Chapter 1257: Horseback riding, teahouse, storyteller
In a blink of an eye, it’s the end of the month and time for a day off.

After a busy month, I thought of my sister Ruoxi whom I haven’t seen for many days.

Su Mingzhe sent someone to invite the two sisters to go horseback riding in Beiyuan.

There are four royal gardens in the capital.

Among them, Nanyuan is the farthest from the capital and covers the largest area.

The East Garden has the smallest area and is closest to the Forbidden City.

The area of ​​Dongyuan is relatively general, ranging from the former Prince Rui's Palace to the area around Changpu River.

The owner of Prince Rui's Palace is the former regent Dorgon.

The earliest owner of Prince Rui's Palace should be Zhu Zhanji, the "good saintly grandson" of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, this place was called Hongqing Palace.

Later, the "Tumu Incident" occurred.

When Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Qizhen, was redeemed and became the retired emperor, he also lived here. At that time, the palace was renamed "Nangong".

Later, after Li Zicheng entered the capital, he burned this place into ruins.

After the Manchus entered the Pass, Dorgon lived here and converted it into the "Prince Rui's Palace".

After Dorgon's death, Emperor Shunzhi banned outsiders from coming here, and this area gradually became deserted.

Xiyuan is Changchun Garden, where Kangxi liked to stay the most.

Rumor has it that Kangxi spent half of the year on inspection tours outside and the other half living in Changchun Garden, and the Forbidden City became a decoration.

Compared with the larger South Garden, the East Garden and the West Garden have pleasant scenery, and the North Garden is located in Jingshan and Beihai areas.

This was the residence of the bannermen and also the vegetable garden of the civil and military officials of the Forbidden City.

According to the traditional layout of the capital: East City is rich, West City is expensive, North City is poor, and South City is cheap.

This Beiyuan was home to a large number of down-and-out bannermen, as well as the descendants of old eunuchs and palace maids.

That’s right, the old eunuchs and palace maids also have descendants.

These descendants may have been bought or adopted. In short, to outsiders, most of the people living here are descendants of eunuchs and palace maids.

When sisters Ruolan and Ruoxi arrived at Beiyuan Jingshan in a carriage, they saw that Su Mingzhe had already picked out the horses.

"Good luck to the prince!"

"no!"

Su Mingzhe's eyes suddenly lit up when he saw the sisters getting off the carriage.

Ruoxi, dressed in a red cheongsam, is still as cute, adorable, pure and beautiful as ever.

Ruolan was also wearing a pink cheongsam, which looked brighter and more light than her previous calm and peaceful temperament.

Looking at these two beautiful girls, some thoughts suddenly came to Su Mingzhe's mind.

"Hey, if you keep looking around, I'll dig your eyes out!"

Ruoxi saw the man looking at her and her sister with unscrupulous eyes, and she felt a little happy but also a little resentful.

As expected, none of these men are good!

He is clearly about to possess me, yet he still dares to covet my sister.

"sorry!"

Su Mingzhe first apologized to Ruolan, and then teased Ruoxi:
"The orioles are singing in the river island, the fair lady is the ideal match for the gentleman! Your sister Ruolan is so pretty, I couldn't help but take a few more glances at her, is that wrong? Of course, in two years, when your facial features develop a little more, maybe you will be prettier than your sister, and then I will look at you every day and annoy you to death!"

"Humph! How shameless!"

Ruoxi looked at the man's self-righteous expression and really wanted to kick him away.

However, this is just a thought.

But she knew how powerful the man in front of her was.

After a few quarrels, Su Mingzhe returned to his usual cold expression and asked the two women to choose horses.

Ruolan picked a tall horse, jumped lightly, and sat steadily on the horse's back.

Ruoxi picked a mare and only with the help of the man did she get on the horse.

Then, Su Mingzhe took the lead and rode towards the North Sea.

Ruolan took care of Ruoxi, and the two sisters trotted slowly behind.

The three of them ran from Jingshan to Beihai. Su Mingzhe felt that he had not moved at all, but Ruoxi was so tired that her palms were sweating.

The three men dismounted and rested.

Ruoxi looked at Su Mingzhe's horse, Zhao Yebai, which was completely white without a trace of other colors, and said enviously:
"Prince, can we switch horses?" Compared with Su Mingzhe's Zhao Yebai, her little mare was simply unbearable to look at!
[Such a beautiful Dayuan horse, if placed in modern times, would be worth at least several million, right? ]

Su Mingzhe had no intention of paying any attention to the girl's suggestion. After climbing onto the horse, he approached the girl, reached out his hands, and held her in his arms.

