Waking up with a baby

Chapter 54

"Is there any remnants left?"

Xue Bai's eyes were lightly closed, but he didn't respond immediately, but his usually indifferent expression was a little cold and stern, and his expression became unpredictable.After a long time, Xue Bai finally said with thin lips: "As far as the emperor's brother and the queen mother are concerned, the remnants of what happened 15 years ago, isn't it my king?"

The world only knows that 15 years ago, Concubine Wei, who was favored by the late emperor, died accidentally in a sea of ​​flames, but they don't know that she was forced to go to Sifang Mountain.

That year coincided with the March of the late emperor's southern tour, and the late emperor left the crown prince in the palace and accompanied Xue Bai. Concubine Wei was reprimanded by a group of elders in the court for "using sex to do things to the master, and to invite favors by seductiveness, which is harmful to the country." The queen mother even gave a three-foot white silk I want her to kill herself with her own hands. Fortunately, Concubine Wei is always kind to others, and her personal maid found a way to send her out of the palace. Therefore, it is false that Concubine Wei went to the mountain to pray for blessings, but in fact she was only seeking the protection of the abbot of Guiyuan Temple

Xue Bai seldom mentioned this matter, and his expression was slightly cold, "I don't know that this matter will involve the young noble concubine."

"My lord, the matter has come to this, why don't you open the skylight and speak the truth." Prime Minister Zhuang smiled, "Your lord is precocious and talented, which made your majesty and the empress dowager regard you as a thorn in the side, so much so that you were killed by the empress dowager and the empress dowager." The biological parents of the imperial concubine, could it be that the prince still wants to kill a few members of the young family?"

"That young man is promising, even if he has no credit, he has worked hard. He has raised the imperial concubine for more than ten years, and treated him as his own. He also taught a good son who pleases the prince in every way. The two of them traveled far away because of the prince's single-handed arrangement. In the capital city, if the lord has the heart to ignore Youyouwei, it is really - very cruel."

Xue Bai squinted his eyes, and his tone could not hear any joy or anger, "This king's single-handed arrangement?"

After returning from his southern tour in March, Xue Bai was shocked to hear the bad news, but only saw a tomb in the back of the mountain. A few months later, he learned from the abbot of Guiyuan Temple that there was still a seven or eight in the family of the implicated merchant. The [-]-year-old girl survived and was sent back to the south of the Yangtze River by the abbot himself, and was adopted by a good family.

The abbot's move was of course out of pity for the girl who lost her parents at a young age and was accidentally involved in a dispute in the harem. He didn't want her to be used again in the future, so he hurriedly sent her away from the capital.

After Xue Bai confirmed that the girl had no worries about food and clothing, and that her adoptive parents treated her as her own child, in order to restore her peace, she did not interfere too much except for the young family's troubles, and only ordered people to take care of the young family secretly until five years Before Xue Wei went south, he fell in love with a Jiangnan woman at first sight, so Xue Bai saw her again in Beijing.

Thinking of this, Xue Bai raised his eyes, without any expression on his face, "Zhuang Yingying forgot that when the mother and concubine had an accident, the king was still young, and he didn't have such meticulous thoughts."

Then he said lightly: "What's more, the girl was sent to the south of the Yangtze River by the abbot Xuyun personally. She didn't want to see the king, so the king didn't force it. He only came to ask the abbot about her recent situation, and only then did he know that the girl was married. , the rest... I don’t know at all.”

"I don't know at all?" Even though Xue Bai's rhetoric was impeccable, Prime Minister Zhuang still had a plan in mind.He leisurely asked: "Speaking of which, the meaning of the prince is—"

"You don't want to marry Qiutong?"

"There is no need for Prime Minister Zhuang and Ms. Zhuang to worry about the matter in the backyard of the palace." Xue Bai replied calmly: "This king, in this life, only Qingqing is enough."

"It's touching." Prime Minister Zhuang clapped his hands and said, "My lord, since this is the case, I will stop bothering you."

He smiled slowly: "However, the prince is so calm, it should be because he still has some cards in his hand that he has not shown. It is not difficult to rescue this young and promising young man. It hurts, how can the prince be willing to see the princess sad?"

Xue Bai glanced at him, his expression indifferent, "Don't bother Mrs. Zhuang."

He paused, then slowly opened his mouth and said: "Ms. Zhuang is in Cui Ling Palace, there are many people who know about it, instead of forcing me to marry her, Prime Minister Zhuang, why don't you spend more time on it, after all, there are already indecent rumors among the people. Miss Zhuang has lost her reputation."

