His Royal Highness the King of Jin actually spoke for a woman.
Zhou Xueying and Zhang Chengru were both surprised, but they had different thoughts. Being scolded by the eldest prince in person for reprimanding his wife, and comparing him to the emperor and empress, made Zhang Chengru feel very guilty. He had been in the officialdom for many years and was used to being cautious. A word or even an expression from above could make him figure it out for a long time. This is what it means to be an official. road.
It was probably because I was so angry that I lost my temper like this. Oh, I shouldn’t, I really shouldn’t. How does this make the eldest prince see him? Ah, after communicating with His Majesty and his son, what good things can be said about this? It’s over. , I really lost everything with one careless move. It seems that there is no hope of improvement and the future is slim.
Thinking of this, a grimace appeared on his face involuntarily, and he felt regretful in his heart.
But Zhou Xueying was thinking about another matter. Naturally, as proud as she was, she would not think that the eldest prince would have any thoughts about the wife of a minister, but this gave her hope.
It turns out that all the men in the royal family care so much about their wives. Look at the emperor and the empress, don't tell me this is true. Everyone knows that His Majesty loves the Concubine, but only a woman can understand the intimacy and tacit understanding between His Majesty and the Queen, and that superficial love and inner cherishment are not the same thing.
The more Zhou Xueying looked at it, the more she felt that marrying into the royal family was the right path.
Today she has been defeated by the eldest prince, and I am afraid there will be no hope for her in the future. It doesn't matter, there are still the second prince, the third prince, the fifth prince...
Zhou Xueying made up her mind not to waste time, so she stopped crying and stopped defending. She regarded herself as a tree and stood there silently waiting to leave.
Shen Que took a look at Zhang Chengru's face. He was a little worried, a little depressed, and a little... useless. Why did he fall in love with him at first glance? He really had never seen the world, so it was really not good to look at him like this.
Looking at "myself" next to him, the two sides looked so incompatible together.
Shen Que couldn't help but think of how Zhang Chengru had treated her over the years.
On weekdays, he would never set foot in her yard unless he had nothing to do. He would always take Zhou Xueying with him on any occasion that required the couple to attend. But if anything went wrong at home, all the responsibilities would be hers. Thinking about it now, Li Luansong said You're right, she was really miserable.
There was such a big fuss today, and based on Shen Que's understanding of Zhang Chengru, he would definitely vent his anger on "himself", and Li Luansong continued to live in peace, although he was definitely not at the mercy of the Zhang family like he was. However, after all, he is the eldest son of the emperor and a general with great military exploits. It is already unfortunate enough that he is trapped in this house. How can he cause trouble to him.
This Zhang Chengru must find something to do for him so that when he is busy, he will have no time to cause trouble at home.
With the direction in mind, Shen did think of something that His Majesty mentioned to him a few days ago.
Autumn of this year is almost here. As soon as the summer is over, preparations for the imperial examination must be intensive. Listing, registration, test papers, invigilation, marking, grading... a series of things need to be led by one person, and then officials are elected and assigned to each province.
The emperor's father handed over this matter to His Highness Prince Jin.
Nowadays, Daye is in urgent need of talents, and at the time of establishing a prince, Shen Qing understands His Majesty's thoughts. This father still really feels sorry for his eldest son, and hopes that he will preside over the imperial examination, so that the students who succeed in the future will naturally enter the official career. Think of his goodness.
This is to win people's hearts for him, so she has accepted this good job for Li Luansong.
However, he couldn't do everything personally when he was in charge of the overall situation. He also needed one person to take the lead. Shen Que set his sights on Zhang Chengru.
"Shilang Zhang."
She called him, her tone calm.
"I'm here." Zhang Chengru leaned over and responded.
"His Majesty has discussed with me this year's Qiu Wei, and I recommended Zhang Shilang to host it. What do you think?"
Zhang Chengru was startled, Qiu Wei, let him host it? Is there such a good thing?
Once every three years in Qiu Wei, the person who presides over the work must be the person appointed by the Emperor. Look at these people, which one of them is not a talent that His Majesty relies on, and it will be a success in the future.
