There was no curfew for three consecutive nights on Dragon Boat Festival, and the court did not restrict the people of Daliang from having fun all night long.
But even so, late at night is still much deserted compared to daytime.
So around Xu o'clock that night, Zhao Hongrun took Princess Yulong back to the palace, who was already tired of playing. After changing back to her original clothes in Wenzhao Pavilion, Princess Yulong secretly returned to the palace under the escort of Zhao Hongrun and several imperial guards.
Her Yuqiong Pavilion.
It is undeniable that Princess Yulong's status in the palace is not very high. She is only served by a middle-aged maid and a few young maids.
These palace maids have been looking for the whereabouts of their princess since the time of You, and they are almost going crazy.
"Your Highness Princess, you are back...where have you been?"
A young palace maid had been waiting for Princess Yulong outside the Yuqiong Pavilion. After seeing her return safely, she asked impatiently, and whispered to her princess: "Princess, be careful, Xu Gongshi is very angry."
"Xu Gongshi..." Princess Yulong returned home with a look of uneasiness on her face.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but ask: "Sister Huang, who is Xu Gongshi?"
Before Princess Yulong could speak, the palace maid saw Zhao Hongrun and others. She was so happy that the princess who had been missing for two hours had returned safely, so she did not notice Zhao Hongrun and others behind the princess.
Now that she saw Zhao Hongrun, she immediately asked in a rude tone: "Who are you? How dare you get so close to my princess?...Did you abduct my princess?"
"Cui'er." Princess Yulong was afraid that Zhao Hongrun would be angry, so she quickly scolded: "This is my brother, the eighth prince Hongrun."
"Eighth, eighth prince?" The palace maid, who was replaced by Cui'er, suddenly turned pale. She quickly kowtowed to the ground and said, "I am blind and do not recognize His Highness. Please forgive me."
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Princess Yulong and saw her looking at the palace maid Cui'er with worry and embarrassment, and then turned to look at him. He suddenly understood: this palace maid must be the imperial sister's personal palace maid, and she is also
The relationship is good.
In this case, how could Zhao Hongrun blame him? He waved his hand and said: "He who doesn't know is not guilty, just get up...You haven't answered me yet, then who is Xu Gongshi?"
"Thank you, Your Highness, for not blaming me." The palace maid Cui'er stood up with lingering fear and secretly looked at Zhao Hongrun in front of her.
You must know that the relationship between brothers and sisters in the palace has always been weak. After serving Princess Yulong for so many years, this was the first time she saw a prince walking with their princess.
"Then Xu Gongshi..." Cui'er rolled her eyes slightly and whispered: "She is the female official sent by the Palace Etiquette Bureau to serve the princess. She has always been very bad to the princess..."
"Tui'er, don't talk nonsense." Princess Yulong seemed to have noticed something, and turned to Zhao Hongrun and explained: "Hongrun, don't listen to her nonsense. Xu Gongshi is just a little harsher on me. No princess in the palace can
This is how it came..."
Although she didn't know exactly what was going on, Princess Yulong had a slight feeling: the emperor's brother in front of her was particularly caring for her for some reason, or she might have believed the words of the palace maid Cui'er and went to find the Xu Gongshi.
trouble.
"Is that so... Sister Huang, won't you treat me to a cup of tea?" Zhao Hongrun said to himself and walked towards Yuqiong Pavilion.
Princess Yulong felt bad when she heard this. She glared at the talkative palace maid Cui'er, grabbed Zhao Hongrun's sleeves and whispered: "Hongrun, it's getting late, you should go back first... You are still here late at night.
It would be outrageous to spread this word about staying in the imperial sister's bedroom."
At this moment, an older palace maid walked out of Yuqiong Pavilion. When she saw Princess Yulong, she frowned and walked over. She walked up to Princess Yulong and scolded her face-to-face: "Princess, do you still know how to come back?"
What time is it? I will report this matter to the Shangyi Bureau."
After saying that, the elderly palace maid noticed Zhao Hongrun, whose sleeves were being pulled by Princess Yulong, and frowned tightly: "Who are you?"
Zhao Hongrun glanced at the palace maid indifferently, and he already guessed the identity of the other party, and said in a cold tone: "Zhao Hongrun!"
"Zhao... Hong... Run..."
The palace maid's expression suddenly changed when she heard this, and she hurriedly knelt down on the ground. Seeing her panic, the palace maid Cui'er laughed and gloated beside her.
"Are you Xu Gongshi?"
If Zhao Hongrun had been polite when he spoke to the palace maid Cui'er, now he was showing off as a prince.
Combining the small report of the palace maid Cui'er and the anxious expression of Princess Yulong just now, Zhao Hongrun can guess what is going on.
It's just that the female palace official sent by the Shangyi Bureau in front of her saw that Princess Yulong had no one to help her in the palace, so she treated her badly.
Of course, these are just Zhao Hongrun's guesses. He still needs to confirm them.
Suddenly, his eyes glanced at the palace maid Cui'er who was secretly sneering at Xu Gongshi, and his heart moved slightly.
He could see that the palace maid named Cui'er was very smart. She had just seen that he had a good relationship with Princess Yulong, so she tried to use his hand to punish Xu Gongshi. Although she was young, she was indeed very smart.
Thinking of this, he asked: "Tui'er, if Your Highness is not here this time, will the Imperial Sister be punished?"
