Red apricots make spring

Chapter 131 each with their own minds

The words are not amazing and die endlessly!
Wenrou's mind was confused, she was completely stunned, she never thought that it would be him who came out to rescue her!

With a sound of "bang dang", at this moment, the sound of a wine glass falling to the ground and smashed into pieces came from behind the screen, which was particularly shocking in this moment of silence.Then a gentle and soft voice said concerned: "Yi'er, are you alright?"

"No, nothing... just slipped the glass by accident."

"Qin Xin, get another wine glass for Fourth Miss." The gentle and soft voice ordered.

With a promise, a palace maid turned out from behind the screen and knelt down to Xie Zhengrui, then got up and took a jade cup soaked in warm water from a table behind Wen Rou, and turned back behind the screen.

Other than that, there was no sound, and the scene became very quiet for a moment. Not only did Shen Yuan and Shen Mengan's faces look extremely ugly at the moment, but even the emperor Xie Zhengrui's face couldn't be seen much. He narrowed his eyes slightly and pursed his lips tightly. Forming a line, he stared coldly at Lu Ce who was kneeling on the ground for a while, and then slowly said, "You have an engagement with her? Why have I never heard of it? This bullying is a serious crime!"

"Your Excellency, you're guilty!" Lu Ce replied calmly, "The matter between you and Ms. Wen is unknown to the family, and we have made a private decision for life. Miss Wen's hesitation just now did not mean to deceive the Holy Majesty, but she really didn't know what to do. How to speak, I hope the Holy One will forgive me."

Kneeling there, she was very puzzled. Today is a sunny day, the moon is bright and clear, and the sky is full of brilliance, but why does she have the feeling of being struck by lightning constantly?First, the old emperor fell in love with her cooking skills, and wanted to bring her into the palace to seal a name and serve her personally, and then she inexplicably made a private appointment with Lu Ce for life. If Shen Mengan jumped out and said to Lu Ce It's nonsense, in fact, Lu Ce and his sister have a private life, she will not be surprised.

"He's talking nonsense! He's obviously with my fourth sister..." Shen Mengan jumped out as expected, but after being glared at by his father, he realized that he was acting presumptuously in front of the emperor, and immediately gave a "plop" He knelt down and said, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Hearing Shen Mengan mentioning his sister suddenly, Xie Zhengrui's thoughts changed, his tightly pursed lips loosened, his eyes gradually turned gentle, and he waved his hand and said, "Everyone get up and answer, what are you doing kneeling like this?" He frowned slightly and asked Lu Ce, "What's going on with you, tell me clearly."

"Returning to the sage, the minister respects the prime minister and treats Miss Shen as a younger sister. How can there be any personal relationship?" Lu Ce said frankly: "The sage has learned that the minister has been staying at the prime minister's mansion for a while. The girl is afraid that it will be inconvenient for me to stay here, so she often asks the servant girl to send some food and clothes. Brother Shen, please keep silent, otherwise if this matter gets out, the reputation of the minister will not be compromised, if it hurts Miss Shen's reputation, the minister will die!"

Every time he said a word, the faces of the people present changed, and the most severe ones were probably Shen Yuan and Shen Meng'an. One of them was aware of his daughter's secret feelings in his heart, and the other was annoyed at himself He was speechless after being refuted by Lu Ce.As for Shen Mengyi's expression at the moment, Gentle couldn't see it, but she suddenly felt that the scene in front of her was a bit weird and joyful. Just now she was performing face-changing alone, but now a group of people are performing face-changing. Only Gao Gao The old emperor who was sitting there had an unpredictable expression on his face, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Xie Zhengrui was indeed thinking. In fact, it wasn't just him, even the Ninth Prince Xie Tianhao was constantly thinking about it.Both of them knew that if they wanted to secure the throne, they had to be good at balancing. The more proficient the skill and the better the sense of proportion, the easier it would be for them to control their subordinates and stabilize the world.

At present, the most powerful civil servants in the Jokhang Dynasty are the left prime minister Shen Yuan and the right prime minister Jiang Yu. These two prime ministers each have their own cronies and officials. Under Xie Zhengrui's untraceable imperial power, these two people are like fire and water. , often tit for tat, and Xie Zhengrui sat on the sidelines and watched the tigers fight, and when he saw which side was powerful, he would weaken it without a trace, or help the weaker side, suppressing them and not letting them dominate.

Leaving civil servants aside, the most powerful general in the Dazhao Dynasty is Lu Ce's father, Lu Fenglin. Of course, since Lu Ce's grandfather Lu Chenzhou retired from illness, the military power held by the Lu family has been reduced a lot in the past few years, but Lu Chenzhou was born and died and made countless outstanding achievements. So far, most of the generals in the army have been his subordinates. Therefore, the Lu family's popularity and prestige in Dazhao is still very high, and they also have a considerable voice in the court.

