swear not to be concubine

Chapter 103

Xu Zhongxuan only felt that his eyes were bloodshot, and hurriedly opened his mouth and shouted: "Jian Yan."

Jian Yan originally had the will to die, so she used a lot of force in her hands, and if the hairpin was lowered, the blood would be splashed on the spot immediately.It was just that when she heard Xu Zhongxuan's shout, her heart trembled, her hands trembled, not to mention half of the strength in her hands, the hairpin also tilted to one side.

It's just that the head of the hairpin is really sharp, even if more than half of the force was lost, the side of her neck was cut open by the hairpin immediately, and scarlet blood slowly flowed out along her fair neck.

"Xu Zhongxuan?"

Jian Yan looked at Xu Zhongxuan standing at the door in disbelief, only suspecting that she must be dreaming.

How could he be here?Appeared at this critical moment?
Xu Zhongxuan's whole body tensed up because of nervousness, and he clenched the hand holding the horsewhip even more tightly, almost wanting to crush the whip made of mahogany into pieces.

"It's me. Jian Yan, I'm here."

Afraid that Jian Yan would do something stupid again, he softened his voice and slowly moved towards the place where Jian Yan was standing.When he was a few steps away from her, he rushed over like lightning, grabbed her right hand, and snatched the magnolia red coral hairpin from her hand.

The sharp end of the hairpin was still stained with some blood.And the scarlet blood on her neck was still slowly flowing down, it was really shocking to watch.

With trembling hands, Xu Zhongxuan took out the piece of light green that he had always carried with him from his arms, covered her neck with a handkerchief embroidered with a cluster of elegant orchids at one corner, and his words trembled.

"Why are you so stupid? What should I do if you are dead?"

Originally, Jian Yan still had a determination in her heart, full of composure and calmness.But when I saw Xu Zhongxuan, and heard him blaming her in such a soft voice, all the composure was gone for a while, and the whole person began to be bewildered and afraid.

It's like a small boat bumping in the wind and waves. She thought she would die this time, and she was determined to die, but suddenly she came to a place without a trace of wind and waves, which could give her countless peace and tranquility. This kind of sense of relaxation after the rest of her life is enough to make all the courage and determination she had gathered before disappear in an instant.

She swayed slightly, and suddenly felt that all the strength from head to toe was taken away by someone, and she couldn't even exert any strength on her fingertips.

"Xu Zhongxuan. Xu Zhongxuan. Xu Zhongxuan..."

She would only call his name with a choked voice, and it was as if she didn't know what to say.

Xu Zhongxuan held her in his arms, looked down at her, and answered her in the same voice: "I am. I am. I am here."

Zhou Yuanzheng on the opposite side was looking at them with a frown.

Just now, when Jianyan raised her hand and held the hairpin to stab her throat with determination, his heart was raised high.

Although he wanted to force her to submit, he didn't really want to force her to death.

Mei Niang was already dead, and he didn't want another person who resembled her to die too.

But then Xu Zhongxuan rushed in.

When he saw Xu Zhongxuan reached out and snatched the hairpin from Jian Yan's hand, Zhou Yuanzheng also heaved a sigh of relief.But after seeing the intimacy between Xu Zhongxuan and Jian Yan's words and actions, he began to feel extremely uncomfortable in his heart, and his brows were also tightly frowned.

The feeling of seeing Jian Yan falling into Xu Zhongxuan's arms was like seeing Mei Niang hugging other men with his own eyes, how could he bear it?

"Xu Zhongxuan," so he slowly opened his mouth and asked straightforwardly, "What's the relationship between you and Jian Yan?"

After Xu Zhongxuan kicked the door and entered the house, he was almost scared out of his wits by the scene of Jian Yan holding the hairpin and trying to commit suicide.Afterwards, he was busy covering the wound on her neck and comforting her, but he didn't notice that there was another Zhou Yuanzheng in the room at all.

But when he heard Zhou Yuanzheng's voice, a monstrous hatred immediately arose in his heart, almost drowning all his rationality and calmness.

Just to what extent was Jian Yan threatened by Zhou Yuanzheng to commit suicide here?
But when he raised his head, his face was still calm.Even the anger in his eyes was suppressed abruptly by him, and it didn't show at all.

"Jian Yan is a wife who has never been an official." Xu Zhongxuan held Jian Yan's slender waist with one hand, fully and clearly declared to Zhou Yuanzheng her possession and ownership of Jian Yan.Then he raised his eyes, calmly looked at Zhou Yuanzheng's angry eyes, and asked in a cold voice, "I don't know why Mr. Zhou called the wife of the subordinate official here today to see what I want to teach you?"

"Wife?" Zhou Yuanzheng smiled, "Zhongxuan, you really know how to joke."

