fisherwoman

"Father." Ma Haoxuan stood outside the prison door and called out softly. Too many things happened recently, which made him a little overwhelmed. First, he entered the palace to pay respects to the emperor and queen, and inexplicably staged a touching scene of mutual recognition. He accepted the worship of all the officials indifferently, and became the prince of Daqi, and he could only ask the person in front of him about everything.

Not long ago, this person said that he liked the life of idle clouds and wild cranes. He said that father and son lived together in Qianjiao Island and lived a carefree life. In a blink of an eye, he himself became a noble prince, while his father became a prisoner. .

He really didn't understand how it could become like this!

"The guilty minister sees His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Ma Xingzhi, who was wearing prison clothes, hurriedly bowed and said, "The current emperor is the biological father of the Crown Prince, and please don't torture the guilty minister!"

"Father, get up quickly." Ma Haoxuan said to the jailer beside him, "Open the door, I want to go in."

"This?" the jailer said in a low voice with a look of embarrassment on his face, "Your Highness the Crown Prince has a noble status, how can he enter this kind of place? Lord Hou specially ordered that His Highness the Crown Prince should come here and show his filial piety."

"Open it." Ma Haoxuan said in a deep voice.

"Yes." Seeing his resolute attitude, the jailer had no choice but to take out the key and open the cell door.

"Father, get up quickly." Ma Haoxuan walked in quickly, helped Ma Xingzhi who was still kneeling on the ground, helped him, walked to the bed and sat down, and saw that the jailer was still standing outside the door, he waved his hand , loudly said, "Go down!"

"Yes." The jailer glanced at the two of them and stepped back.

"Father, what's going on here?" Ma Haoxuan looked at the calm Ma Xingzhi until he couldn't hear the guard's footsteps, and then asked in a voice that couldn't be lowered, "How did I become the prince?" ? You tell me, because I don't believe it at all, except for me, everyone thinks that I am the prince!"

"Then you should take care of the prince well and don't need to know too much." Ma Xingzhi looked at him and smiled slightly. "The position of Crown Prince originally belongs to His Highness, and it is really a blessing for the imperial court and all the people to follow the people's wishes today!"

"But how could I be the prince?" Ma Haoxuan looked around and looked at him with doubts on his face. "You have to give me a reason, right? You can't say that I am the prince, so I can be the prince with peace of mind and let others manipulate me like a fool, right?"

"The reason is that you are indeed the emperor's long-lost prince. Presumably, the Marquis Zhongyi has told you about this. The reason why the emperor didn't kill me is because I have worked hard to raise you for many years. Although the merits and demerits cannot be offset, the crime Not fatal. Don’t worry about this, I guess they will take me out soon.” Ma Xingzhi said solemnly, and glanced outside the cell door from the corner of his eyes.

"But that jade pendant..." Ma Haoxuan said, met Ma Xingzhi's gaze, and suddenly understood.He hesitated to speak.

A figure hurried past the door.

"Naturally, it's a token. Originally, I wanted to tell you the truth after you got married and give it to you for safekeeping, but I didn't expect to be recognized by Hou Zhongyi by chance." Ma Xingzhi sat there, closed his eyes and meditated for a while , opened his eyes again, got up and walked around the room slowly, sat down again, seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and said, "You have just entered the palace, and your foundation is not stable. Be more cautious, and remember in the future, walls have ears, and there are people in the grass."

"Understood." Ma Haoxuan walked to the door calmly and had a look, then turned to him and said, "Don't you have anything to explain?"

"There has always been a dispute between the eldest son and the eldest son in the court. Now that the eldest son returns to the court, Prince Rong is naturally unwilling. In the future, His Highness's biggest opponent will be this Prince Rong." Ma Xingzhi said, dipping some of the teacup on the table with his hand. Water, write three words on the table, "This person may also be your opponent."

"Xiao Chengyu?" Ma Haoxuan looked at him suspiciously, what does this have to do with Xiao Chengyu?

"Because this jade pendant belongs to Xiao Chengyu." Ma Xingzhi leaned close to his ear and whispered, "You need to find out the origin of this jade pendant and confirm the relationship between this jade pendant and Xiao Chengyu. body, then he is the real Nalan Jinxuan, if he got it by accident, then he will not pose any threat to you."

"Father, you know that I am not Nalan Jinxuan, why did you put me in such a dangerous situation, don't you know that once the matter is revealed, you and I will die without a place to die?" Ma Haoxuan turned pale when he heard the words Come to think of it, the crime of confusing the royal lineage and deceiving the emperor will be punished by the whole family.

"So you and I have no way out, we can only go forward, not back." Ma Xingzhi said each word, "Instead of living a mediocre life, it is better to seize the opportunity to gamble, maybe we can win A piece of land."

"But father, you have always said that you like the life of idle clouds and wild cranes. I think we used to be so carefree, why are we involved in this kind of court battle?" Ma Haoxuan raised his arm and wiped the sweat from his forehead. God, what is this called!

