Chapter 2 Teng Haojue: My back hurts...

Qiuyu and Dongmei on the other side felt something was wrong. Half a minute had passed, but Ji Ruoyu hadn't been seen for a long time. When the two were about to look for Ji Ruoyu, they heard a conversation between passersby: "It's so scary, there are assassins in broad daylight." The passerby's companion also echoed: "Yes, someone dared to assassinate in the street under the emperor's feet."

The conversation between the passersby was like a bucket of cold water poured over the two people from head to toe. Dongmei was almost scared to tears and rushed out to find Ji Ruoyu, and Qiuyu hurried to follow.

The two searched for Ji Ruoyu on the street for a long time but couldn't find her. Dongmei couldn't help crying, and even Qiuyu secretly wiped her tears. The guard was calm and said to the two: "Don't cry. It's not a good idea to not find her now. Let's go back and report to the master and the lady and see how the master arranges it." Qiuyu nodded: "This is the only way for now."

After the three returned to the mansion, they explained the whole story to Master Ji and Madam Ji. Madam Ji was shocked after hearing it. She held Ji Pingchuan's hand tightly, and looked at Ji Pingchuan with a crying voice, asking for help, saying: "What should I do, husband? My A Yu is gone."

Ji Pingchuan hugged Gao Xinman, patted her back again and again, and comforted her: "It's okay, our daughter will be fine." After that, he ordered the servant: "Take all the guards in the mansion to find the second lady for me! You must find her before dark!" The servant did not dare to delay and quickly agreed.

Ji Pingchuan then looked at the three people kneeling on the ground, and pointed at the guards: "You go too." Then he looked at Qiuyu and Dongmei: "Although the disappearance of the second lady has nothing to do with you, you are still derelict in your duty... You two go to the small Buddhist temple and kneel down to pray for the second lady."

After Qiuyu and Dongmei agreed, they got up and went to the small Buddhist temple. The two knelt in front of the Buddha and prayed for Ji Ruoyu seriously. Dongmei choked up while praying: "Please ask the Buddha to bless my girl, you must..." Although Dongmei is not a smart person, she is loyal to Ji Ruoyu just like Qiuyu. Qiuyu has been silently reciting the same words as Dongmei in his heart.

Gao Xinman has been leaning on Ji Pingchuan's arms and crying: "If my Ayu is in trouble, I can't live either..." Ji Pingchuan hates to see his wife cry, but he is not much better at the moment, his eyes are also stained with some red bloodshot, he coaxes Gao Xinman like a child and says: "It's okay, our daughter will be fine..."

On the other side, Teng Haojue coaxed Ji Ruoyu and was secretly taking her back to Ji's house. He was so cautious because his little girl was not married yet. If others saw Ji Ruoyu being sent home by a strange man at this time, Ji Ruoyu's reputation would be ruined.

After sending Ji Ruoyu safely to the Ji Mansion, Teng Haojue waved to Ji Ruoyu to signal her to go in and then turned away from Ji Ruoyu's sight. Ji Ruoyu wanted to ask the hero's name but had to give up now.

As soon as Ji Ruoyu entered the door, she saw the doorman staring at her in a daze. The doorman looked at Ji Ruoyu with a surprised look and said, "Second Miss? Second Miss, you are back?" Seeing Ji Ruoyu nodded, he reacted and shouted to the yard, "Second Miss is back! Second Miss is back!" While saying this, he ran towards the hall. Ji Ruoyu also reacted at this time. Her parents were probably worried and followed the doorman.

When Gao Xinman heard the doorman's voice, she thought it was an auditory hallucination, but she saw her daughter standing at the door. It was not an illusion but a real person standing in front of her: "Ayu... my daughter is back." Gao Xinman rushed over and hugged Ji Ruoyu. The moment she hugged Ji Ruoyu, Gao Xinman couldn't help crying.

