Duanmu Wuyou's response was expected by Gu Yiran. He smiled, “It was not Wei Changfeng. It was Wei Changfeng's sister.”

“A lady of the Wei Family?” This time, even Liu Xixun was surprised, leaning forward slightly and getting interested, “Shen Cangfeng's fiancée? Wei Changfeng said that there were womenfolk on Little Bamboo Hill. Is that her? How about her?” He asked, “How is she like?” But his expression said, “It will be better if Miss Wei is ugly and Shen Cangfeng has to marry an ugly shrew. And it will be the best, if this lady not only has an ugly appearance, but also has a bad temper that she could get jealous and quarrelsome easily.”

Duanmu Wuyou doubted, “When strangers went up the mountain, didn't the lady want to avoid? Was the lady you saw really Miss Wei?”

Although he didn't like Wei Changfeng, the Wei Family in Fengzhou, the Duanmu Family in Jinxiu, and the Liu Family in Eastern Hu were gentlefolk, so he believed the moral standards of the Wei Family. If she was really the lady of the Wei Family, especially the lineal one who had been engaged, how could she be seen by strange men at will?

So Duanmu Wuyou thought, “Maybe Wei Changfeng, a young child, was addicted to women's beauty at a young age and took beautiful maidservants and domestic prost.i.tutes, under the guise of traveling, to play on the mountain.”

n.o.ble families had been rich for hundreds of years and they kept their influence. Most of them had a lot of offspring, so it was inevitable that the good and the bad were mixed. Of course, some of the family's children were intelligent, capable and diligent, so as to make the family more advanced; some were elegant, liked Qingtan Idle Talk, and only enjoyed family support, but didn't care about the world, such as Duke Jingping; some relied on their family wealth, spent all their time in the world of wine and women and didn't want to make progress.

The last kind existed in every family. Although even people of the same clan despised them, they were from the same family after all. Except for scolding them for being unqualified descendants, they couldn't drag them out and beat them to death.

Since Duanmu Wuyou had become a Standby Guard, of course, he was a pushy person and looked down upon such people from a famous family. He hated Wei Changfeng very much, so he naturally thought of Wei Changfeng in such way. Even though he knew that Wei Changfeng was so familiar with the laws and history and was definitely not a s.h.i.+ftless person, it was a pleasure to say that!

Gu Yiran implicitly reminded, “The thatched cottage on the mountain is very small. The lady didn't know that we would go up the mountain, so she ran into us. If it had not been an accident, how could we meet each other casually? When I went up, I saw that she was walking along the river with her maids and servants. Her entourage was not vulgar, and people were wearing curtained hats. I dare not look more. However, it was also a coincidence. When we went down the mountain, Wei Qing wanted to take us to avoid and deliberately chose a path behind the house. Maybe this young lady thought the same way. She was just spending time in the bamboo pavilion behind the house. The green bamboo snake on the bamboo pillars in the green pavilions was almost in the same color as the background. Luckily, Zongqi had sharp eyes and found it. He popped up the dagger in his sleeves and nailed the snake on the pillar.”

“Brother Deng's eyesight has never been matched.” Duanmu Wuyou heard the meaning of Gu Yiran. Since Gu Yiran firmly believed that who they met was Miss Wei, before, that he casually speculated that the womenfolk was not in a good status was an offense to Miss Wei. Although there was no member of the Wei family, it would decrease his grace to slander the reality for no reason, by saying that she was a prost.i.tute.

Besides, Miss Wei was the fiancée of the people they knew. He said embarra.s.sedly, “If it wasn't for brother Deng, Shen Cangfeng, the NO.1 in men under 20, he-he….” Shen Cangfeng was known as the first young man who was under 20. He was also a Private Guard. In recent years, he was in the spotlight, and even the emperor gave him a lot of praise. Although Duanmu Wuyou and others were from lower families than him, they were also sons of n.o.ble families. They were all full of sap. How could they be willing to lower their heads?

Only listening to this name, he felt hostility to Shen Cangfeng. Now, since his partner saved Shen Cangfeng's fiancée once, he thought that he had the chance to laugh at Shen Cangfeng. Was Shen Cangfeng powerful? If it was not for Deng Zongqi, he couldn't even protect his fiancée!

Unexpectedly, Deng Zongqi smiled slightly, “I thought it was a close call, but later I found that even without my help, Miss Wei would also be OK.”

“Brother Deng, why did you say that?” Except for Gu Yiran, Duanmu Wuyou and Liu Xixun were very surprised.

