The Gilded Cage

Since Xu Rong came that day, Chu Ning hadn't heard anything else, and they seemed to plan to wait a little longer.

Because of the guilt in his heart, Xiao Yu's attitude towards her was much gentler than before.

This is a good thing for Chu Ning. He tried to get close to her a few times, but was faintly rejected by her face. If you change it to the past, I'm afraid that he has already pushed her down on the feet with a gloomy face, but now he only colds his face and lets her go out by himself.

It's a lot easier.

At the end of the first month, the spring mood grew stronger and stronger, Xiao Kezhi finally made an order to move from Lishan Tangquan Palace back to Chang'an Taiji Palace.

Before leaving, Xiao Yu once again packed his bags, left Lishan, and went to Huazhou to check the situation after the ditch was dredged. It’s no more than 20 days since this trip, Chu Ning thought, when this matter is completed, when he returns again, I am afraid that he will use the opportunity of discussing his political achievements to bring up the matter of another marriage.

The East Palace is empty, Xiao Kezhi will naturally not let go of this opportunity.

On the second day, shortly after returning to the Taiji Palace, the door connected to the East Palace next to Wude Hall opened silently again.

It's just that this time, the place was not as grandly open as before, but the lock behind the door was removed. If you didn't push it, the people in the East Palace wouldn't be able to notice it.

It was before Xiao Yu set off from Lishan that the imperial guard had visited Prince Tang. It was Ming Li who was supposed to see him off for Xiao Kezhi, but in fact, he quietly delivered a letter to Cuihe, and Chu Ning found out.

In the evening, seeing the sky getting darker, after she had eaten dinner, she sent the maids around her back to rest. She changed into simple robes and went quietly to Tai Chi Palace.

The door opened with a light push, and she went in gently, waiting for the waiter over there to cover the door quickly, and handed her a piece of clothing without saying a word.

This time, she was no longer surprised, so she went into the room to the side and changed her clothes.

This is an underskirt most often worn by ladies of ordinary princes and nobles. It is gorgeous in color, expensive in fabrics, and exquisite workmanship. Even the accessories around the waist are neatly prepared. After she is dressed neatly, she wears a drapery to cover her face. , She looks like a noble girl who has been married as a woman.

On the way to the Temple of Ganlu, the servant of the palace was not as surprised as before when he saw her. He was probably getting used to it. It was not strange to think of the emperor as a stray young man.

It's just that there are curious eyes and careful speculations.

Chu Ning can almost imagine their speculation. It is nothing more than thinking that the saint is becoming more and more taboo now, and even the married woman will not let it go, and he will enter the palace grandiosely to take a look.

After stepping down outside the Ganlu Hall, she covered her hot cheeks before going down, and a gray shadow suddenly flashed in front of her eyes.

Vimalakīrti, who had just ran back from Houyuan, jumped to her steps and was staring at her with his tan eyes with his head held up.

She froze for a while and dared not move anymore.

"Don't be afraid." A familiar low voice sounded from behind, and then she was taken into a broad and warm embrace and stepped down, her hand was gently held, and she stretched out in the direction of Vimalakirti.

"With me, it won't hurt you." Xiao Kezhi whispered comforting in her ear, "It is very spiritual, as long as you get along with it, wait until it recognizes you."

Chu Ning endured the tension in his heart and carefully followed him and stretched out his hand to Vimal's head.

Vimalakīrti moved vigilantly, but probably because of the presence of the master, he only sniffed gently in her palm, then stretched out his tongue and licked it again, then did not resist anymore, and let her stroke her head back and forth.

The soft hair ran across the palm, bringing out a burst of warmth and comfort.

She couldn't help bending down boldly, and rubbed its back twice more closely.

The originally ferocious gray wolf actually made two "Woo" calls, as if it were just a huge dog.

It had been touched enough, and he trot with his head up for two more steps, spinning around her, and finally touching her side and rubbing affectionately.

Chu Ning was no longer as scared as before, and only looked down at it with a slight smile.

"It likes you." Xiao Kezhi's expression was gentle, and he looked at her and Vimalakirti, as if seeing her intersect with his own past.

After a while, the guard took Vimala down, and Chu Ning was about to step up the stairs, but he was suddenly picked up from behind and strode into the house.

The veil fell halfway, and no one picked it up. The servants stayed outside the hall with winks, and quickly closed the door.

Chu Ning clasped Xiao Kezhi’s neck tightly, and the shock that had just passed. At this moment, she looked down and saw the clothes on her body and couldn’t help but chuckle: “Your Majesty is really upset. For a while, it’s a court lady, and the other is a dancer. This time she became a woman."

