It's better to fall in love than seize the heir

"He really said that?"

In the warm and fragrant main hall, Concubine Xu lazily caressed the gold-painted silver armor on her little finger, half-closed her phoenix eyes and squinted at the kneeling person below.

"It's absolutely true!" Chun Xing bit her lower lip, and there was a hint of panic in her unwillingness, "My servant sees that the sixth prince is very proud, if the empress doesn't give you a good lesson, I'm afraid he will bully you in the future ..."

"Presumptuous!" Concubine Xu Gui snorted coldly, clutching the embroidered handkerchief tightly in her hand, and interrupted impatiently with a frown, "It's really useless, but after a few harsh words, I was frightened into such a cringe, saying I don’t think I’ll lose my face if I go out!”

Chun Xing hurriedly took two steps forward on her knees, and was about to open her mouth to explain again, but Jin Xin at the bottom of the jade steps had already caught a glimpse of the gloomy face of the noble concubine and stopped shouting, "You little hoof, don't you see that the empress is tired?"

"Your Majesty, forgive me...then, that slave girl will go back to the side hall to wait for her life." Chun Xing was so ashamed that she could only whisper resentfully.Just as he was about to bow and retreat, he heard a soft voice of "slow down" from the hall.

Chun Xing was overjoyed, she raised her eyes with a flattering smile and was ready to continue asking for credit, but she saw Concubine Xu staring at her mockingly, "Where do you want to go back? I sent you there to stare at people, not to let You pretended to be your master on the first day! You idiot, keeping you is also a hindrance to Ben Gong, why don't you go to the Clothes Bureau to get the punishment yourself?"

Clothes Bureau?The place where the low-ranking servants do coolies every day?

Chun Xing's face instantly turned pale, her teeth trembled, and she almost couldn't even stand still.

Regardless of the huge difference between serving tea and pouring water to washing clothes, her arrogant attitude and sarcastic remarks every time she went to the washing bureau to deliver a change of clothes in the past have offended the palace people all over the place. One day I will be reduced to one of them...

She sat slumped on the ground, her eyes lost.Suddenly, she shuddered suddenly, her wandering eyes suddenly focused, Xiaobu knelt and crawled, trying to grab the hem of Concubine Xu Gui's clothes.

"Your Majesty, I know my mistake... I know my mistake! I beg you not to relegate this servant to the Clothes Bureau! My servant... um..."

Concubine Xu Gui widened her phoenix eyes, got up from the couch and backed away repeatedly, barely avoiding Chun Xing's wildly waving nails.

Before she could scold her loudly, Jin Xin quickly called someone to find a ball of rags to cover Chun Xing's mouth, and called two powerful eunuchs to drag her away forcibly, leaving only her The messy remnants left by the fingernails were slanted across the carpet.

"Bah, I don't know good and bad things!"

Concubine Xu Gui gnashed her teeth in disgust, she stretched out her hand to brush her cloudy temple hair, which was slightly messy due to avoiding it, but the temperature in her eyes suddenly dropped to ice-cold.

With a sound of "crash", the crystal curtain moved, and a tall and handsome young man walked out from behind the golden embroidered screen of Luanniao.Holding a folding fan in one hand, he casually tapped on his palm, with an unpredictable smile on his face.

"Mother, how are you?"

Seeing him, Concubine Xu Gui's expression turned pale, but she still spat coldly: "What else can I do? He's just a reckless kid who can say a few polite words, and only that little bastard just now can be bluffed by him! "

"Is it?"

Hearing Xu Guifei's words, Shen Zhuomin didn't care.He tilted his head slightly, looking at Luo Ying outside the hall in the wind, thinking of the tall figure that he accidentally caught a glimpse of outside the corridor this morning, he evoked a deep smile full of interest.

……

Thousands of lamps are close to the Big Dipper, and thousands of wells pass through the mist.The palace of the low moon in the distant mountains, the palace of cold trees and dew flowers.

It was almost time to light the lanterns, and the majestic palaces in the distance lit up the lanterns one after another, and the jade inlaid on the embroidered door carvings shone with a warm light under the light.

In contrast, the dim yellow light emitted by the only few floor-standing copper lamps in the side hall inevitably looked a little dark.

Shen Jinghe stepped into the palace gate, looked at the light and raised his eyebrows, but he didn't care too much, he just ordered the maids to light a few more pairs of red candles, so as not to hurt their eyes while reading in the dim night.

The palace servants who were previously sent to collect the prince's order had already returned to the palace one after another. Seeing Shen Jinghe walking in, Cheng Mo hurriedly approached, but his expression suddenly became a little hesitant, as if hesitating whether to speak or not.

Seeing him like that, Shen Jinghe knew that the palace servant might return empty-handed again from this trip.He was not angry or annoyed, he only supported his head with one hand, his handsome eyebrows were full of curiosity.

"Four rooms in the palace, after all, we can't reject all of you, can we?"

Cheng Mo grimaced and complained with a bit of frustration.

"Si Zhen Fang and Si Zhi Fang didn't see the palace people we sent, Shang Yi from Si Shi Fang showed up, but he only sent his maids to reply that the furniture and decorations piled up in the warehouse are for other purposes. Your Highness, please use the original one first. As for the dining room...today's dinner was delivered late, but, it's just..."

After saying that, Cheng Mo stomped his feet, and simply lifted the lid of the food box on the table, revealing a pot of half-cold corn porridge, three white flour steamed buns, and two plates of pitifully small dishes.

"His Royal Highness of the Dining Room, you have just entered the palace, and your appetite is not used to the delicacies in the palace. Let me cook you a few days of folk home-cooked dishes to recuperate... It's just this kind of food, even the maids who are a little bit spoiled by the maids around How about, this, isn't this clearly bullying people?"

