Chapter 10 Chapter Ten

The bright bronze mirror, the few flower spikes and twig hairpins on the dressing table still contain the breath of her before she got married.A piece of badge paper was unfolded on several cases, with a few lines of characters, the pen was put aside, and the ink on the inkstone was almost dry. The flame in the furnace gradually faded, Hongrui went into the room and added a piece of charcoal, the flames flourished, the heat was transpiring, and the room was obviously much warmer.Seeing that Shen Zhenzhu was still reading a book by the window, she had no choice but to say: "Miss, since the beginning of winter, the weather has been getting colder and colder every day, you have to take care of yourself anyway, and you have to get close to the fire to warm up as much as possible."

Shen Zhenzhu listened to collect the book and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, I'll do it!" After saying that, she put down the book in her hand, sat down by the fire, and said with a "hey": "This year's charcoal fire is good, better than last year's." Hongrui paused, then said: "This is... His Highness brought it here, I heard that Xiliang Kingdom paid tribute a few days ago, there were only over a hundred pieces in total, and they were named after Qianji Baili, Rui Tan; His Majesty gave His Highness ten notes, and His Highness brought them to our residence."

Shen Zhenzhu nodded and said nothing, and went to get the book after a while.Hongrui stomped her feet and said: "Your Highness sat for a long time and was still waiting for you in the hall. In such a cold day, he worked hard every day, so you must see him! You always know that Hongrui can't speak upright. According to me , there is no unresolved knot in this world. This time, His Highness is indeed sorry for you, but Hongrui also has eyes and ears, if you are too stubborn, don't regret it in the future." Shen Zhenzhu smiled slightly after hearing this and said: "Hongrui, you have grown up a lot." Turning her back, sighing in her heart, she said slowly: "Go and tell Your Highness, I just want to live in my mother's house for a few days. I will return to the palace, so that he doesn't have to worry about it, the Criminal Department is busy with work, so I have to take care of my health."

"Don't go back, don't go back again!" Shen Zhenzhu's sister-in-law, Gongsun Erniang, stepped into the door, untied the sword at her waist as she spoke, and placed it heavily on the table.She is fierce, very different from the gentleness and smoothness of her elder sister, Gongsun, and she said sharply: "Why do men have three wives and four concubines, and let us women suffer that kind of grievance. Pearl, you married last time because of me. If you are not at home, you have to stop him. Now that Li Chuchao, Qin Muchu, has a wife and a concubine, and he is also a younger sister. If he is not satisfied, he takes a concubine, and he can't blame his sister for being sad. Sister, you just live at home, don't worry about anything Royal Highness, Your Highness. I passed Fanyang, Pinglu, and Anlu Mountain to store grain and raise soldiers. The opposite has already happened. In less than a year, the Tang Dynasty has been turned upside down. It’s ridiculous that Chang’an City is still sluggish and luxurious. Everyone is drunk and dreamy. I am still deceiving myself and others. I will no longer travel around, and I will only guard my parents and your brothers and sisters at home. With my Gongsun Erniang holding a long sword, no one can hurt our family!"

Although Shen Zhenzhu knows that it is difficult to travel the world with a sword and a flute, and this kind of sister-in-law friendship is rare, she thinks how lucky she is. Although Hongrui and her sister-in-law have different views, they both put themselves in their own shoes and said with emotion: "After my mother passed away, Sister-in-law is the best to me." Gongsun Erniang said with a hearty smile: "Who told me that I have only one sister." Hongrui saw the opportunity and retreated. Just at this time, Su Ci hurried in with a maidservant.Shen Zhenzhu looked at the maidservant's kind face, and the maidservant bowed before accepting her head, crying in her voice: "Wangfei, Wangfei, please save my young lady, only you can save her!"

It was only then that Shen Zhenzhu realized that this woman was one of Murong Linzhi's personal servants, her name was Hemerocallis.Unknowingly gasped, helped her up and asked, "What happened to Princess Jianning?" She was horrified in her heart, because of the friendship between King Jianning Li Tan and Murong Linzhi, no matter what happened to Murong Linzhi, Murong Linzhi should If Li Tan came forward to deal with it, it would be a little servant girl's turn to rush to him for help. Hemerocallis replied: "Miss has been missing for three days, my lord has drawn pictures and hung them up everywhere, and sent people from the palace to search everywhere, to investigate openly and secretly..."

