A Thousand Hills

Chapter 99

Today is sunny, fine weather with singing birds and fragrant flowers.Eunuch Yu was quite worried, it wasn't that he had done something bad and was found out by his superiors or that he had some secrets in the hands of his opponents, in fact, he had received another mission to Xie Moru's mansion to convey an order to Xie Moru.

The emperor's grace is mighty, today is the Seventh Seventh Sacrifice Ceremony of the Madam of the First Wei State, His Majesty has just given the dragon body a rest, and remembers to give a funeral ceremony to the Madam of the Xian Wei State.Eunuch Yu has been in the palace for many years, so he naturally knows that Mrs. Xian Wei is different from others in His Majesty's heart.

It's just that Eunuch Yu is familiar with running errands and issuing decrees.Just when he thought that he was going to face Xie Moru, Eunuch Yu had calf cramps, alas, he should not make Xie Moru feel ashamed when he goes this time.Otherwise, if you were lucky enough not to be blamed by the superiors last time, if you have a second encounter, you may not have such good luck.

Eunuch Yu was worried, when he saw the fifth prince coming from a distance, followed by two little servants holding a lot of things.Eunuch Yu quickly changed his smiling face, Concubine Su did not show up in the harem, but recently, His Majesty seldom came to the harem, and only sat down with Concubine Su twice.Furthermore, although Concubine Su's position and favor are not obvious, she is a concubine with a prince. Eunuch Yu is not a short-sighted person, and he does not dare to neglect the mother and son on weekdays, so he hurried forward to pay his respects.Sure enough, good people are rewarded with good rewards. The fifth prince solved Yu Gonggong's difficulties with one sentence, because the fifth prince said, "Is the father-in-law ready? I have asked the emperor to go with the father-in-law."

Seeing that the servants behind the fifth prince were also holding the jade silk, Eunuch Yu understood that this was probably a funeral ceremony prepared by Concubine Su.Eunuch Yu sighed deeply, seeing his apprentice Xiao Lizi running with two eunuchs from a distance, he hurriedly said, "Everything is complete."

The fifth prince took Eunuch Yu out of the palace together. On the way, Eunuch Yu thought about whether to remind the fifth prince to thank the princess for his bad temper, so that the fifth prince might be mentally prepared.But after thinking about it, Concubine Su and Mrs. Wei Guo are old friends, and the fifth prince must know it too. If he talks too much about Xie Moru's fault, it is obvious that he deliberately provokes him to be a villain.In this way, Yu Gonggong didn't say much.

Fortunately, this decree was issued quite smoothly, and Eunuch Yu was very relieved.

Moreover, Xie Moru's temper was very good, and Eunuch Yu was truly moved.

This is the second time for the fifth prince to see Xie Moru. Compared to the one he saw three years ago, Xie Moru has grown up a lot. Of course, the fifth prince said this a little too much. He is not very old himself, but he is the same age as Xie Moru .But in the fifth prince's heart, he is still relatively big. He felt that Xie Moru was too thin, and he felt a little too weak. The white dress and white skirt made her face look like a fine snow porcelain, but the snow porcelain was missing. This kind of warm luster, as if countless scars will spread out at any time after being hit by an external force, it is already fragile and difficult to touch.

The fifth prince couldn't help feeling a little heavy in his heart, and persuaded in a warm voice, "Miss, I would like to express my condolences."

Xie Moru said softly, "Thank you."

The Xie family performed rituals at the Xishan Temple, there were indeed quite a few people who came today, the Xie family was originally a famous family in the imperial capital, and the old relatives in-laws all personally or sent someone to come over to deliver sacrifices.Brothers Li Xuan and Li Qiao also came, and Li Xuan also held three positions. He gave three sacrifices, one from his mother's Wenkang Princess' mansion, one from his daughter-in-law's Princess Changtai's mansion, and another It belongs to his family's Yong'an Hou Mansion.Li Qiao represented himself.In addition, Su Buyu also came.Also, Princess Ning Rong's mansion also sent people to deliver things, and even Princess Yong Fu, who had some issues with Xie Moru, also made a cutscene.It has to be said that after staying in Jingxin Nunnery for two years, Princess Yongfu has made great progress.Even Mu Qi from Jingjiang Prince's Mansion showed up, and Jiang Xingyun stood with Xie's family.

