Those years when I was Princess Yan

"Of course it has something to do with it. The third sister-in-law is happy to play the third brother." Xu Qingqing planned to stop there, and there was no need for the deadlock between brothers and sisters-in-law.As long as they don't take the initiative to provoke her, she will definitely not take the initiative to trouble them.

Zhu Wei hesitated for a while, not wanting to go into details.

Mrs. Xie didn't believe that Xu Qingqing could catch something. Only she and Jin Wang knew about it, not even her cronies, so how could Xu Qingqing know about it.Most likely, she heard something from Princess Ningguo's mouth, and she is bluffing people here.Otherwise, when King Jin asked just now, how could she not be able to speak serious words, and just chatted there.

"The fourth younger brother and sister clearly had something in their words just now, making it seem like your third brother and I were hiding some secret, but don't fool us, just make it clear." Mrs. Xie said relentlessly.

Zhu Di raised his eyebrows, and looked at Zhu Bian beside him with obvious sympathy in his eyes.

Zhu Yan hadn't reacted yet, and was pondering whether what Xie said was possible.The fourth younger brother and sister are clever little ghosts, and they are likely to be tricked.

"Since the third sister-in-law insists on asking me to speak clearly, then I will not be polite. It was when the third sister-in-law was playing the piano, and I noticed that the third brother was tapping on the table, one step faster than the third sister-in-law's music." Xu Qingqing explained.

Xie sneered: "What is this? Before I play the music, of course I have to play it for the prince to listen to, and the prince will remember it. Why not?"

"I found that the song played by the third sister-in-law is different from the beat of the third brother, but it sounds better according to the third brother's." Xu Qingqing continued.

Xie's face instantly became very ugly.Before she presented the song, she clearly explained to the empress word by word that it was her composition.If the news spread that this song was actually composed by the prince, she would not only lose face, but also committed the crime of deceiving the emperor, and would be impeached and beheaded by the censor.

After hearing Xu Qingqing's explanation, Zhu Yan looked at her in surprise, never expecting that she would notice such a small detail that day.

"Of course, it may also be that after the third brother heard the song, he felt that there was something that needed to be revised, so he popped up the revised beat in his mind."

Xu Qingqing didn't mean to make things big, but just wanted to scare her because she thought that Mrs. Xie was talking too much about her.Now that the goal has been achieved, it will be accepted as soon as it is good.

"Yes, yes, it must be like this." Xie's face was still a little uneasy.

"However, I don't know that the third brother is so proficient in rhythm. He can grasp the main points just by listening to it, and change the tune to make it more beautiful." Xu Qingqing turned her head and teased Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan gave Mrs. Xie a hard look, then stared at Xu Qingqing with a serious face, "What's so funny? Can't I be both talented and talented?"

"Sure, of course it's done. I was just praising third brother." Xu Qingqing didn't understand why Zhu Gang had such a sudden attitude. He was not so angry when she revealed that Princess Jin might be deceiving the emperor just now.

Zhu Yan snorted, flung his sleeves and left first.Knowing that King Jin was angry, Mrs. Xie lowered her head and followed him immediately.

Xu Qingqing went to Zhu Di's side, and asked inexplicably, "What's the matter? I didn't want to provoke him."

"Third brother's fondness for playing the piano is a secret to him, and he doesn't want outsiders to know." Zhu Di looked down at Xu Qingqing, "Now you have exposed it on the spot."

"What is hiding this secret? What an elegant hobby." Xu Qingqing was puzzled.

"The man in Zhu's family can appreciate literature or martial arts, but he likes music and playing the piano, and he is also beautiful." Zhu Di gave Xu Qingqing a look of "you experience it yourself".

Xu Qingqing suddenly realized: "Oh, I see, he is afraid that others will say that he is feminine?"

"Almost." Zhu Di chuckled, and patted Xu Qingqing's head as a sign of encouragement, "Let's go too."

King Qin and Princess Qin hosted a banquet in the back garden. There were charcoal fires all around the temporary shed, which was extremely warm, while the surroundings outside the shed were surrounded by plum scenery, which was very elegant.

After a while, the prince, princess and Princess Ning also came.To Xu Qingqing's surprise, Chang Mingzhu also followed.

"This kid heard that it's lively, and wants to join in. Don't you mind if I bring her?" Crown Princess Chang asked with a smile.

"It's all a family, how can I mind it, thank you for the young girl's presence, it happens to be lively." Xie said with a smile.

