Chapter 179 Prince Yong is captured
The square outside the Jiying Hall was bustling with activity, and the relationship between the emperor and his subjects was harmonious.
However, there was one person who seemed a little out of place and was often distracted.
This person is King Yong.
Even when a member of the royal family nearby spoke to him, he just answered absentmindedly with a few words.
Seeing this, the royal family members were too lazy to bother to please the cold butt.
After all, we are all members of the royal family. Even if you are closer in blood to the current emperor, you still have no real power.
Prince Yong was also happy to relax and drink by himself.
"Uncle Wang!"
Just then a voice sounded beside him. Prince Yong, who was holding a wine glass, was startled and turned his head to look over.
When he saw Zhao Xing holding a wine glass beside him and looking at him with a smile, Prince Yong was startled, and hurriedly put down the wine glass, bowed and said: "Greetings, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
The royal family members nearby were chatting and laughing, and they looked over when they heard the sound.
"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"
When they saw Zhao Xing, they all stood up and saluted.
"Haha." Zhao Xing smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Everyone, please be at your leisure. I just came here to chat with Uncle Prince Yong."
After saying this, he ignored the clan members and raised his glass to Prince Yong, saying, "I toast to Uncle Prince."
"It should be His Highness, the Minister."
Prince Yong hastily picked up the wine glass, and perhaps out of nervousness or panic, he spilled a lot of wine.
He lowered his glass very low and said, "Your Highness, I will drink first as a sign of respect."
After saying that, he tilted his head back and drank the wine in the glass.
Zhao Xing smiled slightly, drank the wine as well, and asked with concern: "Why do I see that Uncle Wang looks very haggard? Is he not feeling well? If so, we should ask the imperial physician to take a look immediately. We can't hide our illness and avoid seeing a doctor."
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I just didn't sleep well last night, but I'm fine." Prince Yong forced a smile.
"That's good. I'll go and offer a glass of wine to Uncle King Yan." Zhao Xing said.
"Your Highness, please take care." Prince Yong bowed.
Zhao Xing nodded slightly and left with Sanshui.
Prince Yong looked at Zhao Xing's departing back and his eyelids twitched even more violently.
He didn't lie to Zhao Xing just now. He did not sleep well, but it was not just last night, but it has been like this in the past few days.
His eyelids have been twitching violently these past few days, and he always feels that something big is about to happen.
He even suspected that the assassination attempt on Zhao Xing by his men had been carried out, and he had the urge to flee.
Zhao Xing had no idea what Prince Yong was thinking. He asked Sanshui to pour him a glass of wine and walked towards Prince Yan.
He drank fruit wine, and at banquets like this, the wine he drank was poured from the wine jug in Sanshui's hand.
When Zhao Xing was talking to Prince Yong, Prince Yan saw it all.
Seeing Zhao Xing approaching, the King of Yan quickly stood up and saluted: "Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
"Uncle Wang, you are so polite. I came here to offer you a drink. I really like the two beauties that you sent me a few days ago." Zhao Xing said with a smile.
In fact, he had never even seen those two women, let alone touched them.
According to the information obtained by Yin Hanzhang, the two women were from the vicinity of Bian Jing. Although the divorce had not lasted long, it was before Zhao Xing asked Liu Sanshi to inform Sheng Wei to let Sheng Shulan enter the Eastern Palace.
It was after Sheng Shulan went to the Eastern Palace that Prince Yan sent people to find the two women.
In other words, the possibility that Prince Yan received the news early can be ruled out.
In such a short period of time, it was impossible for those two women to be bribed by Prince Yan to harm him.
Even so, Zhao Xing had no intention of touching those two women. With his status, he could find any woman he wanted, so why would he need the King of Yan to send them to him?
"Your Highness, I toast!" Prince Yan raised his glass to gesture, then drank it down.
Zhao Xing drank the wine and said, "Uncle Wang, enjoy your meal."
"Farewell, Your Highness!" Prince Yan bowed.
