Strange Tale of Qingluan

Su Zhongming was slightly startled, and couldn't help but said to Ding Xuehou: "We just mentioned him just now, and now he's here, it seems that this person is undoubtedly 'Cao Cao', as soon as he said it." Ding Xuehou got up, He only replied: "Go and see what his purpose is for coming this time." Su Zhongming also got up, and accompanied Dingxuehou out of Ximengzhai.

As soon as the two of them sat down in the dining room, Chao Sheng came in slowly and bowed slightly to Su Zhongming. Su Zhongming asked him to sit down. He was very polite on the surface and asked him: "Would the fourth uncle go to talk to the queen mother?" To increase family affection, what do you do in Gu's bedroom?" Chao Sheng replied kindly, "It's just because I invited His Majesty to a banquet twice, but His Majesty always refused."

Su Zhongming smiled, "Fourth Uncle originally came to complain about this matter. I'm afraid Fourth Uncle was wrong to blame Gu. How dare I resign from Fourth Uncle's kindness? It's just a coincidence that Gu happened to have something to do on those two occasions." busy."

"Since this is the case, I don't want to pursue it anymore. Your Majesty seems to be very leisurely now. Why don't you invite Your Majesty to Zhuilin Palace tonight. I will hold a small banquet for Your Majesty again and drink fine wine with Your Majesty." Chao Sheng directly clarified the purpose of his visit with a respectful attitude Of course.

Su Zhongming smiled again, and could no longer find a reason to resign, so he squinted at Ding Xuehou, and secretly asked him for help.Dingxuehou looked serious, and said, "Since the fourth prince invites His Majesty, why don't you also invite me? Your Majesty and I are already a family, and the Fourth Prince only invites His Majesty but not me. Could it be that... he thinks I am not qualified?" ?”

Su Zhongming's original intention was to ask Ding Xuehou to find a reason to reject Chao Sheng. When he heard this, he felt displeased immediately, and secretly reached out and pinched Ding Xuehou to retreat.Ding Xuehou didn't respond, as if the piece of meat on his leg was not his own, he was very safe.

Chao Sheng smiled and said: "I didn't mean that, I just thought that as long as His Majesty was invited, Ding Xuehou would definitely come with him, so I just sent someone to inform His Majesty." Ding Xuehou replied seriously, "Then that is to say , I want to invite His Majesty to have a feast tonight, and I want to accompany His Majesty to have a feast together?"

"It is said that Marquis Dingxue reacts quickly and speaks like building a fortified city, it is true." Chao Sheng conceded defeat, and then responded: "If Marquis Dingxue is willing to reward me, I will certainly not refuse the door. "After saying that, he didn't intend to stay too long, got up immediately, and added before leaving, "I will take it as your majesty's acceptance of tonight's invitation, your majesty, don't let me down again."

Seeing that he was gone, Su Zhongming got up and took Ding Xuehou a step, and began to express his dissatisfaction, "I told you to refuse him, what did you promise him to do! I don't want to go, but I have to!" Ding Xuehou explained calmly : "Rejection is not a long-term solution. He has already come to the door. Besides, I can go with you. If he really has some tricks, I will pay attention to you."

After hearing this, Su Zhongming knew that no matter how much he expressed his dissatisfaction to the people around him, it would be impossible to undo the result as he wished, so he could only secretly comfort himself to calm down.

Three days later, Qianqin from Jialing Kingdom was about to arrive in the capital of Wen Kingdom. Unfortunately, another urgent letter from a foreign country caught Su Zhongming by surprise.This letter comes from Turo Kingdom, which borders Wen Kingdom to the north. It is a country covered with loess and plateaus. There are beautiful high snow-capped mountains and cruel and vast desert sandy land.

Su Zhongming read the letter carefully and learned that it was Khan Zuo Muhaiya of the Turo Kingdom who urgently invited him to the Turo Kingdom. In order to show sincerity, 120 pieces of Chimei embroidery, [-] pieces of fur and [-] pieces of gold and silver ornaments were sent to the special tribute.

"The Khan of my country wants me to tell King Wen, please follow me back to Tuluo Kingdom immediately after receiving the letter. These gifts are all sincerity." Seeing that he had read the letter, the Tuluo Kingdom envoy opened his lips and said.Noticing that he was hesitating and seemed suspicious, the emissary added, "My country has absolutely no malice. Khan said: Please tell King Wen the real purpose after he arrives in Tuluo. I'm afraid he will thank you if you write it in a letter Reveal the secret."

A few days ago, Qianqin sent someone to say that he would arrive at Wangcheng in five days, and now he will arrive in two days, but the Tuluo Kingdom sent some invitation letter, and he must have missed him when he left. ——Su Zhongming supported his forehead, thinking in his heart, his mind was in a mess, then he pretended to be calm, and first ordered the eunuch in the palace, "Eunuch, please ask an envoy to entertain you at the reception."