This is something that can only be done with merit.
Zhang Chengru hurriedly said: "My lord, thank you very much, Your Highness. I will do my best not to disappoint Your Highness and His Majesty."
Shen Que nodded, looked at Li Luansong and said: "I remember that Zhang Shilang was the top talent in the imperial examination for eight years. He is familiar with the imperial examinations and is serious about official affairs. I believe he will be qualified for the job. Then the matter is settled."
As soon as the matter was finished, Eunuch Shi ran over holding his hat and said, "Your Highness, His Majesty is looking for you everywhere."
In this case, everyone bowed to His Highness King Jin and watched her go away.
Before Shen Que left, he glanced at Li Luansong again. He was also secretly looking at her. Their eyes met and each received encouragement from the other.
After the four people dispersed, a figure hiding not far away quietly left.
Under the moonlight, the three people walked together awkwardly.
Zhou Xueying followed the two of them step by step, and now she really looked like a well-behaved and obedient maid.
Li Luansong glanced at her and quickened his pace, and Zhang Chengru also followed him to speed up.
"Brother Chengru."
Zhou Xueying called him from behind, "Are you angry with me? I have my own reasons, so you can't listen to me..."
"Xueying." Zhang Chengru also paused, his voice trembling a little, "I heard everything you said to His Highness the King of Jin just now. I have treated you better than anyone else over the years. I have been in and out of love with you all day long. In the eyes of outsiders, I already treat you as my wife, and I think of you for all the good things I have. However, after hearing your heartfelt words today, I woke up from a dream, and it turns out that you have been using me all along."
"Xueying, I'm very sad. My feelings for you were true, but you threw them away ruthlessly. I didn't expect that you only wanted to climb high. You don't have to explain anymore. Our fate ends here. I wish you a speedy flight. Go up the branch.”
"Zhang Chengru." Zhou Xueying's voice sounded a bit sharp, not her usual delicate demeanor. Zhang Chengru was also a little surprised and turned to look at her.
Probably because she didn’t want to pretend anymore, the woman had tears on her face and sneered:
"You don't have to be so arrogant. You and I grew up together. I originally thought we were destined to be married for life. But what did you do when my family was in trouble? What did your mother do? You were afraid that I would harm your Zhang family. , you are afraid that because I have hindered your career, the originally agreed engagement will be postponed again and again, do you think I can't see that?"
"Zhang Chengru, I don't deny that you have been nice to me, but you are too cowardly. What is your love worth? You have listened to your mother all your life. You will marry whoever she tells you to marry. Your Zhang family has taken advantage of it. Be careful of retribution one day."
"Zhou Xueying." Zhang Chengru said angrily, "You are ungrateful."
"Zhang Chengru, you are not a man."
Under the moonlight, the two people stared at each other angrily. The lovers who used to be passionate and affectionate were now at war with each other and turned against each other. It was embarrassing to watch.
Li Luansong was standing aside, folding his arms and sighing. Suddenly, the two men's eyes were directed towards him, which frightened the melon-eating crowd. He turned around and left, fearing that he would be splashed with blood if he was too late.
On the other side, Eunuch Shi led Shen Que towards the main hall, mumbling:
"It's all the slave's fault. Those little ladies got into the Peach Garden and disturbed His Highness. I didn't know about it until I saw Yue Yue. It's all my fault."
Shen Que lowered his head and was still thinking about what happened just now and didn't answer him.
The father-in-law felt guilty and thought, maybe His Highness is angry, so he quickly said: "If His Highness is angry, then he will punish the old slave. The old slave will never say anything. This matter is indeed the fault of the old slave, and so is the slave..."
"Eunuch Shi." He rambled endlessly, but Shen Que was interrupted by him. He stretched out his hand to stop him: "It deserves punishment."
Eunuch Shi stumbled and thought to himself, it's over, His Highness really wants to punish him. In the past, His Highness punished him by either walking on horseback, walking on wooden poles, or asking him to practice boxing. That was simply too much for his old bones. Life is worse than death.
