It was already night when the group returned to the capital without any danger.

The Jiang Mansion sent people to meet them at the gate of the city earlier.

It was actually Jiang Boyou who came here in person.

My daughter got involved in such a dispute for no reason, and she came back safe and sound. When she saw Xie Wei, she couldn't help repeating the words of gratitude in the letter, so the servants of the mansion hurriedly picked Jiang Xuening back.

The New Year's Eve is over early in the capital, and on the good day of the first day of the Lunar New Year, there is even a lively lantern festival at night.

The bustling long street is row upon row.

Everything was familiar, but Jiang Xuening, sitting in the carriage and watching, felt a little strange, far less real than the barren mountains and wild waters he saw outside.

That brief dream-like adventure is over.

The high gate wall of the Jiang Mansion was inlaid in the surrounding wealthy mansions, and it was not very eye-catching, revealing a kind of rigid dogma that followed the rules, and there were festive lanterns hanging on the door. If it wasn't for me, I was a witness, just from the outside, I didn't know that this family had lost their daughter in the past few days.

Jiang Xuening had just turned into the backyard when she heard Meng's crying.

Jiang Xuehui persuaded from the side.

"Why has she ever regarded me as a real mother? Since I took me back to the capital, I have not thought of repairing my relationship with her. Otherwise, why force her to learn piano and study? But what about her? She has an intolerant temper everywhere. I'm a servant in the lowly mansion, and I'm still low on you. The palms and backs of your hands are full of flesh, if you two are equally good, why don't I want to level this bowl of water?"

There was anguish in that cry.

"But she is Wanniang, that **** who deliberately taught me to be angry with me, to scare me, and to take revenge on me! Her mind is bent, and she can't stand on the stage of everyone's lady. She said that I would not take her to socialize with ladies and ladies in Beijing. , but she didn't look at it either. Wouldn't it be bad for our family's reputation to take such an uneducated country girl out? No matter how thick-skinned I am, I can't stand the gossip of others!"

Jiang Xuehui seemed to have heard this kind of words a lot, and sighed a long time, and said to her: "Mother, my sister was raised by Wan Niang since she was a child, and she was brought back to the mansion when she was fourteen years old. Even if you don't like it, It will inevitably take some time to change some habits. It has only been more than four years. Besides, after my sister entered the palace, I saw that she has improved a lot. She must have suffered a lot of grievances outside this time. She is your own flesh and blood that fell from your belly, and blood is thicker than water, if you criticize her harshly again, won't you push your sister back to the old path?"

Meng said: "How does she look like my own?"

Jiang Xuehui was silent for a moment, then sighed: "After all, it's the New Year's Day, and there is no big trouble. I think my sister must have calmed down a lot when she came back this time. Why do you scold her? If you annoy my sister, she is not an ordinary temper. "

After hearing this, Mrs. Meng didn't speak for a while.

Standing under the wall outside the courtyard, Jiang Xuening listened, wondering if it was Jiang Xuehui who was so powerful, and persuaded Mrs. Meng.

As soon as I lifted my footsteps, I wanted to enter to pay my respects.

Who would have thought that at this moment, there would be a sudden laughter from inside, "Sometimes I would rather never know that she is my real daughter..."

Outside the promenade, the wisteria trellises only had some cold outlines left in the winter.

A few pieces of residual snow piled on top.

Jiang Xuening raised her head to have a look, only to feel that all the voices in her ears were far away. Jiang Xuehui seemed to say something again, but she didn't hear it clearly.

After a while, footsteps came again.

It was Jiang Xuehui who thought that her father had gone to pick up Jiang Xuening back, and she was afraid that she would return to the house soon. She thought that she didn't want to see her with her mother, so she found an opportunity to say goodbye to the Meng family.

But she didn't expect that after leaving the courtyard, she saw Jiang Xuening standing under the wall.

