The prince is very fierce

Hangzhou, West Lake.

Thousands of willows are blown by the cold wind, and the painted boats are full of singers and drinkers.

On Yuhuang Mountain near the lake, the palace of Prince Wu is brightly lit like daylight. The buildings are stacked on top of each other. The eaves and blue tiles are surrounded by armored guards patrolling back and forth. The palace is a hundred times more luxurious than Prince Su's Palace in the wild northwest, and may be even more beautiful than the Chang'an Imperial City. Up a few points.

The surface of the lake was sparkling, and King Wu Song Siming was sitting on the terrace overlooking the entire West Lake, listening to his subordinates reporting the news that had just arrived:

"... Prince Su has arrived in Huainan and submitted the letter of appointment, but the Xiao family has not yet responded, and the eldest lady Xiao Qi has not revealed anything..."

Song Siming was so thin that his python robe and golden crown looked a bit too big. They were originally tailor-made, but after an accident many years ago, his health never improved.

After Emperor Xiaozong secured the current territory, he granted six sons the title of king to guard one side. Including Wang Xulie with a different surname, there were a total of seven princes. Originally, Song Ji also added Song Yu, King of Yan, to guard the Youzhou area, but it was a pity that Song Yu did not go and became a vassal.

Among the seven vassal kings, King Su had the largest territory, but he could not even grow food in the wild northwest, which was incomparable to the six princes of the Song family. Among the six princes of the Song family, in terms of the wealth of the fiefdom, no one could compare with King Wu who was in the south of the Yangtze River. It is easy to imagine Song Siming's status among the seven princes and kings. Song Siming's father was the eldest son of Emperor Xiaozong. He followed Emperor Xiaozong in the southern and northern wars since he was a child. He was deeply loved by Emperor Xiaozong, but it was a pity that he was not the eldest son. Being granted the title of king in the south of the Yangtze River was a kind of compensation.

After the subordinate reported the news, he stood respectfully and waited for instructions.

King Wu Song Siming was speechless and looked at the staff beside him. A middle-aged scribe standing next to him thought for a moment and said:

"The marriage between Prince Su and the Xiao family of Huainan is a good match, but it is of no practical use. Huainan is nearly five thousand miles away from Suzhou and spans the entire Dayue. There is no overlap in the forces of each other, so the Xiao family can only give power to Prince Su in the court. Saying a few more good words may make the current Holy Emperor dissatisfied, which seems like a stupid move..."

The speaker was Wang Zouyin, the head of the Wang family in Hangzhou.

The Wang family in "Xiao Lu Cui Wang Li" refers to the Taiyuan Wang family. The Hangzhou Wang family and the Taiyuan Wang family have the same origin. However, when the dynasties changed before Jiazi, the Hangzhou Wang family was obviously in the wrong team, and the family fortune was ruined. Out of the front line. However, in the south of the Yangtze River where old families gathered, the Wang family in Hangzhou was only second to the Xiao and Lu families, and there was only one opportunity missing to restore their former glory.

Wang Zoyin's words are also pertinent. The primary purpose of marriage between aristocratic families is mutual benefit. The marriage between Su Wang's Xu family and Huainan Xiao family sounds like a strong alliance, but in fact it is of little use. Even if King Su rebels, the Xiao family is far away in the world, and it would take half a month to send an idea to Suzhou. Normally, they would not do such meaningless things.

King Wu's chief aide Han Xianchu thought for a while: "No matter what the purpose is, the person has arrived. Judging from the news in the capital, Xu Buling is not an ordinary person. This move may have a profound meaning that we cannot see through. It means you didn’t look deeply enough.”

Wang Zoyin also nodded to this.

After all, the counselor is not a god. It is impossible to think that the dignified Prince Su would accidentally sleep with Xiao Qi, who is known as a national scholar, and he just came over to make up for the mistake he made in his lower body.

King Wu Song Siming quietly listened to the opinions of the counselors and said:

"Since Xu You's son has come to Jiangnan, as an elder, I must do my best to entertain guests. Next time, I will ask him and Xiao Qi to come and sit together during the birthday banquet."

Wang Zoyin and Han Xianchu both nodded when they heard this. It would be better to invite Xu Buling over to take a look than to make random guesses here, so they didn't say anything more at the moment...

----------

Night fell quietly on both sides of the Huaihe River. Xu Buling and Mrs. Lu were still guests in the Xiao Mansion. In addition to the banquet, Xiao Mo also took him around the Xiao family manor to pay homage to the various achievements of the Xiao family's ancestors.

It was a normal reception, and there was not much to say. The only minor episode was that Xiao Ting, the eldest son, suddenly ran back in a hurry, pulled out a few Taoist priests from the Xiao family's door, and opened an altar to burn rouge directly outside the Xiao family's ancestral home. , as stubborn as a cow and couldn't hold it back, and almost made several elders of the Xiao family angry to death.

Xu Buling knew it was the baby who was scaring him, so he naturally laughed it off.

On the other side, in Huainan City, ten miles away, the streets are brightly lit, and buildings full of water town charm are located among them. The scholar lady is walking around at various poetry conferences, and there are almost no traces of people in the world.

After Zhongli Chuchu and Ning Qingye parted ways, they hurriedly returned to the inn where they lived, packed their packages from the house, and then rode a white camel to run away.

Zhongli Chuchu knew her master very well. Not only was she highly skilled in martial arts, but she also had an endless variety of methods. As long as she targeted anyone, there was no one she could not find.

In fact, her guess was not wrong. Just as she rode a white camel out of the city gate of Huainan, that figure appeared on the roadside.

Under the full moon, beside the official road of Yangliu Yiyi, Zhongli Jiujiu, who was wearing a long aqua dress, held her hands on the tree trunk and stared blankly at the two-year-old girl on the white camel, her green eyes as bright as the first time. The aura was so compelling when they met, but they were no longer as close and enthusiastic as before.

"neat……"

"What are you doing here?"

Chu Chu stopped the white camel and tried to calm down and not become hysterical.

She secretly ran away from the cottage in South Vietnam a few years ago. She never wants to go back in her life, or even think about the times she once missed and cherished because they were all fake.

Since she met her master, Zhongli Chuchu has regarded her master as her closest relative, obeyed his orders, and tried her best to do everything well, just to make her master happier, to like her more, and not abandon her. But in the end, she found that her master only regarded her as a tool to compare with others.

But her feelings were real, and she couldn't accept such a fact at all, which was more difficult to accept than dying for her master.

When they met again, Zhongli Chuchu was afraid that this master, who she still regarded as her closest relative, would get angry and ask her why she ran away and why she ruined her plan for many years; or praise her and be complacent about her becoming the Eighth Kui.

That was too real and hurtful. The master in her impression was not like that. Even if she was just an ugly girl, he would still like her...

Zhongli Jiujiu looked at the apprentice sitting on the camel. There was no more charm in her eyes. Only apology and panic remained:

"Chuchu, I said the wrong thing last time. I didn't mean that. You know my temper. I've always been like that... I was a little harsh at that time. I didn't really want to force you..."

Zhongli Chuchu tightly grasped the reins and said in a deep voice: "You have been nurturing me since you were a child. You didn't teach me martial arts. You learned those completely useless things, such as how to talk and how to smile to make a man fall in love... I asked you, and you admitted it. Now you say no?"