After getting off the horse, the door of the mansion opened wide. Zhao Yu came out first, followed by a woman, and finally Zhao Dexun and a younger woman.
Gu Qi stood behind Yuan Zhe, secretly looking at everyone.
The woman next to Zhao Yu is elegant and elegant. Although she looks younger than Zhao Yu, she also has a few gray hairs on her temples. She must be Mrs. Zhao.
"Meet His Highness King Zhe."
"Get up." Yuan Zhe raised his hand.
Zhao Yu straightened up and was a little surprised to see Gu Qi there.
Gu Qi bowed and said, "General Zhao, long time no see."
Zhao Yu was a little dazed, and Zhao Dexun said something in his ear.
"It turns out to be Mr. Pei," Zhao Yu stepped forward and held up Gu Qi's arm with both hands: "It's my fault that I didn't see it because of my poor eyesight."
"You're welcome, General."
Yuan Zhe seemed tired of the pleasantries and interrupted: "It's cold outside, let's go in and talk."
Zhao Yu said "please", and Yuan Zhe stepped into the courtyard.
Zhao Dexun stepped forward to help Gu Qi and followed closely behind Yuan Zhe.
Entering the main hall, the maid had prepared hot tea early. After everyone sat down, there was another round of greetings.
After the greetings, Zhao Yu said: "Your Highness came here this time for the sake of Princess Zheng?"
Gu Qi looked at Yuan Zhe and saw that the circles under his eyes were slightly red. He slowly put down the tea cup he had picked up, and finally replied "hmm".
Zhao Yu sighed and patted the woman's hand.
Mrs. Zhao understood, took over Zhao Yu's words and said, "How are you going to handle the anniversary of Sister Ning's death tomorrow?"
Gu Qi was a little surprised. The tone of this woman's conversation with Yuan Zhe was completely different from that of Zhao Yu.
Turning to look at Yuan Zhe, he saw that Yuan Zhe's eyes were getting redder.
He seemed to be holding back the strong emotions, and the accumulated tears did not burst out.
After a long while, Yuan Zhe said: "I won't do it."
Gu Qi picked up the tea cup and looked at Mrs. Zhao again.
The woman had already shed tears. Seeing Gu Qi's presence, she quickly wiped them away with a handkerchief.
"In previous years, His Majesty arranged for a great ceremony to be held. Since Your Highness is back, why not hold a grand ceremony so as to appease the spirit of the concubine in heaven."
As soon as Zhao Dexun finished speaking, he heard Zhao Yu scolding: "Your Highness has his own arrangements! How can you allow you to interrupt so rudely!"
The little girl next to him saw that Zhao Dexun was stunned and stood up and said, "What did my brother say wrong? If uncle is not willing to take care of it, I am afraid that your majesty will not even do rituals in the future. It will be even harder for grandpa to see Aunt Wan Ning."
Zhao Yu's face turned red and white. He glanced at Gu Qi urgently, pulled his neck and shouted, "Ziying! What nonsense are you talking about!"
After saying that, he hurriedly stood up and saluted Yuan Zhe: "Your Highness, please forgive me for lax discipline!"
Yuan Zhe closed his eyes and waved his hand.
Zhao Yu turned around and glared at Zhao Dexun, who hurriedly dragged Zhao Ziying out.
Mrs. Zhao glanced at Gu Qi from time to time, but hesitated to speak.
Gu Qi knew it was unnecessary, so she had to stand up and said: "Your Highness, please go out and get some fresh air."
Yuan Zhe didn't raise his eyes, just nodded.
As soon as he left the main hall, he was blocked in the courtyard by Zhao Ziying.
"Who are you?"
At the age of twelve or thirteen, he was raised like a wild boy, with an air of fearlessness.
"Ziying! You're fooling around again!" Zhao Dexun came over with a plate of fruit. When he saw her stopping Gu Qi, he walked over and scolded her softly.
"It's okay, Brother Zhao," Gu Qi smiled and introduced himself seriously: "I am Pei Qihuan, from Zezhou."
Zhao Ziying rolled her eyes: "Pei Qihuan? Never heard of it."
