Before visiting the Han family in person, Qi Lingzhan first went to Kunming Palace to meet Qi Yaoning.
She was much weaker than the last time they met. She leaned on the tea couch and advised Qi Lingzhan with the same words: her illness is beyond hope and if the prince loses his power in the future, the Yao Party will become dominant and the government will be unrest.
"Actually, brother understands in his heart that Zhaowei is the most suitable candidate in terms of status and character... Brother is just reluctant to let go."
Qi Lingzhan said: "I don't want to wrong any of you. It is your choice to enter the palace, but not hers."
"It can be hers... why can't it be hers?" Yao Ning sighed leisurely, "The Yongping Marquis Mansion treated her well, but in order to escape from the Marquis Mansion, she would rather marry someone like Han Feng... Brother, you also It’s too indulgent of her.”
Prince Li Sui was her heartache, which made her shed tears in front of Qi Lingzhan and beg him for his favor.
Although she is gentle to others, she rarely shows weakness. For this reason, she is like a begging female cat, showing her difficult situation to others again and again, in front of Zhaowei, in front of His Majesty, and now in front of her brother.
However, their reactions were all the same. They sympathized with her sadly, but they only advised her to take good care of her health and did not dare to respond to her.
On the way out of the palace in a sedan chair, Qi Ling closed his eyes and rested, but all he could think of was Qi Yaoning's tearful eyes. Her self-pitying words and recent ominous dreams repeatedly intertwined in his mind, making him feel sad, self-blame, and helpless.
He lifted the curtain and said to the coachman: "If you're not going back home, go to Han's house in Yanglou Lane."
A gentleman cautions himself. He was afraid that he would eventually be soft-hearted towards Yao Ning, and that one day he would put this heavy shackles on Zhao Wei.
It would be better to give up all the delusions before that. If Han Feng is reliable, let her fly far away with him to her northwest, and leave the whirlpool of Yongjing. It will be considered as a piece of his mind.
Putting aside his family background, he wanted to go to the Han family to take the exam for Han Feng in person.
When Han Feng stepped into the door, he saw Yongping Hou Sizi sitting in the high hall with a solemn posture. His mother was smiling carefully beside him, serving water and tea. He couldn't help feeling annoyed and secretly glared at Qi Lingzhan.
Qi Lingzhan was still wet. He raised his eyes to look at Han Feng, then slowly looked away, thinking: It is good and bad not to hide things with your face and to hide your crimes with your heart.
He asked Han Feng: "Your Majesty said that you want to stay in Yongjing. I only need to submit a word to the Ministry of Personnel. What do you think?"
Mother Han quickly winked at Han Feng, but Han Feng didn't appreciate it and said firmly: "No need to worry, Your Excellency, I will follow the arrangements of the officials."
Your Excellency... Qi Lingzhan smiled.
He knew how arrogant and powerful a noble son from a humble family was, so the censors of the entire dynasty were all humble ministers. But Han Fengruo couldn't tolerate even his few words. According to Weina's overbearing temperament, the two of them would have conflicts in the future.
Tell him that Han Feng should marry a virtuous wife like Shui Shui, and Zhao Wei should marry a gentle husband. The two of them cannot live together.
Qi Lingzhan simply told him: "This marriage is my own decision. My father and mother don't approve of it, and it's hard to regret it all of a sudden. If the Han family is willing to take the initiative to cancel the engagement, I can arrange for you to be the emperor's bodyguard. Become a deputy commander in the pro-army army. If you still want to marry my younger sister, you will go to Xizhou after your career is over in the next year."
Mother Han hurriedly asked: "A Feng is going to Xizhou, where is the second girl?"
"Naturally let him go."
Mother Han was surprised: "Would the Hou Mansion be willing to let the second girl go to Xizhou to eat sand?"
Qi Lingzhan chuckled lightly, "There's nothing to be reluctant to part with, it's just about taking the joy and sorrow for yourself."
This made Mother Han a little embarrassed.
In her opinion, the biggest benefit of the marriage to the Yongping Marquis Mansion is that it will benefit Han Feng's career and enable Han Feng to stay in Yongjing and become a powerful person. But from the prince's tone, it was clear that he didn't want to support his sister-in-law, so what should he do?
Mother Han thought for a while and thought: That's all, if you keep the golden hen, why don't you worry about whether it can lay golden eggs? When the uncooked rice is cooked, the Yongping Marquis Mansion has to help even if it doesn't want to.