The moment they faced each other, Jiang Xuehui felt that the pretty face half hidden in the darkness had an indescribable paleness, like a frost flower under the bright moon.

But the truth is, Jiang Xuening actually smiled at her.

She saw her turn to go.

For some reason, he felt uneasy, so he couldn't help calling out to her: "Sister."

Jiang Xuening stopped and looked back at her: "Is there something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing..."

Jiang Xuehui, who is usually considered long-sleeved, good at dancing, and exquisite in appearance, felt at a loss for words at this time, and didn't know what to say. After a long time, she slowly said: "Your Highness misses you very much, and asked me several times. I rewarded a lot of things, and I let people put them in your room."

Jiang Xuening blinked, remembered Shen Zhiyi, smiled silently, and replied lightly: "Understood."

In the dead of night, the whole capital city is gradually falling asleep.

However, with the return of Xie Wei and his party, countless people woke up from the nightmare.

The news quickly spread into the palace.

Empress Dowager Xiao is getting older, and her senses are beginning to decrease. Xiao Shu, who is kneeling beside her and copying the scriptures, is talking about the eldest princess going to marry her: "Where does Zhiyi know what is important? Looking at it, it is clear that she wants to marry her." She started to have a rift with me, even though she didn't say anything, she didn't even talk to the emperor brother who has always been kind. It's just a big family matter, how can she let a little girl get her temper?"

The Yan family fell, and the army was unstable.

The barbarians of the Xiongnu, who were so ruthless and drank blood, were naturally eyeing.

However, in such a big dynasty, apart from the Yan family, how could it be impossible to find half of the generals who could replace Yan Mu? It just takes some time.

It is expedient to agree to their marriage request first.

When the Yan family's vacancy is filled by a new general, it will naturally be possible to re-occupy the Xiongnu outside Yanmen Pass, and make these barbarians bow their heads to Dagan again.

Xiao Shu was born in a big family, and she was aware of the affairs of her family and country, so she knew how important they were.

Just hearing what Empress Dowager Xiao said, I can't help feeling sorry for her.

She stopped copying the scriptures, hesitated for a moment, and said: "But His Highness is also your own flesh and blood after all. This time, the desert is far away and the barbarians are tyrannical, but I don't know when I will come back."

Empress Dowager Xiao actually laughed, and there were a few lines of laughter at the corners of her eyes, which was a rare kind face.

But the more kindly he is, the clearer the coldness in his eyes.

She leaned on the imperial concubine's couch and said calmly: "There is a saying that 'the heavenly family has no father and son', Shu'er, you will also be the one who will enter the heavenly family in the future, so you should remember it clearly."

Xiao Shu's heart trembled at first, but then she heard what Empress Dowager Xiao meant, and she was a little nervous.

Just a second thought, but it was inevitably covered with a little haze.

She said: "Looking at His Royal Highness Linzi's appearance, I like Jiang Xuehui more."

Empress Dowager Xiao waved her hands, she was very confident, and said: "Don't worry, Ai's family is here."

With the Queen Mother's guarantee, it stands to reason that nothing will go wrong.

But Xiao Shu is not a person who will be happy in advance. Before the matter is settled, anything can happen. So she didn't show much joy, but thanked her aunt with a smile on her face.

Seeing that it was getting late, the servants in the palace wanted to help the Queen Mother go to bed.

But at this moment, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside.

It was the head **** who ran towards the bedroom with a happy face: "Get out of the way, there is good news, there is great news!"

Empress Dowager Xiao couldn't help stopping, but raised her eyebrows in surprise, looked towards the door, and asked, "What good news?"

Xiao Shu was also very curious.

The **** ran so sweaty on his forehead that he kowtowed to the ground, his face bursting into laughter: "I want to report to the Empress Dowager, the Duke returned to the capital half an hour ago, and he is safe and sound. Complete victory! Just now someone sent me a message to give you great news! It is said that the prince Dingfei, who had not been heard from twenty years ago, has returned! He is still alive! It’s great!"

fixed, not...

