Light Red Northern Song

Chapter 23 Dongcheng Qingfang

As the sky was getting dark, the two princes stood short beside His Majesty Qi Huang's couch, and Qi Youhui explained something to them in a low voice.

"When King Yong returns to Beijing, these things can be done one by one." Qi Youhui seemed a little tired, and finally said.

"Yes, father, I will leave it to my son." Qi Zhitong replied.

"Well, Yu'er is not as alert as you, so you should help him more in everything." Qi Youhui half-closed his eyes and said, "Yu'er, you should listen to the opinions of the elder brother more, and don't be reckless again."

"Save it, baby." Qi Zhiyu replied with his head bowed.

"Yu'er, you go first, Tong'er, you stay."

After Qi Zhiyu left, Qi Youhui opened his eyes and said, "You have to be on guard against him. Although he is helping me now, I can't always feel at ease. Fortunately, he doesn't think deeply enough, as long as he pays more attention, even if he If there is a difference, we can also detect it."

"Father, don't worry too much. The Second Emperor is just a martial artist and doesn't have much wisdom. We searched for a long time before using him. I guess he has nothing wrong with him." Qi Zhitong replied confidently.

"Well, I don't know if it's right or wrong to call King Yong back to the capital. If you are capable, this seat for me will definitely be yours in the future. Do you understand?" Qi Youhui felt a little headache again when he thought of King Yong.What else can I expect from my sick and tired body now?As long as he can defeat Chu Shanyi, he has already seen the rest.

"Royal father, they all say that it's easy to ask God to send God away", but now you can only take one step at a time, first get rid of the woman who caused the country, and then care about it. The child only wants to share the worries of the father. Father makes the decision." Although it was not the first time he heard Qi Youhui's promise, Qi Zhitong was still ecstatic.He thinks that there is no other candidate for this reserve position other than himself.But he still suppressed his joy and said calmly.

"I hope he can remember the old love that I spared his life back then, and don't do too much. I'm tired, let's go."

"Yes, father, rest at ease, and my son will leave." Qi Zhitong leaned over and exited.

Under the palace wall outside Jinyun Palace, An Ning followed behind Mu Ji, both of them were wearing lake blue guard uniforms, walking towards the east gate of the imperial city.The bright moon on a summer night illuminated the road, and the two of them walked forward without talking.There is no curfew system in the Qi Palace, and there is no explicit order prohibiting people from entering and leaving the palace gate at night.When they came under the east gate, the guards at the gate only accepted the talisman, and let them out of the palace without even basic interrogation.

An Ning could have gone out of the palace alone in the dead of night, but that would be too risky, and she was unwilling to do so unless she had to.One is that if the guards in the palace find out that there will be accidents, and the other is that Ruyi Linglong, who is close to her body, accidentally bumps into her at night and there will be side issues if she is not in the palace.Now as long as Mu Ji is brought in, these two concerns will not exist.She is not worried about being discovered by the guards, and she doesn't have to hide from Ruyi Linglong. It is more appropriate to let the two of them know that she has left the palace with Mu Ji. After all, such a helpless Princess An Ning is incapable of going out of the palace alone. .

According to his master's previous instructions, Mu Ji ordered people to prepare a carriage and clothes outside the palace.An Ning didn't know when the "Qingfang Pavilion" would be closed, and of course she didn't want to waste time.She and Mu Ji hastily changed into regular clothes one after another, and then asked him to drive her to the "Qingfang Hall".

"Lord Mu, I will go somewhere later and call me Mr. Zhen, don't forget." An Ning said while sitting in the carriage.

"Your Highness, no, Young Master," Mu Ji's heart was hanging in the air from the beginning to the end, and he didn't dare to show his temper on the way in the palace, for fear of showing his feet.After all, the master is also a princess of the state of Chu. If she and herself are in any kind of danger when they sneak out of the palace this time... Even if there is no danger, it is a big deal if someone finds out!But he didn't dare to disobey his master, so he could only stammer and say: "My lord, this, this..."

