bastard returns

"Queen Mother, the congratulatory gift Yue'er prepared this time is very mysterious. I asked him, but he still refused to tell." The queen seized this opportunity and said to the queen mother.

"Is it so mysterious?" The queen mother's interest was raised following the queen's words, and she looked at Sikong Yue, "Then present it to the Ai family to see what an exquisite thing it is."

"Grandmother, it's not very appropriate to describe this congratulatory gift as a 'thing'." Sikong Yue responded with a smile, and said loudly to the outside: "Please come up here."

Not long after, I saw an old woman in fluttering white clothes, holding a dust whisk, walking in from the outside with half-closed eyes.

The sudden appearance of the sorceress obviously confused everyone present. Only Sikong Yue and Ning Zhongkun looked expectant. They knew what kind of "supernatural power" this sorceress had, and thought she would definitely make the queen mother happy. On the other hand, Pang Song and Sikong Xu's faces were full of sneers, as if they were waiting to see Sikong Yue make a fool of himself in public.

The sorceress pretended to be a dignified treasure on the surface, but after all, she was facing a man and a woman with the highest status in this country. In front of the emperor and the queen mother, even though she had done enough psychological construction, she still felt hairy on her back, After thinking about what Ning Yuan had told her, she calmed down and said, "Join His Majesty the Emperor, Empress Dowager, Empress Empress."

The Empress Dowager was waiting for the congratulatory gift, but when she saw an old woman walking out, she couldn't help being puzzled, she turned to Si Kongyue and asked, "Who is she?"

"Imperial Grandmother, this is He Xiangu." Sikong Yue cupped his fists and bowed respectfully, "Xiangu is a master who can calculate the past and future. The reason for the flood in the capital is because of Xiangu Prediction is the only way to prevent grandson from happening, and grandson invited Xiangu here because he wanted her to calculate and pray for the emperor's grandmother to fulfill his filial piety."

As soon as the eldest prince finished speaking, the surroundings began to discuss in detail. Neither the emperor nor the queen mother always believed in these strange things, so much so that Jian Tiansheng, who was once prominent in the court, is now Quite desolate and desolate, the eldest prince actually found a magic stick as a gift, a self-defeating, didn't he hurt himself.

Sikong Xu also said loudly: "Brother Emperor, this He Xiangu is really so magical? Could it be that you were deceived by charlatans?"

Sikong Yue glared at him sideways, but ignored him, but continued to say to the Queen Mother: "Grandson knows that ordinary and rare things are difficult to get into the eyes of the emperor's grandmother, and they are too extravagant. He Xiangu once calculated for her grandson a few times. , every time is incomparably accurate, the grandson is also remembering the emperor's grandmother to introduce her here, the grandson knows that he is not smart, but it is far from being fooled by others."

"Okay, okay, why are my brothers arguing?" The queen mother glanced at Sikong Yue and Sikong Xu dissatisfiedly, and finally her eyes fell on the witch. There was already some displeasure in her eyes. This so-called fairy has always been like a piece of wood. Standing there without even kowtowing, without knowing the basic etiquette, she could still be sent to the palace, most likely a cheater, but for the sake of Sikong Yue's face, she waved her hand and said: "Your The Ai family understands, so I ask this fairy girl to make some calculations for the Ai family."

"Yes." Sikong Yue replied with a happy face, and immediately sent someone to start preparing the case table.The empress looked at him with worry, she never imagined that the well-prepared congratulatory gift that Sikong Yue was talking about turned out to be something like this. Although the empress dowager didn't say anything, she was obviously not very happy. The way that fairy aunt opened the altar here made a mess of smoke, and it was difficult for the Queen Mother not to be angry.

So she immediately called Si Kongyue, and said: "Now is the birthday banquet, what is it like to make it look like a dojo, this calculation is not urgent, and there is nothing wrong with asking that fairy girl to pray for the Queen Mother later. Let’s take these things away first.”

Since the Empress Dowager is not good at brushing off Sikong Yue's face, it's better for me, a mother, to sing my face.

