set of flowers

His lips are so red - Hua Qianyu thought to himself.

He never thought that An Mingxi, who had removed her red makeup, would be so...beautiful?The bright color faded a little with the red makeup, making it more elegant and refined.

Can a man be so charming?

Hua Qianyu couldn't help covering her mouth to cover up the corners of her mouth that couldn't help but rise.

The fourth prince... the appearance of being so frightened that he couldn't move is really pitiful, and only his prince cousin can do it.

Hua Qianyu glanced at An Mingjing, retracted the corners of his mouth, and put down his hands. At this moment, An Mingjing also looked at him.

"Why did you stop me just now?" An Mingjing was still angry.

"If my brother doesn't want His Majesty to hear rumors of hurting his siblings, he shouldn't leave scars on the Fourth Prince—especially on his face."

"It was he who was disrespectful first."

"But his disrespect will leave no evidence."

"I……"

Hua Qianyu looked at him quietly for a while, and seeing that he had nothing to say, he said, "My brother is the one who wants to inherit the throne, and he can't bear even such a trivial matter. How can he beat other competitors?"

An Mingjing suppressed his anger, calmly and arrogantly said: "I will be the next emperor." His expression was quite aggressive.

Hua Qianyu patiently warned: "Yes, but it is not [-]% sure - how many princes were changed under the previous emperor's rule, and how did the current emperor get into today's position, Your Highness should learn from history."

An Mingjing was helpless, heaved a sigh of relief, and said: "The only one in this world who dares to talk to the prince like this, besides the queen mother, is you Qianyu—are you afraid of offending me?"

"Qianyu believes that His Highness has his own decision in his heart."

Obviously talking about advice at this time, An Mingjing was silent for a while, but he couldn't open any pots: "Your wisdom...maybe more suitable to sit on the throne than me."

As soon as the words fell, Hua Qianyu's face changed, and the atmosphere became solemn in an instant——

"Marquis Liu is not more suitable for the throne than Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. Kuang Hua's ambition is not here, so that he can not lose the foundation of his ancestors, keep his current high position, guard the emperor's world, and protect the people's happiness is what the Hua family has been seeking for generations-this point , His Royal Highness the Crown Prince must know better than His Majesty."

In order to relieve the stagnation in the air, An Mingjing pretended to laugh a few times, patted Hua Qianyu on the shoulder, and said, "Qianyu's words are serious, I blame my brother for making an exaggerated joke."

Hua Qianyu also responded with a smile: "It's too much."

"..." An Mingjing's hand stopped in mid-air, unable to continue taking pictures.

……

"Autumn equinox, serve tea." Hua Yaxi took the main seat.

The autumn equinox that had just made tea poured green tea for the two brothers respectively.

"Auntie, do you have something to say?"

Hua Yaxi nodded, and then said: "Everyone who is idle, please step back!"

"Yes." The court ladies and eunuchs responded in unison, then backed away towards the gate, and turned to leave when they almost touched the threshold.

After everyone retreated, the maid who guarded the gate closed the gate.

"In a while, Qianyu will be fifteen?" Hua Yaxi asked softly.

"Yes, at the end of next month."

"Then, after today, you can no longer run into the palace."

"Why?" An Mingjing spoke first.

Although in the past Hua Qianyu did not enter the palace very often—in order to prevent the emperor from suspecting that the empress had colluded with her natal family, it was difficult to do so once a month, and Hua Qianyu's two older brothers, Hua Qianmo and Hua Qianshu, had not been in the palace for many years. I have passed through the harem, but is the sentence "no more" serious?

"My nephew is too eye-catching recently, and it's easy to cause trouble—the most difficult guess is the emperor's heart. Just in case, you should be careful. Since you are about to be fifteen, of course you won't be as free as you were when you were a child."

Hua Qianyu, who had been listening silently, nodded.He knows that this "freedom" is not only the freedom to enter the harem, but also other aspects... He is a child of the Hua family, and there are countless eyes staring at him, not to mention that he himself intends to attract more eyes.

He has no regrets, no matter how many hardships these extra sights will bring—since he is Hua Qianyu, these ups and downs will come sooner or later.

