Fire Captain

When the Rong family is mentioned in the capital, the noble families who look down on others and the lower classes who can't eat grapes and say that the grapes are sour will say that they are just masons, but they rely on Rong Fei in the palace. Although it means to belittle people, it is also true. Compared with other noble families, their foundation is much worse, and their ability to control the capital is not that strong. This time, Rong Feiyan got into trouble. Because she was saved by Bai Ziyang, no one knew what Rong Feiyan almost faced. Although the Rong family suspected someone, they had no real evidence. After discussing with Rong Fei in the palace, they could only swallow this loss temporarily.

However, Bai Ziyang's heroic rescue of the beauty this time made Rong Feiyan have other thoughts. Originally, the Rong family had always focused on the sons of important officials in the court or the sons of major aristocratic families. It was a pity that there were too few young and promising ones among those sons. As for Bai Ziyang's reputation, although it was "ordinary" in the past, in recent years, because he has been relatively low-key and has not been in the capital most of the time, few people have noticed him.

Now that Bai Ziyang suddenly appeared, the Rong family suddenly found out after discussing that he was still a very good choice. Not only was he talented and handsome, but even though Prince Zhao was not well-known, at this critical moment of establishing a crown prince, if their Rong family could nominate Prince Zhao to become the crown prince, coupled with the influence of Concubine Rong in the harem, if they succeeded, it would be a great achievement to follow the dragon. By then, wouldn't their Rong family become the celebrities around the emperor?

If Bai Ziyang could be pushed onto the throne in the future, then their daughter would become the queen. When their daughter gave birth to a "prince", they would be the emperor's in-laws. By then, their Rong family would have completely changed their status... It was a beautiful thought, so naturally, when Rong Feiyan fell in love with Bai Ziyang, the Rong family would fully support her!

That day, Rong Feiyan asked someone to inquire about Bai Ziyang's whereabouts. Knowing that Bai Ziyang would go out to the teahouse to drink tea, she went to the teahouse on purpose to meet Bai Ziyang by chance.

"Young Prince Zhao!"

Bai Ziyang had originally made an appointment to meet someone at a teahouse, but the person didn't show up. Where did Rong Feiyan come from? Looking at Rong Feiyan's expression, Bai Ziyang couldn't help but frown and said, "It turned out to be Miss Rong!"

Rong Feiyan didn't know whether she didn't notice Bai Ziyang's cold reception or she noticed it but didn't mind. Instead, she sat down opposite Bai Ziyang and said with a smile, "I didn't expect to meet Young Prince Zhao here. Feiyan hasn't thanked Young Prince Zhao for saving my life last time!"

Bai Ziyang put down the teacup and said, "It's just a small favor. Besides, it was my subordinate who helped last time. Come to Shangcheng, Miss Rong wants to thank you!"

Shang Cheng, whose name was called, stepped forward helplessly and said, "I don't deserve Miss Rong's thanks. I am just following orders from the young prince. This is my job!"

Looking at Shang Cheng who was pushed out to block the bullet, Rong Feiyan gritted her teeth in anger but could not show it on her face, so she forced a smile and said, "I still have to thank you!" Then she quickly changed the subject and asked, "Last Lantern Festival, I saw the young prince with a beautiful woman by his side, but the young prince has someone he loves?"

Bai Ziyang thought about how Minglan had been wearing a mask during the last Lantern Festival, so she probably didn't recognize him. He raised his head and looked at her straight in the eye, then smiled and said, "So what?"

Rong Feiyan smiled and said, "I wonder if the princess is satisfied with the young prince's choice? You know, the princess is such an elegant person. I don't think ordinary girls can catch the princess's eye!"

Bai Ziyang stood up and said with a smile: "Miss Rong, you don't have to worry about this. I have something else to do, so I won't accompany you here for tea. Goodbye!" After that, he turned and left.

As Bai Ziyang walked, he thought, two days ago he had laughed at Qi Heng for being a troublemaker because Prince Yong had spent so much effort to get him to marry the Princess of Jiacheng County, and things had just settled down. It was really a matter of time, and it had come to his head in just a few days. When the servants disappeared, he turned around and rode back to the palace.

As soon as he entered the palace, Bai Ziyang heard that Princess Zhao had been summoned to the palace before and had just returned. He couldn't help but ask, "You haven't been summoned to the palace for eight hundred years. What's the matter with suddenly summoning you to the palace right after the New Year's banquet?"

Princess Zhao glanced at Bai Ziyang and said, "It's all because of you!"

Bai Ziyang suddenly had an idea and said, "Could it be that Concubine Rong called you for her sister Rong Feiyan?"

Seeing Princess Zhao's expression, Bai Ziyang knew that he had guessed correctly. He couldn't help but cover his face and wail, "What the hell is this? I just said that Young Master Qi is a male scourge, and now it's my turn to pay it forward!"

Princess Zhao said, "Don't talk nonsense. This is nothing. I have already sent an invitation to the Sheng Mansion. I will go to the Sheng Mansion to propose marriage for you in two days. It is better to settle your marriage as soon as possible, so that the wolves outside will not be jealous!"

When he heard that he was going to be betrothed, Bai Ziyang immediately perked up and said with a smile, "Really? In this case, I have to thank the Rong family, otherwise how could I get married so quickly!"

Princess Zhao rolled her eyes at him and said, "What's there for them to thank? I was planning to arrange your marriage right after the first month of the year!"