Seeing that the table was about to be ready, but the queen asked him to remove it, Sikong Yue was a little reluctant, but he hadn't the guts to disobey the queen's order, and was about to have someone carry the table away again. Which Sikong Xu was there? At this time, he said again: "Queen Mother, Brother Dahuang has prepared so sincerely. Presumably it is for the sake of the health of the emperor's grandmother. After all, it is also the wish of Brother Dahuang. Besides, we are tired of watching songs and dances, and it is not easy to watch some novel things." It’s all right, Father, do you think so?”

While talking, Sikong Xu also gave Yue Concubine a look.

The concubine Yue understood, and immediately chimed in and said, "That's right, Your Majesty, I'm very tired of watching concubines singing and dancing all the time. This fairy seems to have some moral skills, and concubines still want to see the world."

The queen looked sideways at Yue Concubine, as if her eyes were going to burn two holes in that gorgeous face, she still didn't know what Yue Concubine and Sikong Xu were planning, she just wanted to mess with He Xiangu If the queen mother doesn't like it, even Sikong Yue will suffer. It's really a good game to add insult to injury, but because the concubine Yue opened her mouth, the emperor also said to the queen mother: "Queen mother, the emperor must have spent a lot of time thinking about it. It's not appropriate to let him clean up like this, why not..."

"Then let's see, I'm also very curious, what kind of tricks this Aunt He Xiangu can conjure up." Now that the emperor opened his mouth, the queen mother flicked her sleeves and blocked the queen's evasive words, but Sikong Yue's face was full. With joy, he ordered the people to rearrange the table and table, offered incense and candles, and then invited the witch to come forward.

The flower hall was not too big, and soon it was filled with the smell of incense candles. The queen mother sat reclined on the phoenix chair, half covered her mouth and nose, and looked at the sorceress with a slight frown. He pinched an orchid seal in front of him, muttered something for a while, then suddenly pulled out two yellow talismans from his sleeves, lit them and threw them into the brass tripod in front of him, and then he yelled "Hey!".

A strange scene appeared, a phoenix covered in fire suddenly rushed out of the copper tripod, flapping its wings and circling in the midair of the flower hall.

Many people around made surprise sounds. After all, such a miraculous scene is too rare. Even the queen mother put away her initial eyes and looked at the burning phoenix with great interest.

The phoenix circled three times in mid-air, but it didn't disappear after getting enough eyeballs. The sorceress was still standing there chanting. With a flash of fire, a palm formed of flames emerged from it. With five fingers, it grabbed the phoenix soaring in mid-air. The tighter it was, finally, amidst a high-pitched but tragic cry, the fire phoenix disintegrated, turning into wisps of flames and dissipating in the air. Dingli.

There was no sound in the hall, no one spoke, and occasionally there was a rumbling sound, which was because someone was swallowing saliva out of fear.

Sikong Yue stared at the sorceress dumbfounded. The scene just now was beautiful, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that it was an ominous omen. It was a fire phoenix, but it was crushed to death, and it was at the queen mother's birthday banquet. What does it mean? Anyone with a brain can figure it out!

For a while, his legs trembled, and he wanted to kneel down to beg for mercy, but he found that his legs seemed to be disobedient, and he couldn't move at all.

Sikong Xu and Pang Song kept their heads down, but they couldn't stop the smile at the corner of their mouths. They had expected this to happen a long time ago. They got a magic stick out of nowhere, and Sikong Yue was looking for death at all.

The Empress Dowager had no expression on her face, but the look in her eyes was very gloomy. The Empress also sat on the side silently. She had already scolded Sikong Yue in her heart, and wanted to ask the Empress Dowager for mercy, but seeing the Empress Dowager's eyes, she He really didn't have the guts to speak out.

"What a mess!" What broke the silence was the wine glass thrown by the emperor angrily. He pointed at Sikong Yue and shouted: "You unfilial thing, this is the congratulatory gift you prepared! How dare you curse the queen mother, what are you going to do?" I'm so mad!"

