084. Asking for help

When the roast duck was taken out of the three-legged bronze oven, the aroma filled the courtyard. The duck skin was date red and shiny. Rong Se picked it up and sniffed it, feeling quite satisfied.

The meat has a rich aroma, and the duck roasted in the hanging oven with fruit charcoal and bronze is even more perfect than the one he made in the oven before.

Under the incredulous and complicated looks of Uncle Liu and the servant, Rong Se carried the duck back to the kitchen, and with a sharp knife, he removed the bones and sliced ​​the duck. His knife was fast and steady. He cut the duck meat and skin into even slices and placed them on a plate. Part of the bones were put into the pot to be boiled, while the other part was fried, sprinkled with chili powder and other seasonings. A whole duck feast was arranged clearly.

Lan Ying kept sniffing while leaning against the door, watching the Regent Prince busying around in the kitchen with ease. She nudged Yun Chu with her elbow and murmured, "Brother, is the Prince a deity who has come down to earth to save all living beings?"

Yun Chu stood behind the door frame and laughed, "Who said it wasn't?"

To punish corrupt officials and redress grievances for the people is to save all living beings.

There are four plates of roast duck on the table at Jinshanxuan, with fried duck racks and duck bone soup as side dishes, as well as lotus leaf cakes to sandwich the roast duck. The duck roasted in a hanging oven has crispy skin, tender meat and rich juice.

Liang Shenyu took a sip and said with a subtle smile, "This cauldron was not given in vain."

"How can I let you eat at a loss?" Rong Se added a piece of duck rack to his plate and said, "The kitchen is reserved for Yun Zhi. He is on duty today. Yun Chu, remember to tell him to come back and eat it in the evening."

The time for this lunch was already quite late, and if he waited another half hour he could have it as dinner, so Rong Se did not send anyone to deliver it to Yun Zhi. It would be better to wait for him to come back from work and eat it.

Yun Chu nodded in agreement and then asked, "Did the prince arrange for Prince Xiao to join the imperial army?"

"Xiao Mufeng is the descendant of a military family and the son of a noble official. He is most suitable to join the Imperial Army." Rong Se slowly put the cleaned duck bones on a small plate, "With Yun Zhi here, she can take care of him."

Rong Se had his own considerations. Xiao Mufeng was born in the Anjun Mansion, which meant he must be from a high-ranking family. Unfortunately, the Cao family was very powerful. If Xiao Mufeng wanted to find a way out, he might as well directly challenge the royalists. The Imperial Guards, which were originally the emperor's personal soldiers, were now equivalent to the palace soldiers of the Regent Prince's Palace. If Xiao Mufeng joined the Imperial Guards, he would be able to interfere in many affairs of the six ministries. However, the three provinces and six ministries had very few restrictions on the Imperial Guards. At least in terms of law enforcement, it would be useless for the Imperial Guards to detain people even if he, the Minister of Justice, personally dealt with them.

Yun Chu responded: "Yes, the porcelain kiln of the Xiao family..."

Rong Se suddenly remembered his new business, thought for a moment, and said, "We need to send a reliable person to Yuanzhou to look after the porcelain kiln. If anyone dares to make things difficult for us in the future, they will be welcome to do so."

Yun Chu agreed to all of them, but Liang Shenyu suddenly said, "The Yuanzhou army was also an elite force in the past. If Xiao Mufeng is able to live up to his expectations, he may be able to revive the Xiao family's reputation."

Xiao Mufeng's grandfather, Duke Anguo, became famous earlier than the old marquis. The Yuanzhou soldiers at that time were the most powerful troops of the Jin Dynasty. During the Yuanguang period, the Duke Anguo's Mansion was unrivaled.

There was no lack of emotion in Liang Shenyu's words.

Those high-spirited generals were also praised as gods of war by the people during the Yuanguang period.

Now, dust returns to dust, and there is not much left.

Rong Se could not deny it, "Let's wait until he can gain a firm foothold in the Imperial Guards. Governor Yun Zhi is not that easy to serve."

There are also nobles in the imperial guards, but aren't they all tamed by Yun Zhi?

Rong Se had almost finished eating and took a handkerchief to gently wipe his mouth. He had good table manners but he ate very quickly, not like a quick eater, but he finished the plate in such a polite manner.

It was getting late, and the sunset glow was completely faded into the night.

Liang Shenyu glanced at Rong Se's lips, which were slightly red from the spiciness. He was absent-minded for a moment and didn't hear clearly what he said, but he nodded calmly and said, "Xi family..."

Before he finished speaking, a servant from the palace suddenly came to report: "Your Highness, there is a woman outside the palace gate, claiming to be the personal maid of Princess Xuanhe, and she has been ordered to see you."

Rong Se paused for a moment, his face suddenly darkening.

Rong Zhixu was not close to him, and even volunteered to stay in the Xi family for Rong Jing. Now that her maid came to visit, it must be something big.

"Let her in."

Rongse met the maid in the reception hall.

"I am Qinghe." When Qinghe saw Rongse, she knelt on the ground without saying a word. There was even a muffled sound when her knees hit the ground, and then there was another clear sound.

"Please, Your Majesty, for the sake of our common blood, save our Highness!"

Rong Se was startled by this situation, and he didn't care about the regent or the maid. He was just an ordinary person. He subconsciously stood up and helped Qing He up himself, and said in a gentle tone: "Why are you kneeling? Just talk. What happened to Xuan He? Did Xi Chaoyi hit her again?"

When Qinghe raised her head, Rongse saw that the girl's eyes were as red as a rabbit.