Under such circumstances, Xie Zhengrui naturally did not want to see the Lu family marrying any of the prime minister's family, so that his balance technique would not be able to play, and if the dominant party had any disagreements, I am afraid that his throne would be underestimated. Those who are heavy will be overthrown.

As for the Ninth Prince Xie Tianhao, he has a very good personal relationship with Lu Ce, and the Zuo Chancellor Shen Yuan is his biological uncle. From his personal point of view, he is happy to see the marriage between the Lu and Chen families, but the crown prince is still pending. I'm afraid that my emperor's father is suspicious of him, and it's too late to avoid suspicion, so how dare I play around to make things happen?

The two thought about it in their hearts for a while, and finally Xie Tianhao decided to go with the flow, taking the opportunity to show that he had no selfish intentions and was absolutely loyal to the emperor's father, so he said with a smile: "Father, as the saying goes, it is better to tear down ten temples than destroy one." Dear, it's rare that Lu Ce, an indifferent guy, is moved, why don't you just give them a favor and let them be fulfilled."

As soon as Xie Zhengrui heard this, his slightly frowning brows relaxed immediately, and he gave him a glance of admiration, then turned his face, and then murmured in embarrassment: "Okay! Today is the emperor's birthday, He, the birthday star, has begged for you, how can I not allow it?"

Wen Rou lowered his eyes and stood so that his legs were numb, and finally waited for this sentence, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Xie Zhengrui went on to say to Lu Ce: "But after all, you have decided your life privately, and it is not suitable for etiquette. Due to her status and status, naturally she can't be married to her, otherwise your father wouldn't rush into the palace to settle accounts with me?"

He thought he had said something funny, raised his head and laughed twice, and the others also laughed. , had no choice but to lower his head to conceal the faint unhappiness in his heart.

Xie Zhengrui stopped laughing, rubbed the rim of the wine glass with his fingertips, lowered his eyes and said, "That's it! I gave you to take her as a concubine. It's not as troublesome as marrying a serious wife. What do you need? Sedan, picking up the sun is worse than bumping into the sun, just today, you can let her pass the door!"

As soon as this remark came out, Gentle's face immediately changed again!She originally knew that Lu Ce said that the private life with her was just an expedient measure to relieve her, so she didn't say anything to refute it, she acquiesced, anyway, she didn't care about her boudoir reputation, and she was not afraid of people talking, but she didn't expect that the old man of the emperor actually She would not be able to accept if they wanted them to make a fake show for real, she would rather be single than marry someone as a concubine, especially not marrying Lu Ce as a concubine!But, how should I say this refusal?After all, what she is facing is not an ordinary person, but a Ninth Five Supreme...

Wen Wen was hesitating, and everyone had expressed joy to Lu Ce one after another, but seeing Lu Ce's expression remained unchanged, they thanked each other and said: "My lord, I am homeless now, how can I take a concubine in the prime minister's mansion?" ?”

"If the good thing is done to the end, why not make another decree from the emperor to let him return to his post? Then send someone to the General Lu's mansion to say hello and let him go home. It's not a problem if he lives outside for a long time! "Xie Tianhao suggested with a smile.

Unexpectedly, this time Xie Zhengrui did not agree, and said with a straight face: "You are not joking! Back then, in front of the court civil and military officials, I said that I would punish him to go back and think for two years. It has not been two years yet, how could it be?" Get back easily? But—” He changed the tone of his words, with a smile like a spring breeze on his face, “In order not to make people think that I am stingy and harboring grudges, I will give you the vacant Hanlin mansion in Beicheng! Anyway, if a Beijing official reaches the fifth rank, I will give you a mansion. In the past, you had a residence in the capital, so I didn't bother with it."

"Father!" Xie Tianhao hesitated to speak, "Then... that house can only be lived in by officials of the third grade..."

Xie Zhengrui glanced at Lu Ce with a half-smile and said, "I, a matchmaker, should show some kindness, right? I won't give you gold, pearls and jade. The Lu family has a lot. Only this mansion can be sold."

Pack!Just pretend!Lu Ce was very disapproving. He naturally didn't know what was going on with the mansion given by the emperor. That is, when you are an official in Beijing, you will be given a place to live. When you are not an official in Beijing, you will not be qualified. , Immediately took it back and gave it to others, or else those who have been officials in the capital over the years will all be given a mansion. How can there be enough places in this capital to live in!Therefore, officials with a little money will buy and build mansions out of their own pockets.

Although he was thinking this way in his heart, he didn't show it on his face. He just refused and said: "I dare not go beyond the rules to live in this house, not to mention that I have been suspended from my job and my salary has been deducted. I don't have the financial resources to maintain such a big mansion, so I can't afford it." Please take it back, Your Majesty."
.
(End of this chapter)