Chapter 99: Shi Chu

Inside Andingmen, Prince Yong’s Mansion.

Although he was the concubine who was married to the point of marriage, the fourth prince still maintained his usual low-key style and did not send invitations to the banquet. Therefore, when Cao Yong followed the sixteenth prince to dismount in front of the gate of Prince Yong's mansion, he found that there were not many carriages and horses, and there were no one singing promises loudly at the door. There was only one deacon and two rows of servants to welcome guests in front of the gate.

The deacon recognized the Sixteenth Prince and hurriedly came over to greet him, and then arranged a servant to lead the Sixteenth Prince and Cao Yong in, while the followers waited outside according to the rules.

The sixteenth prince ordered four confidant guards to go out for a while, so he left only these four people behind and sent the rest of the brigade's escorts to have some wine elsewhere. Cao Yong also sent Wu Mao and Wu Sheng back to the mansion to deliver a letter, leaving Xiaoman and the Wei brothers waiting in front of the door.

Although it was not the first time Cao Yong came to the Yongwang Mansion, he was only instructed to the small hall on the West Road to entertain guests last time, but this time it was the first time he entered the garden on the East Road. This garden is different from the ordinary royal gardens, which is extremely luxurious, but it has a Suzhou garden style, with elegance and freehand painting. The trees are stacked with stone pavilions and pavilions, which are uniquely decorated, and look simple and comfortable. Although the flowers and trees are withered in winter, they lack red and green, but they still do not hide the pleasant scenery.

The banquet was set up in the East Court Theater, which was later brought up by the imperial pen of Kangxi. Opposite the theater was a stage about one foot high and protruding on three sides.

The princes and princes were naturally the chairman of the board, and the guests were seated in the surrounding seats according to their official ranks. The sixteenth prince specially arranged Cao Yong on a table in a corner that was relatively close to the outside, so it was so convenient for them to slip away in a while. Cao Yong was eager to stay away from the group of princes and princes. Nothing else was fine, and the ninth prince was also sitting in the same seat. Although he was not afraid of him, he could not say anything sarcastically, which was really annoying. It would be better to hide.

At the table here, Cao Yong didn't know anyone. I wonder if the guests who came today were as low-key as the host. Everyone didn't even talk to each other's names, but just said a few polite words like "You please, you please, drink, drink, drink" and so on. They raised their glasses to each other, and then ate vegetables, drink and listened to the opera, as if there was no one around. Cao Yong didn't like hypocritical social engagements, so it's a waste of time now.

After singing two plays on stage, the Sixteenth Prince couldn't sit still and whispered to the Fourth Prince that he was not very happy and sued him for leaving the seat. Cao Yong kept staring at the movements of the Sixteenth Prince. Seeing him get up, he followed him out.

After leaving Prince Yong's Mansion, the sixteenth prince found a tavern and private room nearby, changed into the guard's clothes that had been prepared in advance, and happily followed Cao Yong and the others to Longfu Temple.

Longfu Temple is located in Dongsi Pailou, and there is a temple market every nine or ten days. On the day of the temple opening, department stores gather. Whether it is pearls, jade, silk, silk, flowers, birds, fish, insects, or even daily necessities, there are everything; it also has stars, divination, acrobatics and other plays and sings, making it very lively. In fact, this area belongs to a commercial area, with shops gathering, not only on the day of opening the temple, but is usually very lively.

The Sixteenth Prince was like a bird out of a cage, happily all the way, looking at everything comfortable, and even glanced at some small toy stalls and asked Cao Yong whether he knew anything fresh and fun.

Cao Yong shook his head. With his psychological age, he had never paid attention to the toys of children. He asked him what kind of things he planned to buy. Although he was not good at it, he could at least give him a reference.

The sixteenth prince smiled and said, "I originally thought of buying some interesting things for my mother to relieve boredom. Although the things in the palace are exquisite, they are not new. I just think that there are more fun outside, but after looking at it, it is very common."

After hearing this, Cao Yong had no good suggestions. Such markets are for the general public, and they are basically daily groceries. It is probably not easy to find novel things. Besides, in this market, the workmanship of handmade products is rougher.

