At this time, the sky was completely dark. On normal days, no one would be allowed to walk on this street at night.
However, today's night banquet at Prince Liang's Mansion has already been approved by the palace, so even though the drums of the curfew have long since fallen, the carriages of various families can still pass through the streets.
Even Zhao Yanzhen's car was followed by more than a dozen Jinwu guards riding tall horses.
In Zhao Yanzhen's spacious carved wooden carriage, Jiang Nianjiao was sitting on Zhao Yanzhen's left hand side.
She took the initiative and said, "Can you tell me about Su Zhirou now?"
Zhao Yanzhen nodded, cleared his throat and said, "If I'm not mistaken, Miss Xu's family probably doesn't want them to live in peace."
"Doesn't she dislike Prince Liang? Doesn't she pursue a life-long relationship?" Jiang Nianjiao said softly.
"It's one thing not to like my brother, but it's another thing to allow them to be together. Look at her today, before she even gets started, her elder brother is already so partial. She will still have troubles in the future. As far as I know, when my eldest brother married two concubines at the same time in his previous life, he stayed in Dr. Su’s room that night."
"There are all kinds of things, and this person's heart is inevitably distorted. Moreover, Miss Xu's mood is not very open because she has been lingering on the sickbed all year round. Since she can't get it, naturally she won't make it easy for others."
"If she wants to make life difficult for others, shouldn't she bother His Highness Prince Liang?" Jiang Nianjiao asked a little confused.
Zhao Yanzhen looked at her with a half-smile, "Do you think it is better to get closer to my eldest brother or Doctor Su?"
"Of course it's Doctor Su." Jiang Nianjiao said softly.
"That's right. When she got close to Medical Officer Su, she only introduced her as a rebel and protected Medical Officer Su at all times. It is naturally a good thing for the harem to be harmonious, but too much harmony may not be a good thing. Then Miss Xu's family is just everywhere She competed with my eldest brother for Su Zhirou's time, so when she was here, my eldest brother couldn't stand her, and even if he died, she still planted a nail between the two of them."
"What nails are buried?" Jiang Nianjiao asked.
"Miss Xu will die sooner or later. She is not willing to be anyone's stepping stone. Therefore, during the period when she was the princess, she only took advantage of the opportunity to marry many concubines for the Liang Palace, and most of these concubines were A lady from an official family, she only uses her in-laws as a link, saying that she is opening up connections for the Prince of Liang. However, none of these ladies are economical. Medical Officer Su is favored by my royal brother, which makes these princes and concubines uncomfortable, but Xu's daughter has defended Medical Officer Su in every possible way, which makes Medical Officer Su even more jealous. Do you think that after Xu's daughter dies, will Medical Officer Su still be able to live a peaceful life?"
"Moreover, Xu's daughter deliberately created a misunderstanding before she died, just to make Medical Officer Su think that her death was related to my eldest brother."
Hearing this, Jiang Nianjiao finally understood Xu's daughter's methods. Although the Xu's daughter seemed to be indisputable, behind her was the Xu family, and she was assisted by a maid who obviously had a lot of ideas. In this situation Now, all she needs to do is establish a virtuous reputation for herself.
As long as she respects her mother-in-law, keeps wives and concubines, and has a reputation of benevolence and righteousness, then she will take the initiative to take concubines for her husband, and she will be praised for her magnanimity from outside. What's more, these women are all officials' ladies, and they have married into the family. The reason can be said to be for the great cause of King Liang.
Thinking of this, even Jiang Nianjiao couldn't help but admire the other party's method.
Although she was no longer interested in Zhao Nianze this morning, she still couldn't help but think that if she could imitate this young lady from the Xu family and retreat before advancing, maybe her cousin wouldn't regard her as a snake or a scorpion.
But it's a pity that she is used to being straightforward. If she wants to be conciliatory and submissive to others all the time, I'm afraid it will be difficult for her to do so.
"What are you thinking about?" Zhao Yanzhen suddenly asked when Jiang Nianjiao was thinking about the past.
"I was thinking if I married you, how many beautiful concubines would I have to give you?" It was naturally impossible for Jiang Nianjiao to tell Zhao Yanzhen that she thought of her cousin, so she only tried to test it with a smile.
"There's no need to take concubines. Having too many people in the harem is quite troublesome. Not to mention that after a while, the court will probably be in a state of chaos. After that, your marriage and mine will definitely be postponed. I don't know if our marriage will be held in the future. Can it be held as scheduled?"
Mentioning this matter, a deep dark color flashed in Zhao Yanzhen's amber peach blossom eyes.
Immediately, he looked at Jiang Nianjiao and said with a half-smile, "Come on."
If anything happens to me, let's dissolve our marriage. Jiaojiao doesn't have to guard me. If I die, you can live a good life with your beloved. If I don't die, I will come to pick you up. "
"But there are only two things you have to promise me. The first one is of course anyone can be chosen. You cannot be involved with Lu Zhizhang. The second one is that you cannot love me when there is no confirmed news about my death. Fuck someone else.”
Jiang Nianjiao didn't expect Zhao Yanzhen to say such words, but considering that they were already in a cooperative relationship, and at most they were just confused by each other's beauty, he could allow himself to choose others or to some extent. Be generous and don't care.
