The blizzard was blocked out by thick curtains. In the magnificent room, the charcoal fire in the copper stove made the whole room as warm as spring.
Su Zhou didn't drink much because Zhou Xuan was already drunk at the time.
Although his eyes were still clear, his movements had become a little slow.
His long fingers traced the rim of the ivory wine glass in circles.
The fingers that kept circling suddenly stopped, and Zhou Xuan suddenly said: "You have grown a lot in the past three years."
Su Zhou hurriedly replied: "In this humble position, I must bear in mind the teachings of His Highness the Crown Prince and dare not slack off every day."
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Do you still remember what I said to you?"
"I remember my humble position." Su Zhou nodded solemnly and replied, "I will always remember my humble position."
Although Zhou Xuan's expression remained the same as before, Su Zhou had a strong feeling that today's prince seemed like a very tight string that would break if he wasn't careful.
So Su Zhou didn't say much today, and he was very careful.
After hearing Su Zhou's promise, Zhou Xuan's spirit seemed to relax, and he said happily: "Bianguan. Remember, only at the border can your talents be brought into full play."
Su Zhou wanted to say something else, but Zhou Xuan suddenly stood up, indicating that the conversation was over.
Su Zhou hurriedly stood up and took Zhou Xuan's coat off the hanger.
Zhou Xuan took the coat and put it on. He was about to walk to the door, but suddenly he seemed to be distracted and stood still for a moment.
"Your Highness, are you okay?"
Su Zhou looked at the prince nervously, because not only was the prince tense, but his mood was also very wrong.
Zhou Xuan slowly shook his head: "I'm fine."
Then he suddenly looked at Su Zhou and said, "Can you promise me one more thing?"
Su Zhou said hurriedly: "Your Highness, please speak."
Zhou Xuan looked at Su Zhou and said slowly: "Promise me not to come back when you get to the border. No matter what happens, don't come back."
"Why?"
This sentence was not asked by Su Zhou, but by Su Shi.
Su Zhou shook his head: "I don't know, I still don't know why?"
"You didn't ask?"
"No." Su Zhou said, "As long as it is His Highness the Crown Prince's order, I never ask why."
Su Shi sighed and continued to ask, "Then what?"
"When we were about to go out, the prince suddenly said something very strange."
At that time, Su Zhou was about to open the door for the prince, when Zhou Xuan suddenly smiled and said to him: "Are you free this month on the 30th?"
Su Yiyi was stunned and said casually: "Thirty this month?"
"right."
"The prince is summoned by something?"
Zhou Xuan smiled: "I want to hold a dinner party that day and invite some old friends to get together."
Su Zhou also smiled and said, "Since the prince invited us, everything will become nothing. But can the prince tell us in advance the reason for the gathering that day?"
"To celebrate."
Su Zhou said in surprise: "It turns out there is a happy event in the East Palace."
But Zhou Xuan's expression at that time was very strange. There seemed to be some expectation in his eyes, but also a hint of confusion and fear.
At this time, Su Zhou looked directly at Su Shi and said slowly: "I didn't think the prince's words were strange at the time, until I heard the news of the prince's violent death on the 29th."
When Su Zhou heard the news of the prince's violent death, he cried bitterly all night. The next day, his eyes were no longer filled with tears, but with blood.
By the time he calmed down, a month had passed.
Only then did he remember the scene when the prince summoned him on the 25th of the winter lunar month, and the more he thought about it, the more strange he felt.
On that day, Zhou Xuan seemed to have some kind of ominous premonition.
Even Su Shi had this strange feeling. He couldn't help but ask, "Did the prince say what he planned to celebrate on the thirtieth day?"
"No." Su Zhou replied: "But I also checked later and found that there was nothing worth celebrating in the East Palace in those days."
Not only was there nothing worth celebrating, but during that period of time, the prince's mood was not very high. He was often taciturn and distracted, as if he had many things on his mind.
What's even more strange is that no one knows what is hidden in the prince's heart, not even the princess.
Although the prince had already started to get involved in political affairs at that time, he was indeed very busy with government affairs, and there were a few things that were really difficult to deal with.
However, although the prince's ability is not that he is at ease and at ease, he is not at a loss for what to do, and he has never complained about political affairs.
As for other aspects, with his noble status, he naturally has nothing to worry about.
Although it was later revealed that he and Hui Niang were in love, after verification, Hui Niang was still a virgin, which shows that they were only acting out of love and politeness, and did not do anything that violated ethics. matter.
So no one could understand the prince's abnormal behavior during that period.
When Su Shi heard this, his mind was filled with questions.
There were only questions, no answers, and he didn't even know where to start guessing.
Since there was no answer, Su Shi wouldn't worry too much, so he looked at Zhou Xuan.
"Third Princess, your name is naturally not Zhou Xuan. The reason why you are named after Xuan is because you miss His Highness the Crown Prince."
Now that Su Shi knew Zhou Xuan's identity, the only princess who was similar in age to Zhou Xuan was the third princess.
Zhou Xuan was not surprised. She said: "My real name is Zhou Jin." Then she couldn't help but sigh: "My pseudonym is Zhou Xuan. Firstly, as you said, it's just a thought. Secondly, For convenience.”
Su Shi added: "Although the third princess was still young at that time, she had a close relationship with the prince, so she should have discovered a lot of abnormal things."
When Zhou Jin saw that Su Shi kept claiming that she was the third princess and her expression was much more distant than before, she suddenly felt very disappointed.
As for why she was disappointed, she didn't know, and even if she knew, she wouldn't admit it.
But at this time, she also knew that Su Shi wanted to know more about the situation at that time in order to make the most reasonable inference about the matter, so she had to cheer up.
Although in the past ten years, I have thought about what happened at that time countless times, I can almost say it without thinking.
But at this time, she still thought about it carefully again, not wanting to miss any details, because any detail was likely to be a clue.
After a long time, she said slowly: "Although I have the best and closest relationship with the prince's brother, he was busy with government affairs during that period, so we actually didn't have much time to see each other."
"I only met the prince brother twice during that period. The first time was on the fifteenth day of the winter lunar month." Zhou Jin recalled: "The moon was particularly big and round that night, so I went there on a whim. I’m looking for the crown prince’s brother in the East Palace.”
"Did anything special happen that night?"
Zhou Jin slowly shook his head: "No, and there was nothing unusual about the prince's brother that night."
"When will the second meeting be?" Su Shi asked.
"The twenty-sixth of the winter month."