The two of them picked and chose to walk half a street. The sixteenth prince only looked at four small lanterns with colorful paper and a rouge box woven with rattan. Although there were not many things, they finally returned empty-handed.

When he walked to the entrance of Beijie, Xiaoman's eyes were sharp. He saw Cao Song coming from the east with a group of people from afar. He hurriedly approached Cao Yong and said.

Cao Yong looked east, and Cao Song also saw his brother. He shouted happily from afar, then whipped the horse and rushed over. Immediately, several young men in brocade clothes came over behind him and rushed to call Cao Yong "Brother Cao".

Cao Yong saw that three of them were Fengde and Helian who had seen in Zhaojia Mansion before, and the other two did not recognize them. It would be fine if one was about the same age as him, but the other seemed to be at least eighteen or nineteen years old, and he also called him elder brother with a respectful look. Cao Yong really felt like he was the boss of the underworld.

The sixteenth prince laughed, poked Cao Yong, and joked: "Where do you have so many younger brothers?"

Cao Yong pointed at Cao Song: "This is my second brother, and those are my brother's friends." He then asked Cao Song to greet Shiliu. When he was about to introduce him, he was hesitant. The Sixteenth Prince came out for a private walk, and his identity was hard to explain.

The Sixteenth Prince knew what he was thinking, and when he saw him pausing, he rushed to Cao Song, "I'm at home, and I'm also your cousin, just call me cousin."

Cao Song scratched his head, and there was no idea where such a relative came. He also saw that the Sixteenth Prince had a very tender face, was not tall, and was not as strong as him, so he was not convinced that he was his brother, and said, "I haven't talked about my age yet, why is he a cousin? In which month did you have a child?"

Cao Yong was about to stop him from rushing recklessly, but the sixteenth prince didn't care and said with a smile: "I'm from June of the 34th year of Kangxi, not your brother?"

Cao Song laughed and said proudly: "No! I am from the first month of the year, I am your brother!"

Cao Yong looked at Cao Song with a funny look. This silly child, is it fun to be the prince's brother? He changed the subject and asked him: "Where are you going?"

He Lian, who was standing by, answered first: "We have an appointment to have a drink, brother, let's go with us too!" As he said that, he glanced at the sixteenth prince next to him, and saw that he was also wearing the guard's clothes, he said respectfully: "Sir, please give me a favor, please go with me!"

Cao Yong waved his hand and said, "We just finished the meal and didn't go, let's go next time!"

The few people gave in sincerely again and again. Seeing that Cao Yong and Shiliu insisted on not going, they gave up.

Cao Yong saw that two of the six older people were older and brought many servants to him, so there was no danger. He immediately asked Cao Song for a few words and asked them to go.

The Sixteenth Prince went around and added three more strange stones, one for Cao Yong to keep for fun, and put the two pieces away by himself to go back to separate with the fifteenth Prince. The two of them rode back to the Yong Prince's Mansion, changed their clothes, and called on the guards to follow the guards. The Sixteenth Prince returned to the palace, and Cao Yong returned to the mansion and parted ways.

*

Cao Mansion, Bamboo Courtyard.

After three days of confusion, Fangcha finally woke up quietly. Only then did the vanilla breathe a sigh of relief and hurriedly asked people to warm up the red dates and glutinous rice porridge.

Seeing Vanilla's eyes darkened, and when she saw Zhang Gen's family standing in front of the bed with concern, Fangcha finally shed tears.

"Sister has been hungry for several days, so drink half a bowl of porridge first!" Vanilla advised softly while helping Fangcha wipe her tears.

Fangcha couldn't speak, and just buried his head on the pillow and cried silently. Vanilla wanted to persuade him again. Zhang Gen's family waved his hand to his daughter, sat in front of the bed, and gently patted Fangcha's back.

Fangcha gradually cried out and murmured: "Mom, Mom!"

Zhang Gen's sighed. Fangcha was a slave born in the Cao Mansion. Because her grandmother Zhao Mama was the old lady's house, she grew up in the yard there since she was a child. Because everyone treated her differently, she was somewhat different from other girls. She was not bad and was very happy in her daily life, but she had a mouth that was unforgiving and liked to talk about Taoists. She lost popularity among maids and servants, and often did good things but failed to get good reviews.