"Father, my son... my son..." Sikong Yue finally knelt down with a plop, but he stuttered for a long while, but did not utter a complete sentence.

"The emperor calms down." The sorceress who had been closing her eyes to meditate on this matter finally spoke, not only did she not show any panic, but calmly said: "May I ask the empress dowager a few things?"

The queen mother stared at the witch. If she saw such an ominous omen according to her previous temper, she might order the witch to be dragged down and imprisoned immediately. Out of curiosity, he said coldly, "What do you want to ask?"

"Excuse me for being disrespectful, the empress dowager has a burning feeling on her back recently?" the sorceress said slowly.

The queen mother didn't speak, but looked at the witch's eyes and couldn't help but narrowed her eyes.

It was true that she often had a burning sensation in her back, but this was an old problem for the Queen Mother.Ever since she was the noble concubine of the late emperor, even though she felt scorching hot on her back, she would occasionally develop a rash, which was unbearably painful when touched. The imperial doctor had seen it many times, and they all said that there was excess heat and poison in the body, and then they would prescribe some medicines for clearing fire and detoxifying Herbs, after taking the medicine, the symptoms will improve slightly, but it will recur after a period of time, and it has been repeated for decades. Because it is not a serious problem, the Queen Mother only regards her as a long-standing disease, and immediately takes the Qinghuo herbs as soon as she gets sick , the body is not in danger, but there is no elixir to restrain the rash that accompanies the attack, so it can only be endured.

Many people in the palace know that the Empress Dowager has such a chronic disease, and it is no secret. Now that the sorceress suddenly mentions it, the Empress Dowager does not understand what tricks she is playing, and said: "It is true that there will be a burning sensation in the back, but what is it?" how?"

"Just now the old man made a divination on behalf of the queen mother. The divination shows that the queen mother has been plagued by fire poison all year round and cannot be eradicated. If things go on like this, the fire poison will become more and more severe until it threatens the health of the queen mother's phoenix body. This matter cannot be ignored. I hope the Empress Dowager will treat you solemnly." The sorceress said while bowing slightly.

"You mean, the scene that appeared in this hall just now is just a hexagram, and that hexagram shows that there is fire poison in Aijia's body?" The queen mother sat upright, and the symptoms of her rash in recent years are indeed It is more frequent than when she was young, and she can be cured with just one dose of medicine in the past, but now she has to take three or four doses, and now she still has a rash on her back, so that even if it is a birthday banquet, the dishes in front of her are all ugly. It is mainly light, not too greasy, "But the heat poison in Aijia's body has been around for a long time, and even the imperial physicians are helpless. Since you asked Aijia to treat it seriously, do you have any way to cure it?"

"I have never practiced medicine, and I don't understand art. If there is something that the imperial doctor can't help, then I can't help." As soon as the sorceress finished speaking, the queen mother hummed softly, and was about to wave her hand to let her see the inexplicable The magic stick in the unlucky scene chased away, but heard the other party say: "But in the hexagram just now, I told the old body how to break it. If the Queen Mother is willing, the old body should give it a try."

"The hexagram?" Thinking of the inauspicious hexagram that Huo Fenghuang was crushed by a claw just now, the queen mother couldn't help asking: "Then what is the solution to the hanging picture?"

"Perhaps in the eyes of the Empress Dowager, the hexagram of the fire phoenix dying in the palm of fire just now is quite unlucky, but if the fire phoenix is ​​regarded as the source of heat and poison, this hexagram can be interpreted as a method of fighting poison with poison." He said, "My old guess is that the heat poison in the Empress Dowager's body can't be cured for a long time. Maybe it's because in the past, whenever the heat poison broke out, she took decoctions for clearing fire and relieving heat to restrain it."

Without waiting for the queen mother to speak, the emperor accepted the words with great interest: "Could it be that this is not possible?"

