White Fence Dream

Chapter 278 Arrangement
The crackling sound of firecrackers rang out on the street in front of the Prince of Chu's palace, attracting children from all around to run around clapping their hands.

"The King of Chu has married."

Hearing these words, passers-by were somewhat confused. Didn't she just get married? Did she remember it wrong?

"No, it was His Majesty who said that the King of Chu had a wife and a son, and that it was time for him to get serious about his work, and that he should go to the Ten Thousand Cavalry Camp for training. The King of Chu was congratulated for receiving this gift."

So that's how it is. The Wanqi Battalion is the emperor's confidant and a top priority.

Of course, it is also the place where the most royal relatives hold office.

However, at that time, Empress Jiang killed or demoted the royal family, and there were no royal family members in the Wanqi Battalion.

"I thought the King of Chu would be driven out of the capital after he got married."

"It is said that Princess Jinyu made a suggestion to His Majesty."

"Your Majesty did not drive him out, but let him join the Ten Thousand Cavalry Camp."

"It can be seen that His Majesty really likes this nephew."

"The King of Chu has come out——"

As the voices were heard, people on the street looked towards the Prince of Chu's palace and saw a team of guards appear, followed by the Prince of Chu, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, getting into his carriage and speeding away.

"Where are we going?"

"Go to the palace to express your gratitude?"

"Go to the Wanqi Camp?"

But the news soon spread. The King of Chu did not go to either place. He went to the Xinghua Tower, where a group of playboys were waiting to celebrate with him. It was said that the King of Chu said he would party all night and promised to find official positions for everyone.
People on the street were angry and amused, but they also felt that there was nothing surprising about it. Although the King of Chu was no longer called Shangguan Yue, his habits remained the same.

Compared to the hustle and bustle of Xinghua Tower, the teahouse next to it was much quieter and did not attract much attention.

Hearing a gentle knock on the door, Zhou Jingyun, who was standing by the window, walked quickly over to open it. It seemed that there was wind blowing, and his vision was a little blurry, but it became clear the next moment. Bai Li was standing at the door and smiled at him.

"I thought you were waiting over there." She said with a smile.

Zhou Jingyun smiled and let her in: "I came early, no one noticed me yet." Then he asked, "Didn't Nannan come with you?"

"We're not going out to play, so why not bring her along?" Bai Li said, "Don't you know she's getting harder and harder to take care of? She already refuses to stay in the courtyard, and now she's wandering around the palace every day. If we take her out, she'll definitely refuse to stay in the palace."

"All children are like this." Zhou Jingyun said with a smile.

Bai Li glanced at him and said, "This is your first time taking care of a child too. You sound like you know a lot about it."

Zhou Jingyun nodded: "I am good at studying and doing things, so I can integrate everything I have learned, and I am also good at taking care of children."

Bai Li laughed: "I'm not praising you."

Zhou Jingyun smiled but said nothing, sitting down to make tea: "This official position of the King of Chu was arranged by Concubine Bai, right?"

Bai Li watched him brew tea. "Yes, she invited me to share the glory and also expressed her support for Li Yu. So His Majesty originally wanted to let us leave the capital to go to the fiefdom, but she persuaded His Majesty to get Li Yu a job in the Wanqi Battalion."

"The Ten Thousand Cavalry Camp is indeed very sincere." Zhou Jingyun said, handing a cup of tea to Bai Li. "Entering the Ten Thousand Cavalry Camp, the King of Chu is equivalent to standing next to His Majesty."

Bai Li took the tea and said, "My sister is very kind to others. I treat people with all my heart."

"She is really kind-hearted," Zhou Jingyun said, pushing another plate of dessert over. "This tea goes best with this, try it."

Bai Li asked: "Have you tried it?"

Zhou Jingyun nodded: "I have tried it."

Knowing that they would meet here today, he came early to carefully taste the teahouse's snacks.

Bai Li looked at him and smiled without saying anything else, holding his tea and taking a bite of the snack.

Zhou Jingyun didn't say anything else and continued to brew tea. The summer breeze swirled and the fragrance of tea filled the air.

The silence did not last long. The door was opened again and Zhang Ze walked in, his eyes sweeping over the two people sitting opposite him.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." He bowed respectfully.

Bai Li smiled and said, "No need to be polite, Zhongcheng. Please take a seat."

Zhang Ze took a look at her. The young woman in his sight had beautiful eyes and eyebrows. In fact, she looked very similar to Bai Ying. No, they couldn’t be similar. If they were, she would not be the empress, but just a girl from the Bai family.