Zhuang Qiutong's shirt was ripped off by Lu Yan in front of everyone. It was Prime Minister Zhuang's heart disease. Now Xue Bai mentioned it again, which inevitably made him resentful. If something happens to lose your mind, walk away.

And Xue Bai lowered his eyes thoughtfully.

No matter what the original intention of Xiaozhi's entry into the palace is, whether it is related to her or not, as long as her life experience is involved in the fire 15 years ago, she is deceiving and harboring evil intentions.

In the final analysis, it was all because of him.

... He should have ended it with his own hands.

With Xue Bai not around, Young Master finally doesn't have to restrain himself anymore.He explained a lot to Youqing in a long-winded manner, and asked Youqing to talk to Mrs. Zhao more often, instead of just playing with himself, and then told him not to get too close, so as not to offend Mrs. Zhao. Youqing listened He was so confused, the young master simply waved his hand when he saw this, and drove him away.

"Go back quickly, I'm annoyed when I see you."

Youqing made a face for Young Master, and muttered in a low voice: "I don't want to stay here."

Turn around and leave.

"You... oops."

The young man's voice was soft and waxy, Xue Bai raised his eyes slightly, the pupils were dark black, and the handsome eyebrows still had a bit of unmelted coldness.He was usually cold and indifferent, but now there was coldness in the corners of his eyes and brows, and he showed a little arrogance for no reason, which surprised Youqing, and he couldn't help but opened his eyes and asked: "You, what's wrong with you? "

"nothing."

Xue Bai held You Qing's hand naturally, his expression softened a little, "Why so fast?"

You Qing complained: "Daddy kicked me out."

"He doesn't want the amulet I gave him." Youqing lowered her head, clutched her small purse, and said in a low voice, "Daddy said I was here to make trouble."

Youqing puffed up her face, "That's not the case."

He raised his face and said sullenly: "Mother only said that Manjusri Bodhisattva protects studies, Nanhai Guanyin protects safety, and there are many Bodhisattvas and Buddhas. I can't tell them apart, so I have to give them all to Dad."

The young man felt aggrieved, with a small horoscope on his brows, Xue Bai stroked his hair, "Yue Zhang just didn't know that Qingqing would worry about him."

Xiaoqing said angrily, "I'm not worried."

Xue Bai lowered his head and looked at him a few times, "Since Qingqing has so many amulets, why don't you give me one."

"Give you."

Youqing gave Xue Bai the purse and asked him to take it all away, but Xue Bai just took out an amulet and returned the purse to Youqing.

Xue Bai glanced at it, raised his brows lightly, "...the house is in harmony."

You Qing tilted his head and asked, "Do you want to change it?"

"No need." Xue Bai clenched Youqing's fingers, stared at him deeply, and then said in a deep voice, "My king's house is indeed restless these days."

Youqing came to his senses, and just pretended to be stupid, "Where are you restless?"

Xue Bai replied with a half-smile: "The princess is pregnant with Liujia, but she kept it secret and tried to sneak away from the capital again and again. Qingqing, do you think it's better or not?"

Youqing corrected with a guilty conscience: "...only ran twice!"

The case of young master selling illegal salt will be decided three days later.

For the first two days, Xue Bai was no different from usual, he was either staying in the study, or going out to discuss matters with others, except when the sky darkened and he came back to accompany Youqing to eat and take a walk, he was almost gone.

Seeing this, Mrs. Zhao couldn't help feeling anxious, but she couldn't ask questions, so she had to push You Qing over.She taught a set of rhetoric, but Xiaoqing went in his left ear and out of his right ear. He nodded repeatedly and said that he had written it down. When he opened the study door and looked at Xue Bai, he immediately forgot all about it.

"that……"

Youqing blinked, trying to recall what Mrs. Zhao said, and Mrs. Huang, who was drinking tea, stepped forward in surprise, took him into the study, and glanced at his stomach, "Qingqing."

"Teacher."

Youqing opened her eyes suddenly, turned her head and saw Mr. Huang standing aside, staring at her, subconsciously hid behind Mrs. Huang, and stammered, "Sir, sir."

I was too scared to say anything.

Mr. Huang snorted lightly, and he had the right to respond.

Mrs. Huang couldn't help laughing, "It's been so long, Qingqing, when you see your husband, you still look like a mouse seeing a cat."

Youqing used to be afraid of copying books, so he said with a bitter face, with lingering fear: "It's all because Mr. always asks me to copy books."

