White Fence Dream

Chapter 211 Early Spring
The early spring sun is bright and shining, bringing some warmth to the body. You don’t need to wrap yourself tightly in a cloak when sitting outside the mourning hall.

Zhou Jingyun took the hot tea handed to him by the eunuch, took a sip, and looked around.

The emperor went to accompany Concubine Bai and the little prince. Although the concubines were still keeping vigil, there was no crying, only whispers from time to time.

There are even fewer officials outside.

They were originally here to show off to the emperor, but now the emperor doesn't even want to see them. The Yang family has fallen into decline, and as soon as the queen was buried, no one mentioned them again.

"Your Majesty has asked Li Yu to escort the Queen to the Imperial Mausoleum. All the subsequent procedures will be handled at the Imperial Mausoleum." An official at the side whispered to Zhou Jingyun, "Moreover, Princess Jin Yu reprimanded the Emperor, saying that Yang had brought disgrace upon the family and threatened Your Majesty with death for her evil father and brother. It is already a great kindness to allow her to be buried as the Queen in the Imperial Mausoleum. Your Majesty is not allowed to accompany her at the Imperial Mausoleum again."

Zhou Jingyun said, "Then we don't have to go to the imperial mausoleum."

The official nodded: "It means that the people from the Taichang Temple will follow."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Jingyun stood up.

"In that case, I'll go back first."

After saying that, he walked out. The official was stunned in place. The next moment, he laughed and said to the other officials beside him: "This is too snobbish. How can Prince Zhou be such a person?"

The officials nearby laughed.

"Who else is Prince Zhou? An immortal?"

"Wake up, why would an immortal come to the imperial court to serve as an official? He should be living a carefree life in the mortal world."

"Wake up, he is the one who made His Majesty use the Supervisory Council to investigate the case for him. If this investigation is carried out, a family of descendants will be gone..."

"Don't you think this is a coincidence? It seems that Prince Zhou and Zhang Ze have had some contact before..."

"Hush, look, Prince Zhou and Zhang Ze are talking."

Following the sound, a group of officials here looked forward and saw Zhou Jingyun, who was walking to the open space in front of the hall, met Zhang Ze, and the two stopped to talk.

Except for the officials who followed and flattered Zhang Ze, other officials would just nod and say hello when they met Zhang Ze. But it seemed that Zhou Jingyun and Zhang Ze did not just say hello and then pass by. Zhang Ze smiled, and Prince Zhou also smiled.

"Many people are looking at the prince." Zhang Ze said with a smile, glancing at the palace not far away. "Isn't the prince afraid that his reputation will be affected by me?"

Zhou Jingyun said with a smile: "Why? My reputation is not good, so Lady Bai doesn't want me anymore?"

Zhang Ze groaned and looked Zhou Jingyun up and down: "Your Highness seems to be in a good mood." He teased, "The evildoer has been punished, and your wife's revenge has been achieved, so you are very happy?"

Zhou Jingyun's expression did not change. He looked at Zhang Ze and said, "Zhongcheng doesn't look very happy. Lady Bai gave birth to a prince. He has a bright future. This is a great joy. As the Lady's dogs, you and I should be happy."

Zhang Ze was about to laugh, but Zhou Jingyun's hand fell on his arm and slapped him, interrupting him.

"…But this is not a good place to laugh." He said, "Zhongcheng, please restrain yourself. After all, the Empress is your Majesty's first wife. You should not humiliate her too much."

After saying this, he walked past Zhang Ze and left.

Zhang Ze's smile froze on his face. He was a little stunned and a little embarrassed. He turned to look at Zhou Jingyun who was walking away.

"Is he crazy?" he said to the clerk beside him.

Why did you become so weird and talk crazy?

It doesn't match his face at all.

The clerk said, "Prince Zhou has been acting strangely these past few days at the funeral. Many people are talking about him, saying that he is acting a little arrogant."

Are you throwing in the towel? Are you giving up on being an immortal and becoming a madman? Zhang Ze sneered, "No matter if you are crazy or insane, if you are useful, I will use you. If you are not useful, I will get rid of you."

Zhang Ze and Zhou Jingyun's "pleasant conversation" was not only seen by the officials in front of the mourning hall, but also by Princess Jin Yu who was walking in from outside the palace.

"When did Zhou Jingyun become so close to Zhang Ze?" Princess Jin Yu asked curiously while sitting in the sedan chair.

Li Yu was also watching this scene: "Maybe it's just out of politeness. Prince Zhou is elegant, modest and polite..."

Princess Jin Yu interrupted him with a chuckle: "Zhou Jingyun is elegant and humble? You know a man by his appearance, but not by his heart. This boy only looks elegant, but he is unruly and arrogant."

