The prince is very fierce

As the saying goes, ‘Young men are afraid of boxing’. It is normal for a master to be unable to defeat his apprentice in martial arts. However, in this situation... it is obviously a bit of a tease based on martial arts skills...

Ning Yuhe stood for a moment with squinted eyes. Not seeing anything from Xu Buring's expression, he nodded and smiled:

"Ling'er, your body seems to be recovering well... I don't have much to teach you as a teacher..."

Saying that, he turned around and left.

Xu Buling knew that he might have angered his Master Bai, so he stepped forward to block the way:

"Preaching and teaching is the 'Tao'. I have a good understanding since I was a child. If you can't defeat me, it is natural. Master, don't take it to heart."

"..."

Ning Yuhe pursed his lips. Even though he said so, it makes him feel ashamed to be beaten by his apprentice when he is a master...

After thinking about it for a while, Ning Yuhe slowly calmed down and suppressed the waves in his heart. However, there was still a faint pain in his legs. He could not think about teaching and teaching for the time being, so he just said softly:

"You have already seen it once. Practice it slowly by yourself first. I will test you again in a few days."

"OK."

Xu Buling nodded seriously, raised his hand and inserted the bamboo branch into the bamboo forest, and walked towards the eaves of the house:

"Master, besides meeting Xiao Ning...Senior Sister, what else do you have to do when you come to the capital?"

After Ning Yuhe came to the capital, she had not had a serious chat with Xu Buling. After thinking about it, she walked to the stool under the eaves and sat down. She rubbed her painful thighs with her hands and said softly:

"It's nothing... I was going to go find an old friend to say thank you, but unfortunately he disappeared a few days ago... I wanted to visit Empress Cui's grave during Qingming Festival, but you were injured at that time and didn't make it... I could only wait until It’s Dragon Boat Festival…”

Xu Buring was slightly surprised. He sat back in his wheelchair and slowly made tea:

"Master and Queen Cui know each other?"

Ning Yuhe rubbed his tight thighs, a hint of sadness flashed in his eyes:

"The Cui family is also in Youzhou, and they are not far from each other. Naturally, we know each other..."

Xu Buling was a little curious: "By the way, why did the master escape from marriage? I heard rumors in the world that the master was a knight-errant. He was used to traveling around the world and didn't want to enter the palace?"

Ning Yuhe turned his head and looked at the majestic Chang'an outside the mountain. He was silent for a moment, then shook his head and smiled softly:

"The phoenix crown has been delivered to the gate. You have to marry if you don't want to. I can't decide. Although I like the freedom of the world, I am not stupid. I will not end well if I run away from the emperor's marriage, and I am a queen. Don’t treat me badly…”

"..."

Xu Buling was stunned for a moment, raised his head and frowned slightly: "Then why did Master want to escape from the marriage?"

Ning Yuhe hesitated for a while, with a bit of sadness on his face. He picked up the tea cup and took a sip:

"It's an old story. If you tell it, it will lead to death... But you are the Crown Prince of Su, so it won't have any impact if you hear it. Just don't spread it..."

When Xu Buling heard this, he knew something was fishy and nodded:

"Someone forced Master to escape from marriage?"

Ning Yuhe recalled for a while: "I am the second wife of the Tang family. My mother was originally a knight-errant in the world. Later, she married the second uncle of the Tang family as a concubine and gave birth to me..."

Xu Buling frowned and thought for a moment: "Didn't the Tang family say that the master is the legitimate daughter of the head of the Tang family? A concubine is not qualified to be the queen. With the status of the Tang family, if it were not for the reputation of Xuanhe Bagui, the legitimate daughter would be the queen. It’s all a bit reluctant…”

Ning Yuhe sighed quietly: "As long as the Tang family doesn't tell us about the direct descendants, who can figure it out... When the late emperor succeeded to the throne, 'Xiao Lu, Cui, Wang Li' and other aristocratic families were actually interested. Naturally, the Tang family I also want to fly up a branch and become a phoenix, and become relatives with the Song family...

... Empress Dowager Xiao joined Xuanhe Bakui, and the other families were not easy to argue with, so the Cui family spread the word and led Xu Danqing to the peach blossom forest of the Cui family in Youzhou... Otherwise, with Xu Danqing as a wanderer, a hundred I can’t break through the door of Cui’s house even with my life..."

Xu Buling nodded. In fact, he had already speculated about this. This was just like Xu Danqing accidentally running into Prince Su's Mansion when he was drunk. Unless all the retainers were blind, it would be impossible to spread the news about the drunken accident. A beautiful story about entering the peach blossom forest.

"...Later, after Cui Xiaowan became famous, the Tang family saw what the Cui family did and became interested. Unfortunately, Tang Jiao's daughters were not very good, so they chose among their descendants and found me...

