"Duang, Duang, Duang, Qiang... The sky is dry and things are dry, be careful of the candle..."

As the sound of the watch came from a distance, I learned that it was already the third watch.

The convoy of the Crown Princess, which had just left the inner city, was moving quickly, all the way to the west, up the Xishan Mountain, and arrived at Lingtai Temple to stay.

.This battle, which occurs twice a month, has been seen by nearby residents and night patrol officers for a long time. It is a well-known routine.

The Crown Princess entered Lingtai Temple, and the abbot "Master Citong" who had been waiting for a long time came to greet her immediately. After paying homage to the main god "Medicine Buddha" enshrined in the temple as usual, she came to greet her.

He then moved to a Zen room among the bamboo trees in the back mountain and spent the night here as usual.

Outside the Zen room, everything was solemn and solemn.

One hundred and twenty members of the Prince's Guards were deployed. The soldiers wore uniform black armor, held short swords, and looked around like eagles and wolves, patrolling the surroundings vigilantly.

Their steps were uniform and without a trace of noise, like iron and copper walls guarding the open space around the Zen room.

There was silence all around, except for the sound of my own breathing.

The originally cheerful cries of cicadas and birds in Lingtai Temple were suppressed by the momentum of the warriors, and they did not dare to make any sound.

In the forest outside the courtyard, there was an occasional breeze passing by, and the rustling of fallen leaves was restrained by the vigilant eyes of the warriors, who did not dare to take a step closer.

Within a radius of three hundred feet is a forbidden area, free of humans and animals! Without instructions or permission, not even the monks in the temple are allowed to come even half a step closer.

In the Zen room, in addition to the Crown Princess, there is also a personal maid "Xiao Zhen" and two female guards with swords, a total of four people.

The prince's guards were in groups of four, two in groups, and one lantern in each group. There were a total of sixty lanterns around the meditation room. In the entire bamboo forest, this place was the brightest!

Tonight is the fifteenth, a night with a full moon. There are no clouds in the sky, and the night is particularly bright. Even without lighting a lantern, you can clearly see the shadows of the trees in the distance.

"I see that the moonlight is as bright as day tonight. How about... make a suggestion to Lord Baihu and put out the lanterns."

"Aqiang", a young guard who had just been transferred from the northern border defense, said timidly, holding a lantern in one hand and holding the embroidered spring knife hanging on his waist with the other.

"Don't get scolded. If I ask you to hold a lantern, just do it!"

The old guard "Er Gou" who was in the same group on the side continued: "This is not a border crossing, there are not so many taboos."

Ergou had also stayed at the border in the past and knew the customs of border officers. Guarding outside the border and wandering around with a lantern at night was a death-defying rhythm! Not only would his position be exposed, but if he didn't do it well, he would even expose the person behind him.

All the brothers in the team will lose their lives!

But it's different in Guannei City. A large group of people hold lanterns. In addition to lighting themselves up and increasing their visibility, more importantly, they can help them become more courageous. At the same time, they can also serve as an early warning.

In the Gyeonggi area where public security is relatively good, bandits and thieves will often avoid it if they see a sea of ​​lanterns from a distance. If they see "official signature" written on the lanterns, they will not dare to approach.

Have to go around.

Aqiang and Ergou were placed at the outermost sentry point in front of the Zen room, enduring the cold wind and mosquito bites!

They only have one thing in mind: to close the team and break up as soon as possible.

"Brother Liu", an adult from a hundred households, was holding a handful of incense in his hand and came from behind to patrol. He gave Ergou and Aqiang one piece of incense each, and told them: "Put the incense on the ground.

It can be dewormed." After saying that, he moved to the next sentry point.

Aqiang: "Brother Liu is really awesome. He even prepared incense for us."

"Hmm... I come here twice a month to stand, and I can tell a lot about my experience."

Ergou said disapprovingly: "That is the incense that the brothers bought with their own contributions. Otherwise... there are so many mosquitoes in this bamboo forest, who can stand it!"

Aqiang: "That's it!"

Ergou: "By the way, you can also go to Baihu and befriend everyone later. We have befriended everyone in the Prince's Guards, and you are no exception!"

Aqiang: "I know."

Less than half an hour later, Aqiang, who was sharp-eyed, spotted a group of people heading up the mountain quickly from a distance, so he nervously reported back to Ergou.

Ergou squinted his eyes and looked in the direction of Aqiang's finger. He said, "Oh, it's okay, that's He Xiang's person."

Aqiang: "Crane... Crane phase?"

