Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Happy

The harem didn't panic because of this chaos for a long time, the news that the emperor was seriously ill was suppressed the next day, and Xiao Huan just resumed the court meeting after a few days of rest, and dealt with government affairs as usual. During this period, Zhang Zhuduan, who was promoted by Xiao Huan, used a steady approach to adjust grain and build embankments to arrange for the victims, gradually calming down the disaster situation in Jianghuai that was about to be out of control. On the other hand, the situation on the front line of Shanhaiguan has also reversed. The Jurchen was blocked by Qi Chengliang outside Shanhaiguan for a long time, and the unstoppable arrogance at the beginning of the war gradually faded.

But at this time, the Jurchens replaced the tribal alliance's pennant flag with a bright yellow flag, and Kumor, the leader of the Shatai tribe, proclaimed himself emperor, and the country's title was inherited by Jin, intending to inherit the land of Dajin and re-merge the half of the empire north of the Yangtze River. under Jurched rule. In this way, the Jurchens raising troops is a veritable rebellion.How could the Great Wu Empire, which has always deterred its neighbors, allow such an open provocation, the cabinet and the Ministry of War quarreled endlessly every day, and even the proposal of the royal conquest was on the agenda.

However, the harem was a scene of tranquility. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, a mid-autumn feast was held frugally in the palace. The weather is getting colder day by day, and late autumn in the capital is coming in a blink of an eye. The sky was gloomy, I was sitting under the green screen window reading a book, my hands and feet felt a little cold, I was thinking about whether I should tell someone to make a foot stove and put it in the house, when Jiaoyan rushed in from outside. Her nose was red from the cold, and she ran up to me excitedly, blinking her eyes mysteriously: "Empress Empress, guess what good thing happened to me?"

"Huh? Did you steal something delicious in the imperial dining room?" Xiao Shan was embroidering her sachet, and interjected that this girl likes to eat, so she thinks that all good things in the world are nothing more than something delicious. of. "No, Elder Sister Xiaoshan knows how to eat." Jiaoyan interrupted her bluntly. Jiaoyan followed me a lot, and she was a bit lawless like Xiaoshan. feelings. "Ah? What's that?" Xiao Shan asked with his eyes wide open out of curiosity. "The empress guesses." Jiao Yan narrowed her eyes and smiled. I saw that she was so happy, so I became interested, put down the book in hand and thought for a moment: "Did your mother bring you a letter?"

Jiaoyan's smiling face immediately collapsed, she looked at her toes and said, "Everywhere is uneasy this year, and I know how my mother is doing." "Not this one?" I smiled and shook my head, "Then I can't think of it." "I know that the empress can't think of it." Jiaoyan smiled smugly. She whetted our appetite and revealed the answer, "I have worshiped the master." I was also curious: "Master?" Jiaoyan replied: "That's right. Didn't your majesty say that my martial arts are too low? I just worshiped an expert as my teacher."

"A master?" I couldn't think of anyone else in this palace who could be called a master and could teach Jiaoyan, so I couldn't think of anything, so I just smiled, "Then what does your master want to teach you?" "Make incense." Jiaoyan said, she took out a small porcelain bottle from her sleeve, opened the small plug on the bottle mouth, and a wisp of light powder smoke curled up, as if it was alive, condensing into an air in mid-air. The appearance of a rose is exquisite and translucent, as if it is real or illusory. At the same time, the house is already filled with a fresh scent of roses, which is different from ordinary spices. This scent is natural and elegant, making one feel as if standing in a rose garden after the rain, facing the dewy flowers all over the garden.

Jiaoyan stretched out her hand to disperse the smoke, plugged the mouth of the bottle, the fragrance of the flowers dissipated in an instant, Xiaoshan and I were a little dazed, wondering if it was just a dream. "How is it? It's amazing." Jiaoyan was even more proud, "This is the incense that my master made casually to fumigate the house. My master said that incense can not only be used to ward off bad smells, but also be used to confuse people's minds and control their minds. , and even killing and saving lives are all easy things to do." "Master, where do you live? What's your name?" What Jiaoyan just said about killing and saving people is already beyond the ability of a perfumer. If my guess is correct, this person is a master of Gu poison. In this deep palace, there are still such people hidden.