Although Fangcha is not the delicate and considerate maid, she treats her master sincerely. Before hitting Jiangning this time, Madam Zhao had asked Li for grace and wanted her granddaughter to release her granddaughter to arrange the marriage, but Fangcha was ill at the time and was really worried that she could not help but persuade her to accompany her to Beijing.

I cried for a long time until I couldn't shed tears anymore, and Fangcha's crying stopped.

After feeding her half a bowl of porridge and a few sips of ginseng soup, she fell asleep again in a drowsy manner.

*

In the East Nuan Pavilion, Baoya sniffed and said to Cao Yi: "What fragrance does the third sister have in her room? It's light and smells so good!"

Cao Yi pointed to the two fruit plates placed on the Bowl Grid: "Where is incense? It is the fragrance of fruit!"

Baoya looked along her hand and saw three and four bright red apples in a white jade plate, and two buttery oranges; the other agate plate contained a few white pears and a few black water chestnuts.

Baoya couldn't help but praise: "This is good. It has a fragrance and does not feel smoky and ignorant. The third sister's idea is exquisite!"

Cao Yi smiled and shook his head: "I dare not take credit. This is Sister Amethyst's idea!"

Baoya's eyes rolled, and she wrinkled her nose at Cao Yi, and said with a smile: "Do you call me sister now? In the future, we have to call my sister-in-law?"

After hearing this, Cao Yi hurriedly looked at the door. Seeing that there was no one there, he felt relieved and pulled Baoya's sleeve and said, "Prince, this is not a joke. Sister Amethyst has always been noble, and her brother respects her again. It's really not worth joking like this!"

Baoya stuck out her tongue playfully: "I understand, I won't say it anymore! I just saw that she is old and has not been a kiss, so I can't guarantee that your brother doesn't think so. Just say that in our mansion, the few who served my brother earlier, have become the owners of my brother's house."

Cao Yi retorted: "Brother, brother is the most polite! If you have parents to decide on marriage, your brother will not act wantonly!"

"What is the purpose of taking a concubine to do whatever you want?" Baoya said, and sighed, "Sister Yongjia is right. How many men in the world don't have three wives and four concubines. We are just women, and we will have to endure hardships in the future!"

Seeing that Baoya's originally childish little face looked a little heavy, Cao Yi couldn't help but joke: "How old is the princess? Is this so manly or not? Could it be that he fell in love with a young man and was moved by his heart?"

Baoya's heart moved, and a handsome figure flashed out of her mind. She unconsciously stopped smiling and turned her body toward the kang, and stopped making a sound.

Cao Yi looked at it wrong, could he let himself guess? He was speculating in the second half, and half joked, "Who is the princess who is interested in? Is it my brother?" He was joking, but he began to think about it in his heart. If it comes to character and family background, the princess and brother are very compatible, but he doesn't know if the marriage between the Ma family can be rejected.

It turned out that Ma Liandao's wife had visited her several times and was extremely attentive to Cao Yi, Cao Song and others. However, the girl in her family seemed a little cowardly, didn't act generously, and looked ordinary, and at best she could be said to be pretty. Cao Yi thought from the bottom of her heart that the Ma family's lady was not worthy of her brother.

However, the Ma family always visited the name of a good family and held the elders' proposition, so Cao Yi and others were not willing to neglect it. After several times, the Ma family gradually acted like a wife, and said that the letter to the south had been sent. Cao Yi was unhappy when he heard this, but the elders were still in charge of marriage, so she couldn't. Therefore, she really hoped that Baoya would marry.

Baoya couldn't help laughing out loud after hearing Cao Yi's words: "Okay, okay, sister, don't worry, but no one cares about your baby brother! I think all girls in the world are like this, just think that their brother is the best in the world! Before my brother kissed me, I was like this. Whenever a woman came out, she thought she would fall in love with her brother. But she didn't know that each person had a different view of her, and her fate was different."

When Cao Yi heard Baoya's slightly melancholy words, he couldn't help but think of himself. Although he was young and only one month to fifteen years old, according to the algorithm in the north, it was sixteen years old and seventeen years later. If his father and mother were the decision and kissed him, wouldn't he have to leave the Cao family?

