Hibiscus Tent: The Prime Minister’s palm is reborn

In the blink of an eye, it is already the end of autumn and the beginning of winter.

On the day when the underground palace was sealed, the sky was foggy and small snowflakes were floating sporadically, swirling and landing on the green tiles and red eaves, dead branches and leaves, and finally turning into a tiny mark.

Liang Qian stood quietly in the vast twilight. When she raised her head slightly, snowflakes fell on her face, feeling icy and cold.

After today, the national mourning will end.

Gao Yang also officially ascended the throne two months ago.

Everything is going as planned, smooth and orderly.

At least that's what it looks like on the surface.

Liang Qian withdrew her gaze from the distance, tightened the big flag on her body, turned around and walked forward.

Jinlan glanced at the person walking alone.

In the court, she was dignified and calm; in the harem, she was reserved and meticulous; when summoned to meet foreign ministers, although she did not accompany them from beginning to end, one could still get a glimpse of her through the gaps in serving tea and water. She can be said to have many faces.

Jinlan raised her eyelashes slightly, knowing very well in her heart that only the quiet and taciturn empress dowager in front of her was the real empress dowager.

He sighed secretly in his heart. In just a few short months, the Queen Mother became more and more cunning and unpredictable.

She lowered her eyes, still vaguely remembering last year's Hanguang Palace, with its fragrant flowers, beautiful women, and noisy laughter.

Together they picked flowers, made incense, and floral oil... Even the days when they were confined to the Hanguang Palace were not that difficult to endure.

Perhaps the late emperor also thought that Hanguang Hall was bustling, and he insisted on moving to Hanguang Hall when he should have been recuperating in Taiji Hall...

Jinlan lowered her head. The more she thought about it, the more distant it seemed, as if it were a lifetime ago.

"Queen Mother."

Jinlan raised her eyes again and saw a palace maid from Renshou Palace approaching and bowing uprightly.

Liang Qian glanced at him calmly: "What's the matter?"

The palace maid said, "In the afternoon, the wife of the Minister of the Chancellery came to visit the Empress Dowager."

Liang Qian raised her hand to exempt her from the greeting and walked away slowly.

The palace servant followed carefully on the side, saying as they walked: "The Empress Dowager has been sleeping, so the Minister's wife did not stay for too long. She just sat for a while and then left."

Jinlan frowned: "Today is the day of the late emperor's burial, how can she——"

Under Liang Qian's gaze, she lowered her head, bit her lip, and said no more.

Liang Qian responded lightly, nodded in understanding, and sent the palace servant away.

It was no wonder that Jinlan lost her composure. The funeral ceremony was very important, and even the common people along the way had to kneel down to see the emperor off. However, the wife of the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat not only did not respectfully send off the emperor's spirit, but instead went into the palace to see Lu Chen...

"Who is on duty for the Imperial Guard today? Is it Xiahou Zhao, or..."

Jinlan raised her eyes and said, "It's Master Chunyu. Do you need me to order someone to summon him?"

Chunyu Bei?

Liang Qian pursed her lips, that's not surprising.

"No need for that. The Empress Dowager can't stay away from people forever. They avoided me and went to see her once. Seeing her sick appearance, I felt relieved. It also helped me to prove the claim that the Empress Dowager was ill and couldn't get up."

Jinlan was surprised: "The Queen Mother means that the Shangshu Ling's wife is not just visiting for a simple visit?"

Liang Qian did not answer but asked: "Why do you think Lu Wanying insisted on staying in the palace?"

Jinlan thought for a moment and lowered her head, saying, "Compared to the Queen Mother, the Lord is more willing to be close to Concubine Lu."

Liang Qian was silent for a moment, her expression unchanged: "He knows why his biological mother Cao died. Let's not talk about the distant past. Do you think the late emperor would like Xue Zhaoyi who competed with the Empress Dowager for favor? In the eyes of the emperor, am I not that Xue Zhaoyi?"

Jinlan looked to the side and lowered her voice: "The Queen Mother should find a chance to send Concubine Lu out of the palace, otherwise, she will be making wedding clothes for others in the future."