The Rong family thought that since they had already sent Concubine Rong, Princess Zhao would certainly give them face and would come to propose marriage soon. However, after waiting for several days, they heard that Princess Zhao went to Sheng Mansion, the residence of a fifth-rank official, and according to the information obtained by the servants, she actually proposed marriage to a concubine's daughter. Isn't this a slap in the face of the Rong family? In anger, Rong Feiyan smashed everything in her room.

The Rong family thought that Prince Zhao was quiet and easy to bully, so when the soft approach didn't work, they tried the hard approach. They found an excuse to "invite" Prince Zhao to the Rong Mansion and used both soft and hard tactics on Prince Zhao. Their implicit meaning was that if the two families became in-laws, they would nominate Prince Zhao to be the crown prince, because there was Concubine Rong in the palace who had a say with the Emperor, so this would be a sure thing. By that time, this and that would happen... But if Prince Zhao disagreed, the Rong family would turn around and support Prince Yan. After all, although Prince Yan's talents were not outstanding, he was older than Prince Yong and had many offspring. He still had an advantage in the fight for the throne. Plus, the Rong family's words would definitely add wings to the tiger. If that were the case, what would happen to Prince Zhao's Mansion? Prince Zhao had to figure it out on his own.

Originally, the Rong family wanted to forcibly detain Prince Zhao. Unfortunately, no matter how indifferent Prince Zhao was in the court, he was still a prince. In addition, Shang Cheng, Su Rao, and Yun Jin, who were close to Bai Ziyang, appeared in front of the Rong Mansion from time to time, looking at him covetously. Thinking of Bai Ziyang's past as a little devil, the Rong family thought about it for a long time and finally did not dare to do so.

It can only be said that it was a good thing that the Rong family did not do so. The secret guards following Prince Zhao were by no means vegetarians. Otherwise, before he could realize his mission of following the dragon, their family would have been the first to "ascend to heaven". The ascension here means real ascension to heaven!

Finally, Prince Zhao, who was full and thirsty, walked out of the Rong Mansion with a smile on his face. After returning home, he told Princess Zhao that the man from the Rong Mansion was quite good, but he was a little stupid, and marrying him would not be beneficial to the next generation.

Princess Zhao said:

Speaking of the Sheng Mansion, ever since Princess Zhao came to propose marriage for Bai Ziyang and Minglan, there were two people who were the most angry. One was the eldest lady Wang Ruofu. She was angry because she felt that her daughter Ruolan was perfect in every way, but Princess Zhao didn't like her own daughter, but chose that little concubine's daughter. Naturally, she was indignant. Fortunately, she knew that the two families were now engaged, and it was a foregone conclusion. There was no point in her being angry, so she just closed the door and complained to Madam Liu in the room.

The next most angry person would be Sheng Molan. She felt that she was as talented and knowledgeable as Sheng Minglan. She had always been the best in the family since she was a child and had never suffered any loss. Every young master would flatter her when they saw her. Today, Sheng Minglan had married into the royal palace, while she was still waiting to be married. Compared with them, she was naturally at a disadvantage. But if she wanted to surpass Minglan, she would have to marry into the palace. But if she entered the palace, the emperor was now old and frail, and the successor had not yet been chosen. No matter whether it was Prince Yong or Prince Yan, they were no match for the young young master...

Thinking of this, Sheng Molan naturally became more and more angry. What added fuel to the fire was that the husband chosen for her by Sheng Hong was actually a scholar from a poor family. Not only did his father die long ago, but his family had no land or shops. This was completely different from what she had imagined. It was like heaven and earth, and Molan was so angry that she burst into tears. Lin Qinshuang also turned down the marriage proposal from Sheng Hong, which disappointed the enthusiastic Sheng Hong. He left in a rage and did not visit Lin Qi Pavilion for several days.

Seeing that Sheng Hong was unreliable, Lin Qinshuang and her daughter naturally had to find a way to arrange Sheng Molan's marriage on their own. Now, among the people they could contact, the one with the highest status was only Liang Han, the sixth son of the Earl of Yongchang.

It was unknown what tricks Sheng Molan used to hook up with Liang Han. As for whether Minglan and Bai Ziyang played any role in this, it was unknown. After all, Minglan would never forget the way her mother lay there covered in blood. She would never forget how cautious the two siblings had been over the years. Now that Sheng Molan was going to climb the ladder to heaven, how about she lend a hand to her? As for the future, that was Sheng Molan's own choice.

Sheng Molan was unmarried but had physical contact with a man outside her family and got pregnant. When Sheng Hong found out about this, he was almost furious. If Lin Qinshuang had not tried desperately to stop him, he would have strangled Sheng Molan to death with a white silk cloth on the spot to avoid tarnishing the clean reputation of his scholarly family.

After knowing this, Lin Qinshuang praised her daughter for what she did, because she succeeded with such means, otherwise she would not have such a good life now. She wanted to spread the news to force the Sheng family to marry her daughter to the Earl of Yongchang, but was secretly stopped by Bai Ziyang. Later, Bai Ziyang sent someone to tell Sheng Hong all the means used by Lin Qinshuang and her daughter, and said that he was just concerned about his fiancée and helped her out of kindness, so that Lord Sheng did not need to be too grateful...

The result was naturally what Bai Ziyang expected. Sheng Molan married Liang Han as she wished, and the two got married in a hurry. Afterwards, Lin Qinshuang was carried to a farm outside the city and placed under strict guard. Not long after, she disappeared quietly. This is a story for later.