Shen Jinghe stretched out his hand to take the wooden spoon, stirred it casually in the clear rice soup, raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"Isn't this very intentional? Use some porridge and side dishes at night, so it is not easy to accumulate food. As expected of the kitchen staff, there is indeed a lot of research on food and health."

"Your Highness...don't make jokes, if things go on like this, even your body won't be able to bear it."

Shen Jinghe didn't answer, and put a bowl of rice porridge on the table, reaching out to pick up a small dish beside the porcelain cup.When the fingertips touch the gap between the wooden box and the dish, they pause because of the soft touch that does not belong to rough wood.

He paused while maintaining the posture of reaching out, and quickly continued his movements calmly, as if the slight pause just now was just an illusion of others.

When the dishes were placed on the table, there was already a piece of thin paper hidden in his hand.

Cheng Mo didn't notice it, and took two steps forward to help him pick up the side dishes and put them in the bowl, still complaining from time to time.

"Close the windows on the west side, it seems that the wind is blowing." Shen Jinghe tapped the wooden table with his knuckles, and glanced at the half-opened blue screen window.

Hearing this, Cheng Mo hurriedly turned around, went to the window and fastened it, and when he turned around again, Shen Jinghe was still sitting by the table, seemingly not moving.

"I just entered the palace, and I don't know much about the rules. In your opinion, do the ladies in each palace need to pay a visit one by one?" Shen Jinghe filled the cup with tea and asked calmly.

Cheng Mo knew in his heart that this was the Sixth Prince's intention to test his knowledge of the palace, so he took a step forward to answer.

"I don't want to indulge in pleasure today, so the number of concubines in the palace is not too many. Except for a few concubines who gave birth to sons and grandchildren, the other concubines rarely go out on weekdays. Unless it is a family banquet in the palace, your highness You don't usually see them either."

He paused, and then said again, "The empress's body was not good in the first place, and half a year ago, because of the pain of losing her son, she was overwhelmed with worry, and fainted several times in Changle Palace. So in the past six months, she has followed the doctor's instructions. I have been living in seclusion and recuperating in the palace, and all the greetings on weekdays have been avoided. The concubine Jing is a low-key and quiet person, and like the fifth prince, she does not like to show off. These two ladies, if your highness is fine, don't go to the door easily .”

Shen Jinghe nodded, his eyes revealed deep thought, "Since the empress recuperates behind closed doors, who is in charge of the harem now?"

Cheng Mo looked around and said in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, the imperial concubine, has to personally approve the seal of the phoenix in charge. All matters in the palace, big or small, must be controlled. But the eldest prince is now in the limelight, and concubine Duan must have some say. On the surface, the imperial concubine is now in charge. Palace, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that there is a lot of rivalry between these two empresses."

Shen Jinghe knocked on the table intermittently, looked at half of the table with clear soup and little water, and smiled with downcast eyes inexplicably.

He took a spoonful of rice soup and put it into his mouth, the slightly astringent soup melted on the tip of his tongue, leaving a slight bitterness.

"Is there any place to enjoy the scenery in the palace?" Shen Jinghe swallowed the rice soup slightly, and started the topic freely, "Speaking of which, when I was young, I planted a sycamore tree outside my house, but now I don't know if it is It's as slim as a cover."

Cheng Mo thought carefully, "If you want to enjoy some flowers and grass, the first place is the imperial garden, which is full of red and purple, and the most prosperous. Shuzhuang is not bad, it is planted with exotic flowers and plants all year round. The flowers are blooming undefeated. If His Highness misses the phoenix tree in his hometown..."

He thought about it for a long time, and finally his face was stunned, and he said excitedly, "Your servant remembers! Although the Yihuaxie in the east is a plum forest, there are two sycamore trees planted in the middle of the forest, and the place is usually lonely. Seriously, if His Highness doesn't ask, the slaves will hardly remember."

"Really?" Shen Jinghe nodded approvingly at him, "If I have time someday, I really want to go and have a look."

The new moon hangs high above the forest, and in the cool evening breeze, Zuzhi keeps screaming outside the green screen window.Cheng Mo swiftly removed the food box from the table, and said, "It's getting late, Your Highness has been tired all day, why don't you go to bed earlier."

Shen Jinghe got up without hesitation and walked towards the low bed with some frayed carvings in the inner room, and lightly instructed, "You don't need to go into the inner hall to call me tomorrow morning. I'm very tired today, so I have to get up late tomorrow morning."

Cheng Mo complied, bowed and stepped back, and did not forget to gently close the door for him when he was done.

Shen Jinghe sat leaning against the head of the bed for a long while, and then, with the twilight of the stars all over the pillow, rolled up the small note in his palm again.

Above it is impressive lowercase script with a Chinese character horoscope.

The phoenix tree is born, and it is in the rising sun.

He lowered his eyes to hide the complex emotions that flashed in his eyes.

In normal times, an inexplicable and deliberately appeared in front of his eyes, even if he explained the location and time so clearly, with his cautious temperament, he might not agree to the appointment so easily.

But what if the first sentence of this line of poem is "The phoenix is ​​singing, at that high hill"?

The night wind blows away the blue clouds leisurely, and a bright moon slowly climbs up the curtain.Shen Jinghe placed the thin paper on the dancing candle flame, and the flame hit the corner of the white paper, and immediately devoured it mercilessly.

He brushed away the thin layer of ashes from the burning on the table, turned his head and blew out the tall candles, the shadows turned red, fascinating people in the moonlight, his profile was smudged with mottled light and shadows.

How many people can refuse Phoenix's invitation?