The little lady in the dining room

Chapter 143 Night Party
In Zichen Palace, after the emperor calmed down from the turmoil of clearing away obstacles, he inevitably had some headaches.

The imperial guards have been investigating the Qu family for many days, but they have not obtained any evidence that can be put on the table.Especially regarding the Qu family's assassination of the imperial guards in recent years, except that Wei Chen saw the difference in the expressions of the two assassins outside the courtyard in the south, there was no clue.

The elder Qu's son who lived in the courtyard also insisted that he didn't know.For a moment, even the emperor was a little uncertain, and asked Wei Chen if he had made a mistake.

But Wei Chen shook his head: "No. In recent years, the people who have assassinated the imperial guards, without exception, left immediately after they were injured. The two of them that day had enough chances to get rid of him and escape after Chen's stab missed, but they insisted on blocking Chen from the Qu family's courtyard and throwing Chen a dart before running away, it must have something to do with the Qu family."

This made the emperor only trust Wei Chen and let him continue to investigate. As for when they could find out enough real clues, none of them knew.

The moon was bright and the stars were thin outside the hall, the emperor put aside the troubles at the desk for the time being, and went out to relax.

There are very few people in the Liuge courtyard. After he entered the courtyard, Nanny Bai and Yang Mingquan came to greet him, and then the big fish came over - it stood up and could press its claws on his chest, and it was very heavy. .

"Okay, okay." The emperor laughed, hugged the fluffy Yuxiang, patted its head to comfort it, thought about it, and took it out of the yard to play.

So in the spacious square in front of the Zichen Palace, Yuxiang had fun!
That small courtyard couldn't trap it, and when Sydney didn't know it, it would come to this square to roll around from time to time——Xie Zhao once saw it lazily lying in the middle of the square late at night, Lying on all fours, he opened his mouth and yawned, but he had never heard of it hurting anyone.

But it was the first time someone accompanied it to play here.Xie Zhao asked the kitchen to send half-cooked meat to throw to tease it, and it ran happily in the square!
It didn't feel tired even after feeding a large bucket of meat, and it didn't even breathe unevenly.Dian'er came over to see that there was no more meat in the bucket, but he didn't bother, he put his head under Xie Zhao's hand and let out a "woo...".

Xie Zhao touched it cooperatively, sighed and said, "Do you want Sydney?"

Yu Xiang's round ears moved suddenly, and she looked at him with dark eyes.

... Can you really understand Sydney's name?
Xie Zhao tried curiously: "Sydney? Do you want Sydney? Sydney, Sydney?"

"Aww!" Yu Xiang was a little excited, and suddenly stood up and pushed him!
Xie Zhao was caught off guard and fell down on the long steps. Before he had time to help, its big paws rested on his knees, and its lion face leaned closer: "Huh?" Where's Sydney?

Xie Zhao rubbed its face with a smile, then patted it: "Let's go! I'll take you to find Sydney!"

Looking at His Majesty who was rarely relaxing on the long steps, Chen Jijiang slammed his head into the pillar with a "boom".

So, at night, the imperial guards in charge of cleaning the streets extended from the imperial city to Luo'an city.

Although there are few people at night, there is no curfew in this dynasty. At this time, there are still passers-by in twos and threes coming home from the night market. When they heard that they had bumped into Jingjie, they would scream badly. In the five adjacent streets, it is known that important princes and nobles must pass by. Most of the people in these five streets who have not returned home tonight will not be able to go back.

But fortunately, there are eunuchs at the intersection of Wutiao Street, and when they see someone come and ask, "Hey, do you live here? Which workshop, which household, what's the name, tell me."

As soon as the person signed up, someone went to the workshop to check with Marquis Wu immediately, and after checking it was correct, he stuffed a silver ticket of one tael: "Jing Street today, go find an inn nearby to stay. The rest, buy meat for the family. "

One tael of silver, the average family lives for several months.In this way, the people who complained about not being able to return home all looked happy, and they all bowed and left, and some said auspicious words such as "I wish you all the best".

In the Ruan family, Xue Li was sitting on the porch holding A Yao to look at the stars and the moon. A Yuan was walking unsteadily in the yard protected by her wet nurse, turning her head to look for her from time to time. Shout: "Food!"

A Yao raised his voice to correct him: "It's 'Mother'! 'Mother'!"

After correcting too many times, Ah Yuan became unhappy.Pouting her mouth, she walked over step by step, standing in front of Xueli, she was particularly wronged: "It's not good!"

It means not saying the word well.He has been like this recently, he can talk more and more, but occasionally he can't say a word or two hard.Every time he jumped up and down, and cried several times!
Xueli picked him up and put him on the bench under the porch, and nodded her nose: "Don't worry, but you have to learn slowly! Sister teaches you and you just follow along. It will take a long time, you know!"

