Crossing the East Palace

At the Lantern Festival during the Lantern Festival, Tang Luojin originally planned to go with Emperor Tianyuan, so it was considered a "private visit".

So after Ning Junchi came to deliver the mask to Tang Luojin, he left consciously.

It's just that when Tang Luojin went to look for Emperor Tianyuan, Xu Youwei stopped him.

"Your Majesty said we won't go today." Xu Youwei said with a smile, "Your Majesty said that many women outside the palace can go out on the Lantern Festival today, and the princesses in the palace should also go out to have fun. So Your Majesty gave Several princes have assigned tasks, let the princes take the princess out to play."

Tang Luojin was not in a hurry to ask which princess he would take out, but said: "This does not prevent the father from traveling with us. Besides, the father never sees the orphan, why did he only let Eunuch Xu come?" Send a message?"

When Xu Youwei heard the words, he thought in his heart that Emperor Tianyuan knew the Crown Prince well, and he knew that the Crown Prince would not be credulous. He smiled meaningfully and said, "In the first place, His Majesty was willing to meet His Highness and explain these things. However, in the afternoon , Xu Jieyu, big and small, brought ginseng soup, so... at this moment, Xu Jieyu, big and small, are all in the palace, I'm afraid your majesty won't have time to see you..."

Xu Jieyu, elder and younger, are twin sisters who were dedicated to Emperor Tianyuan by the people below.

Although Emperor Tianyuan was not very lustful, the Xu sisters were twin sisters, one was lively and the other was delicate and charming, and they were in their twenties and eighth years now, so it was normal for Emperor Tianyuan to like them.

"..." Tang Luojin was silent for a while, and then said: "...Then I don't know which royal sister or royal sister you want to take care of alone?"

Xu Youwei saw that Tang Luojin really stopped asking, he was relieved, and then said: "It's the eighth princess and the ninth princess. It's just that the eighth princess seems to want to go out with her mother's cousins, maybe only the ninth princess and His Highness Go out together."

Tang Luojin touched the wrench in his hand, nodded slightly: "Thank you, Eunuch Xu." Then he saluted Zichen Palace before leaving.

In the Zichen Palace, the big and small Xu families are only placed in the ear room.

Xiao Xu felt strange and couldn't help saying: "Sister, could it be that we have offended His Majesty? His Majesty called us here at this time, but he refused to see us?"

Mrs. Xu had some calculations in her heart, but she didn't dare to talk nonsense—their sisters were originally the daughters of ordinary wealthy families. Because of their good looks, they were twins, and were coveted by the officials' children. Rescued by the "benefactor", he entered the palace to repay his kindness.But after entering the palace and experiencing some things in the palace, Mrs. Xu gradually discovered that maybe the "benefactor" back then was not a benefactor at all.Although Emperor Tianyuan was young, he was well maintained and treated the sisters well.Little Xu is delicate and naive, she never thinks about the future, but only wants to "repay her kindness".Da Xu felt that maybe the sisters should hold onto Emperor Tianyuan firmly.

——Even if you can't catch them, you should let Emperor Tianyuan know that the master of their sisters is only Emperor Tianyuan.As long as Emperor Tianyuan can protect their family members, they can bear all other things.

"This world belongs to His Majesty." Da Xu said suddenly, "Your sister is still in contact with there? If so, stop immediately. My sister used to be unsure, but now I feel that we sisters were in contact because of Good-looking, and my parents are just ordinary wealthy households. They never allow you and me to show our faces easily, so as not to cause trouble. But why are you and I raised in a deep boudoir, and there are still people who come to frame our parents and family, and let us sisters have trouble? I'm afraid, the benefactor is not Benefactor. We are dedicated to repaying our kindness, but it is only because we have harmed our family."

Hearing these words, Xiao Xu's mood immediately went into battle.There was a "bang bang" on the heart for a long time, and then he grabbed Da Xu's hand and said: "Sister, how could it be? No, it's impossible... How can that person count you and me as weak girls with his status? Although you and I have good looks, they are not good enough to be calculated like this?" Leaving aside the others, let's just talk about the prince, the two of them's looks are not even one-tenth of the prince's.

Mrs. Xu mocked, "But who told you and me to be twin sisters? Good sister, don't do stupid things anymore. Otherwise, our Xu family will be ruined."

Although Xiao Xu was not smart, she was always obedient and nodded emphatically when she heard the words.

Only then did someone call them.

