"Who is living in this yard?"

The two servants looked at each other, and the older one raised their heads tremblingly and replied: "Report to the Empress, the former pseudo-King of Chu Ma Yin lived here. Ma Yin died of illness a few days ago, and only his daughter still lives here!"

"Oh?" Chen Liniang raised her eyebrows. She naturally knew who Ma Yin was, but she didn't expect that this old age, who had fought with her husband for more than ten years, was actually spent in this inconspicuous small courtyard in Chonghuafang. She also left a daughter here. She became interested for a moment, and then she laughed softly: "Oh? Then I want to go in and take a look. (_　　　　)(,　　)1(1)"

The two servants did not dare to stop him, so they had to follow Shen Liniang. They saw that the courtyard was full of grass, and the doors, windows and walls had never been repaired. The dilapidated appearance was far inferior to ordinary middle-class families. Thinking that Ma Yin was once a hero who was in charge of dozens of prefectures and counties, but ended up like this when he was old, Chen Liniang felt a little more sigh of the impermanence of the world.

"You prisoner, this is the King's Empress Chen, and you still don't kneel down to greet you!"

While Chen Liniang was sighing, she heard the scolding of the two servants behind her. When she looked up, she saw a beautiful woman in her twenties standing on the steps and looking at her. She must be Ma Yin's daughter. Chen Liniang was sighing about Ma Yin's life experience and felt a little more pity for the woman. Seeing that she was born with a very beautiful face, she hurriedly smiled and said, "What a handsome little lady. You are also the daughter of the King of Chu. You and I met in this Chonghuafang, so I will be spared this etiquette!"

Ma Xuanhua also knew something about Chen Li Niang from the mouth of the servant who was taking care of the servants these days. He knew that although the woman in front of him had been demoted to Chonghua House, she was very different from others and had not lost the favor of King Lu Fang of Wu. She was a very important person. When I saw him today, I saw that although he was nearly 40 years old, his skin was still as creamy as grease, with long eyebrows and eyes. He looked only about thirty people. No wonder Lu Fang loved him so much. He knew that if he didn't want to stay in Chonghua House for the rest of his life, the key was the beautiful woman in front of him. He went downstairs to bow to him and said, "Ma Xuanhua paid homage to Empress Chen. The little woman was busy with some trivial matters in the house and had not gone out to greet her. I hope Empress Chen will forgive her!"

Although Ma Xuanhua was wearing plain clothes, as the saying goes, "A woman should be pretty and filial." She was already very colored. Against the plain clothes, she looked like a white lotus, which was particularly adorable. Chen Liniang looked very happy and smiled and said, "What a pity for a little lady, get up quickly. I am a villain who came uninformed today. What a rude thing!" As she spoke, she stepped forward and helped Ma Xuanhua up, but as soon as her finger touched the other party's exposed skin, she found that Ma Xuanhua's skin was so cold. Chen Liniang couldn't help but ask in surprise: "What's wrong with you? Why are your hands so cold!"

Ma Xuanhua lowered his head and said nothing. Chen Liniang immediately reacted and stepped into the house a few steps. She saw that the house was empty, except for a couch in the corner and a brazier beside it. Looking at the cold ash in the brazier, I was afraid that there had been no charcoal fire for a long time. It was the cold winter month. Although Jianye was south of the Yangtze River, it was not as cold as Bianjing and Luoyang, but the south was humid, and the wetness and coldness were even more difficult. Looking at the simple decorations in the house, I don’t know how Ma Xuanhua survived the winter night.

"What's going on? Why doesn't there even charcoal in the house?" Chen Liniang rushed out like a whirlwind and shouted sternly at the two servants. The two servants did not dare to answer, but dared to fall to the ground and kowtowed repeatedly. Ma Xuanhua looked around, sighed lightly, turned around and whispered to Chen Liniang: "Empress Chen, don't blame them, this is not their business!"