Deng Zongqi and Gu Yiran looked at each other and then said, “Because Miss Wei's skill is not weak. I don't know whether she has learned concealed weapons, but more than ten feet away, she could nail another green bamboo snake with a round jade hairpin. With such strength, I'm afraid that even if the green bamboo snake crawled into her clothes, once it was found, with this young lady's agility, she would not get hurt.”

Duanmu Wuyou and Liu Xixun were surprised and said, “Are you talking about Miss Wei or the dark guards of the Wei Family?”

Deng Zongqi said, “Of course it was Miss Wei. When Wei Changfeng knew about this accident, he panicked and ran to the back of the house, calling 'my eldest sister'. The eldest granddaughter of Wei was in the capital. The only one who could make Wei Changfeng call 'eldest sister' was the eldest daughter of the eldest branch, his only elder lineal sister, Shen Cangfeng's fiancée.”

Seeing that Duanmu Wuyou and Liu Xixun were looking at him, Gu Yiran understood their meaning, and nodded, “Indeed, Miss Wei's courage is excellent. The green bamboo snake Zongqi found was just in an inch above her head. Because the situation was critical, he acted before he had time to explain. And the dagger flew into the pavilion and pointed directly at her head…. Not to mention unmarried girls, when men like us meet a situation that a dagger suddenly flies in when they are relaxing and sitting in the pavilion, they will also be frightened to lose their voice and cry, or even collapse to the ground. However, not only wasn't the young lady surprised but she also immediately tidied up her dress and went out of the pavilion to thank Zongqi after understanding the reason! At that time, her maid found another green bamboo snake ten feet away. Before the guards of the Wei Family could do anything, she pulled out the hairpin of the maid and killed the snake with it!”

Gu Yiran and Deng Zongqi looked at each other and said with a wry smile, “It was the first time we had seen such a daughter of an eminent family!” He said it with exclamation, appreciation and complex feelings.

“…” Gu Yiran and Deng Zongqi were not liars. They all proved Miss Wei's skill. Duanmu Wuyou and Liu Xixun suddenly fell silent. For a while, Liu Xixun, a big and strong man, sighed bitterly and said, “Shen Cangfeng himself has been the first person under 20. How could his wife also be so powerful?”

They all knew that he lost to Shen Cangfeng many times. Although he seldom mentioned it, in his heart, he always felt stuffy. Unexpectedly, not only did Shen Cangfeng defeat him several times, but his fiancée was also very powerful. When Gu Yiran was about to comfort him, Liu Xixun looked around and his bitterness disappeared suddenly. He was gloating, “Miss Wei is so fierce. She was shocked by the green bamboo snake in the pavilion, and killed another green bamboo snake for revenge in front of foreign guests without any hesitation. Maybe she will be a vixen. I'm afraid that when they get married next year, she'll pull up her sleeves and beat Shen Cangfeng to make him very obedient. It's a good marriage! Well done!”

He cheerfully raised the tea bowl and said sincerely, “I wish Miss Wei a long happy life and a lot of children. She will keep Shen Cangfeng in charge all her life. He will not dare to disobey her will!”

Gu Yiran gave a dry cough and said, “Let's talk about the journey.” They were so far away from the capital with the emperor's order, but they also didn't forget to curse Shen Cangfeng for marrying a vixen. This showed how deep the trauma Shen Cangfeng had given them.

If they continued to say something like that, they wouldn't expect to surpa.s.s him in their life.

After a while, the food was ready. The servants had tested it with silver chopsticks and brought it up. Everyone was from n.o.ble families. They had good table manners and didn't say anything while eating. The tavern became quiet.

Deng Zongqi was eating with a calm and dignified manner, but his heart was beating a little faster.

So that was Miss Wei, not the future Crown Princess?

On Little Bamboo Hill, Deng Zongqi looked at Wei Changying, who was wearing a curtained hat, over and over again. It was not because he didn't know the etiquette or was fond of beauty.

He was the eldest son of the Deng Family in Rong City, but his father died when he was seven years old. He had the fifth official rank before his death. If his grandfather had had the third official rank, he would have been able to become Honor Guard. However, his father had a very bad disposition. He offended all his brothers. Even the family of his wife was so angry that they had broken off with him.

With such a father, Deng Zongqi's situation after losing his father could be imagined.

Although he had at least the qualification to become a Standby Guard, what could he do when his uncles tripped him up knowingly? If his aunt, Honored Consort, hadn't protected him….

It was said that the position of Honored Consort in the imperial harem of the Great Vi was not low. Under the Empress, it was the Honored Consort. It could be seen that the situation of Deng Zongqi's aunt in the palace was good.

