Legend of the Orchid

After Li Zhonglan's arrow wound was treated, he lay unconscious on the bed for two days, and finally woke up slowly on the third day.

Zhao Tingjie sat on the edge of the bed, his face sank like water, and asked, "Lan'er, do you really want to kill the emperor?"

Zhong Lan bit her lower lip and said nothing, Ting Jie sighed, a rare sadness appeared on her handsome face, and said: "Now is not the time, if you act like this, Zhao Guangyi will deal with you sooner or later. I don't want to lose you. "

Li Zhonglan was stunned, it was rare to hear tender words of love from Ting Jie, he thought that Ting Jie would reprimand him as usual again!

He reached out to grab Ting Jie's fingers, with a pale smile on his face: "I will pay attention to it later."

Zhao Tingjie clasped Li Zhonglan's icy little hand in his palm, and began to change back to his original shape, telling him: "The matter of the throne is not your business, and you are not allowed to mess around in the future!"

"Yeah." Li Zhonglan was very well-behaved for a rare time, and his nose made a coquettish sound. Zhao Tingjie didn't know why, so he approached the tip of his nose and asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhong Lan tried her best to raise her head, pecked on the lips of the court steps, and hummed, "Hug!"

Ting Jie laughed, wrapped Lan'er tightly with the quilt, and then carefully hugged her in his arms.

Zhao Guangyi is indeed a petty person, and within a few days he thought of a way to deal with Li Zhonglan, but after all, the other party was the orchid he longed for, so drastic methods such as poisoning and assassination should not be used, and the most important thing is to attack the heart.

In the early morning court that day, the emperor suddenly cared about the lifelong affairs of the former prince's heirs. He said kindly, "King of Wugong County, you are not too young, and it's time to get married. I will choose a good marriage for you today. What do you think?" ?”

Zhao Tingjie is actually not disgusted with the matter of marrying a wife. He thinks that marrying a wife is just a necessary formality. If it hadn't been for all these years of fighting abroad and the death of his father, he might have married the principal wife long ago.

He didn't expect a political marriage either. After all, after Zhao Kuangyin drank wine and released his military power, the power of the whole country was concentrated on the emperor alone. Looking at the current imperial court, the only minister who can be regarded as a high-ranking minister is Zhao Pu. Slippery, if you really want to marry, you will make yourself subject to others.

Zhao Tingjie only hoped that his in-laws would not be too loyal to the emperor, that would be equivalent to planting Zhao Guangyi's eyeliner in his mansion, he had to be on guard every day, he was really tired.

Of course, the most troublesome thing for him must be Lan'er. If Lan'er knew that he married a wife, she would definitely be jealous, and would inevitably quarrel with him again. What should he do with this little fox?

"Your Majesty, did you hear what I said?" Seeing that Zhao Tingjie didn't reply, Zhao Guangyi was both happy and angry, and deliberately increased his volume.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Long En!" Zhao Tingjie replied with mixed feelings.

Zhao Guangyi rolled his eyes and called out, "Duke Qi!"

Qi Guogong and Crown Prince Taifu Wang Pu immediately stood up and responded happily: "My minister is here!"

"I heard that you have a daughter who is not only outstanding in appearance, but also knowledgeable in books and etiquette. She is proficient in all kinds of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. She has not yet left the court. Do you intend to marry the king of Wugong County?" the emperor said "kindly".

When Wang Pu heard this, he was overjoyed, and quickly thanked him: "My minister has fully listened to His Majesty's will!"

This Qi Guogong's daughter is Wang Yunyi, who is eighteen years old. Because her father is an important minister of the four dynasties, her eyes are higher than the top, and she will not marry unless the prince. A few years ago, she fell in love with Zhao Tingjie and wanted her father to propose marriage. But at that time Zhao Tingjie Not in the capital, and after returning to Beijing, there was a change of emperor, and there was no time to think about marriage.

However, after Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, Wang Yunyi's mind became active again. She felt that the emperor was only about ten years older than Zhao Tingjie. Marry the emperor's son.

Wang Pu couldn't help pouring cold water on his daughter. According to Wang Yunyi's age, she had already passed the court selection criteria. Unless the emperor favored her, she would never have a lucky day. Besides, it would be unrealistic to marry Zhao Guangyi's son. After all, the emperor's eldest son was only twelve years old. , Not yet of marriageable age.

After careful selection, Zhao Tingjie was the most suitable one. Wang Pu was afraid that his daughter would become an old girl who could not get married, so he had planned to propose marriage to the Prince of Wugong County.

Zhao Tingjie knew that Wang Pu only followed Zhao Guangyi's lead and was an eyesore, but fortunately Wang Pu was pedantic and would not take the initiative to collude with Zhao Guangyi, so it was easier to deal with.