"Your Majesty, please don't meet with the prince too often recently, so as to avoid being discovered." He said.

As the words fell, the woman in front of him sat up straight, holding the teacup. Her beautiful face rippled like water in his sight, and her eyebrows raised: "Zhang Ze, I am a ghost, who can find me? It's good that you are not found."

Zhang Ze bowed again: "Yes, I will be careful."

The female voice beside my ear said with a smile, "Sit down."

Zhang Ze sat down as he was told, looked at the woman in front of him and drank a sip of tea.

"The Ten Thousand Cavalry Battalion isn't that good. Over the years, no royal relatives have intervened, and they all stayed here because of their real abilities." She said, "When the upstart Li Yu suddenly went there, they were bound to be tossed around."

Zhang Ze said, "Don't worry, Madam. This is just Bai Ying's perfunctory move. It won't be long before she makes another move."

His eyes flickered, and the woman put down the teacup, picked up a piece of dessert, and frowned: "But I don't think it's necessary, it's faster to get rid of Bai Ying immediately."

She looked at Zhang Ze.

"Zhang Ze, do you still have the evidence of the replacement of the heir to the throne?"

For example, the biological parents of the fake prince and the midwife who delivered the baby.

Zhang Ze looked at the face that had turned into Bai Li again and said, "It's not a good thing to do it so soon. Even if Bai Ying and the little prince are eliminated, the emperor has countless concubines in the harem and will give birth to a prince. Moreover, His Majesty is sensitive and suspicious. After all, you are Bai Ying's sister. If Bai Ying is eliminated, you and the King of Chu will not end well."

Bai Li said, "You really do have it?" Then he smiled and said, "My sister was wronged. You are still on guard against her."

Zhang Ze also smiled: "You should always leave a way out when doing things." Looking at this face that looked similar to Bai Ying, "I left a way out for myself before. Now that you have the Empress, everything I have will pave the way for you, just waiting for the day when you become the Empress."

The face in front of him changed again and turned into the appearance of Queen Jiang.

"Okay, I understand." She said, no longer looking at Zhang Ze, but at Zhou Jingyun, "Pour tea for Zhang Zhongcheng, maybe Zhang Zhongcheng can help me."

Zhou Jingyun lowered his eyes, poured the tea as instructed, and pushed it to Zhang Ze.

Zhang Ze picked up the tea and drank it all in one gulp: "Thank you, Your Majesty." Then he stood up and said, "I won't stay any longer."

The woman nodded: "Go ahead."

Zhang Ze got up and walked out. When he turned around to close the door, he saw that face had returned to its original appearance. She was smiling and pushing the teacup with both hands. The teacup moved little by little on the table and moved in front of Zhou Jingyun.

"I want a cup of tea too." Zhang Ze closed the door and frowned.

Why didn't Bai Li turn into Queen Jiang in front of Zhou Jingyun?

It can be seen that Zhou Jingyun's heart is not on the Empress.

Fortunately, he is there.

He will make her the real Queen Jiang.

Bai Li watched the tea being poured into the cup and ate some snacks.

"I didn't even ask." She said, "I should have let him in as soon as I walked in."

Let Queen Jiang come out to scare him. Before she could finish this sentence, Zhou Jingyun was already looking at her with a serious look in his eyes.

"Bai Li." He called out, "What others think of you is their business. You have to remember who you are."

Bai Li smiled: "I know, I know."

Zhou Jingyun absolutely did not want to see her use the identity of Queen Chiang.

Although she has used it many times.

She pushed the dessert plate toward him.

"Eat one, it's sweet."

Zhou Jingyun didn't say anything else. He picked up a piece of dessert and took a bite.

"Zhang Zeben was a cautious villain. Even when facing Queen Chiang, he would not leave a way out," he said.

The evidence of the little prince's authenticity is extremely important to Bai Ying and King Bailichu, so Zhang Ze would not hand it over.

Bai Li nodded: "I know, it's okay, the purpose of this time is not to ask this anyway." After that, he picked up the tea and drank it all, then handed it to Zhou Jingyun, "Another cup."

Zhou Jingyun couldn't help laughing. So, is the purpose of coming here to drink tea?

Cai Songnian saw through the door and windows that Zhang Ze quietly left the nearby teahouse escorted by several disguised followers.

He turned and walked through the young men who were drinking and having fun, and stood beside Li Yu, who was sitting sideways with a glass of wine in his hand and smiling.

"Zhang Ze is gone." he whispered.