But since Honored Consort Deng entered the palace, she had been an Honored Consort. Decades later, the Queen had been changed three times, but she was still an Honored Consort. It was not hard to express regret and desolation.

Originally, Honored Consort Deng had a chance.

The first wife of the emperor, the Empress Liu from the Liu Family in Eastern Hu, died, and the position of the Empress was empty. At that time, there was a rumor in the palace that the Emperor didn't want to choose another n.o.ble girl to enrich the palace, but he intended to let Honored Consort move to the imperial harem.

Although it was unreasonable to change the concubines into wives, this emperor in this dynasty did so many unreasonable things. The aristocratic family of gentlefolks could understand the situation. Some people dared to risk their lives to do remonstrance, but it would also affect the family. Even if someone continued, his family would not agree.

After several isolated ministers in the court were ordered to suicide, the emperor became freer to do what he wanted.

The background of Honored Consort Deng was inferior to the Empress Liu, but she was the emperor's lineal cousin. The emperor's birth mother was one of the nine imperial concubines of the former Emperor, who was also born in the Deng Family of Rong City.

So Honored Consort Deng became Honored Consort after marrying the royal family.

But unexpectedly, just when the Feng Seal was about to be handed over to Honored Consort, the Empress Liu's cousin, a very beautiful first daughter of the Qian Family in Zhao City, went into the palace with her mother to mourn her cousin. She lost her way in Changle Palace “by accident” so that she failed to leave the palace on time, but she met with the emperor who happened to be on the way to pray in front of the memorial tablet of the former Empress.

So the second Empress of the dynasty was named Qian.

Empress Qian's mother was Empress Liu's aunt.

Although the Liu Family of Eastern Hu succeeded in using Empress Qian to prevent Empress Deng's appearance, they also suffered a big loss. The second year after Empress Qian had her own child, Empress Liu's eldest son, who had been prince for ten years at that time, was revealed to have practiced witchcraft in the East Palace and wanted to succeed ahead of time.

Although the Emperor didn't kill his son, the dethronement and relegation pushed the former Crown Prince, who was born with high dignity and strong temper, to kill himself with a sword, leaving a note to express his feelings. The former Crown Princess also died for her husband. That was the story about the first tragic Prince of the dynasty.

The next one who moved in the East Palace, of course, was the fourth Prince of Empress Qian.

When Empress Qian took the position of the imperial harem, although Honored Consort Deng regretted, she had not been sad for a long time, because at that time she didn't have any son, and she could still care about when she would have a biological son. Several years later, she finally had the sixth Prince, but Empress Qian's position was stable. Princess Deng didn't have other thoughts and cultivated the sixth Prince with all her heart.

Unexpectedly, the sixth Prince was smart and very young, which made people like him very much. He gradually outdid the new prince who was several years older than him. At that time, Honored Consort Deng was still young and proud of her son's intelligence. As the emperor's cousin, she had the emperor's favors, ranking second only to the Empress in the palace. Although she was also guarded to the Empress Qian, she was not willing to let the sixth prince become mediocre.

As a result of her unwillingness, the sixth Prince died of a sudden illness before turning 15 years old.

Princess Deng almost went mad and the emperor was furious. But the result of thorough investigation was that Shu Consort Huo, who had only one princess and was always modest and quiet, colluded with an official in the Imperial Hospital Ji Ying to kill the sixth Prince. The reason was that Shu Consort Huo and Honored Consort Deng were the consorts of the first grade. Not only Shu Consort ranked behind Honored Consort Deng, but Honored Consort Deng also had a son and she didn't.

How could Honored Consort Deng accept such an absurd reason? She kowtowed outside the Royal study until her face bled, only to get the scolding of the emperor for insulting the Empress and despising the imperial harem. If the Empress Dowager Deng had not been still alive, her position of the Honored Consort would not have been stable. Even so, Honored Consort Deng had been grounded for more than half a year.

Half a year later, there were more new people who were added to the palace, and the emperor's love for her fell sharply. But this half year's grounding was not useless at all. At least after the grounding, Honored Consort Deng calmed down and paid more respect to Empress Qian than before. When the emperor asked, she said she felt guilty to the Empress after reflection.

Her respect and regret finally paid off.

About ten years later, the first son of the second Crown Prince of the dynasty was born. Empress Qian was ordered to suicide for “jealousy and murder of the imperial concubine”. Until she died, there was nothing showing that Empress Qian was related to the death of the sixth prince.

But Empress Qian was finally ordered to suicide, and lost all standing and reputation, which also implicated the Qian Family.