Zhao Xing nodded slightly and returned to the platform.
The banquet lasted for more than an hour. After the leftovers were cleared away, the palace maids served round cakes and various snacks and fruits.
At this time, a bright moon was as bright and flawless as a jade plate, round and full, quietly hanging in the deep night sky. The moonlight was like water, gently pouring down, covering the earth with a layer of silver yarn, which was very beautiful.
The government asked all civil and military officials to compose poems to liven up the atmosphere, and they continued to admire the moon until after midnight.
When Zhao Xing returned to the Eastern Palace, he came to Sheng Shulan's courtyard.
Today is the fifth day that Sheng Shulan has entered the Eastern Palace. Except for the first night, Zhao Xing has never spent the night with her.
Because it was late at night when Zhao Xing came back, Sheng Shulan had already gone to bed.
Zhao Xing did not let anyone know in advance. It was only after Sanshui knocked on the door that the palace maid hurried in to report.
When Zhao Xing entered the room, Sheng Shulan had not yet had time to put on her clothes, so she could only bow in her underwear and say, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."
He had seen Yu Yanran wearing underwear many times, but Yu Yanran was too young after all. Even though her development was very outstanding among her peers, she was still much inferior to Sheng Shulan of the same age.
Zhao Xing walked forward, embraced Sheng Shulan, came to sit in front of the bed, reached his hand into the side of her underwear, and carefully played with the smooth and soft texture like dough.
"Are you happy to be home today?"
Sheng Shulan lowered her head, her eyes a little dazed, and whispered, "Happy...happy."
"Now that you're happy, shouldn't you make me happy too?" Zhao Xing leaned close to her ear and said.
Sheng Shulan was a little confused when she heard this, "I don't... I don't know how to... make His Highness happy."
"Raise your head." Zhao Xing said.
Sheng Shulan's body trembled slightly when she heard that. She raised her head shyly, with a layer of mist in her eyes, full of charm.
For some reason, Zhao Xing's commanding tone made her feel vaguely excited.
Zhao Xing lowered his head and kissed her. At first, Sheng Shulan was like a small boat drifting with the current, but slowly she turned into one sailing against the wind.
After a long while, Zhao Xing let go of Sheng Shulan, whose eyes were full of water, and said, "Let's go, help me wash up."
Sheng Shulan finally came back to her senses, looked at Zhao Xing walking towards the bathroom, stood up and wanted to follow him.
But because his legs were weak, he almost fell down.
"Are you okay?" Zhao Xing turned around after hearing the noise and asked with concern.
"No...it's okay." Yu Yanran shook her head and followed.
When they arrived at the bathroom, the maid had already filled the tub with water. Zhao Xing opened his arms to Sheng Shulan, who stepped forward to help him change his clothes.
When all the clothes were taken off, Yu Yanran neither lowered her head nor raised it.
When she looked down, she could see the tense situation; when she looked up, she was too embarrassed to meet Zhao Xing's eyes.
I can only turn my head away.
Zhao Xing really liked Sheng Shulan's shy look. He pinched her face, laughed, and got into the bathtub.
Although this is not his bedroom, the bathtub is two meters in diameter.
Although it is called a bathtub, it is actually a small bathing pool.
"what."
The weather was not cold now, the water was only warm. Zhao Xing sat in the bathtub, leaning against the wall and moaning lazily. He looked at Sheng Shulan who was still standing there and said, "Come and rub my back."
"Yes!"
Sheng Shulan responded, came behind Zhao Xing, and stretched out her hands to scrub his back.
Soon, Sheng Shulan was so tired that she was out of breath.
"Are you tired?" Zhao Xing asked.
"I'm not tired." Sheng Shulan shook her head.
Zhao Xing turned his head to look at Sheng Shulan and said, "You see there is sweat on your forehead. Come in and wash it together."
Sheng Shulan lowered her head and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito: "I will wait for Your Highness to like it before washing."
