Border Cook

"I don't quite understand what you're saying, second brother." Xiao Luochen chuckled, "Second brother said that I can predict things, but I don't know what you're talking about."

"I haven't seen you for a while, brother. You've learned to act like a good person. Well, maybe you feel that there are too many people at the banquet, so why don't we go outside and talk?"

Xiao Luohe said, "I recently got a jar of fine wine. It is said that it is brewed with glacial water and has been frozen for many years. The taste is particularly clear. It tastes very different in winter."

Xiao Luochen was already happy because Xiao Luoan, a very annoying thorn, had been removed. Seeing Xiao Luohe being a little humble, he felt even more comfortable and happy. He just curled his lips and said, "Then listen to my second brother and go to Liyang Pavilion for a rest."

"Please." Xiao Luohe stood up.

Xiao Luochen followed closely behind.

Liyang Pavilion is not far from Chongyang Palace, but closer to the inner palace. Ordinary officials attending the banquet did not dare to approach this place. It is surrounded by flowers, trees and streams. Compared with the hustle and bustle of Chongyang Palace at this time, Liyang Pavilion is very quiet.

The two men arrived one after another, and after the palace servants served them wine and glasses, they dismissed their attendants, leaving only the two brothers behind.

"I see that you are very happy, could it be that you have encountered something happy? Why don't you tell me so that I can be happy too?"

While Xiao Luohe was speaking, he poured a glass of wine for Xiao Luochen.

Xiao Luochen didn't even make the basic polite gestures. He just treated Xiao Luohe as a palace servant who served him. He picked up the wine glass and drank it all, and said with a smile, "Today is the New Year's Eve banquet. Everyone is gathered together happily. Naturally, it is a happy thing."

"Brother, I don't plan to say anything." Xiao Luohe narrowed his eyes slightly. "Just now I saw that father looked nervous and depressed, as if he had received some bad news, but brother was in a good mood, contrary to his usual state. Could it be that the thing that made father worried and sad is the thing that made brother happy?"

"Where do you come from? I don't understand." Xiao Luochen spread his hands, pretending that he didn't understand what Xiao Luohe said.

Seeing this, Xiao Luohe gritted his teeth.

When did Xiao Luochen, who was usually the most impatient and rash in doing things, become so tight-lipped and difficult to pry open?
Seeing that the trick was not going well, Xiao Luohe was not discouraged. He just curled his lips and smiled, "Since big brother doesn't understand, then I won't ask. After all, it's useless to ask."

"Today is New Year's Eve, and other families are reuniting, but our third brother has not returned yet. It is indeed a bit regrettable."

When Xiao Luohe said this, he saw that Xiao Luochen didn't care about it, and even had a mocking smile on his face. The light in his eyes darkened, "I don't know how Third Brother is doing now, and where he is."

"Speaking of which, my third brother went to Meiling this time to investigate the illegal mining in Meiling. I heard that the instigator of this incident, Ruan Zhiheng, is the son-in-law of the Wen family. He rose to prominence with the support of the Wen family. Now he is illegally mining in order to repay the Wen family."

"Ruan Zhiheng has been arrested now. If you ask me in detail, I'm sure you will know a lot of inside information, which may be a lot of things that are unfavorable to the Wen family. If Ruan Zhiheng returns to the capital and my father knows the whole story, I'm afraid he will be very dissatisfied with me."

"Don't worry about this matter, second brother." Xiao Luochen narrowed his eyes.

"Does Big Brother have a plan to deal with this?" Xiao Luohe smiled, his eyes sharp, "Or..."

Xiao Luohe paused, and moved his gaze from the wine glass to Xiao Luochen, "Third brother and Ruan Zhiheng, will never be able to return to the capital?"

"Are you testing me, second brother?" Xiao Luochen sneered.

"Third brother is investigating the affairs of the Wen family, so it is normal for eldest brother to be restless. If eldest brother really asked the Wen family to do something behind the scenes, it is reasonable and understandable."

Xiao Luohe paused and said with a smile, "But having said that, after all, we are brothers with the third brother, and the third brother is also a prince. It seems extremely inappropriate for the eldest brother to be so arrogant and disregard the brotherhood and kill him."

Xiao Luochen lowered his head, rolled his eyes and looked at Xiao Luohe, and after a moment he burst into laughter.

The laughter was so unbridled and wild that it made people feel afraid.