Hua Yaxi took a sip of tea, put down the teacup slowly, and said, "Whether Your Majesty is really willing to let Ming Jing take over as Datong, I doubt it."

An Mingjing refused to accept it: "Why did the queen mother say that?"

"If the prince goes out and walks more often, he will hear a lot of remarks about the Hua family's attempt to seek power. The common people have such speculations, let alone His Majesty who sits on that honorable seat."

"How many years has the mother not stepped out of the palace, how do you know these gossip?"

"But my eyes and ears are there." Hua Yaxi answered calmly.

"Father will not listen to those slanderous words."

"Yes, if he was a foolish king, the Hua family would have been implicated in the nine clans. But the height is too cold, no matter how much he trusted his brother in the past, since he is in this position, the trust he can give now is not absolute-otherwise How can Qian Mo be so talented that he has been a servant for three years?"

"But... father should always trust me, right?"

Hua Yaxi sighed and shook her head: "Jing'er, you are already an adult, you are no longer a child, you shouldn't always look at things so naively."

"Just because I have the blood of the Hua family on my body?"

Hua Yaxi closed her eyes, and after taking a slow breath, she opened them and said slowly, "If it wasn't for the blood of the Hua family in you, you wouldn't even be able to touch the position of the prince now."

An Mingjing was dumbfounded.

"If you want to sit on the imperial chair, the queen mother will help you no matter what... Do you know why the queen mother said these words today?"

Hua Yaxi paused for a while, but when there was no answer, she spoke again: "Because I hope that if you have to choose between the throne and the prosperity of the Hua family in the future, you can choose the latter instead of the former."

"why?"

Hua Yaxi persuaded softly, with a mother's pity and love for her child in her eyes: "Because as long as the Hua family is still there, you can protect you forever, but the Hua family has fallen, and you are just the son of an unfavored woman— - Do you understand?" With Hua Jueming, she is still a cherished sister, but what about An Qingxuan?To him, what can he be.

Under her gentle gaze, An Mingjing swallowed a breath and responded: "Yes."

Hua Yaxi turned her gaze to Hua Qianyu: "Qianyu, aunt has always known that you are early-wisdom, so aunt also believes that you can see the situation clearly and make correct judgments. But you are young after all, and you need to accumulate experience It still needs to be tempered, in the current situation where you are being attacked from both sides, you can't be impulsive, and everything is the overall situation."

Hua Qianyu got up and bowed: "Yes."

"The elder brother is the prime minister, the prime minister of the emperor. His majesty is the only monarch. I don't ask him to favor Jing'er; Qianmo's temperament is too gentle, so he is not suitable to participate in the dispute over the succession... But Qianyu, I sincerely hope that you will help Jinger." My son will become the Ninth Five-Year Supreme." After speaking, Hua Yaxi stood up from her seat and bowed to Hua Qianyu.

Hua Qianyu bent her waist even lower, and solemnly replied: "Qianyu will do his best!"

An Mingjing also got up and bent down.

……

Le Yang and Bai are sitting in the pavilion chatting.

Probably because it was still early, and there were not many people coming and going in this corner. Without the disturbance of men and women, Le Yang gradually let go of himself.

"I've seen people who look like you in the past, with curly hair, but this is the first time I've seen eyes like yours!"

"What are they like?" Bai asked curiously.

"Big beard, that beard almost grows to the neck..."

"Beard..."

Bai rubbed his chin and asked again, "What else?"

"They speak very strangely, it's not Central Plains dialect, and it doesn't sound like a dialect. When they try to speak Luojing dialect, they speak very strangely."

Le Yang coughed twice, and began to imitate: "How about chicken shit?"

"Chicken shit?"

"Actually, what they want to ask is how to get to the market hahahaha... This is the first time I've seen a barbarian with such a beautiful accent like you."

I laughed for nothing.

While staring at Bai, Le Yang suddenly caught sight of a rich middle-aged man walking by with his arms around a woman's waist not far behind Bai, and then he realized that they were in Changxi Courtyard: "I'm here to help my son You only came here to deliver things, Bai, why are you here?"