Han Feng had different thoughts from hers, but they made the same choice. He bowed to Qi Ling and said categorically: "A man must fight for his own fame. How can he exchange his wife for it? I want to marry the second girl."
Han Feng's family background and temperament made Qi Lingzhan dissatisfied, but his choice surprised Qi Lingzhan.
He only met his good sister once, how could he be fascinated by her?
Qi Lingzhan felt unwilling to do so. He just made the decision when he came and didn't want to repeat it again. He stood up and dusted the corners of his clothes, took the stove handed over by Hirahiko, and said calmly: "In that case, I will leave first. The elders in your family will decide your affairs."
Han Feng sent him out.
Zhaowei didn't know this. She was wandering on the official road with her horse. When she saw Rong Yuqing's motorcade from a distance, she was so excited that she rode the horse forward.
"There is a strong wind in Qingcheng, and it has blown you, a living god, to Yongjing." Zhaowei raised her hand and punched Rong Yuqing, almost knocking him off his horse, "Look what good things I brought, Auntie, I want it Robbery.”
Rong Yuqing finally sat firmly on the saddle and exclaimed: "Thanks to your mother, you are well-behaved. When you meet your uncle, you don't just say hello and you ask for something from me."
After saying that, he pointed to the flat-top car behind him and said, "That locust wood box is for you."
Zhaowei was not in a hurry to get the meeting gift. He reined up his horse and said with a smile: "Not only do they want to rob you of your belongings, but there are unusual bandits in Yongjing. They want to make you never come back, and you can't even save yourself."
"Don't scare me," Rong Yuqing narrowed his eyes and smiled, "I still want to go home and hold my son!"
Zhaowei's eyes lit up, "What, my aunt is pregnant?"
"It's been five months. Wen Po said he must be a big fat boy."
Zhaowei disapproved and grunted: "It's better to be a girl. My mother is more useful than you."
Rong Yuqing said: "Of course it's nice to have a girl like my sister. I'm afraid if she is born with the same temperament as you, the three bricks and two tiles in my house won't be enough for her to tear down."
When Zhaowei heard this, she raised her riding whip and said, "I'll kill you first!"
Rong Yuqing used his horse to dodge, and the two of them entered the city first with playful smiles on their faces, leaving the convoy behind to slowly cross the city gate.
On the way to the Marquis Yongping's Mansion, Rong Yuqing asked about Qi Lingzhan, and there was a rare serious look on his face.
"The prince's elegant name is also heard in Qingcheng. Your mother praises him endlessly and treats him as her own son. But I have met him once and I always feel that he has a deep palace. In your opinion, Zhao Wei, Is he a good brother?"
Zhaowei said: "He treats his mother with great respect, and he treats me well. I owe him a favor, and I'm afraid I won't be able to repay it in this life. But as you said, this person has too deep thoughts, and I have different ways from him, so it's difficult for me to pay him back." For conspiracy."
"It's hard to plot..." Rong Yuqing thought about this sentence carefully.
It was Qi Lingzhan who told him the idea of asking him to come out to do the business of grain transportation in Lianghuai. In addition, there was another reason. His sister said in the letter that Zhaowei had thoughts of marrying far away, which made her reluctant to give up. , and wanted to invite his uncle to come to Beijing to retain her.
Thinking of this matter, Rong Yuqing couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. How could he persuade his little ancestor?
Today, the Marquis Mansion is particularly lively. Rong Yuqing comes to visit with gifts. Marquis Yongping returns home from the Taoist Temple Jingshe and picks up the old lady from another courtyard on the way.
As soon as the old lady came back, she took refuge in Rongantang. She only met everyone once and said a few words, which saved the younger members of the family from having to worry about the morning and evening. Qi Lingzhan stayed in Rong'an Hall for a while. When he came out, he saw Zhaowei wandering at the door of Yue Cave, picking up a longyoumei plant that was in full bloom.
"Brother." Zhaowei saw him coming out and walked forward quickly.
Qi Lingzhan stopped and looked at her: "Are you waiting for me?"
Zhaowei took out a fragrant wood tea box from his arms and said it was a gift from his uncle, "It's the Kuding tablets I asked him to prepare. You can take it back and soak it in water with dried ginger to drink. It's good for your health."
