Linglong

Chapter 102

King Zhou said in a low voice: "Grandfather, you are too cautious. My father is different from the late emperor. He respects you very much. You don't need to be too restrained."

The grandfather smiled, picked up two steel balls and played with them skillfully, his fingers were nimble, not at all like an old man in his 70s, "The world is peaceful now, there are no generals, I'd better calm down. Little third son, your grandfather Although he is a rough man, he is very intelligent."

King Zhou was silent for a moment, then said slowly: "My mother asked me to tell you that she misses you, and asked you to go back and see her."

The steel ball in the grandfather's hand gradually stopped, with a sad look on his face.

The breeze was blowing slowly, and the sun shone through the shade of the trees above his head on his wrinkled face, showing the vicissitudes of time.

"Yes, it's time for me to go back and see Jiaojiao." After a long time, he murmured.

Although his murmuring voice was very low, King Zhou's ears were so good that he could still hear it clearly.

"It's not good to call my mother's nickname in front of me." King Zhou complained.

The corners of the grandfather's mouth curled up slowly, and he looked at the king of Zhou with an inquiring gaze, and said, "That boy Chang Na spent a long time carrying water, and the grandfather is also idle when he is idle, let me tell you some old stories. Xiaosan Son, you can only listen to it as a pastime."

His gaze seemed to have deep meaning, King Zhou's heart moved, and he said softly: "Grandfather, if you have unpleasant memories of the past, then don't mention it. If my mother knows that you recall the sad past, she will feel sorry for you and scold me of."

Grandfather laughed loudly, "It's better to raise a daughter, look, how much a daughter knows how to love Dad!"

He stretched out his hand and patted King Zhou on the shoulder, with a proud expression on his face, "Good grandson, after you marry a princess, you will have a son and a daughter, you know? A daughter is more caring than a son!"

What are you talking about?The king of Zhou looked at the radiant old man, but he didn't know how to answer the conversation.

The smile on the grandfather's face became wider and wider, and he blinked narrowly, "Look at my grandfather, when you are old, you are old, and your speech is muddled. The little girl you like is only in the age of the golden hairpin, and she is not yet old enough to have children. It’s too early to tell you about it now.”

"It's really hot." Zhou Wang opened the folding fan in his hand with a "snap".

While shaking the fan, he was still hot, so his face was still red.

"Why are you so ashamed, brat?" Grandpa laughed, "Have you forgotten your bold words when you were a child? When you were three or four years old, sitting on a small stool and eating cakes, your grandfather asked you, 'Little Sanzi has grown up. What are you going to do?" You didn't even think about it, so you said in a childlike voice: "Marry a wife." Grandfather asked you again, "What are you going to do when you marry a wife?" You still said without thinking..."

King Zhou threw down the fan and covered his mouth with his hand, "Don't say any more!"

The grandfather was as happy as he was, hiding from the claws of King Zhou, laughing and said: "...you say, you say, marry a wife and have a child!"

King Zhou's ears turned red.

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll sue my grandmother." King Zhou said shamelessly.

"Don't talk, don't talk." Grandfather said cheerfully, "You didn't like to stay in the palace when you were a child, and you lived in the Duke of Chu's mansion every three days. Your childish words, grandfather remembers them better than you. Father and mother remember more, and you can talk about it for three days and three nights! Don't say it, my grandfather has saved these words, and when you marry a wife and have children in the future, you can tell it to your in-laws."

Talk to... with your in-laws?King Zhou was stunned.

Before his eyes, there seemed to be a scene of his grandfather and Mrs. Yu sitting under a tree drinking tea, chatting and playing chess...

Grandfather, when the time comes, you are talking about me. Little Lingdang's grandfather may not be talking about her, but those Zhou Ding Hanyu in Jinshizhai.In all likelihood, the two elderly people would not agree to go together...

If my father and Xiaolingdang's father met, they wouldn't be able to go together, would they?My father thinks that I am unparalleled in the world, and Xiaolingdang's father thinks that she is unparalleled...

King Zhou patted his forehead, what am I thinking about?It's all my grandfather's fault, he let his temper talk nonsense, and I also began to think about these faraway things.

"What do you want to tell me about old things?" Zhou Wang picked up the fan, opened it calmly, and asked.

The smile on the grandfather's face gradually disappeared, and he looked deeply at King Zhou, "Although the past is painful, you should know it."

"Yes, my grandson is all ears." King Zhou's expression became serious.

When King Zhou and Princess Yongning went back, they brought some vegetables grown by their grandfather and cakes baked by their grandmother.