Chen Liniang snorted coldly. She was not a fool. She naturally knew that Ma Yin and his daughter were naturally not popular guests in this Chonghuafang. Although they would not even give charcoal in winter, the servants below were not blind and would naturally deduct profits from it. Anyway, no one would talk to them. At this time, Chen Liniang was in love with the scene, remembering that before she met Lu Fang, she offended An Renyi in Runzhou because of the clan, and the whole clan was destroyed. She was an orphan, but she was wandering around in the world and searched for opportunities to assassinate An Renyi to take revenge. If she hadn't met Lu Fang later, she would have ended up like Ma Xuanhua. Thinking of this, Chen Liniang's gaze at Ma Xuanhua softened a little, as if the girl in plain clothes in front of her was the wandering and helpless self more than 20 years ago.

"Aqiong!" Chen Liniang called the female official behind her: "Go back and bring some charcoal in my house and other things to Miss Ma. She also told the manager that the yard is too broken, so please come over to repair and remediate it."

"Here!" The female official bowed and turned and retreated. Chen Liniang said to the two servants kneeling on the ground: "I don't come to make things difficult for you. If Miss Ma lacks anything here, just go to my place to collect it. Do you know?"

The two servants quickly claimed yes, and Chen Liniang said coldly: "If I see this in the future, I will ask you both?"

When the two servants heard this, they were so scared that they were trembling all over and kowtowed. Ma Xuanhua looked around and hurried over and bowed to Chen Liniang to thank Chen Liniang. Chen Liniang smiled and helped him up and said, "You are a flower-like person, it is really hard for you to stay here. When I see the king next time, I will tell you about you and make a good husband's family for you!"

"It depends on the arrangement of the empress!" Ma Xuanhua replied with his head down, but the figure of Lu Runxing on the boat flashed through his mind.

According to the customs of the Tang Dynasty, Shangyuan Festival is one of the most important festivals. The days after Shangyuan Festival are the days when the relatives visit the noble ladies in the palace and the noble ladies in the palace to visit relatives. Now the wife of Lu Shuxian, King Lu Fang of Wu, has died, and Chen Liniang has been demoted to Chonghuafang. The only one left in the palace is Zhong Yuancui. Zhong Yuancui's father Zhong Chuan died early, and only two elder brothers, namely the eldest brother Zhong Yangui and the second brother Zhong Kuangshi. However, after Zhong Chuan died, these two men fought for the old father to stay. The foundation he had made was all-out and had long become a mortal enemy. Later, both of them joined Lu Fang's command. Because Zhong Kuangshi had no military and political talents, he took a leisurely life in Hangzhou, the eastern capital, and came to Jianye to visit his sister on several festivals every year. But there was one end. As long as Zhong Yangui came, Zhong Kuangshi would turn around and leave and never meet. Therefore, over the years, even though Zhong Yuancui had worn out his mouth, his two brothers had never made up.

The same was true for the Shangyuan Festival in the 16th year of Tianyou, as if there was a tacit understanding. Zhong Kuangshi went to the palace to pay homage to Zhong Yuancui on the morning of the second day after the Shangyuan Festival. In the afternoon, Zhong Yangui took his wife and children to the palace to pay homage to his sister. After the routine etiquette, Zhong Yuancui and Zhong Yangui's family set up tea and tea in the pavilion in the backyard and talked about gossip. There were earth dragons in the pavilion, and thick curtains were hung around. Although it was the cold winter month, the pavilion was warm as if it was spring.

Zhong Yuancui called her two sons and a daughter to meet Zhong Yangui. The older Zhong Run Mansion was fourteen years old. Her face inherited the characteristics of her mother. She was very handsome and looked like a jade man. After seeing the ceremony on both sides, Zhong Yangui smiled and said, "Time is really like water. I remember that I was only so high in front of Tanzhou. I didn't expect that I would see you for more than a year. My shoulders were high, but I didn't know how to learn military arts, cavalry and shooting? Come on, let my uncle come and test you!"

"Run Mansion has never learned military tactics, so he can only use a single bucket of soft bows. Brother, please take the exam to take some other exams!"