"My master lives in the Yinghua Palace. I accidentally lost my way and only met my master when I got there." Jiao Yan didn't hide anything from me, she said straightforwardly. Yinghua Hall is located in the northwest corner of the inner city. In the previous dynasty, it was used to enshrine Buddha statues for concubines to worship Buddha. In this dynasty, because Emperor Taizong did not believe in ghosts and gods, it was abandoned and rarely visited by people on weekdays.In front of the Yinghua Palace is the Shouan Palace known as the Lenggong. This person lives in the Yinghua Palace. Could it be that he is the former emperor's concubine who was demoted?

I thought about it, and I was a little curious, so I said to Jiaoyan: "Can you take me to meet your master?" "Okay," Jiaoyan readily agreed, "I told Master that Empress Empress is kind and kind, she is the best person in the world, and Master also said that she really wants to see Empress." "Really?" I have something to do, I jumped off the soft couch, "I don't have anything to do today, let's go now, okay?" "Okay." Xiao Shan was most afraid of boredom, so he hurriedly clapped his hands in response. "You don't want to go, stay at home and watch the door." I deliberately teased Xiaoshan, patted the clothes on my body, but didn't let Xiaoshan find a coat to wear, and pulled Jiaoyan out of the door.

Xiao Shan was screaming in the house, Jiaoyan and I had already run away. Yinghua Hall is not close, pass through several narrow corridors, enter Yinghua Gate, and the empty square in front of the hall is displayed in front of you. There are many exotic flowers and grasses in the large open space, and an unknown fragrance permeates the air. A gust of autumn wind blows, and the poppies in full bloom under my feet sway gently with the wind.If I didn't know clearly that this is the Yinghua Palace, I would never think that this place is actually in the Forbidden Palace. "Master, I brought the queen empress to see you." Jiao Yan had already run all the way along the bluestone road among the flowers and plants to the half-open door of the hall, shouted loudly, and waved to me, "Empress empress, come quickly!" what."