The eunuch understood when he heard the words, and immediately led the envoys of Turo Kingdom to the palace where foreign distinguished guests were entertained.As soon as the envoy left, Su Zhongming hurriedly ordered Chuncao, "Chuncao! Call Dingxuehou quickly!" Chuncao agreed with a 'yes' and rushed to Zhu Zhengong.

After a while, Ding Xuehou came slowly, and opened his mouth as soon as he entered the room, "Tell me, this time, do you want me to be your cow or your horse." Dissatisfied, she hurriedly stood up to please with a smile, "I just want you to help me decide, I didn't make things difficult for you, why are you so blatant?"

Ding Xuehou glanced at the letter on the table, and asked: "What to decide?" Su Zhongming picked up the letter on the table and handed it over.He reached out to take it, opened it to read it, folded it again, took back the paper seal, and answered Su Zhongming, "You can make a decision on this matter yourself, why do you have to ask me to come and help you decide."

"There must be something wrong with Turuo Kingdom's inexplicable invitation to me, so I hesitated." Su Zhongming explained to him, but it was not enough to make him back down a step.

Dingxuehou still refused to help, and only said: "You have never been to Tuluo country, isn't this just what you want? If you agree, go to Tuluo country with the envoy, what fun is there on the way?" It's all there."

Su Zhongming groaned in his heart, pretending to be indifferent, but when he said something, it was a slight threat, "Since you're bored this time and won't help me think about it, well, I've made my own decision, you can go back to your room! I'm going to see the Queen Mother right now, and tell the Queen Mother that I want to separate from you, a man surnamed Li, from..."

Only one word 'divorce' came out of his throat, and he was about to blurt out the last word, but Ding Xuehou quickly caught him drunk, preventing him from finishing the sentence.

Su Zhongming's mouth and nose were blocked by him and it was difficult to breathe. In a hurry, he scratched his guard with his fingertips. Shou took a hard bite, then sloughed him off.

Ding Xuehou took a look at the grudge and seal on the back of his hand, held it with the other hand, and said in defeat: "It's still like last time, wherever you are going, I will accompany your husband to the end... "

If I don't give you a little color, you think I can be bullied by you after I marry you! ——Su Zhongming groaned in his heart, raised his head fiercely, and looked proud.He sat down again, thinking about his future worries, he asked Ding Xuehou, "If we leave Wen Country again this time, do you think it is possible for Chao Sheng to start a conspiracy?"

Ding Xuehou thought for a while, and replied: "One visit and one return, as short as ten days, if he plots some kind of conspiracy within these ten days, plotting against Wen Guo, it can only be a fantasy. Not enough for the plan to succeed."

Su Zhongming felt that it made some sense, nodded his head, and was worried about the person from Jialing Kingdom, and asked again: "Then what about Qianqin? This time it's really tricky. Jialing Kingdom and Tuluo Kingdom are involved in the same situation." Ding Xuehou was still calm, and said with peace of mind: "Then send someone out, stop him on the road, and tell him to temporarily stay in the mansion of someone you trust and wait."

"Okay! I'll send someone to bring him a message and ask him to go directly to He Wukui's house and wait." Without hesitation, Su Zhongming mentioned the name of the colleague Ding Xuehou didn't like the most.Dingxuehou didn't change his expression, he just said: "It's up to you."

In the afternoon, the two of them went to the Empress Dowager's bedroom to meet Shi Chaojing, and told Shi Chaojing the letter from Toluo Kingdom in detail, and ordered people to present all the tributes from Toluo Kingdom.Shi Chaojing sighed helplessly, and said: "Since this is the case, you should go and return early, so as not to delay the daily affairs."

"Well! The weather is getting colder and colder, the queen mother should pay attention to her body." Su Zhongming nodded, caring for her by the way.Suddenly, an eunuch's voice sounded outside the house, "Princess Anle, what are you doing hiding here? Why don't you go in?"

The voice made everyone in the room curious, and even surprised Wen Qian who was hiding outside the door. She scolded the eunuch in a low voice: "What are you doing so loudly? I'm not a thief!" result.

Shi Chaojing called her at the door, "Wen Qian, are you here? Why don't you come in?" Wen Qian snorted at the eunuch who didn't know the current affairs, and walked into the room helplessly. When he came to Shi Chaojing, he opened his mouth and begged, "Queen Mother, since Dingxuehou wants to accompany him to Tuluo Kingdom, then I can go too! I can use a sword, and I am not afraid of danger."