A Yuan nodded with a mournful face, blinked and looked at her sister again.Ah Yao also became patient, and knelt down to teach him over and over again. Occasionally, Ah Yuan could read correctly once, but each time, before Ah Yao had time to be happy, he got it wrong again.

Xueli looked at it with a smile on her cheek, and Ayao taught him dozens of times perseveringly, then reached out to pick up the jug on the small case next to it, and poured out the iced watermelon juice inside for them to drink.

Ah Yao was so thirsty that she picked it up and drank it. Xue Li hurriedly stopped her and said, "Drink slowly, or your throat will hurt."

"Oh..." Ah Yao slowed down in response, and just put down the glass after drinking, his eyes lit up, "Fish fragrance!"

Xue Li was slightly surprised, and looked in the direction of A Yao's call, and was startled when she saw Yu Xiang was behind her, and asked it in astonishment, "Why are you here?"Yu Xiang didn't care, the lion's head rubbed against her lap as soon as he put it on her lap, puffing and puffing to express that he missed her very much!

A Yao jumped off the porch stool to touch the scent of fish, and A Yuan was still holding watermelon juice, giggling and giggling at the scent of fish.

Sydney was anxiously wondering if it had slipped out of the palace by itself, when the courtyard door suddenly opened!

"Father!!!" Ah Yao screamed, leaving Yu Xiang behind and ran over.The emperor picked her up and strode to the corridor.

Sydney is still dumbfounded.

The courtyard became lively in no time, the four of them went back to the room together, Xie Zhao finished coaxing Ah Yao to coax A Yuan.He was surprised to find that he hadn't seen him for more than a month, and Ah Yuan's speaking level had improved significantly—when he left the palace, he could only express himself in four or five words, but now he can say eight or nine words in one breath when he is happy. The sentence of the word is gone!
A Yuan was also very happy to be coaxed by him, and rushed to the table to grab a piece of snack, and held it up to him tremblingly: "Father, eat it! Mother made it!"

He used too much force in his hand, and the dim sum was smashed to pieces by him, but of course Xie Zhao still wanted to give him this face, and ate it without hesitation, and then went to save Sydney who was being entangled by the smell of fish.

"Yu Xiang, go away! Go away!" Xueli was thrown to the ground by Yu Xiang, no matter how much she pushed her, it was useless, Yu Xiang lay on her body shamelessly, and her big rough tongue directly smeared her face.

Sydney feels like her face is going to be worn out!
When Xie Zhao dragged Yuxiang away by his hind legs, it wasn't happy yet. "Aoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..." sounded out paw scratching ground.

Then Xie Zhao threw it out directly, shook his hand and closed the door, and flung it with contempt of "human beings are the master".

The room was a little quieter.Xue Li washed her face and ordered Dou Sha to pass on the meal.

She said to Xie Zhao: "The dumplings made by Zixian today taste pretty good. Leek eggs, pork, shiitake mushrooms, and shrimp and water chestnuts, which one do you eat?"

"It tastes too strong to eat leeks at night. You can do anything else." Xie Zhao said and sat down by the table, and A Yao also came over and sat next to him. With a sullen face, he put him next to Ah Yao, and took the position next to Xie Zhao himself.

She hugged his arm and leaned on his shoulder. She couldn't ask too directly in front of the child, so she just said, "Is it all right?"

Xie Zhao sighed: "It's not bad."

It doesn't seem to be going well.

Sydney didn't want to mention this any more, and changed the subject consciously: "We have all met the Fu mothers that His Majesty chose for A Yao, and A Yao especially likes two, one is Fan Shi, the wife of the Grand Scholars, and the other is Hanlin. Mrs. Song, the editor's wife. I look good too, which one do you think is better, His Majesty?"

"They're all good, they're all from the scholarly family." Xie Zhao took a sip of tea, "Let's call them all in, it's good to have a rotation. I'll make an order when you return to the palace, and I have to choose for Ayao." Two companions."

Pay attention to a lot!

Sydney didn't even think about choosing a companion to read, but it's good to think about it.Reading alone is somewhat boring, but it can be more interesting with a partner.

After a while, the dumplings came up, a plate of pork, shiitake mushrooms and fresh shrimp and water chestnuts.Because the emperor is here, of course it will not only serve dumplings, so there are also thin slices of sauced elbow meat, delicious drunken shrimp, and a vegetarian stir-fried rice stem and a cold tomato puree.

There is also a vegetable tofu soup.