...I was only fourteen at the time, and no one cared about me at all. I wandered around outside like a boy. The Tang family found me and taught me for a long time. Then they went to great lengths to allow Xu Danqing and I to have an 'accidental encounter'. With the saying ‘It’s hard to paint a woman in this world’…”

Xu Buling picked up the teacup and took a sip: "Then they competed for the position of the queen. The Cui and Tang families did not compete with the Huainan Xiao family. Unfortunately, the late emperor passed away just after Xiao Xiang'er entered the palace. Now that the emperor has ascended the throne, they have to choose the queen again? "

Ning Yuhe nodded and sighed softly:

"At that time, the Xiao family's youngest daughter had already entered the palace. Naturally, the second lady could not enter the palace to become the new emperor and empress. In that case, the hierarchy would be chaotic. The legitimate daughters of other families were not of the right age and were not famous, so they were qualified to be queens. The only ones left are Cui Xiaowan and me..."

Xu Buling pondered for a moment: "The Cui family has been inherited for hundreds of years and has a much higher status than the Tang family, a family that is half martial arts and half general. In the end, you chose the Tang family because of the master's reputation as the 'most beautiful woman'?"

Ning Yuhe shook his head and smiled: "I don't know, maybe it has something to do with my greater reputation... At that time, I was already preparing to go to Beijing. I had packed everything and was just waiting for the wedding messenger to come... I didn't expect the wedding messenger to come. When we were about to arrive, Cui Xiaowan's guards came over and told me that the Cui family wanted to kill me and told me to run away..."

"Um?"

Xu Buling was stunned for a moment, then sat up straight, a little confused: "People from the Cui family came to inform you and asked you to escape from your marriage? Master, do you believe it?"

Ning Yuhe sighed quietly: "At that time, Cui Xiaowan's dead man came secretly and said, 'Miss, I asked you to leave quickly, the Cui family sent someone to take your life.' I hesitated for a while, and then the killer really came. , it was the dead soldier who protected me and ran out...

...Afterwards I was hunted for several days. By the time I heard the news, the wedding team had already changed its route to Cui's house. The people of the Tang family were naturally angry because they missed the opportunity to become a successful person. They thought I was running away from my marriage and sent people to hunt me down. I was going to go home and explain... But in order to protect me, my mother went to the Tang family to plead for mercy, but she was killed by the Tang family. People were beaten and killed..."

Speaking of this, Ning Yuhe's eyes turned red and showed a bit of hatred: "Naturally, I didn't go back later, and even killed people from the Tang family... It wasn't until the emperor pardoned me that I stayed in Changqing Guanqiu Since we have a safe place, we naturally don’t dare to tell anyone about this matter, otherwise the Cui family will definitely be exterminated..."

Xu Buling nodded and thought about it for a moment: "Cui Xiaowan was kind-hearted, but it's a pity... He died of illness a few years after entering the palace. These noble families, in order to fight for power and profit, did things that were not human affairs... "

Ning Yuhe sighed quietly: "Yes... Cui Xiaowan is also in Youzhou. After she became famous, I actually went to see her several times secretly... She has a dead man who is very loyal to her. She is very introverted. When I see I hid from outsiders and never left Dalian's Peach Blossom Forest since I was a child. I was just like a canary in a cage. If I couldn't adapt to the new place, I would naturally... Sigh~ The dead man who escorted me at that time heard Cui Xiaowan entering the palace on the way. After hearing the news, she wanted to forcefully take me back to replace Cui Xiaowan... But it's a foregone conclusion. If it wasn't to save me, Miss Cui could have let the dead man take her away... Who knows... …”

Xu Buling frowned slightly: "The dead man later entered the palace?"

Ning Yuhe nodded: "The dead warriors who have been cultivated have been isolated and cultivated since childhood. They are supposed to be emotionless and can only follow orders and not make their own decisions... But the dead warrior obviously has some ideas of his own. When he learned that Cui Xiaowan had entered After the palace, the dead man could not change Cui Xiaowan back, so he followed Jing Shen into the palace, and has never been seen again since then...

...I went to Beijing this time to look for Qingye, and I also wanted to stop by to say thank you, and to pay homage to Xiaowan's grave... Unfortunately, I couldn't find him, and I heard he was missing..."

Xu Buling took a breath and raised his hand to rub his forehead: "The dead man was adopted by Eunuch Jia as his adopted son after entering the palace, and was renamed Jia Yi?"

Ning Yuhe put down the tea cup and nodded: "I heard it was true... When I met that dead man, he was only in his early twenties, quite handsome, and he cared about Cui Xiaowan very much. When he learned that Cui Xiaowan entered the palace, According to the news, he even scolded the head of the Cui family and... that’s right!”

Ning Yuhe seemed to have remembered something, and said with some doubts: "He also scolded Song Yu, King of Yan, saying, 'You can't keep your word, you are a true gentleman...' I was young at the time and didn't know Song Yu. Who it was, I found out later..."

Xu Buling recalled the teacher of the Imperial College and was slightly confused: "Why are you scolding King Yan? What does King Yan have to do with this matter?"

Ning Yuhe shook his head: "I don't know, but Song Yu gave up the throne and was supposed to stay in Youzhou, but he didn't go there afterwards. It stands to reason that he has never met Xiaowan..."

"..."