Jiang Nianjiao smiled and said, "His Royal Highness Prince Jin will consider for me, and he is really generous. I think I have no problem with this first point. After all, you must have heard about Lu Zhizhang and I before my rebirth. He and I are good friends." , aren’t you looking for trouble for yourself?”
"But I'm afraid I can't definitely promise you the second thing. After all, people's hearts are hard to calculate. If I meet a good husband who takes pity on me and loves me, do you think I can avoid being tempted?"
"Jiaojiao is so cruel. It's rare that this king has made arrangements for you, but you can't even agree to this request." Zhao Yanzhen sighed falsely.
"It's not like you don't know that I'm used to being careless. If you don't want me to change my mind, you should drag me down with you when you go to hell. Otherwise, I really can't be unmoved by someone I see day and night. .”
After hearing Jiang Nianjiao's words, Zhao Yanzhen just laughed. After laughing, he looked at Jiang Nianjiao and said, "Jiaojiao, are you teaching me not to let you go?"
Jiang Nianjiao just turned around and said, "You are thinking too much. I'm just telling you that since I can't guard your body like a jade, I certainly can't guard your heart."
After the words fell, Jiang Nianjiao stopped talking. She only took out a book and read it.
Zhao Yanzhen said, "In that case, you don't have to insist on the second thing. I thought about it carefully and think what you said makes sense."
Jiang Nianjiao didn't expect that Zhao Yanzhen would answer like this, and her hand stagnated while turning the book.
Then she just smiled to herself: It was all just a joke, so there was no need to take it seriously.
But although she knew it well, she actually felt a little unhappy when she heard such a generous reply. For a moment, she just secretly thought that she had some kind of stupid bone disease.
"His Highness is so kind to me. If I don't show any expression at all, it would seem that I am very callous. In this case, Your Highness, don't worry. If Your Highness is in trouble in the future, I will definitely go to the City God's Temple to pray for His Highness's safety. .”
When he finished speaking, Jiang Mansion happened to arrive, and Jiang Nianjiao was about to get out of the car.
Zhao Yanzhen took Jiang Nianjiao's hand and said, "I don't believe this. Since Jiaojiao wants to thank me, she must give her some practical benefits, right?"
Jiang Nianjiao sneered inwardly after hearing this. At this time, she was not in a hurry to get out of the car.
She just turned around and sat on Zhao Yanzhen's thigh, and then put her hands on Zhao Yanzhen's shoulders. She whispered, "Close your eyes first."
When Zhao Yanzhen heard this, he stared at Jiang Nianjiao without any intention of closing his eyes.
Jiang Nianjiao saw that he refused to close her eyes, so she could only reach out to block Zhao Yanzhen's eyes.
Then she only touched Zhao Yanzhen's lips, and then bit down hard on the cold corner of his lips. When the corners of his mouth were bitten, bright red blood flowed out from the corners of his lips.
She tried to get up and leave.
Unfortunately, Zhao Yanzhen blocked her waist and wanted to deepen the kiss. When Jiang Nianjiao saw this, she just pushed Zhao Yanzhen away.
Then she regained her freedom and hurriedly got out of the carriage.
Fortunately, at this time, the coachman had already driven the carriage to Jiang Mansion.
When the coachman saw that the young lady came out on her own, he quickly brought a horse stool for the lady to get off the carriage.
Jiang Nianjiao got off the carriage uncertainly. When she returned to Jiang Mansion, she glanced at Zhao Yanzhen's carriage curtain through the lights in front of Jiang Mansion. However, Zhao Yanzhen had no intention of coming out to take a look at her at this time.
Thinking of this, she only thought viciously that if she really married the other party in the future, she would also imitate the Miss Xu family and give him ten or eight concubines at one go. And it’s best if everyone is the kind of person who doesn’t worry about anything. ..
Jiang Nianjiao never expected that Zhao Yanzhen's words would become a prophecy after that.
In early October, before the happy events in Prince Liang's palace had even begun, an epidemic suddenly spread in Beijing.
The initial symptoms of the epidemic were only diarrhea and low-grade fever. However, after only three days, these patients would begin to have abdominal distension, vomit blood, high fever, and eventually die of distended stomachs.
No one knows where this epidemic came from or where it will develop.
After all, according to the rules of previous years, such large-scale epidemics usually occur only after major disasters. However, this year, except for the southern part of Yongdi that suffered floods as usual, the weather in other places was basically smooth. Not to mention that such epidemics rarely occur in a precious place like Beijing.
In Beijing, many court officials were also infected by the epidemic. As a result, many officials had no choice but to close their offices.
Under such circumstances, the morning meeting could no longer be held as usual.
Basically, each government only sends a few important officials to hold small meetings in the upper study room unless there is a major event. On weekdays, these officials rarely enter the palace to hold large-scale meetings between China and North Korea.
The scale of this epidemic is not small, and even Emperor Yong issued an edict to blame himself for it. It is a pity that whether it is praying in the ancestral temple or the blame is on me, this epidemic has not been cured by this round of introspection. Stop. On the contrary, Emperor Yong may have worked too hard, but he suddenly fell ill soon after.