"No one will be indifferent to the throne. One day, you will experience the sweetness of power, and you will not say that." Ma Xingzhi smiled at him, "If you know this, you will know what to do in the future Right? Remember, don’t come to me unless it’s absolutely necessary, if it makes people suspicious, wouldn’t it be self-inflicted?”

"Father, if we turn around now and tell the truth, maybe we will still have a chance." Ma Haoxuan tentatively said, "I think the emperor is also a wise king, we..."

"Stupid, your foundation is not stable now. If you let them know the truth, believe it or not, I will die immediately." Ma Xingzhi scolded, "You are in the young age of blood, why don't you even have such ambitions? Forgot, you are now the crown prince of Daqi, the prince of a country, how could you have such an idea? The emperor and queen have recognized you, what are you afraid of?"

Ma Haoxuan sighed and said nothing more, he did not turn back when he opened his bow, indeed he has no way to turn back, turning back is death...

Hou's study.

The tea on the table was steaming slightly, and the room was filled with a faint tea fragrance, which mixed with the fragrance of books in the room, and slowly flowed in the air, making people unable to distinguish the fragrance of tea. The smell of books still covers up the smell of tea.

"The sutra chanting and incense meeting in Baohua Temple is actually dedicated to praying for Princess Nalan. It's nothing more than copying scriptures and giving some money for fasting meals. It's not a big deal, because Baohua Temple has always been enshrined by the palace. , twice a year, once in summer and once in winter, each time will be very grand, since the emperor asked you to accompany you, naturally you can’t refuse, that’s about ten days.” Hou Zhongyi picked up his teacup, took a sip, He laughed and said, "Although Princess Nalan is the daughter of Concubine Liu Gui, she is not as domineering as her mother and concubine. Apart from being too weak, she is also a beautiful woman with good looks and wisdom. No one is perfect!"

"Your Majesty is just joking, and my subordinates have never thought of this before." Xiao Chengyu said with a look of embarrassment on his face, "It's okay if it's summer, but this time the incense festival is approaching the end of the year, and the family is still waiting to go back for the New Year!"

"Is the wife at home waiting to go back to celebrate the New Year?" Hou Zhongyi smiled and put down his teacup, "You and I serve the emperor, so naturally the royal affairs are the most important. I don't think my wife is unaware of this truth. Your life is entrusted to the emperor, let alone the Chinese New Year, when you first entered the officialdom, you will inevitably feel a little uncomfortable at first, but you will gradually get used to it, and your wife will gradually get used to it!"

Just as Xiao Chengyu was about to say something, he heard footsteps outside the door, and then someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." Hou Zhongyi replied calmly, as if he had expected that someone would come.

"Lord Hou." Just then the jailer came in respectfully, saluted Xiao Chengyu who was sitting on the side, then walked to Hou Zhongyi, and whispered a few words in his ear.

"Understood, let's go down!" Zhongyi Hou looked at him and said with a flat expression, "I will send someone to bring him into the mansion in a while, you go back and tidy up, and come here too! Remember, what's the matter?" , report it to me directly, not through the mouth of others.”

"Yes." The jailer stepped back with a smile on his face. Although he took care of the prisoners in the same way, living in the Hou Mansion means that he has been valued. If he discovers some secrets that are not known to others, then he is very He will stand out soon, he thought about it, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, as if he saw his bright future...

Hou Zhongyi raised his eyebrows, and seeing Xiao Chengyu's silence, he said again: "That's it! You will leave tomorrow to accompany Baohua Temple, and I will send someone to tell your family, so that they can rest assured, isn't it just a matter of time?" year!"

"Thank you, Lord Hou." Xiao Chengyu sighed softly in his heart, I'm sorry, Xueman, I can't accompany you for the New Year this year...

The sky gradually became overcast, and large swaths of dark clouds piled up together, as if it was going to snow.

In the old house of the Xiao family, the candles flickered.

"Is there any important matter that has to be dealt with during the New Year? Why don't you come back if you don't come back?" After hearing the news brought by Xiao Jingzhi, Yang's face was displeased, "Why did so many people choose Cheng Yu?"

"Business! Of course, it doesn't matter whether it's New Year or not. Cheng Yu also sent a letter, saying that he has finished his work at hand, so he will come back quickly." Xiao Jingzhi looked at his daughter-in-law who was sitting silently by the side, and looked at her. She winked.

"Oh, that's right. When you become an official and become the emperor, you can't help yourself. It's not like before." Yang understood, she looked at Lin Xueman, and said hurriedly, "Daughter-in-law, don't be sad, Cheng Yu doesn't care. Come back, let’s spend together, just for a year.”

"I know, Cheng Yu can't help himself." Lin Xueman smiled faintly, "It's business! I understand!" What if you don't understand?Anyway, I'm not coming back!

At night, Lin Xueman was lying on the bed alone, completely insomnia. As soon as she closed her eyes, the voice and smile of Princess Nalan appeared in front of her eyes. Could it be because of her that Xiao Chengyu didn't come back this time.... (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)