Your Majesty will suffer

March [-]th, the day of the garden fair.

The sky is clear, the flowers are fragrant, and the fish are jumping in the blue waves. It is the right time for fishing.

Nangong Ji sat beside the prince, and after throwing the hook into the water, he closed his eyes and meditated.

After a long while, he suddenly heard the prince's soft call, opened his eyes and saw his float was undulating slightly on the water, so he said softly: "Your Highness has gained something so quickly?"

Yue Ling is overjoyed.

Nangongji sighed again: "It's a pity that I probably have to teach it to run away."

When Yue Ling heard this, he became anxious and said, "What should I do?"

As soon as the words fell, someone behind him shouted: "The officials have raised their poles!"

Yue Ling was overjoyed in his heart, and hurriedly got up his pole, looking around, it turned out to be a golden koi on the hook!

Fortunately, everyone's eyes were still on the emperor's fishing rod. Nangongji stepped forward and pressed down the prince's fishing rod with quick eyesight and quick hands!

Seeing the carp, which was only a few inches out of the water, swung its tail and jumped back into the pond with lightning speed, the prince was stunned!However, Nangong Ji let out a sigh of relief---it's so dangerous!The moment he raised the rod just now, he saw clearly: the hook was empty---the fish had been unhooked!

The emperor will inevitably be disappointed, and the ministers know how to point it out, just pretending that they have never seen it.

The emperor lowered his rod for the second time, and after a long time, he caught a loach.Lan Sichou, a scholar of Guanwen Palace, borrowed a poem from the previous dynasty, "Fanlin dare not swallow the bait, but knows that the king is fishing for the dragon together." He congratulated the emperor on getting the dragon!The officials also agreed, and the sound of congratulations continued for a while, and the emperor turned happy.

It's just that amidst the uproar, the prince's koi had long since disappeared. . .

After the garden party, the prince was depressed for a few days.Nangong Ji guessed that the matter of snatching a pole and catching a koi carp had already been known to today, but those telltale gossips are really abominable. What kind of speculation, plus today's displeasure over the decoupling of the leader, after hearing this, it is inevitable to blame the prince for being rude!

After all, the hearts of the people in this deep palace are unpredictable, even father and son brothers, there are so many barriers, it is embarrassing to think about.

After school was over that evening, the prince stayed in Nangong Ji and went back to the palace to play chess.

It was sunny after the rain, the flowers were fragrant, and the eyes were red and blinding. The prince changed his mind temporarily and took Nangong Ji to the back garden for a walk to enjoy the flowers.

The two chatted all the way, and they mentioned Yunxi Yunze. The prince said: "I see that these two people come and go in a hurry every day, and I haven't heard anything about his palace. You have always been close to him, do you know why?"

Nan Gongji hurriedly said that he didn't know, and said: "I can only wait for a few months to make friends with him, so I dare not say that I am close."

Yue Ling said angrily, "That's true. He waited for a banquet in the palace before, but he never invited me! I heard that you will go to every banquet!"

Nan Gongji hurriedly called out his grievances, and said: "Although I did go to the banquet in his palace, I didn't go there privately, but I got permission from my relatives. This is because I am new here, and my superiors are sympathetic, thinking that I am far away from relatives. It is inevitable that homesickness is hard to avoid, and there is nothing fun to do on weekdays, so Xu Chen went."

Yue Ling resentfully said: "The officials are sympathetic to you!" It was obvious that there was resentment.

Nangong Ji hurriedly said: "The superior is a benevolent monarch, and even more a loving father. He is sympathetic to his subjects (Keng), and he cares more for His Highness."

Yue Ling didn't say anything for a while, Nan Gongji thought he was regretting his slip of the tongue just now, so he didn't mention it anymore.

After walking for a while, Yue Ling suddenly said, "You should tell Yuzhanghou what you said! Only he understands the word 'because of the holy family'." Although the words were sharp, they did not sound resentful, but rather depressed. more air.

Nangongji was shocked and said: "Your Highness, why did you say this? Although you and Yuzhanghou are not from the same mother, you are brothers. You are now a wise man, so you can't treat one more than the other! What's more, you are already a crown prince. The so-called difference between elder and younger is true." There are divisions between common people, high and low, and it has long been clear, why should you be so careless?"

Yue Ling let out a long sigh, and said with a wry smile: "Prince... so what? It's all up to daddy's will!" Then he asked: "Is it the same in your family...?"

Nangong Ji was startled for a moment, and then replied: "In my family, there are two younger brothers and one younger sister, both of whom are young. Between my brothers and sisters, we get along...not bad! To be honest, my father prefers my younger sister more, and my father prefers my younger sister more. Brothers must be severely punished for every minor fault, but my father never tolerates punishment for my younger sister, and every time I think about it, it is unfair."

Yue Ling Wenzhi smiled faintly.

Nan Gongji continued: "It's just that when I was young, I was incompetent and extremely stubborn. When my father was furious, he tried to say that he would drive me out."

The prince said: "Then what mistake have you committed this time? Fang Jiao rushed here?"

Nan Gongji pretended to sigh: "Without him, I just sneaked out of the palace once to eat, drink and play, and didn't return all night. The godfather found out, and confined me for half a year. He was still not relieved, so he sent me out as an envoy. "

Although the prince didn't believe this, he said with a smile: "If it's really because of the old teaching, it would not be wronged!" He looked around, and only saw the high palace wall. I'm also very envious of you, you don't have to be trapped inside this high wall every day! If I have the opportunity, I can go out of the palace to play for half a day, even if I am confined for half a year, I would rather!"

