself."
After hearing this, Lu Yu and Bai Miaoke still didn't understand why King Kang said this.
The story of the late emperor and Concubine Li, the eldest daughter of the Yu family, is also circulated among the people. When people hear that the late emperor and Concubine Li have a deep relationship, they will only praise the late emperor for his loyalty.
Prince Kang took a sip of wine and continued, "After the eldest daughter of the Yu family entered the palace, she was named Concubine Li. In the first few years after entering the palace, she was the most favored concubine in the harem. Moreover, since Concubine Li entered the palace, there has been no new person in my father's harem.
The Yu family gradually accepted this emperor's son-in-law and returned half of the Yu family's military power to the emperor, so that he could hold the throne firmly."
"Until the tenth year of Long'an, which was twenty-six years ago. The northwest invaded, and the Yu family father and son led the army to fight. They were ambushed on the battlefield, and the head of the Yu family died on the battlefield. Only the only eldest son of the Yu family returned with serious injuries. The battle caused heavy casualties in the Yu family army, and they were defeated.
More than a month later, the Yu family was found to have treasoned, and the late emperor was furious and ordered the execution of all members of the Yu family. Perhaps it was because the emperor really loved Concubine Li, or perhaps it was because Concubine Li was pregnant at the time, anyway, Concubine Li, who was in the palace, was not implicated, but was instead named Empress of the Central Palace.
A few months later, Concubine Li gave birth to a prince, but also died during childbirth."
"I'm sure Lord Lu is very clear about what happened next. This is what happened twenty-six years ago." Although it was a rather heavy story, King Kang had a sarcastic smile on his face.
Of course, Lu Yu knew what happened next. The prince born to Concubine Li was later named the crown prince. After the death of the previous emperor, he successfully ascended the throne and named the country De Zhao, which means "virtue shines throughout the world."
He just didn't expect that the Yu family was wiped out because of treason.
After listening to Prince Kang's story, Bai Miaoke felt a little sad for some reason, for Concubine Li and the Yu family.
She thought with some sarcasm that the imperial family has been ruthless since ancient times. All of Concubine Li's relatives were killed by her husband, but he made her the queen. How could Concubine Li accept this?
Bai Miaoke lowered her eyes and poured wine for Lu Yu, while hiding the moisture in her own eyes.
Lu Yu, who was very close to her, almost immediately noticed her low mood. He thought that what Prince Kang said had touched her heart, so he just patted her soothingly.
Neither of them had the intention to play along with King Kang any longer.
Lu Yu said: "Thank you Your Highness for clearing up my doubts. Our deal is now settled. I will take my leave now." His tone was neither humble nor arrogant, but he did not give King Kang a chance to refuse.
Hearing this impolite tone, King Kang did not show any dissatisfaction, but just smiled and said: "I will not see you off, Prime Minister. We are destined to meet and there will be opportunities for cooperation."
Lu Yu stood up and took Bai Miaoke away from Zuichunlou, and the two got on the carriage together.
Each of them had their own thoughts.
Lu Yu remembered that Bai Miaoke first came to him to ask about what happened to the Grand Tutor twenty-six years ago, but the news given by Prince Kang today did not sound like it had anything to do with the Grand Tutor.
He also asked someone to investigate privately. Twenty-six years ago, the Grand Tutor was only the Minister of Works. Could he have anything to do with this matter?
Bai Miaoke also had many questions. She couldn't help asking Lu Yu, "Do you think the Yu family's story is strange? If the Yu family really collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country, how could they have suffered heavy losses in the Northwest War? Even if it was a show, it's impossible that General Yu's life was lost."
She thought for a moment and added, "Also, how did the late emperor know about the Yu family's treason? What kind of irrefutable evidence made the late emperor so angry that he exterminated the entire Yu family?"
For the last question, she lowered her voice, almost whispering, "Do you think the late emperor really loved Concubine Li? If the late emperor really loved Concubine Li as the rumors say, why would he treat her family like this? But if he didn't love her, why did he make her the queen and let their children inherit the throne?"
She spoke out all her doubts in one breath, thinking that Lu Yu was the prime minister after all, and should know more about such palace secrets than she did.
After hearing about Prince Kang, Lu Yu did have a guess in his mind, but he had no evidence and he didn't want to make malicious speculations.
So he just said, "When this happened, Ma Hongzhe was the Minister of Industry. Weren't you investigating him?"
Bai Miaoke recalled that her original purpose was to investigate what happened to the Grand Tutor twenty-six years ago. Her intuition told her that there must be some connection between the two, but something was missing.
What was missing? Bai Miaoke suddenly remembered the pile of letters that Xiao Heng had searched for from King Kang. She flipped through them roughly once and found most of the information intermittent and difficult to understand. After listening to these today, she suddenly felt that there seemed to be some relevant clues in them.
Thinking of this, she could no longer sit still and wanted to jump out of the car and go home without waiting for it to stop.
Lu Yu was startled by her action, and subconsciously grabbed her wrist and said, "It's dark now, where are you going?"
Bai Miaoke felt the heat in his palm holding her wrist, and the heat burned into her heart. She could easily break free, but she still sat down and talked to him: "I got some letters from King Kang, and there may be some news I need to go back to confirm."