They each ate their own food with peace of mind, and A Yuan also stubbornly refused to be fed by the nanny, and ate the dumplings with a spoon.But the dumplings were slippery, and it was not easy to scoop them on the plate. He scooped them a few times and didn't catch them, so he started directly when he was in a hurry!

Xie Zhao suddenly turned his head and saw that his son was holding a dumpling in his hand, and his face was covered with dumpling stuffing—and it was obvious at a glance that what he ate just now was pork and mushrooms, and the end of the mushrooms was still sticking to his nose.

After a burst of laughter, the parents tacitly ignored him.As a child, there is a process of learning slowly, and Ayao also came here, and now he just sits there obediently and eats quietly.

Both children prefer pork and mushroom stuffing, but both Xue Li and Xie Zhao like shrimp and water chestnut.The shrimps are very delicious after being cooked like this, and the water chestnuts have a delicate fragrance, and the taste is very delicious when dipped in vinegar, and it is not greasy.

The two of them ate the whole plate with concentration, only to find that a few side dishes hadn't been touched.

Xie Zhao stared at the empty plate for a while and suddenly smiled: "Come here, let the kitchen make another plate and send it to Wei Chen."

"...Puchi!" Xue Li laughed after being stunned for a moment, reached out and took a drunk shrimp and peeled it on the plate, and said angrily, "You still have the heart to tease them after being so busy."

"Why are you joking? I'm a good-hearted old man!" Xie Zhao refused to accept, staring at her hand, and immediately snatched the shrimps and ate them as soon as she finished peeling them.

He was enjoying the delicious taste of the aroma of wine blooming in his mouth, Xueli raised her eyes and stared at him vigorously.

A Yuan still didn't quite understand, A Yao was so ridiculous, Xue Li quickly peeled off another one and choked her mouth.Ah Yuan understood this move, and frowned: "I want it too!"

"Hey, there is wine in it, you can't eat it..." Xueli refused solemnly, and seeing A Yuan's aggrieved appearance, she felt as if she turned her face to bully him after being bullied by Xie Zhao!

So she hurriedly fed him a piece of pork elbow with sauce: "Eat this! This is better than that shrimp!" Xueli bluffed him with an exaggerated expression, "That shrimp is raw, but it's fishy!"

Ah Yuan bit his elbow meat slowly with his mouth flattened, and he was happy when he ate half a piece, and the smile on his face became very cute when he continued to eat.

Xie Zhao raised his eyebrows helplessly beside him: You can tell at a glance that the child was taught by Sydney!
After the children were full, they went back to their rooms to sleep, and the two also washed themselves, and then put down the curtains to experience the feeling of "a little farewell is better than a newlywed".

Cough, Sydney Xin said that luckily she had the foresight to not let the children live next to her!

When the palace servants brought water in to clean up, she didn't dare to lift the curtains to see their reactions. She lay on the couch and listened to the emperor calling her from behind the screen: "Come on, how can you sleep in sweat!"

"No..." Xueli refused weakly, kicking her legs, unable to exert herself.

After tidying up, Xie Zhao changed into a clean shirt, and waved for the palace people to leave.Soaked the veil in water and wrung it half dry, walked over and lifted the curtain...

Xue Li suddenly raised her head with horror on her face, and immediately stretched out her hand: "I will do it myself!"

Let him wipe it for her, and touch it again, who knows if he will get excited again in a while!

Xie Zhao smiled and watched as she pulled the veil away and shrank into the quilt. After being tossed and tossed for a long time, she lifted the veil again: "Okay!"

Then he stuffed the skirt into her quilt again, and she continued to toss and dress herself inside.This is a bit difficult. She passed it on for a long time before she tied up her skirt. He lifted the quilt and said, "I'll help you."

"...Hello!!!" Xueli reacted quickly and immediately rolled onto her stomach, covered by a skirt, and only two beautiful and clear arcs of her shoulder blades could be seen above.

Xie Zhao took the middle coat with a calm face and helped her put it on. He didn't force her when she couldn't survive, so he groped for it.

Xueli felt his hands move back and forth on her chest, and flushed, she realized that it seemed to be worse!
But after she had settled down, she naturally retaliated a little. She poked her fingers under his shirt, poked at the muscle grid, and then her eyes were filled with surprise: "Why does it feel softer than before?"

Xie Zhao: "..." Isn't it too busy to practice martial arts recently?Why speak out!
It seems that she still can't slack off, otherwise she will despise him.Xie Zhao thought sadly, pushed her hand away and hugged her together: "Sleep, I have to go back to court in the morning."

"Oh..." Xueli responded sullenly, only then did she realize that this reunion was so short.Immediately, there was a feeling in the script that the lover was being beaten with a stick, and she plunged into his arms sadly.