"Now he doesn't dare to punish you for copying." Mrs. Huang patted Xiaoqing a few times comfortingly, and joked: "In the past, I told your husband that if you don't like reading, you don't like reading. Maybe you will be better than him in the future." Those lovers are still promising, no, that guy Shen Qihe saw you, he had to salute and call you Wangfei."

When Mr. Huang heard this, he squinted at Mrs. Huang, not bothering to argue with her.

Xue Bai said to Youqing: "Brother Huang heard that Mr. Huang lived in seclusion in Jinling, so he specially invited him back to the capital to take up the post of Taifu."

You Qing thought about it, and became happy again, "Anyway, I don't need to copy books anymore."

Mr. Huang didn't like his appearance of being so muddy that he couldn't support the wall, so he blew his beard and stared at him and said, "As a princess, how can you be illiterate and not know a single word? Besides, no one knows that you are my student, Huang Zhien." , in the future you will lose face, and you will lose face as well, after your father's matter subsides, come to my place, and continue to learn how to make a fuss."

When Youqing heard this, her face wrinkled, "I, I..."

He held back for a long time, but couldn't find a reason, so he had to honestly say: "I get sleepy when I listen to Mr.'s lectures, so I might as well go to sleep."

Mr. Huang was unmoved, "It will be prenatal education."

You Qing was about to pass out.

Fortunately, what Mr. Huang said was just to scare Youqing. After all, he had heard of Youqing's poems when he came to the capital. Qing, besides, Mr. Huang still wants to live a few more years.

After chatting for a few more words, Mr. Huang helped Mrs. Huang to leave. Mrs. Huang herself had no children, and Youqing was very much in her favor, so she turned around and told Youqing: "When I see you later, you will be lazy and won't move more. , now that you are pregnant, you should go out more often, don't stay in the house all the time, or you will be the one who will feel uncomfortable when the time comes."

Youqing glanced at Xue Bai, "He forces me to go out for a walk every day!"

"You still blame the prince."

Of course I have to blame him, Youqing muttered: "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be pregnant, I wouldn't be able to eat anything, and I wouldn't have to go for a walk."

Mrs. Huang smiled again, "Qingqing still hasn't changed at all."

After sending the two of them to the gate of the palace, Xue Bai asked You Qing: "What's wrong?"

Youqing tilted her head and reminded: "Daddy!"

"But mother-in-law is worried?"

"No, it's not." Youqing said hesitantly: "You hide in the study every day, I'm afraid you've forgotten, I'll remind you."

Xue Bai didn't expose him, but asked with a low smile: "This king promised to bring Yuezhang back safely. Doesn't this king's promise count in Qingqing's eyes?"

You Qing complained: "You always lie to me."

His voice was soft, with a hint of coquettishness.

Xue Bai raised his eyebrows and asked, "When does this king always lie to you?"

Youqing thought for a while, then made a face at Xue Bai, "I will follow whatever was agreed upon, but in the end I am not allowed to go back to Jinling."

Xue Bai said, "I just don't want you to sneak back to Jinling."

"I can't tell you, and I can't tell you." You said crisply: "You are as troublesome as Daddy!"

Xue Bai pulled the boy into his arms, clasped his chin, and asked with a half-smile, "Is this king troublesome?"

The most troublesome one nodded solemnly.

Xue Bai lowered his head and kissed You Qing's lips, his voice was hoarse, "Since this king is so troublesome, I will use Qing Qing to treat it."

That night, Mrs. Zhao waited and waited, but she didn't see Youqing coming back.

After dinner, she simply summoned the maid to inquire, only to learn that after Xue Bai took Xiao Qing back to the room, she never came out again.She didn't think much about it, after all, Youqing has no sense of propriety, so Xue Bai naturally wouldn't lose his sense of propriety, but when Youqing ignored her own words again, and fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, she couldn't help being angry and funny .

Mrs. Zhao sighed, "...when will I grow up?"

"By the way, ma'am." The maid reported truthfully: "The lord also told me that if the madam comes to ask, he will say that he has his own ideas, and the madam can rest at ease."

Mrs. Zhao was startled, and after a long while said quietly: "My lord has a heart."

It never occurred to her at all that Xiaoqing herself would miss Master You.

Mrs. Zhao raised her head and looked out of the window. There were many lights and shadows, the shadows of trees whirled, golden osmanthus fluttered all over the ground, the autumn colors on the ginkgo leaves became more and more desolate, and the night was already dark.

On the second day, the young master was arrested and taken to the government office.