I responded and walked over slowly. Walking to the entrance of the hall and looking in through the opened door, I couldn't help being stunned. The person standing in front of the stone table in the hall and fiddling with the mortar was not an old woman with gray hair and a weathered face as I imagined, but a A girl in white. The girl looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, with black hair hanging down to her waist and hanging down her back. It was as black as a mirror, and the hand holding the copper pestle was as white as jade. The sunlight that leaked into the palace shone on her face, reflecting With a halo similar to that of thin-bodied porcelain, her eyebrows are beautiful and picturesque. For some reason, I feel like I have seen it before. This girl who looks like a glazed doll is afraid to shatter her even if she speaks loudly. Seeing me, she just turned around slightly, looked at me with those indifferent eyes, and kept the copper pestle in her hand. I didn't know whether to call her a girl or something else, so I just smiled. "You are the queen, aren't you?" The girl said suddenly, her voice was very delicate, but such a delicate voice sounded like a chill of ice colliding. "Yes, I am." I nodded. "Master, this is Empress Empress, she is very nice." Jiao Yan said hastily from the side. "Empress, is the emperor's beloved woman?" The girl didn't turn her eyes away, looked straight into my eyes, and asked. "The empress is the emperor's wife." I had already seen that she was not being presumptuous and rude, but that she was simply unreasonable, so I slowed down my voice. "Wife, isn't she the husband's beloved woman?" the girl asked reluctantly. "Sometimes yes, sometimes no." I didn't know how to answer this girl who seemed to be out of this world, so I smiled, "Have you always stayed in this place alone? Are you not afraid?" "Sometimes yes, sometimes no, it's really complicated." The girl turned a deaf ear to my question. She seemed very interested in whether I was Xiao Huan's beloved woman. After repeating, she raised her head and asked again, "Then you Yes or no?" "You have to ask the emperor to understand this." I said with a smile, and took two steps closer to her, and saw clearly that the stone table was full of all kinds of spices, colorful and different shapes, one transparent There are also a group of small insects that emit blue light in the colored glass bottle. Those small insects slowly squirm on the bottle wall, stretching out their small tentacles to touch each other. "That's an ice silkworm. Don't look at how small it is, a group can produce one or two silks." The girl said on the side, and when she mentioned the things she raised, there was some emotion in her cold voice. "Ice silkworm? The one mentioned in the book? Is there really such a thing?" I was a little surprised. "Well," the girl casually pointed to a clump of flowers and plants outside the hall, "That's Du Heng, it's very difficult to grow, and it took me three years to grow it alive." I carefully looked at the furnishings in the hall. There are various small boxes and cloth bags piled up everywhere in the spacious hall, and the Buddha statues in the hall are even covered with dried leaves and grass. Things that I didn’t expect to exist.” "Of course it's true. I'm not like you guys who always like to tell lies." The girl replied coldly, stretching out her hand to fondle the bottle containing the ice silkworms, "I've been raising them for ten years. The silk from the silk will soon be able to weave a fireproof gown." "Master, what do you want a fireproof robe for?" Jiao Yan interrupted at this moment. "Isn't the descendant of the Suzaku branch of the Xiao family the best at controlling fire?" The girl said, raising her head to look at me carefully again, "Are you really not his beloved woman?" This time we got closer, and I saw that her amazingly bright eyes turned out to be double pupils, and my heart moved, and I asked, "What's your name?" "My name?" The girl smiled lightly, showing her shyness for the first time, "My name is Ying, the fluorescent Ying, the one with fire underneath." "Ying?" The hot one... Looking at her beautiful but familiar face, I felt a strange feeling in my heart. I froze for a moment and asked, "What's your last name?" "What's your surname?" The girl seemed to have thought of something, and after being stunned for a moment, she said carefully, "This kind of thing...it's whatever, whatever the emperor's surname is, I'll take my surname." Whatever the emperor's surname is, so is her surname. The speculation in my heart immediately took shape, and a piece of past events in the palace more than ten years ago jumped out of my mind. When the first emperor was in power, he only favored concubine Liu, so he had few sons, only concubine Liu at that time, and the prince Xiao Huan born by the current empress dowager didn't even have a princess.In the eleventh year of Delun, the first emperor spoiled a court lady after drinking, and the court lady became pregnant afterwards. But Concubine Liu was jealous and couldn't tolerate other women around the late emperor, so the court lady was randomly given a talented person and assigned to live in a remote palace.Later, the court lady seemed to have given birth to a baby girl. The strange thing is that this incident only existed in rumors, and the baby girl was not recorded in the genealogy. A few years later, that talented man hanged himself to death, and after the late Emperor