Probably because he hasn't slept much lately, Xie Zhao started sleeping at Haishi this time, and when he woke up, he pressed his voice and asked the time outside, it was only two quarters.

...It was too early, he could still lie in a daze for a while before returning to the palace.

He kept his arms around Xue Li, and subconsciously bowed his head to kiss her after he woke up a little. When he looked closely, there were clear tears on her sleeping face.

Fall asleep and cry?
Xie Zhao sighed softly, knowing that no matter how much fun she had recently, she would not be able to shake off the pressure of her heart.This silly pear, he had made up his mind to hold her in his hands for the rest of his life, but it's only been two years, and she's already worried.

He kissed her again, she frowned and fell asleep again.He carefully let her go and turned over to the bed, went to the door and opened the door, and asked softly: "Go to the kitchen and ask if there is anything she made."

Chen Jijiang responded with a "no" and went immediately, and came back shortly after with a bowl of minced meat, tofu and egg drop soup, saying that it was stewed by Sydney last night, and it had been kept warm in the pot: "The kitchen said that the eldest son of the emperor sometimes doesn't eat well at night. If you get hungry at night, Lady Ruan always prepares some porridge, soup and the like."

Ah Yuan ate a lot of dumplings last night, and it's already this hour, it seems he won't eat them!

Xie Zhao thought so, and brought over the things prepared for his son with peace of mind.He put the egg drop soup on the table, sat down and ate it slowly, feeling comfortable physically and mentally.

Really a bit greedy for her craft.Although she cooks less and less afterwards, he can still have a bite from time to time.Now it's been a whole month... He is really greedy for the taste of her cooking!I think this cup of custard is more delicious than anything else.

The minced pork is fresh and tender, with a consistent salty taste; the tofu is also tender, with a simple taste coated in egg soup, and the bean fragrance is pleasant in the mouth.There is a little bit of pepper in the soup, which is not obvious but can enhance the taste just right, and the taste is richer.

He tasted it slowly, not daring to make a sound, for fear of disturbing Xue Li's clear dream.As soon as the porcelain spoon was satisfied after eating, he walked back to the couch and was about to lie down for a while when the door was knocked open.

"Your Majesty!" shouted the eunuch who stumbled in.

"..." The emperor rolled his eyes, thinking that I deliberately didn't wake her up!
Xue Li stood up abruptly from the couch, rubbed her eyes and looked at him: "Is Your Majesty going back to the palace?"

The emperor sat down and hugged her, gritted his teeth and looked at the eunuch: "Speak!"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, forgive me..." The eunuch also realized that he was too reckless, so he kowtowed and thanked him before saying, "Last night, the Empress Dowager ordered...to go and see His Highness the Seventh Highness first, and drive back early in the morning." Go to the palace. At the end of the Xu period, the Queen Mother came to the Seventh Prince's Mansion, but a moment ago, Master Wei suddenly took the imperial guards to surround the Seventh Prince's Mansion, and invited the Queen Mother away..."

As the eunuch spoke, his expression unconsciously became awkward.For a long time, there have been many incidents of imperial guards breaking into mansions at night to arrest people. There are also precedents of beheading people first after they have solid evidence, but... but I have never heard of someone breaking into the palace at night to arrest the queen mother!
The emperor and Xueli were also startled, and Xueli was stunned for a moment before pulling his sleeve: "How could the Imperial Guard..."

Xie Zhao breathed out slowly, weighing what was going on.

Whether they have the ability to do it or not, they must have the ability - it is also because of this that he sent Sydney away as soon as he and the Queen Mother met.In the palace, the Empress Dowager still has some influence, and many concubines will also attach to her. It is too easy for her to find trouble with Xueli and Ayao Ayuan.

But outside the palace is his world.Even if the aristocratic family is attached to the Empress Dowager, if they want to challenge the imperial guard who sent him to protect her for no reason, they still have to weigh it - if they take the initiative to cause trouble, the imperial guard has the holy decree to protect her, and it is terrible to beat someone to death by mistake There is no reason to go!
and so……

It is not too surprising for Xie Zhao to say that the imperial guards arrested the queen mother while she was out of the palace. It is right that the imperial guards outside the palace gate are more confident than the queen mother and her relatives. This is what he has always been The imperial guard you want.

But why?What does Wei Chen want to do...

No matter how hard Xie Zhao convinced himself that "it's right to train the imperial guards to this stage", he still couldn't bear to be shocked.

The frightening thing about this matter is... that is the queen mother after all, and no matter how hard the imperial guards have evidence, they should first ask for an order to ask him what he means.When they go to arrest people, he needs to have enough reasons to tell the courtiers and the world, so as to block everyone's mouth.

But he didn't know, and Wei Chen didn't say anything.

Big trouble now.

(End of this chapter)