It was a long way, and when they returned to the Forbidden City, it was almost dark.

"Father, you build a prison in Guizhuang." Princess Yongning took the emperor's hand and demanded angrily, "Build the strongest prison in the whole capital, lock Chang Na up, and send two of the most severe prison officers." Go and discipline him! Don't let your grandfather do it yourself, it's so hard!"

"The little princess is right." The emperor looked at his precious daughter sympathetically, and really wanted to agree to her.

The queen was very upset, "For Chang Na's ignorant brat, the two old people will live in Guizhuang to accompany him. Guizhuang is remote and lacks this and that. Hmph, if there is no Chang Na, you two will be together at this moment." Grandfather and grandmother are enjoying family happiness in Chu State Duke's Mansion." Thinking of his elderly parents still working hard, he was quite troubled.

"Grandfather and grandmother are both in good health and look energetic." King Zhou said comfortingly.

The emperor also said: "The two old people are in good health, that's what matters."

The queen's face turned pale.

"But I feel sorry for my grandfather and grandmother..." Princess Yongning looked at the emperor pitifully.

The emperor was persuasive, "Ah Ying, have you ever done something tiring but you like it?" Princess Yongning nodded, "Yes." The emperor said patiently: "Although the two old people are very hard-working, this is what they are willing to do." What to do." Princess Yongning tilted her head and thought for a while, "Then let grandparents act according to their wishes, and we shouldn't interfere too much?"

The emperor praised her fiercely, "My little princess is really smart, she knows everything she hears!"

Princess Yongning was praised so much that her eyes sparkled and she was extremely happy.

"You really know how to coax children." The queen and the king of Zhou saw it and admired His Majesty the emperor very much.

It is very troublesome to explain such a complicated matter to a simple little girl like Princess Yongning. It is rare for His Majesty the Emperor to simplify the complexity and explain it in such an easy-to-understand manner.

"Father, what are you up to today?" Princess Yongning smiled sweetly and asked her emperor's father.

The emperor had no airs towards her, and told her in detail about his daily schedule, how to meet ministers, how to discuss government affairs, and how to review memorials.

"Mother, what about you?" Princess Yongning asked the queen again.

The queen smiled, "Concubine Shu and Concubine Hui had a little quarrel, I will try to persuade them to make peace; Concubine Lu finally decided on a candidate, and Concubine Jing asked to see him for this matter. After all, she wanted to increase the dowry; Zeya The Eldest Princess misses me as a sister-in-law so much, she specially brought her beloved daughter Qionghua into the palace, and talked with me for a while..."

Having said that, the queen looked at King Zhou with a smile and stopped.

The meaning of the queen's words and deeds is very obvious, even Princess Yongning understands, she giggled coquettishly, "Third Brother, Eighth Aunt and Cousin Qionghua didn't see you, maybe I have some regrets."

Princess Zeya is the eighth daughter of the first emperor, and her son-in-law is Luo Youcheng of Gongchang Houfu.She has only one son and one daughter under her knees, the son is still young, only four or five years old, but the daughter is already old enough, she is the Luo Qionghua mentioned by the empress.

"I also feel a little regretful that I didn't see Princess Zeya." Zhou Wang said lightly.

What he said was "regret", but there was no nostalgia in his tone, and he called her eldest princess instead of aunt, which made her even more alienated.As for Luo Qionghua, he didn't mention it at all.

"Well, there are many girls who have reached the age of Ji, but my Saburo doesn't like all of them; the one he likes is too young, and he has to wait three or four years." The emperor couldn't help but say sighed.

Both the queen and Princess Yongning smiled, and the smiles were thought-provoking.

The king of Zhou couldn't bear it anymore, "If you have to wait, I will wait, father, why are you sighing?"

The emperor was furious, "Why can't father sigh? You have to wait, and father and mother have to wait, too, to marry a daughter-in-law, and even more so to hold a grandson!"

The king of Zhou was speechless after being scolded by the emperor, so he took out his fan and shook it pretendingly.After shaking it twice, the emperor took it over and slapped him hard on the shoulder twice.

King Zhou bared his teeth in pain, Princess Yongning leaned on the queen, both mother and daughter laughed softly.

"Your Majesty, abuse of lynching!" King Zhou accused his father.

"What's wrong with the abuse of lynching? If you have the ability, you can sue me!" The emperor was very disdainful.

He held the fan and tried to hit him again. The king of Zhou fled with his head in his arms. The emperor was proud and laughed aloud.

——With King Zhou around, the emperor and empress really laughed a lot, which added a lot of joy.