"Your Highness, this servant realizes his mistake and will never do it again in the future."
"Your Highness, if you want to punish the slave, the slave will continue to punish you. This is all His Highness's wish for the slave. The slave is happy with it."
He was in tears.
Shen Que glanced at him, rubbed his brows, and said, "You really talk too much. Starting today, I will punish you not to speak for three days."
"Ah." Eunuch Shi was stunned, "How can I serve His Highness if I don't speak?"
"Four days." Shen Que pointed at him.
"But Your Highness..."
"Five days."
"ah……"
"Six days."
Father-in-law Shi really didn't dare to open his mouth. If he opened his mouth again, he would have to be mute for the rest of his life. He covered his mouth with both hands, and the facial features on his face were wrinkled together.
The world was finally quiet. Shen Que was very satisfied and quickened his pace.
Beside the royal road near the main hall, there were two weeping willow trees that were growing well. The night wind was blowing, and two familiar figures under the trees caught Shen Que's attention.
They are the fifth elder Li Luanhong and the fifth lady Zhang Guanhua.
How come they are together? With a flash in his mind, Shen indeed walked into the hall without stopping.
When the noise came, Zhang Guanhua blushed with embarrassment, bowed to Li Luanhong again, and said: "Thank you for your love, Your Highness. I have gone back, and I will see Your Highness another day."
She disappeared into the night like a deer, leaving behind only Li Luanhong, who was dazed and confused.
*
Above the banquet, the lights were bright, and several sisters-in-law of the Zhang family gathered together again.
"Sister-in-law is very stingy to us. Who would have thought that today I would be dressed up with so much jewels? I bet the boss will enrich his own pocket."
Song Qingyue has wanted to be a housekeeper for a long time, and she always felt that it was unbalanced for the big fat piece of Zhang family to fall into the hands of Shen Que. However, even if her mother-in-law Gu didn't like Shen Que, she still asked her to take care of the house. It was really confusing.
Wang Peilan also echoed in a weird way: "Sister-in-law has gone too far."
She was even more happy to see Song Qingyue and Shen Que fighting each other, fearing that the world would not be in chaos, and then looking at Li Luansong's high-end goods, she wanted to tear them off immediately.
Li Luansong drank tea with his head down and ignored them. Zhang Chengru on the side was still immersed in his own little emotions and ignored the aggressiveness of the women here.
"Wu Niang is here." Wang Peilan said, and everyone looked at the door.
Zhang Guanhua came over with a little red face, taking small steps and being carried by the wind.
He looks very high-spirited.
"How is it? Is there any progress? How does the eldest prince treat you?"
Everyone's attention was attracted by Zhang Guanhua, and Li Luansong also pricked up his ears when he heard his name.
"No, it's not the eldest prince." Zhang Guanhua said coquettishly: "There are too many people at the eldest prince's side, they are in groups, so there is no place for me."
Li Luansong took a breath and thanked Shen Que again in his heart. She was really his lucky star.
Wang Peilan said: "His Royal Highness Jin is both civilized and military, and he is favored by the emperor and empress. In addition, he is the eldest son. How could the position of prince fall to someone else? Didn't you even talk to him?"
Zhang Guanhua said no, "But I met the fifth prince. He was very kind. He stood alone under a tree and admired the moon, as if the tree was facing the wind. He was also... very gentle to me."
The girl looked shy, lowered her head and said in a voice like a mosquito: "We had a good chat, and he even praised me for being cute."
"Plop!" Li Luansong couldn't hold back and squirted out a mouthful of water: "Fool, keep your eyes open and look at people. Don't jump into the fire pit yourself."
"Sister-in-law, why are you talking like this?" Zhang Guanhua glanced at her and said angrily: "I am in a bad mood and don't care about you. Let's see how my mother teaches you a lesson."
This sentence made both Song Qingyue and Wang Peilan very satisfied.
Li Luansong shook his head speechlessly, wondering who Lao Wu was. Yue Nu had countless reputations, but if he went out to inquire, he wouldn't rush up with his eyes closed.
Well, those who can't be persuaded are destined to die.