Qin Wangfei was also busy. He was the person in charge of hosting the banquet, so of course he had to express his opinion quickly and express that he didn't mind.

Xu Qingqing does mind, is it useful?

After the banquet, everyone had wine and admired the plum blossoms. Xu Qingqing was also enjoying the plum blossoms, but she was not looking at the plum blossoms. From the rest of her eyes, she was paying attention to the dynamics of Chang Mingzhu and her maid.

Xu Qingqing didn't quite believe that Chang Mingzhu would simply come to join in the fun this time, especially after she experienced the two hard-hit incidents of 'eating meatballs until she vomited' and 'the plum in the corner of her heart was poached'.

This banquet was proposed by Princess Qin. Princess Qin is the most timid and weak person, and she is not favored by King Qin. If she picks such a time to strike, it will be a shame.

After a while, Xu Qingqing discovered that one of the six maids brought by Chang Mingzhu was missing.

Xu Qingqing only has one pair of eyes, so naturally she can't cover everything. Fortunately, she has instructed Biluo and others to pay special attention to the situation of Chang Mingzhu's master and servant, so at this moment, her people are already following the maid who left .

For some reason, Mrs. Xie suddenly paid attention to Chang Mingzhu again, called the girl to ask how old she was, and then lamented to the Crown Princess that it was time to arrange a marriage for her.

Upon hearing this, Chang Mingzhu pursed her lips and lowered her head, grabbing the handkerchief vigorously.To outsiders, he seemed to be shy, but Xu Qingqing could see clearly that she hated Xie Shi for mentioning it.

"Third sister-in-law is right. We should choose as early as possible and look at a few more people. We must choose the best one to match our sister Mingzhu." Xu Qingqing turned to ask Zhu Di, "Isn't it, my lord?"

"Yes." Zhu Di agreed.

"You've just turned thirteen, so there's no need to rush." ​​Chang said with a smile.

She was afraid that if the marriage was decided too early, if the other party made any mistakes, it would bring Kefu's reputation to his sister.Her natal family had a cousin who was delayed because of this matter, and the remarried family would not be very good.

Generally, 13 years old is just the right time to get married, but it is too early for the princess.Xu Qingqing couldn't help but think of the gossip Xie Zeng Cheng had told her.There is a girl in Chang's family who is the widow of the family. She is obviously the eldest daughter of Huanghua, but there is no good family to choose when talking about marriage.

Xu Qingqing guessed that it was probably because of this concern that the Crown Princess refused to discuss marriage with Chang Mingzhu too early.

"We can make an appointment first, and the two families will make an agreement in private, and then formally engage in a formal engagement after a good day is chosen. This way, we will not miss the outstanding son, and we can also resolve some concerns."

Xu Qingqing's words touched the heart of the Crown Princess, and the Crown Princess hurriedly nodded to express that this is a good idea.Later, she will consider the candidates, and let everyone recommend any suitable people to her. She wants to investigate each of them carefully, and choose the best one for their family's Pearl.

"Well, I have a suitable person in my heart." Xie was about to say, when she saw Chang Mingzhu lowered her head even more, as if she really wanted to escape from here, she thought this girl was too shy, so she smiled and said to the princess Let's talk later.

At this time, sweet-scented osmanthus cheese and jade belt cake were on the table.

This sweet-scented osmanthus custard is cooked with milk. The surface of the soft and solidified yogurt is embellished with sliced ​​almonds and osmanthus flowers.

There is also jade belt cake, the snow-white and soft skin made of fine glutinous rice noodles, and the inside is made of walnut kernels, green plums, and kumquat cakes. It is sweet, sour, and fragrant. It tastes absolutely on the tip of the tongue. happiness.

Xu Qingqing saw that the jade belt cake was a whole plate, and everyone took it at will, and the crown prince took a piece first, so Xu Qingqing tasted it.

This sweet-scented osmanthus cheese is given to a certain person by a maid.Xu Qingqing looked at the bowl in front of her, but she didn't have the guts to eat it.She sent Bixi to follow the maid, but she hasn't returned yet, so she is not sure if there is any ingredient in the bowl of sweet-scented osmanthus cheese.

After a while, Bixi came back and told Xu Qingqing that she followed the maid to the kitchen. After the maid and a woman in the kitchen sneaked a few words in the corner, they went to a remote room and stayed there. didn't come out.She originally wanted to keep watching, but she was afraid that the princess would get news in a hurry, so she came back to report first.