Then he suppressed the cold smile on his face, and said slowly: "Why didn't Jian Yan's mother mention to me that she betrothed Jian Yan to Zhongxuan you as his wife?"

When Xu Zhongxuan heard this, his heart sank.

What Zhou Yuanzheng said clearly meant that he had already been in contact with Mrs. Jian.

Why did he contact Mrs. Jane?What did Mrs. Jane mention to him?Or what did he mention to Mrs. Jane?
Xu Zhongxuan already vaguely knew the answer in his heart, but he still pursed his lips lightly, unwilling to admit it.

Jian Yan's body moved at this moment, as if she was trembling slightly, and then she was about to raise her head from his embrace.Xu Zhongxuan noticed it, and immediately the arms around her slender waist tightened by two points, and he pressed her back into his arms again.The other hand was also raised, and the wide sleeve immediately blocked Jian Yan's head, completely blocking her and Zhou Yuanzheng's eyes.

Of course, he will take care of these things.Jian Yan just needs to be in his arms.

Sensing his actions, Zhou Yuanzheng's gaze also completely turned cold.

So he said coldly: "Xu Zhongxuan, Jian Yan's mother has agreed to make Jian Yan my concubine, and today I am going to take her away. If you hug my concubine like this, I'm afraid it's Yu Li Doesn't it fit?"

Xu Zhongxuan's heart sank completely.

Sure enough!

But he still couldn't see the slightest emotional flaw on his face, he just said indifferently: "Master Zhou's words are wrong. Now it is during the national mourning period. As subjects, you and I should share the worries of the king and mourn the wounds of the king." Yes, how can Mr. Zhou take concubines during the national mourning period? The emperor values ​​filial piety the most, if he hears about this, he will definitely feel displeased."

Zhou Yuanzheng put his face down completely when he heard the words.My heart became even more angry.

But he couldn't refute Xu Zhongxuan's words.

And Xu Zhongxuan said in his ears: "It's not early, the next official will leave first."

After all, he held Jian Yan's hand tightly and was about to take her away.

"You can leave," Zhou Yuanzheng's voice could be heard slowly, "but Jian Yan can't leave."

"It seems that Mr. Zhou wants to have a copy early in the morning. The chapter about taking concubines during the filial piety period is placed on the emperor's dragon case?" Xu Zhongxuan turned his head and looked at Zhou Yuanzheng without fear.

Zhou Yuanzheng smiled slowly when he heard the words, and then said slowly: "Even if you wrote such a melody and submitted it, it may not be possible that this melody will be in the hands of the emperor."

Xu Zhongxuan's face changed slightly.

Did Zhou Yuanzheng mean that he could control all the officials in the court?Therefore, any chapter that he didn't want the emperor to see would naturally cause people to secretly pick out this chapter.

He wanted to wait to speak, but at this moment he heard a thick voice outside the door.

"What kind of chapters can't reach the hands of the emperor? Zhongxuan, you just take care of writing, and the old man will submit it for you, so as to guarantee that it will reach the hands of the emperor."

Before the words fell, the man had already entered the room.

With a resolute and majestic Chinese character face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and an upright spirit, it is Mr. Zhao Zhengqi, Minister of the Ministry of Officials.

Xu Zhongxuan bowed to him and called Mr. Zhao.

Zhao Zhengqi was followed by a servant, holding a black velvet crane cloak in his arms, and a black gauze hat in his hand.

Zhao Zhengqi pointed to the black velvet crane cloak and black gauze hat in the arms of the boy and smiled at Xu Zhongxuan: "Just now you left in a hurry, but you forgot to take the crane cloak and black gauze hat, I brought them here for you as a necessity." I don't want to hear such words from Mr. Zhou as soon as I came in. Mr. Zhou, "

He turned to face Zhou Yuanzheng, the smile on his face dissipated, "What you said just now is enough for me to impeach you tomorrow."

Zhou Yuanzheng snorted lightly: "I don't know, Master Zhou, as Minister of the Ministry of Officials, when did he also take up the position of the Metropolitan Procuratorate?"

The Metropolitan Procuratorate is in charge of supervision, impeachment, and recommendations, while Zhao Zhengqi's Ministry of Officials is only in charge of the appointment, removal, transfer, and assessment of civil servants in the world, so Zhou Yuanzheng's words are meant to be mocking.

But Zhao Zhengqi heard the words, but he said seriously: "Master Zhou's words are wrong. As a minister, you should worry about the world's worries first, and then enjoy the world's joy. When you encounter something wrong, you should correct it. What is your relationship with yourself?" What's the deal with the position?"

Zhou Yuanzheng snorted coldly, but did not make another sound.