Princess Yongning was young, she was tired for most of the day and felt sleepy, so she went back to Qingyun Palace to rest early.

After Princess Yongning returned, King Zhou reported his grandfather's plans to the emperor and queen in detail. The emperor was greatly moved and told the queen, "Father-in-law always thinks of us like this. It has been decades and has never changed." The queen's eyes were red, "Father is so kind to me, I don't know how to repay him..."

The queen was very sad, and the emperor hugged her waist and comforted her softly.

King Zhou took the opportunity to ask to go back to Shuntian Mansion, "I should go back first, and I can take care of my grandfather and grandmother."

His request was beyond the emperor's surprise. The emperor was stunned and asked, "Sanlang, don't you want to investigate the Guan case?"

The queen was also surprised, "Little Sanzi, Guan Yuanyi's case has not progressed, and the little girl's father will not forgive you when you return to Shuntian Mansion."

King Zhou stood with his hands behind his back, and said in a calm tone, "For a man, what is an affair with a child? It's not worth mentioning at all."

The emperor and the empress couldn't help looking at the King of Zhou with new eyes, third son, you really impress father and mother.

"I'm sleepy." The emperor covered his mouth with his hands and yawned, "I've worked hard all day, and I have to go to court early tomorrow, and I want to rest early."

"Little third son, you also know that the late emperor had a lot of favorites and left behind many concubines." The queen said to King Zhou apologetically, "Private Concubine Jing will probably come tomorrow. Didn't the King of Lu appoint a girl from the Qin family as her daughter?" As a second concubine, she always felt that as a daughter of the Qin family, the dowry of an ordinary prince and concubine was too wronged, at least it had to be according to the specifications of a concubine Yuan; Concubine Shu wanted a hereditary family for her natal nephew; The concubine's health is not good, so I need to ask a doctor to take some medicine; just for these concubines, my mother will have to cheer up tomorrow to deal with it..."

King Zhou looked at her sullenly.

"...So, mother has to rest early." Queen Lala said a lot of miscellaneous things, and finally changed the subject and said with a smile.

Zhou Wang stared at his unscrupulous parents for a while, saluted, and walked out without saying a word.

"Trick him away!" The emperor blinked happily at the queen.

King Zhou suddenly turned around.

The emperor put away the smile on his face.

"I make you furious every day, so you won't keep me?" King Zhou asked without thinking.

"Don't stay." The emperor snorted, "I will teach you an unfilial son, demote you to the wild land in the south, and you will not be allowed to return to the capital for ten years!"

King Zhou covered his face and came out.

The emperor burst out laughing.

There were two lotus-shaped candlesticks on the table, and the candles were brightly lit. King Zhou sat by the table and buried himself in writing.

He wrote half a piece of paper, picked it up and looked at it carefully, with a troubled expression on his face, crumpled it, crumpled it into a ball of paper, and threw it aside.

I wrote a few more lines, and as I was writing, I felt something was wrong, so I rubbed it off again.

Before I knew it, there were five or six balls of paper on the table.

He stared at the firm rice paper for a while, his eyes softened, and he picked up a pen and wrote a simple sentence, "Little Bell, if you make shoes for your father in the future, you must make two copies, you understand?"

Staring at it for a moment, he carefully folded the letter paper and put it in an envelope.

The next day, the queen was really busy.

Concubine Jing really came to see her again, dressed up, sat in the side hall of Kunning Palace, and praised Qin Shiming, the daughter of General Yizhou who was about to become the successor concubine of King Lu, "...with good looks and good conduct, she is the best in the world." A good girl."

The queen sat on the throne, listening to her absently.

"The wedding ceremony of King Lu proposed by the Ministry of Rituals, I took a closer look, and the dowry is [-]% less than that of Concubine Yuan." Concubine Jing mentioned this with a dissatisfied tone, "Although King Lu hired a second concubine, Qin's But it is the daughter of a famous general, it is reasonable to add as appropriate."

The queen said gently: "The concubine also knows that the prince's wedding ceremony has always been drawn up by the Ministry of Rituals, and His Majesty's royal approval..."

Concubine Jing didn't wait for the Queen to finish speaking, she covered her lips with a veil and laughed, "This is what you said, the Queen is the only one in the harem of Your Majesty, so he won't listen to what you say?"

She is over 50 years old, and this gesture made by her is not only not charming, but rather weird.