Liang Qian smiled and said, "Let's not talk about whether there is a future or not. Shang Shu Ling hasn't found what he wants yet, so how can I let her go?"

Jinlan frowned: "Shangshu Ling has been recently..."

Liang Qian smiled and nodded slightly.

Recently, Lu Xu has been promoting many people from the Lu family in the court. Although those who had complaints did not state them explicitly in the documents submitted, they made a few innuendos that were inevitably seen by Lu Xu. Instead of restraining himself, he would turn around and find faults with them. Those who should be punished would be punished, and those who should be suppressed would be suppressed.

This is bound to cause people to secretly feel dissatisfied.

Those who originally supported the Grand Empress Dowager, seeing that Lu Chen had not shown up, and who also got reliable information from the Imperial Medical Bureau that the Grand Empress Dowager might not be able to recover in a year or two, gradually lost their support, and some even switched to others.

Lu Xu and Lu Chen were siblings, so many people defected to the Shangshu Ling.

I think Lu Xu asked his wife to avoid him and go to Renshou Hall because he also wanted to see Lu Chen's true situation with his own eyes.

Liang Qian knew that Lu Xu did not completely believe her.

But it doesn't matter, she doesn't completely believe him.

Now, they are just using each other.

After all, she had already told Chun Yubei that if the Shangshu Ling sent people to enter the Renshou Palace, they would be let in on purpose.

It's a pity that after waiting for several months, they only remembered to meet each other once. The relationship between brother and sister is really very weak.

Lu Xu knew Lu Chen's true appearance, so he felt more at ease accepting Lu Chen's party.

She was not afraid of Lu Xu's dictatorial behavior, but she was afraid that he would make too many enemies invisibly, which would not be good for them.

Thinking of this, Liang Qian felt secretly worried.

However, she hinted at it several times, but Lu Xu always rejected her answer in a nonchalant manner.

Lu Xu used to be very calm and steady, but now——

Liang Qian felt quite helpless.

Maybe it was because the Lu family had fallen into decline in the past two years. Of the Grand Tutor's children, Lu Huai, Lu Xiu, Lu Ying, Lu Chen...he was the only one left.

When the sun is at its zenith, it sets; when the moon is full, it eclipses.

Otherwise, he would not have agreed to Gao Qian's choice to support himself.

There is no other choice.

Seeing Liang Qian's serious expression, Jinlan recalled the eunuch's report some time ago and said, "This morning, Princess Guangping sent someone to deliver something."

Liang Qian walked neither fast nor slow.

Jinlan sighed: "The one who sent the gift is not Princess Guangping, but Prince Guangping."

Liang Qian smiled inwardly and said calmly, "Where is the person who reported the news to Prince Guangping?"

Jinlan said: "Follow me to guard the tomb."

Liang Qian nodded silently.

Jinlan struggled secretly for a while, but still spoke boldly: "During the period of national mourning, Prince Guangping dared to make a maid in the palace pregnant. Once exposed, this is a serious crime. Why didn't the Queen Mother take the opportunity to punish him, but instead ordered someone to tip him off and secretly warn him?"

Liang Qian laughed: "You said that the King of Nanyang knew about this, why didn't he report it in public in the court? Instead, he told me privately?"

Jinlan sighed heavily.

Yes, she is just a maid. If Princess Guangping is pregnant, then maybe she can play a role.

Liang Qian raised her eyebrows and looked at her: "I have received so many gifts from him, this one is enough."

Jinlan took a deep breath and gritted her teeth: "Can't the Queen Mother see that Prince Guangping...he, he, he has bad intentions towards you?"

Liang Qian just found it funny. Rather than saying that Gao Hao had ill intentions towards her, it would be more accurate to say that he had ill intentions towards the person sitting in the position of the Queen Mother.

Compared with Gao Huan and Gao Jun, the one who is really difficult to deal with is Gao Hao.

She glanced at the person with a bad face and said: "After the national mourning, the banquet that should be held in the palace should also be held."

When Liang Qian returned to Hanguang Palace, Lu Wanying had been sitting and waiting for a long time.