Queen's Road in the Red House

Concubine Zhen Gui reached out and took off a pair of luxurious turquoise beeswax bead flowers from her temples, and sent off the maid beside her with a cold face: "Go and apologize to the Empress Dowager for me, I am not feeling well, so I won't be going to the flower viewing feast. If the empress loves you, let sister Ran come to me to say hello before leaving the palace."

King Rui's eyes lit up: "Mother Concubine, you have finally decided to let go of this marriage?"

Concubine Zhen Gui said angrily: "What are you still doing! The matter between the second prince and Xu's daughter has been exposed to your father and the emperor. That letter is full of childhood sweethearts and childhood sweethearts, and I will be amazed to read it." Sores! How can we promise Sister Ran to him! Do we want our daughter of the Zhen family to follow him with shame?"

She took a breath: "Even if I am willing to let my sister go, the emperor will not agree. He is not willing to see the second prince marry our Zhen family. Can he hold on to such a handle?"

Xu Ying finally got smarter.

Knowing that this time, if the second prince is not caught up, she will be a stumbling block, and the ending is estimated to be either hanged with a rope or the ancient Buddha of Qingdeng.If she can successfully marry the second prince, even if it is a concubine, she will have passed the bright road in the royal family.With what happened today, the second prince hated her and didn't dare to really do anything to her, lest the fourth prince catch him again.

That's why, just now, in front of the Supreme Emperor, the Emperor, and Concubine Zhen Gui, Xu Ying did not hesitate to tell the whole story about her past with Xin Hongyuan, and also attached a handwritten letter to prove it.

King Rui couldn't help cheering: "That's great!"

Concubine Zhen Gui smashed the pillow behind her on her son angrily: "You are involved in this matter, aren't you! Are you crazy? You want to ruin our family's affairs!"

King Rui turned over and dodged like a kite.

Then he said embarrassingly: "Concubine mother, my son really doesn't understand, what's so good about the second prince, you have to promise him. I think the fourth prince is very good, and the emperor likes it too. You can fix it with him early one time."

Concubine Zhen Gui was very annoyed: "No way! We had a big feud with the Zhong family—how do you think their family was sent from Beijing to Fujian to blow the sea breeze and eat sand?"

King Rui was surprised: "Did the Zhen family do it?"

Concubine Zhen Gui nodded and sighed: "So if the fourth prince ever comes, the Zhong family will be Cheng Engong's mansion, and he will naturally return to Beijing. What will the Zhen family do at that time? That's why I thought about putting the treasure on the second prince. These days, I always speak for him in front of the Supreme Emperor, and this wicked thing happened to you!"

She was not willing to hit her, so she could only vent her anger by cursing.

King Rui rubbed his chin and thought for a while, then smiled carelessly: "It's okay, Concubine Mother, let me tell you, today I teamed up with Xiao Chengzi. He is actually a very easy-going person, see It's not bad to be careful. If he becomes a prince or emperor, I, as an uncle, can talk to him about it, and it will be fine."

After Concubine Zhengui realized who Xiao Chengzi was, she was stunned by King Rui's innocence or stupidity.

Her voice changed: "How could I give birth to a son like you?!"

King Rui laughed and said: "Mother Concubine has won the award. Although many people in Beijing envy Mother Concubine for having an outstanding son like me, I feel a little embarrassed when you say that in person."

The maid next to her hurriedly stepped forward to support the crumbling Dowager Zhen Gui.

Nanny Li, who is the most embarrassing by the concubine's side, couldn't stand it any longer: "My lord Haorui, your empress is not happy. You can go play somewhere else, okay?"

King Rui left aggrieved.

Concubine Zhen Gui wept angrily: "A Yuan, why don't you make progress at all? I can still protect him now, but I will close my eyes in the future. What will he do!"

Nanny Li's eyes were also red.