"What?" Zhong Yangui showed a look of surprise on his face: "As far as I know, the king has very strict requirements for the prince. He was brought by his side to march and fight at the age of **. He was strict in training military tactics, cavalry and shooting, guns, rods and knives. When he was in the grade of Runfu, the prince had already made more than ten times. How could he do this to Runfu?"

A trace of darkness slipped across Zhong Yuancui's face, and she whispered that her two sons and daughters would retreat first. Only Zhong Yangui and her brother and sister were left in the pavilion, and she whispered: "Brother, you don't know that the king is very different in character. The rest of the sects are average. Only Zhong Runqu, the eldest son of the Shen family, is more special, but it was only after the twelve years that he began to learn military tactics and cavalry."

"Why is this king?" Zhong Yangui pretended to be surprised and asked, "Although the king is prosperous in spring and autumn, the world is still uncertain. Even if the prince is invincible in Shenwu, it is better to have two capable brothers and gang leaders. If the Emperor Gaozu of the previous dynasty had few capable sons and nephews, it would be so easy to win the world!" The "Emperor Gaozu of the previous dynasty" mentioned by Zhong Yangui was Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty. He won the power of Emperor Dana Taizong Li Shimin, the prince Li Jiancheng and the Prince Li Xiaogong of Hejian.

"Forget it!" Zhong Yuancui sighed lightly and said, "The king did not want all his sons to fight each other, but instead ruined the big thing. Therefore, he only gave the crown prince a military strategy. In the future, the other brothers would do something wrong and would not be able to do anything wrong. Instead, they would have the good things of the father, son and brother!

"The king is far-sighted and knowledgeable. It must be good if we can't get it!" Zhong Yangui smiled, but his eyes swept across his sister's face. Seeing that Zhong Yuancui's eyebrows and eyes were full of resentment, he couldn't help but feel secretly happy. He pretended to be unaware of it and smiled: "Empress, I have something to do today, I hope to help each other!"

Zhong Yuancui frowned and replied, "But I don't know what's going on. As long as I don't violate the law, I will help you!"

"That's natural!" Zhong Yangui smiled and said, "Empress, remember that the ministers persuaded him to come forward during the banquet last night, hoping that the king would ascend the throne and treasure!"

"Yeah!" Zhong Yuancui nodded in confusion. She was next to Lu Fang last night, so she naturally knew that she just didn't know what her brother mentioned about these things at this time.

"That's the matter: Last night, many ministers came to my house to instruct..." Zhong Yangui explained to Zhong Yuancui that Chen Yun and others came to the house to ask him to the palace to ask Zhong Yuancui to find out what Lu Fang was thinking about. Speaking of this, Zhong Yangui smiled and said, "It's said that I shouldn't have troubled the Empress at this time. It's just that Brother Yu thought it would be a matter of time before the king was elected emperor. Anyway, Emperor Zhaozong had been dead for more than ten years. The position of the Emperor was defeated by Zhu Youzhen, and no one could say anything. It was a natural thing for everyone to persuade him to enter. I guess the king wouldn't blame him, so he took this matter on himself. If Brother Yu made a mistake in something, the Empress would just say that at most, he would just push him back!"

When Zhong Yuancui heard this, she was relieved. She was not a woman without knowledge. Naturally, she knew that it would be a matter of time before Lu Fang captured Luoyang and ascended the throne and became emperor. He did not express his opinion on the spot last night, probably because he had some conspiracy in his heart. It was normal for the ministers to ask his brother to come. Who told the civil and military officials in the court that he had relatives in the palace?

"The king thought about what happened last night. I don't know what my sister thought. He slept in his house as soon as he came back last night and didn't stay with me. Let's do this. In two days, I'll find an opportunity to tell the king. Then I'll send the palace maid to my eldest brother's mansion to upload the message. You can see!"

"Very good!" Zhong Yangui pretended to be careless and smiled: "Actually, a certain family came here this time and had some selfish thoughts. Girl, think about it, if His Majesty ascended the throne and became emperor, you will be the queen, our Zhong family will also benefit a lot!"


Chapter completed!