The prince is very fierce

Time flies and it is the first day of the twelfth lunar month. As the year is coming to an end, Chang'an is getting busier.

Dayue broke Chang'an on the first day of the twelfth lunar month a year ago. At that time, the battle with Daqi was a fight to the death. More than 100,000 people died on both sides. The suburbs outside Chang'an were full of old horses, but no living people were seen.

After Emperor Xiaozong entered Chang'an, the world was settled. He specially dug a tomb of heroes beside Qujiang Lake. The remains of the soldiers from both sides were buried in it, announcing the end of the three kingdoms that lasted for a hundred years. From now on, they are all citizens of Dayue.

Countless wives who waited for their husbands to return home, after waiting for a long time without any news, would come here from thousands of miles every year. Some committed suicide by jumping into Qujiang Lake, and some cried to death in front of the tomb of heroes. This lasted for more than ten years, so Emperor Xiaozong had to send many officials to wait by the tomb of heroes to comfort these women who had lost everything, and specially asked the queen to pay homage to the tomb of heroes every year.

Nowadays, the things before Jiazi have become the past, but the habit of burning incense at Qujiang Lake on the first day of the twelfth lunar month has not changed, but it has evolved into a festival mainly for enjoying the snow scenery, just like the Dragon Boat Festival to worship Qu Yuan, which can be regarded as a festival born out of necessity.

However, the current emperor has not appointed another queen after the death of the queen, and the task of bringing the imperial concubine here fell on the head of the current empress dowager.

As the daughter-in-law of the Xiao family, Madam Lu became a widow after getting married. Due to her reputation, she did not go out much and was not familiar with other wealthy ladies on Kuishou Street. In order to have someone to talk with at Qujiang Lake, she naturally brought Xu Buling with her.

Xu Buling followed Madam Lu to Qujiang Lake, not only to relax, but also to make other arrangements.

The Queen Mother took a group of wealthy ladies out of the city to enjoy the scenery, so the security work naturally could not go wrong.

Xu Buling secretly asked Ning Qingye to make a gesture of scouting around Qujiang Lake, deliberately leaving some traces.

After the Detective Department discovered Ning Qingye's traces, they naturally did not dare to take it lightly. On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, more than a hundred wolf guards were sent to guard the surrounding area, and thousands of imperial guards were sent to clear the area around Qujiang Lake in advance. Except for some well-known ladies and local sages, no suspicious people were allowed to enter. Commander Zhang Xiang even went out with a knife in person to guard the Queen Mother.

Zhang Xiang was lured out of his hole, and Zhu Manzhi naturally took the opportunity to enter the case library under the pretext of checking the case files. However, there must be more than one Zhang Xiang stationed in the case library, so it is necessary to continue to create a little chaos in the Investigation Department...

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The morning of the first day of the twelfth lunar month.

The huge Su Palace was slightly tidied up at the request of Mrs. Lu. The eight palace guards were originally dead soldiers, and Xu Buling did not need them at ordinary times, so he made them hardworking little gardeners to prepare for the end of the year.

The sky was just getting white, and snowflakes of moderate size were scattered in the courtyard. Xu Buling was tidying up his clothes in front of the bronze mirror, because he was still going to sacrifice to the heroes in name, and there were many soldiers under his grandfather Xu Lie. They were dressed more formally, but they did not need to wear crowns as they had not yet reached the age of 18. They were just more solemn brocade robes and jade belts.

Old Xiao stood in front of him with a cane, talking about today's arrangements:

"There is a bamboo forest near Qujiang Pond, and you have to pass through it to get in and out. There are traps set in advance. Ning Qingye will definitely not be able to kill Zhang Xiang. It will cause some chaos at that time. Whether she can retreat depends on her ability.

Zhu Manzhi will enter the case library at noon. It is just lunch time. The number of patrolling wolf guards has been greatly reduced. I will try to create some chaos to distract the wolf guards. I have about half an hour to go in and check the files..."

Xu Buling listened carefully, After confirming that there was no problem with the arrangement, he nodded gently: "Take the eight guards with you just in case. If you get killed in there, I will be alone."

Old Xiao laughed: "Don't worry, young prince. I have no other skills, but I am a first-class life-saving kung fu. According to the current situation, if the poison is not cured, I may be able to send you away first."

"..."

Xu Buling really couldn't refute it. He chuckled, took the sword from the carved tiger orchid, hung it on his waist, and walked out of the palace gate.

The Kuishou Street, which has always been solemn and solemn, has a rare noise. Dozens of carriages came out of the mansions of various princes and generals, and servants and maids were in front and behind, and most of them were women.

As a place where the top families in Chang'an City gather, even the noble ladies who are usually arrogant will honestly follow the rules and walk in the position they should occupy. This order of precedence does not need to be deliberately commanded, and it is all the result of generations of open and secret struggles.

The carriage of the Xiao family was ahead. Xiao Chuyang's wife Cui had already left with her maids, while Madam Lu parked the carriage in front of the stone lions of the palace and waited.

The light snow fell, and Xu Buling led Zhuifeng Taze out of the palace gate. He looked up and saw Madam Lu, who was wearing a dark blue imperial robe, leaning against the window of the carriage and looking out. Her face was not made up, and her emerald green earrings were motionless. She looked like she was in a daze.

Yue Nu held up a white oil-paper umbrella to block the falling snow, and walked forward slowly and bowed: "Young prince, be careful of catching a cold in heavy snow, get in the carriage." Then she raised her hand and took the reins.

The door was blocked, and Xu Buling did not struggle in vain. After handing the horse to Yue Nu, he lightly stepped on the street and jumped into the carriage, entering the warm and gorgeous carriage.

Mrs. Lu closed the window of the carriage, moved her hips slightly on the soft couch, and patted the seat next to her:

"Buling, come sit here."

The carriage was spacious, and there were seats for guests next to it. Xu Buling had already sat down, so he had to get up and sit next to Mrs. Lu, taking off his sword and placing it on the small table next to him:

"Aunt Lu, why were you in a daze just now? Are you worried about something?"

Mrs. Lu lazily leaned on the soft couch, her eyes kept staring at Xu Buling: "What can I have on my mind? All I can think about is you. I always feel that you are hiding something from me recently..."

Xu Buling's face stiffened slightly, he shook his head and smiled: "Men have to have some personal matters, I have a sense of discretion."

Mrs. Lu frowned, thought for a moment, moved a little closer, and smelled Xu Buling's robe.

Xu Buling accepted it calmly. In the past few days, when he came into contact with women, he would rub off a layer of skin before returning home. If he could smell it, he would have nothing to say.

Mrs. Lu didn't notice the femininity, her eyes finally became more energetic, and she said quietly: "What's going on with Miss Song? I heard from my servants that Song Jijiu's daughter often hangs around the palace these days. It seems that I still want to come to you, huh... I also went to the Imperial College to inquire about it, and I heard that you were copying books in the Bell and Drum Tower, and that girl ran there every night..."

Xu Bu Ling's scalp was numb when he heard this resentful tone, but he couldn't talk nonsense to avoid making Mrs. Lu even more resentful. He could only shake his head and chuckle: "I don't want to copy the book and ask her to help me copy it. Song Da Jijiu is a teacher and has always been a strict tutor." , How could Miss Song do something that is disgraceful to the family tradition?"

This explanation was quite convincing. Mrs. Lu nodded slightly and said no more. She took out the chess pieces on the second floor of the chessboard from the side and went to Qujiang Pond while talking about the family's shortcomings...