Although he is currently the chief assistant of the cabinet and has a lot of power in his hands, but this time Zhou Yuanzheng is the Minister of the Ministry of Officials.The power of the cabinet and the power of the ministry check and balance each other, but they do not distinguish between superiors and inferiors.Moreover, this Zhao Zhengqi had been the emperor's teacher before, and he was extremely trusted by the emperor, which was enough to rival him.So facing Zhao Zhengqi, even though he had great opinions in his heart, he didn't dare to really say anything on the face.

In fact, Zhou Yuanzheng has always been thinking of wooing Xu Zhongxuan, and when Xu Zhongxuan's official position is taken a step further in the future, if the power of the cabinet and the power of the ministry no longer check and balance each other, wouldn't the power in his hands be even greater?It's just that Mei Niang is too obsessed with him, so even though he knows that Xu Zhongxuan will stand on his opposition if he does this, and he will be on fire with him from then on, but he still has no way to let Jian Yan go.

If it was just any other ordinary woman, let alone let her go, if Xu Zhongxuan took a second look, he would immediately send someone to send her over to Xu Zhongxuan.

It's just that Jian Yan is already equivalent to Mei Niang in his heart.What was unattainable back then, being ridiculed by Mei Niang's father for having no power, no wealth, no wealth, all kinds of humiliation, such as toads and toads wanting to eat swan meat, is bound to make him have power, power, wealth and wealth now. In case all of them are washed off one by one.

At this time, Zhao Zhengqi turned his head to Jian Yan, stroked his beard and smiled, and asked, "Are you Miss Jian?"

Although Xu Zhongxuan didn't hold Jian Yan in his arms right now, he just let her stand behind him, completely covering her, but his right hand still tightly held Jian Yan's hand, and never let go from the beginning to the end.The meaning of protection is evident.

After hearing Zhao Zhengqi's question, Jian Yan came out from behind Xu Zhongxuan, bowed her knees and bowed her head to salute Zhao Zhengqi, and said very humbly and respectfully: "Little girl Jian Yan, I have met Master Zhao."

It's just that the hairpin hurt her neck just now, and her voice was no longer as clear as before, but a little hoarse.

Zhao Zhengqi saw that there was a handkerchief tied around her neck, the light green handkerchief was soaked with blood, and it was soaked dark red.Seeing that although her face was still pale at the moment, she still didn't see the slightest panic when saluting and speaking to him, so she couldn't help but admire her a little more in her heart.

She is a steadfast girl, and what is rare is that she is very steady.When an ordinary girl encounters such a thing, she is afraid that she will be as soft as noodles, bewildered, and will only cry.

So Zhao Zhengqi stretched out his hand to help Jian Yan, and then said with a smile: "She is indeed a good girl. No wonder Zhongxuan has such a crush on you, Feiqing won't marry her."

After a pause, he smiled again: "Zhongxuan has entrusted me as a matchmaker, and he will propose marriage to your mother tomorrow."

Jian Yan was about to say thank you, but at this moment, Zhou Yuanzheng's voice sounded extremely cold: "I'm afraid I won't be able to drink this glass of matchmaker wine from Mr. Zhao. Because Jian Yan's mother had been drinking two days ago. I have promised this old man that I will give Jian Yan to this old man as my concubine."

Jian Yan's heart sank again, and her face became paler for a moment.

At this time, a warm hand reached out and held her trembling hands.

"Don't be afraid. It's okay." At the same time, Xu Zhongxuan's low voice sounded behind her.

As soon as Zhao Zhengqi heard Zhou Yuanzheng say this, he was helpless for a while.

After all, his mother has agreed to such a thing, he is an outsider, what else is there to intervene?
Just looking at Jian Yan and Xu Zhongxuan's clasped hands, he still couldn't help but said to Zhou Yuanzheng: "Let's not say that a gentleman has the beauty of an adult, it's just Mr. Zhou, your granddaughter and mine are just like this girl Jian. When you grow up, why are you still obsessed with taking such a young girl as your concubine? And looking at this girl, you don't want to be your concubine, why do you have to force her?"

Zhou Yuanzheng's answer to this was to snort coldly, and then said: "This is the old man's private matter, Master Zhao need not say more."

Zhao Zhengqi really didn't have much to say.

There is no rule that does not allow older people to take young girls as concubines.There are old husbands and young concubines in ancient and modern times.Su Dongpo's poems such as a pear blossom pressing a crabapple were originally used to ridicule a friend of his who took a young girl as a concubine when he was old.

At this time, I heard Xu Zhongxuan say: "Even though Lord Zhou has discussed this matter with Jian Yan's mother, but during the national funeral, Lord Zhou can't bring Jian Yan into the mansion right now. In this case, Jian Yan was originally She lives in my ancestral home in Tongzhou, but now I want to take her back."