"Don't do this and that, just this one time, okay? I won't embarrass you in the future." An Ning knew that she was reckless this time. She originally wanted to know the family background of Ruyi and Linglong so that she could understand to a certain extent. On the other hand, she feels that if Linglong is telling the truth, she should also help her.But... Shang Xue?Shang Xue?After hearing the name, she felt that she still had to go and have a look tonight.

Since the Qingfang Pavilion is called "Qingfang", it is of course an elegant place.An Ning was wearing a white robe and a masculine hairstyle, and she was walking casually with a graceful demeanor, while Mu Ji also followed behind her in an ordinary dress.There was no one to greet the guests in front of the Qingfang Hall, and before the two of them entered the door, the music of silk and bamboo floated to the front, lingering endlessly.

"The two young masters look very familiar, but are you here to join Miss Shangxue's Yaqin appreciation?" A woman dressed in colorful brocade came up from the hall and asked.

"Exactly, please find a good seat." An Ning glanced sideways at Mu Ji behind him, and the man with a dark face took out a small bag of money and handed it to the woman.

"Yes, yes, sir, please." The woman weighed the money in her hand and led the way with a smile.

"I have just arrived in Qidi, so I would venture to ask, is this Miss Shangxue?" An Ning asked softly with a smile.

"Master, look at your elegant and good looks, you don't look like a person from Qi, haha." The woman turned her head and finished speaking proudly, then looked around the other's face and said, "Ms. Shangxue is a qin in Tongcheng The one with the best art is sought after by many dignitaries. Today is the annual Yaqin Appreciation Fair, young master, you can catch it by chance. Oh no no! It’s not the best in Tongcheng, but the best in Qi. .”

"Qi country is the best at playing piano?" An Ning rubbed her nose, smiled lightly, turned her head and looked at Mu Ji, and muttered something in a low voice, quite disapproving.How can anyone sell melons without boasting their sweetness?Although she doesn't know how to play the piano, after thinking about it, she feels that the other party's words are too full and too big.

"Then, what's the point of this Yaqin appreciation event?" An Ning asked again with a smile.

"The Yaqin Appreciation Party in Qingfang Pavilion is held once a year. Miss Shang Xue will perform on the stage, keeping the audience listening to their fill. After the appreciation event, there will be a competition, and if you win the first prize, you can discuss piano with Miss Shang Xue alone. art."

"Oh..." An Ning frowned.

"Come on, here it is. Young master, please." The woman laughed and brought the two of them to the left of the hall, a little forward.

"Twelve taels of silver is all this?" Mu Ji was apprehensive and helpless about coming to this place tonight, but now he saw a row of "elegant seats" above the hall next to the stage.But I didn't want to have any private seats, and I didn't even get a seat in the front row.

"This is my first time here, little brother, and I have never heard of Miss Shangxue. Ten taels of silver is really not much. I only made an exception once when I saw your young master's good looks. On weekdays, ten taels of silver would be enough "The woman looked at An Ning's face presumptuously, then turned to Mu Ji and said unceremoniously, "I can't even sit down."

"Okay, it's pretty good here, isn't it? Mu Ji, sit down." An Ning shook her head and said.

"It's better to be knowledgeable, son. If you feel that the position is not good enough later, come to me again. Haha!" The woman actually doesn't value these two people, ten taels of silver is not a lot, but she has seen the dignitaries who came to the Qingfang Pavilion. There are too many, and even more generous ones.But she really didn't lie, if it wasn't for An Ning's good looks that made her look different, this seat really wouldn't be available for ten taels of silver.

"My lord, my lord, this is also..." Mu Ji said angrily without sitting down after the woman left.

"Oh, Mu Ji, I thought you were just going to fish out the copper coins. You have some eyesight. Ten taels of silver is too much for you. I think it's not a loss to buy this seat. Didn't you see it? Who doesn't dress richer than the two of us?" An Ning found it very funny seeing his outraged look.