"If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext. In my opinion, it was the second brother who killed the third brother and destroyed the body, so that he could put the blame for the murder of the third brother and Ruan Zhiheng on the Wen family and make everyone believe that it was the Wen family who acted out of fear of punishment!"

Xiao Luochen shouted, "Second brother, this is a really thorough plan, and a really vicious mind!"

Facing Xiao Luochen's question, Xiao Luohe smiled with a relaxed look on his face, "Destroy the body? How did you know that my third brother's body was destroyed? Is this considered as a confession without being asked?"

Xiao Luochen immediately realized that he had said the wrong thing, and his expression changed. "I never said such a thing, so don't make up slanderous stories!"

"If you don't want others to know, then don't do it. Since you have done it, there will definitely be clues left. Big brother, you should know that this paper will never cover up the truth, and sooner or later, the truth will be revealed."

Xiao Luohe said in a cold tone, "At least I, Xiao Luohe, will spend my entire life to investigate this matter thoroughly and give justice to my third brother!"

"You are speaking in a very high-sounding way. If I am to be honest, you want my third brother to die just as much as I do. Who are you trying to show off to by crying over the rat?"

Xiao Luochen sneered at Xiao Luohe's hypocritical behavior at this time, "In your eyes, Third Brother is just a dog that you think is very obedient, acting as your pawn. When you have fully utilized him, you will completely slaughter this dog."

"You are only targeting me now, but you are using the excuse of your third brother to save face for yourself. Xiao Luohe, Xiao Luohe, you are really shameless."

"It doesn't matter what I think, and it doesn't matter whether I am thick-skinned or not. The most important thing is what others think." Xiao Luohe sneered, "In the eyes of others, my third brother and I have a deep brotherly love. It is normal for me to uphold justice for my third brother."

"On the contrary, in the case of eldest brother, the Wen family has been plagued by rumors of assassinating the prince. Now that third brother is in trouble, everyone will naturally put the blame on the Wen family."

"I can only say that your Wen family is too clever for their own good and is indeed a little too bold. I would like to advise you, big brother, not to let the Wen family lead you by the nose in everything and bring yourself into trouble."

"I said this, big brother might think I'm trying to sow discord, and think that the Wen family will definitely assist big brother wholeheartedly and will never have any second thoughts. But I heard that the Wen family went to Beijing this time, not only brought many rare treasures and New Year congratulations to Grandfather and Father, but also brought two 28-year-old, beautiful girls from the Wen family. It is said that judging from their physiognomy, they are suitable for male babies. The purpose is to give the Wen family more candidates to support."

"So, big brother, you should think more about yourself in everything, so that you won't be implicated in the evil deeds of the Wen family and lose the chance to become the crown prince."

Xiao Luohe said a lot in one breath. Seeing that Xiao Luochen's expression became more gloomy and even his breathing became more rapid, he felt that the fire had been almost put out, so he stood up.

"Brother, please think about it carefully. I will take my leave now."

After saying that, Xiao Luohe turned away, leaving Xiao Luochen alone, still staying in Liyang Pavilion.

Xiao Luochen was thinking carefully about what Xiao Luohe said.

He knew that the Wen family was going to offer a girl to the palace. But his mother said that the Wen family sent people to the palace to consolidate his favor and avoid no one to speak for him when his mother got old and ugly. But she never mentioned that those girls from the Wen family who were used to consolidate his favor were also going to have children.

My father is now in his prime, and when he abdicates, even a baby born now will be able to take charge on his own.

Are my grandparents really prepared for any eventuality?
Yes, he wanted to rely on the Wen family to ascend to the position of crown prince and use the Wen family as his chess pieces. And to the Wen family, wasn't he also a chess piece?

As long as the future crown prince has the blood of the Wen family flowing in his veins, then it won't matter to the Wen family, right?
The more Xiao Luochen thought about it, the colder he felt in his heart. He no longer had any interest in drinking the wine that Xiao Luohe had poured on the table, and he pushed it all to the ground with a "crash".

With his anger still not subsiding, Xiao Luochen stood up angrily, strode out of Liyang Pavilion and walked to the side.

He had just taken two steps when he saw Wen Liyan walking towards him from afar.

Xiao Luochen didn't want to meet Wen Liyan at this time, so he turned around and walked to the side. As a result, he accidentally bumped into a young eunuch who was walking hurriedly with a basin of water in his hand.

