"That's because you are too greedy!" Zhou Gongding said unceremoniously: "I told you to take it easy a long time ago, but you didn't listen! However," he changed the subject: "You are overly worried this time, look!

He pointed around: "How many Haojing officials are wandering around this pool?"

What's more, what about you and me? The law does not punish everyone. No matter how hard he summons Bohu, he can't wipe out all the nobles in Wangji, right? What's more -----" He pointed in the direction of the palace: "The emperor himself also took the three

The prince has sent you a palace in Fengyi, so why not wait for us?"

"That's it, that's it!" Ji Gonggao seemed relieved, frowned, and brought up a long-rumored theory: "Do you think this epidemic really has something to do with the Marquis of E? He

Is it because he hooked up with a girl who is the Queen Mother just for------"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh but," Zhou Gongding raised his index finger and looked around vigilantly, saying: "Everyone just knows what they are saying. There is no need to say it out loud. Be careful that walls have ears!"

The priest was understanding and lowered his voice: "No wonder he wants to hold the second prince Shang Fu in his hands. He heard the legend from the south that the second prince was named as the prisoner of the king, but he stayed in the country of E for more than half of the time. This is against the rules.

, but no one controls it!"

"Nowadays, all clay Bodhisattvas are crossing the river, and they cannot save themselves. Who is going to mind this business?" Zhou Gongding poured some hot water for himself and sipped the tea that was slowly fading. He said slowly, "I just didn't expect the ambition of Ehou to control the country.

It’s so big, too. The king has just reached the age of dancing as an elephant, and he has not been married and has no heirs. The second prince is naturally worthy of being the top one------"

"What do you mean, can this be done?" The Duke of Ji glanced at him sideways, thinking about the pros and cons of this matter: If the second prince comes to power, the governor of Ehou will definitely have monopoly power. How can he be the one to summon the second Duke of Zhou in the court?

A place to stand? Let’s hear what he said.

Zhou Gongding did not panic, took the teapot and personally filled the hot water for Ji Gonggao, and said calmly: "Of course this can't be done."

"Why?"

"We, the Great Zhou Dynasty, rule according to the "Rites of Zhou", and the throne is inherited by the eldest son. This has been the case for generations. He forgot, and many people in the court forgot, that the king also has a younger brother------"

"Father of the Fourth Prince!" Ji Gong slapped his thigh: "Oh! How could you forget him? He is the youngest son of the late king and the late queen. He has been fostered in Zhao Gong's Mansion since he was born. So, Zhao Zi Mu

He is truly unfathomable, the two legitimate sons of the late king are in his hands and they are invincible!"

"Yes!" Zhou Gongding sighed softly: "Although Zhao Zimu is young, he has a deep scheming mind and hidden secrets, so we should not underestimate him!"

"Then what should we do?" Ji Gonggao suddenly realized that he had no bargaining chips, and became anxious: "Zhao Zimu has the fourth prince, the emperor's father, and Ehou Yufang has the second prince, Shangfu, both of them have chips.

But we only have the son of the useless prince Ji Xi, can we use it?"

"No!" Zhou Gongding suddenly opened his eyes and said sternly: "That son is already a waste! The heir of the king of Zhou has returned to the lineage of the king of Yi, and it is no longer possible for the filial princes and grandsons to inherit the throne. Don't mention this matter again!"

Ji Gonggao was puzzled: "Since you are already a waste, why did you agree to take the widow of your second son Najixi as your concubine? And you even brought an oil bottle? It was just to give others a pretext and a reason to talk!"

"If you use the waste properly, you can produce miraculous effects even if you don't expect it!" Zhou Gongding suddenly stood up, looked at the bright roof of Fengyi Palace not far away, and murmured: "As for the chips? You have to go there yourself.

Found it-----"

Both sides of Haojing Long Street are lined with continuous wooden sheds. Outside the sheds, people are bustling and bustling, and it is almost impossible to see the end. One section of the shed is a shop selling citrus, silk, animal skins, hemp, etc. There is a dazzling array.

The most conspicuous thing is the short weapons shop. At a glance, Wu Gou crosses the sword and Hu Dao's powerful bow sways in the wind, making it dizzying.

After turning a corner, there is a wider stone street with rows of large blue brick houses and slightly fewer people in the city. Big shops here stand next to each other, each one is a row of storefronts, and there are many exquisite carriages and transports of merchants in rich clothes in the street.

Cargoes and oxcarts pass by each other, and the sound of rumbling and rumbling is continuous, but the momentum is much greater than that of Banpeng Street Market.

Outside the door of a luxuriously decorated wine shop, there is an old elm tree with lush branches, which can be used as a tethering place for the drinkers. A young man has been standing behind the tree for a long time, staring at the wine shop going in and out.

The customers who are leaving can vaguely see the high platform behind the counter.

There are three characters "Fengming Terrace" on the stage.

"Brother!" The young man was shocked when he was slapped hard on the back. When he looked back, he turned out to be a boy of thirteen or fourteen years old. His face was pale, thin, and he looked malnourished.

"It's Zhongwen! Don't be so surprised behind the scenes, you startled me!" The young man looked at his younger brother's appearance and suddenly became angry: "What's wrong? You were arrested in that mansion again.

