Chapter 23: Provocation

"See Your Highness the Crown Prince!" Yang Yong got off the boat, and the magistrate of Mianchi hurriedly brought everyone to welcome him.

"No gift!"

"Thank you, Your Highness, Prince!"

"Xu Gui, why are you?" Yang Shi exclaimed immediately when the magistrate of Mianchi County was together.

"It's the lower official, I'll pay homage to Lord Yang." Xu Gui respectfully bowed to Yang Shi, and bowed to Lu Mulin: "The lower official, I'll pay homage to Lord Lu!"

This Xu Gui is one of the dozens of orphans that Yang Yong took in. Now, some of these people have joined the army, some have become local officials, and a few have become Beijing officials. The highest official position is only the fifth rank, but most of them are real power figures. Although this Xu Gui is only the seventh rank, he is also the chief of a county, and is considered to be a medium among dozens of people.

Unlike Yang Shi's surprise, Lu Mulin was obviously very calm and knew that Xu Gui was the magistrate of Mianchi County. Every one of these orphans in the East Palace would pay attention to the East Palace. Without the care of the East Palace, orphans like them who had no family reliance, even if they were all-round civil and military talents and entered the official career, they would still be small officials for decades.

"Your Highness, I have ordered people to hold a banquet in the best restaurant in the county. Please move forward!" Xu Gui suppressed his excitement and came to Yang Yong. For those orphans of that year, the prince was not only their life-saving benefactor, but also his benefactor who changed their destiny. It is not an exaggeration to repay him no matter how much he repays him.

However, since he took office, most people have never met the prince again. They dreamed that they would go to Beijing to pay homage to the prince every year, but they had no chance. When Xu Gui received the news that the prince was heading north along the Yellow River, he was worried about whether the prince would stay in Mianchi. Now that his dream has come true, Xu Gui was already very excited.

Yang Yong nodded slightly to Xu Gui: "Okay, lead the way."

Mianchi County is basically a hilly mountainous area. The north is a mountainous area dominated by Dongxiao Mountain, the south is a hilly area dominated by Westxiao Mountain, and the middle is the Jianhe Basin, which can be used for farming. If grain production is solely relied on, Mianchi will undoubtedly be a poor county.

However, due to the benefits of the Yellow River, there are Jianhe, Hongyanghe, Jiankouhe and waterways in the territory. In recent years, with the development of the textile industry in Beijing, countless cotton and raw silk have to flow upstream through the Yellow River and transport it to the capital. The cotton cloth woven in the capital has to be sold to various places through the Yellow River waterway. Most of the passing ships have to rest and get the tip of the head here, but Mianchi has become prosperous.

Walking on Mianchi Street, you can see restaurants on both sides of the street, with merchants passing by, and ordinary pedestrians wearing silk shoes, making the county town rich.

Xu Gui led Yang Yong and his party to the largest restaurant. This restaurant has three floors in total. If it were later generations, the three-story building was not considered a high-rise building at all. At this time, the small building seemed to stand out from the crowd. If it was taller, it would be violated.

This building has been booked by Xu Gui, and the county magistrate wanted to book the building, so the boss naturally did not dare to refuse. Yang Yong sat down on the highest third floor, seeing the crowds of pedestrians on the street, and he couldn't help but nod and praised: "Xu Gui, you did a good job. I remember when you first took over, Mianchi was still a lower-class county, and now you can evaluate the county at the middle level."

In the early Sui Dynasty, counties were divided into nine grades according to the number of household registration. After the county and county system was restored, the county changed from nine grades to four grades, namely upper, middle, middle, lower, and lower. The county magistrate of the upper county was the sixth rank, and the county magistrate of the middle county was the seventh rank, and the county magistrate of the middle or lower county was only from the seventh rank and the eighth rank. However, the chiefs in the county government, regardless of the size and rank difference of county size and rank, were all called county magistrates.