A little later, Feng's servant from Empress Dowager Hu's palace came to present the memorial ceremony given by the queen mother, accompanied by Concubine Xie's palace servant, and naturally, Concubine Xie also gave a gift.

The Fang family has been silent in the imperial capital for more than ten years, and it can be said that it has been glorious.

It was not until the ceremony was over that the fifth prince bid farewell and returned to the palace.

The fifth prince was ordered to go out of the palace, and when he returned to the palace, he would go to see his father first, and report to his father about the affairs of Mrs. Qi Qi of the former Wei State. Emperor Mu Yuan listened carefully, and waved the fifth prince away without saying anything. up.

The Fifth Prince went to talk to his mother again. Concubine Su's face was a little pale, she sat on the soft couch leaning against a rosin-colored ten thousand character pillow, sighed, and asked, "Do you think it's all right?"

The fifth prince didn't dare to tell the truth, and said, "I'm a bit haggard, but I can still hold on."

Concubine Su said, "So what if you can hold it, so what if you can't. No one will support her if she can hold it." After a moment of silence, Concubine Su calmed down and asked her son, "What will happen to her?" Come back, you must not have lunch yet."

The fifth prince said, "I think that the mother and concubine must be worried about her in the palace, and she will come back as soon as the ritual is over. The mother and concubine are still useless."

The mother and son had lunch together, Concubine Su didn't have much appetite after all, she just ate a little and focused on adding soup to her son's cloth and vegetables.After lunch, the Fifth Prince Fang said, "Grandmother and Madam Xie also sent someone to give me something. I probably went early, so I don't know, otherwise it would be nice to take them with me." He went early, and the Empress Dowager The waiter went late, making it look like two groups of people.In fact, there are indeed two groups of people, and the fifth prince just feels that this is obviously not good.

Concubine Su didn't take it seriously, she said indifferently, "I'm afraid that the Empress Dowager heard that His Majesty had rewarded her, so she ordered someone to make up a memorial ceremony, so naturally she went later than you."

The fifth prince said, "Why didn't Lady Zhao send someone to deliver a memorial ceremony?"The two concubines Zhao and Xie jointly manage the palace. Even though Concubine Zhao and the Xie family have no friendship with the Xie family, seeing Concubine Xie's face and being able to follow in the footsteps of His Majesty and the Queen Mother, Concubine Zhao should not say anything fall.

Concubine Su said, "Princess Herou has entered the palace today."

It's no wonder that although Princess Herou was accepted as a righteous daughter by His Majesty, after all, she was born in Zhao Guogong's mansion. When she entered the palace this time, on the one hand, she felt the royal grace, and on the other hand, Concubine Zhao probably told her something in private, so I don't know what Queen Mother Hu gave her. The matter of laying a funeral ceremony.After a few words, the Fifth Prince still has homework in the afternoon, and Concubine Su also wants to take a nap at noon, so Concubine Su asked her son to go back to her palace to rest first.

Time flies, but for the Xie family, it seems to have entered a silent period.Fang's death didn't have much impact on Xie's family, but Xie Moru became indifferent to Xie's family, and she would go to another hospital to live for a while from time to time.It's not Xie's other courtyard. Princess Ningping and the Fang family have a lot of property, and there is no shortage of other courtyards. They are all quiet and beautiful. She can live in whichever she wants. In winter, she will live in Wanmei Palace a period of time.

Speaking of Wanmei Palace, there is another matter. Xie Moru found that the plum trees in Wanmei Palace were not complete the first time he went to Wanmei Palace. After interrogating the guards and servants, he found out that the plum trees outside Wanmei Palace have always been famous. , They were resold a lot, and those who resold were all famous people in the imperial capital. Except for the two plum trees hand-planted by the former Princess Mingyue outside the gate of Wanmei Palace, most of the others were missing.

Xie Moru made a list after the interrogation, and directly filed a lawsuit against the imperial capital. The pleadings were quite vicious, to the effect that today someone dared to steal the plum tree outside the palace of the eldest princess. I don't know if tomorrow they will even steal the pines and cypresses in front of Taizu's mausoleum and return them to their ancestral graves?Xie Moru also said that after his death, he would probably not dare to plant trees in front of the grave.Lord Fu Yin of the Imperial Capital, do you dare to plant it?