"You two Jieyu, I finally figured it out." Xu Youwei said with a straight face and a high-pitched voice, "Now that you have figured it out, in the future, don't do stupid things again, so that you can serve Your Majesty. In the future, the Xu family will be able to Gu Quan, the two Jieyu, can live through their old age in a good way."

It was only then that Mrs. Xu, big and small, knew that they had been watched for a long time, and their hands and feet trembled immediately, but they dared not disobey.

When they arrived at Emperor Tianyuan's inner room, they saw the pale Emperor Tianyuan, and they immediately knelt down.

Emperor Tianyuan still closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Xu Youwei said in a low voice: "You two should serve Your Majesty. Remember, today you two brought ginseng soup, and then served Your Majesty all night. Your Majesty is brave and strong. Please wait on me."

The little Xu is still trembling, not knowing what to do next; the big Xu has tried to calm down and said: "Don't worry, father-in-law, how our sisters serve His Majesty on weekdays, we will serve His Majesty tonight. It's just that today is fifteen, our sisters I was confused for a moment, messed up the day, stopped His Majesty, and didn't let him go to the Central Palace. Our sisters will go to kowtow to the Empress to confess our mistakes tomorrow morning. We should admit to any punishment."

Only then did Xu Youwei nod his head, and stood outside the door.

Hot water was delivered twice in the middle of the night.

Originally, Tang Luojin didn't understand why Emperor Tianyuan didn't see him, but thinking of the fact that Xu's big and small had been favored recently, and because they were twin sisters, Emperor Tianyuan was a wise emperor, but he relaxed occasionally. No more entanglement in this matter, but let people look for the eighth and ninth princesses.

The eighth princess really greeted her grandfather's family.Although it is an honor to travel with the prince, her mother and concubine's family background is not high. The plan for her is to marry her back to her natal family. First, she can support her natal family. Take it easy.

Therefore, the eighth princess hesitated for a while, then declined, and asked her personal maid to reply: "Haosheng told the prince brother that I made an agreement with my cousins ​​and the others a month ago, and it is not good to break the contract temporarily. Brother Prince, please don't blame me." Then he took out the purse that he had embroidered for a month and gave it to the prince.

Compared with the eighth princess, when the ninth princess knew that the prince would take her out to watch the lanterns tonight, she suddenly felt like she was going to fly.

"Mother Concubine, Mother Concubine, I can go, right?" Ninth Princess blinked her beautiful almond eyes, and looked at Concubine Xin sparklingly.

Concubine Xin tried to calm down for a while, and asked the small path that came to pass the message, and said: "Is the prince only taking Xiao Jiu? Who else is there? The other princes brought those princesses?"

After Xiao Jing answered one by one, Concubine Xin tightly clenched her handkerchief, pretending to be calm, and said, "Then let's go."

Then she turned her head and picked out dresses and jewelry with Princess Nine.

The Ninth Princess was afraid that her prince and elder brother would wait too impatiently, so she didn't want to make any more fuss, but when she saw the concubine taking out the jewelry box she had when she was young, she paused, obediently changed into a bright yellow dress, and put a new crown on her head. She combed the double-snail bun that folk girls often wear, and hung a golden wreath ring around her neck, and a Pisces jade pendant was hung on the wreath ring, and she wore strings of thin silver bracelets on her wrists, making her look instantly cute and cute.

"That's good." Ninth Princess, who is not yet 11 years old, immediately turned around and said happily, "This will look good."

Concubine Xin asked the prince what he was wearing today, and then put a white fox fur on the nine princesses.

The fox fur is a bit big for the ninth princess, like a cloak, covering her whole body.

Concubine Xin smiled and said, "It's very beautiful."

The nine princesses had to wear it.

When she went to the gate of the palace and saw Tang Luojin also wearing a white fox fur, she immediately became happy again.

"Brother Prince!" Princess Jiu ran over, wanting to bump into Tang Luojin's arms, but after thinking about it, she tried her best to stop, stood still calmly, and bowed slightly, "Xiao Jiu has seen Brother Prince .”

Ever since the two of them grew up, it was rare for Princess Jiu to talk to her prince brother alone like this.

Princess Jiu was both happy and sad, Tang Luojin looked at her, looked her up and down, paused slightly, stretched out her hand and said: "Today's Lantern Festival, Xiao Jiu will follow me closely."

Princess Jiu's eyes were as bright as stars, and she quickly put her hand in Tang Luojin's.

