Hello Chang’an

Until a moment later, he saw a pale figure walking out of the bamboo courtyard with a female envoy.

The girl just came out of the yard and soon saw him with her searching eyes.

The sunshine in the autumn afternoon is almost transparent and golden. When the wind blows, the ginkgo trees sway, and the floating light sways between the sky and the earth.

The moment her eyes searched for him, a smile appeared on the girl's face. Just like the light swaying in the wind between the sky and the earth at this time, it seemed ordinary and quiet, but it was bright and open.

In an instant, Cui Jing felt an unprecedented sense of being at a loss in her heart. She remained calm on her face, but subconsciously tightened the hand behind her back that contained the white chess piece.

When he came back to his senses, Chang Suining had already arrived in front of him and said clearly: "It turns out that Governor Cui is also here. What a coincidence."

Just now, Cui Lang returned to the table and casually told her that his elder brother was outside. As a friend, she had no reason to avoid him and would always come out to say hello.

Cui Jing held the chess piece, feeling inexplicably guilty. To cover up this guilt, he casually said: "I didn't expect you to play chess very well."

"Did Governor Cui see everything just now?"

Cui Jing nodded and pointed his gaze towards the half-open window on the second floor. Chang Suining followed his gaze and couldn't help but understand.

"Then what do you think of Governor Cui?" She asked jokingly: "Not only am I good at chess, but I also have a good demeanor, right?"

While she was talking, she sat down at the stone table and raised her hand to motion for him to sit down too.

Her movements were very casual, and by the time Cui Jing came to her senses, he had already sat down opposite her.

Something didn't feel right about him today, but he thought it was probably because... there seemed to be more and more secrets about her.

As usual, he reminded himself not to pry too much, and just followed her previous question and continued: "She has a very good demeanor, and she is even quite tolerant towards her."

"I have read his articles." Chang Sui Ning said sincerely: "This person has real talent and learning. I have always respected people with skills, and there is no telling whether such people will become prominent one day. Yu Yu, wouldn’t it be nice to have a good relationship?”

Song Xian's heart is not bad. Although his temperament is not pleasing to the eye, not everyone in this world is born to please. It doesn't matter if there are flaws, as long as the flaws are not covered up.

For those who have the ability, she is always willing to tolerate it within reason.

Of course, it's true that she likes to have good relationships with people.

Hearing the words "form a good relationship", Cui Jing looked at the winding chessboard again and asked her a question: "Is it because you said you didn't compare calligraphy and painting with her at first to leave some room for the other party?"

"This..." Chang Suining looked around and saw no one, so he said to him, "It's to leave some room for myself."

Cui Jing looked up at her.

"There is one thing I'm not very good at." She smiled and said frankly: "My poetry is very bad."

"..." Cui Jing was silent for a moment, then said: "So, you first stated that you don't want to compete with calligraphy, painting, riding, and archery, you only want to win without using force, in order to make him give up the poetry competition on his own initiative?"

Chang Suining nodded: "Yes."

This can also make her appear graceful, which really kills two birds with one stone.

Cui Jing: "...It's really his blessing to meet you."

Chang Suining sighed: "He should be convinced."

Cui Jing smiled vaguely at the corner of her mouth.

"It is extremely rare for a boy from a humble family like him to reach this point at such a young age." Chang Suining looked at the golden crow leaning to the west and said, "I hope he can get what he wants in the coming spring."

Cui Jing also looked at the setting sun with her: "Yes."

The sage is particularly determined to clean up the imperial examinations. In the coming spring, Taifu Chu will preside over it. These candidates from poor families will have the most fair examination room in history.

"Well... it's best to come back with a top scholar in the examination." The girl continued: "Although I didn't take the imperial examination, the top scholar is my defeated general, and he might be rumored to be my student - he is better than me in the imperial examination. It’s even more glorious.”

Cui Jing looked at her funny: "In this way, you can become famous again."

"Yes." Chang Sui Ning also looked at him and said with a smile, "I can't play this game of chess with him in vain."

Cui Jing said "hmm" and said seriously: "It's just that this statement is definitely not suitable for Song Juren to hear -"

"Why?"

Cui Jing said seriously: "Whenever he learns that you are planning this, he is afraid that the first thing he will do is to burn all the books. He would rather not take the imperial examination than give you an advantage."

Chang Suining said "Ah" and said seriously: "Yes, this seems like something he can do... Then you have to keep it a secret for me."

"It's easy to talk." Cui Jing suggested: "How about exchanging it with a game of chess?"

He also wanted to play a game of chess with her.

Chang Sui Ning Congshan Ruliu nodded: "Okay."

"There is no rush at this time." Cui Jing said: "Today I will have a banquet for you. It will not be too late to fulfill my promise when I have free time another day."

Unlike him who has no second friend, she is always busy and has many people to take care of, just like the colorful rope on the Dragon Boat Festival.