Seeing his gloomy expression, Nan Gongji comforted him and said, "It's not difficult. If I get the chance next time, I will take His Highness out of the palace for a walk!"

Yue Ling said happily: "Is this really true?"

Nangong Ji nodded: "Naturally!"

April 25 is Yunze's birthday, let's celebrate!So several people gathered for a banquet two days in advance.Just at this time, the house outside has been rented, so I stopped by to have a look.

The house is in the southeast of the city, just two or three miles south of the corner gate!It is close to the Bianhe River here, so it can be said to be remote but not secluded, and it is quiet in the middle of the noise!The furniture and other things in the house were all in order, but everyone only collected a few hundred guan, added some things as they liked, and hired a group of servants and maidservants.Everything is going well, and within two months, everything will be in order.After discussing with each other, they named it "Pingleju", which was taken from the sentence "Returning to feast on Pingle".

A few months passed in a flash.

After Mid-Autumn Festival, Nan Gongji's birthday is approaching.Several people agreed early on to have a banquet at Pingleju to celebrate, but Nan Gongji has been vague and has not agreed yet.In fact, it wasn't that he didn't want to, but that there was another matter in front of him, which made him quite embarrassed.

About a month ago, Yue Ling had said that he would come to his house to congratulate him on his birthday.Even though he only said this once, Nan Gongji already doubted whether he still remembered, but on the other hand he didn't dare to answer others lightly, just in case it happened.

Finally, two days before his birthday, the prince seemed to think of it again, and said to him: "I said earlier that I would go out of the palace for a visit, do you remember?"

Nangong Ji said to himself that he remembered.

Yue Ling said: "That's good. I can take the opportunity to visit the palace on your birthday the day after tomorrow!"

Nangong Ji said: "Your Highness, can you ask for permission?"

Yue Ling said: "It is this matter that requires your help! You go and tell Dad that you invite me to a banquet on your birthday, and ask for a favor for me."

Nan Gongji was startled when he heard the words, pondered for a moment, and said: "I should seek the truth of this edict, but Your Highness, don't blame me for being dull. If Your Highness talks about this matter in person, what's wrong?"

Yue Ling said: "If I go to tell you, Daddy thinks that I am playful or displeased, but if I go instead, I don't have to worry about it."

Nangongji thought it would be the same, so he agreed.

As Yue Ling expected, Nangongji's request was granted, and the emperor thought that there were few people in his mansion and it was quiet, so Yun Xiyun and the three of Yunning would have a banquet at the mansion together.Everyone is happy with this.

On that day, a few people came early, and the banquet started at noon. At the time of drinking, the prince and Nan Gongji whispered a few words, and then ordered the accompanying palace people to stay where they were, while he and the others went to the backyard to enjoy the flowers and sober up.Unexpectedly, in the backyard, several people quietly left the back door!It turns out that the prince seldom leaves the palace, so he won't miss this opportunity for nothing!Several people have already agreed to take this opportunity to go out for a walk.

After leaving the gate of the mansion, the few people didn't have a specific place to go, they just walked around at random.Inadvertently, I wandered under the Zhou Bridge, and saw the old man who sold wooden toys in Nanshi that day!Today, there are no wooden birds and oxen on his stall, replaced by a few small boxes, one of which has been opened, and inside are several pieces of wood of different shapes. The shape, whether square or long, is also interesting, but after looking at it for a long time, it will feel familiar.

Among the onlookers, one with good eyesight said: "This looks like a Yanji (1)!" Everyone thought about it, but they have replaced the Yanji of various shapes with this small object!At this time, another human said: "This old man is playing tricks, this thing is just to coax children."

Still silent, the old man opened another box and took out dozens of small pieces of wood, some round and some square, some long and some short. After a while of careful manipulation by his hands, it became a three-story pavilion. The old man pushed it hard The wooden building didn't move at all!Some curious people stepped forward to take a closer look, only to realize that the fastening method of Kong Mingsuo (2) was cleverly used in all joints, and they couldn't help being amazed.

Leaving the old man's stall, the prince wanted to wander around for a while, but it was getting late, and he had to return to the palace before Youzheng, so he had to give up and hurried back.

Back to Nangong Mansion, since I entered through the back door, I didn't know anyone.All the palace people who stayed in the front hall thought that when he came back from sobering up, they got busy and prepared to go back to the palace.

Taking advantage of this gap, Nan Gongji handed over a wooden box to Yue Ling, and said, "I just saw that Yanji and Xiaolou were interesting, so I sent a box of small objects to relieve Your Highness' boredom!"

Yue Ling wondered, "When did you do it?..."

Nangong Ji smiled and said, "It doesn't matter when you get it, as long as His Highness likes it."

Yue Ling said, "But how do you know I like it?"

Nangong Ji said: "Guess. Your Highness will go back and fiddle with it first. If you get bored by then, it will be the same as before. Just return it to me."

Yue Ling took it and said with a smile, "Okay!"

Note:

(1) Yanji: A kind of "combined furniture" used for banquets in ancient times. It has different lengths and can be intricately arranged into several tables of various graphics.In fact, it is similar to modern simple jigsaw puzzles.

(2) Kong Mingsuo: also known as Baguasuo and Lubansuo, it was once widely circulated as an intellectual toy among Chinese folks.It is a fixed connector for civil construction of ancient Chinese national tradition.Without nails and ropes, it is completely supported by the connection of its own structure.