Zhao Zhengqi also said at this time: "Master Zhou has been an official for decades, and he has always obeyed the emperor's will. Zhongxuan's words are very reasonable. If this is the case, you should take Miss Jian back first, and find a doctor by the way. Let the restaurant give her a good bandage on the wound on her neck. As for Mr. Zhou, the old man may not have had a good drink with Mr. Zhou for a long time. It is better to meet by chance than to invite each other, so let's go now."

After finishing speaking, he smiled and stretched out his hand to invite Zhou Yuanzheng to take a seat: "Come, come, let us two old men have a good drink today."

Zhou Yuan was waiting for what to do, but Xu Zhongxuan took advantage of this gap to signal Qi Sang to take over his crane cloak and black gauze hat from Zhao Zhengqi's family, while he turned around and walked out with Jian Yan.

As soon as Jian Yan came out of the room, the breath she had been holding on for just now disappeared immediately. She became terrified after knowing it, her body was as soft as water, her feet seemed to be stepping on clouds, she was powerless, and she couldn't move forward at all. take a step.

Seeing this, Xu Zhongxuan hugged her up with Da Heng, took the crane cloak from Qi Sang's hand and covered her body, and quickly went down the stairs.

When they reached the lobby downstairs, Zhou Yingying and Qin Yan heard the movement in the private room upstairs, and they had already come out from the side room.

As soon as Jian Yan saw Qin Yan, she made Xu Zhongxuan stop, struggled to get down from his embrace, and asked Qin Yan in a hoarse voice: "Are you okay?"

As soon as she fell to the ground, the crane cloak covering her body slipped slightly, revealing the light green handkerchief tied around her neck.

Qin Yan saw that a large piece of the handkerchief was soaked dark red, and the faint smell of blood and iron came into his nose.

He was so shocked that his whole body trembled and he was speechless for a moment.

He was so timid just now, for his own future and life, he knew that she might be threatened by Zhou Yuanzheng up there, but he didn't dare to rush up to take her away, and he didn't even dare to rush up to say a word .But she is like this now, Fang escaped from the danger, she was thinking about him, and couldn't wait to ask him if he was alright.

The heart in Qin Yan's chest trembled like a yellow leaf on a branch in the cold wind of late autumn. After a while, he shook his head and replied in a hoarse voice: "I, I'm fine."

Only then did Jian Yan feel relieved.Because he turned his head to look at Zhou Yingying again, his face was completely down, his voice also became cold, and he just asked, "Where is Bai Wei?"

Zhou Yingying was also looking at the handkerchief tied around her neck, and was also shocked by the large dark red blood stain on it.

Hearing Jian Yan's question at this time, she waved her hand, summoned a maid to come forward, and ordered her to bring Bai Wei over.

The servant girl agreed and turned around.After Zhou Yingying was silent for a while, she finally spoke in a dumb voice, and said to Jian Yan: "Miss Jian, I'm very sorry. It's just that I can't help myself, please forgive me."

You can't help yourself, so you can stab me in the back when I'm unprepared, and push me into the fire pit with your hand?
Jian Yan's answer was to turn her head away without saying a word, ignoring her.

Such a friend is not worth mentioning.

Xu Zhongxuan looked at Zhou Yingying coldly.

That gaze was like a knife, even though she just glanced at her, Zhou Yingying still felt the chill like scraping flesh and picking bones.

Bai Wei was quickly brought over by the maid.Fortunately, she didn't suffer any injuries, but her eyes were swollen from crying.

As soon as she saw Jian Yan, she rushed over immediately, crying, "Girl, girl, are you alright?"

Glancing at the dark red blood on the handkerchief tied around her neck, the tears immediately rolled more and more, and she asked while crying: "Girl, girl, what's wrong with you?"

Jian Yan stretched out a hand from the crane cloak, patted her hand comfortingly, and smiled slightly: "I'm fine. Don't you think I'm fine?"

Bai Wei was sobbing that she couldn't speak.

At this time, Xu Zhongxuan ordered Qi Sang very quickly: "Go and tell the coachman who followed Miss Jian to drive the carriage to the door."

Qi Sang hastily agreed, turned around and ran away.

Xu Zhongxuan said to Bai Wei at this time: "It's not suitable to stay here for a long time, let's talk about it when we go back."

Bai Wei nodded, wiped her tears with her hand, and stood behind Xu Zhongxuan with a firm face.

At this time, Xu Zhongxuan raised his hand to recover the crane cloak that had just slipped off, and wrapped Jian Yan tightly.Then he bowed his head, gently nudged Jian Yan's pale and cold cheek with one cheek, and comforted her softly: "It's okay. I'll take you back now."

After finishing speaking, Fu hugged Jian Yan again, turned around and strode towards the door.

(End of this chapter)