"Thank you for your concern. Mianchi was just named Zhongxian last year. However, in a few years, I am confident that Mianchi will become Shangxian." Xu Gui was very moved. Unexpectedly, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince kept remembering him, and his voice almost choked up.

"According to your political achievements, you can be promoted to the county chief or the county Sima, but although the county Sima and the county chief are of the sixth rank, there are restrictions on the prefect. If you can really promote Mianchi to the upper county, you will have more than one of the Xia County prefects at that time."

"Don't worry, your highness, I will definitely live up to your highness's love."

"Okay, I should have read you wrongly. Do it well. There is a talented person in a county. This palace will commission a county and a talented person. This palace will commission a county. Perhaps decades later, Xu Aiqing will be granted a marquis and a prime minister, and his reputation will be left in history. "

Yang Yong's words will only become empty words and clichés in later generations. At this time, Xu Gui was moved endlessly. Your Highness said that I could be granted the title of marquis and ministers. If I could not do it, it would be disappointing Your Highness's high hopes.

"If you want to see through thousands of miles, you can go to a higher level." Yang Guang picked up his pen and wrote two sentences on the newly released rice paper in Jiangnan. At the same time, he read it again, stood up, picked up his poems on the table, tore them to pieces, and murmured to himself: "Brother's poems are a hundred times better than me. Just two sentences are comparable to the hundreds of poems written by me. What's the use of keeping these things?"

With the recitation of the guards during the official ship resting, the four quatrains written by the prince on the Yellow River were circulated rapidly as if they had grown wings. Before the prince returned to the capital, the prince's new poems were already known to the world.

"Why are you worried about the prince?" A clear female voice sounded like a yellow oriole. A beautiful woman came in. The beauty who came in was about ten years old, with her beautiful eyes and a piece of white skin on her shoulders. Seeing the shredded paper floating on the ground, the beauty quickly bent down and picked it up, shouting: "Isn't this the prince's favorite poem? What's wrong today?"

"Murrong Yan, don't pretend, I don't believe it. You don't know why I tore up my poems." Yang Guang said angrily.

Whether it is the emperor, the queen or the minister, they all know that King Jin has always been bad at being a woman. Except for Concubine Xiao, who was personally selected by the queen, he has never accepted a concubine. Strangely, the woman who entered King Jin's study today was not Princess Jin, but a woman named Murong Yan.

When he heard Yang Guang's words, the woman named Murong Yan's eyes turned dark: "Prince, you blame me for the wrong thing. If I knew, how could I ask the prince?" Murong Yan's voice was extremely delicate, as if Yang Guang's words just now made her suffer indescribable grievances.

Seeing Murong Yan's expression, Yang Guang cursed inwardly: "The Witch." Although this woman is beautiful, she has thorns all over her body. This is the conclusion that Yang Guang got after suffering many losses. If used as a flower, Murong Yan is undoubtedly a beautiful rose at the moment. Although it makes people want to pick it all the time, they are afraid of hurting their hands.

"I want to see you thousands of miles away and go to a higher level. I didn't expect that the prince's poems were so brilliant. No wonder he didn't see any poems he wrote before."

"Murrong Yan, what do you mean? It is obviously the prince's poem. If you put it on me, do you want to deliberately mock me?" Yang Guang finally shouted unbearably.

"Prince, is this the prince's poem? I really don't know. I thought the prince wrote a good sentence because he thought about it. I apologized to the prince. There are many princes, so I guess the prince won't take it to heart." Murong Yan opened her mouth slightly and said in surprise.

Yang Guang's expression calmed down, thinking that Murong Yan had been staying in the Jin Palace for more than ten days, maybe she really didn't know that, but she was wrongly blamed her. Looking at Murong Yan's beautiful face and large snow-white skin exposed on her shoulders, she couldn't help swallowing her saliva, quickly turned her head, took out a piece of good rice paper and spread it on the table, thinking hard in her mind how to write a poem that can be comparable to her elder brother.