died, Concubine Liu became the empress dowager, and the harem became her world, and there was no news about the baby girl. Since Emperor Taizong of Dawu Xiao, one of the Suzakus who inherited the throne, each generation of offspring, male or female, has a pair of double pupils with the same logo, and regardless of male or female, there will be a character for fire in the name as a radical. This girl is called Ying, and she gave birth to a pair of pupils, which should be the princess born to that court lady back then.Although she obtained the title of Suzaku Branch of the Xiao Clan, she stayed in this sunless Yinghua Palace and grew up alone. Thinking of this, I no longer have any doubts in my heart, not to mention that after watching for a long time, I have already found that this girl's appearance is 70% similar to Xiao Huan, so I feel that she looks familiar. Walking over, I took her hand. It was late autumn, and the cold air in the north was already very heavy. She was still wearing only a cotton singlet without a layer. Her hands were surprisingly cold. I rubbed her thin shoulders. : "Didn't they bring you winter clothes?" "Winter clothes? What are they?" Ying Huo asked with eyelashes like butterfly wings. "Jiaoyan, go back later and bring me two fur coats that the Shangyi Bureau prepared for me this year, and give them to your master. It's also a gift for you to honor your master." I turned my head and told Jiaoyan. Jiaoyan happily agreed. Ying leaned her head on my shoulder and gently closed her eyes: "It's so warm, are you really his beloved woman?" I patted her on the shoulder and looked around the room full of various spices and incense burners. There was not even a bed here.But in the final analysis, the help I can provide her in the harem is limited. "I like you, I really don't want you to be his beloved woman." Finally, Ying hugged me and said such a sentence. When I came back from Yinghua Palace with Jiaoyan, Xiao Huan sent someone to ask me to have dinner with him in Yangxin Palace before nightfall. This was the first time that Xiao Huan summoned me in private since the last time he visited the doctor. I was a little surprised, so I quickly changed my disguise and went over. When I arrived, I found that Xiao Huan had already arranged the wine and dishes, and was sitting at the table waiting for me. It was cold, and there was a small red clay stove next to the table. The smell is Xiao Huan's favorite Zhuyeqing. I saluted and sat down at the table, smiled: "Long live why did you think of calling the concubine over today?" He also smiled and turned his gaze: "Queen, have you gone to Yinghua Palace today?" I nodded and twitched the corners of my mouth: "Not long after I came out of there, Long Live knew? The news in this palace spread really fast." He ignored my sarcasm, stretched out his hand, grabbed my sleeve, twisted the fabric of the cuff, sniffed it at the tip of his nose, and smiled: "Chi Ye Xiang Jia Ruan Tu Mi, Queen, you have already walked through the gate of hell for a while." suffered." I froze for a moment, not understanding what he meant: "What?" He smiled, picked up the wine jug in the silver basin on the stove, poured it into the wine glass on the table, then dipped a drop of wine in the glass with his finger, and flicked it in the air, a spark instantly rose in the air, In the light of the fire, a bunch of purple smoke first condensed into the shape of a tuberose, and then turned into a graceful flower tree, and then disappeared very quickly. I have never seen Xiao Huan show this kind of kung fu in front of my eyes, so I couldn't help asking: "What is this?" "The method of incinerating poison," he laughed, and withdrew his hand. "When you were in Yinghua Palace, Xiaoying first poisoned you with Chi Yexiang's poison, and then used the opposite soft tea poison to kill the two kinds of poison. Offset, although you are fine, the two poisons still remain on your body after all. Xiaoying only knows how to make poisons, but never learns how to dissolve them." I raised my eyebrows: "It seems that you know how to detoxify?" He smiled and said half-jokingly: "Xiaoying will make a new poison every few days to use on me. If you don't even understand this, the queen may not see me long ago." These two brothers and sisters are really fresh, the elder brother locked the younger sister in the side hall for more than ten years, and the younger sister tried every means to poison her elder brother. I coughed to hide my emotions, and pointed to the dishes on the table: "Long live, the dishes are cold, hurry up and eat." He didn't seem to notice my expression, and smiled: "The Queen please." I didn't say anything more, the dishes on the table were quite to my liking, and I happened to be a little hungry, even though Xiao Huan was by my side, I still ate a lot. Xiao Huan didn't eat anything, just turned the wine glass and slowly finished the pot of Zhuyeqing. His appetite is really small, I have eaten with him twice, but I didn't see him eat anything, but he couldn't put down his cup.He is always like this, no wonder his illness never recovers. As a queen, although I have an obligation to love him, I don't want to say more, so I just turn a blind eye. After dinner and tea, he supported the table and stood up, smiled at me: "The empress can go back to the palace." I looked up at him, and looked at him in the twilight. His profile was soft and serene, with an indescribable gentleness. I don't know if I met Ying today, but looking at the face