"Wait a minute", Shen Zhenzhu interrupted her and asked, "You said, your lady has been missing for three days?" Hemerocallis raised her head suspiciously: "Don't the princess know about it? This matter has caused a lot of noise, I'm afraid the whole capital will know about it!" Shen Zhenzhu was ashamed, she only cared about her own sadness, she didn't expect such a big thing to happen outside. It turns out that Li Tan and Murong Linzhi returned to Chang'an from Luoyang four days ago.The husband and wife did not know that Shen Zhenzhu had returned to her natal home for a temporary stay, and they agreed to visit Shen Zhenzhu at the Guangping Palace the next day.That day, they didn't use the car as usual, they came together hand in hand in ordinary clothes, how could they go halfway, Li Tan ran into some old friends who were tasting wine with swords, and forced them to go to the wine shop.Murong Linzhi was worried that Shen Zhenzhu didn't go with him, and went to the Guangping Palace alone, and when Li Tan rushed to the Guangping Palace after drinking for three rounds, he knew that Murong Linzhi had never been there.Murong Linzhi disappeared from the world from this day onwards. Li Tan was so regretful that he did not dare to report to the prince. Li Chu secretly helped him. He only said that the maidservant of the Jianning Palace disappeared. He searched desperately for three days and three nights. The city is about to be opened.

Hemerocallis finished speaking and knelt down on the ground again, weeping and crying, Shen Zhenzhu realized that the maidservant in front of her was outstanding in appearance, at this moment she was like a pear blossom with rain, she was lovely.Listen to her say: "Now only the princess can save the lady." Shen Zhenzhu said with a wry smile: "What do you mean? Isn't His Royal Highness King Jianning looking for it? Even he can't be found, so what can I do?" "No", Hemerocallis dragged her skirt and knelt down under Shen Zhenzhu's body, her head was raised to meet Shen Zhenzhu's drooping gaze, her hesitant eyes swept over Gongsun Erniang and Su Ci in the room.Shen Zhenzhu just wanted to say "I'm not an outsider", but Gongsun Erniang went out with a sword impatiently, and "boomed" the door, Su Ci hurriedly followed out.Hemerocallis Fang whispered: "I have been thinking about it for the past two days, the young lady is not kidnapped or lost as the prince thinks."

Shen Zhenzhu's heart froze, her eyes sparkled and she asked, "What do you want to say?" Hemerocallis shrunk back, then raised her head again, her cautious appearance was even more endearing: "I am afraid that the young lady will go with me voluntarily..." Seeing Shen Zhenzhu's puzzled eyes, she moved closer and said, "Princess You and Miss are close friends, you should know that Miss and the second son of An, Qingxu, are studying in the same discipline, and their affection is very deep!" Shen Zhenzhu was startled and angry, a nameless fire arose in her heart, which even aroused the hidden pain in her heart, she wished she could slap the maid twice on behalf of Murong Lin.What a loyal girl to serve the master, what a lovely day lily!From the admiration she inadvertently revealed for Li Tan when she was speaking, she should have seen a thing or two long ago.How could she not know whether An Qingxu and Murong Linzhi had an affair?Even if there used to be, how can the two get involved now?At present, forcibly confusing the light and the dark, the intention is dangerous.

Barely suppressing her anger, she said calmly: "How do you know that your young lady must have left with An Qingxu, and there is no other reason?" Hemerocallis replied: "Princess, think about it, it's only a short journey from our palace to Guangping Palace." In the land of arrows, there is a lot of people in the market. My lady is not new to the world. If a strongman comes to captivity, how can she not alarm others. Only those who voluntarily go with others will be so silent. Besides, slaves During the two days of searching for Miss, I happened to hear that the An House is also looking for Second Young Master An."