The two were not in a hurry and walked out of the palace slowly.

After arriving at the bustling market, Chang Qu sent the half-faced fox mask up: "Your Highness, you'd better put it on."

All the people in Chang'an city knew that their prince liked to visit privately in micro-clothes. He looked like Pan'an, with a cinnabar mole on his forehead.Everyone can recognize the prince himself as long as they take a look at him.Therefore, in order to have fun tonight, Tang Luojin could only wear a mask.

Princess Jiu looked at it, and was eager to try it immediately: "Too...brother, Xiao Jiu put on a mask for brother."

Then she raised her small face and looked at Tang Luojin nervously.

Tang Luojin's expression eased, and said, "Okay."

As if honey had been smeared in her heart, Princess Nine carefully put on the half fox mask on Tang Luojin, and finally tilted her head to look at it for a long while before laughing "puchi".

"My brother really looks like a fox." Princess Nine smiled, "And he's the most handsome fox!"

Tang Luojin glared at her, grabbed her hand, and went to the market.

Today is the Lantern Festival, there are many lanterns in the street market, and there are many people selling all kinds of things to eat.

They came late, and they couldn't even go to the private room of the restaurant, so they could only go to a slightly remote place.

But at this time, even a slightly remote place is crowded with people.

Princess Jiu was very happy: "There are a lot of people here! Brother, there are bell sellers over there. Let's go buy bells, shall we? There are many, many lanterns. Let's go and guess the lantern riddles. My brother is so smart, he must be able to guess it right! Guess it!" We don’t need to spend money to buy lantern riddles, what a bargain. Maybe we can guess a few more lanterns and bring them back for mother to see.”

Tang Luojin originally refused to guess the lantern riddles, but waited for the last sentence of the nine princesses, and after a short pause, she raised her footsteps.

However, he still took Princess Nine to buy bells first.

Small bells are very small and are hung on the waist or wrist, and are used as jewelry for girls.

"It's so fun." Princess Nine picked a lot and said excitedly, "Xiao Jiu has a skirt with bell flowers embroidered on it. It must be fun to wear a bell flower skirt and bells."

Tang Luojin looked gentle, wearing a mask, bent slightly and tied two small bells around the waist of Princess Jiu.

"Wear it, so you don't lose it."

Then he grabbed Jiu Gongzhu's hand again, as if he was afraid that Jiu Gongzhu would get lost.

Ninth Princess only felt that today was the day she laughed the most.

The two brothers and sisters ran to guess lantern riddles again.

Tang Luojin didn't know how to guess lantern riddles in the past, but after she passed through this time, she gradually realized that these lantern riddles were all traceable, so she really guessed quite a few lantern riddles.

It's just that some of the lamps were beautifully made, so they took them, and some were not so beautifully made, so they gave them away to others on the spot.

Princess Nine was smiling all the time.

Tang Luojin glanced at her sideways, but she was thinking in her heart, who should marry Xiaojiu so simple in the future.

However, this thought only flashed in his mind.who to marryNo matter who she marries, Xiao Jiu will live in the Princess Mansion.In any case, Emperor Tianyuan would not let his daughter suffer, nor would he let his sister be bullied.

However, even so, he should slowly think about the candidate for the son-in-law.

Thinking of this, Tang Luojin felt that her hands were empty, she immediately reached out and grabbed Princess Jiu who was almost pushed away by the crowd.

"There are too many people." Tang Luojin frowned, "Go back."

Princess Jiu's eyes widened, she glanced at Tang Luojin, and suddenly lowered her head.

"But, but, next time, will brother come out to play alone with Xiao Jiu?"

Tang Luojin paused slightly.

Of course it is impossible.Even if he doesn't know how to fight the battlefield, it is impossible for him to bring the Ninth Princess out alone "for no reason".

"Go to the restaurant." Tang Luojin took a step back and said, "Go upstairs, and you can also see the lanterns. You can also taste the special dishes of the restaurant."

It's not that he doesn't want to continue to be with Princess Jiu, it's just that there are too many people here, and now that he is old, he is naturally not afraid.But Princess Nine is still young, he is afraid that Princess Nine will be pushed away by the crowd and be wronged, that is what he will never regret.

Princess Jiu knew that it was rare to be able to play outside for an hour, so she nodded obediently when she heard the words, and agreed.