Did those young masters bully me? How come I, Ji Boyan, have a useless brother like you?"

Zhong Wen was a little unconvinced and argued: "You are promising, but you refuse to follow your mother and marry into the Duke of Zhou's mansion. In the end, you end up going to the Duke of Zhao's mansion to be a servant, working in front of the horse and behind the horse. What's the matter?" He glanced into the wine shop:

"Whose tail are you sent here to keep an eye on?".

"How can I tell you about the Prime Minister?" Boyan glared at his younger brother: "Why are you here? Didn't you go to Fengyi with your stepfather?"

"They asked me to stay and inquire about the news in the city. However, my mother went with them." Zhong Wen said this with a bit of joy.

"Huh! She just got in the favor of the little girl who was just born, that's all! How did Duke Zhou's government ever take her seriously?" When talking about his mother, Boyan always had the same expression of resentment that iron cannot be transformed into steel.

"Brother! Let's not talk about this anymore. I really have something serious to ask this time!" Zhong Wen said a little eagerly.

"Whatever happened, just say it here!"

"No, no, let's find another secluded place to talk! Let's go, let's go, what can happen if we've been staring for so long?" Zhong Wen said as he pulled his brother's sleeve and looked in the other direction of the long street.

Let's go. Boyan couldn't resist his younger brother, and after staring at him for a few days, he was really a little annoyed, so he just gave up.

A waiter came out of the wine shop and poked his head towards Lao Yushu. Finally, he turned back and said, "The shopkeeper is gone!"

The owner of the store, Yi Gong, came out to take a look in person, nodded and said, "Okay, let's start moving!"

"Okay!"

A dilapidated single-horse black-covered carriage clanked along the bluestone road and entered a wide street. It was said to be a street, but in fact there was only one mansion. It was very grand, with six majestic halls that were almost as big as those of small princes.

It looks like a palace. In front of the entrance hall stands a large white jade stele more than ten feet high. On the stele are inlaid four large copper characters - Duke Zhou's Mansion.

Although the door of the mansion was closed, there was still a swordsman guarding the door. Seeing this dilapidated black covered car, the swordsman couldn't help showing contempt. As soon as Ji Zhongwen poked his head out of the caravan, he heard the sword

The official shouted in a low voice: "Enter your own courtyard through the side door. Don't think that the master is not here and you can enter the house."

Ji Boyan, who was riding a horse nearby, blushed when he heard this and was about to argue when he heard someone in the car whisper: "Forget it, brother! Let's not cause trouble!"

The old driver expertly turned the old horse around. At this moment, the swordsman's laughter and several vicious words such as "concubine's oil bottle" were accurately transmitted to the ears of the two brothers.

.

Boyan suppressed his anger and approached the carriage to scold his younger brother: "It's okay for you to be humiliated. Why do you want to drag me along to suffer the glare of this pickled thing?"

Zhongwen lifted up the car curtain full of holes and kept apologizing to his brother: "Brother, this is really something I want to discuss with you. I thought that the master's family had left the house, or I could bring my brother in through the front door, but I didn't want to——

--My mistakes are all due to my lack of thinking."

Looking at the dishes on his brother's face, Boyan's resentment turned into bitterness, and he sighed helplessly: It's not his brother's fault after all. If he wants to blame it, it's his mother who didn't live up to expectations. Can't you just be a tough widow?

?If you insist on marrying into a humble concubine, no wonder you are looked down upon by others. Alas!

The dilapidated bicycle clanked into a secluded alley and stopped in front of a red painted wooden door. The driver skillfully got off the car and took out a copper key. There was only a "squeaking" sound and the door creaked.

Pushed away.

The driver drove the bicycle into the small courtyard, helped the young master out of the car, and entered a secluded small courtyard. Although he had always been in contact with his mother and brother, Boyan was the first to come back to the place where they lived. As soon as he entered the courtyard,

What hit you was the unpleasant smell of rotten leaves, as if it hadn't been cleaned for a long time.

The driver is also this small

The only old servant in the courtyard, after tying up the carriage, hurriedly chopped wood to make a fire, and couldn't light the fire in a hurry. Boyan shook his head and followed his younger brother into the main room. It was just a low room with very little light.

It's dim.

The two brothers sat across from each other at the only table in the room, and were speechless for a while. After a long time, Boyan asked: "Is this a place where you and your mother have been living in these years?"

"Ah -" Zhong Wen nodded awkwardly: "The second young master sometimes asks my mother to wait on him, but he usually doesn't come here."

The old servant seemed to have finally lit the fire, and came in timidly, rubbing his hands and saying, "Master, there's no--no more tea."

"No need!" Boyan became even more irritated, patting the table and said, "I only drink plain water!"

"promise!"

The old servant went down, and Boyan couldn't bear it any longer, so he advised his younger brother: "Zhongwen, look at what kind of life you are living now. Although the Duke Zhou's family is prosperous this time, is there anything that belongs to my mother and you? Don't talk about it.

Master, your life is not as good as that of a gatekeeper. Forget it, while they are not in the house, just come with me. Your brother will starve you to death with just one bite. It is better than suffering this here.

Much more cowardly!"


Chapter completed!