The intention of her saying this should not be provocative - she is the concubine left behind by the late emperor, only a biological son of King Lu, King Lu is mediocre, and has no power in the court. With her status and the ability of King Lu, this The mother and son are not qualified to provoke the queen—maybe she actually wanted to flatter the queen, but the wording was inappropriate, and it didn't sound good when she said it.

There was already a faint unhappiness in the queen's heart.

The female official came in and presented a dark red wooden sign to the queen, "Mrs. Jiang, the founding father-in-law, asked to see her, claiming to be in a hurry."

The queen was even more displeased.Ever since Chang Na was detained in Guizhuang, Jiang always felt that her precious son had suffered and suffered, crying everywhere, begging others to intercede, Jiang had already handed over a sign twice this month, but the queen did not see her. He actually dared to make this request again, which shows that he really didn't win.

"It's the queen's natal sister-in-law, she is a noble person." Concubine Jing smiled and said, "Should I avoid someone who is not important, and wait for the founding father's wife and the queen to talk about their sister-in-law before begging for this favor? "

The queen gave her a strange look.

She was probably a beauty back then, but now she looks really ordinary, even with a bit of meanness in her face.

The way the late emperor looked at women was really... unflattering.

The empress smiled and said: "Madam Founder is not here to express feelings for my sister-in-law. Does Concubine Jing know? She came to talk about..." She looked at Concubine Jing, her eyes rolled, and she said slowly: "The old story of King Chen."

The five words about King Chen's past, the queen said every word very clearly.

Concubine Jing's face turned as white as a sheet of paper.

After a long time, she stood up hesitantly, forced a smile, "I won't bother you anymore." Her footsteps were erratic, and she walked towards the entrance of the hall step by step.

After leaving the palace gate, she was in a trance when she was illuminated by the sun.King Chen, just now the queen mentioned King Chen word by word, she...does she know what happened back then?But it's been so long, how can anyone still remember?
The queen summoned Jiang, the wife of the founding father.

When Mrs. Jiang entered the hall and knelt down to salute, the queen said indifferently: "Get up, give me a seat." ——It is still very respectable to Mrs. Jiang.

Having a seat in front of the queen, this treatment itself makes many people envious.

Jiang thanked her and stood up, and sat down on the chair brought by the maid with a sad face.

She was almost 50 years old, and she dressed very gorgeously, but no matter how gorgeous her makeup was, she couldn't hide her haggard face.

"Queen, please save Ne'er." She said in a begging tone: "Ne'er made a mistake, but his father disciplined him too severely. He asked Ne'er to carry water, grow vegetables, and do hard work! He is the son of the Founding Duke's mansion, he will be the Duke of the country in the future, what kind of water will he pick, what kind of vegetables will he grow."

The queen was angry at the fact that her elderly parents were suffering for Chang Na. After hearing Jiang's ignorant words, she was even more angry from her heart, and the evil turned to her gallbladder. Duke's residence." She said coldly, "In this way, can he carry water and grow vegetables?"

Jiang was stunned at first, and then waved her hands again and again, "No, no, queen, don't take away Ne'er's position as the eldest son! He...he will repent, he will definitely repent!"

The queen's face was livid, "Do you think that I am willing to let the two old people suffer in Guizhuang because of Chang Ne? Let me tell you, I am the one who is more unwilling to discipline Chang Ne like my father than you! Hmph, if it is according to my opinion , Father just wants to enjoy the family happiness in the Duke of Chu's mansion, and Chang Na, a bastard, will be locked in the prison and guarded by the prison officer!"

Mrs. Jiang couldn't sit still, and knelt down on the queen begging bitterly, "He is your own nephew, how can you be so ruthless?"

"Can my nephew kiss my parents?" The queen questioned mercilessly: "My father and mother are so old, because this brat is not living in the capital and living in a remote place in Guizhuang, the person who should be most distressed is me." Bar?"

Jiang was speechless when asked.

She originally came to plead with the queen, but instead of being useless, she was scolded by the queen, making her face ashamed.

Mrs. Jiang apologized again and again, seeing that the queen no longer wanted to take away Chang Ne's position, she finally let go of her uneasy heart.

"Get up, sit down and talk." The queen ordered, "You don't have to be too serious between sisters-in-law."

Jiang Shi didn't dare to disobey, sat back on the chair, and said a few homely things to the queen.

She dared not say a word to intercede for Chang Na.