Yin Xin of the imperial capital said, this matter cannot be resolved, I am afraid I really have to think about whether to plant trees on the grave.This case is not a big case, it is nothing more than a matter of stealthy buying and selling, but the key point is that the people involved in the case are not ordinary people, so this small case has become a big case.

Xie Moru is the owner, the terrible thing is that all the buyers said they didn't know about it, they either pushed a servant out to top the vat, or they were deceived by the tree seller, which was a lot of trouble.Xie Moru didn't care about this, anyone who had secretly bought the plum trees in Wanmei Palace, Xie Moru personally went to the door to dig out the plum trees one by one, and planted them back in Wanmei Palace.Of course, in addition to the return of plum trees, each family has to press each tree, and each tree will give her 1000 taels of compensation.Others are fines, demotion or embarrassment, which is their own business.There are thorns such as Cheng'en Gong's mansion, who insist on clenching their teeth and saying that their plum trees have nothing to do with Wanmei Palace, Xie Moru is not in a hurry, she just went to Cheng'en Gong's mansion the next day to see her plum tree. plum tree.

Duke Cheng'en's mansion didn't dare not let Xie Moru in, as soon as his house was closed, Xie Moru immediately sued them for being disrespectful.Yes, Xie Moru is now the princess, and his official rank is not lower than that of Cheng Engong.

The old lady Shou'an went to the palace crying, crying, "The life at home is going to be difficult." She was bullied by Xie Moru.

Empress Dowager Hu was so angry that she slapped the table, "It's unreasonable!"

Empress Dowager Hu knew very well what was going on in her son's heart, so she couldn't get past her son and deal with Xie Moru first. Once she appeased the old lady, she told her son about it that night, and she was full of resentment, "What's wrong with her, the princess is in vain. Lier, if you don't know enough, don't talk about it, and look for trouble all day long, what is she going to do?"

Emperor Mu Yuan asked, "Did Cheng En Gong's mansion steal the plum tree from Wanmei Palace?"

Empress Dowager Hu complained on behalf of her natal family, "It's unfounded! There are no plum blossoms in the prince's family of the imperial capital to enjoy the scenery in winter, so why did she blackmail your grandmother's house! It's not because she remembers the past! Wouldn't it be fun to find your grandmother on purpose?"

Emperor Mu Yuan still did not let go, and said, "Then I will send the governor of the imperial capital to ask."

"What else is the emperor asking? A girl like this is worthy of being a princess!"

Emperor Mu Yuan said, "I said she is worthy, and she is naturally worthy."

Unintentionally poking the emperor's son's lung leaves, the Queen Mother Hu had to shut up.

Empress Dowager Hu complained to her daughter again, "The girl surnamed Xie is going to heaven, and she will go to your grandmother's house every now and then to find bad luck!"

Well, Princess Wenkang had heard about this a long time ago, and said with a frown, "Why bother to be serious with her? If the tree really belonged to Aunt Ningping's other palace, quickly ask my grandmother's house to return it. If you have a long face, cover it up. But come here, is it possible that we really want to file a lawsuit with great fanfare?"

"Who said it was Ningping's tree! Could it be written on the tree? She said it was! I also said it was your grandmother's tree."

Princess Wenkang said, "Then ask the governor of the imperial capital to inquire clearly, and settle the matter quickly. It's not embarrassing enough."

"It's really embarrassing for the governor of the imperial capital to question your grandmother's house as a thief."

"Jing Lie is also the princess. She is not ashamed as a girl. What is there to be ashamed of at my grandmother's house?"

Empress Dowager Hu had a terrible headache, she rubbed her forehead, "Isn't it just a broken tree, she must be so persistent! She hasn't seen a plum tree in eight lifetimes or something!"

Princess Wenkang advised her mother again, "Why bother to be so angry, it's not worth it, is it?"

"How did you know that Duke Wei's Mansion, Duke Xuan's Mansion, Duke Zhao's Mansion, Marquis Yongyi's Mansion, and Marquis Jinning's Mansion all asked this dead girl to bring people to the door to dig up the tree! Mrs. Li Xiang didn't let him in. , she led someone to punch a hole in the gate of Li Xiang’s house, and frightened Li Xiang’s mother, thinking that robbers had entered the house. People sued me, can I ignore it?” Queen Mother Hu was furious, “But once I Never mind, your imperial brother is not happy! Ever since Fang Min died, this dead girl has become a living treasure, don't talk about touching her, if I just mention a word, your imperial brother will be unhappy!"