She said this with resentment, saying that she had rejected her invitation at Lingquan Temple last time, and she was ungrateful.

Thinking of Lingquan Temple, Princess Jinyu felt a little regretful. If Zhou Jingyun came in as agreed, the rumors would definitely be about her and Prince Zhou. It was better than being with those bald heads and disgusting people!

"Yang Yuan's death was caused by him." Princess Jin Yu narrowed her eyes slightly, "Your Majesty should be made to hate him..."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Li Yu.

"Aunt, you can't do that. You should hate Yang Yuan for committing suicide and hate what Yang did, so you should praise Prince Zhou," he said.

Princess Jin Yu thought of what Li Yu had asked her to say to the emperor before, and frowned slightly: "Your Majesty misses Yang Yuan so much now, but I keep saying bad things about the Yang family and her. Will that make Your Majesty annoyed? Why don't I cry for the queen with Your Majesty today?"

Li Yu hurriedly shook his head: "No, Aunt, you scold the Queen's family because you care for His Majesty. This is the style of an elder sister. His Majesty will be happy and will be closer to you. Moreover..." He smiled and said, "Aunt, how is your relationship with the Queen? His Majesty knows it in his heart."

As for her relationship with the queen, of course she wished the queen didn't exist. Princess Jin Yu thought that if Yang Yuan died, the Yang family would be ruined, and she would be very happy.

"So, His Majesty doesn't believe that you miss her. Instead, he will think that you are pretending, not sincere in front of him, and alienated from you, the princess." Li Yu said, raising his eyebrows again, "Also, my aunt is a princess, there is no need to hide her temperament, your joy, anger, sorrow and happiness do not need to be determined by others' expressions. This is the majesty of the Princess of Da Zhou, and it will be more convincing to His Majesty."

It was true, as a princess, she had lived a reckless life since she was born, until the seductive Jiang Mian'er seduced the late emperor, and she had to be humble and fawn on him in order to save her life. Now that Jiang Mian'er was dead, she would never live that kind of life again.

Princess Jin Yu sat up straight in the sedan chair.

"Then you, as a younger generation, should fulfill your filial duty to your elders, in order to show the sincerity of our Li family." She said with a smile on her face, glancing at Li Yu, "Today I will let His Majesty confer a title on you, and a prince will be enough to keep vigil for her."

Li Yu looked happy and bowed deeply, "Thank you, aunt." He stood up and put his head on the sedan chair, "I feel at ease with you around."

This kid must be uneasy now. Princess Jin Yu smiled, she didn't expect Bai Ying really gave birth to a prince. The country and the people no longer had anything to do with this former eldest grandson of the emperor.

She knew that Li Yu would definitely not accept this, as he should have been the one ruling the world.

Although she felt a little regretful, the current situation was more favorable to her.

Previously, she had failed to use the crime of the former crown prince to blackmail Li Yu. Now that the prince was around, it was even better. Li Yu could only rely on her more cautiously. Otherwise, not to mention the hope of ruling the world, even his life would be in danger.

When she supports him to become the crown prince in the future, then she will be comparable to the emperor.

Son of Heaven.

The reason why Empress Chiang was so rampant and attracted public anger was because she wanted to be the emperor.

But she is different. She is a princess of the Great Zhou. She supports the descendants of the Li family of the Great Zhou. It is reasonable for her to have power similar to that of the emperor.

Thinking of that moment, Princess Jin Yu felt hot all over, and she had to exhale a few times before she calmed down.

"Don't worry." She smiled and gently patted the young man's head on the armrest. Li Yu felt Princess Jin Yu's hand brushing her hair, tilted his head slightly, and looked towards the palace gate. Zhou Jingyun had already walked away.

In fact, he was also curious about what Zhou Jingyun and Zhang Ze were talking about. They looked very happy.

Isn’t Zhang Ze unfavorable to Bai Li?

After I finish today's work, I will take some time to see Bai Li and tell her.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t believe Zhou Jingyun. He just told Bai Li what he saw so that she would have an extra pair of eyes. That’s all.

……

……

As March arrived, the weather seemed to have suddenly become warmer.

Sitting indoors with the window open, the breeze blowing in is gentle and soft.

"I feel relieved to see that you look good." Madam Xue sat by the window, observing the face of the wife of the Marquis of Dongyang, and said with a sigh of relief, "I was really worried that you would get sick from overwork. If that happened, Ah Li would not be at peace even if she knew about it in the afterlife."

The wife of the Marquis of Dongyang snorted: "Don't worry, I won't. I need to gather enough strength..."

She stopped here. Although Zhou Jingyun told her the truth, she was too embarrassed to tell it to her own sister.

Shame on you.

Madam Xue liked Ah Li more than she did. If she knew Ah Li's identity and knew that Zhou Jingyun had killed her...