Li Yu smiled and nodded, looking towards the door. Zhou Jingyun should be coming over, right?
As agreed, he would accompany Bai Li to meet Zhang Ze, and after they finished talking, he would come over so that people would see him and say he was also attending the banquet, drawing attention to them. Bai Li came and went quietly.

As the shadows of the crowds crisscrossed, another follower squeezed over and whispered in his ear: "Prince Zhou said he would not come over. When the time comes, just go directly from the teahouse and pass by the restaurant. People will speculate and talk about it. If you don't show up in front of people, no one will see you. This will arouse speculation without any solid evidence, which will be better for Your Highness."

Li Yu said "oh" and laughed.

A young man sitting on the ground nearby heard it and said, "Your Highness is so happy!" He raised his glass and said, "Congratulations, Your Highness!"

Li Yu clinked his glass with his and said: "Happy, happy, let's have fun together." Then he drank it all in one gulp.

Seeing the young man next to him getting drunk after drinking, Li Yu's eyes, which were not drunk at all, darkened.

Would it be better for him if I didn't show up in front of him?

Then why didn’t you think so when you went to the palace before?

"Zhongcheng, Zhongcheng."

As Zhang Ze stepped into the Supervisory Office, he saw Guo Shun coming towards him.

"Why are you shouting? If you have something to say, just say it." Zhang Ze said.

"Where are you going?" Guo Shun asked.

Zhang Ze stopped and looked at him: "What? Are you checking me?"

Guo Shun waved his hands and said, "How dare I? It's the Queen who keeps asking you." He lowered his voice and said, "The Queen seems to have encountered something." He said this with a bit of grievance, "You asked me to come over, but you didn't tell me. You only asked the Minister. Even if I wanted to help, I didn't have the chance."

So that’s it, Zhang Ze nodded.

"Zhongcheng, please go and take a look. I learned from the imperial physician that the queen seemed to have a nightmare again and was afraid to sleep." Guo Shun said in a low voice.

Nightmare? Zhang Ze stopped and asked, "Like Princess Jin Yu?"

Everyone knows that Princess Jin Yu met the King and Queen of Chu that day, refused to drink the tea offered by the Princess of Chu, and went to plant flowers.

The Supervisory Board knew more clearly that Princess Jin Yu was not willing to plant flowers, but was terrified and even slept in the garden, not daring to leave, and even called Empress Jiang "the real empress".
Because it involved Empress Jiang, not only did the Princess's Mansion block the news, Zhang Ze also ordered that it should not be spread outside.

Guo Shun knew this, of course. He shook his head and said, "I'm not sure about this. The chancellor has ordered us not to inquire about the queen."

Zhang Ze seemed to be thinking about something. It must be after Bai Li entered the palace that the Empress appeared and tormented Bai Ying. A smile flashed across his lips and then disappeared.

"I'll go and take a look," he said.

Guo Shun responded, "Last time, Zhongcheng, you wanted to pick a few suitable people for the queen to use. I have selected them all and will send them over to the queen so that she can have a look and be happy."

These didn't matter. Zhang Ze nodded and didn't care. Guo Shunle followed him and came to Hanliang Palace, but didn't see Bai Ying.

This is very rare, Bai Ying rarely leaves here.

"The queen said she couldn't sleep well." The eunuch who stayed here whispered, "Go to the cold palace, you can sleep well there."

Zhang Ze said, "Hide in the cold palace?" The entire imperial city once belonged to the empress, so what if it was the cold palace? He went to the cold palace again.

Guo Shun followed with the box in his arms. The cold palace was sparsely populated, but today there were eunuchs and palace maids guarding outside.

When they saw Zhang Ze coming, they lowered their eyes as if they didn't see him. They didn't greet him or try to stop him. Zhang Ze went straight into the cold palace.

"Zhongcheng, there is a case that I can't investigate no matter what I do. The suspect refuses to admit it." Guo Shun muttered to himself.

Zhang Ze sneered: "I've been teaching you for so long, but you still don't know how to do it? The most useful thing is the charcoal grilling pot."

As he spoke, he looked towards a palace in front of him and then stopped.

There was no sign of Bai Ying in the palace. Instead, there was a large urn with charcoal piled around it.

At the same time, there were chaotic footsteps coming from behind.

Zhang Ze slowly turned his head and saw a circle of guards surrounding him. They were not the guards of the Supervisory Council, nor were they the familiar imperial guards.

"This was transferred from the Beijing camp through General Li's house." Guo Shun said with a smile, threw the box in his hand on the ground, and stretched out his hand to invite, "Zhongcheng, please step into the trap."

New January, new day~