Xu Qingqing thought for a moment, thinking that Chang Mingzhu should not be strong enough to place a man here with the King of Qin.But perhaps it was also because of the unexpectedness that it was easier for her to attack.

"There's sweet-scented osmanthus crispy cheese, let's eat it, sis!" Chang Mingzhu said in surprise, holding the princess's arm.

"You, you really haven't grown up yet." Chang said with a doting smile, followed by Chang Mingzhu's arm, and came over to have some snacks.

After taking a sip of sweet-scented osmanthus cheese, Chang sighed for its deliciousness, and praised Princess Qin for her excellent preparation of the banquet, taking care of everyone's tastes.

Chang Mingzhu immediately counted the favorite food of everyone present.

Everyone couldn't help but praised Chang Mingzhu for being smart, and she even remembered these things.Even more, we must praise Princess Qin, if the very pearls were counted in detail just now, they would not have known that Princess Qin's arrangements were so careful.

"I'm ashamed, I don't know what the four younger siblings like." Princess Qin was really careful and thoughtful, and she was afraid that Xu Qingqing would think too much, so she immediately apologized to her.

"Second sister-in-law, you are welcome. I like all these things on the table. When I was poor, I would be happy as long as I could have something to eat. I am not picky about food." Xu Qingqing explained.

"Princess Yan wants to try this sweet-scented osmanthus crispy cheese. It's sweet and tender, and my eldest sister and I both like it." Chang Mingzhu stared at Xu Qingqing with a very kind smile on her face.

But the smile was a bit too forceful, one could tell that she had been preparing for this moment for a long time.

"Yes, you should try it quickly." The Crown Princess agreed.

Xu Qingqing looked at the bowl of sugar-steamed crispy cheese in front of her, hesitated for a while, then turned to look at the bowl in front of Zhu Di.

"My lord has a lot of almonds in this bowl."

Zhu Di chuckled, looking at Xu Qingqing with a hint of interest in his eyes, and then pushed his own bowl to Xu Qingqing.

Seeing this scene, Chang Mingzhu's expression changed and she lowered her head.

Everyone thought that Xu Qingqing would exchange her bowl for Zhu Di, but she kept both bowls.

"My lord doesn't like sweets, so I won't let him go." Xu Qingqing just explained, then took a mouthful of Zhu Di's bowl of crispy cheese and put it into her mouth, sighing that it was delicious.

Zhu Di kept looking at Xu Qingqing, but what he looked at was not the person, but the cheese.Seeing that Xu Qingqing stopped after eating from her bowl, and did not move her original bowl, Zhu Di looked away.

"Husband and wife love each other, envy others." Zhu Xi praised, but his tone was very sour.

Everyone laughed and echoed, denouncing their husband and wife for going too far.

Princess Zhu Rong of Ningguo was different from everyone else, and she especially told Zhu Di: "Fourth brother should treat fourth sister-in-law better like this. My fourth sister-in-law is a rare woman who is one in a thousand, and it is hard to find."

Zhu Wei couldn't help but nodded slightly, expressing his agreement.It's really hard to find, if I want to find another woman from these aristocratic families who knows medicine like her, there is no one at all.

"Yo, so your other sister-in-laws are all ordinary?" Mrs. Xie asked pretendingly unhappy.

"That's not what it means. Sister-in-laws are all chosen one in a million, otherwise how would they be worthy of such powerful brothers as me?" Zhu Rong hurriedly added.

Everyone laughed.

Mrs. Xie also laughed: "It's better for us Princess Rong'er to praise everyone!"

Zhu Yan silently took a sip of wine, not participating in the excitement.In the past, he was the most troublesome on such occasions, but today he was extraordinarily quiet.

But Xu Qingqing took off the silver hairpin on her head while everyone was talking and laughing, taking advantage of no one's attention, and inserted it into the cheese in front of Zhu Di. The part of the cheese in contact with the silver hairpin turned black.

When Zhu Di saw the change of the silver hairpin, his eyes were calm, but his brows were frowning, and he stared at the bowl of cheese in surprise, as if expressing his anger.

"Oh, the hairpin fell off!" Xu Qingqing said, covering her head.

Everyone was attracted by Xu Qingqing's words, and immediately saw a silver hairpin stuck in a bowl of crispy cheese in front of Xu Qingqing.

Everyone watched Xu Qingqing pull the silver hairpin out of the cheese, the brown and black section on the head of the hairpin was particularly conspicuous.

"Toxic!" The prince was the first to shout excitedly.