Xu Buling leaned on the wheelchair, frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded...——

Last winter month.

The cold wind was biting, and there was no life in the bare peach blossom forest.

The picture scroll is hung on a peach branch. A cardamom girl in a ruffled dress is holding up her skirt and trotting in the forest where the peach blossoms are in full bloom. She turns around to reveal half of her face, with a hint of panic.

"Who are you...Don't draw me...I'm angry..."

The lingering sound echoed in my ears, as if I had returned to the peach blossom forest in Youzhou.

Jia Yi, who was dressed in a white scholar's robe, had a somewhat aged look on his face. He gently stroked the scroll with his fingers, and was lost in thought for a long time before he let out a faint sigh:

"Miss, you shouldn't have entered the palace..."

Tread

Footsteps sounded from outside the courtyard. Song Yu, who was returning from Wenquyuan, closed the courtyard door and sat down in the teahouse again.

White mist came out of the teapot on the small stove, and there was only a soft popping sound in the courtyard.

Jia Yi stared at the scroll for a long time, then turned around and walked into the teahouse, picked up the slightly cold tea cup and took a sip:

"Back then, the Cui family wanted to send the young lady to the palace to become the queen, but the young lady refused. The prince once sent a letter to the young lady, saying that he would not choose the young lady... I have already broken my promise once, why should I believe you?"

Song Yu looked at the teapot in front of him, shook his head and sighed softly:

"Xiaowan said she didn't want to be a queen, but I don't even want the throne. Isn't that enough?"

Jia Yi shook his head and said in a calm voice: "A broken promise is a broken promise. You promised at that time that you would not choose a lady from the Cui family to be the queen. The lady also treated you as a friend and has always been very grateful to you. She said that she would conquer Youzhou and take you with her when she waits for you. Go see the peach blossoms... Do you think that by planting a peach blossom forest here and being with the portraits all day long, the lady will be moved by you? The lady is planning to die of illness in the palace and does not want to see you..."

Song Yu raised her hand and stopped Jia Yi's words. There was a bit of sadness in her eyes, but her voice was a bit harder:

"I, Song Yu, have never broken my promise. I gave up the throne and went to Youzhou to become an idle prince, just for the promise... But I didn't expect that some things would be much easier to handle sitting on that dragon chair, and If I give up, I can only obey others' orders. It's not that I don't want to fulfill the contract, but that I can't...

...At that time, I worked hard to convince the clan to choose the Miss Tang family, but the Miss Tang family ran away from the marriage. The Cui family took advantage of the situation and sent Xiaowan to the palace. The wedding messenger had already arrived in Youzhou, and the emperor brother took advantage of the situation. What can I do? "

Jia Yi's eyes were indifferent: "Then what do you want to do with my life now? Get your throne back?"

Song Yu poured a cup of tea and looked at the tea leaves swirling in the cup: "I never take the throne seriously... Xiaowan's death is the fault of the emperor and the Cui family. You want to avenge Xiaowan, and so do I. , but I can’t repay it with you alone, I need a knife.”

Jia Yi snorted softly: "After it's done, will you go down and apologize to the lady?"

Song Yu twirled the tea cup with her fingers and said calmly: "When the matter is completed, I will pass the throne to the emperor's son. I didn't ask for that chair back then, and I won't ask for it now."

"Why choose Xu Buling?"

"The Xu family is stationed at Qianyang Pass. It's only three hundred miles from Qianyang Pass to Chang'an. The Xiliang Iron Cavalry can attack the city in three days, which is a serious problem for the Song family. The emperor's brother poisoned Xu Buling with Locking Dragon Gu to avoid future troubles. It's a pity that Failure has become a stalemate. Xu Buling still has the strength to fight. As long as he takes action, I can reduce the military power of the Xu family for the crime of rebellion, which can also be regarded as a comfort to the Song family. "

Jia Yi picked up the teacup and took a sip: "Shengshangcheng Mansion is unpredictable, and the assassination will fail even if you don't do it?"

Song Yu raised her head and said in a deep voice: "This is the fact, but the evidence has been destroyed by the emperor. You need to use your life to make Xu Buling believe the dragon-locking Gu that the wolf guard took away from the palace."

"Even if it succeeds, a few young princes should inherit the throne. If you don't sit on the throne, how can you destroy the Cui family?"

"The imperial brother values ​​civility and suppresses military affairs. He has been suppressing the military attachés since he came to the throne. Liu Pingyang, Han Zhongyu and other generals have already been dissatisfied, but it is just because the Xiao and Lu families are so powerful that it is difficult to speak... After the incident is completed, they will help me ascend to the throne. ”

Jia Yi was silent for a moment, nodded, and put down the teacup in his hand:

"Those who have been called true gentlemen in ancient times are mostly villains... I only want the lives of the Holy Emperor and the Cui family. As for whether you should be the emperor or not, and how long you should be the emperor, my lady and I won't care."

After finishing his words, Jia Yi stood up and turned his head to look at the scroll hanging on the peach blossom tree. The cold wind blew by and the figure had disappeared into the courtyard...