Empress Dowager Xiao heard a "hum" in her head, she stood on the hall, swayed a few times, almost didn't stand still, and asked in a daze, "What did you say?"

The **** thought she was too happy, and said in a louder and clearer voice: "I'm back! The blood of the Duke of the Kingdom, the savior of the past, the savior of the past, must not be the son of the prince, and he has returned wholeheartedly." Ouch, I heard people say that not only does he look very similar to my father-in-law when he was young, but he also looks very similar to Mrs. Yan back then! He is suave, handsome and handsome!"

Empress Dowager Xiao's eyelids twitched wildly, and she felt that her eyes began to turn black.

She felt numb under her feet and took several steps back.

He raised his hand, and was about to say something, but his face turned pale, and with a "boom", he fell down!

Everyone in the whole palace was frightened, stunned for a moment, and then yelled loudly: "The empress dowager, the empress dowager!"

Xiao Shu's mind was also in turmoil. She almost watched Empress Dowager Xiao fall down beside her, but for some reason she forgot to reach out to help her up. A little unbelievably dazed.

live...

How could the child with Xiao Yan's second life be still alive?

If it is, if it is...

Xiao Shu shuddered in her heart. In the noisy and panic-stricken Palace of Compassion and Peace, she raised her head and looked at the sky outside. She saw a darkness without even a single star. The wind blowing in the cold night made people tremble uncontrollably!

Adjacent to the former Yongyihou's Mansion, which has been sealed by the government, is Xie Wei's mansion.

Inside the Qinqin Hall, the lights are bright.

Wearing a literati long gown, Lu Xian walked up and down the hall with his hands behind his back, from left to right, and then from right to left, looking outside from time to time, obviously he had been waiting for a long time.

It wasn't until midnight that there was no sound from outside.

Xie Wei finally came back.

When Lu Xian saw the figure finally coming from Chaoshou verandah, he couldn't restrain himself, took a step outside, and asked anxiously, "How's the matter?"

Xie Wei glanced at him and frowned slightly: "Almost."

Ever since he knew about Zhang Zhe's meddling and Xie Wei had no intention of removing this stumbling block immediately, Lu Xian fell into a state of anxiety. This kind of anxiety is not aimed at the matter itself, but more because of Xie Wei who is getting more and more wrong.

When he heard the word "almost", he almost exploded.

Lu Xian was straightforward: "Has Zhang Zhe been killed?"

Xie Wei said: "No."

Lu Xian's eyelids twitched: "Why?"

Xie Wei came in, opened a hidden compartment on the bookshelf against the wall, took out the seal pouch from his sleeve, put it in together with the small book collection seal, and replied flatly: "In view of everyone, I'm afraid of giving people a handle."

"Shit!"

When Lu Xian heard this, he couldn't hold back his curse immediately.

"If you are determined to get rid of this person, there are a thousand and ten thousand proper ways to keep others from knowing about it! What's more, the person going with you this time is an idiot like Xiao Yuan, so it's appropriate to use it as a scapegoat But! How can you miss such a good opportunity? This is you, Xie Juan—”

When he said this, he suddenly got stuck.

Lu Xian looked at the secret compartment closed by Xie Wei again, and suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart: "What is that important thing?"

Xie Wei said: "Students are honoring Mr.'s gadgets."

Lu Xian stared at him: "Jiang Xuening?"

Xie Wei let out a "hmm".

Lu Xian didn't speak for a long time, and he also looked at Xie Wei like this for a long time, faintly aware of an unprecedented danger, so he said pointedly: "You really know what you're doing—"

"Know."

Xie Wei interrupted him in a rare way, and then looked back at Lu Xian, not avoiding his dignified and serious eyes, and even repeated it to him very calmly, so that he knew that he could understand what he said—

"Lu Zhaoyin, I know."