Chapter 24: Lake Tour (Part 1)

Even the rain didn't know that the spring had gone, and when it cleared, the summer was deep, and suddenly, the king was already steaming.
Many things have happened in the past few months. Bai Xingzhi was sentenced to a decisive decision, and Bai Xizhi returned home from his illness. Even Bai Zhixuan, who was pregnant with a dragon descendant, failed to escape the implication and was demoted as a nobleman and subjugated to Zhuo Xin. Yuan, the situation is bleak, everyone in the world says that the Bai family is gone.
In sharp contrast, Ye Huaixin made great strides in the palace examinations, ranked top three, successfully entered the Zhongshu Province, and officially became a teacher of Yue Ting. This move undoubtedly painted the confrontation between the family. I have made a subtle stroke, and the ice breaking in the future will start from today, but this is a later story and I will not mention it for the time being.
Dragon boat races have always been popular in Chu State during summer time, and this year is no exception. The emperor spent millions of silver to build a viewing platform on Huanhu Lake, called Youlong Water Corridor, half standing on the lake bank and half hanging over the water, with copper and gold plating. The eaves and colored glaze windows make it look like a long dragon lying on the river. It is very magnificent. After it was built, it was vacant for the whole winter. Now it is finally going to come in handy.
On the day of the summer solstice, the emperor came here with his concubines, hundreds of officials and their families to watch the dragon boat race. The carriage stopped a line on the shore, but the water corridor was still empty, showing the vast area. The female relatives love the side of the dangling, where you can see the lake and mountains. So they gathered in twos and threes by the handrail, and when they approached a little, the sound of Yanyu Yingying came into the ears, very happy.
It is lively and deserted. In the room at the end of the veranda, Pei Yuanshu is standing alone and quietly admiring the scenery.
Flags on the lake covered the air, dragon boats paralleled, and countless brawny men with naked torso clashed drums and shouted with great momentum. Seeing that the race was about to start, his gaze was constantly spinning on the dragon water gallery, accompanied by sighs from time to time.
It’s a huge observation deck, and it takes a lot of manpower and material resources to walk for several miles, just to enjoy the annual dragon boat race, which is really a waste of money!
There was a creaking sound from the door behind him. He wondered if Yue Ting had arrived. He couldn't help his indignation anymore. He turned and blurted out: "Teacher, look at the golden silk screen Dongzhu lamp, the mahogany case and the pictures of ladies, which one will you take out? It's enough for the people in the drought-stricken areas in the northwest for a few months. It's so extravagant. The students are really..."
Halfway through the conversation, he stopped abruptly, his face instantly flushed with a hint of panic.
"How is it really?"
Chu Jinglan walked in with his hands in his hands, dazzling as the wind, Xu Rulin, without anger and prestige, Pei Yuanshu was dumbfounded, he didn't recover until the sound of closing the door.
"Wei and Weichen didn't know that the prince was here, and their words and deeds were innocent, and the offense was repaid. Please forgive the prince!"
"Get up." Chu Jinglan walked past him and stepped onto the terrace to look out over the magnificent lake. "I didn't speak very neatly just now? Why did you stutter like this when you met this king?"
Pei Yuanshu got up with sweat, and almost knelt down after hearing the second half of the sentence.
"...Weichen is just a little nervous."
"What are you nervous about? I'm afraid that this king will go to the imperial court to sue you and say that you are slandering the sage?" Chu Jinglan glanced at him sideways, and he stiffened instantly, sticking like a stick for a long time, and then slowly came out sound.
"Weichen didn't mean this. It's just that the disaster in the northwest last year was severe, and local officials would only play around with blame. Many people still have no clothing and food. The Weichen can't help thinking of this..."
He didn't finish speaking, but the initial panic disappeared in his eyes, replaced by deep regret.
Chu Jinglan didn't care about his disrespect, and asked the key point: "Why is Pei Qing so concerned about this matter?"