So both of them accepted the marriage. Zhao Guangyi showed great mercy and did not approve the wedding ceremony when Li Zhonglan was injured. Instead, he set the wedding date after the Spring Festival of the next year and asked the two families to choose an auspicious day for their marriage.

However, the betrothal gift was given early. Since the emperor ordered that the marriage arrangements should be made early, Zhao Tingjie picked some expensive and gaudy gifts to send to the Wang family, and the Wang family also returned the gift. .

Ting Jie didn't tell Zhong Lan about this, and he specifically asked his servants not to mention the marriage in front of Mr. Lan. He wanted Zhong Lan to recover from his injuries, but after more than two months, Li Zhonglan gradually recovered from his injuries and began to go to the field. At that time, I still noticed some clues.

In the blink of an eye, it was mid-winter, and on this day of Laba, there was heavy snow falling outside the house. When Zhao Tingjie came back from the outside, he saw Li Zhonglan sitting on the bed in a thick white fur cloak, staring straight at him, and walked to the bedside. Scratching the other person's nose, he smiled and said, "Why do you think of me as a husband?"

Li Zhonglan blurted out: "Who is the princess of the county?"

Zhao Tingjie's heart skipped a beat, and he played Tai Chi: "Why do you ask like that?"

"I heard what the maid said today." Li Zhonglan clutched the stove in her hand, her peach eyes widened, and said angrily, "Are you going to marry another woman?"

"How could it be!" Zhao Tingjie categorically denied it, but shifted his gaze elsewhere.

"I already have you, how could I marry someone else?" He touched Li Zhonglan's smooth face and said softly.

Zhong Lan was dubious, and said unrelentingly: "If you dare to marry a wife, I will kill her, and then I will kill you!"

Ting Jie frowned and reprimanded: "What's wrong with others? Lan'er, you should restrain your temper."

Seeing that Zhao Tingjie was speaking for others, Li Zhonglan was so angry that she held her breath in her heart, unable to get up or down, panting, "Okay, then I will kill you and then commit suicide!"

When Zhao Tingjie heard these angry and violent words, he was just about to teach Li Zhonglan a lesson, when suddenly a servant came over and said that the chief inspector, Eunuch Wang, had come.

It turned out that the prince was ordered by the emperor to give Li Zhonglan Laba porridge. Zhonglan couldn't help but rejoice that there was heavy snow today and let him lie on the bed. Otherwise, the eunuch would tell the emperor when he saw that he was in good health, and then Zhao Guangyi would order He went up.

After Wang Gonggong left, the courtyard took up the porridge and said to Zhong Lan, "It's still steaming, do you want to drink?"

Li Zhonglan curled her lips and said: "No, I'm afraid he will poison you!"

He suddenly became interested and said, "Let's have hot pot! The silver snow is flying outside the house, and the heat is hazy inside. What a wonderful sight!"

Ting Jie shook his head helplessly: "Obviously I want to eat, but I have to have an elegant reason."

After that, he ordered his servants to set up the charcoal and copper stoves, and wrapped up Lan'er three layers inside and three layers outside, and then carried him into the dining room.

Because of Li Zhonglan's words, Zhao Tingjie did not arrange the mansion in advance. Although the date has been fixed, the [-]th day of the first lunar month, the sedan chair is still placed in the craftsman's workshop after it is ready, and there is not a piece of red silk or a big red happy word in the mansion. , only hung red lanterns during the Chinese New Year, other than that, there was no festive atmosphere at all.

However, paper cannot contain the fire. On the day of Shangyuan Festival, the county prince’s mansion finally became lively. The servants were busy decorating the house, and the sedan chair and guard of honor were also moved to the mansion. Zhao Tingjie was afraid that Li Zhonglan would be angry that day, so he took him out for a tour of the city early in the morning. Elegantly called "Lantern Festival", the two had been playing outside until very late before returning.

When they reached the gate, Zhong Lan looked up at the plaque, wondering, "Why are you hanging the red silk? Is there any happy event?"

Ting Jie argued with a guilty conscience: "Today is the Lantern Festival, and the house will be decorated."

After entering the mansion, Li Zhonglan was blinded by the happy characters, happy candles and red silk along the road. He stared at Zhao Tingjie and sneered, "We should also post happy characters on the Lantern Festival?"

Zhao Tingjie knew that he couldn't hide it anymore, so he simply admitted: "Lan'er, I will marry a wife tomorrow, but I assure you, this is just a formality, and I will not have other women in the future."

He didn't know why he had to say so much. According to his past temper, he would marry as soon as he married, so why should he care what other people think, even Lan'er is no exception.

But now he is actually afraid that Lan'er will be angry, and the latter is indeed furious. Li Zhonglan's right hand has transformed into a dagger. He rushed to Zhao Tingjie and roared: "I will kill you!"