Zhao Dexun rolled his eyes at her and pulled her aside: "You don't know much. Brother Pei, let's go sit in my yard."
"good."
Zhao Dexun stuffed the fruit plate into Zhao Ziying's arms and helped Gu Qi to walk to his yard.
Zhao Ziying followed behind with a fruit plate in her hands, asking questions along the way without any taboo about the differences between men and women.
"So, you have known each other since we were in Qingzhou?" Zhao Ziying asked curiously while chewing the fruit.
"That's right."
"Your home is in Zezhou. If you were to enter the capital, you should take the waterway to Tuzhou. Why did you take a long detour to Qingzhou instead?"
Gu Qi put down the tea cup in his hand and replied: "I am ill, so it may be inconvenient to walk by water."
After Zhao Ziying heard this, he looked Gu Qi up and down again and said, "No wonder, I see you are so thin, you seem to be suffering from a hidden illness. Then your illness..."
Zhao Dexun took the fruit from the plate and put it into her hand, interrupting her.
She turned her head and saw her brother staring at her, so she wisely shut her mouth.
Gu Qi looked sad, but pretended to be strong. She sniffed and said with a hint of sadness: "Oh, the weak disease carried in the mother's womb will neither die nor be cured."
Sure enough, he gained the sympathy of the Zhao brothers and sisters.
Zhao Ziying looked guilty, lowered her head and said "Sorry".
"By the way," Gu Qi asked tentatively: "The 'Mr. Zheng' you are talking about is the same as General Zheng..."
Before Zhao Dexun could answer, Zhao Ziying spoke first: "Concubine Zheng is the daughter of General Zheng Xu, her name is Zheng Wanning, and she is my aunt."
"No wonder."
Gu Qi suddenly remembered what Li Mao had said. Zhao Liangren was the daughter of Zhao Yu's original wife, Xue Qin. This marriage was given by the late emperor. Was it also the late emperor's will to marry Zheng Xu's daughter? Zheng Xu has a high position and great influence in the army. The marriage between the Zheng family and the Zhao family is not what an emperor wants to see. Come to think of it, Concubine Zheng played a certain role in this.
Suddenly, Gu Qi suddenly remembered what Zhao Ziying had just said in front of the hall, and her head buzzed!
Gu Qimeng grabbed Zhao Ziying's arm and said, "What did you call His Highness King Zhe just now? Uncle?"
"You hurt me!" Zhao Ziying swung hard and Gu Qi was almost pulled out.
"Sorry," Gu Qi let go, picked up the tea cup and took a sip, swallowing a few tea leaves together.
The water has cooled down, and it feels cooling when swallowed, and people feel calmer a lot.
"Brother Pei, what's wrong with you?" Zhao Dexun saw Gu Qi curling up slightly, got up and came over.
"It's okay." Gu Qi waved her hand and straightened up.
"I'll give you some more tea to warm you up."
Gu Qi waved her hand: "No need, Brother Zhao."
Zhao Ziying kept her eyes wide open, and when she saw Zhao Dexun getting up, she quickly sat down in Zhao Dexun's seat, turned away and stopped talking.
Zhao Dexun rubbed Zhao Ziying's head and sat across from Gu Qi: "His Royal Highness King Zhe's biological mother is brother and sister to General Zheng. In terms of seniority, we want to call His Highness King Zhe 'uncle'. But there is only one son." Ying dares to call him that."
Now that Gu Qi has finally sorted out their relationship, it is no wonder that Yuan Zhe has a close relationship with the Zhao family.
Gu Qi glanced at Zhao Ziying, she was still angry. He could only apologize and said with a smile: "I didn't know that His Highness King Zhe had such a relationship with Brother Zhao. I didn't expect that you are royal relatives, so I was a little confused. I hope Miss Zhao can forgive me."
She was generous, raised her hand and said, "Forget it."
After that, he returned to his lively appearance and completely forgot about the unpleasantness just now.
After a while, two maids came over to deliver a message.
"Sir, miss. The master asked me to send a message that His Highness is leaving and to ask Mr. Pei to go back quickly."
Gu Qi and the Zhao brothers and sisters stood up, and Zhao Dexun asked the maid: "Why don't you stay for dinner this time?"