Although there were many people on the Lantern Festival, Tang Luojin brought many strong people. After a while, surrounded by Tang Luojin and the nine princesses, they walked to the largest restaurant in Chang'an City—the restaurant they had booked before. private room.

It's just that when ordering a restaurant at that time, they booked several rooms in succession, thinking that Emperor Tianyuan would come. Although the other princes could not come with Emperor Tianyuan, they also wanted to meet here.As a result, Emperor Tianyuan didn't come, and some of the other princes got tired of wandering outside, so they came here to rest.

"This is... the seventh prince?" The second prince happened to be resting here, with the third princess and the eighth prince sitting behind him.

Tang Luojin nodded slightly, let go of the hand holding the ninth princess, and then slowly took off the mask.

The second prince got up with the two of them and said: "I didn't expect that the seventh prince and this fox mask are quite suitable."

Tang Luojin didn't say much, looked at a few people, and said, "Let's go to the next room."

The second prince said: "Could it be that the seventh emperor dislikes us? Why is he not willing to live in the same room with us? It's just that the seventh emperor wants to leave. The ninth emperor sister is always lively and a woman. She should stay and be with the third prince." The younger sisters are playing together. This saves the younger sister Jiuhuang from following the younger brother Seventh, not daring to say a word."

The third princess lowered her head and did not speak.She didn't want to come out today, but with her father's order, the second prince called the eighth prince to invite her, so she had no choice but to follow.

She knew a long time ago that following the second prince out was no fun at all.Unexpectedly, the second prince actually used her as an excuse to keep the prince.

Tang Luojin was too lazy to deal with the second prince when he was not in front of his father.Especially now that the second prince's Sima Zhaozhi is known to everyone, he is even more reluctant to talk to the second prince.

It's just that today he still has the nine princesses by his side.If he left by himself, there is no guarantee that the Second Prince would not be angry; if he took the Ninth Princess with him, there was no guarantee that the Second Prince would not hide his thoughts, after a short pause, he stayed and sat in the main seat, not looking at the Second Prince, He also stopped looking at Princess Nine and closed his eyes slightly.

The second prince was a little annoyed, but he also knew that what he could do was limited to this.If it weren't for Tang Luojin's reputation as a brother and brother, he couldn't just throw the Ninth Princess he brought here here, and he might have left him without giving him any face.

However, even if Tang Luojin didn't even bother to look at him, the second prince was not in a hurry, but nodded slightly to the attendant beside him.

The attendant left temporarily, and when he came back, a woman in yellow followed behind him.

The third princess immediately glanced at the ninth princess.

The ninth princess is also wearing a yellow dress today.

Princess Nine tilted her head to look at the woman in yellow.The same color of clothes is just a coincidence, there is no need to be angry.It's just that the material of the clothes is only inferior to the material of her clothes.Can a servant girl really afford such clothes?

When the woman in yellow got closer, the third princess exclaimed slightly.

Ninth Princess immediately became annoyed.

"Bold!" The birth mother of the nine princesses is now a noble concubine, and her grandfather's family is valued by Emperor Tianyuan, and she is also liked by the queen mother and Emperor Tianyuan. Silk and satin, since you are a slave and do the work of a slave, how can you wear silk and satin? Where did you come from as a slave, so presumptuous!"

The second prince glanced at the ninth princess unexpectedly, not wanting that this innocent and harmless younger sister of the nine emperors would see this woman, although she was annoyed, she was sober and did not talk about her appearance at all.

Look at the three princesses on the side.Although the third princess was not as calm as the ninth princess, she kept her mouth tightly shut and did not say a word.

Then the second prince looked at the eighth prince.

The eighth prince was not much younger than Tang Luojin, and his martial arts and martial arts were not bad among princes.However, his mother and concubine was born as a maid, and was also a maid in the palace of the second prince's mother concubine Jiang Defei, so his background was lower than that of the second prince.However, Emperor Tianyuan let their mother and son live in Concubine Jiang De's palace. No matter how thoughtful the eighth prince is, now he can only bite the bullet and follow the second prince all the way to the dark.

"Ninth Emperor Sister, don't be in a hurry." The Eighth Prince had no choice but to say, "I see that you look familiar, so raise your head."

Ninth Princess anxiously said: "Brother Eight Emperor, you..."

Only then did Tang Luojin open her eyes, and looked at the woman in yellow who happened to look up.

The eyebrows and eyes are curved, although it is not stunning, but it makes people feel happy at a glance.