Bai turned his head and said to him: "What do you think?" Bai Neng could hear his subconscious rejection of Chang Xiyuan from his words.

Also, how could a clean boy like him like such a smoky place.

"Are you here for tea?" Le Yang asked innocently.

Bai asked back lightly: "What if I say I was imprisoned?"

Le Yang couldn't believe it: "You are such a big man, who can lock you up!" Changxiyuan is a place to lock up women.

"What if it's true?"

Le Yang vowed: "Then I will take you out."

Bai seemed to be laughing at his naivety: "You are very confident in your kung fu."

"Of course, don't look at me like this..."

Just when Le Yang was about to talk, Bai saw a little boy running anxiously from a distance, he stood up immediately, and interrupted Le Yang: "I'm going first."

"Ah good."

Le Yang was a little disappointed, and ran away without looking back, so he had no choice but to leave the pavilion - it's no fun to stay alone, not to mention he doesn't like Changxiyuan very much.

After running for dozens of steps, after confirming that Le Yang could not hear the boy's voice, Bai ignored the boy who was sending the message, and turned his head to look at Le Yang's leaving back.

It's just a first time meeting, why should I be afraid that he will know my real self?

Le Yang...

Bai chewed his name silently.

It's a good name, but he seems to be as carefree as he is-it's enviable.

"Brother Bai, Brother Bai," the little boy urged him, and when he saw Bai turned to face him, he said, "The lord has sent someone to tell you that he will receive you later, and Yu Niang told you to go back to the room and get ready. "

Bai's expression turned cold, completely missing the previous gentle appearance.He put one hand behind his back, clenched his fist, and calmed down the anxiety and disgust in his heart with the pain of his nails penetrating into his flesh.

"Brother Bai..."

"Okay." Bai smiled at him, then turned around and walked towards the wing.

Patience is the only thing he can do now.Whether he loses his dignity or is humiliated, even if a moment of freedom needs to be exchanged with his life, he will fight for it.

—The proudest bird cannot die in a cage.

……

After coming out of the Queen's bedroom, An Mingjing called back 33, and 33 could only look at the backs of An Mingjing and Hua Qianyu from a distance.The two brothers followed each other all the way, and they were silent for a long time. Unlike An Mingjing's heaviness, every cell in Hua Qianyu's body was excited - the throne has not been easy to obtain since ancient times, but for the one who has grown up smoothly since childhood For him, the battle for the heir apparent is more like a game at a festival than a bloodbath, but it is more difficult and more engaging.

He recommended An Mingjing, not only because of blood connection or close relationship, but also because he thought from the bottom of his heart that the third prince, An Mingjing, was the best candidate to inherit the throne...

"Qianyu," An Mingjing said, pulling Hua Qianyu back from his own world. He looked up at the sky and murmured enviously, "When will my mother trust me as much as she trusts you..." Bi Speaking of talking to Hua Qianyu, it was more like talking to himself.

"Auntie just takes you too seriously."

"Oh, you can comfort people... the prince of Ning Dynasty, the only heir of the mother's mother, the nephew of the prime minister... when will I be just 'An Mingjing' in the mouth of others? In her eyes, she is not someone who can stand alone... Sigh, when will I be able to make my mother and my father treat each other differently?"

Hua Qianyu raised his hand and wanted to pat him on the shoulder as a sign of comfort, but because of the large height gap and the difference in dignity, he could only turn his hand away and said, "It will be soon——do you believe my opinion, brother? "

"Qianyu's eyes are as bright as a torch, so he is a brother with faith." An Mingjing didn't know why he said that.

"An Mingjing is the only master I Hua Qianyu chose."

An Mingjing was taken aback, and looked sideways at Hua Qianyu, Hua Qianyu raised his head to meet his gaze, confident and firm: "It's not because you are my cousin, nor because you are the prince, but because——you have Qualified to rule the world."

An Mingjing blinked, and the moment he opened his eyes, the haze in his eyes gradually dissipated, and a smile rose from his eyes and gradually widened. He said, "It's my good fortune to have you as a confidant."