Sitting in the hall, Master Liu of Jingzhaoyin looked around, and saw that the yamen was crowded with people, but Xue Bai was not there. Although he was suspicious, but also hindered by Lu Tingwei, he had to suppress his puzzlement and asked Lu Tingwei cupped his hands, and said as if nothing had happened: "Lord Lu, the prisoner has done his best."

Lu Tingwei nodded, and said concisely: "Sheng Tang."

Mr. Liu winked at the arrester in the yamen, and snapped at the case, "The criminal is young and promising, and he used cloth village to sell private salt, can you plead guilty?"

"I don't admit it!" The young master poked his neck and said, "I have never sold illegal salt, so why should I plead guilty?"

"Refused to plead guilty?"

Master Liu said: "I see that you don't cry when you don't see the coffin, pass it to the witness Zhang Yuanwai."

Not long after, Zhang Yuanwai came up to the hall with a few pieces of cloth in his arms, and the rest of the cloth was presented to him by the policeman.Member Zhang kowtowed a few times in a polite manner, "Caomin has met Master Liu and Master Lu."

He pointed to the few bolts of cloth that had been put down, "My lord, Cao Min was preparing for his daughter's wedding a few days ago, and it happened that Jiangnan cloth shop was very famous, so he went to this Jiangnan cloth shop to buy fifteen bolts of silk. With coarse salt in between, the grass people checked one by one, and found that all fifteen bolts of silk were like this."

Zhang Yuanwai paused, "The grass people just remembered that the price of silk in other cloth shops is only seventy or eighty silver, but their Jiangnan cloth shop sells silk for 100 taels."

"The price is so high, and the cloth in hand contains coarse salt. The grassroots think there is something wrong with it, and they dare not hide it at all, and report it to the government overnight."

"Mr. Zhang, you must speak with your conscience."

The young master was immediately furious when he heard the words, "Our cloth shop also sells 80 taels of silk, but you want crepe de chine silk and pure silk, so the price is 100 taels of silver. Since Zhang Yuanwai thought it was expensive, why didn't you buy it at that time?" Mention, this way I don’t need to have someone make it for you, it’s said that you get what you pay for, and we don’t need you as a member of our cloth shop.”

The more the young master thought about it, the more angry he became. He was afraid of delaying the wedding of Zhang Yuan's family, so he asked the weaver girl in the cloth village to hurry up, so there was no delay. the government.

He muttered: "It's really bad luck for eight lifetimes!"

Zhang Yuanwai sneered and said, "You get what you pay for? I've touched and felt, but I don't think there is any difference between the 100 taels of silk and the 80 taels of silk in the ordinary cloth shop."

The young master didn't even bother to argue with him, so he just grabbed the silk and said angrily: "One look at the luster, two touch the satin, and three listen to the sound of silk, this..."

The fingertips touched the silk, and the young master hadn't spread the silk yet, but with a light twist, his complexion changed, "This is not the silk from our cloth shop."

"Isn't the silk from Jiangnan cloth village?" Zhang Yuanwai naturally refused to admit it, "I took these fifteen bolts of silk from the apprentices of your cloth village with my own hands. Is it possible that I can still steal them?"

The young master hurriedly said: "I didn't say it, you said it yourself."

He didn't say it directly, but he meant the same thing inside and out. Zhang Yuanwai couldn't swallow this breath, pointed at the young master and said, "You—"

Seeing that these two people were about to quarrel, Mr. Liu slapped down the ruler in his hand, and sternly reprimanded: "The officials above, how can you be so nonsense!"

The young master shrank his neck and fell silent.

Zhang Yuanwai said: "My lord, the grassroots will never dare to do such a thing of stealing and deliberately framing."

Lord Liu ignored it, and only asked Young Master: "Young Youwei, you say that these fifteen bolts are not the silk that Zhang Zhi bought in your cloth shop, do you have evidence to prove it?"

The young master touched a few more horses, frowned and said: "These are all made of rotten materials, but they are somewhat similar to silk. It is difficult for an expert to identify them."

He turned his head and asked Zhang Yuanwai: "Zhang Yuanwai, the silk that our cloth shop gave you is genuine silk. Did you really take it over from your apprentice?"

Zhang Yuanwai glared at him, "Of course!"

Mr. Liu turned his head to look at Lu Tingwei. He was happy to see this situation come to fruition. After all, if it can be delayed for a while, it is only a moment. What's more, Xue Bai mentioned a few words earlier, the young master's matter is not the same as that of Prime Minister Zhuang. It cannot be escaped, and Lu Tingwei is a member of Prime Minister Zhuang. If Xue Baijiu is not present, if Lu Tingwei insists on convicting the young master, Mr. Liu will be helpless.