"This may have some curative effect on the symptoms but not the root cause, but the power of the decoction is only to temporarily suppress the heat poison, and it will continue to flare up after a while. This is also the reason why the Queen Mother's heat poison has not been cured for a long time. In addition, it accumulated more and more in the body, and the pressure became stronger and stronger. Now relying on the decoction can still suppress it, but if one day the decoction can no longer be suppressed, the heat and poison accumulated over the years will all burst out. The Queen Mother believes that for the Phoenix to understand What's the harm?"

When the sorceress said this, even if the queen mother wanted to pretend to be calm, she couldn't help being moved. Everyone knows the truth of accumulating and accumulating, if things are really like what Xiangu He said, then the heat will not be cured, and it will not become a big disaster in the future!

"But this fights poison with fire... what should I do?"

"It's not difficult, as long as you take some medicinal materials with yang energy when the heat poison is about to be released, use the yang energy in the materials as a medicine to guide the heat poison to be released all at once, although the process will be a little painful, But it’s a way to cut the root.” The sorceress said, taking out a small bag from her sleeve, “I happen to have some fireweed on my body, the yang energy of this thing is the most abundant, take three liang of decoction and drink it as soon as possible. It can be cured by medicine."

"Father, what these Jianghu alchemists say cannot be trusted. The emperor's grandmother has a precious phoenix body, so she must not take some strange prescriptions." Sikong Xu stood up and cupped his hands to the emperor. , he felt that the sorceress introduced by Sikong Yue was really evil!

Because he carefully prepared for the queen mother this time, the congratulatory gift that he originally planned to win the queen mother's favor was found by him painstakingly, a prescription for radically curing the heat and poison in the queen mother's body, and the content of this prescription happened to be fire. Lime!

When he saw that He Xiangu took out the fire grass, he didn't know how to describe his feelings. Because the Queen Mother was troubled by heat poison all the year round, he sent people to find the secret recipe that can cure heat poison in many ways. It was not easy. In the name of a hermit living in the mountains and forests, he got the method of fighting poison with poison, and was about to present the treasure on this birthday, but was inexplicably preempted by a magic stick "fortune", so how could he not be in a hurry.

He is no longer in the mood to estimate what to do with his congratulatory gift, but he just thinks that Sikong Yue will not be able to succeed no matter what. If Fengyan Dayue pays more attention to Sikong Yue because of the Queen Mother's matter, then what he did to trip Sikong Yue in the past All the hard work has been in vain!

"That's right, Your Majesty, most of the houses of such charlatans are strange, and they are not well used. If they hurt the Queen Mother's body, there will be no harm." The concubine Yue also chimed in.

However, the emperor waved his hand to stop their words, and only said to the old man in the blue official uniform below: "Doctor Xu, just look at these fireweeds."

The old man in the cyan official's mansion is now the chief of the imperial hospital. Hearing this, he immediately got up, took the kit from the sorceress, took out a piece of dried medicinal material, smelled it, and took a small bite. The emperor bowed and said: "Firegrass is an ordinary medicine with mild medicinal properties. Most people grind it into powder and add it to wine to drink in winter. It is best for warming up and warding off the cold. The Empress Dowager has accumulated heat and poison in her body. Having never been in contact with this kind of positive medicinal material, Wei Chen thinks that it can be tried, as long as it is not a large amount, it will not harm the phoenix body."

"Really?" A gleam of joy appeared on the Queen Mother's face. As long as there is no harm, then she is not afraid to give it a try. If the heat poison can be cured as Xiangu He said, it will solve her decades of pain. She was not excited, "Put away these medicinal materials, Aijia will try it tonight, if it works, you should know what will happen if you lie to Aijia." After finishing speaking, the queen mother stared at the witch.

With a flick of her sleeves, the sorceress showed the expression of that worldly expert, "Lao Shen's hexagram has never been miscalculated, if it is invalid, I will pay the Queen Mother for my old life!"