Su Zhongming disagreed, and said, "What are you going to do next? Why don't you stay with the Queen Mother? You are a daughter, and you know the swordsmanship of a three-legged cat. How many robbers and bandits can you beat?"

Receiving such belittling comments, Wen Qian was dissatisfied and became serious. She suddenly drew her sword and slashed at Su Zhongming. Su Zhongming was caught off guard. In a panic, she jumped up and down, trying to avoid the sharp blade, turned around sharply, and hid behind Ding Xuehou.Dingxue Houwo held her hand that was holding the sword, and stopped her: "This is the queen mother's bedroom, you dare to use force in front of the queen mother!"

Shi Chaojing was also taken aback by her actions, and persuaded her: "Wen Qian, put the sword away quickly, it's not good to hurt someone." Wen Qian replied, "I just prove to him that my sword skills are not 'three-legged cat' , and without malice." Shi Chaojing said, "Then put your sword away quickly."

"This Dingxuehou is holding onto my guard, even if I don't want to withdraw my sword!" Wen Qian put on an innocent look.Hearing this, Ding Xuehou immediately let go of her.

Shi Chaojing followed suit, "Wen Qian, what Zhong Ming said is right, you are a daughter's family, even if you know martial arts, your strength is no match for a man's. You should stay in the palace and accompany Ai's family."

Wen Qian refused, and showed her housekeeping skills as a woman, and started to mess around in front of everyone, "No, no, I'm going! I'm going! If I'm not allowed to go, I'll find a well, jump into it, and die in the well." It's all done inside."

Just one sentence, Shi Chaojing was already frightened, and blurted out: "Wen Qian, don't make trouble! Can life be a joke! Okay, okay, Ai's family will allow you to go, Ai's family will personally give your father an explanation, you can come back safely When Wen Qian heard this, she became happy and thanked her.

Su Zhongming had no choice but to say to Shi Chaojing: "Mother, why don't I ask that little ghost Yitian to accompany you? He is very clever and will surely make you happy every day." Shi Chaojing replied, "Yitian? It's... you Is that the folk kid in the bedroom? All right, let him come over and chat with Ai’s family to relieve boredom.”

Su Zhongming then asked her to resign, got permission, and immediately left the house with Ding Xuehou. Seeing this, Wen Qian followed them out of the Queen Mother's bedroom.As soon as she walked into the long street, Wen Qian said happily, "Brother, when are we going to leave?" Su Zhongming opened his mouth extremely reluctantly, "The messenger said it was going to be right away."

Wen Qian said, "Then I'll go back and pack my things right away! You have to wait for me in the bedroom!" After saying that, she hurried away.Su Zhongming looked back at her back, a little regretful and told the truth, "I knew, I should have told her about the day, and then we could set off secretly without her."

Ding Xuehou didn't speak, and went back to Zhuzhen Palace with him, the two of them were busy packing their bags.Yitian opened the window and just saw them busy. He ran out curiously and asked Su Zhongming, "Why are you so busy? Are you going to change something?"

Su Zhongming stopped his hands and said calmly: "I'm going to a foreign country, and I won't be here for a few days. By the way... I told the Queen Mother that you should go to see her and talk with her in the next few days. You must make good use of Wo's opportunity." If you make the Empress Dowager happy, there may be a reward." Yi Tian nodded lightly, just in time to help tidy up.

Wen Qian came in a short while, with a burden on her shoulders, changed into the clothes she wore when she first entered the palace, still majestically hanging her sword in the demon room.When she stepped into the house, she met the spring grass coming towards her. She only took a few glances at the spring grass before stepping into the house. After seeing Su Zhongming, she immediately asked, "Brother, why don't you take a maid?"

"What are you taking the maid for?" Su Zhongming was puzzled.Wen Qian took it for granted, "How can I say that I am also a princess, with a noble status, so naturally I have to ask maids to wash clothes, comb hair, buy food and drink, and..."

Su Zhongming didn't wait for her to finish, and interrupted her impatiently, "It's really long-winded, you might as well not go." Wen Qian grabbed his sleeve and acted coquettishly, "I'm used to those who have maids And anyway, we're only going for a few days." Su Zhongming had nothing to do with her, so he had to reluctantly agree.

Wen Qian was very happy, and suggested again: "I saw a girl outside the door just now, and she is quite capable, so let her be my maid for a while!" Su Zhongming was stunned for a while, "Just now? I just went out The one?" Wen Qian nodded hurriedly, Su Zhongming suddenly realized, and said to her, "You mean spring grass?"

"What kind of grass is she in charge of this county! As long as she can work and be well-dressed." Wen Qian replied.Su Zhongming was very helpless, thinking that the shortest time would be ten days, so he reluctantly agreed.