Everyone was shocked too.

Xu Qingqing seemed to have just realized it at this time, and hurriedly dropped the hairpin in her hand.

Zhu Rong hurried over to check on Xu Qingqing and asked if she was okay.

Qin Wang and Qin Wangfei were completely panicked. They proposed to hold a banquet, but now such a big incident happened, and they must be held responsible.

Qin Wang didn't intervene in setting up the banquet at all, it was all handled by Qin Wangfei alone.So King Qin stared at Princess Qin angrily and disappointedly, and asked her, "What's going on?"

Qin Wangfei was so frightened that her soul flew halfway, tears fell down in fear, and she quickly explained that she didn't know what was going on.

In a panic, King Qin raised his hand, intending to slap Princess Qin across the face.

Zhu Di: "The top priority now is to first apprehend the relevant people and find out who poisoned them. Not only did they intend to kill my princess, but they also intended to frame my second brother and second sister-in-law."

Upon hearing Zhu Di's words, the King of Qin calmed down, and immediately ordered the arrest of all the maids who were in charge of serving the dishes, and sealed off the kitchen so that no one could enter.Immediately, the imperial doctor was called in to check the situation of the poison, and each person involved was searched carefully.

As a result, as soon as the guards surrounded the kitchen, someone committed suicide by taking poison. When he got up, he found an exquisite porcelain bottle, which contained the poison Hedinghong that had not been poured out.

There are too many people present at this scene, and Xu Qingqing has to hide her identity, so it is inconvenient to check the corpse.She sent Bixi to identify the corpse to confirm whether the dead one had any relationship with Chang Mingzhu's maid.After Bixi came back, she shook her head at Xu Qingqing, then searched around in the crowd, found the fat woman in navy blue in the last row, and signaled to her princess.

The woman who died was surnamed Zhao, and she was a small steward. She was mainly responsible for the purchases in the kitchen and often went out.This actually increased her suspicion. Only those who often have the opportunity to go out will come into contact with outsiders, and this will give them an opportunity to be used by outsiders.

"I heard that she also died of being poisoned by the red crest of the crane, but the medicine bottle was hidden on her body intact, so how did this person die by taking the poison?" Xu Qingqing asked again.

"The woman fell by the stove, and there was a bowl of tea that was spilled on the floor. My people just tried it with a silver needle, and the tea left in the tea bowl was also poisonous. It must be that this woman knew that she was destined to die after being poisoned. , mixed Hedinghong into the tea, and drank the tea before committing suicide." Zhu Xi explained apologetically to Xu Qingqing.

He really couldn't understand why someone in his house would be tempted to kill Yan Wangfei. This Yan Wangfei was just a Taoist nun before, no matter what, she would not offend people in the capital.Could it be that someone wants to deal with him, and this poison is given to anyone at will?Zhu Xi thought about it for a while, and felt that although his actions were indeed not safe enough, but now he is a feudal lord who has not yet become a vassal, and he doesn't even get involved in political affairs, so he won't be in the way of anyone's eyes. to kill him.

"Since I have decided to commit suicide in fear of crime, there is no need to worry too much. I have a bottle of poison in my hand that is not used up. I just drink it. Why bother to pour it into tea and drink it? Before drinking, I have to take the bottle of poison. Put away the poison properly and hide it on your body?" Xu Qingqing questioned.

Zhu Xi suddenly realized that this is the truth.He had seen a certain minister commit suicide in fear of crime before. He used opium, and the powder was not easy to swallow, so he mixed part of it into the wine.But the paper that wrapped the rest of the poison was discarded casually aside. Those who wanted to die would still have the intention to wrap up the suicide poison again and put it in their arms again.

"In other words, the one who died did not commit suicide in fear of crime, but was framed and used as a scapegoat." Zhu Xi couldn't help asking Zhu Di and Xu Qingqing how to investigate the real murderer.

"If the murderer is going to kill me, how can she be sure that the bowl of sweet-scented osmanthus cheese she poisoned will be given to me?"

Zhu Xi summoned the maids who served the dishes to inquire, and they said that they served the dishes in order of respect, that is to say, first the prince, the princess, then the king of Qin, the concubine of Qin, the king of Jin, the concubine of Jin, the king of Yan, Princess Yan...Xu Qingqing is ranked eighth. If the poison happens to be placed in the eighth bowl, then this bowl will definitely be brought to Princess Yan.

"Then who decides which bowl you serve in order?" Xu Qingqing asked again.