"A place to show off, hide the filth!" Mu Ji took the princess out of the palace privately tonight, already terrified in his heart.Just now, he was really angry again. The one-year salary of the six-rank bodyguard in the majestic palace was only converted into more than twenty taels of silver. The ten taels of silver that he vomited blood came to such a filthy place, and he was actually neglected.

"Miss Shang Xue has come out."

"I must go into her tent tonight. Haha!"

"You're beautiful! I brought more silver than you tonight!"

An Ning was about to speak when she heard the commotion around her, she endured the discomfort and raised her eyes to look above the stage.There was a light veil covering the curtain, and the figure of the woman sitting on the stage was very vague, which seemed extremely unreal.

The woman didn't say a word, and after sitting for a while, she began to play the guqin by herself.The people in the audience quieted down for a moment, and everyone showed an intoxicated look.Although An Ning doesn't know how to play the piano, she has listened to a lot of piano music, and thinks that this girl's piano skills are really good, but... she looked around, feeling even more amused.Do these people really understand?However, they all came here with not pure intentions, such an attitude is a bit too fake.She shook her head again, and didn't touch the refreshments just brought on the table, she just lowered her head and listened to the sound of the piano.

"Good! Good! This song should only exist in the sky, how many times can you hear it in the world!" After a long song was played, a man with a square head and big ears at the front table was the first to shout loudly.

"Tacky!" An Ning knew from the man's words that he was clueless, and she felt that few of these people really came to listen to the piano.

"That's right! It's tacky!" Mu Ji stood beside the master, raised his head, and loudly responded to the master's words.

An Ning felt the stabbing eyes from all around, and secretly scolded Mu Ji for being a troublemaker.

"Don't make trouble if you don't know how to play the piano!"

"That's right!"

"Where did the yellow-mouthed kid come from, dare to say that Miss Shangxue's piano music is vulgar!"

"If you want to talk nonsense again, get out!"

Seeing that his master was silent, Mu Ji couldn't speak again.He stiffened his neck and glared at everyone with sharp eyes.

"My lord, do you dare to ask where the little girl's qin music is vulgar?" A soft voice came from the stage to ask.

"My son says vulgarity is vulgarity!" Mu Ji yelled louder, not at all worried about offending the sanctimonious people around him.

Peace of mind...

"Then, the young master sitting..." The person on the stage whispered with a low laugh, and there was a charming and lazy meaning in his ears.

"Miss Shang Xue, this brotherhood of mine made a mistake, and my words are so offensive, please forgive me." An Ning wanted to pretend to be aloof, but couldn't, so she bowed her hands slightly in the direction of the stage and said without raising her head. apologies.

"Young master is so funny, why don't you move to the inner tent to learn piano skills later?" Shang Xue saw the man bowed his head and folded his hands through the veil, and didn't even look in his direction, so he could sense this young master. The difference comes.

"How can it work?" Several people in the audience raised objections.

"Whether it's okay or not is up to Miss Shang Xue, and this young master must be able to afford the price." The woman who had led An Ning to the seat earlier also came from behind, her eyes under heavy makeup swept across the crowd, and she was not polite. Said.

"It's just in time. The two of us are indeed here for the first time, and we don't know the rules. Just now, my brother didn't mean to slander, so we're leaving now. Please send me off." An Ning heard, "Internal account ", Hearing the "price", he felt a pang of anger in his heart, his face was serious without a smile, he made a "please" gesture, and walked out of the hall first.

He stared at the woman in a daze, but was really taken aback by the other party's demeanor just now.

In the private seat on the east side, there was a person who silently watched the show, shook his head helplessly and laughed out loud.

It didn't take long outside the palace, An Ning followed Mu Ji back to the palace gate, on the way she recalled the conversation with the woman just outside the gate of Qingfang Hall.She thought in her heart that she was planned by Chunyan, and came here after exhausting the strength of the boss, but she...how could such a coincidence happen?