He pretended that he had no idea, "Lord Lu, what do you think should be done?"

Lu Tingwei slightly sneered: "Master Liu has been an official for dozens of years, how could he not even know how to deal with this?"

The two looked at each other, knowing that each other was in charge of politics and masters.

Lu Tingwei thought for a while, and asked, "Young Youwei, why do you say that these fifteen bolts are not silk from your cloth shop?"

The young master randomly picked a horse and spread it out, "The luster is not soft enough, the feel is too soft, the satin surface is yellow, and there is no sound when you rub it when you grab it, and——"

Mr. Young was about to mention that every cloth in his cloth shop would have the character "You" written on the last three inches, when Lu Tingwei got up and walked here.

"So the luster of silk is soft, the feel is moderate, and there will be a silky sound when rubbed?"

As he spoke, Lu Tingwei leaned over to pick up a piece of cloth, twisted it carefully a few times, but from the corner of his eye he glanced coldly at Zhang Yuanwai who was kneeling on the ground, Zhang Yuanwai hurriedly lowered his head in shock, resenting his wife for being greedy for those few The price of a hundred taels of silver is cheap, and I am reluctant to buy real silk, which is why there is such a big mistake.

"Interesting." After a long time, Lu Tingwei said: "No matter how I look at it, this is silk."

The young master opened his mouth, "My lord, this..."

Lu Tingwei picked up a piece of silk in his hand, and turned to the common people crowded around, "Do you think this is silk?"

People who can afford silk will naturally not join in the fun here, not to mention Lu Tingwei's assertion first.The people crowded together for a while, stretched out their hands to touch it, and then said in a hurry: "Why isn't this silk? It's slippery, it feels cool to the touch, and it's softer than the girls in Hongxiufang."

"My nephew was working in Mr. Sun's house. He came back wearing the clothes given by Mr. Sun the year before last. He said it was made of silk, and it felt like this."

"If it's not silk, what is real silk like?"

……

The young master broke out in a sweat, but he couldn't just say that this group of people didn't know what to do.

The next moment, Lu Tingwei turned around abruptly, and said coldly: "Bold and promising, now that there are all witnesses and evidence, how dare you talk nonsense and pester me!"

"In order to get rid of the crime, you really think that if you say it is not silk, it is not silk, and if you say it is not from your Jiangnan cloth shop, then it is not from your Jiangnan cloth shop?" Lu Tingwei scolded: "Hurry up and confess!"

The young master couldn't help it anymore, "My lord, I'm just in the cloth business. If you eat this bowl of rice, you can tell whether it's silk or not."

Lu Tingwei paused, "You mean this official doesn't distinguish between black and white?"

The young master didn't dare to be too arrogant this time, so he kept quiet.

"Come on!"

Even so, Lu Tingwei still took advantage of the topic and said: "This young man not only sells private salt, but even despises the court. He is rude to the official, and the crime is aggravated. If you drag it down, you will be beaten twenty times!"

Mr. Liu was complaining in his heart, he looked out anxiously, while being a peacemaker, he tried to persuade: "Mr. Lu, if this silk is not silk, we still have to ask a few experts in the cloth shop to identify it. "

Lu Tingwei snorted coldly, "Could it be possible that Mr. Liu also thinks that this official is referring to deer as horse?"

"The subordinate dare not."

Master Liu wiped off his sweat, and signaled Young Master to be soft with his eyes, "I think Youwei was just in a moment of impatience, and unintentionally bumped into Master Lu."

Lu Tingwei did not give in and insisted: "This young man is cunning by nature, first drag him down and hit him with a cane for [-] boards, otherwise how can he be honest!"

Mr. Liu said no, and he didn't answer, and he felt overwhelmed for a moment.When he and Lu Tingwei were still in a stalemate, he finally heard a faint voice, "Slow down."

A few guards cleared the way, Xue Bai was wearing a snow shirt with a tall and straight figure.

He stepped forward step by step, glanced at Lu Tingwei in the hall, nodded slightly to Master Liu and said, "Master Liu."

Xue Bai asked with a half-smile: "Lord Lu, if you don't interrogate him thoroughly, you will be beaten twenty times with a cane, but you want to torture him into a trick?"

The author has something to say: Zhao's cognition: Qingqing has no sense of propriety, but the prince has propriety.