"The servants are in charge of this matter. After the butter comes out of the pot, they will be taken out of the pot and taken away by the girls." Mrs. Gui hurriedly came out, knelt down tremblingly and replied, repeatedly calling herself wronged, she really Not poisoned.

Xu Qingqing saw that this woman was not the one she was looking for, so she asked her to think about whether she could be the only one in the process of serving the cheese, and whether there was someone else to help.

"By the way, Mrs. Wang, she helped me when she saw that I was too busy." Mrs. Gui hurriedly pointed to Mrs. Wang.

Seeing what she was referring to this time, Xu Qingqing was exactly the fat woman in the navy blue dress that Bixi had mentioned, knowing that she had finally found the place.

Mrs. Wang panicked and called Mrs. Wang Hu Qin, who was wronging her.

"There are many people in the kitchen, and there are many witnesses. You can tell if you cross-examine carefully." Zhu Di ordered Qiu Fu to interrogate Wang Pozi himself, and he could use whatever means he wanted.

After a group of people went back to drink tea for a while, the results of the cross-examination came out.Xu Qingqing observed Chang Mingzhu deliberately, but she was very calm, and she was not in a hurry at the moment.

Wang Pozi admitted that she was instigated by Princess Jin.

Xie Shiben had been watching the scene, and thought it was very interesting, but he was surprised to hear that he was involved in it.

"What does this matter have to do with me?" Mrs. Xie was furious, "Why do I poison my fourth sibling when I have nothing to do?"

As soon as these words came out, the Crown Princess and Princess Qin looked at Mrs. Xie at the same time, and their eyes revealed suspicion.It's not a day or two since Mrs. Xie hates Princess Yan, they all know it.

Mrs. Xie was made even more anxious by the eyes of the two, "I usually like to talk about my fourth sibling, but I wouldn't kill someone for this. What good would I get if I killed her!"

"I believe in the third sister-in-law, and there are other people who try to harm me." Xu Qingqing said.

Xie Shiwan did not expect that at such a time, it would be the 'enemy' who was always hated by his own petty mind to speak for him.For a moment, I felt so guilty that I didn't know what to say to answer Xu Qingqing's words. No matter what I said, I would judge him as superior, because I was too lowly and far inferior to others.

Afterwards, she ordered Mrs. Wang to identify the maid who instigated her. Mrs. Wang looked around, pointed to a maid beside Xie Shi and said, "That's her!"

Because these maidservants basically lowered their heads when they were accompanying or serving, it was difficult to see the whole picture clearly.In addition, there are too many maids around here, and they are basically regarded as the background. Unless you pay special attention, it is really difficult to pay special attention to who they look like.

That's why Xu Qingqing discovered at this time that there was a little maid beside Xie Shi, who looked very similar to the one beside Chang Mingzhu.In addition, the two maidservants were about the same age, so Xu Qingqing suspected that they were twins.Most of the maidservants used by princes and grandsons are family members of criminal officials. It is not impossible for a pair of twins to be separated to serve different masters occasionally.

Xu Qingqing asked the maid: "Do you have a twin sister?"

The servant girl shook her head blankly, indicating no.

That's surprising.

Seeing that she didn't seem to be lying, Xu Qingqing was wondering when Bixi came back in a hurry and told her that the maid who was hiding could not be found and was no longer in the original room.

Xu Qingqing was annoyed that the most important witness was gone, and this time Chang Mingzhu might escape again, so Zhu Di who was listening to him suddenly warned Mrs. Wang to see carefully which one it was.

As soon as Zhu Di finished speaking, Qiu Fu escorted another servant girl up. The two servant girls stood side by side, and they looked so similar that it was almost impossible to tell them apart unless you looked carefully.

Seeing this, Chang Mingzhu's face was as pale as paper, and her lips trembled.She had thought she might find out one day, but she hadn't thought it would be this time.

Obviously God favored her and made her encounter such a clever thing. She thought that she would not be discovered so easily because of such a trick and a well-arranged arrangement.

What went wrong?

When Chang Mingzhu was looking at Xu Qingqing, she suddenly felt a cold gaze stabbing towards her, and Chang Mingzhu immediately met Zhu Di's eyes.

Zhu Di curled up one corner of his mouth and smiled at her.

The author has something to say: Another day of collapse, I almost thought I couldn’t finish writing, pinch my waist~~ Thanks for the live performance, a leopard laughed and threw 4 mines, and chased several articles, okay?