This reminded Qi Lingzhan of the tea she had replaced without permission that night, and her tongue felt dry. He pushed the wooden tea box back and said dullly: "I don't want to take the medicine, you take it back."
"This is not medicine, this is tea!" Zhaowei was angry that he didn't know what was good and he stuffed the tea box into his arms, "Take it, or I'll sue my mother. Just hold it."
Qi Lingzhan sighed, casually picked up the tea box in his hand, and said, "No reward for no merit, tell me what's going on."
Zhaowei asked: "What did the old lady tell you just now? Is it related to Sister Yaoning?"
"Um."
"What exactly did you say?"
Qi Lingzhan glanced at her: "I want to write a letter. Come to the study and write it for me."
Zhao was slightly stunned, seeing that he had turned around the corridor, and hurriedly picked up her skirt to follow.
Qi Lingzhan's calligraphy was inherited from Huang Fu, a great master of the dynasty. He was good at cursive regular script, and his iron paintings and silver hooks had the momentum of breaking out of paper. Zhao Wei imitated his calligraphy when he was young, and there is a faint shadow of his past where he puts down the pen.
Unfortunately, since he injured his hands, it is no longer possible to use his wrists. The words he writes are as light as boneless, and only the remains of the romantic body are filled with paper.
Qi Lingzhan was sitting in the Taishi chair, stroking the clothes on his palms, and said slowly: "Uncle Jian'an: When I entered the palace yesterday, I saw that the queen was ill. She often missed her family and her cousin Pingzhi during the conversation. Because Thinking of our friendship and feeling the impending loss, I want to call Pingzhi into the palace to serve the sick and live in Kunming Palace forever. I wonder if my cousin Pingzhi has made an engagement, would you like to meet her?"
After writing in the photo, he put down his pen and spread the letter paper in front of the window to dry. He looked down at the words on the paper and asked Qi Lingzhan: "Is it because you asked Qi Pingzhi to serve in the palace because you think your sister has lived too long?" Whose idea was this, Sister Yaoning or the old lady?"
Qi Lingzhan said: "This is the only choice at the moment."
Mrs. Qi had two sons, the eldest son Qi Zhongyuan and the second son Qi Zhongyi. Because the second son had military exploits, she did not let the eldest son take the title. For this reason, the relationship between the two Qi families was not good. Qi Pingzhi is the daughter of Qi's family. She has listened to her mother's indoctrination about the grievances between the two families since she was a child, and she hates Qi Zhongyi's family. When she was a child, she once pushed Yao Ning into an ice lake. If Zhaowei hadn't discovered it, she would have almost died.
Recalling the old events, Zhao Wei was dissatisfied: "I don't believe she will listen to her sister, let alone treat the prince with care."
"There is a grandmother at home and His Majesty in the palace. If she knows what is good and what is bad, she will not act rashly," Qi Lingzhan said. "Otherwise, there is no way to have both ends."
Silently, fold the dry letter paper in half, put it in an envelope and seal it with wax.
It was already dusk. The maids were lighting lamps in the courtyard and pasting red paper on the lamps. Their laughter spread into the study. There was still a drop of water in the study, and Zhaowei and Qi Lingzhan were sitting across from each other speechless. She raised her eyes to look at him, and saw the golden light gradually dimming, slowly flowing through his robes, leaving him in the shadows, like in a cold temple. The closed-eyed Buddha lost its incense and turned into a pale jade sculpture.
Zhaowei always thought he was hateful, but now she suddenly felt a little pitiful about him.
She said in a low voice: "Who do you want to be with? One is sister Yaoning, and the other is me, right? This matter should have fallen on me. My sister wants me to enter the palace, and my mother doesn't seem to object. , but you never mentioned it to me, why is that?"
Qi Lingzhan picked up the letter on the table and did not answer her question. Instead, he mentioned Han Feng, "Are you really going to marry him? If you stay in Yongjing, I can find you a more suitable family."
people. "
Zhaowei shook his head, "The Yongping Marquis Mansion has become extremely powerful, and I am not in need of someone to add to it. Brother, I know in my heart that I am not the only one who can do it, but the one who can do it is Xizhou."
Qi Lingzhan's eyes darkened slightly, "What is there in Xizhou? A pile of dead bodies is worth it for you to abandon your family and mother. Don't forget, your surname is Qi now, not Xu."