Princess Wenkang sighed, "The queen mother is so honest, they still have the face to sue you, but you didn't ask them how the plum tree entered the door of each of their houses? You still have the face to come and tell the queen mother! My garden I also planted thousands of plum trees, and I didn’t steal the trees from the Wanmei Palace? I think Jing Lie’s words are reasonable. Aunt Ning Ping has only been there for more than ten years, and the trees in her other palace are about to be outdone. Did you steal it? If you don’t care about it, will you have to steal it to the imperial mausoleum in the future? Don’t let others fool you, empress mother, they are just asking you to come out and vent your anger on them.”

Empress Dowager Hu said, "I also thought that girl acted like no one."

"Queen, please listen to my advice. In my uncle's house, there is a Duke, a son, and a prince. They are so rich. Do you want to ask the queen to help them out for the slightest thing? The queen also think about it." You and the emperor are the real mother and son. During the time when the emperor was sick in summer, I saw that he lost a lot of weight this year, and he suffered two minor illnesses in winter. You have time, mother, and care about the emperor. Brother, this is what you have been relying on for thousands of years." Princess Wenkang said earnestly, "I don't believe that my uncle's family can't do anything about it. If Jing Lie really wronged my uncle's family, my uncle's family will take this opportunity to take care of it. Slap Jinglie in the face. We are not afraid of trouble!"

"That's true too." Queen Mother Hu finally convinced her daughter.

In fact, because of this tree, even Princess Changtai was angry, angry at her mother's failure to live up to expectations, why would she want to steal the tree from Wanmei Palace.Chu Guogong's mansion is full of bitterness. Of course, this matter is a bit of a double face, but it has done everything. Fortunately, Chu Guogong's mansion has never denied it like Cheng Engong's mansion. His family returned the tree when Xie Morufu had a fit. There is nothing wrong with paying money.Therefore, nothing happened in his family.

Just like that, Princess Changtai was depressed for several days.

The Duke Cheng's Mansion is different, the Duke Cheng's Mansion has a strong backing, therefore, the Duke Cheng'en Mansion does not even admit to death.

The poor governor of the imperial capital ran to Wanmei Palace to find Xie Moru in winter, and asked Xie Moru if he had evidence to prove that the old plum tree in Cheng'en Gong's mansion was the one lost by Wanmei Palace. Xie Moru said, "That old plum tree The tree is older than the two plum trees in front of the palace gate. It was originally the treasure of the Wanmei Palace. It was originally planted by Emperor Fengwu of the Dafeng Dynasty. It is 800 years ago. There are portraits to prove it. Front There is this plum tree on Chao Xue Dongli's "Picture of Qingfengmingyue", but "Picture of Qingfengmingyue" is no longer in my hands."

The governor of the imperial capital breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "My lord, what you say is unsubstantiated, do you have any other evidence?" If there is no evidence, you should withdraw the lawsuit.

"Mr. Beiling is Xue Dongli's apprentice. When he was young, he worked as a handyman for Xue Dongli. He used to take care of the flowers and trees in Wanmei Palace. He recognized this plum tree." Xie Moru added.

Governor of the Imperial Capital: ...

The governor of the imperial capital was a little embarrassed, "Princess, the officials are small and low-ranking, and it is difficult to see Mr. Beiling on weekdays."

"I will ask Mr. Beiling to come forward."

Xie Moru said, "Master Fu Yin told Cheng Engong when he went to Cheng Engong's mansion, if someone dares to secretly harm this tree, or secretly shovels it, or digs it in the middle of the night, I will never stop there. "

Yin Song of the imperial capital said his goodbyes and left. He can be the governor of the imperial capital, and he must be slick in every way, but being slick in every aspect does not mean that he has no position. When encountering such a case where both sides are strongmen, His Majesty is noncommittal. As a governor, he can only be impartial It's time to do business.

In fact, in the view of the governor of the Imperial Capital, although the case was initiated by the Jinglie County Chief, the Jinglie County Chief is serious and well-organized. He will not embarrass him, the governor, in the case itself.

In comparison, Duke Cheng'en's mansion spoke entirely on the basis of power, insisting that this tree belonged to his family.Of course, Cheng Engong's mansion is so iron-tongued that Xie Moru was a little dumbfounded when he heard that Mr. Beiling was a witness.