"How did the prince know..." Qing He didn't know the inside story of the garden party. She was stunned for a moment, and pursed her lips in embarrassment, "Not only that..."

As they were talking, Liang Shenyu came forward and pulled Rong Se to his side without leaving any trace. He said humbly and gently, "Since you want the prince to save people, you should explain it clearly. After all, Xuanhe and the eldest princess are the wives of the Xi family, and the prince is also an outsider. I don't know why you can help them."

He spoke neither hurriedly nor slowly, gently and firmly, and was very good at soothing people.

Qing He heard this and gritted her teeth to reveal everything, "It was Xi Chaoyi! He is a beast! When our princess married into the Xi family, we found out that he had been messing around outside in his early years, and his body was damaged and he could not be humane. He would beat and scold our princess at will if he disagreed with her. At first... it was just a minor injury, but later, there was no good place on the princess' body! The concubine surnamed Liu of the Xi family is also a vicious woman. Seeing that her son bullied our princess every day, she not only did not persuade him, but also often used family rules on our princess. Every time the beast used violence on our princess, Liu would punish her and make her kneel in the ancestral hall and not allow her to eat or drink! Both mother and son are extremely cruel!"

Rong Se frowned. Just as he had guessed, Xi Chaoyi abused women when he couldn't do it himself. But his mother, as a woman, was also so mean to Rong Zhixu.

"Your Highness," Rong Se said carefully, "I learned about this a few days ago and wanted to help her leave the Xi family, but she was unwilling. Why did you send you here now?"

"That's the reason, that's the reason..." Qing He said with anger, "The young master of the Liu family just passed away, and the consort came back drunk after going out, and actually...actually found a servant and asked the princess to have sex with them in front of him..."

Rong Se's face suddenly turned ugly. He had been pure and celibate in the past few years, but he never thought that men could become so perverted and disgusting after holding back for too long.

After listening for a while, Lan Ying finally said coldly, "Is this beast worthy of being a human? Let him die soon and be reborn soon! Don't hesitate, tell me, what's next?"

Qing He's face was full of struggle, and she knelt down again, "I couldn't bear to see Your Highness being humiliated, so I took advantage of the moment and knocked out the Prince Consort and the servant. Your Highness knew that if the Lord and Liu knew about this, I would definitely die, so he took me to ask Mistress Xue to cover it up, so that I could find a chance to get out. Your Highness couldn't leave the house, so he told me to go to the Prince Regent's house and ask the Prince for help!"

Rong Se breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, things did not develop to the worst.

When he relaxed, he realized that his palms were covered with cold sweat. He knew that his face must have looked extremely ugly.

Women are born physically weaker than men, especially women of this era, most of whom are kept in seclusion and are completely powerless to resist male violence.

After all, the only girl Lanying could lift an adult male as a weapon.

But there are some people who take advantage of their innate advantages and wantonly bully those weaker than themselves. They are not worthy of being human beings at all.

Rong Se had the same experience, which is still engraved in his bones and will never be forgotten, and he can empathize with it even more.

The room was silent for a moment.

Because Rong Se was silent.

Qing He was ignorant of current affairs, but she knew that this person was not on good terms with the current emperor. She was not sure whether Rong Se would help her. Her tears suddenly fell like beads from a broken string, and she begged, "Prince, only you can save our prince. His Majesty, he knew it clearly, but he still asked the prince to go back to the Xi family. But if the prince stays in the Xi family, who knows how that beast will humiliate and torture her! Prince, the prince also calls you the emperor's uncle, please save the prince!"

As she spoke, she was about to kowtow again. Her forehead was already turning purple and was about to bleed, and her knees were probably not in much better condition either.

Rong Se leaned over and helped her up. Before he could say anything, two more people came in. They were Yun Zhi and Xiao Mufeng, who were wearing round-necked official robes with animal patterns.

Seeing this, Xiao Mufeng was stunned for a moment, then he bowed to Rong Se and asked, "My Lord, what's going on?"

"You've come just in time." Rong Se's face was cold. Once the smile faded and his eyes turned cold, his face was not only beautiful as a demon, but also sharp. "Yun Zhi, mobilize the imperial army."

Liang Shenyu frowned slightly, but did not advise.

He saw the expression on Rong Se's face. Both his eyes and voice were cold enough to freeze a flame. Even when he exposed the Jizhou injustice at the last morning court session, he had never shown such an expression. There was even a hint of hatred engraved deep in his soul.

Yun Zhi did not hesitate, "Yes, what does the prince want to do?"

"Go to Xi's house." Rong Se's words were clear, "Bring Xuan He back."

Xiao Mufeng was stunned.

The Regent Prince wants the imperial guards to go to the Xi family and bring the eldest princess back?

"Wait." Xiao Mufeng hesitated, "Well, the eldest princess is the wife of the Xi family, why is the prince..."

"Prince." Rong Se interrupted him, staring at the past with unerring eyes.

Xiao Mufeng understood from this look what it meant to not allow any arguments and immediately shut up.

"I regret that I could not do anything back then."

Rong Se retracted his gaze, "But now I can do a lot, Yun Zhi, remember, you are following my order to bring Xuan and the princess out of the Xi family."

When he was a child, he could only watch his mother's tragedy, but now he is no longer the helpless child.

Lan Ying took a step forward and said, "I'm going too."

Rong Se glanced at her.

Lan Ying's expression was exactly the same as his.

After a moment, Rong Se nodded: "Go, as the Regent's personal guard."