"My daughter is back." The mother and daughter hugged each other, and Ji Pingchuan also stepped forward to touch Ji Ruoyu's head. Ji Ruoyu felt a pair of big hands stroking her head. When she looked up and saw that it was her father, she choked and said, "Daddy..." Ji Pingchuan looked at his daughter and said, "It's good that you are back... It's good that you are back safely..." Then he signaled the servant to let the guards who were looking for Ji Ruoyu come back.

Gao Xinman let go of her daughter and looked at Ji Ruoyu carefully. She cried with joy and said, "Let mother see." Ji Ruoyu let her mother fiddle with her: "My daughter is fine. Someone saved my daughter, so that my daughter escaped this disaster."

Both of them showed puzzled expressions and did not understand Ji Ruoyu's words. Seeing this, Ji Ruoyu explained the ins and outs of the matter to the two. After Ji Ruoyu finished speaking, Ji Pingchuan almost jumped up: "In broad daylight! This happened!" Ji Pingchuan served as the Taiwei in the court. His task was to lead troops to fight in wars. He would not easily show up unless there was something important.

Ji Pingchuan thought about it and asked Ji Ruoyu, "You said that the assassins were targeting that man at first?" Ji Ruoyu nodded, and Ji Pingchuan asked again, "Do you still remember what he looked like? Or his name?"

Ji Ruoyu shook her head and said, "He was wearing a mask at the time, and I forgot to ask his name..." Ji Pingchuan said to Ji Ruoyu, "It's okay, Daddy will help you solve this problem." Ji Ruoyu looked at her father's thoughtful look, and knew that it was related to the previous dynasty, so she didn't ask much.

"By the way, I have something to tell you today." Ji Pingchuan helped Gao Xinman sit down on the chair before slowly speaking. "What is it?" The mother and daughter asked together. "After the morning court today, Lord Li told me that the palace will hold a beauty pageant in the third day." Gao Xinman asked, "Why is it so sudden?"

Ji Pingchuan looked around and made sure that no one was around before saying, "Lord Li's nephew is working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I heard from his nephew that the Queen Mother is dying and will soon die. The civil and military officials strongly requested that Your Majesty hold a beauty pageant to cheer the Queen Mother up... Your Majesty was reluctant, but the Queen Mother also begged hard..." Gao Xinman was shocked. She was dumbfounded and said, "The Queen Mother is seriously ill? Wasn't she fine before? Why is she..." Ji Pingchuan shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

"I heard from others that the Queen Mother suddenly fainted some time ago, and she looked like this when she woke up..." He said in a calm tone. "But fortunately, Ayu is not on the list of beauties." Ji Pingchuan had long seen what his wife and daughter wanted to ask, and he said this to put their minds at ease. As soon as he said this, Gao Xinman couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Ji Ruoyu finally let go of her worries.

"This time, the selection of beauties only requires the daughters of fifth-rank officials, aged between fifteen and eighteen." Gao Xinman asked, "Only the daughters of fifth-rank officials?" Ji Pingchuan nodded, "I heard that the Queen Mother insisted on it."

"It's okay, it's none of our business, so don't spread it." Ji Pingchuan said this, Ji Ruoyu also agreed, Gao Xinman also nodded, "I know."

In Prince An's Mansion, Teng Haojue was sitting on a chair, letting the secret guards apply medicine to him. The injuries to other parts of his body were not very serious, but his back was more serious. There were cuts on his back, some of which had scars, and some looked bright red as if they were just injured not long ago...

"How many times has this happened?" Teng Haojue spoke calmly, his expression was still indifferent, as if he was not the one injured. Shadow stopped what he was doing and replied respectfully: "My Lord, this is the fourth time, but this is the first time that it's been so blatant."

Teng Haojue sneered, his mouth curved in contempt, his eyes were like knives: "You are so eager to take my life, and you don't even consider whether you deserve it. Tell me, who is it this time? Teng Haomu? Or Teng Haoze?"

"My Lord, it's the eldest prince." After Shadow finished speaking, he quietly looked at Teng Haojue's expression, and saw that Teng Haojue's expression did not change before he took over. "I found out that the eldest prince has been in and out of Yonghe Palace frequently recently..." Teng Haojue snorted: "It seems that his good mother gave him the idea... How stupid..."