As for Ruoxi's little mare, the guards will come and take it back soon.

"Let's go!"

Su Mingzhe waited for Ruoxi to sit down, then smiled at Ruolan beside him.

It would be perfect if I could hold these two sisters in my arms!
Seeing Su Mingzhe and her sister in an intimate posture, Ruolan just smiled faintly, squeezed her legs slightly against the horse's belly, and took the lead to rush back.

It wasn't the first time that Ruoxi had ridden a horse with a man, and since they were engaged, she had no scruples at all.

The feeling of riding a tall horse is different from riding a mare.

Ruoxi was so excited that she would lean over from time to time, touch the horse's mane, and hug the horse's head.

Looking at that curvaceous figure and those two tempting peach petals, Su Mingzhe could only recite the [Bing Xin Jue] over and over again to avoid making a fool of himself.

Ruoxi didn't realize that she almost made the man angry. She turned around and said coquettishly with a happy face:
"My Lord, can you give me this horse?"

Su Mingzhe naturally would not refuse the girl's first request for a gift, but he did not forget to remind her:

"I can give you a ride, but your riding skills aren't good enough to ride on the street!"

"Don't worry, I'm not like you, riding a horse in a busy city, lawless!"

After coming to this world for more than a year, Ruoxi is no longer completely ignorant of the laws of the Qing Dynasty.

Dazhalan, where she was nearly hit, is located in a downtown area and horse riding is not allowed.

Of course, this regulation is also made for ordinary people.

For princes and nobles like Su Mingzhe, no one dared to stop them from riding horses anywhere else, except in the Forbidden City and military camps.

Not long after.

The three of them rode back to Jingshan Stables, and Su Mingzhe invited the two sisters to have dinner at a nearby teahouse.

Tianhuixuan outside Di'anmen is one of the largest teahouses in Beijing.

An eunuch had already gone ahead and asked for a private room.

The three of them entered through a secluded little door and just as they reached the second floor, they heard the storyteller telling the story of "The Case of the Chopping of the Beauty".

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, control over literary style was not too strict.

During the 61 years of Emperor Kangxi's reign, only a dozen or so literary inquisitions occurred, a number that is also very rare compared with the Tang and Song dynasties.

It was precisely because of the lax government management that most storytellers in teahouses dared to comment on current affairs.

The three of them had just sat down and ordered their food when they heard the storyteller say indignantly:

"Kaifeng Prefecture has Bao Qingtian, and I also have Shi Qingtian in Shuntian Prefecture."

"But Justice Bao has the dragon-head guillotine, the tiger-head guillotine, and the dog-head guillotine to kill all the evildoers in the world!"

"And I, Shi Qingtian, have a wealth of knowledge and passion, and I want to work for the welfare of the people, but I am always framed by treacherous officials..."

Inside the box, sisters Ruoxi and Ruolan couldn't help but look at the man when they heard this, secretly sweating for the storyteller.

The so-called "Shi Qingtian" refers to Shi Shilun, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture.

Two days ago, the Nine Gates Governor Tuoheqi impeached Shi Shilun, saying that he was "buying people's hearts" and had "ulterior motives."

Words like "buying people's hearts" and "having ulterior motives" are very fatal to a minister. If he is not careful, even his entire clan may be implicated.

Su Mingzhe naturally would not listen to the one-sided statement of Trust Heqi, but in accordance with court practice, asked Shi Shilun to submit a memorial to defend himself.

Logically speaking, if Shi Shilun submitted a memorial to defend himself and explained the whole story, the matter would be over.

After all, Su Mingzhe also knew that Shi Shilun was an honest official, and even if he had some minor flaws, he could still be considered a capable official.

Who would have thought that Shi Shilun would not play by the rules? Not only did he not file a petition to defend himself, but yesterday he impeached Tuoheqi for seven crimes including "forced buying and selling" and "forced seizure of women".

After the two of them had a quarrel, Prime Minister Zhang Yushu suspended them from their posts according to the rules and asked them to reflect on their actions at home.

In addition, the Dali Temple was sent to investigate the reasons why the two men impeached each other.

Now, only one day has passed.

Unexpectedly, a storyteller began to speak up for Shi Shilun.

I don't know whether this storyteller is really trying to "stand up for justice" or has "ulterior motives".

(End of this chapter)