Yin of the imperial capital said, "My lord, why don't we reconcile."

"reconciliation?"

"Speaking of it, it's just a matter of one tree. Zhao Guogong's mansion stole fifteen trees, and you only have one tree. It's nothing, it's nothing." The governor of the imperial capital persuaded, "The princess is the little girl." The girl's family must be strong. Look, who cares about her in the imperial capital? Compete with her. At her age, let's talk privately. A girl's family is younger than your granddaughter. We are the winner. Well, to win against a little girl is called invincibility. We don’t care about her, it’s called broad-minded. Do you think that’s the reason, my lord?”

Although Cheng Engong was a little loose, he was still unwilling to let go, saying, "If it were me, I really wouldn't care about it with her, not to mention a plum tree, but other acacias, phoenix trees, peonies, orchids in my garden. Well, if Princess Jinglie wants it, I will not be stingy. But that is the Shoumei plant, our old lady has to look at it every day, and the old lady has not been in good health for the past two years. ..."

"My lord, don't blame me for being straightforward. Emperor Fengwu said back then that the Great Wall is still there today, and we don't see Qin Shihuang back then." The governor of the imperial capital came from a side branch of Qi Guogong's mansion, and he still has some knowledge, "What's more, the Wanmei Palace , Let’s do the math, those who live in Wanmei Palace, don’t go far, Wanmei Palace was built by Princess Mingyue of the previous dynasty, and Princess Mingyue died a few years after it was built. Give it to Princess Ningping, whose lifespan is not as good as that of Princess Mingyue. Let alone the Fengshui of Wanmei Palace, tsk tsk... the Shoumei of Wanmei Palace, if you want to let me go, I am I don't dare to use it. The main reason is that the minister feels that his blessings are poor..."

The governor of the imperial capital is an official, and he is still a mediator on both sides. Cheng Engong's government, which is persuading and superstitious and intimidating, has finally loosened its tone, and it has to speak nicely to Xie Moru on the other side, "Princess For a person like you who understands righteousness, Cheng Engong has already said to return this tree to you, so forget about the rest."

"Other?"

"Silver." The imperial governor said, "Forget about the silver, and save some face for the Duke." From the imperial governor's point of view, Xie Moru's net worth is even lower than that of the princess, and Xie Moru is not short of money. who.

Xie Moru casually put one hand on the smooth armrest of the Grand Master's chair, and put the thin teacup on the case with the other hand. She behaved elegantly and casually, and there was no noise when the teacup was placed on the table. Mr. Qi knew that this was for childhood. The etiquette that has been cultivated can only be heard from Xie Moru's calm voice, "Master Qi, do you know why Cheng'en Gong's mansion let go so quickly?" Without waiting for the governor of the imperial capital to answer, Xie Moru said, "Because they heard that I With the testimony of Mr. Beiling, they are guilty, right?"

"Let me guess, Lord Qi must have discovered this too, and then persuaded Cheng Engong." Xie Moru looked at the governor of the imperial capital, "You are not ordinary, Lord Qi. Then please ask Lord Qi to guess, I will won't budge?"

Xie Moru's expression was very calm, you could hardly see her emotions, she didn't react in any way happy or unhappy, but Lord Qi was more cautious in front of her than in front of Cheng Engong.Master Qi can feel that this is a dangerous and shrewd girl.

Lord Qi failed to persuade Xie Moru, it was already evening since Wanmei Palace returned to the city, the yamen had already closed, he did not go home, but ordered his family to drive to Duke Qi's mansion.In the past few years, Qi Guogong's mansion has been observing filial piety. First, she was an old lady, but now she is just out of filial piety.Qi Guogong is regarded as Master Qi's clan uncle, so Master Qi can have the seat of the governor of the imperial capital, and naturally the support of the family is indispensable.Based on Mr. Qi's temperament, the relationship with Qi Guogong is extremely harmonious.Master Qi was quite casual in front of his uncle, and complained, "This princess is really too strong, and he doesn't give an inch."

Qi Guogong was silent for a while, and said, "Perhaps in the eyes of the princess, it is not as simple as a tree."

"Not a tree? What is that?"

"It is the authority lost after the death of Princess Ningping."

(End of this chapter)