After bandaging Teng Haojue, Shadow asked: "My Lord, do you want us to teach him a lesson?" Teng Haojue said: "No need. My father is worried about the matter of the grandmother recently. Another incident will only make my father worried... You go and tell my mother that I am fine. I will go to pay my respects to her in a few days." Shadow agreed and left.

Teng Haojue would often think of countermeasures to deal with the two people at this time, but today was different. He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve. The handkerchief was embroidered with the word "rain" and had a fragrance on it. After he looked around and saw that there was no one around, he put the handkerchief in front of his nose and smelled it. It was indeed fragrant, just like the fragrance when he just hugged her. Teng Haojue couldn't help but recall the scene with Ji Ruoyu just now. Everyone thought that was the first time he and Ji Ruoyu met, including Ji Ruoyu, but in fact it was their second time.

The two secret guards on the eaves watched Teng Haojue's series of operations and fell into deep thought. You look at me and I look at you, and both of them tacitly don't mention what they saw. If the master finds out about this, he will lose a layer of skin.

Inside Prince Ping's mansion, Teng Haomu was throwing things and getting angry. He roared: "How many times has this happened!! Why is Teng Haojue so lucky!" The personal eunuch kneeling on the ground was trembling, and kept saying: "Your Highness, calm down, Your Highness." The secret guard kneeling beside the eunuch said to Teng Haomu: "Your Highness, calm down, he is lucky this time, as long as we do it more secretly next time, it will definitely work." Teng Haomu calmed down and murmured to himself: "You are right, he is lucky this time, he will definitely die next time." After that, he looked at the secret guard: "Teng Haoze also took the time to do it, do it secretly so as not to be discovered..." The secret guard just responded, there was a sound outside the door, and a woman came in.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to Your Highness." The woman who spoke was Teng Haomu's first wife, Liu Ying. "Ying'er, why are you here?" Teng Haomu's face changed immediately when he saw his wife, and he walked forward to support Liu Ying. Seeing this, the secret guard and eunuch hurriedly left. "I heard that His Highness was angry, so I came here." After saying that, Liu Ying leaned into Teng Haomu's arms. Although Teng Haomu was cruel to other people, he was very doting on his wife. "I was in a bad mood, but when I saw Ying'er, I felt much better." After saying that, he squatted down and touched Liu Ying's belly. "Did the child bother you today?" Liu Ying smiled and replied, "No, he was very well behaved today. The imperial physician came to check my pulse today." Teng Haomu raised his head and looked at Liu Ying's hesitant expression. He suddenly became anxious: "What's wrong? Is the child not well?" Seeing Teng Haomu's reaction, Liu Ying laughed out loud: "No, the child is very healthy. The imperial physician said that I should be pregnant with a daughter." After saying that, she touched her belly.

"Daughters are good! Daughters are like little cotton-padded jackets. If they look like you, they will be so cute." Teng Haomu was as happy as a child. Liu Ying knew that daughters were good and cute. She wanted a daughter before she got married. But since she married Teng Haomu, Concubine Xian has been trying to force someone on Teng Haomu. If Concubine Xian knew that she was pregnant with a daughter, there would be several more women in the mansion tomorrow...

Teng Haomu looked at his wife's expression and knew what she was worried about. He comforted her, "Don't worry, Ying'er, no matter how many woman Concubine Xian wants to force me, I will definitely not accept any of them or look at any of them! If she really wants to force "If you don't want to get them, I'll take a stick and chase them all out! !" Liu Ying burst out laughing. Teng Haomu was relieved to see his wife finally smile. He hugged Liu Ying tightly and whispered: "Don't worry, I only have you in my life. I will protect you and your daughter for the rest of your life, okay?"

Liu Ying was very moved. She buried her head in Teng Haomu's arms and responded to him: "Okay... Just stay with my husband and children for the rest of my life." The two of them put their hands on Liu Ying's belly and kept silent. But the air seemed to be filled with pink bubbles. Liu Zhou felt that it was her life's luck to meet Teng Haomu in her life.