Xiao Kezhi didn't go inside. He twisted and pressed her directly on the door panel, and tore open the skirt that had only been put on for a while.

The soft cloth was dropped on the ground and spread out scattered, ambiguous and charming.

"Yes, I like you as a woman, and I like to **** you from others. In the future, whatever identity you want, you will have any identity."

…

In the Baifu Hall, Empress Dowager Qi returned to the sleeping hall from the Buddhist hall after paying homage to the Buddha.

After the maid cleaned her hands, she offered the prepared vegetarian meal, and then stepped aside to tell what she had just heard.

"...Many palace occupants have seen it. It was the people from the Imperial Front who brought it into the Temple of Ganlu. It seems that it should be the wife of which house."

The Queen Mother Qi paused with Su Zhai's movements and asked: "Madam?"

"Yes," the maid replied in a low voice, "I don't know who it is, just look at the dress, it should be the wife of the Gonghou family."

"Absurd!" The Empress Dowager Qi couldn't help but frown, put the jade chopsticks down in her hand, and her already somewhat slack face became more and more droopy. "Can he be so unscrupulous when he is the emperor! The previous ones are justified, anyhow," Now even married women are getting started!"

Even if she didn't want to care about the emperor playing with women, she couldn't bear it anymore. The dignified emperor, openly entangled with the married woman, spread it out, it is really embarrassing.

"Go to the Temple of Ganlu, tell him to come to the Temple of Baifu." She didn't need to eat fast, and took a sip of rice soup, then sat with her eyes closed, and moved the Buddhist beads in her hand.

The maid lowered her head to respond and hurried to the Temple of Ganlu.

…

Outside the Ganlu Hall, Liu Kang was leading people to guard. When the maid from Baifu Hall came over, he hurriedly stepped forward to stop him: "I don't know, but the queen mother has something to pass on? It is not convenient for the holy to go down and off. The lady might as well tell me, and I will do it for you later. Convey it."

The maid looked at the closed door of the palace, pursing her lips, taking advantage of the fact that the servants were not paying attention, she suddenly rushed forward two steps and rushed directly to a place no more than two or three feet away from the door of the palace.

The ambiguous movement in the hall and the gasping of men and women faintly made her blush.

"Lady!" The waiters didn't expect that a single and weak lady would suddenly be so swift, and hurriedly chased her to block her, "Don't go forward again! That's the hall of the saint, don't trespass!"

The people in the room seemed to have heard the movement, but they never stopped. It was not until the woman cried and pleaded, and then there was another short and high cry, before she suddenly fell silent.

"Liu Kang, what's going on outside?" The emperor's voice was hoarse, with obvious tension and displeased being disturbed.

"Everyone, the people from Baifudian are here." Liu Kang was suddenly sweating when he was asked, and hurried to the door to reply.

The maid couldn't help but frowned. Somehow, she only felt that the voice of the woman in the palace seemed familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it.

However, she didn't have time to think much now, but she left the unclear voice behind her for a moment, and took the opportunity to shout: "The Queen Mother has something to say to your Majesty, please go to the Baifu Palace immediately!"

The people in the hall seemed to have not heard it, and gradually there was an ambiguous movement, but the woman seemed to cover her mouth, and her voice was muffled, looming, almost invisible.

For a while, when everyone outside looked at each other and didn't know what it meant, another nonchalant sentence came: "I am busy and it is not convenient to go to the Baifu Hall. If you have any words, please let the queen mother pass it on from generation to generation."

"Lady, please?" After receiving the order, Liu Kang didn't hesitate, and directly insisted on sending people away.

The maid did not expect to receive such a response, and her face turned white. She immediately turned her head and left, telling the Queen Mother Qi what had happened.

The Queen Mother Qi waited for so long, not only did she not wait for someone to come, but she was angry, and she couldn't help but feel angry.

"He's becoming more unscrupulous now! It's because I was negligent. I didn't expect him to be so unremarkable as a **** who can't be on the stage." She moved the prayer beads and became irritable, and took a few deep breaths before enduring it. With a surging emotion, he said coldly, "Tomorrow morning, let someone send a message to Xiang Gong."

…

In the Temple of Ganlu, after a long time, the two people gradually calmed down and hugged each other in sweat.

"Tired again?" Xiao Kezhi patted the cheek of the beauty in his arms, his tone was full of teasing and contentment, "It's only an hour, I see, you are ill-trained."