Pei Yuanshu lowered his head, his face seemed to sink into the haze, and it took him a long time to answer: "When the Weichen was young, his hometown was plagued by locusts. Thousands of hectares of fertile fields were full of scorched fields, hungry and hungry everywhere, mourning, the Weichen’s parents The eldest sister Ji starved to death at that time, so the Weichen knew the suffering of the victims, but it was not what people wished. The Weichen played many times but was rejected and failed to help a little bit. I am really ashamed. heart."
"Has Pei Qing participated in performances recently?" Chu Jinglan asked nonchalantly.
"No, the Weichen recently..." Pei Yuanshu suffocated again, can't say that he has been coerced by Ye Huaiyang to do it recently, and there is no time for anything else, right? But it was a bit embarrassing to ask him to deceive others. As he scratched his head and thought about the words, Chu Jinglan spoke again.
"Is this the same as before?"
Pei Yuanshu was stunned, his face suddenly lit up.
Yup! Why did he forget this? This time he took a great contribution to Yushitai. Although the official position has not been changed, the emperor and Changshi are in the eyes. Yushitai has also regained attention. People in the province no longer dare to casually. So he rejected his discount, and the funding for disaster relief may be expected!
He immediately bowed his head and drew his sleeves, and flicked at Chu Jinglan, gratefully said, "Thank you, Lord, for your guidance!"
"Forget it, the corpses of the officials in the northwest have been serving as vegetarian food for a long time. I can't help the people at the top, and there is no benefit to the people. The king just wants to see what they can do."
Pei Yuan opened his mouth and didn't know how to answer the call. After thinking for a long time, he saluted Chu Jinglan again, and Tang Qingfeng couldn't help but look sideways.
"Master, Shu Weichen retire first."
Having said that, he hurriedly left the room and hurried along the steps outside the water corridor. He almost fell in the middle. Fortunately, he reached the shore safely. Tang Qingfeng looked at his as he was on fire and was inexplicably caught. Poke the laugh hole.
"Lord, why did Master Yue accept such a stupid student?"
"He judged that the bureau was set up by Ye Huai Ling only with a single sentence, and he secretly persuaded the director of the censer to present him with the evidence of Bai Xingzhi. How stupid to talk about it? It's just that he is upright and he is not accustomed to The power seeks benefits."
Tang Qingfeng nodded clearly, and said, "Perhaps it is also related to the fact that Master Yue does not discuss political affairs on weekdays. I don't know if Ye Huaixin enters his sect, will he be like Pei Yuanshu in the future?"
Chu Jinglan snorted coldly, turned around and looked at the lake again. The competition had already begun. Dozens of dragon boats shot into the criss-crossing waterways like arrows from the string. The sound of drums shook the sky, and the red silk fluttered in the wind.
Seeing that he was silent, Tang Qingfeng said to himself: "There is a sister like Miss Ye, the younger brother must be no different. When she came up just now, Miss Ye pretended to look like she did not know him at all. Like a prince...Huh? Isn't that her?"
Chu Jinglan glanced slightly, Ye Huaiyang was indeed at the corner under the three-story building.
Because the swimming dragon water corridor is built in the shape of a dragon, there are two dragon claws on one side that protrude from the water. A small is built at the end, which leads directly to the lake, where you can feed fish and play in the water near, and enjoy the coolness of Guanlan. Chic, Ye Huaiyang stood on it, as if talking to people.
They never thought that the other person standing under the eaves would be Bai Zhixuan.
"The appearance of the nobleman teaches me whether I should congratulate or regret it."
Ye Huaiyang looked at Bai Zhixuan with her pink lips curled up, she was dressed in a pink palace dress, her abdomen was slightly raised, the bead hairpins were covered, her makeup was exquisite, she was as beautiful as ever, but her complexion was a little haggard. Caused by pregnancy.
"Ye Huaiyang, this palace really underestimates you."
Bai Zhixuan's eyes were covered with heavy haze, as if she was about to swallow her, but she turned her back casually to play with fish in the water, and did not put Bai Zhixuan in her eyes.
"There are so many nobles who look down upon me, but I am the only one?"