The Empress Dowager has no parents, and after the Supreme Emperor abolished the crown prince, King Ruo Rui has three points of success. In terms of background, the person sitting on the dragon chair now should be the King Rui born by Concubine Zhen Gui, not the current emperor born by the deceased Concubine Liu. .

When Xin Hongcheng returned to Wende Palace, he saw Qin Wu waiting at the door in person. Seeing him, he smiled and said, "Your Highness told the slaves to wait. The emperor ordered you to go to Mingzheng Palace to have lunch together."

Xin Hongcheng nodded: "Okay, take a good half-day off, he spent this morning walking back and forth.

When he arrived, Emperor Xuanhe was reading a book on flood control in his hand.Seeing that he had arrived, he briefly explained how to deal with the second prince before the meal: "Ten days later, I will give Xu's daughter to him as a concubine. I also clearly told him that from today onwards, Xu's daughter If there is a death or an accident, it will be on him."

Xin Hongcheng understood: the emperor is preventing the second prince from using extreme means to destroy this marriage.

The emperor is in a good mood: "Okay, sit down and go to study in the afternoon with peace of mind. When I come over after evening class in the evening, I will call the painter from the Ruyi Pavilion to draw the faces of the girls from various families. I heard that Mrs. Qin Fu's granddaughter and He Lang's daughter are also very outstanding girls."

The old matriarch Qin was the accompanist of the Taishang Emperor when he was studying. Over the decades, he has been promoted in official positions.He was also appointed by the Supreme Emperor to be the chief examiner of several imperial examinations, which can be said to be full of peaches and plums.

Although there is no noble in the family, the contacts among civil servants are rarely matched by others in the court.

And He Lang is the current Minister of the Ministry of Officials.The Ministry of Officials is in charge of the decrees of the selection, awarding, honoring, and examination of officials all over the world.Gai Furuzuka's job is to regard the five parts as the most important.

Xin Hongcheng nodded: "My son knows."

The emperor patted him on the shoulder: "You didn't go to the emperor's grandfather today. You did a good job. Your emperor's grandfather is wise and wise, so he inevitably loves face. Now that he made a mistake in the marriage he chose, he is naturally a little unhappy. If you go today, he will have to suspect that you framed your brother."

Xin Hongcheng thought to himself: The Supreme Emperor is probably suspicious now.

Not to mention that he was the only one who benefited the most from this matter, but King Rui kept saying that he was circumstantial evidence, so he couldn't get rid of the relationship.

Apart from my eccentric father, the Empress Dowager and Concubine Zhen Gui, it is inevitable that I have no doubts in my heart that I did it myself.

However, Xin Hongcheng smiled, it would be best to be suspicious.

After lunch, as soon as Xin Hongcheng left the gate of Mingzheng Palace, he was stopped again.He said helplessly, "Uncle Rui, what else do you need to arrest me now?"

King Rui smiled and said, "Let's play with you. I heard that the queen's sister-in-law brought you some good horses from the northwest, right? Take me to have a look."

Xin Hongcheng shook his head: "But we only have half a day off, and I'm going to study in the afternoon."

King Rui refused: "What's the point of reading? What are you doing so obediently?" He suddenly moved closer to Xin Hongcheng: "You are so obedient, do you want to be a prince and emperor? Little Chengzi, let me tell you, being an emperor is very difficult." Bitter, everyone wants you and plots against you."

Xin Hongcheng looked at King Rui, and slowly smiled: "Uncle Rui, do you think I want to be emperor?"

He didn't know whether King Rui was wise or stupid or just pretending to be crazy.

In the hall, the emperor was about to approve the papers when he saw Qin Wu rushing in: "Your Majesty, King Rui is holding the Fourth Highness at the door, and he is going to drag the Fourth Highness down to play."

The emperor's face suddenly changed: "Hurry up, call him in."

He was simply afraid of King Rui, how could there be such a generous person in the world.When the emperor thought that his most valued son was getting along with King Rui and might imitate King Rui in the future, he couldn't help but feel his scalp explode.Quickly ask Qin Wu to separate the two.