Tang Luojin remained expressionless.

The Eighth Prince said: "You, your appearance is very similar to Cousin Jiang. The king asked you, what is your name? Whose daughter is it? How could you be a slave here?"

The woman in yellow knelt down and said: "This slave is a son of a good family, but because of his good looks, the slave was favored by the bullies in his hometown, so he had to flee all the way, and finally had to live in this restaurant and do some work temporarily. , in order to get enough food and clothing. It’s just that the bully in Nu’s hometown suddenly found him yesterday, and said that Nu’s parents could no longer stand his persecution and sold him to be a slave. But Nu is far away from home now, and he doesn’t know On the road of slaves, is it still as clean as before, and I don’t want to ask for slaves anymore. I just say that I want to sell slaves to the Goulan courtyard. The slaves are from a good family, and they don’t want to fall into a low status and make a living in the Golan courtyard. , and then ran here rashly, begging the nobleman for help, contacting the slave, so that the slave doesn't have to suffer that kind of suffering."

The Eighth Prince said: "You haven't said your name yet?"

The woman in yellow Yingying said, "My slave's surname is Jiang, and Jiang's name is Yi Niang."

For a while, everyone fell silent.

In the end, the second prince looked at Tang Luojin, smiled slightly and said, "If it's inconvenient for the seventh emperor brother, why don't you take her back with your second sister-in-law and ask your second sister-in-law to find a job for her, so that she can stay in my mansion and save money?" What about that?"

Tang Luojin only slowly looked at the woman in yellow.Between his eyebrows and eyes, he did look a bit like Jiang Hanyi.However, it's just like that.

"Don't bother the second brother, I will take her away today." Tang Luojin said slowly, seeing the second prince smiled, and continued, "I am about to leave Chang'an, I am afraid I will not be able to take care of her. But if she is placed At the second brother's place, I was afraid that the second sister-in-law would be angry, so I had no choice but to..."

"What do I have to do?"

"I had to send her to my aunt. My aunt is the best at training people. Since she looks a bit like Cousin Jiang, I think my aunt will treat her well." Tang Luojin got up, "It's getting late, Jiu Royal sister, let's go back to the palace."

Then he said: "Chang Qu took people and sent her to Ningyang Grand Princess' Mansion."

Then he really left.

The third princess hurriedly got up, followed behind Tang Luojin, and also returned to the palace.

The second prince never thought that Tang Luojin would send a woman who looked similar to Jiang Hanyi directly to the Jiang family.Didn't Tang Luojin miss Jiang Hanyi all the time?Even if he had guessed the woman's intentions and she looked so similar, Tang Luojin shouldn't be so refusal, right?

Tang Luojin didn't know what the second prince was thinking.

Winter goes to spring, spring goes to summer.

In a blink of an eye, it's May.

After the Dragon Boat Festival, Emperor Tianyuan issued a decree, ordering the prince to guard the border of Tubo, and return to Chang'an after three years.

Although everyone objected, once the Emperor Tianyuan's will came out, no one's objection would be of any use.

On the ninth day of June, it is advisable to travel.

Emperor Tianyuan sent Tang Luojin out of the palace in person, and stopped in his tracks.Ning Junchi sent Tang Luojin a hundred miles outside Chang'an City.

Tang Luojin stopped and said, "It's time for uncle to go back."

Ning Jun was silent.

Tang Luojin looked at Chang Qu beside him, Chang Qu trotted a few steps, and brought out a picture scroll.

Tang Luojin took the scroll in his hand, stroked it a few times, and said, "Uncle said back then that there is a pair of people in a lifetime, can this still count?"

Ning Junchi was startled, only felt his heart pounding, and his voice was slightly hoarse: "Naturally. But," he paused slightly, "I only want him alone, so I must be the only person around him." Can."

Tang Luojin took the scroll and said, "If you have enough military merits, this may be possible." Then he handed the scroll to Ning Junchi, "After I leave, wait and see, uncle, the person in this painting is worthy of yours." Like it? Yes, let you wait another three years?"

After that, he rode his horse and raised his whip, and walked away.

Ning Jun stood there in a daze for a long time before opening the scroll. On the scroll was Tang Luojin who had grown into a young man.

"If you have enough military merit, this matter may be feasible."

In the past, Ning Junchi only felt that those moths that were flying into the fire were so stupid?

But today, he realized that it wasn't that the moth was dull, but that the fire was too bewitching for the moth to refuse.