in front of me, which was similar to Ying, I said in a strange way: "Let the concubine stay here tonight." After finishing speaking, he hurriedly made amends with some embarrassment: "The concubine is thinking that last time Long live promised the concubine. During this time, Wan live has been busy with state affairs, and the concubine has never made a mistake, so today..." I was still racking my brains to say something, and he smiled over there: "It's okay, but we have to discuss the military situation in Shanhaiguan at night, and it will be delayed until very late, and the queen will probably be tired for a long time." I quickly said: "It's okay, the concubine is waiting for Long Live." He paused for a moment and smiled: "If you can't wait, go to bed first." I nodded, then remembered, and hurriedly saluted: "The concubine obeys the order." He smiled again, turned around and left without speaking. Of course I didn't go to bed first, and after washing and grooming, I lay in the back hall, listening to the tick-tock of the western horse clock beside the bed, a bit like the sound of rain beating leaves, my heart gradually settled down. I didn't feel that after waiting for a long time, the door opened with a creak, and there was a light footstep approaching. I hurriedly sat up from the bed, and gave a charming smile: "Long live?" Walking to the bed and looking at me, Xiao Huan smiled: "The queen hasn't slept yet?" "Long live if you don't come, how can you tell the concubine to sleep?" I smiled, sat up straight, and let the brocade quilt under the cover slip down, revealing my naked body. "Long live, let the concubine undress you?" I smiled, took Xiao Huan's hand, knelt down and chuckled, leaned over and blew on his earlobe, and slowly untied his belt. He didn't move, his body seemed to be stiff, but he let me take off his coat. Slowly unbuttoning his jacket, his shoulders were exposed, a little thin, but broad and strong. I put my fingers into his half-opened shirt and stroked his chest. Under the lamp, his skin was the color of jade. On the smooth left chest, there is a deep scar, slender and somewhat hideous. I stroked the scar I had stabbed with my fingers, and I laughed silently: "Long live, your body is really fascinating, no wonder all the concubines in the harem are jealous of you." My arms climbed around his waist, and the faint scent of azure brain came from his body. I raised my head, covered my lips on his light-colored thin lips, bit them lightly with my teeth, and slowly gnawed and fiddled with them. His lips finally opened, our lips and teeth intertwined, and each other's smells were entangled at this moment. As if a fire was lit inside my body, my hand slid deeper down his waist. At this moment, his hands suddenly supported my body and slowly lowered me down. His clothes were not taken off, and the slightly stagnant silk and satin slid across our bodies. In the dimness, the curtain in front of my eyes tilted down, burning the entire field of vision like a bright red fire. Embracing his naked waist, I pressed my body against his chest, such a warm embrace, but with a touch of coolness. The scorching heat spread uncontrollably, and on the brocade-covered bed, one's mind gradually became confused. I only know that his kisses have been falling on my cheeks and body, every now and then, as gentle as a dream. When he woke up from the muddy dream, his body was a little sore, it was already very bright, and there was no one around him, Xiao Huan should have gone to court long ago. Should I go?For a favored concubine, even a queen who has the right to stay overnight, it is her duty to disappear by herself the next morning. Otherwise, I can still wait here, wait for Xiao Huan to come back, and wash up and have breakfast together like ordinary couples?What's more, the government is busy during this period of time, who knows when he will be able to go to the morning court? He rubbed his neck and sat up, called softly, and a maid came in from outside the door. The little maid's eyes were shining, and she laughed when she saw me: "The empress is awake? Do you want to take a bath and change? Breakfast is ready." Seeing that I was still too lazy to say anything, she smiled narrowly: "The Empress looks pretty good, Lord Long Live was very gentle last night, right?" gentle?it seems that.At that moment, the pain was not as painful as those nuns told me, and when I fell asleep later, there was still a strong arm under my head. But tenderness seems to be something that Xiao Huan has never been stingy with, at least I haven't seen him not being tender to any woman. Maybe not only the concubines in the harem, almost all the women in the harem, except Jiao Yan, thought he was gentle and elegant, a gentleman like jade. The most obvious example is that now a little palace lady is so determined to come to me and ask me why he is gentle to me. Seeing the expectant look on the little maid's face, I had no choice but to nod and smile: "Long live is very gentle." The little maid's mouth became even sweeter: "The empress is blessed and auspicious, she will surely conceive a dragon child early." Briskly withdrew, and asked the maid outside to come in to clean my face and dress me. Everything was sorted out, and the maid who came in the first saw that I didn't intend to take a bath, and said that Feng Wufu had someone prepare breakfast, and asked me if I wanted to finish my breakfast in the Hall of Mental Cultivation before going back. Shaking my head and refusing, I