"In that case, please let Xiangu rest at the Empress Dowager's Palace tonight. If the medicine can cure her illness tomorrow, I will be rewarded." After finishing speaking, the Empress Dowager clapped her hands, and immediately a close nun led the sorceress. They went down to rest, and at this moment, the Empress Dowager said to Sikong Yue who had been standing with her head bowed all the time: "Yue'er also go down and sit down, it's hard to prepare this congratulatory gift for you."

Si Kongyue was originally so frightened by the tragic appearance of the fire phoenix that he could not speak, but now he heard the queen mother's praise, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and at the same time was elated, and said a compliment to the queen mother before he patted his ass and planned to go back. However, when passing in front of Sikong Xu, he paused, and suddenly said in a raised voice: "The fourth brother has been sitting and not talking since just now, and I don't know what kind of ingenious gift he has prepared for the imperial grandmother. How about you come out and let me open my eyes?"

Sikong Xu clenched his fists hidden in his sleeve robe, crackling even his bones, and said after a long while: "Imperial brother is incompetent, I don't have the ability of imperial brother to invite such capable people and strangers, and the preparations are too good." It's just an ordinary congratulatory gift." After speaking, Sikong Xu stood up, held out a brocade box and said to the Empress Dowager: "I also ask the imperial grandmother to accept the grandson's congratulatory gift."

Immediately, someone from the palace presented the brocade box to the Empress Dowager, and everyone couldn't help stretching their necks. After seeing Si Kongyue's exaggerated divination ceremony, everyone couldn't help but wonder how the fourth prince, who has been so prosperous recently, can send What a treasure, it's a pity that these people have long necks, but they are doomed to be disappointed, because the Queen Mother took it out of the brocade box, but it was just an ordinary suet jade bowl.

Such jade bowls, although valuable, are very common, and almost every family in the audience can find them. It is really not a good thing. The Empress Dowager sent such a congratulatory gift on her [-]th birthday. For a moment, those people looked at Sikong Xu couldn't help but feel a little contemptuous in his gaze.

Especially Sikong Yue, after seeing the jade bowl, he turned his eyes back to Sikong Xu's face, and said in a tone of pretended surprise: "It's really a beautiful jade bowl, it seems that fourth brother, you treat our imperial grandmother Your filial piety is really 'heavy'." After speaking, he laughed twice before returning to his seat.

Hearing Sikong Yue's sarcasm, Sikong Xu's heart was about to bleed. The congratulatory gift he really prepared, the fire grass recipe that he had found so hard, was so troubled by the sorceress, and now he can't get it out no matter what. The jade bowl was originally intended to be offered together with Fang Zi, and it was regarded as an addition, but now the addition has become the main one, not to mention the embarrassment, and the Queen Mother might be misunderstood.

Sure enough, the Empress Dowager put the jade bowl back after only one glance, and waved her hand to let the palace servants put it away without saying anything.

"Your Highness the Fourth Highness really loses his sense of propriety at the slightest hint of power, and even used that kind of thing to perfuse the Queen Mother. It's ridiculous." Ning Zhongkun said to Ning Yuan in a low voice: "It's not my gossip, Your Highness the Fourth Highness recognizes Yuegui's concubine as righteousness." When he was a mother, what he presented was a gold inlaid jade belt. The whole body of the belt was made of gold. Didn't doing so clearly slap the Queen Mother in the face, I see that not only the Fourth Highness, but even Concubine Yue Gui will not have a good life in the future."

Ning Yuan chuckled lightly and didn't speak, but he said in his heart that what he wanted was that they didn't have a good life, it really was the reincarnation of heaven, Sikong Xu fell into this situation, he could only blame his bad luck.

The prescription for eradicating the empress dowager's heat poison was indeed made by Sikong Xu, but in the last life, Sikong Xu relied on this to eradicate the empress dowager's heat poison, won the queen mother's favor, and paved a way for him to become Prince Rui in the future. Kang Zhuang Dao; in this life, Ning Yuan was just borrowing flowers to offer Buddha, relying on the hand of the sorceress, he took the credit before Si Kong Xu, and made him work so hard, not to mention, he even stole chickens and lost money , It's really a joy.