A faint fragrance penetrated into Yang Guang's nose. Yang Guang looked sideways and saw Murong Yan approaching him and grinding ink for him. His posture was elegant and full of the temperament of a lady of a noble family. Perhaps only Zhong Jiangnan Shenxiu can be compared with such a woman. Her princess and Murong Yan happen to be the best beauties in the south and the north. If she could have them at the same time, her life would not be in vain.

If she officially takes her as her concubine, it might be fine, but when she thinks of passing the queen's level, Yang Guang gave up and stayed away from the capital and could still get her praise. Isn't it just that she has been respectful to Concubine Xiao for many years? If she suddenly wants to accept her concubine, her previous patience would be vain. Moreover, Murong Yan and her princess are like sisters. If she takes her as her concubine, will it cause her wife to be disgusted and cause her husband to be dissatisfied? The queen is getting angry because of Mrs. Xuanhua. If news of the dissatisfaction between King Jin and his wife is heard at this time, I am afraid she will never be able to get her mother's favor again.

Unfortunately, if she didn't formally accept Murong Yan as her concubine, it would be impossible to get her. She cleverly avoided her several times of force, which made her feel secretly itchy.

"The Jiangnan is beautiful, the scenery is old and I have known it. The sunrise, the river is redder than the fire, and the river water comes... Hey, Prince, do you want to go to Jiangnan?"

Murong Yan's exclamation interrupted Yang Guang's thoughts. Yang Guang quickly focused his attention on the rice paper. It was not the song "Remembering Jiangnan" written by the prince. Yang Guang threw down his pen dejectedly, grabbed the words written on the table and wanted to tear it off. He reached over with a plain hand and pressed Yang Guang's big hand: "Prince, the words on this paper can be torn off, so how can the words in the prince's heart be torn off?"

"What do you mean? By the way, what do you mean when you said that I was thinking about it just now?" Yang Guang asked coldly at first, feeling that Murong Yan's plain hands were extremely tender and smooth, but the next sentence was that his momentum was greatly weakened.

Murong Yan took his hand back and gently caged his hair. This action made Murong Yan extremely charming, making Yang Guang stunned again.

With a puff, Murong Yan laughed: "It's nothing, I'm just thinking, if the prince wants to go to the next level, then he can only be the prince. Unexpectedly, this poem was written by the prince. The prince goes to the next level, what is that?"

"The prince goes to the next level, and is naturally the emperor, the crown prince is the crown prince. After the father and emperor for a long time, the throne is naturally the prince. If you are right, you don't have to sow discord. I know that you and your brother have a deep relationship and blame your brother's death on the crown prince. The prince is just an execution of military orders. If your brother was my subordinate at that time and committed such a serious crime, I would also order beheading without hesitation. I and the prince are still brothers of the same father and mother, and blood is thicker than water. I can't understand the brotherly relationship between the prince and the prince. I will not make any decisions with me in the future." Yang Guang's words were extremely cold, and the temperature in the study seemed to drop suddenly. Even in July, it still makes people feel chill.

Murong Yan didn't care at all, and stretched out her hand to cover her mouth: "Why are the prince so excited? I didn't say anything bad about the prince, nor did I want to provoke the relationship between the prince and brothers. If the prince has no ghost in his heart, why should he tell the difference?"

"Just, I am doing well and sitting upright, so what the hell is there? You can go out for me."

"Go out, go out, hum, what's so great?" Murong Yan shook her hair, raised her head, and like a weak willow Fufeng twisted her waist and walked out of the study room. He walked out of the room, and turned back and smiled: "The prince has a deep brotherhood, but it is useful to believe it. If others don't believe it, what if it's a brother? It's right to be able to see you from a thousand miles away and go to the next level. The prince has been doing it for fifteen years, and he will be a little impatient. I'm afraid he can't wait to ascend the throne."

"What does it mean? Come back and explain it clearly?" Yang Guang was furious. He didn't expect that this woman would still not give up. If it weren't for her better-looking and having a good relationship with the princess, he could have cut her with one knife with this sentence.