The wife of Marquis Dongyang's heart was beating wildly, and she wondered if Madam Xue would faint on the spot.

Sensing that her breathing was unstable, Madam Xue hurriedly stood up and patted her: "Okay, okay, let's not talk about this. We don't want to think about it anymore."

Then he quickly changed the subject.

"Where's Jingyun? Today is the day off for March 3rd. I chose this day to come here on purpose. Why didn't he come to see me?"

In the past, when he heard her enter and walk to the second gate, Zhou Jingyun followed her from the outer courtyard.

I sat down at the wife of Marquis Dongyang's place today, but I haven't seen him yet.

Upon hearing these words, the wife of the Marquis of Dongyang's chest, which had originally calmed down, began to rise and fall again, and she snorted coldly.

What? Did the mother and son quarrel? Mrs. Xue was puzzled.

Mother Xu, who was standing by, said apologetically, "The prince went out early in the morning. It's such a coincidence that he didn't know you were coming."

Mrs. Xue smiled and said, "It's good that he went out. I'm really worried that he would be bored at home."

"Then you don't have to worry." Dongyang Hou's wife sneered, "He is not home every day now."

This is an exaggeration. Jingyun has never been that kind of person since he was a child. He is not like other children of power and wealth who fool around outside every day.

Maybe it was because of what happened to Ah Li that both mother and son were unhappy.

Mrs. Xue smiled and said, "I came here today, but I want to wait for him to see if it is true." Then she said to Mrs. Xu, "Get ready. I will go back after dinner."

But surprisingly, when the evening drum sounded, Zhou Jingyun did not come back.

"Go and ask if the prince has left us a message and told us where he was busy?" said the wife of Marquis Dongyang unhappily.

Mother Xu had asked the question a long time ago, and hurried out to ask again. This time Feng'er came back panting.

"I asked, I asked." He said, "Madam, Aunt, the prince was with Silang this afternoon."

Xue Silang? Mrs. Xue was surprised. Why was Zhou Jingyun with this playboy?
"It must be Silang who is pestering him." She said to the wife of Dongyang Marquis.

.....
.....
As the evening drum sounded, the night fell and a unique pier on the Jinshui River outside the city was crowded with carriages and people.

In the night, the lights on the boats along the river were lit up, and under the reflection of the lanterns, the railings decorated with pearls and gems sparkled.

Zhou Jingyun lifted the curtain of the car and looked at the ship in front of him. Seeing people starting to board the ship, he was about to get off the car, but the next moment he was held tightly back.

"Prince, Prince." Xue Silang hugged his arm, his face a little horrified, "Do you really want to go to a place like this with me?"

Zhou Jingyun nodded: "What's fake about this? We've already arrived."

Xue Silang held his arm and refused to let go: "Have you thought it through? This is not a good place. Your son is not allowed to eat, drink, gamble or whore!"

The Dongyang Marquis' Mansion has always had this precept, and other young men were forced to follow it, but Zhou Jingyun, this immortal-like young man, looked down on the mundane world and had no interest in such places.

There had been times when a rich and powerful man deliberately lured him to such a place to have fun, but the young Zhou Jingyun simply smiled and said, "A place of red-faced skeletons and dung, it's boring."

What's wrong with that? Now that I'm almost 30, I'm interested?

Zhou Jingyun found him this afternoon and told him that he wanted to go to Hualou Boat to take a look. Xue Silang thought he was drunk and had heard it wrong.

After the Queen's funeral, although marriages are not yet relaxed, the Hualou boats resumed operations today.

The message was sent out at short notice and Xue Silang didn't even know about it.

The Hualou boat does not receive guests casually. There are fixed candidates. Of course, newcomers can go, but they need to be introduced and their identities verified. Of course, Zhou Jingyun can pass, but it just takes two or three days, so he let Xue Silang, a familiar customer, bring him in.

But why would Zhou Jingyun want to go to such a place?
Xue Silang thought he was joking or mocking him, and he swore again and again that he would not go and would go home when it got dark.

But Zhou Jingyun did not allow him to go home. When the evening drum sounded, he took him and led him away.

Xue Silang was sober by now and arrived in front of the ship. He finally believed that it was not an illusion.

It was Zhou Jingyun who really wanted to go to the tower ship.

too frightening.

Is Zhou Jingyun going to fall? Is he sad because of his wife's death?

Xue Silang was having wild thoughts.

Zhou Jingyun smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm just here to take a look. I don't eat, drink, gamble or whore." He then shook off Xue Silang and said, "Let's go."

Xue Silang reached out and grabbed him again, with a bit of determination.

"You can go," he said, pulling out a veil from the cart, "Take this to cover your face, so as not to scare the people on the ship."