Chu Ning half-closed his eyes, stretched out his fingertips and gently poked his sturdy arm, and said dissatisfied: "Your Majesty, this is treating Aning as a sergeant in the barracks! This practice makes Aning tired every time. I have to be unable to climb, I'm afraid I won't be able to adapt in this life."

Somehow, Xiao Kezhi felt a touch of sweetness when she heard the "in this life" in her mouth, and she even became more relaxed with her already contented and cozy mood.

"It's still a long time, there is always time for you to adapt."

After calming down for a moment, Chu Ning gradually felt coldness coming from behind the sweaty back, couldn't help but drill into his arms, remembering what happened just now, and couldn't help saying: "Your Majesty just responded to the Queen Mother like that, it would be wrong. ?"

She knew that Xiao Kezhi was not afraid of the Empress Dowager Qi, but the Qi family was deeply ingrained in the end, and if offended rashly, it would always cause trouble.

"Don't worry, I have a sense of measure." Xiao Kezhi followed her hair casually.

He is not ignorant of the Queen Mother Qi's plan, but has been busy rectifying the front, and has not yet freed her hands. If she is really dissatisfied and insists on confronting him, he will not be soft.

Seeing that he was confident, Chu Ning stopped asking more questions, and instead told him what Xiao Yu and Xu Rong had said a few days ago.

Xiao Kezhi listened carefully, and when she finished speaking, he asked, "How are you going to respond?"

"The prince was suspicious by nature, and would never let me go, so I agreed first. When Xu Shidu asked me to surrender the position of the prince, I simply asked your majesty to allow me to enter the Taoist monk and practice. ?"

In this way, the prince might think that she was so decisive just because she was grieving, and to become a monk, she would be able to get rid of all mundane fame, and naturally she would no longer be one of his concubines.

Xiao Ke immediately understood her plan and nodded: "Yes, you can calm down, it's good. Don't worry, everything will go well."

Chu Ning whispered, "Well", she was half awake and sleepy.

"Aning, can you sleep here today?" He quietly approached her ear and asked.

Chu Ning, who had already squinted his eyes, nodded subconsciously, and then, as if reacting, suddenly propped up his chest, shook his head and said, "No, the people in the East Palace will find out."

The next person wakes up early, and if she returns to the East Palace early tomorrow morning, she will most likely be spotted.

There was a trace of loss in Xiao Kezhi's heart, but he knew that it was too risky, and he didn't say much, he just hugged her and got up and put on all her clothes.

This time, she has become more proficient in dressing her, but when the accessories are matched, she seems to be in a hurry.

"I'll do it." Chu Ning watched his movements, not even sleepy, and couldn't help but reach out to take it.

"No, I will come." As if he did not believe in evil, he stubbornly refused to give way.

Chu Ning couldn't, so he had to wait patiently, telling him from time to time how to wear those bracelets, rings, jade pendants, and necklaces. It took a while before it was a good deal.

"Your Majesty and the crown have been around for several years. How can there not be a lady by your side in Ganzhou these years?"

She couldn't help asking what she had been puzzled for a long time-even if no one cared and did not hire a regular wife, why didn't she even have a concubine?

Xiao Kezhi paused, looked at her expression through the bronze mirror, and slowly said, "Why are there women?"

"His Majesty is a prince. He was also a prince in Ganzhou. What aristocratic man would have been alone for so many years..."

She remembered his jerky and rush when she was with him for the first time in this nectar hall.

"Others are others, I am me. If I don't see the one I like, I will naturally be alone."

He answered simply, with no taboos or concealment at all.

But Chu Ning was stunned by what he said.

The Chang'an relatives she met, except for her father and a few older, upright uncles who had only one wife in their homes, almost everyone else had more than one concubine, and even took them home to pay them back. Not enough. Many people also raise singing girls and outhouses outside, and each one has more than one romantic debt.

She thought, they don't necessarily like those women much, but it's just impulsive and happy for a while.

When he said this, he was changing his way to tell her that he really liked her.

Her heart moved, and she felt a mixed feeling for a while.

"What do you want?" He squeezed her soft earlobe, and put a delicate eardrop into a small ear hole. "If you are so distracted, I won't let you go."

Chu Ning couldn't help shrinking to one side, covering his lips with a smile and avoiding the action that he was about to kiss him, until the outside door opened: "Okay, Aning is going back."

The step was ready, she took the drapery hat handed by the servant, put it on, and avoided the movement of him coming to hug her, lifted the tulle on the drapery hat and smiled at him, then turned and boarded the sidewalk. .

Xiao Kezhi stood on the steps and looked at her profile. There was an impulse in his heart, and he slowly suppressed it after a long while, waving his hand: "Go, be careful."