--

Blossom feast.

The Empress Dowager smiled and said, "Everyone can enjoy the newly blooming flowers in the palace."

All the wives and girls obeyed and got up, and gathered in front of a certain flower in twos and threes according to their closeness.But no matter how well the flowers bloom, they don't care about them now.

The girls are busy chatting with the little sisters they are familiar with, showing that they are in the group, but at the same time, they do not forget to pay attention to their demeanor and appearance at all times-there are eyes everywhere in the palace, even if the empress dowager can't see it, someone will always see it. You can't relax, each posture is graceful like a swan and a crane.

The wives are busy making connections and introducing the girls around them to different orders.After all, the position of a prince and concubine is limited, so if girls show their faces more, they will not be able to find a prince and concubine. It will also be the help of the family to make a good family in the future.

The empress dowager asked someone to pinch some of the best blooming flowers and bring them to her, including two peonies.

Autumn is not the season for peonies, and the rare pots here are treasures in the greenhouse, but now the Empress Dowager ruthlessly pinches them.

Daiyu looked on, feeling a little distressed.

The Empress Dowager smiled and said: "Yu'er thinks it's a pity? It's okay, these people are not people who appreciate flowers, so why not pinch them and let us wear them for fun."

She stretched out her hand to take a white peony with light pink in it, pinned it in Daiyu's hair and said with a smile, "This flower is not very colorful, so it is suitable for you to take with you." .”

Daiyu felt warm in her heart.

She hadn't passed the filial piety yet, she was only called into the palace, so naturally she couldn't wear plain clothes, so she could only try to avoid bright red and green clothes, and choose some relatively elegant colors to wear.

The empress dowager actually took her thoughts into consideration.

Empress Yang laughed beside her and said, "The emerald greens of jade buildings in this season are probably more precious than flowers made of gold of the same size."

Daiyu couldn't help but recall that when she entered the palace for the first time and saw the fourth prince who was pretending to be a little eunuch, she saw a jade building with a little emerald green in front of her eyes.

The empress dowager smiled, looked at the queen and said with a smile: "I originally wanted to give you a hairpin, but unfortunately your head is full of pearls and emeralds today, and it is already very gorgeous, so the flowers on the hairpin are not so pretty."

So he ordered the female officials around him to distribute the remaining flowers to several girls.

Among them are Taifu Qin's granddaughter, He Lang's daughter and Zhou Ling.

However, this flower was not given to Zhen Ran.

All the wives seem to be talking separately, but their eyes are naturally paying attention to the actions of the empress dowager all the time.

Seeing this, I couldn't help being surprised: Did they guess wrong before?Miss Zhen is not the candidate for the princess?

The girls who received the flowers came forward to thank them, and then the waiters around them immediately put hairpins on them to show their solemnity.

Zhou Ling got to know Daiyu a little better, so she came to her side at this moment, and whispered to her: "Let her eyes grow to the top of her head just now, but now the Empress Dowager will not give her face."

However, Daiyu saw that Zhen Ran's face was still calm, and she didn't seem to care.

When Jia Min saw the Empress Dowager personally pinning a flower for her daughter, a smile appeared on her lips.

Old Princess Bei Jing came over and said with a smile: "Shi Taijun's granddaughter is really outstanding, and even the two empresses love her so much, staying by her side is really the first respectable thing today."

Jia Min hurriedly declined with a smile: "The old concubine is like a mirror, and she can't see the situation today. Yu'er is young, two or three years younger than the girls who just got flowers. It can be seen that the thoughts of the two ladies are just Treat her like a child and ask her to talk with you."

This is not only for Old Princess Beijing, but also for other wives.

The wood show will be destroyed by the forest wind.

After all, everyone thinks that their own daughter is the most outstanding, but now only Daiyu is with the queen mother. It may be said that some of these wives have small stomachs and shameless hearts, and they will talk about Daiyu being favored by the royal family behind their backs, and even arrange other things. Come, isn't it going to ruin Daiyu's life.