This is really a coincidence, Shen Zhenzhu laughed in her heart, and asked again: "That being the case, you are looking for me, how do you want me to save your young lady?" Hemerocallis said: "I have been thinking about it, in order to save the young lady's life, the only thing I can do is to ask the princess to try to find Mr. An and young lady, and persuade the young lady to return to the palace; The concubine came out to explain to my lord that Miss and Young Master An are childhood sweethearts, and the lord is reasonable, although he was sad to hear the explanation, but he would not report back to the Holy Majesty and the Prince, let the lady bear the name of infidelity, and the whole family will not escape bad luck." Thoughtful and thoughtful, she is a formidable maid.Knowing that Li Tan falsely accused Li Tan of Murong Linzhi and An Qingxu's affairs with her humble status as a maidservant, Li Tan would not believe it in 90% of cases, and would instead become suspicious of her, so she made up a trick and asked herself to tell Li Tan, Li Tan may not believe other people's words, but she will definitely take Shen Zhenzhu's words seriously.This day lily has such vicious intentions, it is really unheard of.It's just that she underestimated Shen Zhenzhu, how could Shen Zhenzhu let others play with her at will.Wait, wait, there is no evidence for what you say, I am afraid that there is still physical evidence on the day lily, Shen Zhenzhu has already smiled and helped her up, and said: "It's just the matter between your young lady and An Qingxu, there is no evidence, tell me how to Talk to King Jianning in empty words?" Hearing this, Hemerocallis took out a letter from her bosom and handed it over: "Here is a letter from An Qingxu to my young lady. The young lady will know it at a glance." At a quick glance, it really looks like An Qingxu's handwriting, but she is determined to belong to it. For imitation, with An Qingxu's temperament, no matter how hard he tries, it is difficult to have the interest to write a letter.Nai nodded and said to Hemerocallis: "You go back, I will find a time to tell King Jianning." Hemerocallis could hardly hide the smile on his face, kowtowed to thank him before leaving. "Hong Rui, hurry up, follow her and see where she goes after she leaves the mansion." Seeing the day lily disappearing outside the corridor, Shen Zhenzhu urgently ordered Hong Rui who had already returned. Sitting in the room and thinking for a while, I still couldn't figure it out.There is no doubt that there is someone behind Hemerocallis, and he promised her the benefits of being in the palace of Jianning Prince, which is exactly what she is thinking, so who is this person?What does it mean that Murong Linzhi and An Qingxu disappeared at the same time? Waiting and waiting, Hongrui came back after more than an hour, and reported: "The day lily made many turns and turns after leaving the mansion, and I followed it very hard. In the end, I didn't go directly back to the Jianning Palace, but entered the victory. A teahouse in Yefang. I also rushed in, but I didn’t know that she was nowhere to be seen in the teahouse, so I had to order a bowl of tea and wait patiently. After a while, I saw her walk out of the teahouse with her head bowed.” Shen Zhenzhu thought this must be At the meeting place, she said to Hongrui: "Let's go, let's go to that teahouse to have a look." Hongrui only knew how to follow the daylilies, but now she heard Shen Zhenzhu's narration, she couldn't help being filled with righteous indignation, she only hated that she didn't follow the day lily. Find out the situation in the teahouse. The two discussed briefly and changed their attire.Shen Zhenzhu pretended to be a handsome scholar, Hongrui changed her men's attire and pretended to be a bookboy, she was still afraid of being recognized in that teahouse again, not to mention washing away all the lead, and smearing it on the fire, making her face smudged. The color of smoke and earth is enough. Starting from the back door of the Shen residence, within half an hour, the master and servant had already arrived at Shengyefang.Hongrui pointed to the front and whispered: "Miss, look quickly, this is the teahouse." But seeing the banners fluttering in the wind, the two-storey teahouse, with the words "Xiangmingju" written on the plaque, is magnificent.Entering the teahouse, you will feel a warm current. You can see that the teahouse is huge, and the hall on the first floor is overcrowded. The four corners of the teahouse are covered with charcoal fires, and the heating comes from this.It was not seen that the rough envoy Xiao Er Le Diandian ran over to greet her, but a pretty girl stepped forward and saluted, "You two guests, please take your seat." The voice was soft and delicate, and Shen Zhenzhu and the two couldn't help but lift their feet to follow her. go inside.The girl asked them carefully again if they would like to sit in the elegant seats on the second floor, Shen Zhenzhu thought that it would be difficult to observe the movement of the teahouse in the elegant room, so she replied "No".In the lobby on the second floor, there were only three or four tables and less than ten people sat there, enjoying tea.She chose a seat on the second floor by herself, and sat down opposite Hongrui. This seat is where you can get a glimpse of most of the two floors of the teahouse. As soon as she sat down, the girl asked: "What kind of tea do you two guests want?" Mian Sheng, I think this is the first time I have come back to our teahouse. Everyone in Xijing knows that our Xiangmingju