"My palace knows who you are talking about." Bai Zhixuan sneered, with a stern look, "Ye Huaiyang, you are really unscrupulous in order to step on the upper position of the Bai family. You dare to cooperate with him. My palace sees you. I'm impatient! As long as the emperor knows, he will teach you that there is no place to bury you in the night house!"
"The nobles are really oblivious. Now the emperor suspects your Bai family." Ye Huaiyang said lightly. The small silk net in his hand had already picked up several fish fry, and they were all released again and again. Doesn't feel boring.
"The palace will prove to the emperor that you did it!"
"I didn't force Bai Xingzhi to betray the country and seek glory, nor could I use a knife to threaten the prince to send someone to save him, dare to ask the nobleman how to prove it?" Ye Huaiyang turned around and smiled, staring at her belly and said meaningfully. "If I'm a noble person, I don't bother to care about things that are unable to return to heaven. I should protect this piece of meat in my abdomen wholeheartedly."
Bai Zhixuan slapped her belly, and asked vigilantly: "What do you want to do? My palace holds a dragon seed. If you dare to touch him, the emperor will not let you go!"
Ye Huaiyang clapped his hands and got up, put the screen aside by the way, and slowly approached Bai Zhixuan and said in a low voice: "Don't worry, I am not as frantic as you were in the past. Even the young children of the prince's important ministers will not be spared, but I will not It doesn't mean that the emperor won't move. Remember to guard against it."
"You nonsense! How could the emperor deal with his own flesh and blood!"
"Born and flesh?" Ye Huaiyang raised his eyebrows, her phoenix eyes glowing like a deep sea without the sky, "The nobleman has nothing to do with the king for six years. Now the prince is pregnant as soon as he comes to you, you guessed it. What would the emperor think?"
"You're bloody!" Bai Zhixuan's face turned white with anger, and she raised her hand to hit Ye Huaiyang. She was stuck in the air, unable to move at all.
"You were wrong again. I was just taking advantage of the emperor's suspicion. If you and the emperor are more in love with each other, why should you be afraid of these rumors?"
"you--"
Bai Zhixuan's stomach cramped for a while, and she couldn't help bending down, her anger in her chest became more and more difficult to express, she could only stare at Ye Huaiyang angrily, wishing to tear her skin apart and tear her to pieces. Ye Huaiyang looked at her with such a defaced appearance, and her heart seemed to have been poured over by a heavy rain, and she was so happy.
"This hurts? Do you know that when the concubine Chen concubine committed suicide by drinking poison, the pain was almost biting? You know that the prince was forced to fall off the cliff by your Bai family's assassins. So far, every rainy day will have a faint pain in his knees? I don’t even have one or two of them!"
Bai Zhixuan vaguely noticed something, and tremblingly pointed her finger at her and said, "So you..."
With a sudden bang, the door was pushed open vigorously from outside, and both of them looked up, and it was Wang Yaru.
Why is she here?
Ye Huaiyang saw Bai Zhixuan's question, and said very gently: "You don't need to be surprised, I made her an appointment. Do you see her familiar?"
Bai Zhixuan stared at her, suddenly panicked.
Although she knew that the queen mother had given Chu Jinglan a concubine before, she had never seen that person's appearance, but now it seems that she was carved out of the same model! Not only did she dress similarly, she also learned seven points, and her graceful appearance is beyond compare!
Ye Huaiyang seemed very satisfied with her reaction. When Wang Yaru approached, she made a last cut in Bai Zhixuan's ear.
"It is said that when the queen mother picked someone, she let the emperor pass the goal first. When the emperor of the night was lucky enough, she ordered her to monitor whether you have contact with the prince. It seems that he never believed you from the beginning to the end. It's just acting..."
Hearing this, Bai Zhixuan could no longer hold back, her face twisted towards Ye Huaiyang, her sharp nails pierced the air and attacked her throat. Between the electric light and flint, Ye Huaiyang grabbed Wang Yaru and stepped forward. The thrust caused the two to retreat several steps and slipped into the water from the slope!
With a thud, thousands of water splashes stunned everyone.