Thinking of this, Cao Yong couldn't help but feel a little frightened. But then he thought that he had his brother above him, and his elders were in order, and there was no reason for him to go past his brother. At present, his brother's marriage was still missing, so he was worried about something! He was a little more at ease.

*

Cao Mansion, Rongyuan.

After Cao Yong returned to the mansion, he came here directly. Mr. Pian had not come back yet. The maid Lianqiu brought tea: "Master, please sit down, see, Mr. Shichen should be almost back!" Before he finished speaking, another maid behind the door, Xiqiu, said crisply: "Mr. is back, the uncle is waiting in the hall!"

Lianqiu and Xiqiu are two of the eight girls Li bought in Beijing. They are fellow sisters. They are the oldest and most steadiest among the crowd, so they were selected to serve in the Rongyuan Courtyard.

Hearing the footsteps of Zhuang Xi reaching the door, Cao Yong stood up from his seat.

Zhuang Xi was wearing a thick leather robe and walked in slowly while coughing.

"Sir!" Cao Yong felt uncomfortable when he heard him coughing: "Please come and have a look!"

Zhuang Xi shook his head: "It's okay. It's an old problem that has been around for 20 or 30 years. I've been dealing with it every winter. I've tried various prescriptions, but I can't get rid of it!"

Seeing that Cao Yong's expression was a little heavy, Zhuang Xi knew that he must have something to look for him, so he asked him to move to the study and talk.

When he arrived at the study room, there were only two people left of Zhuangxi and himself, Cao Yong told the news he had just received from the Wei brothers.

It turned out that since he returned from Prince Yong's Mansion, Wei Hei and Wei Bai looked a little strange, as if he had something to say. Later, because Prince Sixteen was there, he never spoke. It was not until everyone separated from Prince Sixteen that they made a shocking discovery. When the two of them were waiting for Cao Yong to come out outside the Prince's Mansion, they found a person with a very similar appearance to one of the people killed in Chunshu Hutong in Nancheng that night. However, the man was twenty-five or sixteen years old. Today I saw this man younger, eighteen or nineteen years old.

The two of them were secretly shocked and quietly inquired about the identity of the man. For a while, no one knew who the man was named, but only knew that he came with the fifteenth prince.

"Fifteenth Prince..." Zhuang Xi touched his beard and pondered.

Seeing him frowning, Cao Yong knew that he was like himself, and was surprised that the fifteenth prince was involved. The fifteenth prince was only one year older than Cao Yong, and his mother was a Han girl. Whether it was age or identity, it was impossible to compare with the adult princes. He was also a prince who lived in the Forbidden City and had not been awarded the title of Kaifu. Where could he have the opportunity to train people outside?

Cao Yong tried hard to recall the little thing he knew about the "Nine Dragons Fighting for the Throne" that he knew in later generations, but he did not remember that the fifteenth prince mentioned it. He only vaguely remembered that the sixteenth prince seemed to have adopted Prince Zhuang as his heir, and the seventeenth prince was the "Fourth Prince Party", but no one mentioned the deeds of the fifteenth prince at all.

After pondering for a moment, Zhuang Xi shook his head: "It shouldn't be the fifteenth prince! When the second prince was attacked in October, I had investigated the private houses of the princes in the capital to see if they were the secret sons they trained. As a result, although the royal palaces have their own power, the young princes in the palace do not have this convenience! However, over the years, the above person has been very fond of the young princes who were born by the concubine Wang. Although the fifteenth prince and the sixteenth prince are still unable to accomplish anything, they are growing up day by day. As we see, we are at the age of fame and title of the founder, it is not uncommon to be remembered or attracted by other older princes. At present, if we follow the person we found today, we may be able to lift a big fish!"

Cao Yong was originally worried that if the fifteenth prince was really involved, he would have to be cautious when dealing with it. After all, he had to look at the relationship between Wangpin and the sixteenth prince. After hearing Zhuang Xi's words, he secretly agreed, and at the same time he was curious, not knowing who was behind the scenes.
Chapter completed!