Aqiang stared at the group of people approaching quickly down the mountain. Soon, they were close enough to clearly see the lanterns they were holding. But what puzzled him was that Ergou said they were the Prime Minister's people, but they were actually

Holding the lantern of the Lujiabiao Bureau!

There are not many people in the Lujiabiao Bureau team, about thirty people.

Brother Liu quickly arrived and contacted the leading escort; within a quarter of an hour, an official sedan appeared not far from the front line of the Crown Prince's Guards' defense line.

"You just came here not long ago, and it's your first day to take on this errand..."

Ergou lowered his voice and reminded Aqiang.

"Tonight... whatever you see, treat it as if it never happened, you know?"

Aqiang: "Why... why..."

"Don't worry about it, and don't ask..." Ergou pointed to the sky and continued: "In short... it's all the business of the adults above; we are just people who receive official pay, do errands, and do other extraneous things.

, there is no need to ask more, and you shouldn’t ask!”

The Crown Princess and her party in the Zen room heard the sound of a large group of people moving outside and knew that "people" had arrived. After a while, the door of the Zen room was pushed open, and then He Xiang walked in alone.

"I've met Mr. Ge..."

The two female guards bowed their hands and paid their respects.

"This slave has met Mr. Ge."

Xiaozhen folded her hands and placed them on her upper abdomen, lowered her head and bent her knees, saluting.

He Xiang ignored their greetings and made no response, and walked directly to the Zen room where the Crown Princess was.

"Well sir, sir."

The Crown Princess greeted.

"Well done, sir."

Since He Xiang's time was limited, he did not mince words and asked directly: "Prince...have you been favored by me recently?"

Princess: "No!"

Upon hearing the Crown Princess's answer, He Xiang sighed and said with emotion: "Eight years, a whole eight years, the Crown Prince really hasn't touched you?"

The Crown Princess looked aggrieved and pursed her lips as she said, "His Royal Highness has a Longyang habit and would rather sleep with a boy..."

"Princess, remember not to talk nonsense!"

Before the Crown Princess could finish her words, He Xiang quickly interrupted!

Then he said: "Long Yang's matter... I understand, the boy's matter is not allowed to be mentioned again in the future! Unless... you want to cause the prince to be deposed!"

Then, He Xiang took out a beautifully crafted copper box from his sleeve.

Said: "You put this... into the wine, let the prince drink it first, and then be in the same room with him; remember, don't let other women around the prince within two hours!"

The Crown Princess took the copper box and opened it. There were five small water-blue pills the size of peanuts inside.

"What is this?" the princess asked.

"One night of sexual immorality is a crime that cannot be dissuaded by gods. People in the world call it 'seven pills a night'!"

He Xiang continued: "This is the strange medicine I asked for from the Taoist Huanxi. No matter whether it is human or animal, after taking one pill, the animal nature will be unleashed, and gods will be killed if gods are blocked, and Buddhas will be killed if Buddha is blocked!"

It’s not until the effect of the medicine wears off that you can wake up from your dream.”

After He Xiang left the copper box and seven pills a night, he stood up and left; the Lu family escort team that came with him also followed down the mountain.

In the bamboo forest, the tranquility returned to what it should have been, as if no other teams had come that night.

The next day, after the princess had finished worshiping the Buddha and chanting sutras, the large group of people immediately went down the mountain and returned to the East Palace before noon.

After Aqiang left the class, he was taken to the armory by Ergou.

I saw Brother Liu holding a heavy linen bag in his hand, handing out money to the brothers who went up to the mountain to work last night, one tael per person, no more, no less!

Ergou said that it was the hush money from last night's job. If you buy this big guy's mouth, you won't let any news leak out!

Because they can earn regular money twice a month, everyone in the Prince's Guards is tacitly aware of this extra income and is happy to hear it. They quietly take the money and do their jobs peacefully. As time goes by, they become accustomed to it and no longer take it as strange.

....

Aqiang took the money and thought to himself, if the Crown Princess really has any shameful "habits", our brothers in the guard would be the best tools to hide it from others. Two or three times a month, they would give some money as hush money, and everyone would tacitly agree.

If you don't mention it at all, you won't even say it if the sky falls.

In fact, we don't care what the princess is doing in the Zen room. Is she practicing Zen, cultivating immortality, or "double cultivation" with He Xiang?

Anyway, we are responsible for guarding the outside of the meditation room to ensure that the people inside "practice with peace of mind." Once the monthly hush money is received, we will have "all our wishes come true."

Although this job is not as grand as usual when we are stationed at the gate of the palace, we do this kind of "personalized customization" work occasionally.

Looking back, it would be nice to have this little extra money to make the wives and children of brothers who need to support their families happy.
Chapter completed!