Besides lying down, I also know a little about power struggles

Chapter 176 Hairpin Flower
The change happened too fast.

The princes cried out in surprise and stepped back.

Feng Twelve slapped Feng Yuyang with one palm.

Feng Yuyang suddenly twisted the handle of his walking stick, revealing a delicate ball carved from jade. A puff of white smoke came out of the ball and sprayed towards Feng Twelve's face.

Feng Twelve quickly held his breath, but still inhaled a little, and suddenly felt dizzy.

He stepped back and suddenly heard the sound of wind in his ears.

A knife struck him in the shoulder.

If Feng Twelve had not dodged an inch in time, the knife would have hit his head instead of his shoulder.

Men in black swarmed into the pavilion like a swarm of locusts.

"He has to be alive." Feng Yuyang said.

The other princes fell to the ground one after another under the cover of white smoke. Seeing that the situation was not right, Feng Twelve snatched the long sword of a man in black, kicked the man away, turned around and rushed out of the pavilion.

Blood was spilled all over the ground behind him. Feng Yuyang looked at his fleeing back and waved his hand coldly: "Chase."

At this time, the commander of the imperial guards and his men on the ruins were also surrounded.

The fire had been extinguished, and everyone was looking for the emperor and the prince among the bricks and rubble, when they saw a group of men in black rushing out from all directions.

The man in black attacked without saying a word, and the two sides fought each other.

The battle did not last long before it was declared over because Feng Yuyang ordered his men to bring the captured princes to the imperial guards.

"If anyone resists again, I will kill them." Feng Yuyang said.

There was despair in the eyes of the commander of the imperial guards.

He hesitated for a moment and dropped the knife.

The rest of the imperial guards lost their fighting spirit upon seeing this, and slowly, the sound of swords being thrown away could be heard one after another on the ruins.

Feng Yuyang smiled with satisfaction.

"There are more imperial guards than just these people. Search the village and bring all the others here." He told his men, "If there is any resistance, tell them that the remaining princes are in my hands."

In the capital city, at Crescent Alley in Qingpingfang, a newly-moved family was distributing tea, fruits and snacks to their neighbors.

This is the custom of Dazhao. Before moving into a new house, the owner has to personally brew tea and serve it to the neighbors. Fang Tong followed the local customs and prepared new tea early. He also went to the largest snack shop in Beijing to buy four-color cakes. When he returned to the new house, he packed them into boxes and brought Lu Tao to give the snacks to the neighbors.

It was already afternoon when they finished all these, and Fang Tong invited Lu Tao to rest in the yard together.

When she first came to see the house, she fell in love with this yard at first sight.

There is a big locust tree planted in the southwest corner of the yard. It is said that it has been growing here before this alley was built. It is about a hundred years old, with tall branches and lush greenery.

When Fang Tong looked at it, he remembered the locust flower rice, locust flower cake, locust flower fried egg, and locust flower cake he had read about in books before.

Unfortunately, the locust flower season has passed. In May next year, we will be able to sit under the tree and watch the clusters of snow-white locust flowers blooming, and pick them to eat.

Craftsmen leveled the ground in the yard and paved the road leading to each house with blue bricks.

A small vegetable garden was enclosed by a fence near the locust tree, and vegetable seeds were sprinkled in the soil. After a few days, small sprouts will emerge.

Fang Tong also hired a gardener to plant some flowers and plants in front of and behind the house. The transplanted roses have taken root in the new home. The red, yellow or white buds are waving in the wind, showing no fear of the scorching sun at all.

Fang Tong picked a pink rose, broke off the thorns on the stem, and pinned it in Lu Tao's hair.

She stepped back and took a look: "It looks good."

Lu Tao's eyes smiled like crescents: "I will also pin one on my hair for you. When His Highness comes back later, you can go to the street to meet him. He will be happy to see you."

Fang Tong smiled: "Okay, can you help me decide whether to wear the red one or the purple one? I think the light yellow one is also good." "Let's go with the light yellow one," Lu Tao suggested, "It will match the dress you are wearing today."

"Listen to you."

Fang Tong pinned flowers on her hair and looked at herself in the mirror, feeling very satisfied. No wonder the ancients loved to wear flowers in their hair. Wearing a flower in the black hair looked both elegant and handsome, no worse than wearing jewelry.

She looked at the sundial in the courtyard: "It's three quarters past the hour of You. Can they get back before dark?"

The Imperial Temple is quite a distance away from the capital, otherwise the emperor would not have left the city so early in the morning.

Lu Tao said, "There will be a banquet in the palace tonight, which should start at half past ten o'clock. There is still more than an hour left, so we will definitely make it in time."

More than an hour is more than two hours. Fang Tong calculated the time: "All the snacks at home have been delivered. Let's go buy some more and give them to Commander Wei. When His Highness comes back, we will have him secretly deliver them to the palace to fill his stomach."

In Fang Tong's opinion, a palace banquet is a social occasion, not a place where one can eat in peace. Feng Twelve must not have been full from the vegetarian meal he had at the Imperial Temple at noon. She didn't care if others were hungry, but she felt sorry for her boyfriend and couldn't let him drink on an empty stomach.

She and Lu Tao tidied up the yard briefly, locked the door and went out to the street.

As soon as they went out, someone followed them. Fang Tong was used to it. They were the guards assigned to her by Feng Twelve. They always followed her around when she went out, keeping a distance from her so as not to disturb her but still able to keep an eye on her at all times.

This was Feng Twelve's consideration. He knew very well that she didn't like to show off in public, so he deliberately asked the guards to stay away from her and just watch over her in secret.

But there are exceptions, like now.

A guard dressed as a commoner walked down the street and seemed to meet Fang Tong by chance.

"Miss, I want to ask you for directions." He greeted her and suddenly lowered his voice, "There's someone following us."

Fang Tong was startled, and restrained himself from turning around to look, and whispered: "Then what should I do?"

The guard was a little surprised to see that she calmed down quickly without any reminder, and he slowed down his tone unconsciously: "Don't worry, young lady, just keep going forward. There is a carriage at the first intersection. Just get on it and it will take you back to the palace."

Fang Tong nodded: "You should also be careful. If you are discovered by the enemy, don't chase them."

Today is the Emperor's Birthday. Anyone who has the guts to cause trouble on this day is probably not someone who can be easily dealt with. She doesn't want these guards to get into any accidents because of her.

Hearing her concern, the guard's attitude became more gentle: "Yes."

Fang Tong followed the guard's instructions and came to the intersection ahead, where he and Lu Tao got on the carriage.

She lifted a corner of the curtain and glanced outside. She saw that the street was bustling with people, but there was no one suspicious looking.

She sighed silently, and the joy she felt when she went out was gone.

Lu Tao observed her expression and asked softly, "Miss, are you going to go and greet His Highness later?"

Fang Tong hesitated for a while and shook his head: "No."

There will be a lantern festival at night, and there will be more people on the streets. If she is the target of criminals, she'd better not go out and cause trouble.

She raised her hand to touch the flowers in her hair, but her fingertips felt empty.

Lu Tao: "Oh, the girl's flower fell."

She stood up and wanted to look outside the car, but was stopped by Fang Tong.

"If it's lost, it's lost. There are still a lot of them at home."

The carriage started rumbling, and Fang Tong turned sideways to look out the window.

A tender yellow flower was lying where she had just gotten on the car, and its petals scattered when the wind blew.

Fang Tong lowered his eyes and grabbed his sleeve.

For some reason, she always felt uneasy, as if something big was about to happen.