"Then you're always welcome."

After Chang Sui Ning finished speaking, his eyes fell back to the chessboard and suddenly said: "Why is there a missing chess piece here?"

Cui Jing's brows jumped and he looked over with her: "...is there any?"

Chang Suining pointed to the last place with certainty: "There is a white stone missing."

Cui Jing: "..."

Is it really reasonable to be so sharp?

He tried his best to make his voice sound natural: "There was a guy who came over just now and wanted to take down the chessboard. There must have been a few at that time..."

This is not a lie, he just... said half of what he said.

But is a chess piece a secret worth keeping?

As early as Cui Lang made a sound, he could have put it back calmly. This is a normal reaction, isn't it?

So, what is he doing?

While Cui Jing was puzzled, he glanced at his subordinate standing not far away and couldn't help but wonder - could he have been infected with some weird brain disease by Cui Yuanxiang?

Yuan Xiang was a little confused when he noticed the gaze of his own chief governor.

Behind the moon cave door leading to the Bamboo Garden, the young man in pink robe hiding there lowered his voice and said, "Did you see that my master and eldest brother are sitting and talking!"

Yipot nodded repeatedly: "I saw it, I saw it..."

So, can Lang Jun take away the hand that is forcibly breaking his head and holding his eyes wide?

"Please help me see clearly. Remember to tell your mother later!" Cui Lang forced Yipot to look at it again and again, "This is my credit!"

"Yes Yes Yes…"

A look of emotion suddenly appeared on Cui Lang's face: "Don't worry about whether it can be done or not. It is true that I have worked hard for my mother. Think about how much I have suffered for this family over the years and how much I have been looked down upon...Cui Lang, Cui Lang, This family will be broken up without you."

After saying that, he turned around and brushed off his clothes and said, "Okay, let's go."

Chang Sui Ning no longer sat with Cui Jing for a long time. When he got up, he agreed to play chess together another day.

Cui Jing watched her return to the Bamboo Garden, then turned and left the music hall. Before leaving, she asked Yuan Xiang to pay more for the tea.

As he mounted his horse, the young man thoughtfully took the chess piece into his arms and placed it properly.

The young man drove away, and his figure quickly disappeared on the long street.

As the sun set, inside the Dengtai Tower, someone stood quietly for a long time, looking up at the famous picture of a tiger in the forest—

These four famous words sounded ironic to him in the past, but now...

There were people coming and going from time to time, including people who came to view the painting as well as ordinary diners, but these had nothing to do with him. He only saw the painting hanging high in the building.

His face was calm, but his heart never calmed down for a moment.

The lights began to be turned on in the building.

On days when there is a curfew, not much business can be done at night, and the staff in the building have already begun to prepare for closing.

But the young man who had been standing for half a day was still standing alone in the building looking at the paintings, but he probably couldn't stand anymore and sat on the floor instead. When Meng Lie heard about this, he did not ask the waiter to drive him away, but said: "Leave a light for him tonight."

Although it had only been half a day, the news about Song Juren's defeat had already spread.

"Come to think of it, this girl in General Chang's residence..." He suddenly narrowed his eyes and said, "She is really a completely different person from before."

The shopkeeper who was checking the accounts smiled and said, "My boss didn't see Mrs. Chang very often before, right?"

"It's precisely because we didn't see her often before..." Meng Lie looked up at the second floor where the painting was hung, and thought: "But now I can hear her almost every day."

In this capital city, there are different new things every day. It is not an easy thing to be remembered and mentioned often.

"That's because you spent four thousand taels to buy that painting and hang it in our restaurant." The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Who saw that painting and was not allowed to mention the person who painted it?"

Mengli suddenly felt a pain in his heart.

His four thousand taels!

No, it’s His Highness’s four thousand taels!

If His Highness were still here, he would be heartbroken to learn about this incident, and he would definitely accuse him of failing to protect the family business!

Meng Lie scolded Chang Kuo again in his heart.

Not long after, he returned to the backyard and came to his bedroom.

He has no children. Although he has another residence in Beijing, he still rests here most of the time.

There was only a gauze lamp burning in the bedroom. Meng Lie walked behind the bed, unscrewed the mechanism in the hidden compartment on the wall, and took out a box hidden inside.

The wooden box was opened, and there was only half a token inside.

Meng Lie picked up the half token, which was cold and heavy.

When His Highness left, he left this thing to him, saying that if he had any errands to tell him, he would meet someone with the other half of the token in the future.

Just to give him a thought? - He didn't like to think about this possibility.

"Your Highness, more than ten years have passed..."

He sighed. Under the dim light, the lines in the corners of his eyes became clearer every year: "If you don't tell me any more, your subordinates will get old."

Will he really have a chance to see the other half of the token in his lifetime?

The night wind blew through the window lattice, making no sound.