The basin was knocked over and fell to the ground with a clanging sound.

The hem of Xiao Luochen's robe was also stained with many water stains.

The young eunuch was so frightened that his face turned pale. He knelt down and begged for mercy, "Please spare my life, my lord. I did not mean to do this. I deserve to die!"

At the same time, he hurriedly took a handkerchief and wiped Xiao Luochen's wet clothes and shoes.

Xiao Luochen was already in a bad mood, and when he encountered such a thing, he became even more angry. He raised his foot and kicked the little eunuch to the ground.

"You bastard, you want to die!"

"Prince, please spare my life..." The young eunuch did not dare to cry out in pain. He just knelt on the ground and kowtowed to beg for mercy.

Xiao Luochen immediately became murderous and kicked him in the head.

The attendant beside him hurriedly stopped him and said, "Master, today is the New Year's Eve banquet. If something goes wrong, I'm afraid the emperor will be angry with you."

Hearing the word "Emperor", Xiao Luochen suppressed his anger a little, gritted his teeth and shouted, "Get out!"

"Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Highness..."

The young eunuch knelt on the ground and kowtowed until his forehead was red and swollen. Then he crawled to pick up the copper basin that had fallen on the ground and left in a panic.

When he left, he staggered and fell several times.

"Useless thing!" Xiao Luochen gritted his teeth and cursed at him when he saw his appearance.

Wen Liyan, who caught up with Xiao Luochen because of this matter, tried to dissuade him, "Chen'er, calm down. There's no need to get angry with such a loser. You're just ruining your health."

"Yeah, it's true that we can't get angry with trash." Xiao Luochen said this and glanced at Wen Liyan.

It's not just the little eunuch who is useless.

This look was full of deep meaning, and Wen Liyan immediately understood what he meant, and dissatisfaction immediately arose in his heart.

But he still suppressed his dissatisfaction and said patiently, "This Second Prince has always been insidious and cunning. What he said was nothing more than deliberately making you angry so that you would lose your composure. If you really listened to him, you would have been fooled by him."

Xiao Luochen pursed his lips.

This Xiao Luohe really intended to sow discord between him and his maternal grandfather's family, so that he and the Cui family could reap the benefits?

Xiao Luochen figured this out and took a deep breath, "Uncle, don't worry. I know his true colors and won't be fooled."

"But there is one thing that really bothers me. Mother is planning to promote a newcomer, saying that it is to consolidate her favor and my position. But I am wondering, if the newcomer is pregnant and gives birth to a prince, will the Wen family still only have eyes for me in the future?"

"Chen'er's worries are unnecessary." Wen Liyan answered straightforwardly without any hesitation, "First of all, even if the imperial concubine promotes a new person, it is still unknown whether the new person can gain favor, whether the new person can get pregnant, and whether the child born is a prince. The Wen family will naturally not bet on something unknown."

"Secondly, even if they can give birth to a prince, it will take more than ten years for him to grow up. During this period, Chen'er will have grown up and obtained the position of crown prince. It is not impossible for him to go further."

"Third, Chen'er is proficient in both literary and martial arts. He is a rare talent. Even if we select from the current generation of the Wen family, we can't find a second person who can compare with Chen'er."

"Chen'er, tell me, is there anyone else in the Wen family's eyes?"

After Wen Liyan asked this question, he saw that Xiao Luochen did not respond, and then continued, "What's more, your mother is the daughter of the Wen family, and you are the apple of your grandfather's eye. If you were not her child, how could your grandfather be so attentive?"

Xiao Luochen thought for a moment and nodded, "What my uncle said... makes some sense."

"That's just the truth."

Seeing Xiao Luochen's expression soften, Wen Liyan knew that he had successfully calmed him down, and reached out to pat his shoulder, "The Second Prince likes to confuse right and wrong the most, so you should have less contact with him in the future."

"Just now I noticed that the emperor looked strange. Maybe there is some bad news coming from outside. Chen'er should not stay outside for too long. Return to the table early to avoid the emperor's suspicion."

"I understand." Xiao Luochen responded and walked away.

When he was about to enter Chongyang Palace, Xiao Luochen stopped and the attendant tactfully straightened his clothes.

There weren't many water stains just now, and they have dried up now, with basically no watermarks left. The roads along the way were all bluestone slabs or gravel roads, without much dust, and the shoe uppers were not dirty.

But... (End of chapter)