With the ringing of copper bells, a brown and black war horse stopped in front of Lan Yuan's house. The man sitting high on the horse was covered with armor, and a square plaque hung around his waist, with the words "two" written in gold. The business department is forbidden to keep Zhao'. He immediately controlled the horse's bridle, took off his helmet and held it in his hands, slowly got off the horse, and laughed at the person in front of him:
"Lan Shidu, we haven't seen each other for a long time!"
Lan Yuan didn't seem so excited. He just straightened his azure shirt and bowed, "Cun Sijin can finally rest this time."
"Yes, the Northern Tour is over. I wonder how the situation is in the East Palace? Is the prince okay?"
Lan Yuan smiled bitterly and shook his head. He sighed deeply and said, "The prince is fine. But... the future is worrying. Alas, I will go into the room with you to discuss it in detail."
Cun Zhao felt very strange when he heard this. He followed him into the study, locked the door, and then asked urgently: "What happened?"
Lan Yuan invited him to sit down and walked along the walk: "Since King Yi came to Beijing, the prince's temperament has changed drastically. He is obsessed with drinking and sex all day long, does not practice moral conduct, and even selects women from the teaching music studio to enter the palace and have fun. Among them are There is a person named Geng who is beautiful and favored by His Highness the most. It has been growing more and more recently, and he plans to make her a concubine."
"Concubine?" Cunzhao frowned, "Even if it is a concubine, we cannot do such nonsense and let a prostitute live in it!"
Lan Yuan said: "Si Jin is unaware that His Highness has asked us to call her 'Concubine Geng'."
"The minister is supposed to rectify the country, why don't you persuade him?"
Lan Yuan was extremely helpless: "After all, I have a foreign surname and my official position is low. How can I interfere in His Highness's family affairs? Why don't you come and help me with this?"
Cunzhao moved his body slightly and said, "Just say it."
Lan Yuan gently covered his mouth and said, "I will take you to see the Crown Prince in a while. I only verbally agreed, but Si Jin tried his best to refute and took the opportunity to give advice and make His Highness change his mind."
Cunzhao nodded and followed him out of the room without saying a word and headed towards the main hall.
"Your Highness, Cun Sijin has just returned to the court and wants to come to the palace to see you."
A palace maid bent down to report to the prince, and waited respectfully for the prince's reply at the foot of the palace steps.
"Oh, Brother Cun is here." After hearing this, the prince slowly sat up from the couch, put the crooked robe back on, and said with a smile.
"Cundi? Who is it?" Concubine Geng took the wine glass from the table next to her and came to toast him.
"Of course you don't know her," the prince said, taking the wine from her hand and drinking it all. "He followed someone to patrol the border three years ago and never returned. He just came back now."
After hearing this, Concubine Geng quickly glanced at him, leaned on his shoulder, and said coquettishly: "Since he is your brother, why don't you talk to him about canonizing me? If he comes to help, it will be fine." Block the mouths of outsiders and determine my name."
The prince rolled his eyes, then laughed, stretched out his hand to pinch her face and said: "You beauty, you really have an idea! I will immediately announce that he is coming to the palace. You can stay behind the curtain and listen to what I say to him. !”
Concubine Geng was overjoyed. She bowed to him again, then retreated to the Nuan Pavilion and ordered the maid to lower the curtains.
After a while, Lan Yuan brought Cun Zhao into the palace to pay him a visit. The prince treated him very attentively, holding hands and greeting him for a long time. He repeatedly asked him about his current situation, and Cun Zhao answered cautiously. In the midst of this all-encompassing conversation, the topic gradually turned to the matter of appointing a concubine. The prince told them the whole story and asked them, "All the officials in the palace advised me not to appoint a concubine." She, I, am also afraid that my father will blame me, so I am hesitant to make a decision. I wonder if you two have any opinions?"
First, Lan Yuan said: "Your Highness is the crown prince of the country. He makes his own decisions, so why should he care about the opinions of his subordinates? Besides, that woman is gentle and virtuous. Although her status is low, it does not harm her dignity."
Seeing that the corners of the prince's lips were about to rise, Cun Zhao suddenly shouted: "Lan Shidu, you have been with His Highness for a long time, how can you talk such nonsense!"
The prince's face suddenly darkened and he asked coldly: "Shidu Lan has good intentions, why does Cundi say it's nonsense?"
Cun Zhao kowtowed and admonished: "The position of concubine should be filled by a woman who knows the books, is polite, and has a noble family. How can a dancing prostitute be allowed to be established because of luck and ruin the order of the palace? If His Highness really loves her, he can do whatever he wants. The maid must also stay in the East Palace for a long time. Otherwise, it will be difficult to put an end to the many discussions."
"What Cun Sijin said is..." Lan Yuan echoed, checking the prince's expression from time to time.
The prince's head was still clear, and he did not dare to antagonize him easily. He nodded reluctantly: "Okay, I will rely on my brother Cun to temporarily withdraw this plan."
After Cun Zhao left, Concubine Geng hurriedly came out of the Nuan Pavilion. She gritted her teeth and said, "Your Highness, this brother of yours is so abominable! You don't help me at all, and you slander me with words! Why don't you reply to him?" "
The prince sighed, hugged her hastily, and said with an apologetic smile: "Since he is not of the same mind as me, it is useless for me to say anything. On the contrary, it will make the emperor angry and cause more trouble. Concubine Geng, you Don't be impatient, don't talk about this little side concubine in the future, the main concubine also asked you to do it!" After coaxing her carefully for a while, it was over.
But Concubine Geng was still full of resentment. She went back to the bedroom, sat by the dressing table and thought to herself: "That guy Cun Zhao is unreasonable. It seems that there is no way to count on him. But Lan Shidu told me so." It might be better to win him over with a few kind words, it might work. So she thought of it, waved her hand to call the palace maid over, grabbed a few banknotes from the cabinet, handed them to her and said: "Take these fifty taels of silver and send them to Lan Shidu's study, and say thank you very much." If his good words in front of His Highness come true, I will ensure that his official career will be prosperous and the road will be open in the future."
The palace maid obeyed the order, folded the banknote in her sleeve, secretly walked out of the inner courtyard, followed the wall to Lan Yuan's study, but saw that every door and window was closed tightly, and she couldn't help but have doubts.
Just as she was about to knock on the door, she suddenly heard a small sound like a fly coming from the room. Out of curiosity, she tilted her head forward slightly, and her hearing was blurry; she took another step forward, and a few words seemed to change. It was so real; she still didn't think it was enough, so she leaned on the door panel and listened hard, and she heard someone rummaging through boxes and cabinets inside.
"Found it?" To her, this was an unfamiliar voice.
"Finally found it..." This was Lan Shidu's tone of voice, exactly.
"Cun Sijin, it was thanks to you that the witch's wish failed to come true. Lan is very grateful."
The palace maid immediately frowned: 'It turns out that this was a good show played by Mr. Lan and him, and he deceived Empress Geng...'
"Then, please go back and burn this letter. This matter must be kept strictly confidential, especially the prince cannot know about it!"
The palace maid was suddenly frightened and took a breath of cold air.
