No. 1 Girl in the Imperial City

Chapter 526 How Many Sons Are There? (one more)
When the group returned to the city, the sun had just gotten angry in the morning, and after a long night, the streets of Wanhu City were deserted and deserted.

At the gate of the Wanhucheng County Yamen, the county magistrate Kong Yu paced back and forth anxiously at the gate, his neck stretched so long that he couldn't help but look at the end of the street frequently.There was also a general in armor standing beside him. The entire street at the gate of the county government office was full of soldiers with weapons in hand, and the whole street looked quiet and chilling.

"General Xiaolin, why hasn't the prince come back? Shall we send someone to check?"

The young general glanced sideways at him and said, "Lord Kong, the lord ordered us to be stationed in Wanhu County so that no one can disturb the people."

Kong Yu said: "But there is nothing wrong in the city now, but the prince, if something happens to the prince in Wanhu City, we can..." We can't bear it.

The young general didn't take it seriously, and said: "Since the prince has an order, I can just follow the order. What's more, if even the prince can't solve the affairs outside the city, you and I can't do anything."

Kong Yu looked at the young man in front of him and sighed, "Forget it, you have the final say if you have soldiers and horses."

Just when Kong Yu was worried, a group of people finally appeared at the end of the reception.Kong Yu was overjoyed when he took a closer look, and hurried to meet him.

"The next official welcomes the prince and concubine."

Xie Yan glanced at Kong Yu in front of him, and looked at the young general who was following behind him.

"My lord, the people in the city were not disturbed last night. Most of the people in the rivers and lakes had already left the city at dawn, and those who hadn't left were also law-abiding and did not disturb the people."

Xie Yan nodded, "Mr. Qu is back?"

"Mr. Qu came back just after dawn, and brought two people back."

Xie Yan nodded: "Very good."

Kong Yu looked at the people following Xie Yan, some of them were obviously prisoners, and some people from the rivers and lakes, and the rest were the soldiers of the Zhen Guojun and the guards of the palace.Kong Yu still hasn't figured out what His Royal Highness the Regent did in Wanhu City, and he also feels that he shouldn't ask about these things.

He just stepped forward courteously and invited the regent and princess to the county government office to rest.

A group of people entered the lobby of the county government office, and Qu Fang was already sitting in the lobby, well-dressed, waiting for them.

Seeing Xie Yan come in, Qu Fang got up and pointed to the ground not far away, saying: "He is there."

"Thank you." Xie Yan glanced at the two people on the ground and nodded slightly.

Qu Fang glanced at the few people who were escorted in behind, raised his eyebrows and said: "It seems that the prince's work is complete."

Xie Yan smiled, and pulled Luo Junyao to sit down on the main seat.

The hall was full of solemnity, Xie Yan and Luo Junyao sat at the main seats, Qu Fang and Qu Tiange were on the right, and Bai Xu was sitting on the other side.

It was inconvenient for Lei Yunmu and Yao Fu to participate in these matters, so they resigned early very tactfully.

Cao Mian and Wu Yi stood in the hall, and the young man was with them.It's just that compared to Cao Mian and Wu Yi, he looks much more embarrassed.

He was quite strong, and was severely injured by Qu Tiange during the fight.

Luo Junyao was playing with an exquisite golden Beaulieu Little Seal, but for some reason, a piece was missing in the middle of the golden seal.It was as if a piece had been dug out from the center of the seal. Although it looked like a seal on the outside, it was empty in the middle of the seal, unable to bear the usefulness that a seal should have.

Xie Yan looked at Cao Mian and said, "Marquis Wen Ding, what do you have to say now?"

Cao Mian smiled and said: "Now I am useless to the prince, so naturally I will let the prince dispose of it."

Xie Yan nodded slightly and said, "Okay, Cao's treason is an unforgivable crime. According to the law, he should be escorted back to the capital and executed immediately. In addition..."

Xie Yan pondered for a moment, and said: "There is news from Qingzhou that the Zhen Guojun and the Wuwei Army have attacked in two directions, and they have captured Qingzhou City three days ago. As for Yannan, your son has already been defeated by Gu Jue. Now the Cao clan, Only Cao Jie is at large. The others will all be escorted to Shangyong today."

Cao Mian was startled for a while before slowly saying: "Is it so fast? I overestimated them."

Xie Yan looked at the young man and asked, "This king doesn't know yet, what is his name?"

The young man sneered and said, "The regent is so well informed, does he know who I am?"

Xie Yan said: "I really don't know. The person who told me the news doesn't seem to know your identity. However, I have a little guess, but I don't know how to call you."

The young man's face darkened, he glanced at Cao Mian and didn't speak.

Cao Mian sighed and said, "Since the lord has guessed it, why bother to ask? He is my son, named Cao Ai."

Luo Junyao couldn't help asking: "Marquis Wen Ding, how many sons do you have?"

Next to him, Bai Xu burst out laughing, and said: "My concubine's question is good, as far as I know... Marquis Wen Ding, he has quite a lot of sons."

Not only Luo Junyao had strange eyes, but even Qu Fang and Qu Tiange couldn't help but look at Cao Mian.

It is not unusual for three wives and four concubines these days. For a large family, having many children and grandchildren is a symbol of blessing.

Apart from his original wife, this Marquis Wen Ding only had one or two concubines, not to mention not many children.

Why did he have to create a bunch of illegitimate children?

Luo Junyao looked at Bai Xu, "Master Bai knows?"

Bai Xu said: "I know, among the young masters Wen Dinghou left the mansion, there are at least seven or eight young masters under his knees who are unknown to outsiders, right? But I haven't seen many of these, oh... Luan Yisi There is one next to the master."

"As for this one..." Bai Xu pointed to Cao Ai standing in the hall, and said, "This one, I met when I lived in Wen Dinghou's house more than ten years ago, seems to be a son that Wen Dinghou values ​​very much. , but I don’t know why, Wen Dinghou has not disclosed his identity to the public.”

Cao Mian glanced at Bai Xu calmly, and said calmly, "Master Bai, this is the Marquis's private matter and has nothing to do with you."

Bai Xu said with a smile: "So it's just a private matter? I thought that Marquis Wen Ding had a different heart a long time ago, thinking that outsiders are unreliable, so he raised so many sons in secret."

Luo Junyao blinked his eyes, feeling that Bai Xu's guess seemed somewhat reasonable.

After all, in an era when men could legally take concubines and have concubines, Cao Mian's operation was indeed suspicious.

Cao Mian did not refute, "Bai Gongzi thinks so, so it is."

Bai Xu sneered, and said: "I'm not interested in Wen Dinghou's son or the Panlong Seal, Lord Marquis, now that things have come to an end, please take out my father's letter."

Cao Mian said with a faint smile: "I have fallen to this point, and Mr. Bai also contributed a lot. Do you think... I will give it to you?"

Bai Xu narrowed his eyes slightly and said: "Master Hou, don't want to spout blood. It seems that you have nothing to do with Bai."

"Really?" Cao Mian didn't know if it was possible, and said indifferently: "The scholars of Yunhai Academy, without anyone's help, they were able to escape Qingzhou easily? Could it be that it was Mr. Bai's handwriting?"

Bai Xu said with a smile: "Master Hou, I'm afraid I have been wronged. I also heard that Master Hou was trapped in Bingzhou. I was afraid that you would die accidentally, so I came all the way here."

Cao Mian said: "So, the manuscript that Mr. Bai wanted has been destroyed."

　Well, it's two o'clock at ten.

　　It's the last day of 2022. Happy New Year's Day to everyone in advance!Happy new year everyone, everything goes well, new year and new atmosphere!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)