"Come in, why don't you know how to save water?" Zhao Xing asked with some blame.
Sheng Shulan didn't understand why she had to save water, but she really listened to Zhao Xing's commanding tone, and she hesitantly prepared to undress.
"Don't take it off." Zhao Xing stopped her and said, "Just come in like this."
Are you kidding? This is my job, how can I let others take it away from me?
As the saying goes, only by working hard can you have enough food and clothing.
It's not good to always rely on others for everything. You have to do things yourself occasionally.
Upon hearing this, Sheng Shulan hesitated for a moment, then lifted her legs into the bathtub, squatted in the water opposite Zhao Xing, and sat down.
The bathtub is two meters in diameter, so even two people won’t feel crowded at all.
"Why are you so far away from me? You just washed the back, but the front hasn't been washed yet." Zhao Xing said.
Sheng Shulan pursed her lips when she heard that and could only move to Zhao Xing's side and start scrubbing him.
"You help me wash, and I will help you wash."
Zhao Xing ignored Sheng Shulan's refusal and skillfully helped her take off her wet underwear which was in the way.
"Your Highness, this isn't possible. Let's go back to the couch."
"I think it's good. You hold on to the barrel rock."
In the bathroom, one can hear the sound of running water, occasionally mixed with some other sounds.
An hour later, the water had grown cold, and the two finished their bath and returned to their room.
…………
The next morning, when Zhao Xing was reviewing the papers, Sanshui hurried in.
"Your Highness!"
Zhao Xing saw Sanshui's serious expression and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Prince Yong and his family have been arrested!" said Sanshui.
Zhao Xing was stunned when he heard this, and asked, "Is it because of the assassination that happened to me before?"
"That's right." Sanshui nodded and said, "The palace guards arrested them. They said that the assassin hired by Prince Yong assassinated Your Highness. Now Prince Yong's family has been arrested and imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice. They are guarded by the palace guards and no one is allowed to visit them. The specific situation is unknown."
"Are you sure it was Prince Yong who bribed him?" Zhao Xing asked.
"That's what's being spread outside, but I don't know if it's true or not," said Sanshui.
Zhao Xing was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "Pay attention to the news about this matter."
"Yes." Sanshui responded and walked out.
Zhao Xing put down his brush and rubbed his brows. If there was no misunderstanding, it meant that there was some hidden story behind this matter.
After all, those assassins were all death warriors, who were obviously trained early on and could not have been bribed.
Shaking his head, Zhao Xing didn't think about it any further.
No matter what, now that Prince Yong has been captured, we will definitely be able to find out something through interrogation.
Even if there is some hidden secret, there will be some clues.
At noon, Zhao Xing hosted a banquet to entertain Sheng Changbai and Qi Heng.
Almost all the county officials in Kaifeng Prefecture were not from Bian Jing, so there was no need for them to come to Bian Jing to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Sheng Changbai and Qi Heng's families are all in Bian Jing, not far away, so they have to get together for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Compared to before, both of them have become a lot darker.
After all, the counties have been busy measuring the land in recent months, and as county magistrates, they often go out for inspections, so it is normal for them to get tanned.
Sheng Changbai was fine, he was slightly dark to begin with, so it wasn't noticeable.
Qi Heng was different. He had been pampered since childhood, and I almost didn't recognize him at first glance.
"Yuan Ruo, you are so dark, Princess Pingning won't blame me, right?" Zhao Xing said with a smile.
"How could that be? Mother even said that I looked much more energetic." Qi Heng said with a smile.
When Princess Pingning saw him like this, she burst into tears of heartache.
But he naturally wouldn't tell Zhao Xing about this.
As soon as Zhao Xing heard it, he knew that Qi Heng was not telling the truth, but he did not delve into it. Instead, he asked about what the two had seen and heard in the local area during this period.
Thanks to Can Linglong for the reward.
Thank you brothers for your support of subscriptions, monthly tickets and recommendation tickets.
I kowtow to everyone.
(End of this chapter)