"Oh, I have to be busy these days, and hire the girl from that family for Ne'er." Jiang couldn't help sighing, "Queen, do you remember? The one who jumped into the river and survived. I originally thought that this matter is our family's loss, and I will be worthy of her if I pay a heavy sum of money so that the girl can live comfortably for the rest of her life. Who knows that the family does not want money, so I will add more money. In fact, Ne'er didn't do anything to her, just touched her twice, it didn't hurt or itch. Her father and her brother are both scholars, and they are stupid in reading. They insist on calling her name The festival has been ruined by Ne'er, and I want Ne'er to marry her. This girl also has the same idea, either she will marry Ne'er, or she will cut her hair and become an aunt. Think about it, how can the son of the Founding Duke's mansion marry What about a girl from a scholar's family? If you really want to marry her, at most she will be an aunt, right?"

The queen was very surprised.

"Don't take advantage of your power to bully others." The queen ordered, "Father is such a prudent man, you should be careful in your words and deeds, and don't embarrass the Chang family."

The queen doesn't care how Jiang and that family discuss, if Jiang uses the power of the founding government to bully the common people, the queen will not agree.

Jiang's Weiwei.

After sitting for a while, Mrs. Jiang said goodbye.

The queen did not keep her, but she was rewarded with a few baskets of fresh fruits from the south.

"I didn't ask for favors, but I was scolded instead!" After Mrs. Jiang returned to the founding mansion, the more she thought about it, the more angry she became.

She took a sedan chair and went to find Mrs. Chu Guogong.

Mrs. Lu, the Duke of Chu, is her husband's sister-in-law and the wife of Chang Shao, the eldest son of Chang.

The Founding Mansion and the Chu State Mansion were originally in one place. Later, an artificial river was built in the middle, and there were two bridges for communication.

When Jiang's sedan chair reached the bridge connecting the Founding Duke's Mansion and the Chu State Duke's Mansion, it was stopped by the wife of the Chu State Duke's Mansion.

She was going to visit Mrs. Lu, but the mother-in-law of the Duke of Chu's mansion said that Mrs. Lu was not in a good spirit today, and she was not seeing any guests, so she was not allowed to go there.

Jiang's face flushed with anger.

In an attic by the river, two young girls stood in front of the window, looking here curiously.

"Ami, this is really fun, can I write to my family?"

"No, Shengchun, unless it's your cousin Linglong, you can't tell them about the rest."

"oh, I see."

"Not only can't you say it in a letter, but you can't say it when you meet in the future."

"Oh, I see."

Mrs. Jiang was unwilling to beg the queen, and Mrs. Lu refused to see her. When the founding father Chang Xu came back at night, she cried hard with him.

Chang Xu sighed, "You love my son, don't I? But father... well, father is also for our son's benefit. He is getting old, so I dare not argue with him."

Chang Xu had pretty features when he was young, but now that he is middle-aged, his face hasn't changed much.But his only son is now like this, naturally he is not in a good mood, his face is gloomy and listless.

"Let's go and beg him!" Mrs. Jiang wiped away tears, "Master, let's kneel in front of his old man and beg bitterly. If he doesn't agree, we won't get up!"

"Isn't this forcing Dad to agree?" Chang Xu hesitated.

"But, Ne'er is suffering." Jiang burst into tears, "How old is he? Doing hard work during the day and studying at night, the child must not be tired out, good or bad? We are a son, if there is something wrong with him..."

Chang Xu was upset, and shouted: "Stop talking!"

Jiang covered her face with a handkerchief, sobbing endlessly.

Chang Xu paced back and forth in the room, and finally made up his mind, "Let's go and beg father to show respect and spare Ne'er this time!"

"Really?" Jiang put down the veil with a look of surprise.

The next day the two got up very early and drove to Guizhuang.

When approaching Guizhuang, dozens of burly men rushed out from the small road, stopped the carriage, and fought with the driver, guards and others.

Jiang was shocked, "There are bandits in the clear sky!"

Chang Xu smiled wryly, "What kind of bandits, they are my father's subordinates."

"Ah?" Jiang's mouth opened wide, he couldn't believe it.

That day, Chang Xu didn't have many people in his belt, so he was expelled out in embarrassment.

Jiang became more and more worried, and discussed with Chang Xu, and came again the next day with more people.When they were about to reach Guizhuang, another group of people rushed out and beat them without saying a word, and the unlucky couple was driven away again.

"Is father training with me?" Chang Xu wondered, so let's not mention it.

The third time he brought more people.No one stopped him this time, and when Shun Shun arrived in front of Guizhuang, he couldn't believe it.

The door of Guizhuang opened, and a hunchbacked old servant came out tremblingly, "There are only a few housekeepers left in this village, and the leader is the old slave. Dare I ask the Duke, what orders do you have?"

Chang Xu: ...

(End of this chapter)