Seeing that the people around him were also paying attention to him, Jia Min said even more: "Besides, this child is also pitiful. His parents left early, and he didn't have brothers and sisters to support him. The emperor and queen gave him a special gift and gave the nanny to come to our house to help take care of him." One or two. And because of her delicate nature, she took the palace to see the imperial physician twice."

Everyone couldn't help but nodded, that's right, Miss Lin was only 13 years old, and she was taken into the palace by the queen several times after she lost her parents, presumably it was a sign to show the generosity of the royal family.

After Jia Min's words, the madams and girls' exploration and faint dissatisfaction with Daiyu disappeared a lot.

So for a while, more people came to Jia Min to inquire about Daiyu's situation: It is also very good to be a signboard of the royal family, not to mention that this girl Lin came from a noble family. , Naturally it is all hers.

Look at this appearance again, it is even more outstanding.It doesn't matter if they are weaker, after all, the noble girls in Beijing are almost always very delicate and weak, and the strong ones like Queen Yang are really different.

So the wives didn't care too much. All families with teenage sons surrounded Jia Min with great interest.

Jia Min brought Yingchun and Tanchun into the palace this time, but Xichun was young and a girl from Ningguo Mansion, so she didn't bring it with her.

At first, everyone was interested in Yingchun and Tanchun. The girls in Rongguo Mansion, among other things, were all first-class in appearance.

Just after inquiring that it was a concubine, I lost interest.

On the contrary, some wives who raised their concubine sons came to ask a few words implicitly.

At this time, Yingchun Tanchun had already gathered to talk with Shi Xiangyun and Baochai.

Xiangyun was feeling a little angry, and complained to Tanchun: "Third sister doesn't know, just now Sister Bao and I saw Miss Zhen standing alone, and no one talked to her. It's old, so I went up to talk to her on purpose, who knows that she is cold and indifferent, and she doesn't have a good word, and it's uncomfortable for anyone who chokes!"

Seeing that Zhen Ran was really standing alone next to a clump of bamboos, Tan Chun tried to persuade him, "Forget it, sister Yun, she is a girl from the Zhen family, so it's not easy to offend. What's more, at a banquet like today, you have to smile all the time. Where can I show my anger?"

The corners of Changchun Garden are full of painters, and the court ladies and eunuchs who shuttle back and forth are the eyes of the royal family.

Even where the royal family can't see, there are still many ladies and ladies with sharp eyes, why bother to be idle here, it makes people feel unstoppable.

What's more, Zhen Ran's aloofness and aloofness naturally fall into the eyes of everyone, and she has her own judgments in her heart.

When Xiangyun heard the words, he really laughed too, and looked at the flowers with all the sisters, talking and laughing.

Originally, Hou Baoling wanted to drag his family and his family to work abroad, but when the flower feast happened, he made a decisive decision to go first and let his wife stay with his children to prepare for this matter, so Xiangyun naturally stayed. down.

She didn't know about the small incident between Baochai and Daiyu, so she said at this moment: "Let's go talk to Sister Lin."

Baochai shook her head: "She is sitting in the pavilion with the two empresses, we don't want to rush over."

Just now Zhou Ling and the others were given flowers by the Empress Dowager Xie, so they had a reason to enter.

--

The people outside the pavilion looked at the inside of the pavilion, and the people inside the pavilion also looked at the outside of the pavilion.

Empress Yang frowned slightly: "Miss Zhen, why does she seem to have a bad temper?"

Given the Zhen family's family background here, many girls walked over to talk to Zhen Ran, but she always choked people away with all manners.

The Queen Mother already knew about the changes in the second prince's marriage, so she had been observing Zhen Ran.

This girl doesn't seem to want to marry into the royal family at all.

So the Empress Dowager said to the maid next to her, "Take Miss Zhen to Concubine Zhen Gui."