Lu Yu was shocked at first that she could come and go freely in Prince Kang's mansion, and in his heart he gave her a higher risk factor. Then he slowly let go of her hand, feeling lucky that his hand was still there.
He said, "Let's have dinner first. Since we have received the letter, we can still read it after dinner."
Bai Miaoke then felt a little hungry. She got up late today and missed breakfast, so she had only eaten one meal so far. So she agreed.
Lu Yu instructed Fugui who was driving the carriage outside, "Go to Lanyue Pavilion."
This time happens to be when there are the most guests in Lanyue Pavilion.
As soon as they entered the door, they attracted the attention of many people in the lobby.
Most people were attracted by the outstanding temperament of the two people, and a few people recognized Prime Minister Lu and quietly looked up at the woman next to him.
The shopkeeper of Lanyue Pavilion came to greet Bai Miaoke warmly as soon as he saw her. Just as he was about to call her "Miss" he saw Bai Miaoke shaking her head at him hintingly.
Anyone who could run such a big restaurant had already become a shrewd person. He immediately understood what Bai Miaoke meant, which was that she didn't want to reveal her identity.
So he changed his words and said, "My two distinguished guests, please follow me to the private room upstairs."
Lu Yu was a little surprised. Normally, one had to book a private room in advance to get one here, so how come there were still some rooms available today?
Bai Miaoke didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Since it was her own restaurant, she could sit wherever she wanted.
As soon as the two of them sat down, the shopkeeper looked at Bai Miaoke with a questioning look. She thought for a moment and said, "I'll just do it the old way."
She tilted her head and asked Lu Yu: "What do you want to eat?"
Lu Yu looked at her thoughtfully, as she was familiar with the shopkeeper and was not polite at all, and said, "Just do as you say."
After getting Bai Miaoke's nod, the shopkeeper nodded and left.
Lu Yu's expression remained unchanged, but she had already thought a lot in her mind. Since she could get along with the shopkeeper like this, she was most likely the owner of this restaurant.
But there was one thing he hadn't figured out: why did the restaurant owner have such high martial arts skills?
Soon, the waiter brought a pot of wine, interrupting his thoughts.
Bai Miaoke happily took it and filled both of their cups. She didn't even bother to be polite to Lu Yu, but took a sip herself, squinting her eyes in satisfaction.
Lu Yu's alcohol tolerance is neither good nor bad. He only has a few drinks occasionally when socializing. He is not a greedy drinker.
But seeing Bai Miaoke's reaction, he couldn't help but wonder if the wine was really that delicious, so he picked up the glass of wine that Bai Miaoke poured for him and drank it all in one gulp, imitating her.
The wine has a pure aroma and a sweet aftertaste that lasts really long after you take a sip. It is in no way inferior to the tribute wine at the palace banquet. I didn't expect that Lanyue Pavilion could have such good wine.
He asked, "What kind of wine is this?"
Bai Miaoke said: "Lanyue wine is the shopkeeper's exclusive secret recipe. It is limited each day. It tastes good, right?"
Lu Yu nodded and drank another glass.
After they had a few drinks, various dishes were served one after another, all of which were delicious and tasty.
Bai Miaoke, who had been hungry for a long time, picked up the food and started to eat it with relish. She ate very quickly, but her eating manners were very polite.
Lu Yu didn't care much about food, but seeing Bai Miaoke eating so happily, he unconsciously ate a little more.
While the two were eating in the house, Xiao Heng came to Lanyue Pavilion to find the shopkeeper and asked him if Bai Miaoke had been here recently.
He had regretted it ever since the last time the two of them parted on bad terms over the killing of the prime minister.
I had already decided to be her knife, so why should I make her unhappy? What's more, it was for a prime minister who would die sooner or later. She had said that she would kill him herself later, so she would naturally not go back on her word.
Thinking of this, Xiao Heng felt very regretful and wanted to apologize to her immediately.
But when he went to Bai's house to find her this afternoon, Chun Xing told him that the young lady had gone out and she didn't know when she would be back.
He chatted with Master Bai for a while before leaving. Over the years, the old man had always treated him as his son. Although he rejected his proposal to adopt him as his son, it was because he didn't want to really be Bai Miaoke's brother. In his heart, he only had gratitude and respect for Master Bai.
Mr. Bai saw that he was worried, so he chatted with him for a while and made sure that he was living well outside before letting him go.
He just wanted to try his luck at Lanyue Tower. He knew that the Bai family had so many businesses and that Bai Miaoke came to Lanyue Tower most often. Not only for the food there, but she also liked the wine brewed by the owner himself.
The shopkeeper had worked for the Bai family for many years, so he naturally knew Xiao Heng. He knew that the boss had a good relationship with him and the two of them often came to eat and drink together, so he did not hide it and pointed upstairs and said, "The young lady is having dinner upstairs."
Xiao Heng was delighted: Finally found it!
He then asked, "Who is the young lady having dinner with?"
The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, not knowing whether he should tell him. Finally, not wanting to offend anyone, he played a trick: "It's a young man, he must be the lady's friend."
When Xiao Heng heard the young man, he frowned. Could he be the one she was looking at?
He sent the shopkeeper away and prepared to go up and take a look himself.
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