As the crescent moon waxes, the fragrant scent of osmanthus fills the capital, and the Mid-Autumn Festival has arrived.

What follows is the long-awaited Mid-Autumn Flower Banquet everywhere.

In addition to admiring chrysanthemums and osmanthus, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a good time to admire hibiscus.

The flower banquet was held in the Furong Garden on the outskirts of Beijing.

This flower banquet will be held for three days starting from the Mid-Autumn Festival. Everyone who receives the invitation to the flower banquet must bring their girls of appropriate age to the Furong Garden to attend the banquet.

It was already afternoon when Chang Suining arrived at Furong Garden with his father and brother.

The autumn air is crisp, the scenery is pleasant, and the hibiscus is in full bloom. It is really a good place to enjoy the scenery.

But everyone knows that no one who enters this garden comes just to enjoy the scenery.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, saints have always hosted banquets for hundreds of officials. Today's dinner is for the officials, and the ladies are just for company. Tomorrow's flower party is the time for the ladies to show off.

Therefore, the ladies' party dispersed earlier. They still need to prepare for tomorrow's flower party.

After Chang Suining left the banquet, he walked out of the banquet hall and went down the stone steps. He paused for a moment and subconsciously looked at the servants guarding the corridor.

"But something happened?"

Suddenly a voice sounded behind him. Chang Suining turned around and saw Cui Jing walking over.

He was wearing the officer's robe of the general of the Xuance Mansion, and he must have just arranged things outside. His body seemed to be stained with the coldness of the night, but the coldness in his eyes that always treated others disappeared at this time.

"It's nothing." Chang Suining got along with him more and more casually, "It's just that I didn't seem to see Yu Changshi today."

She hadn't seen Azeng for a long time, not since she learned about it from Yuchi.

She had never deliberately looked for him. He was busy with affairs at the Imperial Palace and rarely had the chance to leave the palace.

"Someone needs to stay in the palace, and Yu Changshi is not accompanying him this time." Cui Jing told her.

Chang Sui Ning is clear.

It turns out he didn’t come.

"If something happens to you, you can also ask people to find me." Cui Jing said.

Chang Suining looked at him. He must have thought that she had something to ask Yu Zeng for help.

She smiled: "Nothing happens now."

At this time, Mingluo, who was wearing a female official's uniform, came out of the hall. Seeing this scene, she paused for a moment, then calmed down and walked over.

Her eyes did not stay on Chang Suining, but only looked at Cui Jing, saluted, and said: "The saint summoned Governor Cui to discuss matters after the banquet."

Cui Jing nodded and looked at Chang Suining: "I'll go there first."

Chang Suining nodded.

When Mingluo turned around with Cui Jing, his brows furrowed slightly, almost imperceptibly.

Just as Chang Sui Ning was about to leave, he saw a group of brightly dressed girls walking out of the banquet hall.

"Sister Chang!"

Yao Xia walked quickly towards her and held her arm affectionately as usual.

Chang Suining's eyes were attracted by a young girl in green who was surrounded by people: "Is that... the lady of the eldest grandson's family?"

Yao Xia nodded and whispered: "Yes, that is the youngest legitimate daughter in the family of the Prime Minister Zuo, Sun Xuan, the eldest daughter of the Seventh Lady."

Chang Suining nodded.

That's right.

The seventh lady of the eldest grandson was born very much like her eldest aunt - the former empress of her father, the empress of the eldest grandson.

The eldest grandson's family has produced two queens, and more than one of the son-in-laws in the family has become a princess. The eldest grandson's seventh wife's father, eldest grandson Yuan, is the current left prime minister and the top of Wei Shuyi - although he is married to the Cui family who is not married to the royal family. The factions are different, but the Changsun family was born in the Guanlong clan, and was also a real noble clan.

In terms of opposing the Ming Dynasty's arbitrary use of power, the Changsun family's position was highly consistent with that of other noble families.

Even putting aside this matter, the festival between the eldest son's family and the Ming Dynasty will last longer.

At that time, Empress Changsun, the eldest sister of Changsun Yuan, died of illness, and Empress Ming took her place and became the master of the harem.

As for the third prince who had been beaten by her for bullying Axiao, he had been raised under the knee of Queen Changsun since he was a child, and he was the one the Changsun family wanted to support—

She had been involved in the overt and covert fights over the position of the crown prince when she was Li Xiao, and she had also experienced the methods of the Changsun family.

"I heard people say privately... that the seventh lady, the eldest grandson, is the best candidate for the crown princess." Yao Xia whispered.

Chang Sui Ning is noncommittal.

It should be said that Changsun Xuan was the best candidate for crown princess in the eyes of those noble officials.

But in the eyes of Ming Hou, it was just the opposite.

But, which girl do you plan to push to compete with him tomorrow?

Goodnight everybody