Cui'er raised her head and glanced at Zhao Hongrun, as if she understood something from his eyes, and said without hesitation: "Xu Gongshi will speak ill of the princess to Shangyi Bureau, unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless Her Royal Highness the Princess gives her some money."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Gongshi, who was kneeling on the ground, hurriedly got up, pointed at the palace maid Cui'er and yelled angrily with a red face: "You bitch, please don't spit on me!"
Zhao Hongrun's eyes turned cold when he saw this: "Does His Highness allow you to get up?!"
Listening to that cold voice, Xu Gongshi trembled all over.
Although she is a female official in the princess's boudoir and has not had the opportunity to meet Zhao Hongrun, a prince whose bad reputation has spread throughout the palace, she has at least heard of this prince's "great achievements": this is a man who dares to destroy the emperor's imperial garden.
, the prince who dared to hit Chen Shuai’s Youzhi Palace.
With a pop, Xu Gongshi fell to his knees again.
"Hongrun." Princess Yulong shook her head gently towards Zhao Hongrun and whispered: "Don't cause trouble."
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Princess Yulong, chuckled and asked, "Is what Cui'er said the truth?"
Princess Yulong spoke up and opened her mouth, but was speechless and looked a little embarrassed for a moment.
He couldn't help but feel a little angry, knowing that the princess's monthly salary was not as generous as that of the prince, but Princess Yulong sometimes had to bribe the female officials for her occasional misconduct to prevent the other party from reporting her "misdeeds" to the Shangyi Bureau.
However, seeing that the imperial sister shook her head frequently, Zhao Hongrun still endured it, thought about it, and said, "Lu Mu, bring me the money."
Lu Mu understood, took out two silver ingots from his arms, and threw them in front of Xu Gongshi with an indifferent expression.
Seeing the two ingots of silver rolling past in front of his eyes, Xu Gongshi's heart skipped a beat, and he felt very trembling.
Dare she accept it?
No, she didn’t dare to accept it at all!
"I know my sin, I know my sin..." Xu Gongshi kowtowed repeatedly.
At this time, Zhao Hongrun knelt down, placed two ingots of silver neatly in front of Xu Gongshi, and said in a low voice: "Since my imperial sister does not want to argue with you about the past, your highness will forget about it, but if it happens in the future
Xu Gongshi is short of money, so he might as well come to my highness to ask for it... Do you understand?"
He spoke very slowly and clearly every word. Although there was no threat in his tone, the deep meaning inside made Xu Gongshi break out in cold sweat on his forehead.
"I don't dare, I don't dare anymore..."
"Very good, just keep the money!"
Zhao Hongrun nodded with satisfaction, stood up slowly, cupped his hands towards Princess Yulong, and said with a smile: "Sister Huang, Hongrun will leave first, so you should rest early."
"Oh..." Princess Yulong's expression was a little strange. After all, this was the first time she discovered that once this kind emperor brother became serious, his aura was really scary.
Suddenly, she thought of Xu Gongshi, who was still kneeling on the ground, and quickly bent down to help him up: "Xu Gongshi, get up quickly."
"Don't bother the princess, don't bother the princess..." At this time, Xu Gongshi didn't have the dignity of scolding the princess just now. He lowered his head and held the two ingots of silver as if he were holding hot coals, which made people feel uncomfortable just looking at him.
"Ah, the princess hasn't taken a bath yet. I'm going to prepare the water for the princess to take a bath..."
Not daring to meet Princess Yulong's eyes at all, Xu Gongshi ran to Yuqiong Pavilion in a panic.
"call……"
Princess Yulong took a long breath and looked a little weird.
Turning around, she found that the palace maid Cui'er was still looking longingly at the direction where her eighth brother Zhao Hongrun was leaving. Feeling angry and amused, she stepped forward and gently tapped Cui'er on the head: "I'm back!"
"
Cui'er rubbed her forehead and said with longing, "The Eighth Prince is really amazing..."
Princess Yulong was slightly startled, but she agreed with Cui'er's words in her heart.
She originally thought that her Eighth Emperor brother, who had always been arrogant in words and deeds, would give Xu Gongshi a lesson in order to vent her anger. However, she did not expect that Zhao Hongrun used the methods of a superior, not like a young man at all.
A fourteen-year-old child.
"Are you feeling spring?" Princess Yulong smiled and teased her personal maid: "Do you want me to help you pull the strings?"
Cui'er pursed her lips and said regretfully: "That's His Royal Highness..."
Yulong smiled bitterly in her heart when she heard this. In fact, she also understood that no matter whether the princess or the prince, they had no freedom in the matter of marriage.
"As long as you know, go back."
"Well... with the help of His Highness the Eighth Prince, no one will dare to bully the princess in the future..."
"No one bullied me..."
"Who said that... By the way, where have you been, princess just now?"
"I went...I won't tell you!"
Leaving behind the wide-eyed Cui'er who looked aggrieved, Princess Yulong ran to Yuqiong Pavilion with a smile.
Perhaps, after peeling away that layer of melancholy, she is actually just an ordinary fifteen-year-old girl.
Note again: Princess Yulong is not the heroine, and they will not be together, so don’t get entangled in it anymore. I focus on this girl just because she is an important supporting role in promoting the plot events, and is also the fuse of the fourth father-son war.
That's all... Is this a spoiler? Well, it doesn't count.