The maid replied: "I don't know very well."
"I don't want to keep Your Highness waiting. I'll go over first and say goodbye to you two here." Gu Qi stood up on tiptoes and walked back quickly.
As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he saw Yuan Zhe coming out of the front hall, with tears on Mrs. Zhao's face beside her.
"There is still a long way to go, so take care of yourself." Yuan Zhe comforted Mrs. Zhao.
Mrs. Zhao shed two tears and nodded.
"General, madam, take your leave." Gu Qi saluted Zhao Yu and his wife and followed Yuan Zhe to the door.
The carriage was ready at the door early, and Gu Qi looked at Yuan Zhe.
Yuan Zhe just said: "Let's go." He got into the car first.
Along the way, Yuan Zhe remained silent. Gu Qi took a peek and saw that his eyes were red and he was thinking about something.
"I once had a younger brother..."
"You don't want to use your miserable story to comfort my heart, do you?"
The rare empathy was shattered into pieces. He swallowed back the unfinished words.
"It seems that Your Highness does not need any relief."
Yuan Zhe closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "I need it."
Afterwards, he opened his eyes and looked at Gu Qi: "I just don't want you to re-open the scars."
Gu Qi paused, her nose felt sour, she turned away and rubbed her eyes.
"What did you find out today? Are you going to report it to Yuan Chengxi?"
Yuan Zhe's voice came from behind, and the sadness he had just felt quickly dissipated.
"Your Highness, when it comes to destroying the atmosphere, you are the number one person."
"Yes, it's my honor." He forced a smile, but there was a look of exhaustion in his eyes.
Gu Qi pretended to be relaxed: "Then I have to think carefully about what news I can report to His Majesty."
He laughed and stopped talking, folded his hands on his chest, closed his eyes and took a nap.
Gu Qiye closed his mouth knowingly. Seeing that he was still sitting upright despite being so tired, he felt inexplicably sad.
When they arrived at the gate of the palace, they got off the carriage with Yuan Zhe and walked towards the small courtyard of Zhudi.
Yuan Zhe seemed to deliberately slow down and did not leave Gu Qi alone.
Gu Qi dragged the injury on his ankle and walked along the wall, but could not get any faster.
"Your Highness, why don't you go back first? There is no need to wait for me."
Yuan Zhe said with a smile: "Didn't Master Pei say that he wanted to protect me? Why are you here, but you want to drive me away?"
"Your Highness is not angry, so why bother to be sour."
Yuan Zhe stopped, looked down at Gu Qi's ankle, and said, "Why does it seem to be more swollen?"
On the way back, she felt vaguely hot and stinging from the wound. When she heard his words, Gu Qi's heart started to feel hot. He gritted his teeth and said, "It's not a gift from His Highness."
"Yeah," he nodded with satisfaction and said, "We're even."
Gu Qi smiled bitterly, he must be repaid for his anger.
"Then I really want to thank Your Majesty."
Walking near the Hanlin Academy, Hanlin bachelors walked together in twos and threes, chatting endlessly about knowledge. Gu Qi looked up and saw Chang Bin not far away, chatting with his companions.
She was about to wave when she suddenly felt someone approaching her, and then her feet left the ground.
"Your Highness!"
Gu Qi exclaimed, and the people nearby looked in the direction of the sound.
It’s over! Can't tell clearly.
Looking in the direction of Chang Bin again, Chang Bin looked surprised, then suppressed a smile and trotted over with the others.
"His Royal Highness King Zhe."
Yuan Zhe said "Hmm", and in full view of everyone, he carried Gu Qi and turned into the direction of Zhudi's small courtyard.
"What are you doing covering your face?"
Gu Qi's face was so hot that he could only continue to cover it and growled: "Put me down!"
Yuan Zhe said as he walked: "If you keep walking on your feet, I'm afraid they will become useless."
After a while, I heard the voices of several palace maids: "His Royal Highness King Zhe!"
He still replied "Yeah", but Gu Qi heard the gossip behind him.
Next to this is Huanyifang, and the gossip that comes out can be compiled into a storybook and told for three days and three nights.
It’s over, it’s even more unclear.