stood up from the vanity mirror and prepared to go back to Chuxiu Palace.After waking up just now, although the bed next to me was empty, there was still residual warmth in the bedding, and now I still had some of Xiao Huan's auspicious fragrance on my body. A thought suddenly popped up in my mind: Maybe it's not bad to be like this for a lifetime. As soon as I walked to the door, I accidentally saw Xiao Shan standing under the steps outside the door. Standing in the cool morning breeze, Xiao Shan restrained his expression, with faint sadness in his brows. Shivered by a gust of cold wind, I really came to my senses: "Xiao Shan? What are you doing here at the Hall of Mental Cultivation?" "Miss," Xiao Shan took two steps towards me, with tears in his eyes, "Master asked someone to bring a message saying... Mr. Luo passed away last night." I feel that I can't understand her words: "What?" "Miss, Mr. Luo passed away last night..." I said it again, but Xiao Shan stopped talking and looked at me blankly, "Miss, don't be sad..." "Do you know who did it?" asked a faint voice, so calm that it didn't seem to come from my own mouth. Somewhat dazed, Xiao Shan replied: "No one saw it for sure, but the corpse..." She glanced at the maids and eunuchs beside her, and still said, "It was taken away by the imperial guard Gu." Xiao Huan... There seemed to be a bitter taste in his mouth, and grief surged up from the bottom of his heart unexpectedly: Xian Xue died, and I planned to take some time to go out of the palace to visit him, but I can't do it anymore, this person... gone... "Miss..." Xiao Shan took another step towards me, stopped suddenly, and knelt down behind the prostrating maids. No one spoke, and there was a dead silence for a moment. I took a deep breath, and when I turned my head, a bright smile was already on my face: "Long live my concubine." I only saw a corner of the man's black court clothes in front of me, and after a pause, a gentle and indifferent voice sounded: "Let's get flat." Raising his gaze inch by inch, the cloud boots, jade belt, crown, and early court dress are wrapped around his slender body, tall and dignified. Resting my eyes on Xiao Huan's face, I laughed: "Long live, I have a close relative who passed away last night." Looking at me, he also smiled: "Is that so? The queen's condolences." I smiled and looked into his eyes, "Long live, do you have anyone who you want to kill but can't?" The smile on his face never diminished, he shook his head: "I usually don't want to kill people." "Yeah," I also laughed, "Long live is the king of a country, ninety-five supreme, every sentence is an edict, how can there be people who want to kill but can't?" I smiled, and I continued: "Some time ago, Chen Qie had a dear elder who died at the hands of someone else, and last night, Chen Qie had another dear one who died at the hands of the same person Long live said, should this person's concubine be killed?" Quietly met my gaze, but he didn't answer my question, just smiled lightly, his voice was still impeccably gentle and polite: "The queen hasn't had breakfast yet, do you want to use it here?" "No need, the concubine wants to go back to the palace." I smiled and bowed down, "Long live Jin'an, the concubine will leave first." He still smiled and nodded: "Queen, please." I stood up and smiled, brushing past him. When he was about to walk out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, his voice suddenly sounded again: "Queen stay here, I remembered that after this night, there will be a bowl of medicine for the queen to drink." Following his words, a waiter brought the tray in front of me, lifted the lid, and in the gold-painted enamel bowl, a black mist rose from the soup. Smelling the wafting scent, I clenched my fists, and with the little medicine I know, I can also smell it, what is it. The most common and coldest thing in the palace - this is a bowl of contraceptive medicine. Unlike the dynasties that asked for more children, since the founding of the dynasties, in order to avoid the disaster of too many sons seizing the heirs, every time the harem goes to bed, it is under strict control.If the emperor thinks that the concubine is not suitable to be the mother of the future prince in the early morning of the second day after the concubine goes to bed, he will drink a bowl of contraceptive medicine according to the custom. However, as a queen, I am afraid that I will be the first one to be asked to drink this bowl of medicine after attending bedtime for the first time. Taking a deep breath, forcing back the moisture in my eye sockets, I picked up the bowl of medicine in front of me and drank it all in one gulp. The bitter concoction slid down my throat, I threw the enamel bowl on the ground, and without looking at Xiao Huan again, I walked out of the palace. Xiao Shan followed behind silently, I didn't look back, and walked all the way down the long corridor. The cold morning wind blew across the cheeks, blowing the tear stains on the face, it was so cold and bone-chilling. Suddenly want to laugh sarcastically: Gentle?This is what the always gentle and smiling emperor did - after killing the woman's former lover, he kept her in bed, and even fed her a bowl of contraceptive decoction when she first woke up in the morning. The lingering warmth in my arms that made me linger after getting up has long since dissipated. Walking in the cold wind, I raised the corners of my mouth: Xiao Huan, you owe me another life from now on.