"Didn't the prince ask me to go out? I want to see Sister Xiao. Today, Sister Xiao wants to teach me the embroidery of Jiangnan. If Sister Xiao knows that I am in the Prince's study, I'm afraid I can't explain it clearly." After saying that, Murong Yan turned his head toward Concubine Xiao without looking back.

"The Demon Girl." Yang Guang murmured to himself, but Murong Yan's words just now rang in his ears again: "It is useful to have deep brotherhood if others believe it... The prince has been working for fifteen years, and he is a little impatient..."

"Brother, do you really believe these brothers? Poems are used to show your ambitions, and such poems have also flowed out. Brother, are you open-minded or deliberately doing it? My father is over fifty years old. Do you really think of it as the witch said that the prince has been used for too long. Are you impatient to wait? Bah! Bah! Bah! What do I want to do? Now I hold heavy troops in Bingzhou and are extremely free. Is there anything wrong with it?"

"Prince, Prince." A voice interrupted Yang Guang's random thoughts. Yang Guang calmed down, looked at a long-standing young man standing at the door of the study, and quickly smiled: "It's Xiao Yu, what's the matter with me?"

Xiao Yu was just over 20 years old this year and was Concubine Xiao’s favorite younger brother. When Concubine Xiao first married into the King of Jin’s Mansion, Xiao Yu was less than ten years old. It was equivalent to growing up in the King of Jin’s Mansion. It was not until she got married and had children that Xiao Yu moved out of the King of Jin’s Mansion. The wife Xiao Yu married was a noble daughter in the Dugu family. The two families were like to marry each other. Moreover, Xiao Yu was smart and studious, so Yang Guang was now a counselor of the King of Jin’s Mansion.

"Prince, did you have something to do with Lord Zhang just now?"

"Mr. Zhang, you are talking about Zhang Heng, no, what's wrong?" Yang Guang said in confusion.

Xiao Yu paused, as if there was something unspeakable. Yang Guang was displeased: "Xiao Yu, I am your brother-in-law, that is, your relative. If you have anything to do, you still need to hesitate?"

"This... Prince, then I'll say it."

"Tell me, what the hell is it?"

"The Xiaguan saw Zhang Heng standing at the door of the study just now, as if he was eavesdropping. Zhang Heng left when Miss Murong came out. When he met Xiaguan, he looked flustered and explained to Xiaguan that the prince had just summoned him."

"What, is this really happening?" Yang Guang was shocked. Zhang Heng was the chief supervisor of the royal palace and trusted him very much. I heard that Zhang Heng dared to eavesdrop on his conversation with others, which was a great deal.

Xiao Yu nodded heavily: "Prince, if it comes to relationships, Lord Zhang, the housekeeper, has been following the prince for a long time than my sister. If it weren't for being too suspicious just now, how dare the subordinates say anything?"

"Okay, very good!" Yang Guang was just disturbed by Murong Yan, and when he heard the betrayal of the person he trusted, he couldn't help but be furious: "Xiao Yu, my brother-in-law gives you a task, can you see if it can be completed?"

"The prince is right to give orders if he has something to do."

"From today on, you should keep an eye on Zhang Heng. Every move he has to report to me. I have a look at what Zhang Heng has eaten, and he dares to betray me."

"Don't worry, the prince, I promise to complete the task. If there is nothing wrong, I will leave if I am humble."

"Okay, you go down."

"yes!"

"Wait a moment."

Xiao Yu quickly turned around and said, "Prince, what else is there?"

"Don't tell your sister about Miss Murong's affairs in my study just now."

Xiao Yu showed a knowing smile: "Don't worry, my sister is my sister. I will not reveal a word about the prince."

"Okay, you go down." Seeing Xiao Yu's mysterious smile, Yang Guang retorted a few words. He didn't eat mutton at all and just messed with a slut. However, the more he refuted such a thing, the more he couldn't tell the difference. Moreover, the other party was his brother-in-law, so he had to give up his thoughts.
Chapter completed!