gathers famous teas from all over the world, from the Mengding stone flower in Jiannan to the purple bamboo shoots in Huzhou, and the Shenquan, Xiaotuan, Changming, etc. in Dongchuan. Animal eyes, Bijian, Mingyue, Fangrui, Zhuyu from Xiazhou, Fangshan Luya from Fuzhou, Nanmu from Jiangling, Zisun from Yixing, Changzhou, Dongbai from Wuzhou, Jiukeng from Muzhou, Hongzhou The white dew of Xishan Mountain, the yellow teeth of Mount Huoshan of Shouzhou, and the tuanhuang of Qizhou, all of them can be exhausted!" She was articulate and orderly reported one by one, and every word was like silver beads falling on a jade plate, melodious.Shen Zhenzhu has taken the opportunity to inspect the teahouse from top to bottom.The owner of this teahouse must be very ingenious, all of them use sixteen or seventeen-year-old girls as mistresses, women and tea, thousands of styles can change freely, it is wonderful, Shen Zhenzhu is an expert in tea, he cooks and drinks by himself For fun, I never go out to drink tea. I didn't expect there to be such a tea drinking place in the capital. It's a pity that I knew it too late.Hongrui pouted at her, and saw that there was a door behind the cash register on the first floor, through which all the girls in the teahouse came in and out, and it was known that daylilies must have entered through this door for a long time before coming out. After reporting the names of the teas, the girl reported the names of dozens of tea fruits like a string of pearls, which is obviously proficient.Shen Zhenzhu said with a smile: "whatever you want, we don't know much about the tea ceremony, it's all up to the girl to decide." Pearl face had a look of astonishment, she quickly covered her mouth and said shyly: "My family slipped my tongue, but I have never seen such a face like a son, not only men have never seen it, even women, my family has never seen it before." Shen Zhenzhu smiled and nodded yes, but after a while, the girl brought a small red clay stove, boiled water over a charcoal fire, and put salt, crisp pepper, green onion, ginger, jujube, orange peel, dogwood, mint and other condiments in a small dish Materials, fruits, dizzying. The side door was curtained with thick blue felt cloth, and the girls kept coming in and out, not knowing what was going on inside. "Come here, come here, serve tea, serve tea!" Suddenly there was a commotion in the teahouse, and a person rushing up to the second floor with great momentum attracted the attention of others.When Shen Zhenzhu saw this person, she couldn't help crying secretly.Li Ruo really knows how to join in the fun.She was wearing a beautiful Uighur outfit this time, with a vertebra-shaped Uighur bun, like a Uighur girl.She hurriedly winked at Hong Rui, lowered her eyebrows to the side, but fortunately Li Ruo seemed to be busy and didn't notice them, so she found a seat far away and sat down, her expression was awkward, as if she was waiting for someone. Seeing this, the young girl who had been accompanying her said to Shen Zhenzhu: "Guest officer, please wait a moment until the water boils, and the slave's family will make tea." After saying that, she went to greet Princess Dening. Shen Zhenzhu made a plan, while the girl was standing with her back, the wide sleeves of her robe flicked on the table, she brought a plate of peppers and threw it down, the plate fell to pieces with a "boom", and her robe was also shattered. Sprinkled with flecks of minced pepper, she yelled "No", Hongrui had already stepped forward to help, dragged down another bowl of clear water, and became more and more flustered.Hongrui yelled: "It's not a good thing, we still have to pay a visit to Mr. Zhu, the bureaucrat, this is the most impolite." Shen Zhenzhu pretended to sigh and said: "I can only let it go, how can I go like this again, Going back to the inn to change the time will also delay the time." Hongrui seemed to be shedding tears in a hurry, and she looked like a timid book boy: "It's all caused by the villain, the young master finally invited Master Zhu to meet today, How can the villain miss the son's official career." The young girl came over upon hearing the words, and saw that Shen Zhenzhu's robe was fine, but there was a piece of pepper powder on the right corner of the robe, which was not easy to see, but it was not appropriate.Hongrui begged: "Sister, can you make it easy for us to clean it. Our master and servant rushed to Chang'an from the south of the Yangtze River, and the ten-year sage book is here today." Rui begged bitterly, and finally nodded: "My lord, please follow me." Shen Zhenzhu got up and left, hearing Li Yu's astonished "噫" sound behind her, afraid of being recognized by her, she stepped down the stairs in three steps at a time, Hongrui hurriedly followed behind. The girl led the way, raised the soft curtain of the side door on the first floor, and led Shen Zhenzhu and her into the inner room.Shen Zhenzhu was extremely vigilant, but acted in step-by-step fashion. Seeing that the inner room was cramped and compact, one could see the bottom at a glance, three or five girls were busy washing the cups and saucers, one wall was lined up with spare tea sets, and the other wall On the top are all kinds of tea leaves, all of which are named in tea pots. While wondering and thinking, there was a woman's shout from outside, resounding through the clouds, the inside and outside were silent, only heard the woman's coquettish voice: "An Qingxu, you are here!" Li Ruo, Li Ruo who is always bluffing